The sea coast echo., 1904-12-03
those ten long years rolled bv


dlspiaced and an iron one erected in
It's stead. the pretty village 'improy.
cd into thriving little town-these
were the sorrowful preludes to bit.
terer disappointment than all of them.
Katie was married.
only year before-just one soil.
tary year, of all those prosperous ten,
Ii he could but have known!
This was the burthen of his cry. ast
he wandered through the grounds.
and through the lonely rooms, and on
the threshold Of the deserted mansion
until the disturbed echoes took up
the theme, and the soft wind carried
IL upon the air. IF only had known!
IL could but have known"
Another year sped by.
sidney Warde, merchant and bank.
er OF New York city, had the reputa.
tion of being the hardest man of busi.
ness and the most daring speculator
known to the commercial world.
Everything he touched seemed to turn
to gold. His power was enormous.
A nod from him would raise to pre-.
MUM shares that were unstable at
par.
he had written a brief letter To
Katie. congratulating her upon her
wedding. wishing her every happiness.
ana signing himself Yours truly"
tnus closing accounts, as he bitterly
imagined, with his own heart, and
with hers. But. sitting in his office.
one afternoon, engaged in the perusal
OF an enormous pile of documents, a
missive, marked private" was placed
before him. It was addressed In n
feminine hand, and ile thrust It aside
unopened.
NO, no." he muttered, restlessly:
Il have done with all that"
He intuitively felt that it was from
Katie
An hour afterward It again lay be-
fore him, He turned &. over in
hdgety, restless way, and again nut
1t aside unopened.
Still. he could not settle to his
work. For third time the letter
was in his grasp. This time he broke
the seal hurriedly, and laid the let
ter open upon his desk
MY dear old friend" 1t commenced
He read no more, but leaving II still
open upon his desk, he paced the
room fretfully; then he thought OF
the old times when he was yet a boy.
and he returned to his place and hur.
riedly read as follows:
my Dear Old Friend-I am sure
that in memory of the past you will
assist and aid me now. / can hardly
nope, perhaps. that you should in.
terest yourself in my welfare. but for
my child's sake l must implore your
generous help. My husband is dead
and am sorely afraid that his ex-
travagant habits have absorbed nearly
the whole of our possessions. | wish
to see every creditor fully satisfied
yet | Know so little OF business mat,
ters. do not care to place our af.
fairs in the hands of stranger. Will
you undertake the business for me?
| feel that | am asking very Great
favor, under the circumstances, II YOU
only knew Come to me. Sidney, for
the old times sake.
KATIE"
"Humbled at last!" muttered the
banker with strange smile of salts.
faction, as he folded the letter me-
thodically, and placed 1t In his pocket
book. 1t was probably the only letter
in a woman's handwriting that had
ever rested there
A better feeling came anon. Long
after business hours the concluding
paragraph, written by hand that
trembled as it wrote, showing how
completely Katie had broken down
In her sad attempt to hide even from
herself the feeling that controlled her
Come to me, Sidney, for the old
times sake!" burned as letters of fire
into the cold and ashen heart of the
man of business.
Il thought the account was closed,
but | was wrong he murmured. II
must go to her, for she needs my
help"
Except that the mansion was occu-
pied the place wore the same appear
ance as when he saw it last. He walk
ed across the iron bridge, and
shrugged his shoulders disdainfully
as he noted the ugly trellis-work that
surmounted it. How different from
the rustic wooden pole that served as
finger hold and protection in the
simple picture that he so well remem-
bered. He walked up the marrow
pathway, and once again he stood
upon that threshold where his sorrows
and his fortunes had commenced.
She met him there and motioned
him into the little room where their
last Interview had taken place so
many years ago.
He went through the accounts, and
he found that after the payment of
her husbands debts she would have
but bare sufficiency. The estate
had been mortgaged and was no long
er hers. He conducted the investiga-
tion with the sharp eye Of thorough
business man. and In two days he had
a statement of her affairs prepared
for iier perusal. But in those two
days he had learned more than she at
first intended him to know.
He found, by connecting together
certain scraps of information, that her
wedding had been enforced by her
fathers desire and will.