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Show piBflflflflflflflBflflHBBBflBBBBBflHHBBflBBBBBBBBi BK BK&t W I The Truth and the Lady I K. I By Ella W. Peattlo I HI (Copyright by Uuhbs-Merrlll Co.) 1' I havo a friend wlio hns often said BM: to mo that she cared nothing for alio- HH, gorier, parables or Bynibols, HH" "I ant tho truth," sho declared. "I Bv llvo by the truth. Nothing less will flflj do for nip." flflj' My friend was sitting In hor homo BBc, ono lny not long ngo, when thoro camo fl a ringing nt her bell; nnd, ns her ono Bv-- ficrvant was away for ttio afternoon, flflj ' she herself answered the door. With- flf out stood an old man with kind eyes and a cruel mouth a very old man, 4 greatly wrinkled, and with a huge pack r1 on his back. flfll, ' "I was sent hero by a neighbor," ho flfll'--- said, "who told mo that I had Just the flflj sort ot wares for which you cared tho IBm most Sim said she thought I would HHb find you a grneroiis purchaser." flflj Thcro was a curious accent In the flflj old man's speech which my friend IBB could not quite plnco. It was at onca HBfl';, familiar nnd unfamiliar, and she could !! not tell whether sho liked or disliked BBJ It. Hut she bade htm enter, for ho BBfl was old, and, besides, sho thought ho flBJH might, Indeed, havo something that BBS sho wished to buy. BHB "My wares," he said, "are very an- flfl clcnt. It would bo dlfllcuU to Onrtny- BH thing more antique." J "Then 1 hope tlioy nro beautiful," cried my friend, "for I havo no use B for Ugly 4htngs, no matter what their w' history may be. It Is only bounty B that can reconcllo me to mold and 'tar- BBS nlsh nnd dustiness." H. "Somo aro beautiful and somo aro Hflfl grotesque," he said, "Hut I porcolvo by looking about, your rooms that you BBBI havo a fancy for tho grotcsquo as well BBBJ as tho bcnutltul." H, "Ono Is the face, tho other tho ob- mWM,; vrrse ot tho coin," said my friend. HK "But prny show mo your wares'." H. So from his pack tho old man with BBBJ; the kind eyes and tho cruel mouth BBBB took many packages, wrapped and I tied with tho cunning of the old races. "I am a Mcrchnnt of Truth," ho do- BBBB clared proudly, "and theso aro my BBBJ wares. If you permit mo I will show BBBB you tho contonts of this ono, which BBBJ tells tho truth about your homo." H. "Oh," sighed tho woman eagerly, "l( B you plpesol" B When ho had undono tho curious BBf wrappings, the old man took forth a BBjj shining sphere of crystal, and held It BM before tho woman so that sho baw a BBjY - U thing which tho old man described In BBBB this wise: fl "Your home," ho said, "Is a badly BBBBx built, little house, standing Jn a third BBBBf rate suburb of an lll-ordorod city. It BBBBr Is much too expensive for the amount BBBBl " of comfort It gives, and ovon so. It Is BBBBf not really yours. It Is mortgaged, and BBBBF? you must pay Interest as woll as taxes. H' It Is never as clean as It should bo, BBBBf' a by reason of the mills nnd factories BBBB ' Bear at hand. Thoro Is much Incon- BBBf grulty In the rurnlshlng and docorn- BBBJ tlpn of the rooms, and In winter somo BBBJ of theso rooms aro chilly nnd damp. BBBBf It; summer you havo no garden to LflHJi which to retire. It Is, you porcalvo, a BHH poor place." HHHt "Oh," cald tho woman, "hov mis- BBBBf taken you are! I see truly, tho Milngs BBBBf of which you speak, but do ytu not BBBBt appreciate that hero Is tho idonr at flflj which I bid my friends welcome? And BBJB wHhln is my flro, burning sweetly on BBBB the hearth. There Is my bod where I BBBBJ sleep so dellclously, thoro tho dear BBBJB.. window at which tho dawn looks BBBB in. Here U my kitchen where I cook BBBJ the food by which we llvo. and hero Is BBBJ the table at which we eat It., with talk BBBjB and laughter, and even, wheu wo are BBBBj so disposed, with song. Everything in IBflJ this bouse belongs to mo. My hub- BBBJB band bought theso thlngn and gavo BBBJB them to me excopt such as aro the, BB gifts ot friends. I can walk about the flflj, roems and put my hands on this and J' 6a that and tell you the most beautiful flHHt stories imaginable about tho friends HHHj who gave me theso things. It la curl- HHHJ ous, but I know ot no one who has BBBBl sueh friends as I. Iteally, this place, HHHJ which looks so poor as reflected In flflflj , that sphere and in your words, stands HHHJ to me for home home homo I" Sto HJHH sighed with happiness. HHB The oruelty deepened about the old BKSX mAB'g mouth and tho kindness glowed BJJB lu'hls yes. flfl "Yoh mean," he said, "that this com HaBL mon plaee la a Symbol ot Home, In HH: this respect, I perceive it la not Truth HB whlah you desire, hut tho Symbol, It BBBjB Is the possession of thnt which makes BBBK ' you content Out come, perhaps I BBBB have something moro to your liking. BBJEB Here, madam, is the portrait ot your BBHB husband he is." And he undid nn BHI other wrapping and bold up another BBHB Hphere, BBBB Thr she saw shadowed forth the