The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1899-09-27

nave come here for nothingW
81 thought fiattered myself that
the pleasure of my society had some
thing 10 do with it."
''Nonsensev' She flushed up to the
roots of her pretty hair. Don't be
) foolish, Roderick. / came here with a
purpose; do be serious"
81 am,n he assured her, perfectly.
Now to the purpose"
"Oh, well, biting into another sweet
biscuit, 'let us discuss things first"
What things?"
"How provoking you arel Why,
progress aud poverty, if nothing better
suggests itself; we'll get to the point
somehow"
"The first thing you spoke off" ques-
toned ROderick.
sYes."
"Well, then, fire away"
Thanks; your elegant invitation
puts me quite at my ease. will fire
away You see, Roderic, poverty is
relative, as most things are, of course;
the absence of money means the alb
sence of so much more, not only the
material necessities of existence, but
the finer fibers Of the soul and mind,
which crave-nOt luxury-but careful
and judicious nutriment. Can you fol-
low my fiight?n she asked.
"YOu soar high; il is hard work"
keep up as best you can-I'm COM
ing to-"
| Presently; have patience. The hand
ful of very rich do a vast deal for the
great army of the very poor, although
they don't get half enough credit for it,
but that kind of universal beggary is
not the sort L mean. 1t is the genteel
poverty that is the bitter foe to prog
ress. Too proud to beg, too honest to
steal-its votaries stand apart in dumb
suffering, and fail to grasp the remedy"
He smiled at her eagerness; it was a
bitter, rather hopeless smile.
"Are you the discoverer of the prom
ised land for such hapless mortals?"
''There is no promised land unless we
go in body and seek it. If our class
of poor were only kinder to one anoth-
er, more confiding and less suspicious
in their intereourse-if they would on
ly stand shoulder to shoulder-why,
what an army of workers we should
be-
"Chimerno, Miss Polly; we can't set
the world revolving the other way, else
the delinquent clients would step back
ward into my anxious clutches.
Polly opened her eyes
"Why, thought your creed was OPP
timismp'
"Well, ii is, with reservations. !
don't believe in fairy tales, however,
even though told by the most bewitch-
ing of fairies.n
"ROderick, wish you wouldn't talk
that way; it hurts"
al beg your pardon"
"And shakes my resolution to say
what have come to say. You wouldn't
have me go away without that, would
you?"
mot for worlds"
But Miss Polly seemed to have sud-
denly lost her tongue. She sat staring
at Roderick's masterpiece gorgeous
bit Of turquoise bay dotted with white
winged sailboats.
pride is very selfish thing" she
remarked at length, apropos of moth
ing.
THAT depends" said Roderick.
"It has done a great deal Of mis-
chief" insisted Polly.
''Only in the sense that one can have
too much Of good thing sometimes"
"Yet proud people are not often hap
py," she said.
He reflected gravely.
al give you the inside track Of the
argument there"
"Roderick, am afraid you are very
proud "
Perhaps"
"And unhappy"
''Not now"
Miss Polly changed her tack.
"Don't you think if people want
something very much they should ask
for it-if-if it is so within the bounds
of reserve?"
asking and getting are two very
different things; it's well worth risk
ing, should say"
"And-and-suppose-for the sake of
rgument-that-there were two peo-
plea man and a woman-of the gen.
teel poor class who want something,
say, for instance, each other, more than
anything else in the world"
She stopped, little scared look in
her wistful eyes, but he was silent, so
she went on:
Suppose the mans pride stood up
like a gaunt, grim ghost and said: No,
you can not marry this woman. You
must let your youth drag on in unloved
loneliness because you are struggling
and poor. You must have no one to
help you-it would be unmanly.' II
this were really so, would it be right
for the woman to suffer and remain ST.
lent?''
He was forced 10 answer her.
THAT would be her only course" he
said, slowly.
THAT may be your old woman with
the meek brow and head bowed to ad-
versity's blast. We new ones know
better. We are not going TO let our
chances of happiness slip through our
fingers for mere form. Roderick, do
you hear me?i
There was low entreaty in her tone.
He had risen and turned away from
her, his broad figure shutting out the
view.
"Roderiek," she entreated, won't
you speak to me?"
Still there was no answer.
'Roderick," with a break in her
voice, "don't you love me after all?"
Her face had grown suddenly color
less; her lips trembled, and she was
Obliged to bite hard on biscuit to keep
back the tears of modification.