Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1886-12-11

Were you too IL The day Of The f1ht?n
"That is sufficient" said the elder man with
look of scorn that presently changed into
one of deeply wounded pride Henry, |
know too well your disposition to shirk tho
unpleasant duties of life, TO he much surprised
that, when tried by this test, You were found
wanting. But this wounds me deeply. Poo
pie in Sardis think my disposition hard and
exacting; they think care for little except
to get all that is due me- But no man here
can say that in all his long life Robert Glen
shirked or cvadcd a single duty that he owed
to the community OF his fellow nen. no mat
ter how dangerous or dlsasrrea5lc that duty
might be. To have you fail in this respect
and to take and maintain Your place in the
front rank with other men is n terrible blow
to my PRIDE
"Oh, Harry, is that youH said his mother,
coming into the room Mt that moment and
throwing herself into her sons arms. Il was
lying down when heard Your voice, and |
dressed and hurried down as quickly as Dos
sible. am SO glad that Won have come home
all safe and well know that You'll contra
dict, for your poor mothers sake, all these
horrible stories TINT are worrying her almost
to DEATH
unfortunately he has just admitted that
those stories are substantially true" said the
father curtlv.
Il won't believe it, ,obbe1 his mother, until
he tells me so himself You didn't, did you,
back out of fight and let that Bob Bennett,
whose mother used to be my sewing girl, and
whom supported for months after he was
horn and In NJ 4
left her nothing, by giving her work and nav
ing her cash, and who Is now putting on all
sorts of airs because cverybodys congratu-
lating her on having such n wonderful son.
and nobody's congratulating rae at all, and
sometimes almost wish was dead"
Clearness of statement was never one of
Mrs. Glen's salient characteristics. Nor did
deep emotion help her in this regard Still it
was only too evident that the fountains of her
being were moved by having another
woman's son exalted over her own. Her ma
ternal pride and social prestige were both
quivering under the blow
Harry met this with IA flank movement
You both seem decidedly disappointed
that did not get myself wounded or killed, "
he said
"Thats an humanity whimper,r said his
father, contemptuCIsly.
"Why, Harry, Bob Bennett didn't get either
killed or wounded" said his mother with that
defective ratiocination which it is pretty
woman's privilege TO indulge in at her own
sweet will
Harry withdrew from the notifying con-
ference under the plea of the necessity of 60
ing to his room to remove the Crime of
travel
He was smarting with rage and humilia-
ton His panoply of conceit was pierced for
the first time since the completion of his col
iegiate course sent him forth into the world q
being superior, an his own esteem, to the acct
dents and conditions that the mass of inferior
mortals are subject to. Yet he found reasons
to account for his parents detection to the
ranks of his enomies
ats no new thing he said, while carefully
dressing for cali upon Rachel in the even-
ing, "for father to be harsh and unjust to me-
and mother has one Of her nervous spells,
when everything goes wrong with her,"