I had feared that the
day had been lost to that goodly labor, to which all my days have
been given for seventeen years, come the first sabbath in the next
November. But what thou hast said, awakens hope in my soul that such
will not be the case. Let not my counsels fail thee, Alfred;--let
thy zeal warm; let thy spirit work within thee, and thy words
kindle, in the service of the Lord. How it will rejoice me to
see thee taking up the scrip and the staff and setting forth for
the wildernesses of the Mississippi, of Arkansas, and Texas, far
beyond;--bringing the wild man of the frontier, and the red savage,
into the blessed fold and constant company of the Lord Jesus, to
whom all praise!"
"It were indeed a glorious service," responded the young stranger--whom
we shall proceed, hereafter, to designate by the name by which he
has called himself. He spoke musingly, and with a gravity that was
singularly inflexible--"it were indeed a glorious service. Let me
see, there were thousands of miles to traverse before one might reach
the lower Arkansas; and I reckon, Mr. Cross, the roads are mighty
bad after you pass the Mississippi--nay, even in the Mississippi,
through a part of which territory I have gone only this last summer,
there is a sad want of causeways, and the bridges are exceedingly
out of repair.
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