Yesterday : a chronicle of early life in the West

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YESTERDAY

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YESTERDAY

A CHRONICLE OF EARLY UFE IN THE WEST

■'.-'

By CHAS. E: WELLER

Author of **The Early History of the Typewriter"

ft ~ J

**For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterda;^ when
it is past^ and as a watch in the night**

Prlatod ft» th« Aathw by

0OBNEUU8 PRINT»a OOMPANT

lBd]aiMiwl]*,V.S.A.

im

Copyright. 1921,
By Chas. B. Wbller

• •>

• • •>

!- • •

• ••

CONTENTS

Chapter Pace

Preface 7

L The Call of the West 9

II. Early Days on the Farm 15

III. The Old-time Circus 24

IV. The Mexican War— The Telegraph— The Railroad- 29
V. The Christmas Box 36

VI. The Night Attack 42

VII. The Trial . 4S

VIII. The Trial — ^Continued 55

IX. The Evangelist 65

X. The Little Minister 71

XI. Reaction ^ 78

XII. Arcadia 82

XIII. Life in Arcadia 87

XIV. The Argonauts 92

XV. The Donation Party 96

XVI. The Building of the Temple 100

XVn. New Talks on an Old Subject 105

XVm. The Fire Engine 116

XIX. The Phrenologist 118

XX. The Mesmerist , 123

XXI. A Question of Honest Dealing 125

XXII. The World Beyond 137

XXIII. Rewards and Punishments 148

XXIV. Interviewing the "Spirits" 154

XXV. More Changes 162

XXVI. Early Telegraph Days 167

XXVn. The Confederates 172

XXVIII. Early Railroading in the West 176

XXIX. Early Railroading — Continued 180

XXX. A Famous Detective 186

XXXI. The "Wildcat" Banks 190

XXXIL A Dream of the Years 193

The Afterword 202

PREFACE

A SIDE from the productions of wtiters of
/\ established reputation whose works com-
-^ ^ mand a sale without much regard to their
real merit, it is safe to say that most of the books
which flood the market today are written with the
hope of achieving a reputation and thereby earning
a livelihood in the literary field, by catering to the
popular taste, which unfortunately is not of the
highest order, in its demand for current literature.

Let it be said at the outset that neither of these
objects inspired the writing of this little volume,
a simple chronicle of pioneer life in the West,
extending through but one decade in the early
years of a long and eventful life.

Nevertheless, it has an object, or it would not
have been written. What that object may be will
become apparent to the reader whose thoughts are
not wholly absorbed in the trivial pursuit of the
pleasures of this world.

It is to that class of readers that this book is
aff'ectionately dedicated by

THE AUTHOR.

YESTERDAY

CHAPTER I

The Call of the West

WHY should you want to give the cow tea?"
Father was sitting by the great log
fire, his teeth chattering, and shaking
from head to foot. He was always a little flighty
when his "spell" came on — an event which oc-
curred as regularly as clock-work every other day
in the week.

It was nothing alarming — only the old-fash-
ioned shaking ague, the prevailing malady common
to the breaking up of the virgin soil of a new
country. Nobody thought much about it. Every-
body had it sometime, or, if they did not, every-
body expected it, and sooner or later they got what
was coming to them.

So it was that father, with his fine English con-
stitution and his temperate habits, which should
have been proof against sickness of any kind, must
needs fall mider the evil spell of what was com-
monly termed "the shakes," and here was winter
setting in, with its white blanket of snow piled up
against our little rude log house, and there was
the wood to be chopped, the com to be husked and
stored away in the crib, the cow to be milked and

9

10 The Call of the West

the pigs to be fed, and nobody but sixteen-year-old
John to attend to all of it. To be sure, there were
Willie and Alfred, but Willie was but twelve and
Alfred ten and they had small leisure outside of
their studies during the winter term of the district
school, at the cross roads, a mile distant.

What is it that brings all this to my mind, "far,
far o'er the dream of years" (for I am eighty years
old today), that funny little speech of father's,
away back in the days of pioneer life on a Mich-
igan farm in the early 40's, and I, a little kiddie of
six years, sitting on the hearth and looking with
wondering eyes at father's pale face and trembling
hands as he uttered that irrelevant remark.

Something had been said about the cow by John
as he came into the room staggering under an arm-
ful of wood encrusted with snow, and at the same
time mother had made some remark about the tea
being nearly out, and. that when the next journey
was made to the village with the ox team it would
be necessary to purchase a quarter of a pound of
that precious article, the only luxury that could be
counted in our simple fare, and that only for
mother; for father would say that so long as we had
potatoes and com meal in the house none of us
would starve, but mother must have her tea.

And thus it was that in my child mind, which
was absorbing every little incident that made up
the sum of a day's doings, I succeeded, perhaps

The Call of the West 11

with the aid of one of my brothers, in putting to-
gether some explanation of my father's odd ques-
tion.

It was the cow, and then the tea. Why, of
course. Who would think of giving a cow tea,
when it cost a dollar and a half a pound, and was
carefully preserved in a tightly covered little
japanned canister, to be sparingly used, a little
pinch at a time, just enough for mother's cup?

Then, too, cows are not noted as tea drinkers.
Like all our domestic animals, they are strictly
temperate, and even as mild a beverage as tea,
"the cup that cheers but not inebriates," would find
little favor in the capacious maw of a cow that was
more accustomed to bran mash or "shorts," which
served as a choice dessert to their daily repast of
com husks, marsh hay and squash and pumpkin
rinds that served for their winter fodder.

I don't think, however, that father's question
was ever answered, if he thought of it a moment
afterwards, but it always remained as a family
reminiscence with us boys, to be called up among
a host of old memories as time wore on, and we
would meet together in long after-years at our
annual reunions under the old rooftree, four
serious middle-aged men, with our locks rapidly
whitening under the frosts of time, as we gathered
with our families around us and lovingly and ten-

12 The Call of the West

derly drifted back into the sunny days of the past
on the barren and stony little Michigan farm.

It was a long cry from the cozy, comfortable
home in "Merrie England" to that wild western
wilderness. Mother had often told us of that sad
day when she stood on the deck of the ship that had
set sail for the new world with her little brood
around her, as the vessel drifted away from its
moorings, gazing with strained eyes as she dis-
cerned through her tears the loved faces of father,
mother, sister, brothers and friends, all bravely
smiling and waving hats and handkerchiefs &s the
distance grew between them, until the mists had
hid them from her sight, fbrever in this world ; for
as year after year passed by the fatal black-bor-
dered message came to "poor Car." in her rude
home in the far western wilds;, first father, then
mother, then brothers and friends, until at last
there remained only the memory of the warm
hearts and dear faces in the old English home.

It was father's restless spirit that had brought it
about. The petty restraints that hedged about the
unfortunate middle class, the wide chasm between
the titled nobility and the struggling little shop
keeper who could never hope to reach the goal of
his ambition under laws that oppressed the poor
and favored the rich, in a land where the sun
never set and the tax gatherer never ceased in his
vigilant rounds — all this was gall and wormwood

The Call of the West 13

to the proud, independent spirit of the talented and
ambitious young Englishman, who panted for more
freedom and the right to live his own life in a land
that proclaimed freedom and equality to all, and
where the daring climber was encouraged with the
thought that there was always room at the top.

And then came the call of the new world, faintly
at first but louder and louder still, until its plead-
ing could no longer be resisted; and mother — ^was
there ever such a mother? — loyal and true in her
wifely devotion to the man of her choice, her first
and only love, left all that was dear to her heart
in the old world to follow him and his fortunes in
the new and unknown land beyond the seas.

Two years of varying fortune in the city of
New York, then a plunge into the far West, attracted
by a brother who had settled there years before
and was more or less seasoned to the rough and
uncouth life in the wilderness. A long journey
by slow stages, by canal, by lake, by the slow ox
team through forest and swamp until finally their
journey's end was reached.

Then came sickness and death, two beautiful
boys following one after another into the misty
shadows of the unknown world; then Carrie, the
namesake, the sweet and companionable little girl
of ten, and then the long and critical illness of the
worn and grief-stricken mother, whose life hung
f pr jtnany days and nights by a slender thread, with

14 The Call of the West

faint hope from the crude and poisonous drugs
administered by the little country doctor who made
his daily rounds with horse and saddle bags, doing
the best that he could with his limited knowledge
of his art. But despite these handicaps a merciful
Providence decreed that mother should live.

And so we come back to the cow, the tea and
the ague.

In those primitive days there were but few spe-
cifics for the ills of the flesh, but among the cure-
alls which were loudly proclaimed as an especially
sure cure for fever and ague we may now name
without danger of running a free ad for a patent
medicine, a certain decoction that went by the.
name of Cologogue. It cost a dollar a bottle, and
a dollar was not seen every day, and was hard to
earn, where most of the necessary articles of life
were procured in barter and trade; but father's
health meant much more than the hard-earned
dollar, and bottle after bottle found its way into
our humble little home, until finally father really
began to mend, whether the welcome change was
due to the much vaunted nostrum, or his fine
physique had finally overcome the accursed pesti-
lence that drew its breath from the foul miasma
that pervaded the air while the hardy pioneer lay
helpless in its grasp — ^be that as it may, it was a
joyful day that found father restored to health and
back again in the woods and fields, making up for

Early Days on the Farm 15

lost time by pushing the work of the farm with
renewed vigor and energy.

CHAPTER II
Early Days on the Farm

IT WAS a busy little world, this farm life in the
sparsely settled West. First the plowing, then
the harrowing and the planting, then the cul-
tivating, the hoeing and the weeding and patient
watching during the long and anxious summer days
and nights, and then the harvest; and with what
, bright hopes we looked forward to the golden
months of autumn that brought to the farmer the
reward of his toil in a rich store of pumpkins,
squashes, beans, potatoes, com and grain and fruit
from the orchard for the winter store.

And the cutting of the grain, what a sight was
that — ^three stalwart men standing ten feet apart
with their "cradles," long, sharp scjrthes with their
wooden fingers extended to catch the stalks of grain
as it fell, as the mowers traversed up and down
the fifty-acre field, cutting their broad swaths, and
leaving the golden stalks in winrows, to be after-
wards gathered up and stacked in the wagon rick
and taken to the bam, to be stored until the thresh-
ers came.

16 Early Days on the Farm

And then the threshers — ^what bustle and prep-
aration preceded their advent which was heralded
days ahead, and mother in the kitchen from
morning until night, baking bread, pies and cakes,
with bushels of potatoes peeled and ready for
cooking with the boiled beef, cabbage, beets, ruta-
bagas and onions, all ready for the momentous
day when twenty bronzed and hardy men would
come up from the thresher at the sound of the
dinner horn, and after a hasty plunge of the head
in the tub of cool water and a rub with a coarse
towel were ready to do justice to the substantial
viands which were so abundantly provided and
served by mother with the help of a kind neighbor
and her buxom daughter, who generously gave
their services to help out the poor little English
woman who was "clean beat out" with her unusual
labors, and gladly welcomed the honest faces and
cheerful voices of her mile-distant neighbors.

The thresher was the wonder of the neighbor-
hood in those days, and in the fresh, early morning
of its arrival a group of us boys would gather at
the bam and watch the preparations for the work.
First came the horses, a half dozen spans attached
to the circular frame with its revolving center and
shafting that furnished the motive power; and then
came the thresher, that great lumbering mechanism
of wheels, cranks, and innumerable little parts
within its body of brilliant red. And when all was

Early Days on the Farm 17

ready and the work was really under way, with
what wondering eyes we would watch, listening to
the ceaseless tramp of the horses, combined with
the terrific grinding noise of the machinery, as
bundle after bundle of the golden sheaves was
pitched from the bam loft into the constantly
moving carrier, passing from thence through the
thresher, throwing out the straw, which was being
stacked as it fell, while at a wooden spout at the
bottom of the far end of the machine was flowing
the precious grain, pouring into the empty sacks
that were being held ready for its reception.

.About the same time with the harvest came the
washing and shearing of the sheep, and following
that the carding of the wool and flax, and then
would be heard the whir of the busy spinning
wheel and the ponderous rumble of the loom, where
the raw material was being woven into the coarse
but warm and durable fabric for clothing the men,
women and children during the coming year.

Still another episode in farm life that heralded
the approach of winter was the hog killing, where
each neighbor helped the other, receiving for his
compensation the usual quarter of meat; and later
came the cutting up and pickling and the chopping
of the meat for sausage — fine sport for the boys
sitting astride the bench with knives and chopping
bowl, and adding a lively accompaniment to the
tune of Yankee Doodle. Simultaneously with that

18 Early Days on the Farm

work came the making of the sausages, when father,
seated beside a tub of finely-chopped meat properly
seasoned with salt, pepper and sage, with a tin
funnel shaped affair would press the meat into the
skins attached to the tube, tying each section into
links, which would later be hung in festoons across
the smoke-blackened rafters of the ceiling of the
large room, which served as a sleeping room at
night, and a parlor, dining room and kitchen dur-
ing the day; and in the cold winter mornings while
breakfast was being prepared father would take
out his pocket knife and cut off a few savory links,

which when cooked over the coals would furnish a

«

substantial part of our morning meal.

The burning question of the high cost of living,
which at this day is proving a constant source of
anxiety to the prudent housewife, on whom rests
the responsibility of providing the daily food for
the family table, to say nothing of the anxious fore-
thought of the paternal head of the household,
whose purse is subject to daily calls for the where-
withal — ^these matters never entered into the serious
thoughts of the pioneer whose family never suf-
fered for the lack of plain, wholesome food which
furnished their daily repast. The nourishing com
meal, which was always on hand in abundance,
when prepared and baked in the oven in the shape
of "johnny-cake," or stirred into a pot of boiling
water and made into com meal mush, properly

Early Days on the Farm 19

seasoned with salt and eaten with milk, was equal
to a substantial meal when accompanied with home-
made bread and butter, and a few of the snow-
white mealy potatoes baked in the hot ashes on the
hearth.

About this time, and simultaneous with the soap
boiling, which was mother's work, came the candle
making, when the tallow had been tried out and
was ready for the molding, and the candle molds
borrowed from a neighbor for the occasion were
brought into requisition — a succession of tin tubes
soldered together, while in the center of each orifice
was fastened at top and bottom the candle wick,
and when the heated mass was poured into the
molds and had become as hard as it was possible
for a tallow candle to become it would then be re-
moved from the molds and placed in a cool place,
to be used for furnishing us with light during the
long winter evenings.

Another interesting occupation with which the
farmer was wont to fill in his leisure time during
the winter was the cobbling. No household, how-
ever humble, was without its cobbler's kit, with its
low bench, its shoe hammer, its awl, its box of
wooden pegs, its wax ends and sole leather, with
which the family boots and shoes were repaired.
However substantial the coarse footwear of that
day, constant usage would sooner or later begin its
ravages on sole, heel and toe, and necessity had

20 Early Days on the Farm

taught the farmer the crude art of cobbling, cut-
ting the sole leather to fit the needed patch in the
sole, and fastening it with wooden pegs, while the
torn upper portion was deftly covered with softer
leather and sewed with a large needle, wax ends
and strong thread, and in this manner the boots
and shoes were revamped and made to last through
the winter; for the first days of the early spring
would see us boys venturing out upon the frosty
ground with bare feet, hardening them for the
approaching spring and summer months, during
which time the boys' and girls' feet were innocent
of shoes, except on special "dress up" occasions,
and the daily contact of bare feet with mother
earth rendered us immune to all the little ills that
have come upon us in our later day civilization.

One of the home industries, which furnished not
only useful employment but brought together the
young people of both sexes socially, was the braid-
ing of straw for the plain, simple and durable hat
for summer wear in the harvest fields and ordinary
out-of-door farm life. A quantity of oat straws
carefully selected would be cut into proper lengths
for braiding, and a number of young boys and
girls seated on the floor around the room would
vie with each other in deftness and expertness in
braiding and joining the short lengths into long
strands, which were afterwards sewed together.

Early Days on the Farm 21

forming first the brim of the hat, then curving up-
wards at a certain point until the crown was com-
pleted, which was shaped to a size that would fit
the head of the prospective wearer. In the making
of this rough head gear the particular style which
is now considered so important an appendage in
the make-up of the young society man was not
thought of, the main consideration being the utility
of the article rather than its artistic effect. Some
time later was introduced into the market what was
known as the "chip" hat, which could be purchased
at the country store for a very small sum, which
completely superseded the homemade article, the
making of which had consimied many a happy
hour in those primitive days when pennies were
carefully counted and prudently laid aside to be
expended only in the purchase of necessary articles
which could not be manufactured in the home.

The skating season aflforded a delightful recrea-
tion with which the farmer boy lightened the
interval in the dreary and laborious round of winter
farm work — ^the work of felling trees, splitting the
timber with wedge and m^ul, then cutting it up into
cord wood, to be loaded in the rude sled with its
side stakes and hauled through the deep snow by
the struggling oxen as they lunged forward from
side to side, spreading out their awkward legs as
they tugged at the load with strained eyeballs,
slowly working their way through the unbroken

22 Early Days on the Farm

road, urged on by the many "gees" and "haws" of
the driver as he walked ahead with his goad.

But before indulging in the pastime of skating if
the boy had no skates it was necessary to make
them, which was quite a task, and evening after
evening the boys would be found sitting before the
fire fashioning their skates, with thick pieces of
wood carefully whittled out and fashioned to the
shape of the sole of the boot, curving in like the
hull of a boat and narrowing down to the point that
will come in contact with the ice, then a deep groove
is cut, running the length of the skate, into which is
neatly fitted a long sharp bone, perhaps the breast
bone of a chicken or turkey, smoothed down to an
even surface. A nail witli a sharpened point is
driven through the heel piece, which serves as a
stay for the foot as it pierces the heel of the boot.
The next operation consists of burning two holes
from one side of the skate to the other, with a round
piece of red-hot iron, and through these holes is
passed small pieces of rope which are tied tightly
over the toe and instep and around the heel, and
then the skater is prepared to enjoy the fruits of his
toil and handicraft by skimming over the glassy
ice during the moonlight nights.

It was in this simple pioneer life that the boy as
well as the man learned to apply his wit and in-
genuity in supplying his wants. A little money
might have purchased in a hardware store in the

Early Days on the Farm 23

village an article then known as a skate, and occa-
sionally a young fellow who had been able to earn
a dollar or two would astonish his companions by
exhibiting one of these new creations, but with the
average country boy a silver dollar or its equivalent
in Spanish sixpences, shillings and quarters was
not so easy to obtain. And then, too, there was a
sort of honest pride and independence that fully
compensated the patient toiler, in having construct-
ed with his own hands the rough but serviceable
substitute, with which by skillful practice he could
outdistance his companion with the "boughten"
article. The same was true of the homemade sled
with which he coasted down the hillsides, where
smooth paths had been worn during the day, and
made still more smooth and slippery by pouring on
it a few pails of water after nightfall, which froze
as it fell, with the thermometer standing at twenty
degrees below zero.

CHAPTER III
The Old-Time Circus

ONE OF the red-letter days which is always
fresh in the memory of the past was the
advent of the old-time circus, which made
its annual rounds, affording a source of endless
delight to the youth of the land. For weeks pre-
ceding the eventful day the fences and bams of the
surrounding country would be decorated with im-
mense posters in brilliant colors depicting all the
wonderful scenes to be presented by "The greatest
show on earth." At this season the attraction of the
circus was an event beside which the Christmas
holidays and even the glorious 4th of July paled
into insignificance, as the flaming posters pictured
the grand procession with the elephant at its head
— "the largest elephant in the world" — followed
by a long train of zoological wonders, prancing
steeds with bareback riders, while in the center
were the well-known features of the great show-
man, whose name stood as a guaranty back of
every remarkable statement on the show bills, some
of which were calculated to stagger the belief of
the most credulous.

For weeks before the momentous event the boy
would be counting his little store of pennies, and
puzzling his brain in devising some means of in-
creasing his wealth, as the appointed day grew

24

The Old-Time Circus 25

perilously near, with an alarming shortage of the
necessary amount, until a whispered appeal to
mother or an oflfer of a generous older brother
would set his little heart at rest on that score ; for it
cost no small amount in those days of small thiags,
when the entrance fee was 25 cents for an adult,
and half-price for children, and no circus could be
absolutely complete in its wealth of enjoyment for
the small boy without his card of gingerbread and
his glass of lemonade or giager beer.

In the dawn of the early morning of the great
day many an anxious eye was intent on watching
the sky, and dire predictions of rain would cast a
damper on the hopes of Mary Jane, who has
washed and starched her best gown for the occa-
sion, but later a joyous cry would be heard, as the
sun came out bright with a cloudless sky which
gave every promise of an ideal circus day.

Arriving on the ground, and once inside the tent,
after pushing and jamming one's way through the
perspiring crowd, what joy was in store for the
little fellow who was lucky enough to get a front
seat on the grass just outside of the roped arena;
and who does not remember the delight that filled
his breast as he beheld for the first time all the won-
ders of the ring, the astonishing feats of the bare-
back rider as he flies aroimd the circle on his fleet
steed and jumps the hurdles, and later, the young
fairy in gauze and tarleton enters the ring standing

26 The Old-Time Circus

on the back of the old reliable white horse, who
with steady strides makes the circuit under the
guidance of his charming rider, stopping long
enough to allow the typical old clown to relieve
himself of his latest joke, and sing his topical song,
the refrain of which still lingers in our memory:

"Chief cook and' bottle washer, head of all the waiters.
Stand upon your head while you peel a bag of taters.

All jog along,"

and proceeds to jog along himself in a lame and
halting gait, while the joy of the audience finds
expression in a pandemonium of shrieks, laughter
and cat-calls, which drowns the music of the band,
and little else can be heard except the strident
voice of the vendor of soft drinks, who makes the
welkin ring with his "Lemonade this way," mingled
with the cries of the popcorn and peanut merchants
and the cry of the song-book man, "Latest jokes
and songs of the clown; only 10 cents."

Who doesn't recall the scenes of that wonderful
day, when Josh with his best girl is seen on a front
seat with a plentiful supply of popcorn, peanuts
and peppermint candy, while in close proximity are
dad and ma, who have come on the prudent errand
of "looking after the children," and near them is
a grey-haired octogenarian with his youngest
grandchild in his arms, taking in the show with all
the delight of his infantile years.

The Old-Time Circus 27

But the joys of the old-time circus did not end
with that day. For days and weeks afterwards
little groups of boys would, be seen discussing all
the wonderful exploits that they had witnessed, and
what one had forgotten anodier would recall to
mind, and during all this time the small boy would
be seen practicing standing on his head, walking
on his hands, with other daring feats, to the mortal
terror of his anxious mother, who "viewed with
alarm" the perilous exploits of her venturesome
offspring.

In these later days, when the pampered appetite
for unnatural excitement is fed to its fullest extent
by daily and nightly exhibitions at the movies, a
large proportion of which has escaped the watchful
eye of the censor, scenes that poison the minds of
the young with their coarse and sensuous allure-
ments, of course nobody but an old "back number"
would think of reverting to the joy which the old-
time circus imparted to the healthy and innocent
mind of the youth of more than half a century ago ;
and yet it was the boys and girls of those days who
were laying the foundation for a noble manhood
and womanhood, whose after years were devoted
to the work of making the world a better place in
which to live.

We had very little currency in those early days ;
in fact the only paper money was a long and nar-

28 The Old-Time Circus

row script, commonly called a "shinplaster,"
signed by the comity treasurer, a rudely printed
affair calling for a valuation of twenty-five, fifty,
and seventy-five cents, which was redeemable in
silver coin at the county treasury. The few silver
coins in circulation were Spanish sixpences, shil-
lings and two-shillings, and occasionally, though
rarely, we would see a silver American dollar,
quite a curiosity to the denizen of the backwoods.
The copper comage, which comprised the most
treasured wealth of the children was the American
penny, a beautiful coin as it came bright and fresh
from the mint, and about two-thirds of the size of
our present half dollar, which would purchase at
the bakery in town a large stick of peppermint or
lemon candy, and the boy would proudly exhibit to
his little visitor his precious store of wealth, con-
sisting of pennies, sixpences and shillings ; but with
the country boy there was little thought of parting
with these treasures, and nothing but the temptation
of circus day would induce him to expend it. His
needs were very few compared with the boy of this
day. He was always comfortably and decently
clad, through summer and winter, and there was a
plentiful supply of good, wholesome food. There
was always a goodly store of flour, com, bacon and
other meats, all the product of the farm. The few
necessary articles which we were obliged to pur-
chase were easily procured in exchange for butter

Mexican War — ^Telegraph — Railroad 29

and eggs, which were always in demand at the
nearest country store.

CHAPTER IV

The Mexican War — ^The Telegraph —

The Railroad

IT IS the summer of 1847. The piping days of
peace which have dwelt with us for thirty-five
years, since the war of 1812, are giving place
to the shrill notes of the fife and drum that presage
the Mexican war. Why we should have a war with
Mexico nobody seems to know, and nobody seems
to care much about it, because nobody is obliged
to enlist unless he wants to. However, the spirit of
adventure is in the air, and the thirst for glory at
the cannon's mouth is firing the youth of the land,
and as we listen on a quiet summer afternoon we
hear in the village the distant notes of the fife and
drum, and we are told that a recruiting squad is
picking up volunteers.

Remarkable changes are taking place which will
eventually revolutionize the trade and commerce of
the country, and no one can foresee the outcome
of the new inventions and the wonderful forces
that are being brought into life through the teeming
brain of man. The advent of steam has become a

30 Mexican War — ^Telegraph — Railroad

fixed fact, and the slow sailing vessel with which
Columbus discovered our shores 365 years ago has
given place to the steamship that brings us news of
the old world at least a month sooner than before.
The weekly newspaper that a farmer neighbor
brings us from the village, a quaint little news
gatherer entirely innocent of headlines, tells us of
the wonders of the electric telegraph, and that a
line of wire has actually been constructed, with
poles and insulators, and an office has been estab-
lished in the village; in fact the editor himself, as
he tells us, has been placed in charge of the office
as manager, although he is totally ignorant of its
working, but he is a prominent citizen and the
office must be in charge of a responsible man. Be-
sides, he has given the company the use of a small
room adjoining the editorial sanctum. His respon-
sibility is a light one, however, for as soon as the
business gets fairly under way a bright and capable
young expert telegrapher will appear on the scene
and attend to the practical work of receiving and
sending messages.

