davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14
WO CHRISTMAS DAYS---By II B. Arthur

might be led on to drink too much
wine at rowdy Oxford wine party
any more than she realized the bane-
ful fascination of the card table.
She was q good woman, though In
her case this meant a hard woman.
and she had scant pity for offenders.
and Challoner. even as a little chap.
had been hopelessly afraid OF the
tall. dark-haired woman with the sad
eyes-the mother who had buried all
her Joy In life In her husbands
grave. and who, SO perfect and cir.
cumspect herself. seemed to find 1t
difficult to realize that 1t comes
fairly easy to some natures to fall
into mptatlon-perilously easy.
She was stern with her son-over
stern-the lad she was 30 feverishly
anxious to bring up strictly, to dedi-
cate her life to. and Challoner soon
began to hide things from his moth
er, to deceive her, and he succeeded
so well In his task that Mrs. Chal-
loner had begun to think of Paul as
a saint, a splendid young saint be-
fore she had to realize-which she
did not do till he was ''sent down"
from Oxford-that the saint had de-
veloped into the profligate.
She shed bitter tears over him,
fnexpressibly bitter tears, and 1t was
because she loved her son so In.
tensely that she sorrowed all the
more over his disgrace: but there
was one terrible scene between Paul
and his mother, when the young man
implored Rachel to let him have the
money with which to pay card
debt-a debt of honor-for Paul had
no income Of his own beyond what
Mrs. Challoner was pleased to al
low him, his dead father having,
rightly or wrongly, left the whole Of
his large fortune to his wife, trusting
her to look after the interests Of
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14
q WORD TO THE YOUNC---By Professor George Bands

And there Is no Scandinavia on the
map.
There IS a strange, sad and sombre
country not to be found Oh the map,
either, where 1t is cold L.. the shade.
and a little colder still In the sun;
where the wicked are stupid and fero-
cious, and where the good are not
brave; where woman grows little
less womanly every day and man does
not grow more manly every day.
That country exists, though you do
not find II on the map.
The old classification of men as
officers, nursemaids and chimney
sweepers no longer holds good. The
Danes, for instance, are either minis
ters or journalists They either wor-
ry too much about the morals OF 9TH
ers or thy flutter about without any
serious interest in anything. When
the Dane claims to be amiable and
free from prejudices, he will jump
out Of the window 10 show how light
and airy he Is. When, however, his
mind is preoccupied with the short
comings OF his neighbor, he forgives
himself every frailty toward women
or the money Of others, but never
grows tired OF Judging and condemn
ing others; and the judgments he rem
ders are supposed to cover all cases.
1t never occurs to him that morals
submit every single case to an inner
Jury.
A man who addresses young college
students ought TO be able to moralize.
IT has never been my strong point,
but | shall do the best i can.
Beware OF whiskeyi 1t makes you
dull. When people began to doubt the
existence OF the devil, he was put on
whiskey bottles and retailed. Then
people had to believe In him again.
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

tenuated form, whose boots were
broken and fearful to behold But
the lad looked gentleman, even in
his rags-a gentleman who had
fallen maybe from heaven into hell,
and when Paul saw this poor wreck
Of humanity making his entrance, all
undismayed. into his mothers house
"a welcome and evidently expected
guest-he squared his own shouI-
ders and faint flush Of color lit up
his white face.
"Good LordI" he muttered. "Good
Lord, II my mother welcomes such
vagabonds as that poor wretch to her
board she will surely make room
there for me-room for her prodigal
sonI"
He ran boldly up the steps Of his
mothers house and rang the bell.
The door opened, and Paul gazed
straight into the pitiful eyes OF the
old butler, who seemed TO have some
difficulty In recognizing his young
master for a second, but who finally
gave a hoarse, yet triumphant cry:
you've come home. Master Paul.
You've come home on Christmas Day
to eat your Christmas dinner. Oh.
thank God for this, sir!"
what does 1t all mean-this-
this dinner-and to such strange
guests?" Paul stammered as he
spoke, and stood shlvering on the
threshold. conscious of a wonderful
blaze of light and subtle sense Of
warmth and kindness-aware, In dull,
hazy fashion, that he had come
home.
What does 1t mean, Master Paul?''
The butler stretched out eager,
tremulous old hands and drew his
young master In. why, 1t just
means this, dear Master Paul." he
continued,
"Your mother-poor dear lady
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

