60 Sermon Illustrations on Spiritual Warfare

In spiritual warfare as in physical warfare, the effectiveness of any weapon is directly proportionate to the efficiency of the one operating it. For this reason, during a late, great war, the U.S. Army assigned a new recruit one rifle which he kept throughout his training. It was called his "piece," and it became a part of him. The recruit handled the piece continually, disassembling and reassembling it. He cleaned it. He conducted basic maintenance. He carried it 12 hours a day. When crossing rivers or streams his head might have gotten wet, but his piece had to stay dry. Six months later in the heat of battle, the soldier knew every inch of it-every mechanism. He understood things that could malfunction and how to remedy them. He could break it down and reassemble it in just seconds, blindfolded. Man and weapon had become a synchronized and deadly, efficient fighting machine. The spiritual warrior's proficiency with his basic weapons should be no less remarkable. But quite sadly, if believers had to rely on their own Bible familiarity in life and death situations, the majority would helplessly perish. Who Is on Trial? There is no city in the world, perhaps, where the treasures of art are more appreciated than Florence, Italy. It is told that an American visitor to the Pitti Palace, after viewing some of the paintings there, said to his guide: "Are these the great masterpieces that everyone tells me about? I don't see much in them to arouse such enthusiasm." "It is not these paintings that are on trial sir," the guide answered, "but it is you who view them." So it is with the Word of God. Sometimes we run across scoffers, men who sneer at divine revelation, who say that they cannot feel much enthusiasm about the Bible. But the Bible is not on trial. Whether men believe it or not, it is the Word of God, "which liveth and abideth forever" (1 Peter 1:23).

Mrs. Wesley was extremely jealous of her husband. His work set him in the position of friend and counselor to many women. Among his helpers and in the institutions that were springing up under his care, women were employed, and each one was for his insanely jealous wife an object of deadly suspicion. Wesley on his part was apt to be tolerant, in a masculine and broad-minded way, of the facts and relationships of some women, which other women, even the best, would hardly forgive. Sally Ryan, for example, the housekeeper at one of his orphanages, was a woman with a past. She was at this time only thirty-three, but she had three husbands living and was separated from them all. Wesley was in constant correspondence with her, a fact which kindled his wife to fury. She stole Wesley's correspondence to satisfy her doubts. She would travel one hundred miles to see who his companions were at a particular stage of his preaching tour. Her fury threw her sometimes into paroxysms of mad violence and sometimes into acts of almost incredible treachery. She not only stole her husband's letters to satisfy her doubts, but she tampered with them so as to give them an evil sense and put them into the hands of his enemies to be published. Beware of jealousy. It can make the light of God in your heart so dark you see only evil, never good, in everyone. The Squawking Canary In a home where a lady had two canary cages, one on either side of a window, a visitor made some comment about the birds. Whereupon the hostess remarked that one of the canaries was exceedingly jealous. She then proved her statement. Going to the cage of the bird that was not jealous, she began petting it, calling it pretty names and chatting with it. The reaction of the other canary was remarkable. Its feathers ruffled up, it fluttered all about the cage and made angry squawks of protest. There was no question about its jealous nature. Man, too, displays a jealous nature by his actions.

