The singing ceased and the man at the big desk said, "Let us have the
verses."
"'The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting
arms,'" said a careworn woman in the front seat.
"'He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou
trust,'" said a young man next.
"'In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret
of his tabernacle shall he hide me,'" read the girl who had handed the
book. The slip of paper she had written it on fluttered to the floor at
the feet of the stranger, and the stranger stooped and picked it up,
offering it back; but the other girl shook her head, and the stranger kept
it, looking wonderingly at the words, trying to puzzle out a meaning.
There were other verses repeated, but just then a sound smote upon the
girl's ear which deadened all others. In spite of herself she began to
tremble. Even her lips seemed to her to move with the weakness of her
fear. She looked up, and the man was just coming toward the door; but her
eyes grew dizzy, and a faintness seemed to come over her.
Up the trail on horseback, with shouts and ribald songs, rode four rough
men, too drunk to know where they were going. The little schoolhouse
seemed to attract their attention as they passed, and just for deviltry
they shouted out a volley of oaths and vile talk to the worshippers
within. One in particular, the leader, looked straight into the face of
the young man as he returned from fastening the horses and was about to
enter the schoolhouse, and pretended to point his pistol at him,
discharging it immediately into the air. This was the signal for some wild
firing as the men rode on past the schoolhouse, leaving a train of curses
behind them to haunt the air and struggle with the "Glory Song" in the
memories of those who heard.
The girl looked out from her seat beside the window, and saw the evil face
of the man from whom she had fled. She thought for a terrible minute,
which seemed ages long to her, that she was cornered now. She began to
look about on the people there helplessly, and wonder whether they would
save her, would help her, in her time of need. Would they be able to fight
and prevail against those four terrible men mad with liquor?
Suppose he said she was his--his wife, perhaps, or sister, who had run
away. What could they do? Would they believe her? Would the man who had
saved her life a few minutes ago believe her? Would anybody help her?
The party passed, and the man came in and sat down beside her quietly
enough; but without a word or a look he knew at once who the man was he
had just seen. His soul trembled for the girl, and his anger rose hot. He
felt that a man like that ought to be wiped off the face of the earth in
some way, or placed in solitary confinement the rest of his life.