the little family icrcle, and entered
with keen enjoyment the work Of
trimming the tree and arranging the
presents for the two children fast
asleep In the next room.
The final arrangement completed,
Maude and her husband took last
peek at the sleeping kiddies and
called Jake to see them
AS the little group stood IN the
doorway, jake noticed that John
put his arm about Maude's waist
and that the light In Maude's eyes
shone with a peculiar brilliance as
she snuggled closer, 1t was a
picture of domestic love and felicity
and 1t touched Jake deeply.
John and Maude, having retired
for the night, Jskie and Marie were
left alone In the parlor.
Seated before the fireplace, where
the gas log was throwing forth a
CHEEKY heat, jake asked Marie
about herself.
She had left the chorus and all
her former gay companions and was
now employed In a millinery estab-
lishment-
Whats the matter with the show
gamer" asked Jake. "Too fast for
your"
"Yes, jake. Somehow or the
other couldn't let myself drift like
the others had, and when came up
here to live with Maude and John
and the kids. we'll, they didn't
think 1t was the best thing for the
kids to have their aunt In the
chorus. Not that they objected TO
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

or pink, the diamond horseshoe,
which had adorned his mulu-colored
tie was, perhaps, bit oversize, nut
withal he had radiated with that
ready money" look.
The dying out of the racing sport
and too frequent trips to the bar had
left Jakie stranded. without friend
in the world.
Silently and moodily Jake reflected
on his hard lot. His chin, with its
two days growth OF heavy black
beard. that same heavy beard which
had always shone through his
pallid skin and had earned for him
his cognomen Of BLACK Jackie"
trembled a little, and the thin blue
lips pulsated with low muttered
maledictions heaped upon the world
in general. The sporting element
soon forgets old pals down on their
luck, he reflected.
Nervously scanning the faces Of
shoppers emerging from the doorway
of a department store, Jakie's face
lighted up as he saw petite figure
laden with many bundles start across
the sidewalk. Marie Lecourti Yes,
It must be she. Marie, the prettiest
girl in the Follies chorus. Should he
speak to her? Perhaps she would
have at least kind word for the
fellow who had bought her many
dinners at swell cafes" and had
lavished his money on her when he
had it Instinctlvely he started
forward, his hand on his ancient
velour hat, the one relic OF palmy
days.
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

But almost as he started he
checked himself. No, 1t would be
better not to speak to Marie. for she,
like all the rest Of the old crowd,
would turn him down, would refuse
to speak to bum"
He stepped back to the shelter OF
the elevated pillar just as Marie
turned to cross the street. Her
bright eyes twInkling with good
cheer she came up quite close to
jake. Suddenly a fash Of recog-
milton crossed her countenance and
she almost dropped her packages as
she rushed forward,
Jake" she cried. "Is It really
your Where have you been? What
are you doing here and where are
you going"
Before jake could think Of an
answer to the questions which
called for a recital OF almost his
entire life's history, she went on:
For goodness sake, jake, you
look sight! What's the Idea OF
all this poor folksy makeup7 Is It
stall or are you really forced to
wear them?'
Forced Is right" replied jake.
Pm broke saw you as you came
out OF the store, but I didn't know
whether you would want to speak
to me or not"
SILLY" laughed Marie. want to
speak to my old pal? OF course, 7
do. And now that I have seen you
we are going TO have a good old
fashioned chat, but we can't stand
here In this wet and talk. You
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

