The Van Buren press., 1895-11-09
MONTANA BILL.

MONTANA BILL.
Il was evident that something Of un-
common interest had been arranged
for the meeting that evening 1t the
headquarters Of the Salvation Army
In San Francisco Throughout the
large attending crowd the spirit Of ex
pectsncy moved unessily, but with
muAled wings, Its energy stirred not
only By divers vagrsEt rumors on the
street. but also BY many flowers and
foliage plants which hampered the
stage.
After some preliminary religious en-
ereises conducted by tho brigadier.
man with clean face, . clear eye and
= coaxing voice, that gentleman made
the following speech:
sYou doubtless all rsAd 1t the time
Of its publication . telegram from
Butte. Mont, announcing the dis
tressing experience of our brave little
sister, Cadet Annie Smith, who was 20
great . favorite with us here before
she was assigned TO do duty ut Butte. !"
There was IN amused twinkle in the
brigadier's eyes, but in the audience
there was . spreading litter.
"Well,s resumed the brigadier, ''our
noble little sister, with the help Of
God, passed through the ordeal, as
most Of You are aware. but as 1t ID .
part Of our plan to confess publicly
our errors and shortcomings, ! will ask
Cadet Smith TO give you true and
full account Of what happened to her
ct Butte"
A faint clspping Of hands, vocifer-
ous s'God bless Cadet SMITH" here and
there and removal of some Of the re-
straints which mu Ned the wings Of
the spirit Of fexpectancy greeted the ~
cent to the platform Of small, 1.-the
young figure arrayed In the somber
blue and quaint poke bonnet Of the
army. Her face wss glowing crimson
- she faced the audience. but her eyes
were bright and her glance was firm,
and the vigor Of strong and sturdy
soul lent . certain grace Of freedom to
her pose.
"After had served several months
selling War Crys in San francisco" I"
abe began with . steady voics which
had acquired that plaintive quality 20
common among the hard workers In
the cause, II WAS sent to Butte, where
there was . small corps of workers.
They had become disco ursged, and It
was thought that my experience would
help them little. / didn't know that
Butte Was 30 different from San Fran
cisco. and the members Of the corps
there didn't know it either. because
they had never worked anywhere else
That b why they didn't tell me some
things that wish l had known more
about
II started out the first day with
about two hundred War CryA They
locked surprised 1t the corps headquar-
tes4 when asked for 20 many, but l
tho1kht could sell them.
s-Of course l went into the hardest
part Of town, and after I bad visited
one or two saloons and failed to sell .
copy went into another one. A good
many men were gambling. had never
seea anything but card playing in San
Francisco, but they had wheels Of
fortune and great many other things
to gamble with. Several men were
drinking At the bar. l went among
them all and asked them to buy the
paper, but they simply stared at me in
wonder. The games began TO stop,
and then big, ane-looking man with
. broad-brimmed hat came up to me
and said-and he said-he said: Hello,
little Parson Sally. what do you want?'
He said 1t just like that He was so
big and his voice was SO deep-and-
and he was so"
''Out with 1t, ,cadet!" cried half .
dozen voices in the audience, and the
girl broke down, stammering and
blushinR.
''Handsomel' she added, desperately,
Is though the saying of the word was
. cross between martyrdom and the
confession Of mortal sin. Great ap-
plause and laughter followed this dec
laration. with an occasional "God
bless Cadet Annier' This so over
whelmed the girl that her lips trem-
bled and tears sprang to her eyes and
she cast despairing. appealing plann
toward one particular spot before her
in the audience whore she had NOT had
the courage to look before. That
single look was sufficient 70 rive the
bonds of decorum which had held q
giant in restraint, and the uprising Of
. towering frame tent the brigadicr's
programme and discipline tumbling
into chaoA The tall man approached
and mounted the platform with the
stride Of grenadier, while Cadet
Annie gazed at him with q dismay
which was still inefficient to quench
the light Of the stars that shone all the
brighter In her eyes now that her
cheeks had psled. simultaneously q
startled hush fell upon the audience,
for. although the familiar uniform of
the Salvation Army sat upon the mans
splendid frame, he was . stranger to
all and there was . commanding air
about him that stilled all sounds
He stalked to the girls side and
stood there facing the big crowd like
. lion st bay in defense of his lair
And an uncommonly handsome man
he was, with swArthy face. jet black
wevy hair worn long. and formidable
black muatache and imperial These
two made . strange picture as they
stood side By side. she so small and
seemingly 70 frsil, he 30 tall and mus
oulnr and competent: she looking IN