The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mormon Prophet, by Lily Dougall This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: The Mormon Prophet Author: Lily Dougall Release Date: December 11, 2005 [EBook #17279] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MORMON PROPHET *** Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions (www.canadiana.org)) The Mormon Prophet BY LILY DOUGALL Author of The Mermaid, The Zeitgeist, The Madonna of a Day, Beggars All, Etc. TORONTO THE W.J. GAGE COMPANY (LIMITED) 1899 COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. All rights reserved. Transcriber's note. Cotents generated for HTML PREFACE. BOOK I. CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II. CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER V. CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER VII. CHAPTER VIII. CHAPTER IX. CHAPTER X. CHAPTER XI. CHAPTER XII. CHAPTER XIII. BOOK II. CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II. CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER V. CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER VII. CHAPTER VIII. CHAPTER IX. CHAPTER X. CHAPTER XI. CHAPTER XII. CHAPTER XIII. CHAPTER XIV. CHAPTER XV. CHAPTER XVI. CHAPTER XVII. CHAPTER XVIII. Book III. CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II. CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER V. CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER VII. PREFACE. IN STUDYING THE RISE OF THIS CURIOUS SECT I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT CERTAIN MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING IT ARE DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE MINDS OF MANY OF THE MORE EARNEST OF THE WELL-WISHERS TO SOCIETY. SOME OTHERWISE WELL-INFORMED PEOPLE HOLD MORMONISM TO BE SYNONYMOUS WITH POLYGAMY, BELIEVE THAT BRIGHAM YOUNG WAS ITS CHIEF PROPHET, AND ARE CONVINCED THAT THE MISERIES OF OPPRESSED WOMEN AND TYRANNIES EXERCISED OVER HELPLESS SUBJECTS OF BOTH SEXES ARE THE ONLY THEMES THAT THE RELIGION OF MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE CAN AFFORD. WHEN I HAVE VENTURED IN CONVERSATION TO DENY these somewhat fabulous notions, it has been earnestly suggested to me that to write on so false a religion in other than a polemic spirit would tend to the undermining of civilised life. IN SPITE OF THESE WARNINGS, AND ALTHOUGH I KNOW IT TO BE A MOST DANGEROUS COMMODITY, I HAVE VENTURED TO OFFER THE SIMPLE TRUTH, AS FAR AS I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DISCERN IT, CONSOLING MY ADVISERS WITH THE ASSURANCE THAT ITS INSIDIOUS INFLUENCE WILL BE UNLIKELY TO DO HARM, BECAUSE, HOWEVER POTENT MAY BE THE DIREFUL LATITUDE OF OTHER RELIGIOUS NOVELS, THIS PARTICULAR book can only interest those wiser folk who are best able to deal with it. AS, HOWEVER, TO MANY WHO HAVE PRECONCEIVED THE CASE, THIS NARRATIVE MIGHT, IN THE ABSENCE OF EXPLANATION, SEEM PURELY FANCIFUL, LET ME BRIEFLY REFER TO THE HISTORICAL FACTS ON WHICH IT IS BASED. THE MORMONS REVERE BUT ONE PROPHET. AS TO HIS IDENTITY THERE CAN BE NO MISTAKE, SINCE MANY OF THE "REVELATIONS" WERE ADDRESSED TO HIM BY NAME—"TO JOSEPH SMITH, JUNIOR." HE NEVER SAW UTAH, AND HIS PUBLIC TEACHINGS WERE FOR THE MOST PART UNEXCEPTIONABLE. TAKING NECESSARY LIBERTY WITH INCIDENTS, I HAVE ENDEAVOURED TO PRESENT SMITH'S CHARACTER AS I FOUND IT IN HIS OWN WRITINGS, IN THE NARRATIVES OF contemporary writers, and in the memories of the older inhabitants of Kirtland. IN REVIEWING THE EVIDENCE I AM UNABLE TO BELIEVE THAT, HAD SMITH'S DOCTRINE BEEN CONSCIOUS INVENTION, IT WOULD HAVE LENT SUFFICIENT POWER TO CARRY HIM THROUGH PERSECUTIONS IN WHICH HIS LIFE HUNG IN THE BALANCE, AND HIS CAUSE APPEARED TO BE LOST, OR THAT THE CLASS OF EARNEST MEN WHO CONSTITUTED THE RANK AND FILE OF HIS EARLY FOLLOWING WOULD HAVE BEEN SO LONG DECEIVED BY A DELIBERATE HYPOCRITE. IT APPEARS TO ME MORE LIKELY THAT SMITH WAS GENUINELY DELUDED BY THE AUTOMATIC FREAKS OF A VIGOROUS BUT UNDISCIPLINED BRAIN, AND THAT, YIELDING TO THESE, HE BECAME CONFIRMED IN THE HYSTERICAL temperament which always adds to delusion self-deception, and to self-deception half-conscious fraud. In his day it was NECESSARY TO REJECT A MARVEL OR ADMIT ITS SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE; GRANTING AN HONEST DELUSION AS TO HIS VISIONS AND HIS BOOK, HIS ONLY CHOICE LAY BETWEEN COUNTING HIMSELF THE SPORT OF DEVILS OR THE AGENT OF HEAVEN; AN OPTIMISTIC TEMPERAMENT CAST the die. IN DESCRIBING THE PERSECUTIONS OF HIS EARLY FOLLOWERS I HAVE MODIFIED RATHER THAN ENLARGED UPON THE FACTS. IT WOULD, indeed, be difficult to exaggerate the sufferings of this unhappy and extraordinarily successful sect. A LARGE DIVISION OF THE MORMONS OF TO-DAY, WHO CLAIM TO BE SMITH'S ORTHODOX FOLLOWING, AND WHO HAVE NEVER SETTLED IN UTAH, ARE STRICTLY MONOGAMOUS. THESE HAVE NEVER OWNED BRIGHAM YOUNG AS A LEADER, NEVER MURDERED THEIR NEIGHBOURS OR DEFIED THE LAW IN ANY WAY, AND SO VIGOROUS THEIR GROWTH STILL APPEARS THAT THEY CLAIM TO HAVE INCREASED THEIR NUMBER BY FIFTY THOUSAND SINCE THE LAST CENSUS IN 1890. OF ALL THEIR CHARACTERISTICS, THE SINCERITY OF THEIR BELIEF IS THE MOST STRIKING. IN OHIO, WHEN ONE OF THE PREACHERS OF THESE "SMITHITE" MORMONS WAS CONDUCTING ME THROUGH THE MANY-STORIED TEMPLE, STILL STANDING HUGE AND GRAY ON KIRTLAND BLUFF, HE LAID HIS HAND ON A PILE OF COPIES OF THE BOOK OF MORMON, SAYING SOLEMNLY, "SISTER, HERE IS THE SOLIDEST THING IN RELIGION THAT YOU'LL FIND ANYWHERE." I BOUGHT THE "SOLIDEST" THING FOR FIFTY CENTS, AND DO NOT ADVISE THE SAME OUTLAY TO OTHERS. THE PROPHET'S LIFE IS MORE MARVELLOUS AND MORE INSTRUCTIVE THAN THE BOOK WHOSE PRODUCTION WAS ITS CHIEF TRIUMPH. THAT IT WAS AN ORIGINAL PRODUCTION SEEMS PROBABLE, AS THE RECENT DISCOVERY OF THE CELEBRATED SPALDING MANUSCRIPT, AND A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE OF MRS. SPALDING, GO FAR TO discredit the popular accusation of plagiarism. NEAR KIRTLAND I VISITED A SWEET-FACED OLD LADY—NOT, HOWEVER, OF THE MORMON PERSUASION—WHO AS A CHILD HAD CLIMBED ON THE PROPHET'S KNEE. "MY MOTHER ALWAYS SAID," SHE TOLD US, "THAT IF SHE HAD TO DIE AND LEAVE YOUNG CHILDREN, SHE WOULD RATHER HAVE LEFT THEM TO JOSEPH SMITH THAN TO ANY ONE ELSE IN THE WORLD: HE WAS ALWAYS KIND." THIS TESTIMONY AS TO Smith's kindheartedness I found to