The St. Louis Republic., 1900-06-17
THE SHOESTRING MAN
4 CITY SKETCH.

WHEN the wind blew around the corners
of the tall building the Shoestring Man
realized that warmer coat than the one
he wore would be comfortable. lie recalled
also. just then. the days when he was book
keeper for the firm of Blank Blank. In
the early days of his employment by them
he was happy. He was young then. There
was I'm his heart the courage of ignorance,
and the fire of youth was In his veins. 1t
was good thing TO be the bookkeeper in n
promising firm like that of Blank * Blank
Twenty-Five dollars Il week was a princely
sum for those days. and when he wrote
back home to the folks on the farm his
letters more than hinted al his satisfaction
with the world in general; and his folks
were proud OF him. So was the brown-eyed
lass on the next-door farm.
Letters frequently went TO her. too. snd
one day the stage coach brought something
more than a letter-it brought a prospective
bridegroom. The brown-eyed girl promised
to love and honor him all her life. and she
did.
Back to the little town. beside the wide.
smooth river. they journeyed The little
town is a big. overgrown city now but the
river still flows on as 1t did that day.
The years flew by and there was much
sunshine in certain small house not very
far from the rivers edge. There was a it,
tie boy, with a sturdy frame. like his
fathers. and a girl with brown eyes like
seem at all long when the boy and cir,
worked their sums and niaryelea Ut their
fathers cleverness at figures. But the even
ings were so sad and so long after the boy
and girl had gone away.
The Shoestring man remembered so vivid
ly all that those partings had meant as he
stood there gazing biindly at the hurrying
crc wd. He never could see how an en-
Sfneer could have been SO careless when
his boy was on the train. The papers had
said 1t was terrible accidert"-but that
did not bring his boy back
He never could quite understand either,
why he should call the great God good
when the brown-eyed girl. fair and fresh
In tie first bloom of young woman hood
grew paler and paler. But the patient lit
tie mother had said that God was good
even when the brown-eyed girl went away
But woman's faith in these things Is
sublime. And no man will tell her that
such trustfulness Is wrong
Yes. II was good thing to be bookkeeper
in the firm of Blank & Blank, years ago.
The firm grew and prospered. When the
long columns of figures were footed up
they told Of increasing prosperity. Smart.
enterprisiDg young men came in. The old
bookkeeper had worked so long and neg
lected vacations so pers;stently that he
was not as brisk as he used TO be. Finally
new system" OF bookkeeping was tried
and it was a new man who tried It. 1t was
suggested 10 the old bookkeeper that he
needed a rest. II was given him. but
somehow he did not enjoy IL as much as he
once thought he would.
The vacation came to an end. The new
bookkeeping system worked so we'll that
the new man was kept at IL. The old book
keeper was given other work-"lighter
work." they said-and smaller pay
1t seemed a long. weary day and IL WIS
looking backward. that he had gone home
in the cold, chilling rain and awakened
pied with rheumatism. The fingers of that
hand had never been of any use since. OF
the left hand. but disease soon mastered
the left hands usefulness. And then he