The Dawson journal., 1884-01-10
A LEADVILLE SERMON.
HOW A HARD.FEATURED OLD MINER
PREACHED.
How a Minister ToId the Story Of the
Prodizal Son.

OCOtcnman OF excellent hum0r, who Ii
returning from tour in America, read
us a sermon which he had taken down
as he heard it in Leadvilie. The service
was in variety theater some whisky
barrels made the pulpit. After the
singing of ga days march nearer home, ;"
a hard-featured miner rose to address
the hard-featured congregation:
Friends, the regular preacher has
gone down among the boys who are
working the new carbonate mines at
Gunnison, and have been appointed to
take his hand and heave it for all it's
worth. To many of you present it won't
be necessary to tell you that I'm kinder
new to this business, but 1 don't believe
there's rooster in the camp mean
enough to take advantage of my ignor-
ance and cold-deck me on the first deal.
1 have been reading in this yere book
that yarn about the Prodigal Son and
will try to tell you the story. The book
don't give no dates, but 1 guess it hap
pened a considerable spell back in his
tory. 1t seems the Prods father was
pretty flush with the stamps, and a real
good sort into the bargain, as he always
shelled out freely when the kid struck
him for a stake, and never bucked at the
size of the pile neither, so long as the
boy heaved in hearty on the rancho and
generally behaved hisself handsum. But
by and by the kid began to git restless
and wanted to rustic out the travel: so
he got the ole man to ante up in ad-
vance of the death racket and let him 90.
He nosooner got his divvy in his pocket
than he shook the rancho and spread
himself out to take in some of the far off
camps. Wal, according to the book, he
had way-up time at first and slung his
coin around as if he owned the best pay
ing lead within a thousand miles of
Denver. But, my friends, this game
didn't last forever. Hard luck struck
him at last, and the Prod is found in
one of his sober intervals remarking in
q confidential way to one Of his chums ::
"I say, old pard, I'm busted clean to
the bedrock, and them's the cold
blooded facts" The book don't say
what the Prod. went broke on, but
prob'bly he steered up against some
brace game. Be that as it may, however,
he was so beautifully cleaned out that
he hadn't twO-bit piece left to go and
eat on. In this condition he struck
rancho belonging to an old granger,
who, taking pity on the poor, busted
Prod, gave him job of herding hogs.
The granger wasn't bad old sample in
general way, but he was inclined to be
kinder mean on the feed, and so it came
that often Prod got so frightfully sharp.
set for a meal he had to go whacks in
the hog-trough. You bet the kid who
in his flush times had been boozing
round among the best of everything like
a silver king or big railway monopolist,
had now plenty Of time on his hands for
doing tall lot Of thinking, and one day
he said to himself: 'T'll just ding this
business. Why, even the meanest help
in any old governors hired service are
living on square grub, and plenty Of it,
while I'm worrying along on a shook
lunch. I know what I'll do-I'll Just
skip back home to the old man and ask
him for a new DEAL" So away he went,
but he had hard time reaching the old
rancho, and don't you forget it. When
you have plenty of coin, my friends,
everybody's pleasant, but when you're
on the borrow you don't find it so good.
Finally he did strike the familiar trail
leading down to the old home and while
crossing some open lots the old man, as
the book puts In, saw him a-coming afar
of. Yes, that ole mans eyes were very
dim, but he did not fail to spot his boy
afar of.
And what dye suppose that Prod's
father did? Did he whistle the dogs to
chase him of the ranche2 You bet he
didn't. Did he go and take down his
shotgun and wait till he got good drop
on him? You bet he didn't. No, but
I'll tell you what he did. He just
waltzed right out of the gate to meet
him, and froze to that poor scarecrow
right on the spot, and fell to kissing of
him and weeping over him and calling
him his poor, long-lost boy until the
Prod got broke all up and like sluice
dam when the snow comes down off
Pixies Peak under July sun. The old
man then took him right away to a cloth
ing store and rigged him out in the
noblest suit to be had for coin and put
an elegant ring on his finger, ordered
the fattest steer on the rancho to be
slaughtered, invited all the neighbors in,
and had the biggest blowout the camp
had ever seen.
Now it appears that the Prod's elder
brother was out at work with the teams,
and when he came in he asked some of
the help what was the meaning of the
picnic they were having inside, aud when
he was told the reason he just got real
mad. The old man hearing of this
went out to him and said; "Come in,
lad; your brothers. come back and we're
having regular old-fashioned jubilee;
now you come right along, like a good
fellow, and take share in the break
down." But the brother wouldn't bulge,
and said: 'Look here, dad, I have
stuck to the rancho and have never trans
eVwaaa~1