A Time to Love (22 page)

Tears filled Larry’s eyes. “I’m not going out of existence. I’m going to hell.”

“Because you murdered Melvin Packman?”

“No. Because I’ve refused to let Jesus save me.”

“Murderers and all other kinds of sinners can be forgiven for their sins if they will repent, turn to Jesus, and believe He will do all the saving all by Himself … and if they will call on Him. Remember? ‘For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

“Would … would you go over those verses you showed me last night?”

Blake turned to Romans 6:23. “Here, Larry, read it to me.”

‘“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’”

“Remember I pointed out that since eternal life is a gift, it can’t be earned by good deeds and religious rites.”

“Yes.”

“And I also pointed out that you can’t have eternal life unless you receive Jesus into your heart and your sins are washed away in His precious blood. John 1:12 says, ‘As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.’

“If you are going to go to heaven tomorrow morning, you must acknowledge to God that you are a hell-deserving sinner, then repent of your sin and believe that Jesus died for you on the cross and shed His blood for you … and that He raised Himself out of the grave so He could save you. Call on Him in faith, believing that He will save you by His grace, and He will do it.”

As Larry Huffman’s eyes filmed with tears, Blake could tell the Holy Spirit was doing His work on the condemned man.

Blake said, “You 11 hang at sunrise in the morning, Larry. You have only a few hours to live. You will either receive Jesus tonight or reject Him. If you don’t receive Him, you do reject Him. Reject Him, and you will die without Him.”

Suddenly Larry broke into sobs and said, “I’m not going to reject Jesus any longer, Blake! He died for me so I could be saved from hell and the wrath of God. Will you help me? I want to be saved right now!”

With Blake’s guidance, Larry Huffman wept his way to Jesus Christ and received Him in repentance of his sin. His relief was so great that he continued to weep for some time.

Guard Anthony Tubac appeared at the cell door. “What’s the matter with Huffman, Barrett?”

“Nothing’s the matter,” Blake replied. “What just happened to him is the best thing that could ever happen to him.”

Larry looked up at the guard and said unashamedly, “I just opened my heart to Jesus. He saved my soul and washed my sins away in His blood. He forgave me of all my sins—even the murder I committed. When they hang me in the morning, I’m going to heaven!”

Tubac laughed, and in a scoffing tone, said, “I’ve seen this before. Convicts do this sort of thing a lot when preachers come around. Just another case of jailhouse religion, looks to me. Even without a preacher.”

Larry wiped tears and said, “I can’t speak for the other men, Mr. Tubac, but you’re wrong about me. I didn’t get religion just now. I received salvation. Salvation is a person, not a religion. That person is the Lord Jesus Christ. I can die now without fear.”

Tubac’s features pinched with sudden emotion. He’d never seen a man who was condemned to hang with the kind of peace he saw on Larry Huffman’s face.

“You really mean that, don’t you?” said Tubac.

“Yes, I do. I don’t even understand it, but I have no fear of death.”

“You can’t understand it, Larry,” Blake said, “because it’s the peace of God. God’s own peace, that He gives His children when they need it.

“All I can tell you is that it’s real,” said Larry.

Anthony Tubac scratched his head and walked away, mumbling to himself.

Later that night, when the lights were out in the cell block, Blake sat beside Larry on his cot and whispered, “Do you think you can sleep?”

“I’m not sure. It’s not because I’m afraid of dying in the morning, but still, I’m sort of tensed up.”

“It’s only natural. I’d like to pray with you.”

Keeping his voice to a whisper, Blake put his arm around Larry’s shoulders and asked the Lord to continue to give Larry peace. He thanked the Lord for the amazing maturity Larry was showing for having only been saved a couple of hours, and he thanked God for allowing him the privilege of leading Larry to Jesus.

Both men returned to their cots. In a little while, Blake heard Larry’s soft, even breathing, which told him his cell mate was asleep.

Dawn was about to break on the eastern horizon when Blake heard a steel door open at one end of the cell block. He sat up and saw the glow of a lantern in the corridor. Footsteps echoed off the cold rock walls, and presently Anthony Tubac appeared, carrying a food tray in one hand and a lantern in the other. Blake met him at the bars and said softly, “He’s sleeping.”

