The Glenwood post., 1916-06-10

forehead because know that there is
no desert, no wilderness, so far from
the things you would forget that
dreams cannot follow you to It,"
He stopped and silence fell upon
them again. Lieber stared straight in
front of him, out into the night. His
face worked as though he were strug-
Cling to keep his lips closed. When he
began to speak again, the words were
scarcely audible. II don't know why
I want to tell you two about why am
here, unless it is that as we sat here
so quiet felt that you knew 1t all
that you knew all that l know and
that was on the point of knowing all
that you have known. The little lies
Of life suddenly became big and hate
full and saw in my life monster lie
that the silence was exposing.
"There are lots of men with the be-
ginning of my story. It's common and
takes little telling. l was born in
Pennsylvania. We were mighty poor
farmers but l got all the schooling
there was within walking distance of
home. My old man saw to that. When
I was still boy our little bank took
me in. 1t wasn't doing much business
then but a couple Of years later the
region struck oil and the banks busi-
ness scared by leaps and bounds. It
turned into as good spouter as any
of the wells. The family that ran 1t
became rich and went to higher Jobs
or out altogether. The staff was
showed up and about the time was of
age 1 was handling more money than
I'd ever known was in the world. The
amount I stole was an even thirty
thousand and I got away with it. It
was easier to do thirty years ago than
1t is today. got away with It and
then it got away with me. It lasted
me year and four months and saw
the end Of it up the coast at Pernam-
buco.
II date my birth from the day
spent the last dollar and woke up.
worked. Nothing was too small or too
big for me to handle. got something
to risk and then risked 1t. risked
1T again and agnin. After ten years I
could draw my check for thirty thous-
and plus interest and did. sent the
check to the little bank back home.
waited two months for the answer and
then it came; my check torn across
and a short letter saying that the loss
had already been met by a bankers
surety association. wrote the asso-
ciation dozen letters and some OF
them took some writing. In the last
offered fourfold the theft. There had
been plenty of Bible in my bringing
up. They wrote back that it was no
use-that could keep On climbing in
peace but it was their business to Jail
me for fifteen years the first chance
they got and they'd do it the minute I
set foot where they could grab me.
THAT letter frightened me. be-
gan to realize that what I'd been work
ing for wasn't money, or honor, or
rehabilitation but just the right to go
back-the right to go back home.
Nobody had been harder on me
than my old man. For years nobody
in the house was allowed to say my
name and If he saw letter from me
he threw It in the fire, opened or I'M
opened. But somehow 1t got to him
that 1 had offered to pay fourfold and
that I'd been refused and that turned
him. 1t was the fourfold that did it
the divine and sacred measure of JUS
tice. He started to fight for me as
hard as he'd ever fought against. And
then he died and my old mother died.
Letters stopped. My brothers and sis
ters were coming up in the world.
They couldn't afford to own thief
much less fight for him. So the letters
stopped.
II spent money then. built me
house in Pernambuco that was won
der palace and started in to forget.
But when you've been remembering
with all your might, the color Of the
paper on the walls of home, the lay.
Of the wood-pile. of the sheds and the
tumbling barn and stables, the holes
in the fence, the friendly limbs Of ap-
pie trees and the smell of hay; when
you've been coddling bare memories
Of simple things like those for fifteen
years, you can't turn around on your
inside self and forget.
There's a Dag the sight Of which
makes my heart come up into my
throat and tears to. my eyes. You
think mean the Stars and Stripes,
but don't. ! mean the Blue Peter
that flies at the halyards of big ships
and says to everybody that takes the
trouble to look, we sail today Over
the tops of the houses I've seen that
flag blinking in the heavens like a bit
Of deep blue sea married to white
cloud and to me 1t always said, we
sail for home today I'd shut my eyes
or close the blinds but what was the
use of that? Night and day could
hear the below of the great horns-a
blast for good-by and another for a
CHALLENGE IN tho spn-aa fhA hfp h0afa