be often repeated in the annals of Mormon families. IN CRITICISING MY FORMER STORIES SEVERAL REVIEWERS, SOME OF THEM DISTINGUISHED IN LETTERS, HAVE DONE ME THE HONOUR TO REMARK THAT THERE WAS LATENT LAUGHTER IN MANY OF MY SCENES AND CONVERSATIONS, BUT THAT I WAS UNCONSCIOUS OF IT. BE THAT AS IT MAY, THOSE WHO ENJOY UNCONSCIOUS ABSURDITY WILL CERTAINLY FIND IT IN THE UTTERANCES OF THE SELF-STYLED PROPHET OF THE MORMONS. PROBABLY ONE GLEAM OF THE SACRED FIRE OF HUMOUR WOULD HAVE SAVED HIM AND HIS APOSTLES THE VERY unnecessary trouble of being Mormons at all. IN LOOKING OVER THE PROBLEMS INVOLVED IN SUCH A CAREER AS SMITH'S, WE MUST BE STRUCK BY THE NECESSITY FOR ABLE AND UNPREJUDICED RESEARCH INTO THE LAWS WHICH GOVERN APPARENT MARVELS. NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERY NATURAL AND SOMETIMES JUSTIFIABLE ASPERSIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN CAST UPON THE WORK OF THE SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH, IT DOES APPEAR THAT THE DISINTERESTED SERVICE RENDERED BY ITS MORE DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS IS THE ONLY ATTEMPT HITHERTO MADE TO AID PEOPLE OF THE SO-CALLED "MEDIUMISTIC" TEMPERAMENT TO UNDERSTAND RATHER THAN BE SWAYED BY THEIR DELUSIONS. WHETHER SUCH A RESULT IS AS YET POSSIBLE OR NOT, MORMONISM AFFORDS A GIGANTIC PROOF OF THE CRYING NEED OF AN EFFORT IN THIS DIRECTION; FOR MEN ARE obviously more ignorant of their own elusive mental conditions than of any other branch of knowledge. L.D. MONTREAL, December, 1898. THE MORMON PROPHET. BOOK I. CHAPTER I. IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THERE WAS, IN THE EARLY DECADES OF THIS CENTURY, A VERY WIDELY SPREAD EXCITEMENT OF A RELIGIOUS SORT. EXCEPT IN THE FEW LONG-SETTLED PORTIONS OF THE EASTERN COAST, THE PEOPLE WERE SCATTERED OVER AN UNTRIED COUNTRY; MEANS OF TRAVEL WERE SLOW; NEWS FROM A DISTANCE WAS SCARCE; NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH SURROUNDED THE SETTLERS. IN THE VEINS OF MANY OF THEM RAN THE BLOOD OF THOSE WHO HAD BEEN PERSECUTED FOR THEIR FAITH: COVENANTERS, QUAKERS, SECTARIES OF DIVERSE SORTS WHO COULD TRANSMIT TO THEIR DESCENDANTS THEIR INSTINCTS OF FIERY ZEAL, THEIR CRAVINGS FOR "THE LIGHT THAT NEVER WAS ON SEA OR LAND," BUT NOT THAT EDUCATION BY CONTACT WITH LAW AND ORDER WHICH, IN OLDER STATES, could not fail to moderate reasonable minds. With the religious revivals came signs and wonders. A wave of peculiar psychical phenomena swept over the country, in EXPLANATION OF WHICH THE BELIEF MOST WIDELY RECEIVED WAS THAT OF THE DIRECT INTERPOSITION OF GOD OR THE DEVIL. THE DIFFICULTY OF DISCERNING BETWEEN THE WORKING OF THE GOOD AND THE BAD SPIRIT IN ABNORMAL MANIFESTATIONS WAS TO MOST MINDS OBVIATED BY THE FACT THAT THEY LOOKED OUT UPON THE CONFUSING SCENE THROUGH THE GLASSES OF RIGIDLY DEFINED OPINION, AND ACCORDING AS THE AFFECTED PERSON DID OR DID NOT CONFORM TO THE SPECTATOR'S VIEW OF TRUTH, SO HE WAS JUDGED TO BE A SAINT OR A DEMONIAC. FEW SOUGHT TO LEARN RATHER THAN TO JUDGE; ONE OF THESE VERY FEW WAS A YOUNG MAN BY NAME EPHRAIM CROOM. HE WAS BY NATURE A STUDENT, AND, BEING OF A FEEBLE CONSTITUTION, HE ENJOYED WHAT, IN THAT COUNTRY AND time, was the very rare privilege of indulging his literary tastes under the shelter of the parental roof. IN ONE OF THE LAST YEARS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CROOM THE ELDER HAD COME WITH A YOUNG WIFE FROM HIS FATHER'S HOME IN MASSACHUSETTS TO SETTLE IN A TOWNSHIP CALLED NEW MANCHESTER, IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK. HE WAS A BAPTIST BY CREED; A MAN OF STRONG WILL, STRONG AFFECTIONS, AND STRONG SELF-RESPECT. TAKING THE PORTION OF GOODS WHICH WAS HIS BY RIGHT, HE SALLIED FORTH INTO THE NEW COUNTRY, THRIFT AND INTELLIGENCE WRITTEN UPON HIS FOREHEAD, THINKING THERE THE MORE LARGELY TO ESTABLISH THE PROSPERITY OF THE GREEN BAY TREE, AND TO SERVE HIS GOD AND GENERATION THE BETTER BY PLANTING HIS RACE IN THE newer land. THE THIRTIETH YEAR AFTER HIS EMIGRATION FOUND HIM A NOTABLE PERSON IN THE PLACE THAT HE HAD CHOSEN, WITH ALMOST THE SAME PHYSICAL STRENGTH AS IN YOUTH, STERN, UPRIGHT, THRIFTY, THE OWNER OF LARGE MILLS, OF A SUBSTANTIAL WOODEN RESIDENCE, AND OF many acres of land. He was as rich as he had intended to be; his ideal of righteousness, being of the obtainable sort, had BEEN REALISED AND STRICTLY ADHERED TO. THE ONE DISAPPOINTMENT OF HIS LIFE WAS THE LACK OF THOSE STURDY SONS AND DAUGHTERS WHO, TO HIS MIND, SHOULD HAVE SURROUNDED THE VIRTUOUS MAN IN HIS OLD AGE. THEY HAD NOT COME INTO THE WORLD. HIS WIFE, A good woman and energetic helpmeet, had brought him but the one studious son. EPHRAIM WAS THIRTY-TWO YEARS OF AGE WHEN A YOUNG GIRL, STRONG, BEAUTIFUL, IMPETUOUS, ENTERED UNDER THE SLOPING EAVES OF HIS FATHER'S HUGE GRAY SHINGLE ROOF. THE GIRL WAS A NIECE ON THE MATERNAL SIDE. HER NEW ENGLAND MOTHER HAD, BY FREAK OF LOVE, MARRIED A RECKLESS YOUNG ENGLISHMAN OF GENTLE BLOOD WHO WAS SETTLED ON A CANADIAN FARM. PINING FOR HER PURITAN HOME, SHE DIED EARLY. THE FATHER MADE A TOY OF HIS DAUGHTER TILL HE TOO DIED IN THE FORTIFIED TOWN OF KINGSTON, ON THE NORTHERN SHORE OF LAKE ONTARIO. NO OTHER RELATIVES COMING FORWARD TO ASSUME HIS DEBTS OR TO CLAIM HIS CHILD, THEIR DUTY IN THE MATTER WAS CLEAR TO THE MINDS OF THE CROOM HOUSEHOLD, AND THE GIRL WAS SENT FOR. HER NAME WAS SUSANNAH, BUT SHE HERSELF GAVE IT THE SOFTER FORM THAT SHE HAD BEEN ACCUSTOMED TO HEAR; WHEN SHE FIRST ENTERED THE SITTING-ROOM OF THE GRAVE CROOM FAMILY TRIO, LIKE A SUNBEAM STRIKING SUDDENLY THROUGH THE CLOUDS ON A DARK DAY, SHE HELD OUT HER HAND AND her lips to each in turn, saying, "I am Susianne." THAT FIRST TIME EPHRAIM KISSED HER. IT WAS DONE IN SURPRISE AND EMBARRASSED FORMALITY. HE KNEW, WHEN THE MOMENT WAS PAST THAT HIS PARENTS HAD PERCEIVED THAT SUSANNAH NEEDED MORE DECOROUS TRAINING. HE CONCURRED IN BELIEVING THIS TO BE DESIRABLE, FOR THE MANNERS THAT HAD SURROUNDED HIM WERE VERY STIFF. YET THE MEMORY OF THE GREETING REMAINED WITH HIM, A thing to be wondered at while he turned the whispering leaves of his great books. SUSANNAH HAD TRAVELLED FROM THE CANADIAN FORT IN THE CARE OF THE PREACHER FINNEY. HE WAS A REVIVALIST OF GREAT RENOWN, POSSESSING A LAWYER-LIKE KEENNESS OF INTELLECT, MUCH RHETORICAL POWER, AND PAULINE SINGLENESS OF PURPOSE. THAT NIGHT HE ate and slept in