THE WOMEN OF B----- UP IN ARMS--THE SISTERS TAKEN HOME--MORE ABOUT
B-----.
MRS. FLORENCE ROBERTS STIRS HER AUDIENCE.
Addressed Church Full of Women--Her Pathetic Stories listened to
Attentively--Much Interest Manifested in the Cause--Raised Nearly Fifty
Dollars to Take Two Girls Rescued from Dance-hall to Their Homes.
The above was the heading of an article which appeared in the local
papers on the morning following the largest gathering of women ever
congregated at one time in one of B-----s largest churches.
The morning before, escorted by the chief of police and two officers in
plain clothes, I went to that dance-hall to demand the trunks of the
sisters. The persons in charge claimed that they did not know where the
girls' baggage was; that the proprietor was away; that they could not
give the trunks up without his authority; and, furthermore, that there
were debts of $22.50 booked against one sister and $21 against the
other. Acting under legal advice, I gave them two hours, no more, to
produce those trunks and their contents, also two itemized bills. I
returned at the close of that time and found the keepers ready to
accept the fares advanced (no bills produced) and to have the trunks
immediately removed. When the sisters received their baggage, they
declared that both locks had been broken and that each trunk had been
robbed of many things; but the girls were so frightened and so anxious
to get home, that they willingly stood the loss rather than be delayed
through the arrest and the prosecution of the proprietors.
That night the two sisters and I went to the depot under an armed
escort and started for their home, a day and a half's journey distant.
I paid the porter to be on the lookout for any suspicious-acting
travelers in our coach. Engagements for the following Sunday
necessitated my immediate return to B----. On our arrival at their
railroad destination I had barely time to catch my next train;
therefore I had to leave explanation of the situation to the sisters,
now with an aunt, the parents being on their ranch in the mountains,
forty miles distant and accessible only by wagon. They bade me a most
touching farewell, promising not to fail to correspond.
Truly, all through these strenuous experiences I was daily, hourly
demonstrating to my soul's satisfaction God's wonderful leading, his
strength, his wisdom, his great, great care, for no evil befell me,
neither did any plague come nigh my dwelling (Psa. 91:10-12).
On my return to B--- on Saturday sufficient engagements to keep me in
that vicinity at least three weeks and over were immediately made.
After filling these I hoped, God willing, to take a rest in the
beautiful homes of some of my Santa Cruz friends. There was an immense
audience in the First Methodist church on Sunday evening, April 8, and
a large collection was taken for the Beth-Adriel fund....
Before I left B---, God gave a most blessed realization of his
wonderful watch-care over those who are earnestly trying to serve him.
On Monday, April 9, word reached me that I should be on my guard. The
proprietor of the ---- dance-hall had declared vengeance. I had
accepted an invitation to dine with the chief of police and family that
evening, but on account of this word of warning I deemed it wise to
telephone to the sheriff's office and ask protection. An enemy must
have received the message and responded. When I came out of the house
to keep my dinner engagement, I had walked but a few yards when I
received a sudden impression to look behind me. On a fenceless lawn,
not three feet away, stood --- --- with his hand in his right hip
pocket. Quick as a flash I pointed the forefinger of my right hand in
his face, saying, "You dare not shoot." "Only your sex protects you,
you --- ----- ----," he sneered. Never mind the vocabulary of awful
adjectives and names he hurled at me, dear reader. I've never heard
their equal before or since. There was no one in sight until his sister
presently crossed the road. But God was protecting me, and I knew it.
Then the man sneered about my calling up the sheriff's office for
protection. I now knew he had a coworker there.
When at last there was a chance for me to speak, I quietly told him
that he was soon going to an awful hell unless he quickly amended his
ways, and that God was going to hold him and his kind everlastingly
responsible for the ruination of many, many souls, and implored him to
turn to this outraged God and plead for mercy and pardon before it was
eternally too late. As they turned to recross the street, I added, "God
wants to bless you." With an oath he hurled back at me,"---- ---- ----
----! I don't want God to bless me." Then I heard a fiendish laugh from
behind a hedge; somebody clapped their hands in great glee, and a
woman's voice shouted, "Good for you ----! Give it to her, the ----
---- ---- ---- ----! Why didn't you finish her while you were about
it?" ...
The chief of police and his wife saw to it that I was protected the
rest of my brief sojourn, but no one can ever know how much nearer that
experience drew me to my loving Lord. More than one woman told me the
next day that they were watching that encounter through their lace
curtains, and that if he had laid even a finger on me they would have
thrown up the windows and screamed for help, even have attempted
personal aid. But there was no need of that; for hath our heavenly
Father not said in Isa. 51:17, "No weapon that is formed against thee
shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in
judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of
the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord"? And in
Psa. 34:7 is this blessed assurance: "The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." Hallelujah! "In
thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion."
Psa. 71:1.
Before I left B-----, that town had a well-organized law and order
league. The members chose me as their first honorary member. I doubt
whether any of God's stewards had more friends and more enemies at that
one time, in that one locality than did the writer of this. But I loved
all and prayed God to bless their precious souls for Jesus' sake.
As usual, I was not leaving unaccompanied, so that instead of passing
through San Jose, as I had expected, I chaperoned a young girl to the
home, remaining there over night and reaching Santa Cruz the next
evening.