“Strange, strange,” and the old man placed his hand to his forehead.  “You are like all the rest, then.  You hear but you do not understand.”

“What do you hear?” the newcomer asked, thinking that he was talking to a weak-minded creature.

“I hear great things, which will be for the welfare of the whole community.  The waters tell me what they will do.  They will make life worth living.  They will give light and power to the people all along the river and revolutionise their daily tasks.  Instead of hard labour by the sweat of the brow, the waters will do the work.  People will be happy, and have time for the beautiful things of life.  Grinding toil and sorrow will be banished forever.”

“Umph!  So that is what you hear, eh?  What is the good of hearing such a voice, if you have no power to make it come true?”

“But the people will hear and understand,” the old man insisted.  “I am telling them about it.”

“Yes, I know you are, and they think you are a fool for your efforts.  They laugh at you, and call you crazy.”

“But they will come to see that I am right.  They, too, will hear the voice, and then they will not be able to resist its pleadings.”

“If you had the money they would listen to you, for that is the only voice people will heed to-day.  If you came here with an abundance of gold, people would hear anything you asked them to in the falls up yonder.  But because you are poor, like myself, your ideas will have no more weight with them than the lightest feather.  Back your visions with money and people will crowd around you, and you will be heeded.  But try to get along without money, and, bah! you are a fool.”

Scarcely had these words left his lips ere a raucous honk up the road startled him.  Then an auto with blazing lights leaped out of the night.  The old man was standing right in its way, unconscious of his danger.  Almost instinctively two strong hands clutched him and hurled him into the ditch as the car swept past.  Shouts of merriment sounded forth upon the night air from the occupants of the car.  The fright they had given the two by the side of the road evidently gave them much amusement.  Their laughter caused the rescuer to straighten suddenly up, and clutch the old man fiercely by the arm.

“Did you hear them?” he asked, and his voice was filled with suppressed emotion.

“Yes,” was the reply.  “They are only thoughtless youths having a good time, I suppose.”

“It’s just what money does, though.  I know who they are, for I caught a glimpse of them as they sped past.  It’s money that talks with them; that is the only voice they hear.  They will ride over the less fortunate, and crush them down as worms beneath their feet.  They have been doing it for ages, and look upon it as their right.  What do they care about the meaning of the falling waters when they are always listening to the voice of money.  Curse them.  Why should they revel and sport with ill-got gains, when honest men can hardly get enough to keep breath in their bodies.”