The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1905-04-21
down and sobbed.


stranded few, the booms were empty.
A deep sigh went up from the atten-
tive multitude.
"Shes gonev said one man, with the
emphasis of a novel discovery. and
groaned.
Then the awe broke from about their
minds, and they spoke many opinions
and speculations. Thorpe had disap-
peared. They respected his emotion
and did not follow him.
"It was just plain foolishness, but
1t was great" said Shearer. "That no
account jackass of Big Junko amt
worth as much per thousand feet as
good white pine"
Then they noticed a group of men
gathering about the Office steps. and
on 1t some one talking. Collins, the
bookkeeper, was making a speech.
Collins was q little Ratchet faced
man, with straight, lank' hair. near
sighted eyes, timid, order loving dis
position and great suitability for his
profession. He was accurate, unemo-
tional and valuable. All his actions
were as dry as the sawdust in the
burner No one had ever seen him eX-
cited. But he was human, and now
his knowledge of the company's affairs
showed him the dramatic contrast He
knew. He knew that the property Of
the firm had been mortgaged to the
last dollar in order to assist expansion.
30 that not another cent could be Dor
rowed to tide over present difficulty
He knew that the notes for 100000
covering the loan to Wallace Carpenter
came due in three months. He knew
from the long table of statistics which
he was eternally preparing and COM
pairing that the seasons cut should
have Melted profit of 100000, enough
to pay the interest on the mortgages,
10 take up the notes and to furnish
working capital for the ensuing year
These things he knew In the strange
concrete arithmetical manner of the
routine bookkeeper. Other men saw
n desperate phase OF firm rivalry. He
saw struggle 10 the uttermost. ON
er men cheered rescue. He thrilled
over the magnificent gesture of the
gambler scattering his stake in largesse
to Death.
1t was the simple turning of the hand
from full breathed prosperity to life
less failure
His view was the inverse of his mas
ter's. To Thorpe it had suddenly be-
come n very little thing in contrast to
the great, sweet, elemental truth that
the dream girl had enunciated. To
Collins the affair was miles vaster than
the widest. scope Of his own narrow
life.
The firm could not take up its notes
when they came due; it could not pay
the interest on the mortgages, which
would now be foreclOsed; it could not
even pay in full the men who had
worked for it-that would come under
n courts adjudication.
He had therefore watched Thorpe's
desperate sally to mend the weakened
chain in all the suspense OF a man
whose entire universe is in the keeping
of the chance moment. 1t must be re-
membered that at bottom, below the
outer consciousness, Thorpe's final de-
cision had already grown to maturity.
On the other hand, no other thought
than that of accomplishment had even
entered the little bookkeepers head.
The rescue and all that it had meant
had hit him like stroke of apoplexy,
and his thin emotions had curdled to
hysteria. Full of the idea he appeared
before the men.
With rapid, almost incoherent speech
he poured it out to them. Professional
caution and secrecy were forgotten.
Wallace Carpenter attempted to push
through the ring for the purpose of
stopping him. A gigantic river man
kindly but firmly held him back.
81 guess it's just as well we hears
this" said the latter.
1t all came out-the loan to Carpen-
ter, with a hint at the motive-the
Vaccinations of the rival firm on the
board of trade; the notes, the mort
cages, the necessity of big seasons
cut; the reasons the rival firm had for
wishing to prevent that cut from ar
irving Mt the market; the desperate and
varied means they had employed. The
men listened, silent. Hamilton, his
eyes glowing like Goals, drank in every
WOTu. I1tTt WAS Illc luOllNt ht
had sought; here was the story great !
to his hand.
THAT'S what zoe ought to getv' cried !
Collins, almost weeping. "And now
we're gone and bust just because that /
internal river hog had to fall off a |
boom! It's shamel Those scalawags |
have done us after allv'
Out from the shadows of the woods
stole Injun Charley. The whole bear /
ing and aspect of the man had chang |
ed. His eye cleaned with distant. !
farseeing fire of its own, which took !
no account Of anything but some re-
mote vision. He stole along almost I
furtively, but with proud, upright |
carriage of his neck, backward tilt (
of his fine head, a distension of his |
nostrils, that lent to his appearance
panther-like pride and steathlness. No
one saw him. Suddenly he broke |
through the group and mounted the |
steps beside Collins.