The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1886-02-17

khoW-thaC She is innocent OF any
greater fault than that deceit. I
know | give you pain, Arthur, but
should deserve nothing you have done
for me if l didn't speak. Let me bring
you together. Ii you could see her, Ii
you could hear her, you would believe
her." FH
Tregarthen looked at him, and saw
that there We're tears in his eyes.
at is well to have good heart,
PHIL, he said, gently. 'base as the
world is. Keep your beliefs in good
ness. You are happier, and will be
happier for them, till the bitter day
when you must lose them. Virtue and
honor are fl 4, things to believe in. {"
He laughed here, and went on.
Hopes a toothsome dish when One
and-twenty serves tipping hot. Hope
served hot = Hope gone cold-cold
Hope in the pot--nine DAYS old. A
nauseous MESS, Phil. No relishing it.
Take it away"
There was q tone in this bitter
badinage which was more affecting to
Phil than even the tenderness which
had preceded it. Tregarthen had
given him right TO love him and he
was young and enthusiastic, and sure
with the certainty Of enthusiastic youth.
"You are wrong, Arthur" he cried,
almost with passion. Virtue and
honor live after one and twenty. You
prove it yourself. You are virtuous
and a man of honor, and do you think
that you are rarity in natureP 1
haven't seen much of the world, but |
know it's better world than YOU
think It, You have had cruel expert
ence, Arthur. You have eaten worm
wood, and everything tastes of worm
wood"
"Very well, Phil" said Tregarthen,
quietly. 1.-THE flavor will last me nv
lifetime. The coffin worm will scour
well if he scours it all away and gives
me leave to rise for Judgment with
clean tongue" Phil sighed, and Of
fered no reply. II have had some
times half mind of late," said Tre-
garthen, speaking suddenly, and with
new vivacity, ito put this pretty
world to the test, as / could do, but /
shrink from debauching altogether
men who may not yet be wholly given
over to the devil. Who is your honest
est man in the world, Phil-your one
incorruptible, unpurchasableP"
Here was the craze again, thought
Phil, miserably. He would at least be
sure of that.
"How would you test the world, Ar
thur?n
THAT is my news, Phil, il / choose
to tell it," Tregarthen answered. "Tell
me your honest man, and will buy
him and turn him to whatever creed
you like"
Buy Thomas Carlyle" said Phil,
sardonically. Even madness-if Ar
thur were really mad, and had some
most curious meaning yet unfathomed
deserved no courtesy on theme like
this. "How do you propose to do itP"
Tregarthen laughed allowingly, as a
man might laugh at childish puzzle
offered by q child. "What should it
profit him, of all men in the world"
asked Phil, ''to gain the whole world
and lose his own soulP What could
you offer himP"
"My pulse as yours doth temper
ately keep time, and makes sshealth-
ful music,'" said Tregarthen, stretch
out his hand, as if to invite Phil to test
him. "Look me in the face. Am l
mad-disorderedP Is there any sign
Of mental arrangement in me? Do /
speak in cool blood and in possession
Of my faculties? And do you know
me for n man of honor, who never lied
in his lifeP Well. l tell you there is
no virtue that would not sell itself, and
none that l could not buy"
All this was painful, but, much as he
suffered in the process, Phil determined
10 examine Tregarthen's mind more
closely.
"You mean," he asked, "that you
yourself-you personally-might buy all
the virtue in the worldP" Treg
inclined his head gravely.
81 mean nothing else and nothing
less than that" he answered; "but, as
l told you just now, power and re-
sponsibility are inseparable. / dare
not put even the meanest wretch in
the world to the test, for though he is
waiting to be debauched, and was born
for no better destiny, and desires no
better, dare not have il on my soul
that he can point to me at the great
assizc and say: There Is the man who
first bought my conscience" He
walked away little farther, and then,
turning, said: "This power has been
wisely hidden from mankind, and when
over n man has found il he has seen
the harm of his discovery, and has left
no record of the fatal gift his studies
have brought him. i shall do as my
predecessors have done. | have not
even limited until to-day my possession
Of the power hold. II will die with
me. II is better that it should. shall
not even make use Of it to prolong my
own days, for suffering is the chief gift
OF many years, and Ihave borne enough
already"
Phil saw no way Of escape from the
dreadful truth. He was willing to be-
lieve in many marvels, but the fancies
which had taken possession Of Tre-
garthen were the birth of mere mad
ness. Except that he spoke hopelessly
and like q cynic upon all themes he
touched in the course of that after
moons walk, Arthur's mind seemed
sound enough apart from this one
astounding alteration. What with
affection and pity Pills heart was like
TO break, and when nj last Tregarthen