The Athensville Crusade.

Otago Witness, Issue 2105, 28 June 1894, Page 49

The Athensville Crusade.

" About 4 o'clock that afternoon the Women's Temperance Society "fetched up at John's saloon, about 25 strong, with old Miss Peters in Command. "Alias Peters began by locking both doora and putting the key in her pocket, so that in case John bhould feel his heart beginning to soften, and should want to make a run for it, he couldn't get away until the meeting had ite fair chance at him.

" John never made the least objection, and said as polite as ever, ' Yoost blease yourselves, ladies. Make at home of yourselves.' " And you just bet they did. " Old Miss Peters gave out a hymn, and John jdined in the singing as if he enjoyed it, and then Miss Peters announced that the entire paivy would take turns in praying for ' thisyer miserable man,' and she would lead off herself. Which she proceeded to do, giving it to John in the liveliest kind of style. She gave no end of information about him, though 1 am free to say that most of it was libellou*, and I cal'clate that on that account it wouldn't be laid up against him. " You see, he wa. a good honest tellow, and it was a little rough for Miss Peters to way that ho was the special agent of the dei il, and that, unless he gave up selling beer, he ought to be struck by lightning, both on his own account, and as a warning to other wretches as bad as him»elf, " She prayed about 10 minutes, and then auo her woman took the bat, and she mentioned that John's heart was harder than flint, and that »he was of the opinion that nothing short of some terrible affliction, such as a tudden s roke of paralysis or blindnes a , would do him any material good. " Then another woman took her turn, and so on, until about 15 had all taken a hack at John, and each one had tried to -blackguard him a little worse than her predecessors. "The sixteenth woman was just about to take her innings, when Miss Peters gave an awlul yell and jumped up on her chair, holding her skirts tight around her, and yelling ' Rats ! ' for all she was worth. " You never saw a prayer meeting burst up as sudden as that one did. "In less than a minute all the women, except two, who had fainted dead away, were standing on their cbair-. and calling to John to open the door for the love of heaven. "About a dozen rats, that John had let out of a hamper, were cavorting around the room." —The Idler.