The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1917-11-09


time talking and then stroled off to-
gether.
Alone in his room at the hotel. Speed
threw himself In an ensy chair and
picked up a book. But something
seemed to come between him and the
pages. He could hear the girl say
How can anyone do anything big
who doesn't take big view of life?'
Was he taking the big view? He fell
to thinking, and asking himself II he
were
In his walks alone on the beach, he
| found himself looking for glimpse OF
Ann Taylor He would have liked to
talk with her again; but he did not
see her. Once he laughingly asked
Mary Follin what had become of his
adversary"
"Oh. told her who you were." an
| swere1 Mary.
| Sly humor twinkled in the corners
of Rev. Mr.. Speeds eyes.
'sDid she fall down In her tracks7"
he asked.
mot she. Her shrek Of laughter
might have been heard up to your ho-
tel. She regarded 1t as a joke, and
said she hoped 1t had done you some
good. | couldn't help telling her what
l thought of such talk and rallied to
your defense in way she won't forget
very soon. I let her know, too, that
we were engaged"
"I'm rather sorry you told her."
unused Speed.
"Sorry l told her7 repeated Mary,
freezingly indignant. "Don't you want
her to know it?"
mo, no, l didn't mean that, of
course. meant sorry you told her
was d clergyman.
"And why, pray7" asked Mary
blankly.
"Oh, I might have heard something
more to my advantage" he laughed.
"Where is she stopping?"
"She went home yesterday"
The acldity of this answer warned
the young minister that 1t was time
to change the subject. Ann Taylor
was henceforth taboo between him and
his fiancee.
One stormy evening, as he sat writ
ing his beautiful sermon" in bis
beautiful study" his manservant
came in with the message that wom-
an insisted on seeing him. He went
down to the reception room to find a
wretched, bedraggled creature, who
implored him to come quickly with her
to dying woman. He hurriedly made
himself ready to go with the woman.
In poor part of the city up flights
of dark stairs In a tenement, she led
him to the dying woman. The physi-
clan he found there told him the man
who had beaten her had been taken by
the police, but there was no use of
calling an ambulance as she would
probably die on the way, and he left
her with the minister, while the either
woman waited without. Speed, with
much tenderness and feeling, tried to
comfort the dying woman as best he
could but the broken bits Of her story
she tried to tell him haunted him at
ter his return home. The squalid mis-
cry, the warped, stunted lives he
found In this Acknowledgement re-
gion to him opened up new channel
of thought-perhaps 1t might lead to
the ''big" thing for him to do.
One day after his morning sermon,
he spied Ann Taylor In a nearby pew.
Later she came up and spoke to him.
ut was a very good sermon" she
said. every good--as far as 1t went"
$50 it didn't go far enough to please
YOU" he smiled. "Well, while there Is
life there is hope-hope Of getting TAR
Their on the way"
Something In his tone caught AIMS
attention.
'Yes if you want to CO." she said.
That night visit to the slums had
undoubtedly started Speed on the way
to a greater enlightenment. He sought
for experience among all classes.
Sometimes he found among those who
outwardly kept up some show of PROS
perity, the artists and writer's who
tried to make the creative power Of
their brains bring them bread and a
roof, kind of fine courage and endur-
ance not even guessed by the prosper
GUS. Often he tried to find market
for their work by getting the rich or
those with pull" interested. These
things began to encroach on his duties
at st. Anthony's. The people who
poured money into the church Golfers,
and paid his salary, complained that
he neglected his clerical calls on the
families of the parish. Rev. ROYAL
Speed had come to the parting of the
ways. He came to a decision. He
felt that the woman who was to be his
wife must be the first one to know /;
and he told her he meant to give up
st. Anthony's, to go down and work
among the poorer classes. He expect
ed her to rejoice with him at his
wider field of work. She could help
so much with the wealth at her COM
mand.
But instead she was filed with
amazement and dismay. She expostu-
lated, then pleaded with him TO give
up such mad whim." Then Royal