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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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + + + +Title: A Hazard Of New Fortunes + +Author: William Dean Howells + +Release Date: February 13, 2002 [EBook #4600] +Last Updated: May 31, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HAZARD OF NEW FORTUNES *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + A HAZARD OF NEW FORTUNES + </h1> + <h2> + By William Dean Howells + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> BIBLIOGRAPHICAL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> A HAZARD OF NEW FORTUNES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> FIRST PART </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> II. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> III. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> V. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> VI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> VII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> VIII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> IX. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> X. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> XI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> XII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> SECOND PART </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> II. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> III. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> V. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> VI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> VII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> VII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> IX. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> X </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> XI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> XII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> XIII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> XIV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> THIRD PART </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> II. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> III. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> V. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> VI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> VII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0036"> VIII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> IX. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> FOURTH PART </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0039"> II. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0040"> III. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0041"> IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0042"> V. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0043"> VI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0044"> VII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0045"> VIII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0046"> IX. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0047"> FIFTH PART </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0048"> II. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0049"> III. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0050"> IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0051"> V. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0052"> VI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0053"> VII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0054"> VIII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0055"> IX. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0056"> X. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0057"> XI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0058"> XII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0059"> XIII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0060"> XIV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0061"> XV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0062"> XVI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0063"> XVII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0064"> XVIII. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BIBLIOGRAPHICAL + </h2> + <p class="pfirst"> + <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>he following story + was the first fruit of my New York life when I began to live it after my + quarter of a century in Cambridge and Boston, ending in 1889; and I used + my own transition to the commercial metropolis in framing the experience + which was wholly that of my supposititious literary adventurer. He was a + character whom, with his wife, I have employed in some six or eight other + stories, and whom I made as much the hero and heroine of 'Their Wedding + Journey' as the slight fable would bear. In venturing out of my adoptive + New England, where I had found myself at home with many imaginary friends, + I found it natural to ask the company of these familiar acquaintances, but + their company was not to be had at once for the asking. When I began + speaking of them as Basil and Isabel, in the fashion of 'Their Wedding + Journey,' they would not respond with the effect of early middle age which + I desired in them. They remained wilfully, not to say woodenly, the young + bridal pair of that romance, without the promise of novel functioning. It + was not till I tried addressing them as March and Mrs. March that they + stirred under my hand with fresh impulse, and set about the work assigned + them as people in something more than their second youth. + </p> + <p> + The scene into which I had invited them to figure filled the largest + canvas I had yet allowed myself; and, though 'A Hazard of New Fortunes was + not the first story I had written with the printer at my heels, it was the + first which took its own time to prescribe its own dimensions. I had the + general design well in mind when I began to write it, but as it advanced + it compelled into its course incidents, interests, individualities, which + I had not known lay near, and it specialized and amplified at points which + I had not always meant to touch, though I should not like to intimate + anything mystical in the fact. It became, to my thinking, the most vital + of my fictions, through my quickened interest in the life about me, at a + moment of great psychological import. We had passed through a period of + strong emotioning in the direction of the humaner economics, if I may + phrase it so; the rich seemed not so much to despise the poor, the poor + did not so hopelessly repine. The solution of the riddle of the painful + earth through the dreams of Henry George, through the dreams of Edward + Bellamy, through the dreams of all the generous visionaries of the past, + seemed not impossibly far off. That shedding of blood which is for the + remission of sins had been symbolized by the bombs and scaffolds of + Chicago, and the hearts of those who felt the wrongs bound up with our + rights, the slavery implicated in our liberty, were thrilling with griefs + and hopes hitherto strange to the average American breast. Opportunely for + me there was a great street-car strike in New York, and the story began to + find its way to issues nobler and larger than those of the love-affairs + common to fiction. I was in my fifty-second year when I took it up, and in + the prime, such as it was, of my powers. The scene which I had chosen + appealed prodigiously to me, and the action passed as nearly without my + conscious agency as I ever allow myself to think such things happen. + </p> + <p> + The opening chapters were written in a fine, old fashioned apartment house + which had once been a family house, and in an uppermost room of which I + could look from my work across the trees of the little park in Stuyvesant + Square to the towers of St. George's Church. Then later in the spring of + 1889 the unfinished novel was carried to a country house on the Belmont + border of Cambridge. There I must have written very rapidly to have + pressed it to conclusion before the summer ended. It came, indeed, so + easily from the pen that I had the misgiving which I always have of things + which do not cost me great trouble. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing in the book with which I amused myself more than the + house-hunting of the Marches when they were placing themselves in New + York; and if the contemporary reader should turn for instruction to the + pages in which their experience is detailed I assure him that he may trust + their fidelity and accuracy in the article of New York housing as it was + early in the last decade of the last century: I mean, the housing of + people of such moderate means as the Marches. In my zeal for truth I did + not distinguish between reality and actuality in this or other matters—that + is, one was as precious to me as the other. But the types here portrayed + are as true as ever they were, though the world in which they were finding + their habitat is wonderfully, almost incredibly different. Yet it is not + wholly different, for a young literary pair now adventuring in New York + might easily parallel the experience of the Marches with their own, if not + for so little money; many phases of New York housing are better, but all + are dearer. Other aspects of the material city have undergone a + transformation much more wonderful. I find that in my book its population + is once modestly spoken of as two millions, but now in twenty years it is + twice as great, and the grandeur as well as grandiosity of its forms is + doubly apparent. The transitional public that then moped about in mildly + tinkling horse-cars is now hurried back and forth in clanging trolleys, in + honking and whirring motors; the Elevated road which was the last word of + speed is undermined by the Subway, shooting its swift shuttles through the + subterranean woof of the city's haste. From these feet let the witness + infer our whole massive Hercules, a bulk that sprawls and stretches beyond + the rivers through the tunnels piercing their beds and that towers into + the skies with innumerable tops—a Hercules blent of Briareus and + Cerberus, but not so bad a monster as it seemed then to threaten becoming. + </p> + <p> + Certain hopes of truer and better conditions on which my heart was fixed + twenty years ago are not less dear, and they are by no means touched with + despair, though they have not yet found the fulfilment which I would then + have prophesied for them. Events have not wholly played them false; events + have not halted, though they have marched with a slowness that might + affect a younger observer as marking time. They who were then mindful of + the poor have not forgotten them, and what is better the poor have not + often forgotten themselves in violences such as offered me the material of + tragedy and pathos in my story. In my quality of artist I could not regret + these, and I gratefully realize that they offered me the opportunity of a + more strenuous action, a more impressive catastrophe than I could have + achieved without them. They tended to give the whole fable dignity and + doubtless made for its success as a book. As a serial it had crept a + sluggish course before a public apparently so unmindful of it that no + rumor of its acceptance or rejection reached the writer during the half + year of its publication; but it rose in book form from that failure and + stood upon its feet and went its way to greater favor than any book of his + had yet enjoyed. I hope that my recognition of the fact will not seem like + boasting, but that the reader will regard it as a special confidence from + the author and will let it go no farther. + </p> + <p> + KITTERY POINT, MAINE, July, 1909. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A HAZARD OF NEW FORTUNES + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FIRST PART + </h2> + <h3> + I. + </h3> + <p class="pfirst"> + <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">N</span>ow, you think this + thing over, March, and let me know the last of next week," said Fulkerson. + He got up from the chair which he had been sitting astride, with his face + to its back, and tilting toward March on its hind-legs, and came and + rapped upon his table with his thin bamboo stick. "What you want to do is + to get out of the insurance business, anyway. You acknowledge that + yourself. You never liked it, and now it makes you sick; in other words, + it's killing you. You ain't an insurance man by nature. You're a + natural-born literary man, and you've been going against the grain. Now, I + offer you a chance to go with the grain. I don't say you're going to make + your everlasting fortune, but I'll give you a living salary, and if the + thing succeeds you'll share in its success. We'll all share in its + success. That's the beauty of it. I tell you, March, this is the greatest + idea that has been struck since"—Fulkerson stopped and searched his + mind for a fit image—"since the creation of man." + </p> + <p> + He put his leg up over the corner of March's table and gave himself a + sharp cut on the thigh, and leaned forward to get the full effect of his + words upon his listener. + </p> + <p> + March had his hands clasped together behind his head, and he took one of + them down long enough to put his inkstand and mucilage-bottle out of + Fulkerson's way. After many years' experiment of a mustache and whiskers, + he now wore his grizzled beard full, but cropped close; it gave him a + certain grimness, corrected by the gentleness of his eyes. + </p> + <p> + "Some people don't think much of the creation of man nowadays. Why stop at + that? Why not say since the morning stars sang together?" + </p> + <p> + "No, sir; no, sir! I don't want to claim too much, and I draw the line at + the creation of man. I'm satisfied with that. But if you want to ring the + morning stars into the prospectus all right; I won't go back on you." + </p> + <p> + "But I don't understand why you've set your mind on me," March said. "I + haven't had any magazine experience, you know that; and I haven't + seriously attempted to do anything in literature since I was married. I + gave up smoking and the Muse together. I suppose I could still manage a + cigar, but I don't believe I could—" + </p> + <p> + "Muse worth a cent." Fulkerson took the thought out of his mouth and put + it into his own words. "I know. Well, I don't want you to. I don't care if + you never write a line for the thing, though you needn't reject anything + of yours, if it happens to be good, on that account. And I don't want much + experience in my editor; rather not have it. You told me, didn't you, that + you used to do some newspaper work before you settled down?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; I thought my lines were permanently cast in those places once. It + was more an accident than anything else that I got into the insurance + business. I suppose I secretly hoped that if I made my living by something + utterly different, I could come more freshly to literature proper in my + leisure." + </p> + <p> + "I see; and you found the insurance business too many, for you. Well, + anyway, you've always had a hankering for the inkpots; and the fact that + you first gave me the idea of this thing shows that you've done more or + less thinking about magazines." + </p> + <p> + "Yes—less." + </p> + <p> + "Well, all right. Now don't you be troubled. I know what I want, + generally, speaking, and in this particular instance I want you. I might + get a man of more experience, but I should probably get a man of more + prejudice and self-conceit along with him, and a man with a following of + the literary hangers-on that are sure to get round an editor sooner or + later. I want to start fair, and I've found out in the syndicate business + all the men that are worth having. But they know me, and they don't know + you, and that's where we shall have the pull on them. They won't be able + to work the thing. Don't you be anxious about the experience. I've got + experience enough of my own to run a dozen editors. What I want is an + editor who has taste, and you've got it; and conscience, and you've got + it; and horse sense, and you've got that. And I like you because you're a + Western man, and I'm another. I do cotton to a Western man when I find him + off East here, holding his own with the best of 'em, and showing 'em that + he's just as much civilized as they are. We both know what it is to have + our bright home in the setting sun; heigh?" + </p> + <p> + "I think we Western men who've come East are apt to take ourselves a + little too objectively and to feel ourselves rather more representative + than we need," March remarked. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson was delighted. "You've hit it! We do! We are!" + </p> + <p> + "And as for holding my own, I'm not very proud of what I've done in that + way; it's been very little to hold. But I know what you mean, Fulkerson, + and I've felt the same thing myself; it warmed me toward you when we first + met. I can't help suffusing a little to any man when I hear that he was + born on the other side of the Alleghanies. It's perfectly stupid. I + despise the same thing when I see it in Boston people." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson pulled first one of his blond whiskers and then the other, and + twisted the end of each into a point, which he left to untwine itself. He + fixed March with his little eyes, which had a curious innocence in their + cunning, and tapped the desk immediately in front of him. "What I like + about you is that you're broad in your sympathies. The first time I saw + you, that night on the Quebec boat, I said to myself: 'There's a man I + want to know. There's a human being.' I was a little afraid of Mrs. March + and the children, but I felt at home with you—thoroughly + domesticated—before I passed a word with you; and when you spoke + first, and opened up with a joke over that fellow's tableful of light + literature and Indian moccasins and birch-bark toy canoes and stereoscopic + views, I knew that we were brothers—spiritual twins. I recognized + the Western style of fun, and I thought, when you said you were from + Boston, that it was some of the same. But I see now that its being a cold + fact, as far as the last fifteen or twenty years count, is just so much + gain. You know both sections, and you can make this thing go, from ocean + to ocean." + </p> + <p> + "We might ring that into the prospectus, too," March suggested, with a + smile. "You might call the thing 'From Sea to Sea.' By-the-way, what are + you going to call it?" + </p> + <p> + "I haven't decided yet; that's one of the things I wanted to talk with you + about. I had thought of 'The Syndicate'; but it sounds kind of dry, and + doesn't seem to cover the ground exactly. I should like something that + would express the co-operative character of the thing, but I don't know as + I can get it." + </p> + <p> + "Might call it 'The Mutual'." + </p> + <p> + "They'd think it was an insurance paper. No, that won't do. But Mutual + comes pretty near the idea. If we could get something like that, it would + pique curiosity; and then if we could get paragraphs afloat explaining + that the contributors were to be paid according to the sales, it would be + a first-rate ad." + </p> + <p> + He bent a wide, anxious, inquiring smile upon March, who suggested, + lazily: "You might call it 'The Round-Robin'. That would express the + central idea of irresponsibility. As I understand, everybody is to share + the profits and be exempt from the losses. Or, if I'm wrong, and the + reverse is true, you might call it 'The Army of Martyrs'. Come, that + sounds attractive, Fulkerson! Or what do you think of 'The Fifth Wheel'? + That would forestall the criticism that there are too many literary + periodicals already. Or, if you want to put forward the idea of complete + independence, you could call it 'The Free Lance'; or—" + </p> + <p> + "Or 'The Hog on Ice'—either stand up or fall down, you know," + Fulkerson broke in coarsely. "But we'll leave the name of the magazine + till we get the editor. I see the poison's beginning to work in you, + March; and if I had time I'd leave the result to time. But I haven't. I've + got to know inside of the next week. To come down to business with you, + March, I sha'n't start this thing unless I can get you to take hold of + it." + </p> + <p> + He seemed to expect some acknowledgment, and March said, "Well, that's + very nice of you, Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + "No, sir; no, sir! I've always liked you and wanted you ever since we met + that first night. I had this thing inchoately in my mind then, when I was + telling you about the newspaper syndicate business—beautiful vision + of a lot of literary fellows breaking loose from the bondage of publishers + and playing it alone—" + </p> + <p> + "You might call it 'The Lone Hand'; that would be attractive," March + interrupted. "The whole West would know what you meant." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson was talking seriously, and March was listening seriously; but + they both broke off and laughed. Fulkerson got down off the table and made + some turns about the room. It was growing late; the October sun had left + the top of the tall windows; it was still clear day, but it would soon be + twilight; they had been talking a long time. Fulkerson came and stood with + his little feet wide apart, and bent his little lean, square face on + March. "See here! How much do you get out of this thing here, anyway?" + </p> + <p> + "The insurance business?" March hesitated a moment and then said, with a + certain effort of reserve, "At present about three thousand." He looked up + at Fulkerson with a glance, as if he had a mind to enlarge upon the fact, + and then dropped his eyes without saying more. + </p> + <p> + Whether Fulkerson had not thought it so much or not, he said: "Well, I'll + give you thirty-five hundred. Come! And your chances in the success." + </p> + <p> + "We won't count the chances in the success. And I don't believe + thirty-five hundred would go any further in New York than three thousand + in Boston." + </p> + <p> + "But you don't live on three thousand here?" + </p> + <p> + "No; my wife has a little property." + </p> + <p> + "Well, she won't lose the income if you go to New York. I suppose you pay + ten or twelve hundred a year for your house here. You can get plenty of + flats in New York for the same money; and I understand you can get all + sorts of provisions for less than you pay now—three or four cents on + the pound. Come!" + </p> + <p> + This was by no means the first talk they had had about the matter; every + three or four months during the past two years the syndicate man had + dropped in upon March to air the scheme and to get his impressions of it. + This had happened so often that it had come to be a sort of joke between + them. But now Fulkerson clearly meant business, and March had a struggle + to maintain himself in a firm poise of refusal. + </p> + <p> + "I dare say it wouldn't—or it needn't—cost so very much more, + but I don't want to go to New York; or my wife doesn't. It's the same + thing." + </p> + <p> + "A good deal samer," Fulkerson admitted. + </p> + <p> + March did not quite like his candor, and he went on with dignity. "It's + very natural she shouldn't. She has always lived in Boston; she's attached + to the place. Now, if you were going to start 'The Fifth Wheel' in Boston—" + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson slowly and sadly shook his head, but decidedly. "Wouldn't do. + You might as well say St. Louis or Cincinnati. There's only one city that + belongs to the whole country, and that's New York." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I know," sighed March; "and Boston belongs to the Bostonians, but + they like you to make yourself at home while you're visiting." + </p> + <p> + "If you'll agree to make phrases like that, right along, and get them into + 'The Round-Robin' somehow, I'll say four thousand," said Fulkerson. "You + think it over now, March. You talk it over with Mrs. March; I know you + will, anyway; and I might as well make a virtue of advising you to do it. + Tell her I advised you to do it, and you let me know before next Saturday + what you've decided." + </p> + <p> + March shut down the rolling top of his desk in the corner of the room, and + walked Fulkerson out before him. It was so late that the last of the + chore-women who washed down the marble halls and stairs of the great + building had wrung out her floor-cloth and departed, leaving spotless + stone and a clean, damp smell in the darkening corridors behind her. + </p> + <p> + "Couldn't offer you such swell quarters in New York, March," Fulkerson + said, as he went tack-tacking down the steps with his small boot-heels. + "But I've got my eye on a little house round in West Eleventh Street that + I'm going to fit up for my bachelor's hall in the third story, and adapt + for 'The Lone Hand' in the first and second, if this thing goes through; + and I guess we'll be pretty comfortable. It's right on the Sand Strip—no + malaria of any kind." + </p> + <p> + "I don't know that I'm going to share its salubrity with you yet," March + sighed, in an obvious travail which gave Fulkerson hopes. + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes, you are," he coaxed. "Now, you talk it over with your wife. You + give her a fair, unprejudiced chance at the thing on its merits, and I'm + very much mistaken in Mrs. March if she doesn't tell you to go in and win. + We're bound to win!" + </p> + <p> + They stood on the outside steps of the vast edifice beetling like a + granite crag above them, with the stone groups of an allegory of + life-insurance foreshortened in the bas-relief overhead. March absently + lifted his eyes to it. It was suddenly strange after so many years' + familiarity, and so was the well-known street in its Saturday-evening + solitude. He asked himself, with prophetic homesickness, if it were an + omen of what was to be. But he only said, musingly: "A fortnightly. You + know that didn't work in England. The fortnightly is published once a + month now." + </p> + <p> + "It works in France," Fulkerson retorted. "The 'Revue des Deux Mondes' is + still published twice a month. I guess we can make it work in America—with + illustrations." + </p> + <p> + "Going to have illustrations?" + </p> + <p> + "My dear boy! What are you giving me? Do I look like the sort of lunatic + who would start a thing in the twilight of the nineteenth century without + illustrations? Come off!" + </p> + <p> + "Ah, that complicates it! I don't know anything about art." March's look + of discouragement confessed the hold the scheme had taken upon him. + </p> + <p> + "I don't want you to!" Fulkerson retorted. "Don't you suppose I shall have + an art man?" + </p> + <p> + "And will they—the artists—work at a reduced rate, too, like + the writers, with the hopes of a share in the success?" + </p> + <p> + "Of course they will! And if I want any particular man, for a card, I'll + pay him big money besides. But I can get plenty of first-rate sketches on + my own terms. You'll see! They'll pour in!" + </p> + <p> + "Look here, Fulkerson," said March, "you'd better call this fortnightly of + yours 'The Madness of the Half-Moon'; or 'Bedlam Broke Loose' wouldn't be + bad! Why do you throw away all your hard earnings on such a crazy venture? + Don't do it!" The kindness which March had always felt, in spite of his + wife's first misgivings and reservations, for the merry, hopeful, slangy, + energetic little creature trembled in his voice. They had both formed a + friendship for Fulkerson during the week they were together in Quebec. + When he was not working the newspapers there, he went about with them over + the familiar ground they were showing their children, and was simply + grateful for the chance, as well as very entertaining about it all. The + children liked him, too; when they got the clew to his intention, and + found that he was not quite serious in many of the things he said, they + thought he was great fun. They were always glad when their father brought + him home on the occasion of Fulkerson's visits to Boston; and Mrs. March, + though of a charier hospitality, welcomed Fulkerson with a grateful sense + of his admiration for her husband. He had a way of treating March with + deference, as an older and abler man, and of qualifying the freedom he + used toward every one with an implication that March tolerated it + voluntarily, which she thought very sweet and even refined. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, now you're talking like a man and a brother," said Fulkerson. "Why, + March, old man, do you suppose I'd come on here and try to talk you into + this thing if I wasn't morally, if I wasn't perfectly, sure of success? + There isn't any if or and about it. I know my ground, every inch; and I + don't stand alone on it," he added, with a significance which did not + escape March. "When you've made up your mind I can give you the proof; but + I'm not at liberty now to say anything more. I tell you it's going to be a + triumphal march from the word go, with coffee and lemonade for the + procession along the whole line. All you've got to do is to fall in." He + stretched out his hand to March. "You let me know as soon as you can." + </p> + <p> + March deferred taking his hand till he could ask, "Where are you going?" + </p> + <p> + "Parker House. Take the eleven for New York to-night." + </p> + <p> + "I thought I might walk your way." March looked at his watch. "But I + shouldn't have time. Goodbye!" + </p> + <p> + He now let Fulkerson have his hand, and they exchanged a cordial pressure. + Fulkerson started away at a quick, light pace. Half a block off he + stopped, turned round, and, seeing March still standing where he had left + him, he called back, joyously, "I've got the name!" + </p> + <p> + "What?" + </p> + <p> + "Every Other Week." + </p> + <p> + "It isn't bad." + </p> + <p> + "Ta-ta!" + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + All the way up to the South End March mentally prolonged his talk with + Fulkerson, and at his door in Nankeen Square he closed the parley with a + plump refusal to go to New York on any terms. His daughter Bella was lying + in wait for him in the hall, and she threw her arms round his neck with + the exuberance of her fourteen years and with something of the histrionic + intention of her sex. He pressed on, with her clinging about him, to the + library, and, in the glow of his decision against Fulkerson, kissed his + wife, where she sat by the study lamp reading the Transcript through her + first pair of eye-glasses: it was agreed in the family that she looked + distinguished in them, or, at any rate, cultivated. She took them off to + give him a glance of question, and their son Tom looked up from his book + for a moment; he was in his last year at the high school, and was + preparing for Harvard. + </p> + <p> + "I didn't get away from the office till half-past five," March explained + to his wife's glance, "and then I walked. I suppose dinner's waiting. I'm + sorry, but I won't do it any more." + </p> + <p> + At table he tried to be gay with Bella, who babbled at him with a voluble + pertness which her brother had often advised her parents to check in her, + unless they wanted her to be universally despised. + </p> + <p> + "Papa!" she shouted at last, "you're not listening!" As soon as possible + his wife told the children they might be excused. Then she asked, "What is + it, Basil?" + </p> + <p> + "What is what?" he retorted, with a specious brightness that did not + avail. + </p> + <p> + "What is on your mind?" + </p> + <p> + "How do you know there's anything?" + </p> + <p> + "Your kissing me so when you came in, for one thing." + </p> + <p> + "Don't I always kiss you when I come in?" + </p> + <p> + "Not now. I suppose it isn't necessary any more. 'Cela va sans baiser.'" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I guess it's so; we get along without the symbolism now." He + stopped, but she knew that he had not finished. + </p> + <p> + "Is it about your business? Have they done anything more?" + </p> + <p> + "No; I'm still in the dark. I don't know whether they mean to supplant me, + or whether they ever did. But I wasn't thinking about that. Fulkerson has + been to see me again." + </p> + <p> + "Fulkerson?" She brightened at the name, and March smiled, too. "Why + didn't you bring him to dinner?" + </p> + <p> + "I wanted to talk with you. Then you do like him?" + </p> + <p> + "What has that got to do with it, Basil?" + </p> + <p> + "Nothing! nothing! That is, he was boring away about that scheme of his + again. He's got it into definite shape at last." + </p> + <p> + "What shape?" + </p> + <p> + March outlined it for her, and his wife seized its main features with the + intuitive sense of affairs which makes women such good business-men when + they will let it. + </p> + <p> + "It sounds perfectly crazy," she said, finally. "But it mayn't be. The + only thing I didn't like about Mr. Fulkerson was his always wanting to + chance things. But what have you got to do with it?" + </p> + <p> + "What have I got to do with it?" March toyed with the delay the question + gave him; then he said, with a sort of deprecatory laugh: "It seems that + Fulkerson has had his eye on me ever since we met that night on the Quebec + boat. I opened up pretty freely to him, as you do to a man you never + expect to see again, and when I found he was in that newspaper syndicate + business I told him about my early literary ambitions—" + </p> + <p> + "You can't say that I ever discouraged them, Basil," his wife put in. "I + should have been willing, any time, to give up everything for them." + </p> + <p> + "Well, he says that I first suggested this brilliant idea to him. Perhaps + I did; I don't remember. When he told me about his supplying literature to + newspapers for simultaneous publication, he says I asked: 'Why not apply + the principle of co-operation to a magazine, and run it in the interest of + the contributors?' and that set him to thinking, and he thought out his + plan of a periodical which should pay authors and artists a low price + outright for their work and give them a chance of the profits in the way + of a percentage. After all, it isn't so very different from the chances an + author takes when he publishes a book. And Fulkerson thinks that the + novelty of the thing would pique public curiosity, if it didn't arouse + public sympathy. And the long and short of it is, Isabel, that he wants me + to help edit it." + </p> + <p> + "To edit it?" His wife caught her breath, and she took a little time to + realize the fact, while she stared hard at her husband to make sure he was + not joking. + </p> + <p> + "Yes. He says he owes it all to me; that I invented the idea—the + germ—the microbe." + </p> + <p> + His wife had now realized the fact, at least in a degree that excluded + trifling with it. "That is very honorable of Mr. Fulkerson; and if he owes + it to you, it was the least he could do." Having recognized her husband's + claim to the honor done him, she began to kindle with a sense of the honor + itself and the value of the opportunity. "It's a very high compliment to + you, Basil—a very high compliment. And you could give up this + wretched insurance business that you've always hated so, and that's making + you so unhappy now that you think they're going to take it from you. Give + it up and take Mr. Fulkerson's offer! It's a perfect interposition, coming + just at this time! Why, do it! Mercy!" she suddenly arrested herself, "he + wouldn't expect you to get along on the possible profits?" Her face + expressed the awfulness of the notion. + </p> + <p> + March smiled reassuringly, and waited to give himself the pleasure of the + sensation he meant to give her. "If I'll make striking phrases for it and + edit it, too, he'll give me four thousand dollars." + </p> + <p> + He leaned back in his chair, and stuck his hands deep into his pockets, + and watched his wife's face, luminous with the emotions that flashed + through her mind—doubt, joy, anxiety. + </p> + <p> + "Basil! You don't mean it! Why, take it! Take it instantly! Oh, what a + thing to happen! Oh, what luck! But you deserve it, if you first suggested + it. What an escape, what a triumph over all those hateful insurance + people! Oh, Basil, I'm afraid he'll change his mind! You ought to have + accepted on the spot. You might have known I would approve, and you could + so easily have taken it back if I didn't. Telegraph him now! Run right out + with the despatch—Or we can send Tom!" + </p> + <p> + In these imperatives of Mrs. March's there was always much of the + conditional. She meant that he should do what she said, if it were + entirely right; and she never meant to be considered as having urged him. + </p> + <p> + "And suppose his enterprise went wrong?" her husband suggested. + </p> + <p> + "It won't go wrong. Hasn't he made a success of his syndicate?" + </p> + <p> + "He says so—yes." + </p> + <p> + "Very well, then, it stands to reason that he'll succeed in this, too. He + wouldn't undertake it if he didn't know it would succeed; he must have + capital." + </p> + <p> + "It will take a great deal to get such a thing going; and even if he's got + an Angel behind him—" + </p> + <p> + She caught at the word—"An Angel?" + </p> + <p> + "It's what the theatrical people call a financial backer. He dropped a + hint of something of that kind." + </p> + <p> + "Of course, he's got an Angel," said his wife, promptly adopting the word. + "And even if he hadn't, still, Basil, I should be willing to have you risk + it. The risk isn't so great, is it? We shouldn't be ruined if it failed + altogether. With our stocks we have two thousand a year, anyway, and we + could pinch through on that till you got into some other business + afterward, especially if we'd saved something out of your salary while it + lasted. Basil, I want you to try it! I know it will give you a new lease + of life to have a congenial occupation." March laughed, but his wife + persisted. "I'm all for your trying it, Basil; indeed I am. If it's an + experiment, you can give it up." + </p> + <p> + "It can give me up, too." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, nonsense! I guess there's not much fear of that. Now, I want you to + telegraph Mr. Fulkerson, so that he'll find the despatch waiting for him + when he gets to New York. I'll take the whole responsibility, Basil, and + I'll risk all the consequences." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + March's face had sobered more and more as she followed one hopeful burst + with another, and now it expressed a positive pain. But he forced a smile + and said: "There's a little condition attached. Where did you suppose it + was to be published?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, in Boston, of course. Where else should it be published?" + </p> + <p> + She looked at him for the intention of his question so searchingly that he + quite gave up the attempt to be gay about it. "No," he said, gravely, + "it's to be published in New York." + </p> + <p> + She fell back in her chair. "In New York?" She leaned forward over the + table toward him, as if to make sure that she heard aright, and said, with + all the keen reproach that he could have expected: "In New York, Basil! + Oh, how could you have let me go on?" + </p> + <p> + He had a sufficiently rueful face in owning: "I oughtn't to have done it, + but I got started wrong. I couldn't help putting the best foot, forward at + first—or as long as the whole thing was in the air. I didn't know + that you would take so much to the general enterprise, or else I should + have mentioned the New York condition at once; but, of course, that puts + an end to it." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, of course," she assented, sadly. "We COULDN'T go to New York." + </p> + <p> + "No, I know that," he said; and with this a perverse desire to tempt her + to the impossibility awoke in him, though he was really quite cold about + the affair himself now. "Fulkerson thought we could get a nice flat in New + York for about what the interest and taxes came to here, and provisions + are cheaper. But I should rather not experiment at my time of life. If I + could have been caught younger, I might have been inured to New York, but + I don't believe I could stand it now." + </p> + <p> + "How I hate to have you talk that way, Basil! You are young enough to try + anything—anywhere; but you know I don't like New York. I don't + approve of it. It's so big, and so hideous! Of course I shouldn't mind + that; but I've always lived in Boston, and the children were born and have + all their friendships and associations here." She added, with the + helplessness that discredited her good sense and did her injustice, "I + have just got them both into the Friday afternoon class at Papanti's, and + you know how difficult that is." + </p> + <p> + March could not fail to take advantage of an occasion like this. "Well, + that alone ought to settle it. Under the circumstances, it would be flying + in the face of Providence to leave Boston. The mere fact of a brilliant + opening like that offered me on 'The Microbe,' and the halcyon future + which Fulkerson promises if we'll come to New York, is as dust in the + balance against the advantages of the Friday afternoon class." + </p> + <p> + "Basil," she appealed, solemnly, "have I ever interfered with your + career?" + </p> + <p> + "I never had any for you to interfere with, my dear." + </p> + <p> + "Basil! Haven't I always had faith in you? And don't you suppose that if I + thought it would really be for your advancement I would go to New York or + anywhere with you?" + </p> + <p> + "No, my dear, I don't," he teased. "If it would be for my salvation, yes, + perhaps; but not short of that; and I should have to prove by a cloud of + witnesses that it would. I don't blame you. I wasn't born in Boston, but I + understand how you feel. And really, my dear," he added, without irony, "I + never seriously thought of asking you to go to New York. I was dazzled by + Fulkerson's offer, I'll own that; but his choice of me as editor sapped my + confidence in him." + </p> + <p> + "I don't like to hear you say that, Basil," she entreated. + </p> + <p> + "Well, of course there were mitigating circumstances. I could see that + Fulkerson meant to keep the whip-hand himself, and that was reassuring. + And, besides, if the Reciprocity Life should happen not to want my + services any longer, it wouldn't be quite like giving up a certainty; + though, as a matter of business, I let Fulkerson get that impression; I + felt rather sneaking to do it. But if the worst comes to the worst, I can + look about for something to do in Boston; and, anyhow, people don't starve + on two thousand a year, though it's convenient to have five. The fact is, + I'm too old to change so radically. If you don't like my saying that, then + you are, Isabel, and so are the children. I've no right to take them from + the home we've made, and to change the whole course of their lives, unless + I can assure them of something, and I can't assure them of anything. + Boston is big enough for us, and it's certainly prettier than New York. I + always feel a little proud of hailing from Boston; my pleasure in the + place mounts the farther I get away from it. But I do appreciate it, my + dear; I've no more desire to leave it than you have. You may be sure that + if you don't want to take the children out of the Friday afternoon class, + I don't want to leave my library here, and all the ways I've got set in. + We'll keep on. Very likely the company won't supplant me, and if it does, + and Watkins gets the place, he'll give me a subordinate position of some + sort. Cheer up, Isabel! I have put Satan and his angel, Fulkerson, behind + me, and it's all right. Let's go in to the children." + </p> + <p> + He came round the table to Isabel, where she sat in a growing distraction, + and lifted her by the waist from her chair. + </p> + <p> + She sighed deeply. "Shall we tell the children about it?" + </p> + <p> + "No. What's the use, now?" + </p> + <p> + "There wouldn't be any," she assented. When they entered the family room, + where the boy and girl sat on either side of the lamp working out the + lessons for Monday which they had left over from the day before, she + asked, "Children, how would you like to live in New York?" + </p> + <p> + Bella made haste to get in her word first. "And give up the Friday + afternoon class?" she wailed. + </p> + <p> + Tom growled from his book, without lifting his eyes: "I shouldn't want to + go to Columbia. They haven't got any dormitories, and you have to board + round anywhere. Are you going to New York?" He now deigned to look up at + his father. + </p> + <p> + "No, Tom. You and Bella have decided me against it. Your perspective shows + the affair in its true proportions. I had an offer to go to New York, but + I've refused it." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV + </h2> + <p> + March's irony fell harmless from the children's preoccupation with their + own affairs, but he knew that his wife felt it, and this added to the + bitterness which prompted it. He blamed her for letting her provincial + narrowness prevent his accepting Fulkerson's offer quite as much as if he + had otherwise entirely wished to accept it. His world, like most worlds, + had been superficially a disappointment. He was no richer than at the + beginning, though in marrying he had given up some tastes, some + preferences, some aspirations, in the hope of indulging them later, with + larger means and larger leisure. His wife had not urged him to do it; in + fact, her pride, as she said, was in his fitness for the life he had + renounced; but she had acquiesced, and they had been very happy together. + That is to say, they made up their quarrels or ignored them. + </p> + <p> + They often accused each other of being selfish and indifferent, but she + knew that he would always sacrifice himself for her and the children; and + he, on his part, with many gibes and mockeries, wholly trusted in her. + They had grown practically tolerant of each other's disagreeable traits; + and the danger that really threatened them was that they should grow too + well satisfied with themselves, if not with each other. They were not + sentimental, they were rather matter-of-fact in their motives; but they + had both a sort of humorous fondness for sentimentality. They liked to + play with the romantic, from the safe vantage-ground of their real + practicality, and to divine the poetry of the commonplace. Their peculiar + point of view separated them from most other people, with whom their means + of self-comparison were not so good since their marriage as before. Then + they had travelled and seen much of the world, and they had formed tastes + which they had not always been able to indulge, but of which they felt + that the possession reflected distinction on them. It enabled them to look + down upon those who were without such tastes; but they were not + ill-natured, and so they did not look down so much with contempt as with + amusement. In their unfashionable neighborhood they had the fame of being + not exclusive precisely, but very much wrapped up in themselves and their + children. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March was reputed to be very cultivated, and Mr. March even more so, + among the simpler folk around them. Their house had some good pictures, + which her aunt had brought home from Europe in more affluent days, and it + abounded in books on which he spent more than he ought. They had + beautified it in every way, and had unconsciously taken credit to + themselves for it. They felt, with a glow almost of virtue, how perfectly + it fitted their lives and their children's, and they believed that somehow + it expressed their characters—that it was like them. They went out + very little; she remained shut up in its refinement, working the good of + her own; and he went to his business, and hurried back to forget it, and + dream his dream of intellectual achievement in the flattering atmosphere + of her sympathy. He could not conceal from himself that his divided life + was somewhat like Charles Lamb's, and there were times when, as he had + expressed to Fulkerson, he believed that its division was favorable to the + freshness of his interest in literature. It certainly kept it a high + privilege, a sacred refuge. Now and then he wrote something, and got it + printed after long delays, and when they met on the St. Lawrence Fulkerson + had some of March's verses in his pocket-book, which he had cut out of a + stray newspaper and carried about for years, because they pleased his + fancy so much; they formed an immediate bond of union between the men when + their authorship was traced and owned, and this gave a pretty color of + romance to their acquaintance. But, for the most part, March was satisfied + to read. He was proud of reading critically, and he kept in the current of + literary interests and controversies. It all seemed to him, and to his + wife at second-hand, very meritorious; he could not help contrasting his + life and its inner elegance with that of other men who had no such + resources. He thought that he was not arrogant about it, because he did + full justice to the good qualities of those other people; he congratulated + himself upon the democratic instincts which enabled him to do this; and + neither he nor his wife supposed that they were selfish persons. On the + contrary, they were very sympathetic; there was no good cause that they + did not wish well; they had a generous scorn of all kinds of + narrow-heartedness; if it had ever come into their way to sacrifice + themselves for others, they thought they would have done so, but they + never asked why it had not come in their way. They were very gentle and + kind, even when most elusive; and they taught their children to loathe all + manner of social cruelty. March was of so watchful a conscience in some + respects that he denied himself the pensive pleasure of lapsing into the + melancholy of unfulfilled aspirations; but he did not see that, if he had + abandoned them, it had been for what he held dearer; generally he felt as + if he had turned from them with a high, altruistic aim. The practical + expression of his life was that it was enough to provide well for his + family; to have cultivated tastes, and to gratify them to the extent of + his means; to be rather distinguished, even in the simplification of his + desires. He believed, and his wife believed, that if the time ever came + when he really wished to make a sacrifice to the fulfilment of the + aspirations so long postponed, she would be ready to join with heart and + hand. + </p> + <p> + When he went to her room from his library, where she left him the whole + evening with the children, he found her before the glass thoughtfully + removing the first dismantling pin from her back hair. + </p> + <p> + "I can't help feeling," she grieved into the mirror, "that it's I who keep + you from accepting that offer. I know it is! I could go West with you, or + into a new country—anywhere; but New York terrifies me. I don't like + New York, I never did; it disheartens and distracts me; I can't find + myself in it; I shouldn't know how to shop. I know I'm foolish and narrow + and provincial," she went on, "but I could never have any inner quiet in + New York; I couldn't live in the spirit there. I suppose people do. It + can't be that all these millions—' + </p> + <p> + "Oh, not so bad as that!" March interposed, laughing. "There aren't quite + two." + </p> + <p> + "I thought there were four or five. Well, no matter. You see what I am, + Basil. I'm terribly limited. I couldn't make my sympathies go round two + million people; I should be wretched. I suppose I'm standing in the way of + your highest interest, but I can't help it. We took each other for better + or worse, and you must try to bear with me—" She broke off and began + to cry. + </p> + <p> + "Stop it!" shouted March. "I tell you I never cared anything for + Fulkerson's scheme or entertained it seriously, and I shouldn't if he'd + proposed to carry it out in Boston." This was not quite true, but in the + retrospect it seemed sufficiently so for the purposes of argument. "Don't + say another word about it. The thing's over now, and I don't want to think + of it any more. We couldn't change its nature if we talked all night. But + I want you to understand that it isn't your limitations that are in the + way. It's mine. I shouldn't have the courage to take such a place; I don't + think I'm fit for it, and that's the long and short of it." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, you don't know how it hurts me to have you say that, Basil." + </p> + <p> + The next morning, as they sat together at breakfast, without the children, + whom they let lie late on Sunday, Mrs. March said to her husband, silent + over his fish-balls and baked beans: "We will go to New York. I've decided + it." + </p> + <p> + "Well, it takes two to decide that," March retorted. "We are not going to + New York." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, we are. I've thought it out. Now, listen." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I'm willing to listen," he consented, airily. + </p> + <p> + "You've always wanted to get out of the insurance business, and now with + that fear of being turned out which you have you mustn't neglect this + offer. I suppose it has its risks, but it's a risk keeping on as we are; + and perhaps you will make a great success of it. I do want you to try, + Basil. If I could once feel that you had fairly seen what you could do in + literature, I should die happy." + </p> + <p> + "Not immediately after, I hope," he suggested, taking the second cup of + coffee she had been pouring out for him. "And Boston?" + </p> + <p> + "We needn't make a complete break. We can keep this place for the present, + anyway; we could let it for the winter, and come back in the summer next + year. It would be change enough from New York." + </p> + <p> + "Fulkerson and I hadn't got as far as to talk of a vacation." + </p> + <p> + "No matter. The children and I could come. And if you didn't like New + York, or the enterprise failed, you could get into something in Boston + again; and we have enough to live on till you did. Yes, Basil, I'm going." + </p> + <p> + "I can see by the way your chin trembles that nothing could stop you. You + may go to New York if you wish, Isabel, but I shall stay here." + </p> + <p> + "Be serious, Basil. I'm in earnest." + </p> + <p> + "Serious? If I were any more serious I should shed tears. Come, my dear, I + know what you mean, and if I had my heart set on this thing—Fulkerson + always calls it 'this thing' I would cheerfully accept any sacrifice you + could make to it. But I'd rather not offer you up on a shrine I don't feel + any particular faith in. I'm very comfortable where I am; that is, I know + just where the pinch comes, and if it comes harder, why, I've got used to + bearing that kind of pinch. I'm too old to change pinches." + </p> + <p> + "Now, that does decide me." + </p> + <p> + "It decides me, too." + </p> + <p> + "I will take all the responsibility, Basil," she pleaded. + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes; but you'll hand it back to me as soon as you've carried your + point with it. There's nothing mean about you, Isabel, where + responsibility is concerned. No; if I do this thing—Fulkerson again? + I can't get away from 'this thing'; it's ominous—I must do it + because I want to do it, and not because you wish that you wanted me to do + it. I understand your position, Isabel, and that you're really acting from + a generous impulse, but there's nothing so precarious at our time of life + as a generous impulse. When we were younger we could stand it; we could + give way to it and take the consequences. But now we can't bear it. We + must act from cold reason even in the ardor of self-sacrifice." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, as if you did that!" his wife retorted. + </p> + <p> + "Is that any cause why you shouldn't?" She could not say that it was, and + he went on triumphantly: + </p> + <p> + "No, I won't take you away from the only safe place on the planet and + plunge you into the most perilous, and then have you say in your revulsion + of feeling that you were all against it from the first, and you gave way + because you saw I had my heart set on it." He supposed he was treating the + matter humorously, but in this sort of banter between husband and wife + there is always much more than the joking. March had seen some pretty + feminine inconsistencies and trepidations which once charmed him in his + wife hardening into traits of middle-age which were very like those of + less interesting older women. The sight moved him with a kind of pathos, + but he felt the result hindering and vexatious. + </p> + <p> + She now retorted that if he did not choose to take her at her word he need + not, but that whatever he did she should have nothing to reproach herself + with; and, at least, he could not say that she had trapped him into + anything. + </p> + <p> + "What do you mean by trapping?" he demanded. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know what you call it," she answered; "but when you get me to + commit myself to a thing by leaving out the most essential point, I call + it trapping." + </p> + <p> + "I wonder you stop at trapping, if you think I got you to favor + Fulkerson's scheme and then sprung New York on you. I don't suppose you + do, though. But I guess we won't talk about it any more." + </p> + <p> + He went out for a long walk, and she went to her room. They lunched + silently together in the presence of their children, who knew that they + had been quarrelling, but were easily indifferent to the fact, as children + get to be in such cases; nature defends their youth, and the unhappiness + which they behold does not infect them. In the evening, after the boy and + girl had gone to bed, the father and mother resumed their talk. He would + have liked to take it up at the point from which it wandered into + hostilities, for he felt it lamentable that a matter which so seriously + concerned them should be confused in the fumes of senseless anger; and he + was willing to make a tacit acknowledgment of his own error by recurring + to the question, but she would not be content with this, and he had to + concede explicitly to her weakness that she really meant it when she had + asked him to accept Fulkerson's offer. He said he knew that; and he began + soberly to talk over their prospects in the event of their going to New + York. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I see you are going!" she twitted. + </p> + <p> + "I'm going to stay," he answered, "and let them turn me out of my agency + here," and in this bitterness their talk ended. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. + </h2> + <p> + His wife made no attempt to renew their talk before March went to his + business in the morning, and they parted in dry offence. Their experience + was that these things always came right of themselves at last, and they + usually let them. He knew that she had really tried to consent to a thing + that was repugnant to her, and in his heart he gave her more credit for + the effort than he had allowed her openly. She knew that she had made it + with the reservation he accused her of, and that he had a right to feel + sore at what she could not help. But he left her to brood over his + ingratitude, and she suffered him to go heavy and unfriended to meet the + chances of the day. He said to himself that if she had assented cordially + to the conditions of Fulkerson's offer, he would have had the courage to + take all the other risks himself, and would have had the satisfaction of + resigning his place. As it was, he must wait till he was removed; and he + figured with bitter pleasure the pain she would feel when he came home + some day and told her he had been supplanted, after it was too late to + close with Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + He found a letter on his desk from the secretary, "Dictated," in + typewriting, which briefly informed him that Mr. Hubbell, the Inspector of + Agencies, would be in Boston on Wednesday, and would call at his office + during the forenoon. The letter was not different in tone from many that + he had formerly received; but the visit announced was out of the usual + order, and March believed he read his fate in it. During the eighteen + years of his connection with it—first as a subordinate in the Boston + office, and finally as its general agent there—he had seen a good + many changes in the Reciprocity; presidents, vice-presidents, actuaries, + and general agents had come and gone, but there had always seemed to be a + recognition of his efficiency, or at least sufficiency, and there had + never been any manner of trouble, no question of accounts, no apparent + dissatisfaction with his management, until latterly, when there had begun + to come from headquarters some suggestions of enterprise in certain ways, + which gave him his first suspicions of his clerk Watkins's willingness to + succeed him; they embodied some of Watkins's ideas. The things proposed + seemed to March undignified, and even vulgar; he had never thought himself + wanting in energy, though probably he had left the business to take its + own course in the old lines more than he realized. Things had always gone + so smoothly that he had sometimes fancied a peculiar regard for him in the + management, which he had the weakness to attribute to an appreciation of + what he occasionally did in literature, though in saner moments he felt + how impossible this was. Beyond a reference from Mr. Hubbell to some piece + of March's which had happened to meet his eye, no one in the management + ever gave a sign of consciousness that their service was adorned by an + obscure literary man; and Mr. Hubbell himself had the effect of regarding + the excursions of March's pen as a sort of joke, and of winking at them; + as he might have winked if once in a way he had found him a little the + gayer for dining. + </p> + <p> + March wore through the day gloomily, but he had it on his conscience not + to show any resentment toward Watkins, whom he suspected of wishing to + supplant him, and even of working to do so. Through this self-denial he + reached a better mind concerning his wife. He determined not to make her + suffer needlessly, if the worst came to the worst; she would suffer + enough, at the best, and till the worst came he would spare her, and not + say anything about the letter he had got. + </p> + <p> + But when they met, her first glance divined that something had happened, + and her first question frustrated his generous intention. He had to tell + her about the letter. She would not allow that it had any significance, + but she wished him to make an end of his anxieties and forestall whatever + it might portend by resigning his place at once. She said she was quite + ready to go to New York; she had been thinking it all over, and now she + really wanted to go. He answered, soberly, that he had thought it over, + too; and he did not wish to leave Boston, where he had lived so long, or + try a new way of life if he could help it. He insisted that he was quite + selfish in this; in their concessions their quarrel vanished; they agreed + that whatever happened would be for the best; and the next day he went to + his office fortified for any event. + </p> + <p> + His destiny, if tragical, presented itself with an aspect which he might + have found comic if it had been another's destiny. Mr. Hubbell brought + March's removal, softened in the guise of a promotion. The management at + New York, it appeared, had acted upon a suggestion of Mr. Hubbell's, and + now authorized him to offer March the editorship of the monthly paper + published in the interest of the company; his office would include the + authorship of circulars and leaflets in behalf of life-insurance, and + would give play to the literary talent which Mr. Hubbell had brought to + the attention of the management; his salary would be nearly as much as at + present, but the work would not take his whole time, and in a place like + New York he could get a great deal of outside writing, which they would + not object to his doing. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hubbell seemed so sure of his acceptance of a place in every way + congenial to a man of literary tastes that March was afterward sorry he + dismissed the proposition with obvious irony, and had needlessly hurt + Hubbell's feelings; but Mrs. March had no such regrets. She was only + afraid that he had not made his rejection contemptuous enough. "And now," + she said, "telegraph Mr. Fulkerson, and we will go at once." + </p> + <p> + "I suppose I could still get Watkins's former place," March suggested. + </p> + <p> + "Never!" she retorted. "Telegraph instantly!" + </p> + <p> + They were only afraid now that Fulkerson might have changed his mind, and + they had a wretched day in which they heard nothing from him. It ended + with his answering March's telegram in person. They were so glad of his + coming, and so touched by his satisfaction with his bargain, that they + laid all the facts of the case before him. He entered fully into March's + sense of the joke latent in Mr. Hubbell's proposition, and he tried to + make Mrs. March believe that he shared her resentment of the indignity + offered her husband. + </p> + <p> + March made a show of willingness to release him in view of the changed + situation, saying that he held him to nothing. Fulkerson laughed, and + asked him how soon he thought he could come on to New York. He refused to + reopen the question of March's fitness with him; he said they had gone + into that thoroughly, but he recurred to it with Mrs. March, and confirmed + her belief in his good sense on all points. She had been from the first + moment defiantly confident of her husband's ability, but till she had + talked the matter over with Fulkerson she was secretly not sure of it; or, + at least, she was not sure that March was not right in distrusting + himself. When she clearly understood, now, what Fulkerson intended, she + had no longer a doubt. He explained how the enterprise differed from + others, and how he needed for its direction a man who combined general + business experience and business ideas with a love for the thing and a + natural aptness for it. He did not want a young man, and yet he wanted + youth—its freshness, its zest—such as March would feel in a + thing he could put his whole heart into. He would not run in ruts, like an + old fellow who had got hackneyed; he would not have any hobbies; he would + not have any friends or any enemies. Besides, he would have to meet + people, and March was a man that people took to; she knew that herself; he + had a kind of charm. The editorial management was going to be kept in the + background, as far as the public was concerned; the public was to suppose + that the thing ran itself. Fulkerson did not care for a great literary + reputation in his editor—he implied that March had a very pretty + little one. At the same time the relations between the contributors and + the management were to be much more, intimate than usual. Fulkerson felt + his personal disqualification for working the thing socially, and he + counted upon Mr. March for that; that was to say, he counted upon Mrs. + March. + </p> + <p> + She protested he must not count upon her; but it by no means disabled + Fulkerson's judgment in her view that March really seemed more than + anything else a fancy of his. He had been a fancy of hers; and the sort of + affectionate respect with which Fulkerson spoke of him laid forever some + doubt she had of the fineness of Fulkerson's manners and reconciled her to + the graphic slanginess of his speech. + </p> + <p> + The affair was now irretrievable, but she gave her approval to it as + superbly as if it were submitted in its inception. Only, Mr. Fulkerson + must not suppose she should ever like New York. She would not deceive him + on that point. She never should like it. She did not conceal, either, that + she did not like taking the children out of the Friday afternoon class; + and she did not believe that Tom would ever be reconciled to going to + Columbia. She took courage from Fulkerson's suggestion that it was + possible for Tom to come to Harvard even from New York; and she heaped him + with questions concerning the domiciliation of the family in that city. He + tried to know something about the matter, and he succeeded in seeming + interested in points necessarily indifferent to him. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. + </h2> + <p> + In the uprooting and transplanting of their home that followed, Mrs. March + often trembled before distant problems and possible contingencies, but she + was never troubled by present difficulties. She kept up with tireless + energy; and in the moments of dejection and misgiving which harassed her + husband she remained dauntless, and put heart into him when he had lost it + altogether. + </p> + <p> + She arranged to leave the children in the house with the servants, while + she went on with March to look up a dwelling of some sort in New York. It + made him sick to think of it; and, when it came to the point, he would + rather have given up the whole enterprise. She had to nerve him to it, to + represent more than once that now they had no choice but to make this + experiment. Every detail of parting was anguish to him. He got consolation + out of the notion of letting the house furnished for the winter; that + implied their return to it, but it cost him pangs of the keenest misery to + advertise it; and, when a tenant was actually found, it was all he could + do to give him the lease. He tried his wife's love and patience as a man + must to whom the future is easy in the mass but terrible as it translates + itself piecemeal into the present. He experienced remorse in the presence + of inanimate things he was going to leave as if they had sensibly + reproached him, and an anticipative homesickness that seemed to stop his + heart. Again and again his wife had to make him reflect that his + depression was not prophetic. She convinced him of what he already knew, + and persuaded him against his knowledge that he could be keeping an eye + out for something to take hold of in Boston if they could not stand New + York. She ended by telling him that it was too bad to make her comfort him + in a trial that was really so much more a trial to her. She had to support + him in a last access of despair on their way to the Albany depot the + morning they started to New York; but when the final details had been + dealt with, the tickets bought, the trunks checked, and the handbags hung + up in their car, and the future had massed itself again at a safe distance + and was seven hours and two hundred miles away, his spirits began to rise + and hers to sink. He would have been willing to celebrate the taste, the + domestic refinement, of the ladies' waiting-room in the depot, where they + had spent a quarter of an hour before the train started. He said he did + not believe there was another station in the world where mahogany + rocking-chairs were provided; that the dull-red warmth of the walls was as + cozy as an evening lamp, and that he always hoped to see a fire kindled on + that vast hearth and under that aesthetic mantel, but he supposed now he + never should. He said it was all very different from that tunnel, the old + Albany depot, where they had waited the morning they went to New York when + they were starting on their wedding journey. + </p> + <p> + "The morning, Basil!" cried his wife. "We went at night; and we were going + to take the boat, but it stormed so!" She gave him a glance of such + reproach that he could not answer anything, and now she asked him whether + he supposed their cook and second girl would be contented with one of + those dark holes where they put girls to sleep in New York flats, and what + she should do if Margaret, especially, left her. He ventured to suggest + that Margaret would probably like the city; but, if she left, there were + plenty of other girls to be had in New York. She replied that there were + none she could trust, and that she knew Margaret would not stay. He asked + her why she took her, then—why she did not give her up at once; and + she answered that it would be inhuman to give her up just in the edge of + the winter. She had promised to keep her; and Margaret was pleased with + the notion of going to New York, where she had a cousin. + </p> + <p> + "Then perhaps she'll be pleased with the notion of staying," he said. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, much you know about it!" she retorted; and, in view of the + hypothetical difficulty and his want of sympathy, she fell into a gloom, + from which she roused herself at last by declaring that, if there was + nothing else in the flat they took, there should be a light kitchen and a + bright, sunny bedroom for Margaret. He expressed the belief that they + could easily find such a flat as that, and she denounced his fatal + optimism, which buoyed him up in the absence of an undertaking and let him + drop into the depths of despair in its presence. + </p> + <p> + He owned this defect of temperament, but he said that it compensated the + opposite in her character. "I suppose that's one of the chief uses of + marriage; people supplement one another, and form a pretty fair sort of + human being together. The only drawback to the theory is that unmarried + people seem each as complete and whole as a married pair." + </p> + <p> + She refused to be amused; she turned her face to the window and put her + handkerchief up under her veil. + </p> + <p> + It was not till the dining-car was attached to their train that they were + both able to escape for an hour into the care-free mood of their earlier + travels, when they were so easily taken out of themselves. The time had + been when they could have found enough in the conjectural fortunes and + characters of their fellow-passengers to occupy them. This phase of their + youth had lasted long, and the world was still full of novelty and + interest for them; but it required all the charm of the dining-car now to + lay the anxieties that beset them. It was so potent for the moment, + however, that they could take an objective view at their sitting cozily + down there together, as if they had only themselves in the world. They + wondered what the children were doing, the children who possessed them so + intensely when present, and now, by a fantastic operation of absence, + seemed almost non-existents. They tried to be homesick for them, but + failed; they recognized with comfortable self-abhorrence that this was + terrible, but owned a fascination in being alone; at the same time, they + could not imagine how people felt who never had any children. They + contrasted the luxury of dining that way, with every advantage except a + band of music, and the old way of rushing out to snatch a fearful joy at + the lunch-counters of the Worcester and Springfield and New Haven + stations. They had not gone often to New York since their wedding journey, + but they had gone often enough to have noted the change from the + lunch-counter to the lunch-basket brought in the train, from which you + could subsist with more ease and dignity, but seemed destined to a + superabundance of pickles, whatever you ordered. + </p> + <p> + They thought well of themselves now that they could be both critical and + tolerant of flavors not very sharply distinguished from one another in + their dinner, and they lingered over their coffee and watched the autumn + landscape through the windows. + </p> + <p> + "Not quite so loud a pattern of calico this year," he said, with + patronizing forbearance toward the painted woodlands whirling by. "Do you + see how the foreground next the train rushes from us and the background + keeps ahead of us, while the middle distance seems stationary? I don't + think I ever noticed that effect before. There ought to be something + literary in it: retreating past and advancing future and deceitfully + permanent present—something like that?" + </p> + <p> + His wife brushed some crumbs from her lap before rising. "Yes. You mustn't + waste any of these ideas now." + </p> + <p> + "Oh no; it would be money out of Fulkerson's pocket." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. + </h2> + <p> + They went to a quiet hotel far down-town, and took a small apartment which + they thought they could easily afford for the day or two they need spend + in looking up a furnished flat. They were used to staying at this hotel + when they came on for a little outing in New York, after some rigid winter + in Boston, at the time of the spring exhibitions. They were remembered + there from year to year; the colored call-boys, who never seemed to get + any older, smiled upon them, and the clerk called March by name even + before he registered. He asked if Mrs. March were with him, and said then + he supposed they would want their usual quarters; and in a moment they + were domesticated in a far interior that seemed to have been waiting for + them in a clean, quiet, patient disoccupation ever since they left it two + years before. The little parlor, with its gilt paper and ebonized + furniture, was the lightest of the rooms, but it was not very light at + noonday without the gas, which the bell-boy now flared up for them. The + uproar of the city came to it in a soothing murmur, and they took + possession of its peace and comfort with open celebration. After all, they + agreed, there was no place in the world so delightful as a hotel apartment + like that; the boasted charms of home were nothing to it; and then the + magic of its being always there, ready for any one, every one, just as if + it were for some one alone: it was like the experience of an Arabian + Nights hero come true for all the race. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, why can't we always stay here, just we two!" Mrs. March sighed to her + husband, as he came out of his room rubbing his face red with the towel, + while she studied a new arrangement of her bonnet and handbag on the + mantel. + </p> + <p> + "And ignore the past? I'm willing. I've no doubt that the children could + get on perfectly well without us, and could find some lot in the scheme of + Providence that would really be just as well for them." + </p> + <p> + "Yes; or could contrive somehow never to have existed. I should insist + upon that. If they are, don't you see that we couldn't wish them not to + be?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes; I see your point; it's simply incontrovertible." + </p> + <p> + She laughed and said: "Well, at any rate, if we can't find a flat to suit + us we can all crowd into these three rooms somehow, for the winter, and + then browse about for meals. By the week we could get them much cheaper; + and we could save on the eating, as they do in Europe. Or on something + else." + </p> + <p> + "Something else, probably," said March. "But we won't take this apartment + till the ideal furnished flat winks out altogether. We shall not have any + trouble. We can easily find some one who is going South for the winter and + will be glad to give up their flat 'to the right party' at a nominal rent. + That's my notion. That's what the Evanses did one winter when they came on + here in February. All but the nominality of the rent." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, and we could pay a very good rent and still save something on + letting our house. You can settle yourselves in a hundred different ways + in New York, that is one merit of the place. But if everything else fails, + we can come back to this. I want you to take the refusal of it, Basil. And + we'll commence looking this very evening as soon as we've had dinner. I + cut a lot of things out of the Herald as we came on. See here!" + </p> + <p> + She took a long strip of paper out of her hand-bag with minute + advertisements pinned transversely upon it, and forming the effect of some + glittering nondescript vertebrate. + </p> + <p> + "Looks something like the sea-serpent," said March, drying his hands on + the towel, while he glanced up and down the list. "But we sha'n't have any + trouble. I've no doubt there are half a dozen things there that will do. + You haven't gone up-town? Because we must be near the 'Every Other Week' + office." + </p> + <p> + "No; but I wish Mr. Fulkerson hadn't called it that! It always makes one + think of 'jam yesterday and jam tomorrow, but never jam to-day,' in + 'Through the Looking-Glass.' They're all in this region." + </p> + <p> + They were still at their table, beside a low window, where some sort of + never-blooming shrub symmetrically balanced itself in a large pot, with a + leaf to the right and a leaf to the left and a spear up the middle, when + Fulkerson came stepping square-footedly over the thick dining-room carpet. + He wagged in the air a gay hand of salutation at sight of them, and of + repression when they offered to rise to meet him; then, with an apparent + simultaneity of action he gave a hand to each, pulled up a chair from the + next table, put his hat and stick on the floor beside it, and seated + himself. + </p> + <p> + "Well, you've burned your ships behind you, sure enough," he said, beaming + his satisfaction upon them from eyes and teeth. + </p> + <p> + "The ships are burned," said March, "though I'm not sure we alone did it. + But here we are, looking for shelter, and a little anxious about the + disposition of the natives." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, they're an awful peaceable lot," said Fulkerson. "I've been round + among the caciques a little, and I think I've got two or three places that + will just suit you, Mrs. March. How did you leave the children?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, how kind of you! Very well, and very proud to be left in charge of + the smoking wrecks." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson naturally paid no attention to what she said, being but + secondarily interested in the children at the best. "Here are some things + right in this neighborhood, within gunshot of the office, and if you want + you can go and look at them to-night; the agents gave me houses where the + people would be in." + </p> + <p> + "We will go and look at them instantly," said Mrs. March. "Or, as soon as + you've had coffee with us." + </p> + <p> + "Never do," Fulkerson replied. He gathered up his hat and stick. "Just + rushed in to say Hello, and got to run right away again. I tell you, + March, things are humming. I'm after those fellows with a sharp stick all + the while to keep them from loafing on my house, and at the same time I'm + just bubbling over with ideas about 'The Lone Hand'—wish we could + call it that!—that I want to talk up with you." + </p> + <p> + "Well, come to breakfast," said Mrs. March, cordially. + </p> + <p> + "No; the ideas will keep till you've secured your lodge in this vast + wilderness. Good-bye." + </p> + <p> + "You're as nice as you can be, Mr. Fulkerson," she said, "to keep us in + mind when you have so much to occupy you." + </p> + <p> + "I wouldn't have anything to occupy me if I hadn't kept you in mind, Mrs. + March," said Fulkerson, going off upon as good a speech as he could + apparently hope to make. + </p> + <p> + "Why, Basil," said Mrs. March, when he was gone, "he's charming! But now + we mustn't lose an instant. Let's see where the places are." She ran over + the half-dozen agents' permits. "Capital—first-rate—the very + thing—every one. Well, I consider ourselves settled! We can go back + to the children to-morrow if we like, though I rather think I should like + to stay over another day and get a little rested for the final pulling up + that's got to come. But this simplifies everything enormously, and Mr. + Fulkerson is as thoughtful and as sweet as he can be. I know you will get + on well with him. He has such a good heart. And his attitude toward you, + Basil, is beautiful always—so respectful; or not that so much as + appreciative. Yes, appreciative—that's the word; I must always keep + that in mind." + </p> + <p> + "It's quite important to do so," said March. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," she assented, seriously, "and we must not forget just what kind of + flat we are going to look for. The 'sine qua nons' are an elevator and + steam heat, not above the third floor, to begin with. Then we must each + have a room, and you must have your study and I must have my parlor; and + the two girls must each have a room. With the kitchen and dining room, how + many does that make?" + </p> + <p> + "Ten." + </p> + <p> + "I thought eight. Well, no matter. You can work in the parlor, and run + into your bedroom when anybody comes; and I can sit in mine, and the girls + must put up with one, if it's large and sunny, though I've always given + them two at home. And the kitchen must be sunny, so they can sit in it. + And the rooms must all have outside light. And the rent must not be over + eight hundred for the winter. We only get a thousand for our whole house, + and we must save something out of that, so as to cover the expenses of + moving. Now, do you think you can remember all that?" + </p> + <p> + "Not the half of it," said March. "But you can; or if you forget a third + of it, I can come in with my partial half and more than make it up." + </p> + <p> + She had brought her bonnet and sacque down-stairs with her, and was + transferring them from the hatrack to her person while she talked. The + friendly door-boy let them into the street, and the clear October evening + air brightened her so that as she tucked her hand under her husband's arm + and began to pull him along she said, "If we find something right away—and + we're just as likely to get the right flat soon as late; it's all a + lottery—we'll go to the theatre somewhere." + </p> + <p> + She had a moment's panic about having left the agents' permits on the + table, and after remembering that she had put them into her little + shopping-bag, where she kept her money (each note crushed into a round + wad), and had left it on the hat-rack, where it would certainly be stolen, + she found it on her wrist. She did not think that very funny; but after a + first impulse to inculpate her husband, she let him laugh, while they + stopped under a lamp and she held the permits half a yard away to read the + numbers on them. + </p> + <p> + "Where are your glasses, Isabel?" + </p> + <p> + "On the mantel in our room, of course." + </p> + <p> + "Then you ought to have brought a pair of tongs." + </p> + <p> + "I wouldn't get off second-hand jokes, Basil," she said; and "Why, here!" + she cried, whirling round to the door before which they had halted, "this + is the very number. Well, I do believe it's a sign!" + </p> + <p> + One of those colored men who soften the trade of janitor in many of the + smaller apartment-houses in New York by the sweetness of their race let + the Marches in, or, rather, welcomed them to the possession of the + premises by the bow with which he acknowledged their permit. It was a + large, old mansion cut up into five or six dwellings, but it had kept some + traits of its former dignity, which pleased people of their sympathetic + tastes. The dark-mahogany trim, of sufficiently ugly design, gave a rich + gloom to the hallway, which was wide and paved with marble; the carpeted + stairs curved aloft through a generous space. + </p> + <p> + "There is no elevator?" Mrs. March asked of the janitor. + </p> + <p> + He answered, "No, ma'am; only two flights up," so winningly that she said, + </p> + <p> + "Oh!" in courteous apology, and whispered to her husband, as she followed + lightly up, "We'll take it, Basil, if it's like the rest." + </p> + <p> + "If it's like him, you mean." + </p> + <p> + "I don't wonder they wanted to own them," she hurriedly philosophized. "If + I had such a creature, nothing but death should part us, and I should no + more think of giving him his freedom!" + </p> + <p> + "No; we couldn't afford it," returned her husband. + </p> + <p> + The apartment which the janitor unlocked for them, and lit up from those + chandeliers and brackets of gilt brass in the form of vine bunches, + leaves, and tendrils in which the early gas-fitter realized most of his + conceptions of beauty, had rather more of the ugliness than the dignity of + the hall. But the rooms were large, and they grouped themselves in a + reminiscence of the time when they were part of a dwelling that had its + charm, its pathos, its impressiveness. Where they were cut up into smaller + spaces, it had been done with the frankness with which a proud old family + of fallen fortunes practises its economies. The rough pine-floors showed a + black border of tack-heads where carpets had been lifted and put down for + generations; the white paint was yellow with age; the apartment had light + at the front and at the back, and two or three rooms had glimpses of the + day through small windows let into their corners; another one seemed + lifting an appealing eye to heaven through a glass circle in its ceiling; + the rest must darkle in perpetual twilight. Yet something pleased in it + all, and Mrs. March had gone far to adapt the different rooms to the + members of her family, when she suddenly thought (and for her to think was + to say), "Why, but there's no steam heat!" + </p> + <p> + "No, ma'am," the janitor admitted; "but dere's grates in most o' de rooms, + and dere's furnace heat in de halls." + </p> + <p> + "That's true," she admitted, and, having placed her family in the + apartments, it was hard to get them out again. "Could we manage?" she + referred to her husband. + </p> + <p> + "Why, I shouldn't care for the steam heat if—What is the rent?" he + broke off to ask the janitor. + </p> + <p> + "Nine hundred, sir." + </p> + <p> + March concluded to his wife, "If it were furnished." + </p> + <p> + "Why, of course! What could I have been thinking of? We're looking for a + furnished flat," she explained to the janitor, "and this was so pleasant + and homelike that I never thought whether it was furnished or not." + </p> + <p> + She smiled upon the janitor, and he entered into the joke and chuckled so + amiably at her flattering oversight on the way down-stairs that she said, + as she pinched her husband's arm, "Now, if you don't give him a quarter + I'll never speak to you again, Basil!" + </p> + <p> + "I would have given half a dollar willingly to get you beyond his + glamour," said March, when they were safely on the pavement outside. "If + it hadn't been for my strength of character, you'd have taken an + unfurnished flat without heat and with no elevator, at nine hundred a + year, when you had just sworn me to steam heat, an elevator, furniture, + and eight hundred." + </p> + <p> + "Yes! How could I have lost my head so completely?" she said, with a + lenient amusement in her aberration which she was not always able to feel + in her husband's. + </p> + <p> + "The next time a colored janitor opens the door to us, I'll tell him the + apartment doesn't suit at the threshold. It's the only way to manage you, + Isabel." + </p> + <p> + "It's true. I am in love with the whole race. I never saw one of them that + didn't have perfectly angelic manners. I think we shall all be black in + heaven—that is, black-souled." + </p> + <p> + "That isn't the usual theory," said March. + </p> + <p> + "Well, perhaps not," she assented. "Where are we going now? Oh yes, to the + Xenophon!" + </p> + <p> + She pulled him gayly along again, and after they had walked a block down + and half a block over they stood before the apartment-house of that name, + which was cut on the gas-lamps on either side of the heavily spiked, + aesthetic-hinged black door. The titter of an electric-bell brought a + large, fat Buttons, with a stage effect of being dressed to look small, + who said he would call the janitor, and they waited in the dimly splendid, + copper-colored interior, admiring the whorls and waves into which the + wallpaint was combed, till the janitor came in his gold-banded cap, like a + Continental porker. When they said they would like to see Mrs. Grosvenor + Green's apartment, he owned his inability to cope with the affair, and + said he must send for the superintendent; he was either in the Herodotus + or the Thucydides, and would be there in a minute. The Buttons brought him—a + Yankee of browbeating presence in plain clothes—almost before they + had time to exchange a frightened whisper in recognition of the fact that + there could be no doubt of the steam heat and elevator in this case. Half + stifled in the one, they mounted in the other eight stories, while they + tried to keep their self-respect under the gaze of the superintendent, + which they felt was classing and assessing them with unfriendly accuracy. + They could not, and they faltered abashed at the threshold of Mrs. + Grosvenor Green's apartment, while the superintendent lit the gas in the + gangway that he called a private hall, and in the drawing-room and the + succession of chambers stretching rearward to the kitchen. Everything had + been done by the architect to save space, and everything, to waste it by + Mrs. Grosvenor Green. She had conformed to a law for the necessity of + turning round in each room, and had folding-beds in the chambers, but + there her subordination had ended, and wherever you might have turned + round she had put a gimcrack so that you would knock it over if you did + turn. The place was rather pretty and even imposing at first glance, and + it took several joint ballots for March and his wife to make sure that + with the kitchen there were only six rooms. At every door hung a portiere + from large rings on a brass rod; every shelf and dressing-case and mantel + was littered with gimcracks, and the corners of the tiny rooms were + curtained off, and behind these portieres swarmed more gimcracks. The + front of the upright piano had what March called a short-skirted portiere + on it, and the top was covered with vases, with dragon candlesticks and + with Jap fans, which also expanded themselves bat wise on the walls + between the etchings and the water colors. The floors were covered with + filling, and then rugs and then skins; the easy-chairs all had tidies, + Armenian and Turkish and Persian; the lounges and sofas had embroidered + cushions hidden under tidies. + </p> + <p> + The radiator was concealed by a Jap screen, and over the top of this some + Arab scarfs were flung. There was a superabundance of clocks. China pugs + guarded the hearth; a brass sunflower smiled from the top of either + andiron, and a brass peacock spread its tail before them inside a high + filigree fender; on one side was a coalhod in 'repousse' brass, and on the + other a wrought iron wood-basket. Some red Japanese bird-kites were stuck + about in the necks of spelter vases, a crimson Jap umbrella hung opened + beneath the chandelier, and each globe had a shade of yellow silk. + </p> + <p> + March, when he had recovered his self-command a little in the presence of + the agglomeration, comforted himself by calling the bric-a-brac + Jamescracks, as if this was their full name. + </p> + <p> + The disrespect he was able to show the whole apartment by means of this + joke strengthened him to say boldly to the superintendent that it was + altogether too small; then he asked carelessly what the rent was. + </p> + <p> + "Two hundred and fifty." + </p> + <p> + The Marches gave a start, and looked at each other. + </p> + <p> + "Don't you think we could make it do?" she asked him, and he could see + that she had mentally saved five hundred dollars as the difference between + the rent of their house and that of this flat. "It has some very pretty + features, and we could manage to squeeze in, couldn't we?" + </p> + <p> + "You won't find another furnished flat like it for no two-fifty a month in + the whole city," the superintendent put in. + </p> + <p> + They exchanged glances again, and March said, carelessly, "It's too + small." + </p> + <p> + "There's a vacant flat in the Herodotus for eighteen hundred a year, and + one in the Thucydides for fifteen," the superintendent suggested, clicking + his keys together as they sank down in the elevator; "seven rooms and + bath." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you," said March; "we're looking for a furnished flat." + </p> + <p> + They felt that the superintendent parted from them with repressed sarcasm. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Basil, do you think we really made him think it was the smallness and + not the dearness?" + </p> + <p> + "No, but we saved our self-respect in the attempt; and that's a great + deal." + </p> + <p> + "Of course, I wouldn't have taken it, anyway, with only six rooms, and so + high up. But what prices! Now, we must be very circumspect about the next + place." + </p> + <p> + It was a janitress, large, fat, with her arms wound up in her apron, who + received them there. Mrs. March gave her a succinct but perfect statement + of their needs. She failed to grasp the nature of them, or feigned to do + so. She shook her head, and said that her son would show them the flat. + There was a radiator visible in the narrow hall, and Isabel tacitly + compromised on steam heat without an elevator, as the flat was only one + flight up. When the son appeared from below with a small kerosene + hand-lamp, it appeared that the flat was unfurnished, but there was no + stopping him till he had shown it in all its impossibility. When they got + safely away from it and into the street March said: "Well, have you had + enough for to-night, Isabel? Shall we go to the theatre now?" + </p> + <p> + "Not on any account. I want to see the whole list of flats that Mr. + Fulkerson thought would be the very thing for us." She laughed, but with a + certain bitterness. + </p> + <p> + "You'll be calling him my Mr. Fulkerson next, Isabel." + </p> + <p> + "Oh no!" + </p> + <p> + The fourth address was a furnished flat without a kitchen, in a house with + a general restaurant. The fifth was a furnished house. At the sixth a + pathetic widow and her pretty daughter wanted to take a family to board, + and would give them a private table at a rate which the Marches would have + thought low in Boston. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March came away tingling with compassion for their evident anxiety, + and this pity naturally soured into a sense of injury. "Well, I must say I + have completely lost confidence in Mr. Fulkerson's judgment. Anything more + utterly different from what I told him we wanted I couldn't imagine. If he + doesn't manage any better about his business than he has done about this, + it will be a perfect failure." + </p> + <p> + "Well, well, let's hope he'll be more circumspect about that," her husband + returned, with ironical propitiation. "But I don't think it's Fulkerson's + fault altogether. Perhaps it's the house-agents'. They're a very illusory + generation. There seems to be something in the human habitation that + corrupts the natures of those who deal in it, to buy or sell it, to hire + or let it. You go to an agent and tell him what kind of a house you want. + He has no such house, and he sends you to look at something altogether + different, upon the well-ascertained principle that if you can't get what + you want you will take what you can get. You don't suppose the 'party' + that took our house in Boston was looking for any such house? He was + looking for a totally different kind of house in another part of the + town." + </p> + <p> + "I don't believe that!" his wife broke in. + </p> + <p> + "Well, no matter. But see what a scandalous rent you asked for it." + </p> + <p> + "We didn't get much more than half; and, besides, the agent told me to ask + fourteen hundred." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I'm not blaming you, Isabel. I'm only analyzing the house-agent and + exonerating Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't believe he told them just what we wanted; and, at any rate, + I'm done with agents. Tomorrow I'm going entirely by advertisements." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII. + </h2> + <p> + Mrs. March took the vertebrate with her to the Vienna Coffee-House, where + they went to breakfast next morning. She made March buy her the Herald and + the World, and she added to its spiny convolutions from them. She read the + new advertisements aloud with ardor and with faith to believe that the + apartments described in them were every one truthfully represented, and + that any one of them was richly responsive to their needs. "Elegant, + light, large, single and outside flats" were offered with "all + improvements—bath, ice-box, etc."—for twenty-five to thirty + dollars a month. The cheapness was amazing. The Wagram, the Esmeralda, the + Jacinth, advertised them for forty dollars and sixty dollars, "with steam + heat and elevator," rent free till November. Others, attractive from their + air of conscientious scruple, announced "first-class flats; good order; + reasonable rents." The Helena asked the reader if she had seen the + "cabinet finish, hard-wood floors, and frescoed ceilings" of its + fifty-dollar flats; the Asteroid affirmed that such apartments, with "six + light rooms and bath, porcelain wash-tubs, electric bells, and hall-boy," + as it offered for seventy-five dollars were unapproached by competition. + There was a sameness in the jargon which tended to confusion. Mrs. March + got several flats on her list which promised neither steam heat nor + elevators; she forgot herself so far as to include two or three as remote + from the down-town region of her choice as Harlem. But after she had + rejected these the nondescript vertebrate was still voluminous enough to + sustain her buoyant hopes. + </p> + <p> + The waiter, who remembered them from year to year, had put them at a + window giving a pretty good section of Broadway, and before they set out + on their search they had a moment of reminiscence. They recalled the + Broadway of five, of ten, of twenty years ago, swelling and roaring with a + tide of gayly painted omnibuses and of picturesque traffic that the + horsecars have now banished from it. The grind of their wheels and the + clash of their harsh bells imperfectly fill the silence that the omnibuses + have left, and the eye misses the tumultuous perspective of former times. + </p> + <p> + They went out and stood for a moment before Grace Church, and looked down + the stately thoroughfare, and found it no longer impressive, no longer + characteristic. It is still Broadway in name, but now it is like any other + street. You do not now take your life in your hand when you attempt to + cross it; the Broadway policeman who supported the elbow of timorous + beauty in the hollow of his cotton-gloved palm and guided its little + fearful boots over the crossing, while he arrested the billowy omnibuses + on either side with an imperious glance, is gone, and all that certain + processional, barbaric gayety of the place is gone. + </p> + <p> + "Palmyra, Baalbec, Timour of the Desert," said March, voicing their common + feeling of the change. + </p> + <p> + They turned and went into the beautiful church, and found themselves in + time for the matin service. Rapt far from New York, if not from earth, in + the dim richness of the painted light, the hallowed music took them with + solemn ecstasy; the aerial, aspiring Gothic forms seemed to lift them + heavenward. They came out, reluctant, into the dazzle and bustle of the + street, with a feeling that they were too good for it, which they + confessed to each other with whimsical consciousness. + </p> + <p> + "But no matter how consecrated we feel now," he said, "we mustn't forget + that we went into the church for precisely the same reason that we went to + the Vienna Cafe for breakfast—to gratify an aesthetic sense, to + renew the faded pleasure of travel for a moment, to get back into the + Europe of our youth. It was a purely Pagan impulse, Isabel, and we'd + better own it." + </p> + <p> + "I don't know," she returned. "I think we reduce ourselves to the bare + bones too much. I wish we didn't always recognize the facts as we do. + Sometimes I should like to blink them. I should like to think I was + devouter than I am, and younger and prettier." + </p> + <p> + "Better not; you couldn't keep it up. Honesty is the best policy even in + such things." + </p> + <p> + "No; I don't like it, Basil. I should rather wait till the last day for + some of my motives to come to the top. I know they're always mixed, but do + let me give them the benefit of a doubt sometimes." + </p> + <p> + "Well, well, have it your own way, my dear. But I prefer not to lay up so + many disagreeable surprises for myself at that time." + </p> + <p> + She would not consent. "I know I am a good deal younger than I was. I feel + quite in the mood of that morning when we walked down Broadway on our + wedding journey. Don't you?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes. But I know I'm not younger; I'm only prettier." + </p> + <p> + She laughed for pleasure in his joke, and also for unconscious joy in the + gay New York weather, in which there was no 'arriere pensee' of the east + wind. They had crossed Broadway, and were walking over to Washington + Square, in the region of which they now hoped to place themselves. The + 'primo tenore' statue of Garibaldi had already taken possession of the + place in the name of Latin progress, and they met Italian faces, French + faces, Spanish faces, as they strolled over the asphalt walks, under the + thinning shadows of the autumn-stricken sycamores. They met the familiar + picturesque raggedness of Southern Europe with the old kindly illusion + that somehow it existed for their appreciation, and that it found adequate + compensation for poverty in this. March thought he sufficiently expressed + his tacit sympathy in sitting down on one of the iron benches with his + wife and letting a little Neapolitan put a superfluous shine on his boots, + while their desultory comment wandered with equal esteem to the + old-fashioned American respectability which keeps the north side of the + square in vast mansions of red brick, and the international shabbiness + which has invaded the southern border, and broken it up into + lodging-houses, shops, beer-gardens, and studios. + </p> + <p> + They noticed the sign of an apartment to let on the north side, and as + soon as the little bootblack could be bought off they went over to look at + it. The janitor met them at the door and examined them. Then he said, as + if still in doubt, "It has ten rooms, and the rent is twenty-eight hundred + dollars." + </p> + <p> + "It wouldn't do, then," March replied, and left him to divide the + responsibility between the paucity of the rooms and the enormity of the + rent as he best might. But their self-love had received a wound, and they + questioned each other what it was in their appearance made him doubt their + ability to pay so much. + </p> + <p> + "Of course, we don't look like New-Yorkers," sighed Mrs. March, "and we've + walked through the Square. That might be as if we had walked along the + Park Street mall in the Common before we came out on Beacon. Do you + suppose he could have seen you getting your boots blacked in that way?" + </p> + <p> + "It's useless to ask," said March. "But I never can recover from this + blow." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, pshaw! You know you hate such things as badly as I do. It was very + impertinent of him." + </p> + <p> + "Let us go back and 'ecraser l'infame' by paying him a year's rent in + advance and taking immediate possession. Nothing else can soothe my + wounded feelings. You were not having your boots blacked: why shouldn't he + have supposed you were a New-Yorker, and I a country cousin?" + </p> + <p> + "They always know. Don't you remember Mrs. Williams's going to a Fifth + Avenue milliner in a Worth dress, and the woman's asking her instantly + what hotel she should send her hat to?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; these things drive one to despair. I don't wonder the bodies of so + many genteel strangers are found in the waters around New York. Shall we + try the south side, my dear? or had we better go back to our rooms and + rest awhile?" + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March had out the vertebrate, and was consulting one of its + glittering ribs and glancing up from it at a house before which they + stood. "Yes, it's the number; but do they call this being ready October + first?" The little area in front of the basement was heaped with a mixture + of mortar, bricks, laths, and shavings from the interior; the brownstone + steps to the front door were similarly bestrewn; the doorway showed the + half-open, rough pine carpenter's sketch of an unfinished house; the + sashless windows of every story showed the activity of workmen within; the + clatter of hammers and the hiss of saws came out to them from every + opening. + </p> + <p> + "They may call it October first," said March, "because it's too late to + contradict them. But they'd better not call it December first in my + presence; I'll let them say January first, at a pinch." + </p> + <p> + "We will go in and look at it, anyway," said his wife; and he admired how, + when she was once within, she began provisionally to settle the family in + each of the several floors with the female instinct for domiciliation + which never failed her. She had the help of the landlord, who was present + to urge forward the workmen apparently; he lent a hopeful fancy to the + solution of all her questions. To get her from under his influence March + had to represent that the place was damp from undried plastering, and that + if she stayed she would probably be down with that New York pneumonia + which visiting Bostonians are always dying of. Once safely on the pavement + outside, she realized that the apartment was not only unfinished, but + unfurnished, and had neither steam heat nor elevator. "But I thought we + had better look at everything," she explained. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, but not take everything. If I hadn't pulled you away from there by + main force you'd have not only died of New York pneumonia on the spot, but + you'd have had us all settled there before we knew what we were about." + </p> + <p> + "Well, that's what I can't help, Basil. It's the only way I can realize + whether it will do for us. I have to dramatize the whole thing." + </p> + <p> + She got a deal of pleasure as well as excitement out of this, and he had + to own that the process of setting up housekeeping in so many different + places was not only entertaining, but tended, through association with + their first beginnings in housekeeping, to restore the image of their + early married days and to make them young again. + </p> + <p> + It went on all day, and continued far into the night, until it was too + late to go to the theatre, too late to do anything but tumble into bed and + simultaneously fall asleep. They groaned over their reiterated + disappointments, but they could not deny that the interest was unfailing, + and that they got a great deal of fun out of it all. Nothing could abate + Mrs. March's faith in her advertisements. One of them sent her to a flat + of ten rooms which promised to be the solution of all their difficulties; + it proved to be over a livery-stable, a liquor store, and a milliner's + shop, none of the first fashion. Another led them far into old Greenwich + Village to an apartment-house, which she refused to enter behind a small + girl with a loaf of bread under one arm and a quart can of milk under the + other. + </p> + <p> + In their search they were obliged, as March complained, to the acquisition + of useless information in a degree unequalled in their experience. They + came to excel in the sad knowledge of the line at which respectability + distinguishes itself from shabbiness. Flattering advertisements took them + to numbers of huge apartment-houses chiefly distinguishable from + tenement-houses by the absence of fire-escapes on their facades, till Mrs. + March refused to stop at any door where there were more than six + bell-ratchets and speaking-tubes on either hand. Before the middle of the + afternoon she decided against ratchets altogether, and confined herself to + knobs, neatly set in the door-trim. Her husband was still sunk in the + superstition that you can live anywhere you like in New York, and he would + have paused at some places where her quicker eye caught the fatal sign of + "Modes" in the ground-floor windows. She found that there was an east and + west line beyond which they could not go if they wished to keep their + self-respect, and that within the region to which they had restricted + themselves there was a choice of streets. At first all the New York + streets looked to them ill-paved, dirty, and repulsive; the general infamy + imparted itself in their casual impression to streets in no wise guilty. + But they began to notice that some streets were quiet and clean, and, + though never so quiet and clean as Boston streets, that they wore an air + of encouraging reform, and suggested a future of greater and greater + domesticity. Whole blocks of these downtown cross-streets seemed to have + been redeemed from decay, and even in the midst of squalor a dwelling here + and there had been seized, painted a dull red as to its brick-work, and a + glossy black as to its wood-work, and with a bright brass bell-pull and + door-knob and a large brass plate for its key-hole escutcheon, had been + endowed with an effect of purity and pride which removed its shabby + neighborhood far from it. Some of these houses were quite small, and + imaginably within their means; but, as March said, some body seemed always + to be living there himself, and the fact that none of them was to rent + kept Mrs. March true to her ideal of a flat. Nothing prevented its + realization so much as its difference from the New York ideal of a flat, + which was inflexibly seven rooms and a bath. One or two rooms might be at + the front, the rest crooked and cornered backward through increasing and + then decreasing darkness till they reached a light bedroom or kitchen at + the rear. It might be the one or the other, but it was always the seventh + room with the bath; or if, as sometimes happened, it was the eighth, it + was so after having counted the bath as one; in this case the janitor said + you always counted the bath as one. If the flats were advertised as having + "all light rooms," he explained that any room with a window giving into + the open air of a court or shaft was counted a light room. + </p> + <p> + The Marches tried to make out why it was that these flats were so much + more repulsive than the apartments which everyone lived in abroad; but + they could only do so upon the supposition that in their European days + they were too young, too happy, too full of the future, to notice whether + rooms were inside or outside, light or dark, big or little, high or low. + "Now we're imprisoned in the present," he said, "and we have to make the + worst of it." + </p> + <p> + In their despair he had an inspiration, which she declared worthy of him: + it was to take two small flats, of four or five rooms and a bath, and live + in both. They tried this in a great many places, but they never could get + two flats of the kind on the same floor where there was steam heat and an + elevator. At one place they almost did it. They had resigned themselves to + the humility of the neighborhood, to the prevalence of modistes and + livery-stablemen (they seem to consort much in New York), to the garbage + in the gutters and the litter of paper in the streets, to the faltering + slats in the surrounding window-shutters and the crumbled brownstone steps + and sills, when it turned out that one of the apartments had been taken + between two visits they made. Then the only combination left open to them + was of a ground-floor flat to the right and a third-floor flat to the + left. + </p> + <p> + Still they kept this inspiration in reserve for use at the first + opportunity. In the mean time there were several flats which they thought + they could almost make do: notably one where they could get an extra + servant's room in the basement four flights down, and another where they + could get it in the roof five flights up. At the first the janitor was + respectful and enthusiastic; at the second he had an effect of ironical + pessimism. When they trembled on the verge of taking his apartment, he + pointed out a spot in the kalsomining of the parlor ceiling, and + gratuitously said, Now such a thing as that he should not agree to put in + shape unless they took the apartment for a term of years. The apartment + was unfurnished, and they recurred to the fact that they wanted a + furnished apartment, and made their escape. This saved them in several + other extremities; but short of extremity they could not keep their + different requirements in mind, and were always about to decide without + regard to some one of them. + </p> + <p> + They went to several places twice without intending: once to that + old-fashioned house with the pleasant colored janitor, and wandered all + over the apartment again with a haunting sense of familiarity, and then + recognized the janitor and laughed; and to that house with the pathetic + widow and the pretty daughter who wished to take them to board. They + stayed to excuse their blunder, and easily came by the fact that the + mother had taken the house that the girl might have a home while she was + in New York studying art, and they hoped to pay their way by taking + boarders. Her daughter was at her class now, the mother concluded; and + they encouraged her to believe that it could only be a few days till the + rest of her scheme was realized. + </p> + <p> + "I dare say we could be perfectly comfortable there," March suggested when + they had got away. "Now if we were truly humane we would modify our + desires to meet their needs and end this sickening search, wouldn't we?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, but we're not truly humane," his wife answered, "or at least not in + that sense. You know you hate boarding; and if we went there I should have + them on my sympathies the whole time." + </p> + <p> + "I see. And then you would take it out of me." + </p> + <p> + "Then I should take it out of you. And if you are going to be so weak, + Basil, and let every little thing work upon you in that way, you'd better + not come to New York. You'll see enough misery here." + </p> + <p> + "Well, don't take that superior tone with me, as if I were a child that + had its mind set on an undesirable toy, Isabel." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, don't you suppose it's because you are such a child in some respects + that I like you, dear?" she demanded, without relenting. + </p> + <p> + "But I don't find so much misery in New York. I don't suppose there's any + more suffering here to the population than there is in the country. And + they're so gay about it all. I think the outward aspect of the place and + the hilarity of the sky and air must get into the people's blood. The + weather is simply unapproachable; and I don't care if it is the ugliest + place in the world, as you say. I suppose it is. It shrieks and yells with + ugliness here and there but it never loses its spirits. That widow is from + the country. When she's been a year in New York she'll be as gay—as + gay as an L road." He celebrated a satisfaction they both had in the L + roads. "They kill the streets and avenues, but at least they partially + hide them, and that is some comfort; and they do triumph over their + prostrate forms with a savage exultation that is intoxicating. Those bends + in the L that you get in the corner of Washington Square, or just below + the Cooper Institute—they're the gayest things in the world. + Perfectly atrocious, of course, but incomparably picturesque! And the + whole city is so," said March, "or else the L would never have got built + here. New York may be splendidly gay or squalidly gay; but, prince or + pauper, it's gay always." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, gay is the word," she admitted, with a sigh. "But frantic. I can't + get used to it. They forget death, Basil; they forget death in New York." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know that I've ever found much advantage in remembering + it." + </p> + <p> + "Don't say such a thing, dearest." + </p> + <p> + He could see that she had got to the end of her nervous strength for the + present, and he proposed that they should take the Elevated road as far as + it would carry them into the country, and shake off their nightmare of + flat-hunting for an hour or two; but her conscience would not let her. She + convicted him of levity equal to that of the New-Yorkers in proposing such + a thing; and they dragged through the day. She was too tired to care for + dinner, and in the night she had a dream from which she woke herself with + a cry that roused him, too. It was something about the children at first, + whom they had talked of wistfully before falling asleep, and then it was + of a hideous thing with two square eyes and a series of sections growing + darker and then lighter, till the tail of the monstrous articulate was + quite luminous again. She shuddered at the vague description she was able + to give; but he asked, "Did it offer to bite you?" + </p> + <p> + "No. That was the most frightful thing about it; it had no mouth." + </p> + <p> + March laughed. "Why, my dear, it was nothing but a harmless New York flat—seven + rooms and a bath." + </p> + <p> + "I really believe it was," she consented, recognizing an architectural + resemblance, and she fell asleep again, and woke renewed for the work + before them. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX. + </h2> + <p> + Their house-hunting no longer had novelty, but it still had interest; and + they varied their day by taking a coupe, by renouncing advertisements, and + by reverting to agents. Some of these induced them to consider the idea of + furnished houses; and Mrs. March learned tolerance for Fulkerson by + accepting permits to visit flats and houses which had none of the + qualifications she desired in either, and were as far beyond her means as + they were out of the region to which she had geographically restricted + herself. They looked at three-thousand and four-thousand dollar + apartments, and rejected them for one reason or another which had nothing + to do with the rent; the higher the rent was, the more critical they were + of the slippery inlaid floors and the arrangement of the richly decorated + rooms. They never knew whether they had deceived the janitor or not; as + they came in a coupe, they hoped they had. + </p> + <p> + They drove accidentally through one street that seemed gayer in the + perspective than an L road. The fire-escapes, with their light iron + balconies and ladders of iron, decorated the lofty house fronts; the + roadway and sidewalks and door-steps swarmed with children; women's heads + seemed to show at every window. In the basements, over which flights of + high stone steps led to the tenements, were green-grocers' shops abounding + in cabbages, and provision stores running chiefly to bacon and sausages, + and cobblers' and tinners' shops, and the like, in proportion to the small + needs of a poor neighborhood. Ash barrels lined the sidewalks, and garbage + heaps filled the gutters; teams of all trades stood idly about; a peddler + of cheap fruit urged his cart through the street, and mixed his cry with + the joyous screams and shouts of the children and the scolding and + gossiping voices of the women; the burly blue bulk of a policeman defined + itself at the corner; a drunkard zigzagged down the sidewalk toward him. + It was not the abode of the extremest poverty, but of a poverty as + hopeless as any in the world, transmitting itself from generation to + generation, and establishing conditions of permanency to which human life + adjusts itself as it does to those of some incurable disease, like + leprosy. + </p> + <p> + The time had been when the Marches would have taken a purely aesthetic + view of the facts as they glimpsed them in this street of tenement-houses; + when they would have contented themselves with saying that it was as + picturesque as a street in Naples or Florence, and with wondering why + nobody came to paint it; they would have thought they were sufficiently + serious about it in blaming the artists for their failure to appreciate + it, and going abroad for the picturesque when they had it here under their + noses. It was to the nose that the street made one of its strongest + appeals, and Mrs. March pulled up her window of the coupe. "Why does he + take us through such a disgusting street?" she demanded, with an + exasperation of which her husband divined the origin. + </p> + <p> + "This driver may be a philanthropist in disguise," he answered, with + dreamy irony, "and may want us to think about the people who are not + merely carried through this street in a coupe, but have to spend their + whole lives in it, winter and summer, with no hopes of driving out of it, + except in a hearse. I must say they don't seem to mind it. I haven't seen + a jollier crowd anywhere in New York. They seem to have forgotten death a + little more completely than any of their fellow-citizens, Isabel. And I + wonder what they think of us, making this gorgeous progress through their + midst. I suppose they think we're rich, and hate us—if they hate + rich people; they don't look as if they hated anybody. Should we be as + patient as they are with their discomfort? I don't believe there's steam + heat or an elevator in the whole block. Seven rooms and a bath would be + more than the largest and genteelest family would know what to do with. + They wouldn't know what to do with the bath, anyway." + </p> + <p> + His monologue seemed to interest his wife apart from the satirical point + it had for themselves. "You ought to get Mr. Fulkerson to let you work + some of these New York sights up for Every Other Week, Basil; you could do + them very nicely." + </p> + <p> + "Yes; I've thought of that. But don't let's leave the personal ground. + Doesn't it make you feel rather small and otherwise unworthy when you see + the kind of street these fellow-beings of yours live in, and then think + how particular you are about locality and the number of bellpulls? I don't + see even ratchets and speaking-tubes at these doors." He craned his neck + out of the window for a better look, and the children of discomfort + cheered him, out of sheer good feeling and high spirits. "I didn't know I + was so popular. Perhaps it's a recognition of my humane sentiments." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, it's very easy to have humane sentiments, and to satirize ourselves + for wanting eight rooms and a bath in a good neighborhood, when we see how + these wretched creatures live," said his wife. "But if we shared all we + have with them, and then settled down among them, what good would it do?" + </p> + <p> + "Not the least in the world. It might help us for the moment, but it + wouldn't keep the wolf from their doors for a week; and then they would go + on just as before, only they wouldn't be on such good terms with the wolf. + The only way for them is to keep up an unbroken intimacy with the wolf; + then they can manage him somehow. I don't know how, and I'm afraid I don't + want to. Wouldn't you like to have this fellow drive us round among the + halls of pride somewhere for a little while? Fifth Avenue or Madison, + up-town?" + </p> + <p> + "No; we've no time to waste. I've got a place near Third Avenue, on a nice + cross street, and I want him to take us there." It proved that she had + several addresses near together, and it seemed best to dismiss their coupe + and do the rest of their afternoon's work on foot. It came to nothing; she + was not humbled in the least by what she had seen in the tenement-house + street; she yielded no point in her ideal of a flat, and the flats + persistently refused to lend themselves to it. She lost all patience with + them. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I don't say the flats are in the right of it," said her husband, when + she denounced their stupid inadequacy to the purposes of a Christian home. + "But I'm not so sure that we are, either. I've been thinking about that + home business ever since my sensibilities were dragged—in a coupe—through + that tenement-house street. Of course, no child born and brought up in + such a place as that could have any conception of home. But that's because + those poor people can't give character to their habitations. They have to + take what they can get. But people like us—that is, of our means—do + give character to the average flat. It's made to meet their tastes, or + their supposed tastes; and so it's made for social show, not for family + life at all. Think of a baby in a flat! It's a contradiction in terms; the + flat is the negation of motherhood. The flat means society life; that is, + the pretence of social life. It's made to give artificial people a society + basis on a little money—too much money, of course, for what they + get. So the cost of the building is put into marble halls and idiotic + decoration of all kinds. I don't object to the conveniences, but none of + these flats has a living-room. They have drawing-rooms to foster social + pretence, and they have dining-rooms and bedrooms; but they have no room + where the family can all come together and feel the sweetness of being a + family. The bedrooms are black-holes mostly, with a sinful waste of space + in each. If it were not for the marble halls, and the decorations, and the + foolishly expensive finish, the houses could be built round a court, and + the flats could be shaped something like a Pompeiian house, with small + sleeping-closets—only lit from the outside—and the rest of the + floor thrown into two or three large cheerful halls, where all the family + life could go on, and society could be transacted unpretentiously. Why, + those tenements are better and humaner than those flats! There the whole + family lives in the kitchen, and has its consciousness of being; but the + flat abolishes the family consciousness. It's confinement without + coziness; it's cluttered without being snug. You couldn't keep a + self-respecting cat in a flat; you couldn't go down cellar to get cider. + No! the Anglo-Saxon home, as we know it in the Anglo-Saxon house, is + simply impossible in the Franco-American flat, not because it's humble, + but because it's false." + </p> + <p> + "Well, then," said Mrs. March, "let's look at houses." + </p> + <p> + He had been denouncing the flat in the abstract, and he had not expected + this concrete result. But he said, "We will look at houses, then." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + X. + </h2> + <p> + Nothing mystifies a man more than a woman's aberrations from some point at + which he supposes her fixed as a star. In these unfurnished houses, + without steam or elevator, March followed his wife about with patient + wonder. She rather liked the worst of them best: but she made him go down + into the cellars and look at the furnaces; she exacted from him a rigid + inquest of the plumbing. She followed him into one of the cellars by the + fitful glare of successively lighted matches, and they enjoyed a moment in + which the anomaly of their presence there on that errand, so remote from + all the facts of their long-established life in Boston, realized itself + for them. + </p> + <p> + "Think how easily we might have been murdered and nobody been any the + wiser!" she said when they were comfortably outdoors again. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, or made way with ourselves in an access of emotional insanity, + supposed to have been induced by unavailing flat-hunting," he suggested. + She fell in with the notion. "I'm beginning to feel crazy. But I don't + want you to lose your head, Basil. And I don't want you to sentimentalize + any of the things you see in New York. I think you were disposed to do it + in that street we drove through. I don't believe there's any real + suffering—not real suffering—among those people; that is, it + would be suffering from our point of view, but they've been used to it all + their lives, and they don't feel their discomfort so much." + </p> + <p> + "Of course, I understand that, and I don't propose to sentimentalize them. + I think when people get used to a bad state of things they had better + stick to it; in fact, they don't usually like a better state so well, and + I shall keep that firmly in mind." + </p> + <p> + She laughed with him, and they walked along the L bestridden avenue, + exhilarated by their escape from murder and suicide in that cellar, toward + the nearest cross town track, which they meant to take home to their + hotel. "Now to-night we will go to the theatre," she said, "and get this + whole house business out of our minds, and be perfectly fresh for a new + start in the morning." Suddenly she clutched his arm. "Why, did you see + that man?" and she signed with her head toward a decently dressed person + who walked beside them, next the gutter, stooping over as if to examine + it, and half halting at times. + </p> + <p> + "No. What?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, I saw him pick up a dirty bit of cracker from the pavement and cram + it into his mouth and eat it down as if he were famished. And look! he's + actually hunting for more in those garbage heaps!" + </p> + <p> + This was what the decent-looking man with the hard hands and broken nails + of a workman was doing-like a hungry dog. They kept up with him, in the + fascination of the sight, to the next corner, where he turned down the + side street still searching the gutter. + </p> + <p> + They walked on a few paces. Then March said, "I must go after him," and + left his wife standing. + </p> + <p> + "Are you in want—hungry?" he asked the man. + </p> + <p> + The man said he could not speak English, Monsieur. + </p> + <p> + March asked his question in French. + </p> + <p> + The man shrugged a pitiful, desperate shrug, "Mais, Monsieur—" + </p> + <p> + March put a coin in his hand, and then suddenly the man's face twisted up; + he caught the hand of this alms-giver in both of his and clung to it. + "Monsieur! Monsieur!" he gasped, and the tears rained down his face. + </p> + <p> + His benefactor pulled himself away, shocked and ashamed, as one is by such + a chance, and got back to his wife, and the man lapsed back into the + mystery of misery out of which he had emerged. + </p> + <p> + March felt it laid upon him to console his wife for what had happened. "Of + course, we might live here for years and not see another case like that; + and, of course, there are twenty places where he could have gone for help + if he had known where to find them." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, but it's the possibility of his needing the help so badly as that," + she answered. "That's what I can't bear, and I shall not come to a place + where such things are possible, and we may as well stop our house-hunting + here at once." + </p> + <p> + "Yes? And what part of Christendom will you live in? Such things are + possible everywhere in our conditions." + </p> + <p> + "Then we must change the conditions—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh no; we must go to the theatre and forget them. We can stop at + Brentano's for our tickets as we pass through Union Square." + </p> + <p> + "I am not going to the theatre, Basil. I am going home to Boston to-night. + You can stay and find a flat." + </p> + <p> + He convinced her of the absurdity of her position, and even of its + selfishness; but she said that her mind was quite made up irrespective of + what had happened, that she had been away from the children long enough; + that she ought to be at home to finish up the work of leaving it. The word + brought a sigh. "Ah, I don't know why we should see nothing but sad and + ugly things now. When we were young—" + </p> + <p> + "Younger," he put in. "We're still young." + </p> + <p> + "That's what we pretend, but we know better. But I was thinking how pretty + and pleasant things used to be turning up all the time on our travels in + the old days. Why, when we were in New York here on our wedding journey + the place didn't seem half so dirty as it does now, and none of these + dismal things happened." + </p> + <p> + "It was a good deal dirtier," he answered; "and I fancy worse in every way—hungrier, + raggeder, more wretchedly housed. But that wasn't the period of life for + us to notice it. Don't you remember, when we started to Niagara the last + time, how everybody seemed middle-aged and commonplace; and when we got + there there were no evident brides; nothing but elderly married people?" + </p> + <p> + "At least they weren't starving," she rebelled. + </p> + <p> + "No, you don't starve in parlor-cars and first-class hotels; but if you + step out of them you run your chance of seeing those who do, if you're + getting on pretty well in the forties. If it's the unhappy who see + unhappiness, think what misery must be revealed to people who pass their + lives in the really squalid tenement-house streets—I don't mean + picturesque avenues like that we passed through." + </p> + <p> + "But we are not unhappy," she protested, bringing the talk back to the + personal base again, as women must to get any good out of talk. "We're + really no unhappier than we were when we were young." + </p> + <p> + "We're more serious." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I hate it; and I wish you wouldn't be so serious, if that's what it + brings us to." + </p> + <p> + "I will be trivial from this on," said March. "Shall we go to the Hole in + the Ground to-night?" + </p> + <p> + "I am going to Boston." + </p> + <p> + "It's much the same thing. How do you like that for triviality? It's a + little blasphemous, I'll allow." + </p> + <p> + "It's very silly," she said. + </p> + <p> + At the hotel they found a letter from the agent who had sent them the + permit to see Mrs. Grosvenor Green's apartment. He wrote that she had + heard they were pleased with her apartment, and that she thought she could + make the terms to suit. She had taken her passage for Europe, and was very + anxious to let the flat before she sailed. She would call that evening at + seven. + </p> + <p> + "Mrs. Grosvenor Green!" said Mrs. March. "Which of the ten thousand flats + is it, Basil?" + </p> + <p> + "The gimcrackery," he answered. "In the Xenophon, you know." + </p> + <p> + "Well, she may save herself the trouble. I shall not see her. Or yes—I + must. I couldn't go away without seeing what sort of creature could have + planned that fly-away flat. She must be a perfect—" + </p> + <p> + "Parachute," March suggested. + </p> + <p> + "No! anybody so light as that couldn't come down." + </p> + <p> + "Well, toy balloon." + </p> + <p> + "Toy balloon will do for the present," Mrs. March admitted. "But I feel + that naught but herself can be her parallel for volatility." + </p> + <p> + When Mrs. Grosvenor-Green's card came up they both descended to the hotel + parlor, which March said looked like the saloon of a Moorish day-boat; not + that he knew of any such craft, but the decorations were so Saracenic and + the architecture so Hudson Riverish. They found there on the grand central + divan a large lady whose vast smoothness, placidity, and plumpness set at + defiance all their preconceptions of Mrs. Grosvenor Green, so that Mrs. + March distinctly paused with her card in her hand before venturing even + tentatively to address her. Then she was astonished at the low, calm voice + in which Mrs. Green acknowledged herself, and slowly proceeded to + apologize for calling. It was not quite true that she had taken her + passage for Europe, but she hoped soon to do so, and she confessed that in + the mean time she was anxious to let her flat. She was a little worn out + with the care of housekeeping—Mrs. March breathed, "Oh yes!" in the + sigh with which ladies recognize one another's martyrdom—and Mrs. + Green had business abroad, and she was going to pursue her art studies in + Paris; she drew in Mr. Ilcomb's class now, but the instruction was so much + better in Paris; and as the superintendent seemed to think the price was + the only objection, she had ventured to call. + </p> + <p> + "Then we didn't deceive him in the least," thought Mrs. March, while she + answered, sweetly: "No; we were only afraid that it would be too small for + our family. We require a good many rooms." She could not forego the + opportunity of saying, "My husband is coming to New York to take charge of + a literary periodical, and he will have to have a room to write in," which + made Mrs. Green bow to March, and made March look sheepish. "But we did + think the apartment very charming", (It was architecturally charming, she + protested to her conscience), "and we should have been so glad if we could + have got into it." She followed this with some account of their + house-hunting, amid soft murmurs of sympathy from Mrs. Green, who said + that she had been through all that, and that if she could have shown her + apartment to them she felt sure that she could have explained it so that + they would have seen its capabilities better, Mrs. March assented to this, + and Mrs. Green added that if they found nothing exactly suitable she would + be glad to have them look at it again; and then Mrs. March said that she + was going back to Boston herself, but she was leaving Mr. March to + continue the search; and she had no doubt he would be only too glad to see + the apartment by daylight. "But if you take it, Basil," she warned him, + when they were alone, "I shall simply renounce you. I wouldn't live in + that junk-shop if you gave it to me. But who would have thought she was + that kind of looking person? Though of course I might have known if I had + stopped to think once. It's because the place doesn't express her at all + that it's so unlike her. It couldn't be like anybody, or anything that + flies in the air, or creeps upon the earth, or swims in the waters under + the earth. I wonder where in the world she's from; she's no New-Yorker; + even we can see that; and she's not quite a country person, either; she + seems like a person from some large town, where she's been an aesthetic + authority. And she can't find good enough art instruction in New York, and + has to go to Paris for it! Well, it's pathetic, after all, Basil. I can't + help feeling sorry for a person who mistakes herself to that extent." + </p> + <p> + "I can't help feeling sorry for the husband of a person who mistakes + herself to that extent. What is Mr. Grosvenor Green going to do in Paris + while she's working her way into the Salon?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, you keep away from her apartment, Basil; that's all I've got to say + to you. And yet I do like some things about her." + </p> + <p> + "I like everything about her but her apartment," said March. + </p> + <p> + "I like her going to be out of the country," said his wife. "We shouldn't + be overlooked. And the place was prettily shaped, you can't deny it. And + there was an elevator and steam heat. And the location is very convenient. + And there was a hall-boy to bring up cards. The halls and stairs were kept + very clean and nice. But it wouldn't do. I could put you a folding bed in + the room where you wrote, and we could even have one in the parlor." + </p> + <p> + "Behind a portiere? I couldn't stand any more portieres!" + </p> + <p> + "And we could squeeze the two girls into one room, or perhaps only bring + Margaret, and put out the whole of the wash. Basil!" she almost shrieked, + "it isn't to be thought of!" + </p> + <p> + He retorted, "I'm not thinking of it, my dear." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson came in just before they started for Mrs. March's train, to find + out what had become of them, he said, and to see whether they had got + anything to live in yet. + </p> + <p> + "Not a thing," she said. "And I'm just going back to Boston, and leaving + Mr. March here to do anything he pleases about it. He has 'carte + blanche.'" + </p> + <p> + "But freedom brings responsibility, you know, Fulkerson, and it's the same + as if I'd no choice. I'm staying behind because I'm left, not because I + expect to do anything." + </p> + <p> + "Is that so?" asked Fulkerson. "Well, we must see what can be done. I + supposed you would be all settled by this time, or I should have humped + myself to find you something. None of those places I gave you amounts to + anything?" + </p> + <p> + "As much as forty thousand others we've looked at," said Mrs. March. "Yes, + one of them does amount to something. It comes so near being what we want + that I've given Mr. March particular instructions not to go near it." + </p> + <p> + She told him about Mrs. Grosvenor Green and her flats, and at the end he + said: + </p> + <p> + "Well, well, we must look out for that. I'll keep an eye on him, Mrs. + March, and see that he doesn't do anything rash, and I won't leave him + till he's found just the right thing. It exists, of course; it must in a + city of eighteen hundred thousand people, and the only question is where + to find it. You leave him to me, Mrs. March; I'll watch out for him." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson showed some signs of going to the station when he found they + were not driving, but she bade him a peremptory good-bye at the hotel + door. + </p> + <p> + "He's very nice, Basil, and his way with you is perfectly charming. It's + very sweet to see how really fond of you he is. But I didn't want him + stringing along with us up to Forty-second Street and spoiling our last + moments together." + </p> + <p> + At Third Avenue they took the Elevated for which she confessed an + infatuation. She declared it the most ideal way of getting about in the + world, and was not ashamed when he reminded her of how she used to say + that nothing under the sun could induce her to travel on it. She now said + that the night transit was even more interesting than the day, and that + the fleeing intimacy you formed with people in second and third floor + interiors, while all the usual street life went on underneath, had a + domestic intensity mixed with a perfect repose that was the last effect of + good society with all its security and exclusiveness. He said it was + better than the theatre, of which it reminded him, to see those people + through their windows: a family party of work-folk at a late tea, some of + the men in their shirt-sleeves; a woman sewing by a lamp; a mother laying + her child in its cradle; a man with his head fallen on his hands upon a + table; a girl and her lover leaning over the window-sill together. What + suggestion! what drama? what infinite interest! At the Forty-second Street + station they stopped a minute on the bridge that crosses the track to the + branch road for the Central Depot, and looked up and down the long stretch + of the Elevated to north and south. The track that found and lost itself a + thousand times in the flare and tremor of the innumerable lights; the + moony sheen of the electrics mixing with the reddish points and blots of + gas far and near; the architectural shapes of houses and churches and + towers, rescued by the obscurity from all that was ignoble in them, and + the coming and going of the trains marking the stations with vivider or + fainter plumes of flame-shot steam-formed an incomparable perspective. + They often talked afterward of the superb spectacle, which in a city full + of painters nightly works its unrecorded miracles; and they were just to + the Arachne roof spun in iron over the cross street on which they ran to + the depot; but for the present they were mostly inarticulate before it. + They had another moment of rich silence when they paused in the gallery + that leads from the Elevated station to the waiting-rooms in the Central + Depot and looked down upon the great night trains lying on the tracks dim + under the rain of gas-lights that starred without dispersing the vast + darkness of the place. What forces, what fates, slept in these bulks which + would soon be hurling themselves north and south and west through the + night! Now they waited there like fabled monsters of Arab story ready for + the magician's touch, tractable, reckless, will-less—organized + lifelessness full of a strange semblance of life. + </p> + <p> + The Marches admired the impressive sight with a thrill of patriotic pride + in the fact that the whole world perhaps could not afford just the like. + Then they hurried down to the ticket-offices, and he got her a lower berth + in the Boston sleeper, and went with her to the car. They made the most of + the fact that her berth was in the very middle of the car; and she + promised to write as soon as she reached home. She promised also that, + having seen the limitations of New York in respect to flats, she would not + be hard on him if he took something not quite ideal. Only he must remember + that it was not to be above Twentieth Street nor below Washington Square; + it must not be higher than the third floor; it must have an elevator, + steam heat, hail-boys, and a pleasant janitor. These were essentials; if + he could not get them, then they must do without. But he must get them. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XI. + </h2> + <p> + Mrs. March was one of those wives who exact a more rigid adherence to + their ideals from their husbands than from themselves. Early in their + married life she had taken charge of him in all matters which she + considered practical. She did not include the business of bread-winning in + these; that was an affair that might safely be left to his absent-minded, + dreamy inefficiency, and she did not interfere with him there. But in such + things as rehanging the pictures, deciding on a summer boarding-place, + taking a seaside cottage, repapering rooms, choosing seats at the theatre, + seeing what the children ate when she was not at table, shutting the cat + out at night, keeping run of calls and invitations, and seeing if the + furnace was dampered, he had failed her so often that she felt she could + not leave him the slightest discretion in regard to a flat. Her total + distrust of his judgment in the matters cited and others like them + consisted with the greatest admiration of his mind and respect for his + character. She often said that if he would only bring these to bear in + such exigencies he would be simply perfect; but she had long given up his + ever doing so. She subjected him, therefore, to an iron code, but after + proclaiming it she was apt to abandon him to the native lawlessness of his + temperament. She expected him in this event to do as he pleased, and she + resigned herself to it with considerable comfort in holding him + accountable. He learned to expect this, and after suffering keenly from + her disappointment with whatever he did he waited patiently till she + forgot her grievance and began to extract what consolation lurks in the + irreparable. She would almost admit at moments that what he had done was a + very good thing, but she reserved the right to return in full force to her + original condemnation of it; and she accumulated each act of independent + volition in witness and warning against him. Their mass oppressed but + never deterred him. He expected to do the wrong thing when left to his own + devices, and he did it without any apparent recollection of his former + misdeeds and their consequences. There was a good deal of comedy in it + all, and some tragedy. + </p> + <p> + He now experienced a certain expansion, such as husbands of his kind will + imagine, on going back to his hotel alone. It was, perhaps, a revulsion + from the pain of parting; and he toyed with the idea of Mrs. Grosvenor + Green's apartment, which, in its preposterous unsuitability, had a strange + attraction. He felt that he could take it with less risk than anything + else they had seen, but he said he would look at all the other places in + town first. He really spent the greater part of the next day in hunting up + the owner of an apartment that had neither steam heat nor an elevator, but + was otherwise perfect, and trying to get him to take less than the agent + asked. By a curious psychical operation he was able, in the transaction, + to work himself into quite a passionate desire for the apartment, while he + held the Grosvenor Green apartment in the background of his mind as + something that he could return to as altogether more suitable. He + conducted some simultaneous negotiation for a furnished house, which + enhanced still more the desirability of the Grosvenor Green apartment. + Toward evening he went off at a tangent far up-town, so as to be able to + tell his wife how utterly preposterous the best there would be as compared + even with this ridiculous Grosvenor Green gimcrackery. It is hard to + report the processes of his sophistication; perhaps this, again, may best + be left to the marital imagination. + </p> + <p> + He rang at the last of these up-town apartments as it was falling dusk, + and it was long before the janitor appeared. Then the man was very surly, + and said if he looked at the flat now he would say it was too dark, like + all the rest. His reluctance irritated March in proportion to his + insincerity in proposing to look at it at all. He knew he did not mean to + take it under any circumstances; that he was going to use his inspection + of it in dishonest justification of his disobedience to his wife; but he + put on an air of offended dignity. "If you don't wish to show the + apartment," he said, "I don't care to see it." + </p> + <p> + The man groaned, for he was heavy, and no doubt dreaded the stairs. He + scratched a match on his thigh, and led the way up. March was sorry for + him, and he put his fingers on a quarter in his waistcoat-pocket to give + him at parting. At the same time, he had to trump up an objection to the + flat. This was easy, for it was advertised as containing ten rooms, and he + found the number eked out with the bath-room and two large closets. "It's + light enough," said March, "but I don't see how you make out ten rooms." + </p> + <p> + "There's ten rooms," said the man, deigning no proof. + </p> + <p> + March took his fingers off the quarter, and went down-stairs and out of + the door without another word. It would be wrong, it would be impossible, + to give the man anything after such insolence. He reflected, with shame, + that it was also cheaper to punish than forgive him. + </p> + <p> + He returned to his hotel prepared for any desperate measure, and convinced + now that the Grosvenor Green apartment was not merely the only thing left + for him, but was, on its own merits, the best thing in New York. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson was waiting for him in the reading-room, and it gave March the + curious thrill with which a man closes with temptation when he said: "Look + here! Why don't you take that woman's flat in the Xenophon? She's been at + the agents again, and they've been at me. She likes your look—or + Mrs. March's—and I guess you can have it at a pretty heavy discount + from the original price. I'm authorized to say you can have it for one + seventy-five a month, and I don't believe it would be safe for you to + offer one fifty." + </p> + <p> + March shook his head, and dropped a mask of virtuous rejection over his + corrupt acquiescence. "It's too small for us—we couldn't squeeze + into it." + </p> + <p> + "Why, look here!" Fulkerson persisted. "How many rooms do you people + want?" + </p> + <p> + "I've got to have a place to work—" + </p> + <p> + "Of course! And you've got to have it at the Fifth Wheel office." + </p> + <p> + "I hadn't thought of that," March began. "I suppose I could do my work at + the office, as there's not much writing—" + </p> + <p> + "Why, of course you can't do your work at home. You just come round with + me now, and look at that again." + </p> + <p> + "No; I can't do it." + </p> + <p> + "Why?" + </p> + <p> + "I—I've got to dine." + </p> + <p> + "All right," said Fulkerson. "Dine with me. I want to take you round to a + little Italian place that I know." + </p> + <p> + One may trace the successive steps of March's descent in this simple + matter with the same edification that would attend the study of the + self-delusions and obfuscations of a man tempted to crime. The process is + probably not at all different, and to the philosophical mind the kind of + result is unimportant; the process is everything. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson led him down one block and half across another to the steps of a + small dwelling-house, transformed, like many others, into a restaurant of + the Latin ideal, with little or no structural change from the pattern of + the lower middle-class New York home. There were the corroded brownstone + steps, the mean little front door, and the cramped entry with its narrow + stairs by which ladies could go up to a dining-room appointed for them on + the second floor; the parlors on the first were set about with tables, + where men smoked cigarettes between the courses, and a single waiter ran + swiftly to and fro with plates and dishes, and, exchanged unintelligible + outcries with a cook beyond a slide in the back parlor. He rushed at the + new-comers, brushed the soiled table-cloth before them with a towel on his + arm, covered its worst stains with a napkin, and brought them, in their + order, the vermicelli soup, the fried fish, the cheese-strewn spaghetti, + the veal cutlets, the tepid roast fowl and salad, and the wizened pear and + coffee which form the dinner at such places. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, this is nice!" said Fulkerson, after the laying of the charitable + napkin, and he began to recognize acquaintances, some of whom he described + to March as young literary men and artists with whom they should probably + have to do; others were simply frequenters of the place, and were of all + nationalities and religions apparently—at least, several were + Hebrews and Cubans. "You get a pretty good slice of New York here," he + said, "all except the frosting on top. That you won't find much at + Maroni's, though you will occasionally. I don't mean the ladies ever, of + course." The ladies present seemed harmless and reputable-looking people + enough, but certainly they were not of the first fashion, and, except in a + few instances, not Americans. "It's like cutting straight down through a + fruitcake," Fulkerson went on, "or a mince-pie, when you don't know who + made the pie; you get a little of everything." He ordered a small flask of + Chianti with the dinner, and it came in its pretty wicker jacket. March + smiled upon it with tender reminiscence, and Fulkerson laughed. "Lights + you up a little. I brought old Dryfoos here one day, and he thought it was + sweet-oil; that's the kind of bottle they used to have it in at the + country drug-stores." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I remember now; but I'd totally forgotten it," said March. "How far + back that goes! Who's Dryfoos?" + </p> + <p> + "Dryfoos?" Fulkerson, still smiling, tore off a piece of the half-yard of + French loaf which had been supplied them, with two pale, thin disks of + butter, and fed it into himself. "Old Dryfoos? Well, of course! I call him + old, but he ain't so very. About fifty, or along there." + </p> + <p> + "No," said March, "that isn't very old—or not so old as it used to + be." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I suppose you've got to know about him, anyway," said Fulkerson, + thoughtfully. "And I've been wondering just how I should tell you. Can't + always make out exactly how much of a Bostonian you really are! Ever been + out in the natural-gas country?" + </p> + <p> + "No," said March. "I've had a good deal of curiosity about it, but I've + never been able to get away except in summer, and then we always preferred + to go over the old ground, out to Niagara and back through Canada, the + route we took on our wedding journey. The children like it as much as we + do." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, yes," said Fulkerson. "Well, the natural-gas country is worth + seeing. I don't mean the Pittsburg gas-fields, but out in Northern Ohio + and Indiana around Moffitt—that's the place in the heart of the gas + region that they've been booming so. Yes, you ought to see that country. + If you haven't been West for a good many years, you haven't got any idea + how old the country looks. You remember how the fields used to be all full + of stumps?" + </p> + <p> + "I should think so." + </p> + <p> + "Well, you won't see any stumps now. All that country out around Moffitt + is just as smooth as a checker-board, and looks as old as England. You + know how we used to burn the stumps out; and then somebody invented a + stump-extractor, and we pulled them out with a yoke of oxen. Now they just + touch 'em off with a little dynamite, and they've got a cellar dug and + filled up with kindling ready for housekeeping whenever you want it. Only + they haven't got any use for kindling in that country—all gas. I + rode along on the cars through those level black fields at corn-planting + time, and every once in a while I'd come to a place with a piece of ragged + old stove-pipe stickin' up out of the ground, and blazing away like forty, + and a fellow ploughing all round it and not minding it any more than if it + was spring violets. Horses didn't notice it, either. Well, they've always + known about the gas out there; they say there are places in the woods + where it's been burning ever since the country was settled. + </p> + <p> + "But when you come in sight of Moffitt—my, oh, my! Well, you come in + smell of it about as soon. That gas out there ain't odorless, like the + Pittsburg gas, and so it's perfectly safe; but the smell isn't bad—about + as bad as the finest kind of benzine. Well, the first thing that strikes + you when you come to Moffitt is the notion that there has been a good + warm, growing rain, and the town's come up overnight. That's in the + suburbs, the annexes, and additions. But it ain't shabby—no + shanty-farm business; nice brick and frame houses, some of 'em Queen Anne + style, and all of 'em looking as if they had come to stay. And when you + drive up from the depot you think everybody's moving. Everything seems to + be piled into the street; old houses made over, and new ones going up + everywhere. You know the kind of street Main Street always used to be in + our section—half plank-road and turnpike, and the rest mud-hole, and + a lot of stores and doggeries strung along with false fronts a story + higher than the back, and here and there a decent building with the gable + end to the public; and a court-house and jail and two taverns and three or + four churches. Well, they're all there in Moffitt yet, but architecture + has struck it hard, and they've got a lot of new buildings that needn't be + ashamed of themselves anywhere; the new court-house is as big as St. + Peter's, and the Grand Opera-house is in the highest style of the art. You + can't buy a lot on that street for much less than you can buy a lot in New + York—or you couldn't when the boom was on; I saw the place just when + the boom was in its prime. I went out there to work the newspapers in the + syndicate business, and I got one of their men to write me a real bright, + snappy account of the gas; and they just took me in their arms and showed + me everything. Well, it was wonderful, and it was beautiful, too! To see a + whole community stirred up like that was—just like a big boy, all + hope and high spirits, and no discount on the remotest future; nothing but + perpetual boom to the end of time—I tell you it warmed your blood. + Why, there were some things about it that made you think what a nice kind + of world this would be if people ever took hold together, instead of each + fellow fighting it out on his own hook, and devil take the hindmost. They + made up their minds at Moffitt that if they wanted their town to grow + they'd got to keep their gas public property. So they extended their + corporation line so as to take in pretty much the whole gas region round + there; and then the city took possession of every well that was put down, + and held it for the common good. Anybody that's a mind to come to Moffitt + and start any kind of manufacture can have all the gas he wants free; and + for fifteen dollars a year you can have all the gas you want to heat and + light your private house. The people hold on to it for themselves, and, as + I say, it's a grand sight to see a whole community hanging together and + working for the good of all, instead of splitting up into as many + different cut-throats as there are able-bodied citizens. See that fellow?" + Fulkerson broke off, and indicated with a twirl of his head a short, dark, + foreign-looking man going out of the door. "They say that fellow's a + Socialist. I think it's a shame they're allowed to come here. If they + don't like the way we manage our affairs let 'em stay at home," Fulkerson + continued. "They do a lot of mischief, shooting off their mouths round + here. I believe in free speech and all that; but I'd like to see these + fellows shut up in jail and left to jaw one another to death. We don't + want any of their poison." + </p> + <p> + March did not notice the vanishing Socialist. He was watching, with a + teasing sense of familiarity, a tall, shabbily dressed, elderly man, who + had just come in. He had the aquiline profile uncommon among Germans, and + yet March recognized him at once as German. His long, soft beard and + mustache had once been fair, and they kept some tone of their yellow in + the gray to which they had turned. His eyes were full, and his lips and + chin shaped the beard to the noble outline which shows in the beards the + Italian masters liked to paint for their Last Suppers. His carriage was + erect and soldierly, and March presently saw that he had lost his left + hand. He took his place at a table where the overworked waiter found time + to cut up his meat and put everything in easy reach of his right hand. + </p> + <p> + "Well," Fulkerson resumed, "they took me round everywhere in Moffitt, and + showed me their big wells—lit 'em up for a private view, and let me + hear them purr with the soft accents of a mass-meeting of locomotives. + Why, when they let one of these wells loose in a meadow that they'd piped + it into temporarily, it drove the flame away forty feet from the mouth of + the pipe and blew it over half an acre of ground. They say when they let + one of their big wells burn away all winter before they had learned how to + control it, that well kept up a little summer all around it; the grass + stayed green, and the flowers bloomed all through the winter. I don't know + whether it's so or not. But I can believe anything of natural gas. My! but + it was beautiful when they turned on the full force of that well and shot + a roman candle into the gas—that's the way they light it—and a + plume of fire about twenty feet wide and seventy-five feet high, all red + and yellow and violet, jumped into the sky, and that big roar shook the + ground under your feet! You felt like saying: + </p> + <p> + "'Don't trouble yourself; I'm perfectly convinced. I believe in Moffitt.' + We-e-e-ll!" drawled Fulkerson, with a long breath, "that's where I met old + Dryfoos." + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes!—Dryfoos," said March. He observed that the waiter had + brought the old one-handed German a towering glass of beer. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," Fulkerson laughed. "We've got round to Dryfoos again. I thought I + could cut a long story short, but I seem to be cutting a short story long. + If you're not in a hurry, though—" + </p> + <p> + "Not in the least. Go on as long as you like." + </p> + <p> + "I met him there in the office of a real-estate man—speculator, of + course; everybody was, in Moffitt; but a first-rate fellow, and + public-spirited as all get-out; and when Dryfoos left he told me about + him. Dryfoos was an old Pennsylvania Dutch farmer, about three or four + miles out of Moffitt, and he'd lived there pretty much all his life; + father was one of the first settlers. Everybody knew he had the right + stuff in him, but he was slower than molasses in January, like those + Pennsylvania Dutch. He'd got together the largest and handsomest farm + anywhere around there; and he was making money on it, just like he was in + some business somewhere; he was a very intelligent man; he took the papers + and kept himself posted; but he was awfully old-fashioned in his ideas. He + hung on to the doctrines as well as the dollars of the dads; it was a real + thing with him. Well, when the boom began to come he hated it awfully, and + he fought it. He used to write communications to the weekly newspaper in + Moffitt—they've got three dailies there now—and throw cold + water on the boom. He couldn't catch on no way. It made him sick to hear + the clack that went on about the gas the whole while, and that stirred up + the neighborhood and got into his family. Whenever he'd hear of a man that + had been offered a big price for his land and was going to sell out and + move into town, he'd go and labor with him and try to talk him out of it, + and tell him how long his fifteen or twenty thousand would last him to + live on, and shake the Standard Oil Company before him, and try to make + him believe it wouldn't be five years before the Standard owned the whole + region. + </p> + <p> + "Of course, he couldn't do anything with them. When a man's offered a big + price for his farm, he don't care whether it's by a secret emissary from + the Standard Oil or not; he's going to sell and get the better of the + other fellow if he can. Dryfoos couldn't keep the boom out of his own + family even. His wife was with him. She thought whatever he said and did + was just as right as if it had been thundered down from Sinai. But the + young folks were sceptical, especially the girls that had been away to + school. The boy that had been kept at home because he couldn't be spared + from helping his father manage the farm was more like him, but they + contrived to stir the boy up—with the hot end of the boom, too. So + when a fellow came along one day and offered old Dryfoos a cool hundred + thousand for his farm, it was all up with Dryfoos. He'd 'a' liked to 'a' + kept the offer to himself and not done anything about it, but his vanity + wouldn't let him do that; and when he let it out in his family the girls + outvoted him. They just made him sell. + </p> + <p> + "He wouldn't sell all. He kept about eighty acres that was off in some + piece by itself, but the three hundred that had the old brick house on it, + and the big barn—that went, and Dryfoos bought him a place in + Moffitt and moved into town to live on the interest of his money. Just + what he had scolded and ridiculed everybody else for doing. Well, they say + that at first he seemed like he would go crazy. He hadn't anything to do. + He took a fancy to that land-agent, and he used to go and set in his + office and ask him what he should do. 'I hain't got any horses, I hain't + got any cows, I hain't got any pigs, I hain't got any chickens. I hain't + got anything to do from sun-up to sun-down.' The fellow said the tears + used to run down the old fellow's cheeks, and if he hadn't been so busy + himself he believed he should 'a' cried, too. But most o' people thought + old Dryfoos was down in the mouth because he hadn't asked more for his + farm, when he wanted to buy it back and found they held it at a hundred + and fifty thousand. People couldn't believe he was just homesick and + heartsick for the old place. Well, perhaps he was sorry he hadn't asked + more; that's human nature, too. + </p> + <p> + "After a while something happened. That land-agent used to tell Dryfoos to + get out to Europe with his money and see life a little, or go and live in + Washington, where he could be somebody; but Dryfoos wouldn't, and he kept + listening to the talk there, and all of a sudden he caught on. He came + into that fellow's one day with a plan for cutting up the eighty acres + he'd kept into town lots; and he'd got it all plotted out so-well, and had + so many practical ideas about it, that the fellow was astonished. He went + right in with him, as far as Dryfoos would let him, and glad of the + chance; and they were working the thing for all it was worth when I struck + Moffitt. Old Dryfoos wanted me to go out and see the Dryfoos & Hendry + Addition—guess he thought maybe I'd write it up; and he drove me out + there himself. Well, it was funny to see a town made: streets driven + through; two rows of shadetrees, hard and soft, planted; cellars dug and + houses put up—regular Queen Anne style, too, with stained glass—all + at once. Dryfoos apologized for the streets because they were hand-made; + said they expected their street-making machine Tuesday, and then they + intended to push things." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson enjoyed the effect of his picture on March for a moment, and + then went on: "He was mighty intelligent, too, and he questioned me up + about my business as sharp as I ever was questioned; seemed to kind of + strike his fancy; I guess he wanted to find out if there was any money in + it. He was making money, hand over hand, then; and he never stopped + speculating and improving till he'd scraped together three or four hundred + thousand dollars, they said a million, but they like round numbers at + Moffitt, and I guess half a million would lay over it comfortably and + leave a few thousands to spare, probably. Then he came on to New York." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson struck a match against the ribbed side of the porcelain cup that + held the matches in the centre of the table, and lit a cigarette, which he + began to smoke, throwing his head back with a leisurely effect, as if he + had got to the end of at least as much of his story as he meant to tell + without prompting. + </p> + <p> + March asked him the desired question. "What in the world for?" + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson took out his cigarette and said, with a smile: "To spend his + money, and get his daughters into the old Knickerbocker society. Maybe he + thought they were all the same kind of Dutch." + </p> + <p> + "And has he succeeded?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, they're not social leaders yet. But it's only a question of time—generation + or two—especially if time's money, and if 'Every Other Week' is the + success it's bound to be." + </p> + <p> + "You don't mean to say, Fulkerson," said March, with a half-doubting, + half-daunted laugh, "that he's your Angel?" + </p> + <p> + "That's what I mean to say," returned Fulkerson. "I ran onto him in + Broadway one day last summer. If you ever saw anybody in your life; you're + sure to meet him in Broadway again, sooner or later. That's the philosophy + of the bunco business; country people from the same neighborhood are sure + to run up against each other the first time they come to New York. I put + out my hand, and I said, 'Isn't this Mr. Dryfoos from Moffitt?' He didn't + seem to have any use for my hand; he let me keep it, and he squared those + old lips of his till his imperial stuck straight out. Ever see Bernhardt + in 'L'Etrangere'? Well, the American husband is old Dryfoos all over; no + mustache; and hay-colored chin-whiskers cut slanting froze the corners of + his mouth. He cocked his little gray eyes at me, and says he: 'Yes, young + man; my name is Dryfoos, and I'm from Moffitt. But I don't want no present + of Longfellow's Works, illustrated; and I don't want to taste no fine + teas; but I know a policeman that does; and if you're the son of my old + friend Squire Strohfeldt, you'd better get out.' 'Well, then,' said I, + 'how would you like to go into the newspaper syndicate business?' He gave + another look at me, and then he burst out laughing, and he grabbed my + hand, and he just froze to it. I never saw anybody so glad. + </p> + <p> + "Well, the long and the short of it was that I asked him round here to + Maroni's to dinner; and before we broke up for the night we had settled + the financial side of the plan that's brought you to New York." + </p> + <p> + "I can see," said Fulkerson, who had kept his eyes fast on March's face, + "that you don't more than half like the idea of Dryfoos. It ought to give + you more confidence in the thing than you ever had. You needn't be + afraid," he added, with some feeling, "that I talked Dryfoos into the + thing for my own advantage." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, my dear Fulkerson!" March protested, all the more fervently because + he was really a little guilty. + </p> + <p> + "Well, of course not! I didn't mean you were. But I just happened to tell + him what I wanted to go into when I could see my way to it, and he caught + on of his own accord. The fact is," said Fulkerson, "I guess I'd better + make a clean breast of it, now I'm at it, Dryfoos wanted to get something + for that boy of his to do. He's in railroads himself, and he's in mines + and other things, and he keeps busy, and he can't bear to have his boy + hanging round the house doing nothing, like as if he was a girl. I told + him that the great object of a rich man was to get his son into just that + fix, but he couldn't seem to see it, and the boy hated it himself. He's + got a good head, and he wanted to study for the ministry when they were + all living together out on the farm; but his father had the old-fashioned + ideas about that. You know they used to think that any sort of stuff was + good enough to make a preacher out of; but they wanted the good timber for + business; and so the old man wouldn't let him. You'll see the fellow; + you'll like him; he's no fool, I can tell you; and he's going to be our + publisher, nominally at first and actually when I've taught him the ropes + a little." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XII. + </h2> + <p> + Fulkerson stopped and looked at March, whom he saw lapsing into a serious + silence. Doubtless he divined his uneasiness with the facts that had been + given him to digest. He pulled out his watch and glanced at it. "See here, + how would you like to go up to Forty-sixth street with me, and drop in on + old Dryfoos? Now's your chance. He's going West tomorrow, and won't be + back for a month or so. They'll all be glad to see you, and you'll + understand things better when you've seen him and his family. I can't + explain." + </p> + <p> + March reflected a moment. Then he said, with a wisdom that surprised him, + for he would have liked to yield to the impulse of his curiosity: "Perhaps + we'd better wait till Mrs. March comes down, and let things take the usual + course. The Dryfoos ladies will want to call on her as the last-comer, and + if I treated myself 'en garcon' now, and paid the first visit, it might + complicate matters." + </p> + <p> + "Well, perhaps you're right," said Fulkerson. "I don't know much about + these things, and I don't believe Ma Dryfoos does, either." He was on his + legs lighting another cigarette. "I suppose the girls are getting + themselves up in etiquette, though. Well, then, let's have a look at the + 'Every Other Week' building, and then, if you like your quarters there, + you can go round and close for Mrs. Green's flat." + </p> + <p> + March's dormant allegiance to his wife's wishes had been roused by his + decision in favor of good social usage. "I don't think I shall take the + flat," he said. + </p> + <p> + "Well, don't reject it without giving it another look, anyway. Come on!" + </p> + <p> + He helped March on with his light overcoat, and the little stir they made + for their departure caught the notice of the old German; he looked up from + his beer at them. March was more than ever impressed with something + familiar in his face. In compensation for his prudence in regard to the + Dryfooses he now indulged an impulse. He stepped across to where the old + man sat, with his bald head shining like ivory under the gas-jet, and his + fine patriarchal length of bearded mask taking picturesque lights and + shadows, and put out his hand to him. + </p> + <p> + "Lindau! Isn't this Mr. Lindau?" + </p> + <p> + The old man lifted himself slowly to his feet with mechanical politeness, + and cautiously took March's hand. "Yes, my name is Lindau," he said, + slowly, while he scanned March's face. Then he broke into a long cry. + "Ah-h-h-h-h, my dear poy! my gong friendt! my-my—Idt is Passil + Marge, not zo? Ah, ha, ha, ha! How gladt I am to zee you! Why, I am gladt! + And you rememberdt me? You remember Schiller, and Goethe, and Uhland? And + Indianapolis? You still lif in Indianapolis? It sheers my hardt to zee + you. But you are lidtle oldt, too? Tventy-five years makes a difference. + Ah, I am gladt! Dell me, idt is Passil Marge, not zo?" + </p> + <p> + He looked anxiously into March's face, with a gentle smile of mixed hope + and doubt, and March said: "As sure as it's Berthold Lindau, and I guess + it's you. And you remember the old times? You were as much of a boy as I + was, Lindau. Are you living in New York? Do you recollect how you tried to + teach me to fence? I don't know how to this day, Lindau. How good you + were, and how patient! Do you remember how we used to sit up in the little + parlor back of your printing-office, and read Die Rauber and Die Theilung + der Erde and Die Glocke? And Mrs. Lindau? Is she with—" + </p> + <p> + "Deadt—deadt long ago. Right after I got home from the war—tventy + years ago. But tell me, you are married? Children? Yes! Goodt! And how + oldt are you now?" + </p> + <p> + "It makes me seventeen to see you, Lindau, but I've got a son nearly as + old." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, ha, ha! Goodt! And where do you lif?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, I'm just coming to live in New York," March said, looking over at + Fulkerson, who had been watching his interview with the perfunctory smile + of sympathy that people put on at the meeting of old friends. "I want to + introduce you to my friend Mr. Fulkerson. He and I are going into a + literary enterprise here." + </p> + <p> + "Ah! zo?" said the old man, with polite interest. He took Fulkerson's + proffered hand, and they all stood talking a few moments together. + </p> + <p> + Then Fulkerson said, with another look at his watch, "Well, March, we're + keeping Mr. Lindau from his dinner." + </p> + <p> + "Dinner!" cried the old man. "Idt's better than breadt and meadt to see + Mr. Marge!" + </p> + <p> + "I must be going, anyway," said March. "But I must see you again soon, + Lindau. Where do you live? I want a long talk." + </p> + <p> + "And I. You will find me here at dinner-time." said the old man. "It is + the best place"; and March fancied him reluctant to give another address. + </p> + <p> + To cover his consciousness he answered, gayly: "Then, it's 'auf + wiedersehen' with us. Well!" + </p> + <p> + "Also!" The old man took his hand, and made a mechanical movement with his + mutilated arm, as if he would have taken it in a double clasp. He laughed + at himself. "I wanted to gif you the other handt, too, but I gafe it to + your gountry a goodt while ago." + </p> + <p> + "To my country?" asked March, with a sense of pain, and yet lightly, as if + it were a joke of the old man's. "Your country, too, Lindau?" + </p> + <p> + The old man turned very grave, and said, almost coldly, "What gountry hass + a poor man got, Mr. Marge?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, you ought to have a share in the one you helped to save for us rich + men, Lindau," March returned, still humoring the joke. + </p> + <p> + The old man smiled sadly, but made no answer as he sat down again. + </p> + <p> + "Seems to be a little soured," said Fulkerson, as they went down the + steps. He was one of those Americans whose habitual conception of life is + unalloyed prosperity. When any experience or observation of his went + counter to it he suffered—something like physical pain. He eagerly + shrugged away the impression left upon his buoyancy by Lindau, and added + to March's continued silence, "What did I tell you about meeting every man + in New York that you ever knew before?" + </p> + <p> + "I never expected to meat Lindau in the world again," said March, more to + himself than to Fulkerson. "I had an impression that he had been killed in + the war. I almost wish he had been." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, hello, now!" cried Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + March laughed, but went on soberly: "He was a man predestined to + adversity, though. When I first knew him out in Indianapolis he was + starving along with a sick wife and a sick newspaper. It was before the + Germans had come over to the Republicans generally, but Lindau was + fighting the anti-slavery battle just as naturally at Indianapolis in 1858 + as he fought behind the barricades at Berlin in 1848. And yet he was + always such a gentle soul! And so generous! He taught me German for the + love of it; he wouldn't spoil his pleasure by taking a cent from me; he + seemed to get enough out of my being young and enthusiastic, and out of + prophesying great things for me. I wonder what the poor old fellow is + doing here, with that one hand of his?" + </p> + <p> + "Not amassing a very 'handsome pittance,' I guess, as Artemus Ward would + say," said Fulkerson, getting back some of his lightness. "There are lots + of two-handed fellows in New York that are not doing much better, I guess. + Maybe he gets some writing on the German papers." + </p> + <p> + "I hope so. He's one of the most accomplished men! He used to be a + splendid musician—pianist—and knows eight or ten languages." + </p> + <p> + "Well, it's astonishing," said Fulkerson, "how much lumber those Germans + can carry around in their heads all their lives, and never work it up into + anything. It's a pity they couldn't do the acquiring, and let out the use + of their learning to a few bright Americans. We could make things hum, if + we could arrange 'em that way." + </p> + <p> + He talked on, unheeded by March, who went along half-consciously tormented + by his lightness in the pensive memories the meeting with Lindau had + called up. Was this all that sweet, unselfish nature could come to? What a + homeless old age at that meagre Italian table d'hote, with that tall glass + of beer for a half-hour's oblivion! That shabby dress, that pathetic + mutilation! He must have a pension, twelve dollars a month, or eighteen, + from a grateful country. But what else did he eke out with? + </p> + <p> + "Well, here we are," said Fulkerson, cheerily. He ran up the steps before + March, and opened the carpenter's temporary valve in the door frame, and + led the way into a darkness smelling sweetly of unpainted wood-work and + newly dried plaster; their feet slipped on shavings and grated on sand. He + scratched a match, and found a candle, and then walked about up and down + stairs, and lectured on the advantages of the place. He had fitted up + bachelor apartments for himself in the house, and said that he was going + to have a flat to let on the top floor. "I didn't offer it to you because + I supposed you'd be too proud to live over your shop; and it's too small, + anyway; only five rooms." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, that's too small," said March, shirking the other point. + </p> + <p> + "Well, then, here's the room I intend for your office," said Fulkerson, + showing him into a large back parlor one flight up. "You'll have it quiet + from the street noises here, and you can be at home or not, as you please. + There'll be a boy on the stairs to find out. Now, you see, this makes the + Grosvenor Green flat practicable, if you want it." + </p> + <p> + March felt the forces of fate closing about him and pushing him to a + decision. He feebly fought them off till he could have another look at the + flat. Then, baked and subdued still more by the unexpected presence of + Mrs. Grosvenor Green herself, who was occupying it so as to be able to + show it effectively, he took it. He was aware more than ever of its + absurdities; he knew that his wife would never cease to hate it; but he + had suffered one of those eclipses of the imagination to which men of his + temperament are subject, and into which he could see no future for his + desires. He felt a comfort in irretrievably committing himself, and + exchanging the burden of indecision for the burden of responsibility. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know," said Fulkerson, as they walked back to his hotel together, + "but you might fix it up with that lone widow and her pretty daughter to + take part of their house here." He seemed to be reminded of it by the fact + of passing the house, and March looked up at its dark front. He could not + have told exactly why he felt a pang of remorse at the sight, and + doubtless it was more regret for having taken the Grosvenor Green flat + than for not having taken the widow's rooms. Still, he could not forget + her wistfulness when his wife and he were looking at them, and her + disappointment when they decided against them. He had toyed, in his + after-talk to Mrs. March, with a sort of hypothetical obligation they had + to modify their plans so as to meet the widow's want of just such a family + as theirs; they had both said what a blessing it would be to her, and what + a pity they could not do it; but they had decided very distinctly that + they could not. Now it seemed to him that they might; and he asked himself + whether he had not actually departed as much from their ideal as if he had + taken board with the widow. Suddenly it seemed to him that his wife asked + him this, too. + </p> + <p> + "I reckon," said Fulkerson, "that she could have arranged to give you your + meals in your rooms, and it would have come to about the same thing as + housekeeping." + </p> + <p> + "No sort of boarding can be the same as house-keeping," said March. "I + want my little girl to have the run of a kitchen, and I want the whole + family to have the moral effect of housekeeping. It's demoralizing to + board, in every way; it isn't a home, if anybody else takes the care of it + off your hands." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I suppose so," Fulkerson assented; but March's words had a hollow + ring to himself, and in his own mind he began to retaliate his + dissatisfaction upon Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + He parted from him on the usual terms outwardly, but he felt obscurely + abused by Fulkerson in regard to the Dryfooses, father and son. He did not + know but Fulkerson had taken an advantage of him in allowing him to commit + himself to their enterprise without fully and frankly telling him who and + what his backer was; he perceived that with young Dryfoos as the publisher + and Fulkerson as the general director of the paper there might be very + little play for his own ideas of its conduct. Perhaps it was the hurt to + his vanity involved by the recognition of this fact that made him forget + how little choice he really had in the matter, and how, since he had not + accepted the offer to edit the insurance paper, nothing remained for him + but to close with Fulkerson. In this moment of suspicion and resentment he + accused Fulkerson of hastening his decision in regard to the Grosvenor + Green apartment; he now refused to consider it a decision, and said to + himself that if he felt disposed to do so he would send Mrs. Green a note + reversing it in the morning. But he put it all off till morning with his + clothes, when he went to bed, he put off even thinking what his wife would + say; he cast Fulkerson and his constructive treachery out of his mind, + too, and invited into it some pensive reveries of the past, when he still + stood at the parting of the ways, and could take this path or that. In his + middle life this was not possible; he must follow the path chosen long + ago, wherever, it led. He was not master of himself, as he once seemed, + but the servant of those he loved; if he could do what he liked, perhaps + he might renounce this whole New York enterprise, and go off somewhere out + of the reach of care; but he could not do what he liked, that was very + clear. In the pathos of this conviction he dwelt compassionately upon the + thought of poor old Lindau; he resolved to make him accept a handsome sum + of money—more than he could spare, something that he would feel the + loss of—in payment of the lessons in German and fencing given so + long ago. At the usual rate for such lessons, his debt, with interest for + twenty-odd years, would run very far into the hundreds. Too far, he + perceived, for his wife's joyous approval; he determined not to add the + interest; or he believed that Lindau would refuse the interest; he put a + fine speech in his mouth, making him do so; and after that he got Lindau + employment on 'Every Other Week,' and took care of him till he died. + </p> + <p> + Through all his melancholy and munificence he was aware of sordid + anxieties for having taken the Grosvenor Green apartment. These began to + assume visible, tangible shapes as he drowsed, and to became personal + entities, from which he woke, with little starts, to a realization of + their true nature, and then suddenly fell fast asleep. + </p> + <p> + In the accomplishment of the events which his reverie played with, there + was much that retroactively stamped it with prophecy, but much also that + was better than he forboded. He found that with regard to the Grosvenor + Green apartment he had not allowed for his wife's willingness to get any + sort of roof over her head again after the removal from their old home, or + for the alleviations that grow up through mere custom. The practical + workings of the apartment were not so bad; it had its good points, and + after the first sensation of oppression in it they began to feel the + convenience of its arrangement. They were at that time of life when people + first turn to their children's opinion with deference, and, in the loss of + keenness in their own likes and dislikes, consult the young preferences + which are still so sensitive. It went far to reconcile Mrs. March to the + apartment that her children were pleased with its novelty; when this wore + off for them, she had herself begun to find it much more easily manageable + than a house. After she had put away several barrels of gimcracks, and + folded up screens and rugs and skins, and carried them all off to the + little dark store-room which the flat developed, she perceived at once a + roominess and coziness in it unsuspected before. Then, when people began + to call, she had a pleasure, a superiority, in saying that it was a + furnished apartment, and in disclaiming all responsibility for the + upholstery and decoration. If March was by, she always explained that it + was Mr. March's fancy, and amiably laughed it off with her callers as a + mannish eccentricity. Nobody really seemed to think it otherwise than + pretty; and this again was a triumph for Mrs. March, because it showed how + inferior the New York taste was to the Boston taste in such matters. + </p> + <p> + March submitted silently to his punishment, and laughed with her before + company at his own eccentricity. She had been so preoccupied with the + adjustment of the family to its new quarters and circumstances that the + time passed for laying his misgivings, if they were misgivings, about + Fulkerson before her, and when an occasion came for expressing them they + had themselves passed in the anxieties of getting forward the first number + of 'Every Other Week.' He kept these from her, too, and the business that + brought them to New York had apparently dropped into abeyance before the + questions of domestic economy that presented and absented themselves. + March knew his wife to be a woman of good mind and in perfect sympathy + with him, but he understood the limitations of her perspective; and if he + was not too wise, he was too experienced to intrude upon it any affairs of + his till her own were reduced to the right order and proportion. It would + have been folly to talk to her of Fulkerson's conjecturable uncandor while + she was in doubt whether her cook would like the kitchen, or her two + servants would consent to room together; and till it was decided what + school Tom should go to, and whether Bella should have lessons at home or + not, the relation which March was to bear to the Dryfooses, as owner and + publisher, was not to be discussed with his wife. He might drag it in, but + he was aware that with her mind distracted by more immediate interests he + could not get from her that judgment, that reasoned divination, which he + relied upon so much. She would try, she would do her best, but the result + would be a view clouded and discolored by the effort she must make. + </p> + <p> + He put the whole matter by, and gave himself to the details of the work + before him. In this he found not only escape, but reassurance, for it + became more and more apparent that whatever was nominally the structure of + the business, a man of his qualifications and his instincts could not have + an insignificant place in it. He had also the consolation of liking his + work, and of getting an instant grasp of it that grew constantly firmer + and closer. The joy of knowing that he had not made a mistake was great. + In giving rein to ambitions long forborne he seemed to get back to the + youth when he had indulged them first; and after half a lifetime passed in + pursuits alien to his nature, he was feeling the serene happiness of being + mated through his work to his early love. From the outside the spectacle + might have had its pathos, and it is not easy to justify such an + experiment as he had made at his time of life, except upon the ground + where he rested from its consideration—the ground of necessity. + </p> + <p> + His work was more in his thoughts than himself, however; and as the time + for the publication of the first number of his periodical came nearer, his + cares all centred upon it. Without fixing any date, Fulkerson had + announced it, and pushed his announcements with the shameless vigor of a + born advertiser. He worked his interest with the press to the utmost, and + paragraphs of a variety that did credit to his ingenuity were afloat + everywhere. Some of them were speciously unfavorable in tone; they + criticised and even ridiculed the principles on which the new departure in + literary journalism was based. Others defended it; others yet denied that + this rumored principle was really the principle. All contributed to make + talk. All proceeded from the same fertile invention. + </p> + <p> + March observed with a degree of mortification that the talk was very + little of it in the New York press; there the references to the novel + enterprise were slight and cold. But Fulkerson said: "Don't mind that, old + man. It's the whole country that makes or breaks a thing like this; New + York has very little to do with it. Now if it were a play, it would be + different. New York does make or break a play; but it doesn't make or + break a book; it doesn't make or break a magazine. The great mass of the + readers are outside of New York, and the rural districts are what we have + got to go for. They don't read much in New York; they write, and talk + about what they've written. Don't you worry." + </p> + <p> + The rumor of Fulkerson's connection with the enterprise accompanied many + of the paragraphs, and he was able to stay March's thirst for employment + by turning over to him from day to day heaps of the manuscripts which + began to pour in from his old syndicate writers, as well as from + adventurous volunteers all over the country. With these in hand March + began practically to plan the first number, and to concrete a general + scheme from the material and the experience they furnished. They had + intended to issue the first number with the new year, and if it had been + an affair of literature alone, it would have been very easy; but it was + the art leg they limped on, as Fulkerson phrased it. They had not merely + to deal with the question of specific illustrations for this article or + that, but to decide the whole character of their illustrations, and first + of all to get a design for a cover which should both ensnare the heedless + and captivate the fastidious. These things did not come properly within + March's province—that had been clearly understood—and for a + while Fulkerson tried to run the art leg himself. The phrase was again + his, but it was simpler to make the phrase than to run the leg. The + difficult generation, at once stiff-backed and slippery, with which he had + to do in this endeavor, reduced even so buoyant an optimist to despair, + and after wasting some valuable weeks in trying to work the artists + himself, he determined to get an artist to work them. But what artist? It + could not be a man with fixed reputation and a following: he would be too + costly, and would have too many enemies among his brethren, even if he + would consent to undertake the job. Fulkerson had a man in mind, an + artist, too, who would have been the very thing if he had been the thing + at all. He had talent enough, and his sort of talent would reach round the + whole situation, but, as Fulkerson said, he was as many kinds of an ass as + he was kinds of an artist. + </p> + <h3> + PG EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Anticipative homesickness + Any sort of stuff was good enough to make a preacher out of + Appearance made him doubt their ability to pay so much + As much of his story as he meant to tell without prompting + Considerable comfort in holding him accountable + Extract what consolation lurks in the irreparable + Flavors not very sharply distinguished from one another + Handsome pittance + He expected to do the wrong thing when left to his own devices + Hypothetical difficulty + Never-blooming shrub + Poverty as hopeless as any in the world + Seeming interested in points necessarily indifferent to him + Servant of those he loved + Sigh with which ladies recognize one another's martyrdom + Sorry he hadn't asked more; that's human nature + That isn't very old—or not so old as it used to be + Tried to be homesick for them, but failed + Turn to their children's opinion with deference + Wish we didn't always recognize the facts as we do +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SECOND PART + </h2> + <h3> + I. + </h3> + <p class="pfirst"> + <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>he evening when + March closed with Mrs. Green's reduced offer, and decided to take her + apartment, the widow whose lodgings he had rejected sat with her daughter + in an upper room at the back of her house. In the shaded glow of the + drop-light she was sewing, and the girl was drawing at the same table. + From time to time, as they talked, the girl lifted her head and tilted it + a little on one side so as to get some desired effect of her work. + </p> + <p> + "It's a mercy the cold weather holds off," said the mother. "We should + have to light the furnace, unless we wanted to scare everybody away with a + cold house; and I don't know who would take care of it, or what would + become of us, every way." + </p> + <p> + "They seem to have been scared away from a house that wasn't cold," said + the girl. "Perhaps they might like a cold one. But it's too early for cold + yet. It's only just in the beginning of November." + </p> + <p> + "The Messenger says they've had a sprinkling of snow." + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes, at St. Barnaby! I don't know when they don't have sprinklings of + snow there. I'm awfully glad we haven't got that winter before us." + </p> + <p> + The widow sighed as mothers do who feel the contrast their experience + opposes to the hopeful recklessness of such talk as this. "We may have a + worse winter here," she said, darkly. + </p> + <p> + "Then I couldn't stand it," said the girl, "and I should go in for + lighting out to Florida double-quick." + </p> + <p> + "And how would you get to Florida?" demanded her mother, severely. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, by the usual conveyance Pullman vestibuled train, I suppose. What + makes you so blue, mamma?" The girl was all the time sketching away, + rubbing out, lifting her head for the effect, and then bending it over her + work again without looking at her mother. + </p> + <p> + "I am not blue, Alma. But I cannot endure this—this hopefulness of + yours." + </p> + <p> + "Why? What harm does it do?" + </p> + <p> + "Harm?" echoed the mother. + </p> + <p> + Pending the effort she must make in saying, the girl cut in: "Yes, harm. + You've kept your despair dusted off and ready for use at an instant's + notice ever since we came, and what good has it done? I'm going to keep on + hoping to the bitter end. That's what papa did." + </p> + <p> + It was what the Rev. Archibald Leighton had done with all the + consumptive's buoyancy. The morning he died he told them that now he had + turned the point and was really going to get well. The cheerfulness was + not only in his disease, but in his temperament. Its excess was always a + little against him in his church work, and Mrs. Leighton was right enough + in feeling that if it had not been for the ballast of her instinctive + despondency he would have made shipwreck of such small chances of + prosperity as befell him in life. It was not from him that his daughter + got her talent, though he had left her his temperament intact of his + widow's legal thirds. He was one of those men of whom the country people + say when he is gone that the woman gets along better without him. Mrs. + Leighton had long eked out their income by taking a summer boarder or two, + as a great favor, into her family; and when the greater need came, she + frankly gave up her house to the summer-folks (as they call them in the + country), and managed it for their comfort from the small quarter of it in + which she shut herself up with her daughter. + </p> + <p> + The notion of shutting up is an exigency of the rounded period. The fact + is, of course, that Alma Leighton was not shut up in any sense whatever. + She was the pervading light, if not force, of the house. She was a good + cook, and she managed the kitchen with the help of an Irish girl, while + her mother looked after the rest of the housekeeping. But she was not + systematic; she had inspiration but not discipline, and her mother mourned + more over the days when Alma left the whole dinner to the Irish girl than + she rejoiced in those when one of Alma's great thoughts took form in a + chicken-pie of incomparable savor or in a matchless pudding. The off-days + came when her artistic nature was expressing itself in charcoal, for she + drew to the admiration of all among the lady boarders who could not draw. + The others had their reserves; they readily conceded that Alma had genius, + but they were sure she needed instruction. On the other hand, they were + not so radical as to agree with the old painter who came every summer to + paint the elms of the St. Barnaby meadows. He contended that she needed to + be a man in order to amount to anything; but in this theory he was opposed + by an authority, of his own sex, whom the lady sketchers believed to speak + with more impartiality in a matter concerning them as much as Alma + Leighton. He said that instruction would do, and he was not only younger + and handsomer, but he was fresher from the schools than old Harrington, + who, even the lady sketchers could see, painted in an obsolescent manner. + His name was Beaton—Angus Beaton; but he was not Scotch, or not more + Scotch than Mary Queen of Scots was. His father was a Scotchman, but + Beaton was born in Syracuse, New York, and it had taken only three years + in Paris to obliterate many traces of native and ancestral manner in him. + He wore his black beard cut shorter than his mustache, and a little + pointed; he stood with his shoulders well thrown back and with a lateral + curve of his person when he talked about art, which would alone have + carried conviction even if he had not had a thick, dark bang coming almost + to the brows of his mobile gray eyes, and had not spoken English with + quick, staccato impulses, so as to give it the effect of epigrammatic and + sententious French. One of the ladies said that you always thought of him + as having spoken French after it was over, and accused herself of wrong in + not being able to feel afraid of him. None of the ladies was afraid of + him, though they could not believe that he was really so deferential to + their work as he seemed; and they knew, when he would not criticise Mr. + Harrington's work, that he was just acting from principle. + </p> + <p> + They may or may not have known the deference with which he treated Alma's + work; but the girl herself felt that his abrupt, impersonal comment + recognized her as a real sister in art. He told her she ought to come to + New York, and draw in the League, or get into some painter's private + class; and it was the sense of duty thus appealed to which finally + resulted in the hazardous experiment she and her mother were now making. + There were no logical breaks in the chain of their reasoning from past + success with boarders in St. Barnaby to future success with boarders in + New York. Of course the outlay was much greater. The rent of the furnished + house they had taken was such that if they failed their experiment would + be little less than ruinous. + </p> + <p> + But they were not going to fail; that was what Alma contended, with a + hardy courage that her mother sometimes felt almost invited failure, if it + did not deserve it. She was one of those people who believe that if you + dread harm enough it is less likely to happen. She acted on this + superstition as if it were a religion. + </p> + <p> + "If it had not been for my despair, as you call it, Alma," she answered, + "I don't know where we should have been now." + </p> + <p> + "I suppose we should have been in St. Barnaby," said the girl. "And if + it's worse to be in New York, you see what your despair's done, mamma. But + what's the use? You meant well, and I don't blame you. You can't expect + even despair to come out always just the way you want it. Perhaps you've + used too much of it." The girl laughed, and Mrs. Leighton laughed, too. + Like every one else, she was not merely a prevailing mood, as people are + apt to be in books, but was an irregularly spheroidal character, with + surfaces that caught the different lights of circumstance and reflected + them. Alma got up and took a pose before the mirror, which she then + transferred to her sketch. The room was pinned about with other sketches, + which showed with fantastic indistinctness in the shaded gaslight. Alma + held up the drawing. "How do you like it?" + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Leighton bent forward over her sewing to look at it. "You've got the + man's face rather weak." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, that's so. Either I see all the hidden weakness that's in men's + natures, and bring it to the surface in their figures, or else I put my + own weakness into them. Either way, it's a drawback to their presenting a + truly manly appearance. As long as I have one of the miserable objects + before me, I can draw him; but as soon as his back's turned I get to + putting ladies into men's clothes. I should think you'd be scandalized, + mamma, if you were a really feminine person. It must be your despair that + helps you to bear up. But what's the matter with the young lady in young + lady's clothes? Any dust on her?" + </p> + <p> + "What expressions!" said Mrs. Leighton. "Really, Alma, for a refined girl + you are the most unrefined!" + </p> + <p> + "Go on—about the girl in the picture!" said Alma, slightly knocking + her mother on the shoulder, as she stood over her. + </p> + <p> + "I don't see anything to her. What's she doing?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, just being made love to, I suppose." + </p> + <p> + "She's perfectly insipid!" + </p> + <p> + "You're awfully articulate, mamma! Now, if Mr. Wetmore were to criticise + that picture he'd draw a circle round it in the air, and look at it + through that, and tilt his head first on one side and then on the other, + and then look at you, as if you were a figure in it, and then collapse + awhile, and moan a little and gasp, 'Isn't your young lady a little + too-too—' and then he'd try to get the word out of you, and groan + and suffer some more; and you'd say, 'She is, rather,' and that would give + him courage, and he'd say, 'I don't mean that she's so very—' 'Of + course not.' 'You understand?' 'Perfectly. I see it myself, now.' 'Well, + then'—-and he'd take your pencil and begin to draw—'I should + give her a little more—Ah?' 'Yes, I see the difference.'—'You + see the difference?' And he'd go off to some one else, and you'd know that + you'd been doing the wishy-washiest thing in the world, though he hadn't + spoken a word of criticism, and couldn't. But he wouldn't have noticed the + expression at all; he'd have shown you where your drawing was bad. He + doesn't care for what he calls the literature of a thing; he says that + will take care of itself if the drawing's good. He doesn't like my doing + these chic things; but I'm going to keep it up, for I think it's the + nearest way to illustrating." + </p> + <p> + She took her sketch and pinned it up on the door. + </p> + <p> + "And has Mr. Beaton been about, yet?" asked her mother. + </p> + <p> + "No," said the girl, with her back still turned; and she added, "I believe + he's in New York; Mr. Wetmore's seen him." + </p> + <p> + "It's a little strange he doesn't call." + </p> + <p> + "It would be if he were not an artist. But artists never do anything like + other people. He was on his good behavior while he was with us, and he's a + great deal more conventional than most of them; but even he can't keep it + up. That's what makes me really think that women can never amount to + anything in art. They keep all their appointments, and fulfil all their + duties just as if they didn't know anything about art. Well, most of them + don't. We've got that new model to-day." + </p> + <p> + "What new model?" + </p> + <p> + "The one Mr. Wetmore was telling us about—the old German; he's + splendid. He's got the most beautiful head; just like the old masters' + things. He used to be Humphrey Williams's model for his Biblical-pieces; + but since he's dead, the old man hardly gets anything to do. Mr. Wetmore + says there isn't anybody in the Bible that Williams didn't paint him as. + He's the Law and the Prophets in all his Old Testament pictures, and he's + Joseph, Peter, Judas Iscariot, and the Scribes and Pharisees in the New." + </p> + <p> + "It's a good thing people don't know how artists work, or some of the most + sacred pictures would have no influence," said Mrs. Leighton. + </p> + <p> + "Why, of course not!" cried the girl. "And the influence is the last thing + a painter thinks of—or supposes he thinks of. What he knows he's + anxious about is the drawing and the color. But people will never + understand how simple artists are. When I reflect what a complex and + sophisticated being I am, I'm afraid I can never come to anything in art. + Or I should be if I hadn't genius." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think Mr. Beaton is very simple?" asked Mrs. Leighton. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Wetmore doesn't think he's very much of an artist. He thinks he talks + too well. They believe that if a man can express himself clearly he can't + paint." + </p> + <p> + "And what do you believe?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I can express myself, too." + </p> + <p> + The mother seemed to be satisfied with this evasion. After a while she + said, "I presume he will call when he gets settled." + </p> + <p> + The girl made no answer to this. "One of the girls says that old model is + an educated man. He was in the war, and lost a hand. Doesn't it seem a + pity for such a man to have to sit to a class of affected geese like us as + a model? I declare it makes me sick. And we shall keep him a week, and pay + him six or seven dollars for the use of his grand old head, and then what + will he do? The last time he was regularly employed was when Mr. Mace was + working at his Damascus Massacre. Then he wanted so many Arab sheiks and + Christian elders that he kept old Mr. Lindau steadily employed for six + months. Now he has to pick up odd jobs where he can." + </p> + <p> + "I suppose he has his pension," said Mrs. Leighton. + </p> + <p> + "No; one of the girls"—that was the way Alma always described her + fellow-students—"says he has no pension. He didn't apply for it for + a long time, and then there was a hitch about it, and it was somethinged—vetoed, + I believe she said." + </p> + <p> + "Who vetoed it?" asked Mrs. Leighton, with some curiosity about the + process, which she held in reserve. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know—whoever vetoes things. I wonder what Mr. Wetmore does + think of us—his class. We must seem perfectly crazy. There isn't one + of us really knows what she's doing it for, or what she expects to happen + when she's done it. I suppose every one thinks she has genius. I know the + Nebraska widow does, for she says that unless you have genius it isn't the + least use. Everybody's puzzled to know what she does with her baby when + she's at work—whether she gives it soothing syrup. I wonder how Mr. + Wetmore can keep from laughing in our faces. I know he does behind our + backs." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Leighton's mind wandered back to another point. "Then if he says Mr. + Beaton can't paint, I presume he doesn't respect him very much." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, he never said he couldn't paint. But I know he thinks so. He says + he's an excellent critic." + </p> + <p> + "Alma," her mother said, with the effect of breaking off, "what do you + suppose is the reason he hasn't been near us?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, I don't know, mamma, except that it would have been natural for + another person to come, and he's an artist at least, artist enough for + that." + </p> + <p> + "That doesn't account for it altogether. He was very nice at St. Barnaby, + and seemed so interested in you—your work." + </p> + <p> + "Plenty of people were nice at St. Barnaby. That rich Mrs. Horn couldn't + contain her joy when she heard we were coming to New York, but she hasn't + poured in upon us a great deal since we got here." + </p> + <p> + "But that's different. She's very fashionable, and she's taken up with her + own set. But Mr. Beaton's one of our kind." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you. Papa wasn't quite a tombstone-cutter, mamma." + </p> + <p> + "That makes it all the harder to bear. He can't be ashamed of us. Perhaps + he doesn't know where we are." + </p> + <p> + "Do you wish to send him your card, mamma?" The girl flushed and towered + in scorn of the idea. + </p> + <p> + "Why, no, Alma," returned her mother. + </p> + <p> + "Well, then," said Alma. + </p> + <p> + But Mrs. Leighton was not so easily quelled. She had got her mind on Mr. + Beaton, and she could not detach it at once. Besides, she was one of those + women (they are commoner than the same sort of men) whom it does not pain + to take out their most intimate thoughts and examine them in the light of + other people's opinions. "But I don't see how he can behave so. He must + know that—" + </p> + <p> + "That what, mamma?" demanded the girl. + </p> + <p> + "That he influenced us a great deal in coming—" + </p> + <p> + "He didn't. If he dared to presume to think such a thing—" + </p> + <p> + "Now, Alma," said her mother, with the clinging persistence of such + natures, "you know he did. And it's no use for you to pretend that we + didn't count upon him in—in every way. You may not have noticed his + attentions, and I don't say you did, but others certainly did; and I must + say that I didn't expect he would drop us so." + </p> + <p> + "Drop us!" cried Alma, in a fury. "Oh!" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, drop us, Alma. He must know where we are. Of course, Mr. Wetmore's + spoken to him about you, and it's a shame that he hasn't been near us. I + should have thought common gratitude, common decency, would have brought + him after—after all we did for him." + </p> + <p> + "We did nothing for him—nothing! He paid his board, and that ended + it." + </p> + <p> + "No, it didn't, Alma. You know what he used to say—about its being + like home, and all that; and I must say that after his attentions to you, + and all the things you told me he said, I expected something very dif—" + </p> + <p> + A sharp peal of the door-bell thrilled through the house, and as if the + pull of the bell-wire had twitched her to her feet, Mrs. Leighton sprang + up and grappled with her daughter in their common terror. + </p> + <p> + They both glared at the clock and made sure that it was five minutes after + nine. Then they abandoned themselves some moments to the unrestricted play + of their apprehensions. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + "Why, Alma," whispered the mother, "who in the world can it be at this + time of night? You don't suppose he—" + </p> + <p> + "Well, I'm not going to the door, anyhow, mother, I don't care who it is; + and, of course, he wouldn't be such a goose as to come at this hour." She + put on a look of miserable trepidation, and shrank back from the door, + while the hum of the bell died away, in the hall. + </p> + <p> + "What shall we do?" asked Mrs. Leighton, helplessly. + </p> + <p> + "Let him go away—whoever they are," said Alma. + </p> + <p> + Another and more peremptory ring forbade them refuge in this simple + expedient. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, dear! what shall we do? Perhaps it's a despatch." + </p> + <p> + The conjecture moved Alma to no more than a rigid stare. "I shall not go," + she said. A third ring more insistent than the others followed, and she + said: "You go ahead, mamma, and I'll come behind to scream if it's + anybody. We can look through the side-lights at the door first." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Leighton fearfully led the way from the back chamber where they had + been sitting, and slowly descended the stairs. Alma came behind and turned + up the hall gas-jet with a sudden flash that made them both jump a little. + The gas inside rendered it more difficult to tell who was on the + threshold, but Mrs. Leighton decided from a timorous peep through the + scrims that it was a lady and gentleman. Something in this distribution of + sex emboldened her; she took her life in her hand, and opened the door. + </p> + <p> + The lady spoke. "Does Mrs. Leighton live heah?" she said, in a rich, + throaty voice; and she feigned a reference to the agent's permit she held + in her hand. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said Mrs. Leighton; she mechanically occupied the doorway, while + Alma already quivered behind her with impatience of her impoliteness. + </p> + <p> + "Oh," said the lady, who began to appear more and more a young lady, "Ah + didn't know but Ah had mistaken the hoase. Ah suppose it's rather late to + see the apawtments, and Ah most ask you to pawdon us." She put this + tentatively, with a delicately growing recognition of Mrs. Leighton as the + lady of the house, and a humorous intelligence of the situation in the + glance she threw Alma over her mother's shoulder. "Ah'm afraid we most + have frightened you." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, not at all," said Alma; and at the same time her mother said, "Will + you walk in, please?" + </p> + <p> + The gentleman promptly removed his hat and made the Leightons an inclusive + bow. "You awe very kind, madam, and I am sorry for the trouble we awe + giving you." He was tall and severe-looking, with a gray, trooperish + mustache and iron-gray hair, and, as Alma decided, iron-gray eyes. His + daughter was short, plump, and fresh-colored, with an effect of liveliness + that did not all express itself in her broad-vowelled, rather formal + speech, with its odd valuations of some of the auxiliary verbs, and its + total elision of the canine letter. + </p> + <p> + "We awe from the Soath," she said, "and we arrived this mawning, but we + got this cyahd from the brokah just befo' dinnah, and so we awe rathah + late." + </p> + <p> + "Not at all; it's only nine o'clock," said Mrs. Leighton. She looked up + from the card the young lady had given her, and explained, "We haven't got + in our servants yet, and we had to answer the bell ourselves, and—" + </p> + <p> + "You were frightened, of coase," said the young lady, caressingly. + </p> + <p> + The gentleman said they ought not to have come so late, and he offered + some formal apologies. + </p> + <p> + "We should have been just as much scared any time after five o'clock," + Alma said to the sympathetic intelligence in the girl's face. + </p> + <p> + She laughed out. "Of coase! Ah would have my hawt in my moath all day + long, too, if Ah was living in a big hoase alone." + </p> + <p> + A moment of stiffness followed; Mrs. Leighton would have liked to withdraw + from the intimacy of the situation, but she did not know how. It was very + well for these people to assume to be what they pretended; but, she + reflected too late, she had no proof of it except the agent's permit. They + were all standing in the hall together, and she prolonged the awkward + pause while she examined the permit. "You are Mr. Woodburn?" she asked, in + a way that Alma felt implied he might not be. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, madam; from Charlottesboag, Virginia," he answered, with the slight + umbrage a man shows when the strange cashier turns his check over and + questions him before cashing it. + </p> + <p> + Alma writhed internally, but outwardly remained subordinate; she examined + the other girl's dress, and decided in a superficial consciousness that + she had made her own bonnet. + </p> + <p> + "I shall be glad to show you my rooms," said Mrs. Leighton, with an + irrelevant sigh. "You must excuse their being not just as I should wish + them. We're hardly settled yet." + </p> + <p> + "Don't speak of it, madam," said the gentleman, "if you can overlook the + trouble we awe giving you at such an unseasonable houah." + </p> + <p> + "Ah'm a hoasekeepah mahself," Miss Woodburn joined in, "and Ah know ho' to + accyoant fo' everything." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Leighton led the way up-stairs, and the young lady decided upon the + large front room and small side room on the third story. She said she + could take the small one, and the other was so large that her father could + both sleep and work in it. She seemed not ashamed to ask if Mrs. + Leighton's price was inflexible, but gave way laughing when her father + refused to have any bargaining, with a haughty self-respect which he + softened to deference for Mrs. Leighton. His impulsiveness opened the way + for some confidence from her, and before the affair was arranged she was + enjoying in her quality of clerical widow the balm of the Virginians' + reverent sympathy. They said they were church people themselves. + </p> + <p> + "Ah don't know what yo' mothah means by yo' hoase not being in oddah," the + young lady said to Alma as they went down-stairs together. "Ah'm a great + hoasekeepah mahself, and Ah mean what Ah say." + </p> + <p> + They had all turned mechanically into the room where the Leightons were + sitting when the Woodburns rang: Mr. Woodburn consented to sit down, and + he remained listening to Mrs. Leighton while his daughter bustled up to + the sketches pinned round the room and questioned Alma about them. + </p> + <p> + "Ah suppose you awe going to be a great awtust?" she said, in friendly + banter, when Alma owned to having done the things. "Ah've a great notion + to take a few lessons mahself. Who's yo' teachah?" + </p> + <p> + Alma said she was drawing in Mr. Wetmore's class, and Miss Woodburn said: + "Well, it's just beautiful, Miss Leighton; it's grand. Ah suppose it's + raght expensive, now? Mah goodness! we have to cyoant the coast so much + nowadays; it seems to me we do nothing but cyoant it. Ah'd like to hah + something once without askin' the price." + </p> + <p> + "Well, if you didn't ask it," said Alma, "I don't believe Mr. Wetmore + would ever know what the price of his lessons was. He has to think, when + you ask him." + </p> + <p> + "Why, he most be chomming," said Miss Woodburn. "Perhaps Ah maght get the + lessons for nothing from him. Well, Ah believe in my soul Ah'll trah. Now + ho' did you begin? and ho' do you expect to get anything oat of it?" She + turned on Alma eyes brimming with a shrewd mixture of fun and earnest, and + Alma made note of the fact that she had an early nineteenth-century face, + round, arch, a little coquettish, but extremely sensible and + unspoiled-looking, such as used to be painted a good deal in miniature at + that period; a tendency of her brown hair to twine and twist at the + temples helped the effect; a high comb would have completed it, Alma felt, + if she had her bonnet off. It was almost a Yankee country-girl type; but + perhaps it appeared so to Alma because it was, like that, pure + Anglo-Saxon. Alma herself, with her dull, dark skin, slender in figure, + slow in speech, with aristocratic forms in her long hands, and the oval of + her fine face pointed to a long chin, felt herself much more Southern in + style than this blooming, bubbling, bustling Virginian. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know," she answered, slowly. + </p> + <p> + "Going to take po'traits," suggested Miss Woodburn, "or just paint the + ahdeal?" A demure burlesque lurked in her tone. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose I don't expect to paint at all," said Alma. "I'm going to + illustrate books—if anybody will let me." + </p> + <p> + "Ah should think they'd just joamp at you," said Miss Woodburn. "Ah'll + tell you what let's do, Miss Leighton: you make some pictures, and Ah'll + wrahte a book fo' them. Ah've got to do something. Ali maght as well + wrahte a book. You know we Southerners have all had to go to woak. But Ah + don't mand it. I tell papa I shouldn't ca' fo' the disgrace of bein' poo' + if it wasn't fo' the inconvenience." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, it's inconvenient," said Alma; "but you forget it when you're at + work, don't you think?" + </p> + <p> + "Mah, yes! Perhaps that's one reason why poo' people have to woak so hawd—to + keep their mands off their poverty." + </p> + <p> + The girls both tittered, and turned from talking in a low tone with their + backs toward their elders, and faced them. + </p> + <p> + "Well, Madison," said Mr. Woodburn, "it is time we should go. I bid you + good-night, madam," he bowed to Mrs. Leighton. "Good-night," he bowed + again to Alma. + </p> + <p> + His daughter took leave of them in formal phrase, but with a jolly + cordiality of manner that deformalized it. "We shall be roand raght soon + in the mawning, then," she threatened at the door. + </p> + <p> + "We shall be all ready for you," Alma called after her down the steps. + </p> + <p> + "Well, Alma?" her mother asked, when the door closed upon them. + </p> + <p> + "She doesn't know any more about art," said Alma, "than—nothing at + all. But she's jolly and good-hearted. She praised everything that was bad + in my sketches, and said she was going to take lessons herself. When a + person talks about taking lessons, as if they could learn it, you know + where they belong artistically." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Leighton shook her head with a sigh. "I wish I knew where they + belonged financially. We shall have to get in two girls at once. I shall + have to go out the first thing in the morning, and then our troubles will + begin." + </p> + <p> + "Well, didn't you want them to begin? I will stay home and help you get + ready. Our prosperity couldn't begin without the troubles, if you mean + boarders, and boarders mean servants. I shall be very glad to be afflicted + with a cook for a while myself." + </p> + <p> + "Yes; but we don't know anything about these people, or whether they will + be able to pay us. Did she talk as if they were well off?" + </p> + <p> + "She talked as if they were poor; poo' she called it." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, how queerly she pronounced," said Mrs. Leighton. "Well, I ought to + have told them that I required the first week in advance." + </p> + <p> + "Mamma! If that's the way you're going to act!" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, of course, I couldn't, after he wouldn't let her bargain for the + rooms. I didn't like that." + </p> + <p> + "I did. And you can see that they were perfect ladies; or at least one of + them." Alma laughed at herself, but her mother did not notice. + </p> + <p> + "Their being ladies won't help if they've got no money. It'll make it all + the worse." + </p> + <p> + "Very well, then; we have no money, either. We're a match for them any day + there. We can show them that two can play at that game." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + Arnus Beaton's studio looked at first glance like many other painters' + studios. A gray wall quadrangularly vaulted to a large north light; casts + of feet, hands, faces hung to nails about; prints, sketches in oil and + water-color stuck here and there lower down; a rickety table, with paint + and palettes and bottles of varnish and siccative tossed comfortlessly on + it; an easel, with a strip of some faded mediaeval silk trailing from it; + a lay figure simpering in incomplete nakedness, with its head on one side, + and a stocking on one leg, and a Japanese dress dropped before it; dusty + rugs and skins kicking over the varnished floor; canvases faced to the + mop-board; an open trunk overflowing with costumes: these features one + might notice anywhere. But, besides, there was a bookcase with an unusual + number of books in it, and there was an open colonial writing-desk, + claw-footed, brass-handled, and scutcheoned, with foreign periodicals—French + and English—littering its leaf, and some pages of manuscript + scattered among them. Above all, there was a sculptor's revolving stand, + supporting a bust which Beaton was modelling, with an eye fixed as + simultaneously as possible on the clay and on the head of the old man who + sat on the platform beside it. + </p> + <p> + Few men have been able to get through the world with several gifts to + advantage in all; and most men seem handicapped for the race if they have + more than one. But they are apparently immensely interested as well as + distracted by them. When Beaton was writing, he would have agreed, up to a + certain point, with any one who said literature was his proper expression; + but, then, when he was painting, up to a certain point, he would have + maintained against the world that he was a colorist, and supremely a + colorist. At the certain point in either art he was apt to break away in a + frenzy of disgust and wreak himself upon some other. In these moods he + sometimes designed elevations of buildings, very striking, very original, + very chic, very everything but habitable. It was in this way that he had + tried his hand on sculpture, which he had at first approached rather + slightingly as a mere decorative accessory of architecture. But it had + grown in his respect till he maintained that the accessory business ought + to be all the other way: that temples should be raised to enshrine + statues, not statues made to ornament temples; that was putting the cart + before the horse with a vengeance. This was when he had carried a plastic + study so far that the sculptors who saw it said that Beaton might have + been an architect, but would certainly never be a sculptor. At the same + time he did some hurried, nervous things that had a popular charm, and + that sold in plaster reproductions, to the profit of another. Beaton + justly despised the popular charm in these, as well as in the paintings he + sold from time to time; he said it was flat burglary to have taken money + for them, and he would have been living almost wholly upon the bounty of + the old tombstone-cutter in Syracuse if it had not been for the syndicate + letters which he supplied to Fulkerson for ten dollars a week. + </p> + <p> + They were very well done, but he hated doing them after the first two or + three, and had to be punched up for them by Fulkerson, who did not cease + to prize them, and who never failed to punch him up. Beaton being what he + was, Fulkerson was his creditor as well as patron; and Fulkerson being + what he was, had an enthusiastic patience with the elusive, facile, + adaptable, unpractical nature of Beaton. He was very proud of his + art-letters, as he called them; but then Fulkerson was proud of everything + he secured for his syndicate. The fact that he had secured it gave it + value; he felt as if he had written it himself. + </p> + <p> + One art trod upon another's heels with Beaton. The day before he had + rushed upon canvas the conception of a picture which he said to himself + was glorious, and to others (at the table d'hote of Maroni) was not bad. + He had worked at it in a fury till the light failed him, and he execrated + the dying day. But he lit his lamp and transferred the process of his + thinking from the canvas to the opening of the syndicate letter which he + knew Fulkerson would be coming for in the morning. He remained talking so + long after dinner in the same strain as he had painted and written in that + he could not finish his letter that night. The next morning, while he was + making his tea for breakfast, the postman brought him a letter from his + father enclosing a little check, and begging him with tender, almost + deferential, urgence to come as lightly upon him as possible, for just now + his expenses were very heavy. It brought tears of shame into Beaton's eyes—the + fine, smouldering, floating eyes that many ladies admired, under the thick + bang—and he said to himself that if he were half a man he would go + home and go to work cutting gravestones in his father's shop. But he would + wait, at least, to finish his picture; and as a sop to his conscience, to + stay its immediate ravening, he resolved to finish that syndicate letter + first, and borrow enough money from Fulkerson to be able to send his + father's check back; or, if not that, then to return the sum of it partly + in Fulkerson's check. While he still teemed with both of these good + intentions the old man from whom he was modelling his head of Judas came, + and Beaton saw that he must get through with him before he finished either + the picture or the letter; he would have to pay him for the time, anyway. + He utilized the remorse with which he was tingling to give his Judas an + expression which he found novel in the treatment of that character—a + look of such touching, appealing self-abhorrence that Beaton's artistic + joy in it amounted to rapture; between the breathless moments when he + worked in dead silence for an effect that was trying to escape him, he + sang and whistled fragments of comic opera. + </p> + <p> + In one of the hushes there came a blow on the outside of the door that + made Beaton jump, and swear with a modified profanity that merged itself + in apostrophic prayer. He knew it must be Fulkerson, and after roaring + "Come in!" he said to the model, "That'll do this morning, Lindau." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson squared his feet in front of the bust and compared it by + fleeting glances with the old man as he got stiffly up and suffered Beaton + to help him on with his thin, shabby overcoat. + </p> + <p> + "Can you come to-morrow, Lindau?" + </p> + <p> + "No, not to-morrow, Mr. Peaton. I haf to zit for the young ladties." + </p> + <p> + "Oh!" said Beaton. "Wetmore's class? Is Miss Leighton doing you?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know their namess," Lindau began, when Fulkerson said: + </p> + <p> + "Hope you haven't forgotten mine, Mr. Lindau? I met you with Mr. March at + Maroni's one night." Fulkerson offered him a universally shakable hand. + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes! I am gladt to zee you again, Mr. Vulkerson. And Mr. Marge—he + don't zeem to gome any more?" + </p> + <p> + "Up to his eyes in work. Been moving on from Boston and getting settled, + and starting in on our enterprise. Beaton here hasn't got a very + flattering likeness of you, hey? Well, good-morning," he said, for Lindau + appeared not to have heard him and was escaping with a bow through the + door. + </p> + <p> + Beaton lit a cigarette which he pinched nervously between his lips before + he spoke. "You've come for that letter, I suppose, Fulkerson? It isn't + done." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson turned from staring at the bust to which he had mounted. "What + you fretting about that letter for? I don't want your letter." + </p> + <p> + Beaton stopped biting his cigarette and looked at him. "Don't want my + letter? Oh, very good!" he bristled up. He took his cigarette from his + lips, and blew the smoke through his nostrils, and then looked at + Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + "No; I don't want your letter; I want you." + </p> + <p> + Beaton disdained to ask an explanation, but he internally lowered his + crest, while he continued to look at Fulkerson without changing his + defiant countenance. This suited Fulkerson well enough, and he went on + with relish, "I'm going out of the syndicate business, old man, and I'm on + a new thing." He put his leg over the back of a chair and rested his foot + on its seat, and, with one hand in his pocket, he laid the scheme of + 'Every Other Week' before Beaton with the help of the other. The artist + went about the room, meanwhile, with an effect of indifference which by no + means offended Fulkerson. He took some water into his mouth from a + tumbler, which he blew in a fine mist over the head of Judas before + swathing it in a dirty cotton cloth; he washed his brushes and set his + palette; he put up on his easel the picture he had blocked on the day + before, and stared at it with a gloomy face; then he gathered the sheets + of his unfinished letter together and slid them into a drawer of his + writing-desk. By the time he had finished and turned again to Fulkerson, + Fulkerson was saying: "I did think we could have the first number out by + New-Year's; but it will take longer than that—a month longer; but + I'm not sorry, for the holidays kill everything; and by February, or the + middle of February, people will get their breath again and begin to look + round and ask what's new. Then we'll reply in the language of Shakespeare + and Milton, 'Every Other Week; and don't you forget it.'" He took down his + leg and asked, "Got a pipe of 'baccy anywhere?" + </p> + <p> + Beaton nodded at a clay stem sticking out of a Japanese vase of bronze on + his mantel. "There's yours," he said; and Fulkerson said, "Thanks," and + filled the pipe and sat down and began to smoke tranquilly. + </p> + <p> + Beaton saw that he would have to speak now. "And what do you want with + me?" + </p> + <p> + "You? Oh yes," Fulkerson humorously dramatized a return to himself from a + pensive absence. "Want you for the art department." + </p> + <p> + Beaton shook his head. "I'm not your man, Fulkerson," he said, + compassionately. "You want a more practical hand, one that's in touch with + what's going. I'm getting further and further away from this century and + its claptrap. I don't believe in your enterprise; I don't respect it, and + I won't have anything to do with it. It would—choke me, that kind of + thing." + </p> + <p> + "That's all right," said Fulkerson. He esteemed a man who was not going to + let himself go cheap. "Or if it isn't, we can make it. You and March will + pull together first-rate. I don't care how much ideal you put into the + thing; the more the better. I can look after the other end of the schooner + myself." + </p> + <p> + "You don't understand me," said Beaton. "I'm not trying to get a rise out + of you. I'm in earnest. What you want is some man who can have patience + with mediocrity putting on the style of genius, and with genius turning + mediocrity on his hands. I haven't any luck with men; I don't get on with + them; I'm not popular." Beaton recognized the fact with the satisfaction + which it somehow always brings to human pride. + </p> + <p> + "So much the better!" Fulkerson was ready for him at this point. "I don't + want you to work the old-established racket the reputations. When I want + them I'll go to them with a pocketful of rocks—knock-down argument. + But my idea is to deal with the volunteer material. Look at the way the + periodicals are carried on now! Names! names! names! In a country that's + just boiling over with literary and artistic ability of every kind the new + fellows have no chance. The editors all engage their material. I don't + believe there are fifty volunteer contributions printed in a year in all + the New York magazines. It's all wrong; it's suicidal. 