Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-04-18


own history. but Kate thought she could
MI I'm the blanks easily enough Up TO the
time of his removal to the city he must
have been fairly prosperous according to
tho standards OF his old associates: his
urban career evidently had begun auspi-
ciously; the sudden check when thre"
him out of employment had clearly been
a severe blow TO his hopes; the manner
in which he had sought and finally Sc
cured other work. even though uncon-
genial and poorly paid, showed energy
and self-reliance. "That young man WIZ
make a success" was her mental COM
ment.
Circumstances brought them together
rather frequently i'm the course OF the next
month. Herrick indirectly had a good zeal
TO do with their meetings. Under ms guld-
ance the young ladies OF 81. MattneW
were doing noby In their charitable worn
Not only were they supPoi.ln s a hnr
of families. but they were also undertak-
ing a task which, in HefIlck opinion
promised even greater dement's. IN inahns
his rounds among the poor ne mao eolile
upon many men and women VINO "ere
weariua. themselves out bodily ana men
tally in "A desperate struggle 10 remain
self-suppOrting. and VINO s'oou sduly IA
need not OF aims, but or ACCOMPLISHMENTS,
Of little break now anu riien ~ liz lie
gnawing monotony of their existence ie
had organiZed a club OF people Oh thls
class. which met weekly In nan ne mao
secured for the purpose Az each -.
these meetings there Wa SOns SinnnIes - ~
the way Of an entertainment. sllhple: VI
course and perhaps all the more apprs-
ciated for that reason. Ine ~; Mat hil's
Society, having agreSa 70 H. nroersmmes.
had practically taken charge OF tnls Si ~
and left him at liberty TO proceed win ny ne
organization OF another. HANDY, py 'lis
time. had come to De reeg Ps, ~ g. was no
longer alone In the field, half dozen
other young men having suuuehaS
awakened to the pressing need OF asSlst
| ing their friends anu noiutns W p,sibIn
! Herrick. upon whose time the cans became
! greater ard greater. was forceu 70 zee
/ Handy gradually usurping MS 9Iu pr
! negatives as Rates atlehuaht' IL ~, w.
man enough to suffer pangs OF sonelh.ns
/ closely akin to jealousy, but ne was 700
! much of a man TO protest. Ihcre We
! some relief to his feelings In the Iact
that In the new enthusiasm 10, SSove
| deeds the young women seemed 10 nave
/ lost much of their old weakness Tor Bos-
| Sin Yet. now and then. he heard soiile-
| thing which cut like knife; air, had
ooh. don't look so tragic, one sili n ,ha
| vvhispered in his ear one evening as IN.
| ciub as he stood watching Kate ana het
protege "If he were her coachInah ~
! wound be different. But street-car cVii J.,
ductor-why. he's evefypoay pso2eraIiy
49, sui tbings until the calls Of duty
| forced him TO forget his private 49, ellu
| gave the wound time TO heal. Soiheeilii III,
| though, IL broke out airesh' rs sua ~
| ,,o,Snfs will Busy as he was, Tom hau
some very bad half hours In his OWN
company 49,, ..,,o,,,oo.a dly
The Major was proving ~ uns sS I,sS
reticent on the subject n tbe ms besinning he
| had manifested signs OF mild disapproyal
but iatterly he had avoided any references
10 Handy. There was; as II hapPeiiSSuI &C.
| more or less OF the democratic IN nls
| mato-up. and besides, he had unboundei
! faith IN Kate's ability to avoid oDJec'ion11
! able entanclements. An incident zoe, ne ia.
| occurred recently which. in his judgment
| effectively barred him from trying 10 II
| nuence his daughter i'm TINS matter, n
was escOrting Kate 10 meeting OF ~
! club. and near the hail Glanced 10 come
upon Handy, also bouna LOT , ,n cro ssir'e
the street the Major saw n car pea,lIis
down upon them a. high speSl, anu
stepped brsklY out OF danger. ne SUI
posed his companions were close behini
him but when he looked back from ms
point OF safety he saw them hailtl Ds-
tween the rails Neither perceived the
peril. for Kate had called Handy atteh,
ton 20 n grotesuue illuminated sign, ana
they had paused 10 inspect It. The Major
sholtcd. the mOtorman tore desperately
at his brake. and sounded MS gong WIZ
the energy of man striving 10 atone TOR
hardness
stincty threw an arm around the gHi
and half lifted, half pushed her from me
track. IN leaped after her. but as me
car rushed past he was hurled 10 'ne
pavement He was up in an instant. now.
ever. dazed and shaken, but, luckily NOT
badly hurt. - -
heir anxious inquiries: The car , 1G3 ,
graZed me, that's all That Fellow uiun
allow enough for the slippery track. sA-
poet he was worse scared than ! was.
None Of the three said much about ths
incident Handy seldom referred 10 IT,
and Kate also seemed 10 avoid the topic
. She thought Of il often though, ma hei
reflections were not altogether piedsdht
For one thing. IT gave Handy new
standing with her-she could hardy Keep
up her mi-patronlzing relations n a
man who had done her such service
As for the Major he a few days later IN
vited Handy to dine with them. rs an
afterthought ne also invited Herrick.
To neither OF the young men was the
dinner Il season Of unalloyed happiness,
Tom saw that the other fellow had gained
o new footing In the Mason househoiu,
ana. not knowing The cause, fell victim
TO dependency. Handy, who mad sum,
| cent reminder of the cause in Sun
painful bruise or two, had reasons OF Ms
! own for rather serious reflections. Kate
shared her attention between them with
| care which was in itself suggestive, ana
her father. looking on and good deal
at sea as 10 the situation. grew thought
/
tom he remained with the young people
that evening. IL puzzled him that ooth
Of his guests took an early departure.
Very little new light came 10 the Major
f. The next month. The winter had near
! ly worn itself out, and with the arrival OF
warmer weather the labOrs Or the charl-
table organization and its helpers inlshl
reasonably be expected 10 be lessenel, nut
I'm the mean time the workers were throw
ing themselves into their tasks with unre'
Taxed energy. Kate and her friends were
/ yet engaged with their destitute poor ahe
the club; Herrick was still the directing
spirit Of their enterprises; Handy remain
| ed their most active agent. Both thS
young men were at his house occasionally
but rather less frequently, IL seemed u
the Major. than had been the case Defor.
that dinner. Each Of them had dined VIII
the MasOns more than once In the las
four weeks. but they had not met at th'
house. On the whole. the Major wa'
| satisfied that they should not De ms
guests AT the same time. Kate, so Tar "a
| he could observe greeted each Of then
with equal cordiality. She was a bit les.
cheerful than usual her father Imagined
| and he BEGAN 10 fear that her e1ertiOn.
were telling uDon her.
II was fortunate for his peace Of min
that he was unable TO read the youn
lady's thoughts during that period. Mat
tiers were hardly shaping themselves TO he
fancy and she was full OF premonitiO
that she might find herself in a disagree
able position. What 20 do with Herric
puzzled her almost as much az what I
DO with Handy. IS for the latter-wel
her early fancy for him had passed into
firm. well-develOped liking. He had wo
on her steadily, for she had found in hir
many qualities that attracted her. sine
her rescue from the car he had told ne
very little of himself; in fact. almost IN
only thing OF personal interest she ha
learned was that he expected soon to re
gain the position with the firm fror
whose employ he had been dismissed sew
eral months before. IL was an importan
portunities for promotion. Kate congral
ulated him honestly. and then fell to wor
dering II his beitered circumstances Nigh