Door-step evangelism

DOOR-STEP
EVANGELISM

Copyright 1913 by
A. J. ROWLAND, Secretary

Published February, 1913

FOREWORD

Rev. W. F. Newton, the author of this little book,
has been for several years one of the most active
and successful colporters in the service of the
American Baptist Publication Society. His field is
in New England, the country districts of which, on
account of changes of population during recent
years, are in as great need of religious work as the
newer States of the far West. The instances related
by Mr. Newton are actual occurrences drawn from
his own personal experience. They reveal a state
of things which certainly calls for more colporters
like Mr. Newton, and show the value of the work
a real colporter, who loves his fellow man and
knows how to approach him, can do for his divine
Master. We trust the book may have the widest
possible reading.

The thanks of the author and publishers are due
and are hereby tendered to A. B. Coats, D. D.,
secretary of the Connecticut Baptist State Conven-
tion, for his assistance in revising Mr. Newton's
manuscript and in preparing it for publication.

November, X912.

A. J. Rowland.

Door-Step Evangelism

Door-step evangelism dates back to the time of our
precious Lord, who sought out and called his dis-
ciples by ones and twos as he went along the sea-
shore and through the country places.

My first work for the Connecticut Baptist Con-
vention was in March, 1908, when the secretary,
A. B. Coats, D. D., said to me : " I want you to go
out to Cornwall Hollow in the western part of the
State and hold some special meetings." I went, and
God blessed the work. In two weeks sixteen ac-
cepted Christ.

Then Doctor Coats said : " Newton, we want a
man for the colportage wagon in cooperation with
the Publication Society. Suppose you try it for
three months. Take the wagon to Cornwall Hollow
and distribute some Bibles and Testaments and other
good books of the Society among the people."
" Ah ! " I said, " he has caught me." I knew it was
a hard life, and felt I was not strong enough for it,
but he wanted me to try it, and so I did. I was
in New London the day the wagon was dedicated.
I did not enjoy looking into it, for I felt sure some

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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

day I would have to run it. I remembered too,
what Uncle Boston said to me once when he had
talked to me a few minutes. " Newton," he said,
" you ought to be on a chapel car." I knew this
work was very much like that.

In doing the work for the last four years,
strength has been given me and a great love for
the work has come into my heart. There is no
more blessed work this side of heaven than to lead
precious souls to Christ and to get the word of
God and other good books into the homes of the
people. The first month I was out I sold over sixty
dollars' worth of stock; the second month over
eighty dollars' worth; and the third month more
than ninety dollars' worth. This shows that the peo-
ple out in the country are hungry for good reading.

Sometimes I am asked: "Mr. Newton, what is
your work ? Just what is it you do ? " Well, it is
something like this. I go into a town and find a
boarding-place. Sometimes it is with the pastor
and sometimes with the deacon, and sometimes in
any old place. I put my large wagon in the barn.
That is my bookstore on wheels. I carry one hun-
dred and fifty dollars' worth of stock—Bibles, Tes-
taments, and all kinds of religious books. Then I
seek out a place for a meeting. Sometimes it is in
a schoolhouse or hall, church or cottage, or on the
village green or the lawn near the church, or some
place where we can go inside for an after-meeting.
During the day I drive about the town, visit the

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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

people, talk and pray with them, supply them with
good books at a small price, and invite them to the
service. Often I find a soul anxious to have some
one lead him to Christ. At a cottage meeting a man
said : " I wish you would leave town, but I don't
want you to. I know I am not living right, and
I hope your coming will be a blessing to all." That
man came back to God, and many more accepted
Christ.

'At Beanchviixe

One of the earliest visits I made after starting out
with the wagon was at Branchville. There was
no church in the place, and they had neither Sun-
day-school nor preaching service. I went to one
of the school trustees and asked for the school-
house to hold some meetings in. He said he would
have to call a meeting of the Board first, but I said :
" I can fix that. You tell them that I came along
and wanted the building for one service, and you
did not have time to get them together and so told
me to ' go ahead.' " " All right," he said. And so
I drove up and down the street and caused quite
a stir among the people as I gave notice of the
meeting to be held on Sunday.

Sunday morning I asked the old lady where I
was staying if she would like to go to church.
" Yes," she said, and choked as she told me of
her husband's death and how long it had been since
she was at a religious service. Well, I got out the

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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

old carriage and swept out the cobwebs and hay-
seed and hitched old Daniel, the faithful horse the
Publication Society furnished me, into the shafts,
and then we got in and started for church. I
thought old Dan would shake the tires off the dry
wheels as he pranced down the street showing off
the old carriage. We had a service that morning
and again in the evening. I rang the bell in the
evening, and presently half a dozen old ladies came
in, and I said to myself, " This looks like an old
ladies' meeting " ; but after a while a crowd of young
people came in. I sang the " Smile Song " and
" Honey in the Rock " and taught them the choruses.

When we got home I said to the old lady, who
had been to both services, " Well, let me read and
pray before we retire." Her niece, a young girl
about fifteen years of age, was there for the night,
and as I knelt to pray she dropped on her knees like
a flash, and I said, " Father, that girl wants Jesus,"
and I said I would do the best I could to lead her
to him. The next morning I let her take a few
books to look over. This was throwing out the
bait, so she would not be afraid of me. That eve-
ning, before I left the place, I asked her if she would
like to be a Christian. " Yes," she said, " I cer-
tainly would." " If I can make the way plain, will
you accept Christ?" " Yes, I will." I then took
out my Testament and opened to John 1:12, and
asked her to read it. " What is it God wants you
to do ? " " He wants me to receive him." " Yes,

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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

that is the first step. Now turn to Romans lo:
10. What is it he asks you to do here?" "He
wants me to confess him." " Yes, and yet once
more look at John 14:21." "He that hath my
commandments and keepeth them ... I will love
him and manifest myself unto him." " Here we
are told to obey him. These are the three steps into
the kingdom. Are you willing to take the first
step? " She said, " Yes, I am," and we knelt down,
and I prayed and she prayed, asking God to for-
give her sin and inviting Jesus to come into her
heart. Then I said : " Now write to your mother
and tell her what you have done. That will be con-
fessing him." She said : " I will do better than that.
I will go home and throw my arms about her neck
and tell her I have accepted Christ." " Tell the
pastor too," I said, and she promised she would, and
I knew he would do the rest. " The next step is
to obey Christ, and that will take all the rest of
your life."

