The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1911-05-27
she said. "YOu viii have to take it

lie TOOK her warm hand In his own,
and IL I'm that moment he had obeyed
the impulse that was In his heart. IL he
had spoken the words that strove 10
rush upon his lips, the whole course OF
his life might have been changed-for
the better. But again ambition. whish
erimly forbade any clog upon his
movements, interfered. and he held
her hand with the tc-suerness OF a
brother-no more!
Really. Elsie. ! wish | could have
done more for you" he said II want
YOU TO promise me that IL you get into
difficulties of any sort you will let me
smooth them out for you"
II have no one else to go to-" she re-
piled simply. "Do you know how much
suffering there is in the world?" she
suddenly asked him.
81 suppose there is great deal Of It,"
"Do you understand what suffering
is?"
81 do" he returned. 81 had my
share of it-of Illness, of poverty, OF
cold and hunger. of uncleanllness. of
the social degradation that belongs
with want OF money. I know these
things not as one emerging from them.
, but as one cast down among them
from luxury. Some people that expert
ence softens, others IL hardens and
makes bitter. Sometimes I think It
had that latter effect with me-"
at must not be-" she said earnestly.
phillip, what has happened to my
family has happened to three-fourths
of the people in Hampton, which, as
you may or may not know. is compos-
ed entirely of poor people, workmen
who in better times try to buy their
own homes. In that village of four or
five thousand people there are per-
haps one half Of them facing actual
starvation at this minute"
"Yes?" inquired Phillip, waiting.
"There are hundreds and hundreds
of other villages like Hampton. where
thousands upon thousands are In the
same condition. Things were never so
bad as they are now"
"YesT he asked again.
"They say-they say"-she halted
and stopped. and then, with her face
coloring, she stumbled on-"they say
that you brought on this panic and
that you could stop It. It isn't true, is
, itY'
'1n measure i suppose IL is" adj
mitted Phillip. "The condition was like
pile of loose gunpowder at the side
of q railroad track, where constantly
passing engines are sending up sparks.
One spark was sure to land In that
gunpowder and explode it. / merely
happened TO be the spark, but with no
more power than that spark to stop
the subsequent destruction"
She recoiled from him with dilatlng
eyes. at Is true, then?" she said.
81 suppose it is, even in the way you
look at It, but l assure you, Elsie,
that IL was necessary. Out of this
better times will result, and better
times could not be reached except
| through this devastation. 1t is like a
surgical operation. which, painful and
cruel as 1t may seem at the start. Is
necessary to save the rest of the body
from death and decay"
She shook her head ~ cannot I'M
derstand 1t, but then l suppose 1 could
never have been a surgeon"
He smiled and laid his hand upon
her shoulder. mo, ] dom think you
could"
She WINGED under that touch and
glance, not because they were repul-
slve TO her-oh, not because of that!-
but because they were the touch and
glance of a brother.
Rensselaer, was announced just then.
and the interview closed.
In Phillips touring car. big Sam up
beside the chauffeur, Kelvin and Rens-
selaer BOWED along pleasant country
road, with the latter young gentleman
in a state of stupefaction.
ITO Forest Lakesw Rensselaer, ex-
claimed for ut least the twentieth
time. "Why, you old fox, you never
said n word about ever having known
Henry Breed or of ever having been
to Forest Lakesw
81 didn't dare" answered Phillip.
81 didn't want my panic to come on
too soon, which it would have done
had my connection with Breed been
known"
GLOW did you happen to foil in
with the old boy"
Hunted him upr said Phillip, with
sudden fire. GAS you know, this same
crowd, of whom Pellman was at that
time the head. led my father into a
carefully prepared stock deal. 1t was
as deliberate plucking as any green
horn ever got at the hands of lot of
confidence men, and it not only broke
his purse, but 1t broke his heart. 1t
left him without ambition. and when
he died he left me absolutely penni-
less. Even as n boy l planned to get
even, but / knew / must wait. Down
south the chance came. made that
oil strike, then luck poured in on me,
and / began at last to make lot of
money. One day about a year ago I
read in a paper of Breeds anger
against this same Wall street coterie.
I had formed some good acquaintance
down there, and among them was a
man who knew Breed personally. he
gave me a letter of introduction. /
then went to see Breed and proposed
this plan. He returned an evasive an