the house. THE ORIGINAL CALVINISM OF THE CROOM HOUSEHOLD HAD ALREADY BEEN MODIFIED BY THE WAVES OF METHODIST REVIVAL FROM THE EASTERN STATES. FINNEY WAS AN INDEPENDENT, BUT MARTHA CROOM HAD AN ABOUNDING RESPECT FOR HIM; HIS OCCASIONAL VISITS WERE EPOCHS IN HER LIFE. SHE HAD PREPARED MANY BAKED MEATS FOR HIS ENTERTAINMENT BEFORE THE EVENING OF HIS ARRIVAL WITH Susannah, but while he was present she devoted herself wholly to his conversation. THE FEAST WAS SPREAD IN THE INNER KITCHEN. IN THE SQUARE BRICK FIREPLACE BURNING PINE STICKS CRACKLED, BIDDING THE CHILL OF THE APRIL EVENING RETIRE TO ITS OWN PLACE BEYOND THE DARK WINDOW PANE. THE PAINT UPON THE WALLS AND FLOOR GLISTENED BUT faintly to the fire and the small flames of two candles that stood among the viands upon the table. THE ELDER CROOM SAT IN HIS PLACE. HE WAS BURLY AND RUDDY, A WHOLESOME MAN, VERY SILENT, VERY STRONG, A PERSON TO BE FEARED AND RELIED ON. EPHRAIM BELIEVED THAT FORCE WENT FORTH FROM HIS FATHER'S PRESENCE LIKE PERFUME FROM A FLOWER. THERE WERE MANY KINDS OF FLOWERS WHOSE PERFUME WAS TOO STRONG FOR EPHRAIM, BUT HE FELT THAT TO BE A PROOF OF HIS OWN weakness. MARTHA CROOM, ALSO OF NEW ENGLAND STOCK, WAS OF A DIFFERENT TYPE. AT FIFTY YEARS SHE WAS STILL AS SLENDER AS A GIRL—TALL AND TOO SLENDER, BUT THE SMALL SHAPELY HEAD WAS SET GRACEFULLY ON THE NECK AS A FLOWER UPON ITS STALK. HER HAIR, WHICH WAS WHOLLY SILVERED, WAS STILL ABUNDANT AND GLOSSILY BRUSHED. HER MIND WAS NOT JUDICIAL. SHE WAS MORE QUICK TO DECIDE than to comprehend, full of intense activities and emotions. "I have heard," said the preacher slowly, "certain distressing rumours concerning—" MRS. CROOM GAVE AN UPWARD BRIDLING MOTION OF HER HEAD, AND A RED SPOT OF INDIGNANT FIRE CAME IN EACH OF HER CHEEKS. "JOE SMITH?", SHE CRIED. "A BLASPHEMOUS WRETCH! AND THERE IS NOTHING, MR. FINNEY, THAT SO WELL INDICATES THE LUKE- warmishness into which so many have fallen as that his blasphemy is made a jest of." Ephraim moved uneasily in his chair. Mr. Croom made a remark brief and judicial. "The Smiths are a low family." MRS. CROOM ANSWERED THE TONE. "IF THE DIRT BENEATH OUR FEET WERE TO BEGIN USING PROFANE LANGUAGE, I DON'T SUPPOSE IT would be beneath our dignity to put a stop to it." "It is the Inquisition that my mother wishes to reinstate," said Ephraim. THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE AGAIN SPOKE WITH THE naïveté OF UNQUESTIONING BIAS. "NO, EPHRAIM; FOR YOUR MOTHER WOULD BE the last to interfere with any for doing righteousness or believing the truth." Mrs. Croom's slender head trembled and her eyes showed signs of tears at her son's opposition. "If God-fearing people cannot prevent the most horrible iniquities from being practised in their own town, the laws are in a poor condition." "YOU HAVE MADE NO CANDID INQUIRY CONCERNING SMITH, MOTHER; YOUR JUDGMENT OF HIM, WHETHER TRUE OR FALSE, IS BASED ON angry sentiment and wilful ignorance." The preacher sighed. "This Smith is deceiving the people." "HIS BOOK," SAID EPHRAIM, "IS A HISTORY OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS FROM THE TIME OF THE FLOOD UNTIL SOME EPOCH PRIOR TO COLUMBUS. IT WOULD BE AS DIFFICULT TO PROVE THAT IT WAS NOT TRUE AS TO PROVE THAT SMITH IS NOT HONEST IN HIS DELUSION. We can only fall back upon what Butler would call 'a strong presumption.'" MRS. CROOM, CONSCIOUSLY OR NOT, MADE A LITTLE SHARP RAP ON THE TABLE, AND THERE WAS A MOVEMENT OF SUPPRESSED MISERY LIKE A QUIVER IN HER SLENDER UPRIGHT FORM. HER VOICE WAS LOW AND TREMULOUS. "IF YOU'D GOT RELIGION, EPHRAIM, YOU WOULDN'T speak in that light manner of one who has the awful wickedness of adding to the words of the Book." EPHRAIM CONTINUED TO ENLIGHTEN THE PREACHER IN A STRONGER TONE. "WHETHER THE MAN IS MAD OR FALSE, ALMOST ALL THE IMMORALITIES THAT YOU WILL HEAR REPORTED ABOUT HIM ARE, AS FAR AS I CAN MAKE OUT, NOT TRUE. HE DOESN'T TEACH THAT IT'S UNNECESSARY TO OBEY THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, OR BEAT HIS WIFE, NOR IS HE DRUNKEN. HE'S GOT THE SENSE TO SEE THAT ALL THAT SORT OF THING WOULDN'T MAKE A BIG MAN OF HIM. IT'S MERELY A REVISED FORM OF CHRISTIANITY, WITH A FEW SILLY ADDITIONS, THAT HE claims to be the prophet of." Mrs. Croom began to weep bitterly. The elder Croom asked a pertinent question. "Why do you wilfully distress your mother, Ephraim?" "Because, sir, I love my mother too well to sit silent and let her think that injustice can glorify God." It was a family jar. FINNEY WAS A MAN OF ABOUT FORTY YEARS OF AGE; HIS EYES UNDER OVER-REACHING BROWS WERE BRIGHT AND PENETRATING; HIS FACE WAS SHAVEN, BUT HIS MOUTH HAD AN EXPRESSION OF PECULIAR STRENGTH AND GENTLENESS. HE LOOKED KEENLY AT THE SON OF THE HOUSE, WHO WAS HELD TO BE IRRELIGIOUS. AND THEN HE LOOKED UPON SUSANNAH, WHOSE BEAUTY AND FRIVOLITY HAD NOT ESCAPED HIS KEEN OBSERVATION. HE LIVED ALWAYS IN THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF AN INVISIBLE PRESENCE; WHEN HE FELT THE ARMS OF HEAVEN around him, wooing him to prayer, he dared not disobey. HE AROSE NOW, SETTING HIS CHAIR BACK AGAINST THE WALL WITH PREOCCUPIED PRECISION. "THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER IS UPON ME," HE said; and in a moment he added, "Let us pray." SUSANNAH WAS EATING, AND WITH RELISH. SHE LAID DOWN HER BIT OF PUMPKIN PIE AND STARED ASTONISHED. THEN, BEING A GIRL OF GOOD SENSE AND GOOD FEELING, SHE RELINQUISHED THE REMAINDER OF HER SUPPER, AND, FOLLOWING HER AUNT'S EXAMPLE, KNELT beside her chair. THE TWO CANDLES AND THE FIRELIGHT LEFT SHADOWY SPACES IN PARTS OF THE ROOM, AND CAST GROTESQUE OUTLINES AGAINST THE WALLS. NOTHING WAS FAMILIAR TO SUSANNAH'S EYE; SHE COULD NOT HELP LOOKING ABOUT HER. EPHRAIM WAS NEAREST TO HER. HE WAS A BEARDED MAN, AND SEEMED TO HER VERY OLD. SHE SAW THAT HIS FACE LOOKED PALE AND DISTRESSED; HIS EYES WERE CLOSED, HIS LIPS TIGHT SET, LIKE ONE BEARING TRANSIENT PAIN. AT THE END OF THE TABLE HER UNCLE KNELT UPRIGHT, WITH HANDS CLASPED AND FACE UPLIFTED, NO FEATURE OR MUSCLE MOVING—A STRONG FIGURE RAPT IN DEVOTION. ON HER OTHER SIDE, AS A SLIGHT TREE WAVES IN THE WIND, HER AUNT'S SLIM FIGURE WAS SWAYING AND BENDING WITH FEELING THAT WAS NOW CONVULSIVE AND NOW RESTRAINED. SOMETIMES SHE MOANED AUDIBLY OR WHISPERED "AMEN." ACROSS THE RICHLY-SPREAD TABLE SUSANNAH SAW THE PREACHER KNEELING IN A FULL FLICKERING