Newspaper Page Text
r
TKe Lead Coins
By William Hurd Hillyer
r
Written*. r or 7?** foaar ^ottth
TOLD the sun good night—
or perhaps I should have
said “good morning”’—and
pulled down the green
shades. The sun gets up
'* about the time l retire. I
am night watchman at the
Twelfth national bank.
It seemed to me that I
had slept only a few min
utes—It might nave been
two or three hours—when
there was a violent knock
ing at the door and a
bicycle messenger handed me an envelope
bearing the blue embossed design of the
Twelfth national. The note was a curt
summons to the hank.
Fifteen minutes later I entered the side
door and faced the cashier in his private
office, i had feared, from the start that
something was very wrong. When I saw
the cashier's face I knew that the worst
had happened; how, I was not able to
£iiess.
I '‘ You were at the vauitifrom 9 p. m to
5 a. m.. Mr. Weils?"
I answered in the affirmative.
Did you notice anything unusual?"
“No. sir.”
He flashed upon me a.quick glance of
distrust. Then h e stared at me search-
irjgJy Without sneaking and seemed to
satisfy himself that I had told the truth
\Ne are in trouble here. Mr. Wells. The
vault has been robbed.”
“Impossible!” l gasped. I should not
have done this, for * had foreseen what
was coming, and my ejaculation sound
ed rather unnatural.
“It’s a very strange case,” he went on.
“Someone, between ti p. m. yesterday and
this morning, has entered the vault
and committed a large robbery.”
“Was the Jock Interfered with, Mr.
Castle?”
“So far as I can see.” he replied, “it
has not been tampered with. That is the
most inexplicable part of the affair. I
set the lock my sell at 5:50 yesterday
afternoon, not to open until 8:3u tms
morning. 1 went to it myself at that hour
and was obliged to wait aboui liaif a
minute oeiore i coulq draw tne uo.ts.
Ever”thing A-nmea ju perfect condition,
inside, apparently no tiling had been
touched. 1 et. when one of our young
men opened a 'money bag tnat naa uerii
placed in the »a*jlt yesterday lull or go*a
naif-eagles ana .quarter-eagles, this was
w.hat he found.”
The cashier took from the drawer of
his desk a small,canvas bag and emptied
out its contents.
They were no clumsy gun wads, but
perfect coins, bright ana shining, like
new type metaJ. Each had its proper de
sign and lettering in
Every perfect imitation of gen-
Coin nine money. Except that
in the they were of the wrong
Bag Wa* metal, they might well
of Lead have been real half and
quarter-eagles.
While we were examining the coins the
vice president. Mr. Singer, walked In,
his face more beclouded than 1 ever
saw it.
“The detective has charge of the case,’*
said he. “Have you found out any
thing-?”
“Nothing at all.” responded the cashier.
“Mr. Wells says he noticed nothing un-
*” usual, find he was on guard from 9 until
5 last night. Have you seen Renny and
Spearman?” * , _ .. .
“Yes, I've talked to both of them, and
they know nothing.”
“You ray no one but yourself was near
the vault during your watch?” questioned
Mr Slrger. eyeing me sharply.
-No one but mysMf, arter 1 relieved Mr.
Renny at » o’clock.”
-And you rcticed nothing unusual?”
-Nothing, sir.”
The ^ice president pulled nervously at
his moustache. “You were awake all
the time, of course?”
I smiled at such a question.
-1 was awake all the time, sir,” I
answered.
“You may go. Mr. Wells.”
I turned toward the door.
“By the way,” called th* cashier. “We
want to keep tms thing out or the pa
pers. Understand?”
I premised secrecy and left Tne build
ing. At the corner a small man in a gray
suit looked me square In the eve as 1
passed, and two blocks turther on I no
ticed him sauntering leisurely behind me.
I stopped at a drug store and bought a
cigar. When I came out lie was looking
in at a shop window next door. 1 was
patched. Well. I can hardly blame them.
That night when 1 went on duty the
cashier brought a quiet, clean-shaven
gentleman, whom he Introduced as “Mr.
V. illiair.s.” and said that Mr. Williams
was going to help me watch the vault.
