The Press., 1915-06-16
A Chicken Hearted Man He Was Saved From Ruin
 by His Sweetheart
By RUTH GRAHAM

OON~O~NSS~N~N~N~N~N~ ~N~N~N~"~N~N~N~N~N~N/~ Tom Nicholson was certainly a very lovable fellow. AS boy he was laugh
 ed at by his companions for being
 what they called chicken hearted"
 that Is, he could not bear to see his
 mother chop the head off chicken be fore cooking it. Like many farmers
 boys he left the farm as soon as he
 could get away from it and went to
 the city.
 But before going Tom found his TO-
 nance. Indeed. that was his reason
 for going. Ellen Tucker was a slip
 of girl fifteen years old, tall for her
 age and straight as an arrow. Every
 morning she drove her fathers cows
 to pasture, passing the Nicholson farm.
 One day it rained, and Tom, noticing
 that Ellen's shoes were not waterproof,
 told her to go home and he would drive
 her cows to pasture for her and back | again in the evening. Ellen accepted 1 the offer, and it won her young heart. After that occasionally the two used
 to drive the Tucker cows to and from
 pasture. and it was quite natural that they should become attached to each other. boy and a girl in the country are more readily attracted to each oth- CT than in the city. The route to the pasture was over a wood road, inclos- ed on each side by trees that in some parts arched it over. Tn these the light was subdued. coming only from sun beams that pierced the branches. It so happened that one day when passing through this place Ellen stopped and remarked upon the stiffness. Naturally Tom stopped too. He had been walk ing beside her and was very close to her.
 It was just as natural for Tom to put an arm around Ellen's waist. bend forward and kiss her as for the leaves buzz about them, for birds to build their nests. and 1t was equally natu- ral for Ellen to accept that kiss as matter of course. They liked it so well that they took several kisses. Then they went on after the COWS.
 This Is very we'll for the birds, who make their homes by finding a straw
 
 brood comes, bringing worms for food from the plentiful supply at hand, but with mankind it is a different proposi- ton. For awhile the pair were happy in their newly found love, but it was not long before the necessity of pro- viding for their future livelihoods dawned upon them.
 This, as I have said, Is what took Tom Nicholson to the city. He had known of men who had gone from the country to the city and made them selves far more comfortable there than they could have done cultivating the stony ground about them. Tom said goodby one day to Ellen, 1t being nn- derstood between them that when he became successful he would return and take her back with him.
 Tom made friends so rapidly that for awhile he got on very we'll. It was when he had made his start that he began to lose ground. This was be cause when he had come to town he had nothing to give and all favors passed from others to him. As soon as he got something the tide turned the other way. After having been in the city several years he had made himself so useful to one Paul Elmen- dorf that the latter gave him part nership in his business and went away for long absence, during which he proposed to travel and see something of the world.
 That was the end of Tom Nicholson's rise. His chicken heartedness had not changed bit. If poor widow want ed credit few tears would bring from Tom all she desired. If drummer wished to sell him goods he had no use for he had only to tell of a suffer ing wife and children at home ard the sale was made. And so 1t was .aat when the senior partner returned he found a large deficiency in his busi- ness, with a number of loans, gifts and other outlays charged up to the juniors individual account.
 Elmendorf was very much disgrun- tied. He at once dissolved the firm, and Tom was put out to shift for him. self. His former partner kept an eye on hin and whenever Toms affairs seemed to look up bit would make an effort to collect the money standing to his debit on the books of the concern. Elmendorf always sent collector to dun his debtor. At first he tried very gentlemanly persons, who were in- structed to try to persuade Tom to pay something on account; but, since Tom had nothing to pay with, they got noth- Ing. Then the creditor sent a bully. He came back with broken nose. Several others who tried to force mat ters received the same treatment.
 Meanwhile Ellen Tucker was still driving the COWS to pasture-and alone. Tom wrote her encouraging letters till his partner returned from his travels; then the letters suddenly stopped. Tom could not bear to write her that he had come to grief and their union was farther away than ever. Ellen endured his silence and her suspense as long as she could, then resolved to go to the city and discover for herself what was the matter.
 She boarded a train one day with wicker suit case and, taking a seat. placed the case on the floor beside her. A man came through the train carry ing suit case very much like Ellen's. He stumbled over hers, looked down upon it and suggested that she permit him to put it in the rack. This was done, and the man took a seat beside her. During the trip he appeared to take a kindly interest in her and rec commended a place for her to stop in the city.
 On reaching the terminal Ellen's