Middletown transcript., 1897-04-10

= the brow of the hill.
? "The preacher first, with the corpse,
Q Wheeler commanded; ''then the fam
? lily and mourning friends" So at th
head went she small Scotchwomal
q with her big Bible on her arm, and tai
q Bob Stedman with the little white cof.
/. fin on his shoulder. Behind the father
: and mother came the crowd, two ant
Q two in orderly rank. None had stayed
/: away.
!, After the people hal massed them
selves at the grave there was an awk.
ward pause.
! The ordinary method Of procedure
was ''Dump him in. Now blaze away,
. boys" Plainly that was out of order,
and Bob held the coffin with an air of
embarrassed defiance. Wheeler's whis-
per relieved the silence: "Lay her in,
!. Bob: then Mrs. Muir can read the b.
ble."
Logan had never known an orthodox
funeral service. Hence thers was no
expectations OF the customary Scrip
ture, and no surprise when the thin,
high-pitched voice began: 'Thy daugh-
ter is dead, while troublest thou the
| Master" and read Marks tender, dra-
matte story Of the little daughter Of
Jairus to whom the Nazarene said
faiitttha eumi My My ifiittie darling eeme
to me). She stumbled over the Ara
maic words, then went Oh evenly to
the end of the chapter. She closed the
book, folded it within her arm, and
faltered timidly, "We'll hae the bit o.
prayer"
The crown stood with wide open
eyes, alert, hushed, expectant.
so Lord, God of our fathers, who
hast taken this wee lamkin"-she
gasped, stopped-frightened, perhaps,
at her own audacity; only the spring
wind ruffied the stiffness. After
moments silence she started again, in
voice shaken with sobs, ''Our Father,
which art in Heaven" and finished the
old, old petition without break or fall
| ter.
Buckskin Bill had once attended
church i'll Cheyenne. The repetition
of the Lords Prayer closed the service.
1t was years before. but, like most
plainsmen, Bill had a long memory.
At the sound of the familiar words he
gave snort. of approval. "What is
itp" asked Tom Gibson.
"Hush," Bill replied; "she'S saying
the doxology."
The prayer Was ended, and the peo-
pie waited for the mourners to GO. Lo-
gan was satisfied; the old Scotchwo-
man was not. The first answer in the
Westminster Cat, chism rested heavily
on her soul and moved her trembling
lips to speech. She handed her Bible
to Bob Stedman, turned and faced the
crowd and started:
"Ye heard the story. lads" she said,
land it's like this. When ye come to |
a narrow place in the canon, and there's |
stane in the way, and the sheep will
ma gae through, ye take the least lamb,
the wee ane, and lift it over the stane,
and its mither jumps after it, and a.
the rest follow. That's what the guild
Lord has done here. He has taken the
wee lamkin, the bairn ye all lo'ed, and
lifted her over the stane. Ye Gamma
see her, but he wants her mither come
after her, and a. the rest of ye to gang
alang. He has called the BARN to him.
self because he wants you a.; and oh,
lads, dear lads, will ye ma Gomez"
She stopped moment for breath,
raised eyes and arms to the heavens,
and prayed, in an irregular crescendo,
"Oh Lord God, lead these wandering
sheep into the foldl o Lord God, lead
them, lead them, lead them a. to thy-1
selfP and fell back in Wheeler's out
stretched arm, with Wheeler's tears
falling on her upturned face.
The Christianity of COW camp is
and ephemeral. Cowboy
preachers are made in the East, not
born on the plains. Pass ing strange
then that the church at Logan bears
The idseri ption:
SIN loving memory of II
FAY MARVIN,
Died June 9th, 1887. Aged 8 years, l ,
month, II days. II
And Jesus called little child unto
1im,1