The Washington times., 1913-06-25

I were passing in. In . little stream; soon
he. too. found himself in one Of the
back seats.
Two hours later he .waikei out into
the cool night air q new man, with head
many sickIy phantoms. His virility wa
| renewed, he looked out once more upon
life with eyes militant and brave heart.
He was full Of the sense OF havtns
passed through some purging ana bench
II was not that his religious belief OF
disbeliefs had been affected or even
| quickened by anything he had heard
yet. from nrst to last. those two hours
had been full Of delight to him: The
vast. dimiy 1t building. with its I'M
posing array Of statuary, shadowy ng-
!! ures Of great statesmen. soldiers and
priests seen by him then, a. II chanced.
| for the first time. woke him at once
from his lethargy. Religion seemed
brought In . single moment into touch
with the great things Of life.
There were men there who had bean
creedless, but great: genius was hon.
orede side by side with sanctity. The
rolling music. the pure. fresh voices OF
the boys. appealed to his sense Of the
beautiful. - those historical assccta-
winite-robed priest who stood In the CEN
ter Of the great building. yet whose
voice without effort sesmed able to PEN
citrate to its farthest corner. seemed
both In his personal self and In his
with his great surroundings.
Without q manuscript, with scarcely
note, he stood there, calm and impoe-
ing. the prototype Of the modern priest,
pleading against worldlinees for the
sake. Of beauty and Of God. With deli
agery, the calm enthusiasm Of the Or
ator, always self-ontrolled and sweetly
convincing, seemed to Douglas Ike the
transmutation Of . beautiful picture
into q beautiful poem, instinct with life,
vivid and thrilling:
He stayed TIL the sermon was over
and the solemn words Of the benedic-
, tion pronounced. TIL the deep. throbbing
notes Of the organ rang down the emp
tying, aisles. Then he walked out into
The life ting1ed In his veins a. he
walked slowly back into pagan London
Here the great restaurants. brilliantly
lighted. reminded him that all day he
hanson. and was driven TO his rooms.
kept the man while he changed his
clothes. and drove to Piccadiliy. Here
he. entered famous restaurant. known
to him only by name. found small
table. and ordered his dinner with care.
He leaned back and looked out upon
the thronR with q kindly human inter-
est. He had the feeling OF having re-
turned once more IN touch with his kind.
A faint smile was upon his lips, too
the heavier barrier which had come be-
tween him and the garden Of his imag.
ination seemed to glide apart. He saw
into the future OF the hfe-story which
he was writing.
New images sprang up and the old
pic. Difficulties fell away-a singular
clearnees of perception seemed to come
to him in those few minutes. The Joy
Of life was in his heart. the zest OF II
He felt the unaccustomed color in his
cheeks. and an, acquaintance who
paused to shake hands was astonished
at his affability. The gay music sound
ed strangely to his ears after the great
organ notes, but in its way, too. was
beautiful. Life was meant to be beau-
tiful He had never before felt 10 sure
of it.
lie at the restaurant Of the moment are
usually at their best. Douglas was as
their dresses and jewelry. and the
flowers with which their tables were
smothered. The gayety OF the place
was infectious. He. too, began to de-
sire a companion.
well she would look at his table. with
her matchless art Of dressing and won
derful pearls; he fancfed, too. without
vanity, that she would approve OF his
in his present mood. And
from Emily de Reuss his thoughts wan
dered on to Cicely. They were the only
two women who had ever held any
place in his life He contrasted them,
and grew thoughtful Il
Later he paid his bill. lighted a cigar.
and strolled homeward. Already his
brain was at work. The scenes of his
story lay stretched invitingly before
him-it seemed that ne would only have
to take up his pen and write until ex-
haustion came He turned of the
strand, humminR softly to himself SO
wrapped in his world Of teeming fancies
that he did not notice the little figure
in sober black. who looked eagerly into
his face as she approached.
He would have passed on but for her
timid word Of remonstrance:
Douglas"
Then he stopped short. 1t was Cicely. |
A Confirmation Of This story VIII