CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
215 
self and his faithful wife a modest shack, thereafter observing 
with comparative indifference the surge of humanity pressing 
on westward, ever westward. As for himself, he was quite con¬ 
tent to stay put and minister unto the spiritual needs of his de¬ 
voted flock. For almost half a century he had discharged with 
fervor all the duties of one called to his high office and with 
little thought of price or pay. He had joined together in the 
holy bonds of matrimony all the courting lads and lassies of the 
community, blessed the offspring of such unions, solaced those 
in distress, preached to the living, and buried the dead. If, 
perchance, recipients of his kind offices dropped a dime or two 
with him for his services, then such was accepted with grati¬ 
tude. If, on the contrary, nothing was proffered him, he en¬ 
tertained no unkind thought, neither spoke an unkind word 
concerning those who had so thoughtlessly neglected their blind 
old minister, since he loved his fellowman next to Him whom 
he served daily. 
One summer day as he was seated upon his vine-covered 
porch, peering out across the landscape with eyes that no 
longer beheld its beauty and charm, the thought suddenly 
came to him that it was time to go out to the barnyard and 
give his family horse and milchcow their ration of grain and 
hay for the evening. His faithful wife was busily engaged in 
the kitchen preparing their “snack” for supper. With hickory 
cane in hand he made his way past the front yard gate, tapping 
every familiar object as he trudged along, just to make sure 
that he would not stray from the familiar path. When the old 
gentleman had been gone long enough to have done all his 
chores and returned, the wife heard him calling to her, seem¬ 
ingly in distress. As she hastened to the scene she observed 
that he had strayed far from the beaten trail and appeared to 
be walking in circles and getting farther and farther from his 
destination. 
In a vain endeavor to conceal from him her concern over his 
unaccountable and meaningless meanderings, she proceeded to 
reprimand him: “Well, ol’ man, what on earth has come over 
ye” ? Here we has been a-livin’ here for nigh unto fifty years, 
and ye’ve been a-walkin’ this path more times a day than ye’ve 
