The Fellowship of Truth [pp. 369]

The Fellowship of Truth.
MR. JOHNSON: Please give that $Ioo to my lawyer
for defending my case, and kindly oblige your friend
CLARK.
Johnson was ruined financially, but his
stupidity was already widely understood,
and so the thieves were not yet willing
to let him go. His fine bird dog, to
which he was not very kind, was stolen
from him the day of the trial. And yet
they were merciless, as we afterward
learned. The penniless driver, who had
been very faithful to his employer, was
left to shift for himself in an unpromising quarter of the globe, and Johnson
hitched up his two-span team, and started away alone to cross the Jornada del
Muerto on his way back to Kansas.
When he reached "the Ruins," the
seven Mexicans sympathized with him
heartily, and had him first eat and smoke
with them, and then lie down to sleep
inside their fort. Surely he was among
friends, since he had seen them wiping
away tears, as he told them his story in
detail. Weary with toil and mental anxiety he slept well, and he awoke to find
his poorest mule stamping to be free.
The other three could not be found. His
seven friends had left him an animal to
migrate northward on, and he did so,
leaving his wagon with the harnesses
where it stood.
Dagfmar leariiager.
THE FELLOWSHIP OF TRUTH.
TRUTH shall keep the field at last;
She is not lightly overthrown.
But what of him whose lot is cast
To fight for truth alone?
Blind men shall proclaim him blind
In seeing what they cannot see;
And shouts of "Traitor!" from behind
Shall hold him from his victory.
A lonely lot is his. And yet
Alone-he is not all alone.
Though others scorn him, or forget,
Strong Truth is still his own.
And they who scorn, and they who fear;
Blind age, and boastful callow youth,
Shall envy him, at last, the dear
Companionship of Truth.
Isaac Ogden RaN kin.
VOL. XVI.-24.
1890.]
369