towards me again, tears were glistening beneath them.
“Ah no,” she said. “He doesn’t like me. He despises me. And I am so sorry for him,—I would give my life to make him well again. But don’t tell him that I said so. He would be angry with me. I think that he has hated me for a long time. He never had a kind look for me, although we were neighbors at home in Bohemia. He never had a friendly word for any of the girls from the village,—he is in love with some lady of high rank.”
He is in love with the empty air, with a phantom, with a creation of his morbid fancy,—and here is this beautiful and wholesome reality, I thought to myself.
“He does nothing but write,” continued the girl; “writing isn’t good for him, is it?”
“No, not at all.”
“He writes in the night time as well,—only yesterday there was a light in his window until after midnight,—he was writing,—he was seen by,—by,—one of his neighbors.”
“Indeed? Well, at my next visit I must see that it does not occur again. Otherwise he will certainly bring an early death upon himself. Goodbye.”
I spurred my horse on, and heard the girl’s thanks behind me as I cantered towards Novorossijsk.
Tabunov stood up.
“Well, go on, go on,” said various members of the party.
But the surgeon declared with determination: “We must strike our tents and move forwards if we are to reach our destination before the swelter of noon. Then in the pleasant shadow I will finish my story about fame.”
(To be continued.)
Current Topics
THE FOUNDER OF A REPUBLIC.
Under this title the Washington Post, one of the most influential dailies of the United States, published the following leading article on March 7, 1920, on the occasion of President Masaryk’s seventieth birthday:
This day has been made a holiday by the Czecho-Slovak republic, and there is reason to believe that it will be celebrated hereafter in perpetuity. It is the anniversary of the birth of Thomas G. Masaryk, first president of the republic, who has reached the age of 70 years, and who, blessed with health and strength, is completing the structure of the free government he has done so much to establish. The singularity of his standing among modern state-builders, and the resemblance of his career to that of George Washington, make him a peculiarly interesting figure to Americans.
The Bohemian people are not postponing until Masaryk’s death the homage that is due him. In this respect they imitate the Americans, who recognized in their first President a man so fixed in purity of character that it was not necessary to observe precaution in doing him honor. Washington was acclaimed President by all parties, and so was Masaryk. Each was first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen.
Washington faced no greater or more disheartening tasks than those which confronted Masaryk.
In the complexity of political problems the creation of the free nation of Czechs and Slovaks was a harder task than the creation of the United States. But for the burning patriotism and clear vision of a man peculiarly equipped for his work, there would have been no United States and no Czecho-Slovakia. Each of these men labored for the establishment of a “nation of laws and not of men,” and each succeeded, but before the nation of laws could come into existence it was necessary that nations of men should be wrestled with, and that unstinted outpourings of the energy of the human heart should be offered, in meekness and with a “sad sincerity,” as libations to the goddess of liberty. Each of the nation-builders “builded wiser than he knew.” Washington, with all his marvelous foresight, did not fully comprehend a century’s development, and doubtless Masaryk only dimly imagines the place which he and his country will occupy a century hence. His nation is stronger and more populous than was the nation that hailed Washington as its first President. His country’s history goes further back, and in it pages are many glowing records of heroism and genius. The growth of the United States under a form of free government such as that which Masaryk has established in Bohemia ought to inspire the most optimistic sentiments throughout the new republic.
One of the facts common to the establishment of both the United States and Czecho-Slovakia, which never should be forgotten, is this: France was the faithful ally and friend of both. Without France Washington’s efforts would have been in vain. Without France Masaryk could not have achieved the independence of Bohemia. In the ever-enduring cement which binds the foundation stones of these republics is mixed the blood of Frenchmen shed for others in the cause of liberty.
Another fact that should not be forgotten is this: It was in this Capital, under the folds of the
