Mower County transcript., 1903-02-04
[oral Heroism In Overcoming the World.
BY CHARLES M. SHELDON


Observation-Disclosures Observation-Disclosures
1t was during his absence from Con
rad on one Of these schoolhouse cam.
paigns that one evening four letters
came to him, and Dorothy opened
them, as Malcom had always asked
her to do, in order that answers might
be sent in case he was detained from
home several days at. time. Ill !
The first letter was from the super
inteDdent Of the Home Missionary So
ciety and read as follows:
Rev. Malcom Kirk, Conrad, Kan:
Dear Brother-It is with great regret that the
society is compelled to announce to many OF the
brethren who commissioned on the frontier
that, owing to q lack Of funds In the New York
treasury, It will be impossible to forward the
quarters salary when due. It Il with the greatest
possible regret that I am obliged to make this
statement, but it Is unavoidable. It - probable
there may be q delay Of three or four months be-
fore the money can be sent. Meanwhile your
church must be urged to do all It can for your
support until the wealthier churches respond to
the special appeal now being sent out by the o.
ciety In behalf Of the missionaries at the front.
am, your brother, etc.
The second letter that Dorothy open
ed was from the Church Building So
ciety expressing great regret that ow.
ing to excessive calls from other fields,
the society did not have the funds to
spare at present to assist the unfortu-
nate church at Conrad, but hoped to
be able to do so at some future time,
etc.
Dorothy hesitated before she opened
the next letter, and in spite of her ef-
fort at self control a tear fell with a
hot splash on the envelope. She knew
only too well what real disappoint-
ment the letters she had already open
ed would be to Malcom.
The third letter bore Boston post
mark and was from the editor of a re-
hgious paper. 1t acknowledged the re-
ce1pt Of an article sent by Malcom
some two months before and retained
it with view to publication when the
press of matter already accepted would
permit, etc. Payment for the article
would be sent when it was published.
Dorothy's face flushed with pride at
Malcom's success as q writer, and at
the same time she could not help feel
ing that If the editor Of that paper on
ly knew how much they needed the
money he would pay for the article
when he accepted it instead Of keeping
the author waiting until it appeared in
print. But she was unfamiliar with
the customs Of magazines and news.
papers In this respect, and she rejoic.
ed, after all, that her husband had
been able to write anything that such
q famous paper wanted.
The last letter also bore q Boston
postmark, and after reading the let.
ter Dorothy laid it down and rose to
walk the little room, while her cheeks
burned with excitement and her eyes
flashed with a light that had not been
seen in them for many days. The let.
ter read:
Ny Dear Mr.. Kirk-For several months we have
been considering your name in connection with
vacancy on our editorial board and have at last
decided unanimously to ask you to assume the
place Of assistant under the chief editor Of the
magazine We have been led to this decision by
our knowledge of your work on the German
scholarship thret years ago and also from pc.
rusal OF several articles recently written by you
and printed in the Boston Review. In addition to
this we know Of your work in Conrad through
Mr.. Wilson, your old seminary classmate, who
last year was on our board for time We make
you this offer and hope you will see your way to
accept. The salary will be $4,000 year, with
opportunity Of increase. The press is as powerful
AS the pulpit in these days. and you may be sure
your usefulness will not be shortened or lessened
by making this change. We await your reply,
hoping it will be favorable to u.s.
Here followed the name of a person
who was at the head Of one Of the
most influential papers published in
New England. Dorothy knew we'll
enough how much Malcolm thought of
the man and how often he had ex-
pressed his admiration for the charac-
ter of his literary work.
She picked the letter up and read it
through again. What was there in
Conrad, this wild, uninteresting west
ern town, struggling against flnan-
cial depression and q future as well as
q past failure of crops? How could
Malcom ever rise to any place worthy
of his powers In this little church, so
feeble and so poor? 1T is true," she
found herself saying; ut is true he
chose the ministry as his life work.
and he has often said he would not do
anything else. But
She went to the door and stepped
out on the little porch. 1t was after 10
o'clock and frosty night. Down the
main street she could see the lights
from the saloons. There was a brawl
going on in front of one Of them, but
that was common-a group of cow
boys galloping down the street, firing
their pistols as they came. That was
not unusual Dorothy shuddered,
What Of that promise she had made
with Malcom to try to redeem the lost
of Conrad? Was it worth while, after
all? 1t would be so much pleasante1
to live in Boston. They could have
things and live as other people lived,
and after awhile her husband would