The El Reno Daily Democrat (El Reno, Okla.), Vol. 32, No. 81, Ed. 1 Monday, December 4, 1922 Page: 3 of 4
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•"•"•••••■• ■<>*
The Story ;|
of a Grave :1
id know «f th# «n(t«ila« «t Uto i
looked over the white floor in the dli- I heart. The visits to the grave |rt* |
tnnce. It seemed magnified in his eye*. ] necessary to his happiness. For the
He fancied he could distinguish the j first time In Ids life Hawkins felt at
headboard from the fence. Then desolate as lie really k«i. He vlsltec
.
|
| 'By .......... |
11 WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE i =
niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliimimiiiliiii
Copyright, 1922, by the Macmillan Co.
THEKK Is a place in tlie Great
American desert where green
grans grows. At the head"of
nn estuary of the great Ury sea, where
a long arm of white alkali runs up
among the foothills of the mountains,
stands an inviting tavern. It is upon
the hillside. Just helow it, the gar-
den hose and the landscape gardener,
with water carried in troughs from the
mountains, have wrought a miracle of
green. Trees, blue-grass, flowers, wax
strong and beautiful in the artificial
oasis. Children and young men and*
maidens romp on th* verdant mat,
spread at the point of the estuary, and
upon the hillside a score of languishing
guests sit in the healing sun, and
look down upon the picture, and
out into the endless miles of white
st.nd that stretch billowy and fantas-
tic into the blue of the horizon.
Most of these idlers on the broad
piazza of the tavern are invalids. It
is a place of invalids. Here hundreds
of wretched bodies are dragged by a
tragic love of life. Here scores o£
souls watch other souls flicker and die
out, and still hope on and wait, while
the oil of lift* burns smudgy and low.
There are those whom the sunshine
and the dry, clear air win back to
life. But UieMead are there, on the
broad veranda—a very citadel of life—
the dead are embattled, fighting with
time. It is a most hideous buttle, ami
all so hushed and sepulchral are its
maneuvers, that life takes no heed « f
tlie empty pageant.
Armed in such a combat sat Hawk-
ins, the chief clerk, a grim man, dark,
pallid, sinister. Of what, out in the
world of life, Hawkins had been chief
clerk, it does n« t matter now. He
had been a busy man. firm, taciturn,
self-contained, repellent. He sat now
at his post in the battle, sneering at
the folly of those about him who were
trying to wrest a few mortal moments
from eternity.
For a long time, as days go, Hawk-
ins had been sitting in this sentry box,
when his captain—the doctor—ordered
him into the infantry, and told him
to march for dear life. Hawkins left
the guards upon the terrace with loath-
ing. During the first week of his
marching orders, he made exactly the
same journey every day. He noticed
everything along his path. He was in-
terested in nothing. In his mind the
objects he saw were catalogued, but
never referred to by his memory.
There was a huge bluff, a railroad
bridge, a quarry, a barbed wire fence,
enclosing a grave, a mud house, a
herder, some sheep, a steep hill, a
water trough, a cross road, and a
pine grove, on the hill over which he
came hack to his starting point. None
of these objects was dignified by a
prominence in his mind. One day, at-
tracted by the most unimportant detail
in the landscape, Hawkins started to
walk a few rods from his path, that he
might examine more closely the grave,
fenced in with barbed wire to keep
the ghoulish desert beasts away. A
second thought made the digression
from the path the line of an ellipse,
and he followed his course without
veering.
There were days when Hawkins
spoke to none of tlie hotel guests, and
the la«'k of interest in tlief place
weighed heavily upon him. As he sat
for hours after his walks gazing be-
tween the hills that penned" out the
desert, the spot where tlie grave dotted
the surface of the plain kept draw-
ing his eyes to it. in an annoying
manner.
As he took ills lonely walk at the
end of that fortnight, the grave began
to Irritate him. It aroused a certain
curiosity within him. which was very
distasteful.
One night, after his return from a
walk, raging at his folly, the grave
began to haunt his wakeful night fan-
cies. The next afternoon he walked
over to the enclosure, thinking that
he would be n« longer disturbed by
the thing if he examined It closely.
Hawkins saw only an adult's grave
with a cactus upon it. At the head j
m as a wooilen board. At the foot was
ti broad peg. The barbed wire was
torn away at one end—perhaps by
some stray animal, wandering in the
night. Hawkins did not approach
nearer than a rod from the fence, and
he turued quickly, as though he had
overcome his weakness, when he had
gathered these details In his mind.
