The herald., 1922-12-07
The Story
Of a Grave
..-...-.-.-- BY --.-.-s-s--s--s-s--s-s-',
WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE
.';,;,iIiIiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiIIIIIIiIIIIIilIliIi
IIIIttss .no0 A.<vuiltso e.

American desert where green
grass grows. At the head of
:, estuary of the great dry sea, where
,srr arm of white alkali runs up
INC the foothills of the mountains,
80 an inviting tavern. 1t Is upon
hulside. Just below 1t, the gar
". hose and the landscape gardener,
-, vater carried in troughs from the
,,,ains have wrought miracle Of
IN Trees, blue grass, flowers, wax
NC and beautiful in the artificial
-. Children and young men and
-.,aens romp on the verdant mat,
.,,esd at the point Of the estuary. and
IN the hillside score Of languishing
.s..,s sIr in the healing sun. and
- down upon the picture, and
=, info the endless miles of white
ma that stretch billowy and fantas-
y. into the blue Of the horizon.
uosf of these idlers on the broad
,,.,,s of the tavern are invalids. 1t
Mace of inyalids. Here hundreds
!, vretched bodies are dragged by
,-.dc love of life. Here scores Of
..rls watch other souls flicker and die
.ut and still hope on and wait, while
a. all of life burns smudgy and low.
yA.re are those whom the sunshine
"A the dry, clear air win back to
me- But the dead are there. On the
mad yeranda-a very citadel Of life
40 dead are embattled, fighting with
sme II is a most hideous battle, and
N 90 hushed and sepulchral are its
msneuyers. that life takes no heed of
the empty pageant.
Armed In such a combat sat Hawk
ms the chief clerk, a grim man, dark,
osllId. sinister. OF what, out In the
rorld of life, Hawkins had been chief
derk II does not matter now. He
had been a busy man, firm, taciturn,
slscontained, repellent. He sat now
n his post in the battle, sneering at
ne folly of those about him who were
irving to wrest few mortal moments
from eternity.
For q long time, as days go, Hawk
ms had been sitting in this sentry box,
when his captain-the doctOr-ordered
him into the infantry, and told him
70 march for dear life. Hawkins left
the guards upon the terrace with loath-
Ing During the first week Of his
marching orders, he made exactly the
zane Journey every day. He noticed
everything along his path. He was in
teested In nothing. In his mind the
objects he saw were catalogued, but
never referred to by his memory.
There was a huge bluff, railroad
bridge, quarry, 5arbed wire fence,
enclosing grave, mud house,
herder, some sheep, a steep hill,
water trough, a cross road, and
4 pine grove, on the hill over which he
came back to his starting point. eNone
Of these objects was dignified by a
prominence In his mind. One day, at
racted by the most unimportant detail
IN the landscape, Hawkins started to
walk a few rods from his path, that he
might examine more closely the grave,
fenced In with barbed wire to keep
the ghoulish desert beasts away. A
second thought made the depression
nom the path the line of an ellipse,
nd he followed his course without
vsering.
There were days when Hawkins
poke to none Of the hotel guests, and
he lack of interest in the place
weighed heavily upon him. AS he sat
i'r hours after his walks gazing be-
ueen the hills that penned out the
asert the spot where the grave dotted
ne surface of the plain kept draw
= his eyes to 1t. in an annoying
nnnner.
a he took his lonely walk at the
20 Of that fortnight, the grave began
y hritate him. 1t aroused a certain
curiosity within him, which was very
dstaseful.
une night, after his return from q
uL raging at his folly, the grave
ssan to haunt his wakeful night-fan-
IA The next afternoon he walked
VI 70 the enclosure, thinking that
: would be no longer disturbed by
mng II he examined 1t closely.
hawkins saw only an adults grave
"n q cactus upon ii. At the head
wooden board. At the foot was
"oao peg. The barbed wire was
VA away at one end-perhaps by
'ne stray animal, wandering in the
Hawkins did not approach
fef than rod from the fence, and
"rned quickly, as though he had
"aecme his weakness, when he had
.nered these details in his mind.
me next day he came closer, and
Gay following. after a night In
n ne was kept awake, frenzied
OF a gnawing ache to pick
ctus root out Of the dead mans
Hawkins came to the fence and
$3.50 upon the post, looking back
tne hotel to see If the group
e veranda could see him. He did
"uch the cactus, and not until he
aishtsned up to 20 did he 20
~ q glance At the mound. He
800 name on the headboard-and
away with fear logging his
ne looked behind by sheer
OF viii. 1t was the one name
y. world that Hawkins loved to
80 with 1t came the recollection
49, woman whom the grim man was
mat he had forgotten.
we road around the hill he