John Wade

“ But while John felt sorry for himself in this matter, yet was far too sane and common-sensible to resent it, another wondrous thing fell out, and Harry Wade got in a rare sort of fix that promised more fret and strain than all his other adventures put together. For, along of one thing and another, though the true details never reached but two ears, he was up against a new and tremendous experience and from being a heart-whole man with no great admiration on the women, he felt a wakening and a stir and knew 'twas love. ”

“ His first wife having died childless, Wade subsequently formed some irregular matrimonial connection, and at his death a subscription was raised for his presumed widow and her two destitute children. Wade's character may be best summarised in the words of the Rev. John Richardson (Recollections, 1855, i. 231) : ‘A wise man in theory and a fool in practice. A vigorous intellect; planning everything, performing nothing. Always in difficulties, having the means at hand to extricate himself from their annoyance, yet too apathetic to arouse himself to an effort ”

“ Ina also founded Wells, but as a collegiate church of secular canons, not as the cathedral of a diocese. It was not until 909 that Somerset had a bishop all to itself, who was styled the Bishop of the Somersaetas, with his seat at Wells (the first appointed being Aethelm.) In 1088, in accordance with the policy of removing bishoprics from localities of little importance, the see was transferred from Wells to Bath, the bishop (John de Villula) at the same time becoming the abbot of the monastery. In 1192 Bishop Savaric procured for the see the rich abbey of Glastonbury, and became its abbot ”

“ John Ruskin, who had the means to acquire some very fine natural specimens of gem material was of the opinion that man ought not to tamper with the wonderful crystals of nature, but that rather they should be admired in the rough. ”

“ But the bluff and busy tyrant was first, as he always was in his dealings with men.
“Here, Wade,” he shouted, “you shake hands with the prettiest girl in the north country! This is Miss Nina Ide, and this is my new time-keeper, Dwight Wade. He’s going to find that there’s more in lumbering than there is in being a college dude or teaching a school. Sit down, Wade.” ”

“ There is something in you and me, fellows, that leaps to its feet and screeches with delight when we see any one rise to the demands of a crisis and do the fine thing. Now, I want you to turn to a place in the Bible where is described a finer thing than could happen in any world's series. It has always seemed to me to be about the most wonderful event that ever happened. It is John's account of one of the most wonderful miracles that Jesus performed. ”

“ Edward I.) , under a recessed cinquefoiled canopy, the cusps of which are worked up into faces, (3) altar-tomb, with effigies of a knight (in plate armour) and a lady—believed to be John Speke (d. 1442) and his wife, (4) small brass on floor to George and Elizabeth Speke (1528) . Close by is a rude font, probably early Norm. It was brought here from West Dowlish as the only remains of a church which existed there prior to 1700.
Downhead, a straggling village 21⁄2 m. N.E. of Cranmore Station. The church is small and devoid of interest. It has been "restored" regardless of style. ”

“ Its career has been a series of vicissitudes. Though Bath takes precedence of Wells in the official title of the see, it has seldom been the predominant partner. John de Villula, with the intention of making the city the bishop's seat, built here a church so spacious that the nave alone would swallow up the existing building. Of this Norm. church there still survive (1) bases of clustered pillars under a grating in N. aisle of choir, (2) a single pillar in same aisle, (3) round arch and pillar in vestry, S. of choir, (4) bases of pillars at exterior of E. end. ”

“ The processing wit clears approximately 75 pieces of mail each day. Mail that is sent to a detainee must also be cleared through the processing unit and stamped "Approved by U.S. Forces" before it can be delivered to the detainee to whom it is addressed. Incoming mail is alo typically processed within fourteen days on average. The ICRC also facilitates the delivery of detainee mail to and from Guantanamo Bay. The ICRC pays approximately four visits each year to the detainees for approximately 5-6 weeks per visit. ”

“ Cannington, a large village 4 m. N.W. of Bridgwater, is a place of some interest. It is the birthplace of a distinguished man, for at Brymore House, hard by, John Pym was born. The church has some unusual features, for a single roof covers nave, aisles, and chancel; and there is no chancel arch. The whole building is very lofty, and it has good E. and W. windows. The tower, which will be seen to be out of line with the axis of the nave, is richly ornamented with niches. ”

