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diff --git a/30436-0.txt b/30436-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ae33ce1 --- /dev/null +++ b/30436-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13399 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30436 *** + +HOPE MILLS; + +OR, + +BETWEEN FRIEND AND SWEETHEART. + +BY + +AMANDA M. DOUGLAS, + +AUTHOR OF "FROM HAND TO MOUTH," "NELLY KINNARD'S KINGDOM," "IN TRUST," +&C., &C. + + "Abou spake more low, + But cheerly still; and said, 'I pray thee, then, + Write me as one that loves his fellow-men.'" + + LEIGH HUNT. + + + BOSTON: + LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS. + NEW YORK: + CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM. + + + + +THE DOUGLAS NOVELS. + + + OSBORNE OF ARROCHAR. + A MODERN ADAM AND EVE IN A GARDEN. + THE FORTUNES OF THE FARADAYS. + FOES OF HER HOUSEHOLD. + A WOMAN'S INHERITANCE. + CLAUDIA. + FLOYD GRANDON'S HONOR. + FROM HAND TO MOUTH. + HOME NOOK. + HOPE MILLS. + IN TRUST. + LOST IN A GREAT CITY. + NELLIE KINNARD'S KINGDOM. + OUT OF THE WRECK. + SEVEN DAUGHTERS. + STEPHEN DANE. + SYDNIE ADRIANCE. + THE OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A SHOE. + WHOM KATHIE MARRIED. + + * * * * * + + PRICE PER VOL., $1.50. + + * * * * * + + LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS, + BOSTON. + + + COPYRIGHT, 1879, + BY LEE AND SHEPARD. + + _All rights reserved._ + + + + + TO + + HON. MARCUS L. WARD, + + As a Tribute + + TO ONE WHO HAS HELD LOYALLY TO GOD AND HIS FELLOW-MEN, + WHO HAS LABORED IN THE NOBLE CAUSE OF HUMANITY, + NOT DISHEARTENED WHEN RESULTS WERE INFREQUENT, + BUT CONTENT TO REAP THE REWARD + IN THE GREAT HEREAFTER. + + + + +BETWEEN FRIEND AND SWEETHEART. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +"THERE is Fred again with his arm around Jack Darcy's neck. I declare, +they are worse than two romantic schoolgirls. I am so thankful Fred goes +away to-morrow for a year! and I do hope by that time he will have +outgrown that wretched, commonplace youth. Mother, it is very fortunate +that Jack is the sole scion of the Darcy line; for, if there were a +daughter, you would no doubt be called upon to receive her into the +bosom of the family." + +"Which I never should do," remarked quiet, aristocratic Mrs. Lawrence, +not even raising her eyes from her book. + +"Not for the sake of your only son?" continued Agatha, with an +irritating laugh. + +"Don't be silly, Agatha," returned the mother, with an indifference that +took off the point of the query. + +Her second sister glanced up from a bit of pencil-drawing, then lowered +her eyes to the street where the boy friends stood, one with his arm +over the other's shoulder. + +"Think of a Harvard graduate arm-in-arm with--well, a mill-hand! No +doubt Jack's father will put him in the mill. I cannot see any sense in +a boy of that class taking two years at the academy." + +On the opposite side of the room were two girls, hardly more than +children, busily engaged in ornamenting a box with transfer-pictures. +One had a rather haughty mien, as became a Lawrence; the other, pretty, +piquant little Sylvie Barry, looked toward the elders, knit her brow, +with both thought and indignation visible in its lines, and held her +picture absently in her hand. + +"Why do you listen to that?" asked Irene Lawrence disdainfully. "It is +only Jack Darcy, and he's nobody. His father works in the mill." + +"I know that!" was Sylvie's rather sharp retort, answering the latter +part of the sentence merely. Child as she was, she experienced a strong +desire to do battle, not only for Jack, but for some puzzling cause she +could not quite comprehend. With the blood of a French duke in her +veins, of soldiers and martyrs as well, she was a sturdy little +democrat. It seemed cowardly not to take up arms. + +"That butterfly is to go next," remarked Irene, reaching out for it; and +Sylvie held her peace, though she felt the warm blood burning in her +cheeks. + +Jack Darcy did not need any champion within doors; for Fred stood up +bravely against these three girls, and from them received his first +impression that women were small of soul and narrow of mind. As they +stood by the gate now, this last hour grudged to them, neither dreamed +that this was the final canto in the poem of boyhood. They had been fast +friends since the first day pale, puny Fred made his appearance in +school, and was both laughed at and bullied by some boys larger in size, +but younger in years. + +"He will have to get the nonsense rubbed out of him some time," thought +Jack; "and it can never be younger." But, when the contest degenerated +into the force of the strong against the weak, one blow of Jack's fist +sent Brown reeling and howling. + +"Try a fellow of your own size next time," was Jack's pithy advice. + +Fred came to him, and cried hysterically in his arms. Jack had +experienced the same feeling for some poor rescued kitten. Fred, with +his head full of King Arthur and his knights, mythology, and bits of +children's histories, wherein figured heroes and soldiers, elected Jack +to the highest niche in his regard. + +Jack Darcy was a wonderful boy withal, a very prince of boys, who hated +study and work, and loved play; who despised Sunday clothes and girls' +parties; but who had not his equal for spinning a top, or raising a +kite, and when it came to leap-frog, or short stop, he was simply +immense. Then he always knew the best places to dig worms, and the +little nooks where fish were sure to bite, the best chestnut and walnut +trees; and, with years and experience, he excelled in baseball, skating, +wrestling, leaping, and rowing. Jack Darcy was no dunce, either. Only +one subject extinguished him entirely, and that was composition. Under +its malign influence he sank to the level of any other boy. And here +Fred shone pre-eminently, kindly casting his mantle over his +friend,--further, sometimes, than a conscientious charity would have +admitted; but a boy's conscience is quite as susceptible of a bias as +that of older and wiser people. On the other hand, Jack wrestled +manfully with many a tough problem on which Fred would have been +hopelessly stranded. Once rouse the belligerent impulse in Jack, and he +would fight his way through. + +These two were at different ends of the social plane. Fred's father was +the great man of Yerbury, the present owner of Hope Mills; not only +rich, but living in luxury. He had married Miss Agatha Hope, and by the +death of her two brothers she had become sole heir to the Hope estate: +though it was whispered that her brothers had left a heavy legacy of +debts behind them. There was family on the Lawrence side as well, but +not much money. David Lawrence had prospered beyond his wildest dreams. +He had twice been mayor of Yerbury, gone to the State Legislature, and +been spoken of as a possible senator; but he did not sigh for political +distinction. + +Agatha was their first-born; then Frederic De Woolfe, named for some +Hope ancestor. Two girls afterward; but Fred remained the only son. He +was a delicate boy, and, until he reached the age of ten, studied with +his sisters' governess, when he rebelled, and insisted upon his boy's +prerogative of going to school. Here he met and loved Jack Darcy. + +Jack was a few months the elder,--a stout, hardy, robust boy, full of +mischief, falling into scrapes, and slipping out easily. Not vicious or +ugly; in fact, he had thrashed Ned Thomas for robbing birds' nests, been +known to rescue a miserable kitten from its tormentors, and was always +bringing home sore-eyed, mangy curs to be nursed and healed. If he had +cared, he could have boasted as good a pedigree as the Hopes and the +Lawrences. For his grandmother was of pure old French Jacobin descent, +titled too. Many a wild romance and adventure had her family figured +in,--now on the top round of prosperity, now in bitter poverty and +exile. At the age of eighteen she was living on the western coast of +Ireland with her old father, when she fell in love with handsome Jack +Darcy, whose persuasive blue eyes were enough to melt the heart of the +most obdurate woman; the merriest, wittiest, best-tempered lad for miles +around, the owner of a small farm and numberless family traditions that +counted back to the time when + + "Malachi wore the collar of gold, + He won from the proud invader." + +For a while they were prosperous and happy: then came bad seasons, +famine, and finally typhus. Two bright, handsome sons and a little +daughter were victims, leaving only baby Bernard. They came to the New +World, and began life again, managing thriftily, and buying a house and +garden in the quaint old town of Yerbury. Mr. Darcy died; and his son +grew to man's estate, settled to the business of carpenter and builder +(as he possessed a good deal of mechanical skill), married a pretty, +delicate girl, but did not seem to make of life a signal success. Still +it is possible that a life of happiness and content may have its use in +this world, if it does not serve to point a prosperous moral. + +He added a wing to the house, he raised fruit and flowers that were +marvels. Grandmother preferred for several years to keep house by +herself, raise chickens and geese, and keep putting by a little of her +very own. They had a choice garden and a soft-eyed Alderney cow, but +Bernard Darcy had surely missed his vocation. He should have been a +scientific farmer. + +Baby Jack came to them. He certainly had not inherited the beauty of the +Darcys nor the Beaumanoirs, not even the delicacy of his mother. The +eyes of Irish blue were tinged with gray, his hair inclined to the +warmer tints of chestnut, and now he always kept the curls cropped +short. However, his magnificently shaped head was not disfigured by the +process. He did get terribly freckled and tanned as warm weather came +on, and the hair turned almost red by much bathing and sunshine. A +striking contrast indeed to the handsome, well-dressed Frederic. + +When Fred went to the academy he pleaded for Jack to go, and Grandmother +Darcy decided that he should. She had never taken kindly to her son's +rather plebeian occupation. After several years of indifferent success, +Mr. Darcy had accepted a position at the mill, in which, if there was +not so much profit, there were no losses. + +Jack was not a student in an intellectual point of view. He did not +care to be a doctor, lawyer, or clergyman, and certainly not a +professor. He would have liked to pack a satchel, and start westward, +prospect for a railroad, gold or silver mine, and live the rugged, +unconventional camp-life. Once he had ventured to suggest this noble +ambition; but his timid mother was startled out of her wits, and his +grandmother said with a sage shake of the head,-- + +"A rolling stone gathers no moss." + +"Grandmother," began Jack argumentatively, "of what real value is the +moss to the stone, except in the picturesque aspect? Do you know that a +great many of these time revered and honored adages are the greatest +humbugs in the world?" asked the audacious young iconoclast. "Who wants +to be a stone or a clod, or even a bit of velvet moss? They go to make +up the world, it is true; but is that narrow, torpid, insensate life any +pattern for human souls and active bodies? I think a man's business in +this world is to find out new channels, to build up, to broaden and +deepen, and somehow to make the world feel that he has been in it. I +can't just explain,"--and his brows knit into a puzzled frown,--"but it +seems to me there is something grander than plodding along and saving a +little money." + +"No doubt you would be glad enough to have the money, when you have gone +off like the prodigal son, and wasted health and substance in foreign +lands," said grandmother with some asperity. + +Jack had been brought up to reverence the Bible and religion, and to +respect his grandmother was the first article in his creed. He relapsed +into silence, but the busy brain kept up a vigorous ferment. What was +life all about, anyhow? Why did people come into the world, live thirty, +sixty, or even eighty years, and then drop out of it. Was it merely to +eat, drink, and sleep? + +The wider lore at the academy had a peculiar effect upon Jack, tangled +his brain, begat confusing mental processes. Greek he hated; Latin he +barely endured; chemistry and mineralogy interested him, and in +mathematics he excelled. Fred carried every thing before him, graduated +with honors, and was to enter Harvard. The Lawrences went to Newport, +and Jack missed his bosom friend sorely. He rambled through the woods, +read every thing that came in his way, and thought a good deal in his +crude, undisciplined fashion. + +What was he to do with this tough problem of unknown quantities? + +He ventured at last to broach the subject to his father. + +Bernard Darcy studied his son gravely. Now, it must be considered that +he had never been troubled with this hungry, perplexing view of life +that urges one on to dip deep into the secrets of existence. To have a +pretty house and garden, to watch his flowers, vegetables, and chickens +grow, to dream over his books in his cosey sitting-room, not to be +pinched for money, not to be anxious about employment, but to go on +serenely day after day,--this was Mr. Darcy's idea of happiness; and, +having this, he was perfectly content. + +His mother secretly chafed at his lack of ambition; his neighbors said, +"A good, honest fellow, but with no 'push' in him." Curiously enough, +the virtues that are preached from pulpits Sunday after Sunday, that we +are always recommending to our friends, are _not_ the ones that gain any +vast amount of credit in this life. "Be content! be content!" cries +every one, from revelation downward; yet content, pure and simple, is +rather despised and flouted by our fellow-men. + +"I don't know, Jack," said the elder, gravely shaking his head with slow +dubiousness. "What would you do if you were once away?" + +"I'd go on until I found some place into which I just fitted;" and the +boy glanced over westward with hungering eyes. + +"But, Jack," said his father, after a pause, "I think people oftener fit +themselves into a place. There are so few places ready made to one's +hand. It's always something. Now, I'll venture to say that David +Lawrence, with all his money, doesn't see as much real happiness as I +do. His is a slave's life, after all. It's day and night, bills to pay +and stock to get, dissatisfied hands, poor hands spoiling work, losses +here and there, little leisure, small peace of mind; and all for what? +There was a time when I might have envied him: I don't now." + +Jack had lost all but the first two sentences. + +"That's the thing!" he cried, with boyish enthusiasm,--"fitting +yourself; coming to something that takes hold of you like an +inspiration; that you could work for, fight for, that rouses soul and +body." + +Bernard Darcy studied the youthful face, eager, alert, hopeful, and with +something else in it that he could not understand. + +"I never had any such dreams or desires," he said in an uncertain tone, +as if fearful he might lose his way among his son's vagaries. "I wanted +a pleasant home, and a loving wife and children. I wish there had been +more of them, Jack, for your sake," and his voice took on a tender +inflection. "Then, if one wanted to go away, there would have been +others left. You see, Jack, mother's heart is bound up in you, and she's +getting to be an old woman with but few ties. I might manage to comfort +your own mother; but you are so young, Jack. There will be many years +before you, doubtless; and if you could give a few to us," with a +wistful, loving look. "Now, if you wanted to study"-- + +"But I don't," in a hasty, husky tone. "I believe I hate quiet. I want +life, adventure! I've staid in school this last year just to please +Larry." + +"Have a little patience, Jack. Old people are not like young ones. They +feel the changes keenly. And you are all we have. It would take the +sunshine out of our lives. It would seem as if there had been a +funeral." + +"Yes," said Jack with meek hopelessness that one would hardly look for +in a vigorous boy; and winking hard to keep back some tears. No logical +argument, no stricture of duty, could have half the weight of this bit +of love pleading. Father was right. God had made him a son first of all, +given him a son's duties. Jack had never troubled his head much about +religion in any theological sense; but his simple creed had some great +if old-fashioned truths in it. + +"If there's any thing you would like to do, I'd be glad to give you a +chance. And there's no need to hurry. You may come to the right thing +presently." + +Jack swallowed over a great lump in his throat. The two kittens came +scampering up the walk, and he caught one, lifting it to his shoulder. +Then Sylvie Barry entered the gate with her dainty milk-kettle shining +like silver. + +They were in a manner neighbors, for Larch Avenue was the next street to +Maple Place. Both streets were now given over to what is termed decayed +gentility. The larches were old and ragged and brown with clustering +cones, and the blue blood of the denizens had grown a little sluggish. + +Miss Honoria Barry and her small niece lived together, with a tall and +gaunt handmaiden Norman French, and a broad Yorkshire gardener. Miss +Barry was the old cream of Yerbury. Here her family had lived since the +Huguenot persecution, and dwindled finally to two. Louis Barry was a +dissipated spendthrift. He married, and tormented his wife into an early +grave, and might have worn out his sister, but Providence kindly removed +him. Miss Honoria retrenched, paid off debts and mortgage by degrees, +and brought up Sylvie in a quaint, refined, old-world fashion. + +Old Mrs. Darcy and Miss Barry exchanged formal calls, and discussed la +belle France. Sylvie took great delight in listening to grandmother's +stories of brave heroes and handsome women who figured in old legends. + +Oddly enough, one of the many points of agreement between Jack and Fred +had been their aversion to girls in general. Fred judged them from his +sisters, who were always nagging, always exhorting him to be a +gentleman, and always holding up Jack Darcy to ridicule. Jack, on the +other hand, had a bashful fear of girls, and fancied they were laughing +at every little awkwardness; then they cried so easily, went off in a +huff if they could not have their own way, were silly, vain, and +tattling, ready enough to beg your assistance if there was a munching +cow by the roadside, a worm swinging from a tree, or a harmless mouse +running across the floor. The great fascination to the Darcy house was, +that the boys could sit in the large, clean kitchen, trying all sorts of +crude experiments, with Ann to clear away the _débris_ and find no +fault. Jack never wanted to go to the great house. In true boy fashion +he understood without any explanation. But they both liked little +Sylvie. She was taught at home except in music and drawing, and she was +as much interested in grandmother's heroes as the two boys. + +On the other hand, the Hopes and the Barrys had always been great +friends; and, from some odd freak of unlikeness, Sylvie and Irene +Lawrence carried on the intimacy. + +She stopped now, and talked about the kitten with Jack; and he carried +her milk-pail home to the gate. + +It was a long, wearisome vacation to poor Jack. Fishing lost its charm, +even tramps in the woods became monotonous. He spent hours in his +father's shop, inspecting machinery, though he seldom asked a question +or ventured upon a remark. Indeed, some of the hands thought "Darcy's +boy wasn't over-bright." Yet here he laid the foundation of the problem +that was to vex and puzzle his soul in after-years. Here was the great, +whirring machinery, belts, bands, spindles, looms, and oftentimes a +stupid and stolid enough workman at one end, grinding out luxury and +elegance for David Lawrence, Esq.; that his family might tread on Wilton +and Axminster, dine from silver and crystal, dress in silks and velvets, +drive about with high-stepping bays, and scorn all beneath them. Once as +Jack was thinking it over he laughed aloud. + +"You must feel very much amused," said a rather sour-looking man +standing near by, with a peculiar touchiness as if he had been laughed +at. + +"No, I wasn't amused, I was only thinking"-- But Jack stopped in the +middle of his sentence. Could _this_ man take any such position as that +of Mr. Lawrence? + +Then he came across a volume of self-made men, which he eagerly +devoured. Every one seemed to have commenced life without a dollar, and +almost without friends. Were those the important factors in the race, to +be light-weighted? And he had a triple chain. + +Fred returned, handsomer than ever, and doubly glad to get back to Jack. +There was just four days grace. They revisited old haunts, talked +endlessly and to little purpose, like so much of the talk of youth, and +now they were parting at the gate for the last time. Unlike girls they +exchanged no vows or kisses. It is not in boy-nature to be effusive. + +"To think that I shall not be home until Christmas! If only you _were_ +going with me, Jack, what jolly times we would have!" + +"I could have gone," answered Jack with some pride, "that is, if I had +been prepared. Father was willing, and grandmother would have been proud +enough;" and just then Jack wondered why going to seek his fortune +appeared so much more terrible to them. + +"Well, why not, Jack?" with impetuous eagerness. "It isn't too late." + +"I don't want the years of study. I should come to hate the sight of a +book. No, I'll find out where I belong, some day. Don't worry about me," +with an abrupt laugh. + +"But I am so sorry!" Then they looked into each other's eyes. All these +years had been filled with such good, honest boy-love. + +"Good-by, old chap!" cried Jack suddenly; for the wrench must come, and +lingering over it was painful. "I shall miss you lots! it seems so queer +to be without you! Of course you'll succeed: there's no use wishing +about that." + +"It's a good wish from you, Jack. Good-by. I hate awfully to say it: I +hate to think that our jolly boyish frolics are over." + +"But we'll have many a good row on the river, and tramps through the +woods. We can't outgrow every thing. And there'll be summers and +summers." + +"Good-by." + +The gate-latch clicked: Jack walked rapidly down the street, whistling +"Kathleen Mavourneen" unconsciously. Did he dream the simple faith of +boyhood had reached its culmination, and was henceforth to wane? + +"Dear old Jack," thought Fred: "I don't know as he is quite Launcelot, +though I used to think so at first. But there was Sir Gawain and Sir +Bedevere and a host of worthies, and if he only _would_ he could come up +to the highest. What makes him so obstinate and unambitious, I wonder? +Are there any King Arthurs and loyal knights nowadays, or only common +men and women?" + +His sisters opened upon him with the fatal persistency of narrow +feminine natures. + +"You may say what you like about Jack Darcy," he flung out angrily, "but +you'll never make me give him up,--never, never!" + +"Do hush, children," interposed Mrs. Lawrence. "Fred, I hope you will +learn to modulate your voice, and not shriek so." + +Sylvie put on her hat to go home. As she passed Fred she said just above +her breath,-- + +"You are right and brave. I wouldn't give up my friend because he was +poor; and Jack is so nice!" + +"Much she knows about it," thought Fred, with a true boyish disdain. Yet +her approval of Jack was a virtue in his eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +"FATHER!" exclaimed Jack a few days after this parting from his bosom +friend, "I think I will go in the mill for a year or two, if there is +any thing for me to do. Meanwhile my inspiration may come along." + +"But what would you like best, Jack?" + +"That's just the trouble," and the youthful brows knit in perplexity. +"All things seem alike to me: I haven't any choice." + +Mr. Darcy drew a long breath that was almost a sigh. If Jack only would +evince some preference! + +However, a place was found as under-bookkeeper. It was desperately +tiresome to Jack to sit perched on a high stool all day; and after three +months of it he begged to be put at something else. + +At this period we had gone through our costly civil war; and, instead of +being exhausted as friends and enemies predicted, the machinery of +business appeared to have been set in motion with a new and overwhelming +impetus. Every thing was wanted; everybody had work or money; and the +most useless commodity found a purchaser: as if our anguish had crazed +us, and we went into a delirium of mental opium, and dreamed wild, +exhilarating dreams which we mistook for reality. + +Yerbury had been a slow, solid, conservative town. Property was low, +taxes light and easily paid, a balance on hand in the treasury to +commence the new year, and very little pauperism in the town. Yerbury +officials utilized their inefficient population, and their county jail +was not made a palace of luxury. The old-fashioned element in the place +held crime as the result of sin instead of occult disease,--a thing to +be punished, rather than petted. It had good railroad connections, +plenty of water, with one navigable stream, and a variety of industries. +Iron, shoes, hats, paper, and clothing were manufactured to a +considerable extent, to say nothing of many smaller branches. Hope Mills +was the largest, the focus of the town, and had the prestige of being +handed down through three generations, though never as extensive as now. + +Toward the west there was a succession of pretty hills that lay in the +broad sunshine, making you think somehow of Spanish slopes, covered with +vineyards, olives, and luxuriant verdure. Over beyond, a wide, +diversified country range, farms, woodland, hills and valleys, with a +branch of the river winding through, called, rather unromantically, +Little Creek. + +On these slopes, the new part, dwelt the aristocracy. Streets wound +around in picturesque fashion to make easy grades, and many old +forest-trees were preserved by that means, giving the place an air of +years, rather than yesterday and improvement. There were two pretty +parks,--one devoted to Fourth-of-July orations from time immemorial; +there were churches of every denomination; a boarding and day school for +young ladies, the academy, some excellent district schools; a hall with +library and reading-room; a bank; rows of attractive shops and stores; +and, coming down in the scale of refinement, beer-saloons and +concert-halls, kept generally up to a certain point of morality. There +were so many laboring-men, and they must have something by way of +entertainment. + +It struck Jack with a curious wonder. These stolid faces and plodding +steps were part of the human machines out of which wealth was being +ground. They went to the beer-shops at night in their dirty clothes, +smelling of grease and dye, drank beer, played a few games, and +harangued each other, and went home maudlin or stupefied. Perhaps it was +more comfortable than the slatternly wives and crying children. Did it +need to be so? If you gave the workingman a helping hand, did he turn +straightway into an unreasoning demagogue? + +_He_ was not likely to be tempted by such doings. His home had always +been too clean and pleasant. He still kept up with the boys, and joined +the lyceum club; but the intimate companionship of his life was gone. + +Fred did not come home for Christmas. College-life was +delightful,--would be just perfect if dear old Jack were there. The +glowing letters kept alive his own secret dissatisfaction. But how +explain it to one who would be sure to say, "Get out of it all, Jack: no +one has any right to keep you in such a distasteful round, and thwart +your life-plans." To be sure, he had no life-plans. + +One raw, cold March day, Mr. Darcy went out to repair a roof that had +leaked in the previous storm. He rarely minded wind or weather. + +"I declare," he said that evening, dropping into his capacious armchair, +"I feel as if I should never get warmed through. I do believe we shall +have a tremendous snowstorm to take this chill out of the air. Jack, +read the paper aloud, won't you?" + +Jack complied. Local items, bits of State news, and the general progress +of the country; the starvation of a nation at the antipodes, the +discovery of a wonderful silver-mine, plans for new railroads,--how busy +the world was! It stirred Jack's youthful blood. + +"I'd like to be a railroad-president," said Jack suddenly. + +His father stared, then laughed at the absurdity. "Why, you're only a +boy, Jack," he replied. + +"I know it. But the boy who means to be a railroad-president must begin +somewhere. Or if I could own a silver-mine," he went on, with the +boundless audacity of youth. + +"Could you find use for the silver?" asked his father humorously. + +Jack flushed, and lapsed into dreams. Grandmother opposite was nodding +in her chair, her knitting still in her fingers. Jack left his vision +for a moment, to calculate if the old chest upstairs was not nearly full +of stockings. His mother sat sewing some trifle, and just raised her +eyes with that longing, beseeching glance mothers so often give to their +sons. + +"If women only did not care so much for one," thought Jack, "or if there +had been a great family of us. And still I can't see the wonderful +difference between going to college, and going to seek your fortune. +Does two or three hundred miles more matter when you are once away?" + +The snow came on through the night. There being nothing urgent on hand, +Mr. Darcy remained within; but Jack buffeted the storm gallantly. It +would be worse than this out in the new countries where he meant to go +some time. + +The next day Mr. Darcy was out. There was a dull pain in his breast, +going through to his back, and he coughed a little. It went on thus for +forty-eight hours, when the pain became intense, and fever set in. Dr. +Kendrick was summoned; and, though the case was severe, it had no +alarming symptoms at first. Jack went to and fro with his merry whistle; +speculative he might be, but he was not introspective or morbid: wife +and mother watched at home. + +There came one of those sudden and inexplicable turns in the disease. +Jack was stunned, incredulous. In his mother's eyes lay a look of +helpless terror he was never to forget. + +"You'll care for them always, Jack; you'll never leave them," said his +father imploringly, in one lucid interval. + +"Always," answered the young voice bravely. + +"Thank you, my son, my dear boy;" and there was a fervent clasp of the +hand. + +A few days later Bernard Darcy lay coffined in the pretty parlor, while +wife and mother were crushed with grief. + +"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes;" and Jack dropped the first handful of +earth in his father's open grave. The two women clung to him,--he was +their all. Here lay his duty as long as God pleased. + +It seemed for weeks after this as if Mrs. Darcy would follow her +husband. She looked so white and wan, she was so feeble that some days +she could not leave her bed. Grandmother rallied with that invincible +determination not to be beaten down if her prop was wrenched away. + +Jack was now a few months past eighteen, stout, and growing tall +rapidly. There was about him a sturdy persistence and the good common +sense that lends an adaptiveness or pliability of disposition, so to +speak, that is often mistaken for content. Since he must stay here for +some years to come, he would devote himself to learning the business of +manufacturing woollen cloth. It entertained him more than keeping books. +For the sake of these two bereaved women, he would take an actual +interest in the work he had to do. + +Looking back in after-years, he was glad he made the resolve, and stood +by it manfully. It gave ballast to his character, shaped him to a +definite purpose. A narrow life, to be sure; nay, more, a distasteful +one: but he did his best, and waited, and that was all that could be +asked of him. + +Early in June there was a great commotion at the mansion on Hope +Terrace. Miss Agatha Lawrence was married to Hamilton Minor, one of the +great firm of brokers in Wall Street, 'Morgan, Minor, & Co.' For weeks +it had been the talk of the town. The trousseau came from Paris, and was +marvellous. The presents were on exhibition, and created a vast amount +of envy and admiration,--silver, jewels, pictures, crystal, china, and +laces. And last of all a sumptuous wedding,--every delicacy in season +and out of season, costly wines, pyramids of cake, and a lavish +profusion of flowers. Nothing so grand had ever occurred in Yerbury. + +Fred and a stylish Miss Minor were to stand. He reached home just in +time; and, as he was to be off again with the bridal party, he sent a +note of regret to Jack. + +Jack had too much good sense to feel hurt, though he was disappointed. A +few weeks later he took his mother and grandmother up to the mountains +for change of air, and enjoyed the vacation hugely himself. So it +happened he did not see Fred at all. + +The second year letters languished, indeed failed, I may as well admit. +Jack was being rapidly inducted into the wisdom of the world, Fred into +the wisdom of society. They would never meet on the old plane again. The +mill-hand would be no companion for the son and heir of David Lawrence, +Esq. + +It was not in Jack Darcy's nature to be bitter or cynical. He just +accepted the fact. Somewhere he and Fred had outgrown each other, and +the boyish interests, once such a bond of union. Fred would be an +educated and cultivated gentleman. + +Why should he be left in the background? His ambition was suddenly +roused again, and he more than half wished himself in college. He went +back to his books; he joined a debating-society. There was no need of +being a mere clod because he had to work. David Lawrence was a +gentleman. And the next spring he took up a little botany and +horticulture with his gardening. Old Mr. Rising down the street, who had +been gardener to some great lord,--a peculiar, obstinate Englishman, +with his head crammed full of odd bits of knowledge,--took a fancy to +Jack. They discussed not only fruit and flowers, but trade in its +various aspects, as Mr. Rising had relatives at Manchester who had +soared to the ambitions of mills and factories. + +Time sped on, and they came to the second summer. Miss Gertrude Lawrence +was a belle now, and the great house was constantly filled with guests. +The Lawrence equipages were seen in every direction. Mrs. Minor was up +frequently, in grand state. The lawn was gay with croquet-parties, the +evenings were brilliant with lights and music: they had two elegant +garden-parties, when the grounds were illuminated with colored lanterns, +and the teas were festivals in themselves. Fred had brought home two +college chums, and for the first fortnight was deeply engrossed. Then, +too, the girls no longer nagged at him. He was developing into an +elegant young man, with due regard for the proprieties. + +He did go to call on Jack one evening. It was a duty, a rather awkward +and embarrassing one, and he took to himself great credit in the point +of moral courage. He understood thoroughly now what Agatha had striven +so sedulously to explain, the difference in social station. He was not +likely in the future to make a blunder on that side, but it would not do +to turn the cold shoulder to Jack all at once. "A boy's will's the +wind's will," he repeated with much complacency, and it was but natural +that it should veer in other directions. Jack was a good enough fellow, +but no Sir Galahad or Sir any one now. + +He was a little shocked at Mrs. Darcy in her mourning dress and widow's +cap. She was pale, and with the extreme delicacy so often pronounced +characteristic of American women. Grandmother sat in state and dignity, +rather resentful of what she termed in her secret heart Fred's neglect, +but a thing she would not have confessed openly if she had been put to +torture. And Jack? + +Frederic De Woolfe Lawrence studied him with a critical eye. A great, +lumbering, inelegant fellow! Jack seemed to have grown out in every +direction, without being finished up in any. He was taken somewhat at a +disadvantage, too: somehow he fancied, if he had met Fred alone in a +stray walk, there would have been less formality. + +They talked about college. Fred was doing well, for he was by nature a +student. Society's arts and airs would never entirely uproot that love. +He meant to distinguish himself, and have one of the prize essays. Jack +was rather grave and quiet, hard to get on with, Fred thought; and he +was relieved when the duty was ended, and he could go with a good grace. + +Jack lingered on the porch, clinching his fingers, and listening to the +jaunty retreating footstep. There was something different in Fred's walk +even, a buoyancy as if he could override any little difficulties that +fate might have in store for him. Jack smiled grimly. Fortune had +showered every good gift upon him. He would go proudly, successfully, +through life. He would be praised and honored--and for what? + +For a moment Jack felt like wrestling with him, shoulder to shoulder, to +distance him, to defeat him, to lower his complacent pride. His +half-patronizing manner had stung keenly. Then the real nobility of his +nature cropped out, and he laughed at his own sudden heat and passion. + +"It would be folly," he said softly to himself. "I could not distinguish +myself in any line he will be likely to follow. He must work his way: I +must work mine. He knows what he means to do; and there he has gone +ahead of me, for I really do not know my own mind. No, there's no +further basis for a friendship: the boy-love has had its day, and died. +After all, isn't that the history of every thing?" and Jack looked up to +the stars, still with a little wordless pain at his heart. + +He heard during the next week that Fred had gone West with one of his +friends, who was nephew to a great railway magnate. It would be only a +flying trip, to be sure, but here Jack was tempted to envy him. That +boundless West, the land of his own dreams! + +Grandmother grew a trifle less energetic, still it could not be said +that her health began to fail. Mrs. Darcy remained about the same. Every +day Jack realized how much he was to the two women. To leave them would +be absolute cruelty. + +At Christmas of this year Miss Gertrude Lawrence was married. The +wedding was rather quieter, from the fact that it was winter, and the +bride was to leave for Europe the next day. Irene was shooting up into a +tall girl, and being educated at a fashionable and expensive +boarding-school. Nothing happened to impair her friendship with Sylvie +Barry, though the two girls were as dissimilar in many respects as Jack +and Fred, but they both stood on the same social plane. + +Meanwhile matters at Yerbury prospered mightily. The town was quite +bright at night with the glow from factory-windows, and people seemed +always hurrying to and fro. New shops and stores were started, new +streets were laid out, rows of houses built in town, and out on the edge +pretty and ugly suburban villas. Property began to increase everywhere. + +Gertrude and her husband George Eastman came back to Yerbury in about +five months. He had begun his career as clerk in a bank, and joined his +brother afterward as an army-contractor. From thence they had branched +into general speculating, and were both considered rich men. Mr. Minor +owned a Fifth-avenue palace, and Mrs. Minor never came to Yerbury +without her maid. Mrs. Eastman could not have the palace in town, so she +decided to have a handsome summer residence at Yerbury, and spend her +winters at different hotels. Mr. Eastman thought he saw a grand opening +just in this pretty spot. Property was ridiculously low. Here were farms +and farms that might as well be cut up into building-lots, and turned +into cities. Here was the river-front, here were railroads: why not have +twice or thrice as many shops? why not call in the people from far and +wide, and make Yerbury a place of note? Time had been when our fathers +were content to dream and doze, but now it behooved everybody to be up +and stirring. In the new race the laggards would fall far behind. + +Mr. Eastman set the example by purchasing one large tract, and laying +out streets. Then uprose houses as if by magic. Modern improvements, +water, gas, bath, butler's pantries, and dumb-waiters; and the houses +offered so cheaply that the solid, slow-going, honest business-men +wondered how it could be done. The places had a wonderfully seductive +look, and were sought after eagerly. + +There was a peculiar interest in all this to Jack. When one day somebody +said,-- + +"Downer's property south of the bridge has gone for thirty thousand +dollars. Five years ago he'd been glad to have taken ten for it. Crater +and Harmon are going to build a big factory,"--Jack's heart went up with +a bound. + +He still wanted to get away from Yerbury. He began to feel that he had +made a mistake with his life, and was anxious to rectify it if possible. +He did not see how he could do it here. He had gone into the groove, and +it was hard getting out. But if some one came along, and offered them a +fortune! + +The chance drew near. A new street was prospected through Miss Barry's +grounds, through the Lanier place farther back, and the southern end +would touch the Darcy place, giving it some new fronts and available +lots, and placing the house on the corner. There would be sufficient +ground for the width of the street. A petition was forthwith circulated. + +Alas that there could be people so blind to their own interests and the +general welfare of the community! Miss Barry stoutly resisted. She even +inspired some of her neighbors to that extent of opposition that they +would not sell at any price. Destroy the beauty of Larch Avenue, that +had been "Lovers' Walk" in the old days, and held so many tender +reminiscences! + +"When I am gone I don't care what is done with the place," said Miss +Barry. "It will have but little sentiment for the next generation. A +change to me now would be like tearing up an old tree by the roots. I +could not endure it. They may have their elegant new houses; but give me +my large airy rooms and my old-time flowers, my nectarines and apricots. +Let me live my few years in peace and quiet." + +"There is certainly enough to improve," returned Grandmother Darcy. +"There are miles and miles that people are glad to sell. Let them take +that. Let them build up the vacant lots. And where are all the people +coming from to fill them?" + +"The factories and mills will bring in the people," said Jack sturdily. + +"There is plenty of room elsewhere," returned Miss Barry with some +asperity. "There certainly is no need of turning people out of homes +they like, and have made comfortable." + +"I suppose you cannot look at it in a business light," said Jack. "Women +rarely do"-- + +"There have been just such whirlwinds before, Mr. Darcy," said the +shrewd little old lady. "I have lived through two of them myself. And it +seems to me it is an epidemic of running in debt, rather than +prosperity. If everything were paid for; but you see here are +improvement-bonds, and our town runs in debt: here is everybody raising +money on mortgages. How is it to be paid? Do wages and salaries double? +History proves that it is a bad thing for a state when its rich men grow +richer, and its poor poorer." + +"I am sure they need not," said Jack valiantly. "There is a higher scale +of wages paid than ever before." + +"And no account made of thrift or economy. Enticements at every corner; +women flaunting silks and laces as everyday gear, with no sacredness; +old-fashioned neatness despised, industry ridiculed; men lounging in +beer-shops; girls flirting on the public streets, having no duties +beyond a day's work in a mill. What will the homes and the wives of the +next generation be like?" + +"But that was all so irrelevant," said Jack after she had gone. "Women +mix up everything. Now, here: you are offered a big price for this +property. You two could live at ease all the rest of your life, and I"-- + +"You would go away," said his mother sorrowfully. + +"Well, perhaps not," trying to make the tone indifferent. + +"Jack," began his grandmother, sitting very erect, and glancing straight +before her into vacancy, "I am an old woman now; and, like Miss Barry, I +could not take a change comfortably. No other place will ever be home to +your mother or me. There is some money,--enough, I think, to take care +of us both. So, if you cannot be content, if you must have the restless +roving of youth out before your blood can cool, go and try the world. It +is pretty much alike all over,--some one going up while another goes +down; chances here, and chances there. As for the few years left me"-- +And there was a slight tremble in her voice. + +"Don't fret. I'm not going away," said Jack crossly, huskily, too much +hurt to study his tone. "If I can't always see things as you do"-- + +There were tears in his mother's eyes. Jack rose suddenly, thrust his +hands in his pockets, and walked out into the twilight. There was +nothing to be done with so obstinate a problem as his life. He would +learn the business thoroughly, getting on as fast as possible, and some +time make a strike out for himself, become a manufacturer in turn. The +thing was settled now. Maybe some one would want him for mayor or +congressman. There was a time when David Lawrence, Esq., had been a +comparatively poor man; and though Jack felt that he would hardly turn +his hand over to have a million of dollars put in it for the mere +money's worth, if he could not discover a silver-mine, or build a +railroad over the Rocky Mountains, he might become a rich man. Wealth +was a mighty lever, after all. He shut his lips grimly, and pushed his +hat down over his eyes. In the early summer dusk, fragrant with rose and +violet, he went over the old battle-ground. Did some enemy sow it +continually with dragon's teeth? To stay here eight or ten years, +mayhap, to make all the money he could. Not one year of her life did he +mean to grudge grandmother. + +It was quite late when he came in, but his mother was watching for him. +She put her arms softly about his neck, and kissed him. + +"Have a little patience, dear," she said, in tender, motherly tones; but +he knew her sympathy was with him. + +"Yes, I mean to. I don't care as much as I did an hour ago. I'm going to +set myself steadily to business. You'll hear no more moans or groans out +of me, mother." + +"Jack--you know I would go to the end of the world with you." + +"I believe you would--yes, I do. There, good-night!" for she was crying. + +"This is the way we rule circumstances," said Jack dryly, sitting down +in his own room, and taking up Carlyle. "What an amount of humbug is +talked in this world,--yes, and written too!" + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +THERE was an influx of new blood in Yerbury, and it brought in fresh +ideas. A new railroad touched it at one edge, and real-estate dealers +left off fighting about Larch Avenue. The ancient stages were laid aside +for the more modern horse-cars: there was bustle and rivalry on every +hand. George Eastman began to be quoted, and his advice asked generally. +Mrs. Eastman held her head loftily. Then there came on the arena of +action a certain Horace Eastman, cousin to George, who had been abroad +as agent for a large firm, and who slipped into the place of general +manager of Hope Mills. + +Plainly, F. De Woolfe Lawrence was not preparing to follow in his +father's steps. He had graduated with honors, and taken a prize essay, +and was now a fully-fledged modern young man. He was fond of discoursing +on abstruse subjects, he dabbled a little into art, wrote some mystical +poems, tied a cravat beyond criticism, and wore faultless gloves and +boots. His mother and Mrs. Eastman were extremely proud of him. His +father wondered a little what the young man's future would be. + +"I have not decided upon a profession," he said, with a just perceptible +but extremely stylish drawl. "The next thing is going abroad. I want at +least two years of travel, and I should not wonder if I settled myself +at some German or Parisian university. We, as a nation, are so sadly +deficient in culture. Our country is crude, as I suppose all young +countries must be." + +David Lawrence nodded slowly, and asked,-- + +"When did you think of going?" + +"I may as well go at once, and have it over," returned the young man, +with the princely indifference he affected. + +His father did not dissent. As well in Europe as here, or anywhere. + +As for Jack, he was quite as much out of his reach as if the ocean +already rolled between. They used to pass each other quietly, nodding if +they came face to face, but often evading any kind of recognition. Was +the old regard dead? + +Fred smiled rather pityingly on the boy who had been so blinded in his +first love. + +"I used to think him such a hero, because he once thrashed a boy in my +behalf," mused the young man. "And how I used to fly at the girls, who +were always looking at the feet of clay my idol possessed! How I _did_ +coax him to go to college!" and Fred gave a little rippling laugh. "I +must admit that he has good common sense,--he has found his place, and +keeps it. There could be nothing between us now, of course. My lines lie +in such different ways." + +No moan for a lost ideal under all that self-complacency. + +Jack Darcy took the defection in good part. He did see the utter +incongruity of keeping up even the semblance of the old dream. But, +where Fred had made dozens of new friends, Jack had admitted no one to +his vacant shrine. He liked, even now, to recall those old hours, so +bright and gay with childish whims and frolics. And he did envy Fred, +just a little, that ramble over Europe. Would it be a ramble? It was +Jack's turn to smile. Would it not be bits and pictures seen through +coach-windows, rather than getting close to Nature's heart? No, that +would not suit _him_. + +And so glided by two more years. De Woolfe Lawrence--he had dropped the +initial now--returned home in a still higher state of cultivation, and +quite as undecided as to his future career. A life of leisure and +_belles-lettres_ looked the most tempting to him. He had read up a +little in medicine, but the practice would not please his fastidious +inclinations. Law had its objections. In fact, Mr. Lawrence had dropped +into that dilettante state into which extreme cultivation, without +genius or ambition, is apt to drift its possessor. He was nearing +twenty-four now,--handsome, aristocratic, the pride of his family, and +the distraction of young women in general. Invitations were showered +upon him, and the delicate flattery society loves to use, ministered to +his vanity. + +Meanwhile what of Jack? + +He had improved considerably through these years. The rough angularity +of twenty had softened. Tall, but robust and compact, no stooping +shoulders or slouching gait. The chestnut hair was no longer faded, but +still cropped close; and the eyes were so deep that they seemed to have +a blue-black tint, large, slow-moving, with that unutterable wistfulness +which makes one sad. The face was good, strong, and earnest; and, if his +manners were not those of a gentleman of leisure, they bore the impress +of something quite as noble, honor, tenderness, and sincerity. The old +restlessness had dropped out. Love, being larger than duty, hinted now +at no sacrifice. Grandmother Darcy, now grown quite feeble, leaned on +this strong arm, always outstretched, forgetting there had ever been any +wild dreams of youth. + +And, though Yerbury had changed so much, they and the old street +remained unchanged. Mrs. Darcy was a little thinner and older, the light +hair just touched with silver. The garden was the same: wherever his +father's favorite flowers had died out, Jack had replaced them. Only the +honeysuckle was like great twisted ropes, and the syringas and lilacs +were trees instead of bushes. + +Old neighbors had gone, and new ones come, but they were of the quiet, +steady kind. Miss Barry seemed smaller and frailer, but she was as +active as ever in her refined way. Sylvie no longer came to the gate for +milk: indeed, the wide-eyed Alderney had long been given up, and Sylvie +was a young woman. Irene Lawrence had been sent to a fashionable +boarding-school; but Sylvie had been educated at home, under her aunt's +eye, by a French governess who had proved something more than a mere +teacher. The coming of Madame Trépier served to cement more closely the +intimacy with the Darcy family. Indeed, Jack took a queer, half-shy +liking for madame, and began to study French. He had a great fondness +for music, and a fine, rich tenor-voice: so he and Sylvie sang duets +together, and often walked in the twilight with madame. Indeed, Miss +Barry would have kept her for friend and companion all the rest of her +life; but there came a very persistent wooer, and madame succumbed a +second time to the destiny of women. + +Sylvie Barry was piquant rather than pretty: a soft peachy skin neither +dark nor fair, with a creamy tint; deep lustrous hazel eyes, that seemed +to change with her moods; hair that had barely shaken off the golden +tint, and clustered in rings about the low broad forehead; a passable +nose of no particular design, but a really beautiful mouth and chin, the +latter dimpled, the former with a short curved upper lip, displaying the +pearly teeth at the faintest smile; barely medium height, with a figure +that was slim yet not thin, rounded, graceful, pliant, with some of the +swift dazzling motions of a bird. + +While Jack and Fred had drifted so apart, Sylvie and Irene still kept up +a curious friendship. On Sylvie's part there was no election: indeed, +Irene in her imperious fashion took Sylvie up as the mood seized her. +Mrs. Lawrence, now quite an invalid, was fond of Sylvie's bright face +and gay inspiriting voice. In Irene's absence she was often sending for +her. "Play me a little song before you go," she would say; or, "Read a +chapter in my book for me, will you not? You always make people seem so +real." Consequently Sylvie had never left off going to the great house. +Mrs. Eastman would fain have patronized her, but in her spirited way she +shook off the faintest attempt. But Irene flew to her, and insisted upon +a croquet-party or a drive, or a musical soirée. + +"I can't do without you, you obstinate little thing," she would exclaim. +"I don't know why I take so much trouble about you; for I don't believe +you like me at all, but just tolerate me for the sake of old times. +There are twenty girls in Yerbury who would go wild with delight if I +were to ask them." + +"Why do you not, then?" inquired Sylvie with a tantalizing light in her +eyes. + +"Because I don't choose to, Miss Impertinence! Don't be cross now, and +torment me to death with your perverse ways." + +"You surely need not be tormented." + +"Sylvie, you are exasperating." + +"Why do you ask me, then, or tease me to do any of these things? I would +rather stay at home to-day, and paint." + +"But I shall not give you up. I'll stay here, and talk so that your wits +will wander!" + +And so at last Sylvie would consent to her friend's demands. + +One evening she came over to discuss a costume for a fancy-dress +garden-party. Mrs. Eastman had brought some fashion-plates up from New +York, but they did not altogether suit her fancy: so the carriage was +ordered, and in a few moments it rolled to Sylvie's door. + +Sylvie and Jack were at the piano. There was a soft, drizzling, +summer-night rain, that made all the air fragrant without any noisy +patter. It was just the evening for an old Latin hymn; and Sylvie was +playing the strong, rich chords that had in them mysterious hints of +heavenly joy, coming up through waves of passionate suffering. Jack's +voice seemed toned to these sympathetic vibrations, and the grand old +words rolled out simply, with none of the vicious taste of the more +modern fashionable school. So engrossed were they, that they did not +hear the carriage stop; but Sylvie caught her aunt's voice. + +They had reached the end of a verse. "Let me see what auntie wants," +said Sylvie, running into the next room; and then it was, "Oh, Irene! +oh, Sylvie!" + +"Singing to yourself in the twilight!" laughed Irene. "How romantic! I'm +going to interrupt you now, and put you in better business. I am just +loaded down with the excellent fripperies of this world, and unable to +make a choice. And the grand occasion is Mrs. Avery Langton's +garden-party. Now, be good-natured, and help me decide." + +Uttering this in a rapid breath, she had walked through the sitting-room +to the parlor, and tumbled her parcel down on the great antique sofa, +whose edges everywhere were studded with brass nails. And there stood +Jack, thinking, if he had been quicker, he could have stepped out of the +window into Miss Sylvie's pretty flower-bed, now purple with odorous +heliotrope. But, as he had not, there was nothing to do but to stand his +ground manfully. + +He had often seen Irene Lawrence in the carriage and on horseback; but +as she stepped into the room now, and stood there rather surprised, she +might have been a daughter of Juno. Tall, slender, arrowy straight, but +lithe and faultlessly rounded, her fleecy white shawl like a gossamer +web falling off her shoulders, her haughty carriage, her wealth of +purple-black hair coiled about her shapely head, a hundred times +handsomer than any artifice of dressing, her brilliant complexion, her +large eyes with their long sweeping lashes that veiled their depth, but +seemed to add a certain imperiousness, her coral-red lips that shaped +differently with every breath, her straight nose, with the nostrils thin +as a bit of shell, and the softly rounded chin, made her a picture that +Jack Darcy never forgot. + +"Oh!" in a tone of surprise, "I thought you were alone: pardon me." + +Sylvie was bringing in another lamp, and placed it on the great clawfoot +centre-table. Then it occurred to her that Irene might not know Jack. +She should recognize him here socially, anyhow. + +"My friend Miss Lawrence," she said with a world of dignity, "Mr. +Darcy." + +Jack bowed, in no wise abashed by this proud and handsome Miss Lawrence, +though as a child she had snubbed him many a time. And she glanced him +over with a sudden interest. It was a manly face and a manly figure; and +she wondered from what remote corner of the earth Sylvie Barry had +summoned this fair, stout giant, who made her think of the Norse gods of +her childish romances. She always liked strength: Sylvie was for +tenderness, pathos, and beauty. + +"Good-evening," inclining her proud head. "Did I interrupt? You were +singing?" + +"That is finished," returned Sylvie, with her peculiar manner, as if, +being hostess here, she should have proper respect paid to her position; +and each guest should be as deferent to the other as if she were a +little queen, and this her court. + +She picked up a stray piece of music that had fallen to the floor, +seated Irene, and half turned to Jack. Any other woman might have been +awkward. + +"I will leave you two ladies to yourselves," began Jack; but Irene +interrupted,-- + +"No, Mr. Darcy: I shall think I have driven you away;" with a beguiling +smile. "If you understand music, you may have a taste in the fine arts +of dress as well. At all events, look over these elegant women in their +party-gowns, and tell me which is fairest and rarest." + +The honesty of the glance, although it was coquettish, told Jack that +Miss Irene did not remember him. For, of all the haughty Lawrence women, +she had the name of being the haughtiest. She gathered up her skirts in +other people's houses when the plebeian element came too near. Now she +waved him to a chair, and gently sank into another, her trailing robe of +thin filmy black with golden flecks falling about her like clouds in a +gusty sky. + +He took the seat indicated. Some strange feeling moved him, an +enchantment that he had never before experienced. The very air about her +was filled with a subtle, indescribable perfume that he should always +associate with a tall, dark-eyed woman,--a glimpse of the Orient and its +sweetness, he fancied. + +Sylvie took her place, and began to tumble over the colored plates. + +"I'm so tired of those Watteau things!" began Miss Lawrence +disdainfully. "They all savor of bread-and-butter girls,--a shepherdess +with her crook,--bah! And I've been Marie Stuart so many times. If it +were a masquerade; but garden-parties are beginning to prove bores, +after all. There is nothing new about them, only to out-shine every +other woman. A high ambition, is it not, Mr. Darcy?" + +"A temptation perhaps." + +The tone had in it a bit of delicate homage. Irene understood. She knew +at once that this man was a little dazed by her beauty, just as many +other men had been. Puny, delicate, namby-pamby men she despised, and +always gave them a cut with her sharp tongue. Where had Sylvie picked up +this Saul among his peers? + +They were all interested in the pictures, and soon fell to making merry +comments on them. Sylvie had a quick eye and a bright wit, and something +made Jack Darcy brilliant. They selected bits of fine taste here, they +made an elegant costume of no particular style, and Irene was struck +with what she knew would be its becomingness. + +"Mr. Darcy, are you an artist?" She remembered just then what an odd way +the Barrys had of picking up people with some gift or grace. + +"No," and Jack flushed boyishly. + +"Then you must have a houseful of sisters." + +"No, I never had a sister." + +"When all things else fail with you, you can set up opposition to Worth. +I shall come to you for designs. Now, this will be a peculiar source of +gratification to me, because no one can possibly have the same +combination. And you never can depend upon a modiste. Mr. Darcy, what +makes women so faithless to one another?" + +"Are they?" he asked with a man's simplicity. + +She laughed gayly, and met Jack's fun-loving, shady blue eyes. How +handsome they were! + +Miss Barry entered the room, and joined in the pleasant chat: then a +rumble of carriage-wheels was heard. + +"It has stopped raining," said Sylvie, going to the window. "A few soft, +melancholy stars have come out." + +"You have been very obliging, Sylvie," said Miss Lawrence. "Miss Barry, +I shall send the carriage over to-morrow. Good-night." + +Jack Darcy handed her out, pushing aside a trailing rose that it might +not catch her shawl. Then she half turned, and said "Good-night" in a +softer tone. + +Sylvie was standing on the porch. "It has been as good as a play, Jack," +she said with her gay-humored laugh. "I don't believe she ever +thought"-- + +"That I worked in her father's mill!" and Jack laughed; but it was a +rather pained, jarring sound. + +"Jack--why do you? You are a puzzle to me!" and Sylvie's voice sharpened +unconsciously. "You do not like it. Why did you not go on at the +academy, or"-- + +"Raise myself in the social scale? That's what you mean, Sylvie; +although we pass just as pleasant hours as if I were a prince, and you +the lady of high degree. Well, we have gone over the ground a good many +times, and it is always the same thing. I have no fancy for a +profession; I have no genius for art, though Miss Lawrence suggests that +I might become a man-milliner--is that what you call it? You know, I am +staying here because mother and grandmother will not go anywhere else. +And I dare say I make as much money as young Dr. Romer or Ned Remington. +And somehow, now that I'm in it, I go on with a stubborn, plucky +feeling. Some day I'll be a great manufacturer." + +This time his laugh was cheerful and ringing. + +"You see, Sylvie, your good-nature places you on the debatable ground. +You and your aunt could be hand-in-glove with all these great people, +and yet you open your generous heart to take in everybody." + +"No, not everybody, Jack. And what a little coward I am just this +minute! No, it is not that either. Jack, you _do_ know that I should +never be a bit ashamed of you before any one. I feel vexed when I think +that you could take the high places, and yet you let people put you +down,--people not half as worthy or half as good as you. There's Horace +Eastman. He came here a comparatively poor man; and now he owns half +Yerbury, and talks of the mill-hands as if they were--well, a flock of +sheep." + +"An apt comparison, Sylvie. To my mind, they are shorn pretty close to +make broadcloth for their masters." + +"And there is Fred--have you seen him since his return?" + +"Not to speak to him, of course." And then Jack flushed deeply, with a +little hurt feeling. + +"And what friends you were! Is it the way of the world? Then it is a +mean, hateful world!" + +"Sylvie, you are talking wildly. Don't you see there is no point of +union in our lives? Now, I do not feel so badly over an outgrown +friendship. When I was a little boy, I remember having a wonderful fancy +for Tom Deane. We traded jack-knives; we told each other of the best +nut-trees; we hunted squirrels; we coasted together; and, I dare say, he +was as much of a hero in my childish eyes as I used to be in Fred's. But +think of any friendship between us now! There isn't a greater loafer in +all Yerbury than Tom Deane. Why, we have not a feeling in common." + +"Still I think it is rather different," and a shade of annoyance passed +over her face. If Jack only would not call up these people below him, if +he would not identify himself so strongly with that common brotherhood! +He had so many nice tastes, such a clean, pure, honest soul. And, young +as Sylvie was, she knew this was not always the result of culture or +wealth or ambition. + +Jack guessed what was passing in her mind. From his father he had +inherited a kind of womanish intuition. A pleasant-tempered man Bernard +Darcy had always been called, but it was that delicate tact, the +intuitive knowledge of what would be pleasant to others. + +"What else can I do here, Sylvie?" Jack cried with sudden heat. "If the +chance ever comes, I shall be fitted for a good business man. You may +think there is no worthy ambition in that, but wait. Do not judge me too +hastily." + +"I am impatient at times, I know; but it is because I see your +capabilities, and I can't bear to think of your going through the world +unappreciated." + +"Do not worry about that. Good-night!" rather abruptly. "Miss Barry, I +have forgotten myself. Pleasant dreams!" + +"And we did not have our old hymn, after all," said Sylvie regretfully. + +Jack took the short cut across the garden. There was a dim light in the +sitting-room; and his mother lay in the hammock on the latticed porch, +her favorite evening resort. She came in now, and Jack bolted the doors. +Then, with a good-night kiss, he went to his room, and in ten minutes +was asleep. Sylvie, on the other hand, girl-like, tossed and tumbled. +Why was the world so queer and awry and obstinate? After all, you could +do so little with it. Your plans came to nought so easily. Lizzie Wise, +in her Sunday-school class, preferred going in the mill, and buying +herself cheap finery, because the other girls did it. And so all +through. You tried to train some one, and he or she followed the _ignis +fatuus_ more readily than any high, ennobling truth. It was hard lifting +people out of their old grooves. + +How bright and entertaining Jack had been this evening! Of course Irene +had not remembered him. Would she be vexed, Sylvie wondered,--she who +held herself up so high, and believed in a separate world as it were? + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +THE garden-party was a success, and Miss Lawrence the acknowledged belle +of the evening. No one else could have carried off the peculiar style of +dress. She knew that she was radiant; and triumphs were a necessary +sweet incense, that she always kept alive on her shrine. There was no +need of making a hurried election: indeed, her chief aim now was +pleasure and conquest. + +They were sitting over their dainty lunch, Mrs. Eastman having dropped +in; and, after the party had been pretty thoroughly discussed, a little +lull ensued. Fred toyed with some luscious cherries, in his usual +indolent manner. Nothing in this world was worth a hurry or a worry, +according to this young man's creed. He had dawdled through the party, +waltzing with a languid grace that most girls considered the essence of +high-breeding. It was all one to him. His "set" affected to think life +something of a bore. Intense emotion of any kind was vulgar. + +"By the by, Rene," said Mrs. Eastman, "do you suppose Sylvie Barry is +engaged to that Darcy fellow? It was odd that she should go off on a +picnic with him, instead of the party. She has the queerest, mixed-up +tastes." + +"What Darcy fellow?" asked Irene in surprise. + +"Sylvie Barry! Jack Darcy!" exclaimed Fred, in as much amazement as his +superfine breeding would allow. + +Mrs. Eastman gave a mellifluous laugh. + +"Don't you remember? but you were such a child! Fred does. The Damon to +his Pythias." + +"Oh!" + +A vivid scarlet ran up to the edge of Irene's white brow. So that was +Jack Darcy. What a blind fool she had been, _not_ to think! She had +laughed and chatted with him, smiled on him, worn the costume of his +designing,--a common workingman! For a moment she could have torn her +hair, or beaten her slender white hands against the table. What had +possessed her? + +"I do recall some green and salad days," rejoined Fred with a laugh. + +"How Agatha and I used to badger you! We were little fools to think such +a thing ever went on when one came to years of discretion. Only I +believe we were afraid the elder and idiotic Darcy might foist his son +on some college. I must say Yerbury has become quite endurable now that +party lines have been set up;" and Mrs. Eastman crumbed her cake, +watching her diamond sparkle. + +"How do you know Sylvie went on a picnic?" asked Rene, with an angry +glitter in her eyes. + +"Didn't the dear confess? Rene, you do not keep your penitent in very +good order." + +Mrs. Eastman had a faculty of putting something extremely irritating in +her voice. It was honey smooth, and yet it rasped. + +"Really," answered Irene indifferently, "I do not see that Miss Barry's +selection of friends need affect me much, so long as she keeps the +distasteful ones out of my way. I may wonder at her choice of pleasures, +but I suppose she suits herself." + +"My nursery-girl belongs to the mission-school. It was very good of +Lissette to let her off for a whole day, I thought. I left her to settle +it. What Sylvie sees in such people, I cannot imagine. I own I was a +trifle surprised when I found this remarkable Mr. Darcy was our old +_bête noir_, Jack. Is he still in the mill, I wonder?" + +"Apply to papa," laughed Irene. + +"I don't believe papa could tell you the names of five workmen. As if he +troubled his head about that!" + +"Sylvie is a nice little thing," remarked Fred patronizingly. + +"I have no patience with her!" declared Mrs. Eastman. "As if it was not +necessary to have a line drawn somewhere! These people are all well +enough in their way: they are a necessary factor,"--picking the words +slowly to give them weight,--"and society establishes schools and homes +for them, trains teachers, provides employment: what more do they want? +A holiday now and then, of course; but why not go off by themselves as a +class, as the French do? This maudlin, morbid sympathy we Americans +give, spoils them. There is no keeping a servant in her place here. +Before you know it she studies and graduates at some school, teaches for +a while, goes abroad, and paints a picture, likely as not." + +"Do not excite yourself, Gerty," and Fred pulled the ends of his silky +moustache. + +"Well, it does annoy me to see a young girl like Sylvie Barry with no +better sense. Some day we shall have all these people rising up against +us, as they did in the French Revolution. I hate socialism and all that; +and I took good care to say to Mrs. Langton that Miss Barry had been +casting in her lot that day with a parcel of charity-children, and would +no doubt be too tired to enjoy the exquisite pleasure of her fête." + +"I do not think Sylvie cares a penny!" said Irene with a touch of scorn, +anxious to return her sister's little stab. "I suppose she comforts +herself with the remembrance of her old blue blood, while Mr. Langton +made his fortune as an army-contractor." + +"The Wylies were a very good family, Irene." + +"If you are through eating, I will have a cigar," said the young man, +sauntering over to the bay-window. + +What was there in this simple announcement of Sylvie having gone on a +charity-school picnic with Jack Darcy that should so rouse the +art-cultured pulses of Fred Lawrence? He had always liked Sylvie: her +freshness and piquancy stirred him like a whiff of mountain air,--a sure +sign that all healthy tone had not been cultivated out of him. It would +be very foolish for Sylvie to commit a _mésalliance_ with this young +man, who was no doubt good enough in his way,--a rather rough, awkward, +clownish fellow, with a coarsely generous heart. Sylvie so delicate and +refined, with her pretty ways, her genius,--yes, she really did have a +genius! In Paris or Rome she might make herself quite a name. He must +see a little more of her: he must--well, did he want to marry any one? + +Irene and Gertrude retired to the room of the former, and discussed +Newport and Saratoga. + +"I do hope we shall have a cottage at Newport another summer," said Mrs. +Eastman. + +"It gives you tone, of course," was Irene's response; "but honest, now, +Gerty, don't you think it a little poky? I do not want to go anywhere +for a whole summer: I like the fun of all. Agatha is to spend a month at +Long Branch, and I am going down just for a little dazzle and to give my +gowns an airing." + +Their siesta was passed in this kind of small talk. Late in the +afternoon she drove Mrs. Eastman home, and then went for Sylvie in her +pretty pony-phaeton. As Sylvie was about nothing more important than a +pale-blue zephyr "fascinator," she accepted the invitation. + +What a delicious drive it was! A dappled under-roof of cloud with the +sun just behind it, a golden-gray haze filming the air, and fragrant +breezes suggestive of roses and honeysuckle. All the way was starred +with daisies. Sylvie drew in long breaths of delight, for she never +wearied of nature. + +They turned homeward early. The bells were ringing for six, and the +mills and factories began to empty out their swarm of human beings. + +"Why do you go through here?" asked Sylvie in surprise. "I thought you +hated all this." + +"So I do," briefly. + +She let the pony walk now. These shrill sounds jarred on the summer air. +Groups of girls in procession in faded gear or tawdry finery; brawny men +with an old-country, heavy cast of feature, in blue flannel, with arms +bared to the elbow, and throats exposed; pale stripling youths of the +American type, boys with the rough fun not yet knocked out of them by +hard work or the harder blows of fate,--a motley crowd indeed. + +It thinned a little just here. Two or three men came along +leisurely,--one tall and compact, with a slow, firm step, the face +grave, the eyes glancing over beyond the hills. Irene Lawrence shut her +lips with a touch of displeasure. Was she to miss the satisfaction that +had been brooding in her mind for the last hour, for the accomplishment +of which she had driven through this dusty, ill-smelling street? + +The pedestrian raised his head. A sudden warm, smiling glow overspread +the face, no longer grave, but brightening like an April sky. The +outlook of the eyes was so frank and clear; the half-smile playing about +the parted lips had the honesty of a child. He touched his hat, and +bowed with an almost stately deference. + +Sylvie nodded and smiled, leaning forward a bit. What sent the glad +light so quickly out of his countenance? The girl glanced at Irene. + +Miss Lawrence had stared coolly, haughtily, decisively. This man might +look at her hundreds of times in the days to come, but he would never +again expect a social recognition from her. And, oh, perfection of +cruelty! Sylvie, his fellow-sinner in these social laws, had witnessed +his pain and discomfiture. + +She turned with her face at white heat, one of those inward flashes of +indignation that transcend any scarlet blaze of anger. Her eyes glowed +with a fiery ray, and the curves of mouth and chin seemed as if frozen. + +"It was a deliberate insult, Irene! How dared you"-- + +"How dared I pass one of my father's workmen? Well, Miss Barry, I happen +not to be hand-in-glove with them. I can relegate them to their proper +place when an ill-judged vanity brings them unduly forward." + +"You met him at _my_ house: he is _my_ friend, and the friend of my +aunt. His birth is as good as yours, or mine." + +"Oh, I dare say!" with a satirical laugh. "Are you really going to marry +him, Sylvie? Have you the courage to throw yourself quite away?" + +"Stop!" and she caught at the reins. The next moment she was on the +sidewalk. "Good-evening," she exclaimed with the dignity of a queen. + +"The little spitfire!" laughed Miss Lawrence. + +Sylvie's displeasure mattered very little to her. A few days later she +was on her way to Long Branch, and the episode was soon danced out of +mind. + +As for Sylvie Barry, she made up her mind never to go to Hope Terrace +again. The friendship was not of her seeking, and now it should end. +Friendship, indeed! It disgraced the word to use it in connection with +Irene Lawrence. + +That very evening she went around to the Darcys. Neither she nor Jack +mentioned the rencontre, but there was an indescribable something in her +manner that told Jack the insult had been as much to her as to him. + +Hardly a fortnight later the Lawrence carriage stood at the gate of the +pretty court-yard, and the liveried driver brought a note to the door. + + DEAR SYLVIE,--[in a tremulous, uncertain hand] I + am wretched and lonely. Fred and Irene are away, + and Mr. Lawrence has gone West on business. Will + you not, out of the generosity of your heart, come + and cheer me up a bit? I was in bed all day + yesterday with a frightful headache, and can just + crawl to-day. Do not disappoint me. I have set my + heart on hearing you read, and have some nice new + books. + + Ever your obliged friend, A. L. + +"You must go," was her aunt's comment in a sympathizing tone. "I have +promised all the afternoon to the School Club, you know, and you would +only be home alone. Poor Mrs. Lawrence! What an invalid she has become! +And think of me,"--with a cheery laugh,--"able to get about anywhere!" + +So Sylvie went up to Hope Terrace in the luxurious carriage she thought +she had tabooed forever. + +Mrs. Lawrence did look very poorly. She kept to her room a great deal +nowadays; or rather there were two of them,--one off the bedchamber, +with a pretty oriel window, and exquisitely fitted up with every luxury +wealth and taste could devise. + +Mrs. Lawrence had already lost her interest in life. Her two daughters +were well married. Irene would be, of course; but marriages were an old +story for her. She had loved to shine at watering-places, but the gayety +no longer lured her. She had dazzled in diamonds, silks, and velvets, +been admired on the right hand and on the left, until it was an old, +trite story. Servants managed her house admirably. Mr. Lawrence never +wearied her with any business details. Her clothes were ordered, and +made, and hung in the closets. The carriage was always at hand. Not a +want of any kind, hardly a desire, that could not be instantly +satisfied. She had sunk into a kind of graceful semi-invalidism, and +enjoyed the coming and going of her children, but her own time was over. + +"How good you are, Sylvie dear!" and, drawing the young girl to her, she +kissed her fondly. "I don't know what I should do without you. Irene +would stay at home if I wanted her; but she is so full of life and +excitement, that it wears me out. You are not always in such a whirl of +society, and then you _are_ different. You have such a sweet, +sympathetic nature, child! I can always feel it in your hand, and your +voice is so soothing. What a difference there is in voices!" + +Her own was finely modulated: indeed, Sylvie used to think sometimes +that these Lawrences had more than their share of the good things of +this world. No physical gift or grace had been denied them. + +So Sylvie read and talked, and sang two or three songs before she went +home. Then she came again and again, sometimes with her aunt, oftener +alone. Miss Barry took duty calls with her neighbors as one of the +demands of society, to be fulfilled with the fine grace of thorough +good-breeding. Beyond the little formalities that always surrounded her +like a delicate hoar-frost, there was a large heart for the weal and woe +of all who could in any way be benefited. + +"It is a pity to see such a waste of life," she said of Mrs. Lawrence. +"Some people, after they have served their own turn, and had their good +time, set about doing something for God and their neighbors at the +eleventh hour; but she still clings to self, even when all the pleasure +has dropped out. If she only would exert herself a little, her health +and interest would improve, and she has so much in her hands." + +One day Sylvie had turned the last leaf of her book, when Fred Lawrence +crossed the hall, having come home unexpectedly half an hour before. +"Miss Sylvie is with your mother," the housekeeper had said; and he had +begged that they should not be disturbed. He stood now listening to the +cool, soft voice, and an odd thought entered his mind. + +Sylvie should really be a daughter of the house. How his mother liked +her, depended upon her! She was not always going to watering-places and +parties and theatres, she did not talk continually of dress and +conquests. He did not despise cultivated elegance: in fact, it was a +strong point with all the Lawrences; but he knew that a great deal of +this much-praised culture ran into artificiality, while Sylvie's +elegance had the comprehensiveness of nature. It would be quite +impossible for her to do an awkward or ungraceful act; for her innate +sense of beauty, harmony, and right guided her. Something higher than +worldly maxims toned her soul. And though he, a man with his hands full +of gold that he had never earned, could content himself with indolent +dilettanteism, he wanted an earnest, honest, truthful woman, if he ever +took a wife. He had flirted in a lazy fashion, common with young men who +find themselves an object to women, and who have only to raise their +hand, sultan-like, to bring a host of houris. That he had kept out of +many grosser pleasures was perhaps a credit to him, although that was +not the weak side of his character. + +He did not fall in love with the picture before him, sweet as it +was,--the young girl in a soft flowing white dress (she was too true an +artist to have starchy outlines), the shimmering hair, the delicate +wavering color, the proud poise of the head, the plump white arm and +slender fingers with their pale-pink nails, and, above all, the +exquisite voice that seemed so to enter into the culmination of the +story, the last few sentences of pathos, joy, and complete fruition. + +She closed her book. Neither of the ladies spoke. Mrs. Lawrence had been +deeply touched. She lived almost exclusively in this world of fictitious +sentiment, I was going to say; but I remember that it is often a +transcript of human lives. Still she liked sentiment in books, out of +them she scarcely recognized it. + +There was a step and a low tap at the door; then, before Mrs. Lawrence +could answer, Fred marched in, kissed his mother dutifully, and shook +hands with Sylvie. + +He had always liked Sylvie better as a little girl than any one else who +ever came to the house, and he liked her now. How happy his mother would +be! for of course they would go on living here. Irene would be away +presently, and his parents would need some one. His summer work was +mapped out before him; and really it was a pleasure to think he should +escape the bore of society as one found it at summer-resorts, and +entertain himself with this piquant brown-eyed girl with a heart fresh +as a rose. He did not want a woman who had been wooed by every Tom, +Dick, and Harry. + +Yet another and more heroic thought entered his mind after chatting with +her a few moments. He would save _her_ as well. She might have a slight +fancy for Jack Darcy: his sisters had spoken of it, and these great, +fair, muscular giants were often attractive to women, through the very +strength and rude force with which they pushed their suit. But such a +lumbering, vulgar fellow in Miss Barry's dainty, womanish parlor! and he +smiled at the thought. Yes, he would be doing a good deed to snatch +Sylvie from any such possibility. + +Fred Lawrence suddenly assumed a new importance in his own eyes. He made +himself very agreeable to both ladies. Sylvie remained to dinner; and, +when Mrs. Lawrence would have sent her home in the carriage, he proposed +to escort her,--he wished to pay his respects to Miss Barry. + +They did not take the most direct course, but, leaving the streets with +their noise of children and possibly vulgar contact, strolled through +"Lovers' Lane." The old trees met overhead; there were dooryards full of +sweet, old-fashioned flowers, and now and then the sound of a weak piano +or a plaintive voice. + +"I am glad these streets have been kept free from the vice of modern +improvement," said he. "It always brings back a touch of my boyhood when +I walk through them. Your aunt made a good fight, Miss Sylvie, when she +refused to listen to the golden tongues of speculators, though of course +you would have been much richer. But it can be turned into money any +time." + +"Money is not every thing," answered the young girl, with a touch of +sharpness. "Are one's own desires and old associations to count for +nothing? This place was very dear to my aunt and to many others. I am +sure there is quite enough of Yerbury laid waste now. The town looks as +if it were a sort of general house-cleaning, and every thing was thrust +out of doors and windows. And it was so pretty!" with a curious heat and +passion. "It was like a dream, with its winding river and green fields, +and men at their hay, and cows grazing in knee-deep pastures. Now all +the milkmaids are herded in mills and factories; and the +children,--well, there are no children any more!" + +"No children!" lifting his pencilled brows in languid surprise. "Why, I +think you can find swarms of them. The poorer the man, the larger the +family." + +"There are babies and babies; then little prigs and drudges. I am not +sure I am in love with the so-called civilization. For the great +majority it only means harder work." + +"Did we not learn in some school-book--I am quite sure I did--that + + 'Satan finds some mischief still, + For idle hands to do'?" + +"Are you not afraid?" She turned with a bright, tormenting smile to the +handsome young fellow, who flushed under her clear glance. + +"For those who have brains, manual labor may not be the only chance of +salvation," he returned with a somewhat haughty flippancy. + +"I wonder they do not turn their brains to some account." + +They reached the gate, and Miss Barry was sitting on the porch. Sylvie +was too pretty and too womanly to be quarrelled with for the sake of a +subject that did not in the least interest him. Beside, he meant to come +in; so he opened the gate for her, and followed in a well-bred, +gentlemanly way, that had nothing obtrusive in it. Miss Barry welcomed +him with the quaint formality, the subtile air of education, refinement, +and morality, so much a part of herself. It pleased him extremely, and +settled him in his determination. + +"Sylvie has a touch of radicalism," he mused to himself; "but it is a +disease of youth, and thrives by association. Take her quite away, and +she will soon recover her normal tone." + +He found his mother still up on his return, and rather restless. She lay +on her sofa, and dozed so much through the day, that night had but +little slumber to bring her. + +"I am so glad you did not go to Long Branch," she remarked, as she toyed +with her son's silken, perfumed hair. "I get so lonesome when your +father is away; and he seems to think of nothing but business"--in a +complaining tone. "I do not know what I should do but for Sylvie. She is +such a charming little body! Fred, do you think there is any truth in +Gertrude's gossip about her and that--one of your father's mill-hands, +is it not? How can Miss Barry allow it?" + +"There is no truth in it," with a light, scornful laugh. "The families +are neighbors, you know; and I suppose the boor takes a look for +encouragement. I shall not go away this summer. I can find pleasanter +employment." + +She pressed his hand, and smiled, as their eyes met. Sons-in-law were +very little to one, except in the way of respectability, but a daughter +like Sylvie would be such a comfort! Fred had no need to marry a +fortune, but Sylvie would not be poor. