HER AUCTION MANIA, A Woman Goes on Buying Despite Her Husband's Commands. By SHIELA ESTHER DUNN. {Copyright. 1910, by American Press Asso ciation.] "For heaven's sake. Maria, what have you been buying now?" "That's a picture of Mary, queen of Scots, going to execution." "Cheerful subject to have always be fore one, isn't It? Where did you get ttr "At an auction held at a house down on Chestnut street. The people who live there are selling out their furni ture." "What did you give for It?" "Oh, I started it at DO cents, but a man In the crowd ran It up to $7. I was bound he shouldn't have It." The husband groaned. "Don't you like it, dear?" "Like It? Why, Maria, It's nothing but a chromo. It isn't worth 25 cents. As for me, I would much rather have It out of the house than in It. If you insist on indulging this passion for going to auctions and getting taken in by sharpers who run things up on you we'll goto the poorhouse. Only a week ago you bought a bedstead when you know we have three already in the attic that we have no use for." "But it cost only $3. it was dirt cheap." "Then there's the bookcase you paid sl2 for, and we haven't books enough to fill the cases we have already. And so it goes. Not a week passes but you -pend money for some useless article. And all this time I am struggling along to accumulate capital to use In my business. I need $5,000 now. If I had the amount I could make 100 per cent a year with it. Now, Maria, I've stood this just as long as I'm going to. To permit It togo on would result in ruin for both of us. I am therefore forced, though reluctantly, to say that "I CAN AFFORD TO GIVE TOU $3,000." the next time you bring anything home .from an auction I shall insist on a sep aration." "Oh, John, how can you talk so?" "I mean it. Much as I love you. I would rather get on without you than have you bring ruin on us by Indulging in a mania which you can control if vou will. Come, make an effort. Keep away from these places. They have stool pigeons in them who are there for no other purpose than to watch for people who covet some article, and when they see such they bid against them merely to make thein pay a fancy price." "Well, dear, since you don't like to have me buy things at auction I won't do so any more. I admit that I become excited when I get to bidding and | sometimes act foolishlj. There, now," giving him a kiss, "say no more about it." There was peace in the Morrison family for several months—no more dingy pictures, no more broken sets of china, no more bedsteads, lounges, curiosities, bric-a-brac. The husband hftd ofteu thought of his threat and dreaded being put into a position where he would feel constrained to fulfill it. What would he do with the children without their mother to take care of them? But as time wore on and he saw no evidence of a relapse on the part of tils wife he hoped that the bugbear had taken flight. But as the inebriate will go for months, possibly for years, without a slip to be suddenly carried away by the sight of a glass of wine, so did Mrs. Morrison fall at seeing a red flag. It hung on the outside of a building which it was necessary for her to pass, und she was not able to get by it. She tried to persuade herself that she would merely have a look at the things offered for sale, Going in. she found that there was no auction in progress at the time, merely a sale of rem nants of furniture, most of which had been removed to the auctioneer's ware rooms. A very gentlemanly person was there, who stepped forward and offered to show the lady what there was to be bought. She had got safely through every room in the house aud was nbout to take her departure when the man opened a closet In which be seemed surprised to find a lot of china anj miscellaneous nrticles. Mrs. Morrison asked him tho price of several, but h* did not seem to know what figure "O put on them. Indeed, it was evident that tho closet had been overlooked There were three sliver cups much tarnished that captured the poor wo man's fancy. Tho salesman said that he knew nothing about what to charge for them, but if she wanted them he would sell them to her for old silver. The lady had two children who did not have silver cups and was tempted to buy two of them. The man made her a ridiculously low price for the lot. and she fell. She bought the three cups for $5. When John Morrison went horn that evening and saw that his wlf despite his warning. Ills threat, h had a reTapsti his heart sauli wl. hira. Ho could not bring hi do as ho had threatened, and he t. that she would ruin him if he did -i The next two days were passed i gloom in the Morrison household. ' only happy ones in it were l In* t* children, each of whom bud ' Su rer cup that had been polis'ir W i'i" mother. But the third day there came : change. While Mr. Morrison was :t business a gentleman drove up to lii homo and asked for the lady who ;! few days before had bought three sll rer cups at a rummage sale. Mrs. Mor rison received him, and ho begged to be allowed to see tbo