Newspaper Page Text
JULY 23, 1904
i
THE SUNNY SOUTH
THIRD ‘PAGE
By j t
4.
Out of Nazareth
Frances Jlfimmo Greene
Written for ZTAc Sunny South
EOPLE who attended
pots of a most uncompromising shade or
red.
to
Dr. Tfayden’s private af
fairs to the neglect of
their own, spent little
mental energy in guess
ing why that old gentle
man had practically ban
ished his son from home
for cn unbroken period of
five years. “Of course it
was to wean live hoy
from his growing infatua
tion for Nellie Tracy. It
was a wise thing, too,”
they told each other. "Nellie was sweet
and petty and all that—but—”
At length, however, the long term of
cnIU' neared its close, and people who
r* momberod the Hayden boy as a pre-
te:naturally clean, long-legged lad with
a pair of rascally black eyes, looked f ir- j
ward to his home-coming, curious to see j
what changes flic years and a college !
degree had worked In him.
Months before Charles Hayden’s re- i
turn, however, it began to be felt about •
t wn that something had gone wrong |
between f.ither and son. At first it was i
merely an impression, a miasmatic form j
of rumor that soaked info people from 1
the atmosphere; then the local gossips :
put their heads together, and reduced |
it to a certain quantity. According to j
them. Charles had broken every com- (
mnndment in the Decalogue half in two. ;
and had then sat down tike a young I
Alexander, and wept because there were i°". v ar| d fat an old wine-drinking unbe-
hm more to break. Conservative people | liever as any in the state. His soul never
tv.-re rather of the opinion that the bov 1 "few to fit his belt, and he was a small
had got in with a bad crowd at col- |enough man to feel spiteful against the
Inge and been gaming. Charles’ friends- doctor’s high-nanded Christianity, and to ;
notable Frank Poelnitz-said that it 'was f,amlt his own skepticism in a thousand
a ,j a lit! jways. Both men had buried their wives,
so there were no women at home to" feel
Across a low, ivy-covered wall were
the grounds of another mansion, and thi«
demesne was a fair reflex of the general
appearance of the Bee property before the
modern vandals had taken possession of
it. Th e stone wall that separated the
Haydep place from the new neighbor
hood which crept up about It seemed
also to mark the boundary between the
old south and the new; and the differ
ence in the local time of the world within
it. and tile world without, was a differ
ence of some thirty years. No grass cut
ter ever rolled over the green expanse
that stretched away under the oaks.
Wild ivy had covered every bit of wall
and terrace, and even climbed over tne
side of the hfg house itself, and peeped In
at the windows. Green mosses had taken
silent possession of the only fountain,
and the weather beaten statues which sen-
iiv-tc 1 the parti, seemed only to augment
the stillness
Dr. Hayden was a Christian of the un
compromising. slay-ir.e-mine-enemy type.
Dr. Hayden was a gentleman and an
aristocrat.
He might, in time, have forgiven his
new neighbor for his godlessness, and for
the red nose and fat stomach he carried
about with him; but never could he con
done the liquor dealer's having bought
the home of the knightly race of gentle
men with whom his own house had been
intimate for generations. And certainly,
no one could ask him to pardon the red
flower pots and gypsy kettles.
Mr. Tracy, on the other hand, was as
In spite of Hayden's friends, however,
the air became thicker and thicker with
rumors of stormy letters about gambling
debts and fast living; but if there was
an atom 'of truth in any one of the
stories, a little bird in the air must have
whispered ihe secret, for Dr. Hayden
was as non-commital as a dead man
It was noticed that his hair
quickly, that his demeanor was a shad.*
haughtier than usual, that he held the
world a little farther from him—if these
might be taken as prmfs of anything.
The whole matter came out In a per-
feet storm of gossip that fateful day
when Charles Hayden came hack in the
early part of his college year—dismissed—
disgraced.
No one ever knew what passed between
father and son on the morning of the
young man’s home-coming: hut half at*
hour after his arrival Charles was I
the unneighborly coolness; hut there was '
a lonely little child in each household, j
arid it was not to be wondered at that j
they could not be kept apart
Children never cherish vendettas, nor
fall out over quesfions of doctrine. And
in these early years tiie lock of the olrl
whitened !sate in the dividing wall was broken by
a brown boyish hand; and Charley anti
the little heathen, Nell, visited each other
fifty times a day.
