The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-23

A
 "A little while ago l, too. should have bidden you followryour thought Il did not then know how a man may desire the ifellowship-the love of a woman q. thought 1t was a matter for children
 He stopped to clear his throat He had become suddenly husky in speech
 T, too, have been ill., he continued, i'll physically-morally also. 1 have been weak as wateT-I who stroVe to excel. There was u hymn, whereof 1 long omitted the first verse-for you know that though We sing no hymns in public eX- ercise, we are not debarred in private. The hymn-you may know it. begins
 !" Art thou weary-art thou langufd, art thou sore distressed'?"
 Now, for years l passed that verse over scornfully. l even commented pub licly on the haccid stupidity of modern hymnologists as compared with the He brew psalter-a subject, indeed, too much neglected. If a man were langnid. and the rest, it was because he had not enough to dol He needed stimulus and work! But deadly sickness and a gnawing at the heart have taught me different. Strange strange that a woman may occupy such a place in a mans thoughts, that because of her he may suffer-eyen to the wasting i away of the bodyi"
 The Cameronian minister was silent for a while. One could almost hear his de- sires grinding on his will.
 T would tell you," he said, .'yes-con- fidence for confidence! But 1 have not tho right. Some months ago 1 did my duty or what 1 thought to be my duty. 1 de- barred man who had been sinner, from the communion--I did 1t publicly: He was the father of the woman 1 love. 1 thought beforehand that l had meas ured the bitterness of the cup given me to drink, and found that 1 was mistaken. It was tenfold more bitter. had weighed the cost and 10! it proved a hundred times heavier" Again he paused. laying his hand affectionately on .Vics shoulder.
 Therefore, MT Morris, hearken to me. l, Benjamin lrongray, have the right to speak Who hath it if not 1? Would 1 do my duty again? Certainly-but in d different way-between man and man, face to face, not with public speech that makes dispeace. So 1 might have-found the Eeve designed for me-the companion promised But-ah, we'll Morris, go away. A man needs a good woman far more than she can ever need him. Therefore give her of your first and best. Do not take anything for granted. Let her choose. Leave her the open door of pity as l, alas, did not do. l shut 1t in the face of my love, because of the man, her father Knowingly l did it, being the man l ami'
 Anu lfOIl HIS SIuuy WlDuOW silently, ', sombrely MT. Irongray watched the young man depart on his errand. He noted with a certain approval, that Vic did not walk any longer as if all the town belonged to him. But there were deeper things in the heart of MT. Irongray than that-reproaches, and sufferings, and si- fences.
 Presently the quiet of the house palling upon him, and printed books becoming an abhorrence, without meaning power to hold the attention, he took up his hat and went out. He choose the little footpath which skirted the -privet hedge, still marked by the curve which had been Phil Calmont's armchair in the days when he came to confide in little Miss Nunsby.
 The Reverend Benjamin Irongray stood moment looking oyer the little green gate of the man to whom he had denied the sacrament, for the words which he had deemed public profanity. He saw a brisk fitting shadow within that crossed and recrossed the open windows, round which thronged the roses and Virginia creepers. Then he sighed and went his way heavily, never dreaming that Rose Nunsby also had watched him from the very moment he had left his own door. And she had to pass right from one side of the house to the other to do it, tool
 But that, of course, was because her duty called her there.