The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1897-02-06
A CASE In EQUITY.
BY FRANCIS LYNDE.
copyright. 1905. BY J. Q. LIpplneo,, Col

Copyright. 1905. by j. 3. Lippincou Col
ing the spur Of necessity which might
have made him successful in his pro-
fession. Up to the moment when he
stood waiting for the next ascend
ing elevator which should lift him to
the altitude of Dr. Perevin's chambers,
his life had been as uneventful as his
mothers solicitude could make it.
There had been no invigorating heights
to scale and no nerve-trying depths to
explore. In his college course, and in
the choice of profession, he had fol-
lowed in the footsteps of his father, talk
ing the one and choosing the other for
no better reason than that both were
selected for him by his parents. Summed
up, the young man who waited for the
elevator WAS a very fair example Of
the neutralizing effect of prearrange-
ment in domestic affairs; a logical
product of n cut-anddried system of
home trimming which makes no allow
ance for individual needs in the sub
jcct.
And it Thorndyke had been given no
voice in the matter of his bringing
mp, he had had quite as little to say
about his engagement to Helen Nor
risson. She was the only daughter of
his fathers law partner, and the al
lance of the two families in the persons
of their respective heirs was treaty
which had been discussed, ratified, en-
crossed, docketed, and filed among the
partnership archives long before the
persons most nearly concerned were old
enough to be consulted. Contrary to all
precedent, the young people made no
difficulties. On tho part of the young
Girl, the loyel friendship of childhood
~had grown with her stature into very
real and earnest love for the man who
was her hc.rothed. And if Philips ac-
Accptance Of the part assigned to him
WINS not sufficiently demonstratyc to
please his mother, 1t was due quite as
much to the fact that the two had
grown up together rs to any underlined
inclination on the part of the young man
to rebel against the conditions which
had forestalled the growth of his in
. dividuality. In tranquil and dispas-
sionate way Philip was devoted to the
young woman of his mothers choice;
but his love for Helen was rather the
outgrowth of an obedicnt sense of the
fitness of things, urged on by just
appreciation of Helen's beauty and
goodness, than the spontaneous and
compelling passion which is no more
amenable to reason than it is subortli-
nate to sense of duty.
From passive Indifference to active
discomfort is but a step in life from
which the objects Of legitimate ambi-
tion had been removed. The dead level
of an existence in which the trivialities
of the daily social round are the only
mile-stones stretches away before the
weary pilgrim into limitless and arid
region whose sandy wastes forbid the
growth of any sturdy tree of effort.
Thorndyke had been journeying
through some such desert OF boredom,
on the day of his visit to DR.. Perevin,
and one of the vagrant thoughts which
followed him to the doctors door
turned upon the well-worn question
as to whether, after all, life were real
ly worth the effort. The answer was
deferred. but the suggestion was dis.
lu&A ,hnp
he stood before the latticed door of the
same elevator waiting to be shot down
70 the level OF the street, the point Of
view had veered so suddenly as to leave
him gasping like an exhausted swimme,
under whose feet there had lately beer
the decks Of the stanchest Of. vessels
For the first time in his experience
with elevators, the swift rush down the
shaft made him dizzy, and he had tc
pit down at the cigar stand in the vesti
bule minute before going out inte
the street. A line of periodicals was
pinned to string in front OF the cigar
render's counter, and Philip saw tht
word "Allacoochee" in staring capitals
on the title page OF one Of them. HI
bought copy of the paper and reaf
> the advertisement.
ALLACOOCHEE.
The Future Commercial and industrial
Capital of the New South! The most Equa
BILE climate In Alabama. Fine Natura
Medicinal Springs, Charming and Pictur
esque Scenery. Inexhaustible Beds OF Goa
and Iron; A Limitless Field for Improve
ment.
carefully prepared prospectus of ALA
coochee may be found at the banking hous
of Messrs. Tompkyns & Ryder where tn
subscription books OF the Allacoochee Land
Manufacturing & Improvement compan
will be opened for the sale Of limited mum
Der Of shares on the 5th inst
An acquaintance looked over hi
shoulder as he read. Hello, Thorn
dyke" he said; going south to make
fortune?"
Philip folded the paper and put
into his pocket II hadn't though
much about making the fortune, b,i
perhaps l shall go south for awhile
DO you know anything about thi
place."
"Nothing more than the scare 'ad
tells; but | fancy it's another bait TO
gudgeons. I shouldn't put any none
into it, il were YOU"
II had no intention OF doing So"
They had reached the street. an
Philip shook hands with his friend b
fore turning to cross the square to th
elevated station.
-'Good-by, old man; may be of b,
fore see you again" said Philip; an
the faintness came back with tn
thought that he should probably neve