diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312-8.txt | 1386 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 27861 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 807189 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312-h/38312-h.htm | 2008 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 85695 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312-h/images/drop_t.jpg | bin | 0 -> 11019 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312-h/images/frontis.jpg | bin | 0 -> 100547 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312-h/images/gs01.jpg | bin | 0 -> 90912 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312-h/images/gs02.jpg | bin | 0 -> 98154 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312-h/images/gs03.jpg | bin | 0 -> 101429 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312-h/images/gs04.jpg | bin | 0 -> 96131 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312-h/images/gs05.jpg | bin | 0 -> 94161 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312-h/images/tp.jpg | bin | 0 -> 99492 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312.txt | 1386 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38312.zip | bin | 0 -> 27843 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
18 files changed, 4796 insertions, 0 deletions
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/38312-8.txt b/38312-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5d8a3e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/38312-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1386 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mansion, by Henry Van Dyke + +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 Mansion + +Author: Henry Van Dyke + +Illustrator: Elizabeth Shippen Green + +Release Date: December 15, 2011 [EBook #38312] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MANSION *** + + + + +Produced by Jen Haines, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + + + + The Mansion + + [Illustration: [See page 57 "BUT HOW HAVE I FAILED SO WRETCHEDLY?"] + + + + + THE MANSION + + BY + HENRY VAN DYKE + + WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY + ELIZABETH SHIPPEN GREEN + + [Illustration] + + HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS + NEW YORK AND LONDON . M . C . M . X . I + + + COPYRIGHT 1910, 1911, BY HARPER & BROTHERS + + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + PUBLISHED OCTOBER, 1911 + + + + +[Illustration] + +The Mansion + + +There was an air of calm and reserved opulence about the Weightman +mansion that spoke not of money squandered, but of wealth prudently +applied. Standing on a corner of the Avenue no longer fashionable for +residence, it looked upon the swelling tide of business with an +expression of complacency and half-disdain. + +The house was not beautiful. There was nothing in its straight front +of chocolate-colored stone, its heavy cornices, its broad, staring +windows of plate glass, its carved and bronze-bedecked mahogany doors +at the top of the wide stoop, to charm the eye or fascinate the +imagination. But it was eminently respectable, and in its way +imposing. It seemed to say that the glittering shops of the jewelers, +the milliners, the confectioners, the florists, the picture-dealers, +the furriers, the makers of rare and costly antiquities, retail +traders in luxuries of life, were beneath the notice of a house that +had its foundations in the high finance, and was built literally and +figuratively in the shadow of St. Petronius' Church. + +At the same time there was something self-pleased and congratulatory +in the way in which the mansion held its own amid the changing +neighborhood. It almost seemed to be lifted up a little, among the +tall buildings near at hand, as if it felt the rising value of the +land on which it stood. + +John Weightman was like the house into which he had built himself +thirty years ago, and in which his ideals and ambitions were +incrusted. He was a self-made man. But in making himself he had chosen +a highly esteemed pattern and worked according to the approved rules. +There was nothing irregular, questionable, flamboyant about him. He +was solid, correct, and justly successful. + +His minor tastes, of course, had been carefully kept up to date. At +the proper time, pictures by the Barbizon masters, old English plate +and portraits, bronzes by Barye and marbles by Rodin, Persian carpets +and Chinese porcelains, had been introduced to the mansion. It +contained a Louis Quinze reception-room, an Empire drawing-room, a +Jacobean dining-room, and various apartments dimly reminiscent of the +styles of furniture affected by deceased monarchs. That the hallways +were too short for the historic perspective did not make much +difference. American decorative art is _capable de tout_, it absorbs +all periods. Of each period Mr. Weightman wished to have something of +the best. He understood its value, present as a certificate, and +prospective as an investment. + +It was only in the architecture of his town house that he remained +conservative, immovable, one might almost say Early-Victorian-Christian. +His country house at Dulwich-on-the-Sound was a palace of the Italian +Renaissance. But in town he adhered to an architecture which had moral +associations, the Nineteenth-Century-Brownstone epoch. It was a symbol +of his social position, his religious doctrine, and even, in a way, +of his business creed. + +"A man of fixed principles," he would say, "should express them in the +looks of his house. New York changes its domestic architecture too +rapidly. It is like divorce. It is not dignified. I don't like it. +Extravagance and fickleness are advertised in most of these new +houses. I wish to be known for different qualities. Dignity and +prudence are the things that people trust. Every one knows that I can +afford to live in the house that suits me. It is a guarantee to the +public. It inspires confidence. It helps my influence. There is a text +in the Bible about 'a house that hath foundations.' That is the proper +kind of a mansion for a solid man." + +Harold Weightman had often listened to his father discoursing in this +fashion on the fundamental principles of life, and always with a +divided mind. He admired immensely his father's talents and the +single-minded energy with which he improved them. But in the paternal +philosophy there was something that disquieted and oppressed the young +man, and made him gasp inwardly for fresh air and free action. + +At times, during his college course and his years at the law school, +he had yielded to this impulse and broken away--now toward +extravagance and dissipation, and then, when the reaction came, toward +a romantic devotion to work among the poor. He had felt his father's +disapproval for both of these forms of imprudence; but it was never +expressed in a harsh or violent way, always with a certain tolerant +patience, such as one might show for the mistakes and vagaries of the +very young. John Weightman was not hasty, impulsive, inconsiderate, +even toward his own children. With them, as with the rest of the +world, he felt that he had a reputation to maintain, a theory to +vindicate. He could afford to give them time to see that he was +absolutely right. + +One of his favorite Scripture quotations was, "Wait on the Lord." He +had applied it to real estate and to people, with profitable results. + +But to human persons the sensation of being waited for is not always +agreeable. Sometimes, especially with the young, it produces a vague +restlessness, a dumb resentment, which is increased by the fact that +one can hardly explain or justify it. Of this John Weightman was not +conscious. It lay beyond his horizon. He did not take it into account +in the plan of life which he made for himself and for his family as +the sharers and inheritors of his success. + +"Father plays us," said Harold, in a moment of irritation, to his +mother, "like pieces in a game of chess." + +"My dear," said that lady, whose faith in her husband was religious, +"you ought not to speak so impatiently. At least he wins the game. He +is one of the most respected men in New York. And he is very generous, +too." + +"I wish he would be more generous in letting us be ourselves," said +the young man. "He always has something in view for us and expects to +move us up to it." + +"But isn't it always for our benefit?" replied his mother. "Look what +a position we have. No one can say there is any taint on our money. +There are no rumors about your father. He has kept the laws of God and +of man. He has never made any mistakes." + +Harold got up from his chair and poked the fire. Then he came back to +the ample, well-gowned, firm-looking lady, and sat beside her on the +sofa. He took her hand gently and looked at the two rings--a thin +band of yellow gold, and a small solitaire diamond--which kept their +place on her third finger in modest dignity, as if not shamed, but +rather justified, by the splendor of the emerald which glittered +beside them. + +"Mother," he said, "you have a wonderful hand. And father made no +mistake when he won you. But are you sure he has always been so +inerrant?" + +"Harold," she exclaimed, a little stiffly, "what do you mean? His life +is an open book." + +"Oh," he answered, "I don't mean anything bad, mother dear. I know the +governor's life is an open book--a ledger, if you like, kept in the +best bookkeeping hand, and always ready for inspection--every page +correct, and showing a handsome balance. But isn't it a mistake not to +allow us to make our own mistakes, to learn for ourselves, to live +our own lives? Must we be always working for 'the balance,' in one +thing or another? I want to be myself--to get outside of this +everlasting, profitable 'plan'--to let myself go, and lose myself for +a while at least--to do the things that I want to do, just because I +want to do them." + +"My boy," said his mother, anxiously, "you are not going to do +anything wrong or foolish? You know the falsehood of that old proverb +about wild oats." + +He threw back his head and laughed. "Yes, mother," he answered, "I +know it well enough. But in California, you know, the wild oats are +one of the most valuable crops. They grow all over the hillsides and +keep the cattle and the horses alive. But that wasn't what I meant--to +sow wild oats. Say to pick wild flowers, if you like, or even to chase +wild geese--to do something that seems good to me just for its own +sake, not for the sake of wages of one kind or another. I feel like a +hired man, in the service of this magnificent mansion--say in training +for father's place as majordomo. I'd like to get out some way, to feel +free--perhaps to do something for others." + +The young man's voice hesitated a little. "Yes, it sounds like cant, I +know, but sometimes I feel as if I'd like to do some good in the +world, if father only wouldn't insist upon God's putting it into the +ledger." + +His mother moved uneasily, and a slight look of bewilderment came into +her face. + +"Isn't that almost irreverent?" she asked. "Surely the righteous must +have their reward. And your father is good. See how much he gives to +all the established charities, how many things he has founded. He's +always thinking of others, and planning for them. And surely, for +us, he does everything. How well he has planned this trip to Europe +for me and the girls--the court-presentation at Berlin, the season +on the Riviera, the visits in England with the Plumptons and the +Halverstones. He says Lord Halverstone has the finest old house +in Sussex, pure Elizabethan, and all the old customs are kept up, +too--family prayers every morning for all the domestics. By-the-way, +you know his son Bertie, I believe." + +Harold smiled a little to himself as he answered: "Yes, I fished at +Catalina Island last June with the Honorable Ethelbert; he's rather a +decent chap, in spite of his ingrowing mind. But you?--mother, you are +simply magnificent! You are father's masterpiece." The young man +leaned over to kiss her, and went up to the Riding Club for his +afternoon canter in the Park. + +So it came to pass, early in December, that Mrs. Weightman and her two +daughters sailed for Europe, on their serious pleasure trip, even as +it had been written in the book of Providence; and John Weightman, who +had made the entry, was left to pass the rest of the winter with his +son and heir in the brownstone mansion. + +They were comfortable enough. The machinery of the massive establishment +ran as smoothly as a great electric dynamo. They were busy enough, too. +John Weightman's plans and enterprises were complicated, though his +principle of action was always simple--to get good value for every +expenditure and effort. The banking-house of which he was the chief, +the brain, the will, the absolutely controlling hand, was so admirably +organized that the details of its direction took but little time. But +the scores of other interests that radiated from it and were dependent +upon it--or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, that contributed +to its solidity and success--the many investments, industrial, +political, benevolent, reformatory, ecclesiastical, that had made +the name of Weightman well known and potent in city, church, and +state, demanded much attention and careful steering, in order that +each might produce the desired result. There were board meetings of +corporations and hospitals, conferences in Wall Street and at Albany, +consultations and committee meetings in the brownstone mansion. + +For a share in all this business and its adjuncts John Weightman had +his son in training in one of the famous law firms of the city; for he +held that banking itself is a simple affair, the only real difficulties +of finance are on its legal side. Meantime he wished the young man to +meet and know the men with whom he would have to deal when he became a +partner in the house. So a couple of dinners were given in the mansion +during December, after which the father called the son's attention to +the fact that over a hundred million dollars had sat around the board. + +But on Christmas Eve father and son were dining together without +guests, and their talk across the broad table, glittering with silver +and cut glass, and softly lit by shaded candles, was intimate, though +a little slow at times. The elder man was in rather a rare mood, more +expansive and confidential than usual; and, when the coffee was brought +in and they were left alone, he talked more freely of his personal +plans and hopes than he had ever done before. + +"I feel very grateful to-night," said he, at last; "it must be +something in the air of Christmas that gives me this feeling of +thankfulness for the many divine mercies that have been bestowed upon +me. All the principles by which I have tried to guide my life have +been justified. I have never made the value of this salted almond by +anything that the courts would not uphold, at least in the long run, +and yet--or wouldn't it be truer to say and therefore?--my affairs +have been wonderfully prospered. There's a great deal in that text +'Honesty is the best'--but no, that's not from the Bible, after all, +is it? Wait a moment; there is something of that kind, I know." + +"May I light a cigar, father," said Harold, turning away to hide a +smile, "while you are remembering the text?" + +"Yes, certainly," answered the elder man, rather shortly; "you know I +don't dislike the smell. But it is a wasteful, useless habit, and +therefore I have never practised it. Nothing useless is worth while, +that's my motto--nothing that does not bring the reward. Oh, now I +recall the text, 'Verily I say unto you they have their reward.' I +shall ask Doctor Snodgrass to preach a sermon on that verse some day." + +"Using you as an illustration?" + +"Well, not exactly that; but I could give him some good material from +my own experience to prove the truth of Scripture. I can honestly say +that there is not one of my charities that has not brought me in a +good return, either in the increase of influence, the building up of +credit, or the association with substantial people. Of course you have +to be careful how you give, in order to secure the best results--no +indiscriminate giving--no pennies in beggars' hats! It has been one of +my principles always to use the same kind of judgment in charities +that I use in my other affairs, and they have not disappointed me." + +"Even the check that you put in the plate when you take the offertory +up the aisle on Sunday morning?" + +"Certainly; though there the influence is less direct; and I must +confess that I have my doubts in regard to the collection for Foreign +Missions. That always seems to me romantic and wasteful. You never +hear from it in any definite way. They say the missionaries have done +a good deal to open the way for trade; perhaps--but they have also +gotten us into commercial and political difficulties. Yet I give to +them--a little--it is a matter of conscience with me to identify +myself with all the enterprises of the Church; it is the mainstay of +social order and a prosperous civilization. But the best forms of +benevolence are the well-established, organized ones here at home, +where people can see them and know what they are doing." + +"You mean the ones that have a local habitation and a name." + +"Yes; they offer by far the safest return, though of course there is +something gained by contributing to general funds. A public man can't +afford to be without public spirit. But on the whole I prefer a +building, or an endowment. There is a mutual advantage to a good name +and a good institution in their connection in the public mind. It +helps them both. Remember that, my boy. Of course at the beginning you +will have to practise it in a small way; later, you will have larger +opportunities. But try to put your gifts where they can be identified +and do good all around. You'll see the wisdom of it in the long run." + +"I can see it already, sir, and the way you describe it looks +amazingly wise and prudent. In other words, we must cast our bread on +the waters in large loaves, carried by sound ships marked with the +owner's name, so that the return freight will be sure to come back to +us." + +The father laughed, but his eyes were frowning a little as if he +suspected something irreverent under the respectful reply. + +"You put it humorously, but there's sense in what you say. Why not? +God rules the sea; but He expects us to follow the laws of navigation +and commerce. Why not take good care of your bread, even when you give +it away?" + +"It's not for me to say why not--and yet I can think of cases--" The +young man hesitated for a moment. His half-finished cigar had gone +out. He rose and tossed it into the fire, in front of which he +remained standing--a slender, eager, restless young figure, with a +touch of hunger in the fine face, strangely like and unlike the +father, at whom he looked with half-wistful curiosity. + +"The fact is, sir," he continued, "there is such a case in my mind +now, and it is a good deal on my heart, too. So I thought of speaking +to you about it to-night. You remember Tom Rollins, the Junior who was +so good to me when I entered college?" + +The father nodded. He remembered very well indeed the annoying +incidents of his son's first escapade, and how Rollins had stood by +him and helped to avoid a public disgrace, and how a close friendship +had grown between the two boys, so different in their fortunes. + +"Yes," he said, "I remember him. He was a promising young man. Has he +succeeded?" + +"Not exactly--that is, not yet. His business has been going rather +badly. He has a wife and little baby, you know. And now he has broken +down,--something wrong with his lungs. The doctor says his only chance +is a year or eighteen months in Colorado. I wish we could help him." + +"How much would it cost?" + +"Three or four thousand, perhaps, as a loan." + +"Does the doctor say he will get well?" + +"A fighting chance--the doctor says." + +The face of the older man changed subtly. Not a line was altered, but +it seemed to have a different substance, as if it were carved out of +some firm, imperishable stuff. + +"A fighting chance," he said, "may do for a speculation, but it is not +a good investment. You owe something to young Rollins. Your grateful +feeling does you credit. But don't overwork it. Send him three or four +hundred, if you like. You'll never hear from it