The Black range. (Robinson, Socorro County, N.M.) 1882-1897, 1884-01-11
A Leadville Sermon.

ScOlchman of excellent humOr. who is
returning from tour in America, read
us a sermon which he had taken down
as be heard it ID Leavllle. The service
was held in a variety theater. 5 me
whiskey barrels made the pulpit. AT
ter the singing of "a Days March
Nearer Home" a hard. featured miner
rose to address the hard-featured con-
gregation:
Friends, the regular preacher has
gone down today among the boys who
are working the new carbonate mines
at Gunnison, and | have been appoint
ed 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 al this business, and don't
believe there's rooster in the camp
mean enough TO take advantage of my
ignorance and cold-deck me on the first
deal. l have been reading in this yere
book that yarn about the prOdigal son.
and l will try and tell the story. They
don't give no dates, but l guess it hap
pened a considerable spell back In his
tory. 1t seems the Prod's father was
pretty flush with stamps, ard 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 ranch
and G. nerally behaved hisself hand
sum But by and by the kid begun to
get restless and wanted to rustic out
and travel; 50 he got the old man to
ante up in advance of the death racket
and let him go. He no sooner got his
divy in his pocket than he shook the
ranch and spread himself out to take in
some of the far off camps. Wal, ac.
cording to the book, he had way-up
time at first, and slung his coin around
as if he owned the best paying lead
within thousand miles of Denver
But, my friends, this game didn't last
Tor ever. Hard luck strikes him at last,
and the Prod is found in one of his So
Der intervals remarking in a cOniden'
tial way to one of his chums: ii say
old pard, am busted clean down to
bedrock, and them's the cold-blOoded
facts" The book don't say what the
Prod went broke on, but prob'ly he
steered against some brace game. BE
that as it may, however, he was so
beautifully cleaned out that he hadn't
atwo-bit piece left to 60 and eat on. In
this condition he struck ranch belong
ing to a granger, who, taking pity on
tile poor, busted Prod, gave him a job
of herding hogs. The granger wasn't a
bad old sample in general way, but he
was inclined to be kinder mean on the
feed, and so it came that often the Prod
got so frightfully sharpset for a meal
he had to go whack in the hog trough
You bet the kid who in his flush times
had been boozing around the best of
everything like silver king or big
railway monOpollst. had now plenty OF
time on his hands for rdoing tall lot OF
thinking, and one day he sad to him
self: "I'll just ding this business.
Why, even the meanest whelp in my
old governors service are living on
square grub, and plenty of it, while l
am working along on shock lunch. l
know what I'll do. I'll just skip back
to the old man and ask for anew deal"
SO away he went, but he had hard
time reaching the old ranch, and don't
you forget it. When you have plenty
of coin, my friends, everybody's pleas
ant, but when you are 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 cross
ing some open lots, the old man, as the
book puts it, saw him a-coming afar Off.
Yes, the old mans eyes were dim, but
he did not tail to spot his boy afar OFF.
And what d'y We suppose that Prod's
father did? Did he whistle the dogs
up to chase him off the ranch? You
bet he didn't. No, I'll tell you what he
did. He just waltzed right out of the
gate and met him, and froZe right to
that poor scarecrow right on the spot,
and fell to kissing him and weeping
over him. and calling him his poor, long
lost boy, until Prod got all broke up.
wept like a slnice dam, when the snow
comes down off Pixies Peak, under a
July sun. The old man then took him
right away, to a clothing store, and rig
ged him out in the nobbiest suit to be
had for coin and put an elegant ring
on his finger, ordered the fattest steer
on the ranch to be slaughtered, and in
vited all the neighborsin, and had the
biggest blowout that 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
and when he was told the reason he
just got real mad. The old man, hear