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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/25774-8.txt b/25774-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0029278 --- /dev/null +++ b/25774-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10375 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rapids, by Alan Sullivan + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Rapids + +Author: Alan Sullivan + +Release Date: June 13, 2008 [EBook #25774] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RAPIDS *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +THE RAPIDS + + +BY + +ALAN SULLIVAN + + + +AUTHOR OF "THE INNER DOOR," ETC. + + + +THE COPP CLARK CO., LIMITED + +TORONTO + + + + +Copyright, Canada, 1922, by + +THE COPP CLARK COMPANY, LIMITED + +TORONTO, ONTARIO + + +_The Copp Clark Press_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. CLARK DISCOVERS ARCADIA + II. ARCADIA WAKES UP + III. PHILADELPHIA HEARS ABOUT ARCADIA + IV. PRELIMINARIES IN ST. MARYS + V. THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA + VI. CONCERNING IRON, WOOD AND A GIRL + VII. THE BISHOP'S GARDEN PARTY--AND AFTERWARDS + VIII. IRON + IX. CONCERNING THE APPREHENSION OF CLARK'S DIRECTORS + X. CUPIDITY VS. LOYALTY + XI. CLARK EXPERIENCES A NEW SENSATION, ALSO HIS DIRECTORS + XII. LOVE AND DOUBT + XIII. THE VOICE OF THE RAPIDS + XIV. AN ANCIENT ARISTOCRAT VISITS THE WORKS + XV. CLARK CONVERTS TORONTO + XVI. GOLD, ALSO CONCERNING A GIRL + XVII. THE GIRL IN THE CANOE + XVIII. MATTERS FINANCIAL + XIX. THE WEB OF LACHESIS + XX. THE CAR OF PROGRESS HALTS + XXI. THE CRASH + XXII. THE MASTER MIND AT WORK + XXIII. CONCERNING THE RIOT + XXIV. DESTINY + XXV. THE UNCONQUERABLE SPIRIT + EPILOGUE + + + + +THE RAPIDS + + +I.--CLARK DISCOVERS ARCADIA + +Amongst the few who knew Robert Fisher Clark at all well, for there +were not many of them, there was no question as to his beliefs. It was +too obvious that his primary faith was in himself. Nor is it known +whether, at any time, he gave any thought or study to the character of +those with whom, in the course of his remarkably active life, he came +into association. Always it appeared that there was laid upon him the +responsibility of doing things which did not occur to the ordinary man, +and he went about them with such supreme confidence and unremitting +enthusiasm that he infused into his followers much of his communicable +zeal. It appears now that Clark weighed a man by appraising the degree +to which he contributed to the work in hand, and automatically set +aside those whom he considered contributed nothing to his object. He +was the most unattached personality it is possible to imagine. +Whatever passion or reaction he may have experienced was always a +matter for him alone, and something that he underwent in the remoteness +of an astonishingly exclusive brain. That he experienced them is +without doubt, but they were revealed in the intensity of action and +the quick resiliency of renewed effort. + +It was not known, either, whether he believed in chance, or in those +tiny eventualities which so often impress a definite color on +subsequent years. The trend of his mind was to move forward rather +than back, and it is questionable if he gave much thought to second +causes. The fruit dangled before his eye even as he planted the vine, +and if this induced in him a certain ruthlessness it could only be +because those who are caught up in high endeavor to reach the mountain +tops must perforce trample many a lowland flower beneath their eager +feet. + +And yet it was chance that brought Clark to St. Marys, chance that he +should be in a certain train at a given time, and above all it was +chance that he should overhear a certain conversation, but it was not +by any means chance that he should interpret the latter as he did. + +The train was lurching over an uneven track that wound through the +woods of western Ontario when, staring thoughtfully out of the window +at the tangled bush, he caught from across the aisle the drift of talk +that was going on between two strangers. + +"And so," said one of them, "the thing went smash for lack of just two +things." + +"And what were they?" + +"Some more money and a good deal more experience." + +Clark raised his head ever so slightly. Money and experience--the lack +of them had, to his personal knowledge, worked disaster in a wider +circle than that of St. Marys. He had heard of the place before, but +that was years ago. Presently one of the strangers continued. + +"It was after the railway came that the people in St. Marys seemed to +wake up. They got in touch with the outside world and began to talk +about water power. You see, they had been staring at the rapids for +years, but what was the value of power if there was no use to which to +put it? Then a contractor dropped in who had horses and tools but no +job." + +"So that's what started it?" + +"Exactly. The idea was small enough to begin with and the town just +wanted power for light and water works, so they gave the contractor the +job, borrowed a hundred and thirty thousand dollars, and got the +necessary land from the Ottawa government. I've an idea that if those +rights ever get into experienced hands you'll hear a good deal more of +St. Marys than you ever heard before." + +"And then?" + +"The town went broke on the job. Mind you, they had a corking +agreement with the government and a block of land alongside the rapids +big enough for a young city. The mistake was they hadn't secured any +factory. Also they needed about five times as much money." + +The other man smiled reflectively. "The old story over again." + +"That's about it. Credit ran out and the work stopped and things began +to rust, and now St. Marys has gone to sleep again and does a little +farming and trade with the Indians." + +"In fact, it's a sort of rural tragedy?" + +"Yes. You'll see the half-finished ditch just before we cross the +bridge. I'm afraid St. Marys has that kind of a sick feeling that +generally knocks the stuffing out of a municipality. Come on, let's +have some lunch." + +The two disappeared toward the dining car, but Clark did not stir. His +eyes, which were gray and keen, still fixed themselves contemplatively +on the ragged wilderness. His lips were pressed tight, his jaw +slightly thrust out. Water rights--industries--unlimited power--land +for an industrial city; all this and much more seemed to hurl itself +through his brain. Presently he took a railway folder out of his bag +and examined one of those maps which invariably indicate that the +railway which has published the folder owns the only direct route +between important points and that all other lines meander aimlessly in +comparison. He noted, although he already knew it, that St. Marys, +Ontario, was just across the river from St. Marys, Michigan; that Lake +Superior flung itself down the rapids that roared between, and that to +the south the country was fairly well settled--but to the north the +wilderness stretched almost unbroken to the sub-arctics. + +A quarter of an hour passed when a long whistle announced the approach +to the town. At the sound a new light came into the gray eyes, the +traveler closed his bag with a snap and began to put on his coat. Just +at that moment the porter hurried up. + +"This isn't Minneapolis, sir." + +Clark drew a long breath. "I know it--have changed my mind. I'm for +St. Mary's now." + +He stepped off almost before the train came to a halt and looked +curiously about. + +"Good day," he said to the nearest man. "Will you please tell me who +is mayor and where I will find him?" + +Now it happened that the individual to whom this query was addressed +was none other than Bowers, the town solicitor, for Bowers had a habit +of deserting his office about train time and surveying new arrivals +from a corner of the platform with the lurking hope of unearthing +something which might relieve the monotony of days which were not only +wearisome but unprofitable. When the stranger spoke to him, the lawyer +noticed that he was of medium height with a strong barrel-like body and +rather sloping shoulders. His face was smooth, his jaw somewhat heavy, +his eyes exceedingly keen, and he carried with him an indefinable air +of authority. He observed, also, that the voice had in it something +peculiarly clear and incisive. With a little thrill and a sudden +flicker of the flame of hope, he pointed down the street that led to +the river. + +"Filmer is the mayor and his store is at the second corner down. His +office is just behind." + +The stranger nodded and strode briskly off. Presently Bowers heard +another voice. + +"Who's that, do you suppose, commercial?" + +The lawyer wrinkled his brows. "In a way, yes, but in another way, no. +That fellow isn't selling anything, he's a buyer." + +As the stranger approached Filmer's store, he noted that it was the +largest building in sight, as well it might be. It was the local +emporium, and so successfully had Filmer managed his business that the +Hudson Bay Company saw nothing inviting in competition. From a plow to +a needle, from an ax to a kettle, from ammunition to sugar, Filmer had +all things, and what he had not he secured with surprising promptness. +He had been mayor so long that his first term was now almost forgotten. +By ability, courage, and fairness he was easily the leader in the +community. Broad and strong, with a ruddy, good natured face, a fine +tenor voice, a keen sense of humor and repartee, he was universally +popular. No one had known Filmer to complain or repine, though there +must have been moments when he longed for touch with those of his own +caliber. His was the case of a big man who though bigger than his +surroundings accepted them cheerfully. Thus, when Filmer looked up and +saw the stranger standing at his office door he was conscious of a +curious feeling of anticipation. + +It was noted in the store that when the murmur of voices, a mingling of +the stranger's penetrating tones and Filmer's fuller, richer note, had +lasted for a moment, the mayor got up and banged the door shut, after +which there drifted out only a suggestion of conversation. It was not +until an hour later that the door opened and the two came slowly out, +the stranger as brisk as ever. Filmer was pulling thoughtfully at his +glossy black whiskers. Both paused on the wide front step. + +"Then at eight this evening, Mr. Clark?" said Filmer. + +"At eight," answered the stranger, staring keenly at the river. + +"Won't you come and stay with me while you are here, it's just as +comfortable as the hotel?" Filmer laughed softly. + +Clark shook his head. "Thanks, I'll have too much to do while I am +here. I'd better be alone." And with that he set off walking smartly +up the long rambling street that led to the abandoned power canal. + +He progressed steadily with quick energetic steps, an alert and +suggestive figure amidst a scene of placidity. Up the uneven plank +walk he went, noting with a swift, sidelong glance the neat white house +of Dibbott, the Indian agent, a house that thrust its snowy, wooden +walls and luxuriant little garden close up to the street. On his left, +still further west, was the home of Worden, the local magistrate. This +was a comfortable old place by the river, with a neglected field +between it and the highway. Scattered here and there were stores, +small buildings with high, wooden fronts, in the upper part of which +lived the proprietor and his family. On the right, street after street +started intermittently northward and died, houseless, at the railway +line, beyond which lay the unbroken bush. Still further up was the +County jail, set four square in a large lot that had been shorn of +trees. It was of gray stone, massive and forbidding and iron barred. +Clark stopped here for a moment and looked back at St. Marys with its +flaming maples and its scattered roofs from which rose plumes of light, +gray smoke. His eyes half closed as though in some sudden +introspection, till, turning abruptly, he struck off over a road that +led across a mile of level land and came presently to the grave of the +industrial hopes of the town. It was an ugly scar in the face of the +helpless earth. + +Climbing the half completed embankment, he looked west, where through +the clearing he could see the waters of Superior, then down stream to +the tail of the rapids that roared half a mile further on. It came to +him that nothing is so ugly as a well meant effort which has been left +unfinished. Where he stood there had, a year or so before, been little +rivulets which, escaping from the mighty flood of the rapids, lost +themselves in thickets of birch, hemlock, and cedar, and tinkled and +leaped musically to the lower stretches of the river, whilst great +trout lay winnowing their currents of white water. But of this beauty +there was now but a disordered gash, a hundred feet wide and a thousand +feet long, where rusting tools were scattered amongst mounds of +splintered rock that lay in piles just as the blast of dynamite had +left them. An untidy ruin, thought Clark, who had his own ideas of how +things should be put away. + +But he was, nevertheless, intensely interested, scanning it all +shrewdly. He picked up fragments of stone, and, breaking them, +examined their texture with the utmost care. Once or twice he walked +along the top of the unfinished embankment throughout its entire +length, running a keen eye over the outlines of the excavation. After +half an hour which concluded with one long concentrated stare, he +pushed on deliberately through the soaked and tangled undergrowth till +he came to the edge of the rapids themselves. Here he sat on a rock +and looked long and earnestly, and so motionless was he that, after a +little while, he seemed to blend completely with earth, sky, and water. + +Immediately at his feet the rush of the river grasped at the rough +shore as though to pluck it into the deeps, and here were eddies in +which he could see the polished stones at the bottom. But further out, +where the full weight of water began to be felt, were the first of the +great, white horses that stretched to the other shore, a tossing, +leaping, irresistible herd. Under the great bridge at his right, the +river took its first dip, a smooth and shining slope, streaked with +tiny furrows of speed that wrinkled like waving metallic lines. Below +that came the rapids in their first fury, with scattered cellars into +which the flood swept to uprear itself in a second into pyramids of +force and foam. This seemed to fascinate Clark, and he peered with +unwinking eyes till a sharp clatter just over his head caused him to +look up. Still he did not move his body, and a kingfisher on a branch, +after regarding him for an instant with bright suspicious eyes, flung +himself into the air and hovered over a nearby eddy with an irregular +flapping of quick, blue wings. Then, like a bullet, he dived into the +flashing stream immediately at Clark's feet, and emerged with diamond +drops flying from his brilliant plumage and a small, silver fish +curving in his sharp, serrated beak, till, a second later, he darted +into the covert with his prey. The bird had dared the rapids and found +that which he sought. Clark's gray eyes had seen it all, and he smiled +understandingly. + +The mayor, after the departure of his visitor, stood thoughtfully in +front of the store, while his eye followed the stranger's figure +dreamily up the street, and stood like one who has that whereof to +ponder. It is true that he had offered to accompany the new comer on +his pilgrimage, but equally true that Clark had politely but definitely +declined, and it was something new for the mayor to have his suggestion +thus put aside. In this case, however, he felt no resentment, and +presently strolled to the house of Worden, the magistrate, where he +found Worden, a large man with a small, kindly face, sitting in his +study which immediately faced the lawn. On the other side was the +river. Worden was apparently dividing his time between an unfinished +judgment, for which there seemed no pressing demand, and a satisfying +contemplation of the great stream which here was flecked with foam from +the tumult above. + +The mayor sat for some time talking to him, surrounded by tiers of +homemade shelves packed with law books, along whose tattered, leather +backs Worden had a habit of running a tobacco-stained forefinger while +he relighted a pipe which seemed in continual need of attention. The +talk was long and earnest. The mayor's cigar went out with a smell of +varnish where it lay on the edge of the judge's desk, but the two were +so interested that they did not notice it. + +Presently Filmer got up and Worden followed him to the porch expressing +entire approval of all that had been discussed, and, as Filmer struck +across to the street, he returned to his study and gazed at the +judgment with apparent contempt. + +From Worden's, the mayor walked across to the jail and sought out +Manson. The latter was in his small office which seemed crowded with +its single occupant's bulk, and adjoined the high forbidding walls of +the jail itself. In St. Marys the chief constable was a man of place, +and the jail an edifice that at times took on a singular interest, and +if such a capacious establishment as it actually was might seem +superfluous in Arcadia it must be remembered that in seasons of the +year the lumberjacks rolled in from the northern parts with six months' +wages and a great thirst that demanded to be quenched, and a perfectly +natural and well meaning desire to offer combat at sight, which they +generally did. Then, too, there were fugitives from justice who +slipped across the river by night in canoes, and miners from the silver +country far to the west, and sometimes crime was also the product of +isolation. + +Manson, a tall man, broad, dark, and heavy voiced, seemed by nature +designed to meet just such contingencies. Outwardly he was the epitome +of authority and inwardly he had a mind as stiff as his back. In his +own domain he was as Jove on Olympus, and when he moved abroad he was a +perambulating reminder of the strong arm of the law. The jail was +conveniently arranged to hold the court room on an upper story, so that +Manson could pop a prisoner up out of his cell to be tried and +sentenced, and pop him back forthwith, and all the time the unfortunate +was, so to speak, one of the family and continually under the paternal +eye. + +Had a listener been outside the door, he would have gleaned that the +mayor's visit was, in this case, not as amicable as that just made to +Worden. He talked long and arduously, but every now and then Manson's +deep bass boomed out heavy with argument, and his massive fist crashed +ponderously on the table. Presently Filmer drew a long breath and, +stepping out on the trim gravel path, glanced up quizzically at the +chief constable who looked as though enthroned on his own doorstep. + +"Mr. Mayor," came the deep voice, "I don't take any stock in your +scheme. It's no good and there's a nigger in the fence somewhere. I +was right before, and I am right this time." + +Filmer laughed softly. "Well, John, you're a hell of a good jailer, we +all admit that, but I don't put you down as any permanent prophet. +However, you will come, won't you?" + +Manson nodded, a nod which said that though he would come it could not +affect his fixed opinion, whereupon the mayor laughed again, and set +off to finish his afternoon pilgrimage, and it is but fair to follow +him a little further since he was a shrewd man, active and courageous, +and though he did not know it, the result of the various visits he made +that day was to be imprinted indelibly on the history of St. Marys. + +Banishing Manson from a mind which was already busy with his next move, +he retraced his steps as far as the cottage of Dibbott, the Indian +agent, who at this hour of the day, might have been found moving +mountainously in his long garden and pottering amongst his perennials, +smoking an enormous pipe which he regretfully laid aside only in order +that he might eat. + +Now, since the citizens of St. Marys were, without their knowledge, +about to enter upon a period of great importance, glance at Dibbott, +not the least of them, as his small, blue eyes caught the approaching +figure of the mayor. Six feet when he straightened, his shoulders were +bent, but still broad and strong. His face was fiery, not only from +his full blooded habit but also from long canoe voyages. He was a +placid man--placid yet at times suddenly choleric, and he regarded St. +Marys and his own particular plot of land with an undying and tranquil +affection. Dibbott's position was, in a sense, enviable, for he stood +as administrator between the government and the local Indian tribes, in +whose eyes he was the representative of authority. + +Year after year he made official visits of visible grandeur to the +settlements of his wards, journeying in a great canoe in the middle of +which he rested enthroned, the brim of his hat pulled far down over a +scarlet, sunburnt nose, a steady wisp of smoke from his big pipe +floating back into the face of the laboring Indian behind him. It may +be that it was in the silence and mysterious appeal of these journeys +that Dibbott got the dignity which sat so naturally on his great, gray +head. + +The mayor liked the old man, and Dibbott knew it, so they talked +amicably while Dibbott, turning every now and then in surprise, pushed +out his full red lips as though rising to a fly, and darted quick, +little glances as Filmer unfolded his story beside a late phlox. And +when the mayor concluded, Dibbott did not move but began to rumble in a +deep, throaty, ruminative voice something that sounded like one hundred +and thirty thousand dollars at six per cent. + +On his way back to the office, Filmer saw Bowers' lean figure across +the street. He crooked a masterful finger. "Come here!" + +The lawyer came over very deliberately and the two went on together. + +"There is a man up at the rapids who says he's ready at any time to +take over the town canal debentures." + +Bowers looked up startled. "Will you please repeat that very slowly." + +"It's true," chuckled Filmer, "and I am calling a town meeting for +to-night. I haven't time to give you the details now, but be on hand +at eight o'clock. He's made a perfectly straight proposal and I don't +see how we can lose on it. I never met a man just like him." + +"Did he come in on the train this afternoon?" + +The mayor nodded. "Yes--said he was going on to Minneapolis, but +decided to stop over and make this offer." + +"Then I saw him at the station," answered Bowers thoughtfully. "I +thought he was a buyer. Do you reckon we can rope him in?" + +Filmer drew a long breath. "Looks to me as if he would rope himself in +the way he is going. He won't need any help from us." + +"What did you make of him personally?" + +"I didn't get very far," said Filmer deliberately, "except that he +struck me as the sort of man who gets things done. Look here, I've +seen Dibbott and Worden and Manson. Will you go and see the Bishop and +ask him to come to-night?" + +"The Bishop went away this morning." + +"Damn!" said the mayor explosively. "I wanted to get his opinion about +Clark, that's his name, Robert Fisher Clark. Well, so long." + +He went on to his store where he was overtaken by Clark who had tramped +back from the rapids. The visitor was muddy and no longer immaculate +and there was a trace of fatigue on his face, but he looked as cheerful +and determined as ever. At that moment the village crier passed up the +street swinging a raucous bell and announcing in stentorian tones that +a meeting would be held in the town hall that night at eight o'clock to +consider matters of prime importance to the citizens at large. The +crier tramped on, and Filmer glanced up inquiringly. + +"Won't you change your mind and come to the house with me? It is a +safe bet you'll be more comfortable." + +Clark shook his head. "Thanks, but I've got to speak in two hours and +there's a good deal to think of." + +Meantime rumors of many things had begun to spread through St. Marys. +The magistrate, as soon as the mayor left him, naturally told Mrs. +Worden all about it and Bowers would not have dreamt of keeping such a +thing from his wife, so had stuck a card on his office door saying he +would be back in ten minutes and went home for the afternoon, after +which Mrs. Worden and Mrs. Bowers strolled over to see Mrs. Dibbott and +were in close conversation amongst the perennials, appealing now and +then to Dibbott in order that there might be no mistake about it. Down +in Blood's barber shop, Jim Blood had, as might be expected, the most +detailed information, for Clark had gone in there on his way to the +hotel and, sitting down, remarked "shave please" and at the end, +without another word, gave Jim fifty cents and walked out. And if you +add to all this the sound of the crier's bell mellowing softly up the +long street, it will be understood that the excitement was considerably +intensified. Even Filmer, as he ate supper, did not say much, but kept +his gaze on the lid of the teapot as though it were a Pandora's box in +which bubbled marvelous things that might be vomited any moment. But +at heart Filmer was not anxious. It was not his habit. Of all men he +knew best the folk of St. Marys, so he doubted not at all, and as a +matter of fact St. Marys had for mayor a much bigger and wiser man than +it ever suspected. + +There may be communities now such as St. Marys was twenty-five years +ago, but one goes far to find them. Electricity has altered their +distinctive character. The traffic of half a continent glided +majestically past these wooded shores, with the deep blast of whistles +as the great vessels edged gingerly into the Government lock across the +river to be lifted to Superior, and another farewell blast as they +pushed slowly out, and lastly a trail of vanishing black smoke as they +dwindled westward to the inland sea. For seven months this procession +passed the town but never halted, till the people of St. Marys felt +like the farmer who, in mid field, waves a friendly hand to a speeding +train. + +As a result folk knew each other to a degree which some would call +insufferably well, and yet they did not weary. It was a curious +condition in which life had few secrets and yet an ample privacy. +There was, as it happened, little to secrete, and simultaneously there +was no straining of hospitality. In these close quarters each was +aware that the others knew what he or she could reasonably do, and, in +natural consequence, did it with grace and simple ease. For years +before the railway pushed up from Sudbury, the outer world was brought +into touch when the bows of the bi-weekly steamer bumped softly against +the big stringers of Filmer's dock, and papers and letters were thrown +on a buckboard and galloped to the post office where presently the +community gathered and talked. + +There was no telephone to jangle, no electric light and no waterworks, +but in the soil of St. Marys were springs of sweet water, and through +the windows came the soft glow of lamplight as evening closed in, and +the shuffle of feet on the porch announced the visitor. It was from +the river and the close encircling forest that St. Marys took on its +atmosphere. The maple bush was full of game, and the beaver built +their curving dams in tamarac thickets within three miles of the +village. It was a common thing to kill Sunday's dinner in a two hours +stroll from Filmer's store, and, at the foot of the rapids where the +Indians pushed their long canoes up to the edge of the white water, +there were great, silver fish for the taking. The ducks halted for a +rest on their way north and within a stone's throw of the Bishop's big, +square house, the geese used to alight in a cornfield, sometimes on a +Sunday morning. On such occasions the Bishop experienced keen +embarrassment, for he was a good shot and a good sportsman. In +springtime the Indians would come up from the settlement with mink and +otter which they traded at Filmer's store for bags of brown sugar, and, +these, being silently transported to the bush, would shortly reappear +as quantities of genuine Indian maple sugar, which Filmer's clerks sold +to Filmer's friends with absolute gravity, the nature of the thing +being perfectly understood on both sides of the counter. As to local +excitement, there was twice a year the County Court and, while it might +be said that there was not in all this much for young people to do, +they had, nevertheless, camping trips and cruises in big Mackinaw boats +along the shores of Lake Huron, and snow shoeing expeditions in winter +that took them straight into a fairyland where they built roaring fires +of six foot logs and feasted royally in the ghostly recesses of the +snow burdened woods. All this and much more had the folk of the +village, and everything that went to make up a sweet, clean, uneventful +life. And then into this Arcadia dropped one day a stranger, with an +amazing experience of the outer world, a kaleidoscopic brain, an +extraordinary personal magnetism and a unique combination of driving +force and superlative ambition. + +Is it surprising that even though ignorant of Clark's characteristics +the people of St. Marys filled the town hall that night? + + + + +II.--ARCADIA WAKES UP + +It was a large room with bare floor, painted walls and a flat +sounding-board of a ceiling. Across the end was the platform, and +immediately above the platform table hung a large brass lamp which +could be lowered by a chain that ran along the ceiling and down the +adjoining wall. Around the main walls and between the windows were +smaller lamps in wire brackets, which burned with a steady, yellow +light, and occasionally gave off a thin trickle of smoke that filled +the room with the sharp odor of soot. On the platform sat Clark and +Filmer on either side of the table, and on the table stood an enormous +jug of water and one glass. + +At five minutes past eight the hall was crowded. Manson was there, +sitting in the front row, and leaning forward on his heavy oak stick +which seemed a very bludgeon of authority. Beside him sat his wife, +small, slight and gentle, the very antithesis of her dark and +formidable husband. Manson's eyes roved from Filmer to Clark and back +again to Filmer, but the two looked over his head and seemed no whit +disconcerted. A little further back were the Dibbotts, the former +turning his big gray-coated body, and every now and then surveying the +growing audience with his small blue eyes, while his lips pushed in and +out, which was in Dibbott a certain sign that he was thinking hard. +Mrs. Dibbott, tall, slim, and square shouldered, turned her kindly +capable face toward Clark, and felt the first intimation of that keen +interest he always roused, especially in the women who met him. He +seemed so alert, such a free agent and, it must be confessed, so +disgracefully independent of the gentler sex. Then there was Belding, +the young engineer who had had charge of the town's work at the canal. +It was not Belding's fault that the money ran out, but he had ceased +operations with an unshakable sense of personal blame that, of late, +worked poisonously in his brain. There were also the Bowers, and Mrs. +Bowers' ample and genial person was full of a pleasurable glow, for if +the mayor's plan went through they would have at last a roof over the +front porch on which she spent so many hospitable summer evenings. +Bowers himself already saw in Clark a possible and important client, +and his brain was full of half formulated propositions. + +At seven minutes past eight the mayor began to speak. He had been +somewhat at a loss just how he might introduce Clark, for, as a matter +of fact, the only information he had about the visitor was what the +visitor himself had volunteered. But here, as always, Clark's +tremendous personality had expressed itself. Filmer glanced at his +alert but motionless figure, and perceived that the other was a man of +much greater experience and power than himself, and in this the mayor +was subject to exactly that influence which Clark was in the habit of +exerting without any effort whatever. So thus reinforced, and mindful +as well that the half yearly interest and sinking fund payments would +be due on the town debt in three months, he fastened an authoritative +eye on Manson, the town pessimist, and commenced. + +"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have asked you to come here to-night because +it seems that there is now an unexpected opportunity to secure great +benefit for the town. You are all aware that we tried to do something +and failed, and that the result was an increase of one hundred and +thirty thousand dollars in the debt of St. Marys." At this point +Manson rammed his oak stick against the floor with disturbing effect. +The mayor glanced at him with a smile and went on. "I do not wish to +put before you the proposal Mr. Clark makes to the town, he will do +that himself. I can only say that I have gone into it very carefully +with him, and that I am satisfied that it is more than fair to us, and +that I believe he is in control of the necessary money to carry out his +plans. If he does not carry them out we are no worse off, and if he +does it will put St. Marys definitely on the map. He will speak for +himself and I hope you will give a careful hearing, for I don't believe +such men get off the train every day." + +Clark was on his feet at once and began to talk in a curt, incisive +tone of great penetration. Behind it there moved a suggestion of +something quite new to the folk of St. Marys. The moment offered no +opportunity to analyze this, but it held them motionless with attention. + +"I have come," he said, "to make you a proposal which has already been +put before Mayor Filmer, and which I am glad to tell you meets with his +approval. I appreciate the opportunity, and with your coöperation +great things will yet be done in St. Marys. Now I am going to ask that +two windows be opened and that you listen with me for a moment." + +There followed an instant of universal surprise shared by the mayor, +after which Clark gathered Dawson and Belding with his magnetic eye, +and the two pushed up the windows nearest them. The cool night air +breathed in and set the big oil lamps flickering, but with it there +came the dull monotone of the rapids. Clark leaned slightly forward, +and, smiling, began to speak again. + +"What you hear is a voice in the wilderness, and, ladies and gentlemen, +you have heard it for years. I, too, have heard it, but for something +less than eight hours, and there is a difference in our hearing and I +want to make that difference clear to you. I listen with a stranger's +ears, being a stranger, and therefore not accustomed to that voice, I +detect in it something which possibly some of you may have recognized, +but certainly none of you have fully appreciated." + +There followed a little silence during which Mrs. Dibbott, her eyes +twinkling with intense pleasure, nodded to Mrs. Worden. Her +imagination was already at work, and, of them all, she first caught the +subtle trend of Clark's address. + +"It is hardly necessary for me to remind you that your town has made a +certain brave attempt and failed completely in its venture." ("Hear! +Hear!" from Manson.) "This attempt was from the outset bound to fail." +At this point Manson stamped approvingly, and Clark's gray eyes rested +on his big frame for a moment while the least suggestion of a smile +traversed his lips. "The reason is very simple. You lacked experience +in such undertakings. You partly heard the voice but only partly, for +to answer it fully and successfully you must answer it in millions and +not in thousands of dollars." + +At this point he paused impressively, while there spread through the +audience the dun colored reflection that the entire town, if +obliterated, could be rebuilt for much less than a million, and so +definite was the reaction that the speaker proceeded to intensify it in +his next remarks. + +"You have at present, as the result of this ill-fated enterprise, a +liability of one hundred and thirty thousand dollars--I think it is." +He turned inquiringly to Filmer who nodded, and with him the entire +male section of the audience. There was no question about those +figures. + +"This liability imposes a heavy tax upon an unproductive community, +although if you were producers it would be a bagatelle. As against +this liability you have, as assets, a certain piece of property and +certain water rights secured from the Dominion government, rights which +though at present very limited, might be made the basis of further +expansion. And that is all you have--a debt, and against it something +that is of no use to you." + +A chilled surprise trickled through the town hall and Filmer himself, +who had been quite unaware how Clark would state his case, began to +think that the thing had gone far enough, when the penetrating voice +went on. + +"Now as to the town itself. I have failed, after a careful survey, to +find any evidence of growth. I have seen no new buildings, nor, under +the conditions which at present exist and which there is nothing you +can do to change, do I see any reason for growth. You do not +manufacture or import anything. You have, so to speak, to live on each +other, so why should any one come here to settle down?" + +Although Clark had said several striking things, there had not been +anything which went as straight home as this. All had watched the +great procession which passed up and down the river, and wondered why +the population of St. Marys remained so stationary, but never had the +inescapable truth been thrown so blatantly in their faces as by this +magnetic stranger whose clear voice announced those truths which each +had been secreting in his heart year after year. They began to wonder +why a man of his type should be interested in the town. But the fact +that he was interested clothed him with a still more compelling +attraction. Visions of a decaying and moss covered settlement were +floating through their minds when the voice took on a new note. + +"The condition I have touched on is due to lack of three +things,--experience, money and imagination, and in such isolated points +as this there is little opportunity to acquire any of the three. There +is in the rapids unlimited power. It must be developed, and developed +on this side of the river. The age of electricity has come. But let +us ask ourselves what is the use of power unless there is some +practical purpose to which to put it. There is but one answer. Large +works--enormous works must be established at the rapids; works that +will utilize all the power that is developed, and draw their raw +material from the surrounding country. I have an idea that you may +consider the district to the north and west a wilderness, but, +gentlemen, you are mistaken. I firmly believe it to be a veritable +reservoir of wealth." + +Here Clark stopped, glanced thoughtfully at Filmer, and poured out a +glass of water, while the entire audience took an imaginary journey +into the bush to the north in an attempt to discover the reservoir of +wealth. This resulted in numerous quiet smiles, each of which died out +with a look at the intense earnestness on the speaker's face. There +was a certain amount of fur, it was admitted, but the trapping was +falling off. There were scattered patches of spruce for pulp wood, but +so far as most of them knew the land was poor and rocky and there had +been no discovery of valuable mineral. However, silently concluded +Clark's hearers, the man might know, and probably did know a good deal +more than he said, and just as this opinion was gaining ground, the +speaker struck an inspiring note and came to his point. + +"Now for my proposal. I believe in the future of this country, in its +latent wealth and its possibilities, and I am prepared to take on the +town's uncompleted enterprise and assume its one hundred and thirty +thousand dollars of liability. Gentlemen, what I have in mind goes +further than any of you have ever imagined, and it needs more millions +than you have conceived. Millions will be forthcoming. In the +financial markets of the world, capital must be assured of certain +fundamentals. These fundamentals established, there is no difficulty +whatever in securing as much money as may be required. That is my +experience, and if you accept my proposition St. Marys will, within a +year, begin to feel the influx of money which is seeking investment. +Within that year you will hardly be able to recognize your town. Your +property, your houses, your farm products will greatly increase in +value, and local trade will experience a remarkable impetus. If you +ask what are these basic industries which will mean so much, I need +only point out that I am assured of an ample supply of pulp wood for +very large mills which I propose to erect, and there is, without doubt, +iron ore in these hills of yours. This is only a part of my plan." + +Again Clark paused, playing with all his power on those who had already +grasped something of his vision. Ore had never been found in that part +of the country, though innumerable prospectors had toiled through the +hills in search of it, but now it seemed that the folk of St. Marys had +cast aside their difference and unbelief, and were becoming +incorporated in the speaker's high assurance. A little murmur of +enthusiasm arose, to be hushed instantly. + +"I only want your coöperation. I do not ask that you put in one +dollar. There is ample money for the purpose, and I tell you frankly +there is no room for yours. It is not my intention to bring in for the +purposes of the work anything the town itself can supply, and the more +you can organize to supply amongst yourselves, the better pleased I and +my associates will be. All I hope is that you participate +intelligently and profitably in that which will shortly take place. +And first of all it will be my duty and pleasure to supply the town +with water and light on terms to be arranged with your council. This +will be the smallest and to me the least profitable of our +undertakings, but I regard it as an obligation to the town. Ladies and +gentlemen, a new era is dawning for St. Marys. Have I your support?" + +Had he their support? There followed a moment of half dazed silence +during which Filmer's blood flushed up to his temples, and Clark +finished his glass of water and sat down with a swift glance of his +gray eyes that seemed to take in the entire assembly. As though +galvanized by an electric shock, the folk of St. Marys rose to their +feet and began to cheer. The ladies' handkerchiefs were in the air, +with a babel of voices both small and deep. Mrs. Dibbott, her eyes +dancing, caught those of Mrs. Worden and nodded vigorously, her cheeks +flushed, for to men and women alike the invigorating, magnetic appeal +had gone home. Then above the clamor Manson's deep bass became +gradually audible. + +He was leaning forward, gazing straight out at the two on the platform +and booming his utter unbelief in all he had heard. Clark, it struck +him, did not know what he was talking about, and who was Clark anyway? +Had a single man in the room ever heard of Clark before that afternoon? +The town had made one blunder, and it would be wise to keep out of +another. + +Thus far he got when the astonishment of the audience became +transformed into indignation and boiled over. Clark had not moved and +indeed only smiled in an absolutely friendly way, but now there were +shouts that Manson sit down. He was putting the town in an unfortunate +and undesirable position. Finally, Belding and Worden dragged him +expostulating into his chair, whereupon Dibbott and Bowers very +earnestly, and with much applause, expressed what the meeting really +felt. After which the resolution was put calling upon the town council +to confirm the agreement, and without any delay whatever. And this +being carried unanimously with cheering, the meeting broke up and +streamed down the wooden stairs with much trampling of feet, while Mrs. +Dibbott asked Mrs. Bowers if she had noticed that every one was so +interested that the two windows which were opened had not been closed +again in spite of the fact that three lamps had been blown out. All +this time the visitor sat still, a satisfied light in his eyes, and +when Dibbott and the rest asked to be introduced, the mayor exclaimed +that the speaker of the evening was so occupied with momentous matters +that he was obliged to postpone the pleasure of meeting them for a day +or two. This, of course, added to the spell of fascination cast by the +remarkable stranger. + +A day or two later, he was to disappear as suddenly as he came, but in +the meantime he avoided the people of St. Marys and was extremely busy. +To his room at the hotel there had mounted a small procession of +visitors, mostly lumbermen, who, being for a few moments admitted to +the shrine of mystery, reappeared with their eyes more bright and their +lips pressed tight. They had been discussing business matters, and +this was for the present about all they would say. The town council, +without a dissenting note, accepted Clark's proposal, and the latter +became a legal debtor for one hundred and thirty thousand dollars and +the owner of the abandoned works, and so simply and smoothly was the +business carried out that to the council there seemed something magical +and portentous in the transaction. + +That afternoon Clark sent for Belding, and the young engineer came with +an expectant thrill. By this time St. Marys was aware that the visitor +went to no one, but every one came to him. It was typical of methods +which he adopted from the very first, so that almost immediately his +personality, which was entirely new to this remote community, began to +suggest every phase of power and authority. + +Belding had brought his plans and blue prints with him, and spread them +on the small bedroom table. Followed a little silence, broken by a +crisp interrogation. + +"How much power have you figured on developing?" + +"Five hundred horse power." + +"Capable of any expansion?" Clark's lips took on a quizzical curve. + +"Yes, to one thousand." + +To this there was no comment. Belding himself rather liked the sound +of a thousand horsepower. It seemed well rounded. + +"Your water rights, I mean my water rights," went on Clark +thoughtfully, "permit the use of water for such works as I may erect." + +"Yes," the engineer hesitated a moment and added, "sir." + +Clark smiled almost imperceptibly, that is his face expressed an inward +amusement because a number of tiny lines wrinkled into being at the +corners of his gray eyes, and his lips pushed out ever so slightly. +Presently he forgot all about the plans, and stared out of the window +where the first leap of the rapids was just visible. + +"And your technical experience, Mr. Belding, tell me about that." + +Belding told him, and did his best to dilate on work that now seemed of +a minor character. There was that about Clark which curiously +minimized the young man's accomplishments. + +Clark nodded once or twice. "Do you owe any money?" + +"No, sir." Belding's voice roughened a shade. + +Came one of the stranger's rare and unmistakable smiles. "Forget all +about these plans and start new ones. I have no use for a thousand +horsepower, or five thousand, or ten. We will begin with twenty +thousand. I say begin with that. Now listen. You are appointed my +chief engineer. I said last night I did not wish to import that which +the town can furnish, and I mean it. But being my engineer you are +mine, and no one else's. The plans you will make are for me, and me +alone, as is all information connected with them, and I may tell you +that my engineers carry out my plans and not theirs. Your position +will be highly confidential, more important than you can at present +imagine. You will be the repository of much that many people would +like to know, but I will do whatever talking is necessary." + +There were a few added instructions after which Belding went downstairs +in a somewhat dazed condition. Then, suddenly, he remembered that no +mention had been made of salary. Turning back he rapped at Clark's +door. + +"There is one thing we did not discuss," he said a little awkwardly. + +"What's that?" + +"What are you willing to give me a month. I'm apparently engaged and +I'd like to know where I stand." + +Clark laughed shortly. "My invariable practice is to pay every cent my +employees can earn; the more I pay the better I like it. Good evening." + +Later that afternoon the engineer walked thoughtfully up to the power +canal. It seemed incredible that it should no longer be abandoned. +Staring at this uncompleted effort, he felt infused with a hot and +overwhelming loyalty. Whatever was good in him he would put into the +work. He did not dream of the magnitude of his coming trust, but had a +sensation that the curtain was about to rise on a new scene. He was, +perhaps, more than the rest impressed with the visitor's force and +hypnotic power which seemed prophetic and almost mystical. Then his +glance, wandering down stream, caught a trace of smoke where the +afternoon steamer was disappearing round a bend. + +Clark had gone off by the afternoon boat, explaining to Filmer that he +desired to get a glimpse of some other parts of the country. Now he +sat immovably in a corner of the deck, wrapped in a thick overcoat and +speaking to none. In his hand was a copy of the town agreement. He +ran over it musingly till he came to the clause which set forth his new +obligations, and at this point his lips tightened a little. Had he at +that moment been able to realize every worldly possession he had he +might have cleared up twenty-five hundred dollars but certainly not +five thousand. A glint came into his eyes as he read. The agreement +set forth in Bowers' best phraseology that Robert Fisher Clark of +Philadelphia, financier,--and at the sound of the last word Clark +smiled a little,--hereby undertook to spend in various works not less +than three million dollars in the next five years, failing which his +title to the town's former holdings would automatically lapse. + +The vessel moved smoothly on. Reviewing the last few days with perfect +placidity, he sent his mind back to other notable occasions when +success had been snatched from him, it seemed, at the very last moment. +The review did not depress him. He was not of that kind, but was +filled rather with a new and inflexible determination. + +The dream and the vision broadened. As the vessel swung into the long +turn that leads round the first big bend, he glanced back and caught +the wide white line of foam below the spidery bridge. As he gazed the +wooded ground to the north of the rapids seemed to be covered with +great stone buildings whose walls lifted like mystic battlements in the +green wilderness. He saw railways plunging into the forest and heard +the rumble of trains that drew up to his phantom factories. He saw the +river and the lakes furrowed with ships that came to St. Marys with +foreign cargoes and, charged full with his products, turned their slim +bows to distant lands. All this and much more passed in royal +procession before his thoughtful eye. Then something seemed to leap +through his brain and he stood erect, masterful and undaunted. + +"And now," he said to himself with a touch of grim humor, "now perhaps +I'd better find some money." + + + + +III.--PHILADELPHIA HEARS ABOUT ARCADIA + +Follow Clark a little further, for he was making history. He did not +think of this but had merely set a determined face toward his guiding +star. The vision was still clear and sharp when he reached +Philadelphia, reinspired by a series of swift calculations that were as +swiftly stowed away for suitable use in his retentive brain. There +were also three names--Wimperley, Riggs, and Stoughton. + +The morning after he arrived he went to see the first of his prospects. +Wimperley was the auditor of a great railway system, and when Clark's +name was brought in he looked up from his desk and announced shortly: +"Busy, can't see him," which was really what Clark expected. + +Now the influence by which Clark forced and carried out this interview +with Wimperley need not be succinctly described, nor the half amused, +half resentful surrender with which Wimperley finally said, "Show him +in," but it is indicative of that power of hypnosis which Clark could +exert at will, and by means of which, time and time again, he dissolved +antagonism into support and the murky solution of criticism into the +clean precipitate of confident reassurance. Wimperley knew perfectly +well that, once admitted, Clark would convert him to his own present +belief, whatever that might be, and that under Clark's magnetic +persuasion he would shortly find himself treading a totally unexpected +path. + +"Good morning. I'd like to have fifteen minutes." Clark was inwardly +amused, but he spoke with perfect gravity. + +Wimperley drew a long breath. He knew what could happen in fifteen +minutes. "What's the scheme now?" + +"Power and pulp," said Clark briefly, and, turning to a large railway +map on the wall laid a finger on the point where Lake Superior falls +into Lake Huron. + +"Go ahead." + +"I have acquired the right to develop any desired quantity of energy. +This can be done for eighty dollars a horsepower. The country to the +north is full of pulp wood, but the people up there don't know it." + +Wimperley felt a throb of interest. The power question in Philadelphia +was up at the moment, but it was power developed from coal and it came +high. + +"What else?" he said evenly, "and how do you know it?" + +"Seven different lumbermen have offered to contract for ten thousand +cords a year. That's all I had time to talk to. The point is that +each has individual knowledge of good stands of timber in his own +locality but the thing has never been collated. Now look here," went +on Clark, with a new light in his gray eyes--"there's power and wood; +excellent transportation; iron ore--without question--in the hills; +limestone at hand; cheap labor; no local competition, and--" + +"Wait a minute," struck in Wimperley hastily and pressed a bell. + +"Telephone Mr. Riggs and Mr. Stoughton and see if they can come over +for a moment," he said to his secretary, then, turning to Clark, +"better wait for them." + +Silence fell in the office. Both men were thinking hard. Wimperley, +beginning to be resigned, had, in a burst of revolt, visualized Riggs +and Stoughton as those most likely to help with the barricade which +Clark was already beginning to shatter, and Clark, his face as +imperturbable as ever, marveled not at all at his own influence, but +was busy reviewing the strategic moves which were to convert the two +for whom he waited. Presently they entered, shook hands with a certain +stiffness and sat down. A glance at Clark revealed the reason for +Wimperley's summons. They, too, had in former years come under the +spell. + +"Now," said Wimperley briefly. + +Clark recapitulated, and the three listened, their faces devoid of +expression save when their eyes involuntarily sought each other. + +The voice went on vibrant and compelling. "We can turn out +seventy-five thousand tons of pulp a year at a profit of six dollars a +ton. There is an abundance of hard wood for veneer mills. I have five +hundred acres of land adjoining the power canal; it is crossed by the +Transcontinental Railway; I have been to Ottawa and am promised a bonus +of ten thousand dollars a mile for such railways as we may build. The +balance of the cost will be met by the sale of lands thus developed, +and thus the railways will not mean any permanent investment on our +part, but we will, nevertheless, own them. I am also authorized to +divert from the rapids any water I may require for power. I have been +to see the Provincial Government and am promised exclusive control of +any mineral or lumber areas applied for. The market for pulp is very +good and will shortly be better owing to the exhaustion of areas which +have been cut over too long. I have virgin country which is +practically inexhaustible. The town has transferred to me its entire +rights and holdings. I have all the fundamentals for the making of a +great industrial center. As to the money--" + +"Yes," put in Riggs with a suggestion of breathlessness in his voice. + +"Philadelphia has millions waiting for investment--you know it, I know +it, and this is the opportunity. We will be dealing with natural +products in a simple and natural way. The district supplies the power +and the raw material; the outside and neighboring country, the market. +We supply the brains." + +"What does this cost you personally?" hazarded Stoughton a little +uncertainly. + +"A hundred dollars in traveling expenses, and I have assumed a hundred +and thirty thousand of town debentures at six per cent. If you don't +want it there are others who do." + +Wimperley looked up. His face had taken on a new expression. He +caught Riggs' eye and his lips formed the word "cheap." + +The latter nodded. There was a slight flush in his otherwise sallow +cheeks. Then he put a series of searching questions which were +answered by Clark with a wealth of detailed information which it seemed +was impossible to have been collected by one man in the course of a few +days. After which the three went to the big map and, turning their +backs on Clark, traced out railway lines and steamship routes and the +general transportation situation, and all the while the latter sat +quite motionless, while his eyes regarded the group across the room +with a look at once hypnotic and profound. These were telling moments, +during which unseen forces seemed to move and stretch themselves in +hidden potency. + +Presently came Wimperley's voice. "How much money would be necessary +for the first year's operations?" + +"About a million, possibly more." + +"And how," demanded Stoughton, "do you propose to get it?" + +"I am not going to get it," replied Clark with extreme placidity; "you +are." + +Came a joint laugh from the three at the map, not hearty or contagious, +but burdened with that negative humor with which men sometimes accept a +situation which holds them helpless and at the same time summons all +their power to meet it. + +Stoughton drew a long breath. "Well," he said slowly; "I suppose we +are." + +There followed an hour's conference. Clark did not display a trace of +triumph but poured out the contents of his extraordinary brain. A +million to start with and after that more millions as the occasion +demanded. These were his requirements and the rest could be left to +him. And it might be noted that the prospect did not cause the others +much anxiety, for as the undertaking unfolded with communicable power, +they perceived more fully than ever that he was in actuality dealing +with fundamentals, and fundamentals were things they were not afraid to +commend to financial circles. Thus was sown in this Philadelphia +office the seed which was destined to propagate itself so amazingly. + +When it was all over, Clark went back to his hotel, and wrote a short +letter to a woman saying that he had interesting business on hand and +hoped to see her soon. The letter was to his mother. + + + + +IV.--PRELIMINARIES IN ST. MARYS + +Snow was on the ground and the river crisping with tinkling sheets of +spreading ice when Clark again reached St. Marys and with +characteristic energy laid his first plans. These were to supply the +town with water and light, and the fact that the well remembered public +promise was thus to be redeemed reassured the citizens as nothing else +could have done. It was true that heavy work was impossible before +spring, but Belding, on instructions, deposited with the town council +an imposing set of blue prints which showed water pipes and electric +circuits radiating through every part of the town. + +It was a week or so later that one day in the office Belding looked up +as though he had been called and caught his chief's penetrating gaze. + +"Are you engaged, Belding; I mean to be married?" There was a twinkle +in the gray eyes. + +"No, sir." + +"Want to be?" + +"No, sir." + +"Anything to think of except the work?" + +Belding shook his head. He had already learned never to show surprise. + +"Then suppose I share your quarters for the rest of the winter. I +can't stand that hotel any longer." + +The engineer flushed. Already he had put Clark away in the corner of +his mind as one not comparable to any man he had ever met. His +directness, his versatility, the suggestion of power that lay behind +power,--all these Belding had found in him. And this was a little like +being asked to share quarters with the Pope. + +"I'm afraid you won't be very comfortable, sir." Belding had the use +of a big house, but it was hard to heat. + +"I'll be better off than where I am," said Clark, and that settled it. +He had apparently conceived for the young man as much liking as he +cared to show for any one. Presently he laughed. + +"You're wondering why I asked whether you were going to be married." + +"I am--rather." + +"Well, it's only because I feel a bit superfluous to any one in that +condition." + +"Then you're not married yourself?" said Belding involuntarily. + +Clark's eyes hardened. "No," he answered with extreme deliberation, "I +am not, I am too busy." Presently his mood changed and he added +provocatively, "But you're doomed, I see it in your face." + +Belding smiled. "I haven't met her yet." + +"It isn't a case of your meeting her; it's the other way on. You may +never know it, but she will." + +Belding glanced at him, puzzled. This was not the Clark he knew ten +minutes ago. And just then the other man pulled himself up. + +"I think I'd move that mill about a hundred feet west," he went on, +bending over a drawing. "It will shorten the head race and save money." + +The engineer nodded and drew a long breath. He had expected to get a +glimpse of the inner man, but the door was banged in his face. + +That winter was, for him, an adventure in regions fascinating and +remote. It is probable that at the time there was not on the North +American continent a man more highly endowed than Clark with gifts of +sheer psychological power. Belding, young in his world, could not +recognize it as such, but he fell the more completely under the +wizard-like spell of his companion's imagination. The days, shortened +by late sun and long nights, passed with early journeys to the +temporary office which Clark had built at the canal, where they +compiled endless surveys and plans in which the scope of the future was +graphically depicted. On these miniature spaces factory shouldered +against factory and mill against mill. The canal doubled in size, and, +stupendous as it all seemed, Belding could see no reason why these +things should not shortly exist. It was vastly different from former +days. + +As the weeks passed, he began to get Clark in clearer prospective. It +became forced on him that this hypnotic stranger had no desire except +that of creation. It seemed that his supreme determination was to win +from the earth that which he believed it offered, and express himself +in steel and stone and concrete, in the construction of great buildings +and in the impressive rumble of natural power under human control. +There was talk of many things, colored by keen, incisive comments from +this man of many parts, but never once did he put forward the subject +of wealth or the means of its amassing. The possession, or at least +the direction, of great sums was imperative to him, but he valued them +only for what they could achieve, and Belding always got the sensation +of his new approach to subjects hitherto deemed well worn, and that +remarkable mixture of impatience and intuitive power which +characterized his analysis. Again there were evenings when Clark did +not want to talk, but slipped off to the piano. Then the engineer saw +another man within the man, one who, plunged in profound meditation, +sat for hours, while his strong yet delicate fingers explored the keys, +interpreting the color of his mood and drawing, as it were, from some +mystical source that on which the subtle brain was nourished. And +these were periods which the other soon learned were not to be +interrupted. + +They were constantly asked out and entertained with old time +hospitality, Clark being the object of supreme curiosity in St. Marys, +and more often than not he slipped away early, leaving Belding on duty. +It was on these occasions that the contrast between his chief and +others stood out most prominently, there being nothing, it seemed, that +any one could do for him. His principal desire was to be let alone. + +It was one night at the Wordens' that Belding caught what he took to be +evidence of a heart that was fastidiously concealed. Clark, in front +of the fireplace, was listening to the judge dilate on the ancient +history of St. Marys, and that of lost and silent tribes who once +paddled along the shore and lifted their delicate bark canoes around +the tumbling rapids. Worden was a wise, old man with a certain gentle +dignity, and his wife, a dainty, middle-aged lady with slowly graying +hair and kindly eyes. + +"There was a good deal of bloodshed about," ruminated the judge. "Of +course the Jesuit got here first and performed the mysteries of the +Host in front of the natives. There were Indian wars and a good deal +of torturing went on up on your property, Mr. Clark. Then the French +and English traders shot each other from behind trees, where I +understand you are going to build your pulp mill, and the survivors +took the furs and struck off for Montreal in canoes, a matter of some +six hundred miles. After that the Red River Company and the Hudson Bay +got at loggerheads." + +"In short," put in Clark, "I've picked out a veritable battle ground. +By the way, who is this, if I may ask?" He lifted a photograph from +the mantel. + +Mrs. Worden smiled proudly. "Our daughter, Elsie. She's seventeen now +and we won't see her for two years. She's in the West with her aunt." + +"Oh!" said Clark. His brows pulled down and he scanned the print with +close attention. "She has imagination I take it." + +"Too much for her own comfort," remarked the judge. + +Clark did not answer but dropped into one of those thoughtful silences +which, while they did not seem to exclude, made it nevertheless appear +presumptuous to rouse him. + +"Too much imagination," he repeated presently. "Is that possible?" +Then, after another long stare, "It's a very unusual face." + +Mrs. Worden looked very happy. "We're going to take great care of +Elsie when we get her back. She had this long, delightful invitation +and we let her go because we thought she'd see more than she could in| +St. Marys, but she writes that it's even quieter." + +"The old St. Marys is nearly at an end and your daughter will find food +for her imagination when she gets back. May I show this to Mr. +Belding?" + +The young man took the photograph with a queer sense of participation +in something he did not understand. He saw a broad, low forehead, +masses of soft and slightly curly hair, eyes that looked beautifully +and wistfully, out from beneath finely arched brows and a mouth that +lacked nothing in humorous suggestion. Puzzling for an instant what it +was that had attracted his impersonal chief, he heard the latter saying +good night with customary abruptness. + +"Come along, Belding; we've got a long day ahead of us. The directors +will be here to-morrow." + +The judge was vastly interested. "So St. Marys is in actual touch with +Philadelphia?" + +"Very much so, and in about two years St. Marys will loom very large in +Philadelphia. Good night and thank you." + +The wind was stinging and they drove home rather silently. Arriving at +the big house, Clark went to the piano and played for a moment. The +music ceased as suddenly as it began and, warming himself at the great +stove in the hall, Belding heard a short laugh and an exclamation. +"Too much imagination," exploded Clark. The tone was one of utter +incredulity. At that the young man felt curiously truculent. Elsie +was only seventeen, while Clark was certainly not less than +thirty-five. Then the latter reappeared, rubbing his chilled fingers. + +"The piano is too stiff with cold to talk. By the way, Worden was +talking about the bishop. What bishop?" + +Belding told him what he knew. "He's an Irishman and a fine man. He +works this part of his diocese from St. Marys in the summer. One hears +all kinds of stories about him from the woods and the islands. He's +got a sense of humor and is a good sportsman, but I've only met him +once or twice. Just now he's over in England raising money to buy a +small yacht to navigate himself when he's traveling on duty, and +weather won't stop him if he gets it. You'll see him next spring." + +Clark seemed interested. "I don't know many parsons but that doesn't +describe them to me. A sportsman and a sense of humor, eh? It sounds +like a hunting parson. I thought they were all dead." + +"This one isn't." + +"St. Marys begins to offer more than I expected," smiled his chief. +"Are you going to bed, or will you sit here and freeze to death?" + +Riggs, Stoughton, and Wimperley came up next day. Clark met them at +the station, where a bitter wind was droning down from the north, and +Belding, by engineering of a high order, made room for them at his +quarters. Then they drove out to the canal, and with Clark climbed the +icy embankment while the latter expounded the situation. + +"There," he said cheerfully, "will be the first power house, and there +mill number one." + +Riggs, a small thin-blooded man, peered at the glassy landscape. +"Splendid," he chattered, while Stoughton pulled his fur collar over +his ears and set his back to the wind. + +"Up at the north end,--you can see it better if you step a little this +way--will be the head gates. That railway trestle--you see that +trestle don't you, Wimperley?--" + +Wimperley pulled himself together, but his feet had lost all feeling. +"Yes, any one could see that." + +"Well, that will be replaced by a steel bridge at the railway's +expense. We propose to widen the canal at that point to one hundred +feet at the bottom, and now--" here he seized the unfortunate Stoughton +and swung him so that he faced into the chilling blast--"I want to +point out the booming ground for logs." + +Stoughton muttered something that sounded like strong condemnation of +all logs, but Clark did not seem to hear him. + +"They'll come round that point, swing into the bay and feed down this +way to the mill. You get that, don't you?" + +They all got it, at least so they earnestly assured the speaker who +stood with his overcoat half unbuttoned, his cap on the back of his +head and apparently oblivious of the temperature. This frigid and +desolate scene had no terrors for him. Beneath the icy skin he +discovered its promise. + +"There'll be two booms--one for pulp wood and the other for hard wood +for the veneer mills. You make hard wood float by driving plugs of +lighter wood into both ends of the log. And now, if you'll step down +this way, I'll show you where the dredges will start work." + +"Look here," said Riggs in a quavering voice, "what's the matter with +my cheek? I can't feel it." + +Clark glanced at him and shook with sudden laughter. "Only a bit of +frost bite,--perhaps we'd better go back to the office. It's a pity, +though,"--here he hesitated a little--"there's quite a lot more to see." + +Whereupon Riggs and the other two at once assured him that unless they +sought shelter forthwith they would flatly refuse to authorize the +expenditure of any more money whatever in a country as blasted as this. +After which they repaired to the office, where Belding waited with his +blue prints and Clark outlined the possible future. As he put it, +these developments were only possible and depended on what that future +might bring forth. But as he talked, Belding, for one, knew that the +whole magnificent program had been definitely determined in that +astonishing brain. + +They drove back in the open sleigh and the horses, chilled in the cold, +sent the snow flying about their ears. There was but little talk and +it was not until they drew abreast of a stone building that Stoughton +spoke. + +"Nice jail you've got here," he remarked with a grin. "Looks as if +they had been expecting our crowd." + +Clark laughed. "It's the home of the only pessimist I have found in +St. Marys." + +"Then let's drop in and convert him." Stoughton was feeling warmer, +and the keen, dry air and brilliant sun affected him like wine. + +There was an instantaneous shout of approval, and three school boys in +the shape of the three most influential men of Philadelphia rolled +happily out of the sleigh. Riggs turned with mischief in his eye and a +bright red patch on his cheek. + +"Come on, Clark; we need something like this after the dose you have +given us." + +At the trampling of feet, Manson looked out of the window, then stepped +deliberately to the door. The next minute Clark was busy introducing. +"Mr. Manson, this is Mr. Wimperley, auditor of the Columbian Railway +Company; Mr. Riggs, president of the Philadelphia Bank, and Mr. +Stoughton, of the American Iron Works. We're all cold and cast +ourselves on your mercy. They've had enough power canal for to-day." + +Manson waved them in with just the gesture with which he motioned a +prisoner into the dock. It was the only gesture he knew. His brain +was working with unwonted rapidity, and he glanced questioningly at +Clark, but the face of the latter was impassive. The visitors grouped +themselves round the big box stove that was stuffed with blazing +hardwood. + +"Lived here long, Mr. Manson?" hazarded Riggs, stretching his thin +fingers to the heat. + +"All my life, gentlemen, and I don't want anything else." + +"You haven't been in jail for that time?" put in the irrepressible +Stoughton. + +The big man relaxed to a smile. "I've been in charge here for the last +twenty-five years, and I like it." + +The three glanced at him with a sudden and genuine interest. The man +was so massive; his hair so black, and, at the age of fifty, still +unstreaked with gray. His face was large and strong, with a certain +Jovian quality in cheek, ear, and chin. He suggested latent physical +powers that, if aroused, would be tremendous. + +"Find it pretty quiet?" went on Stoughton. + +"Yes, but that's what I like." + +"Then you don't entirely approve of our plans up at the rapids? At +least, so Mr. Clark tells me." + +Manson's glance lifted and went straight into Clark's gray eyes. + +"No, I don't believe in them, if," he added, "I can say so without +offense." + +Riggs stripped off his heavy fur coat, and turned his back to the stove. + +"Just why, may I ask?" + +"Well, I have a feeling you'll spoil St. Marys. It's just right as it +is. We haven't much excitement and I reckon we don't want it. We're +comfortable, so why can't you let us alone? I like the life as it is." + +"You'll live faster after we get going," chuckled Wimperley. + +"Perhaps, but we won't live so long. I've had a lot of men through my +hands who tried to live faster, and it didn't agree with them--not that +I'm meaning--" The rest was lost in a riot of laughter, out of which +Wimperley's voice became audible. + +"If things go as we propose and expect, the people of St. Marys will +profit very considerably,--there will be remarkable opportunities." + +"Meaning that,--" a new light flickered in Manson's black eyes for a +fraction of a second and disappeared. + +"Meaning that during the transformation of a village into a city a +number of interesting changes take place." + +"Maybe, but such things can't affect me very much." + +"Well, possibly not, but I've an idea they will. I'm afraid we can't +let St. Marys alone, Mr. Manson, and a little later on you'll +understand why. This land, for instance, between us and the river, is +vacant." + +Manson's eye slowly traversed the two hundred yard width of the open +field that lay just south of the road. It was perhaps half way between +the rapids and the center of the village. + +"Yes, I think Worden owns it, but I know that no one wants it." + +"Ah!" said Stoughton with a little laugh; "and now we must be getting +on. Good-by, and thank you for saving our lives, even if you have had +a crack at our project." + +There was a sound of laughing voices on the porch and a jangle of +sleigh bells that dwindled toward the village, but Manson did not seem +to hear them. He stood blocking up the window, his hands thrust deep +in his pockets, staring at the vacant lot across the street. + +Dinner that night cost Belding much searching of soul. "There'll be +three more," Clark had said, and forgotten all about it, but when the +Philadelphians sat down Belding's heart sank. On the table was a leg +of mutton, placed hastily by an agitated servant lest it freeze between +kitchen and dining room. Even while Belding carved it the gravy began +to stiffen. Behind Clark was a glowing fireplace, ineffectual against +the outside temperature, the windows were white with frost and the +whole house seemed to creak. + +"Have some mutton," said the young man desperately. + +Riggs rubbed his thin hands. "Thanks, I'm very fond of mutton. Do you +mind if I put on my overcoat? The floor seems a little cold." He +disappeared and returned muffled to the ears. + +"You'd better hurry up with your food," said Clark soberly. "The human +stomach cannot digest frozen sheep." He glanced at Wimperley and +Stoughton. "What's the matter with you fellows?" + +The two visitors coughed and apologized and went in search of their +overcoats. Clark began to laugh. "And to think that you three are +going back to furnaces and steam heat. Do you realize what Belding and +I are going through on your behalf?" + +They got through the meal somehow, but Belding was utterly abashed. +The visitors played with the congealing mutton, poked at forbidding +potatoes, absorbed large quantities of scalding tea and then hastened +back to the big stove. Belding felt a hand on his shoulder. + +"It's my fault. We should have let them go to the hotel. I suppose +we're used to it, they're not." + +Presently, Wimperley began to yawn. "I'm going to bed." + +Riggs glanced apprehensively upstairs, where it was even colder than +below. "I'm going to sleep in my clothes. My God! pajamas on a night +like this. Clark, what are you made of?" + +In ten minutes the big stove was deserted, and Clark went from room to +room tucking in his shivering visitors. + +V.--THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA + +It was not till spring came and the earth relaxed her stiff and +reappearing bones that Clark really got to work, and then arrived the +first battalions of that great influx which was soon to follow. Up at +the rapids men and machinery became visible as though by magic. +Belding had a curious sensation as he saw the product of his former +plans well nigh obliterated in the larger excavation which now began to +take shape. His earlier efforts took on their due proportion, and he +smiled at the contrast, reveling in his opportunity for the full +exercise of his ability. But it is probable that neither Belding nor +any others amongst the leading men who, in time, were gathered into the +works, realized to what a degree they were animated by the mesmeric +influence of Clark. + +By this time Bowers, another local appointment, was the legal +representative of the Company, and the repository of great intentions +which he guarded with scrupulous fidelity. Clark was redeeming his +promise not to import that which the town could provide. And then he +met the bishop. + +He saw the broad-shouldered, black-coated figure contemplating a steam +shovel that was gnawing at the rocky soil beside the rapids. The +bishop was a big man with a handsome head, well shaped legs adorned +with episcopal gaiters, and a broad, deep chest. It was universally +admitted that a less ample breast could not have contained so great a +heart. + +"Good day, sir." Clark involuntarily lifted his hat. The bishop held +out a firm white hand. "I've heard of you, Mr. Clark, and am glad to +see that Mahomet has come to his mountain. It's a little like a fairy +tale to me." + +"I hope it may prove as attractive." + +"But I believe in fairies, we need them nowadays." + +Clark smiled. "I'm afraid that St. Marys doesn't believe in them as +yet, but I'll do what I can." + +"I suppose you've met every one here in the course of the winter?" + +"Most I think. As a matter of fact one hasn't much time." + +"That's a new thing in winter in the North. Now show me what's going +on, I'm vastly interested." + +There was nothing that could have suited Clark better, and the two +tramped about for an hour. At the end of it they stood near the head +of the rapids and watched a coughing dredge tear into the soft bottom. + +"I used to come up here to fish," said the bishop thoughtfully, "and +once killed a six pound trout on a six ounce rod, but now you're doing +the fishing, and so it goes. Do you expect to begin operations in the +woods next winter?" + +"Yes." + +"Then I'll need some more missionaries. You're making a lot of work +for me, but I like it." + +His companion glanced up with sudden interest. They both liked work. +It had been evident for an hour past in the prelate's keen questions. +It occurred to Clark that the influence of his own passion for creation +promised to affect a large number of people. But he had never dreamed +of missionaries, and now the thought amused him. + +"I see young Belding over there," said the bishop as the engineer +passed with a transit over his shoulder. "Yes, my chief engineer." + +"A good chap and I'm glad he has the opening. I don't know that he's +got much imagination, but a valuable man as I see him. I have an +idea," he added quizzically, "that you will supply all the imagination +that is necessary." + +Clark laughed. "I hope to." + +"Had I not gone into the church I would have been a writer or an +engineer," said the bishop slowly. "They have always seemed kindred +pursuits, and I should have liked to be able to point to something +physical and concrete and say 'I made it.'" + +Clark was a little puzzled. He had it in mind that the bishop's +achievements would be, perhaps, more enduring than his own. He tried +to put this into words. + +The big man shook his head. "I hope I am making my mark, but who can +say? You affect the color of men's lives and I try to reach the +complexion of their spirits." He paused for a moment, then added, "But +between us we ought to do something. Good-by, and I hope you'll come +to one of my garden parties. I hear you don't care for society, but +you'll like my strawberries, and in the meantime I trust that all will +prosper. Even if St. Marys does not realize all this, does it matter?" + +"Not in the slightest." + +The bishop strode off. A few paces away he halted. "I'm no Moslem but +I'm very glad to meet Mahomet," he called back; "good-by." + +In June the general manager, for as such Clark was now known, gave a +luncheon at the works, which was to remain long in the mind of at least +one of the participants. By this time he himself was beginning to +withdraw to that seclusion which added much to the fascination of his +personality. When his guests arrived they were turned over to Belding +for a tour of inspection, and then, filled with interest and surprise, +sat down to the meal Clark had had prepared in the small marquee. Now +he appeared himself, the genius of the place, and sat at the head of +the table. + +Looking back at the curious relationship in which this man stood to the +people of St. Marys, it seems that he liked them more than he cared to +express, for the expression of any sentiment was strange to his lips. +He could do much for them, and did it, while, at the same time, he +asked nothing for himself. When not in action, Clark was particularly +silent, but when really in action he approached his subject with +obvious joy and interest, and coupled with this was his natural +instinct for impressive and dramatic situations. Something of this had +been recognized by Filmer and the others who came to lunch, so that, +afterwards, when he threw out a hint, the only one on record, it met +with immediate attention. He was talking to Worden when his eye drew +Filmer into the conversation. + +"I have been wondering whether any of you gentlemen have bought any +land?" + +The effect was that of a stone thrown into a pool, and one could see +the ripples of interest spreading. But it was so unexpected that there +followed a little silence, broken presently by a laugh from Filmer. + +"What land?" + +Clark waved a casual hand north and east. "Any land over there." + +He got no immediate reply. The minds of his guests were traversing the +flat fields in which cattle grazed, that lay between the rapids and the +town. + +"You have seen to-day something of what we propose to do, but only some +of it," he went on. "What's the present population of St. Marys?" + +"About sixteen hundred," said Filmer thoughtfully. + +"Well, gentlemen, assume that what you have seen is but the beginning, +only the breaking of the ground. You may take it from me, you are safe +in that. The population of St. Marys, five years from to-day, should +be,--" here he paused for an impressive moment--"sixteen thousand, and +in ten years, twenty-six thousand. Now where are those people going to +live? Mr. Manson, here, doesn't take me quite seriously, but you, +Judge, can you answer me; or you, Mr. Filmer? A good deal of it will +fall on your shoulders." + +"I don't doubt you," answered the mayor, "but I can use all my money in +my business." + +"As for me, I'm a government official and haven't any," added Worden, +with a tinge of regret. + +"Money has been borrowed before this"--Clark's tones were distinctly +impersonal--"the bank is good and so is the future of the town, as I +see it." + +"Why don't you buy some yourself?" + +"I don't want any more money," said Clark very simply, "but, gentlemen, +I don't assume that every one feels that way. From this window I can +see farm lands that can be bought for forty dollars an acre on easy +terms, and how would you feel if, after two or three years, it changed +hands at a thousand? I merely mention this because I've seen it take +place elsewhere. Now I'm not going to say that it's going to be worth +a thousand, and I'm not persuading you. I never persuade any one, at +least," he added with a little smile, "not in St. Marys. I only draw +your attention to the circumstances and leave the rest of it, of +course, to your own judgment." + +"Then you suggest that we buy?" came in Dibbott. + +"Nothing of the kind. It's a matter of indifference to me whether you +gentlemen do the buying or some one else. All I can prophesy is, that +it's going to be done, but not by me or my associates. We have enough +to occupy our attention for some time to come." + +Manson edged a bit nearer. "The idea is that while you're investing +millions, we take no risk in investing hundreds, eh?" + +"I made no such inference. You will remember that so far as St. Marys +is concerned I have depended on the town for nothing since my first +proposal was accepted." + +Dibbott nodded. "That's right. I reckon we're going to be a +residential suburb to the works." + +Clark smiled a little. "I lean on just four things, and St. Marys +supplied none of them." + +"What are they?" + +"Natural laws, physical geography, ample financial backing, and the +need of the world for certain manufactured products. And," he +concluded quizzically, "you'd better forget that I said anything about +land." + +There was something suggestively final about this, and presently the +group moved off, loitering across the flat, untenanted fields. Manson +was in the rear, decapitating daisies with his heavy oak stick. A few +minutes later Clark looked up and saw the chief constable's bulk +filling the doorway. He waited placidly. + +"Did you mean just what you said about that land?" Manson's voice +sounded a little sheepish, "because I've got a bit saved up, and--" + +"Mr. Manson," struck in Clark, "you may approve of me personally, but I +know that you don't believe in my project. You've been at no pains to +conceal that and I respect you for it, but that being the case why +should you, of all men, be interested in land? No, no, don't protest. +I don't mind what you think and you've a perfect right to your own +opinion. What did I say about land? Did I advise you to buy?" + +"No, but you evidently wondered why we didn't." + +Clark laughed outright. "I wonder at many things, that's my privilege, +and anything I said just now is in contradiction to your judgment. You +strike me as being a man of strong views, so by all means hold on to +them." + +But Manson's eyes were turned fixedly on the main chance and he could +not look away. "Of course, I may be wrong," he began awkwardly, "but--" + +"And, of course, I may be too, and now you'll excuse me, I've a good +deal to attend to." + +Very slowly the chief constable took his way to town. Like many who +came in contact with Clark he had conceived the impression of a strong +and piercing intelligence that, while it gave out much, withheld more; +and it was what he imagined was withheld that now piqued and stimulated +the austerely masked project he had had in view ever since Clark's +directors had so breezily invaded his office months before. Manson +was, in truth, an example of those who, externally impassive and +unemotional, harbor at times a secret and consuming thought at variance +with all outward semblance, and, keeping this remotely hidden, feed it +with all the concentrated fire of an otherwise inactive imagination. +That afternoon he quietly secured an option on a portion of the fields +across which he walked so stolidly, and, with this as a beginning, +turned his thoughts to the acquisition of more and more land. +Simultaneously his expressed views on the outcome of Clark's activities +became more pessimistic than ever. + +Early that summer the streets of St. Marys were torn with trenches and +the glass fronts of the wooden stores trembled with the vibration of +blasting. The pipe lines followed exactly the route laid out by the +blue prints Belding had long since deposited with the town council, and +so well known was this route that the slightest variation would have +been pounced upon instantly. Clark, it appeared, did not take much +interest in the work, but turned it over entirely to the engineer, his +own imagination having moved to other things. + +New faces in the town ceased to create comment, and, what was more to +the point, mention of St. Marys began to appear in metropolitan papers. +These were read with the peculiar thoroughness of those who, for the +first time, found themselves of definite interest to the outside world. +Simultaneously the air became full of prophecy, rambling and inchoate. +The citizens had not yet come to regard developments as being in any +particular their own. They had--for the best reasons--put no money in, +but now began to profit by changed conditions. The works were still a +thing apart, a new and somewhat romantic area from which anything, +however startling, might any day materialize. Sometimes a few Indians +paddled up to trade and, leaving Filmer's store, would slip silently up +stream, and edging into the backwater at the foot of the rapids, lay +their paddles across the thwarts and stare silently at the great +structures that began to arise. And this, in a way, was the attitude +of most of the folk of St. Marys. They were in it but not of it, and +the long somnolence of the past was too tranquil to be easily +dispelled. But in spite of their indifference the masterful hand of +Clark had set the town definitely on the industrial map. A little +later, the water was turned on and rows and rows of electric lights +glittered down the streets. It was just about this time that Clark +summoned Belding and told him that he desired a house. + +This command was, in a way, so intimate that Belding looked foolish. +"What kind of a house?" he said awkwardly. + +Clark leaned back in his chair. "You know how, years ago, the Hudson +Bay Company built block houses for their factors? Well, I want one +such as the company used to build, and I expect to be ready to occupy +it within six weeks." + +Belding had learned not to ask too many questions, so, for a moment +thought hard. "Where?" he ventured. + +"You remember where the old Hudson Bay lock is,--just a hundred feet +beyond that. By the way, do you know how to build a block house?" + +Belding got a little red. He had designed power houses and pulp mills +and canals and head gates, but a block house baffled him. + +"In those days," began Clark ruminatively, "they were places of +defense. Two stories, the bottom one of stone so that the Indians +couldn't set fire to it. That part is eight feet high and had +loopholes. On top is the other story built of logs, and, by the way, I +want my logs peeled and varnished, and with a pitched roof. That part +overhangs the other by about five feet all round, and that was to make +it possible to drop things on the Indians if they did get up to the +loopholes. Got the idea? And, by the way, I want the Hudson Bay lock +cleaned out and rebuilt just as it was before. No cement--but random +masonry and gates of hewn timber--they hewed everything a hundred years +ago--grass around it and a sign saying what it was and when. Fix it up +and make a job of it--that's all, and make that block house basement of +field stone--you can see why." + +Whereupon Clark turned to a pile of letters and telegrams and promptly +forgot all about Belding. + +In six weeks, to a day, he moved in, and it is a question whether any +of his subsequent achievements occasioned such interest in St. Marys. +Old inhabitants were there who had memories of the Hudson Bay Company +and the thirty foot bark canoes that once voyaged from Lake Superior, +and, treading the upper reaches of a branch of the rapids, slid into +the old lock and were let gingerly down while the crew held their +paddles against the rough stone walls of the tiny but ancient chamber. + +Now the thing in its entirety had been recreated. The block house sat +squat beside the lock, with its mushroom top projecting just as in +years before. Clark, it seemed, was, after all traditional, and not +one who lived entirely in the future, and with this touch of romance he +took new attributes. His Japanese cook inhabited the lower story +through which one entered to mount to the main floor. Inside the place +revealed the taste of the man of the world. It looked pigmy beside the +enormous structures which began to rise hard by, but was all the more +diminutively impressive. One passed it on the way to the works, and +often by night drifted out the sound of Clark's piano mingling with the +dull boom of the rapids. For it would seem that these were the two +voices to which the brain of this extraordinary man took most heed. + + + + +VI.--CONCERNING IRON, WOOD AND A GIRL + +A year passed and the folk of St. Marys had not yet accustomed +themselves to drawing water from a tap and turning on the light with a +switch ere Clark began a frontal attack on the resources of the country +to the north. It was typical of his methods that he invariably used +new agencies by which to approach affairs which, in the main, differed +from those already existing. Thus he called on many and widely +separated individuals, who, answering his imperious summons, fell +straightway under the spell of his remarkable personality, and found +themselves shortly in positions of increasing responsibility. They +became the heads of various activities, but, in a way, the secondary +heads, for Clark retained all kingship for himself. So it came that as +months passed he was surrounded by a constantly increasing band of +active and loyal retainers. + +Such was John Baudette, for whom Clark had sent to talk pulp wood, but, +it is recorded, that Baudette's manner and bearing changed not at all +when Clark stared at him across the big flat topped desk and remarked +evenly that he wanted pulp wood and was assured that there was an ample +supply within fifty miles. + +Baudette's hard blue eyes met the stare placidly. "Yes, there is pulp +wood north of here." + +"I know it, because I've had some," said Clark, "but I want fifty +thousand cords next May and seventy-five thousand the year after." + +Baudette felt in a way more at home, but he had never contemplated +seventy-five thousand cords of wood. "Am I to go and take it?" + +Clark laughed, then settled back with the shadow of a smile on his +lips, and bent on the woodsman that swift inspection which discomforted +so many. It embarrassed Baudette not at all. He was rather small and +of slight build, but he was constructed in the manner of a bundle of +steel wire that enfolds a heart of inflexible determination. On casual +inspection he did not appear to be a strong man, but his body was a +mass of tireless sinew. His eyes were of that cold, hard blue which is +the color of fortitude, his face clean shaven and rather thin; his jaw +slightly underhung, his lips narrow and tightly compressed. In +demeanor he was quiet and almost shy, but it was the quietness of one +who has spent his days in the open, and the shyness of a life which has +dealt with simple things in a simple but efficient way. The longer +Clark looked at him the more he liked this new discovery. Presently he +began to talk. + +"I want a man to take charge of my forest department, and one who has +got his experience at the expense of some one else. We need pulp wood +in larger quantities than have been required in this country before. +Next year we begin to grind wood that you will cut this winter." + +The little man neither moved nor took his eyes from Clark's face, and +the latter, with the faintest twitch of his lip, went on. + +"I'm satisfied that this wood exists in ample quantities and the rest +is up to you. You can have any reasonable salary you ask for." + +"Where are the timber limits?" Baudette said quietly. He was, +apparently, uninterested in the matter of salary. + +Clark flattened out a big map of the district that obliterated the +piles of letters and telegrams. Baudette's eyes brightened. He loved +maps, but never before had he seen one so minute and comprehensive. + +"That's compiled from all available surveys and records. It took three +months to make it. I was getting ready for you." + +Baudette nodded. He was interested in how the thing was compiled, and +his eyes traced the birth and flow of rivers and the great sweep of +well remembered lakes. Presently Clark's voice came in again. + +"Where's the best pulp wood? We've been getting it from everywhere." + +A lean brown forefinger slid slowly over the edge of the map. Clark +noted its delicacy and strength. It halted a moment at St. Marys, +then, as though Baudette counted the miles, traversed the shore of +Superior and turned into a great bay to the westward. At the belly of +the bay the finger struck inland following a wide river, and halted in +a triangle of land where the river forked. Baudette looked up and +nodded. + +"Ah!" said Clark thoughtfully. "How much good wood is there?" + +The forefinger commenced an irregular course during which it struck +into salients that followed up lesser and tributary streams. It had +enclosed perhaps five hundred square miles of Canadian territory when +it reached its starting point. + +"Four years' wood." Baudette's voice was still impressive. + +The other man smiled as though in subdued mirth, and with a red pencil +outlined the area. Following this his eyes rested contemplatively on +the lumberman who sat still focussed on the map. + +"Come back in two weeks," he said suddenly. "Good morning." + +Baudette glanced at him, and went out so quietly that there was not the +sound of a footstep. Clark's manner of speech and person had set him +thinking as never before. Ten thousand cords of wood a year was the +usual order of things, but of fifty thousand cords he had never dreamed. + +He had a new set of sensations which filled him with a novel confidence +in his own powers. He was reacting, like all the others, to the +intimate touch of a communicative confidence. He passed thoughtfully +through the general office, noting as he closed the door that on a +bench near Clark's door sat Fisette, a French halfbreed whom he knew. +He remarked also that Fisette's pockets were bulging, it seemed, with +rocks. + +A moment later Fisette was summoned. He went in, treading lightly on +the balls of his feet, and leaning forward as though under a load on a +portage. Clark's office always frightened him a little. The rumble of +the adjoining power house, the great bulk of the buildings just +outside, the masses of documents,--all of this spoke of an external +power that puzzled and, in a way, worried him. He halted suddenly in +front of the desk. + +"Well?" said Clark, without offering him a seat, for Fisette was more +at ease when he stood. + +The half breed felt in his pockets. The other unrolled a duplicate of +the map he had shown Baudette and held out his hand, in which Fisette +placed some pieces of rock. + +At the weight and chill of them, Clark experienced a peculiar thrill, +then, under a magnifying glass he examined each with extreme care, +turning them so that the light fell fair on edge and fracture. One +after another he scrutinized, while the breed stood motionless. + +"Where do they come from?" he said shortly. + +The breed made a little noise in his throat, and his dark eyes rested +luminously on the keen face. After a little he gathered the samples +and disposed them on the map, laying each in that corner of the +wilderness from which it had been broken. He did this with the +deliberation of one who knew beyond all question. He had brought +months of hardship and exposure in his pocket. By swamp and hill, +valley and lake and rapid he had journeyed alone in search of the gray, +heavy, shiny rock of which Clark had, months before, given him a +fragment, with curt orders to seek the like. The small, angular pieces +were all arranged, and his chief stared at them with profound +geological interest. Fisette did not move. He had looked forward to +this moment. + +"They're no good," came the level voice, after a pause, "but you're in +the right country. Go back for another two months. You'll get it yet. +It should be near this," he picked up a sample. "Take what men you +want, or no, don't take any. I want you to do this yourself, and don't +talk. Good morning." + +Fisette nodded dumbly. The moment had come and gone and he felt a +little paralyzed. + +"Here, have a cigar." + +He took one, such a cigar as he had never seen, large, dark and fat +with a golden band around its plump middle. He glanced at Clark, who +apparently had forgotten him, and went silently out. On the doorstep +he paused, slid off the golden band and put it in his pocketbook, +cupped a lighted match between his polished palms, took one long +luxurious breath and started thoughtfully to town with worship and +determination in his breast. + +Clark, from the office window, was looking down at his broad back in a +moment of abstraction. At Fisette's departure he had suddenly plunged +into one of those moods so peculiar to his temperament. Beside the +halfbreed he seemed to perceive Stoughton, and with Baudette he +discerned the figure of Riggs, and so on till there were marshalled +before him the whole battalion of those who were caught up in the +onward march. He realized, without any hesitation, that should +Baudette fail in his work, the magnificent bulk of the great pulp mill +would be but a futile shell. And should the prospecting pick of the +half-breed not uncover that which he sought, the entire enterprise +would lack its basic security. But it was characteristic of the man +that this vision brought with it no depression, but seemed rather to +point to ultimate success in the very blending of diverse elements that +strove together towards the same end. + +Two weeks later, Baudette returned and looked questioningly at his +chief. In very few words he explained that the fortnight had been +spent in the woods and that what he had said was correct. + +Clark listened silently. Here was a man to his liking. When the +lumberman finished he again unrolled the big map, but this time instead +of the wavering red pencil line, there was the bold demarcation of a +much greater area, which Belding's draughtsman had plotted in +professional style. In the middle of it was the territory Baudette had +previously indicated. + +"I thought we'd better be safe, and got this--from the Government. Go +to the chief accountant in the outside office. Give him an estimate of +what money you need for the next six months--and get to work--Good +morning." + +Baudette merely nodded and disappeared. There was too much in his mind +to admit of expressing it, but, even had he felt conversational, there +was a finality about his dismissal that left no opening. He went away +charged with a grim determination. Here was the chance he had been +waiting for all his life. + +And Clark had, by this time, labelled Baudette as a valuable and +dependable man. He forthwith forgot all about him, and went back to +the memory of Baudette's forefinger as it pushed its way up to the +Magwa River. It flashed upon him that, in the course of a vehemently +active life, he had built practically all things save one. At that he +fell into a reverie which ended with the pressing of a button that +flashed a small red light on Belding's desk. A moment later he glanced +keenly at his chief engineer. + +"Belding, you have done railway work. What does a standard gauge road +cost in this country?" + +"Where is the road to be built?" Belding displayed no surprise. The +time for that had long passed, and, he silently concluded, the +presidency of a railroad would suit Clark admirably. + +"Up the Magwa River." + +"And the maximum grades?" + +"Suitable for freight haulage to this point. We run with the water," +added Clark with one of his rare smiles, "you ought to know that." + +"About thirty thousand a mile," answered Belding steadily, the trouble +being that when his chief's imagination took strong hold of him he was +apt to diverge from the point. + +"Then you will send out survey parties and get detailed estimates when +the surveys are in." + +"How far is the road to run? The head waters of the Magwa are one +hundred and fifty miles from its mouth." + +Clark's lips tightened a little. "As far as the pulp wood is good. I +don't care how far that is--and, Belding--" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I have decided to double the size of the mill. Let me have plans and +estimates for that too." + +Belding went on, his head swimming, and walked slowly toward the head +gates through which Lake Superior flowed obediently to do Clark's will. +It seemed now that his chief had reached the point where the god in the +machine must make some grievous error. He was insatiable. Presently +two figures approached. One was Judge Worden, the other a girl. The +former waved his stick. + +"We're going to see Mr. Clark. Elsie, this is Mr. Belding." + +The girl smiled and put out a slim hand. "I've heard all about +you--did you make all this?" Her brown eyes roved, taking in the great +sweep of rising structures. + +"In a way, yes," he laughed, "that is I did what I was told." + +"Mr. Belding is chief engineer," put in the judge assuringly. + +She nodded. "You told me. I--I think it's rather wonderful. If +anything had to happen to the rapids, this is just right." + +Belding made no immediate answer. He was studying the girl's face, her +supple figure, and the intelligence that marked every expression. It +struck him that she was meant to be some man's comrade. + +"I'm glad you like it," he said a little awkwardly, "there's lots more +to come." + +The judge touched Elsie's arm. "That's what I want to hear about at +the block house, and I hope you'll have supper with us next Sunday, Mr. +Belding. I hear you are too busy for a weekday diversion." + +Elsie smiled approval and they turned down the long embankment. + +Belding looked after them with a shade of resentment. She was, he had +decided, just like her photograph. In the distance he had seen Clark +walking quickly towards his visitors. They met a hundred yards away +and Clark's eyes began to twinkle. + +"How do you do. I seem to know you quite well already." + +Elsie flushed. She had pictured Clark in her romantic brain, but this +trim figure resembled none of her expectations. + +"I'm very sorry," he went on quickly, "that urgent business will keep +me in the office all afternoon. I've just a few minutes." + +"Then we'll be off at once," announced the judge. + +"Not at all, if there's anything here to interest you, the place is +yours." + +Elsie glanced at him curiously. She was conscious both of +disappointment and of a certain invitational thrill. His assurance was +not just what she had looked for, but yet it stimulated her thought. +He was very different from every one else. Decision marked him and a +flash that was breathless seemed to reach her. Imagination lay in his +quick change of expression and in the depths of the gray eyes. This +was the man who dreamed great dreams. + +"The next time you are up this way I hope you and your friends will +come to the block house." He was looking at her with evident interest. +"You may not like it, but, I think you will,--it makes a background for +this"; he pointed to the works, "and I find it restful. I live quite +alone except for a Japanese cook, and," he added with a laugh, "he's +part of the background." + +Elsie accepted and, for an instant, caught Clark's full glance. In a +fraction of time there passed between them a swift and subconscious +exchange of understanding that subsided almost ere it was born. Then +he took off his hat and hastened towards his office. + +For a little while she did not speak, for she was filled with the +perception that between herself and this stranger lay something they +held in common. Could it be imagination? + +"What do you think of Mr. Belding?" asked the judge reflectively as he +stepped round a shattered boulder. + +Elsie started. "Why do you ask?" + +The judge's brows went up. "Why shouldn't I?" + +The girl pulled herself together with an effort. "I was thinking of +something else when you spoke,--he seems very nice indeed." + +"He has a good salary, a good position and a good future," hazarded the +judge. "I'm glad you like him." + +Later that evening, Belding turned homeward, his work finished, and, +walking close to the shore, looked across the black river to the blaze +of light at the works. On one side and low down he made out the glow +from the block-house windows. He could imagine Clark at the piano. + +But his chief had deserted the piano and given himself up to a rare +hour of retrospect. He was under no misapprehension with regard to St. +Marys. The town was growing in jerky spurts, as the old inhabitants +took on new courage, or new blood came in from outside. Filmer, who +with the exception of Bowers and Belding, was closer to Clark than any +of the rest, enlarged his store, and new shops began to appear nearer +the rapids. Manson's premises were populated with an assortment from +the small army of laborers at the works, and a new hotel was under +construction. But, in the main, it was only by stress of business +demands that any expansion was made. The strangers, who constantly +appeared on the streets, ceased to be a cause of curiosity, and the +folk of St. Marys left it to them to start new enterprises. + +As to Clark, himself, he began to be almost invisible to the +townspeople. There was nothing, after all, to bring him to town. +Others came to him. And ever the call of the rapids grew louder and +more dominant in his active brain. Others slept when he was awake, and +his imagination, caught up in a tremendous belief in the future of the +country, explored the horizon for new avenues and enterprises, while +the conclusions of his prophetic mind filled him with unfailing +confidence. He had now achieved the ability to arrive intuitively at +results reached by others after long and arduous labor. This faculty +was one of his outstanding gifts, no less than his mesmeric and +communicative influence. + + + + +VII.