Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-11-02

before I learned that he had been
specializing, ~mortgaging, kiting notes,
doing what he called, and thought,
business" on a large scale. lie re-
carried business as beneath the dignity
and me intellect of a "gentleman'-
how my gorge does rise at that word!
SO ne put his great mind on it only for
a few hours now and then; he reserved
the rest Of his time for what he re-
garde1 as the proper concerns or q gen
Misunderstanding to social duties
reading ~pretentious books, looking at
the pictures and listening TO the music
decrted FASHIONABLE.
They charge that ! put him "in a
hole In fact. 4 found him at the bot
tom Of a deep pit lie had dug for him
self and when ne first met me he a
without having he sense to realize it,
just about to 81 smash, with not a
penny for his old age. AS soon as |
had got this fact clear Of the tangle,
! sh1V ed it 10 him.
MY God, what is to become Of ine?"
ne said. That Was his only thought
not, what is TO become Of my wife N
daughter; but, what is TO become OF
me l DO not blame him for this.
Naturally enough people who have al
Waya been used &C everything become,
uncnpsciOusly, monsters Of eS0tism and
-selianness: it is natural, too, that they
SHOE ~ .fsfltt14kf1 themselves lIDEIul I'VE j
generous if they give away occasionally
something that costs them, at most,
nothing more serious thar the fOrego-
ing OF Some eXtr1vagant luxury or 9TH
err. | reCite his remark simply to show
what manner Of man he vas what sort
of creature / had 10 deal with.
| Uttered TO help him, and did help
him. Is there IL N knowing any
thing Of the fact, Of life. who win cen
sura me when : admit that with
deiihe"ation-simply tided him over,
did net make for him and present to
him q fortune What chance should |
have had, if l mad been so absurdly
generous to a mar who deserved Moth
ing nut punishment for his selfish and
bigored mode Of life? I ook away his
worst burdens; u | left him more
than he could carly without my help.
And 1t was not until he had appealed
in vain 10 all his social friends to re-
lleve him of the necessity Of my aid,
not until he realized that / was his only
hope OF escaping a sharp comedown
from luxury to very modest comfort in
a iiat someWherC-nOt until then did
his wife send ms an invitation to din
ner. And l had not so much as limited
that ] wanted it.
! shall forget the smallest de-
tail Of hat dinnCr-it was a purely
FANNY affair, only the Ellerslys and
l. | can feel now the oppressive at
mospneTe, the lock as Of impending
sacriloge upon the faces of the old
servants; l "a see Mrs. Ellersly try
ing to condescend to be gracious" and
treating me as T. ] were some sort of
freak or menagerie exhibit.
can see Anita. She was like a statue
of snow; she spoke not a word; if she
lifted her eyes, | rallied 10 note it. And
When / was leaving-I with my collar
Wilted from the fierce. nervous strain
| had been enduring-MrS. Eliersly. IN
voice of hers into which don't
believe any shade OF . real human emo
ever penetrated, said: You must
to see us, Mr.. Blackjack. We are
at home after So
] looked at Miss Ellersly. She was
whtIs to the lips CIV, and the spangles
IN Ter white dress seemed bits Of ice
glittering there. She said nothing; but
know she felt my look, and that it
froze he leo the mere closely in around
her heart. Thank you" [ muttered.
/ stumbled in he hall: I almost fell
the broad Steps. ] stopped at the
bar and took three drinks in quick
succession w~nt on down the ave-
nue., breathing like an exhausted SWIM
mer. IN give ner up!" / cried aloud,
SO upset vas L.
| am q man OF impulse; but ! have
trained myself MT to be a creature Of
impulse, at least not in matters of i'm
portance. Without that patient and
schooling / shouldn't have got
where l IfNw am; probably I'd still be
boots or sheet-writing
some booklnaker, or clerking it
some broker. Before / got to nv
rooms, the night air and my habit OF
he sober second thought" had cooled
ne back to nationality.
Il want her, ! need her" I was say
ng to myself. Il am worthier of her
han are those minCing manikins she
has been bred to regard as men. She
S for me-she belongs to me. I'll
abandon her to no Sinking puppet
who'd wear her as q donkey would a
diamond. Why should / do myself and
ler an injury simply because she has
been too badly brought up to know her
interest?'
Continued Next Week.)