The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1916-01-14

/ NOu' ENOC tudt nc was Calling upon
God; it was a mere expletive. but II
came from his soul.
At dinner he asked the hunters for
a remedy for headache. and by eve
ming, strong man that he was. he was
half blind and Keeling about the cabin.
I've never been sick in my life.
Hump" he said, as l guided him to
his room. Nor did | ever have q
headache except the time my head
was healing after having been laid
open for six inches by a capstan bar. /"
For three days this binding head
ache lasted, and he suffered as wild
animals suffer, as it seemed the way
on ship 10 suffer, without plant. with.
out sympathy, utterly alone.
This morning, however, on entering
his stateroom to make the bed and
put things in order, | found him we'll
and hard at work. Table and bunk
were Uttered with designs and calcu-
lations. On large. transparent sheet,
compass and square in hand. he was
copying what appeared to be a scale
! of some sort or other.
Hello. Hump" he greeted me gen
tally. I'm just finishing the finishing
touches. Want to see it work."
But what Is it?" asked.
"A labor-saving device for mariners.
navigation reduced to kindergarten
simplicity" he answered gayly.
There was ring of triumph in his
voice. and his eyes. clear blue this
morning as the sea, were sparkling
: with light.
you must be we'll up in mathemat-
ics," l said. Where did you go to
SCHOOL,"
Never saw the inside of one, worse
luck" was the answer 81 had to dig
it out for myself"
And why do you think have made
this thing?" he demanded abruptly
Dreaming to leave footprints on the
sands of timer" He laughed one OF
his horrible. hooking laughs. mot at
all. To get it patented. to make
money from it. to revel in piggishness
with all night in while other men do
the work. That's my purpose. Also,
I have enjoyed working it out"
THE creative Joy" mrmured.
II guess that's what IL ought TO be
called. Which is another way Of ex.
pressing the JOY of life in that II Is
alive. the triumph of movement over
matter. of the quick over the dead. the
pride of the yeast because it is yeast
and crawls.'
| threw up my hands with helpless
disapproval OF his inveterate materi-
alism and went about making the bed
He continued copying lines and figures
upon the transparent scale. II was a
task requiring the utmost nicely and
precision. and could not but admire
the way he tempered his strength to
the fineness and delicacy of the need.
When | had finished the bed. {
caught myself looking at him in
fascinated sort of way He was Ger
tainly a handsome man-beautiful in
the masculine sense. And again. with
never.failng wonder remarked the
total lack of viciousness or wicked
ness or sinfulness in his face. Who
was he? What was he? How had he
happened to be? All powers seemed
his, all potentialities-why. then, was
he no more than the obscure master OF
a seal-hunting schooner with q repu.
tation for frightful brutality among
the men who hunted seals?
My curiosity burst from me In
food OF speech.
why is it that you have not done
great things in this world? With the
power that is yours you might have
risen to any height. Unpossessed of
conscience or moral instinct. you
might have mastered the world. bro
ken it to your hand. And yet here you
are, at the top OF your life. where di-
minishing and dying begin, living an
obscure and sordid existence. hunt
ing sea animals for the satisfaction
of womans vanity and love Of deco
ration. reveling in a piggshness. to
use your own words, which Is any
thing and everything except splendid.
Why, with all that wonderful strength,
have you not done something? There
was nothing to stop you, nothing that
NOulu Dup gOu. w nat WIS
Did you lack ambition? Did you fall
under temptation? What was the mat.
ter? What was the matter?"
He had lifted his eyes to me at the
commencement of my outburst, and
followed me complacently until had
done and stood before him breathless
and dismayed. He waited a moment,
as though seeking where to begin, and
then said:
Hump. do you know the parable
OF the sower who went forth to SOW?
II you will remember some of the
seed fell upon stony places, where
there was not much earth, and forth
with they sprung up because they had
no deepness OF earth. And when the
sun was up they were scorched. and
because they had no root they with
cred away. And some fell among
thorns, and the thorns sprung up and
choked them"
"WelI?" / said