The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1905-02-02
CHAPTER l.


that strange. extraordinary series o
events which began In my fourteentl
rear, l must glance back at the earle
years OF my childhood. and at those VIII
Influenced It.
My earliest recollections are Of Tab
ernacls House: previous to those. all |,
dim and shadowy. Tabernacle HOUSE
was an establishment kept by the Rev
Obadiah Porter. for the reception Of
some half dozen boys
The reverend pedsgogus was . man
whose sstyr-liks face greatly bslied his
professions Of profound plety. l could
not understand. child a. l was. how II
ever came Into his head to SET up ~ q
tutor. or how parents or friends could be
induced to conide the education Of chill
dren TO the care OF q man deficient In
the commonest rudiments Of learning.
His original occupation was that Of q
shoemaker. and his hands still retained q
coarse. grimed look. His bullet-shsped
head was covered with a thick mass
of hair. which had q shaggy. ragged APP
pearsnce. from being cut In irregular
lengths. or rather chopped away In
pieces. His forehead was very low. He
had thick. shaggy eyebrows. and small.
snske-like eyes. In stature he was short.
thickset. bull-necked: his arms were re-
markedly long. his feet splsy and III
shaped.
Obadiah Porter was a widower. with
one daughter. So powerfully have terri
BILE events engrsven her sfter-imsge upon
my mind, that l can scarcely recall Its
FIRST Impressions l think she must have
been about fifteen or sixteen. l being
some Eve or six, when l first saw her.
She did not bear the slightest resem-
blance to her father: she was tall. thin:
her hair was bright red. her complexion
rale. her eyes large. her features deli
cate, and sharply cut. To this young
lady was handed over the tuition OF her
fathers pupils.
There were Eve besides myself There
was q strange bond Of sympathy be-
tween us all-not one Of us knew any
thing Of our parents One knew an
aunt. another an uncle, a third a grand |
mother. or a grandfather. or q guard
Ian. but no father or mother.
1t was q peculiarly of Mr.. Porter's /
that he did not take boys |
who had parents. His advertisement in |
the newspapers ran thus: The Rever-
End Obadiah Porter undertakes the crre.
education and religious training of or
phan boys from the earliest age. I'm
references as to piety and
discretion will be given. n. B.-No hol-
days"
1t is not my intention to linger upon
ibis period. or enter into any minute de-
'criptions of our embarrassing. monoton-
rus life. The years crept on, and were
Utmost wholly passed within the pre-
,incts Of Tabernacle House. 1t was a
Inc. old-fashioned dwelling. 1t had large
,ardens back and front-the latter be-
ng screened from the road by a high
an extensive orchard and
paddock. Altogether. 1t was quite a
,entleman's house. But rents are won
erfully low in these parts. Mr.. Por-
err was very well-to-do. His boarders
lone brought him in a respectable in
ONE; his chapel was well attended; and 4
o numbered many Of the most prosper
us Mawworms OF the town among his I
congregation, to one OF whom-a Mrs b
Iumphries-this house belonged. {
BY and by there were changes. One Z
oy left, and then another; but others Il
,ok their places. Grim-lpoking persons '
ame to take them away: but, except In $
ne case, We knew nothing OF their fu a
Ire destiny or destination. and they "
Popped out OF our lives completely 1t
emed as though we were interlopers I
BON the world, and ought never to have 8
.en born. II
The exceptional case | mention was n
at OF a boy named Josiah Cook. whom rs
r. Porter had transferred from his W
re to that Of a printer in the town. as OF
apprentice l little thought that "
'ok's transference TO Bury would so OF
aterially influence my own future life H
that out OF that event would spring an AZ
.ident destined to shape its whole fu- on
no course. IN
There was one large room at the top 20
the house. in which we six boys slept. ~
o in each of the three beds. Cook
s my bed fellow. and we were fast IN
ends and companions. He was a bold.
ituresome boy. and on the last night NJ
his sojourn amongst us he proposed an
daring plan of some night paying US
secret visit and relating all the "ad- wi
Itures" he should experience in his WI
v home. hir
I can easily climb over the garden mel
Il from the next field" he said: $50 the
out. boys; IL you hear a stone fev
own up at your window, 1t will be nui
'ix months passed away and we go
I'd nothing more OF Cook He was rec
idly fading out Of our thoughts. when. Coz
autumnsl night we heard a sharp tina
ck at our bedroom window. The bold l
OF our number gently lifted the sash. lsti
peered out Ii was a bright moon my
t night. and he saw. standing in the tior
den beneath. the wellknown fzurs an
,ur old companion. hell
he back of the house was coverad 1 "
b a fine old pear tree. Ii had nor nea
n pruned for several years. aid Ind abo
,wn out its wood somewhat wildly A hop
whispered words. and Cook ws. ton
hitting the tree with hand and foot r
ost easily as though be had b.en sire
.nding a ladder. When he Chamber biz
into the room we all gathered ruupd I Z.
In a sort OF awe-struck manner. line
Now. look here. boys" he said: .what turr
you think has brought me herr to- min
III" IL.
To see u.s." we supposed w
Well. that of course; but do you a, a
K 1t would be the thing In me to idIv
e and make your mouths water with the
story OF all these nice things. unless al
d something to pop into themr' rose