Catoctin clarion., 1918-05-30
TOO Old"
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By VICTOR REDcLIFFE
S,yy[sSFsEtTF SFFfJ~NsS'SSSSSN$1
Copyr'sot. 1918, Western Newspaper Un!on.)

factory. Beyond, great broad stair
way leading to the offices. After that
the draughting rooms. Then building
after building, pattern lofts machine
rooms, moding floors. Well thirty
years, boy and man, I've gone up those
stairs, kept going till | mounted high
err and higher, and became Superintend-
ent then-follow me n bit, and I'll
show YOU the other side of the pic
ture."
Thus Gabriel Purcell, sturdy old dis
ciplinaran Of fifty. He did not look
IT, he did not feel 1t. His voice was
clear as a clarion note, his eye WIS
full of fire and power. just wee
stoop of the shoulders threw the stall
wart figure out of direct plumb line,
and the silvering hair was touched
with the first frost of time and win
ter.
He carried magnificent gold.head-
cd cane under his arm, diSdaining IT'S
use as support and only taking IL
with him for company because 1t was
the cherished gift Of some cheap
shovel men in the factory, who loved
him and his just, helpful way ns IT
he had been an own father TO them.
Gabriel Purcell led his companlon an
old-time friend, making a brief visit
to the town, around the great stone
wall incloSing the plant, ana then
swung his cane to where long steep
chute ran from the upper floor of the
tin speciality shops to the barren rear
yard Down 1t was now pouring the
scraps. refuse, waste of the factory
"The dump head-see II, Fnrleigh!
questioned the old man bitterly.
THAT'S me-in at the front. rushed
through, worked out and thrown on
the dump head"
At that same hour Thomas Wynne,
head of the great Wynne company, sat
facing his attorney in his private Of
fee.
"The fact Is, Wynne, isn't 1t that
Purcell IS Oslerlzed," submitted the
latter
Don't use the word jauntily, Ran
dali" returned the founder, "but that
about covers It. You don't know how
II lars on me to face the mcrest I'M
putatlon of injustice regarding FUR
cell He has been my right hand since
| started In here with Il little twenty
by forty shed of shop, and has help
ed build the business up to its pres
cnt up-to-date proportions. You know
how fifteen years ago my wife Inherit
ed a large estate and supplied one
hundred rud fifty thousand dollars
captal to expand the enterprise. Wen,
recently Il younger brother of hers,
what YOU may call mechanical th"-
orist and ultra-SySt"m man, got the
idea In his head that he could com"
In here and double up profits In
year"
"But what interest has he In the
business:"
"None. except through the courtesy
of my wife and some relatives who hre
nlSo Stockholders. or course | can't
gainsay her. Her estate owns con
siderable Of the company stock. She
helped build me up. I can't afford to
bubble with her. I had to super
cede Purcell. Ny brother-in-law Is
now I'm charge of the mechanical de-
partments. Younger men, stricter
rules, more business, higher profits, his
aim. We shall see how it works out
Mr.. Wynne sighed.
1--WE shall. indeed" muttered the
lawyer cynically.
"Yes. that isn't all, Randall" re-
sumed the manufacturer. 81 am ap-
preaching n delicate subject. You
know that Purcell has Il son who Is
the pride of his soul and the apple OF
his eve. Arnold Purcell"
"Yes." nodded the lawyer, and II was
palpably apparent that the mention
aroused pleasant sentiments. "A fine
young man, an exceptional one they
say. Capable, ambitious, high grade.
] hear that he has won quite some
eminence as an advanced sanitary en-.
gineer."
every WELL by some strange freak
of destiny he and my daughter, Elsi-
more, met at social function In the
city. Plainly they are in love with
each other. am no aristocrat, |
sprung from nothing, ms did Gabriel
Purcell My wife, however ms you
know, draws the line at social dis
tinctions, or rather those OF wealth,
She has fatty told young Purcell that
Elsinore must never marry a man who
has not as large fortune as her
own"
"And Arnold Pnrcell?"
asks time to make good the condi-
ton"
Great for him! He'll make It,"
declared the lawyer with confidence.
'The young man has not advised his
father or others of his love affairs"
said Wynne. "Ile and Elsinore seem
to have settled down to sensible. dig
nified patience and mutual fidelity. He
does not intrude himself upon her
company He is pursuing the even
tener Of his way, and she is content.
1t is the father I worry about.
want you to go apd see him, and here
Is the memoranda of what I want to
do for him."
Mr.. Randall departed with his in
structions. He found Purcell at his
home. The latter had been wild
over for many years and lived in
comfortable, but small house at the
edge of the town. 1t overlooked a
deep pit nearly quarter Of mile
in extent, to which spur Of the rail-
road ran. For ten years a soft lime
stone quarry had been mined here to
supply Stag mixture for the big blast