The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1900-07-14

Tie Hll8st Survives
By !. 3. CoNEELLY.
Az the time Of Chester sewalr.s
haaunnching himself upon i business On.
|reer When he sol out to win d fortune
1n.sSall street. he had sensibly taken
EJohn Latllam'g adsice in ~retrenchinp
nus unnecessary expenditures, and one
81 the main steps to that end was his
the costly hotel where
hs nad been. living to the combined
and boarding house In which
fSohn resided. There lie had d bed
ools,Ssn, but large enough to sleep
i.s ~. I, Inc same sum per week s
ass NV Deem paying per diem for his
1paEiplehts y the hotel. 1t adioincd
splns room. which was large n
eh anlS,nen the communicating door
~ Y, peehS opened the young men prnc-
8a ss enjoyed the two in common.
ale iareer one, in which o good fire
va sk''Pt served as their parlor. Some
pine persons occupying rooms in the
i.oase LOOK their meals at the lands
10y ,tanle, but LnthamSand Sewall
!puIluSls better suited to their conyen-
ie ~ % patronize restaurants at
3sucn ltmes as appetite and 5opportuni-
~ com1ointly served. When Chester
SewaH returned home at tina usnal
hohr 1or finding his friend there on
the day of John I.atham,s hurried AZ.
Parture Tor the southwest, the busy
young lawyer was in Harlem. The
onseilnes and quiet of the room were
uncomfortable to a man whose distress
and anxiety had wrought his nerves
to the highest tension. and Chester
went out again to walk, not with the
object Of going anywhere, but lust to
walk until he should have tired him
SELF Y and might hope to sleep. nv
The time he revisited the room his
friend was half way across the state
OF New Jersey and going rapidly.
From the central gas fixture in the
main room depended by a string q
card upon which was written:
Dear Chet--Have to 70 away. Don't
expect me until you see me. Good
luck to you. Yours, john
The finder stared at the writing in
Edismay.
He could hardly have imagined any
thing else that would have seemed 80
dlsasfrous at this particular iuncture
9 Johnss departure. Weary in body,
soreln spirit, on the very verge of de
SPAR, he had come home counting on
receiving from his friend consolation,
encouragement, advice, perhaps ever
financial aid. He felt as he fancied u
mar might feel who stood alone upon
q mere foothold of sand in
midocean and knew that the last ship
BY which he might have been saved
night.
That stock, in defiance OF all posi-
bllley,, had gone on falling. 1t was q
monstrous and, as it seemed to him
an unheard Of thing that it should so
persistently go down when everybody
said 1t ought to go up, but 1t had
done SO until the wiseacres grayely
shook their heads and said there was
no knowing where it would stop now.
Inc business relations between him
and his broker were upon the same
footing again as when he had bor-
roWed $1,000 to protect his margin a
couple of days before. Once more he
was about to be sold out. Whether he
wanted to enlarge his debt to John in
order to risk more or not he had not
determined. 1t was a question he had
proposed to leave to John, who had
unconsciousiy settled it by going
away.
While waiting and watching the
ticker" that afternoon, with the
gambling fever hot upon him, he had,
IN obedience to a momentary impulse,
entered n bucket shop and risked
the last bank bill he possessed upon
the fluctuations of a peculiarly lively
wildcat mining stock, concerning
which he knew absolutely nothing. It
was not so much the prospect of the
possible petty gain that tempted him
as the idea he suddenly conceived
that his luck in that small venture
would forecast the fate awaiting his
larger interests, which was still in the
balance. 1t was only q $40 note any
way, too small a sum to be of any
practical use. He lost, and accepting
the augury was not surprised when
he saw recorded ION the tape. q fur
Their fall of the stock to which he had
chung with such fatal persistence, one
TINT wiped out" his margin. He was
utterly ruined.
AS he sat alone before Johns fire,
turning these things over in his mind,
it was n singular fact that he felt n
peculiarly keen regret for the $40
thrown away i'll the bucket shop
The thousands he had risked and lost
We're simply capital" an abstract
element IN business transactions, that
had never materialized to his sight in
the form Of bank notes, having al.
Ways appeared in the unimpressive
guise of certified checks. But the SIC
note was n familiar and comprehend.
BILE thing of accurately measurable
value. 1t would have bought 20 frugal
meals. By the way, how much did he
actually have left for the purchase OF
food' a very serious question.
He set himself at once to rnnsack-
ing his. pockets. Dimes were things
for thanksgiving; nickels. objects Of
interest; pennies, not to be despised.
How he lanlented now the loss of his
prosecuting this search something
was brought to light that gave a new
direction to his thoughts and caused
a new trouble to loom up before him.
IT an envelope that he recognized
at once as containing tickets Of adj
mission to the opera the next evening.
Heehad procured them a week before,
1rrna having expressed a desire to wit
ness the representation of "Lohen.
grim announced Tor that date, but
his business troubles had driven the
fact from his memory for three OF
four days past.
What n ghastly satire upon his mis-
cry that engagement now seemed to
him! Anxious about food5for the i'm
mediate future and under contract to
take a millionaire's daughter to the
opera! The recalling of opposite
Greek and Latin quotations to suit
pretty much all chances and condi-
tions was his happiest talent, but it
failed him now. He was too much
troubled to think of anything that
secmd adequate to the occasion.
Irmn would expect to be taken to
the opera house and home again in q
carriage, of course. That was what
she was accustomed to. But even
street car fares would narrow his
dietary plan seriously.
1T occurred to him that there would
be wisdom id feigning sudden indis-