Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1899-11-08

in which new emotions of awe, repent
ance. establishment and broken CLEAN
of joy struggled for expression
The bishop rose.
Come, my brothersl God is good
You shall stay at the settlement tonight
and | will make good my promise as II
the work
The two rnen followed the bishop il
silence. When they reached the settle
ment. it was after 2 o'clock The bishop
let them in and led them to room. A
the door he paused a moment His tall
commanding figure stood in the door
Way. and his ale face, worn with hi
recent experiences, was illuminated
with the divine glory
"God bless you. my brothersP ht
said. and. leaving them his benediction
he went away
In the morning he almost dreaded tt
face the men. but the impression of thu
night had not worn away True to hi
promise, the bishop secured work fol
them. The janitor at the settlement
needed an assistant. owing to the growth
of the work there. So Burns was giver
the place The bishop succeeded in get
ting his companion position as driver
for a firm of warehouse dray manufac
turers not far from the settlement.
And the Holy Spirit, struggling il
these two darkened. sinful men, begar
his marvellous work of regeneration.
It was the afternoon following thai
morning when Burns was installed il
his new position as assistant janitol
that he was cleaning off the front step:
of the settlement when he paused 6
moment and stood up to look about him
The first thing he noticed was a beel
sign just across the alley He could al
most touch it with his broom from
where he stood Over the street imme
diately opposite were two large saloons
and a little farther down were three
more.
Suddenly the door of the nearest sa
loon opened, and a man came out Al
the same time two more went in. A
strong odor of beer floated up to Burns
as he stood on the steps of the settle
ment He clutched his broom handle
tight and began to sweep again. Ht
had one foot on the porch and another
on the step just below He took another
step down. still sweeping The sweat
stood out on his forehead, although the
day was frosty and the air chill. Tht
saloon door opened again. and three OF
four men came out A child went II
with a pail and came out moment
later with a quart of beer The chile
went by on the sidewalk just below him
and the odor of the beer came up tt
him. He took another step down. still
sweeping desperately His fingers were
purple as be clutched the handle Of the
broom
Then suddenly he pulled himself NJ
one step and swept over the spot he had
inst cleaned He then dragged himself
by tremendous effort back to the fool
of the porch and went over into the cor
ner of it farthest from the saloon and
began to sweep there 20 God. he
cried, '.if the bishop would only come
backr The bishop had gone out with
DR. Bruce somewhere, and there was
no one about the settlement that he
knew
He swept in the corner for two OF
three minutes His face was drawn
with the agony of the conflict. Gradu'
ally he edged out again toward the steps
and began to go down them, He looked
toward the sidewalk and saw that he
had left one step unswept The sight
seemed to give him reasonable excuse
for going down there to finish his sweep
ing He was on the sidewalk now.
sweeping the last step. with his face
toward the settlement and his back
turned partly on the saloon across the
alley He swept the step dozen times
The sweat rolled over his face and drop
ped down at his feet By degrees he felt
that he was drawn over toward that
end of the step nearest the saloon. He
could smell the beer and rum now al
the fumes rose around him, 1t was like
the Internal sulphur of the lowest hell.
and yet it dragged him. as by giants
hand. nearer its source
He was down in the middle of the
sidewalk now. still sweeping He clear
ed the space in front Of the settlemen,
and even went out into the gutter ano
swept that. He took off his hat and rub
bed his sleeve over his face. His lips
were paid. and his teeth chartered He
trembled all over like palsied mar
and staggered back and forth as If he
were already drunk His soul shooE
within him
He had crossed over the little piece OF
stone tagging that measured the wldtf
of the alley. and now he stood IN iron,
of the saloon. looking at the sign ano
staring into the window at the pile Of
whisky and beer bottles arranged in
great pyramid inside He moistened his
lips with his tongue and took a steI
forward. looking around him stealthily
The door suddenly opened again. anc
some one came out Again the hot
penetrating smell of the liquor swept
out into the cold air. and he took an
other step toward the saloon door
which had shut behind the customer
AS he laid his fingers on the door handle
a tall figure came around the corner II
was the bishop
He seized Burns by the arm and drag
ged him back upon the sidewalk. Th'
frenzied man. now mad for drink
shrieked out a curse and struck at thu
bishop savagely 1t is doubtful if nj
really knew at first who was snatchlnt
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