again, except in the +letter of thanks. But for Heaven's sake don't be sentimental. +Religion is not a matter of sentiment; it's a matter of principle." + +[Illustration: "It is not a good investment"] + +The face of the younger man changed now. But instead of becoming fixed +and graven, it seemed to melt into life by the heat of an inward fire. +His nostrils quivered with quick breath, his lips were curled. + +"Principle!" he said. "You mean principal--and interest too. Well, +sir, you know best whether that is religion or not. But if it is, +count me out, please. Tom saved me from going to the devil, six years +ago; and I'll be damned if I don't help him to the best of my ability +now." + +John Weightman looked at his son steadily. "Harold," he said at last, +"you know I dislike violent language, and it never has any influence +with me. If I could honestly approve of this proposition of yours, I'd +let you have the money; but I can't; it's extravagant and useless. But +you have your Christmas check for a thousand dollars coming to you +to-morrow. You can use it as you please. I never interfere with your +private affairs." + +"Thank you," said Harold. "Thank you very much! But there's another +private affair. I want to get away from this life, this town, this +house. It stifles me. You refused last summer when I asked you to let +me go up to Grenfell's Mission on the Labrador. I could go now, at +least as far as the Newfoundland Station. Have you changed your mind?" + +"Not at all. I think it is an exceedingly foolish enterprise. It would +interrupt the career that I have marked out for you." + +"Well, then, here's a cheaper proposition. Algy Vanderhoof wants me to +join him on his yacht with--well, with a little party--to cruise in +the West Indies. Would you prefer that?" + +"Certainly not! The Vanderhoof set is wild and godless--I do not wish +to see you keeping company with fools who walk in the broad and easy +way that leads to perdition." + +"It is rather a hard choice," said the young man, with a short laugh, +turning toward the door. "According to you there's very little +difference--a fool's paradise or a fool's hell! Well, it's one or the +other for me, and I'll toss up for it to-night: heads, I lose; tails, +the devil wins. Anyway, I'm sick of this, and I'm out of it." + +"Harold," said the older man (and there was a slight tremor in his +voice), "don't let us quarrel on Christmas Eve. All I want is to +persuade you to think seriously of the duties and responsibilities +to which God has called you--don't speak lightly of heaven and +hell--remember, there is another life." + +The young man came back and laid his hand upon his father's shoulder. + +"Father," he said, "I want to remember it. I try to believe in it. But +somehow or other, in this house, it all seems unreal to me. No doubt +all you say is perfectly right and wise. I don't venture to argue +against it, but I can't feel it--that's all. If I'm to have a soul, +either to lose or to save, I must really live. Just now neither the +present nor the future means anything to me. But surely we won't +quarrel. I'm very grateful to you, and we'll part friends. Good-night, +sir." + +The father held out his hand in silence. The heavy portière dropped +noiselessly behind the son, and he went up the wide, curving stairway +to his own room. + +Meantime John Weightman sat in his carved chair in the Jacobean +dining-room. He felt strangely old and dull. The portraits of +beautiful women by Lawrence and Reynolds and Raeburn, which had often +seemed like real company to him, looked remote and uninteresting. He +fancied something cold and almost unfriendly in their expression, as +if they were staring through him or beyond him. They cared nothing for +his principles, his hopes, his disappointments, his successes; they +belonged to another world, in which he had no place. At this he felt +a vague resentment, a sense of discomfort that he could not have +defined or explained. He was used to being considered, respected, +appreciated at his full value in every region, even in that of his own +dreams. + +Presently he rang for the butler, telling him to close the house and +not to sit up, and walked with lagging steps into the long library, +where the shaded lamps were burning. His eye fell upon the low shelves +full of costly books, but he had no desire to open them. Even the +carefully chosen pictures that hung above them seemed to have lost +their attraction. He paused for a moment before an idyll of Corot--a +dance of nymphs around some forgotten altar in a vaporous glade--and +looked at it curiously. There was something rapturous and serene about +the picture, a breath of spring-time in the misty trees, a harmony +of joy in the dancing figures, that wakened in him a feeling of +half-pleasure and half-envy. It represented something that he had +never known in his calculated, orderly life. He was dimly mistrustful +of it. + +"It is certainly very beautiful," he thought, "but it is distinctly +pagan; that altar is built to some heathen god. It does not fit into +the scheme of a Christian life. I doubt whether it is consistent with +the tone of my house. I will sell it this winter. It will bring three +or four times what I paid for it. That was a good purchase, a very +good bargain." + +He dropped into the revolving chair before his big library table. +It was covered with pamphlets and reports of the various enterprises +in which he was interested. There was a pile of newspaper clippings +in which his name was mentioned with praise for his sustaining power +as a pillar of finance, for his judicious benevolence, for his +support of wise and prudent reform movements, for his discretion +in making permanent public gifts--"the Weightman Charities," one very +complaisant editor called them, as if they deserved classification as +a distinct species. + +He turned the papers over listlessly. There was a description and a +picture of the "Weightman Wing of the Hospital for Cripples," of +which he was president; and an article on the new professor in the +"Weightman Chair of Political Jurisprudence" in Jackson University, +of which he was a trustee; and an illustrated account of the opening +of the "Weightman Grammar-School" at Dulwich-on-the-Sound, where he +had his legal residence for purposes of taxation. + +This last was perhaps the most carefully planned of all the Weightman +Charities. He desired to win the confidence and support of his rural +neighbors. It had pleased him much when the local newspaper had spoken +of him as an ideal citizen and the logical candidate for the +Governorship of the State; but upon the whole it seemed to him wiser +to keep out of active politics. It would be easier and better to put +Harold into the running, to have him sent to the Legislature from the +Dulwich district, then to the national House, then to the Senate. Why +not? The Weightman interests were large enough to need a direct +representative and guardian at Washington. + +But to-night all these plans came back to him with dust upon them. +They were dry and crumbling like forsaken habitations. The son upon +whom his complacent ambition had rested had turned his back upon the +mansion of his father's hopes. The break might not be final; and in +any event there would be much to live for; the fortunes of the family +would be secure. But the zest of it all would be gone if John +Weightman had to give up the assurance of perpetuating his name and +his principles in his son. It was a bitter disappointment, and he felt +that he had not deserved it. + +He rose from the chair and paced the room with leaden feet. For the +first time in his life his age was visibly upon him. His head was +heavy and hot, and the thoughts that rolled in it were confused and +depressing. Could it be that he had made a mistake in the principles +of his existence? There was no argument in what Harold had said--it +was almost childish--and yet it had shaken the elder man more deeply +than he cared to show. It held a silent attack which touched him more +than open criticism. + +Suppose the end of his life were nearer than he thought--the end +must come some time--what if it were now? Had he not founded his +house upon a rock? Had he not kept the Commandments? Was he not, +"touching the law, blameless"? And beyond this, even if there were +some faults in his character--and all men are sinners--yet he surely +believed in the saving doctrines of religion--the forgiveness of +sins, the resurrection of the body, the life everlasting. Yes, that +was the true source of comfort, after all. He would read a bit in the +Bible, as he did every night, and go to bed and to sleep. + +He went back to his chair at the library table. A strange weight of +weariness rested upon him, but he opened the book at a familiar place, +and his eyes fell upon the verse at the bottom of the page. + +"_Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth._" + +That had been the text of the sermon a few weeks before. Sleepily, +heavily, he tried to fix his mind upon it and recall it. What was it +that Doctor Snodgrass had said? Ah, yes--that it was a mistake to +pause here in reading the verse. We must read on without a pause--_Lay +not up treasures upon earth where moth and rust do corrupt and where +thieves break through and steal_--that was the true doctrine. We may +have treasures upon earth, but they must not be put into unsafe +places, but into safe places. A most comforting doctrine! He had +always followed it. Moths and rust and thieves had done no harm to his +investments. + +John Weightman's drooping eyes turned to the next verse, at the top of +the second column. + +"_But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven._" + +Now what had the Doctor said about that? How was it to be +understood--in what sense--treasures--in heaven? + +The book seemed to float away from him. The light vanished. He +wondered dimly if this could be Death, coming so suddenly, so quietly, +so irresistibly. He struggled for a moment to hold himself up, and +then sank slowly forward upon the table. His head rested upon his +folded hands. He slipped into the unknown. + + * * * * * + +How long afterward conscious life returned to him he did not know. The +blank might have been an hour or a century. He knew only that +something had happened in the interval. What it was he could not tell. +He found great difficulty in catching the thread of his identity +again. He felt that he was himself; but the trouble was to make his +connections, to verify and place himself, to know who and where he +was. + +At last it grew clear. John Weightman was sitting on a stone, not far +from a road in a strange land. + +The road was not a formal highway, fenced and graded. It was more like +a great travel-trace, worn by thousands of feet passing across the +open country in the same direction. Down in the valley, into which he +could look, the road seemed to form itself gradually out of many minor +paths; little footways coming across the meadows, winding tracks +following along beside the streams, faintly marked trails emerging +from the woodlands. But on the hillside the threads were more firmly +woven into one clear band of travel, though there were still a few dim +paths joining it here and there, as if persons had been climbing up +the hill by other ways and had turned at last to seek the road. + +From the edge of the hill, where John Weightman sat, he could see the +travelers, in little groups or larger companies, gathering from time +to time by the different paths, and making the ascent. They were all +clothed in white, and the form of their garments was strange to him; +it was like some old picture. They passed him, group after group, +talking quietly together or singing; not moving in haste, but with a +certain air of eagerness and joy as if they were glad to be on their +way to an appointed place. They did not stay to speak to him, but they +looked at him often and spoke to one another as they looked; and now +and then one of them would smile and beckon him a friendly greeting, +so that he felt they would like him to be with them. + +There was quite an interval between the groups; and he followed each +of them with his eyes after it had passed, blanching the long ribbon +of the road for a little transient space, rising and receding across +the wide, billowy upland, among the rounded hillocks of aerial green +and gold and lilac, until it came to the high horizon, and stood +outlined for a moment, a tiny cloud of whiteness against the tender +blue, before it vanished over the hill. + +For a long time he sat there watching and wondering. It was a very +different world from that in which his mansion on the Avenue was +built; and it looked strange to him, but most real--as real as +anything he had ever seen. Presently he felt a strong desire to know +what country it was and where the people were going. He had a faint +premonition of what it must be, but he wished to be sure. So he rose +from the stone where he was sitting, and came down through the short +grass and the lavender flowers, toward a passing group of people. One +of them turned to meet him, and held out his hand. It was an old man, +under whose white beard and brows John Weightman thought he saw a +suggestion of the face of the village doctor who had cared for him +years ago, when he was a boy in the country. + +[Illustration: "Welcome! Will you come with us?"] + +"Welcome," said the old man. "Will you come with us?" + +"Where are you going?" + +"To the heavenly city, to see our mansions there." + +"And who are these with you?" + +"Strangers to me, until a little while ago; I know them better now. +But you I have known for a long time, John Weightman. Don't you +remember your old doctor?" + +"Yes," he cried--"yes; your voice has not changed at all. I'm glad +indeed to see you, Doctor McLean, especially now. All this seems very +strange to me, almost oppressive. I wonder if--but may I go with you, +do you suppose?" + +"Surely," answered the doctor, with his familiar smile; "it will do +you good. And you also must have a mansion in the city waiting for +you--a fine one, too--are you not looking forward to it?" + +"Yes," replied the other, hesitating a moment; "yes--I believe it must +be so, although I had not expected to see it so soon. But I will go +with you, and we can talk by the way." + +The two men quickly caught up with the other people, and all went +forward together along the road. The doctor had little to tell of his +experience, for it had been a plain, hard life, uneventfully spent for +others, and the story of the village was very simple. John Weightman's +adventures and triumphs would have made a far richer, more imposing +history, full of contacts with the great events and personages of the +time. But somehow or other he did not care to speak much about it, +walking on that wide heavenly moorland, under that tranquil, sunless +arch of blue, in that free air of perfect peace, where the light was +diffused without a shadow, as if the spirit of life in all things were +luminous. + +There was only one person besides the doctor in that little company +whom John Weightman had known before--an old bookkeeper who had spent +his life over a desk, carefully keeping accounts--a rusty, dull little +man, patient and narrow, whose wife had been in the insane asylum for +twenty years and whose only child was a crippled daughter, for whose +comfort and happiness he had toiled and sacrificed himself without +stint. It was a surprise to find him here, as care-free and joyful as +the rest. + +[Illustration: That free air of Perfect Peace] + +The lives of others in the company were revealed in brief glimpses as +they talked together--a mother, early widowed, who had kept her little +flock of children together and labored through hard and heavy years to +bring them up in purity and knowledge--a Sister of Charity who had +devoted herself to the nursing of poor folk who were being eaten to +death by cancer--a schoolmaster whose heart and life had been poured +into his quiet work of training boys for a clean and thoughtful +manhood--a medical missionary who had given up a brilliant career in +science to take the charge of a hospital in darkest Africa--a +beautiful woman with silver hair who had resigned her dreams of love +and marriage to care for an invalid father, and after his death had +made her life a long, steady search for ways of doing kindnesses to +others--a poet who had walked among the crowded tenements of the great +city, bringing cheer and comfort not only by his songs, but by his +wise and patient works of practical aid--a paralyzed woman who had +lain for thirty years upon her bed, helpless but not hopeless, +succeeding by a miracle of courage in her single aim, never to +complain, but always to impart a bit of her joy and peace to every one +who came near her. All these, and other persons like them, people of +little consideration in the world, but now seemingly all full of great +contentment and an inward gladness that made their steps light, were +in the company that passed along the road, talking together of things +past and things to come, and singing now and then with clear voices +from which the veil of age and sorrow was lifted. + +John Weightman joined in some of the songs--which were familiar to him +from their use in the church--at first with a touch of hesitation, and +then more confidently. For as they went on his sense of strangeness +and fear at his new experience diminished, and his thoughts began to +take on their habitual assurance and complacency. Were not these +people going to the Celestial City? And was not he in his right place +among them? He had always looked forward to this journey. If they were +sure, each one, of finding a mansion there, could not he be far more +sure? His life had been more fruitful than theirs. He had been a +leader, a founder of new enterprises, a pillar of Church and State, a +prince of the House of Israel. Ten talents had been given him, and he +had made them twenty. His reward would be proportionate. He was glad +that his companions were going to find fit dwellings prepared for +them; but he thought also with a certain pleasure of the surprise that +some of them would feel when they saw his appointed mansion. + +So they came to the summit of the moorland and looked over into the +world beyond. It was a vast, green plain, softly rounded like a +shallow vase, and circled with hills of amethyst. A broad, shining +river flowed through it, and many silver threads of water were woven +across the green; and there were borders of tall trees on the banks of +the river, and orchards full of roses abloom along the little streams, +and in the midst of all stood the city, white and wonderful and +radiant. + +When the travelers saw it they were filled with awe and joy. They +passed over the little streams and among the orchards quickly and +silently, as if they feared to speak lest the city should vanish. + +The wall of the city was very low, a child could see over it, for it +was made only of precious stones, which are never large. The gate of +the city was not like a gate at all, for it was not barred with iron +or wood, but only a single pearl, softly gleaming, marked the place +where the wall ended and the entrance lay open. + +A person stood there whose face was bright and grave, and whose robe +was like the flower of the lily, not a woven fabric, but a living +texture. "Come in," he said to the company of travelers; "you are at +your journey's end, and your mansions are ready for you." + +John Weightman hesitated, for he was troubled by a doubt. Suppose that +he was not really, like his companions, at his journey's end, but only +transported for a little while out of the regular course of his life +into this mysterious experience? Suppose that, after all, he had not +really passed through the door of death, like these others, but only +through the door of dreams, and was walking in a vision, a living man +among the blessed dead. Would it be right for him to go with them +into the heavenly city? Would it not be a deception, a desecration, a +deep and unforgivable offense? The strange, confusing question had no +reason in it, as he very well knew; for if he was dreaming, then it +was all a dream; but if his companions were real, then he also was +with them in reality, and if they had died then he must have died too. +Yet he could not rid his mind of the sense that there was a difference +between them and him, and it made him afraid to go