LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 SANTA CRUZ 
 
MARCUS KING, 
 
 MORMON 
 
 By NEPHI ANDERSON, 
 
 Author of "Added Upon," "The 
 Caftle Builder," Etc. 
 
 Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 THE DESERET NEWS, 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
 1908 
 
S 
 
 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 Joy and sorrow, hope and fear, mingled their con- 
 flicting emotions in the breast of the Reverend Marcus 
 King. He had sat by his writing table all the afternoon; 
 yet not even the outlines of his Sunday sermon were 
 drawn. The sun went down, and the pink in the western 
 sky turned to a fiery red, which streamed in at the large, 
 open window and flooded the room with its warm color. 
 The pale, nearly haggard face of the young man sitting 
 with his chair turned to the light, was bathed in the soft 
 glow. 
 
 Marcus King had reached a turning in his journey of 
 life. That journey had been, up to the present, one of 
 ease, having led him by gentle curves and grades into 
 pleasant places. But now the end of it seemed near; 
 whichever way he turned, a difficulty of some kind faced 
 him. 
 
 It had come about in this way: One day, as Mr. 
 King was sitting in his study looking up matter for a ser- 
 mon, he admitted a man who was canvassing the town 
 with religious tracts and books. Mr. King made it a rule 
 to entertain all such who came to him. "If they have a 
 
4 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 truth to give me," said he, "why God be praised for that; 
 and if they have not, there is no harm done." 
 
 The man who called on him that day was a rare 
 "find," as he proved to be a Mormon, a real, live 
 Mormon such as he had read about, a Mormon missionary 
 come prepared with tracts and books to present his doc- 
 trine to all who would listen. The missionary found Mr. 
 King a wonderful exception to the usual minister of the 
 Gospel. This minister had listened attentively to his 
 message, hzd asked numerous questions, and at last had 
 invited the "Mormon" to call again. This was the begin- 
 ning. Many and long were the talks these two men had 
 after that, until it was well known by the people of 
 Hungerton that the Reverend Marcus King had the con- 
 version of a Mormon missionary in charge. Little did 
 they dream of the true state of things. Little did they 
 think that it was the minister that had been brought face 
 to face with a great truth, one that he could not reason 
 away, try as he would; a mighty truth that stood before 
 him at all times, close his eyes as he would; a truth that 
 he could not simply accept and engraft into his own relig- 
 ion; but a truth so far-reaching and powerful that it 
 seemed to overturn his own and strip him of every vest- 
 ige of divine authority as a servant of God and a minister 
 of his word. In short, that is the reason why joy and 
 sorrow, hope and fear mingled in conflicting chaos in his 
 breast that afternoon, when bis work was neglected, and 
 tomorrow was the Sabbath. Joy was there because he had 
 found a great truth; sorrow, because of his overturned 
 idols; hope, for his soul's future salvation; fear, because 
 of the opinions of those who were dear to him, and whose 
 lives were intimately connected with his own. 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 5 
 
 The brightness faded out of the sky, but how deep 
 and unfathomable was the blue that came in its place 
 behind the elms in the garden! The cool evening breeze 
 swept through the window, and Marcus leaned back in his 
 chair to enjoy it. An open book lay on the window sill, 
 and at the sound of approaching footsteps, he hurriedly 
 closed it and placed it in a drawer; but no one came in, 
 and he leaned his head again on the cushions of his chair 
 and gazed out at the sky. 
 
 He had been a minister of the Gospel scarcely a year, 
 a short year it now seemed to him, filled with many var- 
 ied and pleasant experiences. First, four years at col- 
 lege. Ah, those were happy years! Then the final prep- 
 aration for the ministry which his father so fondly hoped 
 he would follow. It was the one wish of his that his son 
 should take his place as pastor over the flock at Hunger- 
 ton, and now at the early age of twenty-five he had occu- 
 pied his father's place for nearly a year. The chair he 
 sat in had belonged to his father, the writing table had 
 been his father's work bench for nearly twenty years. 
 The fine library, covering nearly two walls of the room, 
 was his father's cellecting; and there above him on the 
 wall hung his portrait, looking down upon him with a 
 smile. What would he say, what would he think of his 
 son, could he know the thoughts that coursed sometimes 
 like fiery steeds through his brain? What would the 
 young man give to be able to talk to his father about 
 these matters, to get counsel from him! 
 
 After all, the religion that was good enough for his 
 father ought to be good enough for him. What had 
 saved his father ought certainly to save him. But then, 
 but then, that was not the point. Would his father not 
 
6 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 have accepted this truth had he been given the chance? 
 Should not truth be accepted anyhow, no matter when, or 
 where, or from whom it came? In former days the con- 
 demnation was that light had come into the world, and 
 men would not receive it. Was it not the same today, 
 yes, in all ages of the world? 
 
 It was at this point of his reflections that Marcus 
 King's most inner conscience brought to his understand- 
 ing the fact that he had received an answer to his 
 prayers. Much of the theology he had learned at college 
 and that which he was supposed to teach, was dim and of 
 doubtful meaning. He had always wished to understand 
 some of those dogmas which he could not unreservedly 
 accept. He saw now that doubt, peace destroying doubt? 
 had been creeping silently into his soul, and to be per- 
 fectly honest with himself, he could now no longer close 
 his eyes to the fact. This new light had thrown its 
 searching rays into recesses of his soul that hitherto had 
 been unseen, and he could deceive himself no longer as to 
 Hs true standing. He had been asking for light, and God 
 had sent it to him. Now he must not reject it. 
 
 Marcus must have fallen asleep in the quiet twilight, 
 for the tired brain ceased its work, and when he regained 
 consciousness, he heard the soft music of the piano in the 
 adjoining room. The door was open and the strains floated 
 in to him. 
 
 The melody was a familiar one, and he knew by it 
 whose fingers so lightly touched the keys. Presently the 
 music ceased, and there appeared in the open doorway 
 the figure of a young woman. She was dressed in white, 
 and held a bunch of great red roses in her hand. 
 
 "Am I trespassing?" she asked. 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 7 
 
 "What a question, Alice! Come in." 
 She entered the room and took a seat by the window. 
 He drew his chair up close to her, pinched her chin, and 
 then kissed her. 
 
 "Your cheeks are full of roses, tonight," said he. 
 "Oh, I'm always out in the garden since the roses 
 came. Environment, you know." 
 
 ' 'It is getting dark. I must have had a nap just be- 
 fore you came." 
 
 "Shall I light the lamp? 1 ' 
 
 "No, don't. Can there be anything more beautiful 
 than this?" 
 
 They moved their chairs closer to the window. There 
 was still a faint blush in the west, and here and there 
 through the trees twinkled the first stars of the night. 
 Neither was very talkative, and they sat for some 
 time looking at the sky. 
 
 "Alice," said he they were close together! and he 
 did not need to speak loudly "you're a pretty good 
 critic. What do you think of this little well, parable, 
 I call it? I thought of using it in illustrating a point 
 tomorrow." 
 
 "Tell it to me," she said. "Go on, I am listen- 
 ing." 
 
 "A certain man had a beautiful pleasure boat, which 
 he launched on the placid waters of a small lake," began 
 Marcus. "With him in this boat he took all his relatives 
 and a great many of his friends. They had with them 
 also everything in the way of convenience and comfort, 
 and life with them was very pleasant indeed; for, strange 
 to say, all this little company thought that the little lake 
 
8 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 on which they sailed back and forth was the only water in 
 the world. 
 
 "But one day a man came to the master of the ves- 
 sel and told him that he and all his company were de- 
 ceived, and that the lake they were on was but a very 
 small part of the water of the earth; that at considerable 
 distance from them was the mighty ocean, teeming with 
 wonders, whose boundless shores were lined with peoples 
 and cities never heard of by them. This stranger took 
 the master and showed him a narrow passage which led 
 out of the lake; as the master looked he saw that it was 
 filled with rocks, and that at places the current was 
 strong and dangerous. The stranger also examined the 
 vessel, pointing out many weak places in it, and advised 
 the master that if he ever contemplated leaving the mill- 
 pond, as he called it, he should get a stronger vessel in 
 which to make the journey. 
 
 "Now all- this had its effect on the master. He saw 
 the littleness of his and his friends' outlook, and he 
 longed for the greater knowledge of the vast ocean. But 
 there were the waves and the rocks and the narrow chan- 
 nel. He doubted very much whether his friends would 
 believe in the stranger's words to the extent of following 
 them. The lake was small, but it was always still, and 
 even if the vessel was deficient in parts,outwardly it looked 
 secure, and would, no doubt, carry them as long as was 
 necessary. 
 
 "And so the master pondered much on the matter, 
 until well, until his lady love came to him and he pro- 
 pounded the question to her of what he should do." 
 
 "And further, until his mother came and called him 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 9 
 
 to dinner," said Alice, as she saw Mrs. King appearing in 
 the doorway with a lamp in her hand. 
 
 "Excuse me, folks, but dinner is ready," said Mrs. 
 King. 
 
 "Yes, mother, we're coming. Let me close the 
 window, Alice; I feel chilly." 
 
 * 'Marcus," said the mother at the table, "you are 
 studying too hard of late. You look quite haggard to- 
 night. Don't you think so, Alice?" 
 
 ' 'I cartainly do. He acts so strangely, too. " 
 
 "Oh, now, don't you folks worry about me. My va- 
 cation next month will bring me around again, won't it, 
 Alice?" But Alice said nothing. He had reference to the 
 little journey which they were to take after their mar- 
 riage. 
 
 After they had arisen from the table, Alice explained 
 to Marcus that she had been sent to get him to visit one 
 of his congregation who was in trouble. 
 
 "Yes," said he, "we'll go together. Alice Merton, 
 you ought to be the shepherd of this flock instead of me. 
 Come, put on your wraps." 
 
 The streets of Hungerton were full of people enjoy- 
 ing the beautiful evening. The gas lamps flickered dimly 
 in the bright moonlight. 
 
 "What do you think of my parable?'' he asked. 
 
 "I don't understand it," she answered. 
 
 "No, it is not a good one. There are better in St. 
 Matthew, especially the one about the merchant finding a 
 pearl of great price, and selling all he had that he might 
 buy it. But whom are we going to see, Alice?" 
 
 "Henry Sandforcl. He's now in jail." 
 
 "What? What' spoor Henry done now?" 
 
10 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 "He has been raving again, and last night he tried 
 to kill the whole family, himself included. It's a pitiable 
 case, and some thought you ought to talk with him. You 
 might do him some good." 
 
 "Poor man!" was all Marcus said. 
 
 The jailor met them on the courthouse steps, and 
 knowing their'errand, he immediately led the way with his 
 lantern. Into the basement and along a corridor they 
 went to where the man was confined. The jailor unlocked 
 the door, and they all went in. By the light of the lan- 
 tern they saw a man sitting on a bed in the corner of the 
 cell. His hands were fettered. He raised his head as 
 they entered. He was a well-dressed, seemingly intelligent 
 man of about fifty. 
 
 "Good evening, Henry," said the minister, advancing 
 to him. 
 
 "Good evening, Mr. King,'* was the calm reply. "If 
 the good jailor will take these pieces of iron from my 
 wrists I will shake hands with you." 
 
 Marcus looked inquiringly at the jailor, who shook 
 his head and said: "Couldn't do it, sir. He's all right 
 now, no doubt, but there's no telling when he might be- 
 come wild again." 
 
 The jailor found a seat for Alice, set the lantern on 
 a table, and then left, saying that he would be close at 
 hand in case he was needed. Marcus sat down on the 
 bedside. 
 
 "My poor friend Henry, so you are in trouble again," 
 said the minister. "Can I do anything for you? What 
 seems to be the difficulty this time?" 
 
 "Mr. King," said the man, "I'm pleased to see you; 
 but it's too bad that you and Miss Merton should have to 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 11 
 
 visit such a place as this there, I know you will say that 
 it is all right, but it isn't for all that. You've no business 
 here, I've no b isiness here. You ought to be whirling in 
 the pleasures of life, and I ought to be dead. This cell is too 
 good for me. The grave is my place, and hell is my 
 home, my natural home, sir. In the eternal fitness of 
 things I was meant to dwell there. The great God who 
 created me, who made the universe out of nothing, sir, 
 has a right to say where I belong. Hell is my natural 
 abode, and Satan is my master; and it's all for the 
 pleasure of God and the manifestation of His glory.'' 
 
 The two shuddered at his words. 
 
 "My dear friend, you are mistaken," said Marcus. 
 "God is not such a being as you imagine. 'God is love/ 
 Think of what that means. He is not willing that any 
 should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 
 
 "Repentance, did you say? What does that mean to 
 me? To you and your fair lady it may mean something, 
 but to me it has no significance. Listen, sir, listen: 'By 
 the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, 
 some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting 
 life, and others fore- ordained to everlasting death.' I am 
 one of the latter." 
 
 "No, friend, you are not." 
 
 "I tell you I am. How do you know I am not? How 
 can anyone know but one's self? I tell you I am one of 
 the damned, and I can't help myself. And I'll tell you 
 another thing, friend King, and you can preach it tomor- 
 row: This heritage of mine I have transmitted to my chil- 
 dren. They are also heirs of damnation and non-elect 
 children; and should they live and beget children, this 
 heritage will also go to them. But I'll stop it all, sir; I'll 
 
12 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 put an end to it. I and mine shall perish off the face of 
 the earth,and we'll see whether the number of the damned 
 can neither be increased nor diminished!" 
 
 "Let us go, Marcus," said Alice, "I can stand it no 
 longer." 
 
 "He is raving mad. We can do no good. I am too 
 late, too late!" and there was a tremble in Marcus' voice 
 as he said it. 
 
 From the jail they went to the unfortunate man's 
 family. The wife was in the greatest distress. She told 
 them how her husband had brooded for a long time on 
 religious questions, and how at last he had used violence 
 against them. "Last night was the worst," she said. 
 "When he came home from work, he would have no sup- 
 per, but sat glaring like a madman at us all. Suddenly, 
 he sprang to his feet, grasped the bread knife, and 
 shouted, Til begin with the youngest!' and made a dash 
 for the baby. In the tumult which followed, the neigh- 
 bors came in, and he was prevented from doing any seri- 
 ous harm; but it was all so awful!" 
 
 Marcus could say but little, either to the distracted 
 mother or to Alice as they walked home that night. The 
 only remark about Henry Sanford was, that he had found 
 a rotten plank in the imaginative pleasure boat, and not 
 knowing how to avert the expected disaster, it had turned 
 his mind; but Alice failed to get the meaning of the fig- 
 ure, as she had that of the parable. 
 
 The night following the visit to the jail was passed 
 restlessly by Marcus King. He was up with the first 
 gray light in the east, and out in the woods above the 
 town of Hungerton. He loved the freedom and quiet of 
 the forest, besides it was better than to muse in the 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMOM. 13 
 
 close library at home. It would not do to undermine his 
 health. With loss of bodily strength might come weak- 
 ness of spiritual power, and he might be called upon any 
 day now to exercise that to its ntmost capacity. The 
 inevitable was before him. He was sure of that. He 
 would have to resign his pastorate, and that at no distant 
 day; but if he would have the power to sell all he had for 
 the pearl he had found, why, that was a thing God only 
 knew. 
 
 The birds know the value of the morning. Then they 
 are always out in full force, and that morning they 
 greeted the early visitor with a wild chorus of melody; 
 and Marcits envied the happy little hearts, so free from 
 care and responsibility. Seated at last on a mossy rock, 
 Marcus watched the sun come up. Was his own sun ris- 
 ing or setting? Then he thought of his friend Henry 
 Sanford, confined in a dismal cell, his limbs bound with 
 fetters; worst of all, he was deprived of that most pre- 
 cious of gifts, his reason. What had brought him to such 
 a state? Reasoning on religion, his own religion, the 
 religion which he had been expounding to his congrega- 
 tion Sabbath after Sabbath. The demented man had 
 repeated one of the articles of the Westminster Confes- 
 sion, which was their articles of faith and rule of prac- 
 tice. Some men were predestined to everlasting life, 
 and others to everlasting death, "and their number is so 
 certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or 
 diminished." If that be true, why preach any longer? 
 Of what use were efforts to bring souls unto Christ? The 
 whole number one way or the other had been irrevocably 
 fixed. It was the height of folly for him or any other 
 preacher to try to overturn the unalterable decree of the 
 
14 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 Almighty. There was much reason in Henry Sanford's 
 unreasonable mind. 
 
 It was an abominable doctrine, and who could tell 
 what misery and pain of spirit it had brought to the 
 human race! Henry Sanford was an example, and was 
 not he, Marcus King the preacher, answerable in part for 
 his condition? 
 
 Marcus climbed further up the hill, and from a clear- 
 ing in the forest he saw the town at his feet. It was a 
 beautiful place, and not the least fair was his own home 
 and the church wherein he was to preach that very day. 
 The vines had climbed up over the windows, protecting 
 them from the hot summer sun. The flower beds in the 
 lawn at the side of the church showed the skill of the 
 gardener in the diamonds and circles and crosses. The 
 broad, slow-flowing river half encircled the town and then 
 disappeared behind the green hills. 
 
 And here he was, the Reverend Marcus King, think- 
 ing seriously of forsaking all this and becoming a Mor- 
 mon. Think of it, a Mormon! One of a despised, hated 
 and ridiculed sect- Was it worth it? And there was 
 Alice, Alice who loved him, and whom he loved. But she 
 was a good, pure, sensible girl. He would explain it all to 
 her, and she would not forsake him. They were to be 
 married next month. With her as his wife, the passage 
 through the rocky channel could be borne. If all others 
 forsook him, surely she would not. Thus he reasoned 
 until the church bells rang up from below and called him 
 back to the present. Once more he would preach. One 
 Sabbath more he would parform his accustomed duty, and 
 that would be the end. So he walked home with that 
 purpose fixed. 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 15 
 
 CHAPTER 2. 
 
 The Mormon missionary, Elder James, continued to 
 be a frequent visitor at the home of the Reverend Marcus 
 King. An intimate friendship had grown up between 
 them, and they already treated each other as brothers. 
 Elder James was a plain, simple man, a little older than 
 Marcus, not learned in the schools, but thoroughly con- 
 versant with the scriptures. His language was often 
 faulty, when measured by the rules of grammar. His 
 coat was not strictly of the ministerial cut; and alto- 
 gether his manner was awkward and smattered consider- 
 ably of the backwoods. 
 
 One evening during the week following the Sunday 
 last mentioned, Elder James was at the clergyman's resi- 
 dence. They had been considering some Gospel subjects, 
 and the missionary had been relating some of his exper- 
 iences on the wild plains of the West. 
 
 "Mr. King," said the Elder, "you may wonder why 
 such an uneducated, unpolished man as I should be sent 
 out to preach the Gospel; but the truth is that we all go 
 as the call finds us, both the learned and the unlearned 
 I mean in regard to worldly wisdom. As for me, I have 
 had very little chance for schooling. You know some of 
 our history in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. I, with my par- 
 ents, have been through it all, and you can understand what 
 chances I could have amid continuous mobbings and driv- 
 ings and confusion; and then, the last few years have 
 been spent in the heart of the great American desert, 
 trying to force bread from a barren waste. My face is 
 yet tanned from exposure, and my hands have not yet lost 
 
16 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 their callousness. But for all that, my friend, we have 
 the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ, and what is more, divine 
 authority to teach it." 
 
 "I say amen to that," replied Marcus. He went to 
 the table, and picking up a small volume, opened it and 
 said: k 'Would you like to know what I had to do to become 
 a minister? what all who preach in our church must do, 
 before they can become ministers? Well, here it is, stated 
 plainly in our rules of discipline. First, we must be grad- 
 uates of some college; second, take a two years' course in 
 divinity; then pass a critical examination; and at last be 
 taken for a time on trial; and all this, because as it here 
 reads, it is highly reproachful to religion, and dangerous 
 to the church to entrust the ministry to weak and ignor- 
 ant man/ What do you think of that?" 
 
 * 'I think that 'God hath chosen the foolish things of 
 the earth to confound the wise,' even as he did in days of 
 old when he called simple fishermen directly from their 
 nets to be ministers of the Gospel. Mind you, I do not 
 depreciate an education. A scholarly man, if he would 
 let God use him, would certainly be a shining shaft in 
 God's hand; but it has been the experience of all time that 
 the Almighty has worked with the weak things of the 
 world. They are more pliable in his hand. Not that the 
 servants of the Lord will always remain weak, though they 
 must remain humble. 
 
 "To change the subject," said Marcus, "how would 
 you like to preach in the church next Sunday?" 
 
 "I would like nothing better, providing it is with 
 everybody's consent." 
 
 'Well, I don't know about that. I would have to 
 take the responsibility. I am going to resign. I can't 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 17 
 
 stand this double dealing any longer; but I would like to 
 hear you explain your principles in your simple way to my 
 congregation, preach a sermon like the one you gave at 
 the school house in Willow the other evening. How would 
 it do, if, after I make my explanations and reasons for my 
 action, I call upon you to explain the first principles?" 
 
 "No; it would be taking undue advantage of the peo- 
 ple. We have had meetings here in your town, we have 
 distributed tracts to every house that would receive one. 
 We have given them every opportunity. Your plan would 
 only bring on opposition." 
 
 "Yes; I ran see it. I had, friend James, made up 
 my mind to preach no more, but I must give my reasons 
 for resigning, anc 1 I'm going to do it next Sunday." 
 
 "You have considered well the step you are taking? 
 You know the consequences?" 
 
 "Yes, to both your questions. I have been three 
 months now thinking about it. I am going to test your 
 promise. 'For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain 
 the whole world, and lose his own soul?' As for the con- 
 sequence, I know my act will make a sensation, but I 
 cannot help that. I must follow the light as God reveals 
 it to me. God must help me in the result. Brother, 
 pray for me that I may have strength to go through the 
 ordeal." 
 
 Could Marcus King have taken two others with him, 
 he would cheerfully have faced the world. One of these 
 was his mother and the other was Alice Merton. He had 
 carefully introduced the new doctrines to them both, 
 placing tracts and books in their hands to read; but usually 
 they had treated them as trifling things not to be taken 
 seriously. His mother had received the Mormon Elder 
 
18 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 kindly at first, but when his visits continued and Marcus 
 had him to dinner nearly every day, she had objected. 
 
 "I don't want him here,'' she had said with some 
 warmth. "It is the talk of the town already, that you, 
 Marcus, who should be a defender of the people against 
 impostors and wicked men, take into your very home a 
 member of the vile Mormon sect. What is it coming to? 
 Are w 3 to be disgraced? Has he won. you over to his per- 
 nicious faith?'' 
 
 Marcus had tried to explain matters, but when she 
 found that he was actually in sympathy with the Mormon, 
 and that he defended him, she had been overcome 
 with emotion. The same scene had been repeated again 
 and again until Marcus plainly saw that further reasonings 
 would be useless. 
 
 As for Alice Merton, Marcus loved her as he had 
 loved no other woman, but he had decided what to choose 
 between love and duty. ' 'Seek ye first the kingdom of 
 God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be 
 added unto you," was a promise which he meant to prove. 
 He had not talked much with her on his changed views; 
 and she, seemingly, did not get any meaning from the 
 little figures of speech which he had used. She had partly 
 assented to some of the views expressed in the pamphlets 
 he had given her, but the fact that they had come from a 
 source so ' 'foul as Mormonism' ' was enough to make them 
 of no consequence. 
 
 One day when they had been out sailing on the river, 
 he had asked her if she would have loved him just the 
 same had he not been a preacher, but just a common 
 laborer, say, for example, a mason or a farmer. She had 
 laughed heartily at the question, and had taken her 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 19 
 
 sailor hat and had fanned his red face. He had pressed 
 her for an answer, and she had said, how could she know. 
 Then, doubtless, they never would have met. 
 
 "But suppose I should now resign my pastorate and 
 turn farmer, a real farmer I mean, to wear overalls and 
 work in the fields, would you marry me next month as 
 you have promised?" He had not smiled, but seemed to 
 mean what he said, and the tears had come into the blue 
 eyes of Alice. 
 
