Show 11 BOOM PUNCTUATES GUN PIT SERMON c t it I Refuse Refuse toive t to sat t the Front at Sabbath Service ive Their of f i w Jy by Crash i interrupted Sit Intent LIst Lis- Lis Shells t Iun Phrases to i ug Itinerant Evangelist i Far to Talk Tall oBas Has Come F roSTER roSTERs STEn r 1 t stood l The s Sept little wood O ot n. n end t at t the h e e or at In n b bY a I. I into uto an nn ar ar- ar 1 b bidden branches twined cd this tb the tho theno W of ot t d In the howitzer Squa t te d dv v a 11 grim It toed toad with 10 59 c and th tho fields green grcen I Quiet ot of the It The Tho day was waske I ke ked i d r Sabbat sabbathS I lit n this s war no flO t is ar aro but here sundaY true was murder on or ii r that you ou do of ot war w days In Ir y 1 Weekdays seven cven or this it t was tek S was VS going oln on in that th thatto e to 6 clad khaki boys boy SIXtY eUty i. i or depression spit P In the thO Plight r P r their resting e 51 t on the gun c the tho If 11 liCks backs on stretched themselves es I Int lers ert 1 and there ero some pl tS earth at the thC edge edga nt t th tha sr Bras crass stop for br oj yet et r nt n flOt t were there for Sab- Sab sixtY boyS boS ue f rider CIrCuit In iii stood at nt the center ot of otlie preacher a of or 50 or there there- man alt JIt lie waa as angular with wilh silz- silz tall pare par a shoulders stooping ir and the thc of d fellow I. man o di n. n lons ago any pIe Three YOU 1 0 might o havo seen riding his rounds InI In Y t h his kind region ot of Borne orne far I oo s bent on carrying tern one outlying congo cong Gospel from This was what this another fion to too His type may mayg doing iii Was ss pAssed in America but in g have e itinerant e tho cir clr- tiance that come Into I. I his seems to o have ha I IfIl n JJ In had Md ridden far today He lie one behind the tho lines come up from b rail rall- front by ing h his way to the tho last few rew The f ad and arm armY truck ia I-ia did afoot of thO journeY journe bedding and with his pack road rOld unsafe swePt shell roll jolt n n a As It was every now nowen vehicle any anT v trundling would come i d then the en a crest shell of ot tho the hill bill nearby and mr the I crash in clattering M fall with a flat fiat how how- MI longside alongside The preacher p seemed to lo think of that had not volume In his The He aall salI bound leather bound seemed to and l-bis l book bool ot of texts texts It was wa a serious Y him Mm more of ot his for him this business te text test t. t lIe He must pick one ono ap appropriate ap- ap to the occasion Uniform Duat Dust Covered Cohered I RI Wu co congregation rose as he camo them His Ills uniform the the- samo u theirs was rumpled and disheveled t too Dust and mud covered it Dust Dusl tao covered his face the dust of ot lh the into ig ds he be had trudged that da day As for fore He e nan iran himself lank and ungainly ie stood Hood there filled with awkward lire Ono One would have havo said certain certain- Jj there re was nothing vcr very heroic in his Ills look Bt Bot the tho boys bos In khaki khal 1 did not seem ta 1 think Ink o of that that Most MOISt of them came camo forward f rw ard to greet him personally As AsIt th It out his hand to them th the 0 noised ru rumpled 1 e d uniform gathered In Ill fitting g hillocks oc k s on his arms arm and h boulders o Id ers There was nothing InS InS' very er r- r mart very ery swag swagger Er about that tint uni- ro ff it looked as if it its wearer often orten 1 n 0 J. J I 7 7 ht K J 1 J. J W 71 t l b 5 i- i L 4 M U Q A Jig h a I r- r L Gj I. I i r t f 1 I I 4 71 V 1 v. v 11 1 i 0 C I l. l c y I II j F i 41 4 1 A ij J I fl p hH- hH I b tf I 1 I t V Jj I H J r l l I I o J. J r J rI iti t J L t f fA fArI I 10 i 1 J Z I it i h i Vw fh 1 I A Ia J 1 ye yeh t e lV J I rY j k t 7 r. fJ J i x f j 7 nV 1 ip 1 n I I f b l b Ao fi tI l F 7 i i- i I. I rr i I i I g J m r- r I I d' d j r- r I G q I J r r. r had hud sl slept in it t. t On the right arm armI I blazed the red triangle of or tho the 1 Y r. M M. I. I c C. C A A. A Talked no One does not remember tho text he gave that day The preacher in fact lacked much that would havo o made him prominent and popular In In ea say eay a n. aNew aNew New York or a Chicago congregation However he had something about him him that man many an nn eminent divine lne might have Kave h ve given cn much to possess What it was one cannot say readily but nfl all ho he said his hearers seemed vividly Iv Idly to com corn Ho lIo talked to them in their own language the language tho language boys bos win can understand Thc They did not wriggle wrig wrig- gb gle glo or squirm or scuffle their feet as asbo's boys bos do In church at home The They sat intent As I