Another event is heralded by the same little
news gatherer, co-equal in importance with the
telegraph, the advent of the first railroad. The
Michigan Central railroad is pushing its way into
the great West. It has already reached our village,
and some time in the distant future it will have

Mexican War — ^Telegraph — ^Railroad 31

reached a city on the western border of Lake Mich-
igan known as Giicago, which has already attained
a population of some 25,000 souls.

I am so curious to see this wonderful sight that
one day in company with my brothers I trudge bare-
footed to the village and for the first time see a
locomotive, belching out its smoke and steam as it
works its way along a strap rail spiked to wooden
stringers, pulling after it a freight car, while we
stand at the respectful distance of at least a hun-
dred yards, my older brother holding me tightly by
the hand lest the monster should take a notion to
fly the track and relentlessly pursue us as we flee
in terror at its approach.

Verily the nineteenth century has much in store
for us, and no one would dare to prophesy what
even ten years may bring about in this wonderful
age of invention.

But my heart goes back to that little log house on
the farm. What a rude affair it was, and how
singularly constructed, with its rough logs filled in
with a sort of mud plaster to keep out the wintry
blasts, its quaint little windows rudely set in the
spaces sawed out in the logs, and the thin battened
door with its large wooden latch and leathern latch
string, pulled in at night as the family retire to
their rest — the old time cat hole sawed out in the

32 Mexican War — ^Telegraph — ^Railroad

comer at the bottom, for the accommodation of
puss and her family.

The furnishings and utensils of the old-time
home in the early days of backwoods life in the
West, now seen only in the exhibits of a historical so-
ciety museimi, were the necessary accompaniments
of every home, prominent among which was the
capacious stone fireplace, adapted to the reception
of the large backlog, the piece de resistance, fur-
nishing the foundation for the smaller wood, added
from time to time as occasion required, while on
one side was attached a strong iron bar known as a
crane, which swung back and forth on its hinges,
and suspended from it were the hangers and pot-
hooks, carrying the pots and kettles filled with
meats and vegetables for cooking over the wood
fire beneath. While this outfit was doing its duty
in carrying on the boiling process, the tin oven with
its contents of bread, pies and cake was pushed
towards the glowing coals on the hearth beneath,
and carefully watched to avoid burning, until thor-
oughly baked to a golden brown.

Among the smaller utensils was the old-time
bellows, hung at the ingleside — an important aid to
the housekeeper, in reviving the dying embers and
fanning the incipient flame into a blaze. Another
important adjunct hanging by its side was the tur-
key wing, used for brushing back the coals and
ashes, which from time to time fell upon the brick

Mexican War — ^Telegraph — Railroad 33

hearth. On the broad wooden shelf or mantel over
the fireplace at the base of the rude stone chimney,
furnishing a convenient depository for many useful
little household articles, were the old-time snuflFers,
with handles like a pair of scissors, and a small
metal box not unlike the superstructure of a Vene-
tian gondola, which automatically received and
stowed away the pieces of burned wick from the
tallow candle, which needed trimming as the light
grew dim.

The usual furniture of the room consisted of two
arm chairs ingeniously constructed from a flour
barrel, strongly built, as barrels were in those days
of honest workmanship, with one-half sawed out
on the side in tlie shape of an arm chair, one of its
heads being fitted into the lower half for a seat,
provided with a cushion of coarse "ticking" fiUed
with cotton batting, the arms and back upholstered
in the same manner, and the whole covered with
cotton cloth known as "chintz" of an attractive
pattern, thus furnishing a comfortable easy chair
for father and mother, while the boys occupied the
wooden stools of their own handiwork, and the
little fellows were content with a seat on the warm
brick hearth close to the fire on cold winter eve-
nings.

We were not far removed from the days of flint
and tinder box, which were still in use in some
homes, but were gradually giving place to a won-

34 Mexican War — ^Telegraph — ^Railroad

derful invention known as a lucifer match, which
came in a small, romid wooden box, and required
frequent scratching before it could be induced to
give out its tiny flame. The new invention was
quite carefully and sparingly used, as it was an
expensive luxury.

Another piece of household furniture, which to-
gether widi the homemade rag carpet made up the
interior furnishing, was the pioneer bedstead,
which consisted of four upright, unpainted posts
with head and footboard, with round side pieces,
through which holes were bored for passing
through the ropes which furnished a foundation for
the coarse sacking on which was placed the straw
ticking which answered for a mattress, upon which
was laid the other clothing of the bed. The setting
up of one of these primitive bedsteads required
considerable time and labor, especially the cording
process, where the rope was passed back and forth
from one side to the other, tightly stretched and
held in place temporarily by driving in the hole a
plug of hard wood, until the rope was passed
through all the holes and drawn to a tension suffi-
cient to prevent its sagging down with the weight of
its occupant.

The building was what was known as a double
house, with two front doors leading into entirely
separate rooms, evidently built for housing two

Mexican War — ^Telegraph — Railroad 35

families. We occupied both sides, however, one
room being set apart for us boys, so that when we
retired for tlie night we were compelled to go out
of one outside door into another which led into the
adjoining room. It was inconvenient, but nobody
thought of conveniences in those days, although it
was rather "spooky" for us children, having to
grope about in the dark, not knowing but that some
large rattlesnake had sought the comfortable warm
quarters of the bed during the day, and lay coiled
up ready for a spring at us. This terror was avert-
ed, however, by sawing out a section in one of the
logs into which opening mother would set a smoky,
sputtering oil lamp, one of the recent inventions of
the new age, until we were safely in bed, when the
lamp would be removed to do duty for an hour or
two in the family room.

My brothers would tell me of another log house
with a garret, the house in which I was bom, where
the family slept upstairs, which was reached by
means of a ladder, which they pulled up after them
at night, to secure themselves against the nocturnal
visits of the Indians, of which there were quite a
number in the neighborhood, very harmless and
peaceable, but inclined to be a little too friendly;
and as it was, frequently during the night an Indian
attracted by the firelight would poke his head in
the doorway and, finding nobody down below, with
§L grunt of satisfaction would stretch himself out

36 The Christmas Box

before the fire with perhaps one or two com-
panions; but the early morning Ught would find
the coast clear, with no signs of an Indian, except
during the day, driven by hunger, the child of the
forest would steal aroimd at the back door and
pitifully beg a little "quashagin" (bread), which
was rarely refused.

CHAPTER V

The Christmas Box

ONE OF the few red-letter days of the year,
anticipated for months in advance, and in
which we were never disappointed, was
the arrival of a large dry-goods box well stored
with clothing and various articles most needed,
through the kindness of an aunt who lived in New
York City. Father's elder brother had been for
many years a resident of that city, and had estab-
lished a large and prosperous business on Broad-
way. His family consisted of several sons and
daughters and, being of an age that brought them
into the gay society of city life, they naturally
followed closely the dictates of fashion in dress,
and before the year was over a large assortment of
coats, vests, pants, shirts, collars, shoes and hats
that had seen very little wear were thrown aside
for the newer styles of the season. I fear, however.

The Christmas Box 37

that we never would have realized the joyful an-
nual advent of what was always spoken of as "the
box" had it not been for the care and forethought
of our good aunt, who was always mindful of the
needs of "Henry's family," and as clothing was
laid aside in the spring for the newer styles it was
carefully packed away in camphor, preparatory to
making up the contents of the box later in the year
for shipment to the West, and in the late fall
months the welcome letter would arrive announcing
its shipment.

I wonder even at this day how that box could
have survived the hazards of that long journey and
reach us intact; but after a month of anticipation
would come the joyful announcement that the box
had arrived in the village and would be delivered
when called for by the consignee, and it only re-
mained for father to hunt up a neighbor who was
going to town the following day and arrange to
accompany him and return with the box, which was
always a good sized dry-goods box, securely nailed
with bands of sheet iron strips to guard it from
being broken open or injured.

For hours before its arrival an excited band of
little brothers seated on a "stake and rider" fence
were eagerly watching the road to the village, until
the horses' heads appeared approaching the crest
of the hill, then a run at the top of our speed until

38 The Christmas Box

we met the team and clambered inside the wagon,
feasting our eyes on the long-expected box; and
how impatiently we waited until it was unloaded,
and father with ax and hammer finally succeeded in
loosening the iron hoops and prying open the cover.
The contents of that box that brought so much
joy and comfort to the little family if listed would
fill several closely written pages. Suffice it to say
that nobody had been forgotten, and for fear that
some of the articles might not be suitable for mak-
ing over for the younger boys, bolts of cloth were
packed in with the clothing, and dress patterns,
yards of ribbon and trimmings of various kinds for
mother, and papers of pins, spools and skeins of
thread and packages of needles, and, what was
dearer than all else to us children, and the older
ones, too, was a large ten-pound box of the choicest
confectionery that was made in that day.

Years afterwards, a young man of twenty-five on
a visit to New York, my first thought was to hunt
up that dear good woman whose thoughtful care
had contributed so much to the happiness of my
childhood days, but, alas ! she had passed on to her
long home but a few months before, and I had but
the melancholy satisfaction of gazing on the coun-
terfeit features of the dear soul, whose memory
will always endure in at least one grateful heart.

The Christmas Box 39

for one of the many goods deeds that characterized
her noble and unselfish life.

It is pleasant to look back into the past, and
from the somewhat hard and rough experiences of
pioneer life cull out tlie many delightful memories
that shine through the years like a ray of sunlight
in a dim and musty garret — ^memories that cluster
around the heart in looking back over life's history,
that come to us fresh and bright, undimmed by
time, untarnished by an imworthy thought or deed
— ^the memory of kind, loving words, of noble
thoughts and 'impulses, of all that makes life worth
living — if I were to sum it all up, it lies away back
in the simple days of our early life in the West.

We had little of the world's goods. We needed
little. Our wants, few as they were, were all sup-
plied. We were a happy, loving and cheerful
family. In looking back into that home life I
search my memory in vain for a solitary unkind
word from father or mother. It was indeed a
home where "joy was duty, and love was law."

Of course there were occasional outbreaks and
quarrels between little brothers. What family of
bright, active boys with different natures ever lived
always in peace and harmony? The teasing dispo-
sition of one, the quick, fiery temper of the other,
often led to outbreaks that might have been serious
but for the gentle, loving voice of mother, and the

40 The Christmas Box

quiet but firm word from father that always arrest-
ed the rising storm, and in a moment all was peace,
and the darkened brow cleared and the angry word
gave place to a merry laugh over some droll re-
mark of dear brother Willie, who always acted as
peacemaker between his belligerent brothers.

Then, too, ours was not the life of many of the
rough, ignorant denizens of the backwoods, who
had no resources within themselves, with no object
in life but to work, eat and sleep. We brought with
us into our crude western life all the civilization of
the East, and while we measured our strength with
the rudest of the pioneers as we worked side by
side in forest and field, we carried with us an inner
life which found its full fruition in the family
circle during the long winter evenings, when the
work for the day was over and we gathered around
the cheerful fireside of our humble home.

For one thing, father, despite his rough farmer
garb, was a cultured gentleman. Boasting of ho
college diploma, yet he could read the New Testa-
ment in its original Greek with the greatest ease.
He was a good Latin scholar. He could speak
French with a fluency that delighted every native
Frenchman with whom he came in contact. His
knowledge of ancient and medievgj history, of
science and art was most extensive.

One of the few treasures that survived the
journey from the East to the backwoods was a box

The Christmas Box 41

of books containing some of the best English liter-
ature, and our winter evenings were largely spent
by the fireside, mother sitting with her sewing and
mending, and the boys seated on the brick hearth
fashioning with their jackknives cunning little
cedar boxes, listening as father read to us from
Blackwood's Magazine, from Chambers' Miscel-
lany, from Bacon, Shakespeare and Milton. And
thus were sown the seeds that afterwards found
their fruition in an earnest desire for learning, and
a love for the higher and better things of life.

CHAPTER VI

The Night Attack

IT WAS hardly to be expected that the little Eng-
lish boys with their gentle ways and polite
manners would find favor with the rough, un-
couth boys of the neighborhood, who were cast in
a different mold, and heartrending were the tales
of woe brought home by the little fellows of the
abuses and indignities that were heaped upon them
— ^the "little stuck-up Englishers" as they were
called — during the recess hour when the teacher's
eye was not upon them. Willie boy, who had de-
veloped a remarkable facility and ingenuity with
his sharp pocket knife, would make cunning little
wooden knives and toothpicks and distribute them
among the boys, in the hope of gaining their friend-
ship and good will, and he succeeded with the
really well-disposed boys; but a few of the older
boys refused to be won over, and with a species of
low cuiming that always goes hand in hand with the
ignorant and ill bred they resorted to every possible
device that would add to the misery and unhappi-
ness of the little fellows.

Father and mother naturally sympathized with
them, but father would tell them that they were
going to school to learn, and must put up with some
disagreeable experiences, which were necessarily
incident to association with boys of coarser fibre,

42

The Night Attack 43

and whose rough ways were not always indicative
of a bad heart, and that they would be won over
in time. There were two brothers, however, named
Ball, great big fellows, nearly man grown, who
were being badly distanced in their studies by the
bright little "Englishers," and it was plain to be
seen from their action that their settled dislike
would sooner or later find a vent in some kind of
deviltry, although what it might be nobody could
conjecture.

One dark rainy night in November it devolved
upon the little boys to hunt up the cow, which had
strayed away, and which was usually found in a
clearing beyond the dense woods near our place.
The boys had found the cow and were driving it
home through the woods with no sense of fear, as
they had often traversed the well-known paths on
the darkest nights, and were merrily talking and
laughing over some event of the day, when they
were suddenly arrested by strong hands grasping
them by the collar with an oath, while with the
other hand whips were applied with merciless
cruelty upon their bodies and legs, until the poor
little fellows, screaming with pain and agony, were
left upon the ground by the fiends, who suddenly
disappeared after wreaking their vengeance upon
their helpless victims, and father, hearing their
faint cries, went to their rescue and brought them
home crying and sobbing, with their little legs

44 The Night Attack

streaming with blood, and their tender flesh un-
mercifully cut, and the cruel welts on their bodies
bearing fearful testimony to the inhuman treat-
ment that had been administered.

Father was eminently a man of action, but it
was too late to accomplish anything that night. The
next morning, however, found him on his way at
an early hour to the county seat, where the machin-
ery of the law was quickly set in motion, and by
noon of that day a couple of county officials with
their warrants were searching for the suspects and
were not long in apprehending them and marching
them to the county seat, where they were incar-
cerated in the jail to await their trial on the charge
of malicious assault with intent to do great bodily
harm.

It was quite evident that there was to be no
child's play in this affair, and Mr. Ball, the father
of the boys, at once hurried to town to hunt up his
lawyer and prepare a defense. Ball, who was
familiarly known in the neighborhood as "Old
Ball," a large, coarse-looking man to whom his boys
bore a strong resemblance, did not bear the best
reputation himself, and had narrowly escaped con-
viction on one occasion through the efforts of a lynx-
eyed practitioner named Warner, who was known
to be an adept in getting his clients out of trouble.

Ball retained Warner to defend the boys, and
the line of defense agreed upon was an alibi. Ball

The Night Attack 45

assured his lawyer that the mother, Mrs* Ball, and
her sister, a maiden aunt of the boys, who made
her home with the family, would swear that the
boys were in bed and asleep at the precise hour
when the occurrence was said to have taken place,
having retired at an unusually early hour that
night, and the aunt would testify to having distinct-
ly heard them snoring in an adjoining room at the
time.

The Prosecuting Attorney was Mr. VanAr-
mand,* a brilliant young lawyer, who. was just

*VanArmand several years afterward removed to Chicago,
and became the most celebrated criminal lawyer of that city.
His zeal for his client's interest often led him into taking risks
from which his professional brethren would shrink with dismay.

As an illustration of this, it is related that at one time he was
defending a client who was charged with murder by administering
poison to his victim. A portion of the powder was found on the
premises, being traced directly to the accused and was subjected
to a chemical anaysis and declared to contain poison in sufficient
quantity to produce death.

VanArmand had the closing argument in the case, and at the
end of an impassioned appeal to the jury in which he vehemently
declared that the analysis was wrong and that the powder was
perfectly harmless, he turned to the clerk of the court and re-
quested him to give him the package containing the powder in
question, which the experts swore contained poison and which
had been labeled as an exhibit in the case, and unfolding the.
paper he calmly poured its ccmtents down his throat with the
remark, '^You see how much x>oison there is in this," and took
his seat, and the jury immediately retired and shortly afterward
brought in a verdict of "Not guilty."

It was reported at the- time that, previous to determining to
risk his life in this dramatic manner, VanArmand had consisted
an eminent specialist on poisons, who had advised him as to the
time required for poison to get beyond control of medical skill,
and that immediately after the jury retired he stepped into an
adjoining room, where the proper antidote was administered in
time to save his life.

46 The Night Attack

starting out on a career that in after years earned
for him the reputation of being one of the greatest
criminal lawyers in the West. He accompanied
father to our home, and when he had interviewed
the little boys and was shown the terrible effects of
the brutal attack upon them all his sympathies were
aroused, and he entered on the prosecution of the
case with a zeal and earnestness that savored of the
warm hearted man as well as the relentless prose-
cutor of the county, and going into the prosecution
with his whole heart and soul he determined to not
only win his spurs in this, his most important case,
but at the same time to administer a castigation
upon the cowardly brutes that would be a salutary
lesson to them during the rest of their lives.

Accompanied by father and the boys he visited
the scene of the assault of the previous night. Tlie
footprints in the soft ground had not been obliterat-
ed by the rain, and with the keen eye of the bom
detective VanArmand had little trouble in tracing
them to the Ball premises, and armed with the
authority of his office he searched the premises
from garret to basement in quest of the whips, and
finally succeeded in uncovering them — two ugly
looking weapons, one a rawhide and the other
what was known as a "blacksnake," both of which
bore evidence of recent use, and revealed upon
close inspection traces of what appeared to be
blood.

The Night Attack 47

Armed with these mute evidences of guilt he
returned to town. In the meantime father was not
idle, but, acting upon VanArmand's advice, antici-
pating the only possible defense in the case, he
was scouring the neighborhood for witnesses, not
only as to the general reputation of the Ball boys,
but as to the r€?putation of Mrs. Ball and her sister,
and Ball himself, for truth and veracity, and had
easily secured a dozen reputable witnesses whose
testimony would go a long way towards sweeping
aside any sworn statements of the women in an
attempt to establish an alibi.

But there was one particular witness that father
had discovered during his search for evidence, a
close mouthed discreet neighbor whose reputation
for truthfulness and honesty was beyond question,
but as to whose testimony father would say
nothing, even in the bosom of his family, except
that a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes as he men-
tioned his name indicated that a surprise was in
store, the nature of which was tightly locked in the
breasts of three men — ^father, the Prosecuting At-
torney and the witness. It was evident that the
talented young official had all the evidence that he
needed to make out his case.

CHAPTER VII
The Trial

THE details of the trial at the county seat were
afterwards rehearsed so often by my brothers
that they were indelibly impressed on my
memory*

As the hour arrived the court room was crowded
with jurors, witnesses and spectators. After the
opening announcement, the judge having taken his
seat, the case was called, both parties announcing
themselves ready, a jury was impanelled, and the
case for the State was opened by the Prosecuting
Attorney with a detailed statement of what he ex-
pected to prove.

The testimony began by swearing and placing
on the stand fair-haired, blue-eyed little Alfred,
who was promptly objected to as a witness on the
ground that he was too young to understand the
obligation of an oath.

The kind-hearted old judge beckoned to the
trembling little witness, who was vainly trying to
keep back his tears, and tenderly putting his arm
around him, said, "Now, don't be afraid, Alfred,
nobody is going to hurt you. How old are you?"

"Eight years," whispered Alfred.

"Do you go to school?"

A nod.

"What do you study in school?"

4S

The Trial 49

A whispered answer, "Spelling and reading."

"Haven't learned to write yet? Well, you will
learn that in time. Does your mother teach you to
say your prayers?"

Alfred mutely nodded.

"Do you know what that gentleman said to you
when he told you to hold up your right hand?"

Another nod.

"What did he tell you?"

By this time Alfred had found his voice suffi-
ciently to answer in low tones, "Tell the truth."

"Do you always tell the truth?"

Another nod.

"Do you know what will happen to you, now
that you have been sworn, if you don't tell the
truth?"

A faint response, "Be punished."

"Who will punish you?"

"God."

"That will do, Alfred," said the judge. "Now
just sit down in that chair, and don't be frightened,
but answer as best you can the questions that these
gentlemen will ask you." Then turning to the ob-
jecting counsel, "Your objection is overruled, sir.
This little boy understands the obligation of an
oath as well as anybody in this court room."

A good starter for little Alfred, who took his
seat, immensely comforted by the knowledge that
the judge was his friend.

50 The Trial

Then VanArmand proceeded in the most gentle
and adroit manner to draw from the child the de-
tails of the brutal assault; how he and his brother
Willie were driving home the cow after dark in the
rain through the woods, laughing and talking, and
how he suddenly felt a rough hand on his collar,
and a harsh voice, saying, "I've got you now, you
damned little Englishman?"

"Did you know that voice?" asked VanArmand.

"Yes, sir."

"Whose voice was it?"

Alfred, pale and trembling, mutely pointed to
one of the prisoners.

"You are now pointing to William Ball, one of
the prisoners in the box?"

A nod, and a stifled sob.

"You know you swore, Alfred, in the presence
of God Almighty, that you would tell the truth.
Will you say now, remembering that solenrn oath
that you have taken, that it was William Ball who
grasped you by the collar and said those words, and
whipped you with that whip on the night in ques-
tion?"

To which solemn question came the brave and
unhesitating answer, "Yes, sir."

"Pull up your trousers, Alfred, and show these
gentlemen the effect of the blows of that whip."

The little legs with their black and blue welts
were exhibited to the jury.

The Trial 51

"That will do, Alfred."

Then began the cross-examination, after the most
approved method in such cases.

"How old are you, sonny? When were you
bom? Don't remember when you were bom, eh?
Can't even tell the year? In what month were you
bom? Don't even know that? Always tell the
truth? Sometimes tell little white lies when you
are afraid of getting a licking? W-h-a-t? Never
was whipped by father or mother in your life?
No? Sure of that? Swear to that?"

An incredulous glance at the jury.

"What sort of a night was this? Raining, and
very dark, eh? Couldn't see who took you by the
collar? How do you know that it was William
Ball? Isn't it possible that somebody else might
have a voice like William's? Ready to swear before
God that it was his voice? Know all about the
obligation of an oath? That will do, my boy."

Another expressive glance at the jury, and Al-
fred was excused from the witness stand.

"Call Willie Watson."

Willie was swom, and took the stand without a
challenge; quiet, serious, twelve-year-old Willie,
looking with clear gray eyes into those of his inter-
locutor.

"I needn't ask you if you understand the obliga-
tion of an oath," said VanArmand. "Where were

52 The Trial

you on the night of November 14th, at' about
8:30r

"Driving home our cow, with my Kttle brother."

"Tell these gentlemen what happened as you
entered the woods on your way home that night."

"Why, we were talking and laughing as usual,
trying to keep the cow in the path; it was so dark
we couldn't see a thing, when somebody grabbed
me by the collar and began to lash me around the
legs with a big whip" —

"One moment," interjected the Prosecuting At-
torney, "could you tell by the feeling whether that
was an ordinary switch or a buggy whip?"

"No, it was a limber sort of a whip that curled
around my legs as he whipped me."

"Sometliing like this?" suiting the action to the
words, by vigorously lashing the leg of the table
with a heavy blacksnake whip.

"Yes, sir."

"Could you say how many times he struck
you?"

"Do you want me to show you?" beginning to
roll up his trousers.

"Well, perhaps that would be the best answer
to that question," and the deep scars and purple
welts similar to those on Alfred's legs were ex-
hibited to the jury.

"Did you hear anything said during this time?"

The Trial 53

««'

Tes, sir, I heard the fellow who had hold of
Alfred say, ^IVe got you now, you damn little
Englishman/ "

"Anything else?''

"And I heard him say to the fellow who was
whipping me, ^Give him hell, Jim.' "

"Who was 7im?' "

"I don't know, unless it was Jim Ball."

"I object," interposed Warner, "the boy doesn't
know who it was."

"We will satisfy you on that score before we
get through," said Van.

"You can't prove it by this witness," triumphant-
ly jeered the lawyer.

"Now, Willie, can you tell me which hand it was
that was holding you by the collar?"

"It was the right hand."

"Oh, I object," shouted the lawyer. "What dif-
ference does that make?"

"We will prove that Jim Ball is left-handed,"
said Van Armand.

"What if he is? Lots of people are left-
handed," retorted Warner, more confident than
ever of proving his alibi.

One or two more questions, not forgetting the
important statutory question, "This happened in

the county of , in this state?" and upon an

afiirmative answer Willie was turned over to the
tender niercies of the opposing counsel for cross-

54 The Trial

examination, which was pursued very much on the
same line as with Alfred except that the witness
could give more details as to his age and birthday.

He was taken through a repetition of his previous
statements of the occurrence, in an attempt to con-
tradict him and break down his testimony, but
Willie manfully adhered to his original statement*
without variation in the minutest detail.

