Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1889-10-24
HERO OR COWARD.
The Tragic End of Paul jennings
One Romance.

looking llttte man; All the more ulSdS'
trous was it, therefore. when one heroic
moment came in his life and he failed
to act as heroes are commonly sup
posed to act; all the more melancholy
was it that his name should be handed
down to posterity as that OF n coward
1t needs but step from the sublime
to reveal the ludicrous so narrowly are
antitheses divided, and in his case ii
was not his fault, and scarcely to be
wondered at, that the world, falling tC
recognize in him the heroic, should fiy
to the other extreme, and stamp him {
coward by way of sealing its owI
blindness.
He was hero in his own way, bu
his was kind of self-sacriflce to which
all were accustomed, and which needed
advertising before it could become
popular.
Paul Jennings, barrister- law. was
a wealthy man, comparatively speak
ing. All wealth is comparative, anC
that his was more than he wanted made
him rich. Jennings-little jennings
as his friends patronizingly called hin
had formerly had the credit OF being
a fool; that was in the old poverty
stricken days, though; now, in these
days of his success. it was only the ex
ira dull of comprehension who failed
to see that his foolishness was bu
vailed wisdom. that his quietness came
not so much from lack Of. as from SUI
perabundanee of, brains,
He had not always been rich. There
had been time when church mouse
would have cut him as a beggar. He
had passed through one of the bit
terest trials that poverty can impose
on the sons of men, and now, at FIVE
and-thirty. he stood as little Jennings,
hard working, earnest and sincere. A
man with his whole life subordinated
TO one fixed belief a hermit by in.
clination, but never in the rear wheS
a duty lay ahead.
AS a man of means he had many ac-
quaintances, and but one living friend
Sydney Greg.
Sydney had been his first friend in
the old struggling days; they had come
together by the law of Opposites.
Sydney was cynic and pessimist
Paul an idealist and an optimist; and
now. to complete the contrast in ma
terial things, Paul hal become rich
while his friend remained poor, and
chung to his poverty as convenient
soil in which to nourish the roots Of
cynicism.
Neither knew what it was that he
liked in the other. 1t is doubtful, in
deed, whether either would have &C
knowledged that there was any thing
but from the day when they first met
and had a dispute, friendship was
founded, and when later their feeling:
found vent in the expressions "Jen
nings, you're fool and What 6
brute you are, Gregn-that day the
friendship was cemented, lifelong and
unchanging
They used TO say then that Pau
Jennings was mad. Every one knew
il and said so sydney Greg was mad
with this difference: no one recognized
it, and no one said so. Between thesS
two forms Of incipient madness lay a
world OF intermediate degrees, hui
they grasped hands across it and SC
found life more tOlerable.
Twelve years ago Jennings. then
newly awakened to the responsibilities
of life, had found himself east on the
world with an invalid mother and -four
sisters TO keep, and profession which,
far from supporting him, needed sup.
port itself. 1t was characteristic Of
him in those days that he never looked
ahead TO invent a threatening future,
but lived in each day with renewed
vigor. That was the happiest, and al
the same time the most miserable,
period of his life, for extremes always
run in pairs On the dark side there
was grinding poverty, needing hi:
every effort to fight against it; on the
bright side was Helen Forsyth.
When they became engaged, Heller
knew as well as Paul that the prospect
of their being able to get married wa;
exceedingly remote; but he, knowing
that he had her love fully and uure
servedly was content to wait any time
With unlimited confidence in her he
found nothing unbearable, and. with
the knowledge that through all his
worries and troubles some one under
stood and was ever sympathetic. he
went his way uuhesitatingly and thank
fully, though, like the rest OF the
world, he had his fits Of depression
and relapses. And Helen, she thought
very much the same; it seemed to heI
then a privilege. which she scarcely
deserved. that one little gentleman
however poor. however insignificant
should love her more than life itself
''And we are the best Of friends, . she
used to say, and, though we may
never be able to marry. yet no poverty
can come between us here" Nor die
it,
Paul was not in any way brilliant,
and industry and perseverance,
though they eventually come forward
to a greater or less extent. have to put
up with long apprenticeship; so the
years passed by with his financial posi-
ton scarcely changing, while mutua
relationships remained unaltered.
AT the end OF four years Paul al
lowed himself holiday. He was tireC
and overworkcd. Again and again h,
had been on the point Of breaking
down, so when this great temptation
came trip across the channel witt
Helen and Tom Forsyth he cast al
hesitation to the winds, and went.
Then for a brief space he was per
fectly happy. Never before in his lif,
had he known such happiness. and
until all too soon. like dream. il wa
dissipated. he eujoyed himself to th'
utmost
That was the year when the Dublin
City was run down and it was on tina
iu-starred vessel. disabled and rapid,
sinking, that Paul and Helen founC
themselves one summers night Ten