The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-08-15
SMALL ENOUGH TO GO THROUGH.
Tho Parson Tells n Story About u Ma
with n Conscience.


"Chat reminds me- said the parson a
he took another handful of crackers iron
the barrel aud cut a slice from the cheas
on the counter, while the proprietor of til
store moved u~neasily in his seat, that re
minds ME of the experience of Il member o
the church OF which l was tho pastor up il
Oregon one spring. The story was told t.
ME by Brother Jones himself while in a fl
pf remorsa
"'Parson,' he said to me. 'parson, do 20,
remember the time that you asked every
member of the church to contribute a quar-
ter for the purpose of paying for the hymn
d. books which had just been bought for the
Sunday SCHOOL,
"'Yes,'I said, Brother Jones, I remem,
Der the time very WELL
well, parson,' he continued, 4 sat
there in my seat watching that contribu'
ton box go around and seeing nearly every
body drop in IL quarter. When it came tC
Brother Smith, he put in half a dollar, and
/ don't know why it was unless satan had
me in his clutches, but l said to myself,
"Thcre, now, he has put in enough to make
up for mine," and l felt of the quarter in
my pocket. Just then the box came to
Widow Franklin. and she did not put in
anything. There" said I, NOW I'll have
to put in my quarter, if times are hard, and
the children do need shoes, and the pros,
pect for crops are not good this year"
"'Whilc l was thinking this way, Elder
Bennett passed the box to Brother Brown,
and he put in another half. Satan got me
again and seemed to whisper in my ear,
"There, that's for you,' and so when the
box reached me next l just looked the 9th.
or way, and Elder Bennett passed along to
the next pew, after giving the box y shak,
to attract my attention, but l pretended
not to notice it.
"'Well, you know I had nearly seven
miles to walk home. When I got half way
and was going through the woods, it began
to rain hard, and it grew dark much sooner
than l had counted on. l remembered a
hollow tree just big enough for me to
squeeze into which stood a little farther
on, SO l hurried and reached it before 1 got
very wet. The rain began to pour down
now, so / decided to remain in the tree I'M.
Til it stopped, knowing that the folks
would not worry, because l often remained
in town over night when I went to church
on Sundays.
d "Imadc myself as comfortable as possible
in that tree, and somehow or other l fell
asleep and never woke up until daylight
the next morning. When | did open my
eyes, l found that the water had soaked
that tree and swelled it up so that the
crack through which l had crawled myself
was not more than an inch wide. l was a
prisoner sure enough, and / might as we'll
tried to make Flint, my landlord,
knock off some of the rent of my farm in a
bad year as to try and open that crack any.
! had on my best clothes, and l had left
even my jackknife at home.
We'll, you know, parson. that it rains
sometimes three days, sometimes a week
and often a month up in this country when
it gets a good start. l looked out of the
crack, and there did not seem to be any
chance of its stopping. Then I began to
think, Suppose l should be confined here
until / starve to death?" With this thought
came recollections of my past life. Thought
OF everything which l had done which was
not according to the Ten Commandments,
of the unkind words l had spoken to my
wife and children, and then I felt in nv
pocket, and lay hand touched the quarter
which had kept the day before instead of
putting it on the plate.
"'Would you believe it, parson, when |
thought of that l felt so small that | passed
out through that crack without the slight
est difficulty"
Then the store door opened and closed
softly, while the loungers caught thei,
breath. There was a momentary cold
blast from without. and the parson was
gone.-New York Tribune.