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Show 86 THE MORMON LION " We were engaged in a comparative study of the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon," remarked Mr. Sen by. "Will you not join us? " " Shouldn't we be starting for the Tabernacle? " I inquired. Mrs. Senby glanced pityingly at Lucy, and appealed to her husband: ' Is it necessary that she should go, Norton? " " She must face it sooner or later," he answered. " Better for her to make the plunge at once. Delay will only add to the suspicions of our orthodoxy." The ladies withdrew for theirmantillasand bonnets. Mr. Sen by motioned me to a seat and picked up the open volume of Joseph Smith's Golden Bible. " In anticipation of what we shall hear at the Tabernacle," he remarked, " listen to what is written in the Book of Jacob, brother of Nephi. Here it is: ' David and Solomon had in truth many w1ves and concubmes, wh1ch was an abonunat10n in my sight, saith the Lord. Hearken, my brothers, to the word of the Lord, for no man amongst you shall have more than one wife; of concubines there shall be none ; because that I, the Lord God, take delight in the chastity of women.' And another passage--" He took up a second volume- " Here is Section a hundred and one of the Book of Doctrines and Covenants : ' Inasmuch as this Church of Jesus Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy, we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife, and one w~man one husband, except in case of death, when e1ther IS at hberty to marry again.' " "There is the later revelation of the new covenant," I suggested. "I have been told by Brigham himself that Joseph practised spiritual wifeism years before the date of the revelatiOn," replied Mr. Senby. " But few even of the most pious ever read the Book of Mormon.Here are the ladies." THE MORMON LION Lucy had regained her composure. She made no effort to avoid my company on the way to the Tabernacle ; yet there was a timidity in her manner such as she had never before shown towards me. This and her sadness did not prevent her from taking interest in the different features of the city and the peculiar mixture of races among the people, and she conversed freely on many subjects. But whenever I spoke of herseH or of Church doctrines she became reserved. We walked behind her aunt and uncle, while the ugly Indian boy, Ankotash, shu!fied along several paces in the rear. Entering the Temple Block at one of the great gateways, we joined the throngs that streamed across past the massive granite foundations of the Temple in the centre. On one side was the Bowery, an immense open shed covered with planks and boughs, and on the other was a small building that Mr. Senby, in a peculiar hushed tone, told me was the Endowment House. The Tabernacle, a large oblong structure of stone and adobe, stood in the south-east corner of the tenacre block. We were early enough to have found seats well down in the theatre-like pit near the stand. But Mr. Senby insisted upon keeping close to the door. The Indian remained outside. On the stand were seated the Apostles and leading Elders, and before them was the band and choir. The band was playing selections from Mozart, which Lucy greatly enjoyed, deslite the noise and confusion of the entering crowds o worshippers. The hall was soon filled to its utmost capacity of twentyfive hundred, and the throngs still outside were turned away to the usual overflow meeting in the Bowery. The inspiring notes of the opening hymn, sung by the Tabernacle choir, completely lifted Lucy out of her pensive sadness. The hymn was followed by a passionately vehement prayer by Brother Jedidiah Grant, during which |