Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-10-31

ton, my friend"
He was thln-faced, ight-built fellow.
whose nervous energy constantly preyed
upon his physical development.
Some men can engage in the responsible
business of saving souls and make an easy
going routine of it which adds flesh to their
bones every day, while another dedicatcs
every nerve and muscle to his work, his
mind actually burning away every ounce OF
surplus flesh. So it was with Parson Es-
mcnd, and here in the lumber regions he
saw before him such wide field OF labor
that his one sickle of truth seemed so utter
" inadequate to do the harvesting he had
sch his heart upon that his faith almost
failed him at times.
He found here all kinds Of beliefs and un-
beliefs, while the practice amounted to very
much the same thing, with the difference
that some plunged into all sorts of wicked
ness to drown the voice Of conscience, while
others had none to drown.
It was apparently q hopeless task to pre-
sent such crowd with tine truths which
were so directly antagonistic to their daily
praetice, but he had done it, fearlesslv and
without favor, and to their credit they had
listened with respect, if they had not acted
upon his teachings.
snow, pa son, I'll show We by &C lar denim
stration tibet I'm krect. Theirs JOB o
lumberin' UP N the gulch twenty miles from
here, an I'm goin' ter take twenty o. our Eel
lers up there an Their wont be nary Bible
| per minister the hull winter. Ye know
don't b'lieve this ere life hez any thing ter
| do with the next, if there be next, an III
| show We that kin take them boys up thar
an preach vartue fur vartue's sake alone
an they'll come out jest ez pious an moral
ez Ell We KEEP harpin' on Judgment to come
ell the time. Bet We my hat ont, pa'son."
s'Im not betting man, you know, W
rus" the parson smiled again-he mad
found that smiles and gentle treatment
went further with these rough spirits than
argument or harsh wordS-"Dut I'm AFRAID
your experiment will prove failure.
The law has no terrors to any but those
who are disposed to break it, Still the TACT
that one is beyond the pale OF law, that
here is no legal or moral restraint upon his
actions, is calculated to bring out the worst
f,rces of mans nature. It is just as much
a part of his makeup to need the restraints
of civilization, of law and religion, as it is
of the planets to need the law Of gravitation
to keep them in their orbits"
ooh, come now. pa'son, you're talkin
book larnin', an you know bean't eclcated
but putin my boss sense agin your boob
,arnin', We'll see which'll come out ahead. )
GAN right, Cyrus, but hadn't you better
take Bible along, so that IN case you
should need to administer little judgmen:
I TO come, as you call it, that you would have
a foundation to work from!'
:sNary Bible. FL start straight an M
favors. When Cyrus Gregg starts bargain
he makes a clean start, an don't We forgi
it."
1t was rough-looking set which started
cut few days later to the lumber camp
jugs of whisky, or the indispensable" q:
it was called, were freely displayed il
stock, tobacco in quantity, and newspaper:
of the lowest grades formed no small par
of the outfit.
They would be gone about three months
and quite concourse gathered to see then
off, among them the minister.
''Now, pard, I'll preach m'rality while yol
whale away on futur punishment ter then
thets left, an see how we come out,
whispered Cyrus as the cavalcade was abou
TO start.
The minister nodded good naturedly
There was something wholesome about thi
rough Cyrus which had made an impression
; upon the young man, and ne liked him Il
spite of bis rough notions and roughe