The Jeweled Spur (32 page)

Finally, Moody asked, “Is there something I can do for you, Colonel?”

“Yes, Reverend Moody, there is. You know, I’ve come up pretty rough, and so have most of the men who are with me in the show. Haven’t gone to church like I should. Most of us haven’t. So I thought it might be possible that I might bring my whole troop to hear you preach. I know it’s hard to get a seat, and some of the men are a little apprehensive. But if we could all sit together, I think they’d all come.”

Moody was taken by surprise, but at once said, “Why, nothing easier in the world, Colonel Cody. We’ll be delighted to have you come. We’ll reserve the front section. How many will you be bringing?”

Shocked at his easy success, Cody talked a few more minutes to Moody, settled the time and the seating, and got up, saying warmly, “I’ll be looking forward to hearing you, Mr. Moody. And if you’d be interested in coming to the show, you’ll be an honored guest.”

“I’d be most happy to come,” laughed Moody. “Everyone
is talking about your show, how you’re trying to preserve some part of our national heritage, and I’m proud of what you’re doing.”

The words caused Buffalo Bill to pause. He ducked his head, stroked his beard slowly, then nodded. “I’m glad you see that, Reverend Moody. It’s more than just a show to me. It’s part of America, and I want to do all I can to save it, so that boys and girls, and people all over, can see what it was like in those days.”

Moody shook his hand again and said, “You come and listen to me preach—and I’ll come and watch you shoot, Colonel!”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Cody Goes to Church

When Colonel Cody announced that all connected with the show would attend Mr. Moody’s church on Thursday evening, the effect was electrifying.

Most of the hands, including all the Indians, denied any intention of going, but Buffalo Bill informed them all that not only would they be terminated, but they would be blackballed with other Wild West Shows. Since there were only about three other shows at the time throughout the country, this brought the reluctant members into line.

On Thursday, they gave their afternoon performance, and immediately, as soon as the last of the trumpets in the band had sounded, and the last customer had made his way out of the arena, Buffalo Bill lifted his booming voice and said, “All right, you Wild West cowboys! Go slick your hair down and put on your silver spurs. We’re going to church!” He made his way to Laurie and smiled down at her. “And you wear that pretty silver spur with that big ruby in it. It’ll catch that preacher’s eye!”

Laurie, her heart palpitating, went at once to her tent, where she found Leona pouting and angry. “I’m not going to any old church service!” she said. “He can’t make me go!”

Laurie said quickly, “It won’t be so bad, Leona. And I think he’s serious about firing anybody who doesn’t go.” She kept talking until finally Leona’s face lost its mulish expression, and she hurried to change her clothes. Laurie put on a riding costume, as Buffalo Bill had insisted, and the sight of the
red ruby set in the silver spur made her think of her father as it always did. As soon as she was dressed, she ran out of the tent. She made her way toward the tent that housed the single men, and as she approached, Sam stepped outside. Seeing her, he stood there shaking his head.

“Cody won’t go,” he said bitterly.

“Oh, Sam! Did you talk to him?”

“Yes, I talked to him, and so did Mac. So did nearly everybody else. He says he won’t go, and that’s all there is to it. He’ll quit first.” He kicked at the dirt, sending a clod flying across that scared a pony and made him snort and rear. “Maybe you ought to talk to him. He’s over at the corral, I reckon, by now.”

“All right, Sam. You pray and I’ll talk.” Laurie walked rapidly to the corral, where she saw Cody shaking out his rope, preparing to rope one of the ponies. She strode over to him and, without preamble, stated boldly, “Cody, you’ve
got
to go to church!”

He glared at her and shook his head, his lips drawn in a thin, bitter line. “No, I don’t have to go to church. I don’t know whose fool idea it was anyhow—the colonel’s, I guess. He’d do anything to sell another ticket. That’s all it is, just business.”

Laurie hesitated, then spoke the truth. “I think you may be right about the colonel—partly anyway. But that doesn’t change the fact that Mr. Moody’s the foremost preacher in the whole world. Please, Cody,” she softened her voice and put her hand on his arm, “come and go with me. I’d feel better if you did.”

Cody’s eyes lost some of their anger, but he shook his head and muttered, “I’d do nearly anything for you, Laurie—I really would. But something about this seems wrong to me somehow. I haven’t made any secret of the fact that I’m not even sure there is a God. And now I’m supposed to dress up and go to church and sing songs and listen to sermons? No, I’ll leave the show first!”