 "You are cruel," she had said, 
 
 "Forgive me if you think so, Alice; but I ask you 
 the question in all earnestness. It may come to that yet. 
 We know not what life has before us. My Alice loves 
 me and will be mine, whatever befalls, will she not?" 
 And she had yielded her head into his arm, and had whis- 
 pered "Yes." 
 
 On Friday afternoon Marcus had finished the outlines 
 of what he should say the next Sabbath. He could not 
 bring himself to write it out in full. He had thought to 
 speak to various leading members of his congregation 
 about the step he was to take, so that it would not be 
 such a surprise; but that might bring on an opposition 
 that would prevent him from saying anything, and he 
 wanted to make the explanation to the whole congrega- 
 tion. So he said not a word, not even to his brethren in 
 the church. 
 
 That Friday evening he called on Alice. The time 
 was opportune. Mr. Merton was away on business, and 
 Mrs. Merton had retired with a headache. They would 
 be alone, and Marcus could speak the plain truth undis- 
 turbed. Alice looked her best. The dress of soft white, 
 the roses in her bosom and hair, the quiet, saddened 
 
20 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 smile on the fair face all this beauty went to Marcus 
 with a force that made his heart throb *ith pain. 
 
 Marcus could not hide his emotion, try as he would. 
 
 "What is the matter?" she asked, as he took her 
 hands. They sat on the sofa, and he looked into her face 
 for a long time. Then he said: 
 
 "Alice, I am going to resign my pastorate next Sun- 
 day." 
 
 She said nothing, but her hands trembled. 
 
 ' 'I am going to be plain Mr. King. Will that make 
 any difference in your love?" 
 
 "No; if that is all. I will love Farmer Marcus King 
 the same as the Reverend Marcus King. My word and 
 promise is the same." 
 
 "But, darling, you suspect more than that. You can 
 guess by this time why I am compelled to resign. '' 
 
 "What should I know? You have never told me." 
 
 "I have found that my position is a false one. My 
 authority as a servant of God is an assumed one; the doc- 
 trines I have been teaching, that is some of them, are not 
 true. God has opened my eyes to a greater light, and 
 Alice, my darling, I am compelled to accept that," 
 
 "And that light is Mormonism?" said Alice, whose 
 face was ashen gray. 
 
 "Yes; it is known by that name, but in truth, it is 
 the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ. Listen, Alice, oh, listen 
 t ome ," she had turned away her head "do not con- 
 demn me; do not reject the light. We will pray God 
 together. He will open your eyes as He has mine. We 
 will begin our new life together, stand by each other 
 through the trials that will come. 0, Alice, you cannot 
 conceive of the beauty and the grandeur this new light 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 21 
 
 has opened up to me, will open up to you, my darling. 
 You may not fully understand it now, but you will Alice, 
 I cannot go out in the cold world without you." 
 
 She did not cry out, she did not weep; her love had 
 changed to fierce resentfulness; her tears had turned to 
 ice. 
 
 ' 'Ah, yes; I see it all now; you are going to join the 
 Mormons." 
 
 "I know that is a harsh and evil-sounding word, but 
 if you could only understand the truth, Alice, it would 
 lose that aspect." 
 
 ''I hate the word, Marcus. The brand of the devil 
 clings to it. I shrink from it as I do from perdition. Do 
 not name it again!" 
 
 Then is it all over between us, Alice? you love me no 
 longer? You will not be my wife?" 
 
 ' 'Marcus King, a Mormon, I cannot, will not marry. 
 Be any other honest thing on earth and I will hold good 
 my promise. Descend to the lowest depth of the com- 
 moner, be a farmer, a hod carrier, and I will be true to 
 you, but but th'at other never Marcus, never! 1 ' 
 
 He saw that it was useless. His hope was gone; and 
 yet he loved her, loved her more than ever. They had 
 both arisen, and now they stood facing each other. 
 
 Then a power seemed to come to him, a power not of 
 human origin. He took her hands again, and she made 
 no resistance. He looked steadily into her eyes, and as 
 he gazed they softened. Tears slowly filled them, and the 
 whole marble form relaxed. He clasped her in his arms, 
 and he was hardly conscious of what he said : 
 
 "Darling, darling, you are mine, my very own, for 
 
22 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 time and for eternity. None but I can own you. Re- 
 member that, Alice, remember it. You are mine!" 
 
 He kissed her again and again, then gently laying 
 her on the sofa, he passed from theroom. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Rev. Marcus King's congregation was the larg- 
 est in the town of Hungerton. Lately it had been unusu- 
 ally large, owing, as some said, to his peculiar preaching; 
 so that Sabbath when he meant to resign his position, 
 Marcus found many people in attendance. 
 
 It was a beautiful day, and quite cool. The church 
 and its surroundings looked their best. The people smiled 
 and greeted each other, and were happy. Marcus came 
 in exactly at the time to begin. The usual forms of song 
 and prayer were completed, and Marcus stepped up to the 
 pulpit. The congregation were as still as death when 
 they saw their pastor pale and seemingly aged in a week. 
 He had no Bible, no manuscript, only a slip of paper be- 
 fore him. His voice was low and full of emotion, as he 
 began to speak: 
 
 ' 'My friends, for twenty years did my father oc- 
 cupy this place, and expounded, with the light that God 
 gave him, the Scriptures of His word. I have filled the 
 position now nearly a year, and I hope I shall not be 
 recreant to any trust by the action I shall take before 
 you this day. Now, in the presence of you, my friends, 
 I informally resign my position as your spiritual guide 
 and advisor. Later in the day I shall formally hand my 
 resignation to the elders of the church." 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 23 
 
 A hum of surprise swept through the congregation. 
 A load seemed lifted from the shoulders of Marcus King. 
 Color came back to his face, and he spoke again with a 
 clear, ringing voice : 
 
 "My friends, you are surprised, of course; and I hope 
 you will pardon me for not sparing you this ordeal. I 
 wish to explain to you why I have taken this step, why I 
 have thought it necessary to divest myself of the ministe- 
 rial office, and I hope you, my friends, will bear with me 
 in my short explanations. I will offend some of you; but 
 that I cannot help. I have a position to defend, I have 
 arguments to give, but I cannot go into detail at this 
 time. If any of you desire further talk with me on any 
 points I advance today, I shall be pleased to meet you at 
 any time. 
 
 ' 'First, then, I have come to this conclusion, that 
 there has been and is today a universal apostasy from the 
 pure Gospel of Christ. This falling away reaches to all 
 sects and denominations of the Christian religion, our own 
 being no exception. 
 
 "This conclusion has been arrived at by carefully con- 
 sidering the following facts: The Scriptures plainly pre- 
 dict such a falling away. Even as early as Christ's time, 
 'The kingdom of heaven suffered violence, and the violent 
 took it by force.' The early persecutors of the church 
 killed the apostles and propehts, and none were appointed 
 in their place. The pagans of Greece and Rome ingrafted 
 their rites aud doctrines onto the pure vine. This actual 
 change in the simple ordinances of the Gospel to conform 
 to pagan ceremonies can be traced historically. Shortly 
 after the world was in spiritual darkness for over eight 
 hundred years. As the Church of England puts it: 'Laity 
 
^4 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 and clergy, learned and unlearned, all ages and sects and 
 degrees have been drowned in abominable idolatry.' The 
 Reformation of Luther and Calvin did not bring back the 
 pure Gospel of Jesus. None of the Reformers claimed 
 any authority from heaven to this effect. They simply 
 broke the power of Rome. The fruits of all churches to- 
 day are not what they were in primitive times. Faith 
 apparently has lost its power to save. 
 
 "So much for a general statement. Now I wish to 
 justify myself by pointing out what I consider errors in 
 our own confession of faith. I shall take them in their 
 order as they come in this book," and he reached out and 
 opened a small volume. 
 
 "Regarding the Scripture, this book says: 'The 
 whole council of God concerning all things necessary for 
 His own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either 
 expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary 
 consequence may be deducted from it; unto which noth- 
 ing is at any time to be added whether by new revelation 
 of the Spirit or traditions of men.' This statement virtu- 
 ally closes the mouth of God. What is man that he 
 should dictate to the Almighty? 
 
 "I can no longer believe that God is a being without 
 body, parts or passions, as this confession teaches, neither 
 that the Godhead is 'three persons of one substance,' 
 because that is a contradiction of terms. 
 
 "The passage on predestination is familiar to you all. 
 I shall not read it. I believe the doctrine to be false in 
 the sense here stated. I have come to see that it is an 
 awful thing to say that some men are fore- ordained to 
 hell, and that they cannot help themselves. I do not 
 believe that God takes pleasure in electing some to ever- 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 25 
 
 lasting punishment; I do not think such an act 
 wou^d manifest any of His glory. The doctrine annihilates 
 the agency of man, and destroys the divine right of 
 choice. My friends, if you wish to see a practical work- 
 ing of this teaching, go visit our dear friend Henry San- 
 ford, in Hunger! on jail. 
 
 "I cannot believe that God mide the earth from 
 nothing. Truth is reason, and reason teaches me differ- 
 ently. 
 
 "I do not now believe in the total depravity of the 
 human race. We are the children of God. The offspring 
 of an all-good parent cannot be wholly inclined to evil 
 as this creed teaches. 
 
 "I have ceased to believe in this book's teachings of 
 the calling and election of men, and especially of infants. 
 Believing, as I do, that men have the freedom to choose 
 good or evil, it naturally follows that I must believe that 
 man can fall from grace. 
 
 "This confession declares that baptism is not necessary 
 to salvation; still it claims that this sacrament is the door 
 into the church. This is inconsistent. 
 
 "I shall read the passage about synods and councils: 
 'All synods and councils since the Apostles' time, * * * 
 may have erred; therefore they are not to be made the 
 rule of faith and practice.' I understand scripture to be 
 made when holy men speak or write under the influence 
 of the Holy Ghost. We must come to one of two conclu- 
 sions regarding synods and councils: either the men who 
 composed them were not in possession of the Holy Ghost, 
 or else this Divine Comforter has lost its power. I cannot 
 believe the latter. 
 
 "I do not believe in the literal hell-fire here spoken of. 
 
26 MARCUS KL\ T G, MORMON. 
 
 4 'Our system of religion makes no provisions for the 
 salvation of the heathen. I think it lacks in that. 
 
 "Our church has not the organization of the first 
 church, with Prophets, Apostles, etc. 
 
 "Our church bars simple men from preaching the 
 Gospel. Christ chose His ministers from the poor and 
 unlearned. And at last, to put an end to this painful array, 
 neither I, nor my fellow ministers, have been called of 
 God as was Aaron, therefore I have no authority to preach 
 the Gospel and to administarin its saving ordinances." 
 
 At this point some members of the congregation 
 passed out. 
 
 "My friends, I hope you will bear with me a few min- 
 utes longer. By what I have said, you may now think I 
 have become a rank infidel. That is not so. I believe in 
 the Scriptures and in the power of God to save, more 
 than ever. And now, if I have taken away from 
 any of you the staff which has supported you, I wish to 
 give you a stronger, a better one. I do not believe that 
 a man should tear down another's house, unless he has a 
 better one into which to invite him. 
 
 ' 'My dear friends, I have found that which the mer- 
 chant In the parable sold all he had to purchase. I am 
 also selling all I own to secure this prize. 1 wish to tell 
 you of it, that as many of you as desire may also sell and 
 buy. 
 
 "I bear my testimony that God lives, that He has 
 again spoken from the heavens and restored the Gospel in 
 its purity, and that the authority to administer in the things 
 of God has again been given to men in the flesh. The 
 Gospel is now being preached. Its first principles are 
 now, as formerly, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repent- 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 27 
 
 ance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, lay- 
 ing on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. The true 
 Church of Christ has been again organized, with Apostles, 
 Prophets and all the gifts and blessings which existed in 
 the Church during Christ's and the Apostles' time. " 
 
 A man arose in the congregation and asked the priv- 
 ilege of putting a question to the pastor, which was 
 granted. 
 
 ' 'This church you have been talking about, Mr. King, 
 is it the Mormon Church? Is it the Mormons you have 
 reference to as receiving this new revelation?" 
 
 "Let me explain that," began the preacher, but the 
 'questioner cut him short with: 
 
 "Can you not answer me, yes or no?" 
 
 "Yes; I have reference to the Church of Jesus Christ 
 of Latter-day Saints, commonly known . as the Mormon 
 Church." 
 
 "I have had enough," said the man, with a wave of 
 his hand to the congregation, half of whom arose with 
 him and left the Church. Marcus said not a word, but 
 stood in the pulpit until the last one who had any desire 
 to leave had done so. Then he continued: 
 
 "I expected nothing else. Had you stoned me in 
 this pulpit, I should not have been surprised. We are 
 steeped in prejudice against that about which evil is 
 spoken, but about which we know nothing. We are not 
 willing to prove all things and hold fast to that which is 
 good, as Paul advised. The word Mormon, my friend, 
 has about the same sound to our ears as the word Naza- 
 rene had to the Jews. But I wish to tell you again be- 
 fore I close that Mormonism is the truth. It will fill that 
 void in your breast; it will answer your questions regard- 
 
28 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 ing life and death; it will give you clear conceptions of 
 God; it will clear up many mysteries in the Scriptures; it 
 will satisfy your soul; it will fill you with joy unspeakable. 
 I can say no more. Investigate for yourselves; seek the 
 Lord on the matter. God bless you all. Amen. We 
 shall sing the doxology." 
 
 A very few sang. Marcus uttered a short prayer, 
 and the services were over. Not one stopped to shake 
 hands with the minister. One or two lingered as if they 
 would like to say something, but they, too, walked slowly 
 away. Marcus gathered a few books and walked out. 
 The deacon said nothing to him, but solemnly locked 
 the doors. Marcus picked a flower from a heart-shaped 
 bed on the lawn, softly closed the iron gate, and went 
 home. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Thus it came about that Marcus King got rid of his 
 titles of learning and supposed divinity and became plain 
 Marcus King, Mormon; and to tell the truth, he was 
 heartily glad to cast off the burden he had been carrying 
 these many months. He felt as might the fabled Atlas, 
 when he rolled the world from his o#n shoulders on to 
 those of Hercules. His true position before God and the 
 world was now clear; and even if he stood alone, as he 
 had every reason to believe, still it was infinitely better 
 than to continue to play the hypocrite. He might have 
 kept his position, continued to "teach for doctrine the 
 commandments of men" and kept the good- will and re- 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 29 
 
 spect of his friends, even though he did not believe in 
 what he preached, but that he could not do. Others 
 might have done it, many do it, but he could not. 
 
 Neither Alice nor his mother had been at church to 
 hear his last sermon. His action had been a terrible 
 blow to both of them. All the night following, his mother 
 had paced her room, and the efforts of Marcus to pacify 
 her acted only as fuel to the flame of anger and mortifi- 
 cation. Early next morning she came into the library 
 where Marcus had spent the night. She was partially 
 composed, but it was with great effort that she spoke. 
 
 "I thought that I had a son who would be an honor to 
 his dead father," she began; "but I now understand dif- 
 ferent. Why have you brought ignominy on your par- 
 ents, both the living and the dead?" 
 
 ' 'Mother, as I have said before, I have done nothing 
 shameful it is no disgrace to do one's duty as God gives 
 one the light. I know father, and I think that he. would 
 have done the same had he been in my position." 
 
 "And what will you do now?" 
 
 "I don't know, mother." 
 
 "I suppose you will go to Utah?" 
 
 "Most likely, though that is not definite." 
 
 "And how are you going?" 
 
 "Well, mother, if I go, it will have to be like the 
 rest of the Saints, across the Western Plains in a wagon 
 or cart." 
 
 "Yes, that's it. If you are not killed by Indians or 
 the hardships of the journey, you will have to live a life of 
 degradation among the Mormons. And here I shall be 
 alone. 0, Marcus, don't go! Ycu will kill me, you will 
 kill me!" 
 
30 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 She broke down and sobbed, and he paced back and 
 forth by her. 
 
 * 'Mother, do not try to persuade me to turn back 
 now. I cannot do it. I tell you that some day you will 
 see the need of this step. You may not see it now, but 
 then you will bless me for it." 
 
 To this scene were added many like it between moth- 
 er and son, until both saw that no good came from them. 
 
 The following Monday, the wonderful scene in the 
 church of the Rev. Marcus King was the talk of the whole 
 town. It was so unexpected, so new, and so awful that 
 a minister of the Gospel should from the pulpit say such 
 things against the church, and then come out in favor of 
 Mormonism! Nothing in the history of the town had ever 
 made such a stir. Groups of men stood on the street cor- 
 ners ' and talked about it. The women went to their 
 neighbors to tell and hear. The clerk forgot his customer 
 in his eagerness to listen to the story. The carpenter 
 sat on his bench, the blacksmith's fire went out, the 
 baker's bread was burned, the seamstress' needle was stuck 
 in the dress: Hungerton was all agog. 
 
 Marcus did nut venture out that day, but towards 
 evening he walked down to the river, and followed a street 
 leading along the stream. 
 
 A few people who recognized him in the twilight, 
 stared at him blankly. On the outskirts of the town 
 Marcus met Elder James, and together they walked along 
 the country road. They had much to talk about. 
 
 "I congratulate you, Mr. King," said the elder. "I 
 heard your sermon yesterday." 
 
 "What! were you there?" 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 31 
 
 "Yes; I sat in the farther corner most of the time, 
 and then got away without attracting much notice." 
 
 "I think you had better remain quiet for a time. The 
 people are very much worked up, and they lay the blame 
 on you, you know." 
 
 "I think I shall leave town tomorrow for a few days, 
 at least. We have a meeting this evening, a private one, 
 just a few Saints and friends whom we can trust. Will 
 you come?" 
 
 He would like nothing better; so after walking down 
 the road some distance, they retraced their steps and 
 entered a small dwelling. A few had already gathered. 
 Some were strange to Marcus, while three were members 
 of his former congregation. They were somewhat sur- 
 prised to see him, but he followed Elder James' example 
 and pressed them all by the hand. They all chatted freely 
 together but in a subdued tone, as word had been brought 
 that a mob would surely break up any meeting the Mor- 
 mons might hold. Marcus saw that most of those 
 present were of the poorer working class. He could not 
 help contrasting his own position that evening with the 
 one he had held but yesterday, 
 
 The meeting was a very informal affair. Singing 
 was dispensed with, but there was an opening prayer. 
 Then Elder James talked for a few moments, and he was 
 f ullowed by some members of the congregation who bore 
 their testimonies to what they had experienced. One 
 young woman, Eliza Dixon by name, stated that she had 
 been to the church the day before and had heard Mr. 
 King. She had always believed what he said about the 
 generally accepted Christian doctrines, and when he told 
 of new revelation and the restoration of the Gospel, she 
 
32 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 was glad because that was what she had been looking 
 for. Even that morning she had sought out a friend 
 whom she knew was acquainted with the Mormon mission- 
 ary. She had been directed to Elder James, and they 
 had had a long talk. She was ready for baptism, she 
 said. 
 
 One or two others followed in the same strain, and 
 the elder asked Marcus if he desired to speak. At first 
 he paid no, but afterwards arose and expressed his plea- 
 sure in the meeting, It reminded him, he said, of what 
 he had read of the primitive Christians when they met in 
 secret places for fear of their persecutors. He had found 
 the truth, and he thanked God for it. If his words yes- 
 terday had caused one soul to come to the same knowl- 
 edge, he had been amply repaid for the effort. 
 
 After the meeting, a little band of men and women, 
 with bundles of clothes in their hands, went silently down 
 to the river. There, in the shadow of the trees, Elder 
 James took them, one at a time, down into the water and 
 baptized them. 
 
 A few days afterwards Marcus was visited by a 
 delegation of ministers. They came to labor with him 
 and show him the error of his ways; kindly at first; but 
 when he met their arguments boldly, they changed their 
 manner to one of ridicule. They rehearsed to him the 
 usual tales about Joseph Smith and the atrocious Mi r- 
 mons, at all of which Marcus only smiled. The confer- 
 ence ended very unsatisfactorily, a3 far as the ministers 
 were concerned. 
 
 Weeks passed. Marcus learned that Alice Merton 
 had gone to visit friends in another state, to be absent 
 all summer, so he heard no more of her. He came to no 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 33 
 
 better understanding with his mother, and she had now 
 no great objection to his leaving. Marcus and Elder 
 James often counseled together. They both saw that it 
 was useless for Marcus to stay where he was any longer. 
 His influence was gone. He was now an outcast so far as 
 Hungerton society was concerned. Marcus also got the 
 spirit of gathering; he also knew that his future lay with 
 the Latter-day Saints. From one view point, his upward 
 career in the world had suddenly ceased, and he had been 
 precipitated to the bottom. He must begin life anew, 
 and begin at the bottom. The sooner he began the bet- 
 ter; so it was good-bye to Hungerton and all its familiar 
 scenes. There was an attraction westward, to the new 
 Zion arising from out the great American desert, and 
 Marcus made all preparation for the journey. 
 
 On the train which bore him westward Marcus met 
 an old college acquaintance, who was going on a vacation 
 trip to his old home in Missouri before he settled down to 
 his work. 
 
 "You see," explained his friend, "I had a pretty fair 
 position where I have been, but there wasn't enough 
 salary in it. A person can't live on fifteen hundred 
 a year and keep up appearances, you know. So I got a 
 call from an adjoining church with a salary of two thou- 
 sand dollars, and of course I accepted. I am going to 
 arrange for my house, and you must come and see me 
 when I get settled." 
 
 "I fear I shall not be able you haven't heard no, 
 of course you haven't; but I'm not a minister now; I've 
 given it up I have resigned." 
 
 "Why, what's the matter, Mark?" 
 
 "Well, you know we used to have great times dis- 
 
34 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 cussing theology at school. You also know that we didn't 
 believe half that was taught us. Still you and I and hun- 
 dreds of others said nothing about our honest opinions, 
 but sold our consciences for a salary. Some got a thou- 
 sand, some fifteen hundred, and some more. I've quit 
 it." 
 
 His friend looked surpriseJ, and hardly knew what 
 to say. 
 
 "You're startled, of course, and shocked; but I'm 
 not sorry; what I have lost in worldly things I have 
 gained in heavenly. You don't understand that; of 
 course not." Whereupon Marcus told him the whole his- 
 tory of the past three months. 
 
 His reverend friend leaned back in the car seat and 
 said nothing. He seemed shocked beyond utterance. 
 Marcus went on explaining to him the principles of Mor- 
 monism, and he was not interrupted. Only once did he 
 say quietly; 
 
 "Friend Marcus, all that you have been saying about 
 the 'principles of the Gospel' is all right enough in its 
 place, but you know that we have placed too much em- 
 phasis on creeds and dogmas. A true and living faith in 
 Christ, a love of Christ, is, after all, the only essential. 
 You surely could have taught that and kept your posi- 
 tion. " 
 
 "Yes, I know that theologians are drifting into the 
 belief that articles of faith, creeds and doctrinal prin- 
 ciples have nothing to do with Christ and the church; 
 but I differ. Creeds are necessary, foundation principles 
 are necessary. Christ taught them. Principles are the 
 forerunners of practice. When creeds and doctrines are 
 wrong, the fruits they bear are evil. Teach people cor- 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 35 
 
 rect principles and their lives will be all right, said Joseph 
 Smith; and that doctrine is sound." 
 
 "And so you are going to Utah?" asked his friend 
 after a pause. 
 
 "I'm going to try." 
 
 "Well, Marcus, I can only hope that you'll get out of 
 this alive. I don't know much about the Mormons, but 
 father does. He helped to rid Missouri of them. My 
 dear friend, I pity you." 
 
 "Spare your tears, old boy. You may need them 
 in your next sermon, especially if you speak of the dam- 
 nation of the heathen, or the final state of l-he unregener- 
 ated." 
 
 That ended the talk. Marcus soon changed cars and 
 his friend went on his own way. 
 