their only child.
Rachel absolutely refused to give
Paul the money he wanted. She was
thunderstruck to find that he had
contracted this so-called debt OF
honor since he had been "sent down"
and after all her lectures and admo-
nitions-stealing out at night long
after her stiff household had retired
to rest. to mix with riotous and dis
orderly companions.
Rachel would neither be moved nor
entreated. however. But she was to
suffer for her obduracy IN the end.
for Paul. driven half desperate. final
ly forged his mothers name to a
check and then fed away from homo
before what he had done could be
discovered.
Fled away at dawn-Christma
dawn-to join the great army Of the
wastrels-the failures.
He had starved and suffered; lived
Oh III Auoho, leu WILL eWlncs duu
now he was returning home after
the fashion OF all prodigals, But he
came back in fear and trembling.
driven home by the pangs Of hunger
in rags-and ashamed prodigal
who had been brought low, very low.
It was Christmas Day. and Chal-
loner supposed that his mother was
giving her usual Christmas dinner.
and he shuddered as he thought
Of facing the crowd Of guests
who would shortly be assembling
round Rachel Challoner's hospitable
board. They would all be patterns
OF virtue and responsibility, not a
black sheep among them-and they
would smell of money!
He simply couldn't face her as she
feasted the virtuous and righteous
Why, he dared not disgrace her be-
fore her immediate guests-he had
still too much Of the gentleman In
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

him to do that. Had Rachel been
eating her Christmas dinner alone
that evening II would have been diff
ferent, Of course. He would have
gone in and thrown himself on his
knees at her feet crying out that he
had slnned, but as 1t was
Cold sleet was falling, and It was
a bitter night but Paul could not
make up hIs mind TO move on, so he
took UP his station by the area rail-
ings-waitlng to see his mothers
guests arrive-the guests she had
bldden to her feast
He. waited-expecting the car
riages and the motors of the pros
porous to dash up to his mothers
door every moment But they failed
to come. Yet to Paul Challoners
intense surprise other guests began
to appear. but guests who came on
foot.
Strange guests, too-very strange
guests, indeed; men whose shabby,
threadbare clothes betrayed the fact
that they and poverty had more than
q nodding acquaintance with each
other; who looked as il they had
been fighting fate and circumstance
and had been badly worsted In the
struggle; and once or twice Paul
could have sworn that he detected
prodigals-greater prodlgals than
himself even-ascending the steps
Of his mothers house, and being ad.
mitted into the great mansion.
The door flung wide to them, too,
with the butler in evidence-the old
butler whom Paul had known since
the days Of his earliest childhood
and footmen lowering behind. All
honor. it appeared, being paid to
these poor dereliots.
Paul edged up to the steps. The
door had just closed behind the last
guest-a broken-down youth, whose
clothes hung loosely around bis at
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

the chorus part Of II, but then there
are so many other things that go
with It The gay company. the
loose way OF living and things OF
that sort"
$50 you cut IL out for the sake OF
the kids?"
"Yes, for the kids and for my own
sake. was becoming tired Of the
life, and the home life here seemed
to touch something in me and make
me want to live right There is
nothing In this fast life. jake; the
right way Is the only way. You may
prosper for q time on the wrong
road, but sooner OF later you come
to grief"
Yes, she was right Jake knew.
The wrong way had dragged him
down. Drink and loose companions
had brought him to his present
level.
For a long time he sat and gazed
at the hre. When next he spoke
there was a tenderness in his voice
such as had never been there before,
Say, Marie" he said, "do you
think you could help me get on tho
right track. the honest road?
want to try. I see how happy you
are and what q change II has made
In you. / am going to try"
Tenderly she put her hand on his
arm. II am glad that you will try.
You know / always liked you, Jake.
Somehow you were different from
the rest OF the old crowd, for you
manner. You never would stand
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

-HE soft feecy snow, floating
down straight from the
heavens, melted as quickly as
II struck the New York sidewalks,
and turned into mud under the
hurrying feet of the thousands Of late
ChriCtmas shoppers.
BLACK Jake" stood IN the shelter
afforded by the elevated road pillar,
bis threadbare raincoat drawn tightly
about him, his hands thrust deeply
into his pockets, as he gently tapped
first one foot and then the other on
the wet pavement Not that jake
was cold. but his shoes had worn
quite thin. and the dirty brown slush
had sought out all the little cracks
through which it might seep and find
q comfortable haven,
going 10 uc a lean CnTlSLma3
for me-" jake sighed rehectively to
the cleaning lights Of Broadway.
Awful lean"
In his pocket he Jlngled his one
lone quarter against the key Of his
cheap Sixth avenue room and smiled
as he thought Of the days when be
had iingled gold coins. In those days
the racing game had been good. and
jake was one OF the best known
bookie's at Sheepshead. Then he had
been affluent He had dressed In the
height Of ultra fashion; the pattern
In his suits had been a trifie large.
his shirts we're always OF heliothope
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

