Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-09

seemed to look through tHc Udfe walls VI
his dwelling place to the great city that
encompassed him on every side like sea.
Sir Richard Gaunt. after an absence of
five years. had returned TO England
Apart from the change in his personal
appearance. due largely to the growth
of his hair and beard his whole manner
had so altered that no one could have
ever identified him with the man who had
left for Australia on the Santigan.
Save that all changes in mans life
are due to the power of a, Supreme Being.
no supernatural agency had oeen neces-
sary for this change. The hours of agony
on the raft the new life lived among
the simple workers of the desert. the
long DAYS spent in journey across the
wilderness. the illness which had reduced
all physical resistance to the lowest ebb.
the repentance. the knowledge of how a
mans life should be lfved-all these had
been the seeds which might one day grow
into a forest of sturdy trees The physi-
cal change had prepared the. ground for
the mental, and the mental for the spir-
itual.
Then. after the recovery from an ILL
ness which had brought the man near to
DEATH there had come another year OF
solitude, in which he had been given time
to grapple with the new problems that
nearly two years of wandering in the
desert with a band of Tuaregs scarcely
less savage than nature itself.
And during those years the seeds of
thought grew iercely in fertile soil
The new ideas. at first small and indie
terminate. gradually formulated them
selves into a definite plan OF action. The
uncertain hopes and desires grew into
fixed purpose.
And when at last he reached a Jport he
resolved to return to England and do the
work that he had been called upon to
do.
He worked his passage to London on
tramp steamer and landed with four
mounds in his n0ckat. II a small
amount for the campaign that lay before
him. but he thought that it would serve.
His creed was founded on the idea that
great reformer should be content WITH the
barest necessities of life.
- But money would be wanted.
There lay the essence Of the whole
scheme. the one practical difficulty in a
campaign which had its motives In the
highest aspirations of heart and intellect:
1t was a confession of weakness but it
was the truthful confession Of a man
who realizes the strength Of his enemy.
A thousand years ago no money would
have been required. Eloquence. fierce re-
ligious fervor. perhaps even the help of
fire and sword-all these would have suf-
feed. But not in the twentieth century.
when the huge and hideous idol of money
dominated the whole world. there could
be no victory without the means of or
ganizing great campaign. At the pres
ent time the word means" denotes one
thing and one thing alone-money.
Sir Richard was practically penniless.
Two days after his return he had seri-
ously considered the advisability Of de-
claring his true identity. The declaration
would have placed him in the possession
of money. And anything he had to say
would come more forcibly from the Fps
the mouth of an itinerant beggar. But
the record of his past rose up before him
like wall. He had no wish to pose as
converted sinner. His conversion was too
fn,r hat III tCbA to 1Nor lad
the man who had come from the
deserts of the east, and who had brought
with him the truths that man can find
in great solitudes.
Yet money must be found-a gigantic
sum of money. thousand preachers
must be provided with their daily bread.
There must be no begging by the wayside.
And for yet another reason money must
be found. It must be shown that those
who have the handling of great wealth
can yet live the simple and austere life
of an anchorite.
He picked up copy of a halfpenny
paper and read short ragraph which
concerned him intimately. 1t ran as fol-
lows:
''DISORDERLY, BUT NOT DRUNK.
"A curious scene was witnessed in Pic
cadilly last night. A wild-eyed. long
haired man. whose garb and appearance
suggested the desert Of Earls Court,
thought it a fitting place to give vent to
his views on the evils of wealth and the
general decadence of modern society. He
collected large crowd and for few
moments the street was blocked. But the
police. unmindful of the ideal but fortu-
nately careful of realities. hailed him off
to the nearest police station where the
state of his mind was inquired into. We
understand that the doctor said he was
not drunk and he was dismissed with a
caution. He looked like some prophet of
the Old Testament, but he must have felt
smaller than that
Sir Richard Gaunts face darkened as
he read the paragraph. Then his eyes
caught the heading Of the next para
graph. and 1t was curious contrast to
the one which preceded 1t.
THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD
SAYS LIFE is A BURDEN
The ironical contrast of this headline
to the paragraph. which preceded it ar
rested Sir Richard Gaunt's attention. and
he read the half-playful. half-enthusiastic
words of the journalist who had obtained
an interview with 1.-The richest man, in
the world
"Mr. Harry X. Lampirthy." wrote the
reporter. "is the richest man in the world.
At least. he says so. and he ought to
know He has just arrived in London and
has taken half the Carlton Hotel His
private cook has a motor car of his own.
His valet is sleeping in room that was
occupied last week by one of England
proudest mobiles.
I'm the course of a conversation. which
lasted for seventy-five seconds, or nearly
a quarter Of minute longer than Mr..
Lampirthy usually accords to interview
ers we gathered that the richest man In
the world finds life burden almost too
hard to be borne, that he yearns for the
simple life. that he hates public libraries
and charities of all kinds We suggested
an obvious remedy, and that closed the
interview, which was meteoric in its
brevity and brilliance.
his first secretary. however, who has
the salary Of a prime minister. told us
that he puts thousand begging letters
in the waste-paper basket every day"
Sir Richard Gaunt's lips frightened as he
read these few words or the irresponsible
retailer of interesting rubb sh. This man
Lampirthy was the fastest runner in q
race for which the whole world had en-
tered. He was the strongest man in Il
contest which was waGed through every
minute of time in almost every quarter
of the globe. He had come out on top.
He had more power for good or evil than
any emperor. or president or king. He
was the apotheos.s of the gospel of
wealth.
And yet he was not happy and he found
life burden TO him. This was probab bly,
true. in spite of the allowance that had
to be made for the pose which million
aires assume before representatives of the
press The very rich men find pleasure
in shouting about the evils of riches. But,
in spite Of this theatrical attitude, there
is bound to be an element of truth in
their repeated denunciation OF wealth.
The child who eats too many sweets is
sure to feel sick.
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