El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-05-04
BY GEORGE
RANDOLPH CHESTER

OalQCA Lie OCLlCl cl4o4a ACC4 cDOOt
It. for 1t must all be paid back. Please
let me have my own way"
1T don't see how can do otherwise. .
replied Phillip. giving her the money.
She took it, gulping down little lUmn
which rose in her throat. then said
with pretty little assumption OF busi-
ness:
Il want you to write out note for
me to sign"
Without protest Phillip did SO and
put the note carefully away.
''Now we come back to the question
Ct employment" said ne. You men
toned while ago your fathers gar
dening hobby Do you suppose he
would take position In that liner
"a month ago be would not, but now
he would gratefully If you can get
him such a place 1t would perhaps
solve our problem"
II believe that I can" unused Phil
lip. Just wait a minute" and he
wrote a note. inclosing it In an adj
dressed envelope, which he handed to
her. IF your father will take this
note to the address on the envelope 1
am quite certain they will make a
place for him"
81 don't know how to thank you"
she said you will have to take it
for granted"
He took her warm hand in his own.
and If in that moment he had obesed
the impulse that was in his heart, if be
had spoken the words that strove to
rush upon his lips, the whole course Of
his life might have been changed-for
the better. But again ambition. whish
grimly forbade any clog upon his
movements. interfered. and he held
her hand with the tenderness Of a
brother-no more.
Really, Elsie. I wish / could have
done more for you.v he said. II want
You to promise me that II you get into
difficulties of any sort you viii let me
smooth them out for you
Il have no one else to go TO-" she re-
Piled simply. do you know how much
suffering there is In the world?" she
suddenly asked him.
II suppose there is a great deal of It."
DO you understand. what suffering
is?"
81 DO" he returned. 81 had my
share Of it-of illness. of poverty. of
cold and hunger. of uncleanIiness. of
the social degradation that belongs
with want Of money. know these
things not as one emerging from them.
but as one cast down among them
from luxury. Some people that expert
ence softens. others 1t hardens and
makes bitter Sometimes ! think II
had that latter effect with me-"
at must not be!'' she said earnestly.
Phillip. what has happened to my
family has happened to three-f ourths
OF the people in Hampton. which. as
you may or may not know. is compos-
ed entirely of poor people. werkmen
who in better times try to buy their
own homes. In that village of four or
five thousand people there are per-
haps one half Of them facing actual
starvation at this minute
'Yes?" inquired Phillip. waiting.
There are hundreds and hundreds
Of other villages like Hampton. where
thousands upon thousands are in the
same condition. Things were never so
bad as they are now"
"YesT he asked again.
They say-they say''-she halted
and stopped. and then. with her face
coloring, she stumbled on-"they say
that you brought on this panic and |
that you could stop It It isn't true, is
itY
In measure I suppose 1t is,' ad- |
mitted Phillip. THE condition was like
a pile Of loose gunpowder at the side |
OF a railroad track. where constantly |
passing engines are sending up sparks.
One spark was sure to land in that |
gunpowder and explode it. merely |
happened to be the spark. but with no |
more power than that spark to stop |
the subsequent destruction"
She recoiled from him with dilating
eyes. 1T is true. thenY' she said.
Il suppose it is. even in the way you (
look at it. but I assure you, Elsie.
that it was necessary Out of this
better times will result, and better
times could not be reached EXCEPT
through this devastation 1t is like a
surgical operation. which. painful and
cruel as it may seem at the start, is
necessary to save the rest Of the body
from death and decay"
She shook her head. "I cannot I'M
it. but then suppose could
never have been surgeon
He smiled and laid his hand upon
her shoulder. mo. ! donf think you
could"
She WINGED under that touch and
glance. not because. they were repul-
i've TO her-oh. not because of that
1ut because they were the touch and
glance of brother
Rensselaer, was announced just then,
Ind the interview closed
In Phillips touring car. big Sam up
reside the chauffeur. Kelvin and Rens-
elaer bowied along a pleasant country
Dad. with the latter young gentleman
n state of stuDefaction.