The true northerner., 1900-03-15

apply to one OF the charity organiza-
tions for helpor to the city 1t certain
ly is not true that, even at its worst.
this city full of Christian people would
knowingly allow any one to go without
food or fuel"
''No; don't believe that il would.
replied Dr. Brace "But we don't know
the history of that mans case. He may
have asked for help so often before that
finally, in moment of desperation. he
determined to help himself. / have
known such cases this winter"
"That is not the terrible fact in this
case. said the bishop. 1.-The awful
thing about il Is the fact that the man
had not had any work for six months.
"Why don't such people go out into
the countryf" asked the divinity stu
dent.
Some one at the table who had made
special study of the opportunities for
work in the country answered the ques-
ton. According to the Investigator the
places that were possible for work in
the country were exceedingly few for
steady employment, and in almost ev-
cry case they were offered only TO men
without families. Suppose man s wife
and children were i'll. How could he
move or get into the countryf How
could he pay even the meager sum nec-
essary to move his few goods? There
were thousand reasons probably why
this particular man did not go else
where
Meanwhile there are the wife and
children, said Mrs. Bruce. "How aw-
full Where is the place. did you say ?"
The bishop took up the paper.
''Why, it's only three blocks from
here. This is the Penrose district. l be-
lieve Penrose himself owns half of the
houses in that block. They are among
the worst houses in this part of the
city and Penrose is church member.
''Yes; he belongs to the Nazareth Av-
enue church, replied DIR. Bruce in a
low voice.
The bishop rose from the table the
very figure of divine wrath. He had
opened his lips to say what seldom
came from him in the way of denuncia-
tion when the bell rang and one of the
residents went to the door.
J Il
want to see them. Penrose is the name
Clarence Penrose. DIR. Bruce knows
me- -
The family at the breakfast table
heard every word. The bishop exchanged
a significant look with DR.. Bruce, and
the two men instantly left the table
and went out into the hall.
'Come in here, Penrose," said DR..
Bruce, and he and the bishop ushered
the visitor into the reception room.
They closed the door and were alone.
Clarence Penrose was one of the most
elegant looking men in Chicago. He
came from an aristocratic family of
great wealth and social distinction. He
was exceedingly wealthy and had large
property holdings in different parts of
the city. He had been a member Of DR..
Bruces church all his life.
This man faced the bishop and his
former pastor with a look of agitation
on his countenance that showed plainly
the mark of some unusual experience.
He was very pale, and his lip trembled
as he spoke. When had Clarence Pen
rose ever before yielded to such a strange
emotion of feeling?
''This affair of the shooting-you un-
derstand. You have read it. The family
lived in one of my houses. 1t is a terri
BILE event. But that is not the primary
cause of my visit. He stammered and
looked anxiously into the faces of the
other two men. The bishop still looked
stern. He could not help feeling that
l., .,1o e IL. L
done great deal to alleviate the hor-
rors in his tenements, possibly have pre-
vented this tragedy, if he had sacrificed
some of his personal ease and luxury to
better the condition of the people in his
district.
Penrose turned to DR.. Bruce.
Doctor, he exclaimed, and there
was almost child's terror in his voice,
Il came to say that l have had an ex-
perience so unusual that nothing but
the supernatural can explain it. You
remember / was one of those who took
the pledge to do as Jesus would do.
thought at the time, poor fool that l
was, that l had all along been doing the
/ Christian thing. l gave literally out of
my abundance to the church and char
/ ity. l never gave myself to cost me any
suffering. have been living in per-
/ feet hell of contradictions ever since
took the pledge. My little girl, Diana,
you remember, also took the pledge
with me. She has been asking me a
/ great many questions lately about the
poor people and where they lived. l was
obliged to answer her. Two of her ques-
tions last night touched my sore. Did
own any houses where those people
lived? Were they nice and warm like
oursY You know how child will ask
questions like these. / went to bed tor
mented with what l now know to be
the divine arrows of conscience. could
not sleep. I seemed to see the judgment
day. / was placed before the Judge.
was asked to give account of my deeds
done in the body. How many sinful
souls had visited in prisons What had
l done with my stewardship? How
about those tenements where people