Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1910-12-09

a. I am, without one plea SoN IA.
doors Of divine mercy stand openo1e
wide, and let every hard heart hO soft-
ened. Come, ye disconsolate; come
forward to the mercy seat ~ We sing
The old, soul-moving, revival hymn
was lifted In q triumphant burst OF,
sound, and Thomas Jefferaon's heart
began to pound like q trip-hammer.
Was this his call-his one last chance.
to enter the ark Of safety9 Just there
was the pinch. A saying Of Japheth,
Pettigrass', overheard in Hargis' store
on the first day of the meetings, flick
ed into his mind and stuck there:
Hits scare. first, last, and all the time.
with Brother Silas. He knows night
well that q good bunch o. hickories.
that'll bring the blood every cut, beats
a sugar kittle out o. sight when it
comes to film the anxious seat" Was.
it really his call? Or was he only
| scared?
The 12-year-old brain grappled
hardly with the problem which has
thrown many an older wrestler This
he knew: that while he had been lis
tening with outward ears to the rest
less champing and stamping Of the
horses among the pines, but with his
| inmost soul to the burning words CT
his uncle, the preacher great fear
had laid hold of him-a fear mightier
than desire or shame, on love or ha-
| tired, or any spring of action known to.
him. 1t was lifting him to his feet; IT
was edging him past the others on the
! bench and out into the aisle with the
mourners who were crowding the space
in front of the pulpit platform. At the
| turn he heard his mothers low-mur-
| INJURED Il thank Thee, o God!" and
saw the grim, set smile on his faith
er's face. Then he fell on his knees
on the rough hewn floor, with the tall
countaineer called William Layne on
his right, and on his left young girl
from the choir who was sobbing softly
| in her handkerchief.
To his new young life after that Z
| seemed but step to June, the queen
of the months in the valleys of Ten
| nessee The revival converts of Little.
zoar had the pick and choice of all
the Sundays of the year for the day
of their baptizing.
The font was of great natures own
providing, as was the mighty temple
| housing it-a clear pool in the creek.
with the green-walled aisles in the
June forest leading down to it. and
the blue arch of the flawless June sky
| for dome Respondent.
All Paradise was there to see and
| hear and bear witness, as matter Of
course; and there were not wanting
| farm wagon loads from the great vail
ley and from the Pine Knob high
lands Major Dabney was among the
onlookers sitting his clean-limbed
Hambletonian, and twisting his huge
| white moustaches until they stood out
like strange and fierce looking horns.
Also, in the outer ranks of skepticism,
| Major Dabneys foreman and horse
trader, Japheth Pettigrass, found
place. On the opposite bank of the
stream were the few negroes owning
| Major Dabney now as "Majah Boss"
| as some of them-most of them, in
| fact-had once owned him as "Maws-
| tub Majah"; and mingling freely with
them were the laborers, white aud
black, from the Gordon front furnace.
Thomas Jefferson brought up mem
cries from that solemn rite administer
ed so simply and yet so fmpressely
under the June sky. with the many
pointing forest spires to lift the soul to
| heights ecstatic. One was the singing
| of the choir, minimized and made ce-
| lestially sweet by the lack of bounding
walls and roof. Another was the sight
| of his fathers face, with the grim
smile gone, and the steadfast eyes
gravely tolerant as he-Thomas Jeffer-
son-was going down into the water
A third-and this might easily become
the most lasting of all-was the mem
DRY of how his mother clasped him in
her arms as he came up out of the
water, all wet and dripping as he was,
and sobbed over him as if her heart
would break.
Ito be continued.)