Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-12-23

some outposts OF consciousness which
his thought did not pass The little
street wns not there. as It was never
there for him as an entity. II was
merely n street. And the little town
was not an entity. II was merely
where he lived. He went behind Buzz
Miles and the snowpIow-as be always
went-as II space had been created for
folk to live in one at a time and as
IL this were his own turn.
When he reached the bend from the
Old Trail to the road where the fac
tory was he understood at last that he
had been hearing a song sung over
great many times:
One for the way II all begun.
Two for the way IL all has run.
What three'n be for 4 do forget.
But what's TO be has not been yet
Sc holly and mistletoe.
So holly and n1istietoe
So holly and mistletoe.
over and over and over. oh
Buff. who was singing II. looked over
his shoulder. and nodded.
They said you can't have no Christ
mas on Christmas day." be observed.
grinning. but 1 amt heard nothing
TO prevent singing Christmas carols
right up to the day that is the day"
Ebenezer halted.
How old are yOu:" he abruptly de-
handed of Buf-whom be had known
from Bluffs boyhOod.
'-Thirty-three." said Buff "dum it."
You and Bruce about the same age.
amt your said Ebenezer.
Buff nodded.
Well said Ebenezer. we'll and
stood looking nj him Malcolm would
have been his age. too.
Going down to the factory. are
you:" Buff said. Wait II bit. I'll hike
on down ahead of you.
He turned the snowplow down the
factory road. as IL he We're making n
triumphaI progress. fashioninS his
snow borders with all the freedom OF /
some sculpturing wind on summer /
clouds.
One for the way IL all begun.
Two for the way IL all has run.
he sang to the soft push and thud aud
clank Of his going. He swept circle
ina front of the little house that was
the factory office. as II he had prepared
the setting for a great event; and Eben-
ezer. following in the long. bright path.
into the hall OF the house
For thirty years he had been accus-
toned to- enter the little house with his
mind ready To receive its interior of
desks and shelves and safes and files.
Today. quite unexpectedly. as he open
ed the door She thing that was in
bis mind was hail stair with n red
carpet and parlor adjoining with fig
Ired stuff ut the windows and coal
fire in the stove. And thirty-five years
ago il had been that way. when he and
his wife and child had lived I'm the lit
lie house where his business was then I
Just starting ut Il machine set up in
the woOdshed. As his project had
grown and his factory had arisen in
he nei=hboring lots the family had
moved farther up III the town. Re
had been divorced from
his place for decades. Today. without
warming. IL waited for him on the |
hreshold.
He had asked his bOokkeeper 10 meet
i'm there. but the man had not yet ,
rrived So Ebenezer himself kindled
he fire IN the rusty Office stove in the ,
DOM where the figured curtains had
cen. The old account books that he
-auted were not here on the shelves
Ut III tue fuliDosAthH VI Allt fu4u Ha- I n
lining rooms. They dated so far back
hat they had been filed away up A.,
-airS. He had not been upstIirs I'm
ears and his first impulse was TO =
mi his bOokkeeper when he should
"a '>sir. But liz. dTTeF al. was not j
beHezer's way. and he went up the
airs himself.
Each upper room was like some one =.
in stupOr or death and
ill distinct in personality as II i'm
me ancient activity. There was the =
Ielf ne had put up in their room. the u
Irnc S}ilace on the door where he had =
Dped over Il lamp. tattered shreds Of .
u paper she had hung To- surprise
m. the little stOreroom which they =
ID cleared ont for Malcolm when he u
as old enough and whose door had Z
ID 10 be kept closed because innu- !
era BILE uucaged birds lived there.
When he had gone through the piles 4
account books in a closet and those 3:
sought We're not found among them y
remembered the trunkful up in the z
~ loft He let down from the pas -.
se ceiling the ladder he had once
ns there and climbed up TO the little
Jf recess.