The leader., 1902-12-10

anu the GebOnS OF THIS uIes
Some women's hearts stay at home,
swept and garnished, but il the right
man does not knock, they remain for
ever untenanted, but without Luke
Holforth ever calling to her (for he
was a stern man, with stern ideas of
honor), she had turned away from her
other lovers to watch this strong
swimmer breasting the currents of
life, SO handicapped from the first that
to sink was almost a foregone conclu-.
| sion, and her heart had gone out to
him and staid.
We hear of ships that pass in the
night, but what of those that pass in
the day, near enough for us to see the
tears of our best beloved as they are
carried by life's strong current, each
moment farther and farther from us =?
We may not even have dared to lift a
hand in greeting, yet our eyes have
spoken, our message has sped, the
password of "Courage!" has been ex-
changed, and some day, in some signal
instances, the gods intervene, setting
a momentary gangway between the
two passing vessels, by which one soul
steps across to another. . Thus
had it been with Luke and Eliza beth,
and now, while those other men talked
of them, these two leaned their heads
| together, and were in port at last.
Elizabeth was not young; there were
no roses in her cheeks, only dimples,
but she was lovely yet. And as they
sat together, sharers of the intensest
| bliss of which human beings are capa-
BILE, that none ever know the lack of
until they have found their true life
mate, he said (and was it an instructive
offering to the gods to avert disas-
ter9:
HAS Grimswold been here lately?"
She laughed and answered nothing,
knowing the ways of men; and, in
deed, if Grimswold had staid away, this
moment would not have been quite SO
sweet to Holforth.
Brains, good looks, great wealth
what might not Grimswold have done,
with the world to kick and Betty to
reward him?" he said.
Betty looked doubtful. Not the
least of her charms was the dwarfing
of all other mems claims to greatness
| by measurement with Luke's; while
she was equally incapable of seeing
| both sides of his character, it was only
the side towards her, his fighting and
| staying qualities, that mattered So,
| by way of answer, she did one of those
little feminine things, despised of
| cleverer women, but infinitely dear to
a mans heart. She lifted his lean
brown hand to her soft cheek, the
hand that had striven and fought,
while into her own had come the little
hollow made by years of fasting for
love-the hollow you will find in the
hands of the women who desire love
most, who have starved for it, and
whose youth has passed while waiting
for it, but she had not-waited in vain.
When presently they came back to
rational conversation she said: 81
like people who do things"
81 don't know" he hesitated. "After
all, the man who goes on hitting nail
after nail on the head, driving every
one of them home, is bit of a carpen-
ter, and may get as bored at last as the
one who hits his own fingers every
time instead of the nail. l often think
how hateful the quiet, subjective or
der of people must find the active hui
man persons who go up and down, per-
petually sweeping the world; what
torture they must suffer from those
harsh noises intruding on their peace
full enjoyments."
Elizabeth made a movement of dis
sent, but he went on.
81 can imagine them watching with
pity the marionettes jumping about in
the crowd-the sages all abhorred
energy, preached-peace-"
"And l have always felt so sorry for
their livers and their wives" cried Eliz-
abeth, with spirit. 'Listen. The night
cometh when no man can work that's
death-and a long, long night it is.
Work while ye have the light that's
day-and a short one at best-not one
moment may be wasted out of the bit
left over to us when we have slept, and
eaten, and submitted to the importuni-
ties of our best friends who thieve our
time as if it were dirt, instead of
gold!"
GAS 1 mean to thieve yours" he said.
Gle who has thriven may lie till sew
en-" she said, slyly. cts the early ris-
ing in your youth that enables you to
take your ease when you are old. Not
that you are that" she added proudly.
sit is only women who grow DID,"
He sprang up, throwing back his
shoulders with a gesture as if he
loosed pack from them; and all the
lean years of the past flashed before
him; but in that moment he saw life as
from mountain top, as the Greeks
and Romans saw it, clear and whole,
birth and death as vestibule, and door
of exit, inevitable accidents, events.
commissions, between, none alarming
to a courageous soul, that snatches its
pleasure from between lulls of the
storm, and with the one thing it loves
beside it, looks forward with a fine Sc
renity, even curiosity, to the tremen-
dous moment of death. that divides
life from nothing, or life from new
forms and splendor of life.
Suddenly Holforth snatched her to
him =. with that past behind
him, that future before, the man who
had been kicked all the way along in
that moment came at last gloriousIy
into his kingdom, yet he only said:
Poor Grimswold!" being but man,
and human.-Chicago Tribune.
ALUMINUM-GOLD LATEST.