THE RIVERTON MINISTER, DW REV. MARTIN POST, ATLANTA, GA. : AMBBICAN PUBLISHING AND ENGRAVING Co. 1897. COPYRIGHT, 1S97. BY REV. MARTIN POST. INTRODUCTORY NOTE. This book contains a narrative drawn from life. Clothed somewhat in the garb of fiction; it is, so far as relates to the charac- ter, life-work and spirit of the Kiverton Minister,, fact. It is the story of a ministry which now is woven into the fabric of imper- ishable history; a ministry which was abundant in good that can never be lost or overestimated. Obviously, any sketch of an individual, be the place he fills large or small as we measure, is at best but a fraction of his personal record and much more is it but a fraction of the record of his own times. But under the great law of compensation, while such a sketch loses of the general and cosmo- politan, it may gain in the local, personal and human. The writer has been compelled to exclude much material which, although highly important and often germane to this narrative, would, if adequately introduced, withdraw the focus from the one life opened to view in these pages and would multiply the pages into volumes. May this tribute to a consecrated and beautiful life help to make other lives beautiful. M. P., Atlanta. Oa. 2072232 CHAPTER I. Land of the West! Land of Promise! for four centuries the desire and hope of the under millions. The story of the thrill, the enterprise and daring evoked, by that talis- manic word, "The Great West," is already lapsing to the shadow land of tradition. Those annals of privation, exposure and brave achievement,of the leap from unbroken wilderness to giant Statehood, from scant subsistence to fabulous wealth, the details of this heroic age of the Western Hemisphere must, like all things terrestrial, become "to dumb forgetfulness, a prey." In this vast, and now reclaimed, interior of America, the van of the army of occupa- tion halted for a day and garrisoned its forts, and on the morrow "folded its tents and stole away" before the drum beat of the irrepres- sible center and rear; still in quest of the Enchanted I/and afar under the setting sun. Thrice happy he who shall, even in humbler measure, aid these national chapters of heroic self denial and modest wealth, and often Christian devotement, and too often of unpublished greatness, to their deserved place in story and in song. By the calendar it was the first day of winter in the year of our Lord, 1829, and by the geography it was on the banks of the 6 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. Pocanock River in the wilderness of the new State of Indiana. Here, as the day was nearly done, a solitary horseman rode up and halted. Evidently he had ridden hard. In truth, he had been in the saddle from day- light far into nightfall, for now almost six days: a new experience for John Goldwin. He saw the smoke curling above the trees a mile below on the opposite bank, and had the comforting reflection that once there his journey would end. He gave the rein to his pony, and while pony stretched his neck and took breath, his rider gave loose rein to his thoughts. The Pocanock waters cut their way through a dense wood, and the sun, fast disappearing behind the trees, was throwing his last javelins aslant the stream. The tall wild grass along the swales rasped its brittle blades with a crackling sound. Some of the forest leaves had forgotten to fall. A step in advance of the horseman a giant sycamore hung far over the brink. The current had eaten into the soil until the naked roots of the tree mutely appealed for protection against storm and stream. In that eloquent solitude relieved now by plunge of the wild duck, now by the plaintive voice of the mourning dove, now by the hoot of the solemn owl, nature seemed wholly uncognizant of man. The solitude seemed to accord with our traveller's lone meditations. As he wiped his hatnstained forehead, he musingly re- flected: "That sun is setting but mine is THE RIVERTON MINISTER. J just rising. For me the day, sunlit or over- cast, which I know not nor need to know, is but across this river. On its thither bank hope perches. Those colors of the gorgeous west how deep and warm! How they grow! How they climb the sky! May I not read in them happy augeries? This I feel: that Love is there beckoning me and I follow." In such mood was John Goldwiu, when suddenly a rustle in the dense undergrowth at his right aroused him to recognize a hunter who stopped his horse beside him. "Good evening stranger," said the son of Nimrod. "Good evening;" replied John Goldwin, as he surveyed the hunter clad in a coon skin cap and brown "wamus" and linsey woolsey trousers, which were tucked into a pair of huge cowhide boots. A well worn leather pouch, a double barrel shot gun and a knife, sufficiently long and threatening, hanging from his belt completed his equipment. Sundry squirrel, duck and wild turkey hung from his saddle, front and rear. "You seem to have had good success," said Goldwin as he cast his eye down upon the booty. "Tol'able like," was the reply, "considerin' I've only be'n out since mornin'':" "How far out have you been?" "Out to Skunks Creek. I reckon that's rig-ht smart on to fifteen mile from here." Then surveying Mr. Goldwin's pony with an 8 THE RIVBRTON MINISTER. eye which took in his points at a glance, he said, "A good chunck of a pony, that. How far might you have travelled?" "I left Madison on the Ohio river almost a week ago." "I declare you've had a hard pull of it. It's middlin' tough at best, and on them that's used to it; and then this onsartin weather, mud, slush, ice and snow, beats all for bad trav'lin." Having "spelled" their horses, they picked their way down to the water's brink. Little thought Goldwin as he feasted on the beauty of that river, how its liquid melodies were destined to flow into his life of battle and \alorous achievement; little dream of the blessed human freightage it should one day convey to him. "You are familiar with this ford; let me place myself under your leadership," said he. "All right," said the hunter, "I reckon I oughfr know it. If I don't 'taint 'cause I hai'nt crossed it enough." "Then you have lived in these parts for sometime?" "Yes, its going on seven years since me and my woman and the children landed over there at Riverton." "Indeed! Then you must be one of the founders of the settlement?" "You're right there. When I put up my cabin, a Frenchman, old Dure, had a claim down at the Point and there was no other THE RIVERTON MINISTER. g settler when I first set eyes on this neck of woods." "Now, stranger," said the settler, let me advise you to hang that air pair of saddle bags across your shoulders, for now and then we step off into holes like and that pony of your'n haint no legs to speak of anyhow." Mr. Goldwin, thanking him, accepted his thoughtful suggestion. When he emerged on the opposite bank, saving boots and leg- gins well splashed, he was none the worse for the fording. The frosty air of hasten- ing nightfall soon stiffened their moist garments to ice, and moved them to quicken their pace. Threading the forest path which followed the winding of the stream, they soon stood on a gentle elevation and below them, picturesquely located at the juncture of the Rappilee and Pocanock rivers, lay the hamlet of Riverton. Now our hunter never let an opportunity to gather news at first hand escape him, and he already opined that his companion was no ordinary visitor. So having exchanged names, he giving his as "Sam Drake," he said, "I'll 'low mebbe you're one of the Gov'm'nt Agents, or a land surveyor, or might be a school teacher?" Goldwin answered evasively, reflecting that there was a sense in which he might be all of these. "If you're a doctor you are wanted," said Drake, "for everybodv at Riverton has the chattering shakes; mebbe you'll have them 10 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. too. But I am not the man to scare you before hand. There's thistles everywhere, but mostly its green grass." "Then," proceeded the speculative Sam, "I hav'nt seen a doctor since iny sister took the fever and died down on White River." Then Goldwin kindly drew from him the story of his only sister, the one pet lamb of .the household, so amiable; loved by every- body; seemed like a white lily blooming in a desert. She had fallen a prey to one of those malignant fevers Which were often so swift and fatal in the new settlements. Sam hurriedly brushed away a tear, but as he caught the eye of Mr. Goldwin. they both felt that mystic touch of nature which makes the whole world kin, and as Mr. Goldwin shook the rough hand of the hunter and parted, he thought that he already had one fast friend in Riverton. Turning up to the tavern, the wean 7 " trav- eller passed over his pony to "Stubbs," the half breed hostler and servant of all work, and following the breezy landlord, Col. Grande, stepped within. CHAPTER II. Samuel Johnson loved to extol the old English tavern, but the Riverbon hostlery constituted one of the distinct species, and, while plainly of the same genus, exhibited marked variations from the English type, with its sign of the Bull or Boar, or Sheep's- head, which looked stolidly on cavalier or round-head, churchman or dissenter for scores of generations. Here on the rim of civilization, was an instance of evolution modified \y environment. Who at this inter- mediate stage saw the germs of a St. Dennis or Del Monte? Those pioneer "Travellers' Rssts" already belong, like fossil en-chronite or trilobite, to the curiosities exhumed from a by-gone age. Doubtless they knew the same genus homo that now careers over the earth; the same eating and drinking and quarreling and love making; the same lust of power and greed of gold; the same conflict of conscience and covetousness. The Riverton tavern was a rough, two-story structure of unhewn logs, the interstices filled after the manner of what was known as "chinking and daubing," and the roof covered with "shakes," thin oak slits four or five feet long, which answered in lieu of shingles. These were held in place by long, 12 THE RIVBRTON MINISTER. heavy poles laid at regular intervals across them. The apartments were at each end of the building, while a capacious drive way ran through its center, on the one side of which was a room extending over the width of the building, one end of which room served as kitchen and the remaining space, set off with three long tables, served as dining hall. On the other side of the central drive-way and landing place was a large room which answered the double purpose of office and general reception room, general gossip and news center for the settlement. It was flanked by a generous fireplace and graced with huge iron andirons, on which four and six foot logs were giving warmth and cheer, and fitfully decorating the sombre walls with an inimitableRembrantesque play of dancing lights and shadows. In one corner stood a rough semi-counter, semi-desk, rejoicing in the native wood colors, except as grease and rust had obscured them. Under this rustic counter were sundry kegs and a two gallon jug, while on the counter were ranged a pitcher and large glass and a half dozen small glasses, some of them nicked or cracked. The pitcher and large glass suggested water. The others somthing else; what General Tupper not inaptly called, "the distilled juice of devils." During the evening, as Goldwin observed, very many, and some more than once, drew THE RIVERTON MINISTER. j^ up to the counter in quest of a little of this "inside matter." A shelf, supported on two pegs driven into the wall behind the counter, was covered with tin candlesticks, each containing a small section of a tallow dip. The walls were unadorned save with a rifle and powder horn and an old shot-gun, and several attempts at art; such as a rude cut designed as a portrait of "Old Hickory," but dingy and dark and diabolical enough to have been the phiz of "Old Nick" himself. Yet do not prematurely decide as to the political bias of the place, for from the opposite wall, on one side of the door, "Harry Clay" looked down with a benignant simile and on the other "Daniel Webster" with his eternal frown. Splint bottomed chairs and rough stools were scattered in front of the fire and several plank benches ranged against the wall and displayed divers attempts at wood carving and lettering with the irrepressible jack- knife. Who shall record the political wisdom whittled out on this, the People's Bench? Oowper essayed to sing of the Sofa, and why not some favorite of the Muses attempt the annals and the honors of the puncheon slab bench which was so often consecrated by sprinkling with juices of the odorous weed. What debates it has sustained! What desti- nies have rested on it! What policies' have been carved upon it! What political slates 14 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. here made or marred ! Here the sacred Nine invite. Let some hitherto "mute inglorious" tune his lyre to "The Song of the People's Bench." Back of this general reception room was a smaller apartment which seemed to be a universal stow-away. Here lay bits of har- ness, old saddles, coon skins, whip stalks, riding blankets, old tin horns, cups of wagon- grease and many other things which for the most part, had apparently quite outlived their usefulness, and were waiting burial or cremation. Meanwhile John Gold win joined the group about the fire; chatted and watched the steam rise from his boots, and hung fancies on the flame steeples which rose and fell on the maple and hickory logs until supper was announced and, presto, the scene shifted to the dining room. We have hastened to describe this primi- tive hotel, for it very soon disappeared before the tidal wave from the East. At the supper table Goldwin was half amused as he discovered eyes here and eyes there asking quite as plainly as any words could, "Who are you, young man? Whence and why did you come?" And during the evening, too, in the room of general rendez- vous he was under the darts of these optical interrogation points. As the settlers dropped in at- this news exchange, they quickly sin- gled out the strangers, and John Goldwin was one of those whom having seen once, a THE KIVERTON MINISTER. 15 second look was sure to be given him. Little surmised they how under that modest and seemingly unobservant aspect, this stranger was really observing and mentally digesting everything. But our weary traveller soon found that even this ocular telegraphy could not keep his eyes open, and the landlord, or Col. Grande as he liked to be called, taking one of the tin candlesticks and Goldwln's saddle bags, piloted him up a ladder into the "loft," where were rows of beds or bunks extending the length of the building. A chintz of fantastic figures and colors partitioned the farther corner of this dormitory. Into this unique bed chamber this favored guest was ushered with an officiousness and flourish which would have done honor to the keeper of his majesty the King's bed-chamber. Alone and free to roam in his thoughts, Goldwin almost forgot the present and was blind to surroundings, until the epitome of a candle flickered expiringly and recalled him to the immediate. The scene of the day, the resplendent sunset, the rock-bedded river with its cold splash and the strange faces illuminated by the great crackling fire logs, mingled with yesterdays and with the far away; the lake, the mountain, the New England home, dear mother and the boys, the old path to pasture, the rude school house, and the parsonage on the hillside where his heart had sought its Marian. As he turned on his pillow he spied through a crevice 16 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. between the lags, a star. Was Marion, like that star, so brilliant, so cold, so far away? Groldwin, relaxed like a knight who had just laid off his armor, and soon was sleeping the sleep of the weary brave. As he descended the primitive stairs the next morning, the first sight which met his eyes was two Indians, gashed an'd blood- stained, and lying in the heavy stupor which follows debauchery. Then as now, the white man's whisky was the red man's curse. Men passed in and out callous to the spec- tacle, or moved by it only to mirth or jest. Not so with this young stranger. On this, his first morning in Biverton, thus abruptly began his initiation into the infernal accom- paniments of civilization. Do you wonder that with a heavy heart he walked out and under a morning sky which was .the very embodiment of joy, said, "Can it be possible that the sun does not refuse to shine on such horrid scenes?" CHAPTER III. Heredity is a word to conjure with. We all like to trace the ancestral line and dis- cover, or think we discover, the laws and the cause of this or that in the personages we are studying or commemorating. We say of A. as he becomes illustrious, "He comes of good stock," forgetful to say the same of B., his obscure and very indifferent brother. "Blood will tell," but so will some things else, and it were well for us amid our wise rules to leave abundant room for the play of environment, and above all, of will, human and divine. It may safely be taken for granted that the Goldwin genealogy is not conspicuously inter- esting to the general reader. Nor is it important to calculate just how many Welsh or Scottish or French or Dutch corpuscles swell the veins of the Goldwins. Suffice it for our purpose, that for a few moments we go back to Mr. John Goldwin's childhood and parental home. Mrs. Sarah Hulburd Goldwin and her little family, having breakfasted, passed into the sitting room and she took down her Bible from the clock shelf for the customary morn- ing worship. She took her favorite seat by the window which admitted the light directly upon the Scripture pages and where the rays 18 THE BJVBRTON MINISTER. seemed fondly to mingle their gleam with the silver which was cresting the waves of her dark hair. For a moment, her Bible unopened, she fed her spirit from the holj pages God had written in the scene without. It was a westward prospect; in the near foreground Lake Champlain; on the further shore the height where slumbered the ruins of Port Ticonderoga, and in the distance, rising as guardian sentinels, the turrets and domes of the Adirondacks. "The strength of the hills is His," her soul whispered and reposed in the strength of the Eternal Love. Beside her sat three boys, the manly and judicious John, the affectionate and alert Arthur, the rollicking little Thomas. One member of that group had passed into the long absence; yet, somewhat to the children and always to the mother, he was not absent. Three boys, a, promise, a joy, a care, and now that she stood alone, a double solicitude. The high purpose of the father for their education now rested wholly upon her. As she turned to her Bible, the eldest boy, John, the subject of this sketch, looked into her face with his wistful eyes and she said, "What is it John?" For an instant the boy hesitated, then hitched his chair a little nearer and said, "Mother, can I ever go to college? I want to, oh so much!" "Me, too," said Arthur. "Me, too," said the roguish little mimic, Thomas. 'jL'h.& RiVERTON MINISTER. -|_g For a moment Mrs. Goldwin did not reply, was looking into the face of that dear husband. She was listening to his words in that last illness, words of sorrow that he could not live to aid her in endowing the precious boys with an education; words of faith that she should live to see their fond hopes fulfilled. Alone with her three chil- dren and with an income barely sufficient with strict frugality, to support them, how should the desire of the father and mother, yes, and as it now seemed of the children, be accomplished? "Yes, John dear, I want you and your brothers to go to college. But it costs a good sum of money and means hard study." "I know it does, mother," said John, "But I'll do all I can to help." "Yes, my boy," she said, as she laid her hand on his shoulder, "I think you will. I know you want to be a good and useful man and I think some day you will go to college." Then she read the 121st Psalm and she and John thought it must have been written expressly for them. They all knelt and so sweetly, tenderly and expectantly, the mother led her children to her Heavenly Father for help. Education! How flippantly and assuredly and assumptively we talk of it! Fence off a little patch of our days, plant in it a few Greek and Latin and binomial roots and that is education! Put a fraction as equal to the whole! When you have discovered the 20 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. boundary lines of being, then only may we essay to set bounds to education. So oftea the elements, so subtle and volatile, mock- ingly elude our proud analysis. The col- lege the joint hands of father and mother lay its corner stone. Mother is President of the Preparatory school. Home levels and squares and places the marble steps to the University of Life. Difficulty, privation, hardship, and self-sacrifice out of love to others are the invaluable corps of instructors. Sometimes John would come from school saying, "Mother, my teacher says I am getting on first rate in Latin," and then he would declare that he was bound to push on and go to college. "College boys," he would say, "have any amount of fun, and I'm after the fun as well as the Latin and Greek." Then, young as he was, he would query over the ill-adjustments and ill-apportionment* of life. "There's Uncle Phil," he would in- stance, "rich, plenty of money; could as well send his boys to college as not; but not me are dry as last year's chips. Some are last year's bird's nests. Some are fountains sparkling in the sunlight. Some are ponds, green-scummed and stenchful. Some are elms, majestic, graceful and heaven- ward, and some are oaks, rough-barked, gnarly and immovable. We must not forget to mention Dr. G., the bete notr of the student who was not well qualified in Hebrew. It was said that for forty five years he had never breakfasted 28 THE RIVEIITON MINISTER. until lie had read a chapter in the original tongue of Moses and David. The young theological students now took their places in front of the brethren, submit- ted their papers and replied to inquiries con- cerning their Christian experience, and their theological tenets. This new ministerial material seemed quite conformable to the traditional pattern. True, just the slightest ripple of expectancy passed over several faces at one stage of the catechizing. It was when Dr. A., bristling with texts from Paul, applied his peculiar probe. "Mr. Goldwin," said he, "when you take up the work in the West, you expect to preach a stiff, uncompromising Calvinism, do you not?" "Well yes and no," replied the candi- date, "I expect to preach just as stiff a Calvinism as the Bible gives me to preach; no more, no less; I intend to declare the whole counsel of God, as He gives me to see it." With this unexpectedly shrewd and com- prehensive reply, Dr. A. was obliged to seem satisfied. The candidates having been examined, the Brethren voted "to be by themselves" for a few moments. Then ensued an interlocutory session. "It does seem too bad to send young Gold- win out among the backwoodsmen." said the polished, scholarly and urbane Dr. B. "Yes," replied Dr. M., "men of his scholar- THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 29 ship and cultivated tastes must be quite out of place in the semi-barbarous wilds of the West." "I don't know about that, "said Bro. L., as he thought of his one brother, so studious and promising, who had gone out to Marietta, Ohio. "Let us," he continued, "remember that they who are penetrating to those unex- plored regions are of our sons and brothers, and let us beware how we characterize them, lest we reflect damagingly upon ourselves." Mr. H., a layman from Foxbury, was shuf- fling about nervously in his seat and finally broke out, "Paul, the scholar and poet of the Apostles, was not retained for the 'eligi- ble pulpit' at Jerusalem, nor did he settle down with the Metropolitan church at Antioch, but pressed out far hence to the Gentiles, and found call for his best powers in the uttermost parts of the earth." Likewise Rev. Father T., the Apostle John of the group, as he was sometimes called, said, "Brethren, if young Goldwin has it impressed upon him that he should go as a Missionary into our Western country, beware how you utter a word against it, lest you be found fighting against God." Bo John Goldwin was ordained with due form and solemnity to the work of preaching the Gospel in the great North West Territory, much as now one is set apart to go to Alaska, or into the jungles of Central Africa. The close of this day, so eventful in the life of John Goldwin, found him alone in his 3() THE UIVEitTON MINISTER. room reflecting and striving to grasp the reality. He was at last commissioned for his life-errand, and he was glad to be oneo more in the privacy of his own thoughts. He had struggled through one of the streams which mark a boundary and now was plant- ing his feet on new territory. Or, he fancied himself like one crossing a series of moun- tains. He felt that he was now on the brow of the first range. He saw the long climb behind him; home, school-house, academy and seminary were behind him. He stood to-night on the first summit, professional life. He looked back at the plains and hills traversed and forward at the heights, still above him and to be scaled. He never felt more humble, never more thankful, never more hopeful. And yet he was turning his face from what all were pronouncing a most rare and attract- ive opening. Prof. P. had asked him if he might recommend him to a church in Hartland, Maine, and Goldwin knew well that this Professor's recommendation was bout equivalent to securing for him the position. It was a coveted position. Hartland was a city noted for its natural beauty and its commercial advantage, and, what was more to John Groldwin, for its refinement and high bred intelligence. There he would have opportunity to pursue his studies and gratify his pure tastes; there he would be in the center of a large, apprecia- tive, and inciting circle of kindred minds, THK KIVKKTOX MIMSTK.U. \ s. ruled with abundant aids, with a pastor's library, maintained by an annual fund from the church. Prof. E. had said to Goldwin, "Better think carefully before declining such an opening." He did think carefully, but he could not be blind to the fact that there were probably scores of desirable person** reaCy to fill the vacancy at Hartland, anl he said, let me go where other ministers do not go. He heard a voice fop him from the settlements multiplying and peopling as by magic in the West. It grew more distinct, daily more imperative. It was his duty to listen to it. He knew what he was declining. He wa.s keenly alive to the inducements to accept the field which was already plowed and sown rather than that which was to be cleared of giant forests and stumps and only after many days or years of most arduous labor to be brought under the plow. Taste, culture, emolument, all the bent of his modest and scholarly nature, led one way; but he believed that duty and the denial of self for the sake of the Crucified, led another way. One thought, however, troubled him, deterred him, sometimes, seemed about to turn the scale. The thought was of one whom he hoped to ally to himself in the dearest of earthly bonds. For her sake how he coveted- the already producing field and the already provided home. The thought of exposure and discomfort, not for himself, 2 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. that he could bear, but for one who had always been carefully shielded from hard- ship, disturbed him; tossed him as a lion his prey. And yet, after all, he could not help saying, "Are not women also called to that higher privilege of forgetting self in the service of others? Is not their winning and purifying influence especially needed where there are so many infl ences toward savagery?" Goldwin had at first felt that he was being rent and torn between contesting forces, to neither of which he dared to surrender. But with such a man as he, this could not con- tinue. Like the brave man that he was, he fought his way out. The smoke and dust fled. Sweet light came and he saw clearly the strong angel of Duty pointing him. Westward. To-night he saw that matchless angel, saw and wondered that he had not seen before that he was Love. Yes, he was sure that he had never felt stronger nor happier than to-night. His soul overflowed with thank- fulness and he was girded with a degree of power unfelt before. As he drew his chair up to the table and adjusted the shade of the lamp overhanging it, so as to focus the tempered light on himself and the unwritten page before him, all unconsciously, he presented a Eembran- tesque study which would have been fortune and fame for any artist, had he succeeded in transferring it to canvas. That full and THE R1VERTON MINISTER. % finely modeled brow, those clear, resolute, soulful eyes, that soft brown hair rolling back in waves, which the elfish light was sowing with shreds of gold unique embodiment of manhood. Then he wrote two letters; short but full of heart love. One to his dear mother. Well he knew that on that memorable d:ay her thought and prayer had been for him. To her his first word was due. Another letter he wrote, sealed it and addressed it, "Miss Marian Braddock, Ryeburgh, Vermont." So the "day was done" and amid songs of peace he slept. And in visions of the night he saw his brother Thomas in a vast and open-air amphi- theatre delivering an oration, and an eagle sailing far above him, narrowed his circle more and more, till at last he perched just before the orator and listened spell bound. And his brother Arthur was sitting at a desk preparing an article for the Middleton Journal and a dove flecked with gold alighted upon his right shoulder. Then the scene of the night vision shifted John stood on the brow of a steep acclivity and beckoned to Marian to come to him. She advanced a few steps and then as he extended his hand to her, she turned and fled. Next he saw Marian in a sumptuous and brilliantly illuminated reception hall. Never did she appear more queenly and she wore a crown of gold inwrought with precious stones. But the crown broke in many segments, which, 34 THK U1VKKTON MINISTER. one after another, fell, crumbling, to the marble floor, and her marvelous beauty fell from her, as petals from the rose. He awoke in the first gray of dawn and the rain was on the roof. CHAPTER V. A morning in October! Let the poets sing of it, but court the muses assiduously as they may, they never can rise to the height of the theme. Its thrill and aroma escape them. Out of the Night came clean Morning, clad in bridal robes fresh from the Sun's golden web. John sprang up, singing, "To the Hills, to the Hills away." Now for home, sweet home, and that other home on the heights. The stage left at eight o'clock. Thrusting into his portmanteau little tokens of remem- berance for mother and brothers, he hastened around to the village hotel, where "Jehu" held the reins and blew the horn. All was bustle and as usual, some were arriving at the last minute and there was rushing and elbowing, and now and then words escaping which we will not record. And there was the inevitable stout woman, with a flaming carpet sachel swelled to bursting, and two band boxes and an umbrella, and a small boy. Puffing and perspiring her way to the front she insisted upon riding on top. But the driver insisted that the upper seats were taken, and that the stage would be top heavy and finally had her squeezed into the 36 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. inside back seat between two gentlemen whom she quite obscured. Four horses, seven passengers on deck and ten in the cabin. Fare sir, please. All settled. Doors shut with a bang. All right. Go ahead, Jehu; go he does. Nature was offering her best for the pleas- ure of the journey. Gold, and orange, and crimson had here and there crept into the foliage and were giving hint of gor- geous autumn. Orchards were radiant with red-cheeked apples, and the farm boys were running up ladders into the tree tops, plucking the mellow fruitage and storing away in barrels so much laugh- ter and cheer for the open fireside and long winter evening. Off to the right and to the front, sunshine and shadow were chas- ing over the distant mountains and into the sky. Cattle and sheep peacefully grazed, or calves and colts capered, in the undulating pastures. Thrifty villages, and scattered along between, the hospitable barns and neat and comfortable homes, abodes of in- telligent freemen, made John Goldwin proud to say, "This is my own, my native land." The second morning out brought fresh horses and a change of driver, who was known along the road as Jack Barnett. Like John Goldwin, he sprang from a thrifty home in Vermont, and he and the young minister were once mates in the same district school. In obedience to an aside suggestion from THE IUVIORTON MINISTER. 37 Jack, Goldwin climbed up to a seat with him. "Some good horse flesh you drive?" "That I do,"replied Jack,pl eased to see that the young preacher observed his equine pets. "So you know a good horse as well as a good aerm on?" "Yes, Jack; I believe I can see the good points in each." Started now on his favorite theme, Jack straightening himself up, said, "from a small boy I was always fond of horses and not over fond of books; if I had studied them as ea- gerly as I did horses, I should have known something now. By the by, John, did you know how near I came once to going to col- lege?" "No," said John, looking eagerly at him. "Tell me how it was. I wish you had gone." "So do I wish it now," rejoined Jack, "but you see, I was a boy, and boy like, when father offered to send me to college and give me a hundred dollars for each year I was there, or -give me three hundred dollars cash, and 'Dick,' a splendid four year old colt, I foolishly chose the cash and Dick." "Great mistake," said John, "a little com- pulsory education you needed just then." Jack smiling, said, "Guess I did. My stars! If I had got the education Icould have earned the three hundred dollars and the colt mighty quick." "But then, " continued Goldwin, "I sup- pose you thought that the cash in hand 38 THE HIVKUTON MINISTER. would carry you a great deal farther than au education would.