THE STORYTELLER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 146, 17 July 1909, Page 4

THE STORYTELLER.

Ilpjj A MATTER OF MONEY. if' Muriel Darton was having it out with |i|. v her father. Slie had been telling herself II i; all day. that as soon as he came home if she would iput her case before liim in ■ a convincing light, and he would admit s that he had acted a little too hastily in the matter. And now, after dinner, s in the drawing-room Muriel was sitting on a. chair in a condition bordering ,L closely upon tearful admission of de- ; feat, while Jacob Darton stood with his ' back to the mantelpiece wondering how [: his daughter could have flattered herself ■ that the issue of the debate had ever : ■' hung for a moment in the balance. V Jacob Darton was a man who was il .. known to succeed in most things to '1- which he gave his attention. He was | at present lighting a hostile combination ■ on the wheat market, and, like every | warrior conscious of his' strength, he n* . wag glorying in the strenuousness of the v combat. And it wa9 not a difficult matter for a man fresh from scenes of real fey fighting, where the blows were keen and P merciless, to prove his title to rule in t»v hisown house, especially the lady ". »t the head of it was' his only daughter could ant. know her own mind. U: '"You know perfectly well," said & Muriel, striving hard to keep back the , tears that would announce'her father's »victory, "that Harold and I have been ■ much attached to each other for a long : / time, and if he hasn't spoken about it fV ' to you it was only because he was i| V waiting till he was more in a position }■; to do so." J?; Mr. Darton paused before replying, ||V a htubit of extreme caution he had ac-i jjrci' quired in his business experience. It "im his maxim that it is always safer ft", • ■ to let the other man do all the talking, as he will generally end i>y saying more than he wants to say. And when you were talking with a woman, the same i f'.. rule applied with, if anything, greater . force. Jfou might have a little longsr «3st? to wait for your turn, but victory would !l 'v be ail 'the easier ior the delay. As soon $M be had satisfied himself that his daughter had nothing to add for the ''jfy dear Muriel, romance is all very 'Sv: well in story-books; but ia life we have

|V .to face cold facte. In this case the i| 1 facts are that Harold Langley can offer 1 you neither social position nor anything like material comfort. As my managing S&f\ clerk he has a lair salary, and I frankly fX'. . admit that he is worth .to me what 1 EMt; pay him; but I do see that he can j; neyer be in a position to provide suit»hly for a young lady like yourself who • has toeea used to all sorts of extrava|cs ' gancee." j ® * "Ha hatf a little money, and he might §. ' v make a lucky deal on the market one day," persisted MurieL Jtr. Darton chuckled at the notion. !,#■; Indeed, it seemed so rich that he sat Sown in an armchair to chuckle over it at greater leisure. "You mean," he said, "that the young man is going to ifc' gamUe in wheat?" "Why not? You gamble, don't you?" . Mr. Darton turned to his daughter K?7 with a smile of pitying benevolence. "No," he said, '1 don't gamble, my dear. A gambler risks his money on the turn of tin market; I risk nothing. I know ' how the market is going, because I take care to see that it goes the way I send I'?;':it. That makes all the difference." Muriel tried another line of argument. - ■ "Lord Couiton," she said, "'is not in any jjfe-. ' better financial position than Harold. ;'f' He only lives on his debts." "Lord Couiton," replied her father, -!; • after the usual pause, "is in a rather ® v different position. He offers social ad-1 ," vantages of a most desirable kind. If you think it over, you will flee for your- ' self tihat the chance of becoming a Sit' 1 .-; peeress -is a somewhat rare one, and Sffi ■ provided the young man is eligible in Sy. other respects lam quite prepared to (waive the question of settlements. In auch a case I can look after the money > ;i:' details myself, and if I get through my present deal comfortably, I Bhall be y.l more in a position than ever to dispense ?with superfluous wealth in so desirable J , a son-in-law. I daresay the young man .isn't very brainy; but he'll be all the ( easier - for you to manage on that ac- _ count. King Log is better than King Stork, you know. And that," he added, rising, "is all I have to say on the mat-f-j; ' ter. Lord •Couiton is lunching with me in the City to-morrow, and if I have *" time I shall discuss matters' with him fully. And then I shall let you know the result, and expect you to abide by v; ;«,»'"•••• aiif:; Mr. Darton strolled quietly ou.t of Lhe pi room, while Muriel, having ao longer itv;iny necessity for hiding her emotion, PpsVj'—. 'wept steadily and copiously fo r half an hour. At the end of that time she went up to bed, a change of programme >'f ' that was not without its* advantages tu herself;, for weeping spoils a woman's' ;%• ' complexion, while sleeping improves it ivi .vastly. 4■ .Lord Couiton arrived at Jacob Dav :■ appointed lunch. He was, as Dar'.n-.i 0"' '' had said, not a brainy youth, and the ft? bustle around him as he was walking s S; ' into Darton's room was very disquiet-

