The Red Cloud chief., 1888-04-13

them. SD much OF holiness was crossing il.
The Prophet. apheno:lenal deceiver, was
q rather Large MAN. CT strong presence,
silvery, sandy hair. white beard. and cold,
hard, urbane. GuStere, or passionate, Ic-
cOrdinS to the demands of the moment.
About the mouth a look Of lir;nness and de-
cisiOn, that deepened upon occasion into
fiery cruelty and bulldog savagcry. But
now his large face looked very placid rs he
held it up toward the sun and rode forward
with his hands Outspread Is if to draw a
blessing down upon the people. When ne
reached the first tr,Umphal 2rch the lines Of
maidcns bowed their heads. and as the
train passed through the human lane they
cast their flowers before the Prophet. and
children walking before his carriage
strewed blossoms along the ground TO per-
fume the air and ease the Aurning wheels.
Upon the surface the thing was pretty
enough, but ut heart it was heinOus. In
the train were men whose hands had again
and again been wet with human blood,
Bishops Lee and Rockwell and others.
Men whose souls were black with the be-
lief that murder. and theft. and crimes that
shall be namcleSs here. were righteous and
commendable when perpctrated upon those
outside of the pale Of :heir religion" The
assumed Prophet himself, this man
Young who rode :: stolid dignity at
the head, was low.hOrn and un-
educated. with history clot.ed by crime
and uneven dealing His steaiings from
this poor people alone, upon whose nol-
lective neck his brutal foot rested. ags-e
gated millions. He took from the enG'-
Iaous fund pressed out of the people by
tithing whatever amount he cared to year
hN-x for no fi.n vol in
hands. and during his life settlement was
never made, and erected residence in
every considerable town in the Territory
and put wife in it: had farms and mills
and Government bonds. secretly bought
with church money. to blind the blind IS to
his means of living: had a collection of resi-
dences, pa!atial for the time, ut Salt Lake
City. with more than dozen wives to
grace, or rather disgrace, them, and in the
largest of which he held court and dictated
the affairs of Utah to his own gain and
glory; had an Oath-bound band of red
handed tools who in the name Of the Lord
darkiy did away with his rivals and his
enemies, while year after year he rode
among this people. Il sort of imperiOIS
Sain:-ling, bringing the Almighty's will
concerning them direct from His mouth.
and ever secure in the feryOr Of their faith
and ignorance.
At length his carriage came to a stand
still before Bishop Pariey's house, and TAX
ing the Bishops proffered hand he stepped
down on the ground. and. with a sudden
glow of seeming sunshine in his face. began
squeezing the hard soilcd fists of his fol-
lowers to right and left. How it thrilled
them, poor dupes, to feel the graspof his fat
white hand. the live touch Of this well-fed
animal. this sinless being who, they thought,
walked and talked with God.
He affected To know every man in the Ter
ritOry. and, alas. every sister, too! He
pattcd the little ones upon their heads and
flashed his sunshine into the eyes Of their
fiattcred mothers. He was very gracious,
indeed. this man who held the keys to Gods
spiritual kingdom here. and looked at will in
upon the splcndors ami mysteries of the Tn
seen worlds. But when he stood inside Of
Bishop Parley's office his brow darkened,
his eyes grew hard and cold. and his first
utterancc: Bishop what's the matter with
the tithing from your Stake!" fell harshly
from his Lips. The God-like smile had gone;
he had returned TO himself-a brusquc and
greedy collector of tithcs.
Farley closed the door with increasing
color in his heavy countenance and u per-
ceptible swelling Of the dark sacks under
his eyes.
You're either using too much Of the in
cone Yourself the Prophet went on. ''or
Arsen an you are not tending to your knit
:in'.''
''.Scither. Brother Young. neither" said
Farley, ObSeQuIouSly. as he waddicd forward
and seated himself, we've collected q
tenth part Of every thing they've produced
this !.r IL the season: every cent and
pound. and III some cases more where we
thought they could stand it. The trouble is
they lost most of their stock in the snow
storms last winter. and that has played the
ID with things for u.s."
''Weil. you don't want TO let any OF it get
away from YOU" said Young. somewhat
molliticd. LET me See yohr books
The Bishop drew them out Of a drawer
and laid them on i desk before his superior
As he did 50 he said: Il would like to ask
your opinion about a question that has been
sprung OF Arsen when out collcctin' several
tines
What is it, sruntcd the Prophet in his
thick neck, as hc leaned forward over the
books
why. you know. for instance. we collect
One-tcnth of the grain when it's harvested.
and when what's left is fed into their stock
We tsi1S al tcitu part OF the Stock. Some
sharper has asked Arsen if that ain I tax
ing more than u tenth part of the grain
''Of course Ii iS,' blurtcd out the revelator,
''th:.;'s why set the tithing dates the way
they arc: we want 10 catch all of it we can
Hou tell 'cIn it's the Lords will that the
precise order Of His Kingdom as revealed to
ME should be carried OFT; and DO you sec
that none of it gets away. too A mean
smile came into the Prophets face as he
said this. but it died away and the sentence
ended with Il mcnaciug nod.
''Ncs, l understand said Parlcy
After time the Prophet pushed the
books from him with satisfied look. We'll,
how are things going in the Stake. anyway,
rirlcy:' he qucried. patting himself on the
chest over his side coat pocket, with a per-
ceptib,c deepening of the satisfied look as
his fat hand touched something there ..By
the by. have YOU glass and some sugar
handy. Parlcy:r he qucried aga,n. as his
hand went under his coat lapel and brought
forth a little flask. He shoois it Up against
the light. ''Chr;stopher:' he exclaimed,
''but that's as clear and ycllcr as hOney-'
The Bishops expression changed instant
ly from uneasy expectancy to mouth-wa-
tering delight. ''Uhuh. yes; Ill git YOU