The Washington times., 1901-09-22

The undertaker's boy brought the coffin
| in the calm. matter-of-fact way of man
| transacting a piece of routine business.
The woman who opened the door for him
was young and fair-complexioned. She
| was rather small and chubby. with hon
| est, pleasing features. Her eyelids were
red and swollen with weeping.
AS she beheld the coffin, her lips twitch-
ed and fresh food of tears burst from
| her eyes. The boy carried his burden
through the kitchen and into a neat little
| room. where on a small bed, covered with
| n white sheet. lay the dead child, two
| waxen candles -burningsat his head. One
could see that when alive il was hand
some boy. and even now the livid lips
wore the glimmer OF a, smile, sweet. sad,
heart breaking. His3ittie arms lay cross
ed over his heart. while showing frcm
under the shroud were his feet, yellow as
wax, their nails grown blue.
| Standing by the little body was tall
old man. His face was covered with
| wrinkles and his mouth was shaded by
| big bushy mustache. He was rather
shabbily dressed. Everything about him
| was old and worn zout--everything except
| the beautiful gold witch chain which dec
| GRATED his discolored waistcoat When
! the undertakers boy suggested that the
dead child be placed In the coffin this old
man fiared up. The calm. business-like
| tone in which the stranger spoke grated
on his nerves
None of your business,.' he snarled.
The undertaker's boy resentfuIly walk
| ed back into the kitchen, wnere he re-
| ceived five silver coins from the young
woman. and went away.
The old mans eyes were full of tears.
| He bent over the dead child, kissed his
/ cold forehead, and taking the little body
/ in his arms he tenderly put it into the cof-
| fin. Then, sinking into a chair and drop
| ping his arms, as though completely ex-
| hausted with grief, he fell into reverie.
He beheld himself In his birthplace.
which he had left when he was boy;
then in Prague, at the university, study
| ing and struggling to keep body and soul
together. These pictures were soon sup
planted by scenes of the revolution.
| Speeches of patriots ready to die for lib
| erty; the enthusiasm of champions of JUS
tice. of universal happiness; days spent on
the barrlcades, under fire; then the years
in prison, and finally freedom once more.
All this the old man now saw In his day
dream He saw himself revisiting his
home. The MILL his father-Inill was still
there, but his father and mother were no
more. Two wooden crosses under lilac
bush told the tale. "A, short distance on
stood third cross: his younger brother
also was dead. and his young wife had
married second time, 1t was her hus-
band who now ran the mill-the mill
which had been his fathers. Broken in
body and in spirit, the homeless man left
his birthplace to begin fresh series of
peregrinations and struggles.
One day as he was walking along the
streets of Prague he came upon man
whose face seemed familiar to him. The
next moment the two were in each 9TH
er's embrace They had been political
prisoners together; they had shared the
tortures of life in the fortress
The poor mans friend was wealthy
Hungarian nobleman. They spent several
days together. AT the hour of parting
the aristocrat took of his gold watch with
its heavy gold chain, and, handing it to
his comrade, said:
Take it in tokel, of our old-time suffer-
ings'
The old man obtained a position in a
Government Office. 1t was about this time
that he made the acquaintance of Pavli-
chek. the father of the dead child. who
was an employe In a foundry Paviichek
was all alone in the world, Ike himself.
and the two became attached to each 9TH
er. They roomed together. and when Paw
lichek married the coupled insisted upon
his living with them.
The old official was n gloomy, ill-tem-
pered man. At least that was the way he
impressed people who judged him by his
manner and appearance without knowing
his heart. 1t was full OF love and sympa-
thy, that heart of his. Only life bad used
him so roughly-he had been through so
much misery and suffering that the i'm
print of his struggles lay on his wrinkled
face, and often found expression in out
bursts Of impstience with everybody and
everything. with all mankind and the
whole hard-heartad I'd world.
Pavlchek and his wife were dearer than
his own self to him. In his morosc, irri-
table way he was devoted to them, as he
might have been to his own children, and
when their child came into the world he
wept for joy. A warm. smiling sunbeam
in May reyives and cheers the cold hard
grown earth. This WIS the way the ap-
pearance of the baby acted on the three
people in the house. The grufr old revo-
iufionist became a new man. He grew
talkative, communicative. full of life All
his leisure time he gave to his pet When
tho little fellow cried he would kiss his
forehead. his fair. soft curis, end often.
when he was quiet. he would stand look
Ing into his clear blue eyes as If trying to
decipher the meaning of their innocent
look. One day. as he was thus carcssing
and kissing the child. he said 81
This child has reconciied me TO human
ity and life. Ny past is made up OF a
series of disappointments ai,l dsuTerings
which hardened my hearehiL Lfttie by little
lost faith In mankind. l BECAME suspi-
cious of everybody; was inqined TO see
eyerybody's actions in the most Isafavor-
able light Gloom surrouhaf me on
every turn. But this child that knows