A Jewish Family

One day a pastor of a church in the section where
I was with the wagon wanted to go out with me.
" All right," I said, " come on." " We will go to
Hattersville," he said, and so we started for that
place. The roads were dim and we soon got
side-tracked and he went into a house to inquire the
way. While he was gone I slipped a motto into one
pocket and a New Testament into the other. When

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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

he came back I jumped out. " Where are you go-
ing?" he asked. "In here," I answered pointing
to a hpuse that stood back a little way. " Oh, it's
no use to go in there," he said ; " they are all Jews
in there." " You wait and see," said I, and started
up the path, both hands open and extended. A fat
young woman sat in the doorway, and when she saw
me coming she shouted, " Ve don't vant noddings."
" What are you going to do here ? " I said, looking
up at a great summer-house they were building,
" take boarders ? " " How does land sell here ? "
When you begin to talk buying and selling to a
Jew you've got his ears if you haven't got his
heart. Just then a boy came to the door, and I
pulled the motto out of my pocket and said : " What
do you think of that?" "That's fine," he said;
" what do you ask for it? " " Well," I said, " the
price of it is six cents, but if you want it for five
cents you can have it." If you drop a little on
the price of anything you are trying to sell to a
Jew you interest him at once, and he said, " I think
I will buy that," and he gave me a nickel and went
into the house to hang up his purchase.

When he came out I had the Testament in my
hand, and he wanted to know what it was. I told
him it was a New Testament, and asked him if he
had ever had one, and he told me he had never so
much as seen one, but he would like to own one and
asked me how much I would take for it. I told him
he could have it for five cents. He said he hadn't
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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

any more money, and I said, " Well, as you are a
Jew and I am a Yankee, supposing we swap." He
agreed to this, and gave me tlie motto and I gave
him the New Testament. " Hold on," I said, " there
is one thing more. I want you to promise me
that you will read that book." " Sure," he said,
" I will read it." " Well, now promise me one
thing more. Promise me you will read it aloud to
your mother." " I will," the boy said ; " if she will
let me, I will read it to her, every word."

Just in front of me was a low step. I took ofif
my hat and dropped on my knees and prayed and
thanked God that the dear boy had the words of
Jesus, and asked him to bless his own word in this
house of his ancient people. When I finished, that
mother bowed herself almost to the floor and
thanked me for coming to her house and for pray-
ing. When I got back to the wagon the pastor
said : " Well, Newton, you've opened my eyes. I did
not know you could do that way with the Jews, and
look there now." I looked, and the last glimpse we
had of them the boy sat in the open window reading
aloud the New Testament to his Jewish mother.

The Man who Came Out Swearing

One day I came to a house and drove into the
yard. A man came out, swearing, to know what
I wanted. I saw at once he was not in a frame
of mind for me to talk to him about his soul, and
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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

so I said, " How are potatoes up this way? " " Are
you interested in potatoes ? " he asked. " Yes, sir,"
said I. And so I was for a few minutes. " Come
out into my garden," said he ; " or no — wait here
a minute." He went to the bulkhead cellar door
and brought out a basket with some fine large pota-
toes in it. " There," he said, as he took a big one in
his hand, " if we had had rain this summer that
potato would have been as big as this basket."

" Oh, come ! " I said, " you know better and I
know better. You never saw a potato as big as
that basket and you never will. Are those your
calves out there? " " Yes, sir," he said; " are you
interested in calves?" " Yes, sir," I said. "Well,

who the d 1 are you? and what the d 1 are

you doing?" I jumped out of the wagon, and we
went over to the wall of the lot where the calves
were lying down. He called to one, " Beauty, come
here ! " A little calf came over to the wall and
put his little head up and let him stroke it. " Now,
this is sweet," I said ; " I like to see this." " Come
down in the field," he said, " and see my cows." He
had a name for each one of them, " Molly," " Jane,"
" Sarah," and the " Black Angel." He could do any-
thing with them. He picked up their forward feet
and their hind feet and threw his arms around their
necks, and I guess they would have kissed him if he
hadn't had a great roll of tobacco in his mouth.

You may say, " What has all this to do with the
work you are sent out by the Society to do ? " Oh,

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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

I was getting ready to put a hook into his jaw. We
went back to the barn and looked at his horses,
and then we looked at my horse Daniel and talked a
little about him, and then I reached over into my
basket and took up the book " Black Beauty." " Did
you ever read that ? " I asked. " No," he answered,
" I've got to go to New York and be fitted with
glasses." I dropped my book and took another turn
with him. " It seems to me," I said, " that a man
who loves his cattle as you do ought to love the God
who made him." Then he said, " Don't it say in
the Bible that a man must be born again ? " " Yes,"
I said, as I took out my New Testament, " right
here in the third of John, ' Jesus said to Nicodemus,
Ye must be born again.' " Then as we talked he
asked again, " Is not Christ coming again some
time ? " " Yes, right here in First Thessalonians,
sixteenth verse of the fourth chapter : ' For the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of an archangel and with the trump of
God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord
in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord ' ;
but you must get ready, you must be born again." I
saw my man was getting serious, so I closed my
book, took off my hat, put my hand on his, and
asked my Father to bless the man who came out
swearing. " Yes," I thought as I drove away, " he
came out swearing and I go away praying."
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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

" We don't want any books," said a man to me as I
walked up to the side door of liis house. I carry my
books in a basket when I am in the country. A
farmer isn't afraid of a basket, but if you carried a
suit-case, likely as not he would set his dog on you.
So I dropped the books. " What variety of grapes
are those ? " said I, looking at a vine over my head.
I went on talking about the grapes until an old lady
came out of the house. " Good morning, grand-
ma," I said ; " I preached up on Scott Hill Sunday."
" Did you ? " she asked. " Come in. Go to the
side door." The daughter met me at the door, and
opened it much in the spirit of the father. I did
not like the atmosphere, and so I asked if they had
an organ. They answered that there was one in
another room, and so I went in and sat down and
began to sing:

When things don't go to suit you
And the world seems upside down,

Don't waste your time in sighing,
But drive away that frown;

Smile whenever you can,

I noticed they were beginning to come in to hear
the singing, and changed to the touching song:

My mother's hand is on my brow,

Her gentle voice is pleading now,
Across the years so marred by sin
What memories of love steal in.

