The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1905-01-14

NlN II lNNl Ransom looked sorrow
kssISS-;sIx Wv w fully into his friends face.
El@Q The note OF fnallty IN that
brief negative was unmlstakable Aud
the pity Of III = shall not come again,
Derrator But now that you are send
ing me away we shall likely enough
never meet again you are going to
hear the truth.
Derrator bowed
-Be precise, my dear friend he muir
INJURED, with q faint note Of irony IN his
lone. lam going to hear your view Of
the truth
Il do not accept the correction Ran
som answered. quickly There are
times when man can make no mis-
take. aud this is one Of them. You
shall hear the truth. and when you
have spun ont your days here TO their
limit your days OF sybaritic idleness,
yon shall hear It again-onIy il will be
too late. Mind that-~it will be TOO late.
You are lighting against nature. You
were born 10 rule, TO be master over
men. You have power-the gift OF
swaylng tie minds and hearts Of yotr
fellow creatures OncC yon accepted
your Sestiny. your feet were planted
firmly upon the great ladder, SOU could
have climbed Where you would
Ny friend Derrator murmured .it
was not worth while"
Ransom turned upon him fiercely.
Not worth while. Is II worth while,
then. to loIter In your flower gardens.
to be dilettante student, 20 write fu-
gitive verses. to dream away your days
In the idleness Of purely enervating
eultureg Life apart from ones fellows
must always lack robustness. You
have the instincts Of the creator, Der
rator. You cannot stihe them. Some
day the cry Of the world will fall upon
your ears. and II may be TOO late For
the place Of all men some time or other
is filied'
Derrator 1T a cigarette. aud took his
friend BY the arm
Come. he said. "You have plenty
81 time Tor the train. ! Will tell the
carriage 70 10 on TO the top Of the hill
want 10 show you my possessions
Ransom recognized purpose in his
friends invitation. Together they
climbed the mountainous path. At the
summit Defrator paused.
Look around" he said.
III Is beautiful view Ransom ad
mitted coldly
Derraior laughed softly.
Look again he said. There is the
sea the moor. Turn your face 70 the
wind: can you smell the heather We
have left the rose gardens below. Ran
som. This is natvalsa-the mother. the
mistress benehcient. wonderful You
are man OF cities Stay here with
me for day or two. and the JOY Of all
these things viii steal into your blood
and You will know what peace IS
peace Is for the dead Ransom an
swered tiercesy: ~the last reward. per
haps OK q breaking life. The life e.
fective. militant. is the only life for
men. Break away from it. Derrator.
for Gods sake. Yours is the spirit CD
the decadent. Were you born into the
world. do you think. to lciter through
life an Idle worshiper at the altar OF
beauty who are You to dare to skulk
IN quiet places while the battle Of life
Is fought by others.
Derrator smiled quietly the smile
that Ransom hated,
"Dear friend he said 'the world
can get on very well without me- and
have no need Of the world. The bat
tie that you speak off, well. / too, have
been in the fray. as you know The
memory Of it is still nightmare to
me-
"You were IN treated, Derrator,
Ransom interrupted. "but YOUR return
would be all the more triumph Aou
viii 80 straight into office. The Pre-
mIer himself is your suppliant"
Derrator shook his head.
~Let us confne our conversation 10
reneraIities.v he said. dryly- DO not
think that l nourish any resentment
against the party for whom l laboreai.
owe them nothing but thanks for
driving me out Only have learned
nv lesson. The strenuous life which
you would giorify | have tried aud
found wanting All the great causes
Of life are honeycombed with the dis
ease Of mans ambition and vanity and
greed. For me the bottom has been
Knocked out Of the whole thing.
have found here the life that satisfies
me. Come and see me when you will,
Ransom. but never again as an am.
bassadorv
And Ransom was silent. because he
had no more to say. The two men
stood side by side, watching the car