The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1896-12-10
The Clown and the Missionary.
Iy VIOLA RoSBBORO.

copyright, lS92, by the Century Company.l (
TWAS sunny May morning, and the 4
Baltic was steaming out Of New York +
bay for Liverpool. 1t was the old ships /
last trip in these waters, and she made 4
it under special conditions. She was
given up entirely to second class passen-
gers, who, of course, as a result, had in
some respects first class accommoda- /
tons. The consequence was social
mixture perhaps shade odder and more
varied than is usually seen. Two weeks
before my friend Miss Milman had hap
pened to see this arrangement adver-
tised, and we had suddenly and happily
discovered that at the rates given we
could afford to drop work tour painting
and writing) for month or two and to-
gether run over to the other side.
We were on deck in that May sun
shine, our hands full of fiowers-for our
friends had graciously ignored our low
ly second class estate in their farewells
the bright waters dancing around us,
the workaday world behind us, enchant-
ed lands of romance and beauty before
us, and at our elbows new and hetero-
geneous representation of the dear, dull,
supremacy interesting human race. By
the time we had spent an eternity of
two days in a universe Of water and
sky we had discovered beneath the pre-
vailingly commonplace exteriors various
/ pleasing features among our fellow pas
sengers. The Irish ward politicians OBJ
| vious moral Nervousness, taken together
with his tender devotion to little sick
wife, gave us an enjoyable incongruity.
/ We relished the simple and profound
moral patronage we received from
trio of professional feminine philan-
thropists, well meaning souls, dripping
with self esteem, who were going over
to investigate the workings Of some So
ciety for the promotion of some sort of
good works We delighted in their
genuine horror of a stunning bouncing,
good looking young woman who was
said to be an actress, but whose normal
position, it was perfectly clear, was at
the head of column of lightly clad
amazons i'll Kiralfy spectacle, and we
liked her as a perfect specimen Of her
kind, but we had most pleasure in the
simple admiration and respect we felt
for shabby, gentle, intelligent mis-.
sionary from China, who was on his
way to great Exeter hall meeting il
London, and i'll the curiosity aroused il
us by dumb, wooden youth with wa
terry, pale eyes and a red head, who
looked rough and "horsy," and whom
we repeatedly saw sitting in his state
room-it was opposite ours-reading I
small Bible.
We thought it piquant when WI
found he knew the spectacular amazon
but that was but the beginning of salts
factions, for we soon discovered that h
was himself circus clown.
To look upon little dull, faithful
looking creature like that, to see hin
absorbed i'll reading pocket edition o
the Holy Scriptures and to be able t
reflect that he lived by the violent vi
vacities of sawdust butfoon was
> privilege that, among other things
, made me laugh till l cried. Perhaps til
> step from the one expression to the 9th
: er was shorter than usual,
The sighI of him gave me new thought
9 as to the possible value Of rites, of form
a al observances There was nothing /
g his aspect as he read to suggest keen IL
tellectual or spiritual activity. On til
contrary, could imagine him turnin
two leaves at once and being never tt
u wiser or the less wise. The occasio
!. was plainly one of ceremony, but it WI
j equally plain that it was ceremony o.
served with religious feeling, and witt
le out going into the gloomy question
ID how far religious feeling may be I
10 moved from q sense of moral oblig
9. tions / felt very sure to such boy
this, English or American, and unfia
tered by the public opinion of his worl
the ceremony of Bible reading W
al morally conserving.
d, The third day out l did highly re
rehensible thing. had seen the cloy
u, on deck as / came down to my stat
room, and when near the open door
his saw the Bible lying on one OF t
theatrical trunks with which the plf
zap was filled. The temptation was ir