The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1903-09-12

X - * idolizins worship ef Which
IN Yss h2 was peculiarly capable
S9.S4GksS3tSk He would have declared
that he had never felt
very hopeful CT 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 sone 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 it seemed
SO likely that the blow was greater
than he could bear.
They We're friends. Michael Richards
and tie man for whom he worked, the
man she married, and they had been
much together in her company, There
We're those who said she had chosen
the employer rather than the employed
just because he was the richer man
Just because IN assured position, Il
fine house, appealed to all that was
strongest in her-but that her heart,
what there was Of it. would have led
ler to different choice, If she had
allowed her heart and not her head
to dictate to her. She had the pretty,
childish ways that so often drape q
nature inherently selfish, and 1t 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
conditional on his wholly trusting the
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 in Mary. in spite
of all the bitterness Of spirit he passed
through. Some wondered how he did
1t, and others why he thought it a
necessary thing to do. for men have
loved the faulty teEderly and well, and
ance. Yet 1t helped him; undeniably
1t strengthened him. For. SO it was
said again, in his nature was this one
streak Of idealism, needing an outlet
all the more, perhaps, because the rest
of the man was sternly set in an iron
mold: because, except that he turned
involuntarily aside, rs 1t were, to lore
Mary, love was hardly allowed for In
his plan Of life.
Work was his passion. the idol to
which he offered ever-willing sacri-
flee, and when he at last lost hope
Of Mary 1t became his all. He worked
now unremittingly, to tire himself, to
WOO forgetfulness, Us we'll as for sLeer
love Of hard labor. 1t was nothing to
him that his unceasing energy was ex-
pended en- his rivals business, that his
life was given to help a man to further
riches who had already robbed him Of
bis one ewe-lamb. He had to work.
not with any definite end In 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 a means of supersedlrs the business
to which he was devoting himself SO
entirely.
He was always striving to do things.
Or to get them done. in the best pos
slble manner. Incidentally. with the
least expense. the smallest waste OF
labor, In the shortest time. but, before
and beyond all things. he had set ex'
cellence as his goal. Mary's husband
was a manufacturer Of the bands used
u 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
dea which made their use no longer
necessary.
It was simple and clever invention;
20 obviously better. cheaper and more
,xpcdient than the old-fashioned bands
hat it seemed wonderful to its dis
,overer that no one had thought Of 1t
before. He tested 1t in his usual thor
fashion, making absolutely
,ure he was not mistaken In his own
,stlmate Of the Importance Of the
.hange he was about to bring in the
MAKING of machinery, and then he set
ls energetically to work to turn his
invention to account. 1t was nothing
o him that in doing so he must sweep
lside a prosperous business, must in
.vitably ruin Mary's husband, the very
nan he had been helping on to wealth.
/ He would be giving a touch Of finish.
i { completeness. to the method in
which the worlds work is accom-
.llshed. He hoped to do still more /.