1 I ' ./ , . r,: I THE Two CIRCUITS. A STORY OF WESTERN LIFE, BY J. L. CRANE. CHICAGO : JANSEN, McCLURG & CO. 1883. COPYRIGHT 1877, BY J. L. CRANE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. TO GENERAL U. S. GRANT; Who was Colonel of the 21st Illinois Regiment while I was its Chaplain; whom I highly esteemed before he had attained to distinction, and whom I now regard as among the greatest and most upright of heroes and statesmen, I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME, As a token of my appreciation of his friendship. J. L. C Springfield, Ills., April, 1877. 2061834 PREFACE. A friend by my side says, that his principal ob- jection to this book is, that some of the incidents and characters are overdrawn. The "next friend" says, many of them are underdrawn. So, to strike an average, I have left it as originally written. It is in no sense an autobiography. Names and places are mostly fictitious ; yet the majority of the incidents are as I, and others saw and heard them. They did not always transpire in the order here given. I had a love for the hardy yeomanry of the ear- lier days ; for their honest, happy, o'ff-hand man- ners, modes of thought and speech. I was at home among them for years, enjoying their labor, humor, privations, pleasures and worship. I have aimed to make the characters original, fresh and alive with the buoyancy and vivacity of pioneer life. If you, my friendly reader, are averse to a con- sideration of the ludicrous events that do, now and then occur, even in a minister's life, I would advise you not to read very far in these pages. I have conscientiously desired that this book should help and strengthen morality and religion ; but I have never been of the opinion that the humorous side of the world belonged exclusively to the kingdom of Satan. J. L. C. SPRINGFIELD, ILL, April, 1877. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. The Start Undeflnable Day Disturbing Thought* Brother Holder- Green Corn Hogs, and their 111 Manners Pages 17-26 CHAPTER II. House of Clumsy Patches Shrubs, Chickens and Dinner. . . .Pages 26-29. CHAPTER III. Arithmetic and Sentiment Oppressive Length, ending in Death, with a Short Letter of Regret Pages 30-33 CHAPTER IV. On the Circuit The Watkins Family Philip Confused on the Great Question of Family Government Pages 34-42 CHAPTER V. The First Preaching Place Uproar and Confusion Zeal Cooled by Ague Pages 43-5* CHAPTER VI. Class meeting Philip Makes a Blunder Celebs Receives an Interest- Ing Visit from the Get Family Pages 56-66 CHAPTER VII. On to the Next Appointment Mrs. Magulty Her Two Daughters, and Her Son Zephaniah Philip's Filly Disturbs Young Magulty Mr. Squillip Persuades the Young Preacher to Preach in His School House that Night Pages 67-73 CHAPTER VIII. On to Squillip's Dilapidated Horses and Harness Adventures of a Lone Candle Dogs and Convulsions Pages 74-82 CHAPTER IX. Squillip and the Misses Magulty Talk by the Way" Glad to See You," when it is so Dark You Can See Nothing Grease and the Saucer Lamp Pages 85-94 viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER x. Up the Ladder and Down Through the Floor Stars and Storms Much Water Blues and Hopes Pages 95-102 CHAPTEE XI. The Welcome Fire The Breakfast and the Manner of its Production- Jerry Spildick Prayers Pages 103-111 CHAPTER XII. The Return to Mrs. Magulty's A Child's Temper, Angelic and Other- wiseMrs. Squillip's Heavy Business .Pages 112-116 CHAPTER XIII. Rev. Mr. Blunt, a sort of Ecclesiastical Rough Philip is treated to var- ious Admonitions Paegs 117-125 CHAPTER XIV. Rev. Mr. Blunt continued He brings his Meat Ax to bear on Philip's Discourse The Runaways Checked No Marrying this time The FighttuidFun Pages 126 134 CHAPTER XV. Quarrel among Horses Blunt Subdued His Daughter Sue withstands him to the face Both Yield Like womankind, Sue winds up by supposing she will have her own way And she did. .. .Pages 135-143 CHAPTER XVI. More about Sue Flamer slightly disgusted by one or two of Blunt's Re- marks Mrs. Ruth Blunt not so much opposed to Bob Scates as is her husband Fire, Cats and Kittens Philip has Doubts about his being a " Moral Agent." Pages 144-151 CHAPTER XVII. Philip has a Short Talk with Himself Blunt a Believer in Great Men- Philip has a Violent Cold Doctor Heatem, the Great Reformer, who has Innumerable Patents, and is the Inventor of the Only Success- ful " Perpetual Motion ," Pages 152-158 CHAPTER XVIII. Doctor Heatem continued A Glance at his Patents and Reforms Hip- pocrates, his Student Philip submits to the Reform Treatment The First Swallow Humiliates Him The Doctor's great Motto, " Heat is Life, and C'old is Death." Pages 159-168 CHAPTER XIX. Not a Cold Water Party A Noble Tea Pitch to Fire Philip Deranges the Animal Heat Heatem and Hip Simmer Philip Philip thinks of Shadrach and Abednego From the Torrid Zone to Simms' Hole Pagesl69-174 CONTENTS. ix CHAPTER XX. Philip lu Distress He thinks the End of All Things are at hand When the Bile Is Out, Belief comes Libations to the Reform Treatment Philip so Disgusted that he regards himself a Fool among Fools Pages 175-182 Philip declines the " Serlubrious Tonics" Blunt Accompanies him to the Next Appointment Mrs. Grabdime Blunt and Philip Snubbed Lively Times between Blunt and the Old Woman Pages 183-191 CHAPTER XXII. More of the Grabdime Family Conflicting Views Preaching in a De- serted House Blunt and Philip assume the Service of Sexton Moreover, the Dogs came first to View their Work Pages 192-198 CHAPTER XXIII. Blunt Occupies the Pulpit Melody Bungled A Discourse on Tabera- cles ; wherein the Present Place of Worship is condemned Grab- dime's Prayer, and Flight Pages 199-200 CHAPTER XXIV. To Dinner Uninvited, at Grabdime's Blunt's Tactics Selfishness Soft- enedThe Animals Tamed Pages 207-214 CHAPTER XXV. Effect of the Smoothing Process Invited to Call Again Blunt's Opin- ion of Soft Sadder Some People need a Club The "Hard Shells" and their Preacher Pages 215-125 CHAPTER XXVI. The " Hard Shell " Sermon The Feet Washing Back to Blunt's One of the Little Blunts furnishes Philip with a Text He Meditates Thereon" Look at Me." Pages 226-231 CHAPTER XXVII. Philip and Sue Mrs. Blunt Distressed Blunt "Stove Dp" Confusion, Blood and the Doctor Bob Scates and Jo Weldou Pages 232-240 CHAPTER XXVIII. Heatem and Hip Again to the Front Blunt's Symptoms Call for " Her- culean Efforts "Blunt rather an Obstinate Patient Heatem Magni- fies Himself Hip thinks He does it at His Expense Hip Designs that Blunt shall "Howl."... Pages 241-248 CHAPTER XXIX. Blunt Beset by Heatem and Hip He is Hot at Both Ends "Heat is Life" Hippocrates Comes in Unpleasant Contact with the Hot Stove Blunt has been made to "Howl" He would Blast the Hcnt x CONTENTS. Blunt and Bob have a Serious Talk about Sue and Moral Improve- ment Pages 249-258 CHAPTER XXX. Good-bye to Blunt, Bob and Sue for the present The Misery of the Ride varied by the Misery of the Walk Philip to be at Rose Chapel the Next Sunday Overtaken by a Pedlar A Rattling Conversation Much Mud The Wire-edge By the Pedlar's Side.... Pages 259-268 CHAPTER XXXI. Philip and the Pedlar Journey Together A Negative Battery Philip loses one of the " Main Springs of Luxury "The Pedlar receives it " Chicken Eaters "The Pedlar gives a Scrap of his History Avows his Opposition to the Bible and Religion Pages 269-277 CHAPTER XXXII. Views Vary Is Sod Everything, and Everything God? The Pedlar led out Philip Pursues Him The Parting The Pedlar's Amazement The Bottle Good-ByeGood Nature Pages 278-284 CHAPTER XXXIII. Philip Searches for the Right Road He is Informed " Let Dogs delight to Bark and Bite" Introduces himself to Mr. Scatterlip The Looks of that Gentlemen His Sluice of Words He Recommends the "Show" to Philip Philip attends the "Elevatin 1 Exhibition" in the Evening Cicero Puffex, the Showman Pages 285-293 CHAPTER XXXIV. Professor Cicero Puffex Explains his Scenes Philip Declines to Open with Prayer " The Gardin of Eding " Adam and Eve driven out The Flood Sodom and Lot The Tower of Babel Moses taken from the " River Ganges "A Historical Scene, Romulus and Remus Herculaneum and Pompeii David and Goliah Samson Landing of the Pilgrims Rather a Ridiculous Display Pages 294-30? CHAPTER XXXV. At Rose Chapel Bob Scates in the Audience Trying to Tame Down Boib Worried by Roystering Youths, and his own Thoughts Inter- view in the Grove Bob Reveals Himself to Philip A Talk on Sue and Personal Improvement Philip Begins to Let the Light out of Himself Bob thankful ito get it Pages 308-319 CHAPTER XXXVI. Quarterly Meeting at Doubletown Jehu Stormus, Presiding Elder- How he Preached His Excellencies and Defects His Great Effort to Appear Properly as a Presiding Officer Felix U: Deafner Applied for License to Preach The Objections Thereto Pages 320-326 CHAPTER XXXVII. The Church Festival The Old Warehouse Philip Meets the Pedlar and Two Ladies An Escort to One of Them The Beginning of Eu- CONTENTS. xi tanglements The Fascinating Kate Sights and Scenes at the Fair Head Full of Kate Pages 327-338 CHAPTER XXXVIII. Philip Beset Mixed Dreams Kate Even Worse Off Philip Concludes the Visit of the Day by Calling at the " Inn "The Brooks Family DeKalb, the German Professor Sackett, the Pedlar Philip Acting more by Impulse then Discretion Mischief Brewing.. .Pages 339-347 CHAPTER XXXIX. Philip and Kate at the Sunday School The Pedlar and the Professor there likewise The two who lacked the Fullness of Song The Mood of the Cynics Philip at General Hymore's for Dinner The Lady Hymore has one of Her "Spells" Philip Blunders into Her Esteem An Uproarous Sick Room " Sweeping Through the Gates" Postponed Pages 348-354 CHAPTER XL. Doubletown " Commons "Philip Seeks Solitude, and finds Himself in the River Rescues Little Maud from Drowning A Touch of Ro- manceKicked and Gouged for his Pains The Mother and Kate Bless Philip DeKalb Met Kate and her Mother Compare Notes DeKalb Distressed The Raven Over the Door Sharp Words- Philip Promises Pages 355 365 CHAPTER XLI. Philip Sick Kate Visits Him Why Not? The Promise Kept in the Letter, but Broken in the Spirit DeKalb Rallies He has Hopes yet Kate Cornered The Storm Gathering The Storm Flashing - The Storm Flashing and Thundering Tears End the Chapter Pages 366-372 CHAPTER XLII. Philip Convalescing Eager Eating Thin Diet No Relapse Rough and Tumble Fight Bob on his Muscle Heavy Dragging Blood and Drink Footsteps in the Dark The Wheezing Pump Jo Stoker- No Tales Out of School Phillip and Stoker Have a Few Words The Double-barreled Pistol Sowing and Reaping To Rest.Pages 373-383 CHAPTER XLIII. The Sleepers Disturbed Mischief in the Air Danger Somewhere Jo Trying to Shake the Dogs off" Serious? You Bet ! "Philip and Bob Hurry for the Constable Hurry on to Sighgold's Jo at Sigh- gold's Before Them A Runaway A Knock-Down A Precious Box Bound and Gagged The Release $7,000 in the Pocket-Book The Box GoneChris' Account of the Robbery Betsy Desires it Told Correctly Pages 384-30C CHAPTER XLIV. The Search and Its Success Joys and Sighs $12,500 Gone Stoker Saves It Sighgold Feels " Sublime "Jo too Big to be Hugged Christo- xii CONTENTS. pher Checked Kate by Philip's Side Again Philip's Mental Tu- mult^-The Promise to DeKalb Slightly Strained Darkness for the Night, Joy in the Morning Pages397-403 CHAPTER XLV. The Treasure Removed The Old People go with It The Young Ones Stay Behind Kate and Philip Explanations Love and Despair- Heart Mischief What the Coals Told Kate Philip Confounded He Accuses Himself His Words Jumbled Another in the Way Kate and Philip Agree to be Friends Harriet Interrupts Them Pages 404-414 CHAPTER XLVI. Harriet Mistakes Philip and Kate Return to Doubletown Kate's Ill- ness Delirium Philip's Self-Reproach A Sleepless Night Sue and Bob Bob Developing Conquering the Wrong Pages 415-420 CHAPTER XLVII. Kate's Illness DeKalb's Tactics He Admonishes Philip not to Visit Her Mary and Jennie Allerton Visit the Hymore's Kate Better Mary and Sue Call on Kate Mrs. Thornton Kate to Leave for In- dianapolisTo Inherit Her Aunt's Wealth The Visit to Sue's Old Home The Dread The Accident Fearful Results Philip's An- guishThe Doctor Pages 421-429 CHAPTER XLVIII. Consternation at the Hymore House Battling Forebodings Terrible Shadows The Light of Philip's Life Going Out "So Soon" Philip's Brain in a Whirl Hearts and Love The Last Hemor- rhage Good-Bye Pages 430-139 CHAPTER XLIX The Effect Moved to Rushingo Sighgold Purchases Land Bob, his Traveling Companion Philip Visited 160 Acres Sighgold Mur- deredSearch for the Assassin Bob Arrested In Prison Sue Go- *lng if They Hang Her with Him Philip Visits the Cell Love, Firm- ness and Devotion Uncomfortable Business Pages 440-446 CHAPTER L. Court Coming On Bob to be Tried Philip Anxious A Letter from Kate Light The Swaggering Jailor looks after a Dog Fight, while Philip looks after the Welfare of Bob A Two Days' Trip By the Side of Kate No Gas .Pages447-453 CHAPTER LI. A Dark Night A Difficult Walk Sail and the Dying Man Billings' Statement The Murder Explained A Little Whiskey A Techni- cal Hitch Law's Delay Philip Doubts His Own Sagacity Egotism Cut Kate Brightens Him.. Pages454-461 CONTENTS. xiii CHAPTER LII. Court In Session Bob's Trial The Crowd Against Him The Jury with ' the Crowd The Whittling Judge Two Jack-Knives a Year The Thunderbolt Coolness in Cruelty Court Adjourns, Takes a Horn, then Pitches Horse Shoes Lawyers Serene At it Again iu the Morning "Hang Him, Sure" Wags and Wits Soaked Sots-- Power of Eyes and Manners Philip's Testimony Light Facts-- Things Turn Crowd Turns Jury Turns Court Turns Bob is Turned Free The "Court" Shakes Hands with Him and Sue All Do the Same Happy Pages 463-474 CHAPTER LIII. Bob Coming Up Philip Among Kate's Letters Stolen Waters Pages 475-478 CHAPTER LIV. Philip's Second Year In Rushingo Memory of Mary Past and Present Clouds and Sunshine Camp-Meeting at Doubletown Philip At- tends DeKalb's Lament Philip Desires a Release from the Old Promise DeKalb Overlooks It The Professor Frantic A Bundle of Frustrations Grinding and Galling Cursing Fate Fuming and Vaporing Brain on Fire "No Use" A Fiery Little Bore Philip in the Pulpit Kate Before Him Her Power Hearts Pour into Each Other Pages 479-487 CHAPTER LV. Blunt's Tent Hearts Going Was It Idolatry? Quiet Fires Self-Sup- pressed Good for the Largest Number Enraptured Idiots News Dead Inquest Heart Disease A Drop Letter Shocking A Call for Philip A Ready Response Knots of Neighbors " Dyspepsia '' Philip and Kate Meet at the Inn The Ride Pages 488-493 CHPTER LVI. The Drive The Drop Letter What It Said Frantic Fuming De- Kalb's Accusations Was Kate Guilty? "Am I a Wretch?" "Was He an Idiot? "Philip's Wrath and Love Philip Defends Kate- Why Should the Old Promise Now be Binding? It is Not Philip Seeks Her ; She is Willing to be Found Philip Expresses His Mind Fully How Kate Listened How They Agreed Destiny Sealed Two Couple Married Success In After Life Let Them Prosper Pages 494-502 ILLUSTRATIONS Designed by the Author. Engraved by FRANK BEARD, Esq., 103 Ful- ton street, New York. 1. THE START Faces Title. 2. THE ILL, MANNERED HOG " 22 3. BEFORE HELP CAME THE BORROWED HORSE WAS DEAD " 32 4. THE HUBBUB WITHOUT " 48 5. CONFUSION WITHIN > " 51 6. REV. ELIJAH CELEBS " 58 ?. A NIGHT OF MISHAPS " 82 8, THE PLANK FLEW UP AND PHILIP FLEW DOWN.... " 97 9. PHILIP'S DREAM " 98 10. HE SENT HIM SPRAWLING AMONG THE WEEDS " 132 11. " DON'T You FEEL LIKE LEADING CLASS, OLD FLAM- ER?" " 133 12. SUE " 143 13. " YOU'RE NOT SCAJLDING HOGS, SIR." " 172 14. " You NEEDN'T SISTER ME, MUCH." " 189 15. THE " HARD SHELL " PREACHER " 226 16. HIP'S UNPLEASANTNESS " 251 17. "HERE'S TO YOUR SNORTING FILLY, LONG MAT SHE CANTER." " 284 18. INTRODUCTION TO MR. SCATTERLIP " 287 19. PROF. CICERO PUFFEX " 294 20. KATE AT SIXTEEN " 331 21. DEKALB'S VISIT " 361 22. MARY ALLERTON " 421 2.3. THK WHITTLING JUDGE BOB ON TRIAL " 463 24. DYSPEPSIA OR HEART DISEASE " 492 25. KATE AT TWENTY-TWO. ,. " 500 " All true humor is closely allied to seriousness." Gcethe. " No man who has heartily and wholly laughed can be al- together irreclaimably depraved." Carlyle. " God has given us wit, and flavor, and brightness, and laughter, and perfumes, to enliven the days of man's pilgrim- age." Sidney Smith. " Did you read ' Vindex,' John? " said Mr. Wesley, referring to a humorous passage in "The Fool of Quality." (John was one of Wesley's very sober preachers.) " Yes, sir." " Did you laugh, John ? " " No, sir." "Did you read Damon and Pythias, John?" " Yes, sir." " Did you cry, John ? " " No, sir." " O, earth, earth, earth ! " exclaimed Wesley, in astonish- ment. Preface to ''The Fool of Quality." THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER I. THE START. It was an undefinable day, in the middle of Oc- tober, 1 8 , when Philip Force started to his first circuit. As I desire to be specific and correct in this narrative, and tell of things as nearly as possible as they were, I would state that this day was unde- finable, for the reason, that it had no particular character. My great respect for the exact, forbids me to say that it was wet, or that it was dry ; and it was neither cold or hot, summery or wintery; clear or cloudy, but it was a dreamy, hazy, smoky combination of the whole, each element alternately predominating. The thoughts and reflections of Philip were near- ly as undefinable as the day. He was strongly im- pressed that it was his duty to preach ; in fact, here he was starting in that great work; yet he feared, lest impure motives might have been mis- taken by him for the suggestions of the better Spir- 1 8 THE Two CIRCUITS. it. He did not know how he was to live on one hundred dollars a year; and not certain of that much. He did not know how he was to pay the one hundred and fifty dollar debt he had incurred for board and clothing, while he had been working his own way, for four years, through school. He could not imagine, in what way he was to purchase a horse of his own, for be it known, Philip Force was riding a borrowed horse. Out, alone, on horseback, on the smooth and dusty road, he began to reflect : "A borrowed horse clever in that friend to loan me his horse for a year : elegant animal : never worked in her life : kicks at the sight of a collar and blind bridle : real game : racing stock : preachers not to think of race horses. Heigh, ho ; That old gentleman did not look very hopeful when I gave him my note for the hundred and fifty dollars ; I am one hundred and fifty dollars worse than nothing, financially, and not worth any definite settled amount any other way. He was kind. I owe him a thousand thanks for many other favors ; pure benevolence in him ; told me to pay the note when he was poor and I was rich. If he had not looked so clever, I would have taken that remark for sarcasm. But being in debt is a curse. One hundred dollars a year ! That merchant offered me four hundred and board. That rough, old Doctor said I was a fool, to go off on a circuit for a hundred dollars a year. He said I had THE START. 19 better study law with his son, and make a man of myself, and go to Congress some day. Manhood and preaching do not seem to run together in his ideas. He thinks a soul is of value, only as it is the owner of property. I am determined to try the preaching. I am in for it. Nothing but actual de- feat will drive me from it. I will trust to Provi- dence and the Church for support." Philip had traveled about fourteen miles, when he saw the farmers unhitching their horses for din- ner. He had never known the luxury of carrying a watch, hence this observation of his, in reference to the farmers, was one of the methods he had of determining the arrival of twelve o'clock. He came to a house, on the left hand side of the road, that looked as if it might be one of public entertainment, when there was any public to be en- tertained ; and as young Mr. Force felt, that he was beginning to assume to be somewhat of a pub- lic character, he concluded to stop. The owner of the house and farm, and caterer to the public, were all combined in one old gentlemen, who hastened from his seat on the front porch to meet Philip as he alighted at the gate. " How d'e do, brother Force?" ' ' Very well, I thank you, sir ; how are you broth- er Holder? 1 did not know that you lived here." The old man shook him heartily by the hand as he replied, "Veil, ye vill know, ven ye'v bin a 2O THE Two CIRCUITS. breacher a few years in dis coundry. The breachers all stops to my house ; I never charges 'em nawth- in, and give 'em the best I've got, and only 'spects the young ones to vait on tharselves, and 'tend thar own hosses. Come across to my stable. That's a fine mar: she'd orto be on a farm. Vat d'ye give for'rer?" "Alas, master, she's borrowed. " ' ' Borrad, eh ? Veil I tought she vas'nt the same mar you rode over to our quarterly meeting. That's the fust sarmint ye ever breached, over at our meet- ing, vas'nt it?" "Yes, sir." ' ' Veil, I tought ye vas a lectle skeert like. Ye must put in more power, brother; don't be so keer- ful 'bout heads and dails. Them that's so keerful 'bout heads and dails nearly allers look sort o'skeert, 'cause they'r allers afeerd uv gittin 'em mixed. " "Thank you, Brother Holder, which of these stalls shall I use ?" " That'n jus nex the crib ; an the corn in the crib's your'n vile ye stay. I haint any ole corn, but that's mighty dry, and wont hurt ye'r mar, unless she's uste to bein colicky." "I'll give her only five ears, sir, for fear; and also give her a handfull of salt." "Veil, veil; now you come across to the house for dinner, and I'll send Hans over with a tin full THE START. 21 o'salt, if ye think she's uste to bein colicky. Hang yer saddle on a hook dare." Between the house and barn was the hog depart- ment. Hogs in Illinois, like men in some parts of the world, are respectable in proportion to what they are worth. And many men enjoy the familiar presence of their own hogs, when every healthy grunt is an indication that they are increasing the wealth of their owners. Mr. Holder must stop to show Mr. Force his hogs ; and he seemed to be flat- tering himself, as he discoursed upon their foreign and honorable birth and of the dignity and purity of their ancestry ; and upon the labor and pains he had taken to introduce so highly respectable family of hogs into the neighborhood. There were sundry old logs and posts, and corners of fences, harrows, plows and old sleds, which were smeared with mud and made smooth by the luxurious exercise of these hogs, in scratching. And then, there were their bathing pools, dug out by the labor of their own noses, without regard to the family's convenience, nor the taste of the public, nor the rules of geome- try. One of these respectable puddles was right by the front gate as you went into the house. And in this little lake of mud, one of the female mem- bers of this honorable family of hogs was taking her noon bath. And expecting, doubtless, some favor at the hand of her master as he approached, rose from her ablutions to meet him. Mr. Holder 22 THE Two CIRCUITS. stopped, to expatiate upon the noble qualities of the animal, and gave Mr. Force to understand, that she was none of your lean, bristly, lanky-legged, long-snouted, grey-hound hogs, that could not get fat enough to curl their tails, but that she was a whole hog, and enough to tempt the eye of a Jew. Now, this hog was like some other creatures I have heard of, that did not know exactly how to behave themselves under the voice of flattery. For no sooner had Mr. Holder closed his eulogy upon her, and he and Mr. Force stood admiring her well de- veloped proportions, than she grew exceedingly fid- gety, and drawing nearer her admirers, suddenly and violently shook about six quarts of mud from her sides, the large majority of the slush taking effect upon the person of Mr. Force. Mr. Holder laughed immoderately at the performance, while Mr. Force was rather sober over it, and it was not that kind of sobriety that arises from pious reflections. Philip had intended to reach the principal town on his circuit that evening, and knowing that first im- pressions were powerful, and permanent, was anx- ious that his introduction should be under as favor- able circumstances as possible. Now, what would the people think of their young preacher making his debut, looking as though he had been rolled in the gutter! His trunk, containing his change of raiment, had been sent on by wagon. But he hopefully remembered a motto of his old teacher; THE ILL-XANXERED HOG. THE START. 25 \ "Never grieve over what is done, and cannoc be undone;" so he hurried through the gate to the porch, desiring to hear no further laudations over the noble qualities of swine; Holder observing, with a jolly good humor, "never mind, Brother Force, it'll come off ven it gits dry ; take a seat on the porch." 26 THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER II. HOLDER'S HOUSE. Mr. Holder's house looked as if the chimney had been built first, and the rooms had been added thereto as means were obtained and necessity demanded. The little windows looked like clumsy patches ; and when you sat upon a chair in the house, all you* could see through these front win- dows was the roof of the porch ; which roof was decorated with old harness, horse-shoes, corn- knives, coon skins, bunches of flax, and twists of yarn, sickles and whet-stones, etc. The door look- ed like another excresence, which had come upon the building since its erection. The front part of the house which formed the back part of the porch was sided with linn plank, called by Webster bass- ivood or linden; but Mr. Holder called it linn plank. These upright plank had been partially smoothed by a jack-plane, and, on some distant day in the past, had been painted or stained red ; but Mrs. Holder, thinking white more cheerful and attractive, had, some years afterward, whitewashed it over with lime ; but the lime had peeled off in places, and the red peeped through like boys' knees through the holes of their trowsers. One or two HOLDER'S HOUSE. 27 of the window frames had anciently received a few feeble touches of blue paint, which looked as if mischievous children had made a target of them for the shots of a wet indigo bag, and had then tried to rub off their marks, but only succeeded in smearing the blue in lighter shades from one spot to another. The front door looked as if some painter's awkward apprentice had taken his first les- sons thereon, for it was ring-streaked, striped, checkered and intermingled with red, green and yellow smudges. Advertisements of stray stock and famous horses, constable sales and patent med- icines adorned the walls of this porch between the doors and windows. The front pillars of it were made of walnut rails, dressed with a drawing knife, and the roof thereof rested against the side of the house, or leaned upon it, like a poor relation upon his kin. A few stubbed, broken-twigged evergreens were attempting to grow in the yard, and looked as though they had been trying for years and were nearly ready to give up the sickly struggle in despair ; for the principal encouragement they had was the un- kindly manure of broken crockery, wood ashes, old shoes, bones and brickbats. All about this front yard were nursery chicken-coops. Some of them were all roof, the rafters being made of strips of plank and left without shingles, and wide enough apart to let the infant chickens out and keep the old 28 THE Two CIRCUITS. hens in. Some were made of slats laid one upon the other, log cabin style ; others, of boxes ; and still others, of old barrels without heads, and strips tacked over the place where the heads ought to be. Hosts of chickens, from three days old and upward to the gangling, pin-feathered gawks, trot and twit- ter, scratch and pick around, and, like children, fight over a dainty morsel. The old hens, cooped within prison bounds, keep up an everlasting growl- ing and coaxing cajolery after their respective broods. A hen in a coop, with her young outside, always looks sullen, sad and discontented. She wants to gad, and, like all gadders, restraint makes her fretful. Philip looked at the chickens, then at his clothes ; and, in an absent minded way, attended to the remarks of Mr. Holder, and answered him in monosyllables, and inwardly wished that that ill- mannered sow would be taken with an irresistable run down some steep place, with the same being after her that entered the Gadarean swine. Mr. Holder stepped into the house, at the call of his wife, and left Philip to fall into one of those vague, indefinable brown studies that inhabit silence. All at once, from out of a cuddy over his head on the porch, flew a proud, enterprising pullet, with a deafening racket, as if she were doing her best to curse Philip for trying to tear her to pieces. Every chicken, as far as could be heard from, joined in the yell. Roosters, old and young, strut- HOLDER'S HOUSE. 29 ted, swaggered and roared with defiant clamor. Philip professes to be fond of eggs, but he declares he never could see any sense in such an outrageous hue and cry over the exploit of laying a single egg. He thinks that such unbounded enthusiasm over so small an achievement, when eggs are four cents a dozen, is very much like a Pharisee sounding a trumpet before him when he is giving a quarter to carry the gospel to all the world. "Come into dinner, Brother Force. This is my wife, Brother Force." Mrs. Holder extended her right hand to Philip, and held her sun-bonnet close over her face with her left, and gave him a broad, good-natured smile, and simply said : "How'de." "Now set by, Brother Force ; you kin eat once vat ve eat allers ; haven't nothin' fine. Ask a blessin'." And the old man held his head down, and the old lady looked at her cooking as it lay completed over the table. The meal was excellent. 3O THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER III. ARITHMETIC AND SENTIMENT. After dinner, Philip started on his way, refreshed, and very soon fell into another train of mingled reflections, a kind of topsy-turvey, jumbled con- fusion of day dreams. He drew "Fletcher's Appeal " from his pocket and made an effort to read. But the depravity in the book had to give place to the depravity in the facts that stared him in the face. The hundred dollars ; forebodings as to his reception on the circuit ; hogs ; mud ; obtruded upon every sentence. He put up the book, and from another pocket pulled out a miniature that appealed more to his sensibilities than the pocket edition of Fletcher. And he thought : "What business have I with a young lady's likeness ? One hundred dollars wouldn't buy silk and calico. The prospect of poverty and thoughts of love dwell in the bosoms of fools. But, then, the discipline of the church allows a preacher a premium of one hundred dollars for getting mar- ried. I will look at the miniature again. The eyes seem to say, ' I am willing to run all risks. ' Ah ! what does she know of the risks ? and, for that matter, what do I know? Her father seemed to ARITHMETIC AND SENTIMENT. 31 understand the hazards more fully when he object- ed to the match. But he is a matter of fact kind of man, and has forgotten the days of his youth. But making a living and securing comfort are mat- ters of fact. But, again, who, in all the world, would ever get married if all the preliminaries of thoughts, plans and attachments had to be regula- ted by arithmetic ! There is a sort of luxury in knowing that there is one fair, intelligent creature who thinks constantly for my welfare, and meditates and prays for my prosperity with an individual specialty, and who mingles her designs of life with my destiny. But I must banish such reflections. It is to be rough battle now ; no time for the deli- cate and tender." So the miniature is laid aside, and he tries again to think of theology and sermon making. He was now within twelve miles of Doubletown. the principal town of his circuit, and where he was expected to preach the next day. His legs grew heavy, very heavy, as if twenty extra pounds were hanging to each foot ; and every jerk of the horse seemed to stretch them longer, and make them a few ounces heavier. Not being accustomed to horseback exercise, the saddle grew very hard, and the dry, ashy road looked very long long as the lane that hath no turning ; and the dry ditches on each side looked long ; the fences were long ; inter- minable, long, brown prairies stretched out beyond 3 32 THE Two CIRCUITS. the point of vision ; the fields were long ; one long, thin, hazy cloud spread away over the sky, good- ness knows how long ; a long row of oxen, with long horns and tails, pulled a long plow through a very long furrow, and the driver was a long boy, with a long face and a long whip ; and his oaths were long, and so were his feet ; and he seemed to have had a long spell of the ague till he looked like lengthened, yellow ugliness, long drawn out. If any one was met on the way they left a long cloud of dust behind them. Philip Force felt as if he was a long way from home, and had a long way to go. His shadow began to grow long, and so did all other shadows. He began to be oppressed with length, and longed for something short : a gopher hill, a clump of bushes, a short clap of thunder anything to break the dreary monotony of length. Well, the long lane did have a turn ; but it did not turn out as Philip expected or desired. For, when within three miles of Doubletown, his horse refused to go any longer. He instinctively thought of the five long ears of new corn ; dismounted, yelled for help and before help came, the bor- rowed horse was dead. If a coroner's inquest had been held over the lifeless remains of this splendid animal, the jury might have truthfully brought in a verdict, running on this wise: "Died of colic, occasioned by eat- ing five long ears of Mr. Holder's green corn." ARITHMETIC AND SENTIMENT. 33 Philip was now afoot, and a dead horse by his side, and slightly depressed ; and it was Saturday night ; and thick darkness added to his gloom ; and no time for a funeral. He concluded to come out on Monday and have her decently buried ; for the man, before whose door she had died, gave him to understand that he would prosecute him if he allowed her offensive carcass to mingle with the dust of the earth so near to his dwelling ; so he threw his saddle and saddle-bags over his shoul- ders, and with subdued dignity and forced humility walked into Doubletown. On Monday morning ho wrote to the owner of the horse, as follows : DOUBLETOWN, ILL., Oct. 15, 18 . Dear Brother : After expressing to you my grateful acknowledgments for the loan of your elegant mare, I regret to inform you that I am going now to attend her funeral. She died suddenly of colic, and has doubtless gone to the horse heaven, for she died in a good cause. Please inform me of her value, and if ever I should be fortunate enough to have the money, I will pay you. Very truly, your friend, PHILIP FORCE. To Col. J. ALLERTON, Wildeden, Illinois. 34 THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER IV. FAMILY GOVERNMENT. Philip's first Sabbath was spent at Doubletown, the headquarters of his circuit. In this place was the circuit parsonage, occupied, this year, by Rev. Elijah Celebs, the preacher in charge, under whose direction Philip was more or less expected to be subject. He stopped at the house of General Hymore, and was booked for two sermons, the day after his arrival. But a stranger, of some eminence in the ministry, and a valued friend of the Hymore family, and being their guest, was pressed to occupy the pulpit; so that Philip had, comparatively, a Sab- bath day's rest. Early the next morning, with the assistance of Mr. Brooks, who accompanied him from the town, he attended the funeral of his horse, and saw her decently interred. There was a law, or custom, which did not allow dead animals to be left to decay and pollute the atmosphere of the public highways. On his return, about noon, he found Mr. Celebs waiting at General Hymore's to meet him. There were the usual expressions of gladness, over their destinies being thus cast together, and the telling FAMILY Guv ERIN MENT. 35 over their anticipations of the pleasure and success, they mutually expected, in cultivating the same ec- clesiastical vineyard. Celebs had been lately mar- ried, and desired to provide and arrange for his first effort in housekeeping. "If it is not taxing you too soon, and too heav- ily, Brother Force, it will greatly accomodate me, if you will fill my appointments in the country for the coming week, and thus allow me to look after the affairs of my new home." ' ' I shall be delighted, Brother Celebs, to attend upon your pleasure. If you think it will not be too great a disappointment to the people who are expecting you, I am at your service, and would rather enter at once upon my work than not." "I will be responsible for all disappointments, in the direction you mention ; and shall feel myself under obligations to you for the favor, Brother Force." Celebs had, on that morning, secured for Philip's use a very uproarous and mettlesome two-year-old filly. The owner of the restless, half-broken ani- mal was glad to have her tamed and trained to ser- vice ; and was further desirous that she might pass over the winter without expense or care to him. The nag was ready for his immediate disposal, and receiving all necessary directions from Celebs, Philip went three miles into the country, that evening, and spent the night with farmer Watkins. Watkins' 36 THE Two CIRCUITS. family consisted of himself, wife, four boys and one sister-in-law. The house was a one story, unpaint- ed, weather-boarded concern, resting on oak posts, for a foundation. The front room was parlor and company bed-room. The middle room was the family room for sleeping and every day occupancy. The back room was the winter kitchen and dining room with a bed in one corner. Underneath each of the beds, in these two last mentioned rooms, there were trundle-beds for the rising race of Watkins'es. After breakfast, which was before sunrise, prepara- tions were made for the whole family (excepting the two older boys who went to school), to attend the preaching three miles away at the house of Mr. Ballinger. As there was no stove or fire, in the parlor where Philip had slept, and as the morning was quite cool, he occupied a seat in the middle or family room. He had often thought upon the great question, as to the best method of governing and training a family. He flattered himself, that he had arranged in his own mind, so complete a system of domestic culture, that when he should promulgate it to the public, it would readily be adopted, and prove effectual, in the perfect and beautiful development of the most unruly elements of any household in the land. It is true, that for the past several years of his life, he had only been a boarder here and there, .and no favorable opportu- nities had been afforded him for studying this ques- FAMILY GOVERNMENT. 37 tion, with its practical workings before him. Yet he had no doubt but his theory would prove emi- nently efficient and successful. Philip was not to be censured, for his presumption in thus concluding upon this difficult and intricate problem, for herein he had imitated most of the learned bachelors and maids young and old, and the profound husbands and wives who never had any families of their own to govern. He had studied Wesley and a few other great minds, who were so occupied in looking after the welfare of the vast public, that they were scarcely acquainted with their own domestic affairs. Here, in the Watkins family, Philip had a living household acting before him. He began his obser- vations at the breakfast table. The youngest boy was about ten months old, and was tied in a high chair with an old piece of rope, and sat by his moth- er's elbow. After the blessing was asked, a few drops of molasses were smeared over the finger ends of this infant Watkins, and a thimble full of loose, raw cotton was given to him for his amusement. When the cotton was picked from one finger it stuck to another, and thus gave perpetual employment to the little worker, and kept his hands out of mis- chief. His mouth and stomach were kept in active exercise, by delicate bits and spoonsful, abundantly supplied by the care of the mother. Benjamin Watkins, a four year old, full of blood, motion and impudence, sat between the baby and the 38 THE Two CIRCUITS. preacher. While the woman was waiting on some one else, Ben would supplement her attentions to the young one, by cramming into its ready jaws, more than it could swallow. An inch of stuffed sausage was too much for it, and the mother had to turn it, with chair attached, bottom side up to shake the lump of meat from its throat. "Benny, if I catch you putting anything more in Jerry's mouth, I will compel you to leave the table." The mother was excited when she said this, for her youngest child had well nigh turned black in the face over the obstruction of his windpipe. Ben replied: "I sha'nt neither leave ze table." And in order to show that he had a lofty sense of his independence, he threw a quarter of a biscuit across the table, which struck his brother Joseph square on the tip of his nose. And the untimely act brought from the insulted Jo the remark : "Ben I'll knock you over, if you do that again." ' ' You wont nuther, knock me over ; will he Ma?" The appeal to his ma was made with a look of injured innocence and indignation. "No, no, Benny, Jo wont knock you over." Here Jo shook his head in a defiant way, as much as to say, that the knocking was certain to come ; and the mother went on: "But you must n't throw FAMILY GOVERNMENT. 39 biscuit that way, Benny, the preacher will see you." ' ' What if he does ; he wont hurt me I guess ; will he hurt me Ma ? This 'lasses is too thin, gim- my some shugar to make it thick, Aunt Jane." Aunt Jane sat at the head of the table, and did not give the siighest heed to what the little desperado had to say. "Aunt Jane, d'ye hear; gimmy some shugar to thicken this 'lasses." " Benny," said the mother, "you must not have the sugar." Her tone sounded as if it were full of maternal apologies for Benny's ill manners. He un- derstood her at once. So he called out, louder than before: "Aunt Jane, d'ye hear, Aunt Jane, listen tum- me ; " and he balanced a potato up toward his head with his right hand, and gave a fiercer accent to his demand: "Aunt Jane, if ye don't gimmy some shugar, I'll knock that wart off of yer chin with this tater. Do it, Aunt Jane, before I count three, or 'way goes your old wart: one, two, th " here his mother pulled his hand down to his plate. In his rage over the interference, he upset his coffee over the table cloth. At this, the quiet father arose and grasped the little offender by the shoulders and set him in the other room, and told him to stay there till the rest were done eating. And he indi- cated his spirit of rebellion by kicking the door. 4O THE Two CIRCUITS. that was shut against him. Now and then he would call out lustily : " Ma ! ho, Ma ! let me out; I'll be good. Let me out or I'll kick this door down." And the kicking went on with more or less vigor and loud threats and offers of reform till the meal was ended. Benny was so aggravated by his banishment and imprisonment, that he was ready now to declare war upon any member of the family. He had hit Jo on the nose, and seemed still inclined to pursue him. He was now busy at the store door, convert- ing strips of paper into imitation of fire works. Jo was making a hurried and awkward effort to ex- change his coarse pants for a fine pair. And as he was holding the waistband, and was balancing him- self to insert his foot, the ungodly Ben thrust in a burning taper, and in the flurry Jo tipped over, and in went his foot with the blazing little rocket, and he was scorched from his ankle to his knee. His foot came out faster than it went in, and he made a rush for Ben, and caught him, and jerked him and knocked him upside down. Philip says, that he wanted to get up and give Jo a quar- ter of a dollar. The father had gone to look after the stock. The mother flew from the other room and reproached Jo for imposing on his smaller broth- er, Joe gave a nod or two of defiance and said : FAMILY GOVERNMENT. 41 "I'll show him where to stick his fire-works; he's pretty nigh burnt me to the bone." Ben rolled over on his back by the bureau and exclaimed : " Didn't neither ; I jist lighted yer foot into the dark hole." By this time the little ruffian's heels were a foot high scratching and scoring the bureau drawers, singing: ' Jack and Jill, went up the hill, &c." "Stop scratching the bureau ; " said Jo, still anx- ious to be avenged on Benny for the torch business. " Benny," said the mother, with a feeble show of authority, "you must stop that, you'll spoil the bureau, that's very naughty, my child, get off the floor and set on your little stool ; that's a good boy." Benny scored an extra arc with the heel of his shoe tearing the varnish, and in a bantering way exclaimed: " Am I a good boy, Ma?" " No you'r not," exclaimed Jo, who was trying to get the twist out of the back of his suspenders, as he snapped them repeatedly over his shoulders. " Didn't 1 ask you, Jo; speak when yer spoken to." "Come, come, boys, you must be quiet, and not disturb the preacher ; come Benny, go with me into the other room," said the mother in a soothing under tone. 42 THE Two CIRCUITS. "Shan't do it, take Jo, if you wants any of yer children;" and he ran to the opposite side of the room from her, and leaned against the table, and picked up a pair of scissors, and commenced cutting pieces from the last weekly paper. His mother re- peatedly asked him to lay down the scissors and not cut the paper ; but she might as well have attempted to lead an unbroken mule across a ditch. Jo, er- roniously supposing that it would propitiate his mother's favor, slipped behind Benny and jerked the scissors from his hand, and laid them on the mantle beyond his reach. At this, Ben seized the wooden poker and was aiming, with vigor and fe- rocity, at Jo's head ; but the latter wrenched it from the little bully and laid it on the mantle too. The mother by this time had seated herself, as if further conflict was useless, and with a mingled ex- pression of amusement, discouragement and resig- nation inquired : " Do children disturb you, Brother Force." "Not often, I thank you," said Philip. Philip was slow to speak freely, for fear his lan- guage would pass from the ambigous to the un- truthful. He thought that his limited acquaintance and his youth, would hardly permit his giving ad- vice to any good effect. And further, he was con- siderably confused in his mind, upon the great question of family government. CONFUSION. 43 CHAPTER V. CONFUSION. At nine and a half a. m., all the Watkins family, excepting the two older boys, who went to school, started in a two-horse wagon for the house of Mr. Ballinger. Philip followed on horseback. And yet, to say that he followed, hardly expresses the truth ; for his complicated budget of nerves and horseflesh was before and behind, and on both sides of the wagon alternately. "Here's the place," said Watkins. "I'll hitch outside ; you'd best ride inside. Well, there's Brother Ballinger comin'." And Ballinger, with his linsey wainmus, jean pants, brogan shoes, and without a hat, walked hurriedly toward the lowest part of the fence ; and Watkins stood in his wagon and called out : ' ' Good morning, Ballinger ; this is our young preacher, Brother Force. I told him he'd best ride inside." ' ' Yes, yes, ride right in, Brother Force ; I am glad to see you," and he kicked off two of the top rails from the worm fence, and the filly scaled the remaining three rails with a bound ; and- Philip dis- mounted and shook hands with the proprietor of the 44 THE Two CIRCUITS. establishment, who expressed some regrets that Celebs had not come. But Ballinger was good- natured, and was glad to see and become acquainted with the young preacher. " You go in, Brother Force; it's about meeting time. I'll put up the hoss." Philip, however, accompanied him, and the hoss was taken to be watered at the well, which stood midway between the house and barn, and three rods from each. This well was not walled or curbed, neither was it possessed of a pump, wind- lass or sweep. There was an old, leaky, brass kettle tied to the end of a long bean pole, which served to draw water. A few rails and clapboards covered the top, and these boards were pushed aside with the foot when the brass kettte was sent down for supplies. The stable was made of jack-oak poles, and would hold three or four horses. It was propped with hay and fodder on three sides, and the top was covered with clapboards ; and horses were kept from going in and out by fence rails stuck across each other in the door. Nearly all the men who were to compose the congregation were standing near the cabin's front door, telling each other the news, discussing the crops and weather, and fixing and predicting the character and influence of events yet in the future. Philip almost quailed before the united stare of all CONFUSION. 45 these faces. He imagined that he was being meas- ured, and weighed, and sifted, and found worthless before he came close to them, and before he was allowed a trial. But when they gathered about him, with words of kindness and hearty, honest welcome, he knew that his soul was not among lions. They all followed him into the house, and the room was uncomfortably full. The door was left ajar, not for ventilation, but for light. Poles were hanging a few inches from the ceiling, and they were thickly encircled with rings, strings and circular cuts from pumpkins, hung there to dry. The ceiling, as far as could be seen between these yellow slices, was of oak clapboards. It was no sham or imitation of oak, like the ceilings of city churches. The fire place was of vast proportions, considering the dimensions of the room. It was built of stones of nearly all sizes and shapes, and brickbats and mud ; and the chimney, from the fire place upward, was made of mud and sticks. On your left, as you faced the fire, were three or four shelves, which contained the queensware, and tin- cups and pans, the latter looking as pure and polished as clear ice in the sunlight. A small stool, under these shelves, held the water-bucket, and within it floated an old brown gourd. This pail was a popular resort for the thirsty congregation a fashionable watering place for squalling infants and restless youths. It was amazing to see how 4 46 THE Two CIRCUITS. much water the litte prairie sovereigns could hold. Philip thought of the stories he had heard of New- port and Saratoga. No celebrated springs . were ever more popular with the gay world than this old gourd and its contents with these people. Its handle was never quiet for five minutes. Rollick- ing, roaring sucklings, bursting with heat and wriggling under their overload of prison bandages, aprons, tucks, ruffles and wrappers, and all manner of flannel and calico, had to be cooled every few minutes. Boys and girls, roasted to redness and oppressed with extra Sunday garments, and wedged into the bounds of propriety between the knees of sweating parents, struggled^ crawled, crowded and jumped when there was room for the effort, that they might gain that gourd in time to prevent spontaneous combustion. The vast heat arising from the fire place added materially to the gourd's popularity. Whatever might be said of that con- gregation's spiritual temperature, it was evident that there was here no corporeal lukewarmness ; for this room was the torrid zone on a small scale. And the proprietor of this jack-oak tabernacle deemed it his bounden duty to pile on the fuel and punch up the fire for the comfort of the audience. He would take the bucket, when the gourd sounded on the bottom, and visit the well with the bean pole and brass kettle, and replenish ; and every time he came in with a fresh supply, many mouth.s CONFUSION. 