Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1896-04-23

They are only twenty thousand dol
lars"
(which is exactly iour times tx
amount Of money which could Lc alot
ted to each family in the United State
by equal division of all the pro. -crt;
1t contains.
II don't understand you, papa"
very likely notl But if all the
property in the United States should
be equ ally divided among all the PEG
pie in it, there would be about one
thousand dollars apiece. The average
family contains five members, SO you
see when your mother wears those
TWEEN ty-thousand dollar diamonds. she
will be wearing the capital of twenty
people, or of four families"
What do you mean by that, papa9
Do you mean that if mamma has twenty
thousand dollars worth OF diamonds,
twenty other people will have to 60
without anything at all?'
THAT is about the size Of it, my
dear. If there are twenty people and
twenty peaches to be divided among
them, and one man takes half of the
peaches, there will not be bat ten left
for the other nineteen people, will
there?'
II should not like that if was one of
the other people-but do want NAM
ma to have her diamonds! Mrs. Van
Smith has beautiful diamonds and
they are not half so rich as you are,
papal''
Il fear you do not realize the value
Of money"
Perhaps notl l hope I never will.
l should hate to be poor! By-by!
Edith is on her steps and we go to-
gether."
A moment later the butler appeared
barring letter on silver tray
He brings my death warrant was
the thought that passed through Mr..
Strong's mind. Hobbies did not come
The has written. The deal has failed
1t is my death warrant"
He waited until the butler had left
The room and then opened the letter
with trembling fingers 1t was as he
feared. The deal had failed! He sank
into chair and covered his face with
his hands, caring nothing about partic-
ulars. 1t was enough to know that he
was lost. All the world must know his
financial distress tomorrow. Ruinedl
Ruined! Could he face the world and
begin again? Could he face his own
family? The words Of his daughter:
II should hate to be poorW rang in his
ears. In his mental distress, those
carelessly-s spoken words, uttered with.
out thought, weighed more than they
should. 1t seemed to him that they
expressed the sentiments of the whole
family. How could he tell them that
his wealth had vanished even quicker
than it had come. He started up and
paced the floor, his thoughts acting
like whips to scourge him on"
In this, his hour of despair, his whole
life passed in review before him. He
thought of the high hopes of his
youth. when he had wished to be num-
bered among those who fought for
justice and truth and the rights Of the
people. In the mad scramble for wealth
he had ceased to be just, he had dishon-
ored truth. he had trampled upon the
rights of OF hersl He had sold the best
part of hi m self for wealth, and now
even that, the price of his infamy, was
gone! His life had been failure
from first to last-a miserable failurel
Measured by the highest standard it
had always been failure---even
though his check had been good for
million! Measured by the lower
standard of worldly success, tomorrow
men would write upon his brow-fail-
ure! 1t was uncomfortable! Why
should he continue to live when life
had lost its value? With sudden re-
solve, born Of self-contempt and de-
spair, he stepped into another room
and came back with a revolver.
And yet-he could not go out of life
witout one last word to Mary. Poor
Mary! She might take it hard! He
would assure her that it was not
lack Of love for her that he
ended his existence, but--what reason
could he give for deserving his post at
her side? He sat down to his writing
desk and took out some paper.
Dear Mary" he wrote, and then
words failed him. How could he tell |
her? He stared blankly at the paper.
After all. would it not be the act Of d
coward to leave his family alone to
fight poverty? Had he right to do it? |
Suddenly soft white hand glided
past his, seized the revolver and re-
moved it.
"Robertl Robert! What is the mat
.er2 What are you about to do?" cried
lis wife in distress John told me
hat he brought you letter. and then
you began to walk up and down the
Dom. crazy-like. with o revolver in
your hand! Why didn't you come and
oil me about it? You have no right
% try to bear trouble alone. What is
t, Robert, dear?"
Her arms were around his neck and
he was covering his face with kisses,
ut means, Mary, that we are poorl
This house will have to be sold; you
will have no carriage, no diamonds, no
rips to Europe. l shall not save
.uouOh ont of the DeneraI vrank RI !