He had been with me a little over two years and during that time his share of the profits had returned him the three thousand dollars he had invested and in addition paid him what would have been a good salary for the services rendered.

As he was unmarried and lived with his parents, paying no board, a very small business would give him an income sufficient for his requirements, and apparently he was contented to let matters go on as they were.

What might be considered easy times for him with no responsibilities, was for me, with a wife and two children, parents and two sisters, to provide for, an impossible proposition.

Something had to be done to change the status.

I waited until the first of September in hopes of some sign of better times, but business looked worse rather than better, and I decided to make him an offer for his interest. I thought best to put this in writing, and while doing so went fully into our affairs and endeavored to show him how impossible it was for me to go on any longer under existing conditions. Incidentally I emphasized the fact that after more than two years' experience he was still unable to accomplish anything that could not be done by a clerk.

Then I made him an offer of two thousand dollars to be paid in monthly instalments of fifty dollars each, without interest, the first payment to be made in January. For these payments I offered him my notes.

I had written this on Sat.u.r.day morning, and having finished while he was at luncheon, laid it on his desk and took my usual train home, which gave him an opportunity to think the matter over until Monday.

When we met on Monday morning I was not surprised to find him in a bad temper.

He said at once that he declined my offer, and having paid his money to come into the concern he proposed to stay.

I told him I was sorry I could not see my way clear to make any better offer and it was that or nothing. If he would not accept it, then the only alternative was for me to step out and leave him the business.

This suggestion startled him. He knew he could not carry on the business without me.

After going to his father's office for consultation he returned and said he had decided to accept my offer. "As to those notes,"

he said, "you may give them to me if you like, but I don't suppose you will ever pay them."

We terminated our partnership that day, but I continued the business under the same style, W. E. Stowe & Co., complying with the legal requirements governing such action.

While Allis was my partner, on more than one occasion, when we were discussing the wretched state of business, he would call himself a "Jonah," and in the light of later developments it really looked as if such was the fact.

When we separated, unquestionably the outlook was most gloomy.

I could not see a ray of light ahead, and without the constant encouragement of my wife, who always insisted that brighter days were in store for us, I might have given up the ship.

Before I had been alone a month an improvement was perceptible, in another month it was more decided, and by the end of the year there was no longer any doubt that an era of good times was approaching.

Those notes for two thousand dollars given Allis, and which he thought I would never pay, carried no interest. There was no reason I should antic.i.p.ate the payments if I did not wish to. Probably he would have been glad to have me discount them. I had forty months in which to pay them. I paid them all in full within six months.

I thought he would appreciate my doing so. Quite the contrary.

Of course my prepayment so far in advance of maturity was evidence of my prosperity.

He, in his small soul, could not but believe I knew this prosperity was coming and had forced him out of the firm, just in advance of its arrival. I met him in the street frequently and noticed the change in his manner. A few weeks later he did not return my bow and we have since been strangers.

When I heard shortly after of his engagement to the little French girl, I concluded that his envy of my success and her prejudice for my share in the temporary cessation of his intimacy with her had cost me a friend. And yet it surely was through no fault of mine.

CHAPTER XI

A YEAR OF SUNSHINE

The year 1878 was to me a memorable one.

The improvement in business the previous year had been sufficient to enable me to pay my indebtedness to Allis, meet all my current expenses, and enter the new year with a good balance in bank.

My health had become entirely restored, and with mind free from worry life was indeed well worth the living. The home life, happy under adverse circ.u.mstances, was of course made more enjoyable by my improved financial condition.

The little rivulet of prosperity of 1877 broadened in 1878 to a stream, small at first, but ever widening and leading on to the sea.

On the second of July there was born to us our first daughter.

My wife and myself were delighted with this latest arrival from love-land. We had looked forward with fond antic.i.p.ation to the event, and our hearts' desire was that a daughter should be added to the family circle. The blessing had come to us and we were grateful.

What shall I say of the mother of that little daughter?

What can I say that would do justice to her love and devotion?

It is said "there is no love like a mother's love." True, but with all reverence to my own sainted mother, there is another love that has come to me, the love of a wife for her husband, that I cannot but maintain is the greatest of all.

How completely that little baby girl ruled the household was soon in evidence. For the time being she was queen and we her loyal subjects, anxious to do her honor. The little brothers were more than pleased to have a sister and rivaled each other in their efforts to entertain her.

The mother was proud of her girl and I--well, to tell the truth, I was deeply in love with the entire family.

Our lease of the place had expired in April but I arranged to keep it until the first of October.

We felt warranted, in our improved circ.u.mstances, in seeking a better home, amidst refined surroundings, and had concluded to make a change in the fall. We did not want to give up country life. My wife and I enjoyed it and we knew it was best for the children.

Our desire was for a house with modern conveniences, neighbors, pleasant, cultured people whose society we could enjoy.

On my trips to and from the city I had observed from the car window a section of country not far from where we were then residing, and as the few houses I could see were modern, the elevation high and beautifully wooded, we thought it worth while to investigate.

With my wife I drove there one afternoon and we were both surprised and delighted at what we saw.

A gentleman of wealth had purchased many hundreds of acres of land, and after building for himself a handsome home had commenced development of the property for residences of the better cla.s.s.

There was nothing of the cheap real estate scheme about the place.

The owner would sell or rent only to such people as he deemed desirable.

Although the water supply and sewerage system had been established, miles of roads built, a handsome railroad station erected, and a large Casino in course of erection, there were at that time but six houses completed.

Knollwood was to be a park, and as a unique feature no two houses were to be alike. How successful it has been is shown by the fact that to-day there is no more beautiful or flourishing residence park in the vicinity of New York.

As a result of our visit to the property, an arrangement was made for a house to be built for us on a lease of three years, and we were permitted to select the plans of the house, its site, and the interior decorations. Work was to commence at once and possession given us in April, 1879.

Not wishing to spend another winter where we were, we returned to Brooklyn and remained with my parents until the new house was completed.

When we commenced our packing preparatory to leaving the little farm, as we called it, there was a feeling akin to homesickness.

We had been very happy and great blessings had come to us while there. The dear little baby girl, my health, prosperity in worldly affairs--all this and the thought of how the place had been a sort of lovers' retreat, where I had my wife all to myself most of the time, made the homely old farm-house seem something sacred.