"The man laughed, in intense enjoyment of the absurdity of the whole crazy business."
"'I'll bet five dollars to one,' he said, with easy confidence of a man who knows his bet will not be taken up, 'that you won't get the money in this town.'"
"Mr. Conwell brought the axe down with a crashing sweep, and the splinters flew out into the air like a cloud of witnesses to the efficacy of the blow."
"'You would lose your money, then,' quietly said the preacher, 'for Mr.—— just now came along and has given me a hundred dollars without solicitation.'"
"The man's eyes opened a trifle wider, and his next remark faded into a long-drawn whistle of astonishment. Presently—'Did you get the cash?' he asked feebly."
"'No, but he told me to call for it to-day.'"
"The man considered. He wasn't enjoying the situation with quite so much humor as he had been, but he was growing more interested."
"'Well! Is that so! I don't believe he meant it,' he added hopefully. Then, a man after all not disposed to go back on his own assertion, he said, 'Now I'll tell you what I'll do. If you really get that hundred dollars out of that man, I'll give you another hundred and pay it to-night,'"
"And he was as good as his word."
"All that day the preacher worked alone. Now came in the training of those early days on the farm, when he learned to swing an axe; when he builded up rugged strength in a stalwart frame, when his muscles were hardened and knotted with toil."