The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-19
MONTANA BILL.


| tiers OF the salvation Army in san Fran
| cisco. Throughout the large attending
| crowd the spirit Of expectancy moved
| uneasily. but with mufied wings, its en-
ergy stirred not only by divers vagrant
rumOrs oH the street. but also by many
flowers and foliage plants which ham
| pered the stage.
After some preliminary religious ex-
| ercises conducted by the brigadier. man
with a clean face. clear eye and coax
/ ing voice. that gentleman made the fOi-
/ lowing speech;
You doubtless all read at the time OF
/ its publication telegram from Butte,
/ Mont, announcing the distressing expert
i ence Of our brave little sister, Cadet An
| ME Smith. who was so great favorite
| with US here before she was assigned to
/ duty al Butte"
There was an amused twinkle in the
| brigadier's eyes, but IN the audience there
| was a spreading litter
| We'll" resumed the brigadier, "Our
noble little sister, with the help Of God,
passed safely through the ordeal as most
| OF you are aware, but as 1t is a part of
| our plan 70 confess publicly our erorrs ana
| shortcomings 1 will ask Cadet Smith 10
give you the true and fun account OF
| what happened to her at Butte"
a FAINT clapping of hands, vociferous
there, and a removal of some of the re-
| straints which muffled the wings of the
spirit OF expectancy greeted the ascent to
| the platform OF a small 1.-THE yOung
| figure arrayed in the somber blue ana
| quaint poke bonnet of the army. Her
race was a glowing crimson as she faced
the audience. but her eyes were bright
and her glance was firm, and the vigor
or a strong and sturdy soul lent a GER
tam grace Of freedom 10 her pose.
After l had served several months
selling War Crys in San Francisco she
DeSah, with a steady voice, which had ac-
CURED tnat plaintiff quality so common
among the hard workers in the cause, Il
was sent to Butte. where there was a
small corps of workers. They had become
discouraged, and 1t was thought that my
eNperlen nee would help them a little. I
didn't know that Butte was so different
from san Francisco, and members of the
corps there didn't know it either because
dney had never worked anywhere else.
Ihat Is why they didn't tell me some
Things that 1 wish 1 had known more
about
Il started out the first day with about
200 War Crys. They looked surprised at
the corps headquarters when / asked for
SO many, but | thought l. could sell them.
~ course, l went into the hardest part
or the town, and after 1 had visited one
or Two saloons and failed to sell a copy, l
went into another one. A good many men
were gambling. had never seen ANYTHING
put card playing in San Francisco. but
lhey had wheels of fortune and a great
many other things to gamble with Sew
eral men were drinking at the bar went
among them all and asked them to buy the
paper but they simple stared at me in
wonder The games began to stop and
then big, fine-looking man with a broad
brimmed hat came up to me and said
and he said-he said: Hello, little Parson
SaHy, what do you want? He said it lust
like that. He was so big and his voice
was so deep-and-and he was So
out with ii, Cadet!' cried a half a doz-
en- voices in the audience as The girl
broke down, stammering and blushing
fHandsome!' she added desperately. as
though the saying of the word was a
fession OF mortal sin. Great applause
and laughter followed this declaration
with an occasional God bless Cadet An,
nie? This so overwhelmed the girl that
her lips trembled and tears spranR to
her eyes, and she cast a despairing an
pealing. glance toward one particular spot
before her in the audience where she had
not had courage to look before That
single look was sufficient to drive the
bonds of decorum which had held a
giant IN restraint, and the uprising of a
towering frame sent the brigadiers pro-
gramme and discipline tumbling into
chaos; The tall man approached and
mounted the platform with the stride
of grenadier while Cadet Annie gazed
at him with 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 paled. Sinful
taneously a startled hush fell upon the
form of the Salvation Army sat upon the
mans splendid frame. he was a stranger
to all, and there was commanding air
He stalked to the girls side and stood
there facing the big crowd like a lion at
bay in defense of his lair And an un4
commOly handsome man he was with
swarthy face, Jet black wavy hair worn
long and formidable black mustache and
imperial. These two made a strange pic
ture as they stood side by side she so
small and seemingly so frail. he so tall
and muscular and competent; and she
looking up at him, he ignoring her and
sweeping the hall with a glance half of
defiance, half of benigancy and wholly of
! strength and mastery. When the man
spoke his voice rolled forth in those
sing the mysteries of the deep
MY friends" he said with Gods help
and the brigadier's. consent'-which he
never took the trouble to secure-''it seems
too hard for this poor child to tell what
happened to her in the gambling house at
Butte that day. was there when it hap
pened and saw it ALL and I will tell you
the story. l can't bear to see her tortured
as she has been this night Cadet Annie
Smith, take your seat
He said that still without looking at
her With a glance at the brigadier which
meant: How can l help it when this big
thing shoulders me away?" she slipped be-
| hind the rose-embanked parlor organ and
the empowering foliage plants on the stage
and was lost to view.
The brigadier sat watching the man
! with a peculiar expression which no one
| could have understood had any one
| thought to observe it, but the stranger so
| completely filled all eyes and so impress
| ed his mastery personality on the con-
sciousness of all who could see and hear
that nothing else could be observed. The
| stranger resumed:
4 knowed the gambler that played it
! low down on this brave little Salvation
| Army lassie that day-knowed him well.
| He was big, hulking dog that had SKIM
ed tenderfeet all the way between Puget
| Sound and Lake Michigan. He iidn't
/ know what it was to earn an honest lfv-
! ing. He just sailed through life Laughing
| at everything and skinning tenderfeet.
| He was running a faro game in the
/ Montana Joint when somebody left the
! door open and this little girl drifted in. The
| fellows wasn't used to the way she went
after 'em. She just waded right in and
tackled EN-. and them blue eyes that she
! carried in her head looked straight at 'em
| and through EN-, as much as to saw I
| think you'd be real decent fellow if you d
read the War Cry, quit gambling, quit
| drinking gin and have respect for good
! women That's what the fellows told me
| her eyes said to EN-.
! Then the big gambler she started to
| tell you about comes up and says TO her:
! Hello. little Parson Sallie what do Won
| want" I want to sell you a War Cry
! she says. a what" says he. a War