The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-10-20

| to jump from one sentence to another
habit that had grown of late.
NO" The stranger had also gropet
his way to the shop front. NO, 1 was
out of England six years ago."
You We're lucky Chilcote turned
up the collar of his coat. 1T was or
atrocious fog. as black as this, but
more universal. 1 remember it well
1t was the night Lexington made his
great sugar speech. Some Of us were
| found on Lambeth bridge at in the
morning, having left the house at H.
| Chilcote seldom INDUCED in reminis
| cences, but this conversation with an
| unseen companion was more like q
| soliloquy than dialogue. He was
| almost surprised into an exclamation
when the other caught up his words .
"Ah! The sugar speech he said
"Odd that l should have been looking
| 1T up only yesterday. What a mag
nifcent dressing up of a dry subject II
was! What q career Lexington prom
ised in those days.
Chilcote changed his position
You are interested in the middle
down at Westminster?' he asked sar-
casticalIy.
'T?" 1t was the turn of the stranger
to draw back a step. "Oh, l read my
newspaper with the other 100000.
that is all. l am an outsider" His
voice sounded curt. The warmth that
admiration had brought into it mo-
ment before had frozen abruptly.
IAN outsider Chilcote repeated
"What an enviable word.'
spOccihlv 70 fhoco who aro rroI in,
side the ring. But let us go back to
Lexington. What pinnacle the man
reached and what drop he had! II
has always seemed to me an extraor-
binary instance of the human Ieaven
running through us all. What was the
real cause of his collapse?" he asked
suddenly. WAS it drugs or drink?
have often wished to get at the truth"
Again Chilcote changed his attitude.
us truth ever worth getting at?" he
asked irrelevantly.
"In the case of public man-yes
He exchanges his privacy for the inter
est 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?"
mo" Chilcote's response came after
a pause ~
Drugs"
Again Chiicote hesitated. And a.
the moment of his indecision worof
brushed past him laughing boisterous-
~. The sound Jared him.
WAS it drugs?" the stranger went on
easily. Il have always had a theory
that it was"
Yes. 1t was morphia." The answer
came before Chilcote had realized it.
The woman's laugh at the strangers
quiet persistence had contrived t.
draw it from him. Instantly he haG
spoken he looked about him quickly
like one who has for a moment for
gotten necessary vigilance.
There was silence while the stranger
thought over the informat ton just given
him. Then he spoke again. with a new
touch of vehemence.
$50 imagined" he S. id, though. OF
my soul, 1 never really credited it, To
have gained so much and to have
thrown it sway for a common vicev
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. NJ man has the
right to squander what another would
give his soul for. 1t iessens the gen
eral respect for power
You are a believer IN power? The
tone was sarcastic, bui the sarcasm
sounded thin.
"Yes. All power is tho sutcome of in
dividuality. either past r present ]
find no sentiment for the man who
plays with it,
The quiet contempt Of the tone stune
Chilcote.
do you imagine that Lexington
made no fisht:" he asked impulsively
Cant you picture the mans struggle
while the vice that had been slave
gradually became masterg' He stop
ped to take breath, and in the cold
pause that followed it seemed to him |
that the other made a murmur of in |
credulity
Perhaps you think of morphia as a |
pleasure:'' he added Think of it. in
stead as a tyrant that fortunes the |
mind if held TO and the body If cast |
Off" Urged by the darkness and the |
silence of his companion, the rein of |
his speech had loosened. In that mo |
ment he was not Chilcote. the member |
for East Wark. whose moods and 81
lences were proverbial. but Chilcote |
the man whose mind craved the RELIEF /
of speech
You talk as the world tnlks-out OF
ignorance and self righteousness. he |
went on Before you condemn Lex
ington you should put yourself In his /
place.
LAS ycu 6o:" the other laughed. |