The Washington herald., 1915-10-10
nEN GRANGER is a war veteran aged o.
K which should enable you to guess the
war. He is also principal merchant and


- war. He is also principal merchant and
postmaster of Cadz. a little town over which
the breezes from the Gulf of Mexico perpetually
blow
Ben he ped to hurl the Don from his strong
hold in the Greater Antilles; and then, hiking
across half the world, he marched as corporal
usher up and down the blazing tropic aisles of
the open-air college in which the Filipino was
schooed Now, with his bayonet beaten into a
cheese-slcer he rallies his corporars guard of
cronies in the shade of his weIl-whittled porch
instead of in the matted jungIes of Mindanao
Always have his interest and choice been for
deeds rather than for words; but the considera-
ton and digestion Of motives is not beyond him.
as this story. which is his. will attest.
What is it. he asked me one moonlit eve,
as we sat among his boxes and barrels, that
generally makes men go through dangers, and
FIRE. and trouble, and starvation. and battle.
and such rucouses? What does man do it
for? Why does he try to Guido his fellow
humans. and be braver and stronger and more
daring and snowy than even his best friends
are? What's his game9 What does he expect
to get out of it? He don't do it just for the
fresh air and exercise What would you say,
now. Bill. that an ordinary man expects. gen
orally speaking for his efforts along the line of
ambition and extraordinary hustling in the mar
ket-pIaces. forums, shooting galleries, lyceums,
batte-helds, links. cinder-paths. and arenas of
the civilized and vice versa places of the
world9'
We'll. Ben said |, with judicial serious
ness Il think we might safely limit the number
Of motives of man who seeks fame TO three
to ambition, which is desire for popular ap-
p!ause; to avarice, which looks to the material
SIDE Of success; and to love of some woman
>vhom he either possesses or desires to possess.
Ben pondered over my words while mock
lngbird on the top Of mesquite by the porch
triIIed dozen bars
i reckon" said he. that your diagnosis
about covers the case according to the rules
lad down in the copy books and historical read
crs. But what had IN nv mind was the case
of Willie Robbins. person | used TO know. I'll
tell you about him before close up the store,
i You don mind listening.
Willie was one Of our social set up in San
Augustine was clerking there then for Brady
* Murchlson. wholesale dry goods and ranch
supplies. Willie md belonged to the same
german club and athletic association and mill
tary company, He played the triangle in our
serenadng and quartet crowd that used to ring
the weIkin three nights week somewhere in
town.
willie nbed with his name considerable. He
weighed about as much as hundred pounds Of
veal in his summer sultlngs, and he had
Where-is-Marv? expression on his features so
7lain that you could almost see the wool grow
nn on him.
And vet YOU couldn't fence him away from
he urls with barbed wire You know that
ind Of Young fellows-a kind of mixture of
fools and angels-they rush in and fear to tread
/; The same time; but they never fail to tread
yhen they get the chance. He was always on
land when joyful occasion was had. as the
morning paper would say. looking as happy as
King full, and at the same time as uncomfor-
able as a raw oyster served with sweet pickles.
Ie danced like he had hind hobbies on and he
7ad vocabulary of about three hundred and
ifty words that he made stretch over four ger
mans a week and pIagarized from to get him
through two lce-cream supperS and Sunday-
night call He seemed to me to be sort Of
mixture Of Maltese kitten. sensitive p ant, and
mernbe, of stranded Two Orphans COM
oany.
"l'll give you an estimate of his physiological
and pictorial makeup, and then I'll stick spurs
nto the sides of my narrative.
Willie inclined to the Caucasian in his color
ing and manner Of style His hair was opales-
cent and his conversation fragmentary. His
eyes were the same blue shade as the china
dogs on the right-hand corner of your Aunt
ElIen's mantel piece He took things as they
come, and never felt any hostility against him.
| let him live. and so did others
But what does this Willie do but coax his
heart out of his boots and lose it to Myra ALI
son, the liveliest. brightest keenest smartest.
md rrett;aet oirl IN San A,o,,stipe | tell Won