 Marcus' destination was away out on the prairies of 
 the west, where he would meet Elder James and prepare 
 for the trip across the Plains to Salt Lake City. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 It was the latter part of July when he reached Iowa 
 City, which was then the western terminus of the railroad 
 and the fitting-out point. Of all the strange scenes which 
 he had witnessed thus far, that at Iowa City was the 
 most interesting and wonderful. Here for the first time 
 he met a large number of his co-religionists. At first 
 he experienced a shock to his feelings at sight of their 
 personal appearance, but when he understood that they 
 had traveled long distances from various quarters of the 
 earth, his good sense told him that they could not have 
 
36 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 the appearance of stay-at-home Christians in the town of 
 Hungerton, for instance. When he arrived, there were at 
 least six hundred Mormons, most of whom were from 
 Great Britain, and expected to get to the Great Salt 
 Lake Valley that fall. How were they to do it? They 
 seemed to be extremely poor. There were very few 
 horses, mules, or even oxen, and less wagons. 
 
 As they took a walk out among the camp, Elder 
 James said: "Here you see an answer to your question. 
 See what these men are busy with! These two wheeled 
 carts are to carry their clothing and provisions." 
 
 "And who are to pull the carts?" asked Marcus. 
 
 "They themselves, the men, perhaps the women." 
 
 "How far is it to the Valley?" 
 
 "Thirteen hundred miles." 
 
 "And I understand there are burning deserts and 
 rough mountains to cross?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, more than one." 
 
 "And they will have to walk every step of the way?" 
 
 "Yes; most of them. Hundreds have done it, and 
 no doubt these will also do it. You see, they must get to 
 the Valley. They can't stay here. This company will 
 start in a few days. It will be rather late, but they will 
 be able to make it, if they have moderate luck." 
 
 "But, Brother James, I can't see how they can do it. 
 It will be awful the women and children!" 
 
 ''You've read of the Pilgrims and the MayflowerT' 
 
 "Yes; but, great heavens, that was nothing to com- 
 pare with this!" 
 
 Marcus was soon made acquainted with the leaders 
 of the people, whom he found to be intelligent men of 
 Elder James' type. By their advice he bought a yoke of 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 37 
 
 oxen, a wagon, provisions, and other necessary articles. 
 Elder James helped him. He gave the young man some 
 practical lessons in yoking and controlling his oxen. It 
 was all extremely new and strange, but Marcus went to 
 work in earnest, and soon mastered the art of swinging 
 his buckskin whip with a "gee" or a "haw." Elder 
 James was not going west; but he arranged with a family 
 to do the cooking for Marcus, that he might be freed 
 from that responsibility. 
 
 A few days after his arrival at Iowa City, the hand- 
 cart company was ready to be off. That morning there was 
 a scene, a scene in which mingled the ludicrous and piti- 
 able: the six hundred men, women, and children on the 
 move westward. Each family, or group of four or five, 
 had a cart in which were loaded their provisions and 
 clothing. The carts were simple affairs: two wheels with 
 light frames over the axles and with short shafts. At the 
 end of the shafts were cross bars which projected out on 
 each side. Here the "human horses" attached themselves 
 and started off. There were a few wagons along, drawn 
 by oxen. These carried provisions and some of the heavy 
 baggage. 
 
 Marcus went up to a cart that had stopped. They 
 were adjusting the load, and there was some discussion as 
 to the best position of the pullers. The cart was owned 
 by a poor English family, and was not a very substantial 
 one. The axles were of wood and the boxes of leather. 
 The father got in the shafts to be the main propelling 
 power, his wife took her place by his side and grasped the 
 cross bar, and a fifteen year old son went on the other 
 side. A grown daughter' had arranged a kind of harness 
 of leather straps which she fastened - over her shoulders 
 
38 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 and then to the end of the shafts. Thus away they 
 went, while a little three year old boy sat on top of the 
 load, shouting in great glee. 
 
 Marcus walked with them some distance. The whole 
 scene had a strangeness about it. Everybody seemed hap- 
 py enough. They laughed and shouted to each other, 
 and made their jokes at each other's expense; but Marcus 
 could not help thinking of the thirteen hundred miles 
 before them. 
 
 "Come, brother, where's your cart?" some one 
 greeted Marcus; and he turned to see the broad smile of 
 an English girl, who was pulling very little on a cart. Two 
 young fellows were doing the work. ''Hi'm the driver, 
 ye know, "she laughed. "What do you think of my 
 'osses?" 
 
 "They'll do," replied Marcus, "I think they will take 
 you through. " 
 
 But all did not take the matter so pleasantly. A 
 number were discontented and grumb'ed. Others said 
 they would not be able to make it, and Marcus looked 
 into their sad eyes and believed them. It seemed worse 
 for the older people and the children. Some of the latter 
 soon got tired and cried, and then the father, or per- 
 chance the older brother, would lift the child up on his 
 shoulders and carry the extra weight as he pulled his 
 load. 
 
 And all of these people had left their native land for 
 this! Most of them hai been tossed about for long 
 weeks on the ocean to get to this! Many had left com- 
 fortable homes to travel footsore and weary across these 
 plains! Yes, there would be no more rest for many of 
 them until they laid their weary bodies down under the 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 39 
 
 sod of the prairie! And it had all been done for the love 
 of the Gospel, for the love of the light which had made 
 him also an outcast from home and a wanderer among 
 strange peoples and lands. 
 
 Marcus turned and went back. When he looked 
 around again, the train was hidden by a rise in the road, 
 and only the thin cloud of dust which arose above it 
 showed their westward path. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 About a week after the departure of the hand-cart 
 company, Marcus started with the wagon train. The 
 last act before leaving was to mail a letter to his mother. 
 The season was late, but the company was small and they 
 could travel rapidly. Marcus soon learned to accommo- 
 date himself to his surroundings. He followed the ex- 
 ample of the other teamsters and walked by the wagon 
 most of the time, although he could have ridden. Elder 
 James had explained to the captain of the company Mar- 
 cus King's former position, and he had made it as easy as 
 possible for the ex-minister. Had Marcus known this he 
 would have resented it. He felt as though he wanted to 
 work with the rest. He was no better than they, even 
 though his whole life up to that time had been one of 
 bodily ease, and his training unfit for the life of a % pi- 
 oneer. 
 
 After the day's journey, Marcus was ofttimes ex- 
 tremely tired; and when the tents were pitched and the 
 fires were lighted (which was only when they had plenty 
 of wood and there was no danger of Indians), he never had 
 
40 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 strength to join in any merriment. At first, the dancing 
 in which they often indulged, seemed strange to Marcus. 
 Why should religious people dance, especially on such a 
 journey? After the hard day's toil, out would come a 
 violin, a space on the grass would be cleared, and a dozen 
 couples merrily whirled into the strains of the weird mu- 
 sic. He had once expressed his doubt as to its propriety 
 to a brother teamster who had crossed the plains a num- 
 ber of times, and the explanation had been given that it 
 was a good thing to drive away "the blues." They had 
 been standing looking at a merry crowd, and at that mo- 
 ment a good-looking, roguish maiden stepped up to them, 
 and said that she was looking for a partner. The team- 
 ster had instantly taken the girl's arm and slipped it into 
 Maicus', and before he krew what he was doing, he was 
 whirling away with her over the soft grass. The truth 
 was, as he afterward learned, that the girl had taken the 
 bold step that she might say she had danced with a very 
 sanctimonious sectarian minister. After that, she was 
 not the only one with whom he stepped to the time of the 
 music. 
 
 But they did not always dance during the evenings. 
 There were a good many fine singers in the company, and 
 the songs of Zion often rang out over the still, moon- 
 lighted prairies. They always rested on Sunday and had 
 religious services. Marcus was interested in the strange 
 serinons often delivered, and he could not help contrast- 
 ing them with the smoothly-flowing, logically- arranged 
 discourses which he and his fellow ministers had been 
 trained to give. There were a number in the company who 
 were returning 'home from a two or three years' mission, 
 and the experiences which they related were extremely 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 41 
 
 interesting. Marcus was asked to speak a number of 
 times. Dressed in a blue "jumper," and his corduroy 
 trousers tucked into the tops of long boots,, he mounted 
 the dry-goods box and did the best he could under his 
 changed environments. One day he told them his history 
 how he came to a knowledge of the truth. After the 
 meeting, an elderly lady came up to him with tears in her 
 eyes. 
 
 "Dear brother, God bless you," she said. "1 left a 
 boy at home a boy about your age. He is in the semin- 
 ary learning to be a Methodist preacher. He couldn't 
 see the truth, though I talked with him about the Gos- 
 pel." 
 
 She clung to his hands and looked the young man in 
 the face, while the tears slowly trickled down the care- 
 worn furrows in her cheeks. 
 
 "And you also have a mother?" she asked. 
 
 "Yes; I have a mother at home." She still clung to 
 his hands; and a big lump arose in his throat. If ever 
 he had seen a saintly face, he thought, this must be one 
 before him. His eyes grew dim; he could not see the 
 wagons, or cattle, or tents; the rolling prairie faded as a 
 dissolving view, and another picture came into its place, 
 a wonderful, ever-changing picture. It was his mother 
 and Alice, fair Alice, with a sweet, sad smile; the old 
 home embedded in trees and flowers; the cosy study with 
 walls of b^oks; the church and upturned faces; the hills 
 covered with forests; the river, bending in broad silvery 
 bands around the town of Hungerton; and every trifling 
 detail mingled and mixed, then stood out in clear distinc- 
 tiveness in this wonderful kaleidoscopic picture. 
 
42 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 ' 'Brother King, will you come with me to my tent? 1 ' 
 said the sister. "I do want to talk with you." 
 
 "Yes, I shall be pleased to." 
 
 She led the way to a tent. The sun was sinking 
 through a hazy sky. The wild odor of the plains pervaded 
 the evening air. The camp lay as a speck of life on that 
 vast level surface, even as a lone ship in mid-ocean. Be- 
 fore some of the tents small fires blazed, and there were 
 the usual preparations for the evening meal. 
 
 ' 'Janet, Brother King has come to eat supper with 
 us." 
 
 The girl busy at the fire suddenly straightened her- 
 self. Her mother's greeting startled her, and she looked 
 somewhat confused. 
 
 "I invited him to come and see us, and of course 
 he'll stay to supper. I want to have a talk with him, he 
 reminds me so much of your brother David. Haven't you 
 met my daughter before, Brother King?" 
 
 "Not to speak to her, I think," said Marcus. 
 
 "I am pleased to meet you. Brother King," said the 
 girl, giving him a warm shake of the hand. 
 
 "Can you find a seat? We left our chairs at home 
 you know. Here, take this box let me put this quilt 
 on it." 
 
 . Marcus looked, nearly stared, at the girl. She wore 
 a dress of light calico, which became her as though it 
 had been of a much finer material, fitting perfectly the 
 full, rounded, but not large figure. Her face was full of 
 warm color, and she had red hair. The novelist would 
 have called it auburn, or golden, or some such evading 
 term, but in truth it was plain red ; and it was just the 
 proper color, too. Any other shade would not have 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 43 
 
 blended so naturally and beautifully with that clear, rosy 
 skin. The girl's faint, pleasant smile and easy, graceful 
 manner as she moved about the camp, also drew the 
 young man's attention. 
 
 ''Now then, dear folks," said Marcus, perceiving 
 that they were making some extra effort for his comfort, 
 "do not put yourself to any inconvenience on my account. 
 Though this life is new to me, if I mistake not, it is 
 equally foreign to you." 
 
 "Yes," said the mother, "we made great sacrifices to 
 get to Zion this! year, and this mode of traveling is hard 
 on old people like me but mind, I'm not complaining; if I 
 may but lay my bones with the people of God, I shall be 
 content." 
 
 4 'Mother's always talking of laying down her bones, 
 Brother King, when the fact is, that she's strong and will 
 live many years yet. She stands this trip nearly as well 
 as I do." * 
 
 The meal of milk and bread and fried bacon was 
 spread out on a cloth in the tent, and bundles and boxes 
 were brought upon which to sit. Sister Harmon (for 
 that was her name) also brought out a tin of preserves. 
 
 "Where did you say you came from, Brother King?" 
 asked the mother. 
 
 Marcus told her. 
 
 "Why, Janet, we lived within ten miles of Brother 
 King all our lives. We came from Newton, ten miles from 
 Hungerton. You know the place." 
 
 "Yes," said he, "I've been at Newton a number of 
 times; but I'm not acquainted much there." 
 
 "Well, it's interesting, anyway, isn't it, Janet?" 
 
 "It's quite strange," answered Janet. "Have an- 
 
44 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 other piece of bread, Brother King. Ashes got in my 
 bake pan, and it's not very nice looking, but" 
 
 "Don't offer a- y excuses, sister; I think I can un- 
 derstand all your difficulties in the way of cooking." 
 
 "Well, well,'' the mother continued to repeat, "and 
 so you're from Hungerton. Strange that I should not 
 have seen you. I've been there a number of times. Do 
 you remember to have met Brother King, Janet?" 
 
 <4 No, I do not now remember, mother. Have some of 
 this preserve. This came all the way from home." 
 
 And so they talked and ate. Sister Harmcn told of 
 her son David who ridiculed Mormonism. What a time they 
 had had with him, and how angry he had been when he 
 learned that they were going to Utah. Janet said but 
 little, and Marcus tried as best he could to cheer them. 
 He found that he was not alone in trials. No doubt these 
 two women had passed through much tribulation for the 
 truth. Perhaps every soul in that camp had made a sac- 
 rifice, many of them greater than his own. His visit 
 that evening helped Marcus to be more contented with 
 his lot. Hf was not such a hero, after all. 
 
 Westward, westward the emigrant train moved, 
 rolling in long procession across the prairie, slowly climb- 
 ing the hills and coming down the inclines with rattle and 
 confusion. Every night the wagons were placed in a 
 circle forming a corral or enclosure, into which the cattle 
 were driven next morniag to be yoked. The daily routine 
 of the same things, day after day, week after week, be- 
 gan to be irksome to Marcus King. At the end of a 
 month, it seemed to him that they might have passed half 
 way around the globe. 
 
 Still westward they moved. The season was getting 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMOM. 45 
 
 late, and they would have to hurry. The nights began to 
 be cold, and a number of the last streams had a coating 
 of ice. Marcus was sunburnt and roughened and shaggy 
 enough for any frontiersman. He might now have walked 
 through the streets of Hungerton without being recog- 
 nized. 
 
 He was always free and friendly with every member 
 of that company, but still there are always preferences. 
 He seemed to find the best companionship in Sister Har- 
 mon and her daughter. He soon learned that they 
 were of a class akin to the one to which he had belonged. 
 Their modes of living, their thoughts and tastes, had been 
 like his own. They were intelligent. Janet had been to 
 the best schools. Marcus had no doubt that the now cal- 
 loused hands could better bring sweet sounds from ivory 
 keys. This preference was natural enough. It takes 
 time to make radical changes in thought and action, and 
 Marcus could not be blamed for ofttimes passing the 
 wilder, more boisterous group to have a quiet chat with 
 Janet and her mother. 
 
 One morning Janet came to where Marcus was walk- 
 ing beside his wagon. Her mocher had not been well 
 enough to walk, and it had been lonesome without her. 
 
 "I'm so glad you came over," Marcus said, when 
 she tried to give some excuse for coming. "I'm glad to 
 see you, Janet. Walk along with me awhile and we'll 
 have a talk." 
 
 There had been a brisk shower the night before, and 
 the road did not give out its usual cloud of dust. The air 
 was cool, and it was a pleasure to begin the day's jour- 
 ney. Janet took off her large straw hat, that the cool 
 breeze might better blow into her warm face. 
 
46 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 "Janet, I think you might have let your mother fin- 
 ish that story the other evening," began the young man. 
 
 Janet got the whip and proceeded to give it a number 
 of fire-cracker pops; but she did not answer Marcus. 
 
 "It promised to be a regular romance. I always did 
 admire a good story, and I haven't read one for so long, 
 that I fairly hunger for one. You tell me it, Janet." 
 
 "It was nothing, indeed it was. Mama colored it so. 
 I \\asnearly out of patience with her." 
 
 "Which was wrong." 
 
 "Of course it was; I was sorry for it. Did you see 
 the handcart company start from Iowa City?" 
 
 Marcus smiled at her turning of the subject. 
 
 "Yes; and the captain said yesterday that it is not 
 far ahead." 
 
 "I've wondered all along why we do not overtake 
 them." 
 
 "Brother Brown said that a handcart company of 
 strong young people can beat any ox-team across the 
 Plains; but I understand this company just in front has 
 many old people, and they are having a hard time. 
 
 Then he told her of the start he had witnessed at 
 Iowa City. "It would have been extremely funny had it 
 not been for the sadness of the scene. Your mother was 
 just saying, the other evening, when you interrupted her, 
 that" 
 
 "Brother King, how is it that we haven't seen any 
 Indians? Our friends at home said we would be scalped 
 sure, but I told them that no Indian would dare to touch 
 my hair he'd burn his fingers if he did. 
 
 "I hadn't heard that red-skins were afraid of of, 
 that is " 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 47 
 
 "Of red hair. How stupid you are! What's the 
 use of being so delicate about telling the truth. It's red. 
 and I know it, and you know it. I'm not one of those 
 people who do not like to be told their hair is red." 
 
 "Well, for my part, I think you are sensible in that; 
 besides some people look better with red hair. I don't 
 think the Creator made any mistake. I believe this sub- 
 ject had a bearing -on the story your mother was telling.'' 
 
 "It hadn't; not a bit." 
 
 "Well, how did it happen, then that " 
 
 "I must go to mother. She may need me." 
 
 "No; she doesn't. See, she's sitting up in the 
 wagon, and talking to the driver. I'll warrant she's tell- 
 ing him the rest of that story." 
 
 "O, Brother King, you're an awful man!'* 
 
 Then they both laughed and walked on for a few min- 
 utes in silence. 
 
 "Shall I tell you that story?" she asked. 
 
 'Tes; do." 
 
 "Well, once upon a time " 
 
 "Now, don't compose as you go along." 
 
 ''Don't interrupt me, or I shall lose the thread of the 
 narrative." 
 
 "Excuse me. '' 
 
 "Once upon a time a young man and a young woman 
 who had red hair were engaged to be married. The 
 young woman became a 'Mormon' and the young man 
 wouldn't have her." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "That 'sail." 
 
 "That's pretty short." 
 
 "Yea; the engagement was pretty short." 
 
48 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 "You don't seem to be sorry over it." 
 
 ' Tm not a bit sorry. I'm glad it turned out as it 
 has." 
 
 "Won't you get on my wagon and ride? You must 
 be tired." 
 
 "Oh, no; I'm not. I want to hear your story now." 
 
 "My story?" 
 
 "Yes, your story; now don't deny that you have 
 one." 
 
 "No, Janet, I'll not deny it. I have one and I'll tell 
 it to you." 
 
 Their laughter had ceased. 
 
 "It's very strange our two stories. Janet, if I 
 hadn't become a 'Mormon' I would now have been a 
 married man, and had for a wife the sweetest and best 
 girl inHungerton." 
 
 "It must have been hard for you. You cared, I can 
 see that." 
 
 "Cared! I wish I hadn't. I wish I didn't now care; 
 but I don't know that I should say that; it may be wrong. 
 Yes, Janet, Alice Merton is a good girl, but of course she 
 doesn't understand. I would gladly have left all the rest 
 if only Alice had come with me." 
 
 Marcus had become so earnest that Janet could say 
 nothing. At this point the train came in sight of an im- 
 mense herd of buffaloes, They had been to the river for 
 water, and were now heading for their feed grounds again. 
 The great moving mass seemed to be coming directly upon 
 the long train. Apparently, the train of wagons was 
 directly in the path of the herd. As the animals came 
 nearer, the captain of the train came riding on a mule 
 and shouted orders to the drivers. The front wagons 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 49 
 
 were hurried forward as fast as possible while the captain 
 rode by Marcus, and the very next wagon behind him was 
 ordered to turn about as quickly as possible. This move- 
 ment made a large gap in the train, for which the leaders 
 of the buffaloes now made. The earth fairly shook as on 
 they came. 
 
 Janet stood still for an instant, then with a cry 
 turned to run back across the gap. 
 
 "Mother, mother's back there!" she said. 
 
 Marcus caught her and forcibly held her. "Your 
 mother's all right," he said. ''The buif aloes will tramp 
 you under foot. Come, get back here." 
 
 The foremost animals were now in the opening, and 
 the herd pressed closely behind. They swept through 
 with great shaggy heads, wild eyes, and dilated nostrils- 
 The drivers stood guard over the nearest cattle, to pre- 
 vent any stampede. As the last stragglers went galloping 
 by, pop, pop, went the rifles, and a buffalo dropped not 
 twenty yards from where Murcus was standing with Janet 
 clinging to his arm. 
 
 "I couldn't let that chance go by without getting 
 some fresh meat," said the hunter, one of the teamsters. 
 
 Janet was pale, and trembled violently. As soon as 
 the wagons drove up again, she hastened to her mother, 
 and there she had a good cry. 
 
 That evening the whole company had fresh buffalo 
 steak for supper, Marcus came to Sister Harmon's tent, 
 as he said, to see what practical value Janet's course in 
 the cocking school had been; but that evening after the 
 company had gathered for prayers, and thanks had been 
 given to God for His watch care that day, Marcus touched 
 Janet's arm and said: 
 
50 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 "Those^ things we were talking about today let it 
 be only between you and me." 
 
 "Yes; of course," she answered. 
 "Then good night." 
 "Good night." 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The company lay at camp in the hills of Wyoming 
 All that day the weather had been cold, and now a sharp 
 wind was blowing from the north. The sky was full of 
 clouds, and there were all indications of a storm, and a 
 snowstorm at that. What if winter should burst upon 
 them now while they were yet a month's travel from the 
 valley? 
 
 Marcus King began to realize what it meant to be a 
 Mormon in that day. Their company had been well sup- 
 plied and were not as yet suifering, but there was no tell- 
 ing what the future would bring. The hand-cart company 
 was just ahead. The newly-made graves which the wagon 
 company passed, indicated the condition of affairs with 
 the people in front. Marcus thought of that start in 
 Iowa. What they must have suffered! What they must 
 yet suffer to reach their destination! 
 
 That evening Marcus took his gun and walked out 
 over some low hills skirting the road. It was a wild even- 
 ing. The clouds hurried across the shining moon. He had 
 heard the cry of a wolf and made his way towards it. He 
 could see the creature sitting on a rocky knoll, and his 
 unearthly howl added to the night's dismalness. Present- 
 ly another cry come upon the wind. The wolf saw Marcus 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 51 
 
 and trotted slowly off. The strange sound come again 
 surely it was the cry of a human being. Marcus instantly 
 thought of Indians, and turned towards camp, when, from 
 out of a ravine into which the wolf had been looking, came 
 the distinct cry of a child. Marcus paused and peered 
 down into the shadows. He thought he discerned some- 
 thing under a bank, but it might be an Indian camp or 
 perhaps a party of hostile savages. 
 
 The wind came up in great sweeps from the ravine, 
 carrying with it that human cry. Marcus was in doubt. 
 Perhaps some belated emigrant was perishing. The night 
 was coming on, and no one could live through it unpro- 
 tected. That cry was of a child. Marcus went cautious- 
 ly forward down the ravine. Presently the moon cast a 
 hurried stream of light, and the outlines of a cart were 
 plainly seen. Marcus quickened his steps, and from un- 
 der the bank came the faint cry of "Mama, Mama." 
 
 "Hallo," shouted Marcus. 
 
 There was no answer, but the child ceased its crying. 
 
 He leaped down the bank, and as he did so, a woman 
 started to her feet. She had a child in her arms. In the 
 shelter of the bank sat a man. His knees were drawn up 
 and his head rested upon them. The cart lay overturned 
 under the bank. 
 
 "Who are you? What is the matter?" asked Marcus 
 hurriedly. 
 
 The woman seemed to be half asleep. The man did 
 not stir. Marcus saw that something must be done im- 
 mediately. He went up to the woman and shook her vio- 
 lently. 
 
 "Come, you're freezing to death here. Come, wake 
 up and move. Our camp is not far away." 
 
52 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 She at last realized her position, and with a glad cry 
 began to talk to her child. She shook the man by the 
 shoulders. 
 
