The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-08-30

possible into their tones. There was d
little extraordinary force put into the
clause,
There's no other way but His way,
by the deacons who were singing, alto
gether unconsciously, but the result OF
the fact that their minds were fixed upon
Shacklett. and their knowledge that he
thought there are several ways of being a
Christian. All the members Of the church
who were working hard for 1t had at once
recognized the specialization of the entire
service as soon as Shacklettc came in. There
was another man there, too, in whom they
had a special interest. but he could be
plucked as a brand from the burning al
most any time; Shacklett had 10 be plucked
at some of the infrequent chances they had
The other man was Scott, Shacklett's OPP
ponent on the other ticket. 1t was not nee
essary to offer to make any deal with him.
Shacklett came higher, but the church saw
no more harm in saving a soul by giving
a man an office than in making a convert
by various other devices in common use.
At the end of the second stanza of the song
Scott walked forward with dignity and
gave his hand to the preacher. who wrung
it for a full minute as his eye alternately
looked Scott in the face and shot past the
latter's ear to Shacklett sitting next the
aisle, about half way to the door. Shack
lett made no sign whatever, and did not
stay long after the benediction.
The campaign for Shacklett's soul kept
on without interruption, and indeed with in
creased energy, after the assault upon his
works made at church that morning. The
next Sunday there was a baptiZing at the
river, and everybody went to witness the
ceremony. Shacklett would have gone be-
cause he, like the others, always went to
these public attractions, and they were the
great occasions for the country people
meeting together. He was not likely to
miss a meeting of his fellow-citizens of any
kind during the campaign. but Stevenson
stopped during the week to make sure that
he would be there.
The baptizing was in the afternoon at the
upper ford, where the bottom was smooth
for a little space. The river was sluggish
and muddy, and to one accustomed to
mountain streams. or rivers in limestone
countries, was about as repellent a sheet Of
water as could be imagined. 1t was full
Of holes, and at one place might be two
feet deep and a rod away be without bot
tom, so far as sounding tackle made from
plow lines and fence rails could determine.
The banks were straight up from the river
and composed Of black, wet soil superim-
posed on red or yellow clay. The ground
near the bank was soggy except in times
of extreme drought, and stretched back
through the woods with dense underbrush
and a thick carpet of wet, dead leaves for
a few miles to the first hill, which ran par
allel with the stream on either side. leaving
the riVar 90 q ditch IN tha pnia1Ia ~ N
trough of alIuvial formation. Every spring
the high water covered the country in this
trough from hill to hill. and it was far in
the summer before its bottom became dry.
Here and there the bank shelved down
gradually to the water, due generally to
some immense sycamore tree having fallen
into the stream and left a hole where its
roots turned upward in the crash; and at
one of these places the baptisms of the
church were held. The sloping bank al
lowed access to the river itself. and the
high bank to the right and left made points
of vantage for the spectators.
The wagon track winding through the
woods, made by some landowner or wood
poacher in getting out his winter supply of
fuel some time within a year or two, was
filled with a procession of vehicles when
u Z Az II lIDIu liz HlBUNdN.
There were farm wagons, with spring seats
perched upon the low beds painted green
with much ornamentation in red, a variety
of old vehicles of antique model, and here
and there a new buggy. shiny black with
great splotches of mud on bed and top.
The heavy wagons could not go faster than
a walk over the rough track full of stumps
and chuckholes, and the effective speed of
49,
Gle. for there was no room to turn out and
pass. So the people drove slowly on with
watchful care in avoiding the stumps and
quick decision of which side of the mud
hole was the least apt to result in upset
ting The line wound its way through the
wooded bottoms, and was continued appar-
emily indefinitely by the vehicles in the
main road coming from both directions and
drawn into the little lane which was the
beginning of the wagon track, like objects
into a vortex or ears of corn into a shelter.
The warm sun was half way down the
western sky when all had arrived at the up-
per ford, and the woods were full of teams
tied to trees and to the rear of green farm
wagons, from which they had been I'M
hitched. The tops OF the smart new buggies
were thrown back, and it could be seen now
that these were occupied by young people
from town, or sons and daughters Of the
more ambitious and prosperous farmers,
who had come for the spectacle, and ap-
p~arently had no reverence whatever for
the religious rite. Some of the tough gang
from the Big Bend were there on horse
back, ready TO take advantage of any op-
portunity either 10 make trouble or TO scott
loudly at the services. These were well to
the front at both TANKS of the mass of
people which crowded the high bank, and
in the middle, where the bank sloped down.
stood the preacher in a suit of rubber that
made him look like a marine diver of spe-
cial refinement in dress, who had not vet
put on his headpiece.
The choir started a song, and after the
first verse the people added their voices.
especially in the chorus, with the words of
which they were most familiar. Those VINO
sang gradually worked their way down to
the front, next the water, because they
were the leading members Of the church.
and took a personal interest in the soIemni-
ties and artistic qualities of the rite. The
sound Of song shaded back rapidly, and a
dozen feet from the edge of the water no
one was singing, except here and there a
soprano or an alto by the side of a tenor
or a baritone-youth taking advantage Of
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