As I looked around they were weeping, and I said,
" Let us pray." After the prayer the daughter said :
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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

" Mother, I am going to buy you a new Bible. You
wait a minute, Mr. Newton. I want you to see
mother's Bible." It looked like an old lady's cook-
book with clippings in it and all worn, thumbed, and
soiled. " Yes, grandma, you deserve a new book."
" Where are your books ? " I went out and brought
in my basket and sold a Bible and one or two songs.
When I went away they said : " Well, Mr. Newton,
whenever you come this way call and see us. We
are so glad you came to-day."

The Young Man at the Cpiurch Steps

" There's a young man at the door who says he is
a sinner and wants to be prayed for," shouted some
one in one of the meetings I was holding. I ran to
the door, and took him by the hand and pulled him
into tlie church. I asked him if he was willing to do
anything to be saved ? " Yes," he said, " I am."
" Well," said I, " let us tell God so." We knelt, and
he tried to pray but could not. We arose from our
knees, and while I was finding in my Bible Isaiah
55 : 7 he took a six-shooter out of his pocket and
handed it to me. I had him read the verse I had
found. " ' Let the wicked forsake his way.' " " Who
are the wicked ? " I asked. " I am wicked enough,"
he answered. " Are you willing to forsake your
wicked way ? " " Yes." " Well, read on." " ' And
the unrighteous man his thoughts.' " " Oh ! " he
cried, " that is the worst of it, I can't get away from
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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

my thoughts." " Listen," I said, " you can't help
the birds flying over your head, but you can keep
them from building nests in your hair, can't you ? "
" Yes, I can." " Well," I said, " you can fill your
mind with other things. Look up to God and say
' God, help me ' as I sing ' Jesus, lover of my soul,
let me to thy bosom fly.' Will you do that ? "
" Yes," and he did. " Now," I said, " go on with
the verse." " ' And let him return unto the Lord.' "
" Do you return ? " "I do. ' And he will have
mercy upon him, and unto our God, for he will
abundantly pardon.' " " Do you accept it all ? " I
asked. " Yes," he said, " I do." " Well, now come
home with me." "Oh, no; you don't know who
I am." " Yes, I do," I said, " you are a child of
the King." That night when I opened the meeting
for testimony he jumped to his feet and said : " I
have accepted Christ, and I am determined to live for
him." He felt called to the ministry, and went with
me, holding meetings, and when afterward I was
taken down with a cold he went on with the services,
and God gave him some of the leading men in that
town. He later went to college and studied for the
ministry. That young man was about to take his
own life when he came to the church to be saved.

The Old Rich Man

He lived with his two daughters. When I went
into the home he was sitting in the corner. "We
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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

don't want any books. We have more than we can
read now," he said, as he looked into my basket.
Right across the street from his house was the
church, and I asked him if he ever went to church.
" No," he said, " I haven't been to church in a long
while." " Well," I said, " how would you like to
have a church come to you ? " "I don't know,"
he answered. I broke out singing, " I have heard of
a land on a far-away strand." When I was through
he said to one of his daughters : " Hattie, don't you
want some of his books ? Look at them." This she
did, and bought one or two. Then I sang again,
" There's a dear and precious book." When I had
finished, he said to the other daughter, " Mary, you
had better buy something," and she did. " Well,
now," I thought, " I must surely sing again, or he
will think I was just singing to get his trade," and
so I sang a very touching song entitled " Memories
of Mother." As I was singing he began to weep,
and when I was through he could not speak. " Wait
a minute, father," said one of the daughters, " and
then you can tell us all you want to." When he
could control himself he said, "We ought to buy
some books for the grandchildren." So they bought
three Testaments and " The Child's Life of Christ "
and " Beautiful Joe."

I thoflght surely they would not buy any more
books, and so I sang a last time, after which he
asked if I had any family Bibles? "Yes, sir," I
said, and showed him some fine copies, one of which
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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

he bought. He then invited me to stop and take a
meal with them whenever I was in that part of the
country. This I did from time to time, and he
finally gave his heart to the Lord.

'A Spiritualist

One day I drove up to a house and hitched my
horse to a bar-post, for there was no gate or walk
in front of the building. An old lady came out,
acting very nervous, and asked me what I wanted.
" Well," I said, " I don't know as I want anything."
And I took my books out of the wagon. " What
have you come here for ? " she demanded. " Oh,
I thought I would make you a little call," I said.
" Well," she replied, " I don't let everybody come
into my house." " But you would let a good-
natured fellow like me come in, wouldn't you ? " I
asked. All this time I had been walking toward
the house, and she was backing into the house before
me. When we got inside I looked around for a
chair, but they were all full, some of old clothes
and others with dishes and boxes. She brushed some
of the ashes from one of the chairs with her bare
hand and I sat down on the corner of it. I asked
her if she liked honey, and she said she did, and
I said : " Well, here is some right in the middle of
a song." I handed her a copy of " Honey in the
Rock." She clapped on a pair of glasses, and when
I began to sing:

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'Uhe Spiriiualist

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

O my brother, do you know the Saviour?

He is wondrous, kind, and true;
He's the rock of your salvation.

