The Angel of the Gila: A Tale of ArizonaMarsland, Cora
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The Angel of the Gila: A Tale of Arizona
Marsland, Cora
Arizona -- Fiction; Love stories; Women teachers -- Fiction
The look of one who bears the sorrow of his race upon his heart came
into the beautiful face. And the men watched him with deepening
reverence for their kind.
One who had thus far been silent spoke.
"But if the soul is immortal, spiritual death cannot come."
The old man looked keenly into the young man's eyes. He spoke with
deepest conviction as he said:
"I believe there is almost no limit to the possibilities of the mind
and soul to him whose ideals are high, whose courage is great, and who
holds himself to the very highest ideals of living. Christ paved the
way for such a life for every young man. That sort of life is real
living, for it means constructive work in the world. It means growth,
immortality.
"To come short of what one might be, steadily, increasingly, brings
moral deterioration, atrophy;--to my mind, the saddest form of death.
It is life to grow toward the Divine. My son, it will soon be too
late. Turn Godward now. Shall we pray?"
Then up to the throne of God went a prayer for these young men,--sons
of parents who had long ago lost their grip on them.
For about two weeks, religious meetings were held daily. Night after
night the room was crowded. The services consisted of talks by David
Bright, songs, short prayers and testimony. Sometimes several men and
women would be on their feet at once, eager to voice their repentance,
and to testify of God's mercy.
The interest did not end here. Down in the mines, brief meetings were
held daily at the noon hour. One group of miners would start a hymn;
then way off, another group would catch up the refrain. On many lips
the oath or unclean story died unspoken.
Men sought David Bright as they would a father confessor, pouring the
story of their lives into his kind and sympathetic ear. They seemed to
know intuitively that he was a man of God. What mattered, if he were
Catholic or Protestant? He found men evil, and left them good.
And Esther Bright's influence was hardly less marked. Her deep
spirituality made her a great power for righteousness.
John Harding seemed scarcely less interested in saving men's souls
than she. "Giving men a chance," he called it. He went from mining
camp to mining camp, carrying the tidings of salvation, and urging men
to repent. And those who heard him not only came to the meetings, but
began to bring others also. And so the work grew.
It was at the close of David Bright's second week in Gila that the
most impressive meeting was held. At its close, the aged evangelist
bade them farewell. Then they crowded about him, thanking him for all
he had done for them, and asking him to remember them in his prayers.
Kenneth Hastings was the last to speak with him. He asked for a
personal interview. Then arm in arm, they strolled up the mountain
road.
What was said during that interview no one ever knew. But when the two
returned to Clayton Ranch, David Bright walked with his hand resting
on the young man's shoulder. Esther heard her grandfather say to him:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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