The Monmouth inquirer., 1926-05-20

dreamed, son, did you, that spirits
had plans. chr"
mo; can't say that ever gave
such subject thought"
We'll, we do plan things; we do
not have any work to do you know;
you poor earth-bound creatures, clog
ged with the weight Of mortality, DO
the work; but we plan just the same
We gather about tombstones IN the
time Of night to arrange our plans,
some have plans co4cerning war.
peace, business. love, ambition, and
some, ] am sorry to say. have criminal
plans, just the same as when they
were on earth and alive Nehemiah.
| have come back after staying away
from you for twenty years, to tell you
of great weakness that exists in
your nature"
Well advice from such judicious
man as you were once
"And now remember, son, ! am pos
sessed of the same strong points that
had such telling effect when had this
establishment in charge
Il await your advice" uttered Ne
hemiah, as he drew nearer And then
he saw what he had failed to observe
at distance; a. distance, the fig
ure or his father possessed the density
of mortality now as he draws near
er, he secs that the face, form, limbs,
hands are semi-transparent, and that
objects back, aud beyond. and be-
meath, show through the person of his
father like things through a veil Of
thin snolEe. And 1t seems very
strange, startling and grotesque to
note ra..trap hanging from peg
right through the spirits face; and 1t
seems as strange. uncanny and be-
wildering TO see tlshhcoks, fiddle
bridges and other notions appearing
through his fathers hands spread on
the showcase. But ghosts will be
ghosts, SO why bother about 1T or
question it? What he wants to know
is. what Is this particular weakness
made mention of by his fatherS
'sNehemish, did you ever give away
anything in all your lifef"
she. he. he'll" cackled the son, as
the ridiculous idea came to him. mo.
Why should 1? This is all mine; paid
for. and to sell again l give away
anything? Surely. I'd not be my faith
er's own son II ! should give away
anything"
"AhM sighed the spirit and a
nickel-plated watch shone through his
very mouth as he opened his lips.
"That was my weakness, Nehemiah.
my weakness. / was close-fisted,
g. nding, tight. cruel. mean, sordid
was called s clever man at making a
ba gain. | never cheated single hui
maA being out of penny; yes, very
successful business man was |. But
/ never gave anything away, never
added one cent to heap the poor
store of charity; no leaves and fishes
We dispensed by these hands to re-
liesa the hunger and still the APP
peals of distress. owned what I
had all was paid for; all was for sale
and to be turned into money, can
not rest now. my son; did not think
! was doing a wise thing when / stood
at your elbow and prompted you to
drive good and close bargains al
ways in your favor, have changed
my mind. Nehemiah. son, prosperous
man that you are, want you to help
me out of my troubles. / want you
to show some degree of charity to-
ward humanity Turn not deaf ear
toward the pleading Of want; look not
xxrt<l, oA1A wosft
upon woe; be ready to give some of
your wealth to the poor and needy.
Remember!"
Nehemiah had closed his eyes when
his father began; It was habit of his
for with closed eyes he was better
able to comprehend. draw conclusions.
solve knotty points, and thus make
things clear,
rWell. are you through. father"
No answer greeted him. He opened
his eyes. The figure had disappeared.
but out of the gloom beyond came the
one word:
'Remember!"
He shook himself together, pulled
his hat over his brow, locked the
door and passed on down the moon
lighted street toward his bachelor
quarters. What his dreams were it
does not matter, only that they were
not unpleasant. for before retiring he
resolved to turn over page in his
life-hook. wipe OF the old slate and
begin with clean score in the morn
ing.
Early the next morning Nehemiah
almost startled q little girl out of her
wits when he handed her an orange
and said kindly:
Oranges are very good for little
girls; here is your tea and change.
and here is a box of cough-drops for
your grandma.
And the child ran home with her
treasures as rapidly as her little legs
could take her
All day long Nehemiah astonished