Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1909-12-24
CHAPTER Xxx.

l ANfsW .1OThs lily " IlttSpo p 4, 'Ao' ~
scended the Ohio almost as far as Gin
%cinnati, before other thoughts than
those which were concerned with Pc
peeta and his spiritual regeneration
could awaken any interest in his mind.
But as the boat approached Cincin-
natl. the places. the persons and the
incidents of his childhood world began
to present themselves to his conscious
ness. An irrepressibIe longing to look
once more upon the place of his birth
and the friends Of his youth took pos
session of his mind.
He found, on inquiry, that the boat
was to remain in Cincinnati for sew
eral hours, and that there would be
time enough for him to make the jour
ney to his old home and back before
she proceeded down the river. He de-
cided to do so. and observed with sat
isfaction that those painful groupings
for the stepping stone across the
streams of action which had been 80
persistent and painful a feature OF his
recent life ha6 given place to the swift
intuitions of his youth. He saw his
way as he used to when a boy, and
made his decisions rapidly and exe-
cuted them fearlessly. The discovery
OF this fact gave a new zest and hope
to life.
In a few moments after he had land
ed at the familiar wharf he was mount
ed upon a fleet horse, rushing away
over those beautiful rolling hills which
fill the mind Of the traveller with UNI
cloying delight in their variety. their
fertility and their beauty. 1t was the
first time since he had left the farm
that his mind had been free enough
from passion or pain to bestow its full
attention upon the charms of Nature;
they dawned on him now like a new
discovery. The motion Of the horse
SO long unfamiliar, so a SO grace
full, SO acknowledgements of itself to
Key his spirits to his environment, for
1t is an elemental pleasure to be seat
ed in the saddle and feel the thrill of
power and rapid motion. The riders
eyes frightened, his cheeks glowed, his
pulses bounded, He gathered up the
beautiest of the world around him in
great sheaves OF delicious and thrill
ing sensations. Lon~g-forgotten odors
came sweeping across the fields, rich
with the verdure of the vernal season.
and brought with them precious ac-
compartments Of the alTnost-forgotten
past. The rich and varied colors of
field and sky n forest fed his starved
soul with one kind Of beauty; and the
sweet sounds of the outdoor world in
toxicated him with another. The low
Of cattle, h bleating Of sheep, the
growing Of chandeliers, the cackling
Of hens. the gobble OF turkeys. the
nultiduninous songs of the birds en-
veToped him in a sort of musical at
mosphere. For the first time since
his restoration to hope. the past SEEM
I'd like a dream, and these few bliss
.ul moments became a prophecy of a
lew n grander life. For, II the bur
den can fall of for a single moment,
Why not for many moments? ?" So he
said to himself. as the consciousness
Df his past misery and his unknown
iuture thrust their disturbing faces in
% the midst Of these blissful emo
lions.
The route which he had chosen did
not lead to the farm house. but to The
cemetery where the body of his moth
or lay wrapped in her dreamless sleep;
shat neglected grave was drawing him
10 itself with q magnetic force. He
who. for a year., had thought OF her
scarcely at all. now thought OF nothing
else.S The las incident in her life. the
face white with its intolerable pain of
Confession, the gasp for breath. the
nudden fall the quiet funeral, his own
responsibility for this tragic death-he
lived 1t all over and over again in an
Instant Of time al grief. regret, re-
morse, successfully swept his heart.
Tying his horse outside the lonely
burying ground, he threaded his way
among the myrtie-covered graves to
the low mound which marked her rest
ing place, approached II, removed his
hat and stood silently. reverently, by
It's side.
There come to vi all hours or mo-
ments Of sudden and unexpected dis
closures Of the hidden meaning of life.
Such an one came to David, there by
hat lowly grave. He saw, as in the
light OF eternity. the grandeur and
beauty Of that character which the
story Of her sin and suffering had
made him, In his immaturity, misfn-
terpret and despise! He did not COM
prehend that tragic story when she
told It; Il was Impossible that he
should. for he had no knowledge or
experience adequate to furnish him
the clew.
AZ he stood there by her n.ve,
measuring this deep and tragic expe-
Renee with his new divining rod Of
sympathy. there rushed upon him an
overmastering desire to reveal his ap-
probation to that suffering heart be-
You'd the skies. A feeling Of bitterness
az his inability TO do this frenxied
him; . new consciousness OF the irony
OF life In permitting him to make these
discoveries when they could do her no
good plunged him suddenly into a