--THE BISHOP'S GARDEN PARTY--AND AFTERWARDS + +Some three miles down the river from the blockhouse and on the east +side of St. Marys lived the bishop. Of him it might be said that, like +Clark's, his reputation extended far beyond the boundaries of this +northern district. But between these two, so alike in their magnetic +qualities, lay a substantial difference. Clark expressed himself in +large undertakings and great physical structures, while the bishop +worked in the hearts of men. + +It was the custom of this most amiable prelate to give a garden party +once a year, to which came most of the adult population of St. Marys. +The house, a square gray stone block, lay at the edge of the bush and +around it was a spacious lawn from which one could saunter through the +vegetable garden and into the stable, and on this lawn, his hands +clasped behind his back, his head bent forward in thought, the bishop +might often be observed, a modern St. Francis, plunged in profound +thought. + +Now, looking contentedly at the groups around him, he concluded that +never before had his party been so well attended. Dibbott and Filmer +and Bowers were there with their wives, and young Belding with the +Wordens. The Presbyterian minister and the Catholic priest were +admiring the strawberries, and Manson's deep voice came from a cluster +of men nearby. Most of the ladies wore spotless white dresses that +crackled as they moved. In the study the bishop's desk was obliterated +by dishes of strawberries and cream, and at the front gate the hired +man took charge of the buggies and tethered the horses to the long +fence of the pasture field. Three hundred yards away the river +sparkled in a clear, light blue. It was all very bright and animated. +Presently the bishop caught the young engineer's eyes and beckoned. + +"Mr. Belding," he said, smiling, "I'm aware that you're very much +occupied just now with important things, but I've been wondering, just +the same, if you'd help me with something." + +"What is it, Bishop?" + +"I want a pro-cathedral, which is, as you know, that which does instead +of a cathedral. Every summer the church here seems to get smaller, and +I believe I could fill a bigger one." + +Belding laughed. He, like the rest, knew that the largest church in +the country could not hold those who flocked to hear this golden voice. + +"How much money is available?" he hazarded, "and have you any idea what +it is intended to spend. What about plans?" + +"That's just it, we have no money and, of course, no plans, but, +considering the amount of building material you use every day, it +struck me that there might be laid aside enough to construct what I +want without causing any hardship." + +Belding hesitated, but so friendly was the look on the bishop's face +and so quizzical the glance of the large brown eyes that he felt +immediately prompted to build a pro-cathedral. He felt a hand on his +shoulder. + +"History has it that not so very long ago a certain young engineer +expressed that which was highest in his nature by building a cathedral. +Think it over." And with that the bishop turned to the Indian agent +who was moving mountainously across the lawn. + +"Well, Mr. Dibbott, it seems just the other day when I arrived first in +St. Marys and drove under a green arch at Mr. Filmer's dock and the +entire population met me. One couldn't achieve that now. Great things +are happening." + +"You mean up at the works, sir?" + +"Yes. I went over them again last week and had a short talk with Mr. +Clark--a very remarkable man--though, I confess that so far I have not +observed him at church. I touched on that as a matter of fact." + +Dibbott's pale blue eyes opened a little wider. "And what did he say?" + +"He said that from his point of view the church was too divided within +itself to impress him very forcibly." + +"Ah!" grunted Dibbott--"and then?" + +"I came back at him with the fact that the church was naturally divided +by the moods of its followers." + +"It's so, sir, we all know it." + +The bishop cast an interested glance over the groups that now covered +the lawn. He seemed not in the least depressed at the inward troubles +of the church. Presently his eyes began to twinkle. "It's perfectly +true. There are three schools of thought, that I've observed myself." + +"What are they?" said Worden, who had silently come up. + +"Platitudinarian; latitudinarian; attitudinarian," came the answer, +with a chuckle, then, turning to Filmer, who had stepped over to hear +the joke, he added, "What do you think of my boat?" and pointed to a +slim, black, two-masted steam-yacht that lay anchored just off the +shore. + +It was common knowledge that the bishop had spent part of a winter +abroad collecting funds, and it was further admitted that it was +impossible for him to visit the multitude of islands that lay in his +charge without some independent means of transportation, but St. Marys +was not yet aware that the trick had been turned. + +"She means three months' work," went on the bishop thoughtfully, but +without a shade of self-satisfaction, "and the biggest subscription I +got was a hundred pounds. The smallest was from the owner of a large +steamship line. He gave me one of the Company's official prayer +books--and I never before felt about the prayer book just as I did +about that one. I was begging mostly in England, and traveled about +like a sort of mitered mendicant, addressing missionary meetings. It +was the elderly ladies who did it, bless 'em. Then I went down to +Cowes in the Isle of Wight and you see the result. There she is, solid +oak and teak, a compound engine, twelve miles an hour, and good, I +think, for any sea, no matter how tempestuous. I won't care now if +there is no railway connection in half my diocese." + +The others smiled and Filmer stroked his bushy, black whiskers. +"You're going to be a regular sybarite," he ventured. + +"No," chuckled the bishop, "an anchorite." And with that sent his mind +up stream to the rapids and the activity at the works. "I'm interested +to see how much has been done here in what is really so short a time, +only two years. It all seems to me so magnificent in its scope, and, +as for Mr. Clark, who is evidently the center of the thing, one cannot +but admire his incredible energy. I understand we have to thank our +mayor for a good deal of it. Don't you agree with me, Mr. Manson?" + +The chief constable, whose bulk had drawn up beside the others, shook +his head gloomily. His face and manner were, in spite of his +surroundings, still austere. + +"No, sir, I don't admire Mr. Clark." + +"But why?" + +"Because, as I see it, he is only squandering the money of people whom +he has hypnotized. He's got no balance, and the only thing he cares +about is to spend--spend--spend." + +Filmer smiled meaningly. The bishop glanced at him puzzled, then +turned to Manson. + +"Then you're not in any way impressed?" + +"Not in the least." + +"Well," came the deep, rich voice, "I must confess that I am, not only +by what he spends but also by the undeniable fact that he has filled my +church and your jail. Perhaps they go together," he added with a +contagious grin. + +Dibbott looked slightly shocked, but the bishop went on after an +eloquent glance at Filmer. + +"I found much that was admirable up there. It's true that we don't see +eye to eye in certain things that appear all important to me, but +perhaps also that was to be expected. Now will you excuse me a moment? +I see two friends out by the roadside who haven't on their party +clothes." + +His gaitered legs struck off across the lawn and Filmer's glance +followed the powerful figure as it halted at the fence beside two +Indians who waited irresolutely while their dark eyes explored the +animated scene. The bishop, seemingly forgetful of all else, entered +into an earnest conversation, during which a copper colored palm was +held out to him, and in the palm the group could see something small +and round that gleamed softly in the late afternoon sun. At that the +bishop shook his head gravely and the palm was withdrawn, when there +followed more talk in lowered tones, after which he vaulted the fence +and came slowly back, his lips compressed and a quizzical smile on his +big handsome face. He shot a look at the group but said nothing. + +"What is it, sir?" asked Dibbott. + +"Something that touches our conversation, curiously enough. Those two +Indians have just paddled up from the settlement to ask me to bless a +silver bullet, and they are parishioners of mine too." + +"Why?" put in Manson abruptly. + +"They say the bullet is to kill a wolf who is haunting the neighborhood +and is possessed by a spirit of a bad man who died there only recently. +He apparently has an insatiable appetite for Indian children, though no +damage has been done as yet. It must have been a Unitarian spirit +since he is evidently a one idea wolf," he pursued with a provocative +grimace at the stolid Manson who was of that persuasion. + +The others roared, but Manson, without a smile, held his ground. + +"Why a bullet that has been blessed?" + +"They assure me it is the only kind that can kill an animal inhabited +by a spirit." The bishop's hand stole up to his jaw, in a favorite +gesture. "Our conversation suggested the matter of Mr. Clark." + +Filmer and the rest racked their brains in vain, then pleaded for light. + +"Well," went on the deep voice, "these Indians profess the Christian +faith, yet they get into their bark canoes and paddle twelve miles +against the wind and up stream with a petition that I do something that +is dead against that faith, I mean the blessing of a bullet to arm it +with supernatural power. Our friend, Mr. Clark, on the other hand, +does not, so far as I know, profess any faith at all, though I should +undoubtedly be asked to bury him should such a thing be unfortunately +necessary, yet he does many things that I consider admirable without +asking any blessing or unction or special recognition of any kind. I +cannot see him, for instance, as a man who would use his friends for +his own advantage or their money for his personal profit. In fact," he +hesitated a little and then continued with that utter candor which +characterized his entire life--"what I hope for our church is that it +may so present its message and carry out its mission that it will +ultimately attract just the type of notable men as the one of which we +speak. And now, since this begins to border on a theological +discussion, let us have some strawberries and cream. They are my own +berries, and the cream, Mr. Filmer, is the product of that excellent +yearling you were kind enough to send me last summer." + +They moved into the study and were presently joined by Mrs. Dibbott and +Mrs. Worden. + +"We have seen the yacht," said the latter enthusiastically, "and she is +lovely, but how do you pronounce her name?" + +The Bishop's eyes twinkled--"Just now it's Z-e-n-o-b-i-a, but that's +the name of a heathen queen and I don't believe the Synod would stand +for it. Can you ladies suggest something more suitable? You know what +her work will be." + +Mrs. Dibbott thought hard, and Mrs. Worden's gray eyes grew soft. +Admirable women were these, staunch and loyal, the helpmates of men +through lonely years that had passed in St. Marys. But too often the +men did not realize this till the shadows lengthened. + +"She'll be a messenger, won't she?" said Mrs. Worden. + +"Of hope and comfort, if I can make her so," he answered gently. "I +can regularly reach places now that it was very hard to get at before." + +There fell a little silence, while, to the rest came the picture of +this wise man and true, cruising in storm and sunshine through the +myriad islands of his diocese, with his good cheer and his +understanding heart and his great tenderness for all living beings. + +"May I make you a flag?" said Mrs. Dibbott presently. + +"Splendid, I haven't one. You might put on my crest. It's an Irish +one with a complete menagerie of animals." + +"And some of the rest of us will provide the linen," added Mrs. Worden, +who was a famous housekeeper. + +"My dear ladies, your sex is really the backbone of ours and not the +missing rib," said the bishop who, when he was genuinely touched, often +relapsed into his native humor. "But what shall we call the boat? I +can't go on missionary voyages with an Indian pilot and a Scotch +engineer in a slim, black, piratical looking vessel that flies the name +of a heathen queen. Even my gaiters wouldn't save me from being +misunderstood." + +"Would the name 'Evangeline' do?" asked a gentle voice as Mrs. Manson, +who had been listening intently, moved a little closer. She breathed +the word very softly and her large expressive eyes shot an uncertain +glance at the broad back of her husband who stood just out of hearing. + +"Evangeline!" The bishop had a sudden thrill in his tones. +"Evangeline she shall be, and may I prove worthy of my vessel." + +A little later the three ladies went together and rather silently down +the plank walk that led from the See House to the main road. Their +eyes were on the tapering spars of the yacht that floated so gracefully +a few hundred yards away. + +"I wonder," said Mrs. Dibbott pensively, "if we really appreciate him." + +"Meaning the Bishop?" demanded Mrs. Worden. + +"Yes. He's a much bigger man than we realize, and he certainly gave up +a great deal to come here." + +"The most eloquent preacher in Canada, isn't he, but after all, could a +smaller man do his work?" + +"Perhaps, in a sort of way, but, of course, not half as well. I think, +too, that we have to remember he left the places where he met those of +his own kind, and he must miss that." + +"But he loves his work." + +"Only some of it," put in Mrs. Manson. "I heard him say so. He told +me he hated begging, and we all know he has to raise the money to run +the diocese as well as spend it." + +Mrs. Dibbott shook her head. "A bishop shouldn't have to beg, it's +lowering. Don't you think so?" + +"It would be to some," said the little woman thoughtfully, "but it +couldn't lower our bishop. As for being isolated, of course he is, but +so are the rest of us, and I shouldn't be surprised if it's the out of +the way places that need the best men, and--goodness! here's Mr. Clark." + +Three pairs of very keen eyes fixed on a neat, rather thickset figure +that came rapidly toward them. It was but seldom now that Clark was +seen in town, and this invested him with more suggestiveness than ever. +He stepped off the sidewalk with a somewhat formal salute as they +passed. Knowing that he would not pause, Mrs. Dibbott turned and +looked after him with a long satisfying stare. + +"Not a bit interested in us," she remarked acidly. + +"Nor in any woman, I hear," added Mrs. Worden. "There's no room for +them in his life. I mean in an emotional way." + +"How perfectly fascinating. I'd love to know him." + +The brisk steps behind them halted at the gate where the bishop was +saying good-by to his last guest. + +"I'm late, I'll not stay," said Clark apologetically. + +"That's all the better for a chat. You're looking well." + +"I have to be well, Bishop, for my work, and you?" + +"Perhaps it's the same in a rather less dramatic field." + +For a while the two walked with the mutual liking which able men +experience for each other when neither is animated by the desire for +personal gain. In truth, the attraction was understandable. The +bishop responded easily to his guest's magnetic presence, and perceived +in him the focal power that energized each one of his successive +undertakings, while to Clark came the strength and benignity of the +bishop's high and blameless spirit. They were doing each other good, +and each silently acknowledged it. + +"You are accomplishing great things up at the rapids, Mr. Clark," said +the bishop presently. "I was very much impressed by what I saw last +week." + +Clark nodded contentedly. "We're really only at the beginning of it, +and the country about here has been only scratched so far. We're on +the doorstep, so to speak." + +"Then developments should increase?" + +"In ten years St. Marys will be the center of great and widespread +activities. The district can and will yield a greater variety of +natural products than has been imagined." + +"You feel this?" + +"I know it." + +The conviction in his voice was so impressive that the bishop paused. +"Well, Mr. Clark," he said after a moment, "like others I must thank +you for having made a remarkable improvement in our physical comfort. +Even my friend Fisette down there,"--he pointed to the halfbreed's +cabin that lay between the See House and the river--"even my friend +Fisette has electric light in his house." + +"Ah! Is that where Fisette lives?" + +"You know him?" + +"He works for me." + +"Then he's like most of my friends in St. Marys. The pulp mills are +doing well?" + +"Their capacity will shortly be doubled." + +The bishop nodded and scanned the keen face with renewed interest. "I +have heard it stated that the measure of a country's industrial +progress depends largely on the degree to which it produces steel and +iron. Now I'm no student of economics, but the assertion seems +reasonable. Your countrymen across Lake Superior have, I know, +enormous deposits, and of course there's not a question as to their +industrial progress, but so far as I have ascertained there are none in +this region. I assume that you have considered the matter and I would +be interested to know your opinion." + +"I have reason to believe," answered Clark, staring fixedly at +Fisette's vine-grown cabin, "that large deposits do exist within a +reasonable distance of St. Marys. You will understand, of course, that +this is not an official statement, and I would be obliged if you would +not repeat it. I offer it," he added with a glance of calm sincerity, +"to reinforce my undertakings in your eyes. Your economic contention +is perfectly sound." + +"I'm very glad to hear it, and you need no justification and need have +no qualms. In fact," here the bishop spoke slowly while his brown eyes +looked straight into the keen, gray orbs of his visitor, "you came up +here and did what you have done because you had to. Isn't that it?" + +"Yes," said Clark simply, "I had to." + +"Believe me, I quite understand. Now I wonder if you will understand +when I say how happy I would be to see you sometimes at church. It +would help me, and you too, and, I think, others as well." + +"I understand perfectly," Clark replied gravely and in the most +friendly tones possible, "but my entire mind and intelligence are +intensely preoccupied. You will appreciate too that my imagination +plays no small part in my work. Every intellectual process and every +moment are demanded of me." + +"What I refer to is neither mental nor imaginative, it is spiritual," +said the bishop gently. + +"I am afraid that I am principally conscious of the works, for the +present at any rate." + +The bishop sighed inaudibly, then the visitor felt a hand on his arm. +"The wisest of all men once said that 'by their works ye shall know +them.' What better can I say to you?" + +They parted a moment later, and Clark moved slowly down the plank walk. +He was apparently deep in thought. Opposite Fisette's cabin he halted +as though to go in, but turned homeward. That night he stood long at +the blockhouse window, listening to the boom of the rapids and staring +at the mass of buildings of his own creation. They were alive with +light and throbbing with energy. Below the power house the white water +raced away from the turbines and down the tail race, like a living +thing, to lose itself in the placid bosom of the river. Still further +on rose the uneven outlines of still greater structures as yet +unfinished, and the earth seemed, in the cool air, to be baring her +ancient bones to his drills and dynamite. Still staring, he remembered +the bishop's words and a strange thrill crept through him. These were +his works, and how should he be known? + +That night, too, there stood at another window another man who could +just see the gleam of the rapids in the moonlight. Their softened +voice came to him in stillness, and far across the water glinted the +trembling reflection of electric light at the works. Slowly into his +brain the dull vibration wove itself like the low murmur of invisible +multitudes. Whatever might be his own effort or labor, this still +reached him so often as he listened, as though it were a confused and +unending appeal for help that would not be silenced. It was always +there, compelling and well nigh immortal, and the persistent echo had +long since entered into his heart where it stirred pitifully day and +night. The bishop dropped on his knees and prayed that he might be +made worthy for his work. + +There were two others to whom the voice of the rapids came clearly that +night as they sat on the edge of the judge's lawn. Belding was very +much in love. Months ago he perceived that Elsie was designed to be +some man's comrade, and for months he had been constantly aware of an +oval face and dark brown eyes. He saw them whenever he peered through +an instrument. But the only sign Elsie had given him was the +spontaneous kinship of youth with youth. + +At the garden party there was little opportunity for talk and he had +eagerly accepted the judge's suggestion to spend the evening with them. +Now Elsie was beside him at the water's edge. + +"I was up at the works again, with father, the other day. Aren't they +wonderful?" she said, after a long pause. + +"Perhaps--I don't often think of them that way, though." + +"What a difference in two years!" + +"I suppose so." Belding was tired and he didn't want to talk shop. + +"I met Mr. Clark again, and he was charming." + +"Was he?" + +She laughed. "I gathered from you at the garden party that he was a +woman hater." + +"Did I say that?" + +"Not exactly, but that he didn't care for women, he was too busy." + +"He never mentioned one to me, except his mother." + +"I can understand that," said Elsie very thoughtfully. + +Belding felt a little restless. "You seem very interested." + +"I am. I never met any one like him. He seems to be two men, or +several all rolled into one. You admire him, don't you?" + +"Yes, tremendously, but he scares me a bit sometimes." + +"Why?" + +"I have wretched moments in which it seems that he is riding for a +fall. Things are going so fast, too fast sometimes--and besides, I'm +tired." + +She glanced at him swiftly, but in the glance he caught nothing of what +he sought. + +"If you're tired," she said slowly, "what about Mr. Clark? He's +carrying the whole thing, isn't he, as well as creating it? Is that +his piano in the blockhouse?" + +The young man nodded. + +"What does he play?" + +"Nothing that I remember; he improvises. It rests him, I suppose." + +"Has he many friends?" + +"I don't know that he wants many." + +"Then he sits there alone in the evenings and plays to himself,--I +wonder if it really is to himself? Don't you believe that somewhere +there must be some one he is playing to, and that it's for some one +he's doing all that's going on?" Elsie spoke a little breathlessly and +her eyes were luminous. "How old is he?" + +"Perhaps between thirty-five and forty, I never asked--one doesn't ask +him that sort of thing. He never struck me as being of any particular +age." + +"But you're going to follow him always, aren't you, and help to see him +through? He's following something too." + +"What's that?" said Belding a little stiffly. + +"His star." The girl's voice was very soft. "Perhaps he'll never +reach it, but that doesn't matter, if he follows it." + +"Mr. Clark would differ with you there." + +"Would he, I don't know. Perhaps I understand him better than you do." + +Belding got up in swift discomfort. "It looks as if you did." + +Her lips curved into a smile. "Don't go yet. Doesn't it seem as +though all this were meant to be from the beginning, and isn't Mr. +Clark in the grip of something bigger than himself?" + +"It's pretty big if he is." + +"I know, but isn't he a prophet in the wilderness, the wilderness of +Algoma, and he hasn't much honor except what a few of us give him?" + +Belding looked at her strangely. This was a new Elsie, who seemed +wistful--yet not for him. Her eyes were cloudy with thought and he had +a curious sensation that he was at this moment far from her +imagination. She turned to him. + +"Take me out in your canoe, now." + +He felt suddenly and inexpressibly happy. "Come along." + +She leaned back against the cushions while Belding dipped a practiced +blade in the unruffled stream. The night was clear and the sky studded +with innumerable stars. + +"Where to?" he said contentedly. + +She waved a slim hand towards the rapids. "As near as you can, then +round into the big bay." + +He put his back into his work and the canoe shot forward, reaching +presently those long foam-flecked swells that mark the foot of the +turmoil. In ten minutes they were in the heel of the rapids and as far +as Belding dared go with so precious a burden. Elsie felt the cold +spray on her face and her eyes shone with delight. After a little she +pointed northward and the canoe edged into the big bay that stretched +below, the works. + +The bulk of the pulp mill loomed darkly into the quiet air, and further +up they could hear the rattle of machine drills hammering into the +great sandstone ledges. Passing the pigmy lock of the old Hudson Bay +Company, they floated a hundred yards from shore and immediately +opposite the blockhouse. Here Elsie lifted her hand, and Belding, with +a queer feeling of resentment, backed water. + +The upper part of the house was softly lighted and the windows were +open. Its gabled roof seemed diminutive compared to the structures +which were taking shape close by and, as they looked, there drifted out +the sound of a piano. Clark himself was invisible, but his finger tips +were talking to the glistening keys. Elsie listened breathlessly. +This was the man within the man who now sat plunged in profound +meditation. + +Presently the music ceased and Clark's figure appeared at the window. +He was staring at the rapids, and it seemed that as he stared he set up +some mysterious communication that linked his own force and +determination with their irresistible sweep. + +On the way back Elsie was very silent and it came upon Belding with +dull insistency that whatever attraction he had hoped to have for the +girl had been merged in the fact that, for the present at any rate, he +was nothing more than a means of satisfying her sudden and, to him, +fantastical interest in the man under whose dominant bidding the color +of so many lives was being modified and blended. + + + + +VIII.--IRON + +A year later a prospector was slowly pushing his way through the +wilderness some seventy miles northward of St. Marys. It was +springtime and the air was mild, but, while the ridges were already +bare, great banks of snow still lay in the deep folds of the hills +where the sun but touched them at noon hour. The endless lacework of +naked branches now began to be feathered with tender green, and +everywhere the bush was alive with the voices of wild things whose +blood was stirred to mating by the soft caresses of the southerly wind. +Thrusting through a patch of tangled undergrowth, the man reached +higher ground and, advancing to a hillock, stood with his hat off and +his brown face steaming with sweat. + +He was of middle age, with short, sturdy frame, a broad face of pale, +copper color, swarthy black brows and a small, stringy mustache. His +feet were enclosed in shoepacks, soggy with water, and he was otherwise +clad in the nondescript fashion of old bushmen. Around his shoulders +were strung a compass, binoculars and map case, and at his belt dangled +a small ax and a prospector's hammer pick. He was torn, scratched, and +in a general way disheveled, but the clear glance of the black eyes and +the easy grace of his pose proclaimed him fit for action. + +He stood for some time while his keen glance searched the country +ahead--a frozen sea in which congealed billows of rock thrust up their +tumbled heads in a gigantic confusion. Here and there were more +definite ridges that took a general trend, but for the most part it was +a chaos of rock and timber, slope and swamp, the refuse from the +construction of a more attractive country which had been assembled +elsewhere. + +Presently Fisette took out his compass, balanced it in the palm of his +sinewy hand and glanced at the needle. As he glanced, this filament of +soft iron began to tremble and swing. He stood fascinated. Slowly at +first, but gradually with more active and jerky motions, the thing +became possessed. It vibrated as though in doubt, then moved off in +continued restlessness. Not by any means could Fisette end these +vagaries. After a little, a slow light grew in his eyes, his strong +face broadened into a smile and, snapping back the compass lid, he +strode down hill. + +A quarter of an hour later he was chipping the edges of a ridge of +blackish-gray rock from which he had stripped great rolls of damp, +green moss. The rock lay exposed and glistening, its polished surface +scarred with the scratches of hard stones that once lay embedded in the +feet of prehistoric glaciers, but Fisette, screwing his bushy brows +over a tiny magnifying glass and peering at the sparkling fragments in +his palm and balancing their weight, cared nothing for glaciers. He +only knew he had found that which he had been seeking for more than a +year. + +There is no measuring device for joy, and no foot-rule one can lay on +emotion, but it is questionable if to the heart of any man comes +greater lightness than to that of the one who by stress and endurance +in the wilderness, upturns the treasure he has so arduously sought. +These moments are few and rapt and precious, and they glowed in the +slow brain of the half-breed Fisette as nothing else had ever glowed. +It was true that he stood to do well and earn independence out of this +discovery, but he was conscious at the instant of a reward greater than +ease and comfort and money to spend. He had backed himself, +single-handed, against the wilderness, and he had won. Again he +unrolled from a strip of caribou skin the fragment of ore Clark had +given him--the fragment he was to match--and laid it amongst the fresh +chippings at his feet. Only by size and shape could he distinguish it. + +Now it may be assumed that Fisette forthwith threw his tattered hat +into the air and gave way to noisy manifestations of joy. He did +nothing of the kind, for in his hairy breast were combined the +practical side of his French father and the noiseless secrecy of an +Indian mother. There was much to be done, and he went about it with +voiceless determination. First of all he blazed a jack pine whose +knotted roots grasped nakedly at the ridge, and marked it boldly with +his name and the number of his prospecting license and the date, which +latter, he remembered contentedly, was the birthday of his youngest +child. + +This accomplished, he disappeared in the bush and two hours later +reappeared bending forward under a pack strap whose broad center +strained against his swarthy forehead. And in the pack were a small +shed tent and his camping outfit. Making a tiny, smokeless fire of dry +wood, he cooked and ate, stopping now and again to listen intently. +But all he heard was the chuckle of a hidden spring and the insolent +familiarity of a blue jay, which, perched in a branch immediately +above, eyed the prospector's frying pan with a bright inquiring gaze. + +By noon of the second day Fisette had blazed the enclosing boundaries +of three claims, along the middle of which for three quarters of a mile +he had traced the ridge of ore, and when corner posts were in, he +shouldered his pack and, stepping quietly to the river where his canoe +was hidden three miles away, began his homeward journey. He paddled +easily, squatting in the middle like his ancestors, and feeling a new +pleasure in the steady pressure of his noiseless blade. He did not +experience any particular sense of triumph, but when, six hours +afterward, he saw the glint of Lake Superior around a bend in the river +he laughed softly to himself. + + + + +IX.--CONCERNING THE APPREHENSION OF CLARK'S DIRECTORS + +Move now to Philadelphia, long since linked with St. Marys by a private +wire, at either end of which sat the confidential operators of the +Company. The seed sown by Clark a few years ago had flourished +amazingly. Instead of the austerity of Wimperley's office there was +now the quiet magnificence of the Consolidated Company's financial +headquarters, tenanted by a small battalion of clerks and officials. +These were the metropolitan evidence of the remote activities in St. +Marys. + +To thousands of Pennsylvanians this office was a focal point of extreme +interest. From it emanated announcements of work by which they were +vitally affected, for Clark had come to Philadelphia at the +psychological moment and cast his influence on those who were +accredited leaders in the community. He had said that millions waited +investment and he was right, for once Wimperley, Stoughton and Riggs +had satisfied themselves as to the project and announced their support, +money began to come in, at first in a slow trickle, but soon in a +steadily increasing flood. + +It was recognized that time was required to bring to fruition the +various undertakings so rapidly conceived, and Clark's shareholders had +in them a certain stolid deliberation, aided, perhaps, by a strain of +Dutch ancestry. This kept money moving in a steady stream and in the +desired direction. From Philadelphia the attraction spread to outside +points. It was noticeable that, with the exception of Pennsylvania, +other States did not evidence any appreciable interest. The thing was +a Philadelphia enterprise, and to this city from neighboring villages +came a growing demand for stock. + +Four years before this, St. Marys was practically unknown in +Philadelphia, but now at thousands of breakfast tables the morning +papers were hurriedly turned over in search of the closing quotation of +Clark's various companies. These began to increase in number, and +there commenced that gigantic pyramid in which the various stories were +interdependent and dovetailed with all the art of the financial expert. +Daily, it might be said, the interest grew, until it seemed that the +potent voice of the rapids had leaped the intervening leagues and its +dull vibrations were booming in the ears of thousands. + +Moving in the procession was one whose training did not permit of +wholesale surrender to the cause. Wimperley was a railway man and had, +in consequence, a keen eye for results. His normal condition of mind +was one in which he balanced operating costs against traffic returns +and analyzed the results. And Wimperley was getting anxious. The +profits from the pulp mill, for there were profits, had gone straight +into other undertakings, and the god of construction who reigned at St. +Marys demanded still further offerings. This was why Wimperley had +persuaded Birch, one of the keenest and most cold blooded financial men +in the city, to come on the board. Birch, he reckoned, would be the +necessary balance-wheel, and it was safe betting that he would not +yield to the mesmeric influence of the man in St. Marys. Now Stoughton +and Riggs and Birch had met him in the Consolidated office, and through +a pale, gray haze of cigar smoke Wimperley spoke that which was in his +mind. + +"The thing is going too fast," he concluded. "My God! How much money +has that man spent?" + +Birch fingered a straggling gray beard. He was a tall man, lean and +silent, with a tight mouth, sallow cheeks and cold eyes. It was said +he had never been caught napping, and his was one of those fortunes +which are acquired in secrecy. He was neither companionable nor +magnetic but he was obviously shrewd and astute and created a sense of +confidence which, though chilling, was none the less reassuring. +Birch, like the rest, had met Clark, but now he put the vision of those +remarkable eyes out of his head. + +"Seven millions and a half up to last Saturday." + +Stoughton made a thick little noise in his throat. He knew it was +something over seven millions, but the figures sounded differently as +Birch gave them. Then Wimperley's voice came in. + +"Had a letter yesterday, Clark wants to build a railway." + +"Why?" squeaked Riggs. + +"To bring down pulp wood from new areas which are not on the river. He +wants to open up the country generally--says it is full of natural +resources." + +"Is there any dividend in sight?" demanded Stoughton bluntly. + +Followed a little silence and the long thin fingers of Birch began an +intermittent tap on the polished table. Presently Wimperley glanced up +and smiled dryly. He had not known that Birch understood the Morse +code. "Birch has told you," he said. + +Stoughton and the rest looked puzzled. + +"We can't pay a dividend if we let Clark build this railway." + +"Then why build it?" + +"Clark claims it is necessary to secure a dependable supply of spruce +for the pulp mills, and hard wood for the veneer works. He reckons it +will cost two million, and says the Government will help--but perhaps +they won't." He broke off, rather red in the face. + +"Do any of you fellows remember Marsham?" put in Birch quietly. + +Stoughton looked up. "Only too well, what about him?" + +"Well, you know he's been gunning for me for years since that Alabama +scrap in which he got knocked out. Now he's gunning for all of us." + +"Why?" demanded Wimperley. + +"Because I have the present privilege of being associated with you. I +had it privately from perfectly reliable sources. Marsham's looking +for a hole in the Consolidated, and if he finds one he's going to get +busy and you know what that means. So far we're all right because +we've got the Dutch farmer behind us and his money is coming in, in a +good steady trickle. It's our job to keep it trickling till we get out +of the woods into which our prophet has led us." + +Wimperley nodded gravely. "That sounds good to me. But I've got +something else in my mind." + +"Well," snapped Birch, "spit it out." + +"I've got to go back a bit to a day you'll all remember, except you, +Birch." + +"The day of hypnosis?" suggested Stoughton. + +"I guess it was, if you like to put it that way. We were satisfied +with what Clark told us and what we afterwards saw for ourselves, and +we found him three millions, then another and another and so on. Now, +as it stands and as it goes, I don't see any end to this thing. It's +like throwing money into the rapids at St. Marys--a fresh sweep of +water comes and carries it away. You see it glint for a moment and +there's apparently no bottom to the river. The trouble with Clark is +that he is not equipped with brakes. He can't stop. He's always the +roof on one station and, at the same time, contracting for another one +still further on. We've got to do the braking, that's all." He turned +to Riggs, "How about it?" + +"Well," said the little man out of the corner of his mouth. "It's our +funeral just as much as Clark's. Why didn't we apply the brakes long +ago?" + +"You know as well as I do." + +"I'm damned if I do." + +"It's just because we're better business men in Philadelphia than we +are when we get to St. Marys," grunted Stoughton reflectively. "We're +outside the charmed circle down here, but when we get up there," he +waved his hand, while the end of his cigar glowed like a miniature +volcano, "we get locoed, the whole bunch of us." + +"And yet," said Birch reflectively, "there's nothing the matter." + +Wimperley leaned forward. "Go on." + +"It's simple enough, we're not using Clark properly." + +"Isn't seven millions proper?" boomed Stoughton. + +"You don't get me," Birch spoke in a thin dry voice totally devoid of +any emphasis. "The proper use of a man like that is the purpose for +which nature designed him. He's an originator--but not an executive. +Dividends don't interest him half as much as the foundations of a new +mill." + +Wimperley shook his head. "That may be all right, but from my point of +view he has become dangerous. He surmounts our resolutions, the ones +we make when our pulse is normal. I have never seen him fail to carry +his point. Take the matter of this railway. I don't mind betting that +if we go up there to-morrow to kill that road we'll be committed to it +in twenty-four hours." + +"I'll take that for a thousand." There was a spot of faint color in +Birch's hollow cheeks. + +Wimperley laughed. "I'm on. What about lunch and finish this +afterwards?" + +But Stoughton sat tight. "You'll go too far. Suppose that Clark gets +on his ear and tells us to run the thing in our own way, and that he'll +get out. As I see it, he holds the works together and represents the +works in the mind of every one who knows him." + +"Well, what if he does drop out? There's no living man who can't be +replaced." + +"Except one called Robert Fisher Clark. As a first consequence our +stocks drop on the Philadelphia exchange like a wet sponge. You can +imagine the rest---you all know enough about the market, and, by the +way, does any one happen to remember the various things we have +publicly said about that same individual?" + +This was food for thought. Wimperley, dismissing the idea of lunch, +sat down. The group became universally reflective, and for a little +while no one spoke. Stoughton threw away his cigar, rested his chin on +his hand and stared at the model of the pulp mill on Wimperley's desk. +Wimperley's eyes wandered to the big map and again he saw Clark's +finger sliding over its glazed surface. Riggs twisted his handkerchief +with a puzzled look in his bright eyes, and Birch leaned back, +stretching his long legs, while his tremulous lids began to flicker and +his lips moved inaudibly. To each man there seemed to come the rumble +of the mills, the wet grind of the huge stones against the snowy +billets of spruce, and behind it all the deep tones of the rapids. +Presently the voicelessness of Birch found speech. + +"As I said there's nothing to worry about--yet. Two of us might go up +next week. I'll be one, if you like--and put the brakes on--but not so +that he'll feel them. If we only get out of the coach and take the +driver's seat the thing will be all right. Trouble is we've sat too +long inside and wondered where we were. Wimperley is right. And don't +forget that Clark has something at stake too." + +It was all so even and sane that it acted like oil on troubled waters. +Stoughton jumped up, remarking that now he could eat, while Riggs, +remembering that six per cent. on seven millions of issued bonds was +four hundred and twenty thousand, stared at Birch and marveled how he +could have managed to put it away in the face of such expenditure. +Just as he was reaching for his hat, the door opened and a telegram was +brought in. Wimperley took it carelessly. He was too full of relief +to be interested in anything else and experienced a gratified glow in +that he had spoken what was in his mind and been upheld. Then, +glancing at the telegram, his face changed and he felt his temples +redden. The message was from Clark, who now asked that serious +consideration be given to the building of blast furnaces at St. Marys. +He stood for a moment while the others glanced at him curiously. + +"What about that?" he jerked out, and gave the yellow sheet to Birch. + +Birch read it aloud slowly, and, after an impressive pause read it +again and still more slowly, the pink spots on his cheeks becoming +brighter, his hard dry tones still more cold and mechanical. When he +looked up Stoughton had turned his back and, with shoulders up, was +staring out of the window. Riggs was red and flustered. After a +moment the little man found breath. + +"He's crazy, that's all." + +"Well, Wimperley?" Birch had not moved. + +"This is the last straw. It's a case of our getting rid of him before +he gets rid of us, or the shareholders do." + +Birch turned to the window. "Well, what about it?" + +Stoughton hunched his shoulders still higher. "Fire him," he said +stolidly, then puffed his cheeks and breathed on the widow pane. In +the fog he wrote "Fire him" with his forefinger, taking particular care +to make it legible with neatly formed letters. The next moment both +fog and words evaporated. It flashed into Stoughton's mind that they +had not lasted long. He swung round, "It's the only thing to do, but I +don't want the job. You can have it, Birch." + +The lean face changed not a whit. "I take my end of it. If I don't, +Marsham will." + +"Look here, this isn't a one man job." Wimperley's voice had barely +regained its steadiness. "This message settles, as I take it, our +views of Clark. God knows we don't question anything but his +suitability for his position at the present stage of affairs. He's got +to be told the inevitable and we've all got to go up. There's no other +way out of it. We'll give him one or two of the smaller companies to +run and the public needn't know anything about it. I remember the +point you made, Stoughton. It's a good one and we've got to look out +for it." + +But Stoughton did not move. "I'll be damned," he said softly, still +staring at the roof lines of Philadelphia. "Blast furnaces!" + +"You will, if you don't come up with us," replied Birch acidly. + +"I suppose I will. When do we go?" + +"Will a week from to-day suit?" + +They all made it suit. After a contemplative moment Riggs asked: + +"Will you let him know, Wimperley, and just what do you propose to say? +You'll remember there have been other times when we contemplated +putting the brakes on, but we all got galvanized and the thing didn't +work." + +"I'd merely say that we four are coming up--that's all." + +Stoughton grinned a formidable grin in which there was a show of teeth +and an outthrust jaw. + +"That's enough, he'll know." + +They went off together, but rather silently, to lunch. On the way to +the street Stoughton asserted several times aloud, and with complete +conviction, that he would be damned, while the rest began to experience +a carefully concealed regret for the victim of their mission. At the +club they sat aimlessly and played with their food, conscious that they +were observed and known by all as the insiders in one of Philadelphia's +largest investments. Then, too, they learned that that morning the +stock of the Consolidated companies had leaped forward in one of those +unexpected boosts for which it was noted. Wimperley and the rest of +them had never gambled in it, but time and time again it moved as +though animated by the spread of secret and definite information. Just +as they were about to rise Birch leaned forward and began to arrange +pepper pots and salt cellars in a semi-symmetrical design. + +"This," he said, "is all right and that, and that. These are out of +the question. You get me?" + +The others nodded. + +"No blast furnaces," he went on almost inaudibly. "No railway--no +further capital expenditure--and then we reach the melon of dividend," +here he touched his untasted cantaloupe. + +Now, just at this moment, Wimperley nodded energetically and laughed +outright, whereupon a man whose name was Marsham, who sat at an +adjoining table, turned--for Wimperley did not often laugh--and saw +Birch's long finger resting on the melon, and, since Marsham was, +without the knowledge of the others, one of the largest operators, in +Consolidated stock, that stock took a further jump just half an hour +later, and all through Pennsylvania there were farmers, mechanics, +country doctors and storekeepers who read the news and rejoiced +exceedingly thereat. + +The others went their way, and Wimperley walked back to his office +immersed in profound contemplation. Feelings of personal injury were +mixed with those of apprehension. How would the affair proceed after +Clark had taken with him his unrivaled and intimate knowledge of the +works; for, and in spite of all the dictates of prudence, it seemed +impossible to think of the vast enterprise at St. Marys without its +central pivot. + + + + +X.--CUPIDITY VS. LOYALTY + +And all this time the chief constable of St. Marys was speculating in +property with steadily increasing success. So crafty was he that few +people in the town knew it. When the fourth year of Clark's régime was +completed, Manson had made profits that astonished him. His purchases +covered both farm and town lands, and amongst the latter was a mortgage +on the vine clad cottage of Fisette. But not a man in his circle would +have guessed that what prompted the acquisition of the Fisette mortgage +was Manson's remembrance of a friendly joke about a Unitarian wolf; a +joke which still lived and set up a minute but unceasing irritation. +Now, at any time, Manson might be in a position to teach the bishop a +lesson. + +It fell on a day that he was at the head of the old portage leading +round the rapids. Here he had recently acquired an option on a +considerable acreage, calculating that before long a new town would +spring up in the shadow of the works, and, just as he pushed through +the underbrush and came out on the gravel beach, he caught the flash of +a paddle a mile away. He was hot and breathless and, lighting his big +pipe, sat in the shade, his ruminative eye on the fast approaching +canoe. Twenty minutes later it touched the shore, and Fisette, leaning +forward on the thwarts, surveyed him with black and lustrous eyes. + +Manson nodded. He did not speak at once. It was palpable that Fisette +had been prospecting, and always in the north country the returning +prospector brings with him a peculiar fascination. He is the herald of +the hitherto unknown. It was also understood that Fisette was working +for Clark. + +The half breed brought the side of his canoe delicately against the +sand and, stepping lightly out, began to unload, greeting Manson with a +low-voiced "Good morning." Ax, paddles, dunnage bag, shed tent, these +he laid neatly and, last of all, a small sack of samples, the weight of +which, however he disguised it, swelled the veins in his temples. He +was stooping to swing this on his shoulders when Manson spoke. + +"Sit down a minute and have a smoke." + +Fisette did not want to sit down. There was that in the sack and in +his brain which he greatly desired to evacuate in the proper place and +at the earliest possible moment. But a little reflection demonstrated +that undue haste would be suspicious. Inwardly disturbed at the sight +and manner of Manson, he laid the sack gently down. There came the +slightest creak of metallic fragments. + +"Had a good trip?" hazarded the big man carelessly. + +"Pretty fair." + +"Pretty rough country up there?" Manson waved his arm northwest. + +Fisette grunted. "About the same over there." + +He glanced into the northeast. + +"Been rooting about for over a year now, haven't you?" + +The halfbreed grinned. "Since I was so high." He indicated a stature +of two feet. + +"Come far this time?" + +There was a little pause while Fisette sheared thin shavings of tobacco +from a dog-eared plug. He rolled them into a ball between his tawny +palms, thoughtfully unpicked the ball, re-rolled it more loosely, +abstracted a match from the inside band of his tattered hat and began +to suck wetly at a gurgling pipe. "What's that?" he said presently. + +"I asked you did you come far?" + +"Guess not so far as it seemed. Pretty bad bush." + +Manson hesitated, then, in a flash, saw through the breed's assumption +of indifference. Clark had been looking for iron for more than a year. +All St. Marys knew that. Now, glancing covertly at the angular +projectings of the bulging sack, the constable jumped to his +conclusion. Fisette had found it and was on his way to report and +prove the discovery. + +"I often wonder," he remarked casually, "what keeps you fellows going. +I never met a prospector yet who gave in that he was licked, and mighty +few of them found anything. They always claim they would have had it +if they could have stayed out a bit longer. Take iron, for instance. +Fellows have gone out after iron for years right from here and they all +thought they had it, but they didn't. There was Joe Lalonde and Pete +Nanoosh and the rest of them. Same story over again. There's no iron +here anyway. The country rock is wrong--a mining engineer told me +that." + +Fisette did not move nor did his expression change. His insides seemed +on fire. He would have given much to be on his way to Clark's office, +but something in his Indian blood whispered warningly. Moments passed. +Presently he got up a little stiffly. + +"I guess I'll go now." + +Manson yawned. "All right, I'm going that way myself." + +Sudden irresolution appeared on the brown face. "Oh, well, I guess +there's no hurry." He sat down and took out his last match. + +The big man chuckled. "Look here, Fisette, I suppose you know I've +been buying property around town?" + +"So?" + +"Yes, and the other day I bought a thousand-dollar mortgage. It's the +one on your land. I guess you remember it?" + +A sense of uncertainty fell over the half-breed. He knew that he owed +a thousand dollars and had owed it for years. Every six months he paid +thirty dollars to a lawyer and forgot all about it for the next six. +To his mind the document with the seals, beside one of which he had +traced a painful signature, was a forbidding thing, typical of the +authority of pale faces over brown. Then, quite suddenly, he +remembered that next year he would have to pay off the whole thousand, +and, moreover, pay it to Manson. + +"Is that so? I guess you're quite a rich man?" + +Manson smiled grimly. "No, not a rich man, but--" he paused, felt very +deliberately in his coat and, taking out a fat pocketbook, slowly +extracted a bill. It was for one hundred dollars. "I'll bet you this +that there is no iron within seventy-five miles of St. Marys." He +smoothed the bill on his broad knee. + +The half breed gulped. Only once before had he seen so much money in +one note, and that was after he had signed the mortgage. Clark gave +him fifty dollars a month and his grub, and had promised more if he +succeeded. He had found iron ore. It was good enough to win the bet, +but was it good enough for Clark? and if it was not good enough for +Clark the mortgage would have to be met out of nothing. + +"Well?" came Manson's deep voice. + +Fine beads of sweat appeared on the dusky forehead. A sinewy hand +crept toward the sack, but just as he touched it there arose within him +something very old and vibrant and compelling. Slowly he yielded to +it. He saw Clark's gray eyes and heard his magnetic voice. He +distinguished his own voice given in promise, Clark had always +encouraged him, no matter how often he returned empty handed, and now, +looking broodingly at Manson, the half breed perceived the type that +for centuries had defrauded his ancestors with poor bargains and +glittering worthlessness. All that was good in Fisette, all the savage +honor of that vanishing race whose blood flowed in his veins, all the +unquestioning fidelity of his half naked forebears, rose in violent +protest. He might be sold out, but not by any means would he sell out. + +"Go to hell," he Said thickly. + +Manson laughed awkwardly, slid the bill back into the fat pocketbook, +and heaved up his great bulk. + +"Come on, I haven't got a hundred dollars to throw away. I suppose you +thought I was in earnest." + +Fisette shook his head. Just at that moment he was harboring no +suppositions, but had determined to go home without stopping at the +works. He swung the sack over his shoulder. + +"Go ahead." + +Manson drew a long breath and stepped into the narrow trail. Behind +him came the half breed, the neck of the sack drawn tight and its sharp +contents drilling into his back. He was carrying two hundred pounds of +freshly broken ore. He said nothing, but kept his black eyes fixed on +the figure just in front of him. A little further on he stumbled over +a root, recovered himself with a violent effort, and at that moment +heard with dismay a ripping sound close behind his ear. In the next +instant the load spilled on the soft earth. + +Manson, twenty feet away, turned at the sound and stood staring until, +his face lighting with a triumphant smile, he stepped back. He had +recognized ore, and it looked like iron ore. Forgetting about Fisette, +he moved nearer, his large dark eyes shining with excitement, and just +then came a blinding slap. Fisette had swung the empty sack hard +against his face. + +"You don't come here. Stand still." The half-breed was crouching +beside the ore like a bear on its hind legs. + +"Won't I?" The constable smarted with pain and charged with sudden +passion. He came on, leaning a little forward, his great knotted hands +twitching, his shoulders curved in a slow segment of power. When he +was within six feet, Fisette screamed like a cat and darted at his +throat. + +They fought silently with bare hands. Manson, heavier than the breed +by fifty pounds, was reputed one of the strongest men in the district, +but he was matched with an adversary who had drawn into himself the +endurance of the wilderness and the quick resiliency of the young +spruce tree. Were it only a contest of sheer force, Manson had won +outright. Now, as his veins swelled and his arms stiffened around +Fisette's pliant body, the latter seemed to convert itself into a mass +of steel springs that somehow evaded compression. With feet sinking in +the soft soil, crashing through the under-growth with no words but only +the heart breaking gasp of supreme effort, they fought on. Once Manson +thought he had conquered as his hands, closing behind the breed's back, +locked in a deadly grip, with great muscles contracted, but just as it +seemed the breed's ribs must crack there came an eel-like wriggle. The +constable's arms were empty and again he felt the lean brown fingers at +his bull-like neck. Once more he strove for that crushing clasp and, +as Fisette darted in, opened his arms wide, took the punishment of a +savage blow in the face, and closing his embrace, enwrapped his enemy +in a suffocating hug. It was to the death, for a brown thumb was +digging into his thorax and he felt sick and giddy. + +Seconds passed. The violent expansion of Fisette's chest worked +palpitating beneath the great arms, and, just ere endurance reached its +limit and the trees began to swim before Manson's eyes, his little +finger touched the haft of the sheath knife that hung at Fisette's +back. The touch ran through Fisette's laboring frame like fire, for he +had reached the point where the world seemed dipped in blood. Slowly +Manson pushed down his hand, never relaxing his titanic embrace. But +the instant his fingers closed on the knife the half breed's back +curved like a mighty bow, the thick fingers creaked, cracked and +yielded, the deadly grip was burst asunder, and Manson, sick and +staggering, saw Fisette free and crouching in front of him, the knife +in his hand and murder in his eyes. A moment later he looked up. +Fisette was sitting on his chest, and running his thumb along the razor +edge of the blade. There was a little blood at the corner of his mouth +and his cheek was scratched. Otherwise he was undisturbed. + +"Well?" he grunted presently, staring through half-closed lids. + +Manson was pumping air into a laboring breast. + +"I'm licked," he panted after a while. + +"Say that again." The breed's eyes opened wider. + +Manson said it while his soul revolted within him, but he would get +Fisette later on. Then there gleamed in the breed's dark eyes a +flicker of Indian fury, and Manson breathed an inarticulate prayer as +the knife approached his throat, until as though from a great distance +he heard a voice. + +"You not going to tell any one I find iron. You swear that or I kill +you here." + +The constable's brain began to rock giddily. Fisette in his present +condition would not hesitate to kill. He knew that. "I swear it," he +panted unsteadily, "on my honor." + +Fisette bared his white teeth. "Your honor no good. You swear by God +and the Mother of God." + +Manson repeated it, his breath coming more steadily. He had been near +death, but as he stared at his conqueror he felt a contemptuous pity +for him. Fisette had moved away and was fumbling in his pockets. +Presently he looked up. "You got a match?" + +Manson searched, while his relaxing muscles trembled like quicksilver. +He found a match and held it out. + +"Now go to hell!" said the half-breed calmly, and recommenced the +ritual of smoke. + + + + +XI.--CLARK EXPERIENCES A NEW SENSATION, ALSO HIS DIRECTORS + +The Japanese cook pottered softly about in the square stone basement of +the blockhouse, while, up above, his master sat at a table with his +eyes fixed on a small mountain of blackish-gray rock. He had given +orders to admit none. Fingering the pointed fragments he experienced +more emotion than ever before in his kaleidoscopic life. He sat in +profound contemplation of that which prehistoric and elemental fires +had laid down for his use. There was in his mind no question of +strangeness that it should be himself who had decided that the thing +was there and must be unearthed. It was the turning of another page in +the book of his own history, the beginning of that chapter which would +be the most fascinating of all. + +Methodically he searched his retentive brain for data about iron ore. +It existed in Pennsylvania and Alabama and New York, and, nearer still, +there was the great field of Northern Michigan. But in Canada there +were only the distant mines of Nova Scotia. He unrolled a great +geological map and pored over it, finding here, as always, the greatest +fascination. Within two miles of St. Marys there was an inexhaustible +supply of limestone. He stared at the map with a queer but quite +inflexible consciousness that this moment was the one he had awaited +for years and his faith had not betrayed him. He got up with sudden +restlessness and stood at the window. The rapids sounded clearly, but +his mind was not on them. Looking to the west he saw the sky stabbed +with the red streaks of flame from converters that were yet to be, and +ranks of black steel stacks and the rounded shoulders of great furnaces +silhouetted against the horizon. He heard the rumble of a mill that +rolled out steel rails and, over it all, perceived a canopy of smoke +that drifted far out on the clear, cold waters of the lake. He +remembered with a smile that his directors would shortly arrive, and +worked out for their visit a program totally unlike that they had +mapped out for themselves. Last of all he went to the piano and played +to himself. At any rate, he reflected, he would be known as the man +who created the iron and steel industry in the district of Algoma. And +that was satisfying to Clark. + +Still feeling strangely restless, he moved again to the window, and +just then Elsie and Belding walked slowly past the blockhouse toward +the tiny Hudson Bay lock. Involuntarily he tapped on the pane. They +both looked up and he beckoned. When they mounted to the living room, +he met them with a smile. + +Elsie glanced about with intense interest. She had been there once +before, but with a group of visitors. This occasion seemed more +intimate. She surveyed Clark a little breathlessly and with an +overwhelming sensation that here was the nerve center of this whole +gigantic enterprise. Belding felt a shade awkward as he caught the +glance of the gray eyes. + +"Sit down and have some coffee." Clark clapped his hands softly and +the Japanese cook emerged from below. Presently their host began to +talk with a certain comfortable ease that gave the girl a new glimpse +of what the man might really be. + +"The directors are coming up this week--that means more work for you, +Belding." + +The engineer nodded. Then the other man went on with the fluent +confidence of one who knows the world. Persia, India, Russia,--he had +been everywhere. + +"But what brought you here, Mr. Clark?" put in the girl presently. Her +eyes were very bright. + +He turned to her: "What would you say?" + +"Was it destiny?" she answered slowly. + +"Yes," he replied with sudden gravity and a strange look at her bright +eyes, "I think it was destiny." + +Her heart beat more rapidly, and from Clark her glance moved to Belding +who sat a little awkwardly. There was not more than fifteen years +between them but Clark's face had that peculiarly ageless appearance +which characterizes some men and lends them additional interest. + +"And now you'll stay?" added Elsie. + +"Don't you think there's enough to keep me?" + +Belding roused himself with a chuckle but Clark went on thoughtfully. + +"Do you see much change in St. Marys in the last few years?" + +"Before you came," she said slowly, "it was just--just Arcadia." + +"Are you sorry to say good-by to Arcadia?" + +She shook her head, smiling. "Not a bit; I am glad it's over, but I +remember father often talking about the old days long before any of us +were here. First there were just the Indians, and then the Jesuit +priests. They used to paddle up the Ottawa River to Lake Nipissing and +then down the French River to the Georgian Bay, and so up Lake Huron +round the rapids and on into Lake Superior. After them came the +traders and then the Hudson Bay Company, but," she concluded a little +apologetically, "you know all about that." + +"Yes, I know, and now what do the people of St. Marys think about the +works? Eh, Belding, what do you say?" + +"They don't think very much, sir--they've got into the way of taking +them for granted." + +Clark laughed. "I think I know that too. But you don't take me for +granted?" Here he glanced provocatively at Elsie. + +The girl recovered herself with difficulty. She was only twenty-one, +but beside this wizard it struck her that Belding looked immature. +Clark had seized on her imagination. He was the dreamer and the +prophet and as well a great builder under whose hands marvelous things +took shape. Now she was filled with a sudden and delightful confusion, +and Belding, watching her, remembered the night they had floated +opposite the blockhouse while Clark's music drifted across the +unruffled water. He felt good for his own job, but very helpless +against the mesmeric fascination that the older man might exert if he +would. And behind all this moved his intense loyalty and great +admiration for his chief. + +"Then St. Marys has produced all you hoped for, Mr. Clark?" said Elsie. + +"I not only hoped but believed and worked." The answer was vibrant and +steady. "Hope doesn't do very much nowadays without belief and work." +He glanced at the piano. "Won't you play something?" + +She blushed and shook her head. "No, please do yourself." + +"I don't play in public and I never had a lesson in my life." + +"But this isn't public," she countered; "I think it's--well--rather +private." + +He laughed, went to the piano and his fingers began to explore the +keys. The others sat motionless. Elsie's eyes were fixed, not on +Clark but on Belding, and in them was an unanswered question. The +music was not anything she knew but the chords were compelling and she +perceived in them that which this strange personality could not or did +not put into words--his hopes, his courage, his inflexible will and the +deep note of his power. Suddenly she recognized in him a lonely man. +Her heart went out and her eyes filled with tears. Presently he looked +over his shoulder. + +"The gods are good to me to-day." + +"Yes?" Her voice was very uncertain. + +"I've found something for which I've been looking for years past." + +Belding's brows furrowed. There was that in Clark's manner which +baffled him. Elsie seemed more than ever dainty and desirable in this +unusual setting. Had Clark seen this too? + +"I'm so glad." The girl's eyes were very soft. + +The two went home rather silently. Elsie seemed to be in a dream, and +Belding had no words for that which now worked poisonously in his +brain, but just so often as he yielded to the sharp pang of jealousy +just so often did his faith in his chief rise in protest. + +The engineer had seen Clark in many moods and under many circumstances. +There were times when only the driving force of the man had pulled +things through, and he was transformed into an agency that worked its +invincible will. There was another thing. So far as Belding knew, +Clark had no links, sentimental or otherwise, with the rest of the +world. No whisper had come from outside regarding his past, and it was +only when he himself talked that any light was thrown upon his former +years. He seemed, in consequence, to be enviably free and ready for +anything. Unfettered by tradition or association, he was a pendulum, +balanced to swing potently in either direction. And what darkened +Belding's horizon was the thought that Clark, at any moment, might +swing toward Elsie Worden. + +Two miles away, Fisette was at home with his children. He was tired +but in no way worn out, and in his pocket was one single piece of ore +kept as a souvenir. Clark's check lay safely deposited in the bank and +the halfbreed's teeth gleamed when he thought of the mortgage. It was +only a thousand dollars. Therese, four years and three days old, was +on his knee. They were all very happy, though only Fisette knew +exactly why. With eyes half closed, he contentedly examined the cracks +in the big iron box stove and, since the night was cool, stuffed in +more wood. It was in the back of his head that he had done what so +many men had failed to do, and soon, when Monsieur Clark gave the word, +he would be known as the man who had found iron in Algoma. + +At the big jail, halfway between Fisette and Clark, Manson sat at his +desk in his little square office. He was very sore and very stiff, and +however savage he might feel about his defeat he could not but admire +the fierce loyalty of the halfbreed. It was what he would have liked +one of his own men to do. Now, however he might ache, he had a glow in +every strained joint. There was iron in Algoma and not far from St. +Marys. + +Deliberately he shut away all outside thoughts and put himself to this, +perceiving what iron would mean to Clark, this new factor that might +upset every pessimistic opinion which he himself had voiced. He sat +biting at his big black mustache, till suddenly his imagination leaped +clear of St. Marys and took flight to Philadelphia. What would the +discovery of iron mean there? Instantly he saw a swift rise in +Consolidated stock and neither Manson nor any man in St. Marys owned a +share of that stock. + +In two days he was on the train for Toronto, and, in three, was the +owner, on margin, of two hundred thousand dollars' worth of +Consolidated shares. The broker through whom he dealt looked curiously +at this new customer, the only man from St. Marys who had evidenced any +financial interest in Clark's enterprise, and, concluding that there +was more in the transaction than met the eye, bought forthwith for +himself. Then the two shook hands very cheerfully, the broker +promising to watch Consolidated like a hawk, while Manson bulged with +satisfaction. He would be known as the only man in St. Marys who had +made a fortune out of Clark's undertakings and that was satisfying to +Manson. + +On the journey back he sat for hours staring out of the windows. He +had shaken free from the drowsiness of a former existence. His eyes +were open to the ease with which fortunes are made by those who do not +hesitate but seize the opportunity. He thought rather compassionately +of Worden, Dibbott and the rest, good natured but thick headed. What a +surprise it would be for them. But not once did Manson imagine that he +was trading peace for anxiety, and the even tenor of his former ways +for the hectic restlessness of the speculator. + +As he boarded the train he noticed that Clark's private car was at the +end, and inside saw Riggs, Wimperley and the rest. They were talking +very earnestly, oblivious to anything that went on outside. Manson, +watching them from under the brim of his hat, felt a surge of +satisfaction. He guessed the momentous news which brought them, and, +late that night, as the train plunged through the wilderness, lay awake +in his berth thinking of many things, while the occupants of the +private car talked till they were weary and leaden-eyed of that which +they must do at St. Marys. They were caught up, all of them, in +something greater than they. Forces had been set in motion by the +amazing brain of Clark which they might modulate, but could not, in any +way, entirely control. The moving finger was writing, and they could, +like him, only follow its mysterious command. + +The private car swung along over the clicking rail joints and the +directors glanced without interest at the country they traversed. The +latter part of their journey was through a wilderness, wild and +unpromising. At Sudbury they saw evidence of what science and energy +could do in what was not long ago unbroken forest, and what wealth lay +beneath the tangled roots of spruce and tamarac, but the scene did not +impress them. It was a single undertaking with a single object and +vitally different from their own ramified efforts, and the desolation +of the country in which it flourished only accentuated their own +misgivings. They were tired before the train drew in to St. Marys and +decided to discuss nothing that evening. At the works station Clark +met them. He was cheerful and debonair. + +"Hullo, Wimperley, glad to see you. Had a good trip? You and +Stoughton are coming to the blockhouse with me. The others are at the +hotel. Sorry I can't put you all up." + +Birch put down his bag and held out a clammy hand. "What about it?" +He shot a quick glance at Wimperley. + +The president of the Consolidated shook his head. "No, no, we're not +going to put you out, and besides I can't trust these fellows alone. +We'll all go to the hotel. See you first thing in the morning. Matter +of fact, Birch talked business all the time and we're dog tired." + +Clark's lips pressed a shade tighter, then his eyes twinkled. Riggs, +observing him closely, wondered whether he had interpreted the +expression which all four were stolidly endeavoring to mask. But so +cheerful was he and so apparently unconcerned with anything but their +comfort, that Riggs decided a difficult moment had been safely passed. +Later at the hotel he asked the others. + +"Knew," said Birch acidly, "of course he knew. The very fact that we +hung together told him the whole thing. However, it might just as well +begin that way." + +Wimperley laughed, a foolish little laugh that drew the older man's +puzzled glance. "There's something ridiculous about all this," he +tittered suddenly. "We're like a flock of sheep afraid of a dog. We +need a ram. You'd better be the ram, Stoughton, you're the bulkiest." + +Stoughton grinned, but there was no humor in it. "It's going to take a +composite ram. We've got to put down our heads and bunt together. +Riggs, you can snap at his heels and distract him. Good night." + +They met at the works after breakfast, and Clark, in a flood of +confidence, announced the program. + +"I want this to be a real visit," he said cheerfully; "it's some time +since you were all here together and there's a good deal to see. When +you get tired let me know. I've not forgotten the time I nearly froze +Riggs to death." + +As he turned to lead the way, Wimperley sent a swift signal to his +companions, Clark was to have his head for the time being. Birch +nodded approvingly. This was one method of finding out a good deal he +wanted to know. + +"Water lots," said Clark, waving a hand toward the bay that cut in +below the rapids. On one side of it spread the works and on the other +the town of St. Marys. "Channel dredged through, and docks, you see, +are commenced." + +"Why docks?" asked Stoughton patiently. + +"We'll be shipping our own products in our own vessels before very +long, I hope," came back the clear voice. "Save a lot that way,--I'll +show you the figures. That's one thing I want to talk about later. +Come on into the mill. Extensions are about completed." + +They went through the great building whose floor seemed to palpitate +delicately with hidden forces, and began to feel the slow fascination. +They saw dripping logs snatched from the water by mechanical fingers +that cut them to length and stripped the brown bark till the soft white +wood lay round, naked and shining. They saw the wood ground implacably +by giant stones and emerge from a milky bath in a thick wet sheet that +slid on a hot drum and coiled itself in massive rolls. Power, +controlled and manipulated, was the universal servant. The whole thing +was punctuated by keen remarks from Clark, who shot out answers to +every imaginable question with extraordinary facility. They walked up +the swiftly flowing head race while the general manager pointed out its +proposed expansion, and explained the pressing need for diverting more +water from the rapids. As they progressed it seemed there was always +more to discover. They inspected great rafts of logs, fresh from the +waters of Lake Superior, then came to timber mills and machine shops. +And with all Clark was supremely familiar. In the middle of it Riggs +volunteered that he was tired, so they trailed back to the private +office in the administration building, where Clark unrolled maps and +pointed out colored areas of pulp wood which were tributary to the +mills, and had been compiled from the reports of his explorers. + +Suddenly Birch put out a long forefinger. "What's that?" + +"That," said Clark cheerfully, "is a railway." + +Birch looked puzzled. "I didn't know a road ran north from here." + +"It doesn't--yet--but it's something we'll have to consider very soon +to bring in pulp wood." + +"Oh!" Wimperley's voice was a trifle indignant. + +"It's another matter to discuss when you feel like it," went on Clark +imperturbably. "The road won't cost us anything." + +"Won't it? Then it will be the first thing we have touched of its +kind." Wimperley tried to speak lightly. + +"The Federal Government bonus will pay for one-third, the provincial +bonus for another, which leaves us about seven hundred thousand to take +care of. There should be no difficulty in getting that out of the sale +of lands we will develop. However," he added evenly, "we needn't worry +about it just now. And, by the way, I had an inquiry yesterday for +forty thousand horse power. Of course we haven't got it to spare, at +least not at the moment. Now will you excuse me for just a moment?" + +He stepped into the general office and shut the door softly behind him. +Wimperley glanced inquiringly at Stoughton. + +"You haven't done much ramming this morning!" + +"No, I'm not just in the mood. How about you?" Stoughton turned to +Birch. + +The latter did not reply. His cold eyes were taking in the severe +fittings of the private office, whose walls were covered with maps and +blue prints. The truth was that the spell of Clark's extraordinary +intelligence was beginning to fall over them once more. It was so +obvious that he was the center of the whole affair, and from him there +seemed to spread out into the wilderness long filaments over which +there trickled an unending stream of information. + +"I didn't hear 'blast furnaces' mentioned either," piped Riggs. + +"Cut it out for the present. The time hasn't come, but it will." +Stoughton got up and began to walk up and down. "We've got to hear all +he has to say. That's the wise thing. Let him talk himself out. He +can't talk for ever." + +Riggs shook his head. "Can't he?" + +"No, nor any man, and be continuously to the point; and if you get a +bit shaky and converted just think of dividends on seven millions. +That's what we came here for. I don't care how much bluffing it costs +or how many days it takes. We're here now and the only thing to do is +to wait till Clark's well runs dry and then give our ultimatum. But up +to that time we must do whatever he wants us to do. It's going to hurt +him--that's unavoidable--it will hurt us a lot more if we don't carry +our job through." All of which was a long speech for Stoughton, so he +sat down and was looking defiantly truculent when Clark came in smiling. + +"You fellows have had enough for to-day so I've arranged a fishing trip +for this afternoon. It's a good river, only six miles out, and I own +it. It's an easy drive. You leave right after lunch and won't see me +again till to-morrow. Rods and things are ready, and there's a French +halfbreed at the camp to cook for you. What do you say?" + +The suggestion came like sudden balm in Gilead. Stoughton's face +cleared. "What's your biggest fish--trout, aren't they?" + +"Well," said Clark slowly, "I've never had time to fish myself, but +people who come to see me like a day off. Four pounds and a half is +the record so far." + +It was a magic touch. Riggs and Wimperley were, like Stoughton, keen +fishermen, and while Birch fished for only one prize, all felt alike +that here was a surcease after a trying morning. They could pull +themselves together. + +With this reflection moving in his brain, Stoughton felt a stab of +compunction. + +"I wish you could come, old man," he jerked out to Clark. + +"Thanks," said Clark with a curious light in his gray eyes, "but I +think I'd better not." + +Five hours later Wimperley sat under a spruce tree and gloated over his +catch. Close by were the rest, each arranging a row of speckled +beauties on the cool green moss. They had caught some forty trout, the +biggest being a trifle over the record, and this was Wimperley's fish. +He leaned back, feeling a long forgotten youth trickle into his veins. +In front of him the stream dodged round great boulders and vanished +into the woods, flecked with foam from the falls whose wash came +tremulously through the wilderness. The sky overhead was translucent +with the half light of sunset and he felt a delicious languor stealing +over him. For three hours Stoughton, Riggs and he had fished to their +hearts' content, while Birch climbed a ridge and speculated what such a +forbidding country might reasonably be expected to bring forth. Close +by the stream, Fisette bent beside a small fire from which came odors +of fried bacon and fish that aroused in the Philadelphians a fierce and +gnawing hunger. Presently they sat on a mattress of cedar and ate one +of those suppers the memory of which passes not with the years. It was +Riggs who spoke first, lying back on the boughs, his head on his arm, a +new glow in his pale cheeks. He looked younger and rounder than he did +six hours previously, and, stretching luxuriously, he experienced the +sympathetic impulses that detach themselves from a full stomach. + +"I suppose there's no way out of it?" + +"None whatever," grunted Stoughton, who was lining his basket with moss +and objected to being thus recalled. "What the devil has this to do +with dividends?" + +"Nothing, I admit, but why in thunder did we start this game anyway? +Why couldn't we just take things easy and go fishing. We've all got +enough." + +Wimperley stretched his arms above his head in delicious fatigue. +"Keep away from second causes; this is no place for them. Four years +ago you were meant to go fishing to-day in this very stream. Why worry +about it?" + +"I'm thinking about one R.F.C.," came back Riggs reflectively, "just +like the rest of you." + +"Well," sounded the dry voice of Birch, "so am I. And all this is very +apropos. It illustrates the general condition of affairs, especially +that mess of trout you had on the moss a while ago. We're all trout, +we and the shareholders. You, Wimperley, are that five pounder. We +all rose to the fly of one R.F.C., and we were all landed in the back +woods. There are more trout in that stream, and, if we stand for it, +the fishing is still good, but I've got the sting of the fly still in +my gills. Also I'm thinking about one Henry Marsham." + +Stoughton nodded sagely. "That's right, but if you liked fishing, +Birch, you wouldn't drag in shareholders in that churlish fashion. +What about blast furnaces, Riggs? We haven't heard a whisper yet. +Wonder what Clark is thinking of?" + +"Oh Lord!" murmured the little man, "if we only had iron!" + +Fisette, who was dipping his dishes in a pot of hot water, turned his +head ever so slightly. The others had either forgotten about him or +concluded that their conversation was beyond a half-breed. But not a +word had escaped the sharp ears of the man who moved so silently beside +the fire. 'Iron!' They had iron, but apparently did not know it. +Fisette felt in his pocket for the small angular fragment he always +carried, and was about to hand it to Wimperley, when again he +remembered Clark's command. He was to say nothing to any one. So the +half-breed, with wonder in his soul, laid more wood on the fire and, +squatting in the shadow of a rock, stared at the stream now shrouded in +the gloom, and waited for what might come. + +"But there's none in this damned country," blurted Stoughton, "so get +back to Birch's picture of the shareholders on the moss." + +"Trouble is I can't get away from it." Riggs' small voice was so +plaintive that the others laughed, then dropped into a reverie while +there came the murmur of the hidden stream and the small unceasing +voices of the dusk that blend into the note which men call silence. +Very softly and out of the south drifted a melodious sound. + +"Six o'clock at the works," drawled Birch, snapping his watch. "Does +that suggest anything?" + +An hour later two buckboards drew up in front of the hotel and the four +stepped down, a little stiff, but utterly content. As Riggs took his +basket from Fisette, he coughed a little awkwardly. + +"Look here, you fellows, I'm going to send my fish to R.F.C. with our +compliments. It's only decent." + +"Well," remarked Birch reflectively, "you might as well. It's the only +compliment we're paying this trip." + +A profound sleep strengthened their resolution, and when next morning +Clark announced that he had arranged a trip up the lake, they acceded +at once. In half an hour the company's big tug steamed out into Lake +Superior, and the four, wrapped in big coats, for the water was like +ice and the air chill, waited for the hour when Clark should run dry. + +"You're going back this evening?" he said as the vessel rounded the +long pine covered point that screened the rapids from the open lake. + +Birch nodded. + +"We'll get through by this afternoon. There isn't any more to show +you." Clark spoke with a certain quick incisiveness and his eyes +seemed unusually keen and bright. + +"We've seen all we want to see." + +The other man glanced at him sharply and said nothing. Then, as the +big tug plowed on, the great expanse of Superior opened before them, a +gigantic sheet of burnished glass edged with shadowy shores, and a long +island whose soft outline seemed to float indistinctly on the unruffled +water. As they steamed, Clark told them of the giant bark canoes that +once came down from the lake heavy with fur, to unload at the Hudson +Bay store at St. Marys, and disappear as silently as they came laden +with colored cotton and Crimea muskets and lead and powder. He told of +lonely voyageurs and the Jesuit priests who, traveling utterly alone, +penetrated these wilds with sacrificial courage, carrying the blessed +Sacrament to the scattered lodges of Sioux and Huron. Then, shifting +abruptly, he talked of his own coming to St. Marys and the chance talk +on a train that turned his attention to that Arcadia till, as the +moments passed, he himself began to take on romantic proportions and +appear in the imagination of his hearers as a sort of modern voyageur, +who had discovered a new commercial kingdom. + +"These logs," he said abruptly, "are from our limits." + +The others glanced over the tug's high bows and saw nearing them a +great brown raft towed by a small puffing vessel. + +"Pulp wood,--ten thousand cords there. It doesn't take long to chew it +up at the rate we're going. I want to speak to Baudette." + +He motioned to the bridge and the big tug drew in slowly beside its +smaller brother, while he talked to a brown-faced man who leaned over +the rail and answered in monosyllables, his sharp eyes taking in the +group behind the general manager. The tug sheered off and put on +speed, while Wimperley and the rest held their breath as they skirted +the straining boom that inclosed the raft. Presently the high, sharp +bow turned shoreward, steam was cut off and the tug made fast to the +sheer side of a little bluff that rose steeply out of deep water. + +Clark stepped out on a narrow gang plank that just reached the land. +"You fellows haven't seen this north country yet, and I'd like you to +get something of it on foot. This is part of our concession secured +from the provincial government and I want you to walk over just a +little of it. As directors you ought to." + +"Come on," said Wimperley under his breath. "It's the last chapter, +he's nearly dry." + +The trail was narrow and newly cut. Treading at first on smooth rock, +the Philadelphians took it briskly, jumping over stones and logs and +pausing now and then at vistas of the lake. They were a little short +of breath when the path dipped to low ground and struck straight across +a tangled ravine. Here the bush was thicker, and the air warm and +moist. Gradually the four coats came off. + +"Hold on a minute, Clark," panted Stoughton who was beginning to sweat. + +"It's better over here, come along." + +But if it was better they did not notice it. Wimperley stumbled over a +root and plunged one hand up to the wrist in slimy mud. Riggs was +breathing hard and his nostrils dilated, but he plugged doggedly on. +Birch, now very red in the face, stepped close behind Stoughton, his +cheeks stinging from the swish of branches released by the man just +ahead. Stoughton, his heart pumping, was in the lead, and desperately +trying to catch the steadily progressing figure of Clark. He felt +almost like murder. Ten minutes more and the Philadelphians had lost +all traces of refinement. Wimperley's trousers were torn at the knee +and his white, scratched skin showed through. Riggs had dropped coat +and waistcoat beside the trail, his collar was off, his small body +tired and twisted, and from his lips streamed language to which he had +long been a stranger. Birch had lagged far behind but plowed on with a +cold determination. He was breathing audibly through his nose, his +watch chain was dangling on a cedar branch a quarter of a mile back, a +sharp pain throbbed in a barked shin and his boots were full of water. +Still in the lead was Stoughton, who, regardless of all else, had put +down his head and was crashing heavily through the underbrush like a +young bull moose answering the call of his distant and amorous mate. +Clark was quite invisible. Presently the four halted. Humanity had +gone its limit. Birch dragged himself up and they stared at each other +with furious eyes. + +"Lend me a handkerchief," panted Riggs. + +Stoughton felt in his pocket, pulling one out with a cascade of pine +needles, when from three hundred feet ahead came a voice: + +"I'm where we stop, you fellows, come on up." + +"That's just where he is." Birch's difficult speech had something in +it that was almost deadly. "He's asked for it and he's going to get it +right here. Come on." + +They trailed slowly up, a small, bedraggled, indecent procession, lost +to everything except utter weariness and a spirit of cold revenge. In +Stoughton's heavy heart was the thought that Clark had unexpectedly +made their job vastly easier than they anticipated. The latter was on +a little knoll that rose roundly from the encircling bush. He seemed +cool and comfortable, and this stirred them to deeper anger. His +features were expressionless, save that his lips twitched ever so +slightly. The Philadelphians dropped and lay limply, and there was +silence for perhaps five minutes when Birch lifted a haggard face and +spoke. + +"Look here, Clark, I don't know the reason for this fool expedition, +none of us do, but it serves well enough to lead up to the point of +other fool expeditions on a larger scale." + +"Yes?" said Clark with a lift in his voice. + +"It does. Now I'd like to go back about four years when you said that +three millions would do you. In between now and then is a long story +and I haven't got breath to tell it, but to-day you've had seven and +we're deeper in the woods than ever we were." + +"Go ahead, I'm following you." + +"The long and the short of it is that we've had enough." + +"Of me?" The voice was very quiet. + +"Yes, damn it, of you; that is, in your present position of general +manager. You can have one or two of the subsidiary companies but not +the whole darn thing, and--" + +"The point is," cut in Wimperley, "that we're afraid of you. We've not +paid a dividend and, as things go, there's not any likelihood that we +ever will. It's not easy to talk like this, and don't think we +under-estimate what you've done. No other man I know of could have +done it, but there's a limit to the money available in the State of +Pennsylvania for this business--and we've reached it--that's all." + +"And if you want to know what's upset the apple-cart," chirped Riggs +with a little shiver--for they were all taking turns by now--"it's that +fool proposal to build a railway through this ungodly wilderness." The +little man glanced about him with visible abhorrence. + +"And a blast furnace without any ore," concluded Stoughton heavily. + +Clark's eyes wandered round the group while through his whole body ran +a divine thrill. He had very swiftly interpreted the purpose of this +official visit. The directors wanted to get rid of him but funked the +job, and now he experienced a certain contempt for their helplessness. +He had a vivid sense of the dramatic and this tramp had been carefully +thought out. The opportunity was made and it was for them to use it. +He drew a long breath, conscious that here was the moment which comes +but seldom in the lives of men. It was only five years ago that, +practically penniless, he had overheard a conversation in a train. + +"Ore?" he said coolly without changing a muscle. "Why, you're sitting +on five million tons of the best ore I ever saw." + +A blue jay lit on a branch over his head and looked impudently down. +No one spoke. Presently Wimperley scratched at the moss with his heel, +bared a strip of rock and stared at it as though he had hurt it. +Stoughton rolled over and shot side glances at Clark, whose eyes were +fixed on the jagged horizon. + +"What?" whispered Riggs. + +"The discovery was made some days ago by one of our own prospectors, +but I could not speak definitely until the various analyses were +completed. It is excellent ore and will smelt well. There is +limestone within two miles of the works. The coke, of course, will +have to be brought up.'" + +"I'll be damned!" murmured Stoughton in a voice husky with reverence. + +The others spoke not at all, but peered blinkingly at Clark as though +his recumbent body were hiding more wonders from them. Presently +Wimperley, who knew something of ore, bent stiffly forward, picked up a +fragment of rock and, after a long scrutiny, nodded slowly. + +"This exposure is about half a mile long," said the quiet voice. "It +crops out there and there," he pointed to neighboring ridges, "and +there's more beyond that, if you'd care to walk over." + +But no one cared. The Philadelphians were too lost in fatigue and +astonishment. After a little Riggs commandeered the rest and the four +began to roll back great blankets of moss, just as Fisette had done the +week before, and everywhere beneath lay iron ore. Clark watched them +with a suggestive smile till, after a little, Birch sat down panting, +his hands stained with soil. + +"Well?" he demanded, "how about it?" + +"It was something more than three years ago that the first prospector +went in," commenced Clark thoughtfully, "and I reported at the time +that it was definitely stated by those who ought to know that there was +no iron in the country. Geological maps showed the same thing, but it +struck me there was too much guess work about them, so we began to make +maps of our own. A month ago we got into iron formation and soon after +came the discovery. I felt all along that the stuff was there, but +could not say anything officially till the analyses were completed. We +can lay this ore down at the workers for two dollars a ton. And now," +he added in a voice that suddenly changed into sharp and rising tones, +"do I get my blast furnace?" + +The effect on the group was extraordinary. They had sat motionless, +oblivious to fatigue and mosquitoes, while Clark spoke. Their brains +were flooded with the knowledge that this meant ultimate permanence to +the works. It meant rails and plates and all iron and steel products, +and these were made doubly possible by the enormous reserve of power +still available in the rapids at St. Marys. They glanced into the +woods as though there were still mysterious treasures waiting to be +revealed at a wave of the hand of this magician. + +Presently Wimperley straightened up. He had been going through a +strange searching of soul while his gaze wandered from the glistening +rock at his feet to Clark's keen face. He began to perceive clearly +for the first time the prodigious potentiality of this man who was +equally masterful in Philadelphia and the back woods. He saw to what +wide scope this enterprise could expand if only this restless and +prophetic spirit might be wisely steered by men of colder brains and +more deliberate resolution. But Clark, after all, was the creator. + +"Yes," he said half aloud, "you get your blast furnace." + +The Philadelphians took to the homeward trail with backward glances and +something of regret lest the archaean foundations of that mountain of +ore might shift over night. There was no sense of fatigue now. Birch +skipped over logs in wayward abandon and laughed like a schoolboy when +Clark picked a heavy gold watch chain that dangled from an overhanging +bush. Riggs' thin legs were being scratched by the sharp samples with +which he had stuffed his trouser pockets, but he felt them not, and +Stoughton's choler had given way to a profound contemplation out of +which he periodically breathed the conviction that he would be damned. +Wimperley was already organizing a new company--an iron +corporation--and hazarding shrewd guesses as to the effect this +discovery would have on the outstanding stock. The result, he +concluded, would be most inspiring. + +They lunched on the tug, an admirable meal, while the vessel vibrated +gently and through the open portholes came the swish of bubbling water +and a flood of sunlight. Then Riggs made a little speech and they all +drank Clark's health, promising him continued support and such money as +he needed to make steel rails. The threatening specter of Marsham had +vanished utterly. + +The answer was characteristic. There was no mention of anything the +speaker had contributed, but just the voicing of his unalterable faith +in a country which so far had never failed to produce whatever the +industry required. It was a pleasure for him to work for directors and +shareholders who had so practically demonstrated their confidence. He +said this with a smile which was absolutely undecipherable, then drank +their health in water which was his only drink---declined one of +Wimperley's cigars, for he did not smoke--and inquired quietly if he +was to get his railway as well. Whereupon he was immediately assured +that he would get anything he asked for. + +That evening the Philadelphians left in the private car. They were +rather quiet, being caught up in contemplation of a new vision. As the +train pulled out Clark waved a hand to the group on the rear platform +and returned thoughtfully to the blockhouse where he began to write. +The letter was to his mother. He told her that he had been too busy +for correspondence of late, and had just concluded a very satisfactory +and official visit from his directors. In consequence, he would now be +busier than ever. He stared at his own signature for a moment, then +opened a window and stood peering out toward the river. The moon was +up, and he caught the snowy gleam of foam at the foot of the rapids. +Their voice seemed very clear and very triumphant that night. They +sang of providence--or was it destiny? + +His mind turned reflectively to Elsie Worden, experiencing as yet no +thrill but just a growing and satisfying attraction. All things seemed +possible tonight. He had never given much thought to women, being +impatient with what seemed to him their artifice and slight power of +insight. So often the women who were esteemed most praiseworthy, were +also the least intelligent, and lacked that spark which to him +signified vision. In past years he had had a rooted belief that the +standard wife was a burden who not only robbed one of mobility, but +also demanded her portion of all moments, however individual, absorbed +or tense they might be. In such circumstances there was nothing around +which he could build a mental fence and call it his own. + +It is possible that in such periods as these, when Clark gave himself +up to taking soundings, as it were, in the sea of his destiny, he +distinguished in his own nature that curious duality of sex which makes +it possible for certain rare individuals to self satisfy their +emotional appetites, and that it was this which had kept him single and +unfettered. If he had a craving he could forthwith produce that which +appeased it. He luxuriated in the revelations of his own perception. +To him the inarticulate thing became vocal with possibilities. He was +conscious of no unsatisfied need. And yet, for all of this, the vision +of the girl, Elsie, began to blend with his thoughts. + + + + +XII.--LOVE AND DOUBT + +Some three months later Belding was walking slowly down the main street +of St. Marys. He felt fagged and the sun was hot. Just as he reached +the Dibbotts' white gate he heard a clear voice from behind the clump +of azaleas that screened the cottage from the road. + +"Come in, Mr. Belding." + +He lifted the latch and saw Mrs. Dibbott in a white dress on the porch. +She seemed cool and restful. + +"Sit down here. My, but you look tired!" + +"I am," he admitted, mopping his face. + +"Then sit where you are and have some elderberry wine and cookies. +They're right from the oven." + +He sighed with relief and began to munch contentedly. He had not known +how tired he was, and Mrs. Dibbott's cookies were famous. + +"You look played out," she went on sympathetically. "How's Elsie +Worden?" + +"Well. But I don't see very much of her nowadays." + +"Why?" + +"Work." His brain was fermenting with half completed plans and +calculations. He might as well lay it to that. + +"Well, why don't you two get married? You will be old before your +time." + +Belding shook his head. "It takes two to make a bargain." + +"But it doesn't take long." Mrs. Dibbott put down her crochet work. +"Don't you think your friend Mr. Clark depends just a little too much +on individuals--I include himself in that?" + +"Perhaps, but it didn't occur to me. At any rate we have a one man +concern." + +"And if anything happened to him, what then?" Mrs. Dibbott's eyes were +bright with inquiry. "And suppose you break down, what about Elsie?" + +"Elsie wouldn't be affected," he said slowly. + +"Then you two are not engaged?" + +"I thought we would be by this time but I guessed wrong." + +Mrs. Dibbott was full of sympathy. "I suppose it serves me right for +poking my nose into other people's business. My, but I'm sorry! +What's the matter with Elsie?" + +"Nothing." + +"Then with you?" + +"Nothing." + +"May an old woman make a fool of herself?" + +"Please--but it won't be that." + +"Then has Elsie found some one else--if you don't mind my asking?" + +"Possibly,--I can't say." + +"But you're the only man in town who takes her anywhere. The judge is +fond of you, he told me so, and Mrs. Worden thinks you are the whole +world. What's the matter, Jimmy?" + +Belding got rather red. "I'm afraid I can't say." + +Mrs. Dibbott's eyebrows went up, then she leaned over and patted his +hand. "Whoever it is you'll knock him out. Sorry I did make a fool of +myself, but it's my fixed belief that you come first with Elsie, though +perhaps she doesn't know it." + +Belding laughed in spite of himself. "She certainly doesn't know it +yet." + +"Now tell me about the iron works." + +"It will be a couple of years before they are finished." Belding's +brain began to throb once more. In imagination he was putting up blast +furnaces. + +"It will mean a good deal for the town, won't it?" + +He nodded. "The biggest thing yet--St. Marys is all right now." + +"And it was that dirty old Fisette who found the mine?" + +Belding chuckled. "He's not old nor dirty, and was the best prospector +of the lot. Yes, he found it." + +"Goodness! were there many of them?" + +"About twenty. They all worked in different districts and knew nothing +about each other." + +"Then that's what brought that special train load up from Philadelphia?" + +"I suppose so. They seemed very happy when they left." + +Mrs. Dibbott poured out some more elderberry wine. "When I think what +that man has done just out of water, it makes me gasp. I switch on the +light and don't trim any more lamp wicks, and the well's gone dry and I +don't care, and Mr. Filmer told me last night there are eight thousand +more people in St. Mary's. Do you remember that meeting?" + +"Every word of it." + +"And Mr. Manson--he was a wet blanket, wasn't he?" + +"But he was snowed under, fortunately." + +"I know he was, but did you hear that he has made a fortune out of real +estate, and is going round with a face as long as his back?" + +Belding knew nothing about Manson--he had been too busy. + +"Every one says he's in the dumps because he sold out just before +Fisette found that mine and real estate has been jumping ever since." + +"But he never believed in Mr. Clark." + +"Some of him does and some of him doesn't," said Mrs. Dibbott sagely. + +"How much did he make?" Belding was wiser with other people's money +than with his own. + +"They say twenty-five thousand and," she added enigmatically, "I'm +sorry for his wife." + +The engineer laughed, said good-by and turned toward the Worden house. + +At the sound of his step in the garden Elsie looked up, a provocative +smile on her face. She was so dainty, so desirable, that he felt a +swift hunger throbbing even to his finger tips. She made room for him +on the bench. + +"I'm for Mother Earth." He stretched himself at her feet. "Where have +you been lately, we've missed you at the works." + +"I've just got back, been away for two weeks. Are you still very busy?" + +He nodded, but business was not what he wanted to talk about. It was +more than two years now since they first met and he had a feeling that +all that time he had been an open book to her bright eyes. + +"Don't let us talk business," he said a little unsteadily. + +She swung her large straw hat by its silk ribbons. "You shall choose +your own subject." + +"It isn't business, it's you," he went on bluntly. "I've tried to tell +you before but you wouldn't let me." + +"It's a heavenly evening for a proposal." + +"Do you mean that?" he gasped. + +"Why shouldn't I? The moon is just coming up and the river is quiet +and we can hear the rapids, and here you are at my feet. What more +could a girl ask?" + +Something twitched at Belding's fancy. "Then I love you and I want you +desperately and I'll take care of you all my life. Is there any one +else?" + +His voice sobered her. "Don't, you mustn't say it like that, it sounds +too real." + +"But it is real," he protested, "the most real thing I ever said." + +"You mustn't," she answered a little shakily. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't +have gone on like that." + +Belding captured her hand. "I'm glad you did, Elsie, it was just +right." + +"But I didn't mean it," she said pitifully, "and it wasn't fair of me. +I didn't know you felt like that." + +Belding stared at her astonished. "You must have known." + +"Then possibly I did,--I wasn't sure. I--I didn't think of it much, +but, Jimmy, I don't want to be married just now. You've been splendid +ever since we met--and really I didn't want you to say what you did." + +"Perhaps not in the way I said it." Belding's face became suddenly +rigid. "And perhaps now I know why. You see it's hard for me to +compete with my own chief," he added grimly. + +"That's not fair," she burst out, her cheeks flaming. "If you really +cared you wouldn't say it." + +"I only want to know where I stand," he replied with sudden dignity. +"If you'll tell me that, I will be satisfied--for to-night." + +Her mood changed in a flash. "That sounds better, but, Jimmy, must you +know to-night? It's hard for me to tell you." + +"Why?" he demanded. He wanted his answer, fraught with whatever fate. + +"Because I don't just know myself," she said softly. "I wonder if I +can explain. I am fond of you, Jimmy, more than you know, but I want +to be fair to you and I want to be fair to myself as well. Have you +never been in a state in which you were conscious that the world was +full of things you had dreamed of but never expected to find actually?" + +He stared at her with the swift intuition that there had been a season +not long ago when he felt just like this. But now he was getting used +to it. + +"Yes," his voice was quite steady, "I know what you mean." + +"It's that way with me now, and I'm just finding out about myself." +Her eyes were fixed on the white line of the rapids. "I don't know +what sort of a woman I'm going to be,--that sounds queer but it's true. +I'm going to want something more than love," she added under her breath. + +Belding did not stir and there drifted down to them the deep, hollow +monotone that pervades St. Marys when the wind comes in from the west. +The young man scanned the innumerable lights beside the rapids,--he +could place each one of them. Then slowly the moon came up with a soft +gleam that laid a silver path across the river and touched the girl +into an unearthly beauty. + +"I want you, Elsie," he pleaded. + +She looked at him with eyes like stars. "Perhaps I want you, Jimmy," +she breathed, "but I don't know yet. Supposing I said 'yes' and then +it was all wrong--for each of us?" + +"You said you asked for more than love; perhaps I have no more--in your +mind." + +Clark's name was hammering in his brain, but he kept it down. + +Followed a little silence. "Do you want to do something for me?" she +said presently. Her lips were tremulous. + +"I've always wanted that." + +"Then give me time to find myself--I'm trying hard now." + +Belding moved restlessly. "I'm afraid that some one else will find +you." + +She glanced at him startled. "If that happens, Jimmy, it means that I +haven't spoilt your life." + +"I want you to spoil it." + +"You haven't answered my question; will you give me time?" + +Belding got up, put his hands on her slim straight shoulders and stared +into the beautiful, troubled face. + +"Elsie, if any one else does come between us--" + +She was seized with strange and sudden fear. "No, no, you don't know +what you are saying." + +He relented instantly. "I'm sorry, I was talking nonsense. Now I've +got to go and see the bishop about the new church--won't you come?" + +The shadow passed from her eyes. "Yes, I'd love to see him, if you +won't get on that subject again." + +"What subject?" + +"You know," she laughed, once more light hearted. + +"I promise, but for to-day only." + +They walked slowly down the long straight street that led past Filmer's +house, which was surrounded by trees, and reached the corner where +Fisette's cottage marked the turn up to the bishop's residence. +Fisette was on his front doorstep with small people around him, and +waved gayly as they passed. + +"He's very happy now, isn't he?" said Elsie. + +Belding nodded. He found it hard to join in the happiness of another +man whose children's arms were about his neck. Elsie's eyes turned to +the figure of the bishop, who was on his wide veranda, a large straw +hat on the back of his head. Manuscript lay on the floor beside him +but at the moment he was absorbed in a large green leaf that spread +across his knees. It was piled with strawberries. As the gate clicked +he signaled hospitably. + +"Come along, children--just in time. Mr. Belding, can you pick fruit +by moonlight? Elsie, come here and talk to me. To tell the truth I +wasn't thinking just now of any of my flock, but I'd much sooner see a +lamb like you than some of the old ewes who will always insist on being +serious and respectful. What you observe on the floor is a book I +would have written if I'd not been a bishop." He rambled on till +Belding reappeared with a hat full of berries. + +"Here they are, sir, and I've got another offering as well." + +"You don't say so, what is it?" + +"Do you remember, a year or so ago, talking to me about a +pro-cathedral?" + +"Very distinctly. But I was afraid that the press of work had made the +thing impossible so far as you were concerned, so I let the matter +stand." + +"Well, it isn't impossible, and that church is going to be built." + +The bishop drew a long breath. "I am delighted to hear it, because I +haven't got any money yet. It has all gone in salaries of +missionaries, and your friend Mr. Clark has put me to a lot of extra +expense. I knew he would the minute I saw him." + +"But this church," said Belding with a little lift in his voice, "is +going to be built without money. Peterson, the masonry contractor at +the works, will give the stone, and his masons will donate the labor. +Borthwick, another contractor, will give the lumber and his carpenters +will put it together. Windows--plain glass of course--and the various +fittings are all taken care of by different people, and there was just +one thing I found a little difficult, and now that's all right." + +"And what was it?" The bishop was leaning forward, his large, +expressive eyes very bright. + +"Cement, sir. No one seemed to have any to spare. Finally I went to +Ryan--I don't know whether he has met you." + +"Yes, an excellent type--one of my own countrymen. I like Ryan, a +strong Romanist, isn't he?" + +"Yes, but finally I ran him down and told him I wanted enough cement to +build a Protestant church." + +"But---" + +"But, listen! Ryan thought it over for a minute, then his eyes began +to twinkle and he pointed to his storehouse and said that if it would +cement the Protestant church together I might take the pile." + +Elsie laughed, while the bishop relapsed into deep body-shaking mirth. + +"Splendid! Fine chap that Ryan. He's from Maynooth and I'm from +Lurgan and who says the Irish don't hang together? So it's all +settled?" + +"Yes, when can we start work?" + +"At once if it's possible. How long will it take?" + +"Three months would finish it. The job will be swarming with men." + +"Good, and we hope that Ryan's cement will hold the church together. +I'm reminded of another Romanist friend who was approached for a +similar Protestant object. He wouldn't help to build the new church +but he did contribute toward tearing down the old one. And now," here +this good and kindly man paused and looked affectionately at the two +young people beside him, "it's my turn to make a suggestion." + +Elsie glanced up with uncomfortable intelligence. + +"I'd like the first wedding in the new church to be yours if possible. +And if you like, I'll officiate myself." He patted the girl's hand +softly. + +"That's dear of you," she stammered, "but--it's a long way off." + +The bishop looked up sharply and saw that Belding's eyes were fixed on +Fisette's cottage. "By the way, how's my friend Mr. Clark?" he put in +hastily. + +Belding smiled, "Working too hard, as usual." + +"And working every one else, especially you. Well, I assume that's his +way. I'd like you to tell him that we're building a new church because +he did not seem to care for the other one." + +"Does that fall within the office of an engineer?" said Belding +doubtfully. + +"Unquestionably. Your profession does many different things by many +different methods. By the way, I hear we are to have iron works in St. +Marys." + +"Yes, thanks to Fisette." + +"It's some years since Mr. Clark told me he had reason to believe there +was iron in the district. Now I hope that this prophet will have honor +in his own country." + +A few minutes later the young people rose to go. The bishop followed +them to the gate, and Elsie felt the benediction of his kiss on her +forehead. He watched them from his veranda till, with something of a +sigh, he collected the manuscript at his feet, put it away and turned +to next Sunday's sermon. He looked at this thoughtfully, then walking +slowly into his study laid it also away. His face was suddenly +careworn. He felt unduly oppressed by the burdens of his office, and +there came back on him, as it often did, like a flood, the +consciousness that it was for him by personal effort to raise half the +money needed to pay his forty missionaries. Should he fail, they went +without. Constantly aware of their simple faith, he knew also that +they were poorly fed and lacked any provision for old age. + +Involuntarily he began to compare their lot with that of the magnetic +Clark, and was confronted with an eternal problem. Why should faith +and sacrificial loyalty fare so much more poorly than the mechanical +and constructive nature? Clark had, apparently, the world at his feet, +but what comfort and security was there for brave and spiritual souls, +and for what baffling reason were they robbed of present reward? + +He pondered this deeply, and, raising his troubled eyes, looked fixedly +at a large print of the Sistine Madonna that hung on the study wall +just opposite his desk. As he gazed at its ineffable tenderness there +came to him a slow surcease of strain. Flotsam and jetsam of eternity +they might all be, his missionaries and Clark and himself, but +underneath were the ever-lasting arms, on which,--and he thanked God +for this,--some had already learned to lean. There flashed into his +mind his own arrival at St. Marys, the northern center of his vast +diocese; the joy with which the neighboring Indian tribes had welcomed +him and the name "The Rising Sun" which they had forthwith given him. +They had looked forward, they said, to his coming as to morning after +the darkness of night. The reflection grew in his mind and brought +with it hope and renewed courage. + + + + +XIII.--THE VOICE OF THE RAPIDS + +It fell on a morning that Clark, sitting at his desk, felt within him +that strange stirring to which he had long since learned to give heed, +it being his habit at such moments to leave the works and resign +himself completely to these subtle processes. He now walked slowly +across toward the river, and seated himself where, years before, he had +watched the triumphant kingfisher. The place had a peculiar +fascination for him, and had by his orders been kept in its pristine +wildness. Half a mile away the pulp mill was grinding dully, on the +upper reaches of the great bay circular saws were ripping into logs +fresh from Baudette's operations on the Magwa River, and seventy miles +up the river a large crew was shipping and excavating at the iron mine. +These things and many others being on foot, Clark had experienced that +intellectual restlessness which in him was the precursor of further +effort. + +Listening to the boom of the river he reflected that the water he had +diverted to his own purposes was but a fraction of the whole mighty +torrent racing in front of him. Into the scant half mile between shore +and shore was forced the escaping flood of the mighty Superior, and +such was the compression that, midway, the torrent heaped itself up +into a low ridge of broken plunging crests. Just over the ridge he +could see the opposite shore line. It did not occur to him, as it +would to many, how puny were the greatest efforts of man beside this +prodigious mass. The manner of his mind was, too objective. The sight +of the United States so close at hand only suggested that in the +country from which he came he had as yet made no physical mark. There +was the town with the rapids close beside it, just as in Canada. More +and more the inward stirring captured him. Why should he not create in +his own land what he had already created in Canada? + +The idea was stimulating, and very carefully he reviewed the situation +as it there existed. His supporters were keen men in Philadelphia and +the unexpected announcement of Fisette's discovery had electrified the +market. Shares in all the allied companies touched hitherto unreached +values. The more he thought the more he luxuriated in this new sweep +of imagination, while intermittently there came to him the dull boom of +blasting at the works. + +Presently his mind turned to money and personal wealth. He had never +given it much thought, and only seriously considered money in terms of +what it could accomplish. Now he was receiving a very large salary and +had, as well, holdings in shares of the various companies. He dwelt on +the fact for a while, not that he had ever aimed at riches, but because +his financial position was infinitely better than ever before. It +would be easy, he reflected, to sell out, retire and live at ease. He +chuckled audibly at the picture, realizing that if he stopped work he +would die of a strangulated spirit. + +Presently as he listened it seemed that the rapids took on a new pitch. +He had remarked before that, varying with the direction of the wind, +their call was not always in one great thundering diapason but +sometimes in a gigantic hubbub made up, as it were, of the confused +blending of many notes. Now, he imagined, he could discern them +all--querulous, angry, contented, pleading, defiant, threatening and +triumphant, and he perceived in them but the echo of changing human +moods. To-day he distinguished chiefly a voice that was dominant and +imperative. + +Still in profound contemplation he surveyed the rapids' gigantic sweep, +the proud and tossing billows shot through with sunlight and vibrant +with speed. He made out those smooth and glistening emerald cellars +into which the flashing river pitched to rise again in tossing crests. +He followed back through the icy depths of the great lake stretching +westward to hidden swamps in that vast wilderness where these waters +were born, and shouting rivers down which they poured through silent +pools and over leaping cataracts to Superior. He saw still another +river that, growing in power and majesty, moved royally past the cities +of men, healing, sustaining and inspiring. And, last of all, he +perceived these waters of half a continent blend silently with the +brackish tides and lose themselves in the eternal sea. + +This translation of vision moved him profoundly, for it was the nature +of his remote personality to be stirred more deeply by the revelations +of his own soul than by anything extraneous to its strange reactions. +Then gradually the voice of the river resolved itself into one clear +and unmistakable summons. "Use me while you may. I shall flow on +forever, while you have but a moment in eternity." + +And this satisfied him. + +He got up and walked slowly back, plunged in thought, but not of those +who passed and touched their hats and to whom he was the +personification of power. There was in his mind the talk he had with +Wimperley, a few months before. "We're in your hands," he had said, +"but there's a limit to what we can raise. Push on with work and don't +forget about dividends." + +Remembering it, Clark smiled. The dividends might be delayed a year or +so, but when they came it would be in a flood like the rapids. At his +office he found a telegram from the purchasing agent in the United +States. Blast furnaces were under way, and, he reported, he had +secured an option on a rail mill. It was not new, but could be had at +once. To dismantle and reërect would save six months as against the +time required to build a new one. This purchase would also save +hundreds of thousands of dollars. + +He pondered for some time, with Wimperley's remarks about dividends +keeping up an irritating onslaught. He was aware in a strange but +quite unmistakable way that this decision now to be made was in a quite +positive sense more momentous than appeared on the surface. He hung +over it, balancing the advantages of a new mill against a definite +saving. It was not the sum about which he hesitated, but a touch of +uncertainty as to just how much capital Wimperley and the rest could +actually provide. Then suddenly he decided to be economical, even +though a secondhand mill had obvious weaknesses. + +In the next moment he rang for Belding. The engineer answered with a +weariness daily becoming more settled, and which was only relieved by +the spontaneous loyalty he had from the first conceived for his chief. +Of late he never entered Clark's office without anticipating some +addition to burdens he had already determined were too heavy for his +young shoulders. But now, too, as always, he had no sooner closed the +door and caught the extraordinary power in Clark's eyes than he was +caught up in the grip of his chief's confidence and felt ready for the +effort. + +"You know the ground on the other side of the river?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I wish you would take a look over it very quietly and bring me a town +map on which you have indicated the cheapest possible route for another +power canal." + +"Another canal!" said Belding involuntarily. + +"It's important that it should be the cheapest possible," went on +Clark, apparently without hearing, "and you'll have to balance up the +material to be excavated by a longer route against the cost of more +improved land by one that is more direct." + +"How much power is required?" The question came dully. + +"Not less than thirty thousand. I'm going to make carbide. At least," +he added with a short laugh, "if I don't, some one else will." + +Belding drew a long breath. He had a swift and discomforting +conviction that this man, whom he felt forced to admire, was going too +fast. Around him were all the evidences that he had not gone too fast +and there seemed to be unlimited support behind him. But yet-- + +The engineer grew very red in the face. "Do you think that's wise, +sir?" he said with a tremendous effort. + +Clark glanced up in astonishment and his expression grew rigid. "Just +what do you mean, Belding?" + +"I am sorry, sir. I know it sounds impertinent but I've a rotten +feeling that things--that things--" He broke off in distress. + +"I'll trouble you to finish your sentence." The voice was like ice. + +"Don't misunderstand me," the young man went valiantly on. "It isn't +for myself, it's for you." + +"Why me?" Clark's glance softened ever so little at the thought. + +"New schemes are piling up every day. We're not out of one before +we're into another." + +"We?" The voice had a touch of irony. + +"Yes, sir, we--because I'm with you to the end, whatever that may be. +I don't care if I go to smash and lose my job, but what about you? I +don't want to be disrespectful, but if this company fails it's you that +will have failed. I won't count except to myself. You're doing more +now than ten ordinary men. Isn't there enough without that?" Belding +pointed across the river. + +Then, to the young man's amazement, Clark began to laugh, not riotously +but with a gradual abandonment that shook his thickset body with +successive convulsions of mirth. Presently he wiped his eyes. + +"Sit down, Belding, but first of all, thank you from the bottom of my +heart. You make a brilliant contrast with a group I know who had to +bolster themselves up for days to get courage to say something of the +same kind, and they were thinking of their own skins, not mine. Now I +want to tell you something." + +Belding nodded. His brain was too confused for speech. + +"It really doesn't matter about me. Long ago I decided that I was +meant for a certain purpose in this world. I'm trying to carry it out. +I may reach it here--or elsewhere, frankly I don't know. But all I do +know is that there are certain things here that I was meant to tackle +and this new canal is one of them. If I go to smash it was intended +that I smash, and that doesn't worry me a bit. I'm not working for +myself, or even in a definite way for my shareholders, but I'm trying +to adapt the forces and resources of nature to the use of man. Don't +you see?" + +"I think so." Belding began to perceive that he was caught up as a +small unit in a great forward movement that encompassed not only +himself but thousands of others. + +"So once again, thank you for what you said. It was a bit of a job, +wasn't it?" + +"The toughest thing I ever tackled." + +Clark's eyes twinkled with amusement. "I know it. Now, remember I +don't want advice and if I smash--and I really won't smash--I don't +want sympathy. It's the kind of balm I've no use for. Some people are +so hungry for sympathy that they forget their jobs. And, Belding!" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I'm going to see you through, remember that. Now make me that map, +and," he concluded with a provocative drawl, "don't forget how +fortunate it is for you and me that water runs down hill." + +Belding's mind was in a whirl. "There's one other thing," he said, +"I've promised to build a cathedral for the bishop. Peterson has given +the stone and--" + +"I told him to," broke in Clark; "couldn't you guess that? He spoke to +me about it. But understand that neither the bishop nor any one else +must know it. I told them all except Ryan, and I didn't like to tread +on his religious toes." + +Belding laughed. "I should have guessed it. The thing was too easy, +and Ryan came up to the scratch with the rest." + +In September the pro-cathedral was completed. Belding, faithful to his +trust, had made almost daily visits of inspection, when he often found +the bishop seated on a half-cut stone and talking with evident interest +to the workmen. It seemed that the big man's presence pushed the work +along at top speed. On one occasion, a few days before the opening +ceremony, the engineer was watching a mason laying the machicolated +coping on the tower when the trowel slipped and dropped forty feet to +the ground. Instantly there arose a stream of profanity from the top +of that sacred edifice. Came a chuckle at Belding's shoulder. + +"Unquestionably the effect of Ryan's cement, but it's going to hold our +church together." + +Glancing down, the mason caught sight of the black coated figure. His +profanity ceased abruptly. + +"Will you please throw me up that trowel, sir?" + +The bishop laughed and the trowel gyrated skywards. "It makes me think +of all that goes into the making of a church nowadays," he said +thoughtfully. "By the way I wonder if my friend Mr. Clark will turn up +next Sunday." + +And Clark, to every one's surprise, did turn up, after most of St. +Marys had seated themselves in the new oak pews. There was Dibbott, in +carefully pressed light gray trousers, white waistcoat and a red flower +in his buttonhole; Mrs. Dibbott in spotless linen, for the day was +warm. Then the Bowers, the husband with his metropolitan manner +acquired on frequent business trips to Philadelphia and converse with +city capitalists, his wife in silk and a New York hat, at which Mrs. +Dibbott glanced with somewhat startled eyes. Things had gone well with +the Bowers. There were the Wordens, with Elsie and Belding, the latter +accepting whispered congratulations on his work but wanting only a look +which he could not draw from the girl beside him. Filmer was there, +his black whiskers unusually glossy. He pulled at them caressingly and +now and again cleared his throat, for he was to sing the tenor solo. +At the door, Manson hung about till old Dibbott, glaring amiably down +the isle, marched out and dragged the chief constable and his wife to a +front seat. And last of all came Clark, who, slipping into a back +corner, refused to move. Then the old bell ceased swinging in the new +stone tower and the service began. + +It was all very simple and touching. Filmer's melodious tenor never +sounded better and the bishop's talk was straight to the point. This +pro-cathedral, built out of love and faith, he told them, linked the +old days with the new. The labor of many, freely given, had gone into +it--here his kindly gaze dwelt for an instant on the gray-coated figure +in the corner--and it augured well for the future. From this building +must spread the doctrine of charity and fellowship and courage. + +It was but for a few moments that he spoke, and when it was all over +the old bell rang joyously as though for a wedding. Belding tried to +catch Elsie's glance, but she only flushed and watched the majestic +figure of the bishop retire into the little vestry. He had a +despondent impression that an impalpable barrier lay between them. On +the way out they met Clark and the girl's eyes brightened miraculously. + +"Isn't it a charming church?" she said. + +Clark nodded. "It's very pretty. St. Marys owes a good deal to Mr. +Belding for this." + +"He made the plans, I know, but think of all the people who gave the +labor and the things to build it with." + +Belding was about to blurt out that it was Clark who gave the things to +build it with, but a swift signal imposed silence. + +"I know, it's excellent. You have not been at the works lately." + +"I was there last week." + +"And I was in Philadelphia. I'm sorry." + +She said good-by and, with Belding at her side, turned homeward, Clark +looked after them curiously, his eyes half closing as though to hide a +question that moved in their baffling depths. + +The congregation dispersed slowly with the conviction that there had +been created one of those memories to which in later years the +reflective mind delights to return. Quite naturally, and as they often +did, Mrs. Manson and Mrs. Bowers dropped into the Dibbott house with +its mistress. Dibbott was already there. He was about to start on one +of his official journeys, and just now was rooting things out of a back +cupboard with explosive energy. + +"Well," said Mrs. Bowers, folding her large, capable hands, "wasn't it +lovely?" + +The rumble of a street car sounded outside. "It revives old times," +Mrs. Manson said softly, "but I don't believe we've changed much. +We're too bred in the bone." + +"Do we want the old times back?" asked Mrs. Bowers, to whom the past +years had been kind. + +"For some things, yes, and for others, no. Living's a great deal more +expensive, and my husband's income is just the same," put in Mrs. +Dibbott after a pause. "Taxes are up, and I'm not any happier though I +suppose I'm better informed. John won't sell the place though he has +been offered a perfectly splendid price, and it's noisy--but I like it, +and there's the garden. Things don't happen to me--they just happen +round me." + +"And you, my dear," continued Mrs. Bowers with an inquisitive glance at +the chief constable's wife, "what about you? Your husband's supposed +to have done better than any one except Mr. Filmer." + +The little woman flushed. She was perfectly aware that Manson was +credited with making his fortune, and perhaps he had. But she had no +knowledge of it. For a while she knew he was dealing in property, and +then one morning he told her he had sold out. Her heart leaped at the +news, for Manson in the past year or so had changed. Invariably +austere, he had been nevertheless kind and considerate--but soon after +the real estate venture ended he became only austere, to which there +was added something almost like apprehension. And this in her husband +was to her of intense concern. + +"I can't say," she began a little timidly. "Peter has been telling me +for months he's going to resign and live at ease, but it's always a +matter of waiting just a little longer. I can't help longing for the +old days. Perhaps there was less comfort but--" she added +pathetically, "there was also less restlessness. I suppose I'm out of +date." + +"Did you see Mr. Clark to-day?" broke in Mrs. Dibbott, changing the +subject with swift intuition. + +"Yes, the first time he has been in church." + +"He's not interested in us," announced Mrs. Bowers, with the manner of +one who delivers an axiom, "not a little bit. St. Marys happens to be +the town near the works, and we happen to be the people in it, that's +all." + +Mrs. Dibbott's flexible fingers curved and met. "Why should he be? We +haven't done anything for him, except allow him to shoulder the town +debt. And there isn't a woman alive who means anything to him, in one +sense. He's in love--but with his work. There's no room for one of +us, and, if he had a wife we'd only discuss her like a lot of cats. +Let's be honest--you both know we would." + +The others laughed and went their way, Mrs. Bowers to the big house +near the station. It had a new porch and an iron fence and was freshly +painted. In former days it never suggested personal resources as it +did now. A little later Mrs. Manson turned into the gravel walk that +led to the small stone annex of the big stone jail. Instead of going +upstairs, she stopped at her husband's office and knocked, as she +always did. + +"Come in," boomed a deep voice. + +Manson was at his desk and still in his Sunday best. He had taken the +flower out of his buttonhole and laid it on a printed notice of the +next assize court. She stood looking at him, their faces almost +level--such was his great bulk. + +"Peter," she said gravely, "I want to talk to you." + +Something in her manner impressed him and he pushed back his chair. +"What is it?" + +"We don't seem to have much time to talk nowadays." + +"There's no reason we shouldn't." + +"That's just it--but we don't. Now I want to ask you something and, +Peter, you mustn't put me off--as you always do. + +"It's about ourselves," she went on, with a long breath, "but +principally about you--and it concerns the children. Everything's +changed and you're not what you used to be and something has come +between us. I don't feel any more that we're the most important things +in your life--as I used to." + +He shook his head grimly. "You're all more important than ever, if you +only knew it." Manson had a faint sense of injustice. It was for them +he was wading through depths of anxiety. "You're shortly going to get +the surprise of your life," he added with a note of triumphant +conviction. + +"Is it money?" she said slowly. + +He nodded. "Yes, a pile of it." + +"I don't want any more money, Peter, I'd sooner have you." The little +woman's voice was very pleading. + +"Look here, Barbara," he exploded, "I've made nearly thirty thousand +dollars out of real estate. I got the money, you understand, but the +game was too stiff and took too much time, so I put that and what else +I could raise into stock--in Toronto. I've already made twenty +thousand more, that's fifty, and the last twenty was without any effort +or time on my part. I've only got to leave it alone for another year, +and I'll pull out with an even hundred thousand and retire and devote +the rest of my time to you and the children. Isn't that fair enough?" + +"Do you say that you have already made fifty thousand dollars?" She +was staring at him with startled and incredulous eyes. The sum +staggered her. + +"Yes," he chuckled contentedly. + +She put her arms around his neck. "Then, Peter," she implored, "stop +now. It's enough--it's marvelously more than I ever dreamed of. Oh! +we can be so happy." + +He shook his head. "I've set my mind on the even hundred. Can't you +stand another year of it?" + +"I can, but not you," she implored. "You don't know how you've +changed. Peter, I beg you." + +"I've got to leave that fifty where it is to make the next," he said +with slow stubbornness. "I'll be the only man in St. Marys who was +wise enough to make hay when the sun shone. You needn't be frightened +for me." + +"I'm frightened for myself," she answered shakily. "Won't you do what +I ask? Sometimes," she ventured with delicate courage, "sometimes a +woman can see furthest--though she doesn't know why." + +"A year from to-day you'll thank me for sticking it out," came back +Manson stolidly. + +"And if it shouldn't turn out as you expect," she replied with a look +that was at once sudden and profound, "you'll remember that I begged +and you refused." + +The door closed noiselessly behind her and Manson stared at his desk +with a queer sense of discomfort. Consolidated stock had moved up +buoyantly on the news of the discovery of iron, and he had established +for himself with his Toronto brokers the reputation of a shrewd +operator who worked on the strength of inside information. In front of +him were Toronto letters asking that his agent be kept informed of +developments at St. Marys. It pleased him that this had been achieved +outside his own town and without its knowledge, and he saw himself a +man who was vastly underestimated by his fellow citizens. But in spite +of it all he was daily more conscious of a worm of uncertainty that +gnawed in his brain. The thing was safe, obviously and demonstrably +safe. Against his thousands others had invested millions with which to +buttress the whole gigantic concern. And yet--! + + + + +XIV.--AN ANCIENT ARISTOCRAT VISITS THE WORKS + +On a sunshiny day twelve miles down the river at the Indian settlement, +old Chief Shingwauk, known in English as the Pine Tree, put on his best +beaded caribou-skin moccasins and, motioning to his wife, moved slowly +toward the shore where a small bark canoe nestled in the long reeds. A +few moments later they slid silently up stream, the aged crone kneeling +in the bow, a red shawl enveloping head and shoulders, her thin and +bony arms wielding a narrow paddle with smooth agility. In the stern +squatted Shingwauk, his dark eyes deep in thought. + +Slowly they pushed up current, pausing now and again to peer unspeaking +into the woods, every ancient instinct still alive, though ninety years +had passed since the old man and his wife were unstrapped from the +stiff board cradles in which they once swung mummy-like in long +forgotten camps. Shingwauk, his broad blade winnowing the clear water, +reflected that this journey had been contemplated for many months, +since first he heard that strange things were being done at the big +white water, and now it was well to see for himself, for the time was +approaching when he would not see anything any more. + +It was years since he had been at St. Marys and he was very old, so he +worked up stream carefully, skirting close to the shore in the back +water, hugging every point and sheering not at all into the strong +current of midstream. Thus for hours the canoe floated like a dry leaf +in the unruffled corner of a hidden pool, and in it the ancient pair, +dry themselves with the searching seasons of nearly a hundred years. + +For five hours they paddled, then the last bend in the river and St. +Marys lay three miles ahead. Naqua, in the bow, reached up a withered +hand, caught at an overhanging branch and their old eyes took in a +scene familiar but yet strange. The sky line had changed, and up where +the big white water crossed the river like a flat bar there was cause +for wonderment. + +Presently Shingwauk tapped the thwart with the haft of his paddle and +they glided on, past the lower end of the town with its new houses and +gardens, past a street car that moved like a noisy miracle with nothing +to pull it, being evidently animated by some devil enchained, past +Filmer's dock where years before Shingwauk and Naqua used to bring mink +and otter and marten for trade; past other docks newer and larger and a +town bigger than anything they had ever conceived, and opposite which +sharp-nosed devil boats darted about or swung at anchor, across the +deep bay that lay between the town and the big white water, till +finally they floated near the block-house and Shingwauk's eyes, gazing +profoundly at the massive proportions of Clark's buildings, caught the +narrow stone lined entrance to the little Hudson Bay canal. + +"How," he grunted. + +The canoe slid delicately forward till presently it floated in the tiny +lock. Naqua said nothing, being seized by an enormous fear that +clutched at her stringly throat and held her silent, but Shingwauk felt +something stirring in his breast. Here, surrounded by the confused +vibrations of the works, he resigned himself to ancient memories. +Putting out a brown hand he touched the rough walls, and at the touch +the year rolled back. He saw himself a young man, the bow paddle of a +great thirty-foot canoe that came down through the broken waters of the +big lake to the rapids above, with the Hudson Bay factor enthroned in +the middle, surrounded by the precious takings of the winter. He saw +Ojibway faces, now long forgotten, and smelt the smoke of vanished camp +fires. He saw the thirty-foot canoe lowered delicately into just such +a lock as this, and automatically thrust out his own paddle to protect +her tender tawny sides from the rough masonry. The hewn gates had +opened when he floated out, and here were the gates looking +non-understandably new, and with the adze marks still on the yellow +timber. + +Involuntarily he cast about for the blockhouse and found it hard by. +He looked at his own hands--they were knotted and wrinkled; he scanned +the twelve-foot canoe--it seemed small and hastily built of poor bark; +he stared at the back of Naqua and reflected how bent and rounded it +was instead of being straight and strong and supple; he glanced up and +where once there stretched green bush and small running streams now +stood things bigger than he had ever seen; he sniffed at the wind and, +without knowing what it was, caught the sharp odor of metal and +machinery. Last of all, he lifted his gaze straight into the eyes of a +man who stood staring down from the coping of the little lock. + +From the blockhouse window Clark had seen him since first the canoe +approached the shore. With a curious thrill he had watched the old +chief enter the tiny chamber and float motionless--a visitant from the +past. So complete was the picture and so almost poignant the pleasure +it afforded, that, loath to mar it, he had hesitated to approach. +Never had he conceived anything so intimately appropriate as this +linking of bygone days with the insistent present. + +They stared at each other, Clark's keen features suffused with +interest, Shingwauk's black eyes gazing lustrous from a dark bronze +face seamed with innumerable wrinkles. His visage was noble with the +proud wisdom of the wilderness and the unnamable shadow of traditions +that went back through uncounted centuries of forest life. Clark, +recognizing it, felt strangely juvenile. Presently Shingwauk, with +some subtle intuition of who and what was the man who stood so quietly, +waved his hand. The motion took in the works, the blockhouse, the +canal, in short the entire setting. + +"You?" he asked in deep, hollow tones. + +Clark nodded, smiling. "Yes, me." + +Shingwauk's eyes rounded a little. "Big magic," he said impressively +and relapsed into silence. + +"Hungry?" asked Clark presently. + +The old chief did not reply, being too moved by strange thoughts and +the rush of memory to feel anything else, but Naqua lifted a withered +head in the bow. + +"Much hungry," she croaked shrilly. + +Clark laughed and signaled to the blockhouse, where the Japanese cook +waited, peering from a window. Presently the latter came out carrying +a tray. His narrow eyes were expressionless as he laid it on the +masonry beside the canoe. Shingwauk glanced at him, puzzled over the +flat, oriental features for a moment, and looked away. He seemed but a +minor spirit in this great mystery. The old woman ate greedily, but +her husband had no desire for food. He was experiencing a transition +so breathless that it could but mark the day of his own passing. He +waited till Naqua finished such a meal as she had never seen before, +his face gaunt but his eyes large and profound with the shadow of +unspeakable thoughts. Presently he dipped his blade in the untroubled +water, and the canoe backed out of the lock. + +"Boozhoo!" he said slowly, with one long look at Clark. + +"Good-by! Come again." + +The penetrating gaze followed the pigmy vessel as it dipped to the +larger stretch of the bay, dwindling with the glint of two blades that +flashed with clock-like regularity in the afternoon sun. Soon it +reduced to a speck and was out of sight. Clark turned to his office, +still contemplating the dignity of his visitor, the stark simplicity of +this archaean aristocrat. How soon, after all, he pondered, might not +he himself and his works look aboriginal beside the achievements which +science had yet to unfold to the world? Then, glancing across the +river, he stepped down to the dock and struck over in a fast launch. + + + + +XV.--CLARK CONVERTS TORONTO + +It is probable that Clark's invasion of the State of Michigan made more +impression on the people of St. Marys than any other of his activities, +even though it came in the midst of great undertakings. Here was the +definite impression of a central power that stretched octopus arms from +out of their own town. Even Manson, who was recognized as the champion +pessimist, seemed impressed. But St. Marys remained for the most part +still inactive. The people looked on, admired the works, discussed +each new development, read much about their home town in outside +papers, and that was in a general way about all. They saw in Clark a +constantly more arresting and suggestive figure. They had nodded +approvingly when he secured a private car for the use of himself, his +directors and shareholders, and considered it a natural thing when it +was announced that he was building upon the hill a large and expensive +residence. The blockhouse, they pointed out, had long since become too +small to accommodate his many and important visitors. + +St. Marys had physically changed. Old streets were paved with asphalt +and new ones opened. The car line that ran up to the works branched +out across the railway into ground that a few years before was solid +bush, but was now covered with substantial houses, occupied by a new +population. Parts of old St. Marys were left in the lurch because the +owners refused to sell, Dibbott amongst them, and Worden, whose broad +river-fronting lawn was surrounded by the commercial section of the +rejuvenated town. Filmer's store had been enlarged twice, and so +complete was the popularity of the mayor that, with his sound business +instinct, it still held place as the local emporium. + +At the terminus of the car line a new town had sprung up. In Ironville +dwelt the brawn and bone of the works. The place was not restful like +St. Marys, but a heterogeneous collection of sprawling cabins, corner +saloons and grocery stores where the food was piled on sidewalk stands +and gathered to itself the smoke and grime of the works when the wind +came up from the south. Here were the Poles and Hungarians and Swedes, +with large and constantly increasing families, and to them the sun rose +and set in pulp mills and machine shops, blast furnaces and the like. +They were mostly big men and strong, who sweated all day and came back, +grimy, to eat and then spend the long evenings at the corner saloons or +fishing in the upper bay, or sometimes taking the car down to St. +Marys, and walking about surveying the comfortable old houses and +carefully kept lawns. And of Ironville, St. Marys did not think very +much, save that it was dirty and unattractive and, unfortunately, quite +a necessary evil. + +Back in the country new farms were cleared on heavily timbered land and +the farmers found instant market for all they could raise. But the +bush still stretched unbroken a little further to the north, and while +Clark's engineers spent millions to harness the mighty flow of +Superior, the beaver were building their dams in a tamarac swamp not +five miles from the works. + +All this was indissolubly linked with Philadelphia. Parties of +shareholders, large and small, came up in special cars to inspect the +plant. These visits were well organized. They found everything going +at full blast, everything was explained by the magnetic Clark and there +followed banquets at the new hotel, when both shareholders and +directors spoke and Filmer voiced the sentiments and pride of the town, +and the shareholders went away a little staggered by the size and +potentiality of their business but determined to back Clark to the +limit and carrying away with them ineffaceable impressions of his +strong and hypnotic personality. It was, after all, as they said, a +one man show. + +Interest grew in Philadelphia, and thousands, swayed as though by the +compelling voice of the rapids, plunged deeper. The discovery of iron +was but one of the inviting incentives which, from time to time, +stimulated support. Million after million was subscribed and sent to +this man who inspired such abounding faith in himself and his gigantic +plans. It may be that in one of those moments of profound insight +which Clark periodically experienced, he became finally convinced that +life was short and there must be, in his case at any rate, compressed +into it the maximum of human effort ere the day ran out. His brain +oscillated between the actual work itself and those extraneous affairs +which might at some time affect it. + +Amongst those to whom his attention turned was Semple, member of the +provincial parliament, in whom he recognized the official voice of the +district in certain regions of authority. As the works grew in size +and their importance increased, Semple found himself more and more the +subject of attention. It flattered him, as well it might, for at this +time the Consolidated Company was the largest single undertaking in the +country. It did Semple good to refer to "my constituency" with the +reflection that in the midst of that wilderness was an undertaking +whose capital surpassed that of the greatest railway in the Dominion. +In the house of parliament he was listened to attentively, and in St. +Marys his office took on a new significance. It was on one of his +informal visits to the works that Clark expressed pleasure at the way +in which the community was represented. + +"I'm all right as far as this company is concerned," said Semple, "but +you know the Liberal majority in Ontario is mighty slim--and I'm a +Liberal. It's here to-day and gone to-morrow." + +"Not for you," answered Clark impressively, "and you haven't had much +trouble in getting what we wanted." + +"No," grinned Semple, "our majority is too small. The Premier couldn't +very well refuse. But," he added with a little hesitation, "opinions +differ down there." + +"About the works?" + +Semple nodded. "Yes, and about you--they're not true believers by any +means, you must understand." + +Clark grunted a little. "What do they say?" + +"It's more what they don't say, since they're mostly Scotch. I mean +the financial crowd--most of Toronto is like that. The Scotch got +their hooks in long ago and it was a good thing for the country. They +reckon it should take twenty-five years to build up a concern like +this--not five. You're too fast for that lot." + +"Ah! Perhaps I'd better go down and see them." + +Semple gazed in astonishment, then concluded he had not made the other +sufficiently aware of the criticism as to himself and his affairs that +was now so widely spread. + +"What's the object?" he blurted; "you've got all you want." + +Clark shook his head. "You don't understand me--and these people don't +understand their own country,--that's all. They don't believe it +because they don't know it. They've never tried to know it. To +Toronto the district of Algoma is a howling wilderness where there's +good fishing and shooting. You may call Canadians pioneers, but some +of them are the stickiest lot imaginable. I'm an American, but I have +more faith in their country than they have." + +"Just what do you propose to do?" + +"What would you say was the most influential body of business and +financial men?" + +"The Toronto Board of Trade--without question; bankers, and, by the +way, the president of your bank here is the president of the Board; +manufacturers, brokers, commission men,--oh, most every one who is +worth anything." + +"Then I'd better go and talk to them. There ought to be some Canadian +money in this concern and there isn't a cent. The only thing we got in +Canada was one hundred and thirty thousand dollars--but that was +debt--St. Marys' debt--" laughed Clark. "We'll get some Canadian +directors, too; I don't know but that new blood would be good for us." + +"Well," hazarded Semple, "I'd like to be there." + +"You will. We'll go together as soon as it's arranged. You ought to +be there. They'll probably ask you to confirm what I assert." He +touched a bell and a moment later said to his secretary, "See Mr. +Bowers and ask him to get in touch with our Toronto solicitors at once. +I want them to arrange that I address the Toronto Board of Trade as +soon as convenient to that body. I'll speak of developments in +Northern Ontario. You understand that this will not be a suggestion +from me, but will come from them. Get the idea going in the Toronto +papers. You might let it be known that a special car will leave for +St. Marys the evening of the address--with the Company's guests--that's +all." + +The door closed and he turned again to Semple. "I'm no prophet, but I +don't mind saying that a month from to-day your Conservative opposition +won't be so stiff necked. Man alive! it's nothing but ignorance. This +district of yours--" he added very slowly, "is a bigger, richer thing +than even I imagined." + +Semple went away shaking his head doubtfully. He knew better than +Clark that chilling regard with which Toronto financiers contemplated +an undertaking in which they had little faith. They were a cold-nosed +group, immune, he considered, to the dramatic and strangers to any +sudden impulse. And Clark, to their minds, was tarred with the same +brush as his undertakings. He might be big and imaginative, but he was +over impetuous and haphazard. + +Clark himself was disturbed by no discomfort, nor did he make any +special preparations for that address, and gave it as arranged some two +weeks later, and the manner and substance and effect of it will be +vividly remembered by every man who was a member of that Board of Trade +some twenty-five years ago. There were the bankers and the rest of +them, just as Semple had said, and Clark, surveying them from the +platform with steady gray eyes, knew what make of men they were and +knew also that they had come there not so much with a thirst for +knowledge about their own country as that they might coldly analyze him +and that vast undertaking of which they had, as yet, but a fantastic +and fragmentary knowledge. + +It is without question that the speaker had to an infinitely greater +extent than any of the men who stared at him through a blue haze of +cigar smoke, a fluid mind and the capacity for instantly seizing upon a +situation and determining how to meet it. He possessed as well a voice +unrivaled in magnetic power and above all an unshakable faith in the +potentiality of the district in which he labored, so that, estimating +the mental and professional characteristics of those he faced, Clark +began to talk in the coolest and most level way possible without any +trace of flamboyant enthusiasm. Touching first of all on the +development of the far West, a subject with which, since much Toronto +money was involved, they were directly familiar, he diverted to St. +Marys, describing Arcadia as he found it, the apparently unpromising +nature of the surrounding territory and his own conclusion as to its +possible future. Then the rapids became woven into his speech, the +nucleus of power which made so many things possible. From this he +moved into the wilderness and before his listeners there began to +unroll the north country in its primeval silence, broken only by the +occasional tap of a prospector's pick or the heavy crash of a moose +through a cluster of saplings. And with the story of the wilderness +came that of pulp wood and great areas now tributary to St. Marys. And +after the pulp mills came the discovery of iron. + +At this a stir went through the audience. In another part of the north +country was Cobalt, that prodigious reservoir of silver, and it was +realized that while Cobalt lay almost next door to Toronto, the +Canadian investor had for the most part looked on incredulously, till, +too late, he realized that the American had seized and acted with +characteristic energy. And now the thing had happened again. + +"The iron was there," went on Clark's voice with a subtle and impelling +note, "and it only took a year or so to find it. The country was +unexplored, that is, in a scientific manner, and no geological maps +worth anything were in existence. We have proved by now not less than +fifteen million tons of excellent ore. The formation near St. Marys +carries an abundance of limestone and the rapids furnish ample power. +I think you will admit, gentlemen, that this is non-speculative." + +Then one by one he spoke of various phases of the works. In every case +the product was there--the merchantable produce--to prove the point; +and the evident fact that Clark was actually selling goods over his +gigantic counter, coupled with the cool confidence of the man, was all +that was needed to convert an audience of critics into one of friendly +believers. + +He saw the change as it took place. His voice lifted a little and +became that of one crying in the wilderness. + +"What I have been able to do any man can do. If you don't believe in +it, other people do; if you don't develop it, other people will. From +Canada we have moved across to Michigan and are developing power on the +south side of the river. You Canadians could have done all this. In a +few months Canadian railways will be buying steel rails made of Ontario +ore, but the rails will be made and sold by Americans in Ontario. +Gentlemen, all I ask is that you have faith in your own country, as +much faith as has been shown by your neighbors across the line. Your +Dominion is now what the United States was fifty years ago and we did +not waver. The capital of our allied companies is twenty-seven million +dollars. It comes, every cent of it, from Philadelphia. We do not +need your money, but will welcome any who wish to join us. Once again, +gentlemen, and last of all, have faith in your own country!" Then, +with a graceful acknowledgment of the assistance of Semple and the +Ontario Government, he sat down. + +For a moment there was silence, till came applause, moderate at first, +as befitted the meeting, but swelling presently into great volume. +Louder and deeper it grew while Clark sat still with the least flush on +his usually colorless cheek and a keen light in his gray eyes. He had +touched them to the quick, touched them not only by his own evident +faith and courage, but also by his superlative energy and the +inexorable comparison he had made. It was true! Cobalt was nearly +lost to them, and now the iron of Algoma had passed into other hands. +Old bankers and financiers cast their minds back and were surprised at +the number of similar instances they recalled. And here was Clark, the +protagonist, Clark the speculator, Clark the wild man from +Philadelphia, demonstrating in the cold language to which they were +accustomed and which they perfectly understood, that he had done the +same thing over again and on a more imposing scale than ever before. + +The dénouement was what he had anticipated and what invariably takes +place when men with calculating and professionally critical brains are +for the first time profoundly stirred by a supremely magnetic spirit +that appeals not to their emotions but to those instincts in which the +memory of lost opportunities is effaced by confidence in future +success. There was, too, a general feeling that Clark in the past was +misunderstood. They had been hard on him. It was strange for men who +were daily besought to invest in this or that to be told that their +money was not asked for; that, as Clark had put in--the job was nearly +done, capital expenditure nearly over and steady returns about to +begin. And these returns, they reflected, would go straight out of the +country to Philadelphia. All this and much more was moving through +their minds when the president moved a vote of thanks which was +tumultuously carried, whereupon Clark announced that the private car +would leave that night for St. Marys, and that he and Mr. Semple would +accompany such visitors as cared to spend a day or two at the works. + +That afternoon he sent a short letter to his mother. "I have been +giving a talk on Toronto--it went quite well," he wrote in closing. +"Canadians do not attract, but certainly interest me. There's much +underneath that needs work to discover, and I have so little time for +work of that kind." + +He glanced at the last sentence and nodded approvingly. Perhaps +Canadians were too Scotch to be spontaneous. They were worthy, he +admitted, but the word implied to him certain attributes that made life +a little difficult, and, he silently concluded, a little cold. He +would have desired them to be a trifle less deliberate and a shade more +responsive. He felt that, however, he might persuade they would never +fundamentally understand him, and perceived in this the cause of that +condescension he had observed in so many Canadians toward the American. +It did not worry him in the slightest as an American. He put it down +to that self-satisfaction which is not infrequently acquired by +self-made men in the process of their own manufacture, and to remnants +of that cumulative British arrogance of forebears who had for centuries +led the world. + +Early next morning the private car swung through the mining district of +Sudbury. Clark's Toronto visitors were still asleep, but he was up and +dressed and on the rear platform. The district, covered once by a +green blanket of trees, now seemed blasted and dead. Close by were +great piles of nickel ore, from which low clouds of acrid vapor rose +into the bright air. Clark knew that the ore was being laboriously +roasted in order to dissipate the sulphur it contained, prior to +further treatment. + +The scene, naked and forbidding, struck him forcibly, and the great +mining buildings towering in the midst of the desolation they had +created looked like ugly castles of destruction. He had noted the +place often before, but this morning, refreshed by the incidents of the +previous day, his mind was working with unexampled ease and insight. +Here, he reflected, two things of value--sulphur and vegetation--were +being arduously obliterated. It suddenly appeared fundamentally +against nature, and whatever violated nature was, he held, +fundamentally wrong. + +The train stopped for a few moments and, jumping from the platform, he +ran across to the nearest pile. Here he picked up several pieces of +ore fresh from the mine, inhaling as he stood the sharp and killing +fumes. At St. Marys he made but one kind of pulp--mechanical pulp--in +which the soft wood was disintegrated by revolving stones against which +it was thrust under great pressure. But he had always desired to make +another kind of pulp, so now he thrust the ore samples in his pocket +and climbed back into the private car. + +Two days later the chief chemist of the works stood beside the general +manager's desk looking from the nickel samples into Clark's animated +face. + +"These are from Sudbury," the latter was saying, "where they waste +thousands of tons of sulphur a year, and it costs them a lot to waste +it. I want the sulphur to make sulphite pulp." + +"Yes?" The reply was a little uncertain. + +"To buy what we want is out of the question at the present price. In +Alabama and Sicily they are spending a lot of money to get sulphur; in +Sudbury they're spending a lot of money to get rid of it. The thing is +all wrong." + +"Have we any nickel mine, sir?" + +"No, but that's the small end of it. I want you to analyze this ore +and see if you can devise a commercial process for the separation of +nickel from sulphur and save both. If you can, I'll buy a mine. +Incidentally we'll produce some pretty cheap nickel. Get busy!" + +The chemist nodded and went out, and Clark, glancing after him, fell +into profound contemplation. He himself was neither engineer, chemist +nor scientist, but had a natural instinct for the suitable uses of +physical things. Thus, though without any advanced technical training, +his brain was relieved from any consciousness of difficulties which +might be encountered in the working out of the problems he set for +others with such remarkable facility. He was, in truth, a practical +idealist, who, ungrafted to any particular branch of effort, embarked +on them all, radiating that magnetic confidence which is the chief +incentive toward accomplishment. + +The visit of the Toronto financiers had been a success. Clark went +round with them, unfolding the history of the works. Nor was this by +any means the first tour he had made with similar intent. It was now +an old story with him to watch the faces of men reflect their gradual +surrender to the spell of his mesmeric brain. What the Torontonians +saw was physical and concrete, and, as their host talked, they +perceived the promise of that still greater future which he had put +before them. Here, they decided, was not a speculation, but an +investment of growing proportions. Then from the works to the +backwoods by the new railway, where was iron by millions of tons and +pulp by millions of cords, the foundations on which were built the +gigantic structures at St. Marys. So they had gone back in the glow of +that sudden conversion which in its nature is more emotional than the +slow march of a purely intellectual process, Clark smiled a little at +the thought. He had seen it all so often before. + +A little later a knock sounded at his door and Fisette entered, +stepping up to the desk, one brown hand in his pocket. Clark glanced +at him. + +"Well, mon vieux?" + +The half-breed laid on the desk half a dozen pieces of bluish gray +rock. They were sharp, angular and freshly broken. Through them ran +yellow threads, and floating in their semi-translucent depths were fine +yellow flakes. + +"Gold," said Fisette quietly. + + + + +XVI.--GOLD, ALSO CONCERNING A GIRL + +Clark stared at the fragment of rock with a sudden and divine thrill. +Gold! the _ultima thule_ of the explorer. He had erected vast works to +gain gold, not for himself for he desired no wealth, but for others, +and here the precious thing lay in his hand. His heart leaped and the +blood rushed to his temples while his eyes wandered to the impassive +face of Fisette. Who and what was the breed that he could be so calm? + +Out of a riot of sensations he gradually reëstablished his customary +clearness of vision. Here was additional evidence of the inherent +wealth of the country. It was that for which men dared death and peril +and hardship, and it struck him that it would be a dramatic thing to +ship steel rails and pulp and gold bullion on the same day. + +But for all of this he was not carried away. However great the thrill, +his mind could not be diverted by the discovery of a quartz vein. He +knew, too, that mining of this character was a tricky thing and that +nature, as often as not, left the shelves of her storehouses empty when +by all the rules of geology they ought to be laden. He would explore +and develop the find, but its chief value, he ultimately decided, was +psychological, and would be seen in the continued support of his +followers. Presently he looked up and caught the disappointed eyes of +Fisette. + +"It's all right, mon vieux," he said with an encouraging smile, "and +it's very good. How far from the railway?" + +"About six mile." Fisette's voice was unusually dull. + +"And you have it all staked and marked and dated?" + +"Yes, I'm not one damn fool." + +Clark laughed outright. "Of course not--but listen--you remember when +you found the iron last year what I told you?" + +"You told me to keep my mouth shut. I keep it." + +"That's right. And now I want you to keep your mouth open." + +Fisette gasped. "What you mean?" + +"I mean this. You told nobody about the iron, now you go and tell +everybody about the gold. Shout about it. The more you tell the +better. The whole town can prospect on our concession if they want to. +I hope every one of them will find gold. I'll come out myself next +week and see what you've turned up, and of course you get for it what I +gave you for the iron last year. Au revoir, mon vieux, and when you go +to town, talk--talk--talk! But just wait a minute in the outside +office." + +Fisette backed silently out, his dark brow pinched into puzzled +wrinkles. He had expected his patron to take the samples and stare at +them and then at him with that wonderful look he remembered so well and +could never forget; a look that had made the breed feel strangely proud +and happy. He had often seen it since when, quite alone in the woods, +he peered through the gray smoke of his camp fire and imagined his +patron sitting just on the other side. And now he was to go into St. +Marys and do nothing but talk! He shook his head doubtfully. + +No sooner had the door closed than Clark summoned the superintendent of +his railway department. + +"Fisette has found gold out near the line. There's going to be a rush, +and you'd better get ready for it. Also you'd better run up some kind +of an hotel at Mile 61,--it's the jumping off place. That's +all--please send Pender here." + +A moment later he turned to his secretary. + +"Fisette is waiting outside. Talk to him, he's found gold. Get the +story and give it to the local paper. Say that I've no objection to +prospectors working on our concession, and that I'll guarantee title to +anything they find. Get in touch with the Toronto papers and let them +have it too. That's all." + +The door closed again and, with a strange feeling of restlessness, he +walked over to the rapids, seating himself close to their thundering +tumult. What message had the rapids for him now? And just as the +voice of irresistible power began to bore into his brain he noticed a +girl perched on a rock close by. Simultaneously she turned. It was +Elsie Worden. + +She waved a hand, and he moved carefully up stream over the slippery +boulders. She looked at him with startled pleasure. It was unlike +Clark to move near to any one. + +"I hope I'm not trespassing." + +"No," his voice came clearly through the roar of many waters; "do you +often come here?" + +She smiled. "It's the most conversational place I know." + +The gray eyes narrowed a little. "You have discovered that the rapids +talk back?" + +"They have told me all kinds of things ever since I was a child. When +did you find it out?" Elsie's voice lifted a little. + +"The very first day I reached St. Marys, almost the first hour." He +was wondering inwardly why he should talk thus to any one. + +"I'm so glad," she answered contentedly, "because they must have told +you to do many things, and you've done them. But I can't half answer +what they say to me." + +Clark studied her silently. Her face was not only beautiful but +supremely intelligent, and had, moreover, the signet of imagination. +She was, he concluded, utterly truthful and courageous. + +"I wonder you get time to come here at all," she hazarded after a +thoughtful pause. + +"It is time well spent." He pointed to the heaped crests in midstream. +"The solution of many a problem lies out there; I've got one to think +of now." + +Had Elsie been an ordinary girl she would have disappeared forthwith, +but between them sped something that convinced her that he wanted her +to stay. + +"Am I allowed to know what it is?" + +"It's this." Clark took a fragment of rock from his pocket and laid it +in her palm. + +"What is it?" she said curiously. + +"Gold!" + +"Oh!" The color flew to her cheeks and her eyes became very bright. +"Where did it come from and who found it?" + +"About sixty miles from here, and Fisette found it--he's one of my +prospectors." + +"He's the man who discovered iron for you?" + +"Yes." + +"How very extraordinary," she said under her breath. + +"Why should it be?" + +"The last time we talked you had just found iron, and now it's gold. +This is even more wonderful, isn't it?" + +He shook his head. "It's pretty--but not nearly so important." +Something in the girl's manner attracted him strangely and he went on +talking as he seldom talked. Her eyes never left his face. + +"Yes," she said presently, "I'm glad to understand. But the strange +thing to me is that all these people," here she pointed towards the +works, "are doing things they would not have done if you hadn't come. +Why is that?" + +"Some people think that the most successful man is the one who gets +others to work the hardest for him," said Clark, smiling. + +She shook her head. "That doesn't suit. I know what it is." + +"Do you?" + +"It's vision." There was a thrill in her low voice. Then she added, +very swiftly, "You haven't many friends, have you, Mr. Clark?" + +He stared at her in surprise, and in the next instant decided that she +was right. "Why do you ask that?" + +"Because you must see past most people, don't you, to what is ahead? +It is hard to put just what I mean into words." + +He nodded gravely. "It is quite true that I haven't any very close +personal friends, I've moved about too quickly to make them. As for my +employees, I see them chiefly through their work." + +"Then you don't really know them," she announced. + +"Possibly,--but I know their results. It sounds a little inhuman, +doesn't it?" + +"I think I understand." Elsie was tempted to probe this gray-eyed man +about Belding, but presently gave it up. She was conscious that while +she was talking to Clark the figure of the engineer faded into the +background. + +"So there's really no one?" she went on reflectively. + +"Only my mother," he said gravely, "that is, so far." + +At that her heart experienced a new throb. He was infinitely removed +from any man she had ever dreamed of. + +"Are you never lonely?" + +"Perhaps I am," he replied with utter candor, "but I fill my life with +things which to most people are inanimate, though to me they are very +much alive. And what about yourself?" + +"I don't know." Her voice was a little unsteady. She had a swift +conviction that Clark was essentially kind, as well as a great creator. +"You want this, don't you?" She held out the piece of ore while the +flakes of gold shone dully in the sun. + +"Please keep it, the first bit out of what I hope will make a mine. +And I hope you will have iron as well as gold in your life." + +She glanced at him genuinely touched. "Can it really matter to you?" + +"Why shouldn't it?" + +"The first time I met you I was a little afraid of you." + +Clark chuckled. "Am I so formidable?" + +"Not to me any more. Perhaps it is because we understand the same +things." She pointed to the rapids. "This, for instance." + +"Would you tell me just what you hear out there." + +She shook her head doubtfully. "There are no words for most of it, but +I seem to catch the voices of things that want to be expressed +somehow." Then, with sudden breathlessness, "It's a universal +language--like music." + +"That's it," he said soberly, "it has all the majors and minors." He +regarded the girl with quickening interest. What was the elemental +note in her that responded to this thundering diapason? + +"It's a voice crying in the wilderness," she continued in the same low +tone, then, with a smile, "at least it was a wilderness before you +came. I wonder if you would do--" she broke off suddenly, her eyes +brilliant. + +"Tell me, and I'll do it." + +She clapped her hands. "I wish you would visit us all when we go +camping next month; you'd like it." + +"I'm sure I would, but--" + +"But what? I knew there'd be something." + +"I'd have to take the works with me." + +"But you said you'd do it." She glanced at him as though confidence +were shattered. + +"Then I will, if it's humanly possible." + +"It will be about a hundred miles down the lake, near Manitoulin +Island. Father knows." + +"I'm glad father knows," he smiled. + +The girl walked slowly back with the feeling that she had seen further +into the heart of this remarkable man than ever before. Opposite the +blockhouse, at which she looked with a strange sensation, she met +Belding, swinging in from the far corner of the works with a transit +over his shoulder. She seemed thoughtful and distrait, and he glanced +at her puzzled. + +"Been exploring? I didn't know you were coming up." + +"I didn't know either," she said a little nervously. "Will you come +back to lunch?" + +"Sorry, I'm too busy. Where have you been?" + +"Over at the rapids. And, Jim, see what Mr. Clark gave me." + +"Gold?" he said sharply. + +"Yes, isn't it wonderful?" + +"Who found it?" + +"One of Mr. Clark's prospectors, Fisette." + +"And who told you?" + +"Mr. Clark himself." The girl had a sudden sense of discomfort. Why +was Belding so inquisitive? + +"I haven't heard anything about it," he said shortly. + +"No one has outside of the office, except myself." + +"But why should Clark tell you?" + +"I don't know. Why shouldn't he?" + +Belding thrust the legs of his instrument into the ground. "I have an +idea that he's telling you too much." The young man's eyes were hot +with resentment. + +"Jim, how dare you!" + +"Well, where do I come in? You haven't been much interested in me the +last year or so." + +She flushed. "That's not fair. You know how fond I am of you." + +"But Clark doesn't need you--and I do." + +"Do you object to my having friends?" she said tremulously. + +"Elsie, will you marry me to-morrow?" Belding's voice was shaky but in +deadly earnest. + +"What nonsense." + +He shook his head. "It isn't to me,--I mean it. There is no one else. +There never will be. Can't you realize that?" + +"I don't want to be married--now--" she said slowly. + +He snatched up his transit. "Thanks, I thought it would come to that." +He took off his hat very formally and strode on. In his angry brain +burned the thought that the sooner Clark came to grief, the sooner +Elsie would get rid of this illusion. And then, as always, the brave +and loyal soul of him sent out a silent protest. + +By now the wires were humming, and through St. Marys the news ran like +quicksilver. In years past there had been individual discoveries by +wandering bushmen, but none of them of value. Tales were afloat that +old Shingwauk down at the settlement knew of a gold bearing vein, and +that the knowledge would die with him. But at the formal announcement +that the Consolidated had found gold, it was universally believed that +it was of a necessity a bigger and better thing than ever before, and +carried with it all the reputation of Clark's immense undertaking. + +So began the rush to the woods. It was not one in which tenderfeet +deserted their jobs and took to the hills, but a stirring amongst the +stiff bones of old prospectors who had given up the fight but were now +infused with new courage. In Fisette they saw the man who had won out +for the second time while they sat and smoked. There was a seeking out +and sharpening of picks blunted by inumerable taps on forgotten ridges, +and a stuffing of dunnage bags, and a sortie to Filmer's store for +flour and bacon and a few sticks of forty per cent. dynamite, and +patching of leaky shoe packs. Twenty-four hours later the little +station up at the works was crammed with men whose leathern faces were +alight with an old time joy, and whose eyes sparkled with the flame of +a nearly extinguished fire. After them came others from greater +distance, then peddlers and engineers representing mining firms in +search of properties, and keepers of road houses where the lamps burned +all night, and there were women and songs and whiskey that flouted the +peace of the forest. And with all this the traffic returns of the +Consolidated Company's railway leaped up, and Fisette, who was in +charge of a dozen men stripping his find of roots and earth and moss, +began to hear all round him, both near and far, the dull thud of +blasting and the faint clink of hammer on steel. + +But it was a month before the general manager's private car slid into +the siding at Mile 61, where Clark, descending, found Fisette waiting +for him, and together they stepped out for the discovery. Here and +there along the trail other prospectors fell in silently behind. They +wanted to see Clark when he got the first glimpse of the vein. +Arriving a little breathless, he looked down at the bluish, white +streak that nakedly crossed a little ridge, clipped to a ravine on +either side, and reappeared boldly further on. Fisette picked up +samples from time to time, at which his patron glanced, and finally, +taking mortar and pan, crushed a fist full of ore and washed it +delicately, till a long tapering tail of yellow metal clung to the +rounded angle of the pan. And at that Clark asked a few questions of +the mining engineer who had come with him, nodded contentedly and +started back, leaving Fisette with the pan still in his muscular hands. + +That night the breed squatted by his camp fire, too offended to smoke +and wondering dumbly why his patron had left so soon and said so +little, for this was a day to which he had looked forward for weeks. +He did not dream that Clark was even that moment thinking of him as the +private car clicked evenly over the rail joints on the way to the iron +mines. And this indeed was the case, for in the first tide of the rush +of gold seekers Clark had discerned the workings of an ancient rule. +Always it had been gold which inflamed the human mind to endure to the +uttermost. His imagination went back, and he saw the desperate influx +heading for California, for Australia, for South Africa, that mob of +adventurous spirits for whom there burned nightly over the hills the +lambent promise of the morrow, strengthening and invigorating to +further effort. He saw this mob lose itself in forest, mountain, plain +and canyon, a wild-eyed herald of civilization. He saw roads and +bridges, farms and villages take form along the trail it traversed, +till, slowly but inexorably, the wilderness was conquered, and the sons +of the pioneers sat in contentment under their own roof-tree in full +possession of a wealth greater by far than that their ancestors had +come to seek. But it was gold with its yellow finger that first +beckoned the way. + +Next day, at the iron mine, he stood listening to the deep cough of the +big crusher and the loose rattle of machine drills. A little on one +side, and as yet unshaken by dynamite, was the knoll on which Wimperley +and the rest had been told what they were sitting on, and he smiled at +the recollection. Surveying the widening excavation, he reflected that +here, after all, was the heart of the entire enterprise. In fifty--in +a hundred years--the mine would still be unexhausted. It did not seem +romantic like Fisette's vein of gold ore, this barren-looking upheaval, +but to him the romance of a thing was in its potentiality and not its +appearance, and it moved in his mind now that there was every reason +for haste. Philadelphia was beginning to weary of capital expenditure, +and demanded an output of steel rails at the earliest possible moment. + +Completing his round with a visit to Baudette's headquarter camp, he +inspected train loads of pulp wood ready for the mills. The areas +originally secured were nearly denuded and Baudette was forced further +afield. The mills were doing and had always done well, but their +profits were so instantly absorbed by allied and interlinked +undertakings that Clark at times wondered whether he was asking one +dollar to do too much. He reflected with a touch of surprise that the +small company formed to supply St. Marys with water and light was, +after all, the only one which from the first had actually disbursed +dividends. But the rail mill would settle all that. Returning to the +works he found a note on his desk that Townley, the chemist, would like +audience. He sent for him. + +"Well?" he demanded impatiently; "what about that sulphur?" + +Townley submitted a condensed report. "We can get it out at a cost of +about half the market price." He spoke with a note of triumph. He had +been slaving over the problem with the sacrificial zeal that +characterizes all keen chemists. But Townley did not know, and it was +impossible for him to know, that many things are feasible in a +laboratory which are irreducible to commercial terms. + +Clark nodded as though he expected this. "Bring Belding in here." + +When the engineer appeared, he went on, "We're going to do something +new. Townley will give you his end of it, and you work out the rest. +It's chemical engineering, so get any assistance you need. Give me +estimates of costs and say how soon the plant can be put up. Figure on +a hundred tons of sulphite pulp per day--dry weight. That's all." + +The two went out, and he leaned back, pressing his finger tips hard on +his lids, and finding in the red blur that followed something that +soothed and rested his eyes. He was not one who sought out problems +and chased them to their solution, but rather one who perceived the +problem and, by singularly acute vision, perceived also the solution +just behind it. There were so many things that were overlooked by +others but presented themselves to him for attention, that he had long +since ceased to wonder why the world was full of men he considered +ineffectual. Now he ran rapidly over the existing situation, +marshaling his various undertakings in due order, when there sounded in +his head something that seemed like the tearing of a piece of cloth. +He drew a long breath, experiencing for the first time in his life a +sense of intolerable weariness. And then, suddenly he thought of Elsie. + +It was strange that he should think of her now--there were so many +other and insistent things. Wimperley and the rest had come up to +congratulate him and gone away elated but at the same time puzzled that +he should regard the discovery with such apparent indifference. It was +true that creditors were becoming pressing, but the rail mill, it was +universally admitted, would pull the thing through. Now a reaction set +in and he longed for a little solitude. It lay in his mind that just +over the horizon was something more inviting than all that had taken +place. + +An hour later he was in the bow of a big tug, heading down stream, +having left orders that he must not be disturbed. As the green +landscape slid by he gave himself over to retrospection, and his mind +wandered comfortably back through all the stages of the past years. +Surveying the folk of St. Marys, he concluded that only Filmer and +Bowers had been active supporters from the start. He would remember +that. Came a voice at his elbow. It was the master of the tug. + +"Where to, sir?" + +"A hundred miles from here there's a camping party. Find them." + +They anchored that night in a long and narrow inlet where the trembling +reflection of the tug's funnel lay beside the mirrored tops of pine +trees that clung to the rocky shore. Ahead and behind was the open +lake. There was no sound but the twitter of sleepy birds and the honk +of a startled heron that winged its flight to solitudes still more +remote. Then Clark began to fish, and, just as he landed a five pound +bass, a girl's voice sounded clearly while a canoe floated round a +nearby point. Elsie was in it and alone. + + + + +XVII.--THE GIRL IN THE CANOE + +She stared at him with undisguised astonishment. "Good evening," he +laughed. "Here I am!" + +The girl grew rather pink. "Isn't it wonderful that you really found +us?" + +"I didn't, the captain found you." + +"It's hard to think of you as--well--just here." + +"I came down for a day or two off. For the first time in years, I've +forgotten all about the works." + +"I'm glad, and do you--" + +At that instant there came from between Clark's feet a mighty thump, +and the big bass, curving its spiney back, leaped clear of the boat and +landed in the brown water with a splash. A flip of the broad tail and +it vanished. + +"You've lost your fish!" exclaimed Elsie, aghast. + +"Perhaps you lost it, but it doesn't matter." + +"Is that the way you feel, just slack and careless?" + +"Just like that." + +"I knew you had a mind above fish," she laughed. + +"That's a distinction, because few fishermen have. Now I'd like to +thank you again for your note of a few weeks ago." + +"Do you really remember that?" she said earnestly. + +He nodded, and over him came a slow conviction that there was an avenue +of life he had never traversed and which seemed to be, after all, more +inviting than he had allowed himself to believe. Elsie was years +younger than Clark, but just now the latter felt strangely young. + +"Do you recollect finding out that I had but a few personal friends?" + +"Yes, of course." + +"Well," he said thoughtfully, "I would like another." + +"Oh!" She stared at him, her startled eyes full of light. + +"You don't mind, I hope?" + +The canoe drifted like a leaf towards his heavy boat, but Elsie's +paddle was motionless. + +"It would make me very happy. But could I really do anything for you? +It has always seemed that," she hesitated and her lips became +tremulous, "that you didn't need any one." Then she added under her +breath, "like me." + +Clark's face was grave. "And if I did?" + +She looked at him with growing fascination. Surrounded by the gigantic +things of his own creation he was impressive, but here in the solitudes +he took on even more suggestive characteristics. She stretched out a +slim brown hand. + +"You will find me very difficult sometimes, I warn you now." + +"I like difficult things, they seem to come my way." + +The languid hours sped by. Clark swam, fished, paddled with the girl, +entertained her party in the tug's white painted saloon, and chatted +with Mrs. Dibbott, the chaperon, about St. Marys. But most of all he +explored the mind of Elsie Worden. It was like opening successive +doors to his own intelligence. She startled him with her intuition, +delighted him with her keen sense of humor, and seemed to grasp the +man's complex nature with superlative ease. And, yielding to her +charms, Clark, for the first time in his life, felt that he must go +slow. It was a new country to him. Previous experience had left no +landmarks here. + +They were drifting lazily along the shore, miles from the others, when +Elsie, after a long pause, glanced at him curiously. + +"Will you tell me just what you find in music?" + +"But I don't know anything about it." + +"Perhaps not, but you feel it, and that's what counts. I've only heard +you play twice." + +"Once," he corrected. + +"No, I was out on the bay one night, below the blockhouse, when you +were playing." Belding's name was on the girl's lips but at the moment +Belding did not fit and she went on evenly, "It is something like the +rapids." + +"I'm glad you think that. It's the response that one gets." + +"That's what I feel. You're an American, aren't you?" + +"Yes." + +"I thought so. You see your people are more responsive than we are, +and you don't seem so ashamed of enthusiasm." + +"We can't help it, but it's a little awkward sometimes," his eyes +twinkled, "that is in Canada. Now talk about yourself." + +"There's so little to say. I was asleep for years like every one else +in St. Marys, till you came and woke us all up. + +"And then?" + +"I realized that life was rather thin and that I wanted a lot of things +I'll never get." + +"Why never,--and what do you want?" + +"To be part of something bigger than myself," said the girl very slowly. + +Clark felt an answering throb. That was what he had felt and wanted +and achieved. + +"To feel what the world feels and know something of what the world +knows," she added intensely. "I want to work." + +"That sounds strenuous." + +She flushed a little. "Won't you take me seriously?" + +"I beg your pardon. As a matter of fact I've always taken you +seriously." + +"Have you, why?" + +"Perhaps because I don't know anything about your sex," he answered +teasingly. "I never had time,--they're sealed books to me." + +"So this is your first exploring trip?" + +"The very first,--and it's not at all what I expected." + +A question moved in Elsie's eyes but she did not speak. Clark, taking +in the supple grace of her figure and expanding to the candor of her +spirit, wondered if now, at the apex of his labors, the color of his +future life was being evolved by this girl who was as free and +untainted as the winds of Superior. He had at times attempted +friendships of another kind and found them unsatisfying and pondered +whether this might not be the human solution of that loneliness which +he had admitted to her, months before, was only so far assuaged by +driving himself to the uttermost. Then her voice came in again. + +"It was so queer meeting you here, just as if the voice of the rapids +had carried a hundred miles. I always associate you with the rapids." + +"But they'll go on forever, and I won't." + +"You're doing something better than that," she said swiftly. + +He laid down his paddle. "I'd like very much to know just what my new +friend means." + +"You're touching the hidden springs of things that will go on forever." +Elsie's voice was vibrant with feeling. "That's the difference between +you and other men I know. You're in the secret." + +Clark drew a long breath. "When did you decide that, and why?" + +"When I heard about your speech that first night. I was only seventeen +then but I felt almost as if you'd told me the secret. So I've +followed all you've accomplished since, and I would give anything to +have done just the littlest part of it." + +"So it's just a matter of recognizing one's destiny and following it?" +he said curiously. + +"Just that." Complete conviction was in her tones. + +"Then, for the first time in my life, I'm wondering what destiny has in +store for the immediate future," he said with a long stare of his gray +eyes, and in them was that which set her heart throbbing. + +"You must go to-morrow?" she ventured. Could such wonderful moments +ever be repeated? + +"Yes, at sunrise, and I'll be at the works at noon. Do you know that +you've done a lot for me? It's a selfish remark, but it's true, and +may we have another talk when you get back?" + +Her lips trembled, and Clark, gazing at her, felt an intense yearning. +She was very beautiful and very understanding. Then again he +hesitated. There were things, many things, he had in mind to arrange +before he spoke. A few weeks would make no difference, but only +prolong those delightful and undecipherable sensations to which he now +yielded luxuriously. If this was love, he had never known love before. + +The sun's red orb was thrusting up over the glassy lake when, next +morning, the big tug with a slow thudding of her propeller, moved from +her anchorage. At Clark's orders they passed on down the channel, and +just where the lake began to broaden was a cluster of white tents. Two +Indians were warming their fingers at a rekindled fire. Clark stared +hard, and lifted his hat. + +One of the tent flaps had been opened, and a girl stood against a snowy +background, her hair hanging loose. As the tug drew abreast she waved +good-by, and, for another mile, till he swung round the next point, he +could see the slim figure and its farewell salutation. There was +something mystical about it all. The girl vanished abruptly behind a +screen of trees, the propeller revolved more rapidly, and the sharp +swish of cleft water deepened at the high, straight bow. + +He stood for a long time immersed in profound thought, and oblivious of +the keen air of early morning. Never before had he found it hard to go +back to duty. + +Six hours later the tug swept into the St. Marys River, and three miles +ahead lay the works, the vast square-topped buildings rising, it +seemed, out of the placid waters of the bay. He drew a long breath and +emerged from fairyland. Had he created all this? Yet it was not more +real than something he had just left and had also created. + + + + +XVIII.--MATTERS FINANCIAL + +The young manager of the local bank through which Clark transacted his +affairs sat late one night in his office. He had just returned from +dinner at the big house, where he left his host in an unusually genial +and communicative mood. It seemed that Clark's mind, tightened with +the continued strain of years, had wished to slacken itself in an hour +or two of utter candor, and Brewster had listened with full +consciousness that this was an occasion which might never be repeated. +But in his small cubicle, walled in with opaque glass, Clark's magnetic +accents appeared to dwindle before the inexorable character of the +statement Brewster now scrutinized. It was the detailed and financial +history of each successive company, a history in which birth and bones +and articulation were clearly set forth, and what struck the young man +most forcibly was the extraordinary way in which each was interlinked +with the rest. The combined capital of all was, he noted, twenty-seven +million dollars, and greater than that yet reached by the Canadian +Pacific Railway. Brewster had known it before, but the bald and +cumulative figures in front of him made the fact the more momentous. + +Probing still deeper, it became apparent that while the pulp mills made +steady profits, these were so adjusted as to form but one link in a +chain. In all there were some ten companies, each drawing from the +others its business and its surplus. Clark had not been far wrong when +he reflected that he might be asking one dollar to do too much, and now +the sharp brain of the young manager was coming to the same conclusion. +Behind his office building passed Clark's steamships, for there was a +transportation company, and into the wilderness Clark's trains plunged +with unfailing regularity. Up at the works the blast furnaces were +vomiting flame and smoke, and the rail mill was nearly completed. +Baudette was sending down train loads and rafts of wood, and at the +iron mine dynamite was lifting thousands of tons of ore. The entire +aggregation of effort and expenditure had been so systematically +interwoven that Brewster there and then decided that if one link in the +chain should part, the whole fabric of the thing would dissolve. It +was true that he made no advances without authority from his +headquarters, but he had long been aware that Clark's was the largest +commercial account in Canada and, he reflected gravely, it all went +through his own office. Two days later he reached Toronto, and asked +audience of his general manager. + +Now since this record is partly that of the relative standing of +different individuals in the development of a little known district, +consider Brewster in consultation with Thorpe, the general manager of +his great bank. Brewster was young, active, in close touch with Clark +and his enterprises, enthusiastic, yet touched with a certain power of +quick and ruthless decision. He had been interested and even thrilled +by the doings at St. Marys, but he had never yielded himself completely +to Clark's mesmeric influence. Thorpe, a much older man and of noted +executive ability, was one of those who by that noted address at the +Board of Trade had been rooted out of long standing indifference and +imbued with surprised confidence, and this translation, so rapid in its +movements, still survived. In consequence, he listened to the younger +man with a thinly veiled incredulity. + +"I can't quite see it," he said thoughtfully, "even from your own +account. It's probably the proportions of the thing that makes you +anxious." + +Brewster shook his head. "No, it isn't that. There's a big power +house on the American side and it didn't earn a cent for a year, +something wrong with the foundations, though it's all right now. +There's the sulphur extraction plant that doesn't extract sulphur, +and--" + +"What?" interrupted Thorpe. He, like others, had read of the new +process with keen interest, and was anxious to learn details. + +"It worked in the laboratory but not on a commercial basis. Belding, +the chief engineer, is all cut up about it. Consequence is Clark is +buying sulphur, and just now pulp prices are so low he's not making +anything out of it." + +"Have you seen Wimperley lately?" + +"He was up with Birch a week or so ago." + +"Say anything particular?" + +Brewster smiled reflectively. "He didn't seem to want to talk." + +"What are the obligations?" asked Thorpe after a little pause. + +"Of all companies?" + +"Of course." + +"About two millions as nearly as I can get at them." + +"And to us?" + +Brewster handed over a slip of paper. "This is a copy of what I +forwarded yesterday." + +The older man's brows cleared a little. The combined overdraft was +just over a hundred thousand, against which the bank held Philadelphia +acceptances which he knew would be met. He glanced over the statement +again. + +"You've looked after this extremely well. Now what do you want me to +do?" + +Brewster drew a long breath. "I don't want you to take my word for +anything, but come up and see for yourself. Go into the woods and up +to the mines and through the entire works--then come to your own +conclusions. It may be I'm too near the thing to get the right +perspective, but I give it to you as I see it." + +Thorpe nodded. "I know you have and your branch has done extremely +well." + +"Thanks." Brewster laughed. "That's due to the man we're talking +about." + +"And supposing," put in Thorpe thoughtfully, "supposing the whole thing +were to go smash! What would you say?" + +The other man's eyes rounded a little. "I'd say," he answered slowly, +"that even in that case the entire district would be in Clark's debt." + +"Yes?" + +"Because they know what's in the country now and how to get it out--and +they never knew that before." + +"And the immediate future--what do you see that depends on?" + +"Steel rails," said Brewster with conviction. "Will you come up?" + +Thorpe did go up, and Clark, who knew that Brewster had been in Toronto +and conceived why, met them both at the works with a genuine welcome. +He felt, nevertheless, that his undertakings were to be analyzed with +cold deliberation. + +At the end of two days Thorpe had seen them all--had peered into the +gray black bowels of the iron mine, watched Baudette denuding the +slopes of a multitude of hills--seen the stamps in the gold mill +hammering out the precious particles that were caught by great +quicksilver plates,--seen booms and train loads of pulp on their way to +St. Marys--seen the white spruce shaven of its brown bark and ground +and sheeted and loaded into the gaping holds of Clark's +steamships--seen the blast furnaces vomit their molten metal--seen the +rhythmic pumps and dynamos send water and light through every artery of +the young city--seen the veneer mills ripping out flexible miles of +their satiny wood--seen the power house on the American side making +carbide to the low rumble of thousands of horsepower, and seen the +electric railway that linked Ironville with St. Marys. And all the +time Clark had put forward neither arguments in his own favor nor any +request for credit, but only allowed these things to speak for +themselves, till, as the aggregate became more and more rounded and the +picture more complete, Thorpe perceived that here was something which +initiated by an extraordinary brain had now grown to such vast +proportions that it supplied its own momentum, and must of necessity +move on to its appointed and final result. + +But Clark did not distinguish in either Thorpe or Brewster any +determining factor of his future. They would do what they were meant +to do, and play the game as the master of the game decided. They might +modify, but they would never create. His mind was pitched so far ahead +that it was beside the mark to attempt to influence men who, he +conceived, were not themselves endowed with any prophetic vision. He +had to deal with them and he dealt with them, and though he wondered +mutely at their abiding sense of the present and their apparent lack of +faith in the inevitable future, he descended from the heights of his +own imagination and parleyed in the bald and merciless language of +strictly commercial affairs. + +It was at the end of his visit that Thorpe asked about the sulphur +plant. + +Clark glanced at him curiously. The sulphur plant was so small a +fraction of the whole. + +"There's a certain step in the process we have not perfected--that's +all. You don't believe in economic waste, do you?" + +"No, certainly not--if avoidable." + +"Well, I'm satisfied that this is avoidable. It is just as much a +mistake to allow water to run away when it might be grinding pulp, as +it is to drive sulphur into the air instead of catching and selling it. +You pollute the air, you kill the trees, you spend a lot of money, and +you waste the sulphur. Nature has a lot of processes up her sleeve +we've not realized as yet. This is one of them." + +"Then this plant is a mistake?" Thorpe got it out with some hesitation. + +Clark laughed. "Some of it--so far. I make plenty of mistakes, don't +you? It seems to me it's the proportion his mistakes bear to the +things that succeed which determines a man's usefulness. I don't +believe in the one who doesn't make them." + +Thorpe grinned in spite of himself. "Perhaps you're right--but I'll be +glad to know as soon as you're rolling rails. When do you expect that?" + +"In six months at the latest. I'll send you a section of the first +one." + +The banker drove toward the station in unaccustomed silence. Presently +he turned to Brewster. "You were right and, by George! Clark is right +too, but we must not get our mutual rectitude mixed up. He's got to go +ahead, come what may, and we've got to help him all we reasonably can, +but with us our shareholders come before his. That's the point. He +may turn out to be a private liability, but in any case he's a national +asset. I want a bit of that first rail. Good-by!" + +And Clark, after waving farewell at the big gates of the works, had +gone into the rail mill and stood in the shadow in deep contemplation. +He glanced at the massive flywheel, the great dominant dynamo and the +huge, inflexible rolls. At one end were the heating furnaces, their +doors open, and gentle fires glowing softly within to slowly raise the +temperature of newly set brick. Around him was the swing of work +directed by skilled brains, and machinery moved slowly into its +appointed place of service. It was a good mill, he reflected, for a +second hand mill. For all of this the place was dead--awaiting the +pulse of power and the unremitting supply of incandescent metal. +Glancing keenly about, he experienced again that strange sound as +though between his temples, and suddenly he felt tired. The thing was +good, very good. But he too wanted to see the lambent metal spewed +from between the shining rolls. + +It was a notable day in St. Marys when the first rail was actually +rolled, and symbolical to many people of many different things. +Infection spread from the words to the town, till all morning there was +a trickling stream of humanity that filed in at the big gates and moved +on toward the dull roar of the mill. Even though the mass of folk in +St. Marys still failed to grasp the full significance of the event, +they saw in it that which put their one time Arcadia beside Pittsburg, +and invested their own persons with a new sense of importance. + +Clark, watching the fruition of a seven year dream, felt thrilled as +never before. Here, in this heat and mechanical tumult, was being +forged the last link in the chain into which he had hammered his entire +strength and spirit. It was a good thing, he reflected, to make pulp +and ship it on his own steamships, but this was the biggest, deepest +and most enduring thing of all. Some men at such a moment would have +felt humble, but he recognized only the unfolding of an elemental drama +in which he played his own particular role. A few weeks later he +closed a contract with a great railway company for a million dollars' +worth of his new product, which he unhesitatingly guaranteed would live +up to the most exacting specifications. + +The new plant had settled down to the steady drive of work when the +mayor of St. Marys, walking up the street in a mood of peculiar +satisfaction, saw just ahead of him the bulky form of the chief +constable. He stepped a little faster and laid a detaining hand on the +broad shoulder. + +"Arrest yourself for a minute," he chuckled. "How's our town pessimist +feeling this fine morning?" + +Manson glanced sideways. "I suppose you want to rub it in. Well, I +don't know that my opinions have changed very much." + +"Takes more than a few thousand tons of rails to move you, eh? But +isn't Mahomet going to come to the mountain at last?" + +Manson shook his head. + +"If he doesn't the mountain will come to Mahomet--and crush him," +continued Filmer gayly, then, his mood changing, "but honestly, old +man, why don't you drop your gloomy views? You've an excellent chance +right now, and, besides, they're getting rather amusing." + +"I've a right to my own opinions." + +"Naturally, we all have, but you don't act up to them--at least you +didn't." + +Manson glowered at him with quick suspicion. "What's that?" + +"Your left hand knows what your right hand doeth--every time,--at least +it's so in St. Marys. You're too big to get under a bushel basket. +Every one saw that you were dabbling in real estate for years, and made +a good clean up, but you seemed so darned ashamed of it that no one +cared to discuss it with you. And all the time you were our prize +package disbeliever. What's the use? It's your own affair, but why +don't you make a lightning change like the man in the circus last week? +Your friends would welcome it. You're not the man we used to know." + +"If it's my own affair," came back Manson with growing resentment, "why +not leave it at that? Did you never make any money out of a thing you +didn't believe in?" + +"Yes," said Filmer slowly, "I have, but after that I believed in it, +and said so. It was only fair to the fellow behind it." + +Manson went stolidly back to his square stone office, where he took out +his broker's statement for the previous month and stared at it +silently. Already he knew the figures by heart. Another two point +rise in Consolidated stock and he would realize his net profit of one +hundred thousand dollars. He ran over his own scribbled figures on the +back of the statement, as he had gone over them many times before. +They were quite right. For weeks past his selling order had been in, +been acknowledged, and now at any moment the thing might be done. It +might even have already been done. The blood rushed to his head at the +thought. How many other chief constables, he wondered, had amassed +fortunes from behind their forbidding gray stone walls? Then he +thought of his wife and children, and his eyes softened, while the +broker's statement in his big hand trembled ever so slightly. He +smiled at that, and it came to his mind that perhaps statements in +other men's hands sometimes trembled at the thought of their wives and +children and the fortunes that--and here Manson felt vaguely +uncomfortable and, getting up, slowly locked his desk. + +Just at that moment, Filmer, who had returned to his office, was +sitting staring at a half-section of steel rail that lay in his hand. +It was smooth and highly polished, a thin slice of the very first +product of Clark's last and greatest undertaking. He experienced a +quite extraordinary sensation at feeling the thing, and it snatched his +mind back seven years till again in the Town Hall he heard a magnetic +voice assuring the citizens that the town lacked just three +essentials--experience, money and imagination, and that the speaker +would supply them all. It was a far cry from that evening to the deep +drone of the rail mill, and Filmer, detaching himself from the picture +in which he formed a part, began now to perceive its dramatic vitality. +Were Clark taken out the whole thing seemed to fall to pieces. + +And up at the See House, the bishop was examining just such another +section of rail, while the gold of his episcopal ring shone beside the +gray of steel. To him it meant many things, but chiefly it was +prophetic of that which would soon put an end to the detachment and +loneliness of the scattered communities to which he ministered. +Holding the thing thus, his heart went out to Clark, and he yearned +with a great longing over the spirit of this man who so reveled in the +joy of creation. His eyes wandered to the Evangeline. She lay at +anchor just off shore. A thin film of smoke slid from her funnel, and +he could see the Indian pilot swabbing down her smooth teak decks. +Then, in sudden impulse, he smiled and, laying the rail section on top +of a half finished sermon, wrote a short note, and, calling his man +servant, instructed him to wait for an answer. + +A little later the note reached Clark in his office, where he sat +motionless under the sway of a slight reaction. At the moment he did +not want to work. He was continuously conscious of ribbons of red hot +rails that streamed like fluted snakes from under the gigantic rolls, +and they seemed to be boring their way into his brain. He had shipped +thousands of tons to the railway company and there were thousands more +to go. In a week or so he would get a formal acceptance of his +product, and then-- He stretched himself a little wearily and pressed +his eyes till a red and compelling blur brought its transient solace. +And just then his secretary came in with the bishop's note. + + +Dear Mr. Clark: + +I am off this afternoon for a five day cruise of visits amongst the +islands of Lake Huron. Won't you come with me? I know it would be +good for me and think it might give you what I'm sure is a much needed +rest. My Mercury, I mean the hired man, awaits your answer. + +Yours faithfully, + JAMES, ALGOMA. + +P. S. I never attempt to proselytize my guests. + + +For a moment he puzzled over the signature, and finally made out that +it was the bishop's Christian name followed by that of his diocese, for +this was the first letter he had received from the prelate. Then he +felt a sudden throb of impulse. He had a natural liking for the bishop +and this, with his insatiable appetite for new experiences, prompted an +acceptance. He touched the bell, and his secretary reappeared. + +"I am going away for five days," he paused, adding with a smile--"on +missionary work. I haven't any idea where we are going and don't want +to be disturbed. I'll be back before we receive the results of the +United Railway Company's tests. That's all." + +It was mid-afternoon when the Evangeline, gliding smoothly over the +polished surface of the bay, drew in towards the Consolidated dock, and +Clark, watching from the shadow of a mountain of bales of pulp +assembled for shipment, saw the Indian pilot amidship at the wheel and +the bishop, in a big, coarse, straw hat, standing in the slim bow, a +coil of rope in his hands and a broad smile on his big sunburnt face. + +"Catch!" The bight of the rope whistled through the air and struck +smartly at his guest's feet. + +The latter laughed, picked it up and made fast. It struck him suddenly +that it was curious the bishop should be throwing him a rope. Then he +reflected that it was the bishop and not himself who needed help. + +The former was very gay, his kindly face alight with amusement and +anticipation. Presently came a throb from the engine room, and the +Evangeline sheered off down the river, past the new St. Marys where +staring red brick buildings shouldered up out of the old time houses, +past the See Mouse, while a flag fluttered jerkily down from the tall +mast at whose top it flew when the bishop was at home, past the +American side, where Clark's big power house stretched its gray length +at the edge of the river, and on till they came to the long point that +closes the upper reach, and just then both men turned and looked up +stream at the vanishing bulk of the huge structures beside the rapids, +and the flat line of tremulous foam that marked the rapids themselves. +The voice of them was, at this distance, mute. + +The yacht glided on and still neither spoke, Clark was full of the +thought that, for the second time in seven years, he had deliberately +left his work. Four hours ago the thing would have seemed grotesque, +but glancing at the bishop's broad back, he realized that here was a +friendly interceptor to whom he had been wise to yield. The miles slid +smoothly by, and still neither talked. Each was busy with the +contented reflection that in the other he had found one who possessed +the gift of understanding silence. + +The Evangeline rested that evening not far from where Clark had +anchored so recently. He sat motionless, breathing in the welcome +benison of the spot, till the Indian pilot put out port and starboard +lamps whose soft red and green shone steadily into the gathering dusk. + +"Is there a mission here?" asked the visitor presently. + +"No, but there's the best bass fishing in Lake Huron," grunted the +bishop placidly, already busy with rods and bait. "The mission is ten +miles on. Now we're going to catch our breakfast--there's an excellent +spot just opposite that big cedar." + +Clark had not fished much, but he loved it, like most men of intellect, +and discovered that he had been steered straight into the best fishing +he had ever known. They were small mouthed bass, deep of belly and +high of back, and they fought in the brown water over the twitching +minnows that dangled from the Evangeline bow and stern. + +"I'm glad you came." The bishop smoothed down the spines of a big +three pounder ere he gripped it. + +"Best thing I ever did. Fishing is a clerical pursuit, isn't it?" + +The bishop nodded without turning his head. "Yes, but it's not always +for money. We have to bait our hooks according to the season of men's +minds. By the way, some of my best friends are in your country." + +"Yes?" + +"Had a church in Chicago for ten years,--there at the time of the great +fire--it stopped a few blocks from my house. I had to marry a devoted +couple a day or two later and the wedding fee was a bunch of candles. +Glad to get them; whole city in darkness and it seemed suitable that +the parson's house should reflect light. You remind me of one of my +friends at that time." + +"Why and how?" said Clark. He knew so little of himself as appearing +in other people's minds. + +"This man was a big Chicago importer--look out, you've got another +bass--and he was in New York at the time of the fire--heard his +warehouses were threatened and bought trainloads of stuff and rushed it +through. It arrived while the other stuff was still smoking, and he +made much more than he-- My dear sir, that's the best fish of the +evening, let me look at him." + +Clark laid the twitching body of a bass on the teak deck, while the big +man came aft, trailing his bait and slowly reeling up his line. As the +minnow glimmered in towards the yacht's black side, there came a heavy +plunge, the bishop's rod bent double, and the line sang off his reel. +He was a famous fisherman, and Clark watched him admiringly. To every +ounce of pliant bamboo on his six ounce rod there was, down in the +brown water, a pound of savagely fighting weight. Deeper went the big +fish and further, but ever the taut line yielded by fractions, and the +nearly doubled rod kept up a steady insidious strain. As the bass +dashed back, the bishop recovered his nearly spent line while his lips +pressed tight and the light of battle shone in his large eyes. For a +quarter of an hour the fight lasted, till the great fish floundered +once or twice with heavy weariness on the surface, and the angler +worked him toward the yacht. Then a bare brown arm shot a landing net +underneath his horny shoulder and, with a dexterous twist, the Indian +pilot landed him on the deck in a thumping tangle of line, leader and +net. + +"And that," said the bishop with a deep sigh of content, "will do. +We've got supper and breakfast as well." + +The night deepened, and in the little saloon host and guest sat down to +a supper of fried fish, blueberries and cream. The small, red curtains +were drawn, and over the tiny fireplace a binnacle lamp glowed softly. +Forward in the bows, the Scotch engineer and the Indian pilot sat +conversing in deliberate monosyllables, and in the east a horned moon +floated just clear of the ragged tops of encircling pine trees. Clark +ate slowly and felt the burden slipping from his shoulders. It was a +strange sensation. Across the narrow table towered the bishop, the +genius of the place. He was still reminiscent of American experiences +and talked as talks a man who is comfortably sure of himself and his +companion. + +"I don't believe I have any very close personal friends," said Clark +presently. "I've moved about too quickly to make them. One meets +people in the way of work, and so far as my own employees are +concerned, I see them chiefly through their work. I can't let the +personal element intrude." + +The bishop smiled, remembering something similar he had said himself. +"Well, I must say I'm particularly drawn to Americans. Perhaps it's +because they suit the Irish, but I seem to find in them a certain +intellectual generosity one recognizes at once and appreciates. There +aren't so many fences to climb over. And, besides, they appear to +understand my cloth." + +"Yes?" Clark looked up, keenly interested. He had not thought much +about the clerical profession. + +"It's quite true. They realize that a parson is a man of like +predilections and impulses and weaknesses with themselves, and that a +cassock does not stifle the natural and healthy ambitions of the male +mammal. Nothing is more trying for the cleric than to be put aside as +though he were some emasculated ascetic who was unattracted by merely +natural things." + +"I hadn't thought of that." + +"Very few people have, except the cleric; and he thinks of it a good +deal. There is even the tendency to believe that the parson, because +he is a spiritually minded man, is incapable of horse sense in +practical and public affairs. By the way, don't you smoke?" + +Clark smiled and shook his head. "I've never wanted to." + +"I did once," chuckled the prelate. "It was a big, black cigar inside +a hedge about three miles out of Dublin. I've never smoked since. +Now, if I may go back to the clerical question, you'll probably realize +that a great many mistakes are made." + +"I hadn't thought much about that either." + +"Probably not, but it's without question that a good many parsons +realize in a year or so that they're not up to their job, especially if +it's a city congregation. The young and over enthusiastic rector +addressing a church full of shrewd, experienced men of affairs is often +in a grievous case. I've sat in the chancel and listened and writhed +myself. There's many a poor parson who would make a good engineer, and +he knows it." + +"Then why shouldn't he change over?" Clark was getting new avenues +opened for him in hitherto unexplored directions. + +"Because he's ashamed to, and the world has the habit of thinking that +the man who has once been a parson is not available for anything else. +Suppose one of my missionaries came to you for a job--what would +happen?" + +"I'd send him to you for a letter of recommendation and then put him to +work." + +"I believe you would, now, but not a month ago." + +"That's quite possible." + +"Well, you have no conception that envy may, and sometimes does, exist +in a black coated breast." + +"But why envy?" + +"Because devotion to one cause does not stifle natural aspirations in +another. For instance I've often longed for time to do some writing, +on my own account. One of my traveling preachers has invented a +railway switch and I know he dreams of it and makes sketches on the +margin of his sermons. No, my dear sir, the public has doubtless +classified us, and possibly correctly, but we are still fanciful, +and--" the bishop hesitated and broke off. + +"Go on, please." Clark's gray eyes were very penetrating and +understanding. + +"Possibly I've talked too much about the parson, but there's one thing +that is often denied him and he longs for it intensely--companionship +with his fellow men. The sacrifice of that one thing hurts more than +any other privation. And now that this one-sided symposium on the +parson must have taxed your good nature, let's go to bed. We lift +anchor at seven-thirty, and I go over the side at seven. There's +fifteen feet of water here and a sandy bottom, and if you like we'll +get a few more bass first. Good night! I think you'll find everything +you want in your cabin. Sleep well." + +A little later Clark stepped out on deck and breathed in the ineffable +serenity of the scene. A ray of moonlight lay along the inlet like a +silver line. As he went down to his cabin he noticed that the other's +door had swung open. Inside the bishop was kneeling by his narrow +bunk, his face buried in his hands, his broad shoulders bent forward in +prayer. Clark's breath came a little quickly at the strangeness of it +all and, moving on tip toe, he turned the handle softly. In his own +cabin, he lay for an hour staring out of the porthole at the dim world +beyond. He tried to think of the works, but they receded mysteriously +beyond the interlocking branches of the neighboring pines. They +seemed, somehow, less imposing than formerly, and Wimperley and +Stoughton and the rest of them were a long way off. There came to him +the lullulant lapping of water along the smooth black side of the +Evangeline. Presently he dropped into the abyss of sleep, dreamless +and profound. + + + + +XIX.--THE WEB OF LACHESIS + +The sun was shining level through the tree-tops when they began to +fish. In fifteen minutes the bishop called a halt, dipped a bucket of +water and washed his hands. Clark, still under the spell of this new +friendship, saw the great amethyst of the episcopal ring gleaming +softly amid the glint of fish scales, and dimly remembered the story of +the Man and the Galilean fisher folk whose catch was poor till He told +them where to cast. Presently the bishop stripped and went overboard +into the brown water with a clean schloop, where he was instantly +followed by his guest. + +Here they played like schoolboys, shouting and blowing in utter +physical abandonment, while the copper colored pilot stared at them +with expressionless eyes and wondered mutely why people wanted to get +so wet. + +The bishop was like an otter, swimming under water a long way to +reappear with a sharp whistle in an unexpected place. Soon the first +flush of Clark's enjoyment passed. He felt suddenly tired and turned +toward the Evangeline, where a small wooden ladder had been let down +just athwart the cabin cockpit. And in that instant he felt a sharp +and agonizing pain. + +"Help!" he called. "Help!!" A deadly stiffness was stealing from foot +to knee. + +The bishop heard, rolled over on his back and, treading water, saw +Clark's face. The lips were puffed out, the head bent back and he was +splashing desperately. + +"Hang on to it, I'm coming," roared the big man, and, laying his right +shoulder forward; began to tear through the water. Like a tug he came, +with a bubble of foam around his head, half his face submerged, his +powerful arms and legs working like pistons. Such was the power in him +that at each stroke his great body seemed to lift and fling itself +forward, and behind him broadened a long, diamond shaped ripple that +slid whispering to the shore. The next moment sounded a voice, as from +a long way off: + +"Put your arms straight out--rest your palms on my shoulders. When I +turn, trail your body and don't try to do anything. That's it." The +bishop was breathing hard, but not in any way distressed. + +They moved toward the yacht and Clark felt beneath his hands the +working of big, flexible muscles, and the buoyant surge of the +practiced swimmer who glides with the minimum of effort and resistance. +In five minutes he was scarifying his skin with a rough towel and +tingled with renewing circulation. + +"You saved my life that time," he said earnestly. + +The bishop pulled his shirt over his head. "Well, that's my business, +isn't it? and I fancy it's about the only thing I can do for a man like +you. Let's have some breakfast. I smell fish." + +Clark, in spite of his late experience, ate as he seldom ate, for there +were two things at which Indian Joe was a master--pilotage and cooking. +The visitor asked for more, silently deciding that his Japanese must +go, being no such artist as this. + +"You're using royal silver," said his host presently with a grin. "I +bought this boat from the agent of a certain august personage for whom +she had grown too small, and I got everything complete. She has a +bronze propeller and copper rivets. I've got the royal burgee too, and +fly it only on special occasions." + +The other man smiled and nodded. It did not somehow seem strange to +him to be using royal silver in a remote bay on Lake Huron. Something +about the bishop made it appropriate. Then they lifted anchor and the +Evangeline moved on under a climbing sun and over a laughing sea for +ten miles till she nosed into a creaking dock and made fast. Just +beyond was the settlement, from which the parson came hurrying down, +followed by others. Clark looked at him, a lean, overworked man, with +rusty clothes and joy in his face, and remembered for the first time in +his life that here was one fashioned in all ways like unto himself. + +"I'm off into the country to visit for a few hours," said the bishop, +introducing him. "You can come if you like, but it's not a good road, +and I would advise you to stay where you are. Joe will take you +fishing and there is plenty to read in the bookshelf. I can recommend +Henry Drummond or Marcus Aurelius. Good-by!" + +He drove off in a rattling buckboard, and the woods swallowed him. A +little crowd had gathered in the dock, glancing after the bishop and +then down at the slender deck of the Evangeline. The stranger looked +up at them, nodded and disappeared. Presently Joe stretched an awning +over the long boom of the main mast, and Clark sat in the shade +listening to the silence and surveying this isolated village. What, he +wondered, could keep people in so forgotten a community, with its +unpaved street, its straggling wooden houses, its background of +unbroken bush. There was no water power, no big timber, and, from the +look of the country, no mineral. He put the thought out of his mind +with luxurious deliberation and tried to decipher why a man like the +bishop should waste his time here when, without doubt, he could be a +shining light in a great city. After a little the reason became clear, +and, smiling to himself, he reached up for Marcus Aurelius. + +They supped that night at the parsonage, where they yielded to the +stark simplicity of new surroundings. The parson with his wife and +children regarded the bishop with their eyes in which love and +reverence were clearly mingled. At the stranger they looked a little +insecurely, for the bishop had, that afternoon, told who he was. They +had heard of him already, and in this remote village his person had +been invested with mysterious powers. He was a force of which they +read, rather than a living, breathing man, so that however he might try +to talk affably and communicably, he found himself hedged about with a +spiny growth of fame that the others made but little attempt to +penetrate. His garment of authority and influence was too great. He +was too big and didn't fit. + +Later came service in the bare, wooden church, and for the second time +he saw the prelate in robes of office. The sun was setting and its +level beams filled the tiny edifice with a softened glow. Overhead the +sky was like a benison, while the bishop spoke words of cheer and +strength that went straight to the hearts of his congregation. He +stood, as he always stood, in front of the chancel, a great figure in +white and scarlet, with a deep mellow voice that seemed to dissolve in +the hush of evening like a lingering caress. Clark, in his corner, sat +motionless, touched as he had seldom been touched before. He began to +see why the bishop spent his life in this wilderness. + +Service done, the Evangeline moved out over a sea that was sheer, flat +silver. Indian Joe sat motionless at the wheel, the spokes pressed +lightly against his polished palm. At the engine room hatch a +voiceless Scotchman smoked a contemplative pipe, and for the rest of it +there was only the muffled thud of the propeller, the subdued stroke of +the engine and the whisper of split water at the yacht's knifelike +stem. Clark did not speak. It seemed as the yacht slipped on, that he +was exploring, a kingdom in which the population and their ways were +hitherto unknown to him; a domain that was pathetic rather than +poor--and remote from his scheme of things. He had given this phase of +life no thought till the bishop introduced him to it, and was puzzled +that both men and women could be so deprived of the salt of life and +yet be apparently content. The bishop's voice broke his reverie. + +"Did you ever consider how much those with imagination owe to those who +have none?" + +Clark started a little, then shook his head. "No, I haven't." + +"Isn't it true?" + +"It may be--but I don't see what there is to create any obligation." + +"Well, you're discharging it every day. You create things primarily +for yourself, but actually what you do is to create opportunities for +others less endowed with imaginative power. And whatever may be the +ultimate scope or result of your work at St. Marys, that is the highest +service it will ever perform. And, by the way, my friends seemed a +little afraid of you at supper, though I assured them you were +perfectly harmless. Do you mind telling me if you got any impressions?" + +"About the events of the day?" + +"Partly. I'm wondering just what people like these suggest to a man of +your sort. Is it all very drab and uneventful?" + +"Well," said Clark thoughtfully, "it is something like that, isn't it?" + +"I thought so once, but that's just what I don't now admit, and urge +that this is a case where we should consider comparative values. +Satisfaction is not, after all, so much a matter of the size or quality +of the thing that satisfies, as it is of the individual who is affected +and his circumstances. Small joys go a long way on Manitoulin Island." + +"But are people who live like this not conscious of any deprivation?" + +"It's not so much that as it is wonder what it would be like to own +certain things or comforts. You don't find much envy in the bush +country, but you do find a lot of self-respect. I could tell you +things about some Indian friends of mine that would clear your mind, if +you happen to think that the only good Indian is a dead one. It seems +to me that life in the open, even though a great part of it is spent in +exposure and hardship, has certain spiritual compensations." + +Clark nodded. "Perhaps." + +"Put it this way; you deal with many kinds of men, but do you not +always feel better disposed toward a simple soul, say like our friend +Fisette, than toward some shrewd person who arms himself at every +conceivable point?" + +"Yes, I do." + +"Well, that's what I feel about my people. Most of them are unarmed +and they trust me, and anything I can do seems small in comparison to +that trust. You've got a trust too, my friend." + +Clark smiled. "That's what my directors lose no opportunity of telling +me." + +"But who or what is your Director?" asked the bishop, leaning forward +earnestly. "You needn't be anxious, I'm not going to sermonize. Your +Director is the same as mine, the great Force, call it what you will. +It drove me into the church and drove you to what you are, and our +first trust is to ourselves--you'll agree with me there--and with that +undischarged nothing else can be carried out. Just at this moment I +wish I were as competent for my job as you are for yours." + +"But, bishop, you're--" + +The big man raised his hand. "Not a word, for tonight I feel like +Browning's Bishop Blougram who 'rolled him out a mind long crumpled, +till creased consciousness lay smooth.' It does me good to rub out the +wrinkles occasionally. Now tell me, looking back at the last few years +in St. Marys, do you appreciate what you've done?" + +"I haven't had much time to look back," said Clark thoughtfully. "The +opportunity was there and I took it, then I was fortunate enough to +enlist the necessary support. Since that time the district seems to +have responded to every conceivable need, and we have been able to fall +in step with a natural scheme for developing natural resources, that's +all." + +The bishop shook his head. "Not quite: it's a great drama you're +enacting up there, with the rapids for a setting. They run through it +all, don't they?--the changeless, elemental background before which man +climbs up on the stage, makes his bow, enacts his part and gives place +to some one else. You are sending out multitudes of influences that +will never be determined or traced to their result. You once told me +that it all began when you overheard a conversation in a train." + +"Yes," Clark paused, then added with a laugh, "an example of the +importance of small things. You've made your point, bishop." + +"Thank you, but I've never been able to decide whether a thing is small +or not. Some of the things that you and I prize very highly may +actually be of small account." + +For a while Clark did not answer. Ever since coming on board the +Evangeline he had been conscious of a new atmosphere, tenanted by the +spirit of her master, and of a new language which, though its tones +were familiar, seemed to be the vehicle of a novel wisdom and +understanding. He was impressed with the utter candor of his host, but +chiefly with his superlative sympathy with all men. The visitor fell +under the influence of a benign nature which, intensely human in all +its attributes, proffered its solace to all alike. It was, he +concluded, the life function of the bishop to give himself in royal +abandonment. + +He did not often put himself in the place of other men, but that night, +after the Evangeline had slid into a moon spilt harbor amongst the +hills, and the bishop explained that he had come here because poor +people were apt to overtax themselves in entertaining, the visitor lay +on the cock pit cushions and stared long at the starry sky. Nothing +important was to be attached to this trip, and yet he felt it to be +momentous. He knew he would always remember it, and that the memory +would hereafter assert itself in unexpected moments. He admitted being +influenced by the bishop and yet felt equipped for all that he had to +do without any such influence. But there crept over him the slow +conception that life might unexpectedly change, and that under hitherto +unimagined conditions he might turn to these hours for the comfort of +remembrance. + +Three more days of missionary work and the Evangeline turned homeward, +Clark took the wheel for an hour, with the bishop beside him. + +"I hope," said the latter, "that the trip has been a success for you?" + +The amateur pilot gave an involuntary start. The question pitched his +mind forward to the works, and he realized that for five days he had +forgotten all about them. + +"It has been a very great pleasure to me," went on the prelate quietly. +"I'm apt to have too much broadcloth and not enough gray tweed in my +life. Most of us are in the same case, and one's love of one's work +does not suffer by an interest in other things." + +"My dear sir, I've benefited enormously. I'm a new man and ready for +anything--even the worst." How little did he dream that at that very +moment Lachesis was spinning her invisible web. + +"Ah! that's what we must always be ready for--or the best, which is +sometimes the same thing. Keep her to port a little." + +The yacht rounded a long point and came in sight of the works, while +Clark experienced a throb of thankfulness that his host had attempted +no missionary work on him. He was as good as his word. There had been +no proselytizing. + +As the vessel reached the dock, they said good-by, each ready to do his +job over again, and Clark, with his hand enveloped in the warm clasp, +realized much of the secret of the prelate's life, which was no secret +at all but just the benignity of a great and tender soul. He stepped +over the yacht's side and glanced at his secretary who advanced to meet +him with a telegram in his hand, noting that the young man's face was +pale and his eyes unusually brilliant. + +"This came an hour ago, sir." + +With an impatient gesture he opened the folded sheet and read, his +heart slowly contracting: + + +Regret unable to accept first cargo of rails being five thousand tons. +These not up to your guarantee and our specifications. Full +information this mail with the result of physical and chemical tests. + +UNITED RAILWAY COMPANY. + + +Involuntarily he raised his head. The yacht was backing out, and the +bishop, coiling a rope in her bows, straightened up to wave farewell. +Automatically Clark waved back, then, with the telegram crumpled in his +palm, turned and walked slowly toward his office. Something the bishop +had said began to sing in his brain. Could the best and the worst ever +be the same thing? + + + + +XX.