on. But, as he +paused and turned, the Keeper of the Gate looked straight and deep +into his eyes, and beckoned to him. Then he knew that it was not only +right but necessary that he should enter. + +They passed from street to street among fair and spacious dwellings, +set in amaranthine gardens, and adorned with an infinitely varied +beauty of divine simplicity. The mansions differed in size, in shape, +in charm: each one seemed to have its own personal look of loveliness; +yet all were alike in fitness to their place, in harmony with one +another, in the addition which each made to the singular and tranquil +splendor of the city. + +As the little company came, one by one, to the mansions which were +prepared for them, and their Guide beckoned to the happy inhabitant to +enter in and take possession, there was a soft murmur of joy, half +wonder and half recognition; as if the new and immortal dwelling were +crowned with the beauty of surprise, lovelier and nobler than all the +dreams of it had been; and yet also as if it were touched with the +beauty of the familiar, the remembered, the long-loved. One after +another the travelers were led to their own mansions, and went in +gladly; and from within, through the open doorways, came sweet voices +of welcome, and low laughter, and song. + +At last there was no one left with the Guide but the two old friends, +Doctor McLean and John Weightman. They were standing in front of one +of the largest and fairest of the houses, whose garden glowed softly +with radiant flowers. The Guide laid his hand upon the doctor's +shoulder. + +"This is for you," he said. "Go in; there is no more pain here, no +more death, nor sorrow, nor tears; for your old enemies are all +conquered. But all the good that you have done for others, all the +help that you have given, all the comfort that you have brought, all +the strength and love that you have bestowed upon the suffering, are +here; for we have built them all into this mansion for you." + +The good man's face was lighted with a still joy. He clasped his old +friend's hand closely, and whispered: "How wonderful it is! Go on, +you will come to your mansion next, it is not far away, and we shall +see each other again soon, very soon." + +So he went through the garden, and into the music within. The Keeper +of the Gate turned to John Weightman with level, quiet, searching +eyes. Then he asked, gravely: + +"Where do you wish me to lead you now?" + +"To see my own mansion," answered the man, with half-concealed +excitement. "Is there not one here for me? You may not let me enter it +yet, perhaps, for I must confess to you that I am only--" + +"I know," said the Keeper of the Gate--"I know it all. You are John +Weightman." + +"Yes," said the man, more firmly than he had spoken at first, for it +gratified him that his name was known. "Yes, I am John Weightman, +Senior Warden of St. Petronius' Church. I wish very much to see my +mansion here, if only for a moment. I believe that you have one for +me. Will you take me to it?" + +The Keeper of the Gate drew a little book from the breast of his robe +and turned over the pages. + +"Certainly," he said, with a curious look at the man, "your name is +here; and you shall see your mansion if you will follow me." + +It seemed as if they must have walked miles and miles, through the +vast city, passing street after street of houses larger and smaller, +of gardens richer and poorer, but all full of beauty and delight. They +came into a kind of suburb, where there were many small cottages, with +plots of flowers, very lowly, but bright and fragrant. Finally they +reached an open field, bare and lonely-looking. There were two or +three little bushes in it, without flowers, and the grass was sparse +and thin. In the center of the field was a tiny hut, hardly big enough +for a shepherd's shelter. It looked as if it had been built of +discarded things, scraps and fragments of other buildings, put +together with care and pains, by some one who had tried to make the +most of cast-off material. There was something pitiful and shamefaced +about the hut. It shrank and drooped and faded in its barren field, +and seemed to cling only by sufferance to the edge of the splendid +city. + +"This," said the Keeper of the Gate, standing still and speaking with +a low, distinct voice--"this is your mansion, John Weightman." + +An almost intolerable shock of grieved wonder and indignation choked +the man for a moment so that he could not say a word. Then he turned +his face away from the poor little hut and began to remonstrate +eagerly with his companion. + +"Surely, sir," he stammered, "you must be in error about this. There +is something wrong--some other John Weightman--a confusion of +names--the book must be mistaken." + +"There is no mistake," said the Keeper of the Gate, very calmly; "here +is your name, the record of your title and your possessions in this +place." + +"But how could such a house be prepared for me," cried the man, with a +resentful tremor in his voice--"for me, after my long and faithful +service? Is this a suitable mansion for one so well known and devoted? +Why is it so pitifully small and mean? Why have you not built it large +and fair, like the others?" + +"That is all the material you sent us." + +"What!" + +"We have used all the material that you sent us," repeated the Keeper +of the Gate. + +"Now I know that you are mistaken," cried the man, with growing +earnestness, "for all my life long I have been doing things that must +have supplied you with material. Have you not heard that I have built +a school-house; the wing of a hospital; two--yes, three--small +churches, and the greater part of a large one, the spire of St. +Petro--" + +The Keeper of the Gate lifted his hand. + +"Wait," he said; "we know all these things. They were not ill done. +But they were all marked and used as foundation for the name and +mansion of John Weightman in the world. Did you not plan them for +that?" + +"Yes," answered the man, confused and taken aback, "I confess that +I thought often of them in that way. Perhaps my heart was set upon +that too much. But there are other things--my endowment for the +college--my steady and liberal contributions to all the established +charities--my support of every respectable--" + +"Wait," said the Keeper of the Gate again. "Were not all these +carefully recorded on earth where they would add to your credit? They +were not foolishly done. Verily, you have had your reward for them. +Would you be paid twice?" + +"No," cried the man, with deepening dismay, "I dare not claim that. I +acknowledge that I considered my own interest too much. But surely not +altogether. You have said that these things were not foolishly done. +They accomplished some good in the world. Does not that count for +something?" + +"Yes," answered the Keeper of the Gate, "it counts in the world--where +you counted it. But it does not belong to you here. We have saved and +used everything that you sent us. This is the mansion prepared for +you." + +As he spoke, his look grew deeper and more searching, like a flame of +fire. John Weightman could not endure it. It seemed to strip him naked +and wither him. He sank to the ground under a crushing weight of +shame, covering his eyes with his hands and cowering face downward +upon the stones. Dimly through the trouble of his mind he felt their +hardness and coldness. + +"Tell me, then," he cried, brokenly, "since my life has been so little +worth, how came I here at all?" + +"Through the mercy of the King"--the answer was like the soft tolling +of a bell. + +"And how have I earned it?" he murmured. + +"It is never earned; it is only given," came the clear, low reply. + +"But how have I failed so wretchedly," he asked, "in all the purpose +of my life? What could I have done better? What is it that counts +here?" + +"Only that which is truly given," answered the bell-like voice. "Only +that good which is done for the love of doing it. Only those plans in +which the welfare of others is the master thought. Only those labors +in which the sacrifice is greater than the reward. Only those gifts in +which the giver forgets himself." + +The man lay silent. A great weakness, an unspeakable despondency and +humiliation were upon him. But the face of the Keeper of the Gate was +infinitely tender as he bent over him. + +"Think again, John Weightman. Has there been nothing like that in your +life?" + +"Nothing," he sighed. "If there ever were such things, it must have +been long ago--they were all crowded out--I have forgotten them." + +There was an ineffable smile on the face of the Keeper of the Gate, +and his hand made the sign of the cross over the bowed head as he +spoke gently: + +"These are the things that the King never forgets; and because there +were a few of them in your life, you have a little place here." + + * * * * * + +The sense of coldness and hardness under John Weightman's hands grew +sharper and more distinct. The feeling of bodily weariness and +lassitude weighed upon him, but there was a calm, almost a lightness, +in his heart as he listened to the fading vibrations of the silvery +bell-tones. The chimney clock on the mantel had just ended the last +stroke of seven as he lifted his head from the table. Thin, pale +strips of the city morning were falling into the room through the +narrow partings of the heavy curtains. + +What was it that had happened to him? Had he been ill? Had he died +and come to life again? Or had he only slept, and had his soul gone +visiting in dreams? He sat for some time, motionless, not lost, but +finding himself in thought. Then he took a narrow book from the table +drawer, wrote a check, and tore it out. + +He went slowly up the stairs, knocked very softly at his son's door, +and, hearing no answer, entered without noise. Harold was asleep, his +bare arm thrown above his head, and his eager face relaxed in peace. +His father looked at him a moment with strangely shining eyes, and +then tiptoed quietly to the writing-desk, found a pencil and a sheet +of paper, and wrote rapidly: + +"My dear boy, here is what you asked me for; do what you like with it, +and ask for more if you need it. If you are still thinking of that +work with Grenfell, we'll talk it over to-day after church. I want to +know your heart better; and if I have made mistakes--" + +[Illustration: "God give us a good Christmas together"] + +A slight noise made him turn his head. Harold was sitting up in bed +with wide-open eyes. + +"Father!" he cried, "is that you?" + +"Yes, my son," answered John Weightman; "I've come back--I mean I've +come up--no, I mean come in--well, here I am, and God give us a good +Christmas together." + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mansion, by Henry Van Dyke + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MANSION *** + +***** This file should be named 38312-8.txt or 38312-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/3/1/38312/ + +Produced by Jen Haines, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. 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/38312-8.zip b/38312-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8da5e52 --- /dev/null +++ b/38312-8.zip diff --git a/38312-h.zip b/38312-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6ee51da --- /dev/null +++ b/38312-h.zip diff --git a/38312-h/38312-h.htm b/38312-h/38312-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f0c743e --- /dev/null +++ b/38312-h/38312-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2008 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of, The Mansion, by Henry van Dyke. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + + h5 { + text-align: right; + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +p.noindent { + text-indent: 0em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +hr.narrow { + width: 10%; +} + +.pagenum {/* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /*visibility: hidden;*/ + position: absolute; + left: 95%; + font-size: 10px; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + font-style: normal; + letter-spacing: normal; + text-indent: 0em; + text-align: right; + color: #999999; + background-color: #ffffff; +} /* page numbers */ + +.pagenum2 {/* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /*visibility: hidden;*/ + position: absolute; + left: 95%; + font-size: 10px; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + font-style: normal; + letter-spacing: normal; + text-indent: 110px; + text-align: right; + color: #999999; + background-color: #ffffff; +} /* page numbers */ + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold; + margin-bottom: 2em; +} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-right: .5em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: + 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +span.dropcap { display: none; } +/* this goes around the first letter of the first word */ + +div.wrap_area { position: relative; } +div.wrap_area img { position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; } +div.wrap_area p { position: relative; } + +div.shape_wrap div { float: left; clear: left; height: 45px} + +/* +div.wrap_area img { opacity: .5; filter: alpha(opacity=50); } +div.shape_wrap div { border: 1px solid #f0f; } +*/ + + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mansion, by Henry Van Dyke + +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 Mansion + +Author: Henry Van Dyke + +Illustrator: Elizabeth Shippen Green + +Release Date: December 15, 2011 [EBook #38312] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MANSION *** + + + + +Produced by Jen Haines, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="450" height="704" alt="Book Cover" title="Book Cover" /> +</div> + +<h1>The Mansion</h1> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="450" height="722" alt="[See page 57 +"BUT HOW HAVE I FAILED SO WRETCHEDLY?"" title="" /> +<h5>[See page 57</h5> +<h4>"BUT HOW HAVE I FAILED SO WRETCHEDLY?"</h4> +<h4> </h4> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/tp.jpg" width="400" height="629" alt="Title Page" title="Title Page" /> +</div> +<h1>THE MANSION</h1> + +<h2>BY</h2> +<h2><span class="smcap">Henry van Dyke</span></h2> + +<h3>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY</h3> +<h2>ELIZABETH SHIPPEN GREEN</h2> + +<h4>Illustration: Publisher Logo</h4> + +<h2>HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS</h2> +<h2>NEW YORK AND LONDON . M . C . M . X . I</h2> + +<h4>COPYRIGHT, 1910, 1911, BY HARPER & BROTHERS</h4> +<hr class="narrow" /> + +<h4>PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</h4> +<h4>PUBLISHED OCTOBER, 1911</h4> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/gs01.jpg" width="450" height="229" alt="Man with hands raised as if in prayer" title="Man with hands raised as if in prayer" /> +</div> + +<h1>The Mansion</h1> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/drop_t.jpg" width="100" height="178" alt="T" title="T" /> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 102px;" ></div> + <div style="width: 102px;" ></div> + <div style="width: 25px;" ></div> + <div style="width: 25px;" ></div> + +</div> + + +<p class="noindent"><span class="dropcap">T</span><span class = "smcap">here</span> was an air of calm +and reserved opulence about +the Weightman mansion that +spoke not of money squandered, +but of wealth prudently applied. +Standing on a corner of the Avenue no +longer fashionable for residence, it looked +upon the swelling tide of business with +an expression of complacency and half-disdain.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum2"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> +<p class="noindent">The house was not beautiful. There was +nothing in its straight front of chocolate-colored +stone, its heavy cornices, its broad, +staring windows of plate glass, its carved +and bronze-bedecked mahogany doors at +the top of the wide stoop, to charm the eye +or fascinate the imagination. But it was +eminently respectable, and in its way imposing. +It seemed to say that the glittering +shops of the jewelers, the milliners, the confectioners, +the florists, the picture-dealers, +the furriers, the makers of rare and costly +antiquities, retail traders in luxuries of life, +were beneath the notice of a house that had +its foundations in the high finance, and was +built literally and figuratively in the shadow +of St. Petronius' Church.</p> +<span class="pagenum2"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +<p class="noindent">At the same time there was something +self-pleased and congratulatory in the way +in which the mansion held its own amid the +changing neighborhood. It almost seemed +to be lifted up a little, among the tall buildings +near at hand, as if it felt the rising +value of the land on which it stood.</p> +</div> + +<p>John Weightman was like the house into +which he had built himself thirty years ago, +and in which his ideals and ambitions were +incrusted. He was a self-made man. But +in making himself he had chosen a highly +esteemed pattern and worked according to +the approved rules. There was nothing irregular, +questionable, flamboyant about +him. He was solid, correct, and justly +successful.</p> + +<p>His minor tastes, of course, had been +carefully kept up to date. At the proper +time, pictures by the Barbizon masters, +old English plate and portraits, bronzes by +Barye and marbles by Rodin, Persian carpets +and Chinese porcelains, had been introduced +to the mansion. It contained a +Louis Quinze reception-room, an Empire +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>drawing-room, a Jacobean dining-room, +and various apartments dimly reminiscent +of the styles of furniture affected by deceased +monarchs. That the hallways were +too short for the historic perspective did +not make much difference. American decorative +art is <i>capable de tout</i>, it absorbs all +periods. Of each period Mr. Weightman +wished to have something of the best. He +understood its value, present as a certificate, +and prospective as an investment.</p> + +<p>It was only in the architecture of his +town house that he remained conservative, +immovable, one might almost say Early-Victorian-Christian. +His country house at +Dulwich-on-the-Sound was a palace of the +Italian Renaissance. But in town he adhered +to an architecture which had moral +associations, the Nineteenth-Century-Brownstone +epoch. It was a symbol of his +social position, his religious doctrine, and +even, in a way, of his business creed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A man of fixed principles," he would +say, "should express them in the looks of +his house. New York changes its domestic +architecture too rapidly. It is like divorce. +It is not dignified. I don't like it. Extravagance +and fickleness are advertised in +most of these new houses. I wish to be +known for different qualities. Dignity and +prudence are the things that people trust. +Every one knows that I can afford to live +in the house that suits me. It is a guarantee +to the public. It inspires confidence. It +helps my influence. There is a text in the +Bible about 'a house that hath foundations.' +That is the proper kind of a mansion for a +solid man."</p> + +<p>Harold Weightman had often listened to +his father discoursing in this fashion on the +fundamental principles of life, and always +with a divided mind. He admired immensely +his father's talents and the single-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>minded +energy with which he improved +them. But in the paternal philosophy there +was something that disquieted and oppressed +the young man, and made him gasp +inwardly for fresh air and free action.</p> + +<p>At times, during his college course and +his years at the law school, he had yielded +to this impulse and broken away—now +toward extravagance and dissipation, and +then, when the reaction came, toward a +romantic devotion to work among the poor. +He had felt his father's disapproval for both +of these forms of imprudence; but it was +never expressed in a harsh or violent way, +always with a certain tolerant patience, +such as one might show for the mistakes +and vagaries of the very young. John +Weightman was not hasty, impulsive, inconsiderate, +even toward his own children. +With them, as with the rest of the world, +he felt that he had a reputation to main<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>tain, +a theory to vindicate. He could afford +to give them time to see that he was +absolutely right.