cups. On being showu them he looked them over care fully, examining every detail, then as tonished the lady by offering her $2,- 500 for them. Mrs. Morrison was so paralyzed that she could not articulate a reply. She was dreading lest the man would bring the illusion he had created down about her before she could find her tongue, when he added: "I don't wish to take any advantage of you, madam. I can afford to give you $3,000." By this time Mrs. Morrison had ac quired sufficient equanimity to hold on to the cups till she could find out what there was in them to command such a price. She told the would be purchaser that she would be obliged to consult her husband about the matter. If be would leave bis address she would advise him later. As soon as the gentleman had de parted. which lie did reluctantly, with out the coveted articles, Mrs. Morrison went out to see if she could find any one to give her an inkling of why she had been offered a. fabulous price for three old cups that she had bought fur old sliver. She called on a sllversml'li with whom she had traded and asked him if he could put a price on articles that were worth far more than their intrinsic value. lie said he could not. but gave her the address of an expert in curios. She found the expert, and he agreed to call upon her and give her an opinion on her cups the uext day. That evening at dinner Mr. Morrison noticed that his wife looked agitated. Moreover, his boy Johnnie complaiueil that his mother had taken awaj Vis and hla sister's silver cups. "Why not let the children have them?" said the father. "They are the only ones who can get comfort out of them." "Knowing, John," said the wife meekly, "that the sight of them brings you pain and makes you Irritable, 1 put them away where you will not see them." Morrison finished his dinner in si lence, then weut away to smoke and read his eveuing paper by himself. Not a word did he address to his wife during the evening and at last went to his own bedroom without giving her the usual kiss. As for Mrs. Morrison, she was in nn internal whirl. She dare not say any thing to her husband about the cups till she knew that there was good rea son for the remarkable offer she had received for them. She slept but little during the night, being kept awake by the possibility of good fortune and the fear that what had occurred might turn out a castle In the nir. The next morning the husband ate his breakfast in silence and after it had been finished went out without even saying goodby to his wife. Her relapse Into the auction mania seemed to have taken away all his domestic happiness. Mrs. Morrison waited eager ly for the expert to call and when he arrived could scarcely contain herself till he had seen the cups. She set them out on a table before him. He took up each one successively, looked into It, outside of It and, turning it up, scrutinized Its bottom. Then he examined the ornamentation. All this time Mrs. Morrison was watching him, dreading that he would prick the bub ble that had been inflated by the man who had made the remarkable offer. At last the expert sot the cups down on the table and said to himself: "No. they're not." "Not what?" gasped fhe poor wo man, suddenly dashed to earth. "I thought they might belong to the twelfth century, but they don't." "Well?" "They belong to the sixteenth. They are chalices." "Have they any value?" asked Mrs. Morrison in a trembling voice. "All yon can got—oyer $5,000. I'll give you that ror them." Mrs. Morrison fainted and when she came to herself, forgetting that the gentleman was not her husband, threw her arms around his neck. When he departed he left with her a check for $5,300 and took the cups. That evening John Morrison came home wearing the same expression us in the morning. "Dear," aaid his wife, "are we to be separated?" He gave no answer. "Because," she went on. "If we are I've got the money." And she waved her check before him. John Morrison put $5,000 of the amount lnt > his business, leaving the rest for his wife to use in indulging her auction mania. Well Placed Generosity. In 1535 Liszt went on a tour in the Trench provinces. He arrived at the little town of L.to give a concert, as announced. But the Inhabitants ap peared to take but little iuterest in musical matters, for when the musi cian appeared on the platform he found himself face to face with an au dience numbering exactly seven per sons. Liszt stepped very calmly to the front, and, bowing respectfully to the array of empty benches, he delivered himself as follows: "Ladles and gentlemen, I feel ex tremely flattered by your presence here this evening, but this room is not at all suitable; the air Is literally sti fling. Will you be good enough to ac company me to my hotel, where I will have the piano conveyed ? We shall be quite comfortable there, and I will go through the whole of my program." The offer was unanimously accepted, and Liszt treated his guests not only to a splendid concert, but an excellent supper into the bargniu. Next day