--THE CAR OF PROGRESS HALTS + +The paralyzing news had lain in the faithful keeping of a confidential +operator and the white faced secretary who had guarded it jealously. +The latter followed to the private office. When the door was closed in +his face, he went to his own desk and sat blindly at his letters. +Clark stood at a big window that commanded the rapids. Deep lines were +furrowed suddenly on his face, and his eyes were like sunken bits of +cold, gray steel. He felt the gentle vibration of the mills, and +through it pierced the words of the telegram like a thin sharp voice +that would not be denied. It was fully an hour later that his call +sounded for the secretary. + +"The rail mill will be closed shortly for temporary alteration. If you +are asked anything about it--and you will be--that is all you know. +This means that the furnaces must be blown down. I don't anticipate +any serious delay. You will repeat this telegram to Philadelphia, and +add that I will report more fully in the next twenty-four hours. +There's just one thing more. A good deal of importance will attach to +your manner and attitude for the next few days. That's all." + +The young man nodded, finding it difficult to speak. There was nothing +unusual about his leader, except that the eyes were a little more deep +set, the voice a shade harder. + +A few moments later, Clark stood in the rail mill watching the titanic +rolls spew out ribbons of glowing steel. It came over him in a +sickening flood that the whole giant undertaking was useless, and +instead of the supreme delight he experienced a few months before there +was now but a huge mechanical travesty that flouted the unremitting +strain and effort of years. He was defacing the everlasting hills with +dynamite to make something the commercial world did not want. A surge +of protest overcame his spirit, followed by a cynical contempt for the +futility of the best efforts of man. Impatiently he walked up to the +superintendent of the mill. + +The latter touched a grimy hat. "We're on the last ten thousand tons +for the United," he said with a note of pride--"the mill's running +fine." + +"It may be," snapped Clark acidly, "but shut it down. Your rails are +no good." + +The other man blinked at him. "Eh?" + +"Do what you're told," repeated Clark with the least shake in his +dominant voice. "The United doesn't want these rails, though some one +else will." + +Over the superintendent's sooty face crept a look of blank amazement. +"Shut down! why?" he floundered helplessly. "I can't, till this heat +is through, and there's nothing the matter with the rails." + +"Other people say there is, so get the heat through and obey orders." +Then, with sudden anger, "Is the job too big for you?" + +He turned away abruptly, passing the whirling flywheel, the ponderous +cylinders, the glowing ovens, while above him the traveling crane moved +like a whining monster across the blackened roof. He hastened, +desirous of getting out of the presence of these giants whom he had +assembled only in order that they might deride him with their massive +proportions. + +So on to the towering masses of the furnaces. Here he saw poured a +molten charge, and stood fascinated, as always, by the smooth and +deadly gleam of molten metal, till, curtly, the same orders were +issued. No further charges should be fed in before orders to that +effect. Then back to his office, where he cancelled shipments of coke, +and sent to the iron mine a curt word that stilled the boom of dynamite +and silenced the sharp chatter of the drills. + +Gradually through the works spread the chilling news. A slowly +thickening stream of Swedes, Poles and Hungarians filed out of the big +gates, and Ironville was, in mid-afternoon, populated with a puzzled +multitude that repaired automatically to the saloons. Through pulp +mills and machine shops, through power and pumping stations, the story +went, growing as rapidly as it spread. Time keepers heard it and +office clerks, and the crews of tugs and steamships that lay at the big +dock below the works. And while rumors were widening every minute, +there was a knock at Clark's door and, looking up, he saw the +comptroller who stood quietly, with a check for the week's payroll in +his hand. + +"How much?" The voice was admirably impersonal. + +"One hundred and ten thousand." The comptroller was a short fat man, +and at the moment quivering with suppressed excitement. + +The general manager scribbled his initials on the blue slip, handed it +back without a word, and did not even look up as the official went out. +A few minutes later he walked slowly through the pulp mill, stopping +here and there to speak to superintendents and workmen. The swishing +rasp of the great stones and the steady rumble of turbines brought him +a sense of comfort. He progressed deliberately, and with his usual +keen interest, so that, although hundreds of eyes followed him, not a +man could assume that anything had gone seriously wrong. It was an +hour in which he found and radiated confidence. Here, at least, was +the universal conclusion that all was as it should be. He was on the +bank of the power canal when his secretary approached again. + +"What is it this time?" + +"Hobbs is at the bank with the payroll check, and has just telephoned +up. I think you'd better speak to him, sir." + +Clark's lips pressed tight and his eyes opened a little. Retracing his +steps, he listened to an agitated voice. + +"Mr. Brewster states he has no authority to cash this check unless we +cover our overdraft. He would like to talk to you." + +"Let him." + +Again the receiver spoke, while Clark's face grew suddenly very grim. +"I think you'd better come up and see me," he said shortly. + +Then he listened. "Very well," he snapped. His features were like a +mask. "I'm going down to the bank," he went on dryly to the secretary, +"for the first time in his life Mr. Brewster is unable to leave his +office and come up to mine when invited." + +He drove into St. Marys followed by the glances of every man and woman +who caught sight of the erect figure. The town was full of confused +and conflicting rumors, but nothing had as yet crystallized. The +appearance of Clark in mid afternoon at the door of the bank, thickened +the air. It was known that people with whom he did business invariably +went to him. Not in years had he been to Brewster. But for all of +that he seemed as cheerful as usual, and took off his gray hat to Mrs. +Worden with accustomed and somewhat formal urbanity. Inside he found +Hobbs, his round, soft face looking unhealthily pallid, and Brewster +with his jaw stuck out, a determined expression on his young features. + +"Well, what's the trouble?" + +"Nothing very serious." Brewster spoke with a pleasant accent, but he +was confronting the most difficult hour of his life. "Just this check." + +"What about it?" + +"I can't make any further advances till your present acceptances are +met in Philadelphia. We have half a million of them." + +"That payroll has got to be disbursed." + +"I'm sorry, but I can't cash that check." + +The lines on the older man's face tightened and deepened. "Mr. +Brewster, we have spent some fifteen millions of capital through your +bank. This amount is too small to discuss. Do you realize that, if +you persist, the men will go unpaid for the first time in seven years?" + +"I'm sorry, but I can't help that." The young manager began to feel +more fortified. + +"Is this because there's a temporary interruption at the rail mill?" +said Clark bitterly. "You're assuming a big responsibility." + +"I regret that I can give no reasons, and am only doing what seems best +in the interest of the bank. If the acceptances are met,--and the +first falls due two weeks from to-day--our head office will probably +authorize a further advance, provided we are secured. Under the +circumstances your Philadelphia office should take care of this matter." + +"And this is your last word?" snapped Clark with emphasis. + +But Brewster had by this time completely pulled himself together. The +most trying moment was passed, and for once the mesmeric influence had +failed. He felt behind him the authority of Thorpe and his own +directors, and revolted at the thought of imperiling his own record. + +"You understand," came in Clark's voice, "what happens when men are not +paid--especially the type of many of our employees. The Swede and +Hungarian are apt to be ugly. Further--an unpaid payroll has a bad +effect on a company's securities, to say nothing of the effect on +business confidence in St. Marys. You have, of course, weighed all +this." + +Brewster's eyes were very grave and his face flushed. "I'm sorry, but +I'm doing what I take to be my duty," he said with a desperate effort. + +The older man's mood changed as though in a flash. "In that case I've +nothing more to say." He got up. "Come on, Hobbs, Mr. Brewster seems +immovable. We'll have to wire Philadelphia for the money." With that +he went briskly out. + +The banker looked after him in wonderment. The poignant instant was +over, and he pondered whether, after all, he had done right. His +cipher message sent to Toronto as soon as the news from the works +reached him, was still unanswered, but, he reflected, he had tried to +act on what he believed to be Thorpe's judgment as well as his own. +Should the telegram for which he waited not confirm his decision, there +was time enough to apprise Clark of the fact that night. And just then +the mayor entered the office and sat down, mopping his face. + +"What about it?" he demanded presently. + +"I don't know any more than you do--possibly not as much." + +"Well," said Filmer absently, "there's a lot going round. Some have it +the works are seized for debt, others that there's a mistake in the +rails, others that the Philadelphia directors have resigned. Anyway +half the thing seems to have stopped." + +"Not half of it, just the iron and steel section." + +"Yes, but that's the big end of the whole show. It was expected to +carry the burden." + +"It's still there, isn't it?" said Brewster fretfully. + +The mayor glanced at him quickly. Something in the voice suggested +that the bank was involved and that the thing was getting on Brewster's +nerves. "I hope you're all right," he answered evenly, "but I'm +carrying more stuff than I like to think of just now." + +He departed feeling quite obviously rather balked of his desire for +inside information. Just outside he met Dibbott. + +"I saw Mr. Clark just now," said the latter. "He doesn't seem at all +worried. Of course you've heard the news?" + +Filmer nodded. "Yes, and I've a feeling we're going to hear more +before long. Haven't got any Consolidated stock have you?" + +"Stock! Never owned a share in my life, but I've a good mind to sell +my place now while the price is up. Look at that, will you!" + +The street cars coming down from the works were bulging with the +population of Ironville, who had inconsequently decided to take the +holiday in St. Marys. Hundreds of them were dressed in Sunday best and +bent on an outing; big Slovaks and Poles whose horny fists gripped the +platform rail while they smoked cheap cigars with gaudy labels and +chattered volubly to each other. It was good to be out of Ironville. + +On the way down they passed Clark, and with boyish abandon waved their +hats in greeting, Clark smiled back and whirled on. The sight of them +provoked the question in his mind and brought it closer. What if these +men were not paid next week, as they were promised? Returning to his +office, he devoted himself to innumerable details affecting the iron +works. To shut them down was not so simple a thing as he anticipated. +They had acquired a momentum it was difficult to arrest. Then, wiring +in code to Philadelphia for his requirements in cash, he went up to the +big house on the hill and shut himself from all intruders. + +On the terrace, overlooking river and works, he walked ceaselessly up +and down, irritated but not alarmed. Some foreign substance had got +into the delicate wheels of progress, and the machine was for the +moment out of adjustment. From where he stood the works were visible, +and while he missed the long illumination of the rail mill and the +pyramidal flame of the converters, there still sparkled the pulp mill +with its long, lighted windows and the gleam of water in the tail race. +Twenty-four hours ago he was sitting on the deck of the Evangeline with +the genial bishop. Now he was very much alone. What would Wimperley +and the rest do in such an emergency? He had never seen them in a +corner. His reverie was interrupted by a message that Manson desired +to see him. + +"Riots?" said Clark to himself, then aloud, "Bring him here." + +The big man came up, extending a friendly hand. Clark had a curious +dislike for physical, personal contact, even of the slightest, but now +overcame it with difficulty and motioned his visitor to a chair. The +latter sat speechless. + +"Well, Mr. Manson?" Clark asked when the silence became too perceptible. + +"I came to ask you if there were any prospects of trouble at the +works," said the latter presently. He spoke jerkily, and in a note far +removed from the deep boom of his usual voice. + +"Why should you expect any trouble because pay day is postponed for a +week?" + +Manson lifted his heavy lids. "Is it only for a week?" + +Clark got up and paced the terrace, his head thrust forward, his hands +behind his back. There was that in the visitor's manner which puzzled +him. The evident agitation and discomfort, the anxious moving of the +thick arms, the constant shifting of the feet, all pointed to something +that struck deeper than the possibility of a riot. And Manson, he had +reason to know, was no coward. + +"I anticipate that it will be less than a week. How many men have you?" + +"Thirty, and myself." + +"We have twenty guards at the works, also, if need be, there's the +local militia." + +"Have you ever seen them?" said the chief constable contemptuously. + +"No, but the law is behind them and a certain amount of discipline," +then, his voice changing abruptly, "Mr. Manson, are you afraid?" + +The big man stared at him as though fascinated. His dark face began to +work convulsively in an obvious attempt to voice that which disturbed +him. Clark watched it all. + +"Well," he said with ill concealed impatience, "if it's not an +imaginary riot that's troubling you, I'll say good evening. I'm rather +busy at the moment." + +At that Manson half lifted himself out of his chair and leaned forward. +"It's the works," he whispered huskily, "are they all going to hell?" + +Clark stared at him in open astonishment. It was an absurd thing that +at this moment he should be subjected to a visit from a man who had +never believed in him, but who was now evidently torn by anxiety at the +thought of his failure. There came a swift and silent suggestion, but +the thing was too remote. + +"Mr. Manson," he said slowly, "you never took any stock in me or my +efforts, so why worry?" + +"But that's just what I did do," croaked the constable, reddening to +his temples. "I invested all I could and," he added dully, "I've got +it now." + +"Ah! so that's it?" + +"And I'd be grateful if you could tell me--" + +"So you said one thing and did another!" The tones were like a knife. +"Well, that's your privilege, and none of my affair, and," he concluded +curtly, "I don't care to discuss it. Good evening." + +But Manson was on his feet, too desperate to be denied. "It's not your +affair what I may have said or done? I'm a shareholder--a large one. +I've a right to come here and ask you a question. It's nothing +unreasonable--and you'll answer it." He stood over the smaller man, +dark and threatening. + +Clark laughed in his face, till, with that extraordinary perception +which so frequently cleft to the essential essence of things, he +perceived that there was that which was more important than the fact +that Manson had been speculating and would certainly be bitten. His +attitude in public was worth something--at any rate in St. Marys. +Known universally as a critic and pessimist, it would be notable if +now, in the time of crisis, he became a supporter. Manson as a +shareholder did not matter, but officially he did matter. Very swiftly +Clark ran over this in his mind, while the big man waited, no longer a +menace but only a straw borne by the flood which was the creation of +Clark's imagination. There was no doubt in the latter's mind as to the +ultimate solution of present difficulties. He still believed, as he +always believed, in himself, in the country and in his enterprise. So, +very deliberately, he began to talk. + +"You have asked me a very extraordinary question--that is from you--but +it appears," here the voice was a little sardonic, "that you had more +confidence in me than you admitted. Now you ask about the future. I +tell you that I never had more faith in the final outcome of affairs +than I have at this moment. There have been difficulties of which the +public knew nothing--and this is the only one which has become common +knowledge. Do you expect any one to build up a concern like this +without anxious moments? You know what St. Marys was seven years ago, +and I remember very distinctly your attitude toward myself. It has +taken seven years," here once more the voice was full of +contempt--"seven years and a crisis, to convert you. Speculators will +doubtless take advantage of this interruption, but I am confident that +long after you and I have passed on, steel rails will still be rolled +at the works. Good evening." + +Manson muttered something unintelligible, and moved off down the long +hill that led to St. Marys. For the first time in his life he believed +in Clark, believed in him in that hour when the faith of thousands was +being shaken. He had no conception what a pigmy unit he himself was in +the multitude who followed their remarkable leader. He had no grasp of +the fundamentals of which Clark confidently took hold in the time of +stress. He did not wonder who else was in like case with himself. He +only knew that this man had thrown him the end of a rope, and he +grasped at it with all the strength of his soul, and had no intentions +of loosening his hold. + +Later that evening he went in to see Filmer, whose office lights were +on, and here found Dibbott and Worden. The three were talking +earnestly, and as the broad figure loomed in the doorway Dibbott gave a +dry laugh. + +"Our pessimist's reputation is looking up. Have you come to crow?" + +Manson shook his head and told them very briefly of his visit. There +was no mention of his own speculation. "So after all, the thing is +probably all right," he concluded. "At any rate, Clark doesn't seem +worried, so why should we?" + +Filmer gave vent to a low whistle. "Hypnotized at last!" + +"No," said Manson, flushing, and went on to promulgate the reasons for +his hopes. The others said nothing, but he could see they were +impressed. Presently he went out on a midnight round of inspection, +and, as the door closed behind him, Worden nodded thoughtfully. + +"For the first time in seven years he seems reasonable in this +connection. After all, if we get off the handle it will be a mighty +bad example. How about it, Mr. Mayor?" + +"Well," said Filmer, caressing his glossy whiskers, "I always believed +in Clark and I guess I do now. If he were trying to make money for +himself out of this thing we'd know it, but he isn't. Gentlemen, the +judge is right--we've got to hold the town together." + +On the corner they met Bowers, the Company's solicitor, who was walking +slowly home smoking a peaceful cigar. + +"What's this?" he said, grinning. "Looks like old times to see you +three together." + +Filmer had a sudden thought. "Do any of you chaps remember what +anniversary this is?" + +The others searched their brains and gave it up. + +"Seven years ago to-night there was a certain notable meeting in the +town hall." + +"And now there's one in the corner. We've come down in the world," put +in Dibbott. + +"Possibly, but possibly not. I was just thinking of all that has +happened in seven years. It should prevent us from getting rattled." +The mayor turned to Bowers, "Seen Clark to-day?" + +"Haven't seen or heard of him for three days," answered the lawyer +shortly--then, because he wanted to avoid being pumped, "good +night--I'm for my blameless couch." + +They looked after him and at each other. "Seen Belding?" asked Dibbott +of the judge. + +"No, he's down in Chicago. I think he's buying machinery. Now it's +late and if I don't go home too, I'll get into trouble." He turned +towards the old house by the river, and halted a few steps off. "Good +night, you fellows, I feel better." + +Thus it came that while a brooding, gray eyed man paced his terrace +with his eyes fixed on the far white line of the rapids, whose call was +indistinguishable at this distance, there was spreading almost under +the shadow of the works a novel spirit of confidence in himself and his +vast enterprise. It was not till a sudden question arose, that St. +Marys realized the prodigious meaning of their new city and how +lavishly all Clark's promises had been redeemed. In the hour of +anxiety they leaned on him more than ever before. This new birth--this +upholding trust--was conceived at the very moment when Wimperley and +the others were gathered in harassed counsel, and through Philadelphia +and the surrounding state was broadening a dark cloud of rumor that +carried swift fear to thousands of hearts. But it was not fear that +came to the keen brain of Henry Marsham. + +By eleven that night Clark had heard nothing from his head office. The +strain became too great, and he went into a little room off the library +where an extension of the private wire had been carried up from the +works. There was once a time when he could send and receive in the +Morse code, so now he sat down and laid a somewhat uncertain finger on +the tilting key. + +"Phil -- Phil -- Phil." + +Instantly and to his surprise, came the reply. + +"Sma -- Sma -- Sma." + +"Is -- Wimp -- there?" The thing began to come a little easier. + +"Yes." + +"Tell -- Wimp -- I -- want -- answer -- funds -- for -- payroll." + +Clark got this off laboriously, conscious that however clear might be +the message, the wire was a poor transmitter as compared to eye and +voice. + +"Wimp -- says -- meeting -- going -- on -- now -- cannot -- act -- +before -- to-morrow -- Get that." + +"Yes," flashed the plunging reply. + +"Wimp -- waiting -- your -- report -- defect -- in -- rails." + +Clark's brows wrinkled and he bent over the key. + +"Cannot -- send -- report -- till -- several -- chemical -- anal -- +anal -- " + +"Yes -- analyses -- I -- get -- you -- are -- complete -- is -- that -- +it." + +"Yes." Clark breathed a sigh of relief. His brow was wet. + +"When -- will -- that -- be -- Wimp -- asks." + +"Three -- days." + +"Wimp -- says -- hurry -- up -- things -- shaky -- here -- expect -- +attack -- by -- bears -- have tried -- to -- place -- rails -- +elsewhere -- but -- not -- successful. Wimp -- says -- good night." + +Clark's eyes sparkled with anger and he hammered the key. There were +other things he wanted to say--and must say. But for all his repeated +calls there was only silence, till in an interval, while he rubbed his +throbbing fingers, the receiver began to tilt. + +"Wimp -- says -- good night --" it announced with metallic finality. + +He got up and stood staring at the thing for a moment, his face heavy +with anger, the group in Wimperley's office vividly before him. He +could see the cold features of Birch, sharpened by the tenseness of the +hour into a visage bloodless and inflexible, with thin tight lips and +narrow expressionless eyes. He could see Stoughton, red with +discomfort and resentment; Riggs' excited and anxious little face, and +Wimperley himself, cast with a new severity; all supremely conscious of +that which probably must be faced on the morrow. And what about +Marsham? Tottering was now their faith in the essential future of the +works and the great cycle of their operations. The wire had +transmitted their decisions, but over its yellow filament had also +trickled their apprehension. With a touch of cynicism he recalled the +congratulatory messages--the very first it had carried. + +He went out on the terrace again, seeking the black bulk of the rail +mill in the medley of structures down at the works. Presently he found +and scrutinized it. Somewhere in its gloom lurked an error, or else in +the great furnaces that shouldered nakedly into the moonlit air. With +a sudden sense of fatigue, he turned to his bedroom. + +"At any rate the chief constable is with me," he soliloquized +sardonically, "and that's something." + +In five minutes he was sleeping profoundly. + + + + +XXI.--THE CRASH + +Around the neck of every great industrial undertaking is hung a chain of +unlovely parasites, who fatten on the interruptions to its progress and +the fluctuations in its success. These men create nothing--contribute +nothing. Playing on the fears and hopes and untempered weakness of the +public, they reap where they do not sow and feed the speculative appetite +of millions. To them it is negligible whether good men go down or honest +effort is rewarded. Predatory by nature and unscrupulous in action, they +prey upon their fellows, and, like the wolf, are strangers to mercy and +compassion. Their wealth is not an asset to the world, because it +represents nothing they have originated, but only that which they have +filched from others less shrewd and unscrupulous. They do not hesitate +to magnify the false or to bring to ruin what they find most profitably +assailable. They have respect for neither genius nor labor, but juggle +with the efforts of both in a fierce game for gold. + +As the gong struck on the Philadelphia Exchange next morning, a well +known operator associated with Marsham's firm threw five thousand shares +of Consolidated on the market. It was taken at forty-eight, a loss of +two points, and in that first transaction the value of the entire +enterprise shrank by half a million. + +A moment later, Wimperley knew of it and sent for Birch, but Birch, who +had been just as speedily informed, was already on his way. He came in, +a little paler than usual. On his heels arrived Stoughton and Riggs. + +They were in the padded seclusion of the president's inner office, while +two blocks away swelled a storm, whose echoes only reached them in the +sharp staccato of the ticker in the corner as it vomited a strip of white +paper. Wimperley stood there, the strip slipping between his fingers, +while selling orders began to pour in to Philadelphia, and the price of +Consolidated crumbled like dust. He could visualize the scene on the +floor of the Exchange, the frenzy of men smitten with sudden fear, and +the deliberate cold-blooded action of others who lent their weight to +this downfall. Marsham was very busy. Greater grew the flood, with +sales of so great quantities of stock that they perceived the market was +going boldly short. Then came an avalanche of small holdings, till the +ticker announced that it had fallen behind the record of transactions and +that Consolidated was now offered at thirty-five with no bidders. This +was three-quarters of an hour after the Exchange opened. + +Stoughton and the others sat quite motionless. The thing was too big for +them to grasp at once, but they had a dull sense that the foundation +stones of their great pyramid were shifting, that the gigantic structures +at St. Marys were dissolving into something phantom-like and tenuous. At +this juncture a message was brought in from Clark. + + +Hear market is very weak. Please buy five thousand for me by way of +support. + + +Wimperley read and handed it silently to Riggs. The little man swallowed +a lump in his throat. "By God!" he said unsteadily, "but he's got sand, +no doubt about it." + +"What's that?" Stoughton demanded dully, and, reaching out, glanced at +the telegram. "Why throw Robert Fisher to the wolves? They're doing +well enough as it is," he grunted, and relapsed into a brooding silence. + +Then began to arrive inquiries from country banks and cancellations from +country subscribers. Wimperley read them out as they came in, and, well +informed though he was of the wide distribution of Consolidated stock, +experienced a slow amazement at the broad range of his followers. Their +messages were indignant, despairing, threatening and pathetic. He began +to wonder why he had accepted a responsibility which was now for the +first time unveiled in such startling proportions. Yesterday the +Consolidated was a name to conjure with. To-day it was an epitome of +human fear and desperation. + +Ten seconds before the noon gong struck on the Exchange, a frantic broker +lifted a bull like voice above the uproar. + +"Sell five thousand consol at thirty-two, thirty-two!" He bellowed it +out raucously. The selling order had been flashed from Toronto. + +"Taken at thirty-two," snapped Marsham's operator, who had opened the +perilous game that morning, and, smiling, jotted a note on his cuff. He +had made just eighty thousand dollars on that one transaction. The +market strengthened a little in the afternoon on short covering, the +matter of investment being thrown to the winds. Consolidated was now a +gambling counter, and the closing quotation stood at thirty-five. Former +values had shrunk by some eight millions. Gone was that laborious +upbuilding into which Clark and the rest had thrown their very souls; +overcast were the efforts of seven years. It was, to most people, a +question of what might be made of what was left. The works remained, +but, the public concluded, the iron and steel section, the heart of the +thing, was unsound. Such is the communicable essence of fear. + +At ten minutes after three the directors met to face a situation which +was, in all truth, serious enough. Philadelphia banks, smarting from +loans made on Consolidated stock, had declined further credit. The first +payment of a million dollars for steel rails was indefinitely deferred. +Creditors, galvanized by the events of the day, poured in ceaseless +demands that their accounts be liquidated, but moneys due the +Consolidated for pulp had been realized and diverted into the building of +railways and the construction of the rail mill. Birch, his face very +grave, ran over all this in a level monotone of a voice, while the rest +wearily admitted its truth, and in the middle of the rehearsal a message +was brought in from Clark. + + +Greatly regret events of to-day but am unshakenly confident for the +future, given sufficient time to remedy defect in rails which should not +take long. Chemical analyses show too high carbon and this can be +rectified. Now awaiting remittance for payroll. + + +Wimperley read it without a trace of accentuation, while Stoughton got up +and stared, as once before, at the sky line of Philadelphia. + +"Well," drawled Birch dryly, "we've heard from our prophet." + +"He's got more confidence in our future than we have in his past," put in +Riggs. + +Stoughton turned, "What about the payroll?" + +"If you have a million or so to spare, we'll send it up. There's more to +be met than the payroll." The voice was a trifle insulting, but +Stoughton did not notice it, and Birch went on. "There's just one thing +we can do, if we can't get money to run." + +"Well?" jerked out Riggs, "say it." + +"Shut down." + +Wimperley's long fingers were drumming the table. He did not fancy +himself as the president of a great company in whose works not a wheel +was turning. + +"I'd like to find some other way out of it. There's going to be hell to +pay here, but--" + +"Perhaps the ingenious gentleman at St. Marys could help out," said Birch +acidly. + +At that came a little silence and there appeared the vision of Clark in +his office, with his achievements dissolving before his eyes. + +"Robert Fisher is no financier," struck in Stoughton wearily. + +Wimperley smiled in spite of himself. "Perhaps not, but he mesmerized us +into that office. There's only one thing I can see--issue debentures +secured by first mortgage." + +"Who'll take 'em? We used up all our arguments long ago. Philadelphia +doesn't want a mortgage on Robert Fisher, and what about the Pennsylvania +farmer?" + +"What about him?" asked Wimperley pettishly. + +"As I know him, he's a bad loser--he works too hard for it. This is a +case of new money from outside, and I for one don't feel like doing any +traveling." + +"In other words we've demonstrated that whether or not by any fault of +ours, we've made a mess of it," said Stoughton with utter candor. + +"Something remarkably like it." + +"And when Clark told us, months ago, that he wouldn't draw any salary, +and that a lot of others were only drawing half salary to help out till +the rail mill got going, we should have made provision for possible +mistakes, and seen as well that we were getting in over our ears." + +"But Clark believed all he told us," piped Riggs with a flash of loyalty. + +"Of course he did, and he still does, and because he is still only twenty +years ahead of his time he's all the more dangerous." + +"Let's get back to this payroll," blurted Stoughton who was getting more +and more uncomfortable. + +"Fishing's pretty good up there, let him fish for it." The voice of +Birch was like ice. He was one of those who by nature are fitted for +cold and ruthless action in time of stress. Most of his money had been +made across the dissecting table of enterprises, and not at their birth. +He was a financial surgeon, but no midwife, and had only been magnetized +into his past support by the hypnotic personality of Clark. He was +grimly mindful that Marsham, after waiting for years for his opening, had +got more than even. Birch's cold mind now wondered for the first time +whether, after all, the cut throat game he had once loved to play was +worth the candle. Here was American credit and effort massacred by +American ruthlessness and revenge. Marsham had pounced upon a weak point +in the Consolidated's armor and pierced deep into the body corporate. He +had struck to kill. + +"And would you shut down the pulp mill--market's good now?" persisted +Stoughton. + +"I'd rivet the whole thing tight. The railway never paid,--at least +directly--that we could reckon. It's costing more to ship pulp on our +own boats than the rate at which we could ship by contract--and if they +are not going to bring back coke, why run them? Gentlemen, this means a +smash--an interval of anxiety, discomfort, loss of prestige, and--" + +"Go on, Elisha--" barked Riggs. "Oh, please go on!" + +"Prestige--and later reconstruction. In the meantime, we don't spend a +cent on running anything, and find out exactly what we owe. Then comes +new money, and," he added cynically, "a new bunch of directors." + +"And who will arrange that?" Riggs demanded abruptly. + +"One Robert Fisher Clark--if he has not lost all his power of magnetism." + +"Aren't you guessing a little too fast?" + +"No, it's quite possible. His argument will be that we didn't back him +to the necessary limit--that another million would have done it--and," +concluded Birch reflectively, "that may be perfectly true. But God knows +we did what we could. What's this one?" He glanced at Wimperley, who +was reading a telegram just brought in. + + +Waiting your remittance for payroll, necessary that this be provided +to-day, otherwise I anticipate serious disturbance here. It is advisable +that I do not come to Philadelphia just yet as my leaving here would be +wrongly interpreted. + +R.F.C. + + +There fell a moment's silence, instantly recognized by all four as the +precursor of grave events. Birch had spoken the thought that lurked in +all their minds. To continue running meant another payroll to be met. + +It now appeared suicidal to have stretched their resources to the limit +of their credit, but not one of them had remotely dreamed that a few +thousand tons of steel rails were to drag the whole structure to toppling +destruction. Birch, as usual, first pulled himself together. + +"It's put up or shut up, and we've got to tell Clark right now." + +Little Riggs sighed despondently. This meeting would soon be over and +the decision made, after which he would have to face a totally unexpected +set of conditions and a circle of friends and investors who would regard +him with close and uncomfortable interest. + +"Well, I suppose it's shut up!" he hazarded unsteadily. + +Birch looked inquiringly at the other two, who nodded without speaking, +then began to write. The rest did not even glance at each other, but +found absorption in walls and windows and the big map of poignant memory, +while the long, waxen fingers moved inexorably on. + +"What about this?" + +"'Under existing conditions and the impossibility of making immediate +financial arrangements for current needs directors decide best to close +down all work of every kind at once, giving notice that this will be only +temporary. You will report here as soon as in your judgment you can +wisely come down.' Is that all right?" + +Stoughton bit at his thumbnail and nodded. "I suppose so--and there'll +be hell to pay in St. Marys, eh, Wimperley? Our friend the chief +constable will be working over time. Remember the beggar? The damn fool +was right too." + +"Yes, it's all right," said Wimperley, "and now I suppose there'll be +writs and injunctions enough to fill the tailrace. We'd better get out +and arrange some support for the market. Birch, you compound a +comforting statement for the papers. We adjourn till tomorrow at +nine-thirty." + +They did adjourn, but lingered for an hour digging into the past seven +years. It was a talk such as one might expect under the circumstances. +Charged with an apprehension but thinly veiled by manner and speech, +events took on for them no perspective. They were too close at hand. +All this was so intimately their own and Clark's responsibility that +every other consideration became instantly submerged, and it was a matter +of living for the day, if not for the hour. Had any one at this time +told Wimperley or Stoughton that for a pace or two they had merely fallen +out of step in the march of progress, and that however depressing might +be the present aspect of affairs it did not really affect the preordained +outcome, they would have flouted the thought. It is not given to many +men to place themselves correctly in the general scheme of the world, and +to fairly estimate their own contribution. Thus it was that Wimperley +and his associates read on the screen of the present only the word +"failure," and were conscious chiefly of a certain self contempt for the +arduous part they had played. At the last moment success had been +snatched from their grasp. + +Stoughton walked slowly home. He was thinking of Manson, the pessimist, +who had been right. And such is the interlinking chain of life. Manson, +at this moment, was sitting in his office, while his mind harked +aimlessly back to the first time he had met the men from Philadelphia. +He stared at a telegram that trembled between his thick fingers. His +broad face was gray and ghastly. He had been here motionless for some +time, when a gentle knock sounded at the door and his wife came timidly +in. One glance at his face, and her arms were round his neck. + +"What is it, Peter?" she quavered. + +He did not look up but held the message so that she might read it. + + +Sold you out to-day on stop loss order at thirty-two margin being +exhausted. Farthing. + + +She read it wonderingly. "What does it mean; who is Farthing?" + +"My Toronto broker--or at least he was," said Manson heavily. + +"But I don't understand, dear." + +"Ho, I didn't suppose you would; it means I lose my hundred thousand, +that's all." + +"Had you a hundred thousand?" she whispered. + +"Very, very nearly, and now I haven't anything,--that is, I didn't make a +cent." + +She drew a long breath. "Peter, tell me just how we stand." + +"Exactly where we did the day a man named Clark came to St. Marys," he +said dully, "with not a cent more." + +There followed a little silence, and the tears began to roll down her +cheeks. He put his arm round her, and perceived, with astonishment, that +they were tears of happiness. + +"Peter dear," she said very softly, "you don't know how glad I am that +it's all over." + +"You mean the hundred thousand!" He stared at her blankly. + +"Yes, just that. I know you won't understand, but things have never been +the same for me since you began to try and make it. You were +different--everything was different." + +"But if I had made it you would have been glad." + +"Perhaps--I don't know. I'm rather afraid of a hundred thousand +dollars," she began to smile a little through her tears, "but now I feel +ten years younger. Is that what 'stop loss' means--you don't actually +lose anything?" + +"Nothing more than I have sent him in this case." + +"And you didn't send him my money--not that it's much." + +"Good God, Mary, no!" + +"Peter," she began gently, "you weren't happy all the time--I could tell +that. You were trying to do something you weren't made for--I could see +that too. You are very strong--but it isn't that kind of strength. +People like us can't do that kind of thing--we feel too much. We haven't +got much, but it represents a lot and our lives are in it, and this +hundred thousand dollars wouldn't have been that kind of money, would it?" + +"No, I suppose not." Manson felt the tumult in his breast subsiding. + +"I know you did it for me and the children, but we don't want you to +speculate for us. We just want you--as we used to have you. We have +enough of everything else, and we'll all be very happy again. Oh, my +dear, big, faithful husband." She slipped into his arms and put her head +on his great shoulder. + +And Manson, holding her to him, felt new springs of emotion unseal +themselves within him. The past few years had not been happy ones. As +his profits grew, he was conscious of the spectre of anxiety at his +elbow. It had been a simple thing to make a thousand and then ten and +then twenty, till, as he marched ever faster toward the siren call, he +perceived that he was no longer in his own country, but one in which the +landmarks were all changed. Now, with the throb of his wife's heart +against his own, he acknowledged defeat, but perhaps it was defeat of +that which was not himself. + +Presently the little woman stirred, brushed the tears from her cheeks, +and, smiling, kissed him tenderly. + +"I'm happier than I've been for years. Did you ever guess that people +here thought you were a rich man?" + +"No." + +"Well, they did, at least some of them, Mrs. Dibbott for one." + +"Then you can put Mrs. Dibbott right." + +"Will what has happened at the works make much difference here?" + +"Probably a good deal. I'm looking for trouble." + +"Up at Ironville?" she said anxiously. + +"But I'm good for it." He stretched his great arms, feeling strangely +free and fit for his duty. + +"What about Mr. Clark?" + +At this Manson grew suddenly thoughtful. Caught up in his own anxiety, +he had never considered Clark. The figure of the latter began to take on +strange proportions. What, he wondered, had Clark lost? Within twenty +hours of the time he maintained his unaltered belief, the bottom had +dropped out. Or, he queried, had Clark merely said this to prevent him +from throwing his stock on the market? He pondered over this, and +decided that five thousand shares were negligible amongst millions. Then +he felt his wife's inquiring glance. + +"I'm sorry for Clark, but I guess he's wise enough to take care of +himself." + +"I hope so. I've only spoken to him once, but I like him." + +She disappeared presently, leaving him busy with special instructions to +the police--in case of disturbance. She did not worry about that, being +chiefly conscious that a load was gone from her spirit. Singing softly +to herself, she went out with gladness in her eyes, and halfway to +Filmer's store encountered Mrs. Bowers. The latter looked pale and +tired. Bowers, for the past twenty-four hours, had been a much tried +man--and his wife reflected it. + +"Good evening," said the latter, "you look very fresh. How do you manage +it?" + +Mrs. Manson, suddenly recalled to earth, smiled gently. "I'm rather +happy to-day. I hope Mr. Bowers is not very anxious." + +"It's no use saying he isn't, but he doesn't talk about it. How's your +husband?" + +"Splendid." + +"Well, you're the only untroubled pair I've heard of to-day. My +husband's in a frightful temper because he didn't sell our land six +months ago. He says we'll never sell it now, but I'm just as glad. Is +the whole thing going to break up?" Mrs. Bowers swung her parasol toward +the rapids. + +"I--I don't really know anything about it," said the little woman with a +touch of nervousness from which she recovered instantly, then, smiling, +"perhaps I'll come over to-morrow." + +"Do, there's a heap to talk about, and smile like that just as long as +you can--the town needs it." + +She walked on, her mind very busy. Without question something excellent +had happened to the Mansons--and in a time like this! Manson was said to +be in the way of making a fortune, and now, she concluded, he had made +it. There was no other explanation for an expression like his wife's +when such grim rumors were abroad. A little later she told Mrs. Worden, +and both the judge and Bowers heard of it, and next day the story reached +a dozen houses in St. Marys. The constable, it was said, for all his +pessimism, had been sharper than Clark himself. + +But Manson was only a leaf picked up by the edge of the storm in which +Clark sat, its unapproachable center. The telegram compiled by Birch and +signed by Wimperley, as president, was on his desk, just as the secretary +had laid it before he went silently out, unable to meet the mystifying +glance of those gray eyes. Clark had never moved nor looked up, nor did +he till half an hour later, when he dictated a notice to be posted +throughout the works. "_All operations will temporarily cease this night +at six o'clock. Employees will be notified when to apply for their +wages, which will shortly be paid in full. The accounting staff will +remain at duty._" His voice was level and absolutely expressionless. +Then he went out, and, taking the broad trail to the rapids, seated +himself a few minutes later in a well remembered place. + +The moments lengthened into hours and still he did not move. The sun +showed its red disc through the lattice girders of the great bridge, and +touched the flashing waters into gold. It was seven years since he had +sat here first, and he looked expectantly about for the crested +kingfisher. The voice of the river seemed unusually loud, and there was +no drone from the works. He began to go over it all, but, desisting from +sheer inability, pitched his attention on the rapids. Here, at least, +was that which had no shadow of turning. Distinguishing the multitude of +notes that lifted their booming uproar, he yielded to the sensation that +he was in the midst of them, being carried to the sea. + +To-night they seemed relentless, but that again was the reflection of his +mood. If he was going down, Wimperley and the rest were going with him. +Finally he was able, at some command from this tumult, to disassociate +himself from the present and go back to the beginning. Retracing each +step, he decided that, were a parallel occasion to arise, he would do the +same again. He had listened to the voice of the hills and woods and +water, rather than to the voice of Philadelphia, and this, he ultimately +concluded, was right. There was no time to brood or forecast the future. +What his soul craved was to be persuaded that it was justified up to this +hour. Only thus could he find strength for that which was yet to come. + +Carrying his solitary reverie still further, he was assured that it would +be for him and him alone to find the way out. Wimperley and the others +were able men as far as they went, but just as they had always loitered +behind his imagination, so now would they be slow in deciphering the +riddle in store. He had brought them in, and it would be left for him to +bring others in also. Very easily he visualized what had taken place in +Philadelphia, and the group in Wimperley's office stood out quite +clearly. He felt no particular sympathy for them, nor did it appear that +the responsibility was primarily his own because it was his brain that +conceived the whole gigantic machine. They had acted according to their +final judgment, so had he. With small and genuine investors the case was +different, but Clark was well aware that Consolidated stock had been a +favorite Pennsylvania gamble for years. As to his own employees, he knew +that the works must ultimately go on and could not go on without them. +This left only himself to be considered, and at the thought this +extraordinary man smiled confidently. He was stranger to that fear which +is based on uncertainty of one's own resources. + +An hour after sundown he went home and, sending for Bowers, the two sat +talking earnestly. For Bowers it had been a day of vicissitude which he +was only partially competent to face. Rooted out of a small practice in +a small village, and caught up in the sweep of irresistible progress, he +had never had to fight for his point. The weight and momentum Clark put +before him were too great for that. But now every angle of the +Consolidated Company seemed to offer itself for frontal attack. He put +this to his chief in justification of his own anxiety. + +"It's been a matter of writs and injunctions all day. There are enough +in my office now to paper the rail mill." + +"Well, why should you worry?" + +Bowers glanced up with surprise. "Eh?" + +"You're doing your duty, you can't do anything more. But perhaps you +feel chagrined at being associated with me in the present difficulty. +You needn't expostulate,--I can quite understand it." + +The lawyer turned a brick red. It was quite true. He had begun to look +on this calamity as one for which he and Clark were both partly +responsible. + +"If you worry--and it's quite absurd that you should--your value +automatically decreases. Has it occurred to you that, from now on, the +importance of your position is vastly increased? We shall look to you +more than ever. I dare not worry--there's too much to be done. You were +our advisor, now you are our protector against unfair attack--and +there'll be lots of it. What's more, Bowers, you are the only one who is +sure of his money." + +Bowers nodded. He began to feel more comfortable. + +"What's going on in St. Marys?" + +"Nothing much yet--they don't know what to get ready for. Filmer and the +rest are sending out accounts they hope to collect, a good deal of +property is on offer without any takers, but, at the bottom, I don't +think the town is rattled. There's a sort of feeling that the works are +too big to be wiped out." + +Clark smiled gravely. He was aware that to the townsfolk the works had +become part of the landscape, and, imaginatively, not much more. But +just as they could not contemplate the obliteration of part of the +landscape, so it was difficult to conceive permanent idleness at the +works. It was a case of the immobility of the non-speculative mind, +which is lethargic in hours of exaltation but comfortably steadfast in +times of stress. + +"Listen," he said earnestly. "There's an element in Ironville which may +soon have to be controlled by force; but as to St. Marys what you've got +to do is to spread the feeling that there's nothing like confidence to +maintain business. Can't you see that if your office were knee deep in +writs it doesn't affect you? You've got to remain the efficient, +smoothly working, impersonal machine. So have I--and so has every one +who takes the responsibility for the actions of those of lesser +intelligence. Leaving out first and second causes--we're all doing just +what we're meant to do, and it doesn't matter who or what meant it. +Wimperley and the others will be up here soon, and regard me as a crazy +idealist who inveigled them into building a house of cards. The heads of +departments--at least some of them--will look at me and wonder how it was +that I gave them any confidence in the future. Hundreds of creditors +will consider me personally responsible because they have to wait for +their money, and about two thousand Poles and Hungarians will want to +kill me to gratify their sense of personal injury. On top of that, +ninety-nine men out of a hundred will forget all about my seven years' +work, and that I started with nothing, and will point to the Consolidated +as an excellent example of misdirected energy. For a little while little +men will smile with commiseration and say 'He did the best he could,' +but," and here Clark's voice deepened, "only for a little while. Now, +friend Bowers, where do I stand with you?" + +Bowers got up and paced the terrace irresolutely, glancing now and then +at the motionless, gray clad figure in the wicker chair. He was suddenly +and profoundly moved. In the past he had seen but one side of Clark, and +this sudden depth of feeling was startling. He knew that if he still +took his chief as the crowd took him, Clark would not apparently be +affected in any degree, but would only classify and finally put him away +with his own kind. + +"Don't think for a moment I'm making any appeal," went on the steady +voice. "It really doesn't matter whether you believe in me or not. +There's just one thing supremely important at the present time, which is +my belief in myself. That's my anchorage--it always has been and will +be. I don't consider that we owe each other anything, but just the same +I would like to know where you place me." + +Bowers had a swift vision of what he was seven years ago, and set it +against what he was now. Then, with full consciousness of the complete +confidence that was placed in him by Clark, he turned and held out his +hand. + +"I place you," he said a little jerkily, "just where you want to be +placed." + +Clark merely touched the extended fingers, but his face brightened and a +smile crept into his eyes. + +"I thought you did, but--" he added quizzically, "I had to work to find +it out, didn't I?" + +Bowers nodded. He felt like a field that had been plowed so deep that it +would yield better than ever before. He reflected, too, that the +experience gained in years of success should serve well in times of +adversity. + +"What's on the program?" he asked. + +"The men will begin to drift in from the mines and lumber camps. Then +it's a matter of sitting tight till they're paid off." + +Bowers thrust out his lips. He had seen men come in from the woods with +their pockets full of money, and that was bad enough, but without money--! + +"I've had a talk with Manson who seems good for it, and the works will be +under heavy guard. That's all we can do in the meantime. I'm going to +Philadelphia as soon as possible." + +"But not at once?" + +Clark smiled. "No, not at once." + + + + +XXII.--THE MASTER MIND AT WORK + +Bowers went thoughtfully home and; next morning, flung himself into his +work with renewed courage. He had need of it--they all had need of it. +There were now thousands who waited for their pay, and daily these +ranks were swelled by others who drifted in from the woods. Hundreds +of merchants began to refuse credit, though Filmer valiantly used all +his resources. St. Marys was, in truth, stupefied, and when the first +shock began to smooth itself out, the reality of the thing became +grimly apparent, and then arose the first rumor of trouble in +Ironville, that straggling settlement of shacks where dwelt the bone +and muscle of the works. + +To the Swede and Polander there was no suggestion of achievement in the +vast buildings in which they labored. It was only the place where they +earned their living. They worked amongst giant mechanisms beside which +they were puny, but theirs was a life of force and strength which took +from them the fear of anything that was merely human. Thus surprise +changed to resentment, and resentment began to resolve itself into a +slow and consuming anger. The works were dead, but in the main office +the accounting staff was bending desperately over statements +imperatively demanded by Philadelphia. The black browed Hungarians saw +the lights at night, and felt that they were being played with by those +more powerful than themselves. If a furnace man was discharged, why +keep on these scribblers? + +Outside St. Marys the news ran apace. Toronto papers dwelt on it, and +the Board of Trade read it with regret mingled with thankfulness that +Clark had embarked on no financial campaigns in their own city. Thorpe +went carefully over the Philadelphia acceptances in his vault, and +wondered what they were worth. To St. Marys set out a stream of +representatives of various creditor companies, that filled the local +hotels and journeyed out to the works and came back unsatisfied. +Philadelphia dispatches were devoured, and the word "reorganization" +was one to charm with. One by one, the Company's steamers slid up to +the long docks, made fast and drew their fires, till it seemed that the +works, like a great octopus, was withdrawing every arm and filament it +ever had radiated, and was coiling them endlessly at its cold and +clammy side. Yet, for all of this, it did not seem possible that the +whole structure was tumbling, the structure on which so many years of +labor--so much genius and enthusiasm--so many millions--had been +lavished, until one afternoon a drunken Swede threw a stone into a +butcher's window in Ironville and, putting forth a horny hand, seized a +side of bacon and set forth, reeling, down the street. Two hours later +the startled chief accountant, from a window in his office, saw a swarm +of a thousand men surge through the big gates of the works and, +trampling the guard, flow irregularly forward. + +The mob spilt on, a river of big strong men, unaware of its own +strength. They were not bent on willful destruction, but the whole +mass was animated by an inchoate desire to find out something for +itself. At the door of the rail mill stood the superintendent and his +firemen, with drawn revolvers. The rioters liked these men because +they worked with and understood them. They were not associated with +the present trouble. So on to the administration building, where the +office staff looked out, petrified with fear. Here, the mob decided, +was another breed, so there commenced a hammering on the big oaken door +and stones showered through the windows. + +At this, Hobbs, stricken with mortal terror, and oblivious of the girls +who gathered around him, lost his head. There was no escape +downstairs, but opposite his desk was a grated iron window that led on +to an adjoining roof. Noting it desperately, he heaved up his soft +body and made a plunge for safety. But such was his bulk that, though +head, arms and shoulders went through, he stuck there, anchored in an +iron grip. + +"Help!" he called chokingly, "Help!" + +The mob looked up and stared, when from the rear ranks came a bull-like +roar of laughter. Then another burst out and another, till from the +ground spouted a fountain of jeers, hoots and ridicule that reached the +fat man as he hung suspended, with purple face and gesticulating arms. + +Clark, in his office, waiting coolly for what might come, caught the +change in the note of riot and, stepping into the next room, saw the +legs of his comptroller brandished in the air. The rest of him was +invisible, and still in the square outside rocked the booming shouts of +Slavic and Scandinavian mirth. A moment later Hobbs was dragged back, +with torn clothing, swollen neck and scratched body. Clark glanced at +him contemptuously and went out. Then the doors opened, and he was on +the front steps. + +The mob saw him and held its breath. Few of them had ever been so near +him before. He stood with a quiet smile on his face and a light in his +keen eyes, and, in the momentary hush, began to speak. There was no +fear in voice or attitude. The wind, blowing from the rapids, brought +the echo of their clamor to the upper windows so that the accounting +staff heard not a word, but the mob heard, and presently the big Pole +laughed, just as he had laughed at Hobbs' distorted face suspended +above him. It was contagious, and Clark, playing upon the mood of the +moment, drove home his point. + +The money was coming, and he himself would stay there till it came. In +the meantime, the money would be slower to arrive if there was trouble, +and that was all he had to say. + +There followed a little hesitation, then an indefinite movement, and +the crowd began to shuffle toward the shattered gates. As it dwindled +Clark glanced over his shoulder and saw a man within twenty feet, both +hands thrust eloquently into his bulging coat pockets. + +"Thanks very much, Belding, I'm glad it wasn't necessary," he said +crisply, and vanished inside the big doors. + +The engineer knew better than to follow, but was bitterly disappointed. +He had hoped for some word of comfort, but to not a single employee had +Clark said anything of explanation. It was not his habit, and he +looked to the intelligence of each man to carry him through. And this +was typical of his invariable attitude toward those with whom he came +in contact. He gauged them by the degree to which they contributed to +the work on hand, and just now the only work on hand was that which +none but himself could carry out. In personalities Clark was not +interested, but identified them only by some very definite achievement +he was able to hang round their necks like a label. + +Belding saw to it that his own offices were guarded and walked to the +head of the rapids. He felt numbed. If Clark had conceived the works, +he himself had built them, and, as they grew under his hand, he felt +that something of his own existence went forth with every stroke of a +drill, and that a fragment of his brain lay in every course of masonry. +Like all true engineers, he delighted in the physical expression of his +ability, and here had been such an opportunity as few engineers ever +realized. He felt not so much dejected as dumbfounded that so much +skill and labor could be brought to a full stop just as it reached its +permanent stride. In his eyes the figure of Clark had long achieved +titanic proportions. Innumerable things had been demonstrated to be +possible, and to be chief engineer of such an enterprise had been, +thought Belding, all that any man could ask. It was true that in the +fatigue of work he had often imagined that Clark was going too fast, +but always the thing had been done. Now it seemed the ironical jest of +the gods that a shade too much carbon in a steel rail should wreck the +whole endeavor. + +And there was Elsie. He had never been able to give her up. Against +the glamour of his chief's personality he had nothing to put forward +except a whole souled worship, and Elsie, it appeared, preferred the +invitation of the older man's romantic career. Subconsciously, Belding +decided that the thing was wrong and against nature, for he was marked +by a certain simple belief in the general fairness of life. He clung +to the doctrine of compensation, and held himself trustingly open to +whatever good influences might reach him. Elsie was the highest +influence of all. In Clark he had found a stimulus that nerved his +brain to great accomplishments. But Elsie and Clark had together +wounded his very spirit. + +Clark, in the quiet of his private office, was thinking not of Belding +or Elsie, but of the mob that had trailed so uncertainly out of the big +gates. He had played for time and he had won--but that was all. +Sooner or later, driven by the impossibility of living without pay, the +mob would return, and in a less placable mood. He turned to the +telephone. "I want Mr. Filmer." In a moment he was speaking to the +mayor. + +"What happened up here to-day is but a taste of what's coming. You'd +better get out the militia, if Manson can't handle it. Bowers tells me +I can do very little from a point of law, and we look to you for +protection." + +"The militia won't help you much." Filmer's voice was a little shaky. +His son was in the militia, but he himself had never taken that body +very seriously. It was a matter of uniform, a band and a field day or +two in the year--that was all. + +"Well, Bowers tells me that if we kill any one in protecting the place +we'll have a nasty time of it, so it's up to you. If the local militia +are no good, get some up from Toronto. I warn you they'll be needed. +Ask Belding if you like, he saw it all." + +He leaned back and began a cold blooded survey of the situation. He +was not in any way desperate, but he turned involuntarily to the +resources of his own brain for some solution. It was certain that no +immediate help could be expected from Philadelphia. He was left quite +officially and deliberately to stem the tide as best he could, and, in +spite of the gravity of the moment, smiled at the thought that his +directors leaned on him in their extremity. They did not know what to +do, therefore he must know. Then suddenly his mind reverted to Semple, +and he spent the next few moments in profound thought. "Get hold of +Mr. Semple," he said to his secretary, "and bring him here." + +In half an hour Semple appeared, flustered and a little pale. A visit +to the works just now filled him with apprehension. It seemed like +smoking in a magazine. + +"What's the matter?" said Clark, smiling at his agitation. + +Semple drew a long breath and, noting the thickness of the office +walls, felt a little safer. + +"That's what I was going to ask _you_." + +"Only a slight difficulty that you will help to put right." + +Semple stared with astonishment. The bottom had apparently fallen out +of the works, but Clark was as cool as ever. + +"Help?" he demanded, puzzled. Clark evidently did not stand to lose +much in the smash. "You're holding these fellows, aren't you?" + +"Yes, for the immediate present, but we'll have to do more. That's +where you come in." + +The member for Algoma was at sea, and said so. + +"You represent the Government here," went on Clark, "and we've spent +seventeen million dollars in these works. Do you see the conclusion?" + +"No, I don't." + +"Your government must help us over the stile. Just so long as those +men remain unpaid, life won't be very safe in St. Marys." + +Semple looked round apprehensively. "But my government doesn't live +here. What have I got to do with it?" + +"I don't know, but, by virtue of pressure you will exert, the +Government must help. What's the Liberal majority in Ontario?" + +"One. I'm it." + +"Then you keep the Premier in power, and he's hanging on to power like +grim death." + +"But I don't see--" + +"It's simple enough. If you settle this affair to the satisfaction of +local people, you'll secure Algoma to the Liberal party, so long as +that party wants it." + +"By God!" said Semple, startled. + +Clark apparently did not hear him. "There's another thing--to set +those works in motion again will be the biggest advertisement any +government in Canada ever had. It will swing the labor vote--it will +secure the merchants' support." He paused, then leant forward and +poured into Semple the full pressure--the accumulated effort of mind +and spirit. "Ample security is available. I will make repayment the +first obligation of the Company--it will forestall bonds and everything +else. What I want, and what you will find for me, is only a fraction +of the sum that has been put straight into this Province; and it's not +much more than we have already paid in mineral and lumber dues and +taxes." + +"How much?" said Semple in a fascinated whisper. + +"Two million dollars." + +"But--" + +"There aren't any buts." + +"Do you owe that in wages?" Semple was aghast. + +"Wages are only a small part of what must be paid at once." + +"Where does Philadelphia come in?" + +"Philadelphia," smiled Clark, "has left the entire matter to me in the +meantime. They are making arrangements which may not be consummated +for some months. We can thank a prominent American speculator for most +of this. But the Province of Ontario owes us something. Doesn't it +occur to you," he added slowly, "how your personal reputation will be +affected?" + +Semple blinked several times and very rapidly. "I'll wire at once," he +said, with a long breath. + +"You'll do nothing of the kind. You'll go down yourself this +afternoon. You know your man, and I know him; and he knows the works. +He's been here several times. Put the matter straight,--tell him that +we are dealing with forces that can only be met in one way. It's +either this, or destruction and bloodshed. I've asked Filmer to wire +for troops. Mr. Semple, what you are about to make is a new move on +the chessboard. Your man is shrewd enough to see it, and it's the new +moves that win. This is not so much politics as economics--tell him +that. I'd go with you--but I must not leave St. Marys just now. Wire +me as soon as possible--you've just time to catch your train." + +The color climbed into Semple's cheeks, and he went quickly out with +his head up. Clark glanced after him and his lips twisted into a smile. + +"I give him forty-eight hours. If it doesn't come by that--we'll ring +down the curtain," he said to himself thoughtfully. + +He went out and walked, for hours, through the deserted buildings. +They were full of hollow mockery. Watchmen, posted by Belding at +strategic points, glanced after him curiously. He seemed lonely and +diminutive in this mechanical wilderness of his own creation. They +wondered how a man felt in such a position as his at a time like this. +He dared not go to the rapids, lest he read in their uproar some new +and menacing note. He thought lingeringly of Elsie. She seemed far +from this crisis, and at the same time curiously a part of it. Never +did he feel more certain of the girl's affection than now, and it came +to him what a refuge a woman's breast might be for a man in such case +as himself. In the moment his forceful brain protested at the thought +of refuge. + +He tramped on with a slow wonder at the magnitude of his own +activities. Here and there, individual buildings stimulated poignant +memories of the occasion that brought them forth. The sulphur plant +assumed an aspect of derision. Beneath the huge dimensions of the +head-race he seemed to discern the obliterated canal over which St. +Marys came to grief. Was he himself to be brought down by its titanic +successor? He stared up the lake, comparing himself with the voyageur +who had once floated out of this wide immensity to trade at St. Marys. +He, too, had been trading at St. Marys. "Big magic!" old Shingwauk had +said, when his dark eyes beheld the works. Was it, after all, barely +possible they were nothing but magic? + + + + +XXIII.--CONCERNING THE RIOT + +Next morning came a rap at his office door and Baudette entered, +treading very lightly. Clark looked up and shook his head. + +"I haven't got any money yet." + +"I don't want any money." + +The gray eyes softened a little. "You're the only man I've met who +doesn't. What is it?" + +Baudette pointed out of the window. + +Clark got up and glanced at the open space in front of the +administration building. There lounged some fifty men, the pick of +Baudette's crew, big and broad shouldered, in light colored woollen +jackets, shoepacks and blazing shirts. Each toyed with an ax handle +that swung lightly between strong, brown fingers. They were a +loose-jointed lot, active as cats, and moved with the superlative ease +of the skilled woodsman. Clark's jaw thrust out and he glanced grimly +at his visitor. + +"If they think they can get it that way, they're mistaken." + +"You don't understand," came the even voice. "These are my friends, +and yours. St. Marys is full of people who are after you. They are +hungry for money, and they're coming for it. This crowd reckons their +money is all right and will help you talk back." + +Clark drew a long breath and caught the clear blue of Baudette's eyes. +Then he nodded and began to smile. + +"Thank you, friend," he said with a catch in his breath. "I might have +known it." + +Hours dragged by. That night there was looting in Ironville, and the +local grocers suffered a sudden depletion of stock. Morning broke, +gray and threatening, while through shack and cabin an ugly temper +spread steadily. Clark perceived that the real thing was coming now. +Once or twice he thought of Semple, who must already be closeted with +the Premier. + +Just before midday a howling mob gathered swiftly outside the big +gates, when instantly Baudette and his fifty axemen ran up and joined +the guards. The crowd increased, and there went out an imperative +summons to Manson who, with his thirty police, ranged himself half a +mile away on the road to St. Marys. But for this the town was utterly +unprotected. Came the pad pad of flying feet, and Fisette dashed up, +swinging a prospecting pick. He grinned at the big constable. + +"By Gar!" he panted, "I guess we catch hell now." + +Followed a little pause, broken only by the deep threatening note of +the crowd. Then Belding felt a touch on his shoulder. + +"Open the gates," said Clark evenly, "I want to speak to them." + +The engineer stared at the set face. His chief's eyes were like +polished steel, and his jaw thrust out. There was no fear here. + +"Stay inside, sir. They'll kill you." + +The front rank caught sight of the erect figure. Then silence fell +over them and spread slowly through the dark-browed multitude, Clark +raised an imperative finger. The gates opened a fraction, and in front +of them stood the man in whom the rioters perceived the head of their +present world. + +"I want to tell you that your money is coming, and that I stay here +till you are paid," rang the clear voice. + +For an instant there came no answer, but presently from the rear ranks +rose again a bull-like roar. + +"You tell us that last week." + +Followed a murmur that ran through the packed mass of broad shoulders. + +"I tell you again--and it's true!" + +For reply, a short iron bolt came hurtling through the air. It took +Clark on the cheek. He seemed not to feel it, but stood undaunted, +while a trickle of blood crept down his smooth face. The sight of it +seemed to rouse some latent fury in the mob, and a deep growl sounded +ominously. He felt himself jerked suddenly back, and Belding and +Baudette jumped in front of him. The woodsman balanced a great shining +axe, and the engineer's automatic gleamed dully. + +"Get inside, sir, quick!" + +For the first time in his life, Clark felt himself passed from hand to +hand, and landed, fuming, on the other side of the big gates. The +voice of the mob lifted to an infuriated howl. Simultaneously the rear +ranks pressed forward. + +Fighting began the next instant. Belding's revolver barked viciously, +while he shot low at legs and feet. Three men went down to be engulfed +in the oncoming tide. Baudette was standing firm, his cold blue eyes +alight with the fire of battle. His broad axe was cutting swift +circles around him, while he dodged a shower of missiles. To right and +left of him fifty axe handles rose and fell like flails, and behind +them was all the skill and sinew of those who dwell amongst big timber. +Then a jagged fragment of iron casting took Baudette on the knee, and +he went down. + +The battle grew, while the faithful ranks thinned visibly. Just +through the big gates lay the battlemented works, and toward them +pressed the mob, now drunk with the hunger to destroy. At the moment +when it seemed that the living barrier must collapse, the rioters +wheeled to meet a new attack. With the sound of fighting, Manson +pushed on and now struck hard. His thirty constables set their batons +going, and there came the heavy crack of loaded wood on thick skulls. +Fisette, his eyes gleaming, was tapping like a deadly woodpecker with +his pick, and the impetus of this onslaught drove a formidable wedge +into the surging mass. Manson's great voice bellowed unspeakable +things in the lust of combat, his dark visage distorted, his mighty +body gathered into a great, human battering ram. + +Presently the constable too went down with a shattered arm, and the +line of police shortened and curved. Fisette found himself throttled +by a muscular arm which shot round his neck, and two minutes later they +were surrounded and fighting for their lives. + +The battle surged and palpitated. What remained of Baudette's axemen +were behind the big gates, where Belding had dragged the prostrate +foreman. Clark stood in absolute calmness, though he knew that +presently this barrier would be battered down. + +Belding drew a long breath and shot a fascinated glance at his chief. +It flashed into his mind that Clark was getting punishment now, not +only in the eyes of the world, but also in the eyes of the man from +whom he had taken that which was dearest and best. But his leader's +gaze was as clear as ever. + +"It can't last much longer, sir," he shouted through the uproar. His +automatic was empty, and he could only watch the front rank of rioters +pick up a great baulk of timber and balance it opposite the gates. +Then a sudden chill struck to his very soul. What would happen in St. +Marys? + +Clark, staring at him, just as suddenly perceived what was in his mind. + +"Take my launch," he called into his ear. "You can land at the house. +Hurry! Don't mind about me." + +Belding hung for a moment in frantic uncertainty, and shook his head. +He was next in command here, but a short mile away was his heart's +desire, defenseless, save for what resistance could be hastily +organized in the town. It was questionable what that was worth, and +his whole soul commanded him to go to her. For an instant he felt +sick, then over him flooded the cold conviction that, even though he +saved Clark for Elsie, he must stay and see this thing through. + +Suddenly from far down the road came a sharp rattle, that pierced the +uproar and brought a grim, inflexible message. Clark heard it, and +over his face stole an expression of relief. The mob heard it, and +through their surging ranks ran that which sobered and cooled their +fury. Manson, prostrate and bloody, heard it, and Fisette, and all the +others who had fought, it seemed, their last fight. The rioters began +to dissipate like blown leaves in autumn, and a rippling line of +infantry in open formation moved rhythmically up the road from St. +Marys. + +Clark drew a long breath and looked curiously at his engineer. + +"You saved my life, Belding." He hesitated a moment, and added +thoughtfully, "Now, why should you want to do that?" + +Belding stared and a lump rose in his throat. He had lost and yet he +had won,--been defeated and yet had risen to something bigger than he +had ever achieved before. He could face the future now, even though it +were written that he should face it alone. He tried to speak, then +turned on his heel and walked towards the dock, where Clark's fast +launch lay glinting in the sun. + +The gray eyes followed him in profound contemplation. Presently Clark +smiled, it seemed a little sadly, and advanced to the officer +commanding the troops. Baudette was sitting up. Manson, his face gray +with pain, was nursing a dangling arm, and round them the derelicts of +battle were strewn grotesquely. But it was Fisette who spoke first. + +"By Gar!" he said with flashing teeth, "she's one big fight, eh!" + +Silence spread again over the works. An armed picket was left at the +big gates, while the rest of the troops patrolled suddenly deserted +streets in Ironville. In the accounting office there began again the +clicking of typewriters, and Clark, at his desk, dictated a dispatch to +Philadelphia. This done, he fell into a mood of strange abstraction. +The car of destiny was traveling fast. + +Just then the telephone rang, and he took up the receiver +automatically. As in a dream Elsie's voice came in, tremulous but very +clear. He smiled wearily as he listened. + +"Thank you very much," he said in answer. "There is really no serious +damage done, except to a few foolish heads; and," he added, "please +thank Mr. Belding again for me,--yes, he'll understand." + +A hush fell in the office again, and he felt inexpressibly alone. He +was not in any sense hopeless, being assured that in the vast machine +of his own creation were inherent qualities of life that could never be +extinguished. He was strong, since for himself he desired nothing. In +this hour of uncertainty his imagination traveled far, but again and +again it was captured by the remembrance of his days with the bishop. +This had nothing to do with works, and yet in a way they were +intimately connected. The bishop had demonstrated the operation of +high and subtle forces to which he himself had not given much thought. +The bishop had saved his life, just as Belding had saved it, and he +still seemed to feel the working of big muscles under his twitching +palms. There flashed back what the prelate had said about being +prepared for the worst, which after all was sometimes the best, and, +with half closed eyes, he wondered whether this was the occasion. +There sounded a knock at the door, and the bishop himself came in. + +Clark, getting up hastily, advanced to meet him. There were only three +people in the world he would have cared to see at that moment, and here +was one of them. + +"Come in and sit down, sir. This is very good of you." + +"It took me two hours to get here," said the big man, breathing a +little hard. "It's rather difficult traveling to-day." + +Clark stared at him. He had always thought of the bishop as an +exemplar of peace, but he had arrived almost on the tail of the riot. + +"I only reached town a short time ago," the visitor was smiling +cheerfully, "and heard about the trouble. Now that I'm safely here, +I'll only stay a minute." + +Clark shook his head. "You are very welcome, sir." + +The bishop nodded contentedly. "I just wanted to express my sympathy +with your present anxiety, and my belief that everything will come all +right." + +"You do believe that?" + +"Unquestionably. Such efforts as yours are not foredoomed. I see you, +too, are of my opinion." + +"I have to be," said Clark reflectively. + +"I'm not at all surprised, since you can turn to the physical evidence +of your own efforts to support you. It gives you an advantage over +myself." + +"Does it?" + +The visitor pointed to the mass of buildings close at hand. "You have +all that, and there is no doubt that inanimate things possess a +peculiar influence, either strengthening or otherwise. But still I can +quite imagine what it means to you to sit here and listen to silence +with so many reminders about you. It is one of the things that the +servants of humanity must occasionally face." + +"Servants?" said Clark curiously. + +"Is not a leader also a servant. Has he anything left for himself, and +is it not just a different term for the same thing?" + +The other man experienced a strange sensation that he had discovered +this a long time ago. The bishop had also discovered it, but had not +forgotten. + +"I have it in my mind that there is another reason why you should not +be depressed," went on the prelate assuringly. "You have always +demanded too much of yourself; and while you are many kinds of a man +you cannot be all kinds." + +This was also true. "Go on, sir." + +"I have developed no commercial ability, but admit a strong commercial +interest, and sometimes think I could have been a good business man +myself. I roughly divide them into two classes,--one very large and +the other very small." + +"Successful and unsuccessful, I assume?" + +The bishop's face was very thoughtful. "That depends on what you mean +by 'success.' Wealth, for instance, does not necessarily stand for +success. You, if I may say so, are a practical idealist, for you have +faith in your dream. You have achieved a vision revealed to few men's +eyes and--" + +A gentle knock at the door cut him short. The secretary came in with a +telegram, and something in the face of the latter made Clark's heart +leap within him. A few seconds later he placed the yellow slip in the +bishop's hands, and gazed at him with twinkling eyes. + + +Ontario government advances two million on offered security and has +notified your bank. + +SEMPLE. + + +The bishop read it over slowly. "How can I congratulate you? What +splendid news!" + +"You have congratulated me." + +"Eh! When?" + +"You said I had faith in my dream. Now I beg of you not to move, but +just see how things work." + +In the course of the next ten minutes, the prelate saw Clark in swift +action. Automatically the clear brain marshaled all the pressing +duties of the moment and discharged them in quick succession. Messages +to Filmer, to the military authorities, to various impatient creditors, +were dispatched, for in this masterful hand was gathered every filament +through which a vitalizing energy would again permeate the works. The +flexible intellect of the man worked with a precision that was +impressive. Presently the bishop rose to go. He stood, an imposing +figure, animated with benign understanding and good will. + +"Good-by, till we meet again. I rejoice with you in what has just +taken place, but you are a prophet and all prophets are on a precarious +pedestal. Had you been in the pursuit of wealth I could not have +talked as I have to-day." + +Clark did not answer, and in the hush the voice of the rapids lifted a +melodious chorus. + +"But after all does it matter how deep the water through which any man +passes if the community at large benefits?" + +"I don't know what they would say to that in Philadelphia." + +"Possibly, but in an economic sense what has happened is that some of +the wealth of Philadelphia has been transferred here. This will be a +few weeks' sensation--and then will follow a fresh one. That is of the +nature of things. But long after you and I have moved on, the forests +and mines of this district will be adding to the strength of the +country. Those men who have backed you have contributed with you and +made it possible. Mr. Clark, I have no fear for the future of the +works or of yourself." + +Clark's lips curved into a rare smile. "Neither have I, sir." + +His visitor departed, and he got on to the Philadelphia wire with the +curt information that two million dollars had been secured from the +Ontario government, and asked permission to continue work. +Simultaneously the news spread like a forest fire. The militia found +there was nothing to contend with. Merchants surveyed their looted +stores and swore vengeance, but in a modern Arcadia one cannot arrest +two thousand foreigners. There were blocks of buildings with fronts +smashed in; dangling knots of wires; prostrate electric light poles; +scattered stones and bolts and shivered fences, but the rioters, to a +man, were back, dandling their babies and waiting for the morrow. It +was as though a hurricane had blown fiercely through the town, and then +died over the encircling hills. And in the bank office Brewster was +thoughtfully reading two telegrams from Thorpe, one commending his +attitude for the past few weeks, the other authorizing him to credit +the Consolidated account with two million dollars. + +A few days later Wimperley and Birch arrived. It was their answer to +Clark's suggestion that work be continued without delay and, as usual, +he quite correctly interpreted the manner of their reply. His energy +had saved the situation which it had created, but, in spite of this, +there was a new spirit in the financial circles of Philadelphia. He +was dubbed a dangerous man. He was, they considered, too swift as well +as too hypnotic. To continue to identify themselves with his +undertakings was deliberately boarding a runaway train. Added to this, +the interlinking of companies which had been presumed to be a factor of +strength was now shown as an element of weakness. When one lost money, +all lost it. + +When Wimperley, unfolding his mind steadily and without interruption, +told Clark that the old régime was at an end, the latter, at first, was +not much impressed. But gradually the case became clearer. + +"I don't say we don't trust you," he said, "but candidly, we're afraid +of you. Just two things are needed to secure the operation of the +works,--new money and new management; and it's possible the new crowd +won't want you. Philadelphia has been sucked dry so far as concerns +us." + +"Any suggestions?" put in Clark quietly. + +"Not yet. We're in correspondence with London people, and they'll +probably come out. When they do," continued Wimperley, eying the other +man meaningly, "we'll turn them over to you." + +"Is that it?" The voice had a profundity of meaning. + +Wimperley nodded. "I thought you'd understand. You got us in, and now +you've got to pull us out." + +"And pull myself out too," said Clark dryly. "Thanks." + +"Would you prefer that the works stay idle with you or get busy without +you?" interjected Birch pointedly. + +"When it comes to that--if it does--I'll let you know. In the +meantime--?" + +"Don't turn a wheel except for town utilities, and now we'd like to see +Bowers. You probably don't realize what we've been through in +Philadelphia. Consolidated isn't what you'd call gilt edged just now, +and the corners are knocked off our reputation as business men. I just +mention this in case you feel aggrieved." + +Clark grinned suddenly. "I'm not worrying either about my stock or my +business reputation. Your difficulty is that you don't see why any one +else should pull through where we didn't." + +Wimperley nodded. "There's something in that. What we've got now is +the job of making Consolidated stock worth something--by earnings. It +means cutting out the dead wood--our own dead wood, and I don't fancy +the contract. It hurts to chop down the tree you helped to plant--but +it's the only way out of it. There will probably be months before this +machine will start up again, and move toward permanent success." + +A day or two afterwards the two directors went back to Philadelphia, +where they reported to Stoughton and Riggs that the screws were on +tight. Save only the pumps and generators, not a wheel turned in the +Consolidated. Birch's conclusion was that millions more were needed. +Consolidated stock settled down to a nominal value that fluctuated with +conflicting reports of new capital having been found, but the whole +affair was flat--indescribably flat. And meantime Birch--with the +unprofitable burden on his shoulders--made pilgrimages to test the +financial pulse, and for months returned empty handed. + +In St. Marys it seemed that Arcadia might be reborn,--not the old time +Arcadia with its sleepy village atmosphere, but a modern one in which +folk made up their minds to live on the profits of past years. The car +service was reduced, and half the street lamps removed. There were +empty houses in the new streets, and the property which once passed +through Manson's hands could have been re-bought at the original price. +Filmer and the rest reduced their stock, while the whole overbuilt, +overgrown town settled down to wait till, after a weary interval, Clark +got off the train with two strangers and drove up to the big house on +the hill. In half an hour Bowers, who was expecting them, completed +the quartet. + +It was an unusual group that gathered that night in the dining room. +Ardswell and Weatherby had spent a week in Philadelphia before +Wimperley telegraphed Clark to come down. The story was plain enough. +The two Englishmen had come from London to hear it,--and it was told +well. But Wimperley and Birch shared the belief that Clark, in the +meantime, should be kept in the background, lest his hypnosis should +envelop them as of old. They held him, as it were, a reserve store of +influence to be used at the proper time, and it was not till the +financial aspect of the affair was thoroughly digested that he was +called in to play his appointed part. + +Ardswell and Weatherby wanted to see whether the machine could be made +to run commercially. That it was not so running was obviously the +fault of those in charge, and Clark at once determined not to attempt +to make former mistakes less glaring. The more obvious they were +allowed to remain, the more easy their rectification. He was too much +in love with the works to dodge this sacrifice, and yet could not +conceive their continuing without him. + +Assuming this onerous duty, he was perfectly aware that he dealt with +minds of a new complexion. Instead of responsive Americans, he +confronted two cool-blooded Britishers, to whom any show of spontaneity +was out of place. They were on guard, and Clark knew it, and of all +his achievements none stands out more prominently than his attitude on +the three days that followed. He became a Britisher himself. He +assumed, quite correctly, that nothing would be accepted without proof. + +Tramping about the works, they were accompanied by the superintendents +of the various departments, to whom he referred the pointed questions +that came so frequently in high-pitched, well modulated English voices. +What Clark said himself was very curt and to the point. The works, he +decided, could talk for themselves. Coming last to the pulp mill, +Ardswell ran an admiring eye down the long rank of machinery, ranged +like sleeping giants in a dwindling perspective. + +"I say," he remarked involuntarily, "I'd like to see the thing turn +over. Could it be arranged?--at our expense of course," he added. + +Clark nodded to the superintendent, who was close behind, and presently +the day watchmen were twisting at the turbine gate wheels. A soft +tremor ran through the building, growing steadily to a deep, hoarse +rumble as the massive grindstones revolved faster. The floor vibrated +in a quick rhythm, and in a few seconds came the full drone of +work--that profound and elemental note of nature when she toils at the +behest of man. + +The faintest flicker of light stirred in the blue English eyes. +Ardswell had been walking from turbine to turbine. "Ripping!" he said. +"You might shut down now." + +The titans dropped one by one into slumber. When the last vibration +was stilled, he looked up with a new respect. "We might go ahead if +you don't mind." + +"Take a quarter of an hour first, and follow me." + +They struck southward, and the Englishmen heard the boom of the rapids +deepen till they came to the edge of the river at Clark's observation +point. There was a strong easterly wind, and it caught at the snowy +crests of the bigger waves, spinning them out like silver manes of +leaping horses. These flashed in the sunlight, till, over the central +ridge of water, the air was full of a fine, misty spray that hung +palpitating and luminous. Here was a torrential life--born of the +endless and icy leagues of Lake Superior. + +The two strangers stared fascinated, and as Clark watched them he +perceived that once more the ageless voice of the rapids was speaking +to human ears, just as it had spoken to his own so many times--and +years before. He waited patiently, while the river lifted its +elemental message, and saw the color rise in English cheeks and the +cold, blue English eyes begin to sparkle again. What were the drab +records of Birch's ledgers, or even the monumental pile of nearby +buildings, compared to this impetuous slogan? He stood silently, +plunged in the psychology of the moment. + +"How much power--total I mean?" said Ardswell presently, pointing to +the ripping flood. + +"Two hundred and forty thousand horsepower, at a minimum." + +"By George!" + +Silence fell again, till Weatherby, shaking the spray from his rough +tweed coat, got up a little stiffly. + +"I begin to understand a little better now," he said slowly with an +eloquent glance. + +The car was waiting for them by the little lock--and here at the block +house the visitors displayed marked animation, Clark told them the +story very simply as they rolled off up the hill for lunch. + +"There's one man, the chief engineer, Belding--you met him at the head +gates--that I would like to be remembered should we do business," he +concluded very thoughtfully. "Belding was my first employee. I picked +him up in St. Marys and he has stuck to it nobly. I probably gave him +far too much to do, but he never squealed; and there are other reasons." + +Weatherby looked up. "That's the big, fair haired chap we saw go off +in the canoe?" + +"Yes." + +"Well," put in Ardswell tersely, "it will probably all depend on +yourself." + + + + +XXIV.--DESTINY + +Up in the big bay that lies next the head of the rapids, Belding was +drifting aimlessly. He was still obsessed with a sense of the hideous +uselessness of effort, and wanted to be alone. At one time Elsie used +to be here in the bow of the canoe, but now it seemed that Elsie had +little thought for him. And yet he could have sworn that, two years +ago, she loved him. + +He began to paddle, with a sharp and growing resentment, and found a +deep satisfaction in the thrust of his broad blade. Soon he was nearly +half way across the river, and a mile down stream lifted the fabric of +the great bridge. Slacking speed, he caught the pull of the current, +and with it came a reckless impulse. No man had shot the middle of the +rapids and escaped with his life. It was true that the Indians +maneuvered their long canoes down close to the opposite shore with +venturous tourists, but it was only a film of water that wound, +bubbling, near the land. With the deep-throated rumble only half a +mile away, Belding felt his pulse falter for a second, then pound +viciously on. And in that second, with the bravado of early manhood, +he threw discretion overboard, and set the slim bow of his Peterboro' +for the middle span. Twenty seconds, later he knew that he was about +to run the rapids--whether he would or not. + +Settling himself amidship, he gripped the thwart tight between calf and +thigh and, resting the paddle across the gunwale, peered anxiously +forward. His lips were a little dry, but he felt no fear. Being close +to the water, he could not see the rapids themselves but only the first +great, green curve, and below it the white tops of a multitude of +waves. Then the middle span swept back overhead, he heard the river, +split by the sharp piers, hissing along their rough sides and the canoe +sailed like a leaf into the first smooth dip. Came the vision of a +distant shore sliding by, and the lower reach with a ferry steamer +halfway across, and Belding felt the canoe lift and quiver, while a +green wave flung its white crest in his face. He came through rather +than over it, and just below caught a glimpse of one of those dreaded +cellars that hid themselves in this tumult. Here, at all costs, he +must keep straight. + +The canoe, with no way on, swooped giddily into the great, emerald pit. +There was a fleeting sensation of smooth, glittering, watery walls, +till he was flung on and up into the backward foaming crest, and with a +desperate effort wrenched the slim bow so that it took the rise head +on. An instant followed in which the sky was blotted out, while on +each side rose pyramids of bubbling foam that seemed to meet over his +head, but between which he could see light and distance. The canoe, +half full of water, was plucked onward, while Belding drew a long +breath and searched the chaos in front of him. + +Fifty yards down, opened a lane of green that curved beside and between +two cellars, each deeper than the last. He knew instantly that he +could not survive these, and, with every ounce of his strength, drove +across the broken river to the head of the chute. Making it in the +nick of time, he plunged in, with the water sucking at his thighs, and +the sinews in his arms burning like fire. There followed a swift +descent through cellars of dwindling depth, till he floated into the +long, spume-flecked swells at the foot of the decline, where the canoe +drifted sluggishly, full nearly to the gunwale. And here Belding +leaned forward with his hands on her curved thwart, and pumped great +gulps of air into his empty lungs. Presently he stared around. He was +below the works of which he had seen nothing, and just opposite Clark's +big house, whose roof lifted on the hill side a mile away. He had +dared the rapids and come through safely, but Clark, he reflected, was +engulfed. + +Luncheon that day at the big house had been a silent affair, after +which the three men went out on the terrace and examined the panorama +that spread to the south. It was suggestive and inspiring. They had +been voiceless for some time, when Clark moved restlessly. + +"Shall we talk here, or go back to the office?" + +"This is good enough for me," said Ardswell; "are you ready for +business?" + +"Certainly." + +"And may I ask two questions first,--one is a trifle personal?" + +"Please ask them, if you wish; I have no personal secrets." + +"That's very decent of you. What I'd like to know is, first, what you +found here when you arrived seven years ago, and, second, what your +resources were at the time? You will not, of course, answer the last +unless you wish." + +Clark laughed almost boyishly. "Why I found only the rapids, and--I +had no resources,--that is, except myself." + +"I thought so, and"--here the speaker glanced at Weatherby--"we would +like to congratulate you, I had an idea that this was the case. Now as +to the present business, we have decided to make a proposal to your +board." + +"I am glad of that," said Clark briefly. He knew that the moment had +come. + +"We hope it will meet with your support," Ardswell hesitated +perceptibly and went on, pitching his voice a little higher, "and you +will not misunderstand my putting it rather baldly. The matter depends +on two things: the reduction of the Consolidated capital from +twenty-seven million to something about ten million and the wiping out +of all common stock, and," here he paused again while the blood crept +slowly to his temples--"the other is a change in the executive. These +being satisfactorily arranged, we will go ahead. That's about it, eh?" + +"Yes," put in the other, "but of course we could not go ahead, under +any circumstances, without Mr. Clark's temporary assistance. I think +in fairness to him we should make the case a little clearer." + +"It's fairly clear as it is," said Clark without a trace of emotion. + +"We've never seen anything quite like this in any part of the world," +volunteered Weatherby, "and it is a remarkable thing for any one man to +have imagined and accomplished. Whether or not we take the matter up, +it will always seem a catastrophe that your work and the work of your +directors should have been interrupted by a speculator. That's one +thing that strikes us both about American business--you have your +lions, and plenty of them, but you have too many wolves. Now, coming +back to St. Marys, I beg that you won't misunderstand me when I say +that the originator of great things is very seldom a suitable executive +for permanent administration. It is too much to expect. In case we +take this up it would be necessary for us to have the administration in +our own hands. You understand, of course, that an originator of big +things is a much rarer person than a good executive, and it is largely +on account of non-imaginative qualities that the latter is the safer +man. I would like to assure you," he concluded with evident respect, +"that we have never experienced more difficulty in making a suggestion. +The case is extraordinary--we realize that." + +"What Weatherby has in his head," added Ardswell, "is that you have +done what neither of us could ever have done, and he thinks it a waste +of valuable material to try and make an executive out--" + +"Out of me," interrupted Clark. "You may be quite right." He had +expected to feel alone, but the direct simplicity of these men appealed +to him. It was not always, he reflected, that he was given an +unprejudiced opinion, and he felt the safer since now he got it. + +"We believe that we are right," it was Weatherby who spoke, "and are +prepared to assume that responsibility. Like you, we have shareholders +to think of, and we feel that yours will not get any better offer. We +know the financial world fairly well." + +Clark listened tensely. He was aware that the interests represented by +these two were of enormous influence and wealth. He realized, also, +that instead of all this discussion, Wimperley might simply have +notified him that he was discharged, and that the new interests would +now take over. But Wimperley had done nothing of the kind. + +"One week in Philadelphia taught us much, but we have learned a great +deal more up here," continued Weatherby, "and it depended really on the +past three days whether we would make a proposal or not. From what we +have seen and what you have told us, we are satisfied. I might say +that your directors have already agreed to the reduction of capital, +provided the matter of management is settled. So the future lies +entirely with you. Your holdings in common stock are so large that it +is essential you give your formal assent." + +Clark drew a long breath. He had come to the fork in the road. The +labors of seven years rolled suddenly over his brain and engulfed it. +Here were two men who drank his wine, then asked him to leave his very +soul to others. + +"Gentlemen," he said slowly, "thank you for what you have said--but I +can't give you an answer at once." + +"There's no hurry," replied Ardswell. "It's not a case for a snap +decision." + +Through Clark's mind ran a quizzical idea that these two understood +each other admirably, and he wondered how things would have turned out +had he himself been one of a pair that did such team work. + +"Then later, to-night." + +The two nodded and moved off, talking earnestly, while Clark +experienced a strange breathlessness. His soul was in tumult, and he +reacted from the strain of the past few days. He perceived that with +men like himself and his visitors lay the great economic forces of the +world. And yet he was expected to make way. + +Passing slowly through the big gates, towards which he had walked +automatically, he moved on beyond the pulp mills towards the rapids, as +though drawn by their insistent call. It was the call he had heard for +years, even in his very dreams. And there, on the great boulder where +he had once found her before, sat Elsie. + +She had been there for an hour, gazing at the tumbled mass of foam and +trying desperately to disentangle her thoughts. But even as she gazed, +Clark's face seemed to come in between; keen, strong, undefeated and +suggestive. It was not till now that she admitted to her own soul that +he had dominated her imagination for months past. His achievements, +his peculiar independence, his swift versatility had captured her +crescent ambition, the ambition which he himself had unwittingly +stimulated. She did not question whether this was love, she only knew +that in this season, when his work seemed to be tottering over his +head, she was ready to come to him and help rebuild it into something +stronger and even greater. + +She did not start, but looked at him with a strange satisfaction, as +though it were meant from the first that they should meet at this time +and place. Her eyes were very grave, and in them was that which made +Clark's pulse beat faster. Something whispered that each of them had +been saved over for this moment. + +"I haven't seen much of you for the past few months," he said presently. + +"I know that, but I know why. Are things better now?" + +He nodded. "They may be very shortly." + +"I'm so glad. You can't imagine how anxious I've been,--the riots and +your escape--and--" + +"But I was anxious for you." + +"You shouldn't have been," she said gently. "Mr. Belding told me that +you wanted him to come to the house when things were at their worst, +but he didn't like leaving you. Now tell me, are the works starting up +again?" + +Clark drew a long breath. "I'll know very soon." + +"Then you'll settle down just like before, and it will be all a bad +dream?" + +"Perhaps I will." His voice lifted a little. + +"You're not going away?" + +That was what he had come here to decide, and there flashed into his +mind a curious conception that was both fanciful and reassuring. + +"Forget about the works for a moment; I want to ask you something." + +"But do I know?" She smiled doubtfully. + +"Yes, you'll know without any question whatever. It's the case of a +man who worked very hard, and he didn't work for money or glory, or +anything of that kind, but just because he loved it and couldn't help +it." + +"That sounds very like yourself." + +"There are many men like that, more than most people imagine," he said +quietly; "and after this one had, so to speak, built the foundations +and walls, he had not money enough to put on the roof, and another man +came along and offered to do it. Of course, he would get the credit +for the whole building. It was a very important one, and it affected +the lives and comfort of a great many people who would suffer if it +were not completed." + +The girl glanced at him strangely. "Is that all?" + +"Yes, except that the people who lived there would naturally forget all +about the man who laid the foundations and built the walls, and would +even blame him and think only of the one who made the place habitable +for them." + +"But does that matter?" she asked quickly, looking at him. + +Clark took a long look at the animated face. "That he should be +forgotten or blamed?" + +"Yes. You said he worked for the love of it. He didn't ask for thanks +or appreciation, and from what you tell me he wasn't that kind." She +turned swiftly: "It is yourself." + +"And if it were, that would not alter your judgment, would it?" + +"Is it fair to ask?" Her eyes were full of a touching appeal. + +"A frank opinion is the fairest thing to me," he said quietly. "I know +how you would look at it. There's only one answer you could give. If +it were otherwise it wouldn't be you: the first man has no alternative, +has he?" + +"No," she whispered. Her face was pitiful, as though she had been +secretly and cruelly hurt. + +"Then it is the works I'm considering," he continued slowly. "You're +the only one I can tell just now, but if they go on, it must be without +me." + +"But they're your works. You dreamed them and then built them." + +"I've had many dreams, Elsie." + +Her heart beat rapturously. It was the first time he had called her +Elsie, and her spontaneous spirit went out to this man who stood facing +so great and sacrificial a decision. She longed to spend herself upon +him. Involuntarily she glanced up with profound pity and, turning, +caught a glimpse of a canoe that whipped down stream under the middle +span of the great bridge. + +"Oh, look! he's going to be drowned." She clutched Clark's arm in +sudden terror. + +The latter stared, while something rose in his throat. The canoe was +familiar. He had seen it a few hours before on the upper bay, and now +his keen sight made out the figure of Belding. Instantly he grasped +the cause of this foolhardy deed. A glance at Elsie told him she was +unaware who it was that thus played with death. + +"Look, look!" she cried again. + +The canoe pitched into the first cellar, and in the mound of silver +foam they could discern only the slim and tossing bow. Presently it +emerged and reeled on into the fury below. Elsie covered her eyes, and +Clark stood as though fascinated. What part had he played in this +perilous drama? + +Vividly his mind flashed back to those first days, the beginning of the +engineer's unswerving loyalty. Year after year he had never faltered, +and at the end of it all, even though apparently robbed by his chief of +his heart's desire, had thrust himself between Clark and the hoarse +hatred of the mob. Came now an overwhelming sense of unworthiness, and +Clark asked of himself who was he to demand such sacrifice. Then, as +though a cloud had revealed the sun, the way became quite clear. + +"Elsie," he said, "the canoe is all right, look!" + +Down in the long, smooth swell at the foot of the rapids, it lay +sluggishly. The man dipped his paddle and began to move almost +imperceptibly towards shore. The girl drew a long breath. + +"He's safe." + +"Yes," said Clark earnestly, "he's very safe. Now I want to talk to +you." + +She brightened at once. "Do." + +"I've wanted to talk to you for months. Do you remember what we spoke +of last?" + +"Destiny," she said softly. + +He nodded. "I see it plainly to-day, more plainly than ever before. +Sometimes when a man is in deep water his sight gets keener. What I +have been through in the last seven years is only a phase, it's not an +epoch. I was meant to do it, and I did it with all my heart. Now I'm +going to do something else, in order that the works may prosper. You +have helped me to make that decision." + +"I?" she whispered faintly. + +He put a hand on her arm--it was his only caress. + +"Yes, Elsie, you. It is as though I had caught sight of a road which +was very beautiful and tender, and I was tempted to take it. But it is +not my road. What the future has left for me I don't know, but it is +not here and I must meet it alone." + +He paused for a moment, and the girl's brown eyes filled with tears. +Presently the steady voice continued. + +"Destiny is calling, and one cannot take a girl into a battlefield, for +that is what it is going to be. I'm a poor man again, Elsie, just as I +was seven years ago. That does not matter, for I will be rich in +memories." + +"Don't," she said brokenly, "don't!" + +"Youth will go to youth, Elsie." + +"You mean--" + +"I mean that the man you really love, is the man you saw run the +rapids." + +"Jim!" Her eyes were round with terror. + +"Yes, Jim, the best friend but one I found in St. Marys. Jim, full of +loyalty and courage and energy; Jim who wanted to give his life for +mine, though he thought he'd lost you. He had never really lost you, +Elsie. The road that led to you seemed so attractive that I hesitated, +till now I see that it was Jim's road. It always was." + +In the silence that followed she lifted her exquisite face. Her lips +were parted, and in her gaze was a light that came as through +dissolving mist. And then into their very souls crept the voice of the +rapids. Clark caught it, and perceived that the call was not for him +alone but for thousands yet unborn, and there began to creep over him +the ineffable unction of labor. He realized how large was the world, +and how much work yet remained to be done. His spirit was not +solitary, but linked forever with eternal realities, and through the +cloud that obscured the present he could see his star of destiny +shining undimmed. + +And Elsie! Elsie sat, her whole being shaken with overwhelming +emotion. Never had she so longed to be everything to this man as now +when, with prophetic power, his vibrant voice told her that he must +journey on alone. In his accents she recognized the note of fate, and +the ground shifted under her feet. She saw her dream dissolving. She +perceived that against his lofty spirit she herself must oppose nothing +small and selfish, however poignant the moment. Summoning all her +fortitude, she stretched out her hand. + +He stood for a moment, and she felt the pressure of his grasp. It was +warm and confident. When she looked up she was alone. + +It was hours afterwards that Ardswell and Weatherby lounged at their +windows, overhanging the terrace. They were in dressing gowns and +smoking contemplative pipes. Down below was seated a motionless gray +clad figure, clearly outlined in the moonlight. Ardswell saw him. + +"Poor devil!" he said under his breath. + + + + +XXV.--THE UNCONQUERABLE SPIRIT + +Two years later, Belding and Elsie were returning from Chicago, where +the former had been purchasing machinery for the new company, of which +he was chief engineer. Time had done well for them and for St. Marys. +The six months' physical inactivity of the works were spent wisely, if +ruthlessly, in weeding out unfertile growths and concentrating +resources on those which were sound and promising. There was a sharp +distinction between this deliberate policy and the restless activity +that preceded it. + +St. Marys, too, had caught its breath and taken on permanency. There +were no more surprises. The works became a factory, instead of a +Pandora's box, full of the unexpected. Property was stable, if lower +than the high water mark, while Filmer and the rest settled down to +steady business, somewhat forgetful of the man to whom were due the +first tendrils of the tree of progress. + +But Belding, growing constantly in mental stature, could never forget. +His own position--his development--his authority, had come of the +abiding faith bestowed on him nine years ago by one whom he had then +seen but for ten minutes. And as often as he saw the works the +realization came over him. How many others, he wondered, felt as he +did? + +They were approaching St. Marys, and, coming out of the dining car with +Elsie, he steadied her to their seat. Night was drawing on, but the +car remained unlighted, and simultaneously they noticed a man sitting +across the aisle, staring intently out of the window. Something +familiar in the figure caught their attention. + +"It's Mr. Clark," he whispered to his wife. + +She glanced across, and her fingers tightened on his arm. + +"Don't speak to him, Jim." + +"Why?" + +"Look at him, can't you see?" + +Belding looked, Clark was absolutely motionless, and had not changed a +fraction in two years. The train moved on, till it halted for a few +moments on the great bridge. The air was cool and full of the deep +roar of the rapids, and the car vibrated delicately with the huge steel +girders on which it rested. Two hundred feet away came the first, +smooth dip that Belding would always remember. Immediately beneath, he +had slid into the chaos further on. + +The two young people did not stir, but watched the silent observer. +Against the window they caught the dominant nose, the clean cut, +powerful chin, the aggressive contour of head and shoulders. Clark was +leaning forward, his gaze exploring the well remembered scene. + +"Don't disturb him," whispered Elsie again. + +Her husband pressed her hand, and they waited, wondering what thoughts +were passing through that marvelous brain. He was staring at the +works. It was all his--this dream come true; this vision portrayed in +steel and stone. Out of nothing but water and wood and his own superb +faith he had created it, only to see this exemplification of himself +slip from his own hands into those of others, who had sponsored neither +its birth nor its magnificent development. What portion of his leader, +pondered the engineer, had been incorporated in those vast +foundations--and what had life left in store to replace them for him? + +The train was moving on, when Clark, turning suddenly, smiled and held +out his hand. + +"Glad to see you both, if only for a minute. I'm on my way back to +Russia, where I'm carrying out large improvements for the +government--been there for the last year. By the way, Belding, did you +notice that old, crooked birch beside the rapids? A big, fat +kingfisher used to live there--we knew each other well." + + + + +CONCLUSION + +The sumac leaves, which through the summer months tapped delicately at +my study window, have turned a vivid scarlet, and one by one have +fluttered to the ground. Here, by the mysterious process of nature, +they will be incorporated with the rich soil, to nourish some other +life that will later climb sunward. But in that life no one shall +recognize a sumac leaf. + +So it seems are the efforts of men. A few years of growth and +aspiration--then the fiery bourgeoning to a climax, and, after that, +incorporation in the soil of a forgetfulness that seems indifferent +alike to their exertions and their ambitions. But the end is not here. +Somewhere, and most certainly in some other form, the effort achieves +immortality and reasserts itself, indestructible and eternal. For such +are the myriad filaments of existence, and so indissolubly are men +linked with each other by invisible chains, that it is but seldom that +impulse can be traced back to its birth, or courage to its starting +point. + +Who then shall determine what is success and what is failure? Does the +grandeur of the reward establish the value of the service, or is it not +true that, in the mysterious cycle of time, the richest field is not +seldom sown by hands that have been without honor or recognition in +their season? Does wealth or authority spell success, or is it the +meed of those who have given rather than taken, who have toiled on the +mountain side rather than sought the peaks of publicity? Clark came to +St. Marys a poor man, and he left it no whit the richer. What he made, +he spent. And when the day of his departure dawned, he went as one who +had attempted and failed, carrying with him the resentment of those who +lost, and few thanks from those who profited. + +But did Clark actually fail? + +To-day the mines of Algoma are supplying steel rails for Asiatic +railways; the forests about St. Marys are yielding pulp for Australia, +and the great power house is sending carbide to the mines of India. +This and much more is the fruit of vision. What matter that +Philadelphia stormed, and that the reins of government were snatched +from those masterful hands? The dream has come true. + +Consider for a moment this man, who is stranger to most. He desired +neither wealth nor ease, being filled with a vast hunger for creation, +and to forest, mountain and river he turned with confidence and abiding +courage. It was as though nature herself had whispered misty secrets +in his ear. Being a prophet, he suffered like a prophet, but the +years, rolling on, have enabled him to look back on the later flower of +his earlier days, for it was written that he should plow and others +reap. And of necessity it was so. Like the prospector who finds gold +in the wilderness and straightway shoulders his pack to seek for +further treasure, his unwearying soul drove him on in steadfast pursuit +of that which lay just over the hill. It was not the thing that lay at +his feet which fascinated, but the promise of the morrow, whose dawn +already gilded the horizon of his spirit. + +Clark, with his impetuous energy, is typical of a country in which few +achievements are impossible. He provided his own motive power and used +his hypnotic influence only in one direction--that of progress. Ever +faithful to his destiny, he was too busy to have time to suffer, too +occupied to waste himself in regrets. Like the rapids themselves, his +work moves on, and in its deep rumble may be distinguished the confused +note of humanity, striving and ever striving. + + + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rapids, by Alan Sullivan + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RAPIDS *** + +***** This file should be named 25774-8.txt or 25774-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/7/7/25774/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/25774-8.zip b/25774-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..51f4baf --- /dev/null +++ b/25774-8.zip diff --git a/25774.txt b/25774.