Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-02-09

necessitated this sudden return home
together on the same ship He was
sorry for Judge Rossmore, of course.
and there was nothing he would not 4
DO on his return to secure with
draWal of the cargoes. That his father
would use his influence he had nc
doubt. But meantime he was selfis
enough to be glad for the opportun,t
1T gave him to be whole week alone
with Shirley. No matter how much
one may be with people in city or
country or even when stopping at the
same hotel or house, there is no place
in the world where two persons.
especially when they are of the hop-
poslte sex, can become SO intimate as
on shipboard. The reason is obvious.
IN days are long and monotonous.
lLere Il nowhere to go, nothing to
see put the ocean, nothing to do but
read, tax or promenade. Seclusion in
ones cabin is out of the question, the
pupic sitting rooms are noisy and i'm
possible, only a steamer chair on deck
is comfortable and once there snugly
wrapped up in rug it is surprising
now quickly another chair makes Its
appearance alongside and how vel
come one is apt to make the intruder.
Ihus events combined with the
Weather conspirea to bring Shirley
and Jefferson more closely together.
The sea had been rough ever since
tney sailed, keering Mrs Blake con
lined to her stateroom almost con-
tinuously. They were, therefore. con.
stantly in one another's company, and
Slowly, unconsciously, there was tax
ing root in tt cir hearts the germ of
ths only real and lasting love-fhe
love born OF something higher than
mere physical attraction, the nobler.
more enduring affection that is born
OF mutual sympath association and
companionshir.
Isn't it beautiful" exclaimed shir-
ley ecstatically. Look at those great
waves out there! See how majestical-
~ they soar and how gracefully they
fall"
"Glorious!" assented Jefferson shar-
Ing her enthusiasm "There's nothing
to compare with it. It's Natures
grandest spectacle. The ocean is the
only place on earth that man has not
defiled and spoiled. Those waves are
the same now as they were on the day
of creation"
Not the day of creation You mean
during the aeons of time creation was
evolving corrected Shirley.
i meant that of course" assented
Jefferson. When one says day that
is only a form of speech.
Why hot be accurate ?' persisted
Shirley. 1T was the use of that little
word day which has given the theo-
loglans so many sleepless lights"
There was g roguisn twinkle in her
eye. She. well knew that he thought
as she did on metaphysical questions.
but she could not resist teasing him.
Like Jefferson, she was not a mem
Der of any church, although hersnature
was deeply religious. Hers was the
religion the soul inculcates, not that
which is learned by rote in the temple.
She was o. Christian because she
thought Christ the greatest figure in
world history, and also, because her
own conduct Of life was modelled up
on Christian principles and virtues.
She was religious for religions sake
and not for public ostentation. The
mystery of life awed her and while her,
intelligence could not accept all the
doctrines of dogmatic religion she did
not go so far as Jefferson, who was
frank agnostic. She would not admit
that we do not know. The longings
and aspirations of her own soul con-
WINGED nef of the existence Of SUI
preme Being, First Cause, Divine In
telligence-call it what you will
which had brought out of chaos the
wonderful order of the universe. The
human mind was, indeed, helpless to
conceive such First Cause in any
form and lay PROSTATE before the I'm
known, yet she herself was an enthusi-
astic deliver into scientific hypothesis
and the teachings of Darwin, Spencer,
Haeckel had satisfied her intellect If
they failed to content her soul. The
theory Of evolution as applied to life
on her own little planet appealed
strongly to her because it accounted
plausibly for the presence of man on
earth. The process through which we
had passed could be understood by
every intelligence. The blazing satel-
lite, violently detached from the par
ent sun starting on it's circumscribed
orbit-that was the first stage; the
gradual subsistence of the flames and
the cooling Of the crust-the second
stage; the gases mingling and form
ing water which covered the earth
the third stage; the retreating of the
waters and the appearance of the land
the fourth stage; the appearance of
vegetation and animal life-the fifth
stage; then. after long interval and
through constant evolution and change
the appearance of man, which was the
sixth stage. What stages still to come,
who knows? This simple account given
by science was, after all, practically
| identical with the biblical legend!
Continued in Next Issue.)