The Washington times., 1906-10-14


the structure and rejoicing in their
success and then you hear the shouts
Of the crowd as the scaGoldlng breaks.
and see those two men hanging over
the abyss. clinging 10 q little plank
j IS rot strong enough 10 hold them
b0II. ana IL is cIacking. and that
means fearful death. They Try to
cling tc the stones Of the building and
cannot and so there comes ore Of
those fearful moments that makes a
mans heart break TO think If. Then
in the fearful silence you hear one ~
the men whisper that he has three
CHILDREN and a wife. and you see he
other gaze a. him an instant with
terror in bis eyes and then let 60 MS
u'id ard shoot down 10 the street be-
Jos" And that IS aH Of tie story"
Ar- Howard stopped. and there fol-
lowed loHz silence. Afterward 10
went on, has voice trembling: THAT
is all" be said. EXCEPT. OF course,
that the man was killed And I can
think of nothing but that body hurled
down through the air, and the crushed
figure ard the WritHiug limbs. fancy
the epic grandeur Of a5ui Of that poor
Ignorant lab rrs and the glory that
must have famed Up in his heart AZ
tnar great instant, 50 i End it 3
are4d-u. poem. and wonder Il it would
not frlElteu that careless girl 10 read
Itg.'
Alr. Howard stopped again, and the
officer asked IL The story were true.
81 do NOT know that" answered the
other. NOR DO ] care. II is enough
to know that every day men are called
upon 10 face the shudder.ug reality
Of existence in some such form as that
And the question which Is brought 10
my heart Is. II Il came TO me as ter
riDle as that. and as sudden ard i'm
piacable. would I show myself the man
or the dasrard2 And tnau dlied me
with a fearful awe and humility. and
guilty wonder whether somewhere
in Tie world tlefa might not b. wall
from wIl3ca ! saoIid be throwing my
SELL instead 0f nursing my Illness as
] do. and being content 10 read about
greatness. And, Ola, I tell you, when
] think If such things as tlat au1
see the pride and wortlIessuess of this
thing thai men call high I1e.' il seem
ed 90 me no longer needless folly, but
dastard'v and lendisa crime. so that
one can only bury IFS face Be- lIs hands
and sob 20 know Of it. Ard. William,
the more I realized it. the more IN
bearable IL seemed 20 me Ihar this
glorious girl with all her G.d-given
beauty. should be pigas5aE herself iu-
10 s~=lm SO fouI. I feIt as Il il
were c0wardlce of mine that I did rot
take her 5y Jhe hand aaG make her
see vha- madness she was doing"
why do y0u nor,' asked the Iieu-
tenant
r think I should have in my more
guix8tc days" repIfeI rae other. sad
j.; and perhaps some say may IND
myself ia kind Of high lie where
royal sincerity IS understood. But n
tsfs world even an IdeaHst has 10 keep
sc " hum0r. unless he happens 20
be dow cred with an Isiah's rage
Nr. Howard paused for q moment
and laughed slightly; then. however,
Le went on more earnestly Yet, as
] think II It, I know that / could
brighten her. I think thar II 7 should
te-l her 5F some OF the DAYS and nights
that 7 have spent IN tossing Cpou q
bed Of ME. she might fnd the cup q
her se.azauees a triae less pleasant 20
drink. il IS something that I have
noticed with people. that they may DO
coarse OF shallow enough 70 laugh AZ
virtue and caTucsrress bur there aTs
very few who C not bow their heads
before suffering. For that is some
thing physical. and tlev may harden
thetr conscience II they please, but
from the possibility OF bodily -ain they
know that they can never be SAFE and
they seem 10 know that man who
has walked with THAI demon has laid
hts hand upon the grim reality of
things. before which their shams and
vanittes shrink into notE!ugness. The
sight Of Il is always a kind OF warn
Ing Of the seriousness Of life, and 50
even when people feel no sympathy
they cannot but feel fear: saw. for
instance. that the first time this giri
Eaw ne she turned pale, and she
would not come anyw here near me"
As the speaker paused again Leu
tenant Maynard said very quietly;
Al should think that would be hard
cross 10 bear. David
NO" said AIr. Howard, with =
sIfght smile. .I had not that thought
in ray mind. have seen too much OF
the reality OF life 10 trouble myself OF
the world with vanity of that very
crude kind; I can sometimes imagine
rrvsel1 being proud of my serenity,
but that is one 5lvg ey0nQ az any
r2ta A man who lives Ia his soul
Continued on Ninth Page)