GLARE OF THE PINE FIRE, ONE HAND UPON THE BRICK JAMB, THE OTHER COVERING HIS EYES, AS IF TO HIDE from himself all things that were seen and temporal in order that he might speak face to face with the Eternal. IT WAS SOME TIME BEFORE SHE LISTENED TO THE WORDS OF THE PRAYER. WHEN SHE HEARD EPHRAIM CROOM SPOKEN OF BY NAME, THERE WAS NO ROOM IN HER MIND FOR ANYTHING BUT CURIOSITY. AFTER A WHILE SHE HEARD HER OWN NAME, AND CURIOSITY BEGAN TO subside into awe. After this the preacher brought forward the case of Joseph Smith. BEFORE THE PRAYER ENDED SUSANNAH WAS TROUBLED BY SO STRONG A SENSE OF EMOTION THAT SHE DESIRED NOTHING SO MUCH AS RELIEF. IT SEEMED TO HER THAT THE EMOTION WAS NOT SO MUCH IN HERSELF AS IN THE OTHERS, OR LIKE AN INFLUENCE IN THE ROOM PRESSING UPON THEM ALL. AT LENGTH A KITTEN THAT HAD BEEN LYING BY THE HEARTH GOT UP AS IF DISTURBED BY THE SAME INFLUENCE, AND, WALKING ROUND THE ROOM, RUBBED ITS FUR AGAINST EPHRAIM'S KNEE. SHE SAW THE START RUN THROUGH HIS WHOLE NERVOUS FRAME. OPENING HIS EYES, HE PUT DOWN HIS HAND AND STROKED IT. SUSANNAH LIKED EPHRAIM THE BETTER FOR THIS. THE KITTEN WAS NOT TO BE COMFORTED; IT LOOKED UP IN HIS FACE AND GAVE A PITEOUS MEW. SUSANNAH TITTERED; THEN SHE FELT SORRY AND ashamed. CHAPTER II. Two quiet years passed, and Susannah had attained her eighteenth birthday. On a certain day in the week there befell what the aunt called a "season" of baking. It was the only occasion in the week WHEN MRS. CROOM WAS SURE TO STAY FOR SOME LENGTH OF TIME IN THE SAME PLACE WITH SUSANNAH BESIDE HER. EPHRAIM BROUGHT DOWN HIS BOOKS TO THE HOSPITABLE KITCHEN, AND SAT ALOOF AT A CORNER TABLE. HE SAID THE SUN WAS TOO STRONG UPON HIS UPPER WINDOWS, OR THAT THE RAIN WAS BLOWING IN. THE FIRST TIME THAT EPHRAIM SOUGHT REFUGE IN THE KITCHEN MRS. CROOM WAS QUITE FLUSTERED WITH DELIGHT. SHE ALWAYS COVETED MORE OF HER SON'S SOCIETY. BUT WHEN HE CAME A THIRD TIME SHE began to suspect trouble. MRS. CROOM STOOD BY THE BAKING-BOARD, HER SLENDER HANDS IMMERSED IN A HEAP OF PEARLY FLOUR; BASKETS OF SCARLET CURRANTS LAY AT HER FEET. ALL THINGS IN THE KITCHEN SHONE BY REASON OF HER DILIGENCE, AND THE WINDOWS WERE OPEN TO THE SUMMER SUNSHINE. SUSANNAH SAT WITH A LARGE PAN OF RED GOOSEBERRIES BESIDE HER; SHE WAS PICKING THEM OVER ONE BY ONE. SOMEWHERE IN THE OUTER KITCHEN THE HIRED BOY HAD BEEN PLUCKING A GOOSE, AND SOME TINY FRAGMENTS OF THE DOWN WERE FLOATING IN THE AIR. ONE OF THEM RODE UPON A MOVEMENT OF THE SUMMER AIR AND DANCED BEFORE SUSANNAH'S EYES. SHE PUT her pretty red lips beneath it and blew it upwards. MRS. CROOM'S SUSPICIONS CONCERNING EPHRAIM HAD PRODUCED IN HER A DESIRE TO REPROVE SOME ONE, BUT SHE REFRAINED AS yet. SUSANNAH HAVING WAFTED THE SUMMER SNOWFLAKE ALOFT, STILL SAT, HER YOUNG FACE TILTED UPWARD LIKE THE FACES OF SAINTS IN THE HOLY PICTURES, HER BRIGHT EYES FIXED UPON THE FEATHER NOW DESCENDING. EPHRAIM LOOKED WITH OBVIOUS PLEASURE. HER HEAD was framed for him by the window; a dark stiff evergreen and the summer sky gave a Raphaelite setting. THE FEATHER DROPPED TILL IT ALL BUT TOUCHED THE TIP OF THE GIRL'S NOSE. THEN FROM THE LIPS, PUCKERED AND ROSY, CAME A SMALL gust; the fragment of down ascended, but this time aslant. "You didn't blow straight enough up," said Ephraim. SUSANNAH SMILED TO KNOW THAT HER PASTIME WAS OBSERVED. THE SMILE WAS A FLASH OF PLEASURE THAT WENT THROUGH HER BEING. She ducked her laughing face farther forward to be under the feather. MRS. CROOM SHOT ONE GLANCE AT EPHRAIM, EAGER AND HAPPY IN HIS WATCHING. SHE DID WHAT NOTHING BUT THE LOVELIGHT IN HER son's face could have caused her to do. She struck the girl lightly but testily on the side of the face. EPHRAIM WAS AS FOOLISH AS ARE MOST MEN IN SIGHT OF A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS. HE MADE NO IMPARTIAL INQUIRY INTO THE REAL CAUSE OF TROUBLE; HE DID NOT SEEK JUSTICE IN HER PLACE OF HIDING. HE STEPPED TO HIS MOTHER'S SIDE, STERN AND DETERMINED, remembering only that she was often unwise, and that he could control her. "You ought not to have done that. You must never do it again." WITH THE PRINT OF FLOURY FINGERS ON HER GLOWING CHEEKS THE GIRL SAT MORE ASTONISHED THAN ANGRY, FULL OF RUTH WHEN HER AUNT began to sob aloud. The mother knew that she was no longer the first woman in her son's love. IT WAS WITHOUT DOUBT, MRS. CROOM'S FIRST BITTER PANG OF JEALOUSY THAT LAY AT THE BEGINNING OF THOSE CAUSES WHICH DROVE SUSANNAH OUT UPON A STRANGE PILGRIMAGE. BUT ABOVE AND BEYOND HER PERSONAL JEALOUSY WAS A CONSIDERATION CERTAINLY DEARER TO A WOMAN INTO WHOSE INMOST RELIGIOUS LIFE WAS WOVEN THE FIBRE OF THE PARTISAN. AS SHE EXPRESSED IT TO HERSELF, SHE AGONISED BEFORE THE LORD IN A NEW FEAR LEST HER UNCONVERTED SON SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED IN HIS UNBELIEF BY LOVE FOR A WOMAN WHO HAD NEVER SOUGHT FOR HEAVENLY GRACE; BUT, IN TRUTH, THAT WHICH SHE SOUGHT WAS THAT BOTH SHOULD SWEAR ALLEGIANCE TO HER OWN INTERPRETATION OF GRACE. IN THIS PRAYER SOME GOOD CAME TO HER, THE WILLINGNESS TO SACRIFICE HER JEALOUSY IF NEED BE; BUT, AFTER THE PRAYER ANOTHER THOUGHT ENTERED INTO HER MIND, WHICH SHE HELD TO BE DIVINE DIRECTION; SHE MUST FOCUS ALL HER EFFORTS UPON THE GIRL'S CONVERSION. IN HER HEART ALL THE TIME A STILL SMALL VOICE TOLD HER THAT LOVE WAS THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW, BUT SO STILL, SO SMALL, SO HABITUAL WAS IT THAT SHE LOST IT AS WE LOSE THE TICKING OF A CLOCK, AND IT WAS not with increased love for Susannah that she began a course of redoubled zeal. THE GIRL BECAME FRIGHTENED, NOT SO MUCH OF HER AUNT AS OF GOD. THE SIMPLE CHILD'S PRAYER FOR THE KEEPING OF HER SOUL WHICH SHE HAD BEEN IN THE HABIT OF REPEATING MORNING AND EVENING BECAME A TERROR TO HER, BECAUSE SHE DID NOT UNDERSTAND HER AUNT'S PHRASEOLOGY. THE "SOUL" IT DEALT WITH WAS NOT HERSELF, HER THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, AND POWERS, BUT A mysterious something apart from these, for whose welfare these must all be sacrificed. SUSANNAH HAD HEARD OF FAIRIES AND GHOSTS; SHE INCLINED TO SHOVE THIS SORT OF SOUL INTO THE SAME UNREAL REGION. THE DREARY ARTIFICIAL HEAVEN, WHICH SEEMED TO FOLLOW LOGICALLY IF SHE ACCEPTED THE BASAL FACT OF A SOUL SEPARATED FROM ALL HER NATURAL POWERS, COULD BE DISPENSED WITH ALSO. THIS WAS HER HOPE, BUT SHE WAS NOT SURE. HOW COULD SHE BE SURE WHEN