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +NOW that Fred Lawrence had come home, there was no need of going so +often to Hope Terrace, Sylvie thought. Time never hung heavy on her +hands; for she was not indolent, and there were friends and pleasures. +Miss Barry had a conscientious misgiving that Sylvie ought to be taken +about like other young ladies; but she shrank from fashionable life +herself, and could not resolve to trust her darling with any other +person. Beside, Sylvie always seemed contented. + +She was content indeed; at least, with her home and her aunt. Up-stairs, +just out of her sleeping-chamber, she had a studio, chosen because this +room, of all in the house, had the finest view in summer, when the tall +old trees shut out so much. From here there were two exquisite +perspectives. The trees and houses were so arranged that a long, arrowy +ray of light penetrated through a narrow space over to a small rise of +ground called Berry Hill on account of its harvest of blueberries. Two +old, scraggy, immense oak-trees still remained; and she used to watch +them from their first faint green to the blood-red and copper tints of +autumn, when the sun shone through them. Down behind he dropped when the +day was done; sometimes a ball of fire, at others bathed in roseate +hues, tinged with all the wondrous grades of color, and making fleecy +islands in a far-off, weird world, dream-haunted. She used to study the +grand effects of shifting light, that made the hill bold and strong, or +fused it into dreamy harmonies that seemed to have the subtile essence +of music; then contrasts that were abrupt and apparently dissonant, +quite against well-known edicts of human taste. Who was right,--the +great Author of all? She smiled to herself when she heard people talk so +glibly of nature, as if the one little rose-leaf were the whole world. + +The other picture held in its soft, still, light, an old-fashioned, +low-gabled house with wide eaves; a broad doorway, with the upper half +always open in summer; a well with curb and sweep and bucket where +farm-hands came to drink; a pond with a shady side, where cows herded in +their peaceful fashion, wading knee-deep on hot days, chewing their cud +contentedly at others, browsing through golden hours; fields of glowing +grain, then tawny stubble, a bit of corn with nodding tassels, and not +infrequently a group of children, picturesque in this far light. It all +stood out with the clearness of a stereoscope. + +She had her ambitions too, this bright little girl. They were tinctured +with the crudeness of youth, and its boundless vision, it is true; and +sometimes the passion of despair seized her soul in a cold grasp, when +she felt hemmed in on every side, and longed for some opening, some step +in the great world higher than fashionable frivolity. + +Miss Barry had no taste for famous women. They were well enough in the +world: she paid a proper and polite deference to Mrs. Somerville, Mrs. +Browning, and Rosa Bonheur,--that kind of intellectual deference that +sets them out of the sphere of ordinary women. Wives and mothers were +better for the every-day life of the world; since pictures and poetry +were luxuries, accessories, but not home or food or clothes. Though she +had missed her woman's destiny, she had not lost faith in it; though she +had held out her hand to the woman who had made shipwreck of her own +life for the wild, graceless brother's sake, she still looked on clear +seas and smooth sailing as possible for lovers' barks. In her plans for +Sylvie there was a fine, manly, generous husband; a love so sweet and +entire that the girl should forget her restless yearnings; baby hands to +cling to her, baby lips to press, young lives to mould, and a future to +plan for others. + +Miss Barry believed in work devoutly, but gentlewomen had a firm place +in her creed. The paintings and music were well enough as +accomplishments, and she was proud of them; but she delicately repressed +the other dreams and desires until Sylvie ceased to speak of them except +to her friend Jack. + +Miss Barry had experienced some anxiety on this point, it must be +confessed. You would never have perceived it from the wise little +woman's face or any tone of her voice. She went more frequently to the +Darcys of an evening with Sylvie: she rolled her easy-chair and +work-table to the opposite side of the sitting-room, where it commanded +a view of the piano and the sofa in the parlor, the door being always +open. She could hear and see, she could make pleasant, trenchant +remarks: indeed, she was one of themselves, as young in heart, if the +hair did glisten silvery under the bit of exquisite thread-lace that did +duty as an apology for a cap. + +Jack and Sylvie were not lovers. A rare good friendship it was, more +perfect than brotherly and sisterly regard, in that it held no +duty-element, and was spontaneous. Sylvie never laughed at Jack in his +awkward boyish days: he had never tormented her small belongings as +brothers are wont to do. + +Miss Barry feared the flame might be easily fanned. A little opposition +or warning would bring Sylvie's innocent wandering thoughts to a focus, +and kindle the fire. She was very wary. She trusted Sylvie to Jack with +an air that said, "You are too honorable to betray the confidence I +repose in you." + +The old class prejudice spoke out in this covert objection to Jack as +a suitor. She honored him sincerely for giving up the dreams of +ambitious and energetic manhood to stay at home and comfort these two +delicate women. Yet (strange contradiction) she had a half fancy that it +betokened weakness or lack of some kind in the very content with which +he seemed to go about his daily duties. Alas for consistency! We preach +content from the pulpit on Sunday, and on Monday glance with quiet +contempt on our plodding neighbor, who can commune with the daisies by +the wayside, while there is gold lying untroubled in desert gulches. + +Honest, sturdy Jack, taking up the duty of to-day cheerfully with a +manful endurance, because the hands holding his fate were too weak and +tender to be wrestled with, and that in his large, generous soul he +could not war on a smaller antagonist, neither was it his nature to +continually thrust any sacrifice he might make before the eyes of the +one he was benefiting. How much silent heroism goes unpraised in the +world, while we stand on the highways, and prate of our discrimination, +our quick insight! Jack might be praised for his self-denial, but the +higher appreciation was withheld. Even Sylvie was fretted at times, +because he would get interested in all things pertaining to the mill. + +Miss Barry said to herself, "It is best that Sylvie should marry in her +own circle, a man of cultivation, refinement, and position. Jack is a +dear good fellow, but not the person to satisfy her for a lifetime." + +Jack thought nothing at all about it. He never gave up the idea of a +great wide world, where he could have a hand-to-hand struggle with +something as powerful as himself. He had come to no dreams of wife and +children. He did like Sylvie with all his big, honest heart. If she had +fallen in love with him, and betrayed it by some girlish sign, he would +have been startled at first, then thought it over in his slow, careful +way, asked her to marry him, and loved her devotedly all his days, +leaving the dreams to the past with a tender benediction. + +But Sylvie was no more in love than he. + +As I said, she decided that she was not needed at Hope Terrace, and +staid away four days. Then the carriage came, with a beseeching note. +Had Fred gone again? + +She found him there in all his elegant listlessness. It exasperated her +strangely. + +"What have you been about, Sylvie?" cried Mrs. Lawrence. "Is your aunt +ill? It seems a full week since you were here." + +"Oh, no!" with her beguiling little smile. "I cannot tell exactly what, +only I thought"-- + +"You thought because Fred was home I would need no one else! As if a +love-story would not bore him, and an invalid's whims--well, men are not +women, my dear," decisively, and with a complacent expression as if she +had settled the argument beyond any question, for the first time since +the world began. + +"Why, you never tried me on a love-story," interposed Fred. "You do not +know how deeply sympathetic I might be with your favorite heroines." + +"He is laughing at us, Sylvie. Ah, well! I suppose it is a man's duty to +_make_ love, not to listen to it second-hand. How charming and fresh you +look this morning! And how lovely it is after the shower of last night! +Fred, if you could leave Latin verses and Greek essays you might take us +to drive. We could stop and bring your aunt with us for lunch, Sylvie." + +"Thank you for her. She has gone to Coldbridge to see about a nurse for +the Orphans' Home, and will not be back until four." + +"Then I can keep you without a single scruple," and Mrs. Lawrence looked +oddly pleased. "Fred, tell them not to put the horses out. What +wonderful health your aunt has, Sylvie! I don't see how she can endure +the bother of those schools and institutions: it would wear me out in +no time. But I have had a family of children;" and she leaned back on +her pillow with a satisfied air. + +The carriage came around again; and with the assistance of a maid, +Sylvie, and her son, Mrs. Lawrence walked down stairs. He handed both +ladies in, and seated himself opposite with the air of a prince. + +Sylvie looked so bright and gay this morning, her velvety eyes full of +tender light, her cheek all abloom with youth and health, the sweet +scarlet lips half smiling, and her attire far enough removed from the +rigor of fashion to have a kind of originality about it. She always wore +something that added tone and brightness,--a bit of colored ribbon or a +flower, or a bow that flashed out unexpectedly, as if greeting you with +laughing surprise. + +"What do you do to mother, Sylvie?" Fred asked, with a touch of +complimentary curiosity in his voice. "Yesterday she was dull and +moping. I could not persuade her to drive." + +"It was so warm, no wonder. I felt dull and drowsy myself. But to-day is +the perfection of loveliness." + +"And you have a charm, Sylvie. I do not know but it is your perfect, +buoyant health. You seem to lift one up. I only wish I could keep you +all the time," remarked Mrs. Lawrence with a touch of longing. + +Sylvie colored, and averted her eyes: then she gave herself a kind of +mental shaking, and resolutely glanced back, uttering some rather trite +remark. She would not suspect or understand. + +They came home again, and had lunch: then, while Mrs. Lawrence was +taking her siesta, Fred carried off Sylvie to his study. It was +luxuriously beautiful. Several gems of pictures adorned the wall, which +had been newly frescoed to suit his fancy. Easy chairs lured one to test +their capacious depth, some exquisitely-bound books were arranged in a +carved and polished case, and the table was daintily littered with +papers. He had an idea that a man's surroundings were a very fair index +to his character and tastes, quite forgetting that it implied length of +purse as well. + +He made spasmodic attempts at literary work. Abstruse essays were begun +under the impression that he had something brilliant and original to +say, but before they were finished a new train of thought led him +captive. He dreamed delicately sensuous dreams, lapped in luxurious +idleness, the rooms stifling with odorous hot-house flowers. He went +clothed in soft raiment, he sunned himself in languid seas of +imagination, and was too indifferent to concentrate his powers upon any +great faith or belief, or even emotion. He had a contempt for cheap and +plain belongings, as leaning insensibly to vitiation of taste. Nothing +modern met his approbation. The old-time philosophies won him with their +subtile flavor. He could propound his theories eloquently, but they did +not touch him deeply enough to rouse him into action of any kind. All +that his education and culture had done for him so far was to develop an +incapacity for any regular, wholesome work that would be of the +slightest use to any human being. + +Something of this passed through Sylvie's mind as she sat there. This +handsome and stalwart lily of the valley, with no desire for toiling, +and no ability for spinning, would be content to drift and dawdle +through life on his father's money. At that moment he was more +contemptible to her than Irene, winning lovers by the score, and casting +them aside with no more compunction than if they were the litter of +faded flowers. + +After all, why should she care if he did not reach her standard of moral +and intellectual excellence, of that knightly chivalry whose +rallying-cry was, "God and my fellow-men!" Why should she desire to +rouse him from that complacent ease and fastidiousness, brought about +by wealth, and the certainty of no need of effort on his part? Surely +she was no modern apostle carrying around the watchword of work. + +Yet somehow--if all the subtile forces running to waste in both him and +Jack could be galvanized into earnest, active life; if the sturdy, +wholesome thought of the one could be mated with the clear, crisp +training of the other; if both could have the wide outlook beyond +material wants and comforts! It fretted her. + +Yet these two, sitting here on this peerless summer day, skimmed over +wide fields like gay butterflies. She could not be in earnest with him. +Just when she was roused and warm, he seemed to lift her by some flight +of eloquence, and waft her to his realm of fancy. It annoyed her to find +he had that much power over her. + +It must be admitted that when Fred Lawrence willed, he could be +extremely fascinating. Women yielded gracefully, nay, eagerly, to his +sway; and much delicate flattery had their eyes and lips fed him upon. +Sylvie piqued him a trifle by her utter unconcern--or was it the fine +instinct of coquetry inherent in feminine nature? + +There was no telling what this queer, bright, unconventional little +thing might do if left to herself. A good marriage would prove her +salvation. She had many womanly possibilities: yet, with all due +deference to Miss Barry and her old blue blood, Sylvie might overstep +the bounds, and take up some of the reforming projects so dear to +elderly spinsters. As Mrs. Fred Lawrence she would be held regally above +them, and could depute her charitable work to her aunt. + +In justice to the man, it must be confessed that Sylvie's dainty, +piquant loveliness stirred his soul; and, if self had not been so +intense a centre, he might have been ardently in love, or +clearer-sighted. Much of the time her demeanor toward him was coldly +indifferent: yet the misfortune was, her interest in all things kindled +so easily that she could not, at a moment, change to him. Her moods of +reticence and shy evasion added a flavor to the cup. With a man's +egregious vanity, he jumped at the conclusion that these little +intangible things signified love. + +One day Sylvie stumbled over Irene. She came flying up stairs with some +choice nectarines for Mrs. Lawrence, a kind that seemed only to reach +perfection in Miss Barry's old-fashioned garden. There sat Irene, +superb, nonchalant. + +"Oh, you little darling!" clasping her, and pinching the peach-bloom +cheek. "I am so glad to have a glimpse of you; for mamma has sung your +praises until I ought to be jealous, but out of my boundless generosity +I still smile upon you. No need to ask how _you_ are, but one may +inquire after your aunt?" + +"Miss Barry is quite well," Sylvie said with some constraint, +remembering their last parting. + +Irene had honestly forgotten it. She laughed now, a low, ringing, +melodious laugh. + +"Why, it is quite a treat to see you open wide your sunrise eyes. I have +taken everybody by surprise, and enjoy it immensely. Gerty and I are off +to fresh fields and pastures new, and home came right in my way. Sylvie, +you are a good little creature to come and amuse mamma when her own +lovely and amiable daughter is racing after the pomps and vanities of +this naughty world. Sit down;" and she made room on the sofa beside +herself. "Don't let such a frivolous creature as I turn you from the +post of duty." + +"I did not come to stay," Sylvie answered rather stiffly. + +"As if the intention were cast in adamant! Oh! why is not Fred here to +use his persuasive tongue?" + +There was a peculiar laughing light in Irene's eye that annoyed Sylvie, +for it seemed to indicate a secret knowledge. + +"I can stay just half an hour," was the reply in a decisive tone. "At +eleven I take my lesson in painting.-- Aunt wanted you to have these, +Mrs. Lawrence, in their first bloom of ripeness." + +"They are delightful. A thousand thanks to both of you, my dear." + +"And you really manage to exist in this dull place, Sylvie! You are a +miracle of content," interposed Irene. + +"I have not come near dying yet," was the rather dry rejoinder. + +"You need not be so curt and sharply sweet, my dear. Here I have been +listening to marvellous accounts of your amiability and devotion"-- + +"Don't, Rene!" implored her mother. "Sylvie _is_ good to me." + +"And it might make the sweetness weak if she stretched it out to me! +Keep it intact for those who so delight in it. I am fond of spice and +high flavoring." + +"These nectarines are perfect," declared Mrs. Lawrence. "One can taste +the sunshine in them." + +"How poetic, mother mine! Does Fred come and read Latin verses to you +and Sylvie? I may have one"--stretching out her jewelled hand. "Oh, they +are delicious! worth coming home for, even if I had not wanted mamma's +pearls." + +"And money and every thing," added her mother. "Rene, you ought not to +be so extravagant. Papa is quite depressed with the state of business." + +"Yes, I have heard _that_ ever since I left my cradle;" and Rene laughed +gayly. + +It suddenly crossed Sylvie's mind: what if this proud, imperious girl +should be reduced to poverty some day? + +"Don't plan a conspiracy against me, Sylvie Barry! I saw it in your +eyes!" + +A vivid flush overspread Sylvie's face, as if she had been caught in the +commission of some crime. Irene's laugh rang again with a peculiar +irritating sound. + +"I could not form a conspiracy against you--even if I so desired. And I +must go." + +Sylvie rose with a haughty air. + +"Wish me worlds to conquer at least, or scalps to hang at my belt. No? +You ungracious little thing! There is a good-by kiss to show you that I +always hold out the right hand of peace." + +"Have the carriage, Sylvie: it will not take a moment"-- + +"No, thank you," in a crisp tone. She would have nothing of these +Lawrences just now. + +"Fred will get a spicy wife," commented Irene, with a peculiar smile. + +"She is never so with him. They get along beautifully," said the mother. + +"Fred is too lazy to rouse Sylvie. Women have quite spoiled him. And +Sylvie is ever so much prettier when a trifle vexed. Don't tell me about +her angelic qualities, though I suppose she does keep super-amiable +before you and Fred just now. I wonder if I could if I were in love!" + +"Irene, I am sorry I hinted it. If you begin to tease Fred"-- + +"I shall not: set your heart at rest. I give full and free consent, and +approve heartily. Beside, the little thing might throw herself away if +she was not looked after. There will always be some one to stay at home +with you." + +Mrs. Lawrence turned to her book and her nectarines; and Irene tumbled +over jewel-cases,--a proud, imperious beauty, whose heart had never been +touched, who cared only for pleasure and triumphs. Over yonder, men and +women were toiling, that she might have gold to squander. They lived +scantily, that she might feast. And the brave old world, seeing it all, +uttered a silent groan. One day it would speak out. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +SYLVIE BARRY meanwhile walked along rather rapidly for a warm morning. +She felt irritated. Her sweet lips were set in defiant curves, the red +heats of annoyance burned and faded on her cheek with each passing +thought, and there was something out of harmony: a fateful discordance +that swept over her, as if the parts of music had been wrongly put +together. + +Did they think--did Fred imagine-- + +She had never faced the idea before. Now she thrust it out in the garish +sunlight. Her eyes sparkled, but there was no triumph in the girl's +fine, resolute face. This man might lay his father's wealth at her feet, +borrowed plumes in which he was quite content to shine; his heart--and a +smile of withering scorn crossed her red lips. She would be a little +dearer than his horse: dogs the fastidious man could not endure. +Practically his wooing would be,-- + + "I will love thee--half a year, + As a man is able." + +Not because of a fresher, fairer face: he would give her all he had, all +that he could rouse his languid pulses to experience. She would be +lifted out of her present occupations and interests; for Sylvie was too +clear-eyed to blind herself with the specious reasoning that as the wife +of a rich man's son, she would be a greater power in the world for good. +They would fit her into _their_ sphere. She fancied herself coming to an +aimless middle-life like that of Mrs. Lawrence, taking no interest in +any thing, but reading novels, and complaining, to pass away the time. + +Did she really care for any one else? More than one young man in Yerbury +had paid her the peculiar deferential attention that asks encouragement +if there is any to give, but is too truly delicate to proceed without. +Then there was Jack, who understood her soul better than any one else; +but had he touched her heart in a lover-like way? + +She turned her clear, honest eyes to the blue overhead, as if taking +Heaven for a witness. Her heart and fancy were quite free. Much as she +cared for him, there was no thrill of that high sentiment in it. + +In some fascinating ideal life she had seen a lover with whom she could +walk down through the years, whose life would touch hers at all points, +who could fathom the depths of the nature that so puzzled herself, who +could measure and supply the yearning reaches of intellect; who could +awake in her soul a love, strong, deep, and unquestioning, so fervent, +indeed, that she would turn from all other dreams and desires to him. A +young girl's ideal--perhaps it is well for the world that some women +have ideals, and keep faith with them. + +As for Fred, his vanity led him straight on. She tried honestly to place +herself right in his estimation; but he misunderstood her, and liked her +the better for the variety. She saw too, with dismay, that her aunt +favored him. Her natural kindness of heart shrank from the pain of +rejecting him, and to her the triumph had no pleasure. But in her +anxiety and desperation she saw only this one course. + +He dropped in nearly every day, he took her and Miss Barry to drive. He +haunted croquet-parties, which he hated, because she accepted +invitations to them. He never met Jack. Some fine sense warned the +latter that an encounter in Sylvie's parlor would be uncomfortable. +Yet, strange to say, sometimes when he saw the handsome fellow +sauntering by, a peculiar tenderness came over him, remembering the +little boy who had clung fondly to him. + +An old-fashioned courtship would prove no end of a bore, Fred decided. +So one day he marched over to Larch Avenue when he knew Miss Barry was +alone, and laid his case before her. She received him with graceful +kindliness, listened to his offer, and assented with evident pleasure. +There was not a happier woman that night in all Yerbury than Miss Barry. +The care and desire of her life had been justly crowned. Her good-night +kiss to Sylvie was inexpressibly sweet. + +Fred did not see Sylvie for the next two days, but meanwhile wrought +himself into a state that he was quite sure was proper and well-bred +love. Then she came to Hope Terrace, and they kept her to tea. The late, +heavy dinners were dispensed with at present. + +"Will you walk home, to-night, Sylvie?" asked Fred. "I feel in a walking +mood." + +"The slightest symptom of industry ought to be encouraged," she made +answer gayly. She had been of some real service this afternoon, charmed +away a fretful headache, and restored Mrs. Lawrence to a comfortable +state of feeling, and was correspondingly light-hearted. Then, too, Fred +had kept out of the way, and been gravely polite to her at the +tea-table. She liked him in such moods. + +It was a late August evening, with a small crescent moon shining softly +as if its forces were well-nigh spent. The heat of the day was over, and +the falling dew evolved a kind of autumnal sweetness, the flavor of +ripening fruits rather than flowers. Yerbury was very quiet in the part +they were to traverse. They walked under great maples where a shadowy +light sifted through, and the houses looked like fragments of dreams, +with here and there a lamp in a distant window. The slow wind wandered +through pines and hemlocks, as if some fairy Puck had laid his finger to +his lips, saying to crooning insects, "Hush, hush!" A night to dream as +one went down "Lovers' Lane." + +Sylvie was radiantly beautiful. Her face always changed so with her +moods. Every feature had a perfect sculptured look, but intensely +human,--the straight nose with the flexible, sensitive nostrils, +quivering at any sudden breath, the dainty chin and white throat, the +red curved lips that seem to smile at some inward, richly satisfying +thought, the large lustrous eyes serious as those of a nun, and the +calm, clear brow that seemed to index the strength and fineness of the +nature. He did not take in any of the occult meanings: to him she was +simply a pretty girl whom he could dress in silk instead of lawn. + +The small hand had lain on his arm without the faintest movement. Now he +took it in his, and pressed it softly. She frowned, and made a slight, +repellant gesture. + +"Sylvie?" with a lingering intonation that was hardly inquiry. + +"Well!" roused out of her quiet into a momentary petulance. + +"Sylvie, I love you. Will you be my wife?" + +In his most commonplace dreams he had never made love so briefly. He +startled himself. + +"Don't!" in a short, decisive tone, as if he were merely teasing. + +"Sylvie, I am in earnest;" and in his tone the man spoke. + +"Then I think you are mistaken." She seemed to look at him in the cool +light of invincible candor and honesty. + +"No, Sylvie, I am not mistaken," gaining courage that it was to be +argument instead of sentiment. "I have had this purpose in my mind for +some time, and have solicited your aunt's consent. You have only to +say"-- + +"I have many things to say, but assent is not one of them;" in a voice +that, though low, seemed to cleave the air with a steely ring. "You +think you love me. Perhaps you do--as far as you are capable of loving +any thing beside yourself. You have seen a good deal of me this summer, +and have made up your mind to marry. I possess some of the necessary +requirements, and doubtless suit you better than any mere fashionable +woman. But you have none of that intense desire that makes a matter of +life and death of love, that elects one woman, or forever keeps a vacant +niche in the soul." + +"Sylvie!" + +Her passionate words stunned him. He turned to her with a puzzled look, +a certain helplessness, as if he were stranded on some far, foreign +shore. And then he met her lustrous eyes, so clear that they were almost +pitiless in the glow of undimmed truth. + +"Can you not trust me?" with the gentle reproachfulness so winning to +most women, so confident of a victory over a heart that loves. + +"I could trust you to care for no other woman when your word was passed, +but it seems to me," and her heart swelled with something like contempt, +"that you are but playing at love. Marriage in your estimation is a fit +and proper step: your mother likes me, you prefer me to any one else"-- + +"Good heavens, Sylvie! what more do you want?" and a flood of scarlet +mounted his calm, handsome brow. "When a man chooses a woman out of the +whole circle of his friends and acquaintances, what higher compliment +can he pay her? I have seen women beside those in Yerbury; and, though +it may savor of vanity, I believe there _are_ those who would +appreciate"-- + +"I wonder you did not go to them;" with a fine irony, cutting short his +sentence. + +"Because I liked you, chose you." + +"I do not so desire to be chosen," she answered quickly. "The man I +marry must win my respect, my highest faith; must have an aim, an +ambition, and not dawdle through life as some silly woman might." + +The decisive voice seemed to cut a path between him and her as it went. +It struck home uncomfortably. + +"Then I suppose you call all men not engaged in manual labor, +dawdlers,--scholars, poets, men of leisure, who can devote their lives +to work that requires patience and fineness of detail, rather than the +heavy swing of a blacksmith's hammer. When a man has no need of +work"--and Fred paused, a trifle out of temper. + +"I do not believe God ever made an idler," she said, with high gravity +that widened the gulf between them. "To whom much is given, much will be +required." + +How unreasonable she was! He hated women who flung texts or proverbs at +you; and yet he did not hate her. She had a girl's flighty notions, born +of crude contact with inferior minds, and perhaps over-much +novel-reading. + +"I do not exactly understand what a man must do to win your love," he +said in one of those calm, intensely irritating tones. "I have chosen +what suited me best,--culture, refinement, and the education that fits +me for the sphere in which I am likely to move all my days," +impressively. "It is true, much of the wisdom of the world is little to +my taste. I do not know why a man should wade through a slough of evil +for the sake of repenting afterward, for looking white in contrast to +that foul blackness. The ninety and nine just ones seem to me the better +example." + +"I am afraid I shall not be able to make you understand," she went on, +with a little hesitation. "Perhaps I have not the power or patience to +shape a man's soul to a noble purpose or ambition. I want him strong +and earnest, full of energy and that high sense of duty to all around +him, not satisfied to drift down the stream in frivolous content, but to +make the way better for his having gone over it. I want him true as +steel to his friends, generous, yet uncompromising to his foes, to all +evil; the kind of man who, if crushed down by fate to-day, could see +some ray above his head to-morrow, who has sufficient moral fibre not to +be rigidly bound by class feelings and narrow prejudices." + +Sylvie paused, startled at herself. She had never framed her hero in +words before, and that she should do it for this man! + +"These are the heroes of our youth, Miss Sylvie, and you are very +young," in that insufferably patronizing tone. + +"I am old enough to know what I want," she retorted, all the fiery blood +in her pulses leaping to the charge. "I think, too, I can discern +between the true worker, and him who is content with the frivolous +outside show." + +"Perhaps not. You have been advising me, now allow me a like privilege. +Do not imagine me actuated by jealousy,--that vice of the Moor is not in +my nature. I have seen with some surprise that your fancies were for +those beneath you in the social scale. A woman always loses in this +dangerous experiment. She seldom raises her commonplace hero to a level +with the gods, and is much more likely to be dragged down." + +She turned suddenly, her face flaming scarlet. The indignation misled +him. He took it as a sign of personal anger, and wondered if she could, +if she _dared_, throw him over for that coarse, stupid, blundering +fellow. + +"Yes," he continued, glad to stab her in a vulnerable point; "you +certainly have made a mistake, if you think this soul an aspiring one. A +boy who excels in brute strength and force merely, a man who makes a +deliberate choice between the nobler results of education and the +common purposes of rude daily labor, will hardly rank with a knight of +Arthur's time, even if some self-deceived woman chooses to lavish her +affection upon him." + +"If you mean Mr. Darcy"-- And she stood quite still, tremulous with +passion. + +"I mean Mr. Darcy." She had not shown such delicate consideration for +his feelings that he should hesitate. "I do not see how you, with your +artistic tastes and refinement, can find companionship in such a nature. +I understand it very thoroughly. Beware, for you cannot plead even +daffodil blindness, my fair Persephone." + +Sylvie Barry could have struck the man beside her. All the passion of +her nature surged up in contempt, great waves of white heat. If a look +could have annihilated, hers might. Even in the shady gloom, he saw the +flashing eye and quivering lip of scorn. + +"Do not distress yourself about me," she answered, with suave +bitterness. "Jack Darcy may be a mill-hand; but he has the honor, the +white soul, of a gentleman! And you--you dare to trample on what was +once a friendship!" + +"I believe he was once my admiration because he used to show fight so +easily. He was for marching West then, and doing some grand thing; but +you see his hero days are gone by. Ten years from this he may be a +demagogue, a rank socialist, whining about equality. Still, if I must +congratulate you"-- + +She made a haughty gesture, and her first impulse was to let it go; but +her truthful nature could not brook the implied deception. + +"You may congratulate me upon the friendship alone," with a clear, sharp +emphasis. + +His shattered self-confidence returned suddenly, shaped to arrogance. If +she was not entangled with Jack Darcy, there certainly was no one else. + +"Sylvie," he began loftily, "this has been child's play, and I am +heartily ashamed of my share of it. Let us go back, and forget it. You +have had your tilt at windmills; so suppose we return to common sense. +You are still heart-free, it seems; and I beg pardon for repeating +foolish gossip. Your aunt has accepted me as your suitor; my mother is +waiting to receive you as a daughter; and I think," with some pride in +his tone, "that few men can offer you a cleaner hand, or a better +record. You will have a life of ease and leisure, and-- Why, Sylvie, you +can teach _me_,--you can help me up these glowing heights." + +"I have answered you!" + +She seemed to grow tall and regal as she stood there by the gate, the +long, arrowy ray of lamp-light from within illumining her proud, cold +face, that could flush with such bewildering warmth. He discerned in +some dim way that she had access to a life far above his; an atmosphere +like hoar-frost surrounded her, raying off fine points, that thrust him +farther away into darkness and coldness. Had something been taken out of +his life? + +The man's well-nigh imperturbable complacency had received a shock. + +"Good-night," in a softer tone. One cannot break a pleasant friendship +without a pang. + +As one in a dream he heard the gate close, the soft footfall on the +brick walk, and a waft of voices from within. Then it occurred to him +that he, Frederic De Woolfe Lawrence, had been rejected by this little +girl upon whose head he had meant to shower the blessing of marital +protection, the regard of a soul that was not quite indifferent, after +all. What was this dull pang somewhere in his symmetrical, well-kept +body? Was it the night that made his pulses heavy and turgid? + +Then he turned. "By Jove!" he muttered, "there's not another girl in the +country that could have kept her fingers out of the governor's +money-bags! Poor mother! What a disappointment for her! Of course +Sylvie will marry Jack Darcy,--Pluto and Persephone again." + +Then he softly whistled a stave of opera-music, and sauntered about +leisurely. He had no fancy for facing his mother that night. + +As for Sylvie, she knew her face was very white when she entered the +door; but she bustled about with womanly evasion, and began to ask if +her aunt had been lonesome, if any one had called, and declared she was +tired from walking home, and her head ached a little, which was true; +and presently the two women barred their doors, and went to bed. + +Was she glad to have it over? Was she sorry she had left no loop-hole +for future hope? Strange to say, she could not tell. + +"But I could never live, like a pauper, on some other person's money!" +she thought decisively. "And he did not care. It was for his mother's +sake chiefly." + +Again there was a breach between the Montagues and the Capulets, this +time crossed by no lovers' hands. Mrs. Lawrence was highly indignant, +Miss Barry vexed and sore disappointed. They went the even tenor of +their way, however, while the poor self-made invalid at Hope Terrace +grew more querulous and exacting. Fred took a week at Saratoga to +restore his wounded vanity, and then settled himself at a hotel in New +York, wondering if he had not better read a little law to pass away the +winter. Mrs. Minor was a queen of fashion, and she was glad to have the +attendance of her handsome brother. Irene and Mrs. Eastman flitted about +like gay butterflies, with trains of admirers. The faint mutterings in +the financial world made little difference to them. It was their +province to spend, to enjoy; and what the strata beneath them did or +suffered or hoped, was of no more account than the far-off ocean-froth +beating up on the hard white sand,--picturesque in a drama or a story. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +IT was a dull, gray day, the first of December. Autumn had set in early +this year. There had been a week of cold rain that had quite destroyed +the magnificent foliage, one of Yerbury's greatest charms; and it became +a sodden mass, trodden under foot by pedestrians. The ground was baked +by sharp frosts at night, making the unpaved streets a mass of ruts +early and late, and quagmires in the middle of the day. + +Yerbury had changed much from the pretty, clean, thriving country-town, +to something that aped a grand city; unfinished streets, small farms +laid waste, rows of pretentious houses or florid cottages that had never +been thoroughly completed, nearly every one adorned with the ominous +placard, "For Sale." They needed painting and tidying: vines were left +about, dahlia-stalks hung to poles, steps were awry, and gates swinging +on one hinge; heaps of ashes and garbage lay here and there. + +This day Yerbury wore a particularly listless air. The leafless trees +hung out long and drooping arms, that swayed to and fro in the biting +wind. The sullen sky overhead added its tone of dreariness to the +picture. There was no cheerful whir of factories and shops, no brisk +steps of men going to and fro, though there were enough standing around +in groups with scowling faces and compressed lips, or flushed with angry +gesticulation. + +The only places that evinced any air of business were the beer-shops. +Here a man harangued his fellows; there he did not deign to argue, but +openly cursed. "Let's treat on that!" said one. "I'll stand to that +sentiment," declared another. Sometimes voices rose so high that a +proprietor was forced to command order. + +Yerbury was on a strike. There had been a new scale of prices with the +opening of autumn, submitted to by most of the men with a sympathetic +good-nature. Trade was getting dull. Fancy prices no longer ruled. An +ominous feeling pervaded all classes. Building fell off. One tenant gave +up his house, and took part with another. Housewives looked about for +the cheapest market, and talked of making last year's coat or cloak do +for the winter. + +Hope Mills had been among the first to propose this second reduction. +David Lawrence had returned from his business tour much depressed. There +was an undercurrent of distrust, a disinclination to lay in stock, a +wordless questioning from eye to eye, with no hopeful response. + +Horace Eastman had worked himself into the charge of the inside +business. He had no real interest, but a liberal salary; and Mr. +Lawrence felt that he lifted a weight of care from his shoulders. If +only Fred-- But with college training and elegant tastes he could hardly +be expected to take to the dull routine of business cares. So matters +had been left more and more to Eastman, who was shrewd and sharp, who +always managed to get the most for his money. + +Now Mr. Lawrence was appalled by the amount of stock on hand. They had +been running the mills at full capacity all summer. + +"We must offer goods at a lower figure," said Mr. Eastman promptly. "We +must get command of trade again. Prices _will_ come down,--that is a +foregone conclusion. The abundant harvests have glutted the market, and +living will be cheaper. The laborer can live on less; and, if we can +manufacture at less cost, we shall be all right again." + +"But there seems no demand for goods," said Mr. Lawrence faintly. +"Store-shelves are full. People are carrying last year's stock with no +call for it. It has always seemed to me, Eastman, that a liberal policy +to workmen brought its own reward. They are large consumers. Cut them +down to mere food and shelter, and clothes are the first to go. In +decent times your workman is ashamed of a ragged coat." + +"All very true, Mr. Lawrence; but, if there is no market, we must create +one. Sell cheaper stock to new men. That will make a demand at once." + +"Undersell! We used to call that a cut-throat business, Mr. Eastman;" +and a flush stained the fine face, now rather worn and thin. + +"It is what we must come to. There is next to no premium on gold, and +the first man who touches bottom will be the lucky one, to my thinking. +Cheap goods, cheap every thing, will be the next cry. The farmers must +dispose of their wool, and labor must come down. Why, ordinary workmen +have been living like princes." + +The delicate brows were drawn thoughtfully. + +"I always hated to grind workmen down to a bare subsistence," spoke the +honest, loyal gentleman, as God made him. Trade had not warped body and +soul. He was an aristocrat, if you please, and his home was as sacred to +refinement and elegance as a ducal palace. A common person would have +stood in his hall until his errand was done, and he would never even +have asked a workman to take a seat in his office; but his soul was +honorable, if haughty. + +"Let me manage it," with a confident nod. "We'll keep the topmost wave, +as you will see." + +So to New York Horace Eastman went, and arranged for a large +auction-sale of goods, which was a remarkable success, and created quite +a ripple in the sea of stagnation. Then he contracted to deliver another +lot by the first of January, at certain prices. And now either +manufacturer must give up profits, or workman yield his margin, and be +contented with daily bread alone. + +"There really was no need of workmen owning houses, having Brussels +carpets and pianos," argued Eastman. "They were in some degree +answerable for the hard times. Every one wanted to out-do his neighbor. +They were not content to live as their fathers had lived; and, where the +mothers wore print dresses, the daughters must have silk. They had gone +on altogether too fast." + +Yet only a few years ago workingmen had been urged to put their money +into homes. Rows of houses had been built for them, and sold on such +ridiculously easy terms, only a trifle down. The interest would not be +as much as rent. Then the fascinating shopkeeper had flaunted his wares +in the faces of the thrifty housewives. "A good article is cheapest in +the end. This Brussels will outwear two ingrain carpets, at a very +little advance on the first cost. No moths will trouble it, once down it +is there for years, saving worry and hard work;" and the buyer was +persuaded. Then there must be new furniture, and so on to the end. Was +it altogether their fault? The old things were passing away. The world +was awaking from its Rip-Van-Winkle nap. There was to be a wider +outlook, a liberal cultivation, a general rising of every one. + +So there had been years of plenty, and men had pulled down the old +storehouses to build new ones. + +Such people as the Eastmans and the Lawrences could not economize at a +moment's warning. The screws must be put on elsewhere. + +At first the workmen looked at each other in blank dismay. Winter was +coming on--a hard one it bid fair to be. Coal had risen, and in spite of +the abundant harvest the absolute staples of life had not much decreased +by the time they reached the consumer. Coffees were high: pease, beans, +and chiccory were sold at a reduction, to be sure, and you could get +lumpy heavy flour that spoiled your bread, and poor butter, and teas +that were colored and doctored; and this was cheap living. + +There was a stormy wrangle. Meetings were held, and speakers figured out +the actual cost of living. Less than the present rates meant loss, +privation, and want in the end. So a strike was determined upon. + +Jack Darcy, being foreman of one department, stood, as it were, between +the upper and nether millstone, at present just escaping both. He +thought it hard that the men should have this second reduction so soon, +and it did seem to him reasonable that profits ought to yield a little, +that there ought to be a sympathy between them. Personally, he should be +comfortable enough; but if he had a wife and three or four children, a +helpless, bedridden mother, or a drunken father, or a do-nothing +brother, hanging upon him, what then? + +He advised a little moderation and patience. It might be better to take +the wages now, and wait until spring-- + +"They doant give up any thing, as we sees," broke in an elderly English +weaver. "The great house is full of every thing, and coal eno' burning +in the greenhouses to ripen a few bunches of grapes out of God's own +season, as would keep many of us warm. Who puts our coal down a dollar +in the ton, or takes it off of house-rent when wages come down? I'll +work as cheap as the next one if ye'll gi' me a cheap house to live in +and cheap beef and bread. I doant care for money in the savin's bank, or +a house that they tax all out o' sight. When I'm old I'll go to the +poorhouse, I will; but I'm danged if I like starvin' before then, and +they a-ridin' over us in their carriages. I left 'em over yonder"--with +a nod of the head--"for that." + +"What do you think of it?" asked a thin, hungry-looking man, fingering +his Cardigan nervously. "See here! If I could have one more prosperous +year, I'd be through the woods, have the house I've worked so hard for +settled upon my old woman, and would be out of the reach of misfortune. +But this thing hits me hard, it does." + +"I don't believe striking will succeed just now," said Jack candidly. +"And it's a bad time. Two or three weeks lost time will more than cover +the odds in wages." + +"I don't want to lose time. I'd rather keep straight on." + +"It's the principle of the thing," broke in another. "I'd lose six +months before I'd give in an inch. I'd have struck the other time." + +There was a call for the overseers, and Jack left the group. Eastman was +talking to several of the men in his office. A fine, portly figure he +had, indicating rich living and good wines; a man still on the sunny +side of forty, stout, rather florid, a full dark beard and hair, but +with eyes that were light and furtive; eyes that could stare you out of +countenance, and yet not meet yours ordinarily, with a frank, outward +look. He always went handsomely dressed, and wore diamond shirt-studs, +an expensive seal-ring, a substantial watch-chain with two or three +costly charms. He had not a flashy look, but the sign and seal of +gentlemanliness was wanting in that intensely selfish face. + +He had heard of the disaffection. There was not much to say except that +the new scale of prices would go into effect next Monday morning. He +never asked a man to work for any less wages than he, the workman, +considered his services worth. Here was the work, and the wages Hope +Mills could afford to pay. They could take it, or leave it. There were +plenty of men at Coldbridge, thrown out by the failure of Kendrick & +Co., who would be glad to come. He could fill any vacant place. + +But the ball grew and grew by handling. There were union-meetings and +violent harangues, much of them truth, too, but badly and unwisely +used. And the result was that the men demanded the old wages, were +peremptorily refused, and struck. The great engine subsided, and a +Sunday stillness reigned. Down at Hull's Iron Works the same proceedings +were going on, but the saloons seemed to profit by it. + +Jack hung around the mill for a while, then went down stairs. The +chilliness in the air made him draw his coat together by one button, and +slip his hands into his pockets. He sauntered through several streets, +nodding to one and another, or exchanging a few words. Once again his +advice was asked. + +"I think you had better come to work to-morrow," he said. "Don't muddle +your brains with beer or bad whiskey: that will not make the way any +clearer." + +"A good enough lad!" was the surly comment, "but why grudge a man a sup +of beer when he can't have wine like the big folks?" + +Jack had hardly planned for the enforced idleness. He did not want to go +home and read, he could not call on Sylvie thus early in the morning, +neither did he feel in the humor for argument with any of the men. So he +stopped at the door of a small office, and turned the knob rather +hesitatingly. + +"Hillo, Darcy, is that you? Come in, come in! Sullen gray day, isn't it? +Off on a strike, eh?" + +Jack laughed,--the sound with no real music in it, the sort of +lip-service merely. + +"Come in, old fellow; don't be afraid. I've neither pistol nor bludgeon, +and I'll promise to treat you civilly." + +The man's accents were clear and curt, with a certain ring of out-door +freshness,--a capital voice to travel with up mountain-sides and through +forests. The face, too, indicated a kind of joyous strength; for the +blue eyes were merry and baffling, the laughing lips a brilliant +scarlet, the nose neither Grecian nor aquiline, but slightly +_retroussé_; a bronze moustache with long curling ends that were +undeniably red, and hair a little darker, slightly curling as well. A +broad-shouldered man with the deep breathing of intense vitality; +healthy nerves that could enjoy laziness to the full, as well as a brisk +walk across the country. + +A glance at the interior showed the place to be a doctor's office. On +one side a long case with glass doors above and drawers underneath, +filled with bottles and books and papers, perhaps in not the most +systematic order; at the farther end a fire in an open-front stove; a +luxurious Turkish lounge covered with russet leather, and a bright wool +blanket thrown carelessly over it; several capacious armchairs; and in +one, with his legs stretched out on another, sat Dr. Philip Maverick, +eight and twenty or thirty years old, perhaps. + +"How nice and cosey you are! I really did not know what to do with +myself. Yes, we are all on a strike, I am sorry to say." + +"Bad time," and Maverick shook his head. "What's the prospect? Have a +cigar." + +"The prospect is that the weakest goes to the wall, of course," answered +Jack. "Maverick, I am dreadfully muddled on this point. I have thought +of it all the week. It _is_ hard on the men. I know the general advice +is to economize more closely, but how can you do it just at the +beginning of winter? One cannot move to a cheaper tenement, fire and +lights cost more, and provision is a little dearer. Low living in winter +does not conduce to a healthy state in the spring. Then, on the other +hand, if they are going to make such sales as they did last month, they +cannot pay the wages, and realize what they consider a fair profit. But +why shouldn't the Lawrences and the Eastmans and many others give up +something, as well?" + +Jack turned an anxious face to his listener. + +"All you manufacturers have been crazy the last few years," he said, +delicately shaking the ashes from his cigar. "The country was such an +extensive purchaser through the war, that your dreams became Utopian. +Then everybody came home with some money and no clothes, and the people +were large consumers. Now everybody has been clothed, and the stores are +full, and here is a glutted market. Over-production, my dear fellow." + +"Then I do believe it would be better to leave off for a while. Still +that would not suit as well. Half a loaf is better than no bread, to a +hungry man. But, after all," said Jack, knitting his brows, "I don't +altogether believe in the cry of over-production. The boys of war times +are men now. They are pushing in everywhere for work. They want food, +shelter, raiment. There are a great many more people in this town than +there were five years ago. Even if we only depended on the natural +increase of population"-- + +"But, you see, people are forever crowding into cities," interposed Dr. +Maverick. + +"I have a fancy they do not come much faster than they are called," +returned Jack dryly. "See what we have been doing around here. The small +outlying farms have been bought up by speculators, cut up, destroyed for +farming purposes. Their owners with families of children had to go +somewhere. 'Come to the mills and factories,' was shouted in their ears, +and they came. Now they are here, depending on their labor for bread, +and Eastman will bring fifty or a hundred more from Coldbridge; and in +the spring, if there is any difficulty, some more will come. The old +ones cannot go back to their farms if they would. Their fertile gardens +lie cut up into waste squares, their fruit-trees have been despoiled: +they must starve here, or tramp to some other crowded town, and perhaps +starve there. Will your farmer take in half a dozen hands at a moment's +notice? Can they put themselves down in any country place, and go to +work?" + +Maverick studied Jack intently, and then gave a low whistle. + +"Upon my word, Darcy, you _have_ been going over the subject. Take the +stump. And of course you go against capital?" + +"No, I don't," returned Jack shortly. "Only it does seem to me that +there ought to be some place where capital and labor could strike hands. +It appears to me, both have been to blame. We cannot condemn men for +crowding into cities, when there has been a steady call for them. We do +blame them for not laying up a little money against a rainy day; but +many of them have. Look at the cottages that have been sold to +workingmen. Look at the bank savings. To-day, perhaps, as many poor men +could pay their whole indebtedness, according to the ratio, as the rich. +But we fly at the laboring classes, when it is only human nature +cropping out. Your millionnaire puts his money into whatever he thinks +will bring him the greatest return; your poor man puts his capital, his +capacity, health, and strength, where it will earn him the most money." + +"Well, I don't see but they are both right enough," said Maverick. "And +unless you are running over into communistic ideas"-- + +"I am not," was the decisive reply. "Some one much wiser than I said, +ages ago, 'He among you that will not work, let him not eat:' yet," with +a humorous laugh, "if the rule were strictly enforced, there would more +than one go hungry, I'm thinking. The great consolation would be that +the right man would suffer, not the innocent and guiltless." + +"I really do not see what you are driving at, Darcy," and the other +studied him curiously. + +"Well, I told you in the beginning I was muddled. I don't pretend to see +my way clear, only I think we have just begun the fight. It is as much +of an irrepressible conflict as that other, for which so many brave men +gave their lives. And one point in it no one seems to take note of. We +are proud of the increase of population in our country. Every city, +town, and hamlet boasts of it, and the depopulated places run to slow +decay. We welcome these people; and yet they must eat to live, and the +majority of them must work, or they will have nothing to eat. I think +the most of them labor cheerfully, and my experience is that idleness is +the worst foe of man. But, on the other hand, every year invention so +protects and fortifies capital, that one must do a larger business or +employ fewer men. In five years the condition of labor has greatly +changed at Hope Mills, and in five years more it will change again. This +is the inexorable law of nature, or, I ought to say, growing +intelligence." + +"Then I should say we wanted wider markets and a better classification +of labor." + +A quick light came into Jack's eyes. + +"I think you have hit it, Maverick," he answered. "But what is +everybody's business is nobody's; and we are so apt to forget that the +world does move, and the condition of things changes all the time," and +Jack's eyes dropped thoughtfully. + +"See here, Darcy, take Brock's Hall, and talk to the men to-morrow +night," began the doctor eagerly. "They will listen to you because to a +certain extent you are in sympathy with them, one of their number; and +you do seem to have some clear ideas on the subject. No: we'll say +Wednesday night, and I will get out some posters." + +Jack laughed. "What shall I tell them? I can't see how to get about the +remedy clearly myself. The trade-unions have not hit it either. When +they say to a man, 'Because I will not work for a certain sum, you shall +not,' they lean on a reed that will surely break, and pierce themselves. +Hunger is stronger than theory. No: I shall have to give the point a +more thorough study before I become a blatant apostle." + +Philip Maverick blew out a curling whiff of smoke, and looked at his +visitor through it. Darcy gave him a curious feeling, as if a good deal +of excellent material were running to waste, that if shaped and trained, +and brought up to higher purposes, might be of much good service to the +world. Did he realize it himself? He was twenty-four, and had a good +position as things went; and Dr. Maverick had heard the women of the +house were prudent and thrifty, and had a nice home. Was Darcy bounded +in by conservatism, or afraid of losing? or was he honest when he said +he did not know just what to do? Yet he did not look like the kind of +man to go plodding all his days. + +"Darcy, you puzzle me!" he began abruptly. "With that great body of +yours, those strong arms and hands that look as if they could wrest +Nature's secrets from her mighty soul, with that brow, and the resolute +mouth, it seems as if you ought to be in better business than making +cloth: pardon me. You don't use up half your energy. You ought to be +planning a ship-canal across Darien, or tunnelling mountains. You're the +square man; and how upon earth did you ever get fitted so smoothly to a +round hole?" + +Jack laughed, and told his story very simply. To him there was neither +romance nor heroism in it, just a plain every-day sort of compulsion. +The tunnelling would have been much more to his mind. + +"Go on with the problem," said Dr. Maverick abruptly. "In the next five +years I think we will all have use for our wits. We are going to see +another change in matters, that will require more wisdom than is needed +in mere money-making. See here, I'm interested in the thing. Let us go +out, and hear what the men say about it." + +Maverick rose, and put on his great-coat, and lighted another cigar. +Then the two started together. + +Maverick had been in the town just six months. He had studied medicine +in Philadelphia and Paris, taken a three-years ramble over Europe, when +a college friend begged him to come to Yerbury, and step into a vacant +place. And he had what he fancied an excellent reason for it. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +THE men were, for the most part, in sullen earnest. From their narrower +outlook they could not see that capital was on the eve of a great +revulsion; that credit had been stretched to its utmost. They had their +own pet plans, their own indolences and careless habits; and, as was +natural, their own desires were the sweetest to them. + +There were labor-meetings and harangues. There was a good deal of talk +about the rights of labor and the tyranny of capital; of the rich mill +and factory owners living in palaces, and the men in hovels; of what +England had done, and of what we surely were coming to,--the rich +growing richer, and the poor poorer. But Jack remarked that of the +speakers there was not one who owned a little plot of ground, or had a +bank-account. Two of them were disaffected English weavers, a third an +Irishman, and the only Yerbury man was a quick-tongued, but shiftless +fellow who had started in business for himself, and failed; a kind of +handy Jack-at-all-trades, and correspondingly good for nothing. + +Before the close of the week the men in Watkins's shoe-shop had struck. +There was quite an army of them now. The saloons were filled daily and +nightly. Jack thought, with a little grimness, that they might better +save their money for next week's bread. + +Several of the men in his room dropped in to see what he thought; and +the result was, that on the following Monday morning ten of them +presented themselves with a tolerably cheerful demeanor, and accepted +the situation. By Tuesday night every vacant place was filled with +hungry, haggard-looking men from Coldbridge. They were jeered at, and +annoyed in various ways: the Yerbury men were called rats and turncoats +and cowards. The mills were driven. There was another great and +successful sale; in fact, amid the failures and difficulties about, Hope +Mills loomed up like a star of the first magnitude. + +In the spring Mrs. Eastman and Miss Lawrence went to Europe; and Fred +joined a party of young men on a pleasure-tour through California. Even +Mrs. Lawrence was persuaded to try Saratoga in the summer. The great +house was muffled, and left in the charge of servants; but greenhouses, +graperies, and all the elegant adjuncts were cared for as assiduously as +ever. David Lawrence used to think it over. Sometimes he was tempted to +sell out his palatial residence, but who was there to buy? Other men had +been caught with just such elephants on their hands. The papers were +full of offers "at an immense sacrifice." + +Business grew duller and duller. There was a very great overplus of +every thing, it seemed, in the world. Harvests were so abundant, and +prices so low, they were not worth the moving. Fruit lay and rotted on +the ground: you could get nothing for it. And yet there were wan-eyed +and hungry women and children who would have feasted regally on this +waste. Mothers of families turned and patched and darned, and said there +could be no new garments this winter, while store-shelves groaned under +the accumulation of goods. Men were failing on this side and that; the +Alton & West Line Railway stock came down with a crash, and banks were +shaky. Hope Mills were closed for a month to make some repairs, as +business was rather slow just now. + +There was a great quaking in real estate as well. The large +property-owners held on stiffly: times would improve; land was worth +more to-day than ever, because every year there were more people, and +they required more houses, and the thing would somehow right itself. + +Jack had taken his two feminines off to a great roomy farmhouse, where +they had a horse at their command. Sylvie and Miss Barry were summering +at the White Mountains. Dr. Maverick found a good deal of sickness among +the poorer classes, low fevers and various troubles, that he knew well +enough came from insufficient diet. But what was to be done? There was +so little work, so much lost time, the inexorable rent, and the +importunate grocer's bill. Up on Hope Terrace the luscious grapes fell +to the ground, and were swept up as so much litter; the fresh, lovely +vegetables passed their prime unheeded, and were tossed in the +garbage-pit. + +September came in hot and sultry. Hope Mills started, but many another +place did not open. There was a strange, deathly-quiet undercurrent, +like the awful calm before a thunder-shower. Wages took another tumble, +and now no one had the courage to make much of a fight. + +The second week in October there came an appalling crash. Yerbury Bank +closed its doors one morning,--the old bank that had weathered many a +gale; that was considered as safe and stanch as the rock of Gibraltar +itself; that held in trust the savings of widows and orphans, the +balance of smaller business-men who would be ruined: indeed, it would +almost ruin Yerbury itself. + +There was the greatest consternation. People flew up the street, +bank-book in hand; but the dumb doors seemed only to give back a +pitiless glance to entreaties. What was it? What had happened? "Every +penny I had in the world was in it," groaned one; and the saddening +refrain was repeated over and over, sometimes with tears, at others with +curses. + +The old officers of Yerbury Bank had been men of the highest integrity. +Some were dead; some had been pushed aside by the new, fast men who +laughed at past methods, as if honor, honesty, and truth were virtues +easily outgrown. Among these were the Eastmans. George was considered +shrewd and far-sighted, and for two years had been one of the directors, +as well as Horace. They paid the highest rate of interest, which +attracted small savings from all around. There had been no whisper or +fear about it, so solid was its olden reputation. There were people who +would as soon have doubted the Bible. + +Two days after this, George Eastman sailed for Europe, on a sudden +summons,--his wife's illness. There had been a meeting called, and a +short statement made. Owing to sudden and unexpected depreciation in +railway-bonds and improvement-bonds, and what not, it was deemed best to +suspend payment for the present. In a few weeks all would be straight +again, with perhaps a trifling loss to depositors. Already the directors +had been very magnanimous. Mr. Eastman and several others had turned +over to the bank a large stock of mortgages: in fact, the virtue of +these men was so lauded that the losses seemed to be quite thrown into +the background. + +But the examination revealed a sickening mass of selfishness and +cupidity; transactions that were culpably careless, others dishonorable +to the last degree. If the larger depositors had not been warned, there +was certainly a remarkable unanimity of thought, as, for the past +fortnight, they had been steadily drawing out their thousands. Wild +railroad-speculations, immense mortgages on real estate that now lay +flat and dead: scanty available assets that would hardly pay twenty +cents on a dollar. + +This was what David Lawrence heard when he returned from St. Louis, a +heavy-hearted, dispirited man. Two recent failures had borne heavily +upon him. If last winter had been dull, there was no adjective to apply +to this. His first step was to mortgage Hope Terrace. He had deeded it +to his wife, unincumbered; but now it appeared his only chance of +salvation. Mrs. Lawrence made a feeble protest at first, and demanded +that Fred should be sent for, but there was no time. He met his pressing +notes, and was tided over; but, oh! what was to be the end of it all? + +An indignation-meeting was called; and so high ran popular feeling, that +new directors were appointed for the bank. Mr. Lawrence would have fain +declined, but the community insisted. In this time of general distrust, +they came back to the loyal gentleman, who, whatever his pride might be, +had never deceived one of them. + +Alas! had he not enough perplexity of his own, that this new sorrow and +shame should stare him in the face, bow him to the earth? + +Not his own son, thank God! not any blood kin; and yet his daughter's +husband, his fair Gertrude, of whom he had been so proud years ago! He +went back suddenly to that old time, and seemed to see them all again as +little children, a merry household; and his pale, delicate Fred, for +whom his heart beat so anxiously. How they had welcomed his coming!--a +son to hand down the name, a son to lean upon in his old age. Nay, those +were the extremes of life: why should not men count on their sons +through the burden and heat of middle life? Why wait until the evening +for comfort? + +Where was he now? Did he think of the one who had toiled that he might +spend? for, now that he looked at it with awesome calmness, like a thing +standing apart, it was one long, dreary pilgrimage of toil. To what end? +Was gathering together riches the noblest use of a man made in God's +image? Ah, how poor and paltry an aim! + +Surely he had done something beside that! A pleasant home of culture and +artistic beauty, a circle of refined people gathered about him, the evil +and want and woe of the world shut carefully out by silken curtains and +plate-glass. His daughters he had been proud of. No _mésalliance_, no +common tastes, as he had sometimes fancied that he had detected in that +pretty little Sylvie Barry. And his son? + +There had been no positive evil in his life. A young man's follies +perhaps, but few vices, if any, thank God! He would never be a +libertine, a drunkard, a gambler, a thief. But was negative goodness +all? These twenty-four years spent in shaping and culturing, but to what +end? Could he call him back from his pleasure now, and have him take up +this struggle grown too heavy to fight single-handed? and would he be +manful, brave, clear-sighted, and unrepining? No. He felt the change +would be too great. The soul so used to ease and luxury, fine linen and +soft couches, delicate appetites, indolent habits, intellectual pursuits +and graces, to be put in rough harness of business at once, would be +cruel, nay, worse, like chaining humming-birds to a dray-wagon. And +Irene, flitting like a butterfly through elegant _salons_, how would she +be content with poverty and a cottage? + +And was this all the work of his own hands? Had he laid up no treasure +against the time of adversity, made no homes into which he might be +received in his trial hour? For two years he had struggled manfully, +earnestly; and all this time at his very gate there had been a traitor, +turning aside the stream until there was nothing but a barren desert +left. + +The crown of his life was poverty and ruin! For himself he could give up +luxuries, and come to plain fare; but what of the others? This last news +had swept away all hope. + +He sought Horace Eastman, and confronted him with his deceit and wrong: +somehow he could not bring himself to call it by its true name, crime, +and fasten it on the man there and then. There was a high-bred delicacy +about David Lawrence, a little of the old knightly chivalry that in past +times held a man back from striking a fallen foe. And then he was not +quite sure. The dishonorable work lay between the two men, and he +forbore to blame this one wrongly. + +He need not have wasted his pity on this man, or have so nicely worded +his charges. Horace Eastman stood there, surprised to be sure, for he +had counted upon getting away before this turn in the wheel of fortune. +For the last year, though he had been outwardly triumphant, and had +carried business matters with a hopefully high hand, he had known what +the end must be, and made ready for it with a kind of exultant elation +at the sense of difficulties surmounted and deceptions carried on +successfully. He really despised the man before him, that he had +sufficient faith in human nature to be deceived. Starting from the +principle that all men are rogues when opportunity offers, he felt no +more guilty now, than if he had followed any other well-known law of +nature. He stood before Mr. Lawrence bland and composed: there was no +vulnerable point to strike, so he need put on no armor. Many a time he +had reasoned the matter out to his own satisfaction, that the failure of +Hope Mills was inevitable. What with losses, dull times, and extravagant +living, it would surely come. That he owed his employer any thing in +integrity and sharp fighting with adverse circumstances, would never +enter the mind of such a man, so inwrapped in self. + +"There were some irregularities for your son-in-law's benefit," with an +insolent half smile, half sneer. "He was to explain them to you. There +have been accommodations for the mills occasionally. You were away: what +else could I have done?" + +A cold shiver ran over David Lawrence. That part of courage allied to +hope seemed crushed out of him as if by torture. Could he drag his +daughter's name through the mire? for it would be that in any attempt to +bring Eastman to the point of responsibility. + +"Do you know how much this--this defalcation will amount to?" He would +call the monstrous thing by its right name now, though he shuddered in +every limb, and a cold perspiration stood in great beads about his thin +temples. A third person witnessing his hesitation might fancy him +faltering and shrinking in the path of dishonor, rather than the other. + +"I really have no idea," bracing up his broad, full shoulders with +portentous dignity: "George managed that matter. No doubt there are some +memoranda," pausing with an indifferent air as if it were a matter of a +few dollars. + +"The bank must be made good, Mr. Eastman." + +"Well; as you think best, as you think best;" nodding confidently, as if +the repayment were the easiest thing in the world. "Let me see,--would +it not be better to write to George?" + +What impression could he make upon this man? To appeal to conscience, +justice, or any latent sense of right, would be a waste of words. With +him success was right, and failure the blunder or sin. He was to "do +well unto himself," to gain the world's verdict of approval. That solid +flesh made by good eating and drinking, not debauchery or +intemperance,--the man had few of these gross vices,--that complacent +strength, that keen, concentrating force than could bend all energies in +the one direction, never looking back when he had once set his mind to a +thing, experiencing no remorse for those he crushed under his feet so +long as he went to success over them, knowing no disinterestedness, +trading simply upon the credulity, honor, and honesty of others: he had +chosen him for some of these very qualities. Do men gather grapes of +thistles? + +"Bring the books to my office. I shall go over them to-night," was the +haughty command. + +Eastman bowed and withdrew. The books were sent by the errand-boy. Then +he threw himself into his luxurious Russia-leather chair, rested his +feet upon the edge of the desk, settled his hands comfortably in his +pockets, and began to consider. A man would be foolish to stay and be +caught in the ruin of a falling house. He might not be crushed, to be +sure; but there would be the _débris_, and he had no fancy for clearing +that away. Not only the mills, but Yerbury, would fall flat. He did not +care to retire to a garden, and raise strawberries and corn: the clink +of gold was more melodious to his ear than the voices of nature. There +was a place for talent like his: the quick sight and keen discrimination +were still able to give the rusty old world a lift out of ruts it had +stopped in, and send it on with a rush. He had money in some +silver-mines: he might go West, and attend to that, then take a run over +to England, and see George. After all, was George really to blame for +getting hold of his wife's portion? He had married Miss Lawrence, +believing in good faith that she was the daughter of a millionnaire; +and, if he had been sharp enough to save something from the general +ruin, lucky for him! + +On the whole, Mr. Eastman thought it would be well to go to New York for +a few days until the storm blew over. Jeffries the book-keeper could +attend to all that was needed. Mr. Lawrence would find Hope Mills in a +bad plight, to be sure; but he would not be the first man who had come +to ruin. Mr. Eastman put his desk in order,--he never kept any tell-tale +papers,--walked leisurely out of Hope Mills with that serene, impassable +face and high heart no misfortune could daunt. + +David Lawrence spread the books open before him. It would be an endless +task. One fact kept burning into his brain like fire. The Eastmans, or +Hope Mills, owed Yerbury Bank seventy thousand dollars, the hard +earnings and self-denials of poor and middle-class people. How it stung +his haughty pride, unused even to dishonorable thoughts! If he had been +an exact master, he had also been a just and honest one. Shame and +disgrace stared him square in the face, where they would have but looked +askance at Horace Eastman. + +It had been quite impossible to take cognizance of every thing after the +business grew so unwieldy. Then he thought of his son again with +passionate longing. Never had he so wanted some of his own kin to lean +upon, to take counsel with, to consider what must be done toward saving +honor: that was no social figment with him, but a deep, heaven-abiding +truth. + +Heaven! By some strange turn of thought it entered his mind. He was so +tired, he had been so tired for months and months, so engrossed with +cares and business, that he had hardly stepped inside a church. How they +used to go in the old days; how proud he had been of his four pretty +children, of his tall handsome girls, and his manly son! Respectability, +and setting a good example,--these had been his motives for +church-going. Bits of sermons came back to him: how strange that he +could remember them! There was a rest from labor, a refreshing of soul. +Oh, how dark and arid, how confused and chaotic, his felt! Was there a +something he had never known? + +Then he pulled himself together mentally, roused his dreaming brain, and +said something must be done. Fred must come back, and face the terrible +truth. As well send for him now. + +He wrote out a message, and rang the bell. A tall, slim youth answered +it. + +"I want this telegram sent immediately," he said in his quiet tone of +command. "Is Farrell anywhere about?" + +"I can take it, sir, if you please: I often do." + +"Very well." + +Back to the books again with their long lines of figures. Did he think +he would find the shame and ruin here in bold black and white? He +studied them until they all ran together, and his brain seemed to become +a mass of luminous light with black motes floating about in it. The +tense agony abated. Strange visions haunted him, frivolous fancies, and +wonders that had puzzled him in boyhood; heroic fragments of bygone +declamation; the incidents of a week ago; a picture of some bold +scenery, and he in the cars, whirling by. + +"Am I going crazy?" he asked with a ghastly expression. Then he took +several turns about the room, listened to the noise of the great engine, +and assured himself that he was sane. + +Had he better go home? He was so tired! In all his life he had never +been so utterly exhausted. Then in a sudden, fretful mood of +contradiction he wondered he should think of fatigue when his limbs felt +strong, and his body knew no physical pain. + +"I must shake it off!" he declared resolutely. Of what avail would be +going home to a wife's peevish complaints, and sit by himself to study +out this tangle? As well stay here, and master it. And that palace +yonder was home, and these were the comforts for which he had spent his +years and his energies! This was what he had laid up. An inheritance +incorruptible--why would these things come back to him? + +The mill-bell began its clang. He listened to the tramp through the +passage-ways, the confusion of voices. He went to the window. The great +gates for the work-hands were around on the other side; but he could see +the motley procession filing down the street. Not gay and cheerful as in +bygone days: they seemed to drag along, these girls and women in shabby +clothes, their shawls drawn around their shoulders. Old men and +boys--why, where had vigorous middle life disappeared? So many faces had +a hard, discontented look, that pierced him like the sharp point of +ingratitude. Had he not brought himself to ruin to give the people +employment? If he had shut down the mill three years ago, he would have +been a rich man. + +Well, why had he not? Was it thought for them? Had the prospect of their +starving lain heavily on his soul? + +Ah, the love of money-getting, the fiend of covetousness! But what would +these people have done? Some one had once said, "What is that to thee? +Follow thou me." Was it in a sermon? + +He lighted the gas, and went on wearily with his books. Some one opened +the door softly, and peered in. It was Farrell, the day-man. When he saw +Mr. Lawrence he touched his cap respectfully. + +"Pardon me, sir: I saw a light"-- + +"Yes, I am going to stay--all night, I think: I shall be busy. When does +the night-man come?" + +"At seven, sir." + +"I will send a note up to Hope Terrace, Farrell. Could you take it?" + +The man thought of his long day's work and his waiting supper. "Yes," he +answered rather reluctantly. + +"Stop in, then, when you go." + +Farrell went off grumbling. He would go home to supper first, that he +would. These men had no souls. That long walk-- Some people always rode +in chaises, were born with silver spoons in their mouths, and looked on +the rest of the world as mere lackeys! + +There was some wine in the closet, and Mr. Lawrence took a glass to +clear his brain. He rarely used it save at dinner. Then back to the +tormenting books,--columns of business that appeared incredible now. How +had all this money slipped away? + +Farrell tapped, and came in. + +"Jackson's here now, sir. Is the note ready?" + +"Yes. There is some change. Get a hack, Farrell: it is too far to walk. +Did Mr. Eastman"-- + +There was so long a pause that Farrell said,-- + +"Mr. Eastman went to New York. He said he might not be back to-morrow." + +Mr. Lawrence nodded, as if that were sufficient. He would not peer into +the man's business. + +"If you should want any thing, sir, Jackson will be at hand," said the +man kindly; for the thin, pale face, and strange, nervous light in the +eyes startled him. + +"Jackson," he began, when outside, "Mr. Lawrence is going to stay a bit, +maybe all night. He has a great pile of books before him; but I'm afraid +he's queer some way. His eyes look wild and strange. Keep a lookout, +will you"-- + +"You don't mean that he's likely to shuffle? Are things as bad as that? +Has he got a pistol?" + +"I don't know, I'm sure. Maybe I'm wrong;" and Farrell counted over the +money in his hand. "Anyhow, I would walk up and down this hall, and +listen." + +Jackson nodded, and Farrell went his way; yet now he thought the brisk +walk would not hurt him. Jackson heeded his bidding, but all was quiet. +Once he went in the next room, and climbed up to a high sliding window, +used for ventilation. Mr. Lawrence sat there poring over the books. At +twelve it was the same. Jackson tolled off the hour of midnight. Every +thing was safe in the great building. Then he settled himself in an +easy-chair, and presently fell into a doze. + +Meanwhile Mr. Lawrence studied the books in a dazed, bewildered way. +Here and there a balance had been struck, and it all looked fair. But +there was a terrible wrong somewhere! + +The figures danced before his eyes in lurid lights and grotesque shapes, +with grinning faces, flying, whirling, in a wild, demoniac waltz. The +room was full. The procession he had watched to-night winding out from +the mill, stopped and jeered, and pointed skinny fingers at him. Then +he was at the bank, and they came in troops, wringing their hands, and +cursing him. Strange tales that he had read mixed with them in +inextricable confusion. Pictures of the past hurried by with panoramic +distinctness; and hark! what was that? The grand trump of the Judgment +Day? It tolled and tolled again, like a thunder-peal. Was any one dead? + +He was so tired! He put his arms down on the desk, and leaned his face +on them. If he could sleep off this intolerable weariness! + +He was a boy again, wading through the limpid brook, stepping from stone +to stone, and sometimes plashing over. Was that the dried sweetness of +balsam,--the pungent odor of pennyroyal and water-mint,--the clean, +resinous fragrance of the pines? Out there were lily-pads,--great +golden-hearted chalices, with long, sinuous greenish-pink stems under +the shady, transparent water. How cool and peaceful! The sky overhead +was of palest blue with white flecks, and somewhere a bird was singing. +If he could go to it; if he could stay amid all this sweet quiet, and +forget-- What was it he wanted to forget? Not his little Fred, surely! +How proud he should be of him in his manhood. What a help and comfort! + +There was a strange, sudden darkness. The head drooped a little one +side, and the visions had come to an end. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +WHEN Farrell returned to his post in the morning, Jackson reported Mr. +Lawrence asleep in the office. No one thought of him again until about +ten o'clock, when some protested notes came in. Jeffries knocked at the +door, opened it softly, spoke, but received no answer; then stepped +nearer, and peered curiously at the face. It was ghastly white, the eyes +wide open and staring, and with a shriek Jeffries alarmed the whole +establishment. + +Old Dr. Lecounte came, pronounced him dead, and then sent for Dr. +Maverick, to whom he had taken a great liking. Between them both they +found a faint sign of life; and he was removed to his elegant mansion on +Hope Terrace, where his wife went into immediate and violent hysterics. +They remained several hours, and decided it to be that terrible death in +life, entire paralysis of brain, nerve, and muscle. He might linger some +days; he might drop away any moment. + +Horace Eastman, looking over the news items the next morning, saw this +account, and returned at once to Yerbury. Certainly fortune had favored +him. Affairs were in wild confusion. He learned that a telegram had been +sent to young Mr. Lawrence, and an answer received. He would be back +next Monday. Mrs. Minor came up, and brought an experienced nurse. + +The mill kept open until Saturday. Then Mr. Eastman called the men +together. + +He was very much puzzled to know what to do, he said. He had resigned +his position as superintendent of the mills, nearly a month ago; but +Mr. Lawrence had begged him to stay on until he could come to some +decision. The affairs were in a very embarrassed condition, and now +suspension was imperative. What Mr. Lawrence would have done, he could +not tell; but he did not feel justified in taking the responsibility. He +was most truly sorry--he could say it from his heart--for those whose +cheerful faces and light steps he had watched year after year, until he +came to have a friendly feeling for them all; and he was shocked at the +result of all this trouble to his dear friend, to whom he was bound by a +deeper tie than that of mere business. But there had been two years of +unparalleled depression, and Mr. Lawrence had made a brave fight. No one +beside himself knew all the difficulties that had beset his old friend's +path. It was not only here in Yerbury that trade was dull: it was from +the Atlantic to the Pacific. England, Germany, and France were suffering +as deeply as ourselves. Production had been overdone by most of the +employers using their best efforts to keep their hands at work in the +face of a falling market, or no market at all. Shelves were packed with +goods everywhere. We were on the eve of a great change, and it would be +some time before values would become stable again. If the balance of +trade (high-sounding, but imperfectly understood term) could once more +turn in our favor; if we could export our surplus goods, and find new +markets,--as no doubt we would,--every shop and factory would soon be +ringing with the cheerful sound of labor. It would be a hard winter; but +he, for one, believed the spring would open auspiciously, that business +would revive, homes be prosperous, and every heavy heart light. Let them +all take courage for their own future and that of Hope Mills in the +hands of its young master. He regretted deeply that there was no money +to pay them with to-night; but that would doubtless be attended to +soon. He wanted to bid them a cordial good-by, and beg them to stand by +young Mr. Lawrence. + +There was some rather faint cheering. Troubled eyes questioned +despondent eyes; what were they to do with winter coming on? First it +was the bank, now the mills, and what next God only could tell. + +Fred Lawrence reached Yerbury Monday evening; and at midnight the faint, +fluttering soul of his father passed over that mighty river. There had +been no return to consciousness. Mrs. Lawrence still lay in her darkened +room, unable to bear any sound beyond that of the trained nurse. + +To say that Fred was shocked, would feebly express his emotion. He had +never dreamed of his father's dying,--never dreamed of any thing like +misfortune happening to him, of any keener suffering than some temporary +annoyance. He felt quite helpless. His old philosophies did not inspire +him with courage, or open a way out of this dark present. There was to +be a funeral; there were business complications; some one had to think +of the future; the mill was shut up, the fortune swept away, and he had +been stranded on a strange shore, knowing not which way to turn. + +Eastman was still in Yerbury. He was intensely sympathetic with the +bereaved family. In fact, now that he would never have to meet the eye +of the man he had so deeply wronged, his spirits rose, his pity +overflowed. Fred was quite touched by it. Hamilton Minor, with his +rather brusque business ways, jarred against his sorrow. + +He was rather testy with Mr. Eastman. "For the life of me, I can't see +how things have come to this pass," he said sharply. "Hope Mills has +been considered as sound as a nut,--one of the surest places in the +country. Mr. Lawrence has made thousands and thousands. I have known a +good deal about his affairs." + +"It is the result of a large-hearted philanthropy,--of keeping poor +devils at work when there was no demand for goods, so that they should +not starve. I should have closed out the concern two years ago. When you +begin to lose, it is time to get out,--not wait until every stiver is +gone. But, if ever there was a noble man, it is our dead friend David +Lawrence." + +His chest swelled as he pronounced this eulogy, and he laid his white +hand sympathetically on his waistcoat. + +"What is all this bank muddle about?" + +"I really don't know. Heavy real-estate business"-- + +"And you a director!" interrupted Minor, with an unpleasant quickness. + +"I have had so much on my hands that I did not pay strict attention to +it, I must confess. You know, Minor, what a tremendous shrinkage there +has been in values: it seems to me as if the bottom had fallen out of +every thing. I have an interest out in Nevada that I am anxious to look +after, and should have gone a year ago, but Lawrence begged me to hold +over until matters brightened a little. He was so sure times would +improve. By Jove! I think they grow worse and worse!" + +"And Fred knows no more than a baby!" said Minor, in a tone of contempt. +"You'd be a help to him, Eastman, if you would stay and go over +accounts." + +"I don't know about that," shaking his head slowly. "The books are all +on the square, as you will see. If one could only make money as easily +as one can add up that which has been made and spent!" and Eastman gave +a little laugh. + +"But it cannot be a total loss. The house, I know, is settled upon Mrs. +Lawrence. And the mill-property"-- + +"Mortgaged for all it is worth in such times as these. Perhaps I ought +not to speak of it, but George was in a little difficulty which the old +gentleman tided over. Too much real estate, Minor!" + +Hamilton Minor had no great amount of confidence in the man before him; +but then, he did not have in any one. He was on a little of the paper, +and just now he felt exceedingly dubious about it. Some arrangement +ought to be made whereby members of the family who had stood by Mr. +Lawrence ought not to be losers. + +The funeral was strangely quiet and solemn; I was about to add, select. +The mill overseers and officers were formally invited. Fred had a +feeling about the men,--it seemed as if they ought to form a procession; +but the walk to the cemetery was a long one, and Mrs. Minor decisively +negatived any plan that took in the "rabble." The coffin lay in the +spacious drawing-room, where friends and acquaintances, in the same set, +nodded solemnly, and uttered a few words of well-bred condolence. The +mourners were up-stairs. The few coaches were filled with men, a little +group stood around the open grave, and David Lawrence passed out of +mortal sight,--his life-work all done. Had the toil been worth the +reward? + +The next day Eastman left for New York, and his stay there was brief. He +knew what would be surmised after much trouble and searching, but it +could not be positively laid at his door. And with a cheerful heart he +set out to seek a new fortune. + +To the great surprise of Mr. and Mrs. Minor, they found Hope Terrace +mortgaged. Mrs. Lawrence could talk of nothing, could not endure the +confusion of voices in her room. Some trustees were appointed to +investigate the whole affair, for Fred was as ignorant as a child of all +pertaining to the mill. + +The examination disclosed a pitiable state of affairs. George Eastman +had built up Yerbury on borrowed capital, lived on it in luxury, +speculated, lost and won like any other gaming. He had persuaded each +individual that he was on the high road to wealth. There had been a +peculiar fascination about the man; or is it that the appeal to greed +and covetousness is so much more convincing than that to honor and +truth, that the baser impulses are quicker with their response? It was a +great bubble upon credit, and carried with it the seeds of +self-destruction. True, the bank held mortgages on rows of flimsy-built +houses where walls were cracking apart, foundations settling, plumbing +in such a condition that it was a hotbed of disease. They would not +cover the indebtedness. The available cash had been drawn out by large +depositors, the best bonds and stocks surreptitiously sold. And with all +this there was a defalcation traceable to Hope Mills or the Eastmans. +The money had gone in that direction. On the other hand, it was proven +by the income of Hope Mills, and the amount paid out for labor, that +there was no reason why they should not be solvent to-day. + +Lavishly as the Lawrences had spent money, they had not taken it all. No +one could or did accuse David Lawrence of private speculation. Minor had +once tried his best to induce him to join in some enterprises, but +failed. It was an easy matter to blame the Eastmans for every thing: +they were away, and could not deny the charge. But had all these +bank-officials clean hands? They had been given a sacred trust, the +savings of the poor, the estates of widows and orphans; they had winked +at investments of the most precarious kind; they had paid a high rate of +interest, exacting a higher, which had been gladly given for a brief +while. Safe principles of finance had been quite ignored: the new era +was different from any thing that had ever happened to the world before, +and required new men, and now they would have to go back to the old way. +Surely there is not much that is new under the sun! + +To bring back the Eastmans, and try them for their crimes, seemed hardly +worth while. More than one man in Yerbury felt that it was safer to +berate them at a distance, than meet their damaging retorts face to +face. They could not get back any money. Hope Mills was ruined beyond a +peradventure, and the affairs of the bank were best wound up as speedily +as possible. There could be no large stealings for a receiver, +consequently no occasion for delay. The sooner the wrecks and _débris_ +were cleared away, the quicker the moral atmosphere would be purified. +There are wounds for which the instant cautery means life, the careful +hesitation death. + +And now every one looked at the exploded bubble in surprise, and cried +angrily, "What has become of the money? Yesterday we were rich: where +has it gone to? Six months ago we had twenty per cent dividend: why are +these stocks worthless now? Why have railroads and shops and mills +ceased to pay? What sudden blight has fallen over the world?" + +Alas! There had been no money. Sanguine credit had traded on the honor +and faith and nobleness of man toward man, and, behold, it had all been +selfishness and falsehood and dishonor. Truth and virtue had been +scorned and flouted in the highway, because forsooth there was a more +brilliant semblance. Like a garment had men wrapped themselves in it, +and now it was but rags and tatters. + +There could be nothing extracted from the wreck of Hope Mills. Indeed, +Fred would have given up a rich inheritance to save his father's honor, +had it been his. To go on at Hope Terrace was madness. The fires and the +servants would cost enough to maintain a family. Mrs. Minor and Fred +quarrelled because Mrs. Lawrence had been persuaded to mortgage the +place: she simply groaned and moaned, and wondered why they must worry +her about every thing! + +"I hope Irene will have the good sense to marry abroad," said Mrs. +Minor. "And, Fred, what a pity you haven't a profession! What can you +do?" + +Last winter it had been, "my brother, De Woolfe," whom all the young +ladies in Mrs. Minor's set were wild over. + +Fred gave a sigh. + +"I suppose I _can_ do something to earn my bread," he replied bitterly. + +"Fred," began Agatha suddenly, "there is that Miss Tillon. You know how +absolutely wild she was over you last winter! Her fortune is all in her +own right, and it is a solid one too. Hamilton has had occasion to know +about it. You cannot do a better thing than marry her." + +Fred glanced up. His sister was in sober earnest. To be bargained off +like a woman, for a bare existence! Miss Tillon was at least thirty, of +a suspicious, jealous turn of mind, well-enough looking perhaps, but +narrow, with no intellectual culture, no approval of any thing beside +her money. He had been amused at her preference. Possibly she might +marry him, and rescue him from the pains of poverty. And he? + +He might be vain and trifling, but he was not sunk so low in cowardice. +His face flushed a vivid scarlet. + +"I am not quite prepared to become chargeable to a woman yet," he said +in a cold, calm voice. + +"What nonsense! Some man will marry her, and get the money," Agatha +retorted decisively. + +"Not much of hers;" in a dry, contemptuous tone. + +"You know what I mean. She will live in style, and travel; and her +husband"-- + +"Will be the laughing-stock of his friends," interrupted Fred angrily. +"No, Agatha, I will be dependent upon no one for my bread: if I cannot +earn it I will starve." + +"Oh, very well!" with a scornful smile. "I only hope Rene will be wiser. +They are in Paris--I heard from Gertrude last week. She was very much +shocked, of course. I hope George has not been foolish enough to let +every thing slip through his fingers. Who could have believed that +Horace Eastman would turn out such a swindler! Papa trusted him +altogether too far. It does not answer to be too noble and disinterested +in this world." + +Fred made no reply to this charming bit of worldly wisdom. His delicate +and high opinion of self had received a crushing blow. Married off, out +of hand, to save him from poverty! + +Why should his thoughts turn to Sylvie at that moment? Something stirred +within him, an insane desire to win her--oh, mad enough, surely! He +could, he _would_, do something! There was all his education and talent; +yes, he really had talent. He would make himself famous. She should see +that he had the right kind of stuff in him. He would climb up the hard +hill in his lonely, sorrowful, proud way, until she, looking on, would +come to repent her unjust verdict! + +He shut himself up in his study, and made some very fair translations +from his beloved poets. There were better ones, doubtless; and, after +all, fame might not lie in that direction. There was physical science, +much in vogue, and entertaining: no doubt he could do something in that +line. There were theories and speculations, there were old +philosophies--surely the ground was rich everywhere. + +It was very poor at Yerbury, though there were theories enough. But, +when you took them for temporal meat and drink, they were not a +fattening diet. Men lounged in the streets and on the corners, or, worst +of all, in saloons, talking themselves angry and hoarse over the bad +luck, and blaming every one right and left. Women sat at home, and cried +over losses and crosses, cooked their scanty dinners, and retired to bed +early to save fuel. The poorer ones went out to a day's washing, glad to +get that. Boys played cards, read dime-novels, and dreamed of wonderful +fortunes at the West: some few stout-hearted chaps set out to seek +them. + +There were panaceas. Mr. Rantley preached the rankest communism and +broadest free-thinking. Capital, i.e., money, was the tyrant of the +world, and always would be until the laborers of the world rose up and +claimed their rights. Why should this man starve when the man over +yonder had his store-house full of flour that he was holding for higher +prices? What right had he, except the might? So long as men were allowed +to hoard up these monstrous fortunes, they could control the market, and +would! What were the starving thousands to them? What if half the +provision in the country rotted on the owner's hands? he could get as +much or more money for the other half. What if the miners were at work +only a small portion of time? could not the amount of coal be managed +more easily, and prices kept up? Capital desired to keep production at +the lowest ebb, because it could be more conveniently mastered. The only +remedy was to give every man a chance, to break up these colossal +fortunes, to have no great mills and mines; to have smaller capitalists, +fewer hours of labor, to divide the immense hoards among the poor and +needy until there should be no more want or suffering! + +The Rev. Mr. Bristow shook his head at this modern anti-Christ. Every +thing was anti-Christ, with Mr. Bristow, that went outside of his own +narrow creed. He preached some stirring sermons. It was God's judgment +upon them for their sins. They had forgotten him, they had been led away +by false gods; they had made golden calves, and worshipped them; their +sons had strayed into infidelity; their daughters had flaunted in gay +attire, with plaiting of the hair, and dancing away their immortal +souls; and now they must return to their God, to the meat that perisheth +not, to the bread of life, and to the well of living water. There must +be such a returning to God, such a revival of religion, that the world +would be swept clear and clean out of its old sins! + +"Splendid sermon! splendid sermon!" said Deacon Boyd, rubbing his hands +together unctuously. "Parson's hit the nail just on the head. We've all +strayed out of the way. I think a good old-fashioned revival'll set us +straight sooner'n any thing. Nothing like coming to the Lord on the +spot! This very week we ought to begin." + +"I think you're right, Deacon Boyd," said grave Mr. Rising. "I, for one, +will take hold of the work." + +They called the church together, and began. I will not disparage the +work. There were hungry souls that seemed fed with spiritual food, +aching hearts that were bound up, reckless minds that paused on the +verge of desperation. But there were others who wondered, even in the +midst of the deacon's prayer, how it was that the Lord warned him to +draw his twenty thousand dollars out of Yerbury Bank a week before the +failure, when there were only he and his wife to keep, and let poor Mrs. +Wharton with her five helpless children lose her husband's +life-insurance, her little all, by putting it in the bank just a +fortnight before the failure. Special providences, whereof Deacon Boyd +discoursed so eloquently, happened oftener to the rich than to the poor. + +However, they prayed and fasted and repented. To many, any strong +emotion that took them out of the wearing round of thought was a +blessing. + +Jack Darcy, with a curious disbelief in every thing, went the rounds, +and dropped into Maverick's office to talk it over. Sylvie was not home +this winter: she and her aunt spent it in Philadelphia. Then Jack grew +dull and restless. If the end of all things had come in Yerbury, he +ought to try some other place in the great world. + +It was settled presently quite by accident. A cousin of Mrs. Darcy's, +one of your strong, thorough, energetic women, came to spend the winter +with them; and Jack's mother, watching the throes of her son's soul, a +little afraid of socialism, materialism, and all the other isms, +proposed that Jack should take a journey West or South, and have a +glimpse of the men and things beyond this narrow boundary. + +"Grandmother grows feebler all the time now; and, being past ninety, we +can't expect to keep her much longer. Of course, Jack, when she is gone, +I shall have no tie but you; and, if it suited you to settle elsewhere, +I should not object. You are young and ambitious, and I ought to think +of your advancement. There never has been a time since your poor +father's death that you could be so well spared;" yet the mother sighed. +"And you have been a good son, Jack: you have given up many a wish +cheerfully to two poor old women." + +"Don't call yourself an old woman," said Jack almost gruffly, then he +stooped to kiss her. + +His heart gave a great boyish bound. + +"Good-by, old Yerbury!" he cried exultantly one morning, quite sure of a +new, glad life elsewhere. + +"Though I shall be sorry to leave Sylvie and Maverick," he thought. +"These old towns do grind the very soul out of a fellow who has any +desire or energy in him. The world isn't all alike, I know," giving his +chestnut mane a toss like a young, mettlesome colt. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +IF Jack Darcy had taken his tour for pure pleasure and enjoyment, the +time was ill chosen in every respect. Winter was bad enough; but an +unprosperous one, full of financial clouds and storms, and scurrying +drifts of distrust, was not calculated to make the way brilliant. + +But he had one glorious enjoyment to begin with. He went straight to +Niagara, and took his first glimpse of it in its awesome majesty of +frost and ice. From that high exaltation we call worship, through every +intermediate degree and sense of beauty, to that of a delicate and +minute fairy dream. The winter sun radiating glowing tints, with skies +of sapphire and opal, the great stretches of wordless wonder, bound hand +and foot like some old Norse god amid his ice-fields; the one night when +a full moon silvered it with prismatic grandeur, and made of the +glittering ice-crystals entrances to diamond-mines of fabled genii, +touching him weirdly with this unearthly splendor; and the next solemn +day, when the very sky seemed chilled to unfallen snow, and the +ice-caverns turned a dull blue, reminding him of descriptions of polar +scenery, and filling his soul with a sense of boundless solitude. + +Then he began his tour of the cities. He had taken some books along, +whether to perplex or make clear his brains, he hardly knew. He pored +over pages of Adam Smith, he turned to Ruskin for comfort, he picked up +Brassey's figures and experience, and Stuart Mill's strong, kindly +reasoning, and digested them in his own slow, practical, much-befogged +way, trying to solve the problems. + +It was a great and wonderful world. Little Yerbury had hardly any true +idea what a mite she was, when one looked at the immense labor-fields of +the West and apparently endless resources. Yet there was the same +depression out here. Shops and mills closed, for sale, and to let; some +running on three-quarter time, with half the number of workmen, others +going on at ruinous competition; anxious, moody-eyed men walking the +streets, or grouped on corners, their coats and hats shabby, their +beards untrimmed, old boots and shoes with the heels tramped over at one +side, or a bit of stocking showing through the leather. "No man hath +hired us," said their despondent faces plainer than any words. Young men +and boys offering to do any kind of work for any kind of pay, sleeping +in station-houses; relief-stores, church charities and soup-houses, +homes for the friendless, and all such places, filled to overflowing, +and new hordes crowding in every day. + +Yet there seemed to be no lack of money. It lay in banks, it went +begging for good security. Where was there any good security? Every inch +of ground, every building, stocks and furniture, were covered by +mortgages. Stock companies trembled in the balance, and went down like +card-houses. Everybody wanted to sell every thing, but there were no +buyers. Everybody wanted to work, but there was nothing to do. Everybody +was in a chronic state of grumbling; there was no profit to be made in +farming, in manufacturing, in any thing. There had been too much +over-production, for which every one blamed his neighbor. The great +warehouses were full of grain, the mills loaded up with iron, the +factories full of cloth and flannels and cottons; and yet people were +going hungry and in rags. It was puzzling and painful. We had bought too +much abroad, and sent the money out of the country, the balance of trade +would make it all right again; there had been over-production, and now +there must be a vigorous repression; there had been too much +speculation in real estate; there had been too great an accumulation of +capital in the business centres; we were fast verging to the state of +older countries, where there were the few rich and the many poor: there +was a surplus of labor, and was there not also a surplus of people? + +There was another sad side to it all, that made Jack's heart ache. These +young men and boys tramping through the country, begging or worse, +swearing, telling foul stories, herding together anywhere, corrupting +one another's morals, smoking, drinking,--somehow they managed to obtain +these indulgences,--looking furtively out of languid, sodden eyes, their +faces hard and worn, their voices coarse and gruff; and they were to be +the next generation of what?--loyal and honest citizens, or jail-birds? + +It was not all so sombre. At five and twenty a healthy, unwarped nature +is many-sided. There were countless marvels to see and to study. He +stumbled over people who had known Mr. Lawrence, and who had a kindly +feeling for a Hope Mills man. And he had done something more in the last +eight years than merely learn how to make cloth. He had dipped into +chemistry, and knew a little about dyes; he had studied up in grades and +kinds of wool, and was interested in labor processes. With fresh +opportunities he looked into it more closely, observed new methods of +decreasing waste, or saving labor. He was a well-informed, +well-mannered, sensible fellow; and occasionally some one would say of +him, "A smart, long-headed chap, that! The world will hear of him some +day, or I am mistaken." + +He kept looking about for some place where, if the world did not hear of +him, he might get a chance in some enterprise where he could take a few +steps upward. There certainly were more men than places. The world was a +bee-hive, surely; but alas for those who swarmed out in such times as +these! + +After he had gone as far West as Minnesota, he went down the +Mississippi to a different kind of civilization in the quaint old +cities. It was none the less heart-sickening. He found traces of the +war, that we had almost forgotten, fresh at every step; still it seemed +as if the hand of Nature was much more bounteous than at the bleak +North. Yet Bishop Heber's old missionary hymn rang continually through +his mind. Even amid the Florida orange-groves, and the great +cotton-fields, some cause brought about baleful results, in the unwisdom +of man. + +Then to the cities of luxury and thrift, where wealth was strong enough +to crowd poverty out one side, where art and music and cultivation made +a subtile atmosphere that somehow recalled the Lawrences. He lingered +and quaffed delightsome draughts, and at last tore himself away from +seductive sights and sounds. In a dim, half-defined way the delights +came to him. Would he ever be stoic enough to spurn them? + +Last of all, home with its sweet welcomes, its cleanliness and order, +its familiar furniture and cheerful fires, its easy-chairs and quaint +fragrant air, as if every thing had lain in dried rose-leaves; the +mother love and tears, the smiles out of dimmer eyes, and cousin Jane +Morgan's hearty greeting; to say nothing of his delicious supper and his +own bed, where sleep seemed awaiting him with open arms. + +His mother had written a good deal of Yerbury gossip to him, but it had +been mostly of the pleasant order. When he dropped into Maverick's +office the next day, and was welcomed so heartily that it was like a +brother's greeting, he listened to the other side. Affairs were worse +than ever. The bank had gone into liquidation, and would pay about forty +per cent. Property mortgages had been foreclosed right and left; there +was nothing, scarcely, doing; there had been want and misery and +sickness, and now diphtheria was raging. + +"So you see the revival didn't do every thing," said Maverick grimly. +"I'm of the opinion, if some of them had preached less, and distributed +bread and broth with a freer hand, it would have been more of a good +work. The praying would be well enough in its place, and, for those old +fellows who pray on a full stomach, very enjoyable, I dare say. But I'd +like them to look after their drains and their wells and their cisterns +before they ask the Almighty to sanctify these afflictions to the poor +wretches who suffer from them. And now, Jack Darcy, what are you going +to do? Have you found better pastures?" and Maverick glanced up with +curious inquiry. + +"No," replied Jack, rather reluctantly it must be confessed. It seemed +to him now that he had been spending his time for nought, unless +pleasure counted, and he felt a trifle ashamed of it. + +Maverick gave an odd little laugh that puzzled the other. + +"See here, Maverick," began Jack in such earnest that he blushed like a +great boy, "I haven't found any new place for myself. The world seems +just full and running over. The great cities have their own men out of +employment, and hordes from every other place. I'd be almost ashamed to +ask for a job. I declare, I'd rather raise as much of my living as I +could in our back garden, or take Perley's farm, and put it together, +and set men raising strawberries, than tramp round, asking for work, +with a feeling that it was taken from some one who had a better right, +who was a native of the soil." + +"Then you have not lost your conscience?" + +"I hope not. It is the same old story everywhere. What is to be done +about it?" and Jack knit his brows. "I have been going over the books +that I thought would help or let in a little light on the matter, but it +is a wisdom hard to get at. How to make more work in the world, how to +cheapen living, how to"-- + +"Bring about the millennium! What dead earnest you are in, Darcy!" + +"Weren't you in earnest a moment ago, Maverick, when you talked about +the praying and the bread and broth?" said Jack with a great knot drawn +in his brow. + +"Yes, Heaven knows. And some one must take hold of the thing who has +eyes to see, and brains, and--and money. You see, people have crowded +into cities and towns, and if they could be sent out somewhere! Why +don't we organize colonies or something of the sort? Now, there's +Florida. Living is cheap, and in such a climate there are fewer needs of +clothing and fuel. I have been wondering why the big dons in cities did +not gather up the poor they have been feeding at soup-houses and +everywhere, and send them out with some one to manage until they could +stand alone. There would be less diphtherias and fevers and starvation; +for that's its right name, Darcy. What can you do when one's system is +all run out with meal-mush, and weak tea that is half willow-leaves, and +such trash? There's Kilburn--he has had the name of being good to the +poor this winter because he has given them trust at his store. Such +stuff! I have looked into a few samples," and the expressive nostrils +curled in disgust. "He makes an enormous profit, for he sells the +poorest kind of goods to these people at the highest prices. Then he +manages to get hold of something, house or furniture, or maybe +clothes,--I don't know. He and Deacon Boyd--Darcy, how can a man honor +religion when these two men are its exponents? So good to the poor! Pah! +It makes me sick. Isn't there a cleaner air somewhere on God's earth? +Can't they be taken out of this?" + +"If they could be! There must be one way out, Maverick: better, perhaps, +than going West where thousands are tramping about. And Heaven knows +they need a new factor in civilization down there!" + +The young eyes met in sudden hopeful animation. Had they solved even one +strand of the great tangle, that worse than Gordian knot which could not +be cut? + +The door opened slowly; and there entered a middle-aged, rather grizzled +man, with shaggy eyebrows, sparse beard, and bent shoulders. He glanced +in hesitatingly, his eyes wandering down to Darcy. + +"I declare to man!" and he stared hard, with the door-knob still in his +hand. "Jack Darcy! I heard you were home. How d'y do? How d'y do?" and +he wrung the hand warmly. "I'm powerful glad to see you," and he looked +him slowly over, from head to foot. "Why, you've grown, or something! +What a great giant you are!--Morning, doctor," nodding rather +incidentally to Maverick. "So you've had a long tramp, Jack? Your mother +brought some of the letters over to my old lady, who has been rather +poorly the last two months. Why, you could set up book-writing! Well, +what's the good word? Can't be like Yerbury all over." + +"There are too many towns full of idle people, if that is what you mean. +But it was splendid, Cameron! I have one more dream,--to go up and down +the Western coast, and over the Rocky Mountains; but I want to digest +this first. I have no fancy for mental dyspepsia," and he gave a good, +wholesome laugh. + +"The right way, Jack," nodded Maverick, with a shrewd twinkle in his +eye. + +"Well, you've come back to a dull place,--a dull place," and Cameron +shook his head despondingly. "We used to be main proud of old Yerbury; +but--is the whole world to go on and starve to death, with such crops, +and such an abundance of every thing?" + +"We are going to weather it through, Cameron," Jack answered with a +stubborn hopefulness. "There have been hard times before that have ended +in renewed prosperity." + +"Yes. There was '57; hard enough, Heaven knows, with the banks going to +smash everywhere. It ruined my father. And way back in '37, when there +was such a wild-fire about real estate, and it came out just as this +has. Do people ever learn by experience, Maverick?" and the man gave a +short, unmirthful chuckle. "You could buy up half Yerbury to-day, for +taxes and mortgages. I can't, for the life of me, see how it all came +about. And that it has gone all over the world,--well, human nature in +England or Germany can't well laugh at human nature in this +country.--Are these things like cholera and fevers, doctor, taking a +clean sweep once in a while?" and Cameron gave a twist to the end of his +faded beard, as if he might wring the secret out of it. + +"We have learned to manage the cholera, and see in it, not a +dispensation of Providence, but the natural result of filth and greed +and carelessness. Darcy and I are getting up a panacea now," with a +bright little laugh. "But how is Mrs. Cameron? Is her medicine out?" + +"Yes;" and Cameron drew a phial from his pocket. "You don't think it +would do to stop here? She's pretty well, I should say;" and he fingered +the bottle as if he were debating whether to have it filled or not. + +"No. She must go on. She is getting her strength back nicely; but it's +bad policy to stop at three-quarters of the race,--eh, Cameron? The +first warm day I'll take her out driving." + +While he was talking, he reached out for the bottle, and began +compounding. Cameron nodded an acknowledgment of the last sentence, then +turning to Jack, said abruptly,-- + +"What was the scheme, Darcy?" + +Jack flushed, and glanced at Maverick. + +"Emigration, the old remedy," answered the doctor. "England has tried +her hand at it pretty successfully; so why shouldn't we? Only we need +not go out of our own country. There are thousands of acres of +productive land lying idle, and thousands of people starving, or worse. +Too many here,--not enough there." + +"Where to?" Cameron asked laconically, his face unmoved by any ripple of +enthusiasm. + +Jack seemed to be put on his mettle by it. Lack of faith in him always +roused his belligerent qualities, back in the old school days. + +"Yes, Cameron," in an incisive tone, looking steadily out of his +determined eyes. "The cities are crowded over and over, and full of +tramps, and the West swarms with them. We need not imagine we have all +the idle people here at the East. But farming there has come to be a +business of great things, almost as bad as manufacturing. You must have +money, or the big fellows will swallow you up. But we were talking of +Florida. No winter, as one may say; and your house a simple matter, your +fuel, your clothes, a mere nothing. You could hardly starve if you +tried." + +Cameron came back to his chair, pushed it out from the wall, planted +himself deliberately in it, and tilted back, pushing up his old felt +hat, as if he did not mean to have his vision obstructed. Then he gave +his beard another twist. + +"Can you tell me why this is, Jack Darcy? Here are countries with fine +and lovely climates, where every thing grows to your hand; yet they +always seem to lie idle: Italy and Spain and Turkey and South America, +and our own Gardens of Eden," with a bit of sarcastic smile. "The very +ease of living seems to take the ambition out of one. Well, why +shouldn't it? Even the bees, you know, were demoralized when they found +they did not have to lay up for winter. Wouldn't those people come to be +worse tramps and idlers? I'm sure the poor white trash of the South has +helped itself very little." + +"We were talking of concerted effort," interposed +Maverick,--"purchasing a large tract of land, forming a community, +taking different kinds of workmen, and making a success of it. Why +should we not have flourishing towns in Florida, as well as in Kansas?" + +"To be sure, to be sure!" nodding his head and tugging at his beard in a +manner that showed he was not a whit convinced. "Then you give up," he +said, "that any thing can be done at home?" + +"Any thing done at home?" Jack lifted his level brows, and stared a +little. + +"Yes. The going away may all be very well. I tried it in '57; went out +to Indiana with a little money, and tried farming that I didn't know any +thing about, had the ague six months, and then came back poorer +certainly. Now, the thing is just here with a good many of us,--we have +our little homes, and in such times as these, in any hard times, we +couldn't sell for any thing worth while. Then there's many a thing, to a +man or a woman past middle life, that can't be reckoned in dollars and +cents: the home you've made for yourself, the old friends, the church, +even the familiar street you've walked over so often that every +flagstone comes to have a near look." + +"But those who have no homes, no strong interests"-- + +"If I was going to found a colony, I should want a little better stock," +with a short, dry laugh. + +"May be you have a plan?" suggested Maverick good-naturedly. + +"Well, I've thought it over a good deal this winter, sitting in the +house with the old lady;" and there came a peculiar far-off look in +Cameron's eye as he studied a figure in the carpet. "If God worked +miracles nowadays, and was to make a dozen or so honest men with a good, +stout share of brains, there might be a little lifting-up of the dull +skies. Take this town, leaving out politics and all that sort. Five +years ago we were prosperous, and there wasn't a prettier town anywhere +about. Good wages were paid, people were thrifty; and I will say it for +David Lawrence, if he was one of your high kind, he was a gentleman. +I've worked for him fifteen years steady. Then the Eastmans came in, and +there was nothing but hurry and drive, grumbling about high wages, +buying cheap wools, and if cloth was poor, blaming the men. Then wages +went down and down, and, when the men stood out, the scum of all the +places around was brought in. Yerbury improved, and beer-saloons +multiplied. Houses were thrown together and sold; and now they're all +falling apart, and standing empty, and half a dozen families are +crowding into one miserable tenement. Who made the money? Was it high +wages that ruined Hope Mills, and wrecked Yerbury Bank?" + +"You have hit the truth somewhere, Cameron." + +"Those men were thieves and swindlers; and I suppose to-day they're +living on the fat of the land, milk and honey thrown in. See here, I'm +not an educated man, but I have a little common sense. Suppose we'd been +let to go our ways quiet like,--the farmers holding on to their farms, +and making two blades of grass grow where one grew before. Wasn't that +some old philosopher's advice? Suppose David Lawrence hadn't built that +great palace out on Hope Terrace (he was a plainish man himself), and +there had been five or six beside him making a moderate share of money. +He's lost all his great fortune, there's seventy thousand or so gone +somewhere, the bank has smashed with thousands more of everybody's +money, with nothing much to show but trumpery mortgages; there's no work +and no money, and a howl goes up that there has been over-production. +Not over-production of honesty, I take it." + +Maverick looked at the little earnest man, and laughed a hearty, +cheering sort of laugh that was like pouring oil into a wound. Jack +stared with wide-open eyes. + +"I've been to hear Rantley two or three times,--he's going about +lecturing, you know,--but I don't see as he has any very good plan for +getting work on its legs again. Then I've listened to the parson this +winter, to please the old lady; and he is sure all this is a judgment +for our sins. Seems to me, judgment went a little askew: why doesn't it +touch Eastman and such fellows?" + +"Has nothing been done?" asked Jack. "I have heard no business gossip +for the last three months. Can't it be proved that he was a defaulter?" + +"Perhaps it could. The old lady was reading the other morning about the +scapegoat being sent into the wilderness with everybody's sins on his +head; and I guess they'd rather have _him_ off somewhere, and pack the +trouble on him. He might tell too much if he was here. They couldn't get +the money back, even if he has it; but no one ever will believe that +David Lawrence profited by it. That money belongs to the people of +Yerbury, who have earned it, and saved it; and I say thieving and +roguery have more to do with hard times than 'surplus of labor.' The big +men have taken the money that belonged to the little ones." + +"None of the Lawrence estate has been settled, I suppose?" asked Jack. + +"Every thing is for sale. The mortgage on the big house is to be +foreclosed, also on the mill I believe. I declare to you, Darcy, it +makes my heart ache to see those dumb spindles, and the great silent +engine standing like a mourner at a funeral. Come now, why should Hope +Mills go to ruin, and Yerbury fall to pieces, while you and Maverick go +and build up Florida? Wouldn't the money and the energy do something +here?" + +Cameron's eyes looked out of their overhanging thatch with a puzzled, +thoughtful expression, as if there must be a solution to the mystery. + +Jack was startled. Building up Florida looked feasible, but building up +Yerbury-- + +"Then you will not go with us?" said Maverick with a half-laugh. + +"I've my little home clear of debt, and a trifle at interest; and over +in Yerbury churchyard there are two graves dear to me and my old lady. +It would break her heart to leave them. And sometimes, Maverick, I thank +God, that I've no sons to grow up tramps or worse. No, I'll stay here, +and fight through somehow." + +They were silent for several minutes, each one tugging at the knotty +problem. Then Cameron rose, reached out for the phial of medicine, drove +his slouch-hat down over his forehead, and walked toward the door. + +"Drop in and see us, Jack, after you have thought it over a bit. +Mother's always had a warm corner in her heart for you.--Morning, +doctor;" and, nodding, he closed the door behind him. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +JACK and Maverick glanced at each other, a long, searching, questioning +glance. + +"Given twenty or forty moderate fortunes, instead of the one great one," +said Jack slowly. + +"And you have a greater amount of general prosperity and happiness." + +"Co-operation," continued Jack. + +"And now, if you don't mind, you may take a walk with me," said +Maverick. "Office-hours are over, and I have some rather serious cases +on hand. Jerry's gone lame, stuck a nail in his foot, so I console +myself with pedestrian theories." + +"All right. I may need a pilot." + +It was a mid-April day; but spring was late, and every thing looked +bleak to Jack after his Southern sojourn. Certainly it was quite +different from the trim little town of Jack's boyhood. The blight of +poverty and thriftlessness had fallen upon it. There were piles of +refuse in the streets, still half frozen; there were muddy stoops and +shabby hall-doors, and broken area-palings, and now and then a window +patched up with paper or rags. For though there may be much high +theorizing and preaching on the two or three exceptional men who have +lifted themselves out of dens of poverty, and come through great +tribulation, there are thousands who work out nothing but blind +destruction and utter shipwreck, and who in frantic efforts for +salvation drag down those nearest and dearest, as a drowning man may +clutch at his own brother. + +"Not very inviting," apologized Maverick; "but I have two calls to make +here in Boyd's Row,--old rookeries that ought to have been pulled down +long ago, but I suppose they still bring in Boyd considerable. I have +made a complaint about the drains: they are enough to breed a +pestilence. Tom Byrne has three children down with scarlet-fever. Two of +them will be carried out presently, but I hope to save the little girl. +No--I won't take you in." + +"Tom Byrne--he was a mill-hand. And I know his wife well. Yes, +Maverick." And Jack followed him. + +It was a two-story cottage with three rooms on a floor, and two families +occupying it. The Byrnes were up-stairs. + +The two beds were in the front room, for the middle one was dark. There +was a well-worn carpet on the floor, and the furniture very poor. Jenny +Byrne had sold her best to pay the quarter's rent in the last place +which they had left the first of January, the landlord preferring it +should stand empty. Her little savings had been swept away by the bank +disaster: there was no work, and three children to feed, except that +Deacon Boyd found Tom sufficient employment to pay his rent. + +On one bed close by the window lay the little girl, heavy-eyed and +crimson. The elder boy had come to the stupor that precedes death, the +other was restless with a half delirium. Jenny Byrne's round rosy cheeks +had vanished, and her eyes had a distraught look, the lurking fear of +coming woe. She stared at Jack a moment, then stretched out her hand, +but as quickly withdrew it. + +"Did you tell him, doctor? O Mr. Darcy!" + +"Yes. He _would_ come." + +She wiped away some tears with the corner of her faded apron, then +answered a question of Jack's. What could he say to the poor thing? +Surely she had done her duty with truest endeavor; and Tom Byrne was a +very fair average man, liking his daily glass of beer, but rarely going +farther. + +"Can you fix a bed in the other room, and put Kitty in it?" the doctor +asked. "She is better, but I would rather have her out of here." + +"And Jamie is better too?" she questioned, with tremulous eagerness. +"His fever is nearly gone, and he's having such a nice sleep"-- + +"Sleep is the best thing for him," returned the doctor briefly. "About +Kitty"-- + +The mother's wan face flushed. She came close to Dr. Maverick, her eyes +downcast. + +"The coal gave out this morning, and I've no fire there," she said just +above a whisper. "The relief-store is closed"-- + +"Yes, yes; I'll see to it;" with a nod. "I will be in again"--looking at +the sleeping child--"say about four." Then he changed the medicine for +Kitty, and gave one or two orders. + +Jack thrust a bank-note in Jenny's hand, with his good-by. "Tom will be +so glad to see you, Mr. Darcy," she said, with an effort at calmness. + +"Can nothing be done for them?" asked Jack, as they regained the street. + +"No. Jamie had gone too far when I was called in. Larger rooms, fresher +air, nourishing food: that's the secret of a physician's success in many +cases. Poor little ones! He will not go through the night. Now, Jack, +you are not to come in here, positively. Stand in this breeze, and blow +the scarlet-fever out of your clothes." + +He did as he was bid, and, getting tired, tramped up and down. How much +of man's selfishness and dishonesty there was in this! If the time could +ever come when the mists and fogs of complacency would be swept off, +and we could see that it was the innocent suffering for the guilty, not +that these poor souls were sinners above all men, as the self-righteous +Pharisee preaches! + +Maverick rejoined him with a grave face, then the two went down Main +Street. Houses to let, stores and shops closed, and those open but +half-stocked, and wearing a listless air. If three hard years so told on +the place, and there was no prospect of better things, what would it be +in five or ten? Was it some such misfortune that had overtaken those +grand and luxurious cities of Oriental lands? + +"Where are the Lawrences?" Jack asked presently. + +"Well, I really do not know. I think I did hear that Mrs. Lawrence had +gone to New York. The young man"-- + +Jack held his breath, and there was a strange flutter at his heart. +After all these years he saw again the pale, handsome child who had +given him a boy's ardent love. + +"I have a fancy that he will not amount to much. Queer idea that of +Cameron's, wasn't it, Darcy? Who was it that first preached or wrote of +the 'duty nearest one'? Of course things cannot stay this way forever, +they must mend; and maybe if some one took hold to help mend +them--Cameron's idea is not a bad one. Maybe the same amount of money +and energy expended here would be productive of good results: still I +hold on to Florida for my poor and wretched suffering ones. But it is +worth thinking of. Here, let us turn round by Hope Mills." + +Jack was silent. "Hope Mills!" It rang through his brain like a chime of +bells. Of course he knew that Mr. Hope had given them his name; but had +he builded better than he knew? Was it indicative of something greater +than the power of one man,--of many men? of strong, earnest endeavor; +of truth, honor, and honesty; of thrift, and happy, jocund industry, +once more? + +But now it was very silent. The great yard had an untidy look, with some +piles of weather-beaten lumber, and old _débris_. The windows were +covered with dust; the broad stone steps showed where the winter snows +had fallen and melted, leaving streaks of dirt, and more had blown in +the corners. No cheerful creak of the great engine; no vapory puffs of +smoke circling skyward from the chimney; no whir of looms. It saddened +one inexpressibly. + +"It is a big subject," said Jack slowly. "I've been puzzling my brains +half the winter with what wiser heads than mine have said about capital +and labor,--Mill and Brassey and Howell, and our own men, with soft, +sweet bits of Ruskin, and savage bits of Carlyle. I don't know but +Carlyle was right when he said, 'The beginning and the end of what is +the matter with us, in these days, is, that we have forgotten God.' +Cameron said it another way,--honor and honesty. Because, certainly, +honor appeals to all that is noblest in human nature,--to chivalry, and +tenderness and thought for others; and nothing ever prospered, in the +long-run, that did not have a substratum of truth." + +"Well, according to Bristow, we came back to him this winter--not I, +Darcy, I don't make any pretence,"--and he shook his head with slow +gravity. "But I was interested in the revival on psychological grounds. +I had never been so inside of one before. Bristow is a good man, no +doubt; but it is just the one chosen way with him,--strong crying and +praying, and believing yourself a sinner above all men, and then a +sudden peace and happiness, and a courage to endure,--a blind, +unreasoning courage to take the present as it is, because God sent it, +and it must be for the best. Boyd and Whitlow and Kenny were the great +lights. They went about from house to house; they exhorted and prayed. +Whitlow was one of the old bank-directors. Strange to say, he did not +lose a penny. His money was in government-bonds; and now he has +persuaded Yerbury that if his advice had been taken there would have +been no trouble. Whitlow discharged his man this winter, and took in his +place a half-grown boy. Mrs. Whitlow sets a good example to her class by +discharging one handmaid and making the other do double duty. Yet, so +far as I can find, Whitlow is a richer man than he was three years ago. +Kenny keeps his factory open, and gives the men three days' work in the +week, and pays them in poor shoes, as much as possible; and takes out a +good deal in high rent. Boyd, who has the name of being the greatest +saint of all,--does what? Opens that miserable row of houses, that he +couldn't let on any terms, and takes in tenants who are willing to work +out the rent. He gets good prices, too. Is he losing on them? Faugh! the +very term of charity makes me sick. And this winter he purchased a good +deal of the stock of the relief-store. Wretched flour; miserable, +adulterated stuff of tea; pork, some of it that wasn't fit to eat; and +cheap butter, that every one would have been ten times better without. I +went to him one day, red-hot, in a sanitary view of the business; and he +preached religion to me,--his kind. 'Boyd,' said I, 'there's Keppler's +saloon, your own property, paying you a good income, no doubt, in these +hard times, adding to the want and misery of Yerbury faster than your +whole church can save. If you are in earnest, go break up that den of +iniquity!'" + +Jack laughed. "What did he say to that?" + +"Meekly, that Keppler had a lease for five years, and was going on the +second. The man is so honorable, he cannot break faith with his +fellow-man, forsooth; but he breaks faith with God, in a serene, +untroubled manner." And Maverick's lip curled scornfully under the +fringe of moustache. + +"But there must be some gold, or the counterfeit would not be so +successfully received. We have had so much false money everywhere, that, +since we can make that pass, we do not trouble ourselves. And yet, +Maverick, there _is_ something in it that you and I don't see clearly +yet; but we cannot teach it acceptably until we can show better fruit. +And, when leaders of all kinds, in high places, show that self only is +at the bottom of every thing they do, it seems hopeless to demand that +the class below, watching them, and suffering from their wrongdoing, +shall attain a higher moral status. How can they help following coarsely +in the footsteps of their betters?" + +"Darcy, suppose you turn parson!" and Maverick laughed half quizzically. +"See here: the world wants a very old sermon preached again to it, +hammered into every fibre, put up over every doorway,--the essence of +all knowledge, all religion, briefly comprehended in this, 'Love thy +neighbor _as_ thyself.' You won't need gown or bands for that work. Not +to have one code of morals for the rich, and one for the poor; one creed +for Sunday, and quite another belief for Monday; to have no lofty, +impossible theories and exalted moods, but truthful, honest living; not +to push away the miserable, ignorant souls, but take them by the hand in +hearty co-operation. Maybe Cameron has the right clew. Why should we let +human love be shamed by such things as an Oneida community or a Mormon +city?" + +The strong, earnest voice stirred Jack like martial music. All these +years he had been struggling with a great, blind, confused +something,--perhaps it was not a silver-mine or a railroad, but a work +just here in the town of his boyhood, where he was known, where he had +played and worked. + +"Seventeenthly, and lastly," and Maverick looked at his watch, "I cannot +idle any more time upon you, and must cut short with a 'To be +continued.' We will talk it over again and again; and, if we cannot get +it into shape, there is still Florida left. So, while you are dreaming +it out by this great silent mill, whose prisoned spirits should prate of +prosperity instead of desolation, I'll run my course around Yerbury, and +we'll compare notes over our cigars. _Addio_," waving his hand. + +Jack watched the compact figure as it moved briskly away; then he +sauntered round the mill, down one street and up another, strolled out +to Lovers' Lane, and returned by Larch Avenue. The Barry house began to +show signs of life, for old Mat was clearing up the grounds. This was +the one oasis that had not been bitten by speculation. He thought of +winsome little Sylvie, and one summer evening when Irene Lawrence +stepped into that pretty, cosey room with the grace and beauty of a +Juno. Where was she now? And what was Fred doing? Making a great leap +into name and fame, doubtless, now that he was put upon his mettle. The +old boyish freaks came back to his mind, the enthusiastic unreasoning +adoration, the last tender parting. An intense and subtile sympathy +filled his soul; and, though he smiled a little, the memory was very +sacred. + +The texture of Jack's mind was not of the quick, brilliant, or sanguine +order. He went over his books again; he ruminated as he cleaned the +garden-paths, spaded the beds, trimmed the trees and shrubbery, and +attended to the odds and ends known only to a careful householder. +Cousin Jane was in her element out here; and they two discoursed of +farming and gardening, and industry, she in a sharp, trenchant way. + +She had remarked incidentally that her visit was near its end. Now that +Jack was home, cousin Ellen would not need her. + +"I don't see why you should not make your home here, cousin Jane," +replied Mrs. Darcy. "Grandmother grows feebler all the time, and you +have quite spoiled me by your strength and cheeriness. You have no +nearer tie; and if you _could_ content yourself with us--Jack was +speaking about it a few evenings since. We should like so to keep you, +cousin Jane." + +Jane Morgan studied the beseeching eyes a while, then dropped her own, +and thought. + +"Very well," she answered, "if you like to have it so. While I am well +and strong I think I ought to do enough somewhere to earn my living, and +not use up the little laid by for a rainy day. If you and Jack are +agreed, we'll consider it a bargain for a year. I like to be settled +about what I'm going to do: there's nothing so uncomfortable as hanging +on tenterhooks. When my visit's through I like to go, if I'm going; not +stand an hour or two with the door-knob in my hand." + +Jack was delighted. They could spare him now and then of an evening to +stroll down to Maverick's office, where they discussed pretty nearly +every thing under the sun. It was so in the beginning,--"the earth was +without form, and void." Then the Barrys returned; Sylvie changed in +some indescribable way as to a kind of delicate outside manner, but the +same fresh, earnest girl in heart and soul, taking up her friendship +with Jack just where she had laid it down. Yet they had both grown +broader and richer in nature and experience, and there was something of +the subtile flavor of new acquaintanceship. + +Yerbury cleaned house, even to the tidying-up of streets and +carting-away of rubbish. It was pitiful to see the attempts of some of +the poor women, who washed their worn white curtains, scrubbed the +shutters and hall-door, and set out a few ragged geraniums in the front +yard, or made a little bed of lettuce and onions. + +Yerbury Savings Bank was in the hands of a receiver. Some sold out their +small accounts for a trifle: it was agreed there could not be much in +the way of dividends. Here was a great mortgage on the Downer farm, +that the Eastmans had partly cut into city lots. And, though Downer had +received a large price, he was a poor man to-day, with no business, and +several sons tramping the highways for work. Farms had not been +profitable, but had the wealth and extravagance produced any better +result? These places around would be sold presently for any sum they +would bring. + +"Speculation did look so tempting, though," said Jack with a humorous +smile. "But for grandmother I might have been in the midst of it." + +"There's just one thing that makes a man or a country rich," said Jane +Morgan incisively; "and that's industry, good, honest labor. Marking up +one's goods before breakfast, as the Frenchman did, realizes no absolute +money. The speculators jingle their dollars from hand to hand, until +some poor fool, attracted by the noise, gives them a hundred for their +twenty. When a man makes money simply by another person's loss, he has +not created any thing, or made any more of it; and the world's no +better, that I can see." + +"Cousin Jane, you are dipping into political economy;" and Jack nodded +gayly. "I shall have to ask Maverick and some of the others up here; and +maybe you can put in a straw, or a head of wheat, toward the +regeneration of Yerbury." + +"I dip into a little common sense now and then, and it seems to me +that's what the world needs. There is no lack of the uncommon kind, and +it's not to be altogether despised, since at times uncommon things are +given to people to do. But, if all the bees in the hive thought they had +a call to be queens, it runs in my mind there'd be a lack of honey +presently." + +"You are on the right foundation, cousin Jane. We must not only make the +honey an honorable thing, but honor the bees, put labor on a better, +truer foundation." + +"I should just say, 'See here, my friends, it is not possible for us all +to be rich, whether it is some fixed immutable law of fate, or the lack +of necessary elements in one's character, or the meeting of the right +person with the right circumstances; but the fact is there, true as +judgment. You can be comfortable and clean if you have the energy; and +it is better to scrub your own kitchen-floor, or raise a bushel of +potatoes, than to sit and whine about luck or respectability. Now and +then a ready-made fortune drops down upon one, and I don't know but it +often brings a curse: anyhow, what you work for, you are pretty sure to +enjoy.' It makes me mad when I see healthy, hearty young women sighing +for servants and pianos and what not; when their grandmothers, who had +as good blood, and as good sense, didn't despise honest work." + +Sylvie Barry came in while Miss Morgan was in the midst of her "speech," +as Jack declared it to be; and now she clapped her small white hands, +with a "Bravo!" + +"A new disciple, Jack," and she smiled. "Miss Morgan, we shall set you +to reading our favorite authors, and solving the tremendous question. +Where can we get work for these to do? For a great many stand idle in +the market-place, because they have not been hired. What can we set them +at?" + +"Well, Miss Barry, I don't know much about the big, outside questions; +but, going around Yerbury a little this winter, I shouldn't say the work +was all done up; or, done in such a poor, thrown-together way, that it +tumbles right to pieces again. There's skewy, ill-made beds with ragged +counterpanes; there's shreds of old ingrain-carpets, that you fall over; +there's broken chairs, and shabby clothes, and dirty corners,--work +enough, I should say, to last some woman an hour or two. She might get +out her pieces of calico, and, with the children's help, make a new +spread, maybe a tidy apron, and she might braid a rag mat out of bits, +and a hundred things that go toward comfort. No: all the work isn't +done up yet, Miss Sylvie," and Jane Morgan stopped just then, to knit +the seam-stitch in a stocking for a poor body. + +Sylvie threw herself on the footstool, and leaned her arms on Miss +Morgan's knee. + +"I wasn't thinking so much of that when I spoke," she began earnestly; +"but I do wonder if some of us couldn't take it up. There are +art-schools, and music-schools, and cooking-schools, in the great +cities; and why couldn't we start something of the kind here? Poor +people--the real poor, I mean--are often wasteful and idle because they +do not just know how to be any thing else. They buy cheap garments in +stores, and they soon come apart. I had a sewing-school last summer, and +I found some mothers didn't seem to care whether their children learned +or not,--since there was so much sewing done by machines. But if the +mothers could be taught a little"-- + +"That's about the upshot of what I said. You see, Miss Barry, people +have been earning so much money of late years, that sewing has gone out +of fashion. It didn't pay to do this or that, so they earned and spent. +Now they sit listless in their dirt and rags, bemoaning hard times. It +is good to know how to do more than one thing," and Miss Morgan nodded +her head confidently, her strong face full of earnestness. + +"Why can't you and Sylvie start a school--what shall we call it?--of +useful and homely arts? You see, the girls do work in the mills and +shops until they get married, and then they do not know how to make the +best of their husbands' money. But don't crowd out all the beauty and +the pleasure; there must be something to enlist the heart. Give a man an +interest in a thing, and you awake a new feeling, an enthusiasm that +makes every thing go as smoothly as oiling up machinery." + +"I have often thought," said Mrs. Darcy in her soft, gentle voice, +"that the poor did not get as much good of their money as the better +classes, because they never have enough to buy advantageously, and +store-keepers so often take the advantage of them. Now, yesterday I was +over to Mrs. Hall's, and the poor thing was trying to make some bread, +and she was not fit to stand up and knead it; so I thought I'd try. The +flour was heavy and sticky and lumpy, and what I should call very +unprofitable. No one could make good bread out of it. She said they +traded at Kilburn's, because he would wait if they did not have the +money. The flour was seven and a half a barrel; the eighth, ninety-five +cents; and I do not believe the bread was fit to eat. So you must +remember, when you blame people for poor cooking, that they may not +always have decent materials to work with." + +"Maverick was growling about Kilburn the other evening. It is a shame +that he should sell such poor goods, when prices have come down a good +deal." + +"Can you not reform him a little?" and Mrs. Darcy smiled. + +"Cousin Jane and Sylvie might go into business, as did the poor weavers +of Toad Lane, with their sack of oatmeal, firkin of butter, a little +sugar and flour," said Jack laughingly. "A fair division of labor. The +men of Yerbury shall provide work, and the women shall train the +inefficient how and where to spend money." + +Sylvie glanced up with bright, inquiring eyes. + +"Was it some more co-operation?" she asked. + +Jack brought out his book, and read the story of the "Equitable Pioneers +of Rochdale" and their wonderful success from a small beginning. The +girl listened with wide-open eyes, and even Jane Morgan laid down her +knitting. + +"The queen-bee and the workers again," said she, as Jack closed the +book. "It is not every man for himself, but every man for each other. +And it comes back, always." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +"WHERE is grandmother?" Jack asked one morning late in May, as he came +in from the garden, and found her place at the table vacant. + +"She does not feel very well this morning, and I told her there was no +need of rising with the lark," answered cousin Jane; but, though her +voice was cheerful, there was a new gravity in her face. + +"It is something unusual"-- + +"She is getting to be an old lady, Jack. There, sit down to your +breakfast while it is nice and hot. No fear but what I will attend to +grandmother." + +She had risen; but in the midst of her dressing her hands had lost their +cunning, her limbs their strength. Jane came to look at her in alarm. + +"It's a warning," she said, with her grand old smile. "But I have no +pain, and so you can leave me here for a while. My strength may come +back." + +Mrs. Darcy was much frightened. + +"Remember that ninety-four is a good old age, and she has hardly had a +sick day in her life. After breakfast Jack might go over for Dr. +Maverick. He is sensible, and will not torment her with experiments." + +Jack rather hurried through his meal, and then ran up to grandmother's +room. She put out her wrinkled hand, thin to be sure, but still slender +and smooth, with no knobby joints. A proud sort of beauty illumined the +old face, though the eyes were a little dull. + +"Dear boy," and there was a curious quaver in her voice, "I've had to +give in at last. The Lord knows best. He has given me many a happy year +with you; yet I have never forgotten the folks over yonder. I shall be +glad to see them again,--your father, Jack, and the rest. 