-' "O, yes," said Jack; "how my sister did plead with me to go to college; told ine I'd regret it all my life if I didn't. But I thought I knew all that was worth knowing. Good advice was thrown away on me. I tell you John, I've found out one thing;" emphasizing his words with his whip stalk, "it's brains that win. Why, there's Will Richards and Abe Williams, my boy mates; not as bright and quick to learn as I was, if I do say it, who went to college, got their conceit balls pricked, learned to use their brains on shore notice; and now, oh, my! look where th^y are. I'm nowhere compared with them" "Jack, you're orthodox on the college ques- tion." "You better believe I am," cried Jack. "Ex- perience, that dear schoolmaster, has taught me that it takes training, learning, to put value into a horse or a man. But so it goes/' said he, as he drew himself up and cracked his long whip; "live and learn, you know." "Yes," observed John, philosophically, "foresight is better than hindsight." Then pointing to the off leader, he added, "you be- lieve in education for horses. There's one that needs a little." "That's so," rejoined the driver, as he gave the delinquent a taste of the end of his lash; "he inclines to shirk; have to stimulate him occasionally. There's a deal of uman na- TIIK K1VERTON MINISTER. 39 nature in horses; like men, they are about as selfish as they dare be." "No, no;" stoutly protested the young min- ister, "I doubt that concerning horses and deny it concerning men. At any rate, tite remark is to be classed among those which are too sweeping." "Well now," answered Jack, "I am backed up pretty well, for the good Book says all men are liars. How is that for sweeping*:" "Ah, yes, David said that, but confessed that he said it in his haste," was the reply. "Well, anyhow, " said Barnett, "look at these horses. There's that off leader, old lazy bones, that you've just admitted would throw all the work onto the others if he could." "O, just give him a memento at the lash end of your whip; give him something to think about and he's all right. No very deep selfishness there," interposed Goldwiii. "There's his mate," pursued the driver, "a fiery fellow that needs watching; tough as whalebone; lots of service in him; but you never know when or where he'll break out in some nonsense; try to rush up a stone wall or down a precipice, fly the track, and of course, hurl everything to ruin. He's cranky. I call him my 'Radical.' ' "Crank is a more appropriate name," in- terposed Goldwin. "And here," continued Jack, "is this nigh wheel horse. She's doing splendid work today, but she's just according to the company she'* 40 "I UK UJVKKTON MINISTER. in. Put her alongside a young cut-up and she'd be as fractious as the devil. I call her my 'Turn-coat.' ' "Bravo," cried John, patting him on the back; "I'll have you appointed Professor of Philosophy horse philosophy. Hut here'* one more steed. Give him a character. 1 should guess he's the best horse in the team." "You're right this time," answered Bar- nett. "He's your old reliable; wants none of your new f angled ways; knows the beaten track and keeps it right on to the day of judgment. I call him 'Old Conservative.' " "Very good," retorted the young minister, but with a twinkle in his eye asked, "how about your theory? That horse character does not look selfish." "But what," reasoned the driver, "if this horse concludes that good behavior generally secures good treatment; that steady, straight work is the better for himself in the long run? Then the motive with the horse, as with men, is selfishness after all." "No, no;" interrupted Goldwin; "not self- ishness but self-interest ; quite a different thing and quite right, too Self-interest is regard for No. 1, so far as that does not in- terfere with No. 2 or any other number. That is natural and justifiable, and harnesses man- kind together in harmony. But selfishness is all for No. 1, to the neglect or destruction of every other number. Self-interest ax- cords with the Golden T'ule: selfishness clashes with it. Self-interest is the pure THE RIVBRTON 41 brain feeding- grain; selfishness is that graim turning sour and poisonous." "Rotting into whiskey, I 'spose you mean," said Jack. "That's about it, I guess," assented Gold- win. "Well," said Jack, who in his heart wa really pleased to see how his old acquaint- ance with a word poured daylight into the subject, "I see that you are professor of the- ology and I am only professor of horseology. But then, you know, every man has hi price." "No, I don't know that," said John Gold- win. "I know that it is said that every man can be bought if you will only come to hi price; but I know that, like many another popular saying, it is too sweeping. Every man has his price so the devil affirmed con- cerning Job, but Job was too much for him. And your own observation won't bear you out. You know, Jack, for example, that your good father and mother are not actuated by selfishess; far enough from it." A tender look came over Barnett's bronzed face, as he thought of the dear old folks at home. Now they were approaching a station, the last before climbing the mountain. "Here I always bring out my Methodists," said Jack, with a mysterious air. "All right," said the minister, "that will insure progress." The coach dashed up to the village hotel, 4<2 THE UIVEKTON MINISTER. its arrival the only sign of life in the sleepy hamlet. The small boy suddenly danced attendance, eyes and mouth open, watching every movement of the driver, doing him any little service as obseqiously as the Postmaster does for his Congressman, and aching for the day when he can take the driver's throne and whirl the long whip so adroitly as to behead a fly on the leader's flank. "All aboard," shouted the driver, and started for a climb of seven miles. Mr. Gold- win observed: "We have six horses now." "Oh, yes," was the reply, "those fresh leaders I always put on for the climb. They're all go ahead, like to lead and the3 r put new life into the other horses. They'll be tuckered out against we reach the summit and there they'll lay off. I call them my 'Methodists'. " The young minister laughed and said, "I am glad to see that the stage has a good strong Oalvinistic break. But whew! How we have to take the dust. My eyes are full of it." "Well, you know, its the man who carries the dust that fills the public eye," said phil- osophic Jack, as he skillfully trotted his team around a sharp curve. Goldwin smiled at these grains of wisdom culled from the dust. From admiring the almost human sensitiveness of the faithful horses to the voice and hands of the driver, THE KIVEKTON MINISTER. 4.3 now, as the crest of the mountain was reached, he became absorbed in the resplend- ent vision, both the outward and the inward. For all he saw the wide area of earth and sky was canvas and palette for his mind- painting. The disappearing sun was casting cloud-deeps around his going, now moated and embattled castles of crimson, unfurling pendants of fire; now walls and towers and cities of purple and gold, whose reflected radiance lay aslant earth and sky, robing a world in softened light. "What can equal this," exclaimed Goldwin,, "Those sun-swathed clouds! They roll and billow magnificently. Sea of glory!" "Well yes, noiw that you speak of it, that is a fine sight," said Jack, "I winder I had not seen it before." Forms and faces radiant with love, John Goldwin was seeing on that canvas. Mother and brothers and home, and that other face now never quite absent from his sight, were seen in every water drjp and flower and cloud. He wa,s indeed on the crest of the mountain. CHAPTER VI. Ryeburgh was a village clinging to a Ver- mont hillside, and like a sleepless sentinel on the outpost, was keeping watch over the low country and the placid Champlain; chiefly distinguished, however, to us and the young minister with whose history we are now concerned, because here lived Marian Braddock. Her father was then and for years had been the clergyman of the town. For years, too, he had been one of the trustees of Middleton College, and even little Rye- burgh could tell of ten or twelve students whom he had started in Latin and Greek and inspired with aspirations which, by dint of struggle and much self-help, carried them throur;L. the Middleton curriculum. Marian was about four and twenty, tall, gracefully molded, with hair that was dark and eyes which were intensely dark, and a countenance beaming with intelligence and glowing with suppressed fire. There was that about her which drew attention. One upon meeting her would wish to study her; not so much, however, because of elicited affection, as by way of mental speculation. She had a select class of twenty or more young ladies whom she instructed in French and also in History, English and American, THE RIVERTON MINISTER. AK and in general literature. Her pupils were gathered from a wider vicinage than little Ryeburgh, and while they respected and admired, could none of them really be said to love her. Yet there was always on the part of Miss Braddock amenity, dignity, perfection of manner and sparkling naivete which rendered her very attractive. There clung to her something of the freshness and piquancy of her mountain atmosphere, and with all, a certain bewitching flavor of originality and independence It is surely not surprising that Middleton students often competed for the privilege of sniffing the air of this rare mountain blossom. Mr. Goldwin, on arriving home, sought the first opportunity to call and pass an evening with Marian. "Well, John," said she, "I suppose you are a bird feathered out, wings .plumed, for they say you are now full fledged. Bird of Paradise, probably." "O no, still bird of earth, and of humble feather and flight." Then he added more seriously, "Nevertheless, Marian, as soon as set free, I do 'Flee as a bird to your mountain.' " "O then, jail bird escaped from prison!" Marian archly replied, "Complimentary to that Theological Seminary. One would sup- pose that to be a veritable Saint's Rest." "Veritable gathering of the sons of God, Marian, but as of old, Satan came also amon** them." "Then," slso rptortod, "it would 46 THE RIVEKTON MINISTER. that you young theologians haven't exorcised him. Hope you haven't been 'donning the livery of heaven' though." "No, nothing more sacred than sober black broadcloth. She smiling added, "After all, I guess you needed his Majesty to stir you up, for it must be very monotonous not to have a little spice of sin." "They do say," returned John, "that the Devil is a profound theologian, and what's more than can be said of some theologians, strictly orthodox." "Yes," said she, "no one quotes Scripture more aptly for his purpose than he does/' Then turning to John, she added, "Well now, I suppose you feel as though you were shoved out mid-streams and must bear down on the oars." "I must," said he, "as soon as I have secured a fellow passenger." His features lighted up, and fastening his earnest eyes upon her, he continued, "Marian, I have come here to this old mountain home to find my mate. As I wrote you I have chosen the West. Will you go with me?" Marian's black eyes dropped for an instant. Then there was just the slightest curl to her lips as she turned to Goldwin and said, "Par- don me John, I don't want to wound your feelings, but I must frankly tell you that you ask too much of me. New England is our natural home and you are needed here." 47 At this a (-loud passed over Uoldwin's face. And Marian, who usually bore herself with that refined self-control and composure which is the instinct of good breeding, and could sit with feet still and hands carefully clasped in her lap and entertain her company delight- fully, to-night, in spite of herself, gave unmis- takable signs that a mental tempest was on. To-night, she was unquiet. To-night she was half gesticulating, or suddenly starting in her chair. Kesuming, she said, "John, you have adopted such romantic notions;. you have left this practical age and gone back into the dreams of knight-errantry." "How so? Please offer some proof of your charge." "Proof! When the way opened to that fine church at Hartland you should have entered in at once, taking it as the bidding of Provi- dence, as I believe it was. So would anyone have done who was not afloat on romantic impracticable ideas; and if you had gone to Hartland, I would have been ready to go with yon. There I could still pursue my studies in modern languages and literature: there I should find occasion to use all my acquire- ments and so would you. But of what avail all our acquisitions, if we are to spend our days among half breeds and Potawotomies? If worst comes to worst, I think I can be a martyr, but I shall have to say that I am hardly ready to go chasing after martyrdom in this style." 48 THE ItlVERTON MINISTER. It was obvious that John Goldwin was taken quite unawares by this, Marian's decla- ration of independence. Was she to give him clear instance in proof of Jack Barnett's assertion that all the world are about as selfish as they dare to be? He arose and paced the room for a moment only a moment, and then, by a strong effort, resumed his wonted composure and turning to Marian, said, "You misunder- stand me, and I must add, disappoint me. I have thought this all over many, many times. I know well the attractions of a settlement in one of the centers of New England's best culture. I am keenly alive to them; for your sake I covet them. Out of devotion to you, I had once almost turned from what I esteem to be my duty and accepted those attractions." He paused a moment, but she not reply- ing, in a deep voice he proceeded, "To-night, Marian, has been a revelation to me. You do not look at life from my point of view. The difference is radical." "Yes," said Marian, "I think it is." "After all," pursued Goldwin, "it is entirely according to one's view point. Motive makes or mars. To lead the scouts and station the picket guards of Christian civilization,to carry peace and love into the great army of occu- pation whose tents gleam far away toward the sunset, to establish along those streams and over those prairies the impregnable defenses of freedom, patriotism and Christian THK RIVBRTON MINISTER, ^g brotherhood- -tell me, Marian, if it is the inviting field you seek, where is there more inviting than this? Does not the true soldier, if given him to choose, ask for the front, and where the fight is thickest? Let my torch flame where the darkness is deepest. To me that is the 'inviting field/ ' "Wilil dream! Morbid, morbid prefer- ence!" she exclaimed, but he was not to be interrupted. "Already," he continued, "there are dozens of good men eager for that church at Hart- land. Let me not crowd them. Let me go where the harvest is whitening and the labor- ers are few. I go to share with the pioneer; to help him break the soil for Christian homes and institutions. I go to grow with the growth of villages, cities, and states. I go to do as God gives me strength, for the wilds of Ohio or Indiana or Illinois, what heroic men of God from Massachusetts and Connect- icut did a hundred years ago for the wilds of Vermont. 'Chasing after martyrdom ?' Not I. Nor am I chasing after personal ease, or gratification of my social and literary tastes and ambitions. If this come to me i shall be glad and thankful, but the voice of Him whose name is written forever in my heart bids me 'Away.' " John in his fervor and self-forgetfulness stood before Marian pouring out these impas- sioned words, his face lighted with a power and gleam which amazed, for the moment, almost overcame her. 50 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. But as he sank into a chair, she resumed, "Really John, it seems to me such a waste of education and talent. Seems like polishing pearls to set in a plough handle, or bestowing rare carving upon an axe helve." "But is it waste?" said Goldwin, "that is the very question. To seek to make the great West, now rioting in natural beauty, blossom with moral beauty is personal sacrifice on our part to this end a waste? Do facts sus- tain your assumption? But, Marian, do you suppose I insist upon your accompanying me now?" "O," said she, "vou have no thought of being unreasonable. I am sure of that. Still I think I know you well enough to be also sure that the darkest place you can find is the one you will go into, and I feel I ought to tell you that such is not my mood. Frankly, I am not ambitious of self sepulchering." John turned to her in silence, a silence burdened with pity and soft reproach, a silence which said, "I see it all now; now Marian, I understand you and I think you understand me, although I do not think you quite appreciate my motive. Your soul is tuned to another key than mine. On the major chords of life we cannot harmonize." Then slowly, very slowly, but decidedly he said audibly, "We must play our parts separately." They sat looking into the fire. The hickory log had crumbled into a heap of ruddy coals THE RIVBRTON MINISTER 51 and was giving its fierce but final throbs of heat. They watched as already those coals began to take on the darkness of dying. John saw in those cinders his hopes, but now so bright, turning to ashes. The old clock in the back hall deliberately spoke twelve times. Roused from his meditations, John rose up to go. Then with indescribably sad sincerity he turned his eloquent eyes upon Marian, took her hand and said, "Good bye, Marian, God be with you." She replied, with just the slightest tremor in her voice, "Good bye, John." Neither dared trust themselves to say more. For an instant they stood silent with clasped hands. Then John Goldwin went out into the night. Marian lingered on the threshold till he was hidden in the deep- ening shadow. "Noble soul!" was her thought as she turned from the chill of the night air to the waning fire, and bringing the several embers together, hovered over them, seeking for some time to marshal her conflicting thoughts. The occasional flicker of blue flame was so in keeping with the complexion of her reflections. The room, always hereto- fore attractive, seemed now oppressively empty, and the great clock annoy ingly obtru- sive. She heard distinctly, in the great silence, the slow, measured breathing of father and mother as they sweetly rested. It seemed to mock her restlessness. G ol dwin was still before her. The spell of his noble presence was still upon her. But it was to her Goldwin radiant and transfigured. 52 THE R1VERTON" MINISTER. She had forged, as she had complacently thought, a perfect chain of argument; she had tried every link and supposed 't flawless; she had brought it forward so confidently for Goldwin to admire, and no magician's wand ever swept an obstacle aside as easily and majestically as he had this. She was morti- fied, half vexed with herself, now that she felt that what she had delighted to call the lustre of her position and vantage was only a self-illusion. What inward commotion more harassing than to be convinced against one's will? Rising with forced resolution, Marian took a book from the table, an elegant volume of choice selections from the poets, in which was a card bearing the name of John Goldwin, and retiring to her own apartment, laid it beside a package of letters in her private drawer, closed the drawer and locked it. Then, betaking herself to her pillow, at last, in the first gray of morning, she fell into a troubled sleep. CHAPTER VII. The New World! Volumes in the word! With what exultation John Goldwin repeated them as he looked out from his window at Kiverton, as he stood on "the hill" and followed with his eye the two rivers Poca- nock and Rappilee disclosed here and there by rifts in the almost universal forests: as he paused here and there before some giant tree of immense girth, as he thought of the lumber and houses growing in such trees, and of the mills and factories latent in those rivers. He sought to conceive <> r that untra versed landscape, as it soon would be when transformed into the abode of thousands of happy homes,and of churches nrir) school? and libraries, and halls of justice and <> r art, and the center of a population rivaling in numbers and affluence that of the Eastern coast. Here, be said, I surely have the field and no one has larger in area or in potential greatness. I build on no other man's foundation. Gut and carve as I may, I trespass on no one. A blank page and I am bidden to write. Enthusiasm, hope, imagin- ation, have the freedom of the New World. If only I may instigate moral advances here on ;-! scale commensurate with the coinmer- ;ui VMM tags- iuul opportunity and the 54 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. natural beauty and opulence of Biverton. His heart burned with holy chivalry. Material was at hand, but it was largely raw material. The timber had braved all sorts of weather and was naturally gnarly and tough. Eiverton was an Indian trading post, one of the points selected by the govern- ment from which to mete out annual, or semi- annual payments to the original tribes of the soil. Here the Indian commissioner and general navmaster, General Tupper, had his headquarters. At this date the settlement was largely composed of adventurers who were playing the game for sudden wealth. The superintendent, General Tupper, was renowned for his wisdom and fairness. Nevertheless, here, as a rule, it was the unscrupulous white man pitted against the childish red man. A community delirious with the fury of the gambler was not the most promising material out of which to frame stable Christian homes and model society. Children in snch atmosphere inhaled lewd- ness and lawlessness. Money and self-indul- gence were the thought; sensuality the pleasure. We, who Vnow it only through retrospect, easily (magnify the romance of the pioneer life; but, to those who encountered the facts, life was not all romance. The only private house at which John Goldwin succeeded in secur- ing boarding and lodging for the winter was in the cabin of John Dale, who had a large and increasing family. Thie easy going Pater THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 55 Famiiias was aninoyingly disregardful of the proprieties of life; quite disdained pocket handkerchiefs so long as hie possessed a shirt sleeve or coat-tail, and thought no spot too good for Ms generous distributions of tobacco juice. One curtained cornier of the large family room was Goldwin's bedroom and study. All varieties of life and how thin the parti- tion between! The priesthood has often been injured by withdrawal from the world. This danger did not threaten this minister. Sitting room, dining room, bed room and kitchien were very conveniently accessible, since all were built on the great American principle of many in one. Many were the "asides" here in the homiletic drama, and the comedy of life was hard by on the same stage. Sometimes the sermon became too ethereal for earth, and taking on ascension robes, went up the capacious chimney, along with the smoke and with the inoensie of the crane and the dutch oven. This house which Goldwhi and a few others occupied, was so con- structed as to secure an abundance of ventila- tion, so that the family were not in bad odor. The winter blasts piped and whistled and roared and howled kept a whole menag- erie under the loose floor and between the logs, and often a miniature snow drift came unsolicited through the chinks. The menu of the Dale house grew less and less varied, more and more devoted to thai 56 THE RTVBRTON MINISTER. which would "stay by one," until finally it recorded a steady diet of fried pork in the morning, roast or boiled pork at noon, and salt pork, or occasionally pork sausage, at night. Therefore swinish propensities were not unaccountable. Who can wonder that that which was called the light bread was not always worthy of that name; and the biscuit, often soggy, were often soaked with lard. This refectory was a severe trial to the sensitive stomach of a student, and not conducive to cheerful reflections. Winters are non productive, but this one produced for Goldwin a dyspepsia which was tenacious as life and relentless as death. The young minister's library, at the best not large, having come a far as Buffalo, wintered there until navigation opened late in the Spring. Hence his reading, for the first five months in Riverton, was confined to his Bible and hymn book. Well could he write to his mother that never before had the old Bible been such a treasure to him. Mrs. Dale, the presiding genius of the household, was a, fair representative of the pioneer mother. How she was able to keep her family clad and fed will ever be a mys- tery, and ungracious beyond endurance would be he who should dwell upon any infe- licities which would sometimes intrude into her department; the miracle was that there were not more. Few great commanders, whose renown has come down the ages, dis- THE BIVERTON MINISTER. 57 played more tact, ingenuity or generalship, or mastered greater difficulties than did Mrs. Elizabeth Dale. To say that she did what she could is to render but scant justice. Time would grow weary to enumerate how often she had to face the old problem, "how to make bricks without straxv." The light of the rude cabin of the early settler, beckoning alike to rich and poor to share its slender store, was the patient, plucky, resourceful pioneier wife and mother. At this time the only public, building hi the settlement was the school house. It was erected on the economical plan of serving also as a public hall, and was open to any- thing which called the people together. General Tupper, hitherto the guiding mind of the town, a ma.n of large landed posses- sions centering at Kiverton, and marked by a generous public spirit, had insisted that whatever else halted, education must not, and that a commodious school building must be at once erected. He donated to Riverton the grounds on which it stood, and also reserved a handsome site on a little eminence east of the town, on which it was designed that in a few years should be reared a County Academy. Men and women- came to the school house to "the preachin'," as they phrased it, in glorious freedom from the tyranny of fash- ion. They fostered home manufactures, and the styles were almost as many and 5g THE RIVBRTON MINISTER. individual as the persons. Young Gold- win met with all the respect, if not devout ness which could be expected; an admission of the claims of religion in genera], coupled quite too often with an ignoring of them in particular. The ruling spirits of Riverton were on the whole rather proud to have a minister among them "helped to give character and dignity to the town," "sort'o handy at a funeral," "seemed like it used to be back East or down in Virginy." "Old Nat. Hawkins" vowed he had no use for preachers; they wer'n't pro- ducers nohow, and for his part, he couldn't see what good such as he was to a town. "He's only a boy; doesn't look a day over twenty,"siaid "Tim" the blacksmith,dis'dam- fully. "Now, don't you fool yourself," interposed Sol Perkins, "them light complected fellers is mighty deceivin'; he's a heap nig'her thirty than twenty." "Well" replied Hawkins, as he assumed a very wise look, "all I have to say is that he'll get his eye-teeth cut if he squats in Riverton." "That he will," echoed a dozen voices, ac- customed to echo Ha/wkins. At that Sam Drake slowly drew his pipe from his mouth and said, "I ca'culate you'll find that air man Goldwin is nobody's fool, if he is young like. I'll bet you'll find he's a good head on them shoulders of his'en." THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 59 "Well, now boys," said Daniel Pierpont, and they all turned attentive ears to this young lawyer a^nd recent comer to Riverton, who had thus far kept silence; "I make no pretensions to religion, and count myself no better than you, but I believe in religion and I favor the preacher. I was brought up to good morals, if I have backslid a little, and I tell you I wouldn't bring up a family where there are no Sundays and no churches. S:am Drake is right; this man Goldwin looks like genuine stuff, and I say give him a chance. Condemn no man until you've given him a hearing." "That's good law," chimed a chorus of voices. "Them's my sentiments," declared Land- lord Grande, who, now that Pierpont had spoken so decidedly, ventured to crawl out of his shell. "Free country," said one; "a little religion won't hurt," said another; and so the con- versation passed to other topics. During this canvass of the minister's merits, Stubbs the half-breed, although standing in the back- ground, and preserving an appearance of stolid indifference, was listening with both ears and weighing every word. CHAPTER VIII. John Goldwin, fVom a boy, had loved lo flee to his mother and speak his heart to her. Now, so far away from her, he beguiled many a tedious hour by writing to her. But mail carriage was not then an easy thing. Com- munication with the Eastern stales \v;is ;i matter of from two weeks to two months, ac- cording to the season of the year, and the con- dition of the roads, and of navigation. The latter was practically tied up for at least one fourth of the year. Letter postage was twenty-five cents. The following is one of the letters Goldwin posted to his mother dur- ing his first winter in Riverton. My Dear Mother: How I do appreciate you, now that there is half a continent between us. What would I not give to look at men and things through your eyes, as well as my own. 1 need your sedate, careful and womanly reflections, cast in with my glowing, hopeful, youthful dreams. The two well mixed might compound something about right. An ounce of good mother instinct would outvalue a pound of man logic, and might throw a fender around the fires of my ardor, so that stern reality should not scatter THE BIVBRTON MINISTER. 61 them. Mother, how would a wife do for n fender? Here everything is in the future tense no past-perfect tense, no precedents in these wilds. And yet none of us are clear of the past; would that some I could name here were. Opinion is often but another way of speling prejudice or custom. One man wants everything as it used to be in "old Vermont, 7 ' (which is not so bad, is it?) and another as in "old Virginia." Why not compromise on a course which follows neither of these guides? If we could only make this new world new indeed! If, quit of every relic of wrong, pure of ancient taint, we were plastic to the hand of reason! Why carry with us the impedimenta which have clogged the older communities? It would seem as though our opportunity, such as cornes not again in ain age, would tempt into larger pur- poses and lift us into a greater life. And I believe it will too. Mother, I tell you I have great faith in this young giant West. Pro- vidence has untold grandeur and leadership in store for her. And yet, mother, it must be confessed that the people here are quite on other thoughts intent. To read their titles clear to man- sions on earth is full enough. Gain is god- lines.s Hospitable we are here, open-palmed, swift to resent an injury. Of the two spe- cies under the genus American, we have more of the Jamestown and less of the Plymouth. 62 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. Send us more Pilgrim Rock. No building material like that. Green Mountain rock '11 do chip of the old block no discount on Vermont granite. Sometimes even a little of it does wonders. Now, mother, don't for a moment suppose that I say these things, except in a whisper to you. Not I. I never draw comparisons here, nor say Plymouth Rock nor Pilgrim Fa- thers. I am alone. No one is unkind, and yet my very mission does hedge me off, and I find no one quite like-minded to whom I can open my deepest longings. On Sunday morning, while you and all tine town are go- ing to "the Center" to church, as I go to the school house to preach, I hear the sharp report of the rifle, and I see many strolling by the river with guin or fishing rod, and others indolently sitting on a log or stump, puffing tobacco smoke from their clay or corn cob pipe. Have 1 told you of 'all the offices I fill in Riverton? I have as many titles as the Duke of Bedford. Some call me "the preacher" or "that preacher;" some, a little more defer- ential, term me "the minister." Good Mrs. Drake, or Mrs. Tupper, say "our minister." I am told that some call me "the boy preach- er." On the other hand some call me "elder" though just Why I can not say. One man whom I frequently meet, accosts me as "par- son/' and the old Frenchman, Dure, styles me "tihe priest." But if they will only give me THE RIVBRTON MINISTER. 63 a hearing, they may call me as they please. One office which by common consent seems to fall to me is that of church janitor. On Sunday it is my fortune to carry the key of knowledge, and to unlock the school house. Then I light the fire, and remember that John Foster says that "genius is the capacity to light one's own fire." Then, too, I am "the sexton that tolls the bell." Thanks to Gen- eral Tupper, we have a pretty good school house bell. But the office which I assume with great- est fear and trembling is that of chorister. You will laugh, but the other day I was selected to "pitch the tune" at a funeral. So I started China, the only funeral tune I know, and you will siay that I do not know that. What will you 'say then, when I tell you that I receive 'high compliments for my musical ability? At divine service I can discover but one hymn book, and that is my own. So I go at* it "Western fashion and "line out." Thanks to you, I learned at family prayers to sing several hymns, and I sing "Hebron and Greenville" and "Rock of Ages." Then I vary the next service by reversing the order of tunes. At first it was a solo, or at most a duet. This lining out process bothers me, and 'Several times I should have been un- horsed completely if it had mot been for Mother Smile, whose piping treble came just in time to save me from pitching pell mell into the ditch. These things do not always 64 THE HIVKRTON MINISTER. conduce to increase my devotional feeling. Nevertheless, a little singing does gratify the congregation and make it seem more church like. Besides, of late I have fallen upon better times, for the school teacher, Miss Emily Sherburne, a niece of Gen. Tupper, has come to my relief, and by a little previous consultation and concert of action in select- ing the hymns, she is able to lead the singing quite well. Once in a while Mr. Drake attempts the bass,and so we are said to have very good singing. By the way, this Miss Sherburne is a rare person. General Tupper was the means of prevailing upon her to accept the position of teacher, and fortunately, he has no sympathy with Mie common sentiment that almost any- one can teach the primary classes. So instead of having a coarse, masculine woman to cuff the children around and pound some- thing into them, we have a true lady from Old Dominion, educated aind possessed of that indescribable grace and finish of man- ners, which are the charm of the best families of Virginia. But why is it, pray tell, that I receive no word from Thomas the Tutor, or Arthur the Sophomore? Remind them that they have a forlorn brother somewhere in the wilder- ness. I suppose Arthur is engrossed in strife for class honor, and Thomas, is he captured by some modern Helen or Dido? Does he ever run up to the parsonage at Ryeburgh? THE RIVBRTON MINISTER. 