The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-04-06
tones broke upon him

icui All WHICH ~ inherit, shall dissolve"-
he felt as Job felt when a spirit passed be.
fore him in the night and the hair of his
flesh stood up. For the lad, without in the
least suspecting 1t, had been poet from
his cradle, and he only needed to see the
greatest OF the craft into which he himself
was born to fall PROSTATE before him and
ADORE
Reading, hitherto the greatest of earthly
bores to Phil, became his chief delight.
Tregarthens library was especially rich in
poetry and drama, and every day Phil
plunged headlong into some new stream
of joy, and bathed in it. To rush down
to the Sea-gate with a smuggled volume.
to lay it in the boat and pull out into tina
open, then to ship his souls and lie down
full length and read, read, read until hun
ger drove him home-this was his joy. As
matter OF course, 1t was not long before
he began to write and initiate, and he
wept, and flushed, and trembled over much
degraded fustian Of his own making, the
which he remembered in after years with
shame and pleasure. Even Tregarthen,
absent as he was, and absorbed in his crazy
studies, began to notice change in him,
and finding him studiously inclined, under
took to direct his reading, but soon forgot
it, having done no more than to direct his
pupils attention to John Locke and the
Reverend Mr., Paley, with whom Phil at
once declined to hold any commerce what
ever.
The seasons pursued each other, and in
due course came round the tenth ami
versary of Pills rescue by Tregarthen.
This, by tacit consent, was reckoned as the
lads seventeenth birthday and the past,
Of course, was dim to him. He seemed to
have spent all his life on the island, and
now that he knew Of the great world
through books, and was beginning to be
fred by secret ambitions about his own
future, he began also to long for wider
spaces and communion with the world.
Arthur" he said, sitting opposite to hi
protector, "rm seventeen today
Tregarthen looked up, absently at first,
but with growing interest in his eyes.
Seventeen n he said, with wondering
accent stand up, Phil. Let me look
at you"
Phil stood up, tall and slim, brown-faced
and brown-handed. Tregarthen examined
him critically. Fine forehead, white as a
lady's; sensible eyes Of dark gray, under
well-marked brows; nose large but deli
cate; mouth sensitive and firm; chin deli
cate but decided. While the examination
which resulted in these observations went
on, Phil stood at ease, with an elbow on
the mantel-piece, and surveyed the sur
veyor.
Seventeen, Phil ~ said Tregarthen.
His eyes took their customary inward look,
and he said, with something of an inward
tone; Time fies-time fiiesn
Arthur" said Phil, IL want to see tha
world"
MY poor Phil, ~ said Tregarthen, of
could advise you, you would leave the
world unseen. 1t is a poor show, when
you have seen it all, Phil-and it will give
you many heartache."
Il want to see it, for ali that" Phil
answered
~ have been too much centered in my
own pursuits, perhaps" said Tregarthen;
though they are exigent enough to shut out
everything else in the world, and can only
be fifty followed when they succeed in
doing that But | took some duties in
hand for you, Phil and am afraid that l
neglected them, What do you known
Nothing" Phil answered.
"You have had the run Of the library"
said Tregarthen, "and have seen you
busy in it for years past"
"Oh, books said Phil ~ know the
library pretty well by heart. But | know
nothing else" Tregarthen's look seemed
to disconcert him here, and he began to
walk about the room. g want to go into
~, Artb nd rn tniv until
and women
"To catch the butterfly and rub all the
paint away" returned Tregarthen. "Do you
think manly honor fine thing, Phil} Do
you think womanly virtue a fine thingl
have seen you at the poets, and have
found here and there scrap Of your own
verses Phil blushed like fire. There
is very little honor in the world, Phil, there
is very little virtue. You will find men
and women mean and stupid, and cruel
and cowardly. You will find that they all
pretend to worship lofty ideals which they
trampe under foot. You will find them
incredulous of everything by which they
profess to rule their lives, and bound body
and soul to every baseness they pretend to
despse. You had better stay with me,
L MI Gan Pu1 6iooU pun POSc III jun
hands, if you prove fit for it-perhaps q
great power"
He checked himself there, and his heart
yearned little, remembering that he had
been happy before he had learned his bitter
lessons, and that no man had striven to
dash his happiness until the time came.
"The proverb is something musty," he
said after a turn or two about the room:
"'If wllful will to water, willful must
drink What do you want in the great
world, PhilF
, "The great world itself" said Phil, with
an embarrassed laugh. :" want TO see it,
Arthur l want Perhaps" he went on,
cutting down at once to the very core Of
his thought" perhaps you were unlucky,
you know, Arthur, and perhaps may 10
luckier"
"Ah, my lad" said Tregarthen, looking
at him with genuine pity and affection;
i" all men think all men mortal but them
selves Your golden idols turn out clayl
No. no. You waste friendship on FOOL
or tire hope in following a shadow, or
spend the gold of your heart to buy the
leaden counters of jadel No, no. Not
you. Another man may. You can fancy
that. But not yourself" He checked him
self again, but this time with an almost
despairing bitterness Was it of any use
10 preach the stale moral None. go
into the world lad,T II y0u vail, If you
mus, and God grant you find it better
place than it was when knew it,"
81 am not leaving YOU, Arthur said