Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-02-22
By S. Paquin
Copyright. 1917, Western Newspaper Union.)

Copyright. 1917, Western Newspaper Union.l
There come moments In the life of
every man when he stops and thinks.
This does not mean merely that he
gives careful attention to some prob
lem of the hour, but that he takes a
veys it; analyses it; tries to riddle
Its meaning.
Such a moment had come TO Harry
Merton. Really there was cause for
him to view life with satisfaction, but
a close study of his face would have
told any keen observer that he was
not altogether satisfied. The day
marked an epoch in his life-one ON
which his, friends were dropping in
now and then to congratulate him-for
he had just been promoted to the po-
sition of general Manager of the West
ern Star Fire and Insurance company,
a concern In which he had climbed up
from a start as office boy Is years be-
fore.
But as he viewed hts progress in ret
respect, his mind rsn on something
like this:
Eyes, I have done il. I have reaped
the success I set out to win, but what
does 1t amount to otter all? 1t has
been a long fight, and I have sacri-
feed a great deal to win 1t. Perhaps
I have sacrificed too much. When ]
began as a messenger boy Jim Perkins
had the start of me by a year. l
have often smiled I'D my sleeves at
Jim since I began 70 climb up past
him. First special agent, then gen.
eral agent, and now general manager,
and, poor old Jim is still at his desk as
a clerk. But / reckon Jim is happier
than I am for all that. I thought so
yesterday when his wife came in with
that pretty boy of theirs, just to see
ipapa's new desk in the new Office.
Somehow, it made me feel as If ]
were missing something that a man
needs to make his life complete"
Then Merton's line of thought was
interrupted. He had been standing be-
side his desk with lbs hands crossed
under his coat-tails, watching the sign
writer who was putting gold letters on
the windows of the company's hand
some new offices. The sign-writer was
marking the glass IN letters bigger
than those that spelled the company's
name-"Henry Merton, General Mana
ger"
"Here, my good fellow, that won't
dob caid Marian c~ffnpin0 foruord fo
the mans side"
"How will you have 1t, sir?"
"Just put that nsme in small let
tiers and a little off at one side," said
Merton quietly. ut will look bet
ter"
That was just EBe Henry Merton.
Few men IN the business had more rea-
son to pride themselves on the at
tainment of marked success, for he
had made his way In the world unaid-
ed. But there wasnt a grain of van
ity in him. He was a modest, sub
dued. unassuming sort of a nan. One
would guess it by looking at him. He
was tall, shapely, handsome; but it
was plainly to be seen that he was OBJ
livious to his own comeliness as a
man. Vanity can be seen more read
lily in a man than In a woman.
This over, Merton began thinking
again, his thoughts taking a new tam
gent, and n that surprised him.
II wonder if ambition is a selfish
thing? I've done well enough ins a
business way and have no one to
thank for it but myself but how many
people are there who have anything to
thank me for? There's Miss Travers,
who is the best stenographer 1 ever
had in my Office. She does more good
in a month than I've done in fourteen
years. She doesn't know that / know
1t, but the reason { raised her salary
last month was because I overheard
one of the other ste~nographers say
she vas supporting her younger broth
er in college. Shes a fine girl, too.
It's a wonder some man doesn't marry
that girl"
Then Henry Merton whistled as If
to himself--a long low whistle. The
very thought of some other man mar
rying Alice Travers had made him
clinch his fists, but till that minute he
had never thought of marrying her
himself, or of marrying any other wom-
an, for that matter.
In the next room Alice drawers, who
had just finished transcribing a lot
of letters Mr.. Merton had dictated to
her in the morning, was writing a let
ter to her brother in college. Strange
ly enough, it was full of Henry Mer-
ton. 1t said:
'Dear Ted: You'll excuse me, /
know, for writing to you on a type
writer; I can do 1t so much quicker
and easier this way. We have just
moved into the new offices and 1 am
finely fixed. MrS Merton has given
me a nice little room to work in, all
to myself, and I have nothing to do
now but attend tn his correspondence,
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