Then came the searching question, followed by
the inquiry that in ninety-nine cases out of a hun-
dred is flatly denied by the frightened witness:
"How does it come that you are so absolutely cer-
tain of everything that you have stated on this wit-
ness stand? Has anybody been talking to you
about this case?"

"Why, yes."

"Who?"

"Mr. VanArmand."

"Ah, I thought so," with a triumphant glance at
the jury.

"Why, of course," said Van. "Do you think I
am such a jackass as to put a witness on the stand
without knowing what he will swear to?" and a
titter ran around the court room at the expense of
the defendant's attorney, and Willie was excused
from further examination.

"That's the case for the prosecution," announced
the Prosecuting Attorney.

CHAPTER VIII
The Trial — Continued

FOLLOWING the conclusion of the testimony on
the part of the State came the opening state-
ment for the defense, and the assurance to
the jury that the innocence of the accused would be
proved beyond the scintilla of a doubt (a lawyer
always has a "scintilla'' somewhere about his per-
son) ; that the Ball boys, tired out with a hard day's
work, had retired early on the night in question,
and that just about the time of this alleged assault
their aunt distinctly heard them snoring in their
room; that this testimony would be substantiated
by the mother and father of the boys, all old resi-
dents of the neighborhood, whose testimony could
not be impeached, and so on.

Then followed the testimony of the maiden aunt,
substantially as outlined by the lawyer in his state-
ment to the jury, and the witness was turned over
for cross-examination.

"I don't know that I have any questions," said
VanArmand, "except — ^by the way, how old are
you Miss — ?"

"I don't think that is any of your business,"
snapped out the witness.

"Well, perhaps not," good naturedly responded
Van. "You can step down," and the lady left the
stand, somewhat disconcerted by the easy way in

55

56 The Trial — Continued

which she had been let off from what she had an-
ticipated would be a severe cross-examination, and
for which she had mentally rehearsed some of the
sharp replies that she would make to the questions
that might be asked her by the presumptuous young
attorney.

Mrs. Ball was the next witness. She substan-
tiated the statements of the maiden aunt^ and was
excused from cross-examination with the curt re-
mark, "No questions.''

Then came the father, whose testimony was to
the same effect.

The alibi having been so conclusively proven, of
course it was not necessary to put the Ball boys on
the stand, and at this point the defendant's counsel
rested his case.

"I have a little rebuttal evidence," said Van-
Armand. "Call Benjamin Foster," and Mr. Fos-
ter was called and sworn.

Farmer, sixty years of age; lived in the neigh-
borhood for the past forty years; had been Justice
of the Peace, and now chairman of the district
school board of the county.

"Do you recall the evening of the 14th of
November of this year?"

"I do."

"Where were you at about 8:30 on that eve-
ning!

.9'>

The Trial — Continued 57

"It had just started to rain, and I went down the
road to look after a heifer that had been left out in
the pasture, to put her under shelter."

"Was this after dark?''

"Yes."

"Did you have a lantern with you on that night?"

"I did."

"Was it in good order, and burning brightly?"

"It was."

"Did you meet anybody as you were going on
that errand?"

"I did."

"I object," shouted the defendant's lawyer.
"This is not in rebuttal of anything that has been
testified to."

"We can judge of that better when we hear the
evidence," said the judge. "It may be directly in
rebuttal of some of your testimony. You may
proceed."

"Whona did you meet?"

"William and James Ball."

"How long have you known Bill and Jim Ball?"

"Ever since they moved into the neighborhood."

"Are you certain that the persons whom you met
were Bill and Jim Ball?"

"I am."

"Why are you so certain of that fact, 'Squire?"

"I turned my lantern full in their faces as they
passed me, and told them they had better hurry

58 The Trul — Continued

back home or ihey would get wet, and they said
they were after their cows, and would soon be
back."

"In which direction were they going?''

"I looked around after they passed me, and I
saw them leaving the road and striking into the
woods."

"Did you notice whether they had anything in
their hands?"

"I don't know as to Jim, but Bill had a sort of a
whip in his hand that he was switching around as
he walked."

"You are absolutely positive that Bill had a
whip in his hand?"

"I am positive of that, and I thought at the
time—"

"Never mind what you thought," roared Warner
with a face as red as a boiled lobster. "You've
said enough, without giving us your thoughts."

After the usual statutory question as to the
venue, the witness was turned over for cross-exam-
ination, and subjected to the usual hectoring ques-
tions: Was he absolutely certain? Would he
swear positively, etc.? Had he any personal inter-
est in the case? Hadn't he had some trouble with
the Balls on a previous occasion? And so on, and
the witness was finally told that he could "come
down."

The Trul — Continued 59

Then followed in succession the dozen reputable
witnesses, men and women, the women swearing
positively to the bad reputation of Mrs. Ball and
the maiden aunt for truth and veracity, and the
men swearing to the general reputation of Ball and
his boys, which was equally bad in the neighbor-
hood, as to quarrelsomeness and disturbance of the
peace, and a grilling cross-examination followed in
each case, which brought out much more damaging
testimony than the witnesses would have sworn to,
had they not been nagged into making the state-
ments.

The case was drawing to a close.

"I believe that is all, your honor," said VanAr-
mand, "except that I wish to introduce these whips
in evidence."

"I object!" shouted Warner. "There's not a
scintilla of evidence that the prisoners or their
family know anything about those whips."

"Call Mr. Watson," and father is sworn, and
testifies to having made a search of the Ball prem-
ises in company with Mr. VanArmand, and found
the whips in question, concealed under some
blankets in the bam; that they had closely ques-
tioned Mrs. Ball and her sister in regard to them
and they had reluctantly admitted that the whips
were the property of Bill and Jim Ball.

Anodier grilling cross-examination followed, m
which the nationality of the witness was prominent-

60 The Trul — Continued

ly brought out and exploited before the jury, and
he was figuratively "turned down'' with the signifi-
cant remark, "That's all I want with you^

"Oh, by the way," queried VanAnnand, "are
you now an American citizen?"

"Certainly," was the prompt reply.

"When did you take out your second papers?"

"About five years ago, as soon as I could get
them," and so ended thai attempt to discredit the
witness.

"Now I thinh I am through, except a question I
desire to ask Dr. Baker in regard to these whips,"
said VanArmand.

Dr. Baker was sworn.

"Doctor, I hand you these whips. Have you
ever seen them before?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"When they were handed to me by you for
microscopic examination."

"Can you state the date they were handed to
you?"

"My memorandum shows it was on the evening
of the 15th of November."

"What did you find on them?"

"I found a number of fresh traces of human
blood."

"About how long would you say those evidences
of human blood had been on those whips?'

i»

The Trial — Continued 61

"I should say not longer than twenty-four hours,
at the time I examined them."

The witness was turned over for cross-examina-
tion.

"You are a doctor, are you?"

"Yes."

"I thought so. You can come down."

"I think you know it, too," retorted the witness,
as a parting shot on leaving the witness stand, a
remark which from a doctor often carries with it
peculiar significance, and may mean anything, or
whatever interpretation the listener may choose to
put upon it, and the meaning seemed to be fully
appreciated by the audience.

The evidence was closed.

I wouldn't attempt to give even a brief outline
of the arguments, although my brothers drank in
every word, and often rehearsed the salient points.

At the conclusion of the summing up of the
evidence the court, having read the instructions, in a
solemn and impressive manner addressed the jury
as follows :

"Gentlemen of the jury, you have heard the
testimony in this case. You have seen the woimds
inflicted on the persons of these little boys, and
you have your instructions as to the law of the
case.

62 The Trul — Continued

"It is not usual or proper for the court to com-
ment on the testimony, but in this case I would feel
that I was recreant to my sense of manhood were
I not to state to you that in all my experience on
the bench, which has been many years, never has
a case come before me involving such moral turpi-
tude, such fiendish brutality as this cowardly and
unprovoked attack upon these inoffensive and inno-
cent little boys.

"I need say no more. The case is in your hands.
The sheriff will conduct you to your jury room to
deliberate upon your verdict."

Under the instructions the jury were authorized
in case they found the prisoners guilty to assess
their pimishment at a fine of not less than fifty
dollars, nor more than five hundred, or imprison-
ment in the county jail for not more than six
months, or a fine of fifty dollars and imprisonment
for six months.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty and as-
sessed the pimishment at fifty dollars' fine and six
months' imprisonment.

Thus ended the famous trial, the first and last
case in which any one of our family has been
compelled to invoke the majesty of the law. The
lesson was a salutary one for the Ball family, who
shortly afterwards removed from the neighborhood
to a more congenial clime, and from that time on
the "little Englishers" had no reason to complain

The Trul — Continued 63

of ill treatment at school or elsewhere from tfieir
companions.

But the incongruous nature of father's environ-
ment was not to be of long duration. At intervals
a gentle, scholarly looking man would find his way
to our humble home, and we would hear long and
earnest talks on strange truths which were just
finding their way into the world of thought — ^new
revelations that were destined some day in the
distant future to create a revolution in all Christian
churches, and save the world from atheism, from
agnosticism, diat honest protest of the higher in-
telligence against the strait-jacket creeds of past
centuries with which it was sought to confine the
will and the conscience of the yoimg giant of mod-
em thought.

On these great subjects would these kindred
spirits dwell for hours, and at times the district
schoolmaster would spend an evening with us, and
much as we respected him as a man of learning,
we noticed that he looked to father for instruction
and guidance on the many abstruse questions of
the day.

Mother had told us how father, a boy of sixteen,
but wonderfully matured, was wont to address
gatherings of a liberal sect in England who were
attempting to break away from the straight-laced
but powerful body known as the Church of Eng-

64 The Trul — Continued

land. That he had brought with him to the new
world that spirit of religious liberty, and in his
search for more light in that direction he had dis-
covered these wonderful doctrines which were the
absorbing theme of discourse with his visitor. What
those doctrines were my child mind was not capa-
ble of grasping, but when father would take me
upon his knees and tell me of the angels who were
always near me when I was trying to be good, and
that heaven was very near to us all, that God was
good, and never punished His children, it was
something that I could imderstand.

Thus it was plain to be seen that a change was
coming to us that would mean a removal from our
little log house on the farm into the town, which
would open a wider field for us all. For the past
year John had been working .his way through a
small college some twenty miles distant, where by
doing chores of various kinds the poor young fel-
low could earn his board and tuition. Alfred, now
a boy of twelve, had already left home, and was
living with his imcle and aimt in the village, having
secured a place as messenger boy in the telegraph
office, with an opportunity of learning telegraphy.
Willie was pining for a better education under
teachers more learned than the district school-
master.

Thus it was that in a few months later we had
left the little log house, around which so many

The Evangelist 65

happy memories clustered, and were stopping
temporarily with an uncle and aimt in town, while
father was preaching in a thriving little settlement
in the northern part of the state, where possibly we
might make our future home.

CHAPTER IX
The Evangelist

IT IS midwinter in Arcadia. The light fall of
snow that began to whiten the groimd early
in December has been increasing its strata day
after day, until the deep banks are seen on every
hand. The tramp of busy feet has worn paths on
the sidewalks, and the farmers coming into town
with their bobsleds heavily loaded with cord wood
have broken the coimtry roads and made them
passable, while the merry jingle of sleigh bells
fills the air as the sleighs and cutters swiftly glide
over the beaten roads of the town, with the young
fellows and their sweethearts warmly wrapped in
fox skins and buffalo robes, and occasionally a
merry load of young people out for a frolic, seated
in the box of a large sleigh well bedded with plenty
of clean straw or hay, and warm shawls and
blankets around them.

It is the season for revivals in religious circles,
and one of the largest churches has been set apart

66 The Evangelist

for the occasion. The harvest of grain and fruits
is over and safely stored in commodious bams, and
the people have plenty of leisure to assist in garner-
ing the harvest of souls.

A famous evangelist has been engaged to arouse
the sinners and call them to repentance by depict-
ing in lurid language the fires of hell and the tor-
tures of the damned.

An irreverent scoffer suggests that it is the worst
time in the year for preaching hell fire, when so
many are freezing and anxious to get into a warm
place, but the remark is met with the silent scorn
and contempt that it merits.

All the leading churches are united in the work.
A chorister is employed to lead the singing, and
as the meeting progresses the good old tunes are
announced and simg with zest and earnestness by
the good people. One hymn especially which is
deemed most suitable for the occasion, "Plimged in
a gulf of dark despair, we wretched, wretched sin-
ners lie," while by way of comfort and encourage-
ment to the most obdurate and stony-hearted the
words, "While the lamp holds out to bum the vilest
sinner may retum," has its proper place in die
repertoire.

A two weeks' engagement is made for the evan-
gelist, and large handbills scattered throughout the
town in addition to the advertisements in the news-
papers, announce the fact that every evening in the

The Evangelist 67

week with a double programme on Simday the
siege against the bulwarks of sin will be carried on,
the powers of hell attacked, and the war relentlessly
waged against the hosts of Satan until the last one
of the lost sheep is gathered safely into the fold.

The services were to begin at "early candle-
light" — ^an hour as early as would enable the
families to finish their evening meal and the good
wife wash her dishes and put the house in order for
the next morning, and 7 o'clock f oimd the church
well filled with the regular attendants, while a few
derelicts for whom the revival was especially insti-
tuted had been gathered in, a goodly sprinkling of
hard heads whom the most vigorous appeals at
former revivals had failed to move to repentance,
unlike the appeal of the gentle village pastor of
Goldsmith's whose power was such that "fools who
came to scoflf remained to pray," and the most
vivid pictures that could be held up before their
eyes of the terrible punishments to be visited upon
the head of the obdurate sinner by an angry and
avenging God made not the slightest impression on
their stony hearts.

And yet who could sit unmoved under the im-
passioned words that rang through the aisles and
transepts of the sacred edifice, as the speaker paced
up and down die platform, lashing himself into
the fury of a caged lion as he drew his terrible

68 The Evangelist

picture, mingled with pathetic appeals to the hard-
ened sinner.

Listen, now.

"Oh, my fellow sinner, how little can you realize
the terrible fate that is in store for you! Think of
die wretched victims who are now suflfering all the
torments of the damned in that molten lake of fire
and brimstone, prepared by the devil and his
angels, doomed to suflfer through all eternity, where
,the worm dieth not, and the fires are not quenched.
Think of the smoke of their torment that arises
from the bottomless pit, while the angels of heaven
leaning over the battlements rejoice as they behold
their just punishment, and with one accord raise
their voices in praise to the glory of God, who in
His divine justice and for His own glory hats con-
demned the wicked and imbelieving sinner to an
eternity of torment. '^'Yea, there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth! But now is the accepted
time. Repent, ye sinners! Jesus is pleading
for you ; all the saints in heaven are praying for
you. Oh, come to the anxious seat, kneel with me
at this altar and plead for mercy, ere it is too late.
Remember the words of Jesus, *Thou fool, this very
night thy soul shall be required of thee.' A false
step in the dark, a plunge down a narrow stairway,
a thrust from the assassin's knife may take your

•An authentic recital.

The Evangeust 69

life, and all is lost. Oh, make your calling sure!
Not tomorrow, not the next day, but this night, this
very moment, repent, repent, and escape the ven-
geance of a just and angry God!"

As the speaker paused, exhausted by his impet-
uous appeal, "amens" soimded from all parts of
the house; strong men imable to resist the impress
of the burning words bowed their heads and wept;
women were screaming and wringing their hands
in agony over the terrible picture and the pathetic
appeal, and young boys and girls were frantically
pushing their way to the altar rail, and on bended
knees with terror-stricken eyes made their appeal,
united with the fervent prayers of the preacher.
Then another hymn, a hymn of rejoicing over the
salvation of the lost, the song of Miriam, "Sound
the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's Red Sea," followed
by the benediction, and thus ended the j&rst chapter
of what promised to be the greatest soul harvest of
the season.

Far be it for me to set down one word in derision
of this solemn and heart-rending scene. Men who
have not witnessed the eflfect of these impassioned
appeals, coupled with the frightful pictures of the
torments of the doomed sinners cannot possibly
realize their potency, directed principally to the
fear of punishment from the wrath of an angry
God. The speaker was evidently terribly in earnest
and believed in his heart that he was speaking the

70 The Evangelist

truth. The people were good, earnest Qiristians
who were honestly trying to save their souls from
perdition.

It was a time when the horrible dogma of damna-
tion of unbaptized infants was preached in the
churches, and the harrowing uncertainty of the
doctrine of election and foreordination was in full
force, where dear saintly women whose lives had
been a benediction to all with whom they came in
contact, could not be certain whether they would
not eventually be plunged into that lake of un-
quenchable fire, if it should have been foreordained
that they were not among the "elect."

CHAPTER X

The Little Minister

WHILE the revival was at its height, and
through the efforts of the great evangelist
many lost souls were being nightly added
to the list of converts, terror-stricken by the hor-
rible pictures of the fate of the lost sinner and
moved by the eloquent pleading of the preacher,
quite a different scene was occurring in the little
court house, a plain, weather-beaten frame build-
ing, which was the best that the county could afford
at that time, the use of which had been obtained
for a series of meetings which would not be al-
lowed to be held in one of the churches.

The wood stove had heated the room to a com-
fortable temperature, and the oil lamps set in the
side brackets had been lighted, and a small audi-
ence had gathered to listen to a lecture by an un-
known speaker who had come to town unheralded
by handbills or notices in the weekly paper — a
stranger within their gates, but a guest of one of
the leading citizens, through whose invitation the
little gathering had assembled. There was no
choir, no solemn notes of the organ to awake the
echoes of the musty little court room. The speaker,
a small man of unassuming demeanor, was seated
in front of the judge's bench, with a table and lamp
before him.

71

72 The Little Minister

At the appointed hour he arose and uttered a
short but fervent prayer, followed by the Lord's
prayer, after which he opened the Bible, and select-
ed for his teirt the words of John IV, sixteenth
verse: "God is love, and he that dwelleth in love
dwelleth in God, and God in him."

The discourse that followed was briefly as fol-
lows:

"There is but one God, who is Christ, our
Saviour. In Him is embodied the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. The Father was not separate
and apart from Him, but in Him, as the soul is in
the body. He said to His disciples, *Know ye not
that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?'
And to Philip's words, *Lord, show us the Father,
and it suflSceth us,' he answers, *Have I been so
long with thee, Philip, and yet thou hast not known
me? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.'
It was Christ who said to the woman of Samaria,
*I am the Resurrection and the Life.' It was Christ
who breathed upon His disciples and said, ^Receive
ye the Holy Spirit.'

"God Himself as Christ came into this world to
save the human race. He suffered his body to be
crucified, not to appease the wrath of an angry and
oflFended God, but to reconcile the world unto Him-
self. His Holy Spirit, the Comforter that he prom-
ised to send, is always with us : *Lo, I am with you
always, unto the end of the world.'

The Little Minister 73

"With this view of God as Christ, the only living
Cod, the words of John come to us with peculiar
significance. John, the beloved of our Lord, saw
Him in clearer light than any of the other disciples
and the truth of his words that Cod is love is not
denied by any one in this day, and yet it is denied
in all the creeds in Christendom.

"Cod in His infinite love is always endeavoring
to save us from our sins, and it is not His will that
any human being should fall into sin and suffer
its consequences. What can be more pathetic than
the words of our Lord, in His grief over the wicked
city of Jerusalem: *0 Jerusalem, thou that stonest
the prophets, how often would I have gathered
you under my wings, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens^ but ye would not.' Does this sound like
the words of a cruel and revengeful Cod? Do we
not read in the Scriptures, The Lord is good, and
His mercy is over all His works?' And we are
further told that *Even as a father pitieth his chil-
dren, so pitieth He them that fear Him.'

"How. can a being who is infinite love and mercy
condemn His poor erring children to a punishment
far exceeding all the horrors of the Spanish In-
quisition? No human father, however wicked and
depraved, could be guilty of such cruelty. It is the
worst form of blasphemy to attribute to a loving
and merciful Father qualities which for cruelty and
injustice exceed those of the worst human parent.

74 The Little Minister

"Everybody acknowledges that God is good; but
it is said that He is also just, and the common idea
of God's justice is vengeance, when justice is but a
manifestation of His love. It is also said that He
is jealous, which is thought to mean guarding His
honor; but jealousy as applied to God simply
means a zeal for the good of all created beings.

"The essence of God is love, which is the source
of all life. No reasonable man can believe that
God has doomed any portion of the race to eternal
misery.

"God m His infinite wisdom has created man
with an immortal soul. He has endowed him with
all the powers of reason and the capacity of dis-
tinguishing between good and evil.

"The beasts of the field can do no wrong, be-
cause they act purely from instinct, but man is
placed in this world as a free agent, and while he
is left in perfect freedom to choose his course of
life, God has made known to him the truth through
His written word, and with the commandments be-
fore him, and the teachings of the Bible, "line upon
line, and precept upon precept," he is free to
choose the evil or the good. If such were not the
case he would be a mere machine, a puppet in the
hands of a higher power, and would be no more
responsible for his acts than the beasts.

"God does not condemn anybody to eternal pun-
ishment. It is man who punishes himself when

The Little Minister 75

he chooses to lead an evil life. The fires of hell
that are spoken of in the Bible are the fires of evil
loves, of hatred and revenge and all the vile pas-
sions that spring from an evil life. These are the
fires that bum within him, and are not quenched.
We can conceive of no worse hell than that which
dwells in the breast of an evil man, and when that
man dies he is not forcibly plunged into a lake of
fire to appease the wrath of an angry Cod, but he
goes of his own accord among those with whom he
chooses to associate, and, as distinguished from
heaven where the angels dwell, the place of abode
of evil spirits is hell. But even there the mercy
of God follows him, and his pitiable condition is
ameliorated as far as possible by preventing him
from plunging himself still deeper into the bottom-
less pit of wickedness, and, as the Psalmist says,
*If I make my bed in hell, lo. Thou art there also.'
"The future life of every man is determined by
his life in this world, and the quality of that life
is determined by his ruling love. The love of self
concentrates all things in himself, and in that love
he dwells in his own dark prison house. His love
is really hatred, and he looks with envious eyes
upon all who would outstrip him in the race; and
where his dwelling place is now, there will it be
hereafter, because that evil love, the love of self,
is his life, and dark and malignant passions have
left their impress on every fibre of his spirit.

76 The Little Minister

w

'The love of the world is a milder form of evil;
but when he passes out of this world what has he
left? Nothing but outer darkness, and weeping
and gnashing of teeth. His life in the world has
been engrossed with the most sordid and trivial
pursuits. With a *step as steady as time and an
appetite keen as death' the man will go on adding
field to field and house to house, joyously counting
his broad acres, when tomorrow's sun will set upon
a spot of earth six feet by two, which is all that is
left of his possessions that he may really call his
own.

"But to dwell in the love of God is to dwell in
the love of good deeds, in unselfish service to his
fellow man. With such a man the delight of his
life is in making others happy, and in this love
God dwells in him. He dweUs in heaven here, and
will dwell in heaven to all eternity, and while
he may be without the pale of the church no power
on earth, no creed or priest can send him to hell.

" *He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and
God in him,' and though the everlasting hills be
moved, the rocks rent and the earth upheaved, it
will not disturb his life, for his dwelling place is
with the ever blessed God.

"What is mortal life to him? What are mortal
fears and hopes to that man; and what we call
death, what is that to him?

The Little Minister 77

^^As the sun sinks on its crimson couch at close
of day but to rise on other lands and gladden
brighter skies with its ruddy morning beams, so
the couch on which the wearied body sinks to rest
becomes to that man's liberated spirit a chariot of
horses of fire bearing him to a summer clime — ^to
his own heaven."

The minister closed with the announcement that
the neirt lecture would be given at that place on the
following evening, on the subject, "The Holy Bible,
the Word of God."

CHAPTER XI
Reaction

SPRING has set in early this year, after an un-
usually severe winter, and the snow is oflF the
ground. Early plowing has commenced, and
the fruit trees are beginning to bud and blossom.
The oaks and hickories are in full bud, and the
young trees are beginning to unfold their leaves,
like little baby hands reaching out to the grateful
rays of the warm sunlight.

The great revival that has been the predominat-
ing feature of the winter season has become a
thing of the past, and the results seem to be satis-
factory, so far as the immediate eflfects are con-
cerned. Those converts who had made their con-
fessions at the altar, and, to use a common expres-
sion, had "got religion" naturally felt impelled to
live up to their professions, and for the time being
there is a marked improvement in church attend-
ance, which has been eirtremely gratifying to the
good people who took an active part in the revival.
But with religious awakenings by means of emo-
tional excitement, like all other things in nature,
there is an ebb and flow, and the crest of the wave
having been reached there is a backward flow, when
the flood tide has passed, and matters settle back
into their accustomed routine; and at this juncture
it became painfully apparent that the harvest of

78

Reaction 79

souls was not as permanent as had been hoped, and
gradually, one by one, the converts dropped out of
the habit of church going, and the usual backslid-
ing followed, notwithstanding the attempts of a
few of the most zealous ones to keep the converts
in line and to fan into flames the dying embers of
the fire that had been kindled by the eflForts of the
great evangelist.

For some time afterwards nightly meetings were
held at the church, and some of the most emotional
ones who had become more or less crazed by the
unnatural excitement that they had undergone
would hold their meetings outside on the steps of
the church, continuing in loud prayer until after
midnight and disturbing the slumbers of their more
quiet neighbors, until it became necessary to make
complaint to the authorities with a request to abate
what had become a nuisance to the neighborhood,
and it became a serious question among the good
church people themselves as to whether the revival
had produced such a beneficent eflfect on the com-
munity as they had hoped for.

A diflferent condition of aflfairs prevailed, how-
ever, with the intelligent and thoughtful people who
had been attracted by the preaching of the little
minister at the court house, at whose meetings the
attendance had increased steadily since the first
lecture, until the court room became crowded to its
utmost capacity.

