The Irish standard., 1911-05-06
THE
CASH
INTRIGUE
BY
GEORGE RANDOLPH
CHESTER
Copyright 1893. by tho Bobb.-Merrill Co.

upon which the amounts were already
set down and totaled. The sum was
pidfully small in view Of all the vast
sums which Phillip had at his disposal.
II don't think it wise for you to
contine this to actual necessities" he
urged. 1T would be much better to
take larger sum. one that would
cover all emergencies"
Elsie shook her head firmly. s'No,"
she said. II have already allowed q
small leeway. The less I can make the
burden the better 1 shall feel about
1t, for it must all be paid back. Please
let me have my own way
II don't see how can do otherwise"
replied Phillip, giving her the money.
She took 1t, gulping down a little lump
which rose in her throat, then said
with a pretty little assumption Of busl-
ness:
II wnnt you to write out note for
me to sign"
Without protest Phillip did so and
put the note carefully away.
"Now we come back to the question
Of employment" said he. You men
toned while ago your fathers gar
dening hobby. Do you suppose he
would take a position in that line?"
"A month ago he would not, but now
he would gratefully. If you can get
him such place it would perhaps
solve our problem"
II believe that can," unused Phil
lip. "Just wait a minute" and he
wrote note. 1nclosing it in an ad-
dressed envelope, which he handed to
her. IF your father will take this
note to the address on the envelope I
am quite certain they will make a
place for him"
II don't know how to thank you,"
she said. "You will have to take it
for granted
He took her warm hand in his own,
and If in that moment he had obeyed
the impulse that was in his heart, If he
had spoken the words that strove to
rush upon his lips, the whole course of
Ills life might have been changed-for
the better. But again ambition. whiA|l,
grtmly forbade any clog upon his
movements, interfered, and he held
her hand with the, tenderness Of a
brother-no more!
Really, Elsie. I wish I could have
done more for you," he said. II want
you to promise me that If you get into
difficulties OF any sort you will let me
smooth them out for you.'
II have no one else to 60 to-" she re.
piled simply. do you know how much
suffering there is in the world7" she
suddenly asked him.
Il suppose there is great deal Of it."
do you understand what suffering
ISL"
IT do" he returned. IT had my
share Of it-of illness. Of poverty. of
cold and hunger, Of uncleanliness. of
the social degradation that belongs
with want Of money. 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 it hardens and
makes bitter. Sometimes I think 1t
had that latter effect with me.''
1T 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"
Eyes" 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
It"
I'm a measure suppose it f." ad-
mitted Phillip. 1.-THE condition was like
q pile Of loose gunpowder at the side
Of 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 dilating
eyes. sit is true. then?" she said.
II suppose it is, even in the way you
look at It. but assure you. Elsie
that it was necessary. Out Of this
better times will result. and better
times could not be reached except
through this devastation. 1t Is like q
surgical operation. which. painful and
cruel rs 1t may seem at the start, is
necessary to save the rest of the body
from death and decay"
She shook uer head. II cannot un
derstand it. hui then suppose could
never have been Il surgeon"
He smiled and laid his hand upon
,s..l.