Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-06-30
Ole Fourth at The Homes
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BY Howard FieIdins


Philosophers prove the infnity of
space by asking you 10 think of the end
Of IL as a wall with nothing upon the
other side. This is declared to be UNI
thinkablc. There can be no final place,
no wall with a void beyond.
/ know better, for j have seen that
wall. ! came to il in October, 1879.
There was nothing on the farther side
and very little on the nearer. 1t was
not an end, but a continuance, that was
inconceivable to me.
My business had come to an end. NO
philosopher could deny that. My ner-
vous system was done for. / seemed TO
see ii taken out Of my body and tackled
upon that final wall like h skin of a
squirrel on a barr door.
/ was 30 years old, n / felt l3O.
When my friends asked me what /
was going 20 do l simply yaWned at
them.
1t was at this time that some one
recommended me to Miss Glendon. Peo-
Pile have absolutely no conscience IN
such matters. The young lady was
Informed that ] was a trustworthy ana
efficient man, q victim of misfortunes
that would ave been too much Tor
anybody, and she credited the tale.
Miss Glendon was an orphan "a years
~ diAh fSLE pIClAy. Nv AAANSAA' -
somewhat more than a dollar per min
ute, and there are 525. 600 minutes in a
year. She is said TO give about twelve
hours a day TO charity.
The gentleman who mentioned my
name to Miss Glendon persuaded me, at
her request, to go with him to call upon
her. I was toe feebleminded to resist.
To the best Of my recollection, / did
not clearly understand where ] was go
i,,y Y,pfIl r found ~ NcpIf in tho lnd va
presence. .
The sight of Miss Glendon produced
a considerable effect upon me. She
possesses magnificent health n re-
veais, ever to such Eyes as mine were
then, the energy OF a noble and finely
balanced nature.
/ forgot for q few minutes that the
u~nthinkable wall stood in front of me,
and | was conscious, with a mild sur
prise, Of talking like a living and ra-
tional human being.
After half an hour of generalities
Miss Glendon asked me If / would I'M
dertake the management of her chill
drens home, q very admirable charity
which she had established abou a year
before. She had heard that / had had
charge of q boys school in Massachu-
sets for a couple of years after con-
Guiding my college purse and that /
AAbu SiiS Il WV a. DAiS ALL
hat 1 held a medical diploma. though
l had practiceG but little. The knowl-
edge would be OF great advantage, in
her opinion. Altogether she spoke of
my desultory and purposeless career
as if it were the very thing she a
been in search OF, and she apologized
with great delicacy for venturing to
offer me a position in which pecuniary
reward would not be at all equal to
nv deserts rhnp cha mod a raa1lp
handsome salary and paused for my re-
ply.
Now, the fact is that I would have
welcomed such a. haven, and, above all,
/ would have sacrificed much for the
sake OF sharing any sort of work in
which MISS Glendon was engaged, but
l am hoaest in the main, and this thing
was noN possible. l told Miss Glendon
fr~anklysthat / was filter to be an in
mate of her home than the head of it;
that Z was utterly broken down and
preTaturely in my second childhood
and that, in brief, the institution could
NOT fall into worse hands than mine
ifFthe manager were chosen by chance
out of the directory.
1t appeared hat my friend had pre-
pared her for this reply. He had told
her that / was a bit the worse for past
anxiety and unwisely worried about
my health. but that there was really
nothing the matter. All l needed was
q little encouragement.
Accepting his view, Miss Glendon
proceeded to encourage me. She told
me how We'll / was looking, and, as a
matter of fact. l actually did look as
rugged as an OK. In earlier years | was
very strong, n the muscular shell
still stood, as the bark of a tree will
sometimes stand when the heart Of it
is dust. Fifty times while she was talk
ing to me l had TO shake my wits to-
gether and with a spaSmodic effort re-
member where I was n what had
happened, yet / talked as straight as a
tight string, as my friend informed me
afterward, except" he added, for
that foolishness about your health"
The upshot OF it was that l became
the manager Of that institution, and
my act was a crime. / was no more
fit for it than a deaf man to lead an or
chestra. However, the novelty of it
buoyed me up for a few days, so that
hone of my subordinates knew that l
was out of my wits.
The work was really extremely at
tractive to one who had come out de-
feated from the selfish strife of money
winning, and IL / had been only a little
less battered and worn I would have
been a fairly efficient person. Even as
/ was, the force within me might have
proved sufficient but for the increasing
rush of work incident to the coming
holidays.
Miss Glendon had high ideas of the
Fourth of July, and her plans for MAX
ing it memorable in the home were we'll
considered, but exceedingly compre-
hensive. Moreover she looked to me
for suggestions, and / was becoming
increasingly eager to serve her well.
But when a mans mind is in such a
condition that he can't depend upon re-