The Loyal Road: A Story

THE LOYAL ROAD.

BY LOU LEWIS. I.

"Where's Janey?" It was the first time Bert had not been greeted by that merry little girl.

Mrs. Denning looked up from her quilt-patching, and an- swered the boy who had just entered. "She's gone to Brother Redding's to help with their house- work. She's going to work with them until school starts. It will

help us to buy her winter clothes. "Will she stay there nights?" Bert remained at the door resting on his umbrella. "No, she'll come home nights." "Is she coming tonight?" "Yes." "She can't come alone a dark, rainy night like this. I'll go get her. Where are her overshoes?" Mrs. Denning went to a small clothes closet and rumaged among a lot of old shoes, at length presenting a pair of over- shoes large enough for a girl of thirteen. "Your father has been quite ill today," said she, as Bert placed a shoe in each pocket. "His old trouble?" asked Bert. "Yes; but the rheumatism seems centered near his heart and causes him dreadful pain at times." Bert stepped out into the night and spatted along the side- walk till he reached a massive stone building that belonged to Lawyer Redding.

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"If it were anybody else except Lawyer Redding's, I wouldn't let her," thought Bert, as if he were sole dictator of his sister's pursuits and occupations. Then he knocked gently at the door. "Hello, Bert! Come in." Carl Redding stood in the hallway. Carl was a bit younger than Bert, and had sat next to him at school. "I just come for Janey," Bert replied, "father is ill, so I

must hurry back." watched Janey's brother slip the Carl held the lamp, and overshoes onto Janey's small feet, take from his pocket a silk handkerchief and tie it around her neck, with all the care of a lover, and finally take off his own coat and button it over her shoulders. "You'll be back in the morning?" asked Carl, before closing the door. "Yes," Janey answered, "good night."

"There's something in that little chap," remarked Mr. Redding when Carl returned to the sitting room, "his sister tells me he has earned almost enough this summer to put him through his first year at the University." "He's a hummer to work," said Carl, and then continued his reading. "Father," said he at length, his eyes brightening with sudden ambition, "may I go to Cornell, when I finish my course at the University?" His father looked pleased. "You may have all the education you wish," answered the lawyer, "only whatever you do or become, be loyal to your people, your religion, and your God. For I tell you when a young man scorns the holy faith of his parents, he is apt to lose that feeling of veneration for virtue, truth and duty; and without the support that comes from a feeling of responsibility of noble action, there is no telling where he will end." "I don't think I shall ever lose that feeling, father," was Carl's only reply.

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And during his entire course at the University, he seemed not to lack that spirit of respect, and reverence and faith, that was even more noticeable in his favorite companion, Bert Denning. It was hard to tell which had the stronger mind; they seemed

equal in most things; yet some thought that had Bert not been burdened with a morning route as carrier of the newspaper, his work at the University would have excelled that of Carl Redding. Once, after a sleet-bedraggled morning, Bert was laid up for a day or two, and his little sister pleaded with him to give up his route and let her work until he finished his school. "No!" exclaimed fever-eyed Bert, sitting up in his bed, "you're pretty, and smart, and talented, and I'm going to see that you be- come a cultured lady, good enough for the president of the United States. It's in you, little sister, and this route's not going to hurt me." "No siree!" he continued to himself, after she had gone to school, neither mother nor sister of mine is going to drudge their sweet lives away so long as I can work, neither am I going to get my education at the expense of an invalid father." Then he lay back on his pillow and dozed, with castles his — — own creations floating like a panorama before him. "A little home with a lawn and flowers, and two thousand dollars a year to run it. That must be for father and mother and Janey," he thought. "A little ranch, with an orchard, bees, hay and some cattle. That must be as a sort of background to keep up a steady income. And then my own special work some indus- — try, perhaps — and the Church!" Even now the music of the great organ trembled in his very veins, the sacred anthems rang sweetly in his ears, the comrades of his childhood arose before him as inspired men and lovely women. His Utah beamed like a star celestial. Rivulets were laughing with babbling mirth as they frolicked through velvety grasses and golden fields; and the sweet, low breeze from the mountains majestic, whispered of undiscovered treasures, and mys- terious caves like palaces of emerald, saphire and gold. The entrance of his father roused him again. His father was very pale.

