The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1867-11-21

To season their discourses.
The children OF the present time.
Wise in their generation,
Now rule the house from top to tee,
l.. And wink at vencration.
And now, to steer the household bark
In waters calm and pleasant,
well soil between the rigid past
And too iniuigent present.
From Delnorest's Monthly Magazine.
THE HOUSE OF BARRON & co.
by VIRGINIA F. TowNsESD.
A small. thin, dark man, seated be-
fore his office desk, piles of bills, papers,
letters scattered around loosely, one OF
the latter wide open before him. An
old man, too, with shocks of gray, brist-
ly hair over leathery skin, with thick
wrinkles that remind one Of crnmpleel
parchment.
This small, old, thin man was the
head partner of the great honse whose
name was known in almost every COM
mercial port Of the world. The keen,
alert brain behind those deep gray eyes,
under the tufts of gray hair, kept all the
springs of that vast, complicated ma
cl,inery in motion, comprehended all its
relations, had prescience that seemed al
most miraculous in whatever concerned
the good or evil fortunes of the house
whose name and prosperity this man
had made.
John Barron owed little to any living
man-at least that was his own convio-
ton, and the history of his life largely
sustained the impression; for he Was u
clear-sightcd man, his vision diving
down deep into facts, as it did into men,
never resting satisfied on the surface of
cithcr-a man who, with all his prompt
ness and swift executive power, could he
patient, slow, biding his time, which al
ways came for him sooner or later-a
just man, and an honest, all the world
would have said; but n hard, exacting
one oil who were in his power must have
admitted.
He sits there in the small back -office
with his fingers run up through the thin
hair--a habit of his, and one that always
means something. 1t is late IN the af-
ternoon, and the city life that beats
with such strong, swift pulse outside,
has almost run its days race, and is get
ting quieted: and the light pours in
through the small dusty window-panes
and searches over the desks and the
faded green OF the armchair and ove1
the face Of the man sitting there.
He is used to appeals for charity, thi
John Barron, and once satisfied that th'
object is worthy one, it is not unlikel,
that he will aid it. This, however, de
pends largely upon his mood, a fac
which those who know him best hav,
long acted on-a man in any case, how
ever, to be reached rather through hi
head than his heart-a man with whom
the ill-deserving, the improvident, tn
shiftless meet with little sympathy,
few curt, harsh tones and words dismiss
ing them forever.
Fifty years ago, fifty years ago." tn
man mutters to himself, and q littl
smile works up among the wrinkles
and glittcrs with q certain hard triumph
In the keen gray eyes. How they hav
turned the tables! Who would hav
believed then that Benjamin Hate
would have written that letter to me?
John Barron takes it up and goes owe
it again, word by word, line by line, fo
the third time. A most pitiful letter
one to move heart that was not exactl
stOne-the letter Of an old man, on
John Barron had known in his youth q
neighbor and companion-a letter pleat
ing for the rich mans help and pity /
the name Of the dead and the living.
/ No need for US to go into details herr
1t is only one act in the long drama {
this mans life that can draw for yo,
The letter said that the writer's young
est son, the pride and prop Of his ol
age, the last Of his boys whom death ha
not taken, had been drawn into specul,
tions IN order to retrieve his own and h
fathers fortunes. The ventures had r.
suited disastrously. Disappointment
the thickening of misfortune, the ha
) assing Of debt, had driven the youn
man desperate.
At last young Hatch saw his way Gle,
again, or thought he did; but the roa
led through the mire of crime. He use
the name Of the house in which he W,
employed for twenty thousand dollar
and in few days that bright bubble
burst also.
The crime was discovered, the perp
traitor arrested. There was but one wa
In which he could be saved from Il
penalty of the law he had violated.
the money ne had used could be rcstore
the prosecution should be withdraw
"John, we were boys together" re;
the letter. "At later time l wrongs