 "Get up, John," she said. "Someone's come to help 
 us. Camp's not far off. Come, John, 0, John, get up. 
 We're saved, John 0, please sir, I'm afraid he's gone. 
 Help me get him up? He's freezing to death, 0, John, 
 here's help!" 
 
 The child wailed piteously, and the mother tried to 
 soothe it by pressing it closely to her breast. Marcus 
 pulled off his coat and wrapped it around the child. Then 
 he took hold of the man, and by the woman's help, they 
 got him back to consciousness. 
 
 Another chance for life nerved the woman to 
 strength. She helped Marcus right the cart, and then 
 worked diligently with her husband, who, when he at last 
 realized where, he was, took hold of the cart and walked 
 behind, as the woman and Marcus pulled it towards 
 camp. 
 
 The woman explained in a few broken sentences that 
 they had somehow become separated from the company, 
 and having left the road, the cart had fallen over the 
 bank. They had tried to lift it up again, but they were 
 both so weak that they could not. Thus they had waited 
 for help, and had sat down to rest, which would have been 
 their last had not Marcus come to their assistance. 
 
 When within hailing distance of the camp, Marcus 
 shouted, and a guard came out who helped them into 
 camp. Marcus took them to his tent and then sent for 
 Janet to come and help take care of them. By the light 
 of the tent lantern, Marcus saw that the woman's face 
 was familiar to him, but he could not place her. After 
 
MARCUS KING,"MORMON. 53 
 
 they had been made as comfortable as possible he asked 
 her: 
 
 " Where have I seen you before?" 
 
 "At Hungerton. My name is Eliza Dixon, and you 
 are Marcus King." 
 
 Such was the case. That last sermon of his in the 
 Hungerton church had moved this woman to investigate 
 and embrace the Gospel. She had told her husband and 
 he had believed; and here they were perishing in the wil- 
 derness. 
 
 Next morning Marcus went to the captain's tent and 
 said to him: 
 
 "Those people I brought to camp last night well, it 
 will be impossible for them to go on with their hand-cart. 
 The man can hardly walk and the woman is not much bet- 
 ter; and then the child" 
 
 "Well, Brother King, what can we do?" 
 
 "If you have no objection, they can take my outfit, 
 and I will take their cart and go on with the hand-cart 
 company." 
 
 . The captain tenderly placed his hand on the speaker's 
 shoulder and said: 
 
 "Do you know what a sacrifice that would mean to 
 you?" 
 
 "I think so, at least, partly; but I cannot do other- 
 wise." 
 
 "Then all right, and may the Lord be with you." 
 
 When Marcus told his rescued friends of his purpose, 
 at first they cried for joy; but then, when they understood 
 its full meaning, they tried to prevail on him not to do so. 
 It would be too great a sacrifice. But Marcus was firm in 
 his purpose. 
 
54 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 Early that same day the wagon company overtook the 
 hand- carts, and as the wagons went on Marcus stopped 
 with Jchn Dixon's hand-cart in chrge. Janet and her 
 mother looked mutely at him, but could say nothing; and 
 as he took their hands to say good- by, the captain came 
 up. Placing one hand on Janet's shoulder and another on 
 Marcus', he said: 
 
 "Brother King, by this shall all men know that you 
 are a disciple of Christ you have the true sign, the true 
 love of Christ. God bless you." 
 
 No mortal pen can fully describe that hand-cart jour- 
 ney from the bleak hills of Wyoming to the valley of the 
 Great Salt Lake; and the pen that writes these words 
 shall not attempt it but just a word: 
 
 Winter came on in all its fury, and through the snow 
 and sleet the poor half-frozen, half-starved travelers 
 dragged their carts along. Every day some one gave up 
 the struggle, and was laid under the frozen sod by the 
 wayside and there left. Husbands left wives, wives left 
 husbands, parents left children, and children left parents 
 and the broken remnant still struggled westward. They 
 climbed the hills, they waded the freezing streams. The 
 piercing wind blew through their thread-bare clothing. 
 They starved, they froze, they died. Had not help come 
 from the valley, they would all have surely perished. 
 
 Marcus King reached the lowest possible stage of 
 human misery and suffering on that journey; but he had 
 one thought which sustained him. It was the thought of 
 Christ in the garden and on tha cross. He suffered for 
 others, and He was God's Son. Marcus, in a way, was 
 following in his Master's footsteps. "Take up thy cross 
 and follow me, " rang in his ears, and through all that 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 55 
 
 desperate struggle for existence it was the only anchor to 
 his soul. And yet through all that terrible misery, there 
 was a peac3 in his breast. Whence it came Marcus was 
 in no state to reason out; but afterwards he knew: The 
 performing of a sublime duty carries with it a peace of 
 soul which surpasseth understanding. 
 
 ********* 
 
 A beautiful spring morning crept over the rugged 
 Wasatch Mountains and into the valley of the Great Salt 
 Lake, as Marcus King walked slowly up the path wind- 
 ing along the sage-brush plains. His face was pale, his 
 features pinched, and his steps were those of a sick man. 
 When he reached the bank of the small stream, he sat 
 down on it, bared his head, and sat looking out over the 
 valley towards the distant mountains. 
 
 Every morning for a week he had taken this walk, 
 and it had done him much good. His strength was com- 
 ing back to him, and with his strength came renewed 
 hopes and new aspirations. 
 
 Marcus had certainly been near death's door. For 
 two months since his arrival he had been hovering between 
 this world and the next, and one more experience had 
 been added to him, namely, the power of the Priesthood. 
 Time and again the Elders of the Church had anointed 
 him with oil and prayed for him, and instantly he had felt 
 that once more he had been snatched from the hands of 
 the destroyer. It had surely and literally been a battle 
 between life and death with him; but now he had the vic- 
 tory, and he was on the way to a speedy restoration to 
 his usual health. 
 
 When spring came at last and he could get out of 
 doors, the strangeness of the country came more forcibly 
 
56 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 to him: the grand, rugged, treeless mountains; the wild, 
 bare bench lands; and the marshes near the lake. In his 
 walk that spring morning he counted the little, low, log 
 huts of the settlement and found the total to be seven- 
 teen; and none of them were older than five years. They 
 stood on both sides of a broad, straight street, along both 
 sides of which rows of trees had already been planted. 
 As yet, little of the surrounding land had been cleared of 
 the gray sagebrush. The small garden plats by the side 
 of the cabins were just sprouting out into long, green 
 rows. 
 
 Marcus went back home quite tired that morning. He 
 sat down on a bench on the south side of the house under a 
 roof of freshly-cut willows and cottonwoods. Eliza Dixon 
 was busy getting breakfast. Marcus had his home with 
 John and Eliza, and they had done for him all that loving 
 hearts could devise and willing hands could carry out. The 
 poverty of that winter and spring is well known in history, 
 and these people suffered with the rest. 
 
 "I'm going to help you plant potatoes this afternoon, 
 John," said Marcus to his friend that morning. 
 
 * 'Are you strong enough?" 
 
 'I can do a little; besides, I must learn to be a far- 
 mer. You folks don't pay me anything for all those 
 sermons I preach you, and so I must make my living at 
 something else." He still tried to be pleasant and make 
 his jokes. 
 
 "Well, if you want to begin," said John, "I'll give 
 you something easy." From the house he brought a 
 sack of potatoes, placed them on the bench by Marcus' 
 side and proceeded to give him a lesson on how to cut 
 them into proper sizes. 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 57 
 
 "But these are small enough as they are, it seems to 
 me," said Marcus. 
 
 "Yes; but we must make them reach as far as pos- 
 sible. Now, you'll have to be careful. Have no more 
 than two eyes to each piece, and take care not to cut an 
 eye so that it will be spoiled." 
 
 Just as Marcus had become thoroughly interested 
 in his work, Janet Harmon came around the corner of 
 the house. She carried something in her hands, covered 
 by an apron. The meeting was unexpected, it seemed, as 
 Janet stopped and the color came into her face. Janet 
 had also changed. Wind and weather had played sad 
 havoc with her clear, beautiful skin. The round face 
 was peaked and the large eyes seemed sunken. Her hair 
 hung in two long braids down her back. 
 
 ' 'Good morning, Janet, I thought you had gone to the 
 city." 
 
 "Yes; but I've come back; and I thought you went 
 you take a walk every morning about this time." 
 
 "Yes; but I also came back, you see." They laughed. 
 
 "Are you peeling potatoes for dinner?" she asked. 
 "Where do you get such luxuries?" 
 
 1 'Oh, these are not to cook, but to plant. I was just 
 thinking, Janet, if I had all the potato peeling that 
 our cook at Hungerton used to provide for her pig, what 
 a big field of potatoes I could plant. I wonder if peel- 
 ings would grow, anyway?" 
 
 Janet stepped in at the open door, placed what was 
 under the apron on the table, and then, as Eliza was not 
 in, she went back to Marcus. 
 
 "Sit down," he said, "and tell me all the news." 
 
 She handed him two letters, both from his mother, 
 
58 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 and he read them aloud to her. They were not very 
 cheering letters. The mother still considered herself dis- 
 graced by her son's action. Still she felt sure that every- 
 body would forgive him even yet if he was alive and could 
 get back. Alice had been to see her, and had stayed with 
 her much of the time during the winter. Alice was a 
 great comfort to her. She never mentioned his name, 
 but still, through all the trying ordeal the girl loved her 
 wayward son. 
 
 "Poor mother, and poor Alice," and that was about 
 all he could say. 
 
 The potatoes were neglected for a few moments. 
 Then -he turned to the girl at his side and said; 
 
 "Janet, you should have seen Alice. You ought to 
 be acquainted with her. I know you would have liked 
 her; you couldn't help it, no more than I can help loving 
 her yet. She's the sweetest and best but there, I've 
 told you that so often before." 
 
 Janet rose hurriedly. 
 
 "I'm glad to see you so well, Brother King, and I 
 hope you'll soon recover entirely. Goodby." 
 
 In a moment she was away, and Marcus soon went to 
 work again. When Eliza called him to breakfast, he sat 
 down as usual on his own raw-hide chair, and when he 
 raised his head after the blessing he caught sight of the 
 extra bowl by the side of his plate. 
 
 "Hello, what's this?" he exclaimed, as he peered 
 into it. "Pudding, rice pudding! Can I believe my 
 eyes?" 
 
 "If you doubt them, try your palate," said Eliza. 
 
 "But where did you get your rice? And I verily be- 
 lieve there are rasins in it." 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 59 
 
 "Janet brought it," said she. 
 
 "Ah, I see. This is what she had under her apron. 
 Janet's a good soul, isn't she." 
 
 "I think Janet's a good girl." 
 
 "Well, I'm going to taste this," said Marcus. 
 
 "Oh, it's yours. 
 
 ' 'Not all of it, I'm not quite that greedy." 
 
 u But Janet brought it for you." 
 
 "You don't know that. You were out. Here, each 
 must have a taste;" and amid protestations, Marcus di- 
 vided the tasty morsel between them. 
 
 That afternoon Marcus planted in the plowed furrow 
 the potatoes he had cut. He was very careful to place 
 them with the eye side up and exactly eighteen inches 
 apart. While John plowed them under, Marcus rested. 
 The cut potatoes brought his thoughts back to the potato 
 peelings, and they in a long string led him to Hungerton 
 and into the kitchen of the parsonage. From the cook to 
 his mother, and from his mother to Aline was a natural 
 channel of thought: but how his mind leaped from Alice 
 Merton to rice puddings can never be explained by any 
 known law of psychology. From rice puddings to Janet 
 Harmon was an easy stage, coming so closely on the 
 scenes of the morning. 
 
 Marcus sat on the upturned bucket used in carrying 
 potatoes, and thought about these things. He knew now 
 that Janet thought well of him. What was the use of 
 trying to hide the fact. He now remembered many little 
 scenes which were unmistakable, ever since he had met 
 her in their camp on the plains; but strange as it may 
 seem, the plain truth was that he had not thought of 
 Janet as a prospective wife. She who had all the time 
 
60 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 held that position was back in Hungerton. She still held 
 it without a rival. His love for Alice was as strong as 
 ever, and during all his strange experiences of the recent 
 past, she had been the sole queen of his heart. He had 
 not reasoned much on the matter, or he might have seen 
 the utter foolishness of retaining any hope of Alice; but 
 once or twice that little scene in his study, that last one 
 with her, came to him and he heard himself say: 
 
 "You are mine, mine!" 
 
 It is a slow process to direct the channels of thought 
 into entirely new regions, but Marcus began to think very 
 kindly of his sister in the cause. Can a young man be 
 entirely unmoved when he finds that a good, fair, young 
 woman cares much for him? 
 
 "All right, Marcus, we're through," shouted John. 
 "Let's go to the house." 
 
 Marcus nearly fell off the bucket. While he had 
 been soliloquizing, John had planted and plowed until the 
 work was finished, and he had said never a word to the 
 man on the bucket. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Sometimes as early as July the Wasatch Mountains 
 are clothed in the Indian summer mist, thin and blue, 
 making an idyl-land of the deep ravines, the towering 
 crags, the pine-clad recesses, and the bold promontories. 
 Such was that afternoon when Marcus, leading little Ida 
 Dixon by the hand, walked up the hillside to get a better 
 view. From the bold, rugged outlines of the rear moun- 
 tains his eye followed their trend northward to where 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 61 
 
 they seemed to sink lower and lower, and the gray veiling 
 became thicker, until at last the blue sky and the smoke- 
 covered earth blended. 
 
 Little Ida ran hither and thither hunting for the few 
 wild flowers which sometimes were found in the shaded 
 protection of the sage-brush; but his eyes were on the 
 mountains. Never before had nature so entered his soul 
 or communed so plainly with him. The cabins of the set- 
 tlement were hidden behind a hill, so that whichever way 
 he looked, not a sign of human habitation or human work- 
 manship could be seen. He was utterly alone, save the 
 little child that toddled beside him. ' 
 
 Marcus was now well and quite strong. His face 
 was no longer pale, but browned by the sharp wind and 
 sun. He certainly had changed much since he had left 
 Hungerton; and that difference was as marked as the dif- 
 ference between the gentle, gr^ss- covered hills of his 
 native state and the element- beaten mountains before 
 him. 
 
 From out some lonely recess of the hills came the 
 mournful notes of the wild pigeon. Who, being alone in 
 the hills, and hearing those peculiarly penetrating 
 cadences echoing from some unseen source, has not sat 
 down on the ground, and felt as though he could stay 
 there forever! And if, perchance the emotions within 
 swelled and overflowed in tears, those tears were not 
 wholly of joy, neither of sorrow, but of some strange fas- 
 cinating emotion that stirred the soul to its depths! 
 
 Little Ida also sat on the ground, but she had no 
 deeper concern than to arrange her flowers. They both 
 sat on the hillside; the creek of cold water tumbled over 
 its rocky bed in the ravine below. Presently a cow came 
 
62 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 down the path along the stream, and following it came 
 Janet Harmon. She carried her sunbonnet in her hand, 
 regardless of the hot sun. Her dress was of many- times 
 washed and patched calico; her shoes were ragged. 
 
 Marcus shouted to her from the hillside, and she 
 paused and looked up. 
 
 ''Wait a moment, Janet; I want to talk to you," he 
 said. 
 
 "I must take the cow home." 
 
 "You're not in a great hurry, are you?" 
 
 "No but " and the girl looked down at her shoes 
 and dress. Marcus saw the act. 
 
 "Then let the cow feed on that grass by the creek. 
 I want to talk to somebody." 
 
 "You have Ida." 
 
 "Come, here's a green bank. Ida is busy with her 
 flowers. Janet, don't be uneasy about how you look in 
 your costume. We understand each other. We under- 
 stand our conditions, and we know that we are the same 
 beings whether we are in silks or broadcloths or in rags. 
 What difference can a piece of cloth make in the intrinsic 
 value of a man or a woman ?'' 
 
 "You are right," she said. "I am foolish to care 
 about such things, but habit and life training aie not easy 
 to change." 
 
 Willows lined the bank of the creek, and they sat in 
 their shade. Ida neglected her flowers and began weav- 
 ing a necklace of wiregrass. Janet threw off her sun- 
 bonnet, and Marcus fanned his face with his old straw 
 hat. The croek splashed musically by, and the cow was 
 perfectly satisfied. 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 63 
 
 "What did you want to say to me?" Janet asked 
 after the pause had been long enough. 
 
 "Oh, I just wanted to talk to someone. To think to 
 one's self doesn't give the satisfaction that talking does. 
 These rough mountains, the hazy air, and all this wildness 
 seem to affect me today. Janet, this is wonderful, isn't 
 it?" 
 
 "What, the scenery?" 
 
 "No; I mean our life here, or history for the past 
 yoar. Think of it! la college educated man, a re- 
 spected minister and preacher, and now here! You, whose 
 life seemed to be opening up so gloriously, to be sur- 
 rounded by wealth and culture, ease and comfort, and 
 now you are here also, living in a log house with a dirt 
 roof and a mud floor, subsisting on the scantiest and 
 coarsest of food, and thinking a rice pudding altogether 
 too precious to eat yourself." 
 
 Remember, Janet's hair was red; her cheeks were of 
 the same color now. 
 
 "I wonder if we have made a mistake, Janet." 
 
 She looked him in the face to see if he meant it. "I 
 haven't," she saicf. 
 
 "No; neither of us has. This Gospel of Christ is 
 worth it all. We have had many testimonies, and I can 
 see more clearly every day the true meaning of life. 
 Mormonism is in close touch with nature. We Mormons 
 are pretty well nature's children." 
 
 "Yes, especially until we can get s^me factories 
 started," said Janet, looking at a great rend in her shoe. 
 
 "I don't mean that at all," he laughed. "I mean 
 that there is a strikingly close relationship between Mor- 
 monism and the known laws of nature; and also I see now 
 
64 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 that we as God's children must learn a great many lessons 
 in nature's school. In this school God is the Master. 
 Whatever He provides is true religion, and true religion 
 is Mormonism." 
 
 "I've thought of the same thing," said Janet, as she 
 reached up and pulled down a willow. "Who would ever 
 have dreamed two years ago that I should spin yarn, knit 
 stockings, sew carpet rags, wash, bake, (though I haven't 
 done much baking lately) scrub, drive cows, milk, churn, 
 and delight in buttermilk but now that's my life as 
 though I had been born and raised to it." 
 
 The cow was out of sight now and Janet arose to 
 look for it. Ida lay asleep on the grass. Marcus lifted 
 her in his arms and they went dovn the road. Soon the 
 settlement came into view. The sun was low in the west. 
 A covered wagon left a trail of dust through the street. 
 The voices of playing children came to them through the 
 still afternoon air. 
 
 "You must remember," he said, "that we are pio- 
 neers. Here, if any place on the globe, is the primeval 
 earth. We are the beginners. Everything around us is 
 glaringly new. We find no ancient marks of ancestry, no 
 shrines made sacred by centuries of human experiences. 
 Here are no crumbling walls overgrown with ivy;" 
 
 "Here is nothing except that which we make with our 
 own hands," she added. 
 
 "You put it exactly. If we want grass, we must 
 sow it and then water it. If we want a tree, we must 
 plant it. If we want a house, we must build it. But, 
 Janet, we are empire founders. There will be some glory 
 in that." 
 
 "After we are dead." 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 65 
 
 "Yes; certainly; perhaps it will be a long time after 
 also; but ours is a quick age and who can tell even what 
 one hundred years will bring!" 
 
 They turned into the street. The cow had already 
 found the corral. 
 
 u Do you see that pile of logs?" asked Marcus, point- 
 ing to the side of the road. "Well, that's my lot, and 
 I'm going to start on a house tomorrow." 
 
 "You have a good location," said she. 
 
 A horseman came galloping toward them. In his 
 hurried ride he passed them before they recognized that 
 it was a young man of the settlement. He reined in his 
 horse, rode back and said: 
 
 "Have you heard the news?" 
 
 ''What news, Ted?" 
 
 "Why, about the army. The President of the United 
 States has send an army to Utah to straighten us out." 
 
 "Impossible it must be a mistake." 
 
 "No; the soldiers are on the road already." 
 
 "But what have we done?" 
 
 "Done? Well, ask dad. He was in Nauvoo," and 
 the young man put spurs to his horse and went on with 
 his message. 
 
 "I must hurry home to mother," said Janet nervous- 
 ly; and when Marcus set little Ida down in the road and 
 took Janet's hand to say goodnight, he looked into her 
 troubled face. 
 
 'Do not fear, Janet;" he meant to speak some rjeas- 
 suring word but he could find nothing better than; "I shall 
 come over tonight. Take care of mother." 
 
66 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The man whom Marcus had engaged to help him build 
 his house came next morning with his ax and saw. 
 
 "I did not expect you, Brother Wood, " said Marcus. 
 "We'll have no need for houses if an army is coming to 
 kill us off." 
 
 Brother Wood was a frontiersman. He had been 
 through most of the experiences of the Church. He had 
 built for himself two houses in Missouri, one in Illinois, 
 and a number at the temporary stopping places across the 
 plains; and now there were three which he had built in the 
 settlement. He was an expert at constructing log houses, 
 and he was not going to be stopped in his work because 
 some soldiers were reported to be on the march to Utah. 
 
 "Never you fear, Brother King," said he as he ran 
 his fingers through his gray beard. "I've seen lots of 
 soldiers before, and I don't count much on these no how. 
 I heard Brother Brigham say that if our enemies would 
 leave us alone for ten years, we'd ask no odds of 'em. It's 
 ten years ago since he said that. I think the Lord '11 
 tend to these fellers. Are ycu readj to go to work?" 
 
 "Well, yes; but you see I thought I'd wait and see 
 how it turned out; but if you say so, I'm with you." 
 
 So that morning Marcus King's inheritance had a be- 
 ginning. The stones for the corners were leveled, and 
 the first round of logs laid on them. It was to be a two- 
 roomed house, of good proportions with a "lean-to" at the 
 back. 
 
 "I've been wonderin' all morning," said the master 
 mechanic, ' 'what you're wantin' with such a tony house 
 as this, but now I see. You're goin' to git married.'' 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 67 
 
 "Oh no; you're mistaken, Brother Wood. I haven't 
 been thinking of that at all." 
 
 'That's what all young fellers say; but you can't fool 
 me. Janet's a mighty fine young wcman, even if she has 
 red hair." 
 
 "But you are really mistaken about that." 
 
 "Do you mean to tell me that you're not goin' to 
 marry Janet Harmon?" 
 
 "I have no such intentions at present." 
 
 "Then all I can say to you is that you're actin' pretty 
 foolish in sparkin' the gal;'' and the speaker went on with 
 his sawing. 
 
 "Is the impression out that Janet and I are keeping 
 company, Brother Wood?" 
 
 "Ob, I don't know what other people think. But I've 
 got ears and eyes, and I can tell you, young man, that if 
 you don't marry Janet, there'll be a good heart broken 
 why don't you git married, anyway? There's no sense in 
 a young feller like you goin' around single, when there's 
 a dozen girls right here in this settlement just achin' to 
 git you." 
 
 Marcus laughed at that. But after all he could not 
 help thinking about the man's remarks about Janet. Of 
 course he could marry her, he liked her well enough, but 
 there was Alice, and his vow, or prophecy whatever he 
 might cdl it. It teemed to stand as a bar between him 
 and any other woman. If he had been unwise towards 
 Janet, it ought perhaps, to cease, and in the future he 
 would be more careful. Janet had had trouble enough 
 already, and so had he he could sympathize with her. 
 ***** 
 
 History has dealt fully with the events in Utah dur- 
 
68 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 ing that period when the troops of the United States 
 marched into her peaceful settlements to put down an 
 imaginary revolt, and this personal narrative will not to 
 any extent dwell on these scenes. Some time a great 
 poet will find ample material for his songs in the scenes 
 of those days. Some day a great writer will find all he 
 needs in the heart histories of those trying hours. 
 
