Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-02-18


 here, in a prim office overlooking the throngs of masts at the docks of Water street, Martha's husband soon found himself seated before a ledger-laden desk.
 It was tiresome work; he had, as the phrase goes, head for figures, and by nature he was not one to whom the gid dy pleasures of cities offered tempting lures But it began gradually to bore him with increasing keenness that he ,ould not gratify in the cautious and conservative atmosphere of Messrs. Van Veckten & Co. his longings for quickly acquired riches.
 II despise money merely in itseh," he would say to Martha. But what it will bring-ah! that's another affair! Thinkl you and I might go round the world together, arm in arm, as it were, if that old fellow would only consent to let us!''
 And so we stall, some day, no doubt," whispered Martha. with lips against his cheek.
 "Hush," he said, almost pushing her away from him. 'I hate to count on anyone's death-even his."
 "Yes; you're right, dear," said Martha, Forgive me-"
 Nevertheless he did count on his uncle's death, harshly as it first went against his nature to do so. During the next five years two children were born to Martha and himself, a boy and girl The little family had just enough to supply it's wants and not dime more. Martha, with her babies and her domes- tic cares, kept up her spirits in blithest fashion. But the change in Alfred wor- ried her. She saw that his office work was growing a more and more leaden task to him, and that the yearning for Myndherst Van Doren to die had become like cancer that slowly eats deeper and deeper into the flesh.
 When their first child was born they brought 1t to the old miser, but he car essed it in only languid and perfume tory way. The truth was he could caress nothing with any real pleasure save dollars, and these he actually did fondle and slip through his fingers in their most captivating golden form. For Stanfield, who now and then would meet the old butler, had it directly from Samuel himself, one day, that there was pot of actual gold coin in the cabinet of the library upstairs, and that here, very often, instead of reading any of the books on the adjacent shelves books which he had long ago ceased from the horrible extravaganza of pur- chasing-he would sit crouchingly be- side his green-shaded lamp for hours and hours of an evening, arranging the gold pieces into piles of a certain height, making of these piles medal lions, and then altering the latter with a slow but incessant variance until his freakish manipulations reminded you of nothing so much as the sluggish revo- lution of kaleidoscope.
 Talk like this keenly interested Stan field. Now and then he would refer to Samuels gossipy confidence during talks with his wife. As time went on the city pushed itself up past tracts of land that but yesterday, as might be said, were open country. The Stan fields moved their place of residence to one further uptown, though cheaper and more modest than that which they had formerly held.
 Martha protested a little at this. There's no use, Alfred" she said, ''in our reducing expenses. We don't want to save, you know" By this time they had got into the way of speaking quite freely to one another regarding Van Do ren's expected demise.
 "No," he replied, mot to save-of course not. But money is money, my dear, and we need not squander it."
 ''Squander it!" faltered Martha. She could not understand the change in her husband. He had lost good deal of his old bonhomie. He was given to fits of breeding that puzzled her, and sometimes he would start from one of these and suddenly ask her how much a certain grocer's bill had been or just what amount she had paid for young AL freds last pair Of shoes, for young Ger trude's newest dozen of hose.
 At last poor, gentle Martha walked up and gave her lord grand scolding. He listened to it very patiently, and told her (with a sort of dazed smile which she somehow detested) that he had thought so much of money lately as to find himself caring about it, watching it's expenditure in really pe- culiar way.
 You think altogether too much on the subject of money" said Martha, with reproachful heat. Are we not quite comfortable as we are? And if a certain thing doesn't happen within the next i've years or so, why on earth should you care? For good while yet we can send the children to public schools. That certainly is far better than not educating them at all. We've no reason to bother ourselves about money none in the least. Of course, you might have advanced yourself more with Van Veckten & Co. Now, Alfred, don't mean to say anything unpleas- ant, but you know, dear, that you your self told me, not long ago, you'd got to be sort of machine there in Water street, neither caring for promotion nor using an effort to secure it."
 ''True," replied Stanfeld, ''I must pull myself together. must show them what I'm worth and demand 2 better salary"
 But he did neither. He was always waiting, waiting for his uncle to die. The Van Veckten firm found no fault