The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-07-10


very hopeful of gaining her. knowing
her too well, but he had desired to dc
so with an intensity which had often
burnt up his fears for the time. at any
rate, so that he had lived whole days
in blissful contemplation Of the I'm
probable, had gone whole months with
eyes shut to the inevitable. the fast
approaching. Thus the news OF her
engagement to her employer found
him almost unprepared. after all, and
for time those who cared for him
watched him anxiously since il seemed
so likely that the blow was greater
than he could bear.
They were friends, Michael Richards
and the man for whom he worked. the
man she married. and they had been
much together in her company. There
were those who said she had chosen
the employer rather than the employed
just because he was the richer man
just because an assured position. "A
fine house, appealed to all that was
strongest n'her-but that her heart.
what there was Of IL, would have led
allowed her heart and not her head
TO dictate to her. She had the pretty.
childish ways that so often drape .
nature inherently selfish, and II was
notable that those who knew her best,
as a rule, judged her most severely.
But Michael was not among her de.
tractors. He made his trust in heaven
lt hnl 1,n
woman he loved TO do no wrong, and
by a sublime disregard of common
sense he kept his faith in heaven, con
jointly with his faith i'm Mary, in spite
OF all the bitterness of spirit he passed
through. Some wondered how he did
ii, and others why he thought it n
necessary thing TO do. for men have
loved the faulty tendcrly and well. and
heavens seal is set upon such tolcr.
ance. Yet 1t helped him; undeniably
II strengthened him. For, so it was
said again, i'm his nature was this one
streak Of idealism, needing an outlet
all the more, perhaps, because the rest
OF the man was sternly set I'm an iron
mold; because, except that he turned
involuntarily aside. ms II were. to love
Mary, love was hardly allowed for in
his plan Of life.
Work was his passion. the idol TO
which he offered everything sncri.
fee, and when he at last lost hope
of Mary IL became his all. He worked
now unremittlngly, to tire himself, to
WOO forgetfulness, as well as for sheer
love OF hard labor. II was nothing to
him that his unceasing energy was ex-
pended on his rivals business, that his
life was given to help man to further
riches who had already robbed him OF
his one ewe-lamb. He had TO work.
not with any definite end i'm view. but
for works sake--and because there
was nothing else left to him to do
And, quite In the ordinary course OF
things, his alert inventive brain hit
on means of superseding the business
TO which he was devotng himself so
entirely.
He was always striving TO do things,
or TO get them done, in the best pos
sible manner. incidentally, with the
least expense. the smallest waste of
labor, in the shortest time, but, before
and beyond all things, he had set cx
cellence as his goal Mary's husband
was a manufactures of the bands used
IN machinery. Mary's old lover, while
giving his thoughts as undoubtedly as
the memory of her would let him. and
all his time, to the turning out of these
bands in the greatest perfection and
number. was suddenly arrested by an
idea which made their use no longer
necessary.
1t was simple and clever invention;
so obviously better. cheaper and more
expedicnt than the old-fashioned bands
that Ii seemed wonderful to its dis
coverer that no one had thought OF IL
before. He tested il in his usual thor
oughgoing fashion, making absolutely
sure he was not mistaken In his own
estimate of the Importance OF the
change he was about to bring in the
making OF machinery, and then he set
as encrgetically TO work TO turn his
Invention to account. Ii was nothing
10 him that in doing so he must sweep
aside prosperous business. must in
evitably ruin Mary's husband, the very
man he had been helping on TO wealth
He would he giving a touch of finish.
of completeness, TO the method in
which the worlds work is accom-.
plished. He hoped to do still more
for IL before he was done. but here
was. at least. something definite TO be-
Gin with Sincn ha tOiUht not hovn
Mary-a wife TO cherish and protect
he had extended his protection over the
great. whlrlng world OF machinery.
He promised himself the pleasure of
setting thousands OF machines going
in an easier. more nearly perfect man
ner. as lover promises himself TO
perfect his lady's charms with ropes
OF pearls.
When his employer and former friend
came 10 him. demonstrating. agitatin-.
he found him utterly immovablc
Mary's husband offered him the largest
sum at his command for the suppres.
sion Of the discovery; but money was
nothing TO him. his discovery was
everything and he was not to be
bribed. He was offered q partnership
in the business and its entire manage.
ment Chat indeed. he had already. ex-
ccpt in acknowledgment in return for
his silence alone. but, although he had
liked the work well enough while he
believed IL served good ends, was in.
diypensable. he had no interest what
ever in IL as a mere means Of livcli-