The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, August 01, 1900, Image 6
The king
1 ^choni
AM I TCI
A NUVfcL Uf AJYlCKlv^m*
E.v MAURICE
CoMTTisM, 18?2 and 1833
CHAPTER III.
CONTINUED.
It was soon disclosed, as be proceeded
with his statement, that what
he meant by clever work was a most
atrocious method of procedure, invoiviug
the last degree of cruelty
short of murder, provided that such
jruelty should b^jome necessary in
order to insure success in the enterprise.
The cavaliers put on black cloth
masks as soon as they reached the
bluff overlooking the bay. It was
not usual for them to wear a disguise;
bat this was an extraordinary exploit;
it called for every precaution. Indeed,
a piece of treachery scarcely
ever before heard of, even among robbers,
was in this act now to be done
by the King of Honey Island. No
one of the riders knew of this peculiar
phase of the matter, however, Bave
the king himself.
There was no hesitation, therefore,
and not a twinge of what a desperado
might call conscience. The plan was
carried out with promptness, precision
and success.
Before Vasseur was fairly awake,
he was bound hand and foot, and lay
on the floor absolutely helpless, gazing
wildly at his assailants.
Fairfax, too, wus surprised in his
bed. He made vigorous resistance;
but it was of no use. Four men, each
as strong or stronger than ne, cast
themselves upon hira and quickly
overpowered him, binding his arms
and legs with brutal disregard for
the torture iuflicted, aud thrusting a
gag between his teeth.
"I know you! I know you!"
screamed Vasseur, before his mouth
was stopped. "I know you, Pierre
Iiameaii. You might just as well
take oil' that mask; it does not disguise
you in the least. Ab, you
treacherous, soulless, perjured villain!"
The gag went in before he could
say more; but he lay on his back and
cursed with his eyes.
Three of the cavaliers were now
sent out to keep watch. Some of the
servants had been aroused, but they
were easily quieted; a word and the
eight of a guu or a saber in the band
of a tall masked man sent thein shivering
aud speechless into their cabins.
The work which the riders had
come to do was accomplished in a
very short space of time. Yasseur's
money and his treasure of precious
stones were soon found and taken;
but when the chief had examined the
latter he turned to Vasseur and said:
"The cross is not here. Where is
it?"
The man, being gagged, of course
there was no answer; but the curses
were still flashing out of his eyes,
whilo his small, compact frame shook
with a passion that no cords could
bind.
After gazing through hi3 mask for
a moment at the grimacing countenance
of his victim, the chief of the
riders stooped and began to search
tho fellow's clothes. Vasseur strained
desperately trying to break the cords
that bound him, his fury fairly blazing
from his dark face. Very deliberately
the robber continued his
quest till with a little start of satisfaction
he laid hands on the worn
leather case containing the amethyst
cross.
At this moment Va33cur spit out
the gas with a great breath which aeut
it across the room.
"Pierre Raineau, you dastard 1" ho
screamed in French. "You faithless
and honorless hound! I'll kill you
for this?I'll track yon?dog you?
follow you forever, or kill you!"
The robber deliberately set hiB foot
npon the helpless man's mouth and
thus stopped his speech.
"Fetch here that gag," he oaid to
one of his followers; but when he removed
his foot and before the gag
could be used, Vasseur managed to
eh rick '.
"I will inform on you?I will lead
government troops ugainst you?I'll
have vengeance?I'll "
"Go out and mount; I'll come immediately,"
said the chief to his mtn.
"Be ready to rido instantly."
He drew a pistol and leveled it at
Vasseur, but checked himself almost
Ill LLl C il^L Ul JIL IUJJ.
The four cavaliers were mounted,
one of theiu holuiug the chief's horse;
, they waited impatiently in the rather
chili morning breeze, and saw that a
fnini touch of dnwu was whitening the
eliy-linc of the day.
V/hcn at last the chief came forth,
ho walked rapidly, and, mounting as
if in H mighty hurry, spoke the one
word: "'Come!'' as J galloped away.
None Oi the cavaliers iooked behind;
lint if one had, he might have
cen a flicker of tire through the small
window-holes of Vasseur's house, and
a little later, the place was all aflame.
Doubtless, the chief, who was aware
that both Vasseur and Fairfax had,
by the accidental slipping aside of his
mask, Heen his face, was desirous of
thus putting an end to them and to
the possibility of any trouble from
them thereafter. Certainly, there
was no other reasonable explanation
of liirf sudden e.hango from the express
purpose to leave Yasseur un4
4- ~ I 1 ~ ..A- -i. *?- - i
uuuuni. n.t an cvcuis, no ucu- cu vuai,
desperate mail's life was move representative
of his absolute heartlessness
or of hi3 promptness in doing
whatever ssemed to him safest,
without regard in the least to anything
save his own personal success.
