A Collection of the Best Orations, Poems, Volume VII INCLUDING NUMBERS TWENTY-FIVE, TWENTY-SIX, TWENTY-SEVEN AND Edited by PAUL M. PEARSON, Editor of Intercollegiate Debates and The Humorous Volume VII., Number 25 The Better Treasure* BY MARY RAYMOND SHIPMAN ANDREWS. The Better Treasure belongs to that class of books which might be termed disseminators of good cheer. It concerns a man who is saved from failure and despair, and induced to believe in himself again. HERE was not the ghost of a reason why the 1.05 local from Barchester should be two hours late on Christmas night. The handful of passengers at Blenheim Junction wandered aimlessly, afraid to go away lest the belated train should make up time. Among the shifting human atoms were three individuals, the parson-black of clothes, pallid, yet strong of faceand his friend, a prosperous business man by the look of him, and another, a solitary individual. The last was young, but his face was lined with unhappiness; his coat collar was up and his hat brim down, his clothes were shabby. He dropped into a bench and drew out a letter. The thin envelope fell open as if read often before. "Dear Carl," the writing ran, "I saw Peterson two days ago, and he told me you were playing in bad luck. There's an opening out here in my business for a person who knows several languages, and you came to my mind. Would you care to take it? You would have to put up a thousand or two, and that, beyond traveling expenses to Hong Kong, would be all the money necessary. There's the certainty of a fresh start in life with every chance of a solid career. I repeat that I want you, and that I hope you may care to come." "Care to come!" The man flapped the paper with a gesture of despair, and at the second, the station door *By special permission of The Bobbs-Merrill Co. Adapted by Theodora Ursula Irvine. |