The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1915-05-14
How John Leinster Redeemed
Himself When Shame Drove
Him.
BECKY HELPED A LOT, TOO
Little Freekled S%tenographer Saved
the Day With Wax Candles and
C'eVerness-Taii freshman Be-
came Prominent in Adver-
tising World.
BY Q

o. -
thin, very tall freshman was passing
the night in the New York subway.
He had been walking the streets dur,
ing the day and at night for the price
Of a ticket he inhabited the subway.
1t was sheltered there and if he kept
moving from one station to another
there was no danger Of having peo-
pie ask him troublesome questions.
Clearly he was M of the City's down
and cutters, but he hadn't the slightest
ambition to join the ranks of the pref,
erably unemployed.
On this particular night John Lem
ster, the tall, thin lrishman in ques-
ton, had made up his mind to make
good or perish in the attempt. The in
centive was a letter he had just re-
ceiyed from home. 1t was a notifica-
ton that his father had been knighted
by the English king and had refused
the higher honor of becoming a baro-
net which was held out to him be-
cause that distinction was hereditary
and John LeinSter, ST., had been IN
willing to discredit the British aris-
tocracy by handing down a baronetcy
to such a son
John Leinster, Jr., paled with shame
and rage as he read this disquieting
letter. He was a respecter of rank
In spite Of his hail felloW-Well-met man
ners and his shabby clothes. The
sting that came with this letter was
keener than the drafts that blew into
his subway refuge.
John Leinster was past thirty. He
had begun life as the only son of an
indulgent father. He had been ex-
PEELED from the university, had tried
his hand at business in Dublin, then
had drifted about in India and Africa
and had now landed discouraged and
friendless in New York.
That Mas the Turning Point.
But that night, as he re-read the
letter from his father, he made up
his mind to make good. He had had
some experience in the advertising end
of one of his fathers mercantile enter
prises in Ireland, and so he determined
to be an advertising man. He could
already picture to himself the subway
filled with the clever copy of his ad.
Vertisements.
That last night in the subway was
the turning point. Somehow John
Leinster made shift to get a little of.
flee and a few pieces of furniture and
to put out his sign as an advertising
man. For s~tenographer, Office boy
telephone operator, bookkeeper and
general factotum there was Becky
peat, freckIed, red-haired, East side
eky, who came straight from bust
3 school for six dollars a week.
But things didn't run along as
Fmo0thly as John Leinster wished
First the telephone was cut off fol
non-payment of fees and when Becky's
salary could no longer be scraped to.
gether John had to close the Office.
Becky got a job somewhere else-in
another advertising Office. When they
parted Leinster advised her to learn
all she could about advertising meth.
DDS, and he got a job elsewhere as a
shipping clerk. In that position he
made enough to keep up the rent of
the office, so that he could have an
address at which to receive letters
concerning q mail order scheme that
brought In about twenty dollars a
month. His creditors were insistent
and it was for that reason that the
door of the office never opened during
business hours. OF course Leinster in.
tended to pay sometime but he could
not face his creditors with an empty
purse. Therefore in the darkness OF
every night, Leinster would steal into
the office and a few minutes later
Becky would join him, and together
they would carry on what little bust.
ness there was to be done. Becky
was engaged to be married to a young
East side lawyer, and after she and
her impecunious employer attended to
the mail and talked over the prospects
of business, Becky would meet her
fiance, who would escort her home to
the East side, and John would climb
to his little top story DON to dream
dreams of his advertising contracts.
Becky Was Faithful.
OF course there wasn't a cent in it
for Becky at the time, and she was
shrewd enough to know that the
chances were against Leinster. But
then the cultured Irishman corrected
her English, taught her French ex.
p%ressions, and gave her the advantage
of his wide travel and experience. As
Becky's fiance told her, 1t was better
than night school. and he advised her
to profit by it. AS the winter waned
and spring advanced, matters got
worse with Leinster. He lost his job
after o few weeks illness and this
meant further curtailing of expenses.
So he gave up his top story room and
managed somehow to live in his office.
Still the neat little, freckled Becky
was faithful. She made her appear
ance avery noon and every evening