The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1900-11-01
CHAPTER MI.
E BATTLE FOR pRonIBITIo,

|
Eas AT war. He knew deep down II
his soul that he had no joy in til,
change he had planned to make. HI
knew well enough that his call to tn,
ministry did not mean ministry will
! the pen. but with the voice and In tn,
| personal, living, hand to hand touch
with humanity.
He knew it when he said TO Dorothy
there by the ruins, 81 will" He knew
II rs lie penned the letter that ever
now he supposed had started on Its
eastward journey. he knew 1t as he
. felt the touch of the sOrrowful moth
er's hand on his arm. And no reason
ing or self persuasion could convince
him otherwise or satisfy him that he
had made decision that his con-
science could approve.
Tho doctor had patient at the lower
end Of the town near where they drove
In on the way back, and Malcom left
him there and started to walk home.
AS he went up the main street past the
''Ao'h' Val N'i NhihN S'lIHS ouI VI
one Of them.
The sight Of the minister seemed to
sober the man a little. He muttered,
How do, Mr.. Kirk" and was sham
bling on, when lie suddenly stopped, as
If he had remembered something, and
ran back to Kirk, who had gone sadly
on. sick nt heart at the sight of him.
Something Of yours, Mr.. Kirk. Let
ter you gave ne to keep. No trouble to
keep it. Glad TO do favor" Carver
stammered, his drunken brain proud of
his apparent service to the minister.
He pulled out the letter Kirk had
given him and handed it over. NAL
com took 1t mechanically without n
word. Carver stared ut him, and as
Kirk walked away he scratched his
head and muttered:
Something wrong with the minister
evidently" He shook his head in per-
plexity and finally zlgzaggcd into n
saloon to see if he could clear up the
mystery with fresh drink.
Malcom thrust the letter down into
his pocket and walked on like one in n
dream. He went by the postoflice with
out looking up. lie met several Of his
parishioners and answered their good
day absently. He was going over the
struggle he had experienced when his
baby died, only this was a new form of
It Now Dorothy was the person he
was thinking Of most He was In the
habit Of making up hh own mind
quickly. II he ever did anything that
bis whole soul could not rejoice in, he
felt suspicious of 1t; he felt suspicious
Of his whole motive now In leaving
Conrad. And Philip Barton. was that
soul laid on him TO rescue! Was 1t
true that he must assume the salvation
Of that particular individual and count
him one Of the lost souls he had really
pledged himself to save? And this
Acttcr that had come back to him. was
he to take the event as a leading Of
the Spirit and interpret It all to mean
that he was not to send IL, after all!
But Dorothy, how could he ask her to
lead the life of hardship she must lead
If they remained in this Home Mission
ary field? After he had gone over all
the ground for going or leaving he
came back TO that final question And
his mind was in a tumult.
He was within block Of the house
now and still walking on absorbed,
when some one touched his arm. He
looked up and saw one Of his church
members, one of the poorest men in
his congregation.
How do you do, Mr.. Kirk? Wife
and have been talking over what we
could do toward helping on the new
church parsonage, and we have CON
cluded TO give this as our share" The
man handed TO Kirk n $40 bill. We're
sorry 1t isn't ten times rs much. Our
crops failed, you know, along with tie
sickness and Jim's death last spring.
But we want to do something in memo
ry of the boy. His mother"- The
man chOkcd up and did not finish the
sentence.
That was n good sermon you gave
us, Mr.. Kirk, last Sunday. 1t did us n
world Of good. We're praying for you
at our house, God bless your worl,
among u.s."
The man was gone, and Malcom
stood there holding the money. and 1t
was impossible for him TO prevent his
mind from trying to guess by what
self denial, hardship. sacrifice, that SO
had been saved. 1t was little thing,
but the meeting with his poor parish
ioner profoundly moved him.
H0 went on slowly and had almost
reached the house when. as he turned
a corner, he came face to face with the
superintendent of his Sunday school,
The superintendent was ose Of III
IsadSsg Temperance vsrksss h Cunf2d
Hs Aal been specially act1vs IL the
wsSA carried - d ~ ssustry dis
6fets. ks W. - e lkAlcsm's best
1s.snAA 80 - ~ ssaDAsa3vsiy fsw
men with when h~ often ssuasslsd
and ore whom hs trusted soetrsiy.
I've Just been to the house, Mr..
Kirk. to see you I won't take your