Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1896-06-20

Pay In India ia a matter Of age, not merit,
you see, and if their particular boy wished
to work like two boys business forbid that
they should stop him. But business for
bid that they should give him an increase
J of pay at his present ridiculously imma-
| ture age. So Dicky won certain rises of
salary-ample for boy, not enough for
| wife and child-certainly too little for the
700 rupee passage that he and Mrs HAITI
had discussed SO lightly once upon a time.
And with this he was forced to be content.
Somehow all his money seemed to fade
away in home drafts and the crushing ex-
change, and the tone of the home letters
changed and grew querulous "Why
wouldn't Dicky have his wife and the
baby out9 Surely he had a salary-a fine
salary-and it was too bad of him to enjoy
himself in India. But would he-could
he-make the next draft little more
elastic9" Here followed a list of baby's
kit as long as Parsee's bill Then
Dicky, whose heart yearned to his wife and
the little son he had never seen-which,
again, is a feeling no boy is entitled to-
enlarged the draft and wrote queer half
boy, half man letters, saying that life was
not SO enjoyable after ALL and would the
little wife wait yet little longerf But
the little wife, however much she approved
Of money, objected to waiting, and there
was strange, hard sort of ring in her lot
tiers that Dicky didn't understand. How
could he, poor boy?
Later ON still-just as Dicky had been
told-apropos of another youngster who
had "made a fool Of himself" as the say
ing is-that matrimony would not only
ruin his further chances of advancement,
but would lose him his present appoint
ment-came the news that the baby, his
own little, little son, had died, and behind
this 40 lines of an angry woman's scrawl,
saying the death might have been averted
if certain things, all costing money, had
been done, or If the mother and the baby
had been with Dicky. The letter struck
at Dicky's naked heart, but not being off
cially entitled to baby he could show no
sign of trouble.
How Dicky won through the next four
months, and what hope he kept alight to
force him into his work, no one dare say.
He pounded on, the 700 rupee passage as
far away as ever, and his style of living
unchanged, except when he launched into
new filter. There was the strain of his
office work, and the strain of his remit
tances, and the knowledge of his boys
death, which touched the boy more, per-
haps, than it would have touched man,
and, beyond all, the enduring strain of
his daily life. Gray headed seniors who
approved of his thrift and his fashion of
denying himself everything pleasant re-
minded him of the old saw that says:
If youth be distinguished in his art art, art,
He must keep the girls away from his heart,
heart. heart
And Dicky, who fancied he had been
through every trouble that man is per-
mitted to know, had to laugh and agree
with the last line of his balanced handbook
jingling in his head day and night.
But he had one more sorrow to digest
before the end. There arrived a letter
from the little wife-the natural sequence
of the Others If Dicky had only known it
and the burden Of that letter was "gone
with handsomer man than you." 1t
was rather curious production without
stops, something like this: "She was not
going to wait forever and the baby was
dead and Dicky was only q boy and he
would never set eyes Oh her again and
why hadn't he waved his handkerchief to
her when he left Gravesend and God was
her judge she was a wicked woman but
Dloky was worse enjoying himself in India
and this other man loved the ground she
trod on and would Dicky ever forgive her
for she would never forgive Dicky; and
there was no address to write to-"
IOctaad Of bjc ctnru Tint t,o |
was free, Dicky discovered exactly how an
injured husband feels-again, not at all
the knowledge to which boy is entitled
for his mind went back to his wife as
he remembered her in the 80 shilling
suit" in Montpelier square, when the |
dawn Of his last morning in England was !
breaking, and she was crying in the bed,
he rolled about on his bed and
bit his fingers. Henever stopped to think
if he had mot Mrs. HIATT after
those two years, he would have discovered
that he and she had grown quite different
and new persons. This he ought to have
done. He spent the night after the Eng
ish mail came in rather severe pain.
Next morning Dicky HIATT felt disin-
,lined to work. He argued that he had
missed the pleasure Of youth. He was
tired, and he had tasted all the sorrow in
life before three and twenty. His honor
vas gone-that was the mainland now he,
;oo would 60 to the devil-that was the
10Y In him. So he put his head down on
he green oilcloth table cover and wept
before resigning his post and all it offered.
But the reward Of his services came
de was given three days to reconsider
himself, and the head of the establishment,
'fter some telegraphings, said that it was
most unusual step, but in view of the
bility that Mr.. HIATT had displayed at
UGH and such time, at such and such
unctures, he was in position to offer
lin an infinitely superior post first on
rotation, and later, in the natural course
t things, on confirmation "And how
much does the post carryf' said Dicky.
Six hundred and fifty rupees" said the
ead slowly, expecting to see the young
nan sink with gratitude and joy.
And 1t came then! The 700 rupee pas
age, and enough to have saved the wife =
nd the little son and to have allowed of
ssured and open marriage, came then.
)lcky burst into a roar of laughter {
lughter he could not check-nasty, jan
ling merriment that seemed as If it would !
o on forever. When he had recovered l
imself, he said quite seriously: "I'm tired
work. I'm an old man now. It's
bout time retired. And will" =
The boys madH said the head. :
think he was right but Dicky HIATT ,
ever reappeared to settle the question: ,
'udyard Kipling. :