ith him, in body and
spirit, and prayed as they never before had prayed in Deadwood.

* * * * *

After the service the young preacher came forward to meet the people. He
was uplifted and radiant with a sense of power, with all the magic
influence of the place and thought; and they crowded round him, many
with tears in their eyes.

An elderly man of polished manner pushed through the circle and shook
him by the hand. "I'm a stranger in town," he said; "here's my card. May
I call on you to-morrow?"

"Certainly," said the Preacher. And the stranger disappeared.

There was a holy joy enveloping the little white cottage that night as
they sat together reviewing the events of the day. "Don't you see, Jim,
how much better it was to stop then? It's a thousand times better to
have them go away saying: 'Why did he stop so soon?' rather than: 'Yes,
wonderful, inspiring; but too long.' They will now be keener than ever
to hear you. You never spoke so well before. Oh, my dear, I was never so
proud of you! Now I know, without a doubt, that you are a chosen vessel
of the Lord."

He held her in his mighty arms and kissed the gold-brown hair. "It's all
your doing, Belle. I'm a rudderless ship without you." Then, after a
long pause: "I'm thinking of my first visit to Deadwood."

She spoke no word, but pressed her frail face against the knotted
muscles of his great throat and gently stroked his cheek.

CHAPTER L

The Call to Chicago

"Get up, you lazy giant; the breakfast is ready," she called from the
dining room. In truth, he had been up to light the fire and chop some
wood, but was now reading in bed.

"Jim, I want you to be prepared for something very important to-day. I
have a presentiment that this means something." She held up the card
that had been presented after the service the evening before, and read:

MR. JOHN HOPKINS,
ENGLEWOOD, CHICAGO

"If he comes with a proposition, don't accept it off-hand. Ask for a
little while to consider."

Belle put on her smartest frock that morning and pressed Jim's trousers
and tied his necktie repeatedly till its form was right. With a very
critical eye she studied his appearance and her own, and that of the
house, from every angle. Why? Would any business man make note of such
things? Detailed note, no; perhaps not. But the sum total of such
trifles--expressing decorum, experience, worldly wisdom of the kind that
makes itself f