The gentleman explained that no had a
theory about the case, end wanted to
stay all night and test It. We played
cards for a while, then he went all around
the vault, which was of solid ste°l and of
the latest construction, tapping it gently
here and there—as if that did any good—
and listening attentively. I think hj
would have gone under It. but for the
fact that it rested on a pier of solid ma-
senry.
The night wore away, and 1 he.ird
nothing more of his theory. Next morn
ing I was summoned to the bank as be
fore. Upon arriving there 1 found things
in a somewhat cyclonic condition. Thj
vault had been robbed again, and in the
same manner. A large amount of gold
and silver had been taken out and re
placed with new* lead coins—and that
without disturbing the lock or making so
much as a scratch on tne outside ot
the vault. Furthermore, the cashier and
vice president had noth searched me vault
before locking it. and th? vice president
himself had unlocked it In tne morning
and discovered the robbery. How much
had been taken out 1 did not learn at the
time; but i arterwands heard that it
was. for the two nights, something over
fMl.OUU. A strange circumstance was that
none of the paper money had Deen in
terfered with The mys:ery defied solu-
ticn.
On the next night It was not only the
detective who assisted me in the vigil,
but . the cashier and vice president also.
Ihe president, wno was in «t. l ouls at
the time, had been wired for, but did not
airive until file day afterward
Every precaution had been taken. Fol-
.owing Mr. Williams’ advice, most of the
remaining coin had been transferred to
the vault of a neighboring trust com-
pauv m which soma ot the officers, of the
lank owned stock. The budding was sur
rounded with picked men. The vice pres-
•dent liad searched and locked tne vault,
and on., or the o-jier had beer, near it
ever since.
I sat at the rear of the vault, amusing
myself with two or three of the lead
coins.
I took out my penknife and began idly
scraping at an eagle, which looked al
most genuine, it was so new and shining.
“A curious notion,’’ I thought, “to al-
w ays substitute these counterfeits—so
cleverly made and yet so palpable. Who
ever did this work must have a sense of
•poetic justice.”
I had carved half way to the center of
the coin, when suddenly my knife struck
something harder thaji the surrounding
metal. I shaved away the lead so as to
bring it to view, then carried it to an in
candescent light. It seemed to be a thin
tenance. He disappeared for a moment,
returning with hammer and nails. The
drayman soon had the box mended, and,
mounting his seat, started down the al
ley. I had already decided what course
to pursue. I would follow that dray if
it went into East river. I called a cab
and told the cabman what I wanted,
promising double fare.
We jogged along through the crowded
streets for about a mile. At length the
dray stopped in front of one of the offices
of the Adams Express Company. The
driver dismounted and lugged in the
packages, one after the other. Then I
remembered, with a sickening sense of
failure, that I had never looked at the
of that real or pretended laboratory had
discovered a new form of radiant energy
perhaps similar to the X-ray. which when
directed from & bar of lead against goia
or silver coins even in a closed vault £0
feet distant, would draw out the gold or
/silver without making any visible dis
turbance, depositing the lead in its
place., atom for atom—in a manner some
what analogous to the process of electro
plating. This accounts for the beautiful
lead coins, and the fact that a few of
them still had a little gold near the cen
ter seems to prove tlig theory beyond
doubt. The thieves, whoever they were,
stood In the adjoining building and fo
cussed their “rays” on one money bag
after the other, withdrawing the noble
metals and substituting base lead, while
we sat up all night trying to guard the
vault. It was grewsome to think that the
metals had beep pasing out in a stream
of invisible atoms, part of the time
through our very bodies, without our
knowing it.
The guilty ones had flown. My too-evi-
dent interest in the “copper” and “anti
mony” had alarmed them. The express
company was notified to hold the pack
ages. but .they had already been shipped.
The record in the express office showed
that they were consigned to “S. M. Far
ley. Providence, R. I.” The Providence
detectives were wired to and it was ex
pected that the consignee would be easily
caught. But he had probably been warn
ed by his confederates, for no one called
for the packages. After being held for
some days, they were returned to New
York and the Twelfth national at length
recovered them. They were found to con
tain about $.70,000 in gold and silver bul
lion. The balance of the $80,000 stolen is
still missing and the thieves are prob
ably enjoying it in some distant country.
