Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-08-21

| "Not corruption. Anything out that,
Maggie. You mistake. A healthy, nat
ural soul, free from common prejudice,
free from your meddlesome con-
science
ooh! He has been brought up in the
very bosom of the church, and he talks
about prejudicev'
Perhaps had not been brought up
quite so much in that bosom I should
have been different. It was in conse-
quence of that bosom that I became
what / did become. When words are
repeated by boy every day. and thou
sands of times, they may become to that
BOY nothing but words. They haven {
discovered that yet. When you simulate
OF stimulate emotion. you think of
nothing but the emotion. The reason or
foundation of it ceases to exist. Mag
gle. if l had been brought up like any
other boy, should now be like any
other man. You lament over me because
l do things which seem to you dreadful.
Nothing is dreadful to me in that way.
Want alone is dreadful to me. Desire
is necessity: desire is my only law.
Make me. if you can. obey some other
law. Every man is a solitary unit; he
lives for himself; he has to get what he
can for himself. Oh, could tell you
things. if You care to hear them
go on" she replied. SHOW me all I"
mo. no." He had become suddenly
earnest and real He went back to his
old hooking tone. Il have told you
enough. The wicked man is interesting
because he may turn away from his
wickedness. You might yourself be the
instrument of his repentance. But the
actual separate acts of the wicked man
are not attractive to you and such as
you. Curious, it is only the masculine
mind which delights in reading about
wicked men. 1 am, vaguely speaking
and without further details, the wicked
man..
Unfortunately know SO many of
the details"
Eyes, but am interesting still. Look
at me, Maggie He stood up and again
tried to take her hand, but she turned
away. "YOu are afraid. You know that
l am interesting still he laughed mu-
sically. You dare not meet my eyes,
Well, Maggie, whatever / am accused
of doing, you know that my heart is
here. Nobody knows the true man--the
real man-eXcept yourself. -
Nobody could guess that such a
man exists
81 remember, Maggie"-he seated
himself at the piano, and. running his
fingers lightly over the keys as an ac-
Compartment to his words, suggesting
now Il bit OF Schuber49nd now a bit of
Mendclssohn-'I remember very we'll
the day and place where first spoke to
you about myself. -
''It was the first day we met"
"Was it SO soon: Very likely. al.
ways begin with girls by talking about
myself. They like it.
His fingers rambled about the KEYS.
As the girl leaned her head sadly OH
her hand and gazed into the fire, while
the music fell upon her ears, she saw q
vision-it took only IL minute or two,
but 1t covered five years. She saw this
man, young and beautiful as dream,
more ethereal than any marvel or mira
Gle Ill art, whose eyes We're like shaded
fountains in whose waters lay life for
\
music OF heavenly harmonies, whose
heart was filed with faith, who prayed
for nothing but TO be in the church, al
ways III the chnrch-always in the serv-
ice of the church-tO consecrate himself
all his precious gifts-his life, his all,
to the service of the church And he
was poor, and she was rich.
Then III her vision she saw how she
went to her guardian and implcred him
to give the young man enough for his
purpose out of her money. She could
well spare it. The young man found
out who gave the money. lie came to
thank her. He was moved to tears. He
could never thank her enough. He
could find no words. And after that she
seemed to belong TO him. At first she
was filled with happiness. No girl ever
had lover SO divine. He was her idol.
Little by little, in her vision, she saw
how the idol was gradually broken to
pieces First, there were the little riffs
Ill the perfect armor Of righteousness,
the discrepancy between words and
deeds, the undisguised pursuit of the
world and her two famous companions,
side by side with quite contrary profess
sions and aspirations, their troubles
and confessions, until the saint was all
gone, and there was left, instead, crea-
ture to whom sin and crime and shame
We're words and nothing but words, Just
as righteousness and faith were also
words and nothing but words.
She saw him in the vision. a satvr. a
Caliban, knocking spirit. Il spirit not
lncrednlous, but incapable of belief in
higher things. Yet she saw herself fol-
lowing him, tied to him, constrained to
be with him, always trying to awaken
his conscience, always baffied, ALWAYS
beaten back.
"You cannot say, Maggie" the man
went on, still at the piano, THAT 1 told
you anything but the truth. 1t is al
ways a comfort to me to think that I
have some one who will hear the truth
from me-
lyon told me that you were unhappy
because your heart-your whole heart
was in the church and you were kept
out of it. You said that if YOU could not
be in the church as priest Won would