A Moral Victory

'Rev. Dr. Carroll had alvvays placed great stress upon the value of moral victories; not judgiug peoplo by whal they were at the present time, but b' their condition as compared with what they had been; claiming that a ijformed sinner deserved more credit than a penon leadlos on equally exemplary lite who had ahvaj's kept within the bounds of rectitudc. This mode of reasoning had led tho good minister ïnto numerous diflieulties with bis wealthier and more aristocratie parishionors, for he would seek out the most vile and degraded of perrons, talk to themof the unsellishnessof theSavior's love, liow that He came to save that which was lost, not reviling them for their past sins, but endeavoring to make their present and future lires better; and theu taking them into his chureh on Sunday, seating one or more of them in his own pew, and preaehing a sermón espeoially for the benelit of that class. This was all very well In lts plaoe, but as Mr. Carroll' s congregation was made up prnicipally from the socalled better classos of society, his churuh being located in a suburban village, the home of merchants and others doing business in an adjacent city, this style of working and preaching had not proved altogether satisfactory. The parish had been washed of all the coarser fllth of iniquity and needed only, in their estimation, a little tiner spiritual polishing up thau could be obtained from the rough scrub-brush which ihe pastor must necessarily use in order to reaeh the seusibilities of the lowerstrata, who were so enveloped in moral obloquy as to require the most vigprous treatment. Hut expostulation was all in vain with Dr. Carroll. He was a man of large person, large heartand braiu, and, what is rare .in the ministerial profession, large means, also, so that he was not obligad by pecuniary reasons to stille his natural tendencies. He had inherited his property, and, having no turn for business, had chosen the ministry from a pure love of doing good, and had married and settled amone the friends of his vouth. But the dissatisfaotion grew sCrouger :ts the years rolled away, and his parishioners grew wealthier in pocket if not in spirit, so that the homely trnths became more and more irksome, and seemed as bitter pills to the delicate palates of the relined listeners. And so it came to pass that Dr. Carroll began to realizo that he had outlived i his usefulness in the ohuroh whioh had grown so dear to him from long assoiation, and, as he could not forsakehis Master, he gave notice that he should resign within the year, after nearly a score of vears of conscientious labor. Much regret and Borrow were manifested outwardly, and he was urged to continue his p&storate. But Dr. Carroll was a decisivo man, and remained tirm in his intention. He should retire from the ministry and devote his time to his family - which consisteil of a wife, a son of eighteen, and two daughters, ten and fifteen years old and to charitable purposes. The lib eral salary paid by the weallhy ehurch soon lilled the pulpit with a man more congenial to the higher tastes of the congregation; but the ex-minister could receive but little spiritual nourishment from th's fotint, and after nearly two years of comparative inaction his soul hungered to labor once more in his Má?tflrs vinevard. And so he looked about him for a field. Tho pleasure and s.itisfaction he had experienced in ministering to lowly people led him to the conclusión that he was better fit l cel to be a poorman'.s guide and counselor than the spiritual adviserof wealth. Visitiug a frieud one summerin a little rillage in Maihe, he found that the chureh of his persuasión was va nt, and, though the people of the parish were not Buffering from poverty, there was a comlorting lack of that hightoned, Seif-rigbteous jjolish which bars the gates of the beart except to a golden kuv. He at once oftere I his services, pay boing no object, preached a sermón or two to the satislaetion of the entire chureh, and had been installed six months when we lind him one line May Sunday afternoon standing upon the piazza of his neat, white wooden house, drinking in the quiet beauty of his surroundings. He was happy; the past half -year' s work had been very satisfactory, his amiable wife had adapted herself at once to the ways of the villagers, hts son, now nearly twenty-one, vfns in college, and his oldest diitighter at a young ladies' school, thuuüh both his eider children were at home, having