Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-07-15
vESTERDAY I saw the village c

VESIEkDAf j saw the villnge con
e, ! stable wandering about my hous'
looking for the door. Most of the door.
being windows. he had quite look
j let him take his time because. ns h,
combines several trades with his bust.
neas of constable. I supposed that he
) had come to sell shrubs and plants. OF
70 talk up the lighting power of new
round wick lamp. or to leave cards de-
ecribing his home as n haven Of rest
Tor tired chaufeurs. II never occurred
~ me that he was visiting me as n
constable. until he finally entered by
the French window opposite my writing
table and. after rcmarking on the heat
Of the afternoon and mopring his brow.
he settled far back on II nearby sofa
70 that his short legs stuck out like Il
chfld's. and said alphabetically
I'm here to serve papers on y"u on
account OF your choreman : debts ''
He sighed at intervals os he talked
and absent mindedly excnvnted his
nails, and seemed very forlOrn. espe-
cially when explained that had ceased
TO employ the choreman, and had paid
him of. so that his wages. so far az |
was concerned. could not be diverted
TO nay his debts 10 the distant merchant
in his homo town who had sent ST far
ufield to collect them.
We'll, anyway" the constable urged
mildly. ''you'l read this summonses,
won't ye:"
i EXPLAINED that | felt unwilling
L 70 bother with it. whcrcupon he
Nghed again and drew ont an old pair
Of spectacles.
~ guess I'll read It to you ,hcn. ="
he remarked. and he spelled out very
legal document which ended abruptly
with my name in full aS somehow i'm.
plicated with my casual employees bad
faith In the matter Of groceries and
household goods and clothing to the
amount of Sl26.50
And found myself suddenly angry
and indignant that my name should be
coupled in any way with the man or
his debts. The fact that I had en-
ploycd him for less than II week and
promptly paid him seemed scarcely to
warrant the action Of the general store
dealer in a distant town in having
paper served on me
dare say some. # not all.
OF my Indignation. came out in
my face and voice. for the constable
shook his head ami remarked that his
was sort Of humiiintim. business AZ the
best. even when things turned out right.
He further urged that | wouldn't hold
1t against him. that he was fulfilling his
sworn oath 10 ,nfOrr" the law and
nothing but the law when he took Of
Ace
: We parted amIcahy with further
conversation about lis wife VIII" had
lately died and whom he opincd
drearilv was maybe some easier whore
she was. since on earth She had suf.
Tered. as ! knew. from asthma.
showed him a shorter. cooler way
to return to the village and rondoirl
with him that NIL thc present trip had
netted him wa th. mileage TT tiv" cents
q mile unless he could get the percent
age on collecting the debt somehow from
parties unknown. | thought that had
done with the affair when he vanished
across the foot bridge. but | find that
1t rankled in my memory that that
paper should hav" been served ON me
~ part of the ordinary course ot N,
law. was averse to being "my
brothers keeper before the law. how
ever l might acQuiesrc in 1t as
Christian duty in church.
In fact, | see only too plainly that
] have never quite accepted III" idea
OF being my brothers keeper III little.
casual. distantly connected matters in
volving the faults OF mere stranger.
Yet, theoretically at !anSt, ! have al
ways known that we did nothing just
for ourselves. and that every act in
wolves other persons.
r REMEMBER thar the first time This
i dawned upon me il wns in the matter
Of n marriage. \ girl confdcd 70 nj"
her love affair-when | was n very
young person and most romantic. She
held and I fastened to agrcc with her
that II She chose TO marry a man who
wns roo poor to support Il wife. ~ her
family thought she should be sup
ported. it was her own affair, These
we're hcr words: 1T is my own affair
II ! choose 80 do without and live in "A
way that ! have never been Used 10.
while he is working his way up. It's
my own affair
I thought 1t was. until the babies
came and there WASH I enough TO bring