The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1902-04-19

names an dates so'st t. hev one t. fall
pack or case anything should happen
| The agent opened his order book and
was about to ask for the name and lne
ADDRESS when the old woman stepped up
| to MIN with. a sudden suspicion In her
| faded eyes. . 49, .r e.,
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 Pa S
| portrait free O. cost, we supposed. an
| tn fust thing We knowed there was a
! express package with $3.50 charges ont
| fer frame, an we hadn't ordered no
I frame tall >..-a .... l~..r
But you got t. admit, ma" the mid
| die one broke in soothingly ..that You
allus allowed it wuz a real good likeness
O. pa" r r.| 49,. $3.50 49,. d. ~ .-.+- i
The Bible man assured the woman
that there was no such duplicity 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 all
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 .'.~ So,
I'VE no buy, we no take" was the
almost universal answer to his PROPOSE
ton. o.. ..
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
70 ho1 III
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
scorned. that our Bible 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
lively interest in his work. Only two
OF them refused to accept his PROPOSE
tions on any conditions whatever One
of these was a little old, dried-up wom-
an, who was hoeing theoretically in
cornfield a quarter of mile from the
house She listened to what the clergy
man had to say, leaning On ner hoe and
looking him aggressively In the face
I'm churcE-eoing woman" she re-
marked when he had finished, an all nv
folks has bin afore me- but since thev
left me trun this farm. er not run it
an starve, hadn't had no time fer tn
Scripturs. Used t. get a sight O. COM
fort out of 'em, but amt no time now.
I got fifty chickens, seven head Of cattle,
an I'm goin' t'gtt a separator If 1 kin
put 'nough money by fore winter I
h amt no money fer Bibles ner no time
tread 'em If T had Tain't becuz I
amt God-fearin' nuther, but I've jest got
.'g1t that separator
The man with the Bibles demon
strated andseven limited that in her zeal
she was drifting away from the church
and it's Influences. but the woman mere
ly shook her head the more aggressive
ly.
'Tain't no use,' she repeated, you're
jest wastin' your time an NINE Take
EN- to them that haint got fifty chickens
and seven head O. cattle.''
Two miles further down the road, at
the next house that was inhabited, the
agent met his second rebuff and once
more it was woman who administered
1t. She likewise was energetic and
thrifty and it was evident she be-
grudged the time the agent was taking
from her work. In the face of her
impatience, however, the agent never
faltered and explained to her finally that
If she did not feel that she could afford
to buy one his society would be very
glad to send her one free of COST The
woman listened to this later proposition
with gathering scorn and wrath.
so your one of them kind be ye?"
she exclaimed In an angry voice when
he had finished. well, you can't do no
business in this house. Bin talkin' here
for '.ost thirty minutes bout sellin' Il
Bible an now you offer t. give 'em away.
Ja.t s'poss I'd bought one on 'em an
paid 40 for it an learned arterward
could a got it for nothin' II I'd held on
an let you keep on gabbin'-do you
s'pOse I'd ever took any comfort out
a. that Bible? No, sir. we hain't no time
for them underhanded tricks, ner no use
Gar them kind u Bibles -