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df005aa --- /dev/null +++ b/25774.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10375 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rapids, by Alan Sullivan + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Rapids + +Author: Alan Sullivan + +Release Date: June 13, 2008 [EBook #25774] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RAPIDS *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +THE RAPIDS + + +BY + +ALAN SULLIVAN + + + +AUTHOR OF "THE INNER DOOR," ETC. + + + +THE COPP CLARK CO., LIMITED + +TORONTO + + + + +Copyright, Canada, 1922, by + +THE COPP CLARK COMPANY, LIMITED + +TORONTO, ONTARIO + + +_The Copp Clark Press_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. CLARK DISCOVERS ARCADIA + II. ARCADIA WAKES UP + III. PHILADELPHIA HEARS ABOUT ARCADIA + IV. PRELIMINARIES IN ST. MARYS + V. THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA + VI. CONCERNING IRON, WOOD AND A GIRL + VII. THE BISHOP'S GARDEN PARTY--AND AFTERWARDS + VIII. IRON + IX. CONCERNING THE APPREHENSION OF CLARK'S DIRECTORS + X. CUPIDITY VS. LOYALTY + XI. CLARK EXPERIENCES A NEW SENSATION, ALSO HIS DIRECTORS + XII. LOVE AND DOUBT + XIII. THE VOICE OF THE RAPIDS + XIV. AN ANCIENT ARISTOCRAT VISITS THE WORKS + XV. CLARK CONVERTS TORONTO + XVI. GOLD, ALSO CONCERNING A GIRL + XVII. THE GIRL IN THE CANOE + XVIII. MATTERS FINANCIAL + XIX. THE WEB OF LACHESIS + XX. THE CAR OF PROGRESS HALTS + XXI. THE CRASH + XXII. THE MASTER MIND AT WORK + XXIII. CONCERNING THE RIOT + XXIV. DESTINY + XXV. THE UNCONQUERABLE SPIRIT + EPILOGUE + + + + +THE RAPIDS + + +I.--CLARK DISCOVERS ARCADIA + +Amongst the few who knew Robert Fisher Clark at all well, for there +were not many of them, there was no question as to his beliefs. It was +too obvious that his primary faith was in himself. Nor is it known +whether, at any time, he gave any thought or study to the character of +those with whom, in the course of his remarkably active life, he came +into association. Always it appeared that there was laid upon him the +responsibility of doing things which did not occur to the ordinary man, +and he went about them with such supreme confidence and unremitting +enthusiasm that he infused into his followers much of his communicable +zeal. It appears now that Clark weighed a man by appraising the degree +to which he contributed to the work in hand, and automatically set +aside those whom he considered contributed nothing to his object. He +was the most unattached personality it is possible to imagine. +Whatever passion or reaction he may have experienced was always a +matter for him alone, and something that he underwent in the remoteness +of an astonishingly exclusive brain. That he experienced them is +without doubt, but they were revealed in the intensity of action and +the quick resiliency of renewed effort. + +It was not known, either, whether he believed in chance, or in those +tiny eventualities which so often impress a definite color on +subsequent years. The trend of his mind was to move forward rather +than back, and it is questionable if he gave much thought to second +causes. The fruit dangled before his eye even as he planted the vine, +and if this induced in him a certain ruthlessness it could only be +because those who are caught up in high endeavor to reach the mountain +tops must perforce trample many a lowland flower beneath their eager +feet. + +And yet it was chance that brought Clark to St. Marys, chance that he +should be in a certain train at a given time, and above all it was +chance that he should overhear a certain conversation, but it was not +by any means chance that he should interpret the latter as he did. + +The train was lurching over an uneven track that wound through the +woods of western Ontario when, staring thoughtfully out of the window +at the tangled bush, he caught from across the aisle the drift of talk +that was going on between two strangers. + +"And so," said one of them, "the thing went smash for lack of just two +things." + +"And what were they?" + +"Some more money and a good deal more experience." + +Clark raised his head ever so slightly. Money and experience--the lack +of them had, to his personal knowledge, worked disaster in a wider +circle than that of St. Marys. He had heard of the place before, but +that was years ago. Presently one of the strangers continued. + +"It was after the railway came that the people in St. Marys seemed to +wake up. They got in touch with the outside world and began to talk +about water power. You see, they had been staring at the rapids for +years, but what was the value of power if there was no use to which to +put it? Then a contractor dropped in who had horses and tools but no +job." + +"So that's what started it?" + +"Exactly. The idea was small enough to begin with and the town just +wanted power for light and water works, so they gave the contractor the +job, borrowed a hundred and thirty thousand dollars, and got the +necessary land from the Ottawa government. I've an idea that if those +rights ever get into experienced hands you'll hear a good deal more of +St. Marys than you ever heard before." + +"And then?" + +"The town went broke on the job. Mind you, they had a corking +agreement with the government and a block of land alongside the rapids +big enough for a young city. The mistake was they hadn't secured any +factory. Also they needed about five times as much money." + +The other man smiled reflectively. "The old story over again." + +"That's about it. Credit ran out and the work stopped and things began +to rust, and now St. Marys has gone to sleep again and does a little +farming and trade with the Indians." + +"In fact, it's a sort of rural tragedy?" + +"Yes. You'll see the half-finished ditch just before we cross the +bridge. I'm afraid St. Marys has that kind of a sick feeling that +generally knocks the stuffing out of a municipality. Come on, let's +have some lunch." + +The two disappeared toward the dining car, but Clark did not stir. His +eyes, which were gray and keen, still fixed themselves contemplatively +on the ragged wilderness. His lips were pressed tight, his jaw +slightly thrust out. Water rights--industries--unlimited power--land +for an industrial city; all this and much more seemed to hurl itself +through his brain. Presently he took a railway folder out of his bag +and examined one of those maps which invariably indicate that the +railway which has published the folder owns the only direct route +between important points and that all other lines meander aimlessly in +comparison. He noted, although he already knew it, that St. Marys, +Ontario, was just across the river from St. Marys, Michigan; that Lake +Superior flung itself down the rapids that roared between, and that to +the south the country was fairly well settled--but to the north the +wilderness stretched almost unbroken to the sub-arctics. + +A quarter of an hour passed when a long whistle announced the approach +to the town. At the sound a new light came into the gray eyes, the +traveler closed his bag with a snap and began to put on his coat. Just +at that moment the porter hurried up. + +"This isn't Minneapolis, sir." + +Clark drew a long breath. "I know it--have changed my mind. I'm for +St. Mary's now." + +He stepped off almost before the train came to a halt and looked +curiously about. + +"Good day," he said to the nearest man. "Will you please tell me who +is mayor and where I will find him?" + +Now it happened that the individual to whom this query was addressed +was none other than Bowers, the town solicitor, for Bowers had a habit +of deserting his office about train time and surveying new arrivals +from a corner of the platform with the lurking hope of unearthing +something which might relieve the monotony of days which were not only +wearisome but unprofitable. When the stranger spoke to him, the lawyer +noticed that he was of medium height with a strong barrel-like body and +rather sloping shoulders. His face was smooth, his jaw somewhat heavy, +his eyes exceedingly keen, and he carried with him an indefinable air +of authority. He observed, also, that the voice had in it something +peculiarly clear and incisive. With a little thrill and a sudden +flicker of the flame of hope, he pointed down the street that led to +the river. + +"Filmer is the mayor and his store is at the second corner down. His +office is just behind." + +The stranger nodded and strode briskly off. Presently Bowers heard +another voice. + +"Who's that, do you suppose, commercial?" + +The lawyer wrinkled his brows. "In a way, yes, but in another way, no. +That fellow isn't selling anything, he's a buyer." + +As the stranger approached Filmer's store, he noted that it was the +largest building in sight, as well it might be. It was the local +emporium, and so successfully had Filmer managed his business that the +Hudson Bay Company saw nothing inviting in competition. From a plow to +a needle, from an ax to a kettle, from ammunition to sugar, Filmer had +all things, and what he had not he secured with surprising promptness. +He had been mayor so long that his first term was now almost forgotten. +By ability, courage, and fairness he was easily the leader in the +community. Broad and strong, with a ruddy, good natured face, a fine +tenor voice, a keen sense of humor and repartee, he was universally +popular. No one had known Filmer to complain or repine, though there +must have been moments when he longed for touch with those of his own +caliber. His was the case of a big man who though bigger than his +surroundings accepted them cheerfully. Thus, when Filmer looked up and +saw the stranger standing at his office door he was conscious of a +curious feeling of anticipation. + +It was noted in the store that when the murmur of voices, a mingling of +the stranger's penetrating tones and Filmer's fuller, richer note, had +lasted for a moment, the mayor got up and banged the door shut, after +which there drifted out only a suggestion of conversation. It was not +until an hour later that the door opened and the two came slowly out, +the stranger as brisk as ever. Filmer was pulling thoughtfully at his +glossy black whiskers. Both paused on the wide front step. + +"Then at eight this evening, Mr. Clark?" said Filmer. + +"At eight," answered the stranger, staring keenly at the river. + +"Won't you come and stay with me while you are here, it's just as +comfortable as the hotel?" Filmer laughed softly. + +Clark shook his head. "Thanks, I'll have too much to do while I am +here. I'd better be alone." And with that he set off walking smartly +up the long rambling street that led to the abandoned power canal. + +He progressed steadily with quick energetic steps, an alert and +suggestive figure amidst a scene of placidity. Up the uneven plank +walk he went, noting with a swift, sidelong glance the neat white house +of Dibbott, the Indian agent, a house that thrust its snowy, wooden +walls and luxuriant little garden close up to the street. On his left, +still further west, was the home of Worden, the local magistrate. This +was a comfortable old place by the river, with a neglected field +between it and the highway. Scattered here and there were stores, +small buildings with high, wooden fronts, in the upper part of which +lived the proprietor and his family. On the right, street after street +started intermittently northward and died, houseless, at the railway +line, beyond which lay the unbroken bush. Still further up was the +County jail, set four square in a large lot that had been shorn of +trees. It was of gray stone, massive and forbidding and iron barred. +Clark stopped here for a moment and looked back at St. Marys with its +flaming maples and its scattered roofs from which rose plumes of light, +gray smoke. His eyes half closed as though in some sudden +introspection, till, turning abruptly, he struck off over a road that +led across a mile of level land and came presently to the grave of the +industrial hopes of the town. It was an ugly scar in the face of the +helpless earth. + +Climbing the half completed embankment, he looked west, where through +the clearing he could see the waters of Superior, then down stream to +the tail of the rapids that roared half a mile further on. It came to +him that nothing is so ugly as a well meant effort which has been left +unfinished. Where he stood there had, a year or so before, been little +rivulets which, escaping from the mighty flood of the rapids, lost +themselves in thickets of birch, hemlock, and cedar, and tinkled and +leaped musically to the lower stretches of the river, whilst great +trout lay winnowing their currents of white water. But of this beauty +there was now but a disordered gash, a hundred feet wide and a thousand +feet long, where rusting tools were scattered amongst mounds of +splintered rock that lay in piles just as the blast of dynamite had +left them. An untidy ruin, thought Clark, who had his own ideas of how +things should be put away. + +But he was, nevertheless, intensely interested, scanning it all +shrewdly. He picked up fragments of stone, and, breaking them, +examined their texture with the utmost care. Once or twice he walked +along the top of the unfinished embankment throughout its entire +length, running a keen eye over the outlines of the excavation. After +half an hour which concluded with one long concentrated stare, he +pushed on deliberately through the soaked and tangled undergrowth till +he came to the edge of the rapids themselves. Here he sat on a rock +and looked long and earnestly, and so motionless was he that, after a +little while, he seemed to blend completely with earth, sky, and water. + +Immediately at his feet the rush of the river grasped at the rough +shore as though to pluck it into the deeps, and here were eddies in +which he could see the polished stones at the bottom. But further out, +where the full weight of water began to be felt, were the first of the +great, white horses that stretched to the other shore, a tossing, +leaping, irresistible herd. Under the great bridge at his right, the +river took its first dip, a smooth and shining slope, streaked with +tiny furrows of speed that wrinkled like waving metallic lines. Below +that came the rapids in their first fury, with scattered cellars into +which the flood swept to uprear itself in a second into pyramids of +force and foam. This seemed to fascinate Clark, and he peered with +unwinking eyes till a sharp clatter just over his head caused him to +look up. Still he did not move his body, and a kingfisher on a branch, +after regarding him for an instant with bright suspicious eyes, flung +himself into the air and hovered over a nearby eddy with an irregular +flapping of quick, blue wings. Then, like a bullet, he dived into the +flashing stream immediately at Clark's feet, and emerged with diamond +drops flying from his brilliant plumage and a small, silver fish +curving in his sharp, serrated beak, till, a second later, he darted +into the covert with his prey. The bird had dared the rapids and found +that which he sought. Clark's gray eyes had seen it all, and he smiled +understandingly. + +The mayor, after the departure of his visitor, stood thoughtfully in +front of the store, while his eye followed the stranger's figure +dreamily up the street, and stood like one who has that whereof to +ponder. It is true that he had offered to accompany the new comer on +his pilgrimage, but equally true that Clark had politely but definitely +declined, and it was something new for the mayor to have his suggestion +thus put aside. In this case, however, he felt no resentment, and +presently strolled to the house of Worden, the magistrate, where he +found Worden, a large man with a small, kindly face, sitting in his +study which immediately faced the lawn. On the other side was the +river. Worden was apparently dividing his time between an unfinished +judgment, for which there seemed no pressing demand, and a satisfying +contemplation of the great stream which here was flecked with foam from +the tumult above. + +The mayor sat for some time talking to him, surrounded by tiers of +homemade shelves packed with law books, along whose tattered, leather +backs Worden had a habit of running a tobacco-stained forefinger while +he relighted a pipe which seemed in continual need of attention. The +talk was long and earnest. The mayor's cigar went out with a smell of +varnish where it lay on the edge of the judge's desk, but the two were +so interested that they did not notice it. + +Presently Filmer got up and Worden followed him to the porch expressing +entire approval of all that had been discussed, and, as Filmer struck +across to the street, he returned to his study and gazed at the +judgment with apparent contempt. + +From Worden's, the mayor walked across to the jail and sought out +Manson. The latter was in his small office which seemed crowded with +its single occupant's bulk, and adjoined the high forbidding walls of +the jail itself. In St. Marys the chief constable was a man of place, +and the jail an edifice that at times took on a singular interest, and +if such a capacious establishment as it actually was might seem +superfluous in Arcadia it must be remembered that in seasons of the +year the lumberjacks rolled in from the northern parts with six months' +wages and a great thirst that demanded to be quenched, and a perfectly +natural and well meaning desire to offer combat at sight, which they +generally did. Then, too, there were fugitives from justice who +slipped across the river by night in canoes, and miners from the silver +country far to the west, and sometimes crime was also the product of +isolation. + +Manson, a tall man, broad, dark, and heavy voiced, seemed by nature +designed to meet just such contingencies. Outwardly he was the epitome +of authority and inwardly he had a mind as stiff as his back. In his +own domain he was as Jove on Olympus, and when he moved abroad he was a +perambulating reminder of the strong arm of the law. The jail was +conveniently arranged to hold the court room on an upper story, so that +Manson could pop a prisoner up out of his cell to be tried and +sentenced, and pop him back forthwith, and all the time the unfortunate +was, so to speak, one of the family and continually under the paternal +eye. + +Had a listener been outside the door, he would have gleaned that the +mayor's visit was, in this case, not as amicable as that just made to +Worden. He talked long and arduously, but every now and then Manson's +deep bass boomed out heavy with argument, and his massive fist crashed +ponderously on the table. Presently Filmer drew a long breath and, +stepping out on the trim gravel path, glanced up quizzically at the +chief constable who looked as though enthroned on his own doorstep. + +"Mr. Mayor," came the deep voice, "I don't take any stock in your +scheme. It's no good and there's a nigger in the fence somewhere. I +was right before, and I am right this time." + +Filmer laughed softly. "Well, John, you're a hell of a good jailer, we +all admit that, but I don't put you down as any permanent prophet. +However, you will come, won't you?" + +Manson nodded, a nod which said that though he would come it could not +affect his fixed opinion, whereupon the mayor laughed again, and set +off to finish his afternoon pilgrimage, and it is but fair to follow +him a little further since he was a shrewd man, active and courageous, +and though he did not know it, the result of the various visits he made +that day was to be imprinted indelibly on the history of St. Marys. + +Banishing Manson from a mind which was already busy with his next move, +he retraced his steps as far as the cottage of Dibbott, the Indian +agent, who at this hour of the day, might have been found moving +mountainously in his long garden and pottering amongst his perennials, +smoking an enormous pipe which he regretfully laid aside only in order +that he might eat. + +Now, since the citizens of St. Marys were, without their knowledge, +about to enter upon a period of great importance, glance at Dibbott, +not the least of them, as his small, blue eyes caught the approaching +figure of the mayor. Six feet when he straightened, his shoulders were +bent, but still broad and strong. His face was fiery, not only from +his full blooded habit but also from long canoe voyages. He was a +placid man--placid yet at times suddenly choleric, and he regarded St. +Marys and his own particular plot of land with an undying and tranquil +affection. Dibbott's position was, in a sense, enviable, for he stood +as administrator between the government and the local Indian tribes, in +whose eyes he was the representative of authority. + +Year after year he made official visits of visible grandeur to the +settlements of his wards, journeying in a great canoe in the middle of +which he rested enthroned, the brim of his hat pulled far down over a +scarlet, sunburnt nose, a steady wisp of smoke from his big pipe +floating back into the face of the laboring Indian behind him. It may +be that it was in the silence and mysterious appeal of these journeys +that Dibbott got the dignity which sat so naturally on his great, gray +head. + +The mayor liked the old man, and Dibbott knew it, so they talked +amicably while Dibbott, turning every now and then in surprise, pushed +out his full red lips as though rising to a fly, and darted quick, +little glances as Filmer unfolded his story beside a late phlox. And +when the mayor concluded, Dibbott did not move but began to rumble in a +deep, throaty, ruminative voice something that sounded like one hundred +and thirty thousand dollars at six per cent. + +On his way back to the office, Filmer saw Bowers' lean figure across +the street. He crooked a masterful finger. "Come here!" + +The lawyer came over very deliberately and the two went on together. + +"There is a man up at the rapids who says he's ready at any time to +take over the town canal debentures." + +Bowers looked up startled. "Will you please repeat that very slowly." + +"It's true," chuckled Filmer, "and I am calling a town meeting for +to-night. I haven't time to give you the details now, but be on hand +at eight o'clock. He's made a perfectly straight proposal and I don't +see how we can lose on it. I never met a man just like him." + +"Did he come in on the train this afternoon?" + +The mayor nodded. "Yes--said he was going on to Minneapolis, but +decided to stop over and make this offer." + +"Then I saw him at the station," answered Bowers thoughtfully. "I +thought he was a buyer. Do you reckon we can rope him in?" + +Filmer drew a long breath. "Looks to me as if he would rope himself in +the way he is going. He won't need any help from us." + +"What did you make of him personally?" + +"I didn't get very far," said Filmer deliberately, "except that he +struck me as the sort of man who gets things done. Look here, I've +seen Dibbott and Worden and Manson. Will you go and see the Bishop and +ask him to come to-night?" + +"The Bishop went away this morning." + +"Damn!" said the mayor explosively. "I wanted to get his opinion about +Clark, that's his name, Robert Fisher Clark. Well, so long." + +He went on to his store where he was overtaken by Clark who had tramped +back from the rapids. The visitor was muddy and no longer immaculate +and there was a trace of fatigue on his face, but he looked as cheerful +and determined as ever. At that moment the village crier passed up the +street swinging a raucous bell and announcing in stentorian tones that +a meeting would be held in the town hall that night at eight o'clock to +consider matters of prime importance to the citizens at large. The +crier tramped on, and Filmer glanced up inquiringly. + +"Won't you change your mind and come to the house with me? It is a +safe bet you'll be more comfortable." + +Clark shook his head. "Thanks, but I've got to speak in two hours and +there's a good deal to think of." + +Meantime rumors of many things had begun to spread through St. Marys. +The magistrate, as soon as the mayor left him, naturally told Mrs. +Worden all about it and Bowers would not have dreamt of keeping such a +thing from his wife, so had stuck a card on his office door saying he +would be back in ten minutes and went home for the afternoon, after +which Mrs. Worden and Mrs. Bowers strolled over to see Mrs. Dibbott and +were in close conversation amongst the perennials, appealing now and +then to Dibbott in order that there might be no mistake about it. Down +in Blood's barber shop, Jim Blood had, as might be expected, the most +detailed information, for Clark had gone in there on his way to the +hotel and, sitting down, remarked "shave please" and at the end, +without another word, gave Jim fifty cents and walked out. And if you +add to all this the sound of the crier's bell mellowing softly up the +long street, it will be understood that the excitement was considerably +intensified. Even Filmer, as he ate supper, did not say much, but kept +his gaze on the lid of the teapot as though it were a Pandora's box in +which bubbled marvelous things that might be vomited any moment. But +at heart Filmer was not anxious. It was not his habit. Of all men he +knew best the folk of St. Marys, so he doubted not at all, and as a +matter of fact St. Marys had for mayor a much bigger and wiser man than +it ever suspected. + +There may be communities now such as St. Marys was twenty-five years +ago, but one goes far to find them. Electricity has altered their +distinctive character. The traffic of half a continent glided +majestically past these wooded shores, with the deep blast of whistles +as the great vessels edged gingerly into the Government lock across the +river to be lifted to Superior, and another farewell blast as they +pushed slowly out, and lastly a trail of vanishing black smoke as they +dwindled westward to the inland sea. For seven months this procession +passed the town but never halted, till the people of St. Marys felt +like the farmer who, in mid field, waves a friendly hand to a speeding +train. + +As a result folk knew each other to a degree which some would call +insufferably well, and yet they did not weary. It was a curious +condition in which life had few secrets and yet an ample privacy. +There was, as it happened, little to secrete, and simultaneously there +was no straining of hospitality. In these close quarters each was +aware that the others knew what he or she could reasonably do, and, in +natural consequence, did it with grace and simple ease. For years +before the railway pushed up from Sudbury, the outer world was brought +into touch when the bows of the bi-weekly steamer bumped softly against +the big stringers of Filmer's dock, and papers and letters were thrown +on a buckboard and galloped to the post office where presently the +community gathered and talked. + +There was no telephone to jangle, no electric light and no waterworks, +but in the soil of St. Marys were springs of sweet water, and through +the windows came the soft glow of lamplight as evening closed in, and +the shuffle of feet on the porch announced the visitor. It was from +the river and the close encircling forest that St. Marys took on its +atmosphere. The maple bush was full of game, and the beaver built +their curving dams in tamarac thickets within three miles of the +village. It was a common thing to kill Sunday's dinner in a two hours +stroll from Filmer's store, and, at the foot of the rapids where the +Indians pushed their long canoes up to the edge of the white water, +there were great, silver fish for the taking. The ducks halted for a +rest on their way north and within a stone's throw of the Bishop's big, +square house, the geese used to alight in a cornfield, sometimes on a +Sunday morning. On such occasions the Bishop experienced keen +embarrassment, for he was a good shot and a good sportsman. In +springtime the Indians would come up from the settlement with mink and +otter which they traded at Filmer's store for bags of brown sugar, and, +these, being silently transported to the bush, would shortly reappear +as quantities of genuine Indian maple sugar, which Filmer's clerks sold +to Filmer's friends with absolute gravity, the nature of the thing +being perfectly understood on both sides of the counter. As to local +excitement, there was twice a year the County Court and, while it might +be said that there was not in all this much for young people to do, +they had, nevertheless, camping trips and cruises in big Mackinaw boats +along the shores of Lake Huron, and snow shoeing expeditions in winter +that took them straight into a fairyland where they built roaring fires +of six foot logs and feasted royally in the ghostly recesses of the +snow burdened woods. All this and much more had the folk of the +village, and everything that went to make up a sweet, clean, uneventful +life. And then into this Arcadia dropped one day a stranger, with an +amazing experience of the outer world, a kaleidoscopic brain, an +extraordinary personal magnetism and a unique combination of driving +force and superlative ambition. + +Is it surprising that even though ignorant of Clark's characteristics +the people of St. Marys filled the town hall that night? + + + + +II.--ARCADIA WAKES UP + +It was a large room with bare floor, painted walls and a flat +sounding-board of a ceiling. Across the end was the platform, and +immediately above the platform table hung a large brass lamp which +could be lowered by a chain that ran along the ceiling and down the +adjoining wall. Around the main walls and between the windows were +smaller lamps in wire brackets, which burned with a steady, yellow +light, and occasionally gave off a thin trickle of smoke that filled +the room with the sharp odor of soot. On the platform sat Clark and +Filmer on either side of the table, and on the table stood an enormous +jug of water and one glass. + +At five minutes past eight the hall was crowded. Manson was there, +sitting in the front row, and leaning forward on his heavy oak stick +which seemed a very bludgeon of authority. Beside him sat his wife, +small, slight and gentle, the very antithesis of her dark and +formidable husband. Manson's eyes roved from Filmer to Clark and back +again to Filmer, but the two looked over his head and seemed no whit +disconcerted. A little further back were the Dibbotts, the former +turning his big gray-coated body, and every now and then surveying the +growing audience with his small blue eyes, while his lips pushed in and +out, which was in Dibbott a certain sign that he was thinking hard. +Mrs. Dibbott, tall, slim, and square shouldered, turned her kindly +capable face toward Clark, and felt the first intimation of that keen +interest he always roused, especially in the women who met him. He +seemed so alert, such a free agent and, it must be confessed, so +disgracefully independent of the gentler sex. Then there was Belding, +the young engineer who had had charge of the town's work at the canal. +It was not Belding's fault that the money ran out, but he had ceased +operations with an unshakable sense of personal blame that, of late, +worked poisonously in his brain. There were also the Bowers, and Mrs. +Bowers' ample and genial person was full of a pleasurable glow, for if +the mayor's plan went through they would have at last a roof over the +front porch on which she spent so many hospitable summer evenings. +Bowers himself already saw in Clark a possible and important client, +and his brain was full of half formulated propositions. + +At seven minutes past eight the mayor began to speak. He had been +somewhat at a loss just how he might introduce Clark, for, as a matter +of fact, the only information he had about the visitor was what the +visitor himself had volunteered. But here, as always, Clark's +tremendous personality had expressed itself. Filmer glanced at his +alert but motionless figure, and perceived that the other was a man of +much greater experience and power than himself, and in this the mayor +was subject to exactly that influence which Clark was in the habit of +exerting without any effort whatever. So thus reinforced, and mindful +as well that the half yearly interest and sinking fund payments would +be due on the town debt in three months, he fastened an authoritative +eye on Manson, the town pessimist, and commenced. + +"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have asked you to come here to-night because +it seems that there is now an unexpected opportunity to secure great +benefit for the town. You are all aware that we tried to do something +and failed, and that the result was an increase of one hundred and +thirty thousand dollars in the debt of St. Marys." At this point +Manson rammed his oak stick against the floor with disturbing effect. +The mayor glanced at him with a smile and went on. "I do not wish to +put before you the proposal Mr. Clark makes to the town, he will do +that himself. I can only say that I have gone into it very carefully +with him, and that I am satisfied that it is more than fair to us, and +that I believe he is in control of the necessary money to carry out his +plans. If he does not carry them out we are no worse off, and if he +does it will put St. Marys definitely on the map. He will speak for +himself and I hope you will give a careful hearing, for I don't believe +such men get off the train every day." + +Clark was on his feet at once and began to talk in a curt, incisive +tone of great penetration. Behind it there moved a suggestion of +something quite new to the folk of St. Marys. The moment offered no +opportunity to analyze this, but it held them motionless with attention. + +"I have come," he said, "to make you a proposal which has already been +put before Mayor Filmer, and which I am glad to tell you meets with his +approval. I appreciate the opportunity, and with your cooeperation +great things will yet be done in St. Marys. Now I am going to ask that +two windows be opened and that you listen with me for a moment." + +There followed an instant of universal surprise shared by the mayor, +after which Clark gathered Dawson and Belding with his magnetic eye, +and the two pushed up the windows nearest them. The cool night air +breathed in and set the big oil lamps flickering, but with it there +came the dull monotone of the rapids. Clark leaned slightly forward, +and, smiling, began to speak again. + +"What you hear is a voice in the wilderness, and, ladies and gentlemen, +you have heard it for years. I, too, have heard it, but for something +less than eight hours, and there is a difference in our hearing and I +want to make that difference clear to you. I listen with a stranger's +ears, being a stranger, and therefore not accustomed to that voice, I +detect in it something which possibly some of you may have recognized, +but certainly none of you have fully appreciated." + +There followed a little silence during which Mrs. Dibbott, her eyes +twinkling with intense pleasure, nodded to Mrs. Worden. Her +imagination was already at work, and, of them all, she first caught the +subtle trend of Clark's address. + +"It is hardly necessary for me to remind you that your town has made a +certain brave attempt and failed completely in its venture." ("Hear! +Hear!" from Manson.) "This attempt was from the outset bound to fail." +At this point Manson stamped approvingly, and Clark's gray eyes rested +on his big frame for a moment while the least suggestion of a smile +traversed his lips. "The reason is very simple. You lacked experience +in such undertakings. You partly heard the voice but only partly, for +to answer it fully and successfully you must answer it in millions and +not in thousands of dollars." + +At this point he paused impressively, while there spread through the +audience the dun colored reflection that the entire town, if +obliterated, could be rebuilt for much less than a million, and so +definite was the reaction that the speaker proceeded to intensify it in +his next remarks. + +"You have at present, as the result of this ill-fated enterprise, a +liability of one hundred and thirty thousand dollars--I think it is." +He turned inquiringly to Filmer who nodded, and with him the entire +male section of the audience. There was no question about those +figures. + +"This liability imposes a heavy tax upon an unproductive community, +although if you were producers it would be a bagatelle. As against +this liability you have, as assets, a certain piece of property and +certain water rights secured from the Dominion government, rights which +though at present very limited, might be made the basis of further +expansion. And that is all you have--a debt, and against it something +that is of no use to you." + +A chilled surprise trickled through the town hall and Filmer himself, +who had been quite unaware how Clark would state his case, began to +think that the thing had gone far enough, when the penetrating voice +went on. + +"Now as to the town itself. I have failed, after a careful survey, to +find any evidence of growth. I have seen no new buildings, nor, under +the conditions which at present exist and which there is nothing you +can do to change, do I see any reason for growth. You do not +manufacture or import anything. You have, so to speak, to live on each +other, so why should any one come here to settle down?" + +Although Clark had said several striking things, there had not been +anything which went as straight home as this. All had watched the +great procession which passed up and down the river, and wondered why +the population of St. Marys remained so stationary, but never had the +inescapable truth been thrown so blatantly in their faces as by this +magnetic stranger whose clear voice announced those truths which each +had been secreting in his heart year after year. They began to wonder +why a man of his type should be interested in the town. But the fact +that he was interested clothed him with a still more compelling +attraction. Visions of a decaying and moss covered settlement were +floating through their minds when the voice took on a new note. + +"The condition I have touched on is due to lack of three +things,--experience, money and imagination, and in such isolated points +as this there is little opportunity to acquire any of the three. There +is in the rapids unlimited power. It must be developed, and developed +on this side of the river. The age of electricity has come. But let +us ask ourselves what is the use of power unless there is some +practical purpose to which to put it. There is but one answer. Large +works--enormous works must be established at the rapids; works that +will utilize all the power that is developed, and draw their raw +material from the surrounding country. I have an idea that you may +consider the district to the north and west a wilderness, but, +gentlemen, you are mistaken. I firmly believe it to be a veritable +reservoir of wealth." + +Here Clark stopped, glanced thoughtfully at Filmer, and poured out a +glass of water, while the entire audience took an imaginary journey +into the bush to the north in an attempt to discover the reservoir of +wealth. This resulted in numerous quiet smiles, each of which died out +with a look at the intense earnestness on the speaker's face. There +was a certain amount of fur, it was admitted, but the trapping was +falling off. There were scattered patches of spruce for pulp wood, but +so far as most of them knew the land was poor and rocky and there had +been no discovery of valuable mineral. However, silently concluded +Clark's hearers, the man might know, and probably did know a good deal +more than he said, and just as this opinion was gaining ground, the +speaker struck an inspiring note and came to his point. + +"Now for my proposal. I believe in the future of this country, in its +latent wealth and its possibilities, and I am prepared to take on the +town's uncompleted enterprise and assume its one hundred and thirty +thousand dollars of liability. Gentlemen, what I have in mind goes +further than any of you have ever imagined, and it needs more millions +than you have conceived. Millions will be forthcoming. In the +financial markets of the world, capital must be assured of certain +fundamentals. These fundamentals established, there is no difficulty +whatever in securing as much money as may be required. That is my +experience, and if you accept my proposition St. Marys will, within a +year, begin to feel the influx of money which is seeking investment. +Within that year you will hardly be able to recognize your town. Your +property, your houses, your farm products will greatly increase in +value, and local trade will experience a remarkable impetus. If you +ask what are these basic industries which will mean so much, I need +only point out that I am assured of an ample supply of pulp wood for +very large mills which I propose to erect, and there is, without doubt, +iron ore in these hills of yours. This is only a part of my plan." + +Again Clark paused, playing with all his power on those who had already +grasped something of his vision. Ore had never been found in that part +of the country, though innumerable prospectors had toiled through the +hills in search of it, but now it seemed that the folk of St. Marys had +cast aside their difference and unbelief, and were becoming +incorporated in the speaker's high assurance. A little murmur of +enthusiasm arose, to be hushed instantly. + +"I only want your cooeperation. I do not ask that you put in one +dollar. There is ample money for the purpose, and I tell you frankly +there is no room for yours. It is not my intention to bring in for the +purposes of the work anything the town itself can supply, and the more +you can organize to supply amongst yourselves, the better pleased I and +my associates will be. All I hope is that you participate +intelligently and profitably in that which will shortly take place. +And first of all it will be my duty and pleasure to supply the town +with water and light on terms to be arranged with your council. This +will be the smallest and to me the least profitable of our +undertakings, but I regard it as an obligation to the town. Ladies and +gentlemen, a new era is dawning for St. Marys. Have I your support?" + +Had he their support? There followed a moment of half dazed silence +during which Filmer's blood flushed up to his temples, and Clark +finished his glass of water and sat down with a swift glance of his +gray eyes that seemed to take in the entire assembly. As though +galvanized by an electric shock, the folk of St. Marys rose to their +feet and began to cheer. The ladies' handkerchiefs were in the air, +with a babel of voices both small and deep. Mrs. Dibbott, her eyes +dancing, caught those of Mrs. Worden and nodded vigorously, her cheeks +flushed, for to men and women alike the invigorating, magnetic appeal +had gone home. Then above the clamor Manson's deep bass became +gradually audible. + +He was leaning forward, gazing straight out at the two on the platform +and booming his utter unbelief in all he had heard. Clark, it struck +him, did not know what he was talking about, and who was Clark anyway? +Had a single man in the room ever heard of Clark before that afternoon? +The town had made one blunder, and it would be wise to keep out of +another. + +Thus far he got when the astonishment of the audience became +transformed into indignation and boiled over. Clark had not moved and +indeed only smiled in an absolutely friendly way, but now there were +shouts that Manson sit down. He was putting the town in an unfortunate +and undesirable position. Finally, Belding and Worden dragged him +expostulating into his chair, whereupon Dibbott and Bowers very +earnestly, and with much applause, expressed what the meeting really +felt. After which the resolution was put calling upon the town council +to confirm the agreement, and without any delay whatever. And this +being carried unanimously with cheering, the meeting broke up and +streamed down the wooden stairs with much trampling of feet, while Mrs. +Dibbott asked Mrs. Bowers if she had noticed that every one was so +interested that the two windows which were opened had not been closed +again in spite of the fact that three lamps had been blown out. All +this time the visitor sat still, a satisfied light in his eyes, and +when Dibbott and the rest asked to be introduced, the mayor exclaimed +that the speaker of the evening was so occupied with momentous matters +that he was obliged to postpone the pleasure of meeting them for a day +or two. This, of course, added to the spell of fascination cast by the +remarkable stranger. + +A day or two later, he was to disappear as suddenly as he came, but in +the meantime he avoided the people of St. Marys and was extremely busy. +To his room at the hotel there had mounted a small procession of +visitors, mostly lumbermen, who, being for a few moments admitted to +the shrine of mystery, reappeared with their eyes more bright and their +lips pressed tight. They had been discussing business matters, and +this was for the present about all they would say. The town council, +without a dissenting note, accepted Clark's proposal, and the latter +became a legal debtor for one hundred and thirty thousand dollars and +the owner of the abandoned works, and so simply and smoothly was the +business carried out that to the council there seemed something magical +and portentous in the transaction. + +That afternoon Clark sent for Belding, and the young engineer came with +an expectant thrill. By this time St. Marys was aware that the visitor +went to no one, but every one came to him. It was typical of methods +which he adopted from the very first, so that almost immediately his +personality, which was entirely new to this remote community, began to +suggest every phase of power and authority. + +Belding had brought his plans and blue prints with him, and spread them +on the small bedroom table. Followed a little silence, broken by a +crisp interrogation. + +"How much power have you figured on developing?" + +"Five hundred horse power." + +"Capable of any expansion?" Clark's lips took on a quizzical curve. + +"Yes, to one thousand." + +To this there was no comment. Belding himself rather liked the sound +of a thousand horsepower. It seemed well rounded. + +"Your water rights, I mean my water rights," went on Clark +thoughtfully, "permit the use of water for such works as I may erect." + +"Yes," the engineer hesitated a moment and added, "sir." + +Clark smiled almost imperceptibly, that is his face expressed an inward +amusement because a number of tiny lines wrinkled into being at the +corners of his gray eyes, and his lips pushed out ever so slightly. +Presently he forgot all about the plans, and stared out of the window +where the first leap of the rapids was just visible. + +"And your technical experience, Mr. Belding, tell me about that." + +Belding told him, and did his best to dilate on work that now seemed of +a minor character. There was that about Clark which curiously +minimized the young man's accomplishments. + +Clark nodded once or twice. "Do you owe any money?" + +"No, sir." Belding's voice roughened a shade. + +Came one of the stranger's rare and unmistakable smiles. "Forget all +about these plans and start new ones. I have no use for a thousand +horsepower, or five thousand, or ten. We will begin with twenty +thousand. I say begin with that. Now listen. You are appointed my +chief engineer. I said last night I did not wish to import that which +the town can furnish, and I mean it. But being my engineer you are +mine, and no one else's. The plans you will make are for me, and me +alone, as is all information connected with them, and I may tell you +that my engineers carry out my plans and not theirs. Your position +will be highly confidential, more important than you can at present +imagine. You will be the repository of much that many people would +like to know, but I will do whatever talking is necessary." + +There were a few added instructions after which Belding went downstairs +in a somewhat dazed condition. Then, suddenly, he remembered that no +mention had been made of salary. Turning back he rapped at Clark's +door. + +"There is one thing we did not discuss," he said a little awkwardly. + +"What's that?" + +"What are you willing to give me a month. I'm apparently engaged and +I'd like to know where I stand." + +Clark laughed shortly. "My invariable practice is to pay every cent my +employees can earn; the more I pay the better I like it. Good evening." + +Later that afternoon the engineer walked thoughtfully up to the power +canal. It seemed incredible that it should no longer be abandoned. +Staring at this uncompleted effort, he felt infused with a hot and +overwhelming loyalty. Whatever was good in him he would put into the +work. He did not dream of the magnitude of his coming trust, but had a +sensation that the curtain was about to rise on a new scene. He was, +perhaps, more than the rest impressed with the visitor's force and +hypnotic power which seemed prophetic and almost mystical. Then his +glance, wandering down stream, caught a trace of smoke where the +afternoon steamer was disappearing round a bend. + +Clark had gone off by the afternoon boat, explaining to Filmer that he +desired to get a glimpse of some other parts of the country. Now he +sat immovably in a corner of the deck, wrapped in a thick overcoat and +speaking to none. In his hand was a copy of the town agreement. He +ran over it musingly till he came to the clause which set forth his new +obligations, and at this point his lips tightened a little. Had he at +that moment been able to realize every worldly possession he had he +might have cleared up twenty-five hundred dollars but certainly not +five thousand. A glint came into his eyes as he read. The agreement +set forth in Bowers' best phraseology that Robert Fisher Clark of +Philadelphia, financier,--and at the sound of the last word Clark +smiled a little,--hereby undertook to spend in various works not less +than three million dollars in the next five years, failing which his +title to the town's former holdings would automatically lapse. + +The vessel moved smoothly on. Reviewing the last few days with perfect +placidity, he sent his mind back to other notable occasions when +success had been snatched from him, it seemed, at the very last moment. +The review did not depress him. He was not of that kind, but was +filled rather with a new and inflexible determination. + +The dream and the vision broadened. As the vessel swung into the long +turn that leads round the first big bend, he glanced back and caught +the wide white line of foam below the spidery bridge. As he gazed the +wooded ground to the north of the rapids seemed to be covered with +great stone buildings whose walls lifted like mystic battlements in the +green wilderness. He saw railways plunging into the forest and heard +the rumble of trains that drew up to his phantom factories. He saw the +river and the lakes furrowed with ships that came to St. Marys with +foreign cargoes and, charged full with his products, turned their slim +bows to distant lands. All this and much more passed in royal +procession before his thoughtful eye. Then something seemed to leap +through his brain and he stood erect, masterful and undaunted. + +"And now," he said to himself with a touch of grim humor, "now perhaps +I'd better find some money." + + + + +III.--PHILADELPHIA HEARS ABOUT ARCADIA + +Follow Clark a little further, for he was making history. He did not +think of this but had merely set a determined face toward his guiding +star. The vision was still clear and sharp when he reached +Philadelphia, reinspired by a series of swift calculations that were as +swiftly stowed away for suitable use in his retentive brain. There +were also three names--Wimperley, Riggs, and Stoughton. + +The morning after he arrived he went to see the first of his prospects. +Wimperley was the auditor of a great railway system, and when Clark's +name was brought in he looked up from his desk and announced shortly: +"Busy, can't see him," which was really what Clark expected. + +Now the influence by which Clark forced and carried out this interview +with Wimperley need not be succinctly described, nor the half amused, +half resentful surrender with which Wimperley finally said, "Show him +in," but it is indicative of that power of hypnosis which Clark could +exert at will, and by means of which, time and time again, he dissolved +antagonism into support and the murky solution of criticism into the +clean precipitate of confident reassurance. Wimperley knew perfectly +well that, once admitted, Clark would convert him to his own present +belief, whatever that might be, and that under Clark's magnetic +persuasion he would shortly find himself treading a totally unexpected +path. + +"Good morning. I'd like to have fifteen minutes." Clark was inwardly +amused, but he spoke with perfect gravity. + +Wimperley drew a long breath. He knew what could happen in fifteen +minutes. "What's the scheme now?" + +"Power and pulp," said Clark briefly, and, turning to a large railway +map on the wall laid a finger on the point where Lake Superior falls +into Lake Huron. + +"Go ahead." + +"I have acquired the right to develop any desired quantity of energy. +This can be done for eighty dollars a horsepower. The country to the +north is full of pulp wood, but the people up there don't know it." + +Wimperley felt a throb of interest. The power question in Philadelphia +was up at the moment, but it was power developed from coal and it came +high. + +"What else?" he said evenly, "and how do you know it?" + +"Seven different lumbermen have offered to contract for ten thousand +cords a year. That's all I had time to talk to. The point is that +each has individual knowledge of good stands of timber in his own +locality but the thing has never been collated. Now look here," went +on Clark, with a new light in his gray eyes--"there's power and wood; +excellent transportation; iron ore--without question--in the hills; +limestone at hand; cheap labor; no local competition, and--" + +"Wait a minute," struck in Wimperley hastily and pressed a bell. + +"Telephone Mr. Riggs and Mr. Stoughton and see if they can come over +for a moment," he said to his secretary, then, turning to Clark, +"better wait for them." + +Silence fell in the office. Both men were thinking hard. Wimperley, +beginning to be resigned, had, in a burst of revolt, visualized Riggs +and Stoughton as those most likely to help with the barricade which +Clark was already beginning to shatter, and Clark, his face as +imperturbable as ever, marveled not at all at his own influence, but +was busy reviewing the strategic moves which were to convert the two +for whom he waited. Presently they entered, shook hands with a certain +stiffness and sat down. A glance at Clark revealed the reason for +Wimperley's summons. They, too, had in former years come under the +spell. + +"Now," said Wimperley briefly. + +Clark recapitulated, and the three listened, their faces devoid of +expression save when their eyes involuntarily sought each other. + +The voice went on vibrant and compelling. "We can turn out +seventy-five thousand tons of pulp a year at a profit of six dollars a +ton. There is an abundance of hard wood for veneer mills. I have five +hundred acres of land adjoining the power canal; it is crossed by the +Transcontinental Railway; I have been to Ottawa and am promised a bonus +of ten thousand dollars a mile for such railways as we may build. The +balance of the cost will be met by the sale of lands thus developed, +and thus the railways will not mean any permanent investment on our +part, but we will, nevertheless, own them. I am also authorized to +divert from the rapids any water I may require for power. I have been +to see the Provincial Government and am promised exclusive control of +any mineral or lumber areas applied for. The market for pulp is very +good and will shortly be better owing to the exhaustion of areas which +have been cut over too long. I have virgin country which is +practically inexhaustible. The town has transferred to me its entire +rights and holdings. I have all the fundamentals for the making of a +great industrial center. As to the money--" + +"Yes," put in Riggs with a suggestion of breathlessness in his voice. + +"Philadelphia has millions waiting for investment--you know it, I know +it, and this is the opportunity. We will be dealing with natural +products in a simple and natural way. The district supplies the power +and the raw material; the outside and neighboring country, the market. +We supply the brains." + +"What does this cost you personally?" hazarded Stoughton a little +uncertainly. + +"A hundred dollars in traveling expenses, and I have assumed a hundred +and thirty thousand of town debentures at six per cent. If you don't +want it there are others who do." + +Wimperley looked up. His face had taken on a new expression. He +caught Riggs' eye and his lips formed the word "cheap." + +The latter nodded. There was a slight flush in his otherwise sallow +cheeks. Then he put a series of searching questions which were +answered by Clark with a wealth of detailed information which it seemed +was impossible to have been collected by one man in the course of a few +days. After which the three went to the big map and, turning their +backs on Clark, traced out railway lines and steamship routes and the +general transportation situation, and all the while the latter sat +quite motionless, while his eyes regarded the group across the room +with a look at once hypnotic and profound. These were telling moments, +during which unseen forces seemed to move and stretch themselves in +hidden potency. + +Presently came Wimperley's voice. "How much money would be necessary +for the first year's operations?" + +"About a million, possibly more." + +"And how," demanded Stoughton, "do you propose to get it?" + +"I am not going to get it," replied Clark with extreme placidity; "you +are." + +Came a joint laugh from the three at the map, not hearty or contagious, +but burdened with that negative humor with which men sometimes accept a +situation which holds them helpless and at the same time summons all +their power to meet it. + +Stoughton drew a long breath. "Well," he said slowly; "I suppose we +are." + +There followed an hour's conference. Clark did not display a trace of +triumph but poured out the contents of his extraordinary brain. A +million to start with and after that more millions as the occasion +demanded. These were his requirements and the rest could be left to +him. And it might be noted that the prospect did not cause the others +much anxiety, for as the undertaking unfolded with communicable power, +they perceived more fully than ever that he was in actuality dealing +with fundamentals, and fundamentals were things they were not afraid to +commend to financial circles. Thus was sown in this Philadelphia +office the seed which was destined to propagate itself so amazingly. + +When it was all over, Clark went back to his hotel, and wrote a short +letter to a woman saying that he had interesting business on hand and +hoped to see her soon. The letter was to his mother. + + + + +IV.--PRELIMINARIES IN ST. MARYS + +Snow was on the ground and the river crisping with tinkling sheets of +spreading ice when Clark again reached St. Marys and with +characteristic energy laid his first plans. These were to supply the +town with water and light, and the fact that the well remembered public +promise was thus to be redeemed reassured the citizens as nothing else +could have done. It was true that heavy work was impossible before +spring, but Belding, on instructions, deposited with the town council +an imposing set of blue prints which showed water pipes and electric +circuits radiating through every part of the town. + +It was a week or so later that one day in the office Belding looked up +as though he had been called and caught his chief's penetrating gaze. + +"Are you engaged, Belding; I mean to be married?" There was a twinkle +in the gray eyes. + +"No, sir." + +"Want to be?" + +"No, sir." + +"Anything to think of except the work?" + +Belding shook his head. He had already learned never to show surprise. + +"Then suppose I share your quarters for the rest of the winter. I +can't stand that hotel any longer." + +The engineer flushed. Already he had put Clark away in the corner of +his mind as one not comparable to any man he had ever met. His +directness, his versatility, the suggestion of power that lay behind +power,--all these Belding had found in him. And this was a little like +being asked to share quarters with the Pope. + +"I'm afraid you won't be very comfortable, sir." Belding had the use +of a big house, but it was hard to heat. + +"I'll be better off than where I am," said Clark, and that settled it. +He had apparently conceived for the young man as much liking as he +cared to show for any one. Presently he laughed. + +"You're wondering why I asked whether you were going to be married." + +"I am--rather." + +"Well, it's only because I feel a bit superfluous to any one in that +condition." + +"Then you're not married yourself?" said Belding involuntarily. + +Clark's eyes hardened. "No," he answered with extreme deliberation, "I +am not, I am too busy." Presently his mood changed and he added +provocatively, "But you're doomed, I see it in your face." + +Belding smiled. "I haven't met her yet." + +"It isn't a case of your meeting her; it's the other way on. You may +never know it, but she will." + +Belding glanced at him, puzzled. This was not the Clark he knew ten +minutes ago. And just then the other man pulled himself up. + +"I think I'd move that mill about a hundred feet west," he went on, +bending over a drawing. "It will shorten the head race and save money." + +The engineer nodded and drew a long breath. He had expected to get a +glimpse of the inner man, but the door was banged in his face. + +That winter was, for him, an adventure in regions fascinating and +remote. It is probable that at the time there was not on the North +American continent a man more highly endowed than Clark with gifts of +sheer psychological power. Belding, young in his world, could not +recognize it as such, but he fell the more completely under the +wizard-like spell of his companion's imagination. The days, shortened +by late sun and long nights, passed with early journeys to the +temporary office which Clark had built at the canal, where they +compiled endless surveys and plans in which the scope of the future was +graphically depicted. On these miniature spaces factory shouldered +against factory and mill against mill. The canal doubled in size, and, +stupendous as it all seemed, Belding could see no reason why these +things should not shortly exist. It was vastly different from former +days. + +As the weeks passed, he began to get Clark in clearer prospective. It +became forced on him that this hypnotic stranger had no desire except +that of creation. It seemed that his supreme determination was to win +from the earth that which he believed it offered, and express himself +in steel and stone and concrete, in the construction of great buildings +and in the impressive rumble of natural power under human control. +There was talk of many things, colored by keen, incisive comments from +this man of many parts, but never once did he put forward the subject +of wealth or the means of its amassing. The possession, or at least +the direction, of great sums was imperative to him, but he valued them +only for what they could achieve, and Belding always got the sensation +of his new approach to subjects hitherto deemed well worn, and that +remarkable mixture of impatience and intuitive power which +characterized his analysis. Again there were evenings when Clark did +not want to talk, but slipped off to the piano. Then the engineer saw +another man within the man, one who, plunged in profound meditation, +sat for hours, while his strong yet delicate fingers explored the keys, +interpreting the color of his mood and drawing, as it were, from some +mystical source that on which the subtle brain was nourished. And +these were periods which the other soon learned were not to be +interrupted. + +They were constantly asked out and entertained with old time +hospitality, Clark being the object of supreme curiosity in St. Marys, +and more often than not he slipped away early, leaving Belding on duty. +It was on these occasions that the contrast between his chief and +others stood out most prominently, there being nothing, it seemed, that +any one could do for him. His principal desire was to be let alone. + +It was one night at the Wordens' that Belding caught what he took to be +evidence of a heart that was fastidiously concealed. Clark, in front +of the fireplace, was listening to the judge dilate on the ancient +history of St. Marys, and that of lost and silent tribes who once +paddled along the shore and lifted their delicate bark canoes around +the tumbling rapids. Worden was a wise, old man with a certain gentle +dignity, and his wife, a dainty, middle-aged lady with slowly graying +hair and kindly eyes. + +"There was a good deal of bloodshed about," ruminated the judge. "Of +course the Jesuit got here first and performed the mysteries of the +Host in front of the natives. There were Indian wars and a good deal +of torturing went on up on your property, Mr. Clark. Then the French +and English traders shot each other from behind trees, where I +understand you are going to build your pulp mill, and the survivors +took the furs and struck off for Montreal in canoes, a matter of some +six hundred miles. After that the Red River Company and the Hudson Bay +got at loggerheads." + +"In short," put in Clark, "I've picked out a veritable battle ground. +By the way, who is this, if I may ask?" He lifted a photograph from +the mantel. + +Mrs. Worden smiled proudly. "Our daughter, Elsie. She's seventeen now +and we won't see her for two years. She's in the West with her aunt." + +"Oh!" said Clark. His brows pulled down and he scanned the print with +close attention. "She has imagination I take it." + +"Too much for her own comfort," remarked the judge. + +Clark did not answer but dropped into one of those thoughtful silences +which, while they did not seem to exclude, made it nevertheless appear +presumptuous to rouse him. + +"Too much imagination," he repeated presently. "Is that possible?" +Then, after another long stare, "It's a very unusual face." + +Mrs. Worden looked very happy. "We're going to take great care of +Elsie when we get her back. She had this long, delightful invitation +and we let her go because we thought she'd see more than she could in| +St. Marys, but she writes that it's even quieter." + +"The old St. Marys is nearly at an end and your daughter will find food +for her imagination when she gets back. May I show this to Mr. +Belding?" + +The young man took the photograph with a queer sense of participation +in something he did not understand. He saw a broad, low forehead, +masses of soft and slightly curly hair, eyes that looked beautifully +and wistfully, out from beneath finely arched brows and a mouth that +lacked nothing in humorous suggestion. Puzzling for an instant what it +was that had attracted his impersonal chief, he heard the latter saying +good night with customary abruptness. + +"Come along, Belding; we've got a long day ahead of us. The directors +will be here to-morrow." + +The judge was vastly interested. "So St. Marys is in actual touch with +Philadelphia?" + +"Very much so, and in about two years St. Marys will loom very large in +Philadelphia. Good night and thank you." + +The wind was stinging and they drove home rather silently. Arriving at +the big house, Clark went to the piano and played for a moment. The +music ceased as suddenly as it began and, warming himself at the great +stove in the hall, Belding heard a short laugh and an exclamation. +"Too much imagination," exploded Clark. The tone was one of utter +incredulity. At that the young man felt curiously truculent. Elsie +was only seventeen, while Clark was certainly not less than +thirty-five. Then the latter reappeared, rubbing his chilled fingers. + +"The piano is too stiff with cold to talk. By the way, Worden was +talking about the bishop. What bishop?" + +Belding told him what he knew. "He's an Irishman and a fine man. He +works this part of his diocese from St. Marys in the summer. One hears +all kinds of stories about him from the woods and the islands. He's +got a sense of humor and is a good sportsman, but I've only met him +once or twice. Just now he's over in England raising money to buy a +small yacht to navigate himself when he's traveling on duty, and +weather won't stop him if he gets it. You'll see him next spring." + +Clark seemed interested. "I don't know many parsons but that doesn't +describe them to me. A sportsman and a sense of humor, eh? It sounds +like a hunting parson. I thought they were all dead." + +"This one isn't." + +"St. Marys begins to offer more than I expected," smiled his chief. +"Are you going to bed, or will you sit here and freeze to death?" + +Riggs, Stoughton, and Wimperley came up next day. Clark met them at +the station, where a bitter wind was droning down from the north, and +Belding, by engineering of a high order, made room for them at his +quarters. Then they drove out to the canal, and with Clark climbed the +icy embankment while the latter expounded the situation. + +"There," he said cheerfully, "will be the first power house, and there +mill number one." + +Riggs, a small thin-blooded man, peered at the glassy landscape. +"Splendid," he chattered, while Stoughton pulled his fur collar over +his ears and set his back to the wind. + +"Up at the north end,--you can see it better if you step a little this +way--will be the head gates. That railway trestle--you see that +trestle don't you, Wimperley?--" + +Wimperley pulled himself together, but his feet had lost all feeling. +"Yes, any one could see that." + +"Well, that will be replaced by a steel bridge at the railway's +expense. We propose to widen the canal at that point to one hundred +feet at the bottom, and now--" here he seized the unfortunate Stoughton +and swung him so that he faced into the chilling blast--"I want to +point out the booming ground for logs." + +Stoughton muttered something that sounded like strong condemnation of +all logs, but Clark did not seem to hear him. + +"They'll come round that point, swing into the bay and feed down this +way to the mill. You get that, don't you?" + +They all got it, at least so they earnestly assured the speaker who +stood with his overcoat half unbuttoned, his cap on the back of his +head and apparently oblivious of the temperature. This frigid and +desolate scene had no terrors for him. Beneath the icy skin he +discovered its promise. + +"There'll be two booms--one for pulp wood and the other for hard wood +for the veneer mills. You make hard wood float by driving plugs of +lighter wood into both ends of the log. And now, if you'll step down +this way, I'll show you where the dredges will start work." + +"Look here," said Riggs in a quavering voice, "what's the matter with +my cheek? I can't feel it." + +Clark glanced at him and shook with sudden laughter. "Only a bit of +frost bite,--perhaps we'd better go back to the office. It's a pity, +though,"--here he hesitated a little--"there's quite a lot more to see." + +Whereupon Riggs and the other two at once assured him that unless they +sought shelter forthwith they would flatly refuse to authorize the +expenditure of any more money whatever in a country as blasted as this. +After which they repaired to the office, where Belding waited with his +blue prints and Clark outlined the possible future. As he put it, +these developments were only possible and depended on what that future +might bring forth. But as he talked, Belding, for one, knew that the +whole magnificent program had been definitely determined in that +astonishing brain. + +They drove back in the open sleigh and the horses, chilled in the cold, +sent the snow flying about their ears. There was but little talk and +it was not until they drew abreast of a stone building that Stoughton +spoke. + +"Nice jail you've got here," he remarked with a grin. "Looks as if +they had been expecting our crowd." + +Clark laughed. "It's the home of the only pessimist I have found in +St. Marys." + +"Then let's drop in and convert him." Stoughton was feeling warmer, +and the keen, dry air and brilliant sun affected him like wine. + +There was an instantaneous shout of approval, and three school boys in +the shape of the three most influential men of Philadelphia rolled +happily out of the sleigh. Riggs turned with mischief in his eye and a +bright red patch on his cheek. + +"Come on, Clark; we need something like this after the dose you have +given us." + +At the trampling of feet, Manson looked out of the window, then stepped +deliberately to the door. The next minute Clark was busy introducing. +"Mr. Manson, this is Mr. Wimperley, auditor of the Columbian Railway +Company; Mr. Riggs, president of the Philadelphia Bank, and Mr. +Stoughton, of the American Iron Works. We're all cold and cast +ourselves on your mercy. They've had enough power canal for to-day." + +Manson waved them in with just the gesture with which he motioned a +prisoner into the dock. It was the only gesture he knew. His brain +was working with unwonted rapidity, and he glanced questioningly at +Clark, but the face of the latter was impassive. The visitors grouped +themselves round the big box stove that was stuffed with blazing +hardwood. + +"Lived here long, Mr. Manson?" hazarded Riggs, stretching his thin +fingers to the heat. + +"All my life, gentlemen, and I don't want anything else." + +"You haven't been in jail for that time?" put in the irrepressible +Stoughton. + +The big man relaxed to a smile. "I've been in charge here for the last +twenty-five years, and I like it." + +The three glanced at him with a sudden and genuine interest. The man +was so massive; his hair so black, and, at the age of fifty, still +unstreaked with gray. His face was large and strong, with a certain +Jovian quality in cheek, ear, and chin. He suggested latent physical +powers that, if aroused, would be tremendous. + +"Find it pretty quiet?" went on Stoughton. + +"Yes, but that's what I like." + +"Then you don't entirely approve of our plans up at the rapids? At +least, so Mr. Clark tells me." + +Manson's glance lifted and went straight into Clark's gray eyes. + +"No, I don't believe in them, if," he added, "I can say so without +offense." + +Riggs stripped off his heavy fur coat, and turned his back to the stove. + +"Just why, may I ask?" + +"Well, I have a feeling you'll spoil St. Marys. It's just right as it +is. We haven't much excitement and I reckon we don't want it. We're +comfortable, so why can't you let us alone? I like the life as it is." + +"You'll live faster after we get going," chuckled Wimperley. + +"Perhaps, but we won't live so long. I've had a lot of men through my +hands who tried to live faster, and it didn't agree with them--not that +I'm meaning--" The rest was lost in a riot of laughter, out of which +Wimperley's voice became audible. + +"If things go as we propose and expect, the people of St. Marys will +profit very considerably,--there will be remarkable opportunities." + +"Meaning that,--" a new light flickered in Manson's black eyes for a +fraction of a second and disappeared. + +"Meaning that during the transformation of a village into a city a +number of interesting changes take place." + +"Maybe, but such things can't affect me very much." + +"Well, possibly not, but I've an idea they will. I'm afraid we can't +let St. Marys alone, Mr. Manson, and a little later on you'll +understand why. This land, for instance, between us and the river, is +vacant." + +Manson's eye slowly traversed the two hundred yard width of the open +field that lay just south of the road. It was perhaps half way between +the rapids and the center of the village. + +"Yes, I think Worden owns it, but I know that no one wants it." + +"Ah!" said Stoughton with a little laugh; "and now we must be getting +on. Good-by, and thank you for saving our lives, even if you have had +a crack at our project." + +There was a sound of laughing voices on the porch and a jangle of +sleigh bells that dwindled toward the village, but Manson did not seem +to hear them. He stood blocking up the window, his hands thrust deep +in his pockets, staring at the vacant lot across the street. + +Dinner that night cost Belding much searching of soul. "There'll be +three more," Clark had said, and forgotten all about it, but when the +Philadelphians sat down Belding's heart sank. On the table was a leg +of mutton, placed hastily by an agitated servant lest it freeze between +kitchen and dining room. Even while Belding carved it the gravy began +to stiffen. Behind Clark was a glowing fireplace, ineffectual against +the outside temperature, the windows were white with frost and the +whole house seemed to creak. + +"Have some mutton," said the young man desperately. + +Riggs rubbed his thin hands. "Thanks, I'm very fond of mutton. Do you +mind if I put on my overcoat? The floor seems a little cold." He +disappeared and returned muffled to the ears. + +"You'd better hurry up with your food," said Clark soberly. "The human +stomach cannot digest frozen sheep." He glanced at Wimperley and +Stoughton. "What's the matter with you fellows?" + +The two visitors coughed and apologized and went in search of their +overcoats. Clark began to laugh. "And to think that you three are +going back to furnaces and steam heat. Do you realize what Belding and +I are going through on your behalf?" + +They got through the meal somehow, but Belding was utterly abashed. +The visitors played with the congealing mutton, poked at forbidding +potatoes, absorbed large quantities of scalding tea and then hastened +back to the big stove. Belding felt a hand on his shoulder. + +"It's my fault. We should have let them go to the hotel. I suppose +we're used to it, they're not." + +Presently, Wimperley began to yawn. "I'm going to bed." + +Riggs glanced apprehensively upstairs, where it was even colder than +below. "I'm going to sleep in my clothes. My God! pajamas on a night +like this. Clark, what are you made of?" + +In ten minutes the big stove was deserted, and Clark went from room to +room tucking in his shivering visitors. + +V.--THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA + +It was not till spring came and the earth relaxed her stiff and +reappearing bones that Clark really got to work, and then arrived the +first battalions of that great influx which was soon to follow. Up at +the rapids men and machinery became visible as though by magic. +Belding had a curious sensation as he saw the product of his former +plans well nigh obliterated in the larger excavation which now began to +take shape. His earlier efforts took on their due proportion, and he +smiled at the contrast, reveling in his opportunity for the full +exercise of his ability. But it is probable that neither Belding nor +any others amongst the leading men who, in time, were gathered into the +works, realized to what a degree they were animated by the mesmeric +influence of Clark. + +By this time Bowers, another local appointment, was the legal +representative of the Company, and the repository of great intentions +which he guarded with scrupulous fidelity. Clark was redeeming his +promise not to import that which the town could provide. And then he +met the bishop. + +He saw the broad-shouldered, black-coated figure contemplating a steam +shovel that was gnawing at the rocky soil beside the rapids. The +bishop was a big man with a handsome head, well shaped legs adorned +with episcopal gaiters, and a broad, deep chest. It was universally +admitted that a less ample breast could not have contained so great a +heart. + +"Good day, sir." Clark involuntarily lifted his hat. The bishop held +out a firm white hand. "I've heard of you, Mr. Clark, and am glad to +see that Mahomet has come to his mountain. It's a little like a fairy +tale to me." + +"I hope it may prove as attractive." + +"But I believe in fairies, we need them nowadays." + +Clark smiled. "I'm afraid that St. Marys doesn't believe in them as +yet, but I'll do what I can." + +"I suppose you've met every one here in the course of the winter?" + +"Most I think. As a matter of fact one hasn't much time." + +"That's a new thing in winter in the North. Now show me what's going +on, I'm vastly interested." + +There was nothing that could have suited Clark better, and the two +tramped about for an hour. At the end of it they stood near the head +of the rapids and watched a coughing dredge tear into the soft bottom. + +"I used to come up here to fish," said the bishop thoughtfully, "and +once killed a six pound trout on a six ounce rod, but now you're doing +the fishing, and so it goes. Do you expect to begin operations in the +woods next winter?" + +"Yes." + +"Then I'll need some more missionaries. You're making a lot of work +for me, but I like it." + +His companion glanced up with sudden interest. They both liked work. +It had been evident for an hour past in the prelate's keen questions. +It occurred to Clark that the influence of his own passion for creation +promised to affect a large number of people. But he had never dreamed +of missionaries, and now the thought amused him. + +"I see young Belding over there," said the bishop as the engineer +passed with a transit over his shoulder. "Yes, my chief engineer." + +"A good chap and I'm glad he has the opening. I don't know that he's +got much imagination, but a valuable man as I see him. I have an +idea," he added quizzically, "that you will supply all the imagination +that is necessary." + +Clark laughed. "I hope to." + +"Had I not gone into the church I would have been a writer or an +engineer," said the bishop slowly. "They have always seemed kindred +pursuits, and I should have liked to be able to point to something +physical and concrete and say 'I made it.'" + +Clark was a little puzzled. He had it in mind that the bishop's +achievements would be, perhaps, more enduring than his own. He tried +to put this into words. + +The big man shook his head. "I hope I am making my mark, but who can +say? You affect the color of men's lives and I try to reach the +complexion of their spirits." He paused for a moment, then added, "But +between us we ought to do something. Good-by, and I hope you'll come +to one of my garden parties. I hear you don't care for society, but +you'll like my strawberries, and in the meantime I trust that all will +prosper. Even if St. Marys does not realize all this, does it matter?" + +"Not in the slightest." + +The bishop strode off. A few paces away he halted. "I'm no Moslem but +I'm very glad to meet Mahomet," he called back; "good-by." + +In June the general manager, for as such Clark was now known, gave a +luncheon at the works, which was to remain long in the mind of at least +one of the participants. By this time he himself was beginning to +withdraw to that seclusion which added much to the fascination of his +personality. When his guests arrived they were turned over to Belding +for a tour of inspection, and then, filled with interest and surprise, +sat down to the meal Clark had had prepared in the small marquee. Now +he appeared himself, the genius of the place, and sat at the head of +the table. + +Looking back at the curious relationship in which this man stood to the +people of St. Marys, it seems that he liked them more than he cared to +express, for the expression of any sentiment was strange to his lips. +He could do much for them, and did it, while, at the same time, he +asked nothing for himself. When not in action, Clark was particularly +silent, but when really in action he approached his subject with +obvious joy and interest, and coupled with this was his natural +instinct for impressive and dramatic situations. Something of this had +been recognized by Filmer and the others who came to lunch, so that, +afterwards, when he threw out a hint, the only one on record, it met +with immediate attention. He was talking to Worden when his eye drew +Filmer into the conversation. + +"I have been wondering whether any of you gentlemen have bought any +land?" + +The effect was that of a stone thrown into a pool, and one could see +the ripples of interest spreading. But it was so unexpected that there +followed a little silence, broken presently by a laugh from Filmer. + +"What land?" + +Clark waved a casual hand north and east. "Any land over there." + +He got no immediate reply. The minds of his guests were traversing the +flat fields in which cattle grazed, that lay between the rapids and the +town. + +"You have seen to-day something of what we propose to do, but only some +of it," he went on. "What's the present population of St. Marys?" + +"About sixteen hundred," said Filmer thoughtfully. + +"Well, gentlemen, assume that what you have seen is but the beginning, +only the breaking of the ground. You may take it from me, you are safe +in that. The population of St. Marys, five years from to-day, should +be,--" here he paused for an impressive moment--"sixteen thousand, and +in ten years, twenty-six thousand. Now where are those people going to +live? Mr. Manson, here, doesn't take me quite seriously, but you, +Judge, can you answer me; or you, Mr. Filmer? A good deal of it will +fall on your shoulders." + +"I don't doubt you," answered the mayor, "but I can use all my money in +my business." + +"As for me, I'm a government official and haven't any," added Worden, +with a tinge of regret. + +"Money has been borrowed before this"--Clark's tones were distinctly +impersonal--"the bank is good and so is the future of the town, as I +see it." + +"Why don't you buy some yourself?" + +"I don't want any more money," said Clark very simply, "but, gentlemen, +I don't assume that every one feels that way. From this window I can +see farm lands that can be bought for forty dollars an acre on easy +terms, and how would you feel if, after two or three years, it changed +hands at a thousand? I merely mention this because I've seen it take +place elsewhere. Now I'm not going to say that it's going to be worth +a thousand, and I'm not persuading you. I never persuade any one, at +least," he added with a little smile, "not in St. Marys. I only draw +your attention to the circumstances and leave the rest of it, of +course, to your own judgment." + +"Then you suggest that we buy?" came in Dibbott. + +"Nothing of the kind. It's a matter of indifference to me whether you +gentlemen do the buying or some one else. All I can prophesy is, that +it's going to be done, but not by me or my associates. We have enough +to occupy our attention for some time to come." + +Manson edged a bit nearer. "The idea is that while you're investing +millions, we take no risk in investing hundreds, eh?" + +"I made no such inference. You will remember that so far as St. Marys +is concerned I have depended on the town for nothing since my first +proposal was accepted." + +Dibbott nodded. "That's right. I reckon we're going to be a +residential suburb to the works." + +Clark smiled a little. "I lean on just four things, and St. Marys +supplied none of them." + +"What are they?" + +"Natural laws, physical geography, ample financial backing, and the +need of the world for certain manufactured products. And," he +concluded quizzically, "you'd better forget that I said anything about +land." + +There was something suggestively final about this, and presently the +group moved off, loitering across the flat, untenanted fields. Manson +was in the rear, decapitating daisies with his heavy oak stick. A few +minutes later Clark looked up and saw the chief constable's bulk +filling the doorway. He waited placidly. + +"Did you mean just what you said about that land?" Manson's voice +sounded a little sheepish, "because I've got a bit saved up, and--" + +"Mr. Manson," struck in Clark, "you may approve of me personally, but I +know that you don't believe in my project. You've been at no pains to +conceal that and I respect you for it, but that being the case why +should you, of all men, be interested in land? No, no, don't protest. +I don't mind what you think and you've a perfect right to your own +opinion. What did I say about land? Did I advise you to buy?" + +"No, but you evidently wondered why we didn't." + +Clark laughed outright. "I wonder at many things, that's my privilege, +and anything I said just now is in contradiction to your judgment. You +strike me as being a man of strong views, so by all means hold on to +them." + +But Manson's eyes were turned fixedly on the main chance and he could +not look away. "Of course, I may be wrong," he began awkwardly, "but--" + +"And, of course, I may be too, and now you'll excuse me, I've a good +deal to attend to." + +Very slowly the chief constable took his way to town. Like many who +came in contact with Clark he had conceived the impression of a strong +and piercing intelligence that, while it gave out much, withheld more; +and it was what he imagined was withheld that now piqued and stimulated +the austerely masked project he had had in view ever since Clark's +directors had so breezily invaded his office months before. Manson +was, in truth, an example of those who, externally impassive and +unemotional, harbor at times a secret and consuming thought at variance +with all outward semblance, and, keeping this remotely hidden, feed it +with all the concentrated fire of an otherwise inactive imagination. +That afternoon he quietly secured an option on a portion of the fields +across which he walked so stolidly, and, with this as a beginning, +turned his thoughts to the acquisition of more and more land. +Simultaneously his expressed views on the outcome of Clark's activities +became more pessimistic than ever. + +Early that summer the streets of St. Marys were torn with trenches and +the glass fronts of the wooden stores trembled with the vibration of +blasting. The pipe lines followed exactly the route laid out by the +blue prints Belding had long since deposited with the town council, and +so well known was this route that the slightest variation would have +been pounced upon instantly. Clark, it appeared, did not take much +interest in the work, but turned it over entirely to the engineer, his +own imagination having moved to other things. + +New faces in the town ceased to create comment, and, what was more to +the point, mention of St. Marys began to appear in metropolitan papers. +These were read with the peculiar thoroughness of those who, for the +first time, found themselves of definite interest to the outside world. +Simultaneously the air became full of prophecy, rambling and inchoate. +The citizens had not yet come to regard developments as being in any +particular their own. They had--for the best reasons--put no money in, +but now began to profit by changed conditions. The works were still a +thing apart, a new and somewhat romantic area from which anything, +however startling, might any day materialize. Sometimes a few Indians +paddled up to trade and, leaving Filmer's store, would slip silently up +stream, and edging into the backwater at the foot of the rapids, lay +their paddles across the thwarts and stare silently at the great +structures that began to arise. And this, in a way, was the attitude +of most of the folk of St. Marys. They were in it but not of it, and +the long somnolence of the past was too tranquil to be easily +dispelled. But in spite of their indifference the masterful hand of +Clark had set the town definitely on the industrial map. A little +later, the water was turned on and rows and rows of electric lights +glittered down the streets. It was just about this time that Clark +summoned Belding and told him that he desired a house. + +This command was, in a way, so intimate that Belding looked foolish. +"What kind of a house?" he said awkwardly. + +Clark leaned back in his chair. "You know how, years ago, the Hudson +Bay Company built block houses for their factors? Well, I want one +such as the company used to build, and I expect to be ready to occupy +it within six weeks." + +Belding had learned not to ask too many questions, so, for a moment +thought hard. "Where?" he ventured. + +"You remember where the old Hudson Bay lock is,--just a hundred feet +beyond that. By the way, do you know how to build a block house?" + +Belding got a little red. He had designed power houses and pulp mills +and canals and head gates, but a block house baffled him. + +"In those days," began Clark ruminatively, "they were places of +defense. Two stories, the bottom one of stone so that the Indians +couldn't set fire to it. That part is eight feet high and had +loopholes. On top is the other story built of logs, and, by the way, I +want my logs peeled and varnished, and with a pitched roof. That part +overhangs the other by about five feet all round, and that was to make +it possible to drop things on the Indians if they did get up to the +loopholes. Got the idea? And, by the way, I want the Hudson Bay lock +cleaned out and rebuilt just as it was before. No cement--but random +masonry and gates of hewn timber--they hewed everything a hundred years +ago--grass around it and a sign saying what it was and when. Fix it up +and make a job of it--that's all, and make that block house basement of +field stone--you can see why." + +Whereupon Clark turned to a pile of letters and telegrams and promptly +forgot all about Belding. + +In six weeks, to a day, he moved in, and it is a question whether any +of his subsequent achievements occasioned such interest in St. Marys. +Old inhabitants were there who had memories of the Hudson Bay Company +and the thirty foot bark canoes that once voyaged from Lake Superior, +and, treading the upper reaches of a branch of the rapids, slid into +the old lock and were let gingerly down while the crew held their +paddles against the rough stone walls of the tiny but ancient chamber. + +Now the thing in its entirety had been recreated. The block house sat +squat beside the lock, with its mushroom top projecting just as in +years before. Clark, it seemed, was, after all traditional, and not +one who lived entirely in the future, and with this touch of romance he +took new attributes. His Japanese cook inhabited the lower story +through which one entered to mount to the main floor. Inside the place +revealed the taste of the man of the world. It looked pigmy beside the +enormous structures which began to rise hard by, but was all the more +diminutively impressive. One passed it on the way to the works, and +often by night drifted out the sound of Clark's piano mingling with the +dull boom of the rapids. For it would seem that these were the two +voices to which the brain of this extraordinary man took most heed. + + + + +VI.--CONCERNING IRON, WOOD AND A GIRL + +A year passed and the folk of St. Marys had not yet accustomed +themselves to drawing water from a tap and turning on the light with a +switch ere Clark began a frontal attack on the resources of the country +to the north. It was typical of his methods that he invariably used +new agencies by which to approach affairs which, in the main, differed +from those already existing. Thus he called on many and widely +separated individuals, who, answering his imperious summons, fell +straightway under the spell of his remarkable personality, and found +themselves shortly in positions of increasing responsibility. They +became the heads of various activities, but, in a way, the secondary +heads, for Clark retained all kingship for himself. So it came that as +months passed he was surrounded by a constantly increasing band of +active and loyal retainers. + +Such was John Baudette, for whom Clark had sent to talk pulp wood, but, +it is recorded, that Baudette's manner and bearing changed not at all +when Clark stared at him across the big flat topped desk and remarked +evenly that he wanted pulp wood and was assured that there was an ample +supply within fifty miles. + +Baudette's hard blue eyes met the stare placidly. "Yes, there is pulp +wood north of here." + +"I know it, because I've had some," said Clark, "but I want fifty +thousand cords next May and seventy-five thousand the year after." + +Baudette felt in a way more at home, but he had never contemplated +seventy-five thousand cords of wood. "Am I to go and take it?" + +Clark laughed, then settled back with the shadow of a smile on his +lips, and bent on the woodsman that swift inspection which discomforted +so many. It embarrassed Baudette not at all. He was rather small and +of slight build, but he was constructed in the manner of a bundle of +steel wire that enfolds a heart of inflexible determination. On casual +inspection he did not appear to be a strong man, but his body was a +mass of tireless sinew. His eyes were of that cold, hard blue which is +the color of fortitude, his face clean shaven and rather thin; his jaw +slightly underhung, his lips narrow and tightly compressed. In +demeanor he was quiet and almost shy, but it was the quietness of one +who has spent his days in the open, and the shyness of a life which has +dealt with simple things in a simple but efficient way. The longer +Clark looked at him the more he liked this new discovery. Presently he +began to talk. + +"I want a man to take charge of my forest department, and one who has +got his experience at the expense of some one else. We need pulp wood +in larger quantities than have been required in this country before. +Next year we begin to grind wood that you will cut this winter." + +The little man neither moved nor took his eyes from Clark's face, and +the latter, with the faintest twitch of his lip, went on. + +"I'm satisfied that this wood exists in ample quantities and the rest +is up to you. You can have any reasonable salary you ask for." + +"Where are the timber limits?" Baudette said quietly. He was, +apparently, uninterested in the matter of salary. + +Clark flattened out a big map of the district that obliterated the +piles of letters and telegrams. Baudette's eyes brightened. He loved +maps, but never before had he seen one so minute and comprehensive. + +"That's compiled from all available surveys and records. It took three +months to make it. I was getting ready for you." + +Baudette nodded. He was interested in how the thing was compiled, and +his eyes traced the birth and flow of rivers and the great sweep of +well remembered lakes. Presently Clark's voice came in again. + +"Where's the best pulp wood? We've been getting it from everywhere." + +A lean brown forefinger slid slowly over the edge of the map. Clark +noted its delicacy and strength. It halted a moment at St. Marys, +then, as though Baudette counted the miles, traversed the shore of +Superior and turned into a great bay to the westward. At the belly of +the bay the finger struck inland following a wide river, and halted in +a triangle of land where the river forked. Baudette looked up and +nodded. + +"Ah!" said Clark thoughtfully. "How much good wood is there?" + +The forefinger commenced an irregular course during which it struck +into salients that followed up lesser and tributary streams. It had +enclosed perhaps five hundred square miles of Canadian territory when +it reached its starting point. + +"Four years' wood." Baudette's voice was still impressive. + +The other man smiled as though in subdued mirth, and with a red pencil +outlined the area. Following this his eyes rested contemplatively on +the lumberman who sat still focussed on the map. + +"Come back in two weeks," he said suddenly. "Good morning." + +Baudette glanced at him, and went out so quietly that there was not the +sound of a footstep. Clark's manner of speech and person had set him +thinking as never before. Ten thousand cords of wood a year was the +usual order of things, but of fifty thousand cords he had never dreamed. + +He had a new set of sensations which filled him with a novel confidence +in his own powers. He was reacting, like all the others, to the +intimate touch of a communicative confidence. He passed thoughtfully +through the general office, noting as he closed the door that on a +bench near Clark's door sat Fisette, a French halfbreed whom he knew. +He remarked also that Fisette's pockets were bulging, it seemed, with +rocks. + +A moment later Fisette was summoned. He went in, treading lightly on +the balls of his feet, and leaning forward as though under a load on a +portage. Clark's office always frightened him a little. The rumble of +the adjoining power house, the great bulk of the buildings just +outside, the masses of documents,--all of this spoke of an external +power that puzzled and, in a way, worried him. He halted suddenly in +front of the desk. + +"Well?" said Clark, without offering him a seat, for Fisette was more +at ease when he stood. + +The half breed felt in his pockets. The other unrolled a duplicate of +the map he had shown Baudette and held out his hand, in which Fisette +placed some pieces of rock. + +At the weight and chill of them, Clark experienced a peculiar thrill, +then, under a magnifying glass he examined each with extreme care, +turning them so that the light fell fair on edge and fracture. One +after another he scrutinized, while the breed stood motionless. + +"Where do they come from?" he said shortly. + +The breed made a little noise in his throat, and his dark eyes rested +luminously on the keen face. After a little he gathered the samples +and disposed them on the map, laying each in that corner of the +wilderness from which it had been broken. He did this with the +deliberation of one who knew beyond all question. He had brought +months of hardship and exposure in his pocket. By swamp and hill, +valley and lake and rapid he had journeyed alone in search of the gray, +heavy, shiny rock of which Clark had, months before, given him a +fragment, with curt orders to seek the like. The small, angular pieces +were all arranged, and his chief stared at them with profound +geological interest. Fisette did not move. He had looked forward to +this moment. + +"They're no good," came the level voice, after a pause, "but you're in +the right country. Go back for another two months. You'll get it yet. +It should be near this," he picked up a sample. "Take what men you +want, or no, don't take any. I want you to do this yourself, and don't +talk. Good morning." + +Fisette nodded dumbly. The moment had come and gone and he felt a +little paralyzed. + +"Here, have a cigar." + +He took one, such a cigar as he had never seen, large, dark and fat +with a golden band around its plump middle. He glanced at Clark, who +apparently had forgotten him, and went silently out. On the doorstep +he paused, slid off the golden band and put it in his pocketbook, +cupped a lighted match between his polished palms, took one long +luxurious breath and started thoughtfully to town with worship and +determination in his breast. + +Clark, from the office window, was looking down at his broad back in a +moment of abstraction. At Fisette's departure he had suddenly plunged +into one of those moods so peculiar to his temperament. Beside the +halfbreed he seemed to perceive Stoughton, and with Baudette he +discerned the figure of Riggs, and so on till there were marshalled +before him the whole battalion of those who were caught up in the +onward march. He realized, without any hesitation, that should +Baudette fail in his work, the magnificent bulk of the great pulp mill +would be but a futile shell. And should the prospecting pick of the +half-breed not uncover that which he sought, the entire enterprise +would lack its basic security. But it was characteristic of the man +that this vision brought with it no depression, but seemed rather to +point to ultimate success in the very blending of diverse elements that +strove together towards the same end. + +Two weeks later, Baudette returned and looked questioningly at his +chief. In very few words he explained that the fortnight had been +spent in the woods and that what he had said was correct. + +Clark listened silently. Here was a man to his liking. When the +lumberman finished he again unrolled the big map, but this time instead +of the wavering red pencil line, there was the bold demarcation of a +much greater area, which Belding's draughtsman had plotted in +professional style. In the middle of it was the territory Baudette had +previously indicated. + +"I thought we'd better be safe, and got this--from the Government. Go +to the chief accountant in the outside office. Give him an estimate of +what money you need for the next six months--and get to work--Good +morning." + +Baudette merely nodded and disappeared. There was too much in his mind +to admit of expressing it, but, even had he felt conversational, there +was a finality about his dismissal that left no opening. He went away +charged with a grim determination. Here was the chance he had been +waiting for all his life. + +And Clark had, by this time, labelled Baudette as a valuable and +dependable man. He forthwith forgot all about him, and went back to +the memory of Baudette's forefinger as it pushed its way up to the +Magwa River. It flashed upon him that, in the course of a vehemently +active life, he had built practically all things save one. At that he +fell into a reverie which ended with the pressing of a button that +flashed a small red light on Belding's desk. A moment later he glanced +keenly at his chief engineer. + +"Belding, you have done railway work. What does a standard gauge road +cost in this country?" + +"Where is the road to be built?" Belding displayed no surprise. The +time for that had long passed, and, he silently concluded, the +presidency of a railroad would suit Clark admirably. + +"Up the Magwa River." + +"And the maximum grades?" + +"Suitable for freight haulage to this point. We run with the water," +added Clark with one of his rare smiles, "you ought to know that." + +"About thirty thousand a mile," answered Belding steadily, the trouble +being that when his chief's imagination took strong hold of him he was +apt to diverge from the point. + +"Then you will send out survey parties and get detailed estimates when +the surveys are in." + +"How far is the road to run? The head waters of the Magwa are one +hundred and fifty miles from its mouth." + +Clark's lips tightened a little. "As far as the pulp wood is good. I +don't care how far that is--and, Belding--" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I have decided to double the size of the mill. Let me have plans and +estimates for that too." + +Belding went on, his head swimming, and walked slowly toward the head +gates through which Lake Superior flowed obediently to do Clark's will. +It seemed now that his chief had reached the point where the god in the +machine must make some grievous error. He was insatiable. Presently +two figures approached. One was Judge Worden, the other a girl. The +former waved his stick. + +"We're going to see Mr. Clark. Elsie, this is Mr. Belding." + +The girl smiled and put out a slim hand. "I've heard all about +you--did you make all this?" Her brown eyes roved, taking in the great +sweep of rising structures. + +"In a way, yes," he laughed, "that is I did what I was told." + +"Mr. Belding is chief engineer," put in the judge assuringly. + +She nodded. "You told me. I--I think it's rather wonderful. If +anything had to happen to the rapids, this is just right." + +Belding made no immediate answer. He was studying the girl's face, her +supple figure, and the intelligence that marked every expression. It +struck him that she was meant to be some man's comrade. + +"I'm glad you like it," he said a little awkwardly, "there's lots more +to come." + +The judge touched Elsie's arm. "That's what I want to hear about at +the block house, and I hope you'll have supper with us next Sunday, Mr. +Belding. I hear you are too busy for a weekday diversion." + +Elsie smiled approval and they turned down the long embankment. + +Belding looked after them with a shade of resentment. She was, he had +decided, just like her photograph. In the distance he had seen Clark +walking quickly towards his visitors. They met a hundred yards away +and Clark's eyes began to twinkle. + +"How do you do. I seem to know you quite well already." + +Elsie flushed. She had pictured Clark in her romantic brain, but this +trim figure resembled none of her expectations. + +"I'm very sorry," he went on quickly, "that urgent business will keep +me in the office all afternoon. I've just a few minutes." + +"Then we'll be off at once," announced the judge. + +"Not at all, if there's anything here to interest you, the place is +yours." + +Elsie glanced at him curiously. She was conscious both of +disappointment and of a certain invitational thrill. His assurance was +not just what she had looked for, but yet it stimulated her thought. +He was very different from every one else. Decision marked him and a +flash that was breathless seemed to reach her. Imagination lay in his +quick change of expression and in the depths of the gray eyes. This +was the man who dreamed great dreams. + +"The next time you are up this way I hope you and your friends will +come to the block house." He was looking at her with evident interest. +"You may not like it, but, I think you will,--it makes a background for +this"; he pointed to the works, "and I find it restful. I live quite +alone except for a Japanese cook, and," he added with a laugh, "he's +part of the background." + +Elsie accepted and, for an instant, caught Clark's full glance. In a +fraction of time there passed between them a swift and subconscious +exchange of understanding that subsided almost ere it was born. Then +he took off his hat and hastened towards his office. + +For a little while she did not speak, for she was filled with the +perception that between herself and this stranger lay something they +held in common. Could it be imagination? + +"What do you think of Mr. Belding?" asked the judge reflectively as he +stepped round a shattered boulder. + +Elsie started. "Why do you ask?" + +The judge's brows went up. "Why shouldn't I?" + +The girl pulled herself together with an effort. "I was thinking of +something else when you spoke,--he seems very nice indeed." + +"He has a good salary, a good position and a good future," hazarded the +judge. "I'm glad you like him." + +Later that evening, Belding turned homeward, his work finished, and, +walking close to the shore, looked across the black river to the blaze +of light at the works. On one side and low down he made out the glow +from the block-house windows. He could imagine Clark at the piano. + +But his chief had deserted the piano and given himself up to a rare +hour of retrospect. He was under no misapprehension with regard to St. +Marys. The town was growing in jerky spurts, as the old inhabitants +took on new courage, or new blood came in from outside. Filmer, who +with the exception of Bowers and Belding, was closer to Clark than any +of the rest, enlarged his store, and new shops began to appear nearer +the rapids. Manson's premises were populated with an assortment from +the small army of laborers at the works, and a new hotel was under +construction. But, in the main, it was only by stress of business +demands that any expansion was made. The strangers, who constantly +appeared on the streets, ceased to be a cause of curiosity, and the +folk of St. Marys left it to them to start new enterprises. + +As to Clark, himself, he began to be almost invisible to the +townspeople. There was nothing, after all, to bring him to town. +Others came to him. And ever the call of the rapids grew louder and +more dominant in his active brain. Others slept when he was awake, and +his imagination, caught up in a tremendous belief in the future of the +country, explored the horizon for new avenues and enterprises, while +the conclusions of his prophetic mind filled him with unfailing +confidence. He had now achieved the ability to arrive intuitively at +results reached by others after long and arduous labor. This faculty +was one of his outstanding gifts, no less than his mesmeric and +communicative influence. + + + + +VII.