Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1896-01-10
WAS HE A HERO?
By DAVID A. CURTIS.

copyright, 1885, by American Press Associa-
tion.l
"fIe hasn't many days to live, " said the
hospital surgeon in a matter of fact way,
and yet not unkindly, when l happened
across my old friend Hal3ey in ward 8.
Does it seem hard TO your" he asked,
still smiling. al had two years OF such
happiness once that it has made all the
rest of my life bright"
pressed his hand. "But," said, cit
seems hard to die in public hospital"
Not to me, " he replied. TT was in
this very hospital that l found my happi-
ness"
Then there was "a long silence. Pres
emily he smiled again and sad: "I'll tell
you the story. There isn't much to it, l
suppose, but it seems to tell something
about what love can do for man, and for
woman, too, whenit is honest and pure"
Then he told it. Not easily or smooth
", for he was very weak, but with long
pauses, during which that happy smile
would SO light up his face that l, begin
ming to see what it meant, felt glad that
he had found me worthy Of being called
his friend
Il was an actor once" he said, land
was, in my day, a favorite in the cheaper
sort of theaters. You see / belonged to
the Same sort of people that sat in front,
and 1 had enjoyed seeing the same parts
on the stage that l was playing so put
my whole heart into them. l had been "a
newsboy and had many time gone with
out my supper to go to tho theater, and L
knew how to play to the newsboys. And
then was ambitious and used to study
hard for l thought, as all young actors
do, that was going to bo star and be
famous. In fact, my head was full of al
most all the nonsense that most young
peoples heads hold, if it is nonsense. !
don't know whether it is or not.
lone thing, though, didn' ttrouble me,
as it did good many of tina men in the
profession. My good cid mother was
alive, and l lived with her, and it made
me so happy to make a good home for her
after she had known sore trouble that l
kept clear OF all such alliances as lead
men to destruction. Twas thrown good
deal together with tho women Of the stage
behind the scenes, of course, but l cared
little about them. Some of them were
good, true women, too, but none of them
seemed to compare with what | thought u
woman ought to be when ! was with
mother. So l had very little to do with
them as long as / lived at home. But
mother was old, and large part Of her
life had been very hard, and at the time /
was at the height of my prosperity she
died. That has seemed long time ago,
but now it seems ike yesterday.
"Perhaps If l had not felt so terribly
lonely for a time after that my whole life
would haze been different. Who can tells
Such little things make such great diff
ference sometimes, and it was really q kind
sentence, spoken with perfect tact, that
first set me shrinking OF the only woman
l ever loved. You see, j had no one IN the
world to care for, and just those few words
came like 'dsw from heaven. She only
meant to be friendly and courteous to a
man she hardly knew, for 1 had only met
her once or twice before, but to mo the
kindness was something almost beyond
belief.
However it was it all came about In
time. We were in the same company that
season, and naturally saw great deal of
each other. was attracted to her, as
said, and she liked lne, as was perhaps to
be expected. hadn't this scar across my
face then, ard was reckoned good look
ing young fellow. Then was doing well
in the profession, and was in position to
do little favors for her from time TO time,
which she appreciated, for she was only
playing small parts, and not doing very
well with them either, so she was no ia
yorite with the manager.
"And the more l saw Of her the moro
thought Of her, until before realized the
situation / was in love. And it was not
any trivial matter either, as found out
quickly enough when l tried to get the
best of it, for found loved her so that
could not live without hor-at least 1
thought then that could not found out
Rfterward that l could.
1T was an indescribable shock to me
when l learned the truth about my own
feelings, for at the same time that knew
1 loved her also recognized the fact that
l could not trust her. 1t was not that sho
was really wicked, but she had never had
any good groundwork Of principle, and
the life Of the theater had done her no
good. People talk n deal about the i'm
morality Of the stage, and much that they
say is foolish and wrong, but actors live in
an atmosphere that is so artificial that
they lose sight Of the Importance of much
that is good. Then, too, some of them
seem to think they can be good and bad at
different times, just as they play parts on
the STAGE
at seems curious perhaps that young
man brought up as was should have
looHad at r,,ottare iuct | did but agidn