The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1915-03-04

Z
in his veins; it stirred the tiger In
him, and, booted, spurred and armed
! he became rider and raider, and as
is often the case in this life, one
false step led to another till he be-
came fascinated by the glamour and
urged by aggravating causes here
and there.
"But have reason to believe from
frequent interviews with him, and
our intercourse was peculiarly init
mate, for with me he wore his heart
upon his sleeve, that he had an abid-
ing faith in God. can say here
before his pulseless face that there
was never an hour when the still
small voice of conscience did not
plead with him, and had he been
master of his own destiny his early
life would have been different.
There was deep affection be-
tween him and the woman he mar
ried. Through all the tempests and
storms that beat so hard upon him,
like a good angel she walked by his
side, whispering in his ear, of trust
and hope, and where lie went, she
went if she could, and her spirit
brooded over him at all times. ! can
never forget the ordeal of that trial
in1883. If there was, on that Occa-
sion anything that gave inspiration
to my mind and flame to my tongue
it was the pale anxious face and
fearful eyes which she turned upon
me. | never saw or felt happier
moment in my life than when he was
set free and given back to this wom-
an. And wasn't that good thing
Hasn't he been good citizen? And
ed nothing, not even sympathy, but
just the opportunity to be and to
live, and to make amends. The
fiend of Reproduction in season and
out of season followed him with in
sistent clamor even when he was
pleading with the earth for sub
stance. even in adversely.
Il have often thought if the good
Lord dealt with men in the spirit OF
undergraduates and unforgiyenness
that men do with their fellow men
how few of us would get into the
kingdom. Yet unmurmuringly he
endured the SCOTS and contumely of a
mawkish world, and by fortitude and
courage he was enabled, like Robin
Hood at the end of his tragic life,
to ask mercy for the erring and pity
for the weak.
"Shakespear said, He that dies,
pays all debts AS for myself, | feel
today that emotion OF sympathy
which makes all the world kin.
Oh be his failings covered by the
May guardian laurels DER his ashes
bloom.
"A funeral\in the gloom and DESC
latiOn of winter always depresses me.
These forest trees, bereft of foliage,
the grass dead flowers faded and
gone, these flowers that lie over his
casket all too soon to fade away, the
summer birds hushed, all earth lying
drear and chill; but we know that
after a while the sun will rise higher
and higher toward the zenith till its
warming rays will meet the ice; the
birds will begin to sing as the har-
bingers of spring, gentle flowers will
peep from beneath their winter beds
and lend their cheeks to be kissed
by the summer sun into new life,
and all nature will again perform the
sacred mystery of reproductive
growth. To me this is an epitome of
the resurrection, an assurance that
this mortality will put on immortal
ity, and when the morning sunlight
of the resurrection day shall flash
over the cemeteries and the ashes
and dust of loved ones gone shall
come forth in glory, we have sub
lime faith that among those redeem
ed souls shall be that of Frank
lanes