ood tree which gave this creek its name had
a soft and pliable bark, which could be easily tied into knots, and was
used as cordage by the pioneers; and the dwellers on Leatherwood Creek
had a faith of much the same easy texture. Yet they were of rather more
than the average intelligence, and they were so far from bigoted or
intolerant that all sects among them worshiped in one sanctuary, a large
cabin which they had built in common, and which they called the Temple.
Here on a certain night, while they sat listening to one of their
preachers, they were thrilled by a loud cry of "Salvation!" followed by
a fierce snort, like that of a startled horse, and they discovered in
their midst a stranger of a grave and impressive aspect, who had come no
one knew whence or how. When he rose he stood nearly six feet high,
and showed himself of a perfect figure, with flashing black eyes, a low
broad forehead and a fine arched nose; his hair, black and thick, fell
in a mass behind his ears over his shoulders; he wore a suit of black
broadcloth, a white neckcloth, and a yellow beaver hat. His weird snort
and his striking presence seem to have been his sole equipment for
swaying the faith of the people; though some of the earliest believers
saw a heavenly radiance streaming from his countenance at times, and
when he rode, they beheld above his head a ring of light which hung
in the air over the saddle if he dismounted. But he soon began to make
converts, and he had quickly enough, of the best among those good men
and women, to gain the sole use of the Temple. At first he claimed
merely to be the Lord Jesus Christ, but he presently announced himself
God Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth; and his followers readily
believed him, though he failed in the simple miracle of making a
seamless garment out of a bolt of linsey-woolsey cloth, and kept none of
his promises to them. He probably found it sufficient to be the Deity,
and his worshipers, among whom were two ministers, were certainly
content; but the unbelievers felt the scandal to be too great. They had
Dylks arrested, and brought before two justices of the peace, who one
after the other decided that there was no law of Ohio which forbade a
man to declare himself the Almighty.

[Illustration: Proclaimed himself the Lord Jesus Christ 205]

The wretched creature was acquitted, but he was thoroughly frightened.
He made his escape from his guards, and took to the woods, where he was
s