A CIRCUIT RIDER'S WIFE
by
CORRA HARRIS
With Illustrations by William H. Everett
[Frontispiece: The old, burly country doctor bending above me.]
Philadelphia Henry Altemus Company
Copyright, 1910, by the Curtis Publishing Company Copyright, 1910, by Howard E. Altemus
TO THE MEMORY OF
WILLIAM
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. I AM CHOSEN INSTEAD OF THE PRAYER MEETING VIRGIN II. I BUILD FOR MYSELF A MONUMENT MORE ENDURING THAN BRASS III. THE REVIVAL AT REDWINE IV. WILLIAM AS A LEADER OF FORLORN HOPE V. GOD'S ANNUALS VI. WILLIAM ENTERS HIS WORLDLY MIND VII. THE LITTLE ITINERANT--AND OTHERS VIII. I HOLD THE STAGE IX. WILLIAM AND THE FEMININE SOUL X. WILLIAM BECOMES A PRODIGAL XI. FINANCES AND FASHIONS XII. THE CHEERFUL LITTLE DOG THAT LED THE BLIND MAN XIII. WILLIAM WRESTLING WITH TRAVELING ANGELS XIV. CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT THE NATURE OF A PRIEST XV. SKELETONS IN WILLIAM'S DOCTRINAL CLOSET XVI. IN THE LITTLE GRAVEYARD BEHIND REDWINE CHURCH XVII. BACK AGAIN TO THE WORLD XVIII. CONSCIENTIOUS SCRUPLES ABOUT THE CHURCH
ILLUSTRATIONS
The Old, Burly Country Doctor Bending Above Me . . . . . _Frontispiece_
Brother Tom Pratt, a Prominent Member, Had Backslided
With Such Sad Hunger in Their Faces
"I'll Pay You, Parson. I'll Pay as Soon as I'm Able"
I Heard Him in His Study Singing
"It's Going to Be an Awful Night, Don't Go--She Is Not a Member of Your Church"
Then He Took Up with Job in the Scriptures
Not So Much for Him as for Fear He Would Not Understand
CHAPTER I
I AM CHOSEN INSTEAD OF THE PRAYER MEETING VIRGIN
If you will look back over the files of the "Southern Christian Advocate," published at the time in Macon, Georgia, you will find the following notice--by a singular coincidence on the page devoted to "obituaries": "Married--Mary Elizabeth Eden to William Asbury Thompson. The bride is the daughter of Colonel and Mrs. Eden, of Edenton; the groom is the son of the late Reverend Dr. and Mrs. Asbury Thompson, and is serving his first year in the itinerancy on the Redwine Circuit. We wish the young people happiness and success in their chosen field."
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: A Circuit Rider's Wife by Corra Harris
- 2: In Edenton the best families attended the Episcopal Church
- 3: With all the roses in Edenton blooming
- 4: In the valley below lived the people of Redwine Church
- 5: Them's the members of the Redwine
- 6: I had never before been in a Methodist church
- 7: And it is certainly cheating the Episcopalians
- 8: Sister Salter was still in her baptismal mood and
- 9: The revival was to begin at Redwine
- 10: The altar suddenly filled with penitents
- 11: Who feel that their sins are forgiven
- 12: I remained in the next room with Sister Fleming
- 13: I can understand why you want Brother Fleming to live
- 14: And he wanted the preacher to help him find another
- 15: We found Sister Salter lying dim and white upon her bed
- 16: In your church with its easy ways and shiftless doctrines
- 17: I recall one of these annuals on the Redwine Circuit
- 18: Through every service at Redwine
- 19: And I was blandly of the earth earthly
- 20: Once he entered his worldly mind
- 21: After services at Beaverdam Church
- 22: Replied Doctor Betterled guardedly
- 23: That some well to do steward did not lie back in the traces
- 24: Put her in an ambulance and sent her to the hospital
- 25: One old lady on the Raburn Gap Circuit
- 26: The old midwife changed to a dragon faced butterfly
- 27: The way the innocent little things invariably hived there
- 28: Who declined to believe or even to hope in Santa Clans
- 29: He met a man and woman in a buggy
- 30: Let the Parsonage Aid Society do it
- 31: And Walker scarcely pays at all
- 32: But the Epworth League is the worst
- 33: A fluent and enthusiastic steward
- 34: He said after a frightful spiritual pause
- 35: Rich tones of his preaching voice
- 36: My sympathies are all with the preacher
- 37: That I was jealous of my husband
- 38: And there is no doubt that Horace Pendleton had a gift
- 39: So he went on loving Horace Pendleton
- 40: I fear you are prejudiced against Pendleton
- 41: I am not saying Pendleton did not have
- 42: If Horace Pendleton had put all he knew into one discourse
- 43: He was really an excellent preacher
- 44: Which of course is best for posterity
- 45: When we came to Celestial Bells
- 46: We could probably send two instead of one missionary then
- 47: And it was usually a deliciously double role
- 48: He regarded Brother Sears as a being remarkably generous
- 49: Suddenly Sears arose and strode out of the house
- 50: He was like a strong wrestling Jacob
- 51: I recall in this connection Sister Carleton
- 52: James Carleton was present at the evening service
- 53: He engaged Brother Dunn to come and help him
- 54: And the more he observed Brother Dunn
- 55: No more resembling this lightness
- 56: After a few years as pastor of village churches
- 57: But who are really psychic epileptics
- 58: I do not know what you mean by your astral shape
- 59: Martin was a vague little woman
- 60: That her degradation would become theirs
- 61: A most desperate situation is that of the Methodist apostate
- 62: We heard of her first from Brother Rheubottom
- 63: And this was the home of Sal Prout
- 64: But jest made it hard for me and waited patient for me
- 65: The Redwine Circuit was only twenty miles distant
- 66: William took on a weary look after his superannuation
- 67: Then he took up with Job in the Scriptures
- 68: And I recalled distinctly with what naive
- 69: Put down five dollars from Sister Tuttle
- 70: Who knew very well what He was about when He made us carnal
- 71: Sarah is two years older than I am
- 72: Not as these women of the world fade
- 73: I am not saying that they are not decent people
- 74: And a library hooked to the back of the pew in front of us