NATHAN MIDDLETON,
Insurance Agent.
Some people might object to turning even a part of their dwellings into a business office, but then it saved rent, and Mr. Middleton was one of the saving kind. He had always been saving from the first time he received a penny at the mature age of five, and triumphing over the delusive pleasures of an investment in candy, put it in a tin savings-bank to the present moment. He didn’t marry until the age of forty, not having dared to undertake the expense of maintaining two persons. At that time, however, he fortunately encountered a maiden lady of about his own age, whose habits were equally economical, who possessed the sum of four thousand dollars. After a calculation of some length he concluded that it would be for his pecuniary benefit to marry. He proposed, was accepted, and in due time Miss Corinthia Carver became Mrs. Nathan Middleton.
Their married life had lasted eight years, when they very unexpectedly became the custodian of my hero.
One day Mr. Middleton sat in his office, drawing up an application for insurance, when a stranger entered.
“Wants to insure his life, I hope,” thought Nathan, in the hope of a commission.
“Take a chair, sir. What can I do for you?” he asked urbanely. “Have you been thinking of insuring your life? I represent some of the best companies in the country.”
“That isn’t my business,” said the visitor decisively.
Nathan looked disappointed, and waited for the business to be announced.
“You had a school-mate named Stephen Temple, did you not, Mr. Middleton?”