St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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our whole nation in the folds of civil strife,-the great Civil XYar of rS6r. NVhat could have better satiated a spirit of recklessness than participation in such exciting scenes P So john enlisted, and owing to the military dis- cipline he had received at college, soon obtained a lieu- tenant's commission. Amid the stirring events of war- fare there was great difficulty in sending messages at 3 distance 3 and so through all the four long, weary years not a word was heard of john Hielt, excepting now and then a mere rumor. Once, indeed, as was ascertained afterwards he had written home, but the letter was unfor- tunately lost. Afterwards he was either offended because he received no answer, or he had lost sufficient regard for the home of his childhood 3 for he never wrote again. After the four years of service had rolled slowly around, john seemed to have been imbued with Bishop Berkeleys idea that Westvvard the course of empire takes its way,' and accordingly he is soon on his Way to California. He openedalaw oflice in San Francisco, and started into work with his characteristic vim, and with the intention of rising in his profession, and thus making up for the lack of applied energy while at law school. But john was not happy. His better nature was, as it were, shut upivvithin himself, and he had ver- itably become a scheming man-of-the-world, teeming with ambition, his every thought being directed toward success in his profession. . Twelve years sped by. john had acqulred the IGP' I utation of being an able, enterprising lawyer, strictly accurate in his business transactions, yet little caring if other people suffered by his dealings. His opinion was respected, but he did not possess the genial warmth of feeling which makes one generally beloved. Reaction at last came. A commonplace circum- stance Was the means of leading john to reflect, and that was just the revolutionizing agent needed. Une day, While Waiting for the trai11 which should take him some miles out of the city to visit one of his clients, his atten- tion was attracted to two not overly well dressed urchins who were talking near him in mysterious whispers. They Seemed to be greatly pleased at something. One would make a remark, and then both would laugh as if it were the funniest joke in the world. The ludicrous aspect of the scene first caught his notice, and as he had nothing more profitable to do while awaiting his train, he allowed them to occupy his whole attention. He soon learned that somebody was expected on the incoming train, and that the whisperings and peculiar actions of the boys be- tokened the expectation of rare joy at the meeting. At length the train came shrieking into the depot, and the expectant air of the boys was even more ludicrous than before. They kept nudging each other with their elbows, all the while keeping a sharp lookout for the expected newcomer. john was interested, and watched them until a middle-aged woman alighted from one of the cars, whom the boys had no sooner seen than they ran up to

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There 'was soon to begin a chain of circumstances which tended more and more to cast into shadow his better nature, and which were the cause of much sorrow and bitter repentance in after years. However, before this dark train, there was a trace of light. 'S To make a long story short, about the beginning of his Senior year john fell in love with a young lady living a couple of miles from the college, and for a time it appeared that his sunny disposition would once more be resurrected from its tomb of melancholy, and that john would be able to grasp the sunbeams of life which had lately eluded his clutch. His smile once more returned to his countenance 3 he felt better toward the world be- cause his innermost being, his affections, had been stirred, and somewhat of his old enthusiasm in natural beauty returned, together with a reawakening of home- love. But, alas! such a happy state of affairs was des- tined to arrive at an abrupt termination. The young lady who had excited his admiration was a bright, attractive girl, and she gave john all the encouragement he needed in his suit for her hand, but shortly before commence- ment, just as he was about to leave the scene of four busy years and take another step in the walks of life, he one day took her to a beautiful secluded spot near her home, and spoke of his love to her. Imagine his surprise and chagrin when she simply laughed a cold, pitiless laugh, and told him what her actions had belied many a time. H His faith in human nature was greatly shattered at I this disappointment of his hopes, and under any circum- stances it would have required some time for the wounds to heal. But again circumstances were against him. He relapsed into his former melancholy pursuit of chill, unadorned knowledge, became somewhat reckless ir his actions, and when the session at the law school opened, it found him in a it mood to enter into the first scheme, good or bad, that was presented to him. 'K It is needless to enter into the details of his experi- ences at law school. Suffice it to say that he fell in with a crowd of young men who cared more for having a good time than for studying, and as a result of his reckless feeling, john entered into their enterprises with spirit, and although not doing anything very wicked, still he neglected home, friends, studies, and almost self-respect. His natural brightness carried him through his final examinations, but the tares which had been sown in his character could not fail to produce their legitimate fruit. and to thrust him one step farther from the path of recti- tude and happiness. Such was the sorrowful situation when at last John was equipped to sail forth upon the voyage of life g and oh, how that motheris heart must have ached for the bright though wayward son whom she saw drifting away from loveis ennobling l11l:lLlG1'fCGSi You will notice that the year of Johns graduation was his twenty-sixth, and that same year witnessed the beginning of that stupendous struggle which enveloped

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's si ig -I i i -f-33.11-QR: ': ,ii 4. 'r I J 'r ? 1 2 1 3 1 S ? 5 z U ' 4 i ,l I Fl i l s her pell-mell, seized her withered hands, demanded a kiss each, and altogether showed such manifestations of delight that they unwittingly formed the centre of attrac- tion for more than one pair of eyes. That was all he saw of them 3 for just then the command ' all aboard ' was given, and he had to run to mount the train just begin- ning to move off, and accordingly the happy trio were lost from view. Nor did he ever see them afterwards 3 but through- out his trip he kept musing on the scene which had attracted him as being ludicrous, but which had termin- ated so pathetically. The gladsome faces of the young- sters with happiness even shining through the grime ever rose before his mind, and the pinched, trouble-suggesting countenance of the woman, also illuminated with joyful- ness, was no less to him an object for reiiection. The monotonous rumbling of the wheels, the swaying of the train, and the swiftly flying landscapes were excellent accompaniments to his sober meditations, and he recalled pensively the scenes of bygone happier days, and also the image of one long since left in sunny Maryland, and whom he once delighted to call mother. He recalled his boyhoodis life of peaceful tranquility, and contrasted it as best he could with his present restless struggle for position 3 and for the first time in many years, a tear-drop glistened in his eye. Two weeks later an east-bound express contained a man who seemed to be all impatience, fretting at every I stoppage, and restlessly pacing from place to place. It was john Hielt going to search for his long-forgotten home. He found it, but what a change had taken place I The house was unoccupied, and was in a tumble-down condition 3 and the once fertile fields were nearly as you now see them, a mass of rank weeds. Cn inquiry he learned that his father had died during the war, and that his mother was then living with a neighbor living at a distance of a mile and a half. Greatly grieved, and not waiting to hear particulars, he started on a run across the fields to the neighbor's house. As he approached the dwelling he spied an aged woman just returning from the spring with a pitcher of water, and soon recognized in the bent form and withered features the guide and inspiration of his youth. Checking his desire to rush up to her, for fear of startling her too much, he first called to her and asked her some question, and then approaching her little by little, and meanwhile keeping up the con- versation, he at length made himself known. Then all the anguish pent up in that mother's breast for a score of years was liberated in floods of tears, and mingled with the tear-drops of remorse which fell from the eyes of that brawny, bearded man. They talked for a long time, past woes cast aside, and both filled brimful witlf the sweetness of reunion. john then found out what had transpired during his pro- tracted absence. The farm had been overrun during the war, and after that, the father being dead, it was rented