47 were cracking with thirst, eager to touch the edge of the gourd. Old men and matrons would drink and sweat, and try their best to keep awake. Young women would bring their heads out of the dark recesses of close-fitting sunbonnets, and look in sympathy toward the young men ; and the young men would, most of them, come forward and par- take diffidently; but then it seemed a case of necessity with them, for the whole visible surface of their heads and necks, as they turned them back to receive the contents of the gourd, indicated that any further accumulation of caloric within them might end in a display of fireworks. The seats were made of slabs, with the round side turned down, and pegs, twenty inches long, were driven into two-inch auger holes for legs. Two or three rough planks were made to reach from one chair to another, thus extending x'he seating privi- leges. The rest of the chairs were the reserved seats for the ladies, and they were generally placed nearest the fire and water. There was no window in the house ; that is, there was no glass window. Opposite the door a log was cut out where a window was expected to be ; and over this hole hung a white, abbreviated window-curtain, and it was pushed to one side on the draw-string. And near this was a red stand, its top surface being about the size of a common barrel head. On this stand lay the bible and 48 THE Two CIRCUITS. hymn book ; and Philip was informed that that was the place for him. Thither he went, a target for every curious eye ; placed his hat under the minia- ture table, surveyed his audience, which was packed nearly as close as figs in a box ; seated himself in the split-bottomed chair ; reached over for his hymn book, as the hour was at hand for beginning the service. The day was cloudy, and the door only half open, and it was rather dark for easy reading ; so Philip brought his eyes as close to this embryo window as possible, and commenced reading his hymn. While these preliminaries were going on within, the cats and dogs had raised between them a serious misunderstanding, out in the open air ; and the hubbub had reached the climax of its fury as Philip was trying to give emphasis to the closing line of the second stanza. There was a loud thun- der of yelping, barking, howling and squalling, intermingled with the cackling and screaming of hens and roosters, and the gobbling of turkeys and the shrill racket of many geese. The cats yelled for quarter, the dogs yelled defiant refusals ; and a.s Philip commenced to read the third stanza, a cat of great size and in desperate rage came whirling and spitting, like a little engine, through that air-hole, right over his hymn book. Philip dodged, and the cat, with a piercing howl, ran under the bed and gradually subsided. But no sooner had Philip wiped the perspiration from his face, and given two CONFUSION WITHIN. CONFUSION. 5 1 or three make-believe coughs, to relieve his confu- sion, and resumed the lining of his hymn, than in came cat number two, worse than the first, roaring with spasmodic spurts of madness, knocking the hymn book out of Philip's hand, and bewildering his perceptions, and driving solemnity from the audience. Immediately in front of Philip sat a quite elderly gentleman, his glossy head as hairless as the palm of his hand ; his chin and hands resting on his staff, and his eyes turned intently toward the preacher. Now, this second cat, having no regard for the gravity of age, or not properly calculating distances as it sailed through the window with frightful recklessness, alighted right on this old man's bald head, and left visible and painful foot- prints. The old gentleman jumped as if he was shot, and gave an unearthly roar that might have been heard for half a mile. At last order was restored, and Philip proceeded with his discourse on human duty. He had no notes ; and had eighteen inches of floor to stand on, and was quite hot, and had an audience of the same temperature. He soon lost sight of his difficulties, and began to hope that good might be accomplished. There was no long or labored exordium ; no attempt at metaphysics ; but a direct appeal to the people before him. Toward the close of his remarks, he noticed a woman, with a shawl 52 THE Two CIRCUITS. and an extensive sunbonnet, with her side toward him, sitting before the fire, who seemed to be greatly agitated. Philip took courage in thinking his words had touched and moved one member of his auditory. He enlarged upon his topic. The woman's excitement increased. Philip increased the volume of his voice and the fervor of his appeals. Her excitement grew. He waxed warm- er in pathos, and directed to her words of encour- agement. She seemed nearly overcome with her convictions. Philip was fully fired, calling out his powers of "heart and soul and voice." His linen was moist with perspiration ; his face was flushed ; his gestures became rapid, and his speech vehe- ment. He leaned forward in the eagerness of hope, and rejoiced in spirit that the word was quick and "powerful. "Surely, " thought he, "good is being done." But, alas! "man in his best estate is vanity;" for, when he was in the climax of his exhortation and expectation, she turned and looked upon the face of the preacher ; and, behold, she was chattering and shaking with the ague, and her lips were as blue as faded indigo. Philip suddenly caught the chill himself, and motioning to the local preacher by his side, called to him : "Brother Dawson, will you close with prayer?" Philip wandered some in his mind during that prayer. He thought of the dead, borrowed CONFUSION. 53 horse ; his confusion about family government ; and the present events of cats and ague, and repeated to himself, "Vanity of vanities, saith thb preacher ;" and he further thought his eccle- siastical status was being unsatisfactorily defined. \A disturbing genius whispered, ' ' Young man, you hare missed your calling. You and your place are nol in harmony. You are like a round man trying to fit a square hole. Get away from here. Go Further west. Hide. Some one else was called andlyou have answered. Go to farming, or learn ;i trade, or hire out to some one who knows the worjd. Oh, go at anything, where your natural idiody will not so easily be perceived. You strike in the wrong place. You beat the air. You don't even! know how to feed horses, nor how to cure them when sick. Cats and all animated life are at variance with you. You don't know a word of this- prayer that is going on now. You can't see the difference between the chills and gospel conviction. Young\man, don't be a humbug. Don't aim to be an cage when you are merely an ordinary barn fowl. True, a genius is not expected to have com- mon sense. Yes, your teachers said you had gen- ius, ana Mary agreed with them. Yes, yes, she thinks y^)u are the embodiment of wisdom and sublimity^ She don't know you. Her father knows you. He has sense, that's why he said you could n't ^ave her. O, foolish, youth, she think. 54 THE Two CIRCUITS. you are an angel. May be you are ; but the world don't appreciate angels now days. They are better adapted to another and higher sphere of existence. If want of adaptation to the disjointed affairs here below is a characteristic of angels perchance you are one. ' Vain man thy fond pursuits forbear. ' Re- pent, stop, tarn about, defeat is nigh ; think before you are utterly consumed." The ending of the prayer stopped this whirl of suggestions, and the benediction was pronounced in gloom. CELEBS VISITED, 55 CHAPTER VI. CELEBS VISITED. The sermon, with all its attendent etceteras, oc- cupied about fifty minutes. Class-meeting wns announced to be held immediately after dismission. A dozen or fifteen persons remained ; the others, for the most part, entertained themselves out doors, until the services within were concluded. The young preacher acted as the leader. Accord- ing to the usual custom, he called upon each 'one successively to relate some portion of their religious experience. The whole exercise passed off smooth- ly until nearly every one had spoken. Among those present was an elderly looking lady ; neatly but not expensively dressed. A few silvery lines were discernable in the thin coat of her once jet black hair. Some dentist had drawn largely up- on her mouth ; but while old teeth had been re- moved, new ones had not taken their places. Her thin lips were compressed with sad and pensive severity over their loss, and looked as if they were ready to say, " Do not ask me to speak." A girl of eight years leaned fondly upon her side, which gave her a matronly appearance, and these circum- 56 THE Two CIRCUITS. stances together emboldened Philip to address her with a degree of familiarity. ' ' Mother, we would be glad to hear from you about Heaven's goodness." Any thing but joy sparkled in her eyes, and there was an absence of calm delight from her lips as she replied : "I thank you, sir; I'm nobody's mother. But I am trying to be religious, and hope to gain heaven when done with this troublesome world." Her accent was forcible on the word troublesome. Philip shook his head in dismay, as if to remove the glimmer from his eyes and gave two or three vehement coughs and wiped the great drops of per- spiration from his face and tried, with all his power, to bring out an appropriate reply ; but in vain ; his ideas were like tow blowing among thorns. He looked into the fire place and then upward to the canopy of pumpkins, and in his blundering confu- sion commenced to sing : "Whom man forsakes, thou wilt not leave." This woman was unmarried, and Philip ne\er suc- ceeded in securing her favorable opinion. She al- ways persisted in declaring, that he lacked talents, taste and common discernment After all had spoken, Philip asked the leader of the class if he desired to say anything to the mem- bers before dismission. He arose and urged upon them the importance of supporting the gospel. He said the new preachers have come among us, and CELEBS VISITED. 57 we ought to welcome them by a prompt and cheer- ful attention to their temporal wants ; and if any were prepared to hand in their quarterage, he would receive it. One man arose and handed the leader twenty-five cents, and remarked : ' ' I most generally pay a quarter every time the preacher comes around and preaches ; and when he don't come around, I pay nothing. " Another man handed him five dollars, and told the leader to put him down for twenty dollars for the year. That was Mr. Ballinger. Two wealthy men, close by the last giver, sat looking sadly down their noses, as if exploring the sea of tobacco juice at their feet. They sighed and shuffled their toes, and rested their chins on the palms of their hands, and their elbows on their knees, and gave nothing. One of these latter mentioned men, a Mr. Get, in a few weeks after this, took three bushels of ap- ples to Doubletown, and tried all forenoon to sell them, and failed. He had sold his butter, eggs, meat and flour, but found no purchaser for ap- ples. All at once it occurred to him, that he would make a present of them to Mr. Celebs, the senior preacher. Accordingly, with his wife and two grown daughters, and two half grown boys, and two horses, and two ponderous Newfoundland pups, he went to Mr. Celebs', to manifest the fullness of the family generosity, in making him a present of 58 THE Two CIRCUITS. the three bushels of apples. It was Saturday, and Mr. Celebs was, of course, glad to see them. What business has a preacher to be in any other state of mind. And every woman knows how perfectly delighted Mrs. Celebs must have been ; for she had just commenced housekeeping, and Mr. Get was a rich farmer, one of the solid men of the Double- town circuit. Celebs helped them unhitch their horses and put them in the stable ; taking his own horse out and tying him to the fence. One of the young Gets' broke Celebs' pitchfork, trying to make a jurnping- pole of it. After matters were arranged at the stable, Celebs hastened to the house and seated Mr. Get with his family and the two Newfoundlands, in the parson- age parlor. Mr. Get took ofT his hat with a pat- ronizing air, reminding you of a landlord who had called to dine with one of his tenants. Celebs took his basket, and hurried to the market places, and bought two extra pounds of butter and a large piece of meat, and came home and killed an extra chicken ; and his wife did extra duty in get- ting dinner for her guests; and their stomachs did extra justice to the occasion. Celebs reserved his force to appear agreeable, and wasted none of it in useless words. And as Mr. Get was inclined to be loquacious, full range and REV. ELIJAH CELEBS. CELEBS VISITED. 59 opportunity was given to his powers while at the table. "Brother Celebs, I thought I'd bring you over a few bushels of apples, and call and see you while we were in town." ' ' Thank you, Brother Get, we are happy to see you." ' ' I tried to sell them apples all over town, but nobody wanted 'em: and rather'n carry 'em back home, I 'lowed I mout as well bring 'em over and make you a present of 'em. I reckon preachers don't get much ; yet nearly all of 'em's askin for money every time they have a chance. It always spiles a meetin, to me, to have 'em take up a col- lection. It looks too much like mixin' worldly and holy things together. The most of us is poor in our society; and some of 'em's in debt for their farms, and have hard work to get along. I know its the case with myself, and I judges other people by myself. I'll thank you for more of that meat ; its elegant. How much have I ? Well, I've about fifteen hun- dred " acres, and its the best prairie in the region, and forty acres of timber j'inin'. I bought another eighty last fall, and its not all paid for. If I was out of debt I'd try and do more for the church. But, my motto is, to be just before ye'r generous. My will's good, to do right smart, but seem like 60 THE Two CIRCUITS. I'm always in debt. I'm in debt some for my cat- tle too. How many cattle have I? Well, I ha'nt more'n two hundred head this season. But, I tell ye, they'r as splendid a bunch o' steers as ever ye see. I got 'em right low. I wouldn't turn my hand over to no man in buying cattle right. If nothin hap- pens, I'll make a nice thing out of them. I'll take another cup of that coffee, Sister Celebs ; I don't generally drink more'n three cups, but that's extra good. And then, since you mentioned my stock, I want you to stop, when you'r up our way, and look at my mules ; they'r mules, what is mules. Be sure and stop over, and I'll show you some hogs too, that's hard. to beat, in this neck o'timber. They come from down east, and cost like Boston to get 'em here ; but they'r mor'n paid for themselves long 'go. But seem like I'm always in debt. And I've got to build a new barn in the spring. And I'm afeered the wheat, wont do well. Old Seabright knows all sich things, and he says, the fly's in it now ; and what the fly leaves will be half cheat. That's true, Brother Celebs, we ought to have a church built, up with us. But then we're nearly all in debt; when we get a little beforehand we'll have to build. But, then, we've mighty good, re- ligious times at Ballinger's house ; and I'm afeered if we had a new church, we'd get proud and formal, CELEBS VISITED. 61 and lose the power. Some of 'em said I ought to have the preachin at my house, as it was bigger' n Ballinger's. But ye see, Brother Celebs, I've al- ways got work hands about that cares nothin' for meetin' ; and it makes so much work and bother for the wimmen folks and ther's always such a crowd stays for dinner; and some of the sermons is so long that it keeps the work hands a waitin' and stops their work, and their pay goes on all the time, you know; and they don't like to wait so long for dinner. And then, Ballinger, seems like, he wants the meetin' at his house, and I don't like to ask him to give it up. I would n't have any hard feelin's between me and Ballinger. Ballinger's poor, and has a tough time to get along. Seem like he can't calculate and get forehand. He goes to meetin' too much. Don't you think a man can be righteous over much? Well, Ballinger's one o' them. I believe he'd rather go to meetin' than buy a good steer. He'd rather pray than strike a trade. Then, Ballinger gives too much. He throws in some- thing nearly every time ther's a collection ; and he tries to coax his neighbors to throw in. Now, that's not me ; they don't get me into their collections nary time. Ther's a time for all things, and char- ity begins at home. The world thinks nothin' of ye if ye have nothin'. I let the world know that I can pay my way, and have something left. 62 THE Two CIRCUITS. Oh, yes, yes, that's true nearly everybody likes Ballinger. Even the worldians are ready to swear he's all right and sure of heaven. But some of 'em, seem like they envy me, and persecute me. But I don't mind 'em much, for the book says, ' Blessed are they who are persecuted. ' They call me hard names, and say I'm stingy, because I provide for my own household. Everybody seems to try to cheat me ; but thank the Lord they can't do it, much ; they don't catch old Get a nappin'. Then, the preachers sometimes preach at me on money ; but I can always tell the difference a'tween that and the ginniwine gospel ; I let it go in one ear and out the other. Thank the Lord the gospel's free ; and when they preach a pay gospel, I call it no gospel at all. Ballinger and me's nearly always argyin' about givin'. I argy, that he gives too much, that he'll never be worth nuthin'. Oh, well, yes, I know he's got a hundred and sixty acres, and its paid for, and he's out o' debt, and wasn't worth a continental red when he came here, and he's right smart o' stock for a hundred and sixty acres. He says, it does him as much good to give, as it does me to make money ; but I don't see how it can. It's not so with me, by a long ways. But he always seems in good speerits, and everybody's glad to see him ; and everybody haint glad to see me. Ye see, I come it sharp over them in a trade sometimes ; and it seems like, they'r CELEBS VISITED. 63 fornenst me after that. But they'r bound to look up to me ; for I've got more'n any of 'em ; except one or two of my neighbors ; and they never trade with me, or it wouldn't be so with them long. They never want to buy any thing I want to sell, and they never want to sell me any thing I want to buy. No, I guess not Brother Celebs. I believe I don't want to subscribe for the ' Advercate. ' I tuck the thing last year, and seem like I had hard work to read it ; and the children haint much learnin' ; and when a body works hard all day, they'r tired enough to sleep at dark. And when yer readin* ye have to burn two candles, one to run about with, and the other to read by ; and then two dollars is'nt picked up every day, to pay for it. We don't read what books we've got ; and what's the use o' buy- in' more readin' when ye'r more'n ye use now. Where did you say, Brother Tagus went this year? Well, they ought to put Tagus on a hard circuit. When he rode here, I told him one day, that he might have twenty bushel o' corn, if he'd come and pick it, and haul it away hisself, for I had more'n I could gather. And don't you think, he didn't want to pay me full price for that corn, in the way of quarterage. Tagus isn't fit for a preacher ; he's always lookin' after the dollar. He cheated me in a hoss swap. I wasn't thinkin' of such a thing in a preacher, or I'd a been up to him. I'm 64 THE Two CIRCUITS. more'n ever convicted of the great evil of preachers swappin' hosses. He made twenty dollars in that trade. No, he didn't do any thing dishonest, ex- actly ; but he got up on my blind side, as the sayin' is, and I might just as well made that twenty dol- lars as him. No, sir, I guess I won't do nothin' for missions this year. I paid enough last year to do me some time. I reckon I must o' paid pretty nigh seven dollars last year, if not twenty. If every body would do as well as me, missionaries would live high. Ye see, Tagus kept beggin' me for mission- ary money every time he was at my house. And last April I had a sick, yearlin' calf, I thought was goin' to die. And Tagus was there braggin' on every thing I had, and was a feelin' mighty sorry for my sick calf. I told him its chances for life wasn't worth a quarter of a dollar, and just then he asked me to give that calf to the missionary cause. Well, I never did believe in givin' to convert heath- ens away off, when there was so many to convert at home. My rule is, charity begins at home. But then, I liked Tagus right well, he was good company, and a mighty fine judge o' stock ; and he got me to promise to let him have the calf for mis- sions. Well, I didn't care much, for I didn't think that would be givin any thing ; and wouln n't break my charity rule ; so I told him he might have the lousy thing. But would you believe it, that calf CELEBS VISITED. 65 was on its legs in less than three days after that. It picked up tremjous, like. And Tagus called to see it, as if it was a sick child ; and seemed to think as much of it, as if it was one of the family. And he doctored it, and petted it, and called it Durbin. I thought for a while he meant Durham ; but he said he called it after Dr. Durbin, a great mission- ary man. When he came to take it away, as he was leaving the circuit, it was the finest calf of its age on the farm. I wanted him to pay a dollar or two for its keepin' ; I thought that was no more'n justice ; but he laughed at me. I tried to hold him to it ; but he told me so many anecdotes, and kept in such a good humor, that I had to let it go. But I hated it mightily, for it was the makin' of an ele- gant steer. I could a made the thing brought me twenty dollars; and cost me, in a manner, nothin'." While this interesting conversation was going on at the table, the two Newfoundland pups had de- cided to break their fast, and to that intent, explor- ed the back yard and garden. They upset a jar of cream, ready for churning, in the milk-house^; suck- ed and smashed two dozen eggs ; and greased their throats with a pound of butter. After this repast, they appeared to have gone to the clothes line, and pulled down two shirts and a table cloth, and tore them into napkins, for the wiping of their teeth and paws ; and when discovered they were gratify- ing their curiosity, by chewing and tangling Celebs' 66 THE Two CIRCUITS. new harness, which had been hanging on the fence. Mr. Get, after a few regretful expressions, was de- lighted with the sagacity thus displayed, and al though it might be an annoyance to Celebs, he con- cluded it would be the making of the pups. These things, with the happiness he enjoyed in expressing his opinions so freely to Celebs, and the further felicity of bestowing three bushels of apples, prepared Mr. Get to go home in a high state of good humor and self-satisfaction. AT WIDOW MAGULTY'S. 67 CHAPTER VII. AT WIDOW MAGULTY'S. After concluding the services and enjoying din- ner at Ballinger's cabin, Philip started for his next appointment, which was to be the following day, at eleven o'clock, seven miles away, at the house of Mrs. Magulty. He reached there at five p. m., and found them all ready to receive the preacher. But they had expected to greet Mr. Celebs, and manifested a slight displeasure at the disappoint- ment. Mrs. Magulty was a quiet, plain, good-natured widow lady, of fifty-five years ; and the balance of her family consisted of two grown daughters, and one son, who, though not entirely grown, felt himself as fully and perfectly developed as almost any person in the country. His mother considered him a very superior youth. He had an inquiring mind, and quite limited cultivation, but was exceedingly communicative and desirous of displaying his wit. He met Philip at the gate. "Does Mrs. Magulty live here?' "Yes, siree. " ' ' My name is Force ; Mr. Celebs desired me to fill his appointment here to-morrow. " 68 THE Two CIRCUITS "Why didn't Celebs come himself? I s'pose you're the young preacher, haint ye ? I heard his name was Force. If you're him, jist git off o' that bay filly o' yourn and I'll put her up, and you go in the house." Philip dismounted, and Zeph. took hold of the bridle, and pulled off the saddle-bags, and re- marked : " Mebby you'd just as soon carry these in your- self? Can that mar' o' yourn run much? Guess her legs is most too short. Jist walk in, and tell the folks who you are, and make yourself at home. Mother and the girls is got all the piety there is at this house. Go in, Mr. Force." He rapped at the door, which was opened by 'one of the girls. Mrs. Magulty sat by the fire knitting, and as Philip came in she arose with a smile to receive him, and slightly started back, as she said : "Why, this is not Brother Celebs." "No, madam, my name is Force." "Oh, the young preacher, is it? I am glad to see you, Brother Force ; take the rocking-chair. Jane, take his saddle-bags and put them in the closet. Did Zephaniah put up your horse?" ' ' A young man took my horse at the gate, and said he would put it in the stable." " That's my son Zephaniah;" and the old lady resumed her seat and the knitting, and went on: AT WIDOW MAGULTY'S. 69 "Brother Squillip has been here for an hour to get you to go over to his school house to preach to- night. He's just gone to one of the neighbors, and will be back in a few minutes. He thought Brother Celebs was coming ; but I guess you'll suit him. He knew Brother Celebs, for he preached on a circuit where he lived a few years, ago. There's no regular preaching at But there comes Brother Squillip now. Walk in, Brother Squillip ; that's Brother Force, our young preacher." "How-de-do, Brother Force; why didn't Ce- lebs come ? I'll give him tribulation when I see him. I've been calculating for two weeks for him to preach in our school house to-night. I know'd he'd go, for him and me's great friends. We used to hunt deer and chase wolves together, when he traveled our circuit. I tell ye, Celebs can preach ; he's got religion, sense and power all in him." Philip felt somewhat discomfited, but desiring it should not be noticed, he said : "Brother Celebs is commencing housekeeping for the first time, and arranged for me to fill his appointments this week." "That's the way; when preachers get married they have to take the time that belongs to the cir- cuit to look after their wives, and get somebody else to fill their appointments. But I'll bet Celebs '11 make it go right when he gets his wife settled wunst. Who did he marry ? Is she a young flirt 7O THE Two CIRCUITS. of a thing, or is she the kind of a wife for a preacher?" "From my short acquaintance with her, I think she will make him an excellent wife. She appears to be in every way worthy of him." " I'm glad o' that, for Celebs is one of my sort of men. Now, to cut a long story short, I want to know, Brother Force, whether you can come up to our school house and preach to-night? It won't do to disappoint them altogether. You're not just the man I expected, but I guess we'll have to take you this time. Ours is not a regular appointment ; you needn't expect nothing fine ; we're backwoods sort o' folks, but we turn out to preaching like bees a-swarming. " ' ' As I am not the man you expected, you had better withdraw the appointment. If I were to go, it would disappoint your audience as much as if I should stay away." "Well, well, now you don't. You must come, Brother Force ;" and Squillip threw all the elements of persuasion and apology into his manner that he was capable. "You can leave your horse here, and go up in my wagon. You don't mind ridin' in a wagon, do ye? I think we'll have a good time." "I would not hesitate to go if I thought I could be of any service to your people." "Come and try us on wunst, and then you'll know: seed's believin', and doin's the solid truth. AT WIDOW MAGULTY'S. 71 I'll bring you back in my wagon in the morning, in time for preaching here. Come ahead ; it's getting late." Mrs. Magulty announced that supper was ready, and that they must eat before starting. And Squillip observed : "It's as cheap eatin' now as anytime; mebby we won't have a better chance. Let's set by and take a bite, Brother- Force ; Mrs. Magulty's a mighty good cook." "My daughters do the cooking, Brother Squil- lip." ' "That's all the same; they wouldn't a knowed how if you hadn't showed 'em. So, you see, I'm right yet." Zephaniah sat at one end of the table, and his mother at the other ; Squill-ip and the preacher on one side, and the two girls opposite. The blessing was scarcely asked, when Zeph. led off in conver- ration. "That's a dreadful wicked filly o' yourn, Mr. Force. I took her down to the hoss-lot to water, and the calves come up behind her, and she kicked one of 'em about a rod, and it lay wigglin' its feet and wallin' its eyes till I thought the thing was goin' to peg out After a bit, it got up, and moped o.'T like it had the milk-sick. And jist as I was goin' in the stable, my two hound pups come a howlin' close up behind her, and she tuck one of 72 THE Two CIRCUITS. 'em a rap on the ribs that stretched him, and put him past howlin' for more'n a minute. When I got her in the stable, the old sorrel mare come a smellin' around her, and the filly grabbed her by the side, and when her teeth jerked off it cracked like a pistol, and you might a-heard the old mar' squeal a mile. I got a pole, and lammed her till she squatted and trembled, and I thought she was tamed down some. But when I went to unbuckle the saddle, she snapped me by the seat o' my pants, and histed me about a foot. I thought I was cotched in a flyin' steel-trap, and yel-led wuss'n the old mar', and thought of the swingin' heretics in the Book o' Martyrs." "Did she hurt you much, Zephaniah ?" said Mrs. Magulty, soothingly. "Hurt? Humph.! I feel like she's tuck a half- pound out o' me. I'll bet I'll carry the print of her teeth for a year. I feel like I was setting on a flax-hackel, and weighed two hundred pounds." There was a hearty laugh over the relation of his mishaps ; and with a mingled expression of laugh- ing and pouting, he replied : "It may be fun to you, but it's not to me ; I'm nearly bit to the bone." And they all laughed the louder. After hastily disposing of the supper, Squillip prevailed on the two girls to go with him and Philip to the meeting at his school house. They AT WIDOW MAGULTY'S. 73 hurried to an adjoining room, and Philip overheard a dialogue something like this : "Hadn't I better take off these artificials from my bonnet? Our preacher may not like them." " I think you had ; both of you. I never wanted you to spend your money for the things." " Jane can take hers off, if she wants to, but I'll not do it. If the preacher don't like them, he needn't look at them. I like them, and intend to wear them, unless you command me to take them off, mother." "I'll not do that Julia; only I thought it might be more becoming while the preacher was here." " Well, I'm not around trying to be becoming to preachers. Hurry off your artificials, Jane, and let's go; they're waiting for us. You'll take the preacher's eye, you look so plain and pious." In a few minutes the girls returned, ready for the ride. Zeph., who was sitting with half-suppressed contortions of pain in the cushioned rocking-chair, as soon as he saw the girls, exclaimed : "Go it, Jane; pulled off artificials and brass lace, eh ? Getting mighty pious all at once !" Jane colored, and looked to see if Philip had noticed her brother's remark ; but he appeared to be oblivious to his raillery. 74 THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER VIII. MISHAPS. A rough plank lay across the wagon bed, imme- diately above the front wheels, which was occupied as a seat, by Squillip and Force. Back of this, were placed two split-bottomed chairs for the girls. Soon the four were all aboard ; and Squillip took up his rope reins, and hit his horses with a long ha- zel switch, and started in a slow trot. These horses were matches; having white faces and feet; and were otherwise the color of a dusty Milwaukee brick. Their tails were long and bunchy, and, collectively, contained a half peck of cockle-burs and Spanish- needles, irregularly woven in. Their hip bones were high and prominent, and their backs were curved upwards, till they neared the withers, and the joints thereof could be seen from a remote dis- tance. The ribs seemed ready to come to the light at any moment, and yet they appeared to press in- wardly. Their bodies and necks were lank and slender, and their legs and heads disproportionately large. Their manes were jumbled into all manner of coils and knots, and irregular complications, and were matted and cemented with innumerable prick- les, barbs, thistles and burs, branching around in MISHAPS. 75 notches, forks and jagged, wedge-shaped tufts, look- ing as if they had been daubed with mortar, to make the contents permanent. One of these horses was blind in his left eye, and the other was blind in both. Their ears droop- ed and flapped about, like mullen leaves in a storm. The bits, and a single rope, extending therefrom over the tops of the horses' heads, formed the bri- dles ; and as intimated, the reins were of the same material. The remainder of the harness, all told, consisted of collars and hames, trace and breast chains. As there were no arrangements for holding back, the wagon would run against the horses' heels every time they went down hill. But the hills were gen- tle in their slopes, and could hardly be called hills, so the horses seemed to regard the wagon running against them as rather a luxury. "I'm afeered we'll be late ; (git up !) but they'll be no meetin' till we get there. I'm afeered no- body '11 think to bring candles. (G'lang !) Is this your first circuit, Brother Force?" "Yes, sir," said Philip, his sympathy going out for the horses. ' ' Well, this trip '11 help break ye in. (Get up, there, Ball !) There's not many members up to our school house ; only two or three of us ; and we've got no society formed yet ; but we hope we'll have a good time this year, and get a good start. /6 THE Two CIRCUITS. (G'lang, there, what ye mean, Bull and Bounce !) There's all sorts o' denominations in our set- tlement: Campbellites, Hard-Shell Baptists, Mis- sionary Baptists, and a few Presbyterians; (g'lang, there, what ye doin' !) but there's no regular preachin', excep' by the Methodist. Now and then a Campbellite, or Hard-Shell, comes along ; (get away, there !) the Hard-Shell preaches on predestination, and the Campbellite on immersion ; and we want to keep up Methodist meetin's to preach the gospel to 'em. (Get up, ye lazy whelps !V It was dark before the school house was reached. And as Squillip lived a mile further on, and it was now nearly time for service, it was deemed expe- dient to stop. About one square acre had been left out of the corner of a large field as a block for educational purposes ; and on it was built this school house, " free for all denominations. " It was close to the edge of the woodland, and was built of round logs, and covered with clapboards. The door-latch and handle were of wood, and so were the hinges. The floor was of puncheons, dressed with an ax, and fastened to log sleepers with wooden pins. A log was cut out, nearly the whole length of the building, on each side, for the admission of light, and paper was pasted over the place, and made half-way trans- parent by a liberal application of lard. The seats MISHAPS. 77 were made of smooth, broad rails, supported by legs of saplings, as thick as your wrist. An aisle, three feet wide, extended from the door to the other end of the room ; and in the middle of it was the ten-plate stove, heated several degrees be- yond the demands of comfort. The indispensable water-bucket, with its long-handled gourd, sat on a bench behind the door. Numerous pegs were sticking in the logs all around the room, and were occupied with bonnets and hats. There was no light in the house, except what gleamed through the cracks around the stove-door, and the meagre supply of greased moonshine that struggled through one of the paper windows. Mr. Squillip made inquiries of several persons concerning candles ; no one had thought of bring- ing them ; it was evident that all present expected him to furnish all such accommodations. A half- grown boy was finally induced to go to the nearest neighbor, a quarter of a mile away, and procure a supply. While they were seated in the dark, more than half the congregation visited the water- bucket; and run in and out, keeping the hinges creaking con- stantly. When they came in from the cool atmosphere, they would run and stand close to the stove, and spit on it with gusto and vigor, amusing themselves with the music of boiling saliva. 7 8 THE Two CIRCUITS. One old lady, with a sunbonnet of prodigious foreground, sat in front of the stove, where the light gleamed the strongest, and with spectacles on her nose, was busily employed knitting a coarse woolen sock. Two or three others were afterwards discovered, making the same restless effort to blend business with devotion. Philip thought of the admonition of the Apostle, "Diligent in business, fervent in spirit," and so forth. At the far end of the aisle was a tottering, batter- ed, whittled, ink-bespattered, old table. It looked as if its top had been the side of a goods-box, and its legs, bean-poles. Behind the table, and next the wall, was an old split-bottomed chair, with the back broken. And, between the table and the stove, lay two large yellow dogs, lounging in a state of profound composure. At last the candles arrived ; but when the youth unrolled the paper containing them, it was discov- ered that, somewhere on the journey, all the candles had slipped out, save one. After some consultation, it was determined that the lone candle should be placed on the table for the accommoda- tion of the preacher. A further question arose, as to how to make it maintain its perpendicular. The schoolmaster, who assumed to be a sort of master of ceremonies, and who claimed to be familiar with geometry, cut square off the lower end of the can- dle, and then lit the small end, and held the candle MISHAPS. 79 over on its side till there had dropped from its blazing end on the table a puddle of melted tallow, and in that puddle he held the flat end ; and in a few seconds, sure enough, the light stood erect, and the exercises proceeded. The preaching had been going on about ten min- utes, when one of the dogs, lying between the table and the stoVe, concluding it would add to his comfort to stretch, rolled over against the ricketty table, which caused such a tottering of its bean-pole legs that it fell, leaving the house in total darkness, excepting a few rays from the stove-door, and the faint effort of greased moonshine mentioned above. While efforts were being made for a re-illumina- tion, Philip, remembering that "darkness and silence were twin sisters," seated himself in the broken-backed chair, and meditated in a desultory way, as follows: " 'Darkness and silence are twin sisters.' That may be poetry, but is not true at all times. Darkness is here, silence is not. Wolves howl in the dark, and are answered by defiant dogs, cats, frogs and katy-dids. Owls hoot and screech in the dark. Night is the time for revelry and dissipation, curtain-lectures, tears and hysterics ; for elope- ments and lunacy ; for treason, strategems and spoils, assassinations, robbery and crime ; the time for conscience to sit in judgment; the busy day had drowned its voice, but in the dark its grim, 8o THE Two CIRCUITS. rebuHng face makes the guilty tremble. Fires burn wilder and fiercer in the night, and lightning, flood and thunder are more terrible. Night-mares, witches, spectres, ghosts and goblins glory in the night ; plagues and pestilence triumph ; gates and signs are stolen, and tricks are played on solemn professors. Night is the time for rioters, mobs and burglars to rifle, waste and destroy ; the time when cars are wrecked, and vessels are lost at sea. If darkness and silence are twin sisters, they often travel separately. Then, we must allow that dark- ness has a bright and quiet side. Those who have a quiet conscience, and have not plowed the sloughs of vice, may say, that night is 'reason's reign and virtue's too;' when the smile of heaven is over the slumbering world ; when the vast majority have, for hours, the negative side of piety, doing no harm. They may say, that darkness is God's curtain, by which he shades the couch of his sleeping children ; the time when care is gone, and thoughts are folded as peacefully as flowers waiting for the morning ; the time when man can commune with his own heart and be still ; when wayward impulses are checked, when pride learns its nothingness, when the Infinite Father seems nearer, than in the rough strife and struggle of the day._ The sun, like some mighty arch-angel in his brightness, confounds and overwhelms me with his sublimity. I stand abashed in his presence ; but the stars and moon, MISHAPS. 8 1 like gentle seraphim, would kindly lead toward God." While Philip thus soliloquized, the bustling schoolmaster had re-lit the candle, and studied its possibilities, and took out his three-bladed knife, and run one of the small blades through the candle, near the lower end, and then half-opened the big blade and thrust it forcibly into the table, and once more the solitary light resumed its position for shining, and Philip proceeded with his discourse. But it was a night of mishaps, and confusion seemed to reign defiantly. For, as he neared the end of his remarks, a large, young man, six feet, and fleshy, who occupied a seat before and to the right of him, and who had been intently regarding, with open mouth, all that was said, was violently seized with a fit, and jumped near two feet high, and threw back his arms and head, and fell, froth- ing at the mouth, directly on the two yellow dogs. The dogs yelled, and bolted for the open space under the table. But no sooner had they reached this point of fancied security, than the man in convulsions, tearing and twisting in every muscle, kicked the table and knocked it bottom-side up, over the dogs. Their second yell was worse than the first, and they disturbed Philip's equilibrium by dodging against his legs. Four or five men tried to keep the floundering maniac in the neighborhood of propriety, with but ill success. For, as tV" 82 THE Two CIRCUITS. young schoolmaster was sweeping the flo<)r with hi hands, searching for the fallen candle, one sweep ( I the crazy man's leg, moved by an extra convulsio \, knocked him diagonally upwards a few feet, causing him to fall against two or three bonnets, which extorted several screams from female voices. When it became generally known that diligent search was being made for the lost candle, a boy, sitting before the stove, exclaimed : "I seed one o' them 'ar dorgs go out doas with that 'ar candle in his mouf. " While they were waiting for the frantic six-footer to get over his fit, some strong-lunged disciple con- cluded to vary the exercises, and broke out singing : " How tedious and tasteless the hours," etc. The hymn and the fit ended about the same time, and Philip, having lost the spirit of prophecy for the evening, arose and pronounced the benediction, and started with Squillip for his night's resting place. SQUILLIP AND THE GIRLS. 85 CHAPTER IX. SQUILLIP AND THE GIRLS. Gossamer 'clouds were flitting over the path of the moon. Dogs were jubilant over the prospect of returning home. Young men were busy select- ing the partners they desired to see over the way. Here and there one had received the mitten as a reward for his intended gallantry. There were young men on horses, and young men afoot ; and young women to mate them. There were girls in groups, and young men in the same condition ; and each group was desirous of mingling with the other, and both were kept from each other by bashful- ness. On the way home, Squillip was in superior spir- its, as if all the events of the evening had been a success ; in fact, the ludicrous circumstances of the occasion added to his enjoyment. But, by way of apology for the mishaps, he remarked : "Now, Brother Force, if it hadn't been for that 'ar fit, we'd a' had a good meetin' ; and, to my mind, it was a good meetin' as 'twas. (Go long, Ball!) But I couldn't help thinkin' old Blogus ought 'o kept that son o' his'n at home, when he knows he has fits so. It looks to me, he's more 86 THE Two CIRCUITS. fits at meetin' than anywhere else. (Get away, there, laziness!)" Philip answered in monosyllables, seldom further than "yes" or "no;" for he felt subdued, and dissatisfied with himself and the rest of the world, and regarded his effort as a failure. The Misses Magulty, on the contrary, were abundant in words and laughter. "I don't think Mr. Force will want to come up to your place to preach again, where candles are so scarce, and dogs and fits so plenty." "Oh, well, now, Sister Jane," said Squillip, "you know, 'twas an accident that we didn't have plenty o' candles. Jo Bates, I guess, must a' been thinking of some o' you girls, so he let all the can- dles slip out of the paper. He had plenty to light the whole house when he started from Blyrix'es. (What are ye doin', Ball and Bounce !)" By this time the hazel switch was far worn awaj- by its frequent and violent application upon the dry bones of the poor horses. "Just such another night of accidents and I'd die laughing," said Julia. " If laughing could have killed you," said Squil- lip, "you'd been dead long 'go; you're always laughing. (G'lang, ye brutes !)" "No, we're not, said Julia; "but I'd defy any- one to keep from laughing at such performances as we were treated to to-night. It was almost equal SQUILLIP AND THE GIRLS. 87 to a monkey show. If I were Mr. Force, the next time I preached here I'd do it in the day time, and keep big men subject to spasms, and great dogs, out of the congregation. Mercy, I shall laugh every time I think of Bill Blogus kicking the pert little schoolmaster, who looked as if he was playing leap-frog over those girls' bonnets. Sue Jinks and Kate Miler had just got theirs from Doubletown, as full of starch as a pasteboard, and covered with artificials ; that teacher smashed both of them as if they had been tramped on. I wouldn't give two- bits for both of 'em ; they're ruined. I thought we had hard enough times in meeting, at our house, but vie give in to your school house, Mr. Squillip." "I call this a first-rate meetin' ; (g'lang, Ball!) you can't expect to have everything go like clock-work in a new country, where we've not got fairly started yet. (G'lang !) Nothing's no account if you have no trouble to get it. The gospel's bet- ter to me than it is to some folks, because I've trouble to get it. (Get-ep !)" "I shall always look on you, then, as one of the greatest lovers of the gospel I know of," said Julia. "I like it, sure. Here's the place I stay; get out, girls. You take Brother Force in, and I'll put up the hosses." Philip and the Misses Magulty climbed the rail fence, before the door, and rapped for admittance. 88 THE Two CIRCUITS. The clouds had become heavy, and it was quite dark. " Go right in," said Squillip, in a loud voice; "don't wait for ceremonies; I s'pect my wife's in bed." The girls pulled the latch-string and walked in, while Philip loitered without. ' ' Who's thar ? 'S that you, Jake ?" "No, ma'am; it's Jane and Julia Magulty, and the preacher, Mr. Force. Mr. Squillip will be in as soon as he puts up the horses." "Well, I'm glad to see you all." Philip wondered how Mrs. Squillip could consist- ently make such remark, when there was no light within, and you could scarcely see your hand before your face. "If I'd knowed you was comin', I would have set up, but I was awful tired, with a big day's washin', and went to bed early. You'll find a lamp on the table there, girls." The girls knocked over two or three chairs, or stools, in their search . for the lamp, and uttered some indistinct exclamations, which referred to blows received about the knees. "What kind of lamp is it, Mrs. Squillip?" said Jane, feeling and scraping over the table. "Why, we're out o' candles; I had to make a lamp out of a saucer." Jane finally succeded in running her whole hand SQUILLIP AND THE GIRLS. 89 into the saucer-lamp, in the soft lard, which brought from her a few smothered interjections upon the subject of grease, and spoiled dresses. She took the home-made lamp, and stooped down and scraped away the ashes which covered the fire, and commenced blowing against a large coal, while she held the wick to the place where she expected the blaze to break out. Jane ventilated herself' by rolling out innumerable blasts upon the obstinate coal till the tears ran from her eyes and her head reeled with vertigo. * With hardly enough breath left to speak, she exclaimed : " Come, Jule, and blow at this coal ; I'm blowed out!" Julia came to the work with great bellow's power, for her lungs were capacious enough to send out a small tornado. The rag-wick soon ignited ; the room was illuminated, and^Philip walked in, accom- panied by Squillip, who by this time had turned out his horses. The house was a log cabin, with a lean-to* in front, and a lean-to in the rear ; both of which lean-tos were half porch and half bedroom. The main room was occupied as parlor, sitting-room, dining-room, kitchen, bedroom, milk-house, pan- try, wardrobe, laundry, nursery, reading-room, and for sundry other uses, too numerous to mention ; and the garret, or loft, served for another bedroom, and store-room generally. 7 90 THE Two CIRCUITS. Squillip pulled off his home-made jeans coat and vest, and hung them on the unpainted and unvarnished bed-post, and hung his straw hat over the top of the coat ; and pulled off his cowhide shoes, and kicked them under the bed ; and the woolen socks were sent after them ; and his feet were left bare, excepting a few irregular traces of free soil. He seated himself on an old split- bottomed chair, and thrust his long fingers through his hair, and placed his feet on the lower chair- round, and leaned his back against the log wall, close by the bed where his wife lay. "Brother Force, won't you and the girls have somethin' more in the supper line ? Some preachers always eat after preachin'. Judy, are there any victuals left?" ' ' Yes, a-plenty ; I sot the coffee-pot there in the embers to keep hot, and you'll find cook'd truck on the shelf there," said Mrs. Squillip. " I thank you, I have no desire to eat any more to-night ; the young ladies can speak for them- selves, " said Phillip. "We would choose nothing more, thank you, " replied the girls. "What kind of a meeting did you have to-night?" said Mrs. Squillip. ' ' All sorts of a good meeting, Judy ; and would a' had a jam up meeting if it hadn't been for Bill Blogus goin' and takin' a fit. " SQUILLIP AND THE GIRLS. 91 "Mr. Squillip, you forgot about the dogs, the candle and the schoolmaster," observed Julia. "Oh, that's not much for us. " " Was poor Bill Blogus there with his fits again ?" said Judy. "Old Blogus ought to keep him at home, and not let him run around time o' preach- ing, and havin' fits, when other people want to listen. But it seems onpossible for some folks to be considerate." "Well," said Squillip, as if he was half-way talking to himself, "the sermon did me a heap o' good, in spite of fits and dogs. I'm not goin' to let such little things spile my enjoyment, sure." "I don't think," said Julia, "that those dogs and Bill Blogus were little things, the way they car- ried on to-night. Those dogs ought to have been kicked out of doors before meeting begun ; and, as Mrs. Squillip says, old Blogus ought to have more sense than to let Bill come there." "Well, well, if you'd been thinkin' more of things above than of things below, you'd not a' been so terrible bothered about them matters," said Squillip. " You are just like my mother, Mr. Squillip ; you insist that we always ought to be thinking of things above. My idea is, that we will think of what we have most to do with ; of what we see and hear and feel the most. God made our eyes to see, our ears to hear, and our senses to feel, so I don't 92 THE Two CIRCUITS. think there's any great harm thinking of earthly things, especially when we don't know much about anything else." "But the right way, Julie, is, when you go to meeting, to think about heavenly things. " " I will, when there's any heavenly things there to think about ; but when the only candle in the house goes out twice , and boys and men spit tobacco juice over the stove till you are sick with the flavor ; and dogs and fits, and the leap-frog schoolmaster, cut such ridiculous figures at meeting, I hope we'll be excusable for not being very heavenly-minded." "Them's my sentiments, Jule, " said Mrs. Squil- lip. . " But, Julie, religion was designed to raise the mind above this world, and if you'd a' had more of it, you'd not a' been so wonderful disturbed over these small hindrances." ' ' You and I differ, Mr. Squillip ; I believe relig- ion was designed to make us enjoy this world, and esteem whatever of true and beautiful there is in it, and does not prevent us from being disgusted with its deformities, or amused with its nonsense." "Ah, Julie, that's some of the book ferlosophy you learned down to the Macademy. " " I do not know what particular philosophy there may be in it ; I think it is simply common sense and truth. Just as I became interested with parts of the discourse, and was entertained and instructed, SQUILLIP AND THE GIRLS. 