The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1912-03-28

when q man reaches his threescore
years and ten" Murchell said to him
n day. ''he has learned that the evil
or good a man does concerns himself
least OF all. The balance must remain
heavily against me. | must strive not
to atone. but to make the way ready
for other men who will undo what |
have done"
Murchell's lofty self ignoring gave
him an example that be strove to emu
late.
Many other things Of less abstract
kind he learned from the master.
Murchell revealed TO him the secret
intricate inner workings Of the vast
machine that gripped the state as In a
wise. 1t was not all pretty. More
than once he saw rebellious bosses en-
ter the presence OF the master to leave
shaking, stunned by the knowledge
that they were inextricably in the
power of a man who seemed to know
everything. Many things Murchell
III bOb Nii " Nuiti tuts ~ HduSht
to the gentle Dunmeade that they
might saw his heart from burning.
Gradually Bob came to understand,
too, why the secrets and sources of
Murchell's power were revealed to
him. He was being prepared to take
Murchell's place. Upon him. not upon
Dunmeade, the masters mantle was
to fall.
And now Murchell was dying.
Bob knew as the train bore him
swiftly to the east that he was going
to assume that mantle.
Years before Il will be master of the
state before ! der ambition had cried.
Now he said. II am not yet forty.
and | am master Of the state"
Master Of the state. He had dream
ed of power. Now power, tremendous,
f~arreaching, almost unlimited power.
would be his If h. could retain what
Murchell would very soon place in his
hands.
81 can! | win" His teeth clinched,
his muscles frightened in the stress of
his determination. Il will be true to
my trust. | will use my power for
the good of this people. So help me
God"
His words were a prayer, not an
oath. There was no cXultation in his
| heart, neither was there humility. Self
was forgotten His task doomed large
before him. self Obliterating, filing his
horizon as he hurried toward the gov
errors mansion. In the library some
one was playing the piano very softly,
the gentle, soothing chords lingering
in the air. 1hither tho servant show.
ed Bob,
On the threshold Bob halted sharp
ly. Death. power, battle, were in an
instant swept from his mind. His
heart leaped convulSively.
The play'as back was toward him.
She did not notice his entrance. lie
did not move. lest he might disturb
her. Then her voice rose, full and
clear and plaintive in a song that not
all the street pianos in the world can
rob Of it's appeal. Bob listened in rapt
attention. Once before he had heard
her sing that song, on the night when.
on that very spot, be had dealt her
| the cruelest blow a man could give a
woman
At the last line her voice shook
slightly; nee 1t faltered.
''To kiss the cross, sweetheart-to
| kiss the cross"
The last long quivering note died
away. She turned and arose to face
him. For a long minute they regard
ed each other urwaveringly. 1t had
been two years and more since they
had met. these two whose lives had
so strangely crossed They had been
constantly In each others minds, in
each others hearts. Each saw that
the years had wrought changes in the
other.
Every time he had seen her her
beauty had struck him anew. 1t was
so different from that Of the few wo-
men he knew. But he had loved best
to remember her as he had last seer
her. when she had come to him in the
days Of his sickness. How often, dur
ing the long months. in the secrecy Of
his DON he had opened the book of
his memory to look upon her stand
ing there before him, her startled eyes
answering the love in his. Now. In this
sudden meeting. the picture he had
carried seemed to him woefully made
quate. She was even more slender
than before, yet less fragile. Her face
was marked by a new g~entleness. a
new patience and withal a new
strength that made her to Bob's eyes
beautiful beyond dreams.
She. too. saw a change. he was the
same stalwart figure as before, yet a
slight stoop had come into the big
shoulders. Streaks Of gray were In
his hair. The thin. strongly marked.
ascetic face was the same and yet not
the same; the bold arrogance. the look
of the all %conquering viking. was
gone. In its place had come the quiet
matured strength of the man who has
proved himself and the great kindli
a. ~ m otron~ voan -kA ko. c.R..