4 ACORN "Yes, that's who I am." "Well, then," she said, "if you are Ivan Randall, I suppose you will not need me, for you can do as you please here." "Can I, Peggy? Then I will ask you to sit beside me here and talk. How old are you?" "I am twelve years old and I am Mrs. Randall's little girl now. She is the only mother I have in the whole world." "Then she told him her sad story." "That is indeed a pathetic life for such a little girl, but tell me, Peggy, why you did not think I could be Ivan Randall?" "Because you look like a boy that would love his mother." "Well, I do love my mother, Peggy." "Oh, no, you don't or you would not leave her. If I had a mother, a very own mother, I would never leave her. I should be so happy that I would not want anything else." "Child, do you love my mother?" "Oh, yes, very dearly." "Then you must love me, too, for I want to be your brother. We will live here and make our mother happy. I think I should enjoy home more with a sister to tease." How happy the little family circle became once more. For two long, happy years the Randalls did not have a shadow to darken their lives. Ivan and Margaret wandered together gathering wild flowers and listening to the music of the birds. She brought him. closer to nature by her pure thoughts and thus closer to God. He wondered how he had lived without this new found joy before he had found a sister. They talked of flowers and he told her the names of all she did not know. They chose the white carnation as an emblem of the regard they had in each other. Such unclouded pleasures could not go on long. At the end of two years Ivan, then twenty, again took up his wayward life. They pleaded with him to stay at home, but he again left. They occasionally received a letter from him, each time from a different place. Margaret, who had learned to love her new brother, became very unhappy and lonesome. She often wrote, pleading letters to him, but to no avail. About four years after Randall had left home, his mother, who had been failing in health, became seriously ill. Margaret was very ACORN 5 much alarmed. She wrote a letter to Ivan, but it returned soon after. She tried hard to comfort Mrs. Randall, but all she would say was, "I want my boy, I must see him again." Margaret wrote again this time, enclosing a white carnation. This letter did not return and she hoped that he had received it. Still he did not return and his mother's illness increased. Weeks passed and at last Mrs. Randall's eyes were closed in the last sleep. When Margaret found that her dear friends had been taken from her, her grief was almost unbearable. On the morning of the funeral she stood at the gate, her head bowed on her arm and a white carnation at her belt. She was no longer a child. She did not hear footsteps behind her or know that anyone was near until a strong arm was about her and a familiar voice said brokenly, "Margaret our mother." Together they entered the house, and silently looked upon the face that was so dear to them. Ivan slowly took the white carnation from Margaret's belt and laid it on his mother's breast. "Margaret," said Ivan softly, "I suppose I have clone things that have deeply grieved mother. I am truly sorry. But with all my sorrow I am happy. Don't you understand? I love you, Margaret. 1 know mother would be pleased if she knew it. Am I wrong in supposing I am loved in return?" He took her hand. "Let us go to your father, Ivan." C. R., '15. Hunting A Job Having been employed by the Western Union Telegraph Co. at home, I naturally turned to them for employment when I had decided to remain in Chicago for a while. Therefore, armed with a letter of recommendation from Mr. Fisher, I confidently entered the private office of Supt. Tubbs. He read my letter and referred me to Mr. Chapman, manager of the bookkeeping department. Mr. Chapman in turn read the yellow sheet, but shook his head, saying, "Your recommendations are excellent, but you have held too good a position to enter our department. We could only offer you about half the salary you are worth, and it wouldn't pay us