The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-12-04

"she didn't stay q baby. She n ~
enteen years old today, mother"
"You surprise me. but children DO
grow very fast. She had a strange
name, but I cannot recall It."
Her name is Patience. but nobody
but her father calls her anything but
Patty. which suits her much better"
mo; the name wasn't Patience, not
the one l mean."
1.-THE older sister IL Waitstill. Per-
haps you lei her" And Ivory sat
down by the Ore. with bis book and his
pipe.
"Waitstill! Waitstill! That is It:
Such a beautiful namer"
shes q beautiful girl"
"Waitstill! They also serve who only
stand and wait Wait. ! say. on the
Lord and he will give thee the desires
Of thy heart Those were wonderful
days. when We we're caught up out Of
the body and mingled freely in the
spirit world" Mrs. BOvntOn 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 q hundred times.
Il remember when first we heard
Jacob Cochrane speak," This was her
usual way Of beginning, 'Your father
was a preacher. al you know. Ivory.
but you will never know what q won-
derful preacher he was. My grand
father, being q fine gentleman and q
governor, would not give bis consent to
my marriage. but l never regretted it,
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
was there could ever forget it. The
minister had made his long prayer
when a man suddenly entered the
room, came toward the coffin and
placed his hand on the child's 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 u souls
that had never been reached before"
WAS he a better speaker than my
tather?" asked Ivory. who dreaded bis
mothers hours Of complete silence even
more than her periods Of reminis-
cence.
He spoke as II the Lord Of Hosts
had given him inspiration; as II the
angels were pouring words into his
mouth just for him to UTTER" replied
Mrs. Boynton. Your father was spell
bound, and l 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 tmploring God to forgive her
sins. They carried her upstairs. and
when w looked about after the con-
fusion and excitement the stranger had
vanished. But we found him again!
As Elder Cochran said: The prophet
Of the Lord car never be hid: no dark
ness is thick enough to cover him.!
! There 81 a six weeks revival meet
ing in North Saco, where 800 souls
were converted. and your father and l
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. but it grew hard and grievous
afterwards: hard to keep the path. l
mean. never quite knew whether
God was angry with me for backslid-
ing at the end. but l could not always
accept the revelations that Elder Coch-
rane and your father had!r
Lois Boynton's hands were now
quietly folded over the knitting that
lay forgotten in her lap. but her low,
thrilling voice had a note in it 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 OF
the clock. the purring of the cat and
the clicking Of Mrs. Boynton's needles.
as. her paroxysm Of "reminiscences over.
she knitted ceaselessly. with her eyes
on the window or the door.
Its about time for Rod to be com
ing back. isn't IT," asked Ivory.
HE ought to be here soon. but per-
haps he is gone for good. 1t may be
that he thinks he has made US a long
enough visit. l don't know whether
your father will like the boy when he
comes home. He never did fancy
company in the house."
Ivory looked up in establishment
from his Greek grammar. This was
an entirely new turn Of his mothers
mind. Often when she was more than
usually confused he would try to clear
the cobwebs from her brain by gently
questioning her until she brought her.
self back to q clearer understanding Of
her own thought. Thus far her vaga-
ries had never made her unjust to any
human creature. She was uniformly
sweet and gentle in speech and de-
meanor
why do you talk Of Rods visiting
.- -,A~- ~ "a A. ~-iN 0s