--THE BISHOP'S GARDEN PARTY--AND AFTERWARDS + +Some three miles down the river from the blockhouse and on the east +side of St. Marys lived the bishop. Of him it might be said that, like +Clark's, his reputation extended far beyond the boundaries of this +northern district. But between these two, so alike in their magnetic +qualities, lay a substantial difference. Clark expressed himself in +large undertakings and great physical structures, while the bishop +worked in the hearts of men. + +It was the custom of this most amiable prelate to give a garden party +once a year, to which came most of the adult population of St. Marys. +The house, a square gray stone block, lay at the edge of the bush and +around it was a spacious lawn from which one could saunter through the +vegetable garden and into the stable, and on this lawn, his hands +clasped behind his back, his head bent forward in thought, the bishop +might often be observed, a modern St. Francis, plunged in profound +thought. + +Now, looking contentedly at the groups around him, he concluded that +never before had his party been so well attended. Dibbott and Filmer +and Bowers were there with their wives, and young Belding with the +Wordens. The Presbyterian minister and the Catholic priest were +admiring the strawberries, and Manson's deep voice came from a cluster +of men nearby. Most of the ladies wore spotless white dresses that +crackled as they moved. In the study the bishop's desk was obliterated +by dishes of strawberries and cream, and at the front gate the hired +man took charge of the buggies and tethered the horses to the long +fence of the pasture field. Three hundred yards away the river +sparkled in a clear, light blue. It was all very bright and animated. +Presently the bishop caught the young engineer's eyes and beckoned. + +"Mr. Belding," he said, smiling, "I'm aware that you're very much +occupied just now with important things, but I've been wondering, just +the same, if you'd help me with something." + +"What is it, Bishop?" + +"I want a pro-cathedral, which is, as you know, that which does instead +of a cathedral. Every summer the church here seems to get smaller, and +I believe I could fill a bigger one." + +Belding laughed. He, like the rest, knew that the largest church in +the country could not hold those who flocked to hear this golden voice. + +"How much money is available?" he hazarded, "and have you any idea what +it is intended to spend. What about plans?" + +"That's just it, we have no money and, of course, no plans, but, +considering the amount of building material you use every day, it +struck me that there might be laid aside enough to construct what I +want without causing any hardship." + +Belding hesitated, but so friendly was the look on the bishop's face +and so quizzical the glance of the large brown eyes that he felt +immediately prompted to build a pro-cathedral. He felt a hand on his +shoulder. + +"History has it that not so very long ago a certain young engineer +expressed that which was highest in his nature by building a cathedral. +Think it over." And with that the bishop turned to the Indian agent +who was moving mountainously across the lawn. + +"Well, Mr. Dibbott, it seems just the other day when I arrived first in +St. Marys and drove under a green arch at Mr. Filmer's dock and the +entire population met me. One couldn't achieve that now. Great things +are happening." + +"You mean up at the works, sir?" + +"Yes. I went over them again last week and had a short talk with Mr. +Clark--a very remarkable man--though, I confess that so far I have not +observed him at church. I touched on that as a matter of fact." + +Dibbott's pale blue eyes opened a little wider. "And what did he say?" + +"He said that from his point of view the church was too divided within +itself to impress him very forcibly." + +"Ah!" grunted Dibbott--"and then?" + +"I came back at him with the fact that the church was naturally divided +by the moods of its followers." + +"It's so, sir, we all know it." + +The bishop cast an interested glance over the groups that now covered +the lawn. He seemed not in the least depressed at the inward troubles +of the church. Presently his eyes began to twinkle. "It's perfectly +true. There are three schools of thought, that I've observed myself." + +"What are they?" said Worden, who had silently come up. + +"Platitudinarian; latitudinarian; attitudinarian," came the answer, +with a chuckle, then, turning to Filmer, who had stepped over to hear +the joke, he added, "What do you think of my boat?" and pointed to a +slim, black, two-masted steam-yacht that lay anchored just off the +shore. + +It was common knowledge that the bishop had spent part of a winter +abroad collecting funds, and it was further admitted that it was +impossible for him to visit the multitude of islands that lay in his +charge without some independent means of transportation, but St. Marys +was not yet aware that the trick had been turned. + +"She means three months' work," went on the bishop thoughtfully, but +without a shade of self-satisfaction, "and the biggest subscription I +got was a hundred pounds. The smallest was from the owner of a large +steamship line. He gave me one of the Company's official prayer +books--and I never before felt about the prayer book just as I did +about that one. I was begging mostly in England, and traveled about +like a sort of mitered mendicant, addressing missionary meetings. It +was the elderly ladies who did it, bless 'em. Then I went down to +Cowes in the Isle of Wight and you see the result. There she is, solid +oak and teak, a compound engine, twelve miles an hour, and good, I +think, for any sea, no matter how tempestuous. I won't care now if +there is no railway connection in half my diocese." + +The others smiled and Filmer stroked his bushy, black whiskers. +"You're going to be a regular sybarite," he ventured. + +"No," chuckled the bishop, "an anchorite." And with that sent his mind +up stream to the rapids and the activity at the works. "I'm interested +to see how much has been done here in what is really so short a time, +only two years. It all seems to me so magnificent in its scope, and, +as for Mr. Clark, who is evidently the center of the thing, one cannot +but admire his incredible energy. I understand we have to thank our +mayor for a good deal of it. Don't you agree with me, Mr. Manson?" + +The chief constable, whose bulk had drawn up beside the others, shook +his head gloomily. His face and manner were, in spite of his +surroundings, still austere. + +"No, sir, I don't admire Mr. Clark." + +"But why?" + +"Because, as I see it, he is only squandering the money of people whom +he has hypnotized. He's got no balance, and the only thing he cares +about is to spend--spend--spend." + +Filmer smiled meaningly. The bishop glanced at him puzzled, then +turned to Manson. + +"Then you're not in any way impressed?" + +"Not in the least." + +"Well," came the deep, rich voice, "I must confess that I am, not only +by what he spends but also by the undeniable fact that he has filled my +church and your jail. Perhaps they go together," he added with a +contagious grin. + +Dibbott looked slightly shocked, but the bishop went on after an +eloquent glance at Filmer. + +"I found much that was admirable up there. It's true that we don't see +eye to eye in certain things that appear all important to me, but +perhaps also that was to be expected. Now will you excuse me a moment? +I see two friends out by the roadside who haven't on their party +clothes." + +His gaitered legs struck off across the lawn and Filmer's glance +followed the powerful figure as it halted at the fence beside two +Indians who waited irresolutely while their dark eyes explored the +animated scene. The bishop, seemingly forgetful of all else, entered +into an earnest conversation, during which a copper colored palm was +held out to him, and in the palm the group could see something small +and round that gleamed softly in the late afternoon sun. At that the +bishop shook his head gravely and the palm was withdrawn, when there +followed more talk in lowered tones, after which he vaulted the fence +and came slowly back, his lips compressed and a quizzical smile on his +big handsome face. He shot a look at the group but said nothing. + +"What is it, sir?" asked Dibbott. + +"Something that touches our conversation, curiously enough. Those two +Indians have just paddled up from the settlement to ask me to bless a +silver bullet, and they are parishioners of mine too." + +"Why?" put in Manson abruptly. + +"They say the bullet is to kill a wolf who is haunting the neighborhood +and is possessed by a spirit of a bad man who died there only recently. +He apparently has an insatiable appetite for Indian children, though no +damage has been done as yet. It must have been a Unitarian spirit +since he is evidently a one idea wolf," he pursued with a provocative +grimace at the stolid Manson who was of that persuasion. + +The others roared, but Manson, without a smile, held his ground. + +"Why a bullet that has been blessed?" + +"They assure me it is the only kind that can kill an animal inhabited +by a spirit." The bishop's hand stole up to his jaw, in a favorite +gesture. "Our conversation suggested the matter of Mr. Clark." + +Filmer and the rest racked their brains in vain, then pleaded for light. + +"Well," went on the deep voice, "these Indians profess the Christian +faith, yet they get into their bark canoes and paddle twelve miles +against the wind and up stream with a petition that I do something that +is dead against that faith, I mean the blessing of a bullet to arm it +with supernatural power. Our friend, Mr. Clark, on the other hand, +does not, so far as I know, profess any faith at all, though I should +undoubtedly be asked to bury him should such a thing be unfortunately +necessary, yet he does many things that I consider admirable without +asking any blessing or unction or special recognition of any kind. I +cannot see him, for instance, as a man who would use his friends for +his own advantage or their money for his personal profit. In fact," he +hesitated a little and then continued with that utter candor which +characterized his entire life--"what I hope for our church is that it +may so present its message and carry out its mission that it will +ultimately attract just the type of notable men as the one of which we +speak. And now, since this begins to border on a theological +discussion, let us have some strawberries and cream. They are my own +berries, and the cream, Mr. Filmer, is the product of that excellent +yearling you were kind enough to send me last summer." + +They moved into the study and were presently joined by Mrs. Dibbott and +Mrs. Worden. + +"We have seen the yacht," said the latter enthusiastically, "and she is +lovely, but how do you pronounce her name?" + +The Bishop's eyes twinkled--"Just now it's Z-e-n-o-b-i-a, but that's +the name of a heathen queen and I don't believe the Synod would stand +for it. Can you ladies suggest something more suitable? You know what +her work will be." + +Mrs. Dibbott thought hard, and Mrs. Worden's gray eyes grew soft. +Admirable women were these, staunch and loyal, the helpmates of men +through lonely years that had passed in St. Marys. But too often the +men did not realize this till the shadows lengthened. + +"She'll be a messenger, won't she?" said Mrs. Worden. + +"Of hope and comfort, if I can make her so," he answered gently. "I +can regularly reach places now that it was very hard to get at before." + +There fell a little silence, while, to the rest came the picture of +this wise man and true, cruising in storm and sunshine through the +myriad islands of his diocese, with his good cheer and his +understanding heart and his great tenderness for all living beings. + +"May I make you a flag?" said Mrs. Dibbott presently. + +"Splendid, I haven't one. You might put on my crest. It's an Irish +one with a complete menagerie of animals." + +"And some of the rest of us will provide the linen," added Mrs. Worden, +who was a famous housekeeper. + +"My dear ladies, your sex is really the backbone of ours and not the +missing rib," said the bishop who, when he was genuinely touched, often +relapsed into his native humor. "But what shall we call the boat? I +can't go on missionary voyages with an Indian pilot and a Scotch +engineer in a slim, black, piratical looking vessel that flies the name +of a heathen queen. Even my gaiters wouldn't save me from being +misunderstood." + +"Would the name 'Evangeline' do?" asked a gentle voice as Mrs. Manson, +who had been listening intently, moved a little closer. She breathed +the word very softly and her large expressive eyes shot an uncertain +glance at the broad back of her husband who stood just out of hearing. + +"Evangeline!" The bishop had a sudden thrill in his tones. +"Evangeline she shall be, and may I prove worthy of my vessel." + +A little later the three ladies went together and rather silently down +the plank walk that led from the See House to the main road. Their +eyes were on the tapering spars of the yacht that floated so gracefully +a few hundred yards away. + +"I wonder," said Mrs. Dibbott pensively, "if we really appreciate him." + +"Meaning the Bishop?" demanded Mrs. Worden. + +"Yes. He's a much bigger man than we realize, and he certainly gave up +a great deal to come here." + +"The most eloquent preacher in Canada, isn't he, but after all, could a +smaller man do his work?" + +"Perhaps, in a sort of way, but, of course, not half as well. I think, +too, that we have to remember he left the places where he met those of +his own kind, and he must miss that." + +"But he loves his work." + +"Only some of it," put in Mrs. Manson. "I heard him say so. He told +me he hated begging, and we all know he has to raise the money to run +the diocese as well as spend it." + +Mrs. Dibbott shook her head. "A bishop shouldn't have to beg, it's +lowering. Don't you think so?" + +"It would be to some," said the little woman thoughtfully, "but it +couldn't lower our bishop. As for being isolated, of course he is, but +so are the rest of us, and I shouldn't be surprised if it's the out of +the way places that need the best men, and--goodness! here's Mr. Clark." + +Three pairs of very keen eyes fixed on a neat, rather thickset figure +that came rapidly toward them. It was but seldom now that Clark was +seen in town, and this invested him with more suggestiveness than ever. +He stepped off the sidewalk with a somewhat formal salute as they +passed. Knowing that he would not pause, Mrs. Dibbott turned and +looked after him with a long satisfying stare. + +"Not a bit interested in us," she remarked acidly. + +"Nor in any woman, I hear," added Mrs. Worden. "There's no room for +them in his life. I mean in an emotional way." + +"How perfectly fascinating. I'd love to know him." + +The brisk steps behind them halted at the gate where the bishop was +saying good-by to his last guest. + +"I'm late, I'll not stay," said Clark apologetically. + +"That's all the better for a chat. You're looking well." + +"I have to be well, Bishop, for my work, and you?" + +"Perhaps it's the same in a rather less dramatic field." + +For a while the two walked with the mutual liking which able men +experience for each other when neither is animated by the desire for +personal gain. In truth, the attraction was understandable. The +bishop responded easily to his guest's magnetic presence, and perceived +in him the focal power that energized each one of his successive +undertakings, while to Clark came the strength and benignity of the +bishop's high and blameless spirit. They were doing each other good, +and each silently acknowledged it. + +"You are accomplishing great things up at the rapids, Mr. Clark," said +the bishop presently. "I was very much impressed by what I saw last +week." + +Clark nodded contentedly. "We're really only at the beginning of it, +and the country about here has been only scratched so far. We're on +the doorstep, so to speak." + +"Then developments should increase?" + +"In ten years St. Marys will be the center of great and widespread +activities. The district can and will yield a greater variety of +natural products than has been imagined." + +"You feel this?" + +"I know it." + +The conviction in his voice was so impressive that the bishop paused. +"Well, Mr. Clark," he said after a moment, "like others I must thank +you for having made a remarkable improvement in our physical comfort. +Even my friend Fisette down there,"--he pointed to the halfbreed's +cabin that lay between the See House and the river--"even my friend +Fisette has electric light in his house." + +"Ah! Is that where Fisette lives?" + +"You know him?" + +"He works for me." + +"Then he's like most of my friends in St. Marys. The pulp mills are +doing well?" + +"Their capacity will shortly be doubled." + +The bishop nodded and scanned the keen face with renewed interest. "I +have heard it stated that the measure of a country's industrial +progress depends largely on the degree to which it produces steel and +iron. Now I'm no student of economics, but the assertion seems +reasonable. Your countrymen across Lake Superior have, I know, +enormous deposits, and of course there's not a question as to their +industrial progress, but so far as I have ascertained there are none in +this region. I assume that you have considered the matter and I would +be interested to know your opinion." + +"I have reason to believe," answered Clark, staring fixedly at +Fisette's vine-grown cabin, "that large deposits do exist within a +reasonable distance of St. Marys. You will understand, of course, that +this is not an official statement, and I would be obliged if you would +not repeat it. I offer it," he added with a glance of calm sincerity, +"to reinforce my undertakings in your eyes. Your economic contention +is perfectly sound." + +"I'm very glad to hear it, and you need no justification and need have +no qualms. In fact," here the bishop spoke slowly while his brown eyes +looked straight into the keen, gray orbs of his visitor, "you came up +here and did what you have done because you had to. Isn't that it?" + +"Yes," said Clark simply, "I had to." + +"Believe me, I quite understand. Now I wonder if you will understand +when I say how happy I would be to see you sometimes at church. It +would help me, and you too, and, I think, others as well." + +"I understand perfectly," Clark replied gravely and in the most +friendly tones possible, "but my entire mind and intelligence are +intensely preoccupied. You will appreciate too that my imagination +plays no small part in my work. Every intellectual process and every +moment are demanded of me." + +"What I refer to is neither mental nor imaginative, it is spiritual," +said the bishop gently. + +"I am afraid that I am principally conscious of the works, for the +present at any rate." + +The bishop sighed inaudibly, then the visitor felt a hand on his arm. +"The wisest of all men once said that 'by their works ye shall know +them.' What better can I say to you?" + +They parted a moment later, and Clark moved slowly down the plank walk. +He was apparently deep in thought. Opposite Fisette's cabin he halted +as though to go in, but turned homeward. That night he stood long at +the blockhouse window, listening to the boom of the rapids and staring +at the mass of buildings of his own creation. They were alive with +light and throbbing with energy. Below the power house the white water +raced away from the turbines and down the tail race, like a living +thing, to lose itself in the placid bosom of the river. Still further +on rose the uneven outlines of still greater structures as yet +unfinished, and the earth seemed, in the cool air, to be baring her +ancient bones to his drills and dynamite. Still staring, he remembered +the bishop's words and a strange thrill crept through him. These were +his works, and how should he be known? + +That night, too, there stood at another window another man who could +just see the gleam of the rapids in the moonlight. Their softened +voice came to him in stillness, and far across the water glinted the +trembling reflection of electric light at the works. Slowly into his +brain the dull vibration wove itself like the low murmur of invisible +multitudes. Whatever might be his own effort or labor, this still +reached him so often as he listened, as though it were a confused and +unending appeal for help that would not be silenced. It was always +there, compelling and well nigh immortal, and the persistent echo had +long since entered into his heart where it stirred pitifully day and +night. The bishop dropped on his knees and prayed that he might be +made worthy for his work. + +There were two others to whom the voice of the rapids came clearly that +night as they sat on the edge of the judge's lawn. Belding was very +much in love. Months ago he perceived that Elsie was designed to be +some man's comrade, and for months he had been constantly aware of an +oval face and dark brown eyes. He saw them whenever he peered through +an instrument. But the only sign Elsie had given him was the +spontaneous kinship of youth with youth. + +At the garden party there was little opportunity for talk and he had +eagerly accepted the judge's suggestion to spend the evening with them. +Now Elsie was beside him at the water's edge. + +"I was up at the works again, with father, the other day. Aren't they +wonderful?" she said, after a long pause. + +"Perhaps--I don't often think of them that way, though." + +"What a difference in two years!" + +"I suppose so." Belding was tired and he didn't want to talk shop. + +"I met Mr. Clark again, and he was charming." + +"Was he?" + +She laughed. "I gathered from you at the garden party that he was a +woman hater." + +"Did I say that?" + +"Not exactly, but that he didn't care for women, he was too busy." + +"He never mentioned one to me, except his mother." + +"I can understand that," said Elsie very thoughtfully. + +Belding felt a little restless. "You seem very interested." + +"I am. I never met any one like him. He seems to be two men, or +several all rolled into one. You admire him, don't you?" + +"Yes, tremendously, but he scares me a bit sometimes." + +"Why?" + +"I have wretched moments in which it seems that he is riding for a +fall. Things are going so fast, too fast sometimes--and besides, I'm +tired." + +She glanced at him swiftly, but in the glance he caught nothing of what +he sought. + +"If you're tired," she said slowly, "what about Mr. Clark? He's +carrying the whole thing, isn't he, as well as creating it? Is that +his piano in the blockhouse?" + +The young man nodded. + +"What does he play?" + +"Nothing that I remember; he improvises. It rests him, I suppose." + +"Has he many friends?" + +"I don't know that he wants many." + +"Then he sits there alone in the evenings and plays to himself,--I +wonder if it really is to himself? Don't you believe that somewhere +there must be some one he is playing to, and that it's for some one +he's doing all that's going on?" Elsie spoke a little breathlessly and +her eyes were luminous. "How old is he?" + +"Perhaps between thirty-five and forty, I never asked--one doesn't ask +him that sort of thing. He never struck me as being of any particular +age." + +"But you're going to follow him always, aren't you, and help to see him +through? He's following something too." + +"What's that?" said Belding a little stiffly. + +"His star." The girl's voice was very soft. "Perhaps he'll never +reach it, but that doesn't matter, if he follows it." + +"Mr. Clark would differ with you there." + +"Would he, I don't know. Perhaps I understand him better than you do." + +Belding got up in swift discomfort. "It looks as if you did." + +Her lips curved into a smile. "Don't go yet. Doesn't it seem as +though all this were meant to be from the beginning, and isn't Mr. +Clark in the grip of something bigger than himself?" + +"It's pretty big if he is." + +"I know, but isn't he a prophet in the wilderness, the wilderness of +Algoma, and he hasn't much honor except what a few of us give him?" + +Belding looked at her strangely. This was a new Elsie, who seemed +wistful--yet not for him. Her eyes were cloudy with thought and he had +a curious sensation that he was at this moment far from her +imagination. She turned to him. + +"Take me out in your canoe, now." + +He felt suddenly and inexpressibly happy. "Come along." + +She leaned back against the cushions while Belding dipped a practiced +blade in the unruffled stream. The night was clear and the sky studded +with innumerable stars. + +"Where to?" he said contentedly. + +She waved a slim hand towards the rapids. "As near as you can, then +round into the big bay." + +He put his back into his work and the canoe shot forward, reaching +presently those long foam-flecked swells that mark the foot of the +turmoil. In ten minutes they were in the heel of the rapids and as far +as Belding dared go with so precious a burden. Elsie felt the cold +spray on her face and her eyes shone with delight. After a little she +pointed northward and the canoe edged into the big bay that stretched +below, the works. + +The bulk of the pulp mill loomed darkly into the quiet air, and further +up they could hear the rattle of machine drills hammering into the +great sandstone ledges. Passing the pigmy lock of the old Hudson Bay +Company, they floated a hundred yards from shore and immediately +opposite the blockhouse. Here Elsie lifted her hand, and Belding, with +a queer feeling of resentment, backed water. + +The upper part of the house was softly lighted and the windows were +open. Its gabled roof seemed diminutive compared to the structures +which were taking shape close by and, as they looked, there drifted out +the sound of a piano. Clark himself was invisible, but his finger tips +were talking to the glistening keys. Elsie listened breathlessly. +This was the man within the man who now sat plunged in profound +meditation. + +Presently the music ceased and Clark's figure appeared at the window. +He was staring at the rapids, and it seemed that as he stared he set up +some mysterious communication that linked his own force and +determination with their irresistible sweep. + +On the way back Elsie was very silent and it came upon Belding with +dull insistency that whatever attraction he had hoped to have for the +girl had been merged in the fact that, for the present at any rate, he +was nothing more than a means of satisfying her sudden and, to him, +fantastical interest in the man under whose dominant bidding the color +of so many lives was being modified and blended. + + + + +VIII.--IRON + +A year later a prospector was slowly pushing his way through the +wilderness some seventy miles northward of St. Marys. It was +springtime and the air was mild, but, while the ridges were already +bare, great banks of snow still lay in the deep folds of the hills +where the sun but touched them at noon hour. The endless lacework of +naked branches now began to be feathered with tender green, and +everywhere the bush was alive with the voices of wild things whose +blood was stirred to mating by the soft caresses of the southerly wind. +Thrusting through a patch of tangled undergrowth, the man reached +higher ground and, advancing to a hillock, stood with his hat off and +his brown face steaming with sweat. + +He was of middle age, with short, sturdy frame, a broad face of pale, +copper color, swarthy black brows and a small, stringy mustache. His +feet were enclosed in shoepacks, soggy with water, and he was otherwise +clad in the nondescript fashion of old bushmen. Around his shoulders +were strung a compass, binoculars and map case, and at his belt dangled +a small ax and a prospector's hammer pick. He was torn, scratched, and +in a general way disheveled, but the clear glance of the black eyes and +the easy grace of his pose proclaimed him fit for action. + +He stood for some time while his keen glance searched the country +ahead--a frozen sea in which congealed billows of rock thrust up their +tumbled heads in a gigantic confusion. Here and there were more +definite ridges that took a general trend, but for the most part it was +a chaos of rock and timber, slope and swamp, the refuse from the +construction of a more attractive country which had been assembled +elsewhere. + +Presently Fisette took out his compass, balanced it in the palm of his +sinewy hand and glanced at the needle. As he glanced, this filament of +soft iron began to tremble and swing. He stood fascinated. Slowly at +first, but gradually with more active and jerky motions, the thing +became possessed. It vibrated as though in doubt, then moved off in +continued restlessness. Not by any means could Fisette end these +vagaries. After a little, a slow light grew in his eyes, his strong +face broadened into a smile and, snapping back the compass lid, he +strode down hill. + +A quarter of an hour later he was chipping the edges of a ridge of +blackish-gray rock from which he had stripped great rolls of damp, +green moss. The rock lay exposed and glistening, its polished surface +scarred with the scratches of hard stones that once lay embedded in the +feet of prehistoric glaciers, but Fisette, screwing his bushy brows +over a tiny magnifying glass and peering at the sparkling fragments in +his palm and balancing their weight, cared nothing for glaciers. He +only knew he had found that which he had been seeking for more than a +year. + +There is no measuring device for joy, and no foot-rule one can lay on +emotion, but it is questionable if to the heart of any man comes +greater lightness than to that of the one who by stress and endurance +in the wilderness, upturns the treasure he has so arduously sought. +These moments are few and rapt and precious, and they glowed in the +slow brain of the half-breed Fisette as nothing else had ever glowed. +It was true that he stood to do well and earn independence out of this +discovery, but he was conscious at the instant of a reward greater than +ease and comfort and money to spend. He had backed himself, +single-handed, against the wilderness, and he had won. Again he +unrolled from a strip of caribou skin the fragment of ore Clark had +given him--the fragment he was to match--and laid it amongst the fresh +chippings at his feet. Only by size and shape could he distinguish it. + +Now it may be assumed that Fisette forthwith threw his tattered hat +into the air and gave way to noisy manifestations of joy. He did +nothing of the kind, for in his hairy breast were combined the +practical side of his French father and the noiseless secrecy of an +Indian mother. There was much to be done, and he went about it with +voiceless determination. First of all he blazed a jack pine whose +knotted roots grasped nakedly at the ridge, and marked it boldly with +his name and the number of his prospecting license and the date, which +latter, he remembered contentedly, was the birthday of his youngest +child. + +This accomplished, he disappeared in the bush and two hours later +reappeared bending forward under a pack strap whose broad center +strained against his swarthy forehead. And in the pack were a small +shed tent and his camping outfit. Making a tiny, smokeless fire of dry +wood, he cooked and ate, stopping now and again to listen intently. +But all he heard was the chuckle of a hidden spring and the insolent +familiarity of a blue jay, which, perched in a branch immediately +above, eyed the prospector's frying pan with a bright inquiring gaze. + +By noon of the second day Fisette had blazed the enclosing boundaries +of three claims, along the middle of which for three quarters of a mile +he had traced the ridge of ore, and when corner posts were in, he +shouldered his pack and, stepping quietly to the river where his canoe +was hidden three miles away, began his homeward journey. He paddled +easily, squatting in the middle like his ancestors, and feeling a new +pleasure in the steady pressure of his noiseless blade. He did not +experience any particular sense of triumph, but when, six hours +afterward, he saw the glint of Lake Superior around a bend in the river +he laughed softly to himself. + + + + +IX.--CONCERNING THE APPREHENSION OF CLARK'S DIRECTORS + +Move now to Philadelphia, long since linked with St. Marys by a private +wire, at either end of which sat the confidential operators of the +Company. The seed sown by Clark a few years ago had flourished +amazingly. Instead of the austerity of Wimperley's office there was +now the quiet magnificence of the Consolidated Company's financial +headquarters, tenanted by a small battalion of clerks and officials. +These were the metropolitan evidence of the remote activities in St. +Marys. + +To thousands of Pennsylvanians this office was a focal point of extreme +interest. From it emanated announcements of work by which they were +vitally affected, for Clark had come to Philadelphia at the +psychological moment and cast his influence on those who were +accredited leaders in the community. He had said that millions waited +investment and he was right, for once Wimperley, Stoughton and Riggs +had satisfied themselves as to the project and announced their support, +money began to come in, at first in a slow trickle, but soon in a +steadily increasing flood. + +It was recognized that time was required to bring to fruition the +various undertakings so rapidly conceived, and Clark's shareholders had +in them a certain stolid deliberation, aided, perhaps, by a strain of +Dutch ancestry. This kept money moving in a steady stream and in the +desired direction. From Philadelphia the attraction spread to outside +points. It was noticeable that, with the exception of Pennsylvania, +other States did not evidence any appreciable interest. The thing was +a Philadelphia enterprise, and to this city from neighboring villages +came a growing demand for stock. + +Four years before this, St. Marys was practically unknown in +Philadelphia, but now at thousands of breakfast tables the morning +papers were hurriedly turned over in search of the closing quotation of +Clark's various companies. These began to increase in number, and +there commenced that gigantic pyramid in which the various stories were +interdependent and dovetailed with all the art of the financial expert. +Daily, it might be said, the interest grew, until it seemed that the +potent voice of the rapids had leaped the intervening leagues and its +dull vibrations were booming in the ears of thousands. + +Moving in the procession was one whose training did not permit of +wholesale surrender to the cause. Wimperley was a railway man and had, +in consequence, a keen eye for results. His normal condition of mind +was one in which he balanced operating costs against traffic returns +and analyzed the results. And Wimperley was getting anxious. The +profits from the pulp mill, for there were profits, had gone straight +into other undertakings, and the god of construction who reigned at St. +Marys demanded still further offerings. This was why Wimperley had +persuaded Birch, one of the keenest and most cold blooded financial men +in the city, to come on the board. Birch, he reckoned, would be the +necessary balance-wheel, and it was safe betting that he would not +yield to the mesmeric influence of the man in St. Marys. Now Stoughton +and Riggs and Birch had met him in the Consolidated office, and through +a pale, gray haze of cigar smoke Wimperley spoke that which was in his +mind. + +"The thing is going too fast," he concluded. "My God! How much money +has that man spent?" + +Birch fingered a straggling gray beard. He was a tall man, lean and +silent, with a tight mouth, sallow cheeks and cold eyes. It was said +he had never been caught napping, and his was one of those fortunes +which are acquired in secrecy. He was neither companionable nor +magnetic but he was obviously shrewd and astute and created a sense of +confidence which, though chilling, was none the less reassuring. +Birch, like the rest, had met Clark, but now he put the vision of those +remarkable eyes out of his head. + +"Seven millions and a half up to last Saturday." + +Stoughton made a thick little noise in his throat. He knew it was +something over seven millions, but the figures sounded differently as +Birch gave them. Then Wimperley's voice came in. + +"Had a letter yesterday, Clark wants to build a railway." + +"Why?" squeaked Riggs. + +"To bring down pulp wood from new areas which are not on the river. He +wants to open up the country generally--says it is full of natural +resources." + +"Is there any dividend in sight?" demanded Stoughton bluntly. + +Followed a little silence and the long thin fingers of Birch began an +intermittent tap on the polished table. Presently Wimperley glanced up +and smiled dryly. He had not known that Birch understood the Morse +code. "Birch has told you," he said. + +Stoughton and the rest looked puzzled. + +"We can't pay a dividend if we let Clark build this railway." + +"Then why build it?" + +"Clark claims it is necessary to secure a dependable supply of spruce +for the pulp mills, and hard wood for the veneer works. He reckons it +will cost two million, and says the Government will help--but perhaps +they won't." He broke off, rather red in the face. + +"Do any of you fellows remember Marsham?" put in Birch quietly. + +Stoughton looked up. "Only too well, what about him?" + +"Well, you know he's been gunning for me for years since that Alabama +scrap in which he got knocked out. Now he's gunning for all of us." + +"Why?" demanded Wimperley. + +"Because I have the present privilege of being associated with you. I +had it privately from perfectly reliable sources. Marsham's looking +for a hole in the Consolidated, and if he finds one he's going to get +busy and you know what that means. So far we're all right because +we've got the Dutch farmer behind us and his money is coming in, in a +good steady trickle. It's our job to keep it trickling till we get out +of the woods into which our prophet has led us." + +Wimperley nodded gravely. "That sounds good to me. But I've got +something else in my mind." + +"Well," snapped Birch, "spit it out." + +"I've got to go back a bit to a day you'll all remember, except you, +Birch." + +"The day of hypnosis?" suggested Stoughton. + +"I guess it was, if you like to put it that way. We were satisfied +with what Clark told us and what we afterwards saw for ourselves, and +we found him three millions, then another and another and so on. Now, +as it stands and as it goes, I don't see any end to this thing. It's +like throwing money into the rapids at St. Marys--a fresh sweep of +water comes and carries it away. You see it glint for a moment and +there's apparently no bottom to the river. The trouble with Clark is +that he is not equipped with brakes. He can't stop. He's always the +roof on one station and, at the same time, contracting for another one +still further on. We've got to do the braking, that's all." He turned +to Riggs, "How about it?" + +"Well," said the little man out of the corner of his mouth. "It's our +funeral just as much as Clark's. Why didn't we apply the brakes long +ago?" + +"You know as well as I do." + +"I'm damned if I do." + +"It's just because we're better business men in Philadelphia than we +are when we get to St. Marys," grunted Stoughton reflectively. "We're +outside the charmed circle down here, but when we get up there," he +waved his hand, while the end of his cigar glowed like a miniature +volcano, "we get locoed, the whole bunch of us." + +"And yet," said Birch reflectively, "there's nothing the matter." + +Wimperley leaned forward. "Go on." + +"It's simple enough, we're not using Clark properly." + +"Isn't seven millions proper?" boomed Stoughton. + +"You don't get me," Birch spoke in a thin dry voice totally devoid of +any emphasis. "The proper use of a man like that is the purpose for +which nature designed him. He's an originator--but not an executive. +Dividends don't interest him half as much as the foundations of a new +mill." + +Wimperley shook his head. "That may be all right, but from my point of +view he has become dangerous. He surmounts our resolutions, the ones +we make when our pulse is normal. I have never seen him fail to carry +his point. Take the matter of this railway. I don't mind betting that +if we go up there to-morrow to kill that road we'll be committed to it +in twenty-four hours." + +"I'll take that for a thousand." There was a spot of faint color in +Birch's hollow cheeks. + +Wimperley laughed. "I'm on. What about lunch and finish this +afterwards?" + +But Stoughton sat tight. "You'll go too far. Suppose that Clark gets +on his ear and tells us to run the thing in our own way, and that he'll +get out. As I see it, he holds the works together and represents the +works in the mind of every one who knows him." + +"Well, what if he does drop out? There's no living man who can't be +replaced." + +"Except one called Robert Fisher Clark. As a first consequence our +stocks drop on the Philadelphia exchange like a wet sponge. You can +imagine the rest---you all know enough about the market, and, by the +way, does any one happen to remember the various things we have +publicly said about that same individual?" + +This was food for thought. Wimperley, dismissing the idea of lunch, +sat down. The group became universally reflective, and for a little +while no one spoke. Stoughton threw away his cigar, rested his chin on +his hand and stared at the model of the pulp mill on Wimperley's desk. +Wimperley's eyes wandered to the big map and again he saw Clark's +finger sliding over its glazed surface. Riggs twisted his handkerchief +with a puzzled look in his bright eyes, and Birch leaned back, +stretching his long legs, while his tremulous lids began to flicker and +his lips moved inaudibly. To each man there seemed to come the rumble +of the mills, the wet grind of the huge stones against the snowy +billets of spruce, and behind it all the deep tones of the rapids. +Presently the voicelessness of Birch found speech. + +"As I said there's nothing to worry about--yet. Two of us might go up +next week. I'll be one, if you like--and put the brakes on--but not so +that he'll feel them. If we only get out of the coach and take the +driver's seat the thing will be all right. Trouble is we've sat too +long inside and wondered where we were. Wimperley is right. And don't +forget that Clark has something at stake too." + +It was all so even and sane that it acted like oil on troubled waters. +Stoughton jumped up, remarking that now he could eat, while Riggs, +remembering that six per cent. on seven millions of issued bonds was +four hundred and twenty thousand, stared at Birch and marveled how he +could have managed to put it away in the face of such expenditure. +Just as he was reaching for his hat, the door opened and a telegram was +brought in. Wimperley took it carelessly. He was too full of relief +to be interested in anything else and experienced a gratified glow in +that he had spoken what was in his mind and been upheld. Then, +glancing at the telegram, his face changed and he felt his temples +redden. The message was from Clark, who now asked that serious +consideration be given to the building of blast furnaces at St. Marys. +He stood for a moment while the others glanced at him curiously. + +"What about that?" he jerked out, and gave the yellow sheet to Birch. + +Birch read it aloud slowly, and, after an impressive pause read it +again and still more slowly, the pink spots on his cheeks becoming +brighter, his hard dry tones still more cold and mechanical. When he +looked up Stoughton had turned his back and, with shoulders up, was +staring out of the window. Riggs was red and flustered. After a +moment the little man found breath. + +"He's crazy, that's all." + +"Well, Wimperley?" Birch had not moved. + +"This is the last straw. It's a case of our getting rid of him before +he gets rid of us, or the shareholders do." + +Birch turned to the window. "Well, what about it?" + +Stoughton hunched his shoulders still higher. "Fire him," he said +stolidly, then puffed his cheeks and breathed on the widow pane. In +the fog he wrote "Fire him" with his forefinger, taking particular care +to make it legible with neatly formed letters. The next moment both +fog and words evaporated. It flashed into Stoughton's mind that they +had not lasted long. He swung round, "It's the only thing to do, but I +don't want the job. You can have it, Birch." + +The lean face changed not a whit. "I take my end of it. If I don't, +Marsham will." + +"Look here, this isn't a one man job." Wimperley's voice had barely +regained its steadiness. "This message settles, as I take it, our +views of Clark. God knows we don't question anything but his +suitability for his position at the present stage of affairs. He's got +to be told the inevitable and we've all got to go up. There's no other +way out of it. We'll give him one or two of the smaller companies to +run and the public needn't know anything about it. I remember the +point you made, Stoughton. It's a good one and we've got to look out +for it." + +But Stoughton did not move. "I'll be damned," he said softly, still +staring at the roof lines of Philadelphia. "Blast furnaces!" + +"You will, if you don't come up with us," replied Birch acidly. + +"I suppose I will. When do we go?" + +"Will a week from to-day suit?" + +They all made it suit. After a contemplative moment Riggs asked: + +"Will you let him know, Wimperley, and just what do you propose to say? +You'll remember there have been other times when we contemplated +putting the brakes on, but we all got galvanized and the thing didn't +work." + +"I'd merely say that we four are coming up--that's all." + +Stoughton grinned a formidable grin in which there was a show of teeth +and an outthrust jaw. + +"That's enough, he'll know." + +They went off together, but rather silently, to lunch. On the way to +the street Stoughton asserted several times aloud, and with complete +conviction, that he would be damned, while the rest began to experience +a carefully concealed regret for the victim of their mission. At the +club they sat aimlessly and played with their food, conscious that they +were observed and known by all as the insiders in one of Philadelphia's +largest investments. Then, too, they learned that that morning the +stock of the Consolidated companies had leaped forward in one of those +unexpected boosts for which it was noted. Wimperley and the rest of +them had never gambled in it, but time and time again it moved as +though animated by the spread of secret and definite information. Just +as they were about to rise Birch leaned forward and began to arrange +pepper pots and salt cellars in a semi-symmetrical design. + +"This," he said, "is all right and that, and that. These are out of +the question. You get me?" + +The others nodded. + +"No blast furnaces," he went on almost inaudibly. "No railway--no +further capital expenditure--and then we reach the melon of dividend," +here he touched his untasted cantaloupe. + +Now, just at this moment, Wimperley nodded energetically and laughed +outright, whereupon a man whose name was Marsham, who sat at an +adjoining table, turned--for Wimperley did not often laugh--and saw +Birch's long finger resting on the melon, and, since Marsham was, +without the knowledge of the others, one of the largest operators, in +Consolidated stock, that stock took a further jump just half an hour +later, and all through Pennsylvania there were farmers, mechanics, +country doctors and storekeepers who read the news and rejoiced +exceedingly thereat. + +The others went their way, and Wimperley walked back to his office +immersed in profound contemplation. Feelings of personal injury were +mixed with those of apprehension. How would the affair proceed after +Clark had taken with him his unrivaled and intimate knowledge of the +works; for, and in spite of all the dictates of prudence, it seemed +impossible to think of the vast enterprise at St. Marys without its +central pivot. + + + + +X.--CUPIDITY VS. LOYALTY + +And all this time the chief constable of St. Marys was speculating in +property with steadily increasing success. So crafty was he that few +people in the town knew it. When the fourth year of Clark's regime was +completed, Manson had made profits that astonished him. His purchases +covered both farm and town lands, and amongst the latter was a mortgage +on the vine clad cottage of Fisette. But not a man in his circle would +have guessed that what prompted the acquisition of the Fisette mortgage +was Manson's remembrance of a friendly joke about a Unitarian wolf; a +joke which still lived and set up a minute but unceasing irritation. +Now, at any time, Manson might be in a position to teach the bishop a +lesson. + +It fell on a day that he was at the head of the old portage leading +round the rapids. Here he had recently acquired an option on a +considerable acreage, calculating that before long a new town would +spring up in the shadow of the works, and, just as he pushed through +the underbrush and came out on the gravel beach, he caught the flash of +a paddle a mile away. He was hot and breathless and, lighting his big +pipe, sat in the shade, his ruminative eye on the fast approaching +canoe. Twenty minutes later it touched the shore, and Fisette, leaning +forward on the thwarts, surveyed him with black and lustrous eyes. + +Manson nodded. He did not speak at once. It was palpable that Fisette +had been prospecting, and always in the north country the returning +prospector brings with him a peculiar fascination. He is the herald of +the hitherto unknown. It was also understood that Fisette was working +for Clark. + +The half breed brought the side of his canoe delicately against the +sand and, stepping lightly out, began to unload, greeting Manson with a +low-voiced "Good morning." Ax, paddles, dunnage bag, shed tent, these +he laid neatly and, last of all, a small sack of samples, the weight of +which, however he disguised it, swelled the veins in his temples. He +was stooping to swing this on his shoulders when Manson spoke. + +"Sit down a minute and have a smoke." + +Fisette did not want to sit down. There was that in the sack and in +his brain which he greatly desired to evacuate in the proper place and +at the earliest possible moment. But a little reflection demonstrated +that undue haste would be suspicious. Inwardly disturbed at the sight +and manner of Manson, he laid the sack gently down. There came the +slightest creak of metallic fragments. + +"Had a good trip?" hazarded the big man carelessly. + +"Pretty fair." + +"Pretty rough country up there?" Manson waved his arm northwest. + +Fisette grunted. "About the same over there." + +He glanced into the northeast. + +"Been rooting about for over a year now, haven't you?" + +The halfbreed grinned. "Since I was so high." He indicated a stature +of two feet. + +"Come far this time?" + +There was a little pause while Fisette sheared thin shavings of tobacco +from a dog-eared plug. He rolled them into a ball between his tawny +palms, thoughtfully unpicked the ball, re-rolled it more loosely, +abstracted a match from the inside band of his tattered hat and began +to suck wetly at a gurgling pipe. "What's that?" he said presently. + +"I asked you did you come far?" + +"Guess not so far as it seemed. Pretty bad bush." + +Manson hesitated, then, in a flash, saw through the breed's assumption +of indifference. Clark had been looking for iron for more than a year. +All St. Marys knew that. Now, glancing covertly at the angular +projectings of the bulging sack, the constable jumped to his +conclusion. Fisette had found it and was on his way to report and +prove the discovery. + +"I often wonder," he remarked casually, "what keeps you fellows going. +I never met a prospector yet who gave in that he was licked, and mighty +few of them found anything. They always claim they would have had it +if they could have stayed out a bit longer. Take iron, for instance. +Fellows have gone out after iron for years right from here and they all +thought they had it, but they didn't. There was Joe Lalonde and Pete +Nanoosh and the rest of them. Same story over again. There's no iron +here anyway. The country rock is wrong--a mining engineer told me +that." + +Fisette did not move nor did his expression change. His insides seemed +on fire. He would have given much to be on his way to Clark's office, +but something in his Indian blood whispered warningly. Moments passed. +Presently he got up a little stiffly. + +"I guess I'll go now." + +Manson yawned. "All right, I'm going that way myself." + +Sudden irresolution appeared on the brown face. "Oh, well, I guess +there's no hurry." He sat down and took out his last match. + +The big man chuckled. "Look here, Fisette, I suppose you know I've +been buying property around town?" + +"So?" + +"Yes, and the other day I bought a thousand-dollar mortgage. It's the +one on your land. I guess you remember it?" + +A sense of uncertainty fell over the half-breed. He knew that he owed +a thousand dollars and had owed it for years. Every six months he paid +thirty dollars to a lawyer and forgot all about it for the next six. +To his mind the document with the seals, beside one of which he had +traced a painful signature, was a forbidding thing, typical of the +authority of pale faces over brown. Then, quite suddenly, he +remembered that next year he would have to pay off the whole thousand, +and, moreover, pay it to Manson. + +"Is that so? I guess you're quite a rich man?" + +Manson smiled grimly. "No, not a rich man, but--" he paused, felt very +deliberately in his coat and, taking out a fat pocketbook, slowly +extracted a bill. It was for one hundred dollars. "I'll bet you this +that there is no iron within seventy-five miles of St. Marys." He +smoothed the bill on his broad knee. + +The half breed gulped. Only once before had he seen so much money in +one note, and that was after he had signed the mortgage. Clark gave +him fifty dollars a month and his grub, and had promised more if he +succeeded. He had found iron ore. It was good enough to win the bet, +but was it good enough for Clark? and if it was not good enough for +Clark the mortgage would have to be met out of nothing. + +"Well?" came Manson's deep voice. + +Fine beads of sweat appeared on the dusky forehead. A sinewy hand +crept toward the sack, but just as he touched it there arose within him +something very old and vibrant and compelling. Slowly he yielded to +it. He saw Clark's gray eyes and heard his magnetic voice. He +distinguished his own voice given in promise, Clark had always +encouraged him, no matter how often he returned empty handed, and now, +looking broodingly at Manson, the half breed perceived the type that +for centuries had defrauded his ancestors with poor bargains and +glittering worthlessness. All that was good in Fisette, all the savage +honor of that vanishing race whose blood flowed in his veins, all the +unquestioning fidelity of his half naked forebears, rose in violent +protest. He might be sold out, but not by any means would he sell out. + +"Go to hell," he Said thickly. + +Manson laughed awkwardly, slid the bill back into the fat pocketbook, +and heaved up his great bulk. + +"Come on, I haven't got a hundred dollars to throw away. I suppose you +thought I was in earnest." + +Fisette shook his head. Just at that moment he was harboring no +suppositions, but had determined to go home without stopping at the +works. He swung the sack over his shoulder. + +"Go ahead." + +Manson drew a long breath and stepped into the narrow trail. Behind +him came the half breed, the neck of the sack drawn tight and its sharp +contents drilling into his back. He was carrying two hundred pounds of +freshly broken ore. He said nothing, but kept his black eyes fixed on +the figure just in front of him. A little further on he stumbled over +a root, recovered himself with a violent effort, and at that moment +heard with dismay a ripping sound close behind his ear. In the next +instant the load spilled on the soft earth. + +Manson, twenty feet away, turned at the sound and stood staring until, +his face lighting with a triumphant smile, he stepped back. He had +recognized ore, and it looked like iron ore. Forgetting about Fisette, +he moved nearer, his large dark eyes shining with excitement, and just +then came a blinding slap. Fisette had swung the empty sack hard +against his face. + +"You don't come here. Stand still." The half-breed was crouching +beside the ore like a bear on its hind legs. + +"Won't I?" The constable smarted with pain and charged with sudden +passion. He came on, leaning a little forward, his great knotted hands +twitching, his shoulders curved in a slow segment of power. When he +was within six feet, Fisette screamed like a cat and darted at his +throat. + +They fought silently with bare hands. Manson, heavier than the breed +by fifty pounds, was reputed one of the strongest men in the district, +but he was matched with an adversary who had drawn into himself the +endurance of the wilderness and the quick resiliency of the young +spruce tree. Were it only a contest of sheer force, Manson had won +outright. Now, as his veins swelled and his arms stiffened around +Fisette's pliant body, the latter seemed to convert itself into a mass +of steel springs that somehow evaded compression. With feet sinking in +the soft soil, crashing through the under-growth with no words but only +the heart breaking gasp of supreme effort, they fought on. Once Manson +thought he had conquered as his hands, closing behind the breed's back, +locked in a deadly grip, with great muscles contracted, but just as it +seemed the breed's ribs must crack there came an eel-like wriggle. The +constable's arms were empty and again he felt the lean brown fingers at +his bull-like neck. Once more he strove for that crushing clasp and, +as Fisette darted in, opened his arms wide, took the punishment of a +savage blow in the face, and closing his embrace, enwrapped his enemy +in a suffocating hug. It was to the death, for a brown thumb was +digging into his thorax and he felt sick and giddy. + +Seconds passed. The violent expansion of Fisette's chest worked +palpitating beneath the great arms, and, just ere endurance reached its +limit and the trees began to swim before Manson's eyes, his little +finger touched the haft of the sheath knife that hung at Fisette's +back. The touch ran through Fisette's laboring frame like fire, for he +had reached the point where the world seemed dipped in blood. Slowly +Manson pushed down his hand, never relaxing his titanic embrace. But +the instant his fingers closed on the knife the half breed's back +curved like a mighty bow, the thick fingers creaked, cracked and +yielded, the deadly grip was burst asunder, and Manson, sick and +staggering, saw Fisette free and crouching in front of him, the knife +in his hand and murder in his eyes. A moment later he looked up. +Fisette was sitting on his chest, and running his thumb along the razor +edge of the blade. There was a little blood at the corner of his mouth +and his cheek was scratched. Otherwise he was undisturbed. + +"Well?" he grunted presently, staring through half-closed lids. + +Manson was pumping air into a laboring breast. + +"I'm licked," he panted after a while. + +"Say that again." The breed's eyes opened wider. + +Manson said it while his soul revolted within him, but he would get +Fisette later on. Then there gleamed in the breed's dark eyes a +flicker of Indian fury, and Manson breathed an inarticulate prayer as +the knife approached his throat, until as though from a great distance +he heard a voice. + +"You not going to tell any one I find iron. You swear that or I kill +you here." + +The constable's brain began to rock giddily. Fisette in his present +condition would not hesitate to kill. He knew that. "I swear it," he +panted unsteadily, "on my honor." + +Fisette bared his white teeth. "Your honor no good. You swear by God +and the Mother of God." + +Manson repeated it, his breath coming more steadily. He had been near +death, but as he stared at his conqueror he felt a contemptuous pity +for him. Fisette had moved away and was fumbling in his pockets. +Presently he looked up. "You got a match?" + +Manson searched, while his relaxing muscles trembled like quicksilver. +He found a match and held it out. + +"Now go to hell!" said the half-breed calmly, and recommenced the +ritual of smoke. + + + + +XI.--CLARK EXPERIENCES A NEW SENSATION, ALSO HIS DIRECTORS + +The Japanese cook pottered softly about in the square stone basement of +the blockhouse, while, up above, his master sat at a table with his +eyes fixed on a small mountain of blackish-gray rock. He had given +orders to admit none. Fingering the pointed fragments he experienced +more emotion than ever before in his kaleidoscopic life. He sat in +profound contemplation of that which prehistoric and elemental fires +had laid down for his use. There was in his mind no question of +strangeness that it should be himself who had decided that the thing +was there and must be unearthed. It was the turning of another page in +the book of his own history, the beginning of that chapter which would +be the most fascinating of all. + +Methodically he searched his retentive brain for data about iron ore. +It existed in Pennsylvania and Alabama and New York, and, nearer still, +there was the great field of Northern Michigan. But in Canada there +were only the distant mines of Nova Scotia. He unrolled a great +geological map and pored over it, finding here, as always, the greatest +fascination. Within two miles of St. Marys there was an inexhaustible +supply of limestone. He stared at the map with a queer but quite +inflexible consciousness that this moment was the one he had awaited +for years and his faith had not betrayed him. He got up with sudden +restlessness and stood at the window. The rapids sounded clearly, but +his mind was not on them. Looking to the west he saw the sky stabbed +with the red streaks of flame from converters that were yet to be, and +ranks of black steel stacks and the rounded shoulders of great furnaces +silhouetted against the horizon. He heard the rumble of a mill that +rolled out steel rails and, over it all, perceived a canopy of smoke +that drifted far out on the clear, cold waters of the lake. He +remembered with a smile that his directors would shortly arrive, and +worked out for their visit a program totally unlike that they had +mapped out for themselves. Last of all he went to the piano and played +to himself. At any rate, he reflected, he would be known as the man +who created the iron and steel industry in the district of Algoma. And +that was satisfying to Clark. + +Still feeling strangely restless, he moved again to the window, and +just then Elsie and Belding walked slowly past the blockhouse toward +the tiny Hudson Bay lock. Involuntarily he tapped on the pane. They +both looked up and he beckoned. When they mounted to the living room, +he met them with a smile. + +Elsie glanced about with intense interest. She had been there once +before, but with a group of visitors. This occasion seemed more +intimate. She surveyed Clark a little breathlessly and with an +overwhelming sensation that here was the nerve center of this whole +gigantic enterprise. Belding felt a shade awkward as he caught the +glance of the gray eyes. + +"Sit down and have some coffee." Clark clapped his hands softly and +the Japanese cook emerged from below. Presently their host began to +talk with a certain comfortable ease that gave the girl a new glimpse +of what the man might really be. + +"The directors are coming up this week--that means more work for you, +Belding." + +The engineer nodded. Then the other man went on with the fluent +confidence of one who knows the world. Persia, India, Russia,--he had +been everywhere. + +"But what brought you here, Mr. Clark?" put in the girl presently. Her +eyes were very bright. + +He turned to her: "What would you say?" + +"Was it destiny?" she answered slowly. + +"Yes," he replied with sudden gravity and a strange look at her bright +eyes, "I think it was destiny." + +Her heart beat more rapidly, and from Clark her glance moved to Belding +who sat a little awkwardly. There was not more than fifteen years +between them but Clark's face had that peculiarly ageless appearance +which characterizes some men and lends them additional interest. + +"And now you'll stay?" added Elsie. + +"Don't you think there's enough to keep me?" + +Belding roused himself with a chuckle but Clark went on thoughtfully. + +"Do you see much change in St. Marys in the last few years?" + +"Before you came," she said slowly, "it was just--just Arcadia." + +"Are you sorry to say good-by to Arcadia?" + +She shook her head, smiling. "Not a bit; I am glad it's over, but I +remember father often talking about the old days long before any of us +were here. First there were just the Indians, and then the Jesuit +priests. They used to paddle up the Ottawa River to Lake Nipissing and +then down the French River to the Georgian Bay, and so up Lake Huron +round the rapids and on into Lake Superior. After them came the +traders and then the Hudson Bay Company, but," she concluded a little +apologetically, "you know all about that." + +"Yes, I know, and now what do the people of St. Marys think about the +works? Eh, Belding, what do you say?" + +"They don't think very much, sir--they've got into the way of taking +them for granted." + +Clark laughed. "I think I know that too. But you don't take me for +granted?" Here he glanced provocatively at Elsie. + +The girl recovered herself with difficulty. She was only twenty-one, +but beside this wizard it struck her that Belding looked immature. +Clark had seized on her imagination. He was the dreamer and the +prophet and as well a great builder under whose hands marvelous things +took shape. Now she was filled with a sudden and delightful confusion, +and Belding, watching her, remembered the night they had floated +opposite the blockhouse while Clark's music drifted across the +unruffled water. He felt good for his own job, but very helpless +against the mesmeric fascination that the older man might exert if he +would. And behind all this moved his intense loyalty and great +admiration for his chief. + +"Then St. Marys has produced all you hoped for, Mr. Clark?" said Elsie. + +"I not only hoped but believed and worked." The answer was vibrant and +steady. "Hope doesn't do very much nowadays without belief and work." +He glanced at the piano. "Won't you play something?" + +She blushed and shook her head. "No, please do yourself." + +"I don't play in public and I never had a lesson in my life." + +"But this isn't public," she countered; "I think it's--well--rather +private." + +He laughed, went to the piano and his fingers began to explore the +keys. The others sat motionless. Elsie's eyes were fixed, not on +Clark but on Belding, and in them was an unanswered question. The +music was not anything she knew but the chords were compelling and she +perceived in them that which this strange personality could not or did +not put into words--his hopes, his courage, his inflexible will and the +deep note of his power. Suddenly she recognized in him a lonely man. +Her heart went out and her eyes filled with tears. Presently he looked +over his shoulder. + +"The gods are good to me to-day." + +"Yes?" Her voice was very uncertain. + +"I've found something for which I've been looking for years past." + +Belding's brows furrowed. There was that in Clark's manner which +baffled him. Elsie seemed more than ever dainty and desirable in this +unusual setting. Had Clark seen this too? + +"I'm so glad." The girl's eyes were very soft. + +The two went home rather silently. Elsie seemed to be in a dream, and +Belding had no words for that which now worked poisonously in his +brain, but just so often as he yielded to the sharp pang of jealousy +just so often did his faith in his chief rise in protest. + +The engineer had seen Clark in many moods and under many circumstances. +There were times when only the driving force of the man had pulled +things through, and he was transformed into an agency that worked its +invincible will. There was another thing. So far as Belding knew, +Clark had no links, sentimental or otherwise, with the rest of the +world. No whisper had come from outside regarding his past, and it was +only when he himself talked that any light was thrown upon his former +years. He seemed, in consequence, to be enviably free and ready for +anything. Unfettered by tradition or association, he was a pendulum, +balanced to swing potently in either direction. And what darkened +Belding's horizon was the thought that Clark, at any moment, might +swing toward Elsie Worden. + +Two miles away, Fisette was at home with his children. He was tired +but in no way worn out, and in his pocket was one single piece of ore +kept as a souvenir. Clark's check lay safely deposited in the bank and +the halfbreed's teeth gleamed when he thought of the mortgage. It was +only a thousand dollars. Therese, four years and three days old, was +on his knee. They were all very happy, though only Fisette knew +exactly why. With eyes half closed, he contentedly examined the cracks +in the big iron box stove and, since the night was cool, stuffed in +more wood. It was in the back of his head that he had done what so +many men had failed to do, and soon, when Monsieur Clark gave the word, +he would be known as the man who had found iron in Algoma. + +At the big jail, halfway between Fisette and Clark, Manson sat at his +desk in his little square office. He was very sore and very stiff, and +however savage he might feel about his defeat he could not but admire +the fierce loyalty of the halfbreed. It was what he would have liked +one of his own men to do. Now, however he might ache, he had a glow in +every strained joint. There was iron in Algoma and not far from St. +Marys. + +Deliberately he shut away all outside thoughts and put himself to this, +perceiving what iron would mean to Clark, this new factor that might +upset every pessimistic opinion which he himself had voiced. He sat +biting at his big black mustache, till suddenly his imagination leaped +clear of St. Marys and took flight to Philadelphia. What would the +discovery of iron mean there? Instantly he saw a swift rise in +Consolidated stock and neither Manson nor any man in St. Marys owned a +share of that stock. + +In two days he was on the train for Toronto, and, in three, was the +owner, on margin, of two hundred thousand dollars' worth of +Consolidated shares. The broker through whom he dealt looked curiously +at this new customer, the only man from St. Marys who had evidenced any +financial interest in Clark's enterprise, and, concluding that there +was more in the transaction than met the eye, bought forthwith for +himself. Then the two shook hands very cheerfully, the broker +promising to watch Consolidated like a hawk, while Manson bulged with +satisfaction. He would be known as the only man in St. Marys who had +made a fortune out of Clark's undertakings and that was satisfying to +Manson. + +On the journey back he sat for hours staring out of the windows. He +had shaken free from the drowsiness of a former existence. His eyes +were open to the ease with which fortunes are made by those who do not +hesitate but seize the opportunity. He thought rather compassionately +of Worden, Dibbott and the rest, good natured but thick headed. What a +surprise it would be for them. But not once did Manson imagine that he +was trading peace for anxiety, and the even tenor of his former ways +for the hectic restlessness of the speculator. + +As he boarded the train he noticed that Clark's private car was at the +end, and inside saw Riggs, Wimperley and the rest. They were talking +very earnestly, oblivious to anything that went on outside. Manson, +watching them from under the brim of his hat, felt a surge of +satisfaction. He guessed the momentous news which brought them, and, +late that night, as the train plunged through the wilderness, lay awake +in his berth thinking of many things, while the occupants of the +private car talked till they were weary and leaden-eyed of that which +they must do at St. Marys. They were caught up, all of them, in +something greater than they. Forces had been set in motion by the +amazing brain of Clark which they might modulate, but could not, in any +way, entirely control. The moving finger was writing, and they could, +like him, only follow its mysterious command. + +The private car swung along over the clicking rail joints and the +directors glanced without interest at the country they traversed. The +latter part of their journey was through a wilderness, wild and +unpromising. At Sudbury they saw evidence of what science and energy +could do in what was not long ago unbroken forest, and what wealth lay +beneath the tangled roots of spruce and tamarac, but the scene did not +impress them. It was a single undertaking with a single object and +vitally different from their own ramified efforts, and the desolation +of the country in which it flourished only accentuated their own +misgivings. They were tired before the train drew in to St. Marys and +decided to discuss nothing that evening. At the works station Clark +met them. He was cheerful and debonair. + +"Hullo, Wimperley, glad to see you. Had a good trip? You and +Stoughton are coming to the blockhouse with me. The others are at the +hotel. Sorry I can't put you all up." + +Birch put down his bag and held out a clammy hand. "What about it?" +He shot a quick glance at Wimperley. + +The president of the Consolidated shook his head. "No, no, we're not +going to put you out, and besides I can't trust these fellows alone. +We'll all go to the hotel. See you first thing in the morning. Matter +of fact, Birch talked business all the time and we're dog tired." + +Clark's lips pressed a shade tighter, then his eyes twinkled. Riggs, +observing him closely, wondered whether he had interpreted the +expression which all four were stolidly endeavoring to mask. But so +cheerful was he and so apparently unconcerned with anything but their +comfort, that Riggs decided a difficult moment had been safely passed. +Later at the hotel he asked the others. + +"Knew," said Birch acidly, "of course he knew. The very fact that we +hung together told him the whole thing. However, it might just as well +begin that way." + +Wimperley laughed, a foolish little laugh that drew the older man's +puzzled glance. "There's something ridiculous about all this," he +tittered suddenly. "We're like a flock of sheep afraid of a dog. We +need a ram. You'd better be the ram, Stoughton, you're the bulkiest." + +Stoughton grinned, but there was no humor in it. "It's going to take a +composite ram. We've got to put down our heads and bunt together. +Riggs, you can snap at his heels and distract him. Good night." + +They met at the works after breakfast, and Clark, in a flood of +confidence, announced the program. + +"I want this to be a real visit," he said cheerfully; "it's some time +since you were all here together and there's a good deal to see. When +you get tired let me know. I've not forgotten the time I nearly froze +Riggs to death." + +As he turned to lead the way, Wimperley sent a swift signal to his +companions, Clark was to have his head for the time being. Birch +nodded approvingly. This was one method of finding out a good deal he +wanted to know. + +"Water lots," said Clark, waving a hand toward the bay that cut in +below the rapids. On one side of it spread the works and on the other +the town of St. Marys. "Channel dredged through, and docks, you see, +are commenced." + +"Why docks?" asked Stoughton patiently. + +"We'll be shipping our own products in our own vessels before very +long, I hope," came back the clear voice. "Save a lot that way,--I'll +show you the figures. That's one thing I want to talk about later. +Come on into the mill. Extensions are about completed." + +They went through the great building whose floor seemed to palpitate +delicately with hidden forces, and began to feel the slow fascination. +They saw dripping logs snatched from the water by mechanical fingers +that cut them to length and stripped the brown bark till the soft white +wood lay round, naked and shining. They saw the wood ground implacably +by giant stones and emerge from a milky bath in a thick wet sheet that +slid on a hot drum and coiled itself in massive rolls. Power, +controlled and manipulated, was the universal servant. The whole thing +was punctuated by keen remarks from Clark, who shot out answers to +every imaginable question with extraordinary facility. They walked up +the swiftly flowing head race while the general manager pointed out its +proposed expansion, and explained the pressing need for diverting more +water from the rapids. As they progressed it seemed there was always +more to discover. They inspected great rafts of logs, fresh from the +waters of Lake Superior, then came to timber mills and machine shops. +And with all Clark was supremely familiar. In the middle of it Riggs +volunteered that he was tired, so they trailed back to the private +office in the administration building, where Clark unrolled maps and +pointed out colored areas of pulp wood which were tributary to the +mills, and had been compiled from the reports of his explorers. + +Suddenly Birch put out a long forefinger. "What's that?" + +"That," said Clark cheerfully, "is a railway." + +Birch looked puzzled. "I didn't know a road ran north from here." + +"It doesn't--yet--but it's something we'll have to consider very soon +to bring in pulp wood." + +"Oh!" Wimperley's voice was a trifle indignant. + +"It's another matter to discuss when you feel like it," went on Clark +imperturbably. "The road won't cost us anything." + +"Won't it? Then it will be the first thing we have touched of its +kind." Wimperley tried to speak lightly. + +"The Federal Government bonus will pay for one-third, the provincial +bonus for another, which leaves us about seven hundred thousand to take +care of. There should be no difficulty in getting that out of the sale +of lands we will develop. However," he added evenly, "we needn't worry +about it just now. And, by the way, I had an inquiry yesterday for +forty thousand horse power. Of course we haven't got it to spare, at +least not at the moment. Now will you excuse me for just a moment?" + +He stepped into the general office and shut the door softly behind him. +Wimperley glanced inquiringly at Stoughton. + +"You haven't done much ramming this morning!" + +"No, I'm not just in the mood. How about you?" Stoughton turned to +Birch. + +The latter did not reply. His cold eyes were taking in the severe +fittings of the private office, whose walls were covered with maps and +blue prints. The truth was that the spell of Clark's extraordinary +intelligence was beginning to fall over them once more. It was so +obvious that he was the center of the whole affair, and from him there +seemed to spread out into the wilderness long filaments over which +there trickled an unending stream of information. + +"I didn't hear 'blast furnaces' mentioned either," piped Riggs. + +"Cut it out for the present. The time hasn't come, but it will." +Stoughton got up and began to walk up and down. "We've got to hear all +he has to say. That's the wise thing. Let him talk himself out. He +can't talk for ever." + +Riggs shook his head. "Can't he?" + +"No, nor any man, and be continuously to the point; and if you get a +bit shaky and converted just think of dividends on seven millions. +That's what we came here for. I don't care how much bluffing it costs +or how many days it takes. We're here now and the only thing to do is +to wait till Clark's well runs dry and then give our ultimatum. But up +to that time we must do whatever he wants us to do. It's going to hurt +him--that's unavoidable--it will hurt us a lot more if we don't carry +our job through." All of which was a long speech for Stoughton, so he +sat down and was looking defiantly truculent when Clark came in smiling. + +"You fellows have had enough for to-day so I've arranged a fishing trip +for this afternoon. It's a good river, only six miles out, and I own +it. It's an easy drive. You leave right after lunch and won't see me +again till to-morrow. Rods and things are ready, and there's a French +halfbreed at the camp to cook for you. What do you say?" + +The suggestion came like sudden balm in Gilead. Stoughton's face +cleared. "What's your biggest fish--trout, aren't they?" + +"Well," said Clark slowly, "I've never had time to fish myself, but +people who come to see me like a day off. Four pounds and a half is +the record so far." + +It was a magic touch. Riggs and Wimperley were, like Stoughton, keen +fishermen, and while Birch fished for only one prize, all felt alike +that here was a surcease after a trying morning. They could pull +themselves together. + +With this reflection moving in his brain, Stoughton felt a stab of +compunction. + +"I wish you could come, old man," he jerked out to Clark. + +"Thanks," said Clark with a curious light in his gray eyes, "but I +think I'd better not." + +Five hours later Wimperley sat under a spruce tree and gloated over his +catch. Close by were the rest, each arranging a row of speckled +beauties on the cool green moss. They had caught some forty trout, the +biggest being a trifle over the record, and this was Wimperley's fish. +He leaned back, feeling a long forgotten youth trickle into his veins. +In front of him the stream dodged round great boulders and vanished +into the woods, flecked with foam from the falls whose wash came +tremulously through the wilderness. The sky overhead was translucent +with the half light of sunset and he felt a delicious languor stealing +over him. For three hours Stoughton, Riggs and he had fished to their +hearts' content, while Birch climbed a ridge and speculated what such a +forbidding country might reasonably be expected to bring forth. Close +by the stream, Fisette bent beside a small fire from which came odors +of fried bacon and fish that aroused in the Philadelphians a fierce and +gnawing hunger. Presently they sat on a mattress of cedar and ate one +of those suppers the memory of which passes not with the years. It was +Riggs who spoke first, lying back on the boughs, his head on his arm, a +new glow in his pale cheeks. He looked younger and rounder than he did +six hours previously, and, stretching luxuriously, he experienced the +sympathetic impulses that detach themselves from a full stomach. + +"I suppose there's no way out of it?" + +"None whatever," grunted Stoughton, who was lining his basket with moss +and objected to being thus recalled. "What the devil has this to do +with dividends?" + +"Nothing, I admit, but why in thunder did we start this game anyway? +Why couldn't we just take things easy and go fishing. We've all got +enough." + +Wimperley stretched his arms above his head in delicious fatigue. +"Keep away from second causes; this is no place for them. Four years +ago you were meant to go fishing to-day in this very stream. Why worry +about it?" + +"I'm thinking about one R.F.C.," came back Riggs reflectively, "just +like the rest of you." + +"Well," sounded the dry voice of Birch, "so am I. And all this is very +apropos. It illustrates the general condition of affairs, especially +that mess of trout you had on the moss a while ago. We're all trout, +we and the shareholders. You, Wimperley, are that five pounder. We +all rose to the fly of one R.F.C., and we were all landed in the back +woods. There are more trout in that stream, and, if we stand for it, +the fishing is still good, but I've got the sting of the fly still in +my gills. Also I'm thinking about one Henry Marsham." + +Stoughton nodded sagely. "That's right, but if you liked fishing, +Birch, you wouldn't drag in shareholders in that churlish fashion. +What about blast furnaces, Riggs? We haven't heard a whisper yet. +Wonder what Clark is thinking of?" + +"Oh Lord!" murmured the little man, "if we only had iron!" + +Fisette, who was dipping his dishes in a pot of hot water, turned his +head ever so slightly. The others had either forgotten about him or +concluded that their conversation was beyond a half-breed. But not a +word had escaped the sharp ears of the man who moved so silently beside +the fire. 'Iron!' They had iron, but apparently did not know it. +Fisette felt in his pocket for the small angular fragment he always +carried, and was about to hand it to Wimperley, when again he +remembered Clark's command. He was to say nothing to any one. So the +half-breed, with wonder in his soul, laid more wood on the fire and, +squatting in the shadow of a rock, stared at the stream now shrouded in +the gloom, and waited for what might come. + +"But there's none in this damned country," blurted Stoughton, "so get +back to Birch's picture of the shareholders on the moss." + +"Trouble is I can't get away from it." Riggs' small voice was so +plaintive that the others laughed, then dropped into a reverie while +there came the murmur of the hidden stream and the small unceasing +voices of the dusk that blend into the note which men call silence. +Very softly and out of the south drifted a melodious sound. + +"Six o'clock at the works," drawled Birch, snapping his watch. "Does +that suggest anything?" + +An hour later two buckboards drew up in front of the hotel and the four +stepped down, a little stiff, but utterly content. As Riggs took his +basket from Fisette, he coughed a little awkwardly. + +"Look here, you fellows, I'm going to send my fish to R.F.C. with our +compliments. It's only decent." + +"Well," remarked Birch reflectively, "you might as well. It's the only +compliment we're paying this trip." + +A profound sleep strengthened their resolution, and when next morning +Clark announced that he had arranged a trip up the lake, they acceded +at once. In half an hour the company's big tug steamed out into Lake +Superior, and the four, wrapped in big coats, for the water was like +ice and the air chill, waited for the hour when Clark should run dry. + +"You're going back this evening?" he said as the vessel rounded the +long pine covered point that screened the rapids from the open lake. + +Birch nodded. + +"We'll get through by this afternoon. There isn't any more to show +you." Clark spoke with a certain quick incisiveness and his eyes +seemed unusually keen and bright. + +"We've seen all we want to see." + +The other man glanced at him sharply and said nothing. Then, as the +big tug plowed on, the great expanse of Superior opened before them, a +gigantic sheet of burnished glass edged with shadowy shores, and a long +island whose soft outline seemed to float indistinctly on the unruffled +water. As they steamed, Clark told them of the giant bark canoes that +once came down from the lake heavy with fur, to unload at the Hudson +Bay store at St. Marys, and disappear as silently as they came laden +with colored cotton and Crimea muskets and lead and powder. He told of +lonely voyageurs and the Jesuit priests who, traveling utterly alone, +penetrated these wilds with sacrificial courage, carrying the blessed +Sacrament to the scattered lodges of Sioux and Huron. Then, shifting +abruptly, he talked of his own coming to St. Marys and the chance talk +on a train that turned his attention to that Arcadia till, as the +moments passed, he himself began to take on romantic proportions and +appear in the imagination of his hearers as a sort of modern voyageur, +who had discovered a new commercial kingdom. + +"These logs," he said abruptly, "are from our limits." + +The others glanced over the tug's high bows and saw nearing them a +great brown raft towed by a small puffing vessel. + +"Pulp wood,--ten thousand cords there. It doesn't take long to chew it +up at the rate we're going. I want to speak to Baudette." + +He motioned to the bridge and the big tug drew in slowly beside its +smaller brother, while he talked to a brown-faced man who leaned over +the rail and answered in monosyllables, his sharp eyes taking in the +group behind the general manager. The tug sheered off and put on +speed, while Wimperley and the rest held their breath as they skirted +the straining boom that inclosed the raft. Presently the high, sharp +bow turned shoreward, steam was cut off and the tug made fast to the +sheer side of a little bluff that rose steeply out of deep water. + +Clark stepped out on a narrow gang plank that just reached the land. +"You fellows haven't seen this north country yet, and I'd like you to +get something of it on foot. This is part of our concession secured +from the provincial government and I want you to walk over just a +little of it. As directors you ought to." + +"Come on," said Wimperley under his breath. "It's the last chapter, +he's nearly dry." + +The trail was narrow and newly cut. Treading at first on smooth rock, +the Philadelphians took it briskly, jumping over stones and logs and +pausing now and then at vistas of the lake. They were a little short +of breath when the path dipped to low ground and struck straight across +a tangled ravine. Here the bush was thicker, and the air warm and +moist. Gradually the four coats came off. + +"Hold on a minute, Clark," panted Stoughton who was beginning to sweat. + +"It's better over here, come along." + +But if it was better they did not notice it. Wimperley stumbled over a +root and plunged one hand up to the wrist in slimy mud. Riggs was +breathing hard and his nostrils dilated, but he plugged doggedly on. +Birch, now very red in the face, stepped close behind Stoughton, his +cheeks stinging from the swish of branches released by the man just +ahead. Stoughton, his heart pumping, was in the lead, and desperately +trying to catch the steadily progressing figure of Clark. He felt +almost like murder. Ten minutes more and the Philadelphians had lost +all traces of refinement. Wimperley's trousers were torn at the knee +and his white, scratched skin showed through. Riggs had dropped coat +and waistcoat beside the trail, his collar was off, his small body +tired and twisted, and from his lips streamed language to which he had +long been a stranger. Birch had lagged far behind but plowed on with a +cold determination. He was breathing audibly through his nose, his +watch chain was dangling on a cedar branch a quarter of a mile back, a +sharp pain throbbed in a barked shin and his boots were full of water. +Still in the lead was Stoughton, who, regardless of all else, had put +down his head and was crashing heavily through the underbrush like a +young bull moose answering the call of his distant and amorous mate. +Clark was quite invisible. Presently the four halted. Humanity had +gone its limit. Birch dragged himself up and they stared at each other +with furious eyes. + +"Lend me a handkerchief," panted Riggs. + +Stoughton felt in his pocket, pulling one out with a cascade of pine +needles, when from three hundred feet ahead came a voice: + +"I'm where we stop, you fellows, come on up." + +"That's just where he is." Birch's difficult speech had something in +it that was almost deadly. "He's asked for it and he's going to get it +right here. Come on." + +They trailed slowly up, a small, bedraggled, indecent procession, lost +to everything except utter weariness and a spirit of cold revenge. In +Stoughton's heavy heart was the thought that Clark had unexpectedly +made their job vastly easier than they anticipated. The latter was on +a little knoll that rose roundly from the encircling bush. He seemed +cool and comfortable, and this stirred them to deeper anger. His +features were expressionless, save that his lips twitched ever so +slightly. The Philadelphians dropped and lay limply, and there was +silence for perhaps five minutes when Birch lifted a haggard face and +spoke. + +"Look here, Clark, I don't know the reason for this fool expedition, +none of us do, but it serves well enough to lead up to the point of +other fool expeditions on a larger scale." + +"Yes?" said Clark with a lift in his voice. + +"It does. Now I'd like to go back about four years when you said that +three millions would do you. In between now and then is a long story +and I haven't got breath to tell it, but to-day you've had seven and +we're deeper in the woods than ever we were." + +"Go ahead, I'm following you." + +"The long and the short of it is that we've had enough." + +"Of me?" The voice was very quiet. + +"Yes, damn it, of you; that is, in your present position of general +manager. You can have one or two of the subsidiary companies but not +the whole darn thing, and--" + +"The point is," cut in Wimperley, "that we're afraid of you. We've not +paid a dividend and, as things go, there's not any likelihood that we +ever will. It's not easy to talk like this, and don't think we +under-estimate what you've done. No other man I know of could have +done it, but there's a limit to the money available in the State of +Pennsylvania for this business--and we've reached it--that's all." + +"And if you want to know what's upset the apple-cart," chirped Riggs +with a little shiver--for they were all taking turns by now--"it's that +fool proposal to build a railway through this ungodly wilderness." The +little man glanced about him with visible abhorrence. + +"And a blast furnace without any ore," concluded Stoughton heavily. + +Clark's eyes wandered round the group while through his whole body ran +a divine thrill. He had very swiftly interpreted the purpose of this +official visit. The directors wanted to get rid of him but funked the +job, and now he experienced a certain contempt for their helplessness. +He had a vivid sense of the dramatic and this tramp had been carefully +thought out. The opportunity was made and it was for them to use it. +He drew a long breath, conscious that here was the moment which comes +but seldom in the lives of men. It was only five years ago that, +practically penniless, he had overheard a conversation in a train. + +"Ore?" he said coolly without changing a muscle. "Why, you're sitting +on five million tons of the best ore I ever saw." + +A blue jay lit on a branch over his head and looked impudently down. +No one spoke. Presently Wimperley scratched at the moss with his heel, +bared a strip of rock and stared at it as though he had hurt it. +Stoughton rolled over and shot side glances at Clark, whose eyes were +fixed on the jagged horizon. + +"What?" whispered Riggs. + +"The discovery was made some days ago by one of our own prospectors, +but I could not speak definitely until the various analyses were +completed. It is excellent ore and will smelt well. There is +limestone within two miles of the works. The coke, of course, will +have to be brought up.'" + +"I'll be damned!" murmured Stoughton in a voice husky with reverence. + +The others spoke not at all, but peered blinkingly at Clark as though +his recumbent body were hiding more wonders from them. Presently +Wimperley, who knew something of ore, bent stiffly forward, picked up a +fragment of rock and, after a long scrutiny, nodded slowly. + +"This exposure is about half a mile long," said the quiet voice. "It +crops out there and there," he pointed to neighboring ridges, "and +there's more beyond that, if you'd care to walk over." + +But no one cared. The Philadelphians were too lost in fatigue and +astonishment. After a little Riggs commandeered the rest and the four +began to roll back great blankets of moss, just as Fisette had done the +week before, and everywhere beneath lay iron ore. Clark watched them +with a suggestive smile till, after a little, Birch sat down panting, +his hands stained with soil. + +"Well?" he demanded, "how about it?" + +"It was something more than three years ago that the first prospector +went in," commenced Clark thoughtfully, "and I reported at the time +that it was definitely stated by those who ought to know that there was +no iron in the country. Geological maps showed the same thing, but it +struck me there was too much guess work about them, so we began to make +maps of our own. A month ago we got into iron formation and soon after +came the discovery. I felt all along that the stuff was there, but +could not say anything officially till the analyses were completed. We +can lay this ore down at the workers for two dollars a ton. And now," +he added in a voice that suddenly changed into sharp and rising tones, +"do I get my blast furnace?" + +The effect on the group was extraordinary. They had sat motionless, +oblivious to fatigue and mosquitoes, while Clark spoke. Their brains +were flooded with the knowledge that this meant ultimate permanence to +the works. It meant rails and plates and all iron and steel products, +and these were made doubly possible by the enormous reserve of power +still available in the rapids at St. Marys. They glanced into the +woods as though there were still mysterious treasures waiting to be +revealed at a wave of the hand of this magician. + +Presently Wimperley straightened up. He had been going through a +strange searching of soul while his gaze wandered from the glistening +rock at his feet to Clark's keen face. He began to perceive clearly +for the first time the prodigious potentiality of this man who was +equally masterful in Philadelphia and the back woods. He saw to what +wide scope this enterprise could expand if only this restless and +prophetic spirit might be wisely steered by men of colder brains and +more deliberate resolution. But Clark, after all, was the creator. + +"Yes," he said half aloud, "you get your blast furnace." + +The Philadelphians took to the homeward trail with backward glances and +something of regret lest the archaean foundations of that mountain of +ore might shift over night. There was no sense of fatigue now. Birch +skipped over logs in wayward abandon and laughed like a schoolboy when +Clark picked a heavy gold watch chain that dangled from an overhanging +bush. Riggs' thin legs were being scratched by the sharp samples with +which he had stuffed his trouser pockets, but he felt them not, and +Stoughton's choler had given way to a profound contemplation out of +which he periodically breathed the conviction that he would be damned. +Wimperley was already organizing a new company--an iron +corporation--and hazarding shrewd guesses as to the effect this +discovery would have on the outstanding stock. The result, he +concluded, would be most inspiring. + +They lunched on the tug, an admirable meal, while the vessel vibrated +gently and through the open portholes came the swish of bubbling water +and a flood of sunlight. Then Riggs made a little speech and they all +drank Clark's health, promising him continued support and such money as +he needed to make steel rails. The threatening specter of Marsham had +vanished utterly. + +The answer was characteristic. There was no mention of anything the +speaker had contributed, but just the voicing of his unalterable faith +in a country which so far had never failed to produce whatever the +industry required. It was a pleasure for him to work for directors and +shareholders who had so practically demonstrated their confidence. He +said this with a smile which was absolutely undecipherable, then drank +their health in water which was his only drink---declined one of +Wimperley's cigars, for he did not smoke--and inquired quietly if he +was to get his railway as well. Whereupon he was immediately assured +that he would get anything he asked for. + +That evening the Philadelphians left in the private car. They were +rather quiet, being caught up in contemplation of a new vision. As the +train pulled out Clark waved a hand to the group on the rear platform +and returned thoughtfully to the blockhouse where he began to write. +The letter was to his mother. He told her that he had been too busy +for correspondence of late, and had just concluded a very satisfactory +and official visit from his directors. In consequence, he would now be +busier than ever. He stared at his own signature for a moment, then +opened a window and stood peering out toward the river. The moon was +up, and he caught the snowy gleam of foam at the foot of the rapids. +Their voice seemed very clear and very triumphant that night. They +sang of providence--or was it destiny? + +His mind turned reflectively to Elsie Worden, experiencing as yet no +thrill but just a growing and satisfying attraction. All things seemed +possible tonight. He had never given much thought to women, being +impatient with what seemed to him their artifice and slight power of +insight. So often the women who were esteemed most praiseworthy, were +also the least intelligent, and lacked that spark which to him +signified vision. In past years he had had a rooted belief that the +standard wife was a burden who not only robbed one of mobility, but +also demanded her portion of all moments, however individual, absorbed +or tense they might be. In such circumstances there was nothing around +which he could build a mental fence and call it his own. + +It is possible that in such periods as these, when Clark gave himself +up to taking soundings, as it were, in the sea of his destiny, he +distinguished in his own nature that curious duality of sex which makes +it possible for certain rare individuals to self satisfy their +emotional appetites, and that it was this which had kept him single and +unfettered. If he had a craving he could forthwith produce that which +appeased it. He luxuriated in the revelations of his own perception. +To him the inarticulate thing became vocal with possibilities. He was +conscious of no unsatisfied need. And yet, for all of this, the vision +of the girl, Elsie, began to blend with his thoughts. + + + + +XII.--LOVE AND DOUBT + +Some three months later Belding was walking slowly down the main street +of St. Marys. He felt fagged and the sun was hot. Just as he reached +the Dibbotts' white gate he heard a clear voice from behind the clump +of azaleas that screened the cottage from the road. + +"Come in, Mr. Belding." + +He lifted the latch and saw Mrs. Dibbott in a white dress on the porch. +She seemed cool and restful. + +"Sit down here. My, but you look tired!" + +"I am," he admitted, mopping his face. + +"Then sit where you are and have some elderberry wine and cookies. +They're right from the oven." + +He sighed with relief and began to munch contentedly. He had not known +how tired he was, and Mrs. Dibbott's cookies were famous. + +"You look played out," she went on sympathetically. "How's Elsie +Worden?" + +"Well. But I don't see very much of her nowadays." + +"Why?" + +"Work." His brain was fermenting with half completed plans and +calculations. He might as well lay it to that. + +"Well, why don't you two get married? You will be old before your +time." + +Belding shook his head. "It takes two to make a bargain." + +"But it doesn't take long." Mrs. Dibbott put down her crochet work. +"Don't you think your friend Mr. Clark depends just a little too much +on individuals--I include himself in that?" + +"Perhaps, but it didn't occur to me. At any rate we have a one man +concern." + +"And if anything happened to him, what then?" Mrs. Dibbott's eyes were +bright with inquiry. "And suppose you break down, what about Elsie?" + +"Elsie wouldn't be affected," he said slowly. + +"Then you two are not engaged?" + +"I thought we would be by this time but I guessed wrong." + +Mrs. Dibbott was full of sympathy. "I suppose it serves me right for +poking my nose into other people's business. My, but I'm sorry! +What's the matter with Elsie?" + +"Nothing." + +"Then with you?" + +"Nothing." + +"May an old woman make a fool of herself?" + +"Please--but it won't be that." + +"Then has Elsie found some one else--if you don't mind my asking?" + +"Possibly,--I can't say." + +"But you're the only man in town who takes her anywhere. The judge is +fond of you, he told me so, and Mrs. Worden thinks you are the whole +world. What's the matter, Jimmy?" + +Belding got rather red. "I'm afraid I can't say." + +Mrs. Dibbott's eyebrows went up, then she leaned over and patted his +hand. "Whoever it is you'll knock him out. Sorry I did make a fool of +myself, but it's my fixed belief that you come first with Elsie, though +perhaps she doesn't know it." + +Belding laughed in spite of himself. "She certainly doesn't know it +yet." + +"Now tell me about the iron works." + +"It will be a couple of years before they are finished." Belding's +brain began to throb once more. In imagination he was putting up blast +furnaces. + +"It will mean a good deal for the town, won't it?" + +He nodded. "The biggest thing yet--St. Marys is all right now." + +"And it was that dirty old Fisette who found the mine?" + +Belding chuckled. "He's not old nor dirty, and was the best prospector +of the lot. Yes, he found it." + +"Goodness! were there many of them?" + +"About twenty. They all worked in different districts and knew nothing +about each other." + +"Then that's what brought that special train load up from Philadelphia?" + +"I suppose so. They seemed very happy when they left." + +Mrs. Dibbott poured out some more elderberry wine. "When I think what +that man has done just out of water, it makes me gasp. I switch on the +light and don't trim any more lamp wicks, and the well's gone dry and I +don't care, and Mr. Filmer told me last night there are eight thousand +more people in St. Mary's. Do you remember that meeting?" + +"Every word of it." + +"And Mr. Manson--he was a wet blanket, wasn't he?" + +"But he was snowed under, fortunately." + +"I know he was, but did you hear that he has made a fortune out of real +estate, and is going round with a face as long as his back?" + +Belding knew nothing about Manson--he had been too busy. + +"Every one says he's in the dumps because he sold out just before +Fisette found that mine and real estate has been jumping ever since." + +"But he never believed in Mr. Clark." + +"Some of him does and some of him doesn't," said Mrs. Dibbott sagely. + +"How much did he make?" Belding was wiser with other people's money +than with his own. + +"They say twenty-five thousand and," she added enigmatically, "I'm +sorry for his wife." + +The engineer laughed, said good-by and turned toward the Worden house. + +At the sound of his step in the garden Elsie looked up, a provocative +smile on her face. She was so dainty, so desirable, that he felt a +swift hunger throbbing even to his finger tips. She made room for him +on the bench. + +"I'm for Mother Earth." He stretched himself at her feet. "Where have +you been lately, we've missed you at the works." + +"I've just got back, been away for two weeks. Are you still very busy?" + +He nodded, but business was not what he wanted to talk about. It was +more than two years now since they first met and he had a feeling that +all that time he had been an open book to her bright eyes. + +"Don't let us talk business," he said a little unsteadily. + +She swung her large straw hat by its silk ribbons. "You shall choose +your own subject." + +"It isn't business, it's you," he went on bluntly. "I've tried to tell +you before but you wouldn't let me." + +"It's a heavenly evening for a proposal." + +"Do you mean that?" he gasped. + +"Why shouldn't I? The moon is just coming up and the river is quiet +and we can hear the rapids, and here you are at my feet. What more +could a girl ask?" + +Something twitched at Belding's fancy. "Then I love you and I want you +desperately and I'll take care of you all my life. Is there any one +else?" + +His voice sobered her. "Don't, you mustn't say it like that, it sounds +too real." + +"But it is real," he protested, "the most real thing I ever said." + +"You mustn't," she answered a little shakily. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't +have gone on like that." + +Belding captured her hand. "I'm glad you did, Elsie, it was just +right." + +"But I didn't mean it," she said pitifully, "and it wasn't fair of me. +I didn't know you felt like that." + +Belding stared at her astonished. "You must have known." + +"Then possibly I did,--I wasn't sure. I--I didn't think of it much, +but, Jimmy, I don't want to be married just now. You've been splendid +ever since we met--and really I didn't want you to say what you did." + +"Perhaps not in the way I said it." Belding's face became suddenly +rigid. "And perhaps now I know why. You see it's hard for me to +compete with my own chief," he added grimly. + +"That's not fair," she burst out, her cheeks flaming. "If you really +cared you wouldn't say it." + +"I only want to know where I stand," he replied with sudden dignity. +"If you'll tell me that, I will be satisfied--for to-night." + +Her mood changed in a flash. "That sounds better, but, Jimmy, must you +know to-night? It's hard for me to tell you." + +"Why?" he demanded. He wanted his answer, fraught with whatever fate. + +"Because I don't just know myself," she said softly. "I wonder if I +can explain. I am fond of you, Jimmy, more than you know, but I want +to be fair to you and I want to be fair to myself as well. Have you +never been in a state in which you were conscious that the world was +full of things you had dreamed of but never expected to find actually?" + +He stared at her with the swift intuition that there had been a season +not long ago when he felt just like this. But now he was getting used +to it. + +"Yes," his voice was quite steady, "I know what you mean." + +"It's that way with me now, and I'm just finding out about myself." +Her eyes were fixed on the white line of the rapids. "I don't know +what sort of a woman I'm going to be,--that sounds queer but it's true. +I'm going to want something more than love," she added under her breath. + +Belding did not stir and there drifted down to them the deep, hollow +monotone that pervades St. Marys when the wind comes in from the west. +The young man scanned the innumerable lights beside the rapids,--he +could place each one of them. Then slowly the moon came up with a soft +gleam that laid a silver path across the river and touched the girl +into an unearthly beauty. + +"I want you, Elsie," he pleaded. + +She looked at him with eyes like stars. "Perhaps I want you, Jimmy," +she breathed, "but I don't know yet. Supposing I said 'yes' and then +it was all wrong--for each of us?" + +"You said you asked for more than love; perhaps I have no more--in your +mind." + +Clark's name was hammering in his brain, but he kept it down. + +Followed a little silence. "Do you want to do something for me?" she +said presently. Her lips were tremulous. + +"I've always wanted that." + +"Then give me time to find myself--I'm trying hard now." + +Belding moved restlessly. "I'm afraid that some one else will find +you." + +She glanced at him startled. "If that happens, Jimmy, it means that I +haven't spoilt your life." + +"I want you to spoil it." + +"You haven't answered my question; will you give me time?" + +Belding got up, put his hands on her slim straight shoulders and stared +into the beautiful, troubled face. + +"Elsie, if any one else does come between us--" + +She was seized with strange and sudden fear. "No, no, you don't know +what you are saying." + +He relented instantly. "I'm sorry, I was talking nonsense. Now I've +got to go and see the bishop about the new church--won't you come?" + +The shadow passed from her eyes. "Yes, I'd love to see him, if you +won't get on that subject again." + +"What subject?" + +"You know," she laughed, once more light hearted. + +"I promise, but for to-day only." + +They walked slowly down the long straight street that led past Filmer's +house, which was surrounded by trees, and reached the corner where +Fisette's cottage marked the turn up to the bishop's residence. +Fisette was on his front doorstep with small people around him, and +waved gayly as they passed. + +"He's very happy now, isn't he?" said Elsie. + +Belding nodded. He found it hard to join in the happiness of another +man whose children's arms were about his neck. Elsie's eyes turned to +the figure of the bishop, who was on his wide veranda, a large straw +hat on the back of his head. Manuscript lay on the floor beside him +but at the moment he was absorbed in a large green leaf that spread +across his knees. It was piled with strawberries. As the gate clicked +he signaled hospitably. + +"Come along, children--just in time. Mr. Belding, can you pick fruit +by moonlight? Elsie, come here and talk to me. To tell the truth I +wasn't thinking just now of any of my flock, but I'd much sooner see a +lamb like you than some of the old ewes who will always insist on being +serious and respectful. What you observe on the floor is a book I +would have written if I'd not been a bishop." He rambled on till +Belding reappeared with a hat full of berries. + +"Here they are, sir, and I've got another offering as well." + +"You don't say so, what is it?" + +"Do you remember, a year or so ago, talking to me about a +pro-cathedral?" + +"Very distinctly. But I was afraid that the press of work had made the +thing impossible so far as you were concerned, so I let the matter +stand." + +"Well, it isn't impossible, and that church is going to be built." + +The bishop drew a long breath. "I am delighted to hear it, because I +haven't got any money yet. It has all gone in salaries of +missionaries, and your friend Mr. Clark has put me to a lot of extra +expense. I knew he would the minute I saw him." + +"But this church," said Belding with a little lift in his voice, "is +going to be built without money. Peterson, the masonry contractor at +the works, will give the stone, and his masons will donate the labor. +Borthwick, another contractor, will give the lumber and his carpenters +will put it together. Windows--plain glass of course--and the various +fittings are all taken care of by different people, and there was just +one thing I found a little difficult, and now that's all right." + +"And what was it?" The bishop was leaning forward, his large, +expressive eyes very bright. + +"Cement, sir. No one seemed to have any to spare. Finally I went to +Ryan--I don't know whether he has met you." + +"Yes, an excellent type--one of my own countrymen. I like Ryan, a +strong Romanist, isn't he?" + +"Yes, but finally I ran him down and told him I wanted enough cement to +build a Protestant church." + +"But---" + +"But, listen! Ryan thought it over for a minute, then his eyes began +to twinkle and he pointed to his storehouse and said that if it would +cement the Protestant church together I might take the pile." + +Elsie laughed, while the bishop relapsed into deep body-shaking mirth. + +"Splendid! Fine chap that Ryan. He's from Maynooth and I'm from +Lurgan and who says the Irish don't hang together? So it's all +settled?" + +"Yes, when can we start work?" + +"At once if it's possible. How long will it take?" + +"Three months would finish it. The job will be swarming with men." + +"Good, and we hope that Ryan's cement will hold the church together. +I'm reminded of another Romanist friend who was approached for a +similar Protestant object. He wouldn't help to build the new church +but he did contribute toward tearing down the old one. And now," here +this good and kindly man paused and looked affectionately at the two +young people beside him, "it's my turn to make a suggestion." + +Elsie glanced up with uncomfortable intelligence. + +"I'd like the first wedding in the new church to be yours if possible. +And if you like, I'll officiate myself." He patted the girl's hand +softly. + +"That's dear of you," she stammered, "but--it's a long way off." + +The bishop looked up sharply and saw that Belding's eyes were fixed on +Fisette's cottage. "By the way, how's my friend Mr. Clark?" he put in +hastily. + +Belding smiled, "Working too hard, as usual." + +"And working every one else, especially you. Well, I assume that's his +way. I'd like you to tell him that we're building a new church because +he did not seem to care for the other one." + +"Does that fall within the office of an engineer?" said Belding +doubtfully. + +"Unquestionably. Your profession does many different things by many +different methods. By the way, I hear we are to have iron works in St. +Marys." + +"Yes, thanks to Fisette." + +"It's some years since Mr. Clark told me he had reason to believe there +was iron in the district. Now I hope that this prophet will have honor +in his own country." + +A few minutes later the young people rose to go. The bishop followed +them to the gate, and Elsie felt the benediction of his kiss on her +forehead. He watched them from his veranda till, with something of a +sigh, he collected the manuscript at his feet, put it away and turned +to next Sunday's sermon. He looked at this thoughtfully, then walking +slowly into his study laid it also away. His face was suddenly +careworn. He felt unduly oppressed by the burdens of his office, and +there came back on him, as it often did, like a flood, the +consciousness that it was for him by personal effort to raise half the +money needed to pay his forty missionaries. Should he fail, they went +without. Constantly aware of their simple faith, he knew also that +they were poorly fed and lacked any provision for old age. + +Involuntarily he began to compare their lot with that of the magnetic +Clark, and was confronted with an eternal problem. Why should faith +and sacrificial loyalty fare so much more poorly than the mechanical +and constructive nature? Clark had, apparently, the world at his feet, +but what comfort and security was there for brave and spiritual souls, +and for what baffling reason were they robbed of present reward? + +He pondered this deeply, and, raising his troubled eyes, looked fixedly +at a large print of the Sistine Madonna that hung on the study wall +just opposite his desk. As he gazed at its ineffable tenderness there +came to him a slow surcease of strain. Flotsam and jetsam of eternity +they might all be, his missionaries and Clark and himself, but +underneath were the ever-lasting arms, on which,--and he thanked God +for this,--some had already learned to lean. There flashed into his +mind his own arrival at St. Marys, the northern center of his vast +diocese; the joy with which the neighboring Indian tribes had welcomed +him and the name "The Rising Sun" which they had forthwith given him. +They had looked forward, they said, to his coming as to morning after +the darkness of night. The reflection grew in his mind and brought +with it hope and renewed courage. + + + + +XIII.--THE VOICE OF THE RAPIDS + +It fell on a morning that Clark, sitting at his desk, felt within him +that strange stirring to which he had long since learned to give heed, +it being his habit at such moments to leave the works and resign +himself completely to these subtle processes. He now walked slowly +across toward the river, and seated himself where, years before, he had +watched the triumphant kingfisher. The place had a peculiar +fascination for him, and had by his orders been kept in its pristine +wildness. Half a mile away the pulp mill was grinding dully, on the +upper reaches of the great bay circular saws were ripping into logs +fresh from Baudette's operations on the Magwa River, and seventy miles +up the river a large crew was shipping and excavating at the iron mine. +These things and many others being on foot, Clark had experienced that +intellectual restlessness which in him was the precursor of further +effort. + +Listening to the boom of the river he reflected that the water he had +diverted to his own purposes was but a fraction of the whole mighty +torrent racing in front of him. Into the scant half mile between shore +and shore was forced the escaping flood of the mighty Superior, and +such was the compression that, midway, the torrent heaped itself up +into a low ridge of broken plunging crests. Just over the ridge he +could see the opposite shore line. It did not occur to him, as it +would to many, how puny were the greatest efforts of man beside this +prodigious mass. The manner of his mind was, too objective. The sight +of the United States so close at hand only suggested that in the +country from which he came he had as yet made no physical mark. There +was the town with the rapids close beside it, just as in Canada. More +and more the inward stirring captured him. Why should he not create in +his own land what he had already created in Canada? + +The idea was stimulating, and very carefully he reviewed the situation +as it there existed. His supporters were keen men in Philadelphia and +the unexpected announcement of Fisette's discovery had electrified the +market. Shares in all the allied companies touched hitherto unreached +values. The more he thought the more he luxuriated in this new sweep +of imagination, while intermittently there came to him the dull boom of +blasting at the works. + +Presently his mind turned to money and personal wealth. He had never +given it much thought, and only seriously considered money in terms of +what it could accomplish. Now he was receiving a very large salary and +had, as well, holdings in shares of the various companies. He dwelt on +the fact for a while, not that he had ever aimed at riches, but because +his financial position was infinitely better than ever before. It +would be easy, he reflected, to sell out, retire and live at ease. He +chuckled audibly at the picture, realizing that if he stopped work he +would die of a strangulated spirit. + +Presently as he listened it seemed that the rapids took on a new pitch. +He had remarked before that, varying with the direction of the wind, +their call was not always in one great thundering diapason but +sometimes in a gigantic hubbub made up, as it were, of the confused +blending of many notes. Now, he imagined, he could discern them +all--querulous, angry, contented, pleading, defiant, threatening and +triumphant, and he perceived in them but the echo of changing human +moods. To-day he distinguished chiefly a voice that was dominant and +imperative. + +Still in profound contemplation he surveyed the rapids' gigantic sweep, +the proud and tossing billows shot through with sunlight and vibrant +with speed. He made out those smooth and glistening emerald cellars +into which the flashing river pitched to rise again in tossing crests. +He followed back through the icy depths of the great lake stretching +westward to hidden swamps in that vast wilderness where these waters +were born, and shouting rivers down which they poured through silent +pools and over leaping cataracts to Superior. He saw still another +river that, growing in power and majesty, moved royally past the cities +of men, healing, sustaining and inspiring. And, last of all, he +perceived these waters of half a continent blend silently with the +brackish tides and lose themselves in the eternal sea. + +This translation of vision moved him profoundly, for it was the nature +of his remote personality to be stirred more deeply by the revelations +of his own soul than by anything extraneous to its strange reactions. +Then gradually the voice of the river resolved itself into one clear +and unmistakable summons. "Use me while you may. I shall flow on +forever, while you have but a moment in eternity." + +And this satisfied him. + +He got up and walked slowly back, plunged in thought, but not of those +who passed and touched their hats and to whom he was the +personification of power. There was in his mind the talk he had with +Wimperley, a few months before. "We're in your hands," he had said, +"but there's a limit to what we can raise. Push on with work and don't +forget about dividends." + +Remembering it, Clark smiled. The dividends might be delayed a year or +so, but when they came it would be in a flood like the rapids. At his +office he found a telegram from the purchasing agent in the United +States. Blast furnaces were under way, and, he reported, he had +secured an option on a rail mill. It was not new, but could be had at +once. To dismantle and reerect would save six months as against the +time required to build a new one. This purchase would also save +hundreds of thousands of dollars. + +He pondered for some time, with Wimperley's remarks about dividends +keeping up an irritating onslaught. He was aware in a strange but +quite unmistakable way that this decision now to be made was in a quite +positive sense more momentous than appeared on the surface. He hung +over it, balancing the advantages of a new mill against a definite +saving. It was not the sum about which he hesitated, but a touch of +uncertainty as to just how much capital Wimperley and the rest could +actually provide. Then suddenly he decided to be economical, even +though a secondhand mill had obvious weaknesses. + +In the next moment he rang for Belding. The engineer answered with a +weariness daily becoming more settled, and which was only relieved by +the spontaneous loyalty he had from the first conceived for his chief. +Of late he never entered Clark's office without anticipating some +addition to burdens he had already determined were too heavy for his +young shoulders. But now, too, as always, he had no sooner closed the +door and caught the extraordinary power in Clark's eyes than he was +caught up in the grip of his chief's confidence and felt ready for the +effort. + +"You know the ground on the other side of the river?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I wish you would take a look over it very quietly and bring me a town +map on which you have indicated the cheapest possible route for another +power canal." + +"Another canal!" said Belding involuntarily. + +"It's important that it should be the cheapest possible," went on +Clark, apparently without hearing, "and you'll have to balance up the +material to be excavated by a longer route against the cost of more +improved land by one that is more direct." + +"How much power is required?" The question came dully. + +"Not less than thirty thousand. I'm going to make carbide. At least," +he added with a short laugh, "if I don't, some one else will." + +Belding drew a long breath. He had a swift and discomforting +conviction that this man, whom he felt forced to admire, was going too +fast. Around him were all the evidences that he had not gone too fast +and there seemed to be unlimited support behind him. But yet-- + +The engineer grew very red in the face. "Do you think that's wise, +sir?" he said with a tremendous effort. + +Clark glanced up in astonishment and his expression grew rigid. "Just +what do you mean, Belding?" + +"I am sorry, sir. I know it sounds impertinent but I've a rotten +feeling that things--that things--" He broke off in distress. + +"I'll trouble you to finish your sentence." The voice was like ice. + +"Don't misunderstand me," the young man went valiantly on. "It isn't +for myself, it's for you." + +"Why me?" Clark's glance softened ever so little at the thought. + +"New schemes are piling up every day. We're not out of one before +we're into another." + +"We?" The voice had a touch of irony. + +"Yes, sir, we--because I'm with you to the end, whatever that may be. +I don't care if I go to smash and lose my job, but what about you? I +don't want to be disrespectful, but if this company fails it's you that +will have failed. I won't count except to myself. You're doing more +now than ten ordinary men. Isn't there enough without that?" Belding +pointed across the river. + +Then, to the young man's amazement, Clark began to laugh, not riotously +but with a gradual abandonment that shook his thickset body with +successive convulsions of mirth. Presently he wiped his eyes. + +"Sit down, Belding, but first of all, thank you from the bottom of my +heart. You make a brilliant contrast with a group I know who had to +bolster themselves up for days to get courage to say something of the +same kind, and they were thinking of their own skins, not mine. Now I +want to tell you something." + +Belding nodded. His brain was too confused for speech. + +"It really doesn't matter about me. Long ago I decided that I was +meant for a certain purpose in this world. I'm trying to carry it out. +I may reach it here--or elsewhere, frankly I don't know. But all I do +know is that there are certain things here that I was meant to tackle +and this new canal is one of them. If I go to smash it was intended +that I smash, and that doesn't worry me a bit. I'm not working for +myself, or even in a definite way for my shareholders, but I'm trying +to adapt the forces and resources of nature to the use of man. Don't +you see?" + +"I think so." Belding began to perceive that he was caught up as a +small unit in a great forward movement that encompassed not only +himself but thousands of others. + +"So once again, thank you for what you said. It was a bit of a job, +wasn't it?" + +"The toughest thing I ever tackled." + +Clark's eyes twinkled with amusement. "I know it. Now, remember I +don't want advice and if I smash--and I really won't smash--I don't +want sympathy. It's the kind of balm I've no use for. Some people are +so hungry for sympathy that they forget their jobs. And, Belding!" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I'm going to see you through, remember that. Now make me that map, +and," he concluded with a provocative drawl, "don't forget how +fortunate it is for you and me that water runs down hill." + +Belding's mind was in a whirl. "There's one other thing," he said, +"I've promised to build a cathedral for the bishop. Peterson has given +the stone and--" + +"I told him to," broke in Clark; "couldn't you guess that? He spoke to +me about it. But understand that neither the bishop nor any one else +must know it. I told them all except Ryan, and I didn't like to tread +on his religious toes." + +Belding laughed. "I should have guessed it. The thing was too easy, +and Ryan came up to the scratch with the rest." + +In September the pro-cathedral was completed. Belding, faithful to his +trust, had made almost daily visits of inspection, when he often found +the bishop seated on a half-cut stone and talking with evident interest +to the workmen. It seemed that the big man's presence pushed the work +along at top speed. On one occasion, a few days before the opening +ceremony, the engineer was watching a mason laying the machicolated +coping on the tower when the trowel slipped and dropped forty feet to +the ground. Instantly there arose a stream of profanity from the top +of that sacred edifice. Came a chuckle at Belding's shoulder. + +"Unquestionably the effect of Ryan's cement, but it's going to hold our +church together." + +Glancing down, the mason caught sight of the black coated figure. His +profanity ceased abruptly. + +"Will you please throw me up that trowel, sir?" + +The bishop laughed and the trowel gyrated skywards. "It makes me think +of all that goes into the making of a church nowadays," he said +thoughtfully. "By the way I wonder if my friend Mr. Clark will turn up +next Sunday." + +And Clark, to every one's surprise, did turn up, after most of St. +Marys had seated themselves in the new oak pews. There was Dibbott, in +carefully pressed light gray trousers, white waistcoat and a red flower +in his buttonhole; Mrs. Dibbott in spotless linen, for the day was +warm. Then the Bowers, the husband with his metropolitan manner +acquired on frequent business trips to Philadelphia and converse with +city capitalists, his wife in silk and a New York hat, at which Mrs. +Dibbott glanced with somewhat startled eyes. Things had gone well with +the Bowers. There were the Wordens, with Elsie and Belding, the latter +accepting whispered congratulations on his work but wanting only a look +which he could not draw from the girl beside him. Filmer was there, +his black whiskers unusually glossy. He pulled at them caressingly and +now and again cleared his throat, for he was to sing the tenor solo. +At the door, Manson hung about till old Dibbott, glaring amiably down +the isle, marched out and dragged the chief constable and his wife to a +front seat. And last of all came Clark, who, slipping into a back +corner, refused to move. Then the old bell ceased swinging in the new +stone tower and the service began. + +It was all very simple and touching. Filmer's melodious tenor never +sounded better and the bishop's talk was straight to the point. This +pro-cathedral, built out of love and faith, he told them, linked the +old days with the new. The labor of many, freely given, had gone into +it--here his kindly gaze dwelt for an instant on the gray-coated figure +in the corner--and it augured well for the future. From this building +must spread the doctrine of charity and fellowship and courage. + +It was but for a few moments that he spoke, and when it was all over +the old bell rang joyously as though for a wedding. Belding tried to +catch Elsie's glance, but she only flushed and watched the majestic +figure of the bishop retire into the little vestry. He had a +despondent impression that an impalpable barrier lay between them. On +the way out they met Clark and the girl's eyes brightened miraculously. + +"Isn't it a charming church?" she said. + +Clark nodded. "It's very pretty. St. Marys owes a good deal to Mr. +Belding for this." + +"He made the plans, I know, but think of all the people who gave the +labor and the things to build it with." + +Belding was about to blurt out that it was Clark who gave the things to +build it with, but a swift signal imposed silence. + +"I know, it's excellent. You have not been at the works lately." + +"I was there last week." + +"And I was in Philadelphia. I'm sorry." + +She said good-by and, with Belding at her side, turned homeward, Clark +looked after them curiously, his eyes half closing as though to hide a +question that moved in their baffling depths. + +The congregation dispersed slowly with the conviction that there had +been created one of those memories to which in later years the +reflective mind delights to return. Quite naturally, and as they often +did, Mrs. Manson and Mrs. Bowers dropped into the Dibbott house with +its mistress. Dibbott was already there. He was about to start on one +of his official journeys, and just now was rooting things out of a back +cupboard with explosive energy. + +"Well," said Mrs. Bowers, folding her large, capable hands, "wasn't it +lovely?" + +The rumble of a street car sounded outside. "It revives old times," +Mrs. Manson said softly, "but I don't believe we've changed much. +We're too bred in the bone." + +"Do we want the old times back?" asked Mrs. Bowers, to whom the past +years had been kind. + +"For some things, yes, and for others, no. Living's a great deal more +expensive, and my husband's income is just the same," put in Mrs. +Dibbott after a pause. "Taxes are up, and I'm not any happier though I +suppose I'm better informed. John won't sell the place though he has +been offered a perfectly splendid price, and it's noisy--but I like it, +and there's the garden. Things don't happen to me--they just happen +round me." + +"And you, my dear," continued Mrs. Bowers with an inquisitive glance at +the chief constable's wife, "what about you? Your husband's supposed +to have done better than any one except Mr. Filmer." + +The little woman flushed. She was perfectly aware that Manson was +credited with making his fortune, and perhaps he had. But she had no +knowledge of it. For a while she knew he was dealing in property, and +then one morning he told her he had sold out. Her heart leaped at the +news, for Manson in the past year or so had changed. Invariably +austere, he had been nevertheless kind and considerate--but soon after +the real estate venture ended he became only austere, to which there +was added something almost like apprehension. And this in her husband +was to her of intense concern. + +"I can't say," she began a little timidly. "Peter has been telling me +for months he's going to resign and live at ease, but it's always a +matter of waiting just a little longer. I can't help longing for the +old days. Perhaps there was less comfort but--" she added +pathetically, "there was also less restlessness. I suppose I'm out of +date." + +"Did you see Mr. Clark to-day?" broke in Mrs. Dibbott, changing the +subject with swift intuition. + +"Yes, the first time he has been in church." + +"He's not interested in us," announced Mrs. Bowers, with the manner of +one who delivers an axiom, "not a little bit. St. Marys happens to be +the town near the works, and we happen to be the people in it, that's +all." + +Mrs. Dibbott's flexible fingers curved and met. "Why should he be? We +haven't done anything for him, except allow him to shoulder the town +debt. And there isn't a woman alive who means anything to him, in one +sense. He's in love--but with his work. There's no room for one of +us, and, if he had a wife we'd only discuss her like a lot of cats. +Let's be honest--you both know we would." + +The others laughed and went their way, Mrs. Bowers to the big house +near the station. It had a new porch and an iron fence and was freshly +painted. In former days it never suggested personal resources as it +did now. A little later Mrs. Manson turned into the gravel walk that +led to the small stone annex of the big stone jail. Instead of going +upstairs, she stopped at her husband's office and knocked, as she +always did. + +"Come in," boomed a deep voice. + +Manson was at his desk and still in his Sunday best. He had taken the +flower out of his buttonhole and laid it on a printed notice of the +next assize court. She stood looking at him, their faces almost +level--such was his great bulk. + +"Peter," she said gravely, "I want to talk to you." + +Something in her manner impressed him and he pushed back his chair. +"What is it?" + +"We don't seem to have much time to talk nowadays." + +"There's no reason we shouldn't." + +"That's just it--but we don't. Now I want to ask you something and, +Peter, you mustn't put me off--as you always do. + +"It's about ourselves," she went on, with a long breath, "but +principally about you--and it concerns the children. Everything's +changed and you're not what you used to be and something has come +between us. I don't feel any more that we're the most important things +in your life--as I used to." + +He shook his head grimly. "You're all more important than ever, if you +only knew it." Manson had a faint sense of injustice. It was for them +he was wading through depths of anxiety. "You're shortly going to get +the surprise of your life," he added with a note of triumphant +conviction. + +"Is it money?" she said slowly. + +He nodded. "Yes, a pile of it." + +"I don't want any more money, Peter, I'd sooner have you." The little +woman's voice was very pleading. + +"Look here, Barbara," he exploded, "I've made nearly thirty thousand +dollars out of real estate. I got the money, you understand, but the +game was too stiff and took too much time, so I put that and what else +I could raise into stock--in Toronto. I've already made twenty +thousand more, that's fifty, and the last twenty was without any effort +or time on my part. I've only got to leave it alone for another year, +and I'll pull out with an even hundred thousand and retire and devote +the rest of my time to you and the children. Isn't that fair enough?" + +"Do you say that you have already made fifty thousand dollars?" She +was staring at him with startled and incredulous eyes. The sum +staggered her. + +"Yes," he chuckled contentedly. + +She put her arms around his neck. "Then, Peter," she implored, "stop +now. It's enough--it's marvelously more than I ever dreamed of. Oh! +we can be so happy." + +He shook his head. "I've set my mind on the even hundred. Can't you +stand another year of it?" + +"I can, but not you," she implored. "You don't know how you've +changed. Peter, I beg you." + +"I've got to leave that fifty where it is to make the next," he said +with slow stubbornness. "I'll be the only man in St. Marys who was +wise enough to make hay when the sun shone. You needn't be frightened +for me." + +"I'm frightened for myself," she answered shakily. "Won't you do what +I ask? Sometimes," she ventured with delicate courage, "sometimes a +woman can see furthest--though she doesn't know why." + +"A year from to-day you'll thank me for sticking it out," came back +Manson stolidly. + +"And if it shouldn't turn out as you expect," she replied with a look +that was at once sudden and profound, "you'll remember that I begged +and you refused." + +The door closed noiselessly behind her and Manson stared at his desk +with a queer sense of discomfort. Consolidated stock had moved up +buoyantly on the news of the discovery of iron, and he had established +for himself with his Toronto brokers the reputation of a shrewd +operator who worked on the strength of inside information. In front of +him were Toronto letters asking that his agent be kept informed of +developments at St. Marys. It pleased him that this had been achieved +outside his own town and without its knowledge, and he saw himself a +man who was vastly underestimated by his fellow citizens. But in spite +of it all he was daily more conscious of a worm of uncertainty that +gnawed in his brain. The thing was safe, obviously and demonstrably +safe. Against his thousands others had invested millions with which to +buttress the whole gigantic concern. And yet--! + + + + +XIV.--AN ANCIENT ARISTOCRAT VISITS THE WORKS + +On a sunshiny day twelve miles down the river at the Indian settlement, +old Chief Shingwauk, known in English as the Pine Tree, put on his best +beaded caribou-skin moccasins and, motioning to his wife, moved slowly +toward the shore where a small bark canoe nestled in the long reeds. A +few moments later they slid silently up stream, the aged crone kneeling +in the bow, a red shawl enveloping head and shoulders, her thin and +bony arms wielding a narrow paddle with smooth agility. In the stern +squatted Shingwauk, his dark eyes deep in thought. + +Slowly they pushed up current, pausing now and again to peer unspeaking +into the woods, every ancient instinct still alive, though ninety years +had passed since the old man and his wife were unstrapped from the +stiff board cradles in which they once swung mummy-like in long +forgotten camps. Shingwauk, his broad blade winnowing the clear water, +reflected that this journey had been contemplated for many months, +since first he heard that strange things were being done at the big +white water, and now it was well to see for himself, for the time was +approaching when he would not see anything any more. + +It was years since he had been at St. Marys and he was very old, so he +worked up stream carefully, skirting close to the shore in the back +water, hugging every point and sheering not at all into the strong +current of midstream. Thus for hours the canoe floated like a dry leaf +in the unruffled corner of a hidden pool, and in it the ancient pair, +dry themselves with the searching seasons of nearly a hundred years. + +For five hours they paddled, then the last bend in the river and St. +Marys lay three miles ahead. Naqua, in the bow, reached up a withered +hand, caught at an overhanging branch and their old eyes took in a +scene familiar but yet strange. The sky line had changed, and up where +the big white water crossed the river like a flat bar there was cause +for wonderment. + +Presently Shingwauk tapped the thwart with the haft of his paddle and +they glided on, past the lower end of the town with its new houses and +gardens, past a street car that moved like a noisy miracle with nothing +to pull it, being evidently animated by some devil enchained, past +Filmer's dock where years before Shingwauk and Naqua used to bring mink +and otter and marten for trade; past other docks newer and larger and a +town bigger than anything they had ever conceived, and opposite which +sharp-nosed devil boats darted about or swung at anchor, across the +deep bay that lay between the town and the big white water, till +finally they floated near the block-house and Shingwauk's eyes, gazing +profoundly at the massive proportions of Clark's buildings, caught the +narrow stone lined entrance to the little Hudson Bay canal. + +"How," he grunted. + +The canoe slid delicately forward till presently it floated in the tiny +lock. Naqua said nothing, being seized by an enormous fear that +clutched at her stringly throat and held her silent, but Shingwauk felt +something stirring in his breast. Here, surrounded by the confused +vibrations of the works, he resigned himself to ancient memories. +Putting out a brown hand he touched the rough walls, and at the touch +the year rolled back. He saw himself a young man, the bow paddle of a +great thirty-foot canoe that came down through the broken waters of the +big lake to the rapids above, with the Hudson Bay factor enthroned in +the middle, surrounded by the precious takings of the winter. He saw +Ojibway faces, now long forgotten, and smelt the smoke of vanished camp +fires. He saw the thirty-foot canoe lowered delicately into just such +a lock as this, and automatically thrust out his own paddle to protect +her tender tawny sides from the rough masonry. The hewn gates had +opened when he floated out, and here were the gates looking +non-understandably new, and with the adze marks still on the yellow +timber. + +Involuntarily he cast about for the blockhouse and found it hard by. +He looked at his own hands--they were knotted and wrinkled; he scanned +the twelve-foot canoe--it seemed small and hastily built of poor bark; +he stared at the back of Naqua and reflected how bent and rounded it +was instead of being straight and strong and supple; he glanced up and +where once there stretched green bush and small running streams now +stood things bigger than he had ever seen; he sniffed at the wind and, +without knowing what it was, caught the sharp odor of metal and +machinery. Last of all, he lifted his gaze straight into the eyes of a +man who stood staring down from the coping of the little lock. + +From the blockhouse window Clark had seen him since first the canoe +approached the shore. With a curious thrill he had watched the old +chief enter the tiny chamber and float motionless--a visitant from the +past. So complete was the picture and so almost poignant the pleasure +it afforded, that, loath to mar it, he had hesitated to approach. +Never had he conceived anything so intimately appropriate as this +linking of bygone days with the insistent present. + +They stared at each other, Clark's keen features suffused with +interest, Shingwauk's black eyes gazing lustrous from a dark bronze +face seamed with innumerable wrinkles. His visage was noble with the +proud wisdom of the wilderness and the unnamable shadow of traditions +that went back through uncounted centuries of forest life. Clark, +recognizing it, felt strangely juvenile. Presently Shingwauk, with +some subtle intuition of who and what was the man who stood so quietly, +waved his hand. The motion took in the works, the blockhouse, the +canal, in short the entire setting. + +"You?" he asked in deep, hollow tones. + +Clark nodded, smiling. "Yes, me." + +Shingwauk's eyes rounded a little. "Big magic," he said impressively +and relapsed into silence. + +"Hungry?" asked Clark presently. + +The old chief did not reply, being too moved by strange thoughts and +the rush of memory to feel anything else, but Naqua lifted a withered +head in the bow. + +"Much hungry," she croaked shrilly. + +Clark laughed and signaled to the blockhouse, where the Japanese cook +waited, peering from a window. Presently the latter came out carrying +a tray. His narrow eyes were expressionless as he laid it on the +masonry beside the canoe. Shingwauk glanced at him, puzzled over the +flat, oriental features for a moment, and looked away. He seemed but a +minor spirit in this great mystery. The old woman ate greedily, but +her husband had no desire for food. He was experiencing a transition +so breathless that it could but mark the day of his own passing. He +waited till Naqua finished such a meal as she had never seen before, +his face gaunt but his eyes large and profound with the shadow of +unspeakable thoughts. Presently he dipped his blade in the untroubled +water, and the canoe backed out of the lock. + +"Boozhoo!" he said slowly, with one long look at Clark. + +"Good-by! Come again." + +The penetrating gaze followed the pigmy vessel as it dipped to the +larger stretch of the bay, dwindling with the glint of two blades that +flashed with clock-like regularity in the afternoon sun. Soon it +reduced to a speck and was out of sight. Clark turned to his office, +still contemplating the dignity of his visitor, the stark simplicity of +this archaean aristocrat. How soon, after all, he pondered, might not +he himself and his works look aboriginal beside the achievements which +science had yet to unfold to the world? Then, glancing across the +river, he stepped down to the dock and struck over in a fast launch. + + + + +XV.--CLARK CONVERTS TORONTO + +It is probable that Clark's invasion of the State of Michigan made more +impression on the people of St. Marys than any other of his activities, +even though it came in the midst of great undertakings. Here was the +definite impression of a central power that stretched octopus arms from +out of their own town. Even Manson, who was recognized as the champion +pessimist, seemed impressed. But St. Marys remained for the most part +still inactive. The people looked on, admired the works, discussed +each new development, read much about their home town in outside +papers, and that was in a general way about all. They saw in Clark a +constantly more arresting and suggestive figure. They had nodded +approvingly when he secured a private car for the use of himself, his +directors and shareholders, and considered it a natural thing when it +was announced that he was building upon the hill a large and expensive +residence. The blockhouse, they pointed out, had long since become too +small to accommodate his many and important visitors. + +St. Marys had physically changed. Old streets were paved with asphalt +and new ones opened. The car line that ran up to the works branched +out across the railway into ground that a few years before was solid +bush, but was now covered with substantial houses, occupied by a new +population. Parts of old St. Marys were left in the lurch because the +owners refused to sell, Dibbott amongst them, and Worden, whose broad +river-fronting lawn was surrounded by the commercial section of the +rejuvenated town. Filmer's store had been enlarged twice, and so +complete was the popularity of the mayor that, with his sound business +instinct, it still held place as the local emporium. + +At the terminus of the car line a new town had sprung up. In Ironville +dwelt the brawn and bone of the works. The place was not restful like +St. Marys, but a heterogeneous collection of sprawling cabins, corner +saloons and grocery stores where the food was piled on sidewalk stands +and gathered to itself the smoke and grime of the works when the wind +came up from the south. Here were the Poles and Hungarians and Swedes, +with large and constantly increasing families, and to them the sun rose +and set in pulp mills and machine shops, blast furnaces and the like. +They were mostly big men and strong, who sweated all day and came back, +grimy, to eat and then spend the long evenings at the corner saloons or +fishing in the upper bay, or sometimes taking the car down to St. +Marys, and walking about surveying the comfortable old houses and +carefully kept lawns. And of Ironville, St. Marys did not think very +much, save that it was dirty and unattractive and, unfortunately, quite +a necessary evil. + +Back in the country new farms were cleared on heavily timbered land and +the farmers found instant market for all they could raise. But the +bush still stretched unbroken a little further to the north, and while +Clark's engineers spent millions to harness the mighty flow of +Superior, the beaver were building their dams in a tamarac swamp not +five miles from the works. + +All this was indissolubly linked with Philadelphia. Parties of +shareholders, large and small, came up in special cars to inspect the +plant. These visits were well organized. They found everything going +at full blast, everything was explained by the magnetic Clark and there +followed banquets at the new hotel, when both shareholders and +directors spoke and Filmer voiced the sentiments and pride of the town, +and the shareholders went away a little staggered by the size and +potentiality of their business but determined to back Clark to the +limit and carrying away with them ineffaceable impressions of his +strong and hypnotic personality. It was, after all, as they said, a +one man show. + +Interest grew in Philadelphia, and thousands, swayed as though by the +compelling voice of the rapids, plunged deeper. The discovery of iron +was but one of the inviting incentives which, from time to time, +stimulated support. Million after million was subscribed and sent to +this man who inspired such abounding faith in himself and his gigantic +plans. It may be that in one of those moments of profound insight +which Clark periodically experienced, he became finally convinced that +life was short and there must be, in his case at any rate, compressed +into it the maximum of human effort ere the day ran out. His brain +oscillated between the actual work itself and those extraneous affairs +which might at some time affect it. + +Amongst those to whom his attention turned was Semple, member of the +provincial parliament, in whom he recognized the official voice of the +district in certain regions of authority. As the works grew in size +and their importance increased, Semple found himself more and more the +subject of attention. It flattered him, as well it might, for at this +time the Consolidated Company was the largest single undertaking in the +country. It did Semple good to refer to "my constituency" with the +reflection that in the midst of that wilderness was an undertaking +whose capital surpassed that of the greatest railway in the Dominion. +In the house of parliament he was listened to attentively, and in St. +Marys his office took on a new significance. It was on one of his +informal visits to the works that Clark expressed pleasure at the way +in which the community was represented. + +"I'm all right as far as this company is concerned," said Semple, "but +you know the Liberal majority in Ontario is mighty slim--and I'm a +Liberal. It's here to-day and gone to-morrow." + +"Not for you," answered Clark impressively, "and you haven't had much +trouble in getting what we wanted." + +"No," grinned Semple, "our majority is too small. The Premier couldn't +very well refuse. But," he added with a little hesitation, "opinions +differ down there." + +"About the works?" + +Semple nodded. "Yes, and about you--they're not true believers by any +means, you must understand." + +Clark grunted a little. "What do they say?" + +"It's more what they don't say, since they're mostly Scotch. I mean +the financial crowd--most of Toronto is like that. The Scotch got +their hooks in long ago and it was a good thing for the country. They +reckon it should take twenty-five years to build up a concern like +this--not five. You're too fast for that lot." + +"Ah! Perhaps I'd better go down and see them." + +Semple gazed in astonishment, then concluded he had not made the other +sufficiently aware of the criticism as to himself and his affairs that +was now so widely spread. + +"What's the object?" he blurted; "you've got all you want." + +Clark shook his head. "You don't understand me--and these people don't +understand their own country,--that's all. They don't believe it +because they don't know it. They've never tried to know it. To +Toronto the district of Algoma is a howling wilderness where there's +good fishing and shooting. You may call Canadians pioneers, but some +of them are the stickiest lot imaginable. I'm an American, but I have +more faith in their country than they have." + +"Just what do you propose to do?" + +"What would you say was the most influential body of business and +financial men?" + +"The Toronto Board of Trade--without question; bankers, and, by the +way, the president of your bank here is the president of the Board; +manufacturers, brokers, commission men,--oh, most every one who is +worth anything." + +"Then I'd better go and talk to them. There ought to be some Canadian +money in this concern and there isn't a cent. The only thing we got in +Canada was one hundred and thirty thousand dollars--but that was +debt--St. Marys' debt--" laughed Clark. "We'll get some Canadian +directors, too; I don't know but that new blood would be good for us." + +"Well," hazarded Semple, "I'd like to be there." + +"You will. We'll go together as soon as it's arranged. You ought to +be there. They'll probably ask you to confirm what I assert." He +touched a bell and a moment later said to his secretary, "See Mr. +Bowers and ask him to get in touch with our Toronto solicitors at once. +I want them to arrange that I address the Toronto Board of Trade as +soon as convenient to that body. I'll speak of developments in +Northern Ontario. You understand that this will not be a suggestion +from me, but will come from them. Get the idea going in the Toronto +papers. You might let it be known that a special car will leave for +St. Marys the evening of the address--with the Company's guests--that's +all." + +The door closed and he turned again to Semple. "I'm no prophet, but I +don't mind saying that a month from to-day your Conservative opposition +won't be so stiff necked. Man alive! it's nothing but ignorance. This +district of yours--" he added very slowly, "is a bigger, richer thing +than even I imagined." + +Semple went away shaking his head doubtfully. He knew better than +Clark that chilling regard with which Toronto financiers contemplated +an undertaking in which they had little faith. They were a cold-nosed +group, immune, he considered, to the dramatic and strangers to any +sudden impulse. And Clark, to their minds, was tarred with the same +brush as his undertakings. He might be big and imaginative, but he was +over impetuous and haphazard. + +Clark himself was disturbed by no discomfort, nor did he make any +special preparations for that address, and gave it as arranged some two +weeks later, and the manner and substance and effect of it will be +vividly remembered by every man who was a member of that Board of Trade +some twenty-five years ago. There were the bankers and the rest of +them, just as Semple had said, and Clark, surveying them from the +platform with steady gray eyes, knew what make of men they were and +knew also that they had come there not so much with a thirst for +knowledge about their own country as that they might coldly analyze him +and that vast undertaking of which they had, as yet, but a fantastic +and fragmentary knowledge. + +It is without question that the speaker had to an infinitely greater +extent than any of the men who stared at him through a blue haze of +cigar smoke, a fluid mind and the capacity for instantly seizing upon a +situation and determining how to meet it. He possessed as well a voice +unrivaled in magnetic power and above all an unshakable faith in the +potentiality of the district in which he labored, so that, estimating +the mental and professional characteristics of those he faced, Clark +began to talk in the coolest and most level way possible without any +trace of flamboyant enthusiasm. Touching first of all on the +development of the far West, a subject with which, since much Toronto +money was involved, they were directly familiar, he diverted to St. +Marys, describing Arcadia as he found it, the apparently unpromising +nature of the surrounding territory and his own conclusion as to its +possible future. Then the rapids became woven into his speech, the +nucleus of power which made so many things possible. From this he +moved into the wilderness and before his listeners there began to +unroll the north country in its primeval silence, broken only by the +occasional tap of a prospector's pick or the heavy crash of a moose +through a cluster of saplings. And with the story of the wilderness +came that of pulp wood and great areas now tributary to St. Marys. And +after the pulp mills came the discovery of iron. + +At this a stir went through the audience. In another part of the north +country was Cobalt, that prodigious reservoir of silver, and it was +realized that while Cobalt lay almost next door to Toronto, the +Canadian investor had for the most part looked on incredulously, till, +too late, he realized that the American had seized and acted with +characteristic energy. And now the thing had happened again. + +"The iron was there," went on Clark's voice with a subtle and impelling +note, "and it only took a year or so to find it. The country was +unexplored, that is, in a scientific manner, and no geological maps +worth anything were in existence. We have proved by now not less than +fifteen million tons of excellent ore. The formation near St. Marys +carries an abundance of limestone and the rapids furnish ample power. +I think you will admit, gentlemen, that this is non-speculative." + +Then one by one he spoke of various phases of the works. In every case +the product was there--the merchantable produce--to prove the point; +and the evident fact that Clark was actually selling goods over his +gigantic counter, coupled with the cool confidence of the man, was all +that was needed to convert an audience of critics into one of friendly +believers. + +He saw the change as it took place. His voice lifted a little and +became that of one crying in the wilderness. + +"What I have been able to do any man can do. If you don't believe in +it, other people do; if you don't develop it, other people will. From +Canada we have moved across to Michigan and are developing power on the +south side of the river. You Canadians could have done all this. In a +few months Canadian railways will be buying steel rails made of Ontario +ore, but the rails will be made and sold by Americans in Ontario. +Gentlemen, all I ask is that you have faith in your own country, as +much faith as has been shown by your neighbors across the line. Your +Dominion is now what the United States was fifty years ago and we did +not waver. The capital of our allied companies is twenty-seven million +dollars. It comes, every cent of it, from Philadelphia. We do not +need your money, but will welcome any who wish to join us. Once again, +gentlemen, and last of all, have faith in your own country!" Then, +with a graceful acknowledgment of the assistance of Semple and the +Ontario Government, he sat down. + +For a moment there was silence, till came applause, moderate at first, +as befitted the meeting, but swelling presently into great volume. +Louder and deeper it grew while Clark sat still with the least flush on +his usually colorless cheek and a keen light in his gray eyes. He had +touched them to the quick, touched them not only by his own evident +faith and courage, but also by his superlative energy and the +inexorable comparison he had made. It was true! Cobalt was nearly +lost to them, and now the iron of Algoma had passed into other hands. +Old bankers and financiers cast their minds back and were surprised at +the number of similar instances they recalled. And here was Clark, the +protagonist, Clark the speculator, Clark the wild man from +Philadelphia, demonstrating in the cold language to which they were +accustomed and which they perfectly understood, that he had done the +same thing over again and on a more imposing scale than ever before. + +The denouement was what he had anticipated and what invariably takes +place when men with calculating and professionally critical brains are +for the first time profoundly stirred by a supremely magnetic spirit +that appeals not to their emotions but to those instincts in which the +memory of lost opportunities is effaced by confidence in future +success. There was, too, a general feeling that Clark in the past was +misunderstood. They had been hard on him. It was strange for men who +were daily besought to invest in this or that to be told that their +money was not asked for; that, as Clark had put in--the job was nearly +done, capital expenditure nearly over and steady returns about to +begin. And these returns, they reflected, would go straight out of the +country to Philadelphia. All this and much more was moving through +their minds when the president moved a vote of thanks which was +tumultuously carried, whereupon Clark announced that the private car +would leave that night for St. Marys, and that he and Mr. Semple would +accompany such visitors as cared to spend a day or two at the works. + +That afternoon he sent a short letter to his mother. "I have been +giving a talk on Toronto--it went quite well," he wrote in closing. +"Canadians do not attract, but certainly interest me. There's much +underneath that needs work to discover, and I have so little time for +work of that kind." + +He glanced at the last sentence and nodded approvingly. Perhaps +Canadians were too Scotch to be spontaneous. They were worthy, he +admitted, but the word implied to him certain attributes that made life +a little difficult, and, he silently concluded, a little cold. He +would have desired them to be a trifle less deliberate and a shade more +responsive. He felt that, however, he might persuade they would never +fundamentally understand him, and perceived in this the cause of that +condescension he had observed in so many Canadians toward the American. +It did not worry him in the slightest as an American. He put it down +to that self-satisfaction which is not infrequently acquired by +self-made men in the process of their own manufacture, and to remnants +of that cumulative British arrogance of forebears who had for centuries +led the world. + +Early next morning the private car swung through the mining district of +Sudbury. Clark's Toronto visitors were still asleep, but he was up and +dressed and on the rear platform. The district, covered once by a +green blanket of trees, now seemed blasted and dead. Close by were +great piles of nickel ore, from which low clouds of acrid vapor rose +into the bright air. Clark knew that the ore was being laboriously +roasted in order to dissipate the sulphur it contained, prior to +further treatment. + +The scene, naked and forbidding, struck him forcibly, and the great +mining buildings towering in the midst of the desolation they had +created looked like ugly castles of destruction. He had noted the +place often before, but this morning, refreshed by the incidents of the +previous day, his mind was working with unexampled ease and insight. +Here, he reflected, two things of value--sulphur and vegetation--were +being arduously obliterated. It suddenly appeared fundamentally +against nature, and whatever violated nature was, he held, +fundamentally wrong. + +The train stopped for a few moments and, jumping from the platform, he +ran across to the nearest pile. Here he picked up several pieces of +ore fresh from the mine, inhaling as he stood the sharp and killing +fumes. At St. Marys he made but one kind of pulp--mechanical pulp--in +which the soft wood was disintegrated by revolving stones against which +it was thrust under great pressure. But he had always desired to make +another kind of pulp, so now he thrust the ore samples in his pocket +and climbed back into the private car. + +Two days later the chief chemist of the works stood beside the general +manager's desk looking from the nickel samples into Clark's animated +face. + +"These are from Sudbury," the latter was saying, "where they waste +thousands of tons of sulphur a year, and it costs them a lot to waste +it. I want the sulphur to make sulphite pulp." + +"Yes?" The reply was a little uncertain. + +"To buy what we want is out of the question at the present price. In +Alabama and Sicily they are spending a lot of money to get sulphur; in +Sudbury they're spending a lot of money to get rid of it. The thing is +all wrong." + +"Have we any nickel mine, sir?" + +"No, but that's the small end of it. I want you to analyze this ore +and see if you can devise a commercial process for the separation of +nickel from sulphur and save both. If you can, I'll buy a mine. +Incidentally we'll produce some pretty cheap nickel. Get busy!" + +The chemist nodded and went out, and Clark, glancing after him, fell +into profound contemplation. He himself was neither engineer, chemist +nor scientist, but had a natural instinct for the suitable uses of +physical things. Thus, though without any advanced technical training, +his brain was relieved from any consciousness of difficulties which +might be encountered in the working out of the problems he set for +others with such remarkable facility. He was, in truth, a practical +idealist, who, ungrafted to any particular branch of effort, embarked +on them all, radiating that magnetic confidence which is the chief +incentive toward accomplishment. + +The visit of the Toronto financiers had been a success. Clark went +round with them, unfolding the history of the works. Nor was this by +any means the first tour he had made with similar intent. It was now +an old story with him to watch the faces of men reflect their gradual +surrender to the spell of his mesmeric brain. What the Torontonians +saw was physical and concrete, and, as their host talked, they +perceived the promise of that still greater future which he had put +before them. Here, they decided, was not a speculation, but an +investment of growing proportions. Then from the works to the +backwoods by the new railway, where was iron by millions of tons and +pulp by millions of cords, the foundations on which were built the +gigantic structures at St. Marys. So they had gone back in the glow of +that sudden conversion which in its nature is more emotional than the +slow march of a purely intellectual process, Clark smiled a little at +the thought. He had seen it all so often before. + +A little later a knock sounded at his door and Fisette entered, +stepping up to the desk, one brown hand in his pocket. Clark glanced +at him. + +"Well, mon vieux?" + +The half-breed laid on the desk half a dozen pieces of bluish gray +rock. They were sharp, angular and freshly broken. Through them ran +yellow threads, and floating in their semi-translucent depths were fine +yellow flakes. + +"Gold," said Fisette quietly. + + + + +XVI.--GOLD, ALSO CONCERNING A GIRL + +Clark stared at the fragment of rock with a sudden and divine thrill. +Gold! the _ultima thule_ of the explorer. He had erected vast works to +gain gold, not for himself for he desired no wealth, but for others, +and here the precious thing lay in his hand. His heart leaped and the +blood rushed to his temples while his eyes wandered to the impassive +face of Fisette. Who and what was the breed that he could be so calm? + +Out of a riot of sensations he gradually reestablished his customary +clearness of vision. Here was additional evidence of the inherent +wealth of the country. It was that for which men dared death and peril +and hardship, and it struck him that it would be a dramatic thing to +ship steel rails and pulp and gold bullion on the same day. + +But for all of this he was not carried away. However great the thrill, +his mind could not be diverted by the discovery of a quartz vein. He +knew, too, that mining of this character was a tricky thing and that +nature, as often as not, left the shelves of her storehouses empty when +by all the rules of geology they ought to be laden. He would explore +and develop the find, but its chief value, he ultimately decided, was +psychological, and would be seen in the continued support of his +followers. Presently he looked up and caught the disappointed eyes of +Fisette. + +"It's all right, mon vieux," he said with an encouraging smile, "and +it's very good. How far from the railway?" + +"About six mile." Fisette's voice was unusually dull. + +"And you have it all staked and marked and dated?" + +"Yes, I'm not one damn fool." + +Clark laughed outright. "Of course not--but listen--you remember when +you found the iron last year what I told you?" + +"You told me to keep my mouth shut. I keep it." + +"That's right. And now I want you to keep your mouth open." + +Fisette gasped. "What you mean?" + +"I mean this. You told nobody about the iron, now you go and tell +everybody about the gold. Shout about it. The more you tell the +better. The whole town can prospect on our concession if they want to. +I hope every one of them will find gold. I'll come out myself next +week and see what you've turned up, and of course you get for it what I +gave you for the iron last year. Au revoir, mon vieux, and when you go +to town, talk--talk--talk! But just wait a minute in the outside +office." + +Fisette backed silently out, his dark brow pinched into puzzled +wrinkles. He had expected his patron to take the samples and stare at +them and then at him with that wonderful look he remembered so well and +could never forget; a look that had made the breed feel strangely proud +and happy. He had often seen it since when, quite alone in the woods, +he peered through the gray smoke of his camp fire and imagined his +patron sitting just on the other side. And now he was to go into St. +Marys and do nothing but talk! He shook his head doubtfully. + +No sooner had the door closed than Clark summoned the superintendent of +his railway department. + +"Fisette has found gold out near the line. There's going to be a rush, +and you'd better get ready for it. Also you'd better run up some kind +of an hotel at Mile 61,--it's the jumping off place. That's +all--please send Pender here." + +A moment later he turned to his secretary. + +"Fisette is waiting outside. Talk to him, he's found gold. Get the +story and give it to the local paper. Say that I've no objection to +prospectors working on our concession, and that I'll guarantee title to +anything they find. Get in touch with the Toronto papers and let them +have it too. That's all." + +The door closed again and, with a strange feeling of restlessness, he +walked over to the rapids, seating himself close to their thundering +tumult. What message had the rapids for him now? And just as the +voice of irresistible power began to bore into his brain he noticed a +girl perched on a rock close by. Simultaneously she turned. It was +Elsie Worden. + +She waved a hand, and he moved carefully up stream over the slippery +boulders. She looked at him with startled pleasure. It was unlike +Clark to move near to any one. + +"I hope I'm not trespassing." + +"No," his voice came clearly through the roar of many waters; "do you +often come here?" + +She smiled. "It's the most conversational place I know." + +The gray eyes narrowed a little. "You have discovered that the rapids +talk back?" + +"They have told me all kinds of things ever since I was a child. When +did you find it out?" Elsie's voice lifted a little. + +"The very first day I reached St. Marys, almost the first hour." He +was wondering inwardly why he should talk thus to any one. + +"I'm so glad," she answered contentedly, "because they must have told +you to do many things, and you've done them. But I can't half answer +what they say to me." + +Clark studied her silently. Her face was not only beautiful but +supremely intelligent, and had, moreover, the signet of imagination. +She was, he concluded, utterly truthful and courageous. + +"I wonder you get time to come here at all," she hazarded after a +thoughtful pause. + +"It is time well spent." He pointed to the heaped crests in midstream. +"The solution of many a problem lies out there; I've got one to think +of now." + +Had Elsie been an ordinary girl she would have disappeared forthwith, +but between them sped something that convinced her that he wanted her +to stay. + +"Am I allowed to know what it is?" + +"It's this." Clark took a fragment of rock from his pocket and laid it +in her palm. + +"What is it?" she said curiously. + +"Gold!" + +"Oh!" The color flew to her cheeks and her eyes became very bright. +"Where did it come from and who found it?" + +"About sixty miles from here, and Fisette found it--he's one of my +prospectors." + +"He's the man who discovered iron for you?" + +"Yes." + +"How very extraordinary," she said under her breath. + +"Why should it be?" + +"The last time we talked you had just found iron, and now it's gold. +This is even more wonderful, isn't it?" + +He shook his head. "It's pretty--but not nearly so important." +Something in the girl's manner attracted him strangely and he went on +talking as he seldom talked. Her eyes never left his face. + +"Yes," she said presently, "I'm glad to understand. But the strange +thing to me is that all these people," here she pointed towards the +works, "are doing things they would not have done if you hadn't come. +Why is that?" + +"Some people think that the most successful man is the one who gets +others to work the hardest for him," said Clark, smiling. + +She shook her head. "That doesn't suit. I know what it is." + +"Do you?" + +"It's vision." There was a thrill in her low voice. Then she added, +very swiftly, "You haven't many friends, have you, Mr. Clark?" + +He stared at her in surprise, and in the next instant decided that she +was right. "Why do you ask that?" + +"Because you must see past most people, don't you, to what is ahead? +It is hard to put just what I mean into words." + +He nodded gravely. "It is quite true that I haven't any very close +personal friends, I've moved about too quickly to make them. As for my +employees, I see them chiefly through their work." + +"Then you don't really know them," she announced. + +"Possibly,--but I know their results. It sounds a little inhuman, +doesn't it?" + +"I think I understand." Elsie was tempted to probe this gray-eyed man +about Belding, but presently gave it up. She was conscious that while +she was talking to Clark the figure of the engineer faded into the +background. + +"So there's really no one?" she went on reflectively. + +"Only my mother," he said gravely, "that is, so far." + +At that her heart experienced a new throb. He was infinitely removed +from any man she had ever dreamed of. + +"Are you never lonely?" + +"Perhaps I am," he replied with utter candor, "but I fill my life with +things which to most people are inanimate, though to me they are very +much alive. And what about yourself?" + +"I don't know." Her voice was a little unsteady. She had a swift +conviction that Clark was essentially kind, as well as a great creator. +"You want this, don't you?" She held out the piece of ore while the +flakes of gold shone dully in the sun. + +"Please keep it, the first bit out of what I hope will make a mine. +And I hope you will have iron as well as gold in your life." + +She glanced at him genuinely touched. "Can it really matter to you?" + +"Why shouldn't it?" + +"The first time I met you I was a little afraid of you." + +Clark chuckled. "Am I so formidable?" + +"Not to me any more. Perhaps it is because we understand the same +things." She pointed to the rapids. "This, for instance." + +"Would you tell me just what you hear out there." + +She shook her head doubtfully. "There are no words for most of it, but +I seem to catch the voices of things that want to be expressed +somehow." Then, with sudden breathlessness, "It's a universal +language--like music." + +"That's it," he said soberly, "it has all the majors and minors." He +regarded the girl with quickening interest. What was the elemental +note in her that responded to this thundering diapason? + +"It's a voice crying in the wilderness," she continued in the same low +tone, then, with a smile, "at least it was a wilderness before you +came. I wonder if you would do--" she broke off suddenly, her eyes +brilliant. + +"Tell me, and I'll do it." + +She clapped her hands. "I wish you would visit us all when we go +camping next month; you'd like it." + +"I'm sure I would, but--" + +"But what? I knew there'd be something." + +"I'd have to take the works with me." + +"But you said you'd do it." She glanced at him as though confidence +were shattered. + +"Then I will, if it's humanly possible." + +"It will be about a hundred miles down the lake, near Manitoulin +Island. Father knows." + +"I'm glad father knows," he smiled. + +The girl walked slowly back with the feeling that she had seen further +into the heart of this remarkable man than ever before. Opposite the +blockhouse, at which she looked with a strange sensation, she met +Belding, swinging in from the far corner of the works with a transit +over his shoulder. She seemed thoughtful and distrait, and he glanced +at her puzzled. + +"Been exploring? I didn't know you were coming up." + +"I didn't know either," she said a little nervously. "Will you come +back to lunch?" + +"Sorry, I'm too busy. Where have you been?" + +"Over at the rapids. And, Jim, see what Mr. Clark gave me." + +"Gold?" he said sharply. + +"Yes, isn't it wonderful?" + +"Who found it?" + +"One of Mr. Clark's prospectors, Fisette." + +"And who told you?" + +"Mr. Clark himself." The girl had a sudden sense of discomfort. Why +was Belding so inquisitive? + +"I haven't heard anything about it," he said shortly. + +"No one has outside of the office, except myself." + +"But why should Clark tell you?" + +"I don't know. Why shouldn't he?" + +Belding thrust the legs of his instrument into the ground. "I have an +idea that he's telling you too much." The young man's eyes were hot +with resentment. + +"Jim, how dare you!" + +"Well, where do I come in? You haven't been much interested in me the +last year or so." + +She flushed. "That's not fair. You know how fond I am of you." + +"But Clark doesn't need you--and I do." + +"Do you object to my having friends?" she said tremulously. + +"Elsie, will you marry me to-morrow?" Belding's voice was shaky but in +deadly earnest. + +"What nonsense." + +He shook his head. "It isn't to me,--I mean it. There is no one else. +There never will be. Can't you realize that?" + +"I don't want to be married--now--" she said slowly. + +He snatched up his transit. "Thanks, I thought it would come to that." +He took off his hat very formally and strode on. In his angry brain +burned the thought that the sooner Clark came to grief, the sooner +Elsie would get rid of this illusion. And then, as always, the brave +and loyal soul of him sent out a silent protest. + +By now the wires were humming, and through St. Marys the news ran like +quicksilver. In years past there had been individual discoveries by +wandering bushmen, but none of them of value. Tales were afloat that +old Shingwauk down at the settlement knew of a gold bearing vein, and +that the knowledge would die with him. But at the formal announcement +that the Consolidated had found gold, it was universally believed that +it was of a necessity a bigger and better thing than ever before, and +carried with it all the reputation of Clark's immense undertaking. + +So began the rush to the woods. It was not one in which tenderfeet +deserted their jobs and took to the hills, but a stirring amongst the +stiff bones of old prospectors who had given up the fight but were now +infused with new courage. In Fisette they saw the man who had won out +for the second time while they sat and smoked. There was a seeking out +and sharpening of picks blunted by inumerable taps on forgotten ridges, +and a stuffing of dunnage bags, and a sortie to Filmer's store for +flour and bacon and a few sticks of forty per cent. dynamite, and +patching of leaky shoe packs. Twenty-four hours later the little +station up at the works was crammed with men whose leathern faces were +alight with an old time joy, and whose eyes sparkled with the flame of +a nearly extinguished fire. After them came others from greater +distance, then peddlers and engineers representing mining firms in +search of properties, and keepers of road houses where the lamps burned +all night, and there were women and songs and whiskey that flouted the +peace of the forest. And with all this the traffic returns of the +Consolidated Company's railway leaped up, and Fisette, who was in +charge of a dozen men stripping his find of roots and earth and moss, +began to hear all round him, both near and far, the dull thud of +blasting and the faint clink of hammer on steel. + +But it was a month before the general manager's private car slid into +the siding at Mile 61, where Clark, descending, found Fisette waiting +for him, and together they stepped out for the discovery. Here and +there along the trail other prospectors fell in silently behind. They +wanted to see Clark when he got the first glimpse of the vein. +Arriving a little breathless, he looked down at the bluish, white +streak that nakedly crossed a little ridge, clipped to a ravine on +either side, and reappeared boldly further on. Fisette picked up +samples from time to time, at which his patron glanced, and finally, +taking mortar and pan, crushed a fist full of ore and washed it +delicately, till a long tapering tail of yellow metal clung to the +rounded angle of the pan. And at that Clark asked a few questions of +the mining engineer who had come with him, nodded contentedly and +started back, leaving Fisette with the pan still in his muscular hands. + +That night the breed squatted by his camp fire, too offended to smoke +and wondering dumbly why his patron had left so soon and said so +little, for this was a day to which he had looked forward for weeks. +He did not dream that Clark was even that moment thinking of him as the +private car clicked evenly over the rail joints on the way to the iron +mines. And this indeed was the case, for in the first tide of the rush +of gold seekers Clark had discerned the workings of an ancient rule. +Always it had been gold which inflamed the human mind to endure to the +uttermost. His imagination went back, and he saw the desperate influx +heading for California, for Australia, for South Africa, that mob of +adventurous spirits for whom there burned nightly over the hills the +lambent promise of the morrow, strengthening and invigorating to +further effort. He saw this mob lose itself in forest, mountain, plain +and canyon, a wild-eyed herald of civilization. He saw roads and +bridges, farms and villages take form along the trail it traversed, +till, slowly but inexorably, the wilderness was conquered, and the sons +of the pioneers sat in contentment under their own roof-tree in full +possession of a wealth greater by far than that their ancestors had +come to seek. But it was gold with its yellow finger that first +beckoned the way. + +Next day, at the iron mine, he stood listening to the deep cough of the +big crusher and the loose rattle of machine drills. A little on one +side, and as yet unshaken by dynamite, was the knoll on which Wimperley +and the rest had been told what they were sitting on, and he smiled at +the recollection. Surveying the widening excavation, he reflected that +here, after all, was the heart of the entire enterprise. In fifty--in +a hundred years--the mine would still be unexhausted. It did not seem +romantic like Fisette's vein of gold ore, this barren-looking upheaval, +but to him the romance of a thing was in its potentiality and not its +appearance, and it moved in his mind now that there was every reason +for haste. Philadelphia was beginning to weary of capital expenditure, +and demanded an output of steel rails at the earliest possible moment. + +Completing his round with a visit to Baudette's headquarter camp, he +inspected train loads of pulp wood ready for the mills. The areas +originally secured were nearly denuded and Baudette was forced further +afield. The mills were doing and had always done well, but their +profits were so instantly absorbed by allied and interlinked +undertakings that Clark at times wondered whether he was asking one +dollar to do too much. He reflected with a touch of surprise that the +small company formed to supply St. Marys with water and light was, +after all, the only one which from the first had actually disbursed +dividends. But the rail mill would settle all that. Returning to the +works he found a note on his desk that Townley, the chemist, would like +audience. He sent for him. + +"Well?" he demanded impatiently; "what about that sulphur?" + +Townley submitted a condensed report. "We can get it out at a cost of +about half the market price." He spoke with a note of triumph. He had +been slaving over the problem with the sacrificial zeal that +characterizes all keen chemists. But Townley did not know, and it was +impossible for him to know, that many things are feasible in a +laboratory which are irreducible to commercial terms. + +Clark nodded as though he expected this. "Bring Belding in here." + +When the engineer appeared, he went on, "We're going to do something +new. Townley will give you his end of it, and you work out the rest. +It's chemical engineering, so get any assistance you need. Give me +estimates of costs and say how soon the plant can be put up. Figure on +a hundred tons of sulphite pulp per day--dry weight. That's all." + +The two went out, and he leaned back, pressing his finger tips hard on +his lids, and finding in the red blur that followed something that +soothed and rested his eyes. He was not one who sought out problems +and chased them to their solution, but rather one who perceived the +problem and, by singularly acute vision, perceived also the solution +just behind it. There were so many things that were overlooked by +others but presented themselves to him for attention, that he had long +since ceased to wonder why the world was full of men he considered +ineffectual. Now he ran rapidly over the existing situation, +marshaling his various undertakings in due order, when there sounded in +his head something that seemed like the tearing of a piece of cloth. +He drew a long breath, experiencing for the first time in his life a +sense of intolerable weariness. And then, suddenly he thought of Elsie. + +It was strange that he should think of her now--there were so many +other and insistent things. Wimperley and the rest had come up to +congratulate him and gone away elated but at the same time puzzled that +he should regard the discovery with such apparent indifference. It was +true that creditors were becoming pressing, but the rail mill, it was +universally admitted, would pull the thing through. Now a reaction set +in and he longed for a little solitude. It lay in his mind that just +over the horizon was something more inviting than all that had taken +place. + +An hour later he was in the bow of a big tug, heading down stream, +having left orders that he must not be disturbed. As the green +landscape slid by he gave himself over to retrospection, and his mind +wandered comfortably back through all the stages of the past years. +Surveying the folk of St. Marys, he concluded that only Filmer and +Bowers had been active supporters from the start. He would remember +that. Came a voice at his elbow. It was the master of the tug. + +"Where to, sir?" + +"A hundred miles from here there's a camping party. Find them." + +They anchored that night in a long and narrow inlet where the trembling +reflection of the tug's funnel lay beside the mirrored tops of pine +trees that clung to the rocky shore. Ahead and behind was the open +lake. There was no sound but the twitter of sleepy birds and the honk +of a startled heron that winged its flight to solitudes still more +remote. Then Clark began to fish, and, just as he landed a five pound +bass, a girl's voice sounded clearly while a canoe floated round a +nearby point. Elsie was in it and alone. + + + + +XVII.--THE GIRL IN THE CANOE + +She stared at him with undisguised astonishment. "Good evening," he +laughed. "Here I am!" + +The girl grew rather pink. "Isn't it wonderful that you really found +us?" + +"I didn't, the captain found you." + +"It's hard to think of you as--well--just here." + +"I came down for a day or two off. For the first time in years, I've +forgotten all about the works." + +"I'm glad, and do you--" + +At that instant there came from between Clark's feet a mighty thump, +and the big bass, curving its spiney back, leaped clear of the boat and +landed in the brown water with a splash. A flip of the broad tail and +it vanished. + +"You've lost your fish!" exclaimed Elsie, aghast. + +"Perhaps you lost it, but it doesn't matter." + +"Is that the way you feel, just slack and careless?" + +"Just like that." + +"I knew you had a mind above fish," she laughed. + +"That's a distinction, because few fishermen have. Now I'd like to +thank you again for your note of a few weeks ago." + +"Do you really remember that?" she said earnestly. + +He nodded, and over him came a slow conviction that there was an avenue +of life he had never traversed and which seemed to be, after all, more +inviting than he had allowed himself to believe. Elsie was years +younger than Clark, but just now the latter felt strangely young. + +"Do you recollect finding out that I had but a few personal friends?" + +"Yes, of course." + +"Well," he said thoughtfully, "I would like another." + +"Oh!" She stared at him, her startled eyes full of light. + +"You don't mind, I hope?" + +The canoe drifted like a leaf towards his heavy boat, but Elsie's +paddle was motionless. + +"It would make me very happy. But could I really do anything for you? +It has always seemed that," she hesitated and her lips became +tremulous, "that you didn't need any one." Then she added under her +breath, "like me." + +Clark's face was grave. "And if I did?" + +She looked at him with growing fascination. Surrounded by the gigantic +things of his own creation he was impressive, but here in the solitudes +he took on even more suggestive characteristics. She stretched out a +slim brown hand. + +"You will find me very difficult sometimes, I warn you now." + +"I like difficult things, they seem to come my way." + +The languid hours sped by. Clark swam, fished, paddled with the girl, +entertained her party in the tug's white painted saloon, and chatted +with Mrs. Dibbott, the chaperon, about St. Marys. But most of all he +explored the mind of Elsie Worden. It was like opening successive +doors to his own intelligence. She startled him with her intuition, +delighted him with her keen sense of humor, and seemed to grasp the +man's complex nature with superlative ease. And, yielding to her +charms, Clark, for the first time in his life, felt that he must go +slow. It was a new country to him. Previous experience had left no +landmarks here. + +They were drifting lazily along the shore, miles from the others, when +Elsie, after a long pause, glanced at him curiously. + +"Will you tell me just what you find in music?" + +"But I don't know anything about it." + +"Perhaps not, but you feel it, and that's what counts. I've only heard +you play twice." + +"Once," he corrected. + +"No, I was out on the bay one night, below the blockhouse, when you +were playing." Belding's name was on the girl's lips but at the moment +Belding did not fit and she went on evenly, "It is something like the +rapids." + +"I'm glad you think that. It's the response that one gets." + +"That's what I feel. You're an American, aren't you?" + +"Yes." + +"I thought so. You see your people are more responsive than we are, +and you don't seem so ashamed of enthusiasm." + +"We can't help it, but it's a little awkward sometimes," his eyes +twinkled, "that is in Canada. Now talk about yourself." + +"There's so little to say. I was asleep for years like every one else +in St. Marys, till you came and woke us all up. + +"And then?" + +"I realized that life was rather thin and that I wanted a lot of things +I'll never get." + +"Why never,--and what do you want?" + +"To be part of something bigger than myself," said the girl very slowly. + +Clark felt an answering throb. That was what he had felt and wanted +and achieved. + +"To feel what the world feels and know something of what the world +knows," she added intensely. "I want to work." + +"That sounds strenuous." + +She flushed a little. "Won't you take me seriously?" + +"I beg your pardon. As a matter of fact I've always taken you +seriously." + +"Have you, why?" + +"Perhaps because I don't know anything about your sex," he answered +teasingly. "I never had time,--they're sealed books to me." + +"So this is your first exploring trip?" + +"The very first,--and it's not at all what I expected." + +A question moved in Elsie's eyes but she did not speak. Clark, taking +in the supple grace of her figure and expanding to the candor of her +spirit, wondered if now, at the apex of his labors, the color of his +future life was being evolved by this girl who was as free and +untainted as the winds of Superior. He had at times attempted +friendships of another kind and found them unsatisfying and pondered +whether this might not be the human solution of that loneliness which +he had admitted to her, months before, was only so far assuaged by +driving himself to the uttermost. Then her voice came in again. + +"It was so queer meeting you here, just as if the voice of the rapids +had carried a hundred miles. I always associate you with the rapids." + +"But they'll go on forever, and I won't." + +"You're doing something better than that," she said swiftly. + +He laid down his paddle. "I'd like very much to know just what my new +friend means." + +"You're touching the hidden springs of things that will go on forever." +Elsie's voice was vibrant with feeling. "That's the difference between +you and other men I know. You're in the secret." + +Clark drew a long breath. "When did you decide that, and why?" + +"When I heard about your speech that first night. I was only seventeen +then but I felt almost as if you'd told me the secret. So I've +followed all you've accomplished since, and I would give anything to +have done just the littlest part of it." + +"So it's just a matter of recognizing one's destiny and following it?" +he said curiously. + +"Just that." Complete conviction was in her tones. + +"Then, for the first time in my life, I'm wondering what destiny has in +store for the immediate future," he said with a long stare of his gray +eyes, and in them was that which set her heart throbbing. + +"You must go to-morrow?" she ventured. Could such wonderful moments +ever be repeated? + +"Yes, at sunrise, and I'll be at the works at noon. Do you know that +you've done a lot for me? It's a selfish remark, but it's true, and +may we have another talk when you get back?" + +Her lips trembled, and Clark, gazing at her, felt an intense yearning. +She was very beautiful and very understanding. Then again he +hesitated. There were things, many things, he had in mind to arrange +before he spoke. A few weeks would make no difference, but only +prolong those delightful and undecipherable sensations to which he now +yielded luxuriously. If this was love, he had never known love before. + +The sun's red orb was thrusting up over the glassy lake when, next +morning, the big tug with a slow thudding of her propeller, moved from +her anchorage. At Clark's orders they passed on down the channel, and +just where the lake began to broaden was a cluster of white tents. Two +Indians were warming their fingers at a rekindled fire. Clark stared +hard, and lifted his hat. + +One of the tent flaps had been opened, and a girl stood against a snowy +background, her hair hanging loose. As the tug drew abreast she waved +good-by, and, for another mile, till he swung round the next point, he +could see the slim figure and its farewell salutation. There was +something mystical about it all. The girl vanished abruptly behind a +screen of trees, the propeller revolved more rapidly, and the sharp +swish of cleft water deepened at the high, straight bow. + +He stood for a long time immersed in profound thought, and oblivious of +the keen air of early morning. Never before had he found it hard to go +back to duty. + +Six hours later the tug swept into the St. Marys River, and three miles +ahead lay the works, the vast square-topped buildings rising, it +seemed, out of the placid waters of the bay. He drew a long breath and +emerged from fairyland. Had he created all this? Yet it was not more +real than something he had just left and had also created. + + + + +XVIII.--MATTERS FINANCIAL + +The young manager of the local bank through which Clark transacted his +affairs sat late one night in his office. He had just returned from +dinner at the big house, where he left his host in an unusually genial +and communicative mood. It seemed that Clark's mind, tightened with +the continued strain of years, had wished to slacken itself in an hour +or two of utter candor, and Brewster had listened with full +consciousness that this was an occasion which might never be repeated. +But in his small cubicle, walled in with opaque glass, Clark's magnetic +accents appeared to dwindle before the inexorable character of the +statement Brewster now scrutinized. It was the detailed and financial +history of each successive company, a history in which birth and bones +and articulation were clearly set forth, and what struck the young man +most forcibly was the extraordinary way in which each was interlinked +with the rest. The combined capital of all was, he noted, twenty-seven +million dollars, and greater than that yet reached by the Canadian +Pacific Railway. Brewster had known it before, but the bald and +cumulative figures in front of him made the fact the more momentous. + +Probing still deeper, it became apparent that while the pulp mills made +steady profits, these were so adjusted as to form but one link in a +chain. In all there were some ten companies, each drawing from the +others its business and its surplus. Clark had not been far wrong when +he reflected that he might be asking one dollar to do too much, and now +the sharp brain of the young manager was coming to the same conclusion. +Behind his office building passed Clark's steamships, for there was a +transportation company, and into the wilderness Clark's trains plunged +with unfailing regularity. Up at the works the blast furnaces were +vomiting flame and smoke, and the rail mill was nearly completed. +Baudette was sending down train loads and rafts of wood, and at the +iron mine dynamite was lifting thousands of tons of ore. The entire +aggregation of effort and expenditure had been so systematically +interwoven that Brewster there and then decided that if one link in the +chain should part, the whole fabric of the thing would dissolve. It +was true that he made no advances without authority from his +headquarters, but he had long been aware that Clark's was the largest +commercial account in Canada and, he reflected gravely, it all went +through his own office. Two days later he reached Toronto, and asked +audience of his general manager. + +Now since this record is partly that of the relative standing of +different individuals in the development of a little known district, +consider Brewster in consultation with Thorpe, the general manager of +his great bank. Brewster was young, active, in close touch with Clark +and his enterprises, enthusiastic, yet touched with a certain power of +quick and ruthless decision. He had been interested and even thrilled +by the doings at St. Marys, but he had never yielded himself completely +to Clark's mesmeric influence. Thorpe, a much older man and of noted +executive ability, was one of those who by that noted address at the +Board of Trade had been rooted out of long standing indifference and +imbued with surprised confidence, and this translation, so rapid in its +movements, still survived. In consequence, he listened to the younger +man with a thinly veiled incredulity. + +"I can't quite see it," he said thoughtfully, "even from your own +account. It's probably the proportions of the thing that makes you +anxious." + +Brewster shook his head. "No, it isn't that. There's a big power +house on the American side and it didn't earn a cent for a year, +something wrong with the foundations, though it's all right now. +There's the sulphur extraction plant that doesn't extract sulphur, +and--" + +"What?" interrupted Thorpe. He, like others, had read of the new +process with keen interest, and was anxious to learn details. + +"It worked in the laboratory but not on a commercial basis. Belding, +the chief engineer, is all cut up about it. Consequence is Clark is +buying sulphur, and just now pulp prices are so low he's not making +anything out of it." + +"Have you seen Wimperley lately?" + +"He was up with Birch a week or so ago." + +"Say anything particular?" + +Brewster smiled reflectively. "He didn't seem to want to talk." + +"What are the obligations?" asked Thorpe after a little pause. + +"Of all companies?" + +"Of course." + +"About two millions as nearly as I can get at them." + +"And to us?" + +Brewster handed over a slip of paper. "This is a copy of what I +forwarded yesterday." + +The older man's brows cleared a little. The combined overdraft was +just over a hundred thousand, against which the bank held Philadelphia +acceptances which he knew would be met. He glanced over the statement +again. + +"You've looked after this extremely well. Now what do you want me to +do?" + +Brewster drew a long breath. "I don't want you to take my word for +anything, but come up and see for yourself. Go into the woods and up +to the mines and through the entire works--then come to your own +conclusions. It may be I'm too near the thing to get the right +perspective, but I give it to you as I see it." + +Thorpe nodded. "I know you have and your branch has done extremely +well." + +"Thanks." Brewster laughed. "That's due to the man we're talking +about." + +"And supposing," put in Thorpe thoughtfully, "supposing the whole thing +were to go smash! What would you say?" + +The other man's eyes rounded a little. "I'd say," he answered slowly, +"that even in that case the entire district would be in Clark's debt." + +"Yes?" + +"Because they know what's in the country now and how to get it out--and +they never knew that before." + +"And the immediate future--what do you see that depends on?" + +"Steel rails," said Brewster with conviction. "Will you come up?" + +Thorpe did go up, and Clark, who knew that Brewster had been in Toronto +and conceived why, met them both at the works with a genuine welcome. +He felt, nevertheless, that his undertakings were to be analyzed with +cold deliberation. + +At the end of two days Thorpe had seen them all--had peered into the +gray black bowels of the iron mine, watched Baudette denuding the +slopes of a multitude of hills--seen the stamps in the gold mill +hammering out the precious particles that were caught by great +quicksilver plates,--seen booms and train loads of pulp on their way to +St. Marys--seen the white spruce shaven of its brown bark and ground +and sheeted and loaded into the gaping holds of Clark's +steamships--seen the blast furnaces vomit their molten metal--seen the +rhythmic pumps and dynamos send water and light through every artery of +the young city--seen the veneer mills ripping out flexible miles of +their satiny wood--seen the power house on the American side making +carbide to the low rumble of thousands of horsepower, and seen the +electric railway that linked Ironville with St. Marys. And all the +time Clark had put forward neither arguments in his own favor nor any +request for credit, but only allowed these things to speak for +themselves, till, as the aggregate became more and more rounded and the +picture more complete, Thorpe perceived that here was something which +initiated by an extraordinary brain had now grown to such vast +proportions that it supplied its own momentum, and must of necessity +move on to its appointed and final result. + +But Clark did not distinguish in either Thorpe or Brewster any +determining factor of his future. They would do what they were meant +to do, and play the game as the master of the game decided. They might +modify, but they would never create. His mind was pitched so far ahead +that it was beside the mark to attempt to influence men who, he +conceived, were not themselves endowed with any prophetic vision. He +had to deal with them and he dealt with them, and though he wondered +mutely at their abiding sense of the present and their apparent lack of +faith in the inevitable future, he descended from the heights of his +own imagination and parleyed in the bald and merciless language of +strictly commercial affairs. + +It was at the end of his visit that Thorpe asked about the sulphur +plant. + +Clark glanced at him curiously. The sulphur plant was so small a +fraction of the whole. + +"There's a certain step in the process we have not perfected--that's +all. You don't believe in economic waste, do you?" + +"No, certainly not--if avoidable." + +"Well, I'm satisfied that this is avoidable. It is just as much a +mistake to allow water to run away when it might be grinding pulp, as +it is to drive sulphur into the air instead of catching and selling it. +You pollute the air, you kill the trees, you spend a lot of money, and +you waste the sulphur. Nature has a lot of processes up her sleeve +we've not realized as yet. This is one of them." + +"Then this plant is a mistake?" Thorpe got it out with some hesitation. + +Clark laughed. "Some of it--so far. I make plenty of mistakes, don't +you? It seems to me it's the proportion his mistakes bear to the +things that succeed which determines a man's usefulness. I don't +believe in the one who doesn't make them." + +Thorpe grinned in spite of himself. "Perhaps you're right--but I'll be +glad to know as soon as you're rolling rails. When do you expect that?" + +"In six months at the latest. I'll send you a section of the first +one." + +The banker drove toward the station in unaccustomed silence. Presently +he turned to Brewster. "You were right and, by George! Clark is right +too, but we must not get our mutual rectitude mixed up. He's got to go +ahead, come what may, and we've got to help him all we reasonably can, +but with us our shareholders come before his. That's the point. He +may turn out to be a private liability, but in any case he's a national +asset. I want a bit of that first rail. Good-by!" + +And Clark, after waving farewell at the big gates of the works, had +gone into the rail mill and stood in the shadow in deep contemplation. +He glanced at the massive flywheel, the great dominant dynamo and the +huge, inflexible rolls. At one end were the heating furnaces, their +doors open, and gentle fires glowing softly within to slowly raise the +temperature of newly set brick. Around him was the swing of work +directed by skilled brains, and machinery moved slowly into its +appointed place of service. It was a good mill, he reflected, for a +second hand mill. For all of this the place was dead--awaiting the +pulse of power and the unremitting supply of incandescent metal. +Glancing keenly about, he experienced again that strange sound as +though between his temples, and suddenly he felt tired. The thing was +good, very good. But he too wanted to see the lambent metal spewed +from between the shining rolls. + +It was a notable day in St. Marys when the first rail was actually +rolled, and symbolical to many people of many different things. +Infection spread from the words to the town, till all morning there was +a trickling stream of humanity that filed in at the big gates and moved +on toward the dull roar of the mill. Even though the mass of folk in +St. Marys still failed to grasp the full significance of the event, +they saw in it that which put their one time Arcadia beside Pittsburg, +and invested their own persons with a new sense of importance. + +Clark, watching the fruition of a seven year dream, felt thrilled as +never before. Here, in this heat and mechanical tumult, was being +forged the last link in the chain into which he had hammered his entire +strength and spirit. It was a good thing, he reflected, to make pulp +and ship it on his own steamships, but this was the biggest, deepest +and most enduring thing of all. Some men at such a moment would have +felt humble, but he recognized only the unfolding of an elemental drama +in which he played his own particular role. A few weeks later he +closed a contract with a great railway company for a million dollars' +worth of his new product, which he unhesitatingly guaranteed would live +up to the most exacting specifications. + +The new plant had settled down to the steady drive of work when the +mayor of St. Marys, walking up the street in a mood of peculiar +satisfaction, saw just ahead of him the bulky form of the chief +constable. He stepped a little faster and laid a detaining hand on the +broad shoulder. + +"Arrest yourself for a minute," he chuckled. "How's our town pessimist +feeling this fine morning?" + +Manson glanced sideways. "I suppose you want to rub it in. Well, I +don't know that my opinions have changed very much." + +"Takes more than a few thousand tons of rails to move you, eh? But +isn't Mahomet going to come to the mountain at last?" + +Manson shook his head. + +"If he doesn't the mountain will come to Mahomet--and crush him," +continued Filmer gayly, then, his mood changing, "but honestly, old +man, why don't you drop your gloomy views? You've an excellent chance +right now, and, besides, they're getting rather amusing." + +"I've a right to my own opinions." + +"Naturally, we all have, but you don't act up to them--at least you +didn't." + +Manson glowered at him with quick suspicion. "What's that?" + +"Your left hand knows what your right hand doeth--every time,--at least +it's so in St. Marys. You're too big to get under a bushel basket. +Every one saw that you were dabbling in real estate for years, and made +a good clean up, but you seemed so darned ashamed of it that no one +cared to discuss it with you. And all the time you were our prize +package disbeliever. What's the use? It's your own affair, but why +don't you make a lightning change like the man in the circus last week? +Your friends would welcome it. You're not the man we used to know." + +"If it's my own affair," came back Manson with growing resentment, "why +not leave it at that? Did you never make any money out of a thing you +didn't believe in?" + +"Yes," said Filmer slowly, "I have, but after that I believed in it, +and said so. It was only fair to the fellow behind it." + +Manson went stolidly back to his square stone office, where he took out +his broker's statement for the previous month and stared at it +silently. Already he knew the figures by heart. Another two point +rise in Consolidated stock and he would realize his net profit of one +hundred thousand dollars. He ran over his own scribbled figures on the +back of the statement, as he had gone over them many times before. +They were quite right. For weeks past his selling order had been in, +been acknowledged, and now at any moment the thing might be done. It +might even have already been done. The blood rushed to his head at the +thought. How many other chief constables, he wondered, had amassed +fortunes from behind their forbidding gray stone walls? Then he +thought of his wife and children, and his eyes softened, while the +broker's statement in his big hand trembled ever so slightly. He +smiled at that, and it came to his mind that perhaps statements in +other men's hands sometimes trembled at the thought of their wives and +children and the fortunes that--and here Manson felt vaguely +uncomfortable and, getting up, slowly locked his desk. + +Just at that moment, Filmer, who had returned to his office, was +sitting staring at a half-section of steel rail that lay in his hand. +It was smooth and highly polished, a thin slice of the very first +product of Clark's last and greatest undertaking. He experienced a +quite extraordinary sensation at feeling the thing, and it snatched his +mind back seven years till again in the Town Hall he heard a magnetic +voice assuring the citizens that the town lacked just three +essentials--experience, money and imagination, and that the speaker +would supply them all. It was a far cry from that evening to the deep +drone of the rail mill, and Filmer, detaching himself from the picture +in which he formed a part, began now to perceive its dramatic vitality. +Were Clark taken out the whole thing seemed to fall to pieces. + +And up at the See House, the bishop was examining just such another +section of rail, while the gold of his episcopal ring shone beside the +gray of steel. To him it meant many things, but chiefly it was +prophetic of that which would soon put an end to the detachment and +loneliness of the scattered communities to which he ministered. +Holding the thing thus, his heart went out to Clark, and he yearned +with a great longing over the spirit of this man who so reveled in the +joy of creation. His eyes wandered to the Evangeline. She lay at +anchor just off shore. A thin film of smoke slid from her funnel, and +he could see the Indian pilot swabbing down her smooth teak decks. +Then, in sudden impulse, he smiled and, laying the rail section on top +of a half finished sermon, wrote a short note, and, calling his man +servant, instructed him to wait for an answer. + +A little later the note reached Clark in his office, where he sat +motionless under the sway of a slight reaction. At the moment he did +not want to work. He was continuously conscious of ribbons of red hot +rails that streamed like fluted snakes from under the gigantic rolls, +and they seemed to be boring their way into his brain. He had shipped +thousands of tons to the railway company and there were thousands more +to go. In a week or so he would get a formal acceptance of his +product, and then-- He stretched himself a little wearily and pressed +his eyes till a red and compelling blur brought its transient solace. +And just then his secretary came in with the bishop's note. + + +Dear Mr. Clark: + +I am off this afternoon for a five day cruise of visits amongst the +islands of Lake Huron. Won't you come with me? I know it would be +good for me and think it might give you what I'm sure is a much needed +rest. My Mercury, I mean the hired man, awaits your answer. + +Yours faithfully, + JAMES, ALGOMA. + +P. S. I never attempt to proselytize my guests. + + +For a moment he puzzled over the signature, and finally made out that +it was the bishop's Christian name followed by that of his diocese, for +this was the first letter he had received from the prelate. Then he +felt a sudden throb of impulse. He had a natural liking for the bishop +and this, with his insatiable appetite for new experiences, prompted an +acceptance. He touched the bell, and his secretary reappeared. + +"I am going away for five days," he paused, adding with a smile--"on +missionary work. I haven't any idea where we are going and don't want +to be disturbed. I'll be back before we receive the results of the +United Railway Company's tests. That's all." + +It was mid-afternoon when the Evangeline, gliding smoothly over the +polished surface of the bay, drew in towards the Consolidated dock, and +Clark, watching from the shadow of a mountain of bales of pulp +assembled for shipment, saw the Indian pilot amidship at the wheel and +the bishop, in a big, coarse, straw hat, standing in the slim bow, a +coil of rope in his hands and a broad smile on his big sunburnt face. + +"Catch!" The bight of the rope whistled through the air and struck +smartly at his guest's feet. + +The latter laughed, picked it up and made fast. It struck him suddenly +that it was curious the bishop should be throwing him a rope. Then he +reflected that it was the bishop and not himself who needed help. + +The former was very gay, his kindly face alight with amusement and +anticipation. Presently came a throb from the engine room, and the +Evangeline sheered off down the river, past the new St. Marys where +staring red brick buildings shouldered up out of the old time houses, +past the See Mouse, while a flag fluttered jerkily down from the tall +mast at whose top it flew when the bishop was at home, past the +American side, where Clark's big power house stretched its gray length +at the edge of the river, and on till they came to the long point that +closes the upper reach, and just then both men turned and looked up +stream at the vanishing bulk of the huge structures beside the rapids, +and the flat line of tremulous foam that marked the rapids themselves. +The voice of them was, at this distance, mute. + +The yacht glided on and still neither spoke, Clark was full of the +thought that, for the second time in seven years, he had deliberately +left his work. Four hours ago the thing would have seemed grotesque, +but glancing at the bishop's broad back, he realized that here was a +friendly interceptor to whom he had been wise to yield. The miles slid +smoothly by, and still neither talked. Each was busy with the +contented reflection that in the other he had found one who possessed +the gift of understanding silence. + +The Evangeline rested that evening not far from where Clark had +anchored so recently. He sat motionless, breathing in the welcome +benison of the spot, till the Indian pilot put out port and starboard +lamps whose soft red and green shone steadily into the gathering dusk. + +"Is there a mission here?" asked the visitor presently. + +"No, but there's the best bass fishing in Lake Huron," grunted the +bishop placidly, already busy with rods and bait. "The mission is ten +miles on. Now we're going to catch our breakfast--there's an excellent +spot just opposite that big cedar." + +Clark had not fished much, but he loved it, like most men of intellect, +and discovered that he had been steered straight into the best fishing +he had ever known. They were small mouthed bass, deep of belly and +high of back, and they fought in the brown water over the twitching +minnows that dangled from the Evangeline bow and stern. + +"I'm glad you came." The bishop smoothed down the spines of a big +three pounder ere he gripped it. + +"Best thing I ever did. Fishing is a clerical pursuit, isn't it?" + +The bishop nodded without turning his head. "Yes, but it's not always +for money. We have to bait our hooks according to the season of men's +minds. By the way, some of my best friends are in your country." + +"Yes?" + +"Had a church in Chicago for ten years,--there at the time of the great +fire--it stopped a few blocks from my house. I had to marry a devoted +couple a day or two later and the wedding fee was a bunch of candles. +Glad to get them; whole city in darkness and it seemed suitable that +the parson's house should reflect light. You remind me of one of my +friends at that time." + +"Why and how?" said Clark. He knew so little of himself as appearing +in other people's minds. + +"This man was a big Chicago importer--look out, you've got another +bass--and he was in New York at the time of the fire--heard his +warehouses were threatened and bought trainloads of stuff and rushed it +through. It arrived while the other stuff was still smoking, and he +made much more than he-- My dear sir, that's the best fish of the +evening, let me look at him." + +Clark laid the twitching body of a bass on the teak deck, while the big +man came aft, trailing his bait and slowly reeling up his line. As the +minnow glimmered in towards the yacht's black side, there came a heavy +plunge, the bishop's rod bent double, and the line sang off his reel. +He was a famous fisherman, and Clark watched him admiringly. To every +ounce of pliant bamboo on his six ounce rod there was, down in the +brown water, a pound of savagely fighting weight. Deeper went the big +fish and further, but ever the taut line yielded by fractions, and the +nearly doubled rod kept up a steady insidious strain. As the bass +dashed back, the bishop recovered his nearly spent line while his lips +pressed tight and the light of battle shone in his large eyes. For a +quarter of an hour the fight lasted, till the great fish floundered +once or twice with heavy weariness on the surface, and the angler +worked him toward the yacht. Then a bare brown arm shot a landing net +underneath his horny shoulder and, with a dexterous twist, the Indian +pilot landed him on the deck in a thumping tangle of line, leader and +net. + +"And that," said the bishop with a deep sigh of content, "will do. +We've got supper and breakfast as well." + +The night deepened, and in the little saloon host and guest sat down to +a supper of fried fish, blueberries and cream. The small, red curtains +were drawn, and over the tiny fireplace a binnacle lamp glowed softly. +Forward in the bows, the Scotch engineer and the Indian pilot sat +conversing in deliberate monosyllables, and in the east a horned moon +floated just clear of the ragged tops of encircling pine trees. Clark +ate slowly and felt the burden slipping from his shoulders. It was a +strange sensation. Across the narrow table towered the bishop, the +genius of the place. He was still reminiscent of American experiences +and talked as talks a man who is comfortably sure of himself and his +companion. + +"I don't believe I have any very close personal friends," said Clark +presently. "I've moved about too quickly to make them. One meets +people in the way of work, and so far as my own employees are +concerned, I see them chiefly through their work. I can't let the +personal element intrude." + +The bishop smiled, remembering something similar he had said himself. +"Well, I must say I'm particularly drawn to Americans. Perhaps it's +because they suit the Irish, but I seem to find in them a certain +intellectual generosity one recognizes at once and appreciates. There +aren't so many fences to climb over. And, besides, they appear to +understand my cloth." + +"Yes?" Clark looked up, keenly interested. He had not thought much +about the clerical profession. + +"It's quite true. They realize that a parson is a man of like +predilections and impulses and weaknesses with themselves, and that a +cassock does not stifle the natural and healthy ambitions of the male +mammal. Nothing is more trying for the cleric than to be put aside as +though he were some emasculated ascetic who was unattracted by merely +natural things." + +"I hadn't thought of that." + +"Very few people have, except the cleric; and he thinks of it a good +deal. There is even the tendency to believe that the parson, because +he is a spiritually minded man, is incapable of horse sense in +practical and public affairs. By the way, don't you smoke?" + +Clark smiled and shook his head. "I've never wanted to." + +"I did once," chuckled the prelate. "It was a big, black cigar inside +a hedge about three miles out of Dublin. I've never smoked since. +Now, if I may go back to the clerical question, you'll probably realize +that a great many mistakes are made." + +"I hadn't thought much about that either." + +"Probably not, but it's without question that a good many parsons +realize in a year or so that they're not up to their job, especially if +it's a city congregation. The young and over enthusiastic rector +addressing a church full of shrewd, experienced men of affairs is often +in a grievous case. I've sat in the chancel and listened and writhed +myself. There's many a poor parson who would make a good engineer, and +he knows it." + +"Then why shouldn't he change over?" Clark was getting new avenues +opened for him in hitherto unexplored directions. + +"Because he's ashamed to, and the world has the habit of thinking that +the man who has once been a parson is not available for anything else. +Suppose one of my missionaries came to you for a job--what would +happen?" + +"I'd send him to you for a letter of recommendation and then put him to +work." + +"I believe you would, now, but not a month ago." + +"That's quite possible." + +"Well, you have no conception that envy may, and sometimes does, exist +in a black coated breast." + +"But why envy?" + +"Because devotion to one cause does not stifle natural aspirations in +another. For instance I've often longed for time to do some writing, +on my own account. One of my traveling preachers has invented a +railway switch and I know he dreams of it and makes sketches on the +margin of his sermons. No, my dear sir, the public has doubtless +classified us, and possibly correctly, but we are still fanciful, +and--" the bishop hesitated and broke off. + +"Go on, please." Clark's gray eyes were very penetrating and +understanding. + +"Possibly I've talked too much about the parson, but there's one thing +that is often denied him and he longs for it intensely--companionship +with his fellow men. The sacrifice of that one thing hurts more than +any other privation. And now that this one-sided symposium on the +parson must have taxed your good nature, let's go to bed. We lift +anchor at seven-thirty, and I go over the side at seven. There's +fifteen feet of water here and a sandy bottom, and if you like we'll +get a few more bass first. Good night! I think you'll find everything +you want in your cabin. Sleep well." + +A little later Clark stepped out on deck and breathed in the ineffable +serenity of the scene. A ray of moonlight lay along the inlet like a +silver line. As he went down to his cabin he noticed that the other's +door had swung open. Inside the bishop was kneeling by his narrow +bunk, his face buried in his hands, his broad shoulders bent forward in +prayer. Clark's breath came a little quickly at the strangeness of it +all and, moving on tip toe, he turned the handle softly. In his own +cabin, he lay for an hour staring out of the porthole at the dim world +beyond. He tried to think of the works, but they receded mysteriously +beyond the interlocking branches of the neighboring pines. They +seemed, somehow, less imposing than formerly, and Wimperley and +Stoughton and the rest of them were a long way off. There came to him +the lullulant lapping of water along the smooth black side of the +Evangeline. Presently he dropped into the abyss of sleep, dreamless +and profound. + + + + +XIX.--THE WEB OF LACHESIS + +The sun was shining level through the tree-tops when they began to +fish. In fifteen minutes the bishop called a halt, dipped a bucket of +water and washed his hands. Clark, still under the spell of this new +friendship, saw the great amethyst of the episcopal ring gleaming +softly amid the glint of fish scales, and dimly remembered the story of +the Man and the Galilean fisher folk whose catch was poor till He told +them where to cast. Presently the bishop stripped and went overboard +into the brown water with a clean schloop, where he was instantly +followed by his guest. + +Here they played like schoolboys, shouting and blowing in utter +physical abandonment, while the copper colored pilot stared at them +with expressionless eyes and wondered mutely why people wanted to get +so wet. + +The bishop was like an otter, swimming under water a long way to +reappear with a sharp whistle in an unexpected place. Soon the first +flush of Clark's enjoyment passed. He felt suddenly tired and turned +toward the Evangeline, where a small wooden ladder had been let down +just athwart the cabin cockpit. And in that instant he felt a sharp +and agonizing pain. + +"Help!" he called. "Help!!" A deadly stiffness was stealing from foot +to knee. + +The bishop heard, rolled over on his back and, treading water, saw +Clark's face. The lips were puffed out, the head bent back and he was +splashing desperately. + +"Hang on to it, I'm coming," roared the big man, and, laying his right +shoulder forward; began to tear through the water. Like a tug he came, +with a bubble of foam around his head, half his face submerged, his +powerful arms and legs working like pistons. Such was the power in him +that at each stroke his great body seemed to lift and fling itself +forward, and behind him broadened a long, diamond shaped ripple that +slid whispering to the shore. The next moment sounded a voice, as from +a long way off: + +"Put your arms straight out--rest your palms on my shoulders. When I +turn, trail your body and don't try to do anything. That's it." The +bishop was breathing hard, but not in any way distressed. + +They moved toward the yacht and Clark felt beneath his hands the +working of big, flexible muscles, and the buoyant surge of the +practiced swimmer who glides with the minimum of effort and resistance. +In five minutes he was scarifying his skin with a rough towel and +tingled with renewing circulation. + +"You saved my life that time," he said earnestly. + +The bishop pulled his shirt over his head. "Well, that's my business, +isn't it? and I fancy it's about the only thing I can do for a man like +you. Let's have some breakfast. I smell fish." + +Clark, in spite of his late experience, ate as he seldom ate, for there +were two things at which Indian Joe was a master--pilotage and cooking. +The visitor asked for more, silently deciding that his Japanese must +go, being no such artist as this. + +"You're using royal silver," said his host presently with a grin. "I +bought this boat from the agent of a certain august personage for whom +she had grown too small, and I got everything complete. She has a +bronze propeller and copper rivets. I've got the royal burgee too, and +fly it only on special occasions." + +The other man smiled and nodded. It did not somehow seem strange to +him to be using royal silver in a remote bay on Lake Huron. Something +about the bishop made it appropriate. Then they lifted anchor and the +Evangeline moved on under a climbing sun and over a laughing sea for +ten miles till she nosed into a creaking dock and made fast. Just +beyond was the settlement, from which the parson came hurrying down, +followed by others. Clark looked at him, a lean, overworked man, with +rusty clothes and joy in his face, and remembered for the first time in +his life that here was one fashioned in all ways like unto himself. + +"I'm off into the country to visit for a few hours," said the bishop, +introducing him. "You can come if you like, but it's not a good road, +and I would advise you to stay where you are. Joe will take you +fishing and there is plenty to read in the bookshelf. I can recommend +Henry Drummond or Marcus Aurelius. Good-by!" + +He drove off in a rattling buckboard, and the woods swallowed him. A +little crowd had gathered in the dock, glancing after the bishop and +then down at the slender deck of the Evangeline. The stranger looked +up at them, nodded and disappeared. Presently Joe stretched an awning +over the long boom of the main mast, and Clark sat in the shade +listening to the silence and surveying this isolated village. What, he +wondered, could keep people in so forgotten a community, with its +unpaved street, its straggling wooden houses, its background of +unbroken bush. There was no water power, no big timber, and, from the +look of the country, no mineral. He put the thought out of his mind +with luxurious deliberation and tried to decipher why a man like the +bishop should waste his time here when, without doubt, he could be a +shining light in a great city. After a little the reason became clear, +and, smiling to himself, he reached up for Marcus Aurelius. + +They supped that night at the parsonage, where they yielded to the +stark simplicity of new surroundings. The parson with his wife and +children regarded the bishop with their eyes in which love and +reverence were clearly mingled. At the stranger they looked a little +insecurely, for the bishop had, that afternoon, told who he was. They +had heard of him already, and in this remote village his person had +been invested with mysterious powers. He was a force of which they +read, rather than a living, breathing man, so that however he might try +to talk affably and communicably, he found himself hedged about with a +spiny growth of fame that the others made but little attempt to +penetrate. His garment of authority and influence was too great. He +was too big and didn't fit. + +Later came service in the bare, wooden church, and for the second time +he saw the prelate in robes of office. The sun was setting and its +level beams filled the tiny edifice with a softened glow. Overhead the +sky was like a benison, while the bishop spoke words of cheer and +strength that went straight to the hearts of his congregation. He +stood, as he always stood, in front of the chancel, a great figure in +white and scarlet, with a deep mellow voice that seemed to dissolve in +the hush of evening like a lingering caress. Clark, in his corner, sat +motionless, touched as he had seldom been touched before. He began to +see why the bishop spent his life in this wilderness. + +Service done, the Evangeline moved out over a sea that was sheer, flat +silver. Indian Joe sat motionless at the wheel, the spokes pressed +lightly against his polished palm. At the engine room hatch a +voiceless Scotchman smoked a contemplative pipe, and for the rest of it +there was only the muffled thud of the propeller, the subdued stroke of +the engine and the whisper of split water at the yacht's knifelike +stem. Clark did not speak. It seemed as the yacht slipped on, that he +was exploring, a kingdom in which the population and their ways were +hitherto unknown to him; a domain that was pathetic rather than +poor--and remote from his scheme of things. He had given this phase of +life no thought till the bishop introduced him to it, and was puzzled +that both men and women could be so deprived of the salt of life and +yet be apparently content. The bishop's voice broke his reverie. + +"Did you ever consider how much those with imagination owe to those who +have none?" + +Clark started a little, then shook his head. "No, I haven't." + +"Isn't it true?" + +"It may be--but I don't see what there is to create any obligation." + +"Well, you're discharging it every day. You create things primarily +for yourself, but actually what you do is to create opportunities for +others less endowed with imaginative power. And whatever may be the +ultimate scope or result of your work at St. Marys, that is the highest +service it will ever perform. And, by the way, my friends seemed a +little afraid of you at supper, though I assured them you were +perfectly harmless. Do you mind telling me if you got any impressions?" + +"About the events of the day?" + +"Partly. I'm wondering just what people like these suggest to a man of +your sort. Is it all very drab and uneventful?" + +"Well," said Clark thoughtfully, "it is something like that, isn't it?" + +"I thought so once, but that's just what I don't now admit, and urge +that this is a case where we should consider comparative values. +Satisfaction is not, after all, so much a matter of the size or quality +of the thing that satisfies, as it is of the individual who is affected +and his circumstances. Small joys go a long way on Manitoulin Island." + +"But are people who live like this not conscious of any deprivation?" + +"It's not so much that as it is wonder what it would be like to own +certain things or comforts. You don't find much envy in the bush +country, but you do find a lot of self-respect. I could tell you +things about some Indian friends of mine that would clear your mind, if +you happen to think that the only good Indian is a dead one. It seems +to me that life in the open, even though a great part of it is spent in +exposure and hardship, has certain spiritual compensations." + +Clark nodded. "Perhaps." + +"Put it this way; you deal with many kinds of men, but do you not +always feel better disposed toward a simple soul, say like our friend +Fisette, than toward some shrewd person who arms himself at every +conceivable point?" + +"Yes, I do." + +"Well, that's what I feel about my people. Most of them are unarmed +and they trust me, and anything I can do seems small in comparison to +that trust. You've got a trust too, my friend." + +Clark smiled. "That's what my directors lose no opportunity of telling +me." + +"But who or what is your Director?" asked the bishop, leaning forward +earnestly. "You needn't be anxious, I'm not going to sermonize. Your +Director is the same as mine, the great Force, call it what you will. +It drove me into the church and drove you to what you are, and our +first trust is to ourselves--you'll agree with me there--and with that +undischarged nothing else can be carried out. Just at this moment I +wish I were as competent for my job as you are for yours." + +"But, bishop, you're--" + +The big man raised his hand. "Not a word, for tonight I feel like +Browning's Bishop Blougram who 'rolled him out a mind long crumpled, +till creased consciousness lay smooth.' It does me good to rub out the +wrinkles occasionally. Now tell me, looking back at the last few years +in St. Marys, do you appreciate what you've done?" + +"I haven't had much time to look back," said Clark thoughtfully. "The +opportunity was there and I took it, then I was fortunate enough to +enlist the necessary support. Since that time the district seems to +have responded to every conceivable need, and we have been able to fall +in step with a natural scheme for developing natural resources, that's +all." + +The bishop shook his head. "Not quite: it's a great drama you're +enacting up there, with the rapids for a setting. They run through it +all, don't they?--the changeless, elemental background before which man +climbs up on the stage, makes his bow, enacts his part and gives place +to some one else. You are sending out multitudes of influences that +will never be determined or traced to their result. You once told me +that it all began when you overheard a conversation in a train." + +"Yes," Clark paused, then added with a laugh, "an example of the +importance of small things. You've made your point, bishop." + +"Thank you, but I've never been able to decide whether a thing is small +or not. Some of the things that you and I prize very highly may +actually be of small account." + +For a while Clark did not answer. Ever since coming on board the +Evangeline he had been conscious of a new atmosphere, tenanted by the +spirit of her master, and of a new language which, though its tones +were familiar, seemed to be the vehicle of a novel wisdom and +understanding. He was impressed with the utter candor of his host, but +chiefly with his superlative sympathy with all men. The visitor fell +under the influence of a benign nature which, intensely human in all +its attributes, proffered its solace to all alike. It was, he +concluded, the life function of the bishop to give himself in royal +abandonment. + +He did not often put himself in the place of other men, but that night, +after the Evangeline had slid into a moon spilt harbor amongst the +hills, and the bishop explained that he had come here because poor +people were apt to overtax themselves in entertaining, the visitor lay +on the cock pit cushions and stared long at the starry sky. Nothing +important was to be attached to this trip, and yet he felt it to be +momentous. He knew he would always remember it, and that the memory +would hereafter assert itself in unexpected moments. He admitted being +influenced by the bishop and yet felt equipped for all that he had to +do without any such influence. But there crept over him the slow +conception that life might unexpectedly change, and that under hitherto +unimagined conditions he might turn to these hours for the comfort of +remembrance. + +Three more days of missionary work and the Evangeline turned homeward, +Clark took the wheel for an hour, with the bishop beside him. + +"I hope," said the latter, "that the trip has been a success for you?" + +The amateur pilot gave an involuntary start. The question pitched his +mind forward to the works, and he realized that for five days he had +forgotten all about them. + +"It has been a very great pleasure to me," went on the prelate quietly. +"I'm apt to have too much broadcloth and not enough gray tweed in my +life. Most of us are in the same case, and one's love of one's work +does not suffer by an interest in other things." + +"My dear sir, I've benefited enormously. I'm a new man and ready for +anything--even the worst." How little did he dream that at that very +moment Lachesis was spinning her invisible web. + +"Ah! that's what we must always be ready for--or the best, which is +sometimes the same thing. Keep her to port a little." + +The yacht rounded a long point and came in sight of the works, while +Clark experienced a throb of thankfulness that his host had attempted +no missionary work on him. He was as good as his word. There had been +no proselytizing. + +As the vessel reached the dock, they said good-by, each ready to do his +job over again, and Clark, with his hand enveloped in the warm clasp, +realized much of the secret of the prelate's life, which was no secret +at all but just the benignity of a great and tender soul. He stepped +over the yacht's side and glanced at his secretary who advanced to meet +him with a telegram in his hand, noting that the young man's face was +pale and his eyes unusually brilliant. + +"This came an hour ago, sir." + +With an impatient gesture he opened the folded sheet and read, his +heart slowly contracting: + + +Regret unable to accept first cargo of rails being five thousand tons. +These not up to your guarantee and our specifications. Full +information this mail with the result of physical and chemical tests. + +UNITED RAILWAY COMPANY. + + +Involuntarily he raised his head. The yacht was backing out, and the +bishop, coiling a rope in her bows, straightened up to wave farewell. +Automatically Clark waved back, then, with the telegram crumpled in his +palm, turned and walked slowly toward his office. Something the bishop +had said began to sing in his brain. Could the best and the worst ever +be the same thing? + + + + +XX.