Tubac shook his head in amazement. “I have his breakfast,” he whispered. “He’s supposed to get it if he wants it. Would you wake him for me?” As he spoke, Tubac set the lantern on the floor next to the barred door.

Blake gently shook Larry and told him Tubac was there with his breakfast.

Larry sat up, rubbed his eyes, then looked toward the guard. In a low tone, he said, “I really don’t want any breakfast, Mr. Tubac.”

“Most of ’em don’t. I can imagine it would be pretty hard to eat, knowing you’re about to face the noose.”

“It’s not that,” said Huffman. “It’s just that in a little while, I’ll be having breakfast with my Lord Jesus at the heavenly table. Earthly food means nothing to me now.”

Tubac nodded slowly. “All right. Now, ordinarily the prison chaplain accompanies the condemned man to the gallows, but Chaplain Worthington is home ill.”

“That’s all right,” said Huffman. “I’ll be fine.”

“Mr. Tubac,” Blake said, “I’d like to read some Scriptures to Larry before … before they come for him. Is it all right if I light our lantern in here? I know its against the rules, but—”

“Not a problem. Go ahead and light it. I’m really at a loss for words, Huffman, but you amaze me. I’ve never seen a man so calm who was about to go to the gallows.”

“It’s Jesus in my heart, Mr. Tubac. You need to open your heart to Him, too.”

Tubac gave him a weak smile and said, “I’ll be back shortly.”

Blake read several passages of Scripture to his new friend as dawn spread its gray glow on the eastern sky. When the sky turned orange, the steel door at the end of the cell block rattled, and footsteps were heard again. There was a rumble of low voices among the other inmates. They all knew this was Larry Huffman’s day to die.

Anthony Tubac and another guard turned the key and swung open the cell door. “Okay, Huffman,” Tubac said. “It’s time.”

Tears coursed down Larry’s cheeks as he embraced Blake in manly
fashion and said, “Thank you, my friend, for caring about my hell-bound soul, and for leading me to the Lord. If you hadn’t, I would now be on my way to hell.”

“Larry, if Jesus hadn’t saved me many years ago, I wouldn’t have cared about your soul. The praise goes to Him.”

“Blake … I’ll meet you in heaven.”

Blake swallowed the hot lump in his throat. “Yes, my brother, I’ll meet you in heaven.”

He pressed his face to the bars and watched as Larry and the two guards walked away. The other inmates looked on in silence while the condemned man was escorted out of the cell block. When the door clanked shut, Blake sat down on his cot and prayed.

“Thank You, Lord, for allowing me the privilege of leading Larry to You.”

Suddenly the truth of the whole matter flashed into his mind:
If I hadn’t been put in this prison, Larry would have died lost and gone to hell!

More tears flooded his eyes as he said, “Oh, dear Lord! If for no other reason … seeing Larry saved is worth being convicted of a crime I didn’t commit and being sent here as an innocent man! I thank You that Romans 8:28 always holds true, even when we mortal Christians can’t see how it’s going to prove itself in our lives.”

Blake’s mind then went to Linda. He was expecting to hear from her any day now. He whispered, “Lord, I don’t know how Romans 8:28 is going to prove itself true in Linda’s life over this unfair prison sentence of mine, but I know it will. I have no idea how she reacted when she received Haman’s wire. Please help her. Help us both.”

Some forty minutes after Larry Huffman had been taken away, the breakfast bell started ringing in the mess hall. Both steel doors at the ends of the cell block rattled, and several guards moved along the cells, unlocking doors, and saying, “Breakfast time! Step lively now!”

Blake rose to his feet as his door was unlocked. He was in the line when Anthony Tubac drew up and said to the other guards, “I need to talk to Barrett a minute. I’ll bring him to the mess hall personally.”

Tubac took Blake by the arm and guided him back to his cell. “Just
wanted to tell you how the hanging went.”

Blake waited, eyes fixed on Tubac’s face.

“Huffman went to his death with a smile, Barrett. They always give the condemned man the choice whether or not to have a hood dropped over his face before the noose is placed around his neck. Well, your friend refused the hood. I’m telling you, his face was beaming. He had tranquillity on his face like I’ve never seen. He was looking heavenward when the lever was thrown, and the last thing I saw before he plunged down was a smile!”

