Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-11-09
NHM1H Copyright 1907. by the Bobbs-Merrin Coz 1911
Ole Deluge N
BY DAVID GRAHAM PHILLIPS fMD&



And now L see all the smooth frauds
al the weak people who eve hav'
purposes or passions worthy Of Tn
name, all the hnicky finger-dustini
gentry with the fine souls,'' who fiat
ter themselves that their timidity is th'
sQuGamishness Of superior scnsibilitieS
-I see all these feeble folk futterint
their feeble fingers in horror OF me
"'Che brute!" they cry; the bouuder!'
Well, / accept the m quite cheer
fully. Those are the epithets the wishy-
washy always hurl at the strong; they
put me i'm the small and truly aristro'
cratic class of men who do. | proud
~ avow myself nc subscriber TO the
code that was made by the shearers
to encourage the sheep TO keep on being
nice docile animals, trotting meekly UP
To be shoTn or slaughtered as their mas
tiers may decide. / harm no man, and
no woman: but neither do l pause TO
weep over any man or any woman VINO
filings himself or herself upon my steady
spear. / try TO be courteous and con-
siderate 10 all; but / do not stop When
some fellow who has something that be-
longs TO me shouts "Rude!" at me TO
sheer me off.
At the same time her delicate beauty,
her quiet, distinctive, high-bred man
ner. had thrust it home 10 me that in
certain respects | was ignorant and
crude-as who would not have been,
brought up as was /? l knew there
was. somewhere between my roughness
of the uncut individuality n the
smoothness of the planed and sand
papered %nonentity of her set, a mean
better than either, better because more
efficient.
When this was clear to me / sent for
my trainer. He was ms OF those spare,
wiry Englishmen, with skin like tanned
and painted hide-brown except where
the bones seem about to push their
sharp angles through, and there a
frosty, winter apple red. He dressed
like a Deadwood gambler, he talked like
a stable boy; but for all that, you
couldn't fail to see he was a gentleman
born and bred. Yes, he was a gentle
man, though ne mixed profanity into
his ordinary flow of conversation more
literally thar did I when in a rage.
1 stood up before him, threw my coat
back, thrust my thumbs into my trous-
ers pockets and slowly turned about
like a ready-made tailor's dummy.
"Mcnson," said 1, what do you think
OF me?"
He looked me over as If l were a
horse he was about to buy. Sound, I'd
say was his verdict. 'Good wind
uncommon good wind. A goer, and a
slayer. Not a lump. Not a hair out
of place" He laughed. Action a bit
high perhaps-for the track. But n
grand reach"
Il know all that" said I. You miss
point. Suppose you wanted to en-
ter me for-say, the Society sweep
stakes-what then?"
HITn-un - ba mlIftqrnI ppnRptiVRlV.
That's different"
Don't l look-sort of-new-as if the
varnish was still sticky and might come
off on the ladies' dresses and on the
fine furniture.
"Oh-that!" said he obviously. But
NIL those kinds Of things are matters Of
taste"
"Out with it," I commanded. Don't
be afraid. I'm not n of those damn
fools that ask for criticism when they
want only hattery, as you ought TO
know by this time. I'm aware of my
good points, know how good they are
better than anybody else in the world.
And l suspect my weak points-always
did. I've got on chiefly because / made
people tell me to my face what they'd
rather have grinned over behind my
back"
What's your gamer" asked Monson.
"I'm in the dark"
''I'll tell you, Monsoon. I hired you to
train horses. Now 1 a to hire you
to train me. too. AS it's double work,
it's double pay"
Say on said he, land say it slow"
II want to marry" / explained. II
want to inspect all the offerings before
I decide. You are to train me so that I
can go among the herds that'd shy off
from me If / wasn't on to their little
ways"
He looked suspiciously at me. doubt
less thinking this some new develop
ment Of American humor."
IT mean It," 1 assured him.. I'm GO
Ing to train, and train hard. I've got
no time to lose. I must be on my way
down the aisle inside of three months.
7 give you a free hand. I'll do just what
you say
The jobs out of my line" he pro-
tested.
Il know better" said 1. I've always
seen the parlor under the stable in you.
Well begin right away. What do o
think of these clothes?"
"Well-they're not exactly noisy" he
said. "But-they're far from silent.
That waistcoat-" He stopped and
gave me another nervous, timid look.
He found 1t hard to believe a man of
my sort. so self assured, would stand
the truth from a man of his second
fiddle sort.
GO ont" I commanded. Speak out!
Mowbray Langdon had on one twice
as loud the other day at the track"
but, perhaps you'll remember, it
was only his waistcoat hat was loud
not be himself. Now, a man of your
manner and voice and-you've got a
look out OF the eyes that'd wake the
dead all by itself. People can feel you
coming before they hear you. When
they feel and hear and see all together
Its like a brass band In scarlet uni
form, with a seven-foot, slSy-blue drum
major. If your hair wasn't so black
and your eyes so steel-blue and sharp.
and your teeth so big and strong and
white. and your jaw such a--such a.
jaw
Il see the point" said I. And / did.
You'll find you won't need to tell me
many things twice. I've got a busy day
before me here; so We'll have to sus-
pend this until you come to dine with
me at Sat my rooms. I want you to
put in the time well. Go to my house
in the country and then ND to my