Mr. Tracy never objected to anything
that pleased Nellie, and put no harriers in
the way of the intimacy. But Dr. Hay- J He flung himself on an old rustic
den thrashed his son many a time for ; bench, and sat for a long time with his
being caught at the wicked Tracy man- | elbows resting on his knees and his face
sion; and more than once, told Nellie that jin his hands.
lie didn't want his boy to play with a j "Stumbled and hurt yourself, didn’t
bad iittle girl like her, and sent her, ' you, old fellow*?” The pressure of a little
crying, home. She was generally back ! hand on each shoulder, as she leaned
again next morning before breakfast, ; over him, would have told him. without
He remembered, with a thrill, the frank
vet half-timid way in w’hlch she had come
to him, "because he was”—he was too
modest to repeat hbr words to the night
air; ‘‘but that just showed how delicate
a wonlan’s Intuition is, that she, a mere
girl should see at a glance all those—
to put it frankly—hidden graces of char
acter. which a chuckle-headed, unappre
ciative world had not found out In twen
ty-nine years. And how beneath one’s
notice was that spiteful remark from be
hind the newsuper when she left—‘She
knew just how much you'd swallow,
didn’t she Frank? Sized you up exact
ly.’ ”
At tea that night his sister in law-
treated the table to the following eulogy
on Miss Tracy, which only goes to show
how one good woman can misjudge an
other:
"Gracious goodness! You taken in.
too? Well, if hat doesn't cap the cli
max! Why, she’s a female Machiavelli,
and you men haven’t sense enough to see
Ihrough her. Pshaw, those baby ways
of hers! Yes. she's innocent!”
Because he had promised Nellie, was
why Frank Foclnitz did the unprece
dented thing of calling on Dr. Hayden.
His courage wont down to zero as he
sat on the hair-covered sofa in the doc
tor's gloomy dra’wing room, trying to
look dignified and circumspect under the
gaze of a dozen pairs of painted eyes, be
longing, as one could see by their black
ness, to the Hayden ancestry.
But the mercury of liis humor went
up with a bound when the doctor met j
him with a real highland welcome in his j
grasp. He was more comfortable still
when the old gentleman led him from the
| shrine of his ancestral deities, to a light
i and pleasant study, where a hottle of
fine old wine soon put him entirely at
ease.
“Yes.” said his host, after a long ver
bal retrospect, “I knew* your father, Mr.
Poelnitz. and a more high-minded gentle
man never died for the south.
“Then.” said Poelnitz. seizing his op
portunity. ‘‘let your knowledge
timacy with a certain young lady. /No
connection with a godless woman can
work you anything but harm, and no
woman who is, to say the least, so very
imprudent can make you a worthy wife.
to her.” He paused for a moment iR
thought, and when he took up his pen
again, his whole face had softened, and
the handwriting was not so bold, as ho
continued: "in closing, sir, let me beg
If you intend marriage, take warning be- 1 you not to form your judgment of the
fore it Is too late; if you wish to pur- j lady from the idle reports of idle people,
sue a platonic friendship have a double i or from a prejudice against her as an un
care. I need scarcely add that your disciplined and untrained child. You have
prospects—in so far as I am connected called her godless. In my hour of tempta-
with them—will depend upon your action | ticn she prayed for me w’hon you, my
In this matter. Yours very truly,
CHARLES W. HAYPK.N, SK.
The young- fellow followed the letter
to t'he close with the same proud reserve
that had characterized the old man when
he wrote it. But wnen the cold, format
signature was reached, lie flung himself
father, condemned. That she is without
guile is the .iudgimnt of those who know
her best. She is, as you say. sir, very
imprudent, and was never more so than
when she stooped to lift your fallen son.
"I have taken a new start In life, and
with the help of God I shall not turn
on the table in an agony that not Nell back; but I go with her who is at one
herself could have understood or charmed
away. Neither sh,- nor bluff old Frank
Poelnitz had dreamed that the boy’s
heart was breaking for the father who
•had cast him off.
Then he thought of Nell, and In a storm
of indignation wrote:
“Mr. Charles W. Hayden—Sir: It is
your spirit and your training that have
taught me to hold principle an untrattlc-
able tiling. Now you offer me a price
for the renunciation of a friend who re
mained true to me when you shut your
door against me. Need l word my .an
swer? The young lady in question is
my promised wife. 1 desire that you will
rem< mber this in any future reference
my help, my hope and my reward.” There
was another pause in the writing, an
other struggle, and the young fellow's
lashes were wet as he finished, "1 cannot
hope that you will belitve me, sir. Your
affectionate son.”
The letter was sent by a servant who,
in returning, brought an unsteadily writ
ten answer:
“My Son: I need you—come to me. My
compliments to the little lady, and ask
her to do nif. the honor to come wiih
you and make my house her home. And
tell her for me that the time will n't
he long before she rr ! car the yellow
jasmine all to pic.-es without year of re
proof. Your Father.”
At the MasK Ball
By H. B. MARRIOTT-WATSON.
hear what the gentleman 'says!" . She
turned with a. flourish 'if her pretty skirts
HE swirl of the dancers or- • 10 Lord Francis. "Shall we let it out?
copied the main body of Oh, you dear goose! Why—”
the hall, but the outskirts j "Here ho is,” said Queen Elizabeth.
