Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1899-06-15
Preach in my saloon! When?'
said Jack, in tone of amazement.

AAO"Oh AL IL oulOOhi w hOh'
said Jack, in tone of amazement.
"'Nowl' said the preacher.
"'Well, I'll be, L beg your par
don, Parson, I'd almost said cuss-
word; but preach in my saloon' He
looked about and heard the clink of
the glasses, the banging of cards upon
the tables, the harsh laugh and the
awful oaths, and said:
"I think, Parson, you have come
to mighty poor place to start a re-
vival'
" No place needs it more, said the
minister, as he looked with a respect
! full but resolute glance into Jack s
single eye.
:" Let him preach, said the barten-
der, who, was glad to have his en-
ployer's wrath diverted from him.
Let him preach. 1t will be fine fun
for the boys.
" 'Fun!' roared Jack, I'D like to
see anybody make fun of my guest
Parson, fire away. I'll be the deacon
of this revival. If anybody dares kick
up row, I'll be-
"'There, there, said the preacher,
'Deacons don't swear
Jack rang the huge bell with which
he signaled for attention when he had
an announcement to make or COM
mand to give. In few seconds there
was silence. All eagerly looked at
the two men as if they xrected 10 see
a fight. Jack roared out in voice that
could be heard half mile:
Gents, here's Methodist parson
who's honored us by coming to town
to start revival. allus said ''The
Coyote" never follows, she allus leads.
We're the fust saloon in town to start
a prayer meeting as a sideshow. The
Parsons goin' to hev chance to show
his hand. I'm goin' to be the Deacon
of this protracted meetin'. If any
body tries any funny business with the
Parson, he'll hev to settle with the
| Deacon. See? When the Parson
wants somebody to come forrud and
get converted. I'll make one of my
bartenders go, and you can stand
around and see the show. Now, Par
son, fire away. If you've got any gos-
pei that'll reach this crowd, it'll hev
to be like my whisky, hot and strong
"The preacher sprang upon table
and began to sing Gospel song.
His voice was full and powerful and
the air was a popular war ballad. The
chorus was simple and all were urged
to join in singing it. In less than five
minutes half the crowd were singing as
Justify as class-leaders and pounding
time with their fists upon the card
tables. After the hymn was sung,
a short prayer was offered and the SER
mon began. 1t was plain, fervent,
manly talk, straight from an earnest
heart. The preachers face was sympa-
thetic, his voice was tender at times
and then it rose in q ringing tone like
the blast of trumpet. The words
were simple, bold and true. He
plainly told them of the danger Of sin,
the certainty of penalty for the sin
ner, and ended with an exhortatiou to
regain the innocence and purity of
their childhood days. He was in the
midst of pathetic picture of the far
away home, where loved ones were
thinking, weeping and praying for the
| wicked wanderer, and the crowd was
hanging in breathless silence upon his
words. An angry alteration was be-
! gun at the feet of the preacher. 1t
was fierce and brief.
can old man with the face of a
demon and the form of giant was
playing cards with young lad with
long curly hair and the sweet innocent
face of q girl The giant was called
Slippery Dick He was the terror
of the town. He was such consum-
mate trickster with cards that every
game was deliberate robbery upon his
part. The lad was called The Baby,
because of his face and curls. When
the two sat down to play, every one
in the saloon had said to his neighbour:
"'What a fool "The Baby is to
try to play cards with slippery
Dick.
s'The death like silence which was
stirred only by the low, gentle voice
of the preacher, was broken IN upon
by The Baby's' clear boyish treble:
You're cheat!'
Slippery Dick roared with the
fury of mad bull:
"'You're a liar'
''Both sprang to their feet. The
old man snatched his revolver from
his belt. The hammer caught in the
fold OF his flannel shirt, and before he
could loosen it, the young man was
upon him with the spring of tiger.
The little hand, as strong as steel,
grasped the giant by the throat q