The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1919-05-22

clDieS and that course OF conduct
/ which l conceive to be best for the
country. Therefore I should have to
accept it under false pretenses and
take their yoke upon me. Would you
think the needle pointed that way?'
NO" I answered.
Immediately he turned to his desk
and wrote the telegram which fixed
his place in history. 1t said no.
Into the lives Of few men has such
a moment fallen. 1 looked at him with
a feeling of awe. What sublime calm
Tess and serenity was in his facet As
If it were q mere detail in the work of
the day, and without a moments fall
tering, he had declined a crown, for he
would surely have been nominated and
elected. He rose and stood looking
out of the open window. Always
think of him standing there with the
morning sunlight falling upon his face
and shoulders. He had observed my
emotion and I think it had touched
him little. There was a moment of
silence. A curious illusion came to me
then, for it seemed as if I heard the
sound of distant music. Looking
| thoughtfully out of the window he
| asked:
Bart, do you know when our first
fathers turned out of the trail Of the
beast and found the long road of hui
nanity? I think it was when they dis
covered the compass in their hearts"
So now at last we have come to that
high and lonely place, where we may
look back upon the toilsome, adven-
turOus way we have Travelled with the
aid of the candle and the compass.
Now let US stop a moment to rest and
to think. How sweet the air is here
The night is falling. 1 see the stars in
the sky.
Just below me is the valley of Eter-
nal silence. You will understand my
haste now. I have sought only TO do
justice to my friend and to give my
country a name, long neglected, but
equal in glory to those of Washington
and Lincoln
Come, let US take one last look to-
gether down the road we have tray
eled, now dim in the evening shad-
Ows. Scattered along it are the little
houses of the poor of which 1 have
written. See the lights in the win
dOws-the lights that are shining into
the souls of the yOung-the eager.
open, expectant, welcoming souls of
the yOung-and the light carries many
things, but best of all respect for the
old, unchanging way of the compass
After all that is the end and aim OF
the whole matter-believe me.
My life has heightened into these
days when most of our tasks are ac-
complished by machinery. We try TO
make men by the thousand, in vast
educational machines, and no longer
by the one as of old. 1t was the low
ing, fOrgiVing, forbearing, patient,
ceaseless toll of mother and father on
the tender soul of childhood which
quickened that inextinguishable sense
of responsibility to God and man in
these people whom now leave to the
judgment of my countrymen.
I have lived to see the ancient plan
of kingcraft, for seIf-protection, COM
ing back into the world. 1t demands
that the will and conscience of every
individual shall be regulated and con-
trOlled by some conceited prince,
backed by an army. 1t cannot fail,
fOresee. to accomplish such devasta-
ton in the human spirit as shall i'm
peril the dearest possession of man.
If one is to follow the compass he
can have but one knights God.
Baltimore that forenoon. They had
nominated Mr.. Polk of Tennessee for
president and SiIas Wright for vice
president, the latter by reclamation.
knew that Wright would decline tie
honor. as he did.
1 hurried northward to keep my ND
pointment with Sally. The boats were
slowed by fog. At Albany I was a day
behind my schedule. 1 should have
only an hours leeway if the boats on
the upper lakes and the stage from
were on time. 1 feared to
trust them. So 1 caught the west
bound train and reached Utica three
hours late. There 1 bought a good
horse and his saddle and briJIe and
hurried up the north road. When he
was near spent traded him for a we'll
knit Morgan mare up in the little vii
lage of Sandy Greek. Oh, I knew q
good horse as well as the next man
and a better one than she I never
owned-never. 1 was back in my sad
die at six in the afternoon and STONED
for feed and an hours rest at nine and
rode on through the night. I reached
the hamlet of Richville soon after day-
break and put out for a rest of two
hours. I could take it easy then. At
seven o'clock the mare and l started
again, well fed and eager to go on.
1t was a summer morning that short
ems the road-even that OF the young
lover. Its air was sweet with the
breath of the meadows The daisies
and the clover and the cornfowers
and the wild roses seemed to be wav-
ing a welcome to me, and the thorn
trees-shapely ornament of my native
hills-were in blossom A cloud of
pigeons swept across the blue deem
above my head. The great choir of
the fields sang to me-bobolinks, song
sparrows, meadowlarks, bluebirds.
warblers, wrens, and far away in the
edge of a spruce thicket I heard the
flute of the white-throated sparrow.