The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-01-09

/ is not that; we can raise no more. We
are at the end OF our funds LOOK
around at this room. Does this look
! like riches?'
1t did not. They were in grimy
Newcastle lodging, an troisieme, and at
one side of the room the flank of a bed
! stead showed itself in outline against a
curtain. The paper was torn, and the
carpet was absent, and from the shaft
of the stairway came that mingled
scent of clothes and fried onion which
is native to this type of dwelling.
Carnegie himself was a faded man of
90. His daughter carried the recent
traces of beauty, but anxiety had lined
her face, and the pinch of res angustae
had frayed her gown. All went to adj
vertise the truth Of what the girl had
been saying, and Kettles heart warmed
towards her He knew right we'll the
nip of poverty himself. But still he did
not see his way to perform impossible
ties, and he lifted up his voice and said
so with glum frankness.
Il am not remembering for a minute,
Miss" he explained, that / ann fellow
with a wife and children dependent on
my earnings; | am looking at the mat
ter as though l might be Mr.. Clares
relative; and l have got nothing new to
tell you. ~ hundred pounds will not do
it, and that is the end of the matter"
The girl wrung her nands and looked
pitifuly across at her father.
"Well," said Carnegie with a heavy
sigh, Il will scrape up a hundred and
twenty, though that will force us to go
hungry. And that is final, captain. If
my own neck depended upon it, could
not lay hands on more"
Capt. Owen Kettles face wore a look
of pain. lie was a man of chivalrous
instincts; it irked him to disoblige a
lady; but the means they offered him
were so terribly insufficient. He did not
repeat his refusal aloud, but his face
spoke with eloquent sympathy.
The girl sank into one Of the shabby
chairs despairingly. If you fail me,
SIR she said, then have no hope"
Kettle turned away, stnl lingering the
furnished badge on his cap. and stared
drearily through the grimy window
panes. A silence filled the room. Carne-
gle broke it.
''Other men answered the advertise
ment," he suggested.
Il know they did, his daughter said;
and / read their letters; and | read
Capt. Kettles; and if there is one man
who could help us out of all those that
answered, he is here now in this room.
My heart went out to him at once when
/ saw his application. had never
heard of him before, but when | read
the few pages he sent, it came to me
that / knew him intimately from then
EDWARDS, and that he and no other in
all the world could do the service which
we want. Sir" she said, addressing the
little sailor directly, II learned from
that letter that you made poetry; and
felt that the romance of this matter
would carry you on where any other
man with merely commercial instincts
would fall"
Then you Ike poetry missW
L write it." she said, 'for the maya
zines, and sometimes it gets into print"
: Would you mind shaking hands with
me" asked Capt Kettle.
Il want to do So" she answered, 'if
you will let that mean the signing Of
our contract"
Capt. Kettle held out his fist. Put
it there, miss" said he. THE French |
government is a Jumping big concern, |
but I've bucked against a government |
before and come out top side, and by
James IA 40 IL again. lou stay at
home miss, and write poetry, and get
the magazines to print it instead of
those rotten adventure yarns they're so
fond of, and you'll be doing Great Brit
ain large service. What the people
in this country need is nice rural poetry
to tell them what sunsets are Ike, and
how corn grows, and all that, and not1
cut-throat stories they might fill out for
themselves from the morning newspa-
pers if they only knew the men and the
ground.
If can only know you're at home
here Miss, doing that, / can set about
this other matter with a cheerful heart
/ don't think the money will be of much
good; but you may trust me to get out
to French Guiana somehow, even if
have to work my way there before the
mast; and I'll collar hold Of Mr.. Glare
for you and deliver him on board Brit
ish ship in the best repair which circum-
stances will permit. You mustn't ex-
pect me to do impossibilities, Miss; but
I'm working now for lady who writes