--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Evans, John Henry collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 10 number: 1 published: 1906-11 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'John Henry Evans, "His Way of It: A Story," *Improvement Era* 10, no. 1 (November 1906): 38–48.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera101unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera101unse start_page: 38 end_page: 48 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1906-11) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera101unse publication_year: 1906 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1906, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # His Way of It: A Story HIS WAY OF IT. BY JOHN HENRY EVANS, AUTHOR OF "ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM." I. "And what's your luck today, Thomas?" inquired Mary Thornton of her brother, as he entered, but remained standing just inside the room. ''Oh, about the same as William's there," he answered glancing hastily at the dejected form of his brother-in-law. "I've been out beyond the temple this morning, but there's no work as I can see, anywhere in Nauvoo. And I've been pretty much all overit, counting these three days." "William's just got back from over the river at Montrose, explained Mary in default of a word from her spouse. "There's plenty of work here," she w^nt on grimly facetious, "but the trouble is there's too many to do it." And then she added after a pause, "I wouldn't mind if we only had more for baby to eat. As for myself, I could shift another day or so." Thomas, undecided whether to remain or to go out again in search of employment, looked about the room aimlessly. His brother-in-law sat on the end of an empty box, the image of despondency, elbows on knees and chin in hands, while with his feet he kept patting, distractedly, on the loose planks of the floor. Mary was sitting on the edge of the old lumber bedstead, which was nailed to the wall, and which just then held the child wrestling with Nature over a morsel of fitful sleep. The only other objects in the room were an old stove, covered with rust and HIS WAY OF IT. 39 threatening to tumble down any minute, a small round table without paint or cloth, two stools such as are used nowadays in milking cows, and a couple of tin boxes, or trunks, containing all the worldly possessions of these three forlorn persons. Presently Thomas came further into the room, seated himself on one of the precarious stools, and began drumming absently with his fingers on the table. After a few minutes of this diverting business he ventured the remark, looking meantime at Mary for approval: "We should have stayed in St. Louis, instead of coming to Nauvoo. Then we'd have money enough to keep us till we could get work, and besides, we could' ve got a job easily at St. Louis." "What! and not have come to Nauvoo to see the Prophet?" demanded Mary, in a tone of offended astonishment. "Why, I'd rather starve where the Prophet of the Lord is than dwell in luxury anywhere else without seeing him!" "I don't mean that we'd stav in St. Louis," Thcmas hastened to explain. "Only we could have remained there until we got money enough to keep us comfortably here fcr awhile. I was as anxious as you to see Brother Joseph, even though I didn't belong to the Church. Anyway, it's no use talking about what we didn't do, then." "Maybe that would have been the best thing to do, after all," she assented, paying no heed to his last sentence. "But we'll manasre somehow, " she added hopefully, as women always do when men despair. "Let's ask the Johnsons to let us have some things till we can get on our feet again. You go, Thomas, because William's so backward in anything like that." Her husband raised his head and looked encouragingly at his brother-in-law. "No, Mary," came the answer, "I won't beg or borrow as long as I have strength enough to work. I'm not even in the Church, and how'd it look for me to beg the Johnsons?" The chin dropped again into the hands, and the elbows upon the knees. Nevertheless, the idea was not withoutits fruit in Thomas' mind, for suddenly a light came into his eye. He said nothing, however, in the way of further explanation. 40 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Next morning he was gone before either of the others was up. The fact, though, gave them no other concern than to hope that he would get something to do. Their condition was getting critical. Other days they had not gone entirely without food, but this morning the prospects were not so good. Towards eight o'clock, however, Thomas came in, his face radiant with smiles. "Got a job!" exclaimed Mary and William in one voice. "No; n^t a job," was the answer, "but something that will serve us a turn better just now than a job." And he held up his red handkerchief full of something which proved to be various articles of food. He explained that as he was passing the Johnson home he was invited in to breakfast, but that he had asked the privilege of taking part of it home. This explanation was accepted without question, and the slender meal was spread out as attractively as Mary' s practiced hands, coupled with her present facilities, would permit. But Thomas' way of accounting for the food was not exactly in harmony with the facts, though it was as near them as his conscience could make it. He had been loitering in the neighborhood of the Johnson home, and Mrs. Johnson had invited him in to breakfast. But it was not strictly true that he had asked to take part of the food home with him. That, to his mind, would have been equivalent to begging. — He had feigned he had not said so in words — to be on his way to some farms on the bench, and inti- mated that, though he was not hungry just then, he might be before he returned, and would it be anything out of the way if he should put it in his handkerchief till he needed it? To be sure this was not setting