St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1899-10-11
IN HIS STEPS.
WHAT WOULD JESUS DO"
BY CHARLES NJ. SHELDON.


her soul 10 touch the conscience Of that
tent full of sin Jasper Chase had been
moved by it simply to love her for him
self gave her shock as of irreverence
on her part as well as on his. She could
not tell why she felt as she did; only
she knew that if he had not told her to-
night she would still have felt the same
toward him as she always had.
What was that feeling? What had
he been to her? Had she made mis-
take? She went to her bookcase and
took out the novel which Jasper had
given her. Her face deepened in color
as she turned to certain passages which
she had read often and which she knew
Jasper had written for her. She read
them again. Somehow they failed to
touch her strongly She closed the book
and let it lie on the table. She gradual
ly felt that ner thought was busy with
the sight she had witnessed in that
tent. Those faces, men and women,
touched for the first time with the
Spirits glory. What wonderful thing
life was, after all The complete regen-
Grafton revealed in the sight Of drunk
en-. vile debauched humanity kneeling
down to give itself to life of purity
and Christlikeness-oh, it was surely a
a witness to the superhuman in the
world And the face of Rollin Page by
the side Of that miserable wreck out Of
the gutter-she could recall as if she
now saw it Virginia crying with her
arms about her brother, just before she
left the tent, and Mr.. Gray kneeling
close by, and the girl Virginia had tax
en- into her heart bending her head
while Virginia whispered something to
her. All these pictures, drawn by the
Holy Spirit in the human tragedies
brought to climax there in the most
abandoned spot in all Raymond, stood
out in Rachel's memory now a memory
so recent that her room seemed for the
time being to contain all the actors and
their movements.
"No, mol" she had said aloud. "He
had no right to speak to me after all
that He should have respected the
place where our thoughts should have
been. am sure do not love him, not
enough to give him my life. "
And after she had thus spoken the
evenings experience at the tent came
crowding in again, thrusting out all
other things. 1t is perhaps the most
striking evidence of the tremendous
spiritual factor which had now entered
the Rectangle that Rachel felt, even
when the great love of a strong man
had come very near her, that the spir-
itual manifestation moved her with an
agitation far greater than anything
Jasper had felt for her personally or she
for him.
The people of Raymond awoke Sun
day morning to growing knowledge
of events which were beginning to rev.
olutionize many of the regular custom
airy habits of the town Alexander Pow
ers action in the matter Of the railroad
frauds had created sensation, not only
in Raymond but throughout the coun-
try. Edward Norman's daily changes
of policy in the conduct of his paper
had startled the community and caused
more comment than any recent polit-
ical event Rachel Winslow's singing
at the Rectangle meetings had made q
stir in society and excited the wonder
of all her friends Virginia Pages con-
duct, her presence every night with
Rachel, her absence from the usual cir
Gle Of her wealthy, fashionable ac-
quaintances, had furnished a great deal
of material for gossip and question. In
addition to the events which centere6
about these persons who were so wei
known, there had been all through the
city, in very many homes and in bust.
ness and social circles, strange happen
ings. Nearly hundred persons il
Henry Maxwell's church had made thu
pledge to do everything after asking
"What would Jesus dor" and the re
suit had been, in many cases, unheart
of actions The city was stirred as il
had never been. AS climax to tn,
weeks events had come the spiritua
manifestation at the Rectangle and thu
announcement, which came to mos
people before church time, of the actua
conversion at the tent of nearly so Of
the worst characters in the neighbor
hood, together with the conversion Of
Rollin Page. the well known society
and club man,
1t is no wonder that, under the pres
sure of all this, the First church of Ray
mond came to the morning service in 6
condition that made it quickly sensi
tive to any large truth.
Perhaps nothing had astonished tn,
people more than the great change tina
had come over the minister since h,
had proposed to them the imitation O
Jesus in conduct The dramatic deliv
cry of his sermons no longer impressed
them. The self satisfied, contented, easy
attitude of the fine figure and the re
fined face in the pulpit had been dis
placed by manner that could not b,
compared with the old style of his do
livery. The sermon had become a mes
sage. 1t was no longer delivered |
was brought to them with a love, al
earnestness, q passion, q desire, hu
mility, that poured their enthusiasm
about the truth and made the speake
no more prominent than he had to b.
as the living voice of God. His prayer
were unlike any the people had eve
heard before. They were often broken
Even once or twice they had been actu
ally ungrammatica1 in n nhraae or two