Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1915-01-21

at the destruction of the foreign
DEVILS"
1t was one of those errors of heather
superstition irremediable. Their bod-
les, s~ilhouetted against the sky, We're
perfect targets for a much practiced
soldiery. Every form that appeared
above the parapet fell dead or wounded.
Survivors and 'pals"-robbers and
thieves all-were captured and held
for official execution. And the heather
We're dlssraced by seeing the idols in
which they and the Boxer defenders
trusted hauled out OF the village tenn
pie, buried in the yard and flung into
the pond-"face'' lost beyond
But tina was the beginning Of trou-
bic for the Christians. Boxer avengers
sprang up like the armed men from
JaSons sowing. The secret edict went
forth: The econd degree devils (the
local Ch~ristians) must all die, and their
church and houses be burned and their
land divided up. SO one black night.
fit for black deeds crept forth to wreak
vengeance upon the little band of faith
full and apparently doomed followers of
Him whom they traduced in posters
representing a pig on the cross!
Suddenly. out of the darkness the
flames of the burning house OF God
the largest in our field and built by
llS ~ lSlldIlS TO
creep and crackle and curl themselves
skyward. as if Haunting defiance to the
God whom they f%gnorantly hated.
The Christians hastily left their
houses and fled to the walled yard of
the elder. 1t was death for any Chris
tan to appear, and they knew it. SO
they all gathered together inside the
prayed. Outside. in the lurid glare of
the fi~re-crumbling church. figures more
demoniac than human danced in a frenzy
of Satanic glee. Confident tina the in
nocent upon whom they expected soon
to Wreak their vengeance We're ines
capably theirs, one gang fingered and
gloated over the charred ruins. Anoth-
er, like a band of Apaches surrounding
an emigrant wagon, ringed in the de-
voted company and, having howled and
reviled them to their hearts content,
proceeded to business.
AT a given signal, kerosene, as by
magic. was produced from somewhere
there We're not lacking acknowledges
Jealous to ubet the raiders from out
sfde-and simultaneously 1t was applied
before each Christian door. These doors
and their matched hoods, leading into
each yard. We're dry as finder. And
what pretty blazes the houses inside
each would make. covered as they were
with ~sun-burned straw. The Christian
TOrSOOIH WOulu De roasted IN Lnelr
homes like rats in a hole!
The flames had begun to lick the
yard door-lintels. when something hap
pened. Indeed. something had already
happened. There was, as has been said.
nc sense in trying to flee--the country
was alive with Boxers on h still hunt
for Christians as the immediate pro-
ducing cause of the foreign invasion:
neither was there hope in armed re-
sistance. So the believers locked inside
the elders yard. like those in the fiery
furnace. prayed-prased desperately.
They knew the promise of God through
Isaiah. and they pleaded it: When
thou walked through the fire. thou
shalt not be burned. neither shall the
flame kindle upon thee; for i am the
Lord thy God, the Holy One, thy Sa-
{yior!!
AS they prayed. one of the family
felt irresistibly drawn to take down
and fire an old rusty flintlock, such as
h better to do keep on hand for firing
into the air as evening approaches. to
warn thieves that agun is inside. What
overt act could he commit to put them
in more FEARFUL straits So he quickly