Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-04-25
a matter with which I must deal"

| Ile unQerSlOOu Dy HIS IeloWS III tue service of the Hallam firm or by the similar people who thronged the town His fellows in and out of the office were commonplace young men. all looking to the main chance alone and pursuing it with only such honesty of conduct as business prudence requir- ed They felt no further interest in i their work than such as was necessary 1 to enable them to retain their places and their salaries.
 Therefore they did not understand 1 Guilford Duncan. Neither could they. They regarded with amazement and almost with incredulity his manifesto tions of sensitive honor and of un- selfish loyalty to, duty. They thought of him as sort of freak or what we should nowadays call crank.
 Of course they could not fail to rec ognize his ability, but they thought him a good deal of fool, nevertheless, for not taking selfish advantage of the op- portunities that so frequently came to him. They could not understand why he should go out of his way, as he very often did, to render services to the firm which were in no way requir- ed or expected of him. Especially they could not understand why, when he had rendered such services in a way to attract Captain Hallam's pleas ed attention, he didn't "strike for something better" as they phrased their thought.
 In one especial case their amaze ment over his neglect of an opportu- nity bred something like contempt of him in their minds. It was the prac- tice of the Hallams to keep a fleet of heavily laden coal barges in bend of the river above the town, bringing them down one by one to the coal yards at "the point below the city as they were needed. One day In the ear ly winter, coal gauger being off duty, Duncan volunteered to go up to the bend in his stead and measure the coal 1 in great fleet of barges that had just arrived.
 He found the barges unsafely be- slowed and suggested to the captain of the Hallam yard tugboat that he should tow them into securer anchor age. As night was at hand, the captain of the tug refused, saying that he would attend to the matter on the mor- row.
 That night the first storm of the win ter broke upon the river flashing it to fury and threatening with destruction every species of craft that might yen- ture away from moorings.
 l About midnight one of Duncan's bed room windows was blown in, scatter ing glass and fragments of sash over his bed and startling him out of sleep.
 Instantly the thought of the exposed coal barges flashed into his mind. He knew that they were utterly unfit to ride out a storm, being nothing more than great oblong boxes loaded nearly 1 to their gunwales with coal. He re- membered, too. the exposed position in which they had been left for the night.
 Hastily drawing on his clothing, he hurried to the landing place of the yard tug. He found no preparations making there for any attempt to save | the barges and their enormously rich cargoes or even to rescue the helpless | them. The engineer of the tug, who always slept on board, was there, and so were the two deck hands and the fireman, but the fires were banked. and the captain had not responded to the duty call of the tempest
 As the immediate representative and chief lieutenant of Captain Hallam, Guilford Duncan was recognized as a man somewhat entitled to give orders. On this occasion he promptly assumed so much more of authority as did not strictly belong to him.
 He instantly ordered the engineer to get up steam. He directed one of the two deck hands to go hurriedly to the tug captains bedroom and order him to come to the tug at once
 As be rattled off his orders for put | ting cable coils aboard. placing all lenders in position. battening down the hatches and doing all else that might render the tug filter for the perilous service that he intended to exact of her. his voice took on the old ring of battle, and his commands came quick. sharp and penetrating from his set lips. like those of an officer placing ,---,. gn ,,ozg,fo,, eor , 5ns,o-a-o Er,b+
 The captain, who was also sole pilot of the tug. so far obeyed the order sent to him as to come to the tug landing. But when he looked out upon the storm lashed river he positively refus- ed to obey Duncan's order to go to the wheel.
 "I'H never take the tug out in such a storm as this" he said doggedly.
 But think, man. There are twenty men or more up there on those coal barges whose lives simply must be say cd. And there is hundred thousand dollars worth of coal there that may go to the bottom any minute"
 T can't help that tell you the tug couldn't live a minute in such a storm"
 Tn other words answered Duncan, with measureless contempt in his tone. ~you are a miserable coward. a white livered wretch. whose life wouldn't he worth saving if it were in danger. Co back to your bed"
 Then. turning to the engineer and the two deck hands. he asked hoarsely:
 "WiI you men stand to your duty while I go to the wheelT-
 We're with you while she floats. czp'n." said the engineer. T always tifd hate s corarsis