People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1893-08-11

secret ulIlt Nc cOulu turn u TO MS |
own advantage.
| noticed that Lem Wissell and
half a dozen other leading spirits |
of the town we're gathered closely |
about the big hogshead from whose !
top the reyivalist was about to !
speak. As he climbed his rude ros-
trum and began his incarnation (for
the wild, rhythmic, incoherent ad-
dress could scarcely be called any
thing else( these men watched him |
with a cat-like intenseness whose
purpose | well understood
By and by the revivalist made his
usual sudden and tragic pause and |
then called upon every man, woman !
and child before HIM to TALL upon !
their knees in penitent appeal for
mercy At The same time he began
TO fiji the air with the far-Off, agon- !
lied cries of spirits suffering the !
tOrments OF hell. Suddenly the big |
hOgshead few out from under him. |
impelled by the feet Of six strong |
men and down he came sprawling |
upon his back. At the same instant |
the cries Of the tortured spirits |
ceased and a silence deep and stern !
fell over the crowd.
Lem Wissell sprang out in front of |
the people. That man has ben
foolin' we-unsm he cried. shaking
his fist at the amazed and bewildered |
rcvivalist, who had risen to a sitting
posture.
String him up cried a voice
Put err bullet through him.
shouted another
The revivalist leaped to his feet,
Friends, " he cried, lyon are mis-
taken! am no impostOr There |
has been given TO me more than NOR
tai power for the salvation of souls
command the forces of nature
Not only can | break the silence of
heaven and hell, but | can make the
very rocks sing the praises of God"
"YOu lie" cried Lem Wissell.
"Blasphemer!" exclaimed.
The revivalist turned a look of
whitening hatred, mingled with sui
len appeal, upon me. Come he
cried, Il will prove it. Come with
ME among the rocks | will make
them sing Gods praises for you"
He sprang up the narrow path
and the crowd followed him. | went
along with them, less out of curiosity
| to see what the man would do
though was not entirely devoid of
that-than TO sec that he did not es-
cape. He led as across the plateau,
where the village cows were pastured,
to the edge of the limestone Dreci-
pice beyond. Tcrraced out-croppings
OF the same pink-tinted stone broke
the surface OF the plateau into ridges
and hoilows. Advancing to the face
of one Of these great walls of stone,
not more than thirty yards from the
edge of the cliff, the revivalist
struck it with a birch stick which
he had picked up on the way.
Sing, Oh, rock, in Gods name"
he cried, loudly; then turned to us
and raised his hand to command
! silence.
An intense hush fell over the
crowd. Then was family but dis
tinctly heard, like the majestic tone
of an organ, sound Of music, issu-
ing apparently from the ground at
the base of the rock. Twas never more
astOunded in my life. 1t could not
be due to ventriloQuiSm. for no
human voice could produce all the
harmOnies, the sustained depth and
grandeur of that Organ-tOne.
Furthermore, could distinctly feel
slight vibration of the ground be.
meath my feet As the music swclled
and deepened. The revivalist fixed
his eyes upon me with look of ex-
ultant triumph. What say you
now" he cried to the people. Am
] an impostOr or no?"
A deep, perplexed silence was the
only reply.
For fully fifteen minutes we stood
there listening to the grand and mys-
| FERROUS music in that lonely spot I'M
der the sky. Then it suddenly
oeasel and We turned back to the viii
lage, some more than ever the dupes
Of this remarkable charlatan and one.
at least. reluctantly confessing that
there are more mysteries under
heaven than can be explained in our
PHILOSOPHERS"
Thirty years afterward found my
self again in the vicinity of MilmOnt
and having day or two to spare |
determined to visit the place for cur
iosity's sake and see how some of the
old time revivalist's miraculously
made converts stood the wear and
tear OF life. | found that many of
them had already crossed the dark
river, but of those who remained few
remembered the shaggy ventrilo-
quist and none seemed to have any
recollection of the fact that they had
once been converted
/ took walk up to the plateau
where stood the mysterious singing
rock. Everything looked precisely
as it did more than quarter of a
century before. Venturing nearer
the edge of the cliff than man in
his senses ought to have done, my
weight broke of an overhanging pro-
lection of elumbling. moss covered
, ! stone and in an instant I yras hurlad