The Oskaloosa herald., 1900-02-01

~
necessarily condemned all those mem
bers of his church who rented proper
ty to the whisky element. Again. as a
month ago. these property holders
went from the hearing of the sermon
angry that they as well as the saloon
power were under indictment.
| As Philip entered on the weeks
work after that eventful sermon he be-
gan to feel the pressure of public feel
| ing against him. He began to realize
| the bitterness of championing just
cause alone. He felt the burden of the
| community's sin In the matter, and
| more than once he felt obliged to come
| In from his parish work and go up into
his study, there to commune with his
Father. lie was growing old very fast
| in these first few weeks in his new
| parish.
Tuesday evening of that week Philip
had been writing a little while in his
study, where he had gone immediate
ly after supper. 1t was nearly 8
o'clock when he happened to remem-
Der that he had promised sick child
in the home of one of his parishioners
that he would come and see him that
very day.
He came down stairs, put on his hat
and overcoat and told his wife where
he was going.
tits not far. / shall be back in
about half an hour, Sarah"
He went out, and his wife held the
door open until he was down the steps.
She was just on the point of shutting
the door as he started down the side
walk when sharp report rang out
close by. She screamed and flung the
door open again, as by the light of the
street lamp she saw Philip stagger and
then leap into the street toward an elm
tree which grew almost opposite the
parsonage. When he was about in the
middle of the street, she was Mortified
to see man step out boldly from be-
hind the tree, raise gun and DELHI
erately fire at Philip again. This time
Philip fell and did not rise. His tall
form lay where the rays of the street
lamp shone on it, and he had fallen so
that as his arms stretched out there
he made the figure ef huge and pros
trate cross.
CHAPTER V.
AS people walked up in Milton the
Wednesday morning after the shoot
ing of Philip Strong they grew con-
scious of the fact, as the news came to
their knowledge, that they had been
nursing for 50 years one of the most
brutal and cowardly institutions on
earth and licensing it to do the very
thing which at last it had done. For
the time being Milton suffered genu-
Inc shock. Long pent up feeling against
the whisky power burst out, and pub
lie sentiment for once condemned the
source of the cowardly attempt to MUIR
der.
Various rumors were flying about. 1t
was said that Mr.. Strong had been
stabbed in the back while out making
parish calls in company with his wife
and that she had been wounded by
pistol shot herself. 1t was also said
that he had been shot through the
heart and instantly killed. But all
these confused reports were finally set
at rest when those calling at the par
sonage brought away the exact truth.
The first shot fired by the man from
behind the tree struck Philip in the
knee, but the ball glanced off. He felt
the blow and staggered, but his next
impulse was to rush in the direction Of
the sound and disarm his assailant.
That was the reason he had leaped into
the street. But the second shot was
better aimed, and the bullet crashed in
to his upper arm and shoulder, shatter-
ing the bone and producing an exceed
ingly painful, though not fatal, wound.
The shock caused Philip to fall, and
he tainted away, but not before the
face Of the man who had shot him was
clearly stamped on his mind. He knew
that he was one of the saloon proprie-
tors whose establishment Philip had
visited the week before. He was a man
with a harelip, and there was no mis-
taking his countenance.
When the people of Milton learned
that Philip was not fatally wounded,
their excitement cooled a little. A
wave of indignation, however, swept
over the town when it was learned that
the would be murderer was recognized
by the minister, and it was rumOred
that he had openly threatened that he
would fix the cursed preacher so that
he would not be able to preach again"
Philip, however, felt more full of
fight against the rum devil than ever.
AS he lay ON the bed the morning after
the shooting he had nothing to regret
or fear. The surgeon had been called
at once, as soon as his wife and the
alarmed neighbors had been able to
carry him into the parsonage. The ball
had been removed and the wounds
dressed. By noon he had recovered
somewhat from the effects of the OPP
Grafton and was resting, although very
weak from the shock and suffering
considerable pain.
What is that stain on the floor,
Sarah" he asked as his wife came in
with some article for his comfort.
Philip lay where he could see into the
other room.
at is your blood, Philip" replied his
wife, with a shudder. 'It dripped like
stream from your shoulder as we
carried you in last night. Oh, Philip,
it is dreadful! 1t seems to me like an
awful nightmare. Let us move away
from this terrible place. You will be
killed if we stay here"
There isn't much danger If the rest
of 'em are as poor shots as this fell
low" replied Philip. Now, little wo-
man." he went on cheerfully, "don't
worry. / don't believe they'll try it
again."
Mrs. Strong controlled herself. She