80 Reaction

The startling and novel doctrines enunciated at
the first meeting had thoroughly aroused the inter-
est of the small gathering. The positive statements
of doctrine came to them as from one having
authority, and those who were not at first impressed
with their truth were curious to see how the speaker
would explain the meaning of many statements in
the Bible which in their literal sense fully justified
the evangelist in his description of the horrors of
hell and the terrible judgments of an offended and
avenging God. These matters were explained
clearly in the following lectures as to the hidden
meaning of many obscure passages, followed by
other lectures in which the troublesome questions
of death, of the judgment, of the resurrection of
the natural body were fully answered, and the
future life in heaven and hell was described in a
manner that accorded so perfectly with sound rea-
son and common sense, that with most of the hear-
ers no doubt remained as to the truth of the new
doctrines.

Soon afterwards a society was orgai)ized with
regular Sunday morning and evening services, and
a large Sunday school class that met after the
morning service, and it became evident that the
new religious movement had come to stay. It had
come upon them in the midst of the great revival
that was agitating the whole community, but like
the "still small voice" that was not in the whirl-

Reaction 81

wind, not in the earthquake nor the fire, it carried
with it a power that had its permanent resting place
in thinking minds, despite the solemn warnings
that came from the pulpits of other churches
against "that dangerous and insidious heresy" that
was being preached, and was designed to lead
astray the faithful from the straight and narrow
path of their ancestors, which had been mapped
out in the creeds of hundreds of years ago, and
which they felt in duty bound to preach.

Thus it was that a year following our removal
from the little log house on the Michigan farm
found us in the beautiful little town of Arcadia in
the northern part of the state, where, with the as-
sistance of the congregation of the newly formed
society, a modest home was found at a nominal
rent and supplied with the necessary furniture,
made up of a few articles that could be spared
from the homes of the various members of the
society.

What had become of the few household goods
that we possessed in our humble home on the farm,
I never knew. It is doubtful whether the whole
outfit if sold at auction would have brought more
than five dollars, and was certainly not worth the
expense of transportation to our new home.

CHAPTER XII

Arcadia

QUITE a pretentious little metropolis is this
rapidly growing settlement, which has al-
ready reached a population of 3,000
souls, and yet we find the town life almost as simple
as the country. We are located fifty miles from
the railroad, an entire day's journey by stage
through dense timberland, with no telegraphic com-
munication and but one mail a day, which arrives
late in the evening, and we listen for the distant
sound of the stage driver's horn before repairing
to the post office, where a crowd of citizens are
waiting for the distribution of their mail.

It is a delightful little Arcadia, and is unique in
the fact that we are all on an equality, and few
possess more than a necessary share of the world's
goods. There is an utter absence of what is known
as the "codfish aristocracy;" in fact the wealthiest
man in the town is said to be worth not more than
five thousand dollars, and his home is the only one
that boasts of a pianoforte.

A young girl with a silk gown would be a curi-
osity, and yet all the girls are sweet and charming
in their clean calico or white muslin frocks, con-
structed through the joint efforts of their mothers
and themselves, and their luxuriant hair smoothly
combed and braided, tied with ribbons and hang-

82

Arcadu 83

ing down their backs. They all go to school and
learn what is thought to be necessary, all that makes
for a good education in the English branches, and
what they learn is thoroughly learned and put into
practice in after life.

There is little travel, when a stage ride to the
nearest railroad station means a hard ten hours'
journey through heavy forests, where the shade is
so dense that the sim's rays rarely penetrate suflSi-
ciently to dry up the deep mud holes in the road
after the heavy rains. We little dream of the wealth
that lies hidden in these forest trees, the develop-
ment of which is destined in the future to make of
this place a great city, known all over the world for
its immense furniture factories, built up at the
expense of the complete obliteration of these for-
ests, and giving place to broad acres under cultiva-
tion and a dozen or more populous little towns and
cities in its stead.

The lack of communication by rail or telegraph
is not such a great detriment, however, in these
quiet and uneventful days of the early 50's, when
people are content to read their New York dailies a
week after their publication, and Harper's Monthly,
Godey's Lady's Book and Gleason's Pictorial sup-
ply us with all the literature that we need, in ad-
dition to the two bright newsy weeklies with their
collection of local and state news, and their strong

84 Arcadu

and able editorials on the political questions of
the day.

There are no sensational dailies of the polecat
species in which the foulest scandals are dished up
in a manner to satisfy the prurient mind and cater
to the lowest passions, and sent broadcast into de-
cent families, to pollute the minds of the young;
consequently there are no elopements, no divorces.
The sacredness of the marriage vow is held in-
violable, "until death us do part," and the mother,
who is the priestess of the home, sees to it that her
daughter thoroughly understands the meaning of
those solemn words before taking upon herself the
sacred duties of wifehood and motherhood.

There are excellent books for the young which
are read and thoroughly appreciated — ^the Marco
Paul and RoUo books for boys, and the Lucy books
for girls, and there is no lack of solid and instruc-
tive books for the mature- youth. "Learning to
Think" is a book that thoroughly explains the laws
of physics, which helps the youth out amazingly in
his study of natural philosophy, and answers all
questions that arise in connection with unusual
phenomena. Bible stories, too, are written in a
style to attract the young, and leave on their minds
an indelible impress of many of the dramatic
scenes of the Old Testament.

The popular songs of the day are of a high
order, and while they may be subject to the criti-

Arcadu 85

cism that they are too sentimental, it can be said
that the sentiment is pure and good, and comes
from the best impulses of the human heart. Among
the songs that the little ones delight in is "Lightly
Row," a simple little boat song composed of but
five notes, and the beautiful song "Be Kind to the
Loved Ones at Home" is a favorite in the home
circle. Tom Moore's "Oft in the Stilly Night" is
cherished by the older ones, and Eliza Cooke's
"Old Arm Qiair" appeals with its beautiful senti-
ment to many a bereaved soul. Often have I been
lulled to sleep with mother's sweet voice singing in
soft low tones "Robin Adair."

Of the negro melodies the popular airs of the
street are "Old Zip Coon," "Nelly Bly" and "Old
Uncle Ned." "The Old Folks at Home" has been
the first to arrive at the dignity of sheet music, and
finds a ready sale at the book store.

We are located on an ideal site, the residence
portion being on a high rise of ground, gradually
sloping down to the level of Water street, which is
paralleled by the river, on which little steamboats
ply back and forth daily during the .open season,
connecting at its mouth with small steamers and
sailing craft that cross Lake Michigan and afford
us a water outlet to the cities of Milwaukee and
Chicago, both of which are becoming western com-
mercial centers. These little river steamboats are
propelled by what are known as low pressure en-

86 Arcadia

gines, and each revolution is accompanied by a
peculiar barking sound, which can be heard for
miles distant, echoing through the trees and the
bends of the river like the cry of some wild animal.

The early spring freshets are always looked for-
ward to with apprehension by those living near the
river, as the winter snows melt and run down into
the little streams that are tributary, swelling the
current and carrying destruction and death in their
sudden rise, despite all precautions of those living
near its banks.

On the crest of the principal hill, fully a hundred
feet above the level of the river, we children in our
explorations find mixed with the sand and gravel
innumerable little shells which afford us much
speculation as to when the river could ever have
reached tliat height, but our limited knowledge of
geology doesn't assist us much in solving the
problem.

CHAPTER XIII

Life in Arcadu

THE young people had no lack of pleasure
and recreation between their school hours,
and in the winter hardly a week passed with-
out a young folks' party — ^no formal invitation with
R. S. V. P. in the comer, but a party at Nelly Kirk-
bride's on Friday evening was announced by the
young hostess to her friends with a request to in-
vite others, and thus the word was soon passed
around, and everybody was prepared when the
evening came for a general good time, and "inno-
cent merriment" was the rule.

A good part of the evening would be consumed
in the children's games, especially when the "but-
ton" game was started, when the boy or girl would
pass the button with the strict injunction, "Hold
fast all I give you," which injunction was promptly
ignored by the holder smuggling it into the hands
of his neighbor, and in reply to the question,
"Who's got the button?" came the stereotyped an-
swer, "Next-door neighbor," and then to the next-
door neighbor came the momentous question,
"What shall be done to your next-door neighbor
for accusing you thus wrongfully?" and a piping
little voice issues the edict, "He must measure five
yards of tape with Mattie Allen."

87

88 Life in Arcadu

It seems hardly proper in these decadent days to
mention the nature of an innocent amusement that
would now be termed "dangerously immoral,''
where the girl and boy would stand in the center of
the room and in the presence of the company clasp
hands, extending their arms to the full length,
bringing their bodies close together, when the yard
of tape would be "cut off" after the most approved
fashion. But remember that this was in Arcadia,
and no vile or impure thoughts entered into the
minds of the young in that charmed circle.

Sweet little Mattie Allen in her gingham gown,
her soft brown eyes, and her glossy hair falling m
silken ringlets around her white throat and neck,
shrank back into her chair with flaming cheeks,
while the teasing little company clapped their
hands and urged her on — "You've got to do it,
Mattie," "Oh, come on; don't be a fraid cat," and
there stood George Winters like the little man that
he was, in the middle of the room, only too ready
to pay his forfeit, and Mattie hanging back, till she
heard the compelling voice of her mother, "Oh, go
on, Mattie; they'll give you no peace till you do it;
and you know George."

Indeed she did know George, the handsome boy.
Hadn't they grown up together, from the time they
were both little toads, and had trudged back and
forth to the district school when George was really
her next-door neighbor? Then, too, Mattie remem-

Life in Arcadia 89

bered the time when they were coasting down Pros-
pect Hill one bright moonlight night, and an ugly
root had thrown them off, and she had sprained
her ankle, and while crying and writhing with pain
George had tenderly gathered her up in his arms
and soothingly kissed her sweet lips as he carried
her to her home. And Mattie had hid the memory
of that kiss away down in her soft little heart, and
never told even mother; but here was George, a
tall youth of sixteen, and she had just turned fif-
teen, and the situation was a delicate one, but the
jeers and epithet "f raid cat" overcame her scruples,
and there was George standing ready and looking
at her with pleading eyes that drew hereto him
almost before she realized what she was doing. A
whispered word "it will soon be over," and her
hands were in his firm grasp, the arms extended,
and the pressure of soft pure lips, once, twice,
thrice, until the fifth yard was measured, and Mat-
tie was released, and took her seat, not so very glad
as she might be, now that it was all over.

But there was more fun to come, when the next
victim received his sentence, and a youth nearing
his eighteentli year was told to "Go to Rome," and
started out on his journey, amid screams and laugh-
ter from all parts of the room. Going to Rome
was quite a task, too, for it took in not only the girls
little and big, but the mothers, aunts and grand-
mothers, and when the young man came to the

90 Life in Arcadia

mother of his sweetheart he had no hesitation in
putting his arm around her neck and saluting her,
once, twice and thrice, until the comely and blush-
ing matron pushed him away, crying "Oh, go along
with you!" and it was plain to be seen that there
would never be any trouble with that mother-in-law.

So the evening passed, until refreshment time,
when sandwiches, bread and butter, cakes and
crullers and coffee were passed around, and as the
hour of 10 o'clock approached the girls began to
get on their cloaks, hoods and tippets and the boys
their overcoats and hats, and not infrequently there
was some little strife between two rivals for the
privilege of seeing home a certain girl who was
especially attractive to the young masculine eye.

Happy, happy days! The word "immoral'' had
not come into daily use, and if it was heard it
wasn't understood by the young people in this little
Arcadia. Once I remember a certain handsome
but wild youth of eighteen or nineteen years got
into some trouble with a poor girl employed in his
mother's household. What it was, we children
never knew; it was spoken of only by mothers in
low breath and out of the hearing of the young
folks. But we did know that afterwards the young
man could never mingle with the society of which
the community was made up, where "select" meant
decency and pure living, and where the most attrac-
tive masculine youth found no welcome unless his

Life in Arcadia 91

habits were such as to grant him admission into
the charmed circle, and his parents sent him away
for an indefinite time in the hope of reforming him
under strict discipline.

Good old Democratic days were those, with flour
at ten dollars a barrel, and hay at twenty dollars a
ton. On the other hand, eggs were sold for ten and
twelve cents a dozen, and butter from twelve to fif-
teen cents a pound; but such butter! The butter
that the farmers would bring into town would turn
the stomach of an ostrich, in these days of scien-
tific butter making. Cows were allowed to feed on
leeks and garlic, which strongly impregnated the
milk and butter, and the purchaser at the little
grocery was compelled to go through with the most
elaborate tasting of roll after roll, before he could
find one with a semblance of sweetness sufiicient to
make it palatable, and by that time the taste of bad
butter had so completely permeated his gastric
juices that he didn't care to see any butter for a
month. The baker's bread brought the usual five
cents a loaf, but it was constructed under a formula
in which potatoes and alum were a conspicuous
ingredient, and being extremely sour, it was hardly
palatable, except for toast, and was mostly used in
that way. It was only when we could get a home-
made loaf of "salt risings," which in these days of
microbes, germs and what not is said to be so full
of poison as to be unfit for food, that we could

92 The Argonauts

really enjoy a slice of bread and molasses, which
the children preferred to the best butter that could
be bought.

CHAPTER XIV

The Argonauts

THE craze for wealth and golden dreams of the
future had little place in the youthful mind.
It was rumored that a certain man in New
York City by the name of Astor was worth a mil-
lion dollars, and the youngsters in discussing that
immense sum would try to calculate how long it
would take to count it, if it was all in silver dol-
lars, but after trying fo conceive of its immensity
would dismiss the subject with the thought that they
wouldn't care to be bothered with taking care of so
much money, and run the risk of being murdered
by some desperate robber.

It was not long, however, before the subject of
the pursuit of gold was being agitated in the pub-
lications of the day, in connection with the wonder-
ful discoveries of gold in California, which had
come into our possession through the war with
Mexico, and throughout the coimtry countless argo-
nauts were joining in the long train of emigrant
wagons that were pursuing their weary way across
the Rocky Mountains and the arid 'plains of New

The Argonauts 93

Mexico and Arizona, dragging their slow length
along like great worms towards the El Dorado of
the Pacific coast.

A favorite ditty of the day was:

"0, Calif orny, that's the place for me,
I'm bound for Sacramento with my wash-bowl
on my knee."

And, indeed, it would seem from all reports that
having reached that Mecca of the fortune hunter it
was only necessary to have a pick and shovel, and
a wooden box known as a "rocker,'' or simply a tin
wash dish on some of the little streams, where ten,
fifteen and twenty dollars in gold dust could be
washed out each day from the shining sands. The
risk of dying on the way, or starving after one
reached there, for lack of money to pay the fab-
ulous prices for provisions was little thought of in
the mad rush for gold.

Night after night Mr. Colvin, a neighbor of
ours, who had long since passed his fiftieth mile-
stone would entertain us with his dreams of wealth
in that distant land. During his sleeping hours the
whole vista of that wonderful country opened to
his vision, and he had often seen in his dreams the
identical spot, a cleft in the rocks in one of the
narrow canyons, a mine of untold wealth.

He was a good carpenter and was earning a com-
fortable living at his trade, but it was plain to be

94 The Argonauts

seen that he would never be satisfied until he had
made an attempt to reach the promised land and
realize his dream, and very shortly afterwards he
had procured out of his slender means sufficient to
complete a little outfit, with which he started with a
small party from our place, to join the innumerable
caravans moving to that mysterious realm, where
many a poor fellow found his chamber "in the
silent halls of death." Poor deluded dreamer! In
less than two months came the news of his death,
before he had reached half-way to his destination;
and then another, and another, had fallen by the
wayside, and my memory fails to recall one of the
little band who reached the Pacific coast.

One of the most interesting lectures that we
listened to about that time was by Lieutenant Gun-
nison of the regular army, whose wife and daugh-
ters were living in our town, and where he was
visiting while on a furlough. His lecture was
largely devoted to the Mormons at Salt Lake, near
which place his regiment was stationed, and his
revelations of the condition of the many poor de-
luded women who had been enticed from their
homes in foreign lands to become practically en-
slaved by Brigham Young and his "saints" without
the protection of our government in that distant
and newly acquired territory filled us with horror
and indignation.

The Argonauts 95

Lieutenant Gunnison, whose name will always
be associated with the Black Canyon of the Gun-
nison and the Gunnison coimtry, was a soldier
whose bravery was conspicuous in those early days
on the western frontier, and had no hesitation in
telling in plain, straightforward language what he
had learned of the true condition of affairs among
the people known as the Latter Day Saints, for
which temerity he paid dearly, for a few years
afterwards an Associated Press dispatch from Utah
brought the news that the body of Lieutenant Gun-
nison had been found near the fort, pierced witli
more than twenty arrows. Of course it was the
work of Indians, but the Mormons and Indians of
the territory were not inimical, and dark deeds
could easily be committed through the Indians
when one had been marked for death.

CHAPTER XV
The Donation Party

Two years have passed since we bade farewell
to our crude but free and happy life in the
backwoods, and we have become accustomed
to the more polished and cultured life of the town.
Brother John has completed his college course and
is working in the printing office of one of the
weekly newspapers. Alfred has become an expert
telegrapher, but has given up his work temporarily
in order to join the family m their new home and
avail himself of some necessary education which
he has missed in earlier years. Willie is completing
his course at the high school, and father is receiv-
ing from his congregation the princely salary of
three hundred dollars a year. We could get along
very nicely on that sum, however, if it was paid in
cash in regular installments, but a good deal of it
is made up in contributions in the shape of pota-
toes, com, flour and other household commodities,
while such purchases as we are compelled to make
at the stores are paid for principally with store
orders, which are paid in as church subscriptions,
and in making such purchases it is found best to
make our selections and have our packages weighed
and wrapped up before producing the order, which
is received not with the best grace by ^the thrifty
storekeeper, who would most likely increase his

96

The Donation Party 97

price and cut off some of the comers on the weight,
had he known that he was being entrapped into
paying an honest debt by a store order.

The welcome and useful Christmas box that had
afforded us so much pleasure and comfort while on
the farm had ceased to come, for the reason that
our good aunt thought it would not be needed, and
partly perhaps for the reason that she doubted
whether it would be welcome or acceptable in our
changed circumstances, in both of which she was
sadly mistaken, for our necessary clothing required
the expenditure of considerable hard cash, of which
we had very little, and would have had still less,
were it not for the annual donation party.

In all churches, except the Catholic, the donation
party was an important event in every minister's
family. Father was opposed to the custom of pass-
ing the contribution plate at the conclusion of the
Sunday service, as being incongruous with the
sacredness of religious devotion, and therefore dur-
ing the winter of the first year of his ministry it
was ordained and decreed by the church committee
that a donation party should be given at the resi-
dence of the pastor, and the members of the con-
gregation were requested to invite their friends,
whether in or out of the church, which invitation
was eagerly responded to by the young folks, be-
cause our church was not **set'' against the innocent

98 The Donation Party

pastime of dancing when properly conducted in the
presence of parents and older people of the church.

When the eventful evening arrived all was in
readiness, for while the party was to be held at our
home it was not proposed to burden the minister's
wife with the work of preparing for it, except to
give up the rooms for that evening, and some of the
good sisters would come early in the afternoon and
help arrange the rooms and do the necessary sweep-
ing and dusting, which is always such an important
feature of the good housekeeper's work.

As the hour approached in the evening people
began to flock in from all directions, each bringing
their allotted portion of pies, cakes, cold chicken,
boiled ham and tongue, bread and butter, cheese,
tea, coffee and sugar, all of which were supplied in
suflScient abundance to afford the minister's family
quite a generous supply for some time after the
event.

Among the early arrivals was Mr. Coffin with
his clarionet, old Mr. Hale and his son with their
violins, which were to be brought into requisition
later in the evening when the dancing began.

The principal object of interest, however, was a
large glass dish which was placed on a little table
in a conspicuous place, the use of which was so
obvious that it was hardly necessary to call atten-
tion to it ; but it was interesting to watch the ways of
different people in connection with that glass dish.

The Donation Party 99

Some modest man would wander near it and fur-
tively slip in a dollar, while another with less
modesty and with a pompous air, conscious that
the eyes of all were upon him, would ostentatiously
draw from his pocket a silver dollar and throw it
in the dish in a spot where it would announce his
generosity with a loud ring.

The ladies modestly deposited their mite, and a
clever wife whose spouse was noted for his close
ways in money matters would gently but finnly
lead him up to the dish and explain to him its par-
ticular use, he pretending to be very obtuse as to
what was expected of him. The young fellow who
wanted to keep in the good graces of his best girl
would come down handsomely with a silver dollar,
and thus set a bright example to the other young
men in the presence of the girls, and so the pile of
dollars, halves, shillings and sixpences began to
swell to such dimensions that the minister's eyes
brightened as he mentally calculated the probable
sum total, which would go a long way towards pro-
curing some necessary clothing for the family dur-
ing the rest of the year.

CHAPTER XVI
The Building of the Temple

THE little group of intelligent and thoughtful
people who had been attracted by the new
doctrines that were being preached in the
court house and were continued each Sunday morn-
ing and evening during the winter and spring fol-
lowing the revival meetings had increased to such
numbers that it became evident that the present
quarters in the court house were entirely inadequate
to accommodate the attendance, for during the
warm summer evenings, as "early candle-light" ap-
proached, every available space was occupied by
eager listeners, with a number standing or seated
on the grass outside, listening to the preaching
through the open windows.

The church committee into whose hands were en-
trusted all tlie details that might come up in refer-
ence to the needs of the society had had several
meetings, at which the paramount question was the
securing of a larger and more suitable meeting
place. The one public hall of the town was in the
third story of a building in the business section,
and its steep and narrow stairway rendered it both
inconvenient and unsafe for a place of worship.

It was at one of these meetings of the committee
that a rash member proposed the building of a
church. It was certainly a bold proposition, and

100

The Building of the Temple 101

seemed a most formidable undertaking for the con-
gregation, none of whom possessed more of the
world's goods than was absolutely necessary for
their own use, but the more the matter was dis-
cussed the less impossible did it appear. The good
ladies took it up and had their little meetings, at
which many practical schemes were suggested for
raising money. The young people, too, took up
the matter, and organized a mite society which was
to meet once a week, where in addition to a pleasant
evening of amusement the building fund would be
increased by their contributions at each meeting.
The men folks had frequent meetings and discus-
sions, and amid the many practical suggestions that
each in turn brought forward the undertaking
began to assume a concrete form.

The purchase of a lot, was not such a serious
undertaking. Land was cheap at that time, and a
fifty-foot lot in a very good location could be pur-
chased for a nominal consideration. Mr. Holton,
one of the most earnest and active members and a
practical builder, agreed to contribute his time and
labor, and his son and one or two pther young men
who were carpenters volunteered to contribute their
share in the work of dressing the lumber and erect-
ing the building. Mr. Green, a stone mason, of-
fered with the assistance of his son to do the exca-
vating and put in the foundation as their part of
the work, and Mr. Jones, a cabinet maker, was to

102 The Building of the Temple

furnish the pews, while Mr. Deal, an upholsterer,
agreed to furnish the cushions.

Lumber of the best quality was near at hand and
could be purchased at very low prices, and those
who were not engaged in the actual work of erect-
ing and furnishing the building contributed gen-
erously to the building fund, and several members
of other churches who had heard one or two ser-
mons that stayed by them and furnished some food
for thought had a leaning towards the little min-
ister, and contributed generously towards the work.
The minister himself, who had the happy faculty
of turning his hand to anything that came along in
the way of work, had secured a position in the
county clerk's office, where by keeping the books
and accounts of the county he was enabled to earn
a living for his family in the interim of the build-
ing of the church and thereby relieve the congrega-
tion of the payment of the minister's salary until
the building should be completed, and all debts
paid.

And so it was that, within a few days after the
final determination to undertake the work, the lot
was purchased and wagon loads of stone and lum-
ber were being hauled and placed on the ground,
and the work of excavation and laying of the
foundation was begun, and before the winter snows
had begun to fall the edifice was completed and
ready for use, and the money realized through the

The Building of the Temple 103

united efforts of the ladies in the sale of various
articles of food and fancy work, with the contribu-
tions of their husbands and friends and the little
fund that the young folks had been able to raise,
together with other contributions was found suffi-
cient to pay all debts, and leave a little surplus,
with which was purchased a small Prince & Co.
melodeon, which brother Willie, now a youth of
sixteen, had learned to play, and had become quite
proficient in its use, while there was no lack of
fresh young voices to make up the choir, and such
good old times as "Ariel," "Coronation," "Federal
Street," "Naoma," and dozens of other fine old
productions now relegated to the dust and ashes of
past years, were sung with a fervor and zest which
characterized the deep religious spirit that pre-
vailed in all Christian churches of that day.

It was a joyful day when the announcement was
made that the first service would be held in the new
temple on the following Sabbath morning, and
when the congregation assembled everything was
complete and in order, even to the name of each
member printed on little cards and tacked onto the
backs of the respective pews.

Thus had the work progressed to a successful
termination which at the outset was deemed almost
impossible, but which had been carried through by
the steadfast determination of a few faithful ones
who had worked happily and harmoniously to-

104 The Building of the Temple

gether through the long summer and autumn days.
The good people, too, fully realized the meaning of
the words, "Except the Lord build the house the
laborers labor in vain," and were upheld in their
work by the faith that the Lord was with them in
the sacred work that they had undertaken in the
building of His house.

CHAPTER XVII

New Talks on an Old Subject

IT WAS not surprising that the doctrines that were
being preached from the pulpit of the new
church should arouse some strong opposition
on the part of the pastors of some of the evangelical
churches of the town. Some, however, maintained
a dignified silence, content to preach their own doc-
trines, and rely upon holding their congregations
with a fine church, attractive music and the prestige
of a membership of some of the best families of
the place, who felt in duty bound to hold to the
faith of their ancestors, although they had a very
hazy idea of what that faith consisted. But there
were others who felt called upon to take up the
cudgels and wage a valiant warfare in defense of
their faith.

