Search -
Recollections of a Missionary in the Great West
Recollections of a Missionary in the Great West Author:Cyrus Townsend Brady Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III Mad at Cod TF the weather, however, did not put a stop -L to the services, it sometimes played havoc with those necessary concomitants of religiou... more »s life in the far West known as "church sociables." On one occasion, in one of my missions, we had made elaborate preparations for a great crowd, which was kept at home by a heavy rain. A few of us who had braved the storm were seated in great discomfort in the parlor, expressing our opinions with the freedom we all use in like circumstances. A small daughter of the house, who had been an interested listener, suddenly remarked, in a pause in the conversation: "Now you 're all mad at God because it 's raining!" "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings . . .! Malachi Yant My first sexton was a most curious-looking individual who was of the Dunkard persuasion, and rejoiced under the name of Malachi Yant. He was a short, squat man, with dust- colored hair which stood out from his head like the fabulous pictures of the Circassian girl in the circus poster. In nothing else, however, did he resemble a Circassian. He was dust-colored all over, and gave one the impression that if he were suddenly shaken the dust would radiate from him as water is showered from a dog after a plunge in the river, especially from that broom-like head of hair. "When he was not serving the church he was a sort of amateur butcher. I went to call on him one morning soon A lack of ex- after my arrival. His wife met me at the door and told me that I would find him in the back yard—he was busy. As I turned to seek him, he came around the corner of the house. He was a frightful spectacle, all covered with blood and animal debris, and smelt vilely. I started back in horror. "What have you been doing?" I asked. "I 've been killin' hogs," he sa...« less