The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1915-10-01
CHAPTER VIII.
The Mine for the Golden Altar.

The Mine for the Golden Altar.
Vedder Court was a very drunkard
among tenement groups. Its decrepit
old wooden buildings, as IL weak.
kneed from dissipation and senile de.
cay, leaned against each other crook
eddy for support, and leered down at
the sodden swarms beneath, out OF
broken-paned windows which gave
somehow a ludicrous effect of bleared
eyes. There had once been narrow
strip of curbed soil in the center of
the street, where three long-slnce-de-
parted trees had given the quarter its
name OF court" but this space was
now as bare and dry as the asphalt
surrounding it, and, as 1t was too
small even for the purpose of children
at play. a wooden bench, upon which
no one had ever sat, as, indeed, why
should they? had long ago been placed
on 1t. to become loose-jointed and
weather-splintered and rotted, like all
the rest Of the neighborhood.
AS for its tenants; they were exactly
the sort Of birds one might expect to
find in such foul nests. They were of
many nations, but of just two main va
rieties; stupid and squalid, or thin and
furtive; but they were all dirty, and
they bore, in their compilations, the
poison Of crowded breathing spaces,
and bad sewerage, and unwholesome
or insufficient food
Into this mire there drove an utterly
out-of-place little electric coupe. At
the wheel was the fresh-cheeked Gail
Sargent and with her was the twin.
kling-eyed Rufus Manning, whose
white beard rippled down to his Sec
ond walstcoat button. They drove
slowly the length OF the court and
back again. the girl studying every de-
tail with acute interest. They stopped
in front of Temple Mission, which.
with its ugly red and blue lettering
nearly erased by years Of monthly
scrubbings, occupied an old store room
once used as a saloon.
80 this is the chrysalis from which
the butterfly cathedral Is to emerge"
commented Gail, as Manning held the
door open for her, and before she rose
she peered again around the unlnvit-
ing court" which not even the bright
winter sunshine could relieve of its
dlnginess; rather, the sun made It
only the more dismal by presenting
the ugliness more in detail.
This is the mine which produces
the gold which is to gid the altar" as
serted Manning, studying the side.
walk. II don't think you'd better come
in here. You'll spoil your Shoes"
81 want to see it all this time be-
cause I'm never coming back" insist.
ed Gail, and placed one daintily shod
foot on the step.
Then I'll have to shame Sir Walter
Raleigh" laughed the silvery-bearded
Manning, and, to her gasping surprise,
he caught her around the waist and
lifted her across to the door, whereat
several soiled urchins laughed, and
one vinegary-faced old woman grinned,
in horrible appreciation. and dropped
Manning Familiarity respectful curtsy
as he passed.
There was no one in the mission ex-
cept broadshouldered man with a
roughly hewn face, who ducked his
head at Manning and touched his fore
finger to the side of his head. He was
placing huge soup kettles in their
holes in the counter at the rear of the
room, and Manning called attention to
this.
"A practical mission" he explained
I'VE start in by saving the bodies"
DO you get any further?" inquired
Gail, glancing from the empty benches
and the atrociously colored religious"
pictures on the walls to the windows,
past which eddied a mass of humanity
all but submerged in hopelessness.
Sometimes" replied Manning
gravely. 81 have seen soul or two
even here. 1t is because of these two
or three possibilities that the mission
is kept up. 1t might interest you to
know that Market Square church
spends fifteen thousand dollars a year
in charity relief in vedder court
alone"
Calls eyelids closed, her lashes
curved on her cheeks for an instant.
and the corners of her lips twitched.