The principal line of attack was the sweeping
charge that the preacher of these strange doctrines
did not believe in the Bible, and was trying to sub-
stitute a new Bible, made up of the writings of
Confucius, Mahomet, or some other founder of
non-Christian faith; but the general charge, "Don't
believe in the Bible," was sufficient for their pur-
pose, and the obscure little church that had dared
to raise its head in their midst and create doubts
in the minds of some of their parishioners as to
the truth of certain portions of that sacred book

105

106 New Talks on an Old Subject

was made the target for a general attack all along
the line.

The opposition forces were led by a large, florid
complexioned man of the militant type, who began
the warfare by a sermon in which the faithful were
solemnly warned against the new heresy, and the
exponent of the new doctrines was challenged to
produce his proof that the Bible was not literally
true.

It was also charged that the young people were
being corrupted by allowing the smf ul amusement
of dancing at the social gatherings of the church,
and it was also reported that some of the young
people of that church had been seen playing a sin-
ful game known as "cards." The card game of
"Authors" was considered perfectly proper and
was not prohibited by the orthodox church at their
sociables, as conveying useful information of a
literary character, but the playing of cards with
spots on them, and pictures of kings, queens and
knaves was denounced as sinful in the extreme,
although nobody seemed to be able to give a rea-
son for it.

Mr. Westlake, a deacon of the Methodist church,
who stood very high in the estimation of his breth-
ren, had had for some time a speaking acquaintance
with the little minister, who occasionally patron-
ized his drug store, and had found him a most
genial and warm-hearted man, and the charge that

New Talks on an Old Subject 107

he did not believe in the Bible worried Mr. West-
lake not a little. He was a just man, and not dis-
posed to pass judgment on any man without being
satisfied of the truth of the charge.

One pleasant morning in July, having deter-
mined to satisfy his mind on that score, he called
at the minister's home, and found him in his study.
After the usual pleasant salutations, Mr. Westlake
rather abruptly came to the point, saying, "Mr.
Watson, some people in my church are making the
serious charge that you do not believe in the Bible.
Would you be willing to give me a little of your
time this morning on that subject, for it has
troubled me a good deal, and it is not right to have
these things said about you, if it is not true."

The minister replied, smilingly, "Why, Brother
Westlake, there isn't a subject in the world that I
would rather talk about with you,'' and saying this
he stepped to his bookcase and took out a time-
worn deal box, which he opened. The box was
lined with purple velvet and contained an ancient
volume, which the minister reverently lifted from
its receptacle and laid on the table.

"I call this my Crusader's Bible," said he, "be-
cause it has come down to me through several gen-
erations. My great-grandparents, my grandparents
and my own father and mother have treasured this
book, which has been the comfort and solace of
their lives, and, as you see from the worn edges

108 New Talks on an Old Subject

and the comers of the leaves, every page has been
read by them many, many times, and my own dear
mother died with it in her arms.

^^I have always considered the Bible a sacred
book, even to its covers, and for that reason when
it is not in use it is carefully kept in this box, which
was made for it, in order that it may be kept apart
from other books.

"I have frequently been shocked to see with what
carelessness this divine book has been mingled with
other books in the library, and it always pains me
to see magazines, newspapers and novels lying on
top of it, and often when I am in other people's
homes and see this, I cannot resist the impulse to
remove any other book that has been placed upon it.

**But this is not answering your question," added
the minister.

"Yes," said Mr. Westlake, "you have answered
it so fully that I feel ashamed of having asked you
the question at all."

"Don't be too sure of that," said the minister.
"There is much to be said about this word of God.
In the first place, it is important that we should
understand that the Bible, like all of Cod's crea-
tions, has both an external and an internal meaning.
Being the word of God, it is unlike any other book,
because it was written not only for the Jews and
the Christians in their time, but for all nations and
all people, for all time to come.

New Talks on an Old Subject 109

"In what language must such a book be written?
Evidently in the language of nature, a language as
eternal as the everlasting hills; and whenever we
read of gardens, floods, rivers, mountains, birds,
beasts, stones, rocks, and the myriad of objects
spoken of in the Bible, there is a deeper meaning in
all these things than we have been accustomed to
see in its mere literal sense. It is written in a
language that will endure as long as the world
stands, a language that is common to every nation
and every tongue.

"Your next question is, Do I believe in the Bible
as it is written, or am I trying to extract some-
thing from it that is not in it?

"We all know that there can be no permanent
edifice without a foundation or superstructure. The
Bible is literally the word of God, and as such has
been the means of salvation of thousands of souls,
and it has brought comfort and strength to many
a sorrowing heart.

"Our Lord's Sermon on the Mount has given us
an infallible guide for our daily life, and to one
who is content to rest solely on the letter of the
Word it is all-sufficient, if he follows its teachings.
But the Lord in all His talks with His disciples
spoke in parables, which they could not interpret;
nevertheless, there is enough in His words in their
bare literal sense to furnish the simplest of His

110 New Talks on an Old Subject

children with all of the comfort and instruction
that they require.

"At the same time, if we take the entire Bible,
especially the Old Testament, we find there many
things that cannot be understood in their literal
sense; much that is cruel and unjust, much that is
repugnant, much that is horrible and that we can-
not reconcile with our finite ideas of justice and
right.

"A striking example of the existence of this inner
sense of the Scriptures will be found in the Book
of Revelation — that wonderful Apocalypse, with
its grand and mysterious imagery, as revealed to
John while on the Isle of Patmos. What can we
understand of that great panorama that is por-
trayed to our wondering vision, much of which
cannot possibly be understood in its literal sense?
And yet why is it that the Book closes with that
solemn injunction, ^If any man shall add unto these
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are
written in this book,' and 'If any man shall take
away from the Book of this prophecy, God shall
take away his part out of the Book of Life, out of
the Holy City, and from the things which are writ-
ten in this Book.'

"Why this dire prediction in respect to this one
book and none other of the Sacred Scriptures, ex-
cept to secure its protection, and guard it from any
attempt by the translators to render intelligible

New Talks on an Old Subject 111

something that they could not understand in its
literal sense?"

"But is not the attempt to extract another mean-
ing from the Book of Revelation adding the very
thing that is so strictly forbidden?" inquired the
visitor.

"We can add nothing to the Book of Revelation
that is not already a part of it," replied the minis-
ter, "nor do we take away anything by explaining
the meaning of what is already there. To drink of
water from a cup doesn't destroy the vessel that
contains it.

"In this respect the Bible has always contained
truths of which we have been ignorant, and the
revelation of those truths does not violate the strict
injunction in respect of the Book of Revelation,
any more than Qirist's explanation to His disciples
of the Parable of the Sower destroyed the literal
sense of the parable as spoken by Him.

"There is nothing in the Bible (with the excep-
tion of some parts, which I will mention) that has
not within its literal sense a hidden meaning, and
it is that hidden meaning that stamps it as the word
of God.

"There are some portions of the Bible which
have not this inner sense, and are not therefore the
word of God, although they are useful and helpful
to us in the way of instruction and guidance, in
connection with other parts of the Bible. This is

112 New Talks on an Old Subject

true of the Acts of the Apostles, which is a literally
true account and is of value to us as of historical
interest. The epistles of Paul and his brethren are
entitled to much weight by reason of the disciples
having lived at the time of Christ and heard His
utterances, and therefore having had a very clear
conception of tlie pure Christian religion as taught
by Him; and Paul's epistles form the basis for
texts to sermons in most of the Christian churches
today, for the reason that they are simple and plain
statements of what is taught by our Lord in the
Gospels.

"The other books of the Bible that have no in-
ternal sense and are not regarded by us as the
word of God are Chronicles, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
the Song of Solomon, and two or three other small
books; but all of the other books from Genesis to
Revelation have the hidden meaning, and are the
divinely inspired word of God.

"The literal sense is a guard to the internal sense
of the Bible, by which it is protected from profana-
tion by those who are incapable of understanding
it. People may dispute as much as they please
about the meaning of certain passages in the literal
sense without doing the least violence to the inner
meaning which is concealed by the letter. The
Word in its literal sense is the outer garment of our
Lord, which was parted and distributed among the
Roman soldiers at His crucifixion, but the internal

New Talks on an Old Subject 113

sense is the inner garment that was Vithout seam,
woven from top throughout' and was riot parted,
but was preserved intact. The literal sense of the
Scriptures may be said to be the cherubim placed
at the entrance of the Garden of Eden with flaming
sword that turned every way, to guard the Tree of
Life.

"Many of the historical portions of the Bible
are literally true, and doubly so, when understood
in their internal sense.

"The story of Creation is not literally true. The
world was not created in six days.

"The story of the Garden of Eden and the crea-
tion of man is not literally true, nor is the story of
the flood and Noah's ark.

"The absurdity of these divine narratives in
their literal sense when viewed in the light of calm
reason has been the means of driving many thor-
oughly sincere and honest men into a rejection of
the entire Bible, and yet all these things have a
meaning, and a most important meaning, that ap-
plies to the life of every individual who has lived
or ever will live on this earth.

"The expressions in the Bible that God is angry,
that He punishes the sinner, that He leads into
temptation, and that He possesses all the human
frailties that are attributed to Him, are simply
appearances to the common mind of man, because
the Bible is written in a form that adapts itself to

114 New Talks on an Old Subject

all conditions of men, just as water adapts its form
to the vessel in which it is contained ; it is impossi-
ble with some men to miderstand that an all-power-
ful Being would not possess all of the human qual-
ities of a despotic ruler, and such persons could
not conceive of God except from their own human
standpoint. And yet He says to His children, 'As
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts
higher than your thoughts.' The real truth is that
God is never angry, never punishes, never leads
into temptation, but it is man himself who becomes
angry and who punishes himself, and falls into
temptation.

"If we hold to the strict letter of the Word, and
say that it must be true that God is angry, because
the Bible says so, we may also point to the plain
letter of the Word that says that God is love, that
God is good, that His mercy is over all His works ;
that He pitieth us as a human father pitieth his own
children.

"To those who cannot conceive of God except as
a God of wrath and vengeance, who delights in
punishing the wicked, and who inflicts the most
horrible tortures upon them *for His own glory,'
those words are there for them, adapted to their
own finite conception of God, and in generations
past that crude idea of God as a merciless despot
has undoubtedly been the means of saving many

New Talks on an Old Subject 115

from their sins, and will do so for generations to
come, with those who cannot conceive of Him in
any other way, and with such it is the only way in
which they can be saved from falling into evil ways.

"Some people require very strong medicine for
the cure of their diseases, while others are cured
by the milder remedies, which are no less power-
ful in effecting the cure.

"And now," said the minister, "I think I have
said enough to convince you and your friends in
the church that I am guilty of the charge that I do
not believe in the Bible, and yet I believe it to be
the word of God, and for that reason it is more
sacred to me than all other books."

As Mr. Westlake arose to take his leave he said,
"Brother Watson, you have given me more to
think about in this morning's talk than I have ever
heard in all the sermons that I have listened to in
my lifetime. But I must have another talk with
you before I can fully realize the tremendous im-
port of all that you have said."

CHAPTER XVIII

The Fire Engine

THERE seems to be no end to the wonderful
things that are coming along in this new age
of invention. The latest is the fire engine.
Heretofore when a fire would break out in a store
or dwelling house, which happily has been very
seldom, at the first cry of "Fire" all the people
would hasten to the scene of the conflagration and
a bucket brigade would be quickly organized, with
a supply of wooden pails loaned by the nearest
grocery and picked up in the neighborhood, and a
line of men would be formed to the nearest supply
of water, while the pails of water would be passed
along as fast as they could be filled to those stand-
ing nearest the fire. If the alarm came during the
night each citizen would hastily dress himself and
pick up an empty pail and run at full speed in the
direction of the flames.

But now all this is changed, and we have a fire
engine, two of them, in fact — ^the "Alert" and the
"Cataract," and two companies of volimteer fire-
men have been formed, the Alerts having red shirts
with black, shiny belts and stiff* firemen's hats,
while the * Cataracts have blue flannel shirts to dis-
tinguish them from the other company.

116

The Fire Engine 117

Brother John is a member of the Alerts, and at
night his imiform lies on a chair near his bed, to
be quickly donned at the first alarm of fire.

It is a great sight when the day is set for a
friendly contest between the rival companies, to
see which can throw the highest stream, each man
standing in his place on the machine, f acmg those
on the other side, with their hands on the "brakes,"
awaiting the command of the captain, who hoarsely
shouts through his speaking trumpet to "man the
brakes," and as he gives the order to pump, the
muscles of twenty or thirty men are strained to
their utmost tension, and the ponderous levers fly
up and down with wonderful rapidity, in their ef-
forts to outdo the other company.

As we are a careful people it is seldom that our
boys are called upon to do any serious work, but
when the time comes they may be coimted on in
doing their whole duty. On the 4th of July and
Washington's birthday celebrations they are a
great addition to our street pageant, with their
bright uniforms as they march in the line of
parade, hauling their handsome engines and hose
carts, with their tinkling bells.

CHAPTER XIX
The Phrenologist

ANOTHER interesting event that has broken the
monotony of our little town life is the ar-
^ rival of a celebrated phrenologist, whose
advent has been heralded for weeks in advance by
large posters, displaying a head entirely denuded
of hair, but having in its place square sections,
somewhat like a county map, each square designat-
ing a certain bump, which according to its size or
lack of size is said to be a sure indication that its
possessor has certain characteristics, or is lacking
in the characteristic supposed to have its seat in
that particular region of the brain.

The distinguished gentleman is to give us a two
weeks' course of free lectures, in which the motto
"Know ThyselF' figures prominently. How he can
afford to come all the way out West and pay his
expenses out of his free lectures is somewhat of a
problem, at first glance, but we learn later that he
is willing to give up his time at the hotel during the
day in examining the craniums of a limited num-
ber of persons at two dollars a head.

The idea seems to be that by undergoing this
process at the hands of the professor, accompanied
with a written chart giving all the salient points of
character which he has been able to discover, it
will furnish a basis upon which one may map out

118

i

The Phrenologist 119

his whole future course in life with almost absolute
certainty. The proposition is very alluring, and
proud parents of promising boys are the first to
bring their offspring to the phrenologist, who as a
rule is able to gratify their fond hopes by pointing
out his strong points, and his bright prospects for a
future career, which may lead even to the presi-
dency of the United States.

Then, too, perhaps at the same time a clever
wife succeeds in inducing her spouse to submit to
an examination which may reveal his prevailing
weakness or strength in a wrong direction, not so
much for her own satisfaction, but because she
wants him to be assured of something concerning
which she has known all along but has failed to
convince him of the correctness of her diagnosis.
Then again, on his part, the husband is equally
anxious to convince his better half of the superior-
ity of his judgment in regard to some of her short-
comings. So between the husbartd and wife and
their promising offspring, the professor is reaping
quite a harvest at two dollars a head, averaging
from 25 to 30 persons in a day.

To the disinterested on-looker, however, it is evi-
dent that the professor is not overpaid in these
cases for his skillful and adroit service in reading
characters, where in the case of the husband and
wife he is compelled to steer his craft through a
very narrow passage in attempting to avoid Scylla

120 The Phrenologist

and Charybdis, and at the same time maintain his
reputation for correct reading of character, but he
is sufficiently tactful in all such cases to lean to the
side of the gentler sex, and if the bumps suggest
any particularly bad qualities they are always
f oimd to predominate among the sterner sex, which
is conceded by the ladies, at least, to be perfectly
fair and proper.

But in all communities we are pretty certain
to find here and there a doubting Thomas, and, in
this town there are several, one or two of wKom
have had the temerity to suggest that the bumps
have very little to do with the professor's forecast
of the future lives of his subjects, but savor more
of the arts of the ordinary fortune teller, whose
keen observation of features, voice and manner,
aided perhaps by some overheard chance remark
enables him to arrive at a pretty accurate outline
of the salient points of character, and draw a horo-
scope which is satisfactory to the credulous seeker
after occult knowledge.

These doubts, having reached the ear of the
professor, nettled the great man not a little — to
think that he should have come all the way from
New York City into this wild and woolly West, to
find somebody that had the audacity to question
the wonderful discoveries of the great Gall, and
Spurzheim, to say nothing of one other great man,

The Phrenologist 121

whose name, as he states, modesty forbids him to
mention.

Jn order to set completely at rest any doubts that
might arise through the criticisms of these wise-
acres he proposed during the last lecture of his
course that a committee be appointed to blindfold
him, and present to him a subject, whose character
he would delineate by simply feeling the bumps,
with no other means of arriving at such judgment.

The proposition was accepted, and on the eve-
ning in question a committee was appointed, and
the professor, being properly hoodwinked, was pro-
vided with a subject, who in this case happened to
be an unfortunate creature who was sadly lacking
in mental calibre, and was known about town as
"Crazy Mary."

The professor proceeded with his mental diag-
nosis, and much to the surprise of his audience
presented the subject to them as a lady of most
remarkably strong character, and described her as
possessing imusual talent in music, art and liter-
ature, and other qualities which stamped her as a
leader in society.

At the conclusion of the test the professor was
relieved of his bandage, and naturally inquired of
his audience how nearly he had arrived at the
truth, and when told of his mistake he stoutly con-
tended that the subject would have possessed pre-
cisely the qualities stated by him, had she not im-

122 The Phrenologist

fortunately lost her mind, a proposition that no-
body was prepared to dispute. At all events, it
was a sorry sort of a jest, and was strongly cen-
sured by the kind-hearted people of the town, and
the only excuse that could be urged by the offend-
ing parties who had arranged the affair was the
fact that the professor had displayed such insuffer-
able vanity and egotism during his short sojourn
among us that it was thought best to teach him a
lesson, and as the professor departed on the fol-
lowing day, very little was said about the matter.

It was noticed, however, that those people who
had parted with their money and secured the charts
did not seem to set so high a value upon them as
they did at the outset.

CHAPTER XX
The Mesmerist

NATURALLY following in the wake of the
disciple of Gall and Spurzheim, some-
what later in the season we have been
treated to a series of quite remarkable demonstra^
tions by an exponent of the discovery by Mesmer
of the power of mind over mind. It was the first
display demonstrating the power of Mesmerism
that our people had witnessed, and the demon-
strator had no difficulty in filling the hall with
curious spectators at ten cents a head.

The mesmerist invited any person in the room
who was willing to submit himself to his power to
come forward to the platform, which invitation was
accepted by several, and as the volunteers were
known to the audience the genuineness of the dem-
onstration was beyond question.

That a person of strong nerves and normal mind
could be placed so completely under the control of
another mind, in so far as to do and perform any
act that was required of him, was almost incon-
ceivable; yet here were persons well known to the
audience, who, after submitting to a few passes of
the hand a steady look in the eyes by the mesmer-
ist, were made to walk back and forth on the plat-
form with arms folded and head erect, gazing out
into space with a far-away look, as representing

123

124 The Mesmerist

the great Napoleon looking towards his beloved
France, while in exile on the island of St. Helena.
Some younger subjects were made to dance a jig,
a Highland fling or a sailor's hornpipe after the
most approved fashion, and others posed as Wash-
ington crossing the Delaware, or as Henry Clay or
Daniel Webster making one of their great speeches
in the United States Senate, or anything else that
the mesmerist chose to suggest, and those who had
any doubts as to his occult power in that line were
thoroughly convinced by the demonstration.

But there were certain revolting and imcanny
features connected with the possession of the power
of controlling the minds of others that did not
commend itself to public favor, and everybody
breathed more freely after he had shaken the dust
of Arcadia from his feet and hied himself to other
fields.

CHAPTER XXI
A Question of Honest Dealing

THE life of a Christian minister is largely de-
voted to consultations with members of his
own congregation and not infrequently with
others who are not of his fold, but who in their
mental distress come to him with their doubts and
fears, and the many little vexations of daily life
which require the help and encouragement of the
stronger faith of one who has made a specialty of
mental ills and their relief, and is in a better posi-
tion to advise one in the face of discouragement
and despondency.

In this regard the minister stands very much in
the position of the family physician, who ministers
to the physical sufferings and diseases of his
patients, while it is the Christian minister's duty to
alleviate so far as possible the mental pain and
distress of those who seek his aid.

The questions that came up in these consulta-
tions with the little minister, whose sermons in the
court house during the winter and spring had
awakened so much interest were of quite a differ-
ent nature from those who were resting in the com-
fortable and easy faith of what was known as the
orthodox church, with its infallible creed to guide
them and keep them in the straight and narrow
path. The new doctrines which were being

125

126 A Question of Honest Dealing

preached were not without their disturbing effect
upon those who had become interested in them, and
to their dismay the truth began to dawn upon them
that their future happiness depended upon some-
thing more than a mere confession of faith and a
public profession of repentance and prayer for the
remission of sins. It was becoming quite plain to
them that faith alone without good works was a
dead faith, and of no avail unless coupled with a
good life.

The death-bed confession with its attendant abso-
lution at the hands of priest or parson, the fright-
ened prayers of the confessed murderer on the
morning of his execution with the assurance of
complete forgiveness and immediate entrance into
the society of angels in heaven was not consistent
with the new teaching, and as one was left to think
for himself on these matters, especially in the light
of Christ's teachings, there was a tendency to in-
quire more particularly into the meaning of cer-
tain passages of Scripture.

"Parson," said a near neighbor and a member
of the orthodox church, "what does it mean to love
your neighbor? When Christ says *on this com-
mandment hang all the law and the prophets' he
must have meant something more than the mere
sentiment that goes with the common idea of love.

A Question of Honest Dealing 127

"Now I have a neighbor, who I must say I do not
love. He doesn't belong to my church, in fact he
doesn't belong to any church. He's a queer sort of
a fellow, never says much, and nobody seems to
be able to make him out."

"Is he industrious, and does he support his
family?" inquired the minister.

"0, yes, he is a good, hard-working man, and
there's nothing wrong with him, so far as that
goes."

"Did you ever hear of his defrauding anybody?"

"No, I believe he is honest; but he is queer, and
then again he is not a professing Christian, and that
goes a long way in this community, you know."

"Let me tell you a story," said the minister. ^ "A
few years ago there was a man living in my neigh-
borhood who was very much like your queer neigh-
bor that you speak of. He was a taciturn man.
His neighbors knew very little about him, and, you
know, in a small community where everybody
knows everybody's business they are inclined to
look with suspicion on anybody who is not disposed
to talk. However, this man was industrious and
saving, and was one of the most prosperous farm-
ers in the county. His family were always com-
fortably clad and apparently well fed, and really
nothing could be said against him, except that he
was queer, and was apt to be rather short and
crabbed with his neighbors. And then, again, he

128 A Question of Honest Dealing

was not a member of any church, and this was
really the most serious cause of complaint against
him.

''One day a neighbor came to him wishing to
purchase one of his oxen. It was a fine ox to all
appearances, and, while the neighbor expected to
have to pay a good price for him, he had set his
heart on having that ox, even if he had to pay the
highest price demanded.

"The farmer naturally asked the question, *What
are you willing to give for him?'

" *Why,^ said his neighbor, 'I didn't want to pay
more than one hundred and twenty-five dollars for
him, but I've taken a fancy to the ox, and I am
willing to give one himdred and fifty dollars for
him.'

" *You can't have him at that price,' was the
short response.

" *Why,' said his neighbor, *I thought I was
offering you an extra high price for him.'

" *Yes,' said the farmer, *but I won't sell him
for that price. He cost me one himdred and fifty
dollars in the first place, but I have had the use of
him for some time, and I have found out lately that
he is not giving me the service that he did before,
and in pulling heavy loads he lacks the strength
that he had when I bought him. I will sell him to
you for one hundred dollars, and if you want to
pay that price you can have him.'

A Question of Honesx Dealing 129

"That man loved his neighbor," added the min-
ister.

"I see," said the visitor; "so to love our neighbor
really means a compliance with the Golden Rule,
'Do imto others as you would have others do unto
you.' But I don't see how that man could be very
prosperous, in getting ahead in this world. Here
he might have made a clear fifty dollars, and his
neighbor was willing to pay it. Why shouldn't he
take it?"

"It is not a question of getting ahead in the
world," said the minister. "It is simply a question
of doing right. That man had a conscience that
wouldn't allow him to defraud his neighbor or even
allow his neighbor to defraud himself.

, "If all men were like this silent, crabbed farmer
there would be no need of lawyers or courts of
justice, because every man would be a law imto
himself, and all his acts and dealings with his
fellow men would be governed by a fixed principle
of exact justice. The motto, 'Everyone for him-
self, and the devil take the hindmost,' would give
place to the spirit that was shown by this queer
fellow, who, although practically ostracized by his
neighbors and without the pale of the church was
really carrying into his life the divine command,
*Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' In that
one act of that man's life we see a faint glimmer of
the divine justice of God in dealing with His poor.

a
(«

130 A Question of Honest Dealing

erring children, and in his conscientious and just
dealing with his neighbor he was perhaps unwit-
tingly following out to the fullest extent the com-
mandment of our Lord/'

I concede that you are right," said his visitor,
and that we should all be just in our dealings
with our fellow men, but how many are there who
adopt that rule in their daily life? How could a
man prosper in this world if he tried to be just in
dealing with his neighbors, when his neighbors are
unjust to him, and somebody is trying to get the
best of him at every turn?

"How could a merchant make a living for him-
self and his family if he would sell only the best
quality of goods at a high price, when his neighbor
across the street is advertising his goods at a
cheaper price? Everybody is going to buy at the
cheapest place, and very few know enough about
dry goods to examine the quality. I don't believe
any man can be strictly honest and prosper in this
world."

