The daily democrat. [volume] (Anadarko, Oklahoma) 190?-1908, 1908-11-13


and listened too long Now, II one
waits until they come too close, Il is
dllcult to distance them again. and II
one listens until they ring too clearly
there is no sound in the world. not
even the whisper of woman that can
ever again quite drown them. And the |
worst of il IL that no man can face /
this Fcar-that. however the hravcst |
man may turn. it Is always from be-
hind that he hears the steps which |
follow as IL coward fed.
All men do not hear them-only the |
exceptional may or the men excep- !
tionally situated. Herrick happened
to be both Many men have bequeathed
to them an Inheritance of death; but
Herrlck had also an Inheritance OF per
feet loneliness. His people were all
at peace in the graveyard plots belong
ing to the different health resorts OF
two continents. and he had lived alone
since lad In an old house haunted by
their portraits, and their names on the
tiyleaf of every book from which he
learned life HerriclI was not cow
ard but one day he locked up the
house and went out through the green
old garden. At the gate he looked
back.
Il was born in you" he said TO his
home, and II the girl love didn't
have to drag over Europe with an in
valid mother, | would live in YOU be-
cause you are next door to her, and
make the most OF my time. But /
won't stay by myself-and maybe I'll
never see you again
He looked away for a moment to the
war-defaced college buildings on the
low green hills beyond. They had
been home. too. He hesitated, and a
blush rose to his face. Then he kissed
his hands to II all with the impulsive
gesture of a child and turned his back
on his too quiet past.
In the station by the river he bought
ticket to the biggest and noisest city
In his native state, which was south
ern one. We will omit the intermedi-
ate stages. Enough that in a month
he had been able to fulfill his intention
Of getting n position on one of the big
|
He reasonably argued that n re.
porter on night duty with six-hour
margin of daylight would not have
much time in which to lie awake
listening. and. having an income. he
could afford this hypothesis. Herrick
was after mental excitement. and he
got IT, For the first time he was real
/ Ia, taLap ont ~ hia ouyn hra In lifa and
into the lives Of others. That was a
good result to begin with. His an
cestors were the same short-lived set
of idiots. and the footsteps sauntered
as cynically as ever on his trail. But
he had not time to consciously listen,
or to fret over the selfishness of the
girls mother, who, doubtless. heard
footsteps hunting her down, too poor
thing! or TO write minor poetry, which
is the silliest thing a grown-up man
with an intellect can do-unless he
can sell II. He had only time for his
work and he found out that he was
good at II. He also found out that six
hours of midday when one slept was
worth night OF ten hours to lie awake
and listen in. and that only crazy peo
Pile may safely cultivate their imagina
tions. Therefore, he endeavored tC
confne his attention to his daily worl
and to let his ancestors alone. On the
whole, he succeeded. Every morning
with his brain at Its busiest. he wrot'
the pages that went to make up hi
Saturday letter to the girl he loved
Ufhar that vyac. dana ha ran dawn al
in a minute, Il seemed. Sometimes HI
dropped his head on the letter ant
went to sleep. Oftener he reeled to thu
bed and fell on II, the daylight on hi
eyelids, black night beneath them. HI
had not leisure TO think of himself a
all. But there was a drawback 10 this
II was good for his mind, but IL wa
not always good for his body. Some
times a trivial seeming cough worrie'
at his throat for days. and sometime
neuralgia gripped with a clutch not L
be loosened except with red-hot whis
KY Usually, however he was dead
ened to these dscomforts, His cor
sciousness was filled with other thing
T the tearing hurry and devious dc
vices OF his work-its crowds, and car
didates, and confessions-its murder
and it's marriages. And there wer
storms of music-there were civic bar
quets-there were noted diyines unde
whom he catnapped in the galleries {
the first churches. But better than a
these were the thousand special an
individual occurrences that took hi
breath away and made his flesh glo
with the discoverers rapture. He ha
lived so among books for his 26 yeal
that he had not known before thi
= things which had never been put I'M
; books ever happened.
Once, while musing under a note
divine, he got to thinking over this.
! What stories l could write!" !
! cried to himself. He sat there starir
l at the speaker. but saw him no MOI
than he saw the red and gray Sail
John, or the blue Mary Mother In Il
triple-srched easement behind the pl
pit. He went to heaven and taste