The daily worker., 1926-12-05
II

II
Christmas had come, and the
quail were calling from the hills at
Paradise. There were not so many
on the tract, but there was plenty
OF adjacent land over which an oil
prince and his royal sire were wei.
come to shoot. And once you were
out of sight of the derricks, and
out of smell of the refinery, it was
the same beautiful country, with
the same clear sky and golden sun
sets, and you could get the poisons
OF bootleg liquor out of your blood.
and the embarrassing memories out
OF your soul. Tramping these rocky
hills, drawing this magical air into
your lungs, 1t was impossible TO
think that men would not some day
learn to be happy!
This visit corresponded with a
great historic event, which put Par
adise upon the map of California.
Eli Watkins, prophet Of the Lord,
had completed the payments for the
land upon which his tabernacle In
Angel City was to stand, and he eel
ebrated this event by coming back
to the scenes Of his boyhood, the
little frame temple where the Third
Revelation had been handed down
to mankind, and there holding a
novel and interesting performance
OF his own invention, known as a
Bible Marathon" You see, Eli had
read in the papers about Marathon
races, and tho he didn't know what
the word meant, 1t was romantic
sounding, and he had fondness for
strange words. So the disciples of
the First Apostolic Church of Para
disc announced that bible Mara
thon" consisted in reading the Lords
Holy Word straight thru without a
single pause; they would be told on
in relays, and day and night there
would be little group in the
church, and one voice after another
would take UP the sacred task. re-
gardless Of oil wells "on the pump
just outside the door.
This was Big Magic. Not only did
1t thrill the believers, and bring
swarms ofs people to town, but 1t
caught the fancy of the newspapers.
and they rushed reporters to write
up the event. Many new miracles
were wrought, and many crutches
hung up; and in the midst Of the en-
element the Lord vouchsafed fresh
sign OF His mercy-Eh, preach
ing to the throngs outside, an
nounced In the Lords name that II
the reading were completed, Divine
Omnipotence would cause the rest
OF the money to be offered, and the
Angel City tabernacle would be
erected within year. After that.
OF course, nothing could stop the
Marathon" and the epoch-makfnR
feat was accomplished in the time OF
four days, five hours, seventeen min
utes, and forty-two and three-quar-
ter seconds-glory haIlelujah, praise
the Lordl
Bunny saw the shouting thou
sands with their heads barred. their
faces uplifted and a searchlight
playing upon them; for Eli had
money now, and used It for spectac-
ular effects. His Silver band" was
mounted upon a platform with cleo
trio lights shining upon the instru-
ments; and the prophet would ex-
hort, and then wave his hand, and
the musicians would blare forth an
old gospel tune, and the crowd
would burst into mighty chorus,
and sway and stamp, their souls
transported to glory. the tears run
ming down their cheeks.
There were many wives of oil
workers among the audience. and
these would plead and pray, and
persuade their husbands to attend.
There is not much for a man TO do
out in a lonely place like Paradise;
a third-rate movie was the only
form OF amusement-and here were
the bright lights and the silver trum-
pets and the heavenly raptures, all
free-and with Chambers chance
of heaven thrown in! No wonder
many OF the men fell for IT." and
Paul and HIS little bunch OF rebels
insisted that the employers had
hired Eli to come there at this crit
ical time, while the struggle to save
the union was impending. Bunny
would have thought the idea exag-
gerated-but then he remembers
the five hundred dollars his father
had given to Eli! Also, he remem-
bered a remark of Vernon Roscoe at
the Monastery-"They can have
their pie in the sky. so long as they
let me have the OIL" Annabelle had
given a frightened exclamation,
Hush, Vernel What a horrible
thing to say" For Annabelle knew
that the heavenly powers are jeai-
GUS, and liable TO cruel whims.
CONTINUED tomorrow)