He roue away from tbo burning house,
leaving his two human victims to
roast tuore, and the act did not evea
change a liuc) in tbe expression of his
dark, calm face.
One thing was photographed in the
memory of Fairfax: The singular
cold gleam of tbe robber's eyes, as
they appeared to narrow and lengthen
with a cat-like stare. He might forget
the other feature* of that face,
even the slender whitish scar slanting
across the left cheek; but the
. T?..T-r? T ? >>>*-T T-.. V- -? ,
j O Fj-.
5Y ISLAND
E DURING THE WAR OF 1812.
Wf
I nuiwir
by Robert Bonner'* Son*.
shape and expression of the eyes
could not be lost. He lay there
thinking:
"If I ever see you again, I'll know
you."
But the gag held back every effort
to Bpeak.
CHAPTER IV.
ECHOES FROM LAWLESS PATS.
For a while it looked as if Yasseur
and Fairfax would be roasted alive in
the burning house, as the leader of
the cavaliers had intended when he
applied the fire; but the servants
'' * * ii - -A e
rained irom meir stupor ui ingun m
time to come to the rescue.
The two men, still bound and
gagged, were dragged forth without
any ceremony and left lying at some
distance from the building, while the
excited servants made heroic efforts
to save first the house itself then the
furniture. Their work was quite in
vain, however, for the dry, resinous
pine logs and boards yielded to the
fiames as if with delight, flinging out
such heat that nothing less invulnerable
than a salamander could have
gone within the doors.
Fairfax lay on his back under a figtree
and watched helplessly and with
what resignation he could command
the rapid and weird changes of the
scene. The negroes had deemed it
best to leave the men tied, seeing at a
glance that to unbind thein would require
great effort and much loss of
valuable time, which had better be
spent in efforts to save property.
Meanwhile, the five cavaliers were
speeding on their way to Honey Island.
Their ride back along the Blackwolf
Trail was far brisker than was
their pace when we saw them going
down to the bay; indeed, by the time
that full daylight was abroad in the
woodsi, they were far up by the banks
of Pearl River, galloping along single
file, with a cane-brake on one hand
and a wild jnngleof live-oaks and tangled
vines on the other. The chief
had led them bv a new route from
Vasseur's to the trail, a crossway that
ran past the bumble borne of Lapin,
tbe overseer of Mr. Vernon's plantation.
Day was beginning to sboot up
its first faint sbimmer as they rode
near tbe little place, startling a pack
of dogs from their slumbers under a
low shed and drawing from them a
broadside of discordant baying. Some
domestic fowls, roosting on a rude
grape trellis, cackled luetily.
Two savage-looking bloodhounds
cleared the low yard fence at a bound
ami came tearing along after the horsemen,
as if to drag them from their
sadcjles.
"Don't shoot!" commanded the
chief, as one of the cavaliers lifted his
gun. "They'll quit when they discover
our scent. Hold your fire."
Sure enough it was so; the dogs
turned about almost instantly, when
they discovered that it was men in the
saddles, and trotted leisurely back the
way they had come.
While this was going on, a singular
incident added significance to what
j would have otherwise been scarcely
worth our noting.
At the sound of the chief's voice,
; some one in the house leaped out of
I bed and ran to the little souare win
I dow-holo that overlooked the path
aloug which the cavaliers were cantering.
A moment lat'er, just as the chief
was on the point of disappearing
among the trees, a head covered with
long, scattering, disheveled locks of
white hair was thrust out, the face
showing haggard and shrunken with
intense excitement, and tho sunken
blue eyas followed in strange wise the
horseman's movements.
The chief glanced back just at that
point, but he did not see the face in
the window-hole; if he had seen it and
recognized it, the effect upon him
would have been greater than a row of
leveled guns could have produced.
Little note made the grim riders of
this incident; they did not note it at
all, in fact, but galloped on in reckless
mood, knowing that there was no
force to pursue them, and that every
bound their horses made bore them
that much nearer to the land of their
comrades, the almost impenetrable
wilderness of Honey Island, where
their chief was king, and where the
division of spoils was the only evidence
of law. ?
( : One.came upon their track, however?a
tall old ?*an on foot and unarmed.
He strode out from Lapin's
cabin and followed the trail, stepping
slowly and firmly, yet showing as if
from within the window of his countenance
a consuming eagerness and a
great hope.
It was thus that Alexander Max
Burns once more got a glimpse of the
man who had stolen his child. That
man's voice had startled him from his
morning's sleep under Lapin's roof,
and the hurried look through the window
had photographed on his brain a
picture of terrible significance to him.
For the merest point of time his eyes
iiaa rested upon lurk MacUollougn.
He muttered that name as he trudged
deeper and deeper into the gloomy
forest following the trail of the cavaliers
.
