Free The Heavenly Fugitive by Gilbert Morris Page B

main trouble was he seemed to like everybody and want to do favors for everybody.”
    “That’s right. He had a vague, fuzzy mind. I read somewhere that Harding had said once, ‘I can’t make a thing out of this tax problem. I listen to one side, and they seem right. And then I talk to the other side, and they seem just as right. I wish there was a book that would tell me the right and the wrong of it.’ ”
    Dorothy listened as the two men talked, and then she asked, “Do you think it’s true what they’re saying about all the scandals?”
    “It’s true enough all right. Harding was a weak man. He couldn’t distinguish between an honest man and a rascal. I suspect that his health deteriorated largely because of the Teapot Dome Scandal. There was enough bribery and corruption in those oil deals to put some big men in jail,” Andrew replied. “Men that Harding had trusted.”
    Dorothy sat nodding at her husband’s assessment of the deceased president’s problems. Her thoughts turned to concerns over the loosening morals of the country. “We’re so sheltered out in Africa. I’m shocked at what I see here in America. Why, the way women dress! It’s a shame! Skirts are so short, and clothes are so tight. It’s embarrassing to see these flappers, as the papers are calling them now.”
    Barney smiled grimly. “Did you hear what happened in Utah?” he asked the group.
    “No,” Katie said. “What was that?”
    “A bill’s pending there requiring fine and imprisonment for women who are on the street with skirts higher than three inches above the ankles.”
    “That’s right,” Dorothy said. “I read that the same thing is happening in Ohio. The law there says any female over fourteen can’t wear a skirt that doesn’t reach to the instep.”
    “It’ll never work.” Barney shook his head. “People aren’t going to abide by such laws. Why, they’re not paying any attention to Prohibition. There’s probably as much drinking going on now as before liquor was outlawed.”
    “What’s happening to this country, Barney?” Andrewscowled. “God has been so good to America, and we’ve turned away from Him.”
    “It’s the same thing that happens everywhere when God isn’t honored,” Barney said, shaking his head. “Civilization goes down. I for one don’t see anything good coming out of all this so-called freedom. I think we’re living in an age of transition.”
    Katie forced a smile. “I guess that’s what people always say when times get bad.”
    “That’s right.” Andrew nodded and grinned crookedly. “I’ll bet Adam said one time, ‘Eve, you know I don’t understand the children. I think we’re living in an age of transition.’ ”
    Barney chuckled in amusement and shook his head. “You’re right. We’re all prophets of gloom. What a sad subject we’re on for a joyful Christmas morning!”
    “Uncle Barney! Aunt Katie!”
    They all turned together at the sound of Amelia’s voice as she entered the kitchen and greeted her aunt and uncle. After hugs all around and Christmas greetings, Amelia sat down and ate a sweet roll and had a cup of coffee.
    Then, before Barney and Katie had barely heard Amelia’s latest news, she jumped up from the table and grabbed Lola’s mink coat off the peg by the back door. Pulling on boots, she announced, “I’m going for a walk. Anybody want to come?”
    “Out in this freezing weather!” Barney exclaimed. “Not me!”
    “I’ll go,” Andrew said quickly. “Let me get my coat and some heavier shoes.”
    Ten minutes later Amelia and her father were walking along the pathway underneath the enormous oaks. “When are you and Mother going back to Nairobi?” she asked.
    “We haven’t quite decided. Barney and Katie don’t want to be gone from the mission station for too long either, but Patrick is running things in their absence, and he’s a pretty mature fellow.” Barney and Katie’s son was, indeed, a sturdy worker at the mission