The true northerner., 1900-03-07
The man langhed sayagely. Then he

etruck his hand against the fence with
such sudden passion thsH he drew blood
kept itl ! was drunk inside OF a
week I've been drinking ever since
but I've never forgotten you or you
prayer. Do you remember. the mornin
after ! came 10 your house and after
breakfast. you had PRAYERS and asked
me 10 come in and sit with the rest 7
That got me- But my mother used to
pray. | can see her now kneeling down
by my bed when | was lad. Father
came in one ni9ht drunk and kicked
her while she was kneeling there by
me. but | never forgot that prayer Of
yours that morning You prayed for
me just as mother used to, and you did
not seem to take count Of the fact that
/ was ragged and tough looking and
more than half drunk when rung your
doorbell My God, what life I've
lived The saloon has housed me and
homed me and made hell on earth for
me. But tjvit prayer stuck TO me all the
time My promise not TO drink was
broken in a thousand pieces inside of
two Sundays, and l lost the job you
found for me and landed in police STA
tion two days afterward, but / never
forgot you or your prayer. / don't
know what good it's done me, but l
never forgot it. and / won't do any
harm to you nor let any one else. SO
you re free TO 60. That's why.
The bishop did not stir. Somewhere
church clock struck /. The man had
hiu haf 1,ao1~ -
on the stone. The bishop was thinking
hard.
"How long is it since you had work Z"
he asked. and the man standing up
answered for the other.
'More II six months since either of
MS did anything TO tell of, unless you
count holding up work. / call ii pretty
wearing kind of job myself, especially
when we put in night like this one
and don't make nothing"
Suppose l found good jobs for both
of you Would you quit this and begin
all overg"
whats the use2" The man on the
stone spoke sullenly ''I've reformed
hundred times. Every time l go down
deeper. The devils begun to forcelose
on me already. It's too late
"Nol" said the bishop. and never be-
fore the most entranced audience had
he felt the desire for souls burn up in
him so strongly. All the time he sat
there during the remarkable scene he
prayed: 80 Lord Jesus. give me the
souls of thSse two for theel | am hun
CRY for them Give them TO mel"
MOI the bishop repeated "What
does God want of you two men, 1t
doesn't so much matter what l want,
but he wants just what / do in this
case. You two men are of infinite value
to him. - And then the bishops won
derful memory came to his aid in an
appeal such as no one else on earth
among men could make under such cir
cumstances. He had remembered the
mans name in spite of the wonderfully
busy years that lay between his coming
to the house and the present moment.
"Burns, he said and he yearned
over the men with an unspeakable long
ing for them both, eff you and your
friend here will go home with me to-
night / will find you both places of
honorable employment. / will believe
in you and trust you. You are both
comparatively young men. Why should
God lose your 1t is a great thing to
win the love of the great Father. 1t is
but if you need to feel again that there
is love in the world you will believe
me when l say, my brothers, that love
you, and in the name of him who was
crucified for our sins cannot bear to
see NDu miss the glory of the human
life. Come Be men Make another try
for it, God helping you. No one but
God and you and myself need ever
know anything of this tonight. He has
forgiven it. The minute you ask him to
you will find that true. Gomez Well
fight it out together, you two and l.
It's worth fighting for. Everlasting life
is 1t was the sinner that Christ came
TO help I'll do what / can for you. .
God. give me the souls of these two
meni'
The bishop broke into a prayer to
God that was a continuation of his APP
peal to the men. His pent up feeling
had no other outlet. Before he had
prayed many moments Burns was sit
ting with his face buried in his hands,
sobbing Where were his mothers
prayers now2 They were adding to the
power of the bishops. And the other
man, harder, less moved. without a
previous knowledge of the bishop, leaned
back against the fence, stolid at first,
but as the prayer went on he was moved
by it. What force of the Holy Spirit
swept over his dulled, brutal, coarsened
life nothing but the eternal records OF
the recording angel can ever disclose,
but that same supernatural presence that
smote Paul on the road to Damascus
and poured through Henry Maxwell's
church the morning he asked disciples
to follow in Jesus steps and had again
broken irresistibly over the Nazareth
Avenue congregation now manifested
himself in this foul corner of the mighty
city and over the natures of these two
sinful, sunken men, apparently lost to
all the pleadings of conscience and
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