Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-12-14

evening, ON rising in the morning he
found his pillow strewn with the gold
en- locks and. looking into the, glass,
! beheld the shining and smooth eNpanse
which henceforth he must bear. The
few remaining hairs We're turned to
silvery Wilderness, and the young lady
married his rival
"And.' said Tant' Sannie solemnly,
'if 1T had not been for the grace of
God and reading of the Psalms, he
says, he would have killed himself. He
says he could kill himself quite easily
IL he wants to marry woman and she
i won't"
"a lie wereld,' said Trana. and then
they went to sleep.
Every one was lost in sleep soon. but
from the window of the cabin the
light streamod forth, 1t came from @
dung fire over which Waldo sat brood
ing. Hour after hour he sat there. now
and again throwing a fresh lump of
fael on to The fire. which burned up
l,bravely and then sank into great bed
of red Goals. which reflected them
selves in the boys eyes as he sd, there
breeding. brooding. hrooains III last.
when the fire was blazing n, its bright
est. he rose suddenly and walked slow
/ ~ to beam from which an OK ..riem'
hung. osenin. it. he ran I, moose in
one end and then doubled it round his
I arm.
Mine, mine. | have right he
muttered. and thrn something louder,
"If I fall and am killed. so much the
better.'
4 He opened the door and went out
into the starlight.
4 lie walked with his eyes bent upon
the ground. hut overhead it was one
4 OF those brilliant southern nights when
every space so small that your hand
might cover it shows 80 cold white
points, and the Milky Way is belt of
sharp frosted silver. He passed the
door where Bonaparte lay dreaming
of Trana and her wealth, and he
mounted the ladder steps. From those
he clambered with some difficulty on
to the roof of the house. 1t was of old
rottOn thatch with ridge of white
plaster, and it crumbled away under
his feet ut every step. He trod as heap-
lily as he could. So much the better IL
I he fell.
4 He knelt down when he got to the
far gable and began to fasten his
"riem" to the crumblng bricks. Be
low was the little window OF the loft.
With one end of the ''riem" tied round
the gable, the other end round his
waist, how easy to slide down to 1T,
and to open it through one of the
broken panes, and to go in. and to fill
his arms with books, and to Chamber
4 up again. They had burned one book.
He would have 20. Every mans hand
!, was against, his. His should be against
every mans. No one would help linn.
He would help himself.
4 He lifted the black, damp hair from
his knit forehead and looked round to
cool his hot face Then he saw what
regal night it was. He knelt silently
and looked up. y thousand eyes were
4 looking down at him. bright and SO
: cold. There was laughing irony In
them
4 $50 hot, SO bitter. SO angry! Poor
4 little mortal.'
He was ashamed. He folded his
arms and sat on the ridge CT the roof
looking up ut them.
$50 not. so bitter. so argry!"
1t WAS as though a cold hand had
been laid upon his throbhing forehead.
4 and slowly they began 10 fade and
grow dim. Tant' Sanuie and the burn
r,1 ~, A,
machine. the box il the loft. he him
self sitting there, how small they all
became. even the grave over yolder!
Those stars that sl,cne On M above so
4 quietly, they had seen a thousand such
! little eiis,ences. 4 thousand such little
existences fight just SO .tierceiy. ti;ire
up Just so brightly and go ont. and
they. the old. old stars. shone on for
ever.
$50 hot. so angry, poor little soul!"
they said.
4 The ''riemH slipped from his fingers.
ysIie sat with his arms folded looking
up. Ss
We said the stars, have seen the
earth when it was Young. We have
seen small things creep ont upon its
4 surface--smaIl things that prayed and
loved and cried very loudly and then
.crept Under it again. But we" said the
stars, ARE as Bll as the unknown"
He leaned his chip against the palm
Of his hand and looked up at them. So
long he sat there that bright stars set
\ and new ondl; rose aud yet he sat on.
Then at last he stood UP and began
to loosen the "rlem'' from the gable.
4 What did it matter about the books?
The lust and the desire for them had,
died out. II they pleased to keep them
from him, they might. What matter?
: It was a very little thing. Why hate
and struggle and fight? Let it be as it
would.
He twisted the '.riemn round his arm
and walked back along the ridge of the
house. n
Ito be continued.)
Probable Cause for the Failure.
- MrS Nayfvxyad-T 1yor o,;yfr t., b,x,