The Opelousas courier., 1905-06-24

HIS HANDICAP.

By GRACE S.


a giant for physical strength to Ii
Imply in a wheel chair, with a ri;
over his lap, his hat pulled over hi
hollow eyes, his pale face attractin;
the plying gaze Of every passer-by.
But Tom felt strongly the need TO
kirke to get used to that sort Of thing
to take up life again as nearly as pos
sible where he had left it off, and t.
mingle with men instead Of trying t.
hide away from them,
Thc beginning Of the journey wa:
accomplished with the ease Tom ha(
prophesied, thanks to some previou:
planning. At the station Caldwell was
broJgiat by The most direct and leas'
conspicuous route to the steps of the
train, where Tom, assisted by q cheer
full colored porter, conveyed him swift
ly Oil board the Pullman: and estab
lished him, not in 4 private C0mpart.
met%-Tom had considered that idea
and rejected it-but in Il chair at the
rear of the car, where he could OBJ,
serve everybody else and be himself
nnnoticed. q
As the train left the station; Tom
was gratifed t&pote thai kirkc hooked
out Of tie window with more interest
in his somber e]ses than had been there
- remsed " not a lg>g distance
away, butkhe luncheon bur arrived
in the middle of the journey; and Tom
ordered n lslish meal. Kirke, begin
uing ianguidE /, was soon eating broiled
bluefsh and %Qast duck with his old
time zest. Ton, on the other side of
the table, talked and joked, and
brought to his friends face a frequent
smile.
At Remsen; Caldwell found himself
being wheeled rapidly away through
the wide, embroidered streets of the
old university town. Several genera
tons Of Thorpes had beer Educated
there the succession being broken
when Tom had insisted on going to a
more famous centre Of learning.
"Still, I sometimes wish I'd stnred
by the family traditions Tom de
tlaied, turning from the side street
which had brought them from the sta
ton into the broad avenue which led
toward the sfoup of college buildings
on the hill. "Whenever l come here
l get a new respect for the plact.
There's a cortsiii atmosphere in Which
one seems to breathe the very spirit
Of iearning-the real thing; They've
got Some OF the finest men here I ever
knew-McIntosh, the mathematics in
.structor, and Bronson, in history, and
Wentworth, the crack-n-iack in shelf:
istrF, I watt 10 see them all, and l
hope We'll be in time to get into Went
worth's chemistry lecture. You'll enjoy
it, l know: there's nobody like him.
He'd make a ~lons-haired musician
threw 1owii his score and take to the
Bunsen burner and the retort."
He was talking with a ~purpose-to
keep Caldwell from refusing to go into
the recitation rooms, as he feared he
might do: But Caldwell, although he
was dreading to be taken before the
eyes of men of his own sort, had
reached the point of understanding that
Tom had a definite purpose in all
this, which he did not mean te be cow
ard enough to defeat:
SO he set a grip on himself-easy
enough in the old days, harder than
could be believed now-and acquiesced
pleasantly when Tom wheeled him
down a lotie corridor Of the Science
Hall; and parising at d certain door,
whispered somewhat %nervously:
"You won't mind my taking YOU in?
The doors at the back of the room,
and Wentworth won't see you, any
how" ...- .- T. =.
Caldwell's shaken spirit WINGED for
at instant as he was drawn into the
lecture room, and a hundred pairs of
eyes looked curiously round at the
unusual noise Of a wheel chair bump
ing through the doorway. Tom was
too much wrought up to steer straight.
But when the boys saw the pale face
in the chai.-a face which still showed
both strength and charm-and took
note Of the feebleness of the tell figure
resting in inert lines against the plainly
needed support, they turned away
again. and only a few fellows near the
door gave attention to the newcomers.
These men made them welcome with
friendly mods.
But after the first five minutes in the
room, kirke Caldwell needed nobody
to divert his thoughts from himself.
Tom Thorpe, breathing a little hard
from mingled exartion and anxiety,
might lean back in his seat and let his
friend alone. kirke had at last for
gotten everything in the world but
what he now saw before him.
The lecturers face, although tanned |
to a healthy color. was scared with
irregular, blanched burrows, and his
eyes were hidden from sight behind
spectacles.
His body was strong, magnificently
built; the movement of his hands, as
he talked, illustrating his words with
gestures, was vigorous and full of mean-
his voice vas deep and rich; his
infections We're full Of vivacity and
enthusiasm; but the man himself was
by the absolute loss of his
sight.
As Caldwell, watching him, thought
for an instant to all the blind
he had ever known. if occurred |
to him that although they had almost