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If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Man - A Story of To-day - -Author: Elbert Hubbard - -Release Date: May 11, 2016 [EBook #52049] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAN *** - - - - -Produced by Craig Kirkwood, Demian Katz and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images -courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University -(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/).) - - - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_), text enclosed -by equal signs is in bold (=bold=), and ^{} encloses superscripted -material. - -Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end. - - * * * * * - -VAN HOUTEN’S COCOA. - -[Illustration: _Mr. Pickwick._] - -“_Chops and tomato sauce are excellent, my dear M^{rs.} Bardell, but -let the liquid be Van Houten’s Cocoa._ - -“_It is a glorious restorative after a fatiguing journey._” - -“Best & Goes Farthest.” - -The Standard Cocoa of the World. - -A Substitute for Tea & Coffee. - -Better for the Nerves and Stomach. - -Cheaper and more Satisfying. - -At all Grocers. Ask for VAN HOUTEN’S. - -Perfectly Pure--“Once tried, used always.” - -☞A comparison will quickly prove the great superiority of VAN HOUTEN’S -COCOA. _Take no substitute._ Sold in =1/8=, =1/4=, =1/2= and =1 lb.= -Cans. ☞If not obtainable, enclose 25c. in stamps or postal note to -either VAN HOUTEN & ZOON, 106 Reade Street, New York, or 45 Wabash -Ave., Chicago, and a can containing enough for 35 to 40 cups will -be mailed _if you mention this publication_. Prepared only by _the -inventors_, VAN HOUTEN & ZOON, Weesp, Holland. - - * * * * * - - - - -THE MAN. - - - A STORY OF TO-DAY, - - With Facts, Fancies and Faults Peculiarly its Own; Containing Certain - Truths Heretofore Unpublished Concerning Right Relation of the Sexes, - etc., etc. - - BY ASPASIA HOBBS. - - COPYRIGHT, 1891, BY J. S. OGILVIE. - - THE SUNNYSIDE SERIES, No. 47. Issued Monthly. December, 1891. Extra. - $3.00 per year. Entered at New York Post-Office as second-class - matter. - - - - -THREE OPEN LETTERS. - - -LETTER NO. 1. - -BUFFALO, N. Y., July 1, 1891. - -TO MARTHA HEATH, - -_Friend_:--You said that someone would surely print it, and I write -you this to say that after four publishers had most politely rejected -the manuscript, the fifth has written me saying the story does not -amount to much; in fact, that I have no literary style, but as the -book is so out of the general run they concluded to accept it. They -sent me a check for $300.00 which they say is a bonus, and after the -first 5,000 copies are sold they propose to pay me a royalty. So you -see even if I have lost my place at Hustler’s, I am not destitute, so I -will not accept your offer of a loan. You and Grimes (dear old Grimes) -are the only persons in all this great city who have stood by me in my -trouble. If you had presented me with a box of candy I would thank you, -but for all the kindness I have received, prompted by your outspoken -and generous nature, I offer not a single word. Words, in times like -these, to such as you, are of small avail, my heart speaks. You say -you dislike awfully to see those last five chapters in print, and so -will I, my dear. Little did we think when I began this book that the -story would have such an ending; but, Martha, I am not writing a pretty -novel, but simple truth just as the facts occurred. I offer no excuse -nor apology, but will simply give you this from Charles Kingsley’s -“Alton Locke:” - -Scene: A street corner in London, on one hand a gin palace, opposite a -pawn shop--those two monsters who feed on the vitals of the poor--all -about is abject wretchedness. - -Locke stops, sighs and says, “Oh, this is so very unpoetic.” Sandy -Mackaye replies, “What, man, no poetry here! Why, what is poetry but -chapters lifted from the drama of life, and what is the drama if not -the battle between man and circumstance, and shall not man eventually -conquer? I will show you too in many a garret where no eye but that of -the good God enters, the patience, the fortitude, the self-sacrifice -and the love stronger than death, all flourishing while oppression and -stupid ignorance are clawing at the door!” - -But right will conquer, dearest, and the goodness that has never been -weighed in the balances, nor tried in the fire, how do you know it _is_ -goodness at all? It may only be namby-pamby--wishy-washy--goody-goody, -_who knows_? _We_ are all in God’s hand, sister, and the bad is the -stuff sent, on which to try our steel. - -Yours ever, - -ASPASIA. - - * * * * * - -LETTER NO. 2. - -July 3, 1891. - -TO PYGMALION WOODBUR, ESQ., Attorney-at-Law. - -_Sir_:--I have received your letter warning me that if I use your name -in a certain book of local history (said book entitled THE MAN) that -you will cause my arrest for malicious libel, and also sue me for -damages. To this I can only say that the book is now in the hands of -the electrotypers, and I am not inclined to change a line in it, on -your suggestion, even if I could. Please believe me, when I say, that I -bear you no ill-will and have no desire to injure you or place you in -a wrong light before the public, what I have written being but truth -penned without exaggeration or coloring. I make no apology or excuse. -What I have written I have written. - -Yours, etc., - -ASPASIA HOBBS. - - * * * * * - -LETTER NO. 3. - -BUFFALO, N. Y., July 3, 1891. - -TO JOHN BILKSON, of Hustler & Co., - -_Sir_:--Your registered letter of June 30th, received, wherein you -state that you have no further use for my services, and that whereas -you generally give an employee a letter of recommendation when you -discharge them, yet in my case you cannot do so. - -Although I have made no request for such recommendation, I regret your -conscience will not allow you to supply it. - -You remember the scene of five years ago in your office? No one knows a -word of this, and never will, unless you tell it (which I hardly think -you care to do). You swore then you would get even with me--is your -vengeance now satisfied? - -I have no malice toward you--I cannot afford to have against -anyone--although I must say that your action in deducting from my -wages the price of one set of false teeth purchased from Dr. Poole is -not exactly right. You know, Mr. Bilkson, you lost those teeth purely -through accident and no one regretted the occurrence more than I. With -best wishes for the continued prosperity of Hustler & Co., I remain, - -Yours, as ever, - -ASPASIA HOBBS. - - * * * * * - -THE MAN. - - - - -CHAPTER I. MYSELF. - - -What I have to write is of such great value, the circumstances so -peculiar, the record so strange, and the truths so startling, that it -is but proper I should explain who and what I am, in order that any -person, so disposed, may fully verify for himself the things I am about -to relate. - -Just at that most quiet hour of all the twenty-four, in the city, on -a summer’s morning, when the darkness is stubbornly giving way to -daylight, there came a violent ring at Mr. Hobbs’ door-bell, followed -up with what seemed to be quite an unnecessary knocking. - -Mr. Hobbs was interested in an elevator, and when he heard that ring he -was sure the elevator had burned--in fact, he had a presentiment that -such would be the case; besides this, Mr. Hobbs always carried a goodly -assortment of fears ready to use at any moment. - -“There, didn’t I tell you!” he excitedly exclaimed to his wife, as he -rushed down the stairs--he hadn’t told his wife anything, just bottled -up his fears in his own bosom and let them ferment, but that made no -difference--“Didn’t I tell you!” and he hastily unlocked and opened the -door. No one there! - -He looked up the street and down the street. Nothing but a -clothes-basket, covered over with a threadbare shawl, which evidently -a long time ago had been a costly one. Mr. Hobbs expected a messenger -with bad news and Mr. Hobbs was disappointed, in fact was mad; and he -snatched that shawl from the basket, staggered against the door, and a -voice, like unto that of a young and lusty bull, went up the stairway -where Mrs. Hobbs stood peering over the banisters: - -“Maria, for God’s sake come quick! There’s something awful happened! -Quick, will you!” - -Mrs. Hobbs was not very brave, but curiosity often reinforces courage; -so the good lady came down the stairs two steps at a time, and stood by -the side of her liege, who had got his breath by this time and stood -peering over the basket. - -And there they stood together, all in white, with bare feet, on the -front porch, and nearly broad daylight. - -In the basket, all wrapped up in dainty flannel, smiling, cooing and -kicking up its heels, lay a baby--well, perhaps two months old, and on -a card written with pencil were these words: - -“_God knows._” - -Mr. and Mrs. Hobbs had no children, and they each looked upon this as a -gift from providence--basket and all. They cared for the waif as their -own child, and if their reward does not come in this life, I am sure it -will in another. - -“Her name shall be Aspasia Hobbs, for I always said my first girl (Mr. -and Mrs. Hobbs had been married five years, and had no children, but -the babies were already named; which, I am told, is the usual custom) -should be named Aspasia, after your mother, dear,” said Mrs. Hobbs. - -And Aspasia Hobbs it was, and is yet: and I am Aspasia Hobbs: and Mr. -and Mrs. Hobbs are the only parents I have ever known. - -I am now an old maid, aged thirty-seven (I must tell the truth). I am -homely and angular, and can pass along the street without a man turning -to look at me. From five years’ constant pounding on a caligraph my -hands have grown large and my knuckles and the ends of my fingers are -like knobs. I can walk twenty miles a day, or ride a wheel fifty. - -The bishop of Western New York, in a sermon preached recently, said -riding bicycles is “unladylike” (and so is good health for that -matter)--but if the good bishop would lay aside prejudice and robe -and mount a safety, he could still show men the right way as well as -now--possibly better, who knows? - -But, in the language of Spartacus, “I was not always thus.” Thank -Heaven, I am strong and well! They used to say, “She is such a -delicate, sensitive child, we can not keep her without we take very, -v-e-r-y good care of her.” Some fool has said that hundreds of people -die every year because they have such “very good care.” - -My father was a member of the firm of Hobbs, Nobbs & Porcine, was -a Board of Trade man, and, therefore, had no time to give to his -children; but he was a good provider, as the old ladies say, and used -to remind us of it quite often. “Don’t I get you everything you need?” -he once roared at my mother, when she hinted that an evening home once -in a while would not be out of place. “Here you have an up-stairs girl, -a cook, a laundress, a coachman, a gardener, a tutor for Aspasia, and -don’t I pay Doctor Bolus just five hundred dollars a year to call here -every week and examine you all so as to keep you healthy? Great Scott, -the ingratitude of woman! they are getting worse and worse every day!” - -My father was a good man--that is he was not bad, so he must have been -good. He never used tobacco, and I never heard him swear but once, and -that was when Professor Connors brought in a bill reading: - -“Debtor, to calisthenics for wife and daughter, $50.” - -“I’ll pay it,” said my father grimly, “but I will deduct it from Bolus’ -check, for you say it’s for the health and therefore it belongs to -Bolus’ department and he should have furnished the goods.” - -We lived on Delaware avenue, in one of the finest houses, which my -father bought and had furnished throughout before my mother or any -one of us were allowed to enter. He was a good man, and wanted to -astonish--that is to say, surprise us. So one Saturday night, at -dinner, he said, - -“On Monday, my dears, we will leave this old Michigan street for a -house on the ‘Avenue.’ I have given up our pew in Grace Church, and -to-morrow, and hereafter, Rev. Fred. C. Inglehart and Delaware avenue -are plenty good enough for us.” - -Our family have the finest monument in Forest Lawn, and father assured -us that if Methusalah was now a boy this monument would be new when his -great grandchildren died of old age. He waxed enthusiastic, and added, -as he lapsed into reverie, - -“It’s a regular James Dandy, and knocks out Rodgers and Jowette in one -round.” - -I am a graduate of Dr. Chesterfield’s academy, and also of the -high-school. I have studied music with Mr. McNerney and Senor Nuno, -elocution with Steele Mackaye; and father once offered to wager Mr. -Porcine that “Aspasia could do up any girl on the avenue or Franklin -street at the piano.” - -I was a rich (alleged) man’s daughter, and as I had a managing mamma -and went in society I had the usual love (how that word is abused!) -experiences. I am not writing an autobiography, but merely telling -what is absolutely necessary for you to know of me; otherwise, I would -relate some insipid mush about flirtations with several gilded youths, -who waltzed delightfully and made love abominably--just as if a man -could _make_ love! But suffice it to say, I never, in those old days, -met a man I could not part with and feel relieved when he had taken his -“darby” and slender cane and hied him down the steps. Mamma said I was -heartless and didn’t know a good chance when I saw it. - -One little affair of the pocket-book--that is, I mean of the -heart--might be mentioned. A certain attorney, Pygmalion Woodbur by -name--old Buffalonians know him well--paid his respects to me in an -uneasy and stilted fashion. He was ten years my senior, had a monster -yellow moustache generally colored black, which he combed down over the -cavern in his face. He dressed in the latest, and was looked upon as a -great catch. How these old bachelor men-about-town are lionized by a -certain set of women! - -He called several times, invited himself to dinner, took mamma riding -and threw out side glances--grimaces--in my direction. One fine evening -I sat reading in the parlor, alone, and in walked Mr. Woodbur and began -about thusly: - -“Aspasia--I may call you by your first name, now can’t I?--and you must -call me Pyggie, for short. I have just spoken to your father and he -says it’s all right,” etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. - -He slid off from the sofa on his knees, and seized my left hand and -kissed it violently. - -Fair lady, have you ever been kissed with a rush, by a man with a large -yellow moustache colored black? Well it’s just like being jabbed with a -paint brush! - -Now, after his poorly memorized speech had been delivered, and I had -jerked my hand away, there was a pause. I tried to laugh and I tried -to cry; then I tried to faint, and was too mad to do either; so I just -inwardly raged and then came the explosion-- - -“No! no! no! a thousand times _no_! Stick to you, Woodbur! _Never!_ I -hate you--get out of my sight, quick!” - -Just then in came papa and mamma, who it seems were taking a turn about -at the keyhole. - -“Why! why what’s the matter with my little girl,” and I fell sobbing in -my mother’s arms. - -“You must excuse her, Mr. Woodbur,” said the good lady. “Since her -sunstroke, she has these spells quite often. You will excuse her, I -know.” - -“Why, when was the gal struck! You never told me nothing about it,” -broke in my father. - -“Now Hobbs, don’t be a fool,” said my mother under her breath. - -Father started to answer. Woodbur saw his opportunity, and escaped -under cover of the smoke, and forgot to come back for his umbrella, -which I now have tied up with a white ribbon and put away with mint and -lavender in memory of days gone by--and the best that I can say of the -days that have gone by is that they have gone by. - -As time wore, life seemed to grow dull and heavy, my cheeks grew -pale, and in summer I sat on the piazza, often from breakfast until -dinner-time, with a white crepe shawl thrown about my shoulders, -listlessly watching the passers-by. Mother said, “Poor girl, I wish she -would get mad just once as she used to. She is so good and submissive.” -Doctor Bolus said I needed cod liver oil with strong doses of quinine, -and once a week Glauber salts taken in molasses and sulphur; but still -in spite of all medicine could do for me, I grew weaker and weaker. I -fed on Mrs. Hemans and Tupper, and finally they carried me daily out to -the big carriage, and the coachman was instructed to drive very slowly, -and we went out through the Park, out to Forest Lawn and looked at our -family monument, which gleamed in the beautiful sunshine. - -Mother generally rode with me, and one morning she left me waiting in -the carriage while she went over near our “lot,” so she could more -closely inspect the monument. While waiting the coachman turned to me -and said: - -“Missis, yer father have bust, yer mother don’t know it; but you are no -fool, missis, and I thought you should know it, to kinder prepare like. -They have been around inventizering the horses and carriages and are -going to sell them next week--see? And my wife said you are the only -one who has sense, and I should break the news to you easy like--see?” - -I heard him rattling on, but did not seem to understand what he said; -but I felt my heart beating fast and the blood coming to my cheeks. The -old dead submissiveness was gone, and I said: - -“John, shut up, and repeat to me what you said first.” - -“Nothin’,” said John, “only that your father have bust and run off to -Canada, and C. J. Hummer and the rest is goin’ to bounce you out next -week.” - -I saw his grieved tone, or felt it rather, and said: - -“John, I did not mean to speak cross to you.” - -“Never mind, missis, I have no favors to ax, and you couldn’t grant eny -even if I did--for your father have bust, dwye see?” - -Mother was coming from the monument, and greatly vexed, I saw. - -“Why, Smythe has not put any foundation under it at all scarcely,” she -said, as she stepped into the carriage. “The weight on top is gradually -crushing the bottom, and I believe it is full six inches toppled over -to the west.” - -“It is probably going west to grow up with the country,” I said. - -Think of such a remark from a dying invalid! - -My mother turned in astonishment to see if it was really her daughter. - -“John,” said I, “drive home--go fast--let them out, will you--go home -quick. Mrs. Hobbs is not well.” - -I felt an awful propensity to joke, and a wild exultation and pleasure -came over me that I had not known since we used to climb the hills at -our summer-house at Strykersville. John cracked the whip and saluted -all the other coachmen as we passed. He whistled, and so did I. For the -first time in five years I felt free; and John had lost the fear that -he would not be impressive, and he too was free. My mother sat bolt -upright in a rage. - -“You are both drunk,” she said. “John, sit straight on that box. Don’t -carry the whip over your shoulder, and don’t cross your legs or I will -discharge you Saturday night!” - -John turned round--smiled--looked at me and winked. - - - - -CHAPTER II. OURSELVES. - - -As the carriage stopped in the _portière_ the big gardener came down, -and placing one arm under and the other about me, was just going to -lift the invalid out as usual. - -“Go away,” I fairly screamed. “Let me walk, will you! Carry mother in -quick,” for sure enough, she was the one who had to be carried. Her -rigid dignity had disappeared, and she had dropped back listless and -disheveled, moaning: - -“Oh, John is drunk and Aspasia crazy! Look at her! she is so sick she -can’t walk, and yet see her run up those steps! What shall I do, what -shall I do! And the monument that they warranted in writing to last -for ever or no pay is tumbling down. I must have it fixed, even if it -costs ten thousand dollars; for the name of Hobbs must not grow dim.” -“Dear he” (she always spoke of her husband as simply “he” or “him”) -“has so often said, ‘You married Hobbs for better or worse’--says he -to me--‘and your name will be carved on the finest monument in Forest -Lawn.’“ - -Reader bold--lacking in knowledge and therefore in faith, limiting -possibility to your own tiny experience, quick to deny--you doubt that -I went away an invalid and returned in an hour cured. Let me whisper -in your ear that it was all in accordance with natural law, and not at -all strange or miraculous, excepting in the sense that all nature is -miraculous (let us not quarrel over definitions). That which cured me -was a good dose of Animating Purpose. - -Men retire from business and die in a year from lack of animating -purpose. Women are protected, hedged about and propped up, cared for, -and die for the lack of this essential. - -“Faith Cure,” “Christian Science” and any other strong desire filled -with hope and a determination to _be_ and to _do_, supply animating -purpose of a good kind, although sometimes, possibly, alloyed with -error: but any good idea which makes us forget self and sends the blood -coursing through our veins, is healing in its nature. - -When the stays that held me were cut, and I knew I must live and work -and be useful, the old sickly self was thrust far behind by Animating -Purpose; not the finest quality of animating purpose, I will admit, -but a fairly good serviceable article, and certainly a thousand times -better than none. - -You must not think that my mother was naturally weak--not so. Of a -fine delicate organization, she married when nineteen and had given -herself unreservedly to her husband in mind and body (for have not -husbands “rights?”) never doubting but what it was her wifely duty to -do so. She even gave up her own church and joined his--adopted his -opinions--quoted his sayings and repeated his jokes. “Well, _he_ says -so and that is an end to it.” In the house of Hobbs, Hobbs was the -court of last appeal. - -In some marriages women say “I will” audibly, with mental reservation -of “when circumstances permit.” Such women have been instructed in -diplomacy. They have been told to meet their husbands at the door with -a smile and clean collar, to make home pleasant, to smooth down the -rough places--in short, to manage the man and never let him discover -it, which is the finest of the finest arts. They can examine his -pockets at such convenient times when he will not know it, count his -money, take what they need--which is better than harassing a man and -whining for a dollar--read his note-book, and thus in a thousand little -ways keep such close track of him that with proper skill there would be -positively no excuse for rubbing him the wrong way of the fur. - -But not so with my mother. She said to Mr. Hobbs on their wedding night, - -“I am yours--wholly yours. In your presence I will think aloud, there -shall be no concealment. To you I give my soul and body!” - -Mr. Hobbs took the latter, and in a hoarse whisper said: - -“I have an income of six thousand dollars a year, and you shall never -regret you married Hobbs, of Hobbs, Nobbs & Porcine. I will shield you -from every unpleasant thing; you shall never know care or trouble; -never a day’s work shall you do; nothing but just be happy and look -pretty the livelong day; and anything you want at Barnes & Bancroft’s, -Peter Paul’s, Dickinson’s or Fulton Market, why get it and have it -charged to Hobbs, for I am rated in ‘Dun’ ‘E. 2,’ and next year it will -be ‘2 plus.’” - -Such total unselfishness touched the virgin heart of this -nineteen-year’s-old woman--that is to say, child. She lived in a -Hobbs’ atmosphere. The two lives did not grow into one, she became -Mrs. Hobbs not only in name but in fact. Now any thinking person will -admit that this was better than for her to have endeavored to retain -her individuality, for if she had done this and still was honest and -frank, there would have been strife. She would always have thought of -her girlhood as the _ante bellum_ times, for Mr. Hobbs had ideas, or -believed he had, and nothing gave him such delicious joy as to rub -these ideas into one, especially if they squirmed and protested. - -I have seen precocious children that astonished or made jealous as -the case might be. How they did sing, play the banjo, or speak! -One such boy I remember--we were all sure he would grow to be an -orator who would shake the nation. I watched him, and saw him to-day -presiding at the second chair in Chadduck’s tonsorial palace, and -noted the Ciceronian wave of his hand as he shouted the legend, “Next -gentleman--shave.” - -Walking across a prairie in Iowa with a friend, we suddenly found -ourselves going through a miniature grove, where the highest trees did -not reach my shoulders. I examined the leaves and found the trees to be -black-oak of the most perfect type. - -“What beautiful young trees! How they will grow and grow and put out -their roots in every direction, and search the very bowels of the -earth for the food and sustenance they need! How they will toss their -branches in defiance to the storm, and be a refuge and defence for the -wearied traveler! How----” - -“Stop that gush, will you please!” said my companion. “These are only -scrub-oaks and will not be any larger if they live a hundred years.” - -Possibly this grove explains why the average man of sixty is no wiser -and no better than the average man of forty--it is Arrested Development. - -My good mother is only a fine type of Arrested Development. - - - - -CHAPTER III. A LITTLE LOCAL HISTORY. - - -With my woman’s intuition I knew all just from the hint John gave. My -father a week before had gone to Montreal, saying he would be back -Wednesday. It was now Friday and he had not returned. I remember the -two men who had come to “take an inventory for the ‘Tax Office,’” one -said, and he winked at the other. How they walked through the house -with their hats on and joked each other as they tried the piano! I saw -it all! My father had lost money and had given a chattel mortgage