5 Mother dear, write just as often as you can, but when you are too busy to epistleize me, make Thomas or Arthur your quill driver r so that I may hear the oftemer. Your always affectionate boy, JOHN. P. S. This morning I heard the first bird of Spring! Hurrah! I shed no tears over the dissolution of stern Winter. "Fly swiftly round ye wheels of Time, And bring the Bummer day." J. Gr. The letter went on its way to Vermont. Nearly a month had gone by and brought the "boys," Arthur and Thomas, home for the Spring vacation. Arthur, although the older in years, was the younger of the two in col- lege advancement, having been delayed by ill health. But not to be daunted by any difficulty, he entered Freshman as Thoma;s became Senior and now was in full Sopho- more blossom, while Thomas was "the new Tutor." It was one of those first warm days which signalize the flight of obstinate winter and tell of blessings near. Thomas, in morning negligee was half reclining on the old bench under the large cherry tree, which was send- ing out a few ventursome blossoms, white signals of an army soon peacefully to open its banners to the sun. In his hand was a volume of poetry, rm opened, for he seemed preoccupied, carrier! captive by the scene be- 6C THE R1VKRTON MINISTER. fore him, and the memories, home lovea, and days amd dreams of boyhood, which it precip- itated upon him. Was it not vacation, and might he not relax his grasp, drop the oar, and drift or throw out the anchor wherever fancy and fond association beguiled him? John seemed once more by his side. Clad in mitten and muffler, they were shoveling snow together; or they were coasting; or they were making their way across the pasture, dinner basket in hand, to the school house; they were hauling anid chopping wood; they were climbing the hills a/nd gathering berries or nuts;they were improving a holiday in fishing and bathing; or they were stretched on the grass, planning and aspiring, and declaring what should be their future; or they were tiaking the dear mother in the dusk of evening for a row on the lake, and the moon was lifting above the hill and filling the hour with sweet enchantment, and they were grad- ually dropping into silenee,while thought and fancy kept time to the silvery dip of the oars. Abruptly Thomas was recalled from his reverie by Arthur's ringing voice, as ignoring gates and old paths, he cleared the fence at a bound and, exulting in freedom and hilar- ity, landed in the door way, shouting, "Mother, a letter from John!" The mother, in these days, deep in no reveries, but in the prosy problem of refitting and renewing the wardrobe of the two colle- gians garments in all stages of existence THE RIVBRTON MINISTER. 67 heaped before her for review deputized her boys to answer the welcome words from John. Here are some extracts from Thomas' vacation letter: "My Dear Hoosier Brother: Here we are in this blessed harbor again, and it seems as though you must come in soon. I listen, expecting your footstep on the walk, or echoing on the stairs, or your voice as you rush in from the woodhouse. Here almost every sight and sound is asso- ciated with you. Of you we sing, Quorum magna pars fm. You are our good Aeneas or our wandering Ulysses; or rather our Nestor, so apt in counsel. How many things I want to discuss with you projected plans concerning my future! I am like one suddenly dropped down in a wilderness a jungle. I must cut my way out. But which way leads out? Where lies the "open?" Strange that when we so yearn to know which way lies wisdom,there should be no answering voice. It is questioning the Sphinx. 'Dip into the future far as human eye can see/ and how much darkness mocks the 'spirit yearning in desire To follow knowledge, like a sinking star, Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.' John, I am hungry for the Great West. Your descriptions and experiences fascinate me, capture me. The potentialities of our 68 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. vast, undeveloped country, invite, inspire and amaze me as no romance cam I hear the mighty pulse beat of the millions. They are crowding toward the golden fields of tle set- ting sun. I want to be in the thick of these continental destinies. John, would that I were standing by you on the outpost free- dom's utmost verge. As tutor, I am often called to do double work; my own, and also to fill every chance vacancy. Then, too, I read law all that I can; sandwich Blackstone and Kent with Ovid and Homer, Livy and Xenophom. Judge Parsons offers to share his law office with me and holds out the alluring prospect of a partnership at no distant date. But I pant to push out. I want to be at the head of the procession. I want to be in at the birth of States and Empires. Juniores ad labores. Some of the members of our college Facul- ty are grand souls. It is a privilege to have their society. They are cast in too large a mould to be mere routine and martinet drill masters. They look before and after, and live in deductions which are large, generous, cosmical. Going in one channel of instruc- tion year after year, there is as you well un- derstand, John, great peril of becoming pro- saic, humdrum and pointless. This one and that one who they are you can guess arc mediaeval, mouldy, and mossy. I shudder at the thought of fossilizing. I could settle down here into a permanent professorship; THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 69 and some of my colleagues think me odd and unwise because I do not seize the opportun- ity. But they work their work, I mine. I bear within me a noble discontent. I would cut loose from shore and turn my prow into the mysteries which 'gloom the dark broad seas/ My dear brother, how different your intel- lectual pabulum from ours. We daily, amid the consecrated groves and shrines of the Muses, and you amid the corporeal, mundane and pragmatical, and hundreds of miles from a book! Woe to him who in your situation, has mo mill and no grist of his own! I see no evidence that your grain is giving out. You delight in thinking and can whet your own sword and temper your own spear. No fear for you in the intellectual lists. Here we roll along the college groove and life is almost too even, not to say monoto- nous. Jjast week brought a little variation from the old score; a party at the President's mansion. It was given by his lovely daught- ers in honor of the Misses Holdredge, two elegant ladies who are visiting them. By the way, Marian was down from Ryeburgh, graceful, self poised and queenly as ever. Her repartee out'sparkles all. She is the star of the mountains. Nevertheless, I must be honest, old fellow, and say that when at rest and not rallied in animated conversation, she appeared just a little drooping. Was it only my fancy I think not Jthat I detected a 7Q THE K1VERTON MINISTER. shade of sadness and disquietude clouding the sunshine of her features. Come sir, ex- plain. Has that "first bird of Spring" whim- pered to her of that paragon of women, Emily Sherburne, with whom you 'act in concert?* Would she make a good 'fender?' Look out! Those Southern belles, I trow, are more fire than fender! Your circumstances are very fortunate for cultivating the musical art! Hope you will not be charmed into a duet which terminates in a long solo in the minor key. Your idiosyncratic classmate, Belinav, sailed around among the guests at bhe party > as flashy and Frenchy as ever; but Marian seemed to be the orb which, more than any other, governed his eccentric revolutions. When he and Marian confronted, the scintil- lations of wit showered on us, and 'from peak to peak leaped the live thunder.' But enough of this world for ray uu worldly frat-'r Let me tell you, Arthur is develop- ing superbly; finest rhetorician and bellw letters scholar in his class; same say, in the Institution. It is whispered thiat he is a welcome caller on one of the President's daughters. Mother is the same ' perfect woman, nobly planned.' The years approach her very softly and only give her, if possible, a more lovely grace and dignity, and win- someness. Such peerless examples of trua? man and woman as our father and mother! Legacy invaluable, isn't it? We will simply THE UIVERTON MINISTER. 71 have to be good and useful. And how can any but the noblest woman of the race at all correspond with our ideal? Well, good bye, old Pathfinder. Open a trail for the over-weighted millions into Lib- erty, Truth and Love. And may I soon be there to see it. Your affectionate, THOMAS." CHAPTER IX. It was more than twice a twelvemonth after Mr. Goldwin came to River-ton, that the events of this chapter occurred. Succeeding a winter memorable for its extreme rigor, Spring seemed to revive not only Nature but man. Riverton advanced by strides and leaps. The buzz of the two saw mills and the fires of the brick and lime kilns hardly ceased night mor day. The sound of the hammer and the ding of the trowel were heard on every hand. Things assumed more the air of permanence. More and better houses were appearing. Riverton was in the flood of the tide of immigration. Jack Bar- nett, with a wholesome faced Vermont girl as his bride, was among the arrivals. Stories of the Eldorado of the West had brought him on as far as Riverton, and what his own eyes beheld induced him to settle there. As has already been intimated, Gen. Tup- per could, with much propriety, be called the Major Domo of Riverton. He had the honor of being the first to represent his territorial ly large district in Congress. His residence, spacious and inviting for those early days, stood back from the road in a stately wood which had been sufficiently invradied by the axe to give the house a wide and magnificent THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 73 view of the Poc-anock river and its tree-clad islands. It was a summer evening and the General and his family were gathered on the veran- dah. His family consisted of Mrs. Tupper, matronly and a little stately, two daughters, Isabel, the eldest, and Sibyl, a brusque girl of sixteen years; two sons, George, two years older than Sibyl, John four years younger; and the General's niece and general favorite, Miss Emily Sherburne. A special zest at- tended this informal family convention, from the fact that the General had that day returned from the State Whig Convention held at Indianapolis; he having had the honor of presiding over the sessions of that body. The brightness lingered on the Western sky. An atmosphere of rest and caressing endearment settled with the shadows and starlight around the family circle. Supreme hour of the day, and made doubly so now by Gen. Tupper's recent absence. He was nev- er happiest never himself in totality,except in the unreserve and abandon of his home. In gown and slippers he settled into his easy chair on the verandah, Isabel beside him, resting her hand on his arm; Sibyl on the ottoman at his feet; John with his head in his mother's lap and George and Miss Emily sitting on the steps. Gen. Tupper was commenting on the per- sonnel of the Convention, introducing and 74 THE K1VKUTOX MINISTER. shewdly characterizing the prominent actors, and marching them across the stage, to the delight of the little group, when the young ladies caught glimpses of the tall form of Mr. Pierpont, the popular young attor- ney, coming up the winding walk. Begging not to disturb a scene so idy'lie, at the earn- est protestations of half a dozen vnh-rs that he was most welcome, a fact well attested by the heightened color in the faces of Isabel and Emily he dropped down upon the steps beside George and Miss Sherburne. Young Pierpont, affable, diligent and devoted to his profession, was obtaining about all the legal business which youthful River ton afforded. His calls at the Tuppers' had been somewhat frequent of late, and gave mutual pleasure. "Now, father, do tell me," said Isabel, "was my special friend, 'the gentleman from Bo one,' at the Convention?" "Indeed he was,and he got in his old speech about the 'Great West,' but this time he had put on a portico or steeple." "And lightning rod, father?" inquired George. "Yes, indeed, lightning rod and weather vane. The gentleman from Boone never does anything by halves." "American eagle on the tip of the rod, I suppose," said Pierpont. "No,not exactly," said the General, "he had the 'bird' with one foot on the Alleghanies and one on the Rockies, and dipping his tail THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 75. in Lake Superior and his proud beak in the Gulf of Mexico. W T e had the usual variety. There was the 'Pomatum' chiap from Posey county, slick, sweet-scented, freshly groomed, every hair in its place. He kept at least one eye on the gallery and went out of his way a dozen times to flatter the ladies. And there was the tragico-eomico youth, him of the start theatric, eyes 'in a fine frenzy rolling,' who shook his raven locks, got in something from Macbeth, whispered, and the next word threw his voice to the third heaven." "Such fellows will buzz around a conven- tion like moths around a candle," said Pier- pont. "Get their wings singed sometimes, too; don't they, Uncle?" said Emily. "Indeed they do, Emily. Still, don't under- stand me to say that these 'small insects' constituted the convention. Not at all. Flies and mosquitoes don't make a world. The plain, sensible citizen was there, and in force too. When all is said, these shallow pates don't make so very much of a show; sometimes are allowed to fill a gap; kill time while the committees are out. When they gained the floor the benches would empty; delegates would go out, some to liquor up and some to do lobby work. Squire Service and I took turns in calling the boys to order, just as they got their wings spread; not talking to the question, etc. The old Squire he's one of the solid ones. No fuss jg THE RIVERTON MINISTER. and feathers about him. When he began to run his hand through his hair and point that index finger at us, we listened. General Tupper was always observing and much given to generalizing from what he observed; and the proceedings at the conven- tion had thrown him into a moralizing mood. Said he, "As I sat there, ostensibly listening to the speeches largely the old stuff which simply meant, 'I'm your man to serve the party and serve the country, just nominate me, vote for me,' and as I studied faces and actions and saw all that was behind the scenes, I could'nt help echoing Solomon a little and inwardly exclaiming, 'Vanity of vanities !' " "Now, Uncle, that is too gloomy a verita- ble chapter in Lamentations! Don't you think so, Mr. Pierpont?" said Emily. "Yes," replied Pierpont, "I submit that he is too lugubrious. Let there be light and then trust the sober second thought of the people. There's sublimity in the voice of the people. In any dire emergency their might is wholesome." "O, I understand that," interposed the General, "but this swell and strut of the Lilliputians across the political boards; this lording and swelling; this jobbing and lick spittling supreme selfishness and all in the name of the dear people!" "Husband, I guess the trouble is, you're not a politician," said Mrs. Tupper. "No, in its common groveling signification, I Burely am not, and hope I may never become a politician." "Nevertheless, Uncle," said Emily, "give as free speech, free press, free discussion; that's the palladium of our liberties, as the stump speakers all say." "That's our safety valve," added Isabel. "Keep the windows open and the air stir- ring in Uncle Sam's house," chimed in Mrs. Tupper. "That will keep it wholesome." "There, General," said the lawyer, "the ladies are against you; better gracefully surrender." "Yes, Papa," said Sibyl, "for cousin Emily never'll give up." "But, seriously," said Pierpont, "was it the State Convention, or the bad water and vile Johnny Cake you swallowed at Indian- apolis to which we are indebted for this diatribe?" The President of the Whig Convention laughed at this and added, "Our bill of fare was very low, except in price, and our beds like corduroy." "Count only the bright days," counseled cheery Mrs. Tupper. "Ho! Ho! Mother Sunlight! Good rule, I'll admit," said her husband. At that moment John said in a loud whis- per, "Look, cousin Emily, there's Mr. Gold- TJTg THE RIVERTON MINISTER. win." But Isabel had already discovered him and advanced to meet him. "Welcome, a thousand welcomes, Mr. Goldwin," said the General, "sit down by me. I bespeak your assistance, for I am much beset. All are against me." "No," said Isabel, "its the blue devils that have beset Papa. Do please, Mr. Goldwin, charm them away." "O, height of presumption," he replied, "for me to attempt when you ladies have been baffled. Must I prove it true that 'Fools rush in where angels, etc?' " "But, General Tupper, let me ask," said Pierpont, "are we to conclude that you regard the late convention as a dismal failure?" "O, no; by no means," was the quick reply. "It was not disappointing, except to the unsuccessful office seekers, and we need shed no tears over them." Then turning to the minister, he explained, "I was about deliver- ing a homily suggested by my experience in political life, when this assembly took up some 'aside' and quite swept me aside." "Good! I am glad that you believe in preaching from experience," said Mr. Gold- win, "and I am sure you are entitled to the floor." "Very well," continued the General, "now I rise to make an explanation." "Explanations are always in order," said Pierpont. "This convention," pursued the General, THK UIVKKTO.N MIXISTICK. 79 "only set me to realising afresh ho\v we creatures of the hour exuberate the small and minify the great." "For instance, Papa/' siaid thoughtful Isa- bel. "For instance, so many talk of General Jackson as if the heavens hung on his nod; or of Henry Clay as though he carried the United States in his pockets.-' "Like what was said of Caihouu," remarked G>oldwin, "that when he took snuff all South Carolina sneezed." "That's it, exactly," said General Tupper. "Why give Jiackson'vs bank phobia all the importance it deserves; last winter's almost forgotten snow bank had infinitely more effect on the country." "Papa," said Isabel, "you remind me of a very impressive picture Mr. Goldwin gave us last Sunday in his sermon on Providence." "Do I? What was it daughter?" "He showed us Napolean riding at the head of that choice army, half a million strong, against Russia, and Ms face flushed with assured victory, when he saw a snow flake fall on the flowing mane of his charger. The Cossacks could not rout that grand army, but the snow flakes could." "Thank you, Miss Isabel," said Goldwin, "I am sure of at least one good listener, when you are at church." "That you are," said the father, and then proceeded, "if, we the people, are finially 80 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. routed it will be because we, like Napolean,, forget to reckon in the Almighty.'" "So you see a snow flake, do you Papa?" asked Isabel. "My daughter, I do see c! His religion, like his property, so far as he had any, was in his wife's name. THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 91 Mrs. Dale, as we have previously said, was, in many respects, a worthy example of a pioneer woman. People often wondered how such a model of enterprise and thrift came to mate herself with Boc. Dale. Their children did not exhaust the Scripture names, but, as Uncle Soc. said, "they came mighty close onto it." "Not much Scripture to them except the name," said he, "nevertheless, there's this good to be said of them, all but two or three take after their mother." Not only weeds but also flowers will per- sist in growing along the dusty and well trodden roadside. The Drake family knew toil and exposure. And yet, sometimes, a choice flower lifts its modest cup aimid net- tles and dog fennel. Rachel, the oldest daughter of this household, had soft, wistful eyes, and sometimes that far away look, which betokened that she found worlds of higher thought and emotion hard by the humdrum present. The life which is dull prose to some, is unwritten poetry to others. Rachel read and reread everything she could lay hold of, which is not saying very much, and had her dreams, and fancies, and phil- osophizings, despite her hard hands, her plain wardrobe and slender purse. Her father, Sam Drake, whom we early met, was quite a philosophizer in his way- mused on many a problem as he drove his team afield, or as he sat and smoked. Home- spun philosophy wears well, and the Platos 92 THE RFVERTON MINISTER. and Aristotles are not the only thinkers, nor is truth sought and found only in the classic "groves of the Academy." Mrs. Drake's lineage she was a Daven- ant ran back through Kentucky to the Oar- olinas, and thence across the waves, to a sweet and cultivated home among the Huge- note. Her ancestral thread was silken, and, retraced, led into choice tapestry, and a touch of refinement and courtly breeding survived down to Sam Drake's home. There was something about that frontier fireside which seemed to say, toil and terrestial gain after all are not all; like a perfume in the night which told of the unseen, dew-besprent, fruits and flowers. An old and well thumbed little volume. "The Lady of the Lake," a battered, coverless copy of "Ivanhoe," "Pilgrim's Progress," full of direful cuts meant to be illustrations, and Weims' "Life of Marion," heirlooms of two generations, had accompanied these wander- ers through the defiles of the Blue TJidge and over Kentucky blue licks, find into Indiana forests. Jonas Drake, a big strapping boy, wa^as yet lying fallow. He went to church regu- larly and as regularly nodded through most of the sermon. People thought his mind never rose above corn dodger and bacon. Little they knew of what sometimes ran in his head. And a younger scion of the Drake family THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 93 tree was seven-year-old Waxie; barefooted, bare-headed, except nature's 'head dress of tufted flaxen curls. The terror of Sunday morning to her was that hair which must be unsnarled. The reconcilement to Sunday was her new shoes, which came forth to shine with every seventh sunrise; and she walked the floor for an hour before church time just to hear them squeak. What shoes carried more innocent pride down the aisle than Waxie's? Over in the corner, in the old battered and scarred cradle which had come over the mountains from the Carolinas, which had nestled Drakes back in the mist of antiquity, which had been broken and tinkered times innumerable and was rocking still in that cradle in the corner was just the d'arlingest, perf ectest baby that ever was, the very image of its father, and the very picture of its mother. And does that complete the list? Waxie will give us no rest unless we catalogue the great dog Mixer, who came into the world long before Waxie, over whom she had rolled and turned somersaults in the grass many a day; Mixer, always getting in the way, the pest and pet in the house, who, with his master, when both were younger, has started many a rabbit and treed many a coon, and received the blessing of many a polecat; battle-scarred veteran that has bayed moons without number and hidden many a bone, 94 now a litle blase, and chiefly remembered by what he has done; happy be his dreams as he stretches before the fire, and peaceful his journey to the canine Sheol. There's another birthday sacredly remem- bered in that house. And there's another date not a birthday; yes, a birthday, when the blessed messenger we call Death came and carried one to the immortal home. So many things dated from the day that "little sister Bessie" died. Mr. Goldwin so often and so closely communed with this househould that it seemed almost as though he too had known and loved and lost this little ministrant child. Little sister, always counted, always near. How the thought of her lingered about that house, ami softened the heart and the voice, and disillusionized the eyes, and anchored the other world close by this. The angel Death had blessed that home. Is it by some subtle law of association that, having spoken of death, we proceed to speak of the Doctor? Not but that Dr. Bancroft was as successful as is ever granted to man to be in keeping Death at a distance; indeed, it was often said that Death fought shy of him. Lyman Litchfield Bancroft had, at this time, been a citizen of Eiverton scarcely u year; and yet, educated, skillful and consci- entiously devoted to his profession, he was already well known and well employed. He began life under the shadow of the Berkshire THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 95 hills. He had married happily and settled in an eastern village, and for a year had known home joy as unalloyed as falls to mor- tals. Then death took his all and left him disconsolate. Fleeing the scenes which only fed his grief, he wandered well nigh aimlessly into the lone wilds of the West, solitude his preferred companion, and at length drew up at Rivertou. Pleased with the location and promise of the town, and wisely concluding to seek "surcease of sor- row" in actively pursuing the duties of his profession, he opened there an office. Some- what blunt and sans ceremony,but profound- ly honest and kindly of heart,he swiftly se- cured confidenceand friendship. Nothing was more abhorrent to him than the palaver and pretense, which are sometimes the chief reliance of aspirants to the healing art. He was like a big brother to those who came in contact with him. Although not open to the charge of being handsome, he came near being so when he smiled, and certainly was not called 'homely. His features, probably, could not be termed classical, but they did suggest benevolence and vigor. Dr. Bancroft had a penchant for collecting samples of nature's handiwork. His office was an omnium gatherum, a curiosity shop; tables and shelves and books were loaded with flora and fauna, fossils, skulls and skel- etons of man and beast, snakes pickled in alcohol, papers and books. Among the lat- gg THE BIVERTON MINISTER. ter, aside from medical treatises, there were two volumes which bore evidence of frequent use, Shakespeare and the Bible. "So many books," said the Doctor, "are but triturations of these. Why not go to the fountain head?'' As a physician, Dr. Bancroft was not satis- fied to deal with symptoms or effects simply, but sought for causes; considered in each case temperament, constitution, environment and heredity, and endeavored in arriving at deductions to include all the considerations and data, mental as well as physical. People said he not only looked into a case but looked through it. But, then as now, there were people enough who liked humbuggery, and in the next block was the office of a man who assumed to attach M. D. to his name, and in that office all manner of quackery and ill advised work was carried on. Mr. Gold win and Dr. Bancroft enjoyed rub- bing their minds together, differ as they might in their opinions. Pastor and physi- cian are by reason of their callings, granted the freedom of many homes, and are entrust- ed with the most sacred confidences; and Mr. Goldwin was gratified to be able to believe that such opportunities for good or ill fell into the hands of one who was both conscien- tious and capable. Both the men held uncompromising convictions of rectitude, and of hostility to the whole liquor business. Said the Doctor, waxing warm on his favorite topic, "Mr. Goldwin, the simple fact THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 97 is, we are under law; this universe is under the reign of law. There are my bird pets, my rabbits, my dog; they never eat too much, never expose themselves unnecessarily, wont even smell of whiskey or tobacco. I never have to doctor them; law abiding, every one of them. Everything is law abiding until we come to man. He's a glutton and a drunk- ard and a sensualist. Break every statute of nature, try to jump through a stone wall, of course get the worst of it, and then in his extremity, run for the doctor to patch him up! Nature is, indeed, marvelously patient and forbearing, but beyond a certain point, never -forgives; simply lays on the penalty." "You're orthodox there, Doctor. Law is law, and penalty deferred, is not, as we human fools so often suppose, penalty repealed. Only tlr's, Doctor: let us go beyond nature and say God. Law in nature, in man,, or in the Bible is God expressing His will. Doesn't it thrill us, when we really think of it, that every physical pain or inconvenience is our Divine Lawgiver's voice to us, 'Take care; danger; sto-p; this way lies penalty?' Mount Sinai in every one of us! Every cell and tissue atremble with our Heavenly Father's voice." "How true that is, Mr. Goldwin! I'll think of that. But now let me ask, didn't you at the funeral yesterday speak of the sudden death of Matilda Chase as occurring in the mysterious Providence of God?" '98 THE RIVEKTON MINISTER. I/octor, I think 1 did/' "Well, now, I am inclined to question the mysterious Providence in this case. Matilda Ohase, under direction from her mother, exposed herself unwarrantably, took a heavy cold, and therefore, had lung fever and died. From the first it was evident to me that she had gone beyond the point where nature forgives, and that no human means could save her. Now where is the mysterious Prov- idence? The simple fact is Matilda violated the law of life and had to take the penalty." "Very true, Doctor, but whose laws? Who made them? Did not God know when he made those laws that they would be violated by thousands, and among the number this dear young girl? And in this view of the case is there not a very strict sense in which God is active in this and, indeed, in every event?" "I see your point, Mr. Goldwin. That, too, will do to think about." "Doctor, if I could not take this view of every event, I should be all at seas. God is not outwitted by his laws. No event is a dis- covery or a surprise to him. Knowing all, absolutely every event, he wisely framed his laws." The Doctor replied thoughtfully, "The dif- ference between us seems to be that in my reasoning, I have not been in the habit of placing God and the event so close together you do." THH RIVBBTON MINISTER. gg "But," said Mr. Goldwin, "there are other truths side by side with these we have named. They go together, or in pairs, like Drake's oxen. God Sovereign, man free; there's a pair of truths. They are in blessed wedlock. Sheer nonsense to attempt to rea- son or to live without accepting them." "Well, Doctor," added Mr. Goldwin, rising to go, "we have run into the mysteries of course; every great truth takes us into mystery. We little insects venture out and dip the tips of our tiny wings in the illimita- ble deep." "And," retorted the Doctor, "are glad to return to solid land again." "Now," said the Minister, "I must go and see what can be done for that frantic mother, Mrs. Chase." He found her raging and storming. Matilda was gone, and it was almost the first time in the life of that mother that she had not had her own way. She was, as the neighbors said, 'a little woman with a tremendously big will'; and with such fluen- cy and vigor did she assert her will, that every member of her family had long since ceased to contend against it. Mr. Goldwin asked very tenderly, in speak- ing of the dear daughter, "Don't you think that your loving Heavenly Father did the best he could do for Matilda and for you who are so sorely bereaved, when he took your dear girl to heaven?" At this Mrs. Chase grew more violent than ever and said God THE RIVERTON MINISTER. was cruel and heartless, a very demon; and then she rushed to her room and locked the door, and for two days was not seen by any member of her family. It was in this room, and at this time that the greatest battle of her life was fought. She at last submitted her will to God, and then there came quiet- ness and peace. When she reappeared before the family she was a changed woman. CHAPTER XI. Sam Drake, as his family enlarged, en- larged and improved his dwelling. The orig- inal house germ, the log cabin, knew itself no more. Built on to, weather boarded, lathed and plastered, and dressed over with paint, cool in summer and warm in winter, it was, as the Riverton Journal, a weekly paper just gasping into a tentative life, expressed it, "the handsome and commodious residence of Mr. Samuel Drake." Now, in lieu of Sam, it began to be more often, "Mr. Drake." Not that he, with his house, was altogether made over. "Advanc- ing civilization" did rub off some of the burrs indigenous to the frontier, but some of them adhered to him through life. Happy, indeed, shall we be if nothing more deleterious than a few burrs cling to us, tenacious as existence. The most exacting critic could but perceive that mental and moral gain accrued to Drake as years accrued; but, like the most of us, his life smacked strongly of its early surroundings, as good wine does of its noble vintage. While no one in Riverton was more heartily respected and esteemed than was