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About The Nebraska advertiser. (Nemaha City, Neb.) 18??-1909 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 9, 1907)
CHAPTER I. Continued. "It's this way her father, who knew Randolph & Randolph through your father's handling of tho Sea board's affairs, learned of my connec tion with tho house, and gave her a letter, asking mo to do what I could to help his daughter carry out her plans. She wants to get a position with us, If possible, in somo sort of capacity, secretary, confidential clerk, or, as she puts it, any sort of place that will justify hor being In the of fice. She tells mo she Is good at shorthand, on the machine, or at cor respondence, also that she has boon contributor to the magazines. If this can be arranged, she suys sho will on hor own responsibility select the time and the stock, and hurl tho last of tho Sands fortune at the mar ket, and, Jim, sho is game. The blow seems to have turned this child Into a wonderfully nervy creature, and, old man, I am beginning to have a feeling that perhaps the cards may come so she will win the judgo out. You and I know where less than sixty thousand had been run up to millions more than once, and that, too, without tho aid sho will have, for I'll surely do all I can to help her steer this last chance into spongy places." Dob in his enthusiasm had complete ly lost sight of the fact that ho was indorsing a project that but a moment previous he had pronounced Insane, and with a start I realized what this sudden transformation betokened. In evitably, if tho project he outlined were carried out, Bob and tho beauti ful southern girl would be thrown into close association with each other, and further acquaintance could only deep en tho startling influence Beulah Sands had already won over my or dinarily sano and cool-headed com rade. As I looked at my friend, burn ing with an ardor as unaccustomed as it was impulsive, I felt a tug at my heart-strings at thought of tho sudden cross-roading of his life's high way. But I, too, was filled with tho glamour of this girl's wondrous beau ty, and her terrible predicament ap pealed to me almost as strongly as it had to Bob. So, although I knew it would be fatal to any chance of his weighing tho matter by common sense, I burst out: "Bob, I don't blamo you for falling in with the girl's plans. If I wero in your shoes I should, too." Tears came to Bob's eyes as he crabbed my hand and said: "Jim, how can I over repay you for for all tho good things you havo done me how can I!" It was no time to give way to emo tional outbursts, and whllo Bob waa getting his grip on himself, I went on: "Come along down to earth now, Bob; lot us look at this thing square ly. You and I, with our position in the market, can do lots of things to help run that sixty thousand to higher figures, but six months is a short timo and a million or two n world of money." "Sho knows that," ho said, "and tho time is much shorter and the road to go much longer than you figure," ho replied. "This girl is as high-ten-sloned as tho E string on a Stradi varius, and she declares sho will have no charity tips or unusual favors from us or anyone else. But let us not talk about that now, or wo'll get discouraged. Lot's do as sho says and trust to God for tho outcome. Are you willing, Jim, to take hor into the ollico as a sort of confidential sec retary? If you will, I'll tako charge of her account, and together wo will do all that two men can for hor and hor father . CHAPTER II. Tho following week saw Miss Sands, of Virginia, privato secretary to tho head of Randolph & Randolph, estab lished in a little office between mlno and Bob's. Sho had not been there a day before we knew she was a worker. Sho spent tho hours going over re ports and analyzing financial state ments, showing a sagacity extraordi nary in so young a porson. Sho ox plained her knowledge of figures by the hand-work sho had done for tho judgo, all of whoso accounts sho had kept. Bob and I saw that sho was bent on smothering hor memory In that antidote for all Ills of heart and soul work. Her ofllco life was sim plicity Itself. Sho spoko to no ono ex cept Bob, save In connection with such business matters of tho firm's as I might send hor by ono of tho clerks to attend to. To tho others In tho banking house sho was .lust an uncon ventional young literary woman whoso high social connections had gained her this opportunity of getting at tho se crets of finance, from actual experi ence, for use In forthcoming novels. It had got abroad that sho was tho writer of great distinction who, under a nom do plume, had recently mado qulto a dent in tho world's literary shell a suggestion that I rightly guessed was one of Bob's delicate ways of smooth ing out hor path. I had tried in every way to make things easy for hor, but It was Impossible for me to draw her out in talk, and finally I gavo It up. Had It not been that every time