93 that dog knocked the candle over ; but I got over that, and was listening attentively and profitably, when out broke the fit, and the schoolmaster went kiting over those girls' bonnets, and the dog run off with the candle. For the life of me, I couldn't help thinking of the old rhyme Hie diddle, diddle, The cat's in the fiddle, And the cow jumped over the moon, And the little dog laughed to see the sport, Of the dish run away with the spoon.' Mercy on us, it was too much for my nerves ; I laughed till I was sore." Philip laughed heartily over Julia's practical illus- tration, it being his first free laugh for the evening. Mrs. Squillip shook her bed with a perfect jubilee of giggles, roars and titters ; and something far in advance of a quiet smile played over the features of her husband. But, as if to check what he feared might be a carnal outburst of nature, he remarked : "Didn't your conscience hurt you, Julie, for laffin' in meetin' ?" "No, sir; it didn't hurt me a particle. I think the laughing did me good ; it settled my nerves at any rate. Before I laughed, I felt uneasy and dis- tressed over the mishaps of the -evening, but when I had a good hearty laugh, my nervousness quieted down, and I felt far better, if I don't feel more religious." 94 THE Two CIRCUITS. "Yes, yes, so we go. I never heard you talk- about nerves till you went to the Macademy ; and as nerves seem to be a powerful misery to folks, I hope they'll not teach 'em to my daughters, if ever they goes there. I'm opposed to their goin', but the old woman wants them to be like other folks, and is determined bound they shall go ; and, after they've been there a while, they'll come home dis- contented with their log cabin, and live growlin' and miserable the rest of their days, poor and proud, like the old woman's peacock. But I guess ye're all tired and want to go to bed. Judy, where'll they all sleep ?" UPS AND DOWNS. CHAPTER X. UPS AND DOWNS. ' You'll have to put Brother Force in the front bed room, and the girls up loft, or Brother Force up loft and the girls in the front bed room, which ever they'd ruther; for Jerry Spildick is sleepin' with our Mose in the back bed room," said Mrs. Squillip. " It will probably be more convenient for the young ladies to occupy the bed room, and if so, I will go to the loft," said Philip. "Come ahead then," and Squillip took the sau- cer lamp and began climbing a very steep ladder in one corner of the cabin. " Can you climb a lad- der, Brother Force?" "I can climb almost any thing, sir, intended for that purpose." And Phillip commenced rapidly following Mr. Squillip. As his head was passing through the hole, at the top, it went too far, and his hat, was smashed against the clapboard .roof, which was nearer the upper end of the ladder than he supposed. The hat fell to the lower floor, scat- tering his postal and clerical papers about ; and the shocking blow gave him a bewildered vision of the starry heavens. Julia ran and gathered his papers 96 THE Two CIRCUITS. and handed him his hat, expressing a hope that he was not seriously hurt. "Thank you, I am hurt but little; " at the same time his brain was so whirled about, that he could scarcely keep from falling from the ladder. Squillip made the remark in a school-master tone : ' ' Brother Force, we must learn to stoop a little, in this world." ; Philip made no reply, but carefully crawled, hat in hand, to the upper floor, rubbing the top of his head to satisfy himself that no part of his phreno- logical territory had seceded from the other, in the cruel contact. " I'll hold the light for ye, Brother, while ye get in bed." Philip still maintained a stooping posture, and surveyed the sleeping apartment, and concluded he had taken its bearings, and calculated the distances, and the varied relations of one article of furniture to another, and supposed that he could deposit his exhausted frame in the position for repose without any further illumination on the part of Squillip. " I am obliged to you, sir, I will not detain you with the lamp any longer ; I can manage very well in the dark; good night, Brother Squillip." "Good night, Brother Force;" and Squillip de- scended, and Philip prepared to unrobe. He hung his coat and vest on the bed-post ; and while he was in the act of throwing his last suspender from his THE PLANK FLEW UP AND PHJLTP FLEW DOWN." ' UPS AND DOWNS. 97 shoulder, he stepped a few feet forward, and not having calculated the nature of the floor, in the scope of his observations ; a few of the plank being short, did not meet well over the joists, and as he placed his feet on the ends thereof, the plank flew up and Philip flew down, carrying the third part of the planks with him. His descent took rather an oblique direction, and his feet landed right upon the body of Mrs. Squillip. She screamed as if a panther had sprung upon her, and bounded into the middle of the room. Jane was sitting close by the bed, and jumped and screamed nearly as loud as Mrs. Squillip. Squillip had seen him falling and leaned against the wall, and roared with laughter, and forgot his seriousness, and in a rollicking humor inquired of Philip: "How did you rest up stairs?" Philip was not in a mood for jocular remark; and Julia admonished Squillip that he had better look to things above ; that here was a practical ne- cessity for him to turn his thoughts upward. Philip felt like kicking something, or knocking some living thing in the head ; but as there was no cat or dog near by, he smothered his wrath, and quietly indulged in some of the imprecations of the Psalms, where David prayeth against the things that conspire against him. Squillip again lighted him to the rickety loft ; the planks were replaced, and Philip, exhausted and 98 THE Two CIRCUITS. discontented, lay down to rest. Shortly after he had composed himself to sleep, and the ragged edges of the day's care were knitted around in dreams, a storm of rain came pattering and rattling on the clapboard roof. Lightnings flashed and flamed through the crevices, between the logs, around and through the cracks between the boards overhead. Thunder shook the earth and the walls. Angry winds roared and howled through the innu- merable openings, and rattled the loose boards, and drove the pouring rain in spurts and shoots, and little cataracts, all over the inside of this log cabin. Philip was dreaming of water-spouts and whirl- pools, and reviewing his studies in hydraulics ; he dreamed of shower baths, and anon was engaged in discussing the questions of sprink- ling and immersion ; and in his vision he was fishing in a lake with a net, as were the disciples of old, and like them was about to be wreck- ed in a storm at sea. And as time and space count but little in dreams, in a moment he was at Niagara, and then at the brook Kidron, and the river Jordan, and was with Jonah in the whale, and off again at- tending a cold water society. And he visited Jacob's well, and was with the Children of Israel at the Red Sea. And then he dreamed on, that a half dozen Bill Blogus'es, with fits, were trying to drown him in a tan "rat; that a woman with blue lips and sun- bonnet was pushing him in with a bean-pole with PHILIP'S DREAM. UPS AND DOWNS. 99 an old brass kettle tied to the end of it, and that little Ben Watkins stood on the edge of the vat, laughing at the fun. How fantastically dreams ar- range themselves. Philip, in his sleep, struggled to rid himself of the troubles of his dream, and awoke to find that a delicate waterfall was dancing on his pillow, and quite a little dam was formed about his organ of firmness, and the water had over- flowed about his ears, and had formed two channels, one inside of his shirt and the other out, and both were mingling together in the general swamp of feathers and bed-quilts, down below, and he was a sort of floating island in the midst. He arose hastily, and forgetting his calculation of distances, his organ of benevolence struck one of the knots on the horizontal rafters, which gave him another glimpse of meteors, and he thought of Squillip's admonition to stoop, and more of Da- vid's expressions against his calamities, and con- cluded not to soak in his present locality any longer. He clothed himself, and his garments were moist, and he was damp throughout, and chilled, and longed for a favorable place to dry. The storm be- gan to lull ; the trickling streams grew feeble ; the roaring wind softened into sighs ; the demons of the storm mellowed their notes, as if whispering to the heavens and the earth a treaty of peace, in some great echoing hall ; the fierce flashes had toned down ioo THE Two CIRCUITS. into soft and wavy lights, dancing mildly through the open spaces. Philip would have slept again if he only could. But sleep and comfort generally go together ; and how can a man be comfortable with two pounds of rain-water promiscuously diffused all over him ? Sleep may come to weariness when it is dry ; it may be "heaven's balm for weeping eyes;" and "na- ture's sweet restorer; " but who ever knew of deli- cious sleep coming to a man, while wet and cold, from head to foot, and every thing dripping, trick- ling, and soaking around, above, and underneath him? Who ever went to sleep while undergoing immersion, or while being drenched in a storm? Somnus has a dread of water. Philip slept no more that night. But how was he to while away the dark, oozy, idle hours ? He feared to trust his weight on the loose, slippery floor. He sat uneasily on the edge of the bed ; which was like a bank of moss after an abundant shower. A lamp and books would have been blessings, too greatly in contrast with the ills around him. To sing, might make him an unwelcome lodger ; to whistle, might arouse the dogs. Still he sat upon the edge of his couch and waited for the morning. He tried to meditate, but his thoughts were like worthless shells filled with water: like withered leaves soaking in a pool : like empty bubbles chasing each other down a crooked stream. The Patriarch, UPS AND DOiVNS. IOI Isaac, went out at eventide to meditate, but we have no account that he did so when it rained. David said, that he meditated with delight on heav- en's statutes, but did he ever enjoy that pleasure in a wet, dripping, log-cabin garret. He tried to look over the sunny spots of his history, and tried to say with the king of Israel, " My heart is inditing a good matter, it bubbleth up while I yes bub- bleth up." Yes, his thoughts, (Philip's, I mean,) "bubbled up," and like all bubbles, ended in no profit. The fibres of his heart, like those of his body, were flattened and enervated by the surrounding frig- idity and mucuosity. The chain of his memory was like a rope of sand. His mental treasures no longer floated near, where they could be gathered, but were sodden and sunk, and hid from reach. The former events came back to him in disorder, like crippled soldiers on crutches, or like snatches of a forgotten tune heard from afar, or like a ghostly moan from some gloomy chamber, giving to him an indistinct, half remembrance, that he had heard the like in former days. But hope, the mainspring of Philip's enjoyment, was still strong, although the wheels of his mental machinery had received a momentary jostle, or were water-logged for a while. The rays of hope enlightened his gloom, and warmed his aching limbs ; its elastic spring made him buoyant ; it echoed from the crowing cocks, laughed in the stars that beamed 8 IO2 THE Two CIRCUITS. from the opening clouds, and saved him from the blues. It made him think, that the darkness and dampness would be followed by sun-beams and gladness ; that the washings and drenchings might tend to purify and educate his soul ; that the rough and murky road would lead to success ; that these mists and vapors, and chilly damps were some of the moral tonics to brace his mind and give it a healthy tone. Hope is a glorious helper, even if half its promises are never realized. Somewhere in the future its prophecies will be fulfilled. SQUILLIP'S HOME. 103 CHAPTER XL SQIULLIP'S HOME. Before day dawned, Squillip's voice and footsteps were heard, followed by the rattle of pokers and kindlings, and pots and kettles, and Mrs. Squillip's preparations for breakfast. Never did the crack- ling of fire sound more musical to Philip's ears ; never was light more welcome than the streams of it which poured through the cracks of the boards beneath him. He ventured, very cautiously, to make his way down from his garret prison. As soon as he appeared below the loft floor, he was greeted by the head of the household. "Good mornin', Brother Force; how'd ye rest last night?" "Tolerably well, I thank you, sir." "Did the rain come in on ye?" inquired Squil- lip. ' ' Yes, sir, considerably ; I am well drenched from head to foot, and have been awake, it seems to me, for the last four hours." "Well, I'm sorry; it leaked some on our bed too, but I've got so used to it, I don't mind a com- mon leak ;" and Squillip gave the fire a kick, and stuck his feet upon the jamb, and leaned back in IO4 THE Two CIRCUITS. his split-bottomed chair in a fresh, good humor, and continued: "Take a cheer, Brother Force, and come up to the fire and dry yerself, and ye'll feel as bright as a dollar by breakfast time. Ye slept some, didn't ye?" " I have been awake since the storm, sir; but I will be comfortable sitting by this fire for a while ;" and he drew up closer by the side of Squillip, who, until this moment, had scarcely taken a good view of him. "Why, ye must have had a duckin' time; you look like a dog that's been huntin' coons through wet grass. Judy, you'd better give him a little pepper tea before breakfast ; it'll warm him up, and keep him from takin' cold." ' ' No, no, I thank you, sir ; a cup of coffee at breakfast will be all sufficient." " I can fix ye the pepper tea in a minute, Broth- er Force, if ye'll drink it," said Mrs. Squillip. ' ' Not at all, madam ; I never was partial to pep- per tea." Squillip balanced himself again on the hind legs of his chair, raised his feet a little higher by the side of the capacious fire-place, and threw both hands together on the back of his head, and was the picture of primitive ease, and unambitious, simple contentment. Mrs. Squillip was busy kneading dough in a large, home-made wooden bowl, which set on the table. An earthen crock, SQUILLIP'S HOME. 105 turned bottom side up, served as an elevated resting place for the saucer-lamp, of last night's history. An iron skillet, eighteen inches in diameter and three inches deep, was laid to heat over the logs of the fire, and the lid of the skillet was undergoing the same process by its side. The tea-kettle set on the hearth, close by the fore stick, and the boiling water would sputter occasionally from its spout. A large-sized chicken, well dressed, and split open the whole length of the back, hung on a tow string, so that it came within the roasting power of the fire ; and Squillip would occasionally give it a turn with a stick, that the parts might all be equally cooked. When Mrs. Squillip had set the hot skillet on the hearth and filled it with the biscuit, she run the wooden poker through the handle of the hot lid and placed it over them, and with a clapboard fire- shovel showered this lid with glowing coals ; and in the same manner threw a vast abundance of coals under this miniature bake oven. She lifted the lid several times, to note progress, and re- peatedly turned the whole baking concern around ; and when the contents were done brown, she took them out, and placed them in a large earthen crock by the fire, to keep warm till time for eating. It seemed to take two or three skillets' full before the required amount of biscuit were prepared. After the biscuit, the same skillet was used for fry- ing great slices of ham ; and the ham, in its turn, io6 THE Two CIRCUITS. took its place in a dish by the side of the biscuit. The same skillet was also used for frying eggs ; and after the eggs, for frying potatoes and sliced apples, and all these dishes were placed on the earthen hearth, to keep hot till breakfast time. Mrs. Squil- lip prevented her brains from roasting by keeping on a capacious sunbonnet ; and when stooping over the important skillet, would hold one hand before her eyes, to shield them from the blazing heat. The shelves which held the queensware and other culinary implements, were supported by pegs driven into two-inch auger holes in the logs, on the left hand corner, as you faced the fire. The lower shelf was wider than the others, and served as a sort of half table, and on that was placed the crock and lamp, and there the lamp remained until the other table was set. Day was beginning to dawn, and the two Miss Magultys made their appearance. "Good mornin', girls," said Squillip ; "didn't get any o' that storm, did ye?" "Goodness! I feel like I'd been immersed, and was kept under the water longer than the gospel required," said Julia, shuddering with cold. " Well, you do look some damp, both of ye." "Damp? Why, I could wring a bucket of water out of my clothes now. You had better turn your roof the other way, Mr. Squillip." "Didn't you sleep none, girls?" SQUILLIP'S HOME. 107 ' ' Oh, yes ; we slept till the storm came, and the water began to pour on our bed. Then we got up and crept under the bed, and shivered around there awhile, and had a few naps laying on some old clothes and sacks, or something of that sort. If we had only thought to have taken our dresses under there with us, we would have done better. But the dresses are about ruined," said Julia. Squillip did not appear to have the slightest con- cern over their misfortunes ; in fact, they rather amused him. His wife, however, showed some signs of regret over their annoyance from the rain. " That's too oncommon bad. I've been at Jake to fix them roofs, but he keeps puttin' me off and puttin' me off, tellin' me he's goin' to build a new house afore long." "Well, Judy, the new house '11 come as soon as I get able. I've tried to tinker up the old roof, but it's no go ; it will spill through," said Squillip, good humoredly. "It's outrageous bad to spile the girls' dresses, and make 'em sleep so dreadful onpleasant. " "That's so ; I'm sorry their dresses is spiled, and that's more'n they was when Sue Jinks and Kate Miler smashed their bonnets. Seems to me, they were tickled powerfully over that ; now they're gettin' paid up." "Oh, it's no matter, Mr. Squillip, about our io8 THE Two CIRCUITS. dresses," said Jane; "it was partly our own fault; we might have put them under the bed with us." "Never mind, girls; when I get rich I'll buy ye a dress a-piece. Ye shall sleep dry the next time ye come to our house, if I have to stretch my wagon-cover over the roof. Ye see, I didn't much think it would rain last night." ' ' Thank you, Mr. Squillip ; tell us how you slept." "Oh, I slept fustrate; such a storm harly ever wakes me. I wouldn't a' waked last night, only the young one screamed so ; and thunder wouldn't wake Judy ; so I had to jump up to it, and found the water runnin' a stream close to its face, and I tuck it out of the cradle, and laid it on a sheep-skin under the bed ; and it went to sleep agin in two minnits; and I wasn't awake long, for common rains don't 'sturb me." Jerry Spildick and Moses Squillip now came in, and the two Misses Squillip, who had slept in the trundle-bed, were added to the group, around the fire. "Take a wash, Brother Force;" and Squillip filled a tin basin half-full of water, and set it with- out, on the front doorstep ; and beckoning Philip, told him to "pitch in. " After Philip had pitched in and out again, the two Miss Magultys performed their morning ablutions in the same manner, and Jerry and Mose followed suit, in rapid succession ; SQUILLIP'S HOME. 109 and they all used the same large towel to absorb the trickling drops from their faces. Mrs. Squillip now set down, as if she had come to one little resting place in the day's labor, and blew out a long breath indicative of weariness, and said : ' ' Ready for prayers no.w, Jake ?" Jake went to a small, rough shelf under the cracked looking-glass, and handed down an old, worn bible and hymn-book, and laid them on the corner of the breakfast table, and remarked : "Brother Force, take the books." The boys and girls had been making a vigorous use of an old coarse comb, to straighten their wil- derness of hair ; and one of the boys, with a wry face, was still tugging away at his tangled locks as Philip took the book. Squillip resumed his posi- tion on the old split-bottomed chair ; the boys sat upon an old goods-box, which had been converted into a chest, with leather hinges, and the girls occupied the chairs. The chapter was short, and all listened as though they were accustomed to such exercises, excepting Jerry Spildick ; he looked as if he would be infin- itely obliged to some one who would come and show him where to put his legs and arms, and tell him how to arrange his eyes and mouth. Jerry was about twelve or fourteen years old, and said afterwards : "We never have meetin' at our house. " no THE Two CIRCUITS. All except Jerry joined in the singing, and it was a blessing to human ears to listen to their voices. All the quavers and crotchets may not have been strictly observed ; no one thought of them ; there was no constraint or check of rules, nor squeamish desire to seem refined. It was a grand out-gush of full-breasted music ; sweet, loud and distinct, ear- nest, and majestic enough to echo through the nave of a cathedral. And then they all bowed around the domestic shrine, and poured out their simple wants to the Great Father as if their souls were hungry for the bread of heaven, excepting Jerry Spildick, who wanted to go home. Mrs. Squillip sat at the head of the table, with the tin coffee-pot and an array of calico-colored cups and saucers before her. The sugar was in a tin-cup, and so was the cream, and the two were conveyed to the coffee cups with an iron table- spoon ; no teaspoons were visible. Squillip stirred his coffee with his knife, and sat at the end of the table opposite his wife. The two Miss Magultys sat on one side, and Philip on the other, and Jerry Spildick was urged to occupy the vacant seat by Philip's side. But he would as soon have seated himself on the throne, by the side of the Great Mogul ; in fact, he hardly ventured to speak above his breath. To eat by the side of a preacher! Why, he would have choked on the first mouthful. Philip tried to persuade him, and talked to him SQUILLIP'S HOME. 1 1 1 good-humoredly ; but Jerry hung his head, quailing with diffidence, and turned away his eyes, down- cast ; and his whole body seemed to say : "I exceedingly fear and quake. " Squillip relieved him by ordering Moses and him to go and feed the hogs, while the first table was eating. The sight of hogs feeding was far more welcome to the heart of Jerry than the sight of a preacher, and their cracking of corn more grateful to his ears than words of comfort from a minister. Older people than Jerry have taken more pleasure in the society of hogs than in the society of those they regarded as their superiors. Hundreds of young men have been kept from warm hearts and serviceable attachments by inward misgivings and smothering embarrass- ment ; and thus brass and presumption have occu- pied places of profit and honor, while merit has pushed itself off to consort with hogs, horses and cattle, boxes, barrels and brickdust. H2 THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER XII. RETURN TO MAGULTY's. Soon after breakfast, Squillip made preparatii as to go back to Mrs. Magulty's, to attend the meet- ing there at eleven o'clock. The two old horses, with one eye for both of them, were hitched to the rickety wagon. The two men took the driver's seat, Mrs. Squillip and the four children sat flat up- on the straw, which half filled the wagon bed, and the two Miss Magulty's had their chairs near the back end-gate, and two dogs capered in the road be- fore the team, showing signs of great rejoicing. Mrs. Squillip held in her arms a one year old specimen of depravity. In its twelve months' life journey, it had gone very far from original right- eousness. Philip says, that he has heard of people being ' ' charmed to heaven by the innocent light of childhood's eye," but he affirms that the light from the eye of this young Squillip, was suggestive of something else besides innocence and love, and that the charms of heaven would hardly be increas- ed by a choir of such voices. He had also heard of "childhood being spotless and blameless," but this little suckling seemed to spot nearly every- thing it touched ; and fought, scratched, pinched, RETURN TO MAGULTY'S. 1 1 3 and pulled the hair of the mother, who tried to console it. "Yes," thought Philip, "they are said to be a ' comfort to all our grief,' " but this one squalled its grief in the face of all comfort. Some one else says they are "living poems." "Yes," says Philip, "and have a most terific chorus." Some poet, over the first household visitant he had of this kind, breaks out thus in the pride of his fatherhood : " A cherub might mistake our rosy boy, yor a reposing mate." If a cherub had made such a mistake, in regard to Squillip's youngest, it would show that cherubs might have less sense than mortals, and that they might be near akin to fallen angels. The principal boast, that the father had to make of this baby, was, that, "it slept well o' nights." And this, was, not only a merciful habit for the parent, but also for the child, when we consider the amount of kicking, scratching, tumbling and yelling it had to do while it was awake ; for every muscle seemed to dance to the music of its temper, and its temper seldom in- dicated that it had slept in the neighborhood of cherubs. Mrs. Squillip was thirty-five years old ; but one would judge her, at first sight, to be forty-five. She might once have been considered good looking; but the sun and frost had rested hard upon her face, neck and hands. There were long seams 1 14 THE Two CIRCUITS. across her forehead, and short wrinkles about her eyes and mouth. Whatever of beauty she may have had was beginning to crisp and fade, and was passing away under excessive wear and toil. She was one of the many women of the west, who are hurrying to their grave by overworking. She rose early, probably was the first astir. She cooked in a hampered, huddled, crowded room, three meals a day, for from six to a dozen people ; milked from one to half a dozen cows, with' calves, now and then, to be attended to, at the same time ; took care of the milk, in all its stages ; churned the but- ter; looked after whole generations of chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and many similar and-so-forths ; swept the house, and cleaned up the yard, if it was ever cleaned ; gathered beans, potatoes, corn, toma- toes and beets in their season, and all the other suc- culents and esculents for the coming needs ; stopped to take care of a babe, while another two or three year old was squalling for help or food ; straightened the beds and clothing, for the one had been tum- bled and the other scattered by the rising family ; washed all one day of the week, and part of two or three other days, lifting iron kettles and wooden tubs, that would each hold half a barrel. On an- other day she ironed the clothes by a roasting fire ; and baked bread nearly every other day, by olher roasting fires ; prepared innumerable supplies of victuals for winter; set up late at night to mend RETURN TO MAGULTY'S. 1 1 5 and darn, sew on buttons, patch, make shirts, dresses, bonnets, caps, pants, coats, and socks, for two or three, or half a score ; and took up her spare time in spinning and weaving a variety of fabrics. More than half the farmers' wives in the west, do more work every day, than any two negroes in the south could ever be made to do in the same time. Cheap jeans and cotton goods, and cooking stoves, and latterly, sewing machines, have been a sort of godsend to the prairie housewives. Yet many a farmer can hardly bring himself to part with a colt or steer, for a sewing machine, which will save an overburdened wife, hours and days of weary, te- dious toil. About half past ten o'clock, all on board of Squil- lip's slow wagon arrived at Mrs. Magulty's. Zep- haniah met them at the gate, and his first words were : " I say, Mr. Force, your filly's kicked the brains out o' one o' my pups." "I'm glad of that, I wish she had kicked the brains out of both of them, for they destroy more than they are worth," said Julia. " Jule, you hush; you don't know nuthin' about pups. I wouldn't a tuck ten dollars for him." "I am sorry your dog was killed by the filly," said -Philip, as he jumped out of the wagon, and prepared to assist the girls to alight. n6 THE Two CIRCUITS. "You'd better look out for your own brains, Mr. Force, for that wicked filly's so fond o' kickin' that she'd jist as soon kick a preacher as a pup. Mr. Squillip, wont ye have yer hosses put up?" "No, I guess not ; I'll juss let 'em stand by the fence ; I must go back as soon as meetin' is over. BLUNT. 117 CHAPTER XIII. BLUNT. Mrs. Magulty greeted Philip, as he ascended the steps of the porch, and introduced him to several persons sitting and standing about there, who had come to the meeting. Among the number was Mr. Blunt, a local preacher, who lived at Spengler's Grove, the place where Philip was to preach the next day. Blunt seemed to think it was his busi- ness to take special charge of Philip, and appropri- ate him to himself. He was a heavy-set man, with a short, heavy-set nose, and his forehead was high, and his brain was of unusual diameter ; his eye- brows were thick, long and heavy-set ; he was slightly cross-eyed, but somehow when he began to talk his eyes would straighten ; his hair was the color of old wheat straw, and was heavy-sef and short ; he shut his mouth so tight that it gave the middle of his upper lip an outward and upward ten- dency. He designed that his countenance should be expressive of dignity and decision, but a stranger might have mistaken it as indicative of ferocity. He would draw in his heavy-set chin, and throw out his breast, and spread out his heavy-set legs, and throw his weight on his heels, and stick his thumbs 9 u8 THE Two CIRCUITS. in the arm holes of his vest, and speak quick and loud, and gesticulate with his elbows, reminding you of a heavy-set rooster flapping his wings, pre- paratory to a victorious crow. He would make his words emphatic, by significant nods and winks, and throwing his head from left to right, and from right to left, as far as his short neck would allow. On being introduced, he extended his right hand to Philip, while the thumb of the left clenched the arm hole of his jacket, and talked away quite rap- idly: "Your name is Force? That's a good name, if you have the nat'ral grit to correspond to it. This is your first circuit?" "That is true, sir," Philip replied, as if he was shy of the questioner. " You're college bred, I've been informed ? What might be your age ? You'll have to get more flesh on your bones, before you'll be able to stand this circuit. Where are you from, Brother Force ? How4ong have you been a Methodist? You real- ly look more like a Blue-Stocking Presbyterian, than a Methodist. He didn't talk Presbyterian fashion last night, you say, Brother Squillip ; I'll take your word on that point, I know you r a judge of preaching, Brother Squillip. I see from your teeth, Brother Force, that you're not defiled by the use of tobacco ; I .am glad to see that you do not serve the devil in the way of smoking or chewing." BLUNT. 119 "Mr. Squillip, give me a chaw-tobaccer, " and Mr. Squillip pulled from his breeches pocket a home- made twist, about six inches long and handed it to Zephaniah, who run about an inch and a half of it into his mouth, and twisting it between his teeth, close in the range of Blunt' s vision ; and the latter drew up his nose, to its most concise abridgement, and his upper lip took an extra curl, and Zephaniah turned on his heel, and walked away, observing : ' ' I don't see how men get along without chawin' tobaccer. " During the last fifteen hours, Squillip had formed quite an attachment for Force ; and he stood close by him, with his hands far down in his sack-coat pockets, and was chewing rapidly, on a bulky por- tion of the aforesaid twist, and expectorated with frequency and vigor, and assumed an attitude of preparation for defence, in case Blunt should make too heavy an attack on Phillip ; evidently not enjoy- ing the local preacher's remarks ; but kept quiet, for fear he might say too much. Blunt, perceiving that he had made himself slightly repulsive, both to Squillip and the young preacher, drew up close to the latter, and made an effort to look kind and conciliatory, and beckoned to Philip to step to one side, as if for secret, friendly intercourse. But Squillip kept near them, not appearing to hate Blunt, but fearing, rather, that Philip might be over -annoyed, by his rough way of speaking. I2O THE Two CIRCUITS. "You'll find out, Brother Force, that rough, plain spoken folks are not always the worst friends. In cutting wood, I always like to begin on the knotty sticks, and top off on the smooth ones. The roughest I've got in the shop, generally comes out first ; in that way I find, often in a few minutes, what sort of stuff a man's made of; and gets him off his guard, and his nature works out ; it draws him out, or he draws in ; and after I find how he stands it, I come at him with something smooth ; and that is according to scripture, ' The best of the wine at the last of the feast. ' The devil's plan is, to put out the best first, and end with hard trash. I hope, Brother Force, you'll preach a short ser- mon to-day, for I'm going to pilot you over the country, to our grove, and I want to get home be- fore dark. I wish you would rebuke the men who spit tobacco juice on Mrs. Magulty's floor. It's a filthy practice and ought to be stopped ; I've re- buked them often, and they spit more than ever. Every preacher ought to preach a sermon, once a year, on tobacco ; its worse than drinking whisky ; it leads to drinking, and drinking leads to tobacco, and both run together, like the streams of the south." "Well, now, Blunt, that tobacco talk's all stuff; I use tobacco, and never drunk whisky, and nothin' else stronger than your apple brandy, you like so well." BLUNT. 121 "Ah, Brother Squillip, you've got so much good- ness in you , that tobacco can't spile you ; but its not so with most of folks." Philip was, alternately, amused and annoyed with the questions and remarks of Blunt; and as he rat- tled them off in a helter-skelter style, he did not interrupt him with many replies. "There's getting to be a prodigious amount of pride in the church, and it's spreading out among the preachers. As our people get rich, they try to be like other rich folks ; and I guess you'll suit them, for they say you're college learned. But the poor's the majority, Brother Force. Don't get starched up above common folks; preach your best, and go around among the poor." "I would like to know how he'd go around among any other sort of people, in this section," said Squillip. "You've got more sense about books than I have," said Blunt to Philip, apparently not regard- ing Squillip's interruption, "but I've been about the world not a little, and I notice that stiff-necked, stuck-up, and swell-headed people almost always bust and blow up, and come to nothing ; like rot- ten apples, they fall before they are half ripe. I'm naturally proud myself, but a body's a great fool to show it, and we ought to have grace enough to keep it under. Then there's some folks, that have nothing to be proud of, and so they try to make 122 THE Two CIRCUITS. believe it is religion that keeps them humble, while all the time its poverty, ignorance, meanness and hard work. Give them a little education and mon- ey so that they can do nothing, part of the time, and mercy, what airs they put on, and their pride and vanity becomes a perfect disgust, a stench be- fore heaven, and the guardian angel has to hold his nose away while he takes care of them. There comes Brother Flamer, our class-leader ; that's him hitching that sorrel horse to that jack-oak, out to the left over yonder. He's a good man, and zeal- ous, and nearly everybody has faith in him ; I tell you he'll do to tie to in a storm , no blow up, or break down in him ; but he talks a little too long for this day and age of the world, in his class-meet- ings. People can't stand so much talk about reli- gion now, as they used to ; they tire out on it ; they're beginning to think about getting rich, refined, proud and intellectual. But, I reckon, when a man talks so everlasting much, about even the best things, he mus 4 t recapitulate, till he becomes tedious and weari- some, and say things of but little sense, and even get nonsense mixed in with the purest subjects. When a sermon has but little sense in it, it's gener- ally long winded. When a man gets in the brush, preaching, he keeps trying to get out, and he most- ly gets deeper in ; and when he sees people don't understand, he must take a long time to explain ; and he explains away, till he don't understand him- BLUNT. 123 self; and then he exhorts at random awhile, till he gets to a place, where he can see his way clear ; and when he gets were he can see, he has his con- gregation where they won't see ; and then he must take some time to make them see ; and before he makes them see, he's got to where he can't see him- self again, if he ever did see ; which is a question ; and then the people begin to see, that he is beating the air, and fighting, or glorifying men of straw, and he closes up in the fog, looking for light, and getting darker all the time, and he's very hot and full of sweat, and nearly mad, and out of breath, and has been out of ideas nearly all the way through. It would be a wonderful blessing if speakers would simultaneously run out of breath and ideas. Many a crowd would be saved from being bored with little augers. " Blunt moved over toward the outer edge of the steps of the porch, and motioning with his hand, called out : "Brother Flamer, step this way;" and Flamer came; "this is our young preacher, Brother Force." Flamer grasped the skirts of his coat behind, with his left hand, and extended the other to Philip. ' ' I am glad to see you, Brother Force ; has this brother been giving you counsel?" "No, Brother Flamer, I've been examining him 124 THE Two CIRCUITS. some, and I think he'll do to take in, on probation any how." ' ' Brother Force, you must allow some margin for what Brother Blunt says, for he is the kind of man who generally puts it out rather rough at first. You are coming over to our grove this afternoon, I suppose?" "That appears to be the arrangement, sir." " I am glad of that. You must be sure to come to my house ; I keep a room for the prophets ; and I hope you'll consider yourself invited all the time, whenever it suits your convenience, come on." "Thank you, sir, I shall take pleasure in calling. Is it not time now for service?" "Yes, sir, it looks as if it was eleven o'clock, now," said Blunt. "My rule is, to begin at the hour, congregation or no congregation. There'll be more here, no doubt; but I wouldn't wait ; I'd begin if there were not more than half a dozen. There's no use of dilly-dallying ; the more you wait, the more you have to wait. Those who are on time ought not to be made to pay a tariff for those that are behind time. Some folks are too late with everything ; it looks as if they were born too late, and I'm afraid they'll be too late when heaven's door shuts for the last time ; I'd begin at eleven precisely." Blunt gesticulated with his elbows, and closed his mouth very tight over the word precisely ; and HLUNT. 123 his nose drew up, and both eyes looked toward the lower end of it, and he raised his eyebrows and widened the space between his feet, and threw back his head, and drew in his chin, as if he felt that he was born when all the signs were favorable, and had a free pass over the highways of time to the better country, 126 THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER XIV. LOVE NOT SMOOTH. "Let us go in, Brother Force," said Blunt. And they went in ; and Blunt hung his hat on a nail, and acted as master of ceremonies, and con- ducted Philip to a chair by the side of a table, where lay the bible and hymn-book; and seated himself in another chair, by Philip's side, as if he were proprietor and the young preacher on trial in his employ. He turned his chair back on its hind legs, and leaned his head against the wall, and bal- anced his heels over the front round of the chair, and pulled out his red and yellow, bandana hand- kerchief, and holding a diagonal corner in each hand, drew it with great precision and force horizon- tally across his upper lip, and then pushed it over his bristling hair ; and the hair seemed almost to snap and crack as it erected itself from under its folds ; and then he stretched the handkerchief across his lap and sighed audibly, and looked at the clock, and coughed a few times, and cleared his throat, and commenced singing in a sharp, loud key ; and his face grew red, and he kept his eyes shut tightly, and his feet see-sawed over the chair round, keeping time with the tune. LOVE NOT SMOOTH. 127 When the singing commenced, nearly all the people outside the door began to insinuate them- selves into the room, till the apartment was well filled, and several were still remaining on the porch ; and others continued to arrive for some minutes after the exercises commenced. All the big and little dogs had to rush out of the room and off the porch to greet the new arrivals of dogs ; and they made an immense racket with their salutations; and some of them (the dogs) even went so far in their sacrilege as to settle some of their old grudges in ferocious style, while Philip was opening the services of the hour. Peace* and harmony were soon restored, or rather came of their own accord; and Philip proceeded and concluded under favorable auspices. And after dining with Mrs. Magulty and family, he started with Blunt and Flamer for Spengler's Grove, which was about six miles distant. Blunt monopolized most of the conversation on the road. Philip had not yet come to consider it as any part of his duty to take the lead in talking among those older than himself. After the delivery of his sermon, he was content that others might lead the minds and give character to the thoughts at that time. He had been in the habit of listening to more experienced men, making but few and brief replies, preferring that the more loquacious 128 THE Two CIRCUITS. should exhibit -their capacities and inclinations rather than make a display of his own. When fully started upon the road, Blunt began : " You preached a pretty good sermon to-day. But as you are young and I'm getting old, I hope you'll not take it out of the way if I should criticise you a little?" "Not at all, sir; nothing would gratify me more than to have my faults pointed out, that I may avoid them in the future." Philip felt, at the same time, as if he was about to undergo a surgical oper- ation, the pain of which he was determined to bear with what grace and gladness he could. 4 ' On the whole that sermon rather pleased me ; but you had rather too many heads ; and you should talk slower at the outset. There were several places in it where you might have borne down heavier on common sins every day sins. It was too much like an essay on general principles, and nothing in particular. When I go to shoot, I want to see the game, and not shoot promiscuously at the whole herd ; but single out one deer, and take deliberate aim and fetch him. If a man fires his whole sermon at the whole lump of sin in gen- eral, why, he hits none so as to hurt them much. And, then, you talked too much about rainbows, flowers and gorgeous clouds. It was all very pretty, and tickled the young, and made the women stare and wonder. But when I'm hungry I don't LOVE NOT SMOOTH. 129 want to be fed on pound-cake, candy and custard ; I want something solid ; something that will stick- to the ribs and keep the stomach from falling in on itself. And what is more, you had too many big words ; for instance, procrastination. Now, there wasn't a half-dozen persons there who knew what that word meant. And there was feasible. Who ever heard of feasible out here on the prairie ? And there was ramify; half the folks there thought (if they thought at all) that that word had some refer- ence to rams. And, then, you had something to say about epicurians ; who knew whether that meant men, monkeys or angels? And, then, you spoke about intermittent demonstrations of piety, and anoma- lous spasms of religious emotion. Now, if you had said fits of piety, or pious spell*, now and then, they would have understood you better. When I feed lambs, I don't put the fodder up in high racks, where they'll strain themselves and have to get up on their hind legs to get a nibble ; I put it down where they can get it easy ; and even the old sheep like it that way, mostly. Your preaching is the kind to make you popular with many, but, gener- ally speaking, it is not the kind to do the most good. Even simple-headed folks will praise you, because they think it great and learned, and away above them ; and that you know so much more than they do. One clever brother came to me on the porch, and says he, ' That's as good a sermon 130 THE Two CIRCUITS. as I've heard for a long time ; I think that Brother Force is the making of a great man. ' I asked him what made him think so, and says he, 'Why, he had so many great words in that sermon that I couldn't understand. ' ' Philip laughed over this report, and ventured to remark : " Is it not better, sir, to try and elevate the people to a high and proper standard than for a speaker to be constantly striving to come down to their level?" "Yes, that's so, too; but the best way to ele- vate them is to get down by the side of them. The Good Samaritan would not have helped that dis- tressed man much if he had set on his horse, and, with great dignity, handed his medicine and oil down to him. He had to get off' and come close to him before his kindness could do him any good. Preachers must get off their high horses of big words and flowery sentences, and come right at the people, and try to lift them up. I tell you, it's the way to make them feel, and make them do some- thing." By and by, they reached the neighborhood of Spengler's Grove ; and as they were about to turn at a right angle from the prairie, into a lane which led to Blunt's house, Blunt, with a smothered voice, told his companions to stop and keep close to the bushes that grew in the outside fence corners, as persons were coming up the road. They LOVE NOT SMOOTH. 131 crouched along under the thicket as closely as possi- ble, wondering what Blunt should mean. "What is it, Blunt?" said Flamer. "Who are they ?" " Be still, you'll spoil everything ;" and as Blunt neared the mouth of the lane, he kept his horse in front, and motioned the others to keep close behind him. There was no time for explanations or spe- cific directions, for a young lady and two young men soon came galloping up to the mouth of the lane ; and Blunt dashed out from behind the bushes like a lion from his lair, and caught the young lady's horse by the bridle, exclaiming in loud and excitable tones : "Ah, ha ! my young miss, you didn't quite make it that time ! You'll just go back to your mother a while longer; and you rascals can ride on. When I want my daughter to marry, I'll see to it; she don't marry a scoundrel. " Before all these words were out of his mouth, he was hurrying his daughter and her horse back to- ward their home. As soon as he had begun to speak, one of the young men dismounted and gave his bridle to the other ; and seizing a small fence rail, rushed toward Blunt, to rescue his lady-love. But Flamer had dismounted at the same time, and had handed his bridle-reins to Philip, and ran to Blunt's assistance. 132 THE Two CIRCUITS. The young gallant, seeing he was about to be attacked in the rear, turned quickly around, and by a well-directed blow, hit Flamer over his shoulder, and sent him sprawling among the weeds ; and by the time he returned to renew the attack upon the main enemy, Blunt was out of reach, hurrying homeward with the lost object of his affections. He followed for several rods with the uplifted rail "Impelled, with steps increasing, to pursue Some fleeting good, that mocked him with the view ; That, like the circle bounding earth and skies, Allures from far, yet as he follows flies." But seeing his race was fruitless, he stopped sud- denly and threw away his weapon in disgust, and was the picture of hopeless disappointment, mingled with contempt, as if he would as soon melt into nothing now as at any time. His breath came quick and fast in his rage, and a sheepish vacuity swept over his crimson face ; and his eyes would roll in emptiness and defiance, as if he would wither any other eyes that dared to look into them. Philip says, that, for the moment, he felt sorry for him ; for he looked like a lone man standing on a rock in a wilderness of sea, expecting the next rising wave to bury him, and that he was now curs- ing it for threatening to do it. But the young hero had but a short time to look romantic and nurse the shades of alternate hope and disappointment, or roll his black thoughts over ; LOVE NOT SMOOTH. 