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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12512 ***
+
+THE DEACON OF DOBBINSVILLE
+
+A Story Based on Actual Happenings
+
+_By John A. Morrison_
+
+
+
+
+Publisher's Preface
+
+
+This narrative, written and first printed some 45 or 50 years ago,
+depicts the contrast in that day between the nominal religious
+professors on the one hand, and on the other the individuals who had
+been soundly converted, made new creatures in Christ, filled with the
+Holy Spirit and rejoicing on the "highway of holiness." There is a
+distinct line of demarcation "between him that serveth God and him that
+serveth him not."
+
+The Apostle Paul warned: "For the time will come when they will not
+endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to
+themselves teachers, having itching ears; and THEY SHALL TURN AWAY
+THEIR EARS FROM THE TRUTH, and shall be turned unto fables." 2 Tim.
+4:4, 5. The religious world has apostatized much more since Paul's day,
+even to the extent in this modern age that professors of Christianity
+are proclaiming the blasphemous "God is dead" philosophy.
+
+The author, John Arch Morrison, kindly granted this publisher his
+permission to reprint this book. Here are his words in his own
+handwriting dated October 26, 1965: "Dear Bro. in Christ, I have no
+objection to you printing any number of 'The Deacon of Dobbinsville.'
+Cordially, John A. Morrison."
+
+Then hardly two months later, on December 23, 1965, and before this book
+was printed, the author was taken suddenly from this life by a heart
+attack at Anderson, Indiana in his 73rd year.
+
+Time is rapidly bearing us all on to eternity. How all-important it is
+that we remember constantly the words of the Psalmist: "So teach us to
+number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." The Wise Man
+writes: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and
+keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." Eccl. 12:13.
+
+March, 1966--Lawrence D. Pruitt, Publisher
+
+
+
+
+The Deacon of Dobbinsville
+
+By John A. Morrison
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+Mount Olivet church at the time of which I am about to write had
+received the zenith of her glory. She was possessed of a full measure of
+the denominational pride and prejudice common to the day and the
+community in which she existed. Since Mount Olivet church is to occupy
+so conspicuous a place in my narrative, it is fitting that I should take
+time and space right here to describe her. I must also give my readers
+an idea of the community of which Mount Olivet church formed the hub and
+center.
+
+Well, to begin with, Mount Olivet church was old. And like, all other
+things old she had a history, partly respectable and partly otherwise.
+The date of her organization reached back into the fifties, before the
+days of the Civil War. Some great notables had lived and died in this
+church. Tradition had it that one of the charter members of this church
+was a candidate for president of the United States against James
+Buchanan. Of course he was not elected, as you know, and I suppose you
+have noticed nothing in our national history about this particular man
+running for president, but you recall that the history of a nation and
+the history of a local country district have a way of reading
+differently.
+
+But this aspirant to the presidential office was not the only great man
+who had been a member of Mount Olivet church. The older citizens told of
+a certain Preacher Crookshank who was pastor of this church during and
+prior to the Civil War and was also a member of the State Legislature;
+and, according to these biographers, he was the sole cause of the State
+remaining in the Union. It seems from all reports that Preacher
+Crookshank was not only a statesman of renown, but also a masterful
+theologian of Mount Olivet's particular faith. It is reported how he
+defended his theology with his splendid oratory, and how when this
+failed he resorted to his fists. His oratory was said to be simply
+overwhelming. They recounted how, in his oratorical frenzies, he used to
+fling his homespun coat in the air and crack the heels of his red-topped
+boots together with an emphasis that would stop the mouth of the most
+impudent gainsayer. They told how by this masterful eloquence opposers
+were silenced, heretics were brought to orthodoxy, and infidels were
+converted. Preacher Crookshank flourished contemporaneously with John
+Barleycorn. To be frank, he and John were bosom friends. In fact, it was
+reported that Crookshank was never at his best in preaching except when
+he had an infilling of the "spirit" of the Barleycorn type. He had a
+certain long-tailed coat, said to have been given to him by a fellow
+member of the Legislature. This coat had large pockets in the tail
+wherein was carried a bottle of whiskey. This was a source of much
+inspiration to Crookshank throughout his long and eventful career.
+
+But I must leave off any further description of this notable. Those who
+are further interested I refer to the blue-grass cemetery just back of
+Mount Olivet church, where a tombstone is to be found bearing this
+inscription: "Rev. John Crookshank--Statesman, Preacher, Orator. Died
+June 6, 1867."
+
+As before stated, Mount Olivet church flourished. She was nestled among
+the picturesque Ozark Hills, about midway between Ridgetown and
+Dobbinsville. Everybody in the community, almost, who had any religious
+inclination, and some who had none, belonged to Mount Olivet. She
+boasted in being the largest church in all Randolph County--the churches
+at Ridgetown and Dobbinsville not excepted. When I say that Mount Olivet
+church flourished, I do not mean that she flourished in spiritual
+things. Indeed, her candle of vital religion had well-nigh flickered
+out. Scarcely a member could be found who would testify to a real
+experience of salvation from sin. There were three things for which the
+members of this particular church were remarkable, namely, they were
+great sticklers for the faith of their church, they were all
+holiness-fighters, they all used tobacco in some form.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+Deacon Gramps sat on his plow-handles. The sultry August day was drawing
+to a close. The sun was just ready to roll its bright red disk behind
+the western horizon. The Deacon seemed to be in a deep meditation. He
+cast a glance at his beautiful farm as it stretched itself out for a
+mile toward the river on the one side and nestled snugly against the
+foot of the limestone hill on the other side. The large white farmhouse
+with green trimming cozily planted on a blue-grass knoll across the
+brook seemed to bid him be at rest. The large red barn just back of the
+house stood out in sharp contrast against the green-foliaged mountain.
+The gold-colored balls on the lightning rods glistened in the farewell
+rays of the receding sun. Mount Olivet Church reared her white walls
+modestly from the brow of the blue-grass knoll a quarter of a mile
+eastward. Deacon Gramps was, at the close of this peaceful summer day,
+indulging in a mental congratulation of himself on being so favorably
+situated in life. Everybody recognized Farmer Gramps as being the
+wealthiest man in all Spruce Township. He owned the finest and fattest
+horses that were driven to Mount Olivet Church. His cattle roamed the
+forests for miles around, and his hogs cracked acorns on every hillside.
+
+Apart from his worldly wealth he was the most distinguished member of
+Mount Olivet church. For years he had been deacon in said church, and
+was president of the official board. In fact, he was as truly a part of
+the Church as was the pulpit on the platform or the bell in the steeple.
+No meeting was complete without him. He was an indispensable part of the
+service. He always sat in the same pew, and none coming into the Church
+previously to Deacon Gramps ever dared sit in his pew any more than they
+dared to monopolize the preacher's chair in the pulpit. He always
+enjoyed the double pleasure of chewing his tobacco and hearing the
+sermon simultaneously, and this necessitated his occupying a pew near
+the window, as you may well suppose. This window was known to roguish
+boys as "Deacon Window" and not even the bravest of these boys dared
+peep through this window during services as was their custom in the
+case of the other windows.
+
+Perhaps it is needless to say that the uninterrupted presence of Gramps
+had a profound influence upon the service. No preacher dared to fail to
+recognize his dignity. As well as being an officer in the church he was
+the heaviest contributor to its collections. He had a very curious habit
+of twitching his right ear when the preacher said something that did not
+just set well with him, and it naturally followed that every pastor who
+ever served Mount Olivet fell into the habit of watching Gramp's ear,
+and of course the sermon was governed accordingly. Thus "According to
+the deacon's ear," came to be a by-word through the community.
+
+Well, as I have already said, Deacon Gramps sat on his plow-handles.
+Just as he turned to unfasten the trace-chains from the plow to drive
+his horses to the barn, he saw two men climbing over the whitewashed
+fence that led from the barn toward the Church on the hill. Seeing these
+men were coming towards him, he resumed his position on the plow-handles
+and waited for them. As the two men drew near, he recognized in them the
+familiar features of Deacon Brown and Deacon Jones.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+Jake Benton was a member of Mount Olivet Church and had been for
+twenty-seven years. Jake was a man of ordinary natural intelligence, but
+like most of his neighbors was utterly ignorant as far as literary
+training is concerned. He naturally had deep religious sentiments. Under
+proper teaching he doubtless would have pressed his way into a genuine
+experience of salvation and would have lived a consistent Christian
+life, but under the unwholesome teachings of Mount Olivet he had given
+himself over to a mighty religious drift and had drifted far away from
+God and was completely destitute of redeeming grace. Oh, to be sure, he
+testified regularly at the church services and gave of his limited means
+toward the church's support, but he was a man of uncontrollable temper
+and was well versed in the art of old-fashioned fist-fighting. But his
+profession had become a burden to him, and he had often wondered if
+there were no possibility of extracting some joy out of the juiceless
+lemon of his profession.
+
+Now, it so happened one summer that Deacon Cramps had a large drove of
+cattle ranging on the hills about thirty miles to the southeast of Mount
+Olivet community. This drove of cattle consisted of a thousand head, and
+it became necessary that the Deacon employ some trustworthy person to
+herd the cattle and prevent them from scattering, or being stolen by
+cattle-thieves who sometimes visited that section. Since Jake Benton was
+known as an upright man and was a brother in the church, Deacon Cramps
+offered him the position. Out of pure financial necessity Jake accepted.
+
+This was some years before the rubber-tired automobile had invaded the
+flint hills of this section and thirty miles meant hours of toilsome
+travel. Thus it was necessary that Jake take along a camping outfit and
+remain all summer. This he decided to do. Many and long were the hours
+that Jake spent in this lonely mountain retreat. For miles around there
+was little sign of human activity. No sound of woodman's ax was heard.
+The stillness of the long summer afternoons was broken only by the
+tinkling of the bells on the hillsides. A lone log cabin lifted its
+mud-chinked walls from the brow of a hill from under which flowed a
+babbling stream of clear water. In the attic of this lone cabin Jake
+Benton was regularly lulled to sleep by the evening lullabies of the
+katydids as they sang in the tops of the postoak trees with which the
+cabin was surrounded.
+
+One August afternoon when Jake returned from his regular roundup of the
+cattle, he found, seated on a log near the spring, two men. At the sight
+of the men Jake's heart leaped into his mouth. For two months he had not
+laid his eyes on a human form. He had heard no human voice save his own.
+Needless to say, he was as much pleased as surprised to find companions
+in his lonely abode. Jake neared the log where the men sat. One of them
+arose and advanced toward him. "I trust," he remarked, "that you will
+not think we are trespassing on your premises. We have been traveling
+all day; our horses were tired and we were thirsty, and the spring
+invited us to be refreshed." For a moment Jake stood speechless, and
+then in almost forgotten terms he made his unexpected visitors feel
+welcome.
+
+The three men conversed for some time, and in the course of the
+conversation Jake explained to them the reason for his lonely life and
+the circumstances that caused him to be thus engaged. The strangers
+explained that they were driving across the State, and that, in order to
+make their journey fifty miles shorter, they had been instructed to take
+this untraveled road through this expanse of wooded hills.
+
+"I should think," remarked one of the men, "that this would be a
+splendid place to meditate on the goodness of God. Loneliness often
+begets meditation, and God loves to be the companion of the
+companionless. Then, too, there is all this nature with which you are
+surrounded. These flowers and trees and birds all speak of the goodness
+of God. I was remarking to my fellow traveler of how these beautiful
+scenes remind us of God's goodness. Pardon a frank question, but may I
+ask, Are you saved?"
+
+This was all new language to Jake and he scarcely knew how to answer
+this rather blunt question. "Wu-wu-well, ye-yes," he answered. "I try to
+be a Christian. I belong to the church and have belonged for
+twenty-seven years and accordin' to the preachin' we have I think I'll
+get to heaven. I s'pose you fellers must be preachers."
+
+"Yes, we are preachers," remarked the other. "We have consecrated our
+lives to the blessed service of Christ and our greatest delight is in
+preaching his gospel and telling others of the wonders of his grace.
+There can be no higher calling than that of telling of the saving grace
+of God. For fifteen years I was a cold professor of religion, but I
+lacked vital salvation. I belonged to the church and paid the preacher,
+and somehow I thought I would get through all right. I sinned more or
+less every day and did not know that I could be saved from sin. In fact,
+I never had been converted. I tried to live a Christian life, but I was
+powerless. After fifteen years of this miserable existence I got a new
+vision of things. God removed the scales from my eyes and I saw my lost
+condition. I saw myself in an entirely new light. I wept before God
+because of my sins. I was made very conscious that unless I was saved
+from my sins they would damn me in hell forever. My churchianity and my
+self-righteousness and my morality looked ridiculous when I saw myself a
+sinner in the sight of God. I came to God and poured out my soul in
+bitter repentance, and said, 'Save me, or I perish.' I promised him that
+I would forsake my sins, make my wrongs right, and walk in the light. I
+read in 1 John 1:9, 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
+forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' Well,
+I confessed my sins and forsook them, and God for Christ's sake pardoned
+all my sins. Praise His name. The joy and peace that filled my soul were
+unspeakable. I was a new man. I loved everybody, even my bitter enemies.
