07.02.27. The End Of The Trail
27. THE END OF THE TRAIL
It was Monday night, and Todd with a cigarette in his lips walked slowly down one of the worst streets in the city. He was bitter that night; bitter against his brothers, bitter against his parents, bitter against God and bitter against life. He had no reason to be; his parents had idolized him, his brothers had been good to him, God had spared his life and protected him again and again, and life had not misused him, he had misused life.
He made up his mind that he was through. He would give up his job leave that part of the country and never write home again. "I’ll not live long at the pace I’m going," he mused, "and when I’m gone, they’ll be better off and I don’t suppose they’ll care." As he walked along he heard singing and noticed some people in a little mission hall were holding a service. The door was open and as he stopped on the side walk to listen, a man standing on the curb placed his hand on his shoulder and said, "Go in, lad, you might hear something that would do you good." On the window he noticed these words, "There is hope for all who enter here." The mission was an old store building with a saloon on either side of it. When Todd sat down he looked around and saw mottoes and verses of scripture on the wails. One said, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." Another said, "Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as snow, and though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool." Under the clock were the words, "Now is the accepted time," and a large sign over the platform stretching the entire width of the building read, "How long since you wrote to mother?"The building was well filled that night. Perhaps two hundred people were present, mostly men, and such a crowd as they were l Some were dead drunk, some just drunk enough to be noisy and others not drunk but dirty, ragged and hungry. Todd was well dressed that night, but as he looked about something seemed to say, "You’ve been like that and some day you cannot be any other way."