What it it that makes oar consciousness
of an enerry's personal beauty
something appealing aud, in a way,
distressing? An old duelist has been
heard to say that ha would rather
stand before au ordinary-looking dead
shot than before a handsome bungler.
The glamour of a fine,-magnetic presence
is strangely confusing; aud the
rft'ocu seems more powerful when the
| face is an evil one, especially when
j tli'j evil is not on the outside and
shows only elusively and by subtle indirection
from within. Max Burns felt
the'fascination that flashed from the
robber-chief's face, aud for a time it i
almost unnerved him; the beauty it :
wore, like some shiuing mask, did not
suggest at all times the dark spirit of
the desperate aud lawlj^||an. Long, 1
curling yellow hair^^^^B|ine full <
beard of the sanm^^^^^vtraiirht i
nose; a good forehead; long, narrow, j
clear-gray eyes and a mouth indescrib* '
ably haughty and stern in its expression,
were supplemented by a frame
of unusual stature and symmetry.
This was Pierre Rameau, formerly
Kirk MacCollough, now tho King of
Honey Island, as old Max Burns saw
him in the gray morning light, an apparition
of unspeakable meaning to
him, gleam like a pnantom of evil for
a second and then fade, as it were,
into the gloom of the moss-hung
woods.
Certainly it was not the Kirk Macfj-.
1 Innerh of twfilve vears aero?not the
slender, fair-faced youth who had
stolen the girl?though the reckle63
half-smile still lingered and the old
stamp of utter unrestraint was as plain
as ever. No, not the boyish Kirk
MacCollough, but the man, full-grown
to his prime, masterful, commanding,
a leader of men, and yet there was no
mistaking his identity.
Max Burns was old, and for fifty
years had been a preacher whose sermons
had overflowed with sentimental
tenderness; bnt he had a side to his
natare which was as hard as Scotch
granite. It was with this hard side
out that he was pursuing Kirk MacCollough;
and yet, even through this,
the spell of the man's strong and beautiful
face found its way to his heart.
The effect of it was but. temporary,
eo far as checking his determination
was concerned; but it never quite left
him during the rest of the day as he
slowly but steadily followed the trail
into the main road and toward the upper
Pearl River region.
Literally, the preacher had no scrip
for his journey, no staff, no means of
i- - J i-j xi- _ -i J
living; iiu uepeuucu, us me uiu-nuio
minister of the backwoods was wont
to do, upon the hand of Providence.
Here and there a trapper's or a hunter's
hut, here and yonder a settler's
cabin offered him rest, food, shelter.
He did not tell his story; but he
prayed at the fireside of all, And he
managed to leave behind him, where
ever he went,a memorable something?
sweet, strange and altogether welcome
to the simple pioneer hearts.
Sometimes he fell^fltmong desperate
men, robbers themselves, or aiders
nnd abettors of them, and even with
these he was at home; for he bore
with him the charm of childlike faith,
combined with the touohing appeal of
unprotected old age. " ' '
What helped him moBt of all, 'perhaps,
was his singing; for age had
scarcely touched the deep, rioh musip
of his voice, and his memory was
stored with hymn tunes and tunes
that enthralled the hearts of his entertainers.
The strolling preachers of all denominations
traversed our frontier regions
in those days, and Max Burns
was accepted as a member of the class
without a question, without suspicion,
and made freely welcome by every'
household as a privileged if not in
every instance a venerated person.
Curious enough does it appear when
recorded, but it is, nevertheless, a
historical fact, that the preacher found
a home for some time with one Dick
Becket. well known as a fighting fiddler,
who was a red-headed man, very
bow-legged, much freckled and badly
scarred by an old knife-cut across the
nose, and whose cabin was about
three miles east of Pearl River, opposite
the southern end of Honey Island.
This Dick Becket was a trapper
and, to some extent a trader with the
Indians. . His cabin waB often tho
stopping-place of the freebooters,with
whom he kept on good terms without
having anything to do with their enterprises.
He charged liberal prices
for their board and lodging, and so
his place became known far and near
as Dick's. He lived to a great age,
dying in 1867 on the banks of Pearl
River, not far from where his first
cabin stood. It was from him, at first
hands, that mauy of the Honey Island
legends came into circulation in their
present form. He fiddled as long as
he lived, and was a noted story-teller.
He took Burns in and became greatly
attached to him, ever afterward calling
him Daddy or Parson Burns.
Thus established within a compara
tively short distance from Pierre Rameau's
base of operations, the old
man felt that at last he was on the
point of reaching the end of hiB long
wanderings. There conld be no doubl
now that Pierre Rameau and MacCollough
were one and the Bame man, noi
did it look possible for the outlaw tc
prevent his approach, provided tha'
he could avoid recognition.
