Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 128, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1915 — HIS FRIVOLOUS FAD [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HIS FRIVOLOUS FAD

By ESTHER BAYARD CHURCHILL

(Copyright, 1916, by W. G. Chapman.) **l have fully decided. I shall not alter my mind. You will give up your position here, and go back to college for a post-graduate course of two years.” Thus spoke stern, iron-willed Cyrus Merrill, owner of the oldest and biggest bank in Ridgeton. His nephew, Alton Merrill, looked glum and dared. "Unde, you can’t mean it!” he faltered. "Surely you cannot be so unjust as to allow an innocent frolic to alter all the cherished plans of my life?” "An innocent frolic!” repeated the implacable old tyrant. "A mere boyish freak, sir,” insisted Alton, “Listen, if you please. Yesterday was my birthday. Some of the old crowd wanted to celebrate, and we went down to the beach for an oldtime clambake.” “Well supplied with good strong drink, too, I doubt not!" chirped the banker. “Not a drop!” declared Alton. “We are not that sort. We had a good time, and on the way home played a foolish trick or two, just as a reminder of our youthful days.” “H’m! You call burning down Farmer Rollins' haystack an innocent trick, I suppose?" snorted the uncle, "No, sir, that was an accident One of the crowd dropped his cigar and the stuff went ablaze. We’ve fixed that uncle. Each man chipped in, and Mr. Rollins will be indemnified for the loss we caused him before night.” “H’m! Well, this lark of yours, as you so lightly term it, convinces me

that you lack the mature balance necessary with a young man of business. You are frivolous, unsettled. Why! that photograph fad of yours has cost you a small fortune. Your mind should be on the bank —first, last, and all the time. At the ehd of a month you will prepare to go back to college. That is my last word. Why, sir,” and the old financier swelled up with a sense of his own vast importance, “I should think my success, and, I may say, my infallibility as an expert banker, would set a model for you. It is only by strict attention to business that I have earned the reputation of making this institution a veritable stronghold. No borrower ever gets the best of me. No sleek swindler pulls the wool over my eyes.” Meekly, but at soul wretched and unhappy, Alton accepted the dictum of his self-centered relative and passed from the room. Two months previous he had graduated from college with full honors. His uncle had offered /him a position at a good salary in the bank. Forthwith Alton had considered himself a made man. The first thing he did was to fall in love with pretty Winifred Price, the belle of the village, his second was to become engaged to her and plan a speedy marriage. Perhaps his uncle had learned of ’this, Alton reflected, and that was the real secret of his drastic action. At -all events the ultimatum nad been presented. It was open rebellion or submission. If the former, Alton well knew that his uncle would disown him, which meant the loss of the substantial backing of a helpful, influential friend. Alton talked over the situation that evening with Winifred. She was sensible about it. Better to wait two years than to rush madly into matrimony with no fixed business establishment, she advised. At least, she decided, Alton had better keep in his uncle’s good graces until he was sure he could shift for himself. So, Alton mournfully accepted the situation. Winifred consoled him sweetly and his photographic fad helped him pass the time when it was unemployed and irksome. He photographed the bank building, outside and interior, in all its phases. He took secret snap shots of his uncle in various poses. Whenever a stranger came into the bank, he made a picture of him“My rogues’ gallery!” he told the cashier whimsically. "Some day somebody will put it over us and I will be able to establish his identity." One day, indeed, the banker’s hoard-

ed gold was tn peril, and Cyrus Merrill knew it not. A well-dressed, dignified stranger came Into the bank, and after looking over some papers at the depositors' table approached the president of the institution. t “Mr. Merrill," he said courteously, "I am having some important dealings with the valley manufacturers. I have just come from your rival bank here. They wish to charge me five’per cent for a trusteeship and some easy negotiations. Can I do business for you on a cheaper basis?" “Yes, sir," answered the banker, eager to snap up an easy opportunity, “if the business is entirely local —”

“It will be.” ' “Our charge will be two and a half per cent.” “Thanks. You will hear from me in a day or two," said the stranger, who called himself Richard Wolfe, and he left the bank. A few minutes later a neatly dressed young lady entered the bank. She approached Mr. Merrill. “I came in to direct a letter,” she explained, “and I found this on the desk where I was writing.” She handed a long pocketbook to the banker. In vast surprise he examined its contents. It contained 14,000 in bank notes of large denominations. On its flap were the Initials "R. W.,” and Mr. Merrill at once decided that it belonged to his recent visitor. “I am pleased at your honesty, young lady,” he said heartily—for him. “I think you had better leave your name and address, for I am sure that the owner of the money will wish to recognize your helpfulness.” Within ten minutes the man who called himself Richard Wolfe came hurrying back into the bank. Ah! his money had been found. Thanks, and the finder? At once send her this — and he liberally handed the banker two hundred-dollar bills. Then he stated that he had decided to do business with the bank. He counted out five thousand dollars. It was to be held in trust to purchase some bonds, which he named. He would at once write to the owner of the same and have him come from another town, where he lived. He authorized Mr. Merrill to pay as high as ninety. If he got them for less, they would divide on the bargain. The liberality of the stranger, the sight of the ready cash, the chance to make “an honest dollar” —all appealed to the banker in a strange way. What followed cvne quickly. Another stranger appeared at the bank within two days with the bonds in question and received the money for them, and next Richard Wolfe again appeared. In an excited, confidential way he informed the banker that he had learned that the bonds would go up twenty points the following week. He knew where he could buy another block of them. They would divide on the profits, as before. Result: He borrowed four thousand dollars on the securities, and in a week Cyrus Merrill knew that he was a swindled man. Only Alton knew of the transaction. He realized his uncle’s humiliation and chagrin, when the latter recklessly announced that he would give half the four thousand dollars to get the money back from “the first man who had ever put it over on him.” For two days Alton was absent. He returned to place in the hands of his astonished uncle two thousand dollars. “The balance you promised as a reward, you know,” he submitted. “But how —” “I took a picture of that Wolfe fellow the first day he came into the bank,” explained Alton. “I found its duplicate in the rogues’ gallery in the city. They rounded up your man—a notorious criminal." - “Yes,” said Mr. Merrill, “you can keep that money, and you can stay in the bank. But if you ever hint publicly at the noodle I’ve been, I’ll disown you on the spot.” “I shall tell only Winifred!” whispered the happy young man raptly to himself.

“No, Sir, That Was an Accident."