 When the people had decided to defend themselves, 
 there were hurried preparations in all the settlements 
 north and south. Old muskets, swords, and pistols were 
 brought out and cleaned. Those who had any knowledge 
 of military tactics drilled the awkward squads of farmers. 
 Marcus would have gone to Echo canyon, but it was 
 decided that John Dixon would be better able to stand 
 the hardships of the winter, so Marcus stayed at home. 
 It is well known how the troops wintered in the bleak 
 mountains, and that in the spring they came marching 
 into Salt Lake valley; how when they entered the villages 
 they found them deserted; and how, after quartering in 
 the territory for some time, they marched back again to 
 the more bloody fields of the South. 
 
 It was no great trial to Marcus to move south. It 
 was far worse for some who had large families, and who 
 had had only a short rest, as it were, from their wander- 
 ings. Janet's mother cried when she left her little cabin. 
 
 "I thought I might have laid my bones down in 
 peace," she sobbed. 
 
 But there was no great hardship in that excursion 
 south,and when they all came back again in July and began 
 to occupy their homes and work as usual,many looked upon 
 it as a little out that had done them good. With new 
 energy they digged and built, planted and harvested. 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 69 
 
 God smiled in favor upon them, and they prospered in the 
 
 land as never before. 
 
 * ****** 
 
 The settlement where Marcus King located soon 
 extended its borders and received the name of Hernia. 
 Other streets were added to the east and to the west of 
 the main one; then cross streets were surveyed, cutting 
 the place into square blocks. New settlers kept coming 
 in, and more land was broken and planted. The water 
 ditches were enlarged and extended. Then a store was 
 built where general merchandise was to be had, hauled 
 from the Missouri River by wagons. Prices were high, it 
 may be believed. 
 
 The winter following the move, Marcus taught school 
 in Hernia. Two departments were organized. One was 
 a primary, over which Janet Harmon presided; the more 
 advanced was in charge of Marcus. Marcus invited all 
 who desired to attend, and many married people took advan- 
 tage of the opportunity to add to their limited store of book 
 learning. In the evening he taught an advanced class. 
 This work, and especially the evening classes, brought 
 Marcus somewhat back to his former atmosphere, with 
 the great difference in his favor of knowing that what he 
 was teaching was the truth, and having the blessed assur- 
 ance of a satisfied conscience, and of doing a noble work 
 in the community. The lack of books and the scarcity of 
 aids in teaching taxed the instructors to the utmost, but 
 when spring came, and all who could work must, all 
 agreed that the winter had been spent most profitably. 
 Janet, however, continued to meet with her flock of chil- 
 dren and give them a daily lesson on the blackboard in the 
 school house. 
 
70 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 One Sunday morning in early May, the people of 
 Hernia were unusually active. President Brigham Young 
 and some of the leading brethren were coming to hold 
 meeting that day. It was a habit of the great leader to 
 travel from settlement to settlement among the people, 
 setting the Church in order, organizing quorums, layL.g 
 out townsites, selecting sites for tabernacles and temples, 
 and planning irrigation canals. His visits were always 
 hailed with delight, and early that morning the children 
 of Hernia had been to the hills to gather the few early 
 flowers with which to decorate themselves. The old bow- 
 ery from last year had been repaired the day before. 
 
 At nine o'clock the president's carriage was seen 
 coming down the road, and soon the children toik their 
 position in lines on each side of the street. As he rode 
 through, he smiled and bowed to them, and they waved 
 their flowers. The people soon began to gather under 
 the bowery by the side of the meeting house. The plank 
 benches were hard and without any backs, but many of 
 the older people came early to get a seat in front. 
 
 Ma v cus was only slightly acquainted with the presi- 
 d" nt, but as Brother Brigham walked up to the stand he 
 stopped and chatled with the young man for a few mom- 
 ents. Then they all sarg: 
 
 "0 ye mountains high, 
 
 Where the clear blue sky 
 
 Arches over the vales of the free." 
 
 The president talked to them about the recent trials 
 which the Church had been called to pass through; said 
 that it had already proved a great blessing to them; they 
 could now look forward to a steady growth both in tem- 
 poral and spiritual affairs; and gave much good advice. 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 71 
 
 Some other speakers followed and the meeting closed for 
 noon. 
 
 In the afternoon the president occupied nearly all the 
 time. 
 
 . Marcus bad never heard such a sermon. It was not 
 a rhetorically or logically arranged sermon, but it thrilled 
 him nevertheless. He got a striking example of one who 
 speaks, not as the Pharisees, but as one having authority. 
 Towards its close the president said: "Now, my brethren 
 and sisters, this branch has been in a somewhat disorgan- 
 ized condition; and as it is, you are laboring under disad- 
 vantages. You are now large enough to have a full ward 
 organization, and we intend this afternoon to present to you 
 the name of a man to be your bishop. He can then 
 choose his counselors, and they can complete the organi- 
 zation. Brother Thomas has been presiding temporarilly, 
 and he has done his duty as far as I can find out. My 
 mind has been free and open to the suggestions of the 
 Spirit as to whom I should name as your bishop. Until I 
 walked up to this stand this afternoon I was in doubt, but 
 now I know." 
 
 At such news, the congregation naturally became 
 extremely attentive and expectant. Some had thought 
 that a bishop would be presented to the meeting, but 
 whom the man would be they could not tell. Half a dozen 
 names had been mentioned, and among them Elder 
 Thomas, who had presided thus far; but he was a very 
 "slow" man, .and it was doubtful if he would be named. 
 
 * 'Brother Marcus King," said the president," will 
 you please come to the stand?" 
 
 There was a murmur of voices as Marcus walked up 
 to the platform. Marcus hkiself had no clear idea of 
 what was coming. 
 
72 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 "This is the man the Spirit has told me to name as 
 your bishop. Brother King, tell us what you think of it;" 
 and the president sat down, leaving Marcus to face the 
 meeting. The audience became a blur to him. His head 
 seemed to reel for an instant. The suddenness of the sit- 
 uation had nearly stunned him. He stepped up to the 
 table and said: 
 
 "Brethren and sisters, this is as great a surprise to 
 me as it is to you. My own feelings cry 'no, no/ but duty 
 tells me I have no right to say that. I am willing to try 
 anything that God or His servants may call me to, with 
 the help of the Lord. Amen." 
 
 He sat down, and the president arose. 
 
 "All who favor Brother King as y)ur bishop and will 
 support him with your faith, your prayers, and your 
 works, make it manifest by raising the right hand." 
 
 Every hand went up. 
 
 1 'And now," continued the president, "there is an- 
 other thing. I understand that Brother King is not a 
 married man. It is hardly the proper thing for your 
 bishop to set you such a bad example; and Brother King," 
 turning around to him, "I charge you to get a wife, or 
 two if you like, as soon as possible." 
 
 At the close of the meeting, as friends shook his 
 hand, Marcus saw Janet glide quietly past him and away 
 before he could reach her. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 While at school Marcus remembered having read the 
 saying of Paul to Timothy, that "if a man desire the of- 
 fice of a bishop, he desireth a good work." He had asso- 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 73 
 
 dated the passage with his knowledge of bishops as he 
 saw them in the various denominations. Then he had 
 agreed with Paul. His highest ambition would certainly 
 be reached, thought he, if he ever attained to that lofty 
 position. But now he was a bishop, a real bishop in the 
 Church of Christ. And how different it was to what his 
 idea had been! He was simply the ecclesiastical head of 
 possibly a hundred souls, poor and struggling in a new 
 country to make a living; and he was one of them, work- 
 ing daily in the fields for his own support. 
 
 Though the new bishop was young, yet he was well 
 liked by all. His counselors were much older than he, 
 and so all classes were satisfied with the arrangement. 
 Marcus took hold of his office with a vim, and soon had 
 everything in the ward in good working order. Of course 
 a few objected to some of his ''new-fangled ways" as they 
 called them, and said that he was too new from the sec- 
 tarian pulpit; but these grumblers were not many. 
 
 Naturally, there was much talk of what Brother Brig- 
 ham had said to Marcus about his getting married. Many 
 were the jokes at his expense, but he laughed them all away. 
 Of course, he meant to marry, he said, but he must be 
 given time to think about such a serious matter. 
 
 Though he would say it in a jocular way, he thought 
 about it earnestly enough; and Alice was in his mind all 
 the time. During the "Echo Canyon War" the mails had 
 been very irregular, and news from Hungerton tad been 
 scarce. He had written but one letter to Alice, but that 
 had never been answered. She might never have received 
 it, however, and that spring it was after he had become 
 bishop he had written he* again, and sent her some new 
 Mormon literature. In his last letter to his mother he 
 
74 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 had asked about Alice, but he heard nothing from her 
 through that source, Alice having left Mrs. King some 
 time during the winter. . 
 
 It was middle of the summer before Marcus received 
 more letters from the East. One was from his mother, 
 but none from Alice. His mother had been very sick, was 
 quite weak at that writing, and she told him not to be sur- 
 prised if she wrote no more to him. "As regards Alice 
 Merton," she wrote, "since she left Hungerton I have not 
 heard much from her. She has lost all interest in me, I 
 fear. You remember I told you of her father's financial 
 failures, and ho\\ his business here has been closed. They 
 are now living on their farm some distance from town; 
 but, as I said, I hear scarcely anything from them. The 
 last time I saw Alice she was driving in that old one- 
 horse buggy of theirs, and there was a young fellow with 
 her. It is rumored that they are quite intimate. Well, 
 Alice is getting over her girl days, and I can not blame 
 her for getting married if she has a good offer; but I had 
 such hopes, Marcus Alice is such a good girl but there, 
 what's the use of my writing of such matters. You no 
 doubt care very little for her now, and there are plenty 
 of girls in your town any one of whom would gladly marry 
 the new bishop." 
 
 On the whole, it was a depressing letter. Marcus 
 worried considerably over its contents both as regards his 
 mother and Alice. He might have to give up Alice, after 
 all. At least, he could see no way by which she would 
 ever become his wife, unless the hand of Providence over- 
 ruled in a miraculous manner; but that she should be the 
 wife of another hurt him sadly, pnd he obtained no p?ace 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 75 
 
 of mind on that matter until he had gone to the All-wise 
 and All- merciful and poured out his heart to Him. 
 
 Meanwhile, Janet was in Salt Lake City. She had 
 gone there directly after Marcus had been made Bishop, 
 and had visited Hernia but a few times since. Marcus had 
 neglected Janet. Being so occupied with his new duties, 
 he had thought little about her. Now he realized that he 
 had been negligent, and it became all the more glaring 
 when considered with the fact that Janet had been so de- 
 voted to him. If he must settled down to a married life, 
 he knew of none better suited to him than Janet. He did 
 not try to deceive himself. He did not love Janet Har- 
 mon as he loved Alice Merton; but he thought a great 
 deal of her, that was certain. 
 
 And now rumors came to him about Janet in the city: 
 She ''kept company" with a man who was not doing right, 
 but was quarreling with the authorities of the Church . 
 Marcus tried to see her on a number of his trips to the 
 city, but he had failed. He did not place n,uch reliance in 
 this talk, as he knew Janet and her opinions too well to 
 suspect such things of her. 
 
 One evening Marcus called on Sister Harmon to in- 
 quire about Janet. The sister was knitting in the open 
 doorway, at the same time watching the light fade from 
 the western sky. She had aged much in the few years 
 she had been in the West, and lately her health was fail- 
 ing. It certainly seemed likely that she soon would have 
 her wish fulfilled as regards laying down her bones in 
 Zion. 
 
 Marcus would not take the chair which she had vac- 
 ated for him, but he sat down on a bench by the wall. 
 The little room was one of the neatest that the Bishop 
 
76 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 ever went into in that settlement. With the extreme scar- 
 city of anything that could be ustd to adorn or make 
 comfort, it was a wonder that such a room could be made. 
 Out of the commonest things Janet's skillful fingers had 
 made neat ornaments. The clay floor had recently been 
 hidden by one of sawn boards, and little strips of home- 
 made carpet covered the boards not made white by scrub- 
 bing. The cleanest and freshest white-wash covered the 
 walls, where were hung a few cheap prints with frames of 
 oak and autumn leaves. Shelves were lined with scalloped 
 paper. In the little window behind the tiny panes of glass 
 stood a row of cans filled with flowers: two or three ger- 
 aniums, some pinks, and a few wild flowers. Marcus went 
 up to them and pulled a small red blossom. 
 
 "And so Janet doesn't come home often now?" said he. 
 
 "No; she doesn't care to leave her place. And you 
 know, Brother King, a girl of Janet's nature likes a little 
 more society than there is here in Hernia." 
 
 "Yes; I suppose so; but what about that rumor? Has 
 she found a young man that cares for her?" 
 
 "Yes; I think she has. There's no use denying that; 
 at least he seems to think a great deal of her." 
 
 "And does she like him?" 
 
 "Well now, Brother King, I can't say. She's turned 
 so strange lately that I can't understand the girl. I be- 
 lieve that she thinks more of you yet than of anybody 
 else." 
 
 The needles stopped their busy click, and the old 
 sister looked steadily at him with a smile. Marcus was 
 trying to fasten to his jacket the flower he had picked. 
 
 "I'm sorry, Sister Harmon that is, I suppose I 
 haven't treated Janet quite right." 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMOM. 77 
 
 "No; I don't think you have." 
 
 "But you know my story, don't you? Janet does, 
 and I thought you would understand." 
 
 "Yes; Janet told me about your young lady that 
 wouldn't have you after you became a Mormon. Janet 
 was in the same fix but bygones are bygones with her." 
 
 Marcus knew, however, that there was a difference in 
 their cases. 
 
 *' Where is Janet staying now? I'm going to town 
 tomorrow and I should like to see her?" 
 
 Sister Harmon went to the shelf and brought down a 
 letter from which she took a slip of paper. A photo- 
 graph also fell to the floor, 
 
 "Oh yes; here's his picture," she said as she handed 
 it to him. 
 
 The face was a dear one to Marcus King. It was his 
 old friend who had brought him the Gospel, Elder Robert 
 James. 
 
 "Do you know him?" she asked. 
 
 ''Yes; he preached the Gospel to me in Hungerton.' 
 
 "Indeed! Well, now, that's interesting; but have 
 you heard that he is on the back track, as they say?" 
 
 "Yes; I've heard it, but I can hardly believe it of 
 him. I must see him when I go to town. I haven't 
 heard from him for a long time, and had no idea he was 
 in Salt Lake." 
 
 Marcus brought away with him a package for Janet 
 from her mother, and a sharp pain in his heart for him- 
 self, ' He lost no time in getting an early start for the 
 city next morning. 
 
 He found Elder James at work on his farm on the 
 outskirts of the city, and when he took his hand and 
 
78 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 looked into his face, Marcus found that there was some 
 truth in the rumor he had heard. The man spoke in a 
 confused way, and his actions displayed a nervousness not 
 natural to him. Of course he was pleased to see Marcus. 
 
 'Til unhitch and we'll go to the house. Sister Har- 
 mon is my housekeeper you know Janet Harmon, I be- 
 lieve?" 
 
 "We crossed the plains together, that is, part way, 
 and she has lived in Hernia." 
 
 "Yes; she has told me of you. You see, I lost my 
 wife two years ago, and I must have someone to look after 
 my two children. Janet does it splendidly. She's a fine 
 woman. " 
 
 The horses were unhitched from the plow, and they 
 made for the stable, the two men following. 
 
 "So this is your farm?" asked Marcus. "You've got 
 a fine piece of land here." 
 
 "Yes; it's a pretty good farm, but I've sold it." 
 
 "Is that so?" 
 
 "Yes; I'm going East in the spring. Tve an offer 
 of a good position back in my native state, and I think 
 I'd better go. I'm not wanted here any longer." 
 
 "Why, what's the matter, Brother James?" 
 
 "I'm finding too much fault, that's all. You haven't 
 heard, perhaps, but the fact is that I am already as good 
 as an outcast here. Things are not run right to my no- 
 tion, and because I point it out, I am ostracized." 
 
 "But, dear brother, the Gospel is the same, isn't it?" 
 
 "Yes; I don't deny that, but Brigham is wrong." 
 
 They came to the house, where they met Janet com- 
 ing from the cellar with a pan of milk. At sight of Mar- 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 79 
 
 cus she nearly dropped it. "Look out," he said, "If I'm 
 to have any of that for dinner." 
 
 She was surprised, and also a little uneasy, Marcus 
 thought. However, she busied herself with getting din- 
 ner, and finding time once in a while to ask about matters 
 in Hernia. 
 
 At the table they asked and answered questions for 
 some time regarding their doings since they hfc parted 
 in Iowa City. This led on to their experiences in and 
 around Hungerton, and Elder James asked about many of 
 his friends, if Marcus had any news from them. The old- 
 time light came into his eyes, and the old-time interest 
 awakened when these missionary reminiscences were in- 
 dulged in; and Marcus began to doubt his first conclusion?. 
 
 "I live with John and Eliza Dixon in Hernia. They 
 are still true to the faith as you taught it to them, 
 Robert. Why don't you come out and see them?" 
 
 "Well, I have often thought I would go out and see 
 you all, but this trouble of mine has prevented me. I 
 didn't think you would care to see me." 
 
 "I will always be glad to see you, Robert. I can 
 never forget what I owe you. I am trying to live up to 
 the principles you taught me also. I know they are true 
 and you know it, too." 
 
 Robert's hand trembled as he pushed his hair from 
 his forehead, and wiped away the dampness. 
 
 "Yes," he said in a low, tremulous voice; "I know 
 they are true. I don't deny them, Marcus, and I hope I 
 never shall. The principles are all right, but " and 
 here he raised his voice, "the authorities are wrong." 
 
 "I shall nob try to show you the fallacy of that posi- 
 
80 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 tion. It seems altogether too strange for me to be your 
 teacher." 
 
 ' 'Oh, chat's all right. You're a Bishop, you know, 
 You stand in with Brigham and are all right." 
 
 Marcus did not desire to quarrel with his old friend. 
 He was too much pained for that. So they parted with a 
 good spirit, and Marcus had him promise that he would 
 visit his^riends in Hernia the next Sunday. 
 
 Janet had said but little during the taik. The chil- 
 dren came rushing in to get their dinner, and she busied 
 herself with them. 
 
 "You'll come, too, Janet," said Marcus. 
 
 "I don't know I'd like to see Mother, but" 
 
 "Let there be no 'buts' Janet. You must promise 
 me to come. I want you to come, Janet." 
 
 * 'Then I'll be there," she said. And her eyes fol- 
 lowed him through the gate and up the road . 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The next Saturday Bishop King was irrigating corn 
 when he saw a passing team stop at Harmon's, and Janet 
 alight. He had doubted her coming at all, but here she 
 was, a day ahead. 
 
 That evening Marcus called. He smiled to himself 
 as he brushed his coat, and put on his best tie, before 
 going. It had been such a long time since he had done 
 any ' 'dressing" to call on the ladies that the act now had 
 a certain charm in it. 
 
 Janet must have expected him. She was dressed 
 better than he had ever seen her, and she reminded him 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 81 
 
 of the first sight he had of her on the plains. Save for 
 a sad expression that seemed to have made itself perma- 
 nent in her face, she showed her peculiar beauty to advan- 
 tage that evening. A little pang akin to jealousy shot 
 through his breast. 
 
 Janet had brought a few simple luxuries from the 
 city, and mother and daughter were enjoying them at the 
 table. 
 
 "You're just in time," exclaimed the mother. 
 "There's just a taste of this cake left for you." 
 
 "We're fast getting back to old conditions," said he, 
 "when we can have sugar in our cake. This was sweet- 
 ened with sugar, wasn't it, Janet?" 
 
 Janet nodded. 
 
 "Yes; and when we can dress like that," said the 
 mother, pointing to Janet. 
 
 "Now, Mother, you know that this is the cheapest 
 kind of stuff." 
 
 "It must be in the making," said Marcus, "for I as- 
 sure you, it looks pretty fine." 
 
 "I'm going to get some cooler milk," said the girl, as 
 she went to the cellar with a tin pail. 
 
 "Brother James will be here tomorrow, won't he?" 
 Marcus asked, when she returned. 
 
 "Yes; he and the children." 
 
 Sister Harmon, good old scheming soul, said she had 
 an errand at a neighbor's. Janet pleaded to go instead, 
 but she was ordered to stay and entertain her company. 
 
 "The Bishop is your company, mama, not mine." 
 The words leaped from her as though she could not con- 
 trol them. Then she straightway apologized. 
 
82 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 "All right, mother, go on. I'll do my best. You'll 
 forgive me, won't you, Brother King?" 
 
 "I forgive all men likewise all women," he 
 answered, "in hopes that I also shall be forgiven of them." 
 
 The door was open, and the moon shone in on the 
 floor. A cool breeze came from the mountains, and blew 
 out like a sail the little white curtain at the window. Mar- 
 cus drew his chair into the draught. Janet cleared the 
 table. 
 
 "How long have you iived with Brother James?" he 
 
 "Just this summer." 
 
 "And how long has he been feeling as he does?" 
 
 "I don't know. He says very little to me about 
 such things. I was somewhat surprised myself at what 
 he said to you the other day." 
 
 "You don't know how sorry I am when I see a man 
 like Brother James fall into the dark. Why, he has bee n 
 on a mission, preached the Gospel to hundreds, and done 
 a vast amount of good; and after it all to apostatize! I 
 don't understand it. Now, if it had been you or me, 
 Janet, who haven't done much for the Church, and who 
 are quite new, it wouldn't have been so surprising; but 
 Brother James well, its awful." 
 
 "I did not think it was that bad. He's been very 
 kind to me." 
 
 "Janet, do you know what rumor has it about you?'' 
 
 "No; what rumor?" She stood leaning against the 
 open door. The moonlight streamed through her hair, 
 making a peculiarly beautiful effect. 
 
 "Why, that you and Brother James are keeping com- 
 pany." 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 83 
 
 . . 
 
 'And what if we are? Whose business is it? She 
 stood up erect against the door. Marcus leaned across 
 the cleared table and looked at her. He had never seen 
 her so charming. 
 
 1 'Janet, I did not mean to offend you by repeating 
 gossip," he said quietly. "For my own knowledge I 
 wanted to know." 
 
 She stood as if rigid. Marcus could hear that she 
 breathed hard, but she said nothing. 
 
 "I wanted the information, Janet, so that I would 
 know how to act. 1 do not wish to be unfair or unmanly. 
 If you have promised to marry Brother James, then I'll 
 say no more." 
 
 It was a bold move he made, but he might as well 
 out with it. 
 
 "I've not promised to marry Brother James." 
 
 "Thank you for telling me. Won't you sit down 
 here, Janet, while I talk to you." 
 
 She answered not, she did not move. So Marcus 
 arose and stood on the other side of the open door, quite 
 close to her. A field of ripening wheat was just outside, 
 but its countless ears would never hear. However, they 
 nodded back and forth towards each other in the moon- 
 light as if they were whispering a secret tale of. love. 
 
 "Janet, you can't imagine the responsibility there is 
 in being Bishop even in such a small place as this. I've 
 been alone in the work long enough, and if I can get some 
 one to help me, it will be better." 
 
 "You can get ten girls to marry you, if that is what 
 you mean, " she said with an effort. 
 
 "But I don't want ten, I want but one " 
 
84 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 "And she is in Hungerton. You are in a fix, Bishop/' 
 There was a sneer in her tone this time. 
 
 Marcus walked back to the chair. He was silenced. 
 She had turned on him, she was playing with him, and he 
 kne# now that he loved her. He could not say anything 
 to her, and she stood there looking staring out into the 
 fields. 
 
 ''Well, Janet," he said at last, "I see that it is useless 
 to say anything further to you tonight." He pushed the 
 chair away and reached for his hat. "Perhaps, tomorrow 
 but Brother James will be here then and there is no 
 telling oh Janet, why do you despise me? what have I 
 done that you should hate me? 1 ' 
 
 The girl walked waveringly to the chair, leaned her 
 head on the table, and burst into loud sobs. Marcus stood 
 hat in hand as if helpless. Then he went to her, and as 
 a father would place his hand on the head of a child, he 
 placed his on the bowed head. He drew another chair up 
 to her, and sat there until her sobs grew less violent. 
 Then he gently took her hand, and lifted her head from 
 the table. . All her passion had vanished, and she yielded 
 to each pressure of his hand. 
 
