N OLD man, his fel low lodgers would have called him. had they not long ceased to1 specu late u p o'n Elerr Julius Mayo's ac 1 1 ? 1 1 1 e 8 In yie three poorly f u r &.?hed rooms at the top of the old converted nansion on lower Second avenue. But he was not so old ? barely sixty, In fact. Still, time Is measured by * Its fullness* and the o I d German had lived through youth and maturity, marriage apd parent hood, bo that the future held nothing In store for him except what he had pat Into It; and of all life's riches he had held to one thing only after his wife had died. That waa his chemical researches Interest had attached Itself to him at lint because he was suspected ot being a counterfeiter. He had. in fact, been honored with a visit from the chief of detectives when he first took op his abode In the ramshackle old place five years before. But Hen Mayo had speedily convinced, his call er that he waa only a harmless crank, encaged on some obstruse and appar ently Insoluble problem. Bat the problem happened to t* omm toward whose solution a thousand brains were lust then concentrated tr se i ei ai hundred labui'atuites. ? It ?as.~ in fact, the manufacture of synthetic robber. To this end, which would mean fabulous wealth for the discov ?rer, Herr Mayo bent all his energies A tiny patrimony supported him mean while. Once he had been well-to-do. and had had friends; that was wheD he waa a lecturer at the Imperial uni versity of Bonn, and before his reck 1? a marriage with a uuturious actress shocked and scandalised the purlUnl oal society ? but why should he be recalling this sow, aa he bent over his teat tubee and welched oat Imper ceptible quantities 01 compounds from his tiny measuring scales? That was Herr Mayo's one chivalrous act, and he had paid In honor and wealth and friends when he planged into the irretrievable because love proved stronger than prudence. And they had alwaya been happ^ until she died, five years before,, though often the lean hanger wolf howled against the threshold. But then there was their child, Ida, and she, too. had become a memory, and nothing remained (ex cept the bubbling test tube and the spreading color beneath the surface layer of gold. . The old German shook his memories away and smiled at the changing lipoid. What waa paat was past,' but there waa always the future, and juat Why Am I Thinking of Minna Tonight! M* he felt Tery mn that ha waa oa tha track of hla discovery Than boa N and waalth would be hla; 0m? la a million times tha seeker at aynthatic compounds may hit npon hla gaal chance. But almoet uni ?anally it u a proceae of elimination, at aBdlaaa'worklnc round and round toward Afe'OttJMtlTe point whl?h taami to WMil tha mora elualvely aa on approaahaa tt Nina hundred and (or ty formulae ka had written down to microscopic figures upon a large fold ed sheet of paper, and these were com pounds of but a single form of carbon. Of these seven and twenty were the most promising^ and he had grouped them together. "Nqw why am I thinking of Minna tonight?" growled the old man impa tiently. rising and pushing back the damp hair frohi his furrowed forehead. But he was not thinking of Mbna, except Indirectly. He was thinking of Ida. their daughter. It was five year* since hia wife had died, and almost upon the first anniversary of her death he had driven his daughter from his home when in her agony and despair she confessed to him that she had sul lied the name she bore. She had mar ried secretly a worthless fellow who. it turned out, had a wife living. He had died since, but he could not forget the stigtna. The Mayos had been of the old Junker families, who had held honorable records in Kast Ifussla. He, - Julius, had lost caste when he mar ried the actress, but that, at least, was a legitimate union. And now, hi? daughter's involuntary offense would banish them both forever should he return with his discovery, to seek Boclal recognition In his native land The years qt ostracism and loneliness, to be-redeemed at the end by this tri umph, had made the old man very bit ter. When Ida left him the last link that bound him to humanity seemed to have snapped. He often told himself that he was glad she was gone. He had put the very thought of her away ; It should not rise up now. A tapping sounded at the door, and he roSfe up wearily to open it Outside stood the postman. H? was very late because it was the holiday season and his mail was large. The old man gave him a small weekly sum to bring his letters to his apartment instead of leaving them In the box beneath. His correspondence was too precious, just now, to trust to the mercies of those easily opened boxes., One letter that He Tore the Papers Into 20 Strips. went astray might throw him back a week in his researches, and others -were. pn_ the track, eager to antici pate him in His" discovery? ? took-] a thin envelope from the I postman, glancing at it indifferently. No, this was not from the chemical works Well, doubtless that one would arrive on the morrow. He voiced the hope unconsciously. "Why, professor, there's no delivery tomorrow," said the letter carrier, xtreertully. ? "Don't you know what night this is? This is Christmas Eve." Christmas Eve! OootH- That would mean less traffic in the street beneath his window to disturb him the next day. But stay! That meant a post ponemcnt in the letter's arrival. He grumbled something at the letter car rier, who went down the uncarpeted stairs, shaking his head at the strange ness of Eome people in not knowing when Christmas Eve came. But doubt less he had no friends to keep the date In his memory, poor old fellow! Heir Mayo looked at the letter again and hiB face paled. His heart began to drum In his ears, and he cast It down on a table and sank into a chair, passing his hand wearily across his forehead. The letter was from hlr daughter. After awhile he found courage tc -ypon it, and, when he had read the first line, he read it all, swallowing hard In his throat. "Dearest Father" (R ran): "Don't think that I am writing1 to you tonight to beg your aid. But It is Just five years since mother died, and a little more than four since I last saw yoA, and J cannot keep silence any logger. I want to tell you that a little boy wag J}qi;n tie 1b ail th? hfrppy. I teach him to mention you in his prayers. We do not. want money, for I can support him, and I would work my fingpri \ lln ln'fn1 fnl " But i want hlnn tn fans ? n you not forget all the paBt and let me bring or send him to you, for mother's sake, *o that he may grow up to feel that I am not the only