Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-12-25

an five hun'erd dollars to Dennis
O'Toole''
out of your damage money!" Mr..
March asked, between two short breathS
of establishment.
'That'd be it. sur. Where else would
the likes o. me be gettin' five hun'erd
dollars?"
Where. sure enough, Why" Mr.
March gaZed at the old janitor with a
comical mixture of Amusement and
friendly contempt, ''why,-you old
fool,'
Mike stood quietly with broad grin
on his face.
! DO you mean to say went on the
gentleman, that you're going to give
such amounts out of the two thousand
dollars you got as damages from the
street railway for injuries which have
Cade you Il cripple for life?
Such amounts seemed a little be-
wildering to Mike.
Would We be thinkin 1 ought to be
dividin' aiquil wild EN-, bein' they're me
own brothers. SURF" he began.
Go long with YOU" said Mr.. March
With laugh and q stamp of his foot
Mike" he continued. seriously, If you
90 mean such a crazy thing, / hope yol
WIil hear me when advise you agains
! it. Why, man. you are getting ole
, Your two thousand dollars is almost a
your dependence for your old age,-f,
You and your Wife
ITS the ould Wife and mesilf'u b
airnn this many a year yit, sur, plas
the Lord
| "Sut, Mike. think of the Different
this money viii make in your comfor
| With your simple ways it will max
| years of ease in your life. You can s
| Icy your fire in your own snug hire
room. instead of working hard,-yo
with your crippled limb
! The old man set his lips slightly to
eether as he gaZed at his employer. NJ
1larch had once or twice noticed til
nildness of the insignificant gray eye
looking out from under lids reddcne'
| iy exposure: now the mildness was il
tansned by a smile of rare sweetness
"Musther March," he said. Il know
an. none betther nor meslf | know
| jist how much aiser it is to sit by tn
( fire nor to go out in the perishin col,
v-id the acne in me Guild bones. But
~. sui, iiity * iilt tN II IitSil al 'liOOi
Pat and Dennis. They feel the pine
and the hardness jist like meslf Woul.
| il be mesilf u'd sit by me fire takir
ne aise KNOWN things was harder fo
thin nor for me? Be me sowl, Musthe
March. I'm thinkin' it's the stingy oul
| rascal I'm bein not to give thin more.
Mike you're a fool" repeated NJ,
March. but more quietly than before
and simply to MI in the pause.
It'll be raichin' 'em the mornin'
the blissed Christmas day Mike tool
G few limping steps in growing excite
rlent. Think of it, sur. It'll b,
maxim em feel rich. It'l bring thu
snmile to their faces, and the laugh t,
| 'em. God bless 'em. on His own birth
day! It'll aise the ache that no on,
! ut the blssed Lord an themselves
knows of"
Yes, there was radiance added to
the gentieness in the faded eyes,-a
radiance written by a joy of which few
in this self-seeking world know the
taste.
Without saying more Mr.. March
wrote the checks. to which the old man
added his tremulous signature. AS the
sound of the limping footsteps died
away in the han. Mr.. March turned
again to the five checks on his desk.
They look small,-yes. they do"
Mechanically he auued a cipher to the
one nearest him. That looks better"
cipher was added to each check.
lone hundred. Two hundred and fifty.
hey'll all have to be written over"
Mr. March leaned his head on his
l. tn oct ho
he had thought. The glorified face of
the old servitor was still before his
minds eye. Mr.. March doubted if ever
in his life he had looked into happier
one.
Cutting down his bit of a nest-egg
so,-the poor old simpleton Likely
enough to end his days in the poor
house yet"
But it was with a softened smile that
the rich merchant thought it. Then
his mind ran over his own affairs.
Prospered from his first beginnings he
had. during these few later years, taken
huge strides towards a colossal fortune.
Seven figures it would take, he well
knew to express what he was WORTH
and the initial figures would not be one
of the smaller ones, either. His own
family lived well, but not extravaganza
ly: his yearly expenses were but a
small proportion of his rapidly increas-
ing yearly income.
And I've never made anyone feel
rich. Old Mikes ahead of me there"
With a shrug of his shoulders he drew
towards him one of the checks and
added to it another cipher.
Rich? There was not one of these
families to whom such a check would
not come as an angels gift. with stares
and catcnes of breath, tears of joy from
care burdened elder ones. shouts of de-
light from youngsters He knew it all,
for he had been poor himself, long ago