The next day he came closer, and
the day following after a night In
which he was kept awake, frenzied
because of a gnawing ache to pick
the cactus root out of the dead man s
side. Hawkins came to the fence and
leaned upon the post, looking back
toward the hotel to see if the group
on the veranda could see him. He did
not touch the cactus, and not until ho
had itraightened up to go did he s«>
much as glance at the mound. He
read the name on the headboard and
hurried away with fear dogging his
steps. He looked behind b> sheer
force of will. It was the one name
In the world that Hawkins loved to
hate. With It came the recollection
of the woman whom the grim man was
proud that he had forgotten
At the road around the hill he
checked his nervous gait and w I-mI
slowly back to the hotel Hut all th«
he began to fight with the spell. He
reasoned that it was an accident, and
it Came over him with a chill, that he
bad been drawn to the place by an
Irresistible force. At this conclusion
he smiled sardonically and lighted a
cigar.
He believed lie had conquered the
hallucination by giving it full rein.
Then he began to hate his old enemy.
Hawkins had not known that the man
was dead until thai day. lie mused
pleasurably upon the cactus. The
doctor, seeing Hawkins in the sunset
air with a cigar, swore at him, and
the grim man went Indoors. He was
proud to be alive. His pride amount*
ed almost to a thrill.
Hawkins went to sleep early that
night. When tlie lights in tlie hotel
were extinguished he wakened from
u dream about figures and business,
and felt that there was something im-
portant on his mind. Then he remem-
bered the discovery on the headboard,
lie trailed over his treasure with the
harrow of his hate. He tried to think
of something else; he began counting,
finally it came. A sentence formed in
his mind: "Was It the dead man's
spirit ?"
When he aroused himself his month
was dry, and no was wet with per-
spiration. Hawkins'normal mind then
took control of bis fancy and his hate
for the conquered foe burned fiercely.
The woman kept coming into his ma-
lignant speculations. He wondered if
she had taken the man's name. He
was curious to know if she bad come
with his enemy into the desert where
he died. Hawkins pictured them to-
gether on the terrace. Then his sick
fancy painted them in the very room
■where he was lying. For a moment
be was in mental hell. A footfall
startled him. lie sprang to the floor
to ring the bell and to ascertain if his
imaginings had any foundation in fact.
"When the boy came Hawkins asked
for ice water, and upon getting It
sipped it, as lie. stood looking out at
the quiet stars and the moon, and lis-
tening to the sheep-bells and to -the
dogs harking out on tlie floor of the
desert, beyond the grave. This soothed
him, and lie slept.
The day following that, night, and
for many days thereafter, Hawkins
stood gazing at the ugly sand heap in
the grave. ;.s m man of ordinary tem
peianient would call upon a comrade
When his strength permitted a trli
every other day, only, he sat In hi
room looking out between the hills a
the plain, and at the fascinating <1°
upon lb* uluf# stretch of sand ant
alkali.
It was at these times that Haw kin'
began to try to recall the possible
good qualities < f hi* dead enemy.
Hawkins remembered how he had con
demntd the man out of hand, when his
name was flr*t brought up because
Thweke wrote a copybook hand
Hawkins remembered that he had
sneered at the man on account of a
certain curl i f the mustache; and that
the fellow iiad incurred u husbandly
hate, by knowing how to play the
piano. Remembering these prejudices.
Hawkins tried to make some entries
on ttie other side of the account.
As the Shadow flitted nearer and
nearer to the grim man, now confined
t< his barren room more closely than
before, he began to lose the horror lie
once felt at what he fancied might be
the presence of the dead. one day
he found himself curiously listening to
some token from the dead man in the
grave. His mood was not one of hor-
ror, but of longing. He reasoned that
his strange finding of the grave, the
inexplicable power that drew him
against his will and against his na
ture to the lonely spot, and the intlu
ence which it had wrought upon his
life indicated the presence of some out
side power. He built up a theory of
hypnotism from disembodied spirits
and sat watching for a signal to verify
through bis material senses the exist
ence of the supernatural force with
which his spirit seemed to have been
communing. In this frame of mind he
forgot the wasting of the flesh. He
sat by his window, overlooking the des-
ert, wad mused by the hour upon life
nnd the coming of the end. His whole
being was softened by the approaching
dissolution of his body.
He longed for some sign that would
tell him that he had fellowship -real
and palpable—with the spirit of th<
man in the deserted grave. But tlie
sign did not come. He traced false
signs to their natura! causes, and was
sad. The habit of a lifetime, as
scoffer, strangled credulity, even
ffOTICK BY PUBLICATION
Mortgage Foreclosure
In the District Court In and for Can-
adian County, State of Oklahoma.
