New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1878-09-11
est, and she got into the corner and sat


to sleep Doherty!"
Pretty soon she began. I could hes
her plain above the roaring of the storm.
She began-Doherty n-that-that
erable-creetur- that had
once been woman like other women
folks-excuse me, ma'am; but she had
been on our books good many years.
And I've heard her sing such things! I
never looked to be taken by surprise, as
Doherty took me. You're not surprised
very easy in such place as this at any
thing your fellows sinners do.
But about midnight, when the storm
was at its thickest and the cells were
growing still, Doherty, she satu and be-
gan to sing hymn. She sang:
''Shall we gather at the river.''
My boy sings that at Sunday school, and
my wife she strikes it up the first thing
on the cabinet organ every Sunday night
Doherty sang 1t all through:
"At the margin of the river.
Washing up its silver spray,
We shall walk and worship ever,
All the happy golden days.,
Those are the words. thought perhaps
you wouldn't know them. Folks sing
them great deal in the Baptist church.
Before you could have cock ei pisto |
1t was as quiet as the grave all through
this place. The officers looked at one an
other. All the men walked up. The
women all got together in heap about
her. The Cap'n said to me: Doherty's
singing hymn-tunes said I thought
Jya ~ Jo,
When we looked in at the g1atir g,
wish, ma'am, you could have seen these
men-ragged, rough, red, drunk. Some
OF 'em taken in awful crimes. No, don't
wish you had seen 'em. But there they
set, as silent as row Of angels on the
judment day, a listening to hear that wom-
an sing. One another, they said "Hush;
bush!' An one fellow said: 81 used to
sing that song myself He was up for
assault and battery. Badly beaten, too,
himself, about the face. He crept along
the wall, noticed, on his knees, to &c,
where he cou4d hear her better. When
she stopped be hollered out:
Give us some more, Dohertyl'
And the rest said:
DohertY, give us another psalm
tune!n
But one of the women said:
Come. Nell! Sing us to sleep with
the hymns
So then she began again, and she gave
1t to EN-, one upon another, fast and clear,
Heavens knows where the creetur learned
EN-. At some Protestant Sunday school,
maybe, where she'd wandered in at the
holidays. They go good deal on ac-
count Of the Christmas presents.
We all got round her there-th men
inside and the officers without-and list
ened for while. I don't think ever
heard her sing so in all my life. Doherty
had fine voice, no mistake. If she'd
been respectfully born she'd have been
great singer, that woman, takei;; and
folks would have been running to the
opera and the concert halls to hear her.
So there she sat and sang. She set up
IN one corner, with her chin upon her
hands, and noticed nobody, but stared
straight on before her. She sang g Near
er, my God, to Thee and depths of
mercy and she sang II heard the Voice
of Jesus say" and "Love at Home" and
all those. And all the men and the wo-
men listened. And I saw the Cap'n
draw his hand acrost his eyes. And I'll
own 1t wac too much for me- will, in
deed.
To see her there, letting out those holy
words SO trustfutly, as you might say,
ma'am, as if she had as much right to 'em
as anybody-that-poor wretched-mad-
it was enough to break your heart to
hear her. I couldn't help remembering
how pretty she had been and young, and
how she took on the first night she ever
come to us.
Pretty soon | come away up stairs-for
she unnamed me SO, before the men; and
| set down here and had it out alone.
But while was sitting there i heard
lull. and one Of the Irish boys called out
"Give us one more, Doherty! Then We
can take yer sleep yerself.''
And then, ma'am, she began, quite low
and IN faint voice and very sweet. and
she sung:
Jesus, lover of my souls
She sung in this way, singing louder
now and then,
Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the pillows near me roll,
Hide me, o Thou Savior, hide!''
And IN tie midst of the verse she STOP
ped. The men called to her, and the
yapn said
"Give US the rest, Nel!'
was rather glad he called her Nell
ust then; for when we got in, wondering
what 1t all meant and hushing up the
ma'am, IS best we could, we
ound her lying turned little on her
tide, with her face against the ll,quite
lead. wa