Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1915-12-21

| whimsicallF at me from its post OF
honor, it seemed to assure me thar
my talisman would hold it's power 10
| the end.
sat for a while looking into the
| comprehending eyes, and as looked
my thoughts took more cheerful col
or. In the first brush, at least l had
SCOT their goat.na Before me lay bat
tie ia-which was to pit my legacy Of
human development against the brute
odds of minds lighted only to the
mistiness Of dawn.
Frances l said, you smile. o.
course, since you are fixed in print.
| you can't do otherwise than smile,
| wonder" f@E.
broke off and became suddenly
and unaccountabiy serious. Y
II wonder if you would smile, were
you here with me in the flesh as well
as merely in the spirit. I@Wonder il
you would" i,
Then, with feeling which was ire
mendously real, added fervently and
| aloud:
"Thank God your are not here in
The flesh! But I'm grateful for your
smiling. Somehow I find it reassur
ing"
sat still again, and then, as I rose
to go down to the beach for my meal OF
| raw crabs. summarized the entire
situation for the benefit of tho lady
with whom ] discussed my affairs.
| "You see, my DEAR" informed her,
ito their untuttored and man-eatins
| minds I present dilemma. an eth.
er a great immortal, whom it would
be most unwise to heckle, or am
| very good eating, in which case It Is
| a pity to let me grow thinner"
A few yards away turned and
came back.
"Tt shall be our care, dear lady"
added, ito maintain this status Of god
ship, and to that end we must arrange
q little program Of simple miracles
from time to time. "You see" ex.
planned, cit won't be long before they
will be coming here and demanding
1>what manner of deity am, and what
is my mortal name. Do you know
what shall tell them? :"
paused and grinned into the smiling
eyes and the lips that seemed trem'
bling on the verge Of speech.
Il shall tell them" I assured her,
"that in me they behold the great god
Four Flush"
If l concede to the cold logic OF ma.
terial reasoning that this dependable
companionship and love Of man for
a portrait washed up by the sea was
merely the alteration Of brain I'm.
seated by solitude, must also believe
that series of totally incredible co
medicines subsequently befell me,
But, if it be that certain things are
| written in the stars and certain pas.
4 sions irrevocably decreed, my life is
freed Of grotesqueness ana becomes
logical.
While / lived under the sword o.
the problematica1 tomorrow suspend
ed by the hair of an uncertain today
my dependence upon her grew great
er, The brave man 10 said to die once
and the coward often, but the line bA
tween courage and cowardice is moi
absolute. aI'
There. were periods when Ifelt that
could play the game and die II
must, with the detached philosophy OF
| a Socrates. At other times wallow
ed in the pit of foreboding and died
several times a day. In these moods
! / wished for the moment OF crisis
which should put my resolution tt
| the touch, and end the matter.
The savages did not approach my
cave: but sometimes, when evening
fell and the jungle spread itself in q
| frfnged Blanket against the moonlight
! I, could make out skulking patches o.
shadow at it's edge. In my ran1bles
too. / had a sense of being endiessls
watched by unseen eyes; and once
bending over sunlit pool to drink
/ was startled by the haggard face
which looked up from it with streaks
OF white in it's long, tangled hair.
Still, each day brought fresh or
chids from the jungle's edge AM
teaped them before my tangible lady
aThey are more beautiful, Frances
/ told her, than any ! could buy yor
along the Champs Elysees or on FIFTH
Ayenue-and all the cost is shil
and crew and cargo.
One morning I discovered thai
where the growth of cane and moss
and vines had formerly been !hicl
and unbroken, there were now seyera
! clearly defined alleyways, made o.
the coming and going of the blacks
bent on observing me. A few inqulsl
tive steps into one Of these trails re
vealed, at a little distance, pool o.
| water.
Ats basin was Of messy rock, ant
/ its edges were choked with ferns. 4
slender waterfall fed it, and through
! the clustered half-light of the fpres'
interior fell few vivid dashes OF sun
light like gold leaf on the scmbe'
tones OF greenery. The air hung We
and steamy like the atmosphere OF
| dollhouse.
| = a., -...,ay ne n was the or