Oregon City courier=herald. (Oregon City, Or.) 1898-1902, May 24, 1901, SUPPLEMENT, Image 9

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    SUPPLEMENT
Oregon City Courier-Herald
OREGON CITY, MAY 24, 1901.
I HIS STEPS.
"What Would Jesus Do?"
By CHARLES K. SHELDON.
(Oopyrlgv'wl nnd pabllthed Is book form by
the Ai noe PabllaUug Co. of Chicago.
CHAPTER VI.
For I came to set a man at variance againet hie
father, and the daughter against her mutlior. and
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
and a man'i loea shall be they of hi. own house
hold. Bt jrt therefore imitators of God, as beloved
children, and walk in lovt even aa Christ also
loved you.
When Virginia left the carriage and
went to Loreen, she had no definite idea
as to what she would do or what the
result of her action would be. She sim
ply saw a soul -that had tasted of the
joy of a better life slipping back again
into its old hell of shame and death,
and before she had touched the drunken
girl's arm she had asked only one ques
tion, "What would Jesus dot" That
question was becoming with her, as
with many others, a habit of life.
She looked around now as she stood
close - by Loreen, and the whole scene
was cruelly vivid to her. She thought
first of the girls in the carriage.
"Drive on. Don't wait for me. I am
going to Bee my friend here home," she
said, calmly enough.
The girl with the red parasol seemed
to gasp at the word "friend when Vir
ginia spoke it. She did not say any
thing. The other girls seemed speech
less.
' 'Go on. I cannot go back with you, "
said Virginia.
The driver started the horses slowly.
One of the girls leaned a little out of
the carriage.
"Can't we that is do you want
our help? Couldn't we"
"No. no!" exclaimed Virginia. "You
cannot be of eny use to me."
The carriage moved on, and Virginia
wan nlnne with her charce.
She looked up and around. Many
faces in the crowd were sympathetic.
They were rot u!l cruel or brutal. The
Holy Spirit had sov'ceuod a good deal of
the Rectangle.
"Where does she live?" asked Vir
ginia. ,
No one answered- It occurred to Vir
ginia afterward, when she hud time to
think it over, tb-.it the Rectangle showed
a delicacy in its sad silence that would
have done crt tr.t to tno ixmievaro.
For the first ti e it flashed upon her
that the immortal being who was flung
like wreckage trou the shore of this
earthly hell calle d the sidoon had no
place that could l:e ct-. Jed home. .
The girl suddenly wrenched her arm
from Virginia's gr:ivp. In doing it she
nearly threw Virginia down.
"You shall not touch me! Leave me!
Let me go to hcil ! Thv.t s where I be
long I The devil is waiting for me! See
him!" she exrV; ir. cd hoarsely. She
turned and poinioi with a shaking fin
ger at - the saloon keeper The crowd
" laughed.
. Virginia stepped up to her and put
l. ..Vw,., . I,..- -
Ud aim a mm ii iu.i
"Loreen," she said firmly, "come
with me. You do not belong to heil
You belong to Jesus, and he will save
you. Come. "
The girl luddenly burst into tears.
She was only partly sobered by the
shock of meeting Virginia.
Virginia looked around again.
"Where does Mr. Gray live!" she
asked. She knew the evangelist board
ed somewhere near that tent
A number of voices gave her the di
rection. "Come, Loreen. I want you to go
with me to Mrs. Gray's," she said, still
keeping her hold of the swaying, trem
bling creature, who still moaned and
sobbed and now clung' to Virginia as
before she had repulsed her.
So the two moved on through the
Rectangle toward the evangelist's lodg
ing placa The sight seemed to impress
the Rectangle seriously. It MW took
itself seriously when it was draatb Imt
this was different. The fact tMt oa of
th most beautifully dressed girts la
Raymond was taking care of eaaof the
Bectangle's most notorious afcaneten,
who reeled along under the iattoaw of
liquor, was a fact astonishing eeevgh
l throw more or less dignity aa4 im
portance about Loreen heisalkt The
it f Loreen stumbling tasvMh the
er dead drunk always mmm the
ltytaogle laugh and jest, bat Loreen
staggering along with a young lady
from the society circles np tew sup
porting her was another thing. The
Rectangle riewed it with soberness sad
ore or less wondering admiration.
When they reached Mr. Gray's board-
ins; place, the woman who answered
v lrgima s raocK saw mai ootn m. ana
T1 1 1 1 1 a i . il If
Mrs. Gray were out somewhere and !
would not be back until 0 o'clock.
f . u T " I , , !
