The Cairo bulletin., 1909-12-26
Two Violets
By M. H. JUSTICE

III WdS the udy dileF the pdHic.
| The turmoil and buster of the
i street" which had swept before 1t in
! havoc the fortunes of many substan'
| tial firms, had also taken down with il
| street" itself, which the day before
| had been one mad pandemonium, had
again quoted down to It's usual seren-
| ity, except the crowds around the
| curbs who still talked over the finan.
cial excitement. But so 1t always is
in this district of New York. Men
may go down at one fell stroke, specu-
lators may lose all they have in the
world-but the markets go on the
same-the persistent ticker marks OF
more encouraging quotations, and the
| financier forgetting the ruin of those
around him. strives to recoup his own.
John Hambleton sat in his private
| Office. On the morrow the firm would
go through the preliminaries of assign
ment He could pay off part of the
| indebtedness dollar for dollar. but
after this his slate would be wiped
clean Of cent. At SO he was worse
than when he had begun--a pauper,
though an honest and discouraged
| man.
He touched an electric button.
A slight, dark-haired, gray-eyed girl
came in with pencil and pad. She was
more than beautiful, for there was
sympathy and intelligence in the
young face. She had been with the
firm but three weeks, but she had
given satisfaction from the start. Her
dignity and gentleness had given a
soothing effect to the strenuous broh
erage office without John Hambleton
knowing why.
No, Miss Jarrett you need take
no more notes" he told her, when she
had sat down. Il regret 10 say ana
discharging you" He held up his
hand when she started to speak.
Don't make it worse" he went on;
Il am ruined and done"
But, Mr.. Hambleton-"
He raised sileneing hand Here
you can secure another place. and |
wish it could be more You will find Z
couple of firms on this slip to whom
have recommended you. | am going
out on business errand for an hour
You may leave now"
She wondered at his words. bnt
some silent warning In his handsome
| face forbade her answer. She softly
closed the door and weat out, AS sNt
gathered up few belongings she
heard the senior partner go on his err
rand And when she left she passed
through his private Office again. with
eyes filled with tears, and laid little
note upon his desk.
An hour later John Hambleton came
in. Though he had sacrificed the last
cent of his private fortune of over a
million dollars, there were still some
who called him thief and a man with
out friend left.
"a man without friend" Worse
than a man without country! 2.
He opened a small drawer of his
desk and took out something. The
polished steel glistened against the
rich mahogany of his desk as his hand
closed over it. Twas perhaps cowari
ly. But he was tired-alone and des.
perate.
Once he looked out the window
Below, rising from the street, he could
hear the shouts of the curb brokers,
and. further away, the indistinct mum
BILE coming from the stock exchange
He smiled. He would never hear tina.
again. and he gripped the steel thing
closely.
At that moment, almost brushed
aside, his eyes fell on Alice Jarretts
note.
Slowly he opened it. There were
Just a few words, but out fell two VIC
let's, the kind that grew in his mothers
days on the farm, with the delicate
odor of spring. A flood of emotion
overcame him.
His eyes fell to the note.
81 am leaving, but here is my adj
dress. My heart is with you in your
trouble II you need me only send
for ME. Your friend. A. j."
Hts friend! OF all the friends he
knew this gentle girl alone had left
the gentler message just in time.
With the two violets pressed to his
lips, John Hambletons head went over
on his desk, and he wept for the first
time in many years.
Slowly the little steel article was
put back in its drawer.
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