The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1900-02-21

pened. Neither did the two men. Burns
still sat with his head bowed between
his hands, The man leaning against the
fence looked at the bishop with a face
in which new emotions of awe. repent
ance. astonishment and broken gleam
of JOY struggled for expression
The bishop rose.
"Come. my brothersl God is good.
You shall stay at the settlement tonight.
and will make good my promise as to
the work
The two men followed the bishop in
silence. When they reached the settle
Inent. it was after clock The bishop
let them in and led them to room. At
the door he paused moment His tall,
commanding figure stood in the door.
way. and his pale face. worn with his
recent experiences was illuminated
with the divine glory
"God bless you. my brothersl' he
said. and. leaving them his benediction.
he went away.
In the morning he almost dreaded to
face the men, tut the impression Of the
night had not worn away. True to his
promise, the bishop secured work for
them The janitor at the settlement
needed an assistant. owing to the growth
of the work there. So Burns was given
the place The bishop succeeded in get
ting his companion a position as driver
for a firm Of warehouse dray manufac-
turers not far from the settlement.
And the Holy Spirit. struggling in
these two darkened. sinful men. began
his marvellous work of regeneration.
1t was the afternoon following that
morning when Burns was installed in
his new position as assistant janitor
that he was cleaning off the front steps
Of the settlement when he paused q
moment and stood up to look about him
The first thing he noticed was a beer
sign just across the alley. He could al.
most touch it with his broom from
where he stood. Over the street imme-
diately opposite were two large saloons
and little farther down were three
more
Suddenly the door of the nearest sa-
loon opened, and a man came out AT
the same time two more went in. A
strong odor of beer floated up to Burns
as he stood on the steps of the settle
ment He clutched his broom handle
tight and began to sweep again He
had one foot on the porch and another
Oh the step just below. He took another
step down. still sweeping The sweat
stood out on his forehead, although the
day was frosty and the air chill. The
saloon door opened again. and three or
four men came out A child went in
with pail and came out moment
later with quart of beer The child
went by on the sidewalk just below him.
and the odor of the beer came up to
him. He took another step down. still
sweeping desperately His fingers were
purple as be clutched the handle Of the
broom
Then suddenly he pulled himself up
one step and swept over the spot he had
just cleaned. He then dragged himself
by a tremendous effort back to the floor
OF the porch and went over into the cor.
ner Of it farthest from the saloon and
began to sweep there 20 God. he
cried. "if the bishop would only come
backr The bishop had gone out with
DR. Bruce somewhere and there was
no one about the settlement that he
knew
He swept in the corner for two or
three minutes His face was drawn
with the agony of the conflict Gradu.
ally he edged out again toward the steps
and began to go down them He looked
toward the sidewalk and saw that he
had left one step unswept The sight
seemed to give him a reasonable excuse
for going down there to finish his sweep.
ing He was on the sidewalk now.
sweeping the last step. with his face
toward the settlement and his back
turned partly on the saloon across the
alley He swept the step a dozen times
The sweat rolled over his face and drop
ped down at his feet. By degrees he felt
that he was drawn over toward that
end Of the step nearest the saloon He
could smell the beer and rum now as
the fumes rose around him 1t was like
the internal sulphur Of the lowest hell.
and yet it dragged him. as by giants
hand. nearer its source
He was down in the middle Of the
sidewalk now. still sweeping He clear.
ed the space in front Of the settlement
and even went out into the gutter and
swept that. He took off his hat and rub
bed his sleeve over his face His lips
were paid. and his teeth chartered. He
trembled all over like a palsied man
and staggered back and FORTH as if he
were already drunk. His soul shook
within him
He had crossed over the little piece Of
stone tagging that measured the width
of the alley. and now he stood in front
of the saloon. looking at the sign and
staring into the window at the pile of
whisky and beer bottles arranged in
great pyramid inside He moistened his
lips with his tongue and took a step