The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1903-02-06
A STRING 0FpEARLs.
BY NJ. FRASER

A STRING OF PEARLS. .
BY NJ. FRASER.
"a young lady to see you, Mr.. Den.
vers."
l.. Ralph Denyers,, the head of the great
banking firm of Brandon & Denyers
looked up from the pear he was peeline
but no hint of the surprise he felt at his
butler;s, announcement was allowed to
creep into his face.
=. / am not expecting anyone, Harris,
he said, quietly. ut is mistake, prob
ably Did she send in any name?" IT,.
She would not give her name, sir ;
she was very persistent or I would not
| have troubled you, sir; she seems in dis
tress."
TN distress? What is she like, Har-
| ris ?"
It was a istless question; he was alb
solutely without curiosity concerning the
appearance of this stray young person
who sought an audience of him, but it
was lonely in this oak paneled dining
room of the great house in which he
lived, and it was more for the sake of
talking to somebody that he detained
Harris now.
Ralph Dcnvers had more dinner invi-
tations than he could accept, but at 80
he was given to telling himself that the
dinners eaten at other mems tables were
too heavily paid for in the toll of cpl
grammatic conversation that was exact
ed of the guest who would justify the
| reason of his appearance in the brilliant
set in which Ralph Denvers moved.
Ralph was just little tired of brilliancy
"She is very young, sir; child, al
most" Harris broke in upon his refec.
tons. "A lady, should say and he
added beneath his breath, "pretty as a
picture"
1t may be that Ralph heard him.
"Show her in, he said briefly; Il may
as we'll see what she wants.
Harris disappeared, and presently his
place was taken by slim slip of girl,
who stared at the man who rose at her
entrance with a pair of frightened eyes.
Ralph Denvers saw the eyes, and his
glance wandered to the quivering, smiling
mouth.
'You wish to see -" he said. "Won't
you sit DOWN."
The girl sank into the chair he offered
her, and sat there, clasping and unclasp-
ing her fingers in an agony of nervous
| ness.
"Well,' he said to her, and there was
| note of encouragement in his voice.
''Is it very difficult to tell?"
1T was more difficult than he knew.
Aline Tempest rose to her feet and stood
| with her hand resting on the tablecloth.
1T is hard" she said, "but 1 must say
| it, l came to say it. It's about Dick,
! my brother, you know"
She stopped and looked at him, and he
| looked at her. How was he to know
| about Dick?
'He never meant to do it," she went
| on, and drew step nearer to him; ''there
were men outside who tempted him, and
he was young, and we had so little, and
he hoped to make a fortune for me. You
see I was to blame, it was all for me-"
"Were you anxious for fortune p
said Ralph, looking at the quaint little
figure in the quaint, questionable gown
and then at the lovely, childish face.
II wanted nothing" she said, "and /
| did not guess until it was too late. You
see, it has been so different since father
went"
The under lip trembled, and a tear
gathered and fell, and Ralph Denvers
stared steadily at the painted pheasant
on his dessert plate.
II should like to hear all about it," he
said. "Please sit down again and tell me
what is your name-and Dick's.'
! Il am Aline Tempest" she said, SIM
| ply, conqueriing her emotion with an eff
fort that commanded his admiration
"and when father died Senator Mande-
vile got Dick into your bank. He was
going into the law, you know, but it had
to be given up with the other things. II
was all very altered for him, and am
afraid" with a little watery smile, "that
he did not like the bank. But it gave
us money to live on, and I meant to
teach when I got pupils. I haven't got
any yeti seems everyone can teach
something. And Dick grew tired, and
these men came to him, and there was
some horse that was going to make q
fortune for all of them"
eve have heard of that horse before. -
said Ralph, and then was ashamed of
his jest.
"Have your" said Aline. eve never
had. They persuaded him, and Dick
oh, how could he do it?-took money
! from the bank; little at first, and aft
erward great deal. It isn't known yet
but tomorrow it will be known. They've
given him money to get off with, and
he's going to England tomorrow, from
Boston: He must go, suppose, or else
something worse will happen. But ]
hated him to 60 like that, and thought
if I brought you these-they're mothers
pearls, the only thing of hers they let me
keep-and I thought they would help to
pay something, and perhaps you won't
let it be known tomorrow :s:cz::. :
She handed him the pearls as, she
spoke, and Sir Ralph took them in his
hand. A short string, worth, perhaps,
$500 if the full value were given, and this
child's mother had worn them. He
looked at them and wondered what he
should do, and timid hand was laid on
his arm. *;''"Fir -" ~ * 81 - g.