I passed her office door I was compelled by tho fascination which I had first felt, and which, instead of diminishing, had Increased with hor reticence, to look in nt tho quiet flguro with the downcast eyes, working away at her desk as though her life depended on never missing a second, I should not havo known she was in tho building. "Jim that little lady can give us a handicap and beat us to a standstill at our own game." My wife, at my suggestion, had tried to induce hor to visit us; in fact, aftor I let hor into just enough of Beulah Sands' story so that sho could see things on a true slant, she had de cided to try to bring her to our houso to live. But though the girl was sweet ly gentlo in her appreciation of Kate's thoughtful attentions, in her simple way she made us both feel that our efforts would bo for naught, that hor position must be the same as that of any other clerk in tho office. We both finally left her to herself. Bob ex plained to mo, some three weeks aftor sho came to the office, that she re ceived no visitors at hor homo, a hotel on a quiet uptown street, and that oven ho had never had permission to call upon hor there. But from the day sho camo to occu py her desk in our office, Bob was a chnnged man, whether for better or for worse neither Kato nor I could do cldo. His old bounding elasticity way gone, and with It his rollicking laugh Ho was now a man where before ha had been a boy, a man with a burden. Even If I had not heard Beulah Sands' story, I should havo guessed that Bob was staggering under a strango load While before, from tho close of tho stock oxchango until its opening tho next morning, ho was, as Kate was fond of putting it, always ready to fill in for anything from chaperon to nurso, nlways open for any lark wo planned from a Bohemian dinner to tho opera, now weeks went by without our seeing him at our house. In tho office It used to bo a saying that out side gong-strlkos, Bob Brownloy did not know ho was In tho stock business. Formerly every clerk know when Bob camo or wont, for It was with a rush, a shout, a laugh, and a bang of doors; and on tho floor of tho stock oxchango no man played so many pranks, or filled his orders with so much Jolly good-nature and hilarious boisterous ncss. But from tho day tho Virginian girl crossed his path, Bob Hrownley was a man who wns thinking, think ing, thinking all the time. It was only with an effort that ho would keep his eyes on whomever he was talking with long enough to take in what was said, and If the saying occupied much tlmo It would bo apparent to the talker that Bob was off in tho clouds. All his friends and associates remarked tho change, but I alone, except perhaps Kate, had any Idea of the cause. I know that two million dollars and the coming Now Year wero hurdling llko kangaroos over Bob's mental rails and ditches, though I did not know It from anything ho told me, for aftor that talk on the upper deck of tho Tribes man he had shut up like a clam. Ho did not exactly shun mo, but showed mo In many ways that he had entered Into a now world, In which he desired to be alone. That Beulah Sands' plight had roused Into Intense activity all tho latent romance of my friend's nature, did not sur prise me, I foresaw from tho first that Bob would fall head over heels in love with this beautiful, sorrow laden girl, and It wns Boon obvious that the longdolayed shaft had plant ed Its point In tho Innermost depths of his being. Ills wns more than love; a fervid idolatry now had possession of his soul, mind and body. Yet its outward manifestations were tho op posite of what one would have looked for in this gay and optimistic south erner. It was rather priest-like wor ship, a calm imperturbability that nothing seemed to distract or upsot, at least in tho presence of tho goddess who was its object. Every morning ho would pass through my office head ed straight for the little room she oc cupied as if it were his ono objectivo point of tho day, but onco ho heard his own "Good morning, Miss Sands," ho seemed to round to, and whllo in her presenco was the Bob Brownloy of old. lie would bo In and out all day on any and every pretext, al ways entering with an undisguised eagerness, leaving with a slow, dreamy reluctance. That he never saw hor outsido the office, I am sure, for sho said good-night to him when ho or sho left for tho day, with tho samo don't-come-with-me dignity that sho exhibited to all tho rest of us. I had not attempted to say a word to Bob about his feeling for Beulah Sands, nor hnd he ever brought up tho subject to me. On tho contrary, he studiously avoided It. Three months of tho six had now passed, and with each day I thought I noted an increasing anxiety In Bob. Ho had opened a special account for Miss Sands on tho books of tho houso in his namo as agont, with a credit of $G0,000, and wo both watched it with a painful tenseness of scrutiny. It had grown by uneven jerks, until tho balance on