The Young Wife CHAPTER 19.
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It was about three years from the time in which the incidents of the last chapter occurred, that Mr. Lawton stood musing one day at his desk, about two o'clock in the afternoon. His countenance wore a troubled aspect; and he seemed much disturbed in mind. The cause can be told in a few words. The commercial difficulties that commenced in 1840, continued year after year, until there was scarcely a business man in the country who was not more or less affected by it. Like all around him, Frank Lawton bent to the gale; though he still remained strong at the root. But a succession of heavy payments completely exhausted every resource; and with the last note in bank that was to fall due for two months, he found himself, at two o'clock, minus the required amount, in the sum of three hundred dollars. He had paid over ten thousand dollars in the preceding thirty days, and now, like the last pound, under which the overladen beast sinks to the earth — he found himself really staggering under the necessity of raising so trifling a sum.
All his business friends who would have gladly assisted him, had done so to the extent of their abilities, or, were themselves so cramped in their means, as to be unable to spare a single dollar. He had seen them nearly all during the morning. Of the thousand dollars which he was required to pay, he had seven hundred. But where to obtain the remaining portion, was more than he could tell. He was now waiting for the return of one of his clerks, who had been sent to a business friend, not before called upon, to see if the required sum could not be borrowed from him. The minutes hastened rapidly away, and it was well on to half-past two when the clerk returned.
"Did you see Mr. Dexter," inquired Lawton in an anxious tone, as his young man entered.
"Yes, sir."
"Well?"
"He says that you could have the money — if he had it. But that he has not a dollar left in the house after taking up three notes today."
Mr. Lawton compressed his lips hard, and took a deep inspiration at the answer which he had feared his clerk would bring. There was now no longer any hope of obtaining the required sum, except by resorting to an expedient to which he had not yet been driven; an expedient that he dreaded only less than a failure in business. For a single moment he hesitated. But a glance at the hurrying fingers on the clock determined him. Hastily opening his desk, he took from a large pocket-book, a note of hand, having thirty days to run. This he endorsed, with a hurried dash of the pen, as if he were engaged in a desperate act, to the performance of which he had nerved himself by the stern force of necessity. As he turned from his desk, a little boy, about ten years old, with a mild, sweet face, stood before him.
"Does Mr. Lawton live here?" inquired the boy, in tones musical and strangely familiar to the ear of Mr. Lawton.
"Yes, my little boy, that is my name."
The child then handed him a note, and turning, glided away before Mr. Lawton thought of detaining him.
Hastily breaking the seal, he was surprised to find that the note contained three one hundred dollar notes. These he quickly removed, glancing nervously at the clock as he did so, and placing them on the little package of seven hundred dollars that lay in his desk, handed the whole to his clerk, with the bank notice. The latter instantly hurried off to lift the note. He then proceeded to read the letter that enclosed so opportune a supply of funds. It ran thus:
"Mr. Lawton. My dear sir. Three years ago, you loaned a poor widow, in her extremity, two hundred and fifty dollars, with which to pay her rent, and save her furniture from being seized. That widow, by the aid of her children, under the blessing of Providence, is now in much more comfortable circumstances, and perfectly able to return, with interest, your kind benefaction. Receive, then, your own, with the blessing of the widow and orphan upon it. Yours truly, Jane Baillie."
The sudden reaction of feeling caused by so unexpected an event, occurring too, so opportunely, melted down the feelings of Mr. Lawton, and his eyes grew dim with moisture as he bowed his head upon the desk at which he stood, and. lifted his heart with an emotion of thankfulness to the Giver of all good.
It seems hardly necessary to tell the reader what must already have been inferred, that success had crowned the effort of Anne Baillie in setting up the millinery business, which she did, so soon as she had completed her trade. Josephine readily acquired a knowledge of the same art, and the two, with the aid and counsel of their mother, went to work in that earnest way that always meets success. In the course of a year or two, their business grew into importance, and when Mrs. Baillie returned Mr. Lawton the money he had loaned her, she was able to do so, notwithstanding the difficulties of the times, without at all feeling its loss.
THE END.
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