%-i'' ' ing to his nerves. Tape-machines wers • clicking, clerks were shouting perplcxtisg fractions into telephones, and calling ! - to other clerks messages that came .. through. On the threshold of hfe priV' vate office, Mr. Darton, rushing out, l fcv almost knocked his distinguished visitor off his' feet, and did not even wait to •••', apologise before shouting in a voice that feemed to his lordship to be horribly l;f'" loud and excited: fc 1 "Are yc)u there, Langley? Right. Buy all you can get at twenty-five. That t . . most be somewhere near bottom price. ; I want fifty thousand bushels altogether. >,t. Keep a cool head, man!" -i, Saving delivered his instructions, a"v ■'. Danton turned and expressed his keen g-V regret at having been so unceremonious. *'.■ . LordCoulton assured him that it didn't -j nutter; but all the time he was wishing fe ~ be lad never come into such a noisy, *§«;• disquieting scene. "f"' 1 "You must really forgive me, Lord | Coulton," said Darton. "I had anticipated a quiet day, and I thought we Vv could have gone to lunch without hav- ' ing aay business to bother us. It happnis. however, that the bulls are out on the warpath, and to-day I've got the fight of my life. My manager, Mr. , ■ Lapgley, will be here'directly, and he'll ' explain the position to you if you are J i interested in it, and that will convince !»% jwn that I'm nqt putting you off with- ... out a very substantial reason. I'll see yon to-morrow. I must go now!" •• Tlte next minute Mr. Darton was out Cr of the office. Coulton sank back in his > n'hfiir wondering if he would be expected , tv. ict so excited as that when he had : • flute allied himself by marriage to the commercial classes. Apart from that, he could not quite «ee why Darton jshould bother himself. He was rich osough to be able to keep other people • to do Jlis rushing about for him; at least, so everybody had been given lo undeutand. This train of thought crept into his !.' lordship's not very acute brain and gave ■ r j s e to swv numlier of disquieting ' i doubts. What did Darton mean by havi./,;. ing to fight Jor his life? Was it likely ■2*? ' that his great fortune, which they said I had been made by a sudden turn of the £•- ' «*beel. was about to he as suddenly un- , ? ■: »nad£? You did hear a frightful lot of - ;J utorlen of that kind about these City | -npstarts, who are here to-day and gone : *&* ' "to-morrow. His lordship looked out into the hj% office beyond the glass t . dMre, where ali was confusion and turfnoil, and admitted to himself that he i"ifci't half like the locrk fit things at all. i ' T« about ten minutes Mr. Langley # . -turned. He was not very ; n

j, '(« salutation of the young man *4> / i.a<l so sltccossfully outrtvalled him, an> \, -all 1i« said was that Mr. Darton hai ■>• \cl lum to reply to any questioi ?' «■' Mt fh« business that his lordshi) * might wl* to ask'. As his lordship' 8? "deas of business were of the vaguest & lie was rather at a loss as to where t< & "heein Ins questionings. As, however, hi ? felt it was due to himself to learn ( ,f little more of Uie business «f the mai whose lUutfMcr he. had thought o; !& Troprvinj, he ventured on a brief qucs WT fion or so « "Of cour-e, vou know, Mr. Langley.' Ijl Ire raid with nn affable smtte, "I don'l t"" Jrnow wrv much about this eort oi «.-"- ihrag But Mr. Darton was so «n----i - ■tuwallv excited that I couldn't help *-" -Hunting something must be up—what J l, *i JV "Something is un." said langley quiet- * lr "Wheat is selling at twentv-flve todav A w«A ago we were dealing in it .at fifty." * "I'm afraid f don't auite follow you, don't *ou know.' (mid his lordship. \ - -wriHifa* a little under the direct phrases ,' tif the fxmrt '1 don't oirite s'ee what there is to set so excited about, now. !" "What do you mean bv twenty-five Mid ~ fiftv- and all tli it sort of thine?" 1 "To put it Tfriefly," replied Lsneloy, { "-a large number td operators nitre beet) K lnvina wheat at fiftr iWHin»s « bushH. |jl» If rhev want to sell to-da* thev enn §£ «nli set ♦wentr-«v* ahillhes a bushel £.', '„ for 't Jlanv people will lie very lisfd %dft ' "Oh I see,"" replied his lordshio. who W&sf fancied he had now got a complete f&gg' jrasp of the situation, "And your

