Rocky Ford enterprise., 1915-07-09


nacee.) Yes, sir! More'n forty thou
sand tons. Henley says-I think 80
myself-we're going to have the big
gest steel year yet. Moo. l don't
just exactly know him. but l know
people that do.-And Tom Henley's
going to be the biggest steel man in
the business-gets his fifty thousand
a year already. MacGregor and
Quinby? Oh. they're the richest. They
let the others make the steel while
they make the money. See? Ha! ha!
Tom Henley's the brains of the
Quinby crowd. And he's the ID
est speculator. Worth his half
million. they say. and amt over thirty
And this was the city from another
angle. Tom Henley. evidently. had the
monster well in hand.
The name had a familiar ring. Mark
drew from his pocket a letter Richard
Courtney had given him that morning.
Upon it was inscribed, ITO Thomas
Henley. Esquire"
He may be willing to help you
find work." Courtney had said. "if he
remembers me-"
Mark regarded the letter thought.
fully. He wondered what was in 1t.
After a moments hesitation he opened
it was unsealed-and read 1t.
my Dear Henley" the letter ran.
II am sending you one who is the
work of my hands. He is a young
man Of parts, good friends as we
say up here in Bethel. with work
Also he has nose for money They
are qualities for which you. perhaps.
can help him find a market. l
say he is my handiwork; but he is
an unfinished product. What, won
der. will the new life that succeeds
me as his mentor make of him? Per
haps ! should let him strike out for
himself and learn at once the ugly
cruelty Of the struggle that now seems
to him SO glorious. But we oldsters
have the habit of helping youth to the
sugar-plums of which we have learned
the after.taste. And this in
PRODUCTION is the last thing / can do
for a young man who means much to
me-"
came to his decision. He would pre-
sent himself and the letter to Thomas
Henley. He would do it that very
night. He rose from his dinner.
Where" he inquired of the super
cilious clerk. does Thomas Henley
live? ! must see him tonight"
The directions brought Mark at
length into the heart of a small COM
munity from which the city still kept
at humble distance. Not so the fog,
which was no respecter even of gilded
colonies. From tall iron fence sloped
1 wide sweeping lawn dotted at exact
intervals with trees and shrubbery.
And in its center loomed a great
shadowy mass, punctured by many
windows shooting broad luminous bars
into the fog. 1t was the castle of the
tamer.
He proceeded with boldness proper
to adventures in Eldorado. past the
waiting carriages that lined the grav-
eled driveway, to the wide veranda.
There he halted. From within came
The strains of music and gay clamor
of voices. He could not know that
On this night the tanner gave a feast.
4 formal dedication of the new castle
10 the entertainment of his kind. But
he felt the hour to be ill-suited to his
purpose.
Yet 1t was effected
Curiosity to look within carried him
to window. To his wondering gaze
unfolded a vista of Irish point and
damask satin. carved mahogany and
marble figures. gilt-framed pictures
and silken rugs.
And amid this lavish display of beau
ties paraded a bevy of creatures SEEM
ing to his excited fancy to have
stepped out of Arabian Nights
Unity" he said, will like that"
While he stood there a troop of men.
garbed in a monotony of black and
white. marched into the room. At the
same time voices came from another
wing of the veranda.
And then he, son of the blacksmith
of Bethel, became a spectator at the
birth of a project that for a brief
world to hosannas!
Henley" said the first voice, deep.
yet softly flowing as honey. 'I have
come to the time of life when a man
of sense puts away the lusts of the
flesh"
"Is your digestion out of order?" in
terrupted the second, sharper. less
musical and with eardonic quality
that delighted the listener. Il noticed
you didn't eat much tonight"
'Ah! 1t is more than stomach. It
Is soul!" the mellow voice flowed on
MY labors and investments have been
blessed with good fortune. So l am
now able to turn my energies to the
higher duties, to doing large things for
humanity. And lately my thoughts
have dwelt much on-philanthropy and
paleontology."
The speaker, like Brutus, paused for