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
Somehow word had been got to all the little group of agitators of
various shades. There was Korwsky, the secretary of the tailors'
union--whose first name I learned was Luka; also his fellow Russian,
the express-driver,--Simon Karlin, and Tom Moneta, the young Mexican
cigar-maker. There was Matthew Everett, free to be a guest on this
occasion, because T-S had brought along another stenographer. There
was Mark Abell, and another Socialist, a young Irishman named Andy
Lynch, a veteran of the late war who had come home completely cured
of militarism, and was now spending his time distributing Socialist
leaflets, and preaching to the workers wherever he could get two or
three to listen. Also there was Hamby, the pacifist whom I did not
like, and a second I. W. W., brought by Colver--a lad named Philip,
who had recently been indicted by the grand jury, and was at this
moment a fugitive from justice with a price upon his head.
The door of the room was opened, and another man came in; a striking
figure, tall and gaunt, with old and pitifully untidy clothing, and
a half month's growth of beard upon his chin. He wore an old black
hat, frayed at the edges; but under this hat was a face of such
gentleness and sadness that it made you think of Carpenter's own.
Withal, it was a Yankee face--of that lean, stringy kind that we
know so well. The newcomer's eyes fell upon Carpenter, and his face
lighted; he set down an old carpet-bag that he was carrying, and
stretched out his two hands, and went to him. “Carpenter! I've been
looking for you!”
And Carpenter answered, “My brother!” And the two clasped hands, and
I thought to myself with astonishment, “How does Carpenter know this
man?”
Presently I whispered to Abell, “Who is he?” I learned that he was
one I had heard of in the papers--Bartholomew Howard, the
“millionaire hobo;” he was grandson and heir of one of our great
captains of industry, and had taken literally the advice of the
prophet, to sell all that he had and give it to the unemployed. He
traveled over the country, living among the hobos and organizing
them into his Brotherhood. Now you would have thought that he and
Carpenter had known each other all their lives; as I watched them, I
found myself thinking: “Where are the clergy and the pillars of St.
Bartholomew's Church?” There were none of them at this supper-party!
LI
T-S had stopped at a caterer's on his way to the gathering, and had
done his humble best in the form of a strawberry short-cake almost
half as large around as himself; also several bottles of purple
color, with the label of grape juice. When the company gathered at
the table and these bottles were opened, they made a suspicious
noise, and so we all made jokes, as people have the habit of doing
in these days of getting used to prohibition. I noticed that
Carpenter laughed at the jokes, and seemed to enjoy the whole
festivity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account