Tombstone epitaph., 1917-07-08

ate at Harvard and three of his for. bears were engineers. his grandfather noted and his father world-famous. He fairly idolized his father. The affec. ton between them was delightful. The king could do no wrong. Meade was Quick-tempered and not very receptive to criticism. but he would take the se- verest strieture from the old man with out . murmur."
 "Here we have" said the woman, who had listened with strained atten- tion, "an early devotion to Q person and an unbounded respect for his at. tainments. Go On."
 The next point is. Meade was in. ordinately proud of his family reputa. ton. especially in the engineering field. Of the two of the line who were not engineers. one was a soldier and a distinguished one, but his career had little interest for Meade. have heard htm say that there had been a steady, upward movement in his family, that had reached its continuation In his fa- ther. He hoped to be a good, useful engineer. but he never dreamed of go- ing any higher or even approaching the altitude of the other man."
 Tt was sort of fetish with him then, wasn't itY' asked the woman as Rodney stopped again.
 You have hit 1t exactly. His love for the man, his admiration for the engineer. which sometimes blinded him. and his pride in his father's career as typifying his family. was un- bounded"
 You have established a motive for any sacrifice; love. respect, pride"
 That's the way it presents itself to me, Miss Illinsworth. I know thor oughly the Quixotic. impulsive. self. sacrificing natu-v of the man. know that he would have done anything on earth to save his father. even at the sacrifice of his own career, and since I have seen you I can realize how pow erful these motives must have been."
 Rodney said this quite simply, as if 1t were a matter of course, rather than a con pliment, and bluntly as he might hay: said 1t to a friend and comrade. ard Helen Illingworth understood and '@as grateful.
 'It has been a grief to me that I weighed so little in comparison" she said simply.
 'T shouldn't put 1t that way exact. ly." observed Rodney carefully. You see even if 1t could be shown that 1t was the old mans fault entirely the young one would still have to share some of the blame"
 You mean he should have foreseep 1t and pointed it out?'
 T think he did, but if he did fore see it and point 1t out. he should not have allowed the older man to overawe him or force him to accept what he be- Iieved to be structurally unsound. I don't know whether he reasoned 1t out. I don't think he had time to argue the case, the shock was so swift and sud den, but as soon as he did see the situ- ation he discovered that you were lost except of the charity of your affection, which he could not accept, and that he could save his father. This may all be the widest speculation, but this is the way 1t presents itself to me-"
 And to me-" said Helen, but before we go any further, let me say I should rather be his wife than enjoy any other fortune"
 That Is the kind of affection his qualities merit and would evoke in the mind of discerning woman"
 Thank you. Will you go on, nowr
 "Of course you know that what we have said Is not evidence. It Is all as- sumption, perhaps presumption"
 Its as true as gospel" said the girl 
 ITO you and to me. yes. We'll" he T remember that Meade and were talking just before he went to Burma three years ago about a new book by a German named Schmidt Chemnitz, in which certain methods of were proposed for the de sign of lacings. You know 1t was the lacings of one of the compression members of the cantilever that gave way"
 "Well Meade and I got into a hot dis ,ussion over some of Schmidt Chem litz's formulas. maintained that they were wrong. He took the opposite Tiew. He was right. He was so in- crested in the matter that after We separated he wrote me a letter about t, adding some new arguments to re- enforce his contention. The other day made a careful search among my pa- ,ers and by happy chance l found the etter. was half-convinced by his then. although the matter vas dropped. am altogether con- 'inced now. His argument is very lear. have examined since then the ,lan and sketches for that bridge. The did not agree with those f Schmidt -Chemnitz. His methods we're not used. Meade could not have orgotten the matter. l am morally ertain that he made a protest to his ather, probably in writing. then al- | owed himself to be persuaded by his l ather's reasoning. AS c matter of | act, I suppose that Bertram Meade, IT,, was . greater authority on steel ridge designing than even Schmidt 'hemnitz. Well. sometipes, the smaII- r man is light We know now, and Meade, ST., would admit 1t if e were alive, that Schmidt Chemnitz