he, there was at the same time something so kind and human and unconven- 102 THE R1VRRTON MINISTER. tional about him, that to his old Mends and neighbors, made ceremony and formal titles seem an intrusion. A few survivors of the recently dense wood stood around the house, like protecting patriarchs. Jonas had painted the front fence, and Rachel had trained a few vines, and Waxie had her flower bed to which she was always transferring wild plants and mosses which she watered and watched and mourned for as they pined away under cul- ture. So the Drake place was a household possession and a pride, and, in after days, a delightsome memory to all its inmates, an& to the neighborhood a happy exponent of domestic progress. Mixer alone lifted his tail in protest. To him the times were out of joint; there seemed no rest for his dogship; the places in front of the fire and on the door mat which he had once known, now knew him no more. Disconsolately, he betook him- self to an old box, which Jonas, in grateful appreciation of the Mixer of the past, bedded with straw and placed under the back door apple tree. Sociologically Mixer was of the Laisser faire persuasion. Long years after this time, Sam Drake enjoyed telling the story of his first ca,bin in Riverton, "which," he said, "he felt very much stuck up about when it got floored with bass wood boards twelve inches wide." "But," he added, with a merry twinkle in his eye, "that he didn't feel quite so .proud THE HIVEHTON MTNISTEU. when he found those same bass wood boards shrunk one inch every year for thirteen years." This was more true than some of the pioneer yarns. Word had gone out of "a quilting at Mrs. Drake's." Now, be it remembered, that a quilting meant that through the long winter evenings some tired fingers had been busy cutting calico into a thousand or more small bits, infinitesimal squares, parallelograms, pentagons, hexagons, octagons, ellipses, and the whole family of triangles, and then sew- ing them together into something having four rectangles and called a block. With the coming of Spring, it may be pre- sumed that enougth blocks had been fash- ioned generously to cover a bed. Now with padding between the upper and under, and the whole stretched on four long strips of wood, was constituted the thing which called together the dames and damsels near and far. T!he finished quilt represented something near a million stitches, and it, along with the spinning wheel, indicated what was tihe pas- time of our foremothers. Does this passion of our grandmothers for chopping calico into bits for the sake of sewing them together seem to the maiden about to step into the 20th century, just a little ludicrous? When another hundred years have passed, may not her fads appear quite as much open to criticism? Moreover, another fact to be remembered,. THE UJVBHTON MINISTER. Mrs. Drake was one of those whose cookery always turned out just right, and she was always well supported by her first lieutenant, Rachel. . The sweetest, whitest bread, the yellowest Ibutter, the creamiesit milk; cakes and custards which were pronounced perfect- ly delicious; platters and platters of chipped beef and venison, cold chicken, and ham, jel- lies, apple butter, pumpkin butter, plum but- ter, peach butter, and all other butters; you would have thought Mrs. Drake was commis- sary for a small army. Beside this, Mrs. Drake, to grace the occa- sion, had brought out her new set of dark blue dishes, which Mrs. Smile especially admired because, as she said, "they wouldn't show dirt." Two filled quilting frames are submissively waiting for the needles. The hour has come. Everything is ready, and now how still. It is the hush which comes just before the battle. Rachel is seated at the outlook beside the window which is screened by the sweet scented honeysuckle which her fingers have taught to climb. Social life in Rivertou was social. Civiliza- tion bad not yet introduced cliques and sects. "My set" had not yet partitioned it off into petty pens. Some gossip at these informal gatherings? Yes, and so there is where men gather at the corner grocery, or sit around on store boxes. Yes, liberty is abused, nev- <*rtheless the cure for the abuse lies in liber- THE RIVEliTON MINISTER. ty; true liberty which is the creature of l>enevolent law. Free speech for woman as well as man. Blessings on the old quiltings. They stitch society together in common sym- pathies and loving mutuality; fashion the individual pieces into a many colored fabric. Blessings on that which lifts the weary feet for a while out of the daily tread mills. But silence! There's a footstep on the gravel walk. Rachel from behind her re- doubt takes observations. "Dear me, mother, if it isn't Mrs. Grande. Oomes early does'nt she? Early to quilting, late to church!" Here it may be well to state that there was one thing which now preeminently tasked the female thought of Riverton, viz, selecting the Minister's wife. On wife abstract there was one mind; on the wife concrete there were many. Different mothers, different minds. As they come to the quilting let us do a little mind-reading. But Mrs. Grande has no marriageable daughters. She's disinterested. Not too fast. She has a sister who has just been secured to teach the village school. She's a round, smooth body, with two little exact curls which danced up and down in front of each ear. Mrs. Grande thinks her sister, Marilla Dean, is the very one for Mr. Goldwin. Crow's feet already coming in sight? Never mind that. She's well preserved; no young girl, giddy and unripe; one of the dignified and steady kind. Mr. Goldwin has been in- vited to tea at Mrs. Grande's often of late. 106 THE KJVERTON MINISTER. Another step; quick and business like. That's Mrs. Dale. When she comes, work begins. She thinks her Deborah would make the Minister's clothes look so well; keep his linen immaculate, and his stand up collar of most approved uprightness; and she can get a good meal of victuals in less time and in better shape than any other girl in Riverton. And 'there's Mrs. Stoile, My! how she waddles! Carries a deal of the adipose. She knows half a score of Smiles, among whom Mr. Groldwin could not go amiss. But "in particular, there's tall Jemima Persimmons Smile. She is so economical like, has "facul- ty," can make a dollar go farther than any- body else; takes an old coat and turns it, and I declare, you'd think it brand new;' 7 very important trait in a Minister's wife. Hello! there they come, all in a bunch. Mrs. Jack Barnett still carrying the fresh, clear complexion of Vermont; Mrs. Nat Haw- kins, public mourner, goes to all the funerals anywhere in reach, sits close to the mourners and watches' them, and then runs in "just a minute" at all the neighbors, and in her own dramatic way, tells them how the "mourn- ers took on;" Mrs. Sol Perkins, too, and the blacksmith's wife, Mrs. Tim Jones; and Mrs. Enos Marty n, the merchant's wife, and others, some of them young friends of Rachel, an introduction to whom now in the general hubbub, would only be confusing. It is safe to say that these all have considered the THE RIVERTON MINISTER. preacher, if not his preaching, and have "an idea" just where he would do well to mate. Mrs. Drake, good discreet soul, she's far enough from ever lisping a word, but that. does not preclude her from thinking down deep in her heart that Rachel would exactly fill the place, for everybody likes her, and she has such nice ways, and she kind of naturally takes to religion. Now all the small change of personal salu- tations and domestic inquiries has gone around, and all have got down to business. Buzz, buzz! The sound of many voices and the needles flying in and out. "WaVt that just awful about Mr. Pier- pont," said Mrs. Smile, as she straightened up to thread her needle. "Reach that spool, will you, Mrs. Perkins? Why they say he isn't expected to live." "O! not so bad as that, I guess," interposed Mrs. Barnett, as she gave her needle an ener- getic pull. The Doctor thinks he'll be around in a few weeks." "Dr. Bancroft's a splendid physician, couldn't have a better," said little Mrs. Mar- ty n; "but how did it happen anyhow? I have heard so many reports I don't know what to believe." Then each gave her own version of the catastrophe, all coming at last to the import- ant facts, and all coupling Mr. Goldwin with Isabel in the moonlight stroll. Meanwhile Mrs. Dale and Mrs. Grande 108 THE RIVBRTON MINISTER. have their heads pretty close together as they are finishing off one corner of the quilt. "Well," said Mrs. Dale, 'if he wants Isabel Tupper, it's a good thing, her father has the money to set her up, or else I'm thinking, Mr. Goldwin would find her an expensive luxury." "Yes, indeed," said Mrs. Grande, "Father Tupper 'd have to set her up and buy her a piano. I think it would be a very poor match, myself." "What's that?" said Mrs. Barnett, whose needle was overtaking Mrs. Grande, and who knew a little rumor of Mr. Goldwin's Ver- mont attachment. "Don't concern your- selves about Mr. Goldwin. I think you're all on the wrong trail." "Do you? Do you?" said several voices at once. "Yes, I know you are." "O! Mrs. Barnett, who is she? Where does she live? Whom does she look like? When will he bring her here?" All showed these questions in their eager faces, but it took Mrs. Hawkins to ask them. "Well, now, I've got into it, haven't 1," exclaimed Mrs. Barnett, laughing and color- ing deeply; "I'll stop right here; and remem- ber I may be on the wrong trail." For a moment the buzz died away; an " ominous silence; evidently several thought that Mrs. Barnett had put a different aspect on affairs. Then Mr. Pierpont and Miss THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 10!) Sherburne were discussed, as they rolled up a. completed half yard of a quilt. But Mrs. Drake, who had done some think- ing and thus far had said little, and who gen- erally made a point when she tried; evidently felt that the last word had not been spoken in regard to her pastor's case. So she opened' her mind with a sedateness which at once gained attention. "Now," said she, "it seems to me there are plenty of girls right here in Kiverton, who can bake and brew, wash and iron, mend and make over, and who can hold their tongues and their tempers, and on the whole are pretty good Christians." "Yes, yes, Mrs. Drake; you're right this time," broke in Mrs. Grande, Mrs. Hawkins and several others. "But, don't be so fast, hear me through," continued Mrs. Drake, straightening herself up; "this and much more our Minister will want in a wife, unless I'm greatly mistaken." "Isabel Tupper, or Miss Sherburne do you mean?" squeaked Mrs. Smile. At the men- tion of these names, Mrs. Col. Grande clouded and glowered, and clapped her hand to her heart as if taken with a sudden pain. If anything has a keener edge than jealousy, what is it? But Mrs. Drake was not to be turned aside. "Some one," she persisted, "who is educated and able to enter into a Minister's thoughts and plans, and trials, too; some one to whom- 110 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. vfe can look up; and that fruit doesn't grow- on every tree." "I agree with you, Mrs. Drake," said the decided Mrs. Dale. "And, still further," continued Mrs. Drake, -"I believe our pastor can be trusted to do the wise thing." "That he can," chimed in Mrs. Barnett; "I think we need concern ourselves only about our part of the work; rest assured, Mr. Gold- win will prove equal to his." And so the pastor's wife was dropped. Not even Mrs. Hawkins had a word to add. Con- science did a little wholesome picking all around. Then another topic which had been broached of late; the building of a Meeting House. All declared themselves tired of the school house, but some said, "We are too poor;" some, "the time hasn't come for that," or, "better wait till we decently support our Minister." But Mrs. Drake and MBB. Dale were of other mind. "Build a church," said they, "and that will help the Minister, help everything good." "Well let's do something, now," said Mrs. Barnett. Up spoke little Mrs. Martyn, "The only way to do something is to do it. I'll tell you, let's organize right here a church fur- nishing society, and if the men will bnild the church, we ladies will furnish it" The suggestion carried with everyone. "That's it, say we do," came from half a dozen THE KIVERTON MINISTER. Ill voices at once. Before the ladies went home from that quilting, Riverton had a Ladies' Church Aid Society, with Mrs. Drake as Pres- ident and Mrs. Grande as Vice-President, and an Executive Committee with Mrs. Tupper and Mrs. Dale and Mrs. Barnett on it, and Mrs. Martyn as Secretary and Treasurer. This action laid the first stone, and greatly encouraged Mr. Goldwin, who, if the truth were known, had suggested to several that the ladies take the initiative toward the new church. Again, blessings on the old quilt- ings. CHAPTER XII. A few hours after the ugly arrow had torn the flesh of Daniel Pierpont, quiet resumed place in the Tupper home, if not in the Tup- per hearts. Emily alone in her room, letting her wealth of hair fall in freedom on her shoulders, seated herself at the open window, and, as the cooling breeze soothed her hot brow, 'sought to bring her mind, as a wildly driven bark, once more into port. The mid- night had brought clouds, but between the rifts were the stars, and they talked to her. At that moment it was the stars and not the clouds which had a language. Was it real or was all a dream? Of one thing Emily thought she was sure. She more than fancied she had seen that night in Pierpont's eye a light responsive, which was real; which was love. That last look he gave her, even in the midst of suffer- ing and anxious foreboding, so soulful and tender; it must have been meant for her alone. She was sipping the first drops of a new delight. And yet was she sure? Not a word had he spoken. 'Twas the delicious pantomime of love. She could not be mis- taken. She surrendered to the triumphant passion of her soul. THE RIVERTON MINISTER. US'. Meanwhile in a room below Pierpont had fallen into a stupor from which he aroused only to lapse into it again. Goldwin, left in charge of the sick man for the night, settled in the great chair by his bedside, with Ms. limbs resting on a chair in front of him, and composed himself to thought, but not to slumber. What word had this strange night for him? He accepted no Turkish philosophy of fate. What doors did that arrow open through which he might bring help to these lives? Little did the people of Riverton realize how the young Minister yearned over them. Each person in thought many times he had weighed, .and asked entrance in behalf of the truth to his heart. With more than a mother's tender- ness and tenacity he hungered for the better things 'for these growing homes. His bur- then of responsibility weighed heavily, and often he famished for more companionship in carrying it. Sometimes faith came gushing from the rock, and gurgling by the wayside; sometimes it came only by hard pumping from a deeply buried spring. He was in the main cheerful, hopeful; but he was subject to the adula- tions of the human. His little church, originally constituted with the apostolic number, twelve members, was now increased to twenty one. He scoured the territory widely around Rivertou, preaching in private houses and from house 114 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. to house, sowing beside all waters and, while he did not conform to the injunction, "salute no one by the way," he easily and literally observed another; "carry neither purse nor Riverton all the while was crystalizing into what is called advanced civilization. Some who never take kindly to this advance, and are always hanging on the debatable margin where every man does that which is right in his own eyes, had "moved on." The town was beginning to have a personality; becom- ing an autonomy. It might be said that it had passed its first stage of fermentation, and had its first skimming. There were likely to be some dregs, and the final precipitate was problematical. Mr. Goldwin felt that there was but one reagent which could volatilize every unwholesome atom. For the young minister, snatched from books and schools and erudition and set down in the all but inviolate wilderness, the change was novel, and adventure relieved many an otherwise tedious day. One even- ing he went out six miles to preach. The one family room had been seated with slabs stretched from bed to chair and from chair to chest, while two barrels, on which two tallow dips were persuaded to stand in their own strength and grease, served as candle sticks. The services had commenced, and Mr. Goldwin was getting under full canvas, when 'lo! a sudden reef! The man of the THE RIVBRTON MINISTER. house undertook to give light by snuffing the long and curling wick and snuffed out one, and upsetting, put out the other. That dark- ness could be felt. Those were not quite the days of Lucifer matches. A touching appeal, a cry of "O mercy!" and the very stout old lady went shuffling about, and at last, by some mysterious fiat there was light. But in or out of the darkness, the preacjier contin- ued remarking and the thread of his dis- course successfully unwound. This rural family counted themselves fortunate above many of their neighbors, in that they were able to ride to Riverton to church. For they had a very primitive ox cart which gee woh hawed up to the school house door of a Lord's day. At the time that Mr. Goldwin was focaliz- ing the Christian forces for organizing a church, he set out on his pony to notify a family which was living twelve miles from Riverton. A solitary ride; but solitude in the wood was not loneliness to Mr. Goldwin. Then he especially realized a Great Compan- ionship, and a certain high composure and upper atmosphere stole thence into his ministries. He was not long out when a sudden spurt of snow concealed the trail, and as the dark- ness drew on, the studious pastor awoke from sermon meditations to the consideration of that which was more immediate, and by way of a personal application, exclaimed, "Really, I do believe Pm lost!" 116 TlIK RIVERTON MINISTER. After wandering long, trying supposed paths to find them all bringing up nowhere, and concluding that night wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth, had voices conducive to feelings quite other than poetic, he dropped the reins on pony's neck and sur- rendered, and was brought, almost by a bee line, to a spot where were a few winking em- bers and a lone Indian. After encouraging the fire, minister and Iledman sat down by it, and Mr. Goldwin attempted some of the Indian's provender; but the ashes and soot and long hairs were too much for his hunger, and the food was returned with thanks. So Redman crawled under his blanket and white man lay down under the shelter of a log with his feet to the fire, and, with one eye on his room-mate, watched for the morning. As there was no whiskey in camp the danger was not imminent. There was not even "baccer" enough to fill the pipe of peace! In the morning, Mr. Goldwin sought to shed light on his companion's theology. But such a look of derision and scorn of the "White Man's Great Spirit!" And with far too much reason. Then, as now, Oupid assailed men andi women. The minister, in his official capacity was called to a farm house some four miles from town. When he arrived at the house where the wedding was to be solemnized, to his surprise the duet had grown to a quartet, the party of the second part naively confes- THK ftJLVBRTON MINISTER. 117 "that times were a little close and he the job could be done cheaper if the parson said the word for all four at once." Mr. Gold win literally smiled on the nuptial combine; and the story went with many a loud smile around Riverton. "Sharp- est dodge yet on the preacher," said Haw- kins, chucking Drake under the ribs. Drake shrugged his shoulders, and said, "rather a gouge game." Yet it was really planned in nil simplicity and good intent. But a wedding which left a still deeper impresisio,n on the young clergyman, was one Avhich he attended after facing a sleety gale for nine miles. The happy couple were Dutch. The road being almost impassible, so that journeying with speed was impossible, the parson became chilled through. His good humor was just a little strained. But, once within, the huge fires of hickory and of hospitality soon put warmth in the blood, and the sight of tables apparently more than covered with every imaginable edible com- pound known to the English or Dutch cuisine filled all the near horizon with hope soon lost in glad fruition. When the marriage and the feast were ended and Mr. Goldwin was about to leave, Hans and his Gretchen, hand in hand, fol- lowed him out to his horse. The blossoming bride pressed upon Mr. Goldwin a little package containing samples from the table, requesting him to carry it to his wife. At 118 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. the same time Hans, taking out his leathern purse, inquired, "Veil vot's te tamage?" On being told that he was the better judge as to that, Hans, his sunflower face expanding with a broad generosity, handed over fifty cents, and with Gretchen squeezing his hand, said, "you did it tight parson. I wood hef geefen vun tollar than not hef it done." Samuel Drake and John Barnett were chosen to office in the little church. It is an interesting fact that Stubbs, the half breed, of whom mention has been made, was the fruit first to ripen under the ministry of Mr. Goldwin. Stubbs was a man of all work, sometimes employed at the hotel, sometimes gardening for General Tupper, sometimes en- gaged elsewhere. Industrious and willing,. and quick to catch a suggestion, he was called a handy person to have around. On the Indian side, tall, straight as an arrow, well knit and lithe as a fox; his features and mental cast bespoke the Caucassian side of his lineage. He was one of the few more fortunate and promising waifs of the West. From that first day when Mr. Goldwin dis- mounted at the tavern and passed over his pony to Stubbs care, Stubbs had observed the minister closely. Supposed to see little and think less, he really saw everything and said nothing. After a time he stepped in occasionally to church; at first rather timidly, and dropping down close by the door. Then he grew a. THE KIVERTON BONISTBR. 119 little bolder and of winter Sunday mornings, lie would happen in and lend a hand in kind- ling the fire and arranging the benches. On one of these early Sabbaths in River- ton, the congregation had assembled and the discourse was well begun, when suddenly loud shouts without, many voices in the Htreet, and three deer rush by, hotly pursued by dogs and several mounted hunters. In less than thirty seconds, Mr. Goldwin was addressing chiefly empty seats. But lie was agreeably surprised to see that Stubbs, with all his instincts for the chase, obeyed a high- er instinct and sat quietly facing him, as though nothing unusual had occurred. When the little group of twelve gathered to constitute the first church of Rivertou, Btubbs was one of the twelve. By odd hours with Mr. Goldwin he learned to read, and with a delight almost pathetic, lie learned to ecrawl his own name. He had always been called simply Stubbs; but when he came to be baptized, he chose to prefix it with the name Christian; so it was henceforth Christ- ian Stubbs. Mr. Goldwin was hardly, in all respects, an orator. Pompous declamation and stud- ied contrivances of speech were never his tare. Affection and cant 'he despised. If an earnestness, directness and sincerity which won attention and wrought conviction are orato>ry,then he was an orator. Clinging to Ms tenets, he -was charitaible toward 320 THE IIIVEIITON MINISTER. those who differed from him. Also, while, -exalting the .spiritual, he did not forget the physical. Abundant exercise in the fresh .air put strength and warmth into his think- ing and red corpuscles not only in his blood but into his theology . The day the church was born the school house was packed, and Mr. Goldwin, quite equal to the occasion, preached on the place and mission of the church, and produced a deep impression. Pierpont said that, take it all in all, it was the most powerful dis- course he ever heard; and Col. Grande at the close stood on the school house steps, flour- ished his red handkerchief, blew his trumpet and said to nearly every passer out, "Mr. Goldwiu to-day strikingly reminded me of Henry Clay." These are a few of the incidents when Riv- er-ton and its young clergyman began to make history. To-night as Mr. Goldwin watched in that silent home of Gen. Tupper, he -found himself repeatedly reviewing his part and his responsibility in that history; yet repeatedly returning to the bedside and its unquiet slumberer. For just now his special concern was for Pierpont. Not so much for his physical recovery; he expected that. His heart went out for this young chiv- aJric and studious lawyer. With him he had much in common. Warm friendship conspired with Christian love in longing to ee the character and influence of Pierpont KIVKKTO.V MINISTER. 121 keyed to the highest ideals. This man and many others stood near stood within the outer court. For the thousandth time Gold- win asked himself, "How can I persuade them to cross the threshold and reverentially stand within the great Temple?" Plans, hopes, memories, prayers until, with the sweet notes of the first bird of morn- ing stilling his spirit, he forgot all in a few moments of rest. CHAPTER XIII. Of course the Pierpont injury soon had all Riverton by the ears. Reports travelled and grew until some had it that the injured man would not live through the day. At this stage of uncertainty and alarm Dr. Bancroft appeared on the street and was the target of eager questioners. "No, he is not dead nor dying,'' said the doctor. "May outlive all of us." "What! is'nt he dangerously wounded?" said Hawkins, who was mouthpiece for the bystanders. "The wound requires careful watching may take a dangerous turn." "I understand an Indian shot him," said Hawkins. "Your understanding is at fault," aid he imperturbable doctor. "What do you mean? Wasn't Pierpont shot," asked several voices, and the eager faces crowded closer about the doctor. "Certainly he was shot, but it wasn't an Indian that shot the arrow." "Wasn't it? We heard it was" "No, that's a mistake. It wasn't an In- dian." "Who in the deuce was it then?" inquired Hawkins. "Some white rascal?" THE RIVEUTON MINISTER. 123 "I can't say, Hawkins; although I have my suspicions. I only know that the man who sold to the Indian the liquor is the man who shot the arrow." Hawkins slunk away and ere long stealth- ily slipped into O'Flannigans. No whiskey bitters prescribed by Dr. Bancroft for his patients. Mr. Goldwin found himself quite ex- hausted with the night of anxeity and watch- ing, and with rehearsing the story of the tragedy to many eager questioners. So after dinner he quietly slipped out and chose a path which ran to north and east of the town and which soon concealed him in the forest's welcome solitude. Here lying down and looking up into the tree tops, and watching the gray squirrels spring from branch to branch, pausing occasionally to gaze at him so saucily; or listening to the chipmunk and the mourning dove, and now and then the whirr of a partridge, Mr. Goldwin fell asleep. At last the slant rays of sunshine creeping under the boughs and into his face, aroused him, and he resumed his stroll till he came to the bank of the Eappilee. Here he stumbled on Jonas Drake, indulg- ing his love of the lone woods and streams, and of fishing. "Ah, Jonas, is it you?" "Yes sir, it's myself I believe, Mr. Gold- win." "What luck?" said Mr. Goldwin, as he 124 THE RIVEKTON MINISTER. picked his way from rock to rock to the fisherman's side. "O, moderate; more nibble than catch so far. Here I have an extra tackle, and I have a plenty of minnows, won't yoii try your luck?" * "That I will, with great pleasure," said Mr. Goldwin, and immediately begun to unwind the line and bait the hook. Soon he felt the fish biting tentatively and forthwith he forgot all his cares. After they had made quite a "catch," and Jonas had a glorious string of Gogolies, Bass, >aoid Cait Fish; they set their fish poles, and sat down on the bank. Mr. Goldwin said, as he lifted his hat and wiped his face, "I'm feeling fifty per cent, better than I did two hours ago. Jonas, I'm glad I crossed your path to-day." The boy eyed him with real satisfaction. Then, as they lay back on the grass, Mr. Goldwin told some fish stories of Lake Cham- plain and his college days. Jonas was a silent boy, and of a rather heavy cast of countenance, and, as is sometimes the lot of such boys, was called by many dull and inert. But he had his thoughts; and a few, such for instance as his mother and sister, knew it. "College!" In his mind he had often ques- tioned concerning that unknown world, and, now that Mr. Goldwin had spoken the word, he had discovered the key to one of those quiet cells in Jonas' mind. His natural reserve was fast dissolving before Mr. Gold- THE RIVERTON MINISTER. win's frank, kindly way, which, while it gave the boy a feeling of freedom, gave him also a feeling of self respect. Turning a more eager look to Mr. Goldwin, he said, "College, what do you think of it any way?" "Its value to a man, do you mean?" "Yes, that's about it. Of course I know its thought to be about the thing for a preacher or lawyer, or a rich man's son; but does college pay the common man and the poor boy?" "Indeed, it does, Jonas. I was far from being a rich man's son." And then Mr. Gold- win gave a rapid sketch of his early life, his father's early death, his mother's frugal home, his struggles and those of his brothers' to gain an education, and then added, "O yes, home first, but college next in my life." This rapid spetch of Mr. Goldwin's perso- nal history seemed quite to surprise and cap- ture Jonas. For a moment he was silent, and then he asked, "But what's the use of studying so much Latin and Greek? Nobody talks those languages now, does he?" "No Jonas, they are not called spoken languages. And yet in one sense they are and always will be spoken. They enter essentially into the language of almost every civilized people. They are the main fertili- zers of our English speech. English, French, German strike down in any of these lan- guages and you soon come to Latin and Greek roots. To know a boy well you must know 126 THE EIVBRTON MINISTER. Ms parents, and to know your mother tongne well, know Latin and Greek ." "But," persisted Jonas, "don't college boys forget their Latin as soon as they can after leaving college?" Mr. Goldwin smiled; "Yes, in one sense, many of them do. But so they do their Alge- bra and Trigonometry. In a few years you'll have forgotten those fish, and yet some of them will probably be wrought into your muscle and brain. Besides, there is great choice in diet and I think mind grows fastest and lustiest on a diet of Latin and Greek and Mathematics, with, of course, a plenty of Science and Philosophy." "But then, ar'n't there English transla- tions? Why not read them and be done with it?" "For several reasons," replied Mr. Goldwin. "In the first place no translation does full justice to the original text. Something of the thought and much of the beauty escapes in the transfer. But, still more, the strength- ening and sharpening of our minds is the important object. Nothing disciplines and trains the thinking powers like digging out some of the best thoughts of the ages and learning to express them in our own lan- guage. Splendid practice it is in discerning and expressing nice and delicate shades of thought." "Yes," said the boy, "but doesn't anything that we have to dig for sharpen us?" THIS KIVEHTON MINISTER. ^27 "It certainly does; you're right there, Jonas. Nevertheless there is great choice of whetstones. It would take you a long time to sharpen your scythe on a brickbat. So for the mind, take the college whetstones." "It costs a fortune to go away to school. Why couldn't I study college books at home? Couldn't you teach me, Mr. Goldwin?" said the indomitable Jonas. "Hardly," was the reply. I might help you some, and certainly will if you wish it. Still, I could not be a college to you. College is a little world that you can learn to move about in and carry your part in. It compels you to measure yourself not only by equals, but by your superiors. It throws you into the stream. "Supposing I can't swim." "O, but you can. Almost anyone can when its swim or sink. Besides, the college waters are carefully graded in depth to the growing capacity of the w^ould be swimmer, and are well supplied with life protectors." "Hawkins says college boys get the big- head," said Jonas, with an equivocal look, for he knew Hawkins was weak authority. "Well, as to that," said Mr. Goldwin, "some go through college and some the col- lege goes through them a big difference. While self-conceit, or the bighead, as you say, comes from ignorance; proper self-confi- dence comes from knowledge. Nothing like robbing mind against mind, classmate with Til K KIVBRTON MINISTER. classmate, pupil with (teacher; wears off the moss of prejudice, starts the whole ma- chinery. One meets in college some rare, rich soul, some professor or president, who has been there before him, and knows all about it; knows how to open just the right door for him lives, and knows how to make him live. Hang your coat on that spice- wood bush, and when you go home your gar- ment carries the odor with it. So, much more one carries with him something of his wonderful teacher's character and man- hood." "But you wouldn't send every boy to col- lege, would you?" "No, indeed. Depends on the boy; prior to everything the raw material must be good. Yet I would like to send every boy to college who hungers to know something and be some- thing. But a school of fish is what we want just now," said Goldwin, rising and drawing in his line. He was .surprised and delighted to see Jonas throwing off his shell and throwing out his feelers, although at the same time he instinctively felt that he must be a little wary and not betray too much surprise or pleasure, lest the boy should be frightened and hastily retreat under his crust. As he baited his fish hook for a final temptation, he said, "Jonas I would like to see you on the way to college." "O, Mr. Goldwin, that's only one of my THE RIVERTON MINISTER. dreams. It'll do just to talk about, but please don't mention it to anybody. Please don't Mr. Gold win; it would seem so ridicu- lous." "Certainly, Jonas, you can trust me for that. But then who knows? Perhaps we can make a way somehow. College may be for you yet. At any rate, it'll do to think about. But the dark is catching us. Hadn't we better haul in and start for home?" Jonas went home thoughtful, and there was a stir within him. As for Mr. Goldwin, he felt that he had not only been near to "Nature's heart," but near to the heart of a good boy, and that he had thrown out a line which it were well to watch. CHAPTER XIV. "Mr. Barnett, will you please put aside the curtains, and let uie look at the morning?" The night had brought little refreshment to Pierpont, and he was glad to espy the day. His apartment commanded. a wide view; tall hickories and maples and walnuts in the fore- ground casting their long shadows; in the distance the winding road, and, still beyond the glint of the river; and poured around all the chatter and song of a thousand merry throated birds; sight and sound and atmos- phere of rest and beguilement. Mr. Pierpont for sometime looked and listened. These venerable trees, he thought, with what peaceful and majestic grace they wave their green banners, while the sunlight streams in long bars beneath them, just as if this were not a world of accident and tragedy; insects revel in strident notes, and birds in jubilant song, as if morning nev- er brought sorrow or pain ; and yonder river, ceaseless river; its rythmic flow tells no tale of destruction and death. An atom smites us, a sliver pricks us, and we are gone; but the winds whisper it not; the sun still shines: Nature keeps step in her unrecking march in irony of our frailty. THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 131 A knock at the door and Sibyl appeared, bearing a tray smoking with appetizing sub- stantials and delicacies. "Ah, Sibyl, you're a jewel! I'm treated like a king, here," said Pierpont as he extended his hand to her. "Well, if you are >a king, then I am to be cup bearer to the king," said Sibyl. "O, aiily for breakfast! Pray tell, whose thought is this?" inquired Pierpont as he took the flower from the tray. "O, Emily's of course!" said Sibyl. "Well, now, that is just perfect. Please thank her for me, and tell her I didn't know that even a lily could look so pure and smell so sweet." "Hope the coffee '11 suit you?" said Sibyl. "Entirely so. You people here seem deter- mined to make me fall in love with my fate." "Seems to me," said Barnett, "I'd fall in love with something better than that. Wouldn't you Sibyl?" "Indeed, I would. Good bye," and off she danced to the dining room. "Now Barnett," said Pierpont, "do drink that cup of coffee for me. I don't feel as though I could taste a morsel, but I couldn't tell that blossom, Sibyl, so." "O, but you must eat something. Try it," said Barnett; and so urgent was he that the patient did make a few sorry attempts; but soon gave over, and taking the lily and turn- ing it over and over, gazed at it with that 132 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. absent look which saw Emily more than it saw the lily. He loved Emily, and w r hy had he not told her so? True, he had little to offer her as yet, except himself. But if, thought he, Emily Sherburne is the true woman that I take her to be, and loves me, there's an end of debate. At any rate I'll plead my case with my earliest release from this bondage. .Meanwhile at the Tupper breakfast table the young people were giving their several versions of the unfortunate occurrence, with spcial notes and comments. With one voice they extolled Mr. Goldwin; so quiet, and yet so prompt to see what to do, and especially what not to do. "Such a delicious hour; and to have it end so shockingly," said Emily, as she languidly made pretense of breakfasting, for appetite, she had none. "Do you know," said Isabel, "my first thought was that you, Emily, was hurt." "I am not so sure that Emily is not hurt," said George, with an assumed air of solici- tude. "Has anyone examined your heart, coz?" "No, George; that was an unpardonable oversight. Hadn't you better go for Dr. Bancroft?" Just then Sibyl entered. "Well Sib., dear, how is he?"said Gen. Tupper, as she gave him her morning kiss. "O, he's chipper, she replied. "But I do TH1E RIVERTON MINISTER. 