The indicator., 1904-09-10

ufe for any man. The others followed
the Dukes lead.
That Sunday was day of incon.
grmties. The old and the new lie
east and the west, the rcverentinl past
ana the iconoclastic pre- ent were
Jumbling themselves together In bewil
oerlng confusion. The baseball match
was played with much vigur aud pro
tahity. The expression on the Pilots
face as he stood watching for awhile
was curious mixture of interest. sur.
prise, doubt and pain. He WAS read
1usting himself. He was 20 made as
to be extremely sensitive to his sur.
roundings. He took on co,or quickly
The utter Indifference to. the audacious
disregard of all he had hitherto consid.
cred sacred and essential was dlscon.
certing. They were all so dead sure
How did he know they Were wrungi
1t was his first near view of pr cticiI
living skeptcism. Skepticisn in Il
book did not disturb him; he could nut
down words against 1t. But h re II
was alive, cheerful, attractive indeed
fascinating, for these men In their
western garb and with their western
swing had captured his Imagination
He was in fierce struggle. and In a
Few minutes l saw him disappear into
the coulec
Meantime the match went uproar-
iously on to finish. with the result
that the champions of Home had ito
stand the pain killer their defeat be
Ing due chiefly to the work of Hi and
Bronco Bill as pitcher and catcher.
The celebration was in full swing. or,
as Hi put it, the boys were takin'
their pizen good an calm" when in
walked the Pilot. His face was still
troubled and his lips were drawn and
blue, as if he were in pain. A silence
fell on the men as he walked in
through the crowd and up to the bar.
He stood n moment hesitating. looking
round upon the faces, flushed and hot,
that were now turned toward him in
curious defiance. He noticed the look,
and 1t pulled him together. He faced
about toward old Latour and asked
him in Il high, clear voice:
as this the room you said we might
have?"
The Frenchman shrugged his shoul-
ders and said:
There Is not any more"
The lad paused for an instant, but
only for an instant. Then, lifting q
pile of hymn books he had near him
on the counter, he said in Il grave,
sweet voice and with the quiver of a
smile about his lips:
Gentlemen, Mr.. Latour has allowed
me this room for religious service.
1t will give me great pleasure If you
will all join" and Immediately he
handed book to Bronco Bill, who,
surprised. took it as If he did not know
what 10 do with It, The others fol-
lowed Bronco's lead till he came to
Bruce, who refused, saying roughly:
-No, don't want it; I've no use for
it,
The missionary flushed and dJsW
back as IL he had been struck, but i'm
mediately, as If unconsciously, the
Duke, who was standing near,
stretched out his hand and said, with
a courteous bow, II thank you. I
should be glad of one
"Thank YOU" replied the Pilot sim
ply as he handed him book. The
men seated themselves upon bench
that ran round the room or leaned up
against the counter, and most of them
took off their hats. Just then in came
Muir. and behind him his little wife.
In an instant the Duke was on his
feet, and every hat came off.
The missionary stood up at the bar
and announced the hymn, Jesus,
Lover of My Soul" The silence that
followed was broken by the sound of
a horse galloping. A bucliskin bronco
shot past the window, and In II few
moments there appeared at the door
the Old Timer. He was about to stride
in when the unusual sight of row
of men sitting solemnly with hymn
books in their hands held him fast at
the door. He gazed In an amazed,
helpless way upon the men. then at the
missionary, then back at the men. and
stood speechless. Suddenly there was
Il high, shrill, boyish laugh, and the
men ~ ste lle Ill q
fit of laughter. 1t certainly was
shock to any lingering ideas of religious
propriety they might have about them;
but the contrast between his frank,
laughing face and the amazed and dis
gusteG face of the shaggy old man In
the doorway was too much for them,
and one by one they gave way to roars
Of laughter. The Old Timer, however,
kept his face unmoved, strobe up to
the bar and nodded to old Latour, who
served him his drink. which he took
at gulp.
Here, old manw called out Bill. Get
into the game; here's your deck!' offer
ing him his book. But the missionary
was before him, and with very beauti-
full grace he handed the Old Timer a
book and pointed him to seat.
I shall never forget that service. As
a religious affair 1t was dead fail
ure, but somehow think the Pilot, as
HI approvingly said, ''got in his funny
work." and 1t was not wholly de-
feat. The first hymn was sung chiefly
by the missionary and Mrs. Muir,
whose voice was very high, with one
or two of the men softly whistling an
The second hymn
was better, and then came the lesson,
the story of the feeding of the five