There's honey in the rock for you —

she joined in and sang too. " Well," I said, " you
can sing about as well as I can." " Yes," she said,
" I can sing like a nightingale or like an Indian."
Then she gave an awful war-whoop that would
almost make your hair stand on end, and said:
" Don't be frightened ; that was my Indian inter-
preter telling me there would be no disturbance."
" Oh," I said, " it would take more than an Indian
war-whoop to scare me, for I was a missionary
among the Indians in the West. But what are
you ? " said I. " Why," she said, " I am a spiritual-
ist and a clairvoyant-doctor." What a combina-
tion to run against! What could a colporter do
with such a case? I took up a New Testament and
said : " Well, I am something of a spiritualist my-
self, and here is the book that will tell you all about
the Great Spirit." "Will it keep the evil spirits
away from me?" she asked. " If you use it as I
do, it will," I said. She said she hadn't much
money, but she guessed she would buy it, and she
went into a side room and brought out the price
of the book. She bought the Testament, and gave it
to an old soldier who was sitting in one corner
of the room, and told him to put it in his pocket
and it would keep the evil spirits away from him.
" Not unless you use it the way I do," said I.
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DOOR-STEP EV ANGELISM

" Now," I said, " you have given away your Testa-
ment, and I think you ought to have a Bible for
yourself," and I picked one out of the basket.
" I've got a Bible," she replied. " You have," said
I. "Where did you get a Bible?" " My mother
gave it to me." " Who was your mother ? " " My
mother was a Baptist." "Well," I said, "I am
something of a Baptist myself." "You are?"
"Yes." The old darky down South said: "You
need to be wise as sarpents and harmless as doves,
and about four sarpents to one dove." I was trying
it on and it worked well. " You don't read that
old Bible with board covers and the leaves all
brown and spotted and all the s's made like f's,"
said I. " Come, buy yourself a new Bible, light and
handy to take up and read." " But," she said, " I
haven't any more money." "Don't tell me that,"
I said. " You go right through that door and you
will find some more money." "Well," she said,
" you are a kind of spiritualist, sure enough." So
she went and got the money and bought the Bible,
and there was the Testament in the hands of the
old soldier and a Bible in her own hands. Then
I prayed that God would bless them both. How
do you suppose that woman was dressed? She
had on a man's black shirt for a waist and an
overcoat pinned on with safety-pins for a skirt.

The next Sunday morning I drove by the house,
and the old soldier came out and put up his hand on
the cushion of the carriage and said, " You are
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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

going somewhere to preach and I want to go with
you." These words and the anxious look on the
man's face pulled on my heart-strings, for I had
to tell him I was going to Voluntown to preach,
and then away off on the hills to hold an open-air
meeting and would not come back that way. The
old man was sad as he turned and went back into
the house. Later I called there and prayed with
them again. As I was praying I heard a noise and
opened my eyes, for I did not know just what a
spiritualist might do, and there was the woman get-
ting down on her knees too, and when I had finished
praying for her, she in turn prayed for me.

The New Testament in a Bandbox

When out calling one day, I said to the lady, " Let
me take your Bible and I will read and pray." She
answered that she had loaned her Bible. " Well, let
me take a Testament then," said I. She went to a
cupboard and stepped on to a chair and then on to
a low shelf and reached up to the top shelf and
took down a bandbox with a paper tied over the
top. Untying the paper, she took out of the box a
small Testament and blew off the dust and handed
it to me. This showed how much the Bible was
read in that home. I read from the book and of-
fered prayer. May God help people to have the
word of God where they can pick it up at any
moment !

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D O O R - S TEP EVANGELISM

K Door-step Prayer

'As I walked up to the door of a house one
day a lady informed me that she did not want any-
thing. I asked her how far it was to the next
town, and if she didn't get lonesome living so far
away. "Yes," she said, "it is lonely since my
father died," and she began to weep as she told me
the sad story of his death. I stood on the steps and
prayed for her, and she was strengthened and
blessed and thanked me for calling.

Meetings at Eagleville

I held an open-air meeting in the little village of
Eagleville. I tried to get the use of the schoolhouse
for services, but they would not let me have it.
I went to a boarding-house for my breakfast. I
discovered a piano in a side room, and asked the
housekeeper if I might play and sing a song. " Why,
yes," she said. I said to the boarders : " Now you
keep time to the music with your knives and forks
and I will sing you a song." As the house stood
close alongside the railroad track, I sang:

Life is like a mountain railroad
With an engineer that's brave.

We must make the run successful,
From the cradle to the grave.

When I went to lunch in the afternoon the lady
said to me, " Have you found a place for your meet-

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Jl T>oor-step Prayer

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

ings?" and I answered, "No." "Well," she said,
" you can hold them right here in the dining-room
if you want to." " Why," I said, " do you think
you could manage it? " I wanted her to say " Yes,"
for it was just the place I had wished for all the
time. " Oh, yes," she said ; " we can shove the
table right against the wall and put chairs all
through the room." " That's all right," I said; " I
will bring in my little organ, and you put a small
stand for my books, and we will have a good time."

In the next few days ten accepted Christ. I went
after a neighboring pastor, and he promised to come
over and preach for them, and has now been doing
so for more than two years. He has baptized
a number of them, and some of them are sweet,
active Christians to-day.

Mr. Toothacher

I have had some of my most striking experiences
away out in the country. I stopped one day at a
house and hitched my horse and took my books
with me to the door. A lady came and invited me
in. After talking awhile I showed her and the
family some of my books. How eager the chil-
dren were to see them! Just then a great husky
fellow, weighing over two hundred, came in boil-
ing mad and looked me over. I said I had come
in to show them some of my books. "Well," he
blustered, " I don't think much of your old Bibles,
23

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

you old hypocrite. Get out of here. Who asked
you to come in here anyway? Get out of here, I
tell you." But I sat still and looked him over. Then
he began again, calling me everything he could think
of that was mean. I saw that the bile was in him,
and that he was boiling over with rage, and that it
wouldn't do to touch him just then. He could cer-
tainly never go to heaven with that in him, and he
might as well get it out of him first as last. He
called all church-members liars and hypocrites, and
went on at a great rate. He had an old pipe in his
mouth and kept burning matches without number
to get it going. He would give one or two pulls
and then the pipe would turn over and the fire
would spill out, and he would strike another match
and try it again, talking all the time as fast as he
could. And how he watched me ! He wanted to get
me angry, and if I had once lost my temper he
would have thrown me out of the door, for you
could see he was just aching to get hold of me.
When he had simmered down a little, I said, " Well,
sir; I agree with pretty near everything you have
said." He had to laugh at that, to think that after
he had mopped the floor with me and called me every
hard name he could think of, I should, say that I
partly agreed with him. " There was a devil among
the twelve disciples," said I, " and I shouldn't
wonder if there was a devil among every twelve
Christians to-day." " Twelve out of twelve," he
declared, " and I will put you in with them, you old
24

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

hypocrite. I told yoti once to get out of here."
But I still sat and took his abuse. I knew it would
do him good to unload, and that after he had boiled
down it would be my turn.

