f men and hold them? Will they
bolt or stand fire? The time has come to begin the meeting and we
plunge in. "Come on, boys, let's have a sing-song; gather round the
piano and let's sing some of the old camp songs." Out come the little
camp song books, and we start in on a few favorite choruses. A dozen
voices call for "John Brown's Body," "Tennessee," "Kentucky Home," "A
Long, Long Trail," etc. Soon we have several hundred men seated around
the piano and the chorus gathers in volume. Now we call for local
talent. A boy with blue eyes and a clear tenor voice sings of home. A
red-headed humorist climbs on the table; and at his impersonations, his
acting, and comic songs, the crowd shouts with glee.

Our heart sinks within us as we look over this sea of faces and wonder
how we are going to hold this crowd that this man seems to have in the
hollow of his hand. Somehow these men must be gripped and held to the
last. "Boys, what was the greatest battle of the war?" we ask. "Was
it the brave stand of little Belgium at Liege? Was it the splendid
retreat of the little British army from Mons? Was it the battle of the
Marne, when the French and British struck their first offensive blow?
Was it the great stand at Ypres, or the defense of Verdun, or the drive
on the Somme? What is _your_ hardest battle? Is it not within, in the
fight with passion? Now is the time to challenge every sin that
weakens a man or the nation. How about drink? Is it a friend or foe?
How about gambling? How about impurity?" Here we mass our guns on the
greatest danger of the war. In five minutes the room is quiet, in ten
minutes we have the ear of every man in the hut, the last man has
stopped talking, and now the battle is on. They are gripped on the
moral question; how can we get them to the religious issue? These men
have the root of religion in their souls, but they do not know it.
They believe in strength, in purity, in generosity. We show that they
are often falling before temptation, but the very things that they most
admire are all found in their fulness in Jesus Christ.

Now we make use of a simple illustration. We hold up a gold coin
hidden in our hand and offer it as a gift. "Who will take me at my
word and ask for this gift?" At last a man rises in the back of the
hall, there is a little scene, and then a burst of applause as he
receives it and goes to his seat. "Now why didn't _you_ come? Some of
you didn't believe