133 for Flamer was coming upon him like a Bull of Bashan, rail in hand, evidently in a suitable state of mind for warlike exercises, determined to break the skull of the fellow that knocked him down. He was dizzy and desperate, and knew not where h& was, and didn't care. The lightning was in his veins, and vengeance in his heart ; the spirit of the class-leader was out of him, or overpowered; he was sick of imitating Job, and was now acting Sam- son or David. But the young warrior had lost the object of his fight, and what was the use of valor now ? The fair prize was in the dim distance traveling, and why war any more ? So he concluded to ' 'cut and come again." At least he would cut; whether he should come again, was a coming question. He did not want it understood that he would run away, so he leaped upon the fence and turned to sneer at Flamer, and put his thumb upon his nose, and worked his fingers out before his face, and looked him in the eye, as much as to say that this running Was nothing but a valorous kind of cunning." and as he jumped over into the field, he ex- claimed : " Don't you feel like you was leading class, old Flamer?" But Flamer, like some doctors in theology, was 1 34 THE Two CIRCUITS. more bent on victory than piety just now. So he stopped, and a sort of rapture, not exactly heav- enly, lit up his face as he threw the rail at the flying foe. So I will conclude this chapter by supposing that " the best of men relish " fighting, -as well as " nonsense now and then." SUE. 135 CHAPTER XV. i I SUE. While matters were thus progressing, Philip was not permitted to be a quiet spectator. His nervous budget of horse flesh, like Job's war horse, snuffing the battle afar off, and finding no enemy at hand, began to exercise her combativeness on Flamer's sorrel horse, with the full fury of her heels. But, while old sorrel could not move his hoofs as rapidly as the filly, yet he could deal a heavier blow ; and while she kicked him four times, before he got his heels in range, yet one blow of his was equal to a half dozen of hers. And when it came upon her ribs, she shook through all her parts, and squealed with amazing power ; and in her rage, seized old sorrel by the upper lip, till he roared like a gang of wolves. Philip did his utmost to quiet them ; but the filly danced up and down, and made desperate plunges for renewing the battle, and old sorrel pull- ed to get away, as if disgusted with the conflict, and Philip had soon to determine whether to hold to the filly, or to the horse. As his fortunes were somewhat identified with the fractious little mare, and as he did not wish to be responsible for the loss of another horse, and as old sorrel looked as if he 136 THE Two CIRCUITS. would stay in the neighborhood, Philip relieved him from his service. Flamer and Force being in possession of the field, soon made their way on to Blunt's, and hitched their horses, and walked into the house. Blunt was pacing the floor in great agitation, and his daughter was sitting in a rocking chair, with bonnet and traveling dress still on, and the traces of perplexity and tears on her face. "Yes, yes, you was going to run off with that scoundrel, eh?" " He's not a scoundrel, Pa ; " and she turned her eyes toward her father with a desperate, determined look, as much as to say, " I'll have him yet in spite of you." " It was the father's blood looking in the father's face." "Shut your wicked mouth; I tell you, he is a scoundrel, or he wouldn't have tried to steal you away from me." Blunt pushed his heavy-set fingers through his hair, and then ran his thumbs into his jacket arm- holes, and shut his mouth very tight, and his lips pouted out and upward, and he drew his nose away up, and swung his elbows back and forth, and set his heels down solidly on the floor, and went on : "You needn't tell me he's not a scoundrel; I tell you he's a thief, to try to steal my child." " He didn't try to steal me, I went of my own accord, and I'll go again, when I get a chance." SUE. 137 " My goodness, gracious; it's too much; what's got into the child to treat me that way, after all the trouble of raising you. You know Bob Scates is no account, on the face of the earth. If he was good for anything in the Lord's world, I'd say go, or I would have you marry at home ; but Bob is a trifling, lazy, drinking, swearing rascal. " " I never saw him drink, nor heard him swear, and he's as good as any young man about here." Sue looked red and threatening, and was ready to choke with rage and chagrin, and did not seem to notice that any one was present but her father ; and the father seemed to think of nobody but himself, his daughter and Bob ; and Philip feeling ill at ease, went with Flamer and walked about the yard. "Of course, he wasn't drunk, and didn't curse you, when he was trying to coax you to run away with him ; where's your mother ? You little impu- dence." "She went over to Mr. Blakes', for dinner." "Yes, there it is, I'll venture the Blakes had a hand in this business. They have invited your mother over there to eat dinner, while I was gone, and then they've put Bob up to running off with you ; wasn't that the way of it, say?" "I don't know." " No, of course, you don't know anything ; what 138 THE Two CIRCUITS. in the name of sense made you go off with him, then?" "Because I wanted to go, and he wanted me." " Why, Sue, my child, how in the name of na- ture, can you want to go off with such a fellow as he is?" " I don't know; but I want to go." "Why, he'd run off from you, like as not, in less than a month, and cuss you for a fool ; and then you would want to come back home, and your rep- utation would be ruined. Why can't you be con- tented at home, Sue ? I will do anything for you, in my power, rather than you should marry that fellow." The father seemed overcome, and drew a chair and sat close by the side of his child, and softened his voice. "What can I do for you, Sue, to keep you from going off with Bob? It's for your own good: you're only about seventeen, and you'll see the day, when you will wish you had taken your father's advice." The daughter yet looked sullen and obstinate, and replied : " I don't see it now." "My child, don't talk to me that way, you'll break my heart." "More like you'll break mine, if you don't let me have Bob." "Well, "and Blunt's voice began to get harsh SUE. 139 again, and his heart showed less signs of breaking, "Bob Scates you can't have, with my consent; I would sooner see you shut up in a nunnery, or fol- low you to your grave. I would expect nothing else but you would come to ruin." " I feel like I would come to ruin, if I don't get him." " Is my child crazy? " ' ' I would not be surprised if I. was ; but if I could get Bob Scates, I would come to my right mind." "Yes, I guess you would come to your senses, but it would be too late to do you any good ; you would wake up before long, to see you that was ruined, your character blasted, society despising you, and Bob wishing you were /dead, and you wishing it too." " I wish I was dead now." ' ' My child, how can you talk that way ? are you losing your senses ? Is your reason all gone ? Have you no affection left for your father and mother ? Will you murder our feelings and blast our hopes ? Must I see my dear child go from my house, with the curse of God upon her ? Great God, let me be taken away before I meet this calamity." The man's great frame shook all over, and he bowed his head, and the great tears ran over his cheeks. At sight of this Sue was conquered, and spoke up in a tone of submission and persuasion : 140 THE Two CIRCUITS. " Oh, Pa, don't cry, 1 am not worth crying about ; scold me, call me hard names, do any thing, but don't give away that way, on my account, I can't stand it, now don't. ' ' I would be willing to go out and cry a week, if I could save you from this ruin." "Well, Pa, don't worry over it any more, let us arrange it some way. I'll agree never to try to run off with Bob again, and will not marry him, -till you consent, if that will suit you." These words were scarcely out of her mouth be- fore the father had her in his arms, and was praying all manner of heavenly and earthly blessings upon her, and thanking her, and thanking the Lord at the same time ; and then it was Sue's time to cry. After the first violence of her feelings had sub sided, and she had wiped her tears, she straightened and Philip says, she looked grand, as she said : ' ' Now, Pa, it is no use to say, that I do not like Bob ; and it's no use to say, that I don't want him, for I do. But now, my word is out, and I will not marry him till you are willing. He may not be as good as you want him to be, so you must help me to make him better." " I am afraid I can't help you much, my child." ' ' You will not lay any thing in the way, will you?" "Of course, I will not hinder you." SUE. 141 " If I cannot get him to be something near what you want him to be, I'll give him up. But I be- lieve the material is in him. I believe he will do almost any thing for my sake." ' ' Well, my child, make your own plans, after your promise. But understand, I have precious little faith in those fellows that reform for the sake of getting married." "Give us a fair trial, Pa;" and Sue's hope was so high that she almost looked triumphant. " Well, my daughter, we will say no more about it now ; here is Brother Force, our young preacher. " ' ' Miss Blunt, I am glad to meet you ; I am hap- py to see that you and your father have come to an understanding ; I hope your difficulties will all be amicably settled, and that both your wishes may be gratified." "I think they will now. I have more faith in this case than Pa." ' ' Your affections are stronger for the person you desire to benefit; hope is a powerful support to faith in any enterprise." " As you are our preacher, Brother Force, and you will have an opportunity, I wish you would help me ; " and she looked at Philip, innocently and confidingly, as though she had known him from his youth, and seemed to think that it was his business to relieve difficulty, and scatter trouble. "I hope you will take pains to get acquainted with Bob 142 THE Two CIRCUITS. Scates, and induce him to do right, so that pa will like him, and I will be a thousand times obliged to you ; and you will be doing good besides. I know Brother Flamer will help me, he's always doing good to some one." ' ' I don't know so well about that, Sue, Bob hit me an awful rap over the shoulder with that fence rail," said Flamer. " Well, I would have hit you too, just then. But let by-gones be by-gone s ; I know you'll help me to get Bob straightened up, to somewhere near my father's standard." " Certainly," said Flamer, " I'll forgive him, and do anything for you I possibly can." "And you may rely on me," said Philip, " to do what I can consistently, and with your father's con- sent." ' ' Oh, yes, go ahead ; you may all do Bob Scates all the good you can, for he needs it, bad ; but my judgment is, you'll find him hard timber to work on ; you can't make fine furniture out of jack- oaks. " "Now, Pa, remember, you are not to lay any- thing in the way." " And you must not forget," said Flamer, " the power of religion to change human character for the better." "Exactly so, " said Blunt, v/ith a doubting ac- cent; "but if Bob is changed, it will be more for SUE. SUE. 143 the love of Sue than the love of religion, and I have not much faith in such changes ; but, go on, I won't hinder you. I wish you success as Sue is so bent on him." Sue rose from her chair, and went into another room, and Blunt continued : ' ' Sue has been one. of the best girls in the world ; pretty like her mother, and self-willed like her father ; but generally she is one of the best of daughters. As for Bob Scates, he's a rakish sort of fellow ; spends all he makes ; goes to all the dances and frolics he can get to ; runs horse races, and drinks whisky. I never saw him drunk, but he associates with them that do drink, and now you don't wonder that I was opposed to having Sue tied to such a fellow for life; and they are both too young, if there was nothing else in the way." Philip thought of what Herodotus, or some other old Greek had said about the stealing of Helen from Troy. It run about thus : ' ' First, it is very wicked to steal a woman. Second, it is very foolish to make a fuss about such a theft. Third, for I have noticed that no woman is ever stolen unless she wants to be." True, now, thought Philip, as it was three thousand years ago. ii 144 THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER XVI. IS MAN A MORAL AGENT ? Sue was handsome, one of nature's beauties. Her hair was as fine as if spun out of sunbeams and gold ; her eyes were as blue as the unclouded skies, and yet there was fire lurking there. Her cheeks were like transparent flowers which let the sun shine through them. Her eyebrows and eyelashes were a shade darker than her hair, and would have served as a model for a painter. Her form was almost perfect in its symmetry. She was naturally graceful, but for want of society she was slightly lacking in ease and self-possession among strangers. When fully absorbed and excited over some pur- pose or plan, she lost sight of all constraint or embarrassment, and seemed to be an embodiment of natural dignity, grace, beauty and force, min- gled with rather too much of her father's rough manner of speaking. Self-will smiled in the curl of her lips and the dimples of her chin, and de- cision and firmness played along the lines of her lovely mouth. ' ' Brother Force, you and Brother Flamer con- tent yourselves here, and I'll go and put up the horses." Is MAN A MORAL AGENT? 145 ' No, I thank you, sir ; I am going home, and Brother Force had better go home with me," said Flamer. "No, sir, not a bit of it; I can't spare him to- night," said Blunt. ' ' Come when you can, and stay as long as possi- ble ; my house is a home for you, Brother Force, at all times. I shall be always glad to see you," said Flamer, as he started to go. "Thank you, sir," said Philip; "I shall avail myself of the privilege whenever convenient." " Good evening to all ;" and Flamer shook hands with Philip and Blunt, and the latter walked with him to the door. " Flamer, did that rascal hurt you much when he knocked you over?" "He stunned me for a minute. If I had got a pop at him, I would have laid him low ; but I will not meddle with him any further if he will let me alone. I will be glad if he ever gets good enough for Sue. I can't see what there is in him to make her like him ; but there is no telling what notions possess the girls when they determine to marry." ' ' That is so, Flamer ; if there is any fool in a girl, it comes out when she wants to marry. But, then, I reckon we must make allowance for them, fo'r I've seen some old widowers that acted the double-distilled fool when they were running after their second or third wife, as if the Lord had left 146 THE Two CIRCUITS. them to themselves and some whimsical devil, to make them disgusting enough to turn any ordinary stomach ; so I guess we'll have to give the young- sters a little margin." Flamer started in haste, and made no reply, and looked soberly down his nose, with his front toward the open door. He had his second wife, and his face was turned to no one as he said : " Good evening to all." ' ' Good evening, sir. If you see my wife on the way send her home," Blunt called out. In a few minutes Mrs. Blunt came in, bringing with her the two youngest children. Blunt, -with a hearty welcome in his face, met her at the door. "Well, Ruth, you came very near losing your daughter while you were over at Blakes', visiting." " How so ?" said the mother, alarmed. ' ' Why, Bob Scates had started to run off with her, and I just happened to meet them at the end of the lane, and nabbed Sue and brought her back ; but she has promised not to have him until I'm willing. " The mother looked relieved and thoughtful, as she replied : "I am not certain but we had as well be willing first as last, for when young people get it into their heads to marry, it seems nothing short of death can stop them ; you cannot convince therh ; you might as well try to convince a Baptist to Is MAN A MORAL AGENT? 147 sprinkle his babies. I suppose it is nature. I don't know, but Bob may come out all right ; lie's a good-hearted fellow. May be he'll settle down all straight when he is married." ' ' I have very little faith in him, Ruth. This is our young preacher. You must excuse me, Broth- er Force, for not introducing you to my wife when she first came in ; my head's almost fuddled over that Bob Scates affair. Brother Force, make your- self at home, and I'll go and put up the horses." " I'll go with you, sir;" and Philip laid down the old newspaper which he had held before him during part of the conversation that had been going on for the last hour, but his reading was a sort of make- bclime. ' ' No, sir, you will not go ; young preachers must study, and the people ought to help them to read. Anybody can put up horses and tend to them, but there are but few that can preach. You will get plenty of exercise riding to your appoint- ments and visiting your members ; that is your bus- iness. Let them tend to horses that make it their business; you stay in, sir." At this Blunt picked up his hat, and walked out with as much self-complacency and assurance as if he had settled the destiny of a State. Mrs. Blunt busied herself hanging up her own and the chil- dren's clothing, and putting the room in order. As her father went out, Sue came in, looking as if she 148 THE Two CIRCUITS. had been taking her mother's forbidden fruit, and at the same time made a decided effort to bring her countenance to indicate innocence and independ- ence ; but the presence of Philip disturbed her self-command. "You got back safely, mother? How are they all over at Mr. Blake's." " All well, except the old grandmother; she has the hypo as usual and seems determined to be un- happy when others are in a good humor, and growls when other people are glad." Mrs. Blunt looked as free and easy as if all things had been going on smoothly during her absence. ' ' Oh, that is nothing ; she is always finding fault and croaking, and takes a sort of pleasure in making herself disagreeable. She thinks there is no good place on earth like Boston, where she came from. I wonder how she will manage when she gets to heaven for something to be disgusted at. But, then, if heaven is like Boston, I guess she will be satisfied." Sue and her mother now passed into another room, to make preparations for supper, and Philip concluded to "give attention to reading.'' He drew from his saddle-bags the first volume of "Watson's Institutes," and tried to banish other thoughts and bend his mind to the ideas before Is MAN A MORAL AGENT? 149 him. But the evening was chilly, and between the cold and thinking of the novel events of the past few days, he could proceed no farther than the first chapter. He gathered from it that there must have been some law of the Creator previous to all human rules and observations, which law of the Creator determined the quality of a moral action. Then the idea was forced upon him, by the supe- rior power of the cold upon his body, that it would materially assist him in thinking if he would build a fire in the old ten-plate stove that stood, grim, gloomy and solitary, at one side of the room. Accordingly he went out to the wood-pile, at the rear of the house, but found no stove-wood prepared. Being bent, however, on the pursuit of knowledge under diffi- culties, he seized the ax, and commenced on some knotty, jack-oak poles, to convert them into appro- priate fuel. When he had an armful ready, Sue came out, seeking for something to raise the heat in the cooking department, and was gathering chips into her basket, at sight of which, Philip insisted that she should take his armful ; and he proposed to carry it in for her. Of course she objected ; and of course, too, Philip paid no attention to her ob- jections, excepting that he felt flattered, and regarded them as so many evidences of apprecia- tion of the favor he was conferring. He returned and renewed his attacks on the jack-oak poles. By this time he was warmed with- 150 THE Two CIRCUITS. out fire, and imagined that the weather had mode- rated. Still he accomplished his purpose, and carried in his pile of stove-wood, and went into the kitchen for a shovelful of live coals. Mrs. Blunt protested that he should not trouble himself; Mr. Blunt would attend to that when he came in. But as her protestations had the tone of apologies, Philip proceeded to carry out his plan. He pulled open the already half-open stove-door, and depos- ited the glowing coals therein, and commenced laying on the small sticks ; and being desirous of their speedy combustion, he came down upon his knees, and stooping forward, made a bellows of his lungs, and the smoke rolled up in clouds ; and when he was looking for the blaze to break out, an old cat broke out, bounding over Philip's head, scattering ashes and smoke in his eyes, and carrying a kitten in her mouth. Philip jumped, for he was nervous on the subject of cats, and for the moment he was not certain whether the kitten was in his mouth or its mother's. After he had sneezed and coughed, and rubbed the ashes from his eyes, he renewed his puffing and blowing, for he was now determined to have a fire. But no sooner did he get in position for the second blast than the old cat came pitching over his head and into the stove again, and was out in an instant with another young cat ; and so kept on, until four kittens were Is MAN A MORAL AGENT? 151 thus taken from the stove. Philip held back in amazement at this grand display of cat affection and fireworks. By this time all he could remember of the first chapter of "Watson's Institutes" was, "Man a Moral Agent," and he was not certain whether that was true under all circumstances. 152 THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER XVII. DOCTOR HEATEM, THE REFORMER. Philip, having the stove heated to his mind, sat down to the consideration of the second chapter of the " Institutes." He soon came to a note in the margin quoted from ' ' Ellis' Knowledge of Divine Things," &c, and here he stopped to talk with him- self: "I wish I had Ellis'. What breadth of knowledge can a man obtain from a pair of saddle- bags half full of books? But, then, I read some where, or I heard some one say, that a few books carefully read are of more value than large libraries, hastily noticed ; that a man is more likely to exer- cise his own thinking powers, where he has but few books ; and whoever was the author went on to say, ' A few books and much observation are better for training the mind to useful thought, than many books and little or no observation. ' What precious observations I have had for the last few days. They have shown me, that there were many of life's pet- ty realities that I knew but little about. I have heard it said somewhere, that it is what we call pet- ty things that make up the majority of life's events. It is the petty tempers, choices, emotions and feel- ings of the heart, that combine to make all one's DOCTOR HEATEM. 153 history black or bright, and a nation's and world's history too. It is the little details symetrically and appropriately arranged that give grandeur to any- thing. But I would like to know, how, in the name of reason, the details of life, I have met for the last few days are to be productive of any grand or useful result. Where did I leave off in this book? That girl is too good for Bob Scates. But I must study this book. Let me see, ' Man a Moral Agent. ' There comes Blunt ; what a curious com- pound he is. I was told that the life of an itiner- ant afforded an excellent field for study, and the application of the truths studied, at the same time ; it is my experience thus far, that the field for appli- cation is far wider than the field for study." Blunt bustled into the room, and took a seat, assuming the popular attitude of leaning his chair back against the wall, and his feet upon the round, and occasionally he would rest his heels on the top of the. stove; he looked the picture of health and contentment. There was a kindly expression lurk- ing under his hard-set features ; and the more you be- came acquainted with him, the more agreeable did his rugged face -and home-spun manners appear. He was so frank and out-spoken at times, that he seemed to have but a slight regard for the feelings of others ; but he had adopted that habit in imita- tion of some one, whom he considered a great man, who like Dr. Johnson had acted foolishly in that 154 THE Two CIRCUITS. particular. If there is any boorish odclness, or ec- centric whims, belonging to a great man, these will have forty imitators, where his virtues have one. Blunt with all his independence, assurance and conceit was a strong believer in great men. A bishop, with him was the reflex image of one of the greater Apostles, and their sayings were as ora- cular as the Proverbs of Solomon. He thought that John Wesley was divinely inspired ; and that Charles Wesley's hymns were equal to the Psalms of David ; that Adam Clark was second only to the writers of the New Testament ; that the editor of the "Western Christian Advocate" was nearly as infallible as truth itself. When he found in the "Advocate" the advertisement of a patent medi- cine, he instinctively felt like sending for a bottle, that its virtue might add to the vigor of his already healthy body. He even thought that every D. D. in his church, was a living Cyclopedia of wisdom, theology and holiness ; that a presiding elder was in the regular succession from the Evangelists ; that the preacher in charge was reaching out toward the same high standards, and that the junior preacher was a sort of embryo growing in the same direction. While he made free to talk in his rough manner to- ward the latter, yet it was not because he was lack- ing in respect for him, but because he thought the rude style would impress him with a lively sense of DOCTOR HEATEM. 155 the speaker's importance, and that it would be re- garded as a sign of superior native talent. Nothing unusual occurred till the hour arrived for the meeting the next day, Thursday. On account of the rain, and the drenching at Squillip's, and other causes, Philip had taken a violent cold. Chill and fever flashed and darted alternately, through and through, and up and down his whole system. He had redness of eyes and nose, as if they were inflamed by the heat of the brain. His head throb- bed and ached, and his pulse beat as irregular as the swing of a flower shaken by the breeze. His nerves were excited as if invisible files were smooth- ing his bones, and unseen pincers fitting the joints in their sockets. His stomach was burdened, and his sleep disturbed. There was a vitiated state of fluid about his eyes and nose, and elsewhere. From all this, it may be readily supposed, that Philip's preaching at the Spengler Grove Church, was done with inconvenience and suffering. Blunt took pains to introduce him to most of the congregation ; and among the rest, he was made acquainted with Dr. Heatem, who was regarded by many as the greatest man in the neighborhood. This doctor combined, in his own ponderous person, the attri- butes of physician, farmer, mechanic, inventor, re- former and preacher, and various other and-so-forths. 156 THE Two CIRCUITS. In his church relations, he claimed to be most in harmony with what he called, "The Christian Or- der;'' but his neighbors called him a " Campbell- ite." This latter appellation grew out of the fact, that Dr. Heatem was wont to say, that Alexander Campbell agreed with him, on Scripture interpreta- tions, especially on the great question of water bap- tism. As there were none of Dr. Heatem's " Christian Order," in his immediate neighborhood, he was very liberal toward the Methodists, and generally accomodated them by giving their preachers the benefit of his presence at their appointments, and they returned the compliment by employing Heatem to do their doctoring. Heatem appeared to have been born a reformer ; and he carried his disposition to re-form things into all the departments of his life. He had the latest inventions of seven defunct patent plows piled up in one corner of his stable lot ; and there were ex- ploded patent corn-shellers, and corn-planters, and fanning-mills, and harrows laying about promiscu- ously in the fence corners. All around, inside of the house, were patent candle-sticks, apple-parens, sausage-stuffers, sheep-shears, churns, washing ma- chines, fly-killers, goose-yokes and rat-traps. He had made a reform on the old fashioned horse col- lar and hames, for which he intended to apply for a patent; and new fashioned traces for pulling the DOCTOR HEATEM. 157 wagon forward ; and a patent way for holding it back ; and a patent machine for locking it ; and a patent greasing machine to lubricate the spin- dle without taking off the wheels. The principal difficulty with this last mentioned machine was, that most of the grease got upon the outside of the hub. Then he had a patent hog-marking machine, which he affirmed, was equally well adapted to marking cattle, and was as easily worked as setting type. He had patent cooking machines for boiling corn and rutabagas for stock. Most of these patent articles were his own inventions, and he soon ex- pected to realize a large fortune from some of them. He was always among the first to seek an intro- duction to strangers, who might come into the neighborhood ; and if no one volunteered to intro- duce him, he would suggest it to some of his friends, or would introduce himself. He was, in many re- spects, an interesting man, and could make himself agreeable, and withal was inclined to be generous and hospitable, and people spoke well of him, and called him clever, but said he was an awful bore on all reforms and patents. No one ever went to his house, and escaped be- ing invited into his log shop ; where he kept his tools for constructing reformed machinery ; and kept many books on reform ; and where he had shelved, and laid away in paper bags, and old stockings, all 1 58 THE Two CIRCUITS. the latest reformed vegetables, which had been dis- covered by the reformed school to be the great elixirs for the prolongation of human life. Before he would allow you to pass out from his reform office, he would tell you of the great prin- ciple of perpetual motion, which he said had baf- fled the inventive genius of the greatest philoso- phers, but, like all other great reforms, was "hid from the wise and prudent," and was, as it were, "revealed unto babes." He would tell you how he had labored upon it long, and brought all the powers of the latest reformatory measures to bear upon it, till at last the wonderful hidden secret had broken upon his mind. And then he would go off into a magniloquent discource on the achieve- ments of genius, and the incalculable debt the world owed to inventors. With your mind thus prepared, he would lead you, with the assurance and solemnity of an ancient priest, to one corner of his log shop, and carefully lift an old blanket, from his nearly completed machine. Here you beheld something that looked like the inside works of- a clock, and a small saw mill combined, with two or three miniature thrashing machines attached. . No ordinary mind was expected to fathom its intri- cate and marvelous complications. HEATEM AND HIP. 159 CHAPTER XVIII. HEATEM AND HIP. On the shelves, opposite the medicines, were the reform books. Foremost among these were the works of Dr. Thompson, who was the chief of all the steam doctors, and the powerful advocate for the curative agents, lobelia, steam and cayenne pep- per ; and, according to Heatem, the most profound and distinguished medical reformer of the age, and before whom all the lights of allopathy were but as the stars, that 'must pale before the sun. And here were nearly all the publications of " Fowler and Wells'-' on health, gymnastics, phrenology, Fourier- ism, free-love, mesmerism and spiritualism. And here were the works of Andrew Jackson Davis, the clairvoyant, who, Heatem declares, has been nearer heaven than Paul was, before he died, and saw nearly as much of the Divine mystery as Moses. And near to these were Horace Greeley's "Hints toward Reforms," and a file of the "New York Tribune." It is Heatem's opinion that Greeley ranks next to Davis in the catalogue of reformers, and that he sees nearly as much while he is awake as Davis does while he is asleep. Near at hand was a volume of Joseph Miller's Lectures on th? 12 160 , THE Two CIRCUITS. end of the world. The owner of the volume had great faith in Miller, and although he missed the fraction of a cycle or two in closing up all earthly affairs, yet he thinks the grand alarm his theory occasioned was productive of reform ; and whoever is a reformer, is a benefactor of his race. Here, also, was Jo Smith's "Book of Mormon." Heatem says that Smith was doubtless a reformer, but his followers have not produced the most desirable kind of fruit. The theological part of his library consisted of the works of Alexander Campbell, and a file of the "Millennial Harbinger," and the "Journal of Lorenzo and Peggy Dow." Heatem had nearly completed a machine invent ed by him, and to work on phrenological principles, to produce a well-balanced brain. It is to be applied to the heads of infants in such a way that all the good organs will be allowed their proper development, while the depraved bumps will be restrained by a nicely adjusted pressure of thumb-screws. Heatem expected to have fine success in using this instru- ment in connection with his medical practice. He contends that the brain of a child is like a broken leg : if it is set properly, it will be strong and healthy in its action ; and this machine was to accomplish that desirable result. Dr. Heatem had with him a young student, who occupied his time in compounding medicines, tak- ing care of the horses and cows, cutting stove-wood, HEATEM AND HIP. 161 keeping the office in order, studying medicine, and studying how to reform not himself, but the world at large. The name of this young medical student was Hippocrates Sweatman. Now, Dr. Heatem attended the preaching ; and perceiving that the young man who was striving to address him was laboring under a violent cold, felt a benevolent inclination to reform him. He could hardly listen with patience when he saw the imped- iments and pain of the speaker, which he felt him- self competent to remove in a very few hours. He had a kindly longing for setting in order and harmony the disordered physical functions of the young orator. Philip was introduced to him by Blunt as soon as the benediction was pronounced. The doctor invited- him to his house, and told him, in a sooth- ing manner, that he should be cured, sound and well by the next morning ; that his head should be as clear as a bell ; his mucous membrane purified ; his nerves made free from pain, and his system thor- oughly renovated, and so he would be better quali- fied for his exalted mission here below. Philip required but little persuading, for he never had been troubled much with sickness during his life, and so knew not what medical treatment he needed. He was in pain, and was ready to adopt the first proposal for relief. 1 62 THE Two CIRCUITS. " Doctor Heatem is just the man to make you all right," said Blunt. And the doctor looked kind, cordial and persuasive, and Philip went with him. While he was unhitching his little filly, Flamer came riding close to him, and stooping over, whis- pered in his ear: " Brother Force, that old Heatem is an old hum- bug;" and as Flamer was trying to tell him more, in the same strain, Blunt called out in a shrill, loud voice, that he and the doctor were waiting for him ; and all that Flamer could say further was, that Heatem was good-hearted and clever, but knew nothing of medicine. Blunt was trying to hold his mettlesome horse, waiting for Philip, while Heatem had gone on to give an old lady medical advice con- cerning her daughter, who was troubled with the rickets. The doctor's house consisted of three rooms, or rather, three log houses, joined, or disconnected (as you please), by a sort of hall or pass- way, covered by clapboards. One of these rooms was the doc- tor's office, as already described ; the second and front one was the setting room and bed room, and the third, which set back by the side of the office, was the kitchen and dining room, with two beds in it. Philip was ushered into the front room, and was introduced to Mrs. Heatem, a very tidy, plain, amiable looking woman ; and to the daughter, Lucy HEATEM AND HIP. 163 Stone Heatem, a modest, comely young lady of eighteen ; and to Hippocrates Sweatman, the medi- cal student. Hippocrates, who was usually called Hip, was a short, heavy-set, fat and flabby, sallow- visaged individual of nineteen summers, who reached his hair and picked his teeth with a goose- quill when he talked, and moved slowly, and was hardly ever known to sit in the presence of stran- gers. His method of resting was by leaning against the bed or wall, or hanging to the mantle with one hand and lifting one foot at a time, like a tired horse. ' ' Mr. Force, take a seat, sir, in my new, patent, fanning, fly-scattering rocking-chair. " ' ' Thank you, Doctor ; this is ceartainly a new invention," said Philip, as he seated himself. ' 'That is one of my own inventions, Mr. Force. It is a great labor-saving machine. You will perceive that under the seat is a pair of bellows, which rise and fall as you rock the chair. There is a rod extending from the bellows to the floor, and at the end of the rod is a roller ; and as you rock, the bel- lows work up and down. From this bellows there is a tin tube extending up the back of the chair, till it comes opposite the cranium, where arms of the tube branch out in each direction, till they come on each side of your face. By another in- genious arrangement, I transform these arms into fly-brushes, which will keep every insect from 164 THE Two CIRCUITS. your countenance ; that is, if you keep the chair in a state of rocking agitation." ' ' This is certainly a very curious contrivance, Doctor. " "It will add very much, Mr. Force, to luxurious ease and comfortable living in sultry weather, and when^ies and mosquitoes are troublesome." The doctor now turned to Hippocrates, who was hanging to the rough mantle with one hand, and picking his teeth with a goose-quill, and looking with wonder and admiration at the rocking-chair. ' ' Hip, I want you to prepare a quart of strong composition for Mr. Force. He has come to spend the night with me, and take a thorough course of medi- cine ; so you will bring that composition in just as soon as you can by any possibility do so. " Hip set down his foot, and went out to obey orders. ' ' Mr. Force,* I would be gratified to have you visit my office while my young student is getting the tea ready, if you think it will not disturb the peace and quietude of your physical system." They went in, and Philip was shown all the books, and medicines, and inventions ; and last, and most important, in the doctor's esteem, the perpetual motion. This done, they walked back. By this time the composition tea was ready and set by the fire on some coals, in a large queensware bowl, covered with a calico-colored saucer. HEATEM AND HIP. 165 "Brother Force, you will please excuse me for not being able to enjoy your society all this afternoon, as I have some important professional visits to make;" and Heatem stooped over the tea and poured some in the saucer, and commenced blow- ing it before he rose up fully, and continued his remarks, stooping and blowing at each punctuated point in his sentences : "I want you now, Brother Force, to drink all this tea that your stomach will contain, between now and dark. If you should desire more than there is here, Hip will prepare it for you. In re- gard to this tea, Mr. Force, you will be careful to bear in mind, the greater the abundance, the nobler the consequences ; please to remember that last remark, for the amount is vejy important. You will also be careful to keep in the house, Mr. Force ; and if you feel inclined to rest, you will repose upon one of these couches here." He now arose to his feet, still blowing at the saucer and touching it with his lips, to see if it was cool enough to drink ; and looked so comfortable and happy that Philip thought it must be agreeable tea. "Hip, you will bring in more wood, and keep a warm fire, and see that Mr. Force has all the tea he needs." Hip started for the wood, and Mrs. Heatem and her daughter, Lucy, passed out with him. 1 66 THE Two CIRCUITS. "What a man's system needs, Mr. Force, is heat. The great leading principle of this reform school is this, 'Heat is life, and cold is death. ' You may have noticed, Mr. Force, that when a man dies he is always cold ; so if you can keep the heat in a man, there is very little possibility of his dying." " How does your theory hold in fever, Doctor ?" ' ' The best in the world, sir ; we add heat to heat till it culminates into perspiration, and exudes from the cuticle. Men always lose their fever before they die ; it is one of the great truths of nature and nature's God, that ' Heat is life, and cold is death. ' You will now try a portion of this life-giving tea, remembering, the more the quantity, the finer the effect ;" and the doctor held out the saucer invit ingly, and Philip arose to receive it ; and not being in the habit of taking medicine, he tried to obey orders to the letter. He filled his mouth to its utmost capacity and gave a great swallow, when instantly he rushed to the fire-place, reminding you of forty bottles of ginger-pop foaming at once, or the successive explosions of a pack of Chinese fire- crackers. The composition flew from his mouth and nose, and tears from his eyes, and Philip affirms that the hot water ran out of his ears, and he jerked and danced, and cracked his throat as if in a spasm of whooping-cough, and thought of the Psalms, where they speak of "hailstones and coals of fire. " HEATEM AND HIP. 167 The doctor appeared disgusted, and remarked : ' ' Mr. Force, you must summon your determina- tions and have more decided control over your muscular powers, or the cold will never be eradi- cated from your system ; 'Heat is life, and cold is death.'" " My dear sir," said Philip, endeavoring to com- pose himself, ' ' I think it is eradicated now ; I feel as if I would not be cold again for a month." "Your view is seriously erroneous, Mr. Force. It is evident to me that you are a stranger to the in- fallible virtue of the reform practice." His voice assumed the tone of dignified rebuke and patronizing wisdom, and his countenance indi- cated sympathy for suffering and pity for ignorance. "I would convey to you the intelligence, Mr. Force, and my age and experience should give weight to what I say, that this reform treatment, if taken in its fullness, will permeate your whole sys- tem, and disembogue the coagulated ducts, and purify the lacteals and rejuvenate your whole con- servatory. I would enjoin upon you, therefore, that you introduce into your stomach all contained within that bowl, ever bearing in mind, Mr. Force, that heat is life, and cold is death." ' ' Why, sir, I would as soon swallow a pound of red pepper, and wash it down with aqua-fortis. " ' ' There, again, you would see a very wide and material difference, Mr. Force. Allow me to in 1 68 THE Two CIIRCUTS. duce you to try another saucer of this tea ; and a few more persistent and resolute efforts and your great repugnation will be, in a measure, sur- mounted." Philip would have given half his saddle-bag library to have the progress of this reform treat- ment stopped, and his cold allowed to take its natural course. But as he had committed his case to Dr. Heatem, he thought it would be hardly courteous to abandon him now ; so he made an effort to fol- low his directions, and began to sip cautiously from the saucer, reminding you of a rat approaching the bait of a trap. After the doctor had extorted a promise from Philip that he would swallow all the tea he could during the afternoon, he left him to himself and his own reflections. Philip says that he forced into his stomach about a pint of the burning tea, and the other pint he spilled in the fire-place. HEAT is LIFE COLD is DEATH. 169 CHAPTER XIX. HEAT IS LIFE COLD IS DEATH. Hippocrates would call in, now and then, to wit- ness the progress of affairs, and see that the needs of the patient were supplied. Philip requested a cup of cold water. "The Old Doc. don't allow any one that is tak- ing composition tea, to drink cold water; you can have some warm water if you like it." " Hump, that would be refreshing, truly." Hippocrates held to the mantle, and stood on one foot, and his eyes sparkled with delight as he looked on Philip drinking composition. " Heat is life, Mr. Force, don't you feel it rami- fying your whole system ? " ' ' I feel as if my stomach was rammed with pep- per pods and hot water." " It will entirely recuperate your system, Mr. Force; this is hardly a beginning; you'll see sights, and think you eat 'em, before you get through. Composition is a baby to lobecty, but it will be the makin' o' your consertution. " " A man ought to have a constitution like a Sal- amander, to endure this tea, without being con- sumed ; if lobelia is worse than this, I would rather 170 THE Two CIRCUITS. be excused from taking it, especially in this connec- tion ; one at a time, if you please." "I'll leave it to yourself, when you're takin' the iobeely, which is the .post delicious. Shall I make you another bowl of this tea? " " Not a drop more ; I thank you." It was now nearly dark, and Dr. Heatem made his appearance. " How do you come on, Mr. Force, drinking the tea?" " I think it is all gone, sir." " Ah ! Hip, you will prepare another bowl, about half full ; I want the stomach filled to its utmost capacity, with this truly noble tea." ' ' I would not choose another particle of it ; I am very much obliged to you, indeed, Doctor," said Philip. ' ' When persons are sick, Mr. Force, they do not fully comprehend what is to their greatest ad- vantage. Hip, you will put a table spoonfull of Number Six into the next bowl of tea." An exulting smile played upon the face of Hip as he slowly retired to obey orders ; and Philip be- gan to feel like a martyr doomed to the stake. The second bowl with the Number Six attachment was produced, and Philip was solemnly directed to drink of it, as much as possible. He had supposed that the Number Six would be some kind of a mollifier of the former heat; but no, it was like adding pitch HEAT is LIFE COLD is DEATH. 171 to a hot fire. Philip consumed as much of this second bowl as he could not smuggle into the fire- place. Heatem and Hip having finished their suppers, brought lights and sundry medical necessities into Philip's room. ' ' Hip, you will arrange and prepare the split- bottomed, medical chair, and the iron bake-oven, and put the rocks in the fire to heat up, and put plenty of coals under the tea kettle." "Yes, sir." ' ' Mr. Force, I never knew a single intelligent individual that took a thorough course of the reform medical treatment, but what became a zealous ad- vocate of the same. It has rescued many a hopeless case from an untimely grave. It is slightly unpleas- ant to the patient, at first, but in its final wind-up, it leaves no mineral deposits in the bones or bow- els ; you'll come out with an excellent appetite, and in a delightful serlubrious condition." Hip, having arranged the needed articles in their proper places, Heatem continued : "Now, Mr. Force, divest yourself of all your raiment, and have this blanket pinned about your neck." Philip obeyed, and the Doctor was precise, dig- nified and patronizing. ' ' Hip, you will hand me the chair ; there, set down in this, Mr. Force. Be careful to notice, i/2 THE Two CIRCUITS. Hip, that the blanket comes down close to the floor all around ; Mr. Force, you will keep the blanket pinned close around your neck, leaving no open space for the cold to'strike in; for heat is life and cold is death. You will, in a few short hours, feel like a new man, entirely; you will be ready to ' mount up on wings as eagles. ' Hip, you will pay very strict attention to my directions : you will now insert the iron bake-oven under the chair of the pa- tient, and be careful not to elevate the blanket any higher than you can help ; now pour the hot water from the tea kettle into the oven." The moisture and gentle heat from the hot water was rather enjoyable, and Philip thought that the better part of the reform treatment had come. In a few moments, .by the direction of Heatem, Hip took the tongs and brought one of the red hot rocks from the fire, and insinuated it under the blanket into the old skillet of water, and the steam flew up fiercely, and so did Philip, to the height of a foot ; and he floundered about, like a huge fish, just pull- ed from the water. "Mr. Force, you will endeavor to remain quiet ; you will disarrange the animal heat." "I am no animal, I thank you; you are not scalding hogs, sir. I'm boiled, Doctor, from my ankles up." And Philip thought of Shadrach and Abednego HEAT is LIFE COLD is DEATH. 173 in the furnace, and of the beloved Apostle in the chaldron of boiling oil. "Mr. Force, you are undoubtedly mistaken, your nerves are very much disturbed. I have steamed hundreds of people, and never boiled any- body yet. Always bear in mind, heat is life and cold is death." And the Doctor stood upon the folds of the blanket, and Hip stooped down to hold it to the floor; but occasionally Philip would kick out a small hole to let in the cool air. After they had put in another rock or two, and Philip had made as many plunges toward the ceiling, Heatem took off the blanket and told him to stand up, and he would make all the heat go into the vital parts, where it ought to be, and where it would invigorate the sys- tem, and drive all cold away. As soon as Philip stood up, a bucket of cold water was poured over his head, and the effect in producing bounding and jumping, was equal to the effect of the steam. And Philip says, he felt as if some one had struck him with an icicle, and knocked him from the torrid zone into Symms' Hole ; and he thought of Milton's de- mons, who felt " by turns the bitter change Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce, From beds of raging fire, to starve in ice." Heatem and Hip now attacked Philip with coarse 174 THE. Two CIRCUITS. towels, and rubbed him till every pore felt as if it was filled with salt and pepper. "That will do, I thank you ; be kind enough not to rub the skin off me. " " This kind of friction is indispensably necessary, Mr. Force, to bring out the heat to the cuticle, and thus preserve an equilibrium. There, I presume that is a sufficiency ; you will now put on your shirt and drawers, and lay down in that bed, sir." "Thank you, Doctor; I feel better, and if it will suit your convenience just as well, sir, I would prefer that this performance should end here. " "That idea cannot be entertained for a moment, Mr. Force ; the mention of ending the treatment here, shows how erroneous your ideas are ; the whole mucous membrane of your stomach needs purifica- tion, and that can only be done by that noble anti- dote, lobelia." By the word, "noble," Philip imagined that there might be something pleasant about it, so he resigned himself to his fate. THE REFORM TREATMENT. 175 CHAPTER XX. THE REFORM TREATMENT. "Hip, you will place the tub on the chair, by the side of Mr. Force's bed ; and hand me the jar of lobelia, and a tea-cup half-full of warm water. Let me examine your pulse, Mr. Force. Ah, you'll be all right, sir, after you have taken this ex- hilerating emetic, and you'll have a devourin' appe- tite. Hip, did you tell Mrs. Heatem to have some toast and chicken ready for my patient, when his appetite rises? " "How long before it rises, Doctor," said Philip. "I think, sir, it will be up, inside of an hour, more or less. Now, Mr. Force, I want you to drink this medicine, and do not stop to investigate, question, look, smell or taste ; the tea-cup is only about two-thirds full, you will endeavor to take the whole dose without removing the cup from your lips." It was done nearly that way ; and in a moment or two, Philip began to be as sick as if he had swallowed the contents of a snuff-box. "Good heavens, Doctor, you have killed me, this time; I never was so sick in my life, sir; such nausea, such loathsome distress." 176 THE Two CIRCUITS. "Be as calm as you can, Mr. Force, it discovers the immensely disorded state of your stomach ; it will remedy itself in a few minutes ; when you feel like ejecting anything from your interior, you will hold your head over this tub." Now, Philip had not vomited since the days of his infancy ; and had even forgotten, as to that ; his system seemed to rebel against it ; he felt deathly sick ; great drops of sweat stood out all over him ; for a full half hour he rolled about the bed in agony ; he would raise up and fall over, and writhe and sneeze and gasp, and his muscles would become distorted, and he would collapse and condense, ex- pand and contract, and his nausea grew worse and worse. "I think I shall have to administer to you an- other dose, Mr. Force. " " My soul, Doctor, my stomach is moving like an earthquake, now. I shall die ; you had as well send for the Coroner, now, I shall never see the daylight again ; whew ! mercy ! " " You'll emerge from this momentous occasion, like the Phoenix from its ashes, straight as a ramrod, and clean as a new rifle. You will now admit an- other dose into your stomach, it will fix you." "Yes, yes, I think it will fix me; " said Philip convulsively; "but I guess I'd as well take it, as I am gone beyond all hope." THE REFORM TREATMENT. 177 The first dose was like an earthquake, and this, added thereto, was like an earthquake and volcano combined, and yet there was no eruption. Heat- em, for a few moments, was perplexed. "I never knew a stomach admit so large an amount of lobelia as yours, and not make a success- ful effort to reject it. Hip, you will bring me a saucer half-full of warm water, and a piece of sal- eratus the size of a walnut ; which, I think, Mr. Force, will cut your bile, and thus allow the lobelia to perform its noble functions." Philip was bounding and floundering, as if he were in a bed full of hornets. "Wrath and destruction, Doctor, do as you please ; nothing can make me worse. Oh, dear me, I'll swallow anything that promises relief. Mer- cy, I shall burst with this awful load on my stom- ach." "Now, Mr. Force, I will introduce into your digestive organs, this alkaline mixture ; it will dis- integrate the acidity of your duodenum, and cut your bile ; and the bile cut, you'll have immediate relief." " If there is any relief in it, let me have it quick, whew ! " And sure enough, almost as soon as Philip had swallowed it, the contents of his stomach began to rush from his mouth and nose, and Philip declares, that no small quantity came from his ears and eyes. 1 78 THE Two CIRCUITS. Heatem whirled him across the bed, and tucked his head under his arm as in a vice. Hip jumped on top of the bed, and wedged the toes of the patient in the cracks between the logs, to keep him from going up ; and all that was within him was called upon to come out; he even thought at the time that every joint of his back-bone would pitch through his throat ; he says, he felt as if some infernal ma- chine had been run through him, and was fastened on the lower part of him, and was jerking him wrong side out. Every time he sent out a fresh volley, Hip would give Philip's toes an extra shove into the crack between the logs, and talk to himself: "That's beautiful, that shows the perdigious power of the reform practice ; he'll want to eat po- tatoes and fat meat, in half an hour." ' Just here, one of Philip's feet escaped confine- ment, and in turn tried to kick Hip's head into the crack, but only succeeded in barking his nose on one of the logs. Hip finally gathered it, with the other, in his arms, and wedged them in as before, his mind still contemplating the workings of the reform practice. "That'll expurgate his duodenum, and rectify his diertetical repository." " Hippocrates," said Heatem, " I want you, par- ticularly, to notice the remarkable workings of this superb system ; " and Philip nearly jerked his head from under his arm; "you will please maintain as THE REFORM TREATMENT. 