Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-22

1--WE chatted together of you-and Mr..
Crunden. Sir John impressed me by his
magnanimity. Sir John bears no malice
for that terrible outbreak at the meeting
spoke most kindly of Mr.. Crunden. Said
he thought Mr.. Crunden deserves all his
success. I was greatly impressed-for
what Sir John thinks today, all Medford
will be thinking tomorrow. l say that
without a suspicion of f1attery. 1t has
always been so-as long as l can remem-
Der Medford.' =.
Sir John bore no malice; was now en-
tirely reconciled to the new order OF
things. Tho plain fact was that II Richard
Crunden, mysteriously and unintention-
ally working as an instrument of benefi-
cent fate, had earned heartfelt thanks
from any one, 1t was from Sir John Vim
cent. Not quite at first. but gradually.
Sir John must have realized that he was a
happier. lighter. more eupeptic baronet
in Chiselhurst, his bandbox of a villa,
than he had been in the spacious halls of
Hill House.
He was a man who for many years had
carried heavy incubus and foolishly
thought 1t comfort and joy. Only
when the incubus had been lifted and
thrown down. did he begin to know what
was what with regard to this and all
other matters, Now he was a free man
able to breathe-able to think-not the
harassed guardian of useless grandeurs.
And yet, in all essentials. he was still
the great Sir John. He was touched by
finding that people treated him as re-
specially as ever. Whether on the bench
with his brother magistrates, or in the
chair at political gatherings, sitting at
the tanklike club among those queer old
fish, the members, or walking through
High street, he could discover no abate-
ment in the Difference that all showed
him. 1ntrinsically, he was still the great
Sir John-nothing had dimmed his real
glory.
ha oil vie sol hat ,11
House and grounds should be wipeu out
of existence. Since they were lost to
him, 1t was best to get them obliterated.
There would have been pain and dis
comfort in seeing another-say Mr.. WAGE
the brewer-occupy the place and space
which he had once filled. He. the biggest
man in Medford, had lived so long in
Hill House that perhaps the, legendary
bigness would have chung to the house
1tself-have passed to the new tenant with
mantelpieces, roller blinds, kitchen dresser
and other landlords fixtures. But, as
the house was destroyed. the legend chung
to the man; and Sir John had been able
to take it with him to the Redmarsh
road
Gradually, then, he settled down not un-
happily at red-tiled Chiselhurst. There
was pleasure In slowly establishing him.
self, furnishing rooms, hanging pictures,
arranging bric-a-brac. Little things had
always interested Sir John: and to amuse
ones self with small matters. vast space
is, of course, not necessary. He was stew
ard of the little house as of the big one;
and he had the faithful Short-now butler
factotum, without footmen-to assist him
and say. Yes. Sir john" and mo, Sir
john" all day long as in the past
The installation Of the library. or study,
was protracted task; but finally he and
Short accomplished 1t to the taste of both.
The room was brighter and gayer than
the old room on the Hill; it had bow
window like the front of a large brougham
through which one looked out into q mar
row little garden that invited labor and
ingenuity to embellish it. At last the
bookcases were set up and filled with the
old volumes. the writing table was insin-
uated through the restricted doorway, and
all the old tin boxes were accommodated
to their narrower resting-place.
Then Sir. John was able to sit again in
state; and, with Short, transact the house.
hold business.
Tomorrow" said Short, quite in the
grand old style, tomorrow, Sir John, will
be the day for the writing of the
cheques"
And with sunshine pouring in through
the diminutive windows, Sir John wrote
the cheques and put a grand and easy
flourish under each of his signatures. 1t
was easy Stewardship now-small cheques
and the certainty Of a balance to meet
the corners of the sunny room: the old
tin boxes were all empty; one might open
all the cupboards beneath the bookshelves
without dread of finding skeletons in
them. And it must be confessed, too, that
the accountancy required by Shorts
weekly book was the easier and pleasanter
for the certainty that ones budget would
not be upset by unexpected entries of
''Mr. John, E2.10.0:" MIR. John, 10s;"
''Mr. John, los Id
rs that all this morning, Short?''
THAT is all, Sir John
The contents of the tin boxes had gone
to London. Sir John had unreservedly
placed himself in the hands of his solic-
itors; 1t was their duty now to maintain
modestly sufficient balance at the bank;
for them was all the WEAKNESS of putting
straight and tidy the muddle that Sir
John had made. Sir John might now pile
up the papers on his desk, accumulate
litter of documents, and surround him
self with innumerable files of scrubbed
memoranda; but he could not any more
hurt himself by doing so. All dangerous
papers were in safe hands. How rich was
Sir John, how poor was Sir John in what
manner had he come to grief, and why?
Sir John could never have answered these
bafhlng questions. Answers to all such
en1gmas must now be supplied by the
wise men of law. And the knowledge that
self-catechism was done with forever
made Sir John sleep soundly, walk light
ly and digest food quickly
1t appeared to the solicitors that their
client had always been unable to distin-
SuiSH capital lToIl INCOME. 1t was as II
the difference between money and the
product of money was to Sir John some
thing unthinkable-as the fourth dimen-
sion, or consciousness resulting from
molecular motions, or a universe not eter-
nal are to many other men. But this in
ability was only one of the weaknesses in
Sir John when considered purely as a
business man. He had been rash in spec
ulation-buying shares in the widest con-
Germs, paying calls when the venture was
fatally rotten, forfeiting his holding In
the rare cases when the thing was about
to turn up trumps. He had borrowed
money at high rate to lend it again at a
low rate. He sold the gilt-edged securi-
ties which he had, because he put himself
into dilemmas by selling the wildcat
stock which he had not. He had written
scathing rebukes to respectable stock
broking firms for attempting sharp prac-
tlce, and had sent warm thanks to bucket
shops for opening dis eyes to the modern
system of profft-snatching. In a word
his own word-he had muddled things.
But out of the darkness CLEANS of light
began soon to emerge. Here a CLEAN,
there a gleam-enough light for lynx-eyed
as bad as we feared. Give us time and.
may be. we shall have fairly good re-
port to submit. Before long there came
down from London the explicitly comfort.
ing statement Assets sufficient to meet
all claims. and with careful realization to
yield handsome-very handSome-Surplus
Sir John stepped more lightly still when
he knew that every tradesman holding an
appointment to Hill House had, after so
many payments on account. received his
payment in settlement. Good morning