arrived late in March. so as to visit the ïnaple-sugiiriesor susrar-eamps a t'ew miles out of town, and bringing with them a e,ouple of friends. brother and sister, the former a elassraate of young Carroll, the latter a schoolmate of the daughter. The minister's youngest girl had always remained with her father, lier tuit ion being mostly unde" his personal supervisión. As he.stood there, in the May sunlight he saw the three girls, who had been out for a stroll with their brothers, walking hurriedly up the Street toward the house, as though laboring under great excitement. As they neared the house, Efiie, the minister's younsrest, ran ahead and up to her father, all of a quiver. "Oh, papa, papa," she cried, catching for her breath, "we've had a dre-adlul time. A lot of nnigh men met us and said insulting things, and Hugh struck one of them, and he tumbled down in the road, and his face was all bloody, and he's gone baok and they' 11 kill him, and Mr. (ritïord has gone with him.'' and the ühild stopprd from aheer exhaustion, and buist into tears. " What is the meaaing of this?" said Mr. Carroll, in amaziMiient. " l)id llugh fall in the road with Ma face covered with blood, and who are they going to kill?" "Ño, sir; Hugh didn't fall in the road, bul that horrid man diil, and then Hugh and Mr. Gillord came part wav home with us and then Went back again." The girl's eycs were dHated with excitemeut and terror, and her language almost incoherent. " l'retty business for Sunday," said the minister, turn ing to the oldér girls. "How is this, Altear1 he asked of his eldest daughter. She was soarcely less excited than her sister. " It is very mueh as Eflle says. We wero walking be.side the road, Hugh and Ella" - reforring to Miss Gifford, who was nnicli more collected than the minister's daughier - " being just in ad vanee of Mr. Gifford, fifflé and I, when a crowd of rongh men came down the road, and one of them either stumbled or was poshèd against Hugh, making insulting expressions at tke asme time. I was frightened to death, bat Huuh was periectly eool, and told the man to stand aside, or he would oall the pólice. Then they all laughed, aud this rongh man put his horrid face down close to Ella, and I turned to run just as the big wreteh went sprawlmg down, and then thoy made a great uproar, and Hugh said hö would go back and settle it with them il they would let him seeushome. And then" - and here she, too, broke down - and Miss Giöbrd tinish.ed the recital " Vour son is a hero. Dr. Carroll, and got us away safely, white Toni was all excitement; though 1 don't think he was afraid for himself," she added in defense of her brother. " I beggod Mr. Carroll not to go back. but he had given his word, and the men had promised him fair piav. Fairplay!" she repoated, scornfully. " A herd of wild beasts!" Dr. Carroll was dumfounded. His son, the pride of his heart, involved in a brutal brawl; aud on Sunday, too. He ascertained the direction in which he would be likely to tind thom aud start ed away, whilo the girlg went into the house to teil the story to Mrs. Carroll. The minister encountered a member of his ehuitíh as he hurried aloiig, and loamed froni him that the men were probably river-drivers, a large body of i whom, over a hundred, were eneamped i at the. upper end of the mili pond. having tinished runnng a drive of logs int the pond the day before, and this day, Sunday, weretaking their tirst rest for days, the boss of the "gang being absent for the day. As they' hurried across lots to reach the spot, it being somo half mile from the village. the minister's mind was in a tumult. If there was one thing above another that he abhorred it was personal violenee in any form, from capital puiishment down to chastising children. Wrongs could bo rightea without recour.se to brute force, and one moral victory was worth unnumbered physical ones. And yet. spite of all his peace-loving proclivities, his son had displayed just the opposite traits ' from early ohfldhood. A frank, generous child, quick and impulsive, ho ' was always ready to do battie for the right, and being strong and robust as he grew toward manhood, many an i eider boy mourned the hour, with bruised face and aching body, that he i had "tackled" that Carroll boy,! though Hugh oft-times bore marks of severe pummeling when called into his father' s prosence. But the boy always had a straightforward story, which proved upon investigation to bo the truth in every case, and so