The advocate., 1894-05-16
[COPYRIGHTl
The Dead Line
BY GIDEON LAME, ID. d.

My father'S ADVICE Will always D(
listened to respectfully; but my fathers
commands have lost their authority. ]
know how to render impOtent all com
pulsion on the part of my dotinG
father. Are you not afraid you will
spoil me, anyhow, by your too great in
dulgence? How affectionately kind
You first try to murder the man l love
and then propose to pet me still NOR
by giving me a nice little lunatic asy
lum to play with. Really, you are to-
kind. ! shall deem it my duty to pre-
vent your extrayagant gift Of hOm
in an asylum"
"Prevent me9 What do you mean
You do not know my power over you
my girl, Notwithstanding your boastet
legal independence. A simple not
from me, and you are locked up as in
sane. DO you hear?"
"Oh, yes. l understand your diabOl
ical power well enough. It's latest ex
hibition is still fresh in my memory
But--you seem to forget that you
boaSted power stops at the grave.
suppose you have never read Epictetus
Well, he speaks of the open door
through which we can easily escape tht
most invincible tyranny. In either O.
several ways, not all of which you Cal
close against me, l can at any time
choose leave this world, and defy you
mighty power"
"Do you mean you would kill your
self?" asked he in horror, for the idea
had not previously occurred to him.
eyes. Make my life unendurable
and, pray, why should | liver"
elena, you are all / have left" sai(
he, with much feeling; "and l seel
nothing but your happiness. All th'
wealth in the world is nothing to mt
but for your sake"
$50 far as my happiness is con
cerned, you are at this moment delib
erately seeking to make me Wretched
for what happiness can ever come to &
woman torn from the only man she
lOVesP Why are you so opposed to Mr.
Cotterell? Is he not manly? Is he not
noblep Is he not kind and good? You
have not even deigned to inquire
Think Of the man you have wished me
to marry. Would you even tolerate
his presence endure his puerile society
were he poorP What is there low.
able about him but his money! You
would have me tie myself for life to an
imbecile; yet you seek nothing but my
happiness! We're Mr.. Cotterell worth
a hundred thousand dollars, you would
urge me to marry him, although you
knew nothing whatever of his character
If You are gathering wealth for me, rest
from your labors. | do not desire
wealth if it has to be retained by
cruelty and murder, and if it is tC
make me shun the noble and the low
able because they are poor. Marriage
is too sacred a union for woman tC
enter unloving, much less to enter by
purchase. There is something else in
this world-money is not everything
There is character. In the past it has
triumphed over wealth; and, l hope, ii
will again defy wealth and overcome
it, even if it be by building barricades
Look history through. Who have been
the worlds great menr Who was
Grant, whom you rich men so adore
Was Lincoln reared in luxury? There
were rich men in Luther's time-name
me one Of them. Who were the mil
lionaires of Greece in. Plato'S timei
Who were the rich men who hated the
penniless Christi Men lowly born, or
men who, born to wealth, have scorned
their class and championed the cause
of the people-these have been the
great of earth whose names shine in
history more and more. Twenty years
hence, who will know who was general
manager of your railroad in 1892 Who
will know in a hundred years whether
you were rich or poor in your day and
generationH But even you are inter
ested in every trivial anecdote of the
pauper Goldsmith, who died poor and