Lord Francis looked and saw approach
ing a young man of his own height ar.d
apparent age, habited his a cavalier. He
was evidently flurried, and gazed quickly
imation in every pose of from one to another of the party; then:
were free, open prome
nades. in which the masks
went to and fro with an-
“It’s Highly Improper for Me To Be Standing Here with My Arms Around
Your Neck, Isn’t It?”
1 hov/ever. lElkigiiig his yellow jasmine
seen descending his fathers steps, with i v j ne before he was up to drive her off.
the hard lines about liis mouth drawn [ xhe May following Hayden's estrange-
to their greatest tension. Out from the mfM1 t from liis father, brought Nellie. Tra-
home of his nativity he went straight j ( .y home to stay; and society, thanks to
into the city s sin. the scheming stepmother, opened wide its
arms
"I won't do it. Nell, j know what you
are going to ask me. and I won't give
a promise to you or anybody else that 1
know y ean’t keep.”
"I wasn't going to ask you that.” she
said, quite as earnestly as himself. A I
just want you to promise me that when
you feci like you said you did, sometimes
—like you arc- being driven on. no niattei
him in his great need. It did not occur how hard you try to resist—that you will been in him lately.”
th< help of her voice, that Nell had come
of him
acquit his son of any wrong or officious j her post now for
intention in this visit. Dr. Hayden, I
am here on business, and though it is
none of my own. I hope you will let me
speak.”
"Certainly, sir, certainly.” He was
too well bred to show his suspicion.
Poelnitz was beginning to feel nervous
again, but went straight to the point
."I want to talk to you,
Charley.”
••j\ti, and what about Cha 1 1
passively.
"You must have noticed, sir, every one
has. what a wonderful change there has
their bodies. Beauty was
there, implicit in the para-
pernalia. but beauty lat
ent, unrevealed and flaunt
ing itself in disguise. Lord
Francis’ eyes passed across
the shepherdesses, Marie
Antoinettes, vivandieres and rested ior
the third time on file gray domino in the
alcove. She was in the costume of a
Spanish dancer, and she had not loft
quarter of an hour.
Obviously from her attentive air she was
expecting some one. Lord Francis made
his way deliberately toward her.
“Well, I’ve found you at last,’’ he said,
heartily.
Tiie. Spanish dancer started, and there
was a momentary pause, while the n:usi(
"So, I have found you at last,” he ex
claimed to Gladys.
They were almost the same words with
which Lord Francis had opened his ad
dress, but they hud a. remarkable effect.
Poor Carmen started and dropped her
tan, which Lord Francis stooped to re
cover. When he stood up again Cai-
men was regarding him out of troubled,
wondering eyes.
"But who—why—Jack—” she faltered.
"1 spotted you by jour necklet,” said
th<- cavalier, cheerfully.
"It's our dance, 1 think.” said Lord
Francis, coolly, and crooked his arm.
Poor, bewildered Carmen mechanically
put her gloved hand in it, but, she was
staring from one man to the other.
"The music is beginning,’’ said Lord
Francis.
"Blit—bat I thought you were Jack,”
sir. about
im-
Snoiety, inexpressibly surprised and arms before the train landed her. The
shocked, wondered under its breath how erstwhile liquor dealer had been meta
file old man would lea
Ills monev. Ann
every woman in town was guessing as ,
to what that madcap Nellie Tracy would
say when she got back from the hlg
northern college where her newly ac
quired stepmother had sent her to b<-
"polished off.”
Dr. Hayden lived on the income from
his property, and spent his time in read
ing and study, hut a fortune, well in
vested. is not hard to take care of, and
there was, time—too much time to think.
Not Biogenesis, nor even the Good Book j
Itself could stand between the old man
“S-hd jncfiory, and on the pages of the i
Concordance wqye pictured alternately
the faces of his dead wife and ruined !
son. One night when the winds were
especially restless, he recalled the time
to him then to be much surprised, and
he only looked up wearily, and answered:
"Yes. girlie, but ! don't know how
badly—how fatally—till you came back.”
"Don’t say ‘fatally,’ dear, that’s such a
merciless word; ‘badly’’ is fiad enough.
Let's go hack to old times again—see—I'll
kiss it. and make it well!” And drawing
. his head back against her pretty pink
Tracy was ambitious. , ghirt waist , she leaned over, and kissed
him. in spite of his knowledge of ids
own unworthiness, he let his miserable
head rest against her shoulder, as she
drew her hand soothingly across lus fore
head.
And Nell, who was ever led l>y impulse
whose untrained natun
morphosed into a hank president, and that
put quite a new face on the matter, you
know/.
The second Mr
Her one aim in life was to make her hus
band's money the means of getting into
society, and she had succeeded, for the
old order had changed at the south. So
Nellie Tracy came home to be the debu
tante of the coming season, and the
daughter of the richest banker in the
gulf states.