(to be continued.)
May Lower Lake Level*.
With the waters of Lake Michigar
actually flowing by the prehistoric
route dowc the Chicago River and in
to tlxe Mississippi Valley the engineers
of the country will await with
interest the results of th9 Chicago
draiuago cunal experiment. It ha;
been prophesied that this reversal oj
the modesty of nature may have wider
consequences than are expected. Some
authorities have declared thatit would
result in reducing appreciably th?
level of the lakes and in making diS
cult of access tha 1 arbors of several
lake cities.
There is non9 too much water about
their wharfs now, and a drop of a foot
or so would involve a most extensive
programme of dredging. From the
smaller ports of the great inland sea
protests and warnings have been
heard at intervals against the colossal
sewerage enterprises by which the
Great Lakes discharge themselves,
not only down the St. Lawrence into
the Atlantic, but down the Mississippi
into the Gulf.
A .Scotch Pcsfman.
David Ramsay, r. postman con*
nected with the Kirriemuir (Thrums),
Scotland, postcf3ce, has been on duty |
thirty-seven years, during twenty- i
five of which he covered a distnnc3 I
daily of twenty-four miles, and twelve j
miles a day for the other twelve years,
which makes a grand total of over
232,000 miles, During tha thirtyseven
years he never was known to be
off a single day with sickness, cud
never received holidays. He is now
bordering on fourscore years, and resigned
his appointment the other day
on account of failiug health. His
youngest daughter has been appointed
iu his place.
The despised codfish-ball is quite
transformed if it is mouldod in cro- !
^uette shape and offered with tartar
sauce. -
{ST
I THE REALM
New York City.?Gray and white
fouled is attractively- combined with
white Liberty satin and a girdle of
violet panne, in the accompanying cut,
reproduced from Modes.
The waist is mounted on a glove
Gabden pabty costume.
fitted lining which eldfces in the cen ter
front the seams and darts being
featherboned.
The front yoke Is Included on the
right shoulder seam and fastens invisibly
on the left side. The deep gir'dle
closes at the left side and comj
bines the full front which is arranged
in a moderate blouse.
The correct two-piece sleeves have
Just enough fulness at the 6houlders
to give a stylishly'rounded effect, and
are shaped in a bell flare over the
hand.
1 The smart Empire $jicket is arranged
in single box pleats'flack and front,
and applied to outline the lower edge
of the yoke. It reaches just below
thp eirdle. and elves a stylish fulness
ove* the bust. The pleats are pressed
flatly and stitched about one-third of
the distance from the yoke.
The skirt is made with a narrow
girl's dress with scalloped yoke.
front goro and wide circular sides. It
closes in the center, back, having a
single box pleat on either side. The
lower edge is trimmed with three narrow
ruffles which give a stylish flare
at the floor.
To make the waist In the medium
size will require tliree and one-half
yards of twenty-two-inch material for
jacket, three-quarters yard of velvet
ror girdle, and one-half yard of twenty-two-inch
material for yoke and collar.
To make the skirt in the medium
size will require five yards of fiftyinch
material.
Two Attractive Toilets.
Light green figured percale was
chosen for the attractive frock, with
trimmings of plain green pique, which
is shown to the left of the large illustration,
from Modes.
The waist is mounted on a fitted lining
which closes in the center back.
The full front and backs are applied
on the lining body, at a yoke depth.
rue i unless wiug gauiereu at uiv
lower edge and drawn down close in
the back, forming a slight blouse in
front over the narrow pique belt. The
neck is completed by a comparatively
high straight collar.
Over the shoulders is a pretty drop
yoke of pique, which is adjusted with
shoulder seams and closes in the center
back. The lower edge is shaped
in scalloped outline, extending over
the sleeves to form a cap.
The little four-piece skirt is shaped
with narrow front gore and wide sides,
which extend almost to the center
back, where they meet the double box
pleat.
A hand of pique is applied around
the skirt in scalloped outline to match
the yoke. It is finished with a narrow
cotton bra
To make the dress for a girl eight
years will require three and one-quarter
vards of thirtv-slv-iiwli mntorifil.
The attractive toilette, on the right
of the large drawing, is fashioned
in pale blue and white crepe meteor
el:'Vorate!j* trimmed with white crepe
de chin'1.
The bodice is mounted on a glovefitted
lining, which closes In the center
back. It is faced to a round yoke
depth with white thread lace and the
crepe applied at the lower edge of the
yoke. A soft Marie Antoinette fichu
of crepe de cbtot is draped to outline
the yoke and fastens in front under
a rosette. It is edged with a rutHe
of the same fabric which extends out
over the close fitting two-piece elbow
sleeve.
The skirt is shaped with lour pieces.