BBBB.. flgwe of a man a man small of stat- BBBB lire, Inefficient In his actions, petulant. BBBB narrow, affectionate, fairly honest, BBBB rather discouraged; a man with no BBBB strong pane long, no deop or original BBBjB- thoughts, no bravo nine, no capacity BJBBB. n for great sacrifices. Yet ono going BBBBj faithfully his quiet wny, returning al- flflflfl ways to his homo at night and, In his BBBJB pallid fashion loving his wife, though' BBBJB often forgetting to tell her so by word BBBBJ or look. flflJY "You see!" cried tho Merchant of BBBJBf Truth, "This Is n very rovcnlliig little BBBHL triultet It will, It looked nt often BBBjB etuwgh, liberate you fiom that domes- HBffq! tlo servitude which you now onduro BnHf k! With maudlin patience. Will you buy bU ur BBuH "No, Indeed!" cried tho woman In- HKl! dlgnantly. "That man Is tho only one BJBJBn 'who over kissed mo on tho lips. I BbBBJF' remember well the first time ho did BjBBjB, so. It was nt sunset. In n beautiful HBJpSP; grove. Tho goldun light foil down be-' BftflBflr XHick. i oit all the boauty of the BBhSbL world throbbing through md and I BJUE comprehended how incomplete It EnaLrfttl would bo without love, and how I was BbKWfftr ' 0 ' leBBC1' A wonderful vision came to Rl bbIbw H BBBBfl meant, so I put my hand In the man's, and always ho and I hnve kept to gcther. And now wo havo n son and aro n part of tho future. Oh, you havo no Idea what this man stands for to mo!" Tho old man smiled slgulflcantly. "Ho nlso Is n Symbol, I see," ho said with contempt. "It Is not' what he Is thnt makes him dear. It Ib, as you say, what ho stands for. It Is be cause you must feol the wlfellncss In you, bocnuso ho gives you an oxcuso for your fcmlnlno snriflces, that you cherish him. Ho Is tho Symbol ot noblo and protecting Idvo no more." Thon ho revealed to her somewhat doubllngly, for ho was beginning to see thnt ho should not find In her a ready puvchascr a llttlo wondrous Irldcscont sphere, "Hero," he snld, "Is tho Truth about your son." Now, so curious a thing was this, thut evon tho sphere- of Truth had boon nffoctod by .dreams, and It wis somo tlmo before their beautiful prisms dlBpcrsod nnd showed her tho pitiful facts a llttlo spindling child, potulnnt llko his father, narrow of brow, with 11 faco in which selfishness and riffcctlon over kept war, Tho womnn spoko In great nnger: "I havo n mind to show you the door," sho said. "Do you not know that Is my llttlo child? Iio Is bone of my 1)ono and fiosh of my flesh, nnd swooter to mo than tho night or tho day. Why, whon his llttlo hnnds tug nt my skirt and I feol mysolf his prisoner, pris-oner, I would not chntigo my servlco for nil tho froodom In tho world. When I hoar him cry out in tho night, I am Ailed with poignant Joy, nnd nt morn. Ing when his bare feet como pattering down to my room I glvo thnnkB for the day that brings mo this dollght It is truo ho Is not so bright ns some children, nnd that ho ho Is fretful and often III, but, offer all, ho Is tho coro of llto to mo." Ho Is a Symbol," sold tho old man Id tcrrlblo accents. "It Is not what ho Is hut what ho stands for that makes him so unutterably doar. Any othor child would do ns woll to quench tho mother-thirst" Tho woman tnndo n pnsslonato disclaimer dis-claimer and doclarod sho wished for nouo of his wares. "I am dono with you, madam!" shouted tho man. "Yet, no, upon re-, flection, not qtilta dono. For your disregard dis-regard of tho vnluo of my wares you Bhall bo properly punlshod. Uehold, hero Is tho Truth about yourself!' And he held up to view another stib ore. Tho woman looked long and tho color camo and wont In her face. Her little hands clnsped nnd unclnspod, and onco she would have fallen had not tho old man supported her. Ilut aftor a tlmo sho pushed tho sphere away, "There Is a mlstako somowhoro," sho said, In a volco at once Joyous nnd humblo. "All of theso things aro truo, I know, yet, somohow, that Is not I. Thoro Is something within me, not seen by' anyone, not understood by myself, which makes me different from that. It Is tho thing that cause me to bo careful of my life, which leads mo to bellovo that I shall llvo again and which lots me wulk among my follows with my head hold high. It Is tho Innermost solf, tho secrot and eternai Mo." "It Is a flgmont of your brain," scoffed tho old man, "a piece of icgor demaln of tho psychologists, a ghost conjured up by tho churchmen!" Ho was trembling with nnger, yet his eyes betrayed a defeat "Come," ho cried, "confess!" "I can confess nothing sir. except that ns soon as you are gono I shall comfort myself for all tho Truth, you have shown me, with my sweot Symbols. Sym-bols. I did not know till now that - I lived by them. I)ut now that I know It I am nil tho more protectod against sorrow and aln and falsehood. I am only a poor woman and Ignorant, yet this I know, that In ray Symbols hided a greater truth than your Truth knows. Farewell, sir,- and como thlr way no more." |