"There is another side to that question that I don't
think you have considered," replied the minister.
"While that honest merchant may be losing trade,
which for the time being is diverted by the enticing
advertisements of his dishonest neighbor, that man
is steadily building up a reputation in the com-
mimity, and establishing a character that stands for
just and fair dealing, and sooner or later the word

A Question of Honest Dealing 131

is passed around, *It doesn't pay to buy cheap
goods, and it will cost you more in the end than
buying a good article at a higher price. You go to
Mr. Knight. His goods are always of the best qual-
ity, for he won't sell any other kind, and while you
pay him a little more than that "Cheap John" op-
posite him, you know just what you are getting, and
you get full value for every dollar you pay him.'

"Do we ever stop to consider," continued the
minister, "how little there is in this world of what
we call common honesty? It is a lamentable fact
that in this enlightened age it is found necessary
to compel men to be honest in their dealings with
their fellow men, and a large proportion of our
laws are framed for the protection of the individ-
ual in his rightful possessions, and prescribing pun-
ishments for unlawful trespass upon those rights
by fraud and deceit.

"If a child is left alone in the world without a
natural protector, and with an inheritance which, if
properly administered, will yield sufficient income
for its maintenance and education, a guardian or
curator is appointed to take charge of the estate
during the minority of the child, and here the law
steps in and compels that guardian to give a bond
in double the value of the estate. The guardian
may be perfectly honest and conscientious in deal-
ing with the child's estate, but the law cannot dis-
criminate between an honest man and a dishonest

132 A Question of Honest Dealing

man, and therefore requires absolute security as a
guaranty that the child's property will not be dis-
sipated by unsafe and hazardous investments.

"How often do we hear of widows who have lost
everything that they possessed by entrusting their
little fortunes to relatives or friends in whom they
had confidence, without requiring any security, and
in many cases not even a promissory note.

"A man who is really honest and conscientious
in his dealings would not think of accepting a sum
of money in trust without giving the most ample
security for its safe return, and it is really a* pity
that the law which so carefully guards the inter-
ests of a minor child should not extend the same
protection to the widow, who as a rule knows
nothing of business, which she has left entirely to
her husband, and having been bereft of his support
and guidance is left with the proceeds of a life
insurance policy which her thoughtful husband has
carried for years in order that she should not be
left destitute in case of his death — in many of such
instances we find a man who does not scruple to
risk that sacred fund entrusted to him, in rash
speculation, or mingling it with his own fimds and
using it in his business until misfortune overtakes
him, and the widow's little fortune is swept away
with his own.

"In that case you would say that the man was
not dishonest, but simply unfortunate in his busi-

A Question of Honest Dealing 133

ness, but if a guardian or curator had been ap-
pointed for the widow with a good and sufficient
bond the unfortunate occurrence never could have
happened, and the man would have simply lost his
own money.

"A man whom you know to be of a generous,
trusting nature comes to you with a substantial sum
of money, and says, *I don't know what to do with
this money. I wish you would take care of it for
me.' If you really love your neighbor and have a
regard for his interest you will be apt to say, * John,
I would like to oblige you, but the responsibility of
taking care of your money is more than I feel like
assuming, and if anything should happen that re-
sulted in its loss I would never forgive myself. But
if you are afraid to trust yourself with the care of
it, I will see that it is safely invested for you upon
ample security, so that it will bring you in an
income, and at the same time insure its repayment
when it comes due."

"That is obeying the divine command to love
your neighbor as yourself. A really honest man if
he holds any of your property in trust for you will
take better care of it than if it were his own, and
see that it is secured against possible loss, because
he would much rather lose his own money than
yours.

"But there is something more," continued the
minister, "and it is of much more importance in

134 A Question of Honest Dealing

this matter of just and fair dealing with our
neighbor.

"The laws of nature and of spirit work together
in perfect harmony throughout all of God's crea-
tion. We cannot put our hand in the fire without
being burned. We know that by experience in
childhood; therefore we are careful to keep at a
safe distance from a red-hot stove, and we do not
pick up live coals with our hands, because we know
the natural consequences that follow the act.

"But who is there that considers that there is
also a spiritual law that governs all our acts, and
involves a punishment that swiftly follows the com-
mission of a wrongful deed, and leaves its impress
on the soul, which if persisted in will endure to
all eternity. If men were aware of this they would
carefully refrain from doing injustice or injury
to their fellows, from the most selfish of all
motives, when they realize the fact that they would
be hurting themselves more than their neighbors.

" 'What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole
world and lose his own soul?'

"That wonderful storehouse that we call Mem-
ory, that we carry with us through all our lives,
does not die with the body. It goes with us into
another world, and is a very real part of ourselves.

"The memory of a wicked deed, an unjust act,
an injury to our fellow man is something that can-
not be washed away by any mere confession of

A Question of Honest Dealing 135

faith, or open profession of repentance and prom-
ise to lead a better life.

"When we pass into the other life we find our-
selves stripped of the mask with which we have
concealed from the world our evil thoughts and
deeds in this life, and we have no cloak for them
there, for in that world nothing is hidden that ^hall
not be revealed."

"How then can we be saved?" exclaimed his
visitor in alarm, "for there are none of us who
have not at some time in our lives been guilty of
conduct which we would gladly blot out of our
recollection, and now you say that all our past
deeds are to be brought up in judgment against us.
Is this not the judgment that is foretold, where the
Book of Life is opened before our eyes, and the
judgment of Cod is passed upon us, unless we have
repented and pleaded for mercy, through the blood
of Christ? Is that not our only hope of salvation?"

"There is indeed a book of life," replied the
minister, "and that book of life is our memory of
past events — a book which is being written by our-
selves from day to day throughout our lives. But
happily there is another book that goes with us into
that other world — a book of which we know
nothing, and it is known only to Cod himself.

"There is not a mortal bom into this world whose
mind in infant years has not been filled with pure,
innocent thoughts. The most abandoned mother

136 A Question of Honest Deaung

who nurses her infant child at her breast is con-
scious to some extent of the gentle influence that
surrounds the little one whose angels do always
behold the face of the Father.

^^All of these tender and innocent thoughts of
infant years are stored away within the inmost re-
* cesses of the soul, and are preserved and protected
from profanation and contamination with other
thoughts of our mature years. This sealed book is
the holy of holies, the dwelling place of God that
is in every human being; and in the clear, open
light of heaven where all our past is revealed to
us, the remains of infancy that have been stored
within this sealed book — ^tKis holy of holies, are
also brought to light, and all the innocent thoughts
of our babyhood, together with all the good
thoughts of our mature years are brought to bear
upon us in determining our future destiny.

Like the twelve basketfuls with which our Lord
fed the multitude, all the remains are gathered up,
that nothing may be lost. And therein lies all our
hopes of salvation.

"We are not brought trembling and terror-
stricken before a terrible Judge, there to receive
our sentence for the deeds done in the body, but
the book of our memory lies open before us, and
we are left to review all our past deeds, in perfect
freedom to discard all that is hateful to us, and
cleave only to that which is good in us, while

The World Beyond 137

through the infinite mercy of God and His holy
angels all the remains of goodness and innocence
of our childhood, of which we have been uncon-
scious, are brought to bear upon us in determining
our choice for heaven or for hell."

CHAPTER XXII

The World Beyond

SINCE his talk with the little minister, Mr. West-
lake's mind had been much engrossed with
the new ideas that had been advanced, as to
the meaning of the many obscure passages in the
Bible, and he was anxious for more light, despite
the solemn warnings of his pastor and his brethren
in the church advising him to beware of the dan-
gerous doctrines that would lead him out of the
fold into imknown paths.

There was one subject that particularly inter-
ested him, and which had been prolific of warm
discussion with members of his own church, as to
the resurrection of the natural body, and while the
great day of the Resurrection with the wonderful
scenes accompanying it had been vividly portrayed
by preachers and evangelists, and had been ac-
cepted by the religious world as a prophecy which
would one day be fulfilled, it was by no means
satisfactory to his mind, and in the light of calm

138 The World Beyond

reason — that divine gift that distinguishes man
from beast, it was becoming very plain to his mind
that there could be no resurrection of the natural
body. In the first place, it was against all the laws
of nature; and, secondly, if it should be so, accept-
ing the coDunon saying that all things are possible
with God, the idea of returning to our decayed and
worn-out bodies, even with new flesh on our bones,
was extremely abhorrent to him.

It was with these thoughts in his mind that he
sought the minister again, finding him in his study,
and receiving his hearty greeting.

"Brother Watson," said he, "what do you be-
lieve in regard to the resurrection of the body, and
what we read in the Bible of rising out of our
graves on the Last Day? It doesn't appeal to my
reason and common sense, but there it is, in very
plain words. Is there any rational explanation of
the meaning of it?"

"Yes," said the minister, "there is an explana-
tion, and one which I think you will agree with me
is much more rational and reasonable, and cer-
tainly much more pleasant to contemplate, than the
idea of a resurrection of the natural body, which in
the course of many years has mingled with the dust,
and in obedience to the laws of nature which gov-
ern all material things has performed its service in
enriching the soil and entered into vegetable and

The World Beyond 139

mineral life, until, as one of our poets puts it, we
have become 'a brother to the oak/

"As Paul has truly said, *There is a natural body,
and there is a spiritual body/ The spiritual body
is bom in us at the same time with our natural
body, and it remains with us during our natural
life.

"What becomes of that spiritual body when life
ceases in the natural body? It certainly does not
die, nor does it remain in the natural body.

"This is what happens. Soon after the lungs
cease their respiration and the heart-beats are stilled,
and the natural body becomes dead, a marvelous
change takes place while we are gazing upon the
face of our loved one, whose expression at first is
that of one in sleep, until the features gradually
become fixed and hardened as a marble statue.
Then it is that the spiritual body has become com-
pletely separated from the natural, and by a process
known only to God and His angels the spiritual
body has been drawn forth from the natural body,
together with the soul and mind, with all the
thoughts and affections which have constituted our
life in this world, and the real man stands forth
with his spiritual eyes opened, and he becomes
conscious that he is in the spiritual world. That
is the resurrection that takes place with every
human being upon the death of the body. The

140 The World Beyond

resurrection spoken of in the Bible is the raising
of the spiritual body out of the grave of its dead
and decaying natural body.

''The real man doesn't die when the body dies.
He is merely separated from the bodily part that
was of use to him in this world, while the real man
continues to live, for he is man, not because of his
body but because of his spirit. It is the spirit that
thinks in man, and thought, together with affection,
is what constitutes the real man. Therefore, what
we call death is simply the passing of the real man
from one world into another.

"This truth has been clearly seen by the poets
of all ages. The poet Spenser three centuries ago
told us that *Soul is form, and doth the body make,'
and it is that soul that is within the spiritual body
through which God gives to us all the life that we
possess.

"Longfellow tells us that —

««

^There is no Death! What seems so is transition;

This life of mortal breath
Is but a suburb of the life elysian,

Whose portal we call Death.'

"The existence of a spiritual body becomes evi-
dent to any man who has suffered the amputation
of a limb, and during the rest of his life is con-
scious of the existence of the missing member.

The World Beyond 141

^^A case of this kind occurred some years ago
>^ith a friend, who had the misfortune to cut him-
self on the arm while pruning a fruit tree in his
orchard, which eventually resulted in the loss of his
entire arm, which was amputated near the shoulder.
Shortly after the operation he became conscious of
the fact that he still had an arm, although it was
not visible, and he could actually feel the fingers
close and unclose, and there was a constant sensa-
tion of the real presence of the arm and hand. He
was a scholarly man, a deep student and the phe-
nomenon led him to make a thorough investigation
of the subject. The result was that he is now preach-
ing the same doctrines which I am explaining to
you here."

"Your idea of the resurrection is certainly more
in consonance with reason and comnjion sense than
I have been taught," said Mr. Westlake, "and that
brings up another subject which is closely akin to
it, about which I would like to get your idea, and
that is as to the nature of our life in the spiritual
world?"

"That opens up a very large subject," said the
minister, "and one which vitally interests aU of us.
Hitherto we have had a very crude conception of
the future life. The common idea has been that
heaven is a place of eternal rest, or —

" *Where congregations ne'er break up,
And Sabbaths have no end.'

142 The World Beyond

"This idea of eternal rest may be very attractive
to one who, to use a common expression, is ^con-
stitutionally tired/ but to an alert and active person,
any man whose mind is absorbed in his work,
whether it be of hand or head, can you imagine
any more dreary and unsatisfactory existence than
a life without the employment which has been the
delight of the busy man of this world — ^a life of
eternal rest? If we were to believe all the beautiful
imagery that Milton has given us in his Taradise
Lost' our idea would be that as soon as we are ad-
mitted through the pearly gates we begin to sprout
wings, which enable us to float around in space, and
are provided with a golden harp, with which to sing
praises to God all the rest of our lives, to all eter-
nity. Wouldn't that be rather a monotonous way
of spending one's time? The necessity for wings
arose out of the purely natural idea that the spir-
itual world is separated by long distances, requiring
an aerial journey through space, in order to reach
a certain portion of that celestial sphere. That idea
could be wholly dispensed with, if we can believe
that there is no such thing as space in the spiritual
world ; that although there is an appearance of space
as we view its scenery, and we may walk from one
place to another, it is thought that brings presence,
and the earnest desire of a newcomer to meet some
dear friend who has preceded him some years be-
fore will at once bring to him the presence of that

The World Beyond 143

friend. This may seem to you a novel idea, but if
if there is such a thing as space in the spiritual
world how could it contain the many billions and
trillions who have passed from this life, in all these
years since the creation of the world? Some of
our scientists who are fond of dealing in statistics
have attempted to give us some idea of the inunen-
sity of heaven, based on the idea of space as we
know it in this world, but it is an idle fancy which
is hardly worth a thought.

''But as to this matter of employment, of course
it is natural that we should associate heaven with
the idea of rest, because it is safe to say that none
of us take to hard manual labor in this world as a
matter of choice, but we are spurred on to labor
with the hope of laying aside a sufficient sum to
support us in our old age wh«i we are no longer
able to work, and for the care and support of those
of our family who are similarly situated. But let
us take the case of a man who has gained a compe-
tence during an active life, who has been persuaded
to retire from business and enjoy the fruits of his
toil; how long will that man be content to remain
idle, so long as he is blest with health and strength,
and how often do we see men of this description
either expending their strength and activity in
games and other out-of-door exercise, or in many
cases becoming tired of the monotony of a life of

144 The World Beyond

pleasure and ease, coming back again to mingle
with their fellow men in the marts of trade and com-
merce?

'The child who rides its hobby horse and romps
with its little companions in their innocent games
is obeying in a perfectly natural way the law of
its being, which requires daily physical exercise if
it would enjoy normal health. This is true of the
man who works for the support of his family, and
also of the wife and mother who is busily engaged
with her household duties, and the daughters and
sons as they advance in years naturally take up the
burden (if we may call it such) and contribute
their share in assisting their parents in their work.

"This much may be said of the work of this
world.

"And as to the spiritual world, what is our em-
ployment? As all things in the natural world have
their origin in the spiritual world, which is the
world of cause, it is not difficult to imagine our life
in a world where every species of useful employ-
ment is provided for us in which we may engage of
our own free choice. We are not forced into a life
of ceaseless drudgery, under the whip of a cruel
taskmaster. Our heavenly Father allows each of
us perfect freedom of choice, in these matters and
never interferes with our free will as to our choice
of employment.

The World Beyond 145

"1

•«1

'But suppose we choose to do nothing?

'Here we have a case of a young man in this
world who is provided with an ample fortune. He
has everything that money can purchase. He has
no motive for engaging in any useful work and his
worldly possessions naturally give him a position
in what is miscalled our *best society,' which is
built entirely upon the possession of material
wealth. Unless he has cultivated habits of industry
and has the moral stamina to resist temptation he
engages in a ceaseless round of pleasure; he be-
comes addicted to intoxicating drink; he becomes
an habitue of fashionable clubs, where private
rooms are provided for indulging in games of
chance, frequently resulting in the loss of thou-
sands of dollars in a single night, and he thus frit-
ters away his fortune and in time becomes reduced
to poverty, having become a slave to intemperate
habits and the use of poisonous drugs, until he
reaches the lowest strata and becomes a common
tramp or a dependent upon the charity of his
friends and relatives.

"The same thing happens to one who finds him-
self in the spiritual world, where all his wants are
supplied, who chooses to idly spend his time in
company with those others who are leading a life
of selfish enjoyment, and he will not be at a loss in
finding that class of society in the world of spirits,
where he is free to choose his own companionship.

146 The World Beyond

and select his future home, either in the heavens
above or the hells beneath.

^^In the other case, we may safely affirm that heav-
en is not a place of eternal rest, although we may
all sympathize with the dear old lady who had led
a toilsome and laborious life in this world, and
when asked to give her idea of heaven, replied that
to her it would be simply to sit in the kitchen with
a clean apron and sing psalms; and yet we may
imagme that, even in her case, finding herself in
another world with renewed Uf e and vigor and free
from all aches and pains she would never be content
with a life of ease and inactivity.

^^Suppose we should find that, after all, the poets
were right in describing the spiritual world as the
real world, of which this world is but the shadow?
Looking at it in this light, is it not reasonable to
suppose that the poet, the artist, the architect and
builder, the engineer, the mechanic and artisan may
find the same opportunity of pursuing a similar
occupation in the spiritual world?

"Most of us have some pet hobby or fad which
we delight in following during our leisure hours.
With some it is gardening, with others it is art,
photography, music, astronomy, ornithology, zool-
ogy, the growth of plant life, and many attractive
fields which can be explored only to a limited ex-
tent while engrossed with the duties and cares of

The World Beyond 147

this world. In the spiritual world he is free to
engage in such employment to the fullest extent.

"Is it merely a dream of the imagination? If so,
let us continue to dream, and if the thought of it
will make us less selfish, less absorbed in the strife
for this world's wealth, more kind and gentle with
our erring brother, and more inclined to walk in
the path in which our Savior walked when he went
about the world doing good, the dream will not
have been in vain."

CHAPTER XXIII
Rewards and Punishments

THERE is another matter that I don't under-
stand/' said Mr. Westlake; "we all believe
in the goodness and mercy of God, and I
have been thinking a great deal on what you have
said in regard to the way in which the Bible has
been written, in order that it may be adapted to all
minds. But there are some things, when we con-
sider the omnipotence and the omnipresence of God
with us, that are very hard to reconcile with certain
conditions that we jBnd in this world. We see good
people suffering poverty and sickness, through no
fault of their own. On the other hand, we see self-
ish, grasping people constantly enriching them-
selves at the expense of others, living in palatial
homes and surrounded with all the comforts and
luxuries that money can buy. We are taught that
God is all-seeing and all-powerful, and yet He suf-
fers this condition of affairs. There must be some
compensation for this, and the deserving should
have their reward, either here or hereafter."

"Yes," said the minister, "they certainly will
have their reward sometime, but that reward de-
pends entirely upon the spirit in which one's lot in
life is accepted. It doesn't necessarily follow that
one who suffers poverty and sickness in this life
must be good, or that one who has riches must neces-

148

Rewards and Punishments 149

sarily be bad. There are many who in the midst of
poverty and sickness are cheerful, contented and
ready to suffer and endure, with a firm faith in the
goodness and mercy of God, and there are others
who are envious, selfish, and full of hatred towards
their more fortunate neighbors. On the other hand,
there are persons who have an abundance of the
world's goods who are living beautiful lives, who
are constantly engaged in an effort to benefit those
around them, and who delight in engaging in all
sorts of good deeds. They are the faithful stewards
who are mindful of the responsibility that has been
placed upon them in being put in a position where
they should make the proper use of what has been
entrusted to them. Then again, there are also those
who have, as you say, been selfish and grasping all
their lives, and have made no use of their ill-gotten
gains, except for their own selfish gratification and
that of their immediate family. In all these cases
the law of compensation works with unerring
accuracy.

"When we wonder why God, who is all powerful,
would permit this seeming injustice, we forget that
God works by laws which are unchangeable as the
laws of nature. There is an old adage that *the
mills of God grind slowly, but they grind ex-
ceeding small.' This is true of the eternal justice
of God's laws. The law of compensation may not
be apparent to us in times of trial and misfortune.

150 Rewards and Punishments

but the laws of eternal justice work with absolute
accuracy, and in the end each will get exactly what
should come to him, if not in this world, certainly
in the next.

"Many of us who have lived to mature years, in
looking back over our past life will see what might
be termed a crisis, where one step to the right or
the left would determine our whole future career;
and looking back to what we have thought to have
been a wrong step and a fatal mistake from a
worldly point of view, in the clear, calm light of
the present we become conscious that we made no
mistake after all, but that the guiding hand of
Providence was in it all, and that it is far better
as it is.

"Take the poor man, and endow him with all the
wealth that he has been yearning for, and the pos-
session of that wealth may be the worst thing that
could happen to him, from a moral standpoint.

"God's ways are not our ways, but of this we
may be certain, that in the end each one will re-
ceive his just reward, and his reward will be ac-
cording to his works.

"If a man has given up his whole life to the ac-
cumulation of riches, looking only to his own selfish
interest, pushing aside this one and that one who
are in his way, defrauding his neighbor, and re-
sorting to every dishonest device to gain a few
dollars and add to his accumulations, there is a

Rewards and Punishments 151

stain upon that man's soul that nothing will wash
away, and in the sight of the angels the wealth that
he has accumulated in this world is as so much
dirt and filth, while the man has starved his soul
and crushed out every generous impulse in his mad
pursuit of wealth that he cannot carry with him, and
when death overtakes him he enters another world
with none of his worldly wealth, but with all the
sins that he has conunitted in his insane greed in
the accumulation of the fortune that he has left
behind; and whatever punishment he may endure
results from his wrong deeds, and is something that
he has brought upon himself by his own conduct
in this world. With such a man there will indeed
be weeping and gnashing of teeth, and the worst
physical sufferings that can be pictured in a literal
lake of fire and brimstone are nothing compared
with the mental torture that that man must endure
when he is brought into a full realization of the
sins that he has committed in his past life, in his
insane greed for the world's wealth."

^^There is another question that I would like to
ask," said Mr. Westlake. "Do you believe in a per-
sonal devil?"

"No," replied the minister, "all the inhabitants
of hell are devils, but there is no head devil who
rules supreme over the hells. If such were the case
he would be a being co-equal with God, which can-
not possibly be, since all life is from God and He is

152 Rewards and Punishments

present everywhere, even in the lowest parts of hell,
and His life is in all, for none could exist without
Him."

^^That brings up another question," said his vis-
itor. "Since, as you say, all life is from God, and
God is good, where does evil come from?"

"Now we come to the question of the origin of
evil," said the mmister, "and it is a question that
has disturbed many good people in all ages. I
don't think I can make my views on this point any
clearer than by comparing the life of God which
is in every one, with the light and heat of our natural
sun, which is the source of all life in the vegetable
kingdom.

"We know that the light and heat of the sun,
which is absolutely pure at its source, may become
vitiated, impure and poisonous by reason of the
medium through which it passes. The same sun-
light which gives life and growth to the plant that
furnishes us with food for our bodies also gives
life to poisonous plants, which if eaten would de-
stroy the life of the body. In that case, as with the
poisonous atmosphere, the life that was pure at its
source becomes impure and noxious by reason of
the nature of the plant through which it passes.

"Carry this thought up to human life. God's
life is in every mortal being. It begins in the in-
nocence of the babe, but as the child matures, the
nature of its environment, combined perhaps with

Rewards and Punishments 153

an evil heredity, causes the child to deviate from
its first innocence into evil ways, and the life of
God that existed in its purity in infancy becomes
perverted in after years and thus we find that what
we call evil is simply perverted good.

"It is not God's will that any of His children
should be so far sunk in evil and sin as to be
wholly lost, and there is a constant effort on His
part to prevent the human race from falling into
sin and thus bringing upon themselves the natural
consequences that must follow that course. But
man has been created a free agent endowed with
reason and intelligence, which enables him to
choose between good and evil, otherwise he would
not be a rational being, but a human machine with
no personal responsibility for his acts.

"God works through His divine laws, which, as
I have said before, are fixed and immutable.
God did not create evil, but man produces it
by turning into evil the good life that is constantly
flowing into him from God."

CHAPTER XXIV
Interviewing the Spirits

IT IS the year 1850, a season when the peaceful
quiet and calm of our little Arcadia is experi-
encing a slight jar, occasioned by the mysteri-
ous phenomenon known as ^^The Rochester Knock-
ings," in which two young women living in the city
of Rochester, New York, have come to the front as
the first and original spiritual mediums, and the
newspapers and magazines are reveling in the su-
pernatural, the evidence of which is discovered in
the mysterious rappmgs which are heard in their
home, for which no human agency has been dis-
covered. It is not long before the existence of this
phenomenon in the home of the Fox sisters has
extended to other cities and towns where persons
of the mediumistic type are having the same ex-
perience, and we read of cases where a small num-
ber of curious investigators have found that the
unusual noises have been produced, where in the
presence of the ''medium'' and arranged in a circle
around a small table a series of soft taps are heard
apparently underneath the table top, in answer to
certain questions asked by one of the group, where
two taps are heard as an affirmative answer to a
question or one tap for a negative response, after
which it is sought to obtain the message from the
mysterious source by the slow process of going

154

Interviewing the Spirits 155

over the alphabet, when a tap is heard indicating
that the right letter has been reached, until the full
communication has been received. This tedious
process of obtaining communications from disem-
bodied spirits is soon afterwards followed by more
remarkable demonstrations known as ^^table tip-
ping," which is shown in a partially darkened room
where the occupants behold the astonishing exhibi-
tion of the rising of an ordinary library table
placed in the center of the room, which is elevated
several feet in the air, the room having previously
been examined in open daylight by a committee se-
lected by the persons in attendance, where no evi-
dence of the existence of any wires or other attach-
ment to the table has been discovered, which might
produce the result shown. Still another phase of
the existence of a supernatural power is later dis-
covered by the obtaining of written communications
through mediums, who are supposed to be under
the control of one or more of the inhabitants of the
unseen world. Still later another species of dem-
onstration is said to occur, when for the first time
the word "spiritual seance" occurs, where for the
modest entrance fee of 50 cents one is admitted to
a large room or hall in which are assembled a num-
ber of men and women, who witness in a dim light
all sorts of remarkable phenomena, where drums,
horns and other musical instruments are seen float-
ing through the air, giving forth sounds, while per-

156 Interviewinc the Spirits

haps one of the assembly who is particularly sus-
ceptible to the "influence" is startled by the sound
of a voice, perhaps of a little child, claiming to be
that of one who, years before, passed out of this
world, or the familiar voice of a deceased wife or
intimate friend, who confirms him in his partial
belief of the reality of the presence by bringing to
his mind some circumstance which in the lapse of
years has passed entirely out of his memory.

