St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-03-25
HOW Two FRIENDS FELL OUT,
Balb0 Was Successful and Trent
- Failure in Life,
BUT THEIR WARM FRIENDSHIP LASTED
Until the Latter Became a Professional
Whist Player and Then There Was
Trouble A Passion for KILLING
Ainfs-An end and Amusing
Sketch by 0pie Read.

strong friendship, dating almost from
boyhood, existed between Balbo and Trent.
And yet they were wholly unlike each other.
Balbo was successful in everything, as a
miner in '49, as merchant afterward and
then as an iron founder. He became so
wealthy that he could not afford to be idle.
he had SO much that he could not afford to
lose it. But how different it was with Trent.
As miner he found no gold, as merchant
he found no customers-his life was failure.
He and his friend drifted apart but came to-
gether when they were both well advanced
in life. Trent went to the town where his
friends mills were situated and lived there
on small allowance granted him by kins-
man. Balbo attempted to set him up in bus
mess, actually started him, but he soon
failed. Then he gave him position in his
mills, but the old fellow could not abide the
harness of regular employment, and so
quilted the job. One day while they were at
dinner Balbo said 'sJohn do you remem-
Der how we used to sit under the old syca-
more tree and tell each other of our yearn-
ings, of what it was our ambition to become?"
.'Yes but 1 don't remember that could
quite fix upon any ambition. I didn't know
what I wanted, and consequently I have
never been good for one thing more than an
other. You were more fixed, more settled in
in your determination, and that accounts for
your success. 1 don't think that have ever
been able to crafty one single whim. Come
to think of it, don't think that ever had
very dear whim until lately.'
'.And you have one now, eh?"
ssYoS took If nm in racppr xyoarS INV
fondness for it is the cause of my not being
able to serve you as department manager
in your mills-indeed, it was the cause of my
last failure in business
''Well, you have kept it pretty close. What
is that whim?'
''Whist. know that it astonishes you but
it is whist. It may sound foolish, but really
if could play whist-just had enough money
to enable me to play all I want to. I would
ask for nothing more. care nothing for
schemes that may tend to advance the world;
the progress OF science is nothing; life is
nothing without whist
CHATS strange" said the millionaire.
s'Whist, why never played game Of it in
my life. John, I have been thinking for some
time that I would do something for you in q
SuUStd1tietl way, SOIuCluiI5 W iu1hC yOu Qbp.
Ply in your old age. I think the world Of you,
would do anything for you, and am never so
happy as when think that have made you
more contented with life. feel thusin spite,
too of the fact that you care nothing for bus
mess and you know that in my mind there
could hardly be greater crime than failure
on the part OF anyone to appreciate business
relations between man and man. But as I
say, think the world Of you and want to do
something for YOU
''Sam you have already done more than
enough. You'd better just keep on with your
schemes, your money making and not think
of me at all.''
81 can think Of you and still continue to
make money" He meditated for few mo-
ments and then continued:
"And so whist is the ambition so long de-
layed in coming. I gad you shall have it.
want to hire you this very day"
''Don't talk about hiring me, Sam. You
know that I am not fitted for anything"
"Ah, but want to hire you to play whist"