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basement, served by the ladies of the church. It was crowded. Davey spoke. He was the tree man who turned so crazy later. I discovered at that meeting that he was a very emotional person, and indeed they all were.

This was the meeting at which they all cried - or at least half of them cried. I've never had such an experience in my life. Mrs. Pike said to me, “They're very emotional, these Methodists. Tell them the most heartbreaking stories you know. Tell them about Al Smith. Tell them about his mother. Tell them about how he went to work when he was eleven years old. They will respect that because they know what it is to go to work.”

I took all the stuff that Irene had usually told in our joint meetings. I told them about old Mrs. Smith and how she had said to me that Alfred was always a little man, how he supported the family from the time he was eleven, the kind of a boy he was, how she could always rely on him. I told them about the white lace curtains in the little house on Oliver Street, “just like the white lace curtains here in the windows of Wooster, Ohio.” I told them about how he said the prayers his mother taught him. I remember they all cried when I said, “Wouldn't you rather have a man who says the prayers his mother taught him, than none at all.”