The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-06-16
AL WAYS HAS HOPE
Prospector for Gold One of For
tunate Men.
With Belief in Ones Luck to De
"Just Ahead" the Bullets of Fate
Are Things at Which
to Laugh.

The typical prospector for gold. still
met with in the far hills and deserts,
may we'll be taken by all men as an
example and an inspiration as far as
the blessings Of staying hopes are
concerned, says the Los Angeles
Times.
Hope deferred maketh the heart
SICK" says the proverb. But it is not
good proverb. No matter how long
deferred a hope may be it should
never be abandoned. 1t should never
be anything but an inspiration and an
Indictment.
Take this nomadic tribe of prospec-
tors, for instance. The typical pros
pector is a man who has spent per-
haps the most of his life pursuing a
hope that has never been realized. Yet
we never find them discouraged. We
never know them to end their days
in despair. No matter how many their
years of failure may be they will tell
you that just beyond the next chain
of hills or in the heart of still unex-
plored desert the treasures they seek
are surely awaiting them.
A most sincere and persistent man
is the prospector. He believes in his
quest and respects it. The little or
the much that he wins by spasmodc
toll he invests in his dreams. He
braves the solitudes and the lonely
wastes of the world to reach the goal
for which he strives. Hunger, thirst
and other hardships and sufferings he
endures with a willing heart.
And he never despairs. That's the
glory of the prospector-he never de-
spairs.
The average man, hedged In by the
traditions of towns and cities or set
tied in the humdrum of the country,
looks upon the prospector as a queer
and somewhat demented individual.
We laugh at this strange fellow who
is pictured to us as plodding along in
the wildernesses and the sandy DESC
lations with his pack and his burro
following the will-o' -the-wisps of for
tune.
But the prospector Is only doing in
his way what we are doing in ours.
We are following each our own dream
as the prospector is following his.
The only difference Is that we pro-
coed in safety and without adventure.
Otherwise we are the same as the
Wanderer Of the desert and the hills.
And also we are soon discouraged and
we are easy prey to defeat, while 1t is
death alone that can defeat the pros
pector.
1t seems to us that Of all the mis-
fortunes there are in life-and heaven
knows there are many-the misfor-
tune of hopelessness is the worst.
"Only for hope the heart would die"
said a poet. 1t was a true thing to
say.
And about this wonderful thing of
hope there is another way to look at it
and that is that we should always
have at least one hope ahead. That
is to say, we should always have some
thing that we look forward to. Then,
if what we have in hand fails us, the
other thing that we look forward to
will stay us.
Hope is something to be busy with
1t is something of which we should
accumulate a store. Always have
plenty Of hopes and have them so that
they will reach out and last away into
the years of the future.
There is really something mysteri
Gus about hope. If you will cherish
it faithfully and keep it warm in your
heart you will be almost sure to some.
time realize it. 1t is said that we are
what we believe ourselves to be. But
perhaps we might better say that we
are what our hopes are.
Since then long-cherished hope is
most likely to be realized, surely it
were foolish of US to harbor hopes that
will not bring US comfort and joy.
Hope for the best there is-not great
riches. not any material possession.
but peace for the heart and serene
path for the white years of old age