Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-07-25
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and the girls started over to the Lower
Corner to see some friends. 1t seems
it's Patty's birthday, and they were
celebrating. 1 met them just as they
were coming back and helped them lift
the rickety wagon out OF the mud.
They were stuck in IL up to the hubs
of the wheels. l advised them to walk
up the Town House hill II they ever
expected to get the horse home"
Town House hill" said Ivory's
mother. dropping her knitting. That
was where we had such wonderful
meetings. Truly the Lord was present
in our midst And oh, Ivory. the vi
sions we saw in that place when Jacob
Cochrane first unfolded his gospel to
usi Was ever such a man.
Probably not, mother" remarked
Ivory dryly.
You were speaking Of the Baxters.
I remember their home and the little
girl who used to stand in the gateway
and watch when we came out of meet
ing. There was baby too. Isn't there
Baxter baby, Ivory?"
"She didn't stay a baby. She is sew
eRteen years old today. mother"
You surprise me. but children do
grow very fast She had a strange
name, but 1 cannot recall it,
Her name Is Patience. but nobody
but her father calls her anything but
Patty. which suits her much better"
NO: the name wasn't Patience, not
the one 1 mean"
THE older sister is Waitstill. Per
haps you mean her And Ivory sat
down by the fire, with his book and his
pipe.
"waitstfll. waitstiTl. That is it!
Such beautiful name"'
shes a beautiful girl
"WaitstilI, They also serve who only
stand and wait Wait. I say. on the
Lord and he will give thee the desires
of thy heart Those We're wonderful
days. when we We're caught up out OF
the body and mingled freely in the
spirit world" Mrs. Boynton was now
fully started on the topic that absorbed
her mind. and Ivory could no nothing
but let her tell the story that she had
told him a hundred times.
Il remember when first we heard
Jacob COchrsne speak" (This was her
usual way of beginning) Your father
was a preacher, as you know, Ivory,
but you will never know what a won
PREACHER ne WIS MY RTanu-
father. being a fine gentleman and a
governor, would not give his consent to
my marriage. but 1 never regretted ii.
never, Your father saw Elder Coch-
rane at a revival meeting of the Free
Will Baptists in Scarboro and was
much impressed with him. A few days
later he went to the funeral of a child
in the same neighborhood. No one who
Il
minister had made his long prayer
when a man suddenly entered the
room, came toward the coffin and
placed his hand on, the childs fore
head. The room in an instant was as
still as the death that had called us to-
gether. The stranger was tall and Of
commanding presence; his eyes pierced
our very hearts, and his marvellous
voice penetrated to depths In our souls
that had never been reached before"
WAS he better speaker than my
tather:" asked Ivory. who dreaded his
mothers hours of complete silence even
more than her periods of reminis-
cence.
He spoke as IL the Lord of Hosts
had given him inspiration: as. If the
angels were pouring words into his
mouth just for him to utter" replied
Mrs. Boynton. Your father was spell
bound. and / only less so. When he
ceased speaking the child's mother
crossed the room and, swaying to and
fro, fell at his feet sobbing and wall
ing and imploring God to forgive her
sins. They carried her upstairs, and
when we looked about after the con-
fusion and excitement the stranger had
vanished. But we found him againi
As Elder Cochran said: The prophet
OF the Lord can never be hid; no dark
ness is thick enough TO cover him"
There was a six weeks revival meet
ing in North Saco, where 300 souls
were converted, and your father and /
were among them. We had fancied
ourselves true believers for years, but
Jacob Cochrane unstopped our ears
so that we could hear the truths re-
vealed to him by the Almighty, 1t
was all so simple and easy at the be
ginning. bat it grew hard and grievous
afterward: hard to keep the path. I
mean / never quite knew whether
God was angry with me for backslid- |
ing at the end. but could not always
accept the revelations that Elder Coch- |
rane and your father bad"'
Lois Boynton's hands were now |
quietly folded over the knitting that !
lay forgotten in her lap. but her low. |
thrilling voice had n note in IL that did |
not belong wholly TO earth.
There was a long silence: one OF !
many long silences at the Boynton !
Preside. broken only by the ticking NJ |
the clock. the purring OF the cat and /!
the clicking OF Mrs. Boynton's needles. |
as. her paroxysm OF Renaissance over. |
she knitted ceaselessly. with her eyes /
on the window or the door.