Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-05-30
Hit or Miss
BY VICTOR REDCLIFFE

/ eyes AdAE1 anu the N0IuS AANSIaAE.
| For five years Hugh TyrreIl had felt
his mental and physical powers waver-
| ing. His position with Marsden & CO..
brokers. was becoming more and more
insecure daily, he felt II and feared
that at any hour his employers might
notify him that he was worn out in
harness and a younger man needed in
his place.
! If he could only get month off
and rest and recuperatel But his
earnings barely supported his large
family even with those added of his
daughter, stenographer.
There was a phase of the situation,
/ too, that sorrowed him deeply Elsie,
] his daughter, had been engaged for
| two years TO an -estimable young man
who wished to hurry the union.
Il will not marry until l see my
| father once more on his feet" the
| loyal daughter had declared.
II was half an hour before the clos
| Ing of the stock exchange and Tyrrell
was alone in the office.
Suddenly the telephone rang and
| Tyrrell took up the receiver. MARS
| den & Co, private New York wire"
came over the phone
"All right" responded Tyrrell pen
Gil in hand.
Your branch office wires: Buy
| everything In sight Beacon Pre-
ferred'"
Repeat" directed Mr.. Tyrrell. 20.
| X" and went over to another phone
| and called up the junior partner on
| the exchange. repeating the message
| hastily, for the order was unusual and
of importance and there remained less
than thirty minutes in which the rush
| purchase could be effected.
The junior partner came into the Of
| flee putting and painting half an hour
| later.
'Whew !" he aspirated. "Some rush.
| l hope jerks at the New York end
knows his business. We're well into
| hundred thousand dollars on Bea-
con. l don't think much of the buy,
but jerks must have sure tip, or
he wouldn't let us in for half our cap
ital."
| Tyrrell went home shortly after
wards. He tried to put on a brave
| front, but the gentle cheer of HIS wife,
the tender solicltude of Elsie told him
that they saw how worn and tired he
was, and were anxious to mitigate his
cares.
at has simply come to point where
you must give up your combining
work" spoke Mrs. TyrreIl,. when the
children had all gone TO bed.
81 saw Doctor Lane today and he
says you must get some work that
takes you outside into the open air"
ST have come to that conclusion my
self" agreed Tyrrell "Tell you, Mary,
| I don't want to break down entirely
and believe l will resign my position
tomorrow before II Is too late. A coll
| lection agency offers me place, but
| II is on commission basis. 1t will
| give me what I need, though-exercise
| and the open air Shall risk itT'
you must" urged Mrs. Tyrrell
| earnestly. "If ii means less income we
will make ii do somehow"
Tyrrell reached the office the next
| morning and resolved to inform Mr..
| Marsden of his decision during the
day. It was the custom of the affili-
| nted brokerage house which furnished
| direct wire quotations to Marsden x
| Co. to confirm verbal messages by later
written ones. Upon the desk lay one
of these. AS mere Formally Tyrrell
read the Enclosure, preparatory to fil-
ing 1t away.
"Oh. impossiblew he cried, coming
20 his feet with sharp gasp and q
blanched face. 'Oh, impossible!"
He stood staring at the tissue mes
sage rooted, appalled,, for 1t read.
"Buy everything in sight, Beatoh
Preferred"
| Beaton Utilfties-not Beacon Cop
perl His worn hearing had caught the
phone call wrong. A hundred thousand
dollars invested In Beacon, not Bea-
ton! He just managed to totter to
the ticker. His whole form was shak-
ing as his eye ran over opening quota
tiens-Beacon down four points first
call on the Eastern exchange. His
costly error would ruin the house of
| Marsden & Co!
Hold on. what's the trouble?" sang
| out one of the office traders, just en-
tering the door.
"I am faint, l." There Tyrrell
reeled. Just in time the other caught
him. limp, senseless. He carried him
TO n settee in an inside Office and hur-
ried for doctor.
Tyrrell opened his eyes amid q
babblish confusion. The room was
filed. A physician was just departing,
with the statement that his patient
was all right. Mr.. Marsden and his
partners were jubilating volubly. The
former darted at Tyrrell and seized
his hand fervently as he discovered
| his restoration TO consciousness.
"You clever old war horse u he fair.
Iy shouted. Beacon has gone up
twenty points and we have made for
tune. Our New York man made a
wrong guess and made II Beaton. You
made a mistake and made IL Beacon.
and Beacon, by some strange hit, went
up. See here-there's five thousand
dollar check waiting for you, a six
months leave of absence and come
! back a new man when you get tired of
doing nothing"
So a lucky mistake brought to the
deserving old hero money. longed
for rest and eOn-in-law.