The record-union., 1899-11-19

vember, and there are still wood and
coal and other necessaries to be pro-
yided for my children. Be kind to me.
will make many, many prayers for
you
DO you not suppose that l. too, know
the bitterness of such condition as
! yours? But in these days salary does
not come out of the treasury more than
twice in the year
| '.Ah. but in the Land Office there is
always money. Be merciful to me.
After God, you are my only hope, In
SIX months l will have money coming
to me, and your loan will be the first
thing to be paid. l will never forget
your benefits. will pray God daily to
give you great opportunities.
See here, my friend; do not break
my heart with entreaty. A mans flesh
cannot be eaten, his skin cannot be
made into leather, and what is he good
| for if not to help his fellows? Come
| back tomorrow morning, and we will
see what can be done"
The next morning Selim Effendi ap
peared at Yusuf Bey's house again, and
was received with solemn courtesy. The
two men smoked cigarettes and slipped
black coffee, while the conversation
rolled easily from politics to the latest
palace scandals and from scandals to
the appointments gazetted in the morn
ing papers. AT last Selm Effendi said
Yesterday you were good enough to
give me hope. If l have found favor
Yes, yes,'' interrupted Yusuf Bey,
your children are in need, and you
want f3, which you will repay in six
months. If there is any there [ Will
lend it to you. Just turn up the end of
the cushion on which you are sitting,
and see if there is anything there"
Selm Effendi lifted the end of the sofa
cushion, and behold on the mating
under it lay three shining pieces of
gold! With a quick clutch he thrust
them into his pocket, saying: so, my
benefactor! You have extended my
days, Day and night I shall pray God
to reward you a thousandfold.
He made a plunge at the skirt of
Yusuf Bey's robe to kiss it. Yusuf Bey
tried to draw away the robe, and so
Selim Effendi got hold of his hand and
pressed it to his lips and to his fore
ton. For Selim was punctilious in out
ward practice of decorum. Then, say
ing: May God be content with youl
May God give you all SUGGEST" he went
away
1t CHANGED to be characteristic of
Selim Effendi that his praiseworthy
emotions often Jagged behind the
mental effort to express them in re-
Spouse to some twinge of conscience.
Such a habit makes a we'll balanced
course in life far more easy than where
the emotion comes first and forces the
outburst of hot words and perhaps of
hasty action which reveals it. But it
had with Selim the curious result that
to express a good intention carried with
it a glow of Recommendation. This
in turn made the effort to express the
intention in vigorous words vaguely inn
press his mind like labor to execute 1t.
After an ardent declaration of purpose,
therefore, nothing remained to be done
but to embalm it in memory as good
deed completed. By the time tnat ne
reached the street after leaving his
friend, his mind felt no remainder OF ]
need to pay his debts and to provide for !
the coming winter. The only thing that
pressed was to silence the baker by
giving him a pound on account, to-
gether with certain unsavory eplthets
due to man who posters for money
Government officials occupied with
graver matters than a bakers ledger |
accounts. The rest of Yusuf Bey's to
followed the easy going rule of many
windfalls of wealth. God is good, !
said Selim to himself, as he bought a |
gilt watch chain and some theater tick /
cts. eff 1 have luck with the Rune |
liam Railway lottery, 1 will then get !
the winter supplies, and Yusuf shall |
have his money back, too
Six months passed, then a year.
Selim Effendi was still hard UP for
cash. and the loan was still unpaid. BY /
foresight and alertness ne succeeded IN
avoiding his friend. Then he met him |
unexpectedly face to face. Yusuf Bey
was cordial as usual and said nothing
about money. They met several times
in the same friendly way Little by
little Selm learned to say to himself:
This. man has so much money that he
does not know what he had two years
ago Why should I rememo per what he
has forgotten? What God has put in |,
my way i must accept with thanksgiv-
ing. 1 ate it up. and it is gone. That
is the end of it.
In 1894 a great earthquake shook to
it's foundations the iazy OLD city of Con-
stantinople 1t cracked the walls of
the houses and brought l3wn about the
ears of the shopkeepers in the bazars
huge masses Of antique masonry. to say
nothing of the stones from lofty cor
nices or from swaying minarets which
it hurled at the heads of passers in the
streets. During terrible two weeks
nennle lived in tents hastily pitched in