The daily morning Alaskan., 1902-03-11
Self UnderValuatiOn
lorIginai.I

| defOrmlty pTeyeu upVh TUT ihinu' 1' sixteen. an age when girls come to ap- preclate the value of beauty, Esther realized that her mlsshapen foot was a blight. and this so affected her that she could see no beauty In herself whatever.
 When Esther was fifteen. there came to live In the little house opposite her stately home widow. Mrs. Wharton, with one son. Edgar, q manly fellow of eighteen. Edgar wharten noticed the sweet, melancholy face of Esther Barnes at the windows and longed for admlttance to the house; but. realizing that poverty and riches are bad com panlons, he made no effort to attain the desired consummanon. Esther, too. noticed the young man coming and going from bis home opposite md long cd to meet him. but the remembrance of her deformlty came in to Interfere with the carrying out of her wish. Having no means with which to se- cure college education, Edgar enteref store as clerk. He soon saw tha' there was no prospect of promotion for him at home. so he went out "on the road" After i've years hard work be had secured valuable business, asked for an Increase of salary and was refused. Having no capital with which to conduct business Of hls own, he was forced to go on selling goods to swell the coffers of another.
 One day Edgar saw an open letter on bis mothers writing desk addressed to his uncle. her brother. Family letters were common property between moth CT and son, and he read it. The letter contained request that the writers brother would lend Edgar Si0.000 that he might set up as a merchandise bro. ker, which Mrs. Wharton knew was her sons desire. Edgar said nothing to his mother about having seen the letter and went or on four months trip. When he returned. hls mother gave him a kiss and certificate Of deposit for $l0,O0O at the same time informing him that the money was at his disposal on condition that he make no inquiries as to who was the lender. Edgar. who knew his uncle to be n singular man. made the required prom. lse. When he asked for the note to sign. he was told that there was no note. Then Edgar set up in business for himself and made money rapidly. Five years later he bought home sim liar to the one opposite.
 When Edgar Wharton was thirty two years old. he lost his mother. It was great blow to hlm. and it seem cd as If it would be impossible to oc- cupy the house alone, Indeed he de termined to rent it and make short trip abroad In cleaning out his moth CTS writing desk he came upon some thing that surprised him. a note from Esther Barnes. It contained nothing of importance. but Edgar was unaware that his mother had any acquaintance with the sweet faced woman who had lived lover the way" He wrote his discovery across the face of the note, requesting permission to call upon one who had been his mothers friend with out his knowledge. and sent 1t to Es. ther. In return he received the de- sired permission. but SO coldly and formally stated that he determined not to accept It. A few days later Esther received brief note from him that he was suddenly called away and would not be able to avail himself of her kind permission The writer had sail ed for Europe.
 When Edgar returned. he had made resolve to find out the secret Of his mothers acquaintance with Esther Barnes. He hunted throcrh her pa pers tlll he came urOl nric from Esther 10 his mother, which read as follows:
 Your note Of thanks 10 received You must not consider yourself uadsr obllga- lion to me lt is vh0 an obliged to YOU
 Edgnr's curiosity now drove him to Ignore the unsatisfactory wording Of Esihcrs invitation and ln half an hour he entered the grounds he had kept alo0f from for so many years. Esther responded to his card. entering the room with slight limp and with so unnviting a manner thai Edgar was rcpclled Esther gave a very unsatis- factory explanation of Inc secret Of her ncuuulniancc with his mother. On the whole. the call wHs Il failure, All ne had learned was that ihe secret acquaintance was mace accidentally during his absence from home.
 A few days later Edgar met his un' clc in the street. Thinking that time had absolvcd him from his promise, he poured forth his heartfelt thanks His uncle denied having furnished him with a dollar. Astonlshed. Edgar rush cd home, resolved 10 discover the source of the loan, and dlved into trunk where he had seen some old checkbooks of his mother After an hours search he found the entry of deposit years before:
 Check Of Esther Barnes. N00Oo
 This is not love story. Al least the love in 1t is not set forth. lt Is given to show the misfortune which may oc cur in consequence of self undervalua ton. How Esther Barnes loved Edgar Wharton. though only seeing him; how she learned Of hls necessity from his mother and furnished the amount un- der promise of secrecy; how Mrs f.tt