The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1912-01-18

towering into Physically. II would
have been hard to suggest an improve
nent in him. he approached so near
the ideal standards. He was fine
grained. supple. slender. smslljointed.
thorough bred from head to heel.
intellectually. he had been good
enough to go through the academy at
West Point with credit. and to grad.
uate high enough in his class to be
assigned to service In the cavalry. His
standar OF conduct. his ideas Of hon
or and morality had been about The
same as those OF the best third of his
classmates. II his fellow officers In
the Philippines. during the year or
two he spent In the service had been
asked to pick Cav In him. which
they would have been reluctant to do.
they would have said that he seemed
to them bit too thln-skinned and
rather fastidious; that was what his
chum and only intimate friend. Perry
Hunter. said about him at any rate.
But he could AFFORD TO be fastidi-
Gus. for he had about all n man cou d
want, one would think. For three
generations they had taken wealth
for granted in the Caylsy family. and
with II had come breeding. security
Of social position. simplicity and ease
10 making friends, both among men
and women In short. there could be
no doubt at all that up to his twenty
ninth year Fate had been ironically
kind TO Philip Cayley. She had given
him no hint, no preparation for the
stunning blow that was to fall uTon
him. suddenly. ont Of 80 clear sky.
When Il did fall, II cut his life
clean across. so that when he thought
back TO that time now. II seemed to
him that the Lieutenant Cayley Of the
United States army had died over
there in the Philippines. and tina, he.
the man who was now soaring In those
great circles through the arctic sky,
was a chance inheritor of his mare
and of his memory
He had set out one day nj the head
of small scouting party. the best.
| liked man In the regiment secure In
the respect. in the almost fatherly re-
1 Vi us NOAbh'is HibAh-J N'hoN aNHAo
! Of the almost idolatrous admiration
| OF his m,n and the younger officers.
| He had gone out believing that no
| one ever had a truer friend than be
! Possessed in Perry Hunter. his class
mate at West Point. his fellow Officer
| In the regiment. the conhdant OF all
his hopes and ideals.
4 H. anpo hack affair fort
| nights absence, to find his name
| smeared with disgrace. himself judged
| and condemned. unheard. In the opin-
| ion of the mess. And that was not
| the worst OF II. The same blow which
had deprived him OF the n, gard OF the
| only people in the world who matter
! cd 10 him. destroyed. also. root and
| branch. his affection for the one man
4 OF whom he had made an intimate.
| The only feeling that II would be pos
sible for him to entertain for Perry
| Hunter again must be a Multiplying.
half.incredulous contempt And II
that was his feeling for the man he
had trusted most and loved the most
| deeply, what must be II for the rest OF
| humankind! What did II matter what
they thought OF him or what they did
to him? All he wanted OF human 80
ciety was 20 escape from II.
| He fell to wondering. as he hung.
suspended. over that rosy expanse OF
feecy fog whether. were the thing to
do over again. he would act as he had
acted five years ago; whether ne
would content himself with a single
disdainful denial of the monstrous
thing they charged him with: whether
he would resign again, under IRE. and
go away. leaving his furnished name
for the DAVIS to peck at
Heretofore he had always answered
that question with a fierce afirma-
tive. Today Il left him wondering.
Had he stayed. had he paid the price
that would have been necessary to
clear himself he would never have
found his wings. so much was clear.
lie would never have spent those
four years in the wilderness, working.
experimenting. taking his life In his
hands, day after day. while he master
cd the art that no man had ever mas
tered before.
lie had set himself this task because
Il Was the only one he knew that did
not involve contact with his fellow
beings lie must have something that
he could work at alone. Work and
solitude were two things that he had
felt an overmastering craving for. And
the possibility he had faced with
light heart every morning-the posi-
bility OF a sudden and violent dea b
before night. had been no more To
him than an agreeable spice to the
days work.
II was not until he had actually
learned To fly. had literally shaken the
dust of the earth from his feet and
taken TO the sky as his abode. that his
wound had healed. The three mouths
that he had spent in this upper arctic
air, awning for l6 hours out OF "a, had
Gained him. put his nerves In tune
again: given him for men and their
AFFAIRS a quiet Indifference, In pace
of the smarting contempt he had been
hugging TO his breast before. Three
months ago. at sight OF those little
human dots crossing the glacier, he