Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-01-10

the letters. Il QO0 KNOW, udS De ue
is in the house yet. Philip. am al.
most dead for fear-not for myself. but
for your life"
81 never had any fear Of anonymous
letters or of threats" replied Philip.
contemptuously eying the knife, which
was still sticking In the desk. "Evi-
dently the saloon men think am
a child to be frightened with these
bugaboos, which have figured in every
sensational story since the time Of
Captain Kidd"
"Then you think this Is the work of
the saloon men,?
"Who else can 1t be? We have no
other enemies of this sort In Milton"
But they will kill you, Oh, Philip,
l cannot bear the thought Of living
here in this way! Let US leave this
dreadful place"
Little woman" said Philip, while he
bravely drove away any slight anxiety
he may have had for himself, don't
you think it would be cowardly to run
away so soon"
"Wouldn't it be better to run away
so soon than to be killed? Is there any
bravery in staying in a place where
you are likely to be murdered by some
coward"
81 don't think shall be-" said Philip
confidently "And l don't want you
to be afraid. They will not dare to
harm you"
"No, Philip" exclaimed his wife ca
gerly; you must not be mistaken. /
did not faint away tonight because /
was afraid for myself. Surely l have
no fear there. 1t was the thought of
the peril in which you stand daily as
you 60 out among these men, and as
you so back and forth to your meet
ings in the dark. | am growing nerv-
GUS and anxious ever since the shoot
ing. and when | was startled by the
man here tonight was so weak that !
tainted. But | am sure that they do
not care to harm me; you are the OBJ
ject of their hatred. If they strike any
one it will be you. That Is the reason
| want to leave this place. Say you
will, Philip. Surely there are other
churches where you could preach as
you want to and still not be in such
constant danger"
1t required all of Philips wisdom and
love and consciousness Of his immedi-
ate duty to answer his wife's appeal
and say no to it. 1t was one Of the Sc
verest struggles he ever had. There
was to be taken into the account not
only his own safety, but that Of his
wife as we'll. For. think what he
would, he could not shake off the feel
ing that n man so cowardly as to re-
sort to the assassination Of a man
would no: be overparticular even If 1t
should chance to be a woman. Philip
was man enough to be entirely unshak-
en- by anonymous threats. A thou
sand q 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 be 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"
Il did not" replied his wife, little
Indignantly. do you think wrote
those 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 lie
In the house yet. | shall not rest easy
until ysu 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 re.
spectful distance behind Philip, one
armed with the poker and the other
with a fire shovel, while he pulled open
closet 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
man might have crawlcd In and out
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 a 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 anu
describe the knife. 1t was too good
piece of news to omit. and Milton peo-
ple were treated to genuine sensation
when the article came out. Philips
object in giving the incident publicity
was to show the community what
murderous element 1t was fostering In
the saloon power. Those threats and the