ull house" certainly. And what
effort had been made by these frontier folk to attend I could easily
imagine. Some had walked many miles for the purpose; most had come
quite a distance. And the earnest, thoughtful faces that met my gaze,
as I descended the ladder, and read the opening hymn,--how reverently
their heads were bowed for prayer, and with what hushed interest they
listened to the discourse,--I can not soon forget. One woman, who sat
surrounded by her family, wept from the announcement of the text till
the close of the sermon--wept for joy that, once more, after long
deprivation of sanctuary privileges, she could hear the word of God.
It was a scene for a painter--that log cabin crowded with
representatives of every state in the Union, in every variety of garb,
and of all ages, from the gray-haired backwoodsman to the babe in its
mother's arms. No costly organ was here, with its gentle, quiet
breathings, or grand and massive harmonies; no trained choir; no
consecrated temple, with its Sabbath bell, and spire pointing
heavenward; no carpeted aisles and "dim religious light," and
sculptured, cushioned pulpit. But I could not doubt the presence of
the Spirit. And when, at the close, "Praise God, from whom all
blessings flow," was sung to Old Hundred,--sung as if with one voice
and soul, the clear, sweet tones of childhood blending with the deeper
sounds of manhood and womanhood,--the rough, rude building seemed as
the gate of heaven.

My appointment for the afternoon was at a small settlement eleven
miles away.

A charming drive through the "oak openings" and over the rolling
prairie brought us to the cabin which was to serve as meeting-house.
It was a long, low, one-roomed building, the logs of which it was
constructed still rejoicing in their primitive covering of bark, the
openings between them being closed with clay thrown in by hand. Mr.
G., the owner,--a short, gray-haired, brisk little man with a wooden
leg, gave me a cordial welcome, and, to show how willing he was to
have the meeting in his cabin, pointed to his shoemaker's bench, and
various articles of furniture, including a bedstead, trundle-bed, and
bedding, which had been removed from the room, and piled in admirable
disorder outside.

"You have been to a great deal of trouble," I remarked.

"None too much," he cheerily replied. "I am an old soldier, you see,
and that's why I have to hobble about on this," pointing to the
ancient artificial lim