the minister had in every instauee sought out the ' prime cause and endeavored, with good success usually, to prevent its ! repetition. But now lúa son was involvel in trouble of a serious character. Hore in I this semi-vvild región, where policemen were things unheard of, his boy was completely ut tin; mercy of a ang of lawless ruffians, and he hurried his steps as they came over a hill where they could 'look down upon the raillpond. "There's their camp," said his companion, "if we turn to the left and go across this paster, we1 11 come to the right place exactly." Dr Carroll could see tito canvas tents some fifty rods away, close by the edge of the iog-oovered pond. They were long, shed-roofed, dingy affaire, and a crowd of men were gathered about and near them, but he could not distinguish his sou at that distance. The pond was nearly round, and as they stood near its bank upon an elevated pieee of i ground they had an unobstructed view of the stream-drivers' encnmpment, j but immediately in therear of the tents ■ back from the pond was a bluff or bank of rocks and clav some thirty feet high, nearly perpendicular, and frlnged at its top in places with a scrubby growth I of tira. Along through the pasture they hastened, coming out upon the top of this bank just above the camp and the orowd of nu!n below. At the top of the bluft' where they stood ran a rough, "pitch-pole" fonce, so ealled in that región, of stakes and slanting slabs. Lond and laêry voices came np from below as they approached the edge and looked down upon the motly crew. A great crowd of rough men, in red and blue Öannel shirts, or checked and gray homespun, - some new and clean, others iiatchetJ, tattered and dirty - slouched feit hats, and their hair long unkempt, while most of them wore a grimy look aci{Ured by a long siego of camping out and not over-caroful washing, added to which nearly every man was puffing a black pipe or chewing tobáceo, presenting a picture anything but pleasing to a fastidious mind. What a lielil for moral victories, thought Dr Carroll, as his eyo ranged over this semi-barbarous crew. But this thoughl was banished from his mind, for there at his very feet stood his son in alteration with the most vicious-looking ruffian of them all, while Tom Gifford stood near him " I teil you what," said the longlimbed river-driver: " I'm just agoin' to mop the ground with y e, whetherye fight or not. Vou talk about its bein' Sunday. 'Twas Sunday when ye knocked me down onawares, an' ef it hadu't a ben fur Bill Grimes here l'd a thrashed then. Hain'tthatso, Bill," he said, tuming to one of the nearest men, a big, broad-shooldered fellow, though not as vicious-looking as the would be tighter, -'hain't I intitlcd to satisfaction?" " In coure ye be," chimed in a dozen voices; some of them adding that Hl.-,? "city fllt;rs needed the starch knocked out uv 'cm." The personage designated :us Bill Grimes replied deHberatelyj aftor tuking an immense chew of tobaccor " Uill, Josli, L 'spose ye air, 'cause t his youiígster whü r.-iyther too quick at hittin' folks, ar' 'dorter stafd away ef he didn't watt't to fight it out like a man. Luastways, as the thing's gone. I don't blami! yeï fur uantin' t!) thiinip hinij though I diiln't 'prove uv 'er sayin' nothin' to the gals." Mr. Grimes appeared to be a leader in matten of opinión, and the pugnacious Josliua was greatly encouraged. He swung his 'ong arms and swaggered about threateningly, while Hugh spoke a few words in a low lonu to his chuin, and then turned to Hill (irimes: " I am sorry this affair has happened, but I havo no apology to msike for Striking this man. Ho insulteu the ladies, aud t shoulil have been no gentleman if 1 had not defended them. Neither do Í wish U lilii to-IAy. ' " Whal lid ye come lai-k tur, then?" said Grimeb, while Joshua continued his Ihreats ui' " mopping" tic: ground uit h him. a modo of procedure wliich socmud tó wear :t pleasing aspect ro t majority of the listenen. "1 came becauso 1 proiiiisod lo come," said the impulsive young legian, "and I siso had yotír promise oí fair plnv." " You shell hev it,' said Grimes, slicking the "peevy' or cant-hook whioh he held in his hand into tliö ground, "an' FU brajn the fust hlan that lays a hand on ye, if yö giü Jósh Wetherbee sdtbfaction. ' Olherwi&e, thev may lam ye' all they're a min' to." The case looked desperate. " What OTO we going to do?" whispered Dr. Carroll to his companion, " thoy' 11 mm-der tny boy." "No, I guess