and straining to bear him company, had to fall behind, gazing after him
in wonder, as he swept out of sight at that marvelous gait. There was a
glitter in his eye, and an intensity of gaze that left you in doubt
whether it was genius or madness that it bespoke. It was, in truth, a
little of both. He had genius. Nobody ever talked with him, or heard him
preach, without finding it out. The rough fellow who offended him at a
camp-meeting, near "Yankee Jim's," no doubt thought him mad. He was
making some disturbance just as the long bearded old preacher was
passing with a bucket of water in his hand.

"What do you mean?" he thundered, stopping and fixing his keen eye upon
the rowdy.

A rude and profane reply was made by the jeering sinner.

Quick as thought Newton rushed upon him with flashing eye and uplifted
bucket, a picture of fiery wrath that was too much for the thoughtless
scoffer, who fled in terror amid the laughter of the crowd. The
vanquished son of Belial had no sympathy from anybody, and the plucky
preacher was none the less esteemed because he was ready to defend his
Master's cause with carnal weapons. The early Californians left scarcely
any path of sin unexplored, and were a sad set of sinners, but for
virtuous women and religion they never lost their reverence. Both were
scarce in those days, when it seemed to be thought that gold-digging and
the Decalogue could not be made to harmonize. The pioneer preachers
found that one good woman made a better basis for evangelization than a
score of nomadic bachelors. The first accession of a woman to a church
in the mines was an epoch in its history. The church in the house of
Lydia was the normal type--it must be anchored to woman's faith, and
tenderness, and love, in the home.