The morning call., 1890-10-04

=. The great Don was dead; and beside the
half completed manuscript on the table by
dropped in: a last hand-clasp by its old
=, -. :. "CHAPTER II.
!. Harold, Gray sits broodipg-over his study
table, his sad thoughts resting on the great
Life SO lately ended, -
:: - He>is dead lie signs, :" and the man
whose greatness Twas theme for all
:: tengHeS. WHO has enriched the Whole world
.: within wealth of thought and genius, has
r.; died alihost pennilesS..
-. q He hgs left to me his beloved books his
= manuscripts and his pen. All in :he wide
:warld he bad TO leave me. All, if he could
only have left me.alttle cpart Ofthe genius
that has Inspired this pen"
:: :. He opens a little oblopg box on the table
. before him and GazeS sadly on the treas
:: =. Ny poor .unclel How he Ionged to have
me follow in his footsteps and think the
strong, clear Thoughts that flashed through
sol Bat am dplI+dull!"
" Carefully he takes the pen from its box
anu as he does so a strange thrill passes
:: TIL eugh him: 1t is like the keen. realization
of another ;presencei a struggling to eX-
press some deep YET v0ieeless emotion. Els
breath comes quickly then the words al
most force themselves from his lips
=. 1.-THE unfinished manuscript:
:. Up to this: time he has hardly given a
fh6ug Ito the :haH-inished essay which had
been found on his unclets table the night he
!. died, and with. the pen had been given to
= him as: his pncle's last bequest -
He: lays down the pen, opens the table,
:. drawer and takes out the carefully written
manuscript But the Sudden fervor which
= possessed him hsIs-yanished as quickly as it
came - %
=: : :He::rea,ls over the closely written pages
: with feelings of admiration and despair.
-. Poor nuceP lie thinks, sadly. tits so
:: gTahdly begun, and YET 1t willn be COM
:. plefed,R.. )
HE puts back the pages. on the fable before
:; MIN and:in Ills sad thoughts pass from the
sorrows Of the'deag to tile apXieties of the
living; to his own weight of care over tile
= essay that he must hand into the college.
faculty befGreihiS week is over-a task that
seems aS.hlpslcS5 TO him as that OF COM
pletiBg the last unfinished work Of'the dead
:. Dom / -. - 49,. -.
! .He:is wrong. in@cqlling himself dull: On
the contrary, he IS keenly sensitive to out
side inf Eci&ce, warmly apprecidtiYe OF all
=: that ts:nbb!e and refined.
: FeelfRg 1T times Inspired with eloquent
thoughts and lofty. sentiments, longing to-
give 'thenltO THE world, yet strangely unable
.tQtran>fer to paIer the thoughts that seem
to tinEyA.dQwFi e. his finSer-tips, as if the pen
WAS a'trudeand stubborn nDli-eonducior Of
: the tlQaFBts and emotions that burn within
lin. -; 49,.
Il >hlusilg kindly on this sad fate:that seems
at lIlc5, io:aToseand yet retain him, he again
half upeJn $cinls ~. axes. up his uncle's PEN
=. Once lnCze that Strange thrill passes
:: through hiHl.a The words of the manuscript
.nolnnger seem'as strange thoughts, family
c0llprelende1 but staRdoat as old familiar
:ffie1dS, :bOrn 10 his own soul. =.
:. The last unfinished sentence. lies before
his eyes,: and be; is filed with an almost IRE.
SIstible:desire to complete just that one.
:thought. so. Clearly is its intended termina-
tiGn presented to his mind.
!; :. He makes an impuiSive movement of the
: pen toward the open ink-well, then suddenly
CHECKS liimSelf..' =. -.
IN o.. he eKclaims; sit would be nothing
less than sacrilege.'
:: He'hastiIy pats down the pen; then, leav-
: ing the pen and manuscript on the table, he
opens the door to his bedroom adjoining
and bctakes himself to bed in state Of in
tense excitement, and at last falls into
troubled sleep.
=. The night passes on. The great bell in
the college-yard tolls Out. hour after hour in
dull .menotony. The fire crackles and
blazes and sputters, and at last. angry at no
notice Being taken of its fances, goes out.
"A strange thing has happened IN spite of
the lateness OF the hour and the chill of the
rOom. : -.
pen in .liand, is writing. The paper over
which his hand travels so rapidly is the man
useript Of the dead Don.
A weird shadow-cast by the shelf, no
doubt+a shadow that seems to stand out
from the wall, appears. to stand behind his
chair; a shadow that bears whimsical re-
seinblance to- tall: old. man with high, in-
tellectuaE f0feilead and a firm chin. :.
J: :; And as the young man writes, the shadow.
seems. to bend nearer and nearer, and to
lean over his shoulder, as. If forSooth it took
an interest in the matter and wished it we'll
al of lOinIlta "a ku On hnu
has gone, two..h0Hrs. and still the gold pen
of the dead Don flashes back and forth over
; the paper in the hand of his nephew, and
still the weird shadow Keeps watch and
= ward over the young mans shoulder.
:. 1t is finished. Harold rises YEARLY and
stumbIes back to bell, The strange shadow
seems to glide along the wall and vanish at
the door. -:
;: What a chill is in The rooml
At last the sun GENES peeping through the
atfirst, then growing bolder it makes warm
assault against. the wooden bars that still
are closed against its entrance.
1t is an unheafd-of thing for Harold to
sleep so late and SO heavily; yet it is well on
toward noon before lie wakes, weary and
depressed. with strange sense Of pressure
in his brain.
=; he gazes yacantly at the familiar objects
in the room, that somehow seem to have an
unfamiliar look this morning, as if he had
returned from along absence and saw them
after lapse of time.
he dresses laboriously, and as he finishes
= his toilet he feels again the weight OF
anxiety and care that has haunted him so
many days-the thought of that essay that
must be written and handed in this week.
Heavier than ever seems the load this
morning. His head aches with fearful
sense Of WEAKNESS, as if long and mighty
strain had been put upon his nerves and
BRAIN.
What can be the cause of t2
And how, oh! how, can he ever begin that
dreaded task
Sick at hvart, and well-nigh despairing, he
drags himself out into the next room. There
his startled eyes rest upon his study-table,
always kept in such careful order.
Now it is in wild confusion. Pages of
manuscript lie scattered over its surface,
and beside the ink-well, as If carelessly
thrown down, and black with ink, lies his