The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1900-01-04

clothes, spotless shirt and spotless
collar. the German in the old salt and
pepper. casting shy glances of admira-
ton at his companion.
Attic front door Bonaparte removed
his hat with much dignity, raised his
shlrt collar and entered. To the CEN
i. ter table he walked. put his hat sol
emnly down by the big Bible and bow
ed his head over 1t in silent prayer.
The Boer woman looked at the Hot
sentot, and the Hottentot looked at the
Boer woman.
There was one thing on earth for
which Tant Sannie had a profound
reverence, which exercised subduing
influence over her. which made her for
the time a better woman That thing
was new, shining black cloth. 1t made
her think Of the "predikant;' it made
her think Of the elders. who sat in
the top pew Of the church on Sundays,
with the hair SO nicely oiled, so holy
and respectable, with their little swal-
lowtailed coats; it made her think of
! heaven, where everything was so holy
and respectable and nobody wore tan
cord and the littlest angel had black
tail coat. She wished she hadn't call
ed him thief and Roman Catholic.
She hoped the German hadn't told him.
She wondered where those clothes were
when he came in rags to her door.
There was no doubt he was a very re-
spectacle man, a gentleman.
The German began to read hymn.
at the end Of each line Bonaparte
groaned and twice at the end of every
verse.
The Boer woman had often heard of
persons grooming during prayers to add
certain poignancy and finish to them.
. Old Jan Vanderlinde, her mothers
brother, always did it after he was
! converted, and she would have looked
upon it as no especial sign of grace in
any one. But to groan at hymn time!
She was startled. She wondered if he
remembered that she shook her fist in
his face. This was a man of God.
| They knelt down to pray. The Boer
woman weighed $50 pounds and could
not kneel. She sat in her chair and
peeped between her crossed fingers at
the strangers back. She could not
understand what he said, but he was
in earnest. He shook the chair by the
back rail till it made quite little dust
on the mud floor.
When they rose from their knees,
Bonaparte solemnly seated himself in
the chair and opened the Bible. He
blew his nose, pulled up his shirt col
lar, smoothed the leaves, stroked down
his capacious waistcoat. blew his nose
again, looked solemnly round the room,
then began:
"All liars shall have their part in the
lake which burneth with fire and brim-
stone, which is the second DEATH"
Having read this portion of Scrip
ture, Bonaparte paused impressively
and looked all round the room.
81 shall not, my dear friends" he
said, "long detain you. Much of our
precious time has already fled bliss
fully from us in the voice Of thanks
giving and the tongue of praise. A
few, very few. words are all shall
address to you, and may they be as q
rod of iron dividing the bones from
the marrow and the marrow from the
bones.
''In the first place, what is liar?"
The question was put so pointedly
and followed by a pause so profound
that even the HottentOt man left off |
looking at his boots and opened his
eyes. though he understood not a word.
81 repeat" said Bonaparte, what is
a liar?''
The sensation was intense. The at.
tention of the audience was riveted.
'Have you any Of you ever seen a |
liar, my dear friendsY' There was
still longer pause. 81 hope not; truly |
hope not. But l will tell you what a
liar is. l knew a liar once-a little boy
who lived in Cape Town. in Short Mar
ket street. His mother and sat to-
gether one day discoursing about our |
souls.
Here, Sampson said his mother,
go and buy siXpence Of 'meiboss''
from the Malay round the corner
"When he came back, she said, How |
much have you got?
Five he said.
"He was afraid if he said six and q |
half she'd ask for some And, my |
friends, that was lie. The half of a |
'meiboss' stuck in his throat, and he |
died and was buried. And where did |
the soul Of that little liar go to. my |
friends? 1t went to the lake of fire and |
birthstone. This brings me to the Sec
ond point Of my discourse.
what is a lake of fire and brim-
stone? | will tell you, my friends"
said Bonaparte condescendingly. 1.-The
imagination unaided cannot conceive it, |
but by the help of the Lord l will put
it before your minds eye.
Il was travelling in Italy once on
time. came to a city called Rome,
vast city, and near it is a mountain
which splits forth fire. Its name is
Etna. Now, there was man in that
city Of Rome who had not the fear Of !
God before his eyes. and he loved a |
woman. The woman died, and he |
walked up that mountain splitting fire, /
and when he got to the top he threw |
himself in at the hole that. is there. |
The next day went up | was not |