'Then they +came to the land of Beulah, where the sun shineth day and night, and +betook themselves to rest'--you know. We used to read it together." + +A sharp pang went to Jack's heart. He pressed the limp hand to his lips, +and gazed into the face that had changed in some indescribable way. Then +Jane came with a tempting breakfast, and fed her with wonderful +gentleness, it seemed to him. + +He went out, and brought Maverick back with him. + +"It is a general breaking-up of nature," said the doctor with a tender +gravity. "Nothing can be done, unless she should suffer; but I do not +think she will. It is the way lives ought to end oftener. Give her +whatever she will take; and keep cheerful, all of you. After all, it is +only a little journey." + +"Where?" the young eyes asked as they met each other in solemn mood. + +Jack scarcely left her. She liked to open her eyes, and find him sitting +there, when she would smile faintly, and murmur a few words. Sylvie and +Miss Barry were the only visitors admitted to her room. They used to +read out of "Pilgrim's Progress," the book she had loved so well, and +occasionally they sang some sweet old hymn. + +"Jack," she said once, "you will find everything in my old box there in +the bureau. It was my mother's, and came across the sea with me. You +have been a good lad. You took your father's place with me, and you must +never regret that you staid here to make an old woman happy. You have +been a good lad--a good--little lad"-- And her mind wandered to other +years. + +Just growing gradually weaker, and falling asleep peacefully. A long, +well-spent life, and a death to remember and desire. + +They buried her in Yerbury churchyard, and the townspeople turned out to +do her honor. Jack thought of another death, and the almost solitary +state of the funeral. + +How good it was that they had Jane Morgan now! She carried them right +along. + +Jack opened the brass-bound box, still fragrant with its sandal-wood +lining. Some old letters, the trinkets she had saved from her poverty, +and a will bequeathing her all, in government bonds, to Jack. + +There was nearly seven thousand dollars. With his own little savings he +felt quite rich. + +"Jack," said his mother, "all these years you have waited patiently, and +put by your own dreams. Do not think that I did not notice the struggle. +It was very generous and kindly; and I am glad, for grandmother's sake, +that you staid. But now if you like we will go somewhere else, and make +a new home"--did her voice tremble a little then? "I am still young +enough to take root elsewhere, and cousin Jane is so energetic she helps +one to new life. There may be prettier and more prosperous places, and +you have years before you in which to realize a fortune." + +He glanced up at the face bending over him, instinct with the honorable +grace of middle life; the hair with a few threads of silver; the soft, +fine skin showing some wrinkles about the eyes and two or three light +creases across the forehead; the cheeks out of which roundness had +vanished, and the lips the scarlet of girlhood, but though both were +pale the mouth was still tender and sweet. A womanly woman,--that seemed +to him a perfect description of his mother, a woman who had loved three +generations, and held by them. Now for his sake she would give up the +old ties, and try a new world,--this shy, shrinking, loving woman. + +What would she leave? She had never known any other home in her married +life, though this had been changed and improved since her wedding-day. +Everywhere some trace of his father. The porch with the roses climbing +over it, the great maples in the street, planted by him; the odorous old +balm of Gilead, that he had hunted up because she had cared for it, and +they had one in her old home; the trailing clematis with its shining +smilax-like green, and its heliotrope fragrance; the white rose that had +been planted on the morning of Jack's birth, and had sent up many +generations from the old root; the latticed summer-house with its wealth +of grapes; and almost like a vision Jack could fancy he saw the tall +figure and deliberate step,--the sweet ghost of memory that could never +walk in any other place. Did his mother have such dreams? + +Yes, there were better things to life than mere money-getting. + +"I believe those were the wild dreams of boyhood,"--smiling a +little,--"the 'long, long thoughts of youth.' I used to want something +that would occupy my whole soul and every energy, that was stirring, +earnest, absorbing, and held a grand outlook. But I think"--very +deliberately, as if he were weighing every word--"that my work has come +to me, instead of my going out to seek it. At all events, I shall not go +away for the present." + +"Well," she returned, but she could not keep the great gladness out of +her voice. + +Having thus made his election, Jack Darcy looked sturdily about to see +what was to be done, and the best way to do it. He asked two of the old +over-lookers, Hurd and Bradley, to meet him at Maverick's office; and +there they discussed co-operation until long past midnight. They looked +into the cotton-mill connected with the Rochdale experiment; they read +up the workings of those at Oldham and Lancashire, of the industries in +France, and banking in Germany. + +"Here we are," said Jack, "with so much of our lives spent in learning +to manage looms and turn out different kinds of cloth. People must wear +clothes until the millennium, and cloth will be made. It seems to me +that it must be a good thing to identify the workmen, and get their real +interest. We should avoid strikes on the one hand, the continual +disputes about wages, and be much less at the mercy of all outside +influence. The men will understand thoroughly that industry, economy, +thrift, and perseverance is good for each individually; that he is using +these qualities not only for the master, but for himself. There will be +better work, and more of it." + +Hurd seemed to be taking the measure of Darcy through this speech. Now +he said,-- + +"Darcy, any man who knows enough to head such a business as Hope Mills, +knows enough to carve out a fortune for himself; and my opinion is that +he would be a fool to let the chance slip." + +"A man may have the knowledge, but not the requisite capital," was the +patient answer. "Then he might think"-- + +"Well, you've a sight of faith, that's all! Your men will go on with the +tramp of soldiers in good times; and when the pinch comes, then look +out! If they were educated, reasonable, sensible; but you and I both +know the mass are not. It will do better in the old countries, for there +children expect to follow in the footsteps of their parents; but here, +where every boy looks upon himself as a possible president, it cannot be +done. It has been tried, and has failed. It will again." + +"Then you will not join?" + +"I don't say that, Darcy. I can't very well get away from Yerbury: if I +could, the Lord knows I'd go. But there--it is just as bad everywhere +else. Don't be too sanguine though: you young chaps build air-castles +easily." + +Bradley wrung his hand warmly at parting. "I want to look into this +thing a little more closely," he said. "I believe you have struck the +keynote. Whatever raises the workman raises the whole world. If you get +him to be self-supporting, there is one less pauper or tramp for the +State to take in charge, and tax all other workingmen for his support." + +"I rather like the scheme of the co-operative store," Hurd began +presently. "There's a sight of money somehow between the producer and +the consumer. Farmers are grumbling all the time. I wrote to my +brother-in-law last spring about trading for a small farm, and going +into poultry-business perhaps; and he sent back a list of prices he had +obtained for his produce. Butter twenty-five cents, and we paid forty +this winter. Milk two and a half cents a quart, while ours is from eight +to ten." + +"Transportation to be counted in," suggested Maverick. + +"The thing discouraged me, so I thought I'd hold on a bit, since I did +not know the first rule for farming. As Darcy says, we have spent all +these years perfecting ourselves in our business, and it hardly looks +reasonable that we should succeed at once in something altogether +different. If you don't mind, Darcy, I'd like to look over that Rochdale +experiment a little at my leisure." + +Jack handed him the book, and the small party dispersed. In a week they +met again, with two more, one a stubborn old Englishman who had been in +the business. They had done very well for a while, then the market +flattened. They could not hold their stock, so the big fish swallowed +them up. That was always the end where you had no credit and no reserve +capital. Truth to tell, Jack began to realize how hard it would be to +convert some of the very men he would like to have. + +Meanwhile Hamilton Minor came up with some capitalists, and Hope Mills +was put up at auction. They looked around the town, examined the +building and machinery, which was the best of its kind; but nobody +could tell whether we had reached bottom prices or not, and, though the +place was to be offered at an immense sacrifice, they were wary. Empty +mills and rusting machinery were not profitable investments. Mr. Minor's +eloquence went for nothing. These long-headed dons would rather hold on +to their money, though they expressed a good deal of sympathy for the +Lawrence estate. + +"I do believe it will go for the face of the mortgage," said Jack to +Maverick that evening. "Twenty thousand dollars, and a year's interest +and taxes. Twenty-two thousand would cover the whole thing; and three +years ago Mr. Lawrence wouldn't have looked at fifty thousand. Maverick, +I can get together ten thousand of my own, and if there was one other +person"-- + +"We will hunt him up," returned Maverick hopefully. "There is the +reputation of the cloth already made, which is one great step in your +favor. Yes, it must be done." + +Yerbury was looking a little brighter and better at midsummer. +Scarlet-fever had pretty well disappeared; but malaria had come in its +stead, convenient name for want of nourishment, stagnation, and +despondency. The haggard-looking wives and mothers went out to a day's +washing or scrubbing; but the children, better off, roamed over the +fields in search of berries or a stray ownerless fruit-tree, laughing +and happy in their rags and bare feet. + +Darcy tried two or three pretty well-to-do men, that he fancied had the +good of the town at heart; but the project looked wild to them. If David +Lawrence couldn't stand up against hard times, no new men could. He, +Darcy, had better put his money in government-bonds, and live on the +interest. Nothing could be made in such times as these. + +"It seems as if one half of the world has decided that the other half +should starve," Jack declared in a discouraged tone. "No one is willing +to start the ball again. If it wasn't for mother I would risk every +dollar of my own. And then to think of the land lying idle about +here,--enough to feed half the town! I do not wonder that we are fast +coming to beggary and ruin." + +Maverick was pretty sober for several days, then he went off to +Narragansett Pier; "tired of my everlasting badgering," said Jack to +Sylvie, who, poor child, had her hands and heart full of projects that +she talked over with Miss Morgan and her aunt, and did not make much +more progress than Jack. + +So it happened one July evening that Jack sat smoking on the porch in a +rather despondent frame of mind. Miss Morgan and his mother had gone to +make some neighborly calls. + +A quick step came down the street. "If Maverick wasn't in Rhode Island!" +thought Jack; then it came nearer, with a little halt, and Jack sprang +down the steps in the moonlight. + +"Hillo, old fellow!" said the rich, laughing voice. "Have you looked +after my patients, and entertained my office-callers, in my absence? +That would only be fair play, for I have been about your business; and, +by Jove! succeeded too!" + +"Maverick!" There was an odd little tremble in Jack's voice. + +"Ask me to sit down, and stay me with--well, a pipe, for I have finished +my last cigar. I came in the train just fifteen minutes ago, and +skulked--that's the very word--under the trees and through by-ways, lest +some one, seeing, should lay violent hands on me. Yes, get out your best +armchair, old chap, and treat me like a prince." + +The two seated themselves again, and stretched out their legs to the +porch-railing. The soft light fell around, outlining here and there a +bit of vine as if it were held against a silver background. A few early +insects were chirping, and somewhere down the street there was a waft of +distant music. + +"Succeeded!" Jack drew a long breath. + +"Yes: with a woman too. Nay, you need not look at me so wonderingly. I +have not sold myself for base gold to the Evil One," laughing lightly. +"I have never told you much about myself; for, like the needy +knife-grinder, 'story, God bless you! there was none to tell;' but there +is a chapter now, and you must hear it first. My mother was left an +orphan in her infancy, and her aunt adopted her. She was a canny +Scotswoman, by name Jean McLeod. She was very good to my mother, who +married quite to her liking, although my father was not rich, but we +always lived in a certain style, and my father had a fine reputation as +a lawyer. My mother's death, the result of an accident, so prostrated +him, that he never recovered from the shock. Aunt McLeod came to stay +with us through that weary time. Then she took us both to her heart and +home: it was a large warm heart and a beautiful home. My father left a +little: it was made over to me; and my sister, five years younger than +I, was brought up properly, and married properly, and lives in Chicago +in elegant style. Then Aunt Jean tried her hand on me, chose a suitable +young woman, and insisted that the fates had decided it. The upshot was +a quarrel. Not but what the girl was nice enough, and all that, but I +did not care to marry; and so I walked off to Europe, and was there +three years. Some rather cool letters passed between us at first, but +they grew warmer; and when I returned it was winter, and she was in New +York. I went straight up to her house. She was very glad to see me; and +there in her lovely library, all glow and softness and perfume, by the +side of the grate, with a screen in her hand, sat Anastasia Lothrop. She +is Aunt Jean's pet _protégée_, though she has home and lands and people +of her own. A handsome woman too, by Jove! However, we have gone our +separate ways. I think she (Aunt Jean) was rather annoyed at my settling +at Yerbury. + +"Well, I went to Narragansett, and found her alone this time; and she +has promised to buy Hope Mills. I do believe there's no end to the +woman's money. She talked it over as a mere bagatelle. I am to meet her +in New York, and you are to go down, Jack; and we are to see the holder +of the mortgage, and do no end of business. I think she is rather +interested in the scheme, and I do believe she is delighted to do me a +favor. Now you can keep your money for a kind of reserve fund. The mere +savings of labor will not answer at first, you know." + +Maverick drew a long breath then, and puffed lustily at his cigar. + +"I don't know how ever to thank you." + +"Don't thank me, Darcy. You see, I am interested in this experiment. I +want to see if there is enough faith and honesty and industry and +trustfulness left in the world to make such a general partnership a +success. You know it has been said that since the war our character as a +whole has degenerated fearfully. Politically there is no doubt of it. +Commercially and industrially are still open questions. If we could +succeed in making one hundred people comfortable, instead of one rich, +nine comfortable, and the other ninety next door to pauperism, we shall +have done something. If we can so educate ninety men that they are able +to understand the difficulties and embarrassments of carrying on +business and its numerous fluctuations, we shall have raised them higher +in the social scale. And it is most sadly true of all the large failures +of late, some one has been dishonest, some one or two or three have +taken other people's money to speculate with. It should be called +stealing as much as when a poor man takes it, even if he spends it for +rum. And, Darcy, we will keep our eye single upon one thing: we shall +not move the world, or convert it, but haply one little corner of +Yerbury; while all the wit and wisdom the world has been saving up for +ages will be hurled against us in different shapes, from puffy snowballs +to the grim old fellows soaked in water and frozen hard. And sometimes I +think, with all the energy you are going to bring to bear upon this, you +could carve out a fortune somewhere else." + +"I don't know as to that, Maverick," said Darcy in a half-funny, +half-sad tone. "From New York to St. Louis, from thence to New Orleans, +to Florida, and back here again, I never found an opening. Two or three +people did promise to write to me, but they have not. I felt the world +could go on quite as well without me and hundreds of others. So, then, +the only thing is to create a place; and Heaven knows I shall try hard +enough to make a success of this." + +"And you will do it too: I'm not afraid. Give us your hand, old chap! I +never swore friendship with but just one fellow: that was in my college +days, and I have his note for one hundred dollars as a memento. I might +have been keener, I dare say; but one of the transcendentally lovely +things of youth is its perfect faith. These preternaturally wise and +prudent young people come into the world mentally gray-headed. But I do +it now with my eyes wide open; and, when you are a rich man, I have +another scheme I want to take through, a sort of home or hospital of my +own planning: so don't fancy I shall let you off easy." + +They held each other's hands in a long, lingering clasp. Beside the +warmth and magnetism that was a component part of Dr. Maverick's nature +when he chose to use it, which was not nearly always, there was a +steadfast kindliness, the vigor of a true and pure manhood, that made a +clear atmosphere about him, in which insincerity, weakness, and +selfishness seemed to flicker into pale shadows, and shrink away from +the intense mental light he turned upon them. + +And just here the vision of the boy face came back to Jack, the +strangling arms about his neck, the fluttering breath and quivering +lips, and the sound of the rather thin, childish voice,--"You are _my_ +King Arthur, and I shall love you my whole life long." + +The sadness in the smile was for the old ideal. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +"THE telegram!" exclaimed Maverick ten days later, striding down the +garden where Jack was at work in the strawberry-bed. + +Jack Darcy flushed like a girl, through the other fine coloring of +labor. He had hardly dared to believe in and hold to Maverick's promise. +Manlike, neither had spoken of it since that night. + +"'Thursday, at four, at the Westminster.' That is to-morrow. We must be +on time, or she would never have any faith in us; and, though my credit +may be _nil_, yours must be"-- + +"As I hope to keep it through my life," was the grave reply. "You will +take the morning train?" + +"Yes. It will give us a trifle of spare time, which won't be bad for a +couple of overworked fellows like us. But I must look after a lot of +people this afternoon, and if I can I will drop in this evening." + +Jack went back to his strawberries. He had been making a mental +calculation about an acre, and the profits thereon, moved to it by +something Jane Morgan had said. Twenty miles below them, on Swanston +Bay, which was quite a summer-resort, the hotel-keepers had paid +twenty-five cents per quart for nice large berries. On their little +patch they had raised a hundred and twenty quarts. There was another +side to the labor-question,--diversity of industry. Jane's idea of a +great fruit-garden, or call it a farm, was not bad. You could crowd ten +such patches in an acre of ground. If nothing better came to hand, he +might hire some of the ground lying waste around Yerbury, and set the +idle at work. + +Sylvie came through with some flowers in her hand. Jack looked up again, +and laughed, and threw himself on the grass under a tree, chatting +gayly. He felt so light at heart! She wondered a little, and then, +without knowing the cause, rejoiced with him in the depths of her soul. + +The two men started the next morning, and at the appointed time were +ushered into Miss McLeod's private parlor. Maverick had said, "She's a +little queer in some ways; but in the main you will like her, I think." +Meanwhile Jack had formed a dozen ideals of her, based mostly on the +personal appearance of Miss Barry and his grandmother. + +The door of the adjoining room opened, and Miss McLeod entered. An old +woman, of course, and a fashionable woman, but with a young-old face and +figure. Not the graceful airiness of youth, so often painful in its +desire to impress the beholder with what it is not, but an old age to +which all the good things of life, rightly used, have contributed, and +brought about a delightful result. She was of medium height, and +possibly had not been handsome in her palmy days; but she challenged +one's respect for a true and honorable womanhood, and an old age neither +inane, querulous, nor servile. + +A rather plump figure, with deep chest, full shoulders, and erect +carriage. The face was wrinkled; but the skin had a peachy softness, the +lips were still full and finely curved, and, though the mouth was rather +wide, it indicated resolution and decision. The whole contour of the +face was slightly aquiline, the forehead high and broad, but the curling +hair falling over it in the requirements of fashion softened it; shining +silvery white, curling naturally, and very abundant, the coil at the +back partly covered with a diamond-shaped bit of elegant black thread +lace that matched the barb at her throat. Her rich, soft, steel-colored +silk made no rustle as she crossed the floor, but the diamonds in her +ears and on her breast flashed a glitter of sunlight about her. + +Maverick greeted her with pleasant but not effusive warmth, and +introduced his friend. They skirmished on the boundary-line of small +talk for a while, Jack feeling that he was being measured and gauged at +every possible indication of the real man, but his honesty of purpose +kept him steadfast. + +Presently Maverick plunged into the business part, much to Darcy's +satisfaction. + +"I wrote to my lawyer, Mr. Hildreth, about it," Miss McLeod replied. "He +has seen the parties holding the mortgage; and, on account of business +embarrassments, they are extremely anxious to realize upon it. Mr. Minor +is naturally desirous of having it sold at an advantage; but he is on +the bond, and has been making continuous efforts with no success. No one +can tell how low property will sink, business property especially, that +depreciates so rapidly if neglected. The mortgage is considered +one-third of what the property was valued at seven years ago; but we +have all shrunk a trifle since that," with a shrug, and a curious little +bend of the head, as if the decapitation was not altogether a pleasant +process. "This is the 4th of August, and on the 19th it is advertised +for sale. There may be one chance in a thousand of a better purchaser; +though Mr. Hildreth thinks no one but a lunatic, or a woman, would put +money in such an adventure," her lips curving in their bitter-sweet +smile. Indeed, there was nothing she was so much like as a cluster of +bright bitter-sweet berries, on a sharp but sunshiny autumn day, with +the leaves and tendrils brown and faded, but the brilliant life and soul +still shining from the ripe centre. She impressed you with the same +defiant glow of exultation. + +"I have money lying idle, it is true," she continued; "but I want to +hear your plans before I decide, Mr. Darcy. Philip," nodding to her +nephew, "has interested me in this scheme; but I must know what it +promises before I take the risk." + +Jack was confused a little by the bright, penetrating glance; and he had +not quite overcome his boyish trick of blushing. Often as he had gone +over the plan with Howell, Fawcett, and other political economists at +his tongue's end, all his troupe of fine ideas seemed to desert him. He +laughed at his own embarrassment: she smiled and nodded, and that made +them friends. + +"I don't know that I can put it any better," he began earnestly, "than +to say that I want to take up the lever of work, and put the wheels of +labor in motion, to bring the starving workmen and the halting capital +together again. It is all very well for us to rush every dollar into +government-bonds; but if there is no business, what is to augment our +revenue, and where then shall we be finally, with our mills and +workshops shut up, and our people begging? If I had enough of my own to +bridge over the chasm, I would ask no one's help," he went on a little +proudly. "The mills at Yerbury stand in sad silence, with ruin before +them; our men are idle and dispirited, turning into tramps and +vagabonds, because they hate to sit still and starve. And here am I, of +no real use to the world, and the eight years back of me that I have +spent in perfecting myself of no account either, unless I find something +upon which to employ my ability and training. If I purchase the mills, +we must hire capital to work them with, and everybody would be shy of +us. We can get together the capital if we could be sure of the place for +five years, at a moderate rental." + +"But would not a joint-stock company answer the purpose better, and +carry more weight?" she asked, listening with a sort of intent wariness. + +"I want to enlist the workmen, so that we shall be reasonably sure of +co-operation in other things beside money, industry, thrift, +faithfulness, and a common interest in success. If times are hard, we +shall all make sacrifices: if they improve, we shall benefit by the +earnestness of our endeavors. Maverick and I have made a little draft, +based on the workings of the best French and English societies. If you +will look it over"--and he took it out of his memorandum. + +She studied it with a keen, rapid glance. + +"It is what I should call an industrial partnership," Darcy continued. +"We _should_ own the mill; but, as we cannot, that must go in the +working expenses. As the men choose, and are able, they can hold shares; +but at present this will be obtained--say from a dozen perhaps. Nothing +now will bring in twenty or even ten per cent, and we must be satisfied +with whatever we can make. We have had our good times, and now we must +take the evil; but if there is any better way than sitting down +resignedly, and folding both hands, I, for one, want to find it." + +She was taking in the combinations of emotion and purpose that flitted +over his face. A man who would do something if he could get that hardest +of all things, a foothold to stand upon. + +"I think you might make more money," she said with pointed brevity. + +"Which would not be co-operation," with his frank, genial laugh that +went to her heart. "I want to try the experiment. Not that I expect to +solve all the difficulties between labor and capital; but I shall try to +make them better friends, so that, when you have weathered a hard gale, +pinching yourselves to keep on the workmen, they will not strike for +higher wages on the first stir of improvement, as they will be certain +of their share." + +"You are a philanthropist, Mr. Darcy. Can you depend upon the temper of +your men? They may do very well just now when they are starving; but, +when times improve, are they going to wait one year or five years for +the sum they consider part of their wages? And if there should be no +surplus, but losses, as has often happened in manufacturing? Your +workman will + + 'Fork out his penny, and pocket your shilling,' + +fast enough; but when the tables are turned, what then?" + +"There _must_ be a different feeling when men are banded together in a +mutual business interest. The very spirit of association appeals to what +is best and noblest in human nature. As it has been in Yerbury, for +example, the workmen contributed of their ability and strength to +support one family in princely luxury, pay one extravagant salary, and +several others that were out of all proportion to the wages earned, and +an extensive defalcation. No one is at all the gainer now, unless it be +the thief," his face scarlet with indignation at the remembrance of +Eastman. "The men have been hit the hardest of all. No wonder they feel +bitter and discouraged. We make many an Ishmael by sending him out with +his jug of water, while there are feasting and revelry within." + +"But you cannot make all human nature noble or sensible or grateful. +There is the grand co-operation of the forty years in the wilderness, +when food was provided, and clothing lasted miraculously; yet under +these favorable circumstances, and with the sure promise at the end, +there was not a heavenly unity." + +Jack laughed heartily. + +"We must keep from golden calves and such folly," he said. "We are +likely enough to have our waters of Marah. But it seems to me the best +way to ennoble labor, give it its true dignity, and show the +possibilities for the workmen, is concerted action. As matters stand +now, few poor men can ever acquire sufficient capital to start any +business; and perhaps this is not best when we consider the cost of +machinery, and the ever-appearing new inventions. The small capitalist +could _not_ compete with the large one. Yet capital often takes as its +right the best strength of the workman, the years of maturity and +ability, and throws him off in his old age. I know labor retorts by +carelessness, wastefulness, and utter indifference to the employer's +welfare. One is a machine to grind labor into money; the other, to grind +all he can out of capital. Perhaps my design is Utopian, but it seems as +if something ought to be done before we train a whole generation of men +to be paupers and thieves. Better that we should spend our money in +labor experiments than supporting poorhouses and prisons." + +Jack had lost his embarrassment now. There was a glow on his cheek, and +a steady fire in his eye, the lines about the mouth sharply drawn, and +indicating not only masterly strength, but a kind of pitying patience, +that would never degenerate into sentimentality. It was a very manly, +trusty face; and his sterling honesty impressed Miss McLeod, long +trained to reading faces, while his sturdy good sense promised much. + +"I should like Mr. Hildreth to see this paper," turning it in her still +supple fingers. "What if some of your men insist upon going out after a +year or two, Mr. Darcy?" + +"There will be some kind of forfeiture, of course. The true business +capital must remain intact the whole five years: the direct proceeds of +labor may be subject to some changes, but in any event the business +interests must not be jeopardized." + +There was a moment's interruption of a servant; then dinner was brought +in, and arranged for three. The bright-eyed old lady made a charming +hostess. She poured their tea with a quaint dignity, and made them feel +quite as if she were dispensing hospitality in her own house. + +She was the kind of woman whom young people, past the lunacies of +sixteen, invariably like. The feminine portion told her their love +troubles, the young wives came to her with tangles and little +jealousies; and, if she could not always straighten them out, she had a +marvellous way of comforting. Young men drifted toward her by some +species of magnetism, though she had none of the fussy motherliness of +some old ladies. With faculties still keen and bright, a great fund of +good-humor that had the sparkle of champagne rather than any insipid +sweetness, she never wearied or palled on any one. She kept herself well +informed of the world's progress, she knew of the principal stars in the +literary, dramatic, and artistic world, and to be asked to her house was +a compliment. + +The conversation was more general now; and, though Maverick had told +every thing of note about Yerbury, she was not indisposed to listen to +it again. They discussed the panic and its causes, and ventured upon +guesses as to its duration. They all agreed that there had been too much +haste to be rich, too much greed of speculation, too much personal +greatness, and not enough national greatness. No generous striving +together to build up what the war had pulled down, but every man for +himself and for gold. If women had been frivolous and vain, and dazzled +by the glare of newly acquired wealth, men had not been quite free from +faults. The terrible lowering of morals, the dishonesty and fraud easily +condoned, and laughed over as a kind of shrewdness, were sad examples to +set before the next generation. + +In her way Miss McLeod was quite a politician, having been so much in +that circle. Her views of men and measures were keen and discriminating; +and her bits of trenchant wisdom quite dazzled Jack, who at the last, +proposed laughingly, as his panacea, that every man should undertake the +mending of himself, when the world would soon be righted. + +Afterward a coupé came, and they drove to the Park. There evening and +the bonny new moon overtook them; but the streets and country roads were +so inviting, they did not return until quite late. + +"Consider yourselves my guests for the night," she said as they drove +back to the hotel, and Maverick was too wise to demur. + +"I have been thinking this matter over," she said as they were +separating. "My part will be purchasing the mills, and I shall take so +much in the shape of rent. I want you to consider what per cent you can +pay, and not straiten yourselves too much. I frankly confess that I am +greatly interested in you, Mr. Darcy; and as this young man," touching +Maverick's shoulder, "prefers to 'gang his ain gait,' he leaves me quite +free to waste my money as I like. Be fair to yourself. Good-night." + +"It's all right with you, Jack," began Maverick after they had been +shown to their room. "Aunt Jean is a trump! I almost forgive her Miss +Lothrop. But I suppose women would be less than women, if they did not +want to dip their fingers into destiny. It is their mental chessboard." + +"But you do love her? your aunt, I mean." + +"Why, of course. Still, I should never dangle in any woman's train;" +with a curl of the lip. + +Miss McLeod was going back to Narragansett the next morning. They +discussed their last item of agreement; and Jack said, with modest +decision, "that such real estate could not possibly pay more than three +per cent to any owner in the course of the next few years. He would +rather offer her that, and a share contingent on the amount of business +done at the end of five years, than assume any greater risk just now." + +"Thank you for your honesty and your good sense," she replied. "If you +had offered higher, I should have had some doubts of your financial +clear-headedness. It will be an equitable bargain. And will you be kind +enough to make some arrangements for me in Yerbury? I shall come on the +18th, with a companion and a maid; and Mr. Hildreth will follow the next +morning. Get your plans in shape by that time. I am glad to have met +you, Mr. Darcy, and I wish you success in your undertaking." + +They shook hands cordially, and went their ways. Jack could hardly +believe his good fortune, and now he was afraid some other parties might +step in and take the mills. + +"Much likelihood," laughed Maverick. + +Jack took Cameron in hand first, as he had been the real suggester of +the plan. He, Darcy, could use his ten thousand; and, if ten more could +be subscribed, they would not need to hire outside. As time went on, +this capital might be equalized and increased. Hurd offered two thousand +and himself; and just then one of the old hands who had succeeded in +getting rid of a good bit of property that had weighted him heavily, and +picked up a little money here and there, subscribed five thousand. +Yardley had none of his own, but persuaded his wife's sister to invest a +thousand. The other, Miss Barry offered, if no workman came to hand. +Winston was a handy Jack-of-all-trades. He could repair machinery, or do +any kind of wood-work: he had sold cloth on commission, bartered and +traded, and had a good deal of shrewdness and good sense, and pluck. He +and Darcy would do the buying and selling; Cameron would take charge of +supplies, deal them out, and see that nothing went to waste; Hurd and +Yardley would be overlookers as before. Every man could weave his yard +of cloth with the best. They would constitute the managing force. + +The days passed rapidly; and to Jack's great satisfaction no purchaser +appeared, no curious soul even sauntered about the mills. Miss McLeod +came at the appointed time, accompanied by Miss Lothrop, who was as +distant to Maverick as if this were their first meeting. The ladies were +to stay with Mrs. Darcy, and the best in the house was placed at their +disposal with simple courtesy. They were taken to the mills, where they +made a tour of inspection; Jack explaining machinery, looms, shuttles, +and spindles, with an enthusiasm that amazed even himself. There was a +new interest in the thought of having a voice in the direction of that +great engine now so silent, and the work it was to do. + +"We shall not use half our looms in the beginning," he said; "but I +hope, before the five years are ended, we shall be doing our utmost." + +They all hoped so for his sake. "If any man can make the plan work, he +will," thought Miss McLeod, who liked him better every hour. + +Miss Barry and Sylvie came to call on the ladies in the evening. + +"I suppose that is Mr. Darcy's sweetheart," Miss Lothrop remarked +afterward. "She is a pretty, enthusiastic little thing, and she takes so +much interest in his affairs. I can just fancy how they will work +together, and the earnest, useful lives they will lead. What butterflies +we are!" looking down at her white helpless hands. "Not you, but the +young women of the day in general. You are a busy bee, and still keep +storing up your honey." + +"And sting occasionally," laughed the sharp, bright old lady. + +The sale took place the next morning at ten, at the Court House. There +was quite a number of spectators, though the ladies, with Maverick and +Darcy, were in a private office. Hamilton Minor had come up, resolved +that it should not go for less than the mortgage, but desirous of ending +his responsibility. There were but two bids. The auctioneer lingered a +long while on Mr. Hildreth's bid, commenting on the enormous sacrifice, +but he could move no one's interest. It was reluctantly knocked down, +the purchase-money paid, and the deed made out to Miss McLeod. + +Then the company's agreement was put in lawful, legal shape. The +managing board of five men were to have sole charge of buying, selling, +and manufacturing. They were to give all their time and ability, to +watch the state of the market, and conduct every thing for the benefit +of the whole corporation. Darcy was to prepare a balance-sheet +semi-annually, showing profit and loss; and this was to be open to the +inspection of the firm. + +The parties to the second part, the workmen, were to work ten hours a +day, six days in the week, under the supervision of Hurd and Yardley. +The wages of the men and the salaries of the managers were to be put at +the minimum rate, and both parties were to draw two-thirds of this sum +weekly. At the end of the year, the profits on labor and capital were to +be evenly divided; one half apportioned to the capital, the other half +divided _pro rata_; but only half of this sum to be drawn out yearly, +the other turned over to the capital stock, and placed to each man's +credit. If any operative should become dissatisfied, and leave, his +share of the profits was to be forfeited to a fund for sick or disabled +workmen. Any member of the association guilty of misconduct was to be +twice reprimanded, and for a third offence expelled. A standing +committee of the workmen, with one chairman, was to investigate and +settle such matters. Shares of capital as low as fifty dollars would be +within reach of the workmen. A clause was inserted, that no ale, beer, +or spirituous liquors were to be brought into the mill during working +hours. It had been one of the old-time rules, but often transgressed. +Each man was to use his best endeavors to promote the interests of the +firm. + +At the end of five years, the agreement was to cease, and the profits to +be divided. + +Then the five-years' lease of Hope Mills and all its appurtenances was +made out to "Hope Mills Co-operative Association," and duly signed. The +rental was to be six hundred and sixty dollars per annum, the company to +pay the taxes, and keep the mills in ordinary repair. + +Then the managers and a number of the workmen marched over to Hope Mills +in a body, opened the doors and barred shutters, and entered with an +exultant step. They were to try their hand at good-fellowship in labor, +and see if it would solve the vexations of the old system, or prove any +stronger bond. Maverick had spread a little feast in what had been +Eastman's office; and they sat down together, the ladies, joined by +Sylvie Barry, Mrs. Darcy, and Miss Morgan, taking the head of the table. +Some speeches were made, and some toasts drank, and everybody wished +success to Hope Mills. Had John Hope unconsciously foretold their future +when he christened them for his own glory? Darcy thought so. The name +had a higher significance now, and was to be the earnest of many souls, +the watchword to inspire them. + +Miss McLeod bade them a hearty farewell. "There may arise some +emergency, Mr. Darcy," said she, "when indorsing a note, or a similar +matter, will be of great importance to you. I shall not promise to do +much of it; but I am strongly interested in this experiment, and want it +to have a fair trial. Let me hear from you occasionally; and, if you are +in any great strait, apply to me." + +Jack thanked her warmly, and she and Miss Lothrop went their way. + +"She is a regular fairy godmother," he said enthusiastically to +Maverick. "I wonder that you do not adore her!" and he studied his +friend in astonishment. + +"Have you never heard of people being so much alike they could not +agree?" he asked with a light laugh. "What ever possessed her to bring +Miss Lothrop? It was in bad taste, to say the least; and, whatever +faults aunt Jean may have, she seldom makes a blunder of that kind." + +"Why, Sylvie was--well, a good deal pleased with her. The acquaintance +was so short"-- + +"Miss Barry is the most generous and least exacting woman that I ever +saw. She judges people by her own noble soul. Jack Darcy"--Maverick shut +his lips with a sudden resolution, and turned his face partly aside, +then said in a curiously changed tone, "We are two fools to be talking +about women, when there are more important matters on hand." + +"But I shall always feel grateful to Miss McLeod. There are several +moneyed men here in Yerbury whose capital is lying idle, who would not +have done this thing for me if they knew it would keep half Yerbury from +starving. Yet, if I had offered them ten per cent, they would hardly +have hesitated. It does seem to me sometimes, that these old dons tempt +one into lying first, and swindling afterward. If you make them all +straight, they do not care how much crooked work you do elsewhere." + +"Natural depravity and innate selfishness." + +And now began the real work. The mills were cleaned of the year's +accumulation of dust and cobwebs and general untidiness. Winston went at +the machinery with hearty good-will, and put it in order. Circulars were +sent out to the old patrons and to new houses, and workmen, workwomen, +and children straggled in to see what was going on. Were Hope Mills to +be really opened? and was Mr. Darcy to be master? True, a good many of +the best men had gone off to try their luck elsewhere, but there were +plenty left for a start. Only, there was a mystery these people could +not understand. Something about wages, and something about money; and +Jack patiently explained the matter, until, as he told Maverick, he felt +like a cheap-John auctioneer, dispensing wares. + +"The best thing will be to have a meeting," declared Maverick. "See +here, Darcy: I'll hire Brock's Hall myself; and we will have a lecture, +or a conference-meeting. Subject, 'Work and Wages.' I'll have some +posters out too. Every one will know what we mean, that we are honest +men and true; and you will be spared this everlasting palaver. Then we +will have some rules, or by-laws, or something, for the workmen. Talk to +Mr. Winston about it. He would make a capital speaker, with his glib +tongue." + +Darcy thought it an excellent plan, and they set about it immediately. + +"But you'll have to post me," confessed Winston. "The only co-operation +I ever was in was a building-association, and our treasurer ran off with +our funds." + +Maverick promised to "coach" him. Indeed, it was the doctor who gathered +up statistics, and put them in a compact and telling form. + +They had a large audience,--men and women. "Robert Winston, Esq.," was +the orator of the evening. He was a fluent speaker, and had a good deal +of humor. He began about the early Anglo-Saxon guilds, and the banding +together of craftsmen when towns grew large and prosperous, and labor +was performed in the workshops, instead of at home; of the importance of +the woollen-manufacture in the days of Elizabeth, not only in England, +but on the Continent, when kings did not disdain to borrow money of +these corporations; of their final overthrow, and the causes leading to +it; of the growth of trades-unions, and the views of conflicting writers +on the subject. The workman's necessities so often compelled him to +accept what he felt to be inadequate returns, because he could not +wait,--it was work or starvation with him,--so that in dull times he was +not only at the mercy of the employer, but every other starving workman. +On the other hand, so few workmen ever informed themselves concerning +the employer's perplexities and dangers, they had no broad and vital +interest in the business until they all became leagued together, as in +co-operation. Then they shared one another's burdens and prosperity. It +was not the one great fortune, but the many comfortable incomes. It was +the fruit of the noblest thought and the truest philanthropy. As a +producer it had done its best work in France; and he went briefly over +the work of the masons at Paris, and the Association Remquet, which, +after carrying on printing business for ten years, divided among its +members an average of over ten thousand francs; the cloth-factory at +Vienna, with its flour-mill, bakery, grocery, coal-yard, and farm; the +different societies in England, that were promising, to say the least. +All this had been done by the thrift and economy of individual members, +who educated themselves by doing business, and so were enabled to +dispense with the profits of middle-men, and the greedy clutch of +speculators. + +After Winston had finished, Dr. Maverick went briefly over their plans +for Hope Mills in a very simple and direct manner. + +"Winston was capital!" said Jack afterward. "When we are hard up we can +send him off on a lecturing-tour. But wasn't it rather over the heads of +our people?" + +"It was for others beside the workmen. You know, Darcy, some men are so +used to swindling and misrepresentation, that they invariably accuse +every plan of another, of the same motive. You will have a good deal of +this back talk before your five years are ended; and I want Yerbury to +know that this is an old, old scheme. I might have quoted the children +of Israel, as aunt Jean did, and shocked the religious portion of the +community. But, after all, isn't the greatest truth, the Golden Rule, +co-operation in _all_ forms?" and he glanced up triumphantly. + +Jack did not gainsay him. + +He had hit the truth in regard to Yerbury. Some of those who had managed +to hold on to their money through all the stress of hard times raised +their eyebrows and shook their heads in amused derision. "A fool and his +money," said they, and "Set a beggar on horseback," besides numerous +wise saws people love to fling at their neighbors. A mortifying collapse +was predicted. There wasn't a woollen-mill in the country paying. The +smaller people who had been easily induced to invest their money in +building-lots, under the supposition that in a few years there would +hardly be standing-room in Yerbury, looked askance at this project, so +much more easily does speculation appeal to human nature, than the +slower but more honorable results of industry. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +IT was easy enough now to get hands who would consent to the +three-quarter wages. With one winter of semi-starvation the poor of +Yerbury were glad to take any thing that promised bread. The masters +were going to share with the men; but they were made distinctly to +understand, that, unless the mills earned something over and above this, +there could be no surplus, no dividends. Another thousand of the capital +had been made up by some of the hands, who thought this promised as well +as railroad-stocks, lots out on country barrens, or even savings banks. + +To be sure, some burly fellows, whose wives could hardly keep soul and +body together over their washing-tubs, swore great oaths that Jack Darcy +was a fool to think he could find men to play into his hands that way! +Bob Winston was a blower, and never kept at any one thing; and some of +the rest were old screws, and in six months time everybody would see! + +However, Hope Mills rang out its great bell cheerfully on Monday +morning, the middle of September. A small procession wended their way in +at the side gate. The engine, with Robert Winston at its helm, as they +had not suited themselves with an engineer, puffed and groaned; but, if +it was not a merry music, it was good to hear, for all that. The faces +were pinched and thin with a year's care and want and the horrible fear +of the future, but they tried to smile cheerfully. More than one poor +woman had tears in her eyes, and spoke in that hysterical, +half-laughing, half-crying tone, that told how deeply her feelings were +moved. + +By night they were quite settled in the old places, or adapted to new +ones. Perhaps the year's experience had done these people some good: +they had learned to manage closer. Cameron and Darcy had discussed +thrifty French ways of management, and now meant to profit by them if +possible. The American spirit of wastefulness should not run riot as it +had in times past. Dyes and oils and chemicals were to be sharply looked +after, and Cameron was the man to do it. + +Before the first week was out, an engineer came to hand. There had been +several applications, but some men raised their noses and laughed loudly +at the rate of wages. A young chap just out of his time when the panic +came on, and who had tried every thing, even to rail-roading, took the +place with hearty thanks; a quick, bright fellow too, who had a love for +his business, and said in ten minutes time, "She's a pretty engine, Mr. +Winston!" with the enthusiasm of a true artist. + +"That chap'll blow up Hope Mills in less than a month," said Jem Stixon, +who had been refused. "You mark my words! I wouldn't have wife or child +of mine working there." + +Darcy watched the temper of the employees, and reported every few days +to Maverick. The little social "we" and "ours" was working wonders, he +thought. + +"And we do nothing!" said Sylvie one evening, in a discontented tone, as +she sat crocheting by Mrs. Darcy's pretty round table in the old +library, that had become a kind of general business-room. "I thought you +were going to set us women at work about something. Miss Morgan and I +have been waiting patiently." + +"There was the cooking-school"-- + +"But we have nothing to cook. And how are we to get any thing? unless we +set up as those poor weavers in Toad Lane, on our pocket-money. I +believe I beg from those who have a little, nearly half my time, to give +to those who have nothing. And, would you believe it, some of the women +begin to think they _must_ be provided for. Mrs. Cairns asked me to-day +when the relief-store was going to open. She didn't see why there +shouldn't always be something here like the parish relief in England. +And when Mrs. Ray offered to take Josie this winter, and keep her in +shoes for what she could do, and teach her a little, Mrs. Cairns said, +'if she was worth any thing, she was worth more than that. She might +have her for a dollar a week.'" + +"Such people ought to go hungry," declared Jane Morgan sharply. + +"I've been thinking," said Jack, who now raised his eyes slowly, "there +is one thing you might help do; and, indirectly, it would be very +serviceable to me. Sylvie, you know Kit Connelly's corner, as they +always call it?" + +"Well, so it is: Mrs. Connelly earned the money that bought it, and I am +glad she didn't let Dennis go on in business until he spent every cent +of it. And oh, Jack! all we women of Yerbury ought to be doubly proud +that she wouldn't let Den keep a beer-shop there, nor hire it to any one +else." + +"I hope you are. I think Kit was pretty plucky to take the black eyes +and the grumbling. It was a good job for her when Den went over to the +Bowman House for hostler. So, of course, it has been shut up a year and +a half. You know, two blocks down below, Keppler's door stands open for +everybody, and so many of the mill-hands pass that way. It is so easy to +run in and get a glass, and the men who bring their lunches go down for +a mug of ale. It is a terrible temptation, and I wonder if they are not +more easily tempted on an empty stomach? Well, I've been considering for +some days if we could not start a coffee-house there,--set Kit up in +business. I'm not going to fling a temperance-pledge right in every +man's face,--for that makes them spiteful. I do not even want to exhort. +But if we put it there,--right in their way,--and there was a nice fire +in the evening, and maybe a book or two"-- + +"Splendid, Jack! There's no such thing in Yerbury. Let's get about it +right away!" and Sylvie sprang up, as if she would start at once. + +They all laughed. + +"There must be a little planning first. Mrs. Connelly is a bright, +good-hearted creature, and can make good coffee; and Rose and Kathleen +would make nice little maids. She stopped me to-night to inquire if +there was any chance of their being taken in the mill. There must be +some diversity of employment, or presently we shall all be doing the one +thing again,"--and Jack smiled humorously. "Dennis gets low wages, +Bernard is in the mill, and there are two younger boys. She takes in +gentlemen's laundering, as you know. She was wishing she could rent out +the store, but no one wants it. Now, if it could be altered into an +attractive coffee-room, kept neat and bright, and--you will laugh at me, +no doubt--but given a kind of style,--the cups clean and shining, the +spoons decent, and some nice bread and butter for noon lunches. All this +at a moderate price. The men pay five cents for their pint of ale, and +it is often shared by two: they must not give more than three cents for +their cup of coffee." + +"I suppose you mean that we are to plan it all out for her," said +Sylvie, and she looked across at Miss Morgan. + +"It will not do to buy a pound of sugar and a pound of coffee at a +time," said Jane concisely. + +"Then I will be the capitalist," promised Sylvie. + +"Exactly. Kit had better do this on some money that she must give an +account of, and it will make her more careful. She owns a cow, so there +is the milk. I should like this started quietly, not with a great blare +of opposition to the dram-shops." + +"Well, what must we do first?" asked Sylvie. + +"I wish you and Jane would go down and call on her, and suggest the +business. See how she takes it, and look around at the capabilities of +the place. I will see to the fitting-up." + +They went, as desired. Mrs. Connelly--a round, rosy, buxom Irishwoman, +with a mellow voice, laughing eye, and artist-red hair--was very much +taken with their plan. "To turn an honest penny in these hard times, and +not be wronging any one, would just suit the likes of her. And there was +the store standing empty,--but it might stand till the crack o' doom +afore she'd have a drop of rum sold in it. There never was a better man +than Den when he was sober, and sure she'd had sorrow enough along wid +drinking. And there was Barney growin' up, and the two smaller ones, and +she'd never, never put a bit of temptation in their way." + +The store had been used for a meat-shop and green-grocery. Kit had sold +the fixtures when she had been in sore need of money, so now it was a +great bare room, with one large window and two small ones. + +"Sure I can scrub an' whitewash it myself, an' put clean curtains to the +windows. And you're very good to think of such a thing, Miss Barry,--may +the saints bless you! An' if Mr. Darcy will see to getting what is +wanted, I'll do my very best to please you all." + +Sylvie blushed a little at taking the credit, but it was Jack's wish. +Jack had a small portico built over the door-way, to keep out the cold +in winter, and a neat sign put up, with but two words,--"Coffee-House." +Sylvie and Miss Morgan ordered some cheap, small tables, some plain +wooden chairs, and found two comfortable, old-fashioned, wooden settles. +Then she collected old magazines and illustrated papers, and a rack was +put up at one side for them. All the tables were covered with light +marbled rubber-cloth, so that they would be kept fresh and sweet. The +sugar and coffee were forthcoming. Kit could roast coffee to a turn. One +Thursday evening the place was lighted up, and a few guests asked in; +and the next day the fame of Kit Connelly's coffee-house began. Half the +folks in Yerbury knew her and Dennis. + +Rose Connelly, who was just seventeen, a nice fresh-looking girl, was to +keep the books, and take the money as she was quite a scholar. Several +of the mill-hands went over immediately for their lunches. Such splendid +wheat, rye, and Graham bread, spread already, and brought on a clean +plate! A nice bite for three cents, and a solid meal for six. Sylvie was +to go down now and then, of a morning, to keep matters straight. + +"There is one entering-wedge in the cause of temperance," she remarked, +in her piquant way. "Only, Jack, it does not seem quite right for us +women to take the credit of it. I confess, among all my plans, there has +been nothing like this." + +"I would rather not be openly connected with it," and Jack made a queer +little grimace. "By and by I may have to do some real fighting on my own +account, and I don't want too many vulnerable points. Human nature is +rather queer and cranky, as you have, no doubt, observed by this time." + +"But I do not see why any one should want to fight against your good +work, Jack," said Sylvie, with an indignant flush. "I am sure it is no +light undertaking to provide all these people with work; and everybody +ought to strengthen your hands, instead of putting obstacles in the +way." + +"I must be prepared for all things." + +Maverick was very enthusiastic over the coffee-house. It was a new +institution in Yerbury. There had been in good times several so-called +cheap lunch-rooms, but the fare was invariably poor. + +"Keppler will be your first enemy, and your worst one," said the doctor +with a shrewd smile. + +"Very well. He must fight Miss Barry and Miss Morgan. I did send a man +to do some work, but Miss Barry paid the bills. I keep my hands out of +it altogether." + +"Good for you, Jack. And how does business progress?" + +"I am dubious," and Jack shook his head in a mock-serious way. "There is +too much rose-color. Every thing works to a charm. Whether people really +have learned something by the hard times, remains to be seen; but it +looks so now. And we couldn't have a better working firm. Owen Cameron +is the same kind of a man that Miss Morgan is for a woman, not stingy +here and wasteful there, but a thorough-going economist. Every week he +makes a little saving somewhere. It is what we needed to learn, badly +enough. He manages to make the men understand that every penny saved is +for the benefit of all, that a yard of cloth or a pound of wool spoiled +is to the loss of all. And that is the only way to settle this business, +this everlasting wrangle between labor and capital." + +Amos Hurd and Peter Yardley used to talk over the other scheme of a +co-operative store. It would not do to have too many irons in the fire +in such times as these, when no one had any great deal of money. But it +did seem as if poor people were paying at the dearest rate for every +thing, partly because they asked for trust, and the only man willing to +trust them to any extent kept a very full line of second or third rate +articles, but the prices did not always correspond. + +"Now, there's coal," said Yardley one evening. "At the trade-sale it +went up ten cents a ton on the average. Our dealers here, who had their +yards full, put up their prices from twenty to thirty cents. I know, on +the other hand, if coal takes a sudden tumble, they may lose; but, after +watching this thing for years, I find the prices go up five times with +full yards, where they fall once. Now, I was thinking, when coal was +bought for the mill, some extra car-loads might be ordered for the men." + +"Yes," and Hurd opened his eyes widely. "Let us talk to Darcy about it." + +Jack listened to their proposal with a sudden interest. + +"It will be some trouble to you," he answered. "It is not as thoroughly +screened, and there is the delivering. The men cannot carry it home in +market-baskets." + +"I don't know about the screening," said Yardley rather grimly. "When +you clean up your bin, and find several bushels of sand and refuse out +of five or six tons, you think half of it, at least, ought to have been +good burning-coal. And in wholesale buying you get long tons." + +"I can do it as well as not," replied Jack. "In fact,"--laughingly,--"it +will rather redound to my credit to order largely, and we have a +somewhat extensive coal-shed. But you must look up one or two men who +will cart it, and a man to screen; and, when you have counted up your +labor, decide upon what price you can offer your coal. Perhaps it would +be as well to canvass, and learn how many tons you can dispose of." + +The workmen had their own board of managers, of which Yardley had been +elected president. They generally met every week, and now Yardley laid +this matter before them. There would be an average saving, he thought, +of two dollars on every ton, but the coal must be paid for in thirty +days. If the men chose to leave one or two dollars every Monday night +(for Darcy had wisely made Monday instead of Saturday pay-day) they +might give in an order for one or two or even three tons. + +Meanwhile Peter Yardley found some thorns even in his path. A good, +stout Irish lad was willing to do the screening at a dollar per day; but +when he spoke to several carters, who were not busy half the time, to a +man they stuck to their regular price, fifty cents per ton. Not one of +them would work by the day. + +"I can fix that just right," declared one of the men. "My wife's brother +has a heavy wagon and two mules. He used to do carting for the +iron-mills, and since then he has had mostly catch-jobs. He owns a +little place over on the creek-road; and I know he will be glad enough +to do it, and maybe take part of his pay in coal." + +Seth Williams was hunted up. He would come, and bring his son who would +help about loading, for two dollars and a half a day. There were +seventy-odd tons subscribed for, but they decided to make their order +one hundred tons. Coal was selling at six dollars and a half per ton at +Yerbury. After due calculation, they offered theirs to the men at four. + +It came duly to hand. After the first day, Williams hired another team +on his own account, and his son drove one to its destination, making +thereby extra time. Before the seventy tons had been delivered, the +remainder was bespoken. They found when it had all been disposed of, and +their workmen paid, that they had counted very closely, but there was a +small balance on hand. This was deposited in the bank as a nucleus for a +co-operative store as soon as there might be sufficient capital to +warrant it. This, at least, had been a success. So many of the poorer +class of Yerbury were not able to pay for the last ton of coal until +they ordered again, being always that much behind. + +Yardley was quite jubilant over his scheme. + +"You forget that in this you and Hurd have received nothing for your +trouble," said Darcy. "Then," smilingly, "you have no bad debts to count +out. Still only a philanthropist can do business this way. If you were +the proprietor of a coal-yard, you could not afford it." + +"I think I have something for my trouble, Mr. Darcy," the man answered +proudly. "I have saved ten dollars on my four tons of coal, and that +surely pays me." + +They were doing moderately well at the mill. Several orders had come in +from old buyers; and now Winston started out on a travelling tour, being +admirably fitted for that part of the business. At the West he managed +to talk two large wool-dealers into a trade; they taking cloth of +various grades in exchange, and disposing of it to the best of their +ability. + +"A regular old-fashioned barter," he wrote to Maverick. "It took a good +deal of talking, to be sure, but I'm never the worse for that. They were +pleased to get a fair price for their wool, and I lost nothing on my +cloth. It clears out the stock, and keeps the men busy." + +Indeed, Hope Mills was doing a great thing for Yerbury. There was a +brisker air on the streets, a kind of inspiring music in the whir and +clatter, that spoke of food and warmth and raiment. Good feeling and +sympathy had been touched; and though some of the workmen, who were +harassed by back debts, looked rather ruefully at their small weekly +pittance, still it was so much better than no money and no employment. + +At the Darcys they held what Sylvie laughingly called "symposiums." The +churches were organizing their winter work, for there would be need +enough. The few who had found employment merely made a ripple on the +surface. Some who had stretched out their scanty means the past year now +found themselves penniless. Others had tramped about the neighboring +towns and cities, getting a few weeks' work here and there, but had no +fancy for facing winter in this precarious manner. The hopeful feeling +animating so many in the early autumn died out again. It was feared +that we had not seen the worst of the panic. + +To Sylvie, who the preceding winter had been engrossed in art-studies +and delightful social life, the want and misery were appalling. She and +Miss Morgan did organize a visiting-society according to an idea of Dr. +Maverick's; and though they alleviated many cases of distress, and were +the better able to distinguish who were worthy, still they increased +upon their hands. + +"I begin to realize that poor people do not make the best of their +money," she said. "They do not know how to prepare dishes that shall be +cheap and palatable. And, worst of all, many of them cannot cook a +potato so that it shall be fit to eat." + +"The weak point of this world, Miss Sylvie," said Dr. Maverick. "When +women learn to make good bread and cook potatoes, there will be a +decrease of one-half in dyspepsia. Now, what is the secret of the +potatoes? Come, air your ideas! Give me a recipe, and I will take it +around among my patients. I advise them pretty generally to bake them, +but I find some soggy and watery even then." + +"Overdone," said Miss Morgan briefly. + +"Well, state the exact time." + +The women looked at each other, and laughed. + +"From twenty minutes to half an hour," said Mrs. Darcy. "Some kinds boil +easier than others. For baking, three-quarters to an hour." + +"But the infallible test?" + +"Watchfulness," said Jane. + +"I must admit that you seem to understand it thoroughly, judging from +the specimens I have seen and eaten. But are you not a little chary in +your information?" and he glanced from one to another. + +"Miss Morgan shall be first spokeswoman," declared Sylvie gayly. + +"If it is a boiled potato," began Jane sententiously, as if she were a +child speaking a piece, "I put mine in the saucepan, and pour hot water +over them, as they come to a boil sooner, taking care that they shall be +as nearly of a size as possible. In about twenty minutes I try an +average potato. If I can stick a fork through it nicely, it is done. +Then I pour off the water, letting it drain until every drop is gone, +when I shake up the lot two or three times rather hard and quick, stand +them on the back of the stove with the cover partly off, so that the +steam may escape; and you have a dry, light, flaky potato, unless it was +irremediably bad to begin with. I have sometimes boiled new and rather +small potatoes in twelve minutes over a good fire. But cooking, like +liberty, has the same high price, eternal vigilance." + +Maverick laughed. "I shall remember this," he exclaimed. "You will yet +hear of me teaching some of my poor patients to cook potatoes. Heaven +knows there is enough need of it. Wasn't there some talk of a school for +useful arts?" + +"Yes," answered Sylvie, "only there was no money to start with, and we +have all been so busy." + +"What would be needed?" + +"_Imprimis_: a room, a cooking-stove, a fire, a cook, and some +materials," replied Sylvie with merry audacity. + +How pretty and bright she was! He liked to watch her in these changeful +moods. One great charm of this place was finding her here so frequently. + +"And Mr. Darcy has been so much engrossed with weightier matters," she +continued in a half apology. + +"I really think I ought to be more interested in this question than Mr. +Darcy. It supplements my work. While cheap living is an imperative +necessity in times of depression and low wages, I cannot see why we do +not make it more of a study. While we are so ready to copy the vices of +our French neighbors, perhaps their virtues would do us no harm. A +doctor often finds himself quite nonplussed by something in the +preparation of the patient's diet. The old doctrine preached years ago, +on St. Paul's text of 'keeping the body under,' has worked as much +damage as the asceticism of the middle ages. A good healthy body is the +first requisite everywhere; and to keep it so, every one's first duty. +When men began to consider the body a poor, vile thing, to be treated +with contumely, and fed with what would just sustain life, they offered +an outrage to the highest work of God. When people think it is no matter +what they eat, and that no pains need be taken in the preparation, they +have made a big lapse toward heathenism. Confusion of the physical +senses leads to confusion of the moral sense; and weak, miserable bodies +with hysterical nerves, though they may dream dreams, and see visions, +cannot do good healthy work in this world. And your poor people need a +good deal of training on this subject. It must be made an honorable, not +a despised, business. If I were to build houses, I should make the +kitchens large, light, and pretty; and, if any room had to be small and +uninviting, it should be that for the storage of the best furniture," +laughing humorously. + +"Yes," responded Jane Morgan, "I like to go into an old-fashioned +country kitchen, with a nice painted floor, and braided rag rugs laid +down here and there: with a grandmother's corner by a sunny window, and +a father's chair by the wide, cheerful chimney-piece, and a place for +the children to play, with plenty of room to get about. Apples and nuts +always taste so good in such a place! Instead, we have a stuffy little +kitchen and a cheerless dining-room, that no one wants to sit in, and +every member of the family goes to his or her room, and sociability is +at an end. Then we must go to theatres, lectures, and concerts, just to +catch a glimpse of the members of our own family." + +"There is a good deal of truth in that," and the doctor nodded +sagaciously. "And now I shall take steps for that school. I may count on +you, Miss Morgan, may I not, and Miss Barry?" + +They both promised. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +MEANWHILE what had befallen Fred Lawrence? + +He had been greatly shocked at his father's death. True, the tender, +intense affection that had so sweetened childhood seemed to have died +out; when they might have attained to an enduring friendship, they had +gone separate ways, missing the exquisite sympathy that should have +existed between them. Whether the distance was any disappointment to his +father, he had never thought. He was the only son of the house, and his +slightest wish had always been gratified. There had been no wretched +vices that sap body and soul, nothing to bring dishonor on the old pure, +family name; and, if David Lawrence missed something that he had hardly +longed for, he still felt proud of his son. + +But his son, bending over the coffined face, was stunned, paralyzed. Of +this death he had never thought. Was it not rather a frightful dream? + +The sharp reality followed fast enough. He listened, still bewildered by +the horrible visions that crowded upon him. Hope Mills closed, notes +going to protest, workmen clamoring for pay, Mr. Eastman quite out of +reach, indeed, no one knew just where. + +Mr. Minor did not spare his father-in-law. How could he trust every +thing to Horace Eastman! How could he allow George to go on unchecked in +such a career of wild speculation! forgetting that he had speculated +quite as wildly. And now all the property was covered with mortgages, +and not a dollar to be squeezed out of any thing. As for the bank +business, that he sneered at. Let them look to the Eastmans. They might +have known that a small manufacturing town like Yerbury could not stand +such galloping progress. In his heart of hearts he thought George and +Horace rather clever fellows to get away before the crash began. And if +David Lawrence had only managed to provide well for his family,--his +manifest duty,--the rest might have gone without a sigh, such trifles as +notes and wages. + +Fred Lawrence he looked upon as a baby. Indeed, Fred was of but little +use in settling the business, much more plague than profit, since he +stood up stoutly for his father's honor and integrity. He had that much +of a son's love. And he characterized Horace Eastman's villany as it +deserved: his education had not quite done away with his moral sense in +such matters. + +"Here for five years your father has given him a clean sweep with every +thing! If you thrust temptation right in a man's way, what can you +expect?" + +"His honesty would not be of a very high order if it could withstand no +temptation," Fred answered rather scornfully. "It was necessary for +father to travel in the interests of the business. He surely could not +stay here to watch him. And you thought well of Eastman." + +"No man would play _me_ such rascally tricks! There is no telling what +he has done! Books can be doctored to look very fair." + +But they found enough. Pay-rolls for men kept up long after they had +been discharged, and many who had never been at all; systematic +falsifications that could not be brought to light without a rigid +inspection and comparison by an expert. But Hamilton Minor felt, with +the world's wisdom, that bringing the Eastmans back as criminals would +not be likely to lead to any restoration; while it would prove a family +disgrace, and perhaps add Gertrude to the list of dependent ones. + +"It makes me heart-sick!" declared Fred. "There is nothing but +selfishness and hollowness and greed. Are truth and honor quite dead?" + +"Very fine talk, my young friend," said Minor in a sneering tone; "but +the question that more nearly concerns you is how you are all going to +live, granting even that there may be enough to pay the debts. Of course +this great house cannot be kept afloat. You had better discharge some of +the servants, and retrench while you do remain in it." + +Then had followed the talk with Agatha, when matrimony was proposed as a +certain and sure remedy for these present ills: a cure the young man +disdained with anger. + +Mrs. Lawrence kept to her room, and was too ill to listen to business +details, even if she could have helped in any way, which she could not. +She fancied now, like many another woman, that her husband had been her +only delight in life, and that there was nothing left. When Agatha +suggested that she had been very short-sighted to consent to mortgaging +Hope Terrace, she cried, and said "she would have given up every thing +for him, and now that he was gone she wanted no fortune,--she should +never leave her room again until she was carried." + +If there had been any bright little Sylvie to run in and comfort her! +any strong-hearted, tender woman, to whom he could turn! He seemed now +to realize more keenly what he had lost, than on the night Sylvie +rejected him. And that other strong, manly soul--no, bitterly as he +might regret, he could no more go back to him than to Sylvie. + +He roused himself, and began his work, utterly astounded at the +extravagance that met him on every side. No doubt it looked right enough +when there was plenty of money; but it seemed now as if the servants had +been masters and mistresses, that all these luxuries existed for their +sake,--the gardens and graperies, the greenhouses with their wealth of +costly flowers; the horses standing idle in the stable, with only +servants to use them; his father a plain man, his mother confined mostly +to two or three rooms, and occasional visitors; supplies ordered +lavishly, and wasted in a manner that seemed wicked even to him. He +wondered in a vague way if the system was not radically wrong that +brought such waste and carelessness in vogue, when hundreds had not the +necessities of life. He remembered one talk his father had with Horace +Eastman over in the library yonder, with champagne and cigars between +them, in the height of one of the strikes, and how Eastman had figured +to a penny the exact percentage of wages the mill could afford to pay. +What if _they_ had given up a little of their luxury, and _he_ his +ill-gotten gains! + +He had the pictures packed under his supervision, and sent to New York. +Not without a pang; for many of them he had selected, and each one had +some pleasant reminder. The choice collection of the greenhouse was +offered for sale, the elegant furniture, and all the most valuable of +the personal property. Times were hard, and sales were slow; but there +would be sufficient realized, it was thought, to pay the floating +indebtedness. Hope Terrace and the mills would probably go for the +mortgages. There was a small life-insurance settled upon Mrs. Lawrence, +and the children would be fortuneless. + +By spring the estate was in a fair way of settlement. Fred had vibrated +between the city and Yerbury all winter, but his mother had been taken +to Mrs. Minor's. A gardener and his wife were placed in charge of the +house, while efforts were being made to rent it. A few rooms had not +been disturbed. + +And now Frederic De Woolfe Lawrence looked about him to see what could +be done. Up to this time he had never given himself an anxious thought +about money or his future. Now it stared him unpleasantly in the face. +What could _he_ do? + +Many things, he said at first, with the buoyant certainty of youth and +inexperience. Here was his education, his talents, his fine mental +training. Surely he had the magical open-sesame of some door. + +So he set to work industriously, and wrote several articles on the +history and the philosophy of the pure sciences. Very fine-drawn indeed, +very intellectual and analytical, as he went through the different +schools of thought, being able, it seemed to him, to argue as well for +the one side as for the other. Then he tried Neo-Platonism with its +profoundly mystical aspects and its brilliant array of philosophers, its +fascinating aspects of Pantheism. The new world and to-day had nothing +for him; the dead and gone past, every thing. + +Alas! From every side he heard the cry, Literature had been overdone. No +one would buy, no one would read, in this great turmoil. Everybody wrote +now, schoolgirls, college-fledglings: even small farmers and mechanics, +with the training of the present and a smattering of knowledge, set up +for geniuses. + +One advised him to try the realistic school: the old-time philosophies +had lost the high place they once held, and to gain the attention of +to-day writers must have snap and vim. Another recommended popular +science made easy and attractive to general readers, something that +caught at the first glance. Life was too short to be devoting years to +any one branch of study. Still another was fain to persuade him to +attack the pernicious systems and monstrous abuses of the present day. +Then he stumbled over Crosby, one of his college-chums and a member of +the L---- Club, where he had been a frequent and welcome visitor the +winter before. + +"My dear fellow," said he, with patronizing good-nature, "take my +advice, and let literature alone. It is one of the most uncertain +things. To-day you may suit, to-morrow a chap comes along with some new +fandango or summersault of high art, and the world leaves everybody to +run after him, and you are thrown over. A man cannot earn his salt +unless he has the _entrée_ of the initiated ring. As for journalism, you +may hammer at that for twenty years before you get a position." + +Poor Fred went back to his room sorely depressed. It was a quiet, clean +room in a second-rate hotel, for which he paid twelve dollars a week. +There he sat and brooded, until taking up the paper one morning he saw +the arrival of one of his old professors at the "Grand Union." Perhaps +he might put him in the way of something. So he plucked up heart, and +went to call. + +Professor Dennison received him very cordially, and expressed the +warmest sympathy for the loss of his father and his fortune. He listened +attentively to the young man's desires, and answered in suavest of +tones. + +There were so many applications: every avenue seemed full. Young lawyers +and doctors, finding no opening, had gone back to teaching, and the +college-graduates of every year swelled this number. He would bear it in +mind, and see what he could do; but he advised his young friend not to +build too high hopes. "If I could make a place I should put you in it at +once," he said kindly, just as he said it to a dozen others. + +It was so everywhere. There were no copyists, translators, or writers +needed. The clerkships were overcrowded. It was not that there were too +many doing one thing, but everything,--too many people in the world. +Could the Malthusian doctrine be right, after all? + +He dropped into his brother-in-law's office one morning, and, though he +hated to ask a favor of him, discussed in a rather fragmentary and +abashed way the possibility of getting any thing to do; and a fortnight +after, Mr. Minor sent him word of a broker who wanted a clerk, salary +fifty dollars per month. + +It was better than nothing. Then, too, it was a beginning, although he +could imagine more congenial employments. It did not look much like hard +times, to note the immense amount of stocks and bonds that passed +through the hands of this great house. + +Just at this period Irene returned. A fine, stately girl, with the +indescribable air that foreign society gives. Yet she seemed haughty, +bitter, and satirical; and it came out presently that she and Gertrude +had quarrelled over a possible husband, and the amiable Gertrude had +taunted her with dependence in the future. Irene had sold some diamonds, +and travelled on the proceeds. + +"I think you were very short-sighted, Irene," said Mrs. Minor when she +had drawn this story out of her sister. "A handsome American girl does +stand a better chance for matrimony abroad than here. So many fortunes +have been lost in the panic, and certainly I cannot blame these men for +choosing heiresses. You have been in society a great deal here, and you +will find fresh young girls beginning to crowd you out. Fred has +nothing, and from present indications will hardly be able to take care +of himself. It was such a misfortune that papa had every thing +mortgaged! So Gertrude was right," in a bitterly suave tone: "you must +be dependent upon some one until you do marry." + +"Oh, no! I might set up millinery,--with my taste and aptitude for +arrangement. I think I have read of reduced young women who made +fortunes in that line," retorted Irene the queenly, in her unmoved way. +She was not one to cry out at a dagger-thrust. + +"Don't be a fool!" advised Mrs. Minor, in a short, incisive tone. + +She, like most other people, had meant to economize this summer; but now +she made a sudden start for Newport. Irene certainly was peerless in her +half-mourning, with her statuesque figure. But there was not an eligible +at Newport, so they turned their steps Saratoga-ward. And here they +found an old admirer of Mrs. Minor's, Gordon Barringer, a widower for +the second time, the owner of a silver-mine and a railroad, and Heaven +alone knew the length and breadth of his possessions. + +Miss Agatha Lawrence had turned up her aristocratic nose at him, as a +rather coarse and self-assured person, as proud of his want of education +as other men were of its acquirement. Now he was about forty, stout, +high-colored, loud of voice, and with an important swagger. But money +had given "our enterprising citizen" power, and he both understood and +wielded it skilfully. + +His wife had been dead barely six months, but when he met Irene Lawrence +he decided at once that the penniless beauty would be only too glad to +marry him. He was proud to think he could afford to be so magnanimous. +Mrs. Minor settled herself to the fact that there must be no foolish +dallying. Of course Irene _would_ see. She could not be so idiotically, +so fatally blind! + +I do not know that at this period of her life Irene Lawrence had any +ideal. She had made conquests so easily, she had found men so much +alike, and in her secret heart she despised them for being so ready to +kneel and bow at beauty's shrine. It seemed to her as if youth and +fortune were alike boundless; and she literally took no thought for the +morrow, until the tidings of her father's death was followed by the +subsequent news of loss of fortune. + +If George Eastman had a self-conviction that he and his cousin had +contributed to this downfall, he tried to make it up to Irene in +brotherly kindness and generous expenditure where money was concerned. +He solaced himself with the thought that, after all, he had no more than +his own, or what should have been his own rightfully, though he fancied +he could not have gone on to the end quite as Horace had. + +When Sir Christopher Frodsham came across the two ladies in Paris, +Gertrude exulted at the easy conquest. A man of fifty, whose young years +and health had been spent in sowing a plentiful crop of wild oats, but +to whom had come now, quite unexpectedly, a fortune and a title; and +prosperity, after years of rather bitter economy, made him miserly, as +it not unfrequently does such men. That he would have been glad to marry +this young, beautiful girl, for himself alone, was most true. And Irene, +in the bewilderment of the losses, inclined to his proposal, and begged +time for consideration. + +He was not a man she could admire, respect, or love. He was narrow, +egotistical, selfish, and with the pitiful vanity of a worn-out _roué_. +Frodsham Park was in a lonely, mountainous part of England, bordering on +Wales; and this man would look upon his wife as a nurse and companion, +and the mother of an heir. + +There must have been a little strain of heroism in the girl. Suddenly, +in one of those quick, vivid flashes, like mental lightning, she saw +that she could not do this thing. She was not at all given to analysis; +she had never dissected her own soul, or that of her neighbors; but she +arrived at one of those swift, clear verdicts,--she could not marry Sir +Christopher; and she told him so, with a frankness a trifle tenderer, +perhaps, than she had used with her lovers heretofore, as if some way +she had wronged him in thought. + +Over this, as I said, she and Gertrude had bitter words and a parting. +Now the same thing stared her in the face again. This lover was too +obtuse to be stung by the fine arts of coquetry that lengthened practice +had brought to perfection. In all the bravery of self-assertion, he did +not know when he was beaten; and so he fought against the intangible +spear-points with which Miss Lawrence could surround herself. + +Mr. Barringer was called to New York on important business law-suits; +and two days after, Mrs. Minor declared herself wearied out with +Saratoga. Irene felt the walls of fate closing remorselessly about her. +Why should she struggle? she asked herself. After all, what could she do +but marry? + +Meanwhile, Hope Mills had been sold. Fred made some inquiries about it. + +"A woman--a rich old maid, I believe, by name McLeod, who knows enough +to drive a sharp bargain--has taken it. Some one is to set up the +business, I heard; an impecunious nephew, no doubt. No one but a fool +would make a venture when the market is overstocked with goods. It is a +shame that the estate had to lose such a valuable piece of property; but +there was no income to pay taxes and interest, and, standing empty, it +would soon have eaten itself up." + +Fred sighed. For the first time, he wondered how it would have ended if +he had been brought up to some useful business, and perhaps have taken +Eastman's place with his father. As for stock and share jobbing, he was +heartily sick of it. To him it appeared an immense system of swindling +the ignorant and unsuspecting. + +However, he was not destined to nurse his disgust very long in brooding +silence. The last of September the great house of Bristol, Stokes, & +Co., collapsed. The wreck was unexpected, the ruin wide-spread. The +house of Minor & Morgan was hard hit, which did not improve Mr. Minor's +temper, though, Spartan-like, he wore a cheerful face, and kept his +losses to himself. Even if it should be his turn next, the world must +not know it. + +"There's a letter that concerns you, though it was sent to me as +administrator," said Minor to Fred, as he sauntered in one morning, +tossing the missive over to him. + +Fred opened it with languid indifference, and his eye wandered over the +following lines:-- + + HAMILTON MINOR, ESQ. + + _Dear Sir_,--On taking possession of Hope Mills, + for business purposes, I find some personal + property belonging to the late Mr. Lawrence. It + may have a value for the family, and shall be at + your disposal whenever you desire it. Respectfully + yours, + + JOHN DARCY. + +"As soon as Hope Terrace is disposed of, the accounts can be audited and +settled," said Minor in a sharp, business-like way. "The debts have all +come in, and been paid dollar for dollar; though, if your father had +been a prudent man, he would have made sure of something for his family. +No one expects estates to pay more than fifty per cent nowadays." + +Fred rose, and crushed Jack Darcy's note in his pocket, holding himself +proudly, while his cheek flushed. + +"I am very thankful," in a clear, cold tone. "My father's life was pure +and honorable, and no man can fling a stone at his grave. I would rather +be penniless, as I am, than have it otherwise." + +"Oh! very well, very well," sneeringly. + +Fred walked out of the office, and turned into Broadway. The same +curious, restless, hurrying throng. Where were they all going? Did they +find room and work? How clearly the sun shone! The sky was so blue, with +great drifts of white floating about,--strange barques on a mystical +sea. In spite of the outside roar and rush, there was a solemn and +awesome stillness within him. He began to feel how entirety alone he +stood. A twelvemonth ago there were hosts of friends pulling him hither +and yon, proposing this and that, laughing and chatting gayly. Where +were they now? Not all weak and false, but the shadow of circumstances +had drifted them apart. We do not always cease to love or like when +separation ensues; and in this shifting, changing life, people drop out, +yet are not quite forgotten. Some of the young fellows whom fortune had +buffeted had found a place in active, stirring life: he, with his +education, refinement, accomplishments, and talent, was merely a piece +of driftwood. Sylvie Barry had been right,--he was a useless appendage +to the world. Ah, no wonder she despised him! Sturdy, honest Jack Darcy +could find a place. His self-complacency was more than touched,--it was +shattered, completely broken up. The present was blank and colorless, +the future like a thick mist in which there penetrated not one ray of +light. What did all his elaborate philosophies for him now?