on -the furniture, having first raised all the money he could on the real -estate. - -I asked my mother if she remembered giving the mortgage, and she looked -at me, grieved and surprised, saying: - -“Why, of course not, dear. I always signed the papers he brought me. Do -you think it a woman’s place to ask questions about business?” - -Well, if I were writing my own history, I would tell you how the two -men from the “Tax Office” came back with Robert McCann the auctioneer; -how they hung a big red flag over the sidewalk and took up the carpets -so that when they walked across the bare floor of the big parlors the -echo of the footsteps rang through the whole house; how greasy men with -hook noses came and examined the furniture; of how one such insisted -on seeing my mother on very private business, when he asked, “If dot -bainting was a real Millais or only a schnide; and if it was a schnide, -to gif a zerdificate dat it vas a Millais and I will bid it off at a -hundred, so hellup me gracious!”; of how kind neighbors came and bought -in all the dishes and silverware and gave them back to us; of how a -certain widowed gentleman offered to bid in the piano if I would accept -a position as governess for his daughter and live at his house. - -Well, the furniture went and so did we. The Fitch ambulance came and -took mother down to our new quarters, which I had rented on South -Division street, near Cedar, and right pretty did the little house look -too. Mrs. Grimes, the laundress, came with us--in fact, came in spite -of us. - -“I have no money to pay you, and you cannot come. That is all there is -about it,” I protested. - -“Well, I don’t want no money,” said this gray-haired old woman. “I have -’leven hundred dollars in the Erie County, and it is all yours if you -want it. Haven’t I worked for the Hobbses three weeks lacking two days -before you was left on the steps? I was the only girl they had then, -and I am the only girl you got now. I have sent my hair trunk down to -South Division street, and I’m going myself on the next load with Bill -Smith, who drives the van for Charlie Miller. I knowed Bill before I -did you, and Bill says he will stand by Aspasia Hobbs too, he does.” - -What could I do but kiss the grizzled kindly face of this old “girl” on -both cheeks and let her come? - -It was a full month before we got track of my father. I went to -Montreal and brought back an old man, with tottering mind, crushed -in spirit. He had fixed his heart on things of earth--he became a -part of them, they of him--and when they went down there was only one -result. He lingered along for three months, constantly reproaching -himself; seeing also reproach in the face of every passer-by, imagining -upbraidings in each look of those who sought to comfort and care for -him, and the light of his life went out in darkness. - -“Judge not that ye be not judged.” - - - - -CHAPTER IV. SOME THINGS. - - -My mother received a little money from the life insurance companies. -Father patronized only assessment companies, as they are cheap. He -prided himself on his financial ability, always saying he could invest -money as well as any rascally insurance president and that there was -“nothing like having your money where you can put your claw on it in -case you get a straight tip.” - -Idle I could not be, and I resolved to get a situation. - -“Verily, I will teach school, for the young must be educated,” I said, -“or the world cannot be tamed. I must, I will mould growing character.” -In fact, I felt a call; so I called on Mr. Straight, the superintendent -of education, never doubting but that he would at once give me an -opportunity to show my ability. I displayed my Dr. Chesterfield and the -high-school diplomas, and various certificates from long-haired and -eccentric foreigners, (not forgetting Prof. Franklin of Col. Webber’s -and Judge Lewis’s testimonials, who imparts dramatic instruction for -one dollar an impart) as to my ability in music, dancing, French, -German, and deportment. - -The superintendent counted the certificates and diplomas as he piled -them up on his desk, and asked me if I had any “pull.” Then he asked me -why I did not get married, and said he had been looking for me, “for -whenever a man busts his daughters always come here for a job.” He took -my name in a big book, and as he waved me out remarked that “there are -only seven hundred applicants ahead of you. I’m afraid you are not in -it. You had better catch on to some young fellow, my dear, before the -crow’s feet get too pronounced----ta, ta.”[1] - -I stood outside the door confused, defeated, angry. I thought of -a thousand things I should have said to that grinning insinuating -superintendent, and here I had not said a word. I was out in the hall, -the door was shut. Slowly my wrath took form in action, and I walked -off with a much more emphatic tread than was becoming in a young -woman. I slammed my parasol against the banisters at every stride as -I went down the city hall steps. I had a plan. Straight to the _News_ -office I went, intending to insert an advertisement and thus secure -exactly the position I desired. I bought a paper to see how other -people advertised, and my eyes fell on the following: - - WANTED: As correspondent, book-keeper and stenographer, a young woman - who can translate German, French, and Italian, who is not afraid to - work, and can look after the business in proprietor’s absence. Wages, - $4.75 per week. - - Apply to HUSTLER & CO., - - Manufacturers of Glue, - - Genesee Street. - -I took the paper and entered a herdic, telling the driver to hurry as I -wanted to go to Hustler & Co.’s. - -Arriving there, I walked in, banged the door, and demanded to see -Hustler, omitting all title and prefix. Straight had brow-beaten and -insulted me an hour before--let Hustler try if he dare. I wanted a -position, not advice, and would brook no parley or nonsense. - -“Are you Hustler?” I asked of a little meek bald-headed man, with a -ginger-colored fringe of hair like a lambrequin around his occiput. He -plead guilty. “And did you,” I continued hurriedly, but in a determined -manner, “and did you insert this advertisement?” and I spread out the -paper before him. - -He hesitated. - -“Did you, or did you not?” - -Here I moved back three paces and gazed at him as though I had him on -cross-examination. He admitted that he had inserted the advertisement, -had not yet found a young woman who could fill all of the conditions, -and that I could have the place. - -“To-morrow, when the whistle blows for seven o’clock,” said he. - -“To-morrow, when the whistle blows for seven o’clock,” said I. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] For fear that some may imagine that the character of Mr. Straight, -superintendent of schools, is untrue to life, and that such a man -could not hold the position, it must be explained that in the city -of Buffalo this office is an elective one, and is held by the person -able to control the caucus and secure the votes; so very naturally the -gentleman has an eye on next year’s election, and when he appoints new -teachers he accepts those (provided of course they are competent) who -are best backed up by influential friends. It must be said, however, -that the present incumbent of the office alluded to is a most worthy -and competent man, and also that the school-teachers of Buffalo outrank -in fitness those of most other cities; but these two facts do not in -the least condone the dangerous principle of having the office of -Superintendent of Schools a political one. - - - - -CHAPTER V. LOST. - - -At last I was no longer a dependent! From this time on I would not -only earn my own living, but I would do for others. I was no longer a -pensioner. - -“He who receives a pension gives for it his manhood,” said Plato. A -pension makes a man a mendicant. When the world is peopled by God’s -people, every man will work according to his ability, and will be paid -for his services, so there will neither be pensioners nor bumptious -bestowers. - -My work at Hustler & Co.’s was not difficult, when I got over the scare -and the belief that it was awfully complex. In short, the lion was -chained, as it always is when we get up close and inspect the animal; -or perhaps, it is only a stuffed lion that has been terrifying us. -Possibly some evilly disposed person, seeing our fear, has taken pains -to wipe the dust off the fiery glass eyes, to rough up the tawny mane, -and set the tail at that terrific angle--but who is afraid of a lion -on wheels? When I became composed and took a common sense view of the -work, the difficulties took wing, and at the end of the first week, Mr. -Hustler gave me the assurance “that I was no slouch,” which is the -highest compliment that Rustler Hustler, of the firm of Hustler & Co., -glue makers, was ever known to pay to any living soul. - -One of the girls in the office told me that the former stenographer -lost her place by taking dictation for Mr. Bilkson, the junior partner, -at close range; which being interpreted, meant that when Mr. Bilkson -dictated his letters to the young lady, he had her sit on his knee. -Mrs. Bilkson is a large, determined woman with a jealous nature and red -parasol. As she appeared in the private office one day without first -sending in her card, the close range plan was discovered. Soon after -that little Miss Bustle was found to be incompetent, and the cashier -gave her her time. Bilkson still remains. - -When the junior dictates letters to me, it is through the little -sliding window that connects my room with the general office. This was -at my suggestion after a few days’ acquaintanceship with the gentleman. -I fear I also incurred his enmity when I told him I was hired to do the -work, not to entertain the firm. - -Saturdays we have half a day off--that is, we work until 1:30 and are -docked half a day. - -Every one who knows me, knows I am a great bicycler--in fact, working -closely, if it were not for the outdoor exercise I get, I could never -stand the strain, but would be a candidate for nervous prostration -(technical name Americanitis). Some years ago I had an awful bad -spell. Dr. Bolus was sent for and prescribed quinine and iron with a -trip to Bermuda and rest for a year. My old friend, Martha Heath, came -in soon after, and I asked her to go to Stoddard’s drugstore for the -quinine. - -“I won’t,” said Martha Heath. “Bounce Bolus and buy a bicycle!” - -I followed her advice, and have blessed Martha Heath ever since. - -It was my custom on Saturdays after I had eaten my lunch at the -factory, to take my wheel and go on a long ride, sometimes in the -summer as far as Niagara Falls, getting back late in the evening. These -long quiet rides I anticipated with much pleasure, for to get away -from the strife of men out into the quiet country, seemed to give me -new life. The winter gave me little opportunity for these trips, so I -looked forward longingly to the coming of spring. - -The month of April, 1891, it will be remembered was remarkable, in -that there was not a single fall of rain from the 10th to the 30th. -The roads were dry and dusty as in summer. Saturday afternoon, April -30th, when I rode out Clinton street in the delightful sunshine which -seemed to bear healing on its wings, women were working in the gardens, -cleaning up the rubbish; children playing on the road; a faint smell -of bonfire from burning rubbish, people starting in in the spring to -keep the yards clean; men plowing in the fields; and how the frogs -did croak! Joy and gladness on every hand. Out through Gardenville, -past Ebenezer, five o’clock found me at Hurdville. I was so very -busy drinking in the glorious scene that I had ridden slower than I -intended, for I had made calculations to be at Aurora before this time, -and well on the way homeward. - -“Well,” said I, “Aspasia Hobbs, you had better hurry up or night will -catch you. Besides, the wind has come up strong from the southwest, and -away off over the Colden hills is a little black cloud--what a joke if -you should get wet?” - -There is a lane running across from Hurdville to the Buffalo plank -road, so I decided to cut my trip short and strike across at once. I -looked at my watch and it was just 5:15 when I entered the lane, which -was grass-grown and not at all adapted for bicycling. As I pushed on, -the road grew worse, so I got off and pushed the wheel ahead of me. -Rather hard work it proved, as I wore a long woolen dress, which I had -to hold up in walking. - -Then I tried riding again. A great yellow ominous brightness was in -the west, and soon I noticed it was growing dark, and that the little -cloud had grown until it seemed to cover the whole western sky. A few -big rain drops fell as I looked again at my watch, which said six -o’clock. I kept thinking I must come to the plank road every minute, -and strained my eyes for the telegraph poles which I knew marked the -highway. But no, I could not see them. “Surely this lane must cross -the main road or I am turned around and am following a road running -parallel with the other,” I concluded. - -Still I trudged on, now riding, then walking. It began to rain now in -right good earnest. I felt the mud sticking to my shoes and my clothes -growing heavy. My arms grew tired pushing the wheel before me as I -walked. The spokes had become a solid mass of mud. I tried to mount the -wheel. It swerved and I lay in the ditch. I then realized that to try -to push the bicycle further or to ride would be folly; so I pulled the -machine into the bushes, and looked around me on every side. Not even -a lightning glare to relieve the gloom and brighten the landscape. The -rain still fell in torrents. I covered my face with my hands. I thought -of my mother waiting in the bright light of our little dining-room, the -supper on the table. I tried to imagine this howling wind and blackness -of the night was a dream; but no, I was alone--_alone_, _lost_. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. THE LOG CABIN. - - -It was the worst night I ever saw, and I hope I may never see another -one like it. How the winds did roar through the branches and the wild -crash now and then of a falling tree was most appalling. The darkness -was intense. The cold rain came in beating gusts, and I felt it was -gradually turning to sleet and snow. - -Think of it, I, a city-bred woman, alone on an out-of-the-way country -road, dense woods on either side, mud and slush ankle deep, wandering I -knew not where! - -My clothes weighed a hundred pounds. They clung to my tired form and -I seemed ready to fall with fatigue, when I saw, not far ahead of me, -the glimmer of a light which seemed to come from a small log house a -quarter of a mile back from the road. - -Straight toward the welcoming glimmering light, through bramble, bush -and stumps, I stumbled my way, now and then sinking near knee deep in -some hole where a tree had been uprooted. I think I rather pounded on -the door than rapped, and so fearful was I that I would not meet with -a welcome reception, that I began scarcely before the door was opened -explaining in a loud and excited voice (for I am but a woman after -all), begging that I might be warmed and sheltered only until daylight, -when I could make my way back, promising pay in a sight draft on -Hustler & Co., for in my coming away I had left my purse in my office -dress. I only remember that what I took for an old man opened the door, -led me in, showing not the slightest look of curiosity or surprise, but -seeming rather to be expecting me. He stopped my excited talking by -saying, in the mildest, sweetest baritone I ever heard, - -“Yes, I know. It is turning to snow. You lost your way and are wet and -cold. Look at this cheerful fireplace and this pile of pine wood. My -wife is here; but no, I have no woman’s clothes either. You had better -take off your dress and let it dry over the chair. Then if you stand -before the fire your other raiment will soon dry on you, which is as -good as changing; and in the meantime, I will get you something to eat.” - -That night seems now as if it belonged to a former existence, so soft -and hazy when viewed across memory’s landscape. I only know that as -soon as the man stopped my hurried explanations, the sense of fear -vanished, and I felt as secure as when a child I prattled about my -mother’s rocking-chair as she watched me with loving eyes. I said not -a word, so great was the peace that had come over me. After a plain -supper, of which I partook heartily, I remember climbing a ladder up -into the garret of this log house, and stooping so as not to strike my -head against the rafters; also The Man’s tucking me in bed as though I -were a child, putting an extra blanket over me while saying softly to -himself as if he were speaking to a third person, - -“She must be kept warm. Nature’s balm will heal, sleep is the great -restorer, to-morrow she will feel all the better for this little -experience. So is the seeming bad turned into good.” - -He passed his hand gently over my eyes, took up the candle and I heard -him move down the ladder and--sweet childlike sleep held me fast. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. THE MAN. - - -The morning sun came creeping through the cracks of the garret as I -slowly awoke to consciousness and began rubbing my eyes, trying to make -out where I was and how I came there. Slowly it dawned upon me, the -awful work of trying to push that wheel through the mud; the descending -darkness; the increasing storm; of how I left the bicycle by the -road-side and the sickening sense that came over me as I felt that I -had lost my way and must find shelter or perish; of how my heavy woolen -dress, soaked with water, tangled my tired legs as I struggled forward; -of the glimmering light, and how I feared that though I had at last -found a house they might mistake me for an outcast and have no pity on -me; of the sweet peace I experienced when the old man spoke to me; of -following his suggestion that I should remove my dress; of how I stood -clad only in my under-clothing before the fire, and of how he put me to -bed, and I was all unabashed and unashamed. I thought of all this and -more, and was just getting ready to be thoroughly frightened when my -reverie was broken into by hearing a step come lightly up the ladder, -and the beautiful face of The Man framed in its becoming snowy white -hair appeared. - -“Yes, she is awake,” he said, again seemingly talking to a third -person. “She will be a little sore of course after the exertion, but -refreshed and all the stronger for the hard work. Paradoxical--effort -put forth causes power to accumulate in the body, which is only a -storage battery after all. By giving out power we gain it, by losing -life we save it. How simple yet how wonderful are the works of God!” -Then speaking to me: “I will bring you warm water for a bath. It will -take the stiffness out of your limbs. Breakfast will be ready when you -are.” - -I bathed, dressed without the aid of a glass, and was surprised to feel -how strong and well I felt. Down I went cautiously on the ladder, and -we ate breakfast, neither speaking a word. It seemed as if (glib as I -generally am--“A regular gusher,” Martha Heath says) to break in on the -silence would be sacrilege. Silence is music at rest. - -Out of every fifty men who pass along the street, only one thinks; -the forty-nine have feelings but no thoughts. We have no time here to -treat of the forty-nine; let us leave them out of the question and -deal only with the one, the men of character, so-called, men who have -opinions and hold them. In this class we cannot admit the girl-men or -boy-men or those who are called men simply because they are not women, -or the vicious or even those of doubtful morality. Let us take only -the best and not even consider the “unco-gude.” Now having banished -the unthinking, the immoral and the doubtful, tell me, reader, have -you ever seen a man? Have you? Not a caricature or imitation of one, -full of a wish to be manly, and therefore anxious about the result? -not a being full of whim and prejudice, receiving the opinions from -the past and referring to numbers as proof; who prides himself on his -self-reliance and his absence of pride, and yet who can be won by -agreeing with him and through diplomacy? not one who endeavors to prove -to you the correctness of his views by argument in the endeavor to win -you over to his side, in order that that side may be strengthened? not -one in whose mouth there is continually a large capital I, or who has a -bad case of egomania and studiously avoids all mention of himself? - -But what I mean is a man every whit whole, _mens sana in corpora sano_, -who is afraid of no man and of whom no man is afraid, to whom the -word ‘fear’ is unknown. Prize fighters sometimes boast that they are -without fear, but there is one thing they are afraid of, and that is -_fear_. Fear is the great disturber. It causes all physical ills (Yes, -I know what I say.) and it robs us of our heavenly birthright. What is -the cause of fear? Sin, and if your education had been begun at the -right time and in the right way, you might now be without sin--that -is, without fear. Begin the right education now, and in time you will -come into possession of your heritage; for you are an immortal spirit, -dwelling in this body which to-morrow you may slip off; and all the -right education you have acquired will still be yours, for as in matter -there is nothing lost, so in spirit nothing is destroyed. - -When you stand in the presence of a man you will know it by the holy -calm that comes stealing over you. His presence will put you at -your ease--with no effort to please and yet without indifference. -Both can remain silent without there being an awkward pause or any -embarrassment. The atmosphere he will bring will clothe you as with a -garment, and though your sins be as scarlet you will make no effort -to dissemble, to excuse, to explain, or to apologize. You will find -this man is no longer young, for youth is restless and ambitious, and -although he fears not death, nor scarcely thinks of it, yet lives as -though this body was immortal. - -I lived under the same roof with The Man one day in each week for two -months, and words utterly fail me when I endeavor to describe him, for -how can I describe to you the Ideal? - -At first I thought him an old man, for his luxuriant hair and full wavy -beard were snowy white; but the face, tanned by exposure to the winds, -was free from wrinkles and had the bright anticipatory joyous look of -youth; eyes, large, brown and lustrous, looking through and through -one, but yet the glance was not piercing, for it spoke of love and -sympathy and not of curiosity or aggression; form, strong and athletic; -hands, calloused by work; yet this man, strong, brown, with throat -bared to the breast, seemed to have the strength of an athlete yet the -gentleness of a woman, the high look of wisdom, and with his whole -demeanor the composure of Plato. God had breathed into his nostrils and -he had become a living soul. