Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1911-08-10

/ patronlzIng, arrogant assumption of
superiority; but now he stroye to in
fuse all the geniality and cordially
possible into his voice and manner.
On the other hand. Gormly natural
" had deep interest in HaIdane. AS
the father of the woman he loved, he
would necessarily be great factor
in the battle he meant to wage for her
hand. His consent and influence,
while not absolutely essential, would
naturally be of great value, If he
| could by any means win the support
and countenance of the great fnaDcier,
his dream would be by that much the
more easy Of realization. He had an
idea, however, that this would be i'm
possible. That did not daunt him or
! render him the less alert. To win
Haldane's consent possibly might be
no more practicable than to win Miss
Haldane's consent. Yet Gormly was
accustomed to attempt the impossible,
and nine times out of ten to achieve
it. That Haldane had any relation
ship, or could have any relationship,
to him other than that Of a prospect,
i've father-in-law never entered his
head That was sufficient to render
the interview memorable to him.
The conversation began with a re-
mark from the cider man about the
weather. I have long wondered why
the weather is the staple inaugural
topic
L have rarely experienced so severe
a snoWstorm," said HaIdane blandIy.
4 have been coming down to Long
Island in winter off and on ever since
1 was boy, and this surpasses any
thing within my knowledge"
1T is bad enough for New York" re-
sponded GormIy. Here when the
temperature gets down to the zero
mark and the wind blows thirty or
forty miles an hour, and it SHOWS hard
all day, we call it a blizzard Most
| people welcome this sort of snow
storm because Of the mild excitement
Of the situation, and the street clean
ing department rejoices at the oppor-
tunities of graft presented"
At that last remark, though Haldane
had no ostensibIe connection with the
street department, or any other de-
partment of the municipal administra-
ton in fact, the man slightly lifted his
head and glanced for a moment with
deeper interest at his companion.
I take it from your allusion that
you have experienced worse storms
than this"
I have been in real billiards, Mr.
Haldane," answered GormIy quietly;
more than once where the winds
velocity was scarcely to be measured,
where the temperature was from
twenty to thirty below, where the sleet
needles cut like whips, and the storm
had full sweep unchecked and I'M
broken by any thing However, I am
glad Of the storm in this instance,
since it has enabled me to extend to
you and your party the shelter Of my
roof. I have been acquainted have
had the privilege Of knowing, that is
your daughter for some time, and |
am honored in the acquaintance of her
father and mother and your friends"
You say you have known my daugh
ter for some timer"
81 have had that pleasure"
IF l mistake not, she said that you
had been interested in her settlement
work. Quixotic imaginations of an
enthusiastic girl, my dear sir; but 1
humor her"
you do WE'LL returned the other
"And if you will give me leave to diff
fer with you, hardly call it Qu1xotic.
| have examined into the plan thor
oughly, and I must say it strikes me as
being altogether admirable as well as
entirely feasible. 1 hope and believe
it will succeed"
Quite So" returned Haldane He
was not in the least interested in the
matter. He realized, however, that it
would be wise to pretend interest that
he did not feel, after such an express
sion on the part Of his host Your
judgment as to the feasibility of the
plan, therefore, l consider most valu-
able, and l am glad it has your appro-
baton. l presume that you have"
Il have assisted Miss HaIdane in
every way possible" returned Gormly,
who did not propose to be questioned
as to the details of his relation to the
scheme. "Of course" he went on,
your own reputation as a f1nancier is
known to me as it is to all of New
York, and If [ may be permitted to say
so I am of the opinion that a large
part of your executive ability, not to
say genius, has descended to your
daughter"
Thank you" was the answer. Ell
eanor is certainly a most capable
young woman"
And it must be a source of graft
f1cation to you that she chooses to ex-
ercise her capability in this direction
rather than in the vain and aimless
social avocations of a large and in
1uential section of our so called best
people in the city,"
Certainly, very true. But frankly,
| could wish that there was a more
equable division of time between the
-er-high and the low, so to speak;
that Eleanor could give more Of her
attention to those-duties, which after
all, my dear Mr.. Gormly, however we
men of the world may deprecate them,
go to make up so large a part of life,
and leave more of the detail work Of
this Institution to others"
CTO BE CONTINUED)
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