Suddenly Alberta began to leap and dance in a frenzy of exultation. Her big-boned body shook like a nautch dancer. Her face shone with religious fervor.

"I got Him inside of me!" she cried. "I got God inside of me. I can feel Him inside of my stomach."

The spectators were caught between amusement and awe.

"I can feel Him in my bones!" Alberta screamed. "He's in my blood."

She was shaking in a very delirium of passion.

"Oh, where is my Sugar?" she cried. "Sugar Stonewall!" she called. "Where are you, Sugar?"

Suddenly the faces blurred in her vision. The sky took on the colors of the spectrum, as though the world had turned into a rainbow. Her eyes protruded from her head, and sweat beaded all over her face. She began to moan and whimper, as though the ecstasy was more than she could bear; then she staggered and reeled, fell to the street and lay twitching on the wet pavement, from which steam had begun to rise.

"She's having a fit," someone cried.

The crowd surged forward. Faces were distorted with excitement. People struggled frantically to get a look.

Sweet Prophet realized something unusual was happening. With quick presence of mind, he signaled his band to begin playing When The Saints Come Marching In, then beckoned to his top elder, Reverend Jones.

Elder Jones was on the alert, as always. Dressed in a goldbraided white uniform with colored tassels sprouting from the shoulders, like a rear admiral in the Cuban navy, he ascended the dais and bent toward the throne, cupping a hand to his ear.

"See what is happening to that woman down there," Sweet Prophet directed.

Elder Jones descended to the street and knelt beside Alberta. His expression became grave. The spectators hemmed him in, leaning over his shoulders, and bombarded him with questions.

"Get back," he ordered sharply. "Give the sister air. She's had a trance. She's gone to talk with God."