Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-03-17

a yOullS!Sn man from the middle west,
came in for no end OF pity and commits
Grafton. AS for the Free Methodists,
the unitarians and the II~piscopalians,
they We're beneath his notice. There
was but n God. his God: but one
church, his church; but n creed, his
creed. Thank God. there are but few
~Presbreys left in the land!
j make no doubt he would nave re-
sented the imputation that he was mar
row. that he was remote. He took a
Very broad view of himself, and he was
satisfied with What he saw
His Wife was satisfied, as we'll, which
was consoling. Next to his Maker. My.
Presbrey w%orshiped his wife; next to
MIR. Presbrey, she made room for God.
1t was what you might have called Il
close corporation, the Presbreys and
God.
Just outside the little private fold
were the Blagdens. After them. the
congregation of the First Congregation
al church of Corinth.
1t already has been said that Mr..
Prcsbrey employed himself i'm the pleas
ant occupation of developing other peo-
pies children. His wife, it may be
added, also took a hand in such affairs.
she mad never cared to have children
of her own. This, perhaps, was a for
tunate thing for Mr.. Presbrey's peace
of mind. 1t would have been most dis
SoA SNSu III lIlS IL SIlt TAU
wanted them.
Again, I repeat. MI. Presbrey was Il
very good man. He will peal watch
ing.
He was tail. spare, so and ascetie.
You could not have mistaken his long,
thin, aquiline nose for the property OF
any but a sanity man, nor could his
closely cropped side whiskers. extend
ing below h lobes Of the ears. have
belonged to a less exalted personality.
Somtlmes we confuse our " less care
full ministers with overly importunate
ltghtning-rod agents or insurance So
llcitors-once in a while, to our sor-
row.. with book agents-but we would
not have aiken Mr.. Presbrey. by any
conceivable chance, for anything but
what he a And yet. despite an out
ward appearance Of rigid self govern
ment n exactitude. he possessed q
certain form Of weakness tina is APP
parent in most OF us, no matter nov
strong minded we pretend to be. He
was not above listening to the advice
and counsel of his wife. I betray a Sc
cret, OF course. when I say that MI.
Presbrey first too his burdens to MS
wife, and then to God. 1 will not go
SO far as to say hat If she had pooh
poohed them as %trifles. he would not
have included them in his prayers. but
1t is quite certain that he would have
o0. ~ Y
If Mrs. Presbrey had searched the
world over for a mate. she could not
have succeeded in finding one more
compatible than he. I do not pretend
to know how far afield she searched,
nor how long 1t was before she came
to him. but it is reasonable to suspect
that h had made some endeayor. She
was 40 when he married her and she
had led the bible class in his Sunday
school for at least 10 years before the
miracle came to pass Corinth was her
birthplace. so, I fancy. she did not find
1T necessary to venture far from home.
She believed in the efficacy of prayer.
That is why she received the belatcd
blessing In the shape of Mr. Presbrey.
For Is long years she had prayed with
him-and for him. Gods blessing. as
we'll as His wrath. is often delayed be-
yond all understanding, but If we ac-
cept Mrs. Presbrey's spiritual persist
ency as an example. our minds may be
at rest as to the virtue OF the admoni-
ton: ASK and ye shall receive"
1T is only natural to suppose that the
excellent Presbreys had gone into the
problem of the Midthorne children quite
thoroughly before presenting them
selves on the hill. some Is minutes prior
to the Blagden's dinner hour. Mrs.
Presbrey made 1t a point never to be
late for anything. She avoided all pos
IA NJ 0ANA Oil OOSuLoISO w 0II
punctually ahead OF time. So, when
they sat down to table at z o'clock,
they were prepared to give all the
Christian advice that h occasion and
Its exigencies demanded.
Mr.. Presbrev looked askance at Chef
wynd while the dessert was being
served: It was what is commonly called
look. directed q questioning glance at
her husband. Horace looked at the
crystal chandelier for a moment, and
then said:
run along now, Chetwynd."
II want some more float" said Chef
wynd. who knew they were holding
Mrs: Presbrey sighed. Then she asked
casually enough:
bed?"
Horace cringed. He always cringed
when they were spoken Of az his sis.
ter's children. 1t never occurred TO him
u one asked: How are Mr.. Midthorne's
children?' or care h late Mr.. Mid
thorne,s children coming to Sunday
SCHOOL, The worst Of 1t was he could
not deny that they were his sisters
children.
mo. Mrs. Presbrey. they have not
he replied. He pondered for a moment
across his chin. "That reminds me, ]
want to speak to you about them, Pres
brey. The time. has come-er-ahem'
-when It seems advisable for us to &C.
quaint them with the unhappy condi
tions surrounding their Dabyhood. They
should not be allowed to grow up III
utter ignorance of-er-ahem!-certair
hereditary Influences. They must bt
prepared. II It il in u power to pre-.
pare. them. for tho perils OF that mis-.
to 30 on .u~ncOnsciously developing thu
-theer.-what shall I say?-the fault.
Of their parents"
Mr.. P~resbrey's blue yes lighted up