+Christ, in all his blessed reality, came into my heart as an abiding
+companion. Some time after my conversion, through a holiness paper,
+which fell into my hands, and through reading the Bible, which had
+become a new book to me, I learned that it was possible for me to be
+wholly sanctified and to have the Holy Spirit as an abiding comforter.
+Oh, the joy of this blessed life. Its glories are untold."
+
+Poor Jake stood amazed. He had never heard anything like this before.
+He burst out, "If that's religion, I confess I hain't got none; and to
+be plain, I ain't much inclined to believe such stuff as that. I have
+been a member of Mount Olivet Church for twenty-seven years and I never
+heard such preaching as that. That must be some new religion that's
+goin' around. Talk about bein' saved from sin, why there's our dear old
+Brother Simms, who was our last pastor at Mount Olivet. He died last
+March and since then we ain't had no pastor--why I heard him say more'n
+once from the pulpit that folks can't be saved from sin till they get to
+heaven."
+
+All this Jake said and a great deal more. He talked himself hoarse and
+used up all his choicest terms in extolling the name of Mount Olivet
+Church and all the pastors she had had since he had been a member. All
+his arguments were quietly and lovingly answered by the ministers, who
+read to him many passages of Scripture.
+
+By this time the large elm cast a lengthy shadow eastward. The sun was
+well-nigh set, and it was evident to the ministers that they should have
+to prevail on their new acquaintance to lodge them overnight.
+
+"Well, my dear brother," remarked one of the ministers, "we are far
+apart in faith, but I trust we are all honest in our views and I pray
+that God may lead us all in the way we should go. The day is gone, and
+to get out of these hills tonight is unthinkable. I wonder if you could
+arrange to keep us overnight, Mr. Benton--I believe that's the name? If
+you will, we shall be a hundred times obliged and shall be glad to pay
+you whatever you suggest."
+
+Jake was big hearted, if he was a sinner. "Sure, I'll keep ye, think I'd
+turn anybody out in these woods at night? Not me. I've kept preachers
+all my life, but I confess I never kept sanctified ones before."
+
+The three men went up the hill to Jake's cabin, and the two ministers
+busied themselves writing letters while Jake prepared the evening meal
+from his scant pantry. When they had gathered around the large goods-box
+that served as a dining-table, one of the preachers thanked God for the
+food and asked his blessings upon it. When the evening meal was
+finished, the three men sat in front of Jake's cabin until a late hour.
+The preachers expounded the Scriptures to poor, ignorant Jake and told
+him of the wonders of God's grace. Finally, when the big silvery moon
+stood in mid-heaven and the sound of cow-bells on the hill had died
+away, Jake suggested that they retire for the night. By the light of the
+moon one of the ministers read his Bible. It so happened that he opened
+it at the 12th chapter of Hebrews. These words as they fell from this
+man's pious lips affected Jake deeply. He surely had read that same
+chapter himself many times, and doubtless during the twenty-seven years
+he had been a member of Mount Olivet Church he had heard his pastor read
+it. But there was one verse that sank right to the center of Jake's
+heart. It was the 14th: "Follow peace with all men, and holiness,
+without which no man shall see the Lord." Jake had always had a hope in
+his breast that he should some day see the Lord. He had had more than
+his allotted share of troubles in life, and deep in his heart he had a
+longing to go where "the wicked cease from troubling and the weary be at
+rest."
+
+Soon all was silence in the cabin attic, where the three men lay. The
+restless surgings of man's inner soul are invisible to all eyes, save
+God's, and silence is not always a proof that everyone is asleep. Jake
+lay on a bag of dried leaves, having given his own bunk to his guests.
+But his eyes refused to sleep. The music of the katydids had lost its
+power to soothe his troubled breast and bring him sweet repose. His mind
+took a voyage over the past. Memory, according to her wonted ways
+carried him again to his mother's knee. He recalled the sound of her
+voice as she sang, "When I shall see Him face to face and tell the story
+saved by grace." But that scripture, "Without holiness no man shall see
+the Lord," took the sweetness out of that long-remembered song. Jake
+knew he was not holy. His heart was defiled by sin. His lips were
+unclean with blaspheming God's name. He remembered all the good
+resolutions he had made and broken the past quarter of a century. And
+during these midnight musings he seemed to see two lily-white hands
+beckoning him to come somewhere; he knew not where. These hands he
+readily recognized as the hands of his own baby Rose, who had gone from
+him one day near the close of her fifth summer. Mentally he found
+himself again at the bedside of his darling Rose. He saw again her ruddy
+cheeks glow with fever and heard the tremble of her voice as she said,
+"Daddy's Rose is going to heaven. Daddy come some day." Again he saw the
+death-glare in the sky-blue eyes when the little soul flitted away. He
+saw himself again as he sat and looked into the sweet and lifeless face
+of his darling girl, and he remembered how he resolved on that day to
+live in such a way as to be reunited with his child. But his resolves
+had all been unfilled, and he saw the path of his past strewn with
+broken vows. In reality, God was speaking to the man's soul. Jake saw
+himself in his true condition, a lost sinner. His sins seemed like
+horrid black mountains rearing themselves eternally between him and his
+child. His profession of religion and his church-membership seemed to
+mock him rather than to comfort him.
+
+But Jake was silent. He said not a word with his lips; but how his
+bleeding heart did talk to God. Hot tears flowed from his sleepless eyes
+and dampened the dry leaves that formed his pillow. He supposed the two
+ministers asleep. Their opinion of him was the same. Finally Jake was
+astonished to see, in the glimmering light of the moon that stole
+through the cracks in the clapboard roof, the two preachers slip from
+their bed, and kneel on the floor. His ear caught their whispering
+prayers that were heard in heaven. As nearly as he could hear, the
+prayers ran something like this: "O Lord, thou didst have a purpose in
+sending us through these wooded hills. May we be instrumental in
+bringing light and salvation to this lonely cabin. Lord, talk to the
+heart of this Mr. Benton, who sleeps on his bag of leaves. Bring
+something before his mind that will break up his heart; disturb him even
+in his sleep, Lord."
+
+Jake's emotions overwhelmed him and he could keep silent no longer. He
+bounded from his bed, crying, "O my God, save me, save me, save me! Oh,
+do pray for me now! I am lost! lost! lost!"
+
+Needless to say, the preachers were somewhat shocked, as people often
+are when their prayers are answered sooner than they expect. The
+convicted herdsman prostrated himself on the floor before the preachers
+and poured out bitter tears of repentance. He wept and groaned, and
+begged God to save him. But he seemed slow to grasp God's promises. He
+prayed till the morning dawned. The preachers prayed with him. Finally,
+just as the first grey streaks of the new day began to creep between the
+logs, Jake's faith was anchored in God's promises, and the glory of
+heaven flooded his soul. In the twinkling of an eye he was made a new
+man. His joy knew no bounds. He leaped and shouted, sang and whistled,
+and laughed and cried, all for the joy of his new-found treasure.
+
+When breakfast was over and the two ministers had bidden their new
+convert a happy farewell, Jake sat down to read his Bible, which the
+preachers had given him. His eyes fell upon these words, "Weeping may
+endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." (Psa. 30:5).
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+The anteroom of the post office in a little Ohio town was crowded. The
+train had arrived from the west, but it went as soon as it came, for it
+did not stop. A scream of the whistle, the rumble of the wheels, and the
+mighty monster dashed through the peaceful town at fifty miles an hour.
+But the inhabitants were not so interested in the train, for they had
+seen it pass in just this fashion year after year. But from the baggage
+coach there came each evening a bag of mail, and this was the cause of
+the gathering at the post office. While the postmaster and his assistant
+were opening and distributing the mail behind the closed window in the
+post office, the restless townspeople occupied themselves in social chat
+discussing the local happenings of the day, or in reading the notices on
+the bulletin board.
+
+Everybody was at the post office at this hour. School children, happy at
+the close of an irksome day of school, shouted boisterously at each
+other in the street. Laboring men, with empty dinner pails in hand, sat
+restfully on the curbstone just outside the post office door, and talked
+of the happenings of the day. The village blacksmith wiped the honest
+sweat from his brow, closed the shop door, and came down to the post
+office, where he was met by his flaxen-haired girl of three summers. She
+clasped her pink arms about the smith's grimy neck and told him Mama was
+looking for a letter from Grandma, who had gone to California for her
+health, and that she had come down to see how many kisses Grandma had
+sent her. The town doctor, with a dignified air, leaned against the side
+of the post office door and read the Chicago paper that a previous mail
+had brought to him. The schoolmaster had finished grading some test
+papers and had come down to the post office just in time to be the third
+party to an interesting fist fight in which two sixth grade boys were
+engaged with great zest, in the street. Two out-of-town strangers, who
+were guests at the hotel just across the way, came over and, seating
+themselves on a bench in front of the post office engaged in
+conversation.
+
+Finally the task behind the window was done. The mail was sorted and
+placed alphabetically in the proper boxes. The postmaster flipped up
+the window, and there was a mighty rush and a scramble--for who is not
+eager to get a letter? Some received several letters and papers; some
+only one letter; some only a paper; some only a catalogue. Some were
+disappointed altogether, judging from facial expressions; some received
+glad messages, some sad messages, some indifferent.
+
+When the crowd was dispersed, the two strangers who had been seated on
+the bench appeared at the window and called for their mail. The
+postmaster handed to one of them a letter addressed, Evangelist Blank.
+The address was written in almost an unreadable hand. The evangelist
+opened the letter. It ran thus:
+
+Dobbinsville, ----, Aug. 29----
+
+My dear Evangelist brother:
+
+i am saved and sanctified praise God O how i rejoice in this wonderful
+salvashun i was a member of Mt. Olivet church fer 27 yrs. but i never
+knowed what it was to be saved from sin this summer i was herdin cattle
+down in the hills about 30 mi. from here and a most wonderful thing
+happened. To preachers came along and told me that Christ could save and
+sanctify me i fought them at first but God would not let me rest until i
+gave him my heart, then he sanctified me holy o how i rejoice my wife
+and oldest son is also saved now but say bruther how the people of my
+own church persecute me they say I am crazy and that a man cant be saved
+from sin in this life o if i had only found this salvashun when i was a
+young man but now i am middle aged but by god's grace i aim to do all i
+can to save my neighbors, i see in the holiness paper that you are a
+evangelist and that you go about preachin this wonderful salvashun so i
+want to now if you will come down here and preach to the people we can't
+get Mt. Olivet church but we can build a brush arber. i am sending you
+$20. this part of the money i urned herdin cattle for deacon gramps i
+promised the Lord when he saved me that i would give him part of this
+money so here it is so i hope you can cum your brother saved sanctified
+and happy
+
+Jake Benton
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+As I have said before, Deacon Gramps sat on his plow handles at the
+close of an August day. He fairly rejoiced when he saw Deacon Brown and
+Deacon Jones coming toward him.
+
+"Good evening, Brother Gramps," shouted Jones and Brown simultaneously.
+
+"Good evening, my good brethering," responded Gramps, "I am so glad to
+see you. I have a great burden on my mind and I was just planning to go
+to your house, Brother Brown, as soon as I had unharnessed my team and
+eaten supper."
+
+Brown and Jones looked at Gramps with an expectant gaze, and continued
+silent. Gramps went on, "It's high time we was doin' somethin' to
+protect our church. I have been a deacon in this church fer many a year,
+but to my mind this is the most dangerous time Mount Olivet has ever
+seen."
+
+Brown and Jones nodded a candid assent to what was being said. Gramps
+continued, "For many years our church has been the strongest church in
+this county and everybody has counted it an honor to belong to this
+church, but you know, brethering, ever since our pastor died last
+spring, and we have been without a pastor we have been gettin' weaker
+and weaker. And since old Jake Benton has gone crazy over this new
+religion of hisen he is trien to get everybody else to go crazy. You
+brethering knows how I sent him down in the hills this summer to mind
+cattle. Well he seemed to kinder git overbalanced in his mind down there
+and he's found a new religion. You know how he testified in meetin'
+tother night. He said he was saved from sin and he said he was
+sanctified, and whole lot of other stuff like that. And I believe he
+said, didn't he, that he was just as good as Jesus Christ and gettin'
+better ever' day, or something like that."
