The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1898-04-28

vacant on the farm. The mother re-
sorted to her smel ling bottle and fell
back on q Woman's argument Of tears.
In those days It was much more CONF
mon than now to have q Waterman.
sleep in the bank, and after the chilly.
reception accorded him the evening Of
the day that he had trounced his cousin,
Ross applied for the position Of guard
as well as Office boy. He had q neat
little room, there was q good light by
which to pursue the studies to which
he had turned his attention in earnest,
he would not be interrupted and he had
more manly feeling when he knew
that the safety Ct the bank might de-
pend on his watchfulness. On examin-
ing the armory provided for defensive
purposes, Ross found that it consisted
of two old horse pistols with rusty
metal and worm-eaten wood. If, they
could be induced to 60 off at all, the life
of the man who discharged them would
be in the gravest danger. - .
To brave and ambitious Yankee boy,
such an outfit was something to be
scorned, and he respectfully presented
the situation to his uncle II there was
no use in having Waterman, it was
wasteful to hire one. If he was needed
he should at least be provided with
arms that would not be constant
menace to his own life. The uncle
recognized this Vermont logic and
laughingly provided as fine a pairs of
revolvers as was to be had in the mar
ket. With boys delight Ross took
them apart, oiled them just as though
they needed it, polished up the silver
trimmings that were already as bright
as they could be made, and incidentally
discovered chance for an occasional
improvement that was afterward sug-
gested to the manufacturers and well
paid for.
Inside of go days this same country
boy, who was fast learning the accepted
forms of the world to which he had
been introduced, had another Of those
adventures. which sometimes boost an
aspiring person along the road to sue.
cess. 1t seemed to him that he had
just dropped asleep when he was awak-
ened by such a racket as tends to de-
brief transition state he had dreamed
of all earthquake, explosion and vol
canic eruption, at each of which he &C.
cupied front seat and painfully real
lied a hair-raising sense of personal
danger. Then he caught the smell OF
burnt powder, saw dim light through
The glass partition that separated his
room from the main portion of the bank,
and realized that there was something
very serious requiring his attention.
It was a supreme test for an untried
boy whose imagination is so liable to
make a coward of him. But he came
Of fighting stock with lots of common
sense, and was game for anything en-
countered in the line of duty. He real
lied that the bank was being burglar
lied and had no other thought than
that of defending the property left in
his care. "They have no idea that l
am here" was his first thought in con-
nection with the impending campaign,
and then he began to organize for
surprise upon the enemy. His cher
ished weapons were concealed under
the bed, and in trice he had one of
them in either hand. He did not wait
to make a toilet, but slipped noiselessly
to the best vantage point. The outer
doors of the vault had been blown from
their fastehings. Two men were work.
ing vigorously on the inner doors, while
ir1 cf0 hx1xx 10
emily directing operations.
"Come on, boys" shouted Ross, as
he knocked out panel of glass with a
startling racket and began pumping
lead from both revolvers. 1t was as
effective as a regimental charge. The
burglars thought of nothing less than
a police raid and turned tail. One
went down with bullet through his
shoulder. Another found it impossible
to run with thigh bone crippled, and
the third landed in the waiting arms of
policeman who was attracted to the
spot by the fusillade. The whole outfit
was bagged.
his uncle was so proud that he gave up
the next day to the reception of inter-
viewers who went away with the de-
tailed history of the Office boy and all
his next of kin. It is easily understood
how such boy would advance. Promo
ton came as rapidly as he was fitted for
it by business training. Confidence in
his integrity and courage was un-
bounded. He did great work in the
matter of self-education, ''filled out"
to the proportions of handsome man.
as it was predicted he would, became a
social favorite of that rare type that
cannot be spoiled, now has one of the
most delightful families in all Greater
New York, and is. at the head of big
financial concern in which the cousin
that was bounced by the office boy is a
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
Ibsen's Quiet Rebuke,
No man ever was so loath as Ibsen to
say anything regarding what he had
himself written. 1t is thus he shields
himself from the opportunities of
curious travellers and interviewers who
plague him beyond endurance. Even at
court balls, which he sometimes at
tends, however, he is not rid of the inn
portunate; and ION one occasion Ger
man lady received one of those quiet
rebukes to impertinence which have
given him a well-merited reputation for
reticent reserve. Hardly had she been
presented to him before she broke out