The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-05-03
THE TYPE WRITTEN LETTER

When a man has battled with pow
erty all his life, fearingit as he fought
it, feeling for its skinny throat to
throttle it, and yet dreading all the
while the coming Of the time when it
would gain the mastery and throttle
him-when such a man is told that he
is rich, it might be imagined he
would receive the announcement with
hilarity. When Richard Denham re
allied that he was wealthy he became
even more sobered than usual. and
drew long breath, as if he had been
running a race and had won it. The
man who brought him the news
had no idea he had told Denham any
thing novel. He merely happened to
say, You are rich man, Mr. Den
ham, and will never miss it."
Denham had never before been
called rich man, and up to that mo-
ment he had not thought of himself
as wealthy. He wrote out the check
asked Of him, and his visitor departed
gratefully, leaving the merchant with
something to ponder over. He was
as surprised with the suddenness of
the thing as if some one had left
him a legacy. Yet the money was all
his own accommodating, but his strug
gle had been so long. and he had been
so hopeless about it, that from mere
habit he exerted all his energies long
after the enemy had been overcome
just as the troops at New Orleans
IL
the war was over He had sprung
from such a hopelessly poor family
Poverty had been their inheritance
from generation to generation. 1t
was the invariable legacy that father
had left to son in the Denham family.
All had accepted their lot with un-
complaining resignation, until Rich
ard resolved that he would at least
have fight for it. And now the fight
had been won. Denham sat in his
Office, staring at the dingy wall paper
so long, that Rogers, the chief clerk,
put in his head and said in a deferen-
tial voice:
Anything more tonight, Mr. Den
ham?"
Denham started as if that question
in that tone had not been asked him
every night for years.
"What's that, what's that" he
cried.
Rogers was astonished, but too we'll
trained to show it.
anything more tonight, Mr.. Den
ham?'
"Ah, quite 50. No, Rogers, thank
you, nothing more"
Good night, Mr. Denham."
'Eh? Oh, yes. Good night Rog-
ers, good night"
When Mr. Denham left his office
and went out into the street, every
thing had an unusual appearance to
him. lie walked along, unheeding
the direction. He looked at the fine
residences and realized that he might
have a fine residence if he wanted it.
He saw handsome carriages; he, too,
might set up an equipage. The salts
faction these thoughts produced was
| brief. Of what use would a fine
house or an elegant carriage be to
| him? He knew no one to invite to
the house or to ride with him in the
carriage He began to realize how
utterly alone in the world he was.
He had no friends, no acquintances
even. The running dog, with its
nose to the ground, sees nothing of
the surrounding scenery. He knew
men in business way, of course, and
doubtless each of them had home in
the suburbs somewhere, but he could
| not take a business man by the shoul-
ders and say to him, Invite me to
your house; | am lonely; 1 want to
know people"
If he got such an invitation he
would not know what to do with it
! himself. He was familiar with the
counting room and its language. but
the drawing room was an unexplored
| country to him, where an unknown
tongue was spoken. On the road to
wealth he had missed something, and
it was now too late to go back for it.
Only the day before had he heard one
of the clerks, who did not know he
was in earshOt. allude to him as the
old man" He felt as young as he
ever did, but the phrase, so lightly
spoken, made him catch his breath.
As he was now walking through
the park, and away from the busy
streets, he took off his hat and ran his
fingers through his grizzled hair, look
ing at his hand when he had done so,
as if the gray, like wet paint, had
come off. He thought of a girl he
knew once, who perhaps would have
married him if he had asked her. as
he was tempted to do But that had
always been the mistake of the Den
hams. They had all married young
except himself, and SO sunk deeper
into the mire of poverty, pressed