The time travelers sit in silence for a few minutes, contemplating the wonder of their situation. Then Kerry speaks. "What do y’ say we go to town and find a hotel room? This cylinder is really cramped, even for resting."
Walt raises his eyebrows. "Let’s just hope there are some rooms available. The way people were packing into this place, it’d make y’ wonder."
"Well, let’s get going then," prods Daniel. "I'm a little tired myself."
************
As they walk by the stream, they can see that more men have gathered there. The stream is beginning to look like a string of beads, with people dotting its shore on both sides throughout its entire length. Walt shakes his head. "I do hope there’s a room available when we get there."
Kerry, seeming not to hear Walt’s comment, makes an observation of his own. "Interesting isn’t it?"
"What?" asks Daniel.
"How people were so motivated by greed, even back in this time. Look at all the people crowding in here to try and strike it rich because gold was discovered here."
Passing the stream and turning northwesterly as they have been instructed, they come across several miners with picks and shovels digging in the earth with their picks. "Well, some pan and some pick," notes Kerry.
They notice a crowd of miners gathered together at a distance. From the noise, our friends suspect that it might be a fight. They decide to go down and see what is going on. As they get closer, they can see that the crowd is gathered around two miners who are having a real knock-down-drag-out fight. Curious, Walt questions one of the men in the crowd. "Say, if you don’t mind my asking, what’s this fight all about?"
The man turns and looks at Walt with a puzzled look. "Claim fight--what else?"
"What do you mean, 'claim fight'?"
"You musta just got here. Well, this man says the other one jumped his claim. He says he was here first and was just on his way to the claims office when the other arrived and staked out a claim on the same piece of land. Says he had a marker set up but the other took it away."
"You talk like these sorts of fights are pretty common around here."
"Why, they happen almost every day!"
Our friends look surprised. "But isn’t there enough land to go around?"
"There won’t be if people keep on comin' th' way they’ve been."
"What did I say about greed?" observes Kerry, as the three walk on.
As they reach the top of the hill and begin their descent, they can see the town spread out below. It looks to them like a picture on a postcard which might have been sent from one of those wild west amusement parks that are so popular in their own time. As they get closer, the buildings become more real looking. The fact that there are no people in the streets, however, gives the place the appearance of a 'ghost town'.
Following the previously given directions, they arrive at the hotel, a building whose imposing height makes it stand out from the rest. Opening the door, they enter. The hotel seems as deserted as the streets. There is a long counter with a big bell at one end. Next to the bell, there is a sign which reads: “RING BELL FOR SERVICE.” They walk over to the bell and Kerry gives it a loud ring. Nothing happens. "Seems like this place is totally deserted."
"Try again," suggests Walt.
He does, ringing three times and quite loudly. Finally, a few grunting sounds are heard coming from behind the counter. Suddenly a head pops up. It belongs to a middle-aged gentleman with silver hair and a wrinkled face. "Whata y' mean," he murmurs grumpily, "waking' a fella up in th' middle of a sound sleep?!"
"We were only following the sign," asserts Kerry, in defense of his actions. "It plainly says 'Ring Bell for Service'."
The gentleman yawns drowsily and nods his head. "Ah, yes! So it does! So it does! Well, what c'n I do fer y'?"
"We’d like a room--what else?"
"Ah, yes! What else, indeed! That is what people come here for, ain’t it? Well, yer quite lucky, you are. I haven’t got many rooms left. But I do happen t' have one that should do just fine fer th' three of y'. And I’ll give it t' y' fer a special price--only $100.00 a week--payable in advance, of course."
The three look at each other and Walt turns to the man. "But we only want it for one night."
The man looks surprised. “Only fer one night, y' say? Nobody comes here t' stay fer only one night. Takes longer 'n’ that t' stake a claim."
"Oh, we’re not miners. We’re only passing through. We expect to leave tomorrow. So, if you don’t mind, how much for one night?"
The old man scratches his head and wrinkles his eyebrows. "That’s th' strangest thing I ever heard of--folk comin' here 'n' passin' through 'n’ not botherin' t' do any prospectin'. Maybe you know something' th' rest o' us don't. Well, 'taint nona my concern. If y' wana stay fer one night, I’ll let y' have it fer $25.00."
"But," objects Walt, "If one week was $100.00 and there’s seven days in a week--"
The old gentleman pounds his fist down on the counter with a bang.
"That’s t' rate! Take it, er leave it!"
"We’ll take it. Here!" Walt hands him the money. He takes it without close examination and shows them their room.
As he turns to go back to the lobby, Daniel says to him, "It sure is deserted around here."
"Oh, that’s 'cause everybody’s at their claim, a-prospectin'. But just wait till tonight, when they come in fer th' Shindig. Say, you fellers oughta go. It's at th' saloon down th' street."
