The Irish standard., 1907-07-27

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Let us sit down again." said the
minister, "and will try to make my
purpose sufficiently clear. l am not
here to mince words, nor do l believe
you to be the kind of man who would
respect me if did. l may say some.
thing that will not sound pleasant, but
in the cause Of my Master I cannot
hesitate. You are an older man than
I, Mr.. Hampton; your experience in
life has doubtless been much broader
than mine, and it may even be that in
point of education sou are likewise
my superior. Nevertheless, as the
only minister of the gospel residing in
this community 1t is beyond question
my plain duty to speak few words to
you in behalf of this young lady, and
her probable future. trust not to be
offensive, yet cannot shirk the require
ments of. my sacred Office"
The speaker paused, somewhat dis
concerted perhaps by the hardening of
the lines in Hampton's face.
Go on" commanded Hampton,
tersely, "only let the preacher part
slide, and say just what you have to
say as man to man."
Il prefer to do So" he continued.
ut will render my unpleasant task
much easier, and yield us both more
direct road to travel. 1 have been
laboring on this field for nearly three
years. When l first came here you
were pointed out to lse as most dan.
gerous man, and ever since then l
have constantly been RECALLED by the
stories of your exploits. have known
you merely through such unfriendly
reports, and came here strongly preju.
diced against you as representative
of every evil war against. We have
never met before, because there
seemed to be nothing in common be.
tween us; because I had been led to
suppose you to be an entirely different
man from what I now believe you
are"
Hampton stirred uneasily in his
chair
Shall I paint in exceedingly plain
words the picture given me of you?"
There was no response, but the
speaker moistened his lips and pro.
ceeded firmly. cit was that of pro.
I fessional gambler, utterly devoid of
mercy toward his victims; a reckless
fighter, who shot to kill upon the least
provocation; man without moral
character, and from whom any good
action was impossible. That was what
was said about you. Is the tale true?"
Hampton laughed unpleasantly, his
eyes grown hard and ugly.
II presume it must be-" he admitted,
with quick side glance toward the
closed door, "for the girl out yonder
thought about the same. A most ex-
cellent reputation to establish with
only ten years Of strict attendance to
business"
wynkoop's grave face expressed his
disapproval.
well, in my present judgment that
report was not altogether true" he
went on clearly and with greater con-
fidence, II did suppose you exactly
that sort of man when l first came
into this room. l have not believed
SO, however, for single moment
since. Nevertheless, the naked truth
is certainly bad enough, without any
necessity for our resorting to romance.
You may deceive others by an assump.
ton of recklessness, but feel con-
! WINGED your true nature is not evil. It
! has been warped through some cause
which is none of my business. Let us
deal alone with facts. You are gam
bier, a professional gambler, with all
that that implies; your life is, of neces.
sity, passed among the most vicious
and degrading elements of mining
camps, and you do not hesitate even
to take human life when in your judg.
ment it seems necessary to preserve
your own. Under this veneer of law.
lessness you may, indeed, possess a
warm heart, Mr. Hampton; you may
be good fellow, but you are certain
ly not model character, even accord.
ing to the liberal code Of the border"
Extremely kind of you to enter my
rooms unlimited, and furnish me with
this list of moral deficiencies" ao'
knowledged the other with affected
carelessness. But thus far you have
failed to tell me anything strikingly
new Am l to understand you have
some particular object in this ex
change of amenities?"
Most assuredly. It is to ask If sucf
a person as you practically confess
yourself to be-homeless, associatinl
only with the most despicable and
vicious characters, and leading so un
certain and disreputable life-can be
fit to assume charge of a girl, almost
woman, and mould her future?"
For a long, GREATNESS moment
Hampton stared incredulously at hi
questioner, crushing his cigar between
his teeth. Twice he started to speak
but literally choked back the bittel
words burning his lips, while an un
comfortable admiration for the others