Out of a city of thirty thousand there
was one w tio dreaded 1 her coming. The
morning after her arrival found him, ns
; alone,
; grown up in
j td the big hoy.
[.natural thing in
I were the usual.
had
the wild, patted and sooth
ir it
the world. As
the circumspect
t I
onte to me and let me try to help you.
Say yes. there’s a dear. Surely it is not
much to promise, when it is I who ask
it.”
It was not of a piece with their old
comradeship that lie caught her suddenly
and passionately to his heart.
Places of dissipation
athletic form of young Hayden, and two
weeks after the meeting in the park, he
went quietly to work in a. grocery store.
011 a starvation salary.
Nellie never knew, for he wanted
work out his own salvation without al
lowing her to ask her father's aid. how
long and earnestly’ he tri'-d before he
could get a situation. Nor did Frank
Poelnitz know, for like reason), flavin*
reasout
been ttie spoiled (darling of wealth and
i position/ Charles had never stri/ek a lick
thing 0 j- w ork j ol - himself, or anybody else; and
follow a rmsera-
been the music of his boyhood exclaimed:
“Heyo, Charley!”
He started violently and shrank from
her as he had often shrunk from his eon- 'longer,
science. He thought and felt a thousand Ion the :
Instead of Pass- | things in an instant, but he only flushed j passing.
hi
ight no ■ -
nil out ' t* ave to tell her. One look into her eyes,
ied his however, told him that she knew all
when she had come out of her quiet
self and warned him that unless lie should !
gain the love and confidence of his child, i
he would never be able to influence him.
And he had not believed.
One rainy’ night, some months later, a
white-haired Levite was hurrying home
out of the cold. In taking the shortest
way to his destination he turned into a
narrow, deserted street, and almost ran
over a drunken figure which lay under
the drip of the eaves.
Ing by on the other side, the Levite paused up tQ the roots of
a moment, then stooped and turned into ] an tly
the light, the face of—his son. For one
long, silent moment (he old man gazed
Irto the unconscious face, then pushed
the hoy- from him, and hurried home out
of the cold.
Slippers and dressing-gown brought n
comfort: no number of wraps sh
thp cold draughts that benumbed
heart and trickled through every- vein
In his body. There was a roaring nre
on the andirons, hut the flames licked out
at him like ribbons of cold air and
hISSorl.
"Fool! How’ can we warm your old
flesh and blood when part of It is lying
<y;t yonder in the night?”
Half an hour later a fat citizen came
waddling along the sam e street, and
stooped, with much discomfort to his
bowed facade, over the figure lying unuer
the eaves.
"Why. Charley, boy. bless my heart,
drunk again!” He stood up and waved
frantically to a passing hack, and soon,
with tiie aid of the strapping liackman.
had himself and Hayden snug inside-
Nor did the fat citiz- n rest that night
until he had seen the young fellow put
warmly to bed in on/- -of the luxurious
rooms of the much-talked-of Tracy
house.
Then, and not till then, did the £rnv-
hatred Levite within the ivy-covered walls
next door, fall wearily asl
The Tracy house was a
tnry, and, in a measure, indexed the eras
that had passed over the south since the
time when stone houses were first hunt
In the stale. It was originally the prop-
e-tv of Hip Lee family, hut in the general
upheaval which had followed the war
between the states, it had been bought
bv Mr. Tracy, a wholesale liquor dealer,
and “fixed up.”
The buried generations of aristocrats
that lay in the garden, were restless
enough, ns the negroes sakl. when the
work of remodeling was in progress. A
swarm of carpenters built all sort?
usual, on a saloon corner, but no one
could tempt him to drink. He seemed sud- I f° r a young woman wood- and
denly to have lost his taste for liquor, hie fellow far out .ntn th ooci., an^
and his companions eyed him askance. 1 hold ids head upon
and Inquired if the Salvation army "had : te 'l 1,im *°
done for him.” At length they left him
never mind, dear.
a long confession, with
his rapid
work.
ly; “I was the utrongest man in college,
i£ that's a recommendation.”
I “Well, we are not pressed for help, no
way’,” said tiie grocer, doubtfully; "1 reck
on we don't need you just now.”
As .Haj’den thanked him and left, the
merchant looked after him and thought:
■ "Old Dr. Hayden’s scamp of a son. What
i the dickens is lie up to now? I—I—wonder 1 take it off his hands
place of his-
l’lien followed
alone; and he stood leaning against a Tx f ’l> sitting by him, puiietu.itin ... . . ,
lamp post* watching the crowds hurry by. 'sentences with sympathetic nod*. He ( he m ,.de application at the very last place
Suddenly from behind a soft hand was ' told her everything from the bc = >nmg, j where a man was said to he wanted. His
laid upon his arm. and * voice that had land his face was very grave a s ne nn , Chesterfieldian grace of hearing was sadly
' ished with— .out of place among the cracker boxes
"And now, Nell, you must—you nuiot all( j m oIasses barrels, where he stood and
understand that we can't he chums any . cx pi a i nt;( j simply that he was looking for
You must not come up to me
treat, or even speak to me. in
Can't you see how awful
hair and said petu- | it was to talk to me there be fori that
'liar room? What do you suppose those
“Nell, don t!” j people said?”