</p> + +<p>One of his favorite Scripture quotations +was, "Wait on the Lord." He had applied +it to real estate and to people, with profitable +results.</p> + +<p>But to human persons the sensation of +being waited for is not always agreeable. +Sometimes, especially with the young, it +produces a vague restlessness, a dumb resentment, +which is increased by the fact +that one can hardly explain or justify it. +Of this John Weightman was not conscious. +It lay beyond his horizon. He did not take +it into account in the plan of life which he +made for himself and for his family as the +sharers and inheritors of his success.</p> + +<p>"Father plays us," said Harold, in a +moment of irritation, to his mother, "like +pieces in a game of chess."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My dear," said that lady, whose faith +in her husband was religious, "you ought +not to speak so impatiently. At least he +wins the game. He is one of the most +respected men in New York. And he is +very generous, too."</p> + +<p>"I wish he would be more generous in +letting us be ourselves," said the young +man. "He always has something in view +for us and expects to move us up to it."</p> + +<p>"But isn't it always for our benefit?" +replied his mother. "Look what a position +we have. No one can say there is any taint +on our money. There are no rumors about +your father. He has kept the laws of God +and of man. He has never made any mistakes."</p> + +<p>Harold got up from his chair and poked +the fire. Then he came back to the ample, +well-gowned, firm-looking lady, and sat +beside her on the sofa. He took her hand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +gently and looked at the two rings—a thin +band of yellow gold, and a small solitaire +diamond—which kept their place on her +third finger in modest dignity, as if not +shamed, but rather justified, by the splendor +of the emerald which glittered beside them.</p> + +<p>"Mother," he said, "you have a wonderful +hand. And father made no mistake +when he won you. But are you sure +he has always been so inerrant?"</p> + +<p>"Harold," she exclaimed, a little stiffly, +"what do you mean? His life is an open +book."</p> + +<p>"Oh," he answered, "I don't mean +anything bad, mother dear. I know the +governor's life is an open book—a ledger, +if you like, kept in the best bookkeeping +hand, and always ready for inspection—every +page correct, and showing a handsome +balance. But isn't it a mistake not +to allow us to make our own mistakes, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +learn for ourselves, to live our own lives? +Must we be always working for 'the balance,' +in one thing or another? I want to +be myself—to get outside of this everlasting, +profitable 'plan'—to let myself go, +and lose myself for a while at least—to do +the things that I want to do, just because +I want to do them."</p> + +<p>"My boy," said his mother, anxiously, +"you are not going to do anything wrong +or foolish? You know the falsehood of +that old proverb about wild oats."</p> + +<p>He threw back his head and laughed. +"Yes, mother," he answered, "I know it +well enough. But in California, you +know, the wild oats are one of the most +valuable crops. They grow all over the +hillsides and keep the cattle and the horses +alive. But that wasn't what I meant—to +sow wild oats. Say to pick wild flowers, +if you like, or even to chase wild geese—to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +do something that seems good to me just +for its own sake, not for the sake of wages +of one kind or another. I feel like a hired +man, in the service of this magnificent +mansion—say in training for father's place +as majordomo. I'd like to get out some +way, to feel free—perhaps to do something +for others."</p> + +<p>The young man's voice hesitated a little. +"Yes, it sounds like cant, I know, but +sometimes I feel as if I'd like to do some +good in the world, if father only wouldn't +insist upon God's putting it into the ledger."</p> + +<p>His mother moved uneasily, and a slight +look of bewilderment came into her face.</p> + +<p>"Isn't that almost irreverent?" she +asked. "Surely the righteous must have +their reward. And your father is good. +See how much he gives to all the established +charities, how many things he has +founded. He's always thinking of others,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +and planning for them. And surely, for +us, he does everything. How well he has +planned this trip to Europe for me and +the girls—the court-presentation at Berlin, +the season on the Riviera, the visits in +England with the Plumptons and the Halverstones. +He says Lord Halverstone has +the finest old house in Sussex, pure Elizabethan, +and all the old customs are kept up, +too—family prayers every morning for all +the domestics. By-the-way, you know his +son Bertie, I believe."</p> + +<p>Harold smiled a little to himself as he +answered: "Yes, I fished at Catalina Island +last June with the Honorable Ethelbert; +he's rather a decent chap, in spite of his ingrowing +mind. But you?—mother, you +are simply magnificent! You are father's +masterpiece." The young man leaned over +to kiss her, and went up to the Riding Club +for his afternoon canter in the Park.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + +<p>So it came to pass, early in December, +that Mrs. Weightman and her two daughters +sailed for Europe, on their serious +pleasure trip, even as it had been written +in the book of Providence; and John Weightman, +who had made the entry, was left to +pass the rest of the winter with his son and +heir in the brownstone mansion.</p> + +<p>They were comfortable enough. The +machinery of the massive establishment +ran as smoothly as a great electric dynamo. +They were busy enough, too. John Weightman's +plans and enterprises were complicated, +though his principle of action was +always simple—to get good value for every +expenditure and effort. The banking-house +of which he was the chief, the brain, the will, +the absolutely controlling hand, was so admirably +organized that the details of its +direction took but little time. But the +scores of other interests that radiated from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +it and were dependent upon it—or perhaps +it would be more accurate to say, that contributed +to its solidity and success—the +many investments, industrial, political, benevolent, +reformatory, ecclesiastical, that +had made the name of Weightman well +known and potent in city, church, and +state, demanded much attention and careful +steering, in order that each might produce +the desired result. There were board meetings +of corporations and hospitals, conferences +in Wall Street and at Albany, +consultations and committee meetings in +the brownstone mansion.</p> + +<p>For a share in all this business and its +adjuncts John Weightman had his son in +training in one of the famous law firms +of the city; for he held that banking itself +is a simple affair, the only real difficulties +of finance are on its legal side. Meantime +he wished the young man to meet and know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +the men with whom he would have to deal +when he became a partner in the house. +So a couple of dinners were given in the +mansion during December, after which the +father called the son's attention to the fact +that over a hundred million dollars had sat +around the board.</p> + +<p>But on Christmas Eve father and son +were dining together without guests, and +their talk across the broad table, glittering +with silver and cut glass, and softly lit by +shaded candles, was intimate, though a +little slow at times. The elder man was +in rather a rare mood, more expansive and +confidential than usual; and, when the +coffee was brought in and they were left +alone, he talked more freely of his personal +plans and hopes than he had ever done +before.</p> + +<p>"I feel very grateful to-night," said +he, at last; "it must be something in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +air of Christmas that gives me this feeling +of thankfulness for the many divine mercies +that have been bestowed upon me. All the +principles by which I have tried to guide +my life have been justified. I have never +made the value of this salted almond by +anything that the courts would not uphold, +at least in the long run, and yet—or wouldn't +it be truer to say and therefore?—my affairs +have been wonderfully prospered. There's +a great deal in that text 'Honesty is the +best'—but no, that's not from the Bible, +after all, is it? Wait a moment; there is +something of that kind, I know."</p> + +<p>"May I light a cigar, father," said Harold, +turning away to hide a smile, "while +you are remembering the text?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, certainly," answered the elder +man, rather shortly; "you know I don't +dislike the smell. But it is a wasteful, +useless habit, and therefore I have never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +practised it. Nothing useless is worth +while, that's my motto—nothing that does +not bring the reward. Oh, now I recall +the text, 'Verily I say unto you they have +their reward.' I shall ask Doctor Snodgrass +to preach a sermon on that verse +some day."</p> + +<p>"Using you as an illustration?"</p> + +<p>"Well, not exactly that; but I could +give him some good material from my own +experience to prove the truth of Scripture. +I can honestly say that there is not one of +my charities that has not brought me in a +good return, either in the increase of influence, +the building up of credit, or the +association with substantial people. Of +course you have to be careful how you give, +in order to secure the best results—no indiscriminate +giving—no pennies in beggars' +hats! It has been one of my principles +always to use the same kind of judgment in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +charities that I use in my other affairs, and +they have not disappointed me."</p> + +<p>"Even the check that you put in the +plate when you take the offertory up the +aisle on Sunday morning?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly; though there the influence +is less direct; and I must confess that I +have my doubts in regard to the collection +for Foreign Missions. That always seems +to me romantic and wasteful. You never +hear from it in any definite way. They +say the missionaries have done a good deal +to open the way for trade; perhaps—but +they have also gotten us into commercial +and political difficulties. Yet I give to +them—a little—it is a matter of conscience +with me to identify myself with all the enterprises +of the Church; it is the mainstay of +social order and a prosperous civilization. +But the best forms of benevolence are the +well-established, organized ones here at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +home, where people can see them and know +what they are doing."</p> + +<p>"You mean the ones that have a local +habitation and a name."</p> + +<p>"Yes; they offer by far the safest return, +though of course there is something gained +by contributing to general funds. A public +man can't afford to be without public spirit. +But on the whole I prefer a building, or an +endowment. There is a mutual advantage +to a good name and a good institution in +their connection in the public mind. It +helps them both. Remember that, my +boy. Of course at the beginning you will +have to practise it in a small way; later, +you will have larger opportunities. But +try to put your gifts where they can be +identified and do good all around. You'll +see the wisdom of it in the long run."</p> + +<p>"I can see it already, sir, and the way +you describe it looks amazingly wise and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +prudent. In other words, we must cast +our bread on the waters in large loaves, +carried by sound ships marked with the +owner's name, so that the return freight will +be sure to come back to us."</p> + +<p>The father laughed, but his eyes were +frowning a little as if he suspected something +irreverent under the respectful reply.</p> + +<p>"You put it humorously, but there's +sense in what you say. Why not? God +rules the sea; but He expects us to follow +the laws of navigation and commerce. Why +not take good care of your bread, even when +you give it away?"</p> + +<p>"It's not for me to say why not—and yet +I can think of cases—" The young man +hesitated for a moment. His half-finished +cigar had gone out. He rose and tossed it +into the fire, in front of which he remained +standing—a slender, eager, restless young +figure, with a touch of hunger in the fine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +face, strangely like and unlike the father, at +whom he looked with half-wistful curiosity.</p> + +<p>"The fact is, sir," he continued, "there +is such a case in my mind now, and it +is a good deal on my heart, too. So I +thought of speaking to you about it to-night. +You remember Tom Rollins, the Junior who +was so good to me when I entered college?"</p> + +<p>The father nodded. He remembered very +well indeed the annoying incidents of his +son's first escapade, and how Rollins had +stood by him and helped to avoid a public +disgrace, and how a close friendship had +grown between the two boys, so different +in their fortunes.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, "I remember him. He +was a promising young man. Has he succeeded?"</p> + +<p>"Not exactly—that is, not yet. His +business has been going rather badly. He +has a wife and little baby, you know. And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +now he has broken down,—something wrong +with his lungs. The doctor says his only +chance is a year or eighteen months in Colorado. +I wish we could help him."</p> + +<p>"How much would it cost?"</p> + +<p>"Three or four thousand, perhaps, as +a loan."</p> + +<p>"Does the doctor say he will get well?"</p> + +<p>"A fighting chance—the doctor says."</p> + +<p>The face of the older man changed subtly. +Not a line was altered, but it seemed to have +a different substance, as if it were carved out +of some firm, imperishable stuff.</p> + +<p>"A fighting chance," he said, "may do +for a speculation, but it is not a good investment. +You owe something to young Rollins. +Your grateful feeling does you credit. But +don't overwork it. Send him three or four +hundred, if you like. You'll never hear from +it again, except in the letter of thanks. But +for Heaven's sake don't be sentimental.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +Religion is not a matter of sentiment; it's a +matter of principle."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/gs02.jpg" width="400" height="378" alt=""It is not a good investment"" title=""It is not a good investment"" /> +</div> + +<p>The face of the younger man changed +now. But instead of becoming fixed and +graven, it seemed to melt into life by the +heat of an inward fire. His nostrils quivered +with quick breath, his lips were curled.</p> + +<p>"Principle!" he said. "You mean principal—and +interest too. Well, sir, you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +know best whether that is religion or not. +But if it is, count me out, please. Tom +saved me from going to the devil, six years +ago; and I'll be damned if I don't help him +to the best of my ability now."</p> + +<p>John Weightman looked at his son steadily. +"Harold," he said at last, "you +know I dislike violent language, and it +never has any influence with me. If I +could honestly approve of this proposition +of yours, I'd let you have the money; but I +can't; it's extravagant and useless. But +you have your Christmas check for a thousand +dollars coming to you to-morrow. You +can use it as you please. I never interfere +with your private affairs."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Harold. "Thank +you very much! But there's another private +affair. I want to get away from this +life, this town, this house. It stifles me. +You refused last summer when I asked you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +to let me go up to Grenfell's Mission on the +Labrador. I could go now, at least as far +as the Newfoundland Station. Have you +changed your mind?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all. I think it is an exceedingly +foolish enterprise. It would interrupt the +career that I have marked out for you."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, here's a cheaper proposition. +Algy Vanderhoof wants me to join him on +his yacht with—well, with a little party—to +cruise in the West Indies. Would you +prefer that?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly not! The Vanderhoof set +is wild and godless—I do not wish to see +you keeping company with fools who walk +in the broad and easy way that leads to +perdition."</p> + +<p>"It is rather a hard choice," said the +young man, with a short laugh, turning +toward the door. "According to you +there's very little difference—a fool's para<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>dise +or a fool's hell! Well, it's one or the +other for me, and I'll toss up for it to-night: +heads, I lose; tails, the devil wins. Anyway, +I'm sick of this, and I'm out of +it."</p> + +<p>"Harold," said the older man (and there +was a slight tremor in his voice), "don't let +us quarrel on Christmas Eve. All I want +is to persuade you to think seriously of the +duties and responsibilities to which God has +called you—don't speak lightly of heaven +and hell—remember, there is another life."</p> + +<p>The young man came back and laid his +hand upon his father's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Father," he said, "I want to remember +it. I try to believe in it. But somehow +or other, in this house, it all seems unreal +to me. No doubt all you say is perfectly +right and wise. I don't venture to argue +against it, but I can't feel it—that's all. +If I'm to have a soul, either to lose or to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +save, I must really live. Just now neither +the present nor the future means anything +to me. But surely we won't quarrel. I'm +very grateful to you, and we'll part friends. +Good-night, sir."</p> + +<p>The father held out his hand in silence. +The heavy portière dropped noiselessly behind +the son, and he went up the wide, +curving stairway to his own room.</p> + +<p>Meantime John Weightman sat in his +carved chair in the Jacobean dining-room. +He felt strangely old and dull. The portraits +of beautiful women by Lawrence and +Reynolds and Raeburn, which had often +seemed like real company to him, looked +remote and uninteresting. He fancied something +cold and almost unfriendly in their +expression, as if they were staring through +him or beyond him. They cared nothing +for his principles, his hopes, his disappointments, +his successes; they belonged to an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>other +world, in which he had no place. At +this he felt a vague resentment, a sense of +discomfort that he could not have defined +or explained. He was used to being considered, +respected, appreciated at his full +value in every region, even in that of his +own dreams.</p> + +<p>Presently he rang for the butler, telling +him to close the house and not to sit up, and +walked with lagging steps into the long +library, where the shaded lamps were burning. +His eye fell upon the low shelves full +of costly books, but he had no desire to +open them. Even the carefully chosen +pictures that hung above them seemed to +have lost their attraction. He paused for a +moment before an idyll of Corot—a dance +of nymphs around some forgotten altar in a +vaporous glade—and looked at it curiously. +There was something rapturous and serene +about the picture, a breath of spring-time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +in the misty trees, a harmony of joy in the +dancing figures, that wakened in him a +feeling of half-pleasure and half-envy. It +represented something that he had never +known in his calculated, orderly life. He +was dimly mistrustful of it.</p> + +<p>"It is certainly very beautiful," he +thought, "but it is distinctly pagan; that +altar is built to some heathen god. It does +not fit into the scheme of a Christian life. I +doubt whether it is consistent with the tone +of my house. I will sell it this winter. It +will bring three or four times what I paid for +it. That was a good purchase, a very good +bargain."