The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1879-04-24
WORKING FOR A LIVING.

Ralph Harrison made this exclamation
in half incredulous and wholly sur
prised tone; and no wonder, for Sidney
Coster had but the day before been the
richest of all that wealthy circle of
which they were the representatives.
Yes, ruined"
"But 1 do not understand it, Cos
ter" said Harrison.
II suppose not"
"I do not-I cannot realize it." per-
sisted Harrison.
You would if you were in my
place" replied Sidney bitterly.
"How did it happen ?-please
explain" said Harrison, lighting fresh
cigar. However much our friends may
lose, it seldom interferes much with our
. pleasures in this world.
Simply and naturally enough" re-
piled Coster, declining with wave of
his hand the profered cigar. No-I
must give up that luxury now; l have
no money to spend upon cigars. 1
trusted my money to my uncle, who, by
the way, is the best fellow in the world,
and he lost it all for me-that's ALL"
81 am amazed at your coolness,"
said Harrison.
No use in fretting about it now !;
that won't mend the matter, or make it
better"
That's true enough, but very hard
to practice, | imagine. How did the
uncle-who, by the way, should call
very shabby fellow if he had lost all
my money for me-lose all of this
money? Large amount too, believe"
Cool hundred and fifty thousand
dollars" replied Coster as composedly
as if the sum were but the same num-
Der Of cents or belonged to some one
else.
"And he lost itF'
Yes, that's just it-speculating," !"
interrupted Sidney, as his friend
glanced inquiringly at him.
And you, Sidney-what will you
do?"
Go to work, of course. What else
is there to do?
Work! Sidney Coster at work! He,
the daintiest and most aristocratic of us
all, at work! The idea is absurd"
The sneering laughter which followed
these words nettled the listener and
aroused all of the manhood within him.
And why shouldn't work-or you
either, for that matter? God intended
that all his creatures should earn their
bread, and because we have always lived
and grown in the sun of pleasure, aud
eaten of the bread of idleness, is that
any reason We always should? Out upon
such ideas, | say. and away with that
false pride that will permit gentleman
to swindle, lie, gamble, steal and not
over himself, but aliases him to the
dust ifhe honestly earns his living. til
all wrong, and 1 won't be bound by itp
He showed by his earnest look tha
he meant it, every word. Harrison wal
against such leveling ideas and said
Just as you please, of course, Cos
ter. You are your own master. But j
you choose to put yourself down in tn
dirt you won't expect your friends t
come down to the same Level. !, for one
could never think of associating with {
man who worked for living"
Sidney Coster's lip curled in con
tempt for such character. Harrison COZ
tinued:
Why don't you go ahead, old fellow
and marry some girl. You are goo
looking, and might do it very easily.
"What an honorable thing woul
that be? l would rather starve tina
thus degrade myself and deceive
woman"
GAS you please; good day." And or
"friend' was gone.
Coster stood looking after him M
ment, and in spite of his brave wore
he felt bitter against the fate that ha
made him poor man. It was pleasal
life that he had been leading, and it W,
very hard to give it mp.
The next thing to do was to scare
for employment. He possessed nothir
in the world except his clothes, sma
stock of jewelry-relics of his form
butterfly existence-and heart full
courage. He did not know how to wor
had not even attempted the slighte
details of business, but he set resolute
about the task before him.
He walked the city for days and day
but all in vain. No one wanted hir
There were plenty of situations, b.
when his qualifications were asked
was forced to tell the miserable trut
and confess that he knew-just nothiE
How bitterly he regretted in his ho1
of need, that he had spent the hou
which he had wasted in acquiring b
accomplishments, in learning somethil
that could not help him in his strai
Regrets were useless. and he we
steadily forward up the hard path
duty.