The news=record. [volume] (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon) 1907-1910, 1910-02-16
The Redemption
Of Of David Corson
BY CHARLES FREDERIC Goss
Copyright ~ rho Bowen
CHAPTER Xxx.


seconded 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 irrepressible 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
lsfaction that those painful groupings
for the next stepping stone across the
streams of action which had been so
persistent and painful a feature of his
recent life had 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 exc
cuted them fearlessly. The discovery
Of this fact gave q new zest and hope
to life.
In a few moments after he had land
ID at the familiar wharf he was mount
ed upon q fleet horse. rushing away
over those beautiful rolling hills which
fill the mind Of the traveller with un-
eloying delight in their variety, their
fertility and their beauty. 1t was the
hrst 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 new
discovery. The motion Of the horse
SO long unfamiliar. SO easy. 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
beauties of the world around him In
great sheaves of delicious and thrill
ing sensations. Long-forgotten odors
came sweeping across the fields, rich
with the verdure of the vernal season.
and brought with them precious ac-
compartments Of the almost forgotten
past The rich and varied colors of
field and sky and forest fed his starved
sour with one kind of beauty; and the
sweet sounds of the outdoor world in
toxicated him with another. The low
Of cattle, the bleating Of sheep. the
Growing of chandeliers, the cackling
Of hens, the gobble of turkeys, the
multiduninous songs of the birds en-
veloped him in q sort of musical at
mosphere. For the first time since
his restoration to hope, the past SEEM
ed like dream, and these few bliss
full moments became q prophecy of a
new and grander life. For, II the bur-
den can fall OF for single moment,
why not for many moments?" So he
said to himself, az the consciousness
Of his past misery and his unknown
future thrust their disturbing faces in
to the midst Of these blissful emo
tions.
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;
that neglected grave was drawing him
to itself with q magnetic force. He
who, for year. had thought of her
scarcely at all. now thought Of nothing
else. The last incident in her life, the
face white with its intolerable pain OF
confession. the gasp for breath. the
sudden fall. the quiet funeral, his own
responsibility for this tragic death-he
lived II all over and over again in an
instant of time as grief. regret, re-
morse, successfully swept his heart
tTying his horse outside the lonely
burying ground, he threaded his way
among the myrtle covered graves to
the low mound which marked her rest
Ing place. approached II, removed his
hat and stood silently. reverently, by
lts side.
There come to us 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
that lowiy 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, misin
lterpret and despisel He did not com
prehend that tragic story when she
told II: II was impossible that he
should. for he had no knowledge o,
experience adequate to furnish him
the clew.
As he stood there by her grave
measuring this deep and tragic expe-
risnce with his new divining rod Of
sympathy, there rushed upon him ar
lovsrmastering desire to reveal his an.
probation to that suffering heart be-
yond the skies. A feeling of bitterness
At his inability to do this frenziet
HIM; q new consciousness Of the irony
Of life in permitting him to make these
discoveries when they could do her nc
good plunged him suddenly into q
struggle with the darker problems o.
being which for . little while had
ceased to vex him
do all the spprsciations Of heroisu
come too latsf~ he asked his sac
heart. do we acquire wisdom only
whom we can no longer be guided BY
Ittf Do We achieve self mastery and
real virtue only to be despised by on,
ohildrenf Where IL the clue to thii
tanglsf ohl mother. mother. II
could only have one single hour Il
ask thee what thou didst learn Abou
this awful mystery IN those lonely
years Of struggled n could only tel
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