Year: 1867

you sorely. Surely thia letter affords
you an ample revenge. In the name Of
his dead mother pray you now save
my boy" a


The time at which tl,s, head partner
usually left his ofIica bad long since
passed. The ware housss and offices in
that part of the city were closing for the
day. The boy who had charge Of this
one had looked In several times, and
still, to his surprise, the MASTER sat there
with the sun on the thin gray hair and
gliding the edges Of the letter he held In
his hand. Benjamin Hatph had told the
truth. II the hour Of Jphn barron's re-
venge had waited long and late, It had
come at last, an awful Nemesis.


They had been boys, plnyfeliows to-
gether, these two; the one the son Of a
poor widow, the other that of the richest
man in the old town of Evansville.


John Barron had hard struggle at
the beginning. Step by step he had
won his way and made his place in life.
He had in himself, it is true, the ele-
ments which command such success,
and with them something of that hard,
dominant spirit which is too apt to ac-
company such elements. The wealth
and influence Of All old and prosperous
family had prophesied to the youth Of
Benjamin Hatch smooth and success
ful life.


Unlike as the two boys were in char
acter and surroundings, they had a
strong attachment for each other, which
early manhood had not weakened. At
that time John Barron was little used to
the society of women. Thoughtful, rc:;-
cent, a little shy, lie hardly had those
qualities which make man u fovorite
in society Still, one woman liked him,
u sweet girl, fair rs lily, just over her
twentieth birthday, and a distant rela-
tive of Benjamin Hatch, who was pass
ing the summer at his fathers house.
She reached whatever was best and ten
derest in the mans soul-tlc dark eyes,
the soft voice, with the smile shining
along it, beguiling the man out of the
dreams of ambition, wealth, power,
which made up so much of his youth.


,Ofall the world Benjamin Hatch alone
knew of the relations which existed be-
tween his friend and his relative. The
family of the Young lady would have
strongly opposed any thought Of mar
riage on her part with one who had
neither position nor money, none Of the
gods Of this world to offer her; but Mar
garet was as steadfast as she was tender.
She was willing to wait, seeing deeper
than those around her the nature and
the latent power Of the man whom she
loved.


At the last benjamin Hatch came be-
tween them. No matter how it was
done; an ignoblc deed, better, if posi-
Die, told in few words.


Honor and friend hip went Gown in
his passion for his cousin. He betrayed
John Barron; hc succeeded in exciting
the alarms of Margaret's family, and her
own also, regarding the unwo. t.iincss
and steadfastness of the man whom she
had loved He won her for himself


For years life prospcred with Benja-
min Hatch. He was the father of good
ly SONS, and daughters with the grace
full loveliness Of their mother. But the
years brought misfortunes, death, fail
ure, poverty at last His youth of indul-
gence, his inherited wealth had not de-
veloped in him those habits of practical
foresight and business energy which
alone fit a man, in our own land at least
to meet the continued crises and revolu'
tions of commercial life. His wife died
before the bitterness Of poverty came
upon the household. Two of the three
daughters followed the mother and In.
brothers; and now there remained t.
the old age Of Benjamin Hatch but TIVE
of his household, the youngest Of hi
sons and daughters, and of these yo,
have seen to what one had come.


Sitting there in his dingy Office, tn
soul of John Barron went down the Ion,
winding road of half a century to hi
youth. The hot bitterness of those day
when his enemy had triumphcd owe
him surged back upon the mans meme
ry, all the agony Of that time leaped in
to frey life again.


He was reticent man, sOmewha
stern, even in his youth. None kne,


what the wrench had cost John Barron


nor how it had hurt and hardened hin


The friend whom he trusted had bt


trayed, the woman whom he loved ha


forsaken him, and the pang which wel
deepest and cruelest of all was the know


ledge that his bitterest enemy had wo


her. But from that hour John Barro


had turned every energy Of his stron


will to business, and he had prospere


as you have seen.


Long afterward, when his life ha


passed its meridian and the ambition


his youth had become the success Of hi


manhood, John Barron had won al


welded wife, a gentle and graciot


woman, many years younger than hin


self.