HIS speech was made to the
young college students upon
their immatriculation at the
University Of Copenhagen, in Septeh-
Der, this year:
The guiding thread which conducts
you safely into the labyrinths OF lie
and out again, which helps you TO
conquer even the strongest old Mino-
taurus, who crushes hundreds OF thou"
sands In his jaws. is what we call
the IDEAL
Sometimes the guiding thread IS
almost fo7cibly pressed into the hands
Of the young people Of a country.
sometimes Its aim reveals itself TO
tne young people Of a country In
glory OF light so strong that 1t Is I'M
y possible to overlook It. These young
people are given a historic ideal. 1t
Was thus with the young people or
Italy In the years between 1920 and
'eio. Harassed by foreign and native
oppressors, Italy suffered tortures
iuisy AZ hard as those Of Poland
many, very many things seemed to
prove that It was doomed to share the
lase OF Poland. The rising OF the
edrbonaris was crushed. and Rome
sas seized by the French. But MAJ
N'ni mad taught the young people TO
sacr'hce their freedom. their work
ana their lives for one great, simple
"ea: Italy. one and indivisible- Then
sams Garibaldi and Cavour. Province
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

after province was won: first Lom'
hardy, then Tuscany, then through
heroic sacridces-Sicily and Naples,
then Venice, then the Papal State
until the ideal had been realized IN
this world and Italy, which hao not
been united and independent since
the days of the Roman Empire, was
independent and united once more.
To these generations, with their
tens OF thousands Of martyrs, It was
given to live and die for an Ideal and
see II realized. This was an ideal
of liberty. Now. when II Is no longer
dreams and longings, 1t has been fol-
lowed By an ideal Of power. The Ital-
ians who so recently fought for their
own freedom are now lighting Tor
power. and this Is gained by oppres-
sing Arabs and Turks.
The young people Of Germany, like
those OF Italy, are Inspired by the
ideal of power. France. also, Is en-
deavoring to develop manhood as a
means OF power. II is only the young
people OF unfortunate countries like
Poland or Finland who are dreaming
not OF power. but Of freedom.
What Is the ideal OF the young peo-
pie OF Scandinavia? To preserve the
independence OF the Scandinavian
countries Is O task. but not exactly
an ideal. What do our young people
want? Education, culture, or lessons
in heroism? They must tell US the
answer themselves
First of ali, the three Scandinavian
people must stick together, which
they have not yet learned. Their re-
lations have improved since 1905;
but, alasl they have improved so oft
en- before, only to grow worse again.
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

meet enemies they did not expect
which Is called history.
This Is why no battle has ever been
won, but every battle has been lost
by the party who lost their way or
arrived too late, whereupon the other
party proclaim themselves victors and
remain In possession Of the battle
field.
Something very similar happens in
love, LIE. 1t, therefore. teach you
punctuality.
Beware, finally, of those who are
always L~liing you of the failure of
science and who run down the mind
those who tell you that your mind is
poor tool, made oily to split and
tear asunder, while the highest goals
are reached through intuition and In
stinct
Those people give you the old ad.
vice: BE like Aladdin! All you have
to do is to keep you, hands In your
pockets, and the genii OF the lamp
Will perform miracles for you"
Every importan. progress In science
is due to the testing. experimenting
mind. to experiments repeated thou
sand times over Do not disparago
science. Do not despise the mind
But do not misunderstood me.
thinking hat look down upon intui.
ton and instinct. Intuition Is
alpha and omega, the beginning and
the end: but II Is no. the road or the
method. Intuition Is no method;
and you. as workers, need q method.
Intuition and instinct are the tools
OF genius, but not the tools OF mental
workers. Though the creative genius,
inventor and artist certainly needs
much intelligence. intuition and I'M
pulse are tho main things to tho
ReutuG
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14
prodigal elouched round the
large square-that square OF

