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The Minister’s
Answer.
By SYLVIA MERCDITiI.
Copyrighted, IDO9. by Associated
Literary Press.
The little minister—little ill stature
little In power, little In salary—sat be
fore a table In his study diligently and
laboriously searching amid the leavesj
of various volumes of reference and
occasionally scribbling a few son
tences on paper which later on should
serve as notes for his sermon on the
following Sunday.
The Rev, James Philander Dubois
smiled fondly and proudly ami grate
fully while he thought, lie was a!)
unmarried churchman who felt it in
emnbent upon himself to become one
of the two principal performers in a
ceremony In which already lie had be
come quite proficient as an agent of
fate where others were concerned.
So he leaned back and {,axed at the
celling and thought of a beautiful,
brave young creature. lie lingered
mentally on her radiant face, her
graceful form, and hoard In his brain
the sweet thrill of her voice.
lie had never thought thus of any
woman before, rntil he first saw
Marguerite Van Diemen a year ago lie
looked on all women with an academ
ic eye as parishioners and studied them
only to decide what branch of church
work, If any, they were best fitted for
But the year that followed his first
sight of the violet eyes of Miss Mar
guerite, and the brown hair that shone
like sunny light drowned In amber
pools in a forest brook, had been a
year of awakening for him.
It was not a quite complete awaken
log. however, lie was very thorough
ly awake—wide, staring, stark awake—
to the knowledge that ho was so deep
ly In lave with her that .to lose her
would mean a dreary, sorrowful life
for him, but be was not awake enough
to suppose that he had any qualities
or attributes to please so wonderful
and clever and bright a creature.
However, though the itev. James
Philander Dubois was thus humble
and devoid of any proper self esteem,
and though he did not believe that
she could possibly want him. he was
in love, and love sneers at logic. He
expected her answer to be “No.” but
he was pining Just the same to ask
the question.
So, like the courageous and deter
mined little minister that he was, he
had written to her asking for the fa
vor of an Interview ui a matter very
important to him. Anl she had re
piled, appointing .list \ cry evening and
adding. “You should know that I have
declined an Invitation to the County
club dance In order to give you this
evening, though the dance is the last
one of the season and I was really
anxious to go.”
Perhaps it was this letter rather
than the Itev. Mr. Philander's convic
tion of the stereotyped nature of all
sermons that made it so difficult for
him to finish the construction of his
discourse.
Determined though he was. the ques
tion he was to ask Miss Marguerite in
a few hours was the kind that no man
ever asks without perturbation, and
there was the last paragraph of her
letter. It showed him that she was
losing an evening of great enjoyment,
for, though Marguerite Van Diemen
was a good parishioner, she loved
dancing with an ultra worldly love.
No doubt she expected to hear some
immensely important news from him.
Wouldn’t she be Indignant and angry
when she learned that he had kept
her from her pleasure simply to pro
pose to her?
The clock struck the hour, nnd the
minister became aware with a sharp
start that It was high time to keep
Ills appointment. He arose and put on
his overcoat.
At that moment the doorbell rang.
It is only because wo are so used to
the really dramatic things of life that
we do not know nnd feel the dramas
that each moment makes.
The ring of fhe doorbell was such a
dramatic instant in the life of the Rev.
James Philander Dubois.
Passing through an adjoining room,
be opened the door nnd saw before
. him a young woman, poorly dressed in
a faded gown of blue, her head topped
off with n hat of uncertain texture,
under which her hair hung forth in all
directions. Her face was terribly wast
ed and sallow, and its piteous aspect
was ouly increased by a touch of the
incongruous In n suggestion of red
high on the cheeks.
The reverend gentleman shrank
back. He wished that he could escape
what he foresaw would be a long de
lay, but sense of duty conquered the
human Instinct at once.
The young woman spoke as soon as
be opened the door. “Won't you give
me something to eat?” she begged. “I
haven't had anything since morning.”
“Poor soul!” muttered the little min
ister. “The housekeeper is out for the
afternooa but I shall do the best I
cau tor you. Win you. come, to the
klfehen while I Investigate the pan
try?"
As the unkempt young woman fol
lowed him Into the kitchen the min
ister felt such deep, angry annoyance
ns only a man can feel when the wom
an he loves Is waiting for him while
circumstances keep him away. But
the moment he realized that lie, a min
ister, pledged to help the afflicted and
the slnniug, had what was almost an
emotion of hatred toward this poor
creature be crushed down what were
wicked and shameful though*s to him.