--art, that +was to regenerate the world; science, that explained and refined, and +found a place and a reason for every thing in the universe; man, the +most important of all. And here he was, tossed aside like a weed. Who +cared whether his nature was foul or kinglike? He was, in truth, one of +the atoms floating about in space, and finding no use or purpose. The +world could go on just as well without him. Why, if he should drop +himself over into the river, there would be only a ripple. He laughed, +as if his personality was something that did not really belong to him, +that could be put off at will, that was, in truth, answerable to no +power. All of life, then, had been a lie! + +He stumbled onward blindly. A sense of dreary mystery crept over +him,--an utter hopelessness. He essayed to stretch out his hand to some +passer-by, but the careless faces mocked him. There was no strength or +stay. He could not even cry out with his anguish,--it was a dumb, +inarticulate voice. All his idols had been destroyed, and there was no +God to cry to! + +His last three weeks' salary had gone down in Bristol & Co.'s ruin. +There were some jewels to sell, a few more pictures, several sets of +rare books, and--what then? + +Starvation had appeared so utterly improbable in this great, thriving +world, and here he was, almost face to face with it,--he who had never +taken an anxious thought about any thing, who had felt as if he really +honored money by the spending of it. A beggar! An object of charity to +Hamilton Minor! + +No, that should never be. He tried to rouse himself from his lethargy. +He went around to stores and offices where he was not known, and asked +for something to do, as if in a curious masquerade. The same answer +everywhere. Nothing! The sun went slowly down, the street-lamps were +lighted. Every inch of his body ached with the long tramp and nervous +exhaustion. He had eaten nothing since breakfast, but he was not hungry. +What if he did steal quietly over to the river, and end it all? + +The desperation was hardly black enough for that. Somewhere near +midnight he strolled home: how much longer would there be a home, he +wondered? + +He thrust his hand in his pocket, and the bit of folded paper struck +sharp against his fingers, so he drew it out. Hardly the familiar +school-boy scrawl: Jack used to hate writing, he remembered. This had a +decisive force about it. How odd that business-like "John" looked! +"Jack!" He uttered the name aloud, and a thrill seemed to warm his +frozen heart,--to stir emotions most contradictory. A sense of shame +predominated, tingling his very finger-ends, crimsoning his pale cheeks, +and stinging his soul with a sense of utter humiliation. He had prided +himself so much upon the immaculate honor of his life, and lo! here he +stood, self-convicted of one of the basest of sins,--broken faith. Not +from any sudden, hot dispute, not from a knowledge of deception or any +small meanness, but deliberate, well-considered treachery. It would have +been manlier had he said to Jack, "Our ways lie apart, and in the future +we shall meet so seldom, it is hardly worth while to keep up a pretence +of friendship." He had skulked away instead, kept out of sight,--basely +shunned the strong, tender soul that had helped to make a peevish +boyhood sunny and bright. + +Black as this ingratitude looked to him now, he experienced a strange +and intense desire to see his olden friend once more. What was he doing +at Hope Mills? Had he found a place? + +The next morning's mail brought him a check for sixty dollars, for an +article he had thought little of himself, and sent merely because he had +happened to finish it, and was despatching his ventures out on the sea +of chance. Then he went over to Mrs. Minor's: he had not seen his mother +for several days. + +He was quite in the habit of going directly up to her room; but, as he +neared it, he heard voices raised in no gentle discussion. Agatha stood +in the middle of the room, flushed, angry, an open note in her hand; +Mrs. Lawrence was weeping hysterically, while Irene sat pale and sullen, +but her eyes gleaming with a dangerous fire. + +"Very well: if you deliberately decide to take a beggar's portion, then, +do not look to me for any further help," said Mrs. Minor. "This marriage +would have afforded you every luxury; and you have thrown aside the +chance, like a silly school-girl. Perhaps you _have_ some secret, +favored lover!" and the glittering eyes might have annihilated a weaker +woman than Irene Lawrence. + +"If I had, I should go to him. I would live on crusts and a cup of cold +water with him, rather than luxury," with a bitter, stinging emphasis, +"and my own humiliation. The man would drive me mad, Agatha! Some day, +yielding to an irresistible impulse, I should murder him;" and she gave +a shrill, unnatural laugh. + +Fred went over to her, and took her hand. His business in life was to be +her champion, her defender, her support,--not only against this +monstrous marriage, at which her soul revolted, but Agatha's sneers and +flings, and the dependence a proud soul must naturally feel when the +very bread turns to ashes in one's mouth. How it was to be done, he +could not tell at that moment; but he drew one long breath of honest, +hopeful manliness, and resolved to leave no stone unturned. + +His mother wept in his comforting arms. She was very much +shattered,--quite an old woman long before her time, made so by the +follies of an indolent, enervating life. Like a pang the thought pierced +his brain, that for these paltry results his father had given the +strength and labor of manhood. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +THERE were a few faint hints of autumn in Yerbury. The air was warm, and +freighted with the peculiar sweetness of over-ripe grapes and apples, of +dried balsam and faded golden-rod by the wayside. The very air seemed to +quiver with intense contrasts of color, the yellow beeches standing out +in strong relief, the bronze-red of one great oak, the bluish-green of +the spruce, and the tender tints of fading, long-armed larches, drooping +in regretful sadness. Lights of silvery gray and russet-brown, pale gold +and hazy purple, and a sapphire sky bending over all. The artistic side +of Fred Lawrence's soul was touched as he had once fancied nothing this +side of Europe could touch it. + +For a moment a mighty rush of regret came over him. This magnificent +place had been his home. Perhaps he would have been more than human not +to have experienced a pang. + +He wandered about for some time. It was too lovely to go in and explore +those dusty, darkened rooms: this evening would answer for that. He +paced the lawn, he lingered by the gate; he took a turn about the +grapery, now used for profit by the thrifty farmer who had charge of the +place. Then he turned, and went down the street. The bells were ringing +for six. From his height above, he could see the laborers wending their +way, the great chimney of Hope Mills. He would walk in that direction. +They would all be gone by the time he reached it. + +The streets were indeed nearly deserted. In the shade here the wind +blew a little chilly. Yes, it was just the same; but then, it would not +be likely to alter in a year. Why, it seemed a decade almost, since the +night he had come home to his dying father! + +Ah, if they had been more to each other! Did he go about with a lonely +spirit, Fred wondered, feeling the uselessness and insufficiency of the +life he was leading? Had he been glad to lay the burthen down? + +A sudden firm, manful step ran down the stone stairway with a cheerful +ring, and a voice hummed a tune softly, as one sometimes does for a +seeming accompaniment, when the mind is occupied with other things;--a +tall, robust figure, with long arms, and a springy step, as if he might +still leap a post, or jump the creek. He was rushing off, when, +curiously enough, with no other motive than an impulse, he turned, and +saw an almost motionless figure. + +Whether he would send for the articles belonging to his father, or visit +Hope Mills in person, risking a sight of Jack Darcy, or whether he would +summon courage enough to ask for his old friend, were matters that Fred +had put off for to-morrow's decision. Why he had wandered here at all, +amazed him now; and he stood quite breathless at the unexpected +apparition, without power to move or speak. + +If he had still been in the high tide of prosperity, Jack would have +passed him by silently, but with no rudeness. Something in the bent +head, the pale face, the general melancholy attitude, came home to his +heart,--his fresh, generous, magnanimous heart. He ventured a step +nearer, he put out his hand. + +"Fred, old fellow!" + +The rich, full voice might have melted any heart. The frank, honest eyes +lighted with wonderful tenderness: there was a glow and earnestness that +could come only from a large, forgiving soul, capable of putting by its +own sense of pain or any past discomfiture. + +Fred Lawrence crimsoned to the very edge of his hair, to the farthest +depths of his soul. He would have taken the hand: then he drew back with +a gesture of self-reproach, as if he could tread his past sinful pride +in the dust. + +"Let's forget the bygones," the hearty young fellow began, "that is, if +you would like to have it so," drawing back a trifle to give him his +choice as a delicate woman might have done. + +"Thank you, Jack," grasping the warm, firm hand in his own pale, cold +one, and raising his soft dark eyes, so near to tears. Just now no other +words would come. + +Jack drew the hand through his arm. "I've thought of you so many times," +he began, as if they had parted the best of friends. "It has been a sad +year for many, doubly so for you." + +"Sad indeed. O Jack!" + +It was all uttered in the long tremulous swell of voice that tells the +whole story. + +"Yes." + +With that, their friendship was renewed. Women might have fallen into +each other's arms with expressions of penitence and forgiveness; but +they had said their say, as was characteristic of both. + +"Were you coming in?" and Darcy turned back as he asked the question. + +"No: I only reached Yerbury an hour or so ago on a little business. Some +remembrance of old time brought me hither." + +"I am glad it did. Shall we walk down Main Street? Are you staying at +Hope Terrace?" + +"I shall be for a few days." + +A silence fell between them. There was no one else in the street; and +their steps sounded with a steady tramp, as if they might walk on to +some definite end. + +"Jack, dear old friend, after requiting your tender love to my exacting +and selfish boyhood with a pitiless treachery that will always shame my +manhood, I wonder if I dare ask it back, if I dare come to you." + +"There is nothing to give back. I do believe I have kept up a sort of +girlish hankering for you. And now, if I can do any thing, if you are in +any perplexity"-- + +"Come up to Hope Terrace, and take tea with me. I want to talk to you +all the evening. You have just the same mesmeric strength that used to +soothe me when a boy. What a milk-and-water cub I must have been! I +wonder you did not throw me over." + +Jack laughed. + +"Let us turn back to Kit Connelly's, and I can send a message home, so +that mother will not keep tea waiting." + +That done, they strolled on together the same path by which Fred had +come. The sun had dropped down behind the hill, and the glowing tints +had faded to purple-black and indistinct grays. They wound around the +hills, and came up to the very gate where their last good-by had been +uttered. And Fred remembered then that this was the first time Jack had +shared the hospitality of Hope Terrace, now when it was no longer his. + +Mrs. Milroy gave them some supper in a pretty little apartment which had +been the servants' parlor, and was now hers. Then they went up to Fred's +room, which had been opened and aired. Some of its choicest belongings +had been taken away, but another than Fred would not have remarked this. +And here they renewed the remembrances of the years that had fallen +between. + +"It seems cowardly to come to you in trouble, and to take so large a +share of your sympathy again," Fred said with his good-night. "But you +always were so strong and earnest." + +He went down to the mill the next day, and was much interested in the +working of Jack's plans. + +"You found your place," he said with a curious intonation, as if he half +envied the man before him. + +"Yet in all truth I should not have chosen this," Jack answered with +honest gravity. "But, when I found circumstances would keep me here, I +resolved to work at it persistently and faithfully; and I learned in it +the larger lesson of the true dignity of labor. If I should solve my +problem successfully, I can ask no more. Five years is a long while when +you count the days," and he smiled. + +"You will succeed, I know. You have just that mastery over every thing." + +Jack finally persuaded Fred to come down to the well-remembered cottage, +and see his mother. Mrs. Darcy would have welcomed her bitterest enemy +if Jack had desired her to. + +All this time Jack was thinking whether he could do his old friend a +good turn. He hated to offer him any subordinate position in the mill. +At present he could attend to the book-keeping. Then he heard there was +to be a change at the paper-mills, and went over. They wanted a clerk +and foreman, one with taste enough to select pretty designs, and who +could keep books. + +"I do not know as you would like it, Fred," he continued with some +hesitation in his cheery tones. + +"I have been a dawdler long enough, and I have had a bitter experience +in finding _any thing_ to do. I shall be glad to take it, and you may +believe I will try my best. Many, many thanks for your kind interest." + +There had been a sharp, short struggle in Fred's soul. He would rather +have gone elsewhere, where he was not known. But if fate had resolved to +bring him back to Yerbury, if she had offered him bread here, while it +had been stones elsewhere, he would certainly be a fool to starve for +pride's sake. Some wholesome ideas had found lodgement in his brain, +along with the Greek myths and synthetic philosophies. If he could not +astonish the world with brilliant reasoning, he might at least get his +own living. + +He went back to the city, and discussed the project with his mother and +Irene. She had a tender longing for her son: to be with him would afford +her greater satisfaction than the magnificence of her daughter's house. +Irene consented stonily. It was burying herself alive, but then no one +would torment her with hateful marriages. To stay here with Agatha was +simply unendurable. + +Mrs. Minor made no further comment than to say she did not think her +mother could be kept as comfortable. Irene was her own mistress. + +So Fred Lawrence went back to Yerbury and work. It was an altogether new +undertaking. He had no business training and no experience, except his +desultory two months in Bristol's office. Yet from the very first day +there was something that interested him here, although for awhile the +smells, the dust and disorder, half sickened him. As for any wound to +his pride, he felt that less because the whole world seemed to have +taken a general overturn. Half of the elegant houses in the neighborhood +of Hope Terrace were for sale, and shut up. Expensive country mansions +to be used for a few summer months were quite beyond present incomes. A +month at the seaside cost much less. Costly scientific, or rather +unscientific gardening,--since the true aim of science must be the best +adjustment of power to the desired result,--graperies, green-houses, +henneries standing empty, the money lavished upon them so much waste +material at present,--where had the wealth gone to so suddenly? He could +not understand the rapid and wide-spread ruin. Even of themselves,--how +was it that for years there should be no stint, but absolute +wastefulness, and then nothing at all? + +He was so new to any business results, that he seemed like a child +groping in the dark. And here was Jack Darcy, with his academy training +merely, managing one of the great problems of the day, taking hold +manfully to right the wrongs brought about by selfishness and utter +disregard for one's neighbor. Had Plotinus struck the grand key-note +when he said he "was striving to bring the God within us in harmony with +the God of the universe"? For might there not be false gods within? + +He found he had not much time for abstruse speculations, which was all +the better for his mental health. After enduring the dirt and disorder +of the office for a week, he set about remedying that. He might not be +able to regenerate the world, but he could make one little room decent. +The office-boy and the scrub-woman were called in; the desks and shelves +were cleared of the accumulation of months, and presented quite an +orderly aspect. He found his hands blistered by the rough handling, but +the reward was a wholesome hunger and a good night's sleep. Not quite as +entertaining, perhaps, as a scramble in the Sierras or the Alps, but +productive of as beneficial results. + +Then there was a home to be found. Living at Hope Terrace on a thousand +a year would hardly be possible, even if it could be had rent free. So +he asked Mrs. Darcy's advice about the matter, and she proposed a pretty +cottage,--there were so many standing empty. It seemed very queer to be +counselling this proud, sad-eyed young man, who a year or two ago had +hardly deigned to look at them. Yet, like Jack, she still held a tender +feeling for the pretty, enthusiastic boy she remembered. + +There had been in his mind a great struggle about Sylvie. He knew now +that she belonged to Jack. That thorough manliness and integrity, that +earnest, unflinching soul, the rich, generous temperament that could be +so tender to weakness, so forgiving to wrong, was the soul of her ideal +hero. And he had dared to offer her his poor, paltry affectation of +love! Blinded by his own arrogant self-esteem, he had spurned the pure +pearl, and taken the empty, glittering shell to her as the kind of +treasure he was satisfied to deal in. + +How thoroughly he despised himself! It was such a keen, bitter +humiliation! Not only that he had aspired to her, but that he should +have misrepresented and traduced Jack, not from an overwhelming passion +of jealousy,--that might be pardoned,--but a shallow, overweening vanity +of wealth and position. + +"She shall see that I have learned to respect and honor him!" he said to +himself with an intensity of regret that was very honest and real. "If I +can never regain her esteem, I shall at least try for my old place in +his regard." + +They found a pretty, convenient cottage, quite on the opposite side of +Yerbury, suiting Fred much better than to be near his old friends. The +furniture was brought over from the great house; and, though it had +seemed but odds and ends there, it was amply sufficient. Irene's piano +and some of the old family silver had been saved out of the wreck, a few +of the less expensive pictures, and sufficient books to form quite a +library. Fred really enjoyed arranging and planning. It was quite a +matter of astonishment to him, that rules of art and harmony were needed +at every step: if he could not make them remunerative in a written +article, he could put them in practice here. + +He kept much to himself, being busy in the office during the day, and at +home in the evening. He was sick of society, of the world in general. He +had met Maverick a few times, but he shrank from strangers. Mrs. Darcy's +tender, unobtrusive motherliness, he enjoyed, but he did not dare to +accept much of it. The duties of his life were marked out plainly before +him, and he must not swerve from the path. It was to be a kind of +neutral tint, twilight rather than sunshine; and the joys he might come +to long for, he must put away with a firm hand. + +The first of December every thing was in readiness for his small +household, even to the tidy housekeeper Mrs. Darcy had found for him +among her poor. Mrs. Lawrence and Irene came in the promised train; and +he met them with a carriage and a multiplicity of wraps, although it was +a bright, pleasant day. His mother clung to him with tremulous hands: he +realized more than ever how much she had broken in the past year,--very +little older than Mrs. Darcy if counted by years, but whole decades if +judged by every other point. + +Irene was cold and stately. She did not like coming here,--neither did +she like staying at Mrs. Minor's. Wild thoughts had flooded her brain of +going somewhere, and under a new name making a mark in the world. She +had a fine voice, and a decided talent for histrionics, but how to get +to this place where fame and fortune would be at her command? How to +bridge across any chasm? Nothing, she said to herself, but just stand +helpless, and see the great world go on, with no part nor lot in the +matter. If she must be buried alive, as well at Yerbury as anywhere. + +There had never been any sentiment between her and Fred; in truth, none +of the Lawrence women ever were given to sentiment. She walked into the +little parlor with the step of a queen, and gave a cool stare around. + +"I hope you will like it"--with some hesitation. "There is your piano. +And mother's room looks as it did at the Terrace, with the exception of +its being so much smaller. And here is a library. Here is our +dining-room--some of the old engravings, you see." + +"Could I go to my room? Which is it, Fred?" and his mother looked up +with a weak, pleading smile. + +"Yes: let me carry you. You are so thin and light now, and you must be +fatigued after all this journey;" and, taking her in his arms, he bore +her up-stairs. + +It was a pleasant room over the parlor, with an alcove toward the south, +in which the mid-day sun was shining. A bright fire burned in the grate: +there were her own easy-chairs, a bit of the carpet she had once chosen, +the Persian rug she had admired so much when Fred first sent it home, +the bed with its snowy drapery, and little ornaments with their familiar +faces. + +"It is delightful," she said, still clinging to her son's arm. "And I am +to stay here with you? Agatha is very good, of course; but I have always +had my own home, and if I did sign it away it was to save your poor dear +father. I don't see how things could have ended so, only, if he had +lived, it would all have been different;" and she wiped away the tears +that came so easily now. + +Fred put her in the chair nearest the fire, and began to unfasten her +wraps. He had been quite an expert in delicate ways during his +prosperity. + +"Your room is next--there," nodding his head to the open doorway, and +glancing up in his sister's immovable face. "I hope I made my divisions +rightly: I thought you would like to be near mother." + +"It is all as well as it can be, I suppose," she answered with weary +indifference. + +There came to Fred Lawrence just then a painful sense of want and loss, +a far-reaching sympathy in something that had never been, and now, when +the outside glitter was torn away, left life cold and barren. Was human +love so much? + +His mother went on in her weak, inconsequent way, yet her foolish praise +was very sweet to him. He had been living such a lonely life for months, +that even he was grateful for something that looked like home, for a +woman's figure flitting about, and some voice beside his own. + +The dinner-bell rang presently. + +"I ordered yours brought up here," said Fred; "and I will have a little +with you, then I must go back to the office." + +"It is terrible, Fred! That you should have to"-- + +"Dignify labor," and he laughed. "Mother dear, I was so thankful to get +something to do! And I am proud of making a home for you. Am I not your +only son?" + +"But a clerk!" Some of the old Hope disdain spoke out there. "I cannot +bear to think of it--with all your education and talents and genius. I +wish you had found some business. There is the five thousand dollars of +the life-insurance, you know; and you could take it, though Agatha made +me promise that I would not have it fooled away in any thing. But I +should be glad to have you use it." + +Fred stooped suddenly, and kissed her on the forehead. There _was_ +something in mother-love, after all. + +Just then Martha West came in with the tray. Fred drew out the folding +breakfast-table that his mother had so often used, while he was +introducing Martha to his mother and sister. She courtesied, and +proceeded to lay the cloth and the dishes, and disappeared for the +viands themselves. + +"Is one woman expected to do all the work?" asked Irene at length. + +"She thinks she can--with so small a family. Of course I"-- + +Irene raised her hand deprecatingly. "Spare me details," she said. "It +is very bitter to eat the bread of dependence: I have learned that +already." + +He made no answer. Mrs. Lawrence looked from one to the other in +helpless bewilderment, but Martha entered again, and changed the +troubled current. + +It was quite a picnic dinner. Irene unbent a little at the sight of the +rare china and beautiful old silver. She supposed every thing had gone +down in the whirlpool of ruin, and that humiliation would be complete in +delft and plated ware. Then she ventured to glance around. + +Fred chatted gayly, making talk. It had not used to be one of his +accomplishments in his magnificent days when women vied with each other +in the delight of entertaining him. It was pleasant to see his mother +touch the bell, and sit back in her chair while Martha brought in the +dessert. + +"And now I must go. Do not expect me much before seven. I wonder if you +will feel able to come down to tea? Ah! there are the trunks, just in +time. I will send them up, and you will feel quite at home when you have +your belongings in place." + +Then he went back to his desk, and for the next two hours was too busy +to think. After all, there is nothing like energetic employment to keep +dismal forebodings out of one's mind. + +But that evening after supper, when they had gathered in the library, +Mrs. Lawrence began to question him concerning Hope Mills. Agatha had +said some one had started the business anew. + +Fred explained. + +"But how could the workmen do it alone? Your father never trusted them, +Fred; and I am sure my father had trouble enough with them in his day! +They were always an ignorant, unreasonable set. Don't you remember how +they struck several years ago, and workmen had to come from elsewhere? +They must have some head. And who found the money? Mr. Minor says they +cannot possibly succeed." + +Some time Fred would have to stand Jack Darcy on his true pedestal. As +well do it now, and have it over. + +"The project was Mr. Darcy's. I believe he had most of the capital. It +was very generous of him to risk it in such times as these." + +Irene looked up from her moody contemplation of the fire. A dull flush +suffused her face. + +"Not Jack Darcy," she said,--"Sylvie Barry's great hero." + +"Yes." + +"Sylvie Barry!" re-echoed Mrs. Lawrence, and she looked sharply at her +son. "And she gave you up for him! Who is he?" + +"He used to be in the mill," answered Irene, with all her olden scorn. +"His father was there also. And the Darcys"-- + +"The Darcys can boast as good blood as we!" exclaimed Fred, his face in +a sudden heat. "And Jack Darcy is a gentleman by birth, by instinct, +and, best of all, the impulses of a true and noble heart." + +The discussion recalled an old remembrance to Mrs. Lawrence. She looked +vaguely at her son as if she were not quite certain, as she said,-- + +"Was there not something about him when you were boys? He was coarse and +rough, wasn't he? and Agatha used to worry. I knew it was only a boy's +folly; but she was glad when you went to college, and I think--there was +his sister"--her maternal instincts taking alarm. + +"No, he never had a sister. His father died, and he staid at home. His +mother was delicate, and his grandmother old. She is dead, and he gets +his small fortune from her. No, he was not coarse nor rude, but he was +my champion in boyhood, my hero then; and it is the shame of my life +that I should have let him drop out of it because I was the richer of +the two. I despise myself for any thing so narrow and unmanly, and yet +he was generous enough to forgive. I do not wonder at Miss Barry's +choice when she contrasted us, and I honor her to-day for her +discrimination. She never encouraged me, blind, idiotic fool that I was! +and I have only my wretched vanity to blame. He is fully worthy of her, +and that is the highest compliment I can pay him." + +"Very magnanimous for a rejected lover," commented Irene with a touch of +sarcasm. + +"But you _did_ love Sylvie?" Mrs. Lawrence said, bewildered by his rapid +defence. + +"I blush now at the thought of having offered her such a paltry regard. +To me she will always be a sweet and peerless woman. I am glad she will +have the strength of manhood to lean upon, the purity of its honor to +trust, the exceeding tenderness of a soul that will never know a narrow +or grudging thought, to confide in. All my years look poor and barren +beside his." + +"I can never forgive her"-- + +"You must, you must!" and Fred seized his mother's hand, pressing it to +his lips. "There is nothing to forgive," he went on. "You would not have +had her throw aside the love of her life for my fancied fortune that has +taken wings. It was my blunder. And I want to say that I have taken up +my old friendship for Jack Darcy, come back to the truth that money is +one of the incidental surroundings of the man, but it can never be the +man himself." + +Irene's haughty lip curled, but no one openly gainsaid Fred. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +THE winter was a rather open one, with but little snow. Matters were +somewhat better in Yerbury, but bad enough, Sylvie Barry thought. The +churches began their usual work,--parish aids, clothing-clubs, and +sewing-societies. It was as she said: they begged from the rich to give +to the poor. Women met to make or to alter over garments, and devise +means to render the poor more comfortable. There were so many miserable +homes, so many inefficient wives and mothers, who were ignorant of the +commonest principles of economy. They could live on meal-mush, they +could go in rags, but the science of thrift was utterly unknown in many +instances. + +Sylvie had done her share of church work as a growing maiden. Every year +there had been some mission, and a sewing-school. + +"And yet it doesn't seem to do much good," said she. "The girls learn to +hem a handkerchief, which a sewing-machine can do in ten seconds: they +sew a few patches together, and perhaps make an apron. By the next +winter they have forgotten all about it. And some of their mothers do +not seem to care." + +"The mothers need educating," Miss Morgan began, with a decisive nod of +the head. "They were married out of shops and factories, and know very +little, and have brought up their children to know less. I'm not one of +the kind who can see no good in the world's progress, and who want to go +back to the days of spinning-wheels, wax polish for tables and chairs, +and a day spent every week scouring the brass andirons and candlesticks +and door-knobs, and various other matters; but I do think we have gone +to the other extreme. Women dawdle away half their lives. It is of no +use to make clothes, you can buy them cheaper; it is of no use to mend, +to do this or that, and so they do nothing." + +"I was struck with a contrast I saw yesterday," returned Sylvie. "I had +occasion to go to the Webbers,--you know the little cottage on Alden +Street, Miss Morgan, where they always have such pretty flowers in the +window. Mr. Webber works at satchel-making, and even in good times did +not earn very high wages. They have a garden, in which they raise the +most wonderful succession of crops; they keep some chickens, which they +manage to have laying most of the time; and they have five children. It +was quite late in the afternoon. Mrs. Webber sat by the window, making +lace, on a cushion, at which she realizes about a dollar a week; +Christine, the eldest girl, who still goes to school, was crocheting a +baby's hood,--she does a good deal of work for Mrs. Burnett's +fancy-store, and yet is a very smart scholar; Amelie, the next one, was +darning the stockings; the boy, who comes third, was out-doors, tidying +up the chicken-house; and the two little girls were in the corner, +cutting and sewing patchwork, with a doll in the cradle between them. +The house is always clean, the children are well and rosy, and play +about a good deal, and Christine last year earned thirty dollars. Her +mother puts half the money she earns in the bank for her +marriage-portion. I was so glad it wasn't in Yerbury Bank! You wouldn't +believe, that, though she is not quite sixteen, she has almost a hundred +dollars saved up. And I must tell you, also, there was a most savory +smell of the supper cooking. Altogether, it was so tidy and thrifty, +with the clean, bright, and not unpretty faces, that I thought it would +make a charming 'interior,' if only some Dutch artist could do justice +to it in his minute, pains-taking way. Then I went to the Coles, who +live around in the next street. The gate was off its hinges, and the two +big boys were firing stones from the street at a post in the yard. They +were ragged and dirty. I went in the house, and found the mother and the +two girls in the sitting-room. I do not believe there was a piece of +furniture whole, and every thing was dusty and shabby, with that close +smell some people always have in their houses. Mrs. Cole sat by the +window, in a listless manner, doing nothing. Martha had her baby on her +lap, asleep, in a soiled and ragged dress, while she was reading; the +little girl, who is about twelve, was cutting up some pretty pieces of +silk into nothing, that I could see, but a general litter over the +table. The kitchen looked dreadful. I had some baby-dresses for Martha, +that Mrs. Kent gave me: so I unrolled my bundle, and displayed them. +'Oh,' said she, 'they are long, aren't they! and I've just put my baby +in short dresses.' If you could have heard the kind of helpless, +dissatisfied tone in which it was uttered! I had half a mind to bundle +them up, and take them back. 'You can shorten them,' I answered, 'and +some of them will make two dresses.' 'Yes,' she answered reluctantly, +'only I should want something for yokes and sleeves.' Then her mother +came to inspect them, and she was rather more gracious. But I could not +help contrasting the two families. Mr. Cole is a carpenter, and has +earned very good wages. Martha ran a machine in the shoe-shop, bought a +melodeon, and took two or three quarters' music-lessons; purchased a +very handsome set of amethyst jewelry and two pretty silk dresses when +she was married. And in the two years of her married life, her husband +has done next to nothing, although he is a steady, pleasant fellow. Now +he is at Pittsburg, earning just enough to pay his own board. She has +her sewing-machine, but she doesn't know how to make any kind of garment +decently. When they had money they bought every thing ready-made. She +paid Miss Gilman twenty-two dollars to make her two silk dresses. If she +had put one of them in some plain, simple garments, how much more +serviceable it would have proved!" + +"Such people are hardly worth helping," Miss Morgan said sharply. + +"Isn't it a faulty system that makes them so?" asked Sylvie, drawing her +brows into a little, perplexed frown. "Martha worked for two years, and +earned a good deal of money. At one time she made ten dollars a week. It +was just one thing,--fine stitching on shoes,--yet one would think she +would understand a sewing-machine so completely that she could do any +thing with it. But she actually hired part of her baby's wardrobe made; +and the dresses she bought,--cheap coarse-trimmed things, I should have +been ashamed of. Christine Webber wants to study for a teacher; and, as +there is so little for girls to do, I think she will. She will make +wiser investments of her money than Martha Cole, and think of the kind +of wife her husband will get!" + +"The era of prosperity was too much for some people," said Mrs. Darcy, +with her motherly smile. "I used to wonder six or seven years ago, how +it was that so many middle-class people could afford a servant, or fancy +they needed one. A little more time spent in household duties would not +have injured the women; and, if they had accustomed the children to take +a part, it would have been much better for them. Then so much sewing was +hired; and, although the income looked large, the expenditures swallowed +it all up, and no one was any better off. How few had any stock of +underclothing, bed-linen, or useful and durable articles!" + +"Industry must come around in the fashion again. Even the despised +patchwork doubtless had its uses. It taught children to sew, and to +manage economically. I remember that I once had three quilts on hand at +one time. The larger pieces went into the first, and so on. My last one +was a very pretty little thing, and I saved all the scraps for it. Yet +we often hear people laugh about the folly of cutting calico into bits +to sew together again. Why should it not be considered honorable and +respectable to put every thing to the best use?" and Miss Morgan glanced +up with a confidence no one could gainsay. + +"That is the grand secret," cried Sylvie,--"making economy honorable. +You never see the nice old families flaunting their best silk and their +point-laces on ordinary occasions. Something is kept sacred. And I do +think there is more real economy among them, than among those who +absolutely have a need for it. If wastefulness could once come to be +considered a sin of ostentation and low-breeding, it would not have so +many followers. Some people do it because they are afraid of being +thought mean; but if they could be trained to that bravery of spirit +that makes a work of beauty out of the poorest and smallest things +because they are well done, and fitting to the place and season"-- + +"Bravo!" said a laughing voice as the door opened. "Mrs. Darcy, when the +committee of ways and means have worn out your carpet by their frequent +meetings in your charmed temple, you must insist upon their buying you a +new one. Good-morning, ladies! Miss Barry, I set out to find you; and +your aunt fancied you would be here, the place of all waifs and strays. +I want you and Miss Morgan to go and inspect a room, or rather two +rooms, to see if they will answer our purpose. Mrs. Lane had a school +there." + +"Oh, I know the place!" began Sylvie eagerly, buttoning up her sack +again, and looking smilingly in Dr. Maverick's face, that had a +sparkling wholesomeness born of the fresh air and brisk walk. And +whenever he caught her eye with this light in it, so friendly and +earnest, a thrill sped through his veins. + +Miss Morgan was soon ready, and the three started. The place was only a +few squares away, in a block of buildings where the stores on the lower +floor stood empty; indeed, some of them had never been rented. Up-stairs +there was one large room with three front windows, and a smaller room at +the back with a fireplace, sink and water, and a large closet. + +"I have had the offer of this place rent free until spring," began the +doctor. "I have also collected fifty dollars in money and +provisions,--_imprimis_, one barrel of flour, one box of miscellaneous +packages, rice, barley, corn-starch, &c.,--and a second-hand range that +will be put up as soon as you decide. In return for my arduous exertion +and great benevolence, I shall call upon you now and then for meals or +delicacies for my sick and famishing." + +"You are just magnificent!" declared Sylvie, in breathless pleasure. + +"I am desirous of getting this experiment started; and, since we shall +have to help the poor and needy this winter, I shall put my gifts into +this. Now you must consider what you want for furnishing. Biddy McKim is +to work out a doctor's bill cleaning the place; Ward Collins will let +you have ten dollars' worth of house-furnishing goods on another bill. I +am going to look up all my bad debts to start you two women in +business!" and he laughed gayly. + +"Very good," said Miss Morgan, while Sylvie's face was still blending +pleasure and astonishment. + +"We are going to reform Yerbury, you see. The parsons tried their hands +last winter; and, though there was need enough of spiritual food, +there's something else required as well, while we are here in the body. +You think the rooms will do? I want you to put a large table in that +one,"--indicating the larger with his head,--"and we'll get two or +three long benches, and have a tea-party now and then. Well, Miss +Morgan, now you may take the floor. I see a crowd of ideas in your +face." + +"I am going to propose that when the place is cleaned, both floors shall +be painted to begin with. Then a simple mopping up will keep them bright +and fresh. Some idle half-grown boys can do it, I am sure; or I can do +it myself--it would not be the first time." + +"I'll look over my accounts, and levy on some delinquent," said the +doctor. "I like that idea." + +"Can we make out a list now?" + +"Why, of course. Put down about all the things you will be likely to +need, and I will have them sent if they do over run the account. Biddy +will come to-morrow, and clean. Now, you can hardly have the school open +every day unless you get more assistance, so I think I should take it at +first two days in the week." + +"A very good suggestion," replied Miss Morgan. + +"It might not be sufficiently attended to warrant more than that. My +experience has been that nearly every housekeeper considers herself a +finished cook." + +Maverick laughed. + +They discussed necessary articles of kitchen paraphernalia, and finally +walked down to Collins's store, and made their selection. Early the next +morning Bridget McKim was on the spot: the place was cleaned, the stove +put in place, the floor given one good coat of paint. Two days after, +the second one was added. Sylvie drew up a code of regulations. The +school would be open Tuesday and Friday, all day. The dinner would be +cooked and eaten; the baking, and whatever was left over, divided among +the scholars to take home. Miss Morgan was elected president, Miss Barry +vice-president, a secretary, a treasurer, and two in an advisory board. +At each session two ladies were to be present, and give instruction. + +Invitations were sent to all likely to be interested. Dr. Maverick used +his strong influence wisely. The idea amused some, others wondered how +ladies like Miss Barry knew about cooking and economy. + +"Let her undertake to live on the money we common folk have, and she'll +see!" exclaimed Mrs. Stixon. "Our kind don't want to learn fussin' and +fixin' of puddens and pies and such like! Good for us if we can get a +mess of biled potatoes and bacon. My gals'll get along athout any such +larnin'." + +They opened one Friday morning with seven pupils; a discouraging number, +Sylvie thought, when she saw the spacious room and the nice +preparations. The bashful girls sat in a little huddle, looking very +much as if they were afraid of being laughed at. + +Miss Morgan was equal to the occasion. She made a short, sensible +address, and hoped the girls who were present would interest not only +their companions, but their mothers and friends. Then she questioned +them a little. Had they ever boiled potatoes? + +At this they all laughed a little foolishly, and looked as if the art of +boiling potatoes was held in rather low esteem. + +"The dinner for the day," announced Miss Morgan, "will be boiled +potatoes, broiled steak, and corn-muffins. Which of you girls would like +to try the muffins?" + +"I never heerd of such a thing," said one girl timidly. + +Sylvie pleasantly corrected the speaker. + +"Well, you may try," said Miss Morgan. "First, read this recipe aloud." + +Mary Moran stumbled through it, partly owing to ignorance, and the rest +to feeling very much abashed. + +"Please go through it again, Mary," said Sylvie, in an encouraging tone. + +This time she did much better. + +"Now you may prepare the table and the dishes, and one of the girls may +measure the meal and the flour. Put the ingredients in this dish--so. +Keep your mind on the recipe. What comes next?" + +Mary was quite awkward. Miss Morgan corrected the slightest mistake. The +other girls stood around in wondering amusement, and now and then a +little titter broke out. But Mary went on, gaining courage. The tins had +been set on the stove, now a bit of butter was put in each one, and +stirred around, then the dough dropped in. This was quite entertaining. + +"What did I say about the oven?" queried Miss Morgan. + +The class looked aghast a moment, then one girl said quickly, "That the +oven-door must be hot enough to hiss." + +"Right. Try it and see." + +It was in the proper condition. Mary slipped in the two trays of pans, +shutting up the door. "To look at them, and turn them around in twelve +minutes, and in twelve more to try them with a whisk," were the final +directions. + +The potatoes were brought out next. Miss Morgan asked each girl to pare +one, which they did in various uncouth ways. One girl cut off the skin +in square bits, leaving a figure that would have distracted a +geometrician; another ran round it rapidly, leaving in all the eyes; and +out of the six potatoes there was but one neat and shapely. Miss Morgan +held it up. + +"There is an art in so slight a thing as peeling a potato," said she. +"It is very wasteful to cut it away in this manner, or this, and +careless to leave in the eyes. Now each of you may pare another." + +The second attempt was a great improvement. They were put on to boil; +one girl was detailed to watch them, another to prepare the steak, while +a third arranged the dinner-table in the kitchen, as the family was to +be so small. Mary looked after her corn-muffins. They had risen up like +little pound-cakes, and a glad smile illumined her rather stolid face. + +Sylvie had brought a bit of tatting along, and now took it out. + +"Oh, how beautiful, Miss Barry!" exclaimed Kitty Miles. "I can do just +the plain little scallop; but I never could get these other jiggers!" + +Sylvie laughed, "I believe they have a name beside 'jiggers,'" in an +odd, half-inquiring tone. + +"O Miss Barry, we girls can't talk nice like you!" and Kitty blushed. + +"I don't see why you cannot with taking a little pains. All words that +are not names, and 'what-you-may-call-it,' and 'Mrs. Thingumby,' and +such expressions, are the result of carelessness. If any thing has a +name, that is the proper word to be used; and by being watchful one +comes presently to talk in a lady-like manner. Now I will show you about +these." + +"Oh, my muffins!" cried Mary, rushing to the stove. They were quite +brown. She tried them with the whisk. + +"Some stick a little bit, Miss Morgan." + +"Push the pan back to the other side. Indian requires very thorough +cooking or baking, or it will be soggy, and have a moist and not +agreeable taste. Try your potatoes now." + +In a few moments they were done, and Kitty Miles undertook the steak. +Mary let her muffins stand a moment or two, then turned them out. Two or +three stuck fast, and broke: the rest were a perfect success. She was +delighted beyond measure. They had no tea or coffee, but they gathered +around the table, and enjoyed the meal very heartily. Sylvie desired +them to ask any questions they liked; and by the time they were through, +their awe of Miss Morgan had quite vanished. + +Afterward followed dish-washing. This was made quite a science, as well. +They had hardly finished when Mrs. Miles and a neighbor came in, and +through the course of the afternoon the numbers doubled. Mary begged +that they might make some muffins to take home: Miss Morgan assented, +and the girls had quite a gay time. But the oven was not precisely +right. + +"Open the draughts a little. Although not so hot, the oven is very +steady now. Close the draughts in five minutes." + +Mary forgot, and the result was that some at one end were a little +burned. + +"Why, they're elegant!" exclaimed Mrs. Miles. "And what a cheap, hearty +supper they'd make, when one has three hungry boys to feed! Mrs. Stixon, +now, was thinking you'd go into all the fancy branches. I didn't know +ladies ever"--and Mrs. Miles paused suddenly, her face scarlet. + +"Ever had occasion to practise economy!" cried Sylvie with her piquant +smile. "They do a great deal of it, Mrs. Miles. My aunt would no sooner +think of being wasteful in her kitchen than she would of wearing her +velvet dress out on a rainy day. There is a neat, pretty, tasteful +method about these things, that is as much of an art in its way as +painting a picture, and in some respects a more important one, for the +health of the body depends upon well-cooked food." + +"Since Kitty's nothing much to do, I mean to have her come every time. +I'm sure you ladies are very good to take so much pains." + +The other officers dropped in. The cost of the materials used was +ascertained, minutes of the session made, and a recipe for corn-muffins +given to each girl. It was decided to attempt biscuit on the following +Tuesday, and on the next meeting, bread. Then the fire was pretty well +poked out, the stove-lids raised, and the class went home in an +extremely interested spirit. + +Just as Sylvie and Miss Morgan had turned the corner, they caught sight +of Dr. Maverick, who crossed the street to speak. Sylvie described their +day with a few graphic touches, interspersed with much genuine mirth. + +"Some people were afraid to come," said he. "Before a month you will +have your hands full." + +Sure enough, on Tuesday there were fifteen scholars. Miss Morgan and +Sylvie had hardly a moment to spare until the dinner was through. Then +the latter proposed that every scholar should bring some sewing, +garments they wished cut out, any thing that perplexed them, or whatever +they would like most to learn. + +All days were not so fortunate. Occasionally some dish would be spoiled +by haste, carelessness, or want of attention. There were burned fingers +and divers cuts; but Miss Morgan patiently explained her deft, neat, +labor-saving methods. There began to be a great interest; some of the +mothers coming in for an hour, or bringing a special dish to cook. +Sylvie discussed the relative value and nourishment of different +articles, the many changes that could be made at slight expense, the +saving that a little carefulness brought about. She gave brief lectures +on cleanliness, order, taste, and neatness; the right way and the wrong +way of doing many things, the giving out and the taking in; the art of +making the best, not only in such times as these, but in all times; of +being brave and true in the lowest and smallest of life's duties; of +throwing out false pride and shams, and the desire to appear richer or +grander than one's means would allow. + +Then the last half-hour they had what Miss Morgan called an +inquiry-meeting. Everybody was at liberty to ask one question, and those +who knew answered it to the best of their ability. New teachers were +pressed into the service. Dr. Maverick gave them a talk on health, and +another on preparing food for the sick, and the special care some +diseases required. And Jack Darcy proposed that Christmas Eve the +cooking-school should give a supper, the tickets being at the low price +of twenty-five cents. Every dish was to be cooked by the scholars. + +It created a deal of excitement. Hard as times were, the tickets sold +rapidly. The large room had two long tables, with benches for seats. The +first table was to be served at eight o'clock, the second at nine. +Sylvie made a dozen of the girls pretty Suisse aprons and dainty caps, +and they waited on the guests. Dr. Maverick offered three prizes,--one +for the best loaf of bread, one for the best plain cake, and a third for +the nicest and cheapest invalid broth. + +The room was full, and they had a very gay time. Indeed, it seemed as if +half Yerbury turned out, either from honor or curiosity. At nine o'clock +they ran short of provision, when they honorably decided to refund the +money for all tickets offered after that, and explain to new-comers the +state of affairs. But some of the young men proposed a dance; and they +went on for the next two hours in hearty, healthy jollity. + +Out of ten loaves of bread offered, Mary Moran took the prize. That for +the cake was awarded to quite a new scholar; while Kitty Miles carried +off that for broth, three doctors concurring in the decision. And the +treasurer found they had cleared fifty dollars above expenses, so that +it proved a success in more ways than one. There had been a great dearth +of amusement for the poorer classes in Yerbury this winter. + +"Sure, it was just splendid!" said Bridget McKim. "My boy Mike had a +week's wages in his pocket that night, and he was goin' off to the Ivy +Leaf to raffle for a turkey; an' ses I, 'Mike, ye niver took me out of a +Christmas, so do it now along o' the cookin' school party, an' ye'll get +the best bit o' turkey yes ever put in yer mouth.' An' so he did; an' he +said it was the best show he iver was to, and he wouldn't 'a' missed +seein' Mary Moran get the prize fur twice the money. An' so he went home +with me, ye see, as sober as an owl, and we bought our own turkey; but +if he'd gone to the tavern, not a cint would he had of his week's wages, +and been drunk beside! An' he used to be swate on Mary too, so there's +no knowin' what may happen!" + +The school took a fortnight's vacation. Sylvie and Miss Morgan felt that +it was no longer an experiment. It would be put to wider uses, and +perhaps was the corner-stone of a great work, sorely needed in this +world; the same kind of work Jack Darcy had begun over in the mill +yonder,--planting beacon-lights on the path where so many had stumbled +and gone down for want of true and honest guidance. + +"It will have to be remodelled somewhat," said Miss Morgan. "I can't +have you working like a slave, even if it is in a good cause. There is +something still higher for you." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +AFTER the first of January it came off bitterly cold. Coal went up half +a dollar on a ton; and flour rose, more by the greed of speculators than +any scarcity, or any demand for it abroad. There was considerable +suffering, though not as much as the winter before. The men and women +and boys and girls at Hope Mills were thankful enough for their +seventy-five per cent, and did their very best. A spirit of economy and +emulation ran through the whole brotherhood. Every month Cameron +announced whatever saving had been made in different departments, and +the hands were proud enough of it. Those who had taken their whole +winter's coal out of the share were quite jubilant. Once a week the +workmen had a meeting, and discussed matters a little. Three men had +been reprimanded, but on the whole the _morale_ was excellent. Winston +was on the alert continually, east, west, anywhere, buying here, selling +there, seeing in every thing the promise of better times. + +"We've reached the last ditch as surely as they did in the war," he said +to Darcy, rubbing his hands in great glee. "I tell you, old chap, it was +a lucky thought of starting just as we did. You see, we shall come up +with the good times; for I do honestly believe the worst is over." + +Jack smiled, but was not so sanguine. They had only gone such a little +way on the five-years' journey. But there were some very encouraging +rays right around them. Kit Connelly's coffee-house was working to a +charm. Jack began to think that drinking liquors was not so much a +besetting sin, as a natural sequence of having nothing else to drink +when you were cold or hot, or tired or hungry. The men fell into the +habit of going to Kit's for their midday lunch, and presently some of +the women went over. The room was so bright and pleasant; and, with Miss +Rose there, they were on their best behavior. In the evening Mrs. +Connelly brought her work, and sat by the desk. Some of the younger men, +who had no homes; as one may say, dropped in, and looked over the books. +Once two young chaps had come up from Keppler's to have a little fun, as +they said, and were rather noisy. Mrs. Connelly rose. + +"Gentlemen," she said, "you forget yourselves. This is an orderly, quiet +house, not a tavern. If you cannot submit to the rules, you must leave +it." + +"Leave it! Come, who'll put us out!" laughed the bully. "Let's see you +try," with an insolent leer at the lady. + +Two men were sitting at a table just a little back of them. Their eyes +met. Both rose; and, each seizing a shoulder of the bully, he was +marched out before he could make the slightest resistance, his companion +looking on in amazement. + +"Next time you insult a lady in her own house, you will not get off so +easily! Just bear that in mind." + +The fellow uttered an oath, but the door was shut in his face. + +"Thank you, John Kelly, and you, Ben Hay," said Mrs. Connelly, in a +brave voice, though her heart fluttered a little. + +The other young ruffian rose, and walked out quietly. + +"If you didn't mind, Ben Hay," she said, an hour or so after, as they +were shutting up for the night, "I'd like to have you drop in quite +often of an evening. The boys are hardly big enough if we should ever be +beset by such scamps as that, and you've always been so friendly-like." + +"Yes," answered Ben, flushing, and casting a sheepish look at the desk, +where Rose's curly head was bent over her accounts. "Yes, I'm at your +service. It's enough sight cheerfuller here than in Mother Mitchell's +boarding-house. I'll be glad to come." + +"Thank you." + +Miss Barry heard of this, and told it over to Jack. + +"Ben Hay is a good, plucky fellow. He used to go down at noon for beer, +but I do not think he has been since the coffee-house was opened. +Sylvie, do you know, I believe reformers in general would be more +successful if they put a good and pleasant thing in the place of the +evil they assail. Too often they leave their convert to pick his way +alone. Hay is very much interested in the plans of the mill. The +meetings have done this much already,--a spirit of inquiry has been +awakened in some of the men, and they are reading up what other people +have achieved in this line. I want them to get well grounded before +there comes any strain. We can't go on prospering forever. That would be +too much like fairy-land." + +"But every one thinks the panic nearly at an end," and Sylvie studied +the grave face before her. + +"I do not want to croak," and Jack gave a little laugh that sounded +forced, "but we have just begun to pay off our debts. Every city and +town, and nearly every individual, is in debt. If we could pay with +promises to pay, we might tide over a while longer; but when interest +reaches a certain point, it swallows capital. If we can meet our +indebtedness everywhere, as fast as it matures, well and good: if not, +then we have only nibbled at the crust of our bitter pie." + +"Anyhow," cried Sylvie, with the woman's sanguine nature, "Yerbury is a +great deal better off than it was last winter. Every one admits there +is much less suffering." + +"There is more employment, and no broken bank," with a cheerful smile. + +"Do you know," said the young girl presently, while a faint color went +wandering over her fair face, "that they are doing a marvellous stroke +of business at Garafield's, even if the times are bad? Mrs. Garafield +was down to tea a few evenings since, and she was greatly encouraged. +There is such a rage about the new style of papering. Everybody has run +mad on dados and friezes, and fresco patterns, bordering, and harmonies +of color," laughingly. "And they have some wonderful new designs." + +"Fred is in just the right place. If he has courage to fight through," +and there came a curious, almost foreboding expression in the +sympathetic eyes. + +"You care a good deal for him, Jack! And yet he did not use you nobly," +with a peculiar regret in the tone. "It is the one thing"-- + +"Sylvie, if I forgave it, surely you can." Then he turned his eyes upon +her, and read or rather dreamed of something in a dim, dazed way, the +story of a bygone summer. Had it been more to her than any one thought? +Miss Barry had hinted to his mother that Sylvie's decision in the matter +was a great disappointment to her. There had been a decision, then, and +one adverse to Fred Lawrence. + +"I hate a false and cowardly man!" her cheeks were flaming now. "And +when you were schoolboys together,--when Agatha and Gertrude were so +afraid he would lower himself if he looked at any boy below his own +social position,--he used to stand up for you,--yes, he did,--and fight; +of course not in a brutal way with fists," and she laughed at her own +conceit, "but in that higher, finer manner, with no shield or weapon +save his love for you. I used to like to see you together,--you so +sturdy and manful and true, and he delicate and handsome and adoring. +And then"-- + +"Sylvie, I wonder if a woman can understand a man's friendship. We never +had any quarrel. We just drifted apart. I don't believe we forgot each +other. Circumstances took him out of my sphere, into a new one. If I had +been there in college, going along with him step by step, don't you +suppose he would have stood up for me in the face of his fine friends, +just as he used to with his sisters?" + +"I hope so: I would like to believe it." + +"I am more just to him than you, Sylvie," said Jack, a little wounded. +"I _know_ it. I don't doubt it any more than I doubt--well, myself. He +might have come--I was always sorry to see him avoid me, and I think he +was weak, but he never forgot." + +"He _was_ weak, he was worse, Jack." There was a curious cry of anguish +in her voice, and her shoulders swayed unconsciously, while her eyes +looked out on the summer night he could not see. + +"Don't get so excited over it, Sylvie," and the pleasant, cheery laugh +seemed to bring healing on its wings. "Whatever it was, and we will let +all that go, he made the _amende honorable_ the night we had tea +together up there in the great house. We took up our friendship just +where it had dropped. Men never go over those crooked and thorny steps +of the past, they have so much work to do in the present and the future. +I wanted then to make a position for him in the mill; but it was not +possible, and would not have been the part of wisdom under _any_ +circumstances. Yet it seemed as if I had stepped in his place. I was +glad to hear of this other, though Fred would have been happier +elsewhere. Sylvie, I do not believe you realize what it cost him to come +back to Yerbury, to walk about, a working-man, where he had driven in +his carriage. So down at the bottom there is the temper of the real blue +steel, which _can_ bend." + +"How generous you are, Jack!" There was something more than admiration +in her tone, and yet she was wondering if she could ever forgive her +fallen hero. + +"See here, Sylvie, I don't mean to question any one's religion, but I've +often thought about the rejoicing up above, over the one who went +astray. I do not believe we rejoice with a very full heart: maybe we are +not heavenly enough. We can never be sure of our own strength until some +far-reaching test is applied, and yet it may not be an entirely true +test. It may quiver about the weak spot in our souls; but, while there +is any feeling, one cannot be entirely lost. That is why I say he never +forgot. And you and I ought to rejoice that he _did_ come back instead +of going off in that gloomy, diseased, Manfred style, and upbraiding the +world. 'Whatever his hand found to do'--that was one of grandmother's +texts, and he went bravely at it." + +"I do believe you are a better Christian than I," she answered softly, +her eyes limpid with emotion. + +"No. Perhaps not even a better friend;" and a smile played about his +mouth. + +"A truer friend, a more generous one"-- + +"What were we talking of?" in a sudden change of tone. "Oh, the business +at Garafield's! Fred is a good deal of an artist, an intellectual artist +I should say; and, though he may not attain to fame by painting +pictures, there are many other points coming to be appreciated. He is in +the way for usefulness; and, if he wins the bays for beauty as well, I +am sure we shall all rejoice. I heard he had been designing." + +"You hear every thing." Sylvie made a capricious little _moue_. Her nods +and gestures were so much a part of her, so piquant, decisive, and full +of expression, when she did not intrench herself behind a studied +dignity. + +"I am glad you have heard it. I was wondering how best to tell you. I +thought Garafield's might be a stepping-stone, these hard times, but it +may prove the veritable ladder itself. Only"-- + +"Well!" with a trifle of impatience, as if she could not endure the +suggestiveness of the tone. + +"I wonder if you understand the courage it took for Fred Lawrence to +make a home here in Yerbury, to bring his mother and sister; for you see +he must endure for them as well as himself. Mrs. Lawrence will always be +an invalid, I suppose. He thinks her quite changed and softened: +evidently she clings to him. They see none of their old friends. Miss +Lawrence never goes anywhere." + +"As if one could help that!" almost passionately. "Auntie wrote a note +to Mrs. Lawrence, and it was merely answered. They do not desire to +receive any one. We can only let them alone, Jack." + +"Even then we can hardly fail to appreciate what he is doing, possibly +suffering. I think he will come in time to win back all the regard his +friends ever gave him," Jack Darcy said in a steady tone. + +Was he pleading for him? Sylvie was somewhat puzzled, the most so, +perhaps, about herself. How much had she cared for Fred in that old +time? If not at all, why did this feeling of shame over a fallen idol +continually haunt her? She compared the two men in every thing, and +sometimes was vexed to admit that Jack was the nobler. + +Their walk had come to an end. They paused at the gate; and a third +person striding up Larch Avenue took in the drooping, attentive, and +pliant figure, the strong, protecting, powerful personality of the +other,--and wondered, as he had more than once before. Were they friends +merely? It was not possible for a woman to see so much of Jack Darcy's +noble, manly life, and not admire, not love, Dr. Maverick admitted. She +showed in many ways that she did care for him. Oddly enough she +sheltered herself under his friendly care when other admirers came too +near. Could not Darcy see! What a blind, stupid mole he must be in this +respect! and the doctor kicked a stone in his path with such force that +the two turned in the midst of their good-bys, and waited with smiling +faces for him to reach them. Not a shade of annoyance in look or tone at +the interruption. + +"The queerest lovers," he thought to himself. "If I stood in that man's +place"-- + +Jack went homeward in a curiously speculative mood. He has always +fancied for Sylvie some handsome, spirited knight, whose mental +intuitions would be as delicate and refined as hers, whose enjoyment as +intense. Little as he knew of love, he understood their friendship too +thoroughly to be betrayed into any mistake. And he wondered now if he +held the key to Sylvie's spiritual enfranchisement of all other men? If +she had not loved Fred Lawrence, she had come too dangerously near it +ever to free herself entirely from whatever thrall his soul had thrown +over hers. She _had_ been disappointed in him, he read that from her +tone; but surely, if he brought himself up to a finer and truer standard +than any known in that enervating atmosphere of luxury, would she still +be implacable? How could he best serve these two people, whom he loved +so entirety? + +He had many other things to busy himself about beside love and +friendship. March came on apace, and the balance-sheet for the six +months had to be put in shape. The accounts had been systematically +kept: that he had insisted upon in the beginning. Cameron knew every +gallon of oil, every pound of wool, every penny spent for repairs and +stock; Hurd and Yardley had kept account of every yard of cloth, and +what quality, that had passed through their hands; Winston, of +travelling, advertising, commissions, &c.; and Jack went over every +thing. They had done wonderfully. There was actually a balance of profit +to every man, woman, and child. The forms were printed, and distributed +to every employee, and there was a great rejoicing time. They engaged +the Cooking Club to provide them a supper, and the young people had a +merry dance afterward. + +"It's hardly safe to halloo until you are out of the woods," said some +of the solid old men of Yerbury, who were living snugly on the interest +of government-bonds. "Six months is no test at all. Wait until there is +a hard pull, and you will not be so jubilant." + +"No," answered Jack with a humorous twinkle in his eye: "it's right to +have the rejoicing now, when we have fairly earned it. The man who +croaks when Providence has smiled upon him, deserves the frown; and he +who is unthankful for small successes hardly has a right to great ones. +I do not expect all fair sailing, but we will weather the storms +together." + +"It _is_ rather unfortunate," commented another wise-acre. "I have +observed these wonderful beginnings seldom end well. If you should have +a run of bad luck now, your men will be dissatisfied, and likely blame +you for not keeping up to that mark. I shouldn't have made such a great +effort, and then there would have been a chance for improvement." + +"A new broom sweeps clean, but it _will_ get worn out," with sundry +mysterious nods. + +"I declare," said Jack to his friend and comforter, Maverick, "half the +town looks at me as if I must have robbed a bank, or falsified accounts, +told a lie, or cheated, or maybe murdered some rich old don, and made +merry on his money. Why can't people rejoice with you when there is any +thing to rejoice about,--an event which does not happen so often in +these evil days? I do believe Boyd, and a lot of the others, would be +glad to see the scheme fail; but I'll work night and day to make a +success of it. It shall not go down," and Jack set his lips together in +a way that spoke volumes for his resolve. + +"I have observed before that some people are fond of disparaging plans +that they have no hand in," returned the doctor coolly. + +"And philanthropy is a much-derided virtue. If the old Athenian had been +a stock-broker or a bank-director, he might not have been sent into +exile, eh?" and Darcy laughed good-humoredly. "If I have kept a few +people from starvation this winter, I ought surely to have as much +credit as to have dealt around alms. As for the success, we had the +reputation of Hope Mills in our favor, and every man had his own fortune +at stake, and brought out the best that was in him." + +He sent Miss McLeod her half-yearly rent, a copy of the statement, and a +very temperate letter. He was quite proud to think he had no need of +accepting her proffered favor, but he thanked her again for it. + +She answered promptly. She had shown the statement to Mr. Hildreth, and +he thought it remarkable. Wasn't it a trifle too rose-colored to last? +Count on her as a friend, if evil days came; and we none of us could +tell exactly what was in store. The financial horizon was by no means +clear. + +A few others gave him words of heartfelt encouragement. The Rev. Mr. +Marlow spoke of him in very high terms, much to Sylvie's delight, and +said already there had been a great change in the mill-hands. The +coffee-house he considered an especially commendable thought. + +There was a quiet change going on that was destined to bear more +abundant fruit in the future. Some of the men and women had begun to +think a little for themselves. The pupils of the cooking-school were +beginning the A B C of beauty and neatness. Their rooms were swept +cleaner; their clothes took on a more tidy aspect. With the opening +spring, gardens and court-yards were cleared of their rubbish, and +flower-beds flourished again. Sylvie gave her girls one very instructive +lecture on slips and flower-seeds, and one Saturday they went out to +the woods for ferns and wild flowers. It was only one little corner, to +be sure, but it was the leaven that was presently to do a wide-spread +work. + +Hope Mills took up its steady march again. Half a dozen new hands were +added, though Jack wished that he could find employment for some of the +poor souls that besieged him daily. If times really were coming better, +if orders only would increase, and he could with safety enlarge his +borders! But "slow and steady" was his motto. He was not one to +disparage the present by exaggerating the advantages of the future. + +There was one home that these cordial little excitements never entered. +The three souls in it, although they should have been very near and +dear, wrapped themselves in their own thoughts and sorrows, and took no +note of their fellows. + +Mrs. Lawrence heeded the outward change least of the three. She had her +pretty room, her glowing fire in winter, her fur slippers, and zephyr +shawls; her late breakfast in bed, then her luxurious dressing-gown, and +her books. She had settled herself into the _rôle_ of an invalid for the +remainder of her days. The loss and suffering had not taken her out of +herself, or raised her narrow, vapid nature. She was at once patient and +complaining,--even her affection for her son was combined with great +mental and moral weakness. She was profoundly grieved that he should +have been compelled to accept so unsuitable a position; but to her it +was only a temporary event. Something _must_ happen. In some mysterious +way they would come back to their former grandeur,--not that she cared +especially, but for the sake of Fred and Irene. Then for days she would +lose herself in the joys and sorrows of her heroines. To such people +novel-reading is certainly a godsend. A readable book was as +exhilarating to her as a splendid morning drive or a good deed is to +many others. She had society without being bored. She had wit, poetry, +art, music, travels, dinners, and balls, with no worry, no late hours, +or fatigue. + +Irene could not so yield up her personality. She brooded over her lot in +a haughty, bitter spirit. She uttered no complaint,--she was far too +proud for that,--but she took no interest in any thing. Like a +melancholy ghost she wandered up and down, or sat by the window for +hours in a listless attitude. There were moments when she wished herself +Lady Frodsham, times when the change and bustle of such a life as that +of Mr. Barringer would have been heaven itself. + +Fred could never persuade her to go anywhere. She took no walks, except +to pace up and down the garden path when the quiet of the house drove +her well-nigh crazy. Once in a great while she opened the piano, and +played as if a demon had taken possession of her soul and her fingers. + +Fred breakfasted early and alone. After a while he fell into the habit +of taking his lunch in his office, and coming home to a late dinner. +Martha was certainly the perfection of maids. The housekeeping went on +with the regularity of clockwork: there were no complaints even. Fred +used to sit in his mother's room until her bedtime, when he would go +down to the library, and work for an hour or two. + +The utter dearth of interest would have been terrible to him but for his +business. At first he preserved a wide and punctilious distance between +himself and Mr. Garafield. He was the employer, to be sure; but then +Fred Lawrence had a dignity of his own to maintain. One day, however, +the dignity suffered a collapse. Mr. Garafield brought in some new +designs, and they lapsed into an exceedingly entertaining art +discussion. The employer had excellent taste, trained and shaped by +practical experience: Fred possessed the wider mental reach and +exquisite perception of harmony and color, the sentiment of genius. + +"Why do you not take up the idea, Mr. Lawrence?" asked his employer. +"House finishing and furnishing is fast coming to be a fine art. An +intelligent, harmonious beauty is demanded. We are leaving behind the +complacency of mere money in our adornments, and asking for something +that evinces thought and refinement. I am sure you could succeed if you +once set about the work." + +The compliment touched Fred profoundly, roused him to a new venture. He +practised his almost lost art of designing to some purpose: he wrote two +or three art essays that happened to find much more favor than his +abstruse philosophies. After all, he was young, and the whole world lay +before him. Surely he could carve out some kind of fortune. The light of +earnest endeavor shone in his eyes, the languid step quickened into one +of courageous elasticity. He had dawdled away years enough: he would put +a purpose into his manhood, that some distant eyes, seeing, might not +relegate him entirely to the regions of contempt. + +"There's quite a good deal in that young Lawrence," declared Phil +Maverick decisively. "I was in at Garafield's the other evening, and, I +must confess, listened to a fine art lecture. All about wall-papering, +too!" with a genial laugh. "What an education that fellow has! Couldn't +he find any thing to do, that he must drop down upon a paper-factory? I +am sure I should have made a big fight out somewhere in the great +world." + +"'Beyond the Alps lies Italy,'" quoted Jack. "Not on the top, you +observe, but perhaps in the valley. I wish you would be a little +friendly with him, Maverick: you couldn't help but like him." + +"There is more in him than I gave him credit for. I thought at the time +of his father's death I had never seen so useless a fine gentleman, +with all the stamina educated out of him. I had half a mind to turn him +over to Aunt Jean and Miss Lothrop." + +Darcy laughed absently, and Maverick saw that his mind had wandered +elsewhere. How odd that these two should be friends! Maverick could not +discern the fine bond uniting them. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +SUMMER came on apace. The Cooking Club took a vacation, or rather turned +into a gardening club, and studied the sensible part of botany and +floriculture. People began to look at the waste land lying about, with +envious eyes. Here and there some one started a garden, or indulged in a +flock of chickens. The Webbers traded their snug cottage for a place on +the outskirts of the town, with two acres of ground, which they improved +rapidly. Men who had sold farms, and spent the money in vain business +speculations, looked back regretfully, and in some instances hired where +they had been proprietors. There was no money to be realized in farming, +but if one could even make a living! No one was making money but those +lucky fellows at Hope Mills. Of course that was a bubble, and would +burst presently; but doubtless it was good while it lasted. + +Miss Barry, Sylvie, and Mrs. Darcy went away to a pleasant, quiet +seaside resort. Miss Barry appeared to be ailing a little. Mrs. Minor so +far relented as to invite her mother and Irene to spend two months with +her at Long Branch. Mrs. Lawrence consented, Irene refused flatly. "She +had no money to spend for dress, and she would accept no one's charity," +she declared in her haughty way. But she could not stay in the house +forever: so she took long walks over wild country ways, angry with the +world, herself, and every thing. A fierce-eyed, beautiful girl, clinging +desperately to her isolation, and yet eating out her very heart in +loneliness. + +The time ran on rapidly. September came around. Hope Mills did not make +as good a report this time. Business had been very dull. Sales were next +to nothing. People did not need much in warm weather, and orders were +very light. However, several other branches of industry in Yerbury +improved a trifle. Railroads, stocks, and real estate were fast becoming +dead speculations: so men ventured to put their money warily into +business again. + +But the bottom had not been reached. Early in October there was a +tremendous failure of an old and well-known firm of woollen-manufacturers. +The bankrupt stock was sold at auction. Then another, and various +smaller houses. The market was suddenly flooded. No one could sell. No +one seemed to need new garments of any kind. Men wore their old clothes, +and shrugged their shoulders in a sort of contemptuous content, as if +they had suddenly found a great charm in a half-worn, shabby overcoat. +Robert Winston went hither and yon. Not a piece or a yard would any one +take. + +There was a great deal of discussion in various daily journals. The +business had been overdone again. Foreign markets must be found. We +could not compete with foreign manufacturers. Our wool was inferior, our +looms were inferior, our men knew so little, and demanded such high +wages. Then we never could do any thing under the present wretched +tariff and the skinning system of taxation. It took all a man could +make. Another sapient statesman declared nothing could be done without +more money. The contraction had been so great that not a man could do +business. Then came a long list of figures to prove what a very little +money was left in the country. Newspaper war raged, first on this side, +then on that. If we did this, we would surely be ruined: if we did not, +then ruin was inevitable. + +Jack used to try for some light, no matter how faint. It seemed to him, +if the great men at the helm of the national ship would set to work +vigorously to widen and strengthen the commerce of the nation, instead +of discussing such frivolous issues, prosperity might dawn once more. He +went over his political economists again, and realized sadly that men +had always disputed these points, and that each writer or prophet was +sure his was the only creed that would ever save the world, while by +following any other they would surely go to ruin. + +Winston and he took counsel together: then they called in Cameron, who +looked blue enough. + +"Any ordinary factory would shut down for the winter," said Winston +ruefully; "but that would be to confess our scheme a failure. We are +piling up goods--but for what--a grand auction-sale by and by? And the +men have worked so cheerfully--no, we can't give up." + +"Giving up is out of the question at present," Jack answered solemnly, +as if he was passing his word at the bar. "Our balance at the bank has +been expended, and we have some notes out that must be cared for in a +month's time. Wages are falling, and it seems to look now as if we were +coming back to the era of cheap living. The bargain was the ruling rate +of wages, you know. I think they will have to come down." + +"I will not give up beaten," declared Winston. "I'll have one more try. +Keep up heart, shipmate." + +With that Winston started West again. He talked, he plead, he offered +for the mere cost of production,--just to get the money back would be +something. The coal-venture of this winter had been much larger, though +coal was declining, and the profit somewhat less. Everybody pared the +margin to the mere skin. Winston had a little luck, however. Two sales +of some note were effected, and a barter, that only a man with a shrewd +eye for bargains, and a glib tongue, could have managed. Flour, apples, +and potatoes were the stock this time. The workmen took them gladly, at +a little less than store prices. They knew how full the wareroom kept +all the time. + +The first of January, wages were lowered. There was a little grumbling +among some of the men, but the women took it in wiser part. The +half-loaf was much better than no bread at all. They remembered the +dismal year when there had been no employment, and stinted food +purchased on credit. One wouldn't starve with flour and potatoes, nor +freeze with a full coal-bin. + +Hope Mills had exhausted every source,--had even paid a horrible +discount, being hard run,--when Darcy wrote to Miss McLeod a true +statement of affairs. If they could hold out until spring, times might +be better. They were economizing as they never had before: yet the time +had come when disaster really stared them in the face, unless they could +find a true friend. + +Miss Barry had generously offered him her store and her credit. Though +there had been a time when she withheld Sylvie, and fancied Jack Darcy +not quite the equal of her pretty niece, that time had long gone by. She +knew now his genuine worth,--she had tested his integrity. Of course +Sylvie would drift that way; and so, by many delicate turns, she showed +Jack that she could trust him with any of her treasures. + +"You are so good," said the honest fellow, with tears in his eyes,--for +he was touched beyond measure. "If I can't get through I will gladly +accept, unless the prospect is so bad that it would be sure to +jeopardize any one's money. But I hope it will not come to that." + +How breathlessly he waited for Miss McLeod's answer! The morning's mail +did not bring it; night closed in without it. A chill drizzle had set +in, freezing as it fell, and the keen air fairly flayed one's skin. Yet +he dreaded to go in-doors, to hear his mother's pleasant voice. Cousin +Jane had been called away by the illness and possible death of a +relative, so they two were alone. + +When Mrs. Darcy saw her son so grave and pre-occupied, his eyes sadly +pathetic with trouble, mother-like, she tried to comfort with the small +talk that women often offer, and that answers the purpose like bathing +one's brow with Florida-water in a severe headache. She never mentioned +business to him when in such moods. Now it was a bit of +newspaper-gossip, concerning some discoveries in Greece, that he and +Maverick had been quite eager about. + +The poor fellow was distraught, and could not listen. He ate his supper, +choking down the food, for her dear sake, missing strangely Cousin +Jane's pungency and seasoning. Then he tried to interest himself in the +paper, but could not; he paced the floor softly; he whistled a tune, for +his mother's benefit also, but broke down in the middle. + +"I must go out a little while," he declared in desperation. + +"Not in this storm," said his mother pleadingly. + +"Yes. I'll be back by--ten," looking at the clock. "It is too bad to +leave you alone," with sudden regret, kissing her tenderly. + +"I shall not mind for a while. But this wretched storm"-- + +He laughed, a little strained and forced; then he put on his great-coat, +almost wishing that every man in the country was without, and had to buy +one to-morrow. He tramped up the street, drawing long respirations, +every one of which was nearly a sigh. Was this the way Mr. Lawrence felt +when times went bad? Was some such trouble the cause of that fatal +disaster? He bowed his head in a sort of touching and profound respect +to the dead man. He experienced an earnest sympathy for all struggling +capitalists. What did unreasoning labor know of such nights as these +when every thing, even good name, was at stake! He wondered if his mop +of curly hair would turn gray, and then, in a ridiculously trivial +mood, remembered he must go and have it cropped. As well now as any +time; but when he reached the barber's, the place looked so uninviting, +with the smoky kerosene-lamps turned low. He did not stop: he used to +wonder afterward how it would have been if he had, until he came to have +a sincere and reverent belief in God as the disposer of human events, +the Hand back of the curtain, that guided every step, and kept sacred +watch even over two sparrows. + +He walked down past Maverick's; but half a dozen people were in there, +so he went on and on to the very end of the street, when by the dim +light he saw a figure in advance of him, a woman, tall and stately, +muffled in a waterproof and hood. There was something in the bearing +different from most of the Yerbury women who ran out of an evening for a +neighborly gossip, or some provender for their next morning's breakfast. +There were no stores in this direction; it was quite lonely; perhaps she +was going home. It would annoy her to be followed, doubtless; and on +such a night as this no roughs would be abroad in this vicinity. + +Jack Darcy was in that nervous state when the brain seems rarefied and +empowered to wrest secrets from the very elements in his path. He +pursued several chains of thought at once, with lightning rapidity, and, +with curious mental inconsistency, dropped them, and lapsed into others. +Now a sudden interest sprang up in this wandering traveller. He listened +with the wariness of an Indian to her step. It had in it the essential +principle of flight, but a baffled, fruitless longing for escape, rather +than a nearing to some distant haven or goal. He had not used to be so +keen in this subtile discrimination, until Maverick crossed his path, +and helped him out of his psychological bondage. And ordinarily his +senses had not the electric keenness of to-night. + +The figure paused. The face seemed to turn to the drear, blank sky--was +it in appealing, or a desperate daring? an impotent resistance, or a +wild, agonizing prayer? The hands were thrown up: he had come gradually +nearer, and could see them, ghostly white in the long feeble ray of the +distant lamp. What was she deciding or asking? A shiver ran over him as +the thought of suicide entered his brain. At all events, he must not let +her go to destruction. + +Her hands dropped. She took a few slow, irresolute steps, then turned +and came so quickly, that before he could stir or think, she confronted +him. A wild face with staring eyes, a wilder shriek ringing out on the +night air, making muffled echoes around, a desperate plunge, and a fall. +He sprang and essayed to raise her from the half-frozen hail-bed of the +sidewalk; the hood fell back, and he was more than astonished at +beholding the face of Irene Lawrence. + +He appeared suddenly to comprehend the whole fact, though he came to +know afterward that he misjudged her. Only a desire to put an end to +life and suffering, real or fancied, could have brought her out this +night, in the lonely neighborhood, still, not so far from her own home. +He must take her back, and then go for Maverick, who had become quite a +favorite with Mrs. Lawrence, and prescribed harmless remedies for her, +since she insisted she must have them. + +Jack Darcy never experienced a more exultant pride in his strength than +now. He lifted the helpless form, settled the swaying head on his broad +shoulder, and, clasping the body tightly, picked his way through the +slippery streets, in a manner that would have done credit to an Alp +climber. Round this corner and that, to the quiet, deserted street, +where every window was closed, and perhaps half the inmates in bed. Only +in one house was there a sound of life. Some one was playing an +accompaniment for an evening hymn, and youthful voices were singing. +Two lines floated out as he passed, making a kind of glow on the sullen +night:-- + + "Though long a wanderer, + The sun gone down"-- + +Unconsciously he tightened his arms around this wanderer. Of course all +their brief acquaintance had gone through his mind, especially the day +when in her haughty pride and beauty she had given him that cold, +insolent stare; but he forgave her freely, just as he had forgiven +Fred's sin, unasked. How strangely he was destined to be mixed up with +these Lawrences! + +He paused on the low porch, where a honeysuckle rioted in summer, and +was still full of withered leaves. His burthen had not stirred, and was +a dead weight. Resting it against his knee, he pulled the door-bell +gently, and waited. + +"Is that you, Mr. Lawrence?" asked a voice from within. + +"No. Jack Darcy," for he guessed rightly that it was Martha. + +She opened the door. + +"Don't be frightened, Martha," in a re-assuring tone. "It is Miss +Lawrence." + +"Oh, good heaven!" in tones of terror. + +"Hush! do not disturb any one. Is Mr. Lawrence home? Where shall I carry +her? she is in a dead faint." + +"Bring her in the parlor. Oh, Mr. Darcy! where was she?" with a look of +wild affright. "I did not know she had gone out. I always felt something +would happen to her; and a long while ago I offered to go out with her, +but she is so hard and disdainful that one soon comes to letting her +alone. She made me promise not to tell her brother, or rather she defied +me to: she wouldn't put any thing as a favor if she was dying. Talk +about the pride of Lucifer! And I knew it would worry Mr. Lawrence +dreadfully." + +"Was she in the habit of going out--alone--at night?" asked Jack, in +amaze. + +"I think it was from pride," answered Martha simply. "You see, she +needed some exercise, and she seldom went out in the daytime. And I +don't think she is afraid of any thing. I never saw such a cold, bitter, +strong girl--for she is only a girl yet. I've sometimes felt afraid she +would do something desperate. Oh, if she would only let the Lord help +her bear her trouble! And Mr. Lawrence is so kind and generous! He would +do any thing for her. Oh, he ought to be home! There's the clock +striking ten." + +"And I must run for the doctor. Heaven grant she may not be dead! Take +off her cloak, and try something"--glancing about in alarm. + +Then he seemed to take one devouring look at the sculptured face, with +closed lids, and jetty lashes sweeping the marble cheeks. Hurrying away, +as if by some great effort, he ran down the street again, despatched +Maverick, and hastened to Fred's office. The building loomed up dark and +silent. He might possibly be at Garafield's house: he often went there +of an evening, he and Mr. Garafield were so engrossed with their plans. + +It was a long walk; but Jack strode on, getting rapidly over the ground. +The hall-door was open, and Mr. and Mrs. Garafield were saying +good-night to Fred. Jack waited until he came down the steps, and then +called to him cheerfully. They linked arm-in-arm. The hail and rain had +turned now to fine, hard snow, and the wind seemed to scurry through the +deserted streets like a forlorn, wailing spirit. + +Jack told his story briefly, also repeating what Martha had said about +Irene's habit of lonely walking. He felt the sensitive nerves in the arm +he held, quiver with a shuddering pain. + +"Thank God it was you!" Fred said, with a great, tremulous gasp. "She is +so strange, so cold and self-contained,--so bitter against fate! Believe +me, Jack, I have tried my utmost"--and the voice broke with something +like a sob. + +"I know it, dear old fellow," drawing him nearer as the blast whistled +around them. + +"We never learned to make each other happy, you know. We never supposed +we had any special duties to one another, so it was a new task to me. I +tried to interest her in something, to make her more cheerful; but she +would wrap herself in that haughty, unconquerable coldness. Yet if I had +known or guessed"-- + +"After all, there is very little danger down your end of the town," said +Jack, in that light, comforting tone. "There's nothing to call tramps or +roughs; and, I dare say, to-night all would have gone straight if she +had not run against me, as one may say, and the fright made her faint." + +"But if it had been some one else! Oh, my God!" + +"It was not; so never give that a second thought. There is no use in +bringing up an army of 'might-have-beens' to worry you to death when you +have escaped danger. And--here we are." + +"You will come in, of course?" + +Jack followed his friend. Maverick had succeeded in restoring Miss +Lawrence to consciousness; but she was now in a burning fever and raging +delirium. Outraged nature had at last asserted its sway. + +"It is better so, I think," remarked Maverick, in a quiet, decisive +tone. "She will have a severe run of fever, for this has been some time +coming on; but she has youth and a naturally fine constitution in her +favor. I believe she will pull through. But some arrangement must be +settled upon. It will not do to take her up-stairs; for the effect upon +your mother will be too great a risk. If you could bring a bed down +here--to-morrow I will see about getting a nurse." + +"I think it would be better to bring her bed down stairs," rejoined +Martha. "The parlor is used so little. And she would be so much more +comfortable"-- + +Martha's eyes went over the heavy, clinging dress, the disordered hair, +the bracelets that were like manacles as she threw her arms about, +moaning, muttering, and laughing shrilly. The eyes rolled wildly in +their senseless stare, until one's blood almost curdled. + +"We must get about it immediately," began Dr. Maverick. "She will be +quieter presently, and I shall remain all night. Darcy, you watch her: +do not let her injure herself, while we bring down the necessary +articles." + +Just at this juncture Mrs. Lawrence's bell rang. The noise had startled +her from her first sound sleep. Dr. Maverick explained simply, and gave +her a composing draught. + +"A fever! Is it any thing contagious? Yes, it is better to keep her down +there: my nerves are so weak, and I think I have a very sensitive, +susceptible nature. I might take any disease so easily,--do you not +think so, doctor?" and Mrs. Lawrence looked up from her frills and laces +and snowy pillow with the helpless air of a child. + +"Much better. She may be delirious, too, and that would distress you. +Now be as quiet as possible, and try to go to sleep again. I shall +remain to keep you both in order," with a laugh. + +"That is very kind," she answered, with a pretty wave of her delicate +hand. Her daughter might be dying below, but her nerves must be settled +and cared for. Still, to do her justice, even in her intense +selfishness, she never considered other people's ailments dangerous, +while she held that her own precious life was constantly in peril. She +talked of dying with the calmness of a saint, and admitted that there +was no further charm to life, but still she must have the choicest care. + +Under Martha's supervision they soon dismembered the bedstead, and +brought down all necessary belongings. Jack had watched his charge, +strangely exercised by her curious, changeful moods. Once she had looked +meaningly at him. + +"I _might_ marry you," she said, in soft, mocking tones, her scarlet +lips taking on a bitter, scornful smile; "but I should come to hate you +so that some night when you lay asleep I should rise and murder you! I +might endure you in London, where I could be in a continual round of +gayety; but at Frodsham Park, with an old man like you,--May and +December! May and December!" and she laughed shrilly. + +She did not mean _him_, then! Honest Jack Darcy blushed to the roots of +his hair, to his very finger-ends. Some old man had wanted her: well, +she was braver and truer, then, than most people would admit. + +The three came in, and transformed the parlor to a hospital-ward, +without the simplicity. Jack suddenly thought of his mother, and hurried +away. What an eventful walk it had been! and Hope Mills was quite driven +out of his mind. + +He found his mother frightened and hysterical; and drawing her down +beside him he told her the story of his wanderings, expressing with some +tender kisses his sorrow for her alarm, and advised her to go to bed at +once, as he meant to do. And, though it might not be romantic after such +an adventure, I must admit that in ten minutes my hero was soundly +asleep, oblivious of both storm and business. + +At the house he had left, there was but little refreshing rest. Mrs. +Lawrence drowsed away when the confusion of re-arrangement had subsided. +The gentlemen retired to the library while Martha disrobed her young +mistress with inward fear and trembling, hardly being able to judge +what was due to delirium, and what to natural imperiousness. Then Dr. +Maverick kindly dismissed her. + +"You will need your strength in the morning," said he. "Try to get at +least one good nap." + +He took his station at the bedside, and motioned Fred to an armchair +just out of his sister's range. The opiate was not working successfully, +but at present he did not consider it wise to increase it. He questioned +him a little as to Miss Irene's habits and resources, and imagined the +part withheld, from that rather reluctantly admitted. He understood that +here kindred blood had not produced harmony, but a horrible discord, the +more wearing in that every note had been muffled. The self-commiseration +of the mother, and her weak love for her son that could only pity, but +never encourage or brace to any vigorous effort; her total inability to +comprehend any such character as her youngest daughter possessed; the +wearisome platitudes enunciated in the belief that they were golden +grains of worldly wisdom, the only kind she supposed existed; the weak, +vapid repining that she had not married when she might have done so +well, the discouraging certainty that no marriage was possible in this +second-rate town, and that to remain single was a stigma and a +misfortune. In her weak but querulous complaints, which she meant in +part for sympathy, she had worn and exasperated Irene as much as Mrs. +Minor: only here there were no lovers, and there Mrs. Minor looked upon +every single man of means as a fish to be skilfully angled for. + +If Irene had been thrown completely upon her own resources, if she had +been compelled to step entirely out of her olden sphere, and earn her +daily bread, there would have been a sharp, bitter fight, but the +bracing mental atmosphere might have dispelled the thick darkness, the +chilling vacuity, and evolved from the discordant elements a questioning +and not easily satisfied soul, but one destined to develop into +strength and nobler uses. But here, she said to herself, there was +nothing. Friendship could not come to her aid--she would have none of +it. No one should study her with curious eyes, to see how she bore her +trials, her losses, the downfall of her pride. Strangers who had glanced +at her with envy in her pretty pony-phaeton, or the magnificent family +barouche, should not smile in triumph as they saw her walking by. As she +had scorned others in her grandeur, so others would rejoice that she had +been brought low. She had seen so much of the narrowness, the petty +spite, the sharp stings of the world, that her sensitive flesh shrank at +every pulse. + +She could understand now how high-bred women, when friends and fortune +had flown, had shut themselves in convents. That she would have been +glad to do. Any entire renunciation would have met with her approval. +But to gather up the threads of a commonplace existence, to find joy and +solace in daily duties, to work for others, to even show others how +trials and misfortunes could be borne to the perfect working-out of +nobler aims and uses, was not for her. She had never been trained to any +such purpose. A heathen of the heathens in a Christian country, the +product of fashion, wealth, and so-called refinement. + +In the solitude to which she condemned herself, she came to brooding +over a desperate, worldly philosophy. Should she go back, and retrace +her steps, and marry? There were days when she absolutely contested the +ground inch by inch, and almost decided. + +Her long rapid walks, generally at night when her brain was wild with +the bitter warfare, had served a useful purpose, and kept her in better +health. But the strain could not last forever. For days she had +alternated between a chilly, stupid languor, and hours when her brain +seemed on fire, when, indeed, she hated the whole world with a bitter, +awful intensity. In this mood she had stolen out for her walk. + +And now the outraged soul had burst its bonds, and revelled in a fearful +revenge. All the ache and repression put upon it; all this silent +endurance; all the solitary hours of maddening thought, the wasted +riches, the spurned sympathy, the youth poisoned by false +doctrines,--every secret sin committed against it, cried aloud, and +would not be throttled, nor thrust back into the dreary dungeon. + +Fred listened to her ravings in stunned, helpless astonishment. His +trial had been so much less intense, after all. Could it be possible she +had suffered this as she sat so like a statue in the little circle, +disdaining every aid? His startled eyes questioned the doctor. + +"Yes," was the reply: "she has been too much alone. She has brooded over +these things until she has become morbid and imbittered. The curse of +fashionable life is, that it provides a woman with no resources against +a dark day, no wisdom, no faith in any thing outside of herself. And +then we wonder at insanity! A thousand times better that the body should +be racked with pain, if so be that the soul is purified in passing +through these fires. It may be her salvation." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +THE morning's mail brought to Darcy the letter he had hardly dared +expect. It was brief but cordial. Would he come to New York, and the +matter could be arranged to his satisfaction? "He had not been very +eager to ask favors." + +"We'll weather through, Winston!" he cried joyfully. "I must go to New +York. Miss McLeod has sent." + +Then he ran off home, and arrayed himself in spotless linen and +immaculate cuffs, complained a little that Jane Morgan should be away, +and begged his mother to ask in some of the pretty, friendly girls +living in the next house, if he should not be home to supper. There was +a late train that he would be quite sure of, if the business detained +him until night. Then he kissed her tenderly: she was still a little +shaken from her last night's vigil. + +He went around by Maverick's office, though it took him out of his way; +but he must hear some word of Miss Lawrence. + +"She is very ill, and will be for some time to come; but I am +wonderfully interested in the case. It's a brain-fever. The girl is a +study in herself. She has the force and power, and capability of both +suffering and endurance, that would answer for half a dozen souls; but +it has come pretty nearly to a wreck. Did you ever know much about her?" + +"No. I once spent an evening with Miss Barry when she was there," and +Jack flushed. "It was before Mr. Lawrence died. They used to be great +friends, you know." + +"And it ended like most women's friendships, eh?" with a peculiar light +in his eyes as he spoke. + +"No: it broke off in the middle; regards have a trick of doing that when +they're not ended, you know. Sylvie is very generous: she would go there +to-day if she were needed." + +"Would she? She may be before it is all over." + +"Go down and tell her, Maverick, when you are in that direction." + +Maverick nodded. + +Darcy was just in time to catch his train. There had been quite a fall +of snow from midnight to dawn, and the trees were glittering with +thousands of diamond-sparks and patches of fleecy ermine. The winding +roads were white; the cottages and the fence-posts were hooded; and the +snow caught all the tints of sun and shadowy lights, reflecting them +back like a mirror. His heart was so light as they whirled along, he +smiled, and could hardly forbear shouting at a group of boys who were +snow-balling by the roadside. + +He met Miss McLeod at Mr. Hildreth's. They had the private office to +themselves; and he related the mishaps of the past three months, showed +her the actual figures, and admitted that times seemed really harder +than last year. There was such a horrible shrinkage everywhere! Still +there must be some trade presently,--it always had been so in the +history of the world. + +"I think you deserve a great deal of credit for having pulled through so +far on your limited capital," said she. "Some of the business-men I +meet, think this will prove the hardest year in our history. It will +winnow the chaff from the wheat pretty well." + +"If it does not winnow us all into chaff," returned the young fellow, +with a touch of grim humor. + +"We shall come back to smaller profits and greater industry. The world +will not be able to play at being ladies and gentlemen, and perhaps a +little wholesome work will not be a bad discipline." + +Then she wanted to know what amount would be likely to tide him over for +the next six months. He said he did not desire to exceed ten thousand +dollars. She would make it twelve, however. After the notes were duly +signed, she took him to her bank, and introduced him. As he had some +other parties to see, she drove him about in her carriage, and insisted +upon taking him home with her presently. + +What an elegant old lady she was in her sables and velvets, and her +royal air! her eyes bright with spirit and energy, her cheeks a little +pink with the crisp air, glad sunshine, and perhaps her own hearty, +wholesome mood. Occasionally she leaned out and nodded to some friend; +and once her carriage drew up to the sidewalk as she summoned a fine, +portly-looking gentleman to her. + +"Mr. Throckmorton," she said, with gracious dignity, "I want to +introduce my young friend Mr. Darcy, of Hope Mills, Yerbury, to you. If +you can serve him in any business-way, I shall be glad to have you." + +The gentleman bowed, and held out his hand, with cordial fine breeding. + +"Hope Mills! It belonged to my friend Lawrence, did it not,--David +Lawrence?" + +"Until his death, yes." + +"Sad misfortune, that. He ought to have retired years before. There was +some villany in his manager, was there not? It is difficult to find a +purely honest man nowadays; but I do believe Lawrence was one. We dealt +with him a great many years, but toward the last there was some +dissatisfaction,--goods not coming quite up to samples." + +"We try to do our business on the square, Mr. Throckmorton," returned +Jack, with a proud curve of the lips that was almost a smile, and +illumined his face. "If any thing is not exactly as represented, we +shall make it good; but we try never to have occasion to do that. We +should be glad to have you test our honesty and skill." + +"Thank you,--I will, I will;" and, touching his hat to Miss McLeod, they +parted. + +"If men were as generous as you!" cried Jack, with enthusiastic candor, +"how splendid a place this world would be for business! Did you ever +have a jealous thought in all your life?" + +She laughed brightly. "I have had nearly all the things I wanted," she +answered, with tender solemnity. "There would have been little excuse. +Mr. Darcy, we do not always realize how hard life is to some; and, where +everybody's man's hand is against one, it is natural for him to be +against every man." + +Their four-o'clock meal was an elegant little dinner. They were quite +alone, which pleased Jack. She questioned him about Maverick, his +practice, his friends, and wondered if he ever meant to marry. Jack said +laughingly no one in Yerbury dared to make fascinating eyes at him. + +Did she care so much for Maverick? Surely these two ought to be +together, yet what would _he_ do without his trusty comrade? + +They veered round to the mills presently, and discussed honesty. Jack +admitted that Mr. Throckmorton and other customers had a right to +complain. There had been a deal of cheap wool used, and many poor +workmen employed, during Eastman's last year or two. + +"Mr. Darcy," she began energetically, "why do you not think up something +new? We import pretty material for ladies' wear, that could as well be +made here, for we women are growing sensible enough to believe something +beside silk admissible. And though men may cling to superannuated coats, +with an affection most commendable in hard times, I never heard of a +woman being attached to an old gown." + +"I never thought of it," he admitted frankly. + +"That is what you were put in the world for,--to think," and she smiled +with quaint humor. "Invent something. I'll take a sample to every store +to match, and lift my brows in surprise when clerks confess they have +not seen it. Give it a pretty name, of course." + +"That is worth considering, surely;" and his eyes sparkled. "Hope Mills +ought presently to be the grandest place in the country, you take so +much interest in it," and his whole face expressed his admiration. + +"I do hope to see you a successful manufacturer, Mr. Darcy; and, +woman-like, I want the scheme to succeed. I should like to see even a +small party of men trained to honesty and fair play. And, if I lose my +money, it is no worse than a downfall in stocks." + +"I shall do my best now and ever," he answered heartily. + +They parted with much warm gratitude on the honest fellow's side. He +took the evening train for home; and his mother had a good cup of tea +awaiting him, along with her smile. He related his grand good luck, and +there were not two happier people in all Yerbury. When the bank found he +had an account at New York, and a good backer, they were extremely +affable again. + +Jack broached the new idea to Winston and Cameron. + +"To be sure," admitted Winston. "Some one will do it presently, and we +might get the lead. Darcy, your old lady is a trump, and always carries +the honors. There will have to be some new processes: see here, talk to +Ben Hay about it; he's made two or three improvements, and has some +brains. Gad! It'll be quite jolly to have a new line of goods. Get the +ladies on your side, and you're all right!" + +He had not a spare moment until after his late supper, when he told his +mother he must run over to the Lawrences, and stop a moment at the +doctor's, though he had despatched the good news to him in the morning. + +He found matters worse than he had feared. There had been an alarming +change in Miss Lawrence. Martha ushered him through the hall to the +library, where Fred was sitting. The two clasped hands, and then sat +down together. A hard, dry sob seemed to tear its way up from Fred's +very soul. + +"Jack," he cried in a strained, despairing tone, "could I have done any +thing to save her? I have been engrossed with my own affairs, my own +dreams of advancement. I wanted to have money again, but it was for her +sake and my mother's," with a lingering tremulous intonation. "She has +been too solitary, she has brooded over every thing. But she would not +go out, or see any company; and somehow it was our misfortune to grow up +without any warm, vital interest in each other. When I was a boy I used +to like it at your house, because your father and mother took such a +real delight in you. It is the pith of life. Poor father--he was very +proud of me, he gave his life for our pleasure and grandeur and reckless +extravagance, yet all the later years we were well-nigh strangers. Why +can't people get nearer to each other, Jack, or is it only given to the +very few? Does the greedy world swallow up every sentiment, every bit of +tenderness, and make a mock of it?" + +"No, no! Nothing can quite kill it, thank God! You and I have proved +that. It may be smothered under dust and rubbish, and frozen with +neglect, but the germ will revive,--just as the brown woolly ball +evolves the fine delicate fern-leaf that it has held in its heart +through winter storms, you know. Don't blame yourself. Every soul has to +fight its own battle somewhere, with no day's-man between but God. We +get back to the old truth in spite of the new philosophies, and own in +our vanquished moments that we cannot _make_ strength, that ours is +only a broken reed, and the true upholding force must come from some +knowledge higher than our own." + +Jack paused, strangely stirred in every fibre. He seldom essayed +sentiment: with him the deeds of life had to answer, rather than any +eloquence of words. He laid his strong, warm arm over Fred's shoulder, +the old boyish caress with which he had often comforted unknowingly. + +"I think you have been doing nobly," he went on presently. "I did not +look to find you so brave and persevering, so earnest in thinking of +others; for, after all, a man's training does throw a great many +shackles about him." + +Dr. Maverick entered at that moment. He had hurried off his +office-patients to come and spend an hour watching this case, which held +a fascinating interest for him. Some most unfavorable symptoms had +supervened, but he did not despair. The nurse had been regularly +trained, he had kept her busy in Yerbury the last year. He could trust +her to note the slightest variations. + +Just now Miss Lawrence lay in a heavy stupor, so like death that one +could not detect it from any motion. Her eyes were half open, her face +had a dull purplish tint. The abundant hair had been confined in a thick +plait, and brushed straight across her forehead. How distinct and finely +clear the brows were pencilled, how haughtily sweet the curve of the +pallid, fever-burned lips, how exquisitely round and perfect the chin, +the slope of the throat and neck! Jack stole one glance,--they had both +gone in with the doctor,--but it seemed almost sacrilegious, now when +she was powerless to frown the intruder out of her presence. And he had +carried her in his arms! + +"O Darcy," Maverick exclaimed presently, "I did not go to Miss Barry's, +after all. I have been so desperately busy to-day." + +Fred glanced up, and his eye met that of his friend. Both flushed, and +both mistook the cause. + +It was a curiously auspicious moment. Jack went over to him. "I wonder," +he began, with a marked persuasiveness in his tone, "if you would like +to have Sylvie Barry come over? She and your sister used to be such +friends. And, in times like these, animosities and foolish prejudices +ought to die out." + +Fred gave him a startled look, and half turned, his lids drooping to +veil the secret in his eyes. Jack waited with breath that half strangled +him. He had marvelled how these two souls were to be brought into +friendly contact again; how Sylvie was to have an opportunity of knowing +that Fred was redeeming the manliness of manhood, instead of grounding +among its trivial shoals, and, if she ever had cared for him, to +understand that he was not utterly unworthy. He had spoken--what if the +chance should fail! + +Fred very naturally misinterpreted the emotion. Jack offered this out of +the boundless tenderness of his heart, so confident was he of Sylvie's +regard. + +"You think--she would come?" + +His own voice, under the great stress, sounded miles away to him, quite +as if some other person had spoken. + +How often the tense strain of feeling is relieved by a tone or an +incident quite out of the magnetic current! + +"Some one ought to drop in occasionally, for your mother's sake," said +Dr. Maverick. "We shall have her in a fever from sympathy," putting the +fact more delicately in words than it was in his thought. + +"She would be glad to come, I know. She would feel hurt if-- You empower +me to ask her?" with an abrupt transition of tone. + +Fred Lawrence bowed his head. He could not trust his voice. + +The sick girl started, opened wide her eyes, threw up her arms, and +began in weird, passionate tones, as if it were a stage declamation. Oh +the lurid thought that seemed to travel from regions of bliss to the +nethermost hell; to display a boundless capacity for enjoyment, for +pleasure or pain, for tenderness and bitter, brilliant satire, a keen +knowledge of the world to the very dregs,--the dust and ashes! She +implored her lost idols to come near, and in the next breath she tossed +them from her with a mocking laugh. She had no faith in God or man, and +before her was a blank wall of despair. + +Jack led him away. He took him out in the keen air of the starry winter +night, and began to talk of Hope Mills and the new projects. It was too +late afterward to call on Sylvie, so he waited until the next morning. + +She was inexpressibly shocked. "Of course she would go," she made +answer; and she went that very afternoon, with her aunt for companion. + +They found Mrs. Lawrence in a dreadfully disturbed and apprehensive +state. She was so weary of solitude that she welcomed them gladly, quite +forgetting this girl had insulted her by rejecting her son. In a weak, +shuffling manner she excused herself for not having accepted their +overtures before. She had been so utterly overwhelmed by the death of +Mr. Lawrence, that, in her state of nervous prostration, it had been +impossible to see any one. And now she was positive she should take the +fever. Her health was so delicate, her nerves so susceptible, and to +hear the raving of delirium,--the laughs that were quite like a +maniac,--would be sure to shatter her beyond any help. If it were not in +the dead of winter, she should go to New York at once, and stay with +Mrs. Minor until all danger of infection was over. She did not seem to +comprehend the gravity of Irene's case, though she wept over her +suffering in a soft self-pity. + +"If you could be removed to our house," suggested Miss Barry, in her +gentle way, "we would take the best of care of you; and it must be +extremely wearing for you here." + +"Ah, you have no idea! I never slept last night. I have heard of people +in these dreadful fevers who have left their beds when the nurse was +absent, and committed some horrible crime. I locked my door last night; +then I was afraid I might faint away alone, and Fred had to come and +stay with me. It was terrible!" and the washed-out eyes dilated with +real fear. + +Martha was despatched for the doctor, who not only came himself, but +brought a close coach, thankful to dispose of one patient so +comfortably. Before dusk Mrs. Lawrence was snugly settled in Miss +Barry's best room, where a cheerful open-front stove made amends for a +grate, and the new surroundings served to take her mind from her late +apprehensions. Indeed, she felt so much better for the change, that she +insisted upon coming down to tea. + +It was beneficial in many ways. They removed Irene again to her own +room, and used her mother's for various convenient purposes. Sylvie went +back and forth, and shared the day-watching, beside entertaining Mrs. +Lawrence. The two dropped insensibly into their olden positions. Sylvie +listened patiently to the death, the loss of fortune, the changes, which +Mrs. Lawrence dwelt upon with the exaggerating vividness of a nature +completely engrossed with its own sorrows. + +Dr. Maverick had to come every day. Mrs. Lawrence had arrived at that +stage when a woman depends upon the doctor as a sort of bulletin for her +own health. Fred, too, must visit his mother frequently; but at first he +chose the hours he knew Sylvie would be with Irene. + +Dr. Maverick used to watch Sylvie Barry with an interest and admiration +that grew upon him. Her tact was something marvellous, born of a certain +exquisite harmony and almost divine unselfishness. But of this last she +appeared serenely unconscious. I think, indeed, that she was. A higher +love and faith had interpenetrated her soul, her very being. Instead of +agonizing introspections and lightning flashes to the inward depths of +her nature, she seemed to live continually on the outside of herself, +radiating warmth and light as the sun. Her patience was of a rare, fine +quality, born of health, and spirits not easily wearied. + +It would have been quite impossible for any two people to go through +such a strain of feeling, and not be drawn together in love and +sympathy, or friendship. With Fred and Sylvie it was unconsciously a +little of all. If he had gone back with the old love, even exalted and +refined, he would surely have blundered again. But now she was +another's, sacred in his eyes. And though in his blind pride he had once +thought the greatest favor he could do her would be to save her from any +such _mésalliance_, he recognized now that Jack Darcy was immeasurably +above him in all the qualities that went to make up pure manhood. Even +in his work: Jack's ambition was not for himself, but a cause; and +his--ah, how poor and paltry it seemed! So he accepted his place with +outward bravery, and a great wrench of all a man holds most dear. For +now he loved her. + +The days passed slowly on. It seemed at the last as if the fever would +prove the victor. A consultation was held, and new remedies employed. +Irene's beautiful hair was cut off and laid away, the clear skin seemed +to grow brown and shrivelled, the hands lost their plump whiteness, and +the rosy nails were dull and gray. There came a time when human skill +had done all, and they could only wait for that Higher power to whose +eternal force death and love alike submit. + +There followed upon that awful night of suspense, days when she was but +just alive, when a turn of her head on the pillow caused a lapse into +unconsciousness. But the spring came on; and she did rally, at first, it +appeared, at the entire sacrifice of her regal beauty. Would she care to +take life on such terms? + +They brought Mrs. Lawrence home. Mrs. Minor came up, and insisted that +both mother and sister should be removed to the city at once. She had +her horses and carriage, her servants, her luxuries, and she could make +them so much more comfortable. + +Dr. Maverick interposed a decided negative. The body had not yet resumed +its normal state; but the brain was to be ministered to, as only those +of experience and study could minister. It was to be brought out of the +hell of its own despairing self-torture, and enfranchised, set free from +the demons that, standing in the present abeyance of weakness, had lost +neither strength nor desire, and were only waiting the auspicious moment +to seize their prey again. And he was too much fascinated to relinquish +the study. + +Sylvie persuaded her aunt to indulge in a pony-carriage. Miss Barry was +breaking a little; but she still kept her interest in good works, and +found she was much more useful with this aid. Winsome little Sylvie +looked more piquant than ever with the reins in her hands, flashing +hither and thither through the streets of Yerbury, gathering a harvest +of smiles and nods. She fairly compelled Mrs. Lawrence to trust her +precious self to what she laughingly declared was superior +horsewomanship. + +Dr. Maverick used to stop her often, just to catch a delicious ripple of +laughter, or a bit of trenchant talk. If it were not for Jack Darcy--did +Jack love her? At all events, she loved him: any one could see that by +her frank, fearless manner. Oh, sapient Dr. Maverick, with all your +knowledge of brains and nerves, of occult causes and mysterious effects! +So it happens that sometimes a simple, direct truth is the greatest +puzzle of all. + +The schools and clubs had not been neglected with all this excitement. +But this winter Mary Moran had been teacher at a small salary; and a +bakery and refreshment or dining room had been opened down stairs, which +really made quite a little money. Wholesomely cooked food was offered +for sale, with bread, rolls, and biscuit. The club had also given two +successful suppers. When Jane Morgan was home, Sylvie was relieved of +the actual care: she would have it. She had come back to Yerbury a +thousand dollars richer for her relative's death, and she and Jack were +drawing plans for a co-operative store. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +"I'D rather lose five thousand dollars than do it." + +Jack Darcy leaned back in his office-chair. He had just made up the +third half-yearly account. It was bad enough. They had known this all +along, and had not concealed it from the men. Now it was to be +confronted in black and white, with searching eyes. + +It was not that they had not made any thing: that would have been +endurable, considering the kind of winter. But they had gone back, and +eaten up the profits of last year. + +"You see, there co-operation comes in," said Bob Winston. "It isn't +_your_ loss alone. It's mine and every man's. That's what we agreed to +when we went in. Labor and capital should share in the ups and downs. +See here, Jack, I've learned a good deal myself. I have more sympathy +with employers. Gad! what a pull we've had this winter! If it hadn't +been for your fairy godmother"-- + +"Well, it must be done!" and Jack pulled a long face. "There, it is all +ready to print. Now old fellow, we must brace ourselves up for the shot +and shell. We'll have to do the fighting all over again. If every man +had as easy, philosophical a mind as you, or as sensible, reasonable a +one as Cameron, I should not have so many misgivings." + +The statement was printed and distributed. The men looked blue and +cross. Had they really lost nearly all of last year's balance? + +Winston asked them to stop one evening while he went into a slight +explanation. He was well armed. Without having a logical mind or +parliamentary training, he had a woman's quick intuitions, and often +jumped at very decent conclusions with hardly a glance at the premises. +He had a way of massing his forces, too, that was very telling. + +Now, after what he called a little skirmishing, he read that the +Barnable Mills had been running on three-quarter time all winter. Wages +had been a trifle lower than with them. Middleham Mills had been closed +for two months. He gave the figures of loss to the workmen. Crowley and +Dawson had gone into bankruptcy, owing their men in the aggregate more +than all Hope Mills had used of last year's profits. Then he read a +statement from an eminent manufacturer, that he had used fifty-four +thousand dollars of accrued capital rather than turn off his workmen to +starve. There had been strikes in several other places, in which the +workmen had lost much more than at Yerbury. + +"So that our showing, bad as it is, is not the worst," said he. "In the +very dullest of times we cast in our lots together, and we must take the +good and bad. If you had been living this winter on the private capital +of any one man or corporation, you would never have given the matter a +thought. You know now, by experience, that capital does not always float +on a serene and indolent sea, and gather in treasures for which it has +cast out no net. You can appreciate the struggle we have gone through; +though, while you have been going along placidly, with the larger weight +of care lifted off your shoulders, a man with less energy and pluck than +our intrepid pilot, John Darcy, might have let us founder. We help him +now with the readiness and good-humor with which we relinquish the +profits which were dear to us, and the product of our industry; but he +has taken us through a very narrow channel, on a dark night, without +striking rock or snag. He and I thank you heartily for your fidelity to +our keystone,--co-operation." + +"Three cheers for Darcy!" sang out some one in the crowd, "and three +cheers for Bob Winston!" + +It was given heartily. + +"And three cheers for the men of Hope Mills," responded Winston. + +They shook hands, and dispersed with a little better feeling. Several of +the men seemed to breathe a clearer mental atmosphere immediately. + +"You may be sure it's right, whichever way it is," said one man +sturdily. "I've known Jack Darcy, boy and man, and his father afore him. +He comes of good, clean stock, and, if he says a thing can't be +bettered, it can't; and, if it can, he's just the man to do it. Give him +a long tether, say I." + +Then Winston procured a list of weekly wages ruling in this country, and +in many places abroad, the hours of work, and the average cost of +living, with the articles in most general use. The mill-men had their +flour and coal cheaper, and altogether their winter was proved as +satisfactory. This was pasted up in the hall. + +The matter was discussed through the town, of course. Some people saw in +it a speedy dissolution of the plan,--a plan that never had worked, and +never would. Others did not see that this method of getting back part of +the men's wages was any better than any other swindling scheme. They +never had any faith in Bob Winston,--Darcy might be honest, but he +wasn't very bright,--and in five years Winston would own every thing +there was in the mill! + +Winston laughed over the gossip. Jack could not take it so +light-heartedly. He was an earnest, honest reformer, and hated to have +things go awry. Winston, not believing there was very much capacity for +reform in human nature, did not distress himself. + +Ben Hay, and a dozen or so others, did their best with the new cloth, +and succeeded in producing a really creditable article. The heads +discussed the feasibility of having an auction-sale to clear out some of +the piles of goods; then concluded that it might be misconstrued at this +present juncture. They could hold on until fall. + +But the delightful _esprit du corps_ had vanished. The men did not seem +to work with a will. There were moody faces and discourteous greetings, +half-insolent nods, and more than one wrangle at the workmen's meeting. +Hurd felt anxious and discouraged. Yardley took a low fever, not severe +enough to confine him to the house, but it made him irritable, and every +sneer or innuendo cut him to the quick. Cameron was a great comfort to +Jack, with his queer, wrinkled, grizzled face, and an expression that +always puzzled you as to whether nature meant him to laugh or cry. + +"I am not surprised," said he, one day, in the office. "I knew we would +have to come to just this time. A wife shares your joys and sorrows, +gen'ally speaking; but you see there it's a force put, she can't well +get away. Other partners like your joys, but they make a wry face over +the sorrows, and like to squirm out of them if they can. But it is the +only way to train men to the real responsibilities of business. Now, I'm +sorry enough to lose, but it stands to reason that times will come +better. We're getting through the panic; but after the battle there's +some dead to bury, and some wounded to care for, and you see that's +tedjus. You can't march straight home, covered with glory. Here's our +money in the hospital, first up, then down, and all the doctors in the +land tinkering with allopathic doses and homoeopathic doses, and +blisters and poultices and remedies, when all it wants is a little +honest letting-alone. It doesn't occur to these long-headed doctors that +the best way out is to show everybody that we're willing to go to work +and pay our debts just as fast as we can. And any fool might know that +when you are paying up back debts you can't have much money to sport +around on. Never you mind, Jack: we're coming out straight in five years +time,--I'll bet my old hat on that!" + +Jack wrung his hand warmly. + +In May there was quite a jollification over the marriage of two +mill-hands. Ben Hay took to wife pretty Rose Connelly; and the +coffee-house parlor was denuded of tables and benches, trimmed with +evergreens and flowers, and such a merry-making as did one's heart good. +There was a bountiful supper, plenty of tea, coffee, and lemonade, +dancing, and ice-cream, and the utmost good-humor and good wishes. +Connelly _père_ had gone back to his cups, thrown up his situation, come +home and stirred up a general "ruction," and had now gone off on a +tramp. Ben Hay was to cast his lot with the Connelly household for the +present. + +"But I tell you what it is, Mr. Darcy," said he, "if any luck comes to +Hope Mills, in five years' time I'll have my own little house and +garden. I tramped around a bit in the dull times, but I didn't see many +prettier places than Yerbury. And, the more I study this business of +co-operation, the more I think it will succeed in the end." + +Jack experienced a great throb of comfort when he heard such words as +these. + +Another mill-hand had married Mary Moran. She was not the beauty of +Yerbury, by any means, but everybody declared she had improved +wonderfully, and that she was the smartest girl in town. Their +wedding-party was given at the club-room. It was a larger and rather +more boisterous affair; and some of the Morans' warm-hearted Irish +friends brought a "dhrop of the craythur" in their pockets, to drink the +bride's health. Everybody admitted that there wasn't such another +bread-maker in town, unless it was Miss Morgan. + +In fact, it was quite astonishing to see what a revolution had been +worked in this most important article of diet. The women had learned to +distinguish between poor and good flour, and Kilburn's trade in the +former had fallen off largely. Of the bread that in Samantha Allen's +view "required cast-iron principle to back it up," very little was seen. +It had been rather hard work to convince some of the mothers that bread +wasn't naturally born into the world heavy and sour, but it had been +done. + +If Hope Mills failed, the impetus to general knowledge that had been +diffused throughout Yerbury would remain and bear fruit. An +evening-school had been opened for boys too large to stay at home +evenings, and just the right age to fall into temptations. It began with +the mill-boys, but it soon drew in others. There was a short session of +study, then a talk about some useful art or science. Maverick had +treated them to sundry experiments, and explained many general rules of +health. Mr. Winston had described Western cities in a vivid and +picturesque manner. There had been some astronomy within the reach of +all, some philosophy of common every-day things; and it had given the +boys ideas above "high, low, Jack." + +Darcy tried to find comfort in this when other matters looked dark to +him. A little good seed had been sown. The generation growing up would +not be quite so dull and brutish. One thing was remarked,--the saloons +were not as full. This was laid to dull times, and ascribed to the +"revival" of two years ago; but that had not touched the poorer class of +Irish and English, who, even during the hardest winter, had managed to +find drink-money, when their families were being supported by the +relief-store. + +Business did "pick up" a little. Prices went lower and lower, however. +They looked at their great store of goods with dismay. If the currency +question could ever be settled, if we could export more and import +less,--though there were people who argued that, the more money we spent +abroad, the more it really strengthened us, and money lying idle in our +treasury at home was no evidence of prosperity: partly true and partly +false reasoning; and, to our astonishment, while we were brilliantly +theorizing how to do it, our vain and superficial neighbors across the +water, crushed and beaten down by a useless and costly war, and a +government of gigantic selfishness, went to work with intrepid courage +and industry, and did it. + +Meanwhile it must be confessed that Jack's interests were very much +divided. The practical part of him never lost sight of the mill. He had +the dogged tenacity that holds on with a deathless grip until it +conquers, or is wholly beaten. It seemed to him this summer that he had +several distinct individualities. He was so deeply interested in Fred +and Sylvie! They had slipped into an easy friendship,--a friendship in +which neither crossed a certain line, but from widely different motives. +Fred's strongest and highest one was honor toward his friend. He began +dimly to realize that high culture and refinement of the intellectual +senses, a perfect state of outward finish and polish, did not always +strengthen the soul's morality and purity. Patience, self-sacrifice, +obedience to a creed simpler in words, and yet more comprehensive, than +any of his grand philosophies, were needed to form a strong and manful +soul. His had been so long bound about with swaddling-clothes, airy, +sensuous, fine as a gossamer web, yet strong in beliefs and prejudices. +There were times when he felt, through that instinctive knowledge we can +never wholly define or explain, that Sylvie Barry belonged to him, that +they two could reach a point in mental and artistic life, that she and +Jack would never attain. His whole soul cried out for her. With the +charm of self-satisfying and blinding theories swept away, he clung +passionately to the love that had been only a complacent fancy three +years ago. The mere touch of her hand, or glance of her eye, quickened +and kindled his entire soul, and made him acutely and agonizingly +conscious of the wealth of adoration he had hardly dreamed of +possessing. There were moments when her presence filled him with a +heavenly satisfaction, when he understood that divine fusion of spirit +with spirit in its entirety, when love overcame pride, and he was humble +enough to go to her in his poverty. + +He tried honestly to crush out the passion, but found that neither will +nor duty could destroy love. It rose up and swept imperiously through +every pulse of his being, it flooded his heart like a mighty current, it +would fain have drowned out his sense of honor to his friend; and he +learned presently that it was of no avail to fight battles with this +unconquerable foe. He must always love her, therefore he could only bury +the passion out of the sight of all other eyes. To him it would be the +root of higher resolves and purer motives. When he had made this great +sacrifice for his friend, he had offered silently the highest atonement +in his power. + +But his temptation was not to end so soon. He was to be led through the +fire, that he might be purified and ennobled in other virtues beside +that of abnegation. He was to learn how sacred a thing strength might +become; he was to hold the soft hand on his arm, and never clasp it, to +feel the pressure of the dainty fingers, and make no sign; to meet her +bewildering smiles with the calmness of a strong spirit held in thrall; +to listen to words that seemed cruelly pregnant with the dangerous +glamour of hope, and yet to steel his heart against it all. In such +times as these we come to believe in a living, loving God, who gathers +up these great drops of agony as he "makes up his jewels," and that to +him this pearl of inward anguish is above price. Then, of all times, we +need to know that he cares for us, that we are not mere atoms floating +in unregarded space. + +Dr. Maverick decided that his patient must have a change. She had +attained a certain amount of physical strength while her brain still lay +dormant, utterly exhausted after the great drain upon it. Now it began +to act again, and, not being in sympathy with the body, consequently +re-acted upon it. She walked about her room a little; she viewed herself +in the mirror, a horrid shadow, a mere caricature of her former beauty. +Dr. Maverick had tried his best to save her hair; but the fever had +burned out its vital essence, making it dry and harsh, so he had uttered +his reluctant edict. It was cropped short, and had lost its gloss; her +brilliant complexion was a ghostly, sallow, opaque white, her eyes large +and melancholy, every feature sharpened into that thin, worn, hungry +appearance. "A perfect fright," she said to herself. Why had they not +let her die? Of what avail was life to her? + +Before her illness, in her desperate impatience with circumstances, she +had fancied herself a martyr, with the fagot and stake of a conventional +marriage on one hand, and the dreary desert of neglect and enforced +seclusion on the other. She had tried to make her own wretched and +passionate imaginings consume her very soul. She could rule no longer. +She could not exact homage and admiration from society; and, though in +her secret soul she despised it, yet what was there to life beside it? +No one wanted or needed her. No human being cared for her above all +others. She had gone on in ruthless pride, trampling, crushing, and now +the great world would be only too glad to pay her back; but it never +should. Even in this extreme bitterness of spirit an acknowledgment of +that divine rule of love was wrested from her. She had never offered +love and tenderness and sympathy to others, and it would not come back +to her: it was just and right that it should not. + +Why then vegetate through a narrow, dreary existence? She was only a +drag on Fred. Even if she were willing to make an essay of work, he +would not consent, partly from pride, but still more from that innate +sense of chivalry, a part of some men, who would be more cruelly wounded +to see a woman dear to them, struggling with distasteful toil, than to +make any sacrifice on their own part. If she were a man she would starve +in secret before it should be done. David Lawrence had in him some of +this pure, nobly generous blood; and many of his finer virtues seemed to +have been transmitted to these two children. The mother's individuality +had been absorbed by the two elder ones. Gertrude would be just such a +woman when she came to her mother's time of life. + +Mr. Eastman had floated into another channel of prosperity. He was to go +to Russia as a railroad-director at a large salary, and ample chance for +speculation. Gertrude was all elation. She wrote to Irene, generously +forgiving her for not having submitted to be buried alive at Frodsham +Park, and proposed that she should rejoin her as soon as she was able to +travel. They would go to Vienna and Berlin, and spend the winter in St. +Petersburg. "I hope your beauty has not gone off," she wrote very +kindly. "One needs it to compare with some of the Russian women I have +seen." + +Mrs. Minor had taken a summer cottage at Long Branch. Servants, +children, horses and carriages, were to go thither. Irene and her mother +must spend the season with them. + +"You do look dreadfully," she said to Irene; "but moping here will not +mend you. It was a most absurd step for Fred to come back to Yerbury, +and take that paltry position! He has no real Lawrence pride, and I +don't see that his elegant education has done much for him. Why didn't +he study law, and go into politics? With his style and Mr. Minor's +connection, he might have filled some high position." + +"Really," returned Irene, with a touch of the old sarcasm, "I suppose he +thought starving hardly a pleasant process while he was waiting for this +high position. I have sometimes wondered why Mr. Minor did not take him +into _his_ office, and induct him into the mysteries of stock-broking." + +Agatha bit her lip. + +"Because he did not know enough," she flung out. "And he will potter +away his best days there at Garafield's, never amounting to any thing! +Father had better have put him in the business." + +"Jack Darcy is master at Hope Mills. He was once quite a _bête noir_ of +yours, I believe. He and Fred have floated together again, an +exemplification of the power of early attraction." + +"He will not be master of Hope Mills long, if what I hear is true," said +Agatha in a vengeful tone, as if she would be glad to bring about such a +greatly-to-be-desired downfall. "Fred always did have low tastes. But +about yourself: you had better come to Long Branch, and recruit for two +months, or so, and then go out to join Gertrude. Of course, Irene, you +know your best time has gone by here. I intend that _my_ daughters shall +be married before they are twenty. I will not have them wasting their +best years." + +There was a long pause. Agatha studied Irene's apathetical face, and +wondered how she could have changed into such a fright. + +"Irene!" in a commanding tone. + +"Agatha, I may as well tell you,"--the voice was slow and incisive, as +if every word was measured,--"that I shall _not_ go to Long Branch nor +abroad. No one shall be troubled by my failing looks and possibly poor +health. I will live my own secluded life, asking nothing of the world +but to be let alone." + +"You are a fool, Irene!" Mrs. Minor scanned her with her pitiless black +eyes, and raised her own tall figure to its most impressive height. "You +are a deliberate, wilful fool! You will maunder and groan and sigh +through the next few years, and become one of those wretched bundles of +nerves and whims and conceits, a miserable old maid, whom the world +holds up to ridicule, and rightly too; a faded, insipid, querulous, +worn-out belle, whose past triumphs are remembered only to her disfavor. +We can forgive a woman of mother's age, who has had her day; but the +other shallow creatures are fit only to be bundled into a convent, out +of sight." + +A dull scarlet had slowly mounted Irene's face. She did not raise her +eyes. In an emotionless tone she merely said, "Thank you. I wish there +were convents without the fuss of religion. I should go into one now." + +"The best place for you certainly." + +Then Mrs. Minor gave Fred a piece of her mind, and washed her hands of +Yerbury. + +The result of sundry after-discussions was that Dr. Maverick found a +pretty seaside place not many miles distant, with just enough interest +to keep one entertained, and no fashionable, exhausting life. He managed +to persuade Miss Barry and Sylvie and Mrs. Lawrence to go, and insisted +upon Irene having the variety of air and scene. There was a roomy +furnished cottage at their disposal: they could cook their meals, or +have them sent in. Fred should come down once or twice a week, and he +and Darcy would enliven them with flying visits. Miss Barry must take +her pony and carriage. + +Jack approved of the plan at once. It would bring the two beings in whom +he was so warmly interested more closely in contact with each other, +give them those bits and fragments of leisurely indolence so conducive +to sentiment. Sylvie would judge more truly and tenderly than it was +possible to do at present; and he could not see her alone, could not be +her companion in walks and drives, without betraying his regard. + +While the plan was still under consideration, Dame Fortune resolved to +smile upon Fred Lawrence. Late in the winter he had sent a paper on +household art, with several exquisite designs, to a magazine, and for +once happened to hit the prevailing fancy. He was asked for a series of +such articles, with the offer of having them collected in book form +afterward. It more than encouraged him: it gave him a feeling of +certainty that he had struck the right vein, that here was a fair and +appreciative field for his talent, his fine taste, and high culture. A +little utilitarian, perhaps; and he smiled, thinking of some past +dreams. And was true art so ethereal that it must exist only in the +exalted states of the mind? Was it not to embellish and beautify all +lives, rather than crowd out the thousands that the few might feast on +some exquisite vision? Was any art higher than that which boldly thrust +aside shams, and went to the shaping of true, strong, faithful aims in +the work placed before one? Were those wonderful Greek fragments, +wrought in times of social depravity such as the world now shrank from +mentioning, to be one's guide and inspirer, to the despising of purer if +less sensuous forms of beauty? If one enlightened and sweetened the life +of to-day with the work of to-day, would it not be as worthy as hugging +to the soul some useless theory? + +He mentioned his new offer to Mr. Garafield. It would not be honest to +take the time that was another's; and surely Fred Lawrence's mental +capacity had largely cleared when he came to put into every-day work the +fine sense of honor that he had hitherto supposed belonged only to a +liberal education. + +Mr. Garafield was a shrewd business-man, although fanciful in taste. He +should be the gainer by associating this true artist with him. +Decorative art was coming to be a truly recognized branch; and its +leaders and apostles would reap not only credit, but financial success. + +Fred was amazed. Only yesterday, it seemed, he had well-nigh been +refused the privilege of earning his bread. To-day, in an unexpected +quarter, prosperity opened upon him. + +"I have no capital, as you well know," he said stammeringly to Mr. +Garafield. + +Garafield smiled and nodded in a satisfied manner. + +"The brain-work and the ideas are sufficient capital, Mr. Lawrence. By +this partnership you will be free of drudgery: some other clerk can keep +books and take orders for us. You will gain time for your literary +labors, and those in turn will carry weight in the business. Neither do +I think you will regret taking my offer." + +Fred went down to Jack Darcy's that evening, and told over his plans, as +in other years he had confessed his college ambitions and the laurels he +was to win. And Jack's face lighted up with honest enthusiasm, while his +voice took on a curious little tremble. He was so glad! for Sylvie's +sake and love's sake. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +WHEN Fred Lawrence came next day into Sylvie Barry's presence, there was +a certain proud humility shining in his handsome face, that was now +quite worn and thin; a dignity born of honor in having achieved at least +a standing-place in the world. He was not her hero, never had been +indeed; and his pale face flushed at the remembrance of his once +complacent claim to her regard. + +She was sitting in the room with his mother, but she sprang up from the +low ottoman. + +"I am so glad! your mother has been telling me the news. Why, it is"-- + +She had held out her hands as she began her sentence, but as he took +them she made a sudden pause. His were icy cold. + +"More than I could have expected in such a brief while, hardly at all. +Both offers have surprised me greatly." + +He strove so hard to render his tone calm, that it was absolutely cold. + +She turned with a petulant but charming gesture, while her peachy cheek +took on a riper tint. + +"You are not a bit enthusiastic," in that pretty, imperious, chiding +tone. "I suppose you think good fortune ought to fall down upon you, be +thrust on you, like greatness." + +"No. I am very thankful for it. I can give my mother and sister some +needed indulgences that it would have pained me very much to see them go +without. How is Irene?" + +"I don't know," said Mrs. Lawrence fretfully. "She does mope so. I shall +be so glad to get away." + +"I have just come from the doctor's. We are to start on Thursday. +Sylvie, are you all ready?" + +"Yes," with a positive little nod. + +He stepped into the next room. Irene had been worse after Mrs. Minor's +visit, but was the same again now, quiet, cold, impassible. It made no +difference to her whether they remained here, or went to Depford Beach. +She evinced neither pain, pleasure, nor interest; but she liked best to +be alone. She endured Sylvie with rather more equanimity than she did +her mother, but even the fault-finding energy would have been welcome to +the doctor. Nothing mattered: that was the trouble. + +She heard now they were to go in two days. The cottage was all ready. +Martha and Miss Barry's trusty handmaiden were to do the housekeeping. +The place was so arranged, with the spacious hall through the middle, +that each family could be by itself. + +"I have ordered a carriage to come every day for you and mother," Fred +said quietly. "I thought you would like it better than being dependent +on Miss Barry." + +Irene gave a slow, acquiescent nod. + +"Good-by," cried Sylvie, looking in. "I will run over again to-morrow." + +"I wanted her to stay to tea," said Mrs. Lawrence complainingly. "It is +so dull!" + +"I will come up and take tea with you. I will order it at once." And he +ran down. + +There was a subtle perfume in the hall. She had a bunch of violets in +her belt, he remembered. He said over softly Ben Jonson's quaint +lines,-- + + "Here she was wont to go, and here, and here, + Just where the daisies, pinks, and violets grow: + The world may find the spring by following her." + +But he could not follow. Had fate smiled on him to make the +renunciation more bitter? For now he could work his way up to something +worthy of her acceptance. And had he not learned the past winter, had he +not been slowly learning ever since the death and loss, that the manhood +of a gentleman was his thoughtfulness for others, his courteous +delicacy, his consideration, often his denial of self, rather than the +exquisite polish of cultivation, and the veneer of society's +affectations? How blind he must have been, ever to have offered these +last to a woman so true and pure of soul! + +But a still larger sacrifice had been demanded of him. He must see her +in seductive solitudes, in still more intimate association. If he could +stay away from Depford Beach! but that was not possible. He was to spend +Sundays with them. But surely Jack would be there then. An almost +careless lover he thought his friend. Was every smile so dear to him? + +The doctor and Fred went down with them. Darcy had decided to take a +business trip, so presently Mrs. Darcy joined the seaside household. In +the bygone years Mrs. Lawrence would not have deigned to notice her; but +she found this delicate, mild-mannered, middle-aged woman very +companionable. Circumstances had rendered Mrs. Darcy exclusive, rather +than any inherent trait of birth or breeding. She had lived with a few +people always, and two or three strong attachments had given to her +character the kind of concentration that passes for strength. Yet all of +these had been more positive people than herself; and while this had +softened the tendency to that querulous exactingness that weak, sweet +natures are apt to possess, it had also shaped to certain generous +instincts that were quite free from vanity. Her natural kindliness gave +her the charm of good-breeding, and this settled her in the estimation +of Mrs. Lawrence. She might have possessed all the virtues in the +calendar, but an inharmonious, unpolished turn or act would have +tabooed her. We generally ascribe this grace to life-long culture, or a +certain inheritance of blood, but it occasionally springs from other +causes. + +The three women, with natures and aims widely different, fraternized in +the most amiable manner. Sylvie glanced in and out between them as a +gleam of sunshine penetrates the interstices of a wood, and brings out +all lights and tints, itself untouched by any. Their greatest diversion +was driving. Back of the little settlement--it was hardly large enough +for a village, and had a powerful rival some seven miles farther +on--there were country lanes and by-ways, sleepy-looking farms, and +picturesquely careless houses. Below them there was a great fish +_entrepôt_, with fishing-boats plying up and down, brawny fishermen +trilling their musical half-chant, half-song, as they floated over the +bay. + +It was curious how, presently, Sylvie came to watch for Fred. Truth to +tell, she found Depford Beach a trifle monotonous. No interest of +schools or clubs or young people's affairs, no strong energetic talks +with Jack about mill business, few people coming and going that she +cared about; the three ladies purring through the drowsy hours on topics +that she fancied she had exhausted years ago; and Irene, between whom +and her there had never been any real electric sympathy, and who was now +coldly indifferent to all matters. For hours she would sit with her +hands dropped nerveless in her lap, glancing over the wide sea out to +the farther horizon. What thoughts were in her mind, Sylvie wondered? +She could not even provoke her to the wordy combats of old. The flashes +of temper and imperiousness had alike died out. She was courteously +polite, and acknowledged all favors with a punctiliousness that built +the wall around her still more firmly. "If one could only rouse her," +Dr. Maverick said; but that seemed just the thing no one _could_ do. + +Yet she certainly was improving in health. Her step became more assured, +her eye less languid, and her complexion cleared up to the hopeful tints +of renewed bodily vigor. Her slender hands filled out a trifle; and +sometimes she would take a book, as if she needed an interest beside her +own sombre thoughts to while away the hours. + +So Sylvie established her easel, and had recourse to painting. Oddly +enough she began to ask herself what it was all for? Filling her own +rooms, and bestowing gifts upon friends, was very well for a season; but +was there not a higher purpose in all art, or at least a wider purpose? +It surely did not tend to isolation. She thought of her winter in +Philadelphia,--of the friends she had made, of the desires that had been +awakened. She longed for some purpose, some sympathy and aim. The +enthusiasms of girlhood could no longer inspire her: there must be a +reality and definite end, or work lost its great charm. How was she to +get to this? Her aunt was coming to depend upon her in a peculiar way, +that at times startled Sylvie. She would say, with her quiet, tender +smile, "Will you do this or that, Sylvie? I believe I am growing +indolent: I never thought to so like being waited upon." + +The secret in Miss Barry's soul was well kept. In how many lives there +comes a demand for heroism greater than that which led the martyrs of +old to the stake, or the brave women in the reign of terror to the +guillotine! Their inspiration to bravery was patent to all around: their +cause was a lofty one, and they were apostles of that high creed of +self-abnegation which leaves behind a memory in the hearts of all noble +men and women. But there are other pangs quite noiseless: there are +other martyrs who suffer without the sign, who cannot even confess the +reason for the high faith that upholds them. + +It was quite natural that she should desire to see Sylvie married. She +could never get over her distaste of having women taking bold strides +for the world's fame and favor. If left alone, this was what Sylvie +would surely do. The delicate womanly charities and kindnesses that had +filled up so much of her life would not satisfy her niece. And, now that +she had brought herself to the point of satisfaction with Jack Darcy, +either she had mistaken their regard, or he was proving himself an +indifferent lover. By a subtile intuition, she understood that Fred +still cared for her, nay, that he held now a reverent admiration that he +had never thought of in the past. His melancholy eyes followed her +about, now and then scintillating sparks of passion that seemed almost +to rend his soul. She experienced an intense and exquisite sympathy for +him that drew them together in a manner that he felt, and was grateful +for, but did not clearly understand. + +As for Sylvie, curiously enough, she was at war with herself, though she +wore such a calm, light-hearted exterior. When she rejected Fred +Lawrence, she was quite sure she despised the present man, and his +narrow, futile purposes of life. Truly, to have been the wife of such a +man would have proved irksome to the last degree. But his misfortunes +had brought out the fine gold, the solemn strain of strength and +endurance, that had come from his father's blood. I think even Sylvie +had been a little mortified first, that he should have come back to +Yerbury, and taken such a very inferior position. She wanted him to do +something noteworthy with his pen and his high cultivation. It seemed so +much choice material quite thrown away. Designing patterns was surely no +high test of genius. Women with a purely technical art education had +done it. + +But out of it had come this other opportunity that he had grasped with +the pure instinct of genius. Employment for pen and pencil both, for the +embodiment of the exquisite outward forms of beauty, and the rare, +delicate, inward graces of imagination, for the true standards of taste +and art in which he had been informing himself all these years; in the +spirit of dilettanteism, it was true, but now when the intellectual +impetus was added, and the positive need of daily bread, these +complicated motives worked together as a strong stimulant. Perhaps, too, +he had a not unworthy desire to show Sylvie Barry that the man who had +loved her was not utterly unworthy or incapable. + +They had drifted together again in the ordinary purposes of life, which, +after all, occur much more frequently than any grand or overwhelming +shock. She took up the friendly, half-sisterly way, pleased with the +instinctive deference he paid her. He understood that it would be quite +useless to aspire to any regard of hers: that was all done with in the +past. She could afford to evince an interest in his plans, since Irene +cared not, and to his mother they were so much Greek, a subtle flavor +that she admitted was the proper thing, but could not understand,--did +not care to trouble herself, in fact. + +So these two young people, working in a common bond of sympathy, +insensibly strengthened the regard that had grown with them from +childhood. Fred gained sufficient courage to discuss some plans with +Sylvie: she brought out her easel, as I have said, and accepted from him +friendly criticisms. The difference between their work was soon +manifest,--he had an earnest purpose, with breadth and scope: she had +none. How had they so queerly changed places? she asked herself. Why +were not her talents made of some avail, instead of this puerile +pottering to please one's self? + +She began to wonder--dangerously fascinating employment to a woman--if +he had ever cared for her. There seemed an adamantine wall built up +around him, and yet the fruit in the inner garden was more rarely sweet +than she had ever dreamed it could be. She could not know that the +passion for her he had put away with such despairing hands, was +blossoming all the sweeter, and bearing more exquisite fruit in other +directions. She saw the lovely tenderness toward his mother, the +unwearying patience with Irene, the fearless, animating ambition that +seemed to have set his æsthetic desires to a steady, comprehensive +strain of music, to which he was keeping invisible step, but which +thrilled and roused every fibre. + +All this he had done without any assistance from her, she thought, blind +little girl; as if the kinship of a true passion could not reach from +the life that went before to that which was to come afterward! _She_ had +not inspired his genius, but stern necessity; it had been no longing or +desire to win _her_, but the material support of his mother and sister. +She began to feel curiously jealous of these extraneous influences. She +unconsciously exerted herself to make his visits at the beach more +interesting. They drove together in her pony-carriage; they studied +glowing summer sunsets, where fantastic clouds piled up wealth of gold +and amber and purple and opaline splendors, and shot out arrowy, +dazzling rays; they paced the sands after it had all faded into tintless +space, and delicate vapors of grayish green and vague violet rose from +the crested waves that broke far out at sea, and trooped across like +airy spirits; they listened to the slow, regular rhythm that came +marching from some weird country, with a grand crash at last, a sobbing +crescendo, and an interval of silence that still pulsated on the dusky, +odorous air, when the moaning billow was dead. + +They came so near to Nature, there were moments when they seemed +empowered to wrest the shadowy secrets out of her bosom; and yet they +did not come near to each other. Ever this distance between,--a man's +honor, and faith to his friend, Fred Lawrence thought, never allowing +his secret soul to swerve. There were midnights when he softly paced the +floor, his lips compressed, his brow ghostly white, and his hands +clinched in the throe of a man's deathless love. Then he thought he +could not endure it, that he must stay away. But circumstances were +stronger than will. Did God mean that this anguish should redeem that +other old treachery, that his soul should be purified by its baptism of +fire, a more worthy offering for his friend? If so, then he must not +abate one jot or one pang. + +There were within Sylvie Barry's soul certain coquettish instincts. She +was fond of admiration for herself: a purely intellectual regard, with +the passion-dream flown, would soon have wearied her. A warm, bright +nature, loving to please others, but to be pleased in return, cruelly +hurt by surging against this rock-bound coast, piqued and almost +angered, sent into moods of daring, seductive warmth and gayety, quite +capable of making a foil of Dr. Maverick, who was strangely puzzled by +her contradictory moods. But for one thing, he must have tried to cage +the dazzling, elusive spirit: he, too, had a strong sense of honor +toward his friend; and he could only imagine her playing sportively with +the few who came within her radius, not setting herself to win any +forbidden regard. What might have made some women sad and silent--the +consciousness that an old lover had over-lived his passion--seemed to +sting her into renewed effort. + +Coming back to them, Jack Darcy was more than puzzled, set at sea in a +bewildering way, without chart or compass. Had Fred ceased to care for +Sylvie? Had she never loved him? Or was some other feeling holding him +back,--a kind of family complication, a sense of duty to the others so +high that he would not offer them a divided regard, any sooner than her? +He believed mothers had a peculiar sense of possession in their sons; +but they surely had married other women's sons with small scruple! Mrs. +Lawrence was warmly attached to Sylvie. In his honest, inconsequent +man-fashion, he wondered why they could not always live together, as +they were doing here. + +Fred was strangely worn and thin, with the kind of nervous alertness +that accompanies an intent watching of one's self. + +"Hillo, old fellow!" cried Jack; "what have you been doing? Working +yourself to a shadow? If high art is so exhaustive, there must be a +little let-up. A man has no more right to kill himself in an artistic +industrial way, than in any of the ruder forms of suicide." + +Fred shivered visibly. + +"Don't speak of suicide," he answered in a shrinking tone. "I never +thought of it but once; and that was when I fancied myself of no use to +the world, or myself either. I am not overworked"--and he paused, to +study Jack a moment. Why, he was positively handsome, with that +superabundant strength and vitality, the clear red and white of his +complexion, the bronze beard, the healthful, honest eyes. He seemed to +be surcharged with a magnetic current of energy and courage. + +"Yes, you are. I dare say you have carried your plans and sketches, and +what not, down to Depford Beach, and pored over them until almost +morning. You must take a vacation." + +"I expect to when the families return;" and he gave a faint, wan smile. +"I have had another streak of luck, Jack. A lady, a very wealthy widow, +is building a house in one of the pretty towns up the Hudson, and it is +to be finished with all the elegance art can bring. She saw one of my +articles, and sent to me; and we have been corresponding. In September I +am to go to New York, and make arrangements. There is to be painting and +frescoing, and rooms finished in different styles,--indeed, I cannot +tell the half myself, until I see her." + +The pale face had kindled with a fine and proud enthusiasm. More than +ever, Jack recognized the artistic refinement of his friend. What would +law or medicine have been to him as a profession? + +"Humph!" grunted Jack. "A great vacation that will be! But you _must_ be +careful, or you will not live out half your days. You've a look in your +face like the little chap I first knew." + +The smile that crossed it then, Jack did not understand. It seemed to +Fred Lawrence that half his days would suffice, when Sylvie Barry was +his friend's wife. + +"Yet you see the 'little chap' lived"--with an attempt at gayety. + +"Yes. And, Fred, I am more glad than I can put into words, to know that +you have been so successful. It is just the career for you. It's odd +that a great commonplace, blundering fellow like me should have two such +artistic friends as you and Sylvie Barry." + +The well-trained face did not blanch a muscle. He felt, with a flash of +subtile inner consciousness, that Darcy was studying him. Thank God, he +could stand before his friend free from a thought of treachery! All +these weeks he had walked over burning coals, but the smell of the fire +was not in his garments. + +Jack thought it over long after Fred had gone. Why could not these two +people see! Surely they were meant for one another. It puzzled, it +almost fretted him. Sylvie was so peculiar, so changed in these few +weeks! What did it all mean? + +And on Saturday when he was to go down to the beach, Fred pleaded some +urgent business to a neighboring city. He was not quite brave enough to +see them together. + +"I have been meaning to go for some time," he said with gravity, "but I +did not like to think they would be alone over Sunday. Now that you will +be there, I certainly can spare three or four days." + +"See here," returned Jack,--"wait until Monday. Come, we'll have a nice +day together down there on the sands. Sundays always seem so wonderful +by the ocean, with the grand chant forever in your ears. The very waves +are saying,-- + + "'Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.'" + +But Fred Lawrence would not suffer himself to be persuaded. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +JACK DARCY'S business-tour, while it had not been productive of any +great financial results, had restored his healthy mental equilibrium. He +found other firms were having it just as hard, and that the country was +still overrun with men willing to work for any wages. Prices were +certainly falling. All kinds of raw products were offered at the very +lowest figure; and, labor being so cheap, manufactured goods must +perforce be low. Men were not now counting on a speedy return to good +times and high prices: they began to admit that the latter were the +outcome of extravagant speculation. They bought what they wanted, and no +more. They gave no extensive credits, and now really appeared to be +anxious to reach a permanent basis. + +"We shall have to sell most of our stock at cost," he said to Winston. +"Lucky to get that, I suppose. And we shall come out about even--no +profits for this six months. Still, we shall not run back, and that is +something gained." + +"We can count on the new goods, I'm pretty sure," returned Winston. +"I've had some inquiries, and sent samples. Some of the fancy +overcoatings are to be duplicated. That looks like business." + +It did, indeed. Jack sat at his desk, ruminating upon it, and feeling as +if at last they saw a light through the woods, when a step startled him, +because it was not the kind of step usually heard through that hall, so +he turned. It was Fred Lawrence, with a face of ashen pallor. Jack +sprang up, dazed with the vision. + +"I was to come and tell you--Maverick has gone to Depford Beach--Miss +Barry is very ill, and they have telegraphed for him. He left word--that +we were to come." + +The voice had a strained, unnatural sound; and the eyes looked like +those that have wept out a passionate sorrow, and are dry from despair. + +"Ill--Miss Barry--not Sylvie?" + +Could he speak of her in that calm tone? A passion of rage swelled in +Fred's heart, and flushed his face. Only a moment, for the great throb +of thankfulness that it was _not_ Sylvie restored him. + +"It is Miss Barry. You will go?" + +The tone had that peculiar, wandering cadence, as if somehow the soul +had dropped out of it. + +"Certainly," and Jack sprang up, puzzled by something quite intangible +in Fred's demeanor. + +"There are just twenty minutes to catch this train. The eight-ten does +not stop at Depford, you know." + +"True: I will just speak to Winston"-- + +"I will meet you at the station," returned Fred hurriedly, turning away. + +Much as he loved Jack, it seemed as if he could not walk to the station +with him. A feeling of profound pity for Sylvie rose in his heart. This +man, noble, generous, helpful, and affectionate, had not the finely +responsive nature Sylvie Barry needed. There would be some distance or +coldness, or, worse still, a fatal dissonance. One part of her nature +must remain unmated: her soul would have a language in which he would +not only be deaf, but wholly dumb. He could express no more than the +possibilities of his nature. It was not the fine and essential +difference between man and woman, but that more fatal gulf in which +there would appear no certain glimpses of a royally endowed love in all +its spontaneity, its glow of feeling, its variation of rich emotions. +How would she, with her versatile, changeful soul, with its cycle of +moods, ever live in the strong, steady prison of his heart! + +If he had thought perfect honor to his friend the greatest trial of his +life, what was this to be? He could not stay and see the slow, consuming +inward fire that would burn her soul to ashes while it was still in the +body. Thank God, he could go away, would go soon indeed, and never +return! He would nerve himself for these few days of torture. + +Jack waited on the platform until the last moment. The bell was ringing +when Fred appeared, and the strong arm grasped him. They sat side by +side, but were silent after one question as to the nature of Miss +Barry's illness. Never had they been further divided in heart, for in +the days when there had been no semblance of friendship the trivial +repulsion was not to be compared to this wall of adamant. Fred would not +have gone at all but for his mother's sake, although his heart was with +Sylvie through every instant of her trial. + +The house was very quiet when they reached it. Maverick came to meet +them, and was as sorely puzzled as Fred by the certain composure of +Darcy's face. + +"It was not altogether unexpected by her or myself," Maverick explained +in answer to their inquiries. "It is the result of a complication of +disorders, some of long standing and incurable; and the present effect +is partial paralysis. I hoped change of air and a quiet summer would +delay what we knew must come before many years." + +Darcy was astonished beyond measure. He would sooner have thought of his +own mother dying. True, he remembered now that Miss Barry had been about +less, and looked rather more delicate, and that through the summer she +had kept extremely quiet. So amazed was he, that at first he quite +forgot about Sylvie. + +Fred Lawrence paced the floor in an agony. Would the man never ask the +question that was torturing him, because he had no right to ask it +first! + +"How is my mother?" was his huskily tremulous inquiry, as he still went +up and down like a caged lion. + +"The shock was really terrible to her. Mrs. Darcy was invaluable," +bowing to Jack. "But for her, Sylvie would have been in +despair,"--looking furtively at the broad, slightly bowed figure. + +"Poor Sylvie!" he murmured, "poor Sylvie!" + +Fred turned to the door, compressing his lips over a throb of anguish. + +"Of course," began Maverick, "they must all be removed as soon as +possible. I think it would be well for Mrs. Lawrence and her daughter to +go to-morrow. Neither is strong enough to bear any prolonged strain." + +"Yes." Fred's heart swelled within him. They were all to be thrust aside +as quickly as possible. This was Sylvie's sorrow--sacred to her and +Jack. + +He went to his mother's room. She was lying on a couch, and was still +hysterical. From her he heard the story; and though, as ever, she was +selfishly alive to her own sufferings, she evinced an almost motherly +tenderness in her sympathy for Sylvie. + +Fred spoke of the return. If it could be to-morrow; if he could settle +them in their own home, and go quite away for a while! he thought. + +"And leave Sylvie here alone?" said his mother reproachfully. + +"I do not know what you can do for--for Miss Barry." How studiously cold +and calm the tone was! "The doctor wishes to remove her as speedily as +possible. I thought we would be out of the way, at least." + +"It _is_ terrible here; and if you considered it quite right--the summer +is so nearly ended, and the nights are growing cool,--yes, we might +go." + +They settled it over their quiet supper. "Miss Barry was comfortable," +Martha said, "and Miss Sylvie was lying down." + +Mrs. Lawrence retired early, her nerves were so shattered by the +terrible incident. Irene had disappeared; and, when Fred could stand his +loneliness no longer, he went to walk upon the beach. + +It was a moonless night, but with an intensely blue sky that gave the +Milky Way the appearance of a luminous trail across the heavens. The +murmur of the waves seemed sad and softened, and they touched the heart +of the man who paced beside them. Once he had held so much in his hands! +Surely he could have won the love of this woman then. Oh the blind, +insensate, idiotic folly! He could have thrust his own soul down here on +the sand, and trampled the very life out of it! + +Hark! some one was coming with hasty strides. With the wild instinct of +a wounded animal he turned to flee, and yet--whither should he go? + +The hand was on his shoulder. The well-known voice uttered his name, and +he turned at bay. + +"Sylvie"-- + +"Don't repeat her name to me!" he flung out, beside himself with +passionate jealousy and love. And then their eyes met, the one lurid +with an emotion well-nigh beyond control, the other wondering, pitiful, +amazed. + +"Yes, let me go my way. I had not meant you to know it; but once--yes, I +will confess it to you--I scorned you to her. God knows how I have +repented; for I was beside myself then, blinded with my own folly and +arrogance. And now you have won the woman I love, whom I shall always +love, and it will be at once my bliss and my punishment. Take your +triumph--tell her that her erring knight came back, and paid her the +highest homage of his soul." Then, in a sudden, changed tone, freighted +with a pain that pierced the other's heart, he cried, "Jack Darcy, I +have made amends for that selfish blunder of my young manhood. For weeks +I have endured such pangs, that Heaven grant you may never know! I have +walked by her side with polar wastes between us; I have touched her hand +with fingers that have had no more passion in them than the dead; I have +watched her dewy lips ripe with kisses, and remembered they were for +you; I have been true, _true_ in word and deed and desire, but in +thought I must love her to her life's end. I will go quite away"-- + +Up to this point his words had come with the heat and flow of a +lava-torrent. Now his impassioned voice faltered, trembled, and seemed +to lose itself. + +Jack Darcy stood transfixed. Was it a dream? Had Fred been so blind all +this while? He essayed speech; but the lines about his mouth were +constricted, and his breath came in quivering gasps, as the vision of +torture, suffered for honor's sake, rose up before him. Ah! if ever he +_had_ sinned,--and the temporary forgetfulness appeared such a little +thing to Jack's generous soul,--he had redeemed himself nobly. + +"Oh! you thought--she doesn't love me, Fred,--not in that way," and his +voice had the full, throbbing inflection of a great joy. "We are +friends, such as a man and a woman can truly be. Do you not understand +that some people are so alike they run in parallels? there are no angles +to create the intense friction of love, they are so evenly balanced that +there is no desire for possessorship, they have just as wholesome an +influence over each other remaining apart. There is hardly Sylvie's +equal in the world. Half that I am, I owe her." + +Had the night changed? Was the world flooded with a serene and tender +light? Was the moaning ocean filled with the wondrous music of immortal +love and longing, reaching out to glad fruition? Was that sudden rare +peace, creating a reverential atmosphere about him, an earnest of days +to come? He experienced a vivid lightness as if he were being borne on +clouds, while fragments of delicious remembrances floated through his +brain. The very refinement of his nature seemed to exalt him to that +high heaven of love, whose solemn mysteries it is not lawful to utter. + +"I cannot quite understand"--in a curious dreamy tone, still spelled by +the mastery of impassioned emotion--"how you could miss loving Sylvie; +how she, woman-like, could help adoring you for your strength and +heroism. Jack, if I were a woman, your very power would compel me to +worship you. I should love you, whether or no." + +Jack gave a bright, cheerful laugh. "It is that kind of strength you +like in Sylvie," he made answer. "She will always spur a man up to his +best. Her well-trained ear is quick to detect a false note in honor, +ambition, or love. She will never be any kind of dead weight, and yet +she is so deliciously womanly. There was a time--don't be vexed, +Fred,"--in a tender, pleading tone,--"when I thought you were not going +to be worthy of her. But that is past." + +"She rejected me then," Fred Lawrence said simply. "I offered her my +father's wealth, the home he had made, my own folly and arrogance and +self-conceit; and then, Jack, she boldly admitted that you were her +hero! When I consider the sort of man my training and surroundings made +me, I am filled with disgust. And yet I was no worse than hundreds of +others at the present day. When I look at my mother, Irene, and myself, +I feel that we were the product of the so-called culture of the day, +which substitutes shallow creeds, conventional manners, and systems, for +all that is pure, strong, and noble in manhood or womanhood. It is the +sort of Greek temperament on which we pride our intellectual selves. We +revel in a glowing, sensuous enjoyment, that intoxicates the brain, and +leads us to disdain the real work of the world. We are trained to +consider what society demands of us; we are polished and refined, and in +too many instances left morally weak and ignorant. No wonder so many of +us have not the strength to buffet across the stormy sea of hard +experience, but are lost in the great whirlpool!" + +Jack peered into the pale, handsome face by the faint light. Surely this +man had to make a tremendous effort for salvation, when nearly every +tide had been against him! He experienced a keener sympathy than he +could express; he drew the arm within his, and they paced up and down +again in silence, understanding dimly the sacred mysteries of each +other's hearts, that needed not to be dragged to open day for +inspection. In a pure friendship, faith is the highest element: with +that there is supreme content; without it, distrust gnaws like a +canker-worm. + +They heard the little church-clock striking ten, and turned their steps +toward the house. On the porch, Fred paused a moment, while an icy fear +seemed to wring every pulse. He turned cold with apprehension. + +"What if I have been deluding myself!" he cried with sudden intensity. +"Even if you and she could not love, she may have no such regard for me +as I desire. I could not endure her pity." + +A warm, hopeful, generous smile illumined Jack Darcy's face. His hand +thrilled with an electric force and sympathy. + +"I have no fear," he answered; "but I will not dim the grace of your +exquisite joy by any prediction." + +They entered the quiet room. Dr. Maverick came out to meet them. + +"Miss Sylvie is asleep," he said. "Miss Barry is comparatively +comfortable. Hester will stay with her through the night. I have sent +your mother to bed," nodding to Jack. "I do not know what we should have +done without her. I shall camp down on the sofa, to be within call; and +to-morrow we had better begin the process of removal." + +"I had arranged to take my family," remarked Fred Lawrence, not exactly +certain now that it was best. + +"Your house must be opened and aired thoroughly, before any one goes +into it. So must Miss Barry's. Miss Morgan will see to this, I think. I +am compelled to return in the early morning train, for I have some +critical cases. One of you had better remain here." + +He looked at Jack as he said this, but was amazed at the frank answer,-- + +"Fred will remain." + +He studied Jack with almost angry intentness. Had he been so mistaken in +the man? Could he so calmly leave the woman he loved to bear her +terrible trial alone, or did he think his mother's sympathy sufficient +for her? And, although there were many admirable qualities in Fred +Lawrence, the two had never fraternized with the deep cordiality that +must underlie all friendships. They had not the magnetic attraction for +each other that Darcy held for both. + +"What do you think of Miss Barry?" the latter asked hesitatingly. + +"It is the beginning of the end;" and Maverick sighed, as he thought of +the impotence of human skill past a certain point. "Miss Barry consulted +me a year ago, and was not in ignorance; but I hoped, nay, felt assured, +with care and quiet her life might be prolonged. She may linger some +months, and it may all be ended in a week. Good heavens! what a shock +for Miss Sylvie!" + +He took two or three turns across the floor. + +"Go," he said abruptly, with an imperious wave of the hand. Then, a +little scornfully, "You will both be better in bed. Lawrence looks as if +I might have him for a patient to-morrow; but, Jack, are you made out of +adamant?" + +The thrust hurt him, but Maverick was not in a pitying mood. Indeed, +just at this moment his temper was savage. He had witnessed the pain +and the suffering of the woman he had begun to love, until it had been +hard to refrain from taking her in his strong arms, and sheltering her +from the keenest pangs. + +The household remained the next morning as he had ordered. He was rather +sulky all the way up in the train with Jack; but a talk with brisk, +pungent Miss Morgan quite restored him. + +"Open the houses, and build fires immediately," he commanded. "Burn up +and blow out the confined air, that there shall be no pestilential foes +to greet them on their own hearths." + +He went down again that evening. If he had been annoyed before, he was +puzzled now. There had been no word spoken between Fred and Sylvie; but +the now, to her, sweet knowledge had come in a gesture, a glance, that +could no more be described than the fine pulse of love can be dissected. +She seemed to have waited breathless for just this strength and support. +A hasty lover might have placed himself in the foreground. It was as if +he said, "Here is my love, take it, use it, rely upon it; you cannot +wear it out, you cannot wound or hurt it by any thing that may look like +coldness; it is a blessed atmosphere to surround you until you stretch +out your hand, and draw me into your very soul. I have been trained in +patience and humility; only let me prove myself worthy in your eyes." + +Three days after, they all came up to Yerbury. The evening before, Irene +Lawrence had gone to Sylvie's room, and found her kneeling by the open +window, her face turned heavenward in a wordless prayer for strength. +She knelt beside her, she took the passive hands in hers, she even +touched her own cold lips to the colder forehead of the other. + +"Sylvie,"--the tone still had the awful dreariness of that utter inward +living,--"Sylvie, I have been drawn to you in this your anguish by some +power quite outside of myself. I think we have always liked each other +in a curious way, but we were neither of us sentimental girls. I could +not cry over you now, nor kiss you with effusive fondness; but I wish, +oh, how passionately I wish, I could save you one pang! I wish I could +die in _her_ place! My life is of so little value"-- + +"I believe God is right," Sylvie answered with a great struggle. "She +has used her life so well; she has garnered ripened sheaves of mercy and +kindliness and good works. There is not only golden wheat, but the +sweetness of rose and violet, the pungent purity and strength of +heliotrope, the use, the beauty, every thing. She is ready." + +"And I am not worthy to be taken even for a ransom!" said the proud, +cold voice, not betraying any inward hurt. + +"God does not mean that. You are to shape your life to something better. +Irene, did you ever think how easy it might be to die for those we love, +but oh, so hard to live for _them_, not ourselves!" + +Irene rose, and stood there like a statue. Sylvie felt for the hand, +pressed it to her lips, folded it about her chin in a softly caressing +manner. How had Irene become dear to her? + +"I am no heroine, Sylvie. I have been tossed up by the breakers of +fortune, and am out of joint, broken, bruised, of no avail." + +"You can comfort _me_. You can help to give me strength and sympathy. +You can become a warm, living, active woman. There is always room for +such in the world, and a work for them to do. God never put an idle or +useless thing in the world, much more a human soul; and it must go sadly +astray before it comes to despair. Irene, you will not shut your heart +again, you will turn its warm side to me, you will take me in, with my +great sorrow;" and she buried her face in the other's dress, with a +shivering sob. + +"I will do--what you wish. I am physically strong again. Let me help +you--anywhere, anyhow. You were so good and patient through my dreary +time." + +Then she stole softly away, astonished at herself. Within was still the +coldness of Alpine glaciers. But oh, if she might be warmed! + +Miss Barry's journey was performed in an easy carriage. A paralysis of +the lower limbs had supervened; but otherwise she had rallied a little, +and her mind was clear and cheerful. There was only to be a peaceful +waiting for the end, no feverish fluctuations of hope and fear. It was +curious how they settled themselves to the fact. A nurse was installed +for night watching and the more onerous part; and the invalid's room +took on a pleasant aspect,--Christiana waiting on this side of the +river. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +FOR the first time in his life, and for some unfathomable cause, Jack +Darcy found business cares irksome. Balance-time was at hand. He was a +little tired of the dreary round. The men's disaffection re-acted upon +him. With his keen and intelligent faculty of making the best of every +thing, he was disappointed because he had failed to inspire others with +it. + +"It's not so bad, after all. We have nothing that can be passed to +capital, but we have held our own. Only, there is no dividend for the +men." + +"I'll explain that to them," exclaimed Winston with a confident nod. + +He did, and he had a rather stormy venture. All the old arguments and +agreements had to be gone over. Men unaccustomed to business are quick +in prosperity and stupid in adversity. They only had three-quarter +wages: why should they be called upon to lose beside? It was little +enough, and waiting five years,--and no one knew,--the whole thing might +go to smash another year! A few wished, with an oath, that they were +well out of it. They would never be bamboozled into any co-operative +scheme again. + +The grumbling, grew louder and louder. It was discussed at Keppler's +over beer and bad whiskey, and quite inflammatory speeches were made. +Then Winston called the mill-hands together. + +"My men," said he, "you know we opened the mills in starvation-times. +Every man who could raise fifty dollars was entitled to a half-share of +the capital, and he who could not was to have a little capital made off +of the savings of his labor. Last year you were all pleased and merry +and satisfied, because we made something: this year it has been the +reverse, though I declare to you, I, for one, have worked twice as hard. +Now, we shall never do any thing if we are all going to row different +ways. It must be the long pull, the strong pull, and the pull all +together. You know that if any operative became dissatisfied, and left, +his share was forfeited to the fund for the sick and disabled. Many of +you _are_ dissatisfied; but maybe you won't leave, thinking of last +year's money. Now, I want to say, every such man who would like to +_sell_ his share, may do so. I have had some applications from new men, +that I have been very sorry to refuse. I shall open a book, and any man +who wants to go out may put down his name there, and, just as fast as +the shares are resold, he can go; _but he never comes back into Hope +Mills again_! Just think it over, and decide in the course of a few +days." + +"O Winston!" cried Jack, "I am afraid there will be a stampede!" + +"You're nervous and blue, Darcy. Now, you see if this isn't the very +best move. There were two men here the other day from Little Falls. They +had been taking out half their wages in store-pay, and the concern burst +up, owing them the other half. They knew of a dozen men, not beggarly +poor either, who would be glad to come. I'll bet my old hat there don't +six men go out. Come, now!" + +"You can't tempt me with your old hat," returned Jack laughingly. "Make +it a treat at Kit Connelly's." + +"Agreed. We'll take in the household." + +A dozen names were put down on the first day, two on the second, then +there was a lull. Afterward four were erased; and, when it came to the +actual pinch, five men went out, two of them very reluctantly. + +"I felt so sorry for Davy," said Jack when they had made the transfers. +"He didn't want to go, and I do not believe he would if it had not been +for his brother-in-law." + +"A good lesson for all parties. There will not be any grumbling for some +time to come, I'll warrant. It is rather irregular business; but +sometimes you can't wait for a regular surgeon, or the patient would be +past help." + +Events pointed the lesson pretty forcibly. By the middle of October +there was a sudden rush of orders. Prices rallied a little. There were +some tremendous bankruptcies, but it seemed more in speculation than +legitimate industry. The new men brought a fresh infusion of spirit and +energy. One of them, a small, middle-aged man, Gilman by name, who had +once been manager and had a share in a mill that came to grief through a +defaulting cashier who had successfully forged the name of the firm, was +especially enthusiastic about the system. Jack admitted that the +culmination of the discontent was the very best thing that had happened +for the mill. + +Davy went almost wild over his mistake, cursed his brother-in-law +roundly, and forbade his wife to visit her brother's household. Nothing +to do, not even three-quarter wages to live upon, with cheap coal and +cheap flour. He even waylaid Darcy, and begged to be taken back without +any share. + +"I'm sorry, Davy, but it cannot be done. We resolved, whatever happened, +we would not go back on our word. You had time enough to think it over." + +"Just you wait," said Price, when he heard this. "They've three years +more to wade through, and they'll never hold together all that time. It +has a very queer look, too, that, just as soon as they shoved us out, +they began to make money again. Bob Winston's the sort of fellow to look +out for himself, and he had this thing all cut and dried." + +"Look here," remarked a listener, "you signed your own selves out. +Nobody made you. I haven't any faith in the scheme, but I like truth for +all that." + +The men worked with a will. The monthly club meetings took on a new +interest; and they decided, if the prosperity continued, to open a +co-operative store another year. They were growing more thoughtful and +intelligent, and Gilman's influence upon them was excellent, while his +experiences widened their views. A little fresh blood certainly worked +no harm. + +Jack was very cheery again. It seemed to him they had pulled through the +worst. The larger outlook was better: goods were going abroad, and money +or bonds were coming back. Here and there some new enterprise started, +but still there were hundreds of men out of employment. Yerbury showed +various signs of a new thriftiness. The farms about were better managed. +Some idle men had ventured to hire a little ground the past summer, and +raise sufficient to have something over for their trouble. The Webbers +succeeded beautifully. Of course there were slurs about a Dutchman +living on a cabbage a week, but every one knew the Webbers were not that +kind. What Germans were able to do nicely and wisely, Americans might +copy to their profit. When some of the natives were out of work, they +patched up their fences, painted a bit, laid a bad place in the +sidewalk, instead of hanging round a saloon. + +As for those who were living through the sad sweet lesson of loving and +losing, time went on with them also. If they could have stayed his hand! +Sylvie recovered from the first shock: she could never suffer quite so +intensely again, for there was one to share her least thought, her most +trivial to her greatest pain. The explanation had come about very +gently, making only a small ripple. Mrs. Lawrence was delighted: she +always had liked Sylvie, and she was certain that Fred was a better +match than Jack Darcy, though she admitted he was remarkable for a +young man with no better opportunities. + +Miss Barry was truly satisfied. She would cling to her little dream of +"orders" and "kinds" to the last, but she always did it in an +unobtrusive way. She had felt all her life long, rather all _their_ +lives, that they were made for one another. Less practically clear-eyed +than her young niece,--brought up in the active reasoning and doing of +to-day, rather than the doctrine of passive suffering that had been in +the old creed for women,--she would have assented when Sylvie refused. +To be sure, if Jack Darcy had won her he would have had a delicate and +sincere welcome; but I think her eye would never have lighted with the +true mother-love at his coming, as it did at Fred's. The worth of his +years of refinement and polish came out now. He never seemed at loss or +awkward in the sickroom. If he was reading, he warily noted the first +droop of the eyes; he could tell by the lines in her face when talking +wearied her, or when she preferred being alone. Every thing between them +was harmonious. + +She amazed even Dr. Maverick by her improvement, though she held her +life even yet on the same frail tenure. She really hoped to live until +spring, when she should plan for Sylvie's marriage. Fred had made a very +profitable engagement with the widow he had spoken of, and was to +furnish designs for the interior of her house and furniture. There was +to be one purely Grecian room, one on the old Roman model, a sunset room +where every thing was to be in accord, and a "sea" room fit for Naiads +or Undines. Sylvie was intensely interested. This Mrs. Spottiswoode was +young and handsome, the widow of a man nearly three times her age, and +childless. + +Fred Lawrence was proud to have something of his very own to offer +Sylvie, and she took it as the highest of all compliments. She did like +the profession, if that it could be called; for it brought them nearer +together, it was something they could both share. She copied designs +and art essays, she drew patterns, she painted now and then, days when +Miss Barry was at her best. She would make of herself something that +should enhance Fred's pride in her,--as if he was not proud enough +already! + +The one least contented with all this was Philip Maverick. + +"I never was so thunderstruck in all my life! That's just the word to +express it, for it left me dazed as the blackness does after the +lightning. I would have sworn, Jack, that she loved you, and you loved +her. Good heavens! if I had not believed that, if I had not been too +honorable to seek to play a friend a scurvy trick, it would have gone +hard with me if I had not won her for myself." + +"Honestly, you would not have succeeded, Maverick. Neither would she +have married me. I think she belonged to Fred from the beginning. He +used to hate girls, judging from his sisters, no doubt, but he always +liked Sylvie. I was afraid of girls,--their sharp eyes and sharper +tongues,--but I liked her too; yet in my own mind he always had the +first claim. And they will be suited in the farthest fibre of each +soul." + +"He is not half worthy of her!" growled Maverick. + +"Who is?" There was a peculiar tender intonation in the voice. "Sylvie +Barry's womanhood is unique, like some rare gem. She has the sparkle but +not the hardness of a diamond; the warmth and vividness of the ruby, but +not its heats; the serenity of the sapphire, and yet to me that is +always cold. Rather I think she is a changeful opal with all hues and +tints and surprises." + +"And yet you have never loved her!" in intense surprise. + +"I worship her," said Jack reverentially. "I should as soon think of +wooing an angel." + +"And yet this man, who is not as strong, or noble, or high in purpose, +takes her with your consent. You can see her sit down at his feet, wind +her own rich, pure, sustaining life-melody about him, to make his path +seem like going through an enchanted land. She has genius, but it will +ever linger in the shadow of his; it will help, and purify, and shape +his; she will give her whole soul to the work. Is he worth the best +there is in such a woman as Sylvie Barry?" + +"No; and we never go by our deserts when a woman loves us," said Jack, +with frank honesty. + +"I am quite sure you will marry a woman I shall hate," returned Maverick +testily. + +Jack laughed. "Marrying has not been much in my thoughts;" and yet his +fair face flushed. "I have to fight Hope Mills out to the end first." + +But just now there did not seem much of a prospect for fighting, though +he firmly believed he should always be on guard after this. + +There was one other person in this little circle, who was of much +interest to the others, even if it was for the most part unspoken. +Maverick had tried to rouse Irene Lawrence from her lethargy by appeals +of different kinds. She certainly was not an intellectual woman, though +she had a strong and well-cultivated mind, and was accomplished in many +ways,--society accomplishments, with a view to the admiration they might +win. He could seem to strike no electric spark, though he succeeded in +restoring her to health. Every week of her stay at Depford Beach, she +had improved; but there was the old, dreary, listless life. She used to +think herself, if some shock like that of an earthquake could lift her +completely out of it! but none came. + +For it could not be said that Miss Barry's illness was any shock to her. +People were sick, and died, and their perplexity was at an end. A +generous, kindly life like this of Miss Barry's would have its +reward--if any life ever was rewarded. She did not doubt so much: she +had never really believed. + +As she said to Sylvie, something stronger than herself had sent her that +night,--one of those powerful, impelling influences that few can resist. +And Sylvie was wise enough not to lose her hold. She drew her in very +gently, she preached no sermon, she asked favors frankly. + +"I want you to take my pony-carriage," she said one day, after their +return to Yerbury. "I ought to go out every day, and if you come with it +I shall; but if I am left to my own fancies, there will be so much to +occupy me. Then, too, companionship is always very tempting." + +"I should be glad to do any thing for you," was the quiet, unemotional +reply. + +So the carriage was brought every morning to the door. It seemed so odd, +the day she first drove around Yerbury! Unconsciously the old +stateliness returned. Her heart swelled with contradictory phases of +thought and feeling. She was too really proud to suffer from the stings +of petty vanity. She knew there were people who stared at Miss Lawrence; +and she allowed them to stare with the serenity of a queen, going her +way unmoved. + +She and Sylvie went through lanes and by-ways this gorgeous October day. +Her heart was strangely touched by the glory, by the odorous air, the +softened sounds, and brooding tenderness. Sylvie had a few errands to +some old parishioners of her aunt's; and, while she went in cottages, +Irene sat with the reins idly in her hands. There was much in the world +she had never seen, though she had climbed Alps, and wandered in sunny +vales. The ripeness and perfection of this midday was exhilarating. They +talked in little snatches, and then were silent. + +Coming back they drove through the town: it was nearer. Crossing over to +Larch Avenue, a tall figure confronted them. Sylvie bowed, and looked +straight on, remembering such a rencounter years agone. Irene Lawrence +turned her head with its proudest poise, but her face flushed scarlet +under her veil. She would have made the _amende honorable_ then, if it +had taken all the strength of her soul. + +She and Jack Darcy had met occasionally through the summer. Mrs. +Lawrence rather liked to talk mill affairs with him, and his name was +quite a familiar one in their household. Now that it had come, she was +rather glad to offer this wordless apology for a crime against +good-breeding, that only a rude young girl could be guilty of, to one +she considered her inferior. + +She had wondered more than once, why that long-ago evening at Sylvie's +should haunt her,--the talk of costumes, the bright chat, the dainty +ripples of laughter, and that face with its cool, steady power. If it +had been that of any other man, she would have pitted herself against +it, and conquered, she fancied. Now conquests were things of the past. +She was not one of your soft, maudlin women, who sigh for a little love. +She looked straight into the coming years, and saw herself always alone, +with no feeling of pity or regret. + +As for Jack Darcy, when they had passed, he turned and looked after +them,--after _her_, in her state and dignity. He held one secret of her +life that she would never know. He had questioned Maverick, who learned +that she had no remembrance of going out that night. He had bound Fred +over to a most willing secrecy. + +Ah, Jack! any remembrance that you can carry so guardedly in your soul +is a dangerous thing,--a spark that may kindle a great fire "that many +waters cannot quench!" + +Sylvie did not relinquish her own outside interests. The school that had +had so small a beginning was now merged into a regular enterprise, and +been re-christened an Industrial School. It had a permanent teacher, and +occupied the whole house, the rent being paid by some benevolent +gentlemen. A committee of ladies assisted in the different classes. The +store was kept open, one side being reserved for articles of clothing +or fancy goods made by the pupils, the other as a bakery on a limited +scale, and a lunch-counter. It certainly was doing a good work. Some +young girls, after being trained, had been provided with service places, +and had given excellent satisfaction. Irene went through it one day with +Sylvie, and was oddly interested. + +"I wish I had a genius of some kind," she said abruptly to Sylvie +afterward. "If I could write a book, or paint a picture, or design +exquisite adornments, or if I could hold the world spell-bound by my +voice"-- + +"You do sing," returned Sylvie. "Auntie was speaking of it yesterday. +She said, 'How I should like to hear Miss Lawrence sing some of her +pathetic old ballads!'" + +"You know all the sweet and tender ones." + +"I sing mine over daily," and Sylvie laughed with a dainty inflection. + +Irene went home, and opened her piano. It might have made jarring +discord, but for Fred's thoughtfulness. She found it was in perfect +tune. + +Was it the music that brought a curious intensity to her after all these +long, dreary months? Her fingers seemed a little stiff at first, and +some things had gone out of her mind. Then she dropped her face into her +hands, and thought. + +"It is my only gift," she said slowly. "When they are married I will not +be a burthen on them: I can make my way. I shall never try to think of +marriage again;" and she shuddered. + +"I declare, you are quite like yourself," said her mother that evening. + +The weeks went on. Miss Barry was making plans for her niece. She could +not live here alone, even for a few months. And she longed to see her +married. Though the others had almost forgotten how surely her days were +numbered, she had not. + +Fred assented delicately to her proposal. + +"It is not as if there were only your income," she said with a touch of +pride. "Sylvie will have enough to keep the old house as it is kept now, +and your mother and sister have some claims on you. Still, for her +sake"-- + +Sylvie would fain have put it off, but she was gently overruled. The +wedding-garments were ordered, the day appointed. A quiet marriage in +the pretty parlor, with only a few friends. They brought Miss Barry down +stairs, and she listened while her darling reverently repeated her vows. +They kissed the new bride while the tears were shining in her eyes, and +sent her on a brief wedding-journey with heartfelt blessings. Maverick +was to telegraph to them every day. + +Fred Lawrence could hardly believe his happiness. They were like two +children out on a pleasure-excursion, not needing to realize the gravity +of life in these golden days. What cared they for pale winter suns and +shivering blasts! + +Long ago he had planned a brilliant tour to Europe for her. He had gone +over it all, and would only have been bored; but it was the thing to do, +and he might enjoy her fresh delight in it. But to both of them--to him +especially--had come the higher revelations of life. It is the +aggregation of individual characteristics that makes the sum-total of +national character; and though at first retrenchment and economy seemed +hideous words to the pleasure-loving, easy-going, self-indulgent souls +nursed in the lap of prosperity, there was coming a realization to those +who had fought their way valiantly across the yawning gulf, that the hot +race for show, the desire to exceed one another, was not a lofty aim for +an immortal soul, hardly for a cultured nature. + +They both understood that beauty and grandeur were not far-off, hardly +attained ideals, and that the great pleasures were set in the world +rather as incentives and rewards, than highly seasoned daily food which +must inevitably produce satiety. Some time, when they had earned this +glorious vacation, they would take it hungering with the healthy +appetite of a well-trained soul. At present the duty was to deny one's +self firmly and contentedly, to round off the sharp corners, to shape +the daily living to high, pure purposes; so that the greater excellences +of Art should not despise the minor forms, the steps whereby true +perfection was attained, the tangled threads that often required more +real genius to comprehend than the one great moment of inspiration. + +They came home again fresh and bright, with the peculiar fragrance of a +new life about them, just as you shall smell spring in the woods on some +mild, sunny February day. Fred fluctuated between office and city, quite +a prophet of household art, welcomed warmly back to the old circles +which had so quietly dropped him for a while. Is there not a great deal +of this unconscious proving of the fine metal of souls in the world? We +cry out as we are thrust aside, or given some hard task to do; we wonder +people do not hold out kindly hands, smile with sympathetic eyes; and +yet their very help might weaken us. When we have beaten our way across +with the roar of the distant waves still in our ears, the shadows of the +black, fierce, jagged cliff hardly faded, the taste of the brackish +spray still lingering on our lips, an exultant thrill speeds through +every nerve as we clasp a hand that has had to buffet through the same +fateful current. + +Early in April Miss Barry had another seizure, a fatal stroke this time. +For a few days she lay in sweet content; and then dropped peacefully out +of existence. + +It seems always a mystery, why such earnest, useful souls, doing that +highest of all work,--a pure, unselfish charity,--should be taken away, +and the slothful, dependent, ease-loving, selfish ones left. The Darcys +felt that Mrs. Lawrence could have been spared much more easily, and +served a higher economy in point of usefulness. But God, who sees every +end from the beginning, and is all-wise, judges differently. Miss Barry +had done her work, no light life-task either. Only God knew what it had +been, days of toil and nights of watching and prayer, such pain as only +a strong soul could have kept to itself, and smiled over. Yet she had +her exceeding sweet reward in this world,--years of peace and comfort, +the child-love she had missed in one way, supplied in another, the hope +of her days crowned more wisely by the waiting. + +They did not think it worth while to keep up the two households; indeed, +Mrs. Lawrence would not have been separated from her son: so she and +Irene brought their worldly possessions over to Larch Avenue. The old +house was large enough. Sylvie was a courteous and charming mistress; +though Fred realized, with the sensitiveness of true tender love, the +burthen he had brought to her. + +"It is not without its wise compensation," she said, tears in her sunny +brown eyes. "You see, I shall miss auntie so much less! She would not +desire me to grieve despairingly for her, and here is the new claim to +take her place. Beside," with a sad yet arch smile, "we shall have to +strive against the temptation to selfishness that besets newly married +people, when their pursuits are identical, as ours are. It will give a +greater breadth, a purer tone, to our lives." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +HOPE MILLS passed through a very prosperous six months. With some new +processes, invented by the combined energy and ingenuity of the men, +they made a new line of goods which was a perfect success. Interest and +discount vanished; and there was a snug balance in the bank, of which +every man was duly proud. They were beginning, too, to take a great +interest in the finances of the country, and to see that a stable +currency and wise economy and honesty were the best friends to +commercial and industrial prosperity. One little incident made them +exceedingly jubilant. + +They had been undersold, in the same line of goods, with quite a large +customer. Winston was rather blue about it at first, then laughed it off +as one of the fluctuations of trade. To his great surprise, six months +after, he received the largest order for goods that had yet been sent. + + "We have been much deceived in the quality of + cloths from Yates, Collins, & Co.," ran the note. + "They do not stand wear, though they resemble + yours so closely. Our customers have made numerous + complaints, and desire the old stock, which we are + glad to order again. + + "MILES, CHAMBERS, & CO." + +This was put up on the bulletin-board, and discussed with much pride at +the club. Every man had an interest in it, and an ambition to excel in +his particular branch. It paid in the long-run to be honest; and, though +there might be a higher principle than remuneration, that was not a bad +test, after all. + +So the third summer opened brilliantly. Yardley, Gilman, and four others +drew up an agreement for a co-operative store. They hired one man who +had been a very successful buyer for a large grocery-firm, which had +failed, and took with it his small invested capital. He was to keep the +books, take orders, and do the buying, subject to the advisement of the +managers. A certain low per cent of profits was agreed upon, just +enough, they calculated, to pay expenses; and the goods were to be +offered as low as possible for cash. The superior quality and reduced +price, they decided, would be more agreeable to most of the men than a +small balance at the end of the year. An account was to be kept with +every member, and the agreement to remain in force one year from date. + +And yet there are shoals and quicksands for prosperity, as well as +yawning abysses for adversity. There were people in Yerbury--not bad +souls either--who were not content to allow the world to revolve on any +axis but their own. They could see their neighbors' planets go to +destruction with equanimity--following some law of nature or ethics that +regulated supply and demand of any force, in their estimation; but when +some bright particular star flashed out of the orbit they had set for +it, of course it was beyond the pale of safety. There has always been a +great deal of just such obstinacy in the world, just such narrow +prescribing, and yet--"it does move." + +One of the favorite objections of these wiseacres was, that Hope Mills +was founded on a wrong basis. Who knew _just exactly_ what amount of +goods Winston sold? Well, there was the amount manufactured,--the amount +on hand every six months. True,--with a disbelieving shake of the +head,--but he was up in the ways of the world; and what would hinder +him, Ananias-like, from keeping back part of the price? When this was +shown to be an utter impossibility, they still were quite sure Winston +harbored in his secret soul some plan for cheating the workmen at the +last. Here would be all this accumulation of capital, and by some +successful _coup-d'état_ Winston and Darcy would swoop down upon it, and +take the lion's share. They were very much afraid that the workmen were +going to be wronged in some underhand way. A defaulting cashier, +unprincipled managers, thieves and forgers, committed their crimes in an +out-and-out way; but there was going to be a profound mystery about +this--the most simple and above-board management, when every man knew, +every six months, the best and the worst of the details. + +Employment was becoming more general all through the country. Everybody +drew a long breath, and decided that the grinding times of depression +had passed. We would soon be back to the brilliant era of past +prosperity. + +And then there arose a new light in the labor horizon, a prophet who had +discovered the magic key to the workingmen's paradise, and it had only +to be turned by themselves, to gain entrance. Wherever he went, he was +hailed with acclamation. + +It was the old, old war upon capital, the old seductive science of +equalizing things, values, money. Every poor man in the country had a +better right to a cottage and garden and a few hours of leisure, than +these few magnates to grasp every thing in their own hands, to roll in +luxury, to feast in magnificence, to clothe their daughters in silks, +velvets, and diamonds--it was to be noted that Mr. McPherson wore an +immense diamond, but it was to be presumed that his wife or daughter did +_not_. Everywhere one could see the rich growing richer, the poor +poorer, the workman trodden down, brought to the level of slavery with +his long hours and scanty wages. Where was it to end but in a nation of +paupers, of thieves, of criminals of every grade? for, when you made a +brute of a man, there came a time when he turned a brute's hand against +you. This had been the underlying cause of all the world's great +struggles: it had uncrowned kings, it had razed thrones, it had swept +states. There were bits of distorted historical facts, fallacious but +brilliant reasoning, and much bombast. + +They heard of him in this city and that, and there was a great deal said +about the cordiality with which he greeted "the horny-handed son of +toil." No town was so small that he disdained it, no city so great that +he feared it. There had been "demonstrations," but he seemed proud of +his defiance of danger. + +Men who could not altogether approve of him admitted that he was +"smart," that he uttered a good many truths, half-truths they were, +dressed up in specious falsehoods, all the more dangerous, since the +world does pay homage to virtue and truth. They were troublesome +questions: the great difficulty was the haste made in settling them. A +balance will finally adjust itself, though there may be many vibrations +at first. + +It was a fact much to be regretted, that with returning prosperity the +gin-mills and beer-shops of Yerbury had, as a general thing, increased +in their business. A notable instance to the contrary, however, was +Keppler's saloon. It had depended a good deal on the men from Hope Mills +and the iron-works. The latter had been closed so long; and, although +the coffee-house did not seem much of a rival at first, it had gone on +steadily, and given the men time to think. It was not simply the one +glass of beer they took to wash down their midday lunch, but the +treating when a crowd gathered, the many drinks during a heated +discussion of an evening. Not half a dozen of the mill-hands went there +now, so occupied had their minds become with other matters. Keppler's +lease was not out, and his rent was high for the times; he had lost +money and customers, and felt sore over it; he had a grudge against +Jack Darcy as the exponent of a system that interfered with his profits. + +McPherson was discussed over pipes and ale one warm June evening, with +brains cleared, of course, by frequent potations and stifling smoke. It +was proposed that he should be invited to lecture at Yerbury. + +"I like to see fair play!" cried Keppler. "These fellows over +here"--nodding toward the mill--"have had it all their own way because +they took up a lot of starving men in dull times. That was all well +enough,--praise-worthy--praise-w-o-r-thy," with a long accent. "But +things have changed now,--changed!" with a confident nod. "I'd like to +hear what the man has to say. You see, he has come up from the ranks, he +has been poor himself!" + +So the ball was put in motion. McPherson's speech at Millville, a great +laboring-centre, was read aloud with frequent cheering. And the +laboring-men at Yerbury began to wonder why wages were not higher, when +so many shops were running on full time! Somebody was making a great +deal of money: _they_ could barely live. Bread and meat had not fallen +in the ratio of wages. It was still next door to starvation. + +Finally some self-constituted labor-committee sent the letter of +invitation, and received a cordial and flattering reply. Mr. McPherson +had heard of Yerbury. He would be only too glad to come among them in +his humble capacity, and shed what light he could upon the side of right +and truth; raise his voice for the oppressed against the oppressor. And +he mentioned that open-air meetings were generally more successful. + +They put up a platform on the Common, the largest park in Yerbury. The +day was very fine, not too hot, and a shower the evening before had laid +the dust. At precisely four, a deputation awaited Mr. McPherson and his +party at the station, escorted them to the Bedell House to refresh, and +then to the grand hall of nature, with its waving arches of glistening +green overhead. + +Already a great concourse had assembled. Mr. McPherson mounted his +rostrum, and, after a few preliminary flourishes, began in a clear, +strong tone, that had the power of concentrating the attention of his +audience. He went back centuries, and proved that from the very +beginning of all industries there had been the desire to oppress, that +the working-classes had to combine and fight for every advantage gained, +to wrest from kings, peers, masters, even equals, the privileges they +held to-day. Plainly, capital was a tyrant fattening on unpaid toil. +"Were not the rich always in the ranks of capital, always against the +poor man? They squeezed him to the utmost when they had need, then they +flung him away. Did it matter to them if his wife and children starved? +If he stole a loaf of bread to appease the pangs of hunger, he was sent +to prison; but if a bank president stole half a million, he went +to--Europe! [Laughter and applause.] Does the capitalist employ the +laborer in order that there shall be fewer starving men in the country? +It comes in the market, and buys at the lowest price, solely for its own +benefit. It does not concern capital, whether this man can support wife +and children on such a pittance: what business has he with wife and +children! If the man drops at the work-bench, the victim of long hours, +exhaustive toil, insufficient food, the town will thrust him into a +pauper's grave, and another will fill his place. Even negro-slavery was +more noble than this: it was to the master's interest that the slave +should be well fed. Capital was shrewd, selfish, experienced, astute, +strong: labor was kept in ignorance lest it might learn its worth, its +rights; it was half-starved that it might be weak; it was driven from +pillar to post with a more cruel than slave-driver's whip, that it might +never be able to perfect a successful organization." + +And so on and on. The crowd increased. The six-o'clock bells rang, and +the procession from shops wended their way thither, many from curiosity, +some from a hope of a new truth, and not a few filled with a secret +sense of wrong and dissatisfaction. Mr. McPherson was still belaboring +capital. Now he had declared it "a stupendous fraud, a hollow bubble, a +reputation for wealth where no wealth existed, a fictitious claim for +what was not, but which still managed to hold the workman in its iron +grasp; the concentrated labor of the men, not the lawful working +interest of money. Some way this system of evil was going to be uprooted +by men standing firm, refusing the wages of sweat and blood; and in the +general overturn by legislation of state and country, every man was to +have a farm or a factory, to quit work in the middle of the afternoon, +and sit with folded hands on his own door-step, his own master, a free +man!" [Great shouting and applause.] + +He talked until seven, and wound up at last with a desperate but covert +onslaught on Hope Mills. "No two men or six men, or company of any kind, +had a right to band together to starve not only the men in their own +town, but the laborers throughout the world, by so reducing wages for +their own sole benefit; and every workman who submitted to have these +chains forged around body and soul, no matter by what specious +expedient, was a worse traitor, a more cruel oppressor of wife and +children, than the red-handed capital that stood ready to make him a +slave!" + +There was an immense deal of cheering and applause. Mr. McPherson was +invited to supper at the Bedell House by a deputation of working-men, +though I think there were few horny-handed ones among them. Liquors +flowed freely, and the feast was rather noisy. A purse was handed to him +when he went away--he was too noble to make any charge when he spoke in +behalf of a cause so near his heart. + +The seed was sown, and it is too true that "foul weeds grow apace." +There were club-meetings and union-meetings. The shoe-factory, which had +struggled hard to get on its legs again, soon became a hotbed of +discontent. The hatters held meetings, the paper-makers were aroused, +and then began preparation for another grand strike. The weavers from +Coldbridge and Stilford sent over a deputation to Hope Mills, warning, +exhorting, and threatening. "No system," said they, "should interfere +with mutual strength and protection." + +And this was not all. It seemed as if Yerbury meant to make them the +scape-goat of every thing. Robert Winston was broadly caricatured; and +there was a bit of insulting abuse, calling them traders in their +brethren's blood, pasted up on the gate-post. "The Evening Transcript" +went over the system of co-operation, and showed to its own +satisfaction, that it was a system full of errors and miscalculations +based on the credulity of workmen. It hinted that the same mysterious +cause which reduced profits last year would reduce them again next year, +that at the end of the five years the bread and cheese would come out +just even, although there had been a great deal more bread than cheese, +as everybody knew. If the corporation were working for the best +interests of the men, why had they not sold off stock when every one +knew prices were going permanently down, instead of waiting to sell it +below cost? Why had they paid exorbitant prices for wool when the market +was flooded with it? Why had they not done this or that? until one +wondered why, understanding the woollen-business so well, and being able +to see just where enormous profits could be made, and losses avoided, +they had not all gone into it themselves. The article wound up with a +covert and insulting insinuation. Human nature was the same, the world +over. Men of the highest probity and honor had succumbed to temptation: +these men who had never really been in any responsible position had yet +to be proved. If men like David Lawrence and Horace Eastman could not +make a stand against fluctuations and difficulties, it was hardly likely +success would crown any such abnormal undertaking. + +Jack did not see the paper until the next day. Some one laid it +surreptitiously on his desk. His face flushed darkly at the attack upon +his honesty, and for a moment all the belligerency of his boyhood rose +to the surface. He had half a mind to hunt up the writer of the article, +and pound him to a jelly with his two fists. But presently he laughed to +himself, and then made a tour of the mills in his cheeriest fashion. He +saw with grief that the seed had found root. There were some sullen +faces and short answers. + +It certainly is a hard thing to keep on fighting an old foe that can +only be beaten, never killed. + +Jack stumbled over Cameron in the store-room. + +"Cameron," said he with a white, rigid face, "I wish to God this was the +last day of the five years! I should walk out of Hope Mills, and never +set foot in it again, no, not even if they implored me on their knees. A +thankless, miserable set! The lying article in last night's paper made +me mad for a moment, but could not sting: yet the faces of my own men +did as I came through the rooms." + +"You've had a hard pull, Jack!" Cameron's voice was fatherly and +soothing. "You might have put your money and your brains in something +that would have proved much pleasanter. But the man who takes up the +first end of a truth always gets hard knocks: it is the people who come +after who find a smooth path. Don't you remember," drawing his wrinkled +face into a queer smile, "the shrewd application your New York lady made +about the children of Israel? Jack, if the salvation scheme of the Bible +was all proved false,--which it never will be, to my mind,--there's so +much wisdom in it beside, that a chap could take it just for a sort of +guidebook in every-day matters, all the same. And now we're going to +have a big fight." + +"You think that?" cried Jack, in vague alarm. "I wish Winston was here. +He can always talk so to the point!" + +"Well, he isn't: we've got to go through it ourselves. But this settles +it! You see, there's been Price, and Pickett, and Davy, to stir up +strife and bad feeling, and all this outside influence; but my old +woman's praying us through, and I set a good deal of store by her +prayers, Jack! If these ruffians go on, Yerbury'll be half ruined again, +but it is their own fault. I'm not much on capital punishment, but I +would go to the hanging of that McPherson. If he'd staid away, we should +have done well enough." + +Jack drew a long, troubled breath. + +"I'd let every man go out who wanted to, but I wouldn't pay-him a red +cent, there!" + +That evening Jack went down to Larch Avenue. He found Fred and Sylvie up +in arms. Indignation was a mild term. + +It was a magnificent night, with a nearly full moon. The light flooded +the wide lawn path, and made shadows of elves and gnomes on the porch, +as the wind wandered in and out the great honeysuckle, whose ripe, rich +perfume was shaken about with every waft. Within, an Argand lamp, and +porcelain shade with a minute painting of Puck and his fairy host, sent +a softened radiance on the old, rich-hued carpet, and antique furniture. +It was but little changed, yet wore an indescribably antique look. + +Over at an open window sat Irene Lawrence, dressed in white, with a +single deep-red velvety rose at her throat, which Sylvie had pinned +there. Her hair had grown rapidly, and, though it did not quite curl, +the ends tumbled about loosely, framing in the face with their dusky +purplish tint. It was very clear now, and a little pale; the old +brilliant coloring had not all returned; the passionless grace, the deep +eyes with their steady lights, the mouth suggesting mobility and warmth +and passion, rather than defining it, the droop of the white lids, the +unruffled brow, and the pose of the bowed head and slightly-yielding +throat, made a marvellous picture. + +The three were talking earnestly, as people do in the great crises of +life; Sylvie wondrously piquant, with some thin, black, trailing stuff +making shifting billows about her restless feet. She questioned Jack +eagerly, she denounced the attack as cruel and cowardly. What did he +mean to do? What should Fred do for him? + +"There is nothing to do, but just wait for the result. The +dragon's-teeth have been sown. The only comfort I have is, that you +never can put a lie on the face of truth, and nail it there. No amount +of arguing or talk can make a thing so when it is _not_ so. Higher than +this little human round, God garners every truth in his keeping, and +will make it tell somewhere!" + +Miss Lawrence raised her eyes, and glanced over to him. Had the slow +impassiveness of her soul been touched, that this sudden peculiar grace +of sympathy, or some hidden kindred feeling, rose and asserted itself? +And yet she might have been in some magnetic sleep, for all actual +movement of her features; it was the dawn of an expression that seemed +to transport him to some strange world, where he had known her long +ago,--where he had watched for her coming, listened to her +voice,--rather than any present interest or meaning. + +He rose abruptly. + +"You are not going!" cried Sylvie, in her pretty wifely imperiousness. + +"I"--for a moment he had the sensation of a man drowning. The surging +waves were about him, throbbing, leaping, strangling him. There was a +ringing in his ears, there was a long shuddering sensation, like being +overwhelmed. + +"It is very warm," he went on in a faint, strained voice, wiping the +beaded drops from his broad brow. + +"Come over here," pleaded Sylvie: "you will be cooler. The wind is +south, and doesn't blow in those windows. You are sure you feel quite +well?" scanning him anxiously. "You look pale." + +"It was only momentary." He wondered now what had so moved him. "I am +like good old John Bunyan's Pilgrim,"--laughing faintly,--"'tumbled up +and down' with these excitements. I wish they were at an end. We were +going on so nicely when that McPherson came! Don't let us think any more +about it," throwing up his head with a nervous shake. "Sylvie, I wish +you would sing something." + +"With pleasure. Fred and I have been practising duets. When Yerbury is +laid in ashes we can go off as strolling minstrels;" and she laughed +gayly, as she went to the piano. That exquisite tact in changing a mood +or scene was a familiar characteristic of Sylvie Barry. + +As the sound of their blending voices floated out on the summer night +air, there leaped up in Darcy's soul a subtle, forceful, vivifying +flame, touching to a white heat the farthest pulse of his being. +Resistance appeared impossible: he did not even dream what manner of +influence this might be. Long afterward--it seemed ages to him--as their +heads were bent together over the pages of the music, he raised his +eyes, and let them wander slowly toward Irene Lawrence. + +Was there something quite new in the face,--a sort of strange, +wondering, troubled expression, as if some unseen, almost unknown, depth +had been stirred? + +He did not need to ask the question now. Wild as it was, he loved that +statue over yonder, and it seemed to him that his passion in its +enduring vitality must awaken her soul to kindred life! An exultant +strength and determination rose within him. What might have abashed +another man, filled him with a deathless courage, as high as it was +pure. + +He thanked Sylvie and Fred for the song, but resisted their entreaties +to remain. When he said good-night, he went over to Miss Lawrence, and +took her hand. It was cold and passive, and her eyes fell beneath his. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +THE excitement ran very high not only in Yerbury, but all over the +country. Strikes seemed the order of the day again, and for what reason, +was not clearly made manifest, unless labor felt that it had capital a +little by the throat, in that its services were again somewhat in +demand. "Now," said the prophets. Surely, if they did not strike when +there was employment, they could not when there was none. + +It began in the shoe-shop. The next Monday morning the men made their +demand in no gentle terms, and were refused. There was a large contract +at stake, however, and by Tuesday night the matter was talked over in a +better spirit. The employers were willing to accede to one-half of the +demand, otherwise the order must be sent to another firm. Thursday +morning they went to work with a rather ill grace, yet some elation. +Then the hatters took their turn. The hands at Hope Mills were served +with a notice that the mutual protectionists in all the towns around +were to be out on the following Monday; and stirring appeals were made +to those who had any feeling of honor in the cause. + +It was exceedingly hard on the men. They gathered around in little knots +on Sunday, wild with conflicting emotions. Their faith in Hope Mills and +co-operation was undergoing a severe strain. The fear of secret frauds, +of underhand dealing, of distrust in Winston and Darcy, had been dinned +in their ears by outside influence, some of it very potent. Not one +appeal had been made by the managers: Cameron and the others decided it +was best. + +Jack went over to the mill on Monday morning. The gatekeeper and the +bell-boy were there. The engineer came in with a quiet, solemn +"Good-morning." The Brotherhood of Engineers had warned him too, and he +was a little troubled; but he had cast in his lot with the rest, and it +might be as well to wait and see what they did. The main shaft was +turned. + +Jack from his office-window watched the streets filling up with men and +women, many beside the regular operatives. They came to a halt. + +"Ding-dong! ding-dong!" the bell rang out cheerily on the summer morning +air. "Come to work, come to work! The birds build homes, and rear their +young; the bee skims the fragrant air in search of flowers; the rivers +run to the sea, turning wheels, driving ships: nothing in the great +economy of nature is idle," sang out the clang of the bell. + +The hands glanced at one another in doubt and dismay, and there was an +awful silence for a few seconds. + +Some one elbowed his way through the crowd. He had come from the bedside +of his sick child, who might be dying even now,--a small, wiry, +middle-aged man, with a set, resolute face. He glanced about, then he +sprang up on a pile of packing-boxes. It was Jesse Gilman. + +"My fellow-workmen," he began, "I don't know how you all feel about this +matter; but Hope Mills took me in when I had tramped the country half +over, and found nothing to do. I've tried the old system, and this can't +be any worse; and, if I have to lose money by an employer, I'd rather it +would be John Darcy of Yerbury, than any man I know. No man on the face +of the earth has a right to say I shall not work in Hope Mills when I +made my own bargain long ago to do it. That is all I have to say. I am +going to work." + +"Three cheers!" cried some one as Gilman jumped down. + +There were cheers and groans. + +Ben Hay followed him, and stood a moment in the gateway. + +"Boys," said he in his rich, ringing voice, "Hope Mills was opened to +receive a crowd of starving men. I'll take my oath to Jack Darcy's +honesty. He's stuck by us, and we'll stick to him. That's the beauty of +co-operation. You can't get away, and tramp off with the first fool that +asks you! It isn't merely keeping company: it's a good, honest, +up-and-down marriage. I'd as soon think of leaving my wife because some +day she didn't give me two dinners instead of one!" + +There was a shout of laughter. The ice was broken in good earnest. +"Three cheers for Ben Hay! Three cheers and a tiger for Jack Darcy!" and +amid all this hubbub the men and women, the boys and girls, rushed in +pell-mell. A gladder crew one never saw. To decide when others doubt, to +go forward boldly when others hesitate, to stand up for the principle of +right when others have traduced and blackened it, to take the first +step, is to be as heroic as the "six hundred" of deathless fame. + +They went to work with a will, though some were a little sore and +doubtful, but they were carried on by the enthusiasm of the others. The +street below was still blocked up, and there were yells and groans. +Presently there came a shower of superannuated eggs. Two landed in +Darcy's office-window. After that, a stampede of the riotous crew. + +Darcy sent Andrew, the bell-boy, to the police-station, and two men were +detailed. The workmen were allowed to go home peaceably, except a little +jeering at Keppler's. They heard then the trains had been stopped on the +two roads leading out of Yerbury. The whole world seemed to be going +crazy. + +Darcy and Cameron remained in the mill that night until almost ten: then +the latter went home, and Darcy thought he would go for Ben Hay. The +streets of Yerbury had presented a very peculiar aspect that evening, +something like a beleaguered town. Groups of men and boys collected on +the corners, or wended their way through the streets with low, ominous +mutterings. People barred their doors and locked their windows, though +it was a hot summer night. Some women were abroad: but they were of the +rougher sort, and now and then their shrill voices rose on the air in +derision or vituperation. Still there were no overt acts of violence, +and at ten everybody began to breathe more freely. + +The coffee-house had been shut up that evening: it was deemed advisable. +Darcy went round to the side-door, and was admitted. Hay and three other +workmen were within. They had been figuring up possible and probable +profits by the end of the five years, and looked very well satisfied. + +"There's a sort of hope and expectation about it," said one of the men, +"that kind of stirs and warms a body. And when you come to count lost +time, and fluctuation in wages, it makes a pretty even thing, after all! +In '73 I worked in a shoddy-mill that _had_ been making money hand over +fist,--eleven hours a day,--not a man of us made more than five dollars +a week. Some poor fellows with families earned only three. You've never +been as hard up as that! God only knows how they lived: it's beyond my +guessing!" + +"And if that was co-operation, how the system would be blamed!" +exclaimed Ben Hay. "I declare, it makes me madder than a hen in a +fence--I've caught that of Cameron," laughingly,--"to hear the things +people have said about us. They're forever blathering about fair play--I +wish they'd give a little, as well as take all. Wait till we've come to +the end, say I, before they tell what we can do, or what we can't or +sha'n't or won't!" + +There was a tramp in the street. The startled eyes studied one another. +Then a shuffling and muttering, and a knock at the door. + +No one stirred but Mrs. Connelly, who threw up her hands, and cried, +"The saints protect us!" + +"Earthly saints, Mother Connelly,--this kind," said Ben Hay with gay +re-assurance, doubling his fist, and baring his brawny arm. + +The pounding increased. Rose ran down stairs wild with affright, +followed by her sister. The boys fortunately were asleep in the back +chambers. + +"Let us in, Mother Connelly: we want some bread and butter!" shouted a +voice. + +"Cakes and yale!" + +"Pretzel and zwei lager!" + +"A sup of the craythur!" + +"A dhrop of whiskey to warrum us this could night! Av yees the heart av +a sthone, Kit Connelly?" + +A roar of laughter succeeded this. + +"Go away, it will be better for you," declared Ben Hay. + +"Come out here, Hay, and fight like a man! Don't skulk behind a woman's +petticoats!" + +There was a terrific onslaught at the door. It creaked and groaned, and +was succeeded by a volley of oaths and imprecations. Rose began to cry, +and the youngest girl came screaming down the stairs. + +Darcy had sent a man out of the back way for policemen. Hay and the two +other men mounted guard. Again the door shivered and creaked: then it +flew open, bolts, locks, and hinges having given way in a mass of +splinters. + +Like a flash the men were on their assailants. The mob had not expected +this. Right and left valorous blows were dealt, and two or three burly +fellows were laid low. Some nearer sober, and more cowardly, took to +their heels. Two men fought like tigers; and once Ben Hay came near +getting the worst; but, by the time the dilatory guards of peace +arrived, there was only a pile of bruised and battered bodies lying on +the door-step. + +"A pretty tough scrimmage!" was the comment. "Weren't you a little hard +on these fellows?" + +"A man has a right to defend his own life and his own nose," said Ben +Hay decisively. "His life _may_ be useful, his nose _is_ ornamental when +it is a handsome one like mine." + +What with drunkenness and the drubbing, two of the ruffians were unable +to walk. Two others were marched off under the escort of the officers, +the disabled sent for, and a guard detached to protect Mrs. Connelly's +house. When everybody had been quieted, Jack took a tour down to the +mills. Some poor object was huddled up in the corner of the main stoop. + +"What are you doing here?" demanded Darcy. + +"Oh, Mr. Darcy, don't strike me! I'm Bart Kane. I've had enough of this +night, and I crawled here"-- + +The boy began to sob and talk brokenly. He lifted his face in the +moonlight. It was ghastly; one eye swollen shut, and purple-black, and +streaks of blood and dirt over it; the clothing torn, the throat bare. + +"Were you down there at Connelly's?" + +"I warn't nowhere. It was along o' father: he comed home drunk." + +Barton Kane was a mill-boy, about nineteen now. Darcy's first feeling +had been one of outrage and anger, but he cooled suddenly. + +"Tell me, my lad," in a kindly tone, taking the shivering fingers in +his. + +"You see, Mr. Darcy, father'd been out along of the hatters all day, +gettin' more and more rum in him. He said on Sunday, as how't I should +strike; but they went to work here, and I worked with 'em. When I went +home, mother, she gev me my supper, and ses she, 'Keep out o' sight, +lad, happen thy dad's powerful mad wi' thee!' So I went to bed. But +about nine he comed home, and tore up the house wi' his tantrums, and +then lathered me. He called me a rat, and a sneak, and a turn-coat, and +kicked me out o' the house, and threw my traps to me. Then afore I was +fairly dressed he at me again, and said if ever I darkened the door, +he'd murder me! I strayed round, afeared of everybody, and crawled up +here. 