when the illustrious virtuoso appeared to give his second concert the hall was not large enough to eoutaiu the crowd which claimed admittance. RENTING A BRIDAL VEIL An Incident of a Fashionabl* Wedding In New York. Not long ago one of tho wealthiest "charge customers" of a well known department store in New York pur chased a SSOO wedding Tell for her daughter, which was charg<>l to her account and duly delivered, ihe wed ding was a large one and celebrated at high noon In one of the downtown churches. It happened that one of the girls from a department store went out for luncheon at this hour and. seeing a fashionable wedding In full swing, slipped into the church with the crowd and into one of the back pews. After the ceremony was over she hurried back to her place behind the counter, too busy with her special sales to even think about it. The next morning, however, when she read an account of the "magnifi cent wedding in church and a de tailed description of the wonderful veil worn by the bride, valued at $500," she laughingly told her numer ous friends in that department that sho "had been one of the honored guests and had seen that SSOO veil with her own eyes." Just at this thrill ing i>oint of her story one of the floor men stepped up to her and said: "You are wanted at the manager's office. Miss B." As she entered the office, to her per fect amazement, she beheld the Identi cal bridal veil just under discussion. "Miss 8., can you tell me If you ever saw this veil before?" asked tlie man ager. "Yes, sir; 1 saw it yesterday." "Where did you see it?" She took from her pocket the clip ping from the morning newspaper with the account of the great wed ding, the co6tly veil ai d a picture of tho bride. Laying It oon the desk, she said: "This is a picture of the veil." "How did you happen to bo at this wedding Instead of In your pi e hero In tho store?" "It was my luncheon hour, and I went to tho wedding Instead of to lunch." The manager smiled. "Can you positively Identify this veil as the one you saw yesterday?" Miss It. took it up in her hands and, unfolding it, ran her fingers through the mesh ard Into the tiny folds where the orange blossoms wero caught, then with some difficulty picked out three little pieces of rice and handed them to the manager. She went back to her counter, and the "charge customer," whose ac counts ranged In the thousands each year, was rendered a bill for "S3OO for the use of a bridal veil worn by her daughter." A check for tho S3OO was Immediate ly sent, und the wealthy "charge cus tomer" still continues to charge.—Chi cago Itecord-Herald. Antiquated Customs. There is no court In Europe more tenacious of Its etiquette—which was inaugurated several hundreds of years ago—than that of Spain. It Is said that King Ferdinand VII. once made a minister resign becouse ho had ac cidentally touched his hand. One of the quaintest ceremonies is tho closing of the royal palace gates at Madrid every night. Electric light has been In use in the palace for qul|e a long while, but nevertlieless every evening at 11 o'clock the officiating gentleman in waiting appears, accompanied by several servants, who carry ancient lanterns, to demand a huge key from a higher official to lock tho doors of tho palace. This Is all tho more amus ing as the huge key does not fit tho modern keyholes. The key Is then re turned to a third official, and every night gentlemen in waiting have to patrol the corridors of the palace, though sufficient guards are about, to watch over the slumbers of their royal master. Paul the Tyrant. Paul I.of Hussla was very deaf and also very tyrannical. One day an ald de-camp, intending to please him, ap proached and cried in his ear, "I am glad to see, your majesty, that your hearing is much improved!" "What is that you say?" growled the czar. liaising his voice, the aid-de-camp said, "I am glad that your majesty's hearing Is so much Improved:" "Ah, that's it, eh?" chuckled tho czar and then added, "Say It once more." The aid-de-camp repeated the words, whereupon Paul I. thundered: "So you dare to make fun of me, do you? Just wait awhile." Next day the aid-de-camp was on his way to the mines of Siberia. The Diagnosis. The disastrous results of Interfer ence by relatives In the course of courtships was well exemplified in the case of a young Baltimore couple not long ago. They had been engaged for some time when it became generally known that the affair was at an end. "What was the trouble, Jack?" an intimate friend asked the youth, who, by the way, is a recent medical grad uate. "Well, as It was nothing relating to Nan personally, I don't know why I shouldn't tell you," he replied, with a sigh. "1 suppose It was some outside ln fluence—you seemed to fairly dote on her," the friend commented. "I did," tho dejected lover replied. "She is the sweetest little girl In tho world, but terribly fond of her rela tives. Her old maid aunt from Kan sas came along the other day and an nounced that she was going to live with us after we were married, and— well she proved an antidote."