The daily Alaskan., 1921-09-06
CHAPTER XVI.

NfNFNE H-|N FN v To
 l shah not pretend 10 give more than an idea of the manuscript l read there by the fire that night It was narrative and reflection and contained the story of the life of Arthur DobSou, known Co me heretofore as Mir. Sid hey. ! shah give extracts from it:
 "A family Is an odrous imposition Of cruel conveurionarities upon indi- viduals who. accepting conventions, however odlous and cruel. are helpless. The bond ot blood Is one no animal (auImaIs being rauoualESucI toleratcS, even recognizes, but tt is imposed up. on human beings. who find that the most anngoussac natures must rec oucIe themselves Co an arbitrary rule of life which can come only Co hide oUSDcsS.
 "Thgre were ln our gamIy two chIl- dren. my brother Richard and myself Our parents were tar ordinary folk who marry and have a family. My father was an urc0mnuutcarve man, whether from ga habit of silence or a lack of anything Co say do not know.
 My mother. SIS ! recall her. was gentle but I imagine. futile ! think if she had had a chance of establish ing a personality my silent gIum fla ther had destroyed ll
 "Rtchard was any elder by two years, My father was wealthy very wealthy, and Richard and ] were not disciplined as to money. My father was not pc nurious. but I never knew a man who obtained so little good of his money. He had no social instincts; he had no 5ovtaliry.
 "Uc liked occasional oStentation-a petty form of vanity and eCotiSm. I regarded him. or my memory of him. as wholly dcroStahIa a sentiment which will offend the senumentally conventional. or the conveHtonally sen timenral. know he was the last man { I would have chosen as a father.
 "Eur this scheme of life had thls In It that brought disaster to his sons i a Iaxness .of any discipline related 10 their spiritual and mental develop ment When We were corrected or punished it was for conduct which af- fected his comfort or dignity, never for a thing which affected the develop mnnt of our character.
 eve had abundant money to spend It was a nart of our fathers cEotism that We should be young swells, and We were early in diSordcrly ways Richard had a genius for cruelty. A normal boy Is likely to be thouEhrleSS but Richard was inventive in his cru cities. T. was brutal He liked to tear things to pieces slowly, a fly f it was all he could catch-a ErasshOpper. 8 field wouse. ] had a faithful little dog which Richard sraked out in the ground and killed by vivisection. I saw the little animal when 1t was breathing its last with its bowels ex- posed and Its lungs laid bare
 "EIchard destroyed birds nests for pleasure. He liked to cut leg of a hen and see it staEEer about vainly irving ro walk. He maimed dogs. He tortured cattle and horses. He killed & fine carriage horse by driving it to death uurpOsely to see how long 1t would live under the treatment he gave it
 'T doubt that I was a more lOvable child. but at least I did not have the attribute of cruelty. l was not only younger but I was weaker physically. I was. sensitive to a degree which made me an extraordinary victim to Richard when he cared to express his fendish- ness to or upon me.
 eve were getting Into late child hood-I should say that I was about fourteen-when Richard began to use his fnventveness in cruelty upon me directly. AS soon as he had a taste of the delight which came from tor menting me l had no further peace.
 41 remember with a still aCOnized vivfdness my experience in finding a snake in my bed. He had put it there. Re used his superior strength to tor. ture me physically. Re dominated me spiritually. He made life a hell, such hell as life can he made only for a child by mistreament when reality has not starkly asserted itself Whsn