FAIRY GODFATHER.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIX, Issue IX, 21 August 1897, Page 287

FAIRY GODFATHER.

One of the odd occurrences wbicfi we call improbable when we meet them in books, but which are every day coming to light, was related not long ago by the" Neue Wiener Tagolatt. Two gentleman, one an American and the other a Viennese, met at an Austrian wateringplace, and after a short but delightful acquaintance, the Viennese discovered that the American, who had given his name as H , was a banker.

• Are you then the head of the house of H in New York ?’ he asked in surprise and interest. ‘ I am.’

‘ How very strange !’ ‘ Why strange ?’ inquired Mr H . ‘ I cannot give you a satisfactory reply without telling you a sad story,’ was the answer, and he went on to relate the following incident. Two years before a charming girl who was under his guardianship had married a man who had at once set up in business on his wife’s capital, and had then become bankrupt. The next step was his disappearance, and so discouraged had he been over his ruined hopes that everyone believed him to have committed suicide. Within a few months, however, his sorrowing wife had received a letter from him written from a town in one of the Western States of America. He begged her to forgive him for leaving her, and promised to send for her as soon as fortune should once more favour him.

Letters continued to come, now from one city and now from another, until he wrote from New York, saying that he was in the banking house of H , at a salary too small to allow him to send for her, though if industry and perseverance could advance his interests, she should not have long to wait. ‘ And now,’ said the Viennese, ‘ do you know a clerk of yours named P ?’ ‘ No,’ was the reply. ‘ I left home months ago. But your story is so interesting that we ought, if possible, to spell out the sequel. I will cable home this minute.’ ' Have we clerk P in our service ?’ ran the message, and the next day came the answer : • Yes.’ ‘ What salary ?’ ran the next message. ‘ls he satisfac-

tory ? The reply to this was a condensed certificate of character of which any clerk might be proud, with the additional information that P ’s exceptional virtues were paid for at the rate of £l5 a month. ‘ P promoted,’ cabled Mr H . ‘ Quadruple his salary. ’ A day later the forlorn young wife in Vienna received a message from her husband, delightedly hinting at good fortune and urging her to come to him at once. Mr H of course heard the news, and no doubt congratulated himself on his ability to play fairy godfather at the right moment.