Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1888-02-23

Ellingsworth glanced across at his daughter
to see il she had observed it. Il was not
quite so inconceiyable, after all, that Bertha
might have taken fancy to him. But then
his whole associations had been with the poor,
and what possible harmony, even for a mo.
ment-then Mr.. Ellinssworth remembered
the maid servant crying at this moment in
the dining room.
Naturally you prefer to let your half
clothed i'll fed hands make you the presents:
they earn you big dividends; you throw them
a crust Of bread, the market priceo of labor
you call it, and put the dividends in your own
pocket"
"But it's my money made the mill, and nv
management runs it."
"As for the money, retofted Curran, "per-
haps you inherited a part of it, saved by the
tax laid on the poor of the last generation, or
you borrowed it, perhaps, on interest, and
made the help in your mill pay the interest
every penny of it; how else could it be paid.
You did not make your money; no man can
till 81, 100000 out of his farm, or dig it out
Of coal mine. You simply took it. Your
new mills are paid for out of wages you
ought to have given your help; you call them
yours; the new machinery comes out of then.
They are the real stockholders in it all.'
Mr. Breton had sprung from his seat, but
Curran went on unfinchingly. 'It isn't
earned, it Is simply defrauded. The manage-
uaeut is doubtless good, but no management
could, in the righteous course of justice, bring
such vast fortunes into the hands of few
men; while the thousands who work fol-
them live and die with the consuming thirst
for happiness never for one hour aSsuaged in
their souls"
The old gentleman had come up close tc
him as he spoke, and as he finished, Curran
looked down calmly into a face almost purple
with passion. 1t occurred to him that Mr..
Breton was about to have an attack of apo
plexy The hand that held his gold headed
cane fairly trembled.
"You have earned your last penny in my
mills!' the old gentleman shouted at him.
1--WE ought to have laws to shut up such men
as you.n
"Mr Ellingsworth," said Curran, as that
gentleman rose to his feet, II am very sorry to
have brought such a scene into your parlor;
it seemed unavoidable after what was said to
me, and it seems likely to prove more un-
fortunate for Inc than for anybody else"
No one thought of anything to say. Mr..
Ellingsworth vaguely wondered where the
man picked up his neat way of talking, but
then the wealthy, after aH, have no monopoly
of talent. ~ -,
Curran cast a withering look of contempt
on theanill owner II am sorry, too, to be
deprived of the chance to win my daily
breadn
He did not notice that the expression of
the girls face had changed, or that she had
started to come to him, but there was a
grandeur of wrath in his face and bearing
that awed her. She stood in the center of
the room, with heaving bosom and fright
ened, troubled eyes, watching him out of the
door, Then her father came back through
the hall with his sarcastic smile finely curv-
ing his thin lips.
How beautifully he had known how to pre-
serve his own honor. 1t would have been
base and ignoble in him to have crawled out
of her parlor at the entrance of her father
and Mr.. Breton, self confessed unworthy to
sit in their presence. And for all their wealth
and power and vantage ground, careless Of
what it must cost, he had thrown their III
suits in their teeth and shown himself q
grander man, a thousand times, than either
of them. t
The warm flood of returning feeling swept
over her soul She could not bear one more
cruel word against him now. Before her
father could speak she had hurried into the
hall and shut fast the door so that she should
not hear the bitter sentence that was Just
parting his lips.
What strange impulse moved her that she
should go to the outer door and look eagerly
down the street? But her insulted guest had
not fingered. In moment more she was at
the gate, and saw his tall form only at O
little distance No doubt he was thinking
sadly, or perhaps angrily, of her, as he
walked, and he could not guess that she had
repented, and was eager this moment to beg
his forgiveness, with all the sweet words she
knew. Bertha glanced back at the house in
hesitation. She could see the slim Quit mes Of
her fathers figure shadowed ON the curtains.
She could not hear what he was saying. 1t
was this:
A'It is one of Bertha's freaks All women
are subject to them.n
but / don't understand,n insisted Mr..
Breton, wiping the perspiration from his
heated face. II don't understand how she
can bring herself, a girl of her notions, to
entertain fellow like this How long do
you suppose this has been going on? Ever
since the dog adventure, very likely. II
were Philip
''But you recollect am only three days
returned from my trip, and am entirely un-
able to tell you how many times she has met
this very striking individual Don't hurry
yourself into mental decline by trying to ex-
plain on logical principles a womans per-
formanees," smiled Mr.. Ellingsworth. "And
wouldn't take the trouble to suggest mis-
givings to Phil I would rather trust the
girls nature, and think know it. than de
pend on jealous lovers reproaches. Why,
my dear friend, would stake my life on the
girls attachment to the traditions Of her
position. Our wives and daughters are
thrice more intolerable, unreasonable aristo-
Gratis than we. If she had been guilty Of a
touch of foolish sentiment reaction is cer-
tain, and she will only despise the man tho
more because of her season of blindness"
--But supposing the reaction came too
late," suggested Mr.. Breton anxiouSly.
'Then it better not come at ALL" he con-
tinned. "The very character you give her
would make three people perfectly miserable
the man she refuses, the man she marries,
and herself"
But the girl who had stood at the gate, in
her slippers, and with no covering for her
head but her golden hair fastened low on her
neck, had hesitated but a moment. She
could not let Curran leave her thus; perhaps
she should never see him again, If he went
away without one word from her TO soften
the blows she had let them give him. And
then he seemed to be walking slowly, she
could overtake him in moment. The un-
even walk hurt her feet, her slippers