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158
Adventures in Contentment
·
David Grayson
123
"They
all
thought,"
said
Horace,
"that
he'd
up
an'
kill
himself.
He
said
he
would,
but
he
didn't.
Instid
o'
that
he
put
an
open
bottle
on
his
table
and
he
looked
at
it
and
said:
'Which
is
stronger,
now,
you
or
John
North?
We'll
make
that
the
test,'
he
said,
'we'll
live
or
die
by
that.'
Them
was
his
exact
words.
He
couldn't
sleep
nights
and
he
got
haggard
like
a
sick
man,
but
he
left
the
bottle
there
and
never
touched
it."
How
my
heart
throbbed
with
the
thought
of
that
old
silent
struggle!
How
much
it
explained;
how
near
it
brought
all
these
people
around
him!
It
made
him
so
human.
It
is
the
tragic
necessity
(but
the
salvation)
of
many
a
man
that
he
should
come
finally
to
an
irretrievable
experience,
to
the
assurance
that
everything
is
lost.
For
with
that
moment,
if
he
be
strong,
he
is
saved.
I
wonder
if
anyone
ever
attains
real
human
sympathy
who
has
not
passed
through
the
fire
of
some
such
experience.
Or
to
humour
either!
For
in
the
best
laughter
do
we
not
hear
constantly
that
deep
minor
note
which
speaks
of
the
ache
in
the
human
heart?
It
seems
to
me
I
can
understand
Doctor
North!
He
died
Friday
morning.
He
had
been
lying
very
quiet
all
night;
suddenly
he
opened
his
eyes
and
said
to
his
sister:
"Good-bye,
Kate,"
and
shut
them
again.
That
was
all.
The
last
call
had
come
and
he
was
ready
for
it.
I
looked
at
his
face
after
death.
I
saw
the
iron
lines
of
that
old
struggle
in
his
mouth
and
chin;
and
the
humour
that
it
brought
him
in
the
lines
around
his
deep-set
eyes.
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