The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-24

One thing we seriously lacked was
ready money. My father had not had
dollar of life insurance. His bank &C
count was very small. We found hun
dreds of investments into which he had
entered on the installment plan, and we
had no means of meeting the payments as
they came due In many cases there had
been an actual sharp depreciation of
value and when man has paid 10 per
cent. and property has gone down 20,
there is little to encourage one to carry a
contract to completion-even if one has
means at hand with which to do it.
The interests were well scattered-the
holdings diversified. There were lots in
choice places in the suburbs of New York,
silver lands in Colorado, vineyards in
California. There were building lots in
Duluth and West Superior, business
| blocks in Chicago and orange groves in
Florida. And, in many cases, in almost
every case, the debt, covered by mortgage
ran well up toward the most flattering
value one could hope from the most
| leisurely of sales.
But there were cases that were even
worse than these. There were building
| lots-out in lakes. There were farms
| located in swamps. There were records
/ of swindles that had cost thousands of
Of dollars. 1t couldn't have been worse.
In June l had preliminary report
ready. I secured delay until December
for the sale of the property involved. But
| knew in June Just as well as I should in
December that the Wyndham estate
would lack thousands of dollars of paying
the Wyndham debts
Gen. Van Etten had been very kind and
considerate all this time, and had helped
| me much with my work. l mad seen Lu-
cile very often-oftener than was good
for my own peace of mind-oftener, !
| sometimes feared, than met with the en-
tire approval of her father. The night /
had my report ready l showed it to him.
He read it through with much care.
Carl, ~ he said, when he had finished,
II am sincerely sorry for you and your
mother"
He sat then in silent thought for some
minutes. Finally he spoke again.
Did you ever hear how l won promo
tion ~ he asked. "Did you know how |
became a general instead of a colonel 2"
l shuddered, for had heard He had
only done his duty, suppose, and he had
| certainly taken his chances, bravely
enough, with the devoted fellows he had
commanded. But only half the men came
| back from the position into which he had
led them.
"And how gained special mention-as
| q general-from the commander of the
entire army ?"
I shivered, though the summer night
| w do linz u luIhdOSs hlACW uOW lb udu
held a position, when the fate of the
| whole army hung on his steady faithful
| ness, his logged persistence, and that he
| had sent in regiment after regiment to
what was not merely battle-but was
| murder-and was almost certain sudden
death. While the roar of the great gus
| tolled the knell of the dying-ticked OF
the moments of the most desperate half
| hour he had ever known-this man had
steadily counted the blood of the men
| he loved, the men who loved
| him, as nothing-nothing compared
with the absolute necessity of hold
| ing the enemy at bay. That was the
| manner of man he was. l made him no
| answer.
He reached over and touched my hand
| -gently--almost tenderly. "As God is
my witness, f." he said solelmly ana slowly,
| Il never thought of the name / was
making, the praise 1 was winning.
thought only of the duty TO be done-the
| approval of my own soul-the commenda-
| ton of my conscience and that of God
| Honor, integrity, at whatever cost, what
ever sacriice-these have been my idols
my creed. Perhaps they have driven
me TO cruelty. Perhaps they may again
| But | cannot help it. / cannot give them
! up l cannot give them up.
| And SOL am sorry for Lucille, sorry for
myself as well as for you and your good
| uAObneI. L CUulu HOI leb my udugOUef go
! into family with unpaid debts-no mat
! ter how honestly they may have tried to
| discharge them. You-you love Lucille,
| do you notf'
| suppose some men-desperate men of
| course-but fairly good men as men go,
would have lied to him. l don't doubt
| some would have repudiated the posses
| sion of an uusaid passion as hopeless as
was mine. But did not. l told him the
| simple truth.
81 love Lucille with all my heart and
soul, " I said simply, land always shall
no matter what happens"
at isn't poverty, he said emphatically
''Pd accept you as sutton il you hadn't