There had been no communication lie- j "1 suppose they said that the wliis-
tween the two during their school life; j ky-dealer’s child was the right man in
and a great fear now took possession of i the right place; but t'ne banker's daugh-
Ha.vden—Xel] had not heard.and he w’ouid 'ter is supremely indifferent to anything
they may say.”—
all ! “oil, 1 know you are indifferent, iou
about it. j can't tel! me anything about that. But
Only a minute hud passed In their ! you’ve just got to care. dear. Now. it
greeting, but the crowd had already’ be- was very wrong in you to come out here
gun to stare, and the loungers to return , after me. Just a« wrong as it was sweet
to the door of the saloon to see the little and lovable—you needn’t make faces, you
beauty who had stopped almost on the know it was. Give me your hands,
threshold. Just then a handsome vie- dear, and listen to me. Nell—1 have
toria, bearing two fashionably dressed fallen too low for even y-our dear love
women, dashed past. They stared first, to reach down to me.”
then smiled brilliantly, and bowed to “Charley,” she said, with just a iittle
Nellie. catch in her voice, "love lias all dimon-
Tliis seemed to rouse Hayden to the j sions.
and lie exclaimed under his world
so deep that there is no sinking beyond pi a ce somewhere.”
its reach!" j "Now don’t you bother about hint. Miss
it cost a little struggle to get their Xellie,” advised the lawyer. “Hayden
faces presentable, and then, witn one has decided to he a man, and he is on the
accord, they began to talk of lighter 1 right track. He’s just learning ,0 wall*
things. Like humanity in general, they alone, as it were. You let him be, and
shrank from “scenes,"’ and as there, was he'll come out on top yet.”
real tragedy in their hearts, they nat- , Nellie went home with cooler cheeks and
urally took refuge in the commonplace. : a lighter heart. And Hayden's indomita-
After strolling over the park, they 1 ble will, which, in its opposition to every
stopped at the main entrance to wait for | restraint, had very nearly wrecked hint—
a car. Here Nell discovered an old I mastered now—became his saving grace,
stump, and promptly- mounted it "to i Society was very much astonished that
see how it would fee! t« be long-iegged. Miss Tracy did not spend that summer at
like Charley, and always obliged to take ; some fashionable watering place, but Miss
a bird’s eye view of things.” When she Tracy knew her own business, and stayed
had got tired of remarking on every
thing in sight, a new idea seemed to
If the doctor had
noticed, lie didn’t commit himself.
"NovA” addled 'Poelnitz quickly.. “I
don’t want you to think. Dr. Hayden,-
that Charley—Charles—had anything ti
do with my coming to you In his be
half.”
"Sir!” exclaimed his host, his spirit,
ion missed the 1 flashing up in spite of himself, "my son
could not ho guilty of an act of duplicity.
You might have saved yourself the
trouble of explaining.”
• “Exactly, sir, exactly!” cried P'-elnitz.
to j delighted at being thus sat upon, since
it seemed to augur well for his friend.
"That’s just what I found out when I
mentioned the matter to him. Why, he
wanfrd to whip me! 'So I came on my
own hook, and there wiy he a lively
cure utt»v— -It a
Then guarding, against further mistakes,
and nailing his -inis like a true lawyer.
Poelnitz plead the .cause of liis uncon
scious client, with eloquence enough to
have carried his case with any
men in the country’.
The old ;,?an sat throughout, with liis
uncompromising expression of counte
nance set up as a shield, and never by-
look or motion was anything but politely
attentive, till Poelnitz began relating
how Charles had refused to accept as
sistance, either in the shape of money
•c r influence, even from his closest friends.
At this poiift Dr. Hay-den looked the
lawyer straight in the eyes, and followed
“I’m afraid I don’t need your style.” narrative more closely thereafter,
said the man. i*ot unkindly; "I'm looking when Poelnitz had finished, the old
for a man who can truck flour and side maa asked a number of questions about
meat.” his sou , a u of which were triumphantly |
"I can do that.” replied Hayden prompt- answered by the lawyer, till the doctor
swept on. “Is it—" she began, hesitating- I burst forth Carmen, tremulously, “and
ly. and then broke off. ’.Jack, how did j - v ' u —and, oil, 1 said—
you recognize me?’- she said eestatical- witlKlre w her arm in a frightened
ly. "Do you think I couldn’t tell you in wai l ' !at arrested the notice of the dull
a thousand—ten thousand, 1 mean 0 ” he tv| Valiei.
replied, with a >ave of his hand at the .'V', 0 * s ;i ° a-'-lrcd pointedly.