SHE WAS SO YOUNG AND DEPENDENT? IT WAS ALMOST HER ONLY SOLACE TO INTERPRET EPHRAIM'S SILENCE BY HER OWN UNBELIEF, AND SHE rested her weary mind against her vague notions of Ephraim's support. One August day Mrs. Croom drove with her husband to a distant funeral. IN THE AFTERNOON WHEN THE SUNSHINE WAS FALLING UPON THE FIELDS OF MAIZE, WHEN THE WIND WAS BUSY SETTING THEIR RIBBON-LIKE LEAVES FLAPPING, AND ROCKING THE TREE-TOPS, EPHRAIM CROOM WAS DISTURBED IN HIS PRIVATE ROOM BY THE BLUSTERING ENTRANCE of Susannah. THE ROOM WAS AN ATTIC; THE WINDOWS OF THE GABLE LOOKED WEST; SLANTING WINDOWS IN THE SHINGLE ROOF LOOKED NORTH AND south. The room was large and square, spare of furniture, lined with books. At a square table in the centre sat Ephraim. WHEN SUSANNAH ENTERED A GUST OF WIND CAME WITH HER. THE HANDKERCHIEF FOLDED ACROSS HER BOSOM WAS BLOWN AWRY. Her sun-bonnet had slipped back upon her neck; her ringlets were tossed. "COUSIN EPHRAIM, MY AUNT HAS GONE; COME OUT AND PLAY WITH ME." THEN SHE ADDED MORE DISCONSOLATELY, "I AM LONELY; I want you to talk to me, cousin." THE GUST HAD LIFTED EPHRAIM'S PAPERS AND SHED THEM UPON THE FLOOR. HE LOOKED DOWN AT THEM WITHOUT MOVING. LIFE IN A world of thoughts in which his fellows took no interest, had produced in him a singularly undemonstrative manner. Susannah's red lips were pouting. "Come, cousin, I am so tired of myself." BUT EPHRAIM HAD BEEN PRIVATELY ACCUSED OF AMATIVE EMOTIONS. OFFENDED WITH HIS MOTHER, MORTIFIED HE KNEW NOT WHY, uncertain of his own feeling, as scholars are apt to be, he had no wish then but to retire. "I am too busy, Susianne." "Then I will go alone; I will go for a long, long walk by myself." She gave her foot a defiant stamp upon the floor. He looked out of his windows north and south; safer district could not be. "I do not think it will rain," he said. A SUSPICION OF LAUGHTER WAS LURKING IN HIS CLEAR QUIET EYES, WHICH WERE FRAMED IN HEAVY BROWN EYEBROWS AND THICK lashes. Nature, who had stinted this man in physical strength, had fitted him out fairly well as to figure and feature. SUSANNAH, VEXED AT HIS INDIFFERENCE, BUT FEARING THAT HE WOULD RETRACT HIS UNEXPECTED PERMISSION, WAS AGAIN IN THE draught of the open door. "Perhaps I will walk away, away into the woods and never come back; what then?" "Indians," suggested he, "or starvation, or perhaps wolves, Susianne." "But I love you for not forbidding me to go, cousin Ephraim." The smile that repaid him for his indulgence comforted him for an hour; then a storm arose. IN THE MEANTIME SUSANNAH HAD WALKED FAR. A SQUATTER'S OLD LOG-HOUSE STOOD BY THE GREEN ROADSIDE; THE WOOD OF THE ROOF AND WALLS WAS WEATHERED AND SILVER-GRAY. BEFORE IT A CLOTHES-LINE WAS STRETCHED, HEAVED TENT-LIKE BY A CLEFT POLE, and a few garments were flapping in the wind, chiefly white, but one was vivid pink and one tawny yellow. THE NEARER ASPECT OF THE LOG-HOUSE WAS SQUALID. AN EARLY APPLE-TREE AT THE SIDE HAD SHED PART OF ITS FRUIT, WHICH WAS LEFT TO ROT IN THE GRASS AND COLLECT FLIES, AND CLOSE TO THE ROAD, UNDER A JUNIPER BUSH, THE RIND OF MELONS AND POTATO PEELINGS HAD BEEN THROWN. THERE WAS NO FENCE; THE GRASS WAS UNCUT. UPON THE DOOR-STEP SAT A TALL WOMAN, UNKEMPT-LOOKING, ALMOST RAGGED. SHE HAD SHORT GRAY HAIR THAT CURLED ABOUT HER TEMPLES; HER FACE WAS HANDSOME, CLEVER-LOOKING TOO, BUT, above all, eager. This eagerness amounted to hunger. She was looking toward the sky, nodding and smiling to herself. SUSANNAH STOPPED UPON THE ROAD A FEW FEET FROM THE JUNIPER BUSH. IT OCCURRED TO HER THAT THIS WAS JOSEPH SMITH'S mother, who had the reputation of being a speywife. The sky-gazer did not look at her. "Are you Lucy Smith?" THE WOMAN CLAPPED HER HANDS SUDDENLY TOGETHER AND LAUGHED ALOUD. THEN SHE ROSE, BUT, ONLY GLANCING A MOMENT AT THE visitor, she turned her smiling face again toward the sky. Into Susannah's still defiant mood darted the thought of a new adventure. "Will you tell my fortune?" "WHO AM I TO TELL FORTUNES WHEN MY SON JOSEPH HAS COME HOME?" AGAIN CAME THE EXCITED LAUGH. "IT'S THE GRACE OF GOD that's fallen on this house, and Lucy Smith, like Elizabeth, the wife of Zacharias, is the mother of a prophet." "He isn't a prophet," said Susannah, taking a step backward. "SEVEN YEARS AGO WAS HIS FIRST VISION, AND ALL THE PEOPLE TRAMPLING UPON HIM SINCE TO MAKE HIM GAINSAY IT, BUT HE STOOD STEADFAST. I DREAMED IT—WHEN HE WAS A LITTLE CHILD I DREAMED IT, AND IT HAS COME TRUE." THEN, SEEMING TO RETURN INTO herself, her gaze wandered again to the sky, and she murmured, "The mother of a prophet, the mother of a prophet!" ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD A FEW ACRES OF GROUND WERE LYING UNDER DISORDERLY CULTIVATION. IN ONE PATCH THE STALKS OF SWEET MAIZE HAD BEEN FASTENED TOGETHER IN HIGH STOOKS, DISCLOSING THE PUMPKIN VINES, WHICH BENEATH THEM HAD PLENTIFULLY BORNE THEIR HUGE FRUIT, GREEN AS YET. AT THE BACK OF THIS CULTIVATED PORTION AN OLD MAN, THE ELDER JOSEPH SMITH, WAS DIGGING POTATOES; HIS TORN SHIRT FLUTTERED LIKE THE DRESS OF A SCARECROW. BEHIND HIM AND ALL AROUND WAS THE GREEN WOOD, CLOSE-GROWING BUSHES HEDGING IN THE SHORT TREES OF A SECOND GROWTH WHICH COVERED A LONG LOW HILL. ABOVE THE HILL OMINOUS CLOUDS LIKE SMOKING CENSERS WERE BEING ROLLED UP FROM THE EAST; THE WAVING BEARDS OF THE CORN STOOKS RUSTLED AND STREAMED IN WIND WHICH WAS GROWING COLDER. SUSANNAH'S DRESS AND BONNET WERE ROUGHLY BLOWN, AND THE CLOTHES ON the line flapped again around the tall figure of the witch in the doorway. Susannah contradicted again with the scornful superiority of youth. "I don't believe that your son is a prophet." LUCY SMITH, HAVING THE SENSITIVE RECEPTIVE POWER OF AN HYSTERIC, WAS SOBERED NOW BY THE DETERMINATION OF SUSANNAH'S ASPECT. SHE LOOKED ALMOST REPENTANT FOR A MOMENT, AND THEN SAID HUMBLY, "IF YOU'LL COME IN AND SEE EMMAR—JOSEPH and Emmar have come home—Emmar will tell you the same." A GRAY VAPOROUS TINT WAS BEING SPREAD OVER THE HEAVENS, FOLDING THIS PORTION OF EARTH IN ITS SHADOW AND DARKENING THE interior of the cabin which Susannah entered. UPON A DECENT BEDSTEAD RECLINED A YOUNG WOMAN. EVERYTHING NEAR HER WAS ORDERLY AND CLEAN. SHE BELONGED, IT WOULD seem, to a better class of the social order than the other, certainly to a higher type of womanhood. "WHAT HAVE YOU GOT? IS IT A KITTEN?" ASKED