The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-22

the agent replied patiently Here is am
other Bible we sell for 10 cents without
| the family record
/ The farmer adjusted a pair of specta-
cles and glanced at the open page of the
| 15-cent copy
Most's good as tn fust one, amt it?
l s'spose it's all here amt it, from Jo-
mann tn whale, clear through t. Lee
| Vltlcus? Bill kinder cal'lated t. put that
Old boss on me once fer nice little six
| year-old bay mare-I had; but Bill ain I
alias S cute IS he thinks he is. l
knowed that boss long fore Bill did
belonged up I'M New Boston,
1t seems agpity,' the Bible man in
terrupted, IF You are not supplied with
Bible to let this opportunity slip by
The stoop-shouidered man returned
the two volumes to the buggy.
dun know but yer right he said
| Il amt got my wallet with me- but you
Jest take EN- saround to that house yon-
der an let the women folks pick out any
KIND they want. 9sI'll stand fert an
they know where tsget the money. Ask
BIZ how many O. Them 4O-centers he'll
amt Wuth more nn you could git in a
| peck measure : fs1l
1 AT the house pointed out by the old
farmer the agent found the women folks
| grouped around chicken coop There
were three of them, ranging in age from
tWenty-one to eighty-five and it was
| evident from their troubled faces. that
the inmates of the chicken coop were
| the cause of some vexing problem.
! Ia won't hev it no other way" the
middle one of the three was saying as
the agent drove up, shut that tn thun-
der and lightin' did it."
May l ask you" the Bible man be-
gan, In his stereotyped way
che woman who had been speaking
turned upon him sharply
You may ask anything you like she
/ replied. providin you'll answer me jest
one question. What. / want we to tell me,
/ is KILN them white Leghorns Eastern
! four hens kin hatch emp
| The question was not in the ex-clergy-
mans line and it broke somewhat rude
I ~ into his trend of thought but he rail-
/ lied courageously
Il have heard he said, that severe
| electrical storms just before the eggs
| were Matched would frequently destroy
| the young CHI
| Just exactly what Pas bin sayin'.',
| the woman broke in, IAN 1 bout made
up my mind tn good Lord amt cal'-
| latin we should raise white Leghorns
| this year. He couldn't a timed four
| thunder showers so st t. kill four sep
| rate hatchin's nicer-not if He'd set out
| to a purpose
| The Bible man lodged the issue and
| had started on his first question when 1t
| occurred to him that the old farmer
had given the women carte blanche so
lar as ordering his wares were concern
| ed.
"Ain't that jest like pav' the young
! est of the three exclaimed when the
agent had explained the farmers offer
| Il guess he's kinder lowed to himself
| we Kin hev Bibles if we can't hev chick
| ems, but Ian sakes! we amt a needin'
no new Bibles, How much be they?''
| The agent handed "a different sample to
each of the three women and after they
| had been examined and passed around
| the old woman took it upon herself to
make the selections
long as pa seems kinder sot on
| having us hev en- she suggested. IT
| think we nights well take one o. these
! FAMILY record ones. TIL Writin's gettin'
| kinder faded auot in the old one an 1t
| won't be bad idee t. copy off tn
| names an dates so'st t. flev one t. fall
| back on case anything should happen.''
| The agent opened his order book and
| was about to ask for the name and. the
| address when the old woman stepped up
| to him with sudden suspicion in her
! faded eyes.
There amt no plush case or gilt pic
| ter frames comes with these Bibles, be
there?' she demanded "Becuz if they
| be We needn't send none. We amt t. be
| took in on none of them capers. A
young Teller cum here once an, took Pas
portrait free O. cost, We supposed, an
tn fust thing we knowed there was a
express package with $3.50 charges ont
fer a frame, an we hadn't ordered no
frame tall
But you got t. admit, MAJ the mid
die one broke in soothingly, that you
allus allowed it wuz real good likeness
O. pa.
The Bible man assured the woman
that there was no such dupiicity con-
nected with his mission and left them
still standing by the chicken COOP
The region which the clergyman had
chosen was only thinly settled, many of
the farms that were not abandoned al
together had been rented by Italian i'm
migrants and French-Canadians and with
this class the agent found it almost i'm
possible either to sell or to give away
his Bibles.
I'VE no buy, We no take" was the
almost universal answer to his PROPOSE
ton.
Nor was the clergyman received with
any great cordially by a majority of
them. At one place the door was shut
rudely in his face after his mission had
been explained, and at another the
woman who had listened to him merely
turned her back upon him and returned
to her work in the kitchen.
''They cannot be made to understand
the clergyman explained after an of
fer to one of these foreigners had been
sscorned, that sour-sBible is the same
as that prescribed by the Church of
Rome, of which they are members, and
they are positive that there is some
sinister motive in my offer to supply
them with the Book of God. They are
all very religious and very loyal to their
church and they resent any missionary
work of an outsider
The native farmers received the agent
| as Hospitality as their New England
bringing up would permit and displayed
| a lively interest in his work Only two
| Of them refused to accept his PROPOSE
tons on any conditions whatever One
| of these was a little old, dried-up wom-
an, who was hoeing energetically In
| cornf1eld a quarter of mile from the
house. She listened to what the clergy
man had to say, leaning on her hoe and
looking him aggressively in the face.
| I'm a church-going woman she re-
marked when he had finished an all my
| folks has bin afore me, but since they
| left me t'run this farm. er not run 1t
| an StafVn 7 hadn't had M time fa,. III,