Evening journal., 1909-05-26
THE VALUEOF
CONFIDENCE
sy EVELYN WETWoRTH.

Nldlloill
MY poor little girl" gasped old Tom
Conyers on his deathbed. u dread to
leave you with nothing. II could
have lived six months might have
left you rich"
"Oh. ! don't mind that, dad. I'll get
along"
Sallie Conyers buried her father and
packed up their belongings ready to
leave the old cabin. near the mine in
which all his hopes had been centered.
She found a will drawn some time be-
fore. but now there appeared to be no
occasion for a will Then she went
down to Colorado Springs. where she
had an aunt to whom she could look
for guidance.
When her father died Sallie was six
teen. A year later a vein was discov-
cred in the mine in which she still had
an interest. A dividend was declared
that gave her 1000. which by the
terms of the will she could not have
till she was twenty-one years old But
the vein soon died out, and the Con-
yers mine was abandoned.
Two years later "A couple of specu-
lators bought the property for a song,
wiped out the old stock and organized
a company called the Hope Mining
company.
Meanwhile Sallie Conyers was earn
ing her living in Colorado Springs.
When she was twenty she became en-
gagged to a clerk in a bank with a sal
airy so inhnitesimal that matrimony
between the two seemed but a multi
plication OF their troubles. But the
day was approaching when Sallie
would come into her $1,000. and that
would enable them to set up In a small
way at housekeeping.
The day she was paid the money be-
gan happily and ended In misery. Will
lard Stearns. her lover, had been long
looking for the day when they should
be married. Now. when the money
was paid, Sallie told him that she pro-
posed to invest It in the stock Of the
Hope Mining company. He looked at
her aghast.
nav = hENA III N0uAn WIN AAN EAAHT
erty." she said. land know something
about what they are doing. Ny IA
ther worked that mine for three years.
BE used to talk TO me about it because
he hadn't any one else to confide what
absorbed him. l know that when a
certain event happens, If it ever does
happen. a rich lode will be struck"
She got out her fathers old maps.
showing plot after plot crossing and
covering one another. and tried to ex-
plain what her father had so often
explained to her. But either he could
not OF would not understand. He took
no interest in the angle at which the
Sanborn lode dipped nor in the depth
at which II crossed the Conyers. A
gold mine TO him meant a capacious
nav capable of swallowing the hard
earned money Of simple minded peo-
pie. He told Sallie that If he married
her he had the prospect Of living with
a woman who had inherited a specu
lative mania. He preferred to g
through life alone.
Sallie tearfully accepted the situa
ton. The next day she visited the
mine and introduced herself to tn,
superintendent of the boring gang az
the daughter Of the former owner. II,
was very kind to her. answered all bel
questions, but showed no expectation
Of striking paying dirt. Indeed, h
told her that he expected soon to aban
don the work. Sallie asked him how
deep was the hole He told her It wal
1,400 feet. Promise me that yol
won't stop till you have gone 200 fee
farther" she said. "Why soT BE
cause you'll strike a rich vein at 1,5O
feet"
He gave the promise. and sallie re
turned to Colorado Springs. The mex
day she went 70 a broker and askel
the market price Of Hope Alinin
shares They told her that there hal
not been a quotation for months, but
or cents were offered It woul
bring all she might wish to buy. Sh
authorized them to offer ? cents
share for as much as S1.OOc would pul
chase. The offer was made and $50
600 par value Of the stock secured.
Old Conyers had expected to make
strike at from / ,450 TO 1900 feet Sa
: lie waited a week in a terrible su'
pense. She bad absolute confidence
her fathers expectations, but he
2 81, 900 was backing these expectation
The next day, looking at the quot;
tions Of Hope stock. she was astounC
ed to see that It had been run up to
, bid and few sales. The vein had bee
/ struck, the stock became worth 50
, share, and Sallie was rich.
4 willard Stearns kept away from Sa
4 lie from the day he told her he woul
not marry one who had inherited
mania for speculation. One day /
heard OF a great rise in Hope Minin
. company stock and saw an item In
newspaper stating that the daught'
a OF Conyers. who formerly owned II
g mine. had a large block OF the stocl
His heart for moment seemed
4 cease to beat. He hoped Sallie woul
q send for him. But she didn't. Il
:. wrote her a note congratulating her &
" her good fortune and received a vel
kind reply. This encouraged him. an
he sought to renew the engagement.
mo" she said. ''your reasons wei
u good. though not exactly as you state
ie them. You and ] are made of dlffe
n ent stun. ] am. like my father, read
.e 10 risk all on that in which | have co