The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1921-05-05

". DuI III WUula dlSO prove a SiSHdt ~
ne robbers. If they were still in the Vi
unity. The roar of water came up
rom the valleys. but above or through
hat roar suddenly he fancied he heard
l sound from the bushes near AT hand.
lie held his breath and IiStened in
emily. Yes. there il was again-a hu-
nan sound. beyond question, half
,roan. half gurgle. He turned in the
Erection from which it came and stole
quietly forward. Half-a-doZen yards
rom, the building the ii@hr revealed.
first Il shadow. and then a figure lying
un Tie ground. With some trepidajiOn
Harris approached. The mans arms
had beer extended when he fell, and
his coat was thrown over his head.
Harris stopped and drew il down over
the shoulders exposing the face.
Ii was Allan.
The first shock of the revelation al
most stopped the heart of the old
farmer. and he sat back as one daZed,
unable Ia accept the testimony of his
own eyes. Then came panic of I'M
certainty. and he fell upon the boy,
cropping wildly for his heart. and at
last pressing upon it in an agony Of
fear. Yes. the beat was there,
faint and uneven, but unmistakable.
With sudden surge of returning hope
he brought his ear down Ia the open
mouth. fringed with light red foam,
and could hear the air laboring in the
ravuged lungs. Then came that hui
man sound. half gurgle, half grOap;
bur 10 Harris, in the reaction from
his first puralyzing fear. it was as very
music from heaven. His boy still lived,
and still should live.
Tenderly he turned the body to Il
more comfortable position, laying his
folded coat beneath the head for
pillow He lOoSened the shirt about
the neck and far down the heaving
chest saw the Sodden red that marked
his wound. Rain fell in scattered
drops, and he brought another blanket
from the cabin, caring little now fOI
the silent form in the doorway in the
sudden shadow of his greater tragedy.
He spread The blanket over the wound
ed hoy. and sat down by his side, ca
reSSing his temples with his big fin
gers, and wondering what 10 do next.
As he sat the helpleSSneSS of his pO-
SitiOn grew upon him. He was deep
in the foot hills, many miles. as far as
he knew. from the home of any set
tier In daylight he could, no doubt,
find his Way back TO town, but daylight
might he 100 late. He did not know
whether Allan was dying on his hands
mt that moment. Certainly to attempt
to move him in the buggy would be
dangerous in the extreme.
And as he sat he thought of the
missing money, the fruit of his life'S
labor Snatched from him in a moment
in the darkness. The loss did not hurt
him as deeply as he might have
thought; he was numbed by the great
er blow that hung over him. If Allan
would only live! The boy had
been his constant companion since ba-
byhoOd. All his hopes, all his ambi-
tons. which had found their express
sion in his years of feverish toll, had
been wrapped about Allan. He had no
one else His better self revOlted
at that thought. You have a wife
and daughter" it said, ready TO share
your life as soon as you are ready to
share theirs" He forced his mind from
that phase of his position, but it re-
verified 10 it again and again. He could
not wander in memory up the path of
his boys life without meeting his boys
mother And all the pain and unhap-
pineSs of the later years-how it cut
like an evil bank of fog across the
once bright course of their career! But
he had suffered for their sakes, hold
ing fast TO his own course because he
knew il TO be best. Best? And il
had brought him TO this? The
question would not down. Rather than
relax an iota from his own purpose he
had broken up his family; he had
crushed them under the wheels of his
infiexible will, and now that same will
had driven his son TO destruction and
himself to ruin.
1t is not easy for man who has laid
out a career and followed it with all
the energy of a virile nature, recast-
ing his gods from time TO time to con-
form with the evolution of his ideals,
but recaSting always in the mold of
his own will rather than any vessel of
creed or persuasion-it is not easy for
such man TO stop at fifty and say,
Il was wrong" 1t requires a break in
his process of evolution, a shock suff-
GENTLY powerful TO pulverize his gods
before his face, to drive home the
truth that they We're not gods at all
but mere idols of his own creation.
In Harris later life two idols had
grown up to the exclusion of all 9TH
ers; they were the wealth which he
had builded with his hands and the
boy, Allan, about whom he wrapped all
the affection of his nature; and they
worShiped.
He found a flask thrown from some
campers pack, and filed it with water
at the mountain stream that rushed by