--THE CAR OF PROGRESS HALTS + +The paralyzing news had lain in the faithful keeping of a confidential +operator and the white faced secretary who had guarded it jealously. +The latter followed to the private office. When the door was closed in +his face, he went to his own desk and sat blindly at his letters. +Clark stood at a big window that commanded the rapids. Deep lines were +furrowed suddenly on his face, and his eyes were like sunken bits of +cold, gray steel. He felt the gentle vibration of the mills, and +through it pierced the words of the telegram like a thin sharp voice +that would not be denied. It was fully an hour later that his call +sounded for the secretary. + +"The rail mill will be closed shortly for temporary alteration. If you +are asked anything about it--and you will be--that is all you know. +This means that the furnaces must be blown down. I don't anticipate +any serious delay. You will repeat this telegram to Philadelphia, and +add that I will report more fully in the next twenty-four hours. +There's just one thing more. A good deal of importance will attach to +your manner and attitude for the next few days. That's all." + +The young man nodded, finding it difficult to speak. There was nothing +unusual about his leader, except that the eyes were a little more deep +set, the voice a shade harder. + +A few moments later, Clark stood in the rail mill watching the titanic +rolls spew out ribbons of glowing steel. It came over him in a +sickening flood that the whole giant undertaking was useless, and +instead of the supreme delight he experienced a few months before there +was now but a huge mechanical travesty that flouted the unremitting +strain and effort of years. He was defacing the everlasting hills with +dynamite to make something the commercial world did not want. A surge +of protest overcame his spirit, followed by a cynical contempt for the +futility of the best efforts of man. Impatiently he walked up to the +superintendent of the mill. + +The latter touched a grimy hat. "We're on the last ten thousand tons +for the United," he said with a note of pride--"the mill's running +fine." + +"It may be," snapped Clark acidly, "but shut it down. Your rails are +no good." + +The other man blinked at him. "Eh?" + +"Do what you're told," repeated Clark with the least shake in his +dominant voice. "The United doesn't want these rails, though some one +else will." + +Over the superintendent's sooty face crept a look of blank amazement. +"Shut down! why?" he floundered helplessly. "I can't, till this heat +is through, and there's nothing the matter with the rails." + +"Other people say there is, so get the heat through and obey orders." +Then, with sudden anger, "Is the job too big for you?" + +He turned away abruptly, passing the whirling flywheel, the ponderous +cylinders, the glowing ovens, while above him the traveling crane moved +like a whining monster across the blackened roof. He hastened, +desirous of getting out of the presence of these giants whom he had +assembled only in order that they might deride him with their massive +proportions. + +So on to the towering masses of the furnaces. Here he saw poured a +molten charge, and stood fascinated, as always, by the smooth and +deadly gleam of molten metal, till, curtly, the same orders were +issued. No further charges should be fed in before orders to that +effect. Then back to his office, where he cancelled shipments of coke, +and sent to the iron mine a curt word that stilled the boom of dynamite +and silenced the sharp chatter of the drills. + +Gradually through the works spread the chilling news. A slowly +thickening stream of Swedes, Poles and Hungarians filed out of the big +gates, and Ironville was, in mid-afternoon, populated with a puzzled +multitude that repaired automatically to the saloons. Through pulp +mills and machine shops, through power and pumping stations, the story +went, growing as rapidly as it spread. Time keepers heard it and +office clerks, and the crews of tugs and steamships that lay at the big +dock below the works. And while rumors were widening every minute, +there was a knock at Clark's door and, looking up, he saw the +comptroller who stood quietly, with a check for the week's payroll in +his hand. + +"How much?" The voice was admirably impersonal. + +"One hundred and ten thousand." The comptroller was a short fat man, +and at the moment quivering with suppressed excitement. + +The general manager scribbled his initials on the blue slip, handed it +back without a word, and did not even look up as the official went out. +A few minutes later he walked slowly through the pulp mill, stopping +here and there to speak to superintendents and workmen. The swishing +rasp of the great stones and the steady rumble of turbines brought him +a sense of comfort. He progressed deliberately, and with his usual +keen interest, so that, although hundreds of eyes followed him, not a +man could assume that anything had gone seriously wrong. It was an +hour in which he found and radiated confidence. Here, at least, was +the universal conclusion that all was as it should be. He was on the +bank of the power canal when his secretary approached again. + +"What is it this time?" + +"Hobbs is at the bank with the payroll check, and has just telephoned +up. I think you'd better speak to him, sir." + +Clark's lips pressed tight and his eyes opened a little. Retracing his +steps, he listened to an agitated voice. + +"Mr. Brewster states he has no authority to cash this check unless we +cover our overdraft. He would like to talk to you." + +"Let him." + +Again the receiver spoke, while Clark's face grew suddenly very grim. +"I think you'd better come up and see me," he said shortly. + +Then he listened. "Very well," he snapped. His features were like a +mask. "I'm going down to the bank," he went on dryly to the secretary, +"for the first time in his life Mr. Brewster is unable to leave his +office and come up to mine when invited." + +He drove into St. Marys followed by the glances of every man and woman +who caught sight of the erect figure. The town was full of confused +and conflicting rumors, but nothing had as yet crystallized. The +appearance of Clark in mid afternoon at the door of the bank, thickened +the air. It was known that people with whom he did business invariably +went to him. Not in years had he been to Brewster. But for all of +that he seemed as cheerful as usual, and took off his gray hat to Mrs. +Worden with accustomed and somewhat formal urbanity. Inside he found +Hobbs, his round, soft face looking unhealthily pallid, and Brewster +with his jaw stuck out, a determined expression on his young features. + +"Well, what's the trouble?" + +"Nothing very serious." Brewster spoke with a pleasant accent, but he +was confronting the most difficult hour of his life. "Just this check." + +"What about it?" + +"I can't make any further advances till your present acceptances are +met in Philadelphia. We have half a million of them." + +"That payroll has got to be disbursed." + +"I'm sorry, but I can't cash that check." + +The lines on the older man's face tightened and deepened. "Mr. +Brewster, we have spent some fifteen millions of capital through your +bank. This amount is too small to discuss. Do you realize that, if +you persist, the men will go unpaid for the first time in seven years?" + +"I'm sorry, but I can't help that." The young manager began to feel +more fortified. + +"Is this because there's a temporary interruption at the rail mill?" +said Clark bitterly. "You're assuming a big responsibility." + +"I regret that I can give no reasons, and am only doing what seems best +in the interest of the bank. If the acceptances are met,--and the +first falls due two weeks from to-day--our head office will probably +authorize a further advance, provided we are secured. Under the +circumstances your Philadelphia office should take care of this matter." + +"And this is your last word?" snapped Clark with emphasis. + +But Brewster had by this time completely pulled himself together. The +most trying moment was passed, and for once the mesmeric influence had +failed. He felt behind him the authority of Thorpe and his own +directors, and revolted at the thought of imperiling his own record. + +"You understand," came in Clark's voice, "what happens when men are not +paid--especially the type of many of our employees. The Swede and +Hungarian are apt to be ugly. Further--an unpaid payroll has a bad +effect on a company's securities, to say nothing of the effect on +business confidence in St. Marys. You have, of course, weighed all +this." + +Brewster's eyes were very grave and his face flushed. "I'm sorry, but +I'm doing what I take to be my duty," he said with a desperate effort. + +The older man's mood changed as though in a flash. "In that case I've +nothing more to say." He got up. "Come on, Hobbs, Mr. Brewster seems +immovable. We'll have to wire Philadelphia for the money." With that +he went briskly out. + +The banker looked after him in wonderment. The poignant instant was +over, and he pondered whether, after all, he had done right. His +cipher message sent to Toronto as soon as the news from the works +reached him, was still unanswered, but, he reflected, he had tried to +act on what he believed to be Thorpe's judgment as well as his own. +Should the telegram for which he waited not confirm his decision, there +was time enough to apprise Clark of the fact that night. And just then +the mayor entered the office and sat down, mopping his face. + +"What about it?" he demanded presently. + +"I don't know any more than you do--possibly not as much." + +"Well," said Filmer absently, "there's a lot going round. Some have it +the works are seized for debt, others that there's a mistake in the +rails, others that the Philadelphia directors have resigned. Anyway +half the thing seems to have stopped." + +"Not half of it, just the iron and steel section." + +"Yes, but that's the big end of the whole show. It was expected to +carry the burden." + +"It's still there, isn't it?" said Brewster fretfully. + +The mayor glanced at him quickly. Something in the voice suggested +that the bank was involved and that the thing was getting on Brewster's +nerves. "I hope you're all right," he answered evenly, "but I'm +carrying more stuff than I like to think of just now." + +He departed feeling quite obviously rather balked of his desire for +inside information. Just outside he met Dibbott. + +"I saw Mr. Clark just now," said the latter. "He doesn't seem at all +worried. Of course you've heard the news?" + +Filmer nodded. "Yes, and I've a feeling we're going to hear more +before long. Haven't got any Consolidated stock have you?" + +"Stock! Never owned a share in my life, but I've a good mind to sell +my place now while the price is up. Look at that, will you!" + +The street cars coming down from the works were bulging with the +population of Ironville, who had inconsequently decided to take the +holiday in St. Marys. Hundreds of them were dressed in Sunday best and +bent on an outing; big Slovaks and Poles whose horny fists gripped the +platform rail while they smoked cheap cigars with gaudy labels and +chattered volubly to each other. It was good to be out of Ironville. + +On the way down they passed Clark, and with boyish abandon waved their +hats in greeting, Clark smiled back and whirled on. The sight of them +provoked the question in his mind and brought it closer. What if these +men were not paid next week, as they were promised? Returning to his +office, he devoted himself to innumerable details affecting the iron +works. To shut them down was not so simple a thing as he anticipated. +They had acquired a momentum it was difficult to arrest. Then, wiring +in code to Philadelphia for his requirements in cash, he went up to the +big house on the hill and shut himself from all intruders. + +On the terrace, overlooking river and works, he walked ceaselessly up +and down, irritated but not alarmed. Some foreign substance had got +into the delicate wheels of progress, and the machine was for the +moment out of adjustment. From where he stood the works were visible, +and while he missed the long illumination of the rail mill and the +pyramidal flame of the converters, there still sparkled the pulp mill +with its long, lighted windows and the gleam of water in the tail race. +Twenty-four hours ago he was sitting on the deck of the Evangeline with +the genial bishop. Now he was very much alone. What would Wimperley +and the rest do in such an emergency? He had never seen them in a +corner. His reverie was interrupted by a message that Manson desired +to see him. + +"Riots?" said Clark to himself, then aloud, "Bring him here." + +The big man came up, extending a friendly hand. Clark had a curious +dislike for physical, personal contact, even of the slightest, but now +overcame it with difficulty and motioned his visitor to a chair. The +latter sat speechless. + +"Well, Mr. Manson?" Clark asked when the silence became too perceptible. + +"I came to ask you if there were any prospects of trouble at the +works," said the latter presently. He spoke jerkily, and in a note far +removed from the deep boom of his usual voice. + +"Why should you expect any trouble because pay day is postponed for a +week?" + +Manson lifted his heavy lids. "Is it only for a week?" + +Clark got up and paced the terrace, his head thrust forward, his hands +behind his back. There was that in the visitor's manner which puzzled +him. The evident agitation and discomfort, the anxious moving of the +thick arms, the constant shifting of the feet, all pointed to something +that struck deeper than the possibility of a riot. And Manson, he had +reason to know, was no coward. + +"I anticipate that it will be less than a week. How many men have you?" + +"Thirty, and myself." + +"We have twenty guards at the works, also, if need be, there's the +local militia." + +"Have you ever seen them?" said the chief constable contemptuously. + +"No, but the law is behind them and a certain amount of discipline," +then, his voice changing abruptly, "Mr. Manson, are you afraid?" + +The big man stared at him as though fascinated. His dark face began to +work convulsively in an obvious attempt to voice that which disturbed +him. Clark watched it all. + +"Well," he said with ill concealed impatience, "if it's not an +imaginary riot that's troubling you, I'll say good evening. I'm rather +busy at the moment." + +At that Manson half lifted himself out of his chair and leaned forward. +"It's the works," he whispered huskily, "are they all going to hell?" + +Clark stared at him in open astonishment. It was an absurd thing that +at this moment he should be subjected to a visit from a man who had +never believed in him, but who was now evidently torn by anxiety at the +thought of his failure. There came a swift and silent suggestion, but +the thing was too remote. + +"Mr. Manson," he said slowly, "you never took any stock in me or my +efforts, so why worry?" + +"But that's just what I did do," croaked the constable, reddening to +his temples. "I invested all I could and," he added dully, "I've got +it now." + +"Ah! so that's it?" + +"And I'd be grateful if you could tell me--" + +"So you said one thing and did another!" The tones were like a knife. +"Well, that's your privilege, and none of my affair, and," he concluded +curtly, "I don't care to discuss it. Good evening." + +But Manson was on his feet, too desperate to be denied. "It's not your +affair what I may have said or done? I'm a shareholder--a large one. +I've a right to come here and ask you a question. It's nothing +unreasonable--and you'll answer it." He stood over the smaller man, +dark and threatening. + +Clark laughed in his face, till, with that extraordinary perception +which so frequently cleft to the essential essence of things, he +perceived that there was that which was more important than the fact +that Manson had been speculating and would certainly be bitten. His +attitude in public was worth something--at any rate in St. Marys. +Known universally as a critic and pessimist, it would be notable if +now, in the time of crisis, he became a supporter. Manson as a +shareholder did not matter, but officially he did matter. Very swiftly +Clark ran over this in his mind, while the big man waited, no longer a +menace but only a straw borne by the flood which was the creation of +Clark's imagination. There was no doubt in the latter's mind as to the +ultimate solution of present difficulties. He still believed, as he +always believed, in himself, in the country and in his enterprise. So, +very deliberately, he began to talk. + +"You have asked me a very extraordinary question--that is from you--but +it appears," here the voice was a little sardonic, "that you had more +confidence in me than you admitted. Now you ask about the future. I +tell you that I never had more faith in the final outcome of affairs +than I have at this moment. There have been difficulties of which the +public knew nothing--and this is the only one which has become common +knowledge. Do you expect any one to build up a concern like this +without anxious moments? You know what St. Marys was seven years ago, +and I remember very distinctly your attitude toward myself. It has +taken seven years," here once more the voice was full of +contempt--"seven years and a crisis, to convert you. Speculators will +doubtless take advantage of this interruption, but I am confident that +long after you and I have passed on, steel rails will still be rolled +at the works. Good evening." + +Manson muttered something unintelligible, and moved off down the long +hill that led to St. Marys. For the first time in his life he believed +in Clark, believed in him in that hour when the faith of thousands was +being shaken. He had no conception what a pigmy unit he himself was in +the multitude who followed their remarkable leader. He had no grasp of +the fundamentals of which Clark confidently took hold in the time of +stress. He did not wonder who else was in like case with himself. He +only knew that this man had thrown him the end of a rope, and he +grasped at it with all the strength of his soul, and had no intentions +of loosening his hold. + +Later that evening he went in to see Filmer, whose office lights were +on, and here found Dibbott and Worden. The three were talking +earnestly, and as the broad figure loomed in the doorway Dibbott gave a +dry laugh. + +"Our pessimist's reputation is looking up. Have you come to crow?" + +Manson shook his head and told them very briefly of his visit. There +was no mention of his own speculation. "So after all, the thing is +probably all right," he concluded. "At any rate, Clark doesn't seem +worried, so why should we?" + +Filmer gave vent to a low whistle. "Hypnotized at last!" + +"No," said Manson, flushing, and went on to promulgate the reasons for +his hopes. The others said nothing, but he could see they were +impressed. Presently he went out on a midnight round of inspection, +and, as the door closed behind him, Worden nodded thoughtfully. + +"For the first time in seven years he seems reasonable in this +connection. After all, if we get off the handle it will be a mighty +bad example. How about it, Mr. Mayor?" + +"Well," said Filmer, caressing his glossy whiskers, "I always believed +in Clark and I guess I do now. If he were trying to make money for +himself out of this thing we'd know it, but he isn't. Gentlemen, the +judge is right--we've got to hold the town together." + +On the corner they met Bowers, the Company's solicitor, who was walking +slowly home smoking a peaceful cigar. + +"What's this?" he said, grinning. "Looks like old times to see you +three together." + +Filmer had a sudden thought. "Do any of you chaps remember what +anniversary this is?" + +The others searched their brains and gave it up. + +"Seven years ago to-night there was a certain notable meeting in the +town hall." + +"And now there's one in the corner. We've come down in the world," put +in Dibbott. + +"Possibly, but possibly not. I was just thinking of all that has +happened in seven years. It should prevent us from getting rattled." +The mayor turned to Bowers, "Seen Clark to-day?" + +"Haven't seen or heard of him for three days," answered the lawyer +shortly--then, because he wanted to avoid being pumped, "good +night--I'm for my blameless couch." + +They looked after him and at each other. "Seen Belding?" asked Dibbott +of the judge. + +"No, he's down in Chicago. I think he's buying machinery. Now it's +late and if I don't go home too, I'll get into trouble." He turned +towards the old house by the river, and halted a few steps off. "Good +night, you fellows, I feel better." + +Thus it came that while a brooding, gray eyed man paced his terrace +with his eyes fixed on the far white line of the rapids, whose call was +indistinguishable at this distance, there was spreading almost under +the shadow of the works a novel spirit of confidence in himself and his +vast enterprise. It was not till a sudden question arose, that St. +Marys realized the prodigious meaning of their new city and how +lavishly all Clark's promises had been redeemed. In the hour of +anxiety they leaned on him more than ever before. This new birth--this +upholding trust--was conceived at the very moment when Wimperley and +the others were gathered in harassed counsel, and through Philadelphia +and the surrounding state was broadening a dark cloud of rumor that +carried swift fear to thousands of hearts. But it was not fear that +came to the keen brain of Henry Marsham. + +By eleven that night Clark had heard nothing from his head office. The +strain became too great, and he went into a little room off the library +where an extension of the private wire had been carried up from the +works. There was once a time when he could send and receive in the +Morse code, so now he sat down and laid a somewhat uncertain finger on +the tilting key. + +"Phil -- Phil -- Phil." + +Instantly and to his surprise, came the reply. + +"Sma -- Sma -- Sma." + +"Is -- Wimp -- there?" The thing began to come a little easier. + +"Yes." + +"Tell -- Wimp -- I -- want -- answer -- funds -- for -- payroll." + +Clark got this off laboriously, conscious that however clear might be +the message, the wire was a poor transmitter as compared to eye and +voice. + +"Wimp -- says -- meeting -- going -- on -- now -- cannot -- act -- +before -- to-morrow -- Get that." + +"Yes," flashed the plunging reply. + +"Wimp -- waiting -- your -- report -- defect -- in -- rails." + +Clark's brows wrinkled and he bent over the key. + +"Cannot -- send -- report -- till -- several -- chemical -- anal -- +anal -- " + +"Yes -- analyses -- I -- get -- you -- are -- complete -- is -- that -- +it." + +"Yes." Clark breathed a sigh of relief. His brow was wet. + +"When -- will -- that -- be -- Wimp -- asks." + +"Three -- days." + +"Wimp -- says -- hurry -- up -- things -- shaky -- here -- expect -- +attack -- by -- bears -- have tried -- to -- place -- rails -- +elsewhere -- but -- not -- successful. Wimp -- says -- good night." + +Clark's eyes sparkled with anger and he hammered the key. There were +other things he wanted to say--and must say. But for all his repeated +calls there was only silence, till in an interval, while he rubbed his +throbbing fingers, the receiver began to tilt. + +"Wimp -- says -- good night --" it announced with metallic finality. + +He got up and stood staring at the thing for a moment, his face heavy +with anger, the group in Wimperley's office vividly before him. He +could see the cold features of Birch, sharpened by the tenseness of the +hour into a visage bloodless and inflexible, with thin tight lips and +narrow expressionless eyes. He could see Stoughton, red with +discomfort and resentment; Riggs' excited and anxious little face, and +Wimperley himself, cast with a new severity; all supremely conscious of +that which probably must be faced on the morrow. And what about +Marsham? Tottering was now their faith in the essential future of the +works and the great cycle of their operations. The wire had +transmitted their decisions, but over its yellow filament had also +trickled their apprehension. With a touch of cynicism he recalled the +congratulatory messages--the very first it had carried. + +He went out on the terrace again, seeking the black bulk of the rail +mill in the medley of structures down at the works. Presently he found +and scrutinized it. Somewhere in its gloom lurked an error, or else in +the great furnaces that shouldered nakedly into the moonlit air. With +a sudden sense of fatigue, he turned to his bedroom. + +"At any rate the chief constable is with me," he soliloquized +sardonically, "and that's something." + +In five minutes he was sleeping profoundly. + + + + +XXI.--THE CRASH + +Around the neck of every great industrial undertaking is hung a chain of +unlovely parasites, who fatten on the interruptions to its progress and +the fluctuations in its success. These men create nothing--contribute +nothing. Playing on the fears and hopes and untempered weakness of the +public, they reap where they do not sow and feed the speculative appetite +of millions. To them it is negligible whether good men go down or honest +effort is rewarded. Predatory by nature and unscrupulous in action, they +prey upon their fellows, and, like the wolf, are strangers to mercy and +compassion. Their wealth is not an asset to the world, because it +represents nothing they have originated, but only that which they have +filched from others less shrewd and unscrupulous. They do not hesitate +to magnify the false or to bring to ruin what they find most profitably +assailable. They have respect for neither genius nor labor, but juggle +with the efforts of both in a fierce game for gold. + +As the gong struck on the Philadelphia Exchange next morning, a well +known operator associated with Marsham's firm threw five thousand shares +of Consolidated on the market. It was taken at forty-eight, a loss of +two points, and in that first transaction the value of the entire +enterprise shrank by half a million. + +A moment later, Wimperley knew of it and sent for Birch, but Birch, who +had been just as speedily informed, was already on his way. He came in, +a little paler than usual. On his heels arrived Stoughton and Riggs. + +They were in the padded seclusion of the president's inner office, while +two blocks away swelled a storm, whose echoes only reached them in the +sharp staccato of the ticker in the corner as it vomited a strip of white +paper. Wimperley stood there, the strip slipping between his fingers, +while selling orders began to pour in to Philadelphia, and the price of +Consolidated crumbled like dust. He could visualize the scene on the +floor of the Exchange, the frenzy of men smitten with sudden fear, and +the deliberate cold-blooded action of others who lent their weight to +this downfall. Marsham was very busy. Greater grew the flood, with +sales of so great quantities of stock that they perceived the market was +going boldly short. Then came an avalanche of small holdings, till the +ticker announced that it had fallen behind the record of transactions and +that Consolidated was now offered at thirty-five with no bidders. This +was three-quarters of an hour after the Exchange opened. + +Stoughton and the others sat quite motionless. The thing was too big for +them to grasp at once, but they had a dull sense that the foundation +stones of their great pyramid were shifting, that the gigantic structures +at St. Marys were dissolving into something phantom-like and tenuous. At +this juncture a message was brought in from Clark. + + +Hear market is very weak. Please buy five thousand for me by way of +support. + + +Wimperley read and handed it silently to Riggs. The little man swallowed +a lump in his throat. "By God!" he said unsteadily, "but he's got sand, +no doubt about it." + +"What's that?" Stoughton demanded dully, and, reaching out, glanced at +the telegram. "Why throw Robert Fisher to the wolves? They're doing +well enough as it is," he grunted, and relapsed into a brooding silence. + +Then began to arrive inquiries from country banks and cancellations from +country subscribers. Wimperley read them out as they came in, and, well +informed though he was of the wide distribution of Consolidated stock, +experienced a slow amazement at the broad range of his followers. Their +messages were indignant, despairing, threatening and pathetic. He began +to wonder why he had accepted a responsibility which was now for the +first time unveiled in such startling proportions. Yesterday the +Consolidated was a name to conjure with. To-day it was an epitome of +human fear and desperation. + +Ten seconds before the noon gong struck on the Exchange, a frantic broker +lifted a bull like voice above the uproar. + +"Sell five thousand consol at thirty-two, thirty-two!" He bellowed it +out raucously. The selling order had been flashed from Toronto. + +"Taken at thirty-two," snapped Marsham's operator, who had opened the +perilous game that morning, and, smiling, jotted a note on his cuff. He +had made just eighty thousand dollars on that one transaction. The +market strengthened a little in the afternoon on short covering, the +matter of investment being thrown to the winds. Consolidated was now a +gambling counter, and the closing quotation stood at thirty-five. Former +values had shrunk by some eight millions. Gone was that laborious +upbuilding into which Clark and the rest had thrown their very souls; +overcast were the efforts of seven years. It was, to most people, a +question of what might be made of what was left. The works remained, +but, the public concluded, the iron and steel section, the heart of the +thing, was unsound. Such is the communicable essence of fear. + +At ten minutes after three the directors met to face a situation which +was, in all truth, serious enough. Philadelphia banks, smarting from +loans made on Consolidated stock, had declined further credit. The first +payment of a million dollars for steel rails was indefinitely deferred. +Creditors, galvanized by the events of the day, poured in ceaseless +demands that their accounts be liquidated, but moneys due the +Consolidated for pulp had been realized and diverted into the building of +railways and the construction of the rail mill. Birch, his face very +grave, ran over all this in a level monotone of a voice, while the rest +wearily admitted its truth, and in the middle of the rehearsal a message +was brought in from Clark. + + +Greatly regret events of to-day but am unshakenly confident for the +future, given sufficient time to remedy defect in rails which should not +take long. Chemical analyses show too high carbon and this can be +rectified. Now awaiting remittance for payroll. + + +Wimperley read it without a trace of accentuation, while Stoughton got up +and stared, as once before, at the sky line of Philadelphia. + +"Well," drawled Birch dryly, "we've heard from our prophet." + +"He's got more confidence in our future than we have in his past," put in +Riggs. + +Stoughton turned, "What about the payroll?" + +"If you have a million or so to spare, we'll send it up. There's more to +be met than the payroll." The voice was a trifle insulting, but +Stoughton did not notice it, and Birch went on. "There's just one thing +we can do, if we can't get money to run." + +"Well?" jerked out Riggs, "say it." + +"Shut down." + +Wimperley's long fingers were drumming the table. He did not fancy +himself as the president of a great company in whose works not a wheel +was turning. + +"I'd like to find some other way out of it. There's going to be hell to +pay here, but--" + +"Perhaps the ingenious gentleman at St. Marys could help out," said Birch +acidly. + +At that came a little silence and there appeared the vision of Clark in +his office, with his achievements dissolving before his eyes. + +"Robert Fisher is no financier," struck in Stoughton wearily. + +Wimperley smiled in spite of himself. "Perhaps not, but he mesmerized us +into that office. There's only one thing I can see--issue debentures +secured by first mortgage." + +"Who'll take 'em? We used up all our arguments long ago. Philadelphia +doesn't want a mortgage on Robert Fisher, and what about the Pennsylvania +farmer?" + +"What about him?" asked Wimperley pettishly. + +"As I know him, he's a bad loser--he works too hard for it. This is a +case of new money from outside, and I for one don't feel like doing any +traveling." + +"In other words we've demonstrated that whether or not by any fault of +ours, we've made a mess of it," said Stoughton with utter candor. + +"Something remarkably like it." + +"And when Clark told us, months ago, that he wouldn't draw any salary, +and that a lot of others were only drawing half salary to help out till +the rail mill got going, we should have made provision for possible +mistakes, and seen as well that we were getting in over our ears." + +"But Clark believed all he told us," piped Riggs with a flash of loyalty. + +"Of course he did, and he still does, and because he is still only twenty +years ahead of his time he's all the more dangerous." + +"Let's get back to this payroll," blurted Stoughton who was getting more +and more uncomfortable. + +"Fishing's pretty good up there, let him fish for it." The voice of +Birch was like ice. He was one of those who by nature are fitted for +cold and ruthless action in time of stress. Most of his money had been +made across the dissecting table of enterprises, and not at their birth. +He was a financial surgeon, but no midwife, and had only been magnetized +into his past support by the hypnotic personality of Clark. He was +grimly mindful that Marsham, after waiting for years for his opening, had +got more than even. Birch's cold mind now wondered for the first time +whether, after all, the cut throat game he had once loved to play was +worth the candle. Here was American credit and effort massacred by +American ruthlessness and revenge. Marsham had pounced upon a weak point +in the Consolidated's armor and pierced deep into the body corporate. He +had struck to kill. + +"And would you shut down the pulp mill--market's good now?" persisted +Stoughton. + +"I'd rivet the whole thing tight. The railway never paid,--at least +directly--that we could reckon. It's costing more to ship pulp on our +own boats than the rate at which we could ship by contract--and if they +are not going to bring back coke, why run them? Gentlemen, this means a +smash--an interval of anxiety, discomfort, loss of prestige, and--" + +"Go on, Elisha--" barked Riggs. "Oh, please go on!" + +"Prestige--and later reconstruction. In the meantime, we don't spend a +cent on running anything, and find out exactly what we owe. Then comes +new money, and," he added cynically, "a new bunch of directors." + +"And who will arrange that?" Riggs demanded abruptly. + +"One Robert Fisher Clark--if he has not lost all his power of magnetism." + +"Aren't you guessing a little too fast?" + +"No, it's quite possible. His argument will be that we didn't back him +to the necessary limit--that another million would have done it--and," +concluded Birch reflectively, "that may be perfectly true. But God knows +we did what we could. What's this one?" He glanced at Wimperley, who +was reading a telegram just brought in. + + +Waiting your remittance for payroll, necessary that this be provided +to-day, otherwise I anticipate serious disturbance here. It is advisable +that I do not come to Philadelphia just yet as my leaving here would be +wrongly interpreted. + +R.F.C. + + +There fell a moment's silence, instantly recognized by all four as the +precursor of grave events. Birch had spoken the thought that lurked in +all their minds. To continue running meant another payroll to be met. + +It now appeared suicidal to have stretched their resources to the limit +of their credit, but not one of them had remotely dreamed that a few +thousand tons of steel rails were to drag the whole structure to toppling +destruction. Birch, as usual, first pulled himself together. + +"It's put up or shut up, and we've got to tell Clark right now." + +Little Riggs sighed despondently. This meeting would soon be over and +the decision made, after which he would have to face a totally unexpected +set of conditions and a circle of friends and investors who would regard +him with close and uncomfortable interest. + +"Well, I suppose it's shut up!" he hazarded unsteadily. + +Birch looked inquiringly at the other two, who nodded without speaking, +then began to write. The rest did not even glance at each other, but +found absorption in walls and windows and the big map of poignant memory, +while the long, waxen fingers moved inexorably on. + +"What about this?" + +"'Under existing conditions and the impossibility of making immediate +financial arrangements for current needs directors decide best to close +down all work of every kind at once, giving notice that this will be only +temporary. You will report here as soon as in your judgment you can +wisely come down.' Is that all right?" + +Stoughton bit at his thumbnail and nodded. "I suppose so--and there'll +be hell to pay in St. Marys, eh, Wimperley? Our friend the chief +constable will be working over time. Remember the beggar? The damn fool +was right too." + +"Yes, it's all right," said Wimperley, "and now I suppose there'll be +writs and injunctions enough to fill the tailrace. We'd better get out +and arrange some support for the market. Birch, you compound a +comforting statement for the papers. We adjourn till tomorrow at +nine-thirty." + +They did adjourn, but lingered for an hour digging into the past seven +years. It was a talk such as one might expect under the circumstances. +Charged with an apprehension but thinly veiled by manner and speech, +events took on for them no perspective. They were too close at hand. +All this was so intimately their own and Clark's responsibility that +every other consideration became instantly submerged, and it was a matter +of living for the day, if not for the hour. Had any one at this time +told Wimperley or Stoughton that for a pace or two they had merely fallen +out of step in the march of progress, and that however depressing might +be the present aspect of affairs it did not really affect the preordained +outcome, they would have flouted the thought. It is not given to many +men to place themselves correctly in the general scheme of the world, and +to fairly estimate their own contribution. Thus it was that Wimperley +and his associates read on the screen of the present only the word +"failure," and were conscious chiefly of a certain self contempt for the +arduous part they had played. At the last moment success had been +snatched from their grasp. + +Stoughton walked slowly home. He was thinking of Manson, the pessimist, +who had been right. And such is the interlinking chain of life. Manson, +at this moment, was sitting in his office, while his mind harked +aimlessly back to the first time he had met the men from Philadelphia. +He stared at a telegram that trembled between his thick fingers. His +broad face was gray and ghastly. He had been here motionless for some +time, when a gentle knock sounded at the door and his wife came timidly +in. One glance at his face, and her arms were round his neck. + +"What is it, Peter?" she quavered. + +He did not look up but held the message so that she might read it. + + +Sold you out to-day on stop loss order at thirty-two margin being +exhausted. Farthing. + + +She read it wonderingly. "What does it mean; who is Farthing?" + +"My Toronto broker--or at least he was," said Manson heavily. + +"But I don't understand, dear." + +"Ho, I didn't suppose you would; it means I lose my hundred thousand, +that's all." + +"Had you a hundred thousand?" she whispered. + +"Very, very nearly, and now I haven't anything,--that is, I didn't make a +cent." + +She drew a long breath. "Peter, tell me just how we stand." + +"Exactly where we did the day a man named Clark came to St. Marys," he +said dully, "with not a cent more." + +There followed a little silence, and the tears began to roll down her +cheeks. He put his arm round her, and perceived, with astonishment, that +they were tears of happiness. + +"Peter dear," she said very softly, "you don't know how glad I am that +it's all over." + +"You mean the hundred thousand!" He stared at her blankly. + +"Yes, just that. I know you won't understand, but things have never been +the same for me since you began to try and make it. You were +different--everything was different." + +"But if I had made it you would have been glad." + +"Perhaps--I don't know. I'm rather afraid of a hundred thousand +dollars," she began to smile a little through her tears, "but now I feel +ten years younger. Is that what 'stop loss' means--you don't actually +lose anything?" + +"Nothing more than I have sent him in this case." + +"And you didn't send him my money--not that it's much." + +"Good God, Mary, no!" + +"Peter," she began gently, "you weren't happy all the time--I could tell +that. You were trying to do something you weren't made for--I could see +that too. You are very strong--but it isn't that kind of strength. +People like us can't do that kind of thing--we feel too much. We haven't +got much, but it represents a lot and our lives are in it, and this +hundred thousand dollars wouldn't have been that kind of money, would it?" + +"No, I suppose not." Manson felt the tumult in his breast subsiding. + +"I know you did it for me and the children, but we don't want you to +speculate for us. We just want you--as we used to have you. We have +enough of everything else, and we'll all be very happy again. Oh, my +dear, big, faithful husband." She slipped into his arms and put her head +on his great shoulder. + +And Manson, holding her to him, felt new springs of emotion unseal +themselves within him. The past few years had not been happy ones. As +his profits grew, he was conscious of the spectre of anxiety at his +elbow. It had been a simple thing to make a thousand and then ten and +then twenty, till, as he marched ever faster toward the siren call, he +perceived that he was no longer in his own country, but one in which the +landmarks were all changed. Now, with the throb of his wife's heart +against his own, he acknowledged defeat, but perhaps it was defeat of +that which was not himself. + +Presently the little woman stirred, brushed the tears from her cheeks, +and, smiling, kissed him tenderly. + +"I'm happier than I've been for years. Did you ever guess that people +here thought you were a rich man?" + +"No." + +"Well, they did, at least some of them, Mrs. Dibbott for one." + +"Then you can put Mrs. Dibbott right." + +"Will what has happened at the works make much difference here?" + +"Probably a good deal. I'm looking for trouble." + +"Up at Ironville?" she said anxiously. + +"But I'm good for it." He stretched his great arms, feeling strangely +free and fit for his duty. + +"What about Mr. Clark?" + +At this Manson grew suddenly thoughtful. Caught up in his own anxiety, +he had never considered Clark. The figure of the latter began to take on +strange proportions. What, he wondered, had Clark lost? Within twenty +hours of the time he maintained his unaltered belief, the bottom had +dropped out. Or, he queried, had Clark merely said this to prevent him +from throwing his stock on the market? He pondered over this, and +decided that five thousand shares were negligible amongst millions. Then +he felt his wife's inquiring glance. + +"I'm sorry for Clark, but I guess he's wise enough to take care of +himself." + +"I hope so. I've only spoken to him once, but I like him." + +She disappeared presently, leaving him busy with special instructions to +the police--in case of disturbance. She did not worry about that, being +chiefly conscious that a load was gone from her spirit. Singing softly +to herself, she went out with gladness in her eyes, and halfway to +Filmer's store encountered Mrs. Bowers. The latter looked pale and +tired. Bowers, for the past twenty-four hours, had been a much tried +man--and his wife reflected it. + +"Good evening," said the latter, "you look very fresh. How do you manage +it?" + +Mrs. Manson, suddenly recalled to earth, smiled gently. "I'm rather +happy to-day. I hope Mr. Bowers is not very anxious." + +"It's no use saying he isn't, but he doesn't talk about it. How's your +husband?" + +"Splendid." + +"Well, you're the only untroubled pair I've heard of to-day. My +husband's in a frightful temper because he didn't sell our land six +months ago. He says we'll never sell it now, but I'm just as glad. Is +the whole thing going to break up?" Mrs. Bowers swung her parasol toward +the rapids. + +"I--I don't really know anything about it," said the little woman with a +touch of nervousness from which she recovered instantly, then, smiling, +"perhaps I'll come over to-morrow." + +"Do, there's a heap to talk about, and smile like that just as long as +you can--the town needs it." + +She walked on, her mind very busy. Without question something excellent +had happened to the Mansons--and in a time like this! Manson was said to +be in the way of making a fortune, and now, she concluded, he had made +it. There was no other explanation for an expression like his wife's +when such grim rumors were abroad. A little later she told Mrs. Worden, +and both the judge and Bowers heard of it, and next day the story reached +a dozen houses in St. Marys. The constable, it was said, for all his +pessimism, had been sharper than Clark himself. + +But Manson was only a leaf picked up by the edge of the storm in which +Clark sat, its unapproachable center. The telegram compiled by Birch and +signed by Wimperley, as president, was on his desk, just as the secretary +had laid it before he went silently out, unable to meet the mystifying +glance of those gray eyes. Clark had never moved nor looked up, nor did +he till half an hour later, when he dictated a notice to be posted +throughout the works. "_All operations will temporarily cease this night +at six o'clock. Employees will be notified when to apply for their +wages, which will shortly be paid in full. The accounting staff will +remain at duty._" His voice was level and absolutely expressionless. +Then he went out, and, taking the broad trail to the rapids, seated +himself a few minutes later in a well remembered place. + +The moments lengthened into hours and still he did not move. The sun +showed its red disc through the lattice girders of the great bridge, and +touched the flashing waters into gold. It was seven years since he had +sat here first, and he looked expectantly about for the crested +kingfisher. The voice of the river seemed unusually loud, and there was +no drone from the works. He began to go over it all, but, desisting from +sheer inability, pitched his attention on the rapids. Here, at least, +was that which had no shadow of turning. Distinguishing the multitude of +notes that lifted their booming uproar, he yielded to the sensation that +he was in the midst of them, being carried to the sea. + +To-night they seemed relentless, but that again was the reflection of his +mood. If he was going down, Wimperley and the rest were going with him. +Finally he was able, at some command from this tumult, to disassociate +himself from the present and go back to the beginning. Retracing each +step, he decided that, were a parallel occasion to arise, he would do the +same again. He had listened to the voice of the hills and woods and +water, rather than to the voice of Philadelphia, and this, he ultimately +concluded, was right. There was no time to brood or forecast the future. +What his soul craved was to be persuaded that it was justified up to this +hour. Only thus could he find strength for that which was yet to come. + +Carrying his solitary reverie still further, he was assured that it would +be for him and him alone to find the way out. Wimperley and the others +were able men as far as they went, but just as they had always loitered +behind his imagination, so now would they be slow in deciphering the +riddle in store. He had brought them in, and it would be left for him to +bring others in also. Very easily he visualized what had taken place in +Philadelphia, and the group in Wimperley's office stood out quite +clearly. He felt no particular sympathy for them, nor did it appear that +the responsibility was primarily his own because it was his brain that +conceived the whole gigantic machine. They had acted according to their +final judgment, so had he. With small and genuine investors the case was +different, but Clark was well aware that Consolidated stock had been a +favorite Pennsylvania gamble for years. As to his own employees, he knew +that the works must ultimately go on and could not go on without them. +This left only himself to be considered, and at the thought this +extraordinary man smiled confidently. He was stranger to that fear which +is based on uncertainty of one's own resources. + +An hour after sundown he went home and, sending for Bowers, the two sat +talking earnestly. For Bowers it had been a day of vicissitude which he +was only partially competent to face. Rooted out of a small practice in +a small village, and caught up in the sweep of irresistible progress, he +had never had to fight for his point. The weight and momentum Clark put +before him were too great for that. But now every angle of the +Consolidated Company seemed to offer itself for frontal attack. He put +this to his chief in justification of his own anxiety. + +"It's been a matter of writs and injunctions all day. There are enough +in my office now to paper the rail mill." + +"Well, why should you worry?" + +Bowers glanced up with surprise. "Eh?" + +"You're doing your duty, you can't do anything more. But perhaps you +feel chagrined at being associated with me in the present difficulty. +You needn't expostulate,--I can quite understand it." + +The lawyer turned a brick red. It was quite true. He had begun to look +on this calamity as one for which he and Clark were both partly +responsible. + +"If you worry--and it's quite absurd that you should--your value +automatically decreases. Has it occurred to you that, from now on, the +importance of your position is vastly increased? We shall look to you +more than ever. I dare not worry--there's too much to be done. You were +our advisor, now you are our protector against unfair attack--and +there'll be lots of it. What's more, Bowers, you are the only one who is +sure of his money." + +Bowers nodded. He began to feel more comfortable. + +"What's going on in St. Marys?" + +"Nothing much yet--they don't know what to get ready for. Filmer and the +rest are sending out accounts they hope to collect, a good deal of +property is on offer without any takers, but, at the bottom, I don't +think the town is rattled. There's a sort of feeling that the works are +too big to be wiped out." + +Clark smiled gravely. He was aware that to the townsfolk the works had +become part of the landscape, and, imaginatively, not much more. But +just as they could not contemplate the obliteration of part of the +landscape, so it was difficult to conceive permanent idleness at the +works. It was a case of the immobility of the non-speculative mind, +which is lethargic in hours of exaltation but comfortably steadfast in +times of stress. + +"Listen," he said earnestly. "There's an element in Ironville which may +soon have to be controlled by force; but as to St. Marys what you've got +to do is to spread the feeling that there's nothing like confidence to +maintain business. Can't you see that if your office were knee deep in +writs it doesn't affect you? You've got to remain the efficient, +smoothly working, impersonal machine. So have I--and so has every one +who takes the responsibility for the actions of those of lesser +intelligence. Leaving out first and second causes--we're all doing just +what we're meant to do, and it doesn't matter who or what meant it. +Wimperley and the others will be up here soon, and regard me as a crazy +idealist who inveigled them into building a house of cards. The heads of +departments--at least some of them--will look at me and wonder how it was +that I gave them any confidence in the future. Hundreds of creditors +will consider me personally responsible because they have to wait for +their money, and about two thousand Poles and Hungarians will want to +kill me to gratify their sense of personal injury. On top of that, +ninety-nine men out of a hundred will forget all about my seven years' +work, and that I started with nothing, and will point to the Consolidated +as an excellent example of misdirected energy. For a little while little +men will smile with commiseration and say 'He did the best he could,' +but," and here Clark's voice deepened, "only for a little while. Now, +friend Bowers, where do I stand with you?" + +Bowers got up and paced the terrace irresolutely, glancing now and then +at the motionless, gray clad figure in the wicker chair. He was suddenly +and profoundly moved. In the past he had seen but one side of Clark, and +this sudden depth of feeling was startling. He knew that if he still +took his chief as the crowd took him, Clark would not apparently be +affected in any degree, but would only classify and finally put him away +with his own kind. + +"Don't think for a moment I'm making any appeal," went on the steady +voice. "It really doesn't matter whether you believe in me or not. +There's just one thing supremely important at the present time, which is +my belief in myself. That's my anchorage--it always has been and will +be. I don't consider that we owe each other anything, but just the same +I would like to know where you place me." + +Bowers had a swift vision of what he was seven years ago, and set it +against what he was now. Then, with full consciousness of the complete +confidence that was placed in him by Clark, he turned and held out his +hand. + +"I place you," he said a little jerkily, "just where you want to be +placed." + +Clark merely touched the extended fingers, but his face brightened and a +smile crept into his eyes. + +"I thought you did, but--" he added quizzically, "I had to work to find +it out, didn't I?" + +Bowers nodded. He felt like a field that had been plowed so deep that it +would yield better than ever before. He reflected, too, that the +experience gained in years of success should serve well in times of +adversity. + +"What's on the program?" he asked. + +"The men will begin to drift in from the mines and lumber camps. Then +it's a matter of sitting tight till they're paid off." + +Bowers thrust out his lips. He had seen men come in from the woods with +their pockets full of money, and that was bad enough, but without money--! + +"I've had a talk with Manson who seems good for it, and the works will be +under heavy guard. That's all we can do in the meantime. I'm going to +Philadelphia as soon as possible." + +"But not at once?" + +Clark smiled. "No, not at once." + + + + +XXII.--THE MASTER MIND AT WORK + +Bowers went thoughtfully home and; next morning, flung himself into his +work with renewed courage. He had need of it--they all had need of it. +There were now thousands who waited for their pay, and daily these +ranks were swelled by others who drifted in from the woods. Hundreds +of merchants began to refuse credit, though Filmer valiantly used all +his resources. St. Marys was, in truth, stupefied, and when the first +shock began to smooth itself out, the reality of the thing became +grimly apparent, and then arose the first rumor of trouble in +Ironville, that straggling settlement of shacks where dwelt the bone +and muscle of the works. + +To the Swede and Polander there was no suggestion of achievement in the +vast buildings in which they labored. It was only the place where they +earned their living. They worked amongst giant mechanisms beside which +they were puny, but theirs was a life of force and strength which took +from them the fear of anything that was merely human. Thus surprise +changed to resentment, and resentment began to resolve itself into a +slow and consuming anger. The works were dead, but in the main office +the accounting staff was bending desperately over statements +imperatively demanded by Philadelphia. The black browed Hungarians saw +the lights at night, and felt that they were being played with by those +more powerful than themselves. If a furnace man was discharged, why +keep on these scribblers? + +Outside St. Marys the news ran apace. Toronto papers dwelt on it, and +the Board of Trade read it with regret mingled with thankfulness that +Clark had embarked on no financial campaigns in their own city. Thorpe +went carefully over the Philadelphia acceptances in his vault, and +wondered what they were worth. To St. Marys set out a stream of +representatives of various creditor companies, that filled the local +hotels and journeyed out to the works and came back unsatisfied. +Philadelphia dispatches were devoured, and the word "reorganization" +was one to charm with. One by one, the Company's steamers slid up to +the long docks, made fast and drew their fires, till it seemed that the +works, like a great octopus, was withdrawing every arm and filament it +ever had radiated, and was coiling them endlessly at its cold and +clammy side. Yet, for all of this, it did not seem possible that the +whole structure was tumbling, the structure on which so many years of +labor--so much genius and enthusiasm--so many millions--had been +lavished, until one afternoon a drunken Swede threw a stone into a +butcher's window in Ironville and, putting forth a horny hand, seized a +side of bacon and set forth, reeling, down the street. Two hours later +the startled chief accountant, from a window in his office, saw a swarm +of a thousand men surge through the big gates of the works and, +trampling the guard, flow irregularly forward. + +The mob spilt on, a river of big strong men, unaware of its own +strength. They were not bent on willful destruction, but the whole +mass was animated by an inchoate desire to find out something for +itself. At the door of the rail mill stood the superintendent and his +firemen, with drawn revolvers. The rioters liked these men because +they worked with and understood them. They were not associated with +the present trouble. So on to the administration building, where the +office staff looked out, petrified with fear. Here, the mob decided, +was another breed, so there commenced a hammering on the big oaken door +and stones showered through the windows. + +At this, Hobbs, stricken with mortal terror, and oblivious of the girls +who gathered around him, lost his head. There was no escape +downstairs, but opposite his desk was a grated iron window that led on +to an adjoining roof. Noting it desperately, he heaved up his soft +body and made a plunge for safety. But such was his bulk that, though +head, arms and shoulders went through, he stuck there, anchored in an +iron grip. + +"Help!" he called chokingly, "Help!" + +The mob looked up and stared, when from the rear ranks came a bull-like +roar of laughter. Then another burst out and another, till from the +ground spouted a fountain of jeers, hoots and ridicule that reached the +fat man as he hung suspended, with purple face and gesticulating arms. + +Clark, in his office, waiting coolly for what might come, caught the +change in the note of riot and, stepping into the next room, saw the +legs of his comptroller brandished in the air. The rest of him was +invisible, and still in the square outside rocked the booming shouts of +Slavic and Scandinavian mirth. A moment later Hobbs was dragged back, +with torn clothing, swollen neck and scratched body. Clark glanced at +him contemptuously and went out. Then the doors opened, and he was on +the front steps. + +The mob saw him and held its breath. Few of them had ever been so near +him before. He stood with a quiet smile on his face and a light in his +keen eyes, and, in the momentary hush, began to speak. There was no +fear in voice or attitude. The wind, blowing from the rapids, brought +the echo of their clamor to the upper windows so that the accounting +staff heard not a word, but the mob heard, and presently the big Pole +laughed, just as he had laughed at Hobbs' distorted face suspended +above him. It was contagious, and Clark, playing upon the mood of the +moment, drove home his point. + +The money was coming, and he himself would stay there till it came. In +the meantime, the money would be slower to arrive if there was trouble, +and that was all he had to say. + +There followed a little hesitation, then an indefinite movement, and +the crowd began to shuffle toward the shattered gates. As it dwindled +Clark glanced over his shoulder and saw a man within twenty feet, both +hands thrust eloquently into his bulging coat pockets. + +"Thanks very much, Belding, I'm glad it wasn't necessary," he said +crisply, and vanished inside the big doors. + +The engineer knew better than to follow, but was bitterly disappointed. +He had hoped for some word of comfort, but to not a single employee had +Clark said anything of explanation. It was not his habit, and he +looked to the intelligence of each man to carry him through. And this +was typical of his invariable attitude toward those with whom he came +in contact. He gauged them by the degree to which they contributed to +the work on hand, and just now the only work on hand was that which +none but himself could carry out. In personalities Clark was not +interested, but identified them only by some very definite achievement +he was able to hang round their necks like a label. + +Belding saw to it that his own offices were guarded and walked to the +head of the rapids. He felt numbed. If Clark had conceived the works, +he himself had built them, and, as they grew under his hand, he felt +that something of his own existence went forth with every stroke of a +drill, and that a fragment of his brain lay in every course of masonry. +Like all true engineers, he delighted in the physical expression of his +ability, and here had been such an opportunity as few engineers ever +realized. He felt not so much dejected as dumbfounded that so much +skill and labor could be brought to a full stop just as it reached its +permanent stride. In his eyes the figure of Clark had long achieved +titanic proportions. Innumerable things had been demonstrated to be +possible, and to be chief engineer of such an enterprise had been, +thought Belding, all that any man could ask. It was true that in the +fatigue of work he had often imagined that Clark was going too fast, +but always the thing had been done. Now it seemed the ironical jest of +the gods that a shade too much carbon in a steel rail should wreck the +whole endeavor. + +And there was Elsie. He had never been able to give her up. Against +the glamour of his chief's personality he had nothing to put forward +except a whole souled worship, and Elsie, it appeared, preferred the +invitation of the older man's romantic career. Subconsciously, Belding +decided that the thing was wrong and against nature, for he was marked +by a certain simple belief in the general fairness of life. He clung +to the doctrine of compensation, and held himself trustingly open to +whatever good influences might reach him. Elsie was the highest +influence of all. In Clark he had found a stimulus that nerved his +brain to great accomplishments. But Elsie and Clark had together +wounded his very spirit. + +Clark, in the quiet of his private office, was thinking not of Belding +or Elsie, but of the mob that had trailed so uncertainly out of the big +gates. He had played for time and he had won--but that was all. +Sooner or later, driven by the impossibility of living without pay, the +mob would return, and in a less placable mood. He turned to the +telephone. "I want Mr. Filmer." In a moment he was speaking to the +mayor. + +"What happened up here to-day is but a taste of what's coming. You'd +better get out the militia, if Manson can't handle it. Bowers tells me +I can do very little from a point of law, and we look to you for +protection." + +"The militia won't help you much." Filmer's voice was a little shaky. +His son was in the militia, but he himself had never taken that body +very seriously. It was a matter of uniform, a band and a field day or +two in the year--that was all. + +"Well, Bowers tells me that if we kill any one in protecting the place +we'll have a nasty time of it, so it's up to you. If the local militia +are no good, get some up from Toronto. I warn you they'll be needed. +Ask Belding if you like, he saw it all." + +He leaned back and began a cold blooded survey of the situation. He +was not in any way desperate, but he turned involuntarily to the +resources of his own brain for some solution. It was certain that no +immediate help could be expected from Philadelphia. He was left quite +officially and deliberately to stem the tide as best he could, and, in +spite of the gravity of the moment, smiled at the thought that his +directors leaned on him in their extremity. They did not know what to +do, therefore he must know. Then suddenly his mind reverted to Semple, +and he spent the next few moments in profound thought. "Get hold of +Mr. Semple," he said to his secretary, "and bring him here." + +In half an hour Semple appeared, flustered and a little pale. A visit +to the works just now filled him with apprehension. It seemed like +smoking in a magazine. + +"What's the matter?" said Clark, smiling at his agitation. + +Semple drew a long breath and, noting the thickness of the office +walls, felt a little safer. + +"That's what I was going to ask _you_." + +"Only a slight difficulty that you will help to put right." + +Semple stared with astonishment. The bottom had apparently fallen out +of the works, but Clark was as cool as ever. + +"Help?" he demanded, puzzled. Clark evidently did not stand to lose +much in the smash. "You're holding these fellows, aren't you?" + +"Yes, for the immediate present, but we'll have to do more. That's +where you come in." + +The member for Algoma was at sea, and said so. + +"You represent the Government here," went on Clark, "and we've spent +seventeen million dollars in these works. Do you see the conclusion?" + +"No, I don't." + +"Your government must help us over the stile. Just so long as those +men remain unpaid, life won't be very safe in St. Marys." + +Semple looked round apprehensively. "But my government doesn't live +here. What have I got to do with it?" + +"I don't know, but, by virtue of pressure you will exert, the +Government must help. What's the Liberal majority in Ontario?" + +"One. I'm it." + +"Then you keep the Premier in power, and he's hanging on to power like +grim death." + +"But I don't see--" + +"It's simple enough. If you settle this affair to the satisfaction of +local people, you'll secure Algoma to the Liberal party, so long as +that party wants it." + +"By God!" said Semple, startled. + +Clark apparently did not hear him. "There's another thing--to set +those works in motion again will be the biggest advertisement any +government in Canada ever had. It will swing the labor vote--it will +secure the merchants' support." He paused, then leant forward and +poured into Semple the full pressure--the accumulated effort of mind +and spirit. "Ample security is available. I will make repayment the +first obligation of the Company--it will forestall bonds and everything +else. What I want, and what you will find for me, is only a fraction +of the sum that has been put straight into this Province; and it's not +much more than we have already paid in mineral and lumber dues and +taxes." + +"How much?" said Semple in a fascinated whisper. + +"Two million dollars." + +"But--" + +"There aren't any buts." + +"Do you owe that in wages?" Semple was aghast. + +"Wages are only a small part of what must be paid at once." + +"Where does Philadelphia come in?" + +"Philadelphia," smiled Clark, "has left the entire matter to me in the +meantime. They are making arrangements which may not be consummated +for some months. We can thank a prominent American speculator for most +of this. But the Province of Ontario owes us something. Doesn't it +occur to you," he added slowly, "how your personal reputation will be +affected?" + +Semple blinked several times and very rapidly. "I'll wire at once," he +said, with a long breath. + +"You'll do nothing of the kind. You'll go down yourself this +afternoon. You know your man, and I know him; and he knows the works. +He's been here several times. Put the matter straight,--tell him that +we are dealing with forces that can only be met in one way. It's +either this, or destruction and bloodshed. I've asked Filmer to wire +for troops. Mr. Semple, what you are about to make is a new move on +the chessboard. Your man is shrewd enough to see it, and it's the new +moves that win. This is not so much politics as economics--tell him +that. I'd go with you--but I must not leave St. Marys just now. Wire +me as soon as possible--you've just time to catch your train." + +The color climbed into Semple's cheeks, and he went quickly out with +his head up. Clark glanced after him and his lips twisted into a smile. + +"I give him forty-eight hours. If it doesn't come by that--we'll ring +down the curtain," he said to himself thoughtfully. + +He went out and walked, for hours, through the deserted buildings. +They were full of hollow mockery. Watchmen, posted by Belding at +strategic points, glanced after him curiously. He seemed lonely and +diminutive in this mechanical wilderness of his own creation. They +wondered how a man felt in such a position as his at a time like this. +He dared not go to the rapids, lest he read in their uproar some new +and menacing note. He thought lingeringly of Elsie. She seemed far +from this crisis, and at the same time curiously a part of it. Never +did he feel more certain of the girl's affection than now, and it came +to him what a refuge a woman's breast might be for a man in such case +as himself. In the moment his forceful brain protested at the thought +of refuge. + +He tramped on with a slow wonder at the magnitude of his own +activities. Here and there, individual buildings stimulated poignant +memories of the occasion that brought them forth. The sulphur plant +assumed an aspect of derision. Beneath the huge dimensions of the +head-race he seemed to discern the obliterated canal over which St. +Marys came to grief. Was he himself to be brought down by its titanic +successor? He stared up the lake, comparing himself with the voyageur +who had once floated out of this wide immensity to trade at St. Marys. +He, too, had been trading at St. Marys. "Big magic!" old Shingwauk had +said, when his dark eyes beheld the works. Was it, after all, barely +possible they were nothing but magic? + + + + +XXIII.--CONCERNING THE RIOT + +Next morning came a rap at his office door and Baudette entered, +treading very lightly. Clark looked up and shook his head. + +"I haven't got any money yet." + +"I don't want any money." + +The gray eyes softened a little. "You're the only man I've met who +doesn't. What is it?" + +Baudette pointed out of the window. + +Clark got up and glanced at the open space in front of the +administration building. There lounged some fifty men, the pick of +Baudette's crew, big and broad shouldered, in light colored woollen +jackets, shoepacks and blazing shirts. Each toyed with an ax handle +that swung lightly between strong, brown fingers. They were a +loose-jointed lot, active as cats, and moved with the superlative ease +of the skilled woodsman. Clark's jaw thrust out and he glanced grimly +at his visitor. + +"If they think they can get it that way, they're mistaken." + +"You don't understand," came the even voice. "These are my friends, +and yours. St. Marys is full of people who are after you. They are +hungry for money, and they're coming for it. This crowd reckons their +money is all right and will help you talk back." + +Clark drew a long breath and caught the clear blue of Baudette's eyes. +Then he nodded and began to smile. + +"Thank you, friend," he said with a catch in his breath. "I might have +known it." + +Hours dragged by. That night there was looting in Ironville, and the +local grocers suffered a sudden depletion of stock. Morning broke, +gray and threatening, while through shack and cabin an ugly temper +spread steadily. Clark perceived that the real thing was coming now. +Once or twice he thought of Semple, who must already be closeted with +the Premier. + +Just before midday a howling mob gathered swiftly outside the big +gates, when instantly Baudette and his fifty axemen ran up and joined +the guards. The crowd increased, and there went out an imperative +summons to Manson who, with his thirty police, ranged himself half a +mile away on the road to St. Marys. But for this the town was utterly +unprotected. Came the pad pad of flying feet, and Fisette dashed up, +swinging a prospecting pick. He grinned at the big constable. + +"By Gar!" he panted, "I guess we catch hell now." + +Followed a little pause, broken only by the deep threatening note of +the crowd. Then Belding felt a touch on his shoulder. + +"Open the gates," said Clark evenly, "I want to speak to them." + +The engineer stared at the set face. His chief's eyes were like +polished steel, and his jaw thrust out. There was no fear here. + +"Stay inside, sir. They'll kill you." + +The front rank caught sight of the erect figure. Then silence fell +over them and spread slowly through the dark-browed multitude, Clark +raised an imperative finger. The gates opened a fraction, and in front +of them stood the man in whom the rioters perceived the head of their +present world. + +"I want to tell you that your money is coming, and that I stay here +till you are paid," rang the clear voice. + +For an instant there came no answer, but presently from the rear ranks +rose again a bull-like roar. + +"You tell us that last week." + +Followed a murmur that ran through the packed mass of broad shoulders. + +"I tell you again--and it's true!" + +For reply, a short iron bolt came hurtling through the air. It took +Clark on the cheek. He seemed not to feel it, but stood undaunted, +while a trickle of blood crept down his smooth face. The sight of it +seemed to rouse some latent fury in the mob, and a deep growl sounded +ominously. He felt himself jerked suddenly back, and Belding and +Baudette jumped in front of him. The woodsman balanced a great shining +axe, and the engineer's automatic gleamed dully. + +"Get inside, sir, quick!" + +For the first time in his life, Clark felt himself passed from hand to +hand, and landed, fuming, on the other side of the big gates. The +voice of the mob lifted to an infuriated howl. Simultaneously the rear +ranks pressed forward. + +Fighting began the next instant. Belding's revolver barked viciously, +while he shot low at legs and feet. Three men went down to be engulfed +in the oncoming tide. Baudette was standing firm, his cold blue eyes +alight with the fire of battle. His broad axe was cutting swift +circles around him, while he dodged a shower of missiles. To right and +left of him fifty axe handles rose and fell like flails, and behind +them was all the skill and sinew of those who dwell amongst big timber. +Then a jagged fragment of iron casting took Baudette on the knee, and +he went down. + +The battle grew, while the faithful ranks thinned visibly. Just +through the big gates lay the battlemented works, and toward them +pressed the mob, now drunk with the hunger to destroy. At the moment +when it seemed that the living barrier must collapse, the rioters +wheeled to meet a new attack. With the sound of fighting, Manson +pushed on and now struck hard. His thirty constables set their batons +going, and there came the heavy crack of loaded wood on thick skulls. +Fisette, his eyes gleaming, was tapping like a deadly woodpecker with +his pick, and the impetus of this onslaught drove a formidable wedge +into the surging mass. Manson's great voice bellowed unspeakable +things in the lust of combat, his dark visage distorted, his mighty +body gathered into a great, human battering ram. + +Presently the constable too went down with a shattered arm, and the +line of police shortened and curved. Fisette found himself throttled +by a muscular arm which shot round his neck, and two minutes later they +were surrounded and fighting for their lives. + +The battle surged and palpitated. What remained of Baudette's axemen +were behind the big gates, where Belding had dragged the prostrate +foreman. Clark stood in absolute calmness, though he knew that +presently this barrier would be battered down. + +Belding drew a long breath and shot a fascinated glance at his chief. +It flashed into his mind that Clark was getting punishment now, not +only in the eyes of the world, but also in the eyes of the man from +whom he had taken that which was dearest and best. But his leader's +gaze was as clear as ever. + +"It can't last much longer, sir," he shouted through the uproar. His +automatic was empty, and he could only watch the front rank of rioters +pick up a great baulk of timber and balance it opposite the gates. +Then a sudden chill struck to his very soul. What would happen in St. +Marys? + +Clark, staring at him, just as suddenly perceived what was in his mind. + +"Take my launch," he called into his ear. "You can land at the house. +Hurry! Don't mind about me." + +Belding hung for a moment in frantic uncertainty, and shook his head. +He was next in command here, but a short mile away was his heart's +desire, defenseless, save for what resistance could be hastily +organized in the town. It was questionable what that was worth, and +his whole soul commanded him to go to her. For an instant he felt +sick, then over him flooded the cold conviction that, even though he +saved Clark for Elsie, he must stay and see this thing through. + +Suddenly from far down the road came a sharp rattle, that pierced the +uproar and brought a grim, inflexible message. Clark heard it, and +over his face stole an expression of relief. The mob heard it, and +through their surging ranks ran that which sobered and cooled their +fury. Manson, prostrate and bloody, heard it, and Fisette, and all the +others who had fought, it seemed, their last fight. The rioters began +to dissipate like blown leaves in autumn, and a rippling line of +infantry in open formation moved rhythmically up the road from St. +Marys. + +Clark drew a long breath and looked curiously at his engineer. + +"You saved my life, Belding." He hesitated a moment, and added +thoughtfully, "Now, why should you want to do that?" + +Belding stared and a lump rose in his throat. He had lost and yet he +had won,--been defeated and yet had risen to something bigger than he +had ever achieved before. He could face the future now, even though it +were written that he should face it alone. He tried to speak, then +turned on his heel and walked towards the dock, where Clark's fast +launch lay glinting in the sun. + +The gray eyes followed him in profound contemplation. Presently Clark +smiled, it seemed a little sadly, and advanced to the officer +commanding the troops. Baudette was sitting up. Manson, his face gray +with pain, was nursing a dangling arm, and round them the derelicts of +battle were strewn grotesquely. But it was Fisette who spoke first. + +"By Gar!" he said with flashing teeth, "she's one big fight, eh!" + +Silence spread again over the works. An armed picket was left at the +big gates, while the rest of the troops patrolled suddenly deserted +streets in Ironville. In the accounting office there began again the +clicking of typewriters, and Clark, at his desk, dictated a dispatch to +Philadelphia. This done, he fell into a mood of strange abstraction. +The car of destiny was traveling fast. + +Just then the telephone rang, and he took up the receiver +automatically. As in a dream Elsie's voice came in, tremulous but very +clear. He smiled wearily as he listened. + +"Thank you very much," he said in answer. "There is really no serious +damage done, except to a few foolish heads; and," he added, "please +thank Mr. Belding again for me,--yes, he'll understand." + +A hush fell in the office again, and he felt inexpressibly alone. He +was not in any sense hopeless, being assured that in the vast machine +of his own creation were inherent qualities of life that could never be +extinguished. He was strong, since for himself he desired nothing. In +this hour of uncertainty his imagination traveled far, but again and +again it was captured by the remembrance of his days with the bishop. +This had nothing to do with works, and yet in a way they were +intimately connected. The bishop had demonstrated the operation of +high and subtle forces to which he himself had not given much thought. +The bishop had saved his life, just as Belding had saved it, and he +still seemed to feel the working of big muscles under his twitching +palms. There flashed back what the prelate had said about being +prepared for the worst, which after all was sometimes the best, and, +with half closed eyes, he wondered whether this was the occasion. +There sounded a knock at the door, and the bishop himself came in. + +Clark, getting up hastily, advanced to meet him. There were only three +people in the world he would have cared to see at that moment, and here +was one of them. + +"Come in and sit down, sir. This is very good of you." + +"It took me two hours to get here," said the big man, breathing a +little hard. "It's rather difficult traveling to-day." + +Clark stared at him. He had always thought of the bishop as an +exemplar of peace, but he had arrived almost on the tail of the riot. + +"I only reached town a short time ago," the visitor was smiling +cheerfully, "and heard about the trouble. Now that I'm safely here, +I'll only stay a minute." + +Clark shook his head. "You are very welcome, sir." + +The bishop nodded contentedly. "I just wanted to express my sympathy +with your present anxiety, and my belief that everything will come all +right." + +"You do believe that?" + +"Unquestionably. Such efforts as yours are not foredoomed. I see you, +too, are of my opinion." + +"I have to be," said Clark reflectively. + +"I'm not at all surprised, since you can turn to the physical evidence +of your own efforts to support you. It gives you an advantage over +myself." + +"Does it?" + +The visitor pointed to the mass of buildings close at hand. "You have +all that, and there is no doubt that inanimate things possess a +peculiar influence, either strengthening or otherwise. But still I can +quite imagine what it means to you to sit here and listen to silence +with so many reminders about you. It is one of the things that the +servants of humanity must occasionally face." + +"Servants?" said Clark curiously. + +"Is not a leader also a servant. Has he anything left for himself, and +is it not just a different term for the same thing?" + +The other man experienced a strange sensation that he had discovered +this a long time ago. The bishop had also discovered it, but had not +forgotten. + +"I have it in my mind that there is another reason why you should not +be depressed," went on the prelate assuringly. "You have always +demanded too much of yourself; and while you are many kinds of a man +you cannot be all kinds." + +This was also true. "Go on, sir." + +"I have developed no commercial ability, but admit a strong commercial +interest, and sometimes think I could have been a good business man +myself. I roughly divide them into two classes,--one very large and +the other very small." + +"Successful and unsuccessful, I assume?" + +The bishop's face was very thoughtful. "That depends on what you mean +by 'success.' Wealth, for instance, does not necessarily stand for +success. You, if I may say so, are a practical idealist, for you have +faith in your dream. You have achieved a vision revealed to few men's +eyes and--" + +A gentle knock at the door cut him short. The secretary came in with a +telegram, and something in the face of the latter made Clark's heart +leap within him. A few seconds later he placed the yellow slip in the +bishop's hands, and gazed at him with twinkling eyes. + + +Ontario government advances two million on offered security and has +notified your bank. + +SEMPLE. + + +The bishop read it over slowly. "How can I congratulate you? What +splendid news!" + +"You have congratulated me." + +"Eh! When?" + +"You said I had faith in my dream. Now I beg of you not to move, but +just see how things work." + +In the course of the next ten minutes, the prelate saw Clark in swift +action. Automatically the clear brain marshaled all the pressing +duties of the moment and discharged them in quick succession. Messages +to Filmer, to the military authorities, to various impatient creditors, +were dispatched, for in this masterful hand was gathered every filament +through which a vitalizing energy would again permeate the works. The +flexible intellect of the man worked with a precision that was +impressive. Presently the bishop rose to go. He stood, an imposing +figure, animated with benign understanding and good will. + +"Good-by, till we meet again. I rejoice with you in what has just +taken place, but you are a prophet and all prophets are on a precarious +pedestal. Had you been in the pursuit of wealth I could not have +talked as I have to-day." + +Clark did not answer, and in the hush the voice of the rapids lifted a +melodious chorus. + +"But after all does it matter how deep the water through which any man +passes if the community at large benefits?" + +"I don't know what they would say to that in Philadelphia." + +"Possibly, but in an economic sense what has happened is that some of +the wealth of Philadelphia has been transferred here. This will be a +few weeks' sensation--and then will follow a fresh one. That is of the +nature of things. But long after you and I have moved on, the forests +and mines of this district will be adding to the strength of the +country. Those men who have backed you have contributed with you and +made it possible. Mr. Clark, I have no fear for the future of the +works or of yourself." + +Clark's lips curved into a rare smile. "Neither have I, sir." + +His visitor departed, and he got on to the Philadelphia wire with the +curt information that two million dollars had been secured from the +Ontario government, and asked permission to continue work. +Simultaneously the news spread like a forest fire. The militia found +there was nothing to contend with. Merchants surveyed their looted +stores and swore vengeance, but in a modern Arcadia one cannot arrest +two thousand foreigners. There were blocks of buildings with fronts +smashed in; dangling knots of wires; prostrate electric light poles; +scattered stones and bolts and shivered fences, but the rioters, to a +man, were back, dandling their babies and waiting for the morrow. It +was as though a hurricane had blown fiercely through the town, and then +died over the encircling hills. And in the bank office Brewster was +thoughtfully reading two telegrams from Thorpe, one commending his +attitude for the past few weeks, the other authorizing him to credit +the Consolidated account with two million dollars. + +A few days later Wimperley and Birch arrived. It was their answer to +Clark's suggestion that work be continued without delay and, as usual, +he quite correctly interpreted the manner of their reply. His energy +had saved the situation which it had created, but, in spite of this, +there was a new spirit in the financial circles of Philadelphia. He +was dubbed a dangerous man. He was, they considered, too swift as well +as too hypnotic. To continue to identify themselves with his +undertakings was deliberately boarding a runaway train. Added to this, +the interlinking of companies which had been presumed to be a factor of +strength was now shown as an element of weakness. When one lost money, +all lost it. + +When Wimperley, unfolding his mind steadily and without interruption, +told Clark that the old regime was at an end, the latter, at first, was +not much impressed. But gradually the case became clearer. + +"I don't say we don't trust you," he said, "but candidly, we're afraid +of you. Just two things are needed to secure the operation of the +works,--new money and new management; and it's possible the new crowd +won't want you. Philadelphia has been sucked dry so far as concerns +us." + +"Any suggestions?" put in Clark quietly. + +"Not yet. We're in correspondence with London people, and they'll +probably come out. When they do," continued Wimperley, eying the other +man meaningly, "we'll turn them over to you." + +"Is that it?" The voice had a profundity of meaning. + +Wimperley nodded. "I thought you'd understand. You got us in, and now +you've got to pull us out." + +"And pull myself out too," said Clark dryly. "Thanks." + +"Would you prefer that the works stay idle with you or get busy without +you?" interjected Birch pointedly. + +"When it comes to that--if it does--I'll let you know. In the +meantime--?" + +"Don't turn a wheel except for town utilities, and now we'd like to see +Bowers. You probably don't realize what we've been through in +Philadelphia. Consolidated isn't what you'd call gilt edged just now, +and the corners are knocked off our reputation as business men. I just +mention this in case you feel aggrieved." + +Clark grinned suddenly. "I'm not worrying either about my stock or my +business reputation. Your difficulty is that you don't see why any one +else should pull through where we didn't." + +Wimperley nodded. "There's something in that. What we've got now is +the job of making Consolidated stock worth something--by earnings. It +means cutting out the dead wood--our own dead wood, and I don't fancy +the contract. It hurts to chop down the tree you helped to plant--but +it's the only way out of it. There will probably be months before this +machine will start up again, and move toward permanent success." + +A day or two afterwards the two directors went back to Philadelphia, +where they reported to Stoughton and Riggs that the screws were on +tight. Save only the pumps and generators, not a wheel turned in the +Consolidated. Birch's conclusion was that millions more were needed. +Consolidated stock settled down to a nominal value that fluctuated with +conflicting reports of new capital having been found, but the whole +affair was flat--indescribably flat. And meantime Birch--with the +unprofitable burden on his shoulders--made pilgrimages to test the +financial pulse, and for months returned empty handed. + +In St. Marys it seemed that Arcadia might be reborn,--not the old time +Arcadia with its sleepy village atmosphere, but a modern one in which +folk made up their minds to live on the profits of past years. The car +service was reduced, and half the street lamps removed. There were +empty houses in the new streets, and the property which once passed +through Manson's hands could have been re-bought at the original price. +Filmer and the rest reduced their stock, while the whole overbuilt, +overgrown town settled down to wait till, after a weary interval, Clark +got off the train with two strangers and drove up to the big house on +the hill. In half an hour Bowers, who was expecting them, completed +the quartet. + +It was an unusual group that gathered that night in the dining room. +Ardswell and Weatherby had spent a week in Philadelphia before +Wimperley telegraphed Clark to come down. The story was plain enough. +The two Englishmen had come from London to hear it,--and it was told +well. But Wimperley and Birch shared the belief that Clark, in the +meantime, should be kept in the background, lest his hypnosis should +envelop them as of old. They held him, as it were, a reserve store of +influence to be used at the proper time, and it was not till the +financial aspect of the affair was thoroughly digested that he was +called in to play his appointed part. + +Ardswell and Weatherby wanted to see whether the machine could be made +to run commercially. That it was not so running was obviously the +fault of those in charge, and Clark at once determined not to attempt +to make former mistakes less glaring. The more obvious they were +allowed to remain, the more easy their rectification. He was too much +in love with the works to dodge this sacrifice, and yet could not +conceive their continuing without him. + +Assuming this onerous duty, he was perfectly aware that he dealt with +minds of a new complexion. Instead of responsive Americans, he +confronted two cool-blooded Britishers, to whom any show of spontaneity +was out of place. They were on guard, and Clark knew it, and of all +his achievements none stands out more prominently than his attitude on +the three days that followed. He became a Britisher himself. He +assumed, quite correctly, that nothing would be accepted without proof. + +Tramping about the works, they were accompanied by the superintendents +of the various departments, to whom he referred the pointed questions +that came so frequently in high-pitched, well modulated English voices. +What Clark said himself was very curt and to the point. The works, he +decided, could talk for themselves. Coming last to the pulp mill, +Ardswell ran an admiring eye down the long rank of machinery, ranged +like sleeping giants in a dwindling perspective. + +"I say," he remarked involuntarily, "I'd like to see the thing turn +over. Could it be arranged?--at our expense of course," he added. + +Clark nodded to the superintendent, who was close behind, and presently +the day watchmen were twisting at the turbine gate wheels. A soft +tremor ran through the building, growing steadily to a deep, hoarse +rumble as the massive grindstones revolved faster. The floor vibrated +in a quick rhythm, and in a few seconds came the full drone of +work--that profound and elemental note of nature when she toils at the +behest of man. + +The faintest flicker of light stirred in the blue English eyes. +Ardswell had been walking from turbine to turbine. "Ripping!" he said. +"You might shut down now." + +The titans dropped one by one into slumber. When the last vibration +was stilled, he looked up with a new respect. "We might go ahead if +you don't mind." + +"Take a quarter of an hour first, and follow me." + +They struck southward, and the Englishmen heard the boom of the rapids +deepen till they came to the edge of the river at Clark's observation +point. There was a strong easterly wind, and it caught at the snowy +crests of the bigger waves, spinning them out like silver manes of +leaping horses. These flashed in the sunlight, till, over the central +ridge of water, the air was full of a fine, misty spray that hung +palpitating and luminous. Here was a torrential life--born of the +endless and icy leagues of Lake Superior. + +The two strangers stared fascinated, and as Clark watched them he +perceived that once more the ageless voice of the rapids was speaking +to human ears, just as it had spoken to his own so many times--and +years before. He waited patiently, while the river lifted its +elemental message, and saw the color rise in English cheeks and the +cold, blue English eyes begin to sparkle again. What were the drab +records of Birch's ledgers, or even the monumental pile of nearby +buildings, compared to this impetuous slogan? He stood silently, +plunged in the psychology of the moment. + +"How much power--total I mean?" said Ardswell presently, pointing to +the ripping flood. + +"Two hundred and forty thousand horsepower, at a minimum." + +"By George!" + +Silence fell again, till Weatherby, shaking the spray from his rough +tweed coat, got up a little stiffly. + +"I begin to understand a little better now," he said slowly with an +eloquent glance. + +The car was waiting for them by the little lock--and here at the block +house the visitors displayed marked animation, Clark told them the +story very simply as they rolled off up the hill for lunch. + +"There's one man, the chief engineer, Belding--you met him at the head +gates--that I would like to be remembered should we do business," he +concluded very thoughtfully. "Belding was my first employee. I picked +him up in St. Marys and he has stuck to it nobly. I probably gave him +far too much to do, but he never squealed; and there are other reasons." + +Weatherby looked up. "That's the big, fair haired chap we saw go off +in the canoe?" + +"Yes." + +"Well," put in Ardswell tersely, "it will probably all depend on +yourself." + + + + +XXIV.--DESTINY + +Up in the big bay that lies next the head of the rapids, Belding was +drifting aimlessly. He was still obsessed with a sense of the hideous +uselessness of effort, and wanted to be alone. At one time Elsie used +to be here in the bow of the canoe, but now it seemed that Elsie had +little thought for him. And yet he could have sworn that, two years +ago, she loved him. + +He began to paddle, with a sharp and growing resentment, and found a +deep satisfaction in the thrust of his broad blade. Soon he was nearly +half way across the river, and a mile down stream lifted the fabric of +the great bridge. Slacking speed, he caught the pull of the current, +and with it came a reckless impulse. No man had shot the middle of the +rapids and escaped with his life. It was true that the Indians +maneuvered their long canoes down close to the opposite shore with +venturous tourists, but it was only a film of water that wound, +bubbling, near the land. With the deep-throated rumble only half a +mile away, Belding felt his pulse falter for a second, then pound +viciously on. And in that second, with the bravado of early manhood, +he threw discretion overboard, and set the slim bow of his Peterboro' +for the middle span. Twenty seconds, later he knew that he was about +to run the rapids--whether he would or not. + +Settling himself amidship, he gripped the thwart tight between calf and +thigh and, resting the paddle across the gunwale, peered anxiously +forward. His lips were a little dry, but he felt no fear. Being close +to the water, he could not see the rapids themselves but only the first +great, green curve, and below it the white tops of a multitude of +waves. Then the middle span swept back overhead, he heard the river, +split by the sharp piers, hissing along their rough sides and the canoe +sailed like a leaf into the first smooth dip. Came the vision of a +distant shore sliding by, and the lower reach with a ferry steamer +halfway across, and Belding felt the canoe lift and quiver, while a +green wave flung its white crest in his face. He came through rather +than over it, and just below caught a glimpse of one of those dreaded +cellars that hid themselves in this tumult. Here, at all costs, he +must keep straight. + +The canoe, with no way on, swooped giddily into the great, emerald pit. +There was a fleeting sensation of smooth, glittering, watery walls, +till he was flung on and up into the backward foaming crest, and with a +desperate effort wrenched the slim bow so that it took the rise head +on. An instant followed in which the sky was blotted out, while on +each side rose pyramids of bubbling foam that seemed to meet over his +head, but between which he could see light and distance. The canoe, +half full of water, was plucked onward, while Belding drew a long +breath and searched the chaos in front of him. + +Fifty yards down, opened a lane of green that curved beside and between +two cellars, each deeper than the last. He knew instantly that he +could not survive these, and, with every ounce of his strength, drove +across the broken river to the head of the chute. Making it in the +nick of time, he plunged in, with the water sucking at his thighs, and +the sinews in his arms burning like fire. There followed a swift +descent through cellars of dwindling depth, till he floated into the +long, spume-flecked swells at the foot of the decline, where the canoe +drifted sluggishly, full nearly to the gunwale. And here Belding +leaned forward with his hands on her curved thwart, and pumped great +gulps of air into his empty lungs. Presently he stared around. He was +below the works of which he had seen nothing, and just opposite Clark's +big house, whose roof lifted on the hill side a mile away. He had +dared the rapids and come through safely, but Clark, he reflected, was +engulfed. + +Luncheon that day at the big house had been a silent affair, after +which the three men went out on the terrace and examined the panorama +that spread to the south. It was suggestive and inspiring. They had +been voiceless for some time, when Clark moved restlessly. + +"Shall we talk here, or go back to the office?" + +"This is good enough for me," said Ardswell; "are you ready for +business?" + +"Certainly." + +"And may I ask two questions first,--one is a trifle personal?" + +"Please ask them, if you wish; I have no personal secrets." + +"That's very decent of you. What I'd like to know is, first, what you +found here when you arrived seven years ago, and, second, what your +resources were at the time? You will not, of course, answer the last +unless you wish." + +Clark laughed almost boyishly. "Why I found only the rapids, and--I +had no resources,--that is, except myself." + +"I thought so, and"--here the speaker glanced at Weatherby--"we would +like to congratulate you, I had an idea that this was the case. Now as +to the present business, we have decided to make a proposal to your +board." + +"I am glad of that," said Clark briefly. He knew that the moment had +come. + +"We hope it will meet with your support," Ardswell hesitated +perceptibly and went on, pitching his voice a little higher, "and you +will not misunderstand my putting it rather baldly. The matter depends +on two things: the reduction of the Consolidated capital from +twenty-seven million to something about ten million and the wiping out +of all common stock, and," here he paused again while the blood crept +slowly to his temples--"the other is a change in the executive. These +being satisfactorily arranged, we will go ahead. That's about it, eh?" + +"Yes," put in the other, "but of course we could not go ahead, under +any circumstances, without Mr. Clark's temporary assistance. I think +in fairness to him we should make the case a little clearer." + +"It's fairly clear as it is," said Clark without a trace of emotion. + +"We've never seen anything quite like this in any part of the world," +volunteered Weatherby, "and it is a remarkable thing for any one man to +have imagined and accomplished. Whether or not we take the matter up, +it will always seem a catastrophe that your work and the work of your +directors should have been interrupted by a speculator. That's one +thing that strikes us both about American business--you have your +lions, and plenty of them, but you have too many wolves. Now, coming +back to St. Marys, I beg that you won't misunderstand me when I say +that the originator of great things is very seldom a suitable executive +for permanent administration. It is too much to expect. In case we +take this up it would be necessary for us to have the administration in +our own hands. You understand, of course, that an originator of big +things is a much rarer person than a good executive, and it is largely +on account of non-imaginative qualities that the latter is the safer +man. I would like to assure you," he concluded with evident respect, +"that we have never experienced more difficulty in making a suggestion. +The case is extraordinary--we realize that." + +"What Weatherby has in his head," added Ardswell, "is that you have +done what neither of us could ever have done, and he thinks it a waste +of valuable material to try and make an executive out--" + +"Out of me," interrupted Clark. "You may be quite right." He had +expected to feel alone, but the direct simplicity of these men appealed +to him. It was not always, he reflected, that he was given an +unprejudiced opinion, and he felt the safer since now he got it. + +"We believe that we are right," it was Weatherby who spoke, "and are +prepared to assume that responsibility. Like you, we have shareholders +to think of, and we feel that yours will not get any better offer. We +know the financial world fairly well." + +Clark listened tensely. He was aware that the interests represented by +these two were of enormous influence and wealth. He realized, also, +that instead of all this discussion, Wimperley might simply have +notified him that he was discharged, and that the new interests would +now take over. But Wimperley had done nothing of the kind. + +"One week in Philadelphia taught us much, but we have learned a great +deal more up here," continued Weatherby, "and it depended really on the +past three days whether we would make a proposal or not. From what we +have seen and what you have told us, we are satisfied. I might say +that your directors have already agreed to the reduction of capital, +provided the matter of management is settled. So the future lies +entirely with you. Your holdings in common stock are so large that it +is essential you give your formal assent." + +Clark drew a long breath. He had come to the fork in the road. The +labors of seven years rolled suddenly over his brain and engulfed it. +Here were two men who drank his wine, then asked him to leave his very +soul to others. + +"Gentlemen," he said slowly, "thank you for what you have said--but I +can't give you an answer at once." + +"There's no hurry," replied Ardswell. "It's not a case for a snap +decision." + +Through Clark's mind ran a quizzical idea that these two understood +each other admirably, and he wondered how things would have turned out +had he himself been one of a pair that did such team work. + +"Then later, to-night." + +The two nodded and moved off, talking earnestly, while Clark +experienced a strange breathlessness. His soul was in tumult, and he +reacted from the strain of the past few days. He perceived that with +men like himself and his visitors lay the great economic forces of the +world. And yet he was expected to make way. + +Passing slowly through the big gates, towards which he had walked +automatically, he moved on beyond the pulp mills towards the rapids, as +though drawn by their insistent call. It was the call he had heard for +years, even in his very dreams. And there, on the great boulder where +he had once found her before, sat Elsie. + +She had been there for an hour, gazing at the tumbled mass of foam and +trying desperately to disentangle her thoughts. But even as she gazed, +Clark's face seemed to come in between; keen, strong, undefeated and +suggestive. It was not till now that she admitted to her own soul that +he had dominated her imagination for months past. His achievements, +his peculiar independence, his swift versatility had captured her +crescent ambition, the ambition which he himself had unwittingly +stimulated. She did not question whether this was love, she only knew +that in this season, when his work seemed to be tottering over his +head, she was ready to come to him and help rebuild it into something +stronger and even greater. + +She did not start, but looked at him with a strange satisfaction, as +though it were meant from the first that they should meet at this time +and place. Her eyes were very grave, and in them was that which made +Clark's pulse beat faster. Something whispered that each of them had +been saved over for this moment. + +"I haven't seen much of you for the past few months," he said presently. + +"I know that, but I know why. Are things better now?" + +He nodded. "They may be very shortly." + +"I'm so glad. You can't imagine how anxious I've been,--the riots and +your escape--and--" + +"But I was anxious for you." + +"You shouldn't have been," she said gently. "Mr. Belding told me that +you wanted him to come to the house when things were at their worst, +but he didn't like leaving you. Now tell me, are the works starting up +again?" + +Clark drew a long breath. "I'll know very soon." + +"Then you'll settle down just like before, and it will be all a bad +dream?" + +"Perhaps I will." His voice lifted a little. + +"You're not going away?" + +That was what he had come here to decide, and there flashed into his +mind a curious conception that was both fanciful and reassuring. + +"Forget about the works for a moment; I want to ask you something." + +"But do I know?" She smiled doubtfully. + +"Yes, you'll know without any question whatever. It's the case of a +man who worked very hard, and he didn't work for money or glory, or +anything of that kind, but just because he loved it and couldn't help +it." + +"That sounds very like yourself." + +"There are many men like that, more than most people imagine," he said +quietly; "and after this one had, so to speak, built the foundations +and walls, he had not money enough to put on the roof, and another man +came along and offered to do it. Of course, he would get the credit +for the whole building. It was a very important one, and it affected +the lives and comfort of a great many people who would suffer if it +were not completed." + +The girl glanced at him strangely. "Is that all?" + +"Yes, except that the people who lived there would naturally forget all +about the man who laid the foundations and built the walls, and would +even blame him and think only of the one who made the place habitable +for them." + +"But does that matter?" she asked quickly, looking at him. + +Clark took a long look at the animated face. "That he should be +forgotten or blamed?" + +"Yes. You said he worked for the love of it. He didn't ask for thanks +or appreciation, and from what you tell me he wasn't that kind." She +turned swiftly: "It is yourself." + +"And if it were, that would not alter your judgment, would it?" + +"Is it fair to ask?" Her eyes were full of a touching appeal. + +"A frank opinion is the fairest thing to me," he said quietly. "I know +how you would look at it. There's only one answer you could give. If +it were otherwise it wouldn't be you: the first man has no alternative, +has he?" + +"No," she whispered. Her face was pitiful, as though she had been +secretly and cruelly hurt. + +"Then it is the works I'm considering," he continued slowly. "You're +the only one I can tell just now, but if they go on, it must be without +me." + +"But they're your works. You dreamed them and then built them." + +"I've had many dreams, Elsie." + +Her heart beat rapturously. It was the first time he had called her +Elsie, and her spontaneous spirit went out to this man who stood facing +so great and sacrificial a decision. She longed to spend herself upon +him. Involuntarily she glanced up with profound pity and, turning, +caught a glimpse of a canoe that whipped down stream under the middle +span of the great bridge. + +"Oh, look! he's going to be drowned." She clutched Clark's arm in +sudden terror. + +The latter stared, while something rose in his throat. The canoe was +familiar. He had seen it a few hours before on the upper bay, and now +his keen sight made out the figure of Belding. Instantly he grasped +the cause of this foolhardy deed. A glance at Elsie told him she was +unaware who it was that thus played with death. + +"Look, look!" she cried again. + +The canoe pitched into the first cellar, and in the mound of silver +foam they could discern only the slim and tossing bow. Presently it +emerged and reeled on into the fury below. Elsie covered her eyes, and +Clark stood as though fascinated. What part had he played in this +perilous drama? + +Vividly his mind flashed back to those first days, the beginning of the +engineer's unswerving loyalty. Year after year he had never faltered, +and at the end of it all, even though apparently robbed by his chief of +his heart's desire, had thrust himself between Clark and the hoarse +hatred of the mob. Came now an overwhelming sense of unworthiness, and +Clark asked of himself who was he to demand such sacrifice. Then, as +though a cloud had revealed the sun, the way became quite clear. + +"Elsie," he said, "the canoe is all right, look!" + +Down in the long, smooth swell at the foot of the rapids, it lay +sluggishly. The man dipped his paddle and began to move almost +imperceptibly towards shore. The girl drew a long breath. + +"He's safe." + +"Yes," said Clark earnestly, "he's very safe. Now I want to talk to +you." + +She brightened at once. "Do." + +"I've wanted to talk to you for months. Do you remember what we spoke +of last?" + +"Destiny," she said softly. + +He nodded. "I see it plainly to-day, more plainly than ever before. +Sometimes when a man is in deep water his sight gets keener. What I +have been through in the last seven years is only a phase, it's not an +epoch. I was meant to do it, and I did it with all my heart. Now I'm +going to do something else, in order that the works may prosper. You +have helped me to make that decision." + +"I?" she whispered faintly. + +He put a hand on her arm--it was his only caress. + +"Yes, Elsie, you. It is as though I had caught sight of a road which +was very beautiful and tender, and I was tempted to take it. But it is +not my road. What the future has left for me I don't know, but it is +not here and I must meet it alone." + +He paused for a moment, and the girl's brown eyes filled with tears. +Presently the steady voice continued. + +"Destiny is calling, and one cannot take a girl into a battlefield, for +that is what it is going to be. I'm a poor man again, Elsie, just as I +was seven years ago. That does not matter, for I will be rich in +memories." + +"Don't," she said brokenly, "don't!" + +"Youth will go to youth, Elsie." + +"You mean--" + +"I mean that the man you really love, is the man you saw run the +rapids." + +"Jim!" Her eyes were round with terror. + +"Yes, Jim, the best friend but one I found in St. Marys. Jim, full of +loyalty and courage and energy; Jim who wanted to give his life for +mine, though he thought he'd lost you. He had never really lost you, +Elsie. The road that led to you seemed so attractive that I hesitated, +till now I see that it was Jim's road. It always was." + +In the silence that followed she lifted her exquisite face. Her lips +were parted, and in her gaze was a light that came as through +dissolving mist. And then into their very souls crept the voice of the +rapids. Clark caught it, and perceived that the call was not for him +alone but for thousands yet unborn, and there began to creep over him +the ineffable unction of labor. He realized how large was the world, +and how much work yet remained to be done. His spirit was not +solitary, but linked forever with eternal realities, and through the +cloud that obscured the present he could see his star of destiny +shining undimmed. + +And Elsie! Elsie sat, her whole being shaken with overwhelming +emotion. Never had she so longed to be everything to this man as now +when, with prophetic power, his vibrant voice told her that he must +journey on alone. In his accents she recognized the note of fate, and +the ground shifted under her feet. She saw her dream dissolving. She +perceived that against his lofty spirit she herself must oppose nothing +small and selfish, however poignant the moment. Summoning all her +fortitude, she stretched out her hand. + +He stood for a moment, and she felt the pressure of his grasp. It was +warm and confident. When she looked up she was alone. + +It was hours afterwards that Ardswell and Weatherby lounged at their +windows, overhanging the terrace. They were in dressing gowns and +smoking contemplative pipes. Down below was seated a motionless gray +clad figure, clearly outlined in the moonlight. Ardswell saw him. + +"Poor devil!" he said under his breath. + + + + +XXV.--THE UNCONQUERABLE SPIRIT + +Two years later, Belding and Elsie were returning from Chicago, where +the former had been purchasing machinery for the new company, of which +he was chief engineer. Time had done well for them and for St. Marys. +The six months' physical inactivity of the works were spent wisely, if +ruthlessly, in weeding out unfertile growths and concentrating +resources on those which were sound and promising. There was a sharp +distinction between this deliberate policy and the restless activity +that preceded it. + +St. Marys, too, had caught its breath and taken on permanency. There +were no more surprises. The works became a factory, instead of a +Pandora's box, full of the unexpected. Property was stable, if lower +than the high water mark, while Filmer and the rest settled down to +steady business, somewhat forgetful of the man to whom were due the +first tendrils of the tree of progress. + +But Belding, growing constantly in mental stature, could never forget. +His own position--his development--his authority, had come of the +abiding faith bestowed on him nine years ago by one whom he had then +seen but for ten minutes. And as often as he saw the works the +realization came over him. How many others, he wondered, felt as he +did? + +They were approaching St. Marys, and, coming out of the dining car with +Elsie, he steadied her to their seat. Night was drawing on, but the +car remained unlighted, and simultaneously they noticed a man sitting +across the aisle, staring intently out of the window. Something +familiar in the figure caught their attention. + +"It's Mr. Clark," he whispered to his wife. + +She glanced across, and her fingers tightened on his arm. + +"Don't speak to him, Jim." + +"Why?" + +"Look at him, can't you see?" + +Belding looked, Clark was absolutely motionless, and had not changed a +fraction in two years. The train moved on, till it halted for a few +moments on the great bridge. The air was cool and full of the deep +roar of the rapids, and the car vibrated delicately with the huge steel +girders on which it rested. Two hundred feet away came the first, +smooth dip that Belding would always remember. Immediately beneath, he +had slid into the chaos further on. + +The two young people did not stir, but watched the silent observer. +Against the window they caught the dominant nose, the clean cut, +powerful chin, the aggressive contour of head and shoulders. Clark was +leaning forward, his gaze exploring the well remembered scene. + +"Don't disturb him," whispered Elsie again. + +Her husband pressed her hand, and they waited, wondering what thoughts +were passing through that marvelous brain. He was staring at the +works. It was all his--this dream come true; this vision portrayed in +steel and stone. Out of nothing but water and wood and his own superb +faith he had created it, only to see this exemplification of himself +slip from his own hands into those of others, who had sponsored neither +its birth nor its magnificent development. What portion of his leader, +pondered the engineer, had been incorporated in those vast +foundations--and what had life left in store to replace them for him? + +The train was moving on, when Clark, turning suddenly, smiled and held +out his hand. + +"Glad to see you both, if only for a minute. I'm on my way back to +Russia, where I'm carrying out large improvements for the +government--been there for the last year. By the way, Belding, did you +notice that old, crooked birch beside the rapids? A big, fat +kingfisher used to live there--we knew each other well." + + + + +CONCLUSION + +The sumac leaves, which through the summer months tapped delicately at +my study window, have turned a vivid scarlet, and one by one have +fluttered to the ground. Here, by the mysterious process of nature, +they will be incorporated with the rich soil, to nourish some other +life that will later climb sunward. But in that life no one shall +recognize a sumac leaf. + +So it seems are the efforts of men. A few years of growth and +aspiration--then the fiery bourgeoning to a climax, and, after that, +incorporation in the soil of a forgetfulness that seems indifferent +alike to their exertions and their ambitions. But the end is not here. +Somewhere, and most certainly in some other form, the effort achieves +immortality and reasserts itself, indestructible and eternal. For such +are the myriad filaments of existence, and so indissolubly are men +linked with each other by invisible chains, that it is but seldom that +impulse can be traced back to its birth, or courage to its starting +point. + +Who then shall determine what is success and what is failure? Does the +grandeur of the reward establish the value of the service, or is it not +true that, in the mysterious cycle of time, the richest field is not +seldom sown by hands that have been without honor or recognition in +their season? Does wealth or authority spell success, or is it the +meed of those who have given rather than taken, who have toiled on the +mountain side rather than sought the peaks of publicity? Clark came to +St. Marys a poor man, and he left it no whit the richer. What he made, +he spent. And when the day of his departure dawned, he went as one who +had attempted and failed, carrying with him the resentment of those who +lost, and few thanks from those who profited. + +But did Clark actually fail? + +To-day the mines of Algoma are supplying steel rails for Asiatic +railways; the forests about St. Marys are yielding pulp for Australia, +and the great power house is sending carbide to the mines of India. +This and much more is the fruit of vision. What matter that +Philadelphia stormed, and that the reins of government were snatched +from those masterful hands? The dream has come true. + +Consider for a moment this man, who is stranger to most. He desired +neither wealth nor ease, being filled with a vast hunger for creation, +and to forest, mountain and river he turned with confidence and abiding +courage. It was as though nature herself had whispered misty secrets +in his ear. Being a prophet, he suffered like a prophet, but the +years, rolling on, have enabled him to look back on the later flower of +his earlier days, for it was written that he should plow and others +reap. And of necessity it was so. Like the prospector who finds gold +in the wilderness and straightway shoulders his pack to seek for +further treasure, his unwearying soul drove him on in steadfast pursuit +of that which lay just over the hill. It was not the thing that lay at +his feet which fascinated, but the promise of the morrow, whose dawn +already gilded the horizon of his spirit. + +Clark, with his impetuous energy, is typical of a country in which few +achievements are impossible. He provided his own motive power and used +his hypnotic influence only in one direction--that of progress. Ever +faithful to his destiny, he was too busy to have time to suffer, too +occupied to waste himself in regrets. Like the rapids themselves, his +work moves on, and in its deep rumble may be distinguished the confused +note of humanity, striving and ever striving. + + + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rapids, by Alan Sullivan + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RAPIDS *** + +***** This file should be named 25774.txt or 25774.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/7/7/25774/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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