The Miracle Man
Frank L. Packard
Paperback
(CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, March 4, 2018)
In a small town outside of Boston there is a Patriarch who has been healing people. The group heads to the town and plans to use the Patriarch in a faith healing scheme. When the townspeople gather to see the Patriarch heal the sick, the Frog is there, posing as a cripple. As he crawls to the path of the man, his limbs become straightened and soon he walks to the Patriarch, supposedly healed. Unexpectedly, a crippled boy, his faith in the Patriarch overpowering him, loses his crutches and runs to the Patriarch. The story spreads across the country and people flock in from all over to visit the Patriarch and be healed. When a millionaire, Richard King brings his sister to be healed, he gives Burke $50,000 after the Patriarch cures her. During this visit, King meets Rose, and the two fall in love. Meanwhile, all is not well with Burke. One by one, he sees his gang disbanding because, unbeknownst to him, the healing power of the Patriarch is at work. The Dope gives up his drug addiction, The Frog gives up his life of crime and takes care of a widow left all alone, and Rose laments King's departure. Burke becomes jealous, but when King returns to propose his marriage to Rose, she realizes that she loves Burke. The Patriarch dies, and the two lovers begin anew.