The Red Cloud chief., 1880-02-05

The a.;emp, TO combine the sunday
school and the ;heatsr Il always = doabt-
full experiment The two ingredients
can rarely be united 50 - To produces .,
satisfactory result Either there TOO
much San0sy-school for the amount ot
thez,sr, in Whieh case the eutsrtainmcns
/. unspcakably drcary. or else their Is
too much ;heaier in proportion Ia sun
day-school. in which case h perform
ancc becomes obicctionably worldly
Mr.. George M~acIonald's Plynm's
Progress - almost the only instance u
4 successful Sunday-school drama. and
even that really meritorous entertain
meut may 10 found fault with. On uhs
sroand that Fsithful's hsbit Of hsfing
With the pretty gre VIM hep sasssrs -,
Vanity Fair l. out Of keeping With the
character Of that excellent person a.
conceived by Bunyan. Still, the belief
tina, q Biblical play can be sacoessfali,
acted by Sunday-schooi children can
never be wholly ersiicaied from The en-.
,erprixing superintendent mind. and
hence the holiday season always WI
nesses repetitions cf the familiar expert
ment.
Great things were anticipated. an-
reasonably Of course, by the congrega,
don Of the williston Congregational
Church, in regard to the repre- sentatior
Of the S~crip,ural play Of ELISHA, issi
Monday night. The play Was written ny
the Sunday-school superintendent : VILE
who was a clever woman OF no htiie
literary skill, and the pastor n
members of the Prudential Committee,
who heard II read, were grestiy i'm
pressed with its merits. OF b con-
struction Of the play. il is unfortunately
impossible 10 speak, for reasons which
viii presently appear. There Is no
doubt, however. that il opened well, and
We NAV concedc its authors lain that
il contained abundant incident, and was
both thoroughly S%criptural In tone and
sensational in its climaxes.
The ~Iecturc-room, with a temporary
stage and a red drop-curtain, inside a
neat little iheaier, which was crowded
half an hour before the performances
began. The curtain rose upon \ scene
representing a shady valley, with a high
hill in the background, up which u
practical and very steep road a n On
each side Of the stage was a dense Tor
est Of ten or twelve trees and q country
tavern, with the sign Railway Hotel
| stood on the left side. In front OF the
tavern forty-two children-who consti-
tute nearly the whole strength 81 the
Sunday engaged IN vart-
Gus games. Some of them were pitch
ing quoits, others were playing marbles.
All were quarreing iiercely. and from
their appearance, were children Of the
very worst moral character and most
| curiously ragged clothes. To them
presently entered from the right lower
entrance the Prophet Eiishd, carrying
his hat in his hand, in order to display
| his total lack Of hair. lie was a large
Prophet, with a long white beard and a
walking stick of great size; but there Is
no doubt that he would have looked bet
ter had he been provided with a little
hair. As he passed the Railway Hotel
he stopped to ask the way tn the nearest
Post-ofAce, but it is painful to relate
that the boys refused Ia give him a civil
answer. In fact, they chaffed the Proph
ct and made illusions to his lack Of
hair, which were both personal and
rude. The good man betrayed no anger.
but he told them that they disgraccd
their parents by their conduct, To which
| they with one accord triumphantly an
swered that they hadn't got none"
and that they were "orphants." Great
ly disguised by this repartee. the Proph-
ct shook his stick sadly but kindly at
them, and proceeded on his way. The
wicked children continued to yell after
him, advising him To buy a wig, or to
trv somebody's hair %restorer. and in
other ways expressing their wicked want
of respect. Endurance having ceased
to DE a virtue, Elisha paused and whis-
tied loudly. Whereupon W frightful
bears issued from the forest, and, falling
upon the children, began to tear them
in pieces.
All would perhaps have gone well,
had not one of the wicked boys refused
to be torn. The others had promptly
fallen fiat on the ground the moment
the bears arrived, instead of climbing
! trees or seeking refuge in the Railway
Hotel: but this particular boy. who, as
it subsequently appeared, had been Dor
rowed ut the last moment from the
Methodist Sunday-school, and who had
not attended the rehearsal, showed
fight. He caught up a stick which hap
pened to be at hand, and hit the first
bear a resembling whack over the head,
drawing from that astOnished animal
| the exclamation, "By gosh" Leav-
\ ing the fOrty-one PROSTATE children, the
incensed bear rose OF his hind legs and
hit the borrowed boy a beautiful blow
straight from his shoulder. The two
then rushed together and fought all over
the stage, while the other bear, yielding
to the excitement of the moment, CT
couraged his associate brute by loudly
requesting him to "gO iD," and by Of
fering to bet 10 cents on his success
with any one who might be willing to
put up the money. The Prophet, in
view of the uproar, turned
back and belabored beth bears
and the borrowed boy with his
stick with great impartiality, until all
three cried for quarter. II was while
he was engaged in this praise
worthy work that he accidentally
knocked down the chandelier with his
stick, and thereby created an alarm OF
fire. which speedily emptied the house,
and brought the entertainment to a
| close.
The fathers Of both bears have since
sued the Prophet for assault and bat
terry, and the whole congregation is d.
vided over the question whether the
| Prophet had any right to thrash other
! peoples bears in public, no matter ii
the latter had yielded to strong temPta-
| ton to infuse an unexpected realism IN
10 the drama. However this may be
decided, there is no doubt that the play
was q failure, and it is to be hoped that
it will have some little influence in in
ducing Sundsy-school Superintendent
to abstain from cemplicating religious
instruction with amateur theatricak.-
Ner York Times.
Adventures q the Csunt Hsurice De
Fee. s.
NEW YORK, January s.-About four
months ago a genteel foreigner, about
a years old. calling himself Count
| Manrice Ia Fer took aDarfmenfs with