Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1913-04-11
CHAPTER Ii.-ContInued.

stranger. who follows her to the auto
climbs In and chlorofoFms her.
CHAPTER Ii.-contlnued.
80 he remembered Clara q
Camps advice. wrote the whole story
to Aleck. and cast about for the one
successful business chance in the our
thousand nine hundred and ninety
nine bad ones-as the statistics
have 1t.
He actually found 1t in shoes. Foot
ball muscle and grit went into the ]oD
Of putting superior shoe on nferlor
foot, II necessary-at least on some
foot. He got a chance to try his pow
ers in the home branch Of a manu-
featuring house, and made gooo'
When he came to fill a position where
there was opportunity to try new
IDEAS, he tried them. He inspected
tanneries and stockyards. He got com
posite measurements of all the feet
in all thfand Men's colleges IN the
year nine !, he drilled statesmen
and opened night school for the
buttonhole-makhrs, he made scientinc
study Of leelsi and he invented an
sristoersts and put 1t on the
The family joked about his doings
as the harmless experiments OF a v
ly boy, but presently they began &c
enjoy his income. Through 1t all they
were affectionate and kind, with the
matter-of.course fondness which q
family gives to the members tna'
takes the part of useful drudge. John.
the pet Of the parents. married, and
had his own eyes opened. 1t Is &c
be supposed. Donald, the genius. nae
lust arrived, after a dozen years OF
60, at the stage where he was mel
toned now and then in the literary
Journals. But Jim stuck to shoes
and kept the family on a fair tide OF
modest prosperity.
Once, in the years of Jim's appren'
ticeship to life. there came over him
a fit Of soul-sickness that nearly
proved his ruin.
81 can't stand this" he wrote to
Aleck Van Camp; 'it's too hard and
dry and sordid for any man that's
got a soul. It isn't the grind I mind
though that Is bar enough; IT Is the
Commercial Idea that eats into
mans innards. He forgets there are
things that money can't buy, and In
his heart he grows contemptuous OF
ANYTHING to be had without money
and without price, He can't help It
II he is thinking Of trade nine-tenths
of the time, his mind gets set that
way. I'm ready any minute to jump
the fence, like fathers old colt up
on the farm. I'm not a snob, but ]
recognize now that there was some
reason for all our old Hambleton an
cestors being &c 1nicky about trade
DO you remember how we used to
talk. when we were kiddies, about
keeping our ideals? Well, I believe
I'm bankrupt, Aleck, in my account
with ideals. I don't want to howl, and
these remarks don't go with anybody
else, but I can say to you, l want them
back again."
Aleck did as a kiddie should do
writing much advice on long sheets Of
paper. and illustrating his points
richly, like a good Scotchman. with
kcientifc instances. "A month or two
later he c~ontrived to have work tc
no in Boston, 80 that he could go out
IN LYNN and look up Jimmy's ase
He even devised a cure by creating
in his mind, an office In the biological
world which was to be offered tc
James on the ground that science
needed lust his abilities and training
But when Aleck arrived in Lynn he
found that Jim, in some fashion OF
other, had found q cure for himself
he was deeper than ever in the bust
ness. and yet, in some spiritual sense
he had found himself. He had cap
Cured his ideal again and yoked 1t tc
duty-which is a great feat
After twelve years Of ferocious la
bor. with no vacations to speak of
James mind took a turn for the worse
Physically he was as sound as a bell
though Of lathlike %thinness; but ar
efervescing in his blood lured hi
mind away from the study Of lasts and
accounts and Partisan models ant
.art n c~areerfng. like Satan, I'D ant
down the earth. Romance, which hat
been drugged during the Transition
from youth to manhood, awoke and
coaxed for its rights, and whispered
temptingly in al ear not yet dulled Il
Its voice. Freedom, open spaces
laughter, the fresh sweep OF the wind
the high b~uccaneenng piracy Of lif'
and joy-these things beglamouret
his senses
So one day he locked his desk Will
q Una, click. The business was II