The Calling of Dan Matthews

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The Calling of Dan Matthews

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Title: The Calling Of Dan Matthews
Author: Harold Bell Wright
Release Date: November, 2005 [EBook #9314] [This file was first posted on September 21, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: US-ASCII
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THE CALLING OF DAN MATTHEWS
BY
HAROLD BELL WRIGHT
1909
AUTHOR OF
"THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS"
"THAT PRINTER OF UDELL'S"
With Illustrations by ARTHUR I. KELLER

TO
WILLIAM WILLIAMS, M.D.

CONTENTS
I. THE HOME OF THE ALLY
II. A REVELATION
III. A GREAT DAY IN CORINTH
IV. WHO ARE THEY?
V. HOPE FARWELL'S MINISTRY
VI. THE CALLING OF DAN MATTHEWS
VII. FROM DEBORAH'S PORCH
VIII. THE WORK OF THE ALLY
IX. THE EDGE OF THE BATTLEFIELD
X. A MATTER OF OPINION
XI. REFLECTIONS
XII. THE NURSE FORGETS
XIII. DR. HARRY'S CASE
XIV. THAT GIRL OF CONNER'S
XV. THE MINISTER'S OPPORTUNITY
XVI. DAN SEES THE OTHER SIDE
XVII. THE TRAGEDY
XVIII. TO SAVE A LIFE
XIX. ON FISHING
XX. COMMON GROUND
XXI. THE WARNING
XXII. AS DR. HARRY SEES IT
XXIII. A PARABLE
XXIV. THE WAY OUT
XXV. A LABORER AND HIS HIRE
XXVI. THE WINTER PASSES
XXVII. DEBORAH'S TROUBLE
XXVIII. A FISHERMAN
XXIX. A MATTER OF BUSINESS
XXX. THE DAUGHTER OF THE CHURCH
XXXI. THE REALITY
XXXII. THE BARRIER
XXXIII. HEART'S TRAGEDIES
XXXIV. SACRIFICED
XXXV. THE TIE THAT BINDS
XXXVI. GOOD-BYE
XXXVII. RESULTS
XXXVIII. A HANDFUL OF GOLD
XXXIX. THE VICTORY OF THE ALLY
XL. THE DOCTOR'S GLASSES
XLI. THE FINAL WORD
XLII. JUSTICE
XLIII. THE HOME COMING
XLIV. THE OLD TRAIL

ILLUSTRATIONS
Drawn by ARTHUR I. KELLER
WITH THE DOCTOR THE TWO STRANGERS IN CORINTH TOOK DENNY TO HIS HOME
"--YOU MUST BE IN LIFE A FISHERMAN"
A GOOD-BYE CARESS
DAN PLEADED WITH HIM

The Calling of Dan Matthews
CHAPTER I.
THE HOME OF THE ALLY
"And because the town of this story is what it is, there came to dwell in it a Spirit--a strange, mysterious power--playful, vicious, deadly; a Something to be at once feared and courted; to be denied--yet confessed in the denial; a deadly enemy, a welcome friend, an all-powerful Ally."
This story began in the Ozark Mountains. It follows the trail that is nobody knows how old. But mostly this story happened in Corinth, a town of the middle class in a Middle Western state.
There is nothing peculiar about Corinth. The story might have happened just as well in any other place, for the only distinguishing feature about this town is its utter lack of any distinguishing feature whatever. In all the essential elements of its life, so far as this story goes, Corinth is exactly like every other village, town or city in the land. This, indeed, is why the story happened in this particular place.
Years ago, when the railroad first climbed the backbone of the Ozarks, it found Corinth already located on the summit. Even before the war, this county-seat town was a place of no little importance, and many a good tale might be told of those exciting days when the woods were full of guerrillas and bushwhackers, and the village was raided first by one side, then by the other. Many a good tale is told, indeed; for the fathers and mothers of Corinth love to talk of the war times, and to point out in Old Town the bullet-marked buildings and the scenes of many thrilling events.
But the sons and daughters of the passing generation, with their sons and daughters, like better to talk of the great things that are going to be--when the proposed shoe-factory comes, the talked-of mills are established, the dreamed-of electric line is built out from the city, or the Capitalist from Somewhere-else arrives to invest in vacant lots, thereon to build new hotels and business blocks.
The Doctor says that in the whole history of Corinth there are only two events. The first was the coming of the railroad; the second was the death of the Doctor's good friend, the Statesman.
The railroad did not actually enter Corinth. It stopped at the front gate. But with Judge Strong's assistance the fathers and mothers recognized their "golden opportunity" and took the step which the eloquent Judge assured them would