“ Wade gasped.
“Not much else. Afraid of the dark, of shadows, and women mostly. Strange women! Once a woman scared him in Castonia and he ran away like a hoss, draggin’ the jumper. Old Jule hitched him to a post after that.”
Cretinism in any form had always shocked Dwight Wade inexpressibly. He turned away, but the old woman was in his path, begging.
The next moment a tall, lithe girl ran swiftly out of a hut, seized the whimpering old woman, tossed her over her shoulder as a miller would up-end a bag of meal, and staggered back into the hut, kicking the frail door shut with angry heel. ”

“ He made friends at sight with men, children, and dogs and wore his friendships as easily as he wore his clothes. The West puts an indefinable stamp on a man, and Wade had it. When presently he donned a cloth cap, torn from the confused depths of his valise, and passed out of doors he walked like a man who was used to covering long distances afoot, and with a certain swing of his broad shoulders that suggested a jovial egotism. And as he made his way through the orchard and into the meadow beyond his mind was still busy with Evelyn Walton. ”

“ It was no wonder, he reflected, in that almost womanless land, that many a cowpuncher rode the range by night, seeing her image in every star. The thought that each single man, and many a married one, in Crawling Water, would ride into the Pit itself to win one of her smiles, had been Wade's comfort, even when he was thinking of the possibility of bloodshed between the two hostile factions. ”

“ It seemed to Wade that his tone was that of a judge appraising the points of a race-horse, and for an instant he resented the fact that Barrett was sizing him less as a man than as a [Pg 10] gladiator. “Old Dame Nature put you up solid, Mr. Wade, and gave you the face to go with the rest. I wish I were as young—and as free!” He gave another look at the mills and scowled when he heard the mumble of men’s voices in the outer room. “When a man is past sixty, money doesn’t buy the things for him that he really wants.” ”

“ Ben Wade approved of my plan. He says Belllounds can be brought to reason. He says he can make him see the ruin for everybody were you forced to marry Jack. Strange, Collie, how Wade included himself with, you, me, Jack, and the old man, in the foreshadowed ruin! Wade is as deep as the cañon there. Sometimes when he's thoughtful he gives me a creepy feeling. At others, when he comes out with one of his easy, cool assurances that we are all right--that we will get each other--why, then something grim takes possession of me. ”

“ Wade presently broke the silence.
"Moran, you may be a big man in the East, but you're not big enough for the job you've tackled here. I've held my friends back as long as I can—longer than I thought I could—and when they break loose, this valley will be a little hell, perhaps a shambles. Men are going to be killed, and I have a feeling that you are going to be one of them. Against that time, once more, I warn you. Tell Jensen to trail his sheep!" ”

“ Wade declared crisply. "That's why the boys are waiting for us at the pine. We're going [Pg 105] to run Moran and his gang off the ranch as soon as we can get there, and then we're going to run them out of the country."
"Whoop-e-e-e-e-e!" The old plainsman's yell of exultation split the night like the yelp of a coyote, and he brought his hand down on Wade's back with a force which made the latter wince. "By the great horned toad, that's talkin! ”

“ When was anything ever convenient for Martin Wade unless he were to derive a direct, personal satisfaction from it! Then it became a horse of quite another color. He could even become lavish; everything must be of the best; nothing else would do; no expense, as long as full value was received, was too great. Mrs. Wade found herself searching her memory. She was positive that not since those occasions upon which he had brought home the sacks of candy for the sheer sunshine of watching little Rose's glee had anyone's pleasure been of enough importance to him to become his own. ”

“ Then Wade saw the glory of her--saw her mother again in that proud, fierce uplift of face, that flamed red and then blazed white--saw hate and passion and love in all their primal nakedness.
"Love him! Love Wilson Moore? Yes, you fool! I love him! Yes! Yes! YES!"
That voice would have pierced the heart of a wooden image, so Wade thought, as all his strung nerves quivered and thrilled.
Belllounds uttered a low cry of realization, and all his instinctive energy seemed on the verge of collapse. He grew limp, he sagged, he tottered. ”

