Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1902-11-14
MANY MEN of
MANY MINDS

b EpITH WIFE


In the northwestern part OF Chicago,
not far cast of the river. IN a place Of
silent streets and empty lots. stand
several large frame houses, with pick.
ct fences, built before the fire. Tail
poplar and cottonwood trees hing
clouds Of pale, gllmmering foliage over
the wooden sidewalks. IN occasional
electric car with one or two passen-
gers shrills past under the rustling
shade, and cows are sometimes pas
tured on the frequent brown lots.
In OF the houses OF this place
there lived two American gentlemen,
different as the poles. Judge Amos
Parker and Mr.. Paul Haviland. Judge
Parker. the house owner. an old set
tier, was a plain man, the father of a
large family.
His wife had died when the children
were little. His sons were gone into
business 81 distant towns, and his
daughters, combining piety and nirta-
ton in a ~neighborlng church. had
sported actively through their respec-
tive courtships till they were all mar
ried and gone, and their father was
left alone with Edna, the servant girl,
and Nick, her brother, who had &c
companied the family when they
moved from Indiana forty years ago.
Judge Parker was q ponderous, easy
going man, of tremendous legal infor-
nation. with n long, white face and
almost no nerves. He Scarcely per.
ceived the loneliness Of his remote
house, and he did not miss his family
too sensitively, as when they were
with him he had been only very slight
ly acquainted with them.
His taste was not for men as individ
uals, but in bulk. He loved the public
and public life, and lie would have pre-
ferred almost any discomfort out Of
doors or in a hall to sitting in a parlor
through an evening.
The Judge could not for an instant
bear exclusive society. Indeed, the
only moment when he experienced N
easiness was when he was forced into
the presence of a group Of people Sc
lected by a delicate social tact instead
of by the rude hand OF chance or polit-
zeal organization. If he had no lecture,
no Republican rally or G. A. II. meet.
ing TO attend, he would go out and sit
on the fence Of his grass plot to smoke
and to talk to Nick or to any casual
loafer.
Paul Haviland. on the other hand,
enjoyed almost no society but that of
his betrothed, Margaret Alden, and a
literary friend, Richard Elliott.
He read law in the law office of
Judge Parker's former law firm for
three winters. 1t was during this time
that he lived with the judge, to get far
away, he said. from the crime and sor-
dldness Of the city, and in the even
ings, while the judge was off with the
public in the CRIME and sordidness, he
sat in the old Parker house and wrote
long interpretive letters to Margaret
Alden and composed verses called
Retrospect circumstance or If"
which gave its name to his volume of
collected verse.
IL
II / had knoWn-bah-there 1t isl
What does Il matter now?
Yet this pressed spray Of clematis
Again reminds me how
But. never miud-its gone and past.
What does it matter now?
Had you but spoken or l not stayed
There on the lawn with her
This clemotis had been. l wis,
A different messenger.
Perhaps-heigh hol The play IS done
And you in Peshawur.
II they had told me what was true
or l had eyes 10 sec,
Earnest been gone or 1t been you
There on the lawn with me
Bah! What's the odds? OR rose or rue
What Is the odds TO me2
Richard Elliott wrote n preface al
most entirely Of margins for the book
commenting favorably on the re
straint, suggestiveness ana perfect
good breeding of Mr.. Haviland's lines
and Paul had great fun in his owl
way in writing them In the evenings
while the judge had great fun In hi
own way in seconding motions and In
Producing politicians in long, heay!
addresses at political clubs.
1t was a curious circumstance Of
Pauls art that, while he himself wa
OF a very sensitive and impressibl'
nature, the attitude he chose to assum,
I'm his verse. one described by Richard
Elliott in a magazine article on "Hay
Hand and In~differentism," was exactl!
Judge ParFer's attitude, and that gen
tleman might have asked with ia
more sincerity:
Bah! What's the odds? Or rose or rue
What Is the odds TO me?
In the spring Of Paul HavllandU
stay at the old Parker house Margare
Alden came TO visit Chicago, and a
the time of her visit she and her love
passed through a long period of menta
suffering.
Their trouble arose on the day Of
heavy spring rain. They were TO hayI
met IN the Art institute, and Pau
Haviland. supposing that Margare
Alden would not keep her tryst in TIT
worst storm Of the year, had not KEEP
his.
lie vas overwhelmed with contritioI
at his mistake when he visited her Il
the evening,
But when he said, ut never occurred
40 no 4t,f rr,ta MOULD 10 ebo~a % anf