, 1886-09-07

" - - 'RA'1 "a
posure of uneasiness; the pitiably trans
parent fictions imposing upon no one, and
uncomfortably known by their author
not to do so-all these are mar by which
this particular species of borrower is read
lily recognized. accompanied as they are
by a hundred trifling peculiarities Of bear
ing and expression When Nettie saw
Harmon she gave a little gasp. and turned
slightly pale.
Good morning, Nettie," said me- Walk
ing up to the counter and leaning upon 1t
in n wny that would have been uncon-
cerned enough had 1t not been Tor the
nervous drumming of his fingers upon the
wood. Beautiful day, isn't 1t. l dropped
in to see whether you are rolling in wealth
to such an extent that you don't know
what to do with it,
awell. not exactly" she answered.
hardly looking up.
@And you can't give me, say, five hun
bred for a month or two, can your"
Poor little grill She knew that this
was about the amount of next weeks de
ficit-that II he could meet that draft and
tide over the temporary depression in
prices, he might be able to sell later on at
an advance. or at least for enough to save
himself. Time was what he needed, and
this five hundred would give him time.
But, on the other hand, she was bound by
her duty not to grant the loan. The pres
ident had said nothing about 1t simply be-
cause to do so was perfectly needless, for
no bank officer would or ought to lend 81 to
a man situated as Curtis was Her fathers
precepts and example had indelibly i'm
pressed upon her mind the necessity of
unwavering fidelity to the banks interests
and that those interests were to be pre-
ferred to every other, personal or friendly.
She knew what she must do. Int OH IL
was very hard.
"You can't thent' asked Harmon,
rightly interpreting her hesitation.
Nettie looked him full in the face for
the first time.
"No, Harmon" she said, al can't"
Harmon understood without needing n
word Of explanation. "You are right y
answered he: Al am afraid 1t would be nm
unsafe investment-now." He went out,
saying no more. Back again in his count
ing-room, he writhed under a feeling Of
humiliation such as he had never known
before in all his manly, self-respecting
life. Now the deed was done, he was
obliged to confess that this last desperate
attempt to save himself savored Of mean
ness, for he perceived that deep down in
his heart he had calculated to some ex-
tent upon this girls friendship to obtain
what no one would nave given hin on
purely business grounds. And, too, he
suddenly realized that, even If she had
been weak enough to yield, he could not
have taken advantage of a favor which
would inevitably have seriously injured
her with her employers.
at has been a narrow escape for her, y
he thought; but for me the mischief Is
done. Only for this ! could go down with
a clear conscience"
Vat In oOrII not fooI No Lfn1l,- o,uo.J
Nettie as before, such Is the Inconsistency
of human nature in general, and the un-
reasonableness of lovers in particular.
Placed between regard for him and duty
to others, she had preferred the latter;
and while he acknowledged the justice of
this, and indeed for worlds would have
had her do no differently, still he felt an
Illogical jealousy of that duty, and could
not help dimly associating her in his mind
with the combination of hostile forces ar
rayed against him. Perhaps our hero is
not especially heroic, but he is very man
like.
Meanwhile how fares 1t with the cashier,
Not well, I am afraid; else why should
she, after Harmon had departed, go to the
great vault, open the safe. and remain
with her pretty head inside that grim re
p~ository for several minutes, apparently
much occupied in arranging its %contentsi
No doubt the contents required this at
%tention, however, since divers packages
of railroad bonds were afterward found
curiously marked with tiny blotches indi-
eating Tie presence of moisture in the
safe. For the second tins during her
cashiership the cash account wouldn't bal
ance, and nothing seemed TO 70 smoothly.
IL was the same the rest OF the week, and
tile change in our young lady was so
manifest that even the president asked
her If she was not Slightly indisposed. ~
But one morning-the morning of the
fatal day-she came down to business the
old Nettie again-and more. Whatever
might be the cause, she fairly beamed
and sparkled with joy. Her black eyes
danced, her cheeks were perfect blush
roses, and altogether she looked so be-
bewitching that the seventh director (who
was a bachelor) felt his dried-up old heart
disturbed by IA passing regret that he
should be IS years old, and bald into the
bargain. How could Nettie be happy on
this morning of all others. when lying
among the papers on her table was a slip
Of paper which must be presented to a
certain person before 3 o'clock that day.
Her behavior was positively ineXplicable.
Nor was 1t made any palmer when, after
writing a few lines, and doing something
10 one of the great ledgers (she gave one
short sigh while thus %employedl, Nettie
put on her hat, took the slip of paper, and
oheerily tripped out to present tin other
words, to ruin Harmon Curtis.
Harmon was sitting quietly Mt his desk
about that same time, waiting for what
he knew would speedily come. There
would be a difference of 1851 between his
liabilities and his resources-not much,
but enough for all practical purposes. In
n few hnnrQ he Nould haVa failed All
the fruits Of hard working, economizing
years behind him were naught-all his eff
forts had been useless. He must begin
the world again with the remembrance OF
failure ever hanging over him. Begin
AGAIN. For WHAT Before he could re
trieve his fortunes, II he ever could, the
reward for which he toiled would be nc
longer for him. II he had never previ
ously ventured to tell@what lay il
his heart, he certainly could no
do it now. No, it made no diff
ference what became of him-ther,
was nothing to live for. In short, he had
reached that stage of mental suffering
where misfortune loses its power to pain
and it was with considerable real calm
ffess that he cried, "Come in" hearing tn,
knock he awaited. II was time for the
bank messenger.
But the door opened, and Nettie cam,
in. On seeing her he found that there
were still things that could wound him
This was the last straw. Why could sh,
not have sent the clerk, as usual, ant
spared him the final Bang of being dis
graced in her presence, and by her own
handy II she could do this, she evidently
cared nothing for him-not even enough
to pity him.
1t was too much for the young man
worn out by the long strain of weeks, bold