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