Show or MA M A M A N by MAE FOSTER JAY service by W A wild oo on PREFACE I 1 once upon a time there was a little pine tree which did not like its green needles 1 I wish I 1 had gold leaves I 1 it cried that night a fairy passed through the forest and in the morning the little pine tree had leaves all of shining gold it was very beautiful and it was very happy until a robber came by and stole every leaf then the little pine tree cried 1 HI I wish I 1 had glass leav leaves esl I 1 again that night the fairy passed throng through gb the forest and in the morning the little tree had bad leaves of sparkling glass it was very beautiful and apin again it was very happy until a storm passed by and left every leaf shattered upon the ground 1 I wish I 1 had big b green leaves like those of the other trees 1 the 11 little pine tree cried then once more the fairy passed through the forest in the night and in the morning the little tree had broad green leaves like those of its neighbor trees once more it was very beautiful and ana once more it was very happy until a goat and her kids came by and ate every leaf on the low little pine tree and then the little pine tree cried 1 I 1 wish n asli I 1 bad my own ion long green needles again 1 that night the fairy passed through the forest again and in the moral morning ng the little pine tree once apin again was covered with long green needles it was very beautiful and it was very happy for the birds alighted upon it joyously crying now we can build our nests here you will hide them in summer and in the winter you will keep us anu snug and warm carml I 1 after all said the little pine tree no other leaves are so good for me as my own long iong green needles adapted from an old german legend CHAPTER I 1 the gold ball and chain mary blary brown selected one of the stiver forks beside her plate and deftly speared a slice of bread from the tray across the table david brown multimillionaire multi millionaire president of the peerless copper company stood the shock rather well having had considerable experience in confronting the unexpected in ba big business a and nd in his youngest child calmly choosing a bit of red tomato from his salad he commented you turn the trick rather neatly for a novice thanks father mary alary lifted truculent blue eyes to his amused but questioning ones 1 I wanted to see if I 1 had forgotten but I 1 think exactly the way I 1 have seen it done in your mining camps however I 1 must acquire ease youre expecting to need outpost et etiquette quette 1 I might she told him meagerly but david brown very well knew that this was just a dramatic forerunner to an outburst that would come co me later mary blary always intense eager determined was especially surcharged surcharge today for some reason she had bad a grievance against life he be smiled ruefully as he followed d her to the drawing room later she was a tall girl straight bt as a mast wiry hard and firm of muscle yet very feminine in general appearance unusually dark brows and lashes added character to the delicately chiseled features of her face today she had been graduated from a large eastern university in that profession which overcomes natures forces with a slide rule and a table of logarithms mary brown had been the only girl graduate from the school of civil engineering and she had received highest honors in tier her class and still something was seriously wrong with her world the butler served the coffee hardly had he withdrawn when the predicted deleted outburst came money bloney I 1 she cried what is it and scornfully she answered her own question shackles 1 david brown seated himself narrowing friendly brown eyes as he be smiled money aloney shackles with one hundred and twenty millions of people in our CO country scrambling over each other to get it lecause he because cause they dont know its just jur t a ball and chain 1 but I 1 dol im through with it dad I 1 wash my hands of it all my life ive been hurt by bv it hurt daughter a little In incredulously ile he had striven to make his money furnish his children an ideal idea background for happiness mary moved restlessly toward the fire and stood there a moment fair head defensively when I 1 was in second grade she wheeled suddenly to say 1 I won a prize for keeping the tiniest tidiest desk for a semester the girl behind me cried because she win it so I 1 gave it to her and at recess I 1 heard one teacher remark to another sweet of mary it but of course it was no sacrifice for her her father can buy her anything she wants but dad daal I 1 I 1 would rather have had that particular copy of sara crewe than a whole library I 1 earned I 1 of course all through elementary school it was the same I 1 worked hard I 1 excelled in my clas classes seA I 1 skipped two grades what credit did I 1 get this t 4 7 W N 1 money shackles she ought to do well her fat fathers tiers the rich david brown you know 1 my aly fathers fat tiers money has been given credit for every meritorious thing I 1 ever did probably people said I 1 cut my first firs tooth early because my male parent was the rich david brown 1 today and her lips were not steady today as I 1 moved to in 11 line D e with the rest of my class to receive our diplomas I 1 overheard a comment the daughter of the rich david brown site she received first honors money talks all right it I 1 saw an answering shrug what people think I 1 that ive got of my honors through pull I 1 through money money I 1 and daal you know ive I 1 ve worked for them like a slave 1 I know I 1 know daughter ills his hand patted her restless one rem ue ile could see her a bundle of energy accomplishing a four year course in three in khaki shirt and corduroy breeches and putts out in the field a transit flung across her shoulder arising at two in the morning to shoot polaris Polar ls or in the language of the layman to establish true north and south by the position of the stars he could see her during sum mer iner vacations a member of survey parties on his own mining properties out for experience under the scorching southwest sun of course there had been no royal road to these achievements but the general public did not recognize that why bump your pretty head against the stone wall of tradition girl popular opinion always has had bad us always will have us the idle rich popular opinion I 1 why my own sisters think my ambition Is just a pose which ill soon toss up eve and dlane diane are leading the conventional lives of what we call our set sel happily but daal I 1 be satisfied with bridge and teas clubs and clothes and charities I 1 was born different why argue about it her father laughed that was obvious even in your cradle we call you plain mary alary while we gave the other girls the more decorative names of eve and diane but let us get back to the point where we started just what of anything has the spearing of bread to do with your having been hurt by money all your life mutiny grew in marys eyes 1 I charge money with making success on ones own merits almost impossible A rich person never Is bakel seriously I 1 dont believe the poor girl or boy has half the obstacles to overcome that a rich one has every one Is for the poor one but the ambitious rich one is simply amusing amusin so with an eloquent gesture 1 I wash my hands bands of the money dad the spearing act he reasoned was a declaration ecla ration of independence of sorts yes I 1 even wash my hands of the breeding if that is necessary and it may be an uncouth person learning manners is hero stuff you know but a cultured person coming into an outpost is a laugh a tenderfoot a victim for blanket tossing what im trying to get over to you dad Is that im starting at the bottom on my own and worked working 0 my way up starting with just en enough ough money in my pockets to last until my first pay day has it occurred to you thoughtfully that with the sizable fortune your mother left you you could develop a project of your own an engineer is rated by the projects upon which he has been chief they are his stepping stones one by one to prominence the point what credit would I 1 get for success if I 1 used mothers money for backing and what will you do with your negligible degli able million millio nill she shrugged 1 I cant be bothered by it youre my guardian dispose of it for me suddenly her eyes softened and she leaned over to rest her hands on her fat fathers tiers shoulders there a day dad that you dont have hundreds of requests for money the world never dreams that the greatest L kick ick you get out of being a multimillionaire multi millionaire Is that you can afford to be an Ideall idealist sL well be an idealist with my money I 1 be an idealist extraordinary 1 choose the person with the wildest dream imaginable and give him the morley money to try to make it come true TO BE CONTINUED |