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"Why, father, what is the matter?" inquired Bert. "Another of my attacks." And Mr. Denning looked unspeak- ably discouraged. That afternoon Bert dressed himself, in spite of the earnest request of hi? mother to be quiet, and helped her heat flannels for his father, and the patient stars of midnight found the three watching and working anxiously. Though morning came clear and beautiful, they saw no loveliness in the outward world, and within, the dull fire in the stove, neglected, died out. And Bert sat on the little cot with one arm around his widowed mother, the other sup- porting his weeping sister.

II.

October's skillful touch had tinted all the leaves with crim- son, gold and brown; and now the jealous winds were scattering them here and there, as their fancy chose. Beyond the crimson of the trees lay a house of rich brown, half hidden among the vines, and there, with her beautiful sky- tinted eyes, eager with anticipation, stood a form Praxiteles might well have worshiped. As Bert opened the gate, she, Janey Denning, ran down the walk to meet him. "0, Bert, I've so much to tell you," she exclaimed. "You don't need to tell me, Janey, I can guess it," replied her affectionate brother, taking the round face in his hands and looking into her drooping eyes. "It's all right," he said, "Professor Welton will make you happy. But let's not think about it now, it makes me too lone-

some. See what I have here." They went to the hammock and read it. It was a letter from Carl Redding, something like this:

— Dear Bert: Isn't it stimulating to find one's self in a fresh environ- ment bristling with suggestions for work, and powerful in its appeal for masterful achievement? Yes, I have had the good fortune to be chosen as assistant professor of psychology in Harvard, and shall soon be able to pay you the sum I owe you. I shall never forget the kind assistance you gave me at the time

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of my father's financial shortage. Long may you live, and may your benevolent deeds bring the rewards they truly merit. Your friend for aye, Carl Redding.

"He has left me far behind him in an educational way. But, never mind, Janey, I vowed that you and mother should be made happy and comfortable, and I guess that is about as good as having the education myself, and I'm not so full of ignorance that I can- not be saved, quite, am I, Janey?" Janey laughed. "You ignorant, Bert? The idea! I believe we learn a great many things and call it knowledge when it is not. The main thing, after all, is a pure, virtuous, exalted life, devoted to deeds of righteousness in the service of God, all

the faculties quickened, and all the emotions alive with the noblest aspirations; and then, I think the soul is better prepared to grasp knowledge and truth with rapidity. One's main object should be to keep the soul untarnished here, and to give it free action in the realm of right. You have done that. Since father's death, think of what you have accomplished. You have built us a home, fur- nished it, kept me in school, climbed in the sugar industry until they have made you manager. You have lifted the mortgage from the homes of three widows, you have helped five missionaries by sup- plying the needs of their families, in their absence; you have helped Carl and others through college. Besides, think of the work you have done for our beautiful Zion. A lack of the knowl- edge of a mathematical truth, or a scientific proposition, will never retard the progress of the soul which has been devoted to earnest Godliness here on earth, but this devotion will place the soul in a condition to advance the more rapidly. The true aim of all edu- cative work is to obtain mental grasp. I am sure you have culti- vated that power to a marked degree, Berfc." "How happy it makes me feel to hear you say it, Janey dear!"

III.

Miss Carrol, musician of rare repute, walked rapidly toward the massive stone building which belonged to Lawyer Redding. Miss Carrol was never known to walk slowly. She carried with

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her an enthusiasm and charm of manner that had won the admira-

tion of emperors. Where duty called, she had never been known to fail. No wonder, in a cause like the one she now had in mind, she expected perfect success. A maid admitted her into the well furnished parlor. "It is Professor Carl Redding I wish to see," Miss Carrol ex- plained. Carl appeared, handsomely dressed. "Ah! Miss Carrol, I was in hopes I would meet you again this summer. I haven't forgotten the very pleasant time we had in