When he had quieted down a little I talked with
him some, and then taking out my watch I said:
" Why, it is almost noon. I guess I had better stay
and take dinner with you." He hemmed and hawed
awhile, and then said : " Well, if you can eat my
grub you can stay." "Oh," I said, "that is all
right. What you have every day I guess I can
get along with for one meal. But," I said, " there
is my horse. He ought to have something too."
" Yes," he said, " he is a fine horse. Who does he
belong to ? " " He belongs," I answered, " to the
American Baptist Publication Society." " Well,"
he said, " he is a fine animal. Let us put him in the
barn. What do you feed him?" "Oh," I said,
" I don't ask you to feed him. I've got oats that I
carry along with me." This man could swear with-
out notes, and he didn't care who heard him. It
would take more than a preacher to frighten him,
and he broke out: " I don't care a tut-tut-tut-tut if
you have got oats. So have I got oats." " All
right," I said ; " feed him four quarts." Then we
went in and brushed up for dinner.

If I had known what was before me I do not know
that I would have stayed. But I had put my foot in
it and it was too late to draw back, so I sat down
with him at the table. He shoved the food over

25

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

toward me and said, " Help yourself." But I did
not. I sat back in my chair and waited, for I
wanted him to ask me to ask a blessing. I knew
the time had come for me to do my duty, and I
knew he knew what that was. I was almost afraid
he would show me the door yet, and I did want
some of that dinner, but I waited for my chance. At
last I said : " I am not in the habit of eating my
food until I have asked God's blessing upon it." He
looked at me for a minute, and then said : " Well,
go ahead and pray all you want to. I don't care
how much you pray." This was my chance to do
as I had a mind to, and I prayed for the wife and
the dear children, who never heard the name of
God except when it was taken in vain. And I
prayed for the man who was willing that I should
sit at his table and enjoy the food which God's
bounty had provided. Then he shoved the food over
to me, and I did as I had a mind to some time
longer. He set a good table. We had lamb, white
potatoes, sweet potatoes, and all the paraphernalia
that goes along with a good dinner. When we were
through dinner I did as Jesus did with his disciples
— " made as if he would go farther, but the dis-
ciples constrained him " to tarry. " Hold on," said
he ; " wait until I get my- men to work." After he
had given them a damning we went out into the
field to look at his crops and hogs. " Who are
you?" he asked as we walked back to the house.
" Oh," I said, " I am the State colporter, visiting
26

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

the people and holding meetings with them, and sell-
ing Bibles and other good books." " Well," he said,
" you are a different kind of a fellow than I thought
you were. I intended when I went into the house to
take you by the nape of the neck and throw you
out." " Well, I didn't just like your introduction,"
I told him, " but you didn't jar me in the least." " I
see I didn't," he answered. " I have been down in
New York City and I have got very rough." " I
used to be night missionary in New York," I said,
" and was out in my work on the streets all night."
" Were you? " he asked, and I said, " Yes."

God let me get ahead of this man every move
he made. Then he said, " I was out West twice
with the cowboys and that made me rough." " Yes,"
I said, " I've been West three times, and the last
time I went clear through to the Pacific Coast."
" Well, you are a different fellow from what I
thought you were." Then he asked, " What could I
get a good Bible for ? " I told him I had them at all
prices from twenty-five cents up to twenty-five dol-
lars. " Well, I want one," he said, " with the family
records and all that in it." See how he came down
off his high horse. I knew it would do him good.
Then he put his hand in his pocket and took out a
quarter and said : " Here, take that and give some
boy or girl along the road a Bible or Testament."
I knew he would like to tell how he had fed my
horse and given me my dinner and given me a quar-
ter to pay for a Bible for some one, and so I
27

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

reached over and took out one of my books that I
saw his little girl looking at and said, " Here, give
this book to your dear little girl." He took the
book, and so you see I had actually made a sale to
the man who had ordered me to get out of his
house " with my old Bibles." As we parted I asked
him who he was, and he said, " I am Mr. Tooth-
acher." "Mr. Toothacher?" I asked, astonished.
" Yes, Mr. Toothacher, and if you ever come this
way again stop and see me." " Well, Mr. Tooth-
acher," I said, " I shall never forget you. I have
had so much of that myself." And he looked at me
as if he wasn't quite certain just what I meant.

The Water-boy

As he came through the train crying out,
" Water," I reached out my hand and took the
glass, which he poured full of water. As I was
drinking it I put my hand in my pocket and took
out a " Gospel Check," which had printed on it in
large letters, "A Free Drink." As I slipped the
glass into its place on his can I handed him the
check. An old man who sat in the seat with me
asked, " What was that ; a twenty ? " " Better than
that," I repHed. " Will you give me one? " said he;
I gave him a check also. It said on the other side :
" Jesus said, ' Whosoever will, let him take of the
water of life freely.' " When he had read it, I
asked him if he had ever taken that drink, and he
28

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

answered that he guessed not. " Don't you feel the
need of it ? " I asked. " Yes," he said ; " if any
one ever needed it, I do. I have just come from the
funeral of my only daughter," and he choked as he
said these words. I moved over close to him and
prayed for him, and he said, " I will accept Christ."
As the train rolled on the water-boy came back,
and wanted to know what that free drink meant. I
gladly told him of that day when Jesus stood in the
streets of Jerusalem at the great feast and cried:
" If any man thirst, let him come unto me and
drink." The boy sat on the arm of the seat across
the aisle and listened, as if I were telling him some
fairy tale. Oh, the hungry souls everywhere wait-
ing to hear the story of the gospel !

How THE Devil Overreached Himself

There was an old Baptist church at Shailerville
that had been closed for years. I went down there
hoping to find a chance to hold some meetings. I
stopped at several houses along the way without
much encouragement. It was a hot day in June.
At one of the houses near the church was a man
lying in a hammock and a young woman trying
to quiet a baby by wheeling him in a carriage. I
asked her how long it had been since any one had
preached in the old church and who used to preach
there and who had the charge of the building. She
answered in a very mean and hateful way, and
29

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

finally snapped out, " There is a lady sick in the
house, and you are disturbing her." " I beg your
pardon," I said ; " I am very sorry. I do not want
to disturb any one, but to be a blessing and comfort
to all." I turned and walked slowly to the wagon
and drove away saying to myself : " That is the first
sign of life I have seen in this town. The devil
has overreached himself this time, and we will have
that soul in the kingdom before we leave here."
I could find no place to stay for the night, for every
door was closed to me, and so I left the big col-
portage wagon, which weighs one thousand five
hundred pounds, and drove in my light wagon to
Chester, three miles away, where I found enter-
tainment in the home of a brother minister.