If you have ever seen a wrestling match, you know it is not pretty. It is sweaty, sticky, dirty, and painful. When you wrestle, you get down and get dirty. There is no half-hearted involvement. You give it everything you've got, or you lose. Anthony T. Evans wrote: "I know a bit about wrestling because my brother, Arthur, was the Maryland state wrestling champion in his weight class. At his championship match my brother weighed in at about 230 pounds and was going up against the three-time Maryland state champion who out-weighed him by 35 pounds. Before the match, a reporter asked, 'Who is the toughest wrestler in this room?' "My brother, humble fellow that he is, said, 'You are looking at him!' "The reporter looked at him and asked, 'What makes you think you are so tough? You are about to fight the man who has won the state championship three times in a row.' "My brother replied with a very insightful comment, 'I know. He is bigger and perhaps stronger than I am, but I know his methods.' "We are in a similar fight against Satan. Just as my brother needed to learn his opponent's moves, we need to understand Satan's moves. We need to know how he operates, so that we can prepare ourselves 'to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm' (Ephesians 6:13). No place in Scripture reveals Satan's schemes better than Genesis 3, which records Satan's initial contact with man. As the story unfolds, we clearly see Satan's strategy to ruin the human race." Do Not Laugh at the Devil Have you heard about the fellow who was seriously ill? A visitor asked him if he was willing to turn his life over to God and renounce the devil. "I am willing to give my life to God," he said, "But a man in my condition should not be making any enemies." We may laugh, but we must not forget that the strength and influence of the devil is real. In fact, the number of his followers is increasing. Satan's church is growing and new groups are beginning. Satan's Bible is available in many bookstores. More and more signs of devil worship are now appearing in graffiti. Never forget that the devil has one goal. He wants your soul. His desire is for all men to be in hell for eternity. He is the embodiment of evil. Twelve times the New Testament calls him "the evil one." He has the power to enter a person (Luke 22:3). With his craftiness, he can use even the best of people to achieve his ends (Matthew 16:23). He can trap man and take him captive (2 Timothy 2:26). He can fill the heart of man and lead him to death (Acts 5:3). It is not old-fashioned or anti-intellectual to believe in a living, powerful person of evil. Perhaps we need to see more vividly the contest in which we are participants. "I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me" (Acts 26:17-18). Instead of joking about him, perhaps we need to restore a custom of the early church. Tertullian, (A.D. 155-222) recounted how converts not only confessed the Christ, but also said, "I renounce you Satan and all your service and all your works." We may not be a member of Satan's church but we can still be his follower (1 Timothy 5:15). This is because we serve him by default. If we do not totally and wholeheartedly serve the Lord, we automatically become servants of Satan. "Do not you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16). The old dragon, the serpent, is not all-powerful. In fact, we can fight against him and win if we will seek divine assistance (Romans 8:13, Romans 8:26). We can resist him and flee his influence (James 4:7). Our weapons and strength are mighty, and we can fight against him and triumph (Ephesians 6:13-18). With such strength, we need not fear the devil. Yet we must constantly be alert to his schemes and devices. He wants us, he is powerful, but he can only win if we let him. "For we are not unaware of his schemes" (2 Corinthians 2:11). Do You Know the Devil? That is a pretty unusual title for an article that is designed to uphold the Christian faith. Why would we ever want to know the devil? Because we will never overcome him unless we know something of his sinister purposes, his devious tactics and his universal influence. George C. Scott portrayed George Patton in the film biography of the World War II general's career. There is a scene in which Scott as Patton reflects on the defeat of the German field Marshall, Erwin Rommel. He said something like, "Rommel, I read your book." We have to read the book on our enemy, the devil. Among the things we need to know about him are the following: 1. He controls people. He has even been able to control people who walked in the physical presence of Jesus. Near the end of our Lord's earthly ministry, he predicted His own death. Peter resisted the thought that such a thing could happen. Even with the passing of nearly 20 centuries, Jesus' reaction to Peter is a shock. "Out of my sight, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men" (Matthew 16:23). 2. He lies. He is the father of lies (John 8:44) and he "masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). He can start with a premise or a practice that is clearly the opposite of what God wants and put a spin on it that makes it sound like you have God's backing for the most evil deeds imaginable. 3. He has universal influence. In Job 1, God asked Satan where he had been. In arrogance Satan shot back, "Ranging over the earth from end to end" (NEB). You cannot go anywhere on this planet where Satan does not go. This is not said to make you paranoid about Satan, but so that you might be better prepared to resist the devil and force him to flee from you.

Animal trainers say that the secret of handling lions, tigers, and leopards is to keep them constantly afraid of you. The instant they get over their fear, they will attack. They are treacherous beasts and often gather courage for an attack when the trainer's eyes are turned away from them. One never knows when they will spring at their keeper if they have a chance to do it from behind. Our fight with the forces of evil is like that. Satan is always seeking to attack us from the rear or in ambush. He goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, but he is a great coward when faced with courage. "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" is as true today as it was when the Apostle James first made the declaration (James 4:7). The Cleansing Blood It is related that once the devil came to Luther and tried to use the biblical truth of the fallibility of the Christian to create in him a defeatist attitude. He presented Luther with a long list of sins which Luther was guilty of; sins of commission and sins of omission. Then Luther with his characteristic wit turned to the devil and said, "No, you must have forgotten some, for sure. Think a little harder." Sure enough, the devil thought of some more, and he put them down. "That's very fine," said Luther. "Now write with red ink across them all, 'The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin' (1 John 1:7)." There was nothing the devil could answer to that.