The State of Oklahoma on relation
of the Commissioners of the Land
Office of said 8tate: J. B- A. Rob
ertsoa. Governor and Chairman; J.
8. Morris, Secretary of 8tate; F
C. Carter, State Auditor; R. H. Wil-
son, State Superintendent of l*nbl'
lastruction, and J. A. Whitehurst,
President State Board of Agricul-
ture, constituting the Commission
ers of the Land Office of. the State
ol' Oklahoma,
Plain.t iff,
vs. No. 6237
B. C. Crites, Board of County Com-
missioners of Canadian County and
Clyde Matthews, County Treasui-
er of Canadian County. Oklahoma.
Defendants.
State of Oklahoma to
H. C. Crites.
Said defendant H. C. Crites. will
take notice that said plaintiff, the
Stale of Oklahoma on relation of the
Commissioners of the Land Office,
did on the 30th day of March, 1! 22.
file a petition in the District Court
in and tor Canadian. County, State of
Oklahoma, against the above named
defendants and aid defendant, B. C
Crites, must answer said petition on
or before the 10th day of January
1923, or said petition will be taker
as true and personal judgment ren
dered in said action against said d
fendant, B. C. Crites. on said coupon
note dated the 24th day of Scptem
ber, 1920, in the sum of $2361.SO prin-
cipal, interest, attorney's fees ami
expenses in protecting plaintiff's lien,
and for the foreclosure of a certain
real estate mortgage of even date su j
curing said coupon note on the fol-
lowing described real estate in Can-
adian County, to-wit:
SB:. 1-4 of Section 19, Town-
ship 12 North of Range 10
subject, howeTer to a first mort-
gage of Pour Thousand Dallar*
($4.000.Si) in favor of the Commis
sioners of the Land Office and act
judging that default has been mad-
in said mortgage and mat plaintiff
has first lien on said premises sub-
ject to said first mortgage for tho
amount due and owing by the defen-
dant, B. C. Crites, in the sum of
92.3fl.8t principal, interest, attor-
ney's fees and expenses, together
with accruing interest thereon
from th« 24th day of March, 1922.
Aad ordering said premises to b"4
sold without appraisement, proceeds
to be. applied to amount due plain-
tiff and for costs of suit.
And forever barring said defen
da at, B. C. Crites, from all right,
title, interest and estate in and to
aaid above described land, or any
part thereof.
FRANK TAYLOR. Court Cler'.v
Commissioner of the Land Office of
the State of Oklahoma
By UEO. K. MERRITT,
Attorney for Plaintiff.
(Seal) (First Pub. Nov. 29)
PILES
PAZO OINTMENT instantly Re-
lieves ITCHING PILES and you
can get restful sleep after the
first application.
All druggists are authorized to
refund money if PAZO OINT-
MENT fails to Cure any case of
ITCHING. BI.IND. BLEEDING
or PROTRUDING PILES. Cures
ordinary cases in 6 days, the
worst cases in 14 days. 60c.
we SELL AND RECOMMEND
CALUMET
Economy BAhING POWDER
Can. Co. Co-Op. Association
Boils
Quit Quick!
S. S. S. Will Prove to You in Yea?
Own Case tha "How" and "Why**
of its Remarkable Blood-Cleaaumg
Power!
There is a reason for everything that
happens Common-seast kills mieery.
Common sense also stops bolls! 8. 8. S.
Is tho common-sense remedy for belli, he-
Grove's
Tasteless
Chill Tonic
Makes tlie Body Strong.
Makes the Blood Rich. 60c
i
Ioc4ol —
"Upon tha Hillside Languid Guests Sit in th« Healing Sun."
Its barbed wire prison, exulting in bis j though it was tlie child of hope. So
hearr at the dead man's desolation. Hawkins sat in the silence, listening
The moments he spejnt thus were si > and waiting for the greater silence,
most happy one* for the grim man. His j There came a time when he rallied
fancy majle morbid, pictures; and the ! tvlien he left ihe window for the ^rail-
figures «>f the man and woman danced da. Then It was that a great yearn-
before bis eyef in a thousand horrid ins: came to his heart to go nnd lie
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=^i
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day-dreams, once he kicked the head-
board and sneered at himself for so
doing. Then Hawkins saw how like a
cur he was.
After that there were throe In hie
icircle of hate.
One day, loathing himself, he begun
to wonder what had ever induced the
woman to promise to love and honor
him. He recalled cowardly words he
had spoken to her. Revelations of Ills
own cruelty and mejinness were made
to him, and ghostly memories that he
had strangled years before came flit
ting hack.
