The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1905-09-29

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and fed him. He knew of work that
he could do and would try him ct tt
A man who can operate typewriter
at the rate of 100 words a minute
would likely prove valuable In his
Office. ~
There was spare couch In Fergu-
sons room, and he could easily accom-
modate the man over night. Their
talk had revealed numerous favorable
signs. The man had been at Kentucky
Military Institute, and one of Fergu-
sons chums had likewise been trained
there. Thence came the discovery Of
common acquaintance. IS
They went out on the car to Fergu-
sons place and went in talking earn
estly of the strike and of labor prob
lens generally. The man had no SYM
pathy for the "scab,' and Ferguson
had less for the union Transfers.
They were absorbed and earnest. ':"
Ferguson began at once making
preparations for the night, talking
meanwhile. He sat with shoe in his
hand and his guest was standing be-
fore him. q.
The change was like a flash, and
like flash Ferguson's fist had struck
out a fierce blow below the belt, as
this man suddenly dropped his voice
and reached for Ferguson's watch.
The big, deep chest Of the man went
shut like burst balloon and he fell
over, quite unconscious. Ferguson
caught him as he fell and in an instant
was crowding him out through the
open window. The body dropped heav-
lily and never stirred.
EVERY thief has SOUL"
Ferguson had no superstitions about
Immortality. What Prof. Munsterbere
has to say. on that subject quite ex-
pressed his own views, but the words
rang insistently as he looked once
more on that helpless thing below.
Fear he never felt for moment
What the world would say he little
cared. Whatever it was that troubled
him was purely personal-his own af-
fair.
He sat long into the morning facing
that-his own affair. After all, were
they so different? Was he, the good
hearted benefactor of men and believer.
in thieves souls. so very different from
the thief out there? Were they not
both thoughtless followers of impulses
that needed only to be reviewed in the
mind to stay them from action? To
think afterward-even the philanthro
pist must know the pain of that some
times. What was the right of it Their
if this was all wrong?
There was some one stirring below
Voices came drifting in through the
open window. A growing grayness
and the sounds of awakening traffic
told that the night was far spent. The
day was coming, and with it new fac
tors in this awful problem of life and
perhaps death. Was it death that
he had brought to this other one, this
other who had come into his own life
unasked, unknown? And he. Fergu-
son, who had willed him only good
had he sent him out into the great
silence, the silence more terrible than
that Of night or of infinite space?
Ferguson did not move He lay on
the couch and tried to sleep. Slowly
he began to see the possibilities that
might grow out of this adventure
Might he not be held responsible for a
crime? He began to see the thing
grow big. 1t was more than a personal
affair. He saw how it touched his
friends, his family, and it came over
him how it reached out and touched
all society. One has a deal more food
for thought if he will not think until
afterward.
He was reused early. An officer had
come to learn what had happened.
They had found Smith Wilkins, a no.
torious criminal, lying unconscious in
the court below Ferguson's window.
The man had been hunted for weeks.
There were dark deeds to his credit.
He had studied and improved himself
while in Joliet. He was clever beyond
most men.
He was dead.-Chicago Record-Her-
aid.