A man with an axe was attacked by a vicious dog, and in defending himself had to kill the animal. The owner was furious and asked the man how he dared kill his dog. The man replied that if he had not killed it, the dog would have torn him to pieces. "Well," said the owner, "why did you hit with the blade? Why didn't you just hit it with the handle?" "I would have," replied the man, "if it had tried to bite me with its tail." So, when I have to deal with sin, some people say, "Why don't you go about it more diplomatically? Why don't you choose less offensive words to describe it?" I answer, "I would, if it would bite me with its tail, but as long as it deals roughly with me, I will deal roughly with it; any kind of weapon that will help to slay the monster, I'm going to feel free to use." A Believer Like Zacharias A gentleman who believed himself perfect called to see an old Christian neighbor. They began talking about the interesting subject of the believer's perfection. "Can you point to a single perfect man or woman in the Bible?" inquired the aged saint. "Yes," readily answered the other, "turn to Luke 1:6 and you will read there of two-Elizabeth and Zacharias-who walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." "Then you consider yourself a believer like Zacharias?" "Certainly I do," said the visitor. "Ah," replied the old man, "I thought you might be; and we read a few verses further on that he was struck dumb for his unbelief." Are You Sinless? A lady came to her pastor after he had preached one day and said, "But does not John say, 'Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not' (1 John 3:6)?" Of course he consented to the fact, telling her that the Christian does not voluntarily wallow in sin, but that we should also remember that the same apostle says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us" (1 John 1:8-10). Then he turned to this Christian lady and asked her, "Can you say you are sinless?" There was no answer. No Rights We claim things as our right, sometimes, to which we have no right at all. In fact, we have no right to anything, and sometimes God impresses this upon us by taking things from us. Let us not be like the sick man to whom a benevolent gentleman had been giving a quart of milk a day. At last, the time came for this poor man to die, and of course the gift of milk was expected to come to an end. When he was gone, the gentleman called upon the widow. "I must tell you, sir," said she, "that my husband has made a will and has left the quart of milk to his brother!"

Once there was a Judge who had a colored man. The colored man was very godly, and the Judge used to have him to drive him around in his circuit. The Judge used often to talk with him, and the colored man would tell the Judge about his religious experience, and about his battles and conflicts. One day the Judge said to him, "Sambo, how is it that you Christians are always talking about the conflicts you have with Satan. I am better off than you are. I don't have any conflicts or trouble, and yet I am an infidel and you are a Christian--always in a muss-how's that, Sambo?" This floored the colored man for a while. He didn't know how to meet the old infidel's argument. So he shook his head sorrowfully and said: "I dunno. Massa, I dunno." The Judge always carried a gun along with him for hunting. Pretty soon they came to a lot of ducks. The Judge took his gun and blazed away at them, and wounded one and killed another. The Judge said quickly, "You jump in, Sambo, and get that wounded duck before he gets off," and did not pay any attention to the dead one. In went Sambo for the wounded duck and came out reflecting. The colored man then thought he had an illustration. He said to the Judge: "I hab 'im now, Massa, I'se able to show you how de Christian hab greater conflict den de infidel. Don't you know de moment you wounded dat ar duck, how anxious you was to get 'im out, and you didn't care for de dead duck, but just lef 'im alone!" "Yes," said the Judge. "Well," said Sambo, "ye see as how dat ar dead duck's a sure thing. I'se wounded, and I tries to get away from de debbil. It takes trouble to catch me. But, massa, you are a dead duck--dar is no squabble for you. The debbil have you "sure!" So the devil has no conflict with the infidel.