</p> + +<p>He dropped into the revolving chair before +his big library table. It was covered +with pamphlets and reports of the various +enterprises in which he was interested. +There was a pile of newspaper clippings in +which his name was mentioned with praise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +for his sustaining power as a pillar of finance, +for his judicious benevolence, for his support +of wise and prudent reform movements, for +his discretion in making permanent public +gifts—"the Weightman Charities," one +very complaisant editor called them, as if +they deserved classification as a distinct +species.</p> + +<p>He turned the papers over listlessly. +There was a description and a picture of +the "Weightman Wing of the Hospital for +Cripples," of which he was president; and +an article on the new professor in the +"Weightman Chair of Political Jurisprudence" +in Jackson University, of which he +was a trustee; and an illustrated account +of the opening of the "Weightman Grammar-School" +at Dulwich-on-the-Sound, +where he had his legal residence for purposes +of taxation.</p> + +<p>This last was perhaps the most carefully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +planned of all the Weightman Charities. +He desired to win the confidence and support +of his rural neighbors. It had pleased him +much when the local newspaper had spoken +of him as an ideal citizen and the logical +candidate for the Governorship of the State; +but upon the whole it seemed to him wiser +to keep out of active politics. It would be +easier and better to put Harold into the +running, to have him sent to the Legislature +from the Dulwich district, then to the +national House, then to the Senate. Why +not? The Weightman interests were large +enough to need a direct representative and +guardian at Washington.</p> + +<p>But to-night all these plans came back +to him with dust upon them. They were +dry and crumbling like forsaken habitations. +The son upon whom his complacent ambition +had rested had turned his back upon +the mansion of his father's hopes. The break<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +might not be final; and in any event there +would be much to live for; the fortunes of +the family would be secure. But the zest +of it all would be gone if John Weightman +had to give up the assurance of perpetuating +his name and his principles in his son. It +was a bitter disappointment, and he felt that +he had not deserved it.</p> + +<p>He rose from the chair and paced the +room with leaden feet. For the first time +in his life his age was visibly upon him. His +head was heavy and hot, and the thoughts +that rolled in it were confused and depressing. +Could it be that he had made a mistake +in the principles of his existence? +There was no argument in what Harold had +said—it was almost childish—and yet it had +shaken the elder man more deeply than he +cared to show. It held a silent attack which +touched him more than open criticism.</p> + +<p>Suppose the end of his life were nearer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +than he thought—the end must come some +time—what if it were now? Had he not +founded his house upon a rock? Had he +not kept the Commandments? Was he not, +"touching the law, blameless"? And beyond +this, even if there were some faults in +his character—and all men are sinners—yet +he surely believed in the saving doctrines +of religion—the forgiveness of sins, the +resurrection of the body, the life everlasting. +Yes, that was the true source of comfort, +after all. He would read a bit in the Bible, +as he did every night, and go to bed and to +sleep.</p> + +<p>He went back to his chair at the library +table. A strange weight of weariness rested +upon him, but he opened the book at a +familiar place, and his eyes fell upon the +verse at the bottom of the page.</p> + +<p>"<i>Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon +earth.</i>"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + +<p>That had been the text of the sermon a +few weeks before. Sleepily, heavily, he +tried to fix his mind upon it and recall it. +What was it that Doctor Snodgrass had +said? Ah, yes—that it was a mistake to +pause here in reading the verse. We must +read on without a pause—<i>Lay not up treasures +upon earth where moth and rust do corrupt +and where thieves break through and +steal</i>—that was the true doctrine. We may +have treasures upon earth, but they must +not be put into unsafe places, but into safe +places. A most comforting doctrine! He +had always followed it. Moths and rust and +thieves had done no harm to his investments.</p> + +<p>John Weightman's drooping eyes turned +to the next verse, at the top of the second +column.</p> + +<p>"<i>But lay up for yourselves treasures in +heaven.</i>"</p> + +<p>Now what had the Doctor said about that?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +How was it to be understood—in what sense—treasures—in +heaven?</p> + +<p>The book seemed to float away from him. +The light vanished. He wondered dimly +if this could be Death, coming so suddenly, +so quietly, so irresistibly. He struggled +for a moment to hold himself up, and +then sank slowly forward upon the table. +His head rested upon his folded hands. He +slipped into the unknown.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>How long afterward conscious life returned +to him he did not know. The blank +might have been an hour or a century. He +knew only that something had happened in +the interval. What it was he could not tell. +He found great difficulty in catching the +thread of his identity again. He felt that he +was himself; but the trouble was to make +his connections, to verify and place himself, +to know who and where he was.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<p>At last it grew clear. John Weightman +was sitting on a stone, not far from a road +in a strange land.</p> + +<p>The road was not a formal highway, +fenced and graded. It was more like a +great travel-trace, worn by thousands of +feet passing across the open country in the +same direction. Down in the valley, into +which he could look, the road seemed to +form itself gradually out of many minor +paths; little footways coming across the +meadows, winding tracks following along +beside the streams, faintly marked trails +emerging from the woodlands. But on the +hillside the threads were more firmly woven +into one clear band of travel, though there +were still a few dim paths joining it here and +there, as if persons had been climbing up +the hill by other ways and had turned at last +to seek the road.</p> + +<p>From the edge of the hill, where John<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +Weightman sat, he could see the travelers, +in little groups or larger companies, gathering +from time to time by the different paths, +and making the ascent. They were all +clothed in white, and the form of their +garments was strange to him; it was like +some old picture. They passed him, group +after group, talking quietly together or +singing; not moving in haste, but with a +certain air of eagerness and joy as if they +were glad to be on their way to an appointed +place. They did not stay to speak to him, +but they looked at him often and spoke to +one another as they looked; and now and +then one of them would smile and beckon +him a friendly greeting, so that he felt they +would like him to be with them.</p> + +<p>There was quite an interval between the +groups; and he followed each of them with +his eyes after it had passed, blanching +the long ribbon of the road for a little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +transient space, rising and receding across +the wide, billowy upland, among the rounded +hillocks of aerial green and gold and +lilac, until it came to the high horizon, and +stood outlined for a moment, a tiny cloud of +whiteness against the tender blue, before it +vanished over the hill.</p> + +<p>For a long time he sat there watching and +wondering. It was a very different world +from that in which his mansion on the +Avenue was built; and it looked strange to +him, but most real—as real as anything he +had ever seen. Presently he felt a strong +desire to know what country it was and +where the people were going. He had a +faint premonition of what it must be, but he +wished to be sure. So he rose from the +stone where he was sitting, and came down +through the short grass and the lavender +flowers, toward a passing group of people. +One of them turned to meet him, and held<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +out his hand. It was an old man, under +whose white beard and brows John Weightman +thought he saw a suggestion of the +face of the village doctor who had cared for +him years ago, when he was a boy in the +country.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> +<img src="images/gs03.jpg" width="350" height="329" alt=""Welcome! Will you come with us?"" title=""Welcome! Will you come with us?"" /> +</div> + +<p>"Welcome," said the old man. "Will +you come with us?"</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> + +<p>"To the heavenly city, to see our mansions +there."</p> + +<p>"And who are these with you?"</p> + +<p>"Strangers to me, until a little while +ago; I know them better now. But you I +have known for a long time, John Weightman. +Don't you remember your old doctor?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," he cried—"yes; your voice has +not changed at all. I'm glad indeed to see +you, Doctor McLean, especially now. All +this seems very strange to me, almost oppressive. +I wonder if—but may I go with you, +do you suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Surely," answered the doctor, with his +familiar smile; "it will do you good. And +you also must have a mansion in the city +waiting for you—a fine one, too—are you not +looking forward to it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied the other, hesitating a +moment; "yes—I believe it must be so,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +although I had not expected to see it so +soon. But I will go with you, and we can +talk by the way."</p> + +<p>The two men quickly caught up with the +other people, and all went forward together +along the road. The doctor had little to +tell of his experience, for it had been a plain, +hard life, uneventfully spent for others, and +the story of the village was very simple. +John Weightman's adventures and triumphs +would have made a far richer, more imposing +history, full of contacts with the great +events and personages of the time. But +somehow or other he did not care to speak +much about it, walking on that wide heavenly +moorland, under that tranquil, sunless +arch of blue, in that free air of perfect peace, +where the light was diffused without a +shadow, as if the spirit of life in all things +were luminous.</p> + +<p>There was only one person besides the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +doctor in that little company whom John +Weightman had known before—an old bookkeeper +who had spent his life over a desk, +carefully keeping accounts—a rusty, dull +little man, patient and narrow, whose wife +had been in the insane asylum for twenty +years and whose only child was a crippled +daughter, for whose comfort and happiness +he had toiled and sacrificed himself without +stint. It was a surprise to find him here, as +care-free and joyful as the rest.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/gs04.jpg" width="400" height="273" alt="That free air of Perfect Peace" title="That free air of Perfect Peace" /> +</div> + +<p>The lives of others in the company were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +revealed in brief glimpses as they talked +together—a mother, early widowed, who +had kept her little flock of children together +and labored through hard and heavy years +to bring them up in purity and knowledge—a +Sister of Charity who had devoted herself +to the nursing of poor folk who were being +eaten to death by cancer—a schoolmaster +whose heart and life had been poured into his +quiet work of training boys for a clean and +thoughtful manhood—a medical missionary +who had given up a brilliant career in science +to take the charge of a hospital in darkest +Africa—a beautiful woman with silver hair +who had resigned her dreams of love and +marriage to care for an invalid father, and +after his death had made her life a long, +steady search for ways of doing kindnesses +to others—a poet who had walked among +the crowded tenements of the great city, +bringing cheer and comfort not only by his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +songs, but by his wise and patient works of +practical aid—a paralyzed woman who had +lain for thirty years upon her bed, helpless +but not hopeless, succeeding by a miracle of +courage in her single aim, never to complain, +but always to impart a bit of her joy and +peace to every one who came near her. All +these, and other persons like them, people +of little consideration in the world, but now +seemingly all full of great contentment and +an inward gladness that made their steps +light, were in the company that passed along +the road, talking together of things past and +things to come, and singing now and then +with clear voices from which the veil of age +and sorrow was lifted.</p> + +<p>John Weightman joined in some of the +songs—which were familiar to him from their +use in the church—at first with a touch of +hesitation, and then more confidently. For +as they went on his sense of strangeness and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +fear at his new experience diminished, and +his thoughts began to take on their habitual +assurance and complacency. Were not these +people going to the Celestial City? And +was not he in his right place among them? +He had always looked forward to this journey. +If they were sure, each one, of finding +a mansion there, could not he be far more +sure? His life had been more fruitful than +theirs. He had been a leader, a founder of +new enterprises, a pillar of Church and State, +a prince of the House of Israel. Ten talents +had been given him, and he had made them +twenty. His reward would be proportionate. +He was glad that his companions +were going to find fit dwellings prepared for +them; but he thought also with a certain +pleasure of the surprise that some of them +would feel when they saw his appointed +mansion.</p> + +<p>So they came to the summit of the moor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>land +and looked over into the world beyond. +It was a vast, green plain, softly rounded like +a shallow vase, and circled with hills of +amethyst. A broad, shining river flowed +through it, and many silver threads of water +were woven across the green; and there were +borders of tall trees on the banks of the +river, and orchards full of roses abloom +along the little streams, and in the midst of +all stood the city, white and wonderful and +radiant.</p> + +<p>When the travelers saw it they were filled +with awe and joy. They passed over the +little streams and among the orchards +quickly and silently, as if they feared to +speak lest the city should vanish.</p> + +<p>The wall of the city was very low, a child +could see over it, for it was made only of +precious stones, which are never large. The +gate of the city was not like a gate at all, +for it was not barred with iron or wood, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +only a single pearl, softly gleaming, marked +the place where the wall ended and the entrance +lay open.</p> + +<p>A person stood there whose face was +bright and grave, and whose robe was like +the flower of the lily, not a woven fabric, but +a living texture. "Come in," he said to +the company of travelers; "you are at your +journey's end, and your mansions are ready +for you."</p> + +<p>John Weightman hesitated, for he was +troubled by a doubt. Suppose that he was +not really, like his companions, at his journey's +end, but only transported for a little +while out of the regular course of his life +into this mysterious experience? Suppose +that, after all, he had not really passed +through the door of death, like these others, +but only through the door of dreams, and +was walking in a vision, a living man among +the blessed dead. Would it be right for him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +to go with them into the heavenly city? +Would it not be a deception, a desecration, +a deep and unforgivable offense? The +strange, confusing question had no reason +in it, as he very well knew; for if he was +dreaming, then it was all a dream; but if his +companions were real, then he also was with +them in reality, and if they had died then +he must have died too. Yet he could not +rid his mind of the sense that there was a +difference between them and him, and it +made him afraid to go on. But, as he +paused and turned, the Keeper of the Gate +looked straight and deep into his eyes, and +beckoned to him. Then he knew that it +was not only right but necessary that he +should enter.</p> + +<p>They passed from street to street among +fair and spacious dwellings, set in amaranthine +gardens, and adorned with an infinitely +varied beauty of divine simplicity.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +The mansions differed in size, in shape, in +charm: each one seemed to have its own +personal look of loveliness; yet all were +alike in fitness to their place, in harmony +with one another, in the addition which each +made to the singular and tranquil splendor +of the city.</p> + +<p>As the little company came, one by one, to +the mansions which were prepared for them, +and their Guide beckoned to the happy +inhabitant to enter in and take possession, +there was a soft murmur of joy, half wonder +and half recognition; as if the new and +immortal dwelling were crowned with the +beauty of surprise, lovelier and nobler than +all the dreams of it had been; and yet also +as if it were touched with the beauty of +the familiar, the remembered, the long-loved. +One after another the travelers were +led to their own mansions, and went in +gladly; and from within, through the open<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +doorways, came sweet voices of welcome, +and low laughter, and song.</p> + +<p>At last there was no one left with the +Guide but the two old friends, Doctor McLean +and John Weightman. They were +standing in front of one of the largest and +fairest of the houses, whose garden glowed +softly with radiant flowers. The Guide laid +his hand upon the doctor's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"This is for you," he said. "Go in; +there is no more pain here, no more death, +nor sorrow, nor tears; for your old enemies +are all conquered. But all the good that +you have done for others, all the help that +you have given, all the comfort that you +have brought, all the strength and love that +you have bestowed upon the suffering, are +here; for we have built them all into this +mansion for you."</p> + +<p>The good man's face was lighted with +a still joy. He clasped his old friend's hand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +closely, and whispered: "How wonderful +it is! Go on, you will come to your mansion +next, it is not far away, and we shall see +each other again soon, very soon."</p> + +<p>So he went through the garden, and into +the music within. The Keeper of the Gate +turned to John Weightman with level, quiet, +searching eyes. Then he asked, gravely:</p> + +<p>"Where do you wish me to lead you +now?"</p> + +<p>"To see my own mansion," answered the +man, with half-concealed excitement. "Is +there not one here for me? You may not +let me enter it yet, perhaps, for I must confess +to you that I am only—"</p> + +<p>"I know," said the Keeper of the Gate—"I +know it all. You are John Weightman."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the man, more firmly than +he had spoken at first, for it gratified him +that his name was known. "Yes, I am +John Weightman, Senior Warden of St.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +Petronius' Church. I wish very much to see +my mansion here, if only for a moment. I +believe that you have one for me. Will you +take me to it?"</p> + +<p>The Keeper of the Gate drew a little book +from the breast of his robe and turned over +the pages.</p> + +<p>"Certainly," he said, with a curious look +at the man, "your name is here; and you +shall see your mansion if you will follow +me."