San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-12-05

"Remntn until l come, and remember
yOu are dIlcdyS Ogden Chalmers"
George Chalmers sat upon his cot half
dressed.
"You have come back" he said mood
lily.
eyes, as | promised" answered the
other; land can help you now"
"You don't mean that you have Sc
cured pardon" returned the younger
man, with sudden interest.
''No, but | can help you now; move
quick and ask no questions. Put on my
clothes"
"But what will you do? What if the
guard comes back?"
"Never mind me. The guard will not
dare make trouble. He has already
broken his orders in bringing me here.
Dress and we can talk afterward."
AS he spoke he was already divesting
himself of his clothing and helping 10
place them upon his brother When
this was done he drew on a portion of
the convicts dress and sat down upon
the side of the cot.
"Now look at me-" he said. mo one
could say that am not you; and you re-
semble exactly the man who just came
in here. You are a free man. Go out
with the guard when he comes"
"But what will become of your"
"Have no trouble about that. They
cannot harm me. But you must take my
name" He spoke low and hurriedly,
but every wCrd was distinct and forcible,
as if he had studied how to say the
most in the briefest possible time.
"Take my keys, go to my room at the
hotel and open my trunks. Examine all
my papers, they will tell you how to put
yourself in possession of my fortune.
You will find full instructions. Go to-
the City of Mexico. You will find good
opportunities there; engage in business;
do the best you can and remain until l.
come, and remember you are always
Ogden Chalmers"
George grasped his brothers hand.
"This is too much; | cannot do this,
Ogden. 1 have not deserved it. What
if you have to remain here in my placer
at will not matter much. 1t will not
be so very long, and maybe l should APP
preciate life better then"
The guard was coming back; his steps
were very near now. Chalmers put his
arm across his brothers shoulder and
whispered very earnestly:
"Do not try to communicate with me;
make new start, George. Be good
man. And do not go or write to
Lima Tenant until you can do so in
your own name, when your sentence
has expired. Then go to her, We honest
with her; tell her the whole truth. She
deserves it and she will forgive you"
There was no time for anything more.
The grated door opened and closed
again, and two men paced steadily
down the dim corridor, and one of them
was George Chalmers, the criminal, he
upon whom the state had lien for ten
of the best years of his, manhood. And
he was going forth again to freedom.
And behind, in that dreary tomb up
there, was Ogden Chalmers-man of
fortune and of leisure He had never
wronged any man nor the state. Yet
he sat there throughout the slow hours
of the night looking hopelessly down a
long vista of years wherein he could see
himself reduced to an automaton, shOrn
of his identity, labeled merely convict
number thirteen hundred and seventy
SIX" Knocked at and despised among
men. And yet there was no bitterness
in his heart.
1t is one of the conpensations of this
life that we are enabled to adapt our
selves to whatever environment we may
be placed amidst. Some succeed in this
better than others, not because they
possess less virility of character, less
positiveness in pursuing set course,
but because they are able to perceive in
due season the utter futility of an une-
quail combat with fate or with circum-
stance. The weak character, forced
from its accustomed or congenial en-
vironment and into lower plane of ex-
istence, becomes maudlin railer against
| the world; while the stronger one, with
like occasion, sets himself with grim
determination to so fit himself to this
new sphere as to receive the fewest
knocks possible. On the other hand the
weak character, thrown amid broader
environment, would fail to seize its OPP
portunities, while the strong character
would rise to the occasion and become
the leader of great movement or the
49, - n~-l>>---- howe
4 NJ Ia o0y,