4i lrn „ n . rj, , , . . » Lord l«ram*is saw tnat tin- game was
°' ‘ ' - 1 Shed a iovous l.-ms-h "I ' ijj,—and he had not seen her face! Ho
bowed. "A gentleman
live you the slight- of the Grand Monarqu*-,
illy, “and one who is ae
secrets, madam”—lie b<
uu the person
.” said he, t iv-
tomed to court
d to Gladys.
“That's the worst of these charity af-
I fairs,” said the cavalier, as Lord Fran-
, els' form receded. All sorts of bounders
get in.
But Carmen was looking after the Gen
tleman of the Court of le Roi Soleil.
How Some of Our Headers Can Make
Monev.
as it was a well-known fact that lie had
been dissipating, it was no wonder that 1
his services wi re nowhere needed. Per- |
haps thorn Was much against liis chances 1
in the coid elegance of his manner. It
was with very- little hope, therefore, that
thought I should puzzle you, you know.
Jack, because T didn't
est hint what 1 was going as. did I?
And auntie said you'd never find out, and
— But I am so glad you did. I’ve been
trying to make out which was you for
ever so long.”
I-ord Francis seated himself comfort
ably. “And now, how have you done it?”
he asked.
”Oh, well, your ring, you know. Jack--
the puzzle ring. ‘I hat wag pretty smart
of me, wasn' it?”
“Wonderful perspicacity!” said Lord having read of the success of some of
1 J lu c-u u your readers selling Dish-washers, I have
l- raneis with a glance at his hand. . tried the work with wonderful success. I
“And you’ve been trying to disguise have not made less than $9.00 any day-
your voice,” the gray domino went on for t5|f ’ Iast months. The Mound City
triumphantly. “It’s a very good imita’ 'Dish-washer gives good satisfaction and
f —. ir,,.*-. hnt . ., , every- family wants one. a lady can
“I’m so glad,” he decJa^f A" wash and dry the dishes w-ithout re-
I'd deceive you into taking mo for some, in IfPfT llfir. Jtiot es.apfLcwn, do, ,ffy*. work
one else ” 1 chine from the Mound City- Dish-washer
, ,, 0 , Co., of St. Louis, Mo. I used it to take
Oh, no. She shook her head mor- j orders and sold 12 Dish-washers the hi st
twelve j rily, rocking herself to and fro, with her day. The Mound City- Dish-washer Co.
! hands clasped about one knee. “And so ! will start you. Write them for particu
sa id:
"And does Charles seem disposed to
save anything from his salary? You
know. Mr. Poelnitz. one of his greatest
faults—and one that will ruin any man
is his spendthrift habit. Sir, I never
knew that boy to keep a cent in hts
pocket, when he could get anybody to
situation,
breath:
“Go home, Nell, you are making a
spectacle of yourself; and never-never—
speak to me again!’’
"1 can’t go till my car comes.” she
said deliberately, “and I expect .vou to
help me on it."
“You'll he disappointed,” sullenly, “fo r
I’m going in here,” and he turned toward
the. liar to escape her.
"Well, if yo do. you’ll have to set ’em
up." sir- whispered, in a hysterical little
voice, “for I’m going with you."
She was light at his side, and lie look
ed down into her eyes to see if she were
telling the truth. “Lord, he might have
known the little dickens by- this time!”
The bell rang sharply for the crossing
if Tom ever went about huntin’ a job—”
And the memory of another boy who- had
gone astray- impelled him to call this one
back and engage him on the spot.
JJfllie went to Poelnitz with crimson
cheeks and a choking voice.
“It’s a shame, Mr. Poelnitz. it’s a burn
ing shame!” she cried. "If lie had only
lt is broad enough for alt tiie 1 p a p a use liis influence for him, or you,
-as high as heaven—and so deep or somebody, he could have got a good
and Hayden turned and escorted her to occur to her -
tlie car. As he helped her on, she said
wnrningly:
"You’d better come to see ire. Charley’
if you know when you are well off.”
"Poor little thing, she never did have
any sense,” he commented, as the car
"Come here to me, Charley!" she ex
claimed. “Oh, come closer; I'm not go
ing to bite you! There, that’ll do. Now,
put your hands behind you and keep
them there.” Then she put her arms
around hi s nock far enough to clasp her
of
moved off; but he passed his companions j Augers tightly on the hack of his col
at the corner, and walked toward the lar -
morning sun.
Hayden|evldentl.v didn't know when lie
was well off. for he failed to call on Nell.
And the weeks passed by.
