El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-10-04
The Stone Man
A Short Story.


TIE SAT eross-legged on the road
side beside a heap OF stones,
4 and with slow regularity his
hammer swung up and down, cracking
a stone into small pieces at each de-
scent But his heart was not IN the
work He hit whatever stone CHANGED
to be nearest. There was no cunning
selection in his hammer, nor any Of
those oddities of stroke which a curious
and interested worker would have es-
saved for the mere trial of his artistry.
He was not difficult to become ac-
quainted with, and, after a little con-
versatiOn, | discovered that all the sOr-
rows of the world were sagging from
his shoulders. Everything he had ever
done was wrong. he said. Everything
that people had done to him was wrong,
that he affirmed; nor had he any hope
that matters would mend, for life was
poisoned at the fOuntainhead, and there
was no Justice anywhere. FOrty-nine
years of her and there, and in and out,
and uD and down; walking all kinds OF
roads in all kinds of weather, meeting
this sort of person and that sort, and
many an adventure that came and
passed away without any good to it
'and now, said he, sternly 4 am
"A by-rOad, such as this" said I, ''has
very few travellers, and it may prove a
happy enough retreat"
-Or a hiding place" said he gloomily.
We sat quietly for a few moments.
rs there no way of being happy7"
said I.
How could you be happy if you have
not got what you want ?" And he
thumped soidly with his hammer.
What do YOU want ?"
Many a thing" was the reply; 'many
a thing"
He rested his hammer and stared side
WAYS down the road, and remained so,
pursuing and relaxing his lips, for little
while. At last he said, in a low voice:
"A person wants respect from other
people. If he doesn't get that what
does he signify more than a goat or a
BADGER We live by what folks think
of US, and If they speak badly of a
man. doesn't that finish him forever ?"
DO people speak well of your" I
asked.
''1hey speak badly of me-" said he.
and the way / am now l wouldn't have
them say good word of me at all
You are travelling down the road"
said he, "and I am staying where I am.
We never met before in all the wears,
and we may never meet again. and so
III tell YOU what is in nv mind. A
person that has neighbors viii have
either friends or enemies. and it's likely
enough that he'll have the last. unless
he has meek spirit. And it's the same
thing with man that's married. or a
man that has a brother. For the neigh
bOrs viii spy on YOU from dawn to dark.
and talk about You in every place. and
vile VIII try to rule you in the house
and out of the house, until you are
badgered to a skeleton, and a brother
VIII ask you to give him whatever thing
you value most in the world
He remained silent for a few minutes.
with his hammer eased on his knee, and
then, in more heated strain, he con-
tinued:
There are three things a man doesn't
like He doesn't like to be spied on;
and ne doesn't like to be ruled and regu-
lated; and he doesn't ike to be asked
for thing he wants himself. And
whether he lets himself be spied on OF
not, he'll be talked about and in anv
case, he'll be made out to be a queer
man; and If he lets his wife rule he'll
be seOrned and laughed at. and if he
doesn't let her rule him he'll be called
rough man; and if he once gives to
his brother he viii have to keep on giving
forever, and if he doesn't give at all
he'll get the bad name and the sour
look as he goes about his business.
You can hear men laughing and sing
ing IN every saloon that you'd 90 into,
and they wouldn't do that if their wives
were hard to live with, for nobody
could stand a bad eomrade good
wife, good brother, a good neighbOr-
these are three good things, but YOU don't
ind them lying in every ditch"
Il think" said 1, chat you need not
mind the neighbOrs so very much. If
your mind were in a glass case instead
OF IN head it would be different, but
no one can spy on YOU but yourself,
and no one can readily rule and regulate
you but yourself, and that's well worth
doing"
Different people" said he shortly.
are made differently"
May be- said l, "your wife would
be good wife to some other husband.
and your brother might be decent enough
II ne had different brother"
III be saying gOOdby TO vcd. Young
mar" said he, and he raised ms hammer
again and began to beat solemnly on the
stones.
| stood by him for few minutes.
but as he neither spoke nor looked at
me again | turned to nv own path. in
TENDING to strike Dublin by the Pass
OF Dana, and the lOEg slopes beyond
them