The next day I went back to make another effort
to get into the old church and hold some meetings.
I finally found a boarding-place in a family of deaf-
and-dumb people, and got permission to hold a
meeting in a schoolhouse near at hand. I notified
the people by driving from house to house, and
a handful came out to the service. I learned that
the young lady who had been hateful to me was a
good musician, so I ventured to go to the house to
see her. I knocked, but no one came to the door.
The next day I went again, and made my third at-
tempt to get into that house. This time I went
around to the back door and knocked and, while
waiting in vain for an answer, I turned and saw
an old lady out in the garden with a hoe and keep-
30

jln Old Lady Out in the Garden With a Hoe

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

ing very still until I should go away. I sprang
down the steps and went and took the hoe out of
her hands and began to hoe out the corn, and tell-
ing her at the same time that I would hold services
in the old church the next day, and that on Monday
I would come and hoe out the garden. " I don't
ask you to hoe my garden," she said. " No," I
replied, " I know you don't, but I want to do it for
you. I don't like to see a woman as old as you
doing hard work. Don't you try to do any more of
it. I will have it all done before breakfast Monday
morning." I felt as if I had made some progress
toward reaching the daughter, although I hadn't
seen her. After much persuasion and prayer the
keys of the old church had finally been placed in
my hands, and I went in and swept and dusted
and washed the seats, having as helpers one man
and a boy who had become interested. I sent the
boy to the house where the young lady lived to get
some hot water, so as to open a possible way for me
to get into the house too. She had seen us cleaning
the church and knew there was something doing.
I had also taken some song-books down to the
church, hoping I could get into her good graces
through her love for music.

After I was through at the church I went to the
house, and the old lady came to the door and in-
vited me in. I knew I was all right now, and
accepted the invitation gladly. I saw in one corner
of the room a little melodion, and asked if I might
31

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

sing her a song. She expressed her willingness, and
I sang my favorite song, " Honey in the Rock,"
which God has blessed to thousands of souls. While
I was singing I heard some one come in and drop
down in one corner of the room. I turned on the
stool and talked to the mother, but did not notice
the daughter until the mother arose and came to
me and said, " This is my daughter." I arose and
stretched out my hand, and we shook hands while
the girl said, " Yes, we have met before." I laughed
and said : " Never mind that. Let it all go. Say,
do you know this book, ' Alexander's Songs ' ? " She
said she did not, but we looked at two or three, and
then she sat down to the instrument and began to
make her fingers fly over the keyboard.

After looking over several selections which I
wanted to sing on the morrow I said : " Now let me
talk with you a little while. I am going to preach
in the church to-morrow, and I want you to come
and play these pieces which we have practised."
" But," she said, " you have no organ." " Oh, yes
I have," I replied. " I always carry my baby organ
with me." She finally promised she would come
and play, and did in the morning, but would not
come to the evening service.

Monday morning I arose early and hoed out the
garden according to my promise, but saw no one
about. The next day I went to Chester, and the
pastor came back with me to see the church and
to visit around among the people.

32

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

Among others we called upon this young lady
and her mother, but did not then say anything
on the great subject. Later she said to me : "I
made up my mind if you did not care about the
matter, neither did I." The next day we called
again, and sang and talked, and when we were out
on the steps ready to depart I said to her : " I be-
lieve you want to be a Christian." " What makes
you think so ? " she asked. " I have my reasons,"
I replied. " Now, if I will make it all clear to you,
will you accept Christ?" She partly agreed that
she would, and I pointed out the way until she said :
" You have made it all clear. But why do you care ?
iWhy do you talk to me in this way? I have done
nothing to make you feel such an interest in my
soul." We knelt down and prayed — ^the pastor and
I — and I tried to get her to pray, but she would
not surrender. I said : " I fear and tremble for you.
You said if the way was made clear you would
yield. My dear friend, for you it is now God or
the devil. Which shall it be?" "Well," she said,.
" I certainly don't want anything to do with the
devil." After a little while she said, " I will accept
Christ now," and she did. " Come to the service
to-night and tell us about it," said I. She came, and
was one of the first to testify that she had accepted
Christ and that she did not see why any one should
hesitate to confess him. One day, some time after-
ward, she said to me, " Do you know when it was
you won me to Christ? It was that Monday
33

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

morning when my mother called me early and told
me you were hoeing out our garden. I wouldn't
believe it until I got up and looked through the cur-
tains and saw you myself."

The Hardest Case in Town

I was holding meetings in East Poultney, Vt.
One morning as I wakened God said to me : " Hold
an open-air service on the lawn in front of the
church." That same night I took my baby organ
out on the lawn and started a meeting. With me
was my good wife who played the organ, a maiden
lady, and a little child. Just across the street was
a crowd of scoffers, sitting on the steps of the post-
ofifice. Night by night the audiences increased, until
I had a hundred people all about me. They came
from miles around and sat in their carriages and
listened to the gospel. One man with a broken leg
was brought to the meeting, and an old invalid lady
in her wheel-chair. A farmer who came first to
the evening meeting became so interested he would
do his chores at three o'clock and come and stay
until nine o'clock at night, when the services closed.

There was one man in town who was known as
" the hardest customer of them all." " If God can
convert that man," said one lady, " he can do any-
thing." I answered her : " God can convert that
man as easily as you can turn your hand over."
"Well," she sighed, "I wish I could believe it."
34

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

Right there I prayed that that man might be con-
verted. A few nights later I saw him upon the
side hill " bushing in " grain, for it was sowing-time.
I had a four-foot megaphone in my hand, and I
turned it toward him and sang :

I shall know Him, I shall know him.
And redeemed by his side I shall stand ;

I shall know him, I shall know him.
By the print of the nails in his hand.

