The Homesteader: A Novel

by Oscar Micheaux

  CHAPTER XII

  THE BISHOP ACTS

  The conference that followed was one of grave apprehensions for theReverend McCarthy. Before, he had always looked forward to this occasionwith considerable anxiety. He had usually prepared himself for thebattle that was a rule on such occasions. For thirty-five years he hadnot missed a conference; he had never come away in defeat. True, he hadnot risen very high, but he had, at least, always been able to hold hisown.

  But, for the first time in his long experience, he went to meet thisconference with a feeling in his heart that he would come away defeated.That he was not to be reappointed Presiding Elder, was a foregoneconclusion, but he entertained doubts about getting the appointment hehad hoped to secure. Ever since the Bishop had paid him the visit, hehad been uncomfortable. When the prelate bade him good-by that day, hehad never been able to get out of his mind the idea that the other hadconvicted him in his own heart, and had purposely avoided his company.It worried him, and he had been losing flesh for two years, therefore hedid not present now the same robust, striking figure as when he had metthe conference heretofore year after year.

  And then, moreover, he had been hounded almost to insanity by gossips.From over all his circuit it was the talk, they brought it to conferenceand discussed it freely and did not take the trouble to get out of hishearing to do so. Nowhere was there, as he well knew, a body that wouldhave delighted more in his downfall than those brother preachers who metthe conference that year. Always had they been ready to oppose him, butalways before the Bishop had been with him. He had been able by subtlemethods to place himself in the Bishop's favor, but this time thataugust individual artfully kept from meeting him directly. Besides, hehad not the conscience to seek him, and he had not been able to meet theBishop in the free atmosphere as before.

  The charge that he had picked out was very good, and it was convenientfor his needs for many reasons. Of course there were scores of othersafter the same charge, but with his old influence he need not haveworried. However, he had not and could not see the Bishop privately longenough to secure from him a promise. And so he met the conference forthe first time, unsettled as to where he was to preach the ensuing year.

  Never had a conference seemed so long as that session. The week woreslowly away, and he was forced to be aware of the fact that on all sidesthey were discussing him, and the fact that he had been sued, and waslikely to be remanded to jail as a result, since no one credited himwith so large a sum as ten thousand dollars. He could see theunconcealed delight, and the malice that had always been, but whichbefore he had been able to ignore. Affairs reached such a point until itwas almost a conclusion that it mattered little as to where he was sent,for he would be unable to fill the pulpit because of the fact that hewould have to go to jail shortly. It nettled him; it broke down hishabitual composure, and it was a relief to him when the conference cameto a close.

  And not until the secretary arose to call the various charges and whohad been sent thither, did he know where he was to go. So it was with asinking of the heart when his name was reached:

  "Reverend McCarthy to Mitchfield!"

  "_Reverend McCarthy to Mitchfield!_" was the echo all through theaudience. Impossible! _Reverend McCarthy_, one of the oldest, andregarded as one of the strongest, one of the ablest ministers to such aforsaken charge. Indeed they could hardly have sent him to a poorercharge, to a less dignified place. It seemed incredible, and the rest ofthe calls were almost drowned out in the consternation that followed.

  Well, it was done. He had been all but silenced, and lowered as much asthe Bishop dared to lower him. That was settled, and he returned toChicago without telegraphing the fact to his family.

  With resignation he made the necessary preparations for the trip, andtaking Orlean with him, went to the small town. They rented a house, forthe place didn't afford a parsonage, and began the long dreary year thatwas to follow. It was his good fortune, however, when the school boardmet and decided to separate the Negro children from the whites in thepublic schools, that they employed his daughter to teach the coloredpupils for the year. In this way they were able to get along in verygood comfort in the months that followed. So the autumn passed, and alsothe winter. Spring came and went, and summer had set in when hisattorney wrote him that the case had been called, to come into Chicago,and prepare to stand trial in the case of Jean Baptiste, plaintiff,versus Newton Justine McCarthy, defendant.