ALLA DERIDING THE IDOLS.
AMMON'S MISSION TO THE LAMANITES.
I.
AMMON EMBARKS ON A MISSION
Ammon was the Napoleon of the western hemisphere. One trembles to think what a man of such power might have done, had he used it for his own aggrandizement, instead of converting souls. He was a king's son, and though not the eldest, he was chief among his brothers, for his name is always mentioned first.
During a brilliant and careless youth, the whole course of his life had been metamorphosed by a miracle. Thenceforth he consecrated his life to the work of the Lord, beside which a mere earthly kingdom sank into insignificance.
When Mosiah, king of the Nephites, waxed old, there was no one to take his place as his four sons had elected to go as missionaries to the Lamanites. His death marked the beginning of the reign of the judges.
Heavily armed, the missionaries departed into the wilderness. Their weapons were not designed for their fellow man, but for wild game that they should kill for food. That they went hungry was not due to their lack of prowess, for they often chose to fast that the spirit of the Lord would be with them. Nor was their sacrifice without effect, for the Lord promised them that if they made examples of their lives that they should be instruments in his hands unto the salvation of many souls.
It was characteristic of Ammon that he should separate from his companions and go up to the land of Ishmael alone. Here, skirting the woods, he was captured by the Lamanites, and, like every Nephite caught on their borders, was taken before their king.
Lamoni was in a good humor. He had just returned from the hunt where he had killed the silver fox. As he threw himself back on his divan, he took in the points of the prisoner with the keen eye of a connoisseur. With discriminating approval, he noted the swelling muscles beneath the loose garments of the white man, but with black suspicion, demanded, "What are you doing here?"