He at once left the field and drove his team to
the house, and in a few moments I saw my man
standing on the outskirts of the crowd. When I
had done speaking I went to him and asked him if
he would help me carry the settees into the church.
He assented, and we set to work. When they were
all in I said to him : " Would you be ashamed to
kneel right here on the lawn and let me pray for
you that you may be a Christian ? " " No, sir,"
he said, and down he knelt and I beside him, and
while I prayed he accepted Christ. His wife fol-
lowed him, and they both united with the church and
lived consistent godly lives until they went to be
with their Lord.

Comfort for a Stricken Heart

I stopped one day at a country store to inquire
where I could find entertainment for a few days
while I worked in that community. Some said one
place and some another, until finally one said : "Mr.
35

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

L 's would be a good place, but you would not

have any comfort there." " Well," said I, " maybe
then I could give them a little comfort." " They
need it bad enough," was the response. I drove up

to the door and Mrs. L herself came out.

"How do you do?" I said. "I am Mr. Newton,
the State colporter, and would like to stay with you
a few days if I may. I won't make you a bit of
trouble. I can make my own bed. I don't drink
tea or coffee. Just put on a plate and knife and
fork and one extra potato in the kettle. Just try
me a day or two." " I don't know," she said, " just

what Mr. L will say to it." " Well," I said,

" if he is willing you will be ? " She did not fully
answer. I went for my team and drove up to the

barn door. Mr. L was there, and I introduced

myself and proffered my request for entertainment
for a few days. He thought it over and then said,
"If my wife is willing you may." "All right," I
said, and I jumped out and began to unhitch the
horse. " Hold on," he said; " I said if my wife is
willing." " Oh, that's all right. I've seen her," I
replied. At that he helped me put the horse in the
barn and began at once to tell me of his daughter,
who had recently been killed or had committed
suicide. " My poor wife is in a dreadful condi-
tion," he said.

We went into the house, and he said to his wife :
" Wife, this man tells me he is not afraid to play
the piano," and he took me into another room where
36

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

the piano was, and I played and sang, " My Mother's

Bible." While I sang Mrs. L went sobbing

from the room. Every day I talked with each of
them, until I began to notice a change in their spirit.

Mrs. L was a member of the church, but her

husband was not. He was bitter, with murder in

his heart. I said to him : " Mr. L , you are not

looking at this thing in the right way. ' Vengeance
is mine, I will repay,' saith the Lord. God can
make the past plain, and God knows everything.
Give your heart to God and he will make everything
right." They showed me the picture of the daugh-
ter. She had a strong, bright, intelligent face, and
the neighbors all spoke of her as a beautiful girl
and a fine school-teacher.

The day I was to go away I said again : " Mr.

L , you ought to give your heart to God. We

have had a good many intimate talks together, and
now let me tell you just how to take the Lord." As
well as I could I pointed the way, and we knelt
down there in the dining-room and he accepted
Jesus Christ. His wife came into the room, and
I said to him, " Tell your wife what you have done."
And he said to her, " Wife, I have taken Christ for
my friend." She threw her arms about his neck
and kissed him and said : " John, did God have to
take May in order to save you ? " "I guess he
did," he said, as they both wiped away the tears.
The scene touched the heart of a young niece who
was visiting them, and I turned and said, "Don't
37

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

you also want to be a Christian?" She said she
did, and we knelt again, and she too accepted
Christ as her Saviour.

A week later I went back to hold some services in

the neighborhood, and saw Mr. L and said to

him, " Well, Mr. L , how are you getting on? "

He answered : " I have set up the family altar, and
I ask the blessing of God on every meal."

This man was seventy-four years old when God
came into his life and took away his sorrow and
made him a happy man. The devil has no happy
old men.

At " The World in Boston "

I was told by the American Baptist Publication
Society in 191 1 to ship my wagon and organ to Bos-
ton and store it, and be on the ground ready for
work when the pageant opened on April 20 of that
year. I was to exemplify there the colportage
work in the rural sections, and explain to the people
the manner of getting into the homes and selling
and distributing Bibles and New Testaments and
other good books.

I would do my stunt something in this fashion:
I would mount a drygoods-box made ready for me,
open my baby organ, and sing, " Honey in the
Rock," until I had gathered my crowd, and then
I would say : " Let me tell you a story. One day
as I drove up to a house you ought to have seen
the children gather around the wagon, asking all
38

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

kinds of questions. How their eyes sparkled as they
looked at the handsome books ! The mother was as
pleased as they were. As I talked with her I dis-
covered that she was not a Christian, although she
wanted them to be. ' But,' I said, ' what about your-
self ? You ought to be a Christian yourself if you
are to lead them aright. Don't you wish you were
a Christian? ' She began to cry, and confessed she
did. I showed her the way of life as found in the
good Book, and knelt and prayed with her, and
then and there she gave herself to Christ. She
dried her tears and bought a ' Child's Story of the
Bible.' "

Singing on the Door-step

As I stood at the door of another home a lady
came out on the steps. I took up a song-book and,
asking her if she had ever heard the song, started
singing. She soon joined me, and we stood on the
steps and sang a duet together with the thick forest
in front of us as an audience. She warned me not
to come into the house, for she said the people
would not be civil to me. "Go around to the
front door," she said, " and I will come out that way
with my money for one of these books." I did
so, and she spent every cent she had. She bought a
song-book and two or three other books, and then
she said : " I have just eight cents left, what will you
sell me for that?" I let her have "The Way to
God," by Dwight L. Moody. Oh, it rejoiced my
39

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

heart to see how glad that dear hungry soul had
been made, living as she did away back on the hills
miles away from the church and society.

Services by the Wayside

Sometimes I would take my organ into the house
where the sick and the " shut-ins " were and sing
to them, or in a convenient grove, where I would
preach to the people who came to see or hear some
new thing. At one place I found them so hungry
for this kind of food that they said to me : " We
are all coming to the house where you are staying
to have you sing and talk to us." More than
a dozen came for the seed by the wayside, and
became so much in earnest in seeking the truth that
they got together a big load and drove many miles
to attend one of my meetings.