+
+"Yes, something like that," added Brown.
+
+"Yes," said Jones, "I was there myself and heard him. I have always
+thought Jake Benton was a pretty good man; but when a feller gets so
+good as all that, then he's too good for this world. You know the Bible
+says there's nobody good but God."
+
+"Yes, I've heard the best preachers that was ever pastor of Mount Olivet
+Church and they all say we sin a thousand times every day," remarked
+Gramps.
+
+Jones spoke next: "I knew a bunch of them holiness people back in South
+Caroliner where I come from. They was the most outrageous bunch of
+people I ever saw. Why, they claimed that they couldn't sin, and that
+they was just as good as Jesus Christ and that nobody would get to
+heaven but them. I'll tell you brethering we must not let them get the
+start here. If they do, Mount Olivet Church is ruined. They tear down
+churches just as fast as they come to 'em. Old Jake Benton ought to be
+run out of the country or else sent to the asylum. He ain't fit to run
+at large. Why, he told Aunt Sally Perkins that he was wholly sanctified
+and that his heart was just as pure as that of his little baby that died
+years ago when Jake lived over on Persimmon Ridge. He talks a whole lot
+now about goin' to meet his baby and his mother and he seems to get so
+happy every time he talks about it." Jones's voice trembled slightly as
+he went on to say, "But brethering, it makes me feel most wonderfully
+queer when I hear Jake talk about meetin' his little girl. He seems to
+have no doubt at all about meetin' her, and say, you remember my little
+boy died the same fall as Jake's little girl, and to tell the truth I'm
+just a little fearful at times about bein' ready to meet little George."
+
+Deacon Gramps listened to all of this from Jones rather restlessly. He
+spoke next with great gravity. "Brethering, since I am president of this
+Board of Deacons I feel it my duty to take steps to see that this new
+religion is stopped and that Mount Olivet Church is not torn to pieces.
+As I said, I have been deacon here for many years and I have never seen
+the church so in danger. Something must be done. I'll tell you what we
+need, we need a preacher--one of our very best ones to come here and
+fight this devilish holiness stuff."
+
+"That's what we need, we must wipe holiness out," responded Brown, as he
+let go a sluice of tobacco juice.
+
+Gramps continued, "Just today I had a letter from a cousin of mine back
+in Kentucky. He says they have a wonderful preacher back there by the
+name of Preacher Bonds. He says this Preacher Bonds feels a special call
+to fight holiness. I tell you, brethering, if we could get him here we
+would make it hot for old Benton and his bunch."
+
+"We would that," Jones chimed in.
+
+"Brother Gramps, why don't you write and ask Preacher Bonds to come?"
+suggested Brown. "Although the other two members of the Board are not
+here, I think we just as well go ahead."
+
+"Better bring it before the church," said Gramps, "because we've got to
+raise some money to get him."
+
+Brown and Jones both agreed that Gramps was right in this respect. With
+the understanding that Deacon Gramps was to call a meeting of the church
+at the earliest possible date, the three men separated.
+
+Gramps spent the entire following day riding about the community giving
+every member of Mount Olivet a personal notification that a special
+meeting of the church would be held on the following Wednesday evening
+for the purpose of considering grave problems concerning the church.
+Wednesday evening came; practically the whole church responded. When the
+appointed hour arrived, Gramps was on the spot. On every face was
+written expectancy. Deacon Gramps presided of course. He arose from his
+seat, flung his quid of tobacco out of the window, squared himself
+against the pulpit, adjusted his eyeglasses near the point of his nose,
+and looking over them he addressed the assembly thus: "My brethering and
+sistern, we have met as members of the grand old Mount Olivet Church.
+Here in this church our fathers met. Here in this church our mothers
+met. Here in this church our grandfathers met. Here in this church our
+grandmothers met. Here in this church, my brethering, we have met. And
+let me say to you, my dear people, that we have met here tonight in this
+church for a purpose. There are certain people in this community whose
+aim is to tear up this church; certain people, I say, whose aim is to
+tear down this church. There is a certain doctring--the doctring of
+holiness--getting into this community. This holiness doctring, my
+friends, is a devilish doctring, my brethering, and must be wiped out."
+(Amens all over the house.)
+
+All this the Deacon said, and much more. He began his speech with
+considerable warmth of utterance, but as he progressed in praises of
+Mount Olivet and her faith he waxed hotter and hotter until his
+spellbound hearers were fairly deluged in a mighty avalanche of his
+rustic oratory, and he wound up with the sweeping statement that the
+doctrine of holiness must be abolished from the face of the earth.
+
+When the Deacon had finished, and regained breath enough to put the
+matter to a vote, it was unanimously voted that Preacher Bonds should be
+secured at the earliest date possible.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+A year had rolled around since Jake Benton had been converted down in
+the hills. By this time it was plain to all unbiased minds that Benton
+was indeed earnest. Even his most bitter enemies were obliged to admit
+that a mighty change had come over him. His life had undergone a real
+transformation. His life was an entirely new life. He had unshaken faith
+in the God of his salvation. In his home he established a family altar,
+where he worshipped God as regularly as the sun rose and set. In his
+business relations he literally followed the Golden Rule. At church he
+unflinchingly declared what his new-found religion had done for him. He
+declared that God had saved him from his sins and had subsequently
+sanctified him wholly. He even waxed bold enough to tell in meeting how
+God had healed him of physical ailments in answer to prayer. All this
+greatly incensed his fellow church-members. They insisted that he had
+gone crazy and was no longer fit to belong to the church. Accordingly he
+was put out. Jake took it all in good part and rejoiced that he was
+counted worthy to suffer for Jesus' sake.
+
+But Jake was not long obliged to stand alone in defense of his
+profession. His simple life of trust soon began to have its effect in
+the community; during the year his faithfulness had been rewarded by the
+salvation of a number of persons in the neighborhood. Old Grandma Gray
+had come out boldly on Benton's side. She said that for fifty years she
+had been living as best she could, but that she had all this time had a
+longing for the fulness of the blessing, such as Jake Benton testified
+to, and she arose right in the public meeting and declared herself a
+seeker for just such a blessing. This set Mount Olivet church all in a
+storm. Deacon Gramps was furious. He said Jake Benton had a legion of
+devils and that Grandma Gray was bewitched.
+
+But when Grandma Gray took her stand for full salvation, the cause for
+which Mount Olivet stood suffered a mighty blow. Nolan Gray, a son with
+whom Grandma Gray had made her home for years, had been a stanch member
+of the church since he was a child. In fact, he had always said he had
+grown up in the church. Nolan Gray was a very upright man of undoubted
+integrity, and he stood for high moral ideals, but under the type of
+preaching to which he was accustomed he had never experienced a change
+of heart. When he saw what a change had come over his mother, he refused
+to be comforted with his religious profession. Jake Benton was a tenant
+on Gray's farm, and from daily contact with Benton, Mr. Gray was
+convinced beyond a doubt that Benton's religion was real. One night at a
+prayer meeting held at Jake Benton's humble home, Mr. Gray became so
+convicted that resistance was impossible. He fully surrendered himself
+to Jesus and obtained an experience that was marvelous even in the eyes
+of Grandma Gray.
+
+The news of Gray's conversion spread like fire on a dry prairie. He was
+a heavy contributor to the finances of Mount Olivet. On this account it
+became a matter of conjecture as to whether or not he would be
+excommunicated. However, Mr. Gray relieved all minds of any anxiety when
+on the following week he quietly withdrew his membership from the
+church.
+
+The day following the night of Nolan Gray's conversion there occurred an
+incident that meant much to Jake Benton, as well as to Deacon Gramps.
+Benton was walking along the road that led around the fence from his own
+home to the large, white house occupied by Nolan Gray and his family. He
+was on his way to milk Mr. Gray's cow. He commonly went through the
+field on such occasions, as it was much the shorter route, but on this
+particular morning he had a mysterious disposition to take the long
+route around the road. When he had reached a point about a quarter of a
+mile from his home, to his astonishment he met Deacon Gramps,
+accompanied by Gramps' hired hand. He saw at once that the Deacon was in
+a most surly mood. So in a pleasant tone of voice Benton said, "Good
+morning, gentlemen, nice mornin'," aiming with salutation to pass on.
+
+Gramps was not in any sense a brave man, as you may have guessed by this
+time, but he always manifested great boldness where he was sure there
+was no physical danger.
+
+"They say Gray got your kind of religion at the prayer meetin' last
+night," he said.
+
+"Well, I guess it ain't my kind," answered Benton, "but he sure did get
+Bible salvation."
+
+Then the Deacon let loose in all his fury. "Jake Benton," said he, "this
+religion of yours has got to be stopped, it's got to be wiped out, it's
+doin' more harm in this community than all the saloons in the State.
+It's tearing up our church. Nolan Gray and old Grandma Gray was good
+church-members and have been for years and years and now they are taken
+in with this crazy holiness stuff, and you are the hul cause of it. I
+tell you it's just got to be stopped and I'm going' to stop it and I'll
+just begin right here." With this he advanced toward Benton and struck
+him a terrific blow on the side of the cheek with his open hand. At this
+Benton only replied, "God bless you, Mr. Gramps." This served only to
+incense the enraged Deacon all the more, and he literally flew at Benton
+and easily pinned him to the ground and sat upon his chest and beat him
+in the face most unmercifully. Poor Benton struggled and groaned, but
+did not endeavor to hurt his antagonist. The Deacon's hired hand was all
+his time a looker-on, but he finally mustered up courage, and with great
+difficulty succeeded in pulling the enraged Deacon off the poor man.
+When the hired man had finally persuaded Gramps away from the scene,
+Benton, bruised and bleeding in body, but victorious in soul, struggled
+to his feet and went home, glad that he was counted worthy to suffer for
+Jesus' sake.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+The community was stirred, no doubt about that. These were stirring
+days. Not since the days when Union and Southern marauding parties
+scattered terror in these woods had public excitement run so high as
+now. The gossip of Benton's beating was on everybody's lips before the
+sun went down that day. Everybody talked about it. Jake's friends were
+warmer friends and his enemies were hotter enemies. Those who had been
+neutral were neutral no more. There were just two parties now, those
+against and those for holiness as taught and lived by Jake Benton. As
+for old Jake, he kept sweet in his soul and talked little and prayed
+much. His victory was complete.
+
+In the midst of this excitement Jake received a short but significant
+letter from Evangelist Blank. It ran thus:
+
+Dear Brother Benton:
+
+In accordance with my promise to you nearly a year ago, I am now in a
+position to hold your revival. I will arrive in Dobbinsville August 2.
+Please meet me at the train.
+
+Your Brother in Christ,--Evangelist Blank.
+
+Jake read this scanty letter through tears of joy. He was unspeakably
+happy. He had prayed for a year, and now his prayers were on the verge
+of being answered. A holiness preacher, mysterious being, was actually
+to set foot on Mount Olivet soil. The doctrine of full salvation was to
+invade the precincts of sin-you-must religion.
+
+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.
+
+When the old-fashioned wagon rattled up to the front gate of the humble
+home, Evangelist Blank expressed to Jake the belief that in coming to
+this place he was in the center of the will of God. This made poor
+Jake's heart leap for joy. He sprang from the wagon to the ground and,
+bidding his good wife see to the comfort of the Evangelist and the
+corps of singers who accompanied him, set himself diligently to doing
+the evening chores in order that everything might be in readiness for
+the evening meeting.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+When the afternoon shadows began to lengthen there began to gather
+around the new-made brush arbor on Post Oak Ridge a number of men and
+boys. These were mostly idlers of the community, who had nothing in
+particular to do, so had come early to the arbor. But when the last
+faint streaks of the dying day were fading, the more substantial
+citizens of the community began to gather at this spot of interest. They
+came from every direction. Every path seemed to lead to the arbor ridge.
+Some came in wagons, some in buggies, some on horseback, others walked.
+
+Everybody, almost, was there. Grandma Gray was there. She sat serenely
+in her big willow rocker, which Nolan had placed just in front and to
+the left of the speaker's stand. Her age-wrinkled face was all aglow
+with the joy of full salvation. Aunt Sally Perkins was there. Poor old
+Aunt Sally. She was notorious as a shouter and a hypocrite. Nobody had
+any confidence in her as a Christian, but she was much given to sitting
+in the "amen" corner, and on this particular night she came into the big
+arbor and deposited her scanty self right on a front bench. And there
+she sat, wrapped in her old grey shawl, peeping out from beneath her old
+black bonnet. Old Brother Bunk was there. For a quarter of a century he
+had been a true and tried member of Mount Olivet Church, but of late he
+had been much wrought upon by the holiness agitation. "Spooky" Crane was
+there. Crane was a harmless half-wit who lived alone in a shanty at the
+back of Deacon Gramps' field. He always made it a point to attend every
+religious service far and near, of whatever faith, and he had the
+capacity for adjusting himself to his surroundings to such an extent
+that he joined every religious movement with which he came in contact.
