“He neglected the warning, so then they took steps. The first time he had friends with him who drove them away, but the second time they gave him his pass all right.”
Hilary thought that Mr. Brown’s tone, when he spoke of the giving of the pass, was suddenly savage. He noticed that Mr. Brown’s mouth tightened as he spoke, as though a lid were being snapped down.
“Were the murderers caught?”
“No, sir, there’s a lot too much money behind these fellows.”
“Are you in the United States Police, Mr. Brown?”
“No, sir, I’m just plain Abner Brown, from Brownstead, Massachuzzits. I’m a minister of Brownstead Light-Arising Church. I’m in this rum-investigation business, because I hate rum like hell. Yes, Mr. Kingsborough, like hell. Maybe you’ll think that strong talk for a minister of a church that goes dead against any language that’s anyways got a kick. But I guess it’s not too strong. Mr. Kingsborough, I believe that if rum were wiped clean off of this planet this planet would just rise up three hundred per cent.”
“Where would it rise to, Mr. Brown?”
“Rise to the Light, Mr. Kingsborough.”
“What do you think it would do then, Mr. Brown?”
“It would enter into a new plane of being, Mr. Kingsborough, which lies just beyond anything we have going now. I guess the prophets saw it: a new world: gee, I guess it’s worth working to try to bring. All your dividends and worldly cares just dumped where they belong, and all your spiritual being three hundred per cent pure light.”