, 1886-09-07

with the treasury uephrttheuef i"t' 1870
he had somehow Numbered. Her rela-
tions with the rival bank near by were no
less creditable. for that institrtion's city
imnorted Young man, who had at first
treated her with supercilious patronage,
was utterly routed in a controversy about
a missing check, and covered with the
deepest humiliation. Altogether the new
official appeaped to be "tho right woman
in the right place"
Harmon Curtis thought SO, at any rate.
Harmon was an old and very dear friend.
He had been so ever since Nettie n he
first met on the benches of the primary
schools, where, aged respectively 3 and :,
they struggled together through the First
Reader, and helped each other on knotty
points of the -four rules" Afterward
they had gone in company up the other
grades into the high-school class in book
keeping, and mastered the intricacies of
account side by side. Then Harmon, be
ing very poor, entered a store, and being
very ambitious, worked hard, forcing his
way along from errand-boy to clerk, ana
from clerk to book keeper, saving every
cent he could the while. until he was
able to go into the flour business Tor
himself. though in a modest way, with tair
hopes of success and fortune ahead
pretty far ahead IL seemed sometimes,
Perhaps he had other hopes, to which sue
cess and fortune were but means; IL Is
quite probable. Perhaps, too, Miss But
Ter might nave made n shrewd guess as to
what they were. Nothing was ever said
about them, however; only Harmon
called regularly every Sunday evening
soon after tea, and was invariably much
surprised to find it 10 o'clock when he
had thought it hardly $, and the morning
after one of these calls he used to go TO
work like n young Hercules. Moreover,
whenever he came into the bank to make
a deposit, he generally staid a little while
to talk-about business, presumably.
Yet he did not come in often on these
errands, l am sorry to say for, to tell the
truth, Harmon seldom had very much
to deposit. His capital, his market,
his profits and his bank account were
alike limited; in fact, tho only thing he
had plenty of were courage and worry.
Sometimes the crops would be so large
that Hour became IA drug; then, just as
he had sold out his stock at n wellnigh
microscopic margin, hose western specu-
lators would suddenly rush up prices,
and he would have to replenish at ruin
Gus rates, besides having missed a fine
nance fer "A lucrative "turn." Whatever
he did, always proved to be the wrong
thing, although through no fault of his.
Luck seemed to be against III
Yes, luck was against him, in more
ways than one; for On n certain Sunday
evening he walked into the Butler parlor
AS usual, to find that before mentioned
cashier Of the rival bank comfortably
seated there, engaged in an earnest con
versation with Miss Nettie. The pair
seemed to have amicably arranged their
previous disputes and to be upon excel
lent terms, so far as Harmon could see.
He did not have u pleasant time, The
talk was largely SHOP" and although
Nettie changed the subject several times
in order to include him, she was evidently
interested in Mr.. Bonds explanation of
certain business points, and somehow the
topic continually required, operating TO
Harmon's exclusion from the chat. Mr..
Bone showed no intention OF leaving. be
ing apparently well entertained where he
was; so that when Harmon departed, the
intruder was still there. No, he did not
AVE n pleasant time. And, h was
worse, this trlfiing affair suggested some
extremely dlsagreeble thoughts. How
could he expect hat others should not
appreciate Nettie as well as himself and
what could he do to prevent their adj
vances, having not the slightest claim
upon herr Yet how could he venture to
attempt to establish such a claim, stu
ated as he was2 lie couldn't. Therefore
he came to the conclusion that something
must be done at once, that by great risks
he must attain great results, and hasten
the slow accumulation of dollar on dol
lar. Time was at once none and happi-
ness to him.
A few days later it became generally
known among Baalbec's merchants that
young Curtis was plunging so recklessly
that make or break" was the sole altern-
alive for him. Nettie heard the directors
carelessly telling each other how, expect
ing an immediate advance, he had put
every dollar Of his capital into flour, pay
ing in a draft ut thirty days. If flour
went down, she heard them say. Curtis
must infallibly 90 up-as II flour and he
were the two ends of n balance.
"Very imprudent young man very"
said old President Parr, coming out into
the banking-room. How does he stand
with us, Miss Butler"
He hasn't drawn his deposit, sir" an
swered Miss Butler, in n rather unsteady
voice.
w hold no notes of his, / believer
mo, sir"
@hhH hiA II va FAhh
very" And the president went back into
the private parlor with an air Of calm
resignation to the DEGREES of commercial
Providence, II there are any such.
His cashier was extremely uncertain in
her behavior that day-almost cross-and
for the first time since she had been in
the institution her cash account wouldn't
balance.
Henceforwhrd somebody In Baalbec
studied the provision market reports as
closely as did that young man whose
whole fate was involved in the rise or fall
of Golden Drop and "Haxall." The re-
ports were not pleasant reading for either,
since, whatever else rose, -four did not,
but went down every day-only by frac-
tons, indeed. but still down; and any
decline meant failure to our merchant,
for il you can not pay quite all your
debts, you nre just as much ruined as
though you couldn't pay any. There was no
hope of awaiting the chances of delay.
That terrible draft would come, punctual
as fate, on the 10th of the next month,
and II not instantly honored-why, then
bankruptcy. And the worst Of 1t was
that Harmon seemed to have changed. He
made no more Sunday evening calls, and
Nettie rarely ever met him on the street.
When she happened to do So, he was
friendly as ever, but reserved, and said
not a word about his previous venture or
the crushing anxiety that weighed upon
him. Very likely he thought she knew
nothing OF 1t. But about q week before
the dreaded 10th he came into the bank
one morning with n look and manner
which told Nettie. the moment she saw
him, that his errand was TO raise money.
Her accustomed eve had long since