179 great quietness as possible, Mr. Force ; Hip, you will perceive how the perspiration exudes from the cuticle ; you will also perceive the perdigious pro- jectile power of the stomach ; it is the centre of the inner man : the tabernacle of the heart, and the very centre of physical power, and nothing so moveth this centre to mighty working, as that in- valuable curative agent, lobelia. Mr. Force, don't you feel like you were nearly through?" ' ' Through ! I should think I was, to all intents and purposes, " said Philip, languidly; and out came another libation to the reform practice. "Ah! I perceive, Mr. Force, that all the defile- ments of your alimentary canal are not entirely ex- purgated." "Whew, another such expurgation and I am gone," said Philip, convulsively, and exceedingly prostrated ; "I feel as if my legs had started to come through my mouth." " I'll hold your legs, Mr. Force ; " and Hip gave them another punch into the crack. Heatem laid Philip back on the pillow, and Hip straightened his feet down in the bed and covered them, and went to the mantle and held to it with one hand, and rested on one foot, and picked his teeth with the goose quill. Heatem stood by the side of the bed, looking as if he were about to read the funeral service over a i8o THE Two CIRCUITS. grave, and at the same time was greatly resigned to the dispensation of providence, and proceeded to remark : "The human stomach, Mr. Force Hippocrates, you will pay attention to my words, they are to profit you in after years ; " and Hip pricked up. like a horse looking for something to frighten him ; "I was going on to say, the human stomach is enormously carpacious; its heights and depths, lengths and breadths, in all their profundity, were never explored and revealed, until brought to light by the unparalleled power of lobelia. Now, men can truly and understandingly, say, ' we are fearful- ly and wonderfully made ; ' and he put his hands on his hips, and looked Philip full in the face, as he lay, weak and panting upon his pillow. "When you perceive, Mr. Force, the vast amount contained in your alimentary receptacle, you will know that, that poet was a conservative old fogy, who said : 1 Man wants but little here below. Nor wants that little long.' It is very clear, from man's receptive carpacity, (here he brought his hands together, and pressed them on the lower button of his jacket) that he wants a perdigious great deal." "I have received far more than I want," said Philip. "In some respects, Mr. Force, your remark is correct; but the world of mankind at large, has THE REFORM TREATMENT. 181 never been sufficiently reformed, to equalize wants and supplies." "I shall not feel that the world is equalized, till I see you trying to contain a gallon of pepper tea, and a pint of water, thickened with lobelia, and then stirring it up with a gill of dissolved saleratus, and then I want the satisfaction of boiling you for half an hour over a skillet of water and hot rocks." "If you were skilled in the reform practice, Mr. Force, and my system was as seriously infected with defilement as yours was, I would be "delighted to submit to this grandest and most efficacious rem- edy ; " and Heatem kindly wiped the moisture from Philip's brow. " Do you feel like eating now? " "No, sir; I do not feel that I would have any appetite for a month." ' ' I expect to see you eat a hearty supper, before I lay down. Hip, you will go and tell Mrs. Heat- em, that my patient is now quiet, in bed, and that I desire that she, or Lucy Stone, should bring in the chicken and toast, that the renovated powers of his stomach may have some palatable substance on which they can play, to invigorate the flaculent system." "Yes, sir;" and Hip went out. Mrs. Heatem and Lucy soon made their appear- ance with a very attractive looking supper ; and Philip was so urged, upon all sides to partake of it, that he feebly submitted. He rather admire-' 1 82 THE Two CIRCUITS. the Doctor's handsome daughter, and was pleased with his kind and amiable wife, and thought that Heatem was possessed of many kindly feelings, and that even Hippocrates was a good natured dunce ; yet from that day till now Philip has an abhorrence of professional reformers ; and when- ever he sees one of them, in any department he has a strong desire to administer to them a thor- ough course of the reform treatment. SNUBBED. 183 CHAPTER XXI. SNUBBED. Philip was roused, in the morning, from his fitful slumbers by Blunt, Heatem and Hip coming into his room. " Good morning, Brother Force. How are you this morning ?" ' ' Good morning, Brother Blunt ; I feel as if I had been fighting with the beasts of Ephesus, and that the beasts were too many for me;" and Philip turned over, as if a prairie wolf had seized him in the back. "How are you and all the family, especially Sue ?" "All well, sir." "Mr. Force's system," said Heatem, "was perdigiously deranged, Mr. Blunt, and there was a tremenjus necessitary for a thorough course of medi- cal treatment." ' ' The course has been so thorough, Doctor, that I think I will not want another during a lifetime," said Philip. ' ' How did you like it, Brother Force ? You felt elegant after it was over?" and Blunt looked as if he wanted to be kind and consoling, and as if he felt elegant himself. 184 THE Two CIRCUITS. ' Yes, I feel elegant as a frozen man would when thawed to life; as a burned child pulled from the fire." "He'll be entirely recuperated, Mr. Blunt, when he partakes of a little nourishment." The breakfast was soon announced, and after Philip had eaten, Blunt offered his services to accompany him to the next appointment. Dr. and Mrs. Heatem and Lucy Stone protested against his leaving the house that day. " I would prefer, Mr. Force, that you would remain, and let me invigorate your flaxulent system with some of my serlubrious tonics, and thus give strength to your renovated powers." Philip declined to partake of the serlubrious tonics ; and after thanking the household for their kindness, in company with Blunt, went on to his appointment, five miles distant. " Here is the place, Brother Force. This old brother is rich ; look at those stacks of hay, and that big barn, and the flocks of sheep, and the herds of cattle and hogs ; and he has more than a thousand acres of the best land in the county. He has but little taste, however, for the hog-lots and wood-pile are in front of the house." The dwelling was a two-story brick, with a porch extending the whole length of the front. On this porch were old saddles, harness, bags of grain, balls of carpet-rags, spinning-wheels, huge bundles SNUBBED. 185 of wool, pumpkins, squashes, apples, onions, spades, doubletrees, axes, grubbing-hoes, scythes, ox-yokes, tubs, washboards, and old barrels run- ning over and empty, and various other things. An aisle was left, barely large enough to admit persons into the door. " Come in ;" and Philip and Blunt walked in. ' ' Good morning, Sister Grabdime ; how are you all this morning ?" " Wall, jist middlin' like. Take a cheer, both of ye." And Mrs. Grabdime hardly moved in her seat, and kept on sewing ; nor did she lift her spec- tacles, but simply turned her head, with as much unconcern as if two of her own children had come in the door. And when Blunt introduced Philip to her, she carelessly repeated, "Take a cheer, both of ye." And they helped themselves to a cheer, and drew up to the fire, for the air was chilly, and Philip was shivering. " Mr. Blunt, didn't ye see nothin' of my ole man as ye come down the lane?" and she never raised her head, but sewed away on the linsey dress she had in hand. " I saw nothing of him, madam." ' ' That's cur'us ; he went up there to look after some colts. I guess he'll be back d'reckly. " "All right, Sister Grabdime; I can put up our horses. Brother Force is not well ; he took a course of medical treatment at Dr. Heatem's last 1 86 THE Two CIRCUITS. night, so I came with him to-day, to take care of him," and Blunt rose to his feet, and ran the fingers of his left hand through his hair, and pushed his lips up and out as if his dignity was rising. And Mrs. Grabdime pushed her needle through the linsey dress as if she had a spite at the cloth, and jerked it out as if she was wreaking vengeance on the thread ; and remarked, with a savage snap, as if she was making an effort to bite a ten-penny nail in-two : "We're not havin' meetin' to our house now, any more." ' ' Oh, I was not aware of that. Where is it to be held ? We supposed it was at your house, as it was last year." "No, sir;" she still appeared to bite the nail. " We got mighty tired havin' meetin' to our house an' feedin' nearly all the people an' their hosses ; an' it made so much dirt and muss, an' tuck so much time," and the old woman looked straight at her sewing, and drove the needle as if she were punching holes in leather. Philip began to feel for his hat, and Blunt's lips went up and his eyebrows came down, and the end of his nose rose up toward them. "Where do you propose to have the meeting, Sister Grabdime?" - "I don't propose nuthin' about it, and don't SNUBBED. 187 know where they'll have it, and don't care. The ole man '11 be in d'reckly; mebby he kin tell ye." "What made you have it taken from your house?" "I tole ye wunst 'twas too much bother," and with great vigor, . she pushed her spectacles up against her eyes, and gave the needle an extra punch. " An' then, to be plain, the ole man didn't like the last preacher, and I didn't like him nuther ; he was so hidebound that he wouldn't ernounce after meetin' that we had honey for sale ; an' he was allus talkin' about the children havin' larnin, an' hopin' people would build a school house' by taxin' them that didn't want 'em ; an' was every now and then fussin' about 'scribing for newspapers, when we don't read ; an' kept jawin' about folks not buildin' a meetin' house, as much as to say our house wasn't good enough for him. An' he jawed the old man because he kept bitters in the house ; and if I'd been him, I'd a-broke the bottle over one preacher's noggin. " Philip says that when Mrs. Grabdime made this last remark she looked at him as much as to say if he opened his head, she would prove it to him. By this time Philip had his hat in his hand, and turning to Blunt suggested that they look after the place of meeting. But Blunt was inclined to fur- ther conversation with Mrs. Grabdime, and in- quired: "Where do you have meeting now?" 1 88 THE Two CIRCUITS. ' ' I told you this twiste, now, that I don't know an' don't care, an' haint hearn nobody say. We kept meetin' to our house long enough, and I'd never had it here in the fust place if I'd a'had my way. But the ole man uste to think the preachers was pretty nigh angels, but I knowed they wasn't." Here Blunt tried to put in a word, but she was too fast for him. "Don't talk to me, Blunt, till I'm done. When you preachers get us to meetin', ye say what ye please, and a body like me haint no chance to say nuthin' ; I'm talkin' now. I was sayin' that the ole man uste to think religin was better' n anything else; that grass wouldn't grow, and water 'd turn bitter if he didn't pray and have preachin'. But I knowed better ; but I didn't say nuthin' for a good while, an' let him have his way, an' let the preach- ers blarney him, an' it tickled him, an' made me mad. But I didn't let 'em know it, till they had a dis- tracted meetin' to our house for more'n two weeks, an' kept the house full most o' the time, an' I got so mad I jist tole the ole man that that meetin' cost us more'n twenty dollars, an' he was fool enough to say it did him twenty dollars worth of good. But after while I argyed him out of it, an' showed him that prayin' wasn't money, preachin' wasn't makin' money, an' meetin' to our house was a-losing money ; an' all this to do about religion was jist takin' money out of our pockets an' puttin' none in, SNUBBED. 189 an' there 'd be no end to our givin' money if the thing wasn't stopped. At last the ole man, like a pup, got his eyes open an' got some sense ; an' we jist both together said if the folks about huyr wanted meetin', they could get some place else to put it." And the old woman laid down her needle and slapped one hand on her sewing, and raised her spectacles with the other, and pushed back her sun- bonnet, and turned her face toward Blunt, with an air of defiance and triumph. "Why, Sister Grabdime, you're going crazy on the subject of. money." "Ye needn't Sister me much; all but the crazy. I'm jist comin' to my senses; there's not much sense in anything but money. Give me the money an' you take the religion, an' see which'll come out ahead. Religion's a mere nuthin'; it won't buy vit- tles, nor clothes, nor steers, nor won't sell ; an' won't pay debts, an' won't build yer houses, an' get nuthin' for yer back an' stomach." ' ' Would you like to have everybody without re- ligion, and have none of it in your neighbood ?" " I'd jist as lief, an' a little liefer." "Why, Sister!" " k Don't Sister me, if you please," and she looked as if she could shave the stubble from his head with a butcher knife, and cut the end from his nose with the same instrument, and do it with pleasure. 190 THE Two CIRCUITS. "Well, Mrs. Grabdime, then; let me tell you how your neighborhood would be if there was no religion here. Your property and your life would not be safe, and your neighbors would soon come to be like savages ; and people, stronger than you, would turn you out of your house, and steal your cattle and hogs, and eat up your grain, and burn your rails, and plunder all you've got. Where there is no religion, that is about the way they do. When education and religion prevail, there is more peace and quiet ; more safety to women and chil- dren, and more security to all, and every thing worth living for. The way you do, and if your ideas were carried out, would bring us all back to savages, and then your money would be but little account; you can't enjoy money unless you have peace, quiet and safety. People need the checks and restraints, and the culture of religion and edu- cation to keep them in proper bounds ; to make them respect the rights of their neighbors. I am surprised, Mrs. Grabdime, that you talk as you do ; you have so much property, and so many children, and so much at stake." The old woman looked sullen and rather baffled, and turned her eyes toward Blunt like a setting hen, winking at the sun, and Blunt continued : "Look at some of the people that don't go to meeting; gamblers, counterfeiters, horse-stealers, drunkards, and lazy, lounging loafers. Do you want SNUBBED. 191 to belong to such a crowd as they are ? I am sorry, Mrs. Grabdime^ that you have backslid so." "Thank ye, sir, I never frontslid much." "Well, I'm sorry, anyhow, that you have come to this way of thinking, for it is the wrong way even to make money, and the sure way never to enjoy it; and the sooner you get out of it, the better." 192 THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER XXII. THE GRABDIME FAMILY. "Sail, go in the kitchen an" see if that meat's boiled dry." And Mrs. Grabdime kicked the fore- stick in the fire-place, with a full mule power, and sewed more rapidly and spitefully than ever, and pulled her sun-bonnet down over her face ; and Sail started for the kitchen, as if she saw no necessity for the command, yet dared not disobey. To all human appearance, Sail was about seven- teen years old. She was nearly the same size around the waist, as around the shoulders. Her only display of clothing, was a linsey dress, striped and checkered with dingy green, yellow and black. It was buttoned up behind, and had about three breadths in the skirt, and reached within ten inches of the floor. Her eyes were grey and sleepy, and her large lips lay loose about her large teeth. She had a listless, lounging manner, as if she did not care whether she sat up or laid down, but would rather, if anything, prefer the latter. Her hair was the color of unbleached domestic, slightly scorched ; and her eyebrows and eyelashes were of the same hue. Her eyes, nose and lips had the appearance of being bitten by the frost, and had not healed up THE GRABDIME FAMILY. 193 yet. Previous to her going into the kitchen, she had sat in the corner of the room, vainly endeavor- ing to make some imitation of feminine graces, for the benefit and admiration of the visitors. ' ' Zedekiar, you go out this minnit and fetch some wood, before this fire goes out;" and Mrs. Grabdime made another plunge at her sewing, as her growl died away. Zedekiah was a worthy mate for his sister ; but was a few years younger. He wore a dilapidated, low crowned, wool hat, which was large enough for a man ; and several holes were punched through the top of it, and his flaxen locks were pulled through the holes as far as the roots and entangle- ments would permit, and were knotted together with cockle-burs on the outside, as if to keep the hat from blowing off. His clothing consisted of tow-linen shirt, and trowsers of the same, and the latter, in places, seemed stiff with something besides starch, and they were kept from inclining down- ward by a solitary suspender, said to have been made of the same kind of dry goods as the breeches. Zedekiah made several sleepy yawns before he was fairly on his feet, and moved as if he was un- der the influence of morphine ; finally the lone sus- pender, which had slipped from the shoulder to the elbow, was hitched up into its proper position, and he started for the wood pile, and it was supposed 194 THE Two CIRCUITS. he would make the trip and return, in the course of an hour. Philip ventured to inquire : " Is your clock right, Mrs. Grabdime?" " Yes, sir ; " and the two monosyllables came out as if two bites were snapped from the ten-penny nail. "Brother Blunt, let us look after the place of meeting." Philip felt as if this was the roughest welcome he had met since he had come on the circuit. "I thought we would wait till Brother Grabdime came in ; probably he can tell us something about it." At this juncture, Grabdime made his appearance. He was a tall, raw-boned, stoop-shouldered man ; and by turns looked meek and selfish, savage and soothing. He had very heavy eyebrows, and his hair was iron grey, and his nose was long, and pinched together at the nostrils ; and he wore a red, flannel shirt, and a ragged coat and pants of jeans, and a dirt-colored, low-crowned wool hat, and cow- hide shoes. "Good morn', Blunt;" and he shook Blunt by the hand in an absent-minded kind of way. "This, Brother Grabdime, is Brother Force, our young preacher." "How de'do, Brother Force?" Philip says, that he witnessed as much warmth and cordiality in the grasp and shake of Grabdime's THE GRABDIME FAMILY. 195 hand, as he would have witnessed in shaking the old coat-sleeve, without the hand in it. He seated himself by the fire, and kicked the fore-stick, and coughed fiercely, and took a large chew of tobacco, and doubled himself upon a split- bottomed chair, and looked like a loose bag of rags, and commenced a ferocious ejection of saliva under the fore-stick. ' ' I am told, you have changed the place of meet- ing, Brother Grabdime ?" " Wa-11, ya-es ; " what he lacked in vigor of speaking, was more than made up in the vigor of spitting; "we 'lowed as how, we'd had it to our house long enough ; we're gittin' ole, like, and it vas gittin' to be a power of trouble." ' ' Where do you expect to hold it ? I believe you're one of the stewards?" " Wa-11, n-n-o-o, ya-es ; I don't exactly know." " Ycr not; of course ycrnot; yc never 'greed to sarve." " I know it, ole woman ; don't tar' yer clothes." "An' ye shan't nuther;" another nail was snap- ped. " I tole 'cm they mout have it in my ole house, whar I ustc to live." "It wants a quarter of eleven o'clock, now; let us go over, Brother Grabdime." "Ya-es, n-n-o-o, I hadn't cal'clated much on goin'." 196 THE Two CIRCUITS. " Oh, come and go with us; we have come five miles." "D'ye feel like goin', ole woman?" "No, I don't; " a nail bit; "an* you'd a great sight better be lookin' after them calves, 'stead o' wastin' an' foolin' away yer time goin' to meetin'." And she kicked her foot out savagely, from under the folds of her dress, and the shoe was stringless and slip-shod, and the hole in the toe opened out like the mouth of a dead fish. " Don't tar' yer clothes, ole woman; I guess I'll go, Blunt ; I'll walk across the fields, an' youens kin ride 'round the road ; I want to look after some calves 'tween huyr and thar. " Philip and Blunt bid good-bye to Mrs. Grab- dime, who simply responded, "Good-bye," very sharply, without as much as turning her eyes to- ward them. There was a slight snow upon the ground ; and the air was cool ; and Blunt and Philip soon made the half mile around the fields to the old house ap- propriated to religious service. It was a one-story log tenement, without a window ; for the glass and sash had been removed, and clapboards were nailed over the openings. The front door stood half-open, and there were no signs of a congregation. Some persons had been there a few days before, and made some rough benches, and daubed the cracks between the old logs ; and no small share of the daubing THE GRABDIME FAMILY. 197 was still on the benches and floor. The calves and sheep had made a shelter of the establishment, du- ring the snow storm of the night previous. The boards had been taken off the joists overhead, and many seams of sky light were to be seen through the clapboard roof; and the walls were decorated with innumerable spider-webs, and mud-daubers' nests, with two or three hives for hornets. Philip busied himself pulling splinters from the rails of the fence near by, while Blunt went to a lit- tle cabin, forty rods off, for fire and an ax. Brush and rails were soon cut to pieces, and the old tum- ble-down fire-place was soon made to glow with fervent heat. Blunt, using a clapboard for a shovel, scraped the dirt and mortar from the floor and benches, and brought in a handful of hazel brush and weeds, and converted them into a broom, there- with removing the thickest of the dust and dirt ; and he and Philip sat by the fire, waiting for the " streams of humanity " to turn in that direction. Two wandering hounds introduced themselves first to notice, and snuffed around the room, in apparent scorn, as if they had expected better accommoda- tions, when they attended on ministerial service's. They were followed by four curs, a rat-terrier, and two bull-dogs, and a half grown Newfoundland pup, and they all began to interest themselves, by cultivating their social qualities, and renewing their former acquaintance, and brought their enjoyment 198 THE Two CIRCUITS. to a climax, by converting the room into an arena, for the display of dog -gymnastics. As "coming events cast their shadows before," so these dogs had preceded their masters and mistresses ; for it was not long before twenty or thirty persons were seated around the fire, ready to hearken to the counsels of truth. DISCOURSE ON TABERNACLES. 199 CHAPTER XXIII. DISCOURSE ON TABERNACLES. According to previous arrangement, Blunt occu- pied the piilpit. There was neither chair, nor stand, nor table, nor box, nor barrel, nor any such thing to serve for a book-board ; there were no notes, no manuscript, and no place to put them. Blunt brought forth his hymn-book from his coat pocket, and rose suddenly before the small crowd and announced : " Our hymn is found on the 397th page; short metre. I hope all the congregation will join in singing : " 'How beauteous are their feet Who stand on Zion's hill.' " Blunt started the tune in one of the highest keys ever reached in mortal song, and every auditor except Philip did their utmost to scream somewhere in the neighborhood. When he gave out the other two lines, either from his love of variety, or from carelessness, or from lack of capacity to keep it right, or from forgetfulness, he missed the tune, and ran off on a common metre. But by main force and awkwardness he pulled it through. And when he came to the last line of the stanza, " And words of peace reveal," 2oo THE Two CIRCUITS. he was assisted out of, or run further into, his con- fusion by a profound howl from one of the hounds. The perspiration on Blunt's face and neck was pro- fuse ; the fire-place was sending out considerable heat, and he reached back his stubble, and gave out the two lines of the second stanza : " How charming is their voice ;" and he started with renewed vigor to hunt up the first tune ; and after he had blundered and roared through the first line, and was pushing through the second, it was discovered that he was sweeping through the loftiest notes of " Old Hundred," and he blended the beauties and harmonies of two or three tunes before he came to the last words. When he announced the third stanza, " How happy are our ears," (the color of Blunt's ears did not indicate perfect happiness) a large man, with a vast mouth, hurried to take the lead and start off on the right measure ; but he began with "Lennox," and bounded and struggled and closed up the two lines with the dying notes of old "Windham." But Blunt perse- vered over all obstacles, and sang the final two stanzas appropriately, and made an appropriate prayer, and arose and announced his text. By this time Grabdime made his appearance, and seated himself, shivering, as close to the fire as possible. "My text is found in the Eighty-fourth Psalm and DISCOURSE ON TABERNACLES. 201 first verse, ' How amiable are tJiy tabernacles, Lord of hosts ! ' 1 ' This text refers to the place where the Jews worshiped, and I am going to apply it to the place where we worship ; not that it would be true to call this old trap amiable, but I use the words to rebuke us for attempting to worship in such a hole, when we might do better. "The word amiable means lovely, beautiful, attractive, and hence we conclude that a place of worship ought to be lovely, beautiful, attractive. Now, Brethren and Sisters, how do you think that applies to us here ? Does it make a man feel amia- ble to look at the dirt on this floor ? no ceiling overhead, cobwebs and mud all over the logs, and hornets' nests about the roof. It is well, my friends, that it is not the season for hornets to be in active business, or they would show you, in feeling terms, how amiable this tabernacle is. The roof is split in forty places to let the rain in ; and all the light we get comes through the cracks and through the door, which has to be left open when it is cold enough to have it shut. Will a man feel amiable when he is hot on one side and cold on the other ? and when the air is tainted with the odor of calves and sheep ? These things might do if you were not able to do better. But I know, and you know, and the Lord knows, and so does the Devil, that many 2O2 THE Two CIRCUITS. of you have comfortable and nice houses at home. Do you expect to put off the Lord with such an old sheep-trap as this, which Brother Grabdime has, in a manner, thrown away? You need not calcu- late that the Lord is going to be satisfied with any such a concern as this, when He has millions of beau- ful places where He can go. I have no idea He will come within forty feet of any such a filthy place, when all creation is full of lovely places, and when you have better ones yourselves. ' ' You need not tell that the Savior was born in a stable ; I know He was. But it was because the people were too indifferent or mean to give Him a better place. Do you want to be like those old Jews? If you do, you have not come far short of it. I would not be surprised if that stable in Beth- lehem was a better building than this house. And the Savior is born now, and He is not seeking to- live in such places as this, unless it is where people cannot do better. "You need not tell me that a good house might make you proud ; you are all willing to risk it when you are able to build a good house for yourselves. And a man that is so afraid of being proud that he cannot be decent, had better come to the mourner's bench and be converted over. A clean heart will make a man want to be clean outside, and have a clean, comfortable place for his heart to worship in. ' ' ' How amiable are thy tabernacles. ' These DISCOURSE ON TABERNACLES. 203 words show that the Lord's tabernacles are amiable or lovely ; but this sheep-den of a tabernacle is not lovely, therefore this tabernacle is not the Lord's, but belongs to Brother Grabdime ; and it seems to me useless to endeavor to coax the Lord to come into it. These are my views about it. Brother Force, here, is not responsible for what I say ; yet I have no doubt he agrees with me in the main idea, and so do all of you, who think over the matter with any care. I speak plainly ; judge ye what I say. You all know me, and I know you ; and I would advise you to get over your indifference, and some of you over your stinginess, and open your hearts and purses, put your hands to work, and build a decent meeting-house. I know some of you have but little money, but you have muscle, and teams. You can haul rock, and building material, and cut down trees, and take them to the saw-mill. And some of you are tolerably good rough car- penters, and you can come together and work a week, with some good workman to direct. There is no excuse." Here Mr. Grabdime gave out several shrill, sharp, disapproving coughs, and kicked the hound which lay at his feet, and cut his tobacco very fast, and spit like an engine into the fire, and looked Blunt in the face, and rolled out a few vigorous sighs and groans ; and his mouth resembled the queen of V 2O4 THE Two CIRCUITS. the night, just going into the dark of the moon, with the points down. But Blunt was oblivious to all slight disapprovals, arid proceeded dauntlessly : "I know some of you do not like this kind of preaching; you would rather I would tell you how to get happy and shout ; you would rather I would tell something of how much the Lord has done for you. But it is no use. If I were to tell you what the Lord has done, you would think you had done it yourselves ; and you would get full of conceit, and give the Lord but little credit for it, and do nothing for Him. It shows how much you think the Lord has done for you, when you are contented to go on and try to worship in such a rotten old hole as this. You think the Lord must help you get good dwell- ings, and big farms, and make your corn grow, and keep off the milk-sick, and keep you from shaking to pieces with the ague, and then you want to put Him off with such an old hulk as this. I tell you, it will not win. I would not be surprised if the Lord would shake some of you out of your old shoes, if you don't do better, and do it soon. "Yes, yes, you would rather I should preach, and tell you how to get happy. Well, I have just told you. Doing right, and happiness go together. All the happiness you will have, till you go to work, and build a fitting house for the Divine service, will be mostly animal happiness, mere animal excitement. DISCOURSE ON TABERNACLES. 205 What ! a man be happy in such a crazy, tumble- down spider-trap as this ! It is perfectly preposter- ous to think of. Nothing but an animal could be happy in such a place as this ; even those hounds, when they first came in, snuffed at it with con- tempt, till you came in and made them contented. You might be happy in it if you were, persecuted and had to run into it. But you are not ; you go in of your own free will and accord ; you put up with it to save your pockets, and encourage your laziness. ' How amiable are thy tabernacles !' ' This is but an imperfect synopsis of Blunt's dis- course. He occupied about a half hour in its delivery, and then called on Mr. Grabdime to pray. Grabdime seemed to be taken aback, and jumped as if he had been struck ; and with an eye to economy, he rolled the quid of tobacco from his mouth into his hand, and from his hand into his coat-pocket, and dropped to his knees, apparently more with a spirit for tearing up the floor than for prayer. His supplications indicated but little acquaintance with the Most High, but showed that he was inclined to cu'tivate further intimacy. He struggled through as if he were trying to conciliate an ennmy, and had some hope of success ; and he wound up by asking the Lord to " bless the few broken remarks of tlie Brother just up." As soon as he rose from his knees, he drew the 206 THE Two CIRCUITS. half-chewed quid from his coat-pocket (economy again), and threw it into his mouth as if he intended it to strike the palate, and gathered his hat from under the bench, and jerked it down over his eyes, and made his way through the half-open back-door, and left over the fields for home. BLJNT'S TACTICS. 207 CHAPTER XXIV. BLUNT'S TACTICS. Blunt asked if he should leave another appoint- ment ? One man spoke up saying, "You may have meeting at my house till there are other arrange- ments." ' ' Well, then, I will announce preaching at Brother Sibert's, this day two weeks ; Brother Ce- lebs or Force will be present at that time. Brother Force would have preached to-day, but as he was not well, I consented to occupy his place ; he may want to make some remarks in conclusion." Philip's remarks were few, and the audience was dismissed, without another effort at singing. Sev- eral of the company asked Philip and Blunt to ac- company them to dinner ; but Blunt feeling his re- sponsibility replied : "Thank you all, very much indeed, but we must go to Brother Grabdime's, I want to talk to him about building a church." At this, all the crowd laughed, a loud, incredu- lous laugh, and one of them said : " You had as well ask Grabdime to build a rail- road to the moon ; who ever heard of him giving 208 THE Two CIRCUITS. anything to any object on earth, unless it would pay twenty per cent." But Blunt persisted in his purpose, and he and Philip started together. Grabdime was in the front yard, throwing corn into the hog lots. He paid not the slightest atten- tion to Philip and Blunt, as they alighted and hitch- ed their horses to the worm fence before the door. "How are you, by this time, Brother Grab- dime?" " I guess, I'm well." This was said gruffly, without lifting the head. Philip and Blunt climed over the rickety style, and sauntered around toward where Grabdime was industriously converting corn into pork ; Philip de- siring all the time to go elsewhere, any where but there ; but he was amused and curious over the pur- pose of Blunt. "We thought, Brother Grabdime, that we would come 'round and take dinner with you, and look at your fine stock and splendid farm. I couldn't think of going home without taking a good look at them ; for everybody knows, that you have one of the best farms, and the finest stock in the country." Blunt gave out his most persuasive tones, and came close to Grabdime's side, and with an over- flow of humor and laughter, patted him now and then over the shoulder, as the grim old farmer stood BLUNT'S TACTICS. 209 transferring, by hand, the corn from the crib to the hog lot. Grabdime melted slowly, and it was some mo- ments before it was clear that Blunt's remarks- af- forded him any pleasure. But the local preacher went on, and praised his house and barn, and hogs, horses and cattle, until Grabdime asked him and Philip into the house, when he started to go in him- self. There sat the old woman, apparently in the same position and mood, that she was in when they left her in the forenoon. Sail was setting the dinner table in the same room, with no perceptible change in manners or style of beauty. Zedekiah lay on his back on the hearth, and two lubberly pups were playing over him, and he was making sundry strug- gles to shove his feet up the jamb of the fire-place toward the mantle. " How do you do, Sister Grabdime? I thought I would come back and take dinner with you. Brother Force and myself had many invitations, but we declined all in your favor ; I knew you cook- ed just like my wife, and I know she is one of the best in the country." Mrs. Grabdime answered with a low growl, not easily understood. Blunt, however, in excellent humor with himself, talked on. "I noticed one of your girls in an adjoining room, as I passed in, weaving a piece of jeans ; and 2io THE Two CIRCUITS. that reminded me, Sister Grabdime, that I saw a bolt of jeans at Mr. Kettlebottom's store, you know, in Doubletown, the other day, which they said was made by your own hands ; and Judge Tibballs, and Squire Thimblerash, and Col. Bostet- ter, and two or three other first rate judges remark- ed that it was the best jeans they ever saw ; and wondered that any woman could be found in this part of the country, who could make such an excel- lent quality of cloth." Under the influence of these words, Mrs. Grab- dime began to show that she still had elements within her, common to a woman. She allowed the sewing to lay idle upon her lap, and raised her head, and pushed back her sun-bonnet, and shoved her spectacles up to where the organ of benevolence is supposed to be, and her eyes were resting on Blunt, with a metalic glare of satisfaction ; and the harsh lines of her mouth were running into the neighbor- hood of a smile. "You must have the best kind of sheep, for the wool was very fine ; and it was so smooth and even, that it will bring more money than any other jeans I ever saw." "I took a mons'us sight o' pains with that 'ar piece o' jeans, an' I jus' know'd, Brother Blunt, that it was better'n anybody else could make, in this part o' the country; bring yer cheer closer to BLUNT'S TACTICS. 211 the fire, you and Brother Force, both of ye, ye must be chilly. I'm goin' to show ye another piece jus' out o' the loom, which, I think, beats, a little ways, the piece ye seed in Doubletown.." And the old woman, with a step of pride and superiority, walked into an adjoining room, and brought forth the bolt, and submitted it to Blunt's inspection. "I don't know, Sister, but that is even better, if such a thing can be, than the other." And he examined the texture, and descanted up- on the weaving and spinning, and the care and skill it must have required, and said that no other per- son in this country was competent to produce its like ; and that her fame was made, and that she ought to set up a manufactory of jeans, and con- duct it herself; and that he would want no better fortune ; and that every man of sense must praise such remarkable ingenuity. ' ' I have two looms runnin' now, but I haf to look after 'em myself, an' haf to hannel all the pieces with my own hans, an haf to azamine the work with my own eyes." "That is elegant cloth." And with these words Blunt handed her the bolt, and took off his hat, and set it on the floor, and leaned back in his chair, and looked dignified and patronizing. Philip seconded his efforts to praise the jeans, which was of really superior quality. 2 1 2 THE Two CIRCUITS. But he had so little esteem for the maker, that his words of commendation almost choked in his throat ; and he was astonished, when he looked upon the table, that Blunt could intimate that the cooking was anything like Mrs. Blunt's. He had not acquired the talent of carrying the smile of ap- proval in his face, while, rebuke was in his heart. His heart and face were yet too close together for dissembling. The false world had not yet pushed them far enough apart, to prevent the one from being an exponent of the other. ' ' Sail, blow the horn, thar, for 'em to come to dinner." And Sail gave the tin horn such a blast, that it sounded like the clangor of a war trumpet, and it reached the ears of all upon the farm. Three stalwart sons of Grabdime came in from the fields, and three equally stalwart daughters came from the looms, or from somewhere else. The young men threw their hats on the floor, and each one seized a chair and hurried to the table, and panted for the work to commence. Each of the daughters imita- ted the sons, and Zeddy was foremost in the fray. Blunt gave Philip a wink, and they rallied with the crowd around the festal board. As soon as Blunt dropped into his seat, he asked a blessing, which added to the impatience of the stalwart sons and daughters. The refreshments were attacked with great ardor and vehemence, especially by the younger members BLUNT'S TACTICS. 213 of the family. The fat pork was in the middle of the table, and any one sliced at pleasure. No Grab- dime raised an eye or spoke a word. There was a plate of corn bread at each end of the table, and the way they reached over and thrust at the pieces with their forks, reminded you of the exercise of gigg m & ee ls> at l n g range. Each one had a tin- cup of water, by the side of his plate. The water, corn bread, meat and potatoes, the latter boiled with the skin on, made about the sum total of the wealthy farmer's dinner. Blunt made a laudable effort to ^ Mingle with the friendly bowl, The feast of reason and flow of soul." The two older Grabdimes looked, quietly compla- cent, and allowed them to mingle ; and the stalwart sons and daughters, and Zedekiah and Sail, per- mitted nothing to mingle with them but the vict- uals ; and all these younger Grabdimes seemed to be running a race, as if to determine which of the eight could push the largest load through their mouths, in the shortest time ; and every huge swallow seemed to add fresh joy to their hearts; for with them, heart and stomach were nearly the same. One after another, as they became satisfied, dropped away like full-fed flies, and lolled around the room on split-bottomed chairs. Blunt had poured his best assortment of flattering oil on the two old people, until their tough hearts 214 THE Two CIRCUITS. were suppled ; gleams of humane feelings began to show themselves; they were growing tame, and talked of being generous. He praised everything they had, worthy of praise, and a few things that were not. They listened, and smiled, and nodded approval, as if such a gracious outpouring had not been received for many a day ; the temper of these two Grabdimes was growing sweet, for the time, under the stream of honeyed words. THE SMOOTHING PROCESS. 215 CHAPTER XXV. THE SMOOTHING PROCESS. How a little well-set praise will make old folks seem young again, and its droppings on hard and stony hearts will make them soft and pliable. How its delicate, insinuating oil will heal the bruises of the soul, and bring a dewy calmness to stormy pas- sions, and make even a harsh, mean man feel innocent. A wise man will almost love a fool who has sense enough left to praise him. Adroitly praising a good quality in which a man is deficient, will sometimes make him eagerly seek for more of it. No man need envy him who cannot praise an- other, even if that other has faults. Its power for good is a thousand times greater in a household than fault-finding. If a child, a woman, a man, a student, an employee, or any one that serves you, or whom you are directing, does well, for God's sake let them know it. Do not mope and hug your ap- proval in silence. Judicious praise will do good in nine cases out of ten. It is entirely too scarce in this rough world of ours. Blunt praised nearly all that Grabdime had. He talked of the powerful intellect of his children ; how cultivation might make them leaders in society, and 216 THE Two CIRCUITS. perhaps in the councils of the nation ; and how it required a strong mind to amass and keep in order so much property as he saw around him.; how the daughters here might shine in the circles of beauty and intelligence ; how education would polish them ; how they had the native brain power, inherited from their parents ; and he had forty other remarks of a similar kind, until the two Grabdime parents were hoping that there was a school close at hand, where young Grabdimes could be trained and de- veloped and accomplished. And Philip joined with Blunt, and the ambition for growth and im- provement began to swell the hearts of the stalwart sons and daughters. They awoke, looked and listened to what Philip had to say of the advantages of education, and he grew eloquent in praise of its benefits ; and the young hearers were seemingly impatient to enjoy them, and looked hopefully toward their parents, whose frigid selfishness had been thawed under the sunshine of praise, so copiously bestowed. Philip and Blunt remained with the Grabdime family till three o'clock in the afternoon. Before they left, Mr. Grabdime had agreed to donate an acre of land on which a new church should be built, and that all the lumber needed for its erection might be selected from his timber. The family spirits seemed to be improved. A couple of the stalwart sons wanted ;o know of THE SMOOTHING PROCESS. 217 Philip when he would be around again, and hoped he would come to their house ; and even Mrs. Grabdime invited her two visitors to call again. As they sauntered 'along, leisurely, on horseback, Blunt, as was his custom, nearly monopolized the conversation. The cool air, and the prostration of Philip's physical energies, made talking on his part a laborious effort. Blunt's talking machinery was tireless, and no stress of weather could stop him. ' ' Now, you see, Brother Force, that you have to talk soft solder to some folks before they will under- stand you. Nearly everybody has that door of their hearts unlocked, and they have thrown away the key, and all you have to do is to pull the latch- string and walk in. And you are nearly always welcome when you come in at that door, and you get the best they have, and you can take your time to go away. ' ' There are many people that cannot understand what you say about duty, for they don't like duty well enough to get acquainted with just plain duty, without embellishments.' It is no use to address their intelligence, for that is feeble. It is no use to tell them what the Lord wants them to do, for they never saw Him, and think He is a million miles away, and cares mighty little about them ; but just say good things to them about themselves, and you have them, sure. But don't begin too sudden, or they will suspect something. If they have but lit- 218 THE Two CIRCUITS. tie sense, give them fire and brimstone at first. You must tilt against them for a while, till they begin to respect you. For the nearer a man gets back to an animal, the more he will respect your opinion if you give him a little judicious kicking. They think a man is great as he shows bold, and looks fierce and contrary. " Some of these old settlers and cattle men have steers, and have studied their habits so much that they judge of men and women as they do of cattle. If you will thrash and bang a steer around awhile, he will stand in awe of you, and respect you ; and then if you will turn around and rub and smooth him down long enough he'll follow you all around the field. If you praise people, that is smoothing them down, and then they may follow you. There is an infinite difference, as well as similarity, in people. Many of them are hunting around for truth, and ready to pick it up any where, and you can hand it out to them in almost any manner, and they are glad to get it. But with many others, that are tight and selfish, and conceited, you have to use strategy ; and generally there is nothing better than smoothing them. You are just throwing away your breath till you do this. They can't see your wisdom till you see theirs. When they see that you have discovered wisdom in them, then they conclude that you can discover wisdom almost any where, and they recognize you as a man of ability THE SMOOTHING PROCESS. 219 at once. Make them feel that you think they are sensible, and then they have the highest proof that you are a sensible man. These kind of people sel- dom think, but they always feel. Feeling goes before thinking with them. By the way, nearly everybody is that way. Great learned men have a very low estimate of your sagacity until you show them that you think they are great and learned. A schoolmaster regards those students the most tal- ented who say the best things about him. A bishop is not apt to look on a young man as likely to make much of a preacher, if he does not show that he stands somewhat in awe of the bishop's vast superiority. If any man helps you to love your- self, it's delicious. You are almost certain to help him in return, and then you'll get more of the same sort." "But," said Philip, "suppose Ihave an aversion to a man, must I flatter or praise him ?" "Just as you please, Brother Force ; it is a free country. But if you don't honey him, he'll be apt to sting you. If you measure out to him a gallon of dislike, he'll probably measure out to you a bushel of injury." " But must I act the hypocrite, and pretend to like a man, when I really dislike him?" " That is not acting the hypocrite. You may see things about him you do not like ; that- you can see about yourself, unless you are better than anybody 16 22O THE Two CIRCUITS. I know. But nearly every man has qualities hid away in him that you would like if you could call them out; and the way to call them out is to smooth him. If a horse balks, beating him is not likely to force him to pull ; but strategy and kind- ness may bring him to it. If you dislike a man, he will dislike you, and do as little for you as possible. I am put up on the knock down and drag out prin- ciple myself; but I never made it pay. It has got me into being knocked down and dragged out more than once. ' With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. ' That is gospel, Brother Force." " I might differ with you in gospel interpretation. If I discover meanness in a man, I cannot help dis- liking him." "That may be," said Blunt, " and the best thing you can do for yourself is to choke the dislike out of you, or smother it down. Don't let it flame out; that makes mischief; runs from bad to worse. If you have an opportunity, show the man that you think he has the better \n him, and then the bet- ter will generally come out. If you ask for vinegar at the store, you'll get it, if it is there ; if you ask for sugar, you will get sugar, if it's there. But who is going to give you sugar, when you are looking for and expecting vinegar?" "It occurs to me that you did not act on your plan in the affair with Bob Scates. " THE SMOOTHING PROCESS. 221 "That is so, Brother Force; for, as. I told you, I am naturally fiery and combative. Yet I do not see that I acted against this principle in that Scates matter. It is my duty to take care of my child ; and if I think an unworthy man is trying to bring her into trouble, I am bound to defend and protect her, and oppose him. Yet if I could do Bob Scates a favor, I suppose I ought to do it ; but it would not be right to favor him, to the injury of my daughter. ,1 may not benefit one person in such a way as to injure another. If I am trying to benefit a man, and I find he is making use of my benefits to injure others, it is time for me to stop benefiting him in that way, and look out for some other chan- nel in which to do him good. You must ' love your enemies.' ' " I know that is one of the gospel requirements, and one to which I have never attained, and am fearful I never will." " Yes, Brother Force, it's a tough duty, .and but few do it. If a man tramps on my toes intention- ally, I want to weigh three hundred pounds, and tramp on his toes. That old law, ' An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,' was a good law, and it would be a check to a majority of people yet. For, if a man would pull out one of my eyes, I would want instantly to pull out both of his ; and if he would knock out one tooth of mine, I would 222 THE Two CIRCUITS. want to knock every tooth down his throat. That's the animal in us. This old spirit of retaliation must be restrained before a man is complete. I suppose, however, that we are not required to love our enemies to the same degree that we love our friends. The bible tells how it is to be done : if a man curses me, I am not to curse back, but bless him ; if he treats us despitefully, we are to pray for him ; we are to do him all the good we can, and as little harm as possible. That is my notion of gospel. I have no idea that the Savior loved those hypocriti- cal old Pharisees to the same degree that He did John and Peter. He took a whip and drove a crowd of them out of a temple, once. Sometimes a man needs a club to make him better ; it may be the only argument he can see and feel, and so it may be an instrument of righteousness to him ; it may be the very thing his thick skull and rhinoceros hide need to fetch him where kindness and good- ness can reach him. There are some men, if you are kind to them, will ride over you like ravening wolves, and make demons of themselves, and a fool of you, if you treat them gently. Personal safety, and the good of society, require that all such beasts should be knocked in the region of propriety. As I said, you have to pitch into them till you make such animals respect you. Do you see that old meeting-house over yonder ?" THE SMOOTHING PROCESS. 