Sharp County record., 1910-02-18
[ wo Violets
II was the day after the panic,
BY M. Fl, JUSTICE

! | ss.- -
II was the day after the panic,
The turmoil and buster Of the
street" which had swept before II in
havoc the fortunes Of many substan'
Ial firms, had also taken down with It
that Of John Hamblcton & Co, But the
street itself, which the day before
had been one mad pandemonium, had
again quieted down to It's usual serep'
ity, except the crowds around the
,urbs who still talked over the ilna9'
GI4l excitement. But SO It always is
n this district Of New YORK, Men
may 20 down at one tel stroke specu'
,ators nay lose all they have IN the
world but the markets 90 on the
same-thc persistent ticker marks on
more encouraging quotations, and the
Anancier forgetting the ruin Of those
around him, strives to rocoup his own,
John flambleton sat IN his private
office. On the morrow the firm would
40 through the prellminaries Of assign
ment, lie could pay off 4 part of the
Indebtedness dollar for dollar, but
after this his slate would be wiped
clean Of cent At 50 be was worse
than when he had bogun--a pauper,
though an honest and discouraged
man,
He touched an electric button
A slight, darkhaircd, gray.eyod girl
came in with pencil ana 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 gentleneas had given q
soothing effect TO the strenuous brok-
erage office without John Hambleton
knowing why,
mo Miss jarrett, you need take
no more notes." he told her, when she
had sat down, 81 regret to say ! am
discharging YOU lie held UP his
hand when che started to speak,
Don't make It Vmse,' he went on
"l am ruined and done
"But, Mr. Hambleton---"
He raised silencing hand, Hero
is two weeks salary in advance-till
you can secure another place, and |
wish It could be more, You viii And Il
couple Of firms on this slip to whom |
have recommended you. | am going
out on u business errand for an hour
You may leave now"
She wondered at his words, but
some silent warning in his handsome
face forbade her answer, She softly
closed the door and went out, AS she
gathered up few belongings she
heard the senior partner go on his er'
rand And when she left she passed
through his private Office again, with
eyes filed with tears, and laid u little
note upon his desk,
An hour later John llambleton came
IN Though he had sacrificed the last
cent Of his private fortune of over u
million dollars, there were still some
who called him a thief ana man With
out friend left,
"A man without friend Worse
than a man without n country
He opened n small drawer OF his
desk and took out something The
polished steel gllstened against the
rich mahogany Of his desk as his hand
closed over e. Twas perhaps coward
~. But he was trcd-.alonc and do@
peratc,
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
bic coming from the stock exchange
He smiled, He would never hear that
again, and he grippod the steel thing
closely,
At that moment, almost brushed
aside, his eyes foil on Alice Jarretts
note,
Slowly he opened It, There were
ust A few words but out fell two Vlo.
let's, the kind that grew In his mothers
days on the farm, with the delicate
odor Of spring, A food Of emotion
overcame him,
Ills eyes fell to the note,
"I am leaving, but here Is my Nd'
drcss, Ny heart IN with you IN your
trouble If you need me only send
for mo, Your friend, A. D.
tls frIcnd' OF all tho friends he
knew this gentle girl alone had left
the gcutlcr message jas! In time,
with the two violots pressed to his
lps, John Hamblcton's head went over
ON his dcsk, and he wept for the lrsl
time In many years,
Slowly the little steel article was
put back In lts drawer
.4as.--sa.sasaaassasa----a---
Krakatoa'a New Dress.