October 1 was almost $100,000. On somo of tho trades Bob had consulted mo, and on others, two in particular whoro ho closed up after a few days' operations with nearly $200,000 profit, I did not oven know what tho trading was based on until tho stocks hnd been sold. Then ho said: "Jim, that" Httlo lady from Virginia can glvo us a big handicap and play us to a standstill at our own game. Sho told mo to buy all tho Burlington and Sugar her account would stand, 'and did not even ask my opinion, fn both oases I thought tho oj orations wcrb more the result of a wakoful night, and an I-inust-do-somothlng de cision than anything else, and I tack led both with a shiver; but when sho told me to sell them out at a time I thought they looked llko going high er, and tho next day they slumped, I could not help thinking about the ties, tiny that shapes our ends." On my part 1 tried to help. On ono occasion, without consulting her, 1 put her account fn on a sure thing underwriting, wherein she stood to make a profit of a quarter of a mil lion, but when Bob told her what I had done, sho Insisted with great dig nity that her namo bo withdrawn. After that neither of us dared help hor to any short cuts. Bob was deep ly impressed by her principles, and, commenting on them, said: "Jim, if all Wall street had a code similar to Beulah Sands' to how to In their gam bles, ours would be a fairer and moro manly game, and many of the multi millionaires would be clerking, whllo a lot of tho hand-to-mouth traders would conio down town In a now auto every day In tho week. Sho does not bollovo In stock gambling. Sho worked it out that every dollar man makes, another loses; that ono who makes gives nothing has ono tho In return for what ho gets away with; and that the other fellow's loss makes him and his as miserable as would robbery to tho sanio amount. Yet sho realizes that sho must get back those millions stolen from her father, and is willing to smother her con science to attempt It, provided sho takes no unfair advantage of tho oth er players. Tho other day she said to mo: 'I havo decided, because of my duty to my father, to put away my projudlco agaluBt gambling, but no duty to him or to any ono else can Justify mo In playing with marked cards.' Jim, there is .food for reflec tion for you and mo,. don't you think?" (TO DIJ CONTINUED.) PONCE DE LEON'S SPRING. Woman Has Refused to Sell the Prop crty for $45,000. There are ten acres of ground sur rounding tho spot whoro Ponco do Loon, on his second visit to what is now St. Augustine, discovered youth. History tells that ho failed to locate it on his first visit from Spain to this section, but that on a second trip, In 1513, ho was mo're successful. Tho property, called Neptune springs, is owned by a widow, who, with hor daughter, stands at tho old-fashioned well affair, and sells tho water to tour ists who visit hor In great numbors. The water Is the purest kind of llthla, cool and pleasant to tho taste. Re cently sho was offered $45,000 for Nep tune springs, which has other 'good springs asldo from Ponce on It. It is located a short tllstanco from tho ruins of tho old stono wall and gates of tho city of St. Augustine, used when this was a province of Spain and when a Spanish governor general oc cupied as a residenco tho building now usod by Undo Sam as a post of fice. Not far away aro tho ruins of tho old Spnnish Fort MParion, wrecked and ruined by sholl from tho gunners who fought under tho stars and stripes. Ponco do Leon's find Is now woll within tho confines of tho city. Tho widow thought it too valuable to dlspoBO of. So sho refused tho offor of $15,000 and goes on ladling out water from Ponce's well ns though sho had not tossed asldo a small for tune. Capital "Society" Busy. Washington society peoplo are plunged Into a mad struggle for pleas ure. Even Sundays aro overworked. Admiral Dewey gives things at tho Country club on Sundays tho best in days and everything olso Is good enough for the admiral and tho John M. McLeans havo turned on their 'jrllllant Sunday luncheons to society n edition do luxe, at their fascinating 'Friendship." But ovon tho unex purgated and tho great unwashed aro welcomo every day to tho splendid grounds of "Friendship." Unless you aro an automobllo or a dog, against which there Is special discrimination, tho McLeans placo no restrictions upon tho public enjoyment of their vast acres, tho most beautiful sweep of land near Washington, baronial In its extent. The quaint old houso it self, onco a monastery, is surrounded by a "monk's walk," outlined in box bushes. There is a long pergola, wistaria laden, an ancient fountain and other poetic accessories that in spire. The Beautiful Soul. Tho colored sunsets and tho starry heavens, tho beautiful mountains and tho shining sea, tho fragrant woods and tho painted flowers they aro not half so beautiful as a soul that is sorving Jesus out of lovo In the wear and tear of common, unpootic life Exchange Japan Takes to Horse-Racing. Seventy-two horse-racing clubs havo been organized In Japan. Most of them, tho Japan Mall says, wore es tablished for gambling purposes only. I THE SIN OF NADAB AND ABIHU Sundny School Lcssonfor Aug. 11, 1907 Specially Prnred ftrThls Paper LRSSON TKXT.