§ 328 Straight From the Scriptures
Several versions of this story are current but the one I like best of all goes like this:
There was a colored preacher who served a term in state’s prison in West Virginia for horse-stealing. After his release he changed his name and moved to Alabama. There he became the pastor of a prosperous flock. He figured that his past life was entirely buried. None of the congregation had the slightest suspicion that he was an ex-convict, and he hoped to go on until the end of his days enjoying the confidence of the community.
But one Sunday as he entered the pulpit, he suffered a distressing shock. Sitting in a front pew was a black man he instantly recognized as a former cell-mate in the penitentiary. That wasn’t the worst of it. He could tell by the expression on the other’s face that the latter also had recognized him. He had a feeling either that he must submit to blackmail or suffer exposure and lose his present charge. The distracted parson did some quick thinking. Then he opened the Good Book, fixed his eyes meaningly upon the countenance of the interloper, cleared his throat and began as follows:
“Brethren an’ Sistren. I had figgered to disco’se to you-all dis Sabbath mawnin’ ’pun de subjec’ of de parable of de Prodigal Son; but sence steppin’ into dis holy place I has changed my mind an’ I shall preach frum de fo’teenth Chapter of Ezekiel, nineteenth Verse, w’ich sez: ‘Ef thou seest me an’ thinkest thou knowest me, don’t say nothin’, fur verily I say unto you, I’ll see you later.’”