+Roguish boys found great amusement in giving him pennies to sing for
+them. Jim Peabody was there. But that was to be taken only as a matter
+of course, for Jim always went to church. He went, not because he was
+religious, but because he was otherwise. He made loud boast of his
+infidelity. He had given himself extensively to the reading of Bob
+Ingersoll and other authors notorious for things other than goodness, so
+in his own vain imaginations he was a masterful scholar. He said there
+was no God, and that any man who prayed was a fool. But the cause of
+infidelity had suffered a terrific blow when one time Nolan Gray, as he
+was going to Dobbinsville, saw a huge wagon-box turned bottom side up,
+with the wagon on top, in a ditch by the side of the road. As he drew
+near he heard coming from under the box the low muttering tones of a
+man's voice. As he stood near the box and listened he heard a most
+eloquent prayer. He took a long pole from a fence near by and pried one
+edge of the box up, and who should emerge from beneath but Jim Peabody.
+
+When the hour of service arrived, Jake Benton and the evangelistic party
+did not arrive with it. Owing to the lateness of the train, Jake had
+been unable to get around at the appointed hour. Finally the familiar
+rattle of Jake's wagon was heard, and now all was breathless expectancy.
+When the party arrived at the arbor, all eyes were fastened upon the
+Evangelist. If he had been a ghost moving about in the twilight of that
+summer evening, he would have been regarded with no more superstition by
+that rustic people. There was nothing whatsoever extraordinary in the
+physical appearance of Evangelist Blank. He was a man of average height
+and scant weight. His rather pallid face was covered with a scanty
+well-trimmed beard. His deep-set blue eyes sparkled with a pleasant
+earnestness. Any lack of physical attractiveness was amply atoned for by
+the splendid qualities of the man's soul. He was a mighty man of God. He
+had an unusual grip on the upper world. He had large capacities for
+moving God on his throne. A heavenly atmosphere pervaded the realm of
+his personality.
+
+When this man stepped onto the platform of the large brush arbor that
+summer evening, and took his seat and faced that audience, there was a
+stillness that was painful. The awful stillness was broken when the
+Evangelist arose and said, "Praise God for his matchless salvation." He
+made a few preliminary remarks and the corp of singers began to sing.
+And such music seldom issues from human lips. It was not overwhelming in
+point of its artistic qualities. The compositions were of the simplest
+sort. But the singers sang from out of the abundance of redeemed souls,
+and there was a heavenly inspiration accompanying the songs that simply
+overwhelmed the hearts of sinners and overjoyed the hearts of saints.
+One song that especially gripped the audience ran thus:
+
+
+"Do you triumph, O my brother, over all this world of sin?
+In each storm of tribulation, does your Jesus reign within?"
+
+  CHORUS:
+
+"I am reigning, sweetly reigning, far above this world of strife;
+In my blessed, loving Savior, I am reigning in this life."
+
+
+When this and several other hymns equally inspiring had been sung,
+Evangelist Blank arose and said, "Let us pray." At this the audience
+began to make arrangements to stand, for it was the custom in Mount
+Olivet Church in those days to stand while the preacher "made" his
+prayer, as Deacon Gramps expressed it. But the Evangelist had the notion
+that when the heart is humbled before God the body should be in a like
+position, so he reverently and unpretentiously knelt beside the rough
+board pulpit. The four singers on the platform knelt simultaneously with
+the Evangelist. This placed the members of Mount Olivet in a rather
+embarrassing position. They disliked the idea of being so unreligious as
+to sit erect during prayer, and they could not bear the humiliation of
+kneeling at a holiness meeting. A few of them under the press of the
+circumstance did kneel. A few stood up. Most of them sat with bowed
+heads. "Spooky" Crane easily adjusted himself to the situation and
+promptly knelt in the straw, and with his face in his hands peeped
+between his fingers at the Evangelist. Jim Peabody, the infidel, sat
+arrogantly erect with an impish snarl on his lip. To him the whole
+business of praying was a huge piece of foolishness--except, of course,
+when under the wagon-box. Aunt Sally Perkins knelt beside the front
+bench and clapped her hands hysterically during the prayer. And Deacon
+Gramps had slipped under the outer edge of the arbor, where he sat on a
+low bench with his elbows on his knees and chewed his tobacco most
+vigorously.
+
+Evangelist Blank, himself, led in prayer. His prayer, like himself, was
+simple, but mighty. It ran something like this:
+
+"O Lord of heaven and earth, we thank thee for this hour. We have come
+here in thy name; we plead no worthiness and no efficiency of our own.
+Thy blood and thy grace is all our plea. We would not thrust ourselves
+into thy holy presence on any human merits. But in thy name and through
+the blood of Christ our Saviour we come boldly before thee. We praise
+thee, Lord, for thy great salvation, by which thou dost save us and
+sanctify us. O Lord, make thyself mighty in the salvation of this people
+among whom we have come to labor. Let thy matchless power be manifested
+and thy righteous name be exalted. Be thou lifted up before the people.
+Lord, we rededicate ourselves at this hour to be used of thee in the
+salvation of men. Come into these temples of clay afresh at this hour, O
+Lord, and let the fire of thy holy presence consume all the dross that
+may be in us. Anoint our feeble lips to speak the unsearchable riches of
+Christ ... Hear us, Lord, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen."
+
+This prayer made a profound impression on the audience. When it was
+finished, a few other songs were sung, and then Evangelist Blank arose
+to address the audience. There was something about the preaching and
+personality of this man that made him a unique figure in the field of
+preacherdom. In the first place, he was masterful in his knowledge and
+use of the Holy Scriptures. He knew God's Book. By patient study and
+long practice he had brought himself to the place where he could readily
+bring to his defence an impregnable line of Scriptural proof to sustain
+the propositions that he held. He was not only proficient in the
+Scriptures, but he had a thorough training covering the whole range of
+ministerial and theological thought. He had the happy and unusual
+combination of those qualities of mind that make for forceful oratory
+and clearness in theological thought. And last, and far from least, he
+walked with God. He had a yearning for the lost of earth's millions.
+
+On that evening when he faced for the first time his brush-arbor
+audience, it was plainly to be seen that he did not lack for something
+to say. He did not let his sermon get in the way of his message. He went
+right to the heart of his subject, which he announced as Salvation. He
+took for his text Titus 2:11, 12: "For the grace of God that bringeth
+salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying
+ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and
+godly in this present world."
+
+His sermon ran partly thus: "My friends and brethren, we are here this
+evening to conduct this service in the fear of God. Almost a year ago I
+received a letter from Brother Benton urging me to come to his place to
+hold a revival. Owing to my many calls, I was unable to come until the
+present time, and now at last we are here in the name of God. We expect
+him to give us a gracious out-pouring of his Holy Spirit. The text that
+I have read in your hearing introduces my subject, the subject of
+Salvation. I feel the burden of this message pressing upon my heart.
+Since Jesus saved me from a life of sin I have had a consuming desire to
+get others to press their way into this grand experience. I shall not
+promise to keep within the bounds of homiletical order tonight, but I do
+promise to keep within the bounds of God's Holy Word and the leadings of
+his Spirit." These introductory remarks were stated with a simple
+earnestness born of a desire to see men saved.
+
+The Evangelist first proceeded to show what salvation is. He said it is
+a divine work of grace in the heart, wrought by the blood of Jesus
+Christ. He explained that it means deliverance from sin. He said that if
+the Bible teaches anything at all, it teaches that the individual must
+have a vital connection with Jesus Christ.
+
+Next the Evangelist set forth the conditions of salvation. "First," he
+said, "a man must be sorry for his sins; secondly, he must repent of his
+sins; and, thirdly, he must forsake his sins."
+
+He dwelt at great length on the effects of salvation in the heart. He
+said that if a man's religion did not have any effect on him, it was
+worthless. A man's religion must make him a new creature, he argued. He
+declared that salvation makes a man love even his enemies. He said
+salvation cleanses a man from inward and outward filth.
+
+By the time Evangelist Blank had illustrated and amplified all his
+points he had consumed the major portion of an hour and a half of time.
+During this time the entire audience was held spellbound by his simple
+and earnest eloquence.
+
+All this was strange theology to the members of Mount Olivet Church. It
+was a stinging rebuke to their crooked and hypocritical lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+It was about the fifth night of the big holiness meeting at the arbor on
+Post Oak Ridge. The country was stirred for miles around. People from
+Dobbinsville and Ridgetown and neighboring villages were in regular
+attendance. Scores of people had been converted. Many had been
+sanctified. Numbers had been healed. The forces of sin were enraged.
+Wicked men, grim with age, had melted like frost at noonday under the
+mighty preaching of the Spirit-filled Evangelist. Old women with lying
+hearts and gossiping lips had been stricken down in mighty and pungent
+conviction for their sins. Young men, roguish and rough and
+stout-hearted, had come to the old split-log altar and on penitent knees
+had sobbed out before God the awful sins of their hearts and had gone
+away happy with the new-found treasure of full salvation. Young ladies,
+vain and haughty, had melted under the gospel messages and had come to
+the feet of Jesus. Sweet children not yet in their teens had wept their
+childish transgressions away and in their simple faith had accepted
+Jesus as their Savior. Oh, grand and glorious gospel! How matchless is
+its power.
+
+Well, as I said, it was about the fifth night of the meeting. Preacher
+Bonds was there, and had been the two nights preceding. He had regarded
+all the manifestations of God's power in the meetings with affected
+indifference. He said he hated holiness and would hate it as long as he
+lived. On being asked what he thought of the miraculous conversions that
+had taken place in the meeting, he remarked that he would not believe in
+holiness even if Beelzebub himself were converted in the meetings.
+
+Evangelist Blank said he thought this would be a splendid time to have a
+testimony-meeting. So they had one, and he conducted it himself. Grandma
+Gray was the first to testify. She stood trembling, and balanced herself
+against the back of the old willow rocker. Around her saintly face there
+seemed to circle a halo of glory. At first she only stood and wept. When
+she had gained control of her emotions sufficiently to speak, she said,
+"Oh, the love of God is unspeakable. How can I praise him for what he
+has done for me? He saves me and sanctifies me and heals me. I praise
+him for sending Evangelist Blank here. I would not say a word against
+the people of Mount Olivet church, but for thirty-some years I lived in
+that church an up-and-down life. God knows I wanted to live for him all
+that time but my experience was not sufficient to keep me. But since I
+have learned of the more perfect way, how my heart rejoices in this full
+salvation. Since this meeting began, the good Lord has been showing me
+great light on the church question. I see the one body of Christ, which
+is the church. I have just learned that I was born into the real, true
+church thirty-some years ago. O brethren, the day is dawning, the light
+is shining. How glad I am that I have lived to see this day."
+
+When Grandma Gray had well-nigh exhausted her feeble strength in
+exhorting the people to come to Jesus and accept his truth, she sank
+into her big willow chair and silently prayed. For a brief period there
+was a deathlike stillness over the audience.
+
+For years Grandma Gray had lived a life that could not be gainsaid.
+True, she spoke in her testimony about her up-and-down life, but when
+compared with the average professed Christian's life in that community,
+hers was above reproach. In her extreme age she spoke as one from the
+border-lands of eternity, and her words naturally had a profound effect.
+
+Jake Benton was next to testify. He was simply overwhelmed with joy, and
+spoke at some length of his hope of someday being reunited with his
+darling girl in the skies. Jake's testimony scattered enthusiasm all
+through the congregation of the saints and there was rejoicing and
+praising God that was doubtless participated in by the angels around the
+throne.
+
+Little flaxen-haired Eva Gray, eleven-year-old daughter of Nolan Gray,
+arose and said that Jesus had saved her and that she aimed to spend her
+life for him, as had Grandma Gray. Thus we see a godly life is fruitful
+of influence even on the lives of little children.
+
+Probably the most remarkable testimony given was that of Squire Branson.
