Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-12-19

called "The Church of the Thousand
Three Hundred and Five and Thirty
Days.. He had thought of simply and
unostentatiously naming it The
Church" as being the only one uniting
pure doctrine with real authority. But
his wife, whose reasons could not be
denied, had exerted the claims of ex
act prophecy And so. with some
sacrifice of simplicity, Hector McKill
had yielded
Aftsc lunch !he sent his wife in
company with the beadle's wifs. to
uplift his Bible and psalm books, his
hymn books and hassocks from the
pew he had occupied so long in the
Valley Kirk, now become as Sodom
and Gomorrah to him. And If ore had
listened to that excellent person. the
wife of the beadle. woman wholly de.
voted to Master Fowler" Ii was
with the utmost difficulty that Mrs
McKill, that greedy gorb," was pre-.
vented from carrying off. not meraly
her own, but "a large number or other
books Of her late cult, which We're by
no means hers to dispose Of
Eth, but she's worth the watchip,' "
said Mistress Haldane afterwards. 81
declare If I hadan been there Won
Wumman wad fair hae strippit tho
kirk! She wanted ME to let her into
the vestry. But Ma, an says !, 4 haze
far over muckle respect for the pulpit
Bible! That's what said to her,
says l."
It cannot he affirmed that the sue
cess of the new venture was nropor-
tomato to the energy with which Hec-
TOR McKill pursued his work of pros
elytism. He went from foremen to
foreman, from worker to worker and
after considerable difficulty (more or
lessl he, did indeed succeed in eXtorC.
ing variously worded promises Or in
some cases mere grunts OF acuuies-
cence = that they would maybe look
in upon the Church Of the 1885
Days" that they "wad gle him a
hearin' Or more often. that "they
wadna like to say, but would maybe
see!"
All which eminently Scottish meth
DDS of begging the question. and
reading the bill this day six months"
were calculated and arranged for the
sole purpose at once Of affording Hec-
tor McKtll no reason for anger, and
of personally committing the speak
ers to nothing in particular. For.
though 1t is not mlch
known south of the border.
Scots "canniness' consists not
so much in a "bang-went sax
pence carefulness as to money,
whichais rather rare - and in which
the Scot is far surpassed by both
Wales and Yorkshire - but in the
above faculty Of never quite commit
ting himself, never leaving himself
without a intellectual backdoor in
any argument. $500. s--a.-.--.
Nevertheless. in the Oddfellows'
hall each Sunday and Wednesday
Hector McKill found employment for
his facility in misquoting and distort-
ing Scripture, and condemning others
to eternal torture for their inability
to see eye to eye with himself He
even got a certain following. at least
at first. There are always in Scottish
churches few Of what may be called
"dissidents from dissent" Socialism
will never make any real progress in
Scotland For the good reason that.
even in religion, particularism and
private property in opinion are so in
grained in the nation, that no three
men can ever agree with each other,
or be OF one mind on any subject -
above all. about religion.
STILL with the aforesaid dissidents.
the riff-raff ever ready to enter any
new Cave of Adullum. and few hon
est men driven to follow the senior
manager for reasons of bread and but
ter, Hector McKill gathered certain
meagre following.
He was less successful however,
when he invited ''all interested in the
dissemination of the truth" to send in
special requests for prayer. One of
these notes, strictly anonymous. it may
he presumed. pointed out that the
whited sepulchres of the vicinity were
much in need Of new coats of paint
and urgent prayers were asked for the
same. Another remarked upon the tat
tered condition of the local hypocrites'
cloaks. and suggested fresh supply
as an object to be borne in mind by
Mr.. McKill Oh his next Wednesday
evening
A third referred to the second
exits of all the Incubue pits as pres
sing petitionary need. While yet 9th
ers, written in Informed caligraphy,
w Atii a elioHS SIopG W JiG lSlI. SuE1-
gested an immediate general rise Of
ten per cent on the wages bill. and
an inquiry into the sanitary condition
of the houses recently acquired by Mr.
Hector McKill with the hard-earned
savings Of a lifetime
In fact. as Mr. McIlil well sad
Such an exhibition of the lowest and.
most debased rascality made him al
most despair of human nature.n He re-
plied by putting up the rent on the
tenants. so as to pay for the expenses
of his services in the Oddfellows'
Hall, What would have been mean
ness In an ordinary=man was only the
approved and necessary wisdom of
the serpent in an approven vessel like
Hector McKill. That Hector was harm
less as the dove. was abundantly prov
en-. In fact, he admitted as much him
self
CHAPTER XIII.
Brought to Book
OF all Vida's lovers the most sub
t1o porc;cfont ond boc+ oo,,;o,o1