They Call Me Carpenter: A Tale of the Second Coming — John Shaqi
They Call Me Carpenter: A Tale of the Second ComingSinclair, Upton
General
They Call Me Carpenter: A Tale of the Second Coming
Sinclair, Upton
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Fiction; Jesus Christ -- Fiction
I had noticed among the men talking to Carpenter one who bore a
striking resemblance to him. He was tall and not too well nourished;
but instead of the prophet's robes of white and amethyst, he wore
the clothes of a working-man, a little too short in the sleeves; and
where Carpenter had a soft and silky brown beard, this man had a
skinny Adam's apple that worked up and down. He was something of an
agitator, I judged, and he appeared to have a religious streak. “I
am a Christian,” I heard him say; “but one of the kind that speak
out against injustice. And I can show you Bible texts for it,” he
insisted. “I can prove it by the word of God.”
This man's name was James, and I learned that he was one of the
striking carpenters. The prophet turned to him, and said: “Tell him
your story.” So the other took from his pocket a greasy note-book,
and produced a newspaper clipping, quoting an injunction which Judge
Wollcott had issued against his union. “Read that,” said he; but I
answered that I knew about it. I remember hearing my uncle laughing
over the matter at the dinner-table, saying that “Bobbie” Wollcott
had forbidden the strikers to do everything but sit on air and walk
on water. And now I got another view of “Bobbie,” this time from a
prophet fresh from God. Said the prophet: “Your judges are mobs!”
XXVIII
Soon after the noon-hour, there pushed his way into the crowd a
young man, whom I recognized as one of the secretaries of T-S. He
was looking for me, and told me in a whisper that his employer was
downstairs in his car, and wanted to see Mr. Carpenter and myself
about something important. He did not want to come up, because it
was too conspicuous. Would we come down and take a little drive? I
answered that I should be willing, but I knew Carpenter would
not--he had been in an automobile accident the night before, and had
refused to ride again.
Then, said the secretary, was there some room where we could meet? I
went to one of the officials, and asked for a vacant room where I
could talk about a private matter with a friend. I managed to
separate Carpenter from his crowd and took him to the room, and
presently Everett, the secretary, came with T-S.
The great man shook hands cordially with both of us; then, looking
round to make sure that no one heard us, he began: “Mr. Carpenter, I
told you I vould give a tousand dollars to dese strikers.”
The other's face, which had looked so grey and haggard, was suddenly
illumined as if by his magical halo. “I had forgotten it! There are
so many hungry in there; I have been watching them, wondering when
they would be fed.”
“All right,” said T-S. “Here you are.” And reaching into his pocket,
he produced a wad of new shiny hundred dollar notes, folded
together. “Count 'em.”
Carpenter took the money in his hand. “So this is it!” he said. He
looked at it, as if he were inspecting some strange creature from
the wilds of Patagonia.
“It's de real stuff,” said T-S, with a grin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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