Neither “Wilson” nor any of his as
sociates—if he hrfd any—have been lo
cated as yet. Until he is captured, the
Story is unfinished, for a detective story
In which the culprit Is never arrested is a
most unorthodox performance. The
trouble is, U would be hard to convict
him even if caught. For unless the state
could show a practical experiment in
“teledialysis” the Judge would no doubt
instruct the Jury to bring in 4 verdict of
pot guilty on the ground thai. according
to the prosecution’s own statement,
neither the prisoner nor any- of his as
sociates were in the bank at the tiiqe of
the robbery.
Meanwhile, let those with treasure
boxes beware, for there is a thief at large
who can steal without breaking through.
v? ©6c Red and the Black
The bottom burst off and four or five reddish-yellow bars tumbled out.
disc of copper embedded in the coin. I
showed what I had found to the detec
tive. He stared at is for some moments,
and then drew from his pocket a small
vial of colorless liquid and let fall two or
three drops on the cross section of bright
lead with its bit of yellow metal In the
middle. The lead became first grayish and
then almost black. The yeljpw metal was
not affected In the least.
“Gold,” I murmured, and the detective
and I looked at each other in common
astonishment.
All of us, the vice president and cashier
included, worked very hard on the re
maining lead coins in hopes of finding
some more gold, but only three of them
con tailed any’, and the disc in one of
these was very thin.
In the morning the vice president and
pashier opened the vault and found that,
with one or the other standing by it every
moment since it had been locked the
previous afternoon, about $800 of the $1,UU0
left in the gold and silver boxes had been
replaced by lead counterfeits. The locks
botth of the vault and of the compart
ment, the very’ knots on the money bags,
seemed Just as the cashier had left tnem.
That afternoon, in spite of all our pre
cautions, the newspapers got hold of the
affair and printed glowing accounts of
the three successive robberies—dwelling
at length upon the impenetrable mystery
of the case and the .clever workmanship
of the Jead coins. Very little money ex
cept bills was left in the vault tnat nignt.
None of it interfered with.
It seemed to me that the only possible
explanation was that some one had en
tered the vault through an underground
passage, after tunneling the pier under
neath, and even this was an absurdity.
Still. I could not help believing that a
careful scrutiny of the floor of the vault
would reveal a secret opening, and I
thought thai perhaps the other end of the
tunnel could be discovered ip some ad
jacent cellar. With this in mind, I was
sauntering along the alley next to the
bank on the second morning after the last
robbery, looking intently at the building
opposite. A /side door was open, with a
one horse dray standing in iront of it.
On tne dray was a narrow wooden box
about a foot long, labeled.
CHEM. PURE ANTIMONY.
50 lbs.
While I was looking at this the dray
man came out. bearing on his shoulder a
similar wooden box, apparently quite
heavy. Just as he was about to put it on
the dray hjs hand slipped and the box
fell noisily to the pavement. The bottom
burst off and four or five reddish-yellow
bars tumb.ed out, clinking against the
cobble stopes. At ordinary times 1 would
have noticed nothing unusual, but my
mind was sp full of the recent robbery
and my senses were so alert, that when
1 saw those ingots there on the pavement
1 almost cried aloua. For their ring was
ciear and musical, as of a noble metai.
The drayman—dull ledow that he was—
swore softly to himself and began picking
up the bits of metai and putting them
back in the box. ’JLh$ package was labeiea;
PURE COPPER.
50 lbs.
no card playing that night,
•he two officers of the bank sat near the
entrance and conversed in low tones. The
ctectlve walked slowly up d'-wn. his
lace ha ”J?ard with much thinking.
I smiled at the clever deception. The
workman looked up and caught me. He
grinned and swore again, very pleasant
ly. by way of showing me that he bore
no malice. Considering the fact that he
had mashed his toe. he behaved himself
with remarkable propriety.
At this moment a man who was evi
dently his employer appeared in the door
way. I was expecting a disturbance and
began to move on. But I heard only this
remark In a clear, well-bred voice:
“Why. you seem to be having a hard
time of it!”
The speaker was a thin, rather tall
person, clean shaven, of intelligent coun-
tags to see whom the boxes were being
sent to. They were already In the office
and there was now no way of seeing
them.
The empty dray moved off and I got
back into my cab. “Drive to the Twelfth
National as fast as you can,” I said
There wns nothing else to do.