"We were planning on it."
************
Evening comes sooner than they expect or want. Just as they have begun to rest well, it is time to get ready to go. When they arrive at the saloon, things are already in progress. As they approach, they can see through the top half of the door that the place is crowded. The music is loud and lively, and many people are dancing. There are plenty of women, some dancing with the miners and some just sitting off to one side. Our friends can’t help but wonder where all the women came from, as they had seen only men by the stream and the diggings and had not noticed any women in the town earlier. There are a few people standing at the bar, drinking and talking to the bartender.
The swinging door swings wide as the three enter. They walk casually up to the bar and order drinks. They stand there for a while watching the couples dance. Every now and then some of the men come to the bar to order drinks for their lady friends. Then they sit with them at one of the tables in the center and drink. When they finish their drinks, they get back up and dance again.
Soon one of the men at the bar starts to make eyes at one of the girls at the side of the room. He turns to the bartender and asks in quiet tones: "How much fer that one?"
"The usual price is $25.00," says the bartender softly, but not too softly for our friends to hear, "but she’s special. $30.00."
The man hands the money to the bartender and walks over to the woman. Soon they are dancing with the rest. Our friends think to themselves that it’s a high price to pay for a dance. But then they begin to notice that one by one the couples, who were dancing so beautifully on the floor, begin to slip away upstairs.
"Where are they going?" asks Kerry, upon seeing one couple ascend the long circular staircase.
"Who?" replies the bartender.
"That couple over there."
"Oh, them. Well now, where would you think? Upstairs to have a little privacy." The bartender winks at Kerry. "If you’d like some of th' same, it’ll cost you only $30.00."
"What are you running here," quires Walt, "a brothel?"
"Call it what you will," replies the bartender. "We’re providing a service to these lonely miners." The bartender appears slightly frightened as he says: "Say, you fellows aren’t federal agents or somethin' like that are y'?"
"Nah! Don’t worry, we’re nothing like that. We’re just a bunch of guys who happen to believe that such things are wrong."
By now, the other men at the bar are perking up their ears and looking askance at the three strangers. The bartender speaks again. "It may be wrong by the law of the land where you guys come from, but out here, mister, we ain't got no law."
This time it is Daniel who speaks. "And what about the laws of Almighty God? Don’t they apply here either?"
"Well, well, well!" exclaims one of the men at the bar. "What have we got here?--a bunch o' Bible- thumpin' fanatics?"
"No!" protests Walt, "We’re not Bible-thumping fanatics either. We just happen to believe in common everyday decency and morality."
A short distance from them, one of the miners to whom they had spoken at the stream earlier yells out: "Hey! These are th’ feelers who claim t' be from over 100 years from now."
At this, the miner standing closest to the three yells back: "Oh! I knew they had to be crazy!"
Meanwhile, in another corner of the room, a fight is about to break out. "I’ll teach you!" one man is saying, as he holds the other man by the collar and stands ready to punch him in the mouth. "You leave your dirty hands off of ‘er! She’s mine! I paid for ‘er!" And the fight is on. People are yelling and screaming, tables are turning over and you can hear the blows of fist upon flesh.
Suddenly, the swinging door of the saloon swings open wide to reveal a tall dark figure standing in the doorway. He is dressed entirely in black and in his right hand, he holds a big black book, which appears to be a Bible. He presses the book against one of the doors to hold it open. Just as suddenly as his visible appearance, his booming voice rings out throughout the saloon: "Repent, ye sinners! Repent before it’s too late!"
The music stops and there is a general hubbub of speech and laughter. The bartender throws his hands up in the air and shouts: "Hey! What is this?"
The preacher steps slowly into the saloon. "Repent," he cries out again. "You are sinning against Almighty God. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. Repent and believe in Jesus!"
Most of the men laugh loudly, and one observes: "We sure got a bunch o' Bible thumpers tonight!"
As the preacher keeps on preaching, a few of the men begin to get up and walk out. The bartender is beside himself. He looks first at the preacher and then at our three friends. "Out!" he orders. "Out, the four of you! This is nothing but a conspiracy of religion to destroy my business! First, you guys come in here talking' about what a great wrong we’re doin' here, and then this preacher comes in here a-hollerin' fer everyone to repent an' believe. Well, y' ken take yer religious gobbledygook elsewhere! Now be gone with ya! Out, I say!"
But the preacher continues: "I’m a man of God. I don’t need t’ listen t' th' likes of you. The Bible says it’s better t’ obey God than man. The Bible also says that Jesus is coming back soon and in order to go with Him, you must be born again! You must repent and believe--"
The bartender motions to several of the bigger men around the bar. They step forward and form a semi-circle around the four, raising their fists in the air. Walt speaks out. "I-I-a-think we get the point. Come on, fellows!" The other three follow his lead and all four walk slowly out of the saloon.