' peoye lusre have been dealing pretty 1 ueavily iu ivheat lately—'WJiat)' "Very fteavily, uueed," said Lau^leyHis lordship rude, smiling more aiuuiy than ever, .tie had discovered the cause oi .Uaiiou's excuemenc, ihrough ms nuud theie rail a pdobiem lo liiu effect ihat it you lost twenty-nve aliiuiiigs out ot every iiity, now rnucn would. you luae oil a couple oi Hundred tiiousand puuuds. Ami tiiougli he aid not leel to working uu* sum out at length lor tne moment, lie was batisiied mat such a loss would make an appreciable duicveiice m tUe lortuae oi even a ncli niau liKe Darton. lie anook hands wiui ley and said tnat lie wua very gnueim to Air. Dartou tor havmg given mm we opportunity oi neainig a o clear an explanation of the position oi iiiiairs, w-Wch had been mo&c interesting. JLeaviug the City, Lord Coulion journeyed to the West End, and luncUed at : his club. After lunch, he sat suioKiug a cigarette and thinking over his poii- < tion. Xnen a man he knew got up iroin behind an eveniug paper ana came and 1 spoke to him. "Have you seen .the papers, Coulton?" ! be &sked. "Panic in tire wheat market, : begadl I was lucky to clear out wiien ! 1 aid. I hope you're not in it." "Uot no money to play with, dear old chap," replied Coulton with a laugu. "But I've jubt leu a man in the Uiy < who is up to iiis eyes in it. lou must have neard of Dartou—Jacob Dartou?"

"Rather!" replied the other. '\l don't know uiuc-li about Lhese .tilings, but I've beard oi him. X was told to buy the stuff at tuty because it wouid go to fifty-five, instead of which, it came down. I got out at forty-live, and everybody said 1 was jolly lucky. As it was, 1 lost a cool three thousand ovor it. If your man Darton did the same thing he'd have done it on a big scale, and he must be feeling pretty bad at the panic. I'm told it's expected that the price will go down to twenty shillings before settling-day." "Yes," said Coulton. "I thought old Darton was looking pretty bad. lie was rushing about all over the shop to-day, and couldn't even spare time for lunch. I'm sorry for him; but of course if you lake chances you mustn't grumble if the game goes against you sometimes." The position had now become a rather delicate one for Coulton. He could clearly not go on with his proposed engagement, and he rather hugged himself at the reflection that he had gone no further with the matter. He could write a polite note and kay that he had been suddenly called abroad, and he would be well out of a bad bargain. He was still thinking over the matter when another man came in and said that the panic in the wheat market was worse, and that a man named Darton seemed to be more heavily involved than anybody, to judge from what the papers said. That decided Coulton to act at once. He went into the writing-room and penned a note full of conventional civilities, regretting at the same time that his long absence abroad would prevent him from aspiring to the hand oi Miss Muriel. Mr. Darton did not receive his lordship's letter till after dinner. He had come home in the best of humors, and had insisted on bringing Harold Langley with him. He had almost begun to regret the assiduity with which he had cultivated the acquaintance of this' young Lord Coulton, who after all was dismally unfit to manage a considerable amount of capital. Whereas young Langley had quite distinguished himself on the market that day, and after all the most desirable son-in-law for him would he one who knew how to keep the money that had been so laboriously mad«. And Harold Langley certainly was such a man.

Consequently, when Mr. Darton received his lordship's letter he was a good deal surprised, but by no means disappointed. He could assign no reason whatever for Lord Coulton's change of front; but there could be no mistaking the definite and decided terms of the young man's letter. And when Harold left the house thai night it was understood between all concerned that his engagement to Muriel would be announced at the earliest moment. A few days later Harold, waiting through Pall Mall, was surprised to meet Lord Coulton. "I suppose," said his lordship, "you're jolly glad the suspense is over at last—what? Your people must have come out of the* deal pretty badly, with wheat closing at twenty shillings." "Oh dear, n0,," laughed Harold. "We were bears'. The lower the price went, the more money we made." "Bears?" repeated his lordship. "I dont quite understand. You said you were dealing in wheat at fifty, and if the price came down to twenty you must have lost—what?" "Oh. I see," replied Harold. "You u'dn't understand that we were dealing as sellers—not buyers. We sold the wheal at fifty, and kept on selling what we liadh'* got till the price fell to forty. And then we waited and bought back at anything from twenty to thirty, and got our contract price of fifty to forty for it. Mr. Darton has cleared the beet part of a quarter of a million over the deal. Lord Coulton smiled feebly and he viva; very pleased indeed to hear it, although the yellow look on his face belied his words. And then he drifted sadly over to his club and wondered wn.-.t kind of i an idiot his friends would call him when they knew the truth.— By Arnold Golsworthy, in M.A,P.