Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-06-19


intense His arm. the seat of throb-
bling pain. had swollen to twice the
natural size, while his side prevented
his taking a full breath voluntarily.
he had paid no attention to his own
hurts. and it was either the vigor of u
constitution that years of dissipation
had not impaired or some anti-febrile
property of the bear meat or the alb
sence Of the exciting whisky that won
the battle. He rekindled the fire with
his last match on the evening Of the
third day and looked around the dark
ening horizon. sane, but feeble in body
and mind.
If sail had appeared in the interim
he had not seen it, nor was there one
In sight now. Too weak to climb the
slope, he returned to the boat, where
the child. exhausted from fruitless cry
ing, was now sleeping. His unskillful
and rather heroic manner of wrapping
it up to protect it from cold had no
doubt contributed largely to the clos
ing of its wounds by forcibly keeping
it still, though it must have added
largely to its present sufferings. He
looked for moment on the wan.
tear stained little face, with its fringe
of tangled curls peeping above the
wrappings of canvas, and, STOPPING
painfully down, kissed it softly, but
the kiss awakened it, and it cried for
its mother. He could not soothe it,
nor could he try, and with formless.
wordless curse against destiny yelling
up from his heart he left it and sat
down on the wreckage at some dis
lance away.
"We'll very likely get WE'LL" he
unused gloomily, unless l let the fire
60 out. What then? We can't last
longer than the berg and not much
longer than the bear. We must be out
of the tracks. We were about 900
miles out when we struck, and the
current sticks to the fog belt here
about west-sou' west-but that's the
surface water. These deep fellows
have currents Of their own. There's
no fog. We must be to the southwark
Of the belt-between the lanes They'll
run their boats in the other lane after
this. think-the money grabbing
wretches. Curse them If they've
drowned her. Curse them, with their
water tight compartments and their
logging Of the lookouts. Twenty-four
boats for 5000 people, dashed down
with tarred grippe lashings, thirty men
to clear them away and not an az on
the boat deck or sheath knife on a
man. Could she have got away? II
they got that boat down they might
have taken her in from the steps, and
the mate knew l had her child. He
would tell her. Her name must be
Myra too. 1t was her voice l heard
in that dream. That was hasheesll.
What did they drug me for? But the
whisky was all right. It's all done
with now unless l get ashore, but
will To-
The moon rose above the castellated
structure to the left. flooding the icy
beach with ashen gray light. sparkling
in thousand points from the cas-
cades, streams and ripping pools,
throwing into blacklist shadow the gull
lies and hollows and bringing to his
mind in spite of the weird beauty OF
the scene a crushing sense of loneli.
ness-of iittleness-as though the vast
pile Of inorganic desolation which held
him was of far greater Importance
than himself and all the hopes, plans
and fears of his lifetime. The child
had cried itself to sleep again. and he
paced up and down the ice.
up there" he said modify, looking
into the sky, where few stars shone
family in the food from the moon
up there - somewhere - they don,
know just where-but somewhere UP
above, Is the Christians heaven. Up
there is their good God, who has placed
Myra's child here-their good God
and down below US. somewhere again
are their hell and their bad god, whom
they invented themselves. And they
give us our choice-heaven or hell. II
Is not so-not so. The great mystery
is not solved. The human heart is moi
helped In this way. No good, mercifu
God created this world or its condi
tons. Whatever may be the nature Of
the causes at work beyond our menta
vision, one fact ia individually proved
that the qualities Of mercy, goodness
Justice. play no part in the government
scheme. And yet they say the core o.
all religions on earth Is the belief IL
this. Is 1t. or is 1t the cowardly, hu
man fear Of the unknown that impel'
the savage mother to throw her babt
to crocodile. that impels the civilized
man to endow churches. that has KEEP
in existence from the beginning class
of soothsayers. medicine men. priests
: and clergymen. all living on the hope.
and fears excited by themselves?
"And people pray-millions of then
-and claim they are answered. Art
they? Was ever supplication sent into
that sky by troubled humanity an
swered or even heard? Who knows
They pray for rain and sunshine, an
both come in time. They pray 70
health and success, and both are bu
natural in the marching of event.
This is not evidence. But they say tina
they know, by spiritual uplifting, tia
they are heard and comforted and al
swered at the moment. Is not this
physiological experiment? Would the
not feel equally tranquil If they r,
peated the multiplication table or DO,
ed the compass? $3.50 !.
millions have believed this-ths
prayers are answered-and these mi
lions have prayed 70 different god