 "I did not mean to be hard, " she said at last, "but 
 I thought you never have cared for me, and now your talk 
 puts the devil into my heart. Forgive me, Marcus." 
 
 "I have nothing to forgive, but you have much. I 
 have ill-treated you. I have" neglected you, but it shall 
 be so no longer. Do you think you can forgive me, and 
 learn to love me?" 
 
 "I love you now, Marcus." She .only whispered it, 
 but he heard it plainly, and he pressed her head onto his 
 shoulder, while her soft, warm hand clasped his in a firm 
 
MARCUS KING,IMORMON. 85 
 
 grasp. The breeze sank to a zephyr. The moon sailed 
 behind a cloud. Then he kissed her, and what were words 
 after that? 
 
 ''Marcus," she said, "now I must talk. Mother will 
 be here presently, and I don't care for her to see my 
 swollen eyes. Let us walk up and down outside!" 
 
 So Marcus slipped her arm into his and they walked 
 down the road bordering the wheat field and the hay 
 meadow. 
 
 "Marcus, you haven't said that you love me." 
 
 "Then I will say it now." 
 
 "Hush! but we may take it for granted that you care 
 a little for me. Still now don't deny it, Marcus you 
 think more of Alice Merton.'' 
 
 "But that is in the past. It is useless to talk about 
 it." 
 
 "Perhaps, and perhaps not. However, let us under- 
 stand each other, let us have no secrets between us. I 
 have told you mine." 
 
 "And you don't care for Robert James?" 
 
 "Not a bit. I never did, I cared for you only, and 
 I shall thank God that tonight He has answered my pray- 
 ers." 
 
 How could Marcus have been so blind to such a sub- 
 lime love! 
 
 "Now listen to me, "and she pinched his arm. "I'm 
 not going to marry you just yet." 
 
 "Well, why not? Hasn't my house stood vacant long 
 enough?" 
 
 "I'm going to give you a chance to marry Alice 
 first." 
 
 "But my dear Janet, you can't give me that chance." 
 
86 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 "Hush, let me tell you. We can wait and see. We 
 know not what time will bring. We must give Alice a 
 chance. She loves you, and you love her you love her 
 more than you love me. I'm used to that thought now, 
 so it doesn't hurt me. You can marry Alice first, I'm wil- 
 ling. It is her right. I will come in afterwards and be 
 a help to you both.'' 
 
 4 'My dear girl, I bless you for your words. I had not 
 thought it possible for a woman to say them as you have. 
 I do love Alice, and I think I always shall; but remember, 
 that does not hinder me from loving you, yea, now a hun- 
 died fold more than ever." 
 
 "I know it, Marcus, I know it; you love me of course, 
 but nut as you love Alice; and it's all right. It's not to 
 be expected otherwise. We must give Alice another 
 chance. If you marry me first, it would break Alice's 
 heart. I can come in second, you know. That wil! be 
 easier for her, when she understands it." 
 
 "Yes; but she never will understand, I fear." 
 
 "She may, Marcus. That's in God's hands. We must 
 give her another chance anyway. Marcus, I had a letter 
 from her last winter. 2 ' 
 
 "You?" 
 
 "Yes; I've never told you before because I was jeal- 
 ous. She asked about you. Oh, it was such a beautiful 
 letter, and full of love for you. I believe she is a good 
 girl, and I have not treated her right because I have not 
 answered it yet." 
 
 "You surprise me. How could she have gotten your 
 address? She has never answered any of my letters." 
 
 "I suppose she got it through Brother Dixon, or 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 87 
 
 perhaps through Robert James. He has written back, I 
 understand.' 7 
 
 It was getting late. The mother was looking out of 
 the door for them, and they walked up to her arm in 
 arm. 
 
 "It's all right, mother," said Marcus, "Janet and I 
 have come to an understanding at last, and we want your 
 sanction and blessing." 
 
 "And you may have both," she said, and continued 
 about now being able to lay down her bones in peace, 
 which remark Marcus just made out as he leaped over the 
 fence on a short cut home. 
 
 CHAPTER 12. 
 
 It was a pleasant party that assembled at John Dix- 
 on's the next day. There were John and his wife, Sister 
 Harmon and Janet, Robert James and the two children, 
 and the Bishop of Hernia, with little Ida alternately on 
 his arm and knee. 
 
 There are no more pleasing associations than those 
 formed in the mission field. Somehow that "first love" 
 for the Gospel is awakened and renewed by meeting 
 friends whom one has learned to know and love while 
 preaching the Gospel. What good times to be recalled! 
 What outpourings of the Spirit to be remembered! What 
 experiences with opposing forces to be narrated again! 
 And so that little party at Dixon's were all day, between 
 
88 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 meetings, talking of old times, and rejoicing in each 
 other's company. 
 
 It was not until towards evening that Robert James 
 showed his disposition to find fault, and them he began 
 in a manner that jarred on the Bishop's feelings. Marcus 
 dH not care to bring on any discus- sion and so mar the 
 good spirit of the company; but he could not quietly hear 
 slandered those whom he considered apostles and proph- 
 ets, and although not without their faults, still $>ood men. 
 So he said to his friend Robert in the hearing of al!: 
 
 "Brother James, I'm surprised at you I'm surprised 
 that you should say such things. You are a reasonable 
 man, and understand the philosophy of the Gospel. Tell 
 me how it is that the leaders, the heads of the true 
 Church, can be in the wrong, and still that Church grow 
 and prosper, and be in the right? Can the head be sick 
 without the body knowing it?" 
 
 "The body does know it." 
 
 "An individual now and then thinks so; not the 
 Church as a whole." 
 
 "Well, I think I know what I'm talking about. I 
 know more about Brigham Young than you do. " 
 
 "You may do that. When I know that he stands at 
 the head of the Church of Christ on the earth, I do not 
 care to know all his faults and misdoings, for of course 
 he is not perfect, being a mortal like the rest of us. 
 Knowing the Gospel to be true, I can be satisfied with whom- 
 soever God pleases to put at the head. I can reason no 
 other way. I can not believe that an impure fountain can 
 bring forth pure waters." 
 
 "I'm not going to argue with you, Marcus, on that 
 point." 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 89 
 
 "I didn't say that to you, when you came to Hunger- 
 ton. I reasoned with you, and tried to hold my point, 
 too; but when I saw that I was beaten, I gave in, 
 didn't I?" 
 
 "Yes; but really I see no use in talking about it. 
 What's done can't be undone. I've sold my place and am 
 going East. Perhaps they will cut me off the Church 
 before I go. Then I'll be out of it, and will get away 
 from Mormonism for a while. Come, children, let's be 
 going. I'm sorry that I should disappoint you so, Marcus, 
 but I can't help it. You keep on, and you'll be all 
 right." 
 
 He tried to laugh, a forced, sickly laugh, as he pre- 
 pared to go. The others looked on in silence. Marcus 
 arose and stood by the table, his eyes blazing. 
 
 "Robert, wait a moment. Once you taught me the 
 eternal truth, and now I am going to tell it to you. I 
 want you to remember that I have borne my testimony to 
 you. You said you would get away from Mormcnism. 
 Robert James, I tell you solemnly you can not get away 
 from Mormonism, you can not get outside of it. Do what 
 you will, go where you may, eternal truth will be there and 
 that is Mormonism. Take the wings of the morning and 
 fly to the uttermost parts of the universe, and there is 
 God and His children that is Mormonism. In life or in 
 death Mormonism will meet you and remind you of its 
 truth. You might as well try to run away from your in- 
 nermost soul as to escape from Mormonism. You might 
 as well try to get outside of time and space as to get out- 
 side of Mormonism. You can't do it, Brother James, you 
 can't do it." 
 
90 MARCUS KISG, MORMON. 
 
 ' Tis the last and the first, 
 
 For the limits of time it steps o'er; 
 
 Though the heavens depart, and the earth's fountains burst/ 
 Truth, the sum of existence, will weather the worst, 
 
 Eternal, unchanged, evermore' 
 
 and that is Mormonism!" 
 
 They had all arisen. No one spoke, but Robert James 
 put on his hat, took a child by each hand, and walked 
 away. He went straight to where his horses were feed- 
 ing by his wagon, and taking no heed of the pleadings to 
 remain, he hitchejl up and drove off to town. The last 
 that was heard of them in the dark was the children's 
 crying. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Janet went to the city, had a talk with Robert James, 
 and then came back to Hernia. She and Marcus were 
 much together, and now it was generally conceded that 
 the Bishop would get a wife. However, weeks went by 
 and the golden autumn came, and still there was no 
 change. 
 
 ' 'You are not to be in a hurry, Marcus, about my 
 setting the date," said she; "ycu'U grant me that." 
 
 "Take your own time, my dear; but our good people, 
 the neighbors, are getting impatient," he answered. 
 
 Meanwhile, Janet had answered Alice's letter, and in 
 due time of the stage coach she received an answer. It 
 was a strange letter. 
 
 Expressing, as the writer did, strong condemnation, 
 she, at the same time, could not hide her love for Marcus. 
 Janet could read that plainly between the lines. Janet an- 
 swered it at once, and in her letter she told Alice the facts 
 as regarding Marcus and as regards herself. She was 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 91 
 
 open with her, laying bare her soul to the unknown girl. 
 Janet thought it was her duty to do so. She meant to do 
 what was right by Alice Merton, and give her the one 
 chance more. She had studied it all out during her long 
 absence from Hernia, when she had been greatly in doubt 
 whether Marcus had any love for her. She had thought 
 of that first love of hers, which had been so easily changed. 
 As she looked back upon it, she thanked God that it had 
 gone no further than it had. When she thought of Mar- 
 cus, with his high ideals, his nobility of character, and bis 
 manhood, how low in the scale that other man sank! But 
 but she was not sure of Marcus; far from it. Looking 
 back on their acquaintance, she could find nothing in him 
 that would indicate more than a deep respect for her. 
 His mind had been so filled with Alice that there had been 
 no room for her. At first she resented it, and vowed that 
 she would never again show her heart to Marcus, as she 
 had done on some occasions. But the more she thought 
 and prayed about it, the clearer became her right position 
 toward herself and them. Envy left her, resentment 
 found no place within her heart. It was all shown to her 
 so clearly. Her duty was plain. There was sacrifice in 
 it, but beyond it all there was peace and joy, and a glory 
 which God gave her a glimpse of. With all this in her 
 soul she had penned that last letter to Alice, and now she 
 would wait for an answer. It would take weeks, perhaps 
 months, but wait she would before she would give her 
 hand to Marcus King. And Marcus also waited patiently. 
 In those early days, the one house, sometimes rude, 
 answered for meetinghouse, schoolhouse, amusement hall 
 a place for all kinds of public gatherings. Marcus had 
 his ideals even in these wild surroundings, and he did not 
 
92 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 lose sight of them. That fall, when the harvesting was 
 over, he began the movement to build that new meeting- 
 house. That meetinghouse? Yes, it was the only one of 
 its kind in the valley for a long time, and many of the old 
 settles can yet tell of that wonderful structure. 
 
 Marcus talked the project up well before beginning, 
 and the majority of the people were heartily in favor of 
 his plans. A few thought the schoolhouse good enough, 
 and said the Bishop was going back to his old sectarian 
 notions of fine churches. A building committee was ap- 
 pointed, of which Marcus was chairman. He was also the 
 architect of the new house, while Brother Wood was the 
 foreman of the work. 
 
 "We fix up the best we know now, " Marcus preached, 
 "when we invite our friends to see us. Let us not dis- 
 criminate against the Lord. Every Sabbath at least we 
 invite the Lord to meet with us, and what kind of a re- 
 ception room do we provide for Him? Well, you all know 
 what rendition our room is often in on a Sunday after a 
 dance. There can be nothing too good for the Lord or 
 His Spirit. We try to make our temples the most beauti- 
 ful buildings that the human hand can construct, in proof 
 of this. I have heard some complaints about this matter. 
 One brother said that it was sectarian, and smattered of 
 the pride of the world. I don't think so. The children 
 of this world are often wiser than the children of light. 
 They make their places of worship beautiful and attrac- 
 tive, that people may be drawn to them and take a delight 
 in coming. Why shouldn't we do the same? We, out 
 here in the West, must 'rough it' all the week. We come 
 in close contact with mother earth, and her stains are 
 upon us. We learn to live with the soil and forget to 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 98 
 
 look up to the beautiful blue sky. Now, I think that once 
 in a while we should get away from our life of drudgery, 
 and soar, as it were, in the beauties of heaven. I think 
 we should have a place into which we might enter, and 
 its very atmosphere draw our minds to God." 
 
 So the work was begun. The logs came from the 
 canyon, and the hewers cut them smooth on both sides 
 A site was selected which could be irrigated, and a foun- 
 dation was laid. Marcus had plenty of skilled laborers 
 who were glad to thus renew their acquaintance with 
 their old trades. Each took a pride in doing his best. 
 There was a scarcity of material, but it was a wonder to 
 see the ingenuity that was exhibited to overcome diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 The sisters were not idle. With Janet at their head, 
 they gathered a great many rags, which they sewed and 
 weaved into beautiful strips of carpet. These were for 
 the stand and aisles, and perhaps the whole floor if they 
 could get enough. Then there were some coverings for the 
 windows, something in the nature of curtains or blinds to 
 keep out the hot summer sun. There was much planning 
 before anything satisfactory was devised. Then Janet 
 said there must be some decorations for the walls, and 
 old trunks were ransacked for suitable pictures. These 
 were put into all sorts of crude but artistic frames. 
 
 The whole of Hernia was aroused. Every man, woman, 
 and child had or wanted something to do with the build- 
 ing of the new meetinghouse. This was true even of the 
 grumblers. As the ^ alls slowly arose, the plasterer was 
 scheming and experimenting to get the best plaster out 
 of the material he could procure. The painters and dec- 
 
94 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 orators, and there was an artist among them, also were 
 hard at work mjxing unheard of pigments and experiment- 
 ing with their own rooms with effects of ttimes the most 
 startling. 
 
 As heads of the two divisions, Marcus and Janet met 
 and schemed. Marcus had drawn quite elaborate plans 
 which he explained to Janet one afternoon. 
 
 "In the spring we shall try to get some shrubbery/' 
 said he. "I have already sent after some grass seed which 
 I intend to plant this fall. Then here we shall have a row 
 of trees of poplars, box elders, locusts, and others that 
 we can get. Then Pm going to write back to Hungerton 
 to the old janitor there and ask him to send me some roots 
 of that ivy which nearly buries the church. That I will 
 plant here on each side of the vestibule, and make some 
 trellis work for it to climb upon/' 
 
 They leaned over the table and examined the draw- 
 ings, their heads being close together. 
 
 "Where are your flower beds? 1 ' she asked. 
 
 "Wt- 11, I hardly dared go that far." 
 
 "Why not? Flowers are as easy to raise as trees or 
 grass. I want some flowers. A big boquet must be on 
 the stand every Sunday morning." 
 
 "I'm no florist, but you are, so here goes." Where- 
 upon some circles and diamonds were drawn upon the 
 paper. 
 
 "And if any teams are hitched close by to injure all 
 this, there'll be a row!" 
 
 "That's all provid d for," laughed Marcus. "See 
 here across the street we are to plant a double row of 
 trees for the trains." 
 
 "I like this," said Janet. "You know this is doing 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 9^ 
 
 something. We're shaping the future, we're creating, 
 we're pioneers." 
 
 'I've told you that before, haven't I?" 
 
 They were in reality two happy people. 
 
 Then Janet reminded Marcus of the wildness of life 
 among the young people, and their lack of gentle manners. 
 Marcus was aware of it well enough, but was at a loss to 
 know how to check it. So, together they talked it over 
 and decided that they would take a more active part in 
 the amusements of the young people, in fact, be the lead- 
 ers, and show them by example rather than by precept 
 how to act. 
 
 They went about their task quietly, but soon there 
 was a marked change. In the dance Marcus and Janet 
 were the first and leading couple. They made themselves 
 as prominent as they could, and all had to look at the 
 graceful couple and unconsciously follow them. 
 
 In all this Marcus and Janet put their whole soul. It 
 was a labor worthy of any talent. 
 
 Then came October, and the conference. A jolly 
 party drove in to the city to attend. The splendid meet- 
 ings were greatly enjoyed. On the afternoon of the last 
 day the list of missionaries called to the world was read. 
 Among those called to preach the Gospel to the United 
 States was the name of Marcus King. 
 
 Marcus immediately an&weied the call. He had very 
 little preparation to make. He called together his coun- 
 selors and some of the leading brethren and laid before 
 them his plans for finishing the new meetinghouse, and 
 they said that his ideas should be carried out as far as 
 possible. John Dixon would look after his personal affairs. 
 
96 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 He asked Janet if she had fixed the date for their marriage 
 yet, and she said she had not. 
 
 "I know people will talk/' she explained, " and wonder 
 why we do not get married before you leave, but we will 
 have to stand that. Now, more than ever, that date must 
 be uncertain. You will visit Hungerton, and see Alice; 
 meanwhile I will wait and see how things turn out." 
 
 ' 'Janet," said he, * 1 appreciate your motives. I had 
 not thought it possible for woman to sacrifice herself for 
 woman as you are doing." 
 
 "In the end there will be a greater blessing," said 
 she, "so there really is no sacrifice." 
 
 "Yes; with the light you have on the subject of God's 
 eternal providences, it may be possible. To the women in 
 the world it would not be. Janet, you are dearer than 
 ever to me for what you say, because it is true that I love 
 Alice, and because I do want to see her again. Now that's 
 a paradox. You ought to be angry at that, to spurn me, 
 or go away with a broken heart; but you do neither. You 
 understand that it is possible for me to love you both." 
 
 But her heart was full, and she did not answer. A 
 tear slowly trickled down her cheek, which Marcus kissed 
 away. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 In a few days Marcus was ready. The missionary 
 company went with some travelers going East. The 
 weather continued to be fair, and good time was made. 
 As he traversed nearly the same ground over which he 
 had traveled with his hand-cart, Marcus could not help 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON 97 
 
 but think of that terrible trial, and then of the experience 
 which had been crowded into the past three years of his 
 life. And here he was again, a preacher of the Gospel, 
 not with a salary, but traveling without purse and scrip 
 as the apostles of old. 
 
 Winter had set in before they reached the railroad, 
 but there was no suffering; then, drawn by the iron steed, 
 they soon reached their destination. 
 
 Marcus labored for some time in and around the city 
 of St. Louis. Here he found a number of old-time friends, 
 some of whom received him kindly and others did not. 
 Marcus entered into his work with keen interest. That 
 he represented an unpopular people, and preached an un- 
 popular doctrine which brought upon him much opposi- 
 tion, only spurred him on and gave life and zeal to his 
 labors. 
 
 One day he found a college chum, one who had also 
 entered the ministry and was now the popular pastor of a 
 large church in the city. His friend was surprised to see 
 him, and doubly astonished when he learned some of his 
 history. He invited Marcus to call on him the next even- 
 ing, which invitation was promptly accepted. 
 
 Marcus had walked all day and was tired and hungry 
 when he made his way to his friend's house. At his knock 
 a servant girl showed him in and took his hat and over- 
 coat. He had no rubbers, so he wiped his feet well on 
 the rug before entering. The parlor was warm and well- 
 lighted, and Marcus sank into the cushions of an arm-chair 
 with an old-time abandon to ease and comfort. 
 
 That must have been a dream, that trip out in the 
 wilds of the Rocky Mountains among the Mormons! Was 
 he not sitting in his own cozy parlor at Hun^erton? His 
 
98 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 mother would soon call him to dinner. He could hear the 
 clatter of dishes, and the delicious odor of cooking viands 
 came through the opening and closing doors. Yes, it 
 must have been all a dream: the hard, long travel across 
 the plains; the sleeping and eating on the ground; the liv- 
 ing in log houses; the poor, coarse food; the wild, dry, 
 desert West, pregnant with the smell of alkali and sage- 
 brush; the hot sun; the cloudless sky; the Mormons and 
 all his supposed friends; there was Janet busy with the 
 worked co/ering which she said was to be for the pulpit; 
 she leaned over her work, the long braids of dark red hair 
 hanging over her shoulders; her mother moved quietly 
 about in that little white-washed room; the plowing and 
 the planting; the irrigating and the harvesting; the hay- 
 ing; the digging of potatoes that made the hands rough 
 and sore; the long, hard day's work in the hot sun yes; 
 what a wonderful dream it had all been! 
 
 "Good evening, Marcus," said his friend, stepping in, 
 "I see you've come." 
 
 Marcus crossed his knees again; he imagined for an 
 instant that his warm slipper was dangling on the end of 
 his foot, but in reality he saw nothing but a wet, much- 
 mended shoe. 
 
 "You'll excuse me for keeping you waiting so long," 
 said the parson. 
 
 "Oh," I am quite at ease, you see. You have it quite 
 comfortable here." 
 
 "Well, not as I wish. The salary doesn't allow much 
 yet; but I am hoping to get a raise soon, and then I ex- 
 pect to fix up as I should like. If it's a fair question, 
 how much do you get? I understand you are travelirg 
 in the interest of the Mormon Church?" 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 99 
 
 "Well, now," said Marcus, smiling, "I don't know 
 yet, as the account is kept by the recording angel; but I 
 hope I shall have my share when I get to heaven . We 
 get no salary here." 
 
 Marcus saw that the pastor doubted his word, so he 
 said no more on that subject but the talk soon led on to 
 old times, and what Marcus had seen in the West. Then 
 dinner was announced, of which the hungry missionary 
 was heartily glad. His friend introduced him to his wife, 
 and the three sat down to a dinner which again reminded 
 Marcus of bygone days. 
 
 His friends could not understand Marcus. That he 
 could forsake his all and c-ast his lot with the Mormons 
 was beyond belief. They did not say as much in words, 
 but Marcus understood it from their manner. In their 
 talk that evening, Marcus did not desire to press his doc- 
 trines on them, but when the pastor began to use sarcasm 
 tn regard to some of the teachings of the Mormons, he 
 put himself on the defense. Especially was the word 
 "Saint" obnoxious to the reverend divine. 
 
 "My friend," asked Marcus, "what is a Saint?" 
 
 "A holy person; not sinful mortals as we." 
 
 "You have not read your Bible for that .answer. In 
 olden times every person who became a member of the 
 Church of Christ was called a Saint. They were not all 
 perfect men and womer, but mortals like us." 
 
 They sat around the table cracking nuts, after the 
 dinner. The parson's wife looked strangely at Marcus as 
 he talked. 
 
 "We call ourselves Saints and the world calls it sac- 
 rilege. That is because they have changed the meaning 
 of the word. In our pictures of Saints, we see some old- 
 
100 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 monk or nun, with eyes turned up to heaven, and a long- 
 drawn, unnatural expression on the face, and we are led 
 to believe that a living flesh and blood mortal cannot be 
 a Saint. I claim to be a better Saint now than a few years 
 ago when I had somewhat of a ministerial look on my face. " 
 
 Marcus laughed, but neither the parson nor his wife 
 joined in his merriment. 
 
 "We are the children of God, and we are here for a 
 purpose," continued Marcus. "The flesh is not an evil 
 tenement to be despised, for by so doing we despise the 
 noblest works of God. The highest type of personal 
 holiness is not obtained in the cloister, but out in the 
 thick of the world's temptations, battling with sin and 
 error, gaining experience by what we suffer, overcoming, 
 conquering. There is opportunity enough for self-denial 
 and self-renunciation in our daily lives. A man can be a 
 man and a Saint at the same time. Manhood, woman- 
 hood and sainthood are synonymous. Don't you think so?" 
 
 "You haven't forgotten how to preach yet, " said his 
 friend. 
 
 "Why, no; I'm a preacher, you know/' 
 
 Out again in the wild night, Marcus realized that he 
 was not dreaming, but that life was real enough. The 
 snow came in thick gusts and he wrapped his coat closely 
 around him as he went to his lodgings. His friend had 
 not even asked him to stay over night, neither to call 
 again and see them. Well, it was all right. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 One morning Marcus received a number of letters 
 from the West. One was from Janet, one from John, 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 101 
 
 and some from his friends. One had come from Hunger- 
 ton, and had traveled the long journey back again. The 
 handwriting was not his mother's, and when he opened it, 
 he knew the cause: his mother was dead now nearly two 
 months ago. 
 