+Branson spoke thus: "Friends and brothers: I stand before you a redeemed
+man. I am washed and made white in the blood of Jesus. I am as a brand
+snatched from the burning. I am now in my eighty-third year. You know
+the manner of my life up until this meeting. I have had absolutely
+nothing to do with religion. As you know I have lived a life of great
+wickedness. I have been a drunkard, a gambler--a mighty sinner. For
+fifty-three years I had not gone near a church service until this
+meeting began. I have been thoroughly put out with the type of
+Christianity exhibited in this community these past years. But when
+through sheer curiosity I came into this arbor, I was made as conscious
+of the presence of the Holy Ghost as if I could have seen him with my
+natural eyes. There at that altar night before last I unburdened my
+heart of the sins of nearly eighty years, and I stand tonight a witness
+of the redeeming grace and love of Christ my Saviour. Oh, how can I
+praise him enough? Here I stand right at the threshold of death with a
+long and wasted life behind me and an eternity of bliss before me. What
+but the mercy of an infinite God could bring about this wonderful
+change?"
+
+"Spooky" Crane said in his testimony that of all the churches he had
+ever belonged to this one was the best. Aunt Sally Perkins shouted.
+
+Evangelist Blank was just ready to close the meeting when he was
+interrupted by Preacher Bonds. Bonds' face was red with rage and his
+eyes gleaming with anger when he burst forth in this unceremonious
+manner; "I thank God for a sensible and reasonable religion. I have been
+a Christian for thirty years and a minister for twenty years and I have
+never experienced any of this wonderful joy that these people speak of.
+This sanctified holiness doctrine is the most damnable doctrine that
+ever struck this country, or any other country. I knew a group of these
+holiness people back in Kentucky where I came from. They said they could
+not sin and that they were just as good as Jesus Christ himself. They
+were given to all sorts of fanatical projects. They claimed to have
+great faith and went so far as to say they were healed, as some of these
+people have said tonight. One of them even said that by faith he had
+caused an iron wedge to float on the water. Talk about living free from
+sin. There never could be a more crooked doctrine preached. The Bible
+plainly says, 'There is none good, no not one.' It also says that 'If a
+man liveth and saith he sinneth not, he is a liar and the truth is not
+in him.' I believe the Bible. When I was in college old Professor
+Thorndike used to give us an occasional lecture on the Hellish Heresy of
+Holiness. He knew all about the doctrine and the harm it is doing these
+days. I am bold to say right here that God has called me and raised me
+up to fight holiness, and I have dedicated my life to this cause. I aim
+to use every means, fair and foul, to stamp this doctrine out of this
+community (Deacon Gramps, "Amen."). I want to warn Preacher Blank and
+every one of his dupes right here that if he continues to preach in this
+community he does so at his own peril. You people have no right, legal
+or moral, to come here and disturb the peace and tranquility of Mount
+Olivet church, a church that has stood standpat for nearly half a
+century in defence of the truth. I here and now call upon every loyal
+member to come to the defence of the faith of your fathers. Those who
+will pledge their united support to the cause of stamping out holiness
+rise to your feet."
+
+At this a score and a half of rustic mountaineers boldly stood up. "Let
+those who have made this solemn pledge meet me at the back door of the
+arbor," said Bonds as he sat down.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 10
+
+
+During the time that Bonds was on the floor, Evangelist Blank leaned
+against the pulpit with his face in his hands as if in prayer. When
+Bonds sat down the Evangelist calmly faced the audience. Just at this
+time he seemed to possess the meekness of a lamb and the boldness of a
+lion. He seemed perfectly composed, as he remarked, "Well, brethren and
+friends, I am indeed sorry to see this splendid testimony meeting end in
+this way. I am sorry the ministerial brother feels as he does toward the
+truth we have preached, and I hope after prayer and reflection he will
+see his way clear not to hinder the progress of the meeting. However, if
+God sees fit to allow the hand of persecution to fall upon us, we bow
+submissively to his will. But we will not, we dare not compromise God's
+truth. We will preach the Bible regardless of consequences." With these
+remarks Evangelist Blank closed the service.
+
+After the service was closed everything seemed to be as usual except for
+a few whisperings around in regard to what Preacher Bonds had said. As
+was usually the case at the close of such meetings, the saints gathered
+in little groups about the front end of the arbor and talked freely of
+their common faith and love. Mothers began to arouse sleepy-eyed
+children from their dreams and break to them the sad news that they were
+not at home in bed. Bushy-headed, bearded farmers and woodsmen began
+ramming their grimy hands into the hip pockets of their "blue drillin'
+overhauls," in which sequestered quarters were prone to hide their "long
+twist" and homemade cob pipes. After injecting an ample amount of "long
+twist" into the cob pipe's empty stomach and lighting a match thereto
+and sending a few initiatory puffs into the air, these mountaineers made
+off in the darkness toward their homes in different directions. Some
+went in groups, some by twos, some singly. Seen from a distance in the
+blackness of the night these companies resembled a regiment of
+glow-worms in a potato patch. From over the flint hills in the distance
+came the familiar rattle and rumble of old-fashioned lumber wagons whose
+occupants had come far to hear the much-discussed preacher from "over
+east." Now and then the night air was pierced by hideous yells and
+whistles from roguish boys dashing along on horseback, whose popularity
+depended on the amount of noise they made.
+
+Is the offense of the cross ceased? Nay, verily; they that "live godly
+in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." So say the Scriptures, and so
+thought Evangelist Blank as he lay down to rest that night after he had
+closed the testimony-meeting. Evangelist Blank slept in a tent, which
+had been pitched near the brush arbor. Several such tents had been
+pitched by Jake Benton and other neighbors, who, finding it ill
+convenient to go to and from the meeting each night, had decided to run
+it somewhat on the camp-meeting plan.
+
+On the particular night of which we have been speaking, Evangelist Blank
+from some cause unknown to him was awakened shortly after midnight. Not
+being able to resume sleep, he thought to improve even the midnight time
+by musing on the goodness of God. As he lay thus gazing through the thin
+canvas of his tent at the moon, which was now a two hour's journey in
+the sky, he was startled by the sight of a man's shadow on the side of
+the tent. He lay still and listened. Soon he heard low muttering voices
+a few rods from his tent. Still he listened. They drew nearer and
+nearer. Finally the mutterings became whisperings. Still he listened,
+and prayed. They came nearer. Soon several shadows were cast on the
+canvas. He saw the winding shadow of a rope as it dangled from the arms
+of one of the men. Still he listened. Still they whispered.
+
+"No difference about Benton, we want the preacher," he heard one say.
+
+"Are you sure this is his tent?" whispered another.
+
+"Yes, I saw him sitting in this tent's door reading this afternoon,"
+whispered a third.
+
+"We must get the rope on him and make away with him before the camp is
+aroused," someone said.
+
+"What shall I do?" thought the pious man. "Does it mean that I must
+suffer death at the hands of this mob, simply because I have preached
+the truth? Will they hang me? Will they choke me? Will they stone me?
+Will they drag me over these awful rocks until life is dashed out? What
+meant the gleam in Bonds' eyes last night in the service? What will
+become of my dear wife and boy in Ohio? Will I recant? Will I deny my
+Lord? Will I shun to declare the whole counsel of God?" All these
+questions and many others flashed across the Evangelist's mind like
+angry streaks of lightning across a black cloud.
+
+Through the thin canvas he saw in the moonlight half a dozen husky men
+seize hold of one end of a rope, the other end of which was arranged in
+a slip-loop.
+
+"Now when I get the rope on him, make for the hills," said one man as he
+began to untie the strings that held the door of the tent. Just at this
+instant Evangelist Blank slipped under the edge of the tent on the
+opposite side from where the men were planning their diabolical feat,
+and under the edge of Jake Benton's tent, which stood just about two
+feet from his own. With a quickness of mind that was almost miraculous,
+he donned a dress and shawl and bonnet belonging to Sister Benton, and
+stole out of the tent and across the ground toward the arbor in full
+view of the enraged men as they came out of the tent that he had just
+vacated.
+
+The men were as much astonished as enraged at not finding their prey.
+They ransacked Jake Benton's tent and demanded that he reveal the
+whereabouts of the preacher. Jake flatly refused. Except for his
+trembling, he stood like a stone wall and faced that score of masked
+men, thirsty for righteous blood. Really they appeared as so many
+thoroughbred devils right from the pit. They were masked in a way, not
+only to conceal their identity, but in a way to make them appear as
+hideous as possible. The leader of the mob shouted, "Jake Benton, you
+sanctified hypocrite, if you don't tell us where that preacher is we'll
+hang your carcass up for the crows to pick."
+
+"Maybe you will, but I'll hang there, before I'll tell," shouted poor
+Jake in a trembling voice.
+
+"Who was that ole lady left your tent and went across the ground a while
+ago with a bonnet on?" shouted one of the mob.
+
+"I never saw an ole lady going across the ground," replied Jake. (In
+this he was telling the truth, you know.)
+
+"Hang him up to a tree boys, hang him up, if he won't tell," shouted one
+of the gang. "Bring the rope," shouted another as he took hold of
+Benton's arms.
+
+Just at this juncture the leader of the mob suggested to Jake that if he
+and his comrades would break up camp and leave the ground immediately,
+they would not hang him, but would continue their search for the
+Evangelist. To this Jake and the whole party of campers readily agreed.
+In the light of the moon, the whole ground of campers, consisting of
+more than a dozen families, hitched their teams to their wagons and made
+their way over the hills homeward. Before any wagon was allowed to leave
+the ground, it was carefully searched by the mob to ascertain whether or
+not Evangelist Blank were there. He could not be found.
+
+When old Brother Bunk and his family arrived at their home, which was
+two miles from the campground. Sister Bunk and the Bunk children were
+afraid to go into the house until Brother Bunk should unharness the team
+and go with them. When the Bunk family came to the yard, they were
+astonished to see in the moonlight somebody sitting under the old silver
+poplar-tree. They were scared to say the least. Sister Bunk and the Bunk
+children hovered closer and closer to Brother Bunk, while fear increased
+as the distance to the poplar-tree decreased. Imagine their surprise and
+relief when the person under the tree shouted, "Praise God, Brother
+Bunk, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth
+them out of them all." It was Evangelist Blank. He explained to them
+that he had walked the whole two miles from the camp through the woods,
+guided by the sound of the wagon, thus avoiding the possibility of being
+apprehended by the mob in case they should attack the wagon. He had
+arrived at the Bunk farm about the same time as the wagon had, but not
+having the inconvenience of a team to attend to, had sat down under the
+tree to rest.
+
+The mob naturally supposed that Evangelist Blank would somehow make his
+way from the campground to Jake Benton's. Benton and his family arrived
+home from the camp about three o'clock in the morning. They had been
+there only half an hour when they were aroused by the shout of the mob,
+who demanded that the preacher should be yielded up to them. Not until
+they had thoroughly searched Benton's home would they believe Jake's
+contention that Evangelist Blank was not on the premises. Finally, when
+they were convinced that Benton could not or would not tell them where
+the preacher was they withdrew to a clump of woods a short distance from
+Benton's home and, the morning air being chilly, built a fire.
+
+It was here that their identity became known. As they chatted around the
+fire they removed the masks from their faces. Of course, Jake Benton was
+curious to know who they were, and when he saw their fire in the woods
+he resolved to find out, even at the expense of much trembling. He
+thought he had recognized some of them by their voices when they talked
+to him at the camp, but now he determined to make sure. He crawled on
+his hands and knees for nearly a quarter of a mile along an old rail
+fence until he came within a distance of twenty rods from where the men
+were gathered, Indian fashion, around the fire. He was not at all
+surprised when he saw in the group the familiar face of Deacon Cramps
+and Reverend Bonds. And he observed from certain parts of their masks
+which they still had on that these two men were the fellows who took the
+leading part in the affair at the camp. Jake recognized that the group
+was made up mostly of men who were prominent members of Mount Olivet
+church. A few non-church-members and young men of the baser sort were
+also in the group. Benton watched them until nearly daybreak, when they
+disbanded and started for home. Jake lay quietly in his clump of
+buck-brush until he was sure that they were at a safe distance, then he
+crawled out and went home, informed much and scared more.
+
+Shortly after sunrise, old Brother Bunk came over to tell Benton that
+Evangelist Blank was at his house safe, and happy in the Lord. This news
+greatly relieved Benton and his good wife, for they had not seen the
+Evangelist since he left their tent during the night, and they did not
+know just how he was faring. Evangelist Blank had suggested that it be
+announced that as this was Sunday there would be services held that day
+at Old Brother Bunk's. This idea pleased Benton, and he joined Brother
+Bunk in scattering the news among the saints. Accordingly at eleven
+o'clock the saints gathered at the Bunk home, where a blessed meeting
+was held. Great power and victory prevailed. The awful persecution had
+driven the saints to their knees in prayer. The very atmosphere round
+about seemed to be charged with the Holy Spirit's power. Evangelist
+Blank started to preach, but found it impossible. The saints shouted him
+down. A number of sinners who were present melted under the influence of
+the Holy Spirit and yielded their hearts to God. "Great grace was upon
+them all."