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. FIRST SUNDAY--A LOOK AROUND. - - -“The roads are very muddy, friend,” the man began, “you had better stay -here until to-morrow and return on the morning train. This is the day -of rest. What a beautiful word that is, ‘rest’! There is no feverish -tossing and longing for the morning to him who has worked rightly, only -sweet rest. The heart rests between beats. See how restful and calm -the landscape is,” and we looked out over the dripping woodland where -the drops sparkled like gems in the bright sunshine. “Nature rests, -yet ever works; accomplishing, but is never in haste. Man only is -busy. Nature is active, for rest is not idleness. As I sit here in the -quietness, my body is taking in new force, my pulse beats regularly, -calmly, surely. The circulation of the blood is doing its perfect work -by throwing off the worthless particles and building up the tissue -where needed. So rest is not rust. While we rest we are taking on board -a new cargo of riches. My best thoughts have been whispered to me while -sitting at rest, or idle, as men would say. I sit and wait, and all -good things are mine, ‘for lo! mine own shall come to me.’” - -Thus did The Man speak in a low but most beautiful voice, and the music -of that voice lingers with me still and will as long as life shall -last. I seemed to have lost my will in that of The Man. I neither -decided I would stay or go, but I simply remained. I am not what is -called religious--far from it--for I have been a stumbling-block for -every pastor and revivalist at both Grace Church and Delaware avenue. -Neither have I any special liking for metaphysics, but I hung like a -drowning person to every word The Man said; and after all it was not -what he said, although I felt the sublime truth of his words, but it -was what there was back. I knew, down deep in my soul, that this man -possessed a power and was in direct communication with a Something of -which other men knew not. - -I have traveled much, and studied mankind in every clime, for before -my father’s failure we went abroad every year. I know well the sleek -satisfied look of success which marks the prosperous merchant; I know -the easy confidence of the man satisfied with his clothes; I have seen -the serenity of the orator secure in his position through the plaudits -of his hearers; I know the actor who has never heard a hiss; the look -of beauty on the face of the philanthropist, who can minister to his -own happiness by relieving from his bountiful store the sore needs of -others; the lawyer, sure of his fee, or the husband who knows he is -king of one loving heart and therefore is able to defy the world;--but -here was a man alone seemingly, without friends, in the wilderness, in -a house devoid of ornament and almost destitute of furniture, whose -raiment was of the coarsest; yet here in the face of this man I saw -the look that told not of earthly success dependent on men or things, -but of riches laid up “where moth and rust cannot corrupt, and where -thieves do not break through and steal.” - -We sat in silence for perhaps an hour and then The Man spoke. - -“Friend, I have called you here. You know that spirit attracts spirit, -and once we know how, we attract at will. This secret you shall know. -I have somewhat to give to the world. You must come here each Saturday -and stay here during the day of rest. I could have gone to you, but -the city is full of distractions and the lower thought-currents there -render you less sensitive to truth; so here in this grove, God’s -temple, I will teach, that you may go forth as a laborer in the -vineyard where the harvest shall be not yet, but will be reaped by -those who come after. You are a stenographer. Bring pencils and paper, -and each Sunday I will give you a little of the truth that you are -to publish in a book and give out to dying men, for the world must -be saved. Men never needed truth and teachers as much as now. I do -not preach nor write, but I act through others, and during the past -hundred years I have told to men many things which they have given to -the world.” - -“A hundred years?” I asked, astonished; and it was the first feeling of -surprise I had felt. - -The Man smiled faintly and said: - -“Yes; three hundred years have I lived in this body. I was born in -1591. Why do you wonder? Have you no faith in God? You see miracles -on every hand, and yet you now are ready to doubt. The oyster mends -its shell with pearls: some unthinking person twists off the claw of a -cray-fish, and you watch another spring forth and grow to full size, -and yet you doubt that a man can retain his strength indefinitely! - -“We die through violation of law. This violation is through ignorance, -or is wilful. If we do away with ignorance and are willing to obey, -we can live as long as we wish. Men only die when they are not fit -to live. As long as a person’s body is useful, God preserves it. The -body is renewed completely every seven years. This you were taught in -school. Why should not this renewal continue? An infant has cartilage, -but very little bone. Gradually the cartilage ossifies, until in old -age the bones are brittle. This is caused by the deposits of lime which -are being continually taken into the system. There is constant waste -and constant repair in the human body. You know this full well, and you -know that at night and in moments of repose the repair exceeds the -waste. So where you were tired and ready to faint an hour ago, you are -now strong. - -“When I was thirty years of age, and my body at its strongest and best, -I adopted a simple plan of keeping the excess lime and deteriorating -substances out of my system; so you see my flesh is strong yet, soft, -for the muscles should not be hard and tense, but pliable. My bones are -not brittle, but cartilage is everywhere where needed to form cushions -for the articulations. I have not known pain for a century, for nature -does her perfect work and the dead tissue is constantly carried off -and replaced with new. Pain generally comes from deposits left in the -body when they should be carried off. Rheumatism, you know, is only a -deposit in the linings of the muscles; but I never think of my body -until the subject is brought to my attention, and do not like to talk -of it, as the theme is not profitable; but later I will tell you when -you are able to understand, how to have the body throw off those excess -substances and renew itself without limit.” - -Now lest some of my readers who are very young should imagine I was -“in love” with this man let me say--not so! In the presence of The Man -sex was lost. He was to me neither man nor woman, yet both; although -he had that glorious faculty of joyous anticipation, which we see in -children--so he was not only man and woman, but child. Yet in wisdom I -felt him to be a prophet, and I myself was but a child. For after all -we are but grown up children, and the difference between some grown -people is no greater than that found among children and some men. - -With this man I was a child, and he seemed to regard me so, yet never -talked down to me, and I have since discovered that sensible people do -not talk baby talk to children, nor do they talk down to people who -they imagine ignorant. Men who do this reverse the situation and become -veritable ignorami themselves. - -Old John Foster, the horse-trainer, used to break horses for my father, -and one day old John said to me, “Young lady, when you breaks a colt, -don’t get scared yerself and then the colt won’t. Hitch him up just -like he was an old hoss, and he will think he is one and go right along -and never know when he was broke.” - -Some men always change the conversation when a woman enters, thinking -the subject too weighty for her comprehension; and in ‘sassiety’ they -still talk soft nonsense to women because they think women like it; and -lots of women have adopted the same idea, and have accepted the same -creed--that they do know nothing and always will, and that scientific -subjects, like Plymouth Rock pants, are for men folks. - -Not long ago, you remember, we had a preacher who gave a series of -sermons to _men_ only, and a friend of mine who attended tells me the -reverend divine gave those men more ‘pointers’ in depravity than they -could have guessed alone in a dozen years. - -But pardon this diversion and let me simply say, that to educate the -heart and conscience, you must not separate men from women, nor make -foolish distinctions between the ignorant and the cultured. We are all -God’s children, and it is all God’s truth, and this is God’s world. - -The Man told me this, and much more in that delightful day of rest, and -he seemed to make no distinction between my childish ignorance and his -own unfathomed wisdom. So the sense of weakness was never thrust upon -me, and all during that day I seemed to grow in spirit. There came a -greater self-respect, a reverence for my own individuality (you will -not misunderstand me), an increased universality, a broader outlook, -a wider experience. It was only one day as men count time, but I had -lived--lived a century. - -Monday morning came. After breakfast The Man arose and said: - -“I will go with you, and get the bicycle.” (How did he know? I had not -told him anything of my ride). “You can take the train from Jamison, -which is about two miles from here. We can soon walk there.” - -We found the wheel in the bushes, where I had left it by the roadside, -and the man pushed it ahead of him with one hand through the mud, -walking at a rapid easy stride, arriving at the station just as the -train pulled up. My benefactor lifted the bicycle lightly into the -baggage-car, bought me a ticket, handed it to me, smiled and was gone. -He did not say good-bye. I did not thank him for his kindness, and in -fact, not a word was spoken after we left the little log house. - -Albert Love, the conductor, I knew, as I often rode on his train. -Helping me on the car, he laughingly said: - -“Ah, you got caught in the storm and couldn’t get back, could you?” - -“I didn’t want to,” I said. - -“Oh! ah! Relative?” nodding his head in the direction of the retreating -form of The Man. - -“Yes; uncle.” - -“Hem--they call him a crank here.--’Ll’board.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX. MARTHA HEATH. - - -I hurried from the depot to the office, and was only an hour behind -time. - -“You are late,” said Mr. Hustler, with a cynical, sickly smile which -looked much like a scowl. “Only an hour. Make a note of it and give it -to the time-keeper.” - -I began my work and seemed to possess the strength of two women. My -fingers struck the keys of the typewriter like lightning, and my head -was clearer than ever before. When I took up a letter to answer, I saw -clear through it, and struck the vital point at once; and yet all the -time there was before me the mild and receptive face of The Man. The -strange experience I had gone through was ever in my mind, and yet the -work never disappeared from my desk as well and rapidly before. Where -is that old philosopher who said, “The mind cannot think of two things -at one time”? - -At home I found my mother had waited tea for me until nine o’clock, -when Martha Heath entered, and seeing the untouched supper and the look -of despair on my mother’s face, knew the situation at a glance; for if -a smart woman cannot divine a thing, she will never, _never_, NEVER, -understand it when told. - -Martha Heath came to see Aspasia Hobbs, but Martha Heath did not ask -for Aspasia Hobbs. She glanced at the face of the trembling old lady, -who was trying to keep back the flood, saw the untasted supper, and -Martha Heath then and there told a lie: - -“Oh, I just dropped in to tell you Aspasia had gone home with one of -the girls who was a little nervous, and perhaps would stay over Sunday -with her. Who made your new dress, Mrs. Hobbs? Now don’t you feel big! -You are so fond of appearing in print that you always wear calico!” - -And the laugh that followed was catching, and even the good old -grizzled Grimes felt the tension gone and she too chuckled. All three -women sat down to tea, and Martha Heath ate supper again, although she -had eaten at home before, and they chatted and the visitor talked a -little more than was necessary. She told how she had that afternoon -ran her bicycle into a nearsighted dude, who was chasing his hat, and -how she not only upset the dude but ran over his hat; and how the -dude called on a policeman to arrest her, but the policeman said he -“darsen’t tackle the gal alone.” The mother forgot her troubles and -the Grimes laughed so that she upset her tea, and when Martha Heath -said “Good-bye girls,” they all laughed again, and Grimes wiped her -brass-rimmed spectacles with the corner of a big check apron and said, -“Now ain’t she a queer un? and so kind too for her to come clear down -here to tell us ’Pasia wasn’t killed entirely!” - -Gentle and pious reader, you would not tell a lie, would you? Oh, no! -But, Martha Heath had faith in me. I am self-reliant, strong, and able -to take care of myself, and homely enough, thank Heaven! so I am no -longer ogled on the street by blear eyed idlers. Martha Heath knows all -this. She believes in me. Martha Heath has faith in Providence--have -you? - -Well, the work did fly! “Everything goes,” said Hustler as he looked -on approvingly. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and some way I -grew a little more thoughtful; not nervous, but serious. Friday night -I scarcely slept an hour. It seemed as if I was about to depart to -another and better world. At breakfast Saturday morning my mother said: - -“It was a week ago to-day, Aspasia!” - -“Oh, yes,” I said, inwardly. - -“A week ago to-day! And now, never try to kill your old mother who -loves you just the same whether you love her or not, by going off -without telling us. Why, if Martha Heath hadn’t come and told us where -you was, I would have died before morning. It was awful thoughtless of -her too, not to have come here at once. She ought not to have put it -off until ten o’clock.” - -It was only nine, but we like to make our troubles as great as -possible, for greater credit then is ours for bearing them. - -I arose, kissed my good mother, and said: “Yes, I will always tell -you myself hereafter when I am to be away--and so I tell you now. I -am going away every Saturday to be gone over Sunday from now until -October.” - -“‘How sharper than a rattlesnake’s tooth it is to have a thankless -child,’ the Bible says, and after all I have done for you too! Oh, it -is too much to think my only child should thus desert me in my old -age, and go off nobody knows where, and disgrace us all! Disgrace us, -disgrace us, dis----” - -It was too much, and she covered her face with her hands and burst into -tears, rocking to and fro. Here Mrs. Grimes broke in with: - -“Mrs. Hobbs, will you never--! Why, ’Pasia has more sense than all -of us. She ain’t no fool. She ain’t--Why, didn’t I come three weeks -lackin’ two days afore she was born, and didn’t I wash and dress her -myself?” The gentle Grimes always availed herself of the opportunity to -tell of my birth, to cut off any quibbler who might state I was not the -child of Mr. and Mrs. Hobbs. “Mrs. Hobbs, you are a fool, and if ’Pasia -ever does a bad thing it’ll be ’cause you drives her to it. I don’t -know where she’s goin’, and dam if I care! I’ll trust her anywhere! Go -on, ’Pasia, and stay a year. You’ll find us here when you comes back.” - -The Grimes cyclone had cleared the atmosphere, the rain had ceased, -although the landscape was a trifle disheveled. I kissed the dear -mother, grabbed my lunch-bag, and was gone. - - - - -CHAPTER X. SECOND SUNDAY--TO THE WOODS AWAY. - - -I hurried through my work, dusted off the desk, locked the typewriter, -and at two o’clock mounted my bicycle, went straight out Seneca street, -over the iron bridge, on out the plank road, past Wendlings, through -Springbrook, and stopped then for the first time, and standing on -a rising slope of ground, I looked around in every direction. The -dandelions seemed to cover the earth as with a carpet, and great masses -of white hawthorn-trees in bridal array decked the landscape. The trees -were bursting into leaf, and through the silence there came the drowsy -hum of insects, and away off in the distance I could just detect the -tinkle of a cowbell. To the left, two miles away, I saw a dense wood -which seemed to transform the hill on which it stood into a great green -mound. - -“Yes, that surely is the place,” I said. I followed the plank road a -mile further, then turned into a road which seemed like two paths side -by side, as a line of green sward filled the centre of the roadway. I -came to the wood, let down the bars, and back in the clearing was the -log house, and out under the spreading branches of a great oak sat The -Man. He smiled the same sweet smile and motioned me to a seat beside -him, and together we sat in silence. The calm and rest seemed complete. - -“Let us sit here under the trees,” said The Man, “and I will explain -several things which you must understand before I make known the higher -truths which you are to give to mankind. - -“Perhaps you have wondered why I do not go out into the world and teach -face to face; and my reason, friend, for not doing this, is because I -must needs disguise myself, if I go among the people. They would not -comprehend me, but would shout, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ as they -did in the days of old. If I should go into the city and teach as the -Master did, can you imagine the headlines in the Sunday papers? I -would have followers of course, but even they would misunderstand me -and quarrel among themselves about who should be the greatest in the -Kingdom of Heaven. Many of them would fall down and worship me, and -when I passed out of their sight there would be an ever-increasing -number who would deify me, confounding my personality with that of a -God, while the power I possess is possible for all men. They would -say I was not a man but a ‘supreme being.’ On my metaphor they would -construct a system of theology, and would use my words as a fence to -hedge in and limit truth, instead of accepting my principles as a -broad base on which they might build a tower to touch the skies. - -“A modern prophet has said, ‘I am astonished at the incredible amount -of Judaism and formalism which still exists nineteen centuries after -the Redeemer’s proclamation.’ ‘It is the letter that killeth,’ after -his protest against the use of a dead symbolism. - -“The new religion, which is the old, is so profound that it is not -understood even now, and is a blasphemy to the greater number of -professing Christians. The person of Christ is the centre of it. -Redemption, eternal life, divinity, humanity, propitiation, judgment, -Satan, heaven and hell--all these beliefs have been so materialized and -coarsened that with a strange irony they present to us the spectacle -of things having a profound meaning and yet carnally interpreted. -Christian boldness and Christian liberty must be reconquered. It is -the Church that is heretical; the Church it is whose soul is troubled -and whose heart is timid. Whether we will or no there is an esoteric -doctrine--there is a direct revelation, ‘Each man enters into God so -much as God enters into him.’ - -“They would call me a heretic, and you must remember the heretic is -one with faith plus. I do not limit faith to this and that, but extend -it to all things. Not only is Sunday holy, but all time is holy. The -chancel is no more sacred than the pew. The world is God’s and all, -everything is sacred to His use--our needs are His use. - -“They would literalize my tropes to suit their own prejudices, and -still insisting I was a god, distort my meaning in order to give a show -of reason to their own wrong acts. This has been done over and over, as -history tells you. - -“Osiris, Thor, Memnon, Jupiter, Apollo, Gautama, and many others I -could name of whom you know, were strong and brave men who lived -on earth and bestowed great benefits on mankind; but ignorant and -headstrong people, not content that these great men should live out -their simple lives--for the great are simple, and pass for what they -are--destroyed to a certain extent their good influence by affirming -them to be not men at all; and to prove their statements, as untruthful -people ever do strain heaven and earth to prove their allegations, -they invented many stories and plans, such as that the great man was -born in a ‘_miraculous_’ way--as if the natural birth was not miracle -enough!--there being at the time a most erroneous idea that the act -of vitalization was vicious and wrong, and this barbaric idea still -remains with us to a certain extent. - -“You remember in olden time priests (men who were believed to be in -direct communication with Deity) were supposed to have power to grant -absolution--that is, to forgive sin--and these granted indulgences; -that is, leave for the person to perform certain sinful acts, and -by paying a certain sum to the priests no punishment was inflicted -upon the sinner. The physical relations of the sexes were supposed -by these heathen to be sinful (and indeed they certainly are under -wrong conditions!) where the symbolic meaning is lost sight of, but -like other sacraments, most holy when performed in right spirit, -as symbolizing a perfect union of spirit, a complete giving up and -surrender of _soul to soul_; and many men now, having stood with a -woman before a priest and made certain promises, and having paid this -priest a sum of money, believe that they have certain rights over -this woman; and some women, I am sorry to say, believe too that it -is their duty to submit to a loveless embrace thus desecrating the -body, which is the temple of the Most High. And as it is a law of God -that sin cannot go unpunished, you see the almost endless misery this -transgression entails. - -“Sin can only be wiped out with suffering. No community, scarcely a -house is free from this taint; and yet up to to-day, no public teacher -(we need teachers not preachers), has lifted his voice or used pen to -right this wrong which men and women in their blindness have pulled -down on themselves; but in fact men have been continually fixed in -the wrong by the encouragement given to marriages of expediency and -a multitude of unavowable motives, all of which are supposed to be -consecrated by the religious ceremony.” - - - - -CHAPTER XI. IS IT SO? - - -This was all so new to me that on Sunday morning I began the -conversation by asking: - -“What, you do not wish to do away with the sacredness of marriage and -establish free love in its place?” - -The Man was silent for a moment, then turned on me his gentle gaze and -I was answered. I was going to apologize for the interruption, but The -Man continued: - -“Friend, I know what I have left unsaid. No living soul on earth -to-day appreciates the vital importance and the sacredness of the -true marriage as completely as I, and although I may touch briefly on -certain subjects, you must not think I have spoken all there is to be -said on the subject, for I know all spiritual laws--all natural law is -spiritual, for behind each material fact stands the spiritual Truth. - -“The universe is a whole, made up of parts. I know the relation of -these parts to each other, and also the relation of parts to the -whole. All knowledge is mine back to the First Great Cause, behind -which no man can go, but still I am not without hope even of that. -Now you of course can not comprehend all I will tell you, but do not -combat it. To attempt to refute, mentally or verbally, is to close the -valves of the intellect so that you cannot receive. Those who endeavor -to controvert use any weapon that is at hand, truth or error, to -accomplish their purpose. - -“I know lawyers who pride themselves on their ability to controvert any -statement any man can make, and I also see that the Chautauqua _Herald_ -in endeavoring to complimentarily describe the Rev. Doctor Buckley, -speaks of him as a controversialist. The controversionalist is a -controversialist, and rushes in to test his steel as quickly with truth -as with error. However, he is diplomatic, and endeavors not to kill the -pet knight of his queen--Popular Opinion. - -“Avoid controversy as you would a venomous snake. If you cultivate -it you will find yourself constantly forming a rebuttal whenever you -converse. Thus you lose all grasp on truth, and keep yourself ever -outside of Heaven’s gate. - -“Sit quietly, put prejudice, jealousy and malice out of your way, ever -cultivate the receptive mood and you will only receive the good. Life -should be reception, just as the oyster with shell partially open -receives the waves bearing its food. What it needs is absorbed; what is -not is washed away by the same force that brought it. Do not be afraid -of receiving that which is harmful. Have faith--we are in God’s hand -and He doeth all things well. Does the oyster fear being poisoned? If -you cannot accept what I say let it pass. Much that I tell you, you can -absorb; if you do not need the rest the tide will bear it back all in -good time. - -“All violence of direction in will or belief is harmful and wrong, -for man is only the medium of truth. He should be a prism, which -receiving the great ray of light coming from the one Source of all -life and light, reflects all the beauties of the rainbow, the symbol -of promise, never omitting the actinic ray. It is within the reach of -every man to so mirror the beauty and goodness of the Infinite, and -there is no success short of this. Over the temple at Delphi was the -inscription--‘Know Thyself.’ Over the temple of our hearts let us write -the words in white and gold--‘Trust Thyself.’ - -“Again, you must believe when I say I know what is left unsaid. Truth -is paradoxical, for it holds its perfect poise by the opposition of -two forces, just as the earth lies in the soft arms of the atmosphere, -poised between centrifugal and centripetal attraction. - -“Now I have touched lightly on a few things, just to show you how -men in their blindness and hot haste have perverted the good. Eyes -accustomed to live in darkness are dazzled when they come to the -light, and this partially explains why the great are misunderstood. -Men measure them by their little foot rule, which is either six inches -or two feet long, and while opinions are divided as to whether the -man is a genius or a fool, the majority decide in favor of the latter; -but still there are many who, not content in seeing the wonders he -performs needs must attribute to him powers which he does not possess. -Man now speaks to his friend by word of mouth over a thousand miles of -space. The voice with all its peculiar inflections and intonations, is -heard and recognized. We know that this is in accordance with natural -law, but if the secret was known only to one man, and the rest of us -were in ignorance as to the process, we would attribute to that man -supernatural powers; and when he died many would relate not only how -they heard the voice coming from a thousand miles away, but how they -also saw the man jump the entire distance, and many other fables would -be invented as to the wonderful acts of this man. - -“Now I am in possession of powers which work all smoothly in accordance -with natural law, but which you would deem miraculous; but some day you -and others will avail yourselves of these same laws, just as your voice -can be recorded, bottled up and carried across the ocean in a box, and -your body may die and the record of your voice still be preserved and -the sounds brought forth at will from this little roll of gelatine. -A year hence I will be many miles away, and you will be at home or -walking in the fields, and I will speak to you and you will answer. - -“Now, have you guessed why I do not reveal myself to the rabble and -scatter my pearls before swine? I teach through others, giving them a -little truth at a time, and they send it forth. I choose women to carry -my messages, for they are more sensitive to truth--more alive--more -impressionable! Men are aggressive and bent on conquest--their desire -is for place and power, and to be seen and heard of men. But even this -has its place, although low down in the scale--is one of the rounds -in the spiral of evolution; and all in His own good time men shall be -taught, but the work must be done by women. As we are taught in the -old fable--which, by the way, is founded on truth--that through woman -man fell, so shall woman lead him back to Eden; and even now I see the -glorious dawn which betokens the sunrise. - -“You now know why I have called you, and you understand too why I -cannot afford to run the risk of partial present failure--for in God’s -plans there is no failure--by standing before men. I am speaking to -many other writers and speakers. Even as I sit here in this beautiful -grove, telling them what to say, they are going forth over the whole -world preaching the gospel to every creature. You have been surprised -possibly to hear of men speaking the same truth at the same time in -different parts of the world--now you know how it has come about. Your -soul has not yet been quickened into life, so I cannot speak with you -excepting through this slow and crude man-contrivance which we call -language; but there will soon come a time when we can lay this aside, -and you will no longer be a captive to these tethering conditions; for -you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” - -So spake The Man, and the stars came out one by one as the daylight -died out of the sky, and I sat and seemed filled to overflowing with -wondering awe. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. THIRD SUNDAY--PRELIMINARY. - - -“Now take your note-book and pencil and let us take a little look out -over the world and see things as they are,” The Man said. “You will -then better understand what I will say later. - -“The struggling march of Progress is marked on the map of human history -by a deep continuous stain of red, but to-day we hear King William -apologizing for his vast army by saying it is maintained not for war, -but to preserve the peace of Europe. - -“In twenty years the population of the United States has increased from -forty to sixty-five millions, and our standing army has decreased in -like proportion. - -“We are no longer able to sleep soundly after a man is hanged, and the -dreams have been so hateful that several states have done away entirely -with capital punishment, and the balance are searching restlessly for a -more humane (?) method of killing. We have tried electrocution, because -some one said that the man who killed and the man who got killed would -never know anything about it; and here in New York they passed a law -declaring that the people should not know anything about the killing -either, and that any newspaper publisher who described this killing -should be adjudged guilty of felony. Now, we are not satisfied with the -death-dealing work of the subtle fluid; but if put to a popular vote -with the aid of a secret ballot, we should say emphatically to judge -and jury, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ - -“This increased sensitiveness which we see manifest on the question -thus referred to, finds vent in a thousand varied forms. Prisons are -no longer places of punishment but of discipline; the birch is no -longer the chief factor in imparting ideas to the young--we make the -application not to the anatomy, but to the understanding, and if we -still believe the child is totally depraved, we are a little ashamed -of the belief and say nothing about it. The woman who lolls in her -carriage is not quite comfortable, for her mind is alive to the fact -that others are trudging, footsore and weary, carrying heavy burdens. -Benevolence has become the fashion, and ‘Fresh Air Funds’ are actually -talked of on ’Change. On every hand we hear of Societies of Christian -Endeavor, the Chautauqua Idea, Ethical Culture, Kindergartens, not for -uppertendom, but for the infected district where violence, disease, -strife and discord have before reigned. Every preacher of every -denomination indulges the larger hope (possibly there are obscure -exceptions), and quotes as corroborating his argument the seers, -prophets and poets who were before denounced from the very pulpit in -which he now preaches. - -“We are hearing much of heresy just now, but the ‘guilty’ man is not -disgraced; on the contrary, his crime places him before a larger -audience at double salary; and, if one may be allowed to say it, there -is a general belief abroad that some heretics have courted their -persecution. Certainly we do not try them for what they said, but the -way they said it. A man who was a heretic twenty years ago, now finds -himself orthodox, for there is faith plus in both pulpit and pew, and -the heretic is generally a man of limitless faith. We believe not only -that Jesus Christ was the son of God, but all men are or can be if they -claim their heritage; not one day in seven is holy, but all are; not -that certain places are consecrated, but all is consecrated ground, and -that evil is only perverted good, or absence of good, just as darkness -is absence of light. These things we hear from every pulpit without -surprise. - -“Prize fighters use six-ounce gloves, and women endowed with police -powers act in behalf of societies for the prevention of cruelty to -animals and children. Matrons are to be found in jails and station -houses, and the maxim that ‘Might makes right’ has been reversed. Never -was the tear of pity so near the surface, and the change of which I -speak has been brought about largely since 1870. In these twenty-one -years the flinty heart of man has been softened more than in the three -hundred years preceding. - -“Now we are approaching the vital question, for I propose to tell you -why this change has come; why our faces are now turned toward Zion. The -answer I give is not given out off-hand, but after most careful thought -and study for many, many years. _The spirit of the time has changed by -and through the influence of woman._ - -“The real essence of sex is spiritual; and as behind every physical -fact there is a spiritual truth, so above and beyond this sexual -instinct is the most sacred and divinest gift given to man. In the -encyclopedias we read that this inclination ‘has its purpose in -reproduction of the species.’ And is Nature after all but a trickster? -a practical joker? Is this fair dream of holy peace and joy of being at -last understood by a some one, loving, gentle, tender, true, in whose -presence one may think aloud and be at rest? Is this after all but a -scheme for the reproduction of our kind? When we consider what the kind -is, is reproduction of the kind the highest good? Even good men have -thought so; and for the misuse of God’s more sacred gift man was put -out of Eden and has wandered far. The return will be slow, and it must -be by the way he came. There is no other way. The monastery is as bad -a failure as the house of Camille. Only by a knowledge of the right -relation of men and women can we gain Heaven. - -“You see me, the possessor of all knowledge, and Heaven is mine--for -Heaven is not a place, but a condition of mind. Seemingly I am alone, -for your physical eye sees no one near; but she is ever by me--I feel -her hand now as it rests lightly on my head. Friend, I am what I am -through the love of woman. Love is life. - -“There is a class of women who especially have my sincere and profound -respect, these are the ‘old maids.’ They form to-day in this country -a genuine sisterhood of mercy. They do the work no one else will do -nor can do. In every village there are aged parents, orphan children, -widowed brothers, helpless invalids, people homeless and friendless who -owe a debt of gratitude which time can never repay to the unselfish -devotion of some old maid. They are women who will not fling their -womanhood away for the sake of a ‘provider,’ or to escape the supposed -ignominy of maidenhood. If a woman once decides she must have a man, -by just spreading her net, and not being over-choice about quality, -she can always secure some sort of game, for no matter how foolish, -frivolous and vain a woman is, there is a man near at hand who will -out-match her. I am glad to know that the number of old maids is -increasing, for a woman had a thousand times over better travel through -life alone than to accept any alliance short of her genuine mental and -spiritual mate. This may give you a clue to the reason for the well -known fact that the average old maid excels in intelligence and culture -her married sister. When a man marries the wrong woman it is a mistake, -for the woman it is a blunder.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. FOURTH SUNDAY--ATMOSPHERE. - - -I sat with note-book on my knee, pencil in hand and The Man began: - -“The air here on this hillside is full of health and healing. Physical -life you know is only possible in a right atmosphere. Add five -parts more of carbonic acid gas and the body is poisoned--ceases to -act--dies! Do you see the change in the constituent parts of the air? -No--your senses are not aware of any change at all if the poison is -introduced gradually; and so the use of the electric light in hotels -has worked a great saving of life among the rural population, for -the most frantic effort to blow it out proves futile; but in days -gone by scarcely a month passed in any city when some innocent and -ignorant individual did not lock the door, close the window, vitiate -his physical atmosphere, and glide off slowly, surely, into that sleep -which we call death. - -“In the carboniferous period there was no atmosphere capable of -sustaining animal life. Vegetation was flowerless, and the trees -grew rank in swamps filled with poisonous miasma, death and gloom. -No flowers decked the earth or the tree tops, no fruit hung on the -branches, the song of birds was not heard and the only animal life was -made up of mollusks and the lower forms of animate existence. Gradually -the carbon in the air was absorbed by the vegetation, and sank beneath -the bending swale, and new trees grew, and others followed still, and -these sank and sank again, carrying down into the depths the material -that has formed the shining coal which warms and cheers our homes. - -“Gradually this purifying process continued; more and many kinds of -plants sprang into being; these too absorbed the poison from the air, -fit preparation that earth might receive her king. Animal life appeared -in monster shape; fierce, awful forms, that crawled upon the land, -through tangled swamps, or swam the sea, thriving in the atmosphere of -slime--of gloom--of death. Gradually these nightmare forms have passed -away, leaving only grim remains and foot-prints here and there, from -which ingenious men have guessed the right proportion of the whole. -Finer and finer, better and better grows the teeming life of animal and -flower, until in words of prophet told, - - “‘Sweet is the breath of morn, - Her rising sweet with song of earliest birds; - Pleasant the sun, when first on this delightful morn - He spreads his orient ray o’er herb, tree, fruit and flower, - Glistening with dew. - Fragrant the fertile earth after soft showers, - And sweet the coming on of grateful evening mild.’” - -The Man seemed musing to himself instead of talking to me, and I -thought he had been talking without special point, for he was now -silent, seated with back toward me, looking from the window; but it -came to me like a flash without his explaining in words that the -glimpse he had given of the history of the earth was only a summing -up of the history of the soul of man. I saw the hordes of barbarians -intent on conquest come streaming out from back of Assyria over into -Macedonia, into Greece. I saw the teeming millions of Persia sink -struggling beneath the sinking swale, and Greece come forth with men -noble, gentle, refined, compared with what men were before them. Rome -appeared, and I thought surely the carboniferous period was coming -back with its poisonous fumes when Cæsar passed over into Gaul, then -Britanny. - -For centuries the earth gave forth no sign; but suddenly I saw a -woman--not an ideal one to be sure, but men lifted their hats to -the Virgin Queen, and with the Elizabethan age came a Spencer and a -Shakespeare. - -Surely the flowers had begun to bloom, the woods were full of song of -birds, and I knew The Man was thinking of the What-Is-To-Be when he -slowly and softly repeated the verse I have written. He turned and -looked at me--our eyes met in firm, gentle embrace. Perhaps we both -smiled, and he knew I understood. I had made a great stride to the -front. He had spoken to me without words on a subject I had never -thought of. I had received the message and I felt that this was just -the beginning--only six o’clock in the morning. - -I knew all he would say of atmosphere--that if body can not live -excepting in a right atmosphere, neither can spirit; for over and over -had I heard The Man say, “The material world is only symbol--behind -each physical fact is a spiritual truth. Each planet has its own -physical atmosphere varying according to its development.” - -“Each person carries with him an atmosphere varying according to his -development,” The Man continued, “and this is why in the presence of -some person your spirit--that is, your better self--acts and lives. You -think great and exalted thoughts with this friend. Neither may say a -word, but your heart is full of love, benevolence and good-will. Now -the person may be a perfect stranger to you, and yet supply you with an -atmosphere in which your spirit may rejoice and sing. And again, who -has not felt in coming into the presence of others, that the air was -filled with the fumes of sulphur and carbonic acid. You become morose, -downcast, spiteful, discouraged. This is only because your spirit is -now in an unfavorable atmosphere. Get enough of these people who carry -with them a tainted atmosphere and keep you in their presence, you will -shrink away and die. Thousands upon thousands of men and women (women -suffer more than men from bad spiritual atmosphere, as they are more -sensitive and more spiritual) die yearly, and others drag their bodies -about--living corpses. See them on the street--these careworn haggard -faces. They die for lack of God’s sunshine--their souls are breathing -an atmosphere of hate, distrust, jealousy and cruel ambition. - -“This accounts for the great number of cases of insanity among farmers’ -wives. Living as many do, breathing only the atmosphere of those who -are sore labored and distressed--or who think they are, which is the -same thing, ‘For as a man thinketh so is he;’ meeting her husband only -in body and not in spirit, it is impossible for her to generate a -strong spiritual atmosphere of her own. So is it any wonder the soul -becomes weary, the body struggles, cries aloud, totters, reels and -falls? - -“Good people meeting together, talking of good things, thinking -great thoughts, putting away all strife, envy and discord, create an -atmosphere favorable to spiritual growth, and make it possible for the -souls of all to expand and reach out, touching Infinity. - -“Every wicked thought that flits across the mind is poisoning the -atmosphere which often souls must breathe, and every good thought -you think is adding to the total sum of good, and whether spoken or -unexpressed, enriches the Universe, for thought is an entity producing -a vibration too delicate for our dull physical senses to discern, but -our spirits are thus influenced. - -“But this is enough. You must rest and then write out what I have told -you. What I will tell you next Sunday is of much greater import than -you have yet heard me speak.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. FIFTH SUNDAY--A REVELATION. - - -Sunday morning came. The day was perfect. Great white billowy clouds -floated lazily across the face of the blue ether, a gentle breeze -scarcely noticeable stirred the leaves of the trees, and all nature -seemed sublime. The birds twittered in the pine-trees as we walked -beneath, and the air was saturated with health and healing. - -The Man had told me the week before that what he would tell me to-day -was of much importance--that I need not write it down at once for I -could not forget. Naturally I was somewhat expectant. - -“You have read Shakespeare some of course,” he began. “Yes, I know, -at school, and then you have seen his plays. This has given you a -glimpse of his mind; but one could study years, certainly much longer -than it took him to write them, and then not get the full import of -Shakespeare’s words. Still, the difference between your mind and that -of Shakespeare is not so great as one might at first imagine. You -yourself think great thoughts--they come to you at times in great -waves, almost threatening to engulf you; high and holy aspirations; -sublime impulses, that you dare not attempt to put in words for mortal -ear, for you doubt your own strength, and also fear you will be -misunderstood. So your best thought is never expressed, for there is -no receptacle where you can pour it out--you feel that you go through -life alone, so the thought goes through your brain in the twinkling of -a second and is gone forever. - -“All persons think great thoughts--few have the power to seize the -electric spark and clothe it in words. Now just to that extent that -you understand Shakespeare, are you his equal. If you see a beautiful -thought recorded and detect its beauty, it was already yours or you -would not have recognized it. It was yours before, but you never -claimed your heritage. That same thought had gone floating through your -brain, either in this life or a former one, but you failed to hold -it fast; but when it comes back from the lips of the preacher, or is -whispered to you from out pages of a great writer you say, ‘Ah yes, how -true! I have thought the same thing myself.’ - -“Now Shakespeare had the faculty (and a more or less mechanical one -it is) of seizing with a grasp as strong as iron and as soft as -silken cord, every sublime thought that passed through his mind. Your -troop of fancies run wild over the prairies of imagination, mine and -Shakespeare’s are harnessed and bridled. We guide or lead them where -we will; we master them, not they us. The beautiful thought you rode -on like a whirlwind yesterday, where is it now? You strive to recall -it--but no, all is dark, misty, and obscure. It has gone! - -“Now under right conditions you can call up these glowing, prancing -thoughts at will, orderly, one at a time, clean and complete as race -horses where each is led before you by a competent groom; not in a -wild rush of frenzy that leaves you afterward depleted and depressed, -but gently, surely, firmly--_but the conditions must be right_. Now -what are these conditions, you ask. Well, if I describe to you the -conditions that surrounded Shakespeare from the year 1585 when he went -to London, to 1615 when he returned to Stratford, you will then know -what are the right conditions for mental growth. - -“The mother of William Shakespeare, Mary Arden, was a great and noble -woman. Words elude me when I attempt to describe her! Soul secretes -body, and how can I have you see the dwelling-place of this great and -lofty spirit as I now behold it with my inward eyes? Tall, rather than -otherwise, a willowy lithe form that was strong as whalebone, yet -at first you would have thought her delicate; hair light, inclining -to auburn, wavy; her eyes heaven’s own blue, with a dreamy far-away -expression, not fixed on things of earth, but looking into the beyond. -She saw things others never saw, she heard music that came not to the -ears of others. Her face I cannot describe! Some envious women said she -was homely, for her features were rather large and irregular; but a few -saw in that face the look of gentle greatness, for the really great are -always gentle and modest. They speak with lowered voice--they hesitate. -Is it fear? They are silent when we say they should affirm--and Pilate -marveled. - -“This woman bore eight children, four boys and four girls. Only one -of these attained eminence--this was her third child. The others were -born under seemingly equal favorable circumstances, but the spirit she -called to her when she conceived in that year 1563, was of a different -nature from that which prevailed with the other seven. She was then -thirty-one years old; her mind working in the direction of the Ideal; -her life calm; all of the surroundings at their best. But we must -hasten on.” - -I had brought my stenographic notebook, and almost from the first I -took the words of The Man exact, as I feared I would not remember -them. We were seated on a log under the great pine-trees, and as The -Man talked slowly, I got the exact words as I give them to you in this -book. The Man continued: - -“John Shakespeare was not the equal of his wife by any means, but a -good man withal, who loved his wife and feared her just a little. -She was good and gentle, yet so self-reliant in spite of her seeming -sensitiveness, that the good man could never fully comprehend her; but -he ever treated her with the awkward yet becoming tenderness of the -great, strong, hairy, simple-hearted man that he was. - -“William caused his parents more trouble and sorrow than all the -other children together. They could not comprehend him at all. He was -smart, yet would not study; he was strong, yet would not work except -by spells. He would disappear from the task at which he had been set, -and be found lying on his back out under the trees, looking up through -the branches at the great white clouds floating in the sky. He had -hiding-places all his own in the woods and glens where he would spend -hours alone, and yet in the childish frolics and games of youth he -could always hold his own. - -“At eighteen (I hate to think of those awful times) he married Anne -Hathaway, ten years his senior. This woman was delivered of a child one -month after her marriage. I could tell you the full details of that -affair; of how he married this ignorant and stupid woman to defend -another, but let us pass over it lightly. The world need not know the -bad, it hears too much of it now. Let us only dwell on the good, think -the good, speak the good, and we will then live the good. - -“For three years Shakespeare ostensibly lived with this woman, who was -whimsical, ignorant, fault-finding, jealous--ever upbraiding and too -fond of giving advice, and a most uncleanly and slovenly housekeeper -beside. When he married her Shakespeare accepted her for better for -worse, it proved to be worse, but he was determined to endure and live -it out; but after three years of purgatory he brushed away the starting -tears, took a few small necessary things, tied them in a handkerchief, -and without saying ‘good-bye’ even to the dear mother whom he loved -(although she did not understand him), started on foot for London, -anxious to lose himself in the great throng. He arrived penniless, -ragged and footsore, and sought vainly for employment; but what -could the poor country boy do? No trade, no education, no experience -with practical things! If he had been used to the manners of polite -people he could have hired out as a servant; but, alas! he was only -a country boor, unused to city ways, and driven almost to the verge -of starvation, he hung about the entrance to the theatre, and offered -to hold the horses of visitors who went within. At this he picked up -enough to pay for his scanty food and lodging. Besides holding horses -he carried a lantern, and increased his little income by attending -people home after the play, going before carrying lantern and staff. -London streets, you know, were not lighted in those days, and robbers -were also plentiful under cover of the night, so strong young men able -to give protection were needed. Occasionally he was called into the -theatre to act as a soldier or supernumerary. - -“One night he was engaged to attend a lady and her daughter from -their home to the play, and back again after the performance. This -woman was the widow of an Italian nobleman, Bowenni by name, who was -driven from his home for political reasons. He died in London leaving -the widow and daughter with an income which by prudent management -was amply sufficient for their needs. The daughter was twenty-four -years old at the time I have mentioned, a girl of most rare education -and refinement. Like all Italians she was a born linguist, and spoke -French, German, Greek and Latin with fluency. Her father was a scholar, -and for years he was the tutor and the only playmate of this daughter. -Together they studied Homer and Plato (the wonders of Greece were just -then for the first time being opened up in England), and the beauties -of the French Moralists they dissected day by day with ever increasing -delight; for the girl had that fine glad recipiency for the trinity of -truth, beauty and goodness, each of which comprehends the other. Her -father took good care that only the best of mental nourishment should -be hers. In their exile they had traveled through Egypt, spent months -in Denmark, Spain and Portugal, knew Rome, Venice and the Mediterranean -by heart, and wherever they went, the father secured the best books -of the place--for you must remember that in those days the books of an -author very seldom went out of his own country, certainly were never -offered for sale in other countries, and the works of French dramatists -were almost unknown in England. - -“After our youth had left the mother and daughter at the door of their -dwelling, and they had entered, the daughter asked: ‘My mother, didst -thou notice the respectful attitude of the young man whom we engaged to -attend us?--how alert he was to see that no accident did befall us? Yet -he spoke no word, nor forced on us attention, but only seemed intent on -his duty doing.’ - -“‘Yes,’ said the mother, ‘a youth of goodly parts and fair to view -withal; not large in stature, but strong. He does not bear himself -pompously, and bend back as other servants do; but the manly chest--it -leads, and methinks the crown is in its proper place. We will him -engage again, for honest work well done shall ever bring its own -reward.’ - -“But I must hasten on, and not spend time with mere detail. Suffice it -to say, that the young man was hired to attend the noble lady and the -daughter to the theatre each Thursday night, and that after four weeks -the daughter suggested that as the young man was so gentlemanly in his -bearing, so modest, and of such comely features, that there would be no -harm for him to attend them as their friend and escort. ‘No one need -know,’ she naïvely said, and after much misgiving on the mother’s part -the plan was suggested to the young man, who only bowed with uncovered -head and said, ‘Madame, I am your hired servant, and therefore at your -service to do all that you may command, which cannot be but right.’ - -“So suitable raiment was purchased, and when the youth appeared the -women were much surprised to see a perfect gentleman, grave, and ‘to -the manor born.’ No longer now did he hold horses at the entrance, -but occasionally appeared on the stage in a non-speaking part, at -which times the young Italian lady saw but one figure on the stage. -The mother and the young man often when walking homeward discussed -the play, and the young man seemed to remember each part, and would -repeat entire stanzas when asked to do so, word for word; and then -with no show of egotism but frankly, say ‘It should have been thus -expressed--or thus.’ To all of which the mother and daughter made no -answer, but looked at each other in amazement to think that one who had -not traveled, and knew not the ways of courts, nor had scarcely learned -to read, could make amends to Marlowe. - -“One night before the play the manager appeared and offered five and -twenty pounds as reward for the best play--all given by the Earl of -Southampton. After the play as they walked home, flushed were the -daughter’s cheeks, and fast beat her heart. Her blood ran high, as in -mad riot. She scarcely seemed to touch the earth as fast she walked and -held fast and fast and tighter still to the young man’s arm. At last he -turned his face--his eyes met hers--her voice came with a bound-- - -“‘The play--the play’s the thing! We’ll write it--you and I! The plot? -It’s mine already, all in a big French book, musty and hid away. Yes, -the plot we’ll borrow and give it back again if France demand. Ha--you, -William, come to-morrow night, and you shall write it out in your own -matchless words while I translate. The play’s the thing--the play is -the thing!’ - -“Thus spoke the impetuous Italian girl, and the mother was much -surprised at the wild outburst of her artless child, but gave assent, -and gently the mother mused in accent low as echo answers voice--‘The -play’s the thing!’ And the young man to himself, as homeward he did -stroll, did softly say, ‘The play’s the thing! The play’s the thing!’” - - - - -CHAPTER XV. SHAKESPEARIANA--“TRUTH, LORD.” - - -After dinner in the cabin we moved our chairs out under the trees, and -The Man said: - -“Yes, I know you wish to hear more about Shakespeare, but before I -tell you more of his personal history, let us consider two or three -facts in reference to him. First, you know he was not technically a -scholar. Between him and the great ancient hearts he was to read there -intervened no frosty twilight of antiquarian lore. He had not to clip -and measure and adjust amid moth-eaten cerements and rusty armor that -he might be able to fashion forth the exterior and shell of times long -since gone by, but only to cast asunder the gates of the human heart, -that those deathless notes might be heard which are the undertone of -human emotion in all times. - -“Well it was that he who was to give to our tongue that tune which it -was never to lose, whose language, exhaustless in range, in delicacy, -force and extent, taking every hue of thought or feeling, of good and -base alike, as the sky takes shade or shadow, or as the forest takes -storm or calm, was to remain forever the emblem of the multitudinous -life, as contrasted with that affected gravity and ossified -scholasticism which we so often see--was tempted by no familiarity with -ancient writing to any formal rotundity or college-professor mannerism -of diction. His audience is the world, and the numbers increase as -civilization grows--he moves to-day a broader stratum of human sympathy -than any other man who ever lived save one--and this could not have -been had he passed into that narrow chamber called a school. And yet no -four walls of a college could have held him, for he of all men would -have been least apt to prefer the poor glitter of learned paint to -God’s sunlight of living smiles. When one thinks how much learning has -done to veil genius and impede progress, it is impossible to suppress -a sense of satisfaction at the thought that the greatest author of all -mankind was not learned! His only teacher was nature, his only need was -freedom. Who gave him this?--_a woman_! - -“Now do not suppose that I have no sympathy with colleges, for no man -knows their worth better than I; but it is better to build for eternity -than for a Regents’ examination. Another thing you must remember is -that Shakespeare was surrounded by no circle of admirers. Healthy, -whole-hearted, it never occurred to him to ask what precise position -he might occupy in the world of letters. He did his work for the -approbation of one alone, and she being pleased he was content. - -“No jealousy, strife or contention, do you see on that smooth brow; no -hate or fear of unjust rivalry. He was monarch of one loving, truthful, -trusting heart, so what cared he for popular applause? A prophet has -said, ‘Oh, thou foul Circean draught of popular applause, thy end is -madness and the grave!’ This most subtle and deadly of all poisons -was never mingled in the cup of Shakespeare, and never can be in that -of anyone if they work only for the applause of honest love, that can -dissemble not. To work for popular applause is to court death; to -succeed in winning it, is to be carried to the pinnacle of the temple -and cast upon the stones beneath. - -“If a man toil for the good-will of the multitude, there will come as -sure as fate, the time when the egotism of acquirement will render -callous day by day all of his finer perceptions, kill his delicate -sensibilities, destroy his manhood. No longer will he hold the mirror -up to nature; no longer will the ray of light shine through the prism, -reflecting the beauty of the rainbow--he is opaque, dead; and the only -sound he gives is ego, _Ego_, EGO. - -“Need I give illustrations? Look about you on every hand. Where in all -the realm of books is the author free from this taint! But yes, there -are some. This century has seen a few, but you can count them on the -fingers of one hand. Hero worship is twice cursed. It bewilders the -hero into fantastic error and extravagance, and the fools who worship -accept for a time anything the man whom they have damned sets before -them and proclaim it truth. They extol his eccentricities into models, -his follies into virtues. Thus does hero worship work double harm. - -“What is the cure? Is oblivion the only good? Is to do, to die? If I -achieve must my life go out like that of certain insects who die in the -act of generation? Wise men ask these questions over and over again. I -give you the answer. It is this--_Together man and woman were put out -of Eden. Only together hand in hand can they return._ - -“Woman’s love saved Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s love saved the woman, -although the world knows her not as yet. He never realized his power, -and if it had been told him that his name would go thundering down -the ages, the greatest literary name of all times, he would have been -staggered with incredulity; for if a man ever realizes or imagines he -is at the top, at once his head grows dizzy. But never fear, the heart -of woman can hold him firm. Duality exists throughout all nature. A man -alone is only half a man--a woman alone is only half a woman. The man -and woman make the perfect man. There is the male man and the female -man. Only where these two half spirits work together can they reach -perfection. For every woman there is somewhere on the earth, or in -the spirit realm a mate, for every man there is his other half; and -some time in this life or in another they will meet, and no priest -or justice of the peace can join what God has not ordained. But when -the right man meets the right woman and they live rightly, there is -an atmosphere formed where no poisonous draught can enter. These two -will say, ‘_Between us there must be honesty and truth for evermore._’ -Then each will work for the approbation of the other; there will be no -flattery, for there is honesty; there will be commendation always when -deserved, but no fulsome praise. Neither will excel the other. Each -may be able to do certain things better than the other, so there will -ever be a friendly rivalry for good. The tendency to grow egotistical -is ever corrected, the poison is constantly neutralized, for how can -you be egotistical when you only work for the approbation of one who -has contributed to your work as much as you? There is ever a sharing of -every joy, of every exalted thought, of every acquisition; so the good -gained is fused. There is a perfect commingling. It is not ‘mine,’ nor -‘thine,’ but ‘ours.’ No selfish satisfaction can you take in your own -attainment when by your side stands another as great as yourself. You -are gentle, modest, and you two working together cannot but recognize a -higher power, a greater than you, a Source you look up to, and ever do -you say, ‘Not unto us, not unto us.’ Thus is growth attained and thus -only can perfection be reached. - -“Of course I know that some men are not as able as some women; and -that some men have wives who are only echoes; and that there are -men who in their blindness desire nothing else--but a woman who can -only applaud her husband is fixing him in untruth, and they are each -dragging the other down. For we only need the applause of those who -are our equals, otherwise they will not discern but will applaud -simply because we say it. Then once having tasted blood we resort to -sophistry, trickery and device, knowing we can deceive, to win this -deadly thing our morbid souls do crave. - -“Well do I know that as the highest joys of sense and soul come from -love, and sadly do I say it, love misplaced, diverted, thwarted, -causes more misery, heartaches, sickness, death, than all other causes -combined. The throes of childbirth were sent as punishment for love -wrongly used, and this awful curse can yet be cured; not in this life -perhaps, but it will come, for God did not design that life should be -sacrificed in order that others still might also have life.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. SIXTH SUNDAY--THE MAN CONTINUES THE TRUE STORY OF -SHAKESPEARE. - - -“The evening following what I have already told, the young man -presented himself at the little red house where dwelt the Lady Bowenni, -and was met at the door by Harriette, the daughter. Servant and -stranger he no longer was, but friend. The young woman’s cheeks glowed, -her eyes flashed with all the eagerness of restless purpose. - -“Spread out on the table were sundry curiously-bound books and -pamphlets, some written and some in print; for the nobleman had been a -great collector, and had secured the best wherever literary treasures -were to be found. The young man was cool, composed, and had not the -slightest idea of what the work would be or where it should begin. - -“‘Draw up your chair to yonder table, William, while I sit on the other -side. Now look straight at me (‘I can’t do otherwise,’ he gravely -said), and listen close while I the story tell which I have got from -three old books--two of them from Spain were brought, one from France. -I have dropped and left out this and that, and put in more, here -interpolated, there proclaimed a truth I once did hear you say. Now let -us get the plot all firmly fixed in our two hearts, and then you it -is shall write; for you do toy with words--they are your playthings. -You strive not, nor reach out, nor falter, search or look around, but -straightway you do get the thought, words, gentle words come trooping -to you like a thousand fairies, each in its own order, leading its -mate full gently by the hand. For learned men may work and strive and -sweat and never do they reach the smoothness you do bring even without -a second thought. Careless, William, you are in manner. You know no -rule, yet I might study a thousand years and could not thus express the -feeling that within me burns; but hinted once by me to you, straightway -you weave the beauteous thought into a chaplet gay, and then upon my -brow you place it, and seriously you proclaim it mine, when ’tis not -mine, nor thine, but _ours_.’ - -“Thus did speak this winsome girl after the story she had told, and -thoughtful sat the man and not a word he seemed to hear as still she -chatted on. When suddenly he aroused and said: - -“‘The pens, my lady! An eagle’s pinion, and this story you have told -shall we give wing! But note you! three stories have you taken and -woven into two instead of one. So shall it stand. Two stories shall we -tell, the one within the other held.’[2] - -“And straightway were pens and paper brought and he did write--steadily -and seemingly without thought of form or rounded sentences, but surely -without stop--and as the pen went gliding o’er the parchment, and page -on page were turned aside, the fair young girl did seize and greedily -did read, with pen in hand to make an alteration, although but slight, -and her cheeks did burn and now and then she sighed and raised her -hands. But the young man, he looked not up, but with calm face and -steady hand the work went on; and as he held the pen in his right hand, -his left hand moved, as though unknown to him, across the narrow table, -and gently did she hold it fast--and still the work went on. A few more -nights--the play was done and to the judges sent. They read aloud. Some -wondered, others sniffed the air, one said: ‘What rubbish is this sent -to us? What folly! and written by a big peasant boor!--use it to light -the fire. Here, servant, you, bring on the next so to quickly get this -horrid taste out of our mouths.’ - -“The young man heard the sentence, smiled softly, and to himself did -say, ‘Oh man, proud man, clothed in a little brief authority, doth cut -such fantastic tricks before high heaven as does make angels weep! Now -for myself I do not care, but the lady forsooth, whose play it is, -or was before ’twas burned--shame on them!--how can I tell her?’ And -so he wandered forth and met but who? Why, Harriette, who sought the -youth full far and wide, for she had heard the news and grieved she was -and sick, fearing the blow might prove too much for him whose play it -was. ‘I care not for myself,’ she said; ‘but how--how can I tell him?’ -They met--each read full in the other’s eyes what each would say. Both -smiled and walked away.” - -FOOTNOTE: - -[2] It is a fact known to all students that Shakespeare was the first -dramatist who wrote the double play--that is, the first plot of high -characters with a second story worked out by the lower or comedy -characters. This peculiarity is now made use of by all writers of -plays. Note, _The Merchant of Venice_, _As You Like It_, _Comedy of -Errors_, etc. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. THOSE TWO. - - -“The disappointment caused by the harsh rejection of this first play -of William Shakespeare and Harriette Bowenni was not great. Each had -had a more than speaking acquaintanceship with sorrow, and trouble is -only comparative anyway; so they looked upon the matter rather as a -thing to be expected, an amusing circumstance. _They knew the play was -better than the one accepted_, and that was enough. ‘Is not William -Shakespeare just as great as though his name _was_ on the bill board?’ -the lady said. Another reason that made them look on the matter lightly -was that each read their fate in the other’s face, and as long as no -separation is threatened love not only laughs at locksmiths but at all -disaster. No awkward love-making scene had ever come between them, -no formal declaration. As he wrote that first night, the young man -unconsciously reached out his hand toward the girl. She took it, and -held it lovingly between her own. When they parted he stooped and their -lips met. - -“When next they walked along the street, among other things he said, ‘I -love you, dear.’ The young woman made no sign of surprise, but when -she wrote to him the following day (strange how lovers find excuse to -write so often!), there were terms of endearment, all inserted without -apology. No wooing--no effort at winning--no affected coyness. They -loved, and true love need not be ashamed, for ’tis God’s own gift, and -given only to the worthy. - -“Each day she wrote a letter to her lover--each day he wrote to her. -These messages were often in verse, and part of them are preserved in -the sonnets of Shakespeare, one hundred and fifty-four in number. These -sonnets, it will be noticed, have no special relation one to the other. -Part, it can be seen, are written by a woman to her lover. Mixed in -with these are others written by a man. You will notice that in those -written by the woman she entreats the young man to marry, and expresses -much regret and surprise that though he loves her well he will not wed. - -“These sonnets were first published in 1609, and were dedicated-- - - “‘_To Mr. W. H. Their onlie begetter._’ - -“The W stands for William, the H for Harriette. The prefix of ‘Mr.’ -is a mere whimsicality, (a thing all lovers are guilty of, yet which -we are ever ready to forgive), simply to mystify the world. The first -twenty-six of these sonnets were written by Harriette during the years -1585 and 1586, before she knew that Shakespeare was already married; -and the perplexity in her ignorance of the real facts of his life can -be imagined. - -“Long years after these letters were written, Shakespeare turned those -which were not already in rhyme into verse for his and her amusement, -and now that they had come to know each other perfectly and the -oneness was complete, many was the laugh they had over their youthful -trials. Anyone who will read the Sonnets, _Venus and Adonis_ and the -_Passionate Pilgrim_, and read them carefully in the light of what I -now tell, will get a clear idea of the first few years’ relations of -Shakespeare and this beautiful and accomplished young woman. I do not -attempt to defend the style or wording of these poems. They are written -in all the hot restless desire of youth where flesh is not ruled by -soul--where the earthy is not yet transmuted into the spiritual. - -“Said ‘rare Ben Jonson’--‘I loved the man, and do reverence his memory -on this side of idolatry as much as any! He was honest and of an open -and free nature, had an excellent fancy, brave notions and excellent -expressions, wherein he flowed with such facility that sometimes it was -necessary he should be stopped. His wit was in his own power--would the -rule of it had been so too! but he redeemed his vices with his virtues. -There was in him ever more to be praised than pardoned. The players -have often mentioned it as an honor to Shakespeare that in his writing -whatsoe’er he penned he never blotted out a line. My answer has been, -Would he had blotted out a thousand.’ - -“So with Ben Jonson I say, Oh would that these two had left unwritten a -thousand lines!--but who shall dictate to genius? - -“When Shakespeare left Stratford he attempted to leave the last year’s -dwelling for the new--to steal the shining archway through--close -up the idle door. The past was to him dead. He did not hug it to -his heart, mourn over it, and attempt to kiss it back to life. He -said, ‘The past we cannot recall, the future we cannot reach, the -present only is ours.’ So with no attempt at concealment, yet with no -disclosure of his history, he said to Harriette Bowenni: - -“‘That I do love you, you do know; that I do desire to wed you, you may -guess; and that I cannot is but fact. Now why should speak I more? You -put your arms about my neck and swear your faith in pretty verse, and -next you contradict this faith by still demanding _Why_? No! If I say -it is not best, is not that _Why_ enough?’ - -“In sonnet number twenty the appearance of Shakespeare is described at -this time. A writer says, ‘He has a lady’s face and scarce a beard.’ - -“Harriette urged the youth to leave his shabby lodgings, marry her, and -take up his abode with her and her mother; and in _Venus and Adonis_ -we hear of the number of noble lovers that had sought her hand, and yet -she almost on her knees besought William to wed her. In a spirit of -jolly ridicule of this wooing on the part of Harriette, he wrote the -poem of _Venus and Adonis_ and presented it to her. In this poem you -will notice he represents himself as cold and unfeeling, when the real -truth is he was just as full of desire to marry as she; but the divorce -laws of England at that time were very strict, so much so that only the -rich or influential could secure a divorce at all. - -“Shakespeare should have been frank with this girl and told her his -history at once, but he did not do so until over a year after their -first acquaintance. You can well imagine the surprise of mother and -daughter when he one night said, ‘Come, my history you would know. -Well, I’ll run it through, even from my boyish days, to the very moment -that you bade me tell it,’ and so he told from childhood to the time -he took one last look at the little village and set his face toward -London. The story being done she gave him for his pains a world of -sighs. She swore in faith ’twas strange, ’twas passing strange, ’twas -pitiful, ’twas wondrous pitiful! she wished she had not heard it. Yet -she wished that heaven had made her such a man. She thanked him, and -bade him if he had a friend that lov’d her, he should teach him how to -tell the story, and that would woo her. On this hint he spake: - -“‘Now you do know full well why I, according to England’s law, do not -you wed--yet heaven hath decreed it so. You are my rightful mate; and -here and now, in the sacred presence of her who brought you forth, I do -declare you shall be from now henceforth my true and only wife.’ - -“Madame Bowenni was generous, gentle and good, a woman of most rare -and discriminating mind, great and loving. Years had not soured nor -turned to dross the great and tender heart. She knew for her daughter -to accept William Shakespeare for her husband without the consent of -England’s law, would not be the one thousandth part the sin as to see -her wed a man she did not love, although good and noble the man might -be. So Shakespeare took up his abode with this fair lady, and was a -faithful and true husband to her, and she a loving and true wife till -death called her hence. - -“Harriette Bowenni died in the year 1614, leaving one child, -Shakespeare’s only son. Anne Hathaway had died some years before, and -be it said to his credit Shakespeare sent her ample funds from time -to time, and that she shared in his prosperity. It is greatly to be -regretted that Harriette died before her lover, otherwise she would -have acted as his literary executor and collected his writings in -proper form. As it is this work was done by those entirely unfitted -for it, and his papers were brought together from many sources seven -years after his death; and to-day not a single scrap of his manuscript -exists, excepting the letters I possess and the diary of Harriette -Bowenni, in which are various entries made by Shakespeare. All these -letters and the diary you shall see. - -“From his grief at the death of Harriette, Shakespeare never rallied. -He left London, the scene of his mighty success, and back to his -boyhood’s home did he turn, broken in health and spirit. City men who -were once country boys, always look forward to the coming of old age, -when they can return again to their childhood’s home. In less than two -short years those simple villagers carried to its last resting-place -the worn out body of the mightiest man of thought the world has ever -known. - -“When Shakespeare took Harriette Bowenni as his wife, at once they -began their life-work in earnest. Women then were never recognized -in literary work, and in fact did not ever act upon the stage, their -parts being taken by boys. Harriette knew English history probably -better than any man in England at that time, having studied it for -several years with her father, and written it out for the nobleman. The -first successful plays of Shakespeare were those of English history. -Then followed tragedy and comedy in rapid and startling succession. -Thirty-seven plays are known positively to be Shakespeare’s, all -written in the space of twenty-six years; there being scarcely any -repetition of plot or plan, all sweeping forward in that matchless and -noble diction possessed by no other writer. The source of nearly all -the plots have been well traced. Many of the plays are combinations -of two or three others. In several instances the story is taken pure -and simple from other writers, and the dialogue changed, modified, -interpolated, as if it was necessary to get the play out at a certain -time; yet the work is always nobly done, although many of the plays -show very plainly the work of two persons. - -“In every one of these thirty-seven plays William Shakespeare and -Harriette Bowenni worked side by side, she supplying the plot and -historical connection and he the language. The philosophy and by-play -was worked in between them. - -“Shakespeare’s conception of womanhood is higher than that of any -other dramatist, even of modern time. Generally we find the saints -and sinners pretty evenly divided between the sexes. Not so with the -Master! His women are wise, gentle and good. Look at Portia, Rosalind, -Cecelia, Viola, Jessica and others. The character of Lady Macbeth was -worked out by Harriette alone, as I will show you in her diary where -she protests against William parsing excellencies in the feminine -gender continually, and she asks leave to portray Lady Macbeth herself -alone. - -“Each was constantly alert for metaphor, hyperbole, figure, trope, -philosophy or poetical expression. Nothing escaped--every thought or -fancy to which love could give birth was woven in. Neither went in -society, and the fact that Shakespeare could not present this woman -as his wife, was rather an advantage than otherwise. They had no -friends but books, and thus were not distracted, diverted or dragged -down by common-place connections, ignorant or vain people. To be with -people was to lose their relationship to the whole. They were merely -onlookers in Venice--the world knew them not. This fully accounts for -the total lack of knowledge we possess of Shakespeare’s life. It has -been stated that Shakespeare belonged to the club to which belonged -Sir Walter Raleigh, Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher, Donne, Selden and -others, that met at the Mermaid Tavern, but there is no proof at all -that he ever attended these meetings. How such a man lived with such -a mind and still was not known, has astounded humanity; and it is -not to be wondered at that many now doubt that he ever wrote at all, -and very plausibly prove (or think they do), that this unlettered, -untraveled and untutored man _could not_ (mark the words) have written -Shakespeare. It is not to be wondered at that they cast about for the -most learned man of his time, and pick out Lord Bacon, not knowing that -six Lords Bacon all melted into one _could never_ (_mark my words_) -equal the work of one great man and one great woman, who having put -away all society but each other, cast out all frivolity, set themselves -the task (if task it may be called) solely to assist that alchemist, -the only one who can transmute base material into good--_Love_, -undying _Love_. Love is creative. It is the one and only source of all -creation!” - - * * * * * - -I had been taking the words of The Man at the rate of one hundred words -a minute. Suddenly they came faster, faster. I could scarcely keep -up. For the first time I saw The Man had lost his composure. I looked -up. The tears were streaming down his cheeks. He arose from his seat, -paused, raised his hands and exclaimed: - -“This woman, Harriette Bowenni; she was my mother!!” - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. SEVENTH SUNDAY.