He was oppressed with a sense of
having done a terrible wrong. The
face of the woman whom he had for-
gotten, rose and floated on Ills stag
nant fancies. Dialogues, that he ltod
crowded Into what seemu^to him ob-
livion, came trooping back, and whis-
pered theipselves into his ear. In
each of these pictures and voices he | down the terra*
saw his own selfishness. Hawkins
logan to know himself as he was
known. A love that he had trampled
out with his physical heel In a fit of
rage, began to glow and warm his be-
ing.
A miracle was wrought on the day
that a shriveled tear trembled In his
eye. He went the grave, and stood
a longer tim£ than usual after that.
He left the place with a sigh and
walked slowly with •his eyes upon the
ground. He walked slowly, partly
flom choice, partly because his for-
mer gnlt sapped his strengtth. On the
veranda they were counting the weeks
left him
He now went to the mound every
day for company. To those whom lie
met in the routine of his physical life.
Hawkins preserved his cold exterior
slowlv back 10 the hotel nut -.11 the , w, oi, . es.enoi. | ' "
1 v up the hillside ti.. i •"* rtf r"-v w«" "" «,,ey
riSnf before him with ti ron. •*. " ?•« £*
•Jsing befor
over the word "Thweke.'
Hawkins snt In hla chair ou
'■ In lill hri'tisl fl' linil lived hit life
tli* ' alone, and no one outside himself
prone upon the grave and to he as
simple ax * child in grief. lie I'otild
not explain tills yearning; he did not
try to annljze It. He felt some way
that it was a thing the woman would
hav done, and the dosire became a
master passion. It seemed cold to hitn
on the porch ; but out on the desert
the sim shone gaylj and seductively.
Day after day he walked the length
of the veranda. He seemed to be
gaining atrength. There was a day
when he walked the entire distance
around the hotel twice, without sit-
ting or resting, It was a day of trl
umph. That night he planned Ills
journey to the fence and the mound
between the foothills.
Ills menial straio brought a slight
relapse in Ills malady. He did nut no-
tice It the n««t morning He kept Ills
plans to himself. That afternoon he
lipped away. Slowly, slowly, he crept
es. He sat down often
by the wayside. A notion that he was
milking a pilgrimage that she—Hawk-
Ins only thought of the woman as
"she," now—would have him make,
warmed something in his grim heart,
not unlike a tenderness. He was very
weak, and hli emotions were loose.
Once he fainted when he sat down
by a atone. When he returned to con
selousness he hurried on in a dazed,
fumbling sort of way. He felt then
that it would he hll last visit to th.
grave, but be was not sad. He wus
only glnd that he had come in her
name. I 'ride was purged front his
ll«sh. His heart was that of a little
child, lie uttered foolish little prayers
that were bargains with (iod for
sirength to reach bis goal. When ho
leached it, he crawled into tlie wjre
enclosure, weak and paining. There
tliey found Hawkins at the close of
grim, repellent-of feature, apart
fiom hU kind, alone In his very death.
Men said It wai n fitting end for him
UNSOUND POLICY
IN GAS RATES
Of late years, a policy both unfair and economically
unsound has grown up in this and other states of holding1
the earnings of public utilities down to the lowest figure
that the courts will permit.
Courts will only interfere when rates are actually con-
fiscatory—when they are so low that service is furnished at
a loss.
Distressing to Consumer
Results of this policy are as distressing to the consumer
as to the public utility company. He may for awhile obtain
service at low figures, but eventually he will either do with-
out the service or pay a rate that adds interest to what he
should have paid in the first place.
Especially does that apply to natural gas companies.
This business is peculiar' in that its base of supplies can
never be permanent, and consequently it is always rebuild-
ing its plant and extending its operations.
Wasteful and Useless
Unless rates supply tlie funds for this purpose activity
must stop. No company can long operate at a loss. No
service can be maintained when the money received does
not pay for the maintenance.
Such a policy is wasteful, highly expensive, and defeats
its object. Gas companies must have enough to enable them
to maintain and extend their plants, to obtain more gas and
distribute it, and to pay a reasonable return on the value
of the plant if they are to function in a manner that will
satisfy their customers.
Such a rate now will be much lower than a compensa-
tory rate would have to be in the future when plants deter-
iorate and capital becomes discouraged.-
COMPANY
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Maher, T. W. The El Reno Daily Democrat (El Reno, Okla.), Vol. 32, No. 81, Ed. 1 Monday, December 4, 1922, newspaper, December 4, 1922; El Reno, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc153566/m1/3/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.