《【英文文学】Scenes in the West》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《【英文文学】Scenes in the West（43页珍藏版）》请在金锄头文库上搜索。
1、【英文文学】Scenes in the WestPREFACE.The author of this volume has brought together a few incidents in real life to illustrate the power of godliness in the individual, and the blessings of the Sunday-school, the influence of the prayer-meeting and the cause of temperance in the church and in the communi
2、ty.That the God of all our mercies may bless this little book to the reader, is the prayer of the author.CHAPTER I. THE MISSIONARY.“The melancholy days had come, The saddest of the year.”ALL nature seemed to be resting in a quiet dreamy slumber. The bee had well nigh laid up its winter store, and ma
3、ny of the birds were preparing to leave for more genial climes in the sunny south. All these were but the harbingers of the cold storms that were lingering behind the snow-covered mountains of the north. Indian summer, the season of romance, like the life of a humble Christian, 14 leaves its lovelie
4、st scenes to its departing hours. It was in the midst of these balmy days that you might have seen a traveler with a worn satchel in one hand and a staff in the other coming up a narrow lane leading to the home of a prosperous Western settler. He walked slowly, for he had left behind him many weary
5、miles; his countenance, though calm, was pale and languid; yet his eye seemed to bespeak the hope that here he might find the much-needed rest.Two men were standing beside the gate at the end of the lane when the stranger came up. The one was a kindly disposed person with but little force of charact
6、er, and deficient in moral courage, whom we shall know as Mr. Kerr. The other, whose name was Steele, was the owner of the premises.He was a large man, selfish and resolute, a conceited formalist, bigoted, exceedingly headstrong, and greatly prejudiced against all Christian zeal.15No sooner did Mr.
7、Steele notice the approach of the stranger than he turned to Mr. Kerr and exclaimed: “There, Ill bet you, comes that Sunday-school, temperance loafer Ive heard so much of lately. I reckon he expects to get in here; but I tell you, sir, my shanty dont hold the like of him, while Im boss here, thats s
8、aid!” This was uttered with emphatic bitterness. To this passionate outburst Mr. Kerr ventured a little palliation by the remark that he had heard that in the other settlement the people seemed to like the missionary very well.“You would have nothing to do with his nonsense, would you?” retorted Mr.
9、 Steele with a look of scorn.“No,” feebly and insincerely muttered Mr. Kerr, “we have got along so far without it, and I guess we can get along without it a little further.”“Thats my ticket,” sharply added Mr. Steele.16By this time the stranger had reached the gate. A calm, pleasant smile lit up his
10、 pale countenance; and he accosted them with,“Good evening, friends.”“Good evening, sir,” responded Mr. Kerr.“How dye do, sir,” thundered out Mr. Steele.“This has been a very pleasant day,” ventured the traveler.“Yes, sir,” curtly replied Mr. Steele.“I am very tired,” continued the stranger; “could
11、I stay with you to-night?”“You are the fellow who goes about lecturing on temperance, and getting up Sunday-schools, aint you?” sarcastically rejoined Mr. Steele, his face reddening.“That is my calling,” meekly added the man of God.“Then you dont stay all night in my house; I dont harbor fellows who
12、 are too lazy to work,” sneeringly answered the excited Mr. Steele.17“But I am very tired, and my head aches badly; Ill pay you well.”“Cant help it. The sooner you make tracks the better,” retorted the unfeeling man.“I am afraid it will storm to-night,” continued the missionary, pointing to a dark c
13、loud which was looming up in the west.“You might have stayed at home and minded your own business, instead of minding other peoples, and kept out of this trouble,” replied Mr. Steele, with a look so severe that the poor wanderer lost all hope of any comfort or favor from this seemingly inhospitable
14、dwelling; so he inquired how far it was to the next house.“That depends entirely upon which way you go,” mockingly answered the hard-hearted man, with a wink to Mr. Kerr, and a conceited smile at the unfeeling wit he had displayed.“I expect to continue my labors westward,” gently added the missionar
15、y.18His soul was grieved at the hardness of this mans heart, and for a moment he felt like looking upon his persecutor with anger. But he remembered that even his Lord and Master was mocked and derided; that “when He was reviled, He reviled not again; but as a lamb before his shearers is dumb, so He
16、 opened not his mouth.” And the humble follower of the Man of Sorrows in silence offered up the prayer, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”The door of common humanity being closed against him, he made up his mind to continue his journey, let the dangers and privations be what they might. An angel seemed to whisper, “I will lead thee