“ Already the jaws of the Hulling Machine were gulping down the gobbets of splintered logs.
“How soon can you replace those booms, Mr. Ide?” Wade edged the words through his teeth, as a man stricken with lockjaw might have spoken. And without waiting for reply, he hurried on. “Put ’em in, Mr. Ide, because you’re going to need ’em. And put along this shore all the men in Castonia who can handle guns. Winchesters and dynamite, with ‘Hell on law’ for a battle-cry! That’s what he’s given us. It’s good enough for me. Will you put those booms in, Mr. Ide?” ”

“ There were dozens of men in Washington and New York who would almost have bartered their souls for such privilege, and Gordon Wade need not be decried for his moment of passionate yearning. He was enough of a man to put the thought aside, pending his interview with the Senator, which was his first purpose. He felt sure that if Senator Rexhill could be moved to interest in Crawling Water affairs, his influence would be potent enough to secure redress for the cattlemen, and Wade meant to pull every string that could bear upon so happy a result. ”

“ Dwight Wade, driven by fierce [Pg 310] anger against Pulaski Britt, who blocked his way to the girl whom his own hands could win but for Britt, smote the splint table and declared that there should be a spring flood in Blunder Stream.
“And if you fear lawsuits, being a man of property, Mr. Ide, you should not know what I intend to do. You may be held as a partner. Dissolve that partnership. You may be held as an employer. Discharge me when this log-cut is landed. Protect yourself. ”

“ It means trouble if you show in sight there without your men behind you.”
“But I’m going,” insisted Wade, with such positiveness that old Christopher merely sighed. “I’ll let you go into the camp alone,” allowed Wade, “for I am not fool enough to look for trouble just to find it; but I’ll be waiting for you up the tote road with the moose-sled, and I’ll haul her home here out of that hell.”
“I can’t blame you for wantin’ to play hoss for her,” said the woodsman, with a little malice in his humor. [Pg 260] “And if she is like most girls she’ll be willin’ to have you do it.” ”

“ I faced him in turn, erect and unflinching. "Professor Sebastian," I answered, in my coldest and calmest tone, "you say what is not true. If you consult the list of passengers by the Vindhya, now posted near the companion-ladder, you will find the names of Hilda Wade and Hubert Cumberledge duly entered. We took our passage after you inspected the list at the office to see whether our names were there—in order to avoid us. But you cannot avoid us. We do not mean that you shall avoid us. We will dog you now through life—not by lies or subterfuges, as you say, but openly and honestly. ”

“ Wadd fell into the habit of listening for the whistler coming up the stair. “Like a bird, like a bird!” he would murmur to himself, and, when the studio door slammed, he would smile and return to his work.
One May morning, they met on the stair a second time and exchanged greetings, and a few mornings later Mr. Wadd left his office when he heard the whistling, and descended to the street merely to gain a sight of the young man. He was so ashamed of himself that for some days he tried not to hear the whistling. ”

“ If you ever are--no! when you are, then I will owe it to Bent Wade. No man ever owed another for so precious a gift. But, Collie, I can't help a little vague dread--of what, I don't know, unless it's a sense of the possibilities of Hell--Bent Wade.... Dearest, I don't want to worry you or frighten you, and I can't follow out my own gloomy fancies. Don't you mind too much what I think. Only you must realize that Wade is the greatest factor in our hopes of the future. ”

“ I hope by that time we'll be able to drink a toast, sir, to you and Miss Eve."
"You don't hope so any more than I do," said Wade gravely. "I only wish—" He stopped, frowned at his pipe and went on. "The devil of it is, Doctor, I feel so confoundedly cheeky."
"Eh?"
"I mean about asking her to marry a fellow like me."
"What's the matter with you? You're of sound body and mind, aren't you?"
"Yes, I reckon so. But I'm such a useless sort, in a way. I've never done anything except make some money."
"Some women would think you'd done quite enough," replied the Doctor, dryly. ”