SUSANNAH. ADVANCING ACROSS THE DARK UNEVEN FLOOR, SHE PERCEIVED THAT THE reclining woman was caressing some small creature beneath her shawl. "Emmar, Emmar," said Lucy Smith, "tell Miss from the mill about the angel that appeared to Joseph." EMMA SMITH WAS A NOBLY MADE, DIGNIFIED YOUNG CREATURE. SHE LOOKED AT SUSANNAH'S BEAUTIFUL AND OPEN COUNTENANCE, AND STRAIGHTWAY DREW FORTH THE YOUNG THING SHE WAS NURSING FOR HER INSPECTION. IT WAS AN INFANT BUT A FEW DAYS OLD. SURPRISED, REVERENT, AND DELIGHTED, SUSANNAH BENT OVER IT. THE CHILD MADE THEM ALL AKIN—THE SQUALID OLD HYSTERIC, THE respectable young mother, the beautiful girl in her silken shawl. Some minutes elapsed. "Emmar, Miss here doesn't know nothing about Joseph. She says it ain't true." THE YOUNG MOTHER SMILED FRANKLY. "I SUPPOSE IT SEEMS VERY HARD FOR YOU TO BELIEVE," SHE SAID, "BUT IT'S QUITE TRUE, AND THE LORD TOLD JOSEPH WHERE TO FIND THE NEW PART OF THE BIBLE THAT HE'S GOING NOW TO MAKE KNOWN TO THE WORLD. SHALL I TELL you about it?" Susannah looked at her dazed; she had heretofore heard of the Smiths' doctrines as of the ravings of the mad. It had not occurred to her that a sane mind could regard them seriously. "IT WAS SEVEN YEARS AGO," SAID EMMA, "AT THE TIME THE BIG REVIVAL WAS HERE AND JOSEPH WAS CONVERTED; BUT HE HEARD ALL THE METHODISTS AND BAPTISTS AND PRESBYTERIANS DISPUTING TOGETHER AS TO WHICH OF THEM WAS RIGHT, AND HE FELT SO BURDENED TO KNOW WHICH WAS RIGHT, AND HE FELT A SORT OF LONGING IN HIM TO BE A GREAT MAN, BIGGER THAN THE REVIVAL PREACHER THAT HAD BEEN HERE THAT ALL THE PEOPLE RAN AFTER, AND JOSEPH FELT THAT HE COULD BE BIGGER THAN THAT, AND PREACH AND TELL ALL THE PEOPLE WHAT WAS RIGHT, IF THEY WOULD ALL COME TO HEAR HIM. AND HE WAS SO BURDENED THAT ONE DAY HE WENT OUT INTO THE WOODS, AND HE BEGAN CRYING AND CONFESSING HIS SINS AND CALLING OUT TO GOD TO SHOW HIM WHAT WAS RIGHT AND MAKE HIM A GREAT PREACHER. WELL, WHEN HE HAD BEEN CRYING AND GOING ON LIKE THAT FOR A LONG TIME, HE JUST FELL RIGHT DOWN AS IF HE WAS ASLEEP, AND IT WAS ALL DARK TILL A LIGHT FELL FROM HEAVEN AND AN ANGEL CAME IN THE LIGHT." EMMA WENT ON TO TELL OF SMITH'S vision and first call, of his backsliding and final commission. SUSANNAH STARED. THE YOUNG MOTHER WAS A REALITY; THE BABY WAS A REALITY. COULD THE STATEMENTS IN THIS WILD STORY BEAR any relation to reality? The old woman stood by, nodding and smiling. The young girl's mind became perplexed. "IT WAS JUST BEFORE HE BEGAN TO TRANSLATE THE GOLD BOOK THAT HE CAME TO BOARD AT MY FATHER'S IN SUSQUEHANNAH COUNTY, AND HE TOLD ME ALL ABOUT IT, AND I BELIEVED HIM; BUT MY FATHER WOULDN'T, SO I HAD TO GO AWAY WITH JOSEPH TO GET MARRIED; BUT SINCE THEN FATHER'S FORGIVEN US; AND WE'VE BEEN BACK HOME THIS LAST SUMMER, AND WE'VE BEEN TO FAYETTE TOO, LIVING WITH A GENTLEMAN CALLED MR. WHITMER, WHO BELIEVES IN JOSEPH, AND ALL THE TIME JOSEPH'S BEEN TRANSLATING THE BOOK THAT WAS WRITTEN ON THE GOLD PLATES THAT HE FOUND IN THE HILL. IT'S BEEN VERY HARD WORK, AND WE'VE HAD TO LIVE VERY POOR, BECAUSE JOSEPH COULDN'T EARN ANYTHING WHILE HE WAS DOING IT, BUT IT'S DONE NOW, SO WE FEEL CHEERED. AND NOW THAT IT'S going to be printed, and Joseph can begin to gather in the elect very soon, and now that baby's come—" EMMA STOPPED AGAIN; THE LAST DOMESTIC DETAIL SEEMED TO INVOLVE HER MIND IN SUCH MESHES OF BLISS THAT SHE LOST SIGHT OF THE END OF HER SENTENCE. ALL HER WORDS HAD BEEN CALM, AND THE BABY THAT LAY UPON THE BED BESIDE HER STRETCHING ITS CRUMPLED ROSE-LEAF FISTS INTO THE AIR AND MAKING STRANGE GROTESQUE SMILES WITH ITS LITTLE RED CHIN AND CHEEKS WAS UNDOUBTEDLY A TRUE BABY, A GOOD AND DELIGHTFUL THING IN SUSANNAH'S ESTIMATION. HAD THE BIBLE IN THE HILL BEEN A TRUE BIBLE? SUSANNAH INTUITIVELY KNEW THAT EMMA SMITH, BENDING WITH GRAVE RAPTURE OVER HER FIRSTBORN, WAS NOT TRYING TO deceive her. "IT SEEMS TO ME," SHE SAID, "THAT IT IS TERRIBLY WICKED OF YOU TO BELIEVE ABOUT THIS BIBLE." HER UTTERANCE BECAME THICK WITH her rising indignation. "How can you sit and hold that child and say such terribly wicked things?" She could not have told WHY SHE REFERRED TO THE CHILD; THE MOMENT BEFORE IT WAS SPOKEN SHE HAD NOT FORMULATED THE THOUGHT. SHE WAS NOT OLD enough to reason about the sacredness of babies; she only felt. THE TEARS STARTED TO EMMA'S EYES. SHE CLASPED HER CHILD TO HER BREAST. "YES, I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL. I FELT THAT WAY TOO MYSELF, AND SOMETIMES EVEN YET IT FRIGHTENS ME; BUT, YOU SEE, I KNOW IT IS TRUE, SO IT MUST BE RIGHT. BUT I'VE GIVEN UP EXPECTING OTHER PEOPLE TO BELIEVE IT JUST YET, UNTIL JOSEPH IS ALLOWED TO PREACH, AND THEN IT'S BEEN REVEALED TO HIM THAT THE NATIONS SHALL BE GATHERED IN. ONLY YOU LOOKED SO—SO BEAUTIFUL—YOU SEE, I THOUGHT PERHAPS GOD MIGHT HAVE SENT YOU TO be a friend to me. I have no friends because of the way they persecute Joseph." SUSANNAH TURNED IN INCREDULOUS WRATH AND TRAMPED, YOUNG AND HAUGHTY, TO THE OUTER DOOR. THE FIRST DROPS OF A HEAVY shower were falling; she hesitated. "BUT TELL HER ABOUT THE WITNESSES, EMMAR." OLD LUCY STOOD HALF-WAY BETWEEN THE BED AND THE DOOR, MAKING NODS AND BECKS IN HER EXCITED DESIRE THAT SUSANNAH SHOULD BE IMPRESSED. "FOR WHEN THE DEAR LORD SAW THAT FOLKS WOULDN'T B'LIEVE Joseph, He didn't leave him without witnesses." SUSANNAH, STOPPED BY THE WEATHER, FELT MORE WILLING TO CONCILIATE. SHE RETURNED GLOOMILY WITHIN THE SOUND OF EMMA'S gentle voice. "IT WAS MR. COWDERY AND MR. WHITMER AND MR. HARRIS," EMMA SAID. "MR. COWDERY AND MR. WHITMER SAW THE GOLD PLATES HELD IN THE AIR, AS IT WERE BY HANDS THEY COULDN'T SEE, BUT MARTIN HARRIS HE HAD TO WITHDRAW HIMSELF BECAUSE HE COULDN'T SEE THE VISION, AND HE WENT AWAY BY HIMSELF AND SOBBED AND CRIED. BUT JOSEPH WENT AND PUT HIS ARM AROUND HIM AND PRAYED THAT HIS FAITH MIGHT BE STRENGTHENED, AND THEN HE SAW IT. SO THEY THREE HAVE WRITTEN THEIR TESTIMONY IN THE front of the book that's being printed." A STORM HAD NOW BROKEN UPON THE HOUSE IN TORRENTS. THE DOOR WAS SHUT. EMMA WRAPPED HER CHILD CLOSER IN HER SHAWL. SUSANNAH SAT SULKY AND DISCONSOLATE. SHE HAD A VAGUE IDEA THAT THE VENGEANCE OF HEAVEN WAS OVERTAKING HER FOR MERELY LISTENING TO SUCH HERESY. OVER AGAINST THIS WAS A SHADOWY DOUBT WHETHER IT MIGHT NOT BE TRUE, ROUSED BY EMMA'S continued persistency. "IS IT ANY EASIER TO BELIEVE THAT THOSE THINGS HAPPENED