th6y won't, but thoy'll make him tight," returnedtlie óther, to whoin süeh scènes were not so unfamillar as to his cit.y-bred pastor, "but we can't do anything tohelp matters." "What ver goin' to do about it?" blustered .Josh. "Yer goin' to stan' up likc a man or try to sneak out? Ye aeem to be mighty feared uv yer hide." " I shall protect niy.solf,1' answered young Carroll, taking oll" his coat and VinnHiny jt to Giffol'd, "aud if I get f:ür play 111 Mach younot to insult ladies." " Blast tho gals, tliey wa'u't no better'n fhey 'dorter be, Til bet, _au' I"U end yer home with A smashed mug, see of I don't; ye dón't take me onawares this time." " Keep your vile tongue still," said Hugh, as ho removed his vest and collar. His diamond pin glittered upon his white shirt-front ia the sun as he took off his cuffs and rolled up his leevos, displaying a pair of white, well-rounded, vet muscular arms, wEflo hls fair face had grown set and deliant. The smoothed faood boy was a model of handsome young manhood as he stood there that Sunday afternoon, faoe to face with the hulking wretch who only waited the word froni Bill Grimes, master of oeremoniea, to crash and mangle him. Hut more than one present who nolioed the compact form, well-devoloped shoulders and neck, full choat and welling muscles of the "cityehap' "reokonod as how Josh Wetherbe'd have to look lively" or he would be worsted. Rev. Dr. Carrol! braïn whirled; his ej'es grew dim. and he saw but indistinct ly. He heard sonio ono say, ' ' Bc o ready?" saw an ungaiuly form spring j forward with an oath, the llash of a i white arm, and a lingo frame encased ' in red flahnel and homespuu measuied its length on tho grourid. "Bully for you, slioutcd Bill Grimes, "you'ro game all through," and Josh pieker1 himself up slowly and rubfeed his cl.est. "Thought ye was kicked by a hoss, ! didn't yer' said one of the bystanders, ' whilo a hum of admiration swept over the crowd. Again Joshua carne on, this time more. warÏÏy. But it was brute strengt h agaiust science, with no mean share of strength to back the science. " That ar feller' s a pugilist," said a grizzled old lumberman, who was watching the contest with keen delight, as Joshua bit the dust once more - or mud, rather- "I seed Yankee Sullivan light wunst, an' it were hansura. This chao's a boxer." Mr. Wetherbee didn't get up with muoh alacrity. His face was bruised and bleeding and his honor appearedto be satis ried, and Bill Grimes announced that the aft'air was ended, unless the youngster wanted to fight some more of them, adding, "I bleeve he'd liok any man in the crowd," but Hugh declined to make any challenges. Dr. Carroll leaned against the slab fence at the top of the bank. His moral victory was swallowed up in the phypioal, and at this moment the shelvïng bank and slab fence gave way; there was a rending of broadcloths as a portly, clerical gentleman came dashing headforetnost down. the bank, acoompanied by a smallavalanche of mud and fencing material. Various expressions, sacred and profane, broke from the astonished river-drivers as the minister and his bodyguard of clav and sticks almost engulfed the prostrate Wetherbee, who imagined that Hugh was following up his advantage, and no yelled lustily for them to take him off, while he clinched the struggling minister liy the neck. Bill Grimes and Hugh sprang forward, loosening Josh's grip, and holping the parson to his feet. "Wheren thunder did you come from?" aaid the former, while the latter uttered the one word, "Father!" and thenlaughed outright. It was disrespectful, but he couldn't help it, the rest joining in, and even the ininister's face wore a muddy smile as he clawed the clay out of his hair and neck. " Who be ye, any way?" said Bill Grimes. " I am Mr. Carroll, pastor of the First Baptist Churcli of this tovvn, and this is my sou whonv you have been forcing into a disgnioeful light." " Phew! a ministers son- Lord Ilarry!" muttcred (jrimes. " liut say, old chap, ef you're as handy at thrashin' Sat;tn as this young roostor uv yourn is at punchin' poople with his lists, the devil hasmy sympjithv.'' " My friend," saiü Dr. Carroll, gravely, as he rubbod his face with his sous handkerchief, "this is a matter of great importanco. Do you know what the meaning of the word Christian is?" " Dunno es I do, eaetly. S'pose it means a sanctimouious sort uv a enttor, whinin' round with a long face." "You mista ;e greatly," said the ministor, who had almost lost sight of