 It was sad news to Marcus, he had hoped to see her 
 yet once more; but now she had gone to his father. She 
 had borne the news of his son to him. Did they under- 
 stand the truth there and rejoice that they had a son 
 on earth who was an honor and not a disgrace to them 
 now? Marcus believed they did. 
 
 Shortly after New Years Marcus set out on a long 
 journey. He meant to reach Hungerton early in the 
 spring, and even if he could do nothing in the way of 
 preaching there, he wanted to see his mother's grave. 
 Besides, there was a little property which he would have to 
 dispose of. 
 
 Marcus walked from village to village and from 
 farm to farm, preaching the Gospel, meeting with the 
 usual ups and downs incident to missionary life. People 
 had very little use for religion. The great question be- 
 fore the country was politics. Tha .nation was in a tur- 
 moil. Congress was vainly trying to adjust the rights of 
 "slave states" and "free states." Kansas was the scene 
 of civil war. John Brown had made his raid on Harper's 
 Ferry, had been captured and hanged. Forebodings of 
 the coming conflict filled the air, and Marcus remembered 
 the utterances of the Prophet Joseph on the subject. 
 
 As he neared Hungerton it seemed to Marcus that 
 people became more indifferent to his religious teachings. 
 Some threatened him with mob violence if he did r ot leave 
 
102 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 the country; but as he did not stop long in cne locality, 
 they did not disturb him. 
 
 One day, when warm spring winds had begun to 
 thaw the snow, Marcus trudged along the country road. 
 It was extremely hard walking because where the snow 
 was not one soft slush he sank over his shoe tops in mud. 
 He had walked all forenoon and had failed thus far to get 
 anything to eat. He had no money, so all the afternoon 
 he called from house to .house in hopes of getting Gospel 
 talks and something to eat; but each succeeding house 
 seemed more hostile than the one before. In the after- 
 noon a storm came up and the rain fell in torrents. 
 
 Marcus' clothes were wet through, but on he 
 trudged. Between the farmhouses the forest began to be 
 dense, and when evening came on he found it difficult to 
 keep the road. 
 
 Up to ten o'clock that night Marcus had asked at 
 twenty one places for lodging and each time had been 
 refused. Now he resolved to ask no more, but walk on 
 in the storm all night and get to Hungerton the next day. 
 He would get something to eat and a place to rest there. 
 
 He walked slowly on. The mud and water ran in 
 and out of his shoes. He took off his overcoat, as it was 
 filled with water and was heavy. The trees overhead 
 obscured the little light in the sky. The wind howled 
 dismally. Such an utter loneliness Marcus had never 
 felt. In other privations he had had human company, 
 but here he was alone, and not a soul had kindness 
 enough in his heart to take in from the storm a despised 
 Mormon Elder. He was not far from his f crmer home. 
 No doubt many along the road would have known him had 
 he given his name. Three years ago he could have driven 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 103 
 
 along the same road as the Reverend Marcus King, and 
 would have been royally entertained at any of the homes; 
 but now well, such is the way of the world. He did not 
 expect any better treatment; but, ugh, how the streams 
 of water ran down his back! 
 
 He walked on, and the rain still fell. He passed 
 one or two farm houses, but they were dark and forebod- 
 ing. He would travel on. Though he was faint and 
 weak, he would be refused no more that night. The 
 mud clung to his feet like great balls. The trees brushed 
 him with their great wet arms. 
 
 He was following along a pole fence when he came 
 to a clearing. A small house stood close to the road, and 
 from a window a shaft of light shot out into the darkness. 
 As he came opposite the' door he heard voices. He 
 would ask for a drink of water. As he knocked on the 
 door, the talking within ceased, and a man opened it. 
 Marcus did not go in, dripping wet as he was. 
 
 "Will you kindly give me a drink of water?" he said. 
 
 "Come in, come in, sir; come in out of the storm," 
 said the man. 
 
 "I am dripping wet." 
 
 "That's nothing; you can't spoil our carpet." The 
 floor was of cleanly scrubbed pine boards. 
 
 Marcus stepped in, and a young girl gave him a glass 
 of water. A large open fireplace was nearly filled with a 
 burning log. The room was so cozy, but Marcus turned 
 to go again. 
 
 "Its rather bad weather for traveling," said the 
 man, "and you're out late tonight. Walking too?" 
 
 "Yes," said Marcus. 
 
 The wife now arose, and looked at her husband. She 
 
104 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 had been looking intently at Marcus all the time. The 
 man understood. 
 
 ' 'Are you in a hurry?" he asked . 
 
 "No; but I have no place to stop for the night, so I 
 must be on the move." 
 
 "Who are you?" 
 
 "I am a Mormon Elder, preaching the Gospel with- 
 out purse or scrip. I have asked for shelter and food 
 twenty-one times during the day, and have been refused 
 each time. I shall ask no more/' and he moved towards 
 the door. 
 
 "But, great God, man, if you want to stay here, 
 you're welcome. I don't care what you are. Yau're cold 
 and wet and hungry, and that's enough. Come up to the 
 fire. Wife, get him something to eat." 
 
 The wife did not obey instantly, but she came up to 
 Marcus to take his dripping hat and coat. She peered 
 into his face and said: 
 
 "Are you Marcus King?" 
 
 "lam. That is my name." 
 
 "Why, Henry!" she exclaimed, "this is Marcus King, 
 your old pastor at Hungerton." 
 
 The man came up also and took Marcus' hand. He 
 looked closely into the bearded face. 
 
 "Are you the preacher from Hungerton?" 
 
 "No, Henry," interposed the woman, "you know he 
 left Hungerton, left the pulpit and the church, and joined 
 the Mormons." 
 
 Henry Sanford raised one hand to his eyes as if he 
 would clear them of some mist. Then he knew him, and 
 Marcus too recognized his friend whom he had last seen 
 in Hungerton jail, a religious madman. 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 105 
 
 "I am pleased to meet you, friend Sanford, " said 
 Maicus. "I am glad that you are looking so well, you 
 and your family." 
 
 "Yes; I am well now, and am rid of mind-destroying 
 religion, which nearly sent me to the asylum. Religion is 
 the greatest curse on earth. Perhaps I should not say 
 that, as you are a preacher. But I can prove it. The 
 twenty- one people who refused you shelter and food are 
 all long- faced Christians. I i am an unbeliever, an infidel 
 mother, what are we doing? Can't you see he is nearly 
 starved. I'll get some dry clothes for you, sir; and you'll 
 stay over night with us. This weather is not fit for a 
 dog to travel in." 
 
 In a very few minutes Marcus had on dry clothing, 
 and was sitting by the fire eating supper. The children 
 stood around in silence. The father began to talk about 
 the coming presidential election, while the mother urged 
 him to eat; but the hour was late, and soon all retired for 
 
 the night. 
 
 Marcus stayed with them all the next day. Mrs. 
 Sanford told him their story, how that Henry had gradu- 
 ally regained his mind, and how that he had turned rank infi- 
 del. But it was a thousand times better than the way he was 
 before, she said. He was kind to her and the children, and 
 they all lived happily on the farm far away from churches 
 or preachers. Then she told him what news she knew 
 about Hungerton. He also had long talks with Henry, 
 handling him wisely. He was deeply interested in politics, 
 and from that subject Marcus led to science and at last 
 to religion. Henry listened attentively. 
 
 "Is that Mormonism?'' he asked. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
106 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 "Well, there's some sense to that. Why didn't you 
 preach like that when you were in Hungerton?" 
 
 "I could not give what I did not have. Now I have, 
 and am sent to give." 
 
 "You hold meetings?" 
 
 "Whenever I get a chance." 
 
 ''Will you preach in our schoolhouse tomorrow?" 
 
 "With pleasure." 
 
 4 'All right, I'll see to it." 
 
 And he did. The next day the news was spread? 
 and early in the afternoon Henry Sanford drove with his 
 whole family to the schoolhouse. Some said that he had 
 "got religious" again, and that the neighbors had better 
 look out for one of his crazy spells; but Henry was all 
 right, and knew what he was doing. 
 
 The "religion'' which Henry Sanford "got" at the 
 meeting in the schoolhouse did not in any way disturb his 
 mental equilibrium. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, re- 
 pentance from sin, baptism for the remission of sin, the 
 gift of the Holy Ghost these were plain, simple truths 
 substantiated by holy writ. The room was fairly well 
 filled with people from the neighboring farms, and Marcus 
 spoke with power to them. A few had known him when 
 he was a preacher in Hungerton, and wondered at his 
 joining the Mormons. "Such a young man!" said one. 
 "Such a fine looking man!" said another. "Such a good 
 talker !"aid a third. 
 
 Marcus was not disturbed until towards the close of 
 the meeting. Then a man in a farther corner began 
 asking questions. Marcus answered them, but the man 
 was not satisfied. Marcus asked his hearers to let him 
 finish his talk, and then he would answer any question; 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 107 
 
 but it was evident that the plan was to break up the meet- 
 ing. The questioner would not sit down. Others began 
 to talk out loud, and it seemed as though the meeting 
 would end in an uproar. 
 
 Just then Henry Sanford arose. He was sitting near 
 the front, and he faced the crowd. 
 
 "Ladies and gentlemen," said he in ringing words, "I 
 hope we are p aceable citizens and will give this gentle- 
 man a respectful hearing. He will answer your questions 
 after he gets through. Can there be any thing fairer than 
 that?" 
 
 "His doctrines are deceitful," shouted someone. 
 
 '"You will have a chance to prove that after awhile, 
 Mr. Simpson," replied Henry. "I don't make many pre- 
 tensions myself, but I believe in the golden rule the 
 the rule, Mr. Simpson, that I have heard you expound more 
 than once. Now you have a chance to practice what you 
 preach. Sit down, Mr. Simpson, and don't disturb the 
 meeting." 
 
 As Henry was the justice of the peace, he spoke with 
 authority. The noise subsided, and the meeting went on. 
 At its close no questions were asked, but Mr. Simpson and 
 his followers got away as quickly as possible. 
 
 Marcus weit back with his friends, and spent the 
 night. During the evening some neighbors called in and 
 they had a pleasant time. Next morning Marcus went on 
 his journey. Henry would have taken him to Hungerton 
 in his wagon, but Marcus said he preferred to walk. The 
 distance was short, and there were many places on the 
 way where he desired to call. 
 
 The rain had ceased. The 'few remaining clouds were 
 dissolving in the western sky, and the sun shone bright 
 
108 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 and warm. The roads were quite firm under foot. The 
 trees were dry. The air was clear and cool, and full of 
 the coming spring. 
 
 All forenoon Marcus walked along the road, callirg 
 at the few farmhouses. As he neared Hungerton the 
 country became familiar to bin. At noon he ate his 
 lunch on the bank of a creek, which had been a favorite 
 playground when a boy. Here he had often fished, and in 
 the woods surrounding he had laid snares for the squirrels. 
 The creek was now swollen with the rain and rushed down 
 its bed in a brown torrent. Every hill and dale and stream 
 now recalled memories of the past. Marcus lived again 
 as a boy as he sauntered leisurely past the dear familiar 
 scenes of bygone years. 
 
 In the afternoon he reached the "top," so called be- 
 cause from its summit the whole valley wherein Hunger- 
 ton lay could be seen. The road skirted this knoll, and 
 often had Marcus climbed the few rods up to its bare 
 rounded surface, even as he now did. Here he got the 
 first view of the broad, still-flowing river, within whose 
 bended arm the town of Hungerton snugly rested. The 
 same rude seat which had been erected on the "top" was 
 there yet; and as Marcus rested on its weather beaten 
 boards, he discerned the initials which he and his boy 
 companions had carved on the back. It seemed so long 
 ago, at the same time but yesterday. Where now were 
 the boys? What had been their lot? Where had they 
 roamed, and where settled? How many of those yet in 
 the town before him would recognize the browned, 
 bearded man as their former playmate? What schemes 
 they all had planned ! Yes, seated on that same hill top, 
 with the same beautiful panorama before them, they had 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMOM. 109 
 
 mapped out their lives, as seemed grandest and be^t to 
 their boyish imaginations. There was Joe, big, strong 
 Joe. He was to be a merchant and marry sunny-haired 
 Josie; but Joe turned student and became a college pro- 
 fessor, and didn't marry" Josie Then Jim, the fastest 
 runner in the crowd, whose whole aim in life was to learn 
 to pitch a curved ball he went to school with Marcus, and 
 became a preacher too. Then there was Tom, tow-headed, 
 freckled-faced Tom, who took all the bantering the boys 
 and girls gave him in such a quiet, good-humored way. 
 The last heard of him was that he was on his way to the 
 gold fields of California. Then Fred, who crushed his leg 
 in the woods and ever after walked with a crutch. He, 
 instead of Joe, became the merchant and married sunny- 
 haired Josie. There was little Sammy, who couldn't 
 climb the hill without geti ing out of breath. He alone 
 had not wandered, as the little white cross in the grave- 
 yard showed. Then there was Marcus, whose father was 
 the minister, who was supposed to set the other boys a 
 good example. What had become of him? Ah; he had 
 become the black sheep of the lot, he had disgraced the 
 community, had < v eserted his church and his charge, and, 
 wo^st of all, had become a Mormon. 
 
 Marcus sat until the sun sank low in the west. The 
 river burned with burnished gold. The breeze tossed the 
 swelled buds of the trees back and forth, as if rocking to 
 sleep the impatient, waking children of the forest. Then 
 the sun went down, and the gray shadows crept over the 
 valley below, crept up the hill sides, crept up over the 
 ' 'top," and the whole earth was enwrapped in a soft twi- 
 light. Then the heart of the young man was full. There 
 was nothing else for him to do but to sink on the earth 
 
110 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 beside the seat and pour out to God the fullness of his 
 bursting heart. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The gas had been lighted in the streets of Hungerton 
 when Marcus entered. He meant first to find the lawyer 
 who had charge of his small business affairs. He had no 
 money, and he did not wish to ask for food and lodging 
 without money to pay. So he walked up the main street, 
 noting the changes in the town and the people. No one 
 knew him, although he recognized many of his old-time 
 friends. There was a peculiar feeling connected with it 
 all. There he was, a total stranger in a town full of peo- 
 ple who knew him. They crowded past him on the side- 
 walk, but knew him not. He must have changed much. 
 
 And there was the church. He saw its outlines in 
 the dark, and there were lights within. Yes; there were 
 the iron fence and gate. The same lamp-post stood near 
 it. The trees seemed larger, but the church smaller. He 
 walked by. People were entering. A block up the street 
 was the lawyer's home. He would call there, as he would 
 not likely be at the office. 
 
 Marcus rang the bell, and the girl that answered him 
 said that Mr. Brown, the lawyer, was out of town, but 
 would be back tomorrow. So until tomorrow Marcus would 
 have to wait. He went down the street again. People 
 were still going into the church. Some carriages drove 
 up and their occupants alighted at the gate. There must 
 be some special services, or else the people had awakened 
 to the importance of the week-day meeting. Marcus 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. Ill 
 
 might as well join the crowd and get a look at the old 
 church. He went in and found a seat at the rear near the 
 door. The church was nearly full. The lights shone 
 brightly, and the many flowers in front filled the room 
 with their perfume. Being early for flowers, Marcus 
 wondered at the extravagance. The usher was unknown 
 to Marcus, so he was allowed to siC unobserved. 
 
 For a moment Marcus felt out of place down by the 
 door. He saw that the pulpit had been re-painted and 
 upholstered; otherwise it was the same church. The walls 
 were getting dingy, and some of the.seats showed signs of 
 wear. It certainly was getting too small for such a crowd 
 of people. 
 
 And now the organist who had done faithful service 
 for both Marcus and his father went to the organ, and the 
 familiar notes echoed into the ears of Marcus King. They 
 brought him back again to days gone by when he himself 
 gave out the hymn and preached the sermon. The pastor 
 now came in from the back door. He was a middle-aged 
 man with a cleanly shaven face So that was his successor 
 in office, thought Marcus. Well, he certainly looked pious 
 enough to suit the most orthodox. The pastor did not 
 proceed with the services, but arranged the flowers as if 
 he was waiting for something. Then Marcus learned from 
 the whispering around him that he was about to witness a 
 marriage ceremony/ He wzs somewhat disappointed, as 
 he had expected to hear the new pastor. 
 
 More carriages drive up, and there is a bustle out- 
 side. The people turn and look towards the door and 
 whisper, ' 'There they come." The party come up the 
 walk and into the vestibule where there is some delay. 
 Then they enter. Marcus does not turn around, but first 
 
112 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 catches sight of them as they walk up the aisle. The man 
 is tall and broad- shouldered; the girl's slim, graceful figure 
 is clothed in white. ''The best men" and bridesmaids fol- 
 low, and Marcus distinguishes among them some of his ac- 
 quaintances. The parson meets the company in front of 
 the pulpit, and is arranging them into their proper places 
 for the ceremony. 
 
 Marcus is now interested. He had not married many 
 couples himself, but he remembered one old pair of fifty 
 and sixty, and how odd it was for him, a young unmarried 
 man, to bind together such old peopK But now the group 
 is arranged, and the young people to be married step to the 
 front. The gas lamps shine directly on them, and Marcus 
 sees, apparently looking directly at him, the pale beautiful 
 face of Alice Merton! 
 
 For an instant the whole scene is a blur on his vision; 
 then from it comes but one sharp outline, the figure of 
 Alice. She stands there, young and fair and more beautiful 
 than ever. She folds her hands in front where they hang 
 listlessly down, as if she were a victim waiting resignedly 
 for the sacrifice. Her face is white. 
 
 The awful truth bursts upon Marcus as with a mighty 
 flood. There . is Alice, his Alice, to be married, to be 
 bound for life to the man at her side. The thought 
 is unbearable. Marcus presses hard the back of the chair 
 in front of him. Yet there they stand. The parson is 
 slow in beginning. 
 
 During that brief space of time Marcus lived over 
 again his life with Alice Merton. (Afterwards he thought 
 of the wonder of it all, how that every detail of years 
 could be crowd* d into a panorama to be flashed before his 
 mind in an instant). Then as a climax came again the 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 113 
 
 last scene between them. But what could he do? He 
 was helpless. She would have to go. She would have to 
 be another's, and not his wife. 
 
 The minister steps up to the pair, the woman on the 
 left, and the man on the right. Then to the hushed 
 spectators he begins to speak, quoting from the printed 
 formula used on such occasions: 
 
 "Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in 
 the sight of God, and in the face of this company, to join 
 together this man and this woman in holy matrimony; 
 which is commended of St. Paul to be honorable among 
 men: and therefore is not by any to be entered into unad- 
 visedly or lightly; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, 
 soberly, and in the fear of God. Into this holy estate 
 these two persons present come now to be joined. If any 
 man can show just cause why -they may not lawfully be 
 joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter for- 
 ever hold his peace. 
 
 1 'Darling, darling, you are mine, my very own jor 
 time and for eternity" rang in Marcus' ears louder than 
 the words of the minister. Those words were inspired 
 and could not fall to the ground'unfulfilled. 
 
 Marcus arose and stepped out in the aisle. 
 
 "Alice, Alice Morton, I object to your marrying that 
 man." he said. 
 
 He stood still and erect amid the deathlike silence. 
 Most of them knew him then by the familiar voice, and 
 they were awed by the scene. The parson had never 
 been interrupted like that before, and was visibly uncer- 
 tain what to do. The bridegroom turned to him and bade 
 him go on with the ceremony. Then Marcus spoke again 
 in tones not loud but penetrating: 
 
114 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 "I am Marcus King. Alice, do not marry that man. 
 You are mine, mine, Alice, by the eternal laws of God." 
 
 An audible oath escaped from the lips of the would- 
 be bridegroom. Murmurs ran through the church, then 
 there was silence again as Alice raised her hands to her 
 head. She t)ok a step or two forward as if she would 
 walk down the aisle, and then fell to the floor. 
 
 In the confusion which followed Marcus stepped back 
 to the door, and stood there looking or,. Those that 
 pa3sed out glared at him, as they would at a venomous rep- 
 tile. He saw that Alice was lifted up and carried to the 
 platform, and when she again regained consciousness he 
 heard her whisper: 
 
 "Take me home." 
 
 Then he went out and up the street. 
 
 For the second time Marcus King had made a great 
 sensation in his native town. By the next day the news 
 was the talk of the town. Opinions were various. Some 
 claimed that he did right in rescuing Alice Merton from 
 ihe hands of an adventurer. Some said that the Mormon 
 should have been tarred and feathered and driven from 
 the country. Others shook their heads and didn't know. 
 A few had seen Marcus' weatler- stained coat, but more 
 had observed his majestic bearing as he had stood in the 
 aisle protesting against the marriage. 
 
 Marcus himself had gone that evening direct to a 
 hotel and ordered supper and a bed. 
 
 During the night he slept fairly well, and next morn- 
 ing managed to reach Mr. Brown's office without a stir on 
 the street. The business that could be attended to that 
 morning being soon finished, Marcus went back to the 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 115 
 
 hotel where he spent the day reading and writing letters. 
 Here he heard the gossip and gleaned from it that Alice 
 had been taken home. The marriage had been indefinitely 
 postponed. In fact, .the would-be bridegroom had some- 
 what brusquely demanded ttat the ceremony should go 
 on, and had quarreled with Alice's old father. Then he 
 had left, no one knew where, and it was believed by many 
 that he was afraid of Marcus, that Marcus knew some- 
 thing more of him than anyone else in Hungerton. When 
 Marcus was approached on the matter and when he denied 
 any previous knowledge of the man, plainly he was not 
 believed. 
 
 But what move to make next was not clear to Elder 
 King. He would have to stay a few days in the town, but 
 what to do about Alice he knew not. He did not repent 
 of what he had done in the church, for many said that the 
 man she was about to marry was an adventurer; besides, 
 he had other and personal reasons. But what good would 
 come of it, anyway? He longed to boldly call on Alice. 
 She must be very ill, by what he heard; and he could be- 
 lieve that from the face he saw in the church. Marcus 
 had concluded that he must s^e Alice before he left 
 Hungerton for good, but for that opening he could only 
 wait. 
 
 All the day he moved about no more than was neces- 
 sary; not that he was afraid of anybody, but he considered 
 it wisdom to be quiet. A few friends called on him, with 
 whom he talked pleasantly, and told of the new country 
 in the valleys of the West. That evening he visited some 
 relatives of John and Eliza Dixon, and got home late. The 
 next day he was busy with Lawyer Brown until in the 
 afternoon. 
 
116 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 Looking out of the window of his room, he saw Mr. 
 Merton drive up to the hotel in the old familiar buggy. 
 He got out, fastened his horse, and came in. Presently, 
 there came a knock on the door and a boy told him that 
 he was wanted. 
 
 "Is it Mr. Merton?" asked Marcus. 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Then show him up." 
 
 Mr. Merton had aged very much. Marcus could see 
 that his hair was white and that his hands trembled as he 
 met him in the hall and led him into his room. The old 
 man was not angry, but shook the hand that Marcus 
 offered him in a mild, unconcerned way. Then he took the 
 proffered chair and sat and looked at Marcus for some 
 time. 
 
 "May I ask you how Alice is?" said Marcus. 
 
 "She is ill, very ill, sir." 
 
 Still he looked at the young man in that strange 
 way. 
 
 * '! sincerely hope, Mr. Merton, that I was not the 
 cause of this illness perhaps I should not have been so 
 rash but you know " 
 
 "Yes; I know. Don't worry over that, young man. 
 Alice was ill all the time, and should not have tried but 
 he forced it. I might as well tell you the truth, and that 
 is that you did a good deed in stopping the marriage. I, 
 Marcus" and as the old man pronounced the word, his 
 tone became softer "never encouraged Alice in casting 
 you off, when you joined the Mormons. She did it on her 
 own responsibility. Are you still a Mormon?" 
 
 'Tes, sir." 
 
