<TITLE>06. Par 22-24</TITLE>L-22 I remember the first herd of cattle I ever tried to drive out of the mountains. And my feet felt like two big hunks of lead. I'd rolled off that horse and got my blanket, and I thought I was a real cowhand. And I put my head in the saddle. And there's an old guy there with us called Slim. And another fellow from Texas had a guitar, and they were playing songs. And the fellow Slim had a comb with a piece of paper behind it, keeping up with him, in tune. And the herd was all bedded down, and after a bit they begin to play "Down at the cross where my Saviour died; it was down there for cleansing from sin I cried." My heart begin to jump. I took the blanket and pulled it over my head to keep from hearing it, because I was a sinner.
And after the cattle got quiet, I was laying there acting like I was snoring. But when I pulled the blanket down, I thought, "Now, it'll all be over, 'cause they've gone to bed, and the watch is out there with the cattle." But when I looked up, them big stars was hanging just above me; something said, "Who put them up there, and Who's holding them in place?" Just then the wind come through those whispering pines, and it seemed like there was a voice that said, "There's a land beyond the river, that they call that sweet forever. And we only reach that shore by faith decree." I got my blanket and pulled it around my ears again.
God's so great He will find you; I don't care where you are. Don't try to hide from Him; you're fighting a losing battle. Just give up, and you'll be happy. You can see Him everywhere.

L-23 I remember over on the Troublesome River. I was way high that year, hunting elk. Mr. Jeffries, the rancher, we knowed the lands, because we salted the cattle. It's about thirty-five miles, forty, from any kind of a ranch or anything, way up the top of the continental divide, just in behind Willow Creek. And we'd been--I'd been in there for years helping with the cattle. I go back every time I can now to ride the roundup in the fall, or take them up in the spring, 'cause I love it. Get out alone, hear the whispering of the pines, and to hear the--the birds holler, and--and the rippling of the water. There's something about it that's godly; it speaks out. No man can stand in the woods, stand quiet for a few minutes, but what will know there's a God.

L-24 And it hadn't snowed that year so, yet, and it was early in October, and--and the elk was still up high around timberline. So Mr. Jeffries said, "Billy, you go on up here towards Corral Peaks, and I'm going back towards Haystack. I'll meet you day after tomorrow at the line--old shack back there where a homesteader went in years ago, called the Wheatly Place."
And I said, "All right." We had our horses. So I tied my horse and went way high. And at that time of year there's usually, it'll storm awhile, snow awhile, then the sun will come out. I was walking along there and thinking about the Lord. I love it just as the sun goes down, or when it's coming up.
And I was walking along this place looking for the elk, and it was--come up a storm. And I got behind a tree, and oh, the wind just blew hard. Cold come behind it, and the evergreens begin to freeze.
And after the storm was over, I was standing there thinking about the Lord and His goodness and His mercy. And I thought about when Elijah was in the den and--and he heard the noise go by. And oh, I was just having a good time rejoicing in my heart. When the storm was over, I come out from behind the tree, and I looked. And the elk herd had been scattered, and I--I heard a big male bugle on this side, and the mate answered down in the valley. And oh, but...
My mother's a Indian. And my conversion never took it out of me. I love nature. When I heard that bugle of that elk, this one over here... And the wolf got to howling, the coyote, and his mate answering in the bottom, you talk about the deep calling to the deep...


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