133 believe it's more than half put on. He looks awfully haggard. But, Emily, that lily went right to the spot." "By Jove! I guess he has an affection of the heart," said George. Mrs. Tupper did not fail to see that Emily wore a look of satisfaction, and attempted no evasion of the "soft impeachment." A few mornings later and Sibyl, ever faith- ful in her self appointed office of cup bearer to the sick, bounded into the dining room nearly breathless, and exclaimed, "W-ho is Mabel? Who is Mabel? Would you believe it, as I stepped into Mr. Pierpont's room, he raised himself right up and wildly called, 'Mabel, where are you, Mabel? Come to me. Oome quick, quick?' And then all at once he looked straight at me and said, "Ah! there you are Mabel. Now you'll never go away; stay with me, won't you; yes stay with me forever!' Good land! But I was stunned! But Mr. Barnett said in a low voice, 'Don't be frightened, he's had a high fever to-night and he's just waking, and hardly out of his dreams.' And, sure enough, in a moment he was all right again, and called me Sibyl." With this dramatic rendition,Sibyl dropped into her chair, and for a moment in silence, there were various interpretations of Sibyl's report. Was he worse, was he delirious, or was it, as Mr. Barnett intimated, only a feverish dream? Dr. Bancroft will be in soon, thought Mrs. Tupper. 134 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. "But who is Mabel? That's what I'd like to know," said Sibyl. "Probably his dulcinea," said George; "his sweetheart down in New York. I always thought he had one down there." Emily's face reddened; then she grew pale with vexation because she had blushed. When in her own room, the whole scene as described by Sibyl, together with George's interpretation, came over her like a night- mare. Mr. Pierpont's heart could never be hers. It had long been given to another. How foolish, how premature she had been. And yet, she could but feel that, whether designedly or undesignedly, he had given her some reason to hope. She could not be blamed for loving him. She could not help it. But that must be her secret. She must keep it. And yet how could she remain here and keep it? She must keep away; she must go home. If Mr. Pierpont really loved her and not another, a few hundred miles bet- ween them would not prevent his avowing it. Besides, there seemed to be a conspiracy of events which she could not overlook. That very morning she had received a letter from her sister Ruth, asking her whether she was not about ready to come home; adding, "We know you are enjoying every moment at Uncle's, and dear lonely Papa never says come home; but oh! it would do him so much giood to have you with us a^ain. The house- THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 135 keeper is getting so old and peevish and obstinate that she can't control the servants, and so my poor little headship is often called upon to settle their wrangles. Dear old Mammy, too, is such a child, and, if she sees me step out of the house, she runs after me to call me back, just as she used to when I was a four-year-old. Both of them will have to be put on the retired list, and some young blood be set flowing in the house of the Sher- burne's. All this when you come home. "Pomp is coachman now, and you ought to see how he inflates and swells. I am almst mortified with his obsequiousness. You'd smile out loud to see him strut and put on airs. But he'll get over it. This morning Dinah came out and raked him down some- what after this fashion. "Se heah, Pom Ran- dolph, yo' big fool, done yo' know dem hosses 'long to Massa and de Lawd; dey ain't your'n nohow, yo' big fool.' And then she chuckled. "Pomp keeps Papa out driving half the time, which I encourage. Dear Papa Avill go to the cemetery too often, and always comes home with that despairing look which breaks my heart. If dear Mama had not been 'snatched from him so suddenly, and in the evening of his life when he needed her the most, he might have rallied and been himself again. "Harry Burnham calls quite often of late, ostensibly to have an evening chat with me, but, mind you, he never leaves until he knows 136 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. all that I know about when you are coming home. With this depressing fact staring me in the face, don't you think I'm a marvel of self-sacrifice to wish you to come home ? But sub rosa, dear Em, I freely avow that there isn't a better than Harry Buruham in all Richmond. He is no longer tutor now, but has a professorship and isn't a bit puffed up over it. Papa thinks he smells a little heresy about him, but I call him the stiffest kind of a churchman. Papa, you know, isn't much for the new notions, and I fancy you'll come home limbered up just a little. Now, Em, dear, if this old house on the hill draws you pretty strongly, we shall none of us say nay. Your own loving, RUTH." Yes, Emily resolved that she would go home. She came to Riverton in search of better health and she had found it. Indeed, she was quite well. And she had found a good deal beside health. With her fondness for children and her disposition to launch out and try herself, she had taken the school in Riverton for a year, and been very success- ful and happy in it. She had found a bles- sing, too, in helping the young church and its young (minister, and in forming the acquaint- ance of a noble, true-hearted young man, Daniel Pierpont. But this latter she must hide away in the inner sanctuarv of her soul. THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 137 With swift resolution she wrote to her sister, "I am coming." Emily was ever proud to say that she was born, nurtured, and educated in Richmond, Virginia. Blent with her earliest and fond- est recollections was the boast, "I am a Vir- ginian." How often her father had directed her eyes to the capitol, standing in its gran- deur and majesty on the summit of Shos a most fitting symbol of the collossal position occupied by Virginia among her sister States. With a face glowing with patriotic fervor, he would point, perchance, to the bronze figure of Jefferson and rehearse to his children how that the same hand which drafted that immortal document, the Decla- ration of Independence, designed likewise that stately and venerated edifice of legisla- tion. Born and reared almost under the very shadow of the imposing forms in marble or bronze of Washington, Patrick Henry, Jeffer- son, John Marshall, and others whom the friends of man delight to honor, these great names were to the Sherburnes, something more than names, more than shadows of a glorious past, were a living presence, a mighty and beneficent inspiration. Emily's father, Captain Paul Marion Sher- burne, was a man of fortitude, and of uncom- plaining spirit, but he had never recovered from the shock of losing his cultured and beautiful wife, who was as good as she was beautiful; one of those who, in this faulty 138 THE RIVERTOX MINISTER. world, keep "our faith in goodness strong." During his active business life, Capt. S'lier- burne had been engaged in extensive shipping interests, for in his day, Richmond was one of the most opulent commercial emporiums of the South. He was widely known and as widely respected as a gentleman of the good old type. For many years the family man- sion, with its attractive grounds, had been one of the landmarks on Church Hill, and was no great distance from the venerable St. John's church, where, for so many years, the Sherburnes had worshipped. Often, while seated in the family pew, Emily, as a little girl, would in thought wander away from service and sermon, and picture to herself the Virginia Convention of 1775 which convened within its walls sat in those very seats; and would imagine herself listening to Patrick Henry as he then poured forth his fearless words, closing with, "Give me Liberty or give me Death;" words which echoed not alone within those sacred arches, but from Boston to Charleston, and above the roar of tho Atlantic to the throne of King George. Here, too, thirteen years later, the colonies, now no longer colonies, but sovereign States, another hardly less memorable Virginia Con- vention assembled w r hich discussed and rati- fied the Federal Constitution. The thought of returning home to Rich- mond brought to Emily Sherburne, with almost painful distinctness, the face of one THE RJVERTON MINISTER. dear inmate of that home,her invalid brother, now twenty-six years of age. If ever the celestial Gardener opened a bud of rare promise, it was at the birth of Jamie Sher- burne. Never was child more welcome, never more tenderly, lovingly, wisely moth- ered. The babe grew and exhibited in prompt succession, all the wonders of child history. Infancy, little beginning of immor- tality! Kingdom of mystery, new to every parent! Sealed book, and no one has been found to break the seal and open the book. Jamie grew, a jolly,pranksome,roguish boy; a little questioner; now and then he would put on his little thinking cap and for a moment would actually look sober and serious, and would bounce out some problem, some "how" or "whence," or flash out some "cute" child saying, the puzzle and pleasure of the household. Little star around which the galaxy of home revolved! Was it a careless nurse that allowed him to fall from his carriage and strike his head upon the pave ment? Was it some contusion of the only too susceptible brain? or some sudden chill and congestion? any or all of these, who knoweth? Jamie was suddenly very ill. The family physician shook his head, looked very apprehensive, and whis- pered something of brain fever. For days and days Jamie gave no sign of recognition of anything. At last he was seen to turn his head a very little and seem to follow with his 140 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. eyes the spoon and cup from which nourish- ment was cautiously dealt to him. More days passed and then it was eagerly reported that he opened his lips and for once said "Papa." Poor Jamie had to begin life over; had to learn, for the second time, slowly learn to walk and to talk. But the fever had left lesion of the brain and paralysis of the left side of the body. Jamie, now twenty-six years old, and yet a child! Growth of body and mind long ago arrested! There were inter- vals days of comparative respite and of brightness; enough to show how much light had been eclipsed; but there was always sus- pended over the boy the dread certainty of relapse, and the dread uncertainty, the peril of every moment. Gradually Jamie's world narrowed, till it finally was all included within the four walls of home. He was profoundly affectionate. Home and its little round were everything to him, and he clung to Papa and Mama as a vine does to the strong tree. He lived on the love and sympathy of the household, and he felt any seeming or supposed neglect like a wound. Conscientious he was, often mor- bidly so. As a rule, he was patient, and suf- fered in silence ;but occasionally a word would escape, which told with what horror he went down into the deep waters. Those long, long, days of physical revulsion and of struggle as with demons! Kind Nature then in part, THE RIVERTON MINISTER. and. for a time, drew a vail over the senses. Often the nerves were s>orely taxed and strained, and were as if mercilessly laid bare; and then he would give way to impatience and ill impulse; how could it be otherwise? but only to follow it with bitter wailing lest he had done wrong, and had spoiled his rec- ord for the day. It was most pathetic to behold his struggles to be good and kind against such odds. The horizon of thought and memory grew more narrow with the flow of years. The present made slight impression, soon effaced. More and more he thought and dreamed in the life and memories of earlier days, which had made their record on the senisorium when it was still responsive and retentive. But some faces and events he never forgot; for example, an Aunt tenderly loved, but now of long time deceased, and, later, his dear, dear mother suddenly taken to the skies, were never lost from his memory. Many a morn- ing when he was fairly himself, with his cheery smile he would say, "I dreamed about Auntie," or "I saw mama last night." Songs, too, which he learned before he was ten years of age he never entirely forgot. He retained the sweet child voice, although it was not so strong as the impairing years came. He loved to go through his little repertoire of a score or more of songs and hymns which were his favorites, while Ruth or Emily accompa- nied him at the piano. When his mother 142 THE RIVBBTON MINISTER. came to face the last, how natural, and yet how piercing to the soul, to hear her exclaim, "Must I go and leave poor Jamie?" The last year of Jamie's life was darkness, and then Light CHAPTER XV. Quite four weeks from the day of the luck- less casualty, Daniel Pierpont hobbled into the Tupper sitting room. This made it a joyous day for all the household. Neverthe- less, a shadow overhung them all, since Emily, the universal favorite, was to leave by the morrow morning stage for her South- ern home; and a shadow, indeed, it was to Pierpont and to Emily; the deeper, too, because it must be concealed. Emily, although a little pale, was never more beauti- ful than that evening, but with all her affa- bility and kindliness, there was a reserve and forced composure and resoluteness which strong natures can summon while they suffer. Mr. Goldwin and Mr. and Mrs. Barnett had dropped in to offer congratulations and good byes, and Miss Sherburne's departure was so much a regret to them all, that it was a relief to have the conversation turn to a sub- ject as far away as last Sunday's sermon on Temperance. "You were particularly close and searching in your sermon, Mr. Goldwin, but not one whit too much so," said Mrs. Tupper. "I found my sermon," he replied, "in the wretched home of John Barnes. John is nat- 144 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. urally a bright man, and a kinder heart than his doesn't beat. But now drink has made a beast of him, and he is slowly murdering his poor wife he once so fondly loved, and his children will soon be worse than orphans. When I entered the room John lay upon the floor in one corner, just beginning to sleep after a three days' debauch. Mrs. Barnes lay upon her bed, haggard, exhausted, and such a picture of despair; and there was the little motherly Laura trying to comfort the fright- ened and sobbing children; telling them Papa would'nt beat them so, if it wasn't for the naughty whiskey. Then they begged of me, "Please, Mr. Goldwin, take all the whis- ky out of Riverton before Papa wakes up." The silence of deep emotion pervaded the group as Mr. Goldwin continued, "I felt so helpless to comfort that stricken woman. Death was facing her, and the delirium of drink her husband. 'Poor dear John,' she sighed, 'may God forgive him. Once there wasn't a happier home than ours in Riverton. But drink robbed us of everything. When I am gone, Mr. Goldwin, please do all you can for my dear, dear children. I know you will, and O, save them from the fate of their parents.' Then she sunk back completely exhausted, and for a moment, I almost thought she was gone. And' what makes it more shocking, in effect, that scene is duplicated in more than one home which I have visited in Riverton. THE RIVERTON MINISTER. The law sanctioned by the people of Kiverton, protects the drink shops, but where is the law which protects Mrs. Barnes and her children?" This recital from Mr. Goldwin brought tears to the eyes of Emily and Isabel, who were good Samaritans in this and so many other homes of want and sorrow. Even George, who vapored much about "personal liberty," was silent and thoughtful. By this time Colonel and Mrs. Grande had dropped in, and, with how great sincerity it is not necessary to say, joined in the discus- sion of ways and means of reform. "Of course my hotel must have a bar," said the Colonel depreciatingly, "but how can we get rid of O'Flannigan's corner and Schnapps beer hole, and Elias Whitcomb's place, too; for they say he sells a deal besides grocer- ies somthing to wash them down. Here Mr. Pierpont, with a warmth and em- phasis which he could poorly suppress, replied to Col. Grande's weak protest, "We can get rid of Schnapps' and O'Flannigan's and all others of that ilk, just as soon as you and other citizens want to get rid of them." This remark was reassuring to Mr. Goldwin, who reflected that in Mr. Pierpont, he had a good soldier of temperance. As Mr. Goldwin rose to go he pressed Emily's hand very warmly, saying, "I can't tell you how much you have helped me in many ways. I shall never forget how you 10 146 THE IIIVEKTON MINISTER. came to my rescue in those first days when I tried to play both preacher and chorister." General Tapper followed him to the door to say what had been impressed on him of late: you are looking a little worn, Mr Gold- win. Ar'n't you working too hard?" "Perhaps I am, General, and I have been thinking of late that I would soon give you aJl a litle rest for a few weeks, and pay a visit to old Vermont and my good mother once more." A twenty dollar gold piece just then adroitly found its way into the pastor's hand ; which meant "Go, and my blessing with you." As Mr. Goldwin walked to his room, he smiled as he thought, "that twenty dollar piece will be very lonely in my pocket-book, but it does help to decide some things." As Gen. Tupper resumed his seat, George was saying with great animation, "It just did me good last Sunday, when Mr. Goldwin, without a scrap of paper before him, poured out the hot shot right and left. No chance to get in my nap! Why can't he preach that way all the time?" "Your question opens a pretty large sub- ject, my boy," said the General. "With or without paper," said Pierpont, "what surprises me is that a man for fiftytwo Sundays in a year, can give us two such fresh and brainy sermons a week. Why we attor- neys think we are doing famously if we make six or eight well wrought arguments a year." "You lawyers never write your speeches, do you?" asked Sibyl. THE RIVERTQN MINISTER. "No," said Pierpont, "although in the high- er courts arguments are often submitted in writing. It does us good to face our thoughts in writing. Many a plea never could stand the test of being transfered to manuscript." "After all, with the lawyer and preacher, isn't it a question of aptitudes," said General Tupper. "Manuscript, brief, skeleton or no skeleton, a speaker must capture and carry his audience; and that's the long and short of it." "Yes, for instance," said Emily, "it sets one all in a fidget to hear our Dr. Nicholson, of Richmond, try to speak without his manu- script, but he talks grandly on paper." "When," said Pierpont, "a man sits down to clothe his thoughts in pen-and-ink proprie- ty, he soons finds out whether he has any thoughts to clothe;" and then with a droll look he added, "when I sat down to write my first plea, I began by sharpening my new pencil, and by the time pencil and I had a point, I had no pencil." "Tried to make too fine a point, perhaps," said the General. Meanwhile Col. Grande, after laboring in vain to make his scant and frowsy hair lie still and submisive over the bald top of MB head, struck a new attitude and rested his hands on his knees and studied the carpet; and George winked to Pierpont, for they knew that the Colonel was grooming up the "S.agd regular post, to Miss Margaret Howard. 168 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. How much she learned from those letters! They led her into a deeper and more vital acquaintance with her affianced than even his personal presence and conversation had done. Was she sometimes lost to everything around her; her eyes beholding something far, far away; her heart travelling on swift wings of fancy, 'her imagination building beautiful worlds in her future? Did some of her pu- pils and fellow teachers discern this? She was drinking of the overflowing goblet of wedded troth. A new light shone in her face, and a larger meaning and loftier elo- quence were in her daily teachings. Love enriches all true souls. In all practical trivalties the pupils referred to Miss Apple- bee; but when they had any serious difficulty, any life trouble, they sought out Miss How- ard. Her sympathy, insight, and, sincere fellow interest gave her just the ministry for each tried heart. How they mourned her departure from the school; but Prof. Everett, with his accustomed equanimity and stiffness bowed his acquiescence, and said that matri- monial engagements superseded all others, and said that they might as well bend grace- fully before the inevitable, and especially, now that a dear friend of Miss Howard had been secured to step at once into 'her place. It was not without a struggle that Miss Howard gave up her position in the school. It afforded the work she had deliberately chosen because of its extra opportunities for THE RIVERTON MINISTER. doing good, and at first she revolted from any suggestion of abandoning her espoused life work. This disposition, however, only drew the young minister the more strongly toward her. Miss Howard was a neat, agile body, above medium stature, hair soft and brown, eyes t'hat everybody loved to look into, drooping eyelasihes under which harbored sympathy, benevolence, intellectual alertness, fun and fire; cheeks of that fine flesh tint which is the admiration and despair of artists, thin and well molded lips, firm mouth and a round, plump chin wihic'h was enlivened with a coquetis'h hint of a dimple. "She isn't a beauty, I suppose, mother," said John Gold- win, "to anybody but me. Tihose who meet her are drawn to her and sihe holds them. Her energy is almost unbounded and I only fear it will carry her beyond her strength." One day soon after Mr. Goldwin had left Holton for the East, Father Halliday came in from a meeting of the trustees of the acade- my with an unusually quick step, and an excited manner. "What's the matter, dear?" said his wife. "What's happened? Any news?" "Yes, news enough for one day. Miss Howard's sent in her resignation, trustees have accepted it, and she's going home; more than that, rumor says she's engaged to Mr. Goldwin and they are soon to be married." "Indeed! Really!" said Mrs. Halliday, "now that is news to you, isn't it?" 170 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. "Sarah, do you mean to say that It isn't news to you?" "No, dear, not exactly, but I can't say that its unexpected; and who could better it? What is it ab'out the best laid schemes of mice and men?" "Wife," said laughing Father Halliday, "that isnt in the Bible, but its true as preach- ing. Providence rather outwitted us this time." "Yes, husband, Providence, or Mr. Goldwin or both." "After all," said Father Halliday, "Mr. Goldwin is the one to be suited, and Miss Howard is a gem no disputing that." At the home of Miss Howard, Father Halli- day pronounced the solemn words which sealed the union. The brothers and sisters and Miss Applebee and Mrs. Halliday and one or two old family friends were interested witnesses. But easily first among them all was Mother Howard, beautiful in that lovli- ness which only experience and divine faith can give. She thought of the dear husband now for many years among the shining ones, and wondered whether he was looking upon this scene. Forgive her if in this hour sihe was so lonely. She had given her approval and blessing to all Margaret had done; and yet, who dare remonstrate, if to give up what seemed her selectest daughter to go into the far West, so remote, and, -as it was then, so difficult of access, seemed a sacrifice almost THE RIVERTON MINISTER. too costly. How the mother heart foresaw tihe frosts and tempests, and longed to shield the lovely flower. Mrs. Halliday said, sotto voce, to the con- tented bridegroom, "I can't help saying that I admire your choice;" for w T hich word he gave 'her a grateful and significant glance. At this a beautiful flush stole over the cheeks of the bride, which told that her quick ear had caugiht the word. As she lifted those tenderly bewitching eyelashes, Mrs. Halli- day, as well as Mr. Goldwln, thought she never saw any more beautiful. "That remark was not for your ears," said Mrs. Halliday. "Ah, no secrets now 7 that I do not share," archly replied the bride. Miss Applebee bustled about dispensing tJhe little cubes of sugar for the coffee, and little comfortable giggles in the conversation. Some preferred less condiment in the coffee, and many less confectionery in the conversa- tion. Brother Jo skipped about, tossing jokes at everyone ;sad enough down in his heart,but determined no one should know it; skipped up behind the devoted pair as they were conferring and whispered, "New broom! New broom !" "Always new, Jo," retorted Margaret, in her richest alto voice. How -a little word will echo and reecho in after years. The bridal tour to Eiverton a journey of nearly three weeks let it pass with brief 172 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. notice. Irksome and harassing as it certain- ly was, it abounded in the new found joy of great souls communing with and discovering each other. Let it pass, a society where we will not intrude. For many reasons that journey, once made, could never be forgotten. There was the trip by lake, by stage, by oxcart; and then several days of paddling down the Pocanock river in a dugout, or pirogue, the French name given to the craft among ears polite. The bride seated herself at one end, and the bridegroom, with his paddle, occupied the other end, while the worldly belongings were in the center. Within certain narrow limi- tations, the canoe could be trusted to main- tain upriglhtness, but was swift to resent any flirtations with the water, or with the foliage and flowers which crept enticingly down the banks or along the islands. The autumnal gold was displacing the green of the forest which everihung the stream, and the sumac and sassafras gleamed here and there like torches. Add to this the river perfectly reflecting its sometimes pebbly, so-nietimeH solid rock bottom, and now running smoothly and scarcely appearing to flow at all, now boiled and fretted against the rocks, now tumbling in rythmic roar over some fish dam, and you have that which seemed to Margaret the very soul of romance. Nor in her eyes did it detract from the romance, when siie lay down in the pirouge, while h-er best man, THE RIVBRTON MINISTER. standing in the water, lifted the canoe with its precious cargo over a dam. And then sometimes from the bottom of the canoe she would merrily call out, "Is the broom new, now John?" To which he would retort, "Aye, aye, Margaret, always new." And now the end of the journey was almost in view. It was noon, and the evening shades would doubtless close around them in Riverton. The paddle was laid to rest for an hour, and spreading their blanket on the untrodden grass, they took their sim- ple lun'ch. To Margaret, bounding on the crest of the billows of hope, all this was the poetry of life. To Mr. Goldwin, now that they were about stepping into the realities so familiar, there came a more serious and somber cast of thought. Margaret,hiding under the bending boughs from the noontide sun, and watching the little gossamer dressed seeds floating in the air, found the tears moistening her eyes, as she recalled how she was floating: awav o f from all the dear faces she had always loved, but tears they were of loving trust, as she thought what perfect provision the Father had made to convey that little seed; what downy sails to bear the tiny seed ship, what filmy threads to cable it in its port; how wind, ill wind as we call it ,and sky and light and air and soil conspire at God's bidding to convoy or harbor and encourage it. "Sure- ly,' was her thought, "I too am sailing in his great sea, and he guides my little boat." 174 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. "Tears, idle tears," we read that there are; tears, too, there are which are the outlet of the heart, grief laden; and also tears of joy and faith and hope, which tell of life, and love too great for heart to tell. Earth has no spectoroscope subtle enough to analyse a tear. Mr. Goldwin, as he approached Riverton, underwent a conflict of feelings. Duty and Hope seemed met and challenged by Fear and Doubt. He experienced the emotions said to come sometimes, even to bravest soldiers, in the moment just before the battle. He was cabled to Riverton by the triple strands of Faith, Hope and Love, and never for an in- istant did he think of slipping the cable. Still he was like a boat made fast to shore by a, slack hawser; fast; securely so; but sensi- tive to the slightest motion of wind or wave; floating in and out, and now to this and now to that side. At one moment his eager heart carried him boldly to the landing; at another, reflecting, he drew back for a larger and more cautious survey; only again, however, to re- spond to the drawing of that triple strand which moored him to God and man. Those words of the Hebrew poet came singing on the lute strings of memory; "He led them forth by the right way." Margaret, "niched" in the little canoe, and gathering her wraps about her, sat silent, reposing on the still evening, which as an infinite Beneficence, was enfolding this little world, as a mother folds her babe to sleep on THE RIVERTOd handkerchief with more than usual flour- ish, and then narrated what he called his experience. The night previous, as it would seem, he had not only seen stars but dreamed dreams, in which clouds and rainbows and birds and flowers and rivers and darkness and demons, and angels and choirs were strewn together in grotesque confusion, and