St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-04-07

| ~ h0u UVCu WIkulu Ills pOWtI u
give up more and SO retrieve the dis
aster for those who had trusted him
then it might not be necessary to d.
the dreadful thing that remained t.
be done that night. He looked at hi
watch. Dinner had taken him a lons
time. 1t had been a good dinner. con
sisting of the things he liked best
That particular waiter had served hin
for two years and they silently en-
| joyed each others society. Arthur
arose now and held his glass in hi.
hand.
Dixon" said he. shave the kindnes:
to fill that glass over there and t.
drink with me toto the past, Dix
| on"
But that will do no good. SIR" sale
the colored boy. looking worried. Ht
did not like the gentleman's manner
Nothing does any good, Dixon, but
drink" So the man did as he was
bid. After he had paid for his dinner
Arthur laid little pigskin purse upoI
the table.
"Dixon. have often tipped you
Tonight l am not going to do so. be
cause you seem like friend-the last
friend l have-and one does not tiI
ones friends. But kindly take this
little purse and in it put the tips Of
other men. remembering me-"
But are you going away, Mr.. VIII
kinson?"
NO, Dixon, l don't know that Icould
say was going anywhere. Some folks
would think l was about to take Q
long journey. But it seems to me that
| am making myself stationary. Il
depends upon how you look at it
Dixon. Good night"
Good night, sir. If-if l can be OF
any service to you"
'sNo, no. Good night"
1t was strange that the world would
keep up its rnseemly roar when a
man sat preparing himself for death!
Why did the streets not grow quiet
They would certainly be quiet before
dawn. He would wait till there wa.
silence. A soul ought to have tina,
much consideration shown it when il
passed from being.
The young man sat in his most com.
Portable chair in the darkness of his
room. He could not endure the glare
of the lights, and the sight of ma.
terial objects distracted his thoughts
He endeavored to forget the things
that tortured him-tried the expert.
ment of concentrating his thoughts
upon one idea, and that idea, oblivion.
To be extinguished-what more could
a weary man desire? To forget the
betrayed trust. and entailed misery,
the bad judgment, the foolish prod.
igality, the uneager love. the self-seek.
ing friends. the easy scorn, that was
the best thing. And in the grave was
forgetfulness. 80
The night passed feverishly. He had
no idea whether it was hours or min.
utes that were passing. He was mere
ly waiting for the noise to cease, and
presently there was silence.
''Now," said he, and lifted glass in
his cold and steady hand. But some
thing came between him and the faint
light from the distan. street lamp.
There was an unexpected darkness at
the window. Involuntarily he with
held the glass from his lips. A second
later a masked man stood in the room.
He could not see Arthur, who was in a
black shadow. But Arthur took note
of him-of his height. his width of
shoulder, of the position of his arms,
and then with cry that was half a
laugh he sprang at him. A deep. mar
ticulate sound. almost a sob. came
from the mans throat. He made an eff
fort to reach his weapon. His arm was
pinioned to his side. The strength Of
the young man who had attacked was
peculiar and unnatural, like that of 4
madman, and as he wrestled and
clutched and struggled he laughed.
The mask came off, and the two
looked each other in the eyes.
The burglar shrieked.
"You're crazy!" he gasped, white
and Mortified.
'Will you go?' asked Arthur. 'Say
you will go and I'll let you loose"
The man made a sign. but Arthur
would not trust him. He was unarmed
himself, and the man had a weapon.
He had no intention of losing his life
through mere lack of caution. SO he
backed the burglar to the window. and
with one terrible push sent him head.
long through it. Listening and still
smiling he heard the heavy fall on the
pavement below.
ats only 30 feet said he aloud. 1T
oughtn't to hurt him much"
Then he sat down in his chair and
trembled violently.
''That was certainly a narrow es-
cape" he said to himself. ''How it was
that he didn't get the drop on me I
don't know"
His foot hit against the clinking
pieces Of the shattered wine glass. and
he recollected his intention of few
moments before. Then the humor of
the situation struck him. He threw
back his head and laughed till the
crippled burglar heard it and dragged
his injured body away rs rapidly as he
could.
81 think I'll toddle back to the fight
ing line" unused Arthur Wilkinson.
"No one need know I was a deserter.
I'll stand by my guns-if there are any
which the enemy have not taken. And
TIL send another letter to
old Effinger. I'll ask him to come here
and take pot luck with me-play I'm
his son-till better days come. He'll
give me good advice. I'll win out. I've
got to. And WILL As for Winrifred,
wouldn't it be more decent of me to
leave her to some one who will love
her better? We can live without each
other too easily. Winnifred and 1. Then
to work, to work. to work."
The moon came up and was flooding
the room. Arthur looked at it appre-
"You are pretty" he said to Cynthia.
in his most complimentary tone. He
took drink of water. "What is there
in all the world so delicious?" he COM
Then he undressed and looked
at the warm rotundity of his young
body with something akin to rever-
ence.