The certainty that she would approach
and' speak to him under any circuni-
"Now, Charley, I don’t want you to
talk back at me; just shake your head
this way, or that way, when you mean
‘Yes,’ or ’No.’ Stop your foolishness!
You dont’ need any’ practice—I’m afraid
you’ll but me at that rate. Firstly:
gingerbread excrescences about the mas
sive plainness of the wall'.--; landscape
gardeners cut up tiie broad gre n lawn
into numberless little flower beds and
borders: the whole place seemed snd-
<jjn.lv abloom with ftov.er urns and g> P h >
stances made him keep his wits about D’ s highly improper for me to be sland-
flllR FREE TRIAL OFFER. and the saloon sa w him seldom ing here with my arms around your neck.
■■■■■» very. But he spent all his time now. in- isn’t it?” He shook liis head violently
stead of half of it. at the card table; j from side to side.
and. unnerved by’ his unwonted abstinence “Yes. it is; you know it is. (iou,
from drink, played losingly, almost in- | Charley! I’m surprised at you; I told
variably. jyou lo keep them behind you). Secondly;
His lucky earnings of months before ! There s more than apt to be a dozen
soon gave out; and one day, as the last psople on that next car. (Qui-i-t!) And
these people will ride up to within ten
steps of us”—a nod of assent—“and if
they see me this way, they’ll talk about
OUR FREE TRIAL UITtK.
jjMaL
«Hilp
w Mil «M. M««H_Ar™ B-0r»w«r
>t9.00.
___ mm Mil (hi. High arm o-
FOR $7.75 onp
■MkiKWH*h •»
dollar was lost, he flung the cards from
hipi. and left the room.
Once in the open air, he swung on the
first car that passed, eager to be carried me over town.” Another nod. “Well,
at home.
in the middle of August Hayden pro-
qured, through his own efforts, a respon
sible place with an insurance company.
His reform had been a seven days’
bonder fn-the town, and when he had
fully demonstrated that lie was in earn
est, there was a sort of good-hearted
impulse toward Tiiih generally’. And
I fay den found, as many a returning prod
igal does, that even society has warm
hearts and ready hands, • willing to help
a fallen fellow to his feet again. Pleas
ant contact with his former associates,
restored him to his hopeful self; but the
discipline of his misfortunes, and his es
trangement from his father, made him a
grave and thoughtful man.
Frank Poelnitz was sore troubled, and
he wished in his heart he had never
promised Nellie. “But what,” he mus
ed. "is a fellow to do when a pretty girl
comes to bis office and sits with her lit
tle hands clasped on the corner of his
desk, looking at him with such grave,
sweet eyes, and tells him she has come
to him for help? Nothing in the world
hut promise anything and everything she
wants. What a wonderful insight into
charactir tTat girl had! It must have
■wnN.Hc> -g-zz..--- -|l»*r-„in j --‘— ! —anywhere. AVhen the car stopped 7 m >' fine fe,,ow ’ rve « ot a regular | been entirely' intuitive, for what could
.rideither'h*gh grad. m*hin« ei .(.teni.hlngiy lo- | m( , es from the city, for the reversal of Chinese grip on you. and I’m going to , such an innocent, childlike thing know
prim*. m rmr ‘VJT'f'riii'sil'ntin trolley, he stepped off and walked i swing onto your collar till it thunders, of the world?” He remembered the scene
W»t«Tri!l out »nd r.tnrn tbt* •<!• onr aimlessly fbrward into an overgrown | audience or no audience, till you make in his office that morning in every de-
ew j neglected park. Here at last was a place a solemn promise.” : tail His old bald-headed partner in the
^MlSbedwUi be Iient by niMLpoetKjd^Dont^njr. I where a jnan mi g ht be miserable all by He had been laughing like a boy, and dim perspective, buried behind a news-
AddrrBB. • himself, with no one to see-no one to ! behaving like one, too. but at her last paper, and he and Miss Nellie having
SEARS ROEBUCK A CO., CHICAOO, ILL* , pity—thank heaven for that! j words his face grew suddenly serious. such a cosy chat in the near foreground.
Poelnitz would have given money to
have “objected” vigorously, but the old
man had the low on hint; so he had the
humiliation of having to give the dam
aging testimony’ that Charles hadn’t
learned to save.
The two men were sileut for a while,
and then the older said:
“If I understand you. Mr. Poelnitz.
you have made me this visit in order to
induce me to restore to my son the
right to inherfT-^y property. Am I mis
taken?”
“I hoped more than that,” replied the
other with failing self-confidence, “I
hoped and believed, that if all were told,
you and he might be friends again.”
The doctor drew his hand across his
brow, and answered evasively.
“It takes more than three months to
reform a man, Mr. Poelnitz. I believe
that Charles has made a beginning. It
seems from all you tell me he has done
much Tietter—been more of a man—since
he and I parted company. Then does
It not stand to reason that the best thing
to be done for him is to let him alone?"
