Newspaper Page Text
;wtiwifriyrftftiB if '
"Nonsense!" he said angrily. "My
daughter is going to school. She is
destined for higher things than to
become the bride of a fisherman. I
am her guardian, and I refuse my
permission."
Everybody was against Tom Hol
loran. They showed him his selfish
ness, they proved that he could nev
er marry the girl until she was her
own mistress. Finally the magnate,
Joseph Henry, proposed, half humor
ously, a compromise.
"She shall stay with me for four
years, till she attains her majority,"
he said. "If she wants to marry you
then, she shall."
Tom was forced to accept the con
ditions. He kissed Helen as she
clung to him.
"I shall never forget I shall never
forget!" she sobbed as they said
goodby.
When the father and girl were
gone Tom Holloran sat looking at
his father across the hearth.
"I told you you were a fool, Tom,"
said the old man frankly. "What
chance have you got with a girl liker
that? Why, four years will blot out
all her memories of this life. She
ain't for the likes of you."
"We'll see," said Tom slowly, and
left the room.
He had saved $300 toward the fur
nishing of their home and purchase
of a share in a boat. The same night
he disappeared from Clark island.
Three days later he appeared at a
small university and asked to see the
president He told him his story.
"I've had a good common school
education," he said, "and I want to
become a learned man,va gentleman."
The president was interested. "But
you haven't been to high school," he
urged. "You'll have to go there, or,
since you're too old, you'll have to
pass our entrance examination. And
then to work your way through
why, my boy, your plan is Impossi
ble. Give it up!"
Tom shook his head. "I'll try. I've
got four years," he said;
A year later Tom Holloran passed
the entrance examinations. He en
tered upon a three years' course. At
the end of the time he put his sheep
skin into his bag and went to the
metropolis, with a decent suit of
clothes on his back and a dollar in
his pocket
The butler who admitted him to
the financier's house looked at him
dubiously.
"I'll give you name to Mr. Henry,"
he said, in a non-committal manner.
He stopped. Tom barred the way.
"Miss Helen " Tom stammered.
"I'll see, sir," said the butler.
Ten "minutes passed. Then the
financier entered the room. He did
not know Tom
"I am Mr. Holloran," said Tom.
"You remember our agreement that
I was to marry your daughter in four
years "
The banker's face grew purple.
"You impudent rascal," he said. "Get
out of my house!"
"I shall wait on the doorstep till I
see Helen," said Tom.
' The banker glared at him and left
the room. A quarter oT an hour later
he returned with a stylishly dressed
young woman, who looked at Tom as
if he were hardly a human being. But
it was Helen. Tom hardly heard her
scathing words, he only knew that
his pride was crushed. Her ringing
laughter dismissed him. He stum
bled from the room.
The next day he entered his" fa
ther's house. The old man, hardly
changed, looked up and nodded.
"I recognize you, son, he said,
"still a fool, I reckon. Still hanker
ing after that girl. I warned ye. I
told ye."
"Yes, I was a fool," said Tom. "I've
come back to get a job with the
boats."
"If that's all you're worth," said
the old man, "you'd best have stayed
where you was."
The panic year wiped out many
fortunes, and loudest was the crash
of the Henry chain of banks. In a,
.U.