a very high value on Mrs. Johnson's ability to see through this screen of a disguise into his real purpose, and likewise into the questionable bit of pride that would seek to conceal that purpose. But Thomas' head, not his heart, was at fault here. So he went home, by a circuitous route, with gladness in his heart. On the way, however, he had eaten a few bites, so that he might be able truthfully to say to Mary, when she asked him to join her and William in the meal, that he had already eaten! So he generously bft the food, small enough in quantity to be sure, to the two, and shortly afterwards took 'his leave for the HIS WAY OF IT. 41 bench beyond the temple square, so as not to have misled Mrs. Johnson too far astray. II. That Thomas Freeman and the Thorntons, in a "Mormon" community such as Nauvoo was in 1842, should have acted in this needlessly shy manner, ought not to occasion a great deal of surprise. The circumstances attending their conversion to the new faith, together with their former home and environment, will offer a sufficient explanation. Prior to coming to Nauvoo, they had lived at Preston, England. Not only bad Thomas been born in this famous town, but he had lived there during the twenty eight years he counted up as his age. Indeed, he had never been farther away from Preston than the neighboring villages of Chatburn, Barshe L^es, and Leyland Moss. But this wa? partly for the reason that his early.vears fell in the days before the smoke of the locomotive had trailed the air of very many English towns. His father and mother wera both dead, and for years now he had made his home with an only sister, whose husband was William Thornton. They were all quiet, unassuming people, working ior their daily bread, and content with the lot that Providence had assigned them. Thomas was an unusually modest man. Modesty, in fact, was bis principal trait. This came about partly from the notion that no man ought to raise his head who had not been to school; and he had been compelled to earn his own living long before he was really able to do so. Then, too, he had been kicked and cuffed about a good deal— not literally to be sure, but the effect had been much the same as if it had been literal. Sometimes, indeed, this results in more or less independence and spirit in a young man. But it did not so affect him, because modesty was also a natural characteristic wit'i him. No matter how much education he might have been given, or how high the station in life that he might have occupied, it would have been the same- he would always have undervalued his worth. Nor am I overstating this phase of his character; for if it had not been so noticeable, what I am now relating would never have happened. 42 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Freeman was also very religious. This, of course, went along with his modesty, for modest people are generally inclined to be spiritual-minded. But his religion was not of that showy kind, as you might easily have guessed. Indeed, he did not belong to any church, though he often went to chapel with his sister and brother-in-law. He had his own ideas of God and religion, and since he did not find these taught at any of the places of worship which he frequented, he chose not to make it appear that his beliefs were other than what they were. From occasional words which he dropped, people got the notion that he was an infidel, and this hurt him to the quick, though he never made any attempt to correct the mistake. That would have brought on an argument, and arguing went sorely against his grain. In the year 1837, when he was twenty-three, there came a great change in his life — a change that turned the whole current of events, so far as he was concerned, into new channels. This was the preaching of a "new" religion in England. A number of ministers came to Preston from America. Thomas attended their first meeting. "This," he reasoned, "promises to be different from any of the religions that I know of; so I'll go to hear them." And what he heard was very strange, indeed, and very different from anything he had ever heard before. The new preachers told of how, in the western part of New York state, a young man had received a new revelation from God; how he had had the ministration of angels; how he had been given some gold plates full of writing which he translated into English by the Spirit of God; and how a church had been organized with prophets and apostles, and all the gifts and powers enjoyed by the ancient Saints, as recorded in the New Testament. And these men had come to preach this gospel in England, by special commandment of the Lord. Freeman related all these things to . his sister; bnt she only laughed at him. "Do you think, Thomas,'' she asked incredulously, "that we need anything more than what we've got in the Bible, the Old and the New Testaments?" she added, laying special emphasis upon the connective. ''Besides, don't we believe in Christ? and the good Book says that that is enough." "But," James insisted, "these men said that the gospel had HIS WAY OF IT. 48 been taken from the earth on account of people'^ wickedness. "You haven't got it straight," urged Mary; "I'll have to go myself to hear them." Mary was older than Thomas by several years, and she had got in the habit of distrusting his mental powers. The next Sunday, at her own chapel, these very men were the preachers. What was her surprise when she heard every word of Thomas' verified, and proved, too, from the Bible, the very Bible that she believed in. the members of that It ended in nearly all particular congregation joining the"new" Church. Mary and William were among the number, but Thomas held back. "Why don't you be baptized, Thomas," she used frequently to ask her brother. "You've attended all the meetings. Don't you believe it's the truth?" "Well," he answered, "I ain't good enough." "You're as good as I am; and I m baptized." "You're a woman, Mary; and women are always better