The Romance and Tragedy | Page 6

her while she sat
there, and in tones trembling with the intensity of my feelings I poured
forth the old, old story. I told her of my love in such words as I could
command in my agitation.
Then, while my heart almost ceased beating, Miss Wilson told me in
the kindest possible manner of her appreciation of the offer and also of
her complete surprise. She said that while she esteemed me highly as a
friend and liked me personally very much, she had not thought of me as
a lover, and that she could not regard me in that light.
To say that I was crushed by the blow, kindly as it had fallen, does not
express my feelings. When, however, in reply to my question I learned
that there was no one else--that she was still heart free, I gained
courage; and when, before I had left her that evening, she had
consented to leave the matter open until some future time, my hopes of
ultimate success were very far from being destroyed.
CHAPTER III.

A CO-PARTNERSHIP DISSOLVED

Before Mr. Derham had landed in England my feeling of dislike for my
partner had increased materially.
His own business, which had been represented as worth at least five
hundred dollars per month to the firm, was, so far as I could see, largely
a myth.
He had a habit of arriving at the office at half-past ten or eleven o'clock,
and leaving at three. By frequent demands on his father-in-law he kept
himself in funds to provide for his extravagant living, and it seemed to
me his principal object in coming to the office at all was to meet
various fast-looking men who called there to see him.
To cap the climax, he had a half-patronizing, half-nagging way of
treating me that I simply could not put up with. I was doing all the
business, earning all the money that was made, and this man was
entitled to fifty per cent of the net results. I stood it for a few months,
meanwhile writing fully to Mr. Derham of the position in which I was
placed.
Finally, on the 10th of March, 1871 when I saw on Bulkley's desk a
note for a few hundred dollars, drawn to his own order and signed by
him with the firm's name, and in response to my inquiry as to the
meaning of it, he told me it was a little matter he was putting through
by a friend for his own accommodation, I cut the knot and insisted on a
dissolution of our co-partnership.
I had to pay him a small sum to get his consent, and though I had to
borrow the money to make the payment, I did so rather than have any
litigation, which he threatened.
It was with a feeling of immense relief that I went to the office the
following morning, knowing that I was rid of the leaden weight which
Mr. Derham had bound to me in an error of judgment, which he readily
admitted.

The sign was removed and in its place went up another bearing my
name only.
Although in the trade I enjoyed a fair measure of popularity, which is
the key-note to a broker's success, I found my youth a disadvantage
when it came to seeking important business.
The dealers hesitated to intrust me with the carrying out of large
contracts, while favoring me with the smaller orders. This was a great
trial and I could not but feel it an injustice. Still, there was nothing I
could do except to be grateful for the favors I received and strive in
every way to demonstrate my ability.
Another thing I had to fight against was the questionable methods of a
firm which was my principal competitor.
Naturally there was a very active effort made to get away from me the
old trade which Mr. Derham had held well in hand for many years. This
I had expected, but I did not count upon my competitor waiving
commissions whenever we came into a contest for business of any
importance.
This sort of competition I could not meet, not only as a matter of
principle based on the idea that "the laborer is worthy of his hire," but
because I could not afford to do business for nothing.
Despite the handicap of youth and unfair competition, I kept steadily at
work increasing the strength of my position where it was already
established, and striving to the utmost to get a foothold where I had not
yet secured it.
At the end of the year, when the books were balanced, I found that I
had made about twenty-five hundred dollars, as compared with twelve
thousand dollars made by Mr. Derham the year previous.
This