The Advocate and news., 1898-10-19


a person he had once seen walking and
talking in his sleep.
No one in the church made any mo-
tion to stop the stranger or in any way
interrupt him. Perhaps the first shock
Of his sudden appearance deepened into
genuine perplexity concerning what was
best to do. However that may be, he
went on as If he had no thought of in
terruptiOn and no thought Of the unus-
ual element he had introduced into the
decorum Of the First church service.
And all the while he was speaking,
Henry Maxwell leaned over the pulpit,
his face growing more sad and white
every moment. But he made no move
ment to stop him, and the people sat
smitten into bTeathless silence. One
other face that Of Rachel WinsloW, from
the choir seats, stared white and intent
down at the shabby figure with the faded
hat. Her face was striking at any time.
Under the pressure of the present un-
heard-of incident it was as personally
distinct as If 1t had been framed In fire.
I'm not an ordinary tramp, though
don't know OF any teaching Of Jesus
that makes one kind Of tramp less
worth saving than another. Do you?"
He put the question as naturally as If
the whole congregation had been small
private Bible class. He paused just
moment and coughed painfully. Then
he went on.
II lost my Job ten months ago. am
a printer by trade. The new linotype
machines are beautiful specimens Of in
vention, but know six men who have
killed themselves inside Of the year just
on account of these machines. OF course
I don't blame the newspapers for get
ting these machines Meanwhile, what
can man do? know never learned
but one trade, and that's all l can do.
I've tramped all over the country trying
to find something. There are a good
many others like me. I'm not complain
ing, am I? I'm just stating facts. But
was wondering, as I sat there under
the gallery, If what you call following
Jesus is the same thing as what he
taught. What did he mean when he said,
Follow me? The minister said, here
the man turned about and looked up at
the pulpit, "that IL was necessary for
the disciple of Jesus to follow his steps,
and he said the steps were obedience,
faith, love and imitation. But did not
hear him tell Just what he meant that
to mean, especially the last step. What
do Christians mean by following the
steps Of Jesus? I've tramped through
this city for three days trying to find
a job, and in all that time I've not had
word Of sympathy or comfort except
from your minister here, who said he
was sorry for me and hoped would find
a Job somewhere. l suppose it is be-
cause you get so imposed on by the pro-
fessional tramp that you have lost your
interest in the other sort. I'm not blam-
ing anybody, am I? Just stating facts.
OF course 1 understand you can't all go
out Of your way to hunt up jobs for peo-
pie like me. I'm not asking you to-; but
what / feel puzzled about is, what is
meant by following Jesus? Do you
mean that you are suffering and deny
ing yourselves and trying to save lost
and suffering humanity just as I under
stand Jesus did? What do you mean by
it? I see the ragged edge of things a
good deal I understand there are more
than five hundred men in this city in
my case. Most of them have families.
My wife died four months ago. I'm glad
she is out of trouble. My little girl Is
staying with a printers family until
find job. Somehow l get puzzled when
/ see so many Christians living in lux
ury and singing Jesus, my cross have
taken, all TO leave and follow thee and
remember how my wife died in a tene-
ment in New York city, gasping for air
and asking God to take the little girl, too.
OF course don't expect you people can
prevent every one from dying of starva-
ton, lack of proper nourishment, and
tenement air, but what does following
Jesus mean? understand that Chris
tian people own a good many Of the ten
ements. A member of church was the
owner of the one where my wife died,
and I have wondered If following Jesus
all the way was true in his case. heard