Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1913-03-27
after LONG WAIT
How Success Much Delayed at
Last Brought Happiness.
BY NELLIE C. GILMORE.

tOunQ nlmbeLI cOnITOuteu W ASSA
ing Of curious excitement; a sense
Of something impending. which might
have been tragedy, or travesty' or
eyen the herald of happiness In his
dull, dispassionate life. His mood
was whimsical, and he wondered with
q grim smile II he we're not growing
hysterical in his old age! Forty'six,
Rnd-dreaming? Long ago-a score
Of years-he had relegated sentiment
forever to oblivion. And now It's
ghost was walking. He was not sure
that he liked the sensation nor was he
altogether certain that he objected TO
It. But he was decidedly disturbed by
Il.
Did this illogical return to memories
signify that the clogged wheels OF his
being were again in motion and that
some subtle insubordinate self was
preparing to begin the old struggle all
over again?
Twenty years ago life had looked
very big and very bright to Arthur
Berringer. Fame had coquetted at one
elbow and Love at the other. But put
ting forth his hand to grasp the one'
1t had crumbled in his grasp, and In
the bitterness of his defeat, he had
deliberately renowned the other He
had loved the girl better than his life.
loved her far too well to drag her
down with him to the level Of medic
Gritty, perhaps poverty. His master
effort had failed. All that was strong
est and best within him had been
cast into the venture. He knew that
by instincs and he would not go to
Alice Rutledge with the miserable
story OF his failure. So he had writ
ten her letter quite calmly, announc'
ing his defeat and releasing her from
all ties. Afterwards, he had set stole
ally to work, straining every nerve
and brain cell to its capacity in the
futile effort to give the lie to his own
self-knowledge. The result was in.
evitable. His first failure was fol-
lowed by repeated others and he had
finally threw down his pen and yielded
himself grimly to the sodden grind OF
q clerical desk in one Of the big rail-
road Offices. All ambition was dead
within him, and though the only thing
In life he really cared for might have
been his for the asking. he vowed SOL
EMMY to forswear it until he had
proved himself deserving.
Berringer was sitting before his
desk, tracing eccentric designs on the
blotting-pad and staring into space
where the events of his youth lined
themselves. He thought with a lit
tie sigh of the letter the girl had sent
him in answer to his own. Every
word stood forth wildly in his sud-
denly surcharged imagination.
Impelled by some incomI rehensible
impulse to open the little wound, he
took out his keys and fitted one OF
them into the lock Of secret draw
or. The compartment yielded easily
to his pressure, and after 20 years
he looked again on the things that
had been dear to him In his youth.
There was q packet Of letters and
bulky envelope containing the rem
nants Of his one great hope. He drew
them out with a sort Of timid rever-
ence and sat for a moment turning
them over In his hand, q poignant re-
turn Of the old bitterness making him
hesitate momentarily to 90 further.
But the feeling passed as quickly as
It was born, and, after another, he
read the letters. When he came to
the last his gaze fiickered an instant
over the family inscribed words.
Then he drew a deep breath and de-
vourod them with starved eyes:
Dear Boy:
"Your letter containing the news OF
vour failure has reached me. / am
sorry. you will never know just how
sorry. Arthur. For I know that the
best of you, the whole Of you, went
ont In that one supreme effort And
believe in you, dear. But you are
right In your determination to night
inward alone. It is not that love
you less, but honor you the more.
You are not the sort Of man who
wins success with a woman by his
side. It must come to you through
hard, unremitting toll. And 1t win
come.
Success, for its own sake, is bring
ing one fame is no very great thing,
and as such do not crave 1t for you.
But l desire that q mantle man !
love-which makes him break down
every barrier to attain 1t
"some day you viii come to me
with laurels on your brow, and shall
be vaiting-eyen into eternity, dear
for your hour of triumphant mine
when you come to claim me.
ALICE"
Ror n brief moment, Berringer held
tha widowed sheet to his lips; then
ouddenly thrust It back into the pack
n with q gesture Of self-contempt
what right had he-a failure-to desc
crata her words? Much as she might
aaapIae him-as she surely must now
l-she could not despise him as he
ana himself He frowned as he pick
"a M the manuscript and snapped the
rotteu cord that held 1t. The seal on
the envelope was still unbroken-aft-
| - = ..o-a ~ vaara He Rmfled avuf.