Mr. Castle heard my story with in
terest. and to my measureless relief did
not score me for failing to find out the
consignee of the boxes. Williams was
out “on the case,” and we had to tele
phone Tor two men from the “fron*
office.”
They came in about fifteen minutes.
Meanwhile I had kept a close watch on
the suspected building, -whence the sup
posed bullion had been shipped. The
“Wilson Chemical Company,’’ whose
name was stamped on the boxes, occu
pied half of the second floor. The de
tectives first took a quiet survey of the
premises from a distant, while I told
them what I knew’ and described as best
I could the appearance of the men who
seemed to have charge of shipping the
packages. ^
Then the detectives went Into th’e build
ing. They returned in about twenty
minutes. The door of the “laboratory,”
they said, was locked, and upon forcing
an entrance they had found only a long
room with shelves of glass jars and vari
ous kinds of chemical apparatus. They
had searched the cellar of the building
and discovered nothing unusual. They
hinted at the opinion that I had raised
a false alqrm.
Just then Williams arrived on the
scene. I unfolded my tale and he Im
mediately said:
“I'll go up there and see if I can find
anything.”
T 'May I go, too?” asked the cashier.
“Certainly,” he replied. f ‘Since there
seems to be no one there, you and Mr.
Wells can both come.”
We ascended the stairs and found
things very much as the other detectives
had said. There was considerable appa
ratus strewn about in more or less con
fusion. Near the wall to the left was an
electric motor and several induction
coils, all connected up in the city circuit.
The motor had evidently been belted to
some piece of machinery which had been
removed. The stand on which the ma
chine had rested was still there. I did
not notice these things particularly at
the time, but something which was found
not long after we entered brought them
forcibly to my attention.
A paper funnel which had been used
to pour some kind of powder into a bottle
—this was what the astute Williams
brought to light and offered as a solution
of the* mystery. For the funnel was made
of a sheet of writing paper, one side of
which was covered with closely written
matter. The page was numbered ”3*’ at
the top, and the writing began In the
middle of a sentence. It read as follows:
“bocouse a partial vacuum offers less re
sistance. My next step was to devise a
method of electrodialysis through a fluid
medium, like water, and then through or
dinary air. I found that by strengthening
the radiations I could obtain a discharge
of various metals through solid screens
of wood, and even of steel, without dis
turbing the screens in the slightest. The
atoms of the metal seemed to pass be
tween the molecules of the screen with
out producing any visible effect.
“The fact that, in electro-plating, silver
flows from the positive to the negative
terminal and is replaced by cyanide of
potassium from the solution, suggested
my next series of experiments, the most
important of all from a commercial stand
point. I eventually perfected a machine
which would produce radiations of suffi
cient intensity to draw gold through
screens of brick or of steel and replace it
with lead or any other metal of about
the same atomic weight. I called this ex
change of metals 'teledialysis’ (from tele,
far, and dialyzein, to break through).
This last machine could be so adjusted
that silver—”
The bottom of the page cut off the
writing. But the conclusions to be drawn
from it are obvious. Whoever had charge
duced it almost to a wfcisper; “this money
I’ve lost was family money—my mother's
money—money the ioss of wnich will cause
her suffering and cost me my honor and
self respect!”
“You should have considered that be
fore,” cqmmented Gardiner seriously, af
ter the manner of one giving advice.
“True—I should But promise me that
I can have the thousand dollars and I’ll
call tomorrow with all the security you
can possibly want!”
The man had listened attentively to the
distracted appeal. notwithstanding the ap
parently cold scrutiny which he took of
the haggard, troubled face before him.
Indeed, he was moved to commisera
tion, but the thought of falsehood and
misstatement suggested itself to him and
he felt that he must remain firm.
“Mr. Phillips, I should like to help you,”
he remarked, sincerely, “but I’ll tell you
at once that I cannot, it’s one of the
principles of the business that we must
stick to—not to return money once taken
in. except, as I’ve Told you”—and he ges
tured with his hand—“as a matter of tem
porary pocket runds.”
He turned to some papers on his desk
to signify that the interview was closed.
