Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-12-30
CHAPTER, TX.

was sitting alone before the logs. She
laid down the slate and spelling book.
over which her forehead had been
strenuously pucksrsd, and gased some
What mournfully into the blaze. Sally
had Q secret. Il was Q secret which she
based on . faint hope. II Samson
Eshould come back TO Misery he would
come back full Of new notions. No
man had ever yet returned from that
outside world unaltsred. No man ever
would. A terrible premonition said he
would not come at all, but. II he did
~ he did-she must know how to read
and write. Maybe. whom she had
learned q little more. she might even
60 to school for . term or two.
The cramped and distorted chirog.
raphy on the slate was discourasing.
Il was MI proving very hard work. Tho
girl ga1ed for q time at something she
saw In the embers, and then faint
while came to her lips BY next Christ.
mas she would surprise Samson with a
.etter. Il should be we'll written. and
every "hain't" should be an isn't"
The normal human mind Is res
ervoir which hlls at rate Of speed
regulated by the number and caliber
Of it, feed pipes. Samson's mind had
long been almost empty, and now from
30 many sources the waters Of new
things were rushing in upon 1t that
under their pressure 1t must NIL fast
or give away.
He was saved from hopeless com.
plications Of thought by sanity
which was willing to assimilate With.
out too much effort to analyze. The
bog from Misery was presently less
bisarre to the eye than many Of the
unkempt bohemians he met in the life
OF the studios, men who quarreled
garrulously over the end and aim Of
Art, which they spelled with CAPT
tai And, for the most part, knew
nothing OF. He retained, except with
In small circle Of intimates. silence
that passed for taciturnity. and a
solemnity Of visage that was often
construed into surly egotism.
He still wore his hair long, and
though his conversation gradually
Loushed OF much Of its idiom and
yulgarism, enough Of the mountaineel
stood out to lend to his personality 9
SAVIOR Of the crudely picturesque.
Meanwhile he drew and read and
studied and walked, and every days
advertisement was . forced march
Lescctt, tremendously interested In hii
experiment. began to fear that the
boys too great somberness Of dispo
sition would defeat the very earnest.
ness from which 1t sprang. So one
morning tho landscape-maker called
on friend whom he rightly believed
to be the wisest man, and the great
EFT humorist In New York.
II want your help said Lescott
II want you to meet friend of mine
and take him under your wing in Q
fashion. He needs you"
The stout mans face clouded. A few
years ago he had been peddling his
manuscripts with the heart-sickness Of
unsuccessful middle age. Today men
coupled his name with those Of Kip.
ling and Do Maupassant. One Of his
antipathies was meeting people who
sought to Nonise him. Lescott read
the expression, and, before his host
had time to object, swept into his re-
cital.
II the end he summarized:
1.-THE artist IL much like the setter
pup. Il It's In him. it's a. instructive
q ! dogs nose. But to become EN-.
cisnt he must 60 a-field with steady
|lvetsran Of his own breed"
r know" The great man, who was
alse the simple man, smiled reminis'
cently. They tried to teach me to
herd sheep when my nose was itching
for bird country. Bring on your man:
Y want to know him"
Samson WAS told nothing Of the be.
;nevolent conspiracy. but one evening
,shortly later he found himself sitting
! 1T 8 cafe table with his sponsor and
Il stout man. almost 80 silent as him.
k.self. The stout man responded with
P.something Ike churlish taciturnity
TO the half.do1en men and women who
(cane over with batteries. But later.
when the trio was left alone. his face
ElbriRhtaned, and he turned to the boy
klfrom Misery.
h DOCS Billy Conrad still keep store
Int 9tasbone?
SEASON started and his gaze fell in
lamasoment. At the mention OF the
namo he saw . crossroads store with
foagA mules hitched to fence palings.
Il ~ picture Of home, and here was
: nan who had been there! With
glowfng eyes the boy dropped uncon-
Dciously back into the vernacular Of
The hills.
Hew 70 been thar, stranger"
ne The writer nodded. and slipped his
Enhis1y.
Not for some years, though" he
confessed, q he drifted into reminis-
eencA which to Samson was like wa
1 Ter - Q parched throat.
Wheu they left the cafe the boy
1slt - though he were taking leave
I Il N old and tried friend. By homely
Mstlods, this unerring diagnostician
q the human soul had been reading
lin. HIKING him. ana making him feel .
AeartswaFmins sympathy.
e was not until much later that
4 0ame1a realised how these two really
%USoat men had adopted him - their
lutte BROKER" that he might have
1Ae1r shoulder.touch to march By. And
II 49, without his realization. too.
6hat tAoy laid upon him the imprint