The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1905-06-03

~ k~ss a
SI~ eyes. in which
could be seen terror and despair. Not
since years before when their daughter
had been brought home a corpse, VIC
tim of the wicked pleasures and vices
Of Sodom, had ne seen similar express
sion on her face.
But Lot needed no urging. An over
towering dread of impending disaster
filled his heart, and his uneasy con-
science acted as a spur to his terrified
feelings.
BY way of reply, he pushed the street
door open and without word he sped
forth into the darkness, and down the
street over which he had so proudly
walked with his two guests but few
hours before. Their last words were
still ringing in his ears, and over and
over again he could hear the solemn au-
thoritative tones as they declared:
Hast thou here any besides? Son
in-law, and thy sons and thy daughters,
and whatsoever thou hast in the city,
bring them out of this place; for we will
destroy this place, because the cry OF
them is waxen great before the face OF
the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us
to destroy It,"
Fear lent swiftness to Lots feet, and
despite the darkness, and repeated
stumbling over the uneven, rough road,
| the troubled father made good time.
His errands took him to the far side OF
the city, where his daughters dwelt.
Gould it be-" he pondered, as he went,
"that 1t was only yester afternoon that
| talked with King Bera regarding the
| extension of the boundaries of the city?
Never was the city so prosperous, never
were there SO many people within our
! gates, never were the markets of So
dom so frequented by the people from
| the surrounding country? And now all
| is to be swept away" and Lot groaned.
Gould II be?" he exclaimed, fiercely, and
| stopped short in his flight, as the mean
ing of it all swept over him.
Lots administration of the affairs
of the city had proved more than sue
cessfHl.. and with the material prosper
| ity had come increased population, so
| that no longer did the walls of the city
| compass all the people who sought
| habitation therein. Many at the pres
ent time were dwelling outside the
walls. and the conference with eNking
| the previous AFTERNOON had resulted in
definite plans being laid for the partial
rebuilding and extension Of the wall.
And the memory Of all this made Lot
| pause suddenly and ask himself over
| and over again:
"Cau il be that all this Is to be lost?"
He remembered the pride and salts
| faction with which he returned to his
post at the city's gate; he recalled the
deferential mods and bows Of the popu-
lace as he passed along the street, and he
remembered thinking at the time with
a self-conscious complacency of how
much better the city was than 1t would
have been had he not been there to curb
| and stem the currents of vice. But with
| the latter thought came the memory
of the awful violence Of the night, OF
| his appeal for order and decency, and of
| the mad brutishness which made the
people Indifferent to his authority and
| deaf to his appeals. The coming of the
| two strangers to Sodom had aroused
hellish passions and hatred which he
had never dreamed existed In the city.
How dare he pause? he asked him
self. He knew the two strangers we're
! Gods messengers, and again their warn
| ing rang in his ears and feverishly he
! hurried on. The night was far spent,
and save for an occasional straggler re-
turning from late debauch, the streets
/ ha AAA ha
sound of wild, drunken revelry was
J heard in the distance, and as he drew
! nearer, he saw the lurid glare of the
| torches of the attendants as they pilot
ed the roisterers to their homes. Had
Lot not been in such haste he would
have made a wide detour to avoid them,
| but thinking he could slip by unnoticed,
he continued on his way. He was al
most past the group. and a few more
steps would have taken him into the
| sheltering darkness just ahead, when
! one of(the fellows pushed his way to the
| side OF. Lot and, leering up into his face,
| said. in a half-drunken gutteral:
"well, by the gods, II It isn't Father
Lott"
And then, throwing a wink and nod
towards his companions as they gath
cred about him. he continued, with a
| facetious chuckle:
"The sweets of Sodom taste best at
night hey. Lot. It's tims you were get
/, ting q few of the pleasures. Sorry you
didn't come sooner oh. but we have
had night Of IT."
The outburst Of wild laughter would
have encouraged the speaker to con-
tinue his ribald speech had not some.