Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1908-10-06

w
wild oats together. a tidy crop. fancy,
for us both That page of my life is
pasted down. | speak of 1t now be-
cause 1t would be cowardly not to.
have not seen Hugh since college
closed four years ago. But then | was
all you called him-a waster ana
prodigal. And was more. for while
others followed. | led. At college
was known as Satan Sanderson.'"
sit is the Hugh Of the present that
l am dealing WITH" said the old man.
For David Stires was just and he was
feeling grim respect for Harry's
honesty.
Harry acknowledged the brusque
kindness Of the tone with little mo-
ton of the hand. AS he spoke he had
been feeling his way through maze of
contradictory impulses. For moment
he had been back in that old irrespon
sible time; the Hugh he had known
then had sprung to his minds eye, an
Initiative ldler, with certain grace
and brillihncy of manner that made
him hail-fellow- well-met. but withal
! Shallow. foppish and incorrigible, a
caAap and shabby imitator of the out
ward manner. not the inner graces, of
(, good fellowship. Yet Hugh had been
one of his own fast set" They had
called him "Satan's shadow" a tribute
to the actual resemblance as we'll as
to the palpable imitation he affected.
Harry Shivered a little The situation
seemed, in antic irony. to be reyers-
ing itself 1t was as if not alone
Hugh, but he. Harry Sanderson. in the
person of that past Of his, was now
brought to bar for Judgment in that
room. For the instant he forgot how
utterly characterless Hugh had shown
himself Of old, how devoid of all de-
| sire for rehabilitation his present rep
utation in the town argued him. At
that moment it seemed as if in saving
Hugh from this condemnation, he was
| pleading for himself as he had been,
| for the further chance which be, but
! for circumstances. perhaps had needed
| too
| you" he said, have lived a life of
| just and balanced action. 1t is bred
in the bone You hate all loose con-
| duct, and rightly. You hate it most in
Hugh for the simple reason that he is
your son. The very relation makes it
more impossible to countenance. He
| should be like you-of temperate and
prudent habit. But did you and he
start on equal terms? Your grand
father was Il Standish; your ancestry
was undiluted Puritan. Did Hugh
have all your fund of resistance? With
me it was the turning Of long lane
Hugh perhaps has not turned-yet."
A breath of that past life mad swept
anew over Harry, the old shuddering
recoil again had rushed upon him. 1t
gave his voice a curious energy as he
ended: And have seen how far a
man may go and yet-come backw
There was a pause. The Judge had
an inspiration. He folded the parch-
ment
Perhaps it would be as WE'LL" he
said in Il matter of fact way, IF the
signing be left open for the present.
He rose us he spoke and laid the doc
umeat- ON the table
Fc" nio,nent David Stires sat In
silence Then he said. with Il CLINT of
the Oil ironic fire: You should have
been special plealer Sanderson
| There's 10 client too bad for them to
make out Il case for. Well--well, we
WON'T sigs: tonight. L will read it
over again when | am more equal to
it,
For long the old man sat alone, mus
ing in his chair AT length he sighed
and took up magazine. He was
thinking of Harry Sanderson.
"How liker' he said aloud. $50 San
| derson sowed his wild oats too! =
| When he stood there. with the light on
his face-when he talked-I-I could
almost have thought 1t was Hughw