The Washington herald., 1914-03-01
WARMTH ALL HE WANTED.
BY EMORY ). HAYNES.

want is TO keep warm" II was plain,
. the moment he spoke that he was far
|. from common street vagabond In
deed, it was his stri<ingly refined and
handsome face that attracted me. His
sixty years were evident, yet the clear
!. voice, the correct enunciation of his
words were tokens of vigor. Certainly
he was not invalid, not worn out, but
down and out.
i j reminded him of his portrait in
Dickens and other master painters, the
l"Lost Man." the friendless and cold
man, so often essayed in literature.
! Il know them all. | am an educated
man. ] suppose you are quizzing me
to know If the stereotyped description
of a man in my sad plight is accurate.
| tell you no. Dickens imagined It. He
could not know, and no man who really
knows would write it. sit here,
/ hlching little warmth, watching from
the corners of my eyes the approach
of the uniformed attendant telling me
to move out if / seek no train. A
train? Whittier shall i take a train?
/ am come to terminal, indeed. This
is as far as ] go. do not want any
other place, for this is warm. All /
want in life is, just now, to be warm"
| Such conversations are no novelty
to me, yet the flicksring gentility of
this man was surprisingly fascinating.
We talked on. did not seek nor get
his biography. That does not vary
much. Generally, it is a story of rum.
But this apt delinestion of his present
state of mind was very nearly some
thing new
Il am without mental feelings. That
see all this happy procession taking
the evening trains home does not touch
me. That there is not in all the earth
a person waiting for my return is not
pathetic to me. | know that it is truly
pathetic that none listens for my step
as the train comes in. But that docs
not move me. / am past feeling. If !
were TO imagine you, for instance, for
whom some one is looking, long de-
layed and not arriving, even that would
not touch my heart. / have no affec-
tons. | neither hate nor love. II all
these thousands were also halted for
ever at the terminal, as am, it would
seem to me all right. Terminal is the
name OF the world to me-"
! asked him if he desired to live on
this way Yes, for the bodily comfort,
such as that very moment he'was enjoy
ing. His whole object in life was to
keep warm, to eat, to sleep, to be let
alone. He occasionally worked enough
to get clothes and animal comforts. But
he had no interest in human affairs,
Days came and went and he knew no
dates.
He greatly enjoyed breathing. II
was fine sensation. He enjoyed his
eyes and was never tired of seeing
Yet he did not read much. Why should
he? There was not a page of history
that he had not read. Not a master OF
literature whom he did not know, and
he proved his erudition by ample quo
tations.
He professed TO have no faith, yet
he was wonderfully familiar with the
Bible. God and l parted long ago."
he said sadly, and with the first faint
show of emotion. He did not want to
be rescued" nor "uplifted," and there
was almost sneer as he spoke it. He
simply wanted to exist. Existence was
enough and he dreaded its termination.
Evidently we were drifting into the
realm of feeling. Here were the signs
of emotion. turned to him suddenly
and told him who were waiting for
me at home. / said that my son, man
grown and who would die for me,
would soon come through yonder
doors. spoke of friends, whom l had
just left downtown, and | hoped that
even in this vast and apparently selfish
city l could telephone to scores of peo-
pie who would heed my call. For l
professed that any one of these people |
could not ask of me a service which |
l would deny.
He turned to me and put his long.
shapely hand upon my knee. The plain
falsehood of his hard professions cloud
ed his eager features. He kept silence |
and seemed to challenge me to do the
talking.
81 am going now," l said. There's |
my boy. l shall doubtless never see
your face again. / hope you may keep
warm. / would have offered you work.
But no. All you want, you think, is
creature comforts. There are thousands
like you. But there is something more
in this world than keeping the body
warm. And you have had it in the
past. You think your soul is dead? 1t
never dies. l wake it-your soul. Lis
tenl Is it the voice of childs Is it |
woman's accents calling your name"
Poor fellowl He rose up to stand
beside me. He was taller than l and
of martial bearing. He put shaking
rt,,teL ,,oo,, ,,,y eho,fdar h,,t he ,uas