Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1914-11-20
SECOND SECTION
Evening Star S
Daily Story
HIS PARTNER
BY CLARIssA MACKIE.
Copyright, 1914, by the Mcclure New,
Daper Syndicutc


And how about this interest in the
Western Lumber Company asked
the lawyer
Paul Stafford glanced over the docu-
ments in his hand and decided that
. he would continue his half ownership
in the company
This Henry Heaton seems to be a
square sort of a chap, and the invest
ment is a. growing one" he said,
thoughtfully. ITO tell yon the truth.
Fargo I've sort of a sentiment about
not disturbing some of my father
business investments, and as this Is q
small but increasingly profitable one,
you may write Mr.. Heaton that the
partnership can be transferred to me,
if it is entirely agreeable. Now, about
these other matters And the two
men were soon deep in the complex
details of the settlement of the large
estate of Paufs lately deceased
father.
A few, days after Paul Stafford S
completion of his college course his
father had suddenly died. leaving the
young man with many new RESPONSE
bilities on his hands. When the large
estate was settled and Pauls widowed
step mother had been comfortably
established with her own relatives,
Paul drew breath and discovered that
he was quite alone in the world, save
for a few distant cousins.
With unlimited means at his COM
mand and many keen business men
looking after his affairs, Paurs first
feeling, after the estate was settled,
was one of utter loneliness. To as
suage this, he mapped out PLAIN that
he had often dreamed of during his
school days.
TVS years were to be spent in
leisure,y travel about the world; at
the end of that time he was to return
to America and take up the life of a
country gentleman upon the family
acres in the New Jersey hills.
So he sailed away to new lands and
forgot the half interest he held in the
Western Lumber Company of an
Oregon mountain town.
Two years later Miss Leslie Heaton
rode up to the office door of the West
ern Lumber Company, slipped from
her saddle to the doorstone, tossed
the bride to waiting boy and en-
tered the long, brown painted build
ing.
She greeted several busy clerks in
the outer office and crossed the room
to a glass -paneled door on which was
iettered in gold two names:
Henry Heaton''
Leslie Heaton."
Alone in her private office, Leslie
threw up the window and looked out
and down into the strip of valley
through which wound the river that
gave power to the great mills. There
was distant musical hummng of
saws and the air was redolent of
pine and cedar. From the road that
sloped down to the town to which
her father had given his name, and
of which his business had formed the
nucleus many years ago, came the
creak of wagon wheels; wagons load
ed with mighty tree trunks coming
to the mill: other wagons loaded with
satiny and odarous planks from the
Oregon forest. ,..s. ,..-s.s-..sss,. ss..s.. 3
she had iIndwii it ali her aiffes his
lumber business she had beeh born
in Heaton and she had seen her
fathers upward struggles toward
success. There had been one critical
period many years ago--her mother
often recalled it-when the little bust
ness appeared on the verge of COL
: lapse Then had come great eastern
capitalist, who had bought a half
interest in the lumber company and
whose money had sent it safely ~
the high road to a conservative, but
successful career.
At her fathers death, Leslie had
taken up the business, and with a
corps of competent advisers was
making her fame as u shrewd and
Just business woman wherever the
name of Heaton was known. Her
widowed mother, in the pleasant
home on the brow of the hill, called
Leslie her fathers own son." and
contided to her remaining daughter.
Ann, that Leslie should have been
a man."
If she had known how wistfully
Leslie regarded the quiet domestic
tasks that were AIMS share Mrs.
Heaton might have changed her
mind.
Leslie hung her broad felt hat on
a peg and sat down before her faith
er's desk. There was pile of mail
much of it addressed to the West
ern Lumber Company, and many
other missives addressed to Leslie
Heaton, ESQ.," or Mr. Leslie Heaton,
s.cretary and treasurer of the West
ern Lumber Company"
A dimple always came to the cor
ner of Leslie's mouth when she read
these superscriptions. She wondered
what those hard headed business
men who comprised her correspon-
dents would say If they knew that
the official whose terse letters they
had read was this soft-eyed oval
faced girl with wealth of red brown
hair and a pair of wistfdl gray eyes
that hungered to sweep and dust a
home and actually hated the sight of
typewriting machine.
Presently Leslie rang a bell and a
girl came and set down in shorthand
several of the young secretary's busi-
ness letters.
VIII n she was alone Leslie picked
up a copy of a San Francisco news
paper and her eyes instinctively
turned to the market reports Ere
she turned the page she scanned the
Wall street news, and conspicuous
among the names of rich men who
had been ruined in the recent p. b.
l.. A. crash was that of her silent
and unseen business partner, Paul
Stafford.
Poor boy' cried Leslie, rernem-
bering the slender stripping who had
accompanied the elder Stafford to
the Western Lumber Mills on a brief
inspection many years before. No
matter what else has happened
he's got half-ownership here, and
there's room for another desk in
here if he wants it, or a private Of
flee for himself. | wonder what he's
like. lie may be a good for nothing,
but there's n chance for him here,
and we neod secretary the worst
gay-I simply cant do everything
alone. attend TO correspondence,
orders follow up the travelling men
its no Use talking, something must
tasI Il. la.4l. 1fal l,,lfa