Virginia had not planned anything ;
luriuer man a possiuie appeal no me
M Al Al iH. I - -.1 -
Grays either to take charge of Loreen
... . i
for awhile or find some safe place for
her until she was sober again. She stood
now at the lodging after the woman
had spoken, and she was really at a loss
to know what to da Loreen sank down
stupidly on the steps and buried her
(ace in her arms. Virginia eyed the
miserable figure with a feeling that she
was fearful would grow into disgust.
Finally a thought possessed. Virginia
that she could not resist. What was to
hinder Loreen from going home with
her? Why should not this homeless, i
wretched creature, reeking with the
fumes of liquor, be cared for in Vir- I
ginia's own home, instead of being
consigned to strangers in some hospital
or house of charity! Virginia really
knew very little about any such places
of refuge. As a matter of fact, there
were two or three such institutions in !
Raymond, but it is doubtful if any of
them would have taken a person like
Loreen in her present condition. But
that was not the question with Virginia
just now. "What would Jesus do with
Loreen! was what Virginia faced, and
she finally answered it by touching
Loreen again.
"Loreen, come! You are going home
with me. We will take the car here at
the corner."
Loreen staprgered to her feet and, to
Virginia's relief, made no trouble. She
had expected resistance or a stubborn
refusal to move. When they reached
the corner and took the car, it was
nearly full of people going up town.
Virginia was painfully conscious of the
stare that greeted her and her compan
ion as they entered, but her thought
was directed more and more to the ap
proaching scene with her grandmother.
What would Mme. Page say when she
saw Loreen 1
Loreen was nearly sober now, but she
was lapsing into a state of stupor. Vir
ginia was obliged to hold fast to her
arm. Several times she lurched heavily
against Virginia, and as the two went
np the avenue a .furious crowd of peo
ple turned and gazed at them. When
she mounted the steps of the handsome
house, Virginia breathed a sigh of re
lief, even in the (ace of the interview
with her graa&itpther, and when the
door shut and she was in the wide hall
with her homeless outcast she felt equal
to anything that might now come.
Mme. Page was in the library. Hear
ing Virginia come in, she came into the
halL Virginia stood there supporting
Loreen, whoietaoS stupidly at the rich
magnificence of the furnishings around
her.
"Grandmother" Virginia spoke
without hewtaMon and very clearly
"I have brought one of my friends
from this Rectangle. She is in trouble
and has no home. I am going to care
for her a little while. "
Mme. Page glanced from her grand
daughter to Loreen in astonishment
"Did yon say she was one of your
friends!" she asked in a cold, sneering
voice that hurt Virginia more than any
thing she had yet felt
"Yes; I said so." Virginia's face
flushed, but she seemed to recall the
verse that Mr. Gray had used for one
of his recent sermons, "A friend of pub
licans and sinners. ' ' Surely Jesus would
do this that she was doing.
"Do you know what this girl is!'
asked Mma Page in an aagry whisper,
Btepping near Virginia.
- "I know very welL She is an out
cast - You need not tell me, grand
mother. I know it even better than you
da She is drunk at this minute. But
she is also a child of God. I have seen
her on her knees repentant and I have
seen hell reach out its horrible fingers
after her again, and. by the grace of
Christ, I feel that the least I can do is
to rescue her from such peril. Grand
mother, we call ourselves Christians.
Eere 1b a poor, lost human creature
without a home, slipping into a possible
eternal loss, and we have more than
enough. I have brought her here and
shall keep her. "
Mme. Page glared at Virginia and
clinched her hands. All this was con
trary to her social code of conduct
How could society excuse each famil
iarity with the scum of the streets t
What would Virginia's actions eost the
family in the way of criticism and the
loss of standing and all that long hat of
necessary relations which people af
wealth and position must sustain to the
leaders of society ! To Mme. Page so
ciety lepresented more than the church
or any other institution. It was a pew
to . ... . nfl . Wfi(1, , Thn lnm
its good will was loss more to be
, ni . . v.
aree an anything, except the loss
.uK u,
" aBwwu.
She stood erect and stern' and con-
I S-.J Viul.l. nll n. anA Ac.
iiuuuou v Kimn. lull, luumu t..v utr-
ermjnea Virginia placed her arm
about Loreen and calmly looked her
grandmother in the face.
"You shall not do this, Virginia.
You can Bend her to the asylum for
helpless women. We can pay all the ex
penzes We cannot afford, for the sake
of our reputations, to shelter such a-
f"11
Grandmother, I do not wish to do
anything that is displeasing to you,
but I am going to keep Loreen here to
night and longer if I think it is best."
"Then you can answer for the conse
quences. I do not stay in the same
house with a miserable" Mme. Page
lost L self control. Virginia stopped
her before she could speak the next
word.