TO FOLKS WHEN THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN? DON'T YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD APPEARED TO MOSES AND SAMUEL AND TOLD THEM THE VERY WORDS TO WRITE DOWN, AND SHOWED THEM VISIONS; AND ISN'T HE THE SAME GOD YESTERDAY, TO-DAY, AND FOR EVER? IT'S JUST WHAT IT SAYS IN THE BIBLE SHALL COME ABOUT IN THE LATTER DAYS. IT'S BECAUSE OF THE GREAT APOSTASY OF THE CHURCH, NO ONE REALLY BELIEVING IN JESUS CHRIST, THAT A NEW PROPHET HAD TO APPEAR —that's Joseph." "They do believe," Susannah spoke sullenly. "WELL, THERE'S YOUR AUNT, MIS' CROOM. NOW SHE'S AS GOOD AS THERE IS IN THE MODERN CHURCH, ISN'T SHE? SHE'S DOING ALL SHE CAN TO SAVE HER SOUL. SHE CAN'T DO IT, FOR SHE DON'T BELIEVE. WHY THE LORD, HE SAID THAT SIGNS AND WONDERS SHOULD FOLLOW THEM THAT BELIEVE. HAVE THEY ANY SIGNS AND WONDERS UP AT YOUR PLACE? AND HE SAID THAT BELIEVERS MUST FORSAKE ALL, HOUSES AND LANDS AND ALL; WHAT HAVE YOUR PEOPLE FORSOOK? AND AS TO ITS BEING HARD TO BELIEVE ABOUT JOSEPH—YOU JUST TAKE THE THINGS IN THE BIBLE, ELISHA AND THE BEARS, FOR INSTANCE, AND PAUL BRINGING BACK DORCAS TO LIFE, AND JUST THINK HOW HARD THEY'D BE TO BELIEVE IF YOU HEARD THEY HAPPENED YESTERDAY, NEXT DOOR TO YOU. AND WITH GOD ALL TIMES AND PLACES IS THE SAME. SOULS IS ONLY SAVED BY BELIEVING; THE LORD SAYS SO, AND ACCEPTING THE THINGS OF FAITH TO COME TO PASS, and being baptized and giving up all and following; and it's an awful thing to lose one's soul." AT THIS REITERATION OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE SOUL AS A THING APART FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OF REASON AND CHARACTER, SUSANNAH rose, ready to cry with anger. Her aunt's agitation on the subject had left a sore to which the gentlest touch was pain. "I DON'T BELIEVE IT," SHE CRIED. "I DON'T BELIEVE GOD WANTS US TO DO ANYTHING EXCEPT JUST GOOD. THAT'S WHAT my FATHER TOLD me. I'm going home. I don't care how it rains." EMMA DID NOT HEAR HER. OVER HER PALE YOUNG FACE HAD COME THE PECULIAR EXPRESSION OF ALERT AND LOVING LISTENING. SHE had detected the sound of a footstep which Susannah now heard coming heavily near. A LARGE MAN OF ABOUT TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE ENTERED FROM THE BLUSTER OF THE STORM. AS SUSANNAH WAS TRYING TO PUSH out past him into its fury, he paused, staring in rough astonishment. LUCY HUNG ON TO HER ARM. "STAY A BIT! JOSEPH MUST HOLD THE UMBRELLA OVER MISS. EMMAR, TELL HER SHE CAN'T NO WISE GO alone." Susannah fled into the driving sheets of rain, but Joseph Smith, umbrella in hand, followed her. CHAPTER III. THE UMBRELLA WAS A VERY HEAVY ONE. SUSANNAH CERTAINLY COULD NOT HAVE HELD IT AGAINST THE WIND. JOSEPH SMITH HELD THE SHELTER BETWEEN SUSANNAH AND THE BLAST, LOOKING AT HER OCCASIONALLY WITH A KINDLY EXPRESSION IN HIS BLUE EYES, BUT MERELY to see how far it sheltered her. THEY WALKED IN SILENCE FOR ABOUT A QUARTER OF A MILE. THE RAIN SWEPT UPON HER SKIRT AND FEET; SHE SAW IT FALLING THICK ON EITHER SIDE; SHE SAW IT BEATING UPON SMITH'S SHOULDER, UPON ONE SIDE OF HIS HAT, AND DRIPPING FROM HIS LIGHT HAIR. THE WIND WAS SO STRONG THAT THE VERY DROPS THAT TRICKLED FROM HIS HAIR WERE BLOWN BACKWARD. HIS BLUE COAT WAS OLD—NOT MUCH protection, she thought, against the storm. THE FALSE PROPHET HAD HITHERTO APPEARED QUITE AS TERRIBLE TO HER IMAGINATION AND AS FAR REMOVED FROM REAL LIFE AS THE WILD BEAST OF STORY BOOKS; NOW HE APPEARED VERY MUCH LIKE ANY OTHER MAN—RATHER MORE KIND IN HIS ACTIONS, PERHAPS, AND distrait in his thought. Susannah began to think herself a discoverer. "You are not keeping the rain off yourself." "It don't matter about me. I don't mind getting wet." His tone carried conviction. After a while gratitude again stirred her into speech. "I'm afraid you find it awfully hard holding up the umbrella." HE GAVE A GLANCE DOWNWARD AT HER AS SHE TOILED BY HIS SIDE. "WHY YOU'RE MOST BLOWN AWAY AS IT IS. YOU COULDN'T GET ALONG WITHOUT THE UMBRELLAR." REGARDING HER ATTENTIVELY FOR A MINUTE, HE ADDED, "EMMAR WILL BE VEXED WHEN SHE HEARS that your dress got so splashed." THEY WERE BOTH BENDING SOMEWHAT FORWARD AGAINST THE WIND; THE ROAD BENEATH THEM WAS GLISTENING WITH STANDING WATER. WHEN THEY PASSED BY THE WOODS THE TREES WERE CREAKING AND CRACKING, AND OVER THE MEADOWS HUNG SHIFTING VEILS OF clouds and rain. "I GUESS I'D BETTER NOT TAKE YOU FARTHER THAN SHARON PECK'S. YOUR FOLKS WOULD BE PRETTY MAD IF YOU WALKED THROUGH THE village with Joe Smith." THE LINES ROUND SUSANNAH'S MOUTH STRENGTHENED THEMSELVES; SHE FELT HERSELF SUPERIOR TO THOSE WHOSE ATTITUDE OF MIND HE had thus described. "You have been very kind to come with me. I'd like better to go home than stop, if it isn't too far." "I GUESS NOT. IF YOU'D LIVED HERE LONGER YOU'D KNOW THAT THERE WAS ALL MANNER OF EVIL SAID ABOUT ME, AND THE WORST OF IT IS that some of it's true. I've been a pretty low sort of fellow, and I hain't got any education to speak of." SHE LOOKED UP AT HIM IN ASTONISHMENT; THE EXPRESSION OF HIS FACE WAS PEACEFUL AND KINDLY. "THEN WHY DO YOU GO ABOUT preaching and saying—" "I HAIN'T GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT AT ALL. IF AN ANGEL COMES FROM HEAVEN AND GIVES ME A PARTIC'LAR REVELATION, CALLING ME BY NAME, NAMELY, 'JOSEPH SMITH, JUNIOR,' TAIN'T FOR ME TO SAY HE'S MADE A MISTAKE AND COME TO THE WRONG MAN, THOUGH GOODNESS KNOWS I HEV SAID IT TO THE LORD OFTEN ENOUGH; BUT NOW I'VE COME TO SEE THAT IT'S MY BUSINESS JUST TO DO WHAT I'M TOLD. BUT AS TO THE LOW WAYS I HED—WHY, I'VE REPENTED AND GIVE THEM UP, AND AS TO THE EDUCATION, I'M TRYING TO GET that, but it won't come in a minute." HER CONSCIENCE WAS NOT AT REST; TO BE SILENT WAS LIKE TELLING A LIE, AND FROM MOTIVES OF FEAR, TOO! AT LENGTH SHE BURST OUT, "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU EVER SAW AN ANGEL, MR. SMITH. I THINK IT'S VERY WICKED OF YOU TO HAVE MADE IT UP, AND ABOUT THE GOLD Bible too." THEY WERE STILL HALF A MILE FROM THE NEAREST HOUSE. SUSANNAH GASPED. WHEN SHE HAD SPOKEN HER DEFIANCE SHE REALISED THAT IF SHE HAD NOTHING WORSE TO FEAR, SHE AT LEAST DESERVED TO BE LEFT ALONE AMONG THE RAGING ELEMENTS. SHE STAGGERED somewhat, expecting a rebuff. "I guess you'd better take my arm," he said. "It ain't no sort of a day for a woman to be out." WHEN SHE HESITATED, FLUSHED AND FRIGHTENED, A SMILE CAME