-Lev. 10:1-11. Memory Verne 0. tUH. 1)13 .V TKXT.-"Wlne Ih a mocker, strong think Ih rnKliif,', and whomever Ih deceived thereby Ih not wIhc." I'rov. 510:1. TIMR.-Amll H. C. 1100 (common chro nology); on the nftoinoon (Lev. 10:1'.!, 1! of llio first day that tho nrlentH entered upon the regular saci-lllces of tho taber nacle (Lev. 8:3.1; 0:1), elht days utter thu completion of the. tabernaclo, our lant leHson, Nearly n year after tho exoilun. PLAOR. In tho tabernacle near Slnal. Comment and Suggestlvo Thought. The Situation Everything was near ly prepared for tho onward march to ward tho promised land. Thero had been nearly a year of Instruction and training In tho wilderness experiences nnd at Slnal. Tho tabernaclo had been sot up on tho first day of tho first month. Tho priests had been pre pared and trained in their duty of leading tho people in true worship. In 10 days, tho 20th of tho socond month, they were to break up their long en campment and begin tholr Journey (Ex. 10:17; Lev. 0:1; Num. 10:11-13). Tho moral law had been given. The ritual law had boon announced nnd taught. Tho divine ilro shone over the Holy of Holies, llko tho sun, light, peace, comfort, brightness, beauty, life to thoHo who use It aright, but a consuming fire to those who doBplso and misuse Its power. Tho divlno lire had klndlod tho fuel on the altar; a perpetual ihuno (Lev. (5:13) "to bo continually fed with tho fuel especially provided by the congregation, and with tho daily burnt offerings." "Tra dition assures us that It never was quenched till tho destruction of tho temple by Nebuchadnezzar." Dr. Glnsburg. Tho coromonlal of religion as appointed by Ood, to continue as tho best method of worship and relig ious education of tho people, was bo gun. V. 1. "Nadab and Ablhu, tho Sons of Anron." His eldest sons (Ex. (5:23.) just Inducted Into the exalted ofllco of priests, next to tholr father, tho high priest, in tho lino of succession to the highest ollico of religious leadership and influence In tho nation. A glorious opportunity wns before them. They had passed through threo groat portals of usefulness nnd happiness. (1) Their parentage was a-lino advan tage. Moses was tholr uncle. Their exalted family had given them grent privilege of association with tho best In tho nation. (2) Tholr education was remarkable. They had spent a year In God's wilderness training school, receiving tho lessons of tho riven rock, tho quails, tho manna, tho law written on tho tables of stone. Moreover, they had had the exalted prlvilego of beholding with tholr own eyes tho glory of God upon tho holy mount (Ex. 24:1, 0, 10). (3) They had passed through tho portal of a glorious calling. Thoy had been ded icated to a scored and most honorable trust. Thoy wore the garments that soparated them, In tho eyes of all men, to tho priest's life of holiness and obodlenco. Before each of thorn wns ovon tho thrilling possibility of becom ing high priest somo day. Tholr sin was a direct, public, inex cusable dlsobedlenco to their God and loader. It partook of tho naturo of treason. Thoy doubtless did It thought lessly, but thoro aro occasions when thoughtlessness Is a crime. Tho Necessity of tho Punishment. It was tho same as tho necessity for all punishmont, In Its justlco, In Its measurement of tho evil of tho sin, and its prevention of crime. No gov ernment of imperfect peoplo can exist or does exist without it. "As has just been pointed out, tho ritual system had been Inaugurated on that very day. All was now and strango, easily dislodged, depreciated, or corrupted, and therefore needing special guard ing. Tho bud needs, and has protec tion from rough husks, which tho How or can do without. This swift, death of offenders against tho new order has its parallel In tho swift death of Ananias and Sapphlra, which Is to bo vindicated on similar grounds. Thoro, too, tho necessity was stringent for In stant removal of a springing root of bitterness, by which many might bo defiled, and for saving the young life of tho community from disease, which, unchecked, might infect Its vmoIo fu ture. One Cause of the Tragedy. Vs. 0-11. 9. "Do not drink wlno nor strong drink." Tho nearness of this Injunc tion to tho story of Nadab and Ablhu Implies that their sin was due, partly If not wholly, to Intoxication. "The Palestinian Clialdeo adds hero, 'as thy sons did who died by burning flro.' " Glnsburg. "When yo go into tho tabernaclo." Tho reasons given for this prohibi tion aro two: (1) Tho tendency of wlno drinking Is to obscure tho (v. 10) "difference between holy and unholy" or common; and (2) thoy would be better prepared to (v. 11) "teach . . . all tho statutes." a. w