When a man is alone he's mighty apt to be with the devil--if he ain't with God.

He has to choose which company he'll keep, I reckon.

If the devil always was at Life Baxter's elbow it must have been because Life liked to have him there." "Man-like," said Miss Cornelia, and subsided into silence over a complicated arrangement of tucks until Captain Jim deliberately stirred her up again by remarking in a casual way: "I was up to the Methodist church last Sunday morning." "You'd better have been home reading your Bible," was Miss Cornelia's retort.
"Come, now, Cornelia, _I_ can't see any harm in going to the Methodist church when there's no preaching in your own.

I've been a Presbyterian for seventy-six years, and it isn't likely my theology will hoist anchor at this late day." "It's setting a bad example," said Miss Cornelia grimly.
"Besides," continued wicked Captain Jim, "I wanted to hear some good singing.

The Methodists have a good choir; and you can't deny, Cornelia, that the singing in our church is awful since the split in the choir." "What if the singing isn't good?
They're doing their best, and God sees no difference between the voice of a crow and the voice of a nightingale." "Come, come, Cornelia," said Captain Jim mildly, "I've a better opinion of the Almighty's ear for music than THAT." "What caused the trouble in our choir ?" asked Gilbert, who was suffering from suppressed laughter.
"It dates back to the new church, three years ago," answered Captain Jim.