there came a voice to his naturally bewil- dered soul, whispering "peace, peace," and now he was haippy, and firmly resolved that for the future his should be a religious life. This experience given by Ool. Grande was all news to Mrs. Grande, as well as to the rest of the audience. She did hope it was true. 208 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. There was need enough of better living. She ought to be a better woman,and then she could strengthen her husband. Such were her thoughts and resolves. Poor Ool. Grande! In a few months every vestige of his religion had fled, and, like his stars and dreams, left no trace behind. Perhaps, after all, he was not so insincere as he was shallow. And there was Albert Slade, an odd genius everybody said, a wood chopper, bachelor, lived by himself in a lone cabin. Hje was a misanthrope, or in common parlance, was soured on everybody. Sunday was to him like other days, except that he chopped a little longer, or discharged his hunting piece oftener, and swore harder, on that than on other days. One day last spring Mr. Goldwin rambled out to Slade's premises and chatted with him about everything under the sun except reli- gion, a thing which rather pleased and yet puzzled Slade, if not by a few shades disap- pointed him, for he was loaded, cocked and primed for the parson on religion. Some- thing moved this recluse to drop into the meetings. He swore about them; said he wouldn't go again; declared them to be half fanaticism and half hypocrisy; but when night came, he found himself at the meet- ings. He slipped in and out alone, and no one conversed with him. Mr. Barnett, ap- parently by accident, although in truth of THE RIVERTON MINISTER. very serious intent, came upon him chopping wood one day and talked with him, wisely refrained from controversy or argument, but kneeled down and prayed with him. Not everyone could have done this with Slade and not been insulted. He had been, when a boy, under that kind of instruction which, in effect, robbed mail of spiritual responsibility, and left him bound band and foot in the f orordination and decrees of God. His whole nature revolted from such teaching, and yet he had been trained and wound up in it, an'd was full of hostility to a God and a Bible which he sup- posed must inculcate it; and here, hundreds of miles from his kindred, in the woods with his axe, gun, and little cabin, he had flattered himself that he had gotten clear of all bother about religion; and now to his great vexa- tion,religion had once more hunted him out. Sometimes lie said, "I'll take my axe and gun and dog and strike out for the Mississippi or the Kocky Mountains." Sometimes he said, "What am I running away from? Might as well have it out where I am." Thus he de- bated and wrestled with himself, till at last he could scarcely eat or sleep. Sometimes in the overflowing congregation he could hardly refrain from springing to his feet and crying Lost! Lost! Lost! One night Mr. Goldwin read to the audi- ence from the Psalm 137. When he came to the seventh verse, he paused, fixed his 210 THE KIVEKTOX MINISTER. ej r es upon the people, or, a>s Blade thought, upon him, and, his voice tremulous with emo- tion, quoted, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?" Instantly Slade leaped to his feet and cried, "That's my question. I've bee trying to rim awaj 7 from the Spirit of God. I give it up. I can't do it Oh, pray for me. I'm lost;" and sunk down exhausted and trembling with agony. The next morning, as Tim was blowing his forge, Hawkins dropped in and at once bega* "Well, Tim, I've heard a piece of news this morning that beats me. Wife says the revi- val meetings have caug*ht 'Bert Slade.' ' "WJiat! You don't mean it? You're joking," exclaimed Tiin as he suddenly stopped plying his bellows. "No fooling. Guess its all so," said Haw- kins. "Well, well, I vow! Who'd a believed it? Why, they'll get you and me next!" replied Tim. "When they get me," replied Hawkins, "there'll be a mighty scuffling around, for then the devil '11 be dead." "John Barnes, they say, has been sober a week," said Socrates Dale to his wife, as they sat down to breakfast. "Begins to look more like a man." "Thank the Lord for that," exclaimedMrs. Dale fervently. She, in common with other women of the church, had taken a deep interest in the Barnes family, and extended THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 211 kind motherly wings over the poor mother- less children. Death had brought blessed relief to Mrs. Barnes, and the wee babe, which slept in the mother's arms in the same grave. The kind women had supposed it would be necessary to separate the children and provide homes for them wherever they could. But little womanly Laura begged so hard to be allowed to keep her little brother an>d sisters around her, and cried so at the mention of separating them, that Mrs. Gold- win, Mrs. Dale, Isabel, Rachel and the rest held a council and decided to gratify Laura, and preserve the home, for a time at least; and meanwhile they agreed to exercise a good Samaritan protctorate over it. Laura and the little ones still clung to their Papa, in spite of his drunkenness; and there was a forlorn hope that their appealing faces might awaken the man in him. Dr. Bancroft had kept Barnes about his office for several days, under pretense of his doing little jobs and errands for him. And so now, notwithstanding O'Flannigan & Co., he had really been sober a week. At first he shrank from all meetings, ashamed, both of himself and his shabby clothes; but by some female strategy, ere long he appeared in better clothes, and Mr. Barnett brought him into the meetings, and through the crowded aisle, up to a front seat. One Sunday morning, among those who en- listed under the banner of the Saviour was 212 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. John Barnes and Little Laura, and more than one pair of eyes wept for joy over this signal victory. For if there was anybody who had been considered by all Riverton to be beyond rescue, it was John Barnes. In truth, it must be admitted that once, a month or more later, John fell. One morn- ing he found a bottle of rum out by the wood pile. Who put it there no one knew. Yes, everyone thought that O'Flannigan, and, perhaps, his comrades knew. Mr. Goldwin and others immediately sought John out and hardly left him for several days. But this was the last lapse. John bitterly repented and never drank again. Dr. Bancroft had attended every meeting, so far as his professional calls allowed but only as a silent spectator ;and what seemed so contrary to his habit, conversed as little as possible about what was then the theme of Riverton. He had been in his youth- ful days enfolded within the church, and he had never forgotten nor forsaken his early committal. Yet he had passed through try- ing scenes, and had been involved to some extent in moral bewilderment and innert- ness. However, though he was silent, fce was musing and the fire was burning. One night Mrs. Goldwin and others had sung very tenderly: "But floods of tears can ne'er repay The debt of love I owe; Here, Lord, I give myself away, >Tis all that I can do." THE RIVERTOX MINISTER. 213 Hardly had the sound of these words died away,' when the expansive form of Dr. Ban- croft was seen rising. There was stlence which continued and grew until it was almost audible and painful, as the Doctor deliber- ately, slowly, passed his eyes over the hushed and expectant audience, struggled for what seemed many moments with a torrent of emotion, and trembling under it like an oak in the tempest, at length sat down without uttering a word. The thoughtful stillness which followed this mute address was as the voice of the Lord. After that, the Doctor for the rest of his days found ready and ear- nest voice, and to the delight of Iris auditors, for he was prone to have something to say, and he had a character behind his words which emphasized them. Mrs. Goldwin counted it her crowning joy that it was given to her to see all her Bible class entered on the Christian way; and many pupils of the Sunday School made at this time the blessed turning point of their lives. Mr. Goldwin's work was four square; reconstructed those of every age, rank and condition. Work brought the pastor work; success augmented responsibility and solici- tude, but also endowed him with new and higher strength and joy. Everyone, even the haters of Christianity, in their inmost soul confessed that this religious movement, so memorable in the history of Riverton, was 214 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. inspired and led by a power above man. As Mrs. Goldwin and Mrs. Drake affirmed, "It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." This spiritual awakening illuminated the fact that Christianity is practical; that it is the Spirit and teachings of Christ vitalizng the whole man and the whole living, every social relation and obligation, even as the blood vitalizes every particle of the body. This moral eye-opener evinced that when religion is Biblical it is all-inclusive, covers the field of human action; carries onward temperance, honesty, purity, industry, uni- versal right doing, as the sun carries not only light, but verdure and harvest. CHAPTER XXI. Two years have elapsed between this and the last chapter. On a partly opened, ungraded street, which respectfully turns out for giant trees and stumps, but which ambitious, expectant Rivertoii calls Broad- way, 'stand's a neat frame church. You of the lofty nave and long aisles, gothic win- dows radiant with the saints and sacred sym- bols, blushing upholstery, paneled and fres- coed ceilings, and rising over all ihe stately and awesome dome, can scarcely know the joy with which those modest walls went up in this potentially and prospectively import- ant city of Indiana. Riverton was glad and rejoiced in her first house of worship. Some had contributed timbers, others siding, oth- ers flooring, others shingles. Some had given many a day of work on the building. To be sure, every net draws all sorts of fis'h, and church nets are no exception to this rale. There was Mrs. "Rosso n. She and her husband were nicely .settled, prosperous and well-'to-dOjOn a large farm. After the floor was laid, but before the seats were placed, the ladies provided a dinner in the church, and rallied the people to dine, and to bring their free will offerings. Now, previously, Mrs, 216 THE RIVEKTON MINISTER. conspicuously urged that the dinner should be upon a large and sumptuous scale. "Let's have a magnificent dinner, chicken pie, turkey, salads, mince pies and everything good,'" she urged; and Mrs. Martyn, chair- man of the committee on refreshments, highly delighted and encouraged by Mrs. Rosson's exhortations to liberality, drew out memorandum book and pencil and exclaimed, "Good for you, Mrs. Rosson; just the one I want to head my list; tell me what you will contribute, and I will jot it right down." "Oh, well," said Mrs. Rosson, at once drop- ping down to a low drawling tone, "well well I guess I guess I can bring a little milk and and" then she paused, and twist- ed her bonnet strings and paused. After waiting a painful instant, Mrs. Martin re- newed her inquiry, but made no advance. "Mrs. Rosson, I am waiting to write down your contribution, turkey, chicken pie, etc." Mrs. Rosson turned this way and that, stud- ied and paused, started, stammered and stopped, but did not get beyond "A little milk and Finally, after waiting what seemed ages, and while ill suppressed smiles were on every countenance, Mrs. Martyn, putting pencil to paper, said, "Very well, Mrs. Rosson, I will write it down then." Mrs. Rosson "A little milk and " Can you wonder that among the workers of the church, one lady came to be known as Mrs. "A little milk and "? THE KIVEKTOX .MINISTKK. 217 Mrs. Steele was a woman of quite differ- ent type from Mrs. Bosson; a brisk, petite, enthusiastic body; liberal, very liberal so long as she was allowed her own way. She had a very sharp "I will" and "I won't," and was needles and daggers to everybody who did not smile serenely and submissively on her domineering. The las'h, too, which she applied indiscriminately and repeatedly to those who differed from her, was the threat, "Well, if you don't do thus and so, 111 leave the church." But at last that las'h wore out and the whip stalk broke. Now, it happened at this very time, when the ladies of the congregation were ar- ranging for the aforesaid dinner, that some of them were cushioning Mr. Goldwin's pul- pit tastefully, and Mrs. Steele was, as usual, in and around, and, strange to say, they drew the line with Mrs. Steele, on a thing as small as a pulpit tassel. "A tassel dangling from the pulpit! No, niever. It's altogether too worldly. I'd as soon think of having a tassel on my coffin. If the pulpit's going to be tassel ed out, I won't come to church. I won't have my mind diverted in the house of God by tassels," exclaimed the explosive Mrs. Steele. Not that the good women of the church 'hung so very much on that tassel, but they felt that Mrs. Steele had made her accus- tomed threat quite long enough. And so, Mrs. Steele found ste had made it just once 218 THE RIVERTOX MINISTER. too often. The tassel hung from the cush- ion, and Mrs. Steele was quietly, though regretfully taken at her word, and permitted to withdraw from the church. But the church dinner came off very successfully notwithstanding; and Mrs. Steel e lived to mourn her stubborn and ill-tempered action, and to bite her lips with hiian illation, as she saw how prosperously affairs moved on in the Iliverton church without her money or her measures. However, Mrs. Kosson and Mrs. Steele were quite the exception,so please do not guage the church or the people of Riverton by them. The church edifice having, as we have said, been completed, Rev. Dr. Ball, of Orans- toii, preached the dedication sermon. He gloried in being called the great champion of orthodoxy, and seemed to think it his duty to stiffen "the young brother's" theol- ogy. Dr. Ball was of the s'chool that thought there was great danger of assuming to take God's work out of His hands, and that any- thing which was really a doctrine of freedom of the human will, was a doctrine of devils. He had much to say about "our book," and at first the congregation at Kiverton snip- posed that he referred to the Bible; but Dr. Ball soon made it very clear, that with him,, "our book," was the Westminster Confession of Faith. He inquired of the officers of the church whether Mr. Goldwin had been faith- ful in drilling his new members in "the THE 1MVKKTOX MINISTER. 219 book." I don't know as to that," said Bro. Barnett, "but I believe he is still drilling them in the Bible, and I hardly see how he could do better with beginners than that." Dr. Ball also asked, "Does Bro. Goldwin warn 'his people against New England heterodoxy, and above all, against Oberlin- ism, and the "New Measures?" "Doctor Ball," said Bro. Drake, "perhaps I'm not well up in mew measures, and that sort o' thing, but I believe our pastor in his preaching brings forth things new and old." Doctor Bancroft overhearing the Minister's ques- tion concerning New England heterodoxy and "New Measures," felt his loyalty to dear old Massachusetts stirred within him, and so, joining in the conversation, said, "excuse me, Dr. Ball, but I am interested in what- ever is said about New England, for my early home was on her soil, and I love her, and be- lieve in her too; for she believes with John Robinson, that more light is yet to break forth from God's Word. If that is heterod- oxy, then you will have to count me a here- tic. And as to new measures, in my profes- sion we don't care a fig whether they are new or old, if only they meet the disease. This was said with gentlemanly deference, albeit with something of Dr. Bancroft's directness and pith. Dr. Ball, too, was one of those who declared himself a believer in the "divine institution of slavery." At the spring meet- 220 THE UIVEBTON MINISTER. ing of the scattered churches, he had taken occasion to read the young Bro. Goldwln and several others a lecture. It was somewhat of an honor to be chosen to represent the local organization in the national body. Mr. Goldwin had been associated with these pas- tors and churches for six or seven years, and it was quite generally believed by the breth- ren that it was due him that he should be elected to represent them in the national convocation. But, as afterward appeared, Dr. Ball had been quietly manipulating some of the brethren, declaring to them that it was of paramount importance that strong cham- pions of the "standards," and of strict de- nominationalism, should be sent to represent the West in the national meeting, and that these New England men were altogether too liberal and undenominational. "The Great West," said he, wants the "true blue;" we must beware of wolves, etc. All this, of course, implied, as it was designed it should; "I, Dr. Ball, am your man; send me." But to the surprise of no one of the minis- ters, perhaps, except Dr. Ball, Mr. Goldwin was elected with only one dissenting vote, to be their representative. Dr. Ball, unable to conceal his disappointment and chagrin, at once arose, and launched out on a presenta- tion of the beauties of the patriarchial insti- tution, and on the providential wisdom which ordained that the children of Ham should serve the sons of Shem, and declared THE R1VERTON MINISTER. 221 woe upon those who refused what the Almighty had so clearly foreordained. Then waxing warm, he fiercely howled against loose doctrine, and vowed that the Bible was enough for him, and it declared that our children go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. One brother interjected right here that his children were not so precocious as that; but Dr. Ball did not deign to notice him. Another remarked that the words which the Doctor had quoted, were from the poetry of David, and must not be interpreted in prosaic literalism. To this, Dr. Ball replied, "I must take this Bible as it reads. To this came the rejoinder, "Our Saviour said, 'Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, ye have no life in you.' Take it literally do you, Dr. Ball?" Dr. Ball delivered the dedication sermon; occupied the pulpit both Sabbath morning and evening; but failed to receive the ful- some adulation on which his vanity loved to feed, and rode out of Kiverton less inflated than when he rode in. Mortimer and Geo. Tupper irreverently agreed that "he talked as though he was private secretary to the Almighty." Refined Mrs. Martyn thought "It was a thousand pities that the new walls should be discolored with so much fire and brimstone. Dr. Bancroft, always quoting Shakespeare, sniffed and said, "Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing;" and dear Mr. and Mrs. Goldwin hung their heads in mute 222 THE RIVEKTON MINISTER. disappointment. Poor Col. Grande was provoked enough, because he found nothing to remind him of Henry Clay. Nevertheless, the next Sunday, Mr. Goldwin preached in review of the history of the little church, and so full of tender pathos, so bright with faith and hope, so warm with re-creating love was the sermon,that Pierpont and Mrs.Drake expressed the universal sentiment when they said, "Now, our church is dedicated." But let us not come down too heavily on Dr. Ball. His mind was cast in a narrow mould; his imagination was exceedingly scant; so that in forming his sentiments and judgments, lie seemed unable to put himself in the place of the "other fellow." His poli- tics and theology were his,not by personal in- vestigation,but by inheritance. Intellectually he lived in the house his forefathers built, and carefully excluded from it every modern discovery and invention. He dwelt in the light of other days. He fell heir to a family tree of inveterate prejudices; which tree he faithfully watered and fertilized. What man is free from prejudice? Let him who is without it cast the first stone. If Doctor Ball and Mr Goldwin differed somewhat in phrasing their theology they differed more in the spirit in whidh they held it. One would have his "pound of flesh," because it was "so nominated in the bond," perfectly heartless of consequences. The other, while baiting naught from recti- tude, nor one jot from the doctrines of the Bible, entreated and patiently lured to the door of Mercy which the Pierced Hands held wide open. Mr. and Mrs. Goldwiu were as two musical instruments which were exceedingly unlike and yet in perfect accord. They looked with their own eyes, but in the same blessed light, and animated by the same motive. Their love for each other was not blind, not idolatry; more choice, more discerning far. Mr. Goldwin's hearers had become accus- tomed to expect from him something to think about, something to carry away which sent warmth into their hearts all the week. No make-believe, nothing thin or vapid could satisfy Mr. Goldwin ,and he always brought his best to his people. He poured out his soul without stint. Hence his preaching was very exhausting to him. Mrs. Goldwin was a discerning Hstener,and a critic affectionate and appreciative, while faithful and acute. Their life was a study and practice of the art of presenting the truth so that others would receive it and obey it. Woman's bright intuition and heart-sensing form the complement of men's logic and reasoning. The ancient mouse in the corner of the parson's study, or the gar- rulous cricket on the hearth, enjoyed rare privileges. Margaret soon discovered that a certain button on her husband's coats, even on those which were almost new, was torn off, and on 224 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. observing closely, saw that while "thinking on his legs" before an audience, his mental twisting sought relief in twisting his button, and that when that button was off, his thoughts were apt to be somewhat off like the learned and eloquent Neander, who could not get on in his lecture, unless he had meanwhile a quill in hds hand to tear to pieces. Margaret realized too, that, as with most men, her husband's better thinking, ordi- narily at least, was attained only with elab- orate use of the pen; and that in speaking from brief notes or from none, he was liaible to be unnecessarily repititious, and to be thrown off his track by unexpected circum- stances. In fine, she encouraged him to write many of his sermons and deliver them from manuscript. He always read naturally and effectively, and the majority of his hearers came to pre- fer his written discourses. Indeed, he gen- erally so enlisted attention to his sermon that the fact of its being written or unwrit- ten was hardly considered. Margaret, also, with her acute ear, was ever on the alert to strangle that little imp, "the preacher tone," which so often steals into the preacher's throat. "Solemncholy tone," the wags fitly call it. "Preach," said she, "in the inflections and cadences of ear- nest and absorbing conversation." No one more readily and thoroughly THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 225 responded to Mr. Goldwin's high and uplifting, thinking and spiritual discerning than did Margaret, and they ministered rare comfort and assurance to each other. Mar- garet's appreciation, above all others, went straight to the heart of her husband, and lifted him over many a discouragement. He, also, although knowing little of the minutiae of household affairs, had a keen and kindly appreciation of the patience and good cheer with which she met the thousand little cares and annoyances which will enter the daily domestic round of every well ordered home. CHAPTER XXII. The last bell is striking, and the last feet are hurrying to "Morning Chapel." A mo- ment, and the little call bell on the princi- pal's desk rings one vigorous note; and the accurate little teacher on the left of the principal, record book and long pencil in hand, in tones quick and sharp as the bell, calls the roll which she is correcting and per- fecting for the new school year. One hun- dred names of young lady pupils; down the alphabet amid the Browns and the Clarks, and Johnsons and Joneses, into the large family of Smiths. Now she is in the "T's;" Tabor, Talcott, Thomas, Tupper, "Sibyl Tup- per!" "Present." Ho, ho! we do know that name and that voice. It is hardly necessary to say that we are in a ladies' seminary, and it is among the hills of New England. But by what fortune is Sibyl Tupper found so far from home? We'll turn back to Riverton and see. Majestic and bland Edward Mortimer careers over that town. Its people, for whom he professes so much esteem, are to him of no more concern than so many lost pins. Possibly that same people are shrewder than he supposes. Wit and wisdom are the THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 227 monopoly of no clime or cloth. Mortimer does not perceive and if he did, little would he care, that Rachel Drake detects the base metal under the thin gold wash. He says, "She's too pious; as for the Dale girls, they are too common dust. Col. Grande's daugh- ter is too willing. But the Tappers, yes the Tuppers! there's blood there. Isabel; she's a chilly subject; but Sibyl, ah! Sibyl! she's my prize." First music opens the gate. How often evil is set to music. Some half a dozen per- sons stop after church, to run over a new sacred song. Sibyl sings alto and Mortimer sings bass, and so they naturally sit together, and sometimes have to sing from the same book. Some strains in the tune the have just sung remind Mortimer of a very pretty duet; he hums the air to Sibyl; she would like so much to learn it. He thinks he has the music at his room; has played it on his flute. "O, Mr. Mortimer, do you play the flute? Come to our house and bring your flute. Do." In vain he protests that he only plays a little for his own amusement. "Do come; you must come. It'll be per- fectly elegant." The flute player calls at the Tuppers. They admire him. Before long he comes again. This time Miss Isabel has a dreadful headache, and does not ap- pear, so, exactly as he would have it, IIP spends the evening with Sibyl. It is to us the refinement of cruelty tor a 228 THE KIVKRTO.X MINISTER. man like Mortimer, so low in his ideals, so impure in his intentions, deliberately to set to work to gain the affections of a noble, immaculate girl, such as is Sibyl. Yet, in plain prose, this is what some men lay them- selves out to accomplish. Like unto street boys who have no apreciation of flowers, but go around and beg them, so that they may pull them to pieces! One would almost ex pect heaven would straightway interpose to prevent such diabolical plots. And yet, often it seems as though the Fates conspire with the villain. Everything seemed to throw Mortimer and Sibyl together. Did sh;* go out for a walk, or did she step down the street, by some chance he w r ould fall in with her. Always so courteous, gallant, and exquisitely deferential, while gradually and tentatively exhibiting a tenderness and warmth, he steadily wrought his way into that unsuspecting heart. Was seriousness the word? None more serious, penitential, and religious than he. Hear him declare that he adores Mr. Goldwin ami knows that he is just the one to do him good; but he does wonder why he should be so beset and harrassed and tormented with mysteries and dark things. And, subtle reader of the heart, he bemoaned himself the more, because thus he drew upon himself Sibyl's sympathies and prayers and yearn- ings. How it drew her whole soul to him, to hear him say in well feigned grief, that, "He THE UIVKKTOX MINISTER. 229 did not seem organized so that he could be- lieve." Sibyl gave him the love of her ardent and untarnished nature. The thrill of pleasure which shot through her 'being, as she sat in church and knew by the rich voice in song, that Mortimer was sitting behind her! One evening Mortimer seemed unusually affectionate and tender. He fell into a pa- thetically reminiscent vein. Jle had often held Sibyl s,pell bound with his graphic descriptions of foreign lands, and especially of London; of Windsor Castle with its ser- vice of silver and gold, valued at more than ten million dollars; of the peacock of precious stones; of Kensington Gardens, and . the parks and cathedrals and the wonderful mu- sic; and of his unle's palace and grounds which were in the very cream of position in the West End. Sibyl at such times seemed borne away to Enchanted Land. On this evening to which we have alluded, his voice softened as he spoke of his blessed mo{lu-v sleeping in Kensel Green Cemetery. He could say no more, and he and Sibyl wept. Then in the silence he plead, "Dearest Sibyl, may 1 show you all these sacred scenes? O, go with me. Let me guide you, cherish you, adore you forever." She laid her head fondly upon his shoulder, and he pressed her to his bosom. Mortimer passed the following winter at 230 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. Indianapolis. The legislature was in ses- sion, and that little city was all motion and 'mirth. The social luminaries were at their zenith. Mortimer danced attendance upon the belles of the season, and entered with a free hand into the fashionable dissipation and vice. Dora Preston, "the Kentucky Star," was in the ascendancy, and grave sen- ators and judges crowded in her train. Mor- timer and his hail-fellows would come stumb- ling and yawning into the Capitol Restau- rant at nine or ten in the morning, and lan- guidly sip their coffee or champagne, and discuss the fine points of the social brilliants of the hour. Meanwhile the crafty Mortimer was saying to himself, "I must keep the lines well se- cured around my Riverton sweetheart." Let- ters, now and then a choice roll of music, accompanied by neat little notes, full of the tender passion, come to Sibyl. Now, more than once Gen, Tupper has asked himself, "Who is this Edward Morti- mer?" Nor does he gain any very satisfacto- ry answer. Indeed, there seems to be no authority on this question, aside from the man himself; so far prepossessing enough. About this time, in 'conversation with Judge Bernis, of Indianapolis, upon the mention of Mortimer's name, the sage judge ominously shook his head. "No good; English prodi- gal; s in a far country and on the road to THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 231 swine. Too much Paris has spoiled him. My opinion, he's mortgaged to the devil." Gen. Tupper made no reply to this legal opinion, given in rather unjuridieal terms; but he did considerable thinking; likewise did Mrs. Tupper. The solons of the legis- lature return home. Mortimer returns to Kiverton, and is more devoted than ever to Sibyl. Parental protests vex the waters but do not check them. Something must be done. The result is, after conferring with Mr. and Mrs. Goldwin, and, while Mortimer is away for a few days at the Capitol finish- ing up a gambling schedule which he has on hand, Sibyl, her father's pet, and the sun- beam of her mother, is whisked off a thous- and miles to a boarding school. She has had many a hard crying spell; says "Mortimer is perfectly elegant," and declares papa will think so some day. She's very sure she will never love anyone else as she does him. Nev- ertheless, for poor dear Mama's sake, she has dropped all correspondence with him. CHAPTER XXIII. By law, Riverton was the hub of the coun- ty; by location it was the hub of several counties. With unbounded faith in the fu- ture, or as visitors from Boston said, with accustomed Western effrontery, it was already a chartered city. Riverton was like the boy who dons his father's garments. They are, it is true, much in advance of his proportions; but then he is gaining the bet- ter of that fault every day. An event which made the boy -city swell with pride was the opening of the canal diag- onally across the state. This connected Riv- erton with Toledo and the East, and with Vincennes and the Southern Gulf. Travel- ing by canal-packets at the rate of seven miles an hour, stowed in cramped and con- fined quarters; flies, fleas and mosquitoes within; forests, water-fowl, fish, frogs and fens without, was considered luxurious. The two rivers, Poconock and Rappilee, and the canal helped to develop the country, and developed, also, malaria; that name by which we appear to understand something which we do not understand; unseen and yet universally believed in; a reality which only he that feels it knows. Aboriginal THE R1VERTOX MINISTER. 