Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1910-07-28

ncientiy to take his place and hold
his own with men and women 1t vas
impossible to keep secret forever the
details of such a story as his, es-
pecially when it was linked with a
name so famous and still remembered
as that of Katharine Brenton, and 1t
had been decided by Capt. Ashby and
Whitaker and the nan himself that
such portions of it as would suffice
to explain his own presence and her
fate should be given to the world. Upon
the foundation thus afforded ro-
nance builded. Charnock Immediately
became a marked man. He would have
been a marked man in any event from
the financial power that he possessed.
His uncle's management had been wise
and prudent, he had spent little and
had saved much, so that Charnock
found himself the p~ossessor of vast
riches In the form of available capital.
Among the first things he learned
was the power of money. Had he not
been steadied by the memory Of the
woman, he would probably have
learned it to his sorrow. AS it was, he
was almost misery. He spent little up
on himself. His wants were astonish-
ingly few and contact with the world
did not develop ~extravagant ideas.
Those were things which he was too
old to learn, against which he had
been anchored. He was saving what
he had and what he could get for
some great purpose, a purpose of help,
of assistance in which he could COM
memorate her name, for which future
generations should rise up and call
her blessed.
He had long talks with his uncle
about 1t. The old man would fain
have had his nephew marry and carry
on the ancient line. D~elicately, ten
derby, he preached the subject after a
time, but the suggestion met with alb
solute refusal. Women interested
Charnock as men did. Indeed his in.
terest In his kind was intense. The
intellectual stimulus Of conversations
with bright, intelligent people was the
most enhancing result of his contact
with the world. But none of them
touched his heart. That was buried or
that gemlike island in the far off sea
He was a man Of unusual force o.
character, prompt and unyielding de
cision. His uncle had not lived hi
long life without being able to esti
mate men. He recognized very earl!
in the undertaking the futility of ar
gument, and though he tried finesse il
the presence of the wittiest, the clev
crest, and most beautiful women O.
Virginia and elsewhere, for the two
Travelled throughout the United
States, welcomed everywhere, his eli
forts we're unavailing. There wa
more than one woman who woult
have been glad to accept the man
suit; whom, if he had wooed ever s.
slightly he could have won, but h
was friendly with everyone and il
love with none.
At the end of two years society CAV
him up as confirmed in his isolation
and loneliness. He was not the les
welcome, but he was no longer
matrimonial possibility, nor was h
any more the wonder that he ha
been, New things engrossed publ
attention. The world presently too
Charnock as he would fain have
take him, as a matter Of course.
He did things slowly, not becaus
that was his nature, but from an II
vincible determination to do thing
right. He made his plans d~eliberatel
and had formulated an enterprise S
comprehensive In its scope, so vast /
its outlay and with such infinite poss
bilities Of help to the poor, th
wretched, the down-trodden classes {
society, that when the foreshadowine
of 1t were announced, people stoo
amazed. An undertaking so great WE
not within the power even OF Cha
mock. His we're utterly u
equal to it, but he had enough to mai
a magnificent beginning and by deV
ting to it the whole revenue OF his e
tate, and the estate itself after 1
t died, gradually the enterprise wouI
a be achieved.
There was no necessity for secree
about 1t. Indeed with that simplicit
and candor so unusual and SO unco
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