The Deacon of Dobbinsville: A Story Based on Actual HappeningsMorrison, John Arch
Religion
The Deacon of Dobbinsville: A Story Based on Actual Happenings
Morrison, John Arch
Christian life -- Fiction
But where was Evangelist Blank to preach? Not in Mount Olivet, to be
sure. About a quarter of a mile from Mount Olivet Church was a section
of land known in that country as Public Land. Here in the center of an
old, unused, unfenced field was a thick clump of post oak sapplings,
with heavy foliage. This spot was to be the scene of many an interesting
happening, a few of which shall be mentioned before this story closes
and many of which shall not. As soon as Jake was sufficiently recovered
from the beating administered by the Deacon, he, in company with Nolan
Gray and several others who were either friends or embracers of the
doctrine of full salvation, went to this spot and worked for a number of
days building a brush arbor, which was to serve the purpose of a
meeting-house. Long poles were tied from tree to tree to make a
framework. Then other poles were laid across from the frame-poles to
furnish a support for the brush, which was thrown on top. A sort of
tabernacle was thus effected which served the purpose well. Oil torches
were hung on the upright poles to furnish light. Long boards were
brought from a sawmill near by and fastened on stakes driven into the
ground; these served for benches. The arbor would seat about five
hundred people.
Everything was in readiness for the long-expected meetings. All there
was to do was to wait for the 2nd of August to come, and that was hard
to do. Finally it came. That afternoon when the two-coached train rolled
up to the little red station at Dobbinsville, Jake Benton stood on the
depot platform. His heart beat a rat-a-tat-tat against his chest. As the
train slowed up and Jake saw through its window the face of a man
corresponding to the picture he had seen in his holiness paper, his
emotions refused to yield to control. He jumped high in the air, and
shouted at the top of his voice, "Hallelujah!"
The train being a few hours late, the afternoon was far spent. On the
road from the station, Jake told Evangelist Blank as best he could of
the happenings of the year just preceding--how he had been converted in
the woods and subsequently sanctified, of his persecution and
excommunication by the church, and of his recent beating at the hands of
Deacon Gramps. Evangelist Blank had had many long years of experience in
the field of evangelistic endeavor, yet when Jake Benton poured all
these startling things into his ears, there came a feeling over him that
he was entering into an entirely new experience. This feeling was
verified before he left the neighborhood a few weeks later.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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