say I do not remember 11 i t what the text was oas he chose that day There was an interruption Just as s he uttered It Tho shell shell shell-it It was a 77 come came came b by byway byway Wn way of the woods woodA a mile or more Inore nore be be- be yond ond One h hoard heard ard It coming before It struck hero it hit hll wo wn fifty yards ards or more train from tho the edge Haing Having Hav Ha in ing finished tho the text text half of ot It un un- un unI I heard the preachers preacher's face tace turned turn ell In Inquiringly inquiringly in- in toward tho the spot pot where a lL shower of earth rocks and other de debris debris debris de- de bris had ascended skyward In a alen Buddon sudden Bud sud len don belch of flame and smoke o and dust The crash that came camo with it shook ones one's teeth but tho the preacher seemed not nol jarred As rocks and earth came thudding thudding- back to the tho ground his Inquiring eyes turned r again to his congregation Some ome of or tho the boys had ab ab- ab- ab Ono One lad Ind at nt the edges edge of oC the tho had gone over o the view crest and now was hidden from The preacher smiled his bon bony features 5 expressive c of whimsical humor thudded I J another shell The Tho Hun evidently was t out tho the range Boys you know more moro about these things than I do said tho the preacher Shall I 1 go so on or wait walt awhile Blam Another shell This one though was further off ott Go on on Doc shouted back the b bosOne boys bos o ye One does loes not recall much ot of the ser ser- Intervals inter mon mono It was punctuated at nt with those emphatic exclamation n points One Ono not accustomed to t wars war's alarms listened more to those resounding resoundIng resoundIng resound resound- labored homely ing than to the awkward figures of ot speech falling from Crom the preachers preacher's lips But between times limes it was evident o that the others those boys In khaki listened All of ot them sat there thorp still sUll Intent Not ot once but half halt a lL dozen times the preacher had to pause warned warnell by tho the ripping clatter ot or a big one tearing by b close at hand More than once too one ono of or them exploding In the field alon alongside flinging its Ils splinters Into the tho Asked Aked to Come Conic hack I. I When the preachers preacher's talk wa va finIshed finished fin fin- he picked ed up his pack and bedding bed bed- dinK ding roll his book of ot texts safely in his pocket One by one the boys bos in khaki camo came up p to bid him good So long Doc Doe they said Bald to him Come again soon soon will you iOU 7 the reply You bet boys was Up the road as he hurried along to the next place place-a place a dugout in the trenches trenches the the shells still sUll were burstIng bursting burst burst- ing lug in the fields rho Tho preacher still did not seem to heed be cd them Yes Yc ho chuckled I always alas tell the boys the they know more about those things than I do That's so the they can light out If it the they like and not seem Impolite Then Th n he smiled anew this tUne time atthe at the tho distance Queer but thc they vaS always n h c rn n. n tr tn UL tn J I L iII I I I VI IV LV IV I tl them tl those b boys j Kind CInd n 0 of pathetic C too Ive I've got ot a I. I couple of boys boys boys-boys boys of ot n nt own you rou know over know over here In Inthe the tho th trenches That's what sot set me to thinking I wondered If It the they had anone anyone anyone any any- one to talk to lo and that made me mo wonder wonder wonder won won- der who ho was talking to all the other boys bors So I came camo along Just n a Man M My camo came to fin find out was not even on an ordained preacher He lie had been beau a business man in a middle western town he said only Its a great rent work T I wish sometimes I could speak a little lit lit- tIp tle bet better ter Its It's wonderful the wa way the thebo thebo's bo boys bos s lIk like someone to talk to thorn thom It dont don't 8 seem em to matter much what a fellow follow tellow tel fel low talks about aboul they're craz crazy to hear him Ma Maybe be it brings cia cm a little BLUe nearer homo I looked at him In tIie th dusk Ono One for forgot ot for the thc mom momen en his ungainliness that and the tho quaint of or his speech Man Inn Many famous men women too are aIO over h hero ro talking to tho the bo boys Tho The Y M. M C. C At A brings them over on every even ship but about this one ono man was wa something something- I sa say an any one would give Ivo to have It was tho the exaltation of or simple earnestness In tho the dusk dusl as ashe ashe aslie he lie along his faco face seemed to shine So the circuit rider o of old ha ba had come Into his own again |