233 fields, large water courses, sunless shades, dark glades and silent swamps, may live handsomely in poetry and in song. Thous- ands and thousands and tons of thousands of little imps, dripping with vegetable and animal feculence, poison peddlers, man-eat- ers microbes and bacilli we call them now; .come like a thief in the night, and encamp everywhere in "chills and fever;" everywhere on the just anid the unjust. Mr. Goldwin had many a shake with this bane of the new settlement. Quinine and calomel were the medical panacea; poison fought poison, and a good constitution at length came out of the battle 'Victorious, al- though a costly victory it was. But an enemy far worse than any miasma or malaria was ravaging Riverton. With the increase of trade and traders, intemperance was increasing. Both gay and festive drink- ing places and low mud-sill whisky dives were springing up as if by magic. The canal brought not only water but whisky; not per- haps the much "doctored" whisky of today, yet full of devils and death. Mr. Goldwin warned and entreated, and his soul was sore with grief. His was no doubtful utterance. An equivocal position he disdained. He dealt in no glittering gen-, eralities, nor yet in angering personalities, but he called a spade a spade, and his naked facts blistered. The whisky men understood him, hated him, while compelled to respect 234 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. him for his courage and honesty. In his con- tact with the liquor curse, Mr. Goldwin had some always reliable coadjutors. TL;- ability and legal learning of Pierpout not all the whisky power of the globe could retain, much less subsidize, or silence; and Dr. Bancroft, by far the most prominent and skilled healer in Riverton, as we have already seen, was not one of those who sell liquor under the guise of medicine. Nothing delighted him better than to come down with his battle-axe on rum casks and drink doc- trines. We have already seen that several years antecedent to this date, O'Flannigan, the pioneer rum seller, had forbidden his daugh- ter to attend church,and he never wearied of inveighing 'bitterly before his comrades and his drunken sons against "Priest Goldwin," who, he said, led the people of Riverton around by the nose. Therein O'Flannigan came nearer the truth than was customary with him. If he had changed one word, said "led the people around by their reason," he would have been unusually accurate. Mr. Goldwin had gained many signatures to the total abstinence pledge, and snatched some from the toils of the liquor venders, and although many times acting through others,, was really the leader in organized effort to close the liquor shops. Yes, close then. For he began at this early date in the tem- perance work to see that so long as st v THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 235 drink was freely sold, reform the drinkers as fast as they could, it was only pulling men out below the dam, while money and greed and appetite were chucking them in above the dam. A city election was approaching, and the advocates of temperance, while seeking to manufacture and focalize healthy public sen- timent, called a mass meeting, a grand citi- zens' rally. As the hour came, in they came; patricians and plebians, clean and unclean, "mongrel whelp and hound and cur of low degree." A number of ladies in attendance, helped very much to redeem the character of the audience. They were seated in the vicinity of the speaker's stand, while the whisky patrons and peddlers, diffusing the familiar odor, were packed into the rear seats. It appeared rather as though the goats outnumbered the sheep. Col. Grande was passing in and out, ex- changing a word with everybody? escorting the ladies to eligible seats, and finally pull- ing out his ruddy handkerchief and render- ing some Jericho salutes, seated himself near the platform and occupied hinnelf in his cus tomary endeavor to twist his frowsy locks across his bald and barren pate. The "Pres- idential Bee" was buzzing in his ears. He aspired to preside over thi >. meeting, and, in this instance, hs aspiration was gratified. He was called to the chair. A few preliminaries, appointment of see- 236 THE RIVERTON -MINISTER. retaries, and then the speeches began. Mr. Goldwin -made, by way of introducing the sub- ject for all to discuss, a plain dispassionate statement of what was, and what might be, and what ought to be, closing with a vivid picture of the advantages and superior possi- bilities, the brilliant future which belonged to Riverton, if temperate and pure. Then somebody started the call for Haw- kins, and he arose. He praised the people; flung the stars and stripes to the breeze; lugged in all the Latin he knew; vox populi vox Dei; said he, was jealous of the people's rights; believed in temperance and moral suasion; despised a drunkard; did not believe in any legislation or restriction concerning what a man should or s'hould not eat or drink; temperance was a good thing, and would come sometime, but Rome was not built in a day, and vinegar never caught flies. This speech seemed to harmonize well with the back seats. Then Mr. Pierpont arose. He began very calmly, but it was apparent that the volcano was only slumbering. He spoke with the se- riousness of one who had felt the relentless hoofs of the sateless monster, Drink. There was indeed a chapter in his boyhood of which he never spoke. How he had sat with his mother and sister watching and waiting into the late hours for father to return, and how they all trembled when they heard his foot- steps; of this Pierpont was silent. But is it strange that he early learned to hate liquor. THE KIVERTOX MINISTER. 237 and swore eternal war against it? A kind, well informed and capable father lost for days in debauch, followed always by shame and confusion and the solemn promise that this should be the last; and this vow only to be succeeded by temptation and persua- sion and yielding- and fall, until at last he fell into a drunkard's grave, this Pierpont had seen, and wrung the anguish out of it to the last drop. He made a very clear lawyer-like argu- ment, showing that the remedy for every pub- lic evil was in the hands of the people, and that not to rise in their might against this confessedly mammoth evil was craven and cowardly and criminal. Pierpont's logic no pleader for whisky was rash enough to touch. His words plowed deep. Evidently the goats were a little quieted or momentarily awed. Then, Ool. Grande, after taking a huge pinch of snuff, suggested that they would be happy to hear from their distinguished friend, Hon. Edward Mortimer. Mortimer arose, slowly and with well- feigned reluctance; played the part of the very "humble individual;" strewed compli- ments "thick as leaves of Valambrosa" around the honorable chairman and the ora- tors of the evening, and over Riverton, not omitting the superior attractions of its ladies. He did not see how any rational person could be otherwise than a friend of temperance. Moderation in all things was 238 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. the law of the wise. He despised anyone who had not the manhood to practice self-con- trol. His experience had taught him that each man must stand or fall for himself. Indeed, the whole of this Englishman's homily might be summed up in the text of Cain, "Am I my brother's keeper?" He opined, also, that what was poison for one was often bread for another; that this, which he was proud to call his adopted country, rejoiced in extending the largest liberty to the individual; that we must not allow our noblest moral convictions to carry us beyond sweet charity, or into even the sem- blance of encroachment upon personal lib- erty. Then he said something must be par- doned to his early education, and to the social customs of "Merrie old England." This subject of temperance, it should be re- membered, was very large and very import- ant, and must be considered in all its bear- ings. He 'had thought upon it a great deol. He believed thoroughly in reforms, and in every measure which was for the betterment of man. But we must not put new cloth into old garments, lest the rent should be made worse, and, like our blessed divine Lord, we must have long patience, remembering that it' is written "He that believeth shall not make haste." Here it was interesting to notice the derisive grin which played around the corners of the mouths of certain hearears who knew Mortimer thoroughly. Mortimer THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 239 expounding Scripture! The devil turned saint! Still further, in the speaker's opinion, the greatest enemies of reform were hobby-rid- ers and fanatics, and he could not forget that our adorable Saviour turned water into wine for the wedding guests, and that the chief- est of apostles said, "Take a little wine for thy stomach's sake." Thus did Mortimer state small fractions of fact and truth, carefully eliding that which would make theta com- plete and truthful; artful in the most dan- gerous form of lying, which consists in tell- ing only a part, as though it were the whole. Thus did he, while professing to embrace temperance, secretly st&b it. Finally he said that, like his unsophisticated friend, Hawkins, he believed in the people, and to their wisdom he would humbly submit the whole question. This speech was framed and uttered in the most plausible and bewitching Chesterfield- ian manner, and with all the adroitness of Mark Antony. Somehow, it left a very agreeable taste in the mouths of those on the back seats. It is speaking very mildly to say that Mr. Goldwin was very much disappointed and an- noyed with Mr. Mortimer, for to him such hypocrisy was sickening and rasping in the extreme. He, "Priest Goldwin," could see that it might be expedient for him to remain somewhat under cover, and press others to 240 THR RIVEKTON MINISTER. the front, but, politics or not, he would never allow the last speech to be the last, and he was vigorously twisting his coat button, sure prelude to a good speech, when a voice became just audible. Everyone looked up, as if saying, "A strange voice! Who can it be?" It was none other than the boy, Jonas Drake. Absent for a time, attending school, a brief vacation now brought him home. Always interested in temperance, the silent, undemonstrative boy had strolled in with the rest, and settled into a seat, and appar- ently unobservant and self-enwrapped, he had really heard and weighed every word spoken. The idea of his making a speech was as remote from his mind as from that of those around him. But as he listened, the fire burned until it must break out. As he arose and caught the eyes of all fixed upon him, some lighted up with deep personal sympathy, and esteem, and some with a sort of amused contempt, for an in- stant a cloud of constraint passed over his countenance; for an instant only. Almost with his first word, his intense convictions bore him into perfect equipoise, and soon the cloud was livid with lightnings. His soul trod the heights of truth and moral obliga- tion; felt the freedom of that upper air, and, like a mountain flood, quit of all impediment, bore straight on. His form became erect and authoritative, his countenance mobile to every shade, now of pathos, and now of THE RIVERTON MINISTER. scorn, and now of drollery. The audience, captured by the unexpected, enchained, en- tranced, leaned forward to catch every word. Now laughter, and now tears, played around his hot logic, like sparks showered from the hot iron under the hammer. Eloquence is unreportable, and we are not so audacious as to attempt to transfer it to paper. While Jonas seemed to disdain all personalities, in the electric light of truth and charity how flimsy the sophistries, how bald the selfishness and hypocrisies of Haw- kins and "the distinguished representative of John Bull." It was like pouring noonday upon midnight. Mortimer was mortified and chagrined and angered beyond all description. If Mr. Gold- win or Mr. Pierpont had answered him, he would have felt honored; but to be impaled so unsparingly on the lance of this strippling knight, this novice, this raw boy! Humilia- tion could no farther go; and "our distin- guished friend, the Hon. Edward Mortimer," wished that evening had found him in Indian- apolis, or anywhere except in a Riverton temperance meeting. Jonas sat down, and then a pause; an instant of stillness, when the assembly drew a long breath regained itself, and , then explosion, then round after round of applause; ladies waved their handkerchiefs, and some of the men leaped to their feet, shouted, huzzahed and whirled their hats. 242 THE RIVEIITON MINISTER. Somehow, there was a feeling that the last word had been spoken, and the meeting abruptly adjourned. Then the crowd separated into little groups all discussing Jonas. Jack Barnett said, "I always knew there were more brains under Jonas' hat than people gave him credit for." Schnapps, the jolly beer seller, seemed as much pleased as any of them. "Py tunder und blitzen," he exclaimed, "dot boy ist vun pig virivind." Dr. Bancroft, who had just returned from a long professional ride in time to hear Jonas, declared that it was "Simply Patrick Henry risen from the dead," and George Tupper asked triumphantly of Col. Grande, "Where's your Henry Olay now?" CHAPTER XXIV. The next Sabbath, a stranger, who gave his name as Rev. Jerod Jordan, of Sparks- ville, accompanied Mr. Goldwin into the pul- pit. Recently three new churches had com- menced the struggle for existence in River- ton, but Mr. Jordan was there to raise also his denominational flag, and rally around Mm those who would lisp his shiboleth. - He had called upon Mr. Goldwin and promptly accepted his hospitality, and offered to relieve Brother Goldwin by preach- ing for him. The latter was indeed needing relief. A little mite of mortality had made his debut into the domestic circle some six weeks previous a pocket edition of Mr.Gold- win; and his demands were numerous and imperative in inverse ratio with his dimen- sions. Like the nightingale, his songs were given in the night, and the music had not been a lullaby to the parson, or to his beloved partner. Hence, a Sabbath of rest was wel- come to Mr. Goldwin. Reverend Jordan was evidently desirous of publishing himself favorably, and both his prayers and sermons were designed to be very eloquent. In his prayer, after rolling the large words, like hugh boulders, from the 244 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. dizzy heights of glory, and, as was natural r perspiring in copious streams, he terminated his oratorical supplications thus: "And when we have concluded our mundane per- egrinations on this sublunary sphere, receive us unanimously into the sempiternal felici- ties of the eternally (beatified, and we will shake the walls of the celestial Jericho with immutably reverberating hallelujahs forever and ever more Amen." Mr. Goldwin looked as if the amen brought him relief ;and his discerning hearers exchanged significant glances, while a waggish fellow seated near the door, gave vent to an irreverent "Phew!' r The speaker then announced as his theme, "Man's Soular System." He occupied the ensuing week In calling on everybody and publishing that he had come to Riverton to "get up a revival," and would open up on the next Sabbath in the City Hall." For three weeks he discoursed every night; perhaps to the edification of some; certainly to the diversion of nianj. After his sermon, he was accustomed to ex- hort, "Come for'ard, oh, sinner, and get a blessing; yea beloved, come for'ard and be clothed in the garbage of the saint'?." Bro. Jordan advocated Christian Union, and taught that the one and simple way of securing it was for all to join his church. Before many days his preaching seemed nar- rowed down to recommending the pecul'ari- ties of his sect, and indulging in thrusts at THE RIVERTON MINISTRK. 245 other denominations. His holy tone and celestial soaring quite captivated Mother Smile. She drank in the words of this new voice with a countenance which was seraph- ic. For about three weeks he drew the crowd. Two months longer, and he had almost no following, and he suddenly left town, leaving a memento with Mrs. Smile, an unpaid board bill, and with the community, as souvenirs, a few burnt over relics of the so-called revival. After a few weeks, as Sam Drake said, even a policeman couldn't hare found the Rev. Jerod Jordan's converts. There was also, in those days, Rev. Henry Littleton, shepherd at large over the church- es. Once or twice a year he visited River- ton, and always to the gratification of Riv- erton. Benevolence lighted his counten- ance and resounded from his clear melodious voice. He was an excellent singer, an ear- nest and practical preacher, and an adroit guide of all varieties of human nature. Ed- ucated at the same theological seminary as was Mr. Goldwin, the two had much in com- mon, and, to them to visit and pray and plan together, was like pitching their tent by the lone fountain in the desert. Mr. Littleton appreciated Mr. and Mrs. Goldwin, and he aided others to appreciate them. Good Brother Littleton all the children loved him, and when he addressed the Sun- day School, as he loved to do, he never talked too long; he never addressed them as 246 THE RIVERTO^ MINISTER. babies nor as adults, but as wide-awake^boys and girls, and parents and children were alike interested. Mr. Goldwin aimed to make his Sunday School like a bird's nest, fastened to that which is solid on the earth, but always open toward heaven. In these untrammeled and hospitable years, the home of the minister was open to peripatetic or equestrian clergymen, and wayside wanderers of divers mind and mould, and seldom was long without guests. Then, there were the Spring and Fall convenings of the ministers and delegates of the scat- tered churches. Hiverton being one of the larger and more central towns, was often the place of these meetings. Entertainments in those days included ministers and delegates and often ministers' wives, and also horse or horses. MJuch housewifely ingenuity was required in contriving that there should always be bread enough and to spare, and that no bed should have loo many bedfel- lows. Ah, jolly times those were, when the min- isters gathered around the minister's board. Wit was discharged at short range and hit every time. Or, seated in the little "front room," how they discussed, threw in bits of experience, and anecdotes and ha! ha's! Tears, too, were 'close by sympathizing tears of sorrow or of joy; and many were the nug- gets of personal truth gathered here from the soil which lies between the cradle and the THE K1VKRTON MINISTKK. 247 grave; often a very short path, but often rich in better than gold. Occasionally there was a Mr. Dull and or a Mr. Dryasdust, but, as a rule, divinity of the pioneer or mission- ary kind abhorred dullness, and -when logic failed, achieved by dint of wit. Mirth and merriment bubbled sweet and pure, like sup from the sugar trees in the early spring. Mrs. Goldwin, a veritable Kohinoor, shone with greatest brilliance when surrounded by clerical lights, and passed around with her tea and coffee many a choice bit of im- promptu philosophy, or an intellectual punc- ture, or a felrcitious b?>n mnt. The blue dev- ils ran from the twinkle of her eye. The menu of her table was ever simple, plain and ample, but sometimes it offered some exalted achievement in cuisine which evidently was of foreign origin. Somehow a stuffed and steaming roast, or a basket of tea cakes, or a tray of superfine pastries, some special refection would mysteriously find its way into her pantry just when the hour came to use it. Mrs. Goldwin said she did not believe in fairies or sprites, but she did believe she had the exceptionalist of good friends and neighbors. Whether it was sec- ond sight or mind reading, she did not know, but one thing she did know, that the people of the church always knew exactly when to send and what to send to help out her lar- der. The State Meeting was the great churchly 248 THE RIVEKTON MINISTER. feast of the year. It convened in the autumn, sometimes in Indian summer radiance, sometimes in clouds and fall floods. From the Michigan line on the north, and from the Ohio River on the south, the cavalry and carryalls came. One and then another, sometimes half a dozen, would bring up by nightfall at the ministerial manse and man- ger, on their way to this meeting. Riverton had the pleasure of opening its new church to this body. For a few days the denizens of this youthful but ambitious city saw preachers to right of them, preachers to left of them. The streets were cloudy with men in black. At these meetings the Home Missionary boxes and barrels were opened and their contents distributed. Out came socks for giants, and clothing for sons of Anak. Evi- dently, the eastern donors had large ideas of "growing up with the country." Comfort- ables also appeared in variety of colors to suit the taste of the gay or the gloomy. For the most part, the contents of these boxes were suitable and serviceable and very wel- come, a very great help to the over-worked but never over-paid recipients. Mrs. Goldwin very much enjoyed attending these ministerial meetings, when her wifely and motherly cares permitted. The King- dom of God seemed hardly invisible, certain- ly intensely real to her, and the debating and devising for its universal establishment THE KIVEKTON MINISTER. 249 aroused her whole nature. She was also a skillful decipherer of the cunning palimp- sests of the human heart, and as an unob- served spectator at these clerical sittings, she found excellent opportunity for this occult reading. There was also in those elder days free- dom, unconventionality, heartiness and friendship, which are less obvious as starch and prim propriety, and congested wealth increase. Plutocrats were then scarcely known, and multi-millionaires quite un- known. Gigantic monopolies had not then carbuncled our nation. Henry Ward Beecher, then the youthful but much thronged pastor in Indianapolis, accompanied by Mrs. Beecher, made the jour- ney to Riverton to attend the State meeting, and he kept that sedate body in a roar as he described the tribulations and perils, by sea and land, which he encountered on the road, and then the next moment came one of his inimitable touches, which brought them all to tears. In these ecclesiastical, as in the political, convocations, the question of slavery was irrepressible, and evolved great heat and sometimes dire conflagration. Some never conformed to the march of truth and free- dom, and had to be dragged along behind the procession. Some reared and plunged like wild animals at the bare mention of the word abolition, and the Union was dissolved 250 THE KJVEKTOX MIXISTKU. times incredible. However, the majority of the brethren kept serenely on their way, an<] never flinched or budded when the menagerie broke cage. About this time, a guest whom we have met arrived at Mr. Goldwin's. I; will be remembered that John Gold win left behind him in Vermont his mother and brothers. Arthur and Thomas. The mother, about a year previous to the date of this chapter, had suddenly sickened and died. She had lived to see her sons educated, and ripened to noble manhood and to usefulness; had seen the last wishes of her lamented husband ful- filled, and then, with a heart abiding in heav- enly peace, she had "languished into life." Thomas Golchviu had accepted a profess- orship in a nascent college in Illinois. Ar- thur Goldwin found an implacable foe in the wintry winds of New England, and yield- ing to the peremptory order of his physician, broke away from the theological seminary, and fled to a southern climate. After teach- ing for a time in Georgia, and beholding his hopes of recovery stealthily one by one dis- appear, his heart turned instinctively and tenaciously toward the home of his brother John in Riverton. The latter, informed though he had been of the feebleness of Arthur, was nor, pre- pared for the reality, and the immediate sight of the sunken cheek and emaciated form, so ill contrasting with the bounding. THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 251 redundant vitality of his brother when last he saw him in Vermont, smote him to the heart. For an instant he was disarmed, and Arthur, though he could but see his broth- er's dismay, apparently unobserving, extend- ed his hand and gleamed with the old win- some smile. Arthur's prayer had been answered, and he was permitted to lie down beneath a broth- er's roof. A travel worn and exhausted invalid, he wept in thankfulness upon his pillow, and amid visions of boyhood, mother and home, and of one dear woman who for more than a twelve month had filled his heart, quaffed with fevered haste from the rivulet of rest. Meanwhile John and Margaret passed a wakeful night, and no darkness could cover from their eyes that death smitten face. More than once the anxious John stole on tiptoe to the sick man's chamber to assure himself that his wants were supplied. The first sound of the morning was that hollow and ominous cough. As the days passed, sometimes hope borrowed a little strength. Now and then affection almost fancied the disease was retreating. It was only in am- buscade. As the morning sun grew high and warm, Margaret was accustomed to place a com- fortable chair by the open west door, and there Arthur loved to sit. The world was to him so beautiful; never more attractive.. 252 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. Never did the birds sing sweeter; the wood, the distant river and the blue sky were never dearer companions. As John passed in and out, the embodiment of vitality and cheer, or joyously wrapped in study or in thought of his dear people, Arthur was made so keenly mindful of what he had chosen and reached after with all his desire; and now, the life plan almost realiz- ing, the prize almost in his hands, lo, his hands have suddenly lost their cunning; his knees tremble, and his feet refuse his bid- ding. His heart said, "Life is sweet. That tender rose slip" Margaret's fingers had planted it "is pouring its gladness into its forming bud. That little bird, its tiny frame is vibrant with song. Those sporting calves and lambs say life is so sweet. To youthful manhood, to me, life is sweet. Is my cup filled only to be dashed from my hand?" Strange? In sooth it was. New and yet old mystery! Old as man and the secret things of God. So richly endowed he was by nature and by culture and acquirement, and, crown of all, dowered with the love of a rare woman whom he had sought and won while he was college tutor, the very woman of all the world, as it seemed, w.ho was divinely designed to complete his prepara- tion and furnishing for his life work. So well equipped was he to bear Jehovah's mes- sage, so ripe to win, inspire, and lure into light and love. Nevertheless, Arthur had THE RIVBRTON MINISTER. 253 great satisfaction in saying "The Lord think- eth upon me," and his thoughts and emotions underwent a spiritual moulting, and came forth in unique and royal plumage. His heart panted to help his brother man. Who knoweth that this, his desire, is ungratifled? Now, day by day, his hour drew near. Si- lently he was fighting the final battle. The great "Decisive Battles" are silent and unseen. The foe, step by step, was closing in. But he was not alone. A voice sweeter than any human spoke to his soul: "I am come that thou mightest have life, and that thou mightest have it more abundantly." That word sung in Arthur's heart, and he felt the throb of victory. The bud was not suddenly closing. It was opening for the King's own eternal garden. Arthur had said, "John, would that these eyes might look upon the place where you preach." Bo, on a clear, bright morning when the sick brother was feeling his best, John helped him into a carriage, and with little four-year-old Max between them, they drove to the church. Arthur walked slowly in, seeing and marking everything. Then he ascended the platform and sat down, play- fully saying, "Who dare say that I have not occupied your pulpit?" Then pausing a moment, with his own inimitable tenderness and affection, he exclaimed, "John, I covet vour privilege; I hunger for your opportunity. Oh, if I could only prea'ch to everybody my 254 THE BIVEHTON MlNISTEIi. dear Saviour." t John appeared to busy himself arranging some of the books, and for a moment sought in vain to conceal his long pent up grief. Recovering himself, however, he turned his earnest ga&e on Arthur and said, "Arthur, you have helped me to preach; you are preaching." "Am I? Am I?" said Arthur, with a light in his face from his Lord. "Thank you, my brother, a thousand times thank you for that thought." Then rising and adding, "Thou, Lord, knowest best," he leaned on his broth- er, and as they walked away, Arthur, putting his hand on the head of little Max, said, "Max, dear, you will preach in Uncle Arthur's place, wont you?" The following morning Arthur had hob- bled to his accustomed chair by the door. Silently, and with something akin to affec- tion, he fixed his eyes upon the little rose slip. When Margaret placed it there, how little did she dream of the kind offices which should be given it. It had for Arthur, feel- ings, thoughts "too deep for tears." Mrs. Goldwin was noiselessly moving in and out, anticipating every want, and occa- sionally speaking a word in her sweet silver voice. "Margaret," said Arthur, "I feel as though that rose bush was sent especially for me." "Yes, Arthur," she replied, "it is yours." He was plainly growing weaker, yet, with characteristic and pathetic persistence of TIIK UIVBRTON MIMSTKU. 255 life, insisted upon rising' every morning and maintaining the routine. But soon came a night when the long wrestle with disease was evidently almost over. By his side sat John and Margaret, silently watching for the coming of the Angel of Release. The suffer- er lay with closed eyes and scarcely seemed to breathe. Now and then the wind shook the lattice, and moaned like a departed spirit. Margaret leaned with both hands on John's shoulder, and they communed with thoughts too deep for words. Once Arthur opened his eyes upon them with a sweet smile which said, "I realize it all." "Love never faileth," said John. At this word, "love," rallying with almost preternatural energy, Arthur slowly and with labored breath repeated: O, could I speak the matchless worth, O, could I sound the glories forth," when, his strength failing, Margaret coming to his aid, added: "Which in my Saviour shine." The long strange night was at last begin- ning to wane. The first of morning was beginning to creep under the curtain of the window. Once more the pallid lips just broke the silence. John, bending over, caught the words, "Life more abundant- ly," and the spirit passed into the Eternal Morning. 256 THE RIVBRTON MINISTER. A few hours later, as the earthly form was lying in its last repose, a serene joy lingered in the dead face, like the glory which tarries at sunset, and between the fingers was that one fresh bloomed rose. Love, Birth, Death, and that home was triunely consecrated. Great beyond expression were the sorrow and disappointment of Thomas, when, has- tening in his buggy night and day, over prair- ies and through sloughs and storms and riv- ers, he arrived in Riverton only to learn that his brother Arthur had been in his grave sev- en days. Bitterly he lamented that he could no more see his face until the resurrection morn. CHAPTER XXV. Mr. Goldwin had erected a small barn and had added to his belongings a horse, 'a cow, and a "Democrat," or a stout open buggy, well adapted to encounter the rough, stumpy country roads. On Sabbath afternoon he was accustomed to drive out to neighboring school houses and preach. In this way he multiplied his labors and usefulness, and began what afterward matured into several country churches. Margaret delighted when the skies and the earth were propitious, to accompany her husband to his out appoint- ments. Sometimes the minister found it quite enough for heart and flesh, to keep his appointments alone and on horseback. The county of which Riverton was the cen- ter had increased rapidly in population and resources. On its list of officers appeared now the name of Christian Stubbs, who had been elected sheriff. Col. Grande aspired to that office. When was he not aspiring to some office in the gift of the "dear people?" But amid the strife of hungry candidates, at the right moment, some one sprung the name of Christian Stubbs upon the convention, and forthwith, "Honest Chris" was nominated by acclamation. 17 258 THE RIVEKTON MINISTER. Another event of some importance to Stubbs: he and Deborah Dale were married and settled in a little cottage across the way from Mr. Goldwin; and so, two pairs of strong hands, and two heads full of common sense, and one heart, started on that companion voyage so old and yet always new. Stubbs, a half breed, emphatically of the people, a child of the soil, as the electioneer- ing phrase went, and a product of Riverton, had earned a well deserved popularity. Kind, neighborly, observant and open to light, reliable as the sun, having his own thoughts, and able upon occasion to keep them, it was interesting, not to say anom- alous, the progress he had made. The tav- ern and stable boy that greeted Mr. Goldwin upon his first alighting upon Riverton, w T oukl scarcely recognize the present sheriff of Coon county. For all this, thanks in large meas- ure to Mr. Goldwin, sculptor for eternity. It is needless to say that a warm attachment, more an indissoluble Christian bond, united these two men. It happened about this time, a clear winter night, the stars all coldly gleaming on "the midnight still," that Stubbs was returning from a long and belating official trip into the country. A light snow lay dn its virgin whiteness, and his horse trotted to the music of sleigh bells, and evidently, as he gained the environs of the city, with livelier remembrance of his manger. The supperlesB THE RIVBRTON MINISTER. 