-yv'" .
of fashion. 1
a froJit gore which is comparatively
narrow, and wjde si<lo gores which
lit smooth over the hips, almost to
the center back, where they meet the
wateau.
To make the waist for a miss fourteen
years will require one yard of
figured material thirty-six inches wide,
with five-eighths yards, embroidery
twenty inches wide< for yoke
and collar, and one anu uiie-quanui
yards of white null thirty-six niches
wide for fichu, bertha, ruffles for
sleeves, rosettes and girdle. To make
the skirt for a miss of fourteen years ;
will require two and one-quarter yards j
of forty-four-inch material. * *
j; >
A Rich Arrangement.
Fairly suggestive of an immense orchid
was a faintly rosy organdie,
which boasted softly done blossoms in
deeper rose and mauve shadings.
TifljlM in clusters of se^en broke the
monotony of the pattern. On the botlice
there were full-length, ereaipy renaissance
lace appliques between the
clusters of tucks, to the depth of a
^oke, and on the sleeves to the depth
j 'of a sleeve cap,
This gave an effective top finish, and
the design was also carried out on tie
skirt; at the foot of the plain portions.
between the clusters of tucks
which at this point were loose, were
single appliques.
DUllOUs Ui vut uinpm
Let those learned In such matters
make affidavit whether th# new buttons
of cut glas are ?a4e-of "strawberry."
"hobnail" or colonial patterns.
It matters very little, as the cutting is
so effective. Cut crystal patterns are
particularly pretty in summer. Small
buttons of cut glass are used. The
large ones are too much like butter
plates iu oets of cut crystal tableware.
Useful Toilet Accessory.
A little book tillled with leaves of
tissue paper covered with face powder
Is one of the useful toilet accessories
Imported for summer use. The
powder remains fast until the paper
is applied to the skin, and the fragrance
and tcnic effects are highly recommended.
TTA1ST WITH FICHU?FOUIl-TIECE qtuH
Pretty Gown For Urldcsmnid.
Handsomely embroidered ecru batiste
made up over pink silk constitutes
one of the prettiest bridesmaid's
frowns seen this season. Irsettings of
lace may be added for greater elegance.
A Fancy \Vnlst.
China blue and white foulard is
here combined wmi cream i^iueriy
satin .and a bertha of heavy white
lace over satin.
The waist is mounted on a glovefitted
lining, which closes in the center
front, the seams and darts being
featherboned.
The satin is gathered at the neck
gether with a jeweled clasp, the fulness
being adjusted in a slight blouse.
The bertha outlines the yoke back
and front, extending out over the
sleeves in a becoming manner. The
bertha and fronts are finished with
a narrow pleating of satin.
The correct two-piece sleeves have
slight fulness at the shoulders, and
da re in bell shape over the hand. 1
To make the waist in the medium
in front and extends in plastron effect
to the belt, closing invisibly in the
center. The loose fronts arc held to- 1
l
ladies' fancy waist. 1
size will require one Jind one-half 1
yards of forty-fonr-ineh material, with v
one yard of inou&seline for full yoke r
nnd one-hulf yard of twenty-inch ma- v
X.
8
-------
j
DE. TALMAGE'S SEEMON.
SUNDAY'S DISCOURSE BYTHE NOTED
DIVINE."
BuTj.Ject: Practical Clinrity?'The Eenevo
lence of IJorciiH Kxlolled ? Her Work
Contracted With Prcaont Day Method?
?Woman God'* Handmaiden.
[Copyright liiuo.l
WASHINGTON, D. C.-Dr. Talmagc,
who is still traveling in Northern Europe,
has forwarded the following report of a
sermon in which he utters helpful words
to all who are engaged in alleviating human
distresses and shows how such work
will be crowned at the last; text, Acts
ix, 30, "And all the widows stood by him
weeping and showing him the coats and
garments ^bich Dorcas made while bhe
was with them."
"Joppa is a most absorbing city of the
Orient. Into her harbor once floated the
rafts of Lebanon cedar from which the
teiqnjM of Jerusalem were builded, Solomon-oxen
drawing the logs through the
town. Here Napoleon had 500 prisoners
ipasgiafad.* One of the most magnificent
charities of the centuries was started in
this seaport by Dorcas, a woman with her
needle embroidering her name ineffaccably
into $he*beiseficence of the world. I see
her sitthig 4n yonder home. In the door\&y
and pound about the building and in
*Alim alio oi + a ar?n nnlo for>eia
of poor" She listens to their pliant,
she pities their woe, she makes garments
for them, she adjusts the manufactured
articles to suit the bent form of this invalid
wonsm and to the cripple that comes
crawling on his hands and knees. She
gives a Coat to this 6ne; she gives sandals
to that one. With the gifts fche mingles
prayers and tears and Christian encouragement.
