"When I became eighteen, much to my mother's distress, my father had me sent to the town alone, to take the position of jailer in the county prison,
"'It'll make a man of him—he's been cuddled too much—' he explained to my mother. 'If he succeeds in doing his duty, I'll have him home in a year or two and give him something worth while.'
"So off to town I went and became a jailer.
"After being there for a time, I had turned over to my care two young men. They were thrown into prison and condemned to die. Their appearance attracted me.
"'For what are they condemned?' I asked the warden.
"'They are "Mormons," answered the warden.
"'And what are "Mormons?" I asked.
"'Preachers of some newfangled religion from America, that doesn't take here,' he explained.
"Preachers condemned to die! I thought this both strange and interesting.
"So, from curiosity, I looked in upon the jailbirds, to see how they were acting. There they were on their knees, praying hard, not for deliverance, but that the Lord would forgive those who had condemned them. On seeing me, they calmly arose from their knees and asked when they were condemned to die.