259 driver was in full sympathy with his horse. The lights of heaven never were brighter, but the lights of earth were extinguished; and even to the prosaic Stubbs, there was a consciousness of the mistery of night and a slumbering city. As he caught sight of a lone beam from his own home, he easily fan- cied himself sitting under its cheer. As the sheriff drove to his ( barn, Deb, who had been napping in her chair caught the jingle of the bells, and it was but the work of a moment to place the light in the window where it would send a shining path into the stable, and to throw a shawl over her head, and trip out and pat "Nobby's" handsome neck. "What's that? Fire! Fire!" shouted Chris, "I do declare,Mr.Groldwin's sta'bleP'and away he ran, his mighty voice ringing out on the midnight those dread words, fire! fire! Mr. Goldwin came flying out, but the flames seemed 'to leap at once to the roof, and he ard Chris scarce had rescued the horse rncl conveyance, before the hay mow was one gr-?nt blaze, and the victorious fire fiend shot columns of triumph (Straight skyward, in grinning mockery of man. Standing as the barn did on an eminence, when compared with the large part of the town, 1 his expensive bonfire commanded the view for a long distance; and soon the whole town was aroused to witness it. Fortunate- ly it was one of those very .still atmospneres; THE RIVERTON MINISTER. not a ripple of air to turn aside the flames from their upward course. Margaret shuddered as she realized that with an unfavorable wind, nothing could have saved their dear little home, and she lifted a thankful heart to Him who tempers the wind. And now the question on every tongue was, "How came the fire?" Queries and sur- mises arose on every hand, agreeing at last only in this, that it could not be accidental. But then, what possible inducement could anyone have for applying the torch to the lit- tle barn of the minister? The mystery remained a mystery, and the fire had its day of town talk. Dr. Bancroft, who said less and did more, headed a subscription, and soon had a purse made up for rebuilding Mr. Goldwin's stable. In a few weeks it was replaced, and the ill- boding event had disappeared from common thought. But in the meantime, Stubbs had not for- gotten it. He recalled an incident, which had it not been for the fire, he would prob- ably never have dwelt upon again. A few moments before reaching home, and so a few moments before the fire, Stubbs had heard footsteps on the crispy snow, and looking in the direction of the sound he had seen O'Flannigan, the whisky seller, hurrying away, "across lots," toward his home. Chris remembered having asked himself at that THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 261 time, "What can call Patrick out at this hour?" He had indeed fancied that the liquor dealer avoided him, and would have preferred to be unobserved. Stubbs immediately had a private confer- ence with Pierpont, and this incident which gave him as he thought a clew to the origin of the fire, he divulged to no one except Pier- pont. Meanwhile Chris moved about, just as usual, among all classes of citizens, with eyes and ears open. At length he heard one of O'Flannigan's patrons who had that day had a quarrel with the liquor dealer, drop certain ominous words, hints that he knew a thing or two about that barn burning. It was not long until, under pledge of protection and reward, Jake Peters, so he was called, made a state- ment under oath in the presence of Pierpont and Stubbs and Mr. Goldwin, to the effect that he had frequently heard O'Flannigan utter dark threats against ^Priest Gold- win," who, he declared, with 'many cursings, would never keep his mouth shut, nor mind his own business; that he, the said O'Flan- nigan, never could speak of the minister but in terms of the vilest abuse; and finally, that on the nisrht before the fire, after drinking heavily, O'Flannigan, with a wink and a mys- terious air, informed his comrades, of whom Jake was one, that before many nights had passed, the priest's premises would be in THE RIVERTON MINISTER. ashes, and the priest would have the warm- est time he ever had. Then it should here be stated that Stubbs and Mr. Goldwin had discovered on the morning subsequent to the fire, a heap of combustibles suspiciously placed at one cor- ner of Mr. Goldwin's dwelling house, and exactly where Mr. and Mrs. Goldwin and the sweet children were sleeping. The shav- ings were charred a little evidently had been ignited, but for some mysterious reason had refused to serve a purpose so malicious. It is unnecessary to particularize farther. Let it suffice to say that witnesses and p^i- dence ample bad been obtained, and overv day the secret coil was tightening about Patrick O'Flannigan. However Pierpont, and especially Mr. Goldwin, w*ho had the srooid of the whiskr dealers' family greatlv at heart, urered that it would be wiser not to -press matters to a criminal Trrosetion. So Stubbs quietlv took means to apprise O'FlanTnp-an that it was becoming verv da^r^erous for him to remain in "Riverton. a^d between -hvo days the cowardlv villain disarvoparfMl. TTfs nrorv erty proved to be verv heavilv encumbered with debts, and not lono- after was closed out at sheriff's sale. "Bv Stubbs' adroit manacrf- ment, a little sum was saved from the wr^ck to the wife and daujrhter: both of whom before the vear closed, Mr, Goldwin had the THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 263 pleasure of welcoming to membership in the church. It should be said here that the O'Flannigan stock of liquors was, agreeably to the desire of the mother and daughter, purchased at pri- vate sale, and for a nominal price, and then emptied into the canal, alas for the finny tribe while the roomy drinking place, which of course was located down amid "the madding crowd," was converted into a Methodist church ; as Margaret said, "a very sound conversion." O'Flannigan himself was afterward fatally shot in a drunken broil in New Orleans. Thus ingloriously did his "star grow dim and disappear." CHAPTEK XXVI. The second home-letter of Sibyl, the board- ing school girl, was written to Isabel. We give here some extracts from it: "Last night is the first time since coming here that I have gone to sleep on a dry pil- low. Miss Furness, the teacher who has special scrutiny over us juniors, dignifies my homesickness with the name nostalgia, a common disease, not alarming she says. She is cold and stony hearted, and I cordially dis- like her already." "Yesterday Miss Dean, the principal, met me in the hall, and when she put her mother- ly arms around me, it warmed me all through. I just adore her, and I fairly bubbled over with happiness all day. And then, too, she is from Vermont, and knows, and praises the Ooldwins." "My room-mate, Sarah somebody, is a tall, lank, consumptive looking individual, and she has the cruelest black eyes that dart through and through me. She has butter- nut colored hair lying in deep waves or curves, and ending in stiff stubby curls; and if it were not for her eyes, she would seem more like a figure cut in stone than like any- thing which breathes. Lucy says if I had THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 265 been a better girl, they wouldn't have put me with such a sphinx! Sarah is very religious though, and I s'pose she must be good, and I ought to be." "I passed well in my examinations, except- ing mathematics. I hate mathematics and always shall. In Latin I was away up, almost to the seniors, thanks to Mr. Gold- win. My Latin teacher praises me right before the class, and I go to my room nearly every day swelling with pride." "For my first composition, I wrote a little description of the very funny time I had in getting here. And, just for greens, I put it in rhyme, and you ought to see how it took. Sarah glowered and called me frivolous, but Miss Marshall says she's proud of me, and calls me 'Sybil the poet.' But I say again, thanks to Mr. Goldwin for compelling me to write my thoughts, my very own, even though I did scowl at him. Tell John and Waxie to stand by their books and Mr. Gold- win." "I take my walks with Lucy Darrow. She is so jolly just bubbling over with fun. And now, for fear you'll think Lucy isn't the proper companion for me, I will tell you of Miss Marshall. She is a senior, and daugh- ter of a missionary in India, and Lucy says she is to be married to a young man as soon as she graduates, and go with him as a mis- sionary to India." "The other afternoon, it being recreation THE RIVERTON MINISTER. day, she met me in the hall, and seeing my eyes were red and swollen., she took my hand so tenderly and said, "Come down to my room. I am all alone this afternoon, and should be very much delighted with your good company." "I forgot all about my promise to Lucy, and stalked right along to Miss Marshall's room, and never left it till the supper bell. In the pleasantest way imaginable, she drew from me exactly what I like to talk about, my own home people, and I told her every- thing except about Edward Mortimer. She told me all about her life in India, and the wretched people there, and the missionaries, a,nd I almost felt as though I could be good enougih to be a missionary, if Miss Marshall would take me with her, and let me stay with her." "O, I must tell you of the gloomiest thing which happened when I had been here about a week. One morning at Chapel prayers, Miss Dean, after talking us all into tears, asked us all to rise. Then, that they might know better how to do us the most good, she asked those who were Christians to stand at the side of the room, and those who were not to be seated. Then Miss Furness and Miss Strong took down our names. For a mo- ment I felt as if I was shot dead, and almost went with the goats. But no, dear M- ing to New York for the summer vacation. Lucy says I look well in everything I put on, and the Pierponts are not :so very 'up- pish,' are they? Do thank Mr. Pierpont for getting me this invitation to visit his mother and sister." "Speaking of clothes, I am reminded of Frank Mansfield, a girl from the city, who came here at the beginning of the year with trunks full of gowns, all in latest cut; and to see her parade them at supper and on recrea- tion days and Sundays, you would think this a gay watering place, instead of a mod- est, sober minded school, nested amid river and hill scenery. For the first few weeks Frank had a cluster of admiring, not to say envious satellites about her, but one by 270 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. one they faded away, as they found that she was all gowns and ribbons and jewels and no brains, and not a bit of that application to books which grows brains. They insist here on neatness, and on good sense in dress, but display doesn't count for much. An unkempt, shabby girl hears from it. The girl that counts here is the one wno studies, and who is trying to make of herself an all around useful woman, ready to fill a big niche, somewhere and sometime. Now, my dear pattern sister, you will smile to see that your infant sister, Sibyl, is getting rid of some of her nonsense. Anyway, if I don't make a hit somewhere or some time, it won't be because I don't try." "Feb. 17th. I have kept my promise, Mama dear, and have never written a line to Mr. Mortimer, but I do love him, and feel so sure that you and father are entirely mis- taken about his character. O, I can never promise to forget him." "March 1st. Mother dear, I do hope 1 may never have the "big head," but I can just feel my brain growing every day. What a great world this is oceans to do and to learn. Do you know, I so often think of Mr. Goldwin and his sermons. He always made God so big and so good, and our duty so large. I thought when I heard him I saw it all, but I didn't begin to. I see it now, and ever so many times I am reminded of things he said. Bless him, too, for suggesting this school to THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 271 Papa. Our principal, Miss Deane, is just wonderful." Sibyl was an especial delight to Dr. Ban- croft. Her buoyancy, vivacity and crystal sincerity exactly suited Mm, and as he dis- covered signs that her fellowship with Mor- timer was ended, his heart warmed with de- light. The longer he knew Mortimer, the more certain his conviction that Mortimer was a villain masquerading as a gentle- man. Mrs. Tupper, whose ill-turns had made fre- quent demands upon the professional skill of Dr. Bancroft, with difficulty could determine which she esteemed .most, the physician or the man. As family medical adviser, Dr. Bancroft had been granted the freedom and sacred confidence of General Tupper's delightful home, a trust which he always pre- served sacredly inviolate. Tcoming from some persons would not have been heeded by Isabel, but Dr. Ban- croft she believed in. Dr. Bancroft knew "Bucephalus" 'Buce' is the name the steed knew that he would stand in his tracks by the hour looking and listening for his master, and that when he said "Go," Buce would go. Not the slight- est need of anyone to serve as hitching post. No one knew this so well as did the Doctor and the lady. How many innocnt pretexts there are in the world. THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 273 Hts a two-wheeled affair the vehicle. But why describe it further than to say mat it is a Doctor's rig, and designed -for two when desirable, and for hard service always. It has a boot, the Doctor's special contriv- ance, ampler far than the ordinary, to enfold him from tip to toe when he has to face the warring elements. Now a long hill to climb. Buce knows it and does himself proud. See him stretch his royal neck and plant his foot so decidedly. His master allows no cruel check rein on Buce. Yonder in the hollow is a small cabin. Across lots, over pastures and stubble fields, through gullies and over roots and hum- mocks and knolls they go straight for that house. Once the Doctor has to let down the rails of a fence, but he sometimes enjoys mak- ing his own roads, and also quietly enjoys introducing Isabel to some of his roughest paths. Here we are, dogs and all; dogs of all shades of yellow and of all ages; the poor man's usual canine comforts. There's a sick woman 'here. She's yellower than the dogs; been pining nearly a year. Three small chil- dren are playnig on the rattling, bare board floor. The Doctor's brusque cheer does her good, but despair dwells under her ribs. Early home comforts and refinements she left a thousand miles away, and she and her 18 274 THE RIVEKTON MINISTER. Philip lit (low 11 here in the woods and com- menced the struggle for life. The Doctor's great heart inwardly groans. He knows medicine will never heal her; knows, too, that he'll never get one red cent for his pains, and yet that does not enter his thought. Philip, dear man, comes in bringing tied up in his old torn handkerchief three little speckled green (bird's eggs taken from a de- serted nest, for his wife Mollie. Sometimes he ploughs up a family of young rabbits, and then he brings her one of the soft, round- eyed bunnies. Sometimes he brings a sweet scented twig or flower. She's always in hie thoughts. He always brings a smile and a happy word; sometimes brings a bright smile to her wan cheek in return; but not always; often melancholy and suffering iron out the smiles. Philip plows, ponders, puzzles, sometimes prays; turns his back to the poor sufferer and weeps on his pillow in the dark- ness. There's one thing in that home which luxury and splendor often seek in vain, one deep, strong, constant bliss. Philip and Mollie love each other. Such love, even when it passes to be only a memory is untold measures better than never to have loved. Somewhere, sometime, enriched and blos- somed out, the two loves will be one flower. The Doctor returns to the awaiting Isabel, and drives into the woods, and by a lonely narrow way, crosses over to another farm THE HIVERTON MINISTER. 275 house. Here is old Mr. B'arker leaning on Ms crooked staff. He is in one of his dismal moods, and in truth, it would be hard to say when he was in any other mood. Complain- ing was habitual with him, if not constitu- tional. "Grunting as usual," the neighbors said of him. He regales you with one and the same tale; that nobody cares for him; he has outlived his usefulness; oug*ht to have died twenty years ago; everybody has 'been against him all his life. In such a minor key Mr. Barker was always singing the same doleful song. He was always laying heavy blame upon his best friends, attributing all his failures to their interference. Even his very excellent wife, Prudence, who worked and worried and schemed and economized hersjelf into the grave ten years ago, and who really sup- ported herself and her four children, and her husband into the bargain; never received anything from him in return but grumbling and fault-finding. The truth was, when left to follow his own plans, he was a timorous, bungling, blunder- ing, belated performer, sure to end in wreck- age. Visionary, irresolute, conceited old fel- low, and born grumbler! His boys, fortun- ately embodied the mother's thrift and en- ergy, and genius for affairs, and as they could ill brook the father's chronic whining and inefficiency, early in life pushed out into the world, and were making for them- 276 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. selves a .very creditable record. Doctor Ban- croft gives this patient a little flattery and a dose of bread pills and he's in high spir- its. Then the Doctor and Isabel drove four miles farther, passing but two houses on the road. Here was a sick woman, young Mrs. Armitage. She had been tenderly brought up in sight of Bunker Hill. Married some- what against the wishes of her friends, and now settled away out here in the woods; an entire stranger and the nearest nighbor a Dutchman, a mile farther on! Often she saw not a human face for weeks, except that of her husband, Peter Armitage. This woman, this tender social flower, torn ap and thrown out into this desert, was dying for want of society. Her unfeeling relatives in the East did not write to her oftener than once a year. Her rootlets seemed forced to feed on self. Who can wonder that mind as well as body became unhealthy? Dr. Bancroft's cheerful face was better for her than all the medicine. What could he do for such a case? She needed a change; a complete change; something to set the wheels of mind and body going in a new track. And above all she needed an interchange of sym- pathies, a social reciprocity, a journey clear out of self into the lot of others, and of the great world. Her husband, Peter, good natured soul, had what he could eat and drink and wear.. THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 277 slept well and could work all day and not feel tired the next day. He was happy, as were his fat horses. Why .shouldn't he be? His horizon was bounded by his farm. He really understood the nature of his brindle cow much better than he did that of his wife. "Oh, ill-matched pair," said the Doc- tor. During these professional .pauses, Isabel sa.t behind Bucephalus and talked to him, got out and rubbed his nose and petted him, watched the birds and studied the bugs, and read her book and the clouds, and mused. Her heart ached as the Doctor gave her briefly the sad condition of several of his patients, and her kind soul began to devise, as only a woman can, to send little delicacies and bright books and papers to MJollie and to Mrs. Arrnitage. Tears moistened Philip's eyes as he met Isabel a month afterward and tried to thank her. A child was the Doctor's next care; a fine rollicking boy, who had been very sick. But now the Doctor was merry with delight, as he declared that Davie was fast coming up. Nature and wise treatment were winning the day, and the boy's face lighted beautifully when he saw the good Doctor. Meanwhile, Isa'bel was quite absorbed in watching a beetle tugging away at a round lump of dirt twice his own size. "What a parody on humanity," exclaimed 3,1;e Dovtor, as he saw the laboring insect. 278 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. ''In ibc rr.'inpai'ison I'm not sure but the lixe^- 4 * '^ ie k es ^ f *V sa> id Isabel. He seems in his place and contented and happy; that is bug-happy." "W>hen it comes to mankind,' 7 observed the Doctor, "it does seem as though all were in the ' winter of their discontent,' and I might add, each expecting it to be made glo- rious summer by the coming of some sun of York." "Well, Doctor, is that a parody on Shakes- peare or on humanity? I rather think it is both." "But," said the Doctor, who had been visit- ing disappointed people, and was still under the shadow, "it does seem as though the great majority of men never get beyond dis- content and long expectancy one long win- ter. Their glorious summer tarries so far as human vision can see, never comes. If their sun of York comes, he doesn't bring summer." "Oh, Doctor Bancroft, you are in a cavern. Gome! Here's a sun which does bring sum- mer. Come out into the sunlight. There are more people reasonably well and happy, than there are sick or discontented. Doesn't one of our poet singers teach that, 'take the whole year round, there's no more night than day?' " "Averaging the world, Isa/bel, what you say may be true; averaging my patients, I fear it is not true. Who has the truth? THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 279 Who sees correctly? Who is clear of all prejudice? These farmers, for instance, think the carpenter, with his regular work- ing- hours better off than they; and the car- penter thinks the farmer with his standing by and seeing things grow is bettor off than he; and half Riverton, I dare say, 'envies me my supposed leisure and irresponsible don't- care life. Little they dream what I see and what I carry." "That's it, Doctor, everyone looks through his own little gimlet hole. But, what's the remedy? What's to cure all this prejudice? Isn't it in one word, love? Love opens the eyes, clears the vision, sweeps away dark obstructing walls. Faith, hope, love, but the greatest of these is love." The Doctor, who in reality did not alto- gether adopt his own reasoning, was silent for a moment. He was admiring the wisdom and sunlight of Isabel's thoughts. Then he said, "You are right, Isabel, profoundly right; and I always in my speculation's have to come to this: the One Divine Physician, who was love incarnate, saw without preju- dice; saw all the disappointment, all the sor- row, yet He permitted it. He did not extin- guish it. He simply showed ITS love. This way lies liberty, this way light, this way life." "And now for the last call of this trip,'* said the Doctor, "and then T can throw off till 280 THE RIVEKTON MINISTER. "Till the next summons," rejoined Isabel. "That's about it," he replied. . "Isabel, how would you like to be a physician?" "Never! Never that for me, Doctor." They are out on the old "Michigan road," smooth wheeling; "Come Buce," and away they whirl. Now they are in the outskirts of the town, and at Uncle Billy Newman's door. He's a battered and worn out piece of fur- niture, loose and creaking at every joint. Life has gone with him but roughly. Wife and children are gone save one elderly daugh- ter, Cordelia, who dutifully cares for her father's comfort. For years he was Tim the blacksmith's best help, right hand man, main dependence. But now for a year he has been shut in, and much of the time bed-ridden. Rheumatism has pinched and corded him up. As the Doctor softly open's the door, Uncle Billy is singing to himself: "A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify." "Good morning, Doctor. I was just look- ing for you. The rheumatism gave me a hard twist last night, but let up a little to- ward morning." "Yes, Uncle Billy, I heard you humming the good old hymn; I see that joy cometh ia the momimr." THE RIVEUTON MINISTER. 281 "O, yes, Doctor, the morning's coming; bless the Lord for that, but meanwhile, he gives me songs in the night, too." Everybody liked Uncle Billy Newman. Hawkins and Tim, sneer as they always would, and pretend to see some selfish motive in everybody, never had a word to say against Uncle Billy. "How far that little candle shines," said th' Doctor almost involuntarily, as he looked admiringly upon his patient. "Doctor," said Uncle Billy, the bright twinkle in his eye, "I wias a thinking last night that the Lord was a snuffin' my poor candle." "So that it might give better light," rejoined the Do>ctor. "Like David, you sing of the Lord that lighteth your candle." "Doctor, Cordelia 's just been a reading to me the precious words of Jesus: 'Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.' O, to think that the blessed Lord has prayed for poor twisted up Billy Newman." The Doctor said, as he rose to go; "Billy, you always have the true medicine close by you." "Meat and drink, Doctor; meat and drink. Bread of which if a man eat, he shall never hunger." Doctor Bancroft told Isabel he always felt in this house that things were reversed. He was the patient, and Uncle Billy the physi- cian, "and," said he, "he always helps me." 282 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. The afternoon has gone and they are come to the brow of the hill north of TJiverton and overlooking town, rivers and country wide. There's the new court house with Its image of Justice poising the scales in serene maj- esty on its dome. There are several churches and school buildings, bridges, mills, ware- houses, several blocks devoted to merchan- dise and traffic, homes of thrift, comfort and competence; and away to the eastern limit of the growing city, on a handsome knoll, con- spicuous arc the rising walls of what is to be the county seminary; the joy and care of Mr. Gold win. Intersecting or surrounding all are field and forest and stream, and all shimmering in the light of the setting sun. Here they p airs CM! , and Doctor Bancroft said, "Such scenes are blessed sermons to me. When I reach this point a.t edge of evening, I always stop and look into the sun- set." After a moment of silence, the Doctor turned his clear blue eyes full upon Isabel, and said, "So, you are sure you do not wish to be a doctor?" "Very sure," was the reply. "Well, Isabel, will you be the next thing to that, a doctor's wife?" Isabel paused and blushed like the sunset, but s'he did not say "no." Nearly a week went by, and, with General Tupper's family carriage, and Isabel at his side, Doctor Bancroft repeated his round of THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 283 calling upon his chronic invalids, dispensing everywhere the fitting remedy with abund- ance of good cheer. With woman's tact and invention, Isabel overcame the protests of Mrs. Armitage and her irresponsive husband, and the slender little invalid was most comfortably robed, and with the Doctor's tender and gentle assistance and the strong rough aid of the inwardly protesting husband, she was lifted to a half reclining position on the back seat of the Tupper carriage. "We'll bring ner back with roses on her cheeks," said the Doc- tor, as they waved a good bye. A week at Mrs. Tupper's, another with Mrs. Drake, and a third with Mrs. Goldwin, and sure enough there were roses on the once pale face of Mrs. Armitage, and the bloodless lips became like buds of promise, a.nd the limp attenuated hands took on color and vital- ity, and . it seemed as though a new soul looked out of her eyes; as indeed there did. For these three weeks of rest, social cheer and quiet thinking, brought not only physi- cal but spiritual renewal, and Mrs. Armitage ceased to quarrel with what had seemed a frowning Providence, and saw behind the cloud the smiling face of her loving Father. This very world but yesterday thought so cramped and drear, was now to her like a native clime and not a foreign land. When Mrs. Armitage returned to her hus- band it was with a package of congenial :284 THE IlIVERTON MINISTER. books in one hand, and a root from Mr. Gold- win's white moss rose bush in the ather. But, better still, she brought home oa her cheeks the pink roses of girlhood. Nor, indeed, had the three weeks of lonely life been lost upon the husband. Tihe brief separation had moved him to reflection, stirred his mind and softened his heart When the wife returned there wae an un- wonted warmth in their embrace. They looked into each other's eyes with a com- pleter and sweeter understanding of each other than ever before. We do not mean to say that in every respect the two were one. This could not be. A fiddle of but one string cannot vibrate with all the music of a well strung harp. Before long husband and wife were regularly seen on tne Sabbath in Kiverton church. Books, flowers and the year round bloom of kind thought- fulness and loving deference, each bo the tastes and especial prefernces of the other, and more, an open and obeyed Bible, trans- formed this 'home which had been a prison 'into the "House Beautiful." Miss Isabel was often seen now sharing with Doctor Bancroft his rides, and her lov- ing and timely ministries often brought the very cup of healing which was life. Now ajbideth Faith, Hope and Love. Bwt the greatest of these is Love. CHAPTER XXVII. Five years later, look again within the home of Robert and Julia Armitage. You'll find there a pair of four year old twin boys, Bruce and Brace. It is early morning and the mother has left them sleeping in their trundle bed, and stolen softly out to start the domestic wheels for the day. Robert is already out feeding the stock and milking Shiny and Brindle. Breakfast over, and the good housewife soon has her hands in the dough; and Robert is sent to inquire into a disturbance in the trundle bed. Somehow the morning nap of the twins is much a'bbreviated,and to his dis- may 'he discovers them jumping up and down* and playing horse on the parental bed. One fat boy jumping on a bed is too many, but two are worse than Bedlam. It is a strange physical or psychological fact, that what one of the twins does, the other must always help him do. The father picks them up, one in each arm, and chucks them down pretty decidedly on the lounge, with strict orders to sit still till Mama comes. But he has hardly turned his back, before the irrepressibles are dancing on the lounge,, trying the springs.. 286 THE RIVERTON MINISTER. Soon Bruce is ominously still. What is he doing? Brace makes it his Immediate business to find out. Ah! the young hopeful has found a little hole in the plastering and he's very busy making it larger. As Bruce prefers to monopolize this employment, Brace feels injured, deprived of his rights, yells out "Mama," at the top of his voice, and runs and kicks and pounds the door till he brings Mama. Bruce well knows that he's a law-breaker and runs away to the farthest corner of the room. With many devices of motherly ingenuity and story telling, the effervescing pair are finally dressed, both with clean faces and clean pinafores, and covered with mother's kisses. A^ter a big bowl each, of creamy country bread and milk, the mother and boys indulge in one of the richest feasts of the day. Although Mrs. Armitage's house work was never at an end, yet she felt that some things could wait, but that her growing boys could not wait. So, she took them every morning, before she sent them out to play, for a little visit, as she expressed it. She told them of the dear Jesus, who loved little children, and whose kind eye followed them all day as they played; and she planted many a good seed in those tender hearts. Meanwhile, they hug and kiss "pretty Mama," pull down her hair and rub their fat hands all over her face, hands so white and plump that they look like biscuits with pegs stuck TI1K KIV1KUTON MINISTBU. 287 in them. Klie gives to each a "tookie," and says, "Going to be good all day?" "Yes, dood all day," they both echo, and out the innocent mischiefs run. Brace spies a little switch which he would like to use on old Towser. So, he drops his nibbled cookie for a moment to pick up the little w'hip. Bruce, whose cookie has gone the way of most cookies, snatches up the dropped sweet meat and makes off with it. Brace armed with justice and his switch, pur- sues the little peculator, determined to re- claim his stolen property, and chastise Bruce instead of Towser. "Thrice armed is he who has his quarrel just." Bruce ran well for a time, but there's many a slip. Some luckless stick or stone trips him, and he falls, and Brace on top of him. They indulged in a lively set to. Brajce comes off first best with the first round, and is ready to fight to the finish, but Bruce ignominously takes to his heels, and leaves his antagonist master of the ring. Brace, quite elated, looks about him for more worlds to conquer, and thinking it would be fine fun to paddle in the water trough, climbs by a block of wood and reach- es with his chubby hands the edge of the trough, when over it tips, and Brace enjoys hardly enjoys receives a cold shower 'bath, water and more water in his face and down Ms body. First a chilling pause, then an out- cry, loud and louder. "What under the sun! THE RIVERTON MINISTER. my child, my child! For pity's sake! What have you done?" exclaims the terrified mother, as she snatches up the dren>clied youngster, and rushes him into the house. She soon has him stripped and rubbed down, and put to bed in disgrace. This irrepressi- ble seems at this moment so submissive and penitent, and the wages of transgression have beeen paid so amply and promptly, that the mother does not find it in her heart to give the scolding she has ready. And now Mrs. Armitage straightened up, drew a long breath, smoothed down her somewhat disturbed hair, and repaired once more to the kitchen. "Pooty, pooty, Mama !" were the first words which greeted her in that direction, and there was Bruce standing in a chair by the kitchen table, with both hands in the tomato basket, making pomaice, and squeezing and squirting the juice in all directions. His clean pinafore! Alas! Alas! "I declare! If this isn't too much for any- thing!" broke out the tired mother. First she wanted to scold, and then she wanted to cry, and then she wanted to laugh. These children, it was to be observed, though so similar, were nevertheless quite dissimilar, as added years evinced. Brace was always tumbling headlong into some- thing, and always bawling and crying. Bruce was more cautions, and if he fell into trouble did very little crying. Brace wanted you to pet him. Bruce did not thank THE RIVERTON MINISTER. 289 you for the petting. Brace would fall down and then cry for somebody to pick him up. Bruce would cry and kick if anybody picked him up. Brace told everything which ever went through his mind. Bruce seldom told others his 'mind or his plans. "Here it is almost noon. Dear me! How shall I ever get on?" But the blessed wo- man did get on, and grew in saintliness by many a lesson in patience and self mastery, and by many a comforting and reassuring word from Robert. The day is done. Evening veils this world and unveils the worlds above. The steam engine twins at last are still. Mama has heard them repeat in concert, "Now I lay me," for if she has them repeat it singly, before the first would finish, the other would be asleep. Side by side now in their little bed fast asleep! Mrs.Armitage has dropped down in the rocking chair by the open front door almost the first easy moment she has had during the day. Robert, the last chores done, sits down on the door step at his Julia's feet. How he laughs as she gives him some of the day's exploits of the twins. A few moments for loving thoughts and words, and two tired mortals follow their children to bed. "Julia," says Robert, as he looks at the sleeping cherubs, "We're poor enough, the Lord knows, but there isn't gold enough in all the round world to buy those boys." id 290 THB RIVERTON MINISTER. We have taken a peep five years in advance into the Armitage home. We shall have more than our 'hands full if we essay to take up all the evidence of enlargement, increase and progress in these Riverton households. He who should really write the daily his- tory of a home, of its thoughts, its hopes, its fears, its struggles, its sacrifices, its battles with temptation, its prayers, its defeats, its victories, its life-framing, its sculpturing for eternity, he w