Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1879-08-21

tributed their conversion from wicket
iiie to the preaching The Old Garden
er' In the midst OF apparently extrem,
ignorance. and. II what have heard re
lated respecting some incidents OF his III,
be true. no small degree OF cunning. h,
possessed great personal courage. Ofthi.
the following incident affords ample evl.
dence The old Gardener was once sub
jected to burglary and attempt at rob
berry lie lived with his wife. a counter.
part Of himself. In a small and somewhat
/ dilapdsted cottage, no, far from the high
road Three young "squires." OF large
/ expectations. who had just finished thci'
/ studies at the university. aud who alt de-
I spl.ed ard hated Mcthodism. having heard
that the old man had been recently making
= collection to build a Methodist chapel,
T thought 1t would be good frolic to rob
! him. temporarily, OF the proceeds OF his
{ collection. plan was Immediately form.
( ed aud time appointed for carrying 1t into
! execution. II Is supposed that the old man
I had some Information OF the plot IRON a
mother OF one Of the young gentlemen.
I The result Of the frolic 1. best related 10 the
words OF one OF the actors:
We set out" said he. upon our e1pe-
diuou With blackeucd faces, on dark
right. lltilc before II o'clock The old
Gardener was one OF my fathers tenants.
and Knew the locality Of the cottage
well We had dined late; and all OF "a.
had Du,ch a, well a. Cornish courage, yet.
| confess when il came to the point. felt
myself coward. | began TO reflect thai,
It Was but dasiArdy ftolic 70 irighicn a
poor old man and bic wife In the dead Of
night, | sas acquainted with the history
of the old man and his simple mode Of life.
and once, out Of curiosity. had heard hini
preach. His preaching Was utterly indc.
sorioabie. and his appearance. 10 his iub
wrought up to ht Of enthusiasm, truly
awful. one OF bi. frequent cxvrcs.lons
wAs. II an sure am under The protection
of the Almighty, sHd neither man uor d,,u
ears. aad a.,hoagh had determined to
form one OF the party Who had plotted ,1-
gcihcr to rob The Old man. ultimately
compromised with conscience. by rcso.y-
such a man could be frightened The
ciocA struck twelve. Sos comes the
wichug time OF night exclaimed Tom
Don't LEI - ff!ghicn the poor couple ou,
We Hijl be g,ntlc robocr,-g gentle a,
Robin Hood and Little john" -a.i tAa,
! would ralhc- travel back than proceed
"Rccol,cc;." sad /. 1.-The old fellow j. al
ro.hin. human" "Nonscnse" exclaimed
Ryder. Here goes" lie pressed the ier.
be door OF the cottage Ia which the old
-- ---si-aa - '-----.'t,--t-- =. ..-.-
few open. Ne entered aud found our
selves iu sort of kiIchen. To our great
surprise there was lighl shining from an
inner room. This made 1t. hesitate.
who q. out there al this time of the
night:" exclaimed a hoar'e voice from
within. | knew IL 10 be the uumi-tAkable
voice OF the old Gardener. give u your
money. and DO harm shah bcfsll you" sail
Tom. ''bui Ne must have your money.
The Lord will be my defence" rejnineI
the old Gardener. "lou shall have no
money from me; all in the house ). The
Lord's-take 1t II you dare We mu.t
II l. 6. aFf.
the Inner room. amer taking the precauiinu
OF fastening the chamber door a. We eu-
tered. We soon wished We hal suffered j;
10 remain open. a. you vii see
Now consider q. face TO face with The o,l
Gardener. aud pretty >ight We pr--"uie,l
Three rgtiiaHs. (ourselye-, with white
wagoners frocas aal blacAeneh faces
Before US the old Gardener, sitting ou the
side Of hl. bed. lie wore red worsted
nisht-cap. checked shirt, aud u flannel
jacket; his iron grey face, fnnsed with
grizzly beard, looked a. cool and undi'-
mayed a. II he had been In hi, palpli
preaching. \ table was by the side - The
bed, and immed ately In front OF him On
large deal table. was an open Bible, close
TO which We observed, to our horror,
heap OF sunpowder large enough 10 blow
up a castle \ caudle was burning on the
table, aud the old fellow held steel In one
hand and large Hint la the other. We
were all three completely paralyzei. The
wild. iron faced, determined look of the old
Gardener, the candle. The flint and steel,
and the great heap OF powder. absolutely
iroze our blood and made towards Of u
all. The Gardener saw the impression he
had made on US what d" you want 10
rob and murder e exclaimed he, "yo had
better j1in with me in prayer. miserable
sinners that you all are. Repent, and you
may yet be saved, you will soon be 10
another world"
Ryder first recovered his speech. PLEASE
TO hear the Mr.. Gardener. feel that We
have been wrong, and II We may depart,
We will make repsration and give you all
the money We have in our pockets" We
laid our purses on the table before him.
The Lord hath delivered you into my
hands. III was so ftNcaleu me III
dream. We shall all soon be in another
world. Pray, let us pray" And down he
fell upon his knees close to the table, with
the candle burning aid the ugly flint and
steel in his hand. He prayed and prayed;
though, his prayer would never end. At
last he appeared exhausted. He stopped
and eyed the purses. and then enptied one
OF them out on the table. He appeared
surprised. and. | thought, gratified. at the
largeness of It's contents. We now thought
we should have leave to retire. but. to our
| dismay, the old Gardener said: "Now We
will praise God by singing the hundredth
psalm" This was agony TO us ALL AFTER
/ the psalm the old man took up the second
purse. and while he was examining its con-
tents, Ryder, who was close behind Tom
and myself. whispered softly. II have ~
fastened the door; when you hear me move
make a rush" The old Gardener then
] nouring our the contents of tn, second