+
+That night the meeting at the arbor was resumed, and it continued for
+two weeks with greater victory and power than before the molestation.
+The mob never bothered again, and the reason was this: A dozen or more
+men in the community who were sinners, and professed to be sinners, but
+who believed that men should be allowed to serve God according to the
+dictates of their own consciences, simply made it plain that the first
+fellows masked or unmasked who should disturb the meeting would be dealt
+with in a most uncomplimentary manner. The mob saw the situation in its
+true light and decided that for their own safety they would stay away.
+
+When the meeting finally ran its natural course and came to a close,
+Evangelist Blank bade the band of saints a loving and tearful farewell
+and betook himself to other fields to suffer and rejoice in the great
+work with which God had entrusted him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+Five years had flitted by since Jake Benton was converted down in the
+hills. The battle between holiness and sin-you-must religion had waxed
+hotter and hotter. Masked mobs had scoured the country at different
+times, threatening the very lives of enemies. The sin-you-must group had
+decreased in number, but had increased in wickedness. It could
+truthfully be said that every member of Mount Olivet church was at this
+time a positive force for evil. The membership had dwindled to
+one-fourth its former size. Somebody is responsible for the statement
+that the blackest deeds known to the world have been done in the name of
+religion, love, and liberty. Mount Olivet Church did her blackest deeds
+in the name of religion. She was determined to crush her adversaries,
+and she was not particular as to the means she used. Every member who
+had even the tiniest spark of God's love in his heart had either cast
+his lot with the holiness movement or given up his religious profession
+altogether. Preacher Bonds had grown more and more zealous in his fight
+against holiness.
+
+Deacon Gramps had preached his doctrine everywhere, in his home as well
+as in the church, and he had already seen its fruits manifested right in
+his home. One of his sons who had now become of age had built a sort of
+philosophy of life on his father's teaching. He had reasoned something
+like this: "Since Father sins, and Mother sins, and the preacher sins,
+and everybody else sins, and nobody can keep from sinning, then it
+follows that one is not responsible for the sins he commits whether they
+be large or small, few or many. Then why not have a good time in this
+life? Why not go the full length into sinful pleasure?" And go the full
+length he did. He had become involved in one criminal scrape after
+another, and he would have landed in the penitentiary before this time
+had it not been for Deacon Cramps' financial backing. And by this time
+it had come to be common knowledge in the community that the son's
+profligacy was almost certain to involve the Deacon in financial ruin.
+It was a fact much discussed in inner business circles at Dobbinsville
+that Mr. Gramps' farm was heavily mortgaged, and that unless some crook
+or turn unforeseen favored him he would soon face bankruptcy. He had
+been unable to pay the interest on the notes he had been obliged to
+obtain in order to keep his son from going where he really belonged.
+
+As for Jake Benton, during these five years since his conversion, his
+poverty had stuck closer to him than a brother; but thanks be to his
+persecutions, he had grown immensely rich in spiritual resources. He had
+become a mighty man in prayer. The sick were healed in answer to his
+prayer of simple faith. And it seemed only a natural thing for him to
+pray for his enemies. And as for love, Jake loved everybody and
+everybody had found it out. If anybody in the community wanted a favor
+done them, all that was necessary was to mistreat Benton and he would do
+them a favor. He had also developed into quite a preacher. Ever since
+the meeting closed in the brush arbor he regularly gathered the saints
+together on Sunday in the school house, and encouraged them in the
+things of the Lord. His life was simply exemplary, and even his
+bitterest enemies were compelled to acknowledge that God was with him.
+
+One Sunday morning when Preacher Bonds stood before his meager audience,
+the familiar face of Deacon Gramps was absent. His unusual absence from
+the Church was very noticeable, and Preacher Bonds suggested in the
+introductory remarks of his sermon that unquestionably Brother Gramps
+was sick, and that it would be an act of brotherly kindness if when the
+service was over a number of the members would call at the Gramps' home
+and see the sick brother.
+
+When Preacher Bonds had finished his sermon, a song had been sung, and
+the benediction had been invoked, a dozen or more of the members with
+Bonds in the lead started for the Gramps' home, which, as will be
+remembered, was plainly visible from the church.
+
+"I believe," said Bonds, "that Brother Gramps' barn is on fire." At this
+the whole group began to rush toward the beautiful red barn that stood a
+quarter of a mile away. By the time they reached the spot, black clouds
+of smoke and angry flames were shooting from doors and cracks in the
+barn. Mrs. Gramps and the three children who were still at home were in
+the barnyard wringing their hands and crying in a heart-rending manner.
+It was plainly to be seen that the visitors could do nothing to save the
+barn, and all that remained to do was to stand and watch the flames
+devour the building.
+
+"Where is Brother Gramps?" said Preacher Bonds to Mrs. Gramps.
+
+"Wasn't he at church? No? Well, I don't know where he can be. He left
+the house just at church-time and I hadn't noticed but what he was in
+the crowd that came from the church," she replied.
+
+Preacher Bonds looked serious as he said, "He could not have been in the
+barn, I suppose."
+
+"Oh, certainly not. I suppose he must be at some of the neighbors',
+perhaps Deacon Brown's--was Deacon Brown at church?" "No, Deacon Brown
+was not at church," replied Bonds. "Possibly he remained at home and
+Brother Gramps went to see him on some business pertaining to the
+church. But I don't understand why they did not meet at the church to
+transact their business. Brother Jones, will you run over to Deacon
+Brown's and tell Brother Gramps about his awful accident?"
+
+"Certainly," responded Jones, who stood near the barnyard gate talking
+with Gramps' hired hand, from whom he was endeavoring to learn the
+details as to how the fire started.
+
+"Try to tell him," remarked Bonds, "in a way that will not be too much
+of a shock to him."
+
+Jones mounted a horse and hurried off to Deacon Brown's and was soon
+back with the news that Gramps had not been seen at Brown's, and that
+Brown was sick in bed, which fact accounted for his being absent from
+the service that morning.
+
+When it was learned that Gramps was not at Deacon Brown's, considerable
+anxiety began to be manifested on the part of neighbors. Some suggested
+that it was possible that Gramps could have been in the barn when it
+burned. Of course, care was exercised that such remarks should not reach
+the ears of Mrs. Gramps. Messages were sent to all the neighbors in
+search of Gramps. Someone had the idea that possibly he had gone to
+Dobbinsville or Ridgetown, but searchers sent to these places reported
+that he had not been seen at either place for several days. Preacher
+Bonds consoled Mrs. Gramps with the suggestion that doubtless he would
+show up before night. However, when night came with no signs of Deacon
+Gramps the whole community took an attitude of real alarm as to the
+likelihood that he had been burned to death. It was announced that there
+would be no meeting services at Mount Olivet Church, and Jake Benton
+dismissed his services and joined heartily in the search for the Deacon,
+who had dealt him so many grievous blows while Mrs. Benton did
+everything in her power to console Mrs. Gramps.
+
+The search continued all through the night with no results. By early
+Monday morning there was general excitement for miles around. Scores of
+people came that morning from Dobbinsville and Ridgetown, and gazed on
+the mysterious scene of the former beautiful barn, now an ash heap.
+Officers came down from the county-seat and joined in the search for the
+lost Deacon. About the middle of the afternoon on Monday it was decided
+that the ash-heap should be searched for any evidence that the man had
+burned with the barn This search had not gone far when the county
+sheriff found in the ashes the steel back-springs and blades of a
+pocket-knife. Near by were found some pieces of enamel resembling a
+man's teeth. Next was found a small melted mass of something which
+seemed to have been a suspender buckle. Preacher Bonds picked up three
+pieces of silver which proved to have been so many silver dollars.
+Several pieces of bones were found, but these were so nearly charred to
+dust that it was impossible to determine whether they were bones of a
+man or bones of some of the many animals that perished with the
+building. However, all these articles mentioned were found within a very
+close proximity to each other, and in the minds of most people present
+there was now no doubt as to the fate of Deacon Gramps. On Monday night
+the coroner rendered a verdict that the Deacon met his death by being
+accidentally burned to death. Mrs. Gramps swooned away and had to have
+the attention of old Doctor Greenwich from Dobbinsville. In the event of
+the illness of Mrs. Gramps, it devolved upon Preacher Bonds to make
+full arrangements for the funeral, in which affair Jake Benton and his
+good wife showed every disposition to help where help was possible.
+
+Preacher Bonds went to Dobbinsville and sent a telegram to each of the
+Deacon's five sons, two of whom lived in St. Louis, and three in
+Chicago. He also sent a telegram to a minister in St. Louis to come to
+preach the funeral, as, he said, he did not feel that he could officiate
+at the funeral of such a worthy brother as the departed. This St. Louis
+preacher had been a college chum of Preacher Bonds, and was full of the
+Mount Olivet persuasion.
+
+Those were in the days before undertakers and other such modern
+conveniences had been introduced into that country. Jake Benton, good
+soul, went to Dobbinsville after the coffin and hauled it back in the
+same old lumber wagon he had hauled Evangelist Blank in five years
+before.
+
+The funeral was arranged for Wednesday afternoon at two o'clock. A
+handful of ashes, together with the pocket-knife and other articles
+found in the ash-heap, was taken and wrapped in a napkin and placed in
+the big new coffin.
+
+On Wednesday afternoon, when two o'clock arrived, the two front rooms of
+the Gramps farmhouse were crammed full of people. The yard was full,
+too. The St. Louis preacher began and spoke thus: "My friends and
+brethren, we have met on this sad occasion to pay our last respects to
+the honored dead. Within the narrow confines of this casket lie the
+earthly remains of a man whose spirit yet lives. It was not my happy
+privilege to know this excellent man, but I am informed by his pastor,
+Preacher Bonds here, of his manifold excellencies. When a great man
+dies, the people mourn. I am informed that our departed brother was a
+great man. First, he was a great man in business. When I behold this
+beautiful well-kept farm, I see its wide, extending fields, its running
+brooks, its whitewashed fences, its excellent buildings, in the burning
+of one of which our brother met his death--when I behold these things, I
+say, I am made to exclaim that God hath blessed him in basket and store.
+Yes, a great man in business.
+
+"Secondly, he was a great man in his home, and by the way, there is
+where the true greatness of a man is tested. In the death of our
+esteemed brother the home is the loser. It loses a loving husband. It
+loses a considerate father and an efficient bread-winner.
+
+"Thirdly, our brother was a great man in the community. I am told that
+he was a public-spirited man. He believed in schools, in good roads, and
+in all other things that make for the welfare of a community. In his
+death the community is a heavy loser.
+
+"Fourthly, he was a great man in the church. (Preacher Bonds, "Amen".) I
+am told that for upwards of thirty years our brother has been a
+consistent member of Mount Olivet Church and a regular attendant at its
+service and a heavy contributor to its funds. I understand that he was a
+mighty defender of the church's faith. He fought bravely on. He stood
+like a rock. He weathered the storm. He finished the course. He
+conquered.
+
+"But, my friends, our finite minds cannot fathom the profound mysteries
+of the infinite. We cannot understand. Why would a just God permit such
+a noble man to meet such a tragic death? It is not ours to reason why.
+We simply bow our hearts to the will of the divine."
+
+"And now, to the bereaved I would say, Weep not as those who have no
+hope. (Mrs. Gramps weeps aloud.) Brother Gramps is just gone on before.
+He has crossed over Jordan, where he waits on the sunny banks of sweet
+deliverance. Just a few more days and we shall join him. He has gone
+where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary be at rest. Let us
+pray. Brother Bonds, lead us."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+Twelve moons had rolled by since the Gramps funeral. The blue-grass sod
+had already grown quite snugly over the year-old mound in the cemetery
+back of the white church on the hill. The rose-bush at the head of the
+mound had bloomed once and the June breeze had sprinkled its pink petals
+over the green carpet. A more or less expensive tombstone stood modestly
+at the head of the mound and silently announced to the passer-by what
+any tombstone is supposed to announce, namely that somebody sleeps
+beneath this mound. During the year many persons had stood with bared
+heads and read through tears this inscription: J.D. Gramps, Born April
+21, 1856--Died June 13, 18--. "They rest from their labors; and their
+works do follow them."
+
+The Gramps premises began to show signs of decay. The fences were in
+need of repair and the hillside portions of the farm had been washed in
+gullies by the spring freshets. A large ash-heap surrounded by
+jimsonweed and burdock marked the sight of the once beautiful red barn.
+The front-yard gate had been torn from its hinges, and it lay upon the
+ground.
