't know Hebrew! No; but A
know th' language o' th' man on the street; an A know life; an' A know
God; an' A know how to putt righteousness in the end o' my doubled
fist; which is what th' world is wantin'. Y'r learned men, what are
they do in' for th' man on the street? 'Darkening counsel without
knowledge,' while the people go gropin' in the dark for light.

"Y' wonder how a man, who was a whiskey smuggler an' a gambler an' a
contractor, who could skin the Devil, comes to be a preacher, Wayland;
a missionary t' th' Cree?"

"Yes, I have wondered, sometimes," confessed Wayland. "I could not
just reconcile you with the poverty-stricken, down-in-the-mouth--"

"Don't say 'poverty-stricken', Wayland! A'm . . . rich. A've _never_
known want! God has taken care of me since A put it squarely up to
Him! A've my wife! A've my children! A've my ranch; an' my ranch
pays for the school! A've never known want! Why, man, thirty dollars
a year is more than A need for m' clothes! A'm rich! What wud A be
doin' goin' among a lot o' kiddie boys t' study Hebrew when A know the
language o' the man on the street; an' A know God? 'Twas the bishop's
idea t' have me come t' College at forty years o' age an' potter t'
A-B-C an' white collar an' clerics buttoned up the back an' a' the
rest." The old frontiersman laughed. "Poh! What for wud A waste m'
years doin' that? A'd wasted forty servin' the Devil. A'd no more
years t' waste. A must be up, up, up an' doin', Wayland, the way y'r
up an' doin', for the Nation. A'd earned m' livin' when A served th'
Devil! A would earn m' livin' when A served God; an' as A spoke th'
Cree, A tackled them first; an' now we're buildin' our hospital.

"How did it happen, y' ask?" The old frontiersman sat down on a log.
"God knows! A don't! A can no more tell y', Wayland, what happened t'
me, than y' cud tell a man what comin' off th' Desert an' bathin' in a
cool mountain stream was like; no more than y' cud tell what happened
t' y', when y' first looked in her eyes an' read, love! God, man, it
_was_ love! That's what happened t' me! A all of a sudden got t' see
what life meant when ye bathed in love. God looked into m' eyes,
Wayland, that was it! An' all th' dirt o' me shrivelled up an' th' mud
in m' manhood, way yours did when y' looked in her eyes! A needed
washin', Wayland, that was it, an' then A saw Him on the Cross as y'
see _that_--yon Cross there in the sky. 'Sense o' sin!'