Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1903-02-05
His Soul and
His Bodys-~
BY S. RHETT ROWAN.

=
is hours out of the "a, which wa.
every two weeks.
James Kenneth boiled all the sug
ars of the refinery, and boiled them
well, and looked after the working
of the house at night with consci-
entious care, when the superintend-
ent slept.
! 1t was skillful, arduous toll, ac-
complished with mathematical pre-
cision, just like the throb of the en-
CINE, the beat Of the piston-rod and
the slow grind of the mill, which
never stopped, never relaxed and
never FASTENED its motion.
Kennetb's body slept its scant al
lowance of hours, and watched and
labored the remainder of the time,
and went the rounds of the vast re-
finery among the complicated and
whirriag machinery, keenly regard
| full of the interests of the owners of
the big plant and surrounding beet
fields. He gave orders to those un-
der him. and saw that the thin sliced
beet-roots were boiled to a pulp, the
/ juice extracted and converted into
different grades and kinds of sugars,
never varying in the excellence of his
work, or his vigilance, and conse-
quently holding a high place in the
superintendent esteem as being the
most valuable and valued man in the
Pacific coast refinery, which is the
best in the state of Oregon.
But James Kenneth's labors were
all mechanical His sugarmahng,
like the rest Of his life, was done by
force Of habit, and the routine of
his days followed in grooves, and on
lines, traced by long training, by me-
cessity, and the eXigencies of condi-
tions accepted as inevitable.
From buoyant light-hearted and
recklessly gay, in early youth, Ken
meth had grown to be grave and mel
ancholy, in his thirtieth year, al
though no complaint crossed his lips,
nor was his silence morose, nor his
words indicative of the inward strug
gle always going on, between deep
rooted and profound depression and
a life habit Of proper reserve, which
inculcated that our griefs and loves,
and joys, and sorrows are our own,
not to be desecrated by display or
paraded for careless scrutiny and |
comment.
Kenneth's body lived in the hust
ling Pacific coast town, where trade /
was brisk, cowboys and stalwart min |
ers were frequent visitors, and the |
free, primitive life of the great west |
ern plains was being rapidly merged |
into the feyerish struggles of over I
wrought civilization, whose ambition
is always and ever the beautiful, /
shining dollar.
But Kenneth's soul and memory
dwelt persistently in a city near the
sea, where the winds blow gently
from the south in summer, and keen,
cold and inyigorating from the north
when winter and its bright days
come.
They dwelt among palms and flow
ers, surrounding an ancient brick
house, facing an avenue where ran a
long line of trees; around an old
home in whose rooms fingered the
scent # verbena and musk roses,
and in whose halls the echo of
rich, gay voice reverberated, and
careless laughter was frequent.
If it was thoughtless and egotisti-
cal laughter, Kenneth was not aware
of il. If the ease and comfort which
reigned in the shaded and finely old
fashioned rooms, where a fretful,
handsome, eldedly woman went back
and forth and Mignon's gay voice re-
sounded. Kenneth neither realized
nos saw it, but bent 20 his task with
still more assiduous ardor, for did
not Mignon's needs grow as each
year added grace to her light form
and beauty to a face lit with violet
blue eyes?-a face whose red lips
could be compressed into lines of
cruelty when the within and desire
OF the moment was not gratifed
Kenneth? Oh, he's such a plod- i
derl" Mignon complained, carelessly, +
to a silent listener. "He takes no
interest in anything outside of his
work. He loves machinery, and is
never happy unless he is pottering
about in a big sugar mill. Ask mann
ma. He would not come home at
all last year, you remember. lie Just
went from one place TO the other.
Came Lack from Cuba, and went out
west, and never stopped here to see
US. But he sent me lovely pin for
Christmas, and let me order furs in
New York. Ken's a dear. And I have
my French maid, too. Nobody can
be properly dressed without a French
maid. Felieie does hair divinely.
got her because she left New York
on account of her health Overwork.
she says. I wrote TO Ken that
positively must have her. She does
over my bali gowns and makes them
look positively new. She made me
the loveliest little wrap Of mechIin
and chiffon. she's a perfect treas
ure"
A slight quiver shook the sensitive