Then she goes out to be greeted on
the street corners by v.hose whom she has
blessed, and all through the street the cry
is heard, "Dorcas is coming!" The sick
look up gratefully in her face as she puts
her hand on the turning brow, and the
lost and the 4band$jKd start up with hope
as though
But there is a'raHnHMft m that woman's
ministry. tareSFWhere is Dorca^
man>news
comes, ''DoitellwSr^SPp btdletm
flashing from theafautot jgatBMKog the
waited for than the nrw* fromjfcif&ene^
factress. Alas, for Joppa thflggjfcw&ftng,
wailing! That voire which h*l^C(ie?ed so
many cheerful words is husHea^p^fc band
which has made so many gtmbPmfor the
poor is cold and still; the dt^ip^ich had
poured light into the midnidilK?fv wretchedness
is dimmed by the blUuUBg mists
that go up from ths river ef qfytb. In
every forsaken place in tb?t;iowiJ^ "wherever
there is a sick child $cpd no balm,
wherever there is hu
tQg-?d^o'<w5mSS&'
tion, wherever theakfc a brflkeg hehrt and
no^comfo^, thenP^re^
menc. you^
the sepulcher, and in the stren^h/jgjjiSffl
who is the resurrection he erfea^i^JabMl^f
arise!" There is a stir in theVtta^Kgfi
of life, the heart flutters, the ?enB^raj5St; J
the chec'#fiu.she9, the eye ogsaa|^Kft?Ste\j;
We see In^,this h^ubj'
was a Christian. Such narate^t^Bl^Krver
came from a heart whieSji not ckorded
and strunii by divine gtisjlP"BefarfeX-show
you the needlework of th|P'WAKMWwant
to show yon her lege^era^jfludu^' the
source of a pure life and WwMpSKtnstian
charities. I wish that the mothers
and daughters and 8U??rt,-6? nil the
earth would imitate Dorta|p(yfer discipleship.
Before you cross^Rnf threshold of ;
the hospital, before you* enter-upon the
temptations and trials of. to-morrow, I
charge you ir the name of God and by the
turmoil and tumult 01 tue judgment nay, >
0 woman, that you attend to the first, last
and greatest duty of your life?the seeking 1
for God and being at peace with Him!
When the trumpet shall sound there will 1
be an uproar and a wreck of mountain (
and continent, and no human arm can help 1
you. Amid the rising of the dead and
amid the boiling of yonder sea and amid 1
the live, leaping thunders of the flying j
heavens calm and placid will be every J
woman's heart who liath put her trust in
Christ?calm notwithstanding all the tumult,
as though the fire in the heavens '
were only the gildings of an autumnal sun- '
set, as though the awful voices of the sky '
were but a group of friends bursting 1
through a gateway at even time with 1
laughter and shouting, "Dorcas the disci- j
pic!" Would God that every Mary and
every Martha would this day sit down at
the feet of Jesus!
Further, we see Dorcas, the benefactress.
History has told the story of the crown;
epic poet has sung of the sword; the pas- 1
toral poet, with his verses full of the redo
lenee of clover tops and a-rustle with the 1
silk of the corn, hes sung th? praises of 1
the plow. I tell you tno praises of the 1
needle. From the tig teat roho prepared *
in the garden of Eden to the last stitch
taken on the garment for the poor the
needle has wrought wonders of kindness,
generosity and benefaction. It adorned
the girdle of the high priest, it fashioned
the curtains in the ancient ^tabernacle, it
cushioned the chariots of King Solomon,
it provided the robes of Queen Elizabeth,
ind in high places and in low places, by
the fire of the pioneer's back log and unier
the flash of the chanrleiier?everywhere?it
lias clothed nakedness, it has
preached the gospel, it has overcome hosts
sf penury and want with thi war cry of
'Stitch, stitch, stitch!" The operatives
fiavc found a livelihood by it, and through
it the mansions of the employer are constructed.
Amid the greatest triumphs in all ares
ind lanus I set down the conquest-* of the
needle. I admit its crimes; I admit its
cruelties. It has had more martyra than
:he fire; it has punctured the eye; it. has
jierccd the side; it has struck wjnRiess
nto the lungs; it has sent madness into
-he brain; it has filled the potter's field;
t lias pitched whole armies ot the suiter- 1
ng into crime and wretchedness and woe. "
Hut now that I am talking of Dorcas and 1
ler ministries to the poor I shall speal. 1
>nly of t!io charities of the needle. This t
voman was a representative of all those c
vho make garments for the destitute, who
cnit socks for the lui re fro ted, who prepare
jandages for the lacera ^d, who fix up
toxes of clothing for missionaries, who go
nlo the asylums of the suffering and desti- lite
bearing that gospel which i:? sight for I
he blind and hearing for the deaf, and *
vliicli makes the lame man leap like a hart t
tnil brings the dead to life, immortal c
lealth bounding in their pulses. ?