Laurie, seeing it was useless, responded quietly, “All right, Cody,” then turned and walked away.

He watched her go, and once he lifted his hand as if to call her back.
It wouldn’t kill you to go, would it?
he thought.
What kind of hairpin are you? What kind of a man have you gotten to be?
He shook his head, doubt sweeping through him, and somehow his whole future seemed very bleak. As he practiced his roping, he thought suddenly of his parents and immediately knew that what he was doing would be a disappointment to them. But there was a stubborn streak in Cody Rogers that surfaced on occasions, and when it came, nothing short of brute force would change him.

Buck Bronson had been donning his fanciest outfit—including the biggest hat anybody had ever seen, and a silver-plated .44 with a mother-of-pearl handle. “How do I look?” he demanded. McGonigal looked at him with a jaundiced eye. “You look like a mountain with a hat on top,” he said to the big man. Then he grinned. “You look fine, Buck. You’ll be the envy of every gal’s eye in that church.”

Buck grinned back and slapped McGonigal with his huge hand, almost driving him to the ground with what he considered a light gesture. “I used to go to them camp meetings—them brush arbor meetings—when I was a youngster. They lasted for a week, two, three, sometimes six weeks, and lots of gals were always there. They’d been kept out in the country. Some of them got religion, and some of them lost some, I reckon.” He winked lewdly at Mac, then turned and left the tent, on the way to the entrance where they were all gathering, preparing to go. Glancing over, he saw Laurie standing beside her tent and walked over to her. “Come along, Laurie,” he said. “Go to church with a gentleman.”

“I—I’m not going, Buck.”

Buck Bronson, for all his huge size and tremendous power, had a gentle heart. He saw the tears in Laurie’s eyes and at once put his hamlike hand on her shoulder. “Aw, what’s wrong, Laurie? Don’t cry.”

“It’s—it’s Jim,” she said. “I’ve been hoping so hard he’d go to church. I’ve been praying, too. But now he says he won’t go. He says he’ll quit first.”

“Why, the colonel says anybody’s fired who don’t go!”

“Jim’s just being stubborn, but I know him, Buck. If he says he won’t go, he won’t go, no matter how hard I pray.”

Buck stared at her, and a light leaped into his mild, blue eyes. “You say you’ve been prayin’ he’d go?”

“Yes.”

“Well, then, I expect you better believe the good Lord will answer your prayers.” He squeezed her shoulder, then said, “You get on down to that bunch and go on to church. You may not see me, but we’ll be there, and we’ll have that young gentleman with us.”

“Oh, Buck! Will you talk to him?”

“Course I will! Now, you get on, gal.”

Laurie quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and ran to join the group. Con Groner came up at once to stand beside her and asked, “What are you and Buck palaverin’ about?”

“Oh, talking about prayer.”

“I bet,” said Con, grinning. “That man-mountain never prayed in his life. Come on, let’s get started.”

They got to the arena where Moody was preaching and were greeted instantly by a tall man in a black silk hat who was to be their escort. He came forward, grinning, and shook Colonel Cody’s hand. “All right, Colonel. We’ve got the whole front center section reserved for you and your people. Step right this way.”

Laurie followed in the procession that entered into the arena, and as they made their way to the front, applause went up and their leader shook his head, saying, “Mr. Moody won’t like that—but I guess you can’t blame folks for applauding Buffalo Bill, can you now?”

When they were seated, Laurie found that she was seated just behind Buffalo Bill. At her left was Con Groner, and on
her right was Sam, with Mac beside him. McGonigal whispered to Sam, “I don’t see him, do you?”

Laurie heard the whisper, and leaned close and said, “He’ll be here. Just believe.”

****

Buck had arranged a surprise for Cody Rogers. He had gathered six of the Sioux Indians, under the leadership of Running Bear, and explained that Laurie needed help.

Running Bear at once had said, “What she need?”

He listened intently while Buck explained, then a light of humor touched his dark eyes. He spoke something to the six young warriors with him, then turned back to Buck and said, “We go now!”

Buck led the way to the corral, where he saw Cody practicing with his rope. He said in a whisper, “All right, Chief—there he is. Have your men ready.”