+
+It was well known that Widow Gramps had received ten thousand dollars
+from an insurance company in New York City, but what she had done with
+the amount was only a matter of opinion. Along about this time it became
+known in the community that the Widow had leased the farm and was
+planning to go to a Western State as she said, for the sake of her
+health, which had been declining since the day of the Deacon's funeral.
+
+One day when Mrs. Gramps was in Dobbinsville making preparations for the
+trip West, she called at the People's State Bank and presented a check
+drawn on a Western bank and signed by James Duncan. When the cashier had
+cashed her check and she had left the bank, he turned to his assistant
+and said, "Jim, do you know what Deacon Gramps' name was?"
+
+"J.D. Gramps," responded the assistant.
+
+"I know J.D. were his initials," said the cashier, "but what does J.D.
+stand for?"
+
+"Oh, I don't remember," answered the assistant. "I suppose we could
+find out by looking up some of his old papers that we still have in the
+vault."
+
+"Look up that old mortgage that Gramps had on the Widow Smith's little
+farm," ordered the cashier.
+
+A ponderous file was pulled from a shelf in the vault and the two men
+began to search the musty and dusty old documents of bygone days. At
+last they found the mortgage. There they found the Deacon's name written
+out in full--James Duncan Gramps. The cashier of the People's State Bank
+had a curious twinkle in his eye as he looked at his assistant. "Jim, do
+you know, I have a suspicious feeling about this here Gramps
+proposition," he remarked. The assistant looked astonished. He had
+supposed all this time that the cashier was interested in the Deacon's
+full name from some official standpoint. The cashier went on: "Widow
+Gramps was just in here a few minutes ago and cashed a check drawn by a
+man by the name of James Duncan. I have a suspicion that Deacon Gramps
+is still living and that this James Duncan is no other than James Duncan
+Gramps, and he is checking out of a Western bank money which Mrs. Gramps
+received from the insurance company in New York."
+
+"Surely that could not be," responded the assistant. "Suppose we compare
+the handwriting on the check that you just cashed with the handwriting
+on these old papers." After a close comparison of the two specimens of
+handwriting, the men decided that their resemblance was not sufficient
+to prove anything.
+
+"At any rate it will do no harm to investigate," remarked the cashier as
+he closed the heavy door of the vault. "I shall turn the evidence over
+to the insurance company in New York." That evening at sundown when
+train Number 29 pulled out from the station at Dobbinsville and sped
+eastward, it carried in its mailcoach a letter of much significance
+addressed to the president of a large insurance company in New York
+City.
+
+The following week one day when the west-bound noon train stopped at
+Dobbinsville, a well-dressed stranger stepped from the platform of the
+coach and made inquiry as to the location of a hotel. A lanky-looking
+lad who leaned against a pole directed the stranger to the Dobbinsville
+Inn, across the street. A person of this man's evident rank and
+importance was not a familiar sight in the streets of Dobbinsville. His
+mysterious presence set a peaceful town all agog. He became the subject
+of much exaggerated conjecture. Every fellow was overly eager to tell
+precisely what he did not know; namely, where this stranger came from
+and what his business was. Uncle Hezekiah Evans, the sixty-year-old
+newsboy who peddled the Post around over the village, said this stranger
+was evidently a rich man from the East who had come to buy the whole
+town out. "Fatty" Jones, whose chief employment was that of sitting on a
+baggage truck at the depot, had the opinion that this stranger was the
+son of a St. Louis millionaire who, having much time and money, had come
+out to an up-to-date country to spend both. It was the candid opinion of
+old "Doc" Greenwich that this stranger had committed a crime somewhere
+and was lounging around in this secluded nook to evade the officers of
+the law. "Dad" Brunt, the honored proprietor of the Dobbinsville Inn,
+had an advantage over his fellows, as the stranger was staying with him.
+He was sure that this man was interested in timberlands in the Mount
+Olivet neighborhood, as he had known the man to make two trips out here
+during his stay at the Inn.
+
+The stranger spent a week in Dobbinsville, during which time he made
+frequent calls at the People's State Bank. When he had gone, the
+cashier, to the great relief and surprise of his fellow townsmen,
+explained to them that he was an officer of the law whose business was
+to investigate the circumstances connected with the burning of Deacon
+Gramps' barn.
+
+Just about one month from this time Uncle Hezekiah Evans did a
+flourishing business selling papers. The Post came out with this
+startling headline: "DEACON HEARS OWN FUNERAL PREACHED." Great
+excitement prevailed. Everybody in Dobbinsville who could read and some
+who could not bought a paper from Uncle Hezekiah. He sold all he had,
+and wished for more to sell. Not only were the people of Dobbinsville
+interested in this remarkable newspaper headline, but in every town and
+city that fell within the limits of the Post's rather metropolitan
+circulation, people were startled at the unusual thought of a man
+hearing his own funeral. The article in the Post read like this:
+
+The little town of Dobbinsville, snugly tucked away in the peaceful
+folds of the far-famed Ozark hills, is coming into its share of
+publicity. There has lived for many years in the vicinity of this
+village a substantial farmer by the name of Gramps. Until a couple of
+days ago Gramps was supposed to have been dead and buried. In fact, a
+tombstone in the churchyard near the Gramps homestead plainly states
+that Gramps is dead. Though tombstones sometimes say, "They have gone to
+rest," the truth is otherwise and Gramps has turned up very much alive.
+According to an officer interviewed by a Post correspondent yesterday,
+Gramp's story is somewhat on this wise:
+
+A little over a year ago it became known in the neighborhood of
+Dobbinsville that Gramps, who for years had been a well-to-do farmer and
+a diligent deacon in a local church, was becoming involved in financial
+embarrassment. In order to save himself from bankruptcy, the Deacon,
+according to his own confession, resorted to very unusual means. Gramps
+carried heavy life insurance. About thirteen months ago he burned his
+barn and feigned to have burned with it. While his neighbors were at the
+church one Sunday he went into his big barn and after depositing in a
+pasteboard box his false teeth, his watch, his pocket-knife, and some
+pieces of silver coin, he placed the box in the manger and lighted the
+hay in the mow with a match. After making sure that the fire was in good
+way, he jumped from a window in the barn and ran, without detection, to
+his house and hid himself in the attic. Neighbors, missing Gramps, made
+a diligent search for him which resulted only in finding the molten
+remains of the pocket knife and other articles in the ash-heap where the
+barn was burned. Amid much mourning loving hands gathered ashes from the
+tragical spot and tenderly laid them in an expensive casket. The next
+day at the funeral in the parlor of the Gramps home, a minister from St.
+Louis delivered an empassioned eulogy, extolling the manifold
+excellencies of the honored dead (?). Through an open stairway door
+Gramps heard the eloquent words of the clergyman and the heart-rending
+sobs of his own wife and children.
+
+After seeing his funeral done up in proper style, Gramps went to
+Colorado, where for a year, going under an assumed name, he conducted a
+Sunday School and took active part in other religious enterprises.
+Through the cooperation of his wife, who remained on the homestead at
+Dobbinsville, he came into possession of $10,000 from an insurance
+company in New York City. At the end of a year he planned for his wife
+to join him in Colorado, where, according to his statement, they were to
+begin life anew. But their plans were upset when the Deacon sent his
+wife a check signed with his assumed name, which name consisted of the
+first two words of his real name. Gramps and his wife are both in jail,
+where they await the action of the court and where they have a splendid
+opportunity to meditate upon the interesting happenings of the past
+year. Whether or not Mrs. Gramps was an accomplice has not yet
+developed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+"Twenty years ago I came to this country. During these twenty years I
+have done my utmost to preserve and defend the faith of Mount Olivet
+church." The person who spoke was Preacher Bonds. The place where he
+spoke was in his own pulpit. The persons to whom he spoke were his
+twenty members, who were the fragments of the once thriving and powerful
+rural church. Bonds was at his best on this particular Sunday morning in
+April, and he had planned to give his hearers a sort of history of the
+events during his twenty-years pastorate at Mount Olivet.
+
+The morning was a most beautiful one. All nature wore a smile. Only
+those who have experienced the rare joy of taking a stroll through the
+wooded dell in the famous Ozarks on a spring morning can fully
+appreciate the scene. Spring had made her long-delayed journey from the
+southland and by the strength of her warm and winning ways had forced
+grim old winter to a hasty retreat northward, and now exulted in her
+unchallenged sway. All the birds on this morning seemed to have come out
+to help her in her celebration. A red-bird, perched on the tip-top twig
+of the venerable oak which stood near the church, bathing his crimson
+feathers in the morning sun, warbled his sweetest notes to his mate in a
+hawthorn thicket across the field. Rollicking robins were vying with
+each other in their quest of worms in the meadow east of the church. A
+gray squirrel chattered in a hickory-tree near by and scattered
+particles of bark all around. A red-headed woodpecker sat in the round
+door of his cozy house in an old snag and seemed perfectly content in
+his utter inability to sing. Frolicsome spring lambs amused themselves
+by butting each other off a low stump down in the old Gramps cow
+pasture.
+
+The Church itself showed signs of dilapidation. The belfry on the roof
+had been torn away and the old rusty bell, silent for many years, stood
+exposed to the ravages of summer and winter. Its only purpose now seemed
+to be to afford a shelter for the wasps which from year to year built
+their nests in its dome. The brick chimney, which projected from the
+roof near the rear of the building, had lost its crowning bricks and
+presented a very jagged aspect. For the accommodation of the squirrels
+who were accustomed to take up winter quarters in the attic of the
+church, the wood-peckers had pecked numerous holes in the paintless
+walls. The eaves were daubed with mud carried by the pewees in the
+building of their yearly nests. Bats, at their own good pleasure, came
+in and out through the paneless windowsashes and found daytime repose on
+top of the sagging beam which, just above the windows, spanned the room.
+
+The physical condition of this Church house formed a fitting counterpart
+to the spiritual condition of the people who worshipped (?) there.
+Physical, spiritual, and moral spelled the trinity of its decay.
+
+Preacher Bonds' sermon that morning ran something like this: "Twenty
+years ago I came to this country. Well do I remember the first few
+months after landing here. Some of the older members will recall the
+mighty religious fight that was just beginning in those days between the
+holiness heresy and the doctrines of the Bible as believed in by this
+church. Those few who are here this morning who have known me and have
+been my co-workers throughout these years, I am sure, testify to the
+steadfastness with which I have stood by the work. I said when I came
+here that God had sent me here to fight the doctrine of holiness. I
+still hold to my mission. I have stood four-square against that doctrine
+and all its advocates, and I still stand. I have used every means to put
+it down. But strange as it seems, this heresy appears to have grown fat
+upon our opposition, and the more we have fought the more it has
+flourished. Even at this very hour not a mile from here, in the
+schoolhouse, there is a group of people five times as large as this
+audience worshipping the Lord in what they call the "beauty of
+holiness." They have for a preacher, as you know, old man Benton, who
+twenty years ago was cast out of this church for teaching crooked
+doctrine. He has had no preparation whatever for ministerial work, but
+in some way he has been able to keep his bunch together for nearly
+twenty years; and now since he is an old man, it seems that they still
+persist in following him.
+
+"In the early days of my pastorate here my strongest supporter and
+co-laborer was Deacon Gramps. This name will sound familiar to some of
+the older members. Gramps owned the beautiful farm just to the west of
+this Church. A good many years ago through some play, fair or foul,
+Gramps was charged with a criminal act and was convicted and sent to the
+penitentiary, where three years ago he died. His wife went to St. Louis
+to live with her son, and departed this life shortly after moving there.
+You are all more or less familiar with the Gramps story, so I shall
+leave it, as it is not at all a pleasant topic to discuss.
+
+"It may be of interest to some of you to know just how the doctrine of
+holiness ever got started in this community. Well, this old man Benton
+whom you all know as the leader of the holiness movement used to be a
+member of this church. For many years he lived a consistent Christian
+life in this church, so they tell me. About twenty years ago he spent a
+whole summer herding cattle down in the hills about thirty miles from
+here. While he was down there in the woods all alone with nothing to
+occupy his mind, he fell to musing on the death of his little girl who
+died a good many years previously to that time and it seems that he
+became mentally unbalanced, at least on religious matters. According to
+the information given me, he came in contact at this time with a
+religious paper teaching strange doctrines, and he embraced these
+doctrines and began advocating them with great zeal. As I said before,
+he was excommunicated from this church for teaching such doctrines, but
+in leaving the church he took a number of our most trusted and tried
+members, for instance, the Gray family. Those were the days of great
+excitement in this community. It was about this time that I was called
+to the pastorate of this church. A few months after my coming Benton and
+his bunch got an evangelist from over east, somewhere, to come here, and
+he made a mighty stir along heretical lines and many of the best
+citizens of our community were drawn into the delusive net. Some of us,
+in those days, stood firm in the faith and employed every thinkable
+means to stamp out the nefarious cult; and allow me to humbly say that
+had it not been for Deacon Gramps and me and a few other faithful ones,
+our cause at that time would have been completely lost.
