One of the first gospel illustrations that ever made a real impression upon H.A. Ironside's heart was a simple story which he heard a preacher tell when he was less than nine years old.

It was of pioneers who were making their way across one of the central states to a distant place that had been opened up for homesteading. They traveled in covered wagons drawn by oxen, and progress was necessarily slow. One day they were horrified to note a long line of smoke in the west, stretching for miles across the …