 ' 'Well, it's all right, I guess. Everybody to their 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 117 
 
 notion abo it such things, though I must say that I think 
 it would have been much more comfortable if you had re- 
 mained with us. And now, what I came for is this: Alice 
 wants to see you. Will you come?" 
 
 Marcus' heart gave one great leap for joy. 
 
 "It will be the greatest pleasure of my life," said 
 Marcus, "to once more look upon her face." 
 
 "Then you love her yet?" 
 
 "I have never ceased to. love her." 
 
 "And she loves you, too/' the old man murmured as 
 they walked into the hall. 
 
 In a few minutes Marcus and Mr. Merton were driving 
 from the city out into a country road which followed the 
 broad river. Very few words were spoken. Soon they 
 came in sight of the gray farm house back towards the 
 hills, up to which they drove. Marcus knew the place 
 well and remembered its beauty in the summer when the 
 trees nearly hid it from view; but now it had grown gray 
 and weather-stained, corresponding to the sombre woods 
 around it. 
 
 Marcus alighted at the side door and was met by the 
 mother. She took his hand and welcomed him, but there 
 was a coldness about her. She took his hat and gave 
 him a chair. 
 
 "Alice wants to see you/' she said. "If you will ex- 
 cuse me for a few moments I will see if she is awake/' 
 
 During her absence, Mr. Merton came in. While he 
 was hanging his coat in the hall, he motioned to Marcus. 
 
 "You must excuse mother," he said, "if she treats 
 you coldly. She doesn't understand. She believes in Mr. 
 Carlton yet, and blames you. She has had great influence 
 over Alice, and nearly forced her into the marriage, and 
 
118 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 it is only for Alice's sake that she will have you come. 
 You understand, Marcus?" 
 
 "I can appreciate her feelings, I think," was the 
 answer. ''I do not blame her.'' . 
 
 They went in again, and soon the mother came back. 
 Alice was awake, and feeling strong enough to see Mar- 
 cus, so he was shown into her room. The mother went 
 out and closed the door, leaving the two alone. Alice 
 had asked her to do that. 
 
 Tne afternoon sun shone bright and warm, and the 
 blinds of the large west window were drawn. A ray, 
 however, came through at the side, and now fell across 
 the bed where Alice lay propped up on the white pillows. 
 When she saw him, she said "Marcus!" and held out her 
 arms. He walked softly up to the bed, bent over her, 
 and the white arms encircled his neck. She drew his 
 head down beside hers and held it fast while- she whis- 
 pered: 
 
 "Forgive me, Marcus, forgive me!" 
 
 But all he could say was "Darling, oh, my darling!" 
 
 There are times when many words are weak, mean- 
 ingless things, and that time had come in the life of Mar- 
 cus and Alice. Language may communicate thought, but 
 that was not what was wanted now. The feelings of two 
 souls had accumulated, and had been pent up for a long 
 time. The natural channel between two hearts had been 
 clogged. But now every obstacle was removed, and free- 
 ly the current of love flowed between them. The emo- 
 tions are best indicated by a look, a motion, a pressure of 
 the hand. Words are useless. Silence is the most elo- 
 quent. 
 
 Then the arms relaxed and fell down on the coverlet, 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 119 
 
 and as Marcus sat by the bedside he took the thin 
 hands in his and held them gently. The big blue eyes 
 filled with tears, yet she smiled through them. 
 
 "You have forgiven me," she said, "and I thank you, 
 Marcus. " 
 
 Then she closed hp.r eyes as if to sleep, and he 
 smoothed back the hair from her forehead. 
 
 "It's been too much for you. You are tired. I 
 shall go now that you may sleep." 
 
 "I am tired, and I believe I could sleep if you will 
 stay. Marcus you must not go away any more, you must 
 stay until " 
 
 1 'Yes, I will not leave you untill you are well but 
 don't talk any more. There, now, you must rest." 
 
 He kissed her closed eyes and softly left the room. 
 The father was walking back and forth on the floor; the 
 mother sat by the table with her face in her hands. 
 
 "I think Alice will sleep now," said Marcus." 
 
 The father gave a sigh of relief. ' 'She has hardly 
 slept for two nights, " he said. 
 
 The mother also felt better, and was more cheerful 
 as she walked back and forth from the supper .table to 
 the door of the sick room, and seemed to feel more kindly 
 towards Marcus. After supper Alice awoke much re- 
 freshed. The lamp was lighted and the three went in. 
 Alice spoke to them in a cheerful way. Then the doctor 
 came. The father and Marcus went with him outside to 
 hear his opinion. He shook his head. 
 
 "But she is better, isn't she?" asked the father. 
 
 "She seems so,this evening; but it is only temporary. 
 The girl has no vitality. She is all run down. This has 
 
120 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 been with her fo.r a long time. The attempted marriage 
 
 only brought the inevitable a little sooner. " 
 
 X "Is it that serious, doctor?" asked Marcus somewhat 
 
 alarmed. 
 
 "I am telling you the truth. I do not care to con- 
 ceal the facts from you. There are very small chances 
 of her recovery. She may linger for some time or she 
 may go rapidly." 
 
 Mrs. Merton asked Marcus for Alice's sake to remain 
 at the farm house. If he was not busy, they would con- 
 sider it a favor; and Marcus said he would stay as long as 
 he could be of any use. 
 
 The doctor's words could not be doubted. The next 
 day Alice was weak, weaker than usual; and although 
 she did not talk much, there was a smile upon her face. 
 Marcus sat by the bedside and she seemed content when 
 her hand lay in his. The mother saw, and now under- 
 stood, and left them alone much of the time. 
 
 Spring days came on in rapid succession. The sun 
 was bright, the winds were warm, and all nature stirred 
 in its efforts to awake from its wintry sleep. The grass 
 on the sunny sides of walls and ridges began to be green. 
 The buds of trees swelled ready to bursting. The bees 
 came from the hive and buzzed around the windows. The 
 air was filled with fresh spring odors. 
 
 And as everything without slowly awoke to life, so 
 one within gently sank into death. The spring days went 
 calmly by, and Marcus was yet at the farm house. 
 
 It was one of those still afternoons when the world 
 seemed taking a much needed rest that Marcus was sit- 
 ting in his usual place by Alice. They were alone. The 
 few sounds from the adjoining rooms were low; the loud- 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 121 
 
 est seemed to come from the little round clock on the 
 mantel. 
 
 ' 'Marcus, bless me again. I want you to talk more 
 to me." 
 
 Marcus took from his pocket a vial of oil, anointed 
 her with a few drops, and then, placing his hands on her 
 head, blessed her. 
 
 4 'Now I feel stronger," she said. "Tell me more 
 about Joseph Smith and what he did and the angels and 
 all those wonderful things." 
 
 And he talked, quietly and in soft tones, and told her 
 the whole beautiful story. 
 
 "And out there in Utah," she continued, "you said 
 it was a wild country. Tell me about it." 
 
 So he told her of the mountains and the valleys, the 
 streams and the Great Salt Lake, 
 
 "Marcus, that friend of yours Janet. Have you 
 her picture?" 
 
 ' 'I think I have a small tintype." 
 
 "Will you let me see it?'* 
 
 From a packet of letters he drew out the picture and 
 handed it to her. She looked at it for some time. 
 
 It is a good, sweet face; and you like her, don't you, 
 Marcus?" 
 
 "She is a good girl." 
 
 "Yes; much better than I sh, don't contradict me. 
 I know. I know a lot now. When I am gone, you will 
 go back to Utah and marry her." 
 
 ''My dear Alice " 
 
 "Yes; I want you to. It's all right. Bring me that 
 little box on the dresser." 
 
 Marcus brought it. 
 
122 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 "The key is hanging on the wall; yes; that's ic." 
 
 She unlocked the small rosewood box and from it 
 took a letter which she handed to him. 
 
 "That letter is from Janet. It is the most wonderful 
 I havfl ever received. I did not know a girl could write 
 such a letter and mean it. Did she mean it, Marcus?" 
 
 "Janet would deceive no one; but of course I don't 
 know what she said. ' ' 
 
 ' 'Read it." 
 
 Marcus read the letter, and Alice watched his face. 
 
 "I think she means every word," he said. 
 
 "What does she mean by marriage for time and 
 eternity?" 
 
 He explained. 
 
 Then she closed her eyes, and held the tintype to her 
 cheek. The mother looked in but did not enter. 
 
 Alice reached for his hand, and she held it close. 
 
 "Marcus, Marcus, oh, I am so glad! Such light, 
 such blessed light! I can die in peace." 
 
 Then she fumbled in the box again and found a ring 
 
 "Do you remember it, Marcus? You gave it to me. 
 Now I want you to give it to Janet with my love and bles- 
 sing." 
 
 Marcus took it, but his heart was too full for words. 
 The clock ticked on. A breeze pushed the branches 
 against the window panes. The tintype dropped from the 
 pale fingers, and Alice slept again. 
 
 Marcus stayed with her to the last. The grass and 
 the trees were green and the first spring flowers were 
 out when she died. Marcus prevailed on the father and 
 mother to let her be buried in his own lot, close beside 
 his mother. The old parents now seemed to cling to Mai- 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 123 
 
 cus as to a son, and it was a sad day when he bade them 
 farewell. While at Hungerton Marcus received a call to 
 another field, and he at once made preparations for the 
 journey. He held no public meetings in his native town. 
 The Lord would excuse him for that, he thought; but be- 
 fore he left he had the rude crosses taken from his parents' 
 graves and three neatly finished marble stones placed 
 within the new iron railing around his lot. One of them 
 stood by a newly made grave, and on it was inscribed, be- 
 sides the name and dates: 
 
 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. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 It was one of those sublime winter evenings only seen 
 in the clear atmosphere of the high western regions. The 
 whole earth was white below, and the sky above was deep 
 blue, set. with innumerable twinkling diamond points. To 
 'the west the plain stretched like a vast sheet of purest 
 white. To the east the mountains arose buried under 
 their ermine covering. Every rocky crag, each deep hol- 
 low, was decked and filled with snow until the otherwise 
 rough surface was shining smooth. 
 
 The well-trodden snow creaked under their feet as 
 Marcus and Janet walked arm in arm down the principal 
 street of Hernia. 
 
 "What is this business of so much importance?" 
 asked he. 
 
124 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 ''Well, they didn't tell me, of course," she answered. 
 ' 'All I was to do was to bring you there and ask- no ques- 
 tions."' 
 
 "Strange, they couldn't manage for another day with- 
 out getting after a fellow the day he gets home I wanted 
 to spend the evening with you, Janet." 
 
 "Well," she laughed, as she clung the closer to his 
 arm, "am I not with you?" 
 
 "Yes, but halloa, what's this? Who's living in my 
 house?" 
 
 "Let's go in and see." 
 
 They paused in front of the house Marcus had left 
 unfinished. He saw that it was now completed. A bright 
 light gleamed from the windows, and the smoke curled 
 from the chimney. Janet led down the path and knocked 
 on the door. When it was opened, there was a room full 
 of people. 
 
 "Brothers and sisters," said Janet, "let me introduce 
 you to the Bishop of Hernia." 
 
 Then what a scene there was! The crowd filled two 
 large rooms, and around he must go and shake every one 
 by the hand. Then there were welcomes and questions 
 and words of jolly banter, until Marcus was fairly carried 
 away by it all. When he had made the rounds, Janet was 
 again at his side. The older members of the company 
 each took a candle and marched two by two into the third 
 room. In the center was a long table spread with food. 
 As they filed in and seated themselves on the benches on 
 each side, the candles were placed in wooden blocks with 
 holes in. Marcus and Janet sat at the head of the table. 
 A blessing was asked, and then one of Marcus' counselors 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 125 
 
 made a speech of welcome, to which Marcus replied in a 
 few words. 
 
 Then the eating began, and right merrily it went on for 
 a time. Suddenly, in the midst of the confusion, somebody 
 pounded on the table for order, and Brother Wood arose. 
 
 "I want to speak in this meetin'," he began, " 'cause 
 Brother Johnson didn't tell it all. I reckon Brother King 
 ought'er know why we have took such liberties with his 
 house, an' I want ter tell him." [*' That's right. Go ahead".] 
 
 "Well, yer see, when a man's on a mission his affairs 
 at home kinder stop, an' when he gits back, he has to be- 
 gin all over again. I've seen it lots o' times." ["Hear, 
 hear! So have /."] 
 
 "So, thinks I, Brother King'll need a house when he 
 comes home to put his wife in, 'cause then o' course he'll 
 take fur good Brother Brigham's advice. [Loud applause.] 
 Well, an' right now I must make a confession. All you 
 folks thought I had orders from Brother King to go ahead 
 with the house, but I didn't; I done it on my own hook. 
 ["Oh, oh"] Yes, I could see that the Bishop didn't know 
 nothin' about buildin' log houses, an' that the way he was 
 doin' it would spile a lot o' good logs, so while all his 
 beautiful plans and drawin's on paper was locked up in his 
 box, I went to work an' finished this house 'cording to my 
 notion." [Tremendous applause and laughter.] 
 
 "An' folks," with a wave of his hand, "I tell ye, with 
 the 'ception of the meetin'house, it's the finest in the 
 town. It has all the latest improvements an' " 
 
 His speech, which was the longest he had ever been 
 known to make, was interrupted by a burst of song from 
 the other rooms, and Brother Wood had to sit down. 
 
 So the evening passed, and at its close Marcus again 
 
126 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 thanked them all, and especially Brother Wood. Marcus 
 and Janet stood by the door and shook each one by the 
 hand as they went home.- John and Eliza were the last. 
 
 "You folks go on home," said John to Marcus. "We'll 
 see to the house." 
 
 Marcus wrapped Janet's cloak about her with a tender 
 touch, and they walked home in the starlight. 
 
 The next afternoon it snowed. Marcus went over to 
 Janet's. She was alone. The grate was full of a warm 
 fire. The little room looked very much the same as it did 
 three years ago. Janet must have expected company. 
 She did not wear her working dress, and there was just a 
 tiny wave in her hair. 
 
 "Janet," said Marcus, "I believe you have grown. 
 You look taller.'' 
 
 You must be mistaken; but I have had fine health. 
 Haven't been sick a day. Perhaps that accounts for it." 
 
 "You certainly look well; and Janet, you have grown 
 so beautiful!" 
 
 "0 shame, Marcus, to tell such stories!"' 
 
 He sat down by the blazing hearth, placed a chair 
 near him and motioned Janet to take it. Then they sat 
 for some time looking into the fire. 
 
 4 'You got my letters that I wrote after leaving 
 Hungerton?" 
 
 "Yes," 
 
 ''Would you like to see a picture nf Alice?" He took 
 it from his pocket and handed it to her. 
 
 "It agrees with my mental picture. I thought she 
 looked like that." 
 
 Then they talked for some time about his experiences, 
 and the affairs at home. 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 127 
 
 "Who was that man Alice was about to marry?" 
 asked Janet. 
 
 "Didn't I tell you his name? Let me see. I've nearly 
 forgotten it. Oh, yes, it was Carlton, George Carlton, I 
 believe." 
 
 "Why, Marcus, that was the name of my but no, it 
 couldn't be the same man." 
 
 "He was a tall, broad-shouldered, black-haired man. 
 I saw him only once in the church." 
 
 "It must have been. I heard he had gone in the 
 direction of Hungerton, but, but how strange! The 
 man to whom I was once engaged answered to the same 
 name and description." 
 
 "That is strange. Could it have heen the same fel- 
 low?" 
 
 4 'But that's all in the past, and I don't like to talk 
 about it," said she. 
 
 "Then we won't." 
 
 "Tell me more about Alice. " She looked again at 
 the photograph. He drew a ring from his pocket, took 
 her hand, and tried it on her finger. 
 
 "Does it fit?" he asked. 
 
 "Exactly." 
 
 "That was Alice's ring." 
 
 "And do you want me to wear it?" 
 
 "Alice sent it to you. One of her last requests was 
 that I give you the ring with her love and blessing." 
 
 "Thank you. Poor, dear Alice! I shall wear it al- 
 ways." 
 
 "She got your letter as I told you, and pondered long 
 over it. She died with full faith in the Gospel and a fair 
 
128 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 understanding of its principles. When we go to the En- 
 dowment House we must do her work for her." 
 
 "Yes, certainly. I have thought of the same." 
 
 Then the door softly opened and someone stole in 
 and placed one hand over each of their eyes. 
 
 ''Guess who it is." 
 
 * 'Mother," exclaimed both at once. 
 
 "Then don't sit the fire out," said Sister Harmon. 
 
 A bright, sunshiny, winter morning Marcus and Janet 
 drove to town in the sleigh, and spent the day in the En- 
 dowment House. There were in reality two marriage 
 ceremonies performed, and Marcus King got two wives in 
 one day. True, one of those wives was in the spirit 
 world; but the feeling that Alice was to be his was proved 
 to be true. His prediction was fulfilled, and he was 
 serenely happy in the thought. Janet Harmon's joy was 
 also full, for had she not done a sister's part, and done it 
 well! 
 
 And now, dear reader, if you have been patient with 
 me thus far, I must tell you a secret a secret that I 
 have been tempted more than once to betray, but which, I 
 think, I have kept pretty well until now and that is that 
 I, Marcus King, have personally written the pages of this 
 little story. I began this writing with no other idea than 
 to keep the narrative in the third person until the end, 
 but as I progressed, I saw that if I did so one of the chief 
 results to be attained by my story would not be realized. 
 
 Let me explain. Shortly after I joined the Church 
 of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints many of my former 
 friends began to talk disparagingly of me. Some criticised 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 129 
 
 me severely, calling me a turn- coat, a deserter from my 
 father's cause, and so forth. Some of my readers may 
 remember how many of the leading religious papers of the 
 East railed against me. At the time I paid no attention 
 to it. Lately I received a clipping from an eastern paper 
 purporting to be an account of my career. Who could have 
 invented such stuff, I cannot conceive. At the same time 
 I have received a number of letters inquiring about me. 
 Seemingly, many people are interested in me and my do- 
 ings, and it occurred to me to write out somewhat of my 
 story and print it. Now if any of my eastern friends care 
 a twenty-five cent piece to know the true state of affairs, 
 I shall be pleased to mail each of them a copy of my book. 
 So- much for preface, sandwiched in here at the wrong 
 end. 
 
 But just a word to my unbelieving friends: 
 Someone has said that the glory of life is its fulness. 
 I believe that. Had I remained with you in the world, I 
 should no doubt have had a much easier time. I could 
 have lived and died in Hungerton, respected by you all. 
 I could have gone my daily rounds from my library to the 
 church, wanting nothing to make life one smooth, pleas- 
 ant journey if God had not shown me the little pond in 
 which I was playing, the frail boat in which I was sailing, 
 and then the mighty, boundless ocean beyond the horizon 
 of my limited vision. I say with that little "if," I could 
 have been with you yet, but what would have entered into 
 my life to develop it, to give it a rounded fulness! Dear 
 friends, believe me, this life is a reality. It is meant to 
 be something. We are here to do and not merely to say, 
 to'act and not merely to believe. To be good and true 
 is not to draw a long face, to be religious is not to be 
 
130 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 stupid; but I have already expressed myself on that point 
 to one of your members, as I have recorded in a previous 
 chapter. 
 
 Again, some of you ha\e impugned my motives. My 
 only answer to that is in my story, 
 
 And now, to all interested, (and I hope my story has 
 been of interest to my brethren and sisters also) I am 
 writing these last pages some years after the close of the 
 events narrated in the first part of this chapter; and 
 as I look back on those few intervening years I will tell 
 you what I know of my (and I hope of our) friends who 
 have figured thus far in my story. 
 
 First, I must tell you that I have built an addition to 
 my house. It is of brick and a story and a half high. I 
 write these lines by an open upper window,looking out west- 
 ward toward the lake. It was a hard blow to Brother 
 Wood to think that his house wasn't good enongh for me, 
 and I had to explain to him that a bishop needed much 
 room to entertain all his visitors. We have no children 
 yet, and I could not use the argument of a growing fam- 
 ily. I shall not tear down the log house until Brother 
 Wood dies. 
 
 I have corresponded regularly with Alice's parents, 
 and whenever missionaries have visited them they have 
 been kindly treated. It was just last month that I re- 
 ceived news of their baptism. Old as they are, they 
 would not wait longer, and now they are anxious to come 
 to Utah; but IJiave told them not to attempt the journey 
 yet. The railroad will soon be finished, and then they 
 can come much easier. And so they are waiting. 
 
 Henry Sanford was the same staunch friend to the 
 Elders, but did not join the Church. Noie gave them a 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 131 
 
 warmer welcome nor defended them more from persecu- 
 tion than he. When the war broke out, he joined the 
 army, and in the long, hard struggle which has just closed 
 he must have met his death. I have not heard from 
 him since. 
 
 Certainly strange things happen. Last week I bap- 
 tized Robert James. He now lives here in Hernia, and is 
 one of the best workers in the ward. He wandered about 
 the country for years, but he acknowledges to me that he 
 could not escape from Mormonism. So he gave it up, 
 humbled himself, and came back. He is very quiet and 
 unassuming, but everybody knows that I am one of his 
 converts. So they respect him, and he is now the hap- 
 piest man in the settlement. 
 
 Mother Harmon died a year ago. 
 
 John Dixon is a prosperous farmer. His barns and 
 granaries are growing. They need to; his family is in the 
 same condition. 
 
 1 Hernia is prosperous. The people give the credit to 
 the Bishop, but the Bishop gives it to his wife, and his 
 wife to the Lord. 
 
 Just a word about the meetinghouse. The people 
 finished it according to my plans, and even exceeded them 
 in elegance. The trees are now quite large, and the ivy is 
 creeping up the walls and over the roof. None can esti- 
 mate the refining influence that house has had on our peo- 
 ple, and especially the young portion. I can see a vast 
 difference between our young folks and some I know in 
 the neighboring settlements. 
 
 And that Mr. Carlton 
 
 "Never mind that Mr. Carlton." 
 
 It was Janet. She had been looking over my shoul- 
 
132 MARCUS KING, MORMON. 
 
 der, and if there is anything that bothers me, it is that. 
 I might have been vexed with her, but she now leaned 
 over so far that her cheek touched mine. 
 
 "Well, I'll not say anything about him, then/' I 
 said. 
 
 4 'No; don't." 
 
 "Then I guess I'd better write The End.'" 
 
 "No, not yet. I think you have to either make a 
 change in a back page or an explanation now." 
 
 "What do you mean?" 
 
 Janet picked up a sheet of the manuscript and read: 
 " % Marcus King, have personally written the pages of 
 this history/" 
 
 ''That's wrong, because I wrote some of it," she 
 said. 
 
 I stared at her, not knowing what she meant. Then 
 she looked over my pile of papers and picked out some 
 sheets of an earlier chapter from which she read that 
 Marcus King was thought of as having "high ideals," 
 "nobility of character," and so forth. I took the sheets 
 from her, and there, sure enough, was her handwriting 
 for a page or more; and she had connected the thought so 
 nicely. 
 
 "Well," said I, "it would have been foolish of Marcus 
 King to have said that about himself." 
 
 "But it is true," said my wife, "and with your ex- 
 planation it may stand." 
 
 "I put the leaves back in their place. Janet came 
 around, pushed the table away from me, and sat down on 
 my knee. 
 
 "Look at that beautiful sunset," she said. 
 
 We do have grand sunsets at Hernia. I cannot con- 
 
MARCUS KING, MORMON. 133 
 
 ceive of any finer even in Italian skies. There was a 
 bank of heavy pearl-white clouds in the west, which 
 formed themselves into great domes and high mountains 
 with fathomless chasms between. Then the edges of the 
 upper layers were tinged with pink which grew to a shin- 
 ing golden red. As the sun sank lower, and its rays got 
 under the cloudland, mountains and domes turned into a 
 brilliant burning red, and then it seemed that there was 
 another world out in space being consumed with fire. The 
 crimson sun dropped down behind the mountain,yet the sky 
 was all ablaze. 
 
 "What do you think of it, Janet?" 
 
 4 It is grand, it is grand! I think it is a faint reflec- 
 tion from the glory of God." 
 
 THE END. 
 
THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
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