—Detroit Free Press. The Work of Time. "And to think," sighed the man who wt\s trying to find a belt which was long enough to be buckled around him, "that the boys at school used to call me Skinny!"— Chicago Kecord- Herttld. He Gave It. Tho Girl (rather weary, at 11:30 p. m.)—l don't know a thing about, baseball. The Beau—Let mo explain It to you. The Girl—Very well; give me an Illustration of a home run. oft td lift, ~ URGES WILSON. Secretary of Agriculture's Rem edy For Food Cost Problem. NEED OF GREATER PRODUCTION Cabinet Officer Points Out Importance of Boil Conservation Before Confer ence at New York Produce Exchange to Consider Problem of Labor and Best Methods of Farming. James Wilson, secretary of the de partment of agriculture, who recently addressed the New York Produce Ex change on the food cost problem and Its relation to the farm, said that con servation of the soli both east and west would determine future prosperi ty and promised government aid In S 'M nient to increase 1 k e productivity and Improve the gjS3)|||sn The exchange had JEKttjffi- W-] called a conference J on this subject and '; invited the secre congressmen and the heads of JAMES WILSON. TLIO t various big railroads In the east. As an outcome of the discussion a permanent organi sation was formed, on which the rail roads are represented, to educate the farmers of the state of New York In the best interests of production and of Inducing residents In cities togo "back to the farm." "We cannot afford to buy food from foreign countries," said Mr. Wilson. "Wo must see to It that -our western farms produce enough, not only for home consumption, but also to sell abroad and square up the balances of trade. "It costs more to get anything done In our country than in most others. Production does not Increase as fast as population. Prices go up. It costs more to pay carriers, dealers, manu facturers, all classes. The farmer gets big prices now, but It costs him twice as much to grow things as It did ten years ago. Cannot Afford to Buy Abroad. "The fact that population Increases faster than food sets us thinking. We cannot afford to buy food from foreign countries. The balances of trade for goods bought and sold since the civil war, lndep«ndent of farm products, have been heavily against us during that tlmo end have been paid by ex ports from the farm. "Most of our people In the east are being fed from the Mississippi valley, and the states from the south draw much from the same source. For th« last half century the young peoplo of the farms have been educated to leave them. No teacher until recently taught a scholar the way to rnako more of his day's work on the farm or bow to make the acre respond better, and for a very good reason. The teacher had never learned It himself. Education flows downwurd from the university regarding everything but agriculture. If applied science along this lino Is not understood at the fountalnhead there will be no stream from which to drink. "Ignorance permitted the soil to.be como unproductive. The highest Intel ligence Is required to bring back fer tility. Uenerally speaking, our farms are managed with too little capital or the farm Is too large for the means of the operator. Help Is dearer than It has been, nnd It Is scarce In all sec tions of tho ciffmtry. Higher prices for farm products will Justify more pay to the farm hand and have a tend ency to keep workers on the farm. "The cheap food of the past has been one of tho great advantages the manu facturer has had. lie has It no longer. Neglect of the soil will very soon Im press Itself on all classes. Soil Conservation Urged. "Importations of food will bring about a change in our economics, a revolution in our policies, which may be avoided by better farming nnd a comprehensive view of the situation by those who deal in big things, wheth er carrying commerce, manufacturing or finance. If the America we know today is to continue with its opportu nities for all classes, high prices for •kill and labor, home ownership for every Industrious man, education for every child, an easily acquired com petence for every frugal. Industrious family, we must look to the soil nnd Its power of production. Other na tions prosper by commerce nnd manu facturing, but their working classes are not as comfortable as ours. "Every state should organize to con serve fertility of its soils. The depart ment of agriculture would gladly co operate with all of them. This de partment has corps of scientists thnt could be made useful in this regard. There is no kind of conservation that compnres at all In importance with soil conservation, while all nre Impor tant We are late In beginning, but high prices are impelling and insistent from every standpoint. "Some political economists tell us that boys leuve the farm because land values are so htgh, but land values east of the Alleghenles have gone down because the boys left the farms nnd r*nWs without caplt.il got possession to grow grain nnd hay for sale." The Approaching Comet. The astronomers now tetl us there's a eomet In the sky Which will quite soon be apparent to the nude observant eye. But here's a question we in all humility propose— Will the coming comet leave us comme U faut or comatose? AT* tho scientific telescoplo comet Anders sure That the comity of comets will eternally endure? For If it's just a ramble It Is certainly a whale, This staking our existence on the hazard pf a To pity distress Is but human; to re lieve it Is godlike.