It was Just as Phillips knew 7 it would
be. He arose and left without another
word. But. if his lips were silent, his
heart was full of dark and lurid passions
—of smothered resentment toward the
man who had his money and could assist
him. yet would not. Poor novice in the
ways of#the world! This was but his ma
triculation. He had her.n taught his first
lesson in the value of money 'by a vain
effort to borrow it. and with It came
the knowledge that governing the great
medium of exchange are canons as un-
swervable. as immutable, as the change
less laws of the universe.
Gardiner was a man of some thirty-odd
vears—tall, broad-chested and of a pro-
pertlon-He physique. His erect bearing
and proud and virile mien gave him a
distinguished appearance, and he was
conceded by his professional colleagues
—as a class Jealous and \ain of them
selves rs peacocks—to be the “handsom
est gambler in town.” But he was simple
in his manners, devoid or conceit—plain,
frank ard ungarnished in his verbal in-
tercoursa. He was known to be. In the
parlance, “square as a dl«.” In an elee-
mosynery way he gave of his store with
a free hand, and his heart, though it had
lest much of its one time tenderness
through contact with base and sordid ele
ments of hurran character, had not be
er me so callous as to preclude his condol
ing with misfortune and affliction. In
other words, he w r as not the typical pro-
fc Rsional gamester as much for those rea-
sens as that he was possessed or culture
{r.fl refinement, but th*?:*'* stood him in
iTutT little stead in f he company in which
he, perforce, had to move.
Ten years before he had come to town,
gotten In with a fast set and lost some
money himself—lust enough to teach him
the winning side—then he went into the
business on his own account and had been
in It with much profit ever since.
He sat at his desk engrossed in thought
after the departure of his late visitor.
4 *He has an honest countenance. He's
rew in the ways of the town. I. too, was
so once—when I arrived, an unsophisti
cated boy, free from /Ices, Tree from
sin. But what am I now? Of what ac
count am I?”
x Given to m using at times, he thus so
liloquized now. He realized, as he had
frequently before, that though he gave
outward evidence of contentment ana sat
isfaction with his state, he was, rar down
below the surface of his being, not a hap
py man. Wrdle he did not look down
open h’s associates nor hold himself to be
better than they, he felt solitary and iso
lated among them. His mould and tem
perament contrasted widely with theirs,
and although exteriorly he had assimi
lated himself to their standards of lif9
ard Its pleasures and pursuits his real
ti-stes, lying latent, clamored ror grati
fication through the crannleg or his vizor
of adherence to other forms. No father,
no mother, no ties of consanguinity, and
hcmelcss, his affections had dried up like
the tree's sap in winter, capabue, indeed,
of being revivified, but requiring some
y arming, resuscitating Influence to bring
an awakening. The trite—often degrad
ing ami sements ot the circles in which
he passed palled upon him; rather, they
disgusted and shamed mm when, even
in moments ordinarily calculated to ob
scure all save the present, his better in
stincts rose above the surroundings. His
life was a vapid and cheerless inanity.
He felt the great void, and what caused
fcim worry •was that he saw no way of
filling it.
“The boy spoke of his mother,” med
itated he. “It’s well that mine—dear
soul!—went away before she knew what
I was to become.”
The lines of his face relaxed; the ac
quired expression of hard indifference
softened; his eyes filled. His vision be
came blurred, and presently tears that
had undergone d durance of unreckoned
years escaped down his cheek as he was
carried back in retrospection to the days
of his chlldhocd and youth. Faint echoes
of country-side sounds came trooping
down the lanes of time. He heard the
glad piping of birds in their airy habitats,
the neighing of horses in the verdant
pasture, the somniferous monotone of
young frogs quivering through the vesper
hush. His mind's eye saw the sibilant
geese followed about by their callow
brood and the “lowing herd wandering
slowly o’er the lea” to the tinkling of
bells mellowed by distance; and—ah! the
delectabillty of the buttermilk and corn
bread—douceurs with which in his bever-
Ing days the old black nurse had been
wont to soothe his childish cries.
From these reveries his thoughts grad
ually reverted to Phillips. Although
Gardiner’s manner toward the young man
had been obdurate, it was not harsh, and
somehow he regretted now that he had
refused him.
”1 believe he’s telling the truth, and I
should hate to hear of any one’s mother
suffering, especially where I might avert
It. I don’t think he’ll play any more,
and I’ve half a mind to send him a
check for what he has lost and let him
rejoice.”
