Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-12-18
The Gospel and
 Cat Hollow
By ADAM GANNETT
tcopyrisht, .sos, by Io..ph B. powl...,

made the nlt the nrSr one 0ld. lie went by the name of Wallace-the Rev. Jim Wallace-and him, and his wife, who was purifier than . peach, and sweeter, and his kid, who was seven years old and as likely little chap as God ever made, was thorough breds-all three of 'em-and the camp cottoned to 'em from the start The Rev. Jim wasn't any of your long-faced, pulling pulpiteers who thinks everybody who ain't hitting up the trail along with them Is on the road to the bad place, not him. He'd take a drink with anybody always drinking lemonade, of course--and if one of the boys happened to cuss when he was around he never batted an eye; didn't cuss hisself, that's all.
 We may have been a rough crowd. and reckon we was, but we wasn't slow tumbling to what was trumps with the parson, nor to following suit. neither Even Three-finger Bill, who was the profanest man in Cat Hollow, didn't renig no oftener than he had to. Said he'd cussed, man and boy, for 40 years. and it was like going with out breathing to quit. Tt ain't for Jim, he says, nor yet the missus; it's the kid I'd rather be cinched for stealing cattle, than caught cussing by Jim's kid That youngster thinks I'm all right, can tell by the way he looks at me. Calls me MT. Bill, too. Ain't that cute?"
 Of course, 1t was harder on Three finger than any of us, so we didn't blame him when he complained that his vocabulary had shrunk to nothing, and wanted to borrow dictionary to find a word that sounded better than hell, but meant something Nor was any kicks registered when he started a "kitty'--a dollar from every jack pot-for a new church. So it got to be the regular thing to hold out a per centage on all games for the Jim Church Fund" as the boys called it.
 Tt come over me all of sudden" says Three-fnger, when he was telling about 1t at Big Mikes one evening, "that maybe Jim wouldn't want to build his church out of money that had been raked out of kitty, so I just asked"
 That's all right" says he. You didn't rob anyone, did you!"
 NO" says I.
 "Nobody's going hungry on account of it"
 Not in Cat Hollow" says I.
 There ain't anybody's wife deprived of anything by reason of it?"
 As far as know, you're the only married man in camp" I says.
 "If that's the case" says he, "the moneys cleaner than most that goes for building churches. Where I come from they was after all the coin they could rake in, and they didn't make no bones about how 1t was come by, neither. It takes lots of hunger and misery and want to build church ip Frisco" says he.
 More shame to Frisco" says I.
 Quite so," says he. And be sure to thank the boys for me. and tell 'em I've engaged Pat Sheedy's dance hall for next Sunday morning, where I'll be glad to have 'em show up at II o'clock; also, any of the ladies I've seen around camp"
 Thanks. Jim," says I, we'll all be on deck, that is all except Charlie Ca sey, who's Catholic. And as for the ladies-why, we used to call 'em ladies but since your wife showed up we just call 'em women. I'll tell the women, though, what you said. and I'm sure they'll be much obliged and will keep their place"
 My dear Three-hnger," says Jim you're right about my wife being a lady, and a sweeter, truer or a brayer never lived; but she's a woman, too and she'll be very glad to meet the other women of the camp. There's lots of women what would be ladies if they had a chance" says he.
 remember Spike Kennedy taking me aside that night and asking me fl it was true what he'd heard. about Jim saying his wife would be glad to meet the women of Cat Hollow. T only 70, it secondhand" says he, land II thought maybe 1t wasn't straight"
 When told him 1t was dead straight he thought for a minute, then said: T guess Jim's right about some wom. en not being ladies because they never had . chance. This morning. when me and Kate was standing in front oi the Resort, along comes JIm's kid comes straight up to us and says: 'Howdy. Mir. Spike. and is this your wifer Being sort of habbergasted, I answers: Yes And what does Kate do-she blushes to beat the band, then picks the kid right up in her arms and kisses him, and when she puts him down I'll be dsrned if I don't believe there was tears in her eyes, though I aint sure because she run right into the house"
 During the rest of the week there wasn't much talked about in camp but going to church Everybody wanted to know what everybody else was going to wear. for all the world like q parcel of women
 Three-hnger Bill allowed that he vas going in a piled shirt. If you want to do the right thing by Jim. you'll all wear 'em. says he. There ztn't nothing tighter than 6 billed shirt