I, Saul (46 page)
Authors: Jerry B. Jenkins
The elder Knoxes' wedding gift was to trade Augie the family home for his small house.
With his bride's approval, Augie Knox donated $100,000 to Arlington Theological Seminary, and an alcove in the library was named for his father and fashioned to house the first exquisite replicas of the Memoir of St. Paul the Apostleâscheduled to be delivered and displayed with great fanfare before the Christmas holidays.
Meanwhile, during every spare momentârare due to Augie's teaching load, his father's rapid decline, and his new marriageâhe immersed himself in poring over the photocopies of original parchments of Paul. It proved painstaking as he carefully parsed every sentence and jotted copious notes. It wasn't uncommon for him to spend several hours late at night working his way through only half a dozen or so pages.
Several hundred pages in, Augie reached a couple of lines that thrilled him with anticipation. Referring to his exile to Arabia, Paul had written:
During nearly three years thereâwhich, for the first and only time I will reveal in detail following these thoughtsâGod Himself impressed upon me all the truths that would characterize my ministry.
And later, referring to his missionary journeys, Paul had added:
I am eager to recite here many details I have only summarized in many letters to the churches.
Augie had to force himself not to skip ahead. It took all the fortitude he could muster to continue combing through the narrative in the sequence Paul had penned it.
A month later, Augie neared the end of the photocopies and still had not reached the accounts Paul had foreshadowed. Then came news of Augie's father's death.
For the funeral of Dr. Edsel Knox, Roger Michaels and Georgio Emmanuel again made the trip from Rome. When the officiating pastor opened the floor for personal tributes, only a handful were offered. But
the last two to stand at the microphone were Augie and Roger.
Augie began his remarks, “Six months ago I would not have anticipated the tears I shed today â¦.”
Roger began his, “Six months ago I was not a believer â¦.”
While he consoled his mother, helped her settle the estate, and prepared for the exchange of houses, Augie put on hold the rich task of his thorough reading of the priceless memoir and writing his commentary on it.
When he finally got back to the photocopies his alarm became dread over how few pages remained without Paul having covered Arabia and the later details he had promised. Augie finally reached the last page one night during the wee hours and slumped in his chair. He went back to the passages that promised more and now studied not just the words but also the handwriting.
The section immediately following the mention of adding more had clearly been written later by a much older Paul. It didn't seem possible he would have left out such important content. Augie paced in the darkness, finally mounting the stairs and sitting on the edge of his and Sofia's bed. He sighed.
“What is it, love?” she slurred.
“Sorry, babe. I didn't mean toâ.”
“Tell me, Augie.”
“What time is it in Rome?”
She squinted at the clock. “Almost two here means just before nine in the morning there. Why?”
He reached for the phone. “I've got to call Georgio.”
 Sofia sat up. “Augieâ.”
When Augie reached the head of the Italian Art Squad, Georgio
immediately said, “It's wonderful to hear from you, Dr. Knox, but more importantly, how is my favorite adopted daughter?”
“She's right here, and she's fine. And fond of you, sir.”
“It's after midnight there, Augie. Is there a problem?”
Augie told him what he had found. “I'm hoping Klaudios just skipped those pages when he was copying them. How many original pages are there?”
“Five hundred and four.”
Augie groaned. “That's how many photocopies I have, Georgio. The memoir is incomplete.”
“You think Klaudios held some back?”
“I have no idea who did this or when. All I know is that pages are missing.”
THE END
COMING IN 2014
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