Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-01-04

glad, for he said:
Surely Truth is among them. In
time she will mott her feathers, and l
shall see her snow white form
But the time passed, and the people
sang and danced, but the hunters
heart grew heavy. He crept alone, as
of old, to weep The terrible desire
had awakened again in his breast. One
day, as he sat alone weeping it chanc-
ed that Wisdom met him. He told the
old man what he had done.
"And Wisdom smiled sadly.
Many men, he said have spread
that net for Truth. but they have never
found her. On the grains Of credulity
she will not feed; in the net of wishes
her feet cannot be held; Ia the air Of
these valleys she will not breathe. The
birds you have caught are Of the brood
of Lies-lovely and beautiful, but still
lies. Truth knows them not
"And the hunter cried out in bitter
ness:
"'And must 1. then, sit still, to be
devoured of this great burning?'
"And the old man said:
Listen. and in that you have suf-
fered much and wept much win tell
you what know. He who sets out to
search for Truth must leave these val
leys Of superstition forever, taking
with him not one shred that has be-
longed to them. Alone he must wan
der down into the Land Of Absolute
Negation and Denial. He must abide
there. he must resist temptation.
When the light breaks, he must arise
and follow it into the country of dry
sunshine. The mountains Of stern
reality will rise before him. He must
climb them. Beyond them lies Truth
"'And he will hold her fast! He will
hold her in his hands! the hunter cried.
Wisdom shook his head.
He will never see her, never hold
her. The time is not yet
"Then there is no hopeg cried the
hunter.
There is this said Wisdom. Some
men have climbed OH those mountains
circle above circle Of bare rock they
have scaled-and, wandering there in
those high regions, some have CHANGED
to pick up on the ground one white.
silver feather dropped from the wing
of Truth. And it shall come to pass
said the old man, raising himself
prophetically and pointing with his fin
ger to the sky-'it shall come to pass.
when enough Of those silver feathers
shall have been gathered by the hands
of men and shall have been woven into
a cord, and the cord into a net, that in
that net Truth may be captured. Nota-
ing but Truth can hold Truth
The hunter arose. 4 will co. lie
said. s,sas..ss... II
But Wisdom detained him.
Mark you well-who leaves these
valleys never returns to them. Though
he should weep tears of blood seven
days and nights upon the confines. he
can never put his foot across them.
Left, they are left forever. Upon the
road which you would travel there is
no reward offered. Who goes, goes
freely, for the great love that is in
him. The work is. his reward
I CO. said the hunter, but upon
the mountains. tell me, which path
shall take?'
I am the child of the Accumulated
knowledge of Ages said the man. Il
can walk only where many men have
trodden. On those mountains few feet
have passed. Each man strikes out a
path for himself. He goes at his own
peril. My voice he hears no more. /
may follow after him, but cannot 20
before him.
'"Then knowledge vanished.
"And the hunter turned. He went to
his cage and with his hands broke
down the bars. and the jagged iron tore
his flesh. 1t is sometimes easier to
build than tt. break.
"One by one he took his plumed birds
and let them fly. But when he came to
his dark plumed bird he held it and
looked into its beautiful eyes. and the
bird uttered Its low, deep cry-.lmmor-
talityv
"And he said quickly: \ cannot part
with it. 1t is not heavy. 1t eats no
1000. VIII nlde II IN my breast. l
will take it with me- And he buried
1T there and covered it over with his
cloak.
But the thing he had hidden grew
heavier, heavier. heavier till it lay on
his breast like lead He could not
move 1t. He could not leave those val
leys with it. Then again he took it out
and looked at it,
"'Oh, my beautiful, my hearts own"
he cried. May I not keep you?'
''He opened his hands sadly.
Go he said. 1t may happen that
in Truths song one note is like to
yours. but shall never hear it..
Sadly he opened his Land, and the
bird few, from him forever.
"Then from the shuttle of Imagina-
tion he took the thread of his Wishes
and threw it on the ground. and the
empty shuttle he put into his breast.
for the thread was made in those val
leys. but the shuttle came from an I'M
known country. He turned to so. but
now the people came about him, howl
ing.
"'Fool. hound. demented lunaticY