223 "' That large log-house, on the right of the road, before us?" "Yes, that is it. That is an old Hard-Shell, Feet- Washing Baptist Church. Some people call them Iron Jackets. I don't know the reason, unless it is because nothing but time, sickness and whis- key can make any impression on them. Some folks call them Forty-Gallon Baptists, because they love whiskey and use it freely. They held an Association here last summer. Bill Migus and Jake Dodlum are the principal members, and live close by, and had to entertain most of the brethren that were in attendance. Bill asked Jake one day how much whiskey he had laid in for the use of those who should be at the Association. Jake said that he had bought a barrel. ' A barrel, ' said Bill, ' that's not up to your share ; you're worth twice as much as me, and ought to do twice as much to support the gospel ; and I've laid in two barrel. ' From all I could learn it tfiok the three barrels to run the Association. Let us get off, and go in and warm, and you'll see something you're not used to." "Very well, sir; something new and a good warming will be acceptable." There were about fifty people present, giving careful attention to the preacher, who was a model of independent awkwardness. His speaking cos- tume consisted of shirt, pantaloons, stockings and 224 THE Two CIRCUITS. shoes. No folded neck-tie impeded the action of the muscles of his throat. His pantaloons had either been cut too short, or had crawled up under the fulling process of wear and tear, for the bot- toms thereof hung about mid-way between the knee-joint and the tops of the brogans, and the half-hose had refused to fill up the intervening space, and rolled their mottled folds over the tops of the shoes, displaying a full develop- ment of muscle for six inches, from the ankle upwards. In his left hand he grasped a hand- kerchief, which once had been white, and which he pressed tightly against his right cheek, leaning his head over upon it, with an expression of counte- nance indicative of toothache. He seemed stoically indifferent of the frowns or approval of enemies or brethren. It was a kind of inexorable resignation, as if he were not to be disturbed, whether they laughed or prayed. Half the sound of his voice seemed to come through his nose. It was on a tolerably high key, and see-sawed between whin- ing and singing, giving an emphatic drawl some- times in the middle, but generally at the latter end of a sentence, topping it out with a peculiar kind of humming and moaning of the word "ah" His words were rather indistinct, and jumbled, but his style of utterance seemed to be cus- tomary with him. His appearance, his tooth- ache pressure with the old handkerchief; and the THE SMOOTHING PROCESS. 225 frequent, die-away drawl upon the word "ah;" and his effort to continue his sing-song speaking while he was spitting little lumps the size of a dime and as white as cotton, were all so ludicrous and novel to Philip that he could with difficulty refrain from laughter. 226 THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER XXVI. THE "HARD SHELL" PREACHER. Philip made an effort to observe a due sobriety, and determined to listen to the concluding portion of the odd looking speaker's discourse. By and by he came around upon the subject of the unconditional perseverance of the saints. He said the Methodists believed in falling from grace, and lived up to it; even if they failed to observe any other of their articles of faith. He endeavored to illustrate what he regarded as the true ground in the following style ; we may succeed in giving his ideas, but his manner and tone are utterly beyond description. ' ' My breathering and sistering ; when I was a boy, my father had a cow, and her name was Brin-ah-h-h-ha. " He would keep up his sing-song tone, while he spurted the little lump of cotton from his mouth. " We called her Brin because she was a brindle cow, my brethering ah. One day old Brin got lost ah, and was lost the next day, for she didn't come home ah. Then my father told me, 'John, my son, you must go and hunt for Old Brin, for I'm afeered she's lost,' my breathering um-a-ha. I started down the creek, and among the "THE HARD-SHELL PREACHER. THE "HARD SHELL" PREACHER. 227 farms and over the hills, hunting for poor Old Brin- ah. Every time I'd come to a little rise in the ground, I'd stop, to see if I could hear the old bell ah-h-h-ha. Well, after a great deal of hunting and searching, I hearn the old bell a goin' ting-de- tong, ting-de-tong um-ma-ha. Well now, my Father's children, I still hunted on and on, in the direction of the sound ah, and when I got to where I thought Old Brin ought to be, I still hearn the old bell a goin', ting-de-tong, ting-de-tong ah. And I hunted on and on ah, and still kept huntin' ; and at last, my breathering and sistering, whar d'ye think I found her ah? Why, my breathering, she wasn't lost at all ah, but was up to her knees in a clover field ah-h-h-ha, and the bell was still goin' ting-de-tong, ting-de-tong ah. So it is with my Father's children ; when you think they'r lost, and gone off in sin forever, why, then they'r just up to their knees in the clover patch of God's grace um- ma-he, and the bell still goes ting-de-tong ah. " This was about the conclusion of his discourse ; and he immediately gave orders that water and tow- els should be passed, that his Father's children might wash each other's feet. A large iron kettle, holding nearly half a barrel of water sat in the great fire-place. Around the earthen hearth were four or five wooden buckets. Two of the breatJiering, as ordered by the speaker, came forward, and one took a bucket and the other a towel, and began to 228 THE Two CIRCUITS. pass around. The same was done by two of the sistering ; the latter going to their side of the house, and the breatJiering to theirs. Shoes and stockings were removed, and the feet placed in the water buckets, and then dried by the towels, the speaker meanwhile, giving directions, explaining the nature of the ordinance, and urging its observance, as a sacred duty ; and concluded by saying : " I pussieve that Brother Blunt, of the Metho- diss persuasion, is present, and p'raps would like to make a few remarks. He may have some objec- tions to this awd'nance, but we'd be glad, if he'd improve the time, a little, by speakin'." The orator of the occasion sat down with an in- viting look toward Blunt ; and the latter came to his feet immediately. ' ' I do not feel prepared, at this time, my friends, to make any remarks. The brother, however, is mistaken in supposing, that I am opposed to this ordinance ; I feel almost to-day convinced, that it is a very useful ordinance indeed ; from the change for the better, wrought upon some feet I see before me, I am satisfied, it would be well, if this exercise were attended to oftener. " Blunt took his seat, and the volunteering in the foot service seemed to abate, and after a few an- nouncements, the audience was dismissed, and Phil- ip and Blunt journyed on. THE "HARD SHELL" PREACHER. 229 Mrs. Blunt had supper prepared when they ar- rived ; and the exercises of the day, and the cool air, and the plain dinner at Grabdime's, all quali- fied them to appreciate her superior cooking. Sue was light of heart and cheerful, as if all her plans had been prospered for the last six months. After supper, Blunt kindled a roasting fire in the ten- plate stove, and sat a lighted candle upon the table, and Philip was invited to enjoy himself, in his own way. Blunt had his stock to look after, and then had to go and see a neighbor a mile away, and the balance of the family, for the most part, remained in the kitchen. Philip concluded that he would improve the spare moments of the evening by looking again into " Watson's Institutes." It was true, his blood was shooting about unpleasantly, and his nerves seemed to be jarring against each other, and a drowsy at- mosphere crept over him, and all his physical wheels ran sluggish and heavy, and the silver cords of life were like sodden ropes, drooping with their own weight. Before he had concluded the second chapter, he was interrupted by a dog chasing a cat through the room, and bringing on a roaring entanglement un- der the bed. And by the time this categorical and dogmatical affray was in the height of its fury, two small children came from the kitchen, through the half-open door. One of these children, moved with 230 THE Two CIRCUITS. a desire to be useful, snuffed out the candle, by Philip's side, and then started for the kitchen, to re-light it ; and looking too high, and the room be- ing dark, she tumbled over a chair, and smashed the candle, and knocked herself into a spasm of squalling. But the storm soon subsides ; the dog and cat are turned out, the lighted candle is re- placed, and Philip resumed his reading. But each of the children was possessed with a desire to impart and acquire knowledge to and from each other. They enter into several spicy debates on the subject of dolls, strings and toys ; and as to which of them owned all the calves, colts, pigs, sheep and cats, on the place. They twisted together strips of paper, and lit the ends in the stove, and whirled them rap- idly over their heads. But Philip persevered in "Watson," and made out, that creation implies government, and government implies law ; and this law must be made known to the governed, must be revealed from the ruler ; and that this, revelation may be, first by acts, second by words. Theists admit the first has been done, the Christian admits both. By the time Philip had gone through a chapter or two, and transplanted the thoughts into the garden of his memory, one of the little Blunts came run- ning in from the kitchen, where her mother had been fitting upon her a new dress, and bounding along like a fawn, mounted a chair under the look- THE "HARD SHELL" PREACHER. 231 ing-glass, and began that never dying employment, that has interested so many wiser and older heads admiring self. Her little veins swelled with ec- stacy ; she started and quivered, jumped and shout- ed, enraptured with her own beauty ; and every time she turned around, she would look at Philip, with a persuasive laugh, and exclaim, "Look at me, Buvver Force." Philip tried again to follow the teachings of "Watson," and essayed to investigate the third chapter; but his thoughts took off after the child's expression, " Look at me. " ' ' Yes, yes, that is what we are all hungering, thirsting and working after, may be too much, to have the world look at us. I might write an essay on that, for a text, ' look at me ;' if I was in school again I would try it. It might be made to fit a great many cases. But I must not let my thoughts wander off that way, I must buckle down to this book." And so he read on about half a page, and discovered that he was not gathering a single idea from the printed lines, but was thinking of the text, dropped by the child, " look at me." 232 THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER XXVII. BLUNT "STOVE UP." "We have had quite a pleasant day, Miss Sue." "Quite, indeed, sir; more pleasant to you, prob- ably, than the evening, I was afraid my little sis- ters would interrupt you, by coming into the room." " Not at all ; I am rather fond of their visits." "The coming of preachers, to our house, Mr. Force, we look upon as a pleasant event, and it seems impossible to keep the young ones from an- noying them, and we, who are older, can hardly keep from it ourselves." ' ' There is no annoyance whatever, Miss Sue ; there are times when a change of company, from books to children, is agreeable." " I didn't suppose young men liked such changes. I know when I want to study my lessons, I don't want children in hearing distance, but as I have to put up with them, they often annoy me." ' ' That may be accounted for, on the ground that you are with them so much." ' ' I suppose likely. By the way, how did you like the folks at Mr. Grabdime's, and the preaching BLUNT " STOVE UP. " 233 place over there? "said Sue, with a mischevious smile. ' ' I have seen people and places that I admire more, on first acquaintance, but both were interest- ing to me ; on the whole, I rather enjoyed the occa- sion, for its novelty, if nothing else." ' ' I thought you ought to have stayed in the house to-day, after being so fearfully treated by that old steam doctor, last night. You must be very tired ; it would be enough to make me sick to take dinner at Grabdime's. " " Well, I don't think a person is likely to over- eat himself, dining at Brother Grabdime's ; espe- cially, when he expects to take supper at your house." "Thank you, sir; if I had to keep fast day, I would choose that day to visit there, if I had to go at all. Mrs. Grabdime is as hateful as she can live ; she works like a slave, and cares for none of her neighbors." "And as a consequence, Miss Sue, I suppose none of her neighbors care for her? " said Philip. "It was too bad; going over there when you were so sick last night." Sue moved her chair nearer the stove, and that brought her nearer to Philip. ' ' I would not have missed going, under any cir- cumstances, " said Philip. "I learned more of a certain kind of human nature there, in one day 17 234 THE Two CIRCUITS. than I would have learned from books in a month." "Yes," said Sue with a rougish, mischevious laugh ; "that old doctor and his little fool Hip, and Grabdime's folks, were more lessons in human na- ture, of that kind, than I would want to take in six weeks ; and you took them all in twenty-four hours." "So it was twenty-four hours ; I had the impres- sion the time was much longer; yet all the circum- stances and persons were amusing and instructive." " Is there nothing I can do for you, Mr. Force? You must feel prostrated after what you passed through. That old doctor's treatment must have been amusing; " and Sue laughed heartily. "Why I'd almost as soon go through an examination for torture at an inquisition." " Thank you ; I feel quite comfortable. I have a growing antipathy for medicine ; I had enough last night to satisfy any reasonable man for a few years." " Mercy, I should think so. That old doctor has succeeded in pulling the wool over father's eyes ; for he's never sick, and he thinks we'll all live to be as old as Methusalah, if the old doctor can be allowed to dose us." "I rather think, Miss Sue, that the old doctor is a kind-hearted old gentleman and means to do for the best." BLUNT " STOVE UP." 235 " Perhaps ; but he's half crazy, and Hip is a fool, and the old doctor is a humbug, and father thinks he's a perfect Solomon. I would almost as soon die at once, as to let him and that little dunce, fool around me. Thank the Lord I am never sick. You will not go to your appointment to-morrow, Mr. Force ? You had better rest for a day or two. I wouldn't go out doors for a week, if I had gone through the hands of that old doctor, as you have." " O, yes, I feel quite vigorous, I wouldn't miss an appointment if I could possibly get there." " May be, the old doctor and Hip have converted you into a belief in their reform practice? " and Sue laughed with great glee. "Not if I understand myself, Miss Sue; it is true I felt enough broken up during the process, to be converted to almost anything, yet what I exper- ienced of their system was too severe for my tastes." Mrs. Blunt now entered the room, and seated herself on the opposite side of the stove from Philip and Sue. "This has been quite a chilly day, Brother Force." "Tolerably chilly, Madam; but not enough to be uncomfortable, after the frost of the morning had passed away." 236 THE Two CIRCUITS. "I don't see what keeps Mr. Blunt; he ought to have been home an hour ago." This was said in an abstract tone of anxiety as if she was talking to herself. Sue evidently partook of her mother's fears, but made an effort to conceal them, and cheerfully observed : ' ' O, you know, Mother, that when father gets in one of his ways of talking, he never thinks how time flies." " Yes ; " and it was evident the wife's fears were growing ; ' ' but he seldom stays out so late, unless he's at meeting ; and he rode that young, wild colt, that is hardly broke yet; " and Mrs. Blunt closed the sentence by dismally sighing out the two syl- ables, "Hie, ho." And she rose, and went to the door and looked down the road ; and there remained, leaning against the door-post, and peering into the darkness, till Sue came and leaned upon her shoulder, and looked out in the same direction. Finally she said, with a very musical voice, and full of tenderness, yet touched with decision : "O, there's no use being alarmed, Mother; father has lived here too long to be hurt by wolves. Let's go in, and go to bed ; it is getting late ; father will come when he gets ready, and not before, and our looking for him, and being anxious about him, will not bring him any sooner." BLUNT " STOVE UP." 237 The mother kept her place at the door, and Sue resumed her seat by the stove, but she sat uneasily, and would look toward her mother, as if she wanted her to come and be seated too. "I hear somebody coming up the road," said Mrs. Blunt. % "O, Mother, you're always hearing something no one else can hear." "Hush, Sue, and come here and listen, and see if you can't hear some body talking." Philip ruminated on the question , how can things be seen by hearing ? and concluded that many truths were seen that way. Sue's nerves were becoming disturbed, and after listening by her mother's side for a moment, she said with a quick breath : "I believe I do hear some persons coming up the road; Mr. Force, come here and listen." Philip came to the door, and walked into the yard, and sure enough, voices were approaching the house. "Let us go in, Mother; I don't believe father's in that crowd ; we'll appear like dunces, standing in the door, this time o' night, when strangers are passing along the road." The mother went in reluctantly, and Sue closed the door, and Philip walked slowly toward the front fence, and could distinctly hear two or three men, not far off, coming that way. Presently, he saw 238 THE Two CIRCUITS. three men, walking close together, approach the gate near where he was standing. He could discover, by the dim moonlight that two of them were lifting Blunt along, as if he were unable to walk alone. Philip quietly withdrew from their observa- tion, and went round to the back ctoor, and en- tered the room, where were Sue and her mother. Both of them sprung to their feet, and with eager looks came close to Philip, as if to catch in the shortest possible time what he had to say. " Miss Sue, you and your mother must be calm ;" and after a little hesitation given for them to grow quiet, which they did not do, he coolly observed, they looking as if they expected a ghost to stalk out of the dead wall : "I think Brother Blunt is injured;" here Mrs. Blunt put in a scream, and Sue looked as if she wanted to; " two men are bringing him home." By this time the mother and daughter were great- ly alarmed, and their expressions of grief and dread came in such rapid and confused succession, that it was difficult to tell from which of the two the words proceeded. At this juncture the front door opened, and Blunt was lifted into the house by Bob Scates and Jo Weldon, At sight of the blood that covered her husband's face and shoulders, Mrs. Blunt gave a shriek, and fell senseless to the floor. Sue came up to her father crying and inquiring, alternately, of BLUNT " STOVE UP." 239 him and Bob, if her father was killed, and what had hurt him. "Sue," said Blunt, in a husky voice, "I am not killed by a long jump ; be still and tend to your mother there." Philip had run to the kitchen, and brought water, and was bathing Mrs. Blunt's face as she lay on the floor, and with the assistance of Sue, she was soon partially restored, and laid upon the lounge, where she commenced exclaiming: "Tell me, is he killed? what hurt him ? " and so on. At the first sound of her voice, Blunt called out in stifled tones : "I'm not hurt much, Ruth, only stove up a lit- tle, and the blood knocked out of me ; keep cool, Ruth." "Thank God, you're not dead, then?" ' ' Dead ! no, I'm worth forty dead men yet, Ruth." " Hadn't we better send for the doctor, father?" said Sue, leaning over the pillow where he lay, and bathing his head and face to remove the blood. "What's the use of that? What do I want a doctor for? I'll be all right before long. Take these bloody clothes off me." Mrs. Blunt soon recovered, and Blunt was washed and cleanly dressed, and set propped in the bed, looking somewhat haggard and bruised. 240 THE Two CIRCUITS. "I wish one of you would go for the doctor," said Sue, trying in vain to smooth his stubbed hair. Bob Scates tendered his services before any one else had time to speak. "No, you needn't go for the doctor; I tell you I'm not hurt much, only banged up a little." But Bob was gone ; and in less than an hour, Dr. Heatem and young Dr. Svveatman were in the room, each bearing, on his arm a huge pair of saddle-bags, and were puffing and perspiring, like race-horses, after a laborious stretch. And Mrs. Heatem and her daughter, Lucy Stone Heat- em, were added to the anxious group, and all were eager to find out what could be done for the general welfare. Blunt had made known, that about eight o'clock, he was on his way home, riding the fractious colt, when it took fright and threw him, bringing his head against a fence rail that lay upon the ground.; and he knew nothing more, till he found himself being led home by Bob Scates and Jo Weldon. AN OBSTINATE PATIENT. 24.1 CHAPTER XXVIII. AN OBSTINATE PATIENT. Dr. Heatem was so absorbed with the eventful scene that he saluted no one by the way, but quietly laid down his saddle-bags, and deposited his hat and overcoat on the first chair he came to, with as great gravity as a prelate would fold away his robes ; and then, with a measured step and averted eyes, and lips closed with weighty reflections, he walked to the bedside, and sedately lifted the hand of his patient, as if he were a high priest about to remove the golden censer. He felt his pulse, and observed : " Mr. Blunt, my dear friend, you are perdigiously shattered indeed, sir. It becomes profoundly necessary, Mr. Blunt, for me to introduce into the interior of your aliamentary receptacle the soothing aperient, nervine." "Do you mean, Doctor, by that bursting sen- tence, that you want to give me some medicine?" " I am happy to perceive, Mr. Blunt, that you have sufficient sagacity left in your debilitated state to form a correct estimate of my meaning." ' ' Now, Doctor, I would as soon take medicine 242 THE Two CIRCUITS. from you as from any other man alive ; but I don't think I need it. I'll be all straight in a short time." To this remark of Blunt's the doctor replied, with a show of profound dignity and solemnity : " Mr. Blunt, you do not by any means compre- hend at all the magnitude of the dangerous criti- cality of your situation. The contusion upon the side of your head, I am very much afraid, indeed, sir, has fractured your skull bone, and seriously shaken the equilibrium of your cranium." "Oh, the equilibrium of your granny! Nothing short of thunder and bullets could crack my head," and Blunt ran his fingers through his hair, and worked his scalp back and forth as .if to test whether his thinking machinery was in order ; and an expression of content on that point rested on his features, as he called to Sue to bring him a drink of water. Sue had the water to her father's lips in a mo- ment, and Blunt, in an undertone, inquired of her : "Is Bob here yet?" And Sue, observing the same tone, replied : "Yes, father; do you wish to see him ?" and she held her ear close to her father's face, and rubbed his forehead and temples with her hands, and kissed him. Philip says that the effect upon Mr. Robert Scates of this last mentioned token of kindness, on the part of Sue to her father, reminded him of a person AN OBSTINATE PATIENT. 243 shocked through sympathy, while looking at a friend touched by an electric battery. And for a moment or two Philip was trying to unravel the mysterious philosophy of the question as to why Mr. Scates was more thrilled by that kiss than Mr. Blunt. "I want to speak to Bob before he goes away. You had better fix to have those boys stay all night. I might not have gotten home at all if it hadn't been for them." These remarks were made to Sue and her mother, who were both standing by his bedside ; and were made as if no one else was expected to hear them. Raising his voice to its usual key, he called out : " Bob, you and Jo are not to go away from here, to-night, after all this trouble and fuss getting me home." "Thank you, Mr. Blunt, I can't stay; our folks will be expecting me. I shall have to go, unless my services should be needed. As you seem to have enough company here to attend to you, you will have to excuse me." Young Mr. Weldon replied to the same effect. "There is no use of talking, boys; you're not going, either of you. You needn't tell me that you never stay from home of nights without asking the old folks about it; so you are going to stay," and he turned his face toward the doctor, who stood by 244 THE Two CIRCUITS. his bedside, wrapt in searching thought and inscru- table reflections. Blunt inquired : " What was you going to say, Doctor?" ' ' I was going to remark, Mr. Blunt, that, in the judgment of one who stands ready and anxious to restore you to perfect soundness, the more com- posed your exhausted frame kin be, and the less you participate in the exercise of thought and speech, the more favorable will be the effect upon your shattered system." " Oh, Doctor, my system is very little shattered." "Right at that point, Mr. Blunt, is where patients are exceedingly liable to be mistaken. They are often non compos mentis judges of the true criticality of their endangerments. " "Don't talk so big, Doctor, to a common man. If you were speaking to Brother Force there, then that big talking might do." The doctor made no reply, and it was pleasant to witness his self-complacency as he stood over his patient with a parental regard, gravely dovetailing the fingers of both hands together over the lower but- ton of his capacious waistcoat, looking forbearing, patronizing and dignified, while both eyes were wisely contemplating a delicate drop that had formed from perspiration on the end of his large nose. Finally, his mind took a practical turn, and with gentle vigor he drew one hand across his upper lip, and turning to Sue, remarked : AN OBSTINATE PATIENT. 245 " Suzin, will you procure for my accommodation and your father's comfort, a little water at boiling heat, in a bowl with a covering?" "Yes, sir," and Sue hastened from the side of young Scates, and ran for the water. The doctor resumed his directions in a tone of command, throwing into his words as much of sternness as the gentleness of his nature would permit. "Hippocrates, do you perceive that I am con- versing with you?" "I do, sir," and Hip, in nervous haste, pulled the toothpick from his mouth. " Hippocrates, you will immediately remove that hand from the clock-shelf, and place both feet upon the floor, and give careful and profound attention to my instructions. You will look in the third poc'ket of Saddle-bags Number Two, and find a diminutive cotton bag, marked nervine. That you will speedily hand to me, without derangement of the other contents." " Yes, sir," and he entered upon his search with as much calm enthusiasm as is manifested by a gov- ernment paymaster, when he is about to settle with a regiment. While Hip was making the search, the doctor turned to Philip and remarked : " I am glad to meet you again, Mr. Force ; and it gratifies me to see you looking so resuscitated. 246 THE Two CIRCUITS. How is the condition of your system this evening?'' and the old doctor gradually removed one hand from the lower waistcoat button to his forehead, and with the other drew a large cotton handkerchief from his coat-pocket, and wiped his face, which was quite red, and which was covered with drops, re- sembling glass beads set in red putty, Philip turned his attention from Mrs. Heatem, with whom he was conversing on the lounge, and replied : "I feel considerably improved, Doctor." "I knew, Mr. Force, that the thorough treat- ment you transpired through last evening would vastly rejuvenate your flaxulent system. I feared, howsomever, that your convalescence might be checked by the frigidity of the atmosphere, or the over-burdensome laboriousness of your ministerial functions during the day." "Thank you, Doctor, I feel very much better indeed, sir." ' ' The fact rejoices me to a very high degree, Mr. Force ; both because of your own betterment, and also for the great elevation it will give to my grow- ing reputation, for this Reform System is yet in its infancy, and I am its chief representative in this part of the continent." " I would conclude that your Reform System will have a wonderful efficiency when it reaches its AN OBSTINATE PATIENT. 247 maturity, for I can testify that it has remarkable power in its infancy," said Philip. ' ' I am immeasurably gratified, Mr. Force, to hear the candor with which you express yourself. I should be happy to have you come over and stay with me a day or two, and I will talk to you of this sublime system in extenso, when we have a large abundance of leisure hours. You will now please excuse me, Mr. Force, from conversing further at this critical time ; Mr. Blunt's alarming symptoms call for undivided, Herculean effort." ' ' Certainly, Doctor, certainly ; by all means give Mr. Blunt your care and attention." Philip was glad that the conversation was broken, for he perceived that the doctor had given a signifi- cance to his words he had not intended. ' ' Lucy Stone, my daughter, you will go to the adjoining room called the kitchen, and bring to me a bucket half- full of hot water." There was a blush on Lucy's cheek as she has- tened from the side of Jo Weldon to obey her father. Philip says it looked as though friend- ship had written its story between them, and had added to the end of it, " to be continued." " Hippocrates, are you paying strict attention to me ?" " I am, sir," and he said the words so quick that he dropped his toothpick. ' ' You will search in my Compound Saddle-bags, 248 THE Two CIRCUITS. Number One, middle row, and procure for me the buckskin bag marked 'cayenne pepper;' and in the same saddle-bags, first row, remember, you will carefully take out a bottle labeled ' Number Six, ' and put three table-spoonsful of the cayenne pep- per, and two tea-spoonsful of the Number Six, into the hot water brought by Lucy Stone." Hip took the hand from the shelf, put down the foot that was up, and held^the goose-quill in his teeth, and leisurely obeyed his master's commands, mut- tering to himself: "He lets on that I don't know anything 'bout them medical saddle-bags ; jus' as if I hadn't put 'em all in there and marked 'em with my own hands. He's trying to show off big." As he still fumbled in the old saddle-bags, he gave a grin of mischievous cruelty and a chuckle of joy, as he continued to whisper to himself: " I'll make Blunt howl, if I can get this hot stuff between his toes." How Hippocrates succeeded in his designs will be recorded in the next chapter. BLUNT BESET. 249 CHAPTER XXIX. BLUNT BESET. The doctor had profusely saturated some cotont batting, with the " Number Six," and removed the handkerchief, which Sue and her mother had at first tied over the patient's wound, and with a stately bearing, observed : "Mr. Blunt, I will now administer some of this ' Number Six' to your contusion." " My what?" Blunt was not paying very careful attention. "The contusion, Mr. Blunt, on the side of your cranium." ' ' I wish you would talk English to me, Doctor ; is it my head you want?" "Assuredly it is, Mr. Blunt;" and the doctor drew Blunt's head over, and held it against his breast with his left arm, and carefully laid bare the ugly wound, and applied the saturated roll of soft cotton. "Fire, thunder and brimstone, Doctor;" and Blunt jumped as if a torpedo had exploded between him and the bed cords ; ' ' what infernal stuff is that you are burning into me? " 18 250 THE Two CIRCUITS. Blunt struggled to pull it off, and the doctor struggled to hold it on, and clasped his head with a tenacious grasp closer between his left arm and his breast^ and remarked with dignity slightly ruffled : "Heat is life, Mr. Blunt;" Blunt all the while bobbing down, as if he expected something dread- ful to strike him from above, and the doctor now used both hands to hold him fast ; ' ' heat is life, Mr. Blunt; you will endeavor to compose yourself; heat is liable to evaporate by this unnatu- ral aperture, and thus a part of your life go out, and this is a chirurgical interception, to prohibit its escapement." ' ' Goodness, gracious ! Doctor, do you mean that I am too hot? " "I do not, but contrariwise, Mr. Blunt." "Then you are fooled, for I'm almost roasted ; " and Blunt drew a long breath, and continued to dodge his head down between his shoulders; and the doctor replied : "That is one of the deceptivities of your ner- vous commotion. You will please use your best endeavors, Mr. Blunt, to remain in a state of quies- sence. You will now place your body in an upright position, setting on the edge of the bed, and insert your extremities into this medicated water, which you see placed here for your benefit." "Do you mean my feet? " BI/JNT BESET. 251 ' ' That is a correct understanding of my request, Mr. Blunt." Blunt obeyed, with rather an unyielding grace, and Hip put forth his utmost efforts to hold his feet in the bucket. " I guess, Hip, you needn't clinch them feet so tight, I'm able to hold them in myself," said Blunt, harshly. Hippocrates did not appear to notice Blunt's re- marks, but braced himself to tighten his grasp. In about four seconds, Blunt roared out, that the water was burning the skin off, and struggled to jerk his feet out, exclaiming: "Let go there, you little Doc., or I'll kick you a rod." But Hip, evidently feeling complimented by being called the "little Doc.," made no reply, but pushed the feet further down, holding them with more des- perate determination than ever. The old doctor sat by Blunt's side, and held him around the arms ; but he finally succeeded in kicking over the bucket, and kicking Hip over against the stove, which brought from the bounding youth a very vehement and impious interjection, which Philip says began with a capital G. Blunt at the same time exclaim- ing, under considerable excitement : "Whoop'ee! Blessed Maria! my feet's scald- ed;" the old doctor tried to say, with becoming gravity, that, heat was life, but before he could 252 THE Two CIRCUITS. fairly conclude the sentence Blunt cut it short, by fiercely shouting: "If heat is life, I am bound to live from this on ; " and he stooped over to examine the sanitary condition of his toes. " Great Jupiter ! my toe-nails are nearly scalded out by the roots. Whew ! Sue, open that door ; I wish I had kicked that little doc., inside of the stove." " Mr. Blunt, you will endeavor to control your excitations. The hyperboreal inclemency intro- duced through that open door, will greatly militate against the calorific salubriety of my reform medi- cal treatment. Caloric is existence, Mr. Blunt." \ "I am very much obliged to you, the open door feels better than the medicine. I would not choose any more reform treatment." Heatem stood by the bedside with a look of of- fended majesty, and dovetailed his hands over the lower button of his waistcoat, and the glass beads began to stand out on the red putty. And poor Hippocrates resumed his posture of standing on one foot, while holding to the clock shelf with one hand ; and instead of picking his teeth with the other, he was using it to soothe the lower part of his back, where it had struck the red-hot stove. He looked wickedly towards Mr. Blunt, and occasion- ally cast jealous glances towards Jo Weldon, who was seated by the side of Lucy Stone, and who was rollicking with laughter at the part the young re- former had played in the drama. Philip was seated BLUNT BESET. 253 by the side ot Mrs. Heatem, and Bob was setting by the chair made vacant by Sue, when she rose to open the door ; and all excepting the old and young doctors, and Mr. and Mrs. Blunt, were laughing violently ; the latter was leaning anxiously over her husband's pillow, sad and perplexed, because the doctor looked so grave. It was easy to be seen, that Blunt felt as savage and determined, as Christian propriety would per- mit, and as he laid himself back on the pillows, he said : ' ' Now, Doctor, I tell you what it is ; I am not sick enough to be drenched, peeled and cooked alive, yet. I didn't want them to trouble you by bringing you over here to-night ; these women were scared more than I was hurt, and sent for you. If you please, Doctor, let me rest till morning, and if I feel worse by that time, I will send for you, and submit my case to your hands." Blunt spoke with such emphasis and decision, that there was clearly no prospect of his changing his mind. "I had contemplated, Mr. Blunt," and the doc- tor's countenance as he made the remark, indicated a feeling of baffled benevolence "yes, I had concluded, Mr. Blunt, to subject your deranged sys- tem to a thorough course of the reform medical treatment, which would have, I sanguinarily hope 254 THE Two CIRCUITS. and firmly believe, rejuvenated you into the alacrity of youthful health and vigor." "/What! did you intend to put me through lo- belia, steaming and all, besides burning my head and scalding my feet? " "Most assuredly, Mr. Blunt; but you will be pleased to take notice, that you are neither burned on one end nor scalded on the other ; heat is life, Mr. Blunt." ' ' Well, Doctor ; if I need any more heat, I will let you know in the morning. But you had all bet- ter stay all night. " " It is highly important and indispensable, Mr. Blunt, that this noble restorative, nervine, should be introduced into the interior of your stomach." " Is it hot?" inquired Blunt, abruptly. "Not by any means, very disagreeably so, Mr. Blunt; but heat is always life." ' ' Blast your old heat, I have had enough of it ; let's have it, if it's not hot." ' ' That is correct, Mr. Blunt ; caloric is existenee forever." The Heatem family were soon on their way home ; Jo Weldon accompanying Lucy, and Hip looking wickedly at Jo for so doing. Young Scates was still sitting by the side of Sue, talking in a tone, no one but themselves could hear, but their satisfac- tion therein seems to have been mutual and com- forting. BLUNT BESET. 255 " Bob, come up here close to me, I want to talk to you." Bob stepped to the bed with some embarrassment, and yet with a roguish twinkle in his eye. Sue started for the kitchen, and Philip attempted to follow her; but Blunt called out: "Stop, I want both of you to stay here;" and turning his face, so that he might look Bob in the eye ; and Bob turning his eyes so that he looked at the clock or the ceiling, rather than submit to the intended inspection ; Blunt began : " Bob, I am under obligations to you for helping me home to-night." " Not at all, not at all, sir ; I was glad to be able to do anything for you at such a time." " But Bob, you ought not to have attempted to run off with Sue, without, at least, asking me for her ; if I had refused you, you would have had more excuse. I don't say I would have consented, remember." Young Scates fumbled in his button holes with his left hand, and did not seem to know what to do with his right ; his eyes moved about uneasily, and he coughed, and shuffled his feet, and cleared his throat several times, before he knew exactly what to say. "Well, (a-hem) Mr. Blunt, (a-hem-hem) that's all over now, it's over, Mr. Blunt, ^coughs, not very spontaneously) I did not get her. I supposed you would not consent, (here Scates began to bracr 256 THE Two CIRCUITS. himself) and I was determined to have her on any terms, if I could." Bob rested here and took a long breath of relief, and Blunt replied : "That was not right, Bob. But I want to tell you why I was opposed to you. You see, you have been rather fond of sowing wild oats, and I was afraid you wouldn't be fit to take care of her unless you steadied up. Now, Sue says, she will not try to run off with you again ; and I have con- sented, that after a time, when you have proven yourself competent to do it, and have straightened up, and quit your bad habits, you can be married." Bob moved his head about uneasily, and replied : " I will make every effort in my power, sir." "I told Sue, that I hadn't much faith in your re- forming, just for the sake of marrying her, and that all such reforming would blow out after you were married. Now, look here, I'll give you six months probation, and if you can fetch yourself up, pretty nigh straight, by that time, I will consent that you may have her ; how will that do ? " "That looks reasonable, sir; any thing will do, that suits you and Sue." "Will that do, my daughter? " "Yes, sir," said Sue, sitting at the other side of the room, and looking toward the floor, and the color flashing in her face, and her expression of BLUNT BESET. 257 countenance seemed to indicate, that she was will- ing to take him now, without the tedious probation. ' ' Let me tell you now, Bob, there is no reform that will hold, unless the heart is set right ; the choices and preferences of a man must reach out for that that is right and true and pure, you must be more anxious to please your Heavenly Father than to please Sue." ' ' I suppose that is all right, but I know Sue bet- ter than I do Him ; I understand better what will please her, than I do what will please Him." " Cease to do evil and learn to do well, that's what will please Him. Put your whole force into trying to correct your tastes and habits, and He'll help you. He thinks more of you than Sue does." Bob swung his head around slowly from side to side, looking alternately at the ceiling and stove- pipe, and his eye seemed to say that he doubted whether any being thought as much of him as Sue did ; and Sue looked at him in such a manner, as if to say, that she doubted it too. " Do you think, Bob, that you want to be a bet- ter man, not on Sue's account, so much, as to please your Heavenly Father?" " Well, that is dividing the thing up so, that I can hardly tell how it is. I never saw God, I have but a confused idea of Him. I never heard Him, and what He says so many interpret differently. I have heard a preacher say that to love your neigh- 258 THE Two CIRCUITS. bor, was like loving God, and that your neigh- bor was the one nearest to you. If that's so, Sue is nearest to me, and God can make sure that I love Him, if loving Sue is loving Him." "But then, Bob, what does you and Sue loving each other amount to, if you do not try to please each other, and work for each other's advantage ; and so what does it signify to say we love God, if we don't try to please Him, do as He says ; without this all professed love is a mere whim, an abstrac- tion, a phantom worse than nonsense, leading to mischief. Now it pleases God, when we cease to do mil and learn to do well. " " I shall try it, sir." " That is all I have to say now, Bob. You had better stay all night." ' ' I am obliged to you, sir, I will have to go home." Sue followed him to the gate, and had not re- turned to the house, when Philip went to an upper room to rest for the night, wondering how much of dew, frost and cool air young girls can endure un- der Sue's circumstances. Sue and Bob will figure again in these pages. THE PEDLER. 259 CHAPTER XXX. THE PEDLER. The next day being Saturday, Philip started for Rose Chapel, where he was to preach on the coming Sabbath. Blunt parted from him with reluctance, saying they would meet again at the Quarterly Meeting in a few weeks. Philip was directed to call on Mr. Scatterlip, who lived near the chapel, as in many respects the most desirable place to spend the night. Philip had not yet become completely hardened to the saddle. In fact, he had come to the conclu- sion that a saddle was not a cushion of down. Therefore, after riding but a few miles, and the fractious filly dancing up and down, and trotting sideways, and plunging and rearing, and champing the bit as if impatient for the luxury of a race, jumping and shying and backing as if every fence corner was regarded as a battery about to open fire upon her ; and thus had worked herself into a pro- fuse perspiration, and her rider into a paroxysm of uneasiness, Philip concluded he would vary his misery by walking. The first step upon the soil brought him three inches deep into the mud. Any one at all familiar with the prairie muck, knows very 260 THE Two CIRCUITS. well that when it is filled with water it is about the color of tar, and equally as adhesive. He had not gone a dozen steps before about three pounds of the clammy mixture was sticking to each boot ; and by the time he had walked forty rods, his centre of gravity was brought down somewhere in the neigh- borhood of his knees. The night before there had been considerable frost, and the morning sun was now changing its sparkling gems to vapor, and the flinty roads to the consistence of loblolly. The prairie, was almost a dead-level. The lane was very long and lonely. The farm houses were ever so far off in the edges of the groves and timber, and looked like sloops anchored by an island or main- land. The rail fence was high, and frowned dis- mally, like the rusty bars of a prison, made to keep all intruders off the mottled turf inside, and keep them in the mire outside. There was no friendly stump, nor welcome rock ; no lost plank, nor genial piece of cord-wood ; no logs, nor limbs of trees ; no broken fragment of wagon or sled ; no inviting piece of sod big enough to hold two black- birds standing abreast; nothing on which Philip could rest his feet and feel that he was out of the mud. He thought of the Psalmist sinking in the deep mire where there was no standing. There was this difference, that, instead of sinking very deep in the mire, the mire was coming up over him. It had already pushed its ponderous rolls above his THE PEDLER. 261 ankle-bones, until he felt it necessary to stop and tuck the lower part of his pantaloons into the top of his boots. This was accomplished with no little difficulty ; for, what with balancing himself on his sliding foundation, and the sudden jerks of the mettlesome filly, his head and feet several times were on the point of changing places. The frosty air was softening, so was the mud. The filly was softening, but only in the dewy smoothness of t her hair. Philip was softening, not into patience, but into dampness of body and spirits ; and he breathed like a man who had run a race. He wad- led some distance in this style, and the lane looked as long as ever, and his breath was shorter than ever, and his body was damper than ever for that day, and the filly was as much of a fool as ever ; so he concluded he would resign himself to a quiet rest by leaning against the fence. As he cast a glance over the path he had trav- eled, he saw a well-trimmed peddling wagon approaching, and its two horses moving in a slug- gish walk. Philip scanned the burly driver from his broad-rimmed, drab, felt hat to his red-top boots. His hair and whiskers were the color of varnished oak, and further resembled the oak where the knots were many, and where no human sagacity could tell which way the grain run. His coat was a dust- colored sack, with two stories and an attic of pockets. From the largest upper pocket, on his 262 THE Two CIRCUITS. left side, was seen an inch of round, smooth cork set in a glass rim. From a similar pocket, on the other side, hung the corner of a bright-figured ban- dana. The coat buttons were the size of a silver quarter, and had a changeable shade like green bot- tles. The hues of his vest were as flashy and varied as the most gorgeous Brussels carpet, and the buttons thereof looked like the eggs of a red bird split in halves, with the round side out. His pan- taloons had an imitation of the Wabash River running down each seam, and the spaces between looked like a variegated map of Kentucky, where no county has a straight line on either side. His feet were thrown over his reins, and his hands swung loosely by his side ; and his chin had drop- ped upon his breast till the broad hat-rim nearly hid his face. Philip thought he was the picture of reckless resignation. As soon as the horses came opposite to where Philip was standing they stopped, and were appa- rently filled with envy at the freedom of the little filly. No sooner had this traveling store-house been checked in its sluggish career than the proprietor quickly and confusedly raised his head and rubbed his eyes, and grabbing the reins, called out, "Whoa!" This ejaculation was entirely unneces- sary, for the horses had anticipated him by about four seconds. THE PEDLER. 263 "Good day, sir," said Philip, still resting against the fence. "By George! I've been asleep; h'ar'-ye," and the pedler looked around as if he were seeking the person who addressed him. ' ' You must find it comfortable traveling to be able to cheat the night, sir," said Philip, smiling. ' ' Oh, yes, yes, I see you now. Yes, when I get into one of these confounded long lanes, where there is nothing but a canal of mud, walled in by fence rails, I just let my coveys have their own way, and I have mine," (here was a great stretch and a yawn, and a couple of deep grunts). "Which way are you traveling, stranger?" " In the same direction as yourself, sir." "I'm glad o' that; we'll be company. This Illinois is the blamedest quiet State I ever traveled in. A man can roll half a day, and hear nothing but the click of his own horses and wagon, and the whirl of a prairie-chicken now and then. I'm glad to see you. How long is this lane?" " About four or five miles." "y she was regarded as heiress to most of Sighgold's money and land ; she was adopted into the family ; pains had been taken to give her more than ordinary education, and she had numberless winning ways, and so was very agreeable generally. Why was it, therefore, that for Philip, the witchery and fascination was all in Kate ? Harriet was her equal in polish and lady-like behavior, her greetings were as cordial, her delicacy as refined, her taste:- 406 THE Two CIRCUITS. as cultivated, and her amiability and good humor were almost a match for Kate's. Again, why did not Philip's predilections go out as strongly for the one, as for the other ? It is curious, unaccount- able and common. Philip had promised DeKalb, not to seek Kate's society ; he had a picture in his pocket of one, who had a strong . claim on his heart, and whom, he would no more think of wronging, than he would of putting his hand in the fire ; and yet it must be confessed, that Philip's pleasure, in staying for the day, at the Sighgold house, was mainly dependent on the fact that Kate was staying there too. After the carriage had gone, he walked out, to survey the premises, and interested himself in the fields, and studied the fowls and hogs, and cattle and horses. When this exercise became irk- some, and his spirits began to flag, and he found the air too cool for comfort, he came into the front room, which was now vacant. The girls were en- gaged in othei parts of the house. He. betook himself to stirring the fire a practice long in vogue, and universally followed, when people are trying to determine what they are thinking about, or are working their brains to discover what they ought to be doing. He warmed and yawned, and put his hands together behind his head, and his feet as far the other way as possible ; and then plumped * HEART MISCHIEF. 