The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1902-12-26

He stayed there until he heard Bar
ton begin to cough again, when he in
stantly returned to his friends side to
find him sitting up on the couch, his
head between his hands.
This time the coughing was Of short
duration, and Barton exclaimed the
instant he was able to speak:
II can tell time by my cough, it's so
regular. 1 shall miss it when It leaves
The last one tonight. l usually WIND
| it up about half past TO-"
David, have you consulted doc
torY'
"Not today"
"Any timer
Certainly"
"What does he sayr'
"Just what you and Harris say. QUIT
work and go to Colorado. I can't
| Don't bother about it. I won't go,
that's all. I've begun to get attached
| to the cough, it has shown such an at:
| lection for me-"
He Strengthened up and laughed at
| the look in his friends face. Gordon
was only partly assured.
"It will kill you"
| First time anything ever did"
"You have no right to neglect it"
Neglect it? Don't nurse it day and
night? No cough ever had better care
than mine. give it the best the patent
medicine show affords"
| "It will be the death of you"
Gall right" Barton said cheerfully.
Rather die from my cough than from
a stupid, thoughtless trolley car. By
the way, John, did you ever think of
| the difference between being run over
by a horse and wagon and an auto
| mobileT'
81 never gave it much thought"
"More people get run over by auto;
mobiles than by horses, so the facts
show. You see man can dodge
horse because he-the horse-is alive.
But an automobile Let's change the
subject Give me your programme"
"My programmed
"Your programme as a reformer.
What are you going to do2 What lies
IN your mind? john David Barton
| swiftly changed from the careless, flip
|
! physical condition, and John Gordon
| Instantly knew the friend who loved
| him was talking now out Of his great
serious heart "John, if you are really
| going to try to make the old world bet.
| ter you've held out your arm to wres-
| tier who will give you the struggle OF
| your life. 1 want to help. l don't be-
1 ~ mi 70
struggle, mean. And maybe not the
help either. But tell me your hearts
desire"
"Well, then" John Gordon answered,
willie his whole expression glowed
with lis real deep religious enthusi-
asm and /. pride that swept his thought
| even of Luella Marsh out of existence,
ST have a programme. First, plan to
live at Hope House as long as can be
Of use there or as long >as l can from
that place in the city learE the city. 1t
may be five years. it may be- ten. If
it is ten, shall be only forty. a man
cannot do much public work worthy OF
| the name until he is forty"
''History and biography say other
! wise, but never mind" muttered Bar
ton. eco on"
'My plans Of course do not cover
| possibilities that may come into my
experience at the end of my residence
| in Hope House But l have dreamed
| of many things. l don't mean book
knowledge, but live, personal knowl-
! edge of people. Not the kind that
makes a man a professor of sociology
in the university, but the kind that
| makes a man want to change bad laws
or make good ones; the kind cf knowl.
| edge of people that Paul had when he
| said. Woe is me If l preach not the
gospel the kind of knowledge Of peo
! pie that compels man to see in every
! other man universe of eternal value
and eternal happiness"
'"Flssse are mighty few people in this
city vt think of un-down-at-the-heel
humanity after that fashion" muttered
Barton again. Then after a silence he
asked:
| who's against you In all thisY'
Selfish greed, ecclesiastical pride in
| the churches, political rottenness In the
city management, cynical Indifference
on the part Of cultured men and wom-
en-, whisky, yellow press, business In
terests wherever they touch financial
/ loss. If reform calls for sacrifice; for
eign born and foreign shaped classes,
but most Of all the opposition Of high
bred apathy which grows out Of the
soil Of irreligion."
"And who is on your side~ Barton
asked almost mechanically, In q low
/ tone.
"God, all good men and women In the
churches, and there are many; rising
sentiment among young men against
municipal partisanship, gradually ris-
ing journalism which In time will de-
mand the extinction Of yellow Journal
ism, which is an excrescence that car
ries In large measure Its own destruc-
ton, and rising tide Of popular pas
sion against the saloon as an institu-
ton and for more equal opportunities
In the field Of struggle for human hap
piness."
"You left out the largest item in the
list of forces against reform"
whats thatY"
''The people themselves"
"Of course realize that" John Cor
don replied slowly. "But 1t was not
the people that .crucified Jesus. 1t was
the scribes and Pharisees."
'sThe people yelled. Cruelty himr"
"The rabble. you mean"
kro BE CONTINUED