OCR Text |
Show ONE MAN'S LESSON. A Fable. Once upon a time a Man loved another Man's Wife. The Man was a good Man, which may be surprising; sur-prising; and the Woman was a good Woman, which should not be surprising. And the Man reflected that it was not at all the right thing to do; and the Woman, returning return-ing his Love, reflected likewise. And they both fully realized their Danger. But the Man said to himself: "I swear no harm will ever come of it. For as I know this' Woman to be pure and true (and honor her the more therefor) , I shall never openly Declare myself. I shall see -heras little as possible, and then only with Others present." And it came to pass that one day the Woman wrote to the Man that she was going away on a long Journey with her Husband ("Thank God!" cried the good Man, parenthetically) but that ere departing she would like to bid him Goodbye! Good-bye! "As it is not safe for you come here," she wrote, "may I suggest that I come to You? Or would you deem this too Unconventional? The World will not know, and as we have ever trodden trod-den the righteous path, and are guilty of no Wrong-Doing well, I leave it to you!" There was but one thing for this good Man to do; but he did the other thing! With stifled Heart he took his Pen in Hand: "Fpr God's sake," he warned, "do not come! You do not know what you are saying. You do not know that I am but Human. You do not know, you Cannot know, how madly I love you. Should li see you here, alone now, I could not withstand the temptation to crush you blindly to my Heart. With my cowardly, unholy Kisses I would stamp your Fair Name with eternal Disgrace. Dis-grace. I dare not think of it. So I beseech you, in the name of our Hopeless Love, for his sake for your own sake, even for my sake, do not come!" And she Came with ten-fold haste! - Moral Warn not a .Woman. Town Topics. |