407 down again, and punched the coals ; and so fell in- to a train of meaningless thinking ; it could hardly be called thinking, but was rather an indefinite be- wilderment of waking dreams, as when a man is trying to make himself happy, and is thinking of nothing, and persuades himself that he is philoso- phizing. He drew Mary's likeness from his pocket ; looked into the confiding eyes, and vowed eternal constancy, and sighed, and thought of Kate, and concluded that he was feeling ill, or was nearly a fool, and that he must be more careful of his health, and he must also be more prudent in his association with Kate ; and that he would write to Mary ; and that Mary would not be easy if she knew of all the deli- cate flames and tokens of esteem that had passed in so short a time between him and the fair Kate ; vowed again to be eternally true to Mary; and while he was yet holding the picture before him, and the reverie was going on, Kate entered the room. Philip immediately assumed a dignified attitude, for the person before him commanded as large a share of his respect as any one else on his circuit. He quietly folded together the miniature frame, and still held it in his hand, and invited Kate to be seated by the fire. As he was sitting in the easiest chair, he rose and insisted that she should occupy it. 408 THE Two CIRCUITS. ''You seem chilly, Kate," said Philip, "sit close to the fire, and be comfortable." "Thank you, Mr. Force, keep your seat, another will do as well, I am not very cold, but the fire looks cheery, and the air out doors is so raw, that this old fire-place is like an old friend." " Kate, may I sit close by you ? " Philip shrank from her, as if she were too pure and innocent for him to come near. "I have just come in from a walk over the fields," said he. "Of course, sit down close by the fire," said Kate, her eyes turned toward his, for a moment, with a bright persuasiveness, and then she looked into the coals as if she expected the coals to tell her something. "Kate," said Philip, drawing his chair close by her side, ' ' we are good friends, are we not ? I want to show you a picture, that I prize very highly. Somehow you and I, by a few circumstances that you know, have been drawn into a closer friendship than has sprung up between me and any other per- son I have met since I came to Doubletown. " While Philip was saying this much, he was wiping imag- inary dust from the picture, and for a cool day, it was remarkable how the perspiration came out all over him. Kate looked with hope and anxiety for the coals to tell her something. And when he handed her the picture, and her eyes fell upon it, she comprehended the whole situation, and turned HEART MISCHIEF. 409 upon him such a look of love and despair, that it almost crushed him to the floor. She said not a word, but gazed on the picture, as if she would ask the lips to tell her all they knew, and then she dropped it in her lap, and her face grew white. Philip knew not what to say or do ; he was -so confounded. Here was heart mischief of his own making. How was he to give comfort, when he was the cause of the pain ? He labored hard to frame something proper to say, and was chafed and goaded because he could not find it, and winced un- der the thought of his wickedness so that his pulse beat rapidly, and his heart came away up in his throat as if to smother him. Kate allowed the picture to lay upon her dress, and turned her eyes to the coals, as if they had told her terrible things, and without moving her head, she said : "I understand it all," and she picked up the pic- ture slowly, as if reluctant to do it, as if it sickened her. ' ' Well excuse me, Mr. Force yes, I like her face ; it is handsome, there is much that is good and true and lovely, about it. You have my best wishes." She said this in an abstract way, as if she were talking to the coals ; and she was pale, and seemed afraid to look Philip in the face. Philip was still driving his ideas up and down, in torment, for proper words. He would have taken 4io THE Two CIRCUITS. her in his arms, and lifted her out of all her dis- tress, if he only knew how. He criminated him- self for encouraging her, or for not discouraging her, by keeping from her entirely, after he saw the slightest signs of attachment to him. He would now be willing to go down on his knees to ask her forgiveness. But he was afraid to act, or speak, or turn ; for every move he had made with Kate, since they first met, had been fuel to the flame. The flame and fire was now being smothered, and both were well nigh suffocated in the vapors. She kept her eyes away from him, and looked into the old friendly fire-place, as if the glow of the coals and flash of the flames, in their cheerfulness were mocking her, as if they would taunt and laugh at her, over the fiercer fire that was burning in her heart. To Philip, she never looked so lovely. He was puzzled and bewildered. He would walk the room for a minute, and then resume his seat. He was rather gifted with words, but now he felt as if some demon had been in many of them, for every con- versation with Kate had tended to this unlucky en- tanglement, and now, when he was trying to make himself understood, and explain matters, he was so baffled and alarmed, that words choked him. He felt as if he were groping in illusions ; that he was walking among pitfalls ; that he was in a place, where there was no safe standing. His breath went HEART MISCHIEF. 411 in and out, in great waves, as if the air were loaded with adverse influences. He accused himself of being a fool, an idiot, and a knave. He felt that he was worse than Jo Stoker, for Jo only injured himself, and here he had been injuring this angel of purity. He was ready to repent in sackcloth and ashes, if it would only straighten this intricate mis- chief. He felt with the Psalmist, that his bones were waxing old through his inward roaring. How could she ever respect him again, she who was his pattern of innocence? At last the silence became so oppressive that he could endure it no longer ; he looked at the ceiling, then at the floor, and opened the front door and looked out of that, and then in the old fashioned mirror, and thought the glass reflected him more unfavorably than ever he had seen it, and looked in the fire with Kate, and then looked at her, and said, in a jumbled way: " Kate, I feel, somehow, as if I had done you wrong, and yet I don't know how to state it, if you'll only tell me, I'll repent, I'll do anything, I'll " "Who said you wronged me?" Kate spoke as if startled, but was still careful to look away from him. "No one ever said so, as far as I know, but I feel that way," said Philip, "and yet it never was in my heart to do it, Kate, never." "You never did, Mr. Force," said Kate; and 412 THE Two CIRCUITS. there was no reproach in her tone, but rather an air of defending him. "How could you think so? I hope I don't make you feel uncomfortable, yet I know you feel so; can I do anything for you? But what is the use of asking such a question ? I can't help myself; I don't feel right." "Kate you are right, I know you are. Let you and I agree to be friends," said Philip, looking a? if he were groping in the dark, and was afraio of being lost. "I always was your friend, and will be, as long as you permit it. " She picked up the picture and looked intently into it. "Did you tell me her name? Mary Allerton? Shall I call her Mary? Would she allow a stranger to be so familiar ? Would she let me be your friend ? You think she would be pleased with me, do you ? Her eyes look full of welcome. But women are curious about the women friends of the man that belongs to <-hem. I know I shall like her. You will let me like her, because she is yours?" and so she went on in her confiding simplicity, and Philip replied : "She cannot help being your friend, Kate, when she comes to know you ; I am certain you will like her : T shall write to her about you ; I want you to be acquainted. I shall never forget you; it will, with me, always be a pleasure to think of you ; our short acquaintance has, to me, been very pleasant ; you will not draw away from me, Kate?" Kate was HEART MISCHIEF. 413 looking in the coals as if she didn't understand them. " Of course," said Philip, "you will find some one, who will make you think more of him, than you will think of any one else ; I shall have to take ^ second place, but it would be painful to me, if you should come to look upon me as if I had no in- terest in you. You must be a sister to me. Never cease being free and frank with me. I promised DeKalb not to seek your society." Kate was startled for an instant at this last remark, and then continued to look in the coals as if they were revealing things '"Providence or accident led us into the same path, Kate, occasionally ; and you can but know that I have enjoyed your presence ; and somehow. I don't know why, I didn't design it, my thoughts have run out after you continually, since we met at the festival ; everything has been brighter to me when you were near me, where I could see your face ; and the whole world was full of melody to me, when I could hear your voice, and" "Stop, stop, Mr. Force, please not to say any- thing more like that," and Kate started back as if she were afraid the coals were going to burst ; " You'll not talk that way, any more, to me, will you ? It makes me uneasy, it confuses me, it be- wilders me, it makes me feel foolish ; I am your friend, remember that;" and she spoke with em- phasis and decision, and began to look dignified 29 414 THE Two CIRCUITS. and independent, and looking Philip in the face, went on : "Let us talk of something else; I never felt like a fool in your presence before ; tell me some- thing apart from ourselves." And just then Harriet came upon them, and Kate carlessly drew the folds of her dress over the picture to hide it. PHILIP'S SELF REPROACH. 415 CHAPTER XLVI. PHILIP'S SELF REPROACH. "Why, Mr. Force," said Harriet, "you look as if you had been preaching the doctrine of repent- ance to Cousin Kate, and she looks as if it had taken effect on her; and if anything, you look more sorry than she does." Philip smiled ruefully, and went to the door and opened it, and put his head out as if he wanted fresh air, and said nothing. Kate tried to look as easy as if nothing unusual had occurred, and made no reply ; and Harriet continued : ' ' Kate, what makes you look so pale ? Do you feel sick ? How red your eyes are. I don't won- der Mr. Force should look badly, for he was up all night and such a night. As to that, Kate, we had better been up than to be so near frightened to death as we were. You stood it bravely last night, Kate ; your courage kept me from dying with dread of those terrible men. You kept up so well then I was afraid of the after effect on you. You don't feel unwell ? Now, Kate, you can't deceive me ; I know your eyes too well ; and your face is pale, and there are signs of pain it. Don't you see it, Mr. Force?" 4i 6 THE Two CIRCUITS. Philip felt as if he was being charged with guilt, and that the charge was true, and that there were forty people around him that fully believed it. He admitted that there were some indications of illness in Kate, but evidently he was averse to talking over it. Kate rallied, and requested Philip to tell all about the events of the previous night that she had not yet heard. Along in the afternoon, late, Sighgold and wife returned, and it was arranged that Philip and Kate should return to Doubletown with Hymore's car- riage. On the way, Kate was apparently as joyous as ever, and talked of the weather, the church and forty things, just as they occurred to her. But Philip felt that she was forcing herself to be agree- able ; that she was driving herself to it to lighten, if possible, the load she saw resting on him. One or two of her remarks led him to conclude that she was still inclined to confide in him. She requested that he would pay no attention to any thing Pro- fessor DeKalb should say about her, for he was an annoyance to her. Philip drove to the door of the Inn, and handed Kate out ; and she looked in his face with her usual smile of thankfulness, and much of her color was gone. And he bid her good evening ; and he deposited the carriage at General Hymore's ; and PHILIP'S SELF REPROACH. 417 after supper went to meet Dr. Wallace and Bob in their room. About ten o'clock that night, while the three young men were yet talking together, a messenger came to ask the doctor to come as soon as possible to Mr. Brooks', at the Inn, for his daughter Kate was taken violently sick. Philip accompanied him. Was it not his duty to visit the sick of Jiis flock ? And here was one of the best of the lambs stricken down. His conscience smote him. He hesitated lest his going would make matters worse. He found Kate unconscious and in the delirium of fever. He questioned the doctor as to the nature of the disease and 'the prospect of her re- covery, and received no definite answer, for the good reason that the doctor did not know. In fact Philip had a vague, condemning idea that he knew more of the trouble than any one else. He sat by her side ; he felt her pulse ; he bathed her temples; he spoke what words of cheer and comfort he could frame for the anxious mother ; he was filled with self-reproach and sorrow ; he looked dejected and forlorn. His interest in the beautiful sufferer, and his anxiety to relieve her, flattered and consoled the mother. As he returned with the doctor, after midnight, he noted with care every remark made about her symptoms.- He learned that there appeared to be no physical cause for her great feverishness, and that 4i 8 THE Two CIRCUITS. some mental disturbance must have been the occa sion of it. Philip slept but little that night. Bob had made rapid progress in his studies, and kept himself free from evil associations, and took pleasure in Philip's society and conversation. He and Sue Blunt were together occasionally, and everybody took it for granted that they belonged to each other. Sue improved in manners and mind. Her home- spun frivolty wore away into seemly dignity and grace. She was not only passable, but exceedingly well-favored, and was popular with old and young. She had an exuberance of wit, and was inclined to be blunt in expression, as well as in name ; but the culture and discipline of school and the training that comes from being in society, and her zeal for improvement, combined to clip the wings of her bantering satire and irony. When she first came to the Seminary, her rustic raillery and jokes made her often appear rather unfeminine ; and to those who offended her, or for whom she formed a dis- like, she was a person to be feared. She walked with the port of a queen, but would run to the relief of a beggar. People were often offended and suffered from the flashes of her ridicule and sar- casm ; but she would follow them with so many after acts of kindness and winning words that they soon became her warmest friends. PHILIP'S SELF REPROACH. 419 She never shot this delicate lightning against Bob. She was respectful to him, almost to rever- ence. When he came into her presence, if she were in the full- tide of comedy or farce, she soon subsided into a demeanor of sobriety and coyness. She knew that Bob needed her care and encour- agement, and the very sight of him awoke in her all the helpfulness that a woman can feel for only mas- culine humanity fallen and trying to rise. Bob had well nigh been swept away by the influences of the reckless and dissipated about him just as he was about coming into manhood. His early days at home were spent under forces of honor, truth and uprightness, such as are found with the average farmer. His defeat in trying to run away with Sue, and a few circumstances in con- nection with that defeat, had opened his eyes to his foolishness. He had fully made up his mind to turn about for the better. He formed an attach- ment for Philip partly because he needed him, and partly because Philip naturally and easily fell into sympathy with his new purposes, and without any show of condescension, was ready and pleased at all times to give him any assistance in his power. He knew that Philip had a knowledge of the worst of his waywardness and folly, and as he was respectful to him then, Bob held to him the stronger now. It was intimated that Sue was inclined to be quiet 42O THE Two CIRCUITS. and subdued in Bob's presence. It is not to be inferred, however, that she was in the least afraid of him. Apparently, she never was afraid of any one. But she was afraid for Bob. She was afraid that, in some evil hour, he might be swept away and sucked under by the tide of evil influences that now and then gathered around him. She had set her- self to do all she could to call into exercise the better capacities of his manhood. She would speak to Philip with enthusiastic approval of his success in learning, and praised his pluck in battling against evil habits and associations ; and she seemed in- stinctively to understand that Philip would take the first favorable opportunity to repeat her sayings, and improve upon them in his conversations with Bob. She had won him some time ago, and now she strove to make the prize as valuable as time, labor and love could do it. MARY. MARY ALLERTON. 421 CHAPTER XLVII. MARY ALLERTON. Kate's illness was protracted. DeKalb gave her the most careful attention, and took pains, in a reproachful style, to admonish Philip that his visits tended to her injury, rather than benefit. And Philip was not sure but the professor was correct. But it was no small struggle to master his inclination to call upon her whenever opportunity offered. Much of his time, however, was occupied at appointments away from the town, and thus he was assisted in his efforts of self-conquest. And there was his promise to DeKalb. As he returned to Doubletown, some weeks after Kate's attack, he found Mary Allerton and her younger sister, Jennie, had come from Wildeden, on a visit to the Hy mores. The Allertons and Hymores had been friends of old. Philip desired that none of his new made friends on his circuit should know that Mary and he were anything more to each other than old friends ; and he succeeded at first in so impressing them. He carefully concealed from Mary the state of affairs that had come up between him and Kate. He managed it so that she and her sister, Jennie, 422 THE Two CIRCUITS. should go with Martha Hymore and Sue Blunt to visit Kate, who was yet too feeble to venture from the house. Philip was secretly gratified to hear Mary and all of them speak in high terms of the invalid, and that there was a fair prospect of her soon being well again. They went on to remark that her aunt, a Mrs. Thornton, from Indianapolis, was visiting her sister, Mrs. Brooks ; that she had lately become a widow and had no children, and had vast wealth, and had persuaded her sister to allow Kate to go home with her and attend school a few years in that city; and that if she would be content to make her home with her that Kate should have the largest part of her possessions when she died. Kate was her favorite niece, and had been named after her; though her dignity was slightly ruffled because she was called Kate, when in truth she said her name was Catharine. She prided herself on the fact that her home was in a much larger place than tftis one, and it was evident that she felt that she was condescending on her part to spend so much time on terms of equality in so humble a place as the Doubletown Inn. Yet withal she was a lady of considerable culture and kindliness of heart. ' ' We found our old teacher, Professor DeKalb, there," said Mary, addressing Philip, "as awkward and polite as ever. Why is it that he fails to make himself agreeable when he labors so hard to do it ? It seemed to me that he was more annoy- MARY ALLERTON. 423 ance than help to Miss Kate. Did you notice it, Miss Blunt?" "Yes," said Sue, "but we pay no attention to him here outside of the school-room. He is one of those good, unpleasant pests that you can hardly hate, but somehow he bores one fearfully." "I am told," said Philip, "that he is a good teacher." "Oh, yes," said Sue, in a laughing way, "he ought to be caged in a school-room. I know he must worry Kate. If he should attempt to play the agreeable to me as he does to her, I would be tempted to knock him over the head with my para- sol. He ought to spend his time, when he is not attending his classes, in helping Mr. Brooks make coffins, or drive his one-horse hearse up and down town for exercise." ' ' When does Miss Kate expect to leave for Indianapolis?" inquired Philip, with an air of indif- ference. ' ' Mrs. Thornton said she was anxious to return immediately, but had made up her mind, for the sake of having Kate's company, to remain until it was safe for her to travel. And, by the way, Philip," continued Mary, in a natural and easy manner, ' ' she said you had rather neglected her. She asked about you very carefully, and wondered that you had not called to congratulate her on the prospects of her recovery." 424 THE Two CIRCUITS. Philip made an evasive excuse, and turned to ques- tion Mary about the old friends at Wildeden ; and they gradually glided into a low confidential mood together. They had not indulged in this luxury for many minutes when Sue came and stood before them, and thanked Mary and her sister, Jennie, for their visit, and for sending Philip among them ; but if she had any more like Professor DeKalb at Wild- eden, she would be resigned if she would send them in some other direction. " Miss Blunt, you must be more favorable toward the professor. We rather liked him in many re- spects while he was with us," said Mary, "Well," said Sue, " your capacity for liking is superior to mine, if you like him. But it may be, I go too far ; we do like him just as we like a school-book. He's nothing but a living book, bound in sheep, with thin paper and small print. I have come to like a book, and I love little sheep, and after that way I may come to like DeKalb ; but not so much, for he bores me worse than they do. And then you can get rid of books and sheep when you want to, but when that Dutchman comes toward me, I feel like I would have to run, fight or smother." Bob and Sue had arranged that Mary and Jennie should go with them up to Sue's old home at Spen- gler's Grove, on Saturday. Philip was to preach MARY ALLERTON. 425 there on Sunday, and was expected to be one of their party ; but as he had an appointment the same day they started, and it was not in their route, they with regret were compelled to go without him. Jennie, too, complaining of being unwell, declined to make the trip. Mary was exceedingly fond of riding on horse- back ; and on this occasion General Hymore gave her the choice of any in his stable. She selected his saddle-horse, an animal of splendid proportions and style. The General was rather inclined to object, for fear that she might not be able to manage him. For, although he was generally docile and controllable, now and then, from his abundance of Jife, he would rush out into some unlocked for freaks of frolic and fun. Mary had so much expe- i ience in riding, that she was confident of her ability to hold the reins over him. Jennie said there was not the slightest danger, for she rode every c olt at home before it was half-broken. They arrived at Sue's old home in high spirits, but somewhat the worse in appearance from the effects of a few mud-holes. Philip barely reached the old church in the proper time to begin the service. Bob and his party did not come in until about the time of taking the text. M ary had as yet never listened to one of Philip"' s pi Ipit efforts. To hear him was the main purpose cf her trip to the country. Philip had fresh fire and 426 THE Two CIRCUITS. inspiration on that day. There was something in Mary's thoughtful face and careful attention that stimulated him, and his success was a surprise to himself and his auditors ; and while the last hymn was being sung, he saw the flush of pride and exultation playing over her delicate features. He saw that she was not disappointed in him ; that he had grown in her esteem ; and the air of satisfaction and commendation that rested on her features was more to him just then than all the approvals on earth. He had long wanted to be convinced that her intel- lect, as well as her heart, said, "he was worthy of her. " That effect was accomplished that day. She did not express it, but it was implied by an unmis- takable heart language that spoke from her eyes, that assured him as perfectly as if she had vowed it over and over. Philip and Mary, Bob and Sue dined together. Bob accompanied Philip to his appointment at night, five miles away. The girls had at first deter- mined to go ; a storm was threatening, and they were compelled to forego their intentions. Had any one encouraged them they would have braved the fury of the elements just for the excitement. ' Philip concluded he would ride Mary's horse, as he seemed so full of life, while his own was slightly jaded. It was near midnight when they returned. All the inmates of the house had gone to rest, and the MARY ALLERTON. 427 next morning, early, the party were to ride back to Doubletown. The breakfast came with the dawn. As Philip assisted Mary into the saddle and placed her tiny foot into the stirrup, he remarked to her : " It surprises me that you should have rode this horse, for he came very near throwing me several times on yesterday and last night." "Philip, my dear, " she said, in a low voice, "I am not in the least afraid of him ; he carries me with such ease and triumph. He seems to know me; I like him so much." All four were soon galloping off, full of life, lib- erty and the pursuit of happiness. Excepting Philip, they seemed to be possessed of no more caution than so many colts. They had been accus- tomed to horses all their lives, and Philip had not. The more Mary's horse would plunge and prance, the more she seemed to enjoy him. She had to hold him back in order to keep company with Philip. The latter was uneasy and troubled to see his chief earthly good the subject of such preca- rious tossings. But Mary was so self-possessed, and so perfectly commanded the situation, that his dread of accident gradually wore away, leaving a dark shadow of foreboding. About half a mile from Doubletown the road made a right angle. There was a fence on the left ; and on the right, about ten feet from the track, was an abrupt declivity of several feet, and at the foot 30 428 THE Two CIRCUITS. of it there was a slope down toward a small creek. As they came near to this corner, riding rapidly and Mary's horse was rushing to the front of tht others, suddenly, as a flash, the splendid animal shot to one side, and threw himself and rider over the embankment. In a moment Mary was on her feet. Her dress was soiled and torn, but she declared she was not hurt. She ran to the horse's head, and exclaimed: "Oh, my poor horse is dead." He had broken his neck in the fall. While they were all examining the horse, Mary fell and fainted. Bob ran to a little pool close by, and scooped some water in his hand and bathed her face. Sue sat upon the ground and took her head in her lap, and Philip was the picture of despair kneeling by her side. "My Lord," said he, "I was afraid of that horse all the time. Mercy, Sue, do you think she is seriously hurt ? I wish I had insisted on riding the foolish horse myself." Mary gradually regained her consciousness. But when she made the attempt it was found she was unable to stand. She was very pale, and traces of blood were about her lips. A stranger was passing that way with a two- seated spring wagon, and offered to do all he could for them. Philip and Bob lifted her, and placed her in the back seat. When the wagon began to move MARY ALLERTON. 429 Mary was unable to support herself; and they moved the seat, and Philip and Bob laid their over- coats in the bottom of the wagon, and the owner of the wagon offered his buffalo robe, and they made her lie down;, and Sue sat with her, holding her head in her lap. "Oh, Philip," said Mary, feebly, "I thank you and Mr. Scates for your care of me. I am sorry to worry you so. And the poor horse is dead ; I am so sorry. Sue, my dear, you are so kind." ' ' Don't talk that way, Mary, if you will only get well let all the rest go ; it's not worth talking about," said Sue. Philip and Bob threw in all the words of cheer they could command as they slowly made their way into Doubletown. Upon Philip's suggestion, Bob rode ahead to notify the doctor to be present, if possible, as soon as they arrived. 43O THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER XLVIII. GONE SO SOON. There was great consternation at the Hymore house. Jennie was almost distracted at the appearance of her sister. Mrs. Hymore took advantage of the occasion to launch out into one of her wildest hysterical enterprises, so that every member of her immediate family were taxed to the utmost, to keep her from immediately taking final leave of earthly affairs. Philip was almost stupe- fied with distress, as the doctor gravely examined into, and inquired of Mary's symptoms. The blood would still escape from her mouth. She stoutly maintained, that she would be well in a few hours ; that she had only received a slight shock ; and vexed herself more over the death of the poor horse, than over any fear about her own case. Philip followed the doctor into the yard, and the tone of the replies he received from him added to his dejection. It was feared there had been a rup- ture of an important blood vessel near to some of the vital organs. The doctor would, in a few mo ments, .bring another physician, and that a few hours would determine the extent and danger of the injury. GONE So SOON. 431 When Philip returned to the room, the bleeding, he found, had become more profuse, and the ex- haustion greatly increased. General Hymore with his daughters was compelled to look after his wife, in another part of the house. Sue showed rare tact and delicacy in anticipating Mary's wants. Philip stood by her bed-side, and noted her pulsa- tions, and every movement of her features. He battled against his forebodings, and with great ef- fort, assumed the appearance of a manly cheerful- ness. He felt that to show any sign of his fears might have unfavorable effect. Bob held himself in readiness for any commands. Mary, though seriously weakened, kept in buoy- ant spirits. "Jenny, sister," she said, "there is no cause for uneasiness ; my system has been considerably jarred, but all will be well shortly. You know I was never thrown from a horse before, so I am not used to it ; I was not thrown this time, till that splendid fel- low threw himself; I am so sorry he was killed." " O, Mary, I am provoked at the horse, and feel a spite at him, dead as he is, because he hurt my sister so much. Had I not better write to father, and let him know of your accident?" and Jennie looked at her sister anxiously, as if to gather the probabilities of the future. "No, no," said Mary, with an effort to smile, "it 432 THE Two CIRCUITS. would only disturb them for nothing; I think I will be well enough in a day or two." The consultation of the two physicians did not brighten any one's hopes. They looked as wise, cheerful and mysterious, as became their profession, and answered all inquiries with the most oracular am- biguity. Dr. Wallace remained to give attention for the night. Philip took occasion to draw him to one side, to obtain from him what he thought of Mary's case. " It would not surprise me," said the doctor, " if she died before morning." Philip sprang to his feet, quivering with fear, and laying his hand on the doctor's arm fairly turned him about, as he exclaimed : ' ' My Lord ! Doctor, how you alarm me. If that girl dies I am undone. I can confide in you, sir ; she is as 'near to me as my own life. Can nothing be done to save her ? O, heavens ! you must save her; " and he looked at the doctor im- ploringly, and the great tears stood in his eyes, and he shook like an oak in a storm. " I will do all in my power," said the doctor. " I assure you, Mr. Force, everything that our skill can do, shall be done. You asked me to be candid with you, and I am very sorry I cannot give you good grounds to hope. The chances, in my opinion, are against her. Doctor Curtis is older than I am, and he views the case more favorably, I sincerely hope GONE So SOON. 433 his judgment will prove correct. If she has any friends that it is important for her to see, they had better be sent for at once." ' ' Great Father above ! what a calamity is this ! Lord, Lord, so soon, so soon ; the light of my life to go out this way;" and Philip paced the room, sighing and groaning and praying, as if his head were in a whirl. As they were in a room to themselves, the doc- tor quietly took him by the arm, and led him with difficulty to a chair, and said : "Mr. Force, this will not do for you. Much in this case, I see, will depend on your quietness and self-possession. The girl is in a critical condition, and any show of fear on your part may work to her injury. Be a man for her sake ; master yourself, and be calm. A hopeful exterior in you, will be better for her than any medicine I can give her. So you see, her case is more in j-our hands than in mine. Sue Blunt is a very sensible girl, and you must have her stay till the crisis is reached. The Hymore family have to give attention to the old lady who is worse off than usual, so you cannot ex- pect much help from them. If Kate Brooks could come over and relieve Sue occasionally it would be well, for she is the only girl in town who is Sue's superior in practical sense, in such a case of emer- gency ; but I fear Kate is yet too feeble to endure 434 THE Two CIRCUITS. it. You had better have your friend, Jo Stoker, go for Miss Mary's father." In less than an hour, Philip had Jo on his way to Wildeden, to convey the unpleasant intelligence to the Allerton family. When Philip came again into Mary's room, she seemed to be looking for him and welcomed him, with a smile of eagerness, love and inquiry. As Sue, Bob and the doctor had gone to other apart- ments to prepare some remedies, Philip stooped over and kissed Mary's lips, and gave her the bene- fit of all the hopefulness he could summon to his face. Not a fear seemed to cross her mind. Philip was by her side ; and the highest warmth of life and hope to her was embodied in him. Her voice was low, but Philip's ready ear caught every word. "Philip, my dear, you don't think there is any danger in my case, do you ? Why do you stay here so late? Nothing could gratify me more than to have you near me. But you desired that our rela- tions to each other should not be discovered by the people here ; it might work to your prejudice, and impede your usefullness. If you stay here all night, looking after my welfare, and ministering to my comfort, it will not be twenty-four hours before gos- sip will be busy with our names. I want to do all for you, Philip. All I am, or expect, is for you. Go and rest, and I will, in the morning be better for sleep. Sue and Jennie will stay with GONE So SOON. 435 me. You won't leave me to-night Philip? You want to see me safe through this night ? Have you any fear of me ? I have none myself, I am only a little faint now and then. Jennie, please hand me that wine." r !ne wine added to her animation, and Jennie whispered to her : ' ' Allow Philip to stay, Mary. It is more like home with him here. " And she raised her voice slightly, and went on : " All the others are kind, very kind, but no one here loves you, like Philip and I. He must stay. Let people talk. It will hurt no one, to know the truth. Philip's not ashamed of you, and " Philip broke in here: "No, Mary, no, I am proud of you ; all the world may know how much you are to me." Mary smiled, and Jennie went on : "You're not ashamed of Philip, I know." "You two," said Mary, "arrange it between you. I am content. Let me rest now for awhile." In a few moments Bob, Sue and the doctor came in, and as soon as they raised her up the blood flowed from her mouth. Sue sat among the pillows behind her and held her in her arms, while the doc- tor adjusted the bowl to prevent the blood from staining the bed. After the hemorrhage had ceased, and her head lay upon Sue's shoulder, she gave a beseeching look toward Philip, and with what com 436 THE Two CIRCUITS. posure he could summon, he hastened to her side, and she laid her hand in his, and turning her eyes to his with a look of love and helplessness, she whispered : "Where is Jennie?" Jennie came in a moment, her eyes full of tears, and every nerve throbbing with emotion, said : " Mary, dear, I am here, what can I do for you ?" and the child's distinct utterance, and cheerful tone showed the power she had over herself. "Jennie, stand by the side of Philip, close, so I can see you both without effort." Here the blood came from her mouth again, and when it ceased, and she recovered herself, she said: "Doctor, you are very kind, and, Sue, I love you, and 1 thank you very much, and, Bob, you have been very good. I thank you all, but I'll not need your help much further. You'll bear with me, I know, while I say in your presence what people generally say alone. " And she looked Philip full in the face with all the love of a wholesouled, noble girl, that she was, and continued : ' ' I see, Philip, that it was right for you to stay with me to-night ; your fears are true. I will not see the morning. It is a great comfort, Philip, to have you here ; the gloom would have been dread- ful without you. I never could tell how much I GONE So SOON. 437 loved you. I cannot tell it now. I am calmer now. There is no selfishness in me now. Father and mother (O, I wish they were here,) objected to our engagement ; not because they did not esteem you, Philip. They loved me. They were only afraid that I would not be as comfortable, Philip, as if you were settled. I want you to feel right toward them." The doctor suggested : "Miss Allerton, you are so feeble, I am afraid you will exhaust yourself. Rest a few minutes and then renew the conversation." "Doctor, you are very kind," said she, "I ap- preciate you, and thank you ; you have done your best ; but you know your eyes tell me I am be- yond your help. I shall not be here in the morn- ing;" and turning her eyes once more to Philip, and holding his hand, she said further: "Philip, it did me a world of good, to hear you preach yesterday. You reach people's hearts. There is nothing grand- er and better than to be an instrument in turning hearts right. What are money, fame, honor, without hearts ? Love the people, all people ; love the worst of them, Philip, and try to help them. I see and feel that they will let you into their hearts. Take my love ; you have had the most and best of it ; give it to them. Some of them will say hard and bitter things about you ; don't let that keep you 438 THE Two CIRCUITS. from loving them. You can't do much for them without loving them. There is no greater work than making bad men good. The people are greater than all other things in the world together. What are sculpture, painting and palaces compared to those who create them ? What are arts, science and learning, as compared to those who produce them ? The lowest heart is worth all outward im- provements. No prosperity can compare with the prosperity of souls. The glory and happiness of the world consists in the character of the people. We talk of our glorious climate, and soil, and achievements, but people are abpve all. He who helps man, to be worthy of the name, stands in the highest honor of human effort. You will think, sometimes, that you are accomplishing very little ; but, Philip, kindness and love are never lost ; there is no waste to them ; love and hearts are about all there are in this world that have eternity in them." Turning her eyes towards her sister, she said : ' ' Tell my blessed father and mother, and my dear brothers, that I died serene and peaceful. I go where hearts and love are all. Jennie, you are the only daughter now ; be kind to all the house, especially to father and mother, as they grow old. Tell them, their love for me is an infinite comfort to me now. In a few moments there will be another GONE So SOON. 43 9 hemorrhage ; and that will be the last. Let me shake hands with all of you. Good-by. How kind you all have been. And Philip " Here the blood rushed again from her mouth, and she spoke no more ; for within less than an hour she was gone. 44O THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER XLIX. BOB IN PRISON. Mary's death occurred in May. For a time Philip went in and out before his people in sadness. He said but little about his sorrow, and all tendency to gossip was overcome by the tragic fate of his beloved. The hearts of the people generally gath- ered around him in sympathy. His manly fortitude and silent grief added gravity to his bearing, and his experience in suffering gave him a readier access to those who were bound and breaking under the bur- dens of affliction. The first year of Philip's ministry closed about the last of September, and he was removed from Doubletown and appointed preacher in charge in the young city of Rushingo. He had the satisfaction of seeing Bob settled into habits of diligent study, with a mastery over his evil ways ; and so cultivating his better capacities, that he gave assu- rance for a useful and honorable future. Through his agency and attentions Jo Stoker had been brought into sobriety, industry and self respect. Mr. Sackett, the pedlar, acknowledged his assist- ance in overcoming his infidel tendencies, and in acquiring more exalted views of manhood and BOB IN PRISON. 441 higher aims in life than he had ever before attained, and he so far advanced that he had abandoned the bottle and profanity, and became a regular atten- dant at church. Even DeKalb, since the departure of Kate, had become his friend, to the utmost extent of his narrow nature, and was loth to part with him. Old Christopher Sighgold, fearing lest another accident would befall his money, determined to invest the most of it in land. At that time vast tracts of prairie could be purchased in Illinois at the government rates of one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre. So, in a few weeks after Philip had left the Doubletown circuit, Sighgold induced Bob to accompany him to the United States land office, at Palestine. Bob had secured the old gentleman's confidence in the affair of the robbers and the sav- ing of his money, and he was afraid to make the journey alone. They went on horseback. For some reason the old man did not lay out in land more than two- thirds of the money he took with him. On their return they stopped to visit Philip at Rushingo, which lay in their route. Sighgold presented Philip with a patent for one. hundred and sixty acres of the land he had bought as a mark of his gratitude for the part he had taken in saving his money some months before. The same was done for Bob, and 442 THE Two CIRCUITS. Jo Stoker. The patent was made out in their respective names. After leaving Philip the old man concluded to visit some of his relatives, and so they parted, and Bob proceeded homeward without him. Day after day passed, and Sighgold did not return. Word came from the relatives he intended to visit that he had aot been there. The horse had come home without him. His friends were alarmed ; a search was made, and it was found that he had been robbed and cruelly murdered. His body was found in a thicket a short distance from the road, and not far from where Bob said he had parted with him. No clue could be found of the assassin. A large reward was offered for his apprehension, and every constable and sheriff in that part of the country were on the alert to discover him if possible. Of course everybody had to talk the matter over, and furnish a theory as to who could be guilty of the crime. It was known that Bob was the last one seen in his company. And it began to be talked about, by those who know and attend to every business on earth better than their own, that Bob likely knew more than he cared to tell. And there were some eager, restless people who could not be satisfied until some one was sacrificed to unravel the mys- tery ; and they nodded to each other, and looked BOB IN PRISON. 443 wise and awe-struck, and whispered it to and fro, ' ' It's likely enough that feller that was last seen with him did the deed." Bob's friends hooted at the idea of his having anything to do with so dark a crime. But there were many who neither knew Bob nor cared for him ; and a couple of officials, stimulated by the offered reward, and desiring to perform some act that would show they were looking after the welfare of the people, determined to pry about, and, if possible, discover evidence that would point to him as the guilty party. By some means they gathered up a few incidents, which led them to procure a warrant for Bob's arrest. So one dark evening, as he was coming down the stairs from his room, these two officers met him at the lower door, and thrust a pistol in his face ; and irons were put on his hands, and a handkerchief was tied tightly over his mouth, and he was hurried to a horse close by and compelled to mount, and his feet were tied under the horse's body, and away they went with him to prison. As the horrible deed was committed in the county where Philip lived, he was taken to the town of his old friend, and lodged in jail. Philip lost no time in calling on him ; and was, after some ceremony, admitted within the dismal precincts of the old log man-trap. He went inside his cell, and shook THE Two CIRCUITS. hands with him as cordially as if nothing wrong had been done. "My old friend," said Philip, "I am glad to see you ; I have faith in you, Bob." ' "Thank you. Set down on this old straw bed ; you see, I have no chair or stool to offer you," said Bob, as coolly and composedly as if he were in the old room where the two had spent so many pleas- ant hours together. Philip was more agitated than the prisoner. He felt that he had been wronged, and he determined to do his utmost to right him. "Tell me, Bob, if I can be of any service to you ; you can command me to the utmost of my capacity. I have not the slightest doubt of your innocence." "Thank you, Mr. Force, I think it must all come right. I do not know what evidence they can possibly have to implicate me. The only circum- stance that I know of that could have any weight on any one's mind, is the fact that I was the last one seen with Mr. Sighgold before he was found dead. That, I suppose, is the cause of this impris- onment. " The sheriff of the county was a member of Philip's church, so, after his first interview, there was no difficulty in his visiting him as often as he desired. Bob was not in this durance vile more than forty- eight hours before Sue was by his side. Her father BOB IN PRISON. 445 and mother both objected to her going, and advised her to keep away from Bob until it was seen how the evidence turned out. "Sue, my daughter," said Mr. Blunt, "if the case should go against him, you will tarnish your reputation by taking so much interest in him, and you will bring more or less odium on the whole family." Sue straightened up to her full height, her eyes flashing with determination, and respectfully sur- veying her father, as if she had measured all the bearings of her hazardous enterprise, and deliber- ately replied : "Father, I appreciate your feelings in this mat- ter. You are at liberty to say that I went contrary to your wishes. Ordinarily, you know, I have too much love for you and mother to disregard your preferences, but I would reproach myself as long as I lived, and wouldn't be worthy of you, if I did not show to Bob my faith in his innocence. I am going, if they hang me with him." Philip found a place for Sue in a pleasant family, and arranged that one of the most respectable ladies of the place should be her escort in her visits to Bob. At first sight, Bob rather regretted that she had ventured to risk so much as to identify her fortunes with his at this particular time, and under the present circumstances. "Bob," said Sue, "I know you think I have 446 THE Two CIRCUITS. gone too far by coming over to see you. But I could not rest; I could not respect myself; I could not feel that my regard for you was worth a place in my soul if I had not come at such a time ; and I intend to stay and see it out. Are your friends to help you, and your best friend to stay away from you ? If I was away, you might doubt me ; but when you see my face and hear my voice, you can- not doubt me. I should be miserable, Bob, if I thought you doubted me. " "I don't doubt you, Sue," said Bob, "I never expect to doubt you ; but this, at best, is a dark, uncomfortable business, and it annoys me some to be the occasion of leading you into so much trouble." "Trouble is not the name for it; it would be trouble not to be here. I wish I could bear it all for you, Bob. You must let me be with you. I must see you every day. I have come to stay till the case is settled." While she was saying this, she looked the picture of love, firmness and devotion, and queenly inde- pendence. And although Bob felt to reproach himself that events had induced her to tax herself so much for him, yet he could not but be cheered and encouraged by her sacrifice in his behalf. TRIP To INDIANAPOLIS. 447 CHAPTER L. TRIP TO INDIANAPOLIS. Court was to set in twenty days. Philip busied himself to find out, upon what testimony it was expected to implicate .Bob. But the different links of facts, that were intended to criminate him were mysteriously concealed, until they should be called for on the trial. Some days after the arrest Philip called, as usual, at the postoffice for his mail. He found, among other letters, one beautifully addressed and post- marked " Indianapolis, Indiana." For some reason he put this Indianapolis letter carefully into his in- side pocket unopened, until he should read all the others. And, somehow, all the while he was read- ing and looking over the other papers and letters his thoughts would run after the one unopened, as if he were trying to guess its contents. When he first looked at the handwriting of the superscrip- tion, a blush spread over his face, and his blood ran faster. When he was ready to give it full attention, he opened it cautiously, and read as follows : THE Two CIRCUITS. INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Nov. 3, 18 . Rev. PHILIP FORCE, Rushingo, 111. My dear friend: At sight of my name, you will be sur- prised at my writing to you, as you have not written to me. But when you read all this letter, I know you well enough to feel that you will appreciate my motive. My aunt, with whom I am living, has long been accustomed to relieve some of the poor, wretched families in her neighbor- hood. Occasionally I have gone with her, and after I have become acquainted with them, have sometimes gone to some of them alone. One middle-aged man, I think will die. I go to see him every few days. His mental distress seemed to wear and waste him more than his disease. He would talk often as if he were oppressed with some dark secret. As his confidence in me in creased, he divulged many terrible things in his criminal life. Yesterday he was more communicative than ever, and desired that I should pay particular attention to what he had to say. I was shocked beyond measure by what he told me. He said he had killed Uncle Sighgold, and hid his money in a certain place, and if I would bring with me some man, who could look after the money, and for whose honesty and integrity I would vouch, he would give directions so that most of the money could be recovered, and that probably he might thus prevent an innocent person from suffering for his crime. He made me vow that I would not make the secret known, excepting alone to the party who was to look after the case. I told him, I would send for you. He assented at once, and said, you were the very man. By a letter from home, I had al- ready heard of the dreadful murder, and also the distressing news, that Robert Scales was arrested as the supposed murder- er. Come, if possible, and see the man. If you cannot come, tell me what to do. Don't delay, for the man is very sick, and cannot live long. Such are my reasons for writing. I know you are a strong TRIP To INDIANAPOLIS. 449 friend of Mr. Scates, and I learn he is in prison in your town, and that you will give this matter the attention it demands. Give him my regards, and tell him, I knotv he is innocent. Sue, heaven bless her, how she must be distressed. I could not help crying for her, when I heard what had happened. I know she will never forsake Mr Scates. The trouble will only make her more attached to him. I am ever your friend, KATE BROOKS. Philip read this letter over three or four times, and thought how the tangled threads of life often unravel. He then called to see Sue. She had just gone to pay her visit to the old log prison. To find her there accorded with his designs. As soon as the turnkey had let him through the great clumsy door, and brought him up to the dark cell where Bob was confined, one of the great muscular keepers, with jaws like a bull dog, stood by the door in attend- ance upon the ladies, who were conversing with the prisoner. With a clumsy swagger, he gave Philip a condescending grin of recognition. "Good mornin', Mr. Force," said he, "the ladies is huyr, walk this way." And he looked as if he felt that Philip was an humble petitioner on his authority. Philip humored his assumptions, and hoped he was well, and was obliged to him for his kindness, and by this time he came close to the parties he was searching for. 45O THE Two CIRCUITS. "Good morning, ladies; Bob, I am happy to see you." " Good morning, " said Bob, "your seeing any one in this dark hole, is rather a grim joke, but it rejoices me to hear your voice, and know you are here." "I suppose," said Sue, "you can hardly see me, Mr. Force." " I knew you were here, Sue," said Philip. When he found that the lubberly keeper was not in hearing distance, but was looking out of the grated window a little way off, and interesting him- self with a dog fight that was going on out in the street, Philip began to tell what he came for. "I have," said he, "some good news for you, Sue and Bob ; excuse me, there is such a oneness to you that I include you both. " When he had read over Kate's letter, Sue wiped her eyes, and exclaimed : "That Kate is the most blessed girl on earth. I was afraid, after she came among the upper ten thousand at Indianapolis, and is to have the largest share of her aunt's wealth, that she would forget her old friends. Well, thank the Lord, I have found one girl in the world that has too much sense to have her head turned by money and position ; I wish I had her in my arms now. Mr. Force, you will go over and see that man, wont you ? I know TRIP To INDIANAPOLIS. 