--THE SECRET OF SUCCESS. - - -I began the conversation by a protest against attributing the success -of Shakespeare so entirely to woman’s influence for “you cannot make a -statue out of basswood,” I said. - -“Yes, you are right,” answered The Man, “but Shakespeare, you must -remember, won the love of this great woman, and thus proved his -capacity and ability to succeed. We succeed by means, that is by the -help of, others. Now take your pencil and paper and write what I speak-- - -“The word success scarcely carries the same meaning to two people, and -I will make no attempt now to a pedagogic definition of the word, but -simply a statement of facts which will not be disputed by any thinking -person. - -“There are certain conditions which we see surrounding men that are -the reverse of success, and on these we are all agreed. So it might be -easier to state what success is not, than what it is. - -“If we see a person whose face is filled with lines of anxious care, -proving to every passerby that the wearer of this look is nervous, -apprehensive, restless, fast losing the capacity for enjoying the good -things of life, we cannot call this person successful, though he is -a millionaire. Yet we find men whom we know are not worth a hundred -dollars, but their faces beam with the health that comes only from -right living. Their entire bodily attitude tells that they are in line -with the harmony of the universe. They are successful. - -“The world is rich beyond the power of man to compute. We are just -beginning to turn the wheels of commerce with a motive power the vast -extent of which seems limitless, and which we use over and over again -without destroying its substance. The material things which go to make -life comfortable are in extent as boundless as is the oxygen which -makes the combustion that we call life possible. For do you think for -a moment that the Supreme Intelligence that quickened life into being -would make too much of this and only half enough of that, so men would -have plenty of air to breathe and plenty of water to drink, but only -half enough food or raiment? - -“No, the world is rich--surpassing rich, but, alas! men are poor. - -“One man gets many things more than he can use and makes himself poor, -that is, unsuccessful, by a vain attempt to keep that which in fact is -not his. He draws on the material world for more than he needs, but -fails to absorb from the world of spirit of the pure oxygen of life to -aid digestion; he is like a man who has eaten twice as much as he can -digest, he is full of fear and distrust and his life is a failure. He -is not a success. - -“And we see men great and good in soul whose bodies are not properly -nourished and who shiver with the cold. This is not success. - -“There is no virtue in poverty. To do without things we do not need -is both manly and right (for to do right is manly), but to deprive -ourselves of the bounties and blessings that have been provided for us, -is not only to be lacking in common sense, but it is to be guilty of -sin. - -“So we say that the unsuccessful man is he who does not secure for his -_use_ all that which his being needs for its growth and advancement. - -“I have spoken of the pure air we should breathe being supplied -in limitless quantities, but every physician knows that the most -prolific cause of disease is the breathing of a bad atmosphere. People -deliberately fire up the coal stove, close the drafts so that the -poison cannot escape up the chimney, shut down the windows and pray for -sweet, refreshing sleep. This is done as much out in the open country -as in the crowded city. At daylight this morning, just as the summer -sun was coming up from behind the far-away hills, I walked through the -sleeping village and noticed that in almost every house the windows -were tightly shut, blinds closed, and, of course, the doors locked to -keep out burglars, forgetful that the murderer who sought their lives -was already in the house. - -“The rich in cities ride in closed carriages, breathing the same air -over and over. They are pale, yellow and despondent. The coachman rides -outside ruddy and full of life. - -“Thousands upon thousands die yearly of consumption, a disease coming -entirely from improper breathing. If we use only a part of the -lungs, the rest of the cells collapse, decay and we die--die through -poverty--die through not using enough of that which is supplied so -plenteously. And, yet, air is free, but whether through ignorance or -inability (and ignorance is inability) we die, for nature takes no -thought of the individual. You must comply with her rules or suffer -from noncompliance. ‘Here are these good things,’ she says, ‘use them -freely;’ and if we do not know how to use them we suffer just as surely -as though we wilfully rebelled and knowingly said, ‘We will not use -them.’ - -“So if you ask me to define success, I will say that he is successful -who uses that which his well-being requires for its best development. -To fail is not to use what your physical, mental and moral well-being -demands. Whether you fail through ignorance of your needs or inability -to supply them makes no difference. - -“Thus it might truthfully be said that no life is a complete success, -for no man lays hold on the forces of the universe and uses to the -fullest extent. So there are all degrees of success. Now I propose -to give a few plain and simple rules for securing to yourself that -which your body and soul demand, and when I speak of one’s ‘Being’ I -always mean body and soul--one no less than the other, for without soul -there would be no body--body is here the instrument of soul. And what -is more, I mean _worldly success_, for the world is but the sensual -manifestation of spirit. You cannot separate spirit from matter--matter -from intelligence. - -“One of the worst mistakes man has made in times past has been the -attempt to separate things into two parts--the ‘sacred’ and the -‘worldly.’ All things are sacred. There is nothing above the natural. -There can be no ‘Super-Natural,’ without we say the supernatural is -natural, which is in fact the truth. - -“The wheeling stars, the great sun which warms our planet into life -and light, every manifestation of beauty which we behold, man himself -with his aspirations, his longings and his unknown possibilities, are -_natural_. The natural is the all in all. - -“We are here for growth, and live on the world. To achieve a success -here, is to achieve a worldly success; and the highest ambition any man -can have is to secure success, and the only success you can achieve -here is a worldly success. - -“Success is the result of right thinking. ‘As a man thinketh so is he,’ -and what is most encouraging to me is the thought that a gigantic brain -and a mighty grasp of mind are not at all necessary to success. The -secret is simple, and the wayfaring can comprehend it as well as the -prince. A few plain rules well followed and you are in the majority, -for all nature is on your side and working in your behalf. What need -you of influential friends? And yet the kind of thinking I am about to -describe will bring the noble and the powerful to your side. They will -seek your acquaintance, they will be your friends, and it will be their -delight to help you, for it is the way nature assists her children by -sending the love of good people. Night and day your spirit thinks. Stop -thinking now for five minutes and tell me what you thought. No, you -cannot stop. You may not remember what you thought, when you were in -your sleep, but you thought just the same. But, while you cannot stop -thinking you can direct the thought. You can control its tendency, -and in the course of time (not long either), you will think only good -thoughts--thoughts that will insure success to yourself and assist all -those with whom you come in contact. - -“Success in every undertaking has come from a right mental attitude. -But your ambition must be worthy and founded on right or there can be -no success. There can be no such thing as a successful burglar, for -the act that is wrong brings a reaction that is weakness, defeat, and -disgrace--the end may be postponed for a day, but the result is no -less sure; while the reaction from a good act brings to the person an -increased self-respect, a power for good, and this is his reward. - -“I will not attempt to give one plan for success in business, another -for success in religious work, and another set of rules for scholarly -attainment. We cannot separate life into parts, for there can be no -success in a business that is not right, but if your business is -honorable it affords you a most excellent opportunity for the exercise -of spiritual and mental attainment. You cannot imagine a sincere -follower of Truth being engaged in a bad business, and the personal -contact which a profession or business gives a man with other men -affords him the opportunity to let his light shine. - -“The first requisite of success is to know what you desire. Misty, -uncertain hopes and changing wishes bring uncertain results. The reason -we hear so much of luck and chance in life is on account of the absence -of clear ideals. You must work out in your own mind what you wish to -achieve. Are you a clerk in a big store, and see yourself in the future -always as a clerk, you will always be one. Suppose, on the other hand, -you see yourself in imagination as the head of the establishment, and -hold this constantly in mind as you work away in your lowly position -day after day. This very thought is bringing you toward your ideal. -You will have an alertness for business, a desire to please, and the -welfare of the establishment will be constantly before you. You will -always be on time, and when there is extra work you will remain a -little later and never think of asking if you are to be paid for over -time. - -“This cheerful and attentive disposition is sure to bring you -promotion, and even over the heads of older employees. When a foreman -is wanted for the head of a department you will be the one selected--no -mistake, it cannot be otherwise. The ideal you hold in your mind is -coming toward you sure. The whirligig of time, which is ever sifting, -assorting, and bringing to the top the best, is a spiritual law as -strong as fate--in fact, it is fate--and you will be the head of this -establishment, and a rich man. - -“We do not say that to be the head of a big business and to be rich are -the chief ends for which to work, but as far as you prize these things, -you can only secure them in the way I have mentioned. - -“If you are a country school-teacher, on a small salary, and never -expect to be invited to teach in a higher school, you never will. But -if your ambition is to be principal in a college, you can attain this -position. You will read the educational journals, and will know all -of the great teachers who now live, and all of those who have gone -before. Their names and lives will be familiar to you. You will dwell -in thought on the virtues of Roger Ascham, and Arnold of Rugby will be -your friend. You will attend the Teachers’ Institutes and take part, -too, and encourage the leader by your sympathy. You will attract to -your side all the good teachers in the neighborhood, and will soon be -in communication with the chief educators in the country, and your -promotion is sure as sunrise. As soon as you are made worthy by holding -fast to the ideal, you will be called up higher. But suppose you seek -to attain promotion by connivance and wire-pulling, your defeat is -certain. The thing to do is to be worthy and be ready to accept the -invitation promptly, and it will come. - -“The necessity of this clearness of ideal which brings a calm certainty -of manner is more marked perhaps in the professions of law and healing -than elsewhere. - -“We are just beginning to appreciate the fact that the good physician -heals more by his presence than his potions. A physician who believes -that man is made in the image of his Maker and that his body is the -dwelling-place of an immortal spirit, has ever before him a most lofty -ideal. To come within the atmosphere of such a man, clean in body and -pure in heart, is to absorb to a certain extent his qualities of mind, -which is a powerful force acting on the body for health. He fills the -patient with hope and faith, allays apprehension, calms the mind of -disorder, and allows the _vis medicatrix natura_ to act. A doctor of -this kind believes in his power to succeed--and he does. The lawyer who -fears the other side and is doubtful of his case and who believes the -judge is partial, has already lost his cause. But if he believes his -client is innocent and that the jury will clear him, if they can be -made to see the true state of affairs, brings judge and jury to this -way of thinking, and receives the verdict he asks for. - -“To make people work against you and get the world in opposition to -you, just hold in thought that you are unfortunate and unlucky and -that no one appreciates you, and then the world is down on you sure -enough. You bring about the thing you fear. But what we want is men -who are positive without being pugnacious; men who are cheerful but -not frivolous. These are the successful men, and wherever they go they -carry help, health and healing. - -“The second requisite of success is that you shall hold your thought in -the positive and not in the negative mood. - -“Be on the lookout for good, and it will come to you. Avoid negation. -Shun controversy. Religious (?) disputes have hurt the cause of Truth a -thousand times more than all infidels and barbarians, for controversy -stirs up a train of thought and feeling that should never be aroused, -and which brings a reaction in the form of distrust, jealousy, -bickering and hate. The exercise of such hateful emotions disturbs the -poise of your mind and invites failure. If a man voices wrong thoughts -in your presence, do not be so vain as to imagine you can set him -straight by argument. Conversions are not made in that way. You need -not lend your assent to his wrong statements, but your silence will -be a powerful force acting on him and will tend to make him doubt his -infallibility, will set him to thinking seriously and may bring him -back into the line of Truth. If you had argued with him, the chances -are that his efforts to refute you would have sunk him deeper into his -error, for while you were talking to him he would have been thinking up -an argument to overthrow your efforts to put him right, and failure to -do so would have reacted on you and made you hot and impatient. - -“Again I say, a positive and not a negative attitude are necessary to -success. Parents and teachers say to children, ‘don’t, don’t, don’t,’ -thus sending to them and putting them in a negative element. Their -powers are not directed by this ‘don’t’ to secure what they need. They -drift rapidly, aimlessly from one worthless, mischievous waste of power -to another. Let the parent and teacher say ‘_do_,’ direct this force, -open a way for its use. You cannot gain force, power, by refraining -from doing. Power is gained by doing, and gained only by doing. What is -the great difference between the spirit of the Old and New Testaments? -The Old Testament is full of ‘Thou shalt nots,’ while the New is full -of positive force. Contrast Leviticus with the Sermon on the Mount, -the Ten Commandments with ‘Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy -laden and I will give you rest.’ - -“Positive moods come to all in greater or less extent. If we court -them, entertain them, they remain long with us. They only go when we -send them from us. If we keep a silent demand for them they will return -to us and the visit be longer than before. Put ourselves in the right -attitude and they will cease to be visitors, but will take up their -permanent abode with us, the mood will then here become a state. - -“In such state success is inevitable. Each person may have success, -should have it. Should be satisfied with nothing less than success. -We have each felt moments of success, the exultation and life coming -from it. We must have this as our state of mind, continual success, -permanent success. Success, not necessarily, as the world understands -it. Success does not need to be defined; each one knows it, none can -be deceived about it. Success brings peace and rest and that highest -state of happiness we can know here on earth--a foretaste of Heaven. -This does not come by striving nor trying, ‘Not by might nor by power -but by my spirit, saith the Lord.’ It comes by holding ourselves in a -receptive attitude, ‘Hoping all things, believing all things.’ Looking -not back, but forward, living to-day. There must be definite, high, -pure purpose. - -“The positive state is the state of hope and hope is an attribute of -God Himself. Nothing in the material or spirit world can withstand the -force of this positive state. It is in accordance with the laws of the -universe, and all the forces of the universe work with and for us when -we are in harmony with nature. We are then one with the Infinite and -all things are ours. - -“To recapitulate we will say--you must see in your own mind definitely -what you wish to become. Hold in your imagination the clear, strong, -hopeful ideal. - -“Avoid gloomy, despondent, negative people. If the weather is -unpleasant, don’t make it your continual theme of conversation. If you -have unpleasant bodily sensations or symptoms do not tell people of -them. This will cause you to be shunned by those whose help you need, -and you draw to yourself a sickly, weakly and uncertain thought element. - -“Cultivate the positive state. Take the good wherever you find it, and -let the bad go, it will die through lack of attention.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. EIGHTH SUNDAY--WOMAN’S LOVE. - - -The next Saturday was rainy the entire day, so I took the 5:30 train to -Jamison, which it will be remembered is a small country village. The -usual country loafers were about the depot, the coming of the trains -being matter of such importance to some of the residents of these -out-of-the-way places. - -“There she is,” one said to another. - -I saw I was an object of some attention, but merely thought it the -usual curiosity the advent of a stranger excites in a small place. -I walked across through the fields to the cabin, and found The Man -waiting supper for me. The neat pine table was covered with a clean -linen spread, and it must be stated that The Man was a good cook as -well as a good housekeeper. I mentioned these things. He smiled and -replied: - -“Fortunately I have not much furniture to care for, and eating but two -meals a day, and those not very sumptuous, your remarks are not so very -flattering after all.” - -“Now,” I said, when we were seated at the table, “I want to ask you -a question. That awful night I first came you spoke of your wife. -Then you paused, and said you had no woman’s clothing in the house. I -suppose your wife is away. Will she be here soon?” - -“Friend,” was the answer, “she is here now in spirit, but for the -present her body is in England. She is doing a similar work there to -what I am doing here. It will be a year before I will again enfold her -in these arms, and yet I ever feel her presence. We commune by thought -transference. She speaks to me often; not in words of course, for as -we do not think in words so in the spirit realm language, so-called, -is useless. It is not necessary for you to spell the thought out to -comprehend it--it comes over you like an impulse. In fact, all thought -of spirit, whether the spirit be in body or not, causes a vibration -on the ether which the dull souls of most mortals are unable to -comprehend: just as a man in a drunken stupor requires a kick or a push -to make him open his eyes. - -“I told you it was through love of this woman, my wife, that my -spiritual eyes were opened; and without her aid never could I have -arrived at knowledge. I was forty years of age when I found her in this -life, and hand in hand we walked, and together we ate of the tree of -knowledge. - -“In the old fable you remember the man and woman were told not to eat -unworthily. Some accounts are imperfectly related, so as to include -a prohibition, but this is distortion made by priests in the Sixth -Century, of the real truth. To eat unworthily is to die, and you must -remember that this story is true; but under right conditions the right -man searching for truth, walking hand in hand with the right woman (and -there is one right woman for every man, and one man for every woman) -can attain perfection--that is, completeness. - -“I told you something of atmosphere, and you must write this down as -one of the greatest living truths, that the male and female elements -are required to form a perfect spiritual atmosphere. - -“This accounts for the slow progress the world has made. Men have lived -alone in thought and excluded women from their councils, thus depriving -themselves of the spiritual female element wherein is contained the -germ of all truth. The true sex is spiritual, not physical. Sex only -symbolizes the great truths which lie behind. When you imagine men -rushing to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, and stuffing themselves -with the bread which represents the body of our Savior, and reeling -with drunken and maudlin hilarity from the effects of the wine which -represents His blood, you see an exact picture of what has been done -for thousands of years in this holy matter of sex. Friend, do you -wonder that Adam and Eve were turned out of the garden, and that they -were ashamed when in the presence of each other? - -“To give you a slight glimpse of what a man and woman can do working -together in a mental and spiritual way, I will explain that for many -years every day my wife wrote me a letter of from one to a dozen pages -just as the spirit moved her. She wrote without special thought as to -form or matter, with no foolish fear that she would repeat herself -or say an inconsistent thing. She simply thought aloud, and wrote it -out for no eye but that ‘of her own true lover.’ As she is a woman -of lofty aspirations, with heart filled with love and a desire for -righteousness, the general tenor of those letters you may guess, -although you could not as yet fully appreciate the great and exalted -thought. Every morning on my table (for we each had a room of our own), -I found my letter, and fervently I daily pressed the message to my lips -and softly broke the seal, read the letter through once, sometimes -twice to get its full import; and if I did not seem to grasp it then, -I laid it by until the following day. But generally at once, my soul -saturated with joy--for you must never forget that the highest joys are -those of thought--I took my pen, went carefully over the letter, marked -out a word here and there, inserted another. By arrangement my wife -wrote only on every other line, and sometimes skipped several, leaving -a blank space to be filled up by me, as a hint that I should carry the -thought further and give a completeness to that which she had begun, -or to answer a question. - -“There is only one source of knowledge--all other is second hand. -At the first the truth was whispered to some man (when I say man of -course I include woman, as the term always should) direct. This we -call inspiration. Moses went up into the mountain--as all men must -to receive truth; that is, they must withdraw for a season from the -distractions, ambitions and diluting influences of lower thought -currents--and there the tables of stone were delivered to him. A -beautiful allegory--and true! Jesus went up into the mountain alone, -and also with the disciples. You and I now are on the Mount of -Transfiguration, and you will never be the same woman who made the -ascent, but one transfigured--that is, changed--greater and better. - -“That which was pure inspiration in her letters--and inspiration comes -only when you work for love and not for hire, and for the approbation -of one--I marked in parenthesis with red ink, meaning by this that it -should be copied by her into a book which we called ‘Our Book.’ This -book was not for publication, but for no eyes but our own. The thoughts -therein recorded were neither hers nor mine, but ours; for I had -corrected her thought or carried it further, and as she did the final -copying, the form of the thought was changed often from its original -intent. Thus neither of us could pick from this book our own thoughts, -such was the perfect commingling. The great advantage at that time of -writing out in language was that it gave precision and material form -to that which was purely spiritual; serving as basis for a better -comprehension of what at that time might in the hurry and strife of -worldly affairs have eluded our grasp--‘Thoughts that broke through -fancy and escaped,’ as the prophet has spoken. - -“You must remember that each bud flowers but once, and each flower -has its own minute of perfect beauty; so in the garden of the soul, -each feeling has its flowering instant in which it bursts forth into -radiance. Now I live amid a continual blossoming of roses, and no -longer do I endeavor to imprison them in words. The exquisite joys of -personal relationship with the loved one were then ours, as they are -now, for nothing good ever grows stale or unprofitable unless misused. -In those days there was a slight impatience to grasp these exquisite -joys of thought and feeling, and this impulse you see pictured in -our writing out the thought in words; but now we have come to a full -comprehension of the fact that we are living in eternity, not time, and -there need be, must not be haste. - -“So we now live apart or together, which ever seemeth best; and when -we meet it is as a bridal morning--in fact, life to us is a wedding -journey, for Heaven is ours. We each are self-reliant, as you see it -is not necessary for us to live together continually, and yet we each -depend on the other. If accident should destroy her body or mine, the -spirit of the other would also withdraw and new bodies would be formed; -and of course we would ever be together, for like attracts like. - -“Thus you see how, walking hand in hand, heart to heart, each working -for the approbation of the other, all with perfect faith and trust, -though one sinned the other was only waiting to forgive; a continual -friendly strife as to who should breathe the finer atmosphere, have the -nobler aim, the purer thought; that the bad died from inanition, the -unworthy ceased to be simply through lack of exercise, and only the -good remained and its continual use gave constantly increased power and -strength; each criticising, which implies both approbation and censure. -Never arguing or belittling ourselves and the theme by controversy, -always full of hope, good cheer and love--which, remember, encompasses -in itself all the virtues--you can comprehend how life was a continual -courtship; and as fast as we were able to understand truth, it came -to us clear, limpid, transparent. Things which once seemed opaque, -dense, complex, now were clear as noonday. Gradually the fog lifted, we -breathed the pure ozone of life. Faith in each brought faith in God; so -that ‘He doeth all things well,’ was not said alone in words, but it -became a part of our lives. We studied truth--we lived truth, we became -truth. - -“Do not imagine that our interchange of thought was limited to cold -written correspondence, for at times we romped through the garden and -groves adjoining our dwelling like two children. Strife and reaching -out, yearning for knowledge were put aside. We endeavored to live in a -soul-house, clear as glass, in which the ray of light coming from the -great Source of all life and light could freely penetrate to its inmost -corner. We were ever alert for the coming gleam, and ever in these play -spells, which came daily, we saw the ever-rising sun of truth. - -“Why I have told you so distinctly about the daily writing of our best -thoughts, is because there is ever a border-land between truth and -error, where dwell mysticism, which is miasma to the soul. Some talk -mysticism and thus move in a circle; but by writing out and subjecting -the thought afterward to the keen analysis of the masculine and -feminine mind, any error is detected. - -“Friend, it may seem strange to you, but there was once a time years -ago when I doubted the truth of the Bible; but I was brought by my -loved one out of the darkness into the light. Slowly but surely the -mist lifted and the sun came out brighter and brighter, and whereas I -was once blind I now see. Never doubt it, friend, but tell it to the -far off corners of the earth--write it in your heart in letters of -gold, that men may see _the Bible is true_. The life of my loved one, -and my life which is hers, has proved it. For love is life, and in this -love of man for woman God has pictured the true fruition--which is -perfect knowledge. For is it not plain that he who truly loves cannot -prove inconstant? and where the woman truly loves she is bound by the -law of God to constancy. They cannot fall as long as love is held -inviolate; and once loving, love cannot be violated. - -“But it is growing late and you had better climb up the ladder and go -to bed. Though to-morrow is the day of rest, we will stroll through -the woods; and by the way, I have a great and important truth to tell -you. You need not write it, but I will talk as we stroll; the nature of -what I will tell is so peculiar you will remember it all and can write -it out at home. You are making progress I see. You can undress in the -moonlight, and I will place my cot out beneath the trees and sleep. I -delight to rest out under the open sky, while the stars keep vigil, -some disappearing from sight and others coming up over the horizon to -take their places. How quietly they come! How simple yet ever wonderful -are the works of God! And so it is that man will come to perfection, -for does it not say ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see -God’?” - - - - -CHAPTER XX. THE ARREST. - - -I climbed the ladder and looked out of the open window on the great, -serene and silent scene spread out before me. Great gulfs of shadows -lay under the trees, a gentle breeze stirred the branches, and their -upturned leaves glimmered silvery in the moonlight which covered the -sleeping earth as with a garment. - -I undressed and knelt beside the little bed and prayed my first prayer. - -Thirty-seven years had slipped past me--my wavy-brown hair was already -sprinkled with white; lines of care were on my face; girlhood gone; the -marks of age had come; I was reaching out toward two score, and I had -never prayed. Of course I had read the prayer-book, and in church I had -mumbled certain words; but now for the first time I fell on my knees -and buried my face in my hands. The hot tears came quick and fast, and -trickled through my fingers; but they were tears of joy, not sorrow. At -last life seemed to show a gleam of meaning! There was purpose in it -all, God’s purpose! I prayed that I might do His will. The only words -that came to my sobbing throat, and these I said over and over again, -were: “Oh, give me a clean heart and a right spirit!” - -I got into bed, which never before seemed so welcome. I seemed to relax -every muscle and abandon myself to rest. I heard the far-away hooting -of a whippoorwill--the gentle murmur of the winds as they sighed -through the branches seemed to sing me a sweet lullaby. I imagined I -was again a child; so sweet and perfect was the rest; and I remembered -the gentle baritone voice of The Man as he had said, “Blessed are the -pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed----” I was asleep. - -It seemed as if I had not slept ten minutes, but I found afterward five -hours had passed, when I was startled by a wild yelling, and a coarse, -grating, brutal voice that shouted: - -“Now we have got ’em--pound in the door!” - -Bang--crash it went, and the tramping of a score of feet I heard below. -I jumped from bed, and without a thought as to what I would do grabbed -the end of the ladder, and in a twinkling it was on the floor under my -feet. - -“There, boys, didn’t I tell you? They’re up-stairs. There, Bill, why in -hell didn’t you ketch that ladder afore they pulled it up, or else go -up it?” - -“What, you think that I’d go up that ladder alone and fight the two of -’em? Not much! Why, the man alone is a terror--and the woman, God help -us! she’d scratch my eyes out afore the rest and you could come up.” - -“Hey, you, up thar, you old reprobate, we are on to you, don’t yer see? -Now come down peaceable or it’ll go hard with you.” - -They waited for an answer, but not a word did I say. I hastily had put -on my dress, and stood with a little hickory-bottomed chair in my hands -near the opening in the floor through which I had pulled the ladder. - -“Hain’t you goin’ to answer? Well, all right, don’t then! We’ll jist -make a bonfire on this yer floor and see if it singes yer manes.” - -Some one of the rabble outside here fired a revolver several times, -but I rightly guessed this was only to frighten. I still stood firm. -Perhaps I was frightened, but if so it did not affect my strength, -for I was waiting for a head to appear at the opening, and I did not -have to wait long, for soon there was a whispered consultation below. -I heard a hoarse whisper say, “No, you go”--“Well then, Jake, you try -it,”--“Hell, who’s afraid! Here, you, give me a lift,” and a hand -grasped the edge of the floor. - -I stepped back, gripped the chair and swung it aloft, and through the -floor by the glare of the torches I saw the face of Bilkson, the -junior. That chair was well on its errand before I caught sight of the -countenance; but no matter, I would not have stayed it if I could. -Crash--down went the man. I heard him fall like a dead weight, just as -I have seen a bale of hay tumbled out of a barn door. - -“I’m shot! I’m shot! Run for a doctor, boys. I’m dying! A minister. Oh, -Judas! I’m shot through the brain,” I heard him scream. - -“Shet up, ye dam fool! Yer haven’t any brains to shoot. Nobody’s shot. -They hit you wid a club--’ats all. Yer haven’t been hurt. Yes, by -George! yer smeller is broken, and yer had better spit out them teeth -afore yer swallers ’em. Gawd help him, boys, I’se glad it ain’t me. -He’s got a bad swipe. Well, it’s his bizness anyway, not ours. We jest -come ter see the funf an’ lend a hand if we was needed.” - -Here I heard a voice coming from a little distance. “We got him! We got -him!” There was a sudden stampede below for the outside, and looking -out of the window I saw by the glare of the torches (the moon had gone -down and it was now quite dark), five or six of the ruffians holding -The Man. He offered no resistance, but two had seized either arm, and -two had hold of his collar from behind, and they were leading him -toward the house. - -“We’ve got him! We’ve got him!” they shouted. “Now wasn’t he sharp? -Heard us a-coming, got out of the window, and carried the cot down -under a tree and pretended to be asleep. Oh yer can’t fool us, old -man--we’re on to you.” - -“Why, Bilkson, you said he wore false whiskers and a wig--look here!” -and the young wretch gave a savage pull at the snowy beard, and a man -behind grabbed into his hair with a jerk that nearly threw The Man off -from his feet. - -“Now wot’s the use of yankin’ of him around so?” said a tall young -fellow. “Look at that shoulder, will you. He kin lick any one of you if -you give him a show, and as long as he is decent and ain’t tryin’ to -get away, let up on him, will you now! I’ll vouch for him.” - -At this they loosened their hold, but stood around; some with clubs, -several carried pitchforks, and two had revolvers which they brandished -and now and then fired in the air. All the while the yelling and -running talk filled the air, oaths and obscene jokes were bandied -about, and I saw that several carried bottles which were freely passed -around. - -They stood outside for a minute, all asking questions of The Man. “Who -are you and where did you come from? Enticin’ foolish women out here, -that is fine bizness, ain’t it? We’ll show you!” and I saw a fist held -up close to that fine face. - -One fellow took off his slouch hat and struck The Man with it, at the -same time saying: “See, I’m the only one in the gang what respects -you.” At this sally there was a big laugh. “He says he is a son of God. -You heard him say that, Jake, up at the store?” - -“Yes,” said Jake, “he said not only he was a son of God but we all -is. Where is the gal--she hasn’t got away? The city gent says she is -up-stairs fixen her toilet so as to come down and receive the callers.” - -“Go up again, Bilkson, and tell her I’m dead gone on her.” - -The handkerchiefs tied around the face of the junior smothered the -reply, and still the rabble yelled and talked. Through a crack between -the logs I saw a bottle passed to the tall young fellow I have spoken -of, and I saw him take it and fling it far into the bushes, as he said -in a commanding voice: “Here, you fellers, I’ve seen enough of this. -We came out here with these two city gents to arrest the man and gal. -Now, what the devil are you doing, just standing around getting drunk -and yellin’ like fools?--You, old man, they’ve got you and air going to -take you to Buffalo, and the gal too, wherever she is. There’s another -city chap out in the bush. Now go ’long peaceable-like both of you, and -I’ll knock the senses out of any man what lays a hand to you. I will, -or my name ain’t Sam Scott.” - -Up to this time The Man had not spoken, and I could not detect from the -flare of the torches that the calm had left his beautiful face. As a -lamb, dumb before the shearer, so opened he not his mouth. He turned -and looked at Sam Scott and said, quietly, - -“Friend, we will go with you.” Then in a louder voice, which I knew was -for me, “Do not fear--no harm can come to you. We will go.” I hesitated -not a moment, but lowered the ladder, and in an instant I stood -among the rabble as they crowded about me, with faces full of wicked -curiosity, brutality and hate. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. PERSECUTION. - - -“Oh, you didn’t know we was here or you wouldn’t have kep’ us waitin’, -would you?”--“Now, ain’t she a slick un!--and in her bare feet too. -Well, the walk through the grass will be good fer her corns.”--“Say, -now less get her drunk. She’ll be awful funny when she’s full,” and -they passed up a whisky-bottle toward me; and so the remarks flew as -the crowd of thirty or more men kept pushing closer around, anxious to -get a nearer view of me. - -“I say, miss, is that the latest style of wearing hair on Canal -street?”--“Oh, you forgot your bustle!”--“You don’t feel as big as you -generally do!”--“You won’t snub us now, will you, even if we do live at -the Cross-roads?” - -Sam Scott took me by the arm. “Don’t be afraid, missis--I know them -all. Let us go,” he said. - -I looked into the face of this tall young man, and saw the look of -quiet determination as we moved out of the door. There are two kinds -of composure--one which speaks of calm rest and peace, the other a -calm that is so quiet it threatens. It is the hush we feel before the -storm--the composure of the couchant leopard before he springs. This -was the look on the face of this twenty years old stripling as he -pushed me not ungently before him and motioned that The Man should walk -by my side. - -Bilkson led the way, his head tied up so he could not wear his hat. -Doubtless he exaggerated the severity of his wounds, hoping to get -sympathy from the crowd. But be it known this was not a sympathetic -assemblage. Scott seemed the only sober man among them, and they kept -still crowding near, and still the ribald jeering continued. Scott -walked close behind me, and I noticed that he was the only one who -carried no weapon--even Bilkson, who walked like a drum major at the -head of the procession, carried on his shoulder a fencerail. - -“The band will now play the wedding-march,” shouted a loud mouthed -buffoon. “They took their wedding tower afore the ceremony, didn’t -they?” And still the awful obscenity which I dare not think of, still -less write, continued. - -One man, no longer young but drunker than the rest, big, red whiskered -and burly, reeled up by my side and endeavored to put his arm around -me. “Only one kiss, my dear--just one. Now don’t be frisky,” he -hiccoughed. - -I felt the nauseous hot whisky breath against my cheek. A suppressed -scream came from my lips and I started back. Suddenly I saw the right -arm of Scott shoot forward. I saw the ruffian dodge and thought Scott -had struck at him and missed his mark; but quicker than the flash of -thought the tall young man grew a foot taller, the head went back, the -chest heaved, the lungs filled, his body seemed to sway to the left and -pitch forward, the brawny left fist shot out like a thunderbolt and -caught the ruffian square on the angle of the jaw. The man seemed to -spring into the air, and as he fell in a heap ten feet away I saw blood -gush from his eyes, nose and mouth. The first right hand move of Scott -was merely a feint. As the man dodged to the left he ran square against -that terrific stroke, which was not a mere hit with the clenched hand, -but a stroke backed up by the entire weight of the body. In dodging the -blow he had rushed to meet it. - -As we passed on, scarcely pausing during the incident I have described, -I heard a coarse voice behind say, “He is dead! He got that awful left -hander! He’s done for sure! What will his wife say to this?” - -Some fell back to look after the man who was hurt and others dropped -off or fell behind one by one. I looked in the east and saw the great -red streaks which told of the coming of the day. The stars disappeared. -I heard the merry song of birds (how the birds do sing early in the -morning!) and when we reached the village the sun was just peering over -the far off hills. Bilkson, still with his fence rail, marched ahead. -The Man and I walked hand in hand, for my woman’s nature had began -to assert itself; although at first I felt strong and able to endure -anything, but as we entered the village my hand went out to The Man and -I felt his reassuring grasp. - -This was the first time my hand had touched his, and the only time he -had come near me since the first night I saw him, when he passed his -hand over my face as I went to sleep. - -The mob had disappeared, but a quarter or an eighth of a mile back, -I saw coming, jauntily swinging a cane, a high white hat on the back -of his head, the Prince Albert coat buttoned around his pompous form, -Mr. Pygmalion Woodbur, attorney and counsellor at law. Close behind me -still followed Sam Scott, dark and determined. - -We entered the little tumbledown depot, and The Man and I sat down -on one of the hard benches, Sam Scott seated scowlingly between us. -Bilkson and the fencerail thought best to remain outside. Mr. Woodbur -entered and smilingly bid me “Good-morning,” stroked the high hat -and hoped I was well. He said he heard that I was in trouble; that I -had been indiscreet; and knowing my little lapses from the path of -rectitude were merely sins of the head and not of the heart, he at once -decided to befriend me, and had come out from the city to see that I -received right treatment. There I sat, hatless and shoeless, but not -friendless, for ever did I feel the serene composure of The Man, and -spread out over his bony knee I saw the great brown hand of Sam Scott. - -The train was two hours late, and as we sat in the depot children came, -curiously peering in the door to see the bad man and woman whom the -officers from the city were obliged to arrest. Women came carrying -babies in their arms, and rough-whiskered but kindly-hearted men -stared at us, and carried on _sotto voce_ conversations which I could -partially hear. - -“Now ain’t she a wicked-looking thing?” said a woman. “See her long -hair clear to her waist--and how brazen!” said another. “Why, if it -was me I would cry my eyes out for very shame, and there she sits pale -like and not a bit scared.”--“Ah, you Sam Scott, where did you get the -introduction?” - -Sam Scott sent back a look for an answer, and the questioner sneaked -away. - -I shook with the cold morning air, for I brought no wrap. One woman, -who carried a baby dressed only in its nightgown, stared at me, and -I saw her hastily throw her apron over her head and go out, running -against the door as she turned. Soon she came back. I noticed her eyes -were very red. She brought me an old pieced bed-quilt, and told me to -put it around me to keep me warm; to take it with me, and if I didn’t -have a chance to send it back I needn’t; and abruptly as she came she -rushed away. - -The train arrived and we entered the smoking-car, leaving Sam Scott on -the platform. I looked at him and endeavored to speak, but the words -stuck in my throat. He guessed what I wanted to say, and stammered, - -“Now, you, missis, keep still will you. I know, don’t I--how that -blamed sun does hurt my eyes!” and he began gouging one eye with the -knobby knuckles. - -Arriving in Buffalo, I saw drawn up in the depot yard a patrol-wagon, -with three brass-buttoned officers seated therein. I knew they were -waiting for us, and that Bilkson had telegraphed for them, possibly to -deepen my humiliation. As we descended from the car, Bilkson called out -in the direction of the officers, - -“Here they are, and you’d better look out for ’em! Just look at me -all chawed up. An awful fight we had!” And surely he looked as if he -spoke the truth, for a half dozen dirty men had contributed a dirty -handkerchief apiece to tie up his broken head. “Take no chances, or you -must run your own risks,” he continued. - -At this one of the officers went back to the patrol-wagon and returned -with handcuffs. - -“Here, old gal,” he said, “we’re used to sech as you--the worse you are -the better we like you! Spit and kick and scratch now all you want, but -put on the jewelry just for looks, as it is Sunday morning, you know.” - -I felt the cold steel close with a snap around my wrists, we were -pushed into the wagon, Bilkson climbed on the seat with the driver, and -amid a general yell from a party of street gamins we dashed up Exchange -street. The bells were ringing, calling worshipers to church. Children -dressed out in stiff white dresses, women daintily attired, family -groups, we passed on their way to church, and they turned to look with -wondering eyes. - -At Michigan street I saw coming toward us a form I knew full well, -the first and only face which I had seen--it seemed for years--which -I might truly call friend. It was Martha Heath, walking briskly -forward, going I knew to a mission Sunday-school on Perry street, -where she taught a class of grinning youngsters. She, too, looked at -the patrol-wagon with its motley load, and I saw she did not recognize -me. I thought of calling to her, but the restraining influence of the -officer’s club, who sat close to me, froze the words on my lips. Still -she looked. I held up my hands showing the handcuffs in mute appeal. I -saw the books drop from her grasp. Her hand went to her head in dazed -manner--she reeled--staggered--and grasped a friendly railing as we -whirled by. - -The driver cracked his whip in the direction of a passing policeman, -and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, and they both laughed. - -“What charge?” the officer asked, as we were marched up before the high -desk at the station-house. - -“Make the entry in lead pencil and call it burglary--we may want to -change it later. Oh, we’ve got it in for ’em though! Put ’em in the -freezer, and mind no one sees ’em, for we want to make ’em confess,” -said Woodbur, lowering his voice to a confidential whisper. - -The next morning in the _Daily Times_ was the following item, and the -clipping now adorns my scrap book. - - BEAUTY’S BLOWOUT. - - A FREE RIDE. - - HOW ASPASIA HOBBS HOBNOBS WITH CAPTAIN KILBUCK AT NO. 10. - - Church goers yesterday morning in the vicinity of Main and Exchange - streets were treated to the shocking sight of seeing one of Buffalo’s - former society belles taking a ride with the genial Jimmy Smith, who - received first prize in the recent Times contest as the most popular - policeman in Buffalo. - - Old residents well remember Hobbs, of Hobbs, Nobbs & Porcine, who - skipped by the light of the moon to Canada, and the fair virgin in - the patrol-wagon was none other than Aspasia Hobbs, daughter of the - above. Now who says there is nothing in heredity? Aspasia was attired - in her bare feet and a blue quilt which the officers provided for her - for decency’s sake, and looked as if she had been having a high old - time with the elderly hayseed seated in the wagon with her. - - Well, the good book is right when it says, “There is no fool like an - old fool.” Verily, when a woman falls she goes to depths to which - a man can not descend. The festive Hobbs has been going it strong - lately and as there are quite a number of charges against her, - doubtless Judge Prince will do his duty. By the way, we hear the - worthy judge has decided to accept the nomination for another term. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. BY THE WAY. - - -Reader, pray do not be a fool and say this story is fiction. Would -that part of it was! But the treatment I received by the mob on that -terrible night is the most natural and easiest thing in the world -under the present conditions of society. It may happen to you, and -worse, anytime, in any town, village or city, from Boston to Texas--for -humanity is the same wherever you go. - -Woodbur and Bilkson arrived at the village of Jamison at eight o’clock -on that Saturday evening. They called on the shoemaker, who was a -justice of the peace, showed him their warrants for the arrest of -“John Doe” and “Mary Roe,” supposed to be secreted in a log house in -a certain woods two miles away. They desired to surround the house at -three o’clock in the morning and capture the inmates, who were said to -be desperate characters. - -The shoemaker J. P. put on his specs, read the warrant with a great -show of wisdom, said of course he would help make the capture, and so -would his son Tom. - -Tom was called in, told the circumstances, and requested to engage the -services of two or three trusty men to go along. “But, Tom, mind you -keep the matter quiet,” wound up the shoemaker. - -So Tom promised, and of course told confidentially every one he saw -that the “cranky old man and stuck up woman” they had seen, who lived -in Smith’s log house up in the clearing, were escaped murderers, and -that all who wanted to help make the capture must be at the tavern at -three o’clock Sunday morning. Now excitement is a scarce article in -country towns, and mankind is ever greedy for it; so at three o’clock -the select male population of Jamison was at the tavern--mind you not -bad people either, just good, plain, homely, honest citizens. Most of -them would have been terribly insulted if you had hinted that they were -not Christians. - -I told you only one man out of fifty thinks, that the rest have no -opinions but those furnished by parents, preachers and sophistical -politicians. I do not say these opinions are error necessarily, but -that they are simply borrowed. Having received this second-hand -opinion, they will dig over the whole earth for reasons and excuses -to defend it, honestly thinking the while they are in search of -truth--mere followers of a bell-wether. - -Bilkson just at this time was the aforesaid bell-wether. Someone said -this man and woman were criminals (there is the opinion); therefore -they must be--in fact, there was no proof to the contrary. Then they -began to back up the opinion which had been so skilfully injected -into them. They remembered certain blasphemous remarks of the man, -for had he not said, “I am the son of God, and all men may be if -they claim their heritage,”--“I have divine rights by reason of -heavenly parentage,”--“A church is no more sacred than a blacksmith -shop,”--“Sunday is no more holy than any other day, and a preacher’s -calling no more sacred than a farmer’s,”--“No man by dying can wipe out -the sins of others, but every man is a savior of his race who lashes -himself to the mast of righteousness” etc.? - -“Just as if there is any sense,” said the blacksmith, “in lashing one’s -self to the mast except to save one’s self! He is a Catholic, too, -for didn’t he say he not only worshiped Jesus but also His mother?” -And another declared he had heard him say he not only worshiped the -Virgin Mary, but all good women who conceived good thoughts and had -high and holy aspirations. Then someone had asked him what worship was, -and he said it “was not an act of the body, like going to a church -and kneeling, but only that state of mind where the worshiper thought -of the person or being worshiped with profound respect, good-will and -love.” - -The simple country people were very sure that any man who held such -heretical beliefs was a rascal or worse, and being about like other -people at the time, were honest in the belief that a man who rejects -the Trinity cannot have much respect for the Ten Commandments. So they -were glad of an opportunity to assist in ridding the community of a man -who was endangering the religious faith of the young. In short, the man -was corrupting the youth of Athens and must go. - -On this particular occasion Bilkson was leader, for when a man assumes -leadership and calls in a loud voice “Fall in everybody,” he is never -without a following. - -The persistent advertiser in trade is a self-appointed leader, and -if he talks big and keeps his promise passably well, he can hold his -followers for a time at least. - -If you would go well-dressed, smiling, serene and confident, to the -homes of any of these mobbers, they would acknowledge your superiority; -and if you were only firm and plausible, they would grant you any favor -and lend you any assistance you desired. You are leader then--not -Bilkson. But woe betide you if cold, naked, a-hungered, you fall -famishing on their doorsteps, and at the same time some Bilkson -happens to point the finger of suspicion in your direction. You -have no “inflooence.” “Inflooence” is king not only with Straight, -superintendents of schools, and other politicians, but also in society -and church. He who subscribes the largest amount to the pastor’s -salary has the most to say in the management of the church, and if -he becomes displeased he threatens to “come out,” (the “come outers” -are numerous), and adds, “You know that if I go I do not go alone.” -Thus does he shake his “inflooence” over us as a club, and we cringe, -explain, apologize, and the fear that the big subscriber will tramp out -with heavy tread, numerous following and fierce black looks, disappears -as we see the great man placated by our abject attitude. - -Fear of losing the favor of people of influence keeps men respectful -and decent when nothing else will. - -“Inflooence” is first cousin to Mrs. Grundy. Inflooence is king--Mrs. -Grundy queen. - -Note you how some men leave their quiet and virtuous homes where Mrs. -Grundy’s goggle eyes are on every side, and go to New York where -Mrs. Grundy is not watching them. How intent they are on seeing the -“elephant,” and how they do buy green goods and gold bricks! Great is -“Inflooence”--great is Mrs. Grundy! - -A grimy tramp with thick neck and knotty club possesses “inflooence.” -His wishes in rural districts at least are often respected. - -Now you are a woman. You may be free from guilt and you may not, but -if you are purity itself--sorrowfully do I say it!--in the year of -Our Lord, 1891, innocence is not a sufficient shield; and if you are -weak, weary and footsore, from the miles and miles you have come down -through years of injustice, and the crowd is pressing you close with -intent to stone you, it is a miracle if from out the mob there steps -the commanding figure of a man, and raising his hand aloft to warn them -back, says in a voice not loud but which all can hear, - -“Let him who is without sin cast the first stone!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. THE FREEZER. - - -The freezer in No. 10 police-station is a very warm place--an iron -cage set up on a platform in a large stone room; said cage being made -of iron bars, set three inches apart, with iron floor; the furniture -consisting of just two pieces, a wooden bench and an iron bucket. This -cage is open on all sides. “So as to give ventilation,” I was told by -the officer who helped me up the steps. He remarked as the grated door -swung to with a snap, “Oh, now me charmer, you will feel at home, for -you have been here many a time afore. Oh, we knows you, we do. If yer -wants anything jist tech the ’lectric bell.” - -This kind of cell, I am told by those who have tried both, is much -worse to be dreaded than a dungeon. Open on all sides, the light is -glaring; and any one coming into the room, can walk around the cage, -viewing the unhappy prisoner from every side. - -It was eleven o’clock Sunday morning when I was locked up, and about -every hour an officer came in and looked at me as though I were a wild -beast. Once two men came together, and stood carrying on a joking -conversation between themselves. One seemed to be a philosopher, for -as they went out I heard him say, “It beats the devil to what depths a -woman falls when she does go wrong!” - -At six o’clock the captain came in, and he seemed more gentlemanly and -considerate than any of the officers I had seen. He took off his cap, -and leaning against the bars of my cage, said, - -“Now, you woman, I am awful sorry for you and am going to help you out -of this scrape. I know all about you just as well or better than you -know yourself. In fact, your partner, the old man, has given the whole -thing away--made a clear confess, don’t you know--and he will have to -go down. Now if you will make a clean breast of it all, we can let you -off. We already know all about it, but want you to confess just for -a formality so as to lay the case before the judge, who is an awful -tender-hearted man and does just as I tell him. Now, lady, what do you -say? Come, now, shall I unlock that cage and take you in the office -where we can write it all out? Come, now, why don’t you speak, haven’t -you any tongue? Well, you are the queerest woman! Can’t talk--eh? Oh! -well, it’s no difference to me of course. I just wanted to do you a -favor, but you have about as much gratitude as most of the rest of the -soiled doves. All right, you needn’t say a word if you don’t want to. -Hey, you there, Murphy, don’t let anybody see this gal. Bread and water -will do, too. She ain’t any appetite. Do you hear?--I’m going now, -miss. If you have anything to say now is your time; but if you prefer -to have the cage locked for a week or so, why I ’spose you must have -your own way. We’re allus willing to oblige our guests, you know. Can’t -even say thank you, can you?” (Hesitates at the door--looks back and -goes). - -Bang went the outside door and I was alone for the night--my only -company four electric lights, which made a dazzling glare. I lay down -on the bench and tried to sleep. Then I tried the floor. At last I -propped the bench against the bars, and half-seated, half-reclining, -the long hours passed as a fitful nightmare. - -I have since learned that when Martha Heath saw me in the patrol-wagon -she hastened straight to the station-house, but they told her I was -not there, and showed her the blotter showing the name of “Mary -Roe”--Bilkson having explained that my right name was unknown, and -further by keeping a prisoner very close they are more apt to confess. - -Martha insisted on seeing Mary Roe, who they said was asleep and must -not be disturbed. “Call to-morrow,” they said. Martha still insisted, -until the captain bawled out to the doorman, “Hey, you, have you got -a vacant cell for this crazy woman?” Martha was not to be frightened -by such a threat so she said, “All right, put me in a cell! I dare you -to! I’m no better than Aspasia Hobbs, and you have locked her up.” The -captain took the persistent Martha by the arm, and led her to the door -and showed her down the steps. - -The good girl saw she was powerless, and as my mother knew nothing -about the matter she concluded to wait until Monday morning and then -stir heaven and earth if needs be to get me out. - -Monday morning, bright and early, Mr. Bilkson and Mr. Woodbur walked -arm in arm down South Division street, to the cottage of Mrs. Hobbs, -and Grimes showed them into the little parlor. Mrs. Hobbs entered, -delighted to think two such eminent gentlemen should call on her; and -in her joy she forgot the time of day, and believed it was only a -social call, for on Delaware Avenue callers were constant. What is the -matter with South Division street? - -Both gentlemen shook hands with the widow. Then they whispered -together. Then Woodbur said, - -“Mr. Bilkson, will you please oblige the lady and also myself by -assuming a standing position?” - -Bilkson obeyed. - -“Mr. Bilkson, now will you further oblige us by opening your mouth?” - -Bilkson’s face opened in half, and revealed to the now thoroughly -astonished woman a very lacerated set of gums and absence of front -teeth. - -“That will do, Mr. Bilkson. Now your eye.” - -Mr. Bilkson removed the bandage from his left eye, and revealed a -symphony in black, blue and yellow, shaded with green. - -“That will do, Mr. Bilkson--be seated.” - -Woodbur still remained standing in tragic attitude, with his right hand -thrust in the bosom of his buttoned coat. Suddenly raising his voice he -shouted, - -“Madame, it was your daughter who done this--your daughter! Yes, -madame, your daughter! Ah, you doubt it; but I have the proof, madame, -the proof!” and he drew forth a copy of the _Morning Times_ on which -the ink was scarcely dry and read in a deep sepulchral voice the -article which I have already mentioned, “Beauty’s Blowout,” etc. - -Among his other accomplishments Mr. Woodbur was an elocutionist, and -Grimes afterward told me that he read the article so effectively and -with such fierce looks directed over the top of the paper at Mrs. -Hobbs, that at the last words the good lady fell in hysterics on the -sofa, screaming: - -“Oh, my daughter, my adopted daughter! why did you do this? Why did -you do it? Disgraced us! You have disgraced us! I, who before we -bust, when we lived on the avenue, furnished you a chiropodist, and -an elocootionist, and a manicure, and the best pew in the Rev. Doctor -Fourthly’s! I, who educated you, and cared for you, and never let you -go to the public but always sent you to a private school, and taught -you dancing, French and music, and gave tiddle de winks and progressive -eucher parties in your honor! Oh, why, w-w-w-h-y--d-d-did you do -i-t-t-t!” - -Dr. Bolus was hastily sent for and administered morphine and whisky. -When my mother had been quieted (Woodbur and Bilkson had in the -meantime departed), the doctor called in Grimes and demanded the reason -of this row which had so unnerved Mrs. Hobbs. - -“Some dam lie about ’Pasia that is in the paper,” said Grimes. “Two -devils with high hats was here--one had no teeth--and they read the -paper at Mrs. Hobbs’ head so she just throws up her hands and yells -and yells and cries and shouts and thanks God that ’Pasia ain’t her own -child. And then she cries agin and so she kep’ it up ’till you come.” - -“Why, why this is queer, very strange! Two--what did you say they were -that read the paper, Grimes? Strange!--Say, you black cub” (calling to -a colored boy holding his horse at the door) “get up town, as quick as -you can and get me a _Times_. Don’t play marbles on the way, or I’ll -slice you up for a subject.” - -The boy soon returned with the paper, and the doctor quickly adjusted -his glasses and read the article. He dropped the paper from his hands -and sat in amazement. - -“It’s acute dementia, combined with melancholia! I knew it all -along--hereditary! Who were her parents, Mrs. Hobbs? Ah, yes, you don’t -know. That proves it--hereditary! Takes to crime like a duck to water. -Why, she’s crazy, that’s all, Mrs. Hobbs, crazy as a bed bug! Now take -these powders as I told you, Mrs. Hobbs--but then, we ought to get the -girl out though. What’s that! Great God! She killed Bilkson did you -say? Why didn’t you tell me five minutes ago that Bilkson was here? Oh, -I see; she _tried_ to kill him. That is different.” - -“And it’s a pity she didn’t succeed!” broke in Grimes, who was standing -in the doorway. - -“Will you shut up, you old fool!” shouted the doctor. “How impertinent -servants are getting now-a-days! Never mind, Grimesy, you don’t know -any better. I’ll be here with my double carriage at one o’clock, and -we will all go up and get Aspasia out. Oh, I say, Grimes, if the old -lady has ’em again just put the powders in the whisky and give her a -tablespoonful every ten minutes until she lets up--hear?” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. THE TRIAL. - - - SCENE--_The freezer--enter Officer Murphy with big bunch of - keys--unlocks door of cage._ - -MURPHY--Now, you there, lady, make yer toilet and fix yer finery for in -fifteen minutes the court opens and yer the first on the docket. Doctor -Bolus axed yer a lot of questions didn’t he? Lord, how scared he was -when I told him I was going to let you out of the cage! And yer old -woman sniveled too, and stood off clear to one side as if you was goin’ -to make a swipe at her. Why wouldn’t you talk to ’em, my dear? You was -confidential enough with that black-eyed young woman. She knows more -than Bolus and all of ’em. She gave me a dollar and said I should get -yer a nice breakfast, and you got it too, didn’t you? Well, here’s the -dollar, I don’t want it. I don’t know nothin’ ’bout you except what the -black-eyed one said, but yer all right, I know you is. It’s all a great -big fool blunder, that’s what it is. The captain has let that Woodbur -shyster razzle-dazzle him--beg yer pardon, miss, I didn’t mean to -swear. Oh, I didn’t swear though, did I? But my feelins is so worked up -since the black-eyed one told me of you that I come dam near swearin’ -right afore you. Yes, yer looks all right. Yer ain’t exact the size of -the black-eyed one, but then her close fits ye pretty fair. Come on now -and don’t be scared--see. Ye haven’t cried yet and ye mustn’t now or -I will slop over myself. The jedge tries to look awful cross, but he -isn’t half as bad as folks think he is. Don’t be scared of him, and if -he is not too full yer will get off easy. - - SCENE--_Police court--Judge Prince on throne--Officer Donahue with - brass buttons, helmet and club, stands by side of throne--Hustler, - Bilkson and Woodbur holding conversation--Mixed crowd of onlookers in - the background._ - -[_Oyez_, _Oyez_, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera]. - -JUDGE PRINCE (_Reading._) “Mary Roe, right name unknown. First charge, -larceny in taking glue from factory of Hustler & Co. Second charge, -drunk and disorderly. Third charge, assault with intent to kill.” -(_Spoken_) Now, Mr. Woodbur, you represent the prosecution--which -charge are you going to try her on? Oh! I see, last first--assault. -Well, bring on your witnesses, and quick, too--here are (_counting_) -twenty-one bums on the list and the Polish church riot, besides----let -’er go, Gallagher! Bilkson, the name is--first name? Why yes, of course, -in my unofficial capacity I know your name, but the court is not -supposed to know nothing--Woodbur, can’t you let up on that chuckle? -John Bilkson--what the devil’s name is the man standing like that with -his mouth open? Why, someone might fall in. Oh, your teeth are gone! -Yes, I see. Keep the beefsteak on the peeper--it will soon be all -right. The _Express_ tried to give me a black-eye too, last ’lection. -Did they do it? Not if the court house understands itself as Shallkopp -says. Yes, she rides a bicycle--that’s right, make her out as bad as -you can--hold on, let me write that down (_writing--to the officer -standing like a statue near_) Donahue, how the devil do you spell it? -Bi----call it a b-i-k-e and let ’er go? Yes--go on. I am all ears. (_In -a roar._) Silence in the court. - -You tried to make the arrest peaceably, an’ then you went up the ladder -and she hit you with an ax--not an ax though, Bilkson, come off, it -would have gone clear through your skull, thick as it is. Oh, let up! -She hit you, that is enough--with an u-n-k-n-o-w-n w-e-e-p-u-n. All -right, go on--Donahue, make the cod dab fool shut up that cavern. -Haven’t you showed me three times she knocked your teeth out? - -Oh, yes, you searched the house and didn’t find any glue. Well, what -if she did carry off a package every Saturday--how do you know it was -glue? Hasn’t anyone got a right to carry a package without being jumped -on by a fool glue-maker?--Well, that is all right--let me say a word -now and then--there ain’t no proof she ever stole a cent’s worth of -glue; and what’s more, you hadn’t any business out there tryin’ to -get up in her room at three o’clock in the morning when you hadn’t -any appointment with her--(_aside_--Eh! Donahue, how’s that!!) No, -sir; and you too, Woodbur, you old stick-fast, what the devil are you -always tryin’ to get decent folks in trouble for? Haven’t women got -hard enough time to get along without being dogged by a pot-bellied -shyster, a cross between a detective and an attorney, who sports a high -white hat with a black band, which means he is in mourning for his -lost virtue?--Shut up, will you. Don’t talk back to me, Woodbur! I’m -on to you with both feet. You haven’t proved a thing against the gal -or against the man. The old fellow enticed the gal off, into the woods -did he? How do you know he did, are you a mind reader? Well, I see no -fault in him. I’ll scourge him and let him go--that is, I’ll fine him -five dollars on general principles for disorderly conduct and kick -him out. Will you shut up, you dirty blackguard! Confound you Woodbur, -who is running this court anyway, you or me? What do I care for Doctor -Bolus? To hell with Bolus! Where is he? I’ll give him thirty days. The -girl ain’t crazy. She ain’t crazy, I tell you--she has got more sense -than anyone in the court room but me--(_aside_--Eh, Donahue?) Of course -she wouldn’t answer their questions. Neither would I. Here you arrest a -man and woman on a mere groundless suspicion, or ’cause you got a spite -against them, and then the whole police department turns to and tries -to justify the arrest by blackening their characters. When you once -puts your claws on a man you turn the county upside down and wrong side -out to convict him--when you know he ain’t guilty, but you just work -to make a reputation for yourself. I’m drunk, am I, Bilkson? Here you -clerk, Mr. Bilkson is fined five dollars for contempt of court. What’s -that? I have no right to fine you? Oh, no, that’s so, I haven’t?--make -it ten, Mr. Clerk. No, sir, I won’t even fine the old man, but I’ll -fine you, Woodbur, if you give me any more of your jaw. You Balaam’s -ass--you make me weary! You say you found ’em out there together. -Well, you old reprobate, hasn’t the gal reached the age of consent? -(_Aside_--Eh--Donahue, how’s that?) _Silence in the court!!_ Git out -of here, Mary Roe alias Aspasia Hobbs. Bounce you, John Doe, and never -show up here again! You’re old enough to know better. Great Scott, -Bilkson, haven’t you shut up that cavern yet? Yes, I know she knocked -out your teeth. I’m dab glad of it. (_Aside_--Eh! Donahue?) - -Next! - - * * * * * - -Martha Heath took my arm as we walked down the steps from the -court-room, and The Man walked by my side. I looked at him, and on -the gentle face I saw not the slightest look of trouble, unrest or -nervous tension. While my nerves were completely unstrung by the last -three days’ experience, he looked as refreshed as if he had just come -from the quiet and restful woods. He was hatless--the same magnificent -poise of the head--calm, serene. He turned on me those wondering gentle -eyes as we stood on the walk for an instant. He did not speak. I noted -the firm chest, the strongly corded neck, the massive head with its -snow-white wavy hair, face large-featured and bronzed by the kiss of -the summer sun, lean of flesh as though chiseled by manly abstinence, -plain, but all stamped with the seal of fearless honesty, the lips -parted showing the strong white teeth, the voice came low but firm, - -“If I go away I will come again,”--he turned and was lost in the crowd. - - -THE END. - - * * * * * - -BEECHAM’S PILLS - -Painless. Effectual. - -In many towns where this wonderful medicine has been introduced, and -given a fair trial, it has abolished the family medicine chest, and -been found sufficient to cure nine-tenths of the ordinary complaints -incident to humanity; and when diseases of months and years are -thus removed or palliated in a few days, it is not wonderful that -Beecham’s Pills should maintain their acknowledged popularity in both -hemispheres. =_They cost only 25 cents_=, although the proverbial -expression all over the world is that they are “worth a guinea a box,” -for in truth one box will oftentimes be the means of saving more than -one guinea in doctor’s bills. - -☞☞ REMEMBER THAT BEECHAM’S PILLS ☜☜ - ---ARE-- - -A WONDERFUL MEDICINE - ---FOR ALL-- - -BILIOUS AND NERVOUS DISORDERS - ---SUCH AS-- - -CONSTIPATION, - -WEAK STOMACH, - -SICK-HEADACHE, - -LOSS OF APPETITE, - -IMPAIRED DIGESTION, - -DISORDERED LIVER AND ALL KINDRED DISEASES. - -Prepared only by =Thos. Beecham=, St. Helens, Lancashire, England. =B. -F. Allen Co.=, Sole Agents for United States. 365 and 367 Canal St., -N. Y., who (if your druggist does not keep them) will mail Beecham’s -Pills on receipt of price, 25c.--but inquire first. Correspondents will -please mention J. S. OGILVIE’s Books. - - * * * * * - -The Daylight Lamp. - -Central draft, of course. Wick raised and lowered by our wheel system. - -It doesn’t stick. - -[Illustration] - -Wick doesn’t have to be a 1/2 inch above the rim to give a good light. -Fact is, we have never seen a lamp which exposes so little wick as the -“Daylight.” - -So the wick doesn’t char. - -So the oil burns with a clearer light. - -_Craighead & Kintz Co._, Salesroom, 33 Barclay street, New York. -Factory, Ballardvale, Mass. - -Piano, Banquet and Table sizes. The Daylight Lamp Co., 38 Park Place, -New York, will give you further information. - - * * * * * - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -This is Elbert Hubbard’s first novel, published pseudonymously. - -This book was published by J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Company, 57 Rose -Street, New York. - -Footnotes have been moved to the end of each chapter and relabeled -consecutively through the document. - -Illustrations have been moved to paragraph breaks near where they are -mentioned. - -Punctuation has been made consistent. - -The notation 1-2 for fractions has been changed to 1/2. - -Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in -the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have -been corrected. - -p. 84: thou added (didst thou notice). - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Man, by Elbert Hubbard - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAN *** - -***** This file should be named 52049-0.txt or 52049-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/0/4/52049/ - -Produced by Craig Kirkwood, Demian Katz and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images -courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University -(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/).) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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