What a eontra-t between the Tactical i
lenevolence of this woman an.V a great
leal of the eharilv of this day! This
roman did not spend lies- time idly ?!an*
??n.c how the poor of the city of* Jopna
vere to be relieved. She took h:'r needle
nd relieve~(TtKem. .She was not like those
lersons who sympathize with imaginary
orrows and go out iu the street and lausb
>
\
-- - - - - -
*V
at Uie boy who has upset his basket of
cold victuals, or like that charity which
makes a rousing speech on the benevolent aK
platform and goes out to kick the beggar H
from the step, crying, "Ilush your miser- Ifl
able howling!" Sufferers of the world
want not so much theory are practice; not
so much (ears as dollars; not so much kind
wishes as loaves of bread; not so muctf HJ
smiles as shoes; not so much "God blcea
you," as jackets and frocks. I will put
one earnest Christian man, hard-working,
against.,5000 mere theorists on the subject
of chanty. There arc a great many who ^Hj
liave ?ne ideas about church architecture*^?
who.nevfer in their lives helped to build at HH
church. There arc men who can give yotf^H
the history of Buddhism and Mohamme*
danism who never sent a farthing for^B
evangelization. There arc women who talk^Bj
beautifully about the suffering of the world
who never had the courage, like Dorcas^^H
to tak* the needle and assault it.
T nm flrlod that therp ic Tint .1 nn<rft of thl^^H
world's history which is not a record of^Hj
fetr-'le benevolence. God says to all landdflH
ar people, "Come, now, and hear the^H
Widows mite rattle down into the pooc^H
b >x." The Princess of Conti sold all her^H
jewels that she might help the famine-^M
Rtricken. Queen Blanche, the wife o?^H
Laifis VIII. of France, hearing that thcre^M
<vere some persons unjustly incarccratei^O
in,the prisons, went out amid the rabbM^H
and took a stick and struck the door as aflH
signal that they might all strike it, and^H
down went the prison door, and out came^B
th"e prisoners. Oueen Maud, the wife offlH
Henry. I., went down amid the poor and;^H
washed their sores and administfred to
tliem cordials. Mrs. Retson. at Matagor-^M
da, appeared on the battlefield while thtf^H
missiles of death were flying around and^H
cared for the wounded. Is there a maix^^H
or woman who has ever heard of thc civil^B|
war in America who has not heard of theflH
women of the sanitary and Christian com-^H
missions or the fact that before the smoke
had gone up from Gettysburg and SoutU^H
Mountain the women of the north net the^H
women of the south on the battlefield, for-.^H
getting aUtheir animosities, while they,^H
bound upr^fc wounded and closed the eye?
of the slaiins* Dorcas the hcnofactrc??. ^Hj
I come nov to speak of Dorcas the la*|^M
monfoH \VT?<a? rlonfh afrnpir rlnwn th.a?r^H
good woman, ph,' how much sorrow there'
was in the town oj; Joppa! I suppose therewere
women|&Jjere with larger fortunes,
women perhajjwr with handsomer faces, hut
there' was not grief at their departure liko
this at the death of Dorcas. There were
not more turmoil and upturning in the '
Mediterranean Sea dashing against the
wharves at that seaport than there were ;
surgings to and fro of grief because Dorcas
was dead. There arc a great many who
go out of life and arc unmissed. There,
may he a very large funeral, there may bea
great many carriages and a plumed
hearse, there may be high sounding eulo-r
giums, the bell may toll at the ceirtetery
gate, there may be a very fine marble
shaft reared over the restiffg pl?.eo, hut
the whole thing may Ijc a falsehood and a
sham. '
The church of God has lost nothing;
the world has lost nothing. It is only a
nuisance abated. It is only a grumbler
ceasing to find fault. It is only an irHpr'
stopped yawning. It is only a dissipate""?
fashionable parted from his wine cellar^
while on the other hand no useful Christian
leaves this world without' being1
missed.
The church of God crics out, like the
prophet, "Howl, fir tree, for the cedar has
fallen!" Widowhood 'comes and showsthe
'garments which the dmarted had
made. Orphans arc lifted npifto look into
the calm face of the sleeping fcenefactrefis.
