The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-03-23

the people believed the charge was true.
One night as Father Peters was read
ing III the little log annex he had built
for a study the door opened without any
preliminary knock, and strong Dick
Bradley came softly in, and with an air
of great mystery noiselessly closed the
door behind him.
Il am glad to see you, Brother Brad
| ley, " said the clergyman. ''Sit down
and tell me the news, for you are in
position to learn what is going on here
about"
Tho blacksmith pulled his chair near
er, and with his big hands to the sides
of his mouth to shield his voice he whis-
pored:
I'm sorry to tell yo', Father Peters,
that there's trouble a-brewin harabout,
and lots of hit "
Trouble to whom, Brother Bradley"
Cant yo' guess?"
81 cannot.
"Waal hits to yo' and yours, '" said
| the blacksmith, with an emphatic shake
Of tho head.
''But surely no one could wish to an
noy me. did not think l had an enc
my in the world" said the alarmed
Clergyman.
That's jest hit, )" responded Brad
ley. Thar hain't no one ez doesn't al
low yer the best preacher in the noun
tains, but the boys say they don't like
yer politics, and SO they'll make trou-
BILE. -
Father Peters protested that he had
not meddled in politics, and that since
the breaking out of the war a few
months before he had guarded his words
that he might not give offense.
That's hit. That's why they've got
so doggone sespichis. Now, Father
Peters, yo' know I've allus been good
friend of yer's, ez l should be blamed
dog not to be, seeing that you took me
by the hand and led me up to the light
bless the Lor! But thar's dainjah all
about we uns, mos powaphul dainjah,
ez mo and the wife allowed this night
And we said that eff so be yo' could go
moth fo' awhile till the trouble kinder
blows ovah that hit'd be bettah TO- yo'
and TO- yer friends.
More than once Father Peters and
his wife and daughter had discussed
this very question, but the old man s
strong sense of duty and his innate
courage led him to draw back from the
, serious consideration of a course that
meant the abandonment of his mission
airy work, for he knew that if he left
! in the circumstances he could never re-
turn with the hope of being useful. He
. | ta1 ont re tn
and added:
"If l were to fly north with my fam.
= lily at this time, have no assurance
: that they would let me depart in peace
!. 1t is not six weeks since teacher named
White who was trying to make his way
from Tennessee to Portsmouth, o.. was
murdered in these hills, and his body
4 might be bleached up the mountain if
you and had not carried it down and
given it Christian burial behind the
meeting house"
j "That's fac, Father Peters, and
e hit was jest COZ we uns buried that thar
n pore Teller Christian ez we did that
+ made some of the folks SO doggone mad
I and sespichis. OF course they know I'm
d Union man cl ar through and through,
@ but they remembahs the time whin
u wasn't Christian fo' shucks and could
lay out regiment of 'em two at @
time. They kinder s'pects, and mebbt
they re not so fur outen the way, that
I, thar's right smart of the old Adam
~ about me yit. Now, eff yo' think that
:, the good Lor would ruther yo'd stay
u right har and do yer plum, squar' jooty,
Il reckon yo'll find me ON his side ant
, yo'rn, let the wind blow high or tn,
wind blow low. And, bless the God o.
= Israel, Father Peters, thar's my hant
ON hitp
The two men shook hands, and theI
they knelt down, and, to use Bradley
A.. expression, "wr;.stled powahfully will
the Lor in prayah. "
This conversation YVES had on Friday
and the following SuL.ay being pleas
ant Indian summer day tho people be
gan to swarm down from the hills ear
lier than usual, and the old clergyman
noted with pain that nearly all the mel
I carried their rifles, habit that he haC
induced them to give up for some year
before the war.
Heretofore these people, for whom h,
had toiled so long and so hard withou
any compensation. always saluted hin
with boisterous heartiness, but thil
morning they met Father Peters salu
tations with curt mods and cloudet
brows Even the Union men held aloof
for they were in the minority and knew
that the slightest indiscreet act nigh
precipitate the trouble which wa
: prophesied every day and expected a
any moment.
Hot Magoone was at meeting thii
morning He was a great, hulking, bru
tai desperate He had killed a number
of men, and the more peaceful stood il
awe of him, for at the best of time
law was only name in the mountains
4 but Mt this time it had not even a shad
ow of existence
10 be Continued.