If Poelnitz had possessed the cheek he
got the credit for, he would have argued
"home influence” anj "parental care,"
but lie could not just then command his
stock of assurance, so he rose to go, feel
ing badly defeated.
"Mr. Poelnitz,” said the other, and he
looked tired and old as He opened the
door for liis guest,("I hope you will prove
as good a lawyer as you have a friend.
And. believe me, I do appreciate your in
terest in my son, and thank you for it.”
When Charles Hay-den went to his room
that night he found a letter lying in the
center table. The bold characters of
the address were quite familiar to him,
and reminded him, somehow, of his own
handwriting. Instead of opening the en
velope at once, he stared at it for some
moments and wondered what it contained.
Ever since he had chosen the better way,
he had looked and fr-nged for this letter,
and now it was at hand. Then he tore
it open in an agony of hope and read:
Mr. Charles W. Hayden, Jr.—Charles:
I am pleased to hear of your new start
in life, and am willing to say to you
that I will forget the past provided you
follow my suggestion in regard to another
and almost equally grave mistake or
yours. Allow me to remind you that no
gentleman has the right to bring dis-
y-011 needn’t keep up the deception.” She j
looked at him closely through the eyes
of the mask, anil Lord Francis gazed
back. He was sure that beauty was la- ,
tent here; lie could have told it from the ■
voice alone. The situation wag piquant.
"Well?” he ventured at last.
“Do j’ou know, Jack, you are looking j
splendid—really quite distinguished. What i
made you think of—? I suppose it's the :
court dress. I didn't know that you
could he so—” !
"So what?” he asked, as she paused.
‘‘Oil. nothing.” she replied, with a little j
laugh. "And now what do you think of !
me?”
“You. my- dear girl, are adorable, as ,
always,” he said, feeling that the inti- j
macy thus discovered between them jus- !
titled the remark.
“Jack, you are in an odd mood to- 1
night. I can’t make you out,” she said, j
hesitatingly.
“It's the intoxication of the ball, and !
the company,” he explained, lightly. 1
"But, come, am I to have no reward? ’
"Reward?” slic asked, with an as
sumption of indifference.
“Yes, now that I have found you.” He
put out a hand tentatively, but Carmen
withdrew quickly.
“Jack, I’ll—I'll never forgive you,” she
said, hotly.
“I assure you I wasn t.— he began.
“I only thought perhaps 1 might be priv
ileged to obtain a dance or—”
She looked away- toward the dancers.
“But I don't say you may not perhaps
do what I promised,” she said hesitating
ly-. “only auntie—”
“Oh, let’s get rid of auntie. Let’s lose
her at the doors,” suggested Lord I- raneis
quickly.
She laughed. “You are rude. T don t
know what's come to you.” What had
she promised to do? "Only-, of course,
only If what T said happens, you know,”
she ended, meaningly. Oh, what, thought
Lord Francis, had she said was to hap
pen?
“I shall take very good care it does
happen,” he said, emphatically.
“Oh. Jack, how dare you say such
things?” she flashed suddenly. Oh, he was
sure of her beauty. But what had he
done? “I will go straight back to auntie,”
and her eyes turned toward a thin wom
an in the full costume of Queen Eliza
beth. who was advancing. So that was
auntie.
"Please don’t,” he pleaded. "Give me
another chance. I simply loae my head
talking to you.”
"Here's aunties,” said Carmen, evasive
ly, as Queen Elizabeth sailed majestical
ly up and came to a pause. Carmen rose.
Lord Francis heard a whisper.
“Who's that, Gtadj’s?”
He made a profound bow. “A gentle
man of the court of le Roi Soleil, your
majesty,” said he.
Queen Elizabeth curtsied, and engaged
her niece in a penetrating whisper.
“You’ve been talking here about half an
nour,” she said, “and, Gladys, I’ve found
Mr. Prince.” Gladys' pleasant laughter
tinkled in his ears. "Oh, how clever of
you, auntie! Have you, really?”
“Yes, and he’s looking out for you.
I told him where you were.”
Gray domino laughed merrily, and her
eyes, through the mask, beamed and
lai s.
Ladies can do as well as men.
JOHN F. M.
Florida
Fruit
Tablets
credit upon his birth by choosing for his I gleamed on Lord Francis. “Isn’t that ex-
a-sso-ciates those who are not his peers, I cedent news, sir?” she demanded. “Did
and no man has the right to give himself j you hear?”
to the society of such as may be unfit “I am desolated,” he murmured. “But
companions in the strait and narrow
\ ay.
I am very much displeased by iyour in-
I will do my best to prevent the tragedy.”
" Gladys clapped her hands; she was
palpably excited. "There, auntie! Yo"
<SN
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