The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-11-27

Il For my own part, 1
think it came to him
suddenly. Indeed, I'M
til The was 80 he was a
skeptic and did not be-
>------ lieve in miraculous
powers. And here, since it is the most
convenient place, i must mention that
he was q little man and had eyes of
hot brown, very ereetired hair, mus
tache like fhe German, emperors and
freckles. His name was George Nc
Whirter Fothering8y the sort of
name by ara means ito. lead to any ex-
pectation OF miraoles-and he was clerk
at Gomshdtt's Hewasgreatly addict
ed to aSserti1e argument. 1t was while
he was asserting the impossibility of
miracles that he had his first intima-
ton OF his extraordinary powers. This
particular argument was being held in
the bar of .fhe Long Dragon, and Tod
dy Beamish was ,condncting the opposi-
ton by mnnotonous but effective $50
you say that drove Mr.. Fotheringay
to the very limit of his. patience.
There Were present, besides these
two, very dusty ,cyclist, Landlord
Cox and Miss Maybridge, the perfect
" respectable and rather portly bar
maid of the Dragon. Miss Maybridge
was standing with her back to Mr..
FotheringaN, washing glasses. The
others We're watching him, more or
less amused 10y the present ineffective
ness of the assertive method. Goaded
by the Torres Vedras tactics of Mr..
Beamish, Mr.. Fotheringay determined
to make an ,musual rhetorical effort.
'Looky here, Mr.. Bean1iSh," said Mr..
Fotheringay elet us clearly under
stand what "a miracle is. It's some
thing contrariMise to the. course OF
nature, done by power of will. some
thing wfsat couldn't happen without
being specially willed."
$50 yon say" said Mr. Beamish. re
/ pulsing him.
Mr.. Fofherfngay appealed ito the cy-
clist, who had hitherto been silent
auditor, and received his assent-given
with hesitating cough and a glance
!; at Mr.. Beamish. The landlord would
express no opinion, and Mr. Fotherin-
/ gay. returning to Mr.. Beamish,sreceived
the unexpected concession Of a quail
fled assent to his definition ofaamiracle.
For instance said Mr.. NOtherin-
gay, greatly encouraged. "here would
Sbe q miracle. That lamp. in the,natural
course Of nature. couldn't burn like
;that upsy down, could it, Beamish?"
s"You say it couldn't said Beemish.
"And your" said Fotheringay. You
don't mean to say-eh?"
NO" said Beamish reluctantly. ""No.
lit, couldn't"
Every weIl,'' said Mr.. Fotheringay.
''Then here comes some one, as it might
be, along here and stands, as it might
he, ghere and says to that lamp, as i do,
collecting all my will: Turn upsy down
without breaking and go on burning
steady and Hello!"
sHelio!' The impossible, the increii-
BILE, was visible to them all. The lamp
hung inverted in the air, burning
quietly, with its flame pointing down.
1t was as solid. as indisputaDle as
ever a lamp was. the prosaic, common
lamp Of the Long Dragon bar.
Mr.. Fotheringay stood with an ex-
tended ;foretinger and the knitted
brows Of one anticipating a catastro-
phic smash. The cyclist who was sit
ting next the lamp, ducked and jump
ed across the bar. Everybody jumped
more or less. Miss Maybridge turned
and screamed For nearly three see.
onds the lamp remained still. A faint
cry OF mental distress came from Mr.
Fotheringay. 81 can't keep it up" he
said, "any longer" He staggered
back, and the inverted lamp suddenly
flared, fell against the corner of the
bar, bounced aside, smashed upon the
floor and went out
1t was lucky it had metal receiver
or the whole place would have beer
in blaze. Mr.. Cox was the first t.
speak, and his remark, shorn of needless
sexcrescences,, was to the effect thai
Fotheringay was fool. Fotheringay
was beyond disputing even so funda
mental a proposition as that. He wai
astonished beyond measure at til.
thing that had occurred. The subse
ouent conversation threw absolutel!
no light on the matter SO far as Fother
,ingay was concerned the general opin
ion not only followed Mr.. Cox yer.
closely, but very vehemently. Ever.
one accused Fotheringay of a sill.
trick and presented him to himself a
foolish destroyer Of comfort and sc
,curity. His mind was in tornado 0
perplexity. He was himself inclined t
agree with them, and he made re
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. opposition to tn
X of hiS 1nnnrtllrp e.
He went home flushed and heated
coat collar crumpled, eyes smartin
and ears red. He watched each of tn
ten street lamps nervously as he passe
It. It was only when he found hin