The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-05-13

- Il want a
Eo,.3ass,ESS chance to rise in
t-ttsS the world, to
show what kind of stuff I'm made Of"
answered the youth.
~ reckon you're made of the same
sort of clay us yer mother and me, but
yer only about half baked yet, aid tho
old man, with grin. "Thls comes of Il
little lcarnin'. You'd better larry at
Jericho until yer beard is grown, an
| you've cut yer wisdom teeth, SON"
But the young man persisted. He ex-
planned to his father that he wanted to
| sec the world, and make his mark in it.
Lie might have to begin low, but he
was bound to rise, and be somebody,
and he knew enough to keep clear of
bunco-stcercrs and all such gentry. So
his father gave him his blessing, and
twenty-five dollars in gold, and let him
go, with Il pardonablc desire to crafty
his ambition and see him rise in the
world.
| In due time letter came from tho
young man. He had found employment
as clerk in II jewelry store 1t was
only stepping stone, he said, to the
fortune he intended to make, but he
should keep his eyes open and lose nc,
| good chance.
The next letter was from the chief of
police in the city where the young man
was employed. 1t merely announced
the fact that the youth was in Jail
and wanted his father to come and bail
| him out. The CONSERVATION which this
mlssivc introduced into the farm house.
hold can only be imagined. They all
| loyalty chung to the belief that their
Charles Augustu3 was not n criminal in
intent but the fact of his being in Jail
was Il great blow to their pride.
Let us return" us the novelists say,
to Charles Augustus.
That cnterprising young man had
Won golden opinions from his employers
by his steady conduct, his correct bust
ness principles, and his devotion to
their interests. One day, at time
when he was the only clerk in the store,
stranger entered and asked to be
shown some diamond earrings. He
| produced Il business card, and the lew
eler, who personally attended to him,
recognized the name as that of a man
recently established in business there,
but who was still Il stranger to him.
| The gentleman selected the earrings
and asked that they be sent to his hotel
for his wife to examine before purchas-
ing them. Then he left the store.
| Now this business was unbusiness-
| like and the jcweler cautioned young
Stillwcil not to leave the diamonds un-
less they were paid for, us the buyer
had said they would be if they suited
So Charles Augustus went up to the
hotel with two ideas fixed in his mind
He was to return, like the Spartan
hero, with his shield. or upon tin
other words, he was to bring back
either the diamonds or their equivalent
in cash.
''know thysclf," the motto of the
wise men of Greece, was an unknown
quantity III the arithmetic of our
Charles Augustus. He had read enough
dime literature in his salad days, which
were not yet over, to fill his soul with
an unequal appreciation of things. For
instance, quite unknown to his parents,
he ycarncd to be detective. Cowboys
and raiders were not much to his liking;
they lacked the clement of respccta-
bility. But to be q detective, Il slcuth-
hound of the law, to rise to the high
position of inspector-in- chief of police,
to be the terror of small boys and evil
doors, was to reach the ultimatum OF
his ambition. When his employer
imagined lis new clerk at the reading
room of the Y. NJ. C. a. or sound asleep
in his boarding house bed Charles
Augustus was hanging around the
police station, watching the criminals
brought in, and admiring the officers
on duty who assigned each one to cell