'Pears like every bone in my body is broke, and my eye, he do hurt +so!" + +With that Barton Kane broke out sobbing again, and clung to Jack Darcy's +knees. + +"My poor lad!" the tone was infinitely tender. "Can you walk a little +way, to Kit Connelly's? You can be nursed up there, and go to bed +peaceably. Come, Barton, my boy, you are the hero of Hope Mills. When +this is over, we shall have to give you a medal." + +He put his strong arm around the shivering body, and led him back to a +kindly shelter. + +"Hay, Mrs. Connelly, and all of you: here's a lad that has been +half-killed for standing by his colors to-day. Look here, Armstrong, +would you mind going for Dr. Maverick? this poor chap needs some +patching-up. And, Kit, give me some water and a napkin: we'll get his +face a little cool and clean." + +"Let me do it, Mr. Darcy. Sure, I've boys of my own, and am used to it. +Oh, the poor, poor lad!" + +Barton told his story over again. He was weak and hysterical now, and +they made him a shake-down on the floor until the doctor came. + +"Now I'll start on my inspection-tour again," said Darcy, turning away. +"We are all likely to make a night of it." + +He thought he would go around before he went in to see the watchmen: +they had placed a force on guard quietly. He had just turned the second +corner, when he saw a man jump from the high fence, and lie for an +instant as if stunned. He hastened on, but the man sprang up and ran +down the dark side of the street. His first impulse was to follow; then +it struck him as strange that the dog gave no alarm. He had a gate-key +in his pocket, and unlocked it at once. + +"Bruno!" he called, "Bruno, good fellow, come here." + +There was not a sound. The ominous silence thrilled Jack. + +"Bruno!" + +Hark! a curious crackling or sweep of wind, and smoky smell. He ran +round to the rear. Close up against the back door, quite out of the +moonlight, something was piled. Forked tongues of flame were shooting +out of it everywhere. He seized the chain attached to the factory-bell, +and rang it rapidly. There was a window thrown up, and a voice called. + +"Fire! fire!" he shouted. "Turn on the hose,--the lower back door." + +The flames streamed up fiercely now. It was plain that the mound had +been saturated with kerosene. + +Daly hurried down, and opened a door. "Hurd and Byrnes are at the +buckets and hose," he cried. "Where is it? O Mr. Darcy!" + +"Quick, quick!" shouted Jack, rushing by him. + +The men had the hose ready. They put it out of the window, turned on the +stream, and in a few moments a column of dense smoke rose amid the +arrowy flashes of lurid splendor. The watchman ran down from Connelly's. + +It was subdued in a few moments. They tore away the charred boxes and +_débris_, smoking and smouldering. Underneath all they found the body of +princely Bruno. + +"This is fiendish!" cried Jack, dragging the poor fellow away, his +scorched coat smelling horribly. "Brave Bruno, you are the second hero +of the night!" + +"Whatever dastardly devil did this, knows as much about Hope Mills as +you or I," shouted Hurd savagely. "Bruno was poisoned first; and he +wouldn't have taken any thing from a strange hand. But the fellow was a +fool to build the fire here." + +"I don't know about that," said Darcy. "If it had burned the door down, +it would have gone in the hall, and up the hatchway--if it was open." + +"By thunder! so it would; and right to the stock-room. That place must +never be left open again while Hope Mills stands, or co-operation waves +her starry banner in the breeze." + +"Loud applause!" said some one. + +The fire was thoroughly extinguished; and the guardian of the night +decided to remain here, being within call if another disturbance should +occur at Mrs. Connelly's. The bells rang out for midnight. A few, who +had gathered at the alarm, dispersed: and every thing became quiet +again,--deadly, solemnly quiet. + +Jack wanted to see Maverick, so he paced back to Mrs. Connelly's. He was +trying to remember some distinctive mark of the man he had seen jump. He +was too stout for Davy, and he could not believe such villany of the +man. Then Price was a little lame from an old rheumatic affection, and +would not have dared such a deed. + +Barton Kane had been washed, patched, bandaged, put to bed, and given an +opiate; so now he was in a sound but rather disturbed sleep. The men +gathered in the lunch-room, and discussed the cowardly attempt upon the +mill, the day's affairs generally. + +"See how great a matter a little fire kindles," said Maverick. "But for +McPherson's lecture here, I don't believe any of these things would have +happened. It is a free country, of course, and a man has a right to air +his ideas; but capital is not set firmly enough on its legs to stand a +severe fire, and labor is in too great a superabundance. To seek to +drain the ocean with a silver mug may be grand, but quite hopeless." + +One! The witching hour, and a few sleepy men began to yawn. + +"How odd it seems, not to hear trains in the night!" Maverick said +presently. "A queer lock-out this." + +One, again. One, two, three: this time the fire-alarm. + +They rushed out toward the mill. Then they as suddenly wheeled around. +In an instant the air seemed full of shouts and cries, and a broad sheet +of flame flared up in the face of the tranquil heavens. A roar, like a +mighty tramping of hosts, a crackling, snapping, sweeping sound. + +"It's Keppler's. Boyd's block will surely go!" + +The houses were frame, old and dry: Keppler's on the corner, the rest +joined, like a row of sheds, and filled with the very poorest; a few +apartments standing empty. The engines were out, but it was of little +avail. The corner was just one brilliant sheet of lurid light. Shrieking +women and children fled for their lives. The street swarmed again, and +people trampled over one another in their wild terror. There was a +crash, and the building fell in. The flames licked up the other fiery +flood, and had a brave battle in the cellar. The engines played until +the air was filled with smothering smoke, and there was nothing left but +a long, blackened ruin. + +"It may be ungenerous to rejoice in any man's misfortune," said +Maverick, "but in a sanitary point of view I am thankful those old +rookeries have come to an end. Boyd wouldn't do any thing to them, and +they were unfit for pigs to live in. And, as for Keppler's, there will +be but one verdict this end of the town." + +Some one laid a hand on Jack Darcy's shoulder. He turned and saw Fred +Lawrence. + +"They are all worried to death about you, old chap," began Fred. "Your +mother, Miss Morgan, Sylvie,--and Irene is walking the floor. I have not +seen her so excited since--since she had the fever. What a horrible +thing! Was any one lost, do you know?" + +"They will not be able to tell that until morning, every thing is in +such confusion. Pray God that the morning may dawn soon! I seem to have +lived through years." + +The dawn came up by and by; first in faint opaline splendors, then +scarlet and gold. The moon paled, and the stars dropped out, and there +was a chirp of birds to welcome the new-born day. + +The shock of the fire cooled the temper of the raiders, for half the men +were idle hangers-on, rather than absolute strikers. One frantic woman +flew to the scene of devastation: her boy, four years old, was missing. +They tried to comfort her with the thought that some neighbor had kindly +taken him in, but she kept wildly imploring them to search. + +There was no further molestation of the men at Hope Mills. They walked +in the yard quietly at seven o'clock, their faces touched with surprise +and terror when they heard the story of the night. Barton Kane lay +disabled at Mrs. Connelly's, and poor Bruno was buried with honors, +regretted by the whole force. + +Jack called the men together, and addressed them briefly. He was very +pale, and his usually bright, clear eyes were heavy. + +"I want to thank you," he said, in a tone that was a little unsteady +with exhaustion and emotion, "I want to thank you for standing so +bravely by me, and by your principles. We are all partners together, and +what is one man's interest is every man's. I feel sure that we shall +never have another difficulty. We have gone through the worst, and in a +little while every man will have his free choice again. Let us all keep +the warmest of friends until then." + +There was no cheering: they were not gay enough for that. Some of the +men wrung his hand silently; then the women pressed forward, and invoked +a blessing upon him. + +"We know better nor any of 'em what it was to have no fire, and childers +cryin' for bread," said one woman, wiping her eyes with the end of her +faded shawl. "And, thank the Lord, I've had bite, and sup, and fire, +ever since the day Hope Mills was opened." + +The men outside were working at the ruins,--among them some of the +strikers of yesterday. They found poor Mrs. Rooney's little Johnny, +burned to a crisp; and in the house next to Keppler's they exhumed the +body of Biddy Brady, a good-natured, efficient washerwoman, whose +greatest fault was her intemperance. She and her son had gone to bed +very drunk, after having a good time through the evening. The boy had +been roused in season, but she had perished. It was as vivid and fervent +a temperance-lecture as ever was given in Yerbury. + +About ten in the morning Jack Darcy returned home dead tired, as much +with the excitement as the fatigue, took a bath, and went to bed. + +The Yerbury authorities looked sharply about them that day. The strikers +were orderly and quiet, but they had lost ground. "The Evening +Transcript" deprecated all this sort of business, and for once had no +fling about the "Utopian theory of co-operation." But "The Leader" of +the morning came out strongly in praise of the good order, forbearance, +and _esprit de corps_ of Hope Mills, and called Mr. Darcy "our young and +enterprising citizen, whom, we doubt not, we shall hear of in higher +positions in life, which he has proved himself eminently worthy to +fill." + +There was no great lament made about Boyd's Row or Keppler's saloon, +except for the sad casualty it had caused; but the dastardly attack on +Mrs. Connelly, and the fiendish attempt to burn Hope Mills, met with the +severest condemnation. + +Maverick came around to the Darcys that evening. "I fancy I have found +your man, Jack," he began. "Mrs. Stixon called me in towards night, +saying Jem had been on a spree, and was dreadfully beaten. I found one +side of his face scratched and bruised, and bits of gravel still +adhering to the flesh. The right arm, on the same side, has one bone +broken, and his shoulder is dislocated. He said he fell off of a stoop, +and is dreadfully sullen. I asked him what stoop, but he would not tell. +Do you remember which way the man fell?" + +Jack thought a moment. "On the right side, Maverick, away from me, or I +should have seen his face. Just such a size man as Jem Stixon, too," +with a satisfied nod. + +"What will you do about it?" + +Jack took two or three turns across the floor. "See here, Maverick, we +will not do any thing. You cure the poor fellow, and I think he will +never try to damage Hope Mills again. I can hardly forgive him Bruno, +though." + +"If I were Sylvie Barry,"--he never called her Mrs. Lawrence when +speaking of her,--"I should say, 'Jack, you are an angel.'" + +Jack flushed. "Masculine angels!" he laughed. + +"Well, wasn't there Gabriel and a host of them? Why, Jack, they were +_all_ masculine!" + +There was no need for earthly justice to meddle with Jem Stixon. His arm +inflamed: he had led a hard life late years, and his system was in bad +order. He would not listen to amputation until it was too late, and in +less than a month he was dead. It was better for his poor hard-working +wife and family. + +One other death grew out of the summer riots, though this was at a +distance. Dennis Connelly had been working with a railroad-gang, and the +strikers there had a desperate struggle with the civil authority. They +were worsted in the end, and Connelly was one of the victims, or perhaps +more truly speaking, a victim to bad whiskey, for when sober he was very +peaceable. Kit sent for his body, and had him decently buried. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +THE strikers at the hat-factory did not carry the day. The employers +were very indignant, and tabooed the union men altogether. At +Garafield's the men were called in council, the points discussed, and a +small advance in wages allowed. The co-operatives went their way +quietly. Perhaps the most convincing argument was a very jubilant letter +from Winston, part of which Darcy put up in the hall. He had just +succeeded in making an important contract for two years, on very fair +terms. That would see them through safely unless the whole world came to +grief again! + +Jack wrote Miss McLeod a graphic account of the "labor troubles," and +she replied with equally characteristic _verve_. "She could hardly +decide," she declared, "whether to be glad, or sorry, that her young +friend had grown so independent of her; but in any emergency she wished +to be remembered." + +There was now a certain respect paid to Hope Mills, among the community +at Yerbury. Perhaps there are no people so exacting and difficult to +satisfy as those friends and neighbors whose advice you have not taken, +and prospered without it. They indulge in a righteous self-complacency +if you are unfortunate, and pity you grandly; but to own themselves +mistaken is the one bitter flavor in the cup. There seemed to be but one +point now upon which they were doubtful,--the honesty of the managers at +the last moment. Every workman knew or might know exactly how affairs +stood, but _they_ did not have the capital. Just at the end of the five +years _somebody_ might abscond with the money-bag under his arm. It +seemed so every way certain that human nature could not withstand the +temptation. + +Yet there was growing up among the hands a curious neighborly sympathy, +as if they were in some degree relatives; and they were made so, in +fact, by some marriages of sons and daughters. They were more +intelligent; they kept their houses cleaner, their little gardens +prettier, not allowing them to go to weeds before the summer was half +over. Those who could go to the industrial school learned a deal about +sewing, and became seamstresses instead of mill-girls. Some made their +own family dresses, some were very tasty milliners. It gave them a +reliance upon what they could do themselves. The two daughters of one +workman kept a little poultry-yard "scientifically," and dressed +themselves from its proceeds. Industry became more general. Instead of +dawdling away whole evenings in gossip, they had some light employment, +and worked as they talked. + +The September showing was very encouraging. There were still a great +many bankruptcies and losses, but some of them could not be guarded +against. Darcy and Winston regularly eschewed speculation, though the +latter confessed his fingers sometimes burned to be in the pie. + +"But, after all," he said frankly, "if the energy, ingenuity, ambition, +and strength that are expended to make certain people buy and sell, over +and over, a thing that can be no more valuable than the money it makes +year by year, which often is not much,--if this were turned into +industrial and commercial channels,--gad! what a country we would be! +Our flag would float on every sea, our goods be in every port. And yet +they go on, rich to-day because they have beggared their neighbor, poor +to-morrow because their neighbor has beggared them. What idiotic +business!" + +But I must go back a little with my hero. There were many things to +occupy his mind, the summer of the "strikes;" yet through it all, like +one strain of heavenly harmony in a clash of discord, he came to know +the diviner needs of his being. Another man might have been dismayed at +the revelation. Like a flash when the horizon is opened, he saw the +light; and he knew, from the depths of the darkness the next moment, +what manner of storm it would be. + +He had never weakened or frittered away his sweetest emotions on the +various flirtations that fill the early years of so many men. He had +liked and admired Sylvie Barry above all young women he had ever met; +but this emotion, though pure and lasting, never stirred the ardor of +his soul. Had it really lain untouched so long, or had some vague dream +slipped into it the night he and Sylvie had planned the costume for +Irene Lawrence, the time he first encountered her beauty in all its +vivid splendor? To him she was a glorious young goddess. + +The long-ago summer day he had met the two in the phaeton, he was more +keenly pained for her sake than his own. To be sure, his first emotion +was that of angry indignation, sending the outraged blood through every +pulse; then, as it cooled, the act appeared so utterly unwomanly. If she +had passed him by carelessly--but to designedly attract his glance, and +stab it thus, was as if a giant had taken a club to kill a butterfly +because it breathed the fragrance of the rose. He shut out that vision. +You can tell what impression she had made upon him, when he always +thought of her as he saw her in the glow of Sylvie's pretty parlor, that +summer night. His healthy, active temperament never brooded over +disagreeable things a moment longer than necessity kept him there. + +She faded from his mind by degrees. Even when he took Fred back into the +old regard, he thought of her as the possible wife of some millionnaire. +When she returned to Yerbury, and shut herself up in stately despair, +refusing even Sylvie's proffered sympathy, she puzzled him. How could +she, so fond of admiration and gayety, live this nun's life, without the +nun's spiritual exaltation? He passed her once or twice in the hall, as +he was calling on Fred, but neither made any sign. + +Then came that terrible night, when he had found her astray, her brain +consumed by the smouldering fire of isolation, when you have only the +black, choking smoke that never blazes up in purifying flames. There are +thousands of women who have done this, weakly, sentimentally, through +the period of adversity that has tried the metal of all souls; but she, +being stronger, more self-reliant, could not drop into puerile whining. + +At Depford Beach they had come in contact again. There was both +attraction and repulsion in these two people, as there often is in +strongly-marked, positive natures. She tolerated him because he was +Sylvie's lover; despised him, believing that he meant to make a +stepping-stone of this girl's wealth and position; and, in spite of +herself, felt the current of his strength and buoyant energy. By slow +degrees the unwilling truth was forced upon her, that God never created +any human soul for its own self-destruction; that there was no absolute +virtue in warping and twisting circumstances into chains and bonds, that +were ordained for higher, nobler purposes. Her mental disease had run +its course. Sylvie's sorrow was the final electric shock that broke the +heavy soil of apathy. + +Her utter surprise when she found that through all these years Jack +Darcy had refrained from influencing Sylvie in his behalf, was something +quite indescribable. She thought she had fathomed men's souls with her +keen insight, but this man was a Saul amid his peers. Had there been +some subtile, far-reaching foundation for Fred's regard in the boyhood +days,--something that their eyes, being holden with golden bonds, could +not see? + +After the marriage there was a certain degree of association, not +intimacy. And yet she set herself to watch him. Somewhere she would +discern the print of the feet of clay this idol of Fred and Sylvie's +possessed. + +It was a most fascinating yet dangerous employment. She used to sit +there in her impassive grace, as they talked, weighing every word, +testing every sentiment, watching the expressions that flitted over Jack +Darcy's countenance, until it went everywhere with her, the blue-gray +eyes piercing the very depths of her soul. They came to the one night +when a glance stirred and troubled both, when the depths of both natures +experienced that curious shock of repulsion and wonder. It was not love, +it was too near, too awesome, yet too spiritually pure, to be hate, +still it sent them apart none the less surely. + +By degrees, even amid the hard struggle of the strikes, he came to a +self-knowledge. His perceptions were not easily confused; and by that +intuitive process born pure in every soul, but too often marred and +dulled by the many counterfeits put upon it, he knew this was love, a +life-long passion for one woman, not because she had as yet answered any +need of his nature, or promised any expansion into higher life. He loved +her just as she was; for her beauty, her swift, proud grace, her virtues +if she had any, her very faults, and of those he was not in doubt. And +he set himself to win her with the same high courage that had taken Hope +Mills in hand. + +Occasionally we see a man wrecked by this steady, persistent, +overwhelming love for an inferior object, caught perhaps by some occult +fascination that flashes all laws out of sight. We wonder how he can be +so led astray; and yet it is an integral part of the man, a quality of +the soul which he would not overcome and put in bonds if he could. + +He did not cringe or flatter, or adopt any of the fears or weaknesses of +passion. It was not weak, and he did not fear. He meant to be master of +her soul, and win her through that very power, struggle as she might. He +would wait, if it were years, until she laid down her few weak weapons, +and capitulated. From that time onward, there would be neither "mine" +nor "thine." + +And now the fine, tested quality of his patience stood him in good +stead. He might long to draw near, to clasp the snowy hand, to study the +fathomless dusk of the eyes, and note the frightened droop of the +fringed lids; but he held aloof. Still he went to Larch Avenue night +after night; he dropped in of a morning when least expected, +occasionally finding her alone for a few moments; he walked from church +with them, by her side, the only times he came near her, and she felt in +every pulse of her being the indefinable something that she was impelled +to struggle against. + +A curious change came over her. The cold indifference melted to a rose +hue of interest, a pliant softness stole over her figure, a certain +buoyant tenderness diffused itself in her tone, her dusky eyes came to +have a startled softness like a shy, frightened fawn. The old brilliant +color returned to cheek and lip, yet toned with the tremulous throbbing +of a new inward life, so exquisitely attuned that she could but listen +to the harmonious melody. + +She came to understand presently; the intangible power in his demeanor +roused her, I think; and her whole soul, every fibre of her body, rose +up in mutinous revolt. Whither was this swift current carrying her? What +great wave was this that struck at the very props of her own strength +and reliance? How did this man dare to invade the walled sanctities of +her being? She would have none of him: she would go on her solitary way, +sufficient for herself. She, who had never loved amid all the +beguilements the world had to offer, to be conquered by the very man she +had trained herself to despise! + +Irene Lawrence found it hard fighting with this unseen foe. He seemed +always lying in ambush, always armored with a word or sentiment to which +she must assent, always before her in the place she had meant to be; and +she would not throw up the white flag of defeat. She would not own to +herself she experienced any alarm or annoyance. + +One evening Fred and Sylvie had gone to a neighbor's, and were +momentarily expected. A peculiar temptation entered her soul. If this +man must needs flutter in the flame, why should she be tender and +careful of him? Others had dared her, to the burning of their very +souls: if the experience was worth the pain, he should have it, and +decide. + +She sat down at the piano, and shook a shower of melody out of her +slender finger-ends. All the affluent grace of womanhood with the polish +of society spoke in every curve of her pliant figure, in the dainty, +delicate, high-bred gestures. The eyes hung out their false lights of +treacherous intent amid the half-slumberous fire; the very lips seemed +shaped and blossoming with a rare thrill of passion that could turn to a +caress at a look. All along the brow ran fine sinuosities of light that +dazzled like the tracery of pale flame. Had she blossomed into some +royal midsummer flower that is seen but once in an age? + +She had motioned him close beside her with an impelling wave of the +hand. He could feel her warmth, her fragrant breath; her soft billowy +dress fell against his foot in a crested wave; her white hand and +slender wrist, just toned, but not hidden, with rare lace like that of +Arachne's spinning, wandered temptingly over toward him. A sudden +delirium took possession of him, an exhilaration that steeped the brain, +that stirred every pulse, that awoke in him an almost maddening desire +to clasp her in his arms, to drain such sweetness from her lips that the +whole world might be beggared ever after, and he not care. + +She knew the signs. She had seen more than one man dally on the brink, +and then topple over to the blankness of despair. Even if she had pitied +herself, which she did not, she could have had no mercy on him. Now she +was set to her work, and she meant to do it if she brought into play +every fascination art and nature had furnished her with. + +His soul rose and glowed within him. The music, the most ravishing of +its kind, stirred him to that intensity of pain, it seemed as if he must +cry out with torture. No suffering had ever been like this: if the +doctrine of sacrificial fires were true, he might have purchased +paradise. + +Did he mean never to stir or speak? Could that hand, lying so passively +on the corner of the piano, remain unmoved, with hers just below it? Its +defiant strength stung her. + +"They do not come,"--looking warily around, and passing him with her +veiled eyes, rather than looking at him. "Are you growing weary? Shall I +sing for you?" + +The tone had the melody of some lotus-freighted stream. She had thrown +all her sweetness into it. + +"If you will." + +His was tremulous and husky with repressed passion. + +Her voice was not pure: it had the rich depth and pathos of contralto, +and the vibrant clearness of soprano. Now it threaded a tremulous +pathway among the pathetic minor notes, while the fingers seemed to drop +a faint sigh of accompaniment,-- + + "Oh! when ye hear me gie a loud, loud cry,-- + The broom blooms bonnie, and says it is fair,-- + Shoot an arrow frae thy bow, and there let me lie, + And we'll never gang down to the broom ony mair. + + "And when ye see that I'm lying cauld and dead,-- + The broom blooms bonnie, and says it is fair,-- + Then ye'll put me in a grave wi' a turf at my head, + And we'll never gang down to the broom ony mair." + +The last sad note died into summer-night sweetness. A current of bland, +dangerous magnetism passed between them. She turned her splendid, +passion-lighted eyes to him, and the subtle, measuring, conquering +forces in the man and the woman met. With a mighty effort he thrust back +desire, and compressed his lips to a line under the bronzed-gold +moustache, while his eyes, like points of steel, never wavered. + +Irene Lawrence turned blindly, and held out her hands as if to grasp +some sure stay. Just as surely as she had not won, she had lost. + +"I have tired you," he said,--a murmur just under his breath. "But you +can hardly know the exquisite pleasure you have given me. It is perfect. +We will have no more music to-night;" and he rose, shutting the piano +down. + +She went to the open window like one in a trance, so stunned she could +not even feel angry at his defiance of her. A long, long moment of +silence: then they heard Sylvie's bright voice on the porch, and she +came in with a waft of dewy, outdoor fragrance. + +Miss Lawrence went to her room presently, to fight out the battle with +herself. She admitted then that she had come to love Jack Darcy; but she +was strong and resolute, and would not be mastered by the passion. What +could she do? for go away she must! Her imperious will and knowledge of +men had availed her little to ward off this one's influence. Every +instinct had been baffled, every movement had been met with a +counterpoise. To stay here, and struggle, would be to yield eventually. + +There were dark circles under her eyes the next morning, tokens of her +vigil and strife. She intrenched herself again behind that dumb apathy: +she stood aloof from Sylvie. For days she escaped the watchful sight of +Darcy; but she heard his voice, and every rebellious pulse was +a-tremble. She cast about for some expedients whereby to escape her +prison honorably, and after several fruitless efforts found one. + +In their early days there had been a girl-friend between Agatha and +Gertrude, who had always held an attraction for the child Irene. +Wealthy, beautiful, and accomplished, she had married a man who had +already made for himself a name in statesmanship, a cultured and +polished gentleman, and her bridal had been the theme of the day. But +the fiend of intemperance had wrought destruction of her brilliant +prospects, and made her life an open scandal. When it could no longer be +borne, she gathered up the wreck of her fortune and her two little +girls, and opened a boarding-school in a quiet, aristocratic old town. +Irene had met her in New York after her own loss of fortune; and, though +she had disdained sympathy, she was touched by Mrs. Trenholme's +kindliness. + +She wrote to her now; and, of half a dozen applications, this was the +only one that elicited a favorable reply. Mrs. Trenholme needed a +teacher of French and music, and she knew Miss Lawrence's accent was +perfect. The salary was not large, being four hundred dollars a year; +but the duties were not very arduous, being all confined to +school-hours. + +Much as Irene desired to go, there was some struggle with her pride +before she could bring herself to accept. Only the prospect of that +greater pride being laid in ruins before her eyes, could finally have +induced her. Mrs. Trenholme expressed her delight warmly. + +There were strenuous objections on Fred's part when it came to be talked +over. "She had no need. He was as much her protector as her father had +been: indeed, was he not paying back the kindly care to himself, +honoring his father's memory by doing as he would have done?" + +Sylvie came to the rescue presently. + +"I would let her go, Fred," she counselled. "Beverly is a delightful +place, with many cultured people, and Mrs. Trenholme is just the woman +to have an influence over Irene. You see, she gets so tired of having no +pursuit, no strong interest. I could not endure it myself." + +"But she might have--I have dared to dream"-- + +"Put away dreams, my darling." Sylvie's voice was unconsciously sad. +Then, with a smile, and tears, "If God kept watch over us, and brought +us to our haven, can we not trust him for her,--for them?" + +And so they acquiesced. + +When Jack Darcy left Miss Lawrence on that fateful evening, his whole +soul was full of unrest. He paced the quiet streets in that tense mood +which makes thought and breath alike torture. Now that it was over, he +said, with the inconsequence of love, that he had been a weak, cowardly +fool to fear his fate too much; and yet the next instant he knew he +would surely have lost it all, and that in time she _must_ come to need +him. If he _could_ wait! Well, he _would_ wait. He had not trained +himself heretofore in these long reaches of patience for no purpose. +That richly satisfying, inward sight, she could not take from him, that +exultant faith which was warmed and fed from a thousand secret rills. + +He understood why she shunned him, why she had resolved to leave +Yerbury; and he was thankful now that he had not ruined his cause by +impatience. To think of not seeing her, of not hearing her voice, was +like madness! His face grew thin, there were tense lines about his mouth +and a set resolve in his eyes; yet to his fine temper came no moodiness +or irritability. The task he had set for himself must be accomplished. +He was as absolute in his self-denial as he would be in his happiness +when that came. + +So she went away with the merest friendly farewell, and asked herself +angrily, an hour after, what power this man had over her, and why she +feared him? Surely there was not much of the lover in that calm face! + +He threw himself into the business with renewed energy. As I said, the +September account was inspiriting. Prospects began to look brighter, +only it was admitted on all hands that the days of large profits and +quick fortunes were over for a long while, if not for all time. Industry +was coming to be respected, and you heard less talk about luck. + +The outside world kept watch of them narrowly, jealously. If they turned +out thieves and swindlers, it would not be for the lack of advice. +However, they tramped on and on. Their store gained a little, and was +productive of much good. Keppler went to a different part of the town. +Boyd sold the ground, and a row of decent cottages were to be put up. +Kit Connelly had been reimbursed by the town for her damages, and with +Ben Hay's advice and counsel built an addition to her house, which he +and Rose took for housekeeping purposes. The lunch and coffee room was a +regular and profitable institution, and would be a business for one of +the boys as he grew up to manhood. + +Sylvie and Fred went to the city for a winter holiday. Fred's book was +elegantly brought out, and won him much praise and a little money. +Sylvie achieved her ambition, and sold two pictures at what she +considered marvellous prices, but she wisely confessed it only to her +husband. They were invited to clubs and soirées; and Mrs. Minor was +extremely affable, though she did blame Fred for allowing Irene to take +such an idiotic step. + +Darcy and Maverick indulged in two or three flying trips. Miss McLeod +liked nothing better than to get these young people together, and listen +to the animated conversations, herself as spicy and sharp as any one. +Miss Lothrop was married; and in the slim, fair, blushing girl the old +lady had for companion now, he saw no danger. + +So the winter wore away, and the spring came again; and the man who was +counting the days wondered wearily at times what his summer harvest +might be. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +THE regal woman who stepped from the car to the station-platform at +Yerbury, one balmy day in early June, to be greeted by Fred and Sylvie +Lawrence with the warmest of welcomes, was indescribably different from +the pale, cold, haughty statue that had gone away. There was an +elasticity in her step, a self-reliance in her air, and the peculiar +confidence discipline wisely used inevitably imparts. + +Yet there had been no romantic or highly-wrought change in her. She had +not taken up teaching from any heroic motive or the possible benefit to +any one, but simply to protect herself from what she considered the +weakness of her own soul, to get away from a danger she could not fight. +Oh, how she had hated French verbs and exercises! If hers had been a +susceptible musical temperament, she would have gone quite crazy with +the blunders and sentimentalisms of young girls. + +After a month of it, she would have welcomed any relief, even the +face-to-face conflict with Darcy. But she could not well run away from +here, and her physical health was perfect: so there was nothing but to +go straight on, and find that circumstances had to govern, that she +could not shut herself up in sullen majesty, or fling off the daily +duties for some wiser and more patient hands to pick up, and restore to +beauty and harmony. + +She had a friend, the best and truest that a young woman could have, +perhaps; a woman so admirably adapted to the training of girls, that it +was no marvel she succeeded. Out of the ruins of her life she had built +up another, wise, sweet, and strong. As Irene began to comprehend what +Mrs. Trenholme had suffered and achieved, for the first time she paid an +honest reverence to the nobility of character. And now she despised her +own petty, shallow thoughts and beliefs. Her lofty despising of the +world and the vain and selfish people therein had been only a kind of +scornful regret for the treasures wrested from her, the glitter of +fashion, the gauds of society. Fred had made a braver stand than she. He +had not sought to poise himself on the easy, graceful rounds of past +promises, and to dream futile weakening dreams, nor shut himself up in +morbid isolation. + +After all, how little the great world really cared! It was the few +friends, the small circle, the near influences, that were of importance. +And when she found that here in cultured, delightful Beverly, she was +sought out as an entertaining guest, that she had not lost caste because +the great bubble of fortune had shivered into fragments, that dressing +and shopping and flirting were not the highest of human enjoyments, she +came to a very rational frame of mind, and to a certain extent enjoyed +her life. But nature had not made her a teacher of children, and never +does such women, until, informed by that highest of all love, they teach +their own. + +She came back beautiful, strong, and brave, resolute to dare any thing. +She dazzled them at the little tea-table by her swift, easy animation, +her brilliancy, the color that went and came, the smiles that were like +rippling billows over a sea. And Sylvie's heart went down like lead, +though it was such a fair picture. "For now," she thought, "Jack will +never dare to love her!" + +Perhaps not, if he had to begin now. But the love was in him and of him, +and would be hers all his life long, whether she took it or no. + +He did not come for a day or two. She wondered a little: she even +laughed lightly at her own past fear, the shadow she had conjured up, +the warm blood ran so healthily through her veins now. + +He sauntered in one morning to find her cutting roses with Sylvie, the +two the fairest flowers in all the garden. He was in no wise abashed at +this vision of loveliness: if she had a dower of beauty, he had his +unstained manhood. + +They chatted and laughed. Sylvie pinned a pale bud and geranium-leaf in +his coat. He held out his hand to Irene with a curious little gesture. +She had two or three great royal purple pansies clasped lightly in her +fingers. + +She meant to refuse courteously, but their eyes met. Was it the old +spell working? + +Surely, surely all these fine-spun barriers, all these cunning Alps that +she had thrown up day after day, were over-leaped at a supple bound. +Master herself she might; but he stood in his man's power and pride and +love, a suppliant, yet king, asking with wordless lips a little favor, +taking with calm yet passionate eyes a royal largess. Her heart sank; +her breath came in one long, tremulous sweep. Whether she gave, or he +took, she could not have told; but he went away with the pansies in his +fingers, despite Sylvie's pleading for a longer stay. + +When he was quite out of sight, he kissed them, sweet, tender, longing +kisses. Then he dropped them between the white leaves of a little book, +to be sacred forever. Sylvie's _boutonnière_ might keep him company +outwardly, but those no eye must feast upon. + +He took the fine right of a lover, not declared, yet certain of his +ground, not using any power that she could disdain or wound, it was so +delicate, intangible, the perfume without the flower, the little +thoughtfulness for her, reaching for her fan, folding her shawl about +her if the evening blew up cool, seeming to know her wants the very +instant they occurred to herself. And though she rebelled in secret, +though she resolved heroically to put an end to it all, the golden +moment never came. + +It seemed as if the four were always together. Not but what Yerbury +opened spacious doors to them, and proffered flattering welcomes; but +they could not tone themselves to the insipidities of society. There +were more complete and intense enjoyments. Sylvie and Irene took long +drives through country lanes, or of a moonlight summer evening they all +went. They sat on the porch, and Jack came strolling by: they went +within, and there were books, music, desultory talking, and that +wondrous, unseen guest in their midst. + +Sylvie rarely left her alone. They were not the women to tease one +another by flippant jests or allusions; and Mrs. Fred, of all others, +had a dread of thrusting any vulgar face on this colorless, yet +delicious, atmosphere. Love knew his own, and was sacredly known of +them. + +Irene Lawrence could no more help blossoming under the intense yet +steady warmth of his temperament, the vivid creative life in every +feature, than she could have helped being at all; and to have refused or +destroyed the love would have been as sure spiritual suicide as a poison +to the body. He understood that she came to see this presently; and then +his suit was half won,--more than half: he had only to go on to the +royal fruition of hope and patience. She no longer shunned him: she +dropped that pointed, distant "Mr. Darcy," and in the soul's own +language, gave him no outward name. + +And, when he took her at her royal flood-tide, the words of asking and +answering mattered little. A look, a tone, a clasp of hands, a last +struggle of her pride, and she was his. + +The wide, warm summer night closed about them: the dusk was rich with +floating dewy perfumes, and golden stars dazzled in the clear, moonless +sky. Out in the trees a little bird, startled from her nap, sang a +brief, sweet song to her little ones. He drew the proud yet yielding +figure closer: their hearts beat, their flushed cheeks touched, their +lips met in one long, heavenly caress, their hands clasped until pulse +throbbed with pulse in impassioned unison. + +Only a death and a great love can so change the aspect of life. As in +the grave lies buried the dearest promises of love, hope, existence +itself, and we learn in time to cling to every faint dream, so, like a +resurrection, love sweeps away the sins and follies and weaknesses of +the past, and rises from the dust and ashes transformed, renewed, nay, +born again to the most sacred purposes. + +A strange, swift impression rushed over her as she met the eager, +intense eyes. Was it in another world these arms had closed about her +with their strong, restful clasp? She started abruptly: she seemed to +listen, to puzzle herself with the bewildering impression. + +"What is it, my darling?" in a deep, ardent voice. + +"I don't know"--with a nervous laugh and shiver. "Have we met in some +other country? Did you carry me over mountains, or through valleys, or +hide me from a storm? Was this why I could never get away, try as I +might?" + +Oh the wordless, entreating beauty of those eyes! + +"My queen, my own, you will never try again." + +"Never!" with a long, delicious, sobbing breath. "Why are you so +irresistibly, so powerfully strong, Jack? Do you know,--you _must_ know +how wicked I have been! If you cast me out, it would only be a proper +punishment. I don't mean that my lips or my hands are blurred with other +men's kisses. I never could endure that," shuddering. "But they laid +down their hearts, and I walked over them: they were weak, and I was +strong! And one night I tried"--her voice sank to a beseeching, +half-shamed murmur. + +"Yes," he gave a pure, genial laugh, rich in his own sustaining +strength. "You would have broken my heart, your own too; for I think, +even then, you loved me." + +"I surely have never been indifferent. It was either love or hate. Do +you remember the first evening I saw you in the parlor yonder?" + +She learned ere long, that he had never forgotten any thing; but the +depth and perfectness of his love she could not learn in a day. + +If Jack Darcy had been patient hitherto, that grand quality seemed +suddenly exhausted. He absolutely hurried her into a marriage,--hurried +Sylvie too, who wanted the courtship to proceed with measured, golden +steps. + +"As if it were not to be a courtship all one's life!" said radiant Jack. +"Now the moments break in the middle, there are tangled ends, and +endless beginnings, and one can hardly remember where one left off. Were +you sorry to go to Fred?" + +"Why, no!" with wide-open, surprised eyes. + +He carried the day at last, and September was appointed. They would be +married in the old church. Mrs. Minor responded to the tidings by a +visit. She had treasured up a great many things to say to Irene; but for +once she was quite overwhelmed, and her sneers and patronage fell to the +ground. Though she did remark to her mother,-- + +"Of course I _am_ disappointed that Irene, with her face and style, has +not done any better; but you cannot expect much after one passes twenty. +Mr. Darcy has improved certainly, and Irene is not as exclusive as we +older girls were. It is a great pity she did not go out to Gertrude." + +For George Eastman, with a cat-like propensity, always came down on his +feet. He was now at the flood-tide of prosperity--on other people's +money. Mrs. Eastman was regal in velvets, sables, and diamonds, queening +it at St. Petersburg. Some day there might be a crash again, but they +would be well out of the way. + +Miss Lawrence would have no diamonds, and no show; but she was dazzling +in her radiant loveliness; and, if Jack was not handsome, his superb +manliness redeemed him. Hope Mills took a holiday. All Yerbury went, it +seemed; and those who could not get in remained outside for a glimpse. + +Sylvie and Fred leaned over the registry in the vestry-room. In a bold +hand the bridegroom had written, "John Beaumanoir Darcy." + +"A compliment to Irene's pride," laughed Sylvie. "The most aristocratic +name of them all!" + +The old house was brightened up a bit before the young couple returned. +Gentle Mrs. Darcy wondered how it would be between the old and the new +love; but she remembered with charity, that she had taken the fresh +young love of another Darcy, and was content with her day. + +The young people brought a new atmosphere with them, but it did not +clash with the old. Jane Morgan was planning a home for herself. One of +the cut-up farms had been put together again; and she had taken a +five-years' lease at a low rate, to try a prudent and sensible scheme of +philanthropy. Maverick had been intensely puzzled by Jack's love-affair, +and could not yet account for it satisfactorily, but watched them both +with a kind of amused interest, and dreamed of the deft, dainty little +fairy down at his aunt's. + +I suppose I ought to say that Mrs. Jack Darcy vied with her husband in +all good works,--in schools and clubs, and plans for everybody's +improvement; but it was _not_ her _forte_. He was too well satisfied +with her love for him, her music, her enchanting ways, to wish her any +different; and I think he would have been jealous, with that exclusive, +tender, adoring jealousy, that cannot endure its choice treasures +lavished upon others. She was kindly and generous in a stately, queenly +fashion; but what between Jack, who was a more importunate lover than +ever, and the baby born at Larch Avenue, she had her hands quite full. + +The five years of mutual copartnership drew to a close. Their young +engineer had not blown up the mills; Bob Winston did not go off at the +last moment with the balance at the bank; Jack Darcy had not falsified +accounts: but it came out just as _everybody_ had predicted that it +would! "If your men were honest and honorable, co-operation could not +fail of success. It was the simplest of all schemes," said "The Evening +Transcript." + +The two offices were thrown into one by the sliding-doors, and the +workmen and women assembled in their holiday gear. Jack Darcy was really +struck with the change in their faces and the general demeanor. They had +a brisk, cheery, self-reliant air: there was a certain neatness and +respectability about which they used not to care in the old times. The +boys of five years ago were grown men, and there wasn't a sturdier one +among them than Barton Kane. + +And now Jack Darcy proceeded to read the statement of the whole period, +to which every one listened with the most profound attention. + +At the close of the first year, after rent, wages, and all other +expenses were taken out, the accumulation of profits had been +$21,642.27. One-half of this, $10,821.13.5, had been turned directly +over to capital: the other half, the profit of labor, was divided again +in equal shares, one going to capital for every person, the other, +amounting to $5,410.56.7, paid over to them as compensation for +three-quarter wages. Of course the men had been delighted. They +remembered their first joy even now. + +Then had followed the disastrous second year, which had no such golden +story to tell. The first six months, interest and discount had made +horrible inroads into capital, and there had not only been no surplus, +but an actual deficiency. The latter half showed a poor frightened +balance of $137. But this year they improved greatly in economic +management and several new processes that gave larger profit with less +labor and outlay, so the hard strain had not been entirely without its +uses. Capital had gone down in the valley of humiliation, and had a +sorry time of it; but with it had come a knowledge and sympathy they +could have acquired in no other way. + +The third year had proved a grand success. They had all worked so +heartily together, and business had been undeniably good. Profits had +been $41,854.92, with very limited discounts. After this there was none, +and unused capital began to draw a little interest. This year there had +been $10,963.73 to pay over to the men on the quarter share. The fourth +year there had been numerous bankrupt stocks thrown on the market, and +every one trying to do his utmost again: still the balance had been by +no means disheartening, amounting to $34,982.67; capital's share being +$17,491.33, and the wages overplus $8,745.66. The last year's profits +had footed up $43,101.56. + +There was now in accrued capital stock $106,288.81.5; and this was to be +divided in the _pro rata_ of each man's share, the larger amounts making +the most, of course. And now they saw the object of saving. They had +earned full wages and something beside; and, though wages had not +reached the high point of good times, on the other hand they had not +fallen below a reasonable standard, even with the bad year. There had +been steady work for the whole five years, and every man had been +practised in thrift, economy, and self-denial. + +Of those who had begun with them, seven had been discharged for +drunkenness and insubordination, their share forfeited to the fund for +sick and disabled workmen; three had gone out from loss of faith in the +plan, accepting Winston's offer to sell; four had died, and thirteen had +left from various other causes. So that there had been a much greater +degree of steadiness than usually obtains among factory-workmen. This +led to a decided improvement in many other respects. With a prospect of +being permanent, the men were induced to buy homes, and took a greater +interest in the management and welfare of their own town. + +The balance was divided, each man receiving his check, and with it a +detailed statement of the whole five years. They were now quite free, +the industrial partnership having legally expired. Hope Mills would take +a fortnight holiday for repairs and re-organization. + +"What if there were to be no re-organization?" exclaimed Ben Hay +suddenly. + +The men stared blankly at one another. No "Hope Mills," and the +foundation-stone of life would have fallen out! + +Robert Winston addressed them, thanking them very heartily for their +co-operation, and expressing a hope that each man would be satisfied +with the result of five of the hardest years the country had ever known. +There was no doubt now, judging from our exports, and the amount of +money coming in from every quarter of the globe, as one might say, that +we had entered upon an era of prosperity. We had been educated to the +practice of prudence, of common-sense, and sound principles, we had +gained fibre and stamina, and he hoped we had gained honesty and +integrity. If we could not always compete with low-priced manufacturers, +the solid truth was made manifest in the end. They might take for their +passwords, "Honesty, industry, and fidelity." + +There was a great deal of cheering, and then Darcy was called upon for a +speech. He did himself infinite credit, for in these five years not a +man among them had made more rapid strides than Jack Darcy. As he stood +there now, noble in form, in bearing, and with his good, strong, manly +face, they felt somehow that he was _their_ hero, and the cheering was +heartier than ever. + +Then Cameron must say a few words, and Ben Hay and Jesse Gilman; and, as +Jack declared afterward, it was a regular experience-meeting among +brethren. They pressed around, and shook hands with Darcy and Winston, +the captain and the pilot with whom they had weathered gales, and been +brought safely into port. And they would not let them stir out of the +building until they had appointed a meeting to form the company again, +this time on a somewhat stronger basis. They were firmly convinced now +that this was the only way in which it was possible for workmen to make +any advancement. + +At length the crowd began to disperse. Jack started homeward; but, +before he had walked half the distance, Davy, one of the men who had +gone out in the first trouble, confronted him suddenly, seizing his +hand. + +"O Mr. Darcy!" said he in a most eager tone, "are you going to form over +again? Do you think there's a chance for me to be taken back? There +hasn't been a day nor a night but what I've cursed myself for being such +a fool as to let anybody talk me out of a good job. I see just how it is +now. And, if I can get back again, I'll stand by the old ship through +thick and thin. O Mr. Darcy! please speak a good word for me!" + +"That I will, Davy, if it is needed." + +"Thank you, thank you, a thousand times!" cried the poor fellow +gratefully. + +Yerbury had plenty of praise now. To be sure, times _had_ improved. If +every year had been like the second, it would not have been possible to +make co-operation work; but then, would it have been possible to carry +on any business with continual loss? The starting of Hope Mills had +inspired other disheartened firms, and given an impetus to Yerbury +industries that might have lain much longer in the Slough of Despond. + +Fred and Sylvie came over to the Darcys to tea that evening, and +Maverick dropped in of course. + +"Mrs. Darcy," he exclaimed, "I do not see why you did not have a +daughter for me to marry! Then we could all have been relations, you +see. I think it a great mistake on your part." + +Mrs. Darcy glanced at her son with a peculiar light in her eyes. + +Jack laughed. "She is thinking," he explained, "that if there had been +another one, I should have gone off long ago to seek my fortune. I have +learned that God may have better work for one than simply following out +his own will;" and his voice dropped to a reverential tone. + +Maverick studied him with a peculiar interest. All these years there had +been growing up in Jack Darcy a plant of nobler promise than mere +worldly ambition. Not that he in any manner despised wealth: he had come +to understand its true uses. The same power that had educated the +workmen had been going on with silent, steady processes in him. He had +come to comprehend the dignity of the soul, and that God desired his +return in the deeds done for one another, in the continual progress, the +greatness, nobleness, and loyalty we offered "to one of the least of +these." Was this true religion,--the simple doctrine of the Cross? And +Maverick bowed his head in unconscious reverence. + +They started homeward presently. Sylvie and Irene had some "last words" +about baby Lawrence, and the two men paced up and down the porch a few +moments. + +"Thank God that it all came out so well!" said Jack in his strong, +reverent tone. + +Fred put his arm over Jack's shoulder. The two men seemed types of all +that was highest and finest in human nature. + +"Jack," began the other in his full, rich tone, tremulous with emotion, +"do you remember that in my romantic boyhood I used to liken you to King +Arthur? You have merged into a nobler hero since that day. Who but a +Sir Galahad, true, strong, unselfish, at once just yet tender, ambitious +for the Holy Grail of our times, yet never swerving from the path of +honor; keeping his own soul stainless amid the many temptations of the +world--who save such a soul could have gone on in your path to the end? +And of the other Christ-like virtue"-- + +"Don't, don't, Fred! You always did rate me too highly, you know. I am +only a man." + +"It is something to be a man in these days," returned the other. + +The shady blue eyes smiled out of their twilight depth. + +"Fred, where are you?" cried a sweet voice. + +"You gave me _her_. You taught me to gain the great prize of my life as +surely as you trained the men in the mill yonder. God bless you!" + + + + +LEE AND SHEPARD'S + +SELECT FICTION + + +_All prices given are for CLOTH BINDING, unless otherwise specified_ + + =The Way of the World.= By William T. Adams (Oliver Optic). + Illustrated $1.50 + =Living Too Fast.= By William T. Adams (Oliver Optic). + Illustrated 1.50 + =Indoors and Out.= By William T. Adams (Oliver Optic). + Illustrated 1.50 + =The Fortunate Island.= By Max Adeler. Illustrated 1.00 + =Dora Darling, the Daughter of the Regiment.= By Jane G. + Austin. Illustrated 1.00 + =Dora Darling and Little Sunshine.= By Jane G. Austin 1.00 + =Life in Danbury.= By James M. Bailey. Illustrated 1.00 + =Mr. Phillips' Goneness.= By James M. 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As a story-book it easily leads + all other American history stories in interest, + while as a text-book for the study of history it + is universally admitted to be the best. + + +_Young Folks' Book of American Explorers_ + +By THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON. Uniform with the "Young Folks' History of +the United States." One volume, fully illustrated. Price $1.50. + + "It is not a history told in the third person, nor + an historical novel for young folks, where the + author supposes the chief characters to have + thought and said such and such things under such + and such circumstances; but it is the genuine + description given by the persons who experienced + the things they described in letters written + home."--_Montpelier Journal._ + + +_The Nation in a Nutshell_ + +By GEORGE MAKEPEACE TOWLE, author of "Heroes of History," "Young Folks' +History of England," "Young Folks' History of Ireland," etc. Price 50 +cents. + + "To tell the story of a nation like ours in a + nutshell, requires a peculiar faculty for + selecting, condensing, and philosophizing. The + brevity with which he relates the principal events + in American history, does not detract from the + charming interest of the narrative + style."--_Public Opinion._ + + +_Young People's History of England_ + +By GEORGE MAKEPEACE TOWLE. Cloth, illustrated. $1.50. + + "The whole narrative is made interesting and + attractive--in every way what a book of this kind + should be in its clearness of statement, freshness + of style, and its telling of the right + ways."--_Critic._ + + +_Handbook of English History_ + +Based on "Lectures on English History," by the late M. J. GUEST, and +brought down to the year 1880. With a Supplementary Chapter on the +English Literature of the 19th Century. By F. H. UNDERWOOD, LL.D. With +Maps, Chronological Table, etc. $1.50. + + "It approaches nearer perfection than anything in + the line we have seen. It is succinct, accurate, + and delightful."--_Hartford Evening Post._ + + +_Young People's History of Ireland_ + +By GEORGE MAKEPEACE TOWLE, author of "Young People's History of +England," "Young Folks' Heroes of History," etc. With an introduction by +JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY. Cloth, illustrated. $1.50. + + "The history is like a novel, increasing in + interest to the very end, and terminating at the + most interesting period of the whole; and the + reader lays down the book a moment in enthusiastic + admiration for a people who have endured so much, + and yet have retained so many admirable + characteristics."--_N.Y. World._ + + * * * * * + + _Sold by all booksellers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt + of price_ + =LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston= + + + + +YOUNG FOLKS' + +BOOKS OF TRAVEL + + * * * * * + +DRIFTING ROUND THE WORLD; A Boy's Adventures by Sea and Land + + By CAPT. CHARLES W. HALL, author of "Adrift in the + Ice-Fields," "The Great Bonanza," etc. With + numerous full-page and letter-press illustrations. + Royal 8vo. Handsome cover. $1.75. Cloth, gilt, + $2.50. + +"Out of the beaten track" in its course of travel, record of adventures, +and descriptions of life in Greenland, Labrador, Ireland, Scotland, +England, France, Holland, Russia, Asia, Siberia, and Alaska. Its hero is +young, bold, and adventurous; and the book is in every way interesting +and attractive. + + +_EDWARD GRÉEY'S JAPANESE SERIES_ + + +YOUNG AMERICANS IN JAPAN; or, The Adventures of the Jewett Family and +their Friend Oto Nambo + + With 170 full-page and letter-press illustrations. + Royal 8vo, 7 × 9½ inches. Handsomely + illuminated cover, $1.75. Cloth, black and gold, + $2.50. + +This story, though essentially a work of fiction, is filled with +interesting and truthful descriptions of the curious ways of living of +the good people of the land of the rising sun. + + +THE WONDERFUL CITY OF TOKIO; or, The Further Adventures of the Jewett +Family and their Friend Oto Nambo + + With 169 illustrations. Royal 8vo, 7 × 9½ + inches. With cover in gold and colors, designed by + the author, $1.75. Cloth, black and gold, $2.50. + +"A book full of delightful information. The author has the happy gift of +permitting the reader to view things as he saw them. The illustrations +are mostly drawn by a Japanese artist, and are very unique."--_Chicago +Herald._ + + +THE BEAR WORSHIPPERS OF YEZO AND THE ISLAND OF KARAFUTO; being the +further Adventures of the Jewett Family and their Friend Oto Nambo + + 180 illustrations. Boards, $1.75. Cloth, $2.50. + +Graphic pen and pencil pictures of the remarkable bearded people who +live in the north of Japan. The illustrations are by native Japanese +artists, and give queer pictures of a queer people, who have been seldom +visited. + + +_HARRY W. FRENCH'S BOOKS_ + + +OUR BOYS IN INDIA + + The wanderings of two young Americans in Hindustan, + with their exciting adventures on the sacred rivers + and wild mountains. With 145 illustrations. Royal + 8vo, 7 × 9½ inches. Bound in emblematic covers + of Oriental design, $1.75. Cloth, black and gold, + $2.50. + + +While it has all the exciting interest of a romance, it is remarkably +vivid in its pictures of manners and customs in the land of the Hindu. +The illustrations are many and excellent. + + +OUR BOYS IN CHINA + + The adventures of two young Americans, wrecked in + the China Sea on their return from India, with + their strange wanderings through the Chinese + Empire. 188 illustrations. Boards, ornamental + covers in colors and gold, $1.75. Cloth, $2.50. + +This gives the further adventures of "Our Boys" of India fame in the +land of Teas and Queues. + + * * * * * + + _Sold by all booksellers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt + of price_ + =LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston= + + + + +IRENE E. JEROME'S + +ART BOOKS + + * * * * * + + =IN A FAIR COUNTRY.= With 55 full-page illustrations; + engraved by Andrew. Nearly 100 pages of text, by Thomas + Wentworth Higginson. Gold cloth, full gilt, $6.00; + Turkey morocco, $15.00; tree calf, $15.00; English seal + style, $10.00. + +Miss Jerome has caught the very glamour of the woodland and the lea with +her pencil, transferring it to paper with the delicacy of an exquisite +photograph, while Colonel Higginson's delightful style brings out the +beauty of his topics most satisfactorily. As a specimen of the +book-maker's art, the volume leaves nothing to be asked. + + + =A BUNCH OF VIOLETS.= Original illustrations, + engraved on wood and printed under the direction + of GEORGE T. ANDREW. 4to, cloth, $3.75: Turkey + morocco, $9.00; tree calf, $9.00; English seal + style, $7.00. + +The new volume is akin to the former triumphs of this favorite artist, +whose "Sketch Books" have achieved a popularity unequalled in the +history of fine art publications. In the profusion of designs, +originality, and delicacy of treatment, the charming sketches of +mountain, meadow, lake, and forest scenery of New England here +reproduced are unexcelled. After the wealth of illustration which this +student of nature has poured into the lap of art, to produce a volume in +which there is no deterioration of power or beauty, but, if possible, +increased strength and enlargement of ideas, gives assurance that the +foremost female artist in America will hold the hearts of her legion of +admirers. + + + =NATURE'S HALLELUJAH.= Presented in a series of + nearly fifty full-page original illustrations + (9½ x 14 inches), engraved on wood by GEORGE T. + ANDREW. Elegantly bound in gold cloth, full gilt, + gilt edges, $6.00; Turkey morocco, $15.00; tree + calf, $15.00; English seal style, $10.00. + +This volume has won the most cordial praise on both sides of the water. +Mr. Francis H. Underwood, U. S. Consul at Glasgow, writes concerning it: +"I have never seen anything superior, if equal, to the delicacy and +finish of the engravings, and the perfection of the press-work. The copy +you sent me has been looked over with evident and unfeigned delight by +many people of artistic taste. Every one frankly says, 'It is impossible +to produce such effects here,' and, whether it is possible or not, I am +sure it is _not done_; no such effects are produced on this side of the +Atlantic. In this combination of art and workmanship, the United States +leads the world; and you have a right to be proud of the honor of +presenting such a specimen to the public." + + + =ONE YEAR'S SKETCH BOOK.= Containing forty-six + full-page original illustrations, engraved on wood + by ANDREW; in same bindings and at same prices as + "Nature's Hallelujah." + +"Every thick, creamy page is embellished by some gems of art. Sometimes +it is but a dash and a few trembling strokes; at others an impressive +landscape, but in all and through all runs the master touch. Miss Jerome +has the genius of an Angelo, and the execution of a Guido. The beauty of +the sketches will be apparent to all, having been taken from our +unrivalled New England scenery."--_Washington Chronicle._ + + + =THE MESSAGE OF THE BLUEBIRD, Told to Me to Tell + to Others.= Original illustrations engraved on + wood by ANDREW. Cloth and gold, $2.00; palatine + boards, ribbon ornaments, $1.00. + +"In its new bindings is one of the daintiest combinations of song and +illustration ever published, exhibiting in a marked degree the fine +poetic taste and wonderfully artistic touch which render this author's +works so popular. The pictures are exquisite, and the verses exceedingly +graceful, appealing to the highest sensibilities. The little volume +ranks among the choicest of holiday souvenirs, and is beautiful and +pleasing."--_Boston Transcript._ + + + * * * * * + + _Sold by all booksellers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt + of price_ + =LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston= + + + + + LEE AND * * SEVENTY-FIVE CENT * + + * SHEPARD'S * JUVENILES + +_Comprising new editions of the following popular Juveniles Bound in +best English cloth bright colors Any volume sold separately_ + + * * * * * + +=CHARLEY AND EVA STORIES= By Miss L. C. THURSTON + + =How Charley Roberts became a Man= + =How Eva Roberts gained her Education= + =Home in the West= + =Children of Amity Court= + +Miss Thurston writes with a purpose. She is an admirer of manly boys and +womanly girls, and so carries her characters through scenes and +situations that elevate and purify. The books are by no means slow, +being full of adventures. + + +=GOLDEN PROVERB SERIES= By Mrs. M. E. BRADLEY and Miss KATE J. NEELY + + =Birds of a Feather= + =Fine Feathers do not make Fine Birds= + =Handsome is that Handsome Does= + =A Wrong Confessed is Half Redressed= + =One Good Turn deserves Another= + =Actions Speak Louder than Words= + +Two capital story-tellers, "birds of a feather," have flocked together, +and produced from six old proverbs six as bright and taking story-books +as ever gladdened the hearts of Young America; showing, indeed, that +"handsome is that handsome does." + + +=GOLDEN RULE STORIES= By Mrs. S. C. B. SAMUELS + + =The Golden Rule= + =The Shipwrecked Girl= + =Under the Sea= + =Nettie's Trial= + =The Burning Prairie= + =The Smuggler's Cave= + + +CELESTA'S LIBRARY for Boys and Girls + + =Celesta= + =Crooked and Straight= + =The Crook Straightened= + =A Thousand a Year= + =Abel Grey= + =May Coverley= + +Mrs. Samuels has written many attractive books. The scenes and incidents +she portrays are full of life, action, and interest, and decidedly +wholesome and instructive. + + +=SALT-WATER DICK STORIES= By MAY MANNERING + + =Climbing the Rope= + =Billy Grimes's Favorite= + =Cruise of the Dashaway= + =The Little Spaniard= + =Salt-Water Dick= + =Little Maid of Oxbow= + +Not all tales of the sea, as the title of the series would imply, but +stories of many lands by a lady who has been a great traveller, and +tells what she has seen, in a captivating way. + + +=UPSIDE-DOWN STORIES= By ROSA ABBOTT + + =Jack of all Trades= + =Alexis the Runaway= + =Tommy Hickup= + =Upside Down= + =The Young Detective= + =The Pinks and Blues= + + +=VACATION STORIES for Boys and Girls= 6 vols. Illustrated + + =Worth not Wealth= + =Country Life= + =The Charm= + =Karl Keigler or The Fortunes of a Foundling= + =Walter Seyton= + =Holidays at Chestnut Hill= + + +=GREAT ROSY DIAMOND STORIES for Girls= 6 vols. Illustrated + + =The Great Rosy Diamond= + =Daisy or The Fairy Spectacles= + =Violet a Fairy Story= + =Minnie or The Little Woman= + =The Angel Children= + =Little Blossom's Reward= + + * * * * * + + _Sold by all booksellers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt + of price_ + =LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston= + + + + + NARRATIVES · OF · NOTED---- + -------TRAVELLERS + + * * * * * + +=GERMANY SEEN WITHOUT SPECTACLES; or, Random Sketches of Various +Subjects, Penned from Different Standpoints in the Empire= + + By HENRY RUGGLES, late United States Consul at the + Island of Malta, and at Barcelona, Spain. $1.50. + +"Mr. Ruggles writes briskly: he chats and gossips, slashing right and +left with stout American prejudices, and has made withal a most +entertaining book."--_New-York Tribune._ + + +=TRAVELS AND OBSERVATIONS IN THE ORIENT, with a Hasty Flight in the +Countries of Europe= + + By WALTER HARRIMAN (ex-Governor of New Hampshire). $1.50. + +"The author, in his graphic description of these sacred localities, +refers with great aptness to scenes and personages which history has +made famous. It is a chatty narrative of travel."--_Concord Monitor._ + + +=FORE AND AFT= + + A Story of Actual Sea-Life. By ROBERT B. DIXON, M.D. $1.25. + +Travels in Mexico, with vivid descriptions of manners and customs, form +a large part of this striking narrative of a fourteen-months' voyage. + + +=VOYAGE OF THE PAPER CANOE= + + A Geographical Journey of Twenty-five Hundred + Miles from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico. By + NATHANIEL H. BISHOP. With numerous illustrations + and maps specially prepared for this work. Crown + 8vo. $1.50. + +"Mr. Bishop did a very bold thing, and has described it with a happy +mixture of spirit, keen observation, and _bonhomie_."--_London Graphic._ + + +=FOUR MONTHS IN A SNEAK-BOX= + + A Boat Voyage of Twenty-six Hundred Miles down the + Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and along the Gulf of + Mexico. By NATHANIEL H. BISHOP. With numerous maps + and illustrations. $1.50. + +"His glowing pen-pictures of 'shanty-boat' life on the great rivers are +true to life. His descriptions of persons and places are +graphic."--_Zion's Herald._ + + +=A THOUSAND MILES' WALK ACROSS SOUTH AMERICA, Over the Pampas and the +Andes= + + By NATHANIEL H. BISHOP. Crown 8vo. New edition. + Illustrated. $1.50. + +"Mr. Bishop made this journey when a boy of sixteen, has never forgotten +it, and tells it in such a way that the reader will always remember it, +and wish there had been more." + + +=CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES= + + Being the Adventures of a Naturalist Bird-hunting + in the West-India Islands. By FRED A. OBER. New + edition. With maps and illustrations. $1.50. + +"During two years he visited mountains, forests, and people, that few, +if any, tourists had ever reached before. He carried his camera with +him, and photographed from nature the scenes by which the book is +illustrated."--_Louisville Courier-Journal._ + + +=ENGLAND FROM A BACK WINDOW; With Views of Scotland and Ireland= + + By J. M. BAILEY, the "'Danbury News' Man." 12mo. $1.00. + +"The peculiar humor of this writer is well known. The British Isles have +never before been looked at in just the same way,--at least, not by any +one who has notified us of the fact. Mr. Bailey's travels possess, +accordingly, a value of their own for the reader, no matter how many +previous records of journeys in the mother country he may have +read."--_Rochester Express._ + + + * * * * * + + _Sold by all booksellers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt + of price_ + =LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston= + + + + +BRIGHT AND BREEZY + +BOOKS OF TRAVEL + +BY SIX BRIGHT WOMEN + + +=MEXICO--PICTURESQUE, POLITICAL, PROGRESSIVE= + + By MARY E. BLAKE and MARGARET F. SULLIVAN. Cloth, + $1.25. + +"This is a very charming volume. The writers went through the country +with their eyes wide open, and they have the faculty of interesting +others in what was of interest to them." + + +=A WINTER IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND MEXICO= + + By HELEN J. SANBORN. Cloth, $1.50. + +"A bright, attractive narrative by a wide-awake Boston girl." + + +=A SUMMER IN THE AZORES, with a Glimpse of Madeira= + + By Miss C. ALICE BAKER. Little Classic style. Cloth, + gilt edges, $1.25. + +"Miss Baker gives us a breezy, entertaining description of these +picturesque islands. She is an observing traveller, and makes a graphic +picture of the quaint people and customs."--_Chicago Advance._ + + +=LIFE AT PUGET SOUND= + + With sketches of travel in Washington Territory, + British Columbia, Oregon, and California. By + CAROLINE C. LEIGHTON. 16mo, cloth, $1.50. + +"Your chapters on Puget Sound have charmed me. Full of life, deeply +interesting, and with just that class of facts, and suggestions of +truth, that cannot fail to help the Indian and the Chinese."--WENDELL +PHILLIPS. + + +=EUROPEAN BREEZES= + + By MARGERY DEANE. Cloth, gilt top, $1.50. Being + chapters of travel through Germany, Austria, + Hungary, and Switzerland, covering places not + usually visited by Americans in making "the Grand + Tour of the Continent," by the accomplished writer + of "Newport Breezes." + +"A very bright, fresh and amusing account, which tells us about a host +of things we never heard of before, and is worth two ordinary books of +European travel."--_Woman's Journal._ + + +=BEATEN PATHS; or, A Woman's Vacation in Europe= + + By ELLA W. THOMPSON. 16mo, cloth. $1.50. + +A lively and chatty book of travel, with pen-pictures humorous and +graphic, that are decidedly out of the "beaten paths" of description. + + +=AN AMERICAN GIRL ABROAD= + + By Miss ADELINE TRAFTON, author of "His Inheritance," + "Katherine Earle," etc. 16mo. Illustrated. $1.50. + +"A sparkling account of a European trip by a wide-awake, intelligent, +and irrepressible American girl. Pictured with a freshness and vivacity +that is delightful."--_Utica Observer._ + + +_CURTIS GUILD'S TRAVELS_ + + +=BRITONS AND MUSCOVITES; or, Traits of Two Empires= + + Cloth, $2.00. + + +=OVER THE OCEAN; or, Sights and Scenes in Foreign Lands= + + By CURTIS GUILD, editor of "The Boston Commercial + Bulletin." Crown 8vo. Cloth, $2.50. + +"The utmost that any European tourist can hope to do is to tell the old +story in a somewhat fresh way, and Mr. Guild has succeeded in every part +of his book in doing this."--_Philadelphia Bulletin_. + + +=ABROAD AGAIN; or, Fresh Forays in Foreign Fields= + + Uniform with "Over the Ocean." By the same author. + Crown 8vo. Cloth $2.50. + +"He has given us a life-picture. Europe is done in a style that must +serve as an invaluable guide to those who go 'over the ocean,' as well +as an interesting companion."--_Halifax Citizen._ + + * * * * * + + _Sold by all booksellers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt + of price_ + =LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston= + + + + +YOUNG FOLKS HEROES OF HISTORY + + By GEORGE MAKEPEACE TOWLE. + Handsomely Illustrated. Price per vol., $1.25. Sets in neat boxes. + + +VASCO DA GAMA: + +HIS VOYAGES AND ADVENTURES. + +"Da Gama's history is full of striking adventures, thrilling incidents, +and perilous situations; and Mr. Towle, while not sacrificing historical +accuracy, has so skilfully used his materials, that we have a charmingly +romantic tale."--_Rural New-Yorker._ + + +PIZARRO: + +HIS ADVENTURES AND CONQUESTS. + +"No hero of romance possesses greater power to charm the youthful reader +than the conqueror of Peru. Not even King Arthur, or Thaddeus of Warsaw, +has the power to captivate the imagination of the growing boy. Mr. Towle +has handled his subject in a glowing but truthful manner; and we venture +the assertion, that, were our children led to read such books as this, +the taste for unwholesome, exciting, wrong-teaching boys' books--dime +novels in books' clothing--would be greatly diminished, to the great gain +of mental force and moral purpose in the rising generation."--_Chicago +Alliance._ + + +MAGELLAN; + +OR, THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. + +"What more of romantic and spirited adventures any bright boy could want +than is to be found in this series of historical biography, it is +difficult to imagine. This volume is written in a most sprightly manner; +and the life of its hero, Fernan Magellan, with its rapid stride from +the softness of a petted youth to the sturdy courage and persevering +fortitude of manhood, makes a tale of marvellous fascination."--_Christian +Union._ + + +MARCO POLO: + +HIS TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES. + +"The story of the adventurous Venetian, who six hundred years ago +penetrated into India and Cathay and Thibet and Abyssinia, is pleasantly +and clearly told; and nothing better can be put into the hands of the +school boy or girl than this series of the records of noted travellers. +The heroism displayed by these men was certainly as great as that ever +shown by conquering warrior; and it was exercised in a far nobler +cause,--the cause of knowledge and discovery, which has made the +nineteenth century what it is."--_Graphic._ + + +RALEGH: + +HIS EXPLOITS AND VOYAGES. + +"This belongs to the 'Young Folks' Heroes of History' series, and deals +with a greater and more interesting man than any of its predecessors. +With all the black spots on his fame, there are few more brilliant and +striking figures in English history than the soldier, sailor, courtier, +author, and explorer, Sir Walter Ralegh. Even at this distance of time, +more than two hundred and fifty years after his head fell on the +scaffold, we cannot read his story without emotion. It is graphically +written, and is pleasant reading, not only for young folks, but for old +folks with young hearts."--_Woman's Journal._ + + +DRAKE: + +THE SEA-LION OF DEVON. + +Drake was the foremost sea-captain of his age, the first English admiral +to send a ship completely round the world, the hero of the magnificent +victory which the English won over the Invincible Armada. His career was +stirring, bold, and adventurous, from early youth to old age. + + LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston. + + + + +BOOKS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN + + +=HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW= + + His Life, His Works, His Friendships. By GEORGE + LOWELL AUSTIN. Profusely illustrated. Cloth, + $2.00. New edition. Formerly published by + subscription. + +"We have here a clear and popular presentation of the poet's literary +life. The details of his personal and private life, or at least so much +of it as belongs by right strictly to his family, has been avoided, and +that properly. What the public have a right to know is found in this +volume, in a style that is easy and pleasing. Here you have Longfellow +as a child, as a college student, and as a professor in Bowdoin College; +and especially does he appear here as a man of letters. It is a charming +volume."--_Christian Standard._ + + +=LIFE AND TIMES OF WENDELL PHILLIPS= + + By GEORGE LOWELL AUSTIN. With steel portrait and + illustrations. Cloth, $1.50. New edition. The only + complete Life of the great agitator. + +"The life of a man who was so strongly identified with one of the most +stirring periods in American history must necessarily be one of much +interest, and Mr. Austin has succeeded in presenting its features in a +very attractive way. Portions of Mr. Phillips's most important public +addresses are given, and there are reminiscences of the man by some of +his close friends and associates."--_Philadelphia Record._ + + Wendell Phillips's Lectures, Orations, and Letters, to 1861. + 563 pages. + Library edition. 8vo $2 50 + Popular edition, with Biographical Sketch, 16mo 1 00 + The Scholar in a Republic. Paper, 8vo 25 + Eulogy of Garrison. Paper, 8vo 25 + Lost Arts. Paper, 8vo 25 + Daniel O'Connell. Paper, 8vo 25 + Labor Question. Paper, 8vo 25 + + +=LIFE AND DEEDS OF GENERAL U. S. GRANT= + + By Rev. P. C. HEADLEY and GEORGE LOWELL AUSTIN. + Profusely illustrated. Cloth, $1.50. + +The materials for the early years of the subject of this popular +biography were furnished by the immediate friends and relatives of his +family. The events bearing upon the war history are based upon the +recognized authorities, and will stand the test of military criticism. +The work is intensely interesting, and exceedingly popular. + + +=Oliver Optic's OUR STANDARD BEARER= + + Or the Life of General ULYSSES S. GRANT, his + youth, his manhood, his campaign, and his eminent + services in the reconstruction of the nation his + sword has redeemed, as seen and related by Captain + BERNARD GALLYGASKEN, Cosmopolitan, and written out + by OLIVER OPTIC. _A new edition_, with + supplementary chapters, containing the political + life of the general, his travels abroad, his + sickness and death. Cloth; illustrated by THOMAS + NAST and others, elegantly bound, $1.50. + +"It is written in Mr. Adams's happiest vein, and is a most unique and +interesting presentation of a subject upon which volumes have been +written and read." + + + * * * * * + + _Sold by all booksellers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt + of price_ + =LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston= + + + + +POPULAR READING FOR HOME AND SCHOOL + +BY POPULAR AUTHORS + + +JANE ANDREWS' BOOKS + +=THE SEVEN LITTLE SISTERS WHO LIVE ON THE ROUND BALL THAT FLOATS IN THE +AIR= + + New edition, with an introduction by LOUISA + PARSONS HOPKINS Illustrated School edition cloth + 50 cents Library edition cloth 80 cents + + +=THE SEVEN LITTLE SISTERS PROVE THEIR SISTERHOOD (Former title EACH AND +ALL)= + + Illustrated School edition cloth 50 cents Library + edition cloth 80 cents + + +=TEN BOYS WHO LIVED ON THE ROAD FROM LONG AGO TO NOW= + + 20 illustrations Cloth 80 cents + + +=GEOGRAPHICAL PLAYS FOR YOUNG FOLKS AT SCHOOL AND AT HOME= + + Price each play in paper 15 cents postage paid 1 + United States 2 Europe 3 Asia 4 Africa and South + America 5 Australia and Isles of the Sea 6 The + Commerce of the World + + The above bound in one volume Cloth $1.00 postage + paid + + * * * * * + +=GRADED SUPPLEMENTARY READING= + + For use in schools By Professor TWEED, late + Supervisor of Boston Public Schools 12 parts + ready: Nos. 1, 4, 7 and 10, 1st year primary; Nos. + 2, 5, 8 and 11, 2d year primary; Nos. 3, 6, 9 and + 12, 3d year primary In brown paper covers 4 cents + each: by mail 5 cents The four parts for each year + bound together in boards 20 cents each First year + primary in one volume boards 20 cents Second year + primary in one volume boards 20 cents Third year + primary in one volume boards 20 cents + + +HISTORICAL READINGS + + +=YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES= + + By THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON With over 100 + illustrations $1.20 + + +=YOUNG FOLKS' BOOK OF AMERICAN EXPLORERS= + + By THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON Illustrated $1.20 + + +=HANDBOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY= + + Based on Guest's "Lectures on English History," + and brought down to the year 1880 With a + Supplementary Chapter on the English Literature of + the 19th Century By F. 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