Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-05-19
CHAPTER II.

CHAPTER II.
The children all cried out IN surprise
and hurried into the next room. But
before relating what happened there
we will follow Mr.. Hardy into the ex-
perience he had just after falling
asleep upon the lounge by the open hre.
1t seemed to him that he stepped at
once from the room where he lay Into
q place such as he had never seen be-
fore, where the one great Idea that
filled his entire thought was the Idea
of the present moment Spread out
before him, as If reproduced by pho
nograph and a magic lantern com
bined. was the moving panorama OF
the entire world. He thought he saw
into every home. every public place OF
business, every saloon and place OF
amusement. every shop and every
farm, every place Of industry, amuse-
ment and vice upon the face of the
globe. And he thought he could hear
the worlds conversation. catch Its sobs
Of suffering-nay. even catch the mean.
ing Of unspoken thoughts Of the heart.
With that absurd rapidity peculiar to
certain dreams he fancied that over
every city on the globe was placed a
glass cover through which he could
look and through which the sounds Of
the city's industry came to him. But
he thought that he ascertained that by
lifting off one Of these covers he could
hear with greater diStinctness the
thoughts Of the inhabitants and see all
they were doing and suffering with the
most minute exactness. He looked for
the place Of his own town. Barton.
There 1t lay in its geographical spot on
the globe. and he thought that. moved
by an impulse he could not resist he
lifted off the cover and bent down to
see and hear.
The first thing he saw was his min
ister's home. 1t was just after the
Sunday evening service, the one which
Mr.. Hardy had thought so dull. Mr..
Jones was talking over the evening
with his wife.
"My dear" he said. II feel about dis.
couraged. OF what use Is all our pray.
ing and longing for the Holy Spirit
when our own church members are so
cold and unspiritual that all his tnfu-
ence is destroyed? And. you know.
made special plea to all the members
to come out tonight. and only hand.
full there! feel like giving up the
struggle. You know | could make
better living in literary work. and the
children could be better cared for
then"
But. John. 1t was bad night to get
out. You must remember that"
"But only so out Of a church mem
bership of 400 most of them living
near by! 1t doesn't seem just right to
me-"
"Mr. Hardy was there! Did you see
him%
"Yes: after service | went and spoke
to him. and he treated me very coldly.
And yet he Is the most wealthy and In
some ways the most gifted church
member we have. He could do great
things for the good of this community
if"-
Suddenly Mr.. Hardy thought the
minister changed into the Sunday
school superintendent. and be was
walking down the street thinking about
his classes in the school. and Mr.. Har
dy thought he could hear the superin.
tendent's thoughts. as If his ear were
at phonograph.
Its too bad! That class Of boys
wanted Mr.. Hardy to take left the
to teach them. And now Bob Wilson
has got into trouble and been arrested
for petty thieving. 1t will be terrible
blow to his poor mother. Oh. why Is It
that men like Mr.. Hardy cannot be
made to see the Importance Of work In
the Sunday school? With his knowl
edge Of chemistry and geology he could
have reached that class Of boys and in.
vited them to his home. up into his lab
oratory and exercised an influence over
them they would never outgrow. Oh!
It's strange thing to me that men OF
such possibilities do not realize their
power!'
The superintendent passed along
shaking his head sorrowfully. and Mr..
Hardy. who seemed guided by some
power be could not resist and COM
PEELED to listen whether be liked 1t or
not. next found himself looking into
one Of the railroad shop tenements.
where the man Scoville was lying.
awaiting amputation of both feet after
the terrible accident Scoville's wife
lag upon ragged lounge, while Mrs.
Hardy's cook kneeled by her side and
in her native Swedish tongue tried to
comfort the poor woman. So it was
true that these two were sisters. The
man was still conscious and suffering
unspeakably. The railroad surgeon had
been sent for, but had not arrived.
Three or four men and their wives had
come in to do what they could. Mr..
Burns, the foreman. was among them.
One Of the men spoke In a whisper to
him:
Have you been to see Mr.. HardY3"