Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1910-01-07

heart that sought for and loved peace
and joy to every soul that knew graft
tude; and far as the eye could see a
mantle of white enveloped the earth aS
though a loving father had, In a mo-
ment of owe and pity, covered the sin
Of his erring children with a mantle OF
purity.
! AS Harold SAT- alone Edward adj
vanced, with sycophantic smile. 1t was
not long until he a plunged into the
desperate deed that disturbed him last
night. 1t was only a loan of $1,000 HI
craved-to pay some debts, you know,
old boy! / cannot stave them off long
er, and now that you are a rich
mani !
Go on"
You can
PAY them for your"
A flush of anger overspread Edwards
face.
Edward, why shift your obligation
to others over to me? l am the very
last man you could be friends with
and under obligations to. Do not say
mol know your disposition. If I loan
you money to oblige o this day, you
would be my friend today. If l want
ed my loan repaid next month, or next
year, you would become my enemy. II
I let il go by for a time unnoticed you
would try to FIND some way to make It
appear unjust to you to pay ii at all.
You owe this money to those who have
been comrades in your extravaganza.
each deceiving himself in trying to de-
ceive the others. Without good securi-
ty l could not loan you my dead
friends money. If you could give Sc
curity you can borrow from the banks
whose business it is to loan."
False friend" said Edward, pas
sionately.
Beware, Edward, a man has the
freedom of thinking and willing what
he pleases, but not the freedom to say
whatever he thinks, and TO do what
ever he wills. 1, nor anyon else, could
be your friend unless he did what you
wanted done, whether good or evil. The
money you owe you spent wrongfully;
and II l repay 1t 1 would be making 1t
cas- for o to do wrong again. I
cannot become a party to wr~ong-doing
without bringing upon myself the con-
domination Of the a w Go to work, re-
pay your loan by our own eXertions.
and o will do yourself an untold
good. Borrow o to 10 1t and you
sink deeper into the mire. 1 am too
sincere a friend, whatever you may be-
lieve me, to help you weaken our own
character or degrade o own nan
hood. l shall a use of the income
from the fortune left me as my friend
who earned 1t would have done had he
iNSh, Ill uy us Xix IA tiNSlP1A no 6O
to the orphan asylum he mentioned.
Last night o tainted me with hay
! ing mad expectations that had been
disappointed. l knew at the timo
you were voicing your own heart. 1t
is yourself, Edward, who AVE lived
for years in great expectations, and
these expectations lured you INTO ex-
travagance that o were not able to
meet. Hear me, no man has any right
to any good thing that he does not
win for himself"
Then" sneered Edward, you have
no right to that old crank's fortune"
81 have the right that he considered
just. / won it honestly by winning his
esteem n love; his belief that /
would not squander 1t nor permit
anyone else to do so, that l would
never use 1t to my own hurt, nor to
the injury of another person, nor to
the discredit of his memory, and I
never shall. edward was silent.)
Many a man has won fame and
worldwide honor by fighting his way
out Of heavy debt, but no man has
ever yet won honorable distinction by
suffering another to pay his debts, OF
by borrowing from one TO pay another.
Beside, all this, Edward, you overlook
the fact that l could not, If l desired
ever so much, loan you this money"
"Why?" he growled.
Dlu you not observe III the TSduluB
of the letter, that one condition upon
which l received this money was, that
/ had contracted no debts, no obliga-
lions incommensurate with my sal
airy, nor dishonored his teachings, hat
if a man enters into an obligation he
must bend all his expenditures to
suit his obligations, not bend his obli-
cations to suit his extravagant wants?
If he was not willing and did not see
il for my good that this money should
be used to pay my debts, do you be-
lieye he would AVE considered it we'll
! used TO pay yours? o a. think me
unkind to you, but If your heart is so
warped against all E ideas of jus
| tice and love, hen l am not the man
to set it right. But, never was / so
determined in anything in my life as
that / shall neither do a wrong thing
myself, nor assist any other man to
do what / believe to be wrong, what
ever he may think of me, or whatever
the whole world thinks of me for 1t, as
/ am today. This is my resolution for
the wear 1909"