than men." "But William, he believes and is a member," was her final thrust; after which came always the evasive response: "I'll wait awhile. Some day I'll join. I believe all right, but I'm not good enough yet." For nearly four years after their conversion the Thorntons, with Thomas, continued to live at Preston, performing outwardly the same trivial round of duties they had always performed. The only difference between the r old life and the new was inward. i- They attended church as regularly, but not the same one; they were as deeply religious, but their hopes had been given a new turn and impulse. All the time they kept up a stream of interest in the Church in America. The scenes through which their coreligionists in the New World were passing, they lived over again in the Old. But most of all did their thoughts, in common with the thoughts of all the Saints in England, more than two thousand in all, dwell upon the extraordinary person whom God had chosen to open up the new dispensation. What manner of man must he be who had spoken face to face with the Lord of heaven! His name was almost as familiar, and his personality almost as well knoA'n, in England among the Saints, as they were 44 IMPROVEMENT ERA. with his own companions. They called him "The Prophet" and "'Brother Joseph." As they longed eagerly for the day when they should see his face, and, it may be, to touch his hand. Of this feeling Thomas, who naturally had high veneration and spirituality, partook freely and deeply, though he had not become a Latter-day Saint in form. As soon as he learned that a . general gathering was contemplated in the scheme of "Mormonism," he determined to goto the Amsrican Church and be baptized. He would break away from all his old ties in his native land, and live a new life in another country. In his determination to remove to America, his sister and her husband fully shared. Henceforth, therefore, every penny that could be spared, was saved for their emigration. In the spring of 1842, they found themselves at Nauvoo. Someone's kindness had assigned them a small one-room structure on the east bank of the river. The location, it is true, was such as to make its occupancy undesirable in general; but it was the only vacant house to be found. The retiiing disposition of the two men especially — Thomas and William — made the discovery of their real condition, so far as money was concerned, well nigh impossible to any of their neighbors; and friends and relatives they had none in Nauvoo, only so far as a common religion and sacrifice for the truth had created such. At all events, at the time our story opens, they were in a bad way for food, even though their own modesty, and self-depreciation were to blame. For a word, to the effect that they were in actual want, would have brought them ample provisions from the charitable sources of the Church, not to speak of private aid that would readily have been volunteered. III. On the second morning after the failure of both Thomas and William to obtain work, the two were standing out by the gate of their house debating as to what to do. William, having thus early picked up an American habit —Western American, at any rate —was whittling a stick. It was still with them only a question of getting work; their pride and sense of honor stuck fast at the matter of begging. HIS WAY OF IT. 45 "It came to me last night," said Thomas, breaking a long silence, "that we ought to go to the Prophet himself." His companion ceased whittling, and gave him a stare of unspeakable astonishment at the audacity of the plan. "Well," continued Thomas, staggered somewhat by the look which William gave him, but determined to regain strength by repeating the statement with emphasis, "it came to me last night as clear as anything. I was wondering what to do today, and it came to me like this: 'Why not go to Brother Joseph direct?' What do you say to that?" The only answer was incredulous whittling. William's mind usually took a long time to move, not because of its unwieldy size, but for a more subtle reason. At the end of a few minutes' reflection, he spoke up in characteristic distrust of his own faculties: "Let's tell Mary." So the two turned into the house. Her brother laid the plan before her, in the phrase that he had twice used to William. She approved it instantly, as. the whisperings of the Spirit. "Why," she said, "it's as clear as anything, and there's no need of hesitation, Go, both of you, straight to the Prophet!" That decided them. It was a beautiful morning, fresh and sunny, and provocative of hope in the despondent. Everywhere as they went were the sounds of bustling activity in the rising city. Every fall of the hammer that they heard, however, smote the hearts of these sensitive souls for their enforced idleness. But they took new courage when they thought of their errand, and especially the way in which the idea first came to Thomas. They knew that the Prophet kept a store across the street from the Mansion House, and there they expected to find him. But as they approached the place, a new difficulty presented itself, which threatened entirely to defeat their plan. In the heat of reflection over the manner in which "it come to him," Thomas had failed to bring up the question as to who was to be spokesman when they came to be in the presence of Brother Joseph. And William had, naturally enough, supposed that the task would fall of necessity on his brother-in-law. Had he not first conceived the idea? 46 IMPROVEMENT ERA. And was he not the bolder of the two? Of course, there could be no question about who was to do the talking. Then, too, the way in which Thomas had led out thus far relieved him of any anxiety he may have entertained on this point. But as they approached the store, tbe difficulty appeared in its fullmagnitude to the mind of the bashful Thomas. Suddenly there came into his thoughts the greatness of the Prophet. He was a man of God; he had spoken with Him face