The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1900-04-10

| Dy tne great term, 'man. lneSe are
my names. You may call me Brother
| Man."
| "Well, then, Brother Man," said
Philip, smiling little to think of the
very strangeness of the whole affair,
"your reason for thinking 1 was not
sincere in my sermon this morning was
because of the extravagant lunch this
EVENING"
mot altogether. There are other
reasons" The man suddenly bowed
his head between his hands, and Phil
ip's wife whispered to him: Philip,
what is the use of talking with crazy
man? You are tired, and it is time to
put out the lights and go to bed. Get
him out of the house now as soon as
you can"
/ The stranger raised his head and
went on talking just as if he had not
broken off abruptly.
"Other reasons. In your sermon you
tell the people they ought to live less
luxuriously. You point them to the
situation in this town where thousands
of men are out Of work. You call at
tention to the great poverty and dis
tress all over the world, apd you say
the times demand that people live far
simpler, less eXtravagant lives. And
yet here you live yourself like prince.
Like prince" he repeated after a pc
culiar gesture, which seemed to include
not only what was in the room, but all
that was in the house.
Philip glanced at his wife as people
do when they suspect third person
being out of his mind and saw that her
expression was very much like his own
feeling, although not exactly. Then
they both glanced around the room.
1t certainly did look luxurious, even
if not princely. The parsonage was
an old mansion which had once be-
longed to a wealthy but eccentric
sea captain. He had built to please
himself, something after the colonial
, fashion, and large square rooms, gen
erous fireplaces, with quaint mantels
! and tiling and hard wood floors gave
the house an appearance of solid COM
fort that approached luxury. The
church in Milton had purchased the
, property from the heirs, who had be-
come involved in ruinous speculation
and parted with the house for sum
little representing it's real worth. 1t
had been changed little and modern
lied, although the old fireplaces still re-
manned, and one spare room, an annex
to the house proper, had been added
recently. There was an air of decided
comfort, bordering on luxury, in the
different pieces of furniture and the
: whole appearance of the room.
"You understand" said Philip, as his
: glance travelled back to his visitor,
that this house is not. mine. 1t be-
l longs to my church. 1t is the parson-
age, and 1 am simply living in it as
' the minister"
"Yes, L understand. You, minister,
are living in this princely house while
l other people have not where to lay
t their heads"
Again Philip felt the same tempta
+ ton to anger steal into him, and agair
t he checked himself at the thought
s "The man is certainly insane. The
+ whole thing is simply absurd. 1 will
d get rid of him. And YETI
p He could not shake off a strange ani
s powerful impression which the stran
q gers words had made upon him. Graz!
o or not, the man had limited at the pos
t sibility of an insincerity on his par
p which made him restless. He deter
mined to question him and see if h
really would develop a streak of in
l, sanity that would justify him in get
n ting rid of him for the night.
It Brother Man." he said, using tn
term his guest had given him, "do yo1
| <<H -ky,ox ,y,tl
l. live as 1 doY
"Yes, in these times and after such
e sermon"
is "What would you have me dol" Phil
is ip asked the question half seriously
le half amused at himself for asking ad
le vice from such a source.
"Do as you preach that others ough
ot to-"
,r Again that silence fell over the room
10 And again Philip felt the same in
e. preston of power in the strange man
Sc words.
The Brother Man." as he wished t
ct be called, bowed his head between hi
hands again, and Mrs. Strong whisper
7e ed to her husband: "Now it is certainl
II. worse than foolish to keep this up an
:, longer. The man is evidently insane
is We cannot keep him here all nigh
h He will certainly do something terr
ble Get rid of him, Philip. This ma
st, be a trick on the part of the whisk
ip men,"
er Never in all his life had Philip bee
lg so puzzled to know what to do with
ed human being. Here was one, tt
lie strangest he had ever met, who ha
as come into his house; it is true he ha
a been invited, but once within he ha
er invited himself to stay all night an
then had accused his entertainer
n. living too extravagantly and calle
be him an insincere preacher. Add to a
ly this the singular fact that he had d
clared his name to be Brother Mai
ly and that he spoke with calmness th
is was the very incarnation Of peace, al
I'd Philips wonder reached its limit.
In response to his wife's appe
mt Philip rose abruptly and went to tt
ry front door. He opened it, and a viii
of snow danced in. The wind h;
lip changed, and the moan Of comil
les heavy storm was In the air.
The moment that he opened the do
of his strange guest also arose, and pr
&c, ting on his hat he said, as he NOV