The details of these remarkable occurrences
which are heralded in the columns of the daily
press and magazines in the East, and especially in
publications which have sprung up in response to
a popular demand for an organ exclusively de-
voted to the publication of such details — all of this
has reached our quiet little village, exciting the
minds of the reading class and providing an inter-
esting topic in the absence of any startling occur-
rences to disturb the monotony of our quiet life.

Among those who are most interested in the new
movement we find our friend Mr. Westlake, who,
in quest of some explanation of the mysterious phe-
nomena, has called upon the little minister, who
has already been the means of opening his mind in
a direction which theretofore was to him an en-
tirely new field of inquiry.

"Brother Watson, what is your idea as to the
genuineness of some of these communications? Of
course, there must be more or less deception in

Interviewing the Spirits 157

these manifestations, especially when the commer-
cial element creeps in, and the adroit trickster sees
a chance of making some money by imposing on
the credulous, but there seems to be some excep-
tional cases in which the origin of the phenomena
cannot be traced to natural causes. Have you had
any experience in this line by attending one of these
spiritual seances?"

"No," replied the minister, "but I have kept
very fully informed through the press and private
correspondence with those who have witnessed the
exhibitions. While many of these manifestations
bear on their face the fact that deception has been
practiced, I have learned of cases which would
properly come under the head of unexplainable
phenomena, especially the case where a person
hears the familiar voice of one who has made his
or her identity known by recalling some incident
happening years ago which has long since been
forgotten.

"Suppose we admit that in an exceptional case of
this kind the communication may be accepted as
coming from the spiritual world, which is not at all
impossible; such communications are undoubtedly
from spirits of a lower class, who delight in deceiv-
ing us, in the same manner as a professional pres-
tidigitator will perform his tricks in a brilliantly
lighted room, where it would seem impossible to
escape detection, although he tells his audience at

158 Interviewing the Spirits

the outset that he will deceive them despite their
most careful scrutiny of his movements.

"We have lately witnessed in this town some
remarkable exhibitions of mesmerism, where the
subject's mind is brought so entirely under the
control of the mesmerist as to cause him to do
things which he would not think of doing in his
normal state. It is an exhibition of the control of
one mind over another, which we all recognize as
a most dangerous power, which might result in the
complete mental wreck of the unfortunate victim if
continued indeJBnitely by the mesmerist. There are
instances of this nature in the case of a boy or girl
who has come under the influence and power of a
man of this description who is in daily intimate
association with his victim.

"When we find this power lodged in a mere mor-
tal, usually a man who is not of the highest order
of intelligence, we can easily conceive of how much
more powerful would be the influence of a disem-
bodied spirit of a low order in the other world, who
is capable of exploring the mind of one who may
be most easily approached, not only as to his pres-
ent recollection, but also probing into what we know
as the sub-conscious mind, containing the memory
of events which have been entirely forgotten in the
lapse of years, to be brought to his mind in a way
that he cannot explain except that the person con-

Interviewinc the Spirits 159

versing with him is really his old friend, who is the
only one who could recall the incident to his mind.
^*But the miderlying question which occurs to us
at the outset in connection with these manifesta-
tions, which would warrant us in pursuing the in-
vestigations into the occult, is a practical one. Of
what benefit is it to us, aside from the revelation
of the existence of another world into which we
pass after the death of the body, of which we al-
ready have abundant proof in the plain language
of the Scriptures, the absolute and repeated assur-
ance in the words of our Savior while on earth?
What has come to us in the shape of communica-
tions through spiritual mediums that exceeds or
equals the writings and utterances of the best minds
of our day? We have been regaled from time to
time with communications professedly emanating
from such great statesmen as Washington, Jeffer-
son, Webster, and others. How do these communi-
cations compare with the powerful and eloquent
words from these eminent men which fill the pages
of history in state papers and public addresses by
them while on this earth? It is painful to read
these tame and vapid utterances which are said to
come to us from them through these mediums, and
it is not surprising that our newspaper writers in
commenting upon such communications deplore the
mental deterioration which those great minds have

160 Interviewing the Spirits

undergone since their departure from this world
into another sphere.

*^But there is another feature connected with this
subject which is far more serious in its dangerous
effect upon one who has become a confirmed spir-
itualist, and, like the unfortunate victim of the mes-
merist, has allowed himself to be completely con-
trolled by this lower class of spirits who delight in
deceiving their unfortunate dupes. What is the
result? It is not a difficult matter to foretell the
future of a man who has given himself up to such
control, carrying with it a loss of his own mentality
and strength of character, who has become an idle
dreamer, and who has lost his ability to earn a liv-
ing for himself and family — ^the complete ruin of a
life whose promising future was evidenced by his
career before coming under the power of this bale-
ful influence. Such has been the fate of the avowed
spiritualist who is constantly exposed to the influ-
ence of these mischievous inhabitants of the lower
realm of the spiritual world. It is no fancy picture.
We have such cases before our eyes, even in this
early stage of the new cult, of men spending their
lives in idleness, neglecting their occupations, be-
coming a burden to their families and a subject of
scorn and contempt with their fellow men.

"There is still another and even more dangerous
aspect of this new cult, considered from a religious
point of view, and that is the fact that its votaries

Interviewing the Spirits 161

are led to completely ignore the Bible, and we have
no evidence of its being used or read during their
meetings and, so far as I have been able to learn,
their services, if we may so call them, are never
opened or closed with prayer. The divinity of
Christ is denied so far as there is any reference to
Him, except as a remarkable medium who per-
formed His miracles through the power of the
spirits who controUed Him during His life on earth.
This fact in itself should be sufficient warning to
every Christian man or woman throughout the civ-
ilized world to beware of the influence of this dan-
gerous heresy which would induce them to eschew
the faith of their ancestors and cast aside the pre-
cepts of that divine Book which for centuries has
been the rock of our salvation and has held us to-
gether in the strong bonds of Christian fellowship."

CHAPTER XXV
More Changes

A LAPSE of three years has brought its changes,
and a call to another charge in the northern
^part of an adjoining state has necessitated
the breaking of old ties, and separation from many
good friends in our beautiful little Arcadia, which
has become so dear to our hearts, and we are trans-
planted, as it were, into another beautiful little vil-
lage which is known as the garden spot of the state,
with its broad streets and its luxuriant shade trees,
and a chain of charming little lakes bordering it on
the north, whose clear, cool waters greet the eyes of
the weary traveler passing through on the rail-
road — ^for we are now in touch with the rest of the
world by rail. The road has just been completed
to Chicago, and for the first time that enterprising
little city is enjoying railway communication with
the East.

The change has brought new and larger activities
to all of us. Brother John is publisher of the lead-
ing weekly newspaper of the place, and Willie is
assisting him m the printing office. Alfred, who
upon the completion of his schooling returned to the
telegraph service, has been stationed at a prominent
point in Michigan, but has incontinently thrown up
his position upon learning of the removal of the
family to their new home, declaring that he is not

162

More Changes 163

going to be left out of the family circle if he can
find employment at home. It has not been such
a rash proceeding, however, as it might seem, and
the bright and capable young fellow has been in-
stalled in the court house as deputy clerk, and at
the same time his younger brother has made his
first venture out in the world by following in his
footsteps and entering the telegraph office as mes-
senger. From messenger boy to telegraph operator
was but an interval of a few months, with an ambi-
tious boy, and his 14th birthday found him in
charge of an office of his own.

It was not father's wish to see his baby boy
launching out into the world at an age when he
should be at school; on the contrary, it had been
his darling wish to see one of his sons in Harvard
or Yale, and he had hoped that his youngest might
have that honor, but poor father had no means to
send his boy to college, and his boy couldn't remain
at home and eat the bread of idleness, with father's
scanty means of support, which was barely sufficient •
for those who needed it, and there was nothing for
the son of a poor preacher but the world's work and
self-education on the prs^tical side of life. Then,
too, the work had its fascination and charm, and
daily contact with men and the sense of care and
responsibility carried with it very much that goes
into the making of a man.

164 More Changes

The telegraph station was not far from home,
either, and the railway telegrapher at that time
needed no pass. He was known by all the con-
ductors, and was privileged to step on the train at
any hour of the day or night and ride to his home or
elsewhere on the road without being called upon
for his railroad fare, and Saturday night would
find him at his home with the family, where he
would remain over Sunday, returning in time for
duty on Monday morning refreshed and rested, and
ready for another week's work.

The old-time telegraph office has left its strong
impress on the memory of those whose recollec-
tion extends to that period. The office proper was
usually a small room, not larger than about 8 by 10
feet, and fenced off with a railing from the public,
who were confined to a small ante-room and not
allowed to enter the operating room. In the oper-
ating room was a high desk and stool, and on the
desk was the mysterious piece of mechanism by
which the written message was conveyed the dis-
tance of hundreds of miles within an incredibly
short space of time — one of the marvels of the age.
A distinguishing feature that greeted the nostrils of
the visitor was a strong odor of nitric or sulphuric
acid, emanating from the local battery that was re-
quired to operate the "register" — a large brass
clockwork affair, through which was passed a nar-
row ribbon of paper unwound from a reel sus-

More Changes 165

pended from the right-hand side of the desk, while
at the left hand was a deep wooden box that received
the long slip of paper which had passed through
the register with its impress of dots and dashes,
from which the operator would copy into longhand
the message that had been received.

The first telegraph operator was usually an eld-
erly man, an editor, a lawyer, or justice of the
peace — any prominent citizen who had succeeded
in mastering the Morse alphabet sufficiently to
decipher the dots and dashes, and was willing to
assume charge of the office. Thus the public were
sufficiently impressed with the dignity and responsi-
bility of the operator to be willing to entrust their
secrets into his keeping.

It was not long, however, before this condition
of things was changed, and some young fellows who
started as messenger boys began to catch on to the
work and so far outdistanced the boss that he was
glad enough to entrust the operating into their
hands, and one day a bright young fellow discov-
ered that he did not need the clumsy old register at
all, but could read and write down the message by
the sound of the dots and dashes and, although this
innovation was prohibited for some time, as it was
not considered safe, the officials finally became con-
vinced of its accuracy and improvement over the
old method, and the register was discarded and

166 More Changes

replaced by a neat little apparatus known as a
**sounder."

The fascination that attaches to telegraphy and
always remains with one, no matter how long he
may have been out of the service, is largely due to
the pleasant social relations existing between oper-
ators hundreds of miles apart, who have become so
intimate with each other through conversations be-
tween the intervals of business as to recognize each
other's method of manipulating the "key," and their
call is like that of a familiar voice.

In dull seasons the time would be filled in with
a game of chess, played by numbering the squares,
and indicating the move of each piece, and at times
the operators at the various stations would amuse
themselves by propounding conundrums, telling
stories, and so on. These play spells, however,
have relation only to the early days of the telegraph.

CHAPTER XXVI
Early Telegraph Days

THE duties of the telegraph operator in early
days were most pleasant and agreeable. The
business of train dispatching on the railroad,
with all the countless rules and regulations, involv-
ing the reporting of trains, the counting of passing
freight cars, the turning of switches by a switch
block in the office, and all the other burdensome
duties which make the telegraph service on railways
a ceaseless drudgery, was not then known. The
railroad made very little use of the telegraph, and
trains were run by the safe but slow time-card
rules. The telegraph was used principally for
hunting up lost baggage or delayed freight ship-
ments. The superintendent found it convenient
when on the road to telegraph to his headquarters
and ascertain what, if any, letters might have ar-
rived during his absence, and other little details
connected widi his office. It was also a convenience
for the railroad eating house manager to know
about how many passengers were expected for
dinner.

At the small stations there was more or less pub-
lic business, telegrams from belated passengers to
their families, some good Catholic nearing the point
of death sending for the priest to administer ex-
treme unction, telegrams of congratulation at wed-

167

168 Early Telegraph Days

dings and births, and, alas, the fatal death message

— " died this morning" — a hard task Tor

the sympathetic yomig operator who was required
to deliver his own messages.

I remember on one occasion at about noon a dis-
patch was received — "Minnie died this morning.
Come at once." It was a young girl who had been
attending school in a distant city, who at last ac-
counts was in perfect health. As I stepped to the
door of the home with the fatal message the family
had just sat down to dinner, and were laughing and
talking with no thought of the dark shadow that
was approaching that would turn into mourning
their happy home. I handed the telegram to the
father at the head of the table, who opened it and
read it, and, controlling himself with a mighty
eflFort, he handed it silently to his wife. I waited
no longer, but as I left the house the lamentations
of that stricken household sounded in my ears for
many hours afterwards.

Happily these heart-breaking incidents were few.

One morning I was aroused at an early hour by
a young banker who had arrived the night before
from Toledo, having with him a small valise con-
taining five thousand dollars in currency. As the
train arrived at a late hour he had fallen asleep in
his seat, and awakened just in time to see the name
of his station as the train was pulling out and, in a
dazed condition, acting upon the first impulse, he

Early Telegraph Days 169

rushed to the platform of the car and jumped from
the train, leaving the valise on the seat. It was use-
less to arouse the operator at that hour, as there
were no night operators, but at an early hour he
called on me and at 8 o'clock the next morning I
succeeded in signalling the operator at the next
station at which the train was due to arrive, 150
miles distant, with a message to the conductor, de-
scribing the missing valise and its location in the
car, and the conductor found it resting securely on
the seat, where it had remained undisturbed during
the night, and telegraphed the fact, much to the
joy of its owner.

It may be of interest to add that years after-
wards, at the close of the Civil War, this same
young banker had become a brigadier general, and
later founded a university in the South for colored
students that bears his name and, still later, was
nominated for the Presidency on the Prohibition
ticket.

The superintendent of our telegraph company
was a tall, solemn-looking man, who visited us
occasionally and, although we had great respect for
him, his extreme economy in small matters rendered
him decidedly unpopular with his operators, and
the boys grew very tired of being scolded for using
what he considered an unnecessary number of lead
pencils in their work. But the company was poor,

170 Early Telegraph Days

and in debt, and the superintendent himself was
shabbily dressed and bore evidence of poverty. I
have seen the corporation sold for delinquent taxes
at a sheriff's sale at our station, and the stock of
the company was considered not worth the paper
upon which it was printed.

There were but two lines in the west running to
Qiicago, one on the Michigan Central railroad from
Detroit, and the other one the Lake Shore & Michi-
gan Southern railroad from Toledo and, in addition
to this, there were some old, rotten wires running
through the southern part of the state which were
out of use nine-tenths of the time by reason of dam-
age by storms of wind and lightning, and not in-
frequently where the falling poles had prostrated
the wire to the ground the farmers living along the
line had confiscated the wire, or as much as they
needed, and used it for repairing their fences, and
other purposes.

Our superintendent had a large amount of this
telegraph stock, and had great faith in its ultimate
value — a faith which I am happy to say was fully
realized in after years, when a company which had
been operating in the East, backed by large capital;
organized what was known as the Western Union
Telegraph Company, having for its basis the orig-
inal stock in what had been known as the Speed and
O'Reilly lines, of which our company was a part,
and agents began to scour the country for those

Early Telegrap]^ Days 171

original stock certificates, which advanced from par
to ten, fifteen and even twenty times their face
value. Our poor superintendent became one of the
wealthy men of the country and, with the money
realized from the sale of his stock and with far-
sighted wisdom which others have since emulated,
founded and endowed a university in western New
York which bears his name and which has become
one of the famous institutions of learning of our
country. His palatial home was always open to his
old telegraph boys who called upon him, where they
were entertained with royal hospitality.

Thus from small beginnings, after years of pri-
vation and poverty, a magnificent fortune sprang
into existence, and the generous and philanthropic
use which its possessor has made of it has made
the name of Ezra Cornell famous throughout the
educational world.

CHAPTER XXVII

The G)nfederates

THE telegraph operator in the small stations
and towns was an important individual, and
was treated with marked consideration, and
if the incumbent happened to be a small boy he
was looked upon as a curiosity. In the infancy of
the invention of Professor Morse it was a marvel to
the citizens, that a mere boy could not only send
messages over the wires, but could read by sound
the dots and dashes that constituted the Morse al-
phabet and write it out in plain English that any-
body could read, and he was regarded with won-
dering admiration that was absolutely embarrassing
to a modest boy, who might have developed con-
siderable "bumptiousness" in view of the many
compliments that were showered upon him, did he
not possess an average supply of common sense
which, combined with a sense of responsibility and
the fact that he was entrusted at times with weighty
secrets, necessitated the maintenance of a certain
air of dignity and reticence which hardly com-
ported with his extreme youth.

Occasionally, however, matters would come up

in connection with the business of the office which

would place him in a peculiarly unpleasant position.

One day a man came into the office accompanied

by a flashily-dressed young woman and wrote a

172

The Confederates 173

dispatch to a party in New York. There was some-
thing in the manner and air of the man that excited
my suspicion at the outset, and I felt that the
woman who accompanied him was not just the
person I would like to see, if the pair were really
husband and wife. The telegram, too, was mys-
teriously worded, but my duty was plain as an
official of the company, and I had simply to count
up the words, tell him the price, take his money and
send the message. He paid for it in gold, a three-
dollar gold piece, apparently fresh from the mint,
and the first coin of that description that we had
seen out West. Notwithstanding my suspicions,
there was nothing for me to do but to keep quiet
and say nothing to my associates at the station. The
message required an answer and the couple seemed
inclined to camp on my trail until they received it.
At six o'clock, which was the hour for closing the
office, I told them they would have to wait till morn-
ing for the answer, as the office was not open during
the night. They were very much disturbed about
having to wait that length of time, and the man, who
had a supercilious and overbearing air about him,
made some remark that was anything but compli-
mentary to the telegraph service, and the couple
went to their hotel, very much to my relief. Early
the next morning, however, they again appeared,
and manifested the greatest impatience at not re-
ceiving the answer. The man, with a bullying air,

174 The CIonfederates

demanded that I should at once send an office mes-
sage to New York and ascertain whether the dis-
patch had been delivered, but while he was talking
a caU came in from Toledo, our nearest repeating
office connected with the East, and to my great relief
as well as theirs, the answer came, which was quite
as mysteriously worded as the original message
that had been sent The couple took it and retired
to a comer of the waiting room where, after a long
and whispered conference, the man returned and
wrote another dispatch, much longer than the first,
which he paid for with another bright three-dollar
gold piece, and was more insistent than ever that
there should be no delay in its delivery and the
securing of an immediate reply.

The couple hung around my office all the fore-
noon, when No. 9 passed from the east, and after
it had left the station the agent beckoned me to come
out on the platform, and whispered to me to step
across the tracks to the freight office, which was on
the opposite side from the passenger station. I
went over to the freight office and the agent intro-
duced me to a quiet, unobtrusive-looking man who
asked me to step into a little room adjoining where
he opened the inside of his coat and showed me a
small star, stating at the same time that he was a
New York detective in pursuit of a fugitive from
justice. He questioned me closely as to the descrip-
tion of the man and woman, and the substance of

The Confederates 175

the telegrams which had been sent and received,
which, under the circumstances, I felt at liberty to
disclose, so far as I could recollect, and also showed
him the three-dollar gold pieces which had been
paid to me for the messages, which seemed to fur-
nish him more satisfactory proof than anything else.
He suggested that I return to the office to hold them
in conversation for a few minutes, which I did, and
while I was assuring the couple that the answer to
the last telegram would undoubtedly come inside of
an hour, the detective quietly entered the room and
stepped up to the man with a drawn revolver and
informed him that he was under arrest. Of course,
there was a scuffle, and the man attempted to draw
his revolver, which the detective adroitly prevented,
and the woman screeched, and also drew a revolver
from her pocket, but at this juncture Ed. Buckley,
our freight agent, a big giant of a fellow, who had
followed the detective into the room, quickly pin-
ioned her arms and disarmed her, and the pair were
handcuffed and held at the station until the next
east-bound train arrived, when they were taken
back to New York.

The man and his paramour had been engaged in
a bank robbery in New York, where they had se-
cured a large amount of money, principally in
three-dollar gold pieces, such as had been paid me
for the dispatches.

CHAPTER XXVIII

Early Railroading in the West

IT IS instructive to look back a half -century and
consider the conditions that prevailed in the
early days of railroading, and contrast some
of its disagreeable features with the many comforts
and luxuries to which the traveler is accustomed
at this day.

The first railroad lines that had succeeded in
reaching the city of Qiicago in the year 1852 were
the Michigan Central from Detroit and the Michi-
gan Southern and Northern Indiana from Toledo,
both of which roads reached Qiicago about the
same time.

The eastern portion of the Michigan Central,
which began the work of construction in 1847, was
more properly a tramway at the start, consisting
of a strap rail about an eighth of an inch in thick-
ness, spiked to "stringers"— wooden rails laid end
to end. It was a common occurrence after the train
had passed over the strap rail to find that the spikes
that fastened the end of the rail to the wooden
"stringer" had been loosened, and the strap rail
would pull out the spikes and fly up in the air a
foot or two, which prevented any further traffic until
it had been spiked back again on the "stringers."
These "snake heads," as they were called, were of
such frequent occurrence that the engineers were

176

Early Railroading in the West 177

constantly on the watch for them, and it was ex-
tremely unsafe for a tram to nm after nightfall,
consequently there were no night trains.

It required between jfive and six years to com-
plete either of the roads to Chicago, and in the
meantime the T-irail came upon the scene and suc-
ceeded the strap rail, which was a long step in rail-
road progress.

Imagine a day's ride on the old-time railroad on
a hot summer day, with every window open and a
hail of cinders with a cloud of smoke and dust
pouring in, so completely filling the interior of the
coach that it was difficult to see from one end to the
other, and as a protection against the shower of
cinders, smoke and dust the regulation outfit of the
traveler was a long linen duster reaching down to
the heels and closely buttoned up to the throat.

With no vestibules, and a space of at least 12
inches between platforms, it was a risk of life to
pass from one car to another while under full head-
way, especially for a woman and child.

While the T-rail was an immense improvement
over the strap iron, the ends of the rails soon became
battered and worn down and the space between the
ends widened, causing a continuous bumping in
passing from one rail to the other, and amid the
rattle and bang of the train would be heard the
hoarse voice of the brakeman announcing the sta-
tions, the stentorian voice of the conductor in his

178 Early Railroading in the West

call for tickets, interspersed with the shrill cry of
the water boy, as he passed through the car with his
teakettle of ice water with its tin cup fitted into the
rim under the spout, and with which he watered his
passengers. We never heard of anybody being
poisoned with germs, however, with all the pro-
miscuous drinking from one cup.

With the advent of the T-rail the running of the
night trains was made possible, but the miseries and
discomforts of a night ride were even worse than
a day trip.

As darkness came on the brakeman proceeded to
light the dim oil lamps set in brackets on each side
of the car, which afforded sufficient light for the
passengers to find their way around and, as 9 or 10
o'clock approached, the wearied traveler attempted
to get some rest by curling himself up and twisting
around in the uncomfortable seat, and one who
imagined himself fortunate in securing a whole
seat was soon undeceived by being unceremoniously
prodded by a newcomer in search of a seat and,
along about midnight, the water-boy took especial
delight in awakening a somnolent passenger with a
shrill cry in his ear, "Water!" and passed on, heed-
less of the savage reply of his irritated victim.

People had little money, but they willingly paid
the tariff rate of three cents a mile for the privilege
of being bumped over the country at the astonish-
ingly rapid rate of twenty to twenty-five miles an

Early Railroading in the West 179

hour, with all the discomforts attending the journey,
because it wasn't so far away from the day of the
stagecoach, when they were required to pay at the
rate of 10 cents a mile for being jolted out of their
seats over corduroy roads through the swamps or
pitched from one side of the stage to the other as
the horses struggled along over the deep ruts and
mudholes of the forest roads, at an average speed
of four to five miles an hour.

Added to the disagreeable features of an all-
night ride on the old-time railroad, accompanying
the stertorous snores of the sleeping passengers
would be the indulging in a family repast about
midnight, when one's olfactories would be regaled
with the odor of bologna sausage, onions, cheese,
and a variety of delicate perfumes emanating from
various parts of the car.

The regulation railway eating house was in its
glory, and at certain hours of the day and night
the passengers were informed in no uncertain tones
that at the next station they had twenty minutes for
refreshments, which really meant that by the time
they had secured a seat at the table and a cup of
muddy coffee with a piece of half-cooked chicken
the time had dwindled down to fifteen minutes, and
if the train happened to be a little late, the con-
ductor, who had been promptly waited upon, being
the first at the table and hastily swallowing his
meal, would grab his brass lantern and make for

180 Early Railroading in the West

the door with the cry "all aboard," leaving the pas-
senger with a half -finished meal to rush back to the
train, after disgorging his half-dollar to the smiling
proprietor, who stood on guard at the only place of
exit.

CHAPTER XXIX

Early Railroading (Continued)

WITH this condition of things in what was
known as first-class railway travel, the
poor immigrant fared still worse. It was
a time when the tide of immigration from Germany,
Sweden, Norway and other parts of the old world
was pouring into the Western states, and every
train was largely made up of second-class cars,
with their hard wooden seats and an almost utter
lack of decent acconmiodations, and whenever a
train would stop at a station there would be a rush
for the pump by the poor, thirsty creatures with
their cups and cans, and before one-tenth of them
could secure the water the cry "All aboard" would
send them rushing back to their train in disappoint-
ment after their fruitless effort.

