They Call Me Carpenter: A Tale of the Second ComingSinclair, Upton
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They Call Me Carpenter: A Tale of the Second Coming
Sinclair, Upton
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Fiction; Jesus Christ -- Fiction
But it appeared that Sunday was not visitors' day at the jail, and
the little company was turned away. As they climbed back into the
wagon, I saw two husky fellows come from the jail, a type one learns
to know as plain clothes men. “Why won't they let him in?” cried
some one in the crowd; and one of the detectives looked over his
shoulder, with a sneering laugh: “We'll let him in before long,
don't you worry!”
The wagon took up its slow march again. It was a one-horse
express-cart, belonging, as I afterwards learned, to a compatriot of
Korwsky the tailor. This man, Simon Karlin, earned a meager living
for himself and his family by miscellaneous delivery in his
neighborhood; but now he was so fascinated with Carpenter that he
had dropped everything in order to carry the prophet about. I
mention it, because next day in the newspapers there was much fun
made of this imitation man of God riding about town in a half
broken-down express-wagon, hauled by a rickety and spavined old nag.
The company drove to one of the poorer quarters of the city, and
stopped before a workingman's cottage on a street whose name I had
never heard before. I learned that it was the home of James, the
striking carpenter, and on the steps were his wife and a brood of
half a dozen children, and his old father and mother, and several
other people unidentified. There were many who had walked all the
way following the wagon, and others gathered quickly, and besought
the prophet to speak to them, and to heal their sick. Apparently his
whole life was to consist of that kind of thing, for he found it
hard to refuse any request. But finally he told them he must be
quiet, and went inside, and James mounted guard at the door, and I
sat in my car and waited until the crowd had filtered away. There
was no good reason why I should have been admitted, but James
apparently was glad to see me, and let me join the little company
that was gathered in his home.
There was Everett, who had now washed the blood off his face, but
had not been able to put back his lost teeth, nor to heal the
swollen mass that had once been his upper lip and nose. And there
was Korwsky, who was now able to sit up and smile feebly, and two
other men, whose names I did not learn, nursing battered faces.
Carpenter prayed over them all, and they became more cheerful, and
eager to talk about the adventure, each telling over what had
happened to him. I noted that Everett, in spite of what must have
been intense pain, was still faithfully taking down every word the
prophet uttered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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