The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1900-03-09

call on me. I'd make him welcome"
But he called on no one. He Joined
no one on the street. This evidence Of
sensitiveness and suffering was the
only one he gave. ,y ga
| The second morning after his return
to Red Willow Luclus Mcknight rented
a little, old, one-story; structure on
4 Main street, which had been left over
from the early days, and proceeded to
scrub it out, and to. paper and paint
| it with his own hands.
The people who had thought of him
only as a luxurious and dishonest pop
Inlay, a driver of fast. horses, and a
| giyer Of pig dinners, looked aghast.
| There appeared to be no self-consclous-
ness about the man. There was. moth
ing approaching bravado in his man
ner of working. He gravely did what
he pleased, asking odds of none.
. . There was still more occasion for
surprise when he hung a sign artistic
ally lettered by himself before his
door: .,.
"Cane-Bottomed Chairs. Reseated
Here"
"My soul!' gasped the citizens,
that's nerve for you"
what else could he do?" said Mary
Lester, in almost fearful defense.
(Which one of you would have offered
him a job? He had no profession save
banking, and that is closed to him for
ever, He had no trade except the one
! he has recently learned. l think the
man has more sense than anybody
ever knew"
And the next morning she sent
man down to Meningitis shop with
three chairs to be recaned. She mailed
a little check in payment, and around
the check was folded a slip of paper,
on which was written in the distinct
hand which the school children knew
we'll:
| hold it truth, with him who sings,
| To one clear harp in divers tones,
That men may rise on stepping stones
! OF their dead selves to higher things.
The mayors wife was the next to
offer work to this strange artisan. That
set the fashion. The men laughed, but
the women kept him Gaming chairs.
One day it was observed that he had
fixed a lathe at the back of his shop
and that he was experimenting with it,
A little later a completed chair stood
in his window. 1t was not an ordinary
chair. That love of beauty which had
formerly betrayed its possessor into
extravaganza and crime demonstrated
itself now in an exquisite piece of
handicraft. In its proportions, its ma
terials, its manufacture, and its finish
ing it stood an honest and beautiful
example of workmanship.
Miss Phoebe Dillingham;, who had
teakwood. and rosewood, and Japanese
inlaying in her new house, and who
| knew a work OF art when she saw 1t,
| came to purchase.
This particular chair is intended as
a gift" said the town reprobate pleas
antly, "but l shall be happy to make
another one for you, Miss Dillingham;,
either from a plan of my own or after
| any design you may care to submit.
You remember those Illustrations
of antique furniture have had so long,
Mr.. Mcknight Don't you think we
might find something good there?
Won't you call this evening and look
them over with me?"
McKn ght called quite as a matter OF
course, and was as self-possessed as if
an untoward event had not broken off
those visits for several long years. But
! it was decided that the chair was to
be made from an original design after
all.
As for the first work Of Meningitis
lathe, that was seen by the whole VIII
lage in the dainty sitting-room of Mss
Mary Lester.
People got into the way of asking
Mcknight: cut, and to their surprise he
accepted. He wore his cheap and un-
conventional garments with as much
grace as lie had his elegant attire in
the old days. His conversation, as OF
old, was as broad and general in its
character. And, to cap the climax,
after he had accepted the hospitality OF
a number Of persons, he bads them all
to his shop, where they sat on the
chairs the ex-convict had carved, and
ate on a freshly scrubbed deal table.
When all his guests were seated
comfortably before his fire Lucius Nc
Knight spread his hands to the blaze
and said in a conversational, everyday
tone:
when i was serving my term in the
States prison | worked next to man
named --"-and then he told a tale
whose alternating humor and pathos
held the listeners in thrall. He went
on with Other stories-grim stories, in
which the souls of the men who had
been found out were laid bare; and the
talker discovered to his listeners many
a thing of which they had been ignor-
ant, not the least OF which was that
just punishment brought peace to the
soul which immunity never could give
to one who had been an offender
against himself and the law. He SEEM
ed to give the key to the town repro
bates placidity. The guests learned
great deal that night, and they were
vastly entertained as we'll