El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-06
Tifr's Possibilities
BY EDGAR TEMPLE FIELD.

$4,000
1t was at the WaIdorf-Astoria during
horse show time and the dinner hour
the busiest time of the whole day al
that wonderful hostelry-
Uniformed attendants flew here and
there in breathless haste, walters and
~omnibuSeS'' lowered diStractedly
about the flower bedecked tables liz
the grand dining saloon and the palm
garden, and through the rich corridors
flowed q ceaseleSs stream of elegant
women in trailing silken gowns and
prosperous looking men in Tuxedos OF
swallowtail coats cut to reveal daz,
zling segments of shirt front.
The riot of luxury, feasting and en-
joyment was at it's height when two
men met in the office-two men of 4O
or thereabout, with that indefinable
air of self conscious power that marks
the successful business man.
"By the gods, if it isn't Ned Frink"'
exclaimed the taller of the two, stop
ping suddenly with outstretched hand.
''Teller!' cried the other, joyfully
Selling the proffered hand. I'm glad
to see you, old man?'
In another moment the two, seated
in a couple of the big, thronelike leath-
ern chairs which the AstOr millions
have provided for the purpose Of at
once comforting and impressing the
hotel patrons, were giving an account
of themselves in true American fash
ion.
They had not seen each other since
Is years before they had separated
after four years of intimate compan-
ionship at a fresh water college to go
out and seek their fortunes after the
1mpetuous fashion of western youth.
You have prospered, 1 hear" said
Frink. land have become an out and
out New Yorker in fact and senti-
ment''
"Oh, I've had my ups and. DOWNS"
replied Teller with a little laugh, "but
I'm on top now! AS for being a con-
firmed New Yorker, well, Mrs. Teller,
like most eastern women, doesn't care
for the west. We've never even done
the conventional trip to California.
She prefers crossing the pond when
we travel"
In the last words was all the COM
hard fight of it and won, but Frink
ty. He had been through it all him
SELF
''Then there's a Mrs. Teller?'' he
said, smiling.
''Oh, yes, and a Jack Teller the Sec
ondr' replied the other. "@You must
see that boy, Ned"
81 want to-" said Frink, but some
thing wistful in his voice struck his
friend.
"And your? he asked quickly. "Sure-
ly you've not remained single, my
boyY'
reply.
why, you're the very fellow to have
a romance, 1 should Think went on
Teller. You used to be sentimental
chap at college, always writing verses
and all that"
Frink laughed.
Eyes, had my romance" he said.
"Well. I'm sorry it doesn't seem to
have had a happy ending" said Teller
sincerely. "a wife is a great help to
a man. I'd like to tell you before you
meet her." he went on, bending for
ward earnestly, what mine has done
for ME. She's made a man of me and
proved that was worth the job. She's
been more than a wife to me. She's
been my good, honest, loyal chum.
There are not many men who can say
that of their wives"
mo, I fancy not" assented Frink,
smiling.
tits wonderful the understanding
she had of the way a man feels, an
girl like her, proceed
ed the other. you see she was
in our Office when l first
met her, and I fell in love with her at
first sight almost. I'd made a little
pile, and when we were married 1
thought things were coming pretty
much my way. But hard times set |
tied in, and 1 lost everything. For a
long time it was hard work to get |
bread and butter, but that girl stood |
by me through thick and thin. When |
was sick for a year with rheuma- |
tism, she went back to office work and |
kept me and the boy with what she |
earned with never a word Of COM |
plant or regret through it all. L tell |
you. old boy, she's got the stuff in her |
that heroes are made of. Goodness |
knows where she got it, that courage |
Of hers. L never asked her about her |
family, and she's not one to talk much. |
but L fancy they were ordinary
enough. L believe she came from
some little town in New York state,
and 1 know she never had anything
much in her life. But now the strug-
gle is over, and l can give her about
what she wants, thank God. 1 tell
you, Ned, it's a pity you let one disap-
9ointment spoil your life. There's
nothing so sweetens existence as the
of a good woman
'And nothing poisons it like a bad
,ue," said Frink bitterly.