Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1907-04-11
the PRIEST and
TIE CLUB men
a Little Story Of MANN attain That
Is Stranger Than Fiction.

fore great roaring wood fire in the
luxurious home of fashionable club
just off Fifth avenue. 1t was the dusk
of an unusually cold evening, and the
wind was playing high jinks with the
snow in the dark and narrow street
A uniformed attendant stole noise
lessly over the thick, silken rugs to
turn on the electric lights. He was re.
quested to let them remain as they
were for the present. The young men
We're enjoying the spectacle of the
snow driving through the narrow
street, and It was pleasurable to turn
from 1t to the fire as 1t burned ever
brighter In the gathering gloom.
Perhaps the young men were rather
maudlin. At least the blond member
of the group was, and 1t was not
strange, for he had been drinking
hard and steadily for a week. From
the music room, some distance away,
came the soft notes of piano. They
probably accentuated the hard drink
er's mood.
Gentlemen" he said, I'm tired of
leading a frivolous life. I'm going to
turn over a new leaf. 1t doesn't pay"
The others laughed; but presently
they were all engaged in discussion,
a la Schopenhauer. as to whether there
was such thing as happiness, The
strilkingly original conclusion reached
was that, If there really was such a
thing. it lay in unselfishness.
More drinks were ordered and with
each additional libation the enthusi-
asm for unselfishness grew. AT length
the young man who had so long been
vainly seeking happiness In the com
pany of the demon rum smote the
| table and exclaimed:
| Gentlemen, I'm going right out now
to do something for somebody"
His companions received the an
nouncement with acclaim. Only one
| thing dampened their ardor--where
could they find somebody to do good
| to? None of them knew soul who
was In need. 1t was annoying, even
exasperating. But the blond young
man came to the rescue. He had heard
|
parish lay In poverty-stricken neigh
borhood away over near the East river
Surely the good father would know o.
somebody who could be helped
| Fine! Fine!" cried the others, ant
! before setting out they all had another
| drink.
On the stoop of the clubhouse the!
debated as to whether they would cal
a hanson; but it was eventually dc
| cided that they would get keene
realization of what 1t meant to LEAF
the unselfish life II they breasted tn,
storm and walked over. They did,
Two of the young men had never be
fore been in the part Of the worl'
through which they wendell their way
and one was nearly frozen. AS the
trudged on ankle deep In snow, an
among the squalid tenements and 10y
groggeries encountered the bite
blasts sweeping up from the river, tn
entire party's enthusiasm for the un
selfish life slowly oozed, but fortunate
ly enough remained to keep them GO
ing until they reached their destina
ton.
Now II is to be feared that their ex
perience at the parish house will reac
suspiciously like the fiction one en-
| counters in the magazines at Christ
mas; nevertheless every incident here
recorded actually happened. The room
that the party OF three was usheret
| INT ha a
After a brief interval the priest en-
tered. By this time all three yount
men were feeling somewhat foolish
Their long walk in the cold had made
things appear in different light.
But ii was too late to retreat. 81
and awkwardly stammered that the!
had some money to spare-about $50
and they thought 1t barely possible
that the priest might know OF some
worthy family that needed help. Thu
priest looked the three young mel
over, and then, without saying word
pulled bell cord. A little serving
girl responded.
ASK Sister --- II she will pleas,
come here" said the priest.
In few moments the sister entered
She was sweetfaced woman and sh,
wore the garb Of her order.
Sister --," said the priest, "yoI
have been praying all this Afternoon
that you might receive some help 70
the ----, have you not?"
Evidently wondering. the sister re
piled: Eyes, Father"
"Well," said the priest. THE he'll
has arrived"