"Grandmother, this house is mine
Tt is your home with me as Ions von
chouse to remain, tt . in ttie matter I
shall act as I fully b-tlieve Jesus would
in my place. I am willing to bear all
that society may say or do. Society is
not my God. By the side of this poor,
lost soul I do not count the verdict of
society as of ary value."
"I shall not rernain here, then," said
Mme. Page. She turned suddenly and
walked to the end of the hall. She then
came back and said, with an emphasis
that revealed her intense excitement
and passion :
"You can always remember that you
have driven your grandmother out of
your house in favor of a drunken wom
an." Then, without waiting for Vir
ginia to reply, she turned again and
went tip stairs.
i Virginia called for a servant and
soon had Loreen earedfor. She was fast
lapsing into a wretched condition. Dur
ing the brief scene in the hall she had
clung to Virginia so hard that Vir-
; ginia's arm was sore from the clutch of
I th girl's fingers.
I Virginia did not know whether her
1 grandmother would leave the house or
. not She had abundant means of her
: own, was perfectly well and vigorous
i and capable of caring for herself. She
1 had sisters and brothers living in the
' south and was in the habit of spending
several weeks in the year with them.
Virginia was not anxious about her
welfare, so far as that went, brat the in
terview had been a painful one to her.
j Going over if, as she did in her room
' before she went down to tea, she found
little cause for regret, however.- "What
would Jesus do!" ; There was no ques
tion in Virginia's mind that she had
j done the right thing. If she had made
!' a mistake, it was one of the judgment
and not of the heart. When the bell
rang for tea, she went down, and her
grandmother did not appear. She sent
a servant to her room, and the servant
brought back word that Mme. Page
was not there. A few minutes later
Rollin came in. He brought word that
his grandmother had taken the evening
train for the south. He bad been at
the station to see some friends off and
had by chance met his grandmother as
he was coming out She told him her
reason for going.
Virginia and Rollin confronted each
other at the table with earnest, sad
faces.
"Rollin," said Virginia, and for the
first time almost since his conversion
she realized what a wonderful thing her
brother's change of life meant to her,
"do you blame me ! Am I wrong!"
"No, dear; I cannot believe you are.
This is very painful for us, but if you
think this poor creature owes her saf ety
and salvation to your personal care it
was the only thing for you to do. Oh,
Virginia, to think that we have all
these years enjoyed our beautiful home
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E 694, EDWIN b. UlL,l!iXUU.vjrAK I ,
2330 and ?332 Market 8treet, Fh ladeu
pbia. All correspondence strictly confi
dential. Count) Treasurer' Notice.
I now have money to pay road war
rants endorsed p ior to Autiust 11, 1H01.
Interest will cease on the warrants in
cluded in this rail on the date hereof.
Oregon 1 ity, May 17, 1901.
A. LUBLMNd,
Treasurer of Clackamas County ,Ore.
We have been askd which route is
the best to take to net to thf Buffalo ex
position. We would recommend the
northern route on account ofiibsence
from heat and dust. Take Noituern IV
c fit; from Portland to ft. Paul and the
Milwaukie from there to Chicago and
then by the Wabash direct to Buffalo.
and all these luxuries selfishly, forget
ful of the multitude like this , woman I
8urely Jesus in our placeB would do
what you have done.
And so Rollin comforted Virginia and
counseled with her that evening, and
of all the wonderful changes that Vir
ginia was henceforth to know on ac
count of her great pledge noth'ng af- -fected
her so powerfully as the thought
of Rollin's change In life. Truly, this
man in Christ was a new creature. Old
things were passed away. Behold, all
things in him had become new!
Dr. West came that evening at Vir
ginia's summons and did everything
necessary for the outcast. She had
drunk herself almost into delirium. The
best that could be done for her now
were quiet nursing and careful watch
ing and personal love. So in a beauti
ful room, with a picture of Christ
walking by the sea hanging on the
wall, where her bewildered eyes canght
daily something more of its hidden
meuning, Lioreen lay, tossea sne nuraiy
knew how into this haven, and Vir
ginia crept nearer the Master than she
had ever been its her heart went out to
ward this wreck which had thus been
flung torn and beate-n at her feet.
Meanwhile the Rfctair la waited the
issue of the election .vM'b more than
usual interest, and G:ay und his wife
wept over the pitiuMu creatnre who,
after a struggle with nurronnaius that
daily tempted them, too often wearied
of the struggle, and, like Loreen. threw
up their arms and went whirling into
the boiling abyss of their previous con
dition. To bt contlnwd.