</p> + +<p>It seemed as if they must have walked +miles and miles, through the vast city, passing +street after street of houses larger and +smaller, of gardens richer and poorer, but all +full of beauty and delight. They came into +a kind of suburb, where there were many +small cottages, with plots of flowers, very +lowly, but bright and fragrant. Finally +they reached an open field, bare and lonely-looking. +There were two or three little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +bushes in it, without flowers, and the grass +was sparse and thin. In the center of the +field was a tiny hut, hardly big enough for a +shepherd's shelter. It looked as if it had +been built of discarded things, scraps and +fragments of other buildings, put together +with care and pains, by some one who had +tried to make the most of cast-off material. +There was something pitiful and shamefaced +about the hut. It shrank and drooped and +faded in its barren field, and seemed to +cling only by sufferance to the edge of the +splendid city.</p> + +<p>"This," said the Keeper of the Gate, +standing still and speaking with a low, +distinct voice—"this is your mansion, John +Weightman."</p> + +<p>An almost intolerable shock of grieved +wonder and indignation choked the man for +a moment so that he could not say a word. +Then he turned his face away from the poor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +little hut and began to remonstrate eagerly +with his companion.</p> + +<p>"Surely, sir," he stammered, "you must +be in error about this. There is something +wrong—some other John Weightman—a +confusion of names—the book must be +mistaken."</p> + +<p>"There is no mistake," said the Keeper +of the Gate, very calmly; "here is your +name, the record of your title and your +possessions in this place."</p> + +<p>"But how could such a house be prepared +for me," cried the man, with a resentful +tremor in his voice—"for me, after my long +and faithful service? Is this a suitable +mansion for one so well known and devoted? +Why is it so pitifully small and mean? Why +have you not built it large and fair, like the +others?"</p> + +<p>"That is all the material you sent us."</p> + +<p>"What!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We have used all the material that you +sent us," repeated the Keeper of the Gate.</p> + +<p>"Now I know that you are mistaken," +cried the man, with growing earnestness, +"for all my life long I have been doing things +that must have supplied you with material. +Have you not heard that I have built a +school-house; the wing of a hospital; two—yes, +three—small churches, and the greater +part of a large one, the spire of St. Petro—"</p> + +<p>The Keeper of the Gate lifted his hand.</p> + +<p>"Wait," he said; "we know all these +things. They were not ill done. But +they were all marked and used as foundation +for the name and mansion of John +Weightman in the world. Did you not plan +them for that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the man, confused and +taken aback, "I confess that I thought often +of them in that way. Perhaps my heart was +set upon that too much. But there are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +other things—my endowment for the college—my +steady and liberal contributions +to all the established charities—my support +of every respectable—"</p> + +<p>"Wait," said the Keeper of the Gate +again. "Were not all these carefully recorded +on earth where they would add to +your credit? They were not foolishly done. +Verily, you have had your reward for them. +Would you be paid twice?"</p> + +<p>"No," cried the man, with deepening +dismay, "I dare not claim that. I acknowledge +that I considered my own interest too +much. But surely not altogether. You +have said that these things were not foolishly +done. They accomplished some good in +the world. Does not that count for something?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the Keeper of the Gate, +"it counts in the world—where you counted +it. But it does not belong to you here. We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +have saved and used everything that you sent +us. This is the mansion prepared for you."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, his look grew deeper and more +searching, like a flame of fire. John Weightman +could not endure it. It seemed to strip +him naked and wither him. He sank to the +ground under a crushing weight of shame, +covering his eyes with his hands and cowering +face downward upon the stones. Dimly +through the trouble of his mind he felt their +hardness and coldness.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, then," he cried, brokenly, +"since my life has been so little worth, how +came I here at all?"</p> + +<p>"Through the mercy of the King"—the +answer was like the soft tolling of a bell.</p> + +<p>"And how have I earned it?" he murmured.</p> + +<p>"It is never earned; it is only given," +came the clear, low reply.</p> + +<p>"But how have I failed so wretchedly," +he asked, "in all the purpose of my life?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +What could I have done better? What is it +that counts here?"</p> + +<p>"Only that which is truly given," answered +the bell-like voice. "Only that good +which is done for the love of doing it. Only +those plans in which the welfare of others is +the master thought. Only those labors in +which the sacrifice is greater than the reward. +Only those gifts in which the giver +forgets himself."</p> + +<p>The man lay silent. A great weakness, +an unspeakable despondency and humiliation +were upon him. But the face of the +Keeper of the Gate was infinitely tender as +he bent over him.</p> + +<p>"Think again, John Weightman. Has +there been nothing like that in your life?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," he sighed. "If there ever +were such things, it must have been long +ago—they were all crowded out—I have +forgotten them."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was an ineffable smile on the face +of the Keeper of the Gate, and his hand +made the sign of the cross over the bowed +head as he spoke gently:</p> + +<p>"These are the things that the King never +forgets; and because there were a few of them +in your life, you have a little place here."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>The sense of coldness and hardness under +John Weightman's hands grew sharper and +more distinct. The feeling of bodily weariness +and lassitude weighed upon him, but +there was a calm, almost a lightness, in his +heart as he listened to the fading vibrations +of the silvery bell-tones. The chimney clock +on the mantel had just ended the last stroke +of seven as he lifted his head from the table. +Thin, pale strips of the city morning were +falling into the room through the narrow +partings of the heavy curtains.</p> + +<p>What was it that had happened to him?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +Had he been ill? Had he died and come +to life again? Or had he only slept, and +had his soul gone visiting in dreams? He +sat for some time, motionless, not lost, but +finding himself in thought. Then he took +a narrow book from the table drawer, wrote +a check, and tore it out.</p> + +<p>He went slowly up the stairs, knocked +very softly at his son's door, and, hearing no +answer, entered without noise. Harold was +asleep, his bare arm thrown above his head, +and his eager face relaxed in peace. His +father looked at him a moment with strangely +shining eyes, and then tiptoed quietly to +the writing-desk, found a pencil and a sheet +of paper, and wrote rapidly:</p> + +<p>"My dear boy, here is what you asked +me for; do what you like with it, and ask for +more if you need it. If you are still thinking +of that work with Grenfell, we'll talk it over +to-day after church. I want to know your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +heart better; and if I have made mistakes—"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/gs05.jpg" width="400" height="278" alt=""God give us a good Christmas together"" title=""God give us a good Christmas together"" /> +</div> + +<p>A slight noise made him turn his head. +Harold was sitting up in bed with wide-open +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Father!" he cried, "is that you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my son," answered John Weightman; +"I've come back—I mean I've come +up—no, I mean come in—well, here I am, +and God give us a good Christmas together."</p> + +<p>THE END</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mansion, by Henry Van Dyke + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MANSION *** + +***** This file should be named 38312-h.htm or 38312-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/3/1/38312/ + +Produced by Jen Haines, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. 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. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/38312-h/images/cover.jpg b/38312-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c009ff2 --- /dev/null +++ b/38312-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/38312-h/images/drop_t.jpg b/38312-h/images/drop_t.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e4741b3 --- /dev/null +++ b/38312-h/images/drop_t.jpg diff --git a/38312-h/images/frontis.jpg b/38312-h/images/frontis.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d83f029 --- /dev/null +++ b/38312-h/images/frontis.jpg diff --git a/38312-h/images/gs01.jpg b/38312-h/images/gs01.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..316c0f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/38312-h/images/gs01.jpg diff --git a/38312-h/images/gs02.jpg b/38312-h/images/gs02.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e754c4d --- /dev/null +++ b/38312-h/images/gs02.jpg diff --git a/38312-h/images/gs03.jpg b/38312-h/images/gs03.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..283eefa --- /dev/null +++ b/38312-h/images/gs03.jpg diff --git a/38312-h/images/gs04.jpg b/38312-h/images/gs04.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f57773 --- /dev/null +++ b/38312-h/images/gs04.jpg diff --git a/38312-h/images/gs05.jpg b/38312-h/images/gs05.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..47eb71f --- /dev/null +++ b/38312-h/images/gs05.jpg diff --git a/38312-h/images/tp.jpg b/38312-h/images/tp.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f0f4261 --- /dev/null +++ b/38312-h/images/tp.jpg diff --git a/38312.txt b/38312.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a5b0a73 --- /dev/null +++ b/38312.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1386 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mansion, by Henry Van Dyke + +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 Mansion + +Author: Henry Van Dyke + +Illustrator: Elizabeth Shippen Green + +Release Date: December 15, 2011 [EBook #38312] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MANSION *** + + + + +Produced by Jen Haines, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + + + + The Mansion + + [Illustration: [See page 57 "BUT HOW HAVE I FAILED SO WRETCHEDLY?"] + + + + + THE MANSION + + BY + HENRY VAN DYKE + + WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY + ELIZABETH SHIPPEN GREEN + + [Illustration] + + HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS + NEW YORK AND LONDON . M . C . M . X . I + + + COPYRIGHT 1910, 1911, BY HARPER & BROTHERS + + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + PUBLISHED OCTOBER, 1911 + + + + +[Illustration] + +The Mansion + + +There was an air of calm and reserved opulence about the Weightman +mansion that spoke not of money squandered, but of wealth prudently +applied. Standing on a corner of the Avenue no longer fashionable for +residence, it looked upon the swelling tide of business with an +expression of complacency and half-disdain. + +The house was not beautiful. There was nothing in its straight front +of chocolate-colored stone, its heavy cornices, its broad, staring +windows of plate glass, its carved and bronze-bedecked mahogany doors +at the top of the wide stoop, to charm the eye or fascinate the +imagination. But it was eminently respectable, and in its way +imposing. It seemed to say that the glittering shops of the jewelers, +the milliners, the confectioners, the florists, the picture-dealers, +the furriers, the makers of rare and costly antiquities, retail +traders in luxuries of life, were beneath the notice of a house that +had its foundations in the high finance, and was built literally and +figuratively in the shadow of St. Petronius' Church. + +At the same time there was something self-pleased and congratulatory +in the way in which the mansion held its own amid the changing +neighborhood. It almost seemed to be lifted up a little, among the +tall buildings near at hand, as if it felt the rising value of the +land on which it stood. + +John Weightman was like the house into which he had built himself +thirty years ago, and in which his ideals and ambitions were +incrusted. He was a self-made man. But in making himself he had chosen +a highly esteemed pattern and worked according to the approved rules. +There was nothing irregular, questionable, flamboyant about him. He +was solid, correct, and justly successful. + +His minor tastes, of course, had been carefully kept up to date. At +the proper time, pictures by the Barbizon masters, old English plate +and portraits, bronzes by Barye and marbles by Rodin, Persian carpets +and Chinese porcelains, had been introduced to the mansion. It +contained a Louis Quinze reception-room, an Empire drawing-room, a +Jacobean dining-room, and various apartments dimly reminiscent of the +styles of furniture affected by deceased monarchs. That the hallways +were too short for the historic perspective did not make much +difference. American decorative art is _capable de tout_, it absorbs +all periods. Of each period Mr. Weightman wished to have something of +the best. He understood its value, present as a certificate, and +prospective as an investment. + +It was only in the architecture of his town house that he remained +conservative, immovable, one might almost say Early-Victorian-Christian. +His country house at Dulwich-on-the-Sound was a palace of the Italian +Renaissance. But in town he adhered to an architecture which had moral +associations, the Nineteenth-Century-Brownstone epoch. It was a symbol +of his social position, his religious doctrine, and even, in a way, +of his business creed. + +"A man of fixed principles," he would say, "should express them in the +looks of his house. New York changes its domestic architecture too +rapidly. It is like divorce. It is not dignified. I don't like it. +Extravagance and fickleness are advertised in most of these new +houses. I wish to be known for different qualities. Dignity and +prudence are the things that people trust. Every one knows that I can +afford to live in the house that suits me. It is a guarantee to the +public. It inspires confidence. It helps my influence. There is a text +in the Bible about 'a house that hath foundations.' That is the proper +kind of a mansion for a solid man." + +Harold Weightman had often listened to his father discoursing in this +fashion on the fundamental principles of life, and always with a +divided mind. He admired immensely his father's talents and the +single-minded energy with which he improved them. But in the paternal +philosophy there was something that disquieted and oppressed the young +man, and made him gasp inwardly for fresh air and free action. + +At times, during his college course and his years at the law school, +he had yielded to this impulse and broken away--now toward +extravagance and dissipation, and then, when the reaction came, toward +a romantic devotion to work among the poor. He had felt his father's +disapproval for both of these forms of imprudence; but it was never +expressed in a harsh or violent way, always with a certain tolerant +patience, such as one might show for the mistakes and vagaries of the +very young. John Weightman was not hasty, impulsive, inconsiderate, +even toward his own children. With them, as with the rest of the +world, he felt that he had a reputation to maintain, a theory to +vindicate. He could afford to give them time to see that he was +absolutely right. + +One of his favorite Scripture quotations was, "Wait on the Lord." He +had applied it to real estate and to people, with profitable results. + +But to human persons the sensation of being waited for is not always +agreeable. Sometimes, especially with the young, it produces a vague +restlessness, a dumb resentment, which is increased by the fact that +one can hardly explain or justify it. Of this John Weightman was not +conscious. It lay beyond his horizon. He did not take it into account +in the plan of life which he made for himself and for his family as +the sharers and inheritors of his success. + +"Father plays us," said Harold, in a moment of irritation, to his +mother, "like pieces in a game of chess." + +"My dear," said that lady, whose faith in her husband was religious, +"you ought not to speak so impatiently. At least he wins the game. He +is one of the most respected men in New York. And he is very generous, +too." + +"I wish he would be more generous in letting us be ourselves," said +the young man. "He always has something in view for us and expects to +move us up to it." + +"But isn't it always for our benefit?" replied his mother. "Look what +a position we have. No one can say there is any taint on our money. +There are no rumors about your father. He has kept the laws of God and +of man. He has never made any mistakes." + +Harold got up from his chair and poked the fire. Then he came back to +the ample, well-gowned, firm-looking lady, and sat beside her on the +sofa. He took her hand gently and looked at the two rings--a thin +band of yellow gold, and a small solitaire diamond--which kept their +place on her third finger in modest dignity, as if not shamed, but +rather justified, by the splendor of the emerald which glittered +beside them. + +"Mother," he said, "you have a wonderful hand. And father made no +mistake when he won you. But are you sure he has always been so +inerrant?" + +"Harold," she exclaimed, a little stiffly, "what do you mean? His life +is an open book." + +"Oh," he answered, "I don't mean anything bad, mother dear. I know the +governor's life is an open book--a ledger, if you like, kept in the +best bookkeeping hand, and always ready for inspection--every page +correct, and showing a handsome balance. But isn't it a mistake not to +allow us to make our own mistakes, to learn for ourselves, to live +our own lives? Must we be always working for 'the balance,' in one +thing or another? I want to be myself--to get outside of this +everlasting, profitable 'plan'--to let myself go, and lose myself for +a while at least--to do the things that I want to do, just because I +want to do them." + +"My boy," said his mother, anxiously, "you are not going to do +anything wrong or foolish? You know the falsehood of that old proverb +about wild oats." + +He threw back his head and laughed. "Yes, mother," he answered, "I +know it well enough. But in California, you know, the wild oats are +one of the most valuable crops. They grow all over the hillsides and +keep the cattle and the horses alive. But that wasn't what I meant--to +sow wild oats. Say to pick wild flowers, if you like, or even to chase +wild geese--to do something that seems good to me just for its own +sake, not for the sake of wages of one kind or another. I feel like a +hired man, in the service of this magnificent mansion--say in training +for father's place as majordomo. I'd like to get out some way, to feel +free--perhaps to do something for others." + +The young man's voice hesitated a little. "Yes, it sounds like cant, I +know, but sometimes I feel as if I'd like to do some good in the +world, if father only wouldn't insist upon God's putting it into the +ledger." + +His mother moved uneasily, and a slight look of bewilderment came into +her face. + +"Isn't that almost irreverent?" she asked. "Surely the righteous must +have their reward. And your father is good. See how much he gives to +all the established charities, how many things he has founded. He's +always thinking of others, and planning for them. And surely, for +us, he does everything. How well he has planned this trip to Europe +for me and the girls--the court-presentation at Berlin, the season +on the Riviera, the visits in England with the Plumptons and the +Halverstones. He says Lord Halverstone has the finest old house +in Sussex, pure Elizabethan, and all the old customs are kept up, +too--family prayers every morning for all the domestics. By-the-way, +you know his son Bertie, I believe." + +Harold smiled a little to himself as he answered: "Yes, I fished at +Catalina Island last June with the Honorable Ethelbert; he's rather a +decent chap, in spite of his ingrowing mind. But you?