At one place where I stopped overnight, a young
woman asked me where God came from. " Why,
he didn't come from anywhere," I told her. " He
always existed. John i : i : 'In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God.' " I had a time with her, but won out
at last. After I had prayed with her the people
came in, and rejoiced with her in the step she had
taken.

Some time later I was passing that way and
was told she wanted to see me. I called, and she
40

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

said : " I want one of these Testaments which show
what Jesus said." " Oh, yes ; you want a red-
lettered Testament, where all the words of Jesus are
printed in red." Her very face was shining with
happiness because she had found the Lord.

As I drove up to a farmhouse one day I saw the
lady of the house cutting her boy's hair. She was
making hard work of it and I said to her, " I guess
you have a new kind of work on hand. " Yes," she
said ; " it is the first time I ever tried to do such a
thing. My father generally does it, but he has let
it go so long I thought I would try my hand at it."
" Well," I said, " let me help you out." " Why,"
she asked, " can you cut hair? " " You let me take
the shears and comb and I will show you," I said.
She handed the clumsy tools to me and stood back
to watch results. I soon smoothed out the steps and
ridges she had made on the boy's head. She saw I
was on to my job, and when I had finished she said:
" I thank you a thousand times, for I don't see how
I could ever have gotten out of the scrape I had
gotten into." She invited me into the house and
bought a copy of " The Story of the Bible," and I
had prayer with her and drove on.

Two other stories which I told to the gathered
thousands at the World in Boston were those of
" The Cross, Busy, Old Woman " and the " Hard,
Gruff, Old Man."

As I went around to the back door of a house an
old woman opened a little crack in the door about
41

DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

two inches wide and, peeking out at me, said, " I am
very busy." " Yes," I said, " we are all busy people,
and I am glad we are." I told her that her niece,
whom' I had met, had asked me to call. "Well,
come in," she said, very impatiently. " No," I
replied, " I don't think I had better. It will make
it hard for you and annoy you, and I don't want to
do that." The tone of her voice changed, and she
said as graciously as a sweet sixteen-year-older,
" Oh, come in." I went in and laid aside my over-
coat just as the men were coming in to dinner, and
they invited me to draw up with them. " No," I
said, " I didn't come in to get my dinner, but to
bring you a blessing." Then I broke out singing,
"Are the signals all right?" This pleased them.
Then I opened up my treasures, and another old lady
who was there bought a Testament. I prayed with
them before starting on, and then the first old lady
bought two more books. They all seemed to be
glad I had called, and told me to be sure and stop
whenever I came that way.

As I entered a house one day there sat a hard,
gruff, old man. I could not get much out of him
as I tried to cheer him in his lonely state. He saw
my books and growled out, " I don't want any of
your old books." I asked him if I might pray with
him, and he said, " I don't care whether you do or
not." Well, that was consent enough for me, and
I prayed with him and for him. When I arose
from my knees I took up a book and said : " Here is
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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

a book on the second coming of Christ, which I
think might interest you." " How much is it ? "
he asked. " Only ten cents," I replied. He finally
bought it, and after I had chatted a little longer I
drove on, glad in my heart that by the grace of
God I had kept sweet and that I had awakened
enough interest in the old man's heart to induce
him to buy the book, and I prayed it might be a
blessing to his soul.

Arrows at a Venture

On the fair-ground a man came up and asked,
" What time is it ? " I took out my watch and told
him very politely. Then I said : " My friend, now is
the accepted time ; now is the day of salvation." He
was ruffled, and replied, " I did not ask you about
salvation." " No, you didn't, but I am asking you
about that. It's a much more important question
than the one you asked me." " Well, I don't care
anything about salvation." And away he went into
the crowd as mad as a setting hen, and I lost sight
of him, but he had the message.

Telling the Way

Often some one asks me to direct them to some
place. I do so, and then I say to them : " K you had
asked me the way to heaven I could tell you that
too, for Jesus said : ' I am the way, the truth, and
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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

the life. No man cometh unto the Father but
by me.' "

The Helpful Match

While waiting for trains and on other occasions
I am very often asked, " Got a match ? " or, " Give
me a light? " But I reply: " I would if I had one,
but I don't smoke and so don't carry them, but I
know some one who has a light. Jesus says, ' I
am the Light of the world.' Have you got him ? "

A Swearing Old Man-
As I was walking through the street I heard an
old man swearing. I handed him a " Gibbud
Arrow." This was a card which said on one side,
" There! you've broken it. Broken what? (See the
other side.)" Turning it over he read the third
commandment: "Thou shalt not take the name of
the Lord thy God in vain." I prayed while he read
it. He felt rebuked, took a piece of paper from his
pocket, began to wrap it around the card, and said :
" I know it is wicked to swear. If I am wicked, I
want to keep this clean." I gave him a few more
arrows and passed on.

At the Great West Indies' Fair at
Charleston, S. C.

We interested a man, who had been the biggest
gambler of the city, in Christian work. We loaded
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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

him up with tracts, and he went out and led a soul
to Christ. Then he came back and wanted to know
more about such work. He got a taste of the joy
of saving souls, and opened a mission in the old
abandoned Star Theater. God has wrought won-
ders through this brother. He has been superin-
tendent of this work for over eight years. It is
now the Star Gospel Mission.

Two Ladies Playing Cards

As our train pulled out of Buffalo for the West,
two young ladies got out their cards. I said to
my wife: "The devil is showing his colors, and
I am going to show mine." I got out my solo-book
and began to sing, " Cling to the Bible, my boy."
I changed it for the occasion.

As you journey through life and the grave you
pursue,

There is one thing in earnest I wish you to do.
Oh, listen, my girls, while I say this to you,
Oh, cling to the Bible, my girls !

Oh, cling to the Bible, my girls !

Oh, cling to the Bible, my girls !

While living as dying, all else letting go,

Oh, cling to the Bible, my girls 1

They put up their cards ; an old man in the rear
of the car came up the aisle weeping, and said:
"God bless you, brother; I don't know who you
are, nor where you are going ; but I know that that
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DOOR-STEP EVANGELISM

song came from your heart, for it has reached
mine." I said, " Sit down here, brother.. Let me
talk awhile." That song squelched the card-playing
and opened a door for me to go to the First Bap-
tist Church in Little Rock to hold a revival meeting.

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