The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1901-12-13

~ qntinued. ,otoo
He On. cS tookl down. snosa racket
ap ~ s0mE Edia1fSo Hooking 20 ont t', Of
an bo ,na .6gre to study. Final
Che ~" "t,wn bs book and put on
~ wentout to the tennis
ia. Watch tn, game. 1t was i'm
ss,t for him % go on with his
ST., rs in the coplition his mind was
liz He was not IN the habit of jug
Cling with his Conscience as Willis
was, and he cotd not quiet it after
That promise to Jent the route.
Next day he vent down to the office,
nd Rankin wat with him to make
arrangements. The proprietor was
cry busy and did not question Ed
ward at all, ssthat Rankin did all the
lying himself,a thing that Willis said,
In talking it bver with Edward after
ward. Rankii was perfectly competent
to do.
He started In with the work of the
route with conflicting feelings. He
had not actually said word to the
proprietor jr to any one else about the
ownershipof the route, and he tried to
quiet his conscience with the thought
that he Fas justified in earning the
money NEEDED to carry him through
college. And still he was not able to
silence hat little voice. His home
tvaining had been too exact. His ia
Their ihai been called by some of his
neighbours ,overparticular In the matter
of truthfulness. If he had not been SO
particular, they said, he would have
got on faster. Edwards mother and
Freeda had the same habit Of scrupu-
lous exactness and Edward had never
been able before to- satisfy himself
with any statement that stopped short
of absolute and perfect frankness. He
was not satisfied now, but he was
struggling to make the matter seem
reasonable and persuade himself that,
as Willis said, he was "too finicky."
For a week he worked on the route
with all his energy. Matters in regard
to Cuba and SPANS administration of
that unhappy island were growing
more and more important rs news.
People in the limits of the newspaper
route who had never taken paper be-
gan to subscribe. Before the week was
out Edward had increased the sub
scription list by the addition of % new
names.
When Rankin paid him at the end of
the week, according to their contract,
.k.slvas much pleased. He volunteered
505cents extra on the SO, and Edward
silently took it.
"Pm willing to make it a regular
thing" said Rankin, ''if you can keep
up the list through the winter. Looks
now as If there might be war with
Spain, and if there is people will want
the news right along. The papers will
probably have BOOM"
probably they WILL" replied Edward
briefly.
That was Saturday night. and, as his
custom had been since entering college,
he went over to the girls hall to see
Freeda.
When she came into the parlor, she
noticed Edwards unusually grave face.
He was habitually grave, but not SON.
Der, and Freeda was quick to see the
difference.
what have you been doing, Ned?
You've been working too hard"
mo: ! haven't" Edward hesitated
to tell her the real cause Of his trouble
because he did not want her to know
anything about the real struggle he
was having to meet his expenses. But
Freeda was a persistent girl, and Ed
wards old habits of frankness finally
prevailed. and he told his sister briefly
about the newspaper route and his con-
tract with Rankin.
Freeda listened. and her face grew
more and more distressed as he went
on. They were sitting in corner Of