"Lusts are contrary one to another, and therefore jostle for the throne, and usually take it by turns. As our ancestors sent for the Saxons to drive out the Picts, so do carnal men drive out one lust by another, and, like the lunatic in the Gospel (Matt. xvii.) fall sometimes into the water, and sometimes into the fire." Of what use then can reforms be which are wrought by an evil agency? If sobriety be the fruit of pride, it grows upon a pernicious root, and though the body be no longer intoxicated, the mind will be drunken. If revenge be forsworn from considerations of avarice, the meanness of the miserly is a small gain upon the fury of the passionate. If outward irreligion be abandoned out of a desire to gain human applause, the Pharisee will be a very slender improvement upon the prodigal. Satan's casting out of Satan is deceitful work: his intent no doubt is to establish his empire by pretending to overthrow it.

No, there must be another power at work, or little is accomplished. Any fancied good which one devil may bring another is sure to take away, and the last end of the man whom Satan mends is always worse than the first. A stronger than he must enter in by force of grace, and hurl him out by divine force, and take full possession, or the man may be another man but not a new man. Lord Jesus, cast out all the devils from my soul at once and never permit one of them to return.

"Till we sin Satan is a parasite; but when once we are in the devil's hands he turns tyrant. As an angler, when the fish hath swallowed the bait, discovers himself; or as a hunter lies out of sight till the beast is gotten into the toils, and then he shouts and triumphs over his prey, so the evil one lets not his enmity be seen till he has deceived his dupe." How often have I seen this. A soul tempted by the pleasures of sin one day, and driven to despair by remorse for it the next! Satan first acts as deceiver and then as accuser. While men can be made to suck down sin he will make it sweet in their mouths; but when the poison is down he makes it bitter in their bowels. At the first he tells them that there is no punishment, and by-and-by that there is no mercy. Lord, teach us how to baffle Satan's arts, and rescue men from his wiles. No mere human wisdom can match his subtlety; instruct us, then, by thy Spirit that we may be as wise to win souls as he is crafty to destroy them.

ILLUSTRATIONS AND MEDITATIONS. – 165

It is reported by the poets, of Achilles the Grecian captain, that his mother, being warned by the oracle, dipped him—being a child—in the River Lethe, to prevent any danger that might ensue by reason of the Trojan War; but Paris, his inveterate enemy, understanding also by the oracle that he was impenetrable all over his body, except the heel, or small part of his leg, which his mother held him by when she dipped him, took his advantage, shot him in the heel, and killed him. Thus every man is, or ought to be, armed cap-a-pie with that panoply,—the whole armor of God; for the Devil will be sure to hit the least part that he finds unarmed: if it be the eye, he will dart in at that easement by the presentation of one lewd object or other; if it be the ear, he will force that door open by bad counsel; if the tongue, that shall be made a world of mischief; if the feet, they shall be swift to shed blood, &c. Spencer.

I have to forewarn you that there is lurking in different sections of our camp a dangerous and malignant spy. I will endeavor to describe this diabolical spy as well as I can. He is remarkably old, having grown gray in iniquity. He is toothless and crooked, and altogether of a very unsavory countenance. His name, sir, is BIGOTRY. He seldom travels in daylight; but in the evening shades he steals forth from his haunts of retirement, and creeps into the tent of the soldiers; and, with a tongue as smooth and deceptions as the serpent who deceived our first mother, he endeavors "to sow arrows, firebrands, and death" in the camp. His policy is to persuade the soldiers in garrison to despise those in open field; and, again, those in open field to despise those in garrison; to incite the cavalry against the infantry, and the infantry against the cavalry: and, in so doing, he makes no scruple to employ misrepresentation, slander, and falsehood; for, like his father, he is a liar from the beginning. Now, sir, I trust the army will be on the alert in detecting this old scoundrel, and making a public example of him. I hope, if the Methodist cavalry catch him on the frontiers, they will ride him down, and put him to the sword without delay; I trust the Presbyterian infantry will receive him on the point of the bayonet; and, should the Baptists find him skulking along the banks of the rivers, I trust they will fairly drown him; and, should he dare to approach any of our garrisons, I hope the Episcopalians will open upon him a double flanked battery, and the Dutch Reformers greet him with a whole round of artillery. Let him die the death of a spy, without military honors; and, after he has been gibbeted for a convenient season, let his body be given to the Quakers, and let them bury him deep and in silence. May God grant his miserable ghost may never revisit this world of trouble.

