"Oh, amen, praise the Lord, brother," from Eddie Fislinger.
"—and I don't propose to let anybody interfere with it. What else have we got except religion to give us hope—"
"Praise the Lord, oh, bless his name!"
"—of ever leading decent lives, tell me that, will you, just tell me that!"
Elmer was addressing the chief of police, who admitted:
"Yuh, I guess that's right. Well now, we'll let the meeting go on, and if any more of you fellows interrupt—" This completed the chief's present ideas on religion and mob-violence. He looked sternly at everybody within reach, and stalked through the crowd, to return to the police station and resume his game of seven-up.
Eddie was soaring into enchanted eloquence:
"Oh, my brethren, now you see the power of the spirit of Christ to stir up all that is noblest and best in us! You have heard the testimony of our brother here, Brother Gantry, to the one and only way to righteousness! When you get home I want each and every one of you to dig out the Old Book and turn to the Song of Solomon, where it tells about the love of the Savior for the Church—turn to the Song of Solomon, the fourth chapter and the tenth verse, where it says—where Christ is talking about the church, and he says—Song of Solomon, the fourth chapter and the tenth verse—'How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine!'
"Oh, the unspeakable joy of finding the joys of salvation! You have heard our brother's testimony. We know of him as a man of power, as a brother to all them that are oppressed, and now that he has had his eyes opened and his ears unstopped, and he sees the need of confession and of humble surrender before the throne— Oh, this is a historic moment in the life of Hell-c of Elmer Gantry! Oh, Brother, be not afraid! Come! Step up here beside me, and give testimony—"
"God! We better get outa here quick!" panted Jim.
"Gee, yes!" Elmer groaned, and they edged back through the crowd, while Eddie Fislinger's piping pursued them like icy and penetrating rain:
"Don't be afraid to acknowledge the leading of Jesus! Are you boys going to show yourselves too cowardly to risk the sneers of the ungodly?"
