THE MERCHANT'S LUNCHEON.
By Frances Amory
A RICH merchant sat at the desk in his office, alone. He leaned back in his chair, and drew a long, hard breath, quite like a sigh; for he had been struggling all day with difficult business problems, and he was weary in body and mind. Some people think a rich man never has anything to do; but they little know how hard he often has to work, first to gain and then to keep his riches. It was long past the luncheon hour, and it suddenly occurred to this man that he was faint and hungry; yet he was not ready to leave his work, and was about to return to his calculations when he caught sight of a little brown package lying on a shelf near by. It was the package of luncheon which his little office boy brought with him every day, and to-day the boy, having been sent on some distant errand, had not yet had time to partake of it. The merchant arose from his seat, took down the package, and looked carefully at it. Just such packages had his own beloved mother tied up for him when he himself, a poor office boy, first began the career which had brought him to his present splendid position. Slowly he untied the string and opened the package. Two nice sandwiches of fresh homemade10bread, with a little cold meat between, a piece of old-fashioned-looking pie, and, O, a genuine New England doughnut! Tears rose to the eyes of the rich man as memory carried him back to the days of his boyhood, and to the loving deeds of that dear mother. Here was the very luncheon she had often prepared for him. And after a few moments he ate it up, every crumb, with far more enjoyment than an elaborate dinner would have given him, and then, refreshed and comforted, he returned to his work. Soon after, the belated boy came in, and, after reporting to his master, he was surprised to hear him say, “Have you had any luncheon to-day, my boy?” The boy replied in the negative, with a glance at the shelf, when the gentleman said, with a smile, “Yes, it is gone; I have eaten it up.” Then, handing the astonished boy a five-dollar bill, he said: “Go out now and get some luncheon; but I want to thank you for the best one I have had for many a long year. And don't you forget, my boy, to be thankful that you have something which I lost long ago, and that is, a good mother.”—Frances Amory, in the Independent.