He hastened to bring out all the feed
lie could find and set It before her
Food taken to the door would not
have come under the head of Chris
tian charity with the Rev. Mr. PbJlnu
d r, though he was the head of an
ultra fashionable church.
“Have you been a victim of circum
stances or what Is termed hard luck?”
was one of the first things the minis
ter asked after lie had dished up cold
victuals and a quantity of vegetables.
“Oh, It's n long story." insinuatingly
replied the woman, while she devoured
the stuff set before her.
"Whatever may have been the past,"
said the little minister, “don’t forget
that forgiveness is yours for the ask
ing."
He spoke In his most persuasive ac
cents to the poor creature. Ills advice
was wise and sound, for with all his
modesty and rlmpllelty the minister
was both clever and alive to dally
needs, a fact that the woman repeat
edly acknowledged with a mournful
eye and lagging appetite. At times
she even desisted In her siege of the
eatables when the little minister said
something particularly simple and
kind.
Finally she broke down and told all
her story—an old, old story, not at all
romantic, not even Interesting to any
except the poor creature herself. The
minister listened patiently to her long,
labored, tedious recital, and if some
times he felt as if he, would go wild
with Impatience when he thought of
Marguerite he promptly forced himself
in punishment to concentrate his mind
and soul even more than before on the
object before him that demanded so
much of his pity and Ills help.
Here was a soul for him to succor
and save, and what was his own
heart's ease to that?
it was late that evening before the
little minister returned home after
having found a home for his distressed
protegee. lie should have felt a thrill
of gratitude for duty done and a sense
of humble satisfaction for liis success
in bringing back the straying one to
the right road.
He blamed himself for not feeling it.
But the more he tried to feel content
because he had done his duty the more
his sou!'sank in him mid the heavier
did his heart, seem.
The Rev. Mr. Dubois, though a most
devoted minister, was none the less an
intensely human man, and all the sat
isfaction in doing a duty could not lift
him from the despondency that ho was
in, for he felt sure that he had lust
any chance, if he possessed one, with
Marguerite Van Diemen.
His belief was strengthened to con
vietliin next day when lie callebl at her
house, wondering what he could say to
gain her pardon. It was characteristic
of him that it nevi r entered ids head
to explain to her what had kept him
away. That would have seemed like
cant and self prai.-e to the little min
ister. (
The only excuse he could offer was
••parochial business.” And he realized
sharply that would seem a paltry ex
euse, though he didn’t consider any
thing in the line of his duty as paltry.
So lie sent up his card in low spirits,
and he was not surprised, though lie
was grieved, when the maid returned
and said that her mistress begged to
be excused and added a request that
bo write to her, saying what she could
do for him.
Another man might have felt of
fended and haughty. The little minis
ter was too just for that. He went
home quietly and wrote a very simple
little letter telling Miss Marguerite
Van Diemen all that was in his heart.
Lie begged her forgiveness for not
keeping tlie appointment and explain
ed it by saying: "A little matter of
church business came up to keep me.
1 could not evade it, though 1 assure
you that it was a great sorrow to rue
to be kept away."
Then in his mind he wrote "Finis”
to his romance and turned sturdily to
liis work on the unfinished sermon.
Twenty minutes after lie Inid dis
patched tlie note Ills doorbell rang
again. This time the little minister
did feel that there were dramas in lit
tle things, lie laid down liis pen and
thought.
lie heard the maid open the door.
He heard a soft voice ask for him.
Before lie could rise a gown rustled,
and Marguerite Van Diemen came to
ward the open library door.
“1 have brought you the answer to
your note myself,” said she. She held
up her hand. "Before I tell you what
it is." she continued very hurriedly,
with her breath coming short and fast
and her i%es shining, "let me tell you
something else. Do you kuow what 1
have always abhorred the most? The
preaching that does not practice! And
next to that I object to the practicing
that preaches too much of wbat It
rfoesr*” ' ' -
The little minister looked at her with
questioning bewilderment In his dark
eyes.
Marguerite Van Diemen made a few
steps forward and toward him.
“I saw you last evening on the street
with a young woman,” she went on.
