The Jasper news., 1921-09-29
ut was my fault" aid Harry pres

entity. Il never could say the half /
wanted to when she was with me. My
tongue Is too slow. She gave me a
chance and l wasn't man enough to
take 1t. That's all I've got to say on
that subject"
Some time afterward IN a letter to
his father the boy wrote:
Il often think Of that ride down the
river and the way he talked to me. II
was so gentle. He was a big, power
ful giant Of man who weighed over
two hundred pounds, all Of It bone and
muscle. But under his great strength
was woman's gentleness; unde- the
dirty, ragged clothes and the rough,
brown skin grimy with dust and
persplration, wns one Of the cleanest
souls that ever came to this world. /
don't mean that he was like a minis.
ter. He could tell a story with rretlj
rough talk In It, but always for pur-
pose. He hated dirt on the hands or
on the tongue. He owed flowers like
woman. He loved to look at the
stars at night and the colOrs Of the
sunset and the morning dew on the
meadows. l never saw a man so much
In love with fun and beauty"
They reached Havana that evening
and sold their canoe to a man who
kept boats to rent on the river shore.
They ate a hot supper at the tavern
and got ride with a farmes who was
| going ten miles IN their direction.
From his cabin some eyo hours later
they set out afoot in the darkness.
"Going home Is the end of all Jour-
neys," said Abe as they tramped along.
''Did 1t ever occur to you that every
live creature has Its homer The fish of
the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts
of the field and forest, the creepers In
the grass, all so home. Most of them
turn toward 1t when the day wanes
The eall of home is the one voice heard
and respected all the way down the
line Of life. And, ye know, the most
wonderful and mysterious thing In na-
ture is the power that fool animals
have to go home through great dis
tances, like the turtle that swan from
the Bay Of Blscay to his home Off Van
Dieman's Land. Somehow, coming over
in ship, he had blazed trail through
the pathless deep more than ten thou
sand miles long. It's the one mirncu-
lous glft-the one call that's irreslst-
ible. Don't you hear 1t now7 never
lie down In the darkness without
thinking of home when 1 am a--ay."
"And it's hard to change your home
when you're wonted to it." said Harry.
"Yes, its little like dying when you
pull up the roots and move. It's been
hard on your folks"
This remark brought them up to the
greatest Of mysteries. They tramped
in silence for a moment. Abe broke
In upon It with these words:
Il reckon there must be another
home somewhere to go to after we
have broke the last camp here, and a
kind Of birds compass to help us
find 1t. 1 reckon wen hear the call Of
1t as we grow older"
He stopped and took of his hat and
looked up at the stars and added:
IF 1t isn't so / don't see why the
long, procession Of life keeps harping
on this subject of home. l think 1 see
the point of the whole thing. 1t isn't
the place or the furniture that makes
1t home, but the love and peace that's
In 1t. By and by our home Isn't here
any more. 1t has moved. Our minds
begin to beat about In the undlscov-
cred countries looking for It. Some
how we got 1t located-each man for
himself"
For another space they hurried along
without speaking.
II tell you, Harry, whatever a large
number Of intelligent folks have
agreed upon for some generations is
so-if they have been allowed to do
their own thinking" said Abe. "Ifs
about the only wisdom there is." .
He had sounded the keynote Of the
new Democracy.
So, under the lights of heaven,
speaking In the silence of the night OF
lmpenetrable mysteries, they jour-
neyed on toward ehe land Of plenty.
sits as still us graveyard" Harry
whispered when they had climbed the
bluff by the mill long after midnight
and were near the little village.
They're all buried In Sleep" said
Abe. "We'll get Rutledge out Of bed.
He'll give us a shakedown some
where.Y
His loud rap on the door of the tav-
ern signalized more than a de=ire for
rest In the weary travellers. FOR just
then a cycle Of their lives had ended