The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1922-08-23
Lucy Varney
Decides
By MARTHA nj. WILLIAMS

what the fellow writing In the Dis
patch calls him. I don't know who
Midas was. l guess l don't read the
Bible as close as l should. But l
should Judge that he must have been
pretty we'll off II he was anything
like this George Varney."
1t was John yarney who spoke, a
third or fourth cousin Of the varney
who had Midas touch Of gold. John
had not prospered so. The Varney
industry he had inherited as gener-
ously as George Varney, but with 1t a
combination of shortsightedness and
'o~ver-conf1dence that resulted In what
John called plumb bad luck" Now
at fifty a seasons bad crops had
brought him face to face with the grim
fact that after he had paid interest
on his mortgage he would have to ap-
proach the winter and Its needs with
exactly $50 ahead.
Undoubtedly something had to be
done and that without delay.
IF I was a mite younger I'd go up
to the city and see this cousin
George" John yarney told his daugh-
ter Lucy. Seems as If any one that
can make money so fast as he can
ought to be able to show me how to
get a little, too. If I had a son, now,
I'd send him up there and get him to
introduce himself as a kin of his and
learn the game. I'd"
I'm sorry" said Lucy, as If she
felt somehow her father blamed her
for being a girl. "Pm sorry that l
didn't go to normal and get a teach
er's license so I should have been
able to bring In real money. But
somehow 1t always seemed I was
needed at home"
Don't fret about that" broke In
the father. "It wasn't your fault.
you wanted to bad enough. But your
mother and I always thought 1t was
nice to see a girl kept at home, learn
Ing how to keep house. helping her
own mother. That was my idea and
I wouldn't have 1t otherwise"
The next day Lucy Varney sur
prised her father and mother into
speechlessness when she appeared at
breakfast In her blue serge suit and
her neat best" hat. She was ready,
she said, to go up to the city. She
was going to see George Varney-not
to beg money, but to get him to show
her how to earn 1t. The city lay 200
miles away and Lucy intended defray-
ing the expenses by money she had
earned and saved from. taking maya
zine subscriptions among the farmers
In the county. This would only be
enough to take her to the city. She
wouldn't come home until she had
earned enough to pay her trip back
and to tide over for the winter. So
positive was she that this was the
only thing to do that her parents ac-
quiesced before they had had time to
take In the situation completely.
Neither father nor mother nor Lucy
had ever been to the city. If Lucy
had announced her intention of going
to China or the South Sea isles they
could hardly have been more sur
prised.
Lucy waited at the office of the
great money maker, George Varney,
for two hours, and 1t was finally only
the magic name of Varney on her
printed card that she presented to the
receiving clerk that secured for her
an interview with Mr.. Varney's pri-
vate secretary. Three days later, after
considerable insisting and promises
not to keep Mr.. Varney more than five
minutes at the most, Lucy was grant
ed an interview. She was made to
understand that It was only because
of her claim to relationship that such
a privilege had been awarded.
Varney of the Midas touch rather
enjoyed having his employees regard
him as slightly eccentrlc-eecentric In
a distinguished way. This reputation
gave him privileges as to a~bruptness
and unexpected decisions that might
have been disputed In a man not so
generally expected to act In an orig
inal manner.
you mustn't be offended warned
the private secretary, ushering Lucy
into Mr.. Varney's room, eff he Is abb
rupt with you. Remember you have
asked for this interview, and you
must take the consequences"
So Lucy was in a Measure prepared.
She told her story simply and direct
ly to Varney, so much interested In
making it quite clear that neither she
nor her father was asking for a gift
or a loan, but only for an opportunity
to earn the money needed, that she
did not notice how closely the eccen-
trfc man scrutiniZed her. drawing his
conclusions with the analysis of a de-
fective.
what are you trained to do?"
asked Varney.
Nothing" said Lucy.
''That is bad. Isn't there anything
you do well7"
81 can cook and keep house; I be-
lieve I can make as good cake and pie
and bread as any n In the country.
TN " " D~yV HeH