to face. Angels had conversed with him as one man talks with another. He was the one man in all Nauvoo. Everyone looked up to him as a superior order of being, sent here direct from the presence of the Lord. In contrast with this came his own littleness. He had never been to school in his life. Only to the title of plain working man could he lay claim. He had never been accustomed to speak to his superiors; he only did what they told him to do. Least cf all had he ever spoken to a man whose ears had been pierced by the words of Jehovah. He had always been content to revere the Prophet at a distance. — Besides and here Thomas almost groaned aloud— he was not e?en a member of the Church, he had never been baptized. If, therefore, he uttered a word t o the Prophet, the Prophet would immediately detect the fact and send him away with a terrible look. As his thoughts reached this point, he stopped suddenly, grabbed William's arm, and shouted, almost fiercely: "William! you'll have to do the talking!" So different had been the reflections passing through Thomas' — mind from the images of physical objects meat, potatoes, flour' which had been rising before the mental vision of his brotherin-law, that William was utterly bewilderel by the demand. When he did understand the situation, there was as violent an altercation as their natures and their present environment would permit. Thomas urged upon William the argument that had appeared to his own mind; but part of these William promptly appropriated to his own use, for the personality of Brother Joseph overawed William's modest disposition even more than it did Thomas'. The upshot of it all was that William utterly refused to take the initiative; and so the burden of speech fell upon the diffident Thom is. So, with great timidity they walked into the store. Joseph, at that moment, much to their relief, was waiting HIS WAY OF IT. 47 upon a customer, a woman. They modestly looked about them in mortal apprehension of the time when the customer should have satisfied her wants and taken her departure. Th store was not a • large one, somewhat longer than it was wide, with a rather high ceiling, and shelves on both side-walls filled with the usual groceries and dry goods. There were a good many articles here and there on the floor. They knew that above the place was an assembly room, used for the various quorum meetings. But the moment came when the customor left the store. Joseph came towards them, from the opposite end of the room, still behind the counter. "Well, brethren, he said with a pleasant smile, and in a jovial reassuring tone, "what can I do for yni?'' Thomas endeavored to elbow his brother-in-law forward so as to throw upon him the responsibility of speech. The Prophet turned his eyes from one to the other, finally letting th^m rest upon Thomas. Those kindly eyes were the strongest possible invitation to speak. "Please, sir, we're strangers here, and we'd like to have some work," ventured the young man. "We're about out of food. We don't want any money, only something to eat. We thought maybe you cculd give us some work." "Let me see," reflected the Prophet, looking out of the window, so as not to embarrass the men by too constant a gaze. "I think we can find something for you to do." And presently he added, "Come with me," at the same time leading the way into the front street. He thereupon laid out a job of work. They were to dig a trench nearly across the street, so many inches wide and so many deep. In measuring the length and giving the directions, the Prophet handed one end of the tape line to Thomas. When the measuring was done and the instructions were imparted, there was a momentary pause, in which there appeared to be some embarrassment on the part of Thomas and William. Joseph evidently noticed this, for he said: "I suppose you'll need some tools; just come with me." The necessary implements given them, Joseph explained: 48 IMPROVEMENT ERA. "When you've finished this piece of work, come to me in the store, and I'll pay you." If ever there were happy men, they were Thomas and William digging that trench. Almost famished as they were, they worked with extraordinary strength and vigor. Their hearts wers buoyed by the prospect of earning food for Mary and the baby. And the ease of the whole proceeding! In the presence of the Man of God, they were so free and natural! The Prophet had made them feel as if it were he that was under the obligation, not they. All the while he was digging, Thomas took high honor to himself for having touched Brother Joseph's hand. "And me, a Gentile!" he exclaimed to himself over and over again, with increasing amazement. About the middle of the afternoon, they completed the job, and, gathering the tools, walked into the store.The Prophet met them with the same genial smile as before, went out with them to — examine the work, and pronounced it well done as good a job as anyone could do. Then the three re-entered the store. Divining, no doubt, beforehand, the kind of goods the young men wanted, and reserving to himself the quantity to be given, he took them into the cellar. Here, suspended from the wall, were flitches of bacon, a vast quantiety of hams, and other varieties of cured meat. "Now, brethren," Joseph said, "pick out a ham." They looked at him in the greatest surprise, without being able for some time to speak. Seeing their embarrassment, he urged them more strongly, but in vain. "We would prefer to have you do it, sir," Thomas replied modestly. The Prophet, stepping forward, and examining the hams closely, picked out the very largest, and thrust it into the arms of the reluctant Thomas. 'Oh, sir," he pleaded, "this is too much for the bit of work we've done — not more than a half day, all told. We can't take this much." But Joseph would hear of no further refusal, but thereupon requested them next to follow him up stairs. There he set aside a sack of flour, a small bag of potatoes, and a few pounds of rice,