r vacation, but by no means
his. While at Colorado Springs, where we stayed two weeks, Dr. Talmage
preached once, and once in Denver, but he did not lecture.

In Salt Lake City the Doctor preached in the Tabernacle, the throne room
of polygamy, that he had so often attacked in previous years. That was a
remarkable feature of these last milestones of his life, that all
conflicts were forgotten in a universal acknowledgment of his
evangelism. His grasp of every subject was always close to the hearts of
others, and it was instinctive, not studied.

During our visit in the West, he talked much of the effect of the
Spanish war, regarding our victory in Cuba and the Philippines as an
advance to civilisation.

We entered the Yellowstone Park at Minado and drove through the geyser
country. We stopped at Dwelly's, a little log-cabin famous to all
travellers, just before entering the park. On leaving there, we had been
told that there were occasional hold-ups of parties travelling in
private vehicles, as we were. The following day, while passing along a
lonely road, a man suddenly leaped from the bushes and seized the
bridles of the horses. The Doctor appeared to be terribly frightened,
and we were all very much excited when we saw that the driver had missed
his aim when he fired at the bandit. The robber was of the appearance
approved in dime novels; he wore a sacking over his head with eye-holes
cut in it through which he could see, and looked in all other respects
a disreputable cut-throat. Just as we were about to surrender our jewels
and money, Dr. Talmage confessed that he had arranged the hold-up for
our benefit, and that it was a practical joke of his. He was always full
of mischief, and took delight in surprising people.

On Sunday Dr. Talmage preached in the parlours of the Fountain Hotel.
The rooms were crowded with the soldiers who were stationed in the park.
The Doctor's sermon was on garrison duty; he said afterwards that he
found it extremely difficult to talk there because the rooms were small,
and the people were too close to him. We paid a visit to Mr. Henderson,
who was an official of the Yellowstone Park at that time, and whose
brother was Speaker of the House in Washington. He begged Dr. Talmage to
use his influence with members of Congress to oppose a project which had
been started, to build a trolley line through the Yellowstone Park. The
Doctor promised to do so, and I think the trolley line has not bee