The Worthington advance., 1901-01-04

ever called him queer Or cranky theo.
He had loved the good-natured cyni-
cism Of the shop, and entered heartily
into the serio-comic discussions Of men
and affairs with which printers are
wont to tighten their labors.
His felow-typos were doubtless corr
rect in their estimate of his character,
but mistaken as to the cause of its de.
fects. In the solitude of his lunch
room the events of the past Ave years
rose wildly before him. He had en-
gagged in business venture of his own,
and had failed. It was ill-advised, i'm.
possible of success from the very start,
but he had done his best. He had
worked with superhuman energy,
while wiseacres suggested foolish ex-
pedients and ignorant critics carped.
Failure had been gall and wormwood
to the proud-spirited young man, yet
he could not remember that anyone
had spoken of him then as Gaynor had.
Perhaps he had not been quite the same
since that ill-advised attempt, and yet
If only she had not died.
At home there had been no trace
of constitutional crankiness" in the
chummy father and husband, nor
were his relations with the print.
ers in shop ~ so very disagreeable
then. But when the relentless hand
of disease, and suffering, and death,
had robbed him of his treasure, tho
heart of Richards nursed the bitterness
of misanthrope and he hated tho
world, which had ill-used him., and
mankind, who would not understand
him.
The words of Gaynor's companion
alarmed him. Was there another
crushing blow in store for him this
Thanksgiving? Steele was his friend,
and it was true that Richards was far
more efficient than his predecessors,
but if a concerted demand for his re-
moval were made there could be but
one result. He might not get another
place, and there was the deficit from
that ill-starred journalistic venture
which must be paid if he hoped to hold
up his head among men again.
Richards, as usual, was the last to
stop work, and the others had passed
into the front room or the street when
Minus approached him.
"Steele wants to see you, Mr.. Rich.
ards"
The tense lines about Richards
mouth grew harder than they had at
Gaynor's words. As he entered the Of
fee the two or three who had been
lounging in the street returned. They
were all there, waiting to witness his
humiliation. Steele turned away from
his desk as his foreman entered.
"You want to see me?" said Rich
ards. quietly.
Eyes. The fact is, Richards, we have
been considering your case lately.
Perhaps the boys have mentioned it
to you.'
mo, SIR" said Richards, doggedly.
He knew what was coming and was
determined to- die game. mo, they
never mentioned it. The boys don't
get much chance to talk in there, Mr..
Steele"
"Well, they have been talking to me,
and it has set me to thinking that
something must be done. We have all
thought a whole lot about you the past
year, but it is easier to let matters
slide along than it is to take action,
and then you know most of US have
troubles of our own. You're lonesome
here, Richards. You're not one OF US
at all. You're morose, and bitter, and
think we're all against you, when the
fact is we're only careless and don't
know very we'll how to approach you.
We've let you alone in your troubles,
and we're all heartily ashamed of it.
There. there, never mind what you
thought. We're only going to have a
little family party for the printers
tomorrow, and you and your boys are
to be with us. 1t will make you feel
better to get out among people again,
and you'll find we were not as heartless
as you thought"
Its going to be lovely day." re-
sumed the editor, while Richards stood
like bashful boy, unable to frame a
reply. "Perhaps we ought to 60 to
church. But there's Neck we
couldn't take him along, could we?
And I want this to be an outing for the
whole force" He arose and looked
around the little circle of faces, and
perceived that two awkward situations
were impending: Richards was in dam
ger of utterly breaking down, and
Mrs. Jillson was about to break into
the conversation. He seized his hat and
started for the door.
'Of course you'll come, Richards.
That's all settled" Steele was an en-
terprising man who had begun life as
section hand and afterward very
properly abjured that calling as too
humble for one of his talents. Among
other accomplishments pertaining to
his new station he had laborious|y ao.
quired fashionable accent, which he
was generally at great pains to ex-
plot in his conversation. In moments
of excitement, however, he was prone
to return to the idioms of the section
boss, and in his haste to get away from
Mrs. Jillson he voiced very excellent
sentiment in very bad English.
"There's ways and ways of celebrat-
ing New Years. don't quarrel with
no other mans way, but right here in
this Office don't see how we could do
abetter job of celebrating than by help
in a feller out of the blues.''
An Old Teacher.
Among the many epitaphs to be read
on Burial hilI, in the historic town of
Plymouth, Mavs., is one which breathes
such defiance to the world at large as