relative he has on earth? He Is named Julius, after you, and he ha? flaxen curls all over his shoulders He la the dearest thing In the world to me." The address given was quite near where tf err Mayo lived. No doubt his daughter bad often passed hie house, perhaps sho Had seen him sometimes when, pondering over his problem, be PAfied'^tb? sti^ets. a curious, ahabb? figure, in '.hat busy mart of men. H err Ukyo ralsod his head and set the letter down wfih trembling fln He was not by natnre a hart man; his marriage had proved that But he had made his choice for oate and for all. He looked toward the i teat tube on the table. The golden j liquid was slowly cooling into brown. And he knew that that lay betweea them as surely as though each gleam ing bubble on It were miser's gold. His past should never rise up *jo dis turb him now. it was to as*ua?e his grief and disappointment at first that he had turned toward hla researches. Now the hobby had become a tyrant, and he had sold his sotfPlnto its keep ing. His choice was matfe. He tore the paper, into twenty strips and flung them Into the blazing store. He had but glanced at the address, and al ready It had vanished from his mind Now there was no turning back, thbugh his daughter's words scorched his soul as the paper was scorching in the fire. He turned to his work again. But he could work no longer. Phantom* of his past rose up to reproach him. There was his wife, Minna, looking at him with her steady eyes; he had never refused her anything, and he knew that, were s^e alive, he could not have treated her daughter as he had done. And the liquid In the tube was brown, burned out gold that hsd lost Its power to charm him. He stopped and listened. Somewhere up the street the Christmas bells were calling worshipers to church. So they had called him once, long ago, In Ger many. when he was a lad with the' world before him and filled with the zest of life. The remembrances of his early days surged over him like a lava flood. He could stay no longer In that big. empty room, and, clapping on his hat over his gray locks, he rushed wildly down the stairs and out Into the street. A steady stream of persons was traveling In one dtrectlon, and he fell in with them perforce because he did not want to battle his way along the curb against them. Presently the stream began to pour Into a church, carrying him with It Herr Mayo did not know what denomination of church It was, and he might not have known had his wlta been alert, so long it w^s since he had been Inside one. But as he sat among the worship ers, hearing the organ peal and the words of eternal hope and mercy, something seemed to burst Inside his shriveled old heart and the warm tides of pity and love leaped througn the barriers that he had upreared against them. In that moment he knew that he was the worst of sinners; he had | set tip his pride, a cruel Idol In hie heart, ai^d pulled down the Christ; ind the Idol waa broken and only the tragical figure of the Son of God re mained. . - - Children's voices were singing, up raised In sweet, clear carols of praise He raised his head, the miserable old man, and listened. Why, that was ft hymn that he had learned In Prussia when he was a boy. And the old faitr remained for each generation, here too, across the wide Atlantic, and onlj he wjb shut nft munion. He thought of Minna; her heart had been always his, and she had been quite true to him, Jin spite of the stories people told about her pasi and they had stood before the minister * In just such a church,-, with ruin be fore them, and knew only the Joy ir Jielr own souls. Then suddenly through the gloom, and right -acrosi - I the church, he u? Minna a gtln. H?f | face was aa it had been on that day i of their marriage, iurroubded with a ! halo of yellow hair; botwhen h? I rose, staring, and law the #Jnan stir, he knew that it was not flflnna, but his daughter Ida. In that moment be wanted nothing so much as to enfold her In his arms, to lay hlfli gray head upon her bosom | "You Are Looking for Somebody, SlrP* He priced. and sob out hit w'rot chednps* there. Minna lived In her again, tor mother | hood bad wrought a miracle ot> the pale, listless girl, who had cringed be j (ore hit anger (our years before and at ? last gone sullenly from hla home, pen j nlless, Into the darkness. But she had not seen him, nor would ? she. Mayo saw now the cause ot that maternal light in her eyes, bright : with the lore that he had denied her. They were bent upon a tittle, yellow haired boy who ^t restless beside her, Odgettlng, aa boys will fidget In church. And the boy, In turn, waa a replica ot Ida's Infancy. He must take her home. They would be all to one another, the three of them. His heart yearned oyer these two generations of his own flesh and blood. And when the service ended, he rose eagerly to cross to where they were seated. But the people, moving out ot their pews Into the aisle, ob structed his ps.ssage, and he was com pelled to makti a circuitous detour In order to reach hla objective. He saw her, lost her; and at last, when he reached the pew where she had sat. Ida wan gone ? Ha hnnied frantically hither and thither. The church was empty now; an d yet it seemed Incredi ble that he had lost her (or ever. Somebody touc bed him on the arm. A clergyman in a long black gown waa speaking to hlra "You are looking (or aomebody, sir?" he asked kindly. "My daughter, " the old man mum ? bled. - "She must t ave gone home. KB doubt you wfll find her at home i There la no bod) here." J The old man turMd and ftecar Santa Claus Was Good To Her ktumbllnf homeward through th? thin nine street crowda. Once he b?d gained the atreet- which led to hla house he began running like a mad man. Truly It mutt be as the clergy man had aaJd. Ida *a? at home, o I course, with her little boy. She had never left him; all that had been a bad dream from which he would awake when he entered. He let him self In and switched on Ike electric light. The room waa empty and al most bare, and It had neTer looked ao forlorn and mlaerable before. He realised that she waa loet to hUn forever. She would accept Me alienee aa final; she would never write to him again. And her address had vanished from hie memory utterly. He had barely glanced at it once and purposely refrained from looking at It again before he tore the letter Into fragments and flung them Into the atove. He had choaea his mlaer'a gold, and It lay like a dead weight upon hla I heart. _ hu "Cr*P ?f p*lwr on "aw caught hl" ?>:?' He picked it up; It ?* In- This waa Ma day: T w,hrl,tm" Et