Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1916-06-22


meath it rhythmically, or lunged and
recovered with the fierceness Of duel
list thrusting, but he was ma gnifcent-
ly the master Of his giant, and it sang
to his magic as he babe it.
Bibbs was swept away upon that
mighty singing. Such a thing was
wholly unknown to him; there had
been no music in his meager life. Un-
like the tale, it was the Princess Be-
drulbudour who had brought him to
the enchanted cave, and that-for
Bibbs-was what made its magic daZ-
ing. 1t seemed to him long, long
time since he had been walking home
drearily from Doctor Gurney's office;
it seemed to him that he had set out
upon a happy journey since then, and
that he had reached another planet,
where Mary Vertrees and he sat alone
together, listening to vast choiring OF
invisible soldiers and holy angels.
There were armies of voices about
them, singing praise and thanksgiving:
and yet they were alone. 1t was in
credible that the walls Of the church
were not the boundaries of the uni
verse, to remain so forever; incredible
that there was smoky street just yon-
der, where housemaids were bringing
in evening papers from front steps and
where children were taking their last
spins on roller skates before being
hailed indoors for dinner.
He had a curious sense Of communi-
cation with his new friend. He knew
it could not be So and yet he felt as if
all the time he spoke to her, saying:
"You hear this strain? You hear that
strain? You know the dream that these
sounds bring to me?' And it seemed
to him as though she answered con-
tinually: II hear! 1 hear that strain,
and l hear the new one that you are
hearing now. I know the dream that
these sounds bring to you. Yes, yes,
l hear it all! We hear-togetherw
And though the church grew so dim
that all was mysterious shadow except
the vague planes Of the windows and
the organist's light, with the white
head moving beneath it, Bibbs had no
consciousness that the girl sitting be-
side him had grown shadOwy; he
seemed to see her as plainly as ever in
the darkness, though he did not look at
her. And all the mighty chanting of
the organs multitudinous voices that
afternoon seemed to Bibbs to be cho-
rusing Of her and interpreting her,
singing her thoughts and singing for
him the world Of humble gratitude that
was in his heart because she was so
kind to him. 1t all meant Mary.
But when she asked him what it
meant, on their homeWard way, he was
silent They had come a few PAGES
from the church without speaking,
walking slowly.
cpl tell you what it meant to me-
she said, as he did not Immediately
reply. almost any music Of Handlers
always means one thing above all 9TH
ers to me: Courage! That's it. 1t
makes cowardice Or whining seem so
infinitesimal-it makes most things in
our hustling little lives seem infnitesi-
NAL"
"Yes," he said. "It seems odd,
doesn't it, that people downtown are
hurrying to trains and hanging to
straps in trolley cars, weltering every
way to get home and feed and sleep
so they can get downtown tomorrow.
And yet there isn't anything down
there worth getting to. They're like
servants drudging to keep the house
going, and believing the drudgery it
self is the great thing. They make so
much noise and fuss and dirt they for
get that the house was meant to live
in. The Homework has to be done, but
the people who do it have been so
overpaid that they're confused and
worship the homework. They're over
naid, and yet, poor things! they haven't
anything that a chicken can't have.
Of course, when the world gets to pay
ing it's wages sensibly that will be diff
ferent"
do you mean communism? she
asked, and she made their slow pace
a little slower-they had only three
blocks to go.
"Whatever the word is, l only mean
that things don't look very sensible
nOw-especially to a man that wants
to keep out of 'em and can't! Com
munism" Well, at least any decent
sport would say it's fair for all the
strong runners to start from the same
mark and give the weak ones a fair
distance ahead, so that all can run
something like even on the stretch.
And wouldn't it be pleasant, really, if
they could all cross the winning line
together? Who really enjoys beating
anybody-if he sees the beaten mans
face? The only way we can enjoy get
ting ahead of other people nowadays
is by forgetting what the other people
feel And that" he added, sis nothing
of what the music meant to me. You
see, if 1 keep talking about what it
didn't mean l can keep from telling
you what it did mean"
Didn't it mean courage to you, too