Oxford Democrat., 1916-08-22

8 His High Bred Wife
s Made Him Over
I By F. A. mitchell (
0es>~s>s>sss>>ss>>s
Edward Schenk one morning, Will
carpetbag In hand, bid his old father
and mother goodby. He was going Il
leave the little shack In which he hat
been born and had lived for seventeen
years. He was going to the city t.
make his fortune. And he was likely
to succeed In doing 80, for he had iI
him the principle Of bringing every
thing to his own advantage. He wal
natural trader. and In every trade hs
made there was a margin Of profit fol
him. One Of bis boyish transactions
was this: He traded a jackknife ht
owned for more elaborate one which
was rusty and dull Taking OF the
rust, sharpening the blades and polish
ing up the handle, he traded It for q
better one with one Of its blades bro
ken. The broken blade he filed into q
nail cleaner and traded the knife FOL
another, receiving Is cents to boot
The knife he now owned he put up al
rattle, charging 10 cents a chance
The result was that the original knife
which was worth little or nothing. had
been metamorphosed into 1925. The
boy who won It paid very nearly what
It was worth, and the boys who did
not win It contributed to the traders
Juvenile fortune.
When Schenk reached the city he had
800 that had grown out Of jackknives
tops, marbles, children's wagons that
he had manufactured himself and other
articles In which he had dealt He hired
himself to junk dealer, and, selecting
different articles that he found In
stock. he repaired them and sold them
for more than they were worth, turn.
ing In to his employer the price they
would ordinarily have brought.
Schenk grew rich No sooner had
be climbed the dollar ladder than
he wished to climb the social ladder.
he sat by day, Immediately dressed,
In beautifully furnished Office at
rosewood desk, with clerks and Office
boys at bis call He put men who were
members Of different clubs under OBJ
legations to him, then asked them to
propose him for membership. Unfor-
tunately he had done business in a
small way in his own name and was
remembered by some as Schenk the
junkman. This kept him out Of sev.
eral Of the best clubs, but he was ad-
mitted to the rest and in time became
member Of those that had turned him
down.
By a similar process he worked his
way into dancing club called the Car
pet Beaters. He had never beaten car
pets, but he had done work equally
menial Consequently he disliked the
name Of the club and wondered how
the managers could have selected It.
forgetting that they were 80 far re-
moved from the class who really beat
carpets that they were not at all sensi.
tive In the matter.
By this time, like one Of the Jack.
knives that had been the beginning OF
his fortune, Schenk had been 80 fur
bished as to have value In the matri-
monial market. Mothers urged their
daughters to set their caps for him.
But the daughters demurred. II the
odor of the junk shop did not still
hang about him there was q certain
cheapness that, like certain rust spots
on his Juvenile jackknives, could not be
rubbed out. But he was capable OF
enduring no end Of snubbing from
certain ladies who were to the man
ner born and contented himself with
being endured by others who were not
first water" or whose mothers had an
eye on his fortune
he finally succeeded In the matri-
monial market, as he had succeeded In
the comT.ercial markets-that Is. by
giving an inferior for a superior arti-
Gle. Miss Celia Evans, the daughter OF
refined parents. consented to marry
him because he had helped her father
out Of a commercial hole. It was sup
posed at the time that he had done
what he did from kindness Of heart,
but he made fair profit out Of the
transaction.
Celia was told Of schenk's mag
nanimity and after that accepted at
tentions from him which she had pre-
viously denied him with fairly good
grace, He wanted her. and the as
sistance he had rendered her father
had been a part Of plan he had laid
to win her. That a pecuniary profit
had stuck to his magnetic fingers was
simply owing to their attraction for
the precious metals. BE stuck to me
girl till. urged by her parents, she con-
sented to marry him.
And now that Mr.. Schenk was about
to make another round In the social
ladder a matter came up Of an em6ar'
RAISING nature. Matrimony is a juno
tion of families. This junction may be
put aside in all ways but one. Every
child born to the married pair derives
its being from each and both families.
Il Is natural therefore, that when two
persons are about to be married there
should be introductons between their
respective near blood relations.
The embarrassing feature In SchenEs
case was that his father and mother
had continued to live in the shack
where he had left them. and there had
been no more change In them than tn
the shack, the only change In each be-
Ing that the shack had become d1lapi'
dated and the couple had grown old
Their son Edward while laying the
foundation Of his fortune had left them
to shift for themselves, and by the time
he bad money to spare their necessities
had been Topped OF By age, the seasos
tor enjoyment having passed There
fore when be wrote asking II there wa
anything he could do for them they 70
plied that the only thing needed wa
some tobacco for the old mans col