Cody glanced up and saw the procession coming and blinked in surprise. “What are you doing here, Buck? You’re supposed to be in church.”

Buck grinned at him and came and stood right beside him. “I’m gonna be in church,” he nodded. “But ain’t you forgot somethin’?”

Cody stared at him. “What did I forget?”

“You forgot,” Buck Bronson grinned broadly, “that you’re going too!” And without another word, he reached out and put his mighty arms around Cody and lifted him off the ground. “All right, boys. Get the ropes on him.” The Indians immediately tied Cody hand and foot as he kicked and fought. But he was like a child in the arms of the giant, and soon he was all trussed up. He cursed and roared and threatened, but Buck just smiled at him benevolently. “You’re gonna enjoy church,” he said. “I hear he’s a fine preacher. All right, you Injuns—bring him on!”

****

The service had been one such as Laurie had never experienced. She had never been in such a large congregation, and the singing brought her heart to a fever pitch. Thousands of voices rang out, singing the songs she had grown up with. There were several prayers, and finally she had conquered her fear and doubt, saying to Sam, “I believe he’ll be here, even though I don’t see him.”

“Well, that’s the faith that moves mountains. Look, here comes Mr. Moody.”

Dwight L. Moody, dressed in a plain black suit and looking like anything in the world but the most famous preacher on the globe, had stepped up on the platform and raised his voice. He welcomed the crowd and encouraged them to pray for the sermon. Then he paused and looked down the center of the crowd. “We are especially happy to welcome to our service tonight Colonel William Cody and his Wild West Troop. Colonel Cody, would you stand and greet your brothers and sisters?”

Cody was hardly ever at a loss, but Laurie could see that this was a new experience for him. Nevertheless, he stood, turned around, and lifted his powerful voice that was able to boom across any sort of arena. “Not often do my friends and I have the privilege of attending services. It’s hard for men and women on the move such as we are to find a place. But tonight I speak for every man and woman here when I say we are thrilled, happy, and grateful to Reverend Moody for inviting us.” He waved his hand, and there was a burst of applause as he sat down.

Moody smiled, noting at the same time some of the deacons were somewhat sour, but he ignored them. “My friends, I would take for my text tonight—”

“Hold on, preacher,” came a voice from the back of the auditorium.

Every head turned toward the huge cowboy who was advancing down the aisle. People began standing up to see what sort of procession it was. Most of them gasped when
they saw it was a giant wearing a huge hat and a beautifully tooled gun, followed by six Indians, dressed in full regalia. The Indians were carrying something, and they could hear someone shouting in a muffled voice, but they could not see. Finally, the little group reached the front of the auditorium, and Buck Bronson swept off his magnificent hat, bowed to the preacher, and said, “Reverend Moody, I remember once my mamma read me a story about a prodigal son who run away and got himself all in a mess. I never forgot that story, preacher, and tonight I’ve done all I could to help one of them prodigal sons. Hold him up here, you Injuns.”

The Indians suddenly straightened up, and Moody and many of the others saw a young man with his hair messed up and his hands and feet tied together. A shock ran over him, and he demanded, “What is this, sir?”

“Why,” Buck said, “it’s a prodigal son, Reverend! This here young feller wasn’t comin’ to church, so we just brung him. Now, you go ahead and preach at him, Brother Moody.”

Laurie gasped and said, “Oh no! What have you done, Buck?”

Sitting beside her, Sam’s face turned to stone. “Well, that tears it,” he muttered. “He’ll never listen to anything anybody has to say now.”

Dwight L. Moody stood absolutely still. He had been all over the world and had preached to every congregation imaginable—but
never
had a situation like this arisen! Staring down at the young man and noting the bitterness in his eyes, he breathed a quick prayer, asking God what to do.

Cody stood there, humiliated, his face flushed with anger and rage. He had only stopped raving and cursing when they brought him into the building. Now, he looked up at the face of the minister in front of him, high on the platform. His gaze swept around, and he saw Laurie, Sam, and Mac all looking at him with anguish in their eyes. Then he turned back and faced Moody, his jaw set and clinched tight.

Dwight L. Moody felt that God had spoken to him. “I’m
afraid, my brother,” he said to Buck, “that this is not the way of the Lord. God never forces himself on anybody, and neither do I. Let him go.”