When they are safely out on the street, the preacher speaks: "Well, it’s good t' know I’ve got some sympathizers at least. It’s always good t' know who you’ve been thrown out of a saloon with."
They introduce themselves.
"Where are you three from?" the preacher asks.
"Oh, from here and there. And you?"
"I’m the Reverend Mr. Black, originally from Kansas City, now circuit ridin' preacher. I ride all over th' country, bringin' th' gospel to those who need it most." The preacher pauses and scratches his head. "So, I take it that before I arrived at the saloon, you three were already defendin' th' Word o’ God?"
"Actually, we were only standing up for common morality."
"But you are believers in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, aren’t you?"
"We are believers in God--that’s all," replies Walt.
Daniel decides to change the subject. "Boy! They sure do live wickedly out here, though, don’t they?"
"They certainly do," replies the preacher.
"But we’re going to bring about an end to all that, aren’t we, fellows?" blurts out Kerry.
"Kerry!" yells Walt, "you don't have to--this fellow doesn’t need to know--"
But Daniel puts his hand on Walt’s shoulder. "Oh, I think he has a right to know. After all, he’s a man of the cloth."
"To know what?" asks the preacher, curiously.
"Well, you won’t believe this, but we are time travelers. We are actually from the year 2025, and we came here in a time cylinder."
The good reverend looks a bit puzzled, but then shrugs. "Well, with the Lord, all things are possible."
"We can only travel a certain distance back in time at one time. We are going back in time step by step until we reach the beginning--what’s the name of the place, Daniel?"
"Eden. The garden of Eden."
"Uh-huh." The preacher nods.
"And we are going to warn the original people who fell and committed the first sin."
"Adam and Eve," inserts Daniel.
"So that they will realize what they’re doing and not partake of the forbidden fruit. Then, sin will have been prevented, and all evil, corruption, and disease will be banished from the human race forever."
The preacher raises his eyebrows. "You mean to say that you think that by going back to the garden of Eden, assuming that you could get there for sure, you could actually prevent sin and evil--that you could actually reverse the course of history so that those things will no longer exist?"
"Ah!" asserts Kerry. "You’ve got our idea perfectly!"
"Well, my friends," the preacher asserts, his countenance taking on an air of solemnity, "I’m sorry to inform you that such a plan can never work."
"What do you mean?" All three speak at once.
"Well, even if God allows you to make it back there, you won’t be effective in warning Adam and Eve. Don’t you see? The fall was meant to happen. Otherwise, the remedy could not have been either effective or appreciated."
"Remedy?"
"Yes! God has provided a remedy for sin and evil in the person of His son, Jesus Christ. He came and lived a perfect life in this sinful world; and then, He died on a cross to pay the penalty of sin, in order that if we believe in Him, our sins can be forgiven and we can become new creations in Him."
"That’s what you believe, eh?"
"That’s the gospel--the Word of God, friend. It’s what all men must believe or be damned to hell."
"But, man is basically good. He only needs a fresh start--a new chance. And that’s what we intend to give him."
The preacher smiles. "That, my friends, is what God has already given him in Jesus Christ, His Divine Son."
"Jesus Christ," asserts Walt, "was nothing but a prophet—a good teacher like Confucius or Buddha or Mohammed--definitely not, as you say, the Divine Son of God."
"Definitely not!" agrees Kerry.
Daniel nods his agreement as well.
"Well, my friends," says the preacher, "It looks as if we have a difference of views."
"It does so indeed!" responds Walt, "Let’s go, fellows!"
************
As they walk back to the hotel, they muse.
"That fellow must be crazy."
"Yeah! Everybody knows Jesus was a mere man--a mere historical figure like Washington and Lincoln."
"Certainly not Divine in any way."
"How could he have anything to do with a remedy for sin?"
"Speaking of sin, they sure had a lot of it in this time, didn’t they?"
"But did you see some of those gals back there? Woweee!"
"Now, be careful, Walt," cautions Daniel. "If we're going to try to save the world from sin, we ought to try to be as free from it ourselves as possible."
"Well, I was just noticing. Nothing wrong with that, is there? I mean, it’s only human, isn't it?"
“But, at what point does 'noticing' become 'sin'?"
"I think we can leave that point for the theologians to fight over."
Kerry catches sight of the hotel a short distance ahead. "At any rate, let’s forget about it for now and concentrate on getting a good night’s sleep, shall we? We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow, I'm sure."
"Yeah! Wonder where we’ll land next."
"Or, when!"