The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1935-03-21
Ne
Memories
By HENRY MILLER
g. Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.
WNU Service.


into their camp.
Mr.. Grove Hendryx led him as If
he were afraid for him. Mr.. Hendryx'
wife, and his daughter Alice, stood on
the, other side watching.
Now, John, try just walking around
the lake. Come back here afterwards.
The psychologist said that you might
remember when you saw something
that you had seen that day."
He smiled at Alice His eyes were
as clear as a child's, as trustful, as de-
sirous of pleasing. She smiled back
at him with faith and hope.
He wished that he might go around
the lake as Mr.. Hendryx advised and
come back with a memory of his life.
He had no memory except that of few
weeks. 1t began that day he had
walked into the Hendryx camp. His
mind had been blank then.
In the camp he saw Alice; she was
leaning over some coffee. She straight
ened up; saw him. She was the first
girl he ever remembered seeing. She
had seemed like the love!iest thing any
where.
Hello" she had said, smiling inquir-
ingly.
Hello" he had answered The word
had sounded strange to his ears, yet
familiar He had felt 1t coming nat
urally to his lips.
Can 1 help you?" She asked.
"Can you tell-me-who-I ann" he
had asked, each word a new adventure
to him.
He smiled now, at Alice again. Dur
ing the few weeks since his birth, full
grown, she had come to mean every
thing to him; love, happiness, hope.
He started to walk. His mind was
calm, rested, for he had not troubled
himself before with his identity.
Perhaps half an hour after he had
left the Hendryx trio, he came to a
stone. 1t was of granite. He knew
that he had seen that stone before
The rains had followed out a sort of
pot in the granite, deeper than the
Indian squaws used to make for pound
ing their meal.
Puzzled, he looked at the stone. He
couldn't remember when he had seen
it.
He walked past it, but his smile was
gone. He turned around, surveyed the
stone. Sometime in the past he had
sat upon it.
He retraced his steps, climbed upon
the stone, sat upon it. A branch of
the oak tree above his head swayed
A sharp realization made itself mani
fest. He had seen that branch sway
in exactly the same way sometime or
other.
An excitement ran In tremors
through him. He was Oh the point Of
remembering his identity.
He remembered scene in a great
flash. Bits dribbled into his mind, it
is true, but now he was sure who he
was.
He remembered two men In a ROOM
They were brothers. Their last name
was Jackson. Milton Jackson was a
private secretary to large banker In
the South. Butt Jackson was the black
sheep of the family. Butt had seen the
inside Of Sing Sing and not as a visitor,
either.
The man without memory had ac-
Quired a sharp, terrible memory. He
remembered creeping, creeping upon
his unsuspecting brother. He remem-
bered raising the sandbag which was
loaded. He remembered, just at the
critical moment, the sudden turning of
his brother Milton. In Millions eyes
he had seen his accusation, the COM
plete understanding of all that had
gone before.
That glance was the thing that had
driven him off that had made him lose
his memory in an unconscious attempt
to put the awful horror out of his mind.
He sprang to his feet. He would run
back and tell Alice. He paused, one
foot outstretched, and stood still.
"How can I tell herr" he asked the
oak. 81 held up, perhaps, killed, my
brother"
He loved Alice. He couldn't stand
before her confessed as Butt Jackson.
81 feel clean!" he cried. sob, God,
why couldn't l really have been re-
created this time? Why do l have to
take the punishment for something 1
did in another life?"
1t was not only he who would have
to take the punishment. 1t was Alice,
too. She loved him. She was willing
to marry him even now, though she
hadn't the slightest idea who he might
be.
He couldn't tell her. He couldn't
make her Mrs. Butt Jackson.
He started to walk away from the
lake. He would find a train, hop a
freight. He would live straight. Butt
could never have had thought like
that He wasn't really Butt; he was
a mysterious person who had been Gre
ated anew.
AS he walked he put his hand to his
forehead. There was something odd
above that. He touched II, touched the
top of his head. His eyes swelled. He
tried to remember the inside of Sing
Sing. He couldn't remember, strain as
he might.
He remembered the inside Of the
bank the bank officer he assisted. He
leaned into the air shouting with inv