Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1912-12-21


Mr.. Ellery had no particular desti-
nation in mind. He would like to see
something of the village and, perhaps,
If she could give him the names of a
few of his Pensioners. he might
make q few calls Keziah shook her
head.
Gracious goodnessl" she exclaimed
'1 wouldn't advise you to do that
You amt been here long enough to
make forenoon calls. If you should
catch some of the women in this town
with aprons and calico on, they'd
never forgive you in this world Wait
till afternoon; they'll be expectin' you
then and they'll be rugged out in their
best bibs and fuckers. S'pose you
found Annabel Daniels with her hair
done up in curl papers: what do you
think would happen? Mornin's are no
time for ministers calls Even old
Mr.. Langley never made calls in the
forenoon-and he'd been here thirty
odd years.
All right, you know best Much
| obliged for the advice. Then I'll sim
ply take my walk and leave the calls
until later
I'D be back by ten, though. FoIks'Il
begin calm on you by that time"
When, promptly at ten O'Clock, the
minister returned from his walk, he
found Mrs. Rogers waiting in the sit
ting room. 1t is a prime qualification
of an alert reporter to be first on the
| scene of sensation. Didama was sell
dom beaten Mr.. Ellery's catechism
began. Before it was over Keziah
| opened the door to admit Miss Pepper
and her brother. Ryan" was nervous
| and embarrassed in the housekeeper's
presence Lavinia was a glacier, NOV
ing majestically and freezing as it
even touched by the frost; she greet
ed the pair cordially, and begged them
to take off their things"
1t was dinner time before the cate
| chizers departed. The catechized came
to the table with an impaired appe-
| tite- He looked troubled
Don't let it worry you, Mr.. Ellery,"
| observed Keziah calmly Il think |
can satisfy you. Honest and true,
amt half as bad as you might think .
The minister looked more troubled
than before; also surprised.
Why, Mrs. Cofin!'' he cried. Gould
| you hear"
Man aliveI I'm not worried. Why
should you be? We were talkin' about
trust just now-or 1 was. Well, you
| and I'll have to take each other on
trust for a while, until we see whether
we're goin' to suit. If you see any
| thing that I'm goin' wrong in, / wish
you'd tell me. And I'll do the same
by you, if that's agreeable. You'll hear
a lot of things said about me, but il
they're very bad / give you my word
they amt true And, to be real frank.
I'll probably hear some about you.
which I'll take for what they're worth
and considerin' who said 'em. That's
a good, wholesome agreement, l think,
for both of us. What do you Think
John Ellery said, with emphasis
| that he thought well of it. He began
to realize that this woman, with her
| blunt common sense, was likely to be
a pilot worth having in the difficult
waters which he must navigate as
skipper of the Regular church in Tru
met. Also, he began to realize that
as such q skipper, be was most in
experienced. And Captain Daniels
had spoken highly-cofs6escend
but highly-of his housekeeper's quail
fications and personality. So the
| agreement was ratified, with relief on
his part.
The first Sunday came and with it
| the first sermon. He read that sermon
| " hSLIaA On Odtul Ody evening anu
she approved of it as a whole, though
she criticised some of its details.
The service began at eleven o'clock
Outside the spring breeze stirred the
budding si1ver-leafs, the distant break
ers grumbled, the crows in the pines
near Captain Eben Hammond's tavern
cawed ribald answers to the scream
ing gulls perched along the top of the
| breakwater. And seated on one OF
the hard benches of the little Come
Outer chapel. Grace Van Horne heard
her Uncle Eben,'' who, as usual, was
conducting the meeting. speak OF
them who, in purple and fine linen
with organs and trumpets and vair
shows, are gathered elsewhere in this
community to hear a hired priest
make mockof the gospel" tA-men!l
But John Ellery, the hired priest,
knew nothing of this. He did know
however, that he was the center oil
interest for his own congregation, the
people among whom he had beer
called to labor. Their praise or crit
cism meant everything to him; there
fore he preached for dear life.
The sermon was a success.
On Monday afternoon the minister
made a few calls. Keziah made ou
short list for him to follow. "a "sort
of chart of the main channel she
called it, with the safe ports marked
and the shoals and risky places la
beled dangerous"
You see,' she said "Trumet aim
a course you can navigate with you