Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1884-05-28

| IN the stagc-cOa"h, Dat must Dc silrc II
remove IL whenever | stopped.
Had ! been going a. Il missionary tc
Timbuctoo Dorcas could scarcely hav,
been In a greater iidgct. | shall noI
risk mourning the charge of cNaggera
ton BY hazarding a con lecture u; to tn,
number of times she packed, unpacked
and repacked my hand-trdnk, or by di
vulging her views rs TO the number o
night and day shirts, white tie; anC
throat-lozenges required for II week.
ministerial campaign. How To get
such an unlimited quantity into a limited
space was problem solyablc only by
feminine ingenuity.
i confess to feeling of relief when
the hoor came 10 kiss Dorcas good-bl
and take my place in the coach.
Half an hour had elapsed, and | had
| just gotten comfortably settled down in
sudden ! started from the revery into
which was being gently jolted.
| Wasn't like the man who went shoot.
ing and forgot his gunP Hadn't l left
my sermon behindP | remembered lay.
ing II out before starting, but re,ollect,
ed nothing further. began hurried
search, and couldn't help an exclama.
ton of relief as my hand encountered
the precious document in my inside
breast pocket.
The joleney was without incident till
the last day, which was Saturday, when
suddenly we collapsed a wheel. Fortu.
nately the accident occurred at the en-
trance of populous village, where the
passengers could be made comfortable
pending the repairs.
A wheelwright was sent for, who, If
ter careful diagnosis, declared that il
would take at least half-a day to get the
vehicle on its legs. must either, then
remain where / was till Monday, or con.
tinue my journey on the Sabbath, which
was against my principles. | had re-
Gently made the sin of Sunday-travel-
ing the subject of set discourse, and
felt obliged to practice my own teach
ings as well for consistencys as for con
science sake.
l was inwardly deploring the neoes.
sity of spending the coming Sabbath in
the promiscuous society of village
tavern, when grand looking gentle
man accosted me:
ii presume, by your garb, he said
''tl at you are clergyman, and being
of that calling myself, and conjecturing
your aversion to proceeding on journey
under circumstances which may carry
il into the Sabbath, permit me to tender
you the hospitality of my roof till Mon
day."
thankfully accepted the offer ant
shortly after myself and hand-trunl
were snugly bestowed in Brother and
Sister Gushinggood's best ROOM
Though an entire stranger to both,
could scarcely have been more hospta
bly, received had 1 enjoyed their init
macy for years. In the course OF the
evening Brother G. shinggood and 1 dis
covered that our views completely har.
monized on certain important question:
then actively mootcd; and before the
hour of retiring he prcssingly invited
me TO occupy his pulpit on the morrow,
/ saw no strong reason to decline; foi
though had brought but single ser.
mon with me, and should be obliged tc
repeat it at the protracted meeting, the
two places were sufficiently distant to
insure that the audiences would be
wholly different.
Before lying down took out the ser.
mon to run il over, as was my custom
of Saturday night. Every brother
knows that to read sermon creditably
one can not be too familiar with il.
At the first glance | started with sur
prise. IL wasn't my sermon ut all!
must have forgotten the latter as | hat
feared, and this must be one of the dead
minister's left in his coat pocket.
| glanced it over and found ii well
compactcd discourse on n popular topic
| Why not use itp II was an cXcellcn
product on and might do great good, o
which the world was not to be deprived
merely because the author was dead
Besides, il had fallen into my hands a,
a sort of Provident' al treasure-irove, il
which | felt ! possessed at least ;
usufructuary title.
But must hurry on TO the point q
which rose in Mr.. Gushinggood's pull
pit next morning with the newly-discov
cred sermon carefully smoothed out an,
neatly deposited between the Old at,
New Testament in the big Bible on The
reading desk.
| | began in my best manner. BY nc
peated perusals | had so familiarize,
myself with the manuscript tha', will
the aid of an occasional promptn,
glance, | was able to clothe the word
with the freshness of apparently extern
poraneous delivery.
The opening sentences were receives
with respectful attention; but prett
soon queer looks began TO be exchanged
and one sedate- looking gentleman &c
tually winked at another at the close G
one of the best-rounded periods. Tn
most pathetic passages, instead c
eliciting tears, excited smiles; and tn
pcroration, which was highly pathetic
was received with a broad grin, an
more than one dainty handkerchief wa
raised, not to choke back sob, but {
stife litter.
sat down indignant, and left Broth
err Gushinggood to continue the eXel
cises. He did so with brief paper. dc
cidedly wanting in JUNCTION, from whic
the usual complimentary allusion
"the excellent discourse TO which W
have been privileged - liston," wa
studiously omitted.
Before the giving out Of the fin;
hymn expected TO hear the customar
announcement Of collection TO /
taken up 'for the benefit of the brothC
who has just addressed US" On the col
, trary, his was what Brother Gushing
good said:
, mot long since, when had occasio
: to make visit 10 distant town, IL
| house at which stopped was robbie,
/ Among other articles taken was q co;
of mine with sermon in the poke
To that sermon we have just listcne,
and observed you all recognized it, f.
Q IL is not long since l preached il hei
g myself. The stolen garment is on th'
! mans back. identify il as fully as
2 do the discourse which he has just he
the effrontcry to deliver. | believe
4 is an imposter and thief, who has a
sumed his present character for the pu
4 pose of victimizing the unsuspectir
d portion of the religious communit
y You will now receive the benedctio
q and nj the conclusion Constable Hal