—Manu. BLARE'S VISIONS. The Curious Hallucination* of the Poet-Painter. William Blake, the contemporary of Charles Lninb, was a man of visions. Blake dined with prophets and held converse with' archangel. A friend of Blake- called on th» poet-painter ''and found him sitting, pencil In hand, drawing a portrait with all the seeming anxiety of a man who is conscious of bavlug a fastidious sitter, lie looked and drew and drew and looked, yet no living soul was visible. 'Disturb me not,' said Blake In « whisper. '1 have some one sitting to me.' 'Sitting to you!' exclaimed the astonished visitor. 'Where is he? 1 see no one.' 'But I see him," answered Blake haughtily. 'There lie is. His name Is Lot You may read of him in the Scriptures He Is sitting for his portrait.'" Blake's hallucinations, however, rare ly took a malignant form. One of his most beautiful visitors was of a fairy "funeral. "I was walking alone In my garden." he said. "There was a great stillness among the branches and flow ers and more than common sweetness In the air. I heard a low and pleasant sound and knew not whence it came. "At last I saw the broad leaf of a flower move, and uuderneath i saw a procession of creatures of the size and color of green and gray grasshoppers, bearing a body laid out on a rose leaf, which they buried with songs and then disappeared, it was a fairy's funeral." —Chicago News. The Manchus. The name "Manchuria." to desig nate the country of the Manchus, Is not known to the Chinese, but was in vented by French geographers. The Manchus are a tribe of Tartars who gained the ascendency in China In the seventeenth ceutury. Manchu is Chi nese far "pure" and was applied by an ancestor of Shun Che, the first Manchu emperor of China, to his dy nasty and his people. The Manchus resemble the Chinese only to the eye of a stranger, Just as we think that (Tn Chinese laundrymen look alike. To themselves the Man chus are distinct from Chinamen In appearance, as in race, and one who know* eastern races easily distin guishes them. Most of them are short nnd good looking, with brown and rud dy skins.—New York Tribune. Coniolous During a Fall. Every time a workman falls from a forty story building there are people to say, "Well, he probably didn't feel It when he Btruek." There is little or no basis for this belief that a person Is dead or unconscious at the end of a long fall. Our surviving Jumpers from Brooklyn bridge prove this, nnd that a person retains consciousness Is shown by the case of the English boy who fell down a pit soma 250 feet deep and shouted "Below J" three times on the way down. One theory Is that a person falling would not be able to breathe, but a train at sixty miles an hour Is moving faster than one would move In falling a hundred or so feet, and no one pretends that one would die of suffocation If he put his bead out the train window.—Exchange. A Way of Explaining It. Wife—Why, John, Just see what a stupid blunder the uewspaper has made in Us account of our sliver wed ding I Don't you remember I wrote it out for the reporter that we had spent together twenty-Are years of married happiness, and the stupid typesetter has gone and made it twenty-flve years of marred happiness. Isn't It awful? Husband—Oh, well, dear, don't be too hard on the poor fellow. Perhaps he's been married twenty-flve years him self.—London Tlt-Blts. A POLISH WEDDING. Fun and Profit Strangely Mingled In the Festivities. A wedding among the Poles may cer tainly be said to hold its own among the more entertaining of marriage cus toms. There fun and profit are strange ly mingled in the marriage festivities, for the bride depends ui>on the wed ding festival for her dowry and rarely falls to get enough to enable her to begin housekeeping with comfort After the wedding feast a dauce Is in order, auf the room the moth- ( or nf Ui.' bride has taken up her posi tion with a plate In her lan. The wise 1 woman has chosen that plate careful ly. It Is made after the plan of an eating house < oiTee rup and could not Justly he tl.'si r;: las frail. ' The gallant who wishes to dauce with the lii H'e- ai:d. as has been said, ' all are In lii>i:or boil ml to do so-must pull out a piece of silver and throw it into the plate. Not until he has suc ceeded in breaking or chipping that almost invincible piece of crockery litis he won the honor he seeks. Few succeed in making an impression upon the plate for less than a sum equal to 00 tents of our money. The money thus accumulated goes to the bride and not unusually amouuts to seventy-tlve or oue hundred dollars, even where the crowd is apparently as poor as it can well be. This sum in a rural district of Poland Is enough to start the young couple fairly in house keeping.