his catastrophe in his zeal to make an impression on a benightod mind, he having sustainod no physioal injury from nis rapid descent. "A Christi;m is one who tries to do all the good ho can, to lift up his fellow-mcn, to better their way of living by every means in It is power," and hewont ou U describe somo of the oasos of miserv and degradation he had seen, all brought ou by giving way to t ho worsl p-.rssions of our Datares, winding up by inaking an application to tho preset affair. Grimes tried to explain that it had been a perfectly fair matter. "Yesee we wuz goin' along (juiet like, when we met thc3e follers witli the gak-. They didn't look like none uv our womeu folks, but wuz sorter tinified up like, an' sorter walked as though tliey wamt teehin' Uie ground hardlv, an' Josh he kindor spoke' up like and says, says he, ' dashed purty gals,' an' then he kinder grinned, but he didn't mean nothin' by it. An' then this boy uv yourn he ups an' telis him to stan' one side, or he'd cali the perliee, an' then wo all lall'od, an' Josh kinder stuck out his faoe, an' that young; rooster of yourn jist lont him one. In course, Josh wanted to be satisfied; an' I ruther guess he is." Mr. Grimes refreshod himself with a fresh chew of tobáceo, wearing a satisliod look as tbough he had cleared himsc.lf from all stispicion of intontional eviL "Ye seo, it s all fair an' square, an' that boy uv yourn is one to be proud uv. ' ' Dr. Carroll went down to the edge of the pond and washed his face, a cook from ono of tho tents bringinrr him a coarse towel and a fragment of a comb. His wardrobe was in bad conditiod, but his couutenance was smiling. ■ Have you any objection to ni otloring pniyorV" he asked of Bill Grimes, while the rost of them "slouohed" round in various attitude3 upon the bank and 1oí;s. "Not a parntle, said tlie individual, "onless Josh might tako it to hcarl." But Mr. Wetherbee uppeared to be totally indifferent, and the minister knelt down and piayod. Ho had a wondorful gift ot pr&yer, and 1 i i l Grimes softoned uuder it. evon Josh Wetherbee seemed to be touched by it. Dr. Carroll rose to his feet and glanced up tho bank down whioh ho had come so rapidly. In ouc. of the clearer places at the top of the bluff stoód hïs ' wife, two dauguters, .Miss Gill'ord. and a néighbof or two, looking over th felice down upon thoin. the mun whó had first. aocompanied him belng with them. " Kf we only had 1 linie miisic au' you'd a few words, I think it woiilc' kinder take away the 'merabrance uv this quarrelin1 business; leastways, from all 'eept Josh," said Mr. Grimes in a rather subduod tone for one of his calibcr. " ('an't you men sing a hymnP" asked the minister. Bill shook his head. "Wc don't want 110 howlin' from none of thera." Dr. CatröM turned to Hugh, who liad resumed his outcr clothinj. "Goup on the hill and bring the radies down here." Ik; ea d, though this was their firatintitnattofa 61 tho ladies' pröxinaity, and many f the men drew batik abashed at the proposition. But they camo novortheless, not as Ur. Carrol] did, hut by a ciiMiitouï path farthcr up the pontl. And the iicüns, who had come éxpeCttng to see fathei-i husbatld áüd brothers the viotims of an ailsry mob. joiiuul with Toni Gifford, Hugh CarroU and the minister in sinjring "Nearer My God to Thee," after whioh Ur. Carroll mcimied an empty pork barrel and addressod tlie assemblage n his heartfelt, caiy manner; winding up with anotlier hyinn. And then Bill Grimes went and took the b ittered Welherbeo by the hand and led hm forward, while the latter in his awkward fasliiou bogged the ladios1 pardon for his rndèness. The grizzled old 111:111 who had eulogized Hugh's pnilktia attainments declared that the meoting had done him more good than anything olsc. had for yoars. " My wife," he .aid rubbin his eyes with his frock sleeve, " nsed ter sing that hymn 'bont 'Nearer My God to Th e afore sh; dird. and it soiter tw.he.d me aü ovor." Hill Grimes .shook hands with Dr. Carroll and all the rest as they turned to leave, and reckoned that he knew what a ( hristian was nou, if he nt-ver did before, and the minister invited tliem on ■ and all to attend his church that evenin;. " But we ain't got no store clothes," said 'r. Grim s ruefully. 'No matter." said the minister, "come as yon are. It's the heatt, not the raiment, makes the man.1' That over a hundred riverdrivers füed into the church, some of t:iem never enterad one before, and Dr. Carroll counted it as hisgreatest