The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-03

them to discuss; one you would
have found still harder to guess!
The American newspapers in Paris
published a despatch from Angel
City, setting forth that Eli Wat
kins, self-styled prophet of religion,
was believed to be drowned. He
had gone swimming at the beach,
leaving his clothing in hotel room,
and had never been seen since;
a search was being made for the
body. That was all the news for
time; and Dad shook his head,
and said, golly, what a strange
saved so many others, but couldn't
save His own prophet! What
would become of that big Taber-
nacle, that had been Ellis personal
property?
Then the New York papers
came; and later on, the papers
from Angel City, with the story
spread all over the front page day
after day. The body of Eli could
not be found. The people of the
temple employed divers-they had
searchlights sweeping the water at
night, and thousands of the faith
full patrolling the sands, holding
revival services there, weeping and
praying to God to give them back
their beloved leader in his green
bathing suit. This went on for a
week, for two weeks; and it was
puzzling, because the longest time
a body could stay in the sea with
out floating was nine days, and
never before had it happened that
a drowned body had failed to be
washed ashore.
Then, more and more amazing,
there began to be rumors in the
papers-they were afraid to say
anything direct, but they limited,
and quoted others who hinted-El
was possibly not drowned; Eli had
been seen here, he had been seen
there-and always in the company
Of a certain young woman, whom
rumor declared to have been the
keeper of the sacred robes in the
Tabernacle. Of course, the first
time Dad saw one of those hints,
he remembered what he and Bun
ny had seen that day at the beach
hotel, and he went up into the air.
by God, that fellows playing a
trick! He's gone off on a spree
with woman!"
There was thrill for you! Dad
talked about it for hours-it al
most drove the spooks out of his
mind! 1t was no joking matter,
because in the course of the search
for Ellis body two men had lost
their lives-one diver had been
taken with pneumonia, and a men,
Der of the Tabernacle, seeing what
he thought was a body, had swan
out too far and gone down. And
here was Dad with the key to the
mystery! Was it his duty to cable
the facts to the Reverend Poober?
More sensations yet--the people
at the Tabernacle began getting
letters from kidnapers, who al
legged that they had taken Eli in
his green bathing suit, and had
him in hiding, and demanded half
a million dollars ransom for him!
What was that? Nobody in Angel
City could be sure. Had the
prophet really been kidnapped?
Or was it rtue that he was driving
over the state, in company with
Miss x, as the newspapers re-
ferred to the former keeper of the
sacred robes? One of the fun
niest aspects of the scandal was
that various young couples who
had gone off on Interpretations in
motor cars-a favorite diversion
of the well-to-do-rfow found them
selves in an embarrassing situa-
ton; all over the state newspaper
reporters and police officials were
looking for Eli and Miss X, and
woe to any blond man who hap
pened to register at hotel with
girl and no marriage certificate
The denouement, when it finally
came, was so sensational that it got
itself cabled, and thus spared Dad
a tedious wait. Thirty-five days af-
ter Ellis disappearance, some fish
ermen, rowing in a harbor several
hundred miles from Angel City,
encountered a man swimming. to
shore, and picked him up; and be-
hold, it was a tall blond man in a
green bathing suit--in short, II was
the prophet The story he told was
that, finding himself being carried
out to sea, he had prayed to the
Lord, and the Lord has heard his
prayer. and had sent three angels
to hold him up in the water. The
name Of one Of these angels was
Steve, and the second was a lady
angel, whose name was Rosie, and
the third was Mexican angel, and
his name was Felipe. These an
gels had taken turns holding onto
the shoulder-straps Of ELS green
bathing suit; and when he grew
fo,.t o..o - AL1..a ......tI ~.