WILLIAM MILLER STEPS OFF THE TRAIN
Timothy Cole eyed the throng of passengers disembarking from the train that had just pulled into the depot. The old iron beast lay calmly on the tracks belching out plumes of smoke into the crisp spring air. The platform was alive with the cheerful shouts and whistles of passengers meeting and greeting loved ones and friends who had come to meet them.
Timothy Cole shut out the buzz around him and focused very carefully on the faces of those who continued to disembark.
He was a man on a mission.
He was here to meet a rather distinguished preacher. A preacher whose work had yielded some phenomenal results. A preacher who was surely, without doubt, an eminent theologian and scholar, judging by the contents of his sermons and articles. Timothy Cole had written to the preacher a few weeks before inviting him to speak at the church where he served as minister.
His flock needed revival and reformation.
Badly.
Pastor Cole continued to scan the faces of the alighting travellers. “Now which one is William Miller” he muttered to himself. He had been told that Father Miller wore a camel cloak and a white hat and so he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of that particular fashion combination.
He could picture him now in his mind’s eye; tall and distinguished looking with a well-buffed coat and an impeccably clean white hat. He would present himself to Cole with a dignified air that fully suited a man of his calibre and spiritual authority. Yes. William Miller would be just the man his congregation needed.
His flock needed revival and reformation.
Badly.
Suddenly his eyes honed in on the last passenger disembarking the train. He was slightly round, decidedly plain and of medium height. He wore a white hat that revealed darkening auburn hair beneath its brim and a well worn, somewhat dusty camel coat. The man was standing in the middle of the platform taking in his surroundings while other passengers busily and somewhat impatiently jostled around him. He didn’t seem to mind the jostling at all. Timothy Cole’s mind clamped shut around the image of the man in front of him like a steel trap.
