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Show THE MORMON LION All the others added their approval. Chilcott was the last to speak. "Tell the Gentile cusses this," he said. "If it's war they want, we'll give them all they want. , It'll be war to the knife, and the kmfe to the hilt. You ll needmo;,e troops than you've got now, to break mto Deseret. " Permit me to suggest, Mr. Young, that the Government has other troops," placidly remarked Major Van Vleit, unmoved by the vwlent speeches. ' Nobody denies that," said Brigham. "The Gover'ment has 'em and may send 'em, and mebbe a larger army can force its way into the Valley. But just let me tell you! When they do break in, they'll find all Utah a desert agin. Every house'll be burned down ; every tree felled ; every field laid w~ste. The Lord has give us an abundant harvest. We ve got on hand now three years' provisions. We'll cache 'em, and take to the mountains, where I defy all the powers of the Gover'ment to overcome us." The Major smiled. " Permit me to suggest, Mr. Young, that your people would be paying rather a heavy price for your defiance of the Government, even should your plan meet with a degree of success -which I cannot admit." " The blame for the iniquity be upon the head of the President! " rejoined Brigham. "I tell you agin, we don't ~ant to fig,ht the Urn ted States. But if they dnve us mto 1t, well do the best we can. We, not the Gentiles, are the true sur•porters of the Constitution of the United States. f th~y dare to fo~ce the issue I ain't going to hold the Inpns by the wnst any long~r for white men to shoot 'em down. They can go ahead and do as they please." With this the conference came to a close, and the Major withdrew, after a polite express!on of reg~et. I started to follow, resolved to seek a pnvate meeting and tell him the Mormon plans. Bngham called to me to remain. When the others had left, he sm1led in his most genial manner and waved me to a seat. " Sit down, Dave. I've such an almighty slew of THE MORMON LION 243 things to 'tend to that I've trained myself to pass on a matter, then stop thinking about it. This marriage b~Slness of yourn has give me a sight of bother a ready-first one thmg, then another. So I'm going to settle it now, out of hand and once for all. You've lost Sister Lucy. All the more reason you ought to take the Sisters Sen by. Sister Neville's property goes by law to her aunt. You can take her to-day and the other two to-morrow, or all three can be ;ealed to you same time. Suit yourself." I considered a moment and answered readily : " If it is the same to you, I prefer to take all three together. I shall at once execute a blank deed convexing all my property to you as Trustee in Trust." 'Good-good! I'll have the Endowment House slicked up for the ceremony. You'll take your Endowments same time as the marriage." " What an honour! " I exclaimed. Then, affecting to remember, I frowned impatiently. " But ol course the old lady has to be in a bad way just at the wrong time." " Who ? The oldest widow ? You mean sick ? " he demanded. "Yes. Just like a woman, isn't it ? However I feel sure she will be rid of her trouble within the ne'xt two weeks. I suppose you think I had better wait and take all three at the same time, in order that there may be no question of inequality between them. If so, I guess I can wait, seeing that she is the oldest." " H'm-- That's so, and it's not a bad notion my boy-three all at the same time. Yes it's worth a little waiting. A lot have taken two that way · but I. can'~ just rec'lect any having three sealed to' once smce Forty-seven, when John D. Lee had me do it for him." "Then, to make sure of the oldest Sister Sen by suppose we set the eventful day at two weeks fro~ to-morrow," I suggested. "Umm--" he considered. "Two weeks? Well all right, then. We'll make it Septemberfourteenth.': |