Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-28
TIE SAGE BRUSH PARSON
BY A. B. WARD.
Copyright 1906. By Little. Brown coupa.y,

rible. We have had merely glimpses OF it.
Arthur and I. and Mr.. Chisholm when he
not intimately. as you will have 1t. And
we nave felt that we could not endure the
remote suggestion of 1t more than a few
months at a time. We are by ourselves.
we uTive and ride and enjoy each other.
nave our leisure, our books We are not,
any one of US. sensitive as you are"
ne Withdrew his hands from the keys
and sat in silence looking I'D at the Pro-
metheus. Chained to a great rock law the
TITAN, and around him Spirits of the Wave
ana OF the Air bewaiied his fate
We Always been afraid II was too big
Tor me, he said at length but the very
bigness of it tempts me Others besides
the I1tan have brought down fire"
and paid the penalty" she finished
string nhu i paid the penalty, he repeated
hat Is that?' she asked
dont know, he answered 1T has
| psen haunting me ever since / sat here"
ne Played II again.
| Not that wayv' she called ..you didn't
| play IT like that, before"
| This way" He tried once more.
!es' yes oh. wish 1 could remember
.. ~ eould write 1t out?"
| viii you? Now?"
she brought paper and pencil He drew
! one STAN, made the signs, with quick, nerv-
par or two, put in more notes tried these
| ginning.
| Is that as I had it?' he asked.
| Yes, she answered. Il wonder-what
words belong to IT."
| You ought to be able to find that out
| Tor me- he said
used to write verses when I was at
school In France" she returned PIT 7
| was homesick then"
| can't you imagine yourself In France
| and homesick?"
i could If you kept on singing"
| Tie began again cd hut No
| lore ne had sung a dozen bars a child's
snrlil voice piped up loudly in the hall
where Is he? Has he gone? I will, too,
| go In there. Nora Flynn. He was nv C.
". first" Then there came an outburst Of
| sobs. %
Katharine opened the door What does
Ihls mean? she inquired sternly. Elsie,
l am surprised''
Elsie winked away the tears. She did
not answer, but sided past her mother and
| slid into Vaughan's arms
Mr. Vaughan won't love any little girl
that behaves badly as you do" said
| Katharine disapprovingly
he loves me; don't you. C. W. i'm
| piored Elsie with both arms around his
| neck He whispered something in her ear
| she stood up. smiling "Scuse me-" she
| sad TO her mother and would then have
| returned to his knee, but he had risen and
| was holding out his hand.
owe you thanks, he said to Katharine
more than l can tell for what you have
given me-more than you can realize" He
| stopped and kissed the child Katharine
| followed him to the door
Arthur and Ned Wilkins were coming I'D
| the walk. They stopped on the veranda
| urged Vaughan to return and, failing that
| held him in conversation for some minutes.
| Katharine watched them from the win
| dow, until the tall, slender figure IN the
black frock coat left them and went swiftly
| down the hill Then she returned to the
| piano and the sheet of paper with the few
| hastily written bars of music on It, She
lint 1nnl, tyrr
| them, her hands her lap. What a
strange. strange man! What was he?
| HOW did he come to be-himself? Was he
| old? Was he young? He was grave with
| the gravity of age, light with the light
| ness of youth. The burrows of age were in
| his forehead but through the silken beard
! which yelled but did not conceal them one
| caught the curve of a scarlet lip. the flash
| of white teeth belonging to youth His
| eyes were gray, brown, black-how they
| changed! And they held in their depths
| the despair of the world. held, too, life and
| laughter and the appeal of the born lover
| Did he know that?
All white and black he was so very
| white, so very black-white brow heavy
| curling black hair-his hands were brown
! he had worked with them, he said. They did
| not show It. What hands, instinct with life
emotion. fire, your true musicians hands :
How did 1t happen that she had not seen
| him fairly until today? Was 1t because
| she had not looked? Or did he require the
| atmosphere Of music to reveal himself? Or
| was he indeed three men, at least seen in
| these three visits to the house? And in
which was he most himself?
These were only a few of the questions
| Katharine asked herself that night and
| successive days and nights when she was
| TAR from Eureka, yet remembering 1t as
| she had never remembered 1t before during
| her many absences.
| The church was dim when Vaughan en-
| tered 1t, but light shone outward from
| the study. A figure appeared in the door
a led Thnra ba &c >
| Another figure appeared, and another voice
| thlckened by drink, cried INV are We
Parson? Don member me? I'm Ad-
| olson"
He amt got so much down but what he
| knows his own name" drawled his COM
| panion, who proved to be the cowboy
| Dick.
when shall we three meet again'?' he
| chanted. He threw off jacket tied around
| his neck by the sleeves
Hard luck again, Parson. Disocated
| shoulder, this time. Foolin' up at Jacks
l didn't dare let Doc set it, alone 1 made
| him bring me down here"
| "Puffec'ly content" declared Addison
blinking at the lamp. "One, two, three
degrees-four, five-how many degrees 1
| took, Dicky?''
Never 1ssfld your degrees; come here and
set this Shoulder" exclaimed the cowboy
| "Parson, you'll see he does 1t right, won't
| your
Vaughan promised and Addison began to
| work the arm. At the first twinge "Cussin
Dick" made good his name.
Vaughan's nerves. already over-tired, re-
| belled. IF you don't stop that" he broke
| in, TN leave you to get out of this scrape
| the best way you can"
stop what?" inquired the cowboy in
| surprise
Swearing
WAS 1 swearing? I didn't know it. Elk
cuse me. Parson. I'll try not to any
more"
| Don do any good, Dicky" Addison
| wagged his head solemny from side to
| side. "Swearin's damn poor business, t
any time
! go on, you Dick paused with a
comically helpless look.
Addison proceeded. Dick set his teeth
| The bone shot into place Beads of perspi-
| ration stood on the sufferers forehead but
| he uttered not word. They bandaged him
| and threw the jacket again over his Shout
ders.
| Where are you going, now?" asked
| Vaughan.
| Over to Wilder McClntock's boarding.
house." was the answer.
| IN go with you,' said Vaughan.
| ''Soll l." affirmed Addison affectionately
| "Ili never leave you. Dicky, never-tili I
| get my dollar n half
| Wen shake him, outside" whispered