The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1878-08-24

|
lite to learn how to live. and
feel sartin ye.d have got older, and
made the last half of your life
wipe ont the fust, so that the fig
ures for and agin ye would bal>
anced III the Judgment.
''You aren't fool enough TO be>
lleve that there's any judgment
day, do your
II don't know much abont
church members, answered the
trappe fer I've never been in
the settlements; leastwise, I've
never studied IN the habits of the
creaturs, and dare say they 6If-
fer. bein good and bad, and
seed some that was sartinly yaga-
bonds. No, / don't know much
about church members, but sar-
tinly believe; yls, I know there'll
be a day when the Lord shall
iedge the ivin' ard the dead, and
the honost trapper shall! stand on
one side, and the other. This is
what the book says. and 1t sartin
ly seems reasonable; for the deeds
that be did on arth be OF two
sorts, and the folks that do sem
be of two kinds, and atween the
the two, the Lord, if he notes
anything, must make a dlvidin'
line.
ssAnd when do you think that
this judgment is, John Norton?
asked the gambler, as if he was
actually enjoying the crude but
lnonest ideas of his companion.
The trapper hesitated a moment
before he spoke, then he said:
81 conceir that the judgment
be always goin on. It's Court
that never ajiourns, and all the
knaves and the disobedient III the
regiment be always on trial. But
I colceit that there comes dae
to every man, good and bad, when
the records of his deeds be looked
over from the start, ar d the good
and the bad be counted up and
in that day he gifts final jndg>
ment, whether it be for or agin
him. And now boy, continued
the old man solemnly with tone
of infinite tendernass in the Vi
bratlons of his voice, ye be nigh
| the Jedgment day, yerself, and the
deeds We have did, both good and
bad, will pass in review.
Il reckon there Isn't M Ich OF
a chance for me if your view is
sound, John Norton. And for the
first time his tone lost its cheer>
J full reck!eckness.
"The Cour, be court of mar.
cy; and tie Jeds looks upon 'em
| that comes Up for trial as et he
: was their father.
"That ends it, old man, for my
father never showed me any mer>
cy when | was boy. If he had,
, | shouldn't have been here now
Il | d'o wrong deed, | got ii
, to the last inch ot the lash, and
| the words were most intensel !
bitter because spoken SO qnietly
"The fathers of the arth. boy
7 be not like the father Of heaven
8 for | have seen 'em correct thei,
2 children beyond reason, and with.
: out marcy. They whipped II
their rage, aud not in their wis
! don; they whipped because they
: way strong, and not because o
5 their love; they whipped whe,
/ they shonld have forgiven. All,
l got what they arnt-,he hatred 0
: tneir children Dut the father i;
heaven be different, boy. Fl,
{ k!iows that men be weak; a.
1 well as wicked. He knowns tha
: halt OF 'em haunst had ia;
v chance. aud so he overlook
+ muc.; aud when he can't over
= look he sarter torgives III lump
: Yls, be suDlracts all he can tron
the evil We have did. boy. an /
that Isn't enough 10 satisfy hi
teehn.- toward tnan tnat NIGH
7 have been dlfferenl ef he had
!, tafr start, he jest wipes the who'll
l row of figures ciean out at III,
! askln.
/, AT the asking ? said the gam
j bier, that's mighty quick game
: Did you eve. pray, Johu Norton
Satin, be a prayin man
y said the trapper, sturdlIy.
e At the asking ? murmlred h
d gambler softly.
d "oartin, boy, answered tn
. trapper, that's the line the trla
e takes, ye can depend on it; and /
n will bring ye to the end OF thu
y great clearin' IN peace.
e Its a quick deal, said th
: gambler. speaking to hlmself, Ut
II terly unconscious of the incon
gruity of his speech to his thought
Its quick deal, but I can Sc
l. that it might end as he says,lt tn
y feeling aas right.
e F,r moment nothing wa
3 said. The trappsr stood Iookin
steadfastly at the Young inan o
y the moss, as he lay with his h
n quiet face turned up to the SIX