“I was a little angry that you should
have thought of anything except our
appointment. This morning I went to
carry some medicine to old Mrs. An
ston and found that you had taken the
young woman there to nurse her. She
told me what you had said to her and
what you had done for her.”
“Will you forgive me for seeming to
neglect you?” faltered the little rflln
ister.
“Walt,” said Miss Van Diemen. “I
still wanted to test you. 1 wanted to
see what you would do. So I waited
till you wrote. If you had tried to
explain more than you did, why, then
perhaps I would not have brought .you
my answer.”
And as she came toward the minis
ter with her hands held out even the
modest Itev. Mr. Philander did not need
anything mere to tell him what the
answer was.
BOA COftvi i frill i udS.
The Young Shift For Themselves as
Soon as Hatched.
Th“ real home of the boa t on: ti ietors
Is in the tropical countries. Mrs. Boa
seeks a sandy place. When she has
found it she coils herself Into a great
and almost fiat corkscrew. Then by
just two or three tune her body
she digs a shallow r:;< * iky saiul
This Is her nest In lids la Jr she lays
about twenty four eggs Toe eggs are
about as large as th-iso bantam chick
ons lay and are ik cream color.
They are oblong ;...U more the shape
of a pecan than of a hen's egg The
shell is not hard, like alien's egg, but
yields to the pressure of your linger,
some!liing like rubber.
Having laid her eggs in the nest of
sand, the mother boa winds herself
Into a perfectly Hat coil, like n round
mat. This done, she gently pushes
waves of sand upon the eggs until
they are covert'd from four to six
inches deep. Then she settles herself
uiion the top and stays there for nine
teen days. At the end of this time a
lot of little snakes may be seen push
ing their way out from the nest and
away into the world to get their own
living. They don’t show a bit of affec
tion for their mot her or for each other,
but glide away, probably never to be
together again. Is it any wonder
when they act so just after being
hatched out. that boa constrictors inn
er like anybody and never have any
thing to do with people if they can
avoid it?
Kadi little snake measures from
twelve to fourteen inches in length
and Is about as big around as a lead
pencil It. is said that they eat nothing
at all during the first six months of
their lives or until they are old enough
to catch and crush to death small at.i
reals and swallow them whole. The
boa constrictor never bites- it has no
poison fangs - hut always kills by coll
ing about its victim and crushing it t<>
death Fully grown, the boa constrictor
Is thirty to forty feet long and as.big
around as the large part of a man’s
leg.
CHEWING TOBACCO.
The Grip With V.' h T'.is Habit
Helds ! Victims.
Every shi weed will know
better than ! do h w much truth exists
in a story told me a few evenings ago
by a well known committing magis
trate in New York.
Uc were seated at a club table dis
cussing various kinds ot dissipations,
especially the fascination tii.it liquor
and gambling are said to have for men
who cannot resist the impulse to grati
fy one or the other of these passions.
The judge spoke:
“In my opinion the most overmaster
!ng craving known to our race is that
for chewing tobacco. Opium in some
forms may be as bad, but 1 am sure
it isn't worse. A few weeks ago an
incorrigible was brought before me.
and after bearing the evidence 1 sen
tenced him to the island for three
months. He appeared to take- it very
sensibly until a police officer as a
teaser whispered into the man’s ear, as
L afterward learned, that he would not
be allowed any tobacco while In tiie
penitentiary. The poor chap turned
pule, rose in his seat and held up his
hand as a si£n that lie desired to ask
me a question. I motioned to him to
speak up.
“ ‘I say. good Mr. Judge, will you do
me a great favor?’
“‘Certainly, if it be within my pow
er,’ I replied.
“ ‘I hear my tobacco will be cut off.
Cannot you make my term six months
or even a year if 1 am allowed to have
chewing tobacco?’ ”
The judge had to explain that he
couldn’t do anything of that sort He
relieved the prisoner’s mind on the
tobacco question by telling him that if
he was a habitual chewer the prison
physician would order a small quanti
ty of the weed for him dally.
“Never did 1 see a greater change in
a human face,” concluded bis honor. —
Brooklyn Eagle.
/George Washington
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WIINDER, GEORGIA.
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POLITE TREATMENT.
GOVERNMENT SUPERVISION
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holders worth over a million dollars.
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It will de seen that we accommodate all classes.
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VVUNDER, GA.
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