He could imagine what the “boys”
would say if they knew of his doing such
a thing. “Gad. one wouldn’t think Jim
CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE.
was so chicken-hearted.” He was aware
himself that It would be altogether con
trary to the ethics of the fraternity; he
had never heard of a similar case.
“But I start on my trip tomorrow 7 , and
I want to enjoy it; to enjoy it I can't
have anything like this on my conscience
—conscience? A gambler with a con
science? That would be a paradox in
deed. Pshaw! I have no conscience, nor
has any other gambler. But the boy’s
face—I see it now, with its dejection, its
misery, its despair—By Jupiter! it would
haunt me like a spectre. I never saw a
chap lose so hard before. Yes, I’ll send
him the money.”
He ascertained Phillips' full name and
address from Dave Farrington, his chief
assistant, who happened to know’ these
particulars and w’ho was in the main
room casting up the results of the night’s
operations; and with the check Gardiner
sent these few’ words:
“I have reconsidered my decision, and
you will find a check herewith. Use it a9
you said you would. This money Is given
to you, and is not a loan.”
The streets were empty when Phillips
reappeared after the interview* just re
lated. Not a breath of breeze stirred the
arid air, and to the drizzle had succeeded
a slow, perpendicular rain, which, though
scanty, had driven to such casual shelter
as the recess of some shop entrance or an
open stairway those pitiable wretches—
the pariahs of large cities—who have po
calling and no home, and are buffeted^
about like the wreckage on the ocean of
life that they are until some more mad
and turbulent storm than ever shatters
them to atoms, and they sing before
tne darK waste to appear no more. The
garish electric signs of the theaters,
restaurants and drinking places, which
set the street aflame <iuring the earlier
hours of night, had long been extinguish
ed—the most of them before Phillips had
left the gambling rooms the first time—
and the tumult of traffic, business and
pleasure had subsided for those few hours
that mark its comparative cessation.
Weary and downcast, he plodded along
through the sultry night, w’hile the tepid
rain saturated his clothing and render
ed him intolerably hot.
“Keb, sir? Take a keb?’* Inquired the
driver of a hansom that w r as wheeling
slowly along close to the side track in
the same direction.
“Yes.” replied Phillips absently; “drive
me to”—but he stopped just as he was
stepping into the vehicle; he remembered
thnt he hadn’t any money. “Never
mind,” he added, embarrassed and discon
certed; “I’ll walk it tonight.”
He resumed his way mechanically,
dw’elling confusedly upon his broken
fortunes. Think coherently he could not:
the shock had so ‘tunned and deadened
his faculties that such a thing as laying
plans of extrication from his predica
ment did not occur to him. He was ob
livious of past and had no thought of
future, nor. indeed, was he sensible of
anything in the present save that one
constant weighing incubus—the knowl-
o Hre that ho was cnmnletel.v ruined
financially—perhaps morally—and that
th”so far away w’ould suffer with him
self.
After a walk of half an hour or so. his
mind sti’l stagnant and da^ed. he turned
as if instinctively into the street in which
he lived, and gained his apartments in a
quarter off upper Broadw’ay. where there
is an almost endless monotonv of resi
dences of a brown-stone facade. Through
habit he prepared himself for bed; he
had not thought of rest, but his fagged
brain and body demanded their due. He
was tired—so tired—so weary! Presently
Somnus passed his invisible wand over
the occupant of the couch, and sleep,
that welcome though ephemeral anodyne
for man’s troubles and misfortunes—the
Lethean realm of forgetfulness so aptly
described by’the poet as the “twin broth
er of death.” affording a surcease sought,
alas! hv so many through mediums un
natural-sweet sleep, stole over him and
beningnly wrapped him In Its winding
sheet of unconsciousness.
When he woke late that morning it was
with an equivocal, Intangible dread of
seme 111 that had happened or was going
to happen. Next all the events of the
night passed in review before him, as
one in waking goes over a dream, and.
Indeed, he felt that these were but the
recalled Incidents of a horrible nightmare.
Then the grim reality of it all forced
itself upon his now fully aroused under
standing and he sat upon the side of his
bed for a few* minutes in deep medita
tion. His mind had cleared and he re
flected with a stinging, ineffable* remorse
upon the life <Jf profligacy he had led
since coming to the city a year before.