—Detroit Free Press. Blu* Hat For Men. The chief object of attraction on the promenade deck of the steamship Car mania when she landed alongside her pier In New York the other day was an elderly man with flowing silvery locks who was wearing one of the new Co penhagen blue hats. It won the admi ration of his fellow passengers, who saw the headgear for the first time on the voyage. It was also hailed with Joy by the crowd waiting on the pier to greet friends. A Terrible Threat. Customer—That tea service costs 50 marks. That is more than I can pay. His Wife (whispering)—lf I should have a fainting spell among all tills rlilna it would cost you far more.— Fllegende Blatter. THE SYMPATHY IF MURIEL How a Woman Defeated a Worthy Man. By LOUISE WINTER, tCopyright, 1910, by American Press Asso ciation.] Muriel had the fatal gift of sympa thy. In her case It was particularly unfortunate, as she happened to be born into a matter of fact, selQsh fam ily who nover idealized and who found in the misfortunes of others a cause for self gratulatton. Muriel In her childhood burned to relieve the necessities of the poor, ner heart ached at tales of wrongful suffering, but she was handicapped by the lack of charity about her, and she was too young to act In open defiance of her people. Jim Manning had been a family friend when she was a little girl. Sho remembered the boxes of candy he "n** TUf TIARB BDTC* TOtJ'TE BXXN' tfs." was in the habit of bringing her and tbe Impossible dolls with fuzzy, flaxen hair and staring blue eyes. Jim was not rich lu those days, but he seldom camo to the house without some trifle for the "kid," and Muriel never forgot him. His rise to fortuue was rapid. In a few years from a plausible, smooth tongued promoter, with a shabby coat buttoned over his shirt to hide defi ciencies of toilet, be became a success ful manipulator of the stock market and tbe president of a company which netted him thousands of dollars a year. Jlni hud prospered, and ho had enemies, and among the bitterest were the members of Muriel's family The Dimocks never forgave the good luck, as they phrased it, of a friend. They spoke slightingly of the great James Douglass Manning, which, how ever, did not bother the said James, as nowadays their paths never crossed, but Muriel suffered for him. Sho took his part eloquently at first; then when the usual shaft of ridicule had been launched and her tongue silenced her reproachful eyes continued to protest against the Injustice. "Jim owes you nothing," she would arraign her people In Imaginary con versations. "By his pluck, his quick grasp of affairs, he has prospered, while you have remained in a rut." At eighteen Muriel suddenly devel oped mentally and physically. Iler meager little frame filled out, tbe sharp ovul of her face rounded, till she no longer resembled the baby owlet, all eyes in a bony setting, to which her eldest brother bad long likened her. She became bolder, less easily si lenced iu the unequal family argu ments; she pursued her little charities iu the face of opposition, while her people looked on and wondered. They considered her an alien and admitted among themselves that she was "queer," but as she never attempted to win any of them over to her way of thinking they let her alone and smiled indulgently at what they called lier folly. When Jim Manning's downfall seem ed imminent the Dimocks fell on bim root and branch and tore him to pieces. The? exulted in the mill that, hues OTer him as if they had a personal grudge to avenge, nnd they declared that they had known all along that this would happen. When Muriel started up In his defense they turned upon her as if they would rend her nlso. She covered her enrs with her hands and fled from the room, her heart beating furiously In a storm of futile anger. Jim, her Idol, tottering cn his pedes tal. bad never seemed so heroic a fig ure. She read every line the newspa pers printed about the scandal In his company. She did not understand the technical terms, but her intelligence grasped that he was charged with fraud, that his creditors were insinuat ing his money had been made dishon estly and that he was threatened with ruin and disgrace. She read the worst side of the story, for her people pat ronized the yellow journals, and she pictured him sitting nlone. deserted by those who hud fawned upon him In his palmy days, and she longed to show him by some tangible slgu that one person at least did not I slieve In his Infamy. Waves of sympathy were not powerful enough to fit this case. It needed action, and Muriel nerved her self to act. Bhe must see him; she must let him know that she under stood, that she had faith In his power to silence his detractors, then she could better bear the tyranny In her home. The morning papers pictured graph icnlly the scene in his