THE prodigal slouched round the
large square-that square OF
- TALL formal houses-each
house q perfect pillar Of respectable
ity, and he kept edging his way to a
house IN the center Of the square
house that blazed with light and
where a great feast had evidently
been spread.
II was his mothers house, and no
had shut the hall door cautiously
behind him three years ago, sinking
out at dawn. the pale wintry dawn
OF a cold, cheerless Christmas Day
driven from his home because he
was afraid to face that woman OF
immaculate virtue-his cold, hand
some mother-and cry out to her
that he had sinned and gone astray
and now desired forgiveness.
He had been so certain that she
would not forgive him, for Rachel
Challoner was not the sort OF woman
to whom 1t comes easy to forgive
even the most trifling offenses; be-
sides, she had been so proud Of Paul,
and so ambitious on his account,
dreaming great dreams Of all he was
going to do In the future, and he had
disappointed her-oh. ye gods, how
he had disappointed her!
He couldn't remember his father,
the father who had died when he
was quite a youngster. but Cha!loner
had vague notion that II his father
had lived things might have gone
differently with him. It would have
been 30 much easier, he reflected, to
have confessed his sins and inqui-
ties TO a man-hls foolish, youthful
frailties--for a man would have un-
derstood and forgiven; but 1t was
90 difficult-so curiously difficult
10 make a clean breast Of things to
his mother-Rachel Challoner-who
could not understand how q boy
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

We admire the genius, but we do
not try to initiate him.
In the art OF painting, for instance,
much may be learned by studying.
But there are q few to whom IT. Is
not necessary to mix laboriously their
colors, but who dip their brushes in
the dawn. the dusk, the half light
the shadows, and just paint.
Much may be learned in regard to
oratory; but there are q few, the
style OF whose oratory sometimes
bursts, revealing the naked beauty OF
poetry underneath.
There are few Sho have studied
the secrets Of nature so carefully that
they know It by heart, like Michael
Angelo, who made superna turally
beautiful figures Of men and women
without using any model. Michael
Angelo lay on his back on the scaffold
to paint the ceiling Of the Sistine
chapel, but his heaS was resting in
the lap OF Nature, and be reproduced
Nature, greater and more beautiful
than others saw it--Adam and Eve,
gods and heroes. He transformed
the human into something sublime
without violating nature.
There has, also, bee one other man
- Shakespeare - who stood face 10
face with Nature and braided her hair
In a thousand capricious ways. as
dictated by his sentimen: or as 1t
harmonlzed with his art.
There has been a Goethe, a nature
IN Nature. who knew and understood
its mysteries, He was the seer, not
the DrODhet-buf In mast and fiIf,ra
evolution Of the plat, the secrets Of
organism, the transmutations OF pre-
historical timea
There has bean q mind a high-bor
The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

beware OF 100 much t0DaCC0i 1t
vitiates the air and clouds your mind.
1t transforms necessary thoughts into
idle dreams.
Beware OF onionsl Onions on beef
steak, in salads, everywhere! 1t
makes your breath foul and murders
the Joy OF kissing.
= Do not beware Of coffee, but beware
of the idea that you may read your
fate In the grounds. Beware Of all
superstition posing As faith beware
OF all dark sedlmentsl
Beware Of gambling. Gamblers on
the stock exchange have made all the
green fields OF Denmark into one gi-
gantic green table, at which all the
fools OF the country are continually
gambling and losing. Remember
Goethe's advice In Faust:
Such c. den redHchen Gewinn,
Sci er klein schellenlauter Thor
Beware of dissipation and debauch
cry, but 60 not beware of love, which
is Of great Importance to the college
student.
Love promotes Imagination and
makes 1t productive. Love Is like
the inns Of Spain; Tou find nothing
there but what you bring along your
self
Love is like a railroad system: II
causes a great many. accidents. but
1t teaches you to be punctual.
A rendezvous Is always made at an
exact time and place, but as a rule
one of the parties Is either late or
waits In another street.
This is why every battle is lost A
battle Is a rendezvous on a larger
scale, arranged at a certain time and
certain place, wher then regularly
too late quito other troops than those
which were ordered there arrive and