— G. C. Cookman

At a celebrated battle, there was one position from which the enemy, after suffering defeat in every other part of the field, kept up an unabated fire. There a huge twenty-four-pounder vomited forth galling and continuous discharges; nor could our artillery nor musketry nor riflemen silence it. "That gun," said the commanding officer, addressing the men of two regiments, "must be taken by the bayonet. I must have it;" adding, as he placed himself at their head, "No firing, and recollect that I am with you." There needed no more. They advanced; and in a short time they had taken the gun and the position. Let the Church go forth at the command of her glorious Head, and there is no position and weapon of the enemy but shall yield before their united assaults.

— Dr. Guthrie

As idle and slothful soldiers lying in camp allow the enemy to plunder the country, burn the villages, ravish the women, and produce general havoc: so in spiritual warfare, if we yield to the flesh and the Devil, we shall be in perpetual misery; but, if we resist them stoutly, we shall the sooner attain rest. Caudray.

There is not a place beneath which a believer walks, that is free from snares. Behind every tree, there is the Indian with his barbed arrow; behind every bush, there is the lion seeking to devour; under every piece of grass, there lieth the adder. Spurgeon.

So Mr. Great-Heart, old Honest, and the four young men, went up to Doubting Castle to look for Giant Despair. When they came at the castle gate, they knocked for entrance with an unusual noise. At that the old Giant comes to the gate; and Diffidence, his wife, follows. Then said he, "Who and what is he that is so hardy as after this manner to molest the Giant Despair?" Mr. Great-Heart replied, "It is I, Great-Heart, one of the King of the Celestial Country's conductors of pilgrims to their place; and I demand of thee that thou open thy gates for my entrance: prepare thyself also to fight, for I am come to take away thy head, and to demolish Doubting Castle." Now, Giant Despair, because he was a giant, thought no man could overcome him: and again, thought he, "Since, heretofore, I have made a conquest of angels, shall Great-Heart make me afraid?" So he harnessed himself, and went out. He had a cap of steel upon his head, a breast-plate of fire girded to him; and he came out in iron shoes, with a great club in his hand. Then these six men made up to him, and beset him behind and before; also when Diffidence, the giantess, came up to help him, old Mr. Honest cut her down at one blow. Then they fought for their lives; and Giant Despair was brought down to the ground, but was very loath to die. He struggled hard, and had, as they say, as many lives as a cat; but Great-Heart was his death, for he left him not till he had severed his head from his shoulders. Bunyan.

Who is the most diligent bishop and prelate in all England? I will tell you: it is the Devil. He is the most diligent preacher of all other; he is never out of his diocese; he is never from his curé; ye shall never find him unoccupied; he is ever in his parish; he keepeth residence at all times; ye shall never find him out of the way, call for him when ye will; he is ever at home, the most diligent preacher in all the realm; he is ever at his plough; he is ever applying to his business; ye shall never find him idle, I warrant you; and his office is to hinder religion, to maintain superstition, to set up idolatry, to teach all kinds of popery. He is as ready as can be wished to set forth his plough; to devise as many ways as can be to deface and obscure God's glory. Where the Devil is resident, and hath his plough going, there away with books, and up with candles; away with Bibles, and up with beads; away with the light of the gospel, and up with the light of candles, yea, at noon-day. Where the Devil is resident, that he may prevail, too, with all superstition and idolatry, censing, painting, images, candles, palms, ashes, holy water, and new service of men's inventing, as though man could invent a better way to honor God with than God himself hath appointed, down with Christ's cross, up with popish purgatory; away with clothing the naked, supporting the poor and impotent, up with the decking of images and gay garnishing of stocks and stones; down with God's Will and most Holy Word, up with man's traditions and his laws; down with the old honor due unto God, and up with the honor of the new gods. Bp. Latimer.

