Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1888-05-19


you haven't physique like mine but never
mind, all will end well, and we will meet
again in Ispahan or Babylon-you the patri-
archal head of numerous family and l the
war correspondent of The Daily Shouter
! You must write up your experiences and
will bring them home and see that they are
well brought out and that you get pretty
penny out of the affair. Or you may get
yourself lost and I'll enact Stanley to your
Livingstone and we'll advertise each other
from Dan to Beershcba. You must put this
objectionable sin nonsense out of your head
and put your best foot forward generally.
Don't bother about thinking up new scr
mon; give them one of your old ones, but put
a lot of vim into it. Beat the dust out of the
pulpit cushions. Let them know that you
are alive
Steele shook his head sadly. ~ want them
to know that l am strong, well man, and l
feel a lassitude creeping over me which
makes the lifting of that fishing rod diff
cult task"
"Cheer up! cheer up!" exclaimed Halsey.
"You will be rested in the morning; it is all
that confounded Japane2e an Turkish study;
all you need is little mueoular Christianity.
Take leaf out of Charles Kingley's book;
buy pair of boxing gloves, and I'll pummel
shriveled body"
The next morning Andrew Steele was de-
Hrious. 1t was with great trouble that his
friend conveyed him home. On the morning
after their arrival the sick man had lucid
interval He regarded Halsey with wistful
dry ewes st has come,n he said. 1--WE
broken down If | could have held out three
I days longer"-
"You are right, old fellow" Halsey re-
piled, cheeringly; "give up to it completely;
let the disease do its worst instead of trying
to fight against it, and it will spend its force
all the sooner"
but l must send a supply to Ramoth
Gilead,n he murmured; "1promised to preach
for them tomorrow, and there is NO time to
secure any one else"
Il will go for you," Halsey exclaimed, i'm
pulsively, land read one of your sermons"
! His friend was sinking into Inconsistencies
again, but he grasped the idea partially and
a smile of unutterable relief chased the tor
ture from his face.
"You will take my place, he said in tone
of perfect confidence and profound gratitude;
''you will do everything for me better than l
could do for myself. l can endure anything
now"
In a few moments he was quietly sleeping
II must not betray his trust" Halsey said to
himself, as he rummaged through his friends
desk; but the drawer which probably con
| tained the sermons was locked, and he could
not Rnd the key He glanced at his watch;
he had barely time to catch the train. Never
mind" he thought, II have a dozen of good
ones by the ableSt New York divines in my
shorthand notebooks. will read one or two
Of them"
Hastily throwing the note books and few
necessary articles into hand bag, he set out
for Ramoth Gilead. The station was merely
4 platform in the wilderness. The little set
Element lay three miles away, around the
spur of Mount Haystack. An elderly man
was waiting upon the platform and shook
hands with Halsey, remarking: You are
Mr. Steele, s'pose. DR.. Corcoran has writ
ten us all so much about you, that the whole
parish feel as if they knew you, though there
isn't one of us that has ever set eyes on you"
Upto this moment all that Halsey had in
tended was to explain the situation, and to
1ffer to supply his friends place by reading
some of the sermons with which his short
hand note book was abundantly supplied
| Now the idea struck him that he might do his
friend good turn by actually personating
him The deacon had just shown him that
this was possible Why not do it? His self
] esteem UOlu nlll LudJ ue COulL iildho q idNoi
able impression upon these country peo-
ple and that a report would be sent
| TO DR.. Corcoran of the athletic ap-
pearance of the Rev. Andrew Steele,
which would secure his friend the posi-.
ton he wished Personally, the whole thing
appeared to him in a ludicrous light. 1t
would be another racy experience of life, and
would make good story for his Bohemian
club, ''The Free Lances.n There was a risk
Of detection but that only added fascination
to the enterprise. His decision was made i'll
a twinkling rand he shook hands with the
deacon with quite ministerial air,
H.
81 am going to take you to our house" the
deacon remarked, as he led Halsey to his
horse and blackboard, which were hidden ina
group of sycamores at little distance from
the track. "You see it rather tires the doc
tor to have company put up at the parson-
age"
II am glad of that thought Halsey, won
! dering how he could have stood the two days
scrutiny of a doctor of divinity, adding
aloud: 81 am sure l shall enjoy myself with
you, and hope you will tell me something
about your people, and what kind of preach
ing you like up here"
"Well, young man." the deacon replied,
1--WE like the Gospel. Some of the oldest
amongst us are fond of points of doctrine,
but the most part are spiritual babes and
have to be fed on milk. They can't stand
stronger meat than free agency and free or
dination We are mostly plain people, too.
We like plain living, plain dressing and
plain speaking. We don't take much stock
in man who quotes Shakespeare in his ser
mons or that wears jewelry, or that is over
particular about his victuals."
Halsey stole a hand furtively within his
linen duster and removed diamond stud of
which he was not a little vain. He had bought
it at bargain of an acquaintance who was
obliged suddenly to raise sum of money,
and it had only been a perfectly safe invest
rnent of little spare cash, but people here
could not understand this and it was just as
well to suppress its glitter for the present
He was glad that he had chosen black neck
tie that morning, and was still more thank
full that he had not thrown away his last
"a 20 MrG