The condition of the second-class cars in which
the poor inmiigrants were packed like cattle was
filthy beyond description, and the suffering of the
women and children during the warm weather may

Early Railroading — Continued 181

weU be imagined. And yet these same foreign-bom
citizens were the men who furnished the bone and
sinews of our Western prairies. Frugal, temperate
and industrious, they have since become our most
prosperous and respected citizens. They abun-
dantly proved their loyalty to their adopted country
in the hour of the nation's greatest peril, and their
descendants today are not only our leading mer-
chants and farmers, but have successfully filled the
honorable positions of mayors of cities, governors,
state officials and representatives in Congress.

The lack of safety appliances on the old-time
railroad made it extremely hazardous for the train-
men, especially in the freight service where, during
the winter season, men were obliged to run over the
tops of the cars while the train was in motion, leap-
ing from one car to another until they reached the
brake. This was a particularly dangerous under-
taking when the running-board on the top of the
cars was coated with ice.

There were also many accidents caused by
coupling cars, where the brakeman was compelled
to step in between as the cars were coming together
and insert the coupling pin and, despite the utmost
care of the engineer in backing up his engine, fre-
quently the man would be caught between the
bumpers and either killed or fatally injured.

182 Early Railroading — Continued

The modem methods of train dispatching were
wiknown, and trains ran on the slow but safe time-
card rules; arriving at a meeting point and faUing
to meet a train, a wait of twenty minutes, then pro-
ceeding cautiously, sending a brakeman ahead with
a red flag by day and a red lantern at night at each
curve while the train from the opposite direction
was doing the same, until the trains met, and one
backed up to the nearest siding and let the other
pass.

Twenty-five miles an hour was the extreme limit
for passenger trains, and twelve miles an hour for
freights.

Our road, running from Toledo to Chicago, was
separated into two divisions — ^the Michigan South-
em on the east and the Northem Indiana on the
west, divided near the state line between Michigan
and Indiana, at which station was a large hotel and
eating house, and the crews of both passenger and
freight trains changed at that point.

The divisions were in charge of superintendents,
who were thorough railroad men from the ground
up. They spent very little time in their headquar-
ters, and were out on the road every day in the
week, frequently riding on the pilot of the engine,
inspecting the tracks. They knew every foot of the
track and the condition of every bridge and culvert
on their division.

Early Railroading — Continued 183

The western division was in charge of a super-
intendent who was not only a thorough railroad
man, but also a thorough gentleman, and it was
remarked that he never passed the humblest em-
ploye without a pleasant word of greeting. Step-
ping off the engine at a station he would address a
trackman with the words, "John, how is that young-
est child of yours getting along?" "Very poorly,
sorr; Fm afraid we won't raise him." "Well, you
go to the drug store and get this, and I think it will
help him," and he would write out a prescription on
a slip of paper, which the poor fellow would
gratefully accept, for our superintendent, in addi-
tion to his other qualifications, had a medical ed-
ucation.

The relation between employer and employe was
ideal. If a trackman had a grievance, whether real
or fancied, he was not required to deal solely with
his section boss, who might be bearing down too
^leavily on him for the purpose of forcing him out
and putting a friend or relative in his place, but he
could appeal directly to his superintendent the next
time he met him, and the matter would be openly
discussed between the trackman and his boss and
the superintendent, and if there was any merit in
the complaint it was quickly remedied.

On the eastern division the superintendent was
also a typical railroad man, but of a very different
make-up. He was a picturesque figure, fully six

184 Early Railroading — Continued

feet tall, with swarthy complexion, and a voice like
the roar of a lion, and if anything went wrong on
his division we would hear his curses, loud and
deep, but the more he swore and cursed the better
his men loved him, for they knew that under his
rough exterior was a heart as gentle and tender as
a woman's.

He loved all his boys, but especially his en-
gineers, and it is related that on one occasion when
one of his engineers met with an accident in a col-
lision and was terribly mangled he had him brought
to his own home and sat up with him nights until
he succeeded in nursing him back to health.

There were no strikes in those days; probably
few, if any, understood the meaning of the word.
Each man had a personal interest in the road and
rejoiced in doing his full duty in whatever position
he was placed.

One of the pleasant features of the summer
travel from Qiicago to the East was a line of
steamers that made daily trips between Toledo and
Buffalo, and as the train pulled into Toledo and
the passengers were leisurely eating their dinner at
the Island House their baggage was being trans-
ferred to the Southern Michigan or Northern
Indiana, both beautiful boats, luxuriantly fur-
nished, and the passengers would enjoy the pleasure
of a lake trip to Buffalo and a good night's rest,

Early Railroading — Continued 185

which meant a great deal to the traveler m the ab-
sence of sleeping cars on the railways.

This pleasant feature of summer travel might
have continued for many summers following but
for a sad calamity that occurred in the fall of 1856
resulting in the bummg of the Southern Michigan
with a loss of thirty lives, which caused the aban-
donment of the delightful water trip which had
proved so attractive to the passenger traffic between
Chicago and New York.

CHAPTER XXX

A Famous Detective

IN THE fall of 1853, the first year of the com-
pletion of the railroad to the city of Chicago,
two quite serious accidents occurred on the
road near the state line between Indiana and Illi-
nois, resulting in the derailment of the engine and
several cars and serious personal injuries, caused
by placing ties or railroad iron across the tracks.
The work was done sometime after dark, and the
utmost vigilance on the part of the railroad officials
failed to detect the culprits.

A detective agency had been established in Qii-
cago a short time previous to these occurrences, at
the head of which was a man named Pinkerton —
Allan Pinkerton. The railway officials, after vain
efforts in detecting the miscreants through their own
men, called upon Pinkerton's agency to aid them in
ferreting out the perpetrators and bringing them to
justice.

After being put in possession of all the facts
connected with the case Mr. Pinkerton realized that
the matter was too serious to entrust to any of his
men and that the only way in which the mystery
could be unraveled would be through patient and
persistent personal work, and he therefore decided
to take a vacation for an indefinite period, leaving
his department in charge of one of his best men.

186

A Famous Detective 187

A few days later the section gang working in the
vicinity where the troubles had occurred was joined
by a heavy-set man, dressed in the ordinary labor-
er's clothing, who went by the name of Tim O'Brien,
The gang fought shy of him at first, as they would
of any stranger, but their suspicions were allayed
as they became better acquainted with him, as Tim
proved to be an all-around good fellow, and was
free with his money, and in the course of time he
was admitted into their confidence and their secret
councils. This was not accomplished in a week or
two weeks, however, and nearly two months had
elapsed before matters had reached the active stage,
when in their secret conferences it was decided that
the night express leaving Chicago at 10 o'clock for
the East, which was known to carry thousands of
dollars in gold, would be derailed and wrecked,
and in the excitement attending the accident, result-
ing perhaps in the loss of many innocent lives, an
opportunity would be afforded to loot the express
car and secure the treasure. Among those who were
selected to attend to that part of the work was Tim
O'Brien, the biggest and strongest man in the gang,
who had lately by reason of his superior shrewdness
and force of character become their leader.

The night, the place, and the hour had been
definitely fixed upon, and on the evening of the
night preceding that date, shortly after dark, a
stout, well-dressed man, who might have been a

188 A Famous Detective

banker or a merchant, to all appearances, stepped
into the little railroad telegraph station and wrote
the following dispatch to the superintendent of the
road :

"No. 7, Tuesday night; slow down at Section 24
for fishermen."

It was not uncommon in those days to slow down
a train and stop for a party of hunters or fishermen
when requested so to do, and there was nothing in
the dispatch to arouse the suspicions of the oper-
ator or anybody else who might chance to see it;
but the superintendent, who had been fully posted
in advance, knew what it meant and, taking the
first train for Chicago with the following day ahead
of him for completing such plans as had been
agreed upon, he secured a sufiicient force of de-
tectives to cope with the gang when the time for
action arrived. The detectives dressed in the garb
of workmen were dropped off in twos and threes at
one or two stations in the vicinity of the section and
remained scattered until after dark, when they met
and concealed themselves within sight of the des-
ignated spot, and at the hour fixed a number of men,
led by Tim O'Brien, appeared from an adjoining
clump of bushes, and at the sound of the locomotive
whistle in the distance were seen carrying a T-rail,
which they placed across the track, and the gang
were about to fall back to await results from their

A Famous Detective 189

nefarious work when they found themselves sur-
rounded by the detectives.

The surprise was so sudden that none escaped,
and they were handcuffed, Tim O'Brien among the
rest, and put on the train, which had slowed down
as directed for the "fishermen,'' and taken back to
Chicago, where they were safely lodged behind the
bars of Bridewell, after which the belated night
express made another start, with the comfortable
assurance that there would be no more track ob-
struction, by that gang at least, and probably none
for years to come at that point.

It was Pinkerton's first important work, and it
was so cleverly and successfully carried through
that it won for him a national reputation, which
still clings to the agency that bears his name, al-
though it has been many years since his day.

CHAPTER XXXI

The "Wildcat" Banks

THOSE of US who have enjoyed for many
years the blessing of a system of stable cur-
rency, beginning with the greenback currency
of the Civil War, which later developed into the
national bank system, can hardly appreciate the
benefit of such currency to the trade and commerce
of the country as compared with our banking sys-
tem in the West before the Civil War, when the era
of "wildcat" currency was at its height, when banks
were started in every little town, with no specie in
their vaults and no assets outside of a counter and
some plate-glass partitions, a safe and sufficient fur-
niture to make an outside show, and people were
entrapped into depositing their hard earnings, to
be drawn out in the shape of very prettily engraved
banknotes, with no guaranty of security on their
face except the bare signature of the president and
cashier. In all such cases it was supposed that the
bank had a sufficient amount of gold or silver to
enable it to redeem the notes when presented with
a demand for the specie.

In the summer of 1857 a panic started, with the
failure of a few of these institutions, and people
at once became suspicious of their local banks and,
as they presented their notes with a demand for the
specie, bank after bank was compelled to close its

190

The "Wildcat" Banks 191

doors, and at the railroad ticket offices and other
public places daily lists were furnished of such
banks as had failed inside of twenty-four hours,
and it was impossible to say whether a bank-note
which was considered good one day would not be
pronounced utterly worthless the next day. The
only reliable bank-notes were those of the State bank
located at the capitol, and as the closing of a bank's
door was a matter of daily occurrence, business
. failures naturally followed, and a period of finan-
cial stress and disaster prevailed throughout the
country. Added to this was the circulation of a
number of counterfeit notes of the State bank
issues, necessitating frequent references to the Na-
tional Bank Note Detector, which was a necessary
adjunct to every bank and mercantile establishment.
This condition of affairs was calculated to make
life a burden to the unfortimate railroad ticket
agent, who was receiving daily bulletins from head-
quarters with long lists of banks that had failed
since the last bulletin, or were in such a shaky con-
dition that the company notified its agents that notes
of such banks would not be received if taken in at
the office after the receipt of the list, and the only
safety for the ticket agent was to make up his re-
mittance and rush it through on the first train, lest
he should be found with the "goods" on him after
the receipt of the last list, and to insure against
being "stuck" with a discredited banknote he was

192 The "Wildcat" Banks

compelled to consult his lists with nearly every ap-
plicant for a ticket which, with the excited crowd
at the window eager to obtain their tickets before
the train started, kept the agent on a constant strain,
lest in the shufBe a bad bill would be palmed off on
him, which would mean that much deducted from
his meager salary.

CHAPTER XXXII

A Dream of the Years

4 MID the bright and peaceful scenes of yester-
l\ day a shadow of a cloud has been gathering,
-^ -^unheeded by the people of a happy and
prosperous land, and but dimly foreseen save by
the statesmen of the day who have been keeping
their fingers on the pulse of the nation, a cloud ^^no
bigger than a man's hand" appearing in the South,
and year after year is adding to its growth. The
curse of slavery, which has laid its withering hand
upon the brightest and loveliest section of our coun-
try — a curse which came upon us long before the
days of Washington, and has stood for more than
a century, giving the lie to our boasted declaration
that all men are created free, with equal rights to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which
has been ruthlessly trodden under foot by an auto-
cratic majority under strict party discipline in Con-
gress and the White House, while we of the peaceful
North, heedless of the danger signals ever and anon
thrown out like tongues of flame from the sup-
pressed fires of a seething volcano, little dream of
the terrible years to come upon us, as we pursue the
even tenor of our way, content to endure the obloquy
attaching to an institution which for these many
years has been a foul blot upon our escutcheon, so
long as it extends thus far, and no farther.

193

194 A Dream of the Years

But events are crowding the history of the years,
the significance of which can no longer be blinked,
and the most obtuse minds are awakening to a Re-
alization of the impending danger, and anxiously
watching the gathering clouds that are threatening
destruction and death to our national life.

The "irrepressible conflict" between the North
and the South on the slavery question is constantly
cropping out in the debates in the halls of Congress,
and the determined eff'ort of Southern members to
force their "peculiar institution" into the territories
which are rapidly growing in population and knock-
ing at the doors of G)ngress for admission into the
family of states is having its effect in solidifying the
Northern and Western states into a steadfast and
determined opposition to the extension into the new
states of an institution which has for years become
a stench in the nostrils of the residents of the free
states of the Union.

The passage of the Fugitive Slave law, compel-
ling the peaceable citizen of the Northwest to aban-
don his work on his farm or shop at the command
of the slave hunter in pursuit of his "chattel," re-
quiring him under the direst threats of pains and
penalties, even of death in case of refusal, to assist
him in the pursuit and capture of some miserable
creature who is endeavoring to escape from his
master and seek refuge on the Canadian border —
all this has aroused a spirit of righteous indignation

A Dream of the Years 195

that will not tamely submit to an invasion of per-
sonal liberty under the cover of an iniquitous law
passed in defiance of the Constitution of the United
States.

The decision of Chief Justice Taney of the Su-
preme Court, known as the Dred Scott decision, that
Congress has no power to abolish slavery in any
territory acquired since the foundation of the gov-
ernment, and attacking the constitutionality of the
Missouri Compromise of 1820, adds fuel to the
fire which has been kindled in opposition to the
constant aggression by the South, whose representa-
tives in Congress have been in control of both
branches for many years, and are determined to
stop at nothing in the accomplishment of their de-
sign of forcing slavery into the new territories and
states of the Northwest.

But the young giant of the West has been growing
rapidly in stature and strength in these later years,
and the tide of inunigration that has been sweeping
over the new territory, peopling it with foreign-bom
citizens of other nations who have come to this coun-
try to escape the tyranny of their own governments,
has strengthened its sinews and given birth to a new
political party, the Republican party, which has
had its first trial of strength, with John C. Fremont
as its standard bearer in 1856, and, although de-
feated in its first encounter, is still very much alive

196 A Dream of the Years

and gathering strength for the conflict that is now
seen to be inevitable in years to come.

The continuous outrages and wanton invasion of
territory with destruction of property and murder
of inoffensive citizens in the territory of Kansas by
the ^^border ruffians" of the slave state of Missouri,
in an effort to force an entering wedge for the intro-
duction of slavery, the pillaging and burning of the
town of Lawrence, Kansas, followed but a day or
two later by a cowardly and murderous attack by
a South Carolina congressman uponSenator Charles
Sumner while quiedy writing in the Senate chamber
with his back to the assassin, has aroused to fever
heat the quickened pulses of the people of the
Northwest, and on the other hand the foolish raid
of John Brown and his handful of followers in an
insane attempt to stir up an insurrection among the
Southern slaves has added fuel to the fierce fires
of the South and their intense hatred of the despised
Northern ^^mud sills;" and in the meantime the
country awaits with breathless anxiety the results
of the national conventions of I860.

It is the late spring of 1860. The Democratic
national convention is meeting in Charleston, S. C,
the hotbed of rebellion, always a firebrand as far
back as the days of Andrew Jackson, whose firm
hand and iron will crushed out the first attempt of
secession and separation from the national family
by that state. A long and exciting session results

A Dream of the Years 197

in a division between the radical and conservative
elements of the party, each putting up separate
tickets.

Two weeks later and the Republican party is
holding its convention in the famous Wigwam at
Qiicago, resulting in the selection of Abraham Lin-
coln as its standard bearer.

The whirlwind campaign of the summer and fall
of 1860, with its hundreds of thousands of torches
illuminating the heavens nightly, borne by enthusi-
astic armies of Wide Awakes with their oilcloth
capes, caps and banners.

The election of Lincoln, the assembling of Con-
gress, the secession from the Union of the South,
state after state, led by South Carolina, the tumul-
tons scenes in Congress, the notes of preparation
for war throughout the South, preceding the first
overt act, the firing of the first gun at Charleston,
and the surrender of the purposely weakened and
powerless garrison of Fort Sumter.

The call of Lincoln for 75,000 volunteers for
three months' service, and the sluggish blood of the
North is becoming warmed to a realization of the
fact that we are in the throes of a civil war, and
every town and hamlet in the land is resounding
with the music of fife and drum, the sharp com-
mand of the drillmaster, and the ceaseless tramp
and evolutions of the new recruits.

198 A Dream of the Years

Even now the full meaning of what is before us
is not fully realized, and the assembling of the vari-
ous companies at the rendezvous with their gay uni-
forms and bright trappings seems but a summer
holiday for the young soldier, as he appears on
dress parade, in the presence of admiring friends
and relatives awaiting orders for transportation to
the front.

Day after day brings telegraph news of skir-
mishes here and there, and "On to Richmond" is
the cry of the daily press, until the fatal day in
July, 1861, the birthday of the nation, when the
telegraph brings us the direful tidings of the shame-
ful and inglorious defeat of the army of the Po-
tomac at Bull Run, with the disgraceful panic and
rout which sent our men fleeing in scattered herds
back to the nation's capital.

On tlie same day and concurrent with the news
of the defeat of our army comes the call of Lincoln
for 300,000 men for three years' service. And
now we fully realize the terrible fact that the war
is no longer a holiday outing, with fancy uniforms
made to order, with an accompaniment of a regi-
mental band, a short campaign, and a speedy return
to their homes decked with garlands of victory.

No more spectacular battles, with distant onlook-
ers in their carriages in holiday attire, fresh from
the social swim of life at the capital of the nation.
We know now that it is a stem and relentless con-

A Dream of the Years 199

flict, through summer and winter campaigns for
years to come, with call after call for hundreds of
thousands of troops, depopulating farm, workshop
and counting house throughout the land.

A simple uniform of blue serge blouse and trous-
ers, roughly made and handed out by the thousands,
with army shoes, the grey blanket, with knapsack,
haversack and musket and the regulation round of
ammunition is all that the soldier requires, as he
draws his daily rations from the quartermaster's
department to be cooked by himself and his com-
rades over the hastily constructed campfire. The
shrill music of fife and drum has supplanted the
gorgeously uniformed and expensive regimental
band, as quotas are filled from each state with half-
drilled companies of raw recruits, rapidly gathered
and formed into regiments and transported to the
scene of action.

The hundred battles that follow with the loss of
more than half a million of precious lives and
countless thousands of permanently disabled on one
side alone out of two and a half million of Union
soldiers engaged in the four years of conflict be-
longs to a history of many volumes filled with every
detail of the great Civil War between the South and
the North, ending with the surrender of General
Lee at Appomatox in the spring of 1865.

But who can write the history of the hundreds of
thousands of peaceful and happy homes, suddenly

200 A Dream of the Years

disrupted by the stem call upon husbands, fathers
and brothers to join the ranks in defense of their
country? Who can write the chronicle of homes
desolated and bereft of the comfort and support
of their natural protectors, the blasted hopes of
young lovers whose blissful dreams of future hap-
piness in sweet little homes builded and furnished
in their fond imaginations are ruthlessly swept
aside by the stem call to duty — ^histories written
only in the hearts and memories of the stricken
ones, whose sole duty is to follow daily the monoto-
nous round of household work, and pray hourly
for the safe return of their loved ones?

And out of the mists and shadows of those dark
days there remains to the lone chronicler the
memory of a pair of earnest, truthful brown eyes
through which the soul shone out in steadfast faith
and loyalty to the one love of her life — eyes that
years afterwards, suffering, weary and longing for
rest, closed forever upon the scenes of this world*

The struggle between love and duty is quickly
«nded when simultaneously with the call for the
300,000 there came through the mail the little
*'housewife" with needles, pins and thread, all that
the soldier needed in his crude efforts at repairing
the ravages and mishaps to clothing in camp life,
a dainty creation of her own dear hands, mingled
with her tears, with the pathetic little note — ^^ Tis
little that a woman can do in these perilous days, to

A Dream of the Years 201

keep the home fires burning, with brothers in the
field, and only poor old father to care for. You
know what this little keepsake means, dear. May
God bless and keep you, and bring you back safely
to — Inez."

A half hour later and a new name is added to the

roll of the regiment of Wisconsin volunteers,

in company with many others of the home flock,
some of whom have stood out prominently in the
light that shone on the making of great names ....

"Why, grandfather, do wake up," sounds the voice
of my granddaughter, another little Inez with the
same dark brown eyes looking into mine — "here
you have been sleeping for hours, and you know
we are to take the train in an hour to visit Uncle
Will and the kids."

And thus ends my dream of the years.

THE AFTERWORD

THE tale of Yesterday is told, so far as it
relates to the early history of Western life,
covering, as it does, but a single decade of
those quiet and happy days when our nation was
at peace with the world.* Sixty-five years have
passed since those quiet, uneventful scenes ended
with the last chapter of this chronicle. In that time
the fearful record of war and bloodshed in which
our country has had its full share, with its loss of
hundreds of thousands of the bravest and best youth
of our land is now a part of the history of the world.
And in the early years of the new century may we
not stop a moment comparing the restless, feverish
life of today with the simple annals of the past, and
ask ourselves, "What have we gained in all these
years of toil and strife?"

Granting that our country has enormously in-
creased in area and population, until it now has
withm its borders more than a hundred million
souls, that wealth has accumulated to such colossal
proportions that the fortimes of yesterday which
we counted by the hundreds of thousands are
counted today by the millions and billions — that
in the rapid stride of progress in all the arts and
sciences a new vista has opened before our aston-
ished gaze and the wonderful inventions of but a
few years past have revolutionized the entire civ-

202

The Afterword 203

ilized world — new developments in the realm of
nature, new energies never before dreamed of, en-
tering into all the avenues of daily life.

And still, let us inquire. What have we gained
in the things that make for the real advancement
and betterment of mankind?

In the midst of the strenuous life of today, a
life that is daily adding to its thousands of victims
of heart disease, of paralysis, of nervous prostra-
tion, its appalling record of insanity and suicide,
and all the ills that follow in the wake of an insane
struggle for wealth, the foolish chase after the bau-
ble reputation of the millionaire — again let us in-
quire. Where is our boasted civilization, when
licentiousness is running riot, and crimes of every
description furnish the daily record of our news
items — ^when graft, embezzlement, wholesale brib-
ery and robbery of the people under the name of
"high finance" is the order of the day — ^when the
red flag of anarchy, bom of the scum of the old
world, is brazenly flaunted in our faces; when the
peaceable and inoffensize citizen is murdered at
midday by trained gangs of assassins, and law and
order is derided and defied at our very doors —
when religion, that mystic tie that binds us to God,
is losing its hold upon us, and His sacred Word is
the target of attack on all sides — ^when vice and
licentiousness have crept into literature and the
drama, and the details of all the miserable scandals

204 The Afterword

of the divorce court are daily served up to us with
sensational headlines, and in all our large cities
are shamelessly posted pictures of vice that reek
with the filth and po\son of the sewers of the under-
world — ^vices that brought about the downfall of
ancient Rome?

Turning with horror from this terrible picture
of crimes that greet us on every hand, we may well
ask, Can it be possible that in this fair land of lib-
erty ancient history will repeat itself, and the high
ideals bom of the sacrifice of millions of lives from
the days of Washington down to the later days of
Lincoln, and down to the present day will be swept
aside and overwhelmed by the attacks of that mon-
ster whose name is Legion and whose insidious
poison is threatening the life of our beloved nation?

The voice of millions of good men and women
throughout the length and breadth of the land cry
in thunder tones, "No, no — a thousand times no!"

Then let us take courage and be of good cheer.

Philosophers and statesmen of a past generation,
who have stood like watchmen on the outposts, peer-
ing into the dim light of the future have pointed
with unerring finger to two evils which, if not held
in check by strong laws, would eventually destroy
the Republic.

Those twin evils, Intemperance and Greed, have
gone forward hand in hand unchecked in the many
years of the past, and have grown to giant propor-

The Afterword 205

tions while we have been absorbed in our trivial
pursuit of gain, unmindful of the hastening ills
which were threatening our national life until the
prophecies of the wise men were in danger of ful-
fillment at no distant day.

But still let us take courage, and be of good
cheer.

The conflict between good and evil, between vir-
tue and vice, a conflict which has been but feebly
waged in the past, is assuming a strength Uttle
dreamed of. God is not mocked; the evil days are
being shortened, and out of the clamor and babel
of tongues we can distinctly hear the sound of that
bugle "that shall never call retreat," and all the
forces that make for the good and well-being of
the community are being massed in every city, town
and hamlet in the land. Prohibition of the manu-
facture and sale of spirituous liqjiors has become
the law of the land. The saloon and barroom, which
for past generations has been given a free rein and
full liberty to carry on its nefarious traffic which
has caused the destruction and ruin of our youth
and manhood, has become a thing of the past and,
although the tentacles of the octopus are still show-
ing signs of life in our large cities, the law fastens
its strong grip on the offender whenever detected,
and our courts see to it that swift punishment is
meted out to the criminals who have defied the law.