noon
All they wanted was some one to tell their troubles to , and they quickly found that this stranger was available for the purpose . He asked many questions , and before long had a crowd about him -- as if he were some sort of government commissioner , conducting an investigation . It was an all day job , apparently ; I hung round , trying to keep myself inconspicuous . Towards noon came a boy with newspapers , and I bought the early edition of the `` Evening Blare . '' Yes , there it was -- all the way across the front page ; not even a big fire at the harbor and an earthquake in Japan had been able to displace it . As I had foreseen , the reporter had played up the most sensational aspects of the matter : Carpenter announced himself as a prophet only twenty-four hours out of God 's presence , and proved it by healing the lame and the halt and the blind -- and also by hypnotising everyone he spoke to , from a wealthy young clubman to a mob of Jewish housewives . Incidentally he denounced America as `` Mobland , '' and called it a country governed by madmen .