built for the use of the
attendants. In the rear of the preachers' stand was a large room which
accommodated all the ministers who labored in the meeting. The effect
at the camp at night was very striking. At intervals of several rods
log fires were kept burning and the bright light they threw was
contrasted with the deep darkness beyond.

It is astonishing to read how great an attraction these camps became to
the hardy pioneers of the Kentucky wilderness. People gathered from all
quarters in all kinds of vehicles, some traveling thirty or forty
miles. Many came in covered wagons in which they slept at night.
History records, that at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, a camp meeting was held
attended by twenty thousand people.

It is ten o'clock Sunday morning at Oak Grove Camp Meeting, where our
hero Jasper Very is laboring. Thousands are in the great wooden
structure, filling every seat and standing many deep beyond the edges
of the building. The preachers' stand contains twenty-five or thirty
ministers gathered from many parts of the State. The crowd has even
overflowed this stand, and all available room is occupied.

The Christians present have been prepared for this service by the cabin
meetings held at six o'clock in the morning and a prayer and testimony
meeting in the tabernacle at eight. And now the service begins. A
stalwart son of the prophets arises and announces the hymn:

"Come, sinners, to the gospel feast,
Let every soul be Jesus' guest:
There need not one be left behind,
For God hath bidden all mankind."

He starts the first note, and thousands take up the inspiring strain,
and the glorious music rolls through the forest like the sound of many
waters. A passage of Scripture is read and a fervent prayer offered. A
second hymn is sung: "There is a fountain filled with blood," and far
away the cadence is heard rising and falling, thrilling waves of sound.

The song is ended. A rustling noise is heard as the people settle
themselves in their places, and then a deep quiet ensues as they look
expectantly toward the preachers' stand. One whispers to another: "Who
is to be the preacher this morning?" They are not left long in doubt.
Slowly the minister arises. It is Jasper Very, the star preacher of the
camp meeting. He comes before his audience with a humble
self-possession which is reflected in the composure of his face. How
did he obtain this self-possession? Reader, we must lift the veil
somewha