451 it's asking too much of you. We owe you, already, a thousand times more than we can pay. But I know you will see us through this trial." "Sue seems, Mr. Force, to concern herself as much as if she were on trial herself," said Bob, playfully. "I intend to go immediately," said Philip, "but I wanted to let you both know that light was break- ing in." Philip looked around to see if the prison guard could hear him, but that individual was still looking out of the old window, with much interest, for the dog fight had ended in a row among some of the men. "I am ready to receive any sugges- tions you may have to make before I start. I am of the opinion that it would be best for all of us to keep quiet about the contents of this letter, until we find whether we can get the wretched man's statement into legal shape. If a word is said about it, the whole hope may turn to disappointment." Secrecy was pledged, and no intimations were to be given of the reasons for Philip's absence. He reached Indianapolis about sundown, after two days' hard travel, on horseback. He was re- ceived by Mrs. Thornton, with becoming con- descension and stateliness. When he made known to her his name and the object of his visit, she subsided, somewhat, into kindliness and cordiality. ' ' Miss Catharine knows more about this case, 45 2 THE Two CIRCUITS. Mr. Force, than I do. She will be in, in a few mo- ments. She seems to have taken quite an interest in the man and his terrible history." While the aunt was yet speaking, Kate came in ; and when she shook hands with Philip, there was a recurrence of the old time blushes. "I am so glad," said Kate, "to see you, Mr. Force. Do tell me how Sue and Robert stand it." Forty other questions were asked and answered. Kate was the picture of vivacity and loveliness. There was the same quiet power of conquest in her bright blue eyes that had well nigh enslaved Philip in former days. She was more elegantly dressed than she was accustomed to be in the Doubletown Inn. But the two were so fully interested in look- ing after the welfare of others now, that they were hindered from being entirely absorbed with each other. And it was evident, with all Kate's cor- diality and pleasure, that she was more reserved and dignified in her manner toward Philip, than she was a year before. Philip saw this, and felt it, and thought over it, till it disturbed him. Mrs. Thornton regretted very much that her man who managed the horses and carriage had gone that afternoon, not to return till morning, and she sug- gested that they had better defer their visit to the sick man's room till next day. But the two young people concluded, they would as soon walk, and a TRIP To INDIANAPOLIS. delay might be fatal. Mrs. Thornton had a lantern prepared for them, for at that time the streets of the capital of Indiana were without the benefit of gas. 4$4 THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER LI. THE DYING REPROBATE. The night was dark, and the clouds and mist reached to the ground. Even a lamp could scarcely be seen across the street, when Philip and Kate started. They slipped and groped first on brick pavements and then on planks that were nailed down, with every fifth one or so now loose, which generally tipped up at one end. Then they came to a few warped and scattered boards that were short, and of all widths, laying as if pitched out by the side of the fence to keep passers out of the soft earth. Further along there was a mixture of sand, gravel, water and mud, with neither bricks nor boards. Then they turned off on a back street and went a few blocks. Curs and rat-terriers were in full chorus, on the principle of boys whistling in the dark to keep their courage up. To them Philip's lantern, was like a red flag to a bull. The darkness and mist, and slippery walks, and occasional clumps of wet weeds and grass, and ditches and holes, and piles of brick, mortar and tangled lumber and rub- bish, and meeting rough men and women, and be- ing beset by persistent, unmannerly dogs, and bal- ancing the umbrella and lantern, and the two THE DYING REPROBATE. 455 trying to keep each other from falling, prevented this from being a very poetical or sentimental walk. There were so many stale and flat things to dampen and impress them from above and below, and from every side, that all internal fires burned dimly. ' ' Do you remember when we first walked to- gether, Miss Brooks?" Philip ventured to remark soon after they started. ' ' Oh, I do. I have thought of that walk many a time. Would you, Mr. Force, just as soon call me Kate, as of old ? Miss Brooks is too formal for the use of an old friend, from the old home." ' ' I will say Kate, certainly, if that pleases you. And will you please me by calling me Philip, plain Philip?" Kate listened with careful attention to every thing he had to say of Bob and Sue, and her former friends. When he came to repeat Sue's remark, about fearing lest Kate's' prosperity and new posi- tion, had led her to forget her old friends, new vigor came to her voice, as she said : "O, Mr. Force! there, excuse me, Philip, I will try and call you as you like how could any friend of mine think so ?" And when Philip told her how Sue cried, when he read Kate's letter to her, and how she wanted to take her in her arms, and said she was the best girl in the world ; and the words came from him with such fulness of feeling and enthusiasm, that the 456 THE Two CIRCUITS. old quivering came to her nerves, and her pulse fluttered, and the tears were in her eyes. They were now at the door of the old, one-story house. The lock was riot turned to admit them until the cautious inmates had inquired of their identity. As soon as Kate spoke out distinctly, the door flew open, and she and Philip were bolted within. The floor was bare. There were no decorations on the walls. A few old newspapers were fastened carefully over the windows. The bedding, though clean, was badly worn. What relation the woman was to the dying man, no one said. "I hope," said Kate, "you are comfortable this evening, Mr. Billings." "Thank you, Miss Brooks, I am as comfortable as a man in my condition can be, I suppose." And he gasped for breath every few words ; and would raise himself on his elbow, and as if that exhausted him he would lay back on his slender pillow. "This," said Kate, "is Rev. Mr. Force, whom I said I would bring to see you." " Take seats, Miss Kate; Mr. Force, you haven't come any too soon. And as I know what you've come for, and my time's short, I'll begin at once." And he beckoned the woman for a few drops of whiskey, to give him, as he said, strength. "I'll not worry you, Mr. Force, with my career. I was joyous and bright as any one once. But I'll THE DYING REPROBATE. 457 not go back. I wanted to tell you of my last bad act ; it might save some one. This angel here, Miss Kate, said it would. If it benefits any one, Miss Kate has the credit. They might all have gone to the devil, before I'd a' said a word about it, if it hadn't been for her. She's about all the heaven I'm afraid I'll ever see. (Philip looked at Kate.) But that's not to the pint. I'll take a few drops more, Sail," and the old woman handed him the bottle. ' ' Now, to begin : I am the man that es- caped the night you saved Sighgold's money. I dogged his steps to the land office. I saw he laid out only part of his money. I watched around secretly to lay hands on all of it, but he bought the land before I could do it. I was bound to get what was left. I couldn't safely lay hands on him while Bob Scates was with him. I found out a day or so beforehand where he and Bob were going to part. I got ahead of them, and hid in a thicket where I knew the old man must pass, after he had turned off the main road and Bob had gone on. As soon as the old man passed me, I slipped out of the thicket and rode up behind him, and knocked him in the head, and dragged him off into the dense underbrush. Please to hand me the whiskey." After a drink, he continued: ' ' I took the horse into the woods, and hitched him, and took the small change, and watch, and handkerchief from the old man's pockets. You will find, on the other side of the road, and about 458 THE Two CIRCUITS. four rods from it, and opposite to where the body lay, a pile of logs and brush. One of the logs laying on the ground is hollow, and in that hollow log, I hid the saddle-bags, and strewed some leaves loosely over the end of it, so it would look as if the leaves had been blown there. The gold, all but a few dollars, is there now. Hand me another spoon- ful or two, Sail ; that whiskey's lost some of its strength." After he had refreshed himself, he went on : "I stained the old man's handkerchief with blood. I kept hid till night; when I went to Doubletown, and took the watch and bloody hand- kerchief and placed them under the stair steps, that you know goes up to Bob Scates' room at the back of the house. I knew Bob was last seen with the old man, and if they found the watch and handker- chief there that he would be suspected ; and I ex- pect that's what got him into the trouble. And that is the reason I sent for you. I can't die and let him suffer for my deeds. Sail, hand me some more whiskey. There, I am done." Philip had prepared pen and paper, and the man talked so slow, and stopped so often to gain breath, strength and whiskey, that there was but little trouble in writing down his words. They were carefully read over to him, and he was induced to sign the paper, and remarked : THE DYING REPROBATE. 459 "Jo Stoker knows my signature ; ask him to look at it." As Kate and Philip threaded their way back to Mrs. Thornton's, they talked of nothing but Bob and Sue, and the terrible revelations of the dying reprobate. The next day he called upon a lawyer, to assure himself whether such testimony would avail in free- ing his friend Bob. It took more time to have the matter technically correct than he had counted on. Lawyers and law are known to be slow, intricate and tedious. He was advised, by all means, to take with him, a justice of the peace, or clerk of the county court, and read the statement over to the sick man, and have the document legally ac- knowledged before one of these officers, and certi- fied to as genuine, over their official name and seal. Philip, after much explaining and many delays, induced the county clerk to go with him and take such measures, as the lawyer suggested. But, un- luckily, after many searchings, they could not find the house. He looked at the name on his paper, and inquired at many doors, and of many people, and no one knew any such name. He must have recourse again to Kate. He came to Mrs. Thornton's house along in the afternoon, in an uncomfortable humor with himself, anxious for the needed directions. But neither Kate nor Mrs. Thornton was at home. The servants knew nothing 32 460 THE Two CIRCUITS. of their whereabouts, excepting that Kate was at school, about a mile away. As to Mrs. Thornton, no one had the least idea where she could be. The servant Philip talked with, gave it as her opinion, that she had gone to see some of the sick, or dead, or may be she had gone to a wedding, or a party, or a funeral, or the sewing society. At this interesting stage of the proceeding, the clerk, with a shade of disgust, pleaded a pressure of business, and departed for his office, and Philip was left at Mrs. Thornton's, unsettled and baffled, and felt, as boys are supposed to feel, when they are described, as having their fingers in their mouths. The servant knew that Philip was the friend of the family, and their guest the evening before, and she excused herself, and hoped he'd be seated, and that Mrs. Thornton would be back "soon, sure," and she went out. Philip thought of the wretch he had visited, and of Bob and Sue, and of a few sermons he had been trying to construct, and of all his past defeats and success, sorrow and gladness ; and thought, may be, this is philosophizing, and then he thought of Kate, and of her good fortune ; and he paced the room, and looked into the library, and opened two or three old books, and put them back again, and was dissatisfied, and felt foolish, and panted for THE DYING REPROBATE. 461 something, not yet reached, or that had got away from him. About sundown Mrs. Thornton and Kate arrived, Kate from school and Mrs. Thornton from Mr. Bil- lings', whom she reported dead. Philip had prom- ised to call again before he left the city. But he was not in the humor for popular conversation. His egotism was cut. Here was a serious hitch, and he feared his sagacity was at fault. But he faced the unpleasant situation like a man, and confessed how foolish he felt at being thus balked in looking for the house. Kate apologised for him, and blamed herself for not being more par- ticular, to give him the location ; and if he had found the house it would have done no good, as the poor man was dead ; and all this and much more she did so naturally and smoothly, and there was power in it all to bring Philip fully to himself again, and her eyes were a comfort to him. Bob's case was a serious one. It had weighed upon Philip, and he had taxed himself to his ut- most to help him. The next move was to bring the proper officer, and have Kate and the woman where the man died sworn as witnesses to Billings' statement and sig- nature. 462 THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER LII. THE TRIAL. Bob's trial came on before Philip returned. The evidence against him was damaging. Sue was nearly distracted over Philip's delay. Bets were freely offered, two to one, against the prisoner. He had been the last person seen about the murdered man. The dead man's watch and the bloody hand- kerchief were found under the steps that led to his room. Many witnesses from Doubletown and the coun- try beyond were there, it is true, to testify to the previous good character of Bob. Some of the old citizens admitted, on oath, that he had but a few years ago been a fast and frolicsome youth ; but no circumstance of his life could be fastened upon to show that he had ever, intentionally and delib- erately, done a dishonorable act. But the crowd in and around the court-house was against him. And the average American juryman is more influenced by the thousand tokens of opinion manifest among his neighbors who are sauntering about him during the trial than he is by the speeches of the lawyers or the charge of the judge. And a juryman who has sense enough to THE TRIAL. 463 weigh evidence and decide upon it, has enough sense to perceive the opinions of the multitude of faces around him. It is amusing to hear a judge give solemn charge to allow no one of the jury to converse with any one in regard to the case before them. There is a kind of expression, clear, dis- tinct and unmistakable, coming from the faces, the gestures, the nods and motions of the persons who fill a court-room, that just as certainly shows their opinions as if the judge would invite them each to make a speech. To prevent this, it would be necessary to blindfold every juryman during the progress of the trial. The lawyer who is successful in defending criminals understands this, and he often bends his efforts more to get up an enthusiasm in the crowd, in favor of his client, than he does in looking after evidence or making speeches. Sue's devotion to Bob, her beauty, her modest demeanor and womanly grace, and constrained quietness, had more power in favoring him than all other agencies combined. His mother was long since dead. Sisters, he had none. His two younger brothers were at home. His father was by his side, and in his honest face and manly bearing was clearly seen his faith in his son's innocence. The judge was one of those cool, phlegmatic men who seem to be the essence of impartiality and unconcern. He looked as placid, self-possessed and barren of emotion as a stall-fed ox. He was in the 464 THE Two CIRCUITS. habit of wearing out two pocket-knives in a year whittling pine-sticks, while sitting in judgment. The evidence was all in, and the counsel were preparing to make their appeals. The judge had been requested to stay proceeding until Philip's return. But, with drawling tones and in a dignified and solemn dullness, he declared : "It is idle to suppose that the results of Mr. Force's visionary visit can be of any legal weight against the strong array of circumstantial evidence already produced. " Bob winced as if a thunderbolt had come near him ; his eyes drooped for the first time during the trial, and a movement, as if he were half-choking, was seen about his throat, and his great breast heaved spasmodically ; his manly bearing gave way to a slight quiver of rage. Tears danced in Sue's eyes, and the fires grew hot, as if steam were gene- rating and an explosion threatened ; but still she maintained her lady-like demeanor, and her only effort was to draw nearer to Bob's side. Lawyers deliberated on their lines of procedure in the case with as much coolness and unconcern as if they were settling the value of a yearling colt. Inquisitors, superintendents of guillotines, and ecclesiastical persecutors, and these lawyers, seem to regard it as a proof of wisdom to be listless and unsolicitious about what is to others a matter of life or death. Why show the slightest disturbance THE TRIAL. 465 of spirit when you know your victim is completely within your power ? You can approach the crush- ing point by calm and easy stages. Neroes immo- late their subjects, butchers slay their beeves, hotel cooks wring heads from chickens, and boys torture flies much in the same spirit. Oh, yes, there are various degress of refinement in the art of torture. A few abstract questions had to be discussed and decided, and some incidentals and preparations and interruptions had to be looked after and adjusted, until the judge was wearied of them, or he had whittled up his pine-stick and was seriously contem- plating the question of how he should get another ; and he changed his legs, and put his knife in his pocket, and reached back his hair, and stuck his feet upon his desk, and threw both hands together back of his head ; when some one familiar with him came up to his judgment seat and whispered in his ear, and he stopped proceedings, and announced : "This court will now stand adjourned until nine o'clock, to-morrow morning. Sheriff, take the prisoner to jail." As the crowd began to disperse, he called out to the circle within the bar : " Come, boys, let's take a horn, and then have a game of pitching horse-shoes." Most of the lawyers gave a laughing assent, and went into a rollicking argument as to who ivas in for the drinks! 466 THE Two CIRCUITS. Philip returned from his Indianapolis trip late at night, and immediately called upon Bob's lawyer and stated the result of his efforts. Four or five reliable citizens came together, and proceeded at once to go in search of the money where Billings had concealed it. The saddle-bags were found just as he had described. And as they returned and were nearing Rushingo, the heavens were lit up before them with a glare of light. Not a soul was astir upon the quiet streets. A roof was discovered to be on fire ; and, to the horror of Philip and his friends, the flames were seen to proceed from the roof of the old log jail. They gave the alarm, and rushed to the spot, to hear the calls of Bob for help. A maniac was also confined within the walls ; and as the flames grew in volume and ferocity, the raving prisoner was shouting with gladness as though the day of his deliv- erance was at hand. He seemed to imagine that the final conflagration had come, and that he was about to ride to heaven in a chariot of fire. "I'll get to glory before the rest of. you fellers down there; ye see, ye crazy sinners, you, I'm higher up than the rest of ye. I've got this much the start. Then I don't reckon ye're goin' that way, no how. " 'I hope to shout glory when the world's on fire : Hallelujah.' ' After considerable delay and confusion, a ladder THE TRIAL. 467 was procured from a carpenter shop close by, and placed by the upper window. The prisoners' apart- ments were in the second story. The roof was by this time a sheet of flame. No one was found bold enough to ascend the ladder, for it looked as if the burning rafters would fall any moment. Scarcely a breath rustled the leaves or moved the sheets of fire. Slowly and surely the elements of destruction were calmly howling their triumph over the head of Bob. Sue rushed for the ladder, looking wildly and con- temptuously upon the panic-stricken few that were standing about, and rushing against one another and doing nothing. Philip had run back to the carpenter shop for an ax and crowbar, and reached the foot of the ladder just as Sue was determinedly trying to ascend it ; and two or three strong men were holding her, she denouncing them as cowards. Philip, with the ax and crowbar in hand and a wet handkerchief tied over his face, told her to remain with the people below, and he would go to the rescue of Bob. Philip's voice brought her to herself again, and her hopes were restored. With the aid of the ax and crowbar, he forced an entrance through the iron bars of the window, and groped his way to Bob's cell. By this time Jo Stoker was by his side, also the sheriff, with the keys of the doors. As the ceiling was of heavy logs, laid close to- gether, the flames were kept from communicating 468 THE Two CIRCUITS. with the inner part of the jail. The roof fell with a crash upon the upper ceiling, just as the last of the adventurers and the prisoners were descending the ladder. The maniac had to be taken by force from his room. He denounced his rescuers as so many demons, who were trying to prevent his ascension to heaven, exclaiming: ' ' I know ye, ye dogs of death ; ye want to drag me down to the bottomless pit. Ye've got yer horns hid in yer hats, and yer tails tucked into yer pockets, and ye've got on men's boots to hide yer cloven feet. But ye can't fool me. Ye can't trans- form yerselves into angels of light so I don't know ye. Avaunt ! Get ye behind me ! I'm going to Paradise on a streak of greased lightning, and can't stop for groveling mortals doomed to destruction. Hinder me not,' ye howling dragons! " Philip assured him that the best way to get into his upward-bound chariot was to come down and start from the earth. "If that's you, Mr. Force, I'll do it, for you know the route," and he went along as quietly as any of the others. As soon as Bob reached the foot of the ladder Sue was by his side, and wiped the dust and cinders from his face, and had him turn his eyes to the light, to assure herself that he was uninjured. The sheriff kindly invited her and Philip to go THE TRIAL. 469 with him and Bob to his house, to spend the rest of the night. A voice from the crowd was heard to exdaim : "Ye can't burn a feller that's doomed to be hung 1 " By this time the whole town was at the scene. The old jail was burned to ashes, and no lives lost. At nine o'clock, the next morning, the court- room was filled to its utmost capacity, and crowds were standing outside looking in, as they best could, at the doors and windows. The lawyers looked as serene and placid as cats do after a successful foray on mice. Some of them had a gross, woe-begone expression indicative of little sleep and a super- abundance of whiskey. Knots of heads chattered away like hungry crows over their prey, discussing, with a fullness of jeers and oaths and flings, the probable fate of the prisoner. " Oh, they'll hang him, sure," said one. " I'll bet my head on it," said another. "You'd better save your head," Said Jo Stoker; "he's as innocent as you or me." "What do you know about it? Maybe you helped him some ? " "I'd help him to get clear, for I know him. I was there and helped him to save that old feller's money for him once. Bob's as honest as anybody in this county, or any other. There's no positive testimony against him, and he'll come out clear, 470 THE Two CIRCUITS. you'll see that, or there's no justice on earth." And as Jo passed away from them, one of them cried after him : ' ' Go to thunder, stranger. What do you know about justice?" " He'll be hung ! " yelled another. " I'm going to be at the hanging," said a third. " He's too cute to let 'em know where the money is," said a fourth. "That'll come out of him when he finds his neck's going to be stretched," said a fifth, and he slapped his hands together as if he 'felt that his assertion was unanswerable. " If they don't hang him, what's the use of law, tell me that, will ye, in this great land of ours? hie." This from a man whose blood had run to his head from his stomach, to give place in the latter to whiskey. Such were but few of the jibes and jeers that came from the wags and wits and soaked sots that loafed about the court-room. They have about as much business there as flies have at your dining table, and are there for a similar purpose. Sneers and flings against the accused greeted the jury as they sat in their seats full ten minutes before the court was called to order. Eyes and gestures often tell more than the lips. Tongues sometimes utter what is not felt, and lips would hide often the impulses of the heart. The eyes, the features and THE TRIAL. 471 manners are often the mind's truest interpreters. It is difficult to school them so that they will conceal inner impulses and preferences. A glance, a look, and the swing of one's head will frequently reveal what words would conceal or contradict. Bob and Sue, and her lady friend, came in together, led by the sheriff. Bob felt that the popular tide was against him. Yet he looked more confident than- he did the day before. Sue was more calm, but her anxiety and fear would show on the well- collected lines of her face. The sheriff straightened himself up with all the stateliness of a blooded horse on dress parade, and cried his "Oh, yes! " and business began. The counsel for the defense arose in his place, and said : "If it please the Court, the Reverend Philip Force is present with important testimony in this case, and, if the Court please, I would like very much to have it go to the jury before there are any further proceedings." "Let the gentleman be sworn," said the court, looking up from the pine shingle which his honor was carving into the shape of a shad. Philip presented his document, and recounted all the pertinent circumstances attending his procuring it. He spoke so clear, so distinct, and seemed to have such implicit faith in Billings' dying statement, that there was a decided change manifest among 472 THE Two CIRCUITS. the bystanders in favor of Bob. And, as a result of this sensation among the bystanders, there was a marked stir among the jurors, as if they were undergoing a mental revolution. The prosecuting attorney flew to the protection of the State and the maintenance of law, and threw in every legal objection that could operate against the admission of such testimony. "May it please the Court," said he, " I do not question the reverend gentleman's intentions, but this kind of evidence is mere heresay. Mr. Force has been imposed on ; it's a made up affair, a regular cock and bull story. The Court will please forbid such evidence being considered by the jury." But it was no use, the jury had it, and the jury believed it, for the reason that the face of the mul- titude was decidedly for Philip and his story. And the court having whittled out and trans- formed a pine shingle into a pine fish, straightened his honor in the chair as if to inspire an unusual amount of awe, and having ordered the sheriff to secure perfect silence, he went on to deliver his opinion : "The Court has all along had grave doubts as to the propriety and legality of admitting such testi- mony. But, lest it might appear that some unfair advantage had been taken of the prisoner when his life was at stake, the Court has permitted the widest THE TRIAL. 473 latitude in the presentation of anything that could throw additional light upon this case. "There is one point alluded to in the testimony given by the reverend gentleman, as coming from him who is said to be the real murderer, which, if the facts are found to agree with the statement, the Court can see no reason why the prisoner should not be discharged from further custody as an inno- cent man. A deputation will immediately be sent by the Court to ascertain if the money can be found where it is said to be concealed ; and if it should be found as stated, and the facts agree in this important regard with the document presented by the reverend gentleman, then, and in that event, the prisoner may be discharged." The counsel for the defense arose, and said : ' ' May it please the Court, Mr. Force, the wit- ness last examined, returned late last night with this document, which he procured with great labor and perseverance as a friend of the defendant; and although he had traveled until quite late at night, yet he called upon me immediately after his arrival. And when he stated his case, we brought to our aid some of our best citizens of the place, who went with us at once, and we found the money in the very place and so situated as you have heard described in that paper, and here it is for the inspection of the Court." A burst of applause hereupon rang out from the 33 474 THE Two CIRCUITS. multitude, amid the yells of "Silence!" or the part of the sheriff. It was the work of a few minutes, only, to exam- ine the contents of the saddle-bags, and to hear what the citizens had to say who had gone to find them, and for the prosecuting attorney to withdraw the case, and the judge to discharge the prisoner and declare him innocent, which he said he took great pleasure in doing, and would adjourn the court till two o'clock in the afternoon. And he walked down from his bench and shook Bob and Sue by the hand, and tears of joy stood in his eyes. And all the lawyers and officers shook their hands, and the jury and most of the multitude did the same thing. They were all the friends of Bob now, and almost smothered him and Sue with their hearty congratulations. Bob held himself like a man, and Sue deported herself in the most approved womanly fashion. As soon as she was alone, however, she gave way to her tears, for her heart was running over with joy. Bob and Sue went home that afternoon. Philip was happy. STOLEN WATERS. 475 CHAPTER LIII. STOLEN WATERS. Bob had borne himself so well during his trouble,' and had come out so triumphant, that his friends were more in number and more pronounced than ever before. Old and wise heads, as they conferred together, agreed that the better elements of man- hood were in him. Young people sought his so- ciety. Blunt had come to admire him. Sue wor- shiped him, and her mother came very near to the daughter's point of admiration. The young couple had mutually agreed to persevere in school a while longer, and defer their marriage to a more conven- ient season. Philip went up twice during the year to visit his old friends at Doubletown. Celebs still lived and labored there. Philip always called to see Mrs. Brooks ; and she was always pleased to have him ; and took pains to show him Kate's letters, at least some of them ; and it flattered the mother to have him read them so carefully. While he was looking over them, she was looking over him, and studying his mental workings. And the results of her study usually afforded material for two or three letters to Kate. 476 THE Two CIRCUITS. She was a discerning woman, and could see more of a man's heart through his face in an hour, than a dozen philosophers could find out through the same channel in a month. Mrs. Brooks had also a letter from her sister, Mrs. Thornton, not so cautiously worded as Kate's, but this letter she did not show to Philip. Mrs. Thornton's letter ran about thus : INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., My Dear Sister: You know I am not gifted in writing letters. It is a task. But I know how much you want to hear from me, and especially about Catharine. (She always called her " Catharine." She was named for her, and she regarded ''Kate " as too simple and undignified.) She writes to you often, and she does it so much better than I do, that I am inclined to let her do all of it. But I have learned to do many things be- cause I ought, and not from the pleasure of doing them. It is a pleasure to know that I have written this letter, after I have done it; but to determine to do it, and the idea of going through the labor of it, is, somehow, irksome to me. But I must buckle to it. Catharine is my main subject, and I know I could write of nothing else in this world that would more interest you. She surpasses my expectations; and in her studies has gone beyond what her teachers anticipated of her. She grows handsomer and more attractive every day. She goes with me, when she has time from her studies, to visit the sick and distressed, and appears to take an intrest in relieving them. She seems not to care much for society outside of school and home. Sometimes she attends the social gatherings of the church; but I have im- agined that she went to them more to please me, than because she felt inclined to go. A young lawyer, whom I knew from a boy, who has health and good morals, wealth and honorable family, was greatly STOLEN WATERS. 477 taken with Catharine, and paid considerable attention to her. But when he grew fond of her, she began to avoid him, and so she now looks upon him as only a friend and acquaintance. I was in hopes she would fancy him. But I never interfere, in those matters, unless it would be to hinder some serious mis alliance. The young minister that was on your circuit last year was here some time ago, looking for evidence in poor Sighgold's case; and he stayed with us part of the time, while in the city. He is a very pleasant and intelligent gentleman ; and it is my impression that there is more between him and Catharine, than she cares to tell. It appeared to me, that she had to watch her- self, for fear her soul would slip away. There seemed to be signs of tenderness and confidence between them, which I never noticed between Catharine and any other man. But, sis- ter, I may be mistaken in all this about Mr. Force. It may be mere conjecture. I hope you will pay but little regard to it. Catherine is prudent, and one that you and I ought to be proud of, if pride is allowable. My poor husband's property that he left me has turned out more profitable than was expected. Catharine's share will make her rich. She is worthy of it all, and more too. I hope you are all well. My health is only tol- erable. My love to the family. Kiss the children for me. Good-bye. Affectionately, your sister, CATHARINE THORNTON. While Philip was at the Inn, Mrs. Brooks also showed him a few books that Kate had sent as presents to different members of the household. One of these books particularly attracted his atten- tion, and by the good lady's permission he took it with him that he might examine it, if he had leisure, while he was at Blunt's house, for there were his 47 8 THE Two CIRCUITS. headquarters. And when he came to look over its pages, the above letter was found tucked away among the leaves. The contents of that letter fol- lowed him. He had come into possession of it rather surreptitiously, but by no scheming of his ; yet he felt slightly guilty. The temptation was too much for him. He at first hesitated about reading it all ; but ended by reading it over four times. He was careful to return the book, with the letter laid precisely in the place where he found it. The let- ter worried him ; but it was a delicious style of worry. *'' Stolen waters are sweet." KATE'S POWER. 479 CHAPTER LIV. KATE'S POWER. The next year, Philip was reappointed to the same field of labor. His salary was nearly doubled. Some of his financial pillars, humorously informed him, that if he would marry during the year, a few hundred dollars more would be added. But he had, ever since Mary's death, carefully avoided giving the slightest indications that a thought of marriage was entertained by him. Mary could not easily be forgotten. He cherished her memory to the repeated shadowing of his own mind. His ideas of beauty and domestic bliss had existence in her. He hated inconstancy. Though eighteen months or more, in the grave, her image and love were fresh in his mind. He had an aver- sion, to people made of such precarious quicksilver, that no permanent foundation could be laid in their affections. One of his friends, a man of nearly his own age, and in many respects a refined and cultivated gen- tleman, had married in a few weeks after the death of his wife, whom he seemed to adore. Philip fairly recoiled from him ; and could hardly force himself to be civil to him afterwards. He lost his 480 THE Two CIRCUITS regard for his friendship. He thought, that a heart that could heal so readily, and transfer itself so eas- ily, from one to another, was hardly worth retaining on the list of his personal attachments. Many a time, in silence and in secret, he brooded over the hours of joy he had spent with Mary. His thoughts and dreams would retrace the days he sat by her side, and was elated and enchanted with her face and voice. But who can constantly live in the days of the past ? Who can live long on hopes that have failed ? How can a soul slake its thirst on springs that have dried up ? Whose heart can perpetually linger on scenes that can never return ? Time and nature, and the busy affairs of life will conspire to drive away the grief and anguish, that grew from the trouble of gone-by days. And it must be well, for it is so ordained. That heart is morbid that grieves perpetually for its dead. Philip had many congenial friends. His vocation called him often into a crowd of welcome faces. There is a mysterious power in the present to ob- literate the sorrows of the past. The very care and duties that now encumber us, and the joys that thrill us, will, inevitably, crowd the heart from old and fond affections. The mother will, rightly, cease to weep over the coffined child. The tears and sigh- ing of one that is widowed in youth, will be worn away by the delicious melody, and rough clamors KATE'S POWER. 481 of the practical world. Clouds must give place to brightness. The cups of woe are pushed aside in this great drama of life to give place to the chalice of pleasure. The dirge for the dead grows fainter, as the voices of the harsh and tender echo around us. When those we most live for, cease to live, we are still led on to live for others ; and when the moon shines on our graves, those who lived for us, will still love and enjoy others, just as near, it may be. Such being the ruling law, it is no disparagement to Philip, to chronicle the fact that he was not a marked exception, to this general mental working. In the summer of his second year at Rushingo, Philip was invited to attend a camp meeting on the Doubletown circuit. His old friends received him there with many manifestations of esteem and kindliness. He arrived on Saturday, and preached at three o'clock in the afternoon. Bob and Sue were among the first to greet him. By them he was numbered among the chief of their friends. Blunt would hear to no other arrangement, than that his tent should be Philip's headquarters. As to that, there was but little chance for him to have any headquarters, so promiscously was he compelled to diffuse himself among his acquaintances. Professor DeKalb was early and cordial, in his way, in paying him his respects, and when oppor- tunity offered he invited Philip to take a walk ii 482 THE Two CIRCUITS. the woods, for a little friendly conversation. Philip with reluctance assented, and when they were so far away in the groves, as to be out of all hearing, the professor inquired : "Do you remember, Mr. Force, a talk we once had over Miss Kate Brooks?" "O, yes, Professor, I remember it very well. I promised not to seek her society, and I kept the promise. I hope I was not the cause of deranging any of your plans?" said Philip, desiring to hear what he could about Kate. The professor made some feeble explosions about his throat, vigorously beat his pantaloons with his rattan, and pushed his spectacles nearer his eyes, and looked away into space, as if he expected a message from the clouds, and spoke in a muffled voice : "You acted honorably, Mr. Force, but it never did me any good, as far as I could see, sir. I would have given the world for her; she's the grandest specimen of natural perfection, I ever saw, sir. But she avoided me, I wrote to her repeatedly, after she went to Indianapolis, and she wrote me one little, constrained, friendly letter ; it was a very guarded letter, sir, and after that I never received a line from her. Although I cannot lose my esteem for her, yet I have given up all hope. I see it, sir, she'll never be to me any more than she is now, sir. Of course, she is further removed from all of KATE'S POWER. 483 us, since she has come into wealth and high life. I learn from her mother, that she is receiving atten- tion from some of the wealthiest young men in Indianapolis. And it wouldn't surprise me, if one so fair and lovely, every way, God bless her, sir, should be married before long." Philip listened very carefully, and tried to show no more than an ordinary friendly interest in her. He was in hopes that the professor would volunteer to say that he released him from his old promise, not to seek Kate's society. For, although a couple of years had passed, Philip still felt a sacred regard for his word. He had never written to her, and, since her sickness, had never called upon her, ex- cepting when they met together to receive the dying man's confession ; so carefully had he kept his word with DeKalb ; and now he thought, the disappointed Dutchman might, of his own volition, release him. But the little man was so absorbed with himself, that he never thought of it. They still continued their walk in the woods, and Philip was inclined to dwell upon the present line of remark, and yet he did not care to have the fact appear, that he had any personal anxiety in the case. So he casually inquired : " Miss Kate, I suppose, visits her old home oc- casionally? " "Oh yes, sir," said the professor, with a groan, and looking toward the tree tops, ' ' she has been here 484 THE Two CIRCUITS. each year, at the close of her school, and stayed a few weeks; and I tell you, Mr. Force, she's grander and more complete than ever, sir. I must go where I'll never see her, sir." And the prancing little professor gesticulated vehemently, and went on : ' ' My Lord, sir, it excites me very much, every time I talk about her ; I think I've been always a great fool over her ; especially as she only has a common, feeble friendship for me, mixed with a lit- tle silent contempt. I hear that she is to be here to-day, sir." At this intelligence, Philip was startled, and then he checked himself, and was annoyed, that he should be startled ; that such a thing should make him feel ill at ease ; or rather he was annoyed, lest the weak professor should see his excitement. But he had no need to give himself the least concern in that quarter, for the small bundle of frustration by his side was so absorbed with his own luckless aims, that no ordinary agitation in another attracted his notice. Philip, for some unaccountable cause, could hardly entertain toward him the respect, that his misery demanded ; he could only pity his hopeless attachment. His own interest in Kate, led him to manifest more regard for what DeKalb had to say, than the crotchety professor could have awakened in him under other circumstances; and he hoped, too, that he would come to the point on the old KATE'S POWER. 485 promise. So, to stir him along, in that channel, he ventured to say: ' ' Perhaps, Professor, you had better rally, and make another bold, persistent effort to win her ; you know it is said, ' The faint never won the fair. ' ' Philip felt a slight twinge of conscience over these words, for they sprung from a latent feeling of mischief, which in an instant, he regarded as unkind, and tending to chafe the disquieted and flighty Dutchman. "Not a particle of use, sir," said DeKalb, "I have been fool enough that way already. I never find congeniality where I seek it, sir. Whenever I court a smile it runs after some other one. I have tried a thousand times never to think of her, but in vain, sir. If she would spurn and scorn me, I might hate her ; I would enjoy it more ; yes, sir, I would enjoy it more than her pity; to be pitied grinds and galls me. Her destiny is bright, mine dark. I feel like going out among the wolves, and while they howl at the moon, I'll sigh to the stars and curse my fate. Kind to me, did you say ? Oh, yes, of course she is, sir ; but what does that sig- nify, she is kind to her father's dog, sir. I shall go from this ground this evening. I don't want to see her. Why should I seek to be deluded any longer ? Once, Mr. Force, you could have been her idol. But I know your fortunes were linked elsewhere. We all respect your blighted hopes. No one re- 486 THE Two CIRCUITS. spects mine. The ground has hid yours away ; I wish the ground had hid me away." And he fumed and vapored over his helplessness. "You should," said Philip, "try to turn your attentions elsewhere ; if you cannot succeed with Miss Brooks, seek for another prize. Why annoy and fret yourself over what you regard as unat- tainable ?" " Well said, sir, well said, but not so easily done, but done .it shall be. I am helpless, f have ag- gravated her. I'll not do it again. I'll sink out of sight, sir. Excuse me, Mr. Force, for this weakness. I annoy you. I am disgusted. My brain is on fire. My passion has consumed all that is worth living for. Let us talk of' something else, sir. How do you prosper in your new field of labor?" "Very much better than I had expected, I thank you," said Philip, in a tone of absent-mindedness and disappointment. "I see you are tired with this walk, " said the little man, in schoolmaster style. "Perhaps," said Philip, "it would be well to return." So they wheeled about, and Philip would have been resigned, if his companion in travel had now been a hundred miles away ; for, without intending it, he was a constitutional bore. He could say many good, true and sensible KATE'S POWER. 487 things, and you felt that he meant well, but he was inevitably wearisome, worrying and flat ; it was in- grained in his manner, his smirks, tones, winks, die-away stares and platitudes. And as Philip despaired of a release from the old promise at this time, he greatly increased his speed, as he walked back toward the encampment, so that DeKalb, who was seven inches the shortest, was puffing and blowing with the excessive exercise. The next day, it being Sunday, Philip was called upon to preach at eleven o'clock. Just as he had repeated his text, and was about to commence his discourse, he saw Kate sitting in the large audience, about fifty feet in front of him. Philip did the best he could, with that secret power, that flashed up in him at the sight of her that mysterious power, so little subject to control, that wonderful power, that has shaken the sense out of millions of the strongest minds. A momentary look satisfied him, that her heart was free and ready to be poured into his. So he took courage and preached to the astonishment of himself and all his friends. 488 THE Two CIRCUITS. CHAPTER LV. ALAS, FOR DE KALB. Blunt, with Bob and Sue, claimed Philip as almost one of their own household, and carried him off to dinner from a throng of others who were inviting him. Kate was in Blunt's tent, and as she saw Philip coming near the door, she felt that her heart was going, and the effort to hold it safe gave her a sen- sation of awkwardness. But it was only momen- tary, and flashed away as soon as she recognized a greater amount of similar sensations in his counte- nance. A curious thrill went through his brain and breast during her gentle and hearty hand-shaking. His calmness became confused under the light and beauty of her eye. Her presence overpowered him who had just overpowered nearly three thou- sand people. The intelligent brightness of her face made other things look dull to him. He almost felt that it would be no idolatry to kneel right down before her. But he remembered his position, and the cause he represented, so that no one seemed to notice that there was going on within him any unusual compression or restraint. And yet, as he sat by ALAS, FOR DEKALB. 489 her side for a few moments, there were burning flashes playing along the nerves of both of them. She did not laugh quite as readily and often as she did a few years before, but what her laugh had lost in frequency, it made up in meaning and sweetness. She had the same natural winning wiles, which, without intention or effort, drew hearts in fondness around her. Her physical person was now perfectly developed, so that in a crowd she was an object of admiration. Her dress was appro- priate and in harmony with her features and form. Her kindliness and vivacity were moderated and chastened by a quiet dignity and reserve that was not as perceptible two years before. While Philip regarded it a luxury to be by her side, and hear her voice, and read from her eyes more than she ever told to him, yet he felt that they were like birds in a cage, both refusing to sing their choicest notes until away from sight and hearing of the multitude. The fact that he had any special concern for her, he would not have the crowd to sup- pose. He was here to do good to the largest number, and he had learned to sacrifice many of his strongest preferences when they came in the way of his working for the welfare of that number. He had accustomed himself to suppress desires and habits that hindered his access to the hearts of the people ; he would conquer himself that he might win them to what he regarded the most important 34 490 THE Two CIRCUITS. interests. And, then, he had seen some wise and good young men so overwhelmed by their spoony fluttering and fondness that they got into the region of enraptured idiots, and people looked upon them as a show or display of human fireworks. As preaching was about to begin, on Monday, at eleven o'clock, the news came that Professor De- Kalb was found dead in his bed. The report ran like a quiet. fire among the worshipers. Many of them knew him as a fair teacher in the Doubletown Seminary; as a man of eccentric habits, and that he should die differently from most men did not sur- prise those who knew him best. The coroner was called away from the encamp- ment to set in judgment on the case. After the due formalities of a medical examination, and hunt- ing for the cause and finding none for so sudden a giving up of life, it was concluded that he died of "heart disease," and a verdict was rendered accord- ingly. As the death occurred at the Inn, all the Brooks family, and Kate with them, left the camp-ground to pay attention to the remains of their old boarder, and see that he was properly laid away in the grave. As soon as Kate came to the house, a drop letter was placed in her hands, addressed on the outside in a style of writing that was evidently feigned. As soon as she looked at it she suspected there ALAS, FOR DEKALB. 491 was some mystery in it, and she skillfully concealed it from observation until she could examine it alone. No one noticed anything peculiar about her disposal of the letter, for she frequently received letters from many quarters now. When she found a few moments that she could be free from intrusion, in one of the side rooms, she broke the curious seal ; and as she read, she was shocked almost beyond her self-control. Tears came to her eyes, and she knew not whether she ought to reproach herself. She sent up a prayer to heaven for forgiveness if she were guilty, and hid the letter away again. She managed to have a note conveyed to Philip, requesting him to call and see her a few moments that afternoon, if convenient. And if there was an invitation from any quarter of the earth that Philip would readily respond to, it was just such an on