The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1915-01-30
This isn't business. EHocns face

me COME DaCh, ne piedueu, pdCk-SO
can look decent people in the face
| again
Merry did not speak. He sat watch
ing Enoch's wasted fingers search
through mass of papers in the little
drawer. He lifted out a handbook and
a yellow envelope, then he set the
| drawer aside and laid the leather
covered booklet upon Merrys knee.
That is yours" he explained. You
will find there every cent of royalties
from The House.. 1t was banked apart
from my private account. 1t grew
amazingly during the spring. You are
wealthy man"
Andrew opened 1t and glanced
through the pages. He looked bewil-
dered for a moment
"Jehu, What can | do with so
much money? swear, Enoch, don't
care picayune for being a wealthy
man except"
wentworth did not answer. He was
staring at slip of paper he had drawn
from the yellow envelope. You re-
member this. Andrew" he asked
abruptly.
Merry nodded. He caught glimpse
of Wentworths name and his own
upon the fiimsy thing they had called
the bond. Enoch leaned back against
the pillow and began to destroy the
paper with slow deliberation, tearing
it across and across until it was re-
duced to a heap of flakes which flut-
tered down into the hollow of his
Saunt palm. He shook them into the
envelope and handed it to Merry, who
took it without a word and slipped
1t between the leaves of the bank
book
If you can trust me, Boy, until the
right time comes and l reach the right
place, | will make full restitution be-
fore the world"
Don't, old man, let us bury this
now and forever. Good God isn't 1t
restitution enough to have saved my
life?"
No." Enoch spoke with swift pas
sion, no. it isn't restitution. Don't
stand in my way. You have to humor
sick men, you know. Besides, | want
to lay my soul bare to you now, An
drew. Had been a Catholic l should
have done it to Il priest long ago, l
suppose
Go, ahead. Enoch, I'll listen" he
said gently
Wentworth turned In bed and
clasped his hands around one bent
knee. Years ago he began brus-
quely. Il was wandering about in the
TannpgSpa alSipn-
ment when | fell in with chap who
taught psychology in Yale. He was
nothing wonderful, but his science was
fascinating. Time and again, since
those days, ! have planned, If cou1d
find the leisure to go into psychology
and study the thing out. Still, any
man who knocks about the world as
l have done learns to puzzle things
out for himself. There must be some
thing alluring, though, to be able to
reduce the promptings of ones own
soul to a science and then to work out
problem in yourself, Don't you
think so?'
II should imagine so. Still, it's an
unopened book to me-" Merry admit.
ted.
We used to sit and talk every night
around the campfire. l remember once
this young MacGregor explained to
me why man we had both known
committed murder. He killed his
wife first, then. horror stricken, shot
himself It's a common enough story,
you read it in the papers every day
of the week. but it came close to us
because we had both known the fellow
well. lie was decent, quiet. cheerful
citizen. with genial, kindly way
about him, His taking off seemed
mystery. None of us had even seen
him angry, Suddenly he turned into
a flaming fend, a murderer, and sui
eide. Nothing but insanity or the
Yale mans theory explained it
What was his theory?"
Wentworth paused for minute with
a haunted look in his eyes. He claims
that the morals of every human being
are nodded during the first twenty
years of his life. Into fairly decent
career there comes occasionally-for
the life of me | can't remember his
technical name for it-I should call it
a moral lesion Some sin which a man
has committed, and you might say
lived down, before he was twenty.
crops out again years after and 1t
conquers him. Each time he may
repent and turn over new leaf. The
world looks on him not as an Admir-
able Crichton perhaps, but as toler-
ably good fellow. Then suddenly,
without the ghost OF warning, even
after he imagines he has outgrown the
tendency to that particular sin. there
comes {. temptation, and he goes under
as IL his backbone was gristle He falls
as quick as that"
Wentworth paused for a moment