The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1917-08-31

dropped and her lips moved-she her
self scarcely knew whether 1t was In
prayer. Then she turned and came
slowly back 10 her companion.
Something had gone, too from his
charm, She saw in him now nothing
but the coming dourness of his broth
er. Her heart was still heavy. She
shlvered little. 1t was he at last
who spoke.
"Will you tell me, please, what is the
matter with you, and why you placed
that sprlg of apple blossom where you
dld?
His tone woke her from her lethargy.
She was n little surprised at Its
poignant, almost challenging note.
Certainly" she replied. 81 placed
1t there as wOman's protest against
the injustice of that isolation"
81 deny that 1t Is unjust"
She turned around and waved her
hand toward the little gray building.
"The Savior to whom your church Is
dedicated thought otherwise" she re-
minded him. "Do you play at being
lords paramount here over the souls
and bodies of your serfs?"
"You judge without knowledge of the
facts" he assured her calmly.
Loulse's footsteps slackened.
"YOu men," she sighed, "are all
alike! You judge only by what hap
pens. You never look inside. That is
| ttyhv fttgt fc 1iffnranf from
wOman's. / do not wish to argue
with you; but what I so passiOnately
object to Is the sweeping judgment you
make-the sheep on one side and the
goats on the other. That is how man
judges; God looks further. Every case
is different. The law by which one
should be judged may be poor justice
! for another"
She glanced at him almost appeal
ingly, but there was no sign of yield
ing in his face.
Laws" he reminded her, "are made
for the benefit of the whole human
race. Sometimes an individual may
suffer for the benefit Of others. That
is inevitable"
"And so let the subject pass" she
concluded; "but it saddens me to think
that one Of the great sorrows of the
world should be there like a monument
to spoil the wonder of this morning
Now am going to ask you a question.
Are you the John Strangewey who has
recently had a fortune left to him?"
He nodded.
'You read about it in the newspa-
pers, suppose" he said. "Part of the
story isn't true. 1t was stated that
had never seen my Australian uncle,
but as a matter of fact, he has been
over here three or four times. 1t was
he who paid for my education at Har-
row and Oxford"
"What did your brother say to that?"
"He opposed It," John confessed,
"and he hated my uncle. He detests
the thought Of any one Of us going out
of sight of our own hills. My uncle
had the wander fever"
"And yOu?" she asked suddenly.
'I have none of it," he asserted.
A very faint smile played about her |
lips.
perhaps not before" she mur-
INJURED; "but nOw?"
do you mean because have in
herited the money? Why should I go
out like Don Quixote and search for
vague adventuresY
Because you are a man! !" she an
cxxyfftIHy NVnIJ hOxya N hroin nd
a soul too big for your life here. You
eat and drink, and physically you -four
ish, but part of you sleeps because it
is shut away from the world of real
things. Don't you sometimes feel it
in your very heart that life, as we were
meant to live it, can only be lived
among your fellow men|
He looked over his shoulder at the
little cluster of farm buildings and cot
tages, and the gray stone church.
"It seems to me-" he declared simply,
"that the man who tries to live more
than one life fails in both. There is
a little cycle of life here, among our
thirty or forty souls, which revolves
around my brother and myself A
may glance upward from the
road at our little hamlet and wonder {
what can ever happen in such an out
corner. 1 think the answer !
Is just what have told you. Love and
birth and death happen.
These things make life" 2
Her curiosity now had become s
,,orroJ IN IN ;ropapco iutaroct Cbn | G
aid her fingers lightly upon his arm.
"You speak for your people," she
said. "That is well. But you your
,elf?"
81 am one of them," he answered. @
"a necessary part Of them" 4
"How' you deceive yourselfl The t
ime will come, before very long, when 6
,ou will come out into the world and v
he sooner the better, think, Mr.. John j
Strangewey, or you will grow like your I
'rother here among your granite hills" il
He moved a little uneasily. All the Il
ime she was watching him. 1t seemed Ii
0 her that she could read the thoughts il
Which were stirring in his brain. ii
"You would like to say, wouldn't
ou," she went on, that this is a use fl
I'll and an upright life? So it may be, f,
ut it is not wide enough or great g
nough. Some day you will feel the S,
esire to climb. Promise me, will you, o.
hat when you feel the impulse you V,
ron't use all that obstinate will power al
f yours to crush it? You will destroy W
he best part of yourself if you do. 81
ou will give it a chance? Promise" fl
She held out her hand with a little IL
npulsive gesture. He took it in his