Anthony and the. "One night, as Anthony sat in his cell, he heard a knocking at the door, and, going to see who was there, he beheld a man of terrible aspect and of gigantic stature; and he said, 'Who art thou?' The stranger answered, 'I am Satan; and I come to ask thee how it is that thou and all thy disciples, whenever ye stray into sin, or any evil befall ye, lay the blame and the shame on me, and load me with corses.' And Anthony said, 'Have we not cause? Dost thou not go about seeking whom thou mayst devour, and tempt and torment us? And art thou not the occasion of fall to many?' And the demon replied, 'It is false: I do none of those things of which men accuse me; it is their own fault; they allure each other to sin; they torment and oppress each other; they are tempted of their own evil propensities; they go about seeking occasion to sin; and then they weakly lay the cause at my door: for since God came upon earth, and was made man to redeem man, my power is at an end. Lo! I have no arms, I have no dwelling-place, and, wanting every thing, can perform nothing. Let men complain of themselves, not of me: not I, but they alone, are guilty.' To which the saint, marvelling at so much sense and truth from the lips of the Devil, replied, 'Although thou art called the Father of Lies, in this thou hast spoken the truth; and, even for this, blessed be the name of Christ!' And, when Satan heard the holy name of the Redeemer, he vanished into air with a loud cry; and Anthony, looking out, saw nothing but the desert, and the darkness of the night."

As a fisherman, when he has a great fish on his hook, lets out the line, so that the fish may swallow down the hook, and be more surely caught; even so the Devil, when he has a poor sinner upon his hook, does not, at the first, treat him roughly, but stretches out his rod, line and all, that he may make the surer of him, and hold him the faster. Caudray.

Open evil at all events does this good: it keeps good on the alert. When there is no likelihood of an enemy's approaching, the garrison slumber at their post.

You that carry flesh and blood about with you, and sinful natures, and do perceive the conflicts of the flesh against the spirit, weigh with yourselves what it is the flesh conflicts with you for: it is no less than for the immortal soul, as the Apostle Peter tells you, "I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." The flesh aims to damn the soul. It is in this conflict as Caesar said in the battle he had once in Africa with the children and partakers of Pompey, that, in other battles, he was wont to fight for glory, but there and then he was obliged to fight for his life. Remember thy precious soul lies at stake in this conflict. Christopher Love.

Dr. Cuyler describes a visit to one of the hells of New York, — Morrissey's Club-house. The doors were open to all; a sumptuous supper was spread free to the players; the furniture was elegant; the players were fashionably dressed. They gathered about a roulette-table, staked large piles of greenbacks, and lost or won in silence. Behind each, the arch-gauester, Satan, seemed luring each to stake his conscience for gold, knowing that he was sure to cheat them out of their immortal souls.

Bunyan locates this between the house Beautiful and the hill Difficulty. The descent to it is hard to make; but the vale itself is one of great fertility and beauty. Some poor men dwell here. Here Christian had an encounter with Apollyon; but angels also are often met here.

When St. Benedict founded the Monastery of Monte Cassino, a demon endeavored to retard the work, and seated himself on the top of a large stone required for the building, so that no human power availed to move it from its place. St. Benedict knelt; and at his prayer the demon took to flight.

Profanity is said to be a tribute which the servants of the Devil pay to their master in token of allegiance; as the tenants of a Scotch landholder pay him a pepper-corn annually in token of submission.

Among the first settlers of Brunswick, Me., was Daniel Malcolm, a man of undaunted courage, and an inveterate enemy of the Indians. Early in the spring, he ventured alone into the forest for the purpose of splitting rails, not apprehensive of Indians so early in the season. While engaged in his work, and having opened a log with small wedges about half its length, he was surprised by Indians, who crept up, and secured his musket standing by his side. "Sungurnum-by," said the chief, "now me got you; long me want you; you long speak Indian; long time worry him; me have got you now; look up stream to Canada." — "Well," said Malcolm, "you have me; but just help me open this log before I go." They all (five in number) agreed. Malcolm prepared a large wooden wedge, carefully drove it, took out his small wedges, and told the Indians to put in their fingers to the partially clefted wood, and help pull it open. They did: he then suddenly struck out his blunt wedge; and the elastic wood instantly closed fast on their fingers, and he secured them all.

Cache River, a little stream that empties into the Ohio five miles above Cairo, is decidedly the most serpentine stream in America. From its mouth to its source is a distance of thirty-six miles. The stream, however, is one hundred and eighty miles long, showing a waste of one hundred and forty-four miles in crooks.