The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-01-04


In tho Brush, Rev. II. W. pircson.
When / arrived within a few hours ride
of the springs i stopped to dine at a house
Sf private entertainment large four
horse stage loaded with passengers bound
for the springs soon drove up and stopped
mt the same house, which was the regular
place OF dining for the passengers. After
dinner / rode 20 the springs. keeping along
most Of the way i'll company with the stage.
Ny Jennie attracted very marked attention
from the driver and passengers. The driver
was especially profuse in his expressions of
admiration. As / rode Gp TO the hotel the
~iistless, lounging visitors, who were so deep
in the brush that they had very little to at
tract or interest them, regarded her gait and
movements with general attention and de-
light. When ! dismounted n black boy was
soon III my saddle, and my Jennie moved
off to the stable with her usual fieetne.s
AMI grace. / entered the hotel and regis
tered my name, without any prefix or sufix
to indicate my employment or profession.
The weather was very hot, the roads aastv,
and after the fashion of the country | was
at once furnished with water TO wash. As
l stood wiping myself the stage driver
rushed into the room and up to me in great
excitement and said: Mr.. P~ierson. will
you allow your horse 10 Iun? The money
is up and We'll have a race if you'll only
allow her to run" nc the same time holding
up and shaking in my face a mass of bills
that were drawn through his fingers after
the fashion of gamblers in those parts. /
was startled to have my name pronounced
In a strange place, and by a stranger, but
in a moment %bethought me that he had
learned it by looking on the hotel register.
I was more startled by the strangeness of
me proposition. AS the servant stood with
my saddle bags on his arm waiting to show
me TO my room, l answered, perhaps u lit
tie too abruptly, No. sir" and followed
him to my room to prepare for supper.
When the supper bell rang, and l stepped
ont OF my room on the piazza, q portly
man of gentlemaniy bearing, who had
evidently taken his position there to
wait for me, approached me
pleasantly and said: 81 hope sir, Won will
rec onsider your decision and allow your
maze TO ruu. As soon as you rode up ]
IF red to bet $3.50 that she would outrur
any.hing hUre, and the money is mp. Al
low me to say hat l am an old Vlrgin;ar
and judge of horses, and if you let her run
| am sure to win" BY thisstime ] had en-
tirely recovered my self-possession, and
bowling politely, l looked directly into his
eyes said: do you think, Sir, it will dc
for a Presbyterian clergyman TO commence
horse racing so soon after reaching the
springs?" He was as much startled as ]
had boen--in fact, so startled that
he could not say q word, and left him
without any reply and went into supper.
When l returned from the dining room j
found him at the door, and he approached
pN in the most subdued manner and said:
ALLOW me to speak to you again, sir. l
wish to apologize, sir; | beg your pardon, |
sir; / assure you, sir, that nothing would
induce me, knowingly, to insult q clergy
man." responded very pleasantly; II am.
certain, sir, that no insult was intended,
and therefore there is no pardon to be
granted" He thanked me very warmly
for my kind construction of his motive and
left me with q lighter step and brighter
fice. His companions were all greatly
pleased with my treatment of the matter,
and, as l have elsewhere said, there WIZ a
general turnout OF all the gamblers-of
whom he was one OF the most prominent
to hear me preach in the ballroom next
Sabbath. But l need not say to any one at
all familiar with life in the southwest that
ne had to stand treat" all around among
his companions for being thus. in the YER
nacular OF the country, picked up" by the
preacher. III passing through another part
of this country, the following winter, | rode
up to a biacksmith's shop TO get a shoe
tightened. As soon as the blacksmith came
he said: Wasn't You at the springs
last summer with that mare'" I replied in
the affirmative, and, on looking at him, rec
ognized the man that kept q little shop
there and had shod her in the summer
Well" said he, leaning upon her neck,
her affectionately, and looking into
vacancy with o pleased expression, as if
over some pleasant scene in the
past, they got her out, preacher, and run
her, any way" And then, as If to make
the matter all right, he said, with q most
smile and emphatic nod: And
preacher, she beat, she did. He won his
money!"