The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-04

'SSN Dioah anu lAlbtfty StIeGtS.
office window, pitched the box of business
cigars into the fire and generally pointed
his remarks in way that went straight
to Mr. Birds heart, and then prepared
peacefully TO take his departure.
I shall not prosecute you for this"
said Mr.. Isaac.
4 wish you dare 1t would suit me
finely to get into police court and be
able to talk. Ia willingly pay my forty
shllltngs and for the chance. They'd give
me the option fast enough"
4 say j shall not prosecute you, be-
cause have no time to bother with law
But shall send your name around among
ship-owners, and with my word against
you, you'll never get another command
so long as the world stands"
You knock-kneed little Jew" said Ket-
tie, truculently do you think I'm giving
| myself the luxury of letting out a a ship
owner after Knocking down to the breed
through all of a weary life, unless 1 knew
| my ground? I've done with ships and
the sea for always. I've taken farm
in Wharfdale, and I'm going to it this
very week"
Then" said Mr. Isaac, sardonically IF
| you've taken a farm, don't let me wish
you any further i'll. Good morning."
But Kettle was not to be damped out of
| conceit with his lifes desire by a few ILL
natured words He gave Mr. Isaac Bird
| his final blessing, commenting on his an
| cestors, his personal appearance, his pros
poets of final salvation, and then pleasant
| ~ took his leave.
| The farm he had rented lay in the
! Wharfe valley above Skipton, and he hired
! capable foreman as philosopher and
| guide. And here l may say that his hob
| by by no means ruined him, as might
! reasonably be expected. But though it is
! hard to confess that mans ideal comes
| short of his expectations when put to the
| trial, l am free to confess that although
/ he enjoyed it all, attending crops of his
| sheep, or haggling with his fellow farm
ers over fat beasts in Skipton market he
| had gone back to one of his more practical
tastes-if one call it taste-the cultiva-
ton of religion.
The farm stood bleak and lonely on the
| slope of a hillside, and on both TANKS
| of the dale were other lonely farms as
far as the eye could see. There was no
village. The nearest place of worship was
four miles away. But in the valley was
/ small gray stone chapel. Kettle got this
! into his control
He was by no means a rich man. The
! row of houses in Birkenhead were for
/ the most part tenanted by the wives of
I mercantile marine engineers and officers
! WHO were cuIOHicdliy lASSdTu with tnelr
! rent, and whom esprit de corps forbade
him to press; and so what with this deficit,
| and repairs, and taxes, and one thing and
| another, it was rarely that half his pro-
jected $500 a year found its way into his
J banking account. But 1.-THE of what
ever accrued TO him was scrupulously set
aside for the maintenance of the chapel.
He imported there the grim, narrow
creed he had learned in South Shields, and
10 IT..
He was entirely in earnest over it all, ana
vastly serious. Failing another minister,
he himself took the services, and, though
! on occasion some other brother was in
duced to preach, it was he himself who
usually mounted the pulpit beneath the
sounding board. He purchased an Amer
lean organ. and sent his eldest daughter
/ in weekly to take lessons in Skipton till
( she could play it, And Mrs K@ttle her
! self led the singing.
Still further the chapel has its own coll
lection Of hymns specially written, print
J ed and dedicated to its service The book
4 is Capt Kettles first published effort
Heaven and its author alone know under
what wild circumstances most of those
, hymns were written.
The chapel started its new span of life
with a congregation that was meager
enough. but Sunday by Sunday the num-
her grew. Some came once and were not
seen again. Others came and returned
They felt that this was the loneliest of all
modern creeds; indeed Kettle preached as
! much; ana one can take a melancholy
/ pride in splendid isolation.
/ am not sure that Capt, Kettle does
not find the restfulness of his present life
a trlfe too accentuated at times, though
| this is only inevitable for one who has
| been so much a man Of action. But he
| never makes complaint. He is strong
mon. and he governs himself, even as he
governs his family and the chapel circle.
with a strong. just hand. The farm is a
model Of neatness and order; paint is Law
| ished in a way that makes dalesmen ljrt
! their eyebrows and the routine Of the
household Is as strict as that of a ship.
The house Is unique, TOO. in Wharfedale
for the variety of its contents. Desper-
ately poor though Kettle might he. on
! many of his returns from his Unsuccessful
/ ventures. he never came back 10 his wife
| without some present from foreign cline
as a tangible proof of his remembrance
! But on might turn the house upside down
without fin rg so carna. an insfr,,-
| meut as revolver and when / suggested
to Kettle once that we might 20 otrtsida
and have a little pistol practice, he glsrad
| al me, and thought he would have sworn
| He let me know, stifiy enough that what
ever circumstances might have made mir,
at sea. he had always been a very differ