For the first time the fallacy of It all
lay bare before him in all its ‘uncovered
hideousness, and he shuddered as he
thought of the still further depths to
which it might sink him. What Interest,
anyway, had he—who had been, reared
among the quiet influences of the acres
which he himself should now be tending
instead of leaving to the direction of a
younger brother—in this swarming micro
cosm, with Its artificial life so foreign to
his training. And had he, indeed, not
been attracted to it by its specious
glamor; by an overpowering fascination
that had begun now to wane, and not by
any legitimate ambition? He commenced
at last to see aright. He spurned the
idea which had come to him when he was
talking with Gardiner of asking hjs
friends—friends, too, might prove such
In name only—for any kin„d of assistance;
instead he made a quiet but firm resolu
tion. And now, as a sudden sunburnt
filled the room with Its warm beams the
bitter thoughts gave place to a plejsant
tranquility, for he was contemplating
a charming and restful prospect which
some unseen hand had instantaneously
painted upon the canvas of his mind.
Striking out into the great distant beyond
of the future lay a shimmering vista
radiant with promise and golden with
opportunity for noble achievement. Along
the way blossomed flowers of asphodel,
while plants of a strange and wonderful
beauty distilled aromas that were new
to his nostrils: fairy hands held chaplets,
fashioned of the wild olive, to crown
the conquering, and at the jeweled gate
swinging in his fanev stood hope, clad in
a cymar of white. She held aloft a glow
ing flambeau, whose beneficent rays
blazoned afar for the pilgrim the path of
light and truth through the dark and
meretricious environment. He saw the
way—it was the way of right.
Suddenly he arose, took his hath and
after dressing wrote a note to his land
lady. which briefly recited that circum
stances made it imperative for him fo
ask her to accept the furniture and other
articles In his apartments in payment of
the rent which was due. It was not that
he lacked the moral murage for a verbal
explanation—“Tt will save talk,” he
reasoned, “and T don’t feel like talking
this morning, especially unon a subject
remindful of things that I wish to for
get.”
He laid the missive upon a table, and
without giving a farewell glance about
the rooms closed the door after him and
presently issued forth Into the bright
sunshine, making toward Broadway. A
few minutes’ walk brought him to its
busiest up-town part, and here he was
taken up and absorbed by the life stream
coursing through the great artery of the
metropolis.
Tt was a very much surprised landlady
who read the note directed -> her oy her
late lodger: she had supposed him to be
without pecuniary* distractions. “Poor
fellow!” commented she. “I hope he
hasn’t got into any serious trouble.”
She held a letter in her hand that had
come for Phillips thnt morning. “What
shall T do with this now?” she asked her
self. Then, remembering his address in
fhe south. “T presume he’s gone home.”
she decided, “and I’ll forward it there.”
But the action did not at once respond to
the determination, and it was nri? until
more than a fortnight had elapsed that,
other letters having arrived for him and
espying the first one on the mantle board
where she had placed It for the time be
ing to attend to something else, she dis
patched It.
(To be continued.)
J.W. ALEXANDER
PHtSIDINT
mm
J . H.H YDL
;e president
nBBC
"GREAT OAKS FROM LITTLE ACORNS GROK"
and oreul fortunes from little savings grow.
For exampl e : Take an Endowment.
It gives protection to your family at once
ityou die. Helps provide tor your own future — if
,you live and about IS cents a day n illpay for
an Endowment lot' $1,000 30dollars a day
for $200,000 or between amounts in pro
portion. ' -
Here is the result,in 190?, of Endowment
No.240,125,for $10,000,taken out twenty years
ago:
Cash $14,934.°°
Tb is is a return of all premiums paid,with
$5,140.°° in addition , to say nothing of the
twenty years protection of assurance.
\ppU In fi KT.\l»BRI.I.,'i“ Vice President
I Send this coupon for particulars of such a policy issued at your age-
^THE EQUITABLE S0CIE.Tf.120 Broadway,New York. Dept.No.83
Please seud me iotormatlou regarding an Endowment
tor S if issued at years of age.
Name
Address
ut&SB cfti - ..MKHMaaMMUBiOTBIH