Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-01-24

me 'DrOtDer. just uoW you SoiSo he
by the great term. man These are
nv names. You may call me Brother
Man."
We'll, then. Brother Man," said
Philip, smiling a little to think Of the
very strangeness Of the whole affair,
"your reason for thinking was not
sincere In my sermon this morning was
because Of the extravagant lunch this
evening"
Not 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 1t is time to
put out the lights and 80 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 II he had not
broken of abruptly.
"Other reasons. In your sermon you
tell the people they o. cht 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. and 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 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
II not prlncely. 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 ireplaces. 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 tireplaces still re-
mained, 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-
longs to my church. 1t Is the parson-
age, and I am simply living In 1t as
the minister"
"Yes. understand. You, minister,
are living in this princely house while
other people have not where to lay
their heads"
Again Philip fot the same tempta-
ton to anger steal into him, and again
he checked himself at the thought:
THE man Is certainly insane. The
whole thing is simply absurd. will
get rid Of him. And yet
He could not shake of strange and
powerful impression which the stran.
gers words had made upon him. Crazy
or not. the man had hinted at the pos
slbility Of IN insincerity on bis part
which made him restless. He deter.
mined to question him and see If he
really would develop a streak Of in
sanity that would justify him In get
ing rid Of him for the night.
Brother Man." he said. using the
term his guest had given him. do you
think | am living too extfavagantly to
live as do?"'
"Yes. In these times and after such q
sermon"
what would you have me do?" Phil
ip asked the question half seriously.
half amused at himself for asking ad-
vice from such source.
do as you preach that others ought
to-"
Again that silence fell over the room.
And again Philip felt the same i'm
preston of power In the strange mans
words.
The Brother Man." as he wished to
be called. bowed his head between his
hands again. and Mrs. Strong whisper
ed to her husband: Now 1t Is certainly
worse than foolish to keep this up any
longer. The man Is evidently insane.
We cannot keep him here all night.
He will certainly do something terri
BILE. Get rid Of him. Philip. This may
be n trick on the part Of the whisky
men,"
Never in all his life had Philip been
so puzzled to know what to do with q
human being. Here was one, the
strangest he had ever met. who had
come into his house; 1t Is true he had
been invited. but once within he had
invited himself to stay all night and
then had accused his entertainer of
living too eXtravagantly and called
him all insincere preacher. Add to all
this the singular fact that he had de-
clared his name to be Brother Man
and that he spoke with calmness that
was the very incarnation Of peace. and
Philips wonder reached its limit.
In response to his wife's appeal
Philip rose abruptly and went to the
front door. He opened it, and a whir
Of snow danced in. The wind ha(