otlice—the outer rooms crowded with a mass of excited men and women clamoring for their money, while alone in his private of fice sat Jaincs Douglass Manning, hi> head bowed, his whole attitude oue of misera'ble dejection. Then Muriel could bold out no long er. She wouiti go To iiiiu at once, and perhaps tier feeble sympathy uiigha help tiim to regain the he seemed In (lunger of losing. She dress ed herself iu her most becoming clothes and slipped out of the house quietly, thus avoiding the questions which otherwise would have tormented her conscience. James Douglas* Manning did not. look like a uran on the verge of de spair as he sat In Ills oQice dictating letter after letter and smoking on* black cigar after another. He nu bothered— yes, he would confess to that—and the shareholders bad pes tered hltu with their unreasonable de mands for an accounting, but he did not doubt his ability to weather this storm as he had weathered others la his checkered career. He was busy, and he looked up Impatiently as his confi dential clerk entered with a card. "I can't see anybody, Jones." he Bald irritably. lie was a big man, massive of frame, massive of feature, with power irradiating from every pore. "It's a ludy. sir. She begs you will see lier. She's not an Investor. She's quite young." Manning held out his hand for the bit of pasteboard. "Miss Muriel Dltn ock," he read, then wrinkled his brow thoughtfully. Hut he had a good mem ory, and he could look back ten years without effort. "The LMmock kid," h« murmured. lie remembered how the Dimocks had scoffed at him when needed help and how he had paid then* back when he was on top of the heap. But tbe kid had known nothing of all this, and he had been fond of the little mouse-like child, with her timid ways and her big, frightened eyes. He paused u moment reflective ly. "All right, Jones. Show her in." Then he dismissed his secretary. Muriel appeared in the doorway, her hands clasped tight beneath her muff, her heart thumping audibly to her ears, her eyes suffused and her pretty mouth trembling. "Jim," she faltered, then stopped, shocked Into silence by the reality. Here was no cowering, broken man needful of a woman's tender ministra tions. Manning's whole personality radiated confidence in himself. He came forward wonderingly. Could this pretty, dainty glri be the kid whose scrawny appearance had always called forth pity on his part? "Muriel, child, how you have grown!" was all he could manage to get out. Bhe smiled faintly. "It's ten years since you've seen me, Mr. Manning." She could not call him Jim now. He pulled forward a chair, and she sat down 111 at ease. What should she say to him, how explain her errand of mercy? There had been no frantic crowd lt> the outer rooms, and she had taken that as a sign that even those whom he was accused of defrauding had de serted him, but when she was ushered into his prosenc" nnd found him a bigger, mightier Jim even than she re membered her little pretensions melted into thin air. Manning, however, had tact. II» saw that she was embarrassed, aiid, though he had no conception of t'.ie cause, he did his best to put her at b ease So well did bo succeed that In a few minutes she was chatting frankly with him as she had never done with, any one else in her life. "X can't explain why I came. You wouldn't understand, but I wanted you to know that we remembered you." Bhe used the plural, but ho understood, •□d skillfully he drew from her the whole story. He did not smile wheiv he beard how she had pictured hln ruined and despondent, but something Stirred in his man's breast, and a wave Of tenderness swept over him as h* realized the sympathy she would have given had he needed it. "Blessed little kid I" he murmured; gazing Into her shining eyes. "So you thought they'd done for me and yout 1 came to weep over the ruin, the only one too. I never knew what u wo man's sympathy meant. I've had few dealings with your sex. My mother died when I was born, and I had no sisters. Folks call me a hard man. Perhaps I am. but you've done more for me today th in you know. You've shown me what I've been missing all these years, and I can't thank you, child; I en n't than!; you." Ills voice broke abruptly, and li • closed his eyes a moment. I! > was a man swift to act when he li.ul oni e de;er;uined upon a course. Muriel had unbared her li'a ta him unwlui:._ . iu her. timid ex planation. He knew her family, and be felt that the tori's best nature was starving for lack <>f appreciation. Her need was as great as his, and he sud denly saw a way to repay his debt. When he looked tip she was standing beside him. a curious warmth glowing iu the depths of her dark eyes. "I'm so glad I've helped you, Jim, but I must not take up too much of your time," she began softly. He shook bis head. "What you've done amounts to nothing unless you are willing to go on helping me all my life, giving me sympathy when 1 need it and giving me love always," he said firmly. 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