The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-01-24
THE CASTING COIN.
BY JRANNETTE H. wALwoRrH.

| tCopyr1ght, lS9o, by American Press Assocta'
| tion.l
''Heads, go; tails, stay"
A reckless laugh mingled with the
jingling of loose coin. Five copper PEN
mics tumbled upon the dark blue cloth
Of the old library table.
With a superstitious impulse, from
which the wisest Of us is not entirely
free, five heads were suddenly bent
above the spinning coins.
The five heads belonged respectively
to Major Duke Fairchild, his wife and
daughter Loulou and the two "Fairchild
boys" as they were locally called. The
two Fairchild boys had no other claim
| on the name they bore than what was
| due to the generosity Of its rightful
owner.
Two friends Of the majors had fallen
by his side in battle. He had breathed
words of comfort into two dying heroes
ears, "Your sons shall be my sons if
ever they need a father. /" Time held
him rigidly to his hasty promise, so that
within a few years after the surrender
he found himself with a wife and girl
baby of his own and two boys who had
grown up from early childhood to young
manhood as the Fairchild boys"
But the old plantation home was
large, and the majors heart was larger
still so no one had ever been sorry for
that hasty promise made on the battle
field
The old plantation house was still
large, and the majors heart was still
as large, but value had shrunken, and
times were hard, and for months past
the problem the copper coins were to
settle had consumed much Of the fam
ily's time and attention.
One Of the boys must strike out and
get into business of some sort. 1t was
the only. hope for the major and Mrs.
Duke and Loulou.
Which one of them should it be?
The question had been argued from
every possible point of view. Raymond
was the stronger physically and the eld-
er, but he had come to take the majors
place so completely on the plantation
that it seemed as if he could not be
spared. Dabney was less essential to the
routine life of the place, but every fiber
Of Mrs. Fairchild's heart chung about
the handsome lad, and woman's heart
is the veriest hotbed of arguments in
favor Of what she wants.
And so for months now the question
had come up for daily discussion, right
ly, too, for that matter, as the boys
themselves talked it over in manly,
amicable way after going to their room
Of nights, and the major and his wife
carried the question to bed with them,
hoping perhaps that some new light
would be mysteriously shed upon it by
the snuffing out Of the tall sperm can
die in the old fashioned silver stick
which stood by their bedside year in
and year out And then Dabney, with
that reckless laugh, had flung the whole
matter into the scales of chance:
Heads, go; tails, I stay"
Five pennies spun dizzily on the blue
cloth. One leaped all bounds and tum-
bled TO the floor. Loulou's pretty blond
head disappeared beneath the table in
pursuit of il.
"Two heads, two tailsp' Raymond
said excitedly.
1.-THE casting vote is in Loulou's
hands," Dabney said gravely and cast
an intense look at the girl as she reap
peared with one small hand clinched
about the coin. She looked at him ap-
pealingly. Her tender little heart would
be quite broken if he should go away.
This innocent byplay irritated Raymond
rnreasonably. He spoke out somewhat
sharply:
"Honor bright, Lou AS you lay it
down the thing goes. f"
"Honor bright, of course, Lou. We
wo1ld not have it any other way" said
Dabney.
With averted eyes and fingers that
trembled in spite of her, she laid the
penny in line with the four on the ia
BILE and drew back with sigh Of re-
Taxed tension. Whichever way it was to
20 it was done, and she had had hand
In It'll
"Headsv' The note of triumph was
Raymond's. 81 CO." The note of final
ity was Dabney's.
He said it almost solemnly. The or
deal had been of his own continuing, and
he would not discredit it. He took the
five pennies up and pocketed them with
unsmiling elaboration.
give of them. That means five years
trial. A good deal may come and go in
that length Of time"
"Long enough for a man to gain
/ fortune" said Raymond encouragingly.
"Long enough for man to lose'-
But Loulou was not there, and the
sentence would mean nothing at all IL
addressed to any other pair Of eyes, so
he amended it. "Long enough for a
man to lose hts temper several times