+
+"But I stand today, my brethren, as I have always stood--unalterably
+opposed to the program of the holiness movement. First, I oppose
+holiness itself--the doctrine that a man can live free from sin in this
+life. How foolish, how utterly ridiculous, the idea. We all sin. Our
+fathers sinned, we sin, and our posterity will sin. Do you see that
+streak of sunshine that comes in at the window and falls upon the floor?
+See in the sunlighted atmosphere a million dust particles. Let the air
+represent our lives and let the dust particles represent our sins, and
+you will have an idea as to how many sins we commit. Away with the
+holiness doctrine.
+
+"Secondly, I stand opposed to the doctrine of divine healing as taught
+by Benton's outfit. The days of miracles are past. They ceased with the
+apostles. Jesus Christ has no more power to heal me of sickness today
+than has the horse which I rode to church this morning. In these days of
+great learning, when men are able to cure diseases by medicine and
+surgery, there is no need of divine healing, and every man who claims to
+be healed by divine power makes himself an ignoramus and a liar. Away
+with this doctrine.
+
+"Thirdly, I stand opposed to the doctrine of oneness, or unity, as
+taught by Benton and his disciples. They lay great stress on this
+doctrine. They say there is but one church and that when a man is
+converted he becomes a member of this one church. Brethren, I do not
+believe this new doctrine. I still hold to the faith of our fathers. I
+believe that according to the Scriptures we become members of the church
+by water baptism and by no other method.
+
+"Brethren, let us stand by the faith of those who have gone before. We
+may be few in number, but let us be unmoveable. Let us refresh our faith
+with thoughts of those whose lives have left sacred spots on the field
+of memory. Let us think on such men as Preacher Crookshank and Deacon
+Gramps, who were noted for their courage in defending the faith.
+
+"As the noon hour is drawing near, I must bring my sermon to a close.
+Tonight at seven-thirty I shall preach on a favorite subject of
+mine--the Hellish Heresy of Holiness. But, in conclusion, let me say
+that I still feel heavily the burden of fighting old man Benton and his
+group. I am growing somewhat gray, but I'm still in the fight. I aim to
+push the battle. I believe that in defending his faith a man is
+justifiable in using almost any means imaginable. Let us pray: Lord, we
+thank thee for this hour in which we have defended thy cause. Lord,
+bless this church and curse those who seek its harm. Smite any person or
+persons in this community who seek to propagate false religion. And now
+may the grace of Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of
+the Holy Ghost rest and abide with us now and forever, amen."
+
+So closed a service a picture of which today still hangs on the walls of
+the memory of those present.
+
+How hidden is the path of one's future. When Preacher Bonds mounted his
+sorrel horse at the church that noon-day, just as he had done for many,
+many years, little did he think that the same sun which afforded him a
+chance to illustrate in his morning sermon the multiplicity of his own
+sins would, before setting that day, shine upon his lifeless form.
+
+It so happened that day that Preacher Bonds invited one of his brethren
+home with him to dinner. As he and this member, who was a pillar in the
+church, rode along the country road to Bonds' home, Bonds gave the
+member a full outline of his intended sermon on the Hellish Heresy of
+Holiness. When the two men had reached the barn of the Bonds' premises
+and had fed their horses they started for the house. They were just
+passing in at the yard gate when Preacher Bonds staggered and fell to
+the ground. He was carried into his house and placed on a cot, and a
+doctor was called; but within a half-hour from the time he fell at the
+gate his breath ceased and he began his eternity. The doctor pronounced
+his death due to heart trouble. There was no sermon at the church that
+night on the Hellish Heresy of Holiness. The following day Bonds'
+remains were started on the journey to Kentucky, where burial took place
+at the old boyhood home.
+
+With the passing of Bonds the last candlestick was removed from Mount
+Olivet church. Bonds' sermon was the last one of the sin-you-must type
+preached there. The church was entirely disbanded and the dilapidated
+building finally fell into the hands of those who came after Jake
+Benton. In recent years the old church has been torn away and replaced
+by a beautiful white building surpassing even the former beauty of the
+old one. Over its door were written these words: The Church of God--the
+Pillar and Ground of the Truth. Over the pulpit this motto hangs:
+"Behold how good and how pleasant for brethren to dwell together in
+unity." To the left on the wall are these words: "Who forgiveth all our
+iniquities and healeth all our diseases."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+Harry Benton was a successful business man, there was no question about
+that. He was not known in the commercial world as a "big" man, and he
+could not write out a check for a million dollars and give it to some
+charitable institution as some of the multi-millionaires can do, but he
+was regarded by all who knew him as a successful business man. He had a
+business in Chicago that was thriving if not colossal. From the income
+from this business he was able to own and maintain a beautiful and
+comfortable home in one of the residential districts of the great city.
+It was his pleasure and privilege to give each year a few thousand
+dollars to the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
+
+Harry was the second son of Jake Benton, the backwoods holiness preacher
+of the Ozarks. At the age of twenty-one he had become the husband of Eva
+Gray, who was two years younger than he. This union had been a blessed
+happy one. If all of Chicago's homes were like that of Harry Benton, it
+might well be nicknamed the Paradise of America. Thrice the angel of
+blessings had visited this home, decorating it each time with one of
+heaven's jewels in the form of a baby. Nolan Benton, the twelve-year-old
+boy, had the name of his Grandfather Gray, and he also had all the
+religious indications of his Grandfather Benton. Blanche was two years
+younger than Nolan. She fell heir to the blue eyes, the ruddy cheeks,
+the flaxen hair of her mother. Little Jake, the baby, was five years
+old. He inherited his Grandfather Benton's name and his Grandfather
+Gray's red hair.
+
+One Sunday morning when this happy family gathered around the breakfast
+table, Harry Benton's appetite was absent. He could not eat. He
+steadfastly gazed through the east window of the beautiful dining room
+into the park which spread itself over several acres of ground just
+across the street from his home.
+
+"Harry, dear, why do you not eat?" remarked his wife. Harry Benton
+smiled, but as he did so a tear glistened on his cheek.
+
+"For some reason," he answered, "I awoke an hour before day this morning
+and memory insisted on taking me on a journey over the past and
+carrying me on a ramble through the scenes of my childhood, and as I sit
+here the sight of those trees in the park remind me of old Ozark's grand
+forests. I like to think of those old scenes, and by the way, wife, come
+to think about it, it is three years this month since we were down home
+on a visit. It doesn't seem possible that it is so long. We get so
+absorbed with our business here in this big wicked city that the years
+flit by like dreams and we do not realize how long we have been away. I
+should like to take a stroll this morning along the old creek where we
+boys used to swim. I'd like to visit the old schoolhouse in the walnut
+grove where we used to spend so many idle hours. Three years ago when we
+were down there I visited that old schoolhouse. It looked just about
+like it did twenty-five or thirty years ago, when you and I were there.
+I sat on the old limestone rock beneath the old locust-tree where we
+used to play dare base. The old play ground is just the same. There was
+the ballground where we used to play 'town ball.' The same old stone was
+there that we used for second base."
+
+As Harry Benton thus spoke his wife and children listened intently, and
+when the meal was finished and the Bible was brought for the morning
+worship, the whole family was in a serious frame of mind. Benton went on
+to say, "And when we talk of home scenes, I always think of father and
+his godly influence upon my life. As I look across the years, I see
+myself an ignorant awkward country boy; but there is one thing for which
+I shall always thank my God, and that is that I was blessed with a
+Christian father. Throughout the years his saintly life has been a
+benediction to me. The most sacred picture that hangs on the wall of my
+memory is that of my father with the big family Bible on his lap and all
+the children gathered around him and Mother for the worship of his God.
+Well do I remember when he used to pray for us, naming us out one by one
+and asking God to make us useful men and women. And oh, how he used to
+be persecuted by the Mount Olivet people. Well do I remember how one
+morning when Father was on his way to milk your father's cows he was met
+by Deacon Gramps, who beat him so shamefully. That night in family
+worship Father prayed so fervently and asked God to forgive Gramps and
+save him from his wicked ways. The impressions I received during those
+stirring days never will leave me. I tell you, Eva, it meant something
+for Father to stand true as he did, and I think heaven will be
+especially sweet to those who have suffered as he has suffered."
+
+When he had left off speaking and the family knelt in prayer, Harry
+Benton's voice trembled with emotion as he prayed for all those back
+home whom he remembered, and especially for his father.
+
+When the morning chores were done and Harry Benton started to the Full
+Salvation Mission, which mission he had superintended and supported for
+a number of years, he was met on his front porch by a Western Union
+messenger boy, who took from beneath his blue cap a slip of yellow paper
+and handed it to him. This is how it read: "Come, Father very low."
+
+Benton telephoned one of his brethren to take charge of the Mission, and
+after earnestly beseeching the Lord to spare his father until his
+bedside could be reached, he and his wife made hasty arrangements to
+start, and were soon speeding across the fertile fields of Illinois.
+They crossed the mighty Mississippi, changed trains in St. Louis' big
+Union Depot, and after a few hours' ride their train was gliding past
+old familiar scenes of bygone days.
+
+"Dobbinsville, Dobbinsville," shouted the porter as he thrust his face
+in at the door of the coach. Three short jerks at the signal
+cord--swish, swish, swish--back from the engine--t-oot-oot-oot--a sudden
+let-up in speed, a screech of the airbrakes, a bang of the door, and the
+Texas Canon-Ball made one of its seldom stops at Dobbinsville and Harry
+Benton and his family stepped to the platform.
+
+A thirty-minute ride through the country in a neighbor's automobile and
+once more in life Harry Benton stepped foot upon the premises of his
+childhood. His prayer had been answered. His father seemed to be dying
+during the night, but with the coming of morning he revived and regained
+consciousness. When Harry and Eva entered the room where his father lay,
+the old saint seemed as happy as a child and much rejoiced at seeing
+Harry and Eva and their babies, who were the last of a great flock of
+sons and sons-in-law and daughters and daughters-in-law and
+grandchildren and great-grandchildren to arrive.
+
+"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Since
+Jake Benton's conversion, more than a quarter of a century previously to
+this time, his life had been one continuous sermon--a sermon more
+eloquent than any ever preached from a pulpit. But if the sermon of his
+life was eloquent, that of his death was more so. According to his
+simple philosophy, life was just a sort of lodging-place beside the long
+road to eternity, and death, to him, was not a leaving home, but rather
+a starting for home.
+
+When he gathered his loved ones about his bedside on the day following
+the arrival of Harry and his family, to say goodbye, it was not the
+goodbye of one who was entering upon a dark and perilous journey to
+parts unknown, but that of one sustained by an unfailing faith that he
+was entering upon an abode in the eternal mansion, where he should wait
+but a brief period for the coming of those he loved.
+
+Just as the purple shadows of the October evening were lengthening, the
+end was drawing near. The hoary patriarch called his children all by
+name--Harry and Eva, Joe and his wife, Albert and his wife, Nancy and
+her husband, Hannah and her husband, and Hattie, the unmarried daughter
+yet at home--and they all gathered in the room where death was to be a
+guest. The grandchildren, happy and care-free, unconscious of what life
+is and of what death means, were called in from their places of play,
+and told that Grandpa was leaving them. The little tots, bless them,
+came in and stood around the old-fashioned bedstead all unmindful of the
+significance of a meeting of time and eternity. They gathered around and
+gazed into the old saint's face, where death and life alternately wrote
+their names. As they passed around one by one by the head of the bed,
+the old man laid his withered hands upon each little head and pronounced
+his blessing. Then he began to talk.
+
+"If this is death," he said, "it is a blessed thing to die. The way has
+been long and the road rough, at times, but now it is all over. I have
+suffered a few things for Jesus' sake, but how unworthy I have been of
+all the love He has shown me. I have only one dying request to make of
+my loved ones, and it is the same as my living request has been, that
+you all live for God and meet me over there. Oh, I am so happy. How I
+love Jesus, and on His bosom I shall rest forever." His voice grew
+fainter. "Just one more step and I am there." The loved ones hovered
+nearer. A soft white hand was laid upon his brow. It was the hand of
+Hattie. Subdued sobs were heard about the room. "Don't weep, dear
+children," he faintly murmured: "I am just passing into--I see the
+darling's hands--no pale cheeks--how sweet--about my neck--this
+Rose--Rose's Savior Papa's Savior too. Let's go--." He was dead--and
+blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Deacon of Dobbinsville, by John A. Morrison
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12512 ***