FOR THE FIRST TIME ACROSS HIS FACE. "YOU'RE ALMOST BEAT BACK BY THE WIND. IT WON'T HURT YOU TO GRIP HOLD OF MY SLEEVE, YOU KNOW, EVEN IF I AM A THUNDERING BIG LIAR. I DON'T KNOW AS I CAN EXPECT YOU TO BELIEVE ANYTHING ELSE. EMMAR DIDN'T FOR A LONG TIME, BUT THEN, AFTER A SPELL, SHE GAVE UP ALL THE COMFORTS OF her father's house just to stand by me, and no one's ever had a word to say against Emmar." They stopped at a farmhouse on the outskirts of the village. SMITH HAD SAID TO SUSANNAH, "THERE'S A GENTLEMAN I KNOW STOPPING AT SHARON PECK'S. I'LL PASS THE UMBRELLAR ON TO HIM, AND HE'LL TAKE YOU HOME. HE'S BEEN A QUAKER, BUT I GUESS YOU'LL FIND HIM A PRETTY NICE YOUNG GENTLEMAN. MRS. PECK, SHE isn't to home." HE LEFT SUSANNAH STANDING UPON THE LEE SIDE OF A WOODEN HOUSE AMID TREELESS FIELDS. THE EAVES SHELTERED HER. SHE STOOPED DOWN AND WITH BOTH HANDS WRUNG THE WATER FROM HER SKIRTS. SHE WAS BUSY OVER THIS WHEN THE PROMISED ESCORT joined her. THE REMNANTS OF HIS FORSAKEN QUAKERISM HUNG AROUND HIM; HIS COAT WAS BUFF, HIS HAT STRAIGHT IN THE BRIM, HIS MANNER PRIM, AND WHEN HE SPOKE IT WAS IN THE SPEECH OF HIS PEOPLE. HIS COMPLEXION WAS VERY LIGHT, HAIR, EYEBROWS AND LASHES, AND THE DOWN ON HIS CHIN—ALMOST FLAXEN; HIS FACE WAS BROWNED BY EXPOSURE TO THE WEATHER, BUT SO WELL FORMED THAT Susannah found him very good to look upon, the features pointed and delicate, but not without strength. "Thou wilt walk as far as thy home with me?" he asked. HE HELD SMITH'S HUGE UMBRELLA, BUT HE DID NOT HOLD IT WITH THE SAME STRENGTH, NOR DID HE SHOW THE SAME SKILL IN KEEPING IT against the wind. He spoke as they walked. "Thou hast walked a long way. Art weary?" "YES—NO—I DON'T KNOW." WHAT DID IT MATTER WHETHER SHE WAS TIRED OR NOT? BAFFLED CURIOSITY WAS EXCITING HER. "YOU are a stranger here. Are you a friend of the Smiths?" "I have experienced the great benefit of being acquainted with the prophet for the last fourteen days." "But he's not a prophet," said Susannah resentfully. "DID'ST THOU NEVER FIND THYSELF TO BE MISTAKEN WHEN THOU WAST MOST SURE? HAST THOU NOT PERCEIVED THAT THY BIBLE TELLS thee in many different ways that God chooses not as men choose?" THEN WITH GREAT ARDOUR HE PREACHED TO HER THE DOCTRINE OF THIS NEW CHRISTIAN SECT. HE WAS A CONVERT; HIS PREACHING WAS RATHER THE EAGER RECITAL OF HIS OWN EXPERIENCE, WHICH WOULD OUT, LIKE SOME DYNAMIC FORCE WITHIN HIM, THAN PRESSURE brought wilfully to bear upon her. HE SAID, "I DO NOT ASK THEE, FRIEND, IF THOU ART METHODIST OR BAPTIST OR PRESBYTERIAN, BUT I DO ASK THEE, CANST THOU READ the promises of thy Lord to his church and be content with its present low estate?" SUSANNAH WAS HABITUATED TO SOME RECOGNITION OF HER BEAUTY; SHE MISSED IT HERE, NOT KNOWING WHAT SHE MISSED. SMITH HAD KNOWN THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR HER TO BE SHELTERED FROM THE WIND; HE WAS SORRY THAT HER SKIRTS WERE SPLASHED; HIS MANNER, CASUAL AS IT HAD BEEN, HAD AT LEAST HAD IN IT THAT ELEMENT OF "BECAUSE YOU ARE YOU," THE FIRST ESSENTIAL OF ANY HUMAN RELATIONSHIP. BUT SUSANNAH LIKED THE YOUNG QUAKER MUCH BETTER THAN SMITH; HE WAS OF FINER FIBRE, AND HER HEART WAS AGAPE FOR YOUNG COMPANIONSHIP; SO, UNCONSCIOUSLY, SHE RESENTED HIS INDIFFERENCE, NOT ONLY AS TO HER SECT BUT AS TO her sex. "My father was an Englishman," she replied with dignity, not knowing why this seemed sufficient answer. THE QUAKER PROCEEDED EAGERLY WITH HIS OWN STORY. HE HAD SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DILIGENTLY, AND FOUND IN THEM NO WARRANT FOR BELIEVING THAT THE AGE OF MIRACLES AND DIRECT REVELATIONS WOULD EVER PASS FROM THE CHURCH. THEN UPON THE GLOOM OF HIS DEEP DESPONDENCY A STAR HAD ARISEN. HE HAD HEARD OF A YOUNG MAN, POOR, OBSCURE, ILLITERATE, WHO HAD DARED TO COME FORTH SAYING AGAIN, AS ST. PETER HAD ONCE SAID, "THIS IS THAT WHICH WAS SPOKEN BY THE PROPHET JOEL." HE had come far to hear the word, and, upon hearing it, he had found rest for himself and a hope for the world. HIS ARDOUR WAS BEGINNING TO TELL UPON SUSANNAH'S MIND. THE DESIRE AWOKE WITHIN HER FOR SOME FELLOWSHIP WITH HIS enthusiasm. Stronger was the desire to receive personal recognition from the fair-faced youth. "I AM ENGLISH," SHE REPEATED, "AND OF COURSE I THINK IT VERY WICKED TO ADD ANYTHING TO THE BIBLE; IT SAYS SO IN THE Revelation." "THAT TO ME ALSO WAS A STUMBLING-BLOCK FOR A SHORT TIME; BUT IF THOU WILT CONSIDER, FRIEND, THAT THE BOOK OF MORMON IS THE HISTORY OF GOD'S DEALING WITH THE WILD RACES OF OUR OWN CONTINENT FROM THE TIME OF NOAH UNTIL THE TIME OF MARONI, WHICH WOULD BE ABOUT THREE HUNDRED YEARS AFTER THE FIRST COMING OF THE LORD, AND THAT THIS SACRED HISTORY, SO NECESSARY FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF US WHO MUST NOW DWELL IN THE SAME LAND, COULD NOT BE GIVEN UNTIL THIS CONTINENT WAS KNOWN TO THE WORLD, THOU WILT CEASE TO CAVIL, AND WILT IN ALL HUMILITY BELIEVE THAT THAT WHICH IS DONE OF THE HAND OF THE LORD CANNOT BE wrong." FAITH BEGGING THE QUESTION IS A SIGHT TO WHICH THE EYE OF EXPERIENCE BECOMES ACCUSTOMED, BUT SUSANNAH, STANDING UPON THE THRESHOLD OF LIFE, BLINKED AND FAILED TO FOCUS HER VISION, FEELING VAGUELY THAT DURING THE LAST PHRASE SOME ONE HAD turned a somersault, and that too quickly to be watched. "THOU WILT THINK UPON THESE THINGS?" THE YOUNG QUAKER STOOD IN THE STORM AND LOOKED EARNESTLY UPON SUSANNAH, WHO was upon her uncle's doorstep, within shelter of the brown pent house. SUSANNAH SMILED. IT WAS A PERFECTLY INSTINCTIVE SMILE, NOT ONE SELF-CONSCIOUS THOUGHT WENT BEHIND OR BEFORE. SHE SMILED because the young man was comely, and because she was young and wanted companionship. "I DON'T KNOW," SHE SAID WITH PERFECT FRANKNESS; "MY AUNT WILL BE SO VEXED WITH ME WHEN SHE HEARS THAT I'VE BEEN TO THE Smiths that I don't believe I'll be allowed to think of anything this good while." HER SMILE, HER GIRLISHNESS, SEEMED AT LAST TO PIERCE BENEATH THE ARMOUR OF HIS DEVOUT ABSTRACTION. FORTUNE AT WORK CHOOSES HER A FINE-EDGED INSTRUMENT, AND JOSEPH SMITH, WITH UNERRING BUT PROBABLY HALF CONSCIOUS INSTINCT, HAD SENT THE RIGHT MESSENGER. THE CLOUD OF SERIOUS INTENT ON THE YOUTH'S FACE BROKE NOW INTO A SUDDEN ADMIRING GLANCE, HALF PLAYFUL YET FULLY EARNEST. HIS GRAY EYES HELD FOR A MOMENT GRACIOUS PARLEY WITH HERS. "WILT THOU," HE ASKED, STILL SMILING, "GIVE IT as excuse in the d...