The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-06-30

let go of that The first time he told
it after being awakened" Deacon
Eardman took him out on the bridge
over Bulkhead creek, and said:
'tEben, you want your sins washed
away, don't you ?"
II do. deacon, do
You swore off lyin', didn't you?'
Il did"
Then you've got to drop this story
of the Poor Gal We can't believe
you've changed for the better until
you've dropped that"
But that's no lie, deacon" earnestly
protested Eben. It's the solemn truth.
If 1t hain't, then may never catch
another bullhead in this creek"
'-Eben! Ebeni'
but it's true. deacon"
Alas, Eben, but Satan has a tighter
hold upon you than we thought for.
You've been awakened, but you haven't
been purged.'
AS Eben still protested, the deacon
gave him up, and two or three days
later he was taken in hand by Deacon
Spooner.
Look here, Eben," said the latter
that's a beautiful story you've been
tellin' us for the last IA years, and
won't deny that I've been Interested
and affected, but the time has come
when you must drop it. You've come
into the church on probation,and you've
got to drop that story or be dropped
yourself"
but hain't it my Christian duty to
of course"
Then I'm goin' to keep on tellin'
that story, for it's as true as gospel.
Yes. sir them things happened just as
l say, and I'll swear to 'em on a stack
O. Bibles as high as a house."
Two or three other good men wres-
tied with Eben without avail, and then
he was turned over to his pastor. He
was advised. admOnished and threaten
ed, but he wouldn't let go.
I've only got to shut my eyes to see
that gal Standin' before me-" he re-
piled, as he closed them for a few sec
onde, "and can almost hear her words
agin as she begs me to save her from
the villain. Could I do that if I was
lin? And, besides, would I stick to 4
lie after givin up swearin' and chawin'
terbacker? 1t may seem like a lie to
you, parSon because you've never been
in Michigan and don't know the eli
mate, but I'm layin' my hand right on
my heart and sayin' hope to drop
dead if I even exaggerate."
The parson figured it that Eben was
possessed of a. hallucination, and after an
to ring in the Poor Gar so often, and
let it go at that. There We're others not
got off the story twice a week, he was
in due time refused admission to the
He went around Offering to make aft
davit and seeking to make men believe in
him, but they shook their heads and
you see. you've got things twisted
said Uriah Davis to Eben. There might
have been a gal stood before you when
you was feedin' them cattle, but she was
a gal who had come over to borrow tea
and sugar and wanted TO know if the
folks were home. She wasn't what they
call a heroine"
But she was. Uriah-she certainly
was
THE barn might have been struck by
lightnin and burned down, Eben, but you
could not have been sure about them
bones. The bones of a woman and a calf
look just alike"
But calves don't wear shoes. and we
found a shoe"
And then you see. Eben, you see that
the villain didn't appear. Villains allus
appear. They never make a sneak They
appear and demand their victim. I'm
tellin' you, Eben-tellin' you as your best
friend, to give it up and tell some other
lie"
But Eben wouldn't He grew paIer and
thinner day by day but he stuck to the
Poor CAL He finally lost his appe-
lite, and took to his bed. but he wouldn' t
change word of the story. He pined and
faded and then died, but his last words
were of that desperate villain.
A month after he was dead a man from
Michigan came along and verified the
story in all its details, and gave many
more. Poor Eben had been telling the
solemn truth for fourteen years, and yet
every man in Jericho had looked upon him
a. a liar. There was only one thing to
do, and that was done When a headstone
was raised at his grave it bore the in
scription:
Died because he told the truth, while
the liars continued to live on."-(Copy-
right, 1904, by r c. McClure.)