The Mena weekly star., 1909-05-13

i his chance. of his heart-draining toll; of his solitary studies.
 T never was the kind of fellow to make friends" be said. in his soft, monotcnous voice. ''so l expect I was the fonder of my own kin. I'd mighty good mother sir, and sister; and there was Phil--mS little brother We were right happy all together on the old | place that's been in our family for 100 l years, and 1t YVES all we asked to stay | there; but it had every dollar of mortgage it could stand, and the soil all worn out, needing all kinds of things; and wish you could have seen the makeshifts we had for ma l chimes. I was blacksmith and carpen- 7 ter and painter-just 16, and not an i especially bright chap, but mighty will 1 ing to work; and my mother and sis 1 and i've did heap. When l ssg-l- bed on the ore I couldn't be sure, but | wrote to Aunt Rebecca Winter. She sent man down He looked up things. It would take heap of money to work the mines, but it might be big thing. She paid off the mortgage and took another. First to last, she's been mighty kind to us She would have done more had we jet her. So went to Pittsburg and learned my trade. and made enough to pay inter- est, and the people at home got fair l ly good living. When l was 21 l was back home. and got a company started and put up a mill. You know how those things have to creep up But there was ore, all right, and I under stood my business and taught the hands. We'd right sweet little mill. We'll I don't want to take up your time, suh. Those next 10 or 12 years were right hard work, but they were happy. too. We prospered we helped the whole county prosper. We paid l Aunt Becky. We were in good shape We went through '93 paying our divi- dends just as regular and making them, too, though we didn't much more-it was close sailing. But we were honest; we made a mighty good l article; and everybody trusted us. | Then came the craze for mergers, and a number of us got together. Still we weren't very big, but we were big enough to be listed. I didn't want it, | but some of the men thought 1t was terrible fine thing to be Iron Kings. That was how. Keatcham was look ing over the country for fish for his net; he somehow heard that here was a heap of good ore and new mills. The first intimation we had was his sec retary coming as a northern invalid why, he stayed at our house because we were so sorry for him, the hotel being in new hands and not right com. fortable, He seemed so interested in our mills, and bought some stock, and sent presents to Phil and my mother after he went"
 That was Keatcham private secre- tary. you say?"
 Yes, suh, Atkins. You met him on the train--as sleek and deadly a little scoundrel as ever got rich quick Oh. he's deep. Well, suh, you know the usual process. Convinced of the value of the property, Keatcham and one oi two others set out to buy 1t. They got little blocks of it here and there. Then Atkins wrote me in confidence that some men were after the con. trolling interest and meant to squeeze us all out--offered to lend me money to buy-of course, on margin. And 1 was plumb idiot enough to be tolled into his trapl I, who had never spec ulated with a dollar before, I didn't borrow his money, but took all could raise myself, and 1 bought enough to be sure I could control the next election. Then-the slump came. and after the slump the long, slow crum. bling. I controlled the election all right, of course, but before the next one came l was ruined, and Keatcham put his own men in. I went desperate to fight those fellows; 1t was a new game. I didn't find Atkins. Maybe because that wasn't his name when had known him. I was so sure that the property was good-as if that mat tered! As if anything mattered with these gamblers who play with loaded dice and dope the horses they bet l againstl Phil had all his property in the mills; we all had. We mortgaged the house; we had too to protect our stock. You know how the fight ended, | and what happened at Cambridge. That isn't all My wife" He stood little straighter, and the light went out of his eyes. q told you l don't make friends easily, and l am not the l kind of man women take to: all the same. the loveliest girl in the south loved me ever since jumped over the mill-dam to save her rag doll, once, when she was visiting her aunt near us. I'd married, when we seemed pros l porous. Now, understand me, l don't say it was my ruin and Phils death that killed her and the baby; she had pneumonia. and it may be that seeing that paper by accident didn't turn the scale; but do say that she had her last hours embittered by it. That's enough for me. When got home with-with Phil, she was dead"
 Tough" said the colonel He be- gan to revise his impressions of 1 Mercer.
 | Wasn't it?" the other asked, with simplicity of appeal that affected the listener more than anything he had heard. He jumped out of his chair and began pacing the room. talking more rapidly. You're a man; you l I..axp x.,1at I rxa ufad In dn "