“Praise the Lord!” Blake said.

By now, the last of the inmates had moved past the cell. Tubac glanced toward the line of men who filed out the door, then turned back and said, “Barrett, I have to go off duty after I take you to the mess hall. But I want you to show me how to be saved as soon as I can spend some time with you. Will you do that?”

“I sure will! You work it out. It will be my pleasure!”

“When I come back for my shift tonight, I’ll find a reason to come and see you.”

In less than two weeks after putting the Pacific Bank and Trust Company on the open market, Haman Warner had sold it.

His employees were quite surprised, but relieved, for Haman had not been his old jovial self since inheriting the bank. He had been difficult to please and was making their lives miserable. They were glad to see the bank sold to someone else.

Haman’s only regret as he left the bank without telling anyone where he was going was not being able to clean out Blake Barrett’s personal account. It was a substantial amount, but he wouldn’t risk prison to steal it.

On the day before leaving for Cheyenne City, Haman packed what few belongings he was going to take with him. Among them was an old trunk that held some mementos from his childhood. From an attaché case, Haman took out clippings from the
Sacramento Gazette,
which
told the whole story of Blake Barrett’s arrest, conviction, and incarceration at Ukiah State Prison for a fifteen-year sentence.

Chuckling to himself, Haman stuffed the clippings into a large envelope and placed it in the trunk. “Can’t let my most clever deed be forgotten,” he said aloud. He dropped the worn old lid of the trunk, placed a heavy-duty padlock in the latch to secure it, and pocketed the key.

Before leaving for Wyoming, Haman made a quick trip to Stockton and sent a wire to Linda, telling her it would only be a few days until he sent the wire for her to come west.

After two days of travel, Haman arrived in Cheyenne City to find a cold wind whipping across the Wyoming plains and some six inches of snow on the ground.

He closed the deal on the Great Plains Bank the next day and bought a house four days later. Having the house secured, he wired Linda and told her to come as soon as possible. He told her he was happy with his new job at the Great Plains Bank, and that he had purchased them a house. He was sure she would love it. The house came furnished but if she wanted to replace any of the furniture, or wanted any redecorating done, he would take care of it before they married.

Haman—assuming the name Blake Barrett—was warm and friendly to his employees, and everyone who worked for the bank was happy about their new owner and president.

Life was pleasant for Haman Warner. Because of his ingenuity, he was now a very rich man, and while the real Blake Barrett languished in prison, Warner would even have Blake’s beautiful mail order bride.

On his third day in Cheyenne City, Haman asked around town if there was a church that preached hellfire and brimstone, “ye must be born again,” and the cross and blood of Jesus Christ. He was told of two churches. The next day was Sunday. He visited one church that morning and the other in the evening. From what he could tell, both churches were the kind Blake Barrett would belong to.

He decided he liked the pastor of the first church he’d visited, and on Monday went to his office. Pastor Ronald Frye remembered meeting “Blake Barrett” on Sunday morning. Haman used the jargon he had learned from being around Blake and other Christians, and convinced Frye he was born again. He then explained that Linda Forrest would be coming from Boston in view of becoming his mail order bride, and that she, too, was a Christian. Haman told the pastor that he and Linda would become members of the church, once she arrived and got settled. This delighted Frye, and he readily agreed to perform the wedding.

Linda was home alone when the telegram from Blake came. Her parents showed mixed emotions when they came home and she let them read it. They wanted her happiness, but they also dreaded putting her on the train.

With each passing day, Linda experienced a myriad of emotions herself. She was secure in her home with loving parents to take care of her, yet she still couldn’t bear the thought of going among people who knew about her wedding tragedy. There was nothing left but to relocate and start a new life.

Without having met Blake Barrett, Linda found it a bit frightening to step out into unknown territory. She had misgivings about living in Wyoming, based on what she’d heard about the Indian troubles. California was much more settled and civilized, but on the other hand, maybe living in the Wild West would be good for her. She was always ready for a challenge, and this would certainly be new and different.

While she waited to hear again from Blake, Linda and her mother went shopping for her trousseau. They purchased several new outfits, along with some personal items. Linda had three large trunks, and each day she did some packing.