New York last Christmas when you honored me with your company at the Parcif al. That was one of the few happy moments of my life." "We did have a lovely time. But now I have come on busi- ness, very important business. We are going to give a grand en- tertainment for the benefit of the Mutual, and you are invited to give a lecture. We are also going to try to have some of Utah's most talented singers." "Are you on the program, Miss Carrol?" "Yes; I am to give some selections on the pipe organ." "Are they to pay you anything for your work?" "0, no! We are to do it for the benefit of the Mutual Im- provement Association." "It seems to me," Carl replied, "that it is asking too much of us. I could hardly spare the time myself. Besides, it seems to me that after we, I mean you as well, have spent so much to obtain what is so priceless to us, the Church workers ought not to expect us to give it to them without some remuneration. Now my pub- lic lectures have netted me nearly a thousand dollars a night." "Of course," said Miss Carrol, "if you feel that way, I should not urge you to accept such an invitation. What shall I tell Mr. Denning?" "Tell him I am busily engaged writing a book. Or, if you are going from here to Mr. Denning's, may I not accompany you, and save you the trouble of making any explanation at all?" "I should much prefer you would," said Miss Carrol. * * * *

Bert put down his pen, as he heard the gate click, and slipped on his coat, after glancing out at the window.

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He and Redding met as brothers, though Bert felt a restraint that had not been there in his boyhood days. Carl gradually led up to the proposition Miss Carrol had made, and expressed the same views he had expressed to Miss Carrol. Bert Denning sat watching him, in quiet observation, and, when he was done, began, in a calm, easy tone: "Last summer," he said, "I had reason to call on you. As I entered your house, I heard you singing in your room, your whole soul throbbing with patriotism, as I could feel. All I could hear was this:

"We honor thee, Cornell, We honor thee, Cornell, While the breezes blow And waters flow, We honor thee Cornell.

"And I wondered, then, if that same feeling of patriotism came over you when you thought of your people. "At your graduation you told me that your class, by means of two grand balls, raised over five hundred dollars which you gave as an endowment to one of the science departments. You had already paid well for all the knowledge you had gained. You were willing to do this for the benefit of those coming after you. "In a letter, not long ago, you wrote to me telling me it was the influence which the Church and its workers had had on you, in your youth, and the habits you had formed through such guidance, that had enabled you to appreciate your advantages, and to dis- cern and grasp truth, both scientific and otherwise, more rapidly, and to achieve the things you have achieved. Are not the Church and her workers deserving of some share of honor? If her sons

partake of the fruits of knowledge from every good source, that they might be prepared for diviner work, that her real, true beauties may find expression through minds prepared for stronger and more vivid light, are they not under obligations? Do you think that you will lose by giving to chose whose advantages have been less than yours? Do you think that you will lose by striv-

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ing to make the weaker members as strong in wisdom as you are? While you were enriching yourself, the Church workers were de- voting their time to the welfare of the people. Your time is no better than theirs. Are you not under as much obligation to de- vote some of your time and talent to the Church as those who have not as much knowledge and ability as you? Or, because you know more, are you to contribute less in proportion? "As you said in your letter, 'It is stimulating to find one's self in an environment bristling with suggestions for work, and powerful in its appeal for masterful achievement!' I have seen those suggestions around me in all the coming enterprises of our state. I have felt that powerful appeal, and felt it most strongly, as I looked into the faces of our young people, beaming with in- telligence, full of undeveloped talent and genius, who look to us older ones for proper help, encouragement and guidance." Carl rose from his chair. "Enough!" he exclaimed. "You have won your case, Bert, you should have been a lawyer; you have missed your calling. You may count on me whenever you want assistance in the Mutual Improvement work." He had grasped Bert's hand, and Bert knew he had found a loyal friend. "I shall begin that lecture, at once, before I lose the spirit," said Carl. "You'll be at the reception tonight?" enquired Bert. "I shall, provided I may have the honor of Miss Carrol's com- pany." "Many thanks," replied Miss Carrol, the charming, "but Mr. Denning has the prior claim." Salt Lake City, Utah.