The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1894-04-26

NOuucCUlO0.
bannister looked thoughtfullv into
n IRE and sd d nothing.
- never a wsu"h a thing" Maiden
went on. alittIe bitterly. ..You have
all the luck. l can't understand If,
feopie seem to think that my work
Is better than yours as a general
Ihing, yet you always sell easier than
40 and get hi rher prices. It's
luck. Sheer luck"
Its luck" repeated Bapnister.
th0ughtfully. Il know it, nv bov'
and l can't understand il either
You are a better workman than lam
more industrious, more-Well. it does
seem hard! Why, your Dying Glad.
lator' beat my Hero iuto fits, and
yet you only sold it for a mere tril,e
TO a dealer, and heard no more of it,
And here"
Here" continued Maiden, seeing
that his friend hesitated, '.your
Hero will be exhibited. Oh, It'll be
accepted right enough, Directly it's
finished, even, a blessed MARQUIS
turns up who is ready and willing to
pay you handsomely for it, and will
give 1t a place in his hall, where it
Will ne e e by hundreds Of snobs of
hlgh degree. and if it isn't.the means
or bringing you in shoals of orders.
never trust my word again"
well, it does seem a little hard
on you, ALI, old man"
'Oh, we'll, you needn't keep on
Growing over a fellow" INTERRUPTED
Maiden, testify.
why said Bob, looking grew
ously shocked, II was never dream.
ing Of doing such a thing. l was
only going to say l may be able to
find opportunities of introducing you
to people who will recognize your
worth, and
"Ha. ha" laughed Maiden, dis
mally. "1ts very good of you to say
so now, but Bob Bannister, Esquire,
sculptor in ordinary to his High
Mightiness the most noble Marquis
of FfnchingtOn, basking in the pat
ronage of other moneyed and titled
gentry. will be much too great a per-
son to remember poor, luckless,
threadbare All Maiden"
"Alf, cried Bannister, earnestly,
you can't think / an such a mean
humbug as that. If | am to be for.
tunate at the expense Of losing the
oldest--the only friend l have-hang
it. | hope | new may be fortunate
at all"
You say so now, old boy. It's
good of you to say So" said Bob, de-
jectedly. but change OF circum-
stances alters ones opinions wonder
fully. In any case, how do you sup
pose l, your senior in years, who have
been working longer and harder than
you, could Subm t to the humiliation
of being patronized by you, even
though you are my friend: 1t is hui
initiation enough to be beaten by one
whose work is, l know. no better
than my own. But | couldn't"
Don't say any more" cried Bob,
implOringly. AFTER ali the Strug-
CLING we have had together. to think
that any success could carry me be-
yOnd your reach! Pve been selfish
full of my own good fortune. 1t
never struck me till now, but-dO
you think that I would do anything
to humiliate you. l can't bear the
thought Of it. Why. I'd so0ne
never have done the Hero at a ]. |
can't tell you how it grieves me, old
fellow. After all these years TO
think that | should do anything to
estrange us from each other"
There was a suspicious moisture in
his eyes and a slight tremor in his
voice as he suddenly seized his
friends hand and left the sentence
unfinished.
"Well, never mind. Can't be
helped" said Maiden, getting up.
with an uneasy laugh, Its late.
We shall both think differently in
the morning, perhaps. Let's be Off
home"
They went down stairs together in
silence, shook hands in the street,
and parted, each on his own way
home.
For some time Maiden hurried
along deep in dull and responding re-
Elections. So long as they were both
regarded as men of equal m%ediOcrity
he did not care, although all the
while he was conscious Of his W
superior merit. And to. think that
one single piece of work had made all
the difference. All that had been
done might in a moment be undOne
if any enemy of Bob'S-supposing
him to have an enemy-cOuld get
into the studio and maliciously shat
ter the ssHerO' with a few blows OF a
mallet.
CHAPTER III.
Next morning when the faint win
try sunlight looked in at Bannister's
little curtalned window, it found him