The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1902-08-14
fore I quit I could charm cobra

fore I quit I could charm cobra
every time"
For some moments he ssl6 moth.
ing more, but fell into one ECf his
old fits Of abstraction. Presently he
reused himself andasaid, with aslieht
shtver although itswss July: NY!
but there, was fearful sfAscinafion
about it," Then he rose abruptly
and went into the house, leaving me
wondering.
Some days after this conversation
one of the navvies-a treacherous-
looking Spaniard- struck a fellow
workman over the head with shovel
and killed him outright. In the even
ing we were sitting on the veranda
as usual, and remarked: "Of course
they'll hang the fellow, and he richly
deserves it," M N =
s'They haven't my right 10 hang
him or anybody else, SKeister replied
sharply. do you suppose that-devil-
ish Spaniard could keep from brain
ing poor Mike? No more than a
wolf can keep from killingla lamb
that crossed its path. 1t was the fell
lows nature, I tell you; and a man
can't change his nature any more
than leopard can changeitssspots.
ss'I believe jim : sort of trahsmigra-
ton of souls, Up the scale and not
down. That idea that the fasteners
have, about the souls of people going
back to inhabit beasts again.. is all
Il rot. II seems to-. me something like
this: Man is the highest order of
creation upon the earth. He is the
sembodiment of all that has gone be
fore him. In the long struggle up
wards. from chaos to the present
time-from the first spark of life to
the complex animal called man, all
the sensations and experiences of the
orders of life that have preceded him
are embodied in him, and lie buried
in his sub-consciousness. When q
name1ess terror of the dark assails q
child, it is remnant Of the fear
some poor naked ancestor expe-
rienced in the dark, teeming jungle,
when existence was a precarious
thing, and meant a constant struggle
with the giant forces about him.
When an ungovernable passion seizes
a man and he commits murder, it
is the disposition Of one of his mon
ster ancestors, who wallowed in the
primeval slime, and fought its enc
mics to the death, with tusk and
claw, asserting itself. AS child will
| sometimes resemble some remote an
cestor in disposition or appearance,
or both, so will reappear in every man
traits that characterized some form
of life in the endless chain that
reaches back through the limitless
ages. A man is not unity but an
infinite complexity-a multitude of
conflicting experiences, tied up in one
bundle. Free? Bah! He is no more
free than a man in the middle Of a
moving multitude is free to stand
still or go the other way. His en-
vironments,> past and present, deter
mine his course of action"
I was so astonished at this sudden
burst of philosophy that it took me
some moments to formulate reply
in defense of my theory of the free
agency of man. When I began to
state my theories, he laughed in his
odd, bewitching way, and skillfully
changed the subject of conversation.
AS the weeks went by Keister's re
markable ability to handle men be-
came apparent. There was certain
compelling power in his look and
voice that was hard to resist. More
than once during the burning August
weather, when the men were we'll
nigh worthless because of the heat.
I marvelled at his unique gift. s@
i One evening after an exceptionally
hot day, we threw ourselves upon the
grass in the shade of a big gum tree,
instead of taking our accustomed
places on the veranda. Within a few
! feet of Kcister was a large pile OF
loose stones, upon which the sun had
been beating mercilessly all day. "a
was lying Hat on my back, with my
hands locked under my head, and gaz-
ing up at the dropping leaves of the
gum tree, when heard my compan-
ion utter sharp exclamation of sur.
prise. Turning towards him, i saw
his eyes riveted on the stone-heap. In
a moment large rattlesnake came
gliding softly towards him from the
heated pile. In an instant Keister
was sitting cross-legged and gazing
steadily into the monsters eyes.
was too terrified to. move# OF even
speak, $50 simply watched 81 one ina
trance. 81 3 M
For moment the snake wavered
then, approaching to within two feel
of Keister's lowered face, raised sit!
Fself to fully a third of its length
and swayed it's body with rythnljs
motion like that of rush In run.
d ming water. Then they gazed stead
lily into each others eyes as if eact
. were reading the Utmost secret 20
the Others being. For q moment
the. snakes bead-ike eyes seemed .te
soften till they looked almost human
whiles Keister's eyes took on a hard
glitter and his face became contortei
in way that made it appear tht
very incarnation of evil. ss
prnSant1v tho sunlro +,1ruod eSsTS