Reclaimed vagrancy eomes and kisses the
cold brow of her who charmed it away
.from sin, and all through the streets of ;
Joppa there is mourninj?ffittbrning because
Dorcas is dead* -J*
&:*When Joseuhine of TYi(iiITM|i i carried
ftnt to her grave, there wereMteat many H
men ami. women^ ofponig^iq^pr-id and j
Sm most affected by the story oOwtfliy "?
that on that day there were 10.000 of the fl
poor of Fnraete who followed bet' coffin, H
JfWiine and wailing: until the air rang H
KranL because when th?jy lost 'Josephine
ycyipBjTtneir last earthly Wend. S
tjOh, #ho wonld not rather have s;ich Ob guieS'
tban all the tears that were ever H|
pjffired in, the lachrymals that have been
Grouped from ancient cities. SB
H&ere may be no mass for the dead,
^Bernay be no costly sarcophagus. there
may be no elaborate mausoleum, but in IH
HSMnn cellars of the city and through
Hpnely lints of the mountain pen there'-^^H
HBb^momning. mourning, bccause Dor
S^Blessed are the dead v.-ho die in the fl
Sjffid. They rest from their labors, and H
JRtr works do follow them." D
f speak to you of Dorcas the resur
T^eted. The apostle came to where she 9
was and said, "Arise, and she sat un!'' In '-H
what a short compare tho creat writer put
that?"She sat un!" Oh. what a time 'fl
there was around that town when the M
apostle brought her out among her old
friends. . H
How the tears of joy must have started! S
What clapping of hands there must have H
heen! What singing! What laughter! H
Sound it all through that lane! Shout it S
down that dark alley! Let all Joppa hear fl
it! Dorcas is rcsurrectcd! S
Has that Christian woman who went ?
away fifteen years ago nothing to do witn BM
these things? I see the flowering out of
her noble heart. I hear the echo of her
footsteps in all the songs over sins forziver..
in all the prosperity of the church.
l'he good that seemed to be buried has -^E
;oirte up again. Dorcas is resurrected!
After awhile all these womanly friend#
of Christ will put down their needle forever.
After making garments for others. H|
some one will make a garment for them;
the last robe we ever wear?the robe for
the grave. You will have heard the last
cry of pain. You will have witnessed the
last orphanage. You will have come ia
worn out from your last round of mercy. JEM
I do not know where you will sleep nor
ivhat your epitaph will be. but there will
be a iamn burning at that tomb and an BH
fingel of (iod guarding it, and through all
I ho long night no rude foot will disturb
Lhe dust. Sleep on, sleep on! Soft bed,. flB
nleasant shadows, undisturbed repose!
Sleep on!
Asleep in Jesus! Blessed s'cep j ^Hj
From which none ever wake to weep! '
Then one day there will be a sky rending
and a whirl of wheels and the Hash of ^Hj
x pageant, armies marching, chains clanking.
banners waving, thunders booming,-j^H
II id that Christian woman will arise from
the tlut-t, and she will be suddenly sur-1 IB
ounded?surrounded by the wanderers of
;he street whom *he reclaimed, surround- /
;d by the wounded souls to whom she had
ulministered! Hn
Daughter of Ciod, so strangely surround- mm
;d, what means this? It means that revartl
has come; tliat the victory is v/on;
hat the crown is ready; that the banquet
s spread. Shout it through all the crumbing
earth! Sing it through all the flying
leavens! Dorcas is resurrected! * 3H
In lSuj, when some of the soldiers came
jack from the Crimean war to London, .
:hc Queen of England distributed among
hern beautiful medals, called Crimean
ncdah'. (!al!cries were ercctcd lor the two
louses of Parliament and the royal family
:*> sit in. There was a great audience to
vitntss the distribution of the medals. A JM
oloncl who had lost both feet in the bat* Dfl
le of Inkt rmann was pulled in on a wheel
hair; others came in limping on their ^H|
rutchcs. Then the Queen of England arose
jefore them in the name of her Govern- HH
ncnt and uttered words of commendation
o the officers and men and distributed
hose medals, inscribed with the four great HH
utt'eiields?Alma. Balaklava. Inkermann ;M|
mil Sevastopol. As the Queen pave these/??
o the wounded men and the wounded offi ers
the bands of music struck up the naional
air,, and the people, with streaming
yes, joined in the song:
Clod gave our gracious queen'
Long live our noble queen!
God save tlie queen!
\nd (lion tliey sliontcJ "Huzza! iruz.'-a!'*
>!?. it was a proud day for those returned
varriors! ]>ut a brighter, better i.id ;J?d!er
day will come when Christ siial! gath-^^H
r those who have toiled in His service?
ond soldiers of .loses Christ. He shall rise^^H
icfore them, and in the presence of ail the^^H
:lo;-ilied of heaven lie will say. "Well^^H
lo",>. good and faithful servant!"' And^^HQ
hen lie will distribute the medals of ctcr^^^B
ial victory, not inscribed with works of^^HR
u!iteo;:?;u..x which we have done. but^^^N
.'itli those tour great battlefields, dear
arth and dear to heaven? licthlebein^J^H
Cazarctb, Getbacmaue and Calvary!. ?