ce. He placed
the negroes in the little school house and parked his teams on the
Common.

The next day was Sunday and the old Puritan hastened to church with his
faithful disciples. Amazed that he had received from the Rev. John
Todd no invitation to take part in the services, he handed Stevens a
scribbled note:

"Give it to the preacher when he comes in."

Stevens gave the minister the bit of paper without a word and resumed
his seat in the House of God.

The Rev. John Todd read the scrawl with a frown:

"John Brown respectfully requests the church at Tabor to offer public
thanksgiving to Almighty God in behalf of himself and company: _and of
their rescued captives, in particular_, for His gracious preservation
of their lives and health: and His signal deliverance of all out of the
hands of the wicked. 'Oh, give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for
His mercy endureth forever.'"

The Rev. Dr. King was in the pulpit with the militant preacher Todd that
day and the perplexed man handed the note to King.

The two servants of Christ were not impressed with the appeal. The words
Brown had marked in italics and his use of the Psalms failed to rouse
the religious fervor of the preachers. They knew that somewhere in the
crowd sat the man who had murdered Cruise and stolen those horses. They
also knew that John Brown had approved the deeds of his followers.

Todd rose and announced that he had received a petition which he could
not grant. He announced a public meeting of the citizens of the town in
the church the following day to take such action as they might see fit.

When Brown faced this meeting on Monday he felt its hostility from the
moment he rose. He made an excuse for not speaking by refusing to go on
when a distinguished physician from Missouri entered the church.

Brown demanded that the man from Missouri be expelled. The citizens of
Tabor refused. And the old man sullenly took his seat.

Stevens, the murderer, sprang to his feet and in his superb bass voice
shouted:

"So help me, God, I'll not sit in council with one who buys and sells
human flesh."

Stevens led the disciples out of the church.

At the close of the discussion the citizens of Tabor unanimously adopted
the resolution:

"_Resolved_, That while we sympathize with the oppressed and will do all
that we conscientiously can to help them in their efforts for freedom,
nevertheless we have no sympathy with those who go to slave states to