The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-04-18
az EoITH BARNARD.

Coo in Balph's wildness. and as
Christening of the Almighty ne would
endure it at home; but he would not
provide the means for new ways of
wickedness.
When Ralph was missing Asa Cutler
asked no questions. Thereafter MS
elder son was dead to him. and the
fact that he had. in reality. only yes
terday breathed his last made him no
moro lately dead in the old mans
heart During the years which had
passed since Ralph's departure he had,
indeed, heard of him now and then:
he knew that his wife sent the boy
money, and if he had been willing 10
acknowledge that a son of his was liv-
ing in what he firmly believed to be the
haunts Of vice. ne would have forbid
den her holding any communication
with him; but rather than admit TO
himself or 10 her that Ralph still lived
he let her more or less openly send
him money. 1t was not much that
she had to send, however; her husband
saw to il that nothing was left unln-
vested But various small things she
sold and her minute savings grew into
little sums that all went to Ralph.
Then. a year or two after his depart
ure, there appeared on the parlor man
tel a picture which had never been
there before; it was unsigned but Asa
Cutler did not ask from whence Z
came. 1t was commonplace enough.
but even the old man was, in his secret
heart, very proud of it. and 10 the
mother ii was magnificent. Success. to
Asa Cutler. was the criterion OF life;
if Ralph could really make pictures,
pictures that would sell. he might not
be utterly lost, after ali; but the sec
ond picture Ralph sent home dIspelled
any hopes of his salvation. 1t was a
Slaring daub Of d woman's figure
posed in Spanish costume: Asa Cutler
had never seen it's ike. but he had no
hesitation in pronOuncing it evil, and
he forbade its remaining in the house,
a spot of contamination. II Ralph, he
argued. could look upon the indecencles
Of haIf-dressed women twirling about
in short skirts and laughing enticingly
over their bare shoulders. there could
be no doubt as to the state of his soul.
It did not need the reports coming from
the city. penetrating as evil tidingS
viii. TO confirm Asa Cutler in his con-
victiOn that Ralph was irredeemably
lost: he found it easy to believe all
they told of his sons life.
As a matter of fact. the reports did
not tell half the truth concerning
Ralph: talent enough he had ana d
faculty of making friends; and luck
followed him, so that there always
seemed to be money enough at his
command to satisfy his needs and
cravings; of the first he had few; OF
the second he had many. and they in
creased with each year. Vice or the
cheapest satisfied him, and he followed
it increasingly: for years he knew no
revulsiOn of feeling. but in the course
of time IL came. Safety and repent
ance often go hand in hand: TO Ralph
they appeared together BY that time
his faculties We're impaired: his hand
was not as sure as it had been. though
his imagination had not decreased: ne
found torture in the realization thai
his conceptions were far finer and
greater than his powers of execution.
and his wasted years revenged them
selves upon him through the trembling
of his fingers and the failure of his
strengthA He made a belated effort to
earn an honest living: it was not the
work he had dreamed of. but neither
had his life been what he planned to
make it,
The fundamental strength derived
from his farmer ancestry was augment
ed by the inspiration which he drew
from his wife; for, when he heard of
his mothers death. q sudden loneH-
ness overlook him and he married.
The woman was grateful: to her Ralph