--mother, you are +simply magnificent! You are father's masterpiece." The young man +leaned over to kiss her, and went up to the Riding Club for his +afternoon canter in the Park. + +So it came to pass, early in December, that Mrs. Weightman and her two +daughters sailed for Europe, on their serious pleasure trip, even as +it had been written in the book of Providence; and John Weightman, who +had made the entry, was left to pass the rest of the winter with his +son and heir in the brownstone mansion. + +They were comfortable enough. The machinery of the massive establishment +ran as smoothly as a great electric dynamo. They were busy enough, too. +John Weightman's plans and enterprises were complicated, though his +principle of action was always simple--to get good value for every +expenditure and effort. The banking-house of which he was the chief, +the brain, the will, the absolutely controlling hand, was so admirably +organized that the details of its direction took but little time. But +the scores of other interests that radiated from it and were dependent +upon it--or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, that contributed +to its solidity and success--the many investments, industrial, +political, benevolent, reformatory, ecclesiastical, that had made +the name of Weightman well known and potent in city, church, and +state, demanded much attention and careful steering, in order that +each might produce the desired result. There were board meetings of +corporations and hospitals, conferences in Wall Street and at Albany, +consultations and committee meetings in the brownstone mansion. + +For a share in all this business and its adjuncts John Weightman had +his son in training in one of the famous law firms of the city; for he +held that banking itself is a simple affair, the only real difficulties +of finance are on its legal side. Meantime he wished the young man to +meet and know the men with whom he would have to deal when he became a +partner in the house. So a couple of dinners were given in the mansion +during December, after which the father called the son's attention to +the fact that over a hundred million dollars had sat around the board. + +But on Christmas Eve father and son were dining together without +guests, and their talk across the broad table, glittering with silver +and cut glass, and softly lit by shaded candles, was intimate, though +a little slow at times. The elder man was in rather a rare mood, more +expansive and confidential than usual; and, when the coffee was brought +in and they were left alone, he talked more freely of his personal +plans and hopes than he had ever done before. + +"I feel very grateful to-night," said he, at last; "it must be +something in the air of Christmas that gives me this feeling of +thankfulness for the many divine mercies that have been bestowed upon +me. All the principles by which I have tried to guide my life have +been justified. I have never made the value of this salted almond by +anything that the courts would not uphold, at least in the long run, +and yet--or wouldn't it be truer to say and therefore?--my affairs +have been wonderfully prospered. There's a great deal in that text +'Honesty is the best'--but no, that's not from the Bible, after all, +is it? Wait a moment; there is something of that kind, I know." + +"May I light a cigar, father," said Harold, turning away to hide a +smile, "while you are remembering the text?" + +"Yes, certainly," answered the elder man, rather shortly; "you know I +don't dislike the smell. But it is a wasteful, useless habit, and +therefore I have never practised it. Nothing useless is worth while, +that's my motto--nothing that does not bring the reward. Oh, now I +recall the text, 'Verily I say unto you they have their reward.' I +shall ask Doctor Snodgrass to preach a sermon on that verse some day." + +"Using you as an illustration?" + +"Well, not exactly that; but I could give him some good material from +my own experience to prove the truth of Scripture. I can honestly say +that there is not one of my charities that has not brought me in a +good return, either in the increase of influence, the building up of +credit, or the association with substantial people. Of course you have +to be careful how you give, in order to secure the best results--no +indiscriminate giving--no pennies in beggars' hats! It has been one of +my principles always to use the same kind of judgment in charities +that I use in my other affairs, and they have not disappointed me." + +"Even the check that you put in the plate when you take the offertory +up the aisle on Sunday morning?" + +"Certainly; though there the influence is less direct; and I must +confess that I have my doubts in regard to the collection for Foreign +Missions. That always seems to me romantic and wasteful. You never +hear from it in any definite way. They say the missionaries have done +a good deal to open the way for trade; perhaps--but they have also +gotten us into commercial and political difficulties. Yet I give to +them--a little--it is a matter of conscience with me to identify +myself with all the enterprises of the Church; it is the mainstay of +social order and a prosperous civilization. But the best forms of +benevolence are the well-established, organized ones here at home, +where people can see them and know what they are doing." + +"You mean the ones that have a local habitation and a name." + +"Yes; they offer by far the safest return, though of course there is +something gained by contributing to general funds. A public man can't +afford to be without public spirit. But on the whole I prefer a +building, or an endowment. There is a mutual advantage to a good name +and a good institution in their connection in the public mind. It +helps them both. Remember that, my boy. Of course at the beginning you +will have to practise it in a small way; later, you will have larger +opportunities. But try to put your gifts where they can be identified +and do good all around. You'll see the wisdom of it in the long run." + +"I can see it already, sir, and the way you describe it looks +amazingly wise and prudent. In other words, we must cast our bread on +the waters in large loaves, carried by sound ships marked with the +owner's name, so that the return freight will be sure to come back to +us." + +The father laughed, but his eyes were frowning a little as if he +suspected something irreverent under the respectful reply. + +"You put it humorously, but there's sense in what you say. Why not? +God rules the sea; but He expects us to follow the laws of navigation +and commerce. Why not take good care of your bread, even when you give +it away?" + +"It's not for me to say why not--and yet I can think of cases--" The +young man hesitated for a moment. His half-finished cigar had gone +out. He rose and tossed it into the fire, in front of which he +remained standing--a slender, eager, restless young figure, with a +touch of hunger in the fine face, strangely like and unlike the +father, at whom he looked with half-wistful curiosity. + +"The fact is, sir," he continued, "there is such a case in my mind +now, and it is a good deal on my heart, too. So I thought of speaking +to you about it to-night. You remember Tom Rollins, the Junior who was +so good to me when I entered college?" + +The father nodded. He remembered very well indeed the annoying +incidents of his son's first escapade, and how Rollins had stood by +him and helped to avoid a public disgrace, and how a close friendship +had grown between the two boys, so different in their fortunes. + +"Yes," he said, "I remember him. He was a promising young man. Has he +succeeded?" + +"Not exactly--that is, not yet. His business has been going rather +badly. He has a wife and little baby, you know. And now he has broken +down,--something wrong with his lungs. The doctor says his only chance +is a year or eighteen months in Colorado. I wish we could help him." + +"How much would it cost?" + +"Three or four thousand, perhaps, as a loan." + +"Does the doctor say he will get well?" + +"A fighting chance--the doctor says." + +The face of the older man changed subtly. Not a line was altered, but +it seemed to have a different substance, as if it were carved out of +some firm, imperishable stuff. + +"A fighting chance," he said, "may do for a speculation, but it is not +a good investment. You owe something to young Rollins. Your grateful +feeling does you credit. But don't overwork it. Send him three or four +hundred, if you like. You'll never hear from it again, except in the +letter of thanks. But for Heaven's sake don't be sentimental. +Religion is not a matter of sentiment; it's a matter of principle." + +[Illustration: "It is not a good investment"] + +The face of the younger man changed now. But instead of becoming fixed +and graven, it seemed to melt into life by the heat of an inward fire. +His nostrils quivered with quick breath, his lips were curled. + +"Principle!" he said. "You mean principal--and interest too. Well, +sir, you know best whether that is religion or not. But if it is, +count me out, please. Tom saved me from going to the devil, six years +ago; and I'll be damned if I don't help him to the best of my ability +now." + +John Weightman looked at his son steadily. "Harold," he said at last, +"you know I dislike violent language, and it never has any influence +with me. If I could honestly approve of this proposition of yours, I'd +let you have the money; but I can't; it's extravagant and useless. But +you have your Christmas check for a thousand dollars coming to you +to-morrow. You can use it as you please. I never interfere with your +private affairs." + +"Thank you," said Harold. "Thank you very much! But there's another +private affair. I want to get away from this life, this town, this +house. It stifles me. You refused last summer when I asked you to let +me go up to Grenfell's Mission on the Labrador. I could go now, at +least as far as the Newfoundland Station. Have you changed your mind?" + +"Not at all. I think it is an exceedingly foolish enterprise. It would +interrupt the career that I have marked out for you." + +"Well, then, here's a cheaper proposition. Algy Vanderhoof wants me to +join him on his yacht with--well, with a little party--to cruise in +the West Indies. Would you prefer that?" + +"Certainly not! The Vanderhoof set is wild and godless--I do not wish +to see you keeping company with fools who walk in the broad and easy +way that leads to perdition." + +"It is rather a hard choice," said the young man, with a short laugh, +turning toward the door. "According to you there's very little +difference--a fool's paradise or a fool's hell! Well, it's one or the +other for me, and I'll toss up for it to-night: heads, I lose; tails, +the devil wins. Anyway, I'm sick of this, and I'm out of it." + +"Harold," said the older man (and there was a slight tremor in his +voice), "don't let us quarrel on Christmas Eve. All I want is to +persuade you to think seriously of the duties and responsibilities +to which God has called you--don't speak lightly of heaven and +hell--remember, there is another life." + +The young man came back and laid his hand upon his father's shoulder. + +"Father," he said, "I want to remember it. I try to believe in it. But +somehow or other, in this house, it all seems unreal to me. No doubt +all you say is perfectly right and wise. I don't venture to argue +against it, but I can't feel it--that's all. If I'm to have a soul, +either to lose or to save, I must really live. Just now neither the +present nor the future means anything to me. But surely we won't +quarrel. I'm very grateful to you, and we'll part friends. Good-night, +sir." + +The father held out his hand in silence. The heavy portiere dropped +noiselessly behind the son, and he went up the wide, curving stairway +to his own room. + +Meantime John Weightman sat in his carved chair in the Jacobean +dining-room. He felt strangely old and dull. The portraits of +beautiful women by Lawrence and Reynolds and Raeburn, which had often +seemed like real company to him, looked remote and uninteresting. He +fancied something cold and almost unfriendly in their expression, as +if they were staring through him or beyond him. They cared nothing for +his principles, his hopes, his disappointments, his successes; they +belonged to another world, in which he had no place. At this he felt +a vague resentment, a sense of discomfort that he could not have +defined or explained. He was used to being considered, respected, +appreciated at his full value in every region, even in that of his own +dreams. + +Presently he rang for the butler, telling him to close the house and +not to sit up, and walked with lagging steps into the long library, +where the shaded lamps were burning. His eye fell upon the low shelves +full of costly books, but he had no desire to open them. Even the +carefully chosen pictures that hung above them seemed to have lost +their attraction. He paused for a moment before an idyll of Corot--a +dance of nymphs around some forgotten altar in a vaporous glade--and +looked at it curiously. There was something rapturous and serene about +the picture, a breath of spring-time in the misty trees, a harmony +of joy in the dancing figures, that wakened in him a feeling of +half-pleasure and half-envy. It represented something that he had +never known in his calculated, orderly life. He was dimly mistrustful +of it. + +"It is certainly very beautiful," he thought, "but it is distinctly +pagan; that altar is built to some heathen god. It does not fit into +the scheme of a Christian life. I doubt whether it is consistent with +the tone of my house. I will sell it this winter. It will bring three +or four times what I paid for it. That was a good purchase, a very +good bargain." + +He dropped into the revolving chair before his big library table. +It was covered with pamphlets and reports of the various enterprises +in which he was interested. There was a pile of newspaper clippings +in which his name was mentioned with praise for his sustaining power +as a pillar of finance, for his judicious benevolence, for his +support of wise and prudent reform movements, for his discretion +in making permanent public gifts--"the Weightman Charities," one very +complaisant editor called them, as if they deserved classification as +a distinct species. + +He turned the papers over listlessly. There was a description and a +picture of the "Weightman Wing of the Hospital for Cripples," of +which he was president; and an article on the new professor in the +"Weightman Chair of Political Jurisprudence" in Jackson University, +of which he was a trustee; and an illustrated account of the opening +of the "Weightman Grammar-School" at Dulwich-on-the-Sound, where he +had his legal residence for purposes of taxation. + +This last was perhaps the most carefully planned of all the Weightman +Charities. He desired to win the confidence and support of his rural +neighbors. It had pleased him much when the local newspaper had spoken +of him as an ideal citizen and the logical candidate for the +Governorship of the State; but upon the whole it seemed to him wiser +to keep out of active politics. It would be easier and better to put +Harold into the running, to have him sent to the Legislature from the +Dulwich district, then to the national House, then to the Senate. Why +not? The Weightman interests were large enough to need a direct +representative and guardian at Washington. + +But to-night all these plans came back to him with dust upon them. +They were dry and crumbling like forsaken habitations. The son upon +whom his complacent ambition had rested had turned his back upon the +mansion of his father's hopes. The break might not be final; and in +any event there would be much to live for; the fortunes of the family +would be secure. But the zest of it all would be gone if John +Weightman had to give up the assurance of perpetuating his name and +his principles in his son. It was a bitter disappointment, and he felt +that he had not deserved it. + +He rose from the chair and paced the room with leaden feet. For the +first time in his life his age was visibly upon him. His head was +heavy and hot, and the thoughts that rolled in it were confused and +depressing. Could it be that he had made a mistake in the principles +of his existence? There was no argument in what Harold had said--it +was almost childish--and yet it had shaken the elder man more deeply +than he cared to show. It held a silent attack which touched him more +than open criticism. + +Suppose the end of his life were nearer than he thought--the end +must come some time--what if it were now? Had he not founded his +house upon a rock? Had he not kept the Commandments? Was he not, +"touching the law, blameless"? And beyond this, even if there were +some faults in his character--and all men are sinners--yet he surely +believed in the saving doctrines of religion--the forgiveness of +sins, the resurrection of the body, the life everlasting. Yes, that +was the true source of comfort, after all. He would read a bit in the +Bible, as he did every night, and go to bed and to sleep. + +He went back to his chair at the library table. A strange weight of +weariness rested upon him, but he opened the book at a familiar place, +and his eyes fell upon the verse at the bottom of the page. + +"_Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth._" + +That had been the text of the sermon a few weeks before. Sleepily, +heavily, he tried to fix his mind upon it and recall it. What was it +that Doctor Snodgrass had said? Ah, yes--that it was a mistake to +pause here in reading the verse. We must read on without a pause--_Lay +not up treasures upon earth where moth and rust do corrupt and where +thieves break through and steal_--that was the true doctrine. We may +have treasures upon earth, but they must not be put into unsafe +places, but into safe places. A most comforting doctrine! He had +always followed it. Moths and rust and thieves had done no harm to his +investments. + +John Weightman's drooping eyes turned to the next verse, at the top of +the second column. + +"_But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven._" + +Now what had the Doctor said about that? How was it to be +understood--in what sense--treasures--in heaven? + +The book seemed to float away from him. The light vanished. He +wondered dimly if this could be Death, coming so suddenly, so quietly, +so irresistibly. He struggled for a moment to hold himself up, and +then sank slowly forward upon the table. His head rested upon his +folded hands. He slipped into the unknown. + + * * * * * + +How long afterward conscious life returned to him he did not know. The +blank might have been an hour or a century. He knew only that +something had happened in the interval. What it was he could not tell. +He found great difficulty in catching the thread of his identity +again. He felt that he was himself; but the trouble was to make his +connections, to verify and place himself, to know who and where he +was. + +At last it grew clear. John Weightman was sitting on a stone, not far +from a road in a strange land. + +The road was not a formal highway, fenced and graded. It was more like +a great travel-trace, worn by thousands of feet passing across the +open country in the same direction. Down in the valley, into which he +could look, the road seemed to form itself gradually out of many minor +paths; little footways coming across the meadows, winding tracks +following along beside the streams, faintly marked trails emerging +from the woodlands. But on the hillside the threads were more firmly +woven into one clear band of travel, though there were still a few dim +paths joining it here and there, as if persons had been climbing up +the hill by other ways and had turned at last to seek the road. + +From