The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-05-03
n, ROBERT STEPHEN 3.

. GIRL # sixteen, with the form of
n n Juno and enough beauty of
~ face to turn the head Of any
susceptible man. stepped out of
,.o hack door of Col. Walter Shoes
hnme in Water street, near Vine. in
phuad,ph.a. one beautiful September
n,ornins in the good year 1863. on her
"ru was A bucket. She wore neither
shoes nor stockings. Her wealth Of blue
,,ack hair had not been combed and
~ in disarray down her back.
she went to the well In the yard and
ne she ,oilcd mt the rope to draw water
- All her bucket she cast a sly glance
seward an opening in the vines at the
%, corner # the yard. Evidently the
Glance satisfied her, for she smiled and
,hen. strengthening up, pushed the hair
hack from her forehead and posed in
-bat she knew to be a most attractive
attitude. with one elbow resting on the
,lm Of her water bucket and one hand
on her hip.
rustlng of the vines seemed to
s,artle her and when she looked to see
what had caused it she beheld a pic
,ire far from pleasing. Framed in the
leaves was the head of man. The face
vas weather beaten, stern and forbid
ding. The pepper had only one eye. but
there was enough of ardor and admit
ration in the one good eye to satisfy the
vanity Of the maid at the well. She
bushed. Then she made a brave show
Of maidcnly surprise and alarm. She
caught up her water bucket, endeav-
ored as well as she could to make
her scant skirts cover her ankles and
hide her bare feet and started toward
the house.
What more natural than that a
startled girl. hurrying as was this one.
should stumble. drop her pail, spill its
contents and then. in the sudden reali-
ation Of her plight. should bury her
face in her hands and soothe her woe
with tears? Beauty in distress has q
powerful appeal.
The man behind the vines was a man
Of action. He broke through the frail
shield behind which he had been hiding
vaulted over low fence and ran to
her aid. As he approached he poured
out a torrent of apologies. Little OF
what he said was ineligible to the
girl, for 1t was mixture Of French and
pidgin English, but he was SO sincerely
sorry and SO vehement that she wiped
some of the tears from her eyes and
suppressed her sobs.
The man. to right as much as pos
sible the trouble he had caused, there
upon seized the bucket. hurried to the
well. worked furiously at the rope, filled
the pail and. walking by her side. car
ried it to the back steps. Then. bowling
x..,t ha Of x.,i, Il =,
hand on his heart and his hat trail
ing the ground he remained uncovered
until she had gone within the house.
And SO began the romance Of Stepher
Girard. one of the greatest financier.
America ever has known, and Poll,
Lum, scullery maid.
There was flutter in the Shee house
hold when it was discovered that GirarC
had his eye on the pretty maid. TIL,
Colonel and his good wife thought they
had reason to suspect the virtue of hi.
attentions. There was nothing in tn,
person, the manners or the mind Of
Glrard to awaken passion in the hear
Of young girl. He looked like a pirat,
and had a violent temper. Although
not yet II he was as set in his ways al
a middle aged man.
He had seen much of life. From
bordeaux, where he was born. he IA,
gone to sea when 10 years old as a cabil
boy. At IS he was master Of a SINAI
vessel and had made a voyage in 1t t
New orleans and the West Indies. A
10 he opened small store in Phila
dephia and alternated between mer
chandising on land and trips to tn
West Indies.
OF education he had little. That wa
to come later. He barely could write
and 10 read was a task. But he coul
sail ship and he knew the art Of bar
gaining. Good fortune had attende
him in his dealings to such an exten
that he had a profound belief in hi
lucky star. He never would insure any
thing so firm was his faith in his super
stition.
He had made money and was locke
upo, as capable man likely to becom