The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-10-27

it had been his life for years; and as he found
mining shares were within his reach he began
again to operate in a small way. The little
he had seen of mines while on the fateful z.
s. W. excursion was so much more than the
majority Of those about him knew on the
subject that he made few lucky turns, aud
he finally interested some acquaintance In a
promising silver property he had seen in the
west. His acquaintance succeeded in getting.
the property listed" at one OF the New York
exchanges, and Marge, with new hopes and
great deal Of desperation, risked nearly all
he had on the Brighthope mine.
The scheme worked finely for some weeks
It was skillfully managed by the Bostonians
interested; they even succeeded in getting
great deal about it into the newspapers Of
| both cities But-alas for the wickedness OF
human naturel-one day the company were
Mortified to learn that their title to the prop
erty was hopelessly defective. When this
fact became indisputable, Brighthope stock
tumbled farther than E. & W-tumbled
utterly out of siGf!t; and all the assets of the
company, except the safe and two desks, were
sold to a paper stock dealer at q cent pound
Then Marge thought seriously of suicide
| He had but a thousand or two dollars left;
how could he operate in anything on that
small sum and support himself besidesl He
could add something to the sum by selling his
horses and carriage, but such things always
had to go at a sacrifice; besides, there would
be a terrible bill to be paid for the mainte-
| nance of the animals during the two or three
| months in which he had been absent from
| New York.
Still, the thought of suicide did not i'm
prove on acquaintance While there was
life there was hope. Why shouldn't he go
back to New York, brave everything, and
start anew to the best of his abilityi Other
men had pocketed their pride; and, although
his own pride was frightfully large to be
| submitted to such treatment, he did not
know that the operation would give him an,
more discomfort than he was already endu--
ing.
The thought resolved itself into decision
when one day he CHANGED to meet in Boston
New Yorker with whom he had a casual
acquaintance After little chat the man.
who had been away from the city for months,
remarked:
You're not married yetp
mo" said Marge, with grim smile.
al thought had heard that you were en-
gagged to Miss Traullay; and | wanted to
congratulate you An iron house traveller
1 Il
Tramlay was getting rich very fast"
II supposed" said Marge, with dawn Of
interest, "that Miss Tramlay was to marry
young Hayn-"
What! that country clerk OF her father'sg"
said the man, with the confidence born Of
ignorance "Nonsensel Why, it seems only
the other day that heard some one laughing
about that fellows infatuation. Oh, no;
-
their daughter to some one of social standing.
Indeed, heard some one say as much. The
mother is very ambitious in that line, you
know"
Marge soon excused himself, lit a strong
cigar and betook himself to a solitary walk
and some hard thinking. There was perhaps
a grand point to be made on that fellows
suggestion From what he knew of Mrs
Tramlay-and he informed himself that no
one knew that lady better-he would not be
surprised if an approved society man might
now be entirely welcome as a husband for
Lucia, even if he were es poor as church
mouse. And Lucia herself-had she not al
ways longed for larger and more prominent
society than she had yet enjoyedi
| Before his cigar was burned out, Marge
had bought ticket for New York, deter
mined tn make bold stroke for fortune
where liz. felt that he had at heart one faith
full friend To aid him. His imagination and
pride combined to cheer him on; he would
reappear at Tramlays, see how the land lay,
and if the signs were encouraging he would
propose at once, first taking Mrs. Tramlay
into his confidence. He had lost enough by
hesitation now he would adopt entirely new
tactics, and there was no pleasanter way to
begin than by proposing to Lucia As he
had told himself before she was very pretty
girl, and fully competent, with such guild
ance as he would give her, to make the most
of her new advantages
Reaching New York at nightfall, he lost no
time in dressing with extreme care and max
ing his way TO the Tramlay abode. He would
have no difficulty in explaining his long alb
sence to the ladies; perhaps they had heard
of his disaster in E. & W., but he could tell
them that he had been largely interested in 4
rich silver mine ever since There would be
nothing untrue in that statement; had he not
been so deeply interested that he could not
sleep wink during the week while the title
TO the Brighthope mine-curse the rocky hole!
was first in Doubt Besides, women were
sure to talk, and equally sure not to diminish
the size of a story while telling it, quite likely
his tale, repeated by Mrs. Tramlay and Lucia,
might have the effect Of restoring him to the
regard of the many people who estimate
man solely by his money.
As he entered the house no was satisfied
that his operations would not be postponed
| by the announcement mot at home" for
through the open door he heard familiar
voices in the rear of the parlor, and he saw
several heads bent over a table. None of
them seemed to belong to strangers; so he
entered with the freedom TO which long ac-
quaintance entitled him. The backs of the
entire party were towards him, SO his pres
ence was ne observed; besides an animated
discussion seemed to be going on between
Lucia and Margie.
IL think you're real mean," he heard Mar
gle say. Then he heard Lucia reply:
mo, I'm not. Am l, mammal"
NO" said Mrs. Tramlay, as Marge ap-
preached close enough to see that they were
looking at the floor plan Of house, spread
upon the table.
my heart is set upon having that room for
my very own" said Margie. 'The young
lady of the family always has first choice,
after her parents"
Not where there is bride to he provided
for" Mrs. Tramlay replied.
well said, mamma There, Margie," said
Lucia; ''that room is for Phil and me-"
Here" said Tramlay, entering from the
library, with large sheet of paper in his
hand, sis tho plan Of Why, Margel-bless
my soul when did you get back, old fellowp
'Mr Margel' exclaimed the three ladies in
chorus, as they hastily arose
''Whatl only just come in!" asked Tramlay.
'And of course there was such CHATTER here