Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-30

What pinnacle the man reached and what
a drop he had! 1t has always seemed to
me an extraordinary instance of the human
leaven running through us all. What was
the real cause of his collapsed" he asked,
suddenly. Was it drugs or drink? 1 have
often wished to get at the truth
Again Chilcote changed his attitude
rs truth ever worth getting at?' he ask
ed, irrelevantly.
"In the case of a public man-yes. He
exchanges his privacy for the interest of
the masses. If he gives the masses the
details OF his success. why not the details
of his failure? But was it drink that
sucked him under?''
No" Chilcote's response came after a
pause.
"Drugs?"
Again Chllcote hestated. And at the
moment of his indecision a woman brushed
past him, laughing boisterously. The sound
Jared him.
Was it drugs?" the stranger went on
easily, Il have always had a theory that
1t was"
Yes. 1t was morphia.' The answer
came before Chilcote had realized it. The
womans laugh at the strangers quiet per-
sistence had contrived to draw it from him.
Instantly he had spoken he looked about
him quickly, like one who has for mo-
ment forgotten necessary vigilance.
There was silence while the stranger
thought over the information just given
him. Then he spoke again, with a new
touch of yehemence.
so / imagined he said. Though, on
my soul, / never really credited 1t. To
have gained so much, and to have thrown
1t away for common vice!' He made an
exclamation of disgust.
Chilcote gave an unsteady laugh. You
judge hardly" he said
The other repeated his sound of con-
tempt. Justly SO. No man has the right
to sduander what another would give his
soul for. 1t lessons the general respect for
power"
You are believer in power?" The tone
was sarcastic. but the sarcasm sounded
thin
Eyes. All power is the outcome of indi-
viduaiity. either past or present. 1 find no
sentiment for the man who plays with it,
The quiet contempt of the tone stung
Chilcote
DO you imagine that Lexington made nc
night" he asked. impulsively. Cant you
picture the mans struggle while the vice
that had been slave gradually became mas
teri He stepped to take breath, and in
the cold pause that followed 1t seemed to
him that the other made murmur of in
credufty.
Perhaps you think OF morphia as a
| pleasure?" he added. Think of it. instead
as tyrant-that fortunes the mind If held
20, ana the BODY II east OFF, Urged by the
darkness and the silence of his companion
the rein OF his speech had loosened In
! that moment he was not Chilcote the
, member for East Wark. whose moods and
sltSICeS were prONerDlal, but ChilcOte the
man whose mind craved the relief OF speech
You talk as the world talks-out of ig-
norance and self-righteousness, he went
on Before you condemn Lexington you
! should put yourself in his place
| AS you do?' the other laughed.
| Unsuspecting and inoffensive as the laugh
was. II startled Chiicote. With sudden
alarm he pulled himself UP.
but the attempt fell fiat. oh,
merely speak from-from De Quincy
But l believe this fog is shifting-I really
| believe Il is shifting Can you oblige me
| man may still smoke though he has been
| deprived or sight" He spoke fast and dis
! Jointediy He was overwhelmed by the
Idea that he had let himself go. and pos
! sessed by the wish to obliterate the conse-
| quences. AS he talked he fumhled for his
| cigarette case.
His head was bent as he searched for Il
| nervously. Without looking up, he wa.
| conscious that the cloud of fog that hele
| him prisoner was lifting. rolling away, clos
| Ing back again. preparatory to final dis
| appearance. Having found the case. hi
| put a cigarette between his lips and raiseS
| his hand at the moment that the stranger
| drew match across his box
For second each stared biankly at the
| others face. suddenly made visible by tbs
| lifting OF the fog. The match in the strang
ers hand burned down till 1t scorched his
| fingers. and. feeling the pain, he laughed
and let IL drop.
| "of all odd things!" he said. Then he
| broke on The circumstance was too nove
| for ordinary remark.
BY one of those rare occurrences thoss
chances that seem too wild for real life AMI
| yet belong TO no other sphere, the two
| faces so strangely hidden and strangely
| revealed were identical. feature for feature
| IL seemed to each man that he looked not al
| the face of another. but at his own faes
reflected In flawless looking glass.
or the two, the stranger was the first To