The courier., 1896-08-08

lace uaS - pretty - ever Cut mere q As
airs.s . tired look 10 the pstsens eyes
soz. sighed ~ not-d IL all though.
truth 20 tell. IL wss none of ny business
Then there came ooe nighf-f xss
bitterly cold. and showing. ] remember
when the neEs reached the Office that
Brsdshss had performed his fret grace
fuI act 10 year.. and got himself run
over and nearly killed by q cable csr
We hoped. VI course. that the injuries
wouI. be fatal. but none of US was so
deeply moved by the news as the Old
Maui mean the managing editor. He
was really handsome old chap. by the
way. vifh crisp. curly. iron-gray locks.
and eyes whose kindliness Was not con-
ceaIed by the heavy gold eyeglasses that
he perpefuaIiy vore. He asked me as a
special favor 10 foIlos the injured man
10 the hospital-wlilher he had been
isken-snd see that proper provision
WAS made for his comfort found him
badly hurt, but conscious and quite
tslkstive.
IL say, Saunders he beaan. this is
pretty damned tough. don't you think?
] hope shan't lose leg or two. II
would spoil my good looks. Ell? And
Saunders"
Well said. as sympathetically as
could.
Its about that kid-that girl.
mean" he went on uneasily: you've
probably observed that She stuck Oh
me-
resisted an inclination to choke him
and nodded.
"Well, don't let her come ND here
bothering. don't want her. aud-weIl,
il you must know, owe her some
money. which makes il awkward. AUDI
DO you mean to say. demanded.
wholly without sympathy, that you've
been robbing that girl OF her earnings!-
%, it's not as bad as that he an
swered. squirming slightly in his bed.
I've occasionally borrowed little, that's
all-poker, and all that, YOU know. But
LAY, Saunders, don't imagine that
there's anything wrong"-
If you were to insinuate that there
were, / answered, as calml, as l could.
and smite you over the Jaw with it,
The speech was not elegant. but as |
left the building was glad had made
it. You see, although an old bachelor. l
can feel very strongly on some subjects.
In spite Of all that this maimed Her
cules had said to me, he permitted Miss
Croisac to visit him 10 her spare hours.
| myself fancy that she spent half her
nights nursing him. or course hoped
b would die. as did, no doubt. more
than one other man in the Office. As
for the girl herself. she went about her
duties in a dull, mechanical sort OF way.
and l soon regarded it as certainly
that il Bradshaw should ever show him
self 10 our midst again he would stand
a good chance OF being mobbed. All
this time. l may add. the comfortable
bachelors quarters that had occ pied
SO contentedly all these years looked
particularly empty and forbidding to
me.
1t was on Friday morning that great
surprise was sprung. There vas an
article in one Of the papers that told us
about Bradshaw. 1t was tale of a
craIky and millionaire western father
becoming reconciled with a hayward
SOD. The same article told Of our former
associates recovery and OF his departure
for Europe with hls doting parent, who,
AZ we afterward learned. had had an ar.
rangement with the publisher of the
paper TO pay him a certain amount of
money each week 30 long as he r. Trained
from going quite to the devil. This ac-
counted for the young mans pull.
/ entered the Office at abont 5 that
afternoon. Miss Croisac was usually
alone, or nearly 30, at that hour. For
once. however. il was otherwise. The
young lady was sitting by the Old Mans
desk. apparently taking something from
dictation. but at the very moment that
entered she leaned forward slightly
and began to sob. de- don't think
either one OF them saw or heard me
placed one hand emily on the boxed
bronzed head. saying, with great com
passion, don't cry, my child; he's really
not worth il"