The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1900-03-30

WOuiu uOl Dt even IL II |
should chance to be woman. Philip |
was man enough to be entirely unshak- |
en- by anonymous threats. A thou |
sand a day would not have unnerved |
him in the least. He would have |
writhed under the sense of the great
sin which they revealed, but that is all
the effect they would have had.
When it came to his wife, however,
that was another question. For mo-
ment he felt like sending in his resig-
nation and moving out of Milton as
soon as possible. Mrs. Strong did not
oppose his decision when once he had
declared his resolve. She knew Philip
must do what to him was the will Of
his Master, and with that finally she
was content.
She had overcome her nervousness
and dread now that Philips coura-
geous presence strengthened her, and
she began to tell him that he had bet
ter hunt for the man who had appear
ed so mysteriously in the study.
81 haven't convinced myself yet that
there is any man. Confess, Sarah, that
You dreamed all that" -.
81 did not" replied his wife, little
Indignantly. do you think 1 wrote
tbose letters and stuck that knife into
the desk myself?' @
"Of course not. But how could a
man get into the study and neither you
nor the girl know it?''
81 did hear a noise, and that is what
started me up stairs. And he may be
| in the house yet. I shall not rest easy
| until you look into all the closets and
down cellar and everywhere"
So Philip, to quiet his wife, search
ed the house thoroughly, but found
nothing. The servant and the min
ister's wife followed along at a re-
spectful distance behind Philip, one
armed with the poker and the other
with fire shovel, while he pulled open
clos.t doors with reckless disregard Of
any possible man hiding within and
pretended to look into the most unlike
ly places for him, joking all the while
| to reassure his trembling followers.
They found one of the windows in
Philips study partly open. But that
did not prove anything, although a
again through that window from an ell
of the parsonage, the roof of which ran
near enough to the window so that an
active person could gain entrance that
way. The whole affair remained more
or less mystery to Philip. However,
the letters and the knife were real.
He took them down town next day to
the office of the evening paper and ask
ed the editor to publish the letters and
describe the knife. 1t was too good a
piece of news to omit, and Milton peo-
pie were treated to genuine sensation
when the article came out. Philips
object in giving the incident publicity
was to show the community what a
murderous element it was fostering in
the saloon power. Those threats and the
knife preached a sermon to the
thoughtful people of Milton, and citi
zens who had never asked the question
before began to ask now, "Are we tC
! endure this saloon monster much lon
ger|
As for Philip, he went his way the
same as ever. Some of his friends and
church members even advised him tt
! carry a revolver and be careful about
going out alone at night. Philip laugh
. ed at the idea of a revolver and said
"If the saloon men want to get rid Of
me without the trouble of shooting MI
themselves, they had better make me {
present of silver mounted pistol
, Then 1 would manage the shooting my
: SELF And as for being careful abou
= | hot iS
| thinking of that it will continue t.
= license and legalize an Institution tha
: makes it's honest citizens advise new
comers to stay at home for fear of as
sassinaton? No. L shall go about m.
~ work just as if l lived in the most Law
y abiding community in America. And
. l am murdered by the whisky men
q want the people of Milton to under
stand that the citizens are as much t
~ blame for the murder as the saloo
y men. For a community that will 1
q cense such curse ought TO bear tn
shame of the legitimate fruits of it"
The trial of the man with the hare
! lip had been postponed for some legs
reason, and Philip felt relieved som'
- what He dreaded the ordeal of th
= court scene. And one or two visit
% made at the Jail had not been helpfl
IS to him. The man had refused eac
= time to see the minister, and he ha
y gone away feeling hungry in his sol
: for the mans redemption and reali
40 ing something Of the spirit of Chri
7 when he was compelled to cry ou
H. They will not come unto me that the
h, might have eternal life" That alwa.
~ seemed to Philip the most awful fe
N ture OF the history of Christ-that Il
=, very people he loved and yearned aft
or spit upon him and finally broke b
ac heart with their hatred,
an He continued his study Of the pro
lem of the town, believing that evel
nd place has certain peculiar local cha
Il acteristics which every church al
al preacher ought 10 study. He w
~ struck by the aspect of the lower pa
no of the town, where nearly all the poo
o+ er people lived. He went down the
lis and studied the situation thorough
ba 1t did not take very great amount
q, thinking to convince him that t
ro. church power in Milton was not pre-
on erly distrit uted. The seven large