the edge of the hill, where John Weightman sat, he could see the +travelers, in little groups or larger companies, gathering from time +to time by the different paths, and making the ascent. They were all +clothed in white, and the form of their garments was strange to him; +it was like some old picture. They passed him, group after group, +talking quietly together or singing; not moving in haste, but with a +certain air of eagerness and joy as if they were glad to be on their +way to an appointed place. They did not stay to speak to him, but they +looked at him often and spoke to one another as they looked; and now +and then one of them would smile and beckon him a friendly greeting, +so that he felt they would like him to be with them. + +There was quite an interval between the groups; and he followed each +of them with his eyes after it had passed, blanching the long ribbon +of the road for a little transient space, rising and receding across +the wide, billowy upland, among the rounded hillocks of aerial green +and gold and lilac, until it came to the high horizon, and stood +outlined for a moment, a tiny cloud of whiteness against the tender +blue, before it vanished over the hill. + +For a long time he sat there watching and wondering. It was a very +different world from that in which his mansion on the Avenue was +built; and it looked strange to him, but most real--as real as +anything he had ever seen. Presently he felt a strong desire to know +what country it was and where the people were going. He had a faint +premonition of what it must be, but he wished to be sure. So he rose +from the stone where he was sitting, and came down through the short +grass and the lavender flowers, toward a passing group of people. One +of them turned to meet him, and held out his hand. It was an old man, +under whose white beard and brows John Weightman thought he saw a +suggestion of the face of the village doctor who had cared for him +years ago, when he was a boy in the country. + +[Illustration: "Welcome! Will you come with us?"] + +"Welcome," said the old man. "Will you come with us?" + +"Where are you going?" + +"To the heavenly city, to see our mansions there." + +"And who are these with you?" + +"Strangers to me, until a little while ago; I know them better now. +But you I have known for a long time, John Weightman. Don't you +remember your old doctor?" + +"Yes," he cried--"yes; your voice has not changed at all. I'm glad +indeed to see you, Doctor McLean, especially now. All this seems very +strange to me, almost oppressive. I wonder if--but may I go with you, +do you suppose?" + +"Surely," answered the doctor, with his familiar smile; "it will do +you good. And you also must have a mansion in the city waiting for +you--a fine one, too--are you not looking forward to it?" + +"Yes," replied the other, hesitating a moment; "yes--I believe it must +be so, although I had not expected to see it so soon. But I will go +with you, and we can talk by the way." + +The two men quickly caught up with the other people, and all went +forward together along the road. The doctor had little to tell of his +experience, for it had been a plain, hard life, uneventfully spent for +others, and the story of the village was very simple. John Weightman's +adventures and triumphs would have made a far richer, more imposing +history, full of contacts with the great events and personages of the +time. But somehow or other he did not care to speak much about it, +walking on that wide heavenly moorland, under that tranquil, sunless +arch of blue, in that free air of perfect peace, where the light was +diffused without a shadow, as if the spirit of life in all things were +luminous. + +There was only one person besides the doctor in that little company +whom John Weightman had known before--an old bookkeeper who had spent +his life over a desk, carefully keeping accounts--a rusty, dull little +man, patient and narrow, whose wife had been in the insane asylum for +twenty years and whose only child was a crippled daughter, for whose +comfort and happiness he had toiled and sacrificed himself without +stint. It was a surprise to find him here, as care-free and joyful as +the rest. + +[Illustration: That free air of Perfect Peace] + +The lives of others in the company were revealed in brief glimpses as +they talked together--a mother, early widowed, who had kept her little +flock of children together and labored through hard and heavy years to +bring them up in purity and knowledge--a Sister of Charity who had +devoted herself to the nursing of poor folk who were being eaten to +death by cancer--a schoolmaster whose heart and life had been poured +into his quiet work of training boys for a clean and thoughtful +manhood--a medical missionary who had given up a brilliant career in +science to take the charge of a hospital in darkest Africa--a +beautiful woman with silver hair who had resigned her dreams of love +and marriage to care for an invalid father, and after his death had +made her life a long, steady search for ways of doing kindnesses to +others--a poet who had walked among the crowded tenements of the great +city, bringing cheer and comfort not only by his songs, but by his +wise and patient works of practical aid--a paralyzed woman who had +lain for thirty years upon her bed, helpless but not hopeless, +succeeding by a miracle of courage in her single aim, never to +complain, but always to impart a bit of her joy and peace to every one +who came near her. All these, and other persons like them, people of +little consideration in the world, but now seemingly all full of great +contentment and an inward gladness that made their steps light, were +in the company that passed along the road, talking together of things +past and things to come, and singing now and then with clear voices +from which the veil of age and sorrow was lifted. + +John Weightman joined in some of the songs--which were familiar to him +from their use in the church--at first with a touch of hesitation, and +then more confidently. For as they went on his sense of strangeness +and fear at his new experience diminished, and his thoughts began to +take on their habitual assurance and complacency. Were not these +people going to the Celestial City? And was not he in his right place +among them? He had always looked forward to this journey. If they were +sure, each one, of finding a mansion there, could not he be far more +sure? His life had been more fruitful than theirs. He had been a +leader, a founder of new enterprises, a pillar of Church and State, a +prince of the House of Israel. Ten talents had been given him, and he +had made them twenty. His reward would be proportionate. He was glad +that his companions were going to find fit dwellings prepared for +them; but he thought also with a certain pleasure of the surprise that +some of them would feel when they saw his appointed mansion. + +So they came to the summit of the moorland and looked over into the +world beyond. It was a vast, green plain, softly rounded like a +shallow vase, and circled with hills of amethyst. A broad, shining +river flowed through it, and many silver threads of water were woven +across the green; and there were borders of tall trees on the banks of +the river, and orchards full of roses abloom along the little streams, +and in the midst of all stood the city, white and wonderful and +radiant. + +When the travelers saw it they were filled with awe and joy. They +passed over the little streams and among the orchards quickly and +silently, as if they feared to speak lest the city should vanish. + +The wall of the city was very low, a child could see over it, for it +was made only of precious stones, which are never large. The gate of +the city was not like a gate at all, for it was not barred with iron +or wood, but only a single pearl, softly gleaming, marked the place +where the wall ended and the entrance lay open. + +A person stood there whose face was bright and grave, and whose robe +was like the flower of the lily, not a woven fabric, but a living +texture. "Come in," he said to the company of travelers; "you are at +your journey's end, and your mansions are ready for you." + +John Weightman hesitated, for he was troubled by a doubt. Suppose that +he was not really, like his companions, at his journey's end, but only +transported for a little while out of the regular course of his life +into this mysterious experience? Suppose that, after all, he had not +really passed through the door of death, like these others, but only +through the door of dreams, and was walking in a vision, a living man +among the blessed dead. Would it be right for him to go with them +into the heavenly city? Would it not be a deception, a desecration, a +deep and unforgivable offense? The strange, confusing question had no +reason in it, as he very well knew; for if he was dreaming, then it +was all a dream; but if his companions were real, then he also was +with them in reality, and if they had died then he must have died too. +Yet he could not rid his mind of the sense that there was a difference +between them and him, and it made him afraid to go on. But, as he +paused and turned, the Keeper of the Gate looked straight and deep +into his eyes, and beckoned to him. Then he knew that it was not only +right but necessary that he should enter. + +They passed from street to street among fair and spacious dwellings, +set in amaranthine gardens, and adorned with an infinitely varied +beauty of divine simplicity. The mansions differed in size, in shape, +in charm: each one seemed to have its own personal look of loveliness; +yet all were alike in fitness to their place, in harmony with one +another, in the addition which each made to the singular and tranquil +splendor of the city. + +As the little company came, one by one, to the mansions which were +prepared for them, and their Guide beckoned to the happy inhabitant to +enter in and take possession, there was a soft murmur of joy, half +wonder and half recognition; as if the new and immortal dwelling were +crowned with the beauty of surprise, lovelier and nobler than all the +dreams of it had been; and yet also as if it were touched with the +beauty of the familiar, the remembered, the long-loved. One after +another the travelers were led to their own mansions, and went in +gladly; and from within, through the open doorways, came sweet voices +of welcome, and low laughter, and song. + +At last there was no one left with the Guide but the two old friends, +Doctor McLean and John Weightman. They were standing in front of one +of the largest and fairest of the houses, whose garden glowed softly +with radiant flowers. The Guide laid his hand upon the doctor's +shoulder. + +"This is for you," he said. "Go in; there is no more pain here, no +more death, nor sorrow, nor tears; for your old enemies are all +conquered. But all the good that you have done for others, all the +help that you have given, all the comfort that you have brought, all +the strength and love that you have bestowed upon the suffering, are +here; for we have built them all into this mansion for you." + +The good man's face was lighted with a still joy. He clasped his old +friend's hand closely, and whispered: "How wonderful it is! Go on, +you will come to your mansion next, it is not far away, and we shall +see each other again soon, very soon." + +So he went through the garden, and into the music within. The Keeper +of the Gate turned to John Weightman with level, quiet, searching +eyes. Then he asked, gravely: + +"Where do you wish me to lead you now?" + +"To see my own mansion," answered the man, with half-concealed +excitement. "Is there not one here for me? You may not let me enter it +yet, perhaps, for I must confess to you that I am only--" + +"I know," said the Keeper of the Gate--"I know it all. You are John +Weightman." + +"Yes," said the man, more firmly than he had spoken at first, for it +gratified him that his name was known. "Yes, I am John Weightman, +Senior Warden of St. Petronius' Church. I wish very much to see my +mansion here, if only for a moment. I believe that you have one for +me. Will you take me to it?" + +The Keeper of the Gate drew a little book from the breast of his robe +and turned over the pages. + +"Certainly," he said, with a curious look at the man, "your name is +here; and you shall see your mansion if you will follow me." + +It seemed as if they must have walked miles and miles, through the +vast city, passing street after street of houses larger and smaller, +of gardens richer and poorer, but all full of beauty and delight. They +came into a kind of suburb, where there were many small cottages, with +plots of flowers, very lowly, but bright and fragrant. Finally they +reached an open field, bare and lonely-looking. There were two or +three little bushes in it, without flowers, and the grass was sparse +and thin. In the center of the field was a tiny hut, hardly big enough +for a shepherd's shelter. It looked as if it had been built of +discarded things, scraps and fragments of other buildings, put +together with care and pains, by some one who had tried to make the +most of cast-off material. There was something pitiful and shamefaced +about the hut. It shrank and drooped and faded in its barren field, +and seemed to cling only by sufferance to the edge of the splendid +city. + +"This," said the Keeper of the Gate, standing still and speaking with +a low, distinct voice--"this is your mansion, John Weightman." + +An almost intolerable shock of grieved wonder and indignation choked +the man for a moment so that he could not say a word. Then he turned +his face away from the poor little hut and began to remonstrate +eagerly with his companion. + +"Surely, sir," he stammered, "you must be in error about this. There +is something wrong--some other John Weightman--a confusion of +names--the book must be mistaken." + +"There is no mistake," said the Keeper of the Gate, very calmly; "here +is your name, the record of your title and your possessions in this +place." + +"But how could such a house be prepared for me," cried the man, with a +resentful tremor in his voice--"for me, after my long and faithful +service? Is this a suitable mansion for one so well known and devoted? +Why is it so pitifully small and mean? Why have you not built it large +and fair, like the others?" + +"That is all the material you sent us." + +"What!" + +"We have used all the material that you sent us," repeated the Keeper +of the Gate. + +"Now I know that you are mistaken," cried the man, with growing +earnestness, "for all my life long I have been doing things that must +have supplied you with material. Have you not heard that I have built +a school-house; the wing of a hospital; two--yes, three--small +churches, and the greater part of a large one, the spire of St. +Petro--" + +The Keeper of the Gate lifted his hand. + +"Wait," he said; "we know all these things. They were not ill done. +But they were all marked and used as foundation for the name and +mansion of John Weightman in the world. Did you not plan them for +that?" + +"Yes," answered the man, confused and taken aback, "I confess that +I thought often of them in that way. Perhaps my heart was set upon +that too much. But there are other things--my endowment for the +college--my steady and liberal contributions to all the established +charities--my support of every respectable--" + +"Wait," said the Keeper of the Gate again. "Were not all these +carefully recorded on earth where they would add to your credit? They +were not foolishly done. Verily, you have had your reward for them. +Would you be paid twice?" + +"No," cried the man, with deepening dismay, "I dare not claim that. I +acknowledge that I considered my own interest too much. But surely not +altogether. You have said that these things were not foolishly done. +They accomplished some good in the world. Does not that count for +something?" + +"Yes," answered the Keeper of the Gate, "it counts in the world--where +you counted it. But it does not belong to you here. We have saved and +used everything that you sent us. This is the mansion prepared for +you." + +As he spoke, his look grew deeper and more searching, like a flame of +fire. John Weightman could not endure it. It seemed to strip him naked +and wither him. He sank to the ground under a crushing weight of +shame, covering his eyes with his hands and cowering face downward +upon the stones. Dimly through the trouble of his mind he felt their +hardness and coldness. + +"Tell me, then," he cried, brokenly, "since my life has been so little +worth, how came I here at all?" + +"Through the mercy of the King"--the answer was like the soft tolling +of a bell. + +"And how have I earned it?" he murmured. + +"It is never earned; it is only given," came the clear, low reply. + +"But how have I failed so wretchedly," he asked, "in all the purpose +of my life? What could I have done better? What is it that counts +here?" + +"Only that which is truly given," answered the bell-like voice. "Only +that good which is done for the love of doing it. Only those plans in +which the welfare of others is the master thought. Only those labors +in which the sacrifice is greater than the reward. Only those gifts in +which the giver forgets himself." + +The man lay silent. A great weakness, an unspeakable despondency and +humiliation were upon him. But the face of the Keeper of the Gate was +infinitely tender as he bent over him. + +"Think again, John Weightman. Has there been nothing like that in your +life?" + +"Nothing," he sighed. "If there ever were such things, it must have +been long ago--they were all crowded out--I have forgotten them." + +There was an ineffable smile on the face of the Keeper of the Gate, +and his hand made the sign of the cross over the bowed head as he +spoke gently: + +"These are the things that the King never forgets; and because there +were a few of them in your life, you have a little place here." + + * * * * * + +The sense of coldness and hardness under John Weightman's hands grew +sharper and more distinct. The feeling of bodily weariness and +lassitude weighed upon him, but there was a calm, almost a lightness, +in his heart as he listened to the fading vibrations of the silvery +bell-tones. The chimney clock on the mantel had just ended the last +stroke of seven as he lifted his head from the table. Thin, pale +strips of the city morning were falling into the room through the +narrow partings of the heavy curtains. + +What was it that had happened to him? Had he been ill? Had he died +and come to life again? Or had he only slept, and had his soul gone +visiting in dreams? He sat for some time, motionless, not lost, but +finding himself in thought. Then he took a narrow book from the table +drawer, wrote a check, and tore it out. + +He went slowly up the stairs, knocked very softly at his son's door, +and, hearing no answer, entered without noise. Harold was asleep, his +bare arm thrown above his head, and his eager face relaxed in peace. +His father looked at him a moment with strangely shining eyes, and +then tiptoed quietly to the writing-desk, found a pencil and a sheet +of paper, and wrote rapidly: + +"My dear boy, here is what you asked me for; do what you like with it, +and ask for more if you need it. If you are still thinking of that +work with Grenfell, we'll talk it over to-day after church. I want to +know your heart better; and if I have made mistakes--" + +[Illustration: "God give us a good Christmas together"] + +A slight noise made him turn his head. Harold was sitting up in bed +with wide-open eyes. + +"Father!" he cried, "is that you?" + +"Yes, my son," answered John Weightman; "I've come back--I mean I've +come up--no, I mean come in--well, here I am, and God give us a good +Christmas together." + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mansion, by Henry Van Dyke + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MANSION *** + +***** This file should be named 38312.txt or 38312.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/3/1/38312/ + +Produced by Jen Haines, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. 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/38312.zip b/38312.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b9efe91 --- /dev/null +++ b/38312.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..341e7c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #38312 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38312) |