'Every Other Week' + is going back to the good old anonymous system, the only fair system. It's + worked well in literature, and it will work well in art." + </p> + <p> + "It won't work well in art," said Beaton. "There you have a totally + different set of conditions. What you'll get by inviting volunteer + illustrations will be a lot of amateur trash. And how are you going to + submit your literature for illustration? It can't be done. At any rate, I + won't undertake to do it." + </p> + <p> + "We'll get up a School of Illustration," said Fulkerson, with cynical + security. "You can read the things and explain 'em, and your pupils can + make their sketches under your eye. They wouldn't be much further out than + most illustrations are if they never knew what they were illustrating. You + might select from what comes in and make up a sort of pictorial variations + to the literature without any particular reference to it. Well, I + understand you to accept?" + </p> + <p> + "No, you don't." + </p> + <p> + "That is, to consent to help us with your advice and criticism. That's all + I want. It won't commit you to anything; and you can be as anonymous as + anybody." At the door Fulkerson added: "By-the-way, the new man—the + fellow that's taken my old syndicate business—will want you to keep + on; but I guess he's going to try to beat you down on the price of the + letters. He's going in for retrenchment. I brought along a check for this + one; I'm to pay for that." He offered Beaton an envelope. + </p> + <p> + "I can't take it, Fulkerson. The letter's paid for already." Fulkerson + stepped forward and laid the envelope on the table among the tubes of + paint. + </p> + <p> + "It isn't the letter merely. I thought you wouldn't object to a little + advance on your 'Every Other Week' work till you kind of got started." + </p> + <p> + Beaton remained inflexible. "It can't be done, Fulkerson. Don't I tell you + I can't sell myself out to a thing I don't believe in? Can't you + understand that?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes; I can understand that first-rate. I don't want to buy you; I want + to borrow you. It's all right. See? Come round when you can; I'd like to + introduce you to old March. That's going to be our address." He put a card + on the table beside the envelope, and Beaton allowed him to go without + making him take the check back. He had remembered his father's plea; that + unnerved him, and he promised himself again to return his father's poor + little check and to work on that picture and give it to Fulkerson for the + check he had left and for his back debts. He resolved to go to work on the + picture at once; he had set his palette for it; but first he looked at + Fulkerson's check. It was for only fifty dollars, and the canny Scotch + blood in Beaton rebelled; he could not let this picture go for any such + money; he felt a little like a man whose generosity has been trifled with. + The conflict of emotions broke him up, and he could not work. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV + </h2> + <p> + The day wasted away in Beaton's hands; at half-past four o'clock he went + out to tea at the house of a lady who was At Home that afternoon from four + till seven. By this time Beaton was in possession of one of those other + selves of which we each have several about us, and was again the laconic, + staccato, rather worldlified young artist whose moments of a controlled + utterance and a certain distinction of manner had commended him to Mrs. + Horn's fancy in the summer at St. Barnaby. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Horn's rooms were large, and they never seemed very full, though this + perhaps was because people were always so quiet. The ladies, who + outnumbered the men ten to one, as they always do at a New York tea, were + dressed in sympathy with the low tone every one spoke in, and with the + subdued light which gave a crepuscular uncertainty to the few objects, the + dim pictures, the unexcited upholstery, of the rooms. One breathed free of + bric-a-brac there, and the new-comer breathed softly as one does on going + into church after service has begun. This might be a suggestion from the + voiceless behavior of the man-servant who let you in, but it was also + because Mrs. Horn's At Home was a ceremony, a decorum, and not festival. + At far greater houses there was more gayety, at richer houses there was + more freedom; the suppression at Mrs. Horn's was a personal, not a social, + effect; it was an efflux of her character, demure, silentious, vague, but + very correct. + </p> + <p> + Beaton easily found his way to her around the grouped skirts and among the + detached figures, and received a pressure of welcome from the hand which + she momentarily relaxed from the tea-pot. She sat behind a table put + crosswise of a remote corner, and offered tea to people whom a niece of + hers received provisionally or sped finally in the outer room. They did + not usually take tea, and when they did they did not usually drink it; but + Beaton was feverishly glad of his cup; he took rum and lemon in it, and + stood talking at Mrs. Horn's side till the next arrival should displace + him: he talked in his French manner. + </p> + <p> + "I have been hoping to see you," she said. "I wanted to ask you about the + Leightons. Did they really come?" + </p> + <p> + "I believe so. They are in town—yes. I haven't seen them." + </p> + <p> + "Then you don't know how they're getting on—that pretty creature, + with her cleverness, and poor Mrs. Leighton? I was afraid they were + venturing on a rash experiment. Do you know where they are?" + </p> + <p> + "In West Eleventh Street somewhere. Miss Leighton is in Mr. Wetmore's + class." + </p> + <p> + "I must look them up. Do you know their number?" + </p> + <p> + "Not at the moment. I can find out." + </p> + <p> + "Do," said Mrs. Horn. "What courage they must have, to plunge into New + York as they've done! I really didn't think they would. I wonder if + they've succeeded in getting anybody into their house yet?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know," said Beaton. + </p> + <p> + "I discouraged their coming all I could," she sighed, "and I suppose you + did, too. But it's quite useless trying to make people in a place like St. + Barnaby understand how it is in town." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said Beaton. He stirred his tea, while inwardly he tried to believe + that he had really discouraged the Leightons from coming to New York. + Perhaps the vexation of his failure made him call Mrs. Horn in his heart a + fraud. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," she went on, "it is very, very hard. And when they won't + understand, and rush on their doom, you feel that they are going to hold + you respons—" + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Horn's eyes wandered from Beaton; her voice faltered in the faded + interest of her remark, and then rose with renewed vigor in greeting a + lady who came up and stretched her glove across the tea-cups. + </p> + <p> + Beaton got himself away and out of the house with a much briefer adieu to + the niece than he had meant to make. The patronizing compassion of Mrs. + Horn for the Leightons filled him with indignation toward her, toward + himself. There was no reason why he should not have ignored them as he had + done; but there was a feeling. It was his nature to be careless, and he + had been spoiled into recklessness; he neglected everybody, and only + remembered them when it suited his whim or his convenience; but he + fiercely resented the inattentions of others toward himself. He had no + scruple about breaking an engagement or failing to keep an appointment; he + made promises without thinking of their fulfilment, and not because he was + a faithless person, but because he was imaginative, and expected at the + time to do what he said, but was fickle, and so did not. As most of his + shortcomings were of a society sort, no great harm was done to anybody + else. He had contracted somewhat the circle of his acquaintance by what + some people called his rudeness, but most people treated it as his oddity, + and were patient with it. One lady said she valued his coming when he said + he would come because it had the charm of the unexpected. "Only it shows + that it isn't always the unexpected that happens," she explained. + </p> + <p> + It did not occur to him that his behavior was immoral; he did not realize + that it was creating a reputation if not a character for him. While we are + still young we do not realize that our actions have this effect. It seems + to us that people will judge us from what we think and feel. Later we find + out that this is impossible; perhaps we find it out too late; some of us + never find it out at all. + </p> + <p> + In spite of his shame about the Leightons, Beaton had no present intention + of looking them up or sending Mrs. Horn their address. As a matter of + fact, he never did send it; but he happened to meet Mr. Wetmore and his + wife at the restaurant where he dined, and he got it of the painter for + himself. He did not ask him how Miss Leighton was getting on; but Wetmore + launched out, with Alma for a tacit text, on the futility of women + generally going in for art. "Even when they have talent they've got too + much against them. Where a girl doesn't seem very strong, like Miss + Leighton, no amount of chic is going to help." + </p> + <p> + His wife disputed him on behalf of her sex, as women always do. + </p> + <p> + "No, Dolly," he persisted; "she'd better be home milking the cows and + leading the horse to water." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think she'd better be up till two in the morning at balls and + going all day to receptions and luncheons?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, guess it isn't a question of that, even if she weren't drawing. You + knew them at home," he said to Beaton. + </p> + <p> + "Yes." + </p> + <p> + "I remember. Her mother said you suggested me. Well, the girl has some + notion of it; there's no doubt about that. But—she's a woman. The + trouble with these talented girls is that they're all woman. If they + weren't, there wouldn't be much chance for the men, Beaton. But we've got + Providence on our own side from the start. I'm able to watch all their + inspirations with perfect composure. I know just how soon it's going to + end in nervous breakdown. Somebody ought to marry them all and put them + out of their misery." + </p> + <p> + "And what will you do with your students who are married already?" his + wife said. She felt that she had let him go on long enough. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, they ought to get divorced." + </p> + <p> + "You ought to be ashamed to take their money if that's what you think of + them." + </p> + <p> + "My dear, I have a wife to support." + </p> + <p> + Beaton intervened with a question. "Do you mean that Miss Leighton isn't + standing it very well?" + </p> + <p> + "How do I know? She isn't the kind that bends; she's the kind that + breaks." + </p> + <p> + After a little silence Mrs. Wetmore asked, "Won't you come home with us, + Mr. Beaton?" + </p> + <p> + "Thank you; no. I have an engagement." + </p> + <p> + "I don't see why that should prevent you," said Wetmore. "But you always + were a punctilious cuss. Well!" + </p> + <p> + Beaton lingered over his cigar; but no one else whom he knew came in, and + he yielded to the threefold impulse of conscience, of curiosity, of + inclination, in going to call at the Leightons'. He asked for the ladies, + and the maid showed him into the parlor, where he found Mrs. Leighton and + Miss Woodburn. + </p> + <p> + The widow met him with a welcome neatly marked by resentment; she meant + him to feel that his not coming sooner had been noticed. Miss Woodburn + bubbled and gurgled on, and did what she could to mitigate his punishment, + but she did not feel authorized to stay it, till Mrs. Leighton, by studied + avoidance of her daughter's name, obliged Beaton to ask for her. Then Miss + Woodburn caught up her work, and said, "Ah'll go and tell her, Mrs. + Leighton." At the top of the stairs she found Alma, and Alma tried to make + it seem as if she had not been standing there. "Mah goodness, chald! + there's the handsomest young man asking for you down there you evah saw. + Alh told you' mothah Ah would come up fo' you." + </p> + <p> + "What—who is it?" + </p> + <p> + "Don't you know? But ho' could you? He's got the most beautiful eyes, and + he wea's his hai' in a bang, and he talks English like it was something + else, and his name's Mr. Beaton." + </p> + <p> + "Did he—ask for me?" said Alma, with a dreamy tone. She put her hand + on the stairs rail, and a little shiver ran over her. + </p> + <p> + "Didn't I tell you? Of coase he did! And you ought to go raght down if you + want to save the poo' fellah's lahfe; you' mothah's just freezin' him to + death." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. + </h2> + <p> + "She is?" cried Alma. "Tchk!" She flew downstairs, and flitted swiftly + into the room, and fluttered up to Beaton, and gave him a crushing + hand-shake. + </p> + <p> + "How very kind of you to come and see us, Mr. Beaton! When did you come to + New York? Don't you find it warm here? We've only just lighted the + furnace, but with this mild weather it seems too early. Mamma does keep it + so hot!" She rushed about opening doors and shutting registers, and then + came back and sat facing him from the sofa with a mask of radiant + cordiality. "How have you been since we saw you?" + </p> + <p> + "Very well," said Beaton. "I hope you're well, Miss Leighton?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, perfectly! I think New York agrees with us both wonderfully. I never + knew such air. And to think of our not having snow yet! I should think + everybody would want to come here! Why don't you come, Mr. Beaton?" + </p> + <p> + Beaton lifted his eyes and looked at her. "I—I live in New York," he + faltered. + </p> + <p> + "In New York City!" she exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + "Surely, Alma," said her mother, "you remember Mr. Beaton's telling us he + lived in New York." + </p> + <p> + "But I thought you came from Rochester; or was it Syracuse? I always get + those places mixed up." + </p> + <p> + "Probably I told you my father lived at Syracuse. I've been in New York + ever since I came home from Paris," said Beaton, with the confusion of a + man who feels himself played upon by a woman. + </p> + <p> + "From Paris!" Alma echoed, leaning forward, with her smiling mask tight + on. "Wasn't it Munich where you studied?" + </p> + <p> + "I was at Munich, too. I met Wetmore there." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, do you know Mr. Wetmore?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, Alma," her mother interposed again, "it was Mr. Beaton who told you + of Mr. Wetmore." + </p> + <p> + "Was it? Why, yes, to be sure. It was Mrs. Horn who suggested Mr. Ilcomb. + I remember now. I can't thank you enough for having sent me to Mr. + Wetmore, Mr. Beaton. Isn't he delightful? Oh yes, I'm a perfect Wetmorian, + I can assure you. The whole class is the same way." + </p> + <p> + "I just met him and Mrs. Wetmore at dinner," said Beaton, attempting the + recovery of something that he had lost through the girl's shining ease and + steely sprightliness. She seemed to him so smooth and hard, with a + repellent elasticity from which he was flung off. "I hope you're not + working too hard, Miss Leighton?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh no! I enjoy every minute of it, and grow stronger on it. Do I look + very much wasted away?" She looked him full in the face, brilliantly + smiling, and intentionally beautiful. + </p> + <p> + "No," he said, with a slow sadness; "I never saw you looking better." + </p> + <p> + "Poor Mr. Beaton!" she said, in recognition of his doleful tune. "It seems + to be quite a blow." + </p> + <p> + "Oh no—" + </p> + <p> + "I remember all the good advice you used to give me about not working too + hard, and probably it's that that's saved my life—that and the + house-hunting. Has mamma told you of our adventures in getting settled? + </p> + <p> + "Some time we must. It was such fun! And didn't you think we were + fortunate to get such a pretty house? You must see both our parlors." She + jumped up, and her mother followed her with a bewildered look as she ran + into the back parlor and flashed up the gas. + </p> + <p> + "Come in here, Mr. Beaton. I want to show you the great feature of the + house." She opened the low windows that gave upon a glazed veranda + stretching across the end of the room. "Just think of this in New York! + You can't see it very well at night, but when the southern sun pours in + here all the afternoon—" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I can imagine it," he said. He glanced up at the bird-cage hanging + from the roof. "I suppose Gypsy enjoys it." + </p> + <p> + "You remember Gypsy?" she said; and she made a cooing, kissing little + noise up at the bird, who responded drowsily. "Poor old Gypsum! Well, he + sha'n't be disturbed. Yes, it's Gyp's delight, and Colonel Woodburn likes + to write here in the morning. Think of us having a real live author in the + house! And Miss Woodburn: I'm so glad you've seen her! They're Southern + people." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, that was obvious in her case." + </p> + <p> + "From her accent? Isn't it fascinating? I didn't believe I could ever + endure Southerners, but we're like one family with the Woodburns. I should + think you'd want to paint Miss Woodburn. Don't you think her coloring is + delicious? And such a quaint kind of eighteenth-century type of beauty! + But she's perfectly lovely every way, and everything she says is so funny. + The Southerners seem to be such great talkers; better than we are, don't + you think?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know," said Beaton, in pensive discouragement. He was sensible of + being manipulated, operated, but he was helpless to escape from the + performer or to fathom her motives. His pensiveness passed into gloom, and + was degenerating into sulky resentment when he went away, after several + failures to get back to the old ground he had held in relation to Alma. He + retrieved something of it with Mrs. Leighton; but Alma glittered upon him + to the last with a keen impenetrable candor, a child-like singleness of + glance, covering unfathomable reserve. + </p> + <p> + "Well, Alma," said her mother, when the door had closed upon him. + </p> + <p> + "Well, mother." Then, after a moment, she said, with a rush: "Did you + think I was going to let him suppose we were piqued at his not coming? Did + you suppose I was going to let him patronize us, or think that we were in + the least dependent on his favor or friendship?" + </p> + <p> + Her mother did not attempt to answer her. She merely said, "I shouldn't + think he would come any more." + </p> + <p> + "Well, we have got on so far without him; perhaps we can live through the + rest of the winter." + </p> + <p> + "I couldn't help feeling sorry for him. He was quite stupefied. I could + see that he didn't know what to make of you." + </p> + <p> + "He's not required to make anything of me," said Alma. + </p> + <p> + "Do you think he really believed you had forgotten all those things?" + </p> + <p> + "Impossible to say, mamma." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't think it was quite right, Alma." + </p> + <p> + "I'll leave him to you the next time. Miss Woodburn said you were freezing + him to death when I came down." + </p> + <p> + "That was quite different. But, there won't be any next time, I'm afraid," + sighed Mrs. Leighton. + </p> + <p> + Beaton went home feeling sure there would not. He tried to read when he + got to his room; but Alma's looks, tones, gestures, whirred through and + through the woof of the story like shuttles; he could not keep them out, + and he fell asleep at last, not because he forgot them, but because he + forgave them. He was able to say to himself that he had been justly cut + off from kindness which he knew how to value in losing it. He did not + expect ever to right himself in Alma's esteem, but he hoped some day to + let her know that he had understood. It seemed to him that it would be a + good thing if she should find it out after his death. He imagined her + being touched by it under those circumstances. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. + </h2> + <p> + In the morning it seemed to Beaton that he had done himself injustice. + When he uncovered his Judas and looked at it, he could not believe that + the man who was capable of such work deserved the punishment Miss Leighton + had inflicted upon him. He still forgave her, but in the presence of a + thing like that he could not help respecting himself; he believed that if + she could see it she would be sorry that she had cut herself off from his + acquaintance. He carried this strain of conviction all through his + syndicate letter, which he now took out of his desk and finished, with an + increasing security of his opinions and a mounting severity in his + judgments. He retaliated upon the general condition of art among us the + pangs of wounded vanity, which Alma had made him feel, and he folded up + his manuscript and put it in his pocket, almost healed of his humiliation. + He had been able to escape from its sting so entirely while he was writing + that the notion of making his life more and more literary commended itself + to him. As it was now evident that the future was to be one of + renunciation, of self-forgetting, an oblivion tinged with bitterness, he + formlessly reasoned in favor of reconsidering his resolution against + Fulkerson's offer. One must call it reasoning, but it was rather that + swift internal dramatization which constantly goes on in persons of + excitable sensibilities, and which now seemed to sweep Beaton physically + along toward the 'Every Other Week' office, and carried his mind with + lightning celerity on to a time when he should have given that journal + such quality and authority in matters of art as had never been enjoyed by + any in America before. With the prosperity which he made attend his work + he changed the character of the enterprise, and with Fulkerson's + enthusiastic support he gave the public an art journal of as high grade as + 'Les Lettres et les Arts', and very much that sort of thing. All this + involved now the unavailing regret of Alma Leighton, and now his + reconciliation with her: they were married in Grace Church, because Beaton + had once seen a marriage there, and had intended to paint a picture of it + some time. + </p> + <p> + Nothing in these fervid fantasies prevented his responding with due + dryness to Fulkerson's cheery "Hello, old man!" when he found himself in + the building fitted up for the 'Every Other Week' office. Fulkerson's room + was back of the smaller one occupied by the bookkeeper; they had been + respectively the reception-room and dining-room of the little place in its + dwelling-house days, and they had been simply and tastefully treated in + their transformation into business purposes. The narrow old trim of the + doors and windows had been kept, and the quaintly ugly marble mantels. The + architect had said, Better let them stay they expressed epoch, if not + character. + </p> + <p> + "Well, have you come round to go to work? Just hang up your coat on the + floor anywhere," Fulkerson went on. + </p> + <p> + "I've come to bring you that letter," said Beaton, all the more haughtily + because he found that Fulkerson was not alone when he welcomed him in + these free and easy terms. There was a quiet-looking man, rather stout, + and a little above the middle height, with a full, close-cropped iron-gray + beard, seated beyond the table where Fulkerson tilted himself back, with + his knees set against it; and leaning against the mantel there was a young + man with a singularly gentle face, in which the look of goodness qualified + and transfigured a certain simplicity. His large blue eyes were somewhat + prominent; and his rather narrow face was drawn forward in a nose a little + too long perhaps, if it had not been for the full chin deeply cut below + the lip, and jutting firmly forward. + </p> + <p> + "Introduce you to Mr. March, our editor, Mr. Beaton," Fulkerson said, + rolling his head in the direction of the elder man; and then nodding it + toward the younger, he said, "Mr. Dryfoos, Mr. Beaton." Beaton shook hands + with March, and then with Mr. Dryfoos, and Fulkerson went on, gayly: "We + were just talking of you, Beaton—well, you know the old saying. Mr. + March, as I told you, is our editor, and Mr. Dryfoos has charge of the + publishing department—he's the counting-room incarnate, the source + of power, the fountain of corruption, the element that prevents journalism + being the high and holy thing that it would be if there were no money in + it." Mr. Dryfoos turned his large, mild eyes upon Beaton, and laughed with + the uneasy concession which people make to a character when they do not + quite approve of the character's language. "What Mr. March and I are + trying to do is to carry on this thing so that there won't be any money in + it—or very little; and we're planning to give the public a better + article for the price than it's ever had before. Now here's a dummy we've + had made up for 'Every Other Week', and as we've decided to adopt it, we + would naturally like your opinion of it, so's to know what opinion to have + of you." He reached forward and pushed toward Beaton a volume a little + above the size of the ordinary duodecimo book; its ivory-white pebbled + paper cover was prettily illustrated with a water-colored design + irregularly washed over the greater part of its surface: quite across the + page at top, and narrowing from right to left as it descended. In the + triangular space left blank the title of the periodical and the + publisher's imprint were tastefully lettered so as to be partly covered by + the background of color. + </p> + <p> + "It's like some of those Tartarin books of Daudet's," said Beaton, looking + at it with more interest than he suffered to be seen. "But it's a book, + not a magazine." He opened its pages of thick, mellow white paper, with + uncut leaves, the first few pages experimentally printed in the type + intended to be used, and illustrated with some sketches drawn into and + over the text, for the sake of the effect. + </p> + <p> + "A Daniel—a Daniel come to judgment! Sit down, Dan'el, and take it + easy." Fulkerson pushed a chair toward Beaton, who dropped into it. + "You're right, Dan'el; it's a book, to all practical intents and purposes. + And what we propose to do with the American public is to give it + twenty-four books like this a year—a complete library—for the + absurd sum of six dollars. We don't intend to sell 'em—it's no name + for the transaction—but to give 'em. And what we want to get out of + you—beg, borrow, buy, or steal from you is an opinion whether we + shall make the American public this princely present in paper covers like + this, or in some sort of flexible boards, so they can set them on the + shelf and say no more about it. Now, Dan'el, come to judgment, as our + respected friend Shylock remarked." + </p> + <p> + Beaton had got done looking at the dummy, and he dropped it on the table + before Fulkerson, who pushed it away, apparently to free himself from + partiality. "I don't know anything about the business side, and I can't + tell about the effect of either style on the sales; but you'll spoil the + whole character of the cover if you use anything thicker than that + thickish paper." + </p> + <p> + "All right; very good; first-rate. The ayes have it. Paper it is. I don't + mind telling you that we had decided for that paper before you came in. + Mr. March wanted it, because he felt in his bones just the way you do + about it, and Mr. Dryfoos wanted it, because he's the counting-room + incarnate, and it's cheaper; and I wanted it, because I always like to go + with the majority. Now what do you think of that little design itself?" + </p> + <p> + "The sketch?" Beaton pulled the book toward him again and looked at it + again. "Rather decorative. Drawing's not remarkable. Graceful; rather + nice." He pushed the book away again, and Fulkerson pulled it to his aide + of the table. + </p> + <p> + "Well, that's a piece of that amateur trash you despise so much. I went to + a painter I know-by-the-way, he was guilty of suggesting you for this + thing, but I told him I was ahead of him—and I got him to submit my + idea to one of his class, and that's the result. Well, now, there ain't + anything in this world that sells a book like a pretty cover, and we're + going to have a pretty cover for 'Every Other Week' every time. We've cut + loose from the old traditional quarto literary newspaper size, and we've + cut loose from the old two-column big page magazine size; we're going to + have a duodecimo page, clear black print, and paper that'll make your + mouth water; and we're going to have a fresh illustration for the cover of + each number, and we ain't agoing to give the public any rest at all. + Sometimes we're going to have a delicate little landscape like this, and + sometimes we're going to have an indelicate little figure, or as much so + as the law will allow." + </p> + <p> + The young man leaning against the mantelpiece blushed a sort of protest. + </p> + <p> + March smiled and said, dryly, "Those are the numbers that Mr. Fulkerson is + going to edit himself." + </p> + <p> + "Exactly. And Mr. Beaton, here, is going to supply the floating females, + gracefully airing themselves against a sunset or something of that kind." + Beaton frowned in embarrassment, while Fulkerson went on philosophically; + "It's astonishing how you fellows can keep it up at this stage of the + proceedings; you can paint things that your harshest critic would be + ashamed to describe accurately; you're as free as the theatre. But that's + neither here nor there. What I'm after is the fact that we're going to + have variety in our title-pages, and we are going to have novelty in the + illustrations of the body of the book. March, here, if he had his own way, + wouldn't have any illustrations at all." + </p> + <p> + "Not because I don't like them, Mr. Beaton," March interposed, "but + because I like them too much. I find that I look at the pictures in an + illustrated article, but I don't read the article very much, and I fancy + that's the case with most other people. You've got to doing them so + prettily that you take our eyes off the literature, if you don't take our + minds off." + </p> + <p> + "Like the society beauties on the stage: people go in for the beauty so + much that they don't know what the play is. But the box-office gets there + all the same, and that's what Mr. Dryfoos wants." Fulkerson looked up + gayly at Mr. Dryfoos, who smiled deprecatingly. + </p> + <p> + "It was different," March went on, "when the illustrations used to be bad. + Then the text had some chance." + </p> + <p> + "Old legitimate drama days, when ugliness and genius combined to storm the + galleries," said Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + "We can still make them bad enough," said Beaton, ignoring Fulkerson in + his remark to March. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson took the reply upon himself. "Well, you needn't make 'em so bad + as the old-style cuts; but you can make them unobtrusive, modestly + retiring. We've got hold of a process something like that those French + fellows gave Daudet thirty-five thousand dollars to write a novel to use + with; kind of thing that begins at one side; or one corner, and spreads in + a sort of dim religious style over the print till you can't tell which is + which. Then we've got a notion that where the pictures don't behave quite + so sociably, they can be dropped into the text, like a little casual + remark, don't you know, or a comment that has some connection, or maybe + none at all, with what's going on in the story. Something like this." + Fulkerson took away one knee from the table long enough to open the + drawer, and pull from it a book that he shoved toward Beaton. "That's a + Spanish book I happened to see at Brentano's, and I froze to it on account + of the pictures. I guess they're pretty good." + </p> + <p> + "Do you expect to get such drawings in this country?" asked Beaton, after + a glance at the book. "Such character—such drama? You won't." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I'm not so sure," said Fulkerson, "come to get our amateurs warmed + up to the work. But what I want is to get the physical effect, so to speak—get + that sized picture into our page, and set the fashion of it. I shouldn't + care if the illustration was sometimes confined to an initial letter and a + tail-piece." + </p> + <p> + "Couldn't be done here. We haven't the touch. We're good in some things, + but this isn't in our way," said Beaton, stubbornly. "I can't think of a + man who could do it; that is, among those that would." + </p> + <p> + "Well, think of some woman, then," said Fulkerson, easily. "I've got a + notion that the women could help us out on this thing, come to get 'em + interested. There ain't anything so popular as female fiction; why not try + female art?" + </p> + <p> + "The females themselves have been supposed to have been trying it for a + good while," March suggested; and Mr. Dryfoos laughed nervously; Beaton + remained solemnly silent. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I know," Fulkerson assented. "But I don't mean that kind exactly. + What we want to do is to work the 'ewig Weibliche' in this concern. We + want to make a magazine that will go for the women's fancy every time. I + don't mean with recipes for cooking and fashions and personal gossip about + authors and society, but real high-tone literature that will show women + triumphing in all the stories, or else suffering tremendously. We've got + to recognize that women form three-fourths of the reading public in this + country, and go for their tastes and their sensibilities and their + sex-piety along the whole line. They do like to think that women can do + things better than men; and if we can let it leak out and get around in + the papers that the managers of 'Every Other Week' couldn't stir a peg in + the line of the illustrations they wanted till they got a lot of + God-gifted girls to help them, it 'll make the fortune of the thing. See?" + </p> + <p> + He looked sunnily round at the other men, and March said: "You ought to be + in charge of a Siamese white elephant, Fulkerson. It's a disgrace to be + connected with you." + </p> + <p> + "It seems to me," said Beaton, "that you'd better get a God-gifted girl + for your art editor." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson leaned alertly forward, and touched him on the shoulder, with a + compassionate smile. "My dear boy, they haven't got the genius of + organization. It takes a very masculine man for that—a man who + combines the most subtle and refined sympathies with the most forceful + purposes and the most ferruginous will-power. Which his name is Angus + Beaton, and here he sets!" + </p> + <p> + The others laughed with Fulkerson at his gross burlesque of flattery, and + Beaton frowned sheepishly. "I suppose you understand this man's style," he + growled toward March. + </p> + <p> + "He does, my son," said Fulkerson. "He knows that I cannot tell a lie." He + pulled out his watch, and then got suddenly upon his feet. + </p> + <p> + "It's quarter of twelve, and I've got an appointment." Beaton rose too, + and Fulkerson put the two books in his lax hands. "Take these along, + Michelangelo Da Vinci, my friend, and put your multitudinous mind on them + for about an hour, and let us hear from you to-morrow. We hang upon your + decision." + </p> + <p> + "There's no deciding to be done," said Beaton. "You can't combine the two + styles. They'd kill each other." + </p> + <p> + "A Dan'el, a Dan'el come to judgment! I knew you could help us out! Take + 'em along, and tell us which will go the furthest with the 'ewig + Weibliche.' Dryfoos, I want a word with you." He led the way into the + front room, flirting an airy farewell to Beaton with his hand as he went. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. + </h2> + <p> + March and Beaton remained alone together for a moment, and March said: "I + hope you will think it worth while to take hold with us, Mr. Beaton. Mr. + Fulkerson puts it in his own way, of course; but we really want to make a + nice thing of the magazine." He had that timidity of the elder in the + presence of the younger man which the younger, preoccupied with his own + timidity in the presence of the elder, cannot imagine. Besides, March was + aware of the gulf that divided him as a literary man from Beaton as an + artist, and he only ventured to feel his way toward sympathy with him. "We + want to make it good; we want to make it high. Fulkerson is right about + aiming to please the women, but of course he caricatures the way of going + about it." + </p> + <p> + For answer, Beaton flung out, "I can't go in for a thing I don't + understand the plan of." + </p> + <p> + March took it for granted that he had wounded some exposed sensibility of + Beaton's. He continued still more deferentially: "Mr. Fulkerson's notion—I + must say the notion is his, evolved from his syndicate experience—is + that we shall do best in fiction to confine ourselves to short stories, + and make each number complete in itself. He found that the most successful + things he could furnish his newspapers were short stories; we Americans + are supposed to excel in writing them; and most people begin with them in + fiction; and it's Mr. Fulkerson's idea to work unknown talent, as he says, + and so he thinks he can not only get them easily, but can gradually form a + school of short-story writers. I can't say I follow him altogether, but I + respect his experience. We shall not despise translations of short + stories, but otherwise the matter will all be original, and, of course, it + won't all be short stories. We shall use sketches of travel, and essays, + and little dramatic studies, and bits of biography and history; but all + very light, and always short enough to be completed in a single number. + Mr. Fulkerson believes in pictures, and most of the things would be + capable of illustration." + </p> + <p> + "I see," said Beaton. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know but this is the whole affair," said March, beginning to + stiffen a little at the young man's reticence. + </p> + <p> + "I understand. Thank you for taking the trouble to explain. Good-morning." + Beaton bowed himself off, without offering to shake hands. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson came in after a while from the outer office, and Mr. Dryfoos + followed him. "Well, what do you think of our art editor?" + </p> + <p> + "Is he our art editor?" asked March. "I wasn't quite certain when he + left." + </p> + <p> + "Did he take the books?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, he took the books." + </p> + <p> + "I guess he's all right, then." Fulkerson added, in concession to the + umbrage he detected in March. + </p> + <p> + "Beaton has his times of being the greatest ass in the solar system, but + he usually takes it out in personal conduct. When it comes to work, he's a + regular horse." + </p> + <p> + "He appears to have compromised for the present by being a perfect mule," + said March. + </p> + <p> + "Well, he's in a transition state," Fulkerson allowed. "He's the man for + us. He really understands what we want. You'll see; he'll catch on. That + lurid glare of his will wear off in the course of time. He's really a good + fellow when you take him off his guard; and he's full of ideas. He's + spread out over a good deal of ground at present, and so he's pretty thin; + but come to gather him up into a lump, there's a good deal of substance to + him. Yes, there is. He's a first-rate critic, and he's a nice fellow with + the other artists. They laugh at his universality, but they all like him. + He's the best kind of a teacher when he condescends to it; and he's just + the man to deal with our volunteer work. Yes, sir, he's a prize. Well, I + must go now." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson went out of the street door, and then came quickly back. + "By-the-bye, March, I saw that old dynamiter of yours round at Beaton's + room yesterday." + </p> + <p> + "What old dynamiter of mine?" + </p> + <p> + "That old one-handed Dutchman—friend of your youth—the one we + saw at Maroni's—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh-Lindau!" said March, with a vague pang of self reproach for having + thought of Lindau so little after the first flood of his tender feeling + toward him was past. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, our versatile friend was modelling him as Judas Iscariot. Lindau + makes a first-rate Judas, and Beaton has got a big thing in that head if + he works the religious people right. But what I was thinking of was this—it + struck me just as I was going out of the door: Didn't you tell me Lindau + knew forty or fifty, different languages?" + </p> + <p> + "Four or five, yes." + </p> + <p> + "Well, we won't quarrel about the number. The question is, Why not work + him in the field of foreign literature? You can't go over all their + reviews and magazines, and he could do the smelling for you, if you could + trust his nose. Would he know a good thing?" + </p> + <p> + "I think he would," said March, on whom the scope of Fulkerson's + suggestion gradually opened. "He used to have good taste, and he must know + the ground. Why, it's a capital idea, Fulkerson! Lindau wrote very fair + English, and he could translate, with a little revision." + </p> + <p> + "And he would probably work cheap. Well, hadn't you better see him about + it? I guess it 'll be quite a windfall for him." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, it will. I'll look him up. Thank you for the suggestion, Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, don't mention it! I don't mind doing 'Every Other Week' a good turn + now and then when it comes in my way." Fulkerson went out again, and this + time March was finally left with Mr. Dryfoos. + </p> + <p> + "Mrs. March was very sorry not to be at home when your sisters called the + other day. She wished me to ask if they had any afternoon in particular. + There was none on your mother's card." + </p> + <p> + "No, sir," said the young man, with a flush of embarrassment that seemed + habitual with him. "She has no day. She's at home almost every day. She + hardly ever goes out." + </p> + <p> + "Might we come some evening?" March asked. "We should be very glad to do + that, if she would excuse the informality. Then I could come with Mrs. + March." + </p> + <p> + "Mother isn't very formal," said the young man. "She would be very glad to + see you." + </p> + <p> + "Then we'll come some night this week, if you will let us. When do you + expect your father back?" + </p> + <p> + "Not much before Christmas. He's trying to settle up some things at + Moffitt." + </p> + <p> + "And what do you think of our art editor?" asked March, with a smile, for + the change of subject. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I don't know much about such things," said the young man, with + another of his embarrassed flushes. "Mr. Fulkerson seems to feel sure that + he is the one for us." + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Fulkerson seemed to think that I was the one for you, too," said + March; and he laughed. "That's what makes me doubt his infallibility. But + he couldn't do worse with Mr. Beaton." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Dryfoos reddened and looked down, as if unable or unwilling to cope + with the difficulty of making a polite protest against March's + self-depreciation. He said, after a moment: "It's new business to all of + us except Mr. Fulkerson. But I think it will succeed. I think we can do + some good in it." + </p> + <p> + March asked rather absently, "Some good?" Then he added: "Oh yes; I think + we can. What do you mean by good? Improve the public taste? Elevate the + standard of literature? Give young authors and artists a chance?" + </p> + <p> + This was the only good that had ever been in March's mind, except the good + that was to come in a material way from his success, to himself and to his + family. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know," said the young man; and he looked down in a shamefaced + fashion. He lifted his head and looked into March's face. "I suppose I was + thinking that some time we might help along. If we were to have those + sketches of yours about life in every part of New York—" + </p> + <p> + March's authorial vanity was tickled. "Fulkerson has been talking to you + about them? He seemed to think they would be a card. He believes that + there's no subject so fascinating to the general average of people + throughout the country as life in New York City; and he liked my notion of + doing these things." March hoped that Dryfoos would answer that Fulkerson + was perfectly enthusiastic about his notion; but he did not need this + stimulus, and, at any rate, he went on without it. "The fact is, it's + something that struck my fancy the moment I came here; I found myself + intensely interested in the place, and I began to make notes, consciously + and unconsciously, at once. Yes, I believe I can get something quite + attractive out of it. I don't in the least know what it will be yet, + except that it will be very desultory; and I couldn't at all say when I + can get at it. If we postpone the first number till February I might get a + little paper into that. Yes, I think it might be a good thing for us," + March said, with modest self-appreciation. + </p> + <p> + "If you can make the comfortable people understand how the uncomfortable + people live, it will be a very good thing, Mr. March. Sometimes it seems + to me that the only trouble is that we don't know one another well enough; + and that the first thing is to do this." The young fellow spoke with the + seriousness in which the beauty of his face resided. Whenever he laughed + his face looked weak, even silly. It seemed to be a sense of this that + made him hang his head or turn it away at such times. + </p> + <p> + "That's true," said March, from the surface only. "And then, those phases + of low life are immensely picturesque. Of course, we must try to get the + contrasts of luxury for the sake of the full effect. That won't be so + easy. You can't penetrate to the dinner-party of a millionaire under the + wing of a detective as you could to a carouse in Mulberry Street, or to + his children's nursery with a philanthropist as you can to a street-boy's + lodging-house." March laughed, and again the young man turned his head + away. "Still, something can be done in that way by tact and patience." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. + </h2> + <p> + That evening March went with his wife to return the call of the Dryfoos + ladies. On their way up-town in the Elevated he told her of his talk with + young Dryfoos. "I confess I was a little ashamed before him afterward for + having looked at the matter so entirely from the aesthetic point of view. + But of course, you know, if I went to work at those things with an ethical + intention explicitly in mind, I should spoil them." + </p> + <p> + "Of course," said his wife. She had always heard him say something of this + kind about such things. + </p> + <p> + He went on: "But I suppose that's just the point that such a nature as + young Dryfoos's can't get hold of, or keep hold of. We're a queer lot, + down there, Isabel—perfect menagerie. If it hadn't been that + Fulkerson got us together, and really seems to know what he did it for, I + should say he was the oddest stick among us. But when I think of myself + and my own crankiness for the literary department; and young Dryfoos, who + ought really to be in the pulpit, or a monastery, or something, for + publisher; and that young Beaton, who probably hasn't a moral fibre in his + composition, for the art man, I don't know but we could give Fulkerson + odds and still beat him in oddity." + </p> + <p> + His wife heaved a deep sigh of apprehension, of renunciation, of monition. + "Well, I'm glad you can feel so light about it, Basil." + </p> + <p> + "Light? I feel gay! With Fulkerson at the helm, I tell you the rocks and + the lee shore had better keep out of the way." He laughed with pleasure in + his metaphor. "Just when you think Fulkerson has taken leave of his senses + he says or does something that shows he is on the most intimate and + inalienable terms with them all the time. You know how I've been worrying + over those foreign periodicals, and trying to get some translations from + them for the first number? Well, Fulkerson has brought his centipedal mind + to bear on the subject, and he's suggested that old German friend of mine + I was telling you of—the one I met in the restaurant—the + friend of my youth." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think he could do it?" asked Mrs. March, sceptically. + </p> + <p> + "He's a perfect Babel of strange tongues; and he's the very man for the + work, and I was ashamed I hadn't thought of him myself, for I suspect he + needs the work." + </p> + <p> + "Well, be careful how you get mixed up with him, then, Basil," said his + wife, who had the natural misgiving concerning the friends of her + husband's youth that all wives have. "You know the Germans are so + unscrupulously dependent. You don't know anything about him now." + </p> + <p> + "I'm not afraid of Lindau," said March. "He was the best and kindest man I + ever saw, the most high-minded, the most generous. He lost a hand in the + war that helped to save us and keep us possible, and that stump of his is + character enough for me." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, you don't think I could have meant anything against him!" said Mrs. + March, with the tender fervor that every woman who lived in the time of + the war must feel for those who suffered in it. "All that I meant was that + I hoped you would not get mixed up with him too much. You're so apt to be + carried away by your impulses." + </p> + <p> + "They didn't carry me very far away in the direction of poor old Lindau, + I'm ashamed to think," said March. "I meant all sorts of fine things by + him after I met him; and then I forgot him, and I had to be reminded of + him by Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + She did not answer him, and he fell into a remorseful reverie, in which he + rehabilitated Lindau anew, and provided handsomely for his old age. He got + him buried with military honors, and had a shaft raised over him, with a + medallion likeness by Beaton and an epitaph by himself, by the time they + reached Forty-second Street; there was no time to write Lindau's life, + however briefly, before the train stopped. + </p> + <p> + They had to walk up four blocks and then half a block across before they + came to the indistinctive brownstone house where the Dryfooses lived. It + was larger than some in the same block, but the next neighborhood of a + huge apartment-house dwarfed it again. March thought he recognized the + very flat in which he had disciplined the surly janitor, but he did not + tell his wife; he made her notice the transition character of the street, + which had been mostly built up in apartment-houses, with here and there a + single dwelling dropped far down beneath and beside them, to that + jag-toothed effect on the sky-line so often observable in such New York + streets. "I don't know exactly what the old gentleman bought here for," he + said, as they waited on the steps after ringing, "unless he expects to + turn it into flats by-and-by. Otherwise, I don't believe he'll get his + money back." + </p> + <p> + An Irish serving-man, with a certain surprise that delayed him, said the + ladies were at home, and let the Marches in, and then carried their cards + up-stairs. The drawing-room, where he said they could sit down while he + went on this errand, was delicately decorated in white and gold, and + furnished with a sort of extravagant good taste; there was nothing to + object to in the satin furniture, the pale, soft, rich carpet, the + pictures, and the bronze and china bric-a-brac, except that their + costliness was too evident; everything in the room meant money too + plainly, and too much of it. The Marches recognized this in the hoarse + whispers which people cannot get their voices above when they try to talk + away the interval of waiting in such circumstances; they conjectured from + what they had heard of the Dryfooses that this tasteful luxury in no wise + expressed their civilization. "Though when you come to that," said March, + "I don't know that Mrs. Green's gimcrackery expresses ours." + </p> + <p> + "Well, Basil, I didn't take the gimcrackery. That was your—" + </p> + <p> + The rustle of skirts on the stairs without arrested Mrs. March in the + well-merited punishment which she never failed to inflict upon her husband + when the question of the gimcrackery—they always called it that—came + up. She rose at the entrance of a bright-looking, pretty-looking, mature, + youngish lady, in black silk of a neutral implication, who put out her + hand to her, and said, with a very cheery, very ladylike accent, "Mrs. + March?" and then added to both of them, while she shook hands with March, + and before they could get the name out of their months: "No, not Miss + Dryfoos! Neither of them; nor Mrs. Dryfoos. Mrs. Mandel. The ladies will + be down in a moment. Won't you throw off your sacque, Mrs. March? I'm + afraid it's rather warm here, coming from the outside." + </p> + <p> + "I will throw it back, if you'll allow me," said Mrs. March, with a sort + of provisionality, as if, pending some uncertainty as to Mrs. Mandel's + quality and authority, she did not feel herself justified in going + further. + </p> + <p> + But if she did not know about Mrs. Mandel, Mrs. Mandel seemed to know + about her. "Oh, well, do!" she said, with a sort of recognition of the + propriety of her caution. "I hope you are feeling a little at home in New + York. We heard so much of your trouble in getting a flat, from Mr. + Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + "Well, a true Bostonian doesn't give up quite so soon," said Mrs. March. + </p> + <p> + "But I will say New York doesn't seem so far away, now we're here." + </p> + <p> + "I'm sure you'll like it. Every one does." Mrs. Mandel added to March, + "It's very sharp out, isn't it?" + </p> + <p> + "Rather sharp. But after our Boston winters I don't know but I ought to + repudiate the word." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, wait till you have been here through March!" said Mrs. Mandel. She + began with him, but skillfully transferred the close of her remark, and + the little smile of menace that went with it, to his wife. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said Mrs. March, "or April, either: Talk about our east winds!" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I'm sure they can't be worse than our winds," Mrs. Mandel returned, + caressingly. + </p> + <p> + "If we escape New York pneumonia," March laughed, "it will only be to fall + a prey to New York malaria as soon as the frost is out of the ground." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, but you know," said Mrs. Mandel, "I think our malaria has really been + slandered a little. It's more a matter of drainage—of plumbing. I + don't believe it would be possible for malaria to get into this house, + we've had it gone over so thoroughly." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March said, while she tried to divine Mrs. Mandel's position from + this statement, "It's certainly the first duty." + </p> + <p> + "If Mrs. March could have had her way, we should have had the drainage of + our whole ward put in order," said her husband, "before we ventured to + take a furnished apartment for the winter." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Mandel looked discreetly at Mrs. March for permission to laugh at + this, but at the same moment both ladies became preoccupied with a second + rustling on the stairs. + </p> + <p> + Two tall, well-dressed young girls came in, and Mrs. Mandel introduced, + "Miss Dryfoos, Mrs. March; and Miss Mela Dryfoos, Mr. March," she added, + and the girls shook hands in their several ways with the Marches. + </p> + <p> + Miss Dryfoos had keen black eyes, and her hair was intensely black. Her + face, but for the slight inward curve of the nose, was regular, and the + smallness of her nose and of her mouth did not weaken her face, but gave + it a curious effect of fierceness, of challenge. She had a large black fan + in her hand, which she waved in talking, with a slow, watchful + nervousness. Her sister was blonde, and had a profile like her brother's; + but her chin was not so salient, and the weak look of the mouth was not + corrected by the spirituality or the fervor of his eyes, though hers were + of the same mottled blue. She dropped into the low seat beside Mrs. + Mandel, and intertwined her fingers with those of the hand which Mrs. + Mandel let her have. She smiled upon the Marches, while Miss Dryfoos + watched them intensely, with her eyes first on one and then on the other, + as if she did not mean to let any expression of theirs escape her. + </p> + <p> + "My mother will be down in a minute," she said to Mrs. March. + </p> + <p> + "I hope we're not disturbing her. It is so good of you to let us come in + the evening," Mrs. March replied. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, not at all," said the girl. "We receive in the evening." + </p> + <p> + "When we do receive," Miss Mela put in. "We don't always get the chance + to." She began a laugh, which she checked at a smile from Mrs. Mandel, + which no one could have seen to be reproving. + </p> + <p> + Miss Dryfoos looked down at her fan, and looked up defiantly at Mrs. + March. "I suppose you have hardly got settled. We were afraid we would + disturb you when we called." + </p> + <p> + "Oh no! We were very sorry to miss your visit. We are quite settled in our + new quarters. Of course, it's all very different from Boston." + </p> + <p> + "I hope it's more of a sociable place there," Miss Mela broke in again. "I + never saw such an unsociable place as New York. We've been in this house + three months, and I don't believe that if we stayed three years any of the + neighbors would call." + </p> + <p> + "I fancy proximity doesn't count for much in New York," March suggested. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Mandel said: "That's what I tell Miss Mela. But she is a very social + nature, and can't reconcile herself to the fact." + </p> + <p> + "No, I can't," the girl pouted. "I think it was twice as much fun in + Moffitt. I wish I was there now." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said March, "I think there's a great deal more enjoyment in those + smaller places. There's not so much going on in the way of public + amusements, and so people make more of one another. There are not so many + concerts, theatres, operas—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, they've got a splendid opera-house in Moffitt. It's just grand," said + Miss Mela. + </p> + <p> + "Have you been to the opera here, this winter?" Mrs. March asked of the + elder girl. + </p> + <p> + She was glaring with a frown at her sister, and detached her eyes from her + with an effort. "What did you say?" she demanded, with an absent + bluntness. "Oh yes. Yes! We went once. Father took a box at the + Metropolitan." + </p> + <p> + "Then you got a good dose of Wagner, I suppose?" said March. + </p> + <p> + "What?" asked the girl. + </p> + <p> + "I don't think Miss Dryfoos is very fond of Wagner's music," Mrs. Mandel + said. "I believe you are all great Wagnerites in Boston?" + </p> + <p> + "I'm a very bad Bostonian, Mrs. Mandel. I suspect myself of preferring + Verdi," March answered. + </p> + <p> + Miss Dryfoos looked down at her fan again, and said, "I like 'Trovatore' + the best." + </p> + <p> + "It's an opera I never get tired of," said March, and Mrs. March and Mrs. + Mandel exchanged a smile of compassion for his simplicity. He detected it, + and added: "But I dare say I shall come down with the Wagner fever in + time. I've been exposed to some malignant cases of it." + </p> + <p> + "That night we were there," said Miss Mela, "they had to turn the gas down + all through one part of it, and the papers said the ladies were awful mad + because they couldn't show their diamonds. I don't wonder, if they all had + to pay as much for their boxes as we did. We had to pay sixty dollars." + She looked at the Marches for their sensation at this expense. + </p> + <p> + March said: "Well, I think I shall take my box by the month, then. It must + come cheaper, wholesale." + </p> + <p> + "Oh no, it don't," said the girl, glad to inform him. "The people that own + their boxes, and that had to give fifteen or twenty thousand dollars + apiece for them, have to pay sixty dollars a night whenever there's a + performance, whether they go or not." + </p> + <p> + "Then I should go every night," March said. + </p> + <p> + "Most of the ladies were low neck—" + </p> + <p> + March interposed, "Well, I shouldn't go low-neck." + </p> + <p> + The girl broke into a fondly approving laugh at his drolling. "Oh, I guess + you love to train! Us girls wanted to go low neck, too; but father said we + shouldn't, and mother said if we did she wouldn't come to the front of the + box once. Well, she didn't, anyway. We might just as well 'a' gone low + neck. She stayed back the whole time, and when they had that dance—the + ballet, you know—she just shut her eyes. Well, Conrad didn't like + that part much, either; but us girls and Mrs. Mandel, we brazened it out + right in the front of the box. We were about the only ones there that went + high neck. Conrad had to wear a swallow-tail; but father hadn't any, and + he had to patch out with a white cravat. You couldn't see what he had on + in the back o' the box, anyway." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March looked at Miss Dryfoos, who was waving her fan more and more + slowly up and down, and who, when she felt herself looked at, returned + Mrs. March's smile, which she meant to be ingratiating and perhaps + sympathetic, with a flash that made her start, and then ran her fierce + eyes over March's face. "Here comes mother," she said, with a sort of + breathlessness, as if speaking her thought aloud, and through the open + door the Marches could see the old lady on the stairs. + </p> + <p> + She paused half-way down, and turning, called up: "Coonrod! Coonrod! You + bring my shawl down with you." + </p> + <p> + Her daughter Mela called out to her, "Now, mother, Christine 'll give it + to you for not sending Mike." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know where he is, Mely, child," the mother answered back. + "He ain't never around when he's wanted, and when he ain't, it seems like + a body couldn't git shet of him, nohow." + </p> + <p> + "Well, you ought to ring for him!" cried Miss Mela, enjoying the joke. + </p> + <p> + Her mother came in with a slow step; her head shook slightly as she looked + about the room, perhaps from nervousness, perhaps from a touch of palsy. + In either case the fact had a pathos which Mrs. March confessed in the + affection with which she took her hard, dry, large, old hand when she was + introduced to her, and in the sincerity which she put into the hope that + she was well. + </p> + <p> + "I'm just middlin'," Mrs. Dryfoos replied. "I ain't never so well, + nowadays. I tell fawther I don't believe it agrees with me very well here, + but he says I'll git used to it. He's away now, out at Moffitt," she said + to March, and wavered on foot a moment before she sank into a chair. She + was a tall woman, who had been a beautiful girl, and her gray hair had a + memory of blondeness in it like Lindau's, March noticed. She wore a simple + silk gown, of a Quakerly gray, and she held a handkerchief folded square, + as it had come from the laundress. Something like the Sabbath quiet of a + little wooden meeting-house in thick Western woods expressed itself to him + from her presence. + </p> + <p> + "Laws, mother!" said Miss Mela; "what you got that old thing on for? If + I'd 'a' known you'd 'a' come down in that!" + </p> + <p> + "Coonrod said it was all right, Mely," said her mother. + </p> + <p> + Miss Mela explained to the Marches: "Mother was raised among the Dunkards, + and she thinks it's wicked to wear anything but a gray silk even for + dress-up." + </p> + <p> + "You hain't never heared o' the Dunkards, I reckon," the old woman said to + Mrs. March. "Some folks calls 'em the Beardy Men, because they don't never + shave; and they wash feet like they do in the Testament. My uncle was one. + He raised me." + </p> + <p> + "I guess pretty much everybody's a Beardy Man nowadays, if he ain't a + Dunkard!" + </p> + <p> + Miss Mela looked round for applause of her sally, but March was saying to + his wife: "It's a Pennsylvania German sect, I believe—something like + the Quakers. I used to see them when I was a boy." + </p> + <p> + "Aren't they something like the Mennists?" asked Mrs. Mandel. + </p> + <p> + "They're good people," said the old woman, "and the world 'd be a heap + better off if there was more like 'em." + </p> + <p> + Her son came in and laid a soft shawl over her shoulders before he shook + hands with the visitors. "I am glad you found your way here," he said to + them. + </p> + <p> + Christine, who had been bending forward over her fan, now lifted herself + up with a sigh and leaned back in her chair. + </p> + <p> + "I'm sorry my father isn't here," said the young man to Mrs. March. "He's + never met you yet?" + </p> + <p> + "No; and I should like to see him. We hear a great deal about your father, + you know, from Mr. Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I hope you don't believe everything Mr. Fulkerson says about people," + Mela cried. "He's the greatest person for carrying on when he gets going I + ever saw. It makes Christine just as mad when him and mother gets to + talking about religion; she says she knows he don't care anything more + about it than the man in the moon. I reckon he don't try it on much with + father." + </p> + <p> + "Your fawther ain't ever been a perfessor," her mother interposed; "but + he's always been a good church-goin' man." + </p> + <p> + "Not since we come to New York," retorted the girl. + </p> + <p> + "He's been all broke up since he come to New York," said the old woman, + with an aggrieved look. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Mandel attempted a diversion. "Have you heard any of our great New + York preachers yet, Mrs. March?" + </p> + <p> + "No, I haven't," Mrs. March admitted; and she tried to imply by her candid + tone that she intended to begin hearing them the very next Sunday. + </p> + <p> + "There are a great many things here," said Conrad, "to take your thoughts + off the preaching that you hear in most of the churches. I think the city + itself is preaching the best sermon all the time." + </p> + <p> + "I don't know that I understand you," said March. + </p> + <p> + Mela answered for him. "Oh, Conrad has got a lot of notions that nobody + can understand. You ought to see the church he goes to when he does go. + I'd about as lief go to a Catholic church myself; I don't see a bit o' + difference. He's the greatest crony with one of their preachers; he + dresses just like a priest, and he says he is a priest." She laughed for + enjoyment of the fact, and her brother cast down his eyes. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March, in her turn, tried to take from it the personal tone which the + talk was always assuming. "Have you been to the fall exhibition?" she + asked Christine; and the girl drew herself up out of the abstraction she + seemed sunk in. + </p> + <p> + "The exhibition?" She looked at Mrs. Mandel. + </p> + <p> + "The pictures of the Academy, you know," Mrs. Mandel explained. "Where I + wanted you to go the day you had your dress tried on." + </p> + <p> + "No; we haven't been yet. Is it good?" She had turned to Mrs. March again. + </p> + <p> + "I believe the fall exhibitions are never so good as the spring ones. But + there are some good pictures." + </p> + <p> + "I don't believe I care much about pictures," said Christine. "I don't + understand them." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, that's no excuse for not caring about them," said March, lightly. + "The painters themselves don't, half the time." + </p> + <p> + The girl looked at him with that glance at once defiant and appealing, + insolent and anxious, which he had noticed before, especially when she + stole it toward himself and his wife during her sister's babble. In the + light of Fulkerson's history of the family, its origin and its ambition, + he interpreted it to mean a sense of her sister's folly and an ignorant + will to override his opinion of anything incongruous in themselves and + their surroundings. He said to himself that she was deathly proud—too + proud to try to palliate anything, but capable of anything that would put + others under her feet. Her eyes seemed hopelessly to question his wife's + social quality, and he fancied, with not unkindly interest, the + inexperienced girl's doubt whether to treat them with much or little + respect. He lost himself in fancies about her and her ideals, necessarily + sordid, of her possibilities of suffering, of the triumphs and + disappointments before her. Her sister would accept both with a lightness + that would keep no trace of either; but in her they would sink lastingly + deep. He came out of his reverie to find Mrs. Dryfoos saying to him, in + her hoarse voice: + </p> + <p> + "I think it's a shame, some of the pictur's a body sees in the winders. + They say there's a law ag'inst them things; and if there is, I don't + understand why the police don't take up them that paints 'em. I hear tell, + since I been here, that there's women that goes to have pictur's took from + them that way by men painters." The point seemed aimed at March, as if he + were personally responsible for the scandal, and it fell with a silencing + effect for the moment. Nobody seemed willing to take it up, and Mrs. + Dryfoos went on, with an old woman's severity: "I say they ought to be all + tarred and feathered and rode on a rail. They'd be drummed out of town in + Moffitt." + </p> + <p> + Miss Mela said, with a crowing laugh: "I should think they would! And they + wouldn't anybody go low neck to the opera-house there, either—not + low neck the way they do here, anyway." + </p> + <p> + "And that pack of worthless hussies," her mother resumed, "that come out + on the stage, and begun to kick." + </p> + <p> + "Laws, mother!" the girl shouted, "I thought you said you had your eyes + shut!" + </p> + <p> + All but these two simpler creatures were abashed at the indecorum of + suggesting in words the commonplaces of the theatre and of art. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I did, Mely, as soon as I could believe my eyes. I don't know what + they're doin' in all their churches, to let such things go on," said the + old woman. "It's a sin and a shame, I think. Don't you, Coonrod?" + </p> + <p> + A ring at the door cut short whatever answer he was about to deliver. + </p> + <p> + "If it's going to be company, Coonrod," said his mother, making an effort + to rise, "I reckon I better go up-stairs." + </p> + <p> + "It's Mr. Fulkerson, I guess," said Conrad. "He thought he might come"; + and at the mention of this light spirit Mrs. Dryfoos sank contentedly back + in her chair, and a relaxation of their painful tension seemed to pass + through the whole company. Conrad went to the door himself (the + serving-man tentatively, appeared some minutes later) and let in + Fulkerson's cheerful voice before his cheerful person. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, how dye do, Conrad? Brought our friend, Mr. Beaton, with me," those + within heard him say; and then, after a sound of putting off overcoats, + they saw him fill the doorway, with his feet set square and his arms + akimbo. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX. + </h2> + <p> + "Ah! hello! hello!" Fulkerson said, in recognition of the Marches. + "Regular gathering of the clans. How are you, Mrs. Dryfoos? How do you do, + Mrs. Mandel, Miss Christine, Mela, Aunt Hitty, and all the folks? How you + wuz?" He shook hands gayly all round, and took a chair next the old lady, + whose hand he kept in his own, and left Conrad to introduce Beaton. But he + would not let the shadow of Beaton's solemnity fall upon the company. He + began to joke with Mrs. Dryfoos, and to match rheumatisms with her, and he + included all the ladies in the range of appropriate pleasantries. "I've + brought Mr. Beaton along to-night, and I want you to make him feel at + home, like you do me, Mrs. Dryfoos. He hasn't got any rheumatism to speak + of; but his parents live in Syracuse, and he's a kind of an orphan, and + we've just adopted him down at the office. When you going to bring the + young ladies down there, Mrs. Mandel, for a champagne lunch? I will have + some hydro-Mela, and Christine it, heigh? How's that for a little starter? + We dropped in at your place a moment, Mrs. March, and gave the young folks + a few pointers about their studies. My goodness! it does me good to see a + boy like that of yours; business, from the word go; and your girl just + scoops my youthful affections. She's a beauty, and I guess she's good, + too. Well, well, what a world it is! Miss Christine, won't you show Mr. + Beaton that seal ring of yours? He knows about such things, and I brought + him here to see it as much as anything. It's an intaglio I brought from + the other side," he explained to Mrs. March, "and I guess you'll like to + look at it. Tried to give it to the Dryfoos family, and when I couldn't, I + sold it to 'em. Bound to see it on Miss Christine's hand somehow! Hold on! + Let him see it where it belongs, first!" + </p> + <p> + He arrested the girl in the motion she made to take off the ring, and let + her have the pleasure of showing her hand to the company with the ring on + it. Then he left her to hear the painter's words about it, which he + continued to deliver dissyllabically as he stood with her under a gas-jet, + twisting his elastic figure and bending his head over the ring. + </p> + <p> + "Well, Mely, child," Fulkerson went on, with an open travesty of her + mother's habitual address, "and how are you getting along? Mrs. Mandel + hold you up to the proprieties pretty strictly? Well, that's right. You + know you'd be roaming all over the pasture if she didn't." + </p> + <p> + The girl gurgled out her pleasure in his funning, and everybody took him + on his own ground of privileged character. He brought them all together in + their friendliness for himself, and before the evening was over he had + inspired Mrs. Mandel to have them served with coffee, and had made both + the girls feel that they had figured brilliantly in society, and that two + young men had been devoted to them. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I think he's just as lovely as he can live!" said Mela, as she stood + a moment with her sister on the scene of her triumph, where the others had + left them after the departure of their guests. + </p> + <p> + "Who?" asked Christine, deeply. As she glanced down at her ring, her eyes + burned with a softened fire. + </p> + <p> + She had allowed Beaton to change it himself from the finger where she had + worn it to the finger on which he said she ought to wear it. She did not + know whether it was right to let him, but she was glad she had done it. + </p> + <p> + "Who? Mr. Fulkerson, goosie-poosie! Not that old stuckup Mr. Beaton of + yours!" + </p> + <p> + "He is proud," assented Christine, with a throb of exultation. + </p> + <p> + Beaton and Fulkerson went to the Elevated station with the Marches; but + the painter said he was going to walk home, and Fulkerson let him go + alone. + </p> + <p> + "One way is enough for me," he explained. "When I walk up, I don't walk + down. Bye-bye, my son!" He began talking about Beaton to the Marches as + they climbed the station stairs together. "That fellow puzzles me. I don't + know anybody that I have such a desire to kick, and at the same time that + I want to flatter up so much. Affect you that way?" he asked of March. + </p> + <p> + "Well, as far as the kicking goes, yes." + </p> + <p> + "And how is it with you, Mrs. March?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I want to flatter him up." + </p> + <p> + "No; really? Why? Hold on! I've got the change." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson pushed March away from the ticket-office window; and made them + his guests, with the inexorable American hospitality, for the ride + down-town. "Three!" he said to the ticket-seller; and, when he had walked + them before him out on the platform and dropped his tickets into the urn, + he persisted in his inquiry, "Why?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, because you always want to flatter conceited people, don't you?" + Mrs. March answered, with a laugh. + </p> + <p> + "Do you? Yes, I guess you do. You think Beaton is conceited?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, slightly, Mr. Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + "I guess you're partly right," said Fulkerson, with a sigh, so + unaccountable in its connection that they all laughed. + </p> + <p> + "An ideal 'busted'?" March suggested. + </p> + <p> + "No, not that, exactly," said Fulkerson. "But I had a notion maybe Beaton + wasn't conceited all the time." + </p> + <p> + "Oh!" Mrs. March exulted, "nobody could be so conceited all the time as + Mr. Beaton is most of the time. He must have moments of the direst + modesty, when he'd be quite flattery-proof." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, that's what I mean. I guess that's what makes me want to kick him. + He's left compliments on my hands that no decent man would." + </p> + <p> + "Oh! that's tragical," said March. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Fulkerson," Mrs. March began, with change of subject in her voice, + "who is Mrs. Mandel?" + </p> + <p> + "Who? What do you think of her?" he rejoined. "I'll tell you about her + when we get in the cars. Look at that thing! Ain't it beautiful?" + </p> + <p> + They leaned over the track and looked up at the next station, where the + train, just starting, throbbed out the flame-shot steam into the white + moonlight. + </p> + <p> + "The most beautiful thing in New York—the one always and certainly + beautiful thing here," said March; and his wife sighed, "Yes, yes." She + clung to him, and remained rapt by the sight till the train drew near, and + then pulled him back in a panic. + </p> + <p> + "Well, there ain't really much to tell about her," Fulkerson resumed when + they were seated in the car. "She's an invention of mine." + </p> + <p> + "Of yours?" cried Mrs. March. + </p> + <p> + "Of course!" exclaimed her husband. + </p> + <p> + "Yes—at least in her present capacity. She sent me a story for the + syndicate, back in July some time, along about the time I first met old + Dryfoos here. It was a little too long for my purpose, and I thought I + could explain better how I wanted it cut in a call than I could in a + letter. She gave a Brooklyn address, and I went to see her. I found her," + said Fulkerson, with a vague defiance, "a perfect lady. She was living + with an aunt over there; and she had seen better days, when she was a + girl, and worse ones afterward. I don't mean to say her husband was a bad + fellow; I guess he was pretty good; he was her music-teacher; she met him + in Germany, and they got married there, and got through her property + before they came over here. Well, she didn't strike me like a person that + could make much headway in literature. Her story was well enough, but it + hadn't much sand in it; kind of-well, academic, you know. I told her so, + and she understood, and cried a little; but she did the best she could + with the thing, and I took it and syndicated it. She kind of stuck in my + mind, and the first time I went to see the Dryfooses they were stopping at + a sort of family hotel then till they could find a house—" Fulkerson + broke off altogether, and said, "I don't know as I know just how the + Dryfooses struck you, Mrs. March?" + </p> + <p> + "Can't you imagine?" she answered, with a kindly, smile. + </p> + <p> + "Yes; but I don't believe I could guess how they would have struck you + last summer when I first saw them. My! oh my! there was the native earth + for you. Mely is a pretty wild colt now, but you ought to have seen her + before she was broken to harness. + </p> + <p> + "And Christine? Ever see that black leopard they got up there in the + Central Park? That was Christine. Well, I saw what they wanted. They all + saw it—nobody is a fool in all directions, and the Dryfooses are in + their right senses a good deal of the time. Well, to cut a long story + short, I got Mrs. Mandel to take 'em in hand—the old lady as well as + the girls. She was a born lady, and always lived like one till she saw + Mandel; and that something academic that killed her for a writer was just + the very thing for them. She knows the world well enough to know just how + much polish they can take on, and she don't try to put on a bit more. + See?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I can see," said Mrs. March. + </p> + <p> + "Well, she took hold at once, as ready as a hospital-trained nurse; and + there ain't anything readier on this planet. She runs the whole concern, + socially and economically, takes all the care of housekeeping off the old + lady's hands, and goes round with the girls. By-the-bye, I'm going to take + my meals at your widow's, March, and Conrad's going to have his lunch + there. I'm sick of browsing about." + </p> + <p> + "Mr. March's widow?" said his wife, looking at him with provisional + severity. + </p> + <p> + "I have no widow, Isabel," he said, "and never expect to have, till I + leave you in the enjoyment of my life-insurance. I suppose Fulkerson means + the lady with the daughter who wanted to take us to board." + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes. How are they getting on, I do wonder?" Mrs. March asked of + Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + "Well, they've got one family to board; but it's a small one. I guess + they'll pull through. They didn't want to take any day boarders at first, + the widow said; I guess they have had to come to it." + </p> + <p> + "Poor things!" sighed Mrs. March. "I hope they'll go back to the country." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know. When you've once tasted New York—You wouldn't + go back to Boston, would you?" + </p> + <p> + "Instantly." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson laughed out a tolerant incredulity. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + X + </h2> + <p> + Beaton lit his pipe when he found himself in his room, and sat down before + the dull fire in his grate to think. It struck him there was a dull fire + in his heart a great deal like it; and he worked out a fanciful analogy + with the coals, still alive, and the ashes creeping over them, and the + dead clay and cinders. He felt sick of himself, sick of his life and of + all his works. He was angry with Fulkerson for having got him into that + art department of his, for having bought him up; and he was bitter at fate + because he had been obliged to use the money to pay some pressing debts, + and had not been able to return the check his father had sent him. He + pitied his poor old father; he ached with compassion for him; and he set + his teeth and snarled with contempt through them for his own baseness. + This was the kind of world it was; but he washed his hands of it. The + fault was in human nature, and he reflected with pride that he had at + least not invented human nature; he had not sunk so low as that yet. The + notion amused him; he thought he might get a Satanic epigram out of it + some way. But in the mean time that girl, that wild animal, she kept + visibly, tangibly before him; if he put out his hand he might touch hers, + he might pass his arm round her waist. In Paris, in a set he knew there, + what an effect she would be with that look of hers, and that beauty, all + out of drawing! They would recognize the flame quality in her. He imagined + a joke about her being a fiery spirit, or nymph, naiad, whatever, from one + of her native gas-wells. He began to sketch on a bit of paper from the + table at his elbow vague lines that veiled and revealed a level, dismal + landscape, and a vast flame against an empty sky, and a shape out of the + flame that took on a likeness and floated detached from it. The sketch ran + up the left side of the sheet and stretched across it. Beaton laughed out. + Pretty good to let Fulkerson have that for the cover of his first number! + In black and red it would be effective; it would catch the eye from the + news-stands. He made a motion to throw it on the fire, but held it back + and slid it into the table-drawer, and smoked on. He saw the dummy with + the other sketch in the open drawer which he had brought away from + Fulkerson's in the morning and slipped in there, and he took it out and + looked at it. He made some criticisms in line with his pencil on it, + correcting the drawing here and there, and then he respected it a little + more, though he still smiled at the feminine quality—a young lady + quality. + </p> + <p> + In spite of his experience the night he called upon the Leightons, Beaton + could not believe that Alma no longer cared for him. She played at having + forgotten him admirably, but he knew that a few months before she had been + very mindful of him. He knew he had neglected them since they came to New + York, where he had led them to expect interest, if not attention; but he + was used to neglecting people, and he was somewhat less used to being + punished for it—punished and forgiven. He felt that Alma had + punished him so thoroughly that she ought to have been satisfied with her + work and to have forgiven him in her heart afterward. He bore no + resentment after the first tingling moments were past; he rather admired + her for it; and he would have been ready to go back half an hour later and + accept pardon and be on the footing of last summer again. Even now he + debated with himself whether it was too late to call; but, decidedly, a + quarter to ten seemed late. The next day he determined never to call upon + the Leightons again; but he had no reason for this; it merely came into a + transitory scheme of conduct, of retirement from the society of women + altogether; and after dinner he went round to see them. + </p> + <p> + He asked for the ladies, and they all three received him, Alma not without + a surprise that intimated itself to him, and her mother with no + appreciable relenting; Miss Woodburn, with the needlework which she found + easier to be voluble over than a book, expressed in her welcome a + neutrality both cordial to Beaton and loyal to Alma. + </p> + <p> + "Is it snowing outdo's?" she asked, briskly, after the greetings were + transacted. "Mah goodness!" she said, in answer to his apparent surprise + at the question. "Ah mahght as well have stayed in the Soath, for all the + winter Ah have seen in New York yet." + </p> + <p> + "We don't often have snow much before New-Year's," said Beaton. + </p> + <p> + "Miss Woodburn is wild for a real Northern winter," Mrs. Leighton + explained. + </p> + <p> + "The othah naght Ah woke up and looked oat of the window and saw all the + roofs covered with snow, and it turned oat to be nothing but moonlaght. Ah + was never so disappointed in mah lahfe," said Miss Woodburn. + </p> + <p> + "If you'll come to St. Barnaby next summer, you shall have all the winter + you want," said Alma. + </p> + <p> + "I can't let you slander St. Barnaby in that way," said Beaton, with the + air of wishing to be understood as meaning more than he said. + </p> + <p> + "Yes?" returned Alma, coolly. "I didn't know you were so fond of the + climate." + </p> + <p> + "I never think of it as a climate. It's a landscape. It doesn't matter + whether it's hot or cold." + </p> + <p> + "With the thermometer twenty below, you'd find that it mattered," Alma + persisted. + </p> + <p> + "Is that the way you feel about St. Barnaby, too, Mrs. Leighton?" Beaton + asked, with affected desolation. + </p> + <p> + "I shall be glad enough to go back in the summer," Mrs. Leighton conceded. + </p> + <p> + "And I should be glad to go now," said Beaton, looking at Alma. He had the + dummy of 'Every Other Week' in his hand, and he saw Alma's eyes wandering + toward it whenever he glanced at her. "I should be glad to go anywhere to + get out of a job I've undertaken," he continued, to Mrs. Leighton. + "They're going to start some sort of a new illustrated magazine, and + they've got me in for their art department. I'm not fit for it; I'd like + to run away. Don't you want to advise me a little, Mrs. Leighton? You know + how much I value your taste, and I'd like to have you look at the design + for the cover of the first number: they're going to have a different one + for every number. I don't know whether you'll agree with me, but I think + this is rather nice." + </p> + <p> + He faced the dummy round, and then laid it on the table before Mrs. + Leighton, pushing some of her work aside to make room for it and standing + over her while she bent forward to look at it. + </p> + <p> + Alma kept her place, away from the table. + </p> + <p> + "Mah goodness! Ho' exciting!" said Miss Woodburn. "May anybody look?" + </p> + <p> + "Everybody," said Beaton. + </p> + <p> + "Well, isn't it perfectly choming!" Miss Woodburn exclaimed. "Come and + look at this, Miss Leighton," she called to Alma, who reluctantly + approached. + </p> + <p> + "What lines are these?" Mrs. Leighton asked, pointing to Beaton's pencil + scratches. + </p> + <p> + "They're suggestions of modifications," he replied. + </p> + <p> + "I don't think they improve it much. What do you think, Alma?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I don't know," said the girl, constraining her voice to an effect of + indifference and glancing carelessly down at the sketch. "The design might + be improved; but I don't think those suggestions would do it." + </p> + <p> + "They're mine," said Beaton, fixing his eyes upon her with a beautiful sad + dreaminess that he knew he could put into them; he spoke with a dreamy + remoteness of tone—his wind-harp stop, Wetmore called it. + </p> + <p> + "I supposed so," said Alma, calmly. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, mah goodness!" cried Miss Woodburn. "Is that the way you awtusts talk + to each othah? Well, Ah'm glad Ah'm not an awtust—unless I could do + all the talking." + </p> + <p> + "Artists cannot tell a fib," Alma said, "or even act one," and she laughed + in Beaton's upturned face. + </p> + <p> + He did not unbend his dreamy gaze. "You're quite right. The suggestions + are stupid." + </p> + <p> + Alma turned to Miss Woodburn: "You hear? Even when we speak of our own + work." + </p> + <p> + "Ah nevah hoad anything lahke it!" + </p> + <p> + "And the design itself?" Beaton persisted. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I'm not an art editor," Alma answered, with a laugh of exultant + evasion. + </p> + <p> + A tall, dark, grave-looking man of fifty, with a swarthy face and + iron-gray mustache and imperial and goatee, entered the room. Beaton knew + the type; he had been through Virginia sketching for one of the + illustrated papers, and he had seen such men in Richmond. Miss Woodburn + hardly needed to say, "May Ah introduce you to mah fathaw, Co'nel + Woodburn, Mr. Beaton?" + </p> + <p> + The men shook hands, and Colonel Woodburn said, in that soft, gentle, slow + Southern voice without our Northern contractions: "I am very glad to meet + you, sir; happy to make yo' acquaintance. Do not move, madam," he said to + Mrs. Leighton, who made a deprecatory motion to let him pass to the chair + beyond her; "I can find my way." He bowed a bulk that did not lend itself + readily to the devotion, and picked up the ball of yarn she had let drop + out of her lap in half rising. "Yo' worsteds, madam." + </p> + <p> + "Yarn, yarn, Colonel Woodburn!" Alma shouted. "You're quite incorrigible. + A spade is a spade!" + </p> + <p> + "But sometimes it is a trump, my dear young lady," said the Colonel, with + unabated gallantry; "and when yo' mothah uses yarn, it is worsteds. But I + respect worsteds even under the name of yarn: our ladies—my own + mothah and sistahs—had to knit the socks we wore—all we could + get in the woe." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, and aftah the woe," his daughter put in. "The knitting has not + stopped yet in some places. Have you been much in the Soath, Mr. Beaton?" + </p> + <p> + Beaton explained just how much. + </p> + <p> + "Well, sir," said the Colonel, "then you have seen a country making + gigantic struggles to retrieve its losses, sir. The South is advancing + with enormous strides, sir." + </p> + <p> + "Too fast for some of us to keep up," said Miss Woodburn, in an audible + aside. "The pace in Charlottesboag is pofectly killing, and we had to drop + oat into a slow place like New York." + </p> + <p> + "The progress in the South is material now," said the Colonel; "and those + of us whose interests are in another direction find ourselves—isolated + —isolated, sir. The intellectual centres are still in the No'th, + sir; the great cities draw the mental activity of the country to them, + sir. Necessarily New York is the metropolis." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, everything comes here," said Beaton, impatient of the elder's + ponderosity. Another sort of man would have sympathized with the + Southerner's willingness to talk of himself, and led him on to speak of + his plans and ideals. But the sort of man that Beaton was could not do + this; he put up the dummy into the wrapper he had let drop on the floor + beside him, and tied it round with string while Colonel Woodburn was + talking. He got to his feet with the words he spoke and offered Mrs. + Leighton his hand. + </p> + <p> + "Must you go?" she asked, in surprise. + </p> + <p> + "I am on my way to a reception," he said. She had noticed that he was in + evening dress; and now she felt the vague hurt that people invited nowhere + feel in the presence of those who are going somewhere. She did not feel it + for herself, but for her daughter; and she knew Alma would not have let + her feel it if she could have prevented it. But Alma had left the room for + a moment, and she tacitly indulged this sense of injury in her behalf. + </p> + <p> + "Please say good-night to Miss Leighton for me," Beaton continued. He + bowed to Miss Woodburn, "Goodnight, Miss Woodburn," and to her father, + bluntly, "Goodnight." + </p> + <p> + "Good-night, sir," said the Colonel, with a sort of severe suavity. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, isn't he choming!" Miss Woodburn whispered to Mrs. Leighton when + Beaton left the room. + </p> + <p> + Alma spoke to him in the hall without. "You knew that was my design, Mr. + Beaton. Why did you bring it?" + </p> + <p> + "Why?" He looked at her in gloomy hesitation. + </p> + <p> + Then he said: "You know why. I wished to talk it over with you, to serve + you, please you, get back your good opinion. But I've done neither the one + nor the other; I've made a mess of the whole thing." + </p> + <p> + Alma interrupted him. "Has it been accepted?" + </p> + <p> + "It will be accepted, if you will let it." + </p> + <p> + "Let it?" she laughed. "I shall be delighted." She saw him swayed a little + toward her. "It's a matter of business, isn't it?" + </p> + <p> + "Purely. Good-night." + </p> + <p> + When Alma returned to the room, Colonel Woodburn was saying to Mrs. + Leighton: "I do not contend that it is impossible, madam, but it is very + difficult in a thoroughly commercialized society, like yours, to have the + feelings of a gentleman. How can a business man, whose prosperity, whose + earthly salvation, necessarily lies in the adversity of some one else, be + delicate and chivalrous, or even honest? If we could have had time to + perfect our system at the South, to eliminate what was evil and develop + what was good in it, we should have had a perfect system. But the virus of + commercialism was in us, too; it forbade us to make the best of a divine + institution, and tempted us to make the worst. Now the curse is on the + whole country; the dollar is the measure of every value, the stamp of + every success. What does not sell is a failure; and what sells succeeds." + </p> + <p> + "The hobby is oat, mah deah," said Miss Woodburn, in an audible aside to + Alma. + </p> + <p> + "Were you speaking of me, Colonel Woodburn?" Alma asked. + </p> + <p> + "Surely not, my dear young lady." + </p> + <p> + "But he's been saying that awtusts are just as greedy aboat money as + anybody," said his daughter. + </p> + <p> + "The law of commercialism is on everything in a commercial society," the + Colonel explained, softening the tone in which his convictions were + presented. "The final reward of art is money, and not the pleasure of + creating." + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps they would be willing to take it all oat in that if othah people + would let them pay their bills in the pleasure of creating," his daughter + teased. + </p> + <p> + "They are helpless, like all the rest," said her father, with the same + deference to her as to other women. "I do not blame them." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, mah goodness! Didn't you say, sir, that Mr. Beaton had bad manners?" + </p> + <p> + Alma relieved a confusion which he seemed to feel in reference to her. + "Bad manners? He has no manners! That is, when he's himself. He has pretty + good ones when he's somebody else." + </p> + <p> + Miss Woodburn began, "Oh, mah—" and then stopped herself. Alma's + mother looked at her with distressed question, but the girl seemed + perfectly cool and contented; and she gave her mind provisionally to a + point suggested by Colonel Woodburn's talk. + </p> + <p> + "Still, I can't believe it was right to hold people in slavery, to whip + them and sell them. It never did seem right to me," she added, in apology + for her extreme sentiments to the gentleness of her adversary. + </p> + <p> + "I quite agree with you, madam," said the Colonel. "Those were the abuses + of the institution. But if we had not been vitiated on the one hand and + threatened on the other by the spirit of commercialism from the North—and + from Europe, too—those abuses could have been eliminated, and the + institution developed in the direction of the mild patriarchalism of the + divine intention." The Colonel hitched his chair, which figured a hobby + careering upon its hind legs, a little toward Mrs. Leighton and the girls + approached their heads and began to whisper; they fell deferentially + silent when the Colonel paused in his argument, and went on again when he + went on. + </p> + <p> + At last they heard Mrs. Leighton saying, "And have you heard from the + publishers about your book yet?" + </p> + <p> + Then Miss Woodburn cut in, before her father could answer: "The coase of + commercialism is on that, too. They are trahing to fahnd oat whethah it + will pay." + </p> + <p> + "And they are right—quite right," said the Colonel. "There is no + longer any other criterion; and even a work that attacks the system must + be submitted to the tests of the system." + </p> + <p> + "The system won't accept destruction on any othah tomes," said Miss + Woodburn, demurely. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XI. + </h2> + <p> + At the reception, where two men in livery stood aside to let him pass up + the outside steps of the house, and two more helped him off with his + overcoat indoors, and a fifth miscalled his name into the drawing-room, + the Syracuse stone-cutter's son met the niece of Mrs. Horn, and began at + once to tell her about his evening at the Dryfooses'. He was in very good + spirits, for so far as he could have been elated or depressed by his + parting with Alma Leighton he had been elated; she had not treated his + impudence with the contempt that he felt it deserved; she must still be + fond of him; and the warm sense of this, by operation of an obscure but + well-recognized law of the masculine being, disposed him to be rather fond + of Miss Vance. She was a slender girl, whose semi-aesthetic dress flowed + about her with an accentuation of her long forms, and redeemed them from + censure by the very frankness with which it confessed them; nobody could + have said that Margaret Vance was too tall. Her pretty little head, which + she had an effect of choosing to have little in the same spirit of + judicious defiance, had a good deal of reading in it; she was proud to + know literary and artistic fashions as well as society fashions. She liked + being singled out by an exterior distinction so obvious as Beaton's, and + she listened with sympathetic interest to his account of those people. He + gave their natural history reality by drawing upon his own; he + reconstructed their plebeian past from the experiences of his childhood + and his youth of the pre-Parisian period; and he had a pang of suicidal + joy in insulting their ignorance of the world. + </p> + <p> + "What different kinds of people you meet!" said the girl at last, with an + envious sigh. Her reading had enlarged the bounds of her imagination, if + not her knowledge; the novels nowadays dealt so much with very common + people, and made them seem so very much more worth while than the people + one met. + </p> + <p> + She said something like this to Beaton. He answered: "You can meet the + people I'm talking of very easily, if you want to take the trouble. It's + what they came to New York for. I fancy it's the great ambition of their + lives to be met." + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes," said Miss Vance, fashionably, and looked down; then she looked + up and said, intellectually: "Don't you think it's a great pity? How much + better for them to have stayed where they were and what they were!" + </p> + <p> + "Then you could never have had any chance of meeting them," said Beaton. + "I don't suppose you intend to go out to the gas country?" + </p> + <p> + "No," said Miss Vance, amused. "Not that I shouldn't like to go." + </p> + <p> + "What a daring spirit! You ought to be on the staff of 'Every Other + Week,'" said Beaton. + </p> + <p> + "The staff—'Every Other Week'? What is it?" + </p> + <p> + "The missing link; the long-felt want of a tie between the Arts and the + Dollars." Beaton gave her a very picturesque, a very dramatic sketch of + the theory, the purpose, and the personnel of the new enterprise. + </p> + <p> + Miss Vance understood too little about business of any kind to know how it + differed from other enterprises of its sort. She thought it was + delightful; she thought Beaton must be glad to be part of it, though he + had represented himself so bored, so injured, by Fulkerson's insisting + upon having him. "And is it a secret? Is it a thing not to be spoken of?" + </p> + <p> + "'Tutt' altro'! Fulkerson will be enraptured to have it spoken of in + society. He would pay any reasonable bill for the advertisement." + </p> + <p> + "What a delightful creature! Tell him it shall all be spent in charity." + </p> + <p> + "He would like that. He would get two paragraphs out of the fact, and your + name would go into the 'Literary Notes' of all the newspapers." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, but I shouldn't want my name used!" cried the girl, half horrified + into fancying the situation real. + </p> + <p> + "Then you'd better not say anything about 'Every Other Week'. Fulkerson is + preternaturally unscrupulous." + </p> + <p> + March began to think so too, at times. He was perpetually suggesting + changes in the make-up of the first number, with a view to its greater + vividness of effect. One day he came and said: "This thing isn't going to + have any sort of get up and howl about it, unless you have a paper in the + first number going for Bevans's novels. Better get Maxwell to do it." + </p> + <p> + "Why, I thought you liked Bevans's novels?" + </p> + <p> + "So I did; but where the good of 'Every Other Week' is concerned I am a + Roman father. The popular gag is to abuse Bevans, and Maxwell is the man + to do it. There hasn't been a new magazine started for the last three + years that hasn't had an article from Maxwell in its first number cutting + Bevans all to pieces. If people don't see it, they'll think 'Every Other + Week' is some old thing." + </p> + <p> + March did not know whether Fulkerson was joking or not. He suggested, + "Perhaps they'll think it's an old thing if they do see it." + </p> + <p> + "Well, get somebody else, then; or else get Maxwell to write under an + assumed name. Or—I forgot! He'll be anonymous under our system, + anyway. Now there ain't a more popular racket for us to work in that first + number than a good, swinging attack on Bevans. People read his books and + quarrel over 'em, and the critics are all against him, and a regular + flaying, with salt and vinegar rubbed in afterward, will tell more with + people who like good old-fashioned fiction than anything else. I like + Bevans's things, but, dad burn it! when it comes to that first number, I'd + offer up anybody." + </p> + <p> + "What an immoral little wretch you are, Fulkerson!" said March, with a + laugh. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson appeared not to be very strenuous about the attack on the + novelist. "Say!" he called out, gayly, "what should you think of a paper + defending the late lamented system of slavery'?" + </p> + <p> + "What do you mean, Fulkerson?" asked March, with a puzzled smile. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson braced his knees against his desk, and pushed himself back, but + kept his balance to the eye by canting his hat sharply forward. "There's + an old cock over there at the widow's that's written a book to prove that + slavery was and is the only solution of the labor problem. He's a + Southerner." + </p> + <p> + "I should imagine," March assented. + </p> + <p> + "He's got it on the brain that if the South could have been let alone by + the commercial spirit and the pseudophilanthropy of the North, it would + have worked out slavery into a perfectly ideal condition for the laborer, + in which he would have been insured against want, and protected in all his + personal rights by the state. He read the introduction to me last night. I + didn't catch on to all the points—his daughter's an awfully pretty + girl, and I was carrying that fact in my mind all the time, too, you know—but + that's about the gist of it." + </p> + <p> + "Seems to regard it as a lost opportunity?" said March. + </p> + <p> + "Exactly! What a mighty catchy title, Neigh? Look well on the title-page." + </p> + <p> + "Well written?" + </p> + <p> + "I reckon so; I don't know. The Colonel read it mighty eloquently." + </p> + <p> + "It mightn't be such bad business," said March, in a muse. "Could you get + me a sight of it without committing yourself?" + </p> + <p> + "If the Colonel hasn't sent it off to another publisher this morning. He + just got it back with thanks yesterday. He likes to keep it travelling." + </p> + <p> + "Well, try it. I've a notion it might be a curious thing." + </p> + <p> + "Look here, March," said Fulkerson, with the effect of taking a fresh + hold; "I wish you could let me have one of those New York things of yours + for the first number. After all, that's going to be the great card." + </p> + <p> + "I couldn't, Fulkerson; I couldn't, really. I want to philosophize the + material, and I'm too new to it all yet. I don't want to do merely + superficial sketches." + </p> + <p> + "Of course! Of course! I understand that. Well, I don't want to hurry you. + Seen that old fellow of yours yet? I think we ought to have that + translation in the first number; don't you? We want to give 'em a notion + of what we're going to do in that line." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said March; "and I was going out to look up Lindau this morning. + I've inquired at Maroni's, and he hasn't been there for several days. I've + some idea perhaps he's sick. But they gave me his address, and I'm going + to see." + </p> + <p> + "Well, that's right. We want the first number to be the keynote in every + way." + </p> + <p> + March shook his head. "You can't make it so. The first number is bound to + be a failure always, as far as the representative character goes. It's + invariably the case. Look at the first numbers of all the things you've + seen started. They're experimental, almost amateurish, and necessarily so, + not only because the men that are making them up are comparatively + inexperienced like ourselves, but because the material sent them to deal + with is more or less consciously tentative. People send their adventurous + things to a new periodical because the whole thing is an adventure. I've + noticed that quality in all the volunteer contributions; it's in the + articles that have been done to order even. No; I've about made up my mind + that if we can get one good striking paper into the first number that will + take people's minds off the others, we shall be doing all we can possibly + hope for. I should like," March added, less seriously, "to make up three + numbers ahead, and publish the third one first." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson dropped forward and struck his fist on the desk. "It's a + first-rate idea. Why not do it?" + </p> + <p> + March laughed. "Fulkerson, I don't believe there's any quackish thing you + wouldn't do in this cause. From time to time I'm thoroughly ashamed of + being connected with such a charlatan." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson struck his hat sharply backward. "Ah, dad burn it! To give that + thing the right kind of start I'd walk up and down Broadway between two + boards, with the title-page of 'Every Other Week' facsimiled on one and my + name and address on the—" + </p> + <p> + He jumped to his feet and shouted, "March, I'll do it!" + </p> + <p> + "What?" + </p> + <p> + "I'll hire a lot of fellows to make mud-turtles of themselves, and I'll + have a lot of big facsimiles of the title-page, and I'll paint the town + red!" + </p> + <p> + March looked aghast at him. "Oh, come, now, Fulkerson!" + </p> + <p> + "I mean it. I was in London when a new man had taken hold of the old + Cornhill, and they were trying to boom it, and they had a procession of + these mudturtles that reached from Charing Cross to Temple Bar. 'Cornhill + Magazine'. Sixpence. Not a dull page in it.' I said to myself then that it + was the livest thing I ever saw. I respected the man that did that thing + from the bottom of my heart. I wonder I ever forgot it. But it shows what + a shaky thing the human mind is at its best." + </p> + <p> + "You infamous mountebank!", said March, with great amusement at + Fulkerson's access; "you call that congeries of advertising instinct of + yours the human mind at its best? Come, don't be so diffident, Fulkerson. + Well, I'm off to find Lindau, and when I come back I hope Mr. Dryfoos will + have you under control. I don't suppose you'll be quite sane again till + after the first number is out. Perhaps public opinion will sober you + then." + </p> + <p> + "Confound it, March! How do you think they will take it? I swear I'm + getting so nervous I don't know half the time which end of me is up. I + believe if we don't get that thing out by the first of February it 'll be + the death of me." + </p> + <p> + "Couldn't wait till Washington's Birthday? I was thinking it would give + the day a kind of distinction, and strike the public imagination, if—" + </p> + <p> + "No, I'll be dogged if I could!" Fulkerson lapsed more and more into the + parlance of his early life in this season of strong excitement. "I believe + if Beaton lags any on the art leg I'll kill him." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I shouldn't mind your killing Beaton," said March, tranquilly, as + he went out. + </p> + <p> + He went over to Third Avenue and took the Elevated down to Chatham Square. + He found the variety of people in the car as unfailingly entertaining as + ever. He rather preferred the East Side to the West Side lines, because + they offered more nationalities, conditions, and characters to his + inspection. They draw not only from the up-town American region, but from + all the vast hive of populations swarming between them and the East River. + He had found that, according to the hour, American husbands going to and + from business, and American wives going to and from shopping, prevailed on + the Sixth Avenue road, and that the most picturesque admixture to these + familiar aspects of human nature were the brilliant eyes and complexions + of the American Hebrews, who otherwise contributed to the effect of + well-clad comfort and citizen-self-satisfaction of the crowd. Now and then + he had found himself in a car mostly filled with Neapolitans from the + constructions far up the line, where he had read how they are worked and + fed and housed like beasts; and listening to the jargon of their + unintelligible dialect, he had occasion for pensive question within + himself as to what notion these poor animals formed of a free republic + from their experience of life under its conditions; and whether they found + them practically very different from those of the immemorial brigandage + and enforced complicity with rapine under which they had been born. But, + after all, this was an infrequent effect, however massive, of travel on + the West Side, whereas the East offered him continual entertainment in + like sort. The sort was never quite so squalid. For short distances the + lowest poverty, the hardest pressed labor, must walk; but March never + entered a car without encountering some interesting shape of shabby + adversity, which was almost always adversity of foreign birth. New York is + still popularly supposed to be in the control of the Irish, but March + noticed in these East Side travels of his what must strike every observer + returning to the city after a prolonged absence: the numerical + subordination of the dominant race. If they do not outvote them, the + people of Germanic, of Slavonic, of Pelasgic, of Mongolian stock outnumber + the prepotent Celts; and March seldom found his speculation centred upon + one of these. The small eyes, the high cheeks, the broad noses, the puff + lips, the bare, cue-filleted skulls, of Russians, Poles, Czechs, Chinese; + the furtive glitter of Italians; the blonde dulness of Germans; the cold + quiet of Scandinavians—fire under ice—were aspects that he + identified, and that gave him abundant suggestion for the personal + histories he constructed, and for the more public-spirited reveries in + which he dealt with the future economy of our heterogeneous commonwealth. + It must be owned that he did not take much trouble about this; what these + poor people were thinking, hoping, fearing, enjoying, suffering; just + where and how they lived; who and what they individually were—these + were the matters of his waking dreams as he stared hard at them, while the + train raced farther into the gay ugliness—the shapeless, graceful, + reckless picturesqueness of the Bowery. + </p> + <p> + There were certain signs, certain facades, certain audacities of the + prevailing hideousness that always amused him in that uproar to the eye + which the strident forms and colors made. He was interested in the + insolence with which the railway had drawn its erasing line across the + Corinthian front of an old theatre, almost grazing its fluted pillars, and + flouting its dishonored pediment. The colossal effigies of the fat women + and the tuft-headed Circassian girls of cheap museums; the vistas of + shabby cross streets; the survival of an old hip-roofed house here and + there at their angles; the Swiss chalet, histrionic decorativeness of the + stations in prospect or retrospect; the vagaries of the lines that + narrowed together or stretched apart according to the width of the avenue, + but always in wanton disregard of the life that dwelt, and bought and + sold, and rejoiced or sorrowed, and clattered or crawled, around, below, + above—were features of the frantic panorama that perpetually touched + his sense of humor and moved his sympathy. Accident and then exigency + seemed the forces at work to this extraordinary effect; the play of + energies as free and planless as those that force the forest from the soil + to the sky; and then the fierce struggle for survival, with the stronger + life persisting over the deformity, the mutilation, the destruction, the + decay of the weaker. The whole at moments seemed to him lawless, godless; + the absence of intelligent, comprehensive purpose in the huge disorder, + and the violent struggle to subordinate the result to the greater good, + penetrated with its dumb appeal the consciousness of a man who had always + been too self-enwrapped to perceive the chaos to which the individual + selfishness must always lead. + </p> + <p> + But there was still nothing definite, nothing better than a vague + discomfort, however poignant, in his half recognition of such facts; and + he descended the station stairs at Chatham Square with a sense of the + neglected opportunities of painters in that locality. He said to himself + that if one of those fellows were to see in Naples that turmoil of cars, + trucks, and teams of every sort, intershot with foot-passengers going and + coming to and from the crowded pavements, under the web of the railroad + tracks overhead, and amid the spectacular approach of the streets that + open into the square, he would have it down in his sketch-book at once. He + decided simultaneously that his own local studies must be illustrated, and + that he must come with the artist and show him just which bits to do, not + knowing that the two arts can never approach the same material from the + same point. He thought he would particularly like his illustrator to + render the Dickensy, cockneyish quality of the shabby-genteel + ballad-seller of whom he stopped to ask his way to the street where Lindau + lived, and whom he instantly perceived to be, with his stock in trade, the + sufficient object of an entire study by himself. He had his ballads strung + singly upon a cord against the house wall, and held down in piles on the + pavement with stones and blocks of wood. Their control in this way + intimated a volatility which was not perceptible in their sentiment. They + were mostly tragical or doleful: some of them dealt with the wrongs of the + working-man; others appealed to a gay experience of the high seas; but + vastly the greater part to memories and associations of an Irish origin; + some still uttered the poetry of plantation life in the artless accents of + the end—man. Where they trusted themselves, with syntax that yielded + promptly to any exigency of rhythmic art, to the ordinary American speech, + it was to strike directly for the affections, to celebrate the domestic + ties, and, above all, to embalm the memories of angel and martyr mothers + whose dissipated sons deplored their sufferings too late. March thought + this not at all a bad thing in them; he smiled in patronage of their + simple pathos; he paid the tribute of a laugh when the poet turned, as he + sometimes did, from his conception of angel and martyr motherhood, and + portrayed the mother in her more familiar phases of virtue and duty, with + the retributive shingle or slipper in her hand. He bought a pocketful of + this literature, popular in a sense which the most successful book can + never be, and enlisted the ballad vendor so deeply in the effort to direct + him to Lindau's dwelling by the best way that he neglected another + customer, till a sarcasm on his absent-mindedness stung hint to retort, + "I'm a-trying to answer a gentleman a civil question; that's where the + absent-minded comes in." + </p> + <p> + It seemed for some reason to be a day of leisure with the Chinese dwellers + in Mott Street, which March had been advised to take first. They stood + about the tops of basement stairs, and walked two and two along the dirty + pavement, with their little hands tucked into their sleeves across their + breasts, aloof in immaculate cleanliness from the filth around them, and + scrutinizing the scene with that cynical sneer of faint surprise to which + all aspects of our civilization seem to move their superiority. Their + numbers gave character to the street, and rendered not them, but what was + foreign to them, strange there; so that March had a sense of missionary + quality in the old Catholic church, built long before their incursion was + dreamed of. It seemed to have come to them there, and he fancied in the + statued saint that looked down from its facade something not so much + tolerant as tolerated, something propitiatory, almost deprecatory. It was + a fancy, of course; the street was sufficiently peopled with Christian + children, at any rate, swarming and shrieking at their games; and + presently a Christian mother appeared, pushed along by two policemen on a + handcart, with a gelatinous tremor over the paving and a gelatinous + jouncing at the curbstones. She lay with her face to the sky, sending up + an inarticulate lamentation; but the indifference of the officers forbade + the notion of tragedy in her case. She was perhaps a local celebrity; the + children left off their games, and ran gayly trooping after her; even the + young fellow and young girl exchanging playful blows in a robust + flirtation at the corner of a liquor store suspended their scuffle with a + pleased interest as she passed. March understood the unwillingness of the + poor to leave the worst conditions in the city for comfort and plenty in + the country when he reflected upon this dramatic incident, one of many no + doubt which daily occur to entertain them in such streets. A small town + could rarely offer anything comparable to it, and the country never. He + said that if life appeared so hopeless to him as it must to the dwellers + in that neighborhood he should not himself be willing to quit its + distractions, its alleviations, for the vague promise of unknown good in + the distance somewhere. + </p> + <p> + But what charm could such a man as Lindau find in such a place? It could + not be that he lived there because he was too poor to live elsewhere: with + a shutting of the heart, March refused to believe this as he looked round + on the abounding evidences of misery, and guiltily remembered his neglect + of his old friend. Lindau could probably find as cheap a lodging in some + decenter part of the town; and, in fact, there was some amelioration of + the prevailing squalor in the quieter street which he turned into from + Mott. + </p> + <p> + A woman with a tied-up face of toothache opened the door for him when he + pulled, with a shiver of foreboding, the bell-knob, from which a yard of + rusty crape dangled. But it was not Lindau who was dead, for the woman + said he was at home, and sent March stumbling up the four or five dark + flights of stairs that led to his tenement. It was quite at the top of the + house, and when March obeyed the German-English "Komm!" that followed his + knock, he found himself in a kitchen where a meagre breakfast was + scattered in stale fragments on the table before the stove. The place was + bare and cold; a half-empty beer bottle scarcely gave it a convivial air. + On the left from this kitchen was a room with a bed in it, which seemed + also to be a cobbler's shop: on the right, through a door that stood ajar, + came the German-English voice again, saying this time, "Hier!" + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XII. + </h2> + <p> + March pushed the door open into a room like that on the left, but with a + writing-desk instead of a cobbler's bench, and a bed, where Lindau sat + propped up; with a coat over his shoulders and a skull-cap on his head, + reading a book, from which he lifted his eyes to stare blankly over his + spectacles at March. His hairy old breast showed through the night-shirt, + which gaped apart; the stump of his left arm lay upon the book to keep it + open. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, my tear yo'ng friendt! Passil! Marge! Iss it you?" he called out, + joyously, the next moment. + </p> + <p> + "Why, are you sick, Lindau?" March anxiously scanned his face in taking + his hand. + </p> + <p> + Lindau laughed. "No; I'm all righdt. Only a lidtle lazy, and a lidtle + eggonomigal. Idt's jeaper to stay in pedt sometimes as to geep a fire + a-goin' all the time. Don't wandt to gome too hardt on the 'brafer Mann', + you know: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Braver Mann, er schafft mir zu essen." +</pre> + <p> + You remember? Heine? You readt Heine still? Who is your favorite boet now, + Passil? You write some boetry yourself yet? No? Well, I am gladt to zee + you. Brush those baperss off of that jair. Well, idt is goodt for zore + eyess. How didt you findt where I lif? + </p> + <p> + "They told me at Maroni's," said March. He tried to keep his eyes on + Lindau's face, and not see the discomfort of the room, but he was aware of + the shabby and frowsy bedding, the odor of stale smoke, and the pipes and + tobacco shreds mixed with the books and manuscripts strewn over the leaf + of the writing-desk. He laid down on the mass the pile of foreign + magazines he had brought under his arm. "They gave me another address + first." + </p> + <p> + "Yes. I have chust gome here," said Lindau. "Idt is not very coy, Neigh?" + </p> + <p> + "It might be gayer," March admitted, with a smile. "Still," he added, + soberly, "a good many people seem to live in this part of the town. + Apparently they die here, too, Lindau. There is crape on your outside + door. I didn't know but it was for you." + </p> + <p> + "Nodt this time," said Lindau, in the same humor. "Berhaps some other + time. We geep the ondertakers bratty puzy down here." + </p> + <p> + "Well," said March, "undertakers must live, even if the rest of us have to + die to let them." Lindau laughed, and March went on: "But I'm glad it + isn't your funeral, Lindau. And you say you're not sick, and so I don't + see why we shouldn't come to business." + </p> + <p> + "Pusiness?" Lindau lifted his eyebrows. "You gome on pusiness?" + </p> + <p> + "And pleasure combined," said March, and he went on to explain the service + he desired at Lindau's hands. + </p> + <p> + The old man listened with serious attention, and with assenting nods that + culminated in a spoken expression of his willingness to undertake the + translations. March waited with a sort of mechanical expectation of his + gratitude for the work put in his way, but nothing of the kind came from + Lindau, and March was left to say, "Well, everything is understood, then; + and I don't know that I need add that if you ever want any little advance + on the work—" + </p> + <p> + "I will ask you," said Lindau, quietly, "and I thank you for that. But I + can wait; I ton't needt any money just at bresent." As if he saw some + appeal for greater frankness in March's eye, he went on: "I tidn't gome + here begause I was too boor to lif anywhere else, and I ton't stay in pedt + begause I couldn't haf a fire to geep warm if I wanted it. I'm nodt zo + padt off as Marmontel when he went to Paris. I'm a lidtle loaxurious, that + is all. If I stay in pedt it's zo I can fling money away on somethings + else. Heigh?" + </p> + <p> + "But what are you living here for, Lindau?" March smiled at the irony + lurking in Lindau's words. + </p> + <p> + "Well, you zee, I foundt I was begoming a lidtle too moch of an + aristograt. I hadt a room oap in Creenvidge Willage, among dose pig pugs + over on the West Side, and I foundt"—Liudau's voice lost its jesting + quality, and his face darkened—"that I was beginning to forget the + boor!" + </p> + <p> + "I should have thought," said March, with impartial interest, "that you + might have seen poverty enough, now and then, in Greenwich Village to + remind you of its existence." + </p> + <p> + "Nodt like here," said Lindau. "Andt you must zee it all the dtime—zee + it, hear it, smell it, dtaste it—or you forget it. That is what I + gome here for. I was begoming a ploated aristograt. I thought I was nodt + like these beople down here, when I gome down once to look aroundt; I + thought I must be somethings else, and zo I zaid I better take myself in + time, and I gome here among my brothers—the becears and the thiefs!" + A noise made itself heard in the next room, as if the door were furtively + opened, and a faint sound of tiptoeing and of hands clawing on a table. + </p> + <p> + "Thiefs!" Lindau repeated, with a shout. "Lidtle thiefs, that gabture your + breakfast. Ah! ha! ha!" A wild scurrying of feet, joyous cries and + tittering, and a slamming door followed upon his explosion, and he resumed + in the silence: "Idt is the children cot pack from school. They gome and + steal what I leaf there on my daple. Idt's one of our lidtle chokes; we + onderstand one another; that's all righdt. Once the gobbler in the other + room there he used to chase 'em; he couldn't onderstand their lidtle + tricks. Now dot goppler's teadt, and he ton't chase 'em any more. He was a + Bohemian. Gindt of grazy, I cuess." + </p> + <p> + "Well, it's a sociable existence," March suggested. "But perhaps if you + let them have the things without stealing—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh no, no! Most nodt mage them too gonceitedt. They mostn't go and feel + themselfs petter than those boor millionairss that hadt to steal their + money." + </p> + <p> + March smiled indulgently at his old friend's violence. "Oh, there are + fagots and fagots, you know, Lindau; perhaps not all the millionaires are + so guilty." + </p> + <p> + "Let us speak German!" cried Lindau, in his own tongue, pushing his book + aside, and thrusting his skullcap back from his forehead. "How much money + can a man honestly earn without wronging or oppressing some other man?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, if you'll let me answer in English," said March, "I should say + about five thousand dollars a year. I name that figure because it's my + experience that I never could earn more; but the experience of other men + may be different, and if they tell me they can earn ten, or twenty, or + fifty thousand a year, I'm not prepared to say they can't do it." + </p> + <p> + Lindau hardly waited for his answer. "Not the most gifted man that ever + lived, in the practice of any art or science, and paid at the highest rate + that exceptional genius could justly demand from those who have worked for + their money, could ever earn a million dollars. It is the landlords and + the merchant princes, the railroad kings and the coal barons (the + oppressors to whom you instinctively give the titles of tyrants)—it + is these that make the millions, but no man earns them. What artist, what + physician, what scientist, what poet was ever a millionaire?" + </p> + <p> + "I can only think of the poet Rogers," said March, amused by Lindau's + tirade. "But he was as exceptional as the other Rogers, the martyr, who + died with warm feet." Lindau had apparently not understood his joke, and + he went on, with the American ease of mind about everything: "But you must + allow, Lindau, that some of those fellows don't do so badly with their + guilty gains. Some of them give work to armies of poor people—" + </p> + <p> + Lindau furiously interrupted: "Yes, when they have gathered their millions + together from the hunger and cold and nakedness and ruin and despair of + hundreds of thousands of other men, they 'give work' to the poor! They + give work! They allow their helpless brothers to earn enough to keep life + in them! They give work! Who is it gives toil, and where will your rich + men be when once the poor shall refuse to give toil? Why, you have come to + give me work!" + </p> + <p> + March laughed outright. "Well, I'm not a millionaire, anyway, Lindau, and + I hope you won't make an example of me by refusing to give toil. I dare + say the millionaires deserve it, but I'd rather they wouldn't suffer in my + person." + </p> + <p> + "No," returned the old man, mildly relaxing the fierce glare he had bent + upon March. "No man deserves to suffer at the hands of another. I lose + myself when I think of the injustice in the world. But I must not forget + that I am like the worst of them." + </p> + <p> + "You might go up Fifth Avenue and live among the rich awhile, when you're + in danger of that," suggested March. "At any rate," he added, by an + impulse which he knew he could not justify to his wife, "I wish you'd come + some day and lunch with their emissary. I've been telling Mrs. March about + you, and I want her and the children to see you. Come over with these + things and report." He put his hand on the magazines as he rose. + </p> + <p> + "I will come," said Lindau, gently. + </p> + <p> + "Shall I give you your book?" asked March. + </p> + <p> + "No; I gidt oap bretty soon." + </p> + <p> + "And—and—can you dress yourself?" + </p> + <p> + "I vhistle, and one of those lidtle fellowss comess. We haf to dake gare + of one another in a blace like this. Idt iss nodt like the worldt," said + Lindau, gloomily. + </p> + <p> + March thought he ought to cheer him up. "Oh, it isn't such a bad world, + Lindau! After all, the average of millionaires is small in it." He added, + "And I don't believe there's an American living that could look at that + arm of yours and not wish to lend you a hand for the one you gave us all." + March felt this to be a fine turn, and his voice trembled slightly in + saying it. + </p> + <p> + Lindau smiled grimly. "You think zo? I wouldn't moch like to drost 'em. + I've driedt idt too often." He began to speak German again fiercely: + "Besides, they owe me nothing. Do you think I knowingly gave my hand to + save this oligarchy of traders and tricksters, this aristocracy of + railroad wreckers and stock gamblers and mine-slave drivers and mill-serf + owners? No; I gave it to the slave; the slave—ha! ha! ha!—whom + I helped to unshackle to the common liberty of hunger and cold. And you + think I would be the beneficiary of such a state of things?" + </p> + <p> + "I'm sorry to hear you talk so, Lindau," said March; "very sorry." He + stopped with a look of pain, and rose to go. Lindau suddenly broke into a + laugh and into English. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, well, it is only dalk, Passil, and it toes me goodt. My parg is worse + than my pidte, I cuess. I pring these things roundt bretty soon. Good-bye, + Passil, my tear poy. Auf wiedersehen!" + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIII. + </h2> + <p> + March went away thinking of what Lindau had said, but not for the + impersonal significance of his words so much as for the light they cast + upon Lindau himself. He thought the words violent enough, but in + connection with what he remembered of the cheery, poetic, hopeful + idealist, they were even more curious than lamentable. In his own life of + comfortable reverie he had never heard any one talk so before, but he had + read something of the kind now and then in blatant labor newspapers which + he had accidentally fallen in with, and once at a strikers' meeting he had + heard rich people denounced with the same frenzy. He had made his own + reflections upon the tastelessness of the rhetoric, and the obvious + buncombe of the motive, and he had not taken the matter seriously. + </p> + <p> + He could not doubt Lindau's sincerity, and he wondered how he came to that + way of thinking. From his experience of himself he accounted for a + prevailing literary quality in it; he decided it to be from Lindau's + reading and feeling rather than his reflection. That was the notion he + formed of some things he had met with in Ruskin to much the same effect; + he regarded them with amusement as the chimeras of a rhetorician run away + with by his phrases. + </p> + <p> + But as to Lindau, the chief thing in his mind was a conception of the + droll irony of a situation in which so fervid a hater of millionaires + should be working, indirectly at least, for the prosperity of a man like + Dryfoos, who, as March understood, had got his money together out of every + gambler's chance in speculation, and all a schemer's thrift from the error + and need of others. The situation was not more incongruous, however, than + all the rest of the 'Every Other Week' affair. It seemed to him that there + were no crazy fortuities that had not tended to its existence, and as time + went on, and the day drew near for the issue of the first number, the + sense of this intensified till the whole lost at moments the quality of a + waking fact, and came to be rather a fantastic fiction of sleep. + </p> + <p> + Yet the heterogeneous forces did co-operate to a reality which March could + not deny, at least in their presence, and the first number was + representative of all their nebulous intentions in a tangible form. As a + result, it was so respectable that March began to respect these + intentions, began to respect himself for combining and embodying them in + the volume which appealed to him with a novel fascination, when the first + advance copy was laid upon his desk. Every detail of it was tiresomely + familiar already, but the whole had a fresh interest now. He now saw how + extremely fit and effective Miss Leighton's decorative design for the + cover was, printed in black and brick-red on the delicate gray tone of the + paper. It was at once attractive and refined, and he credited Beaton with + quite all he merited in working it over to the actual shape. The touch and + the taste of the art editor were present throughout the number. As + Fulkerson said, Beaton had caught on with the delicacy of a humming-bird + and the tenacity of a bulldog to the virtues of their illustrative + process, and had worked it for all it was worth. There were seven papers + in the number, and a poem on the last page of the cover, and he had found + some graphic comment for each. It was a larger proportion than would + afterward be allowed, but for once in a way it was allowed. Fulkerson said + they could not expect to get their money back on that first number, + anyway. Seven of the illustrations were Beaton's; two or three he got from + practised hands; the rest were the work of unknown people which he had + suggested, and then related and adapted with unfailing ingenuity to the + different papers. He handled the illustrations with such sympathy as not + to destroy their individual quality, and that indefinable charm which + comes from good amateur work in whatever art. He rescued them from their + weaknesses and errors, while he left in them the evidence of the pleasure + with which a clever young man, or a sensitive girl, or a refined woman had + done them. Inevitably from his manipulation, however, the art of the + number acquired homogeneity, and there was nothing casual in its + appearance. The result, March eagerly owned, was better than the literary + result, and he foresaw that the number would be sold and praised chiefly + for its pictures. Yet he was not ashamed of the literature, and he + indulged his admiration of it the more freely because he had not only not + written it, but in a way had not edited it. To be sure, he had chosen all + the material, but he had not voluntarily put it all together for that + number; it had largely put itself together, as every number of every + magazine does, and as it seems more and more to do, in the experience of + every editor. There had to be, of course, a story, and then a sketch of + travel. There was a literary essay and a social essay; there was a + dramatic trifle, very gay, very light; there was a dashing criticism on + the new pictures, the new plays, the new books, the new fashions; and then + there was the translation of a bit of vivid Russian realism, which the + editor owed to Lindau's exploration of the foreign periodicals left with + him; Lindau was himself a romanticist of the Victor Hugo sort, but he said + this fragment of Dostoyevski was good of its kind. The poem was a bit of + society verse, with a backward look into simpler and wholesomer + experiences. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson was extremely proud of the number; but he said it was too good—too + good from every point of view. The cover was too good, and the paper was + too good, and that device of rough edges, which got over the objection to + uncut leaves while it secured their aesthetic effect, was a thing that he + trembled for, though he rejoiced in it as a stroke of the highest genius. + It had come from Beaton at the last moment, as a compromise, when the + problem of the vulgar croppiness of cut leaves and the unpopularity of + uncut leaves seemed to have no solution but suicide. Fulkerson was still + morally crawling round on his hands and knees, as he said, in abject + gratitude at Beaton's feet, though he had his qualms, his questions; and + he declared that Beaton was the most inspired ass since Balaam's. "We're + all asses, of course," he admitted, in semi-apology to March; "but we're + no such asses as Beaton." He said that if the tasteful decorativeness of + the thing did not kill it with the public outright, its literary + excellence would give it the finishing stroke. Perhaps that might be + overlooked in the impression of novelty which a first number would give, + but it must never happen again. He implored March to promise that it + should never happen again; he said their only hope was in the immediate + cheapening of the whole affair. It was bad enough to give the public too + much quantity for their money, but to throw in such quality as that was + simply ruinous; it must be stopped. These were the expressions of his + intimate moods; every front that he presented to the public wore a glow of + lofty, of devout exultation. His pride in the number gushed out in fresh + bursts of rhetoric to every one whom he could get to talk with him about + it. He worked the personal kindliness of the press to the utmost. He did + not mind making himself ridiculous or becoming a joke in the good cause, + as he called it. He joined in the applause when a humorist at the club + feigned to drop dead from his chair at Fulkerson's introduction of the + topic, and he went on talking that first number into the surviving + spectators. He stood treat upon all occasions, and he lunched attaches of + the press at all hours. He especially befriended the correspondents of the + newspapers of other cities, for, as he explained to March, those fellows + could give him any amount of advertising simply as literary gossip. Many + of the fellows were ladies who could not be so summarily asked out to + lunch, but Fulkerson's ingenuity was equal to every exigency, and he + contrived somehow to make each of these feel that she had been possessed + of exclusive information. There was a moment when March conjectured a + willingness in Fulkerson to work Mrs. March into the advertising + department, by means of a tea to these ladies and their friends which she + should administer in his apartment, but he did not encourage Fulkerson to + be explicit, and the moment passed. Afterward, when he told his wife about + it, he was astonished to find that she would not have minded doing it for + Fulkerson, and he experienced another proof of the bluntness of the + feminine instincts in some directions, and of the personal favor which + Fulkerson seemed to enjoy with the whole sex. This alone was enough to + account for the willingness of these correspondents to write about the + first number, but March accused him of sending it to their addresses with + boxes of Jacqueminot roses and Huyler candy. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson let him enjoy his joke. He said that he would do that or + anything else for the good cause, short of marrying the whole circle of + female correspondents. + </p> + <p> + March was inclined to hope that if the first number had been made too good + for the country at large, the more enlightened taste of metropolitan + journalism would invite a compensating favor for it in New York. But first + Fulkerson and then the event proved him wrong. In spite of the quality of + the magazine, and in spite of the kindness which so many newspaper men + felt for Fulkerson, the notices in the New York papers seemed grudging and + provisional to the ardor of the editor. A merit in the work was + acknowledged, and certain defects in it for which March had trembled were + ignored; but the critics astonished him by selecting for censure points + which he was either proud of or had never noticed; which being now brought + to his notice he still could not feel were faults. He owned to Fulkerson + that if they had said so and so against it, he could have agreed with + them, but that to say thus and so was preposterous; and that if the + advertising had not been adjusted with such generous recognition of the + claims of the different papers, he should have known the counting-room was + at the bottom of it. As it was, he could only attribute it to perversity + or stupidity. It was certainly stupid to condemn a magazine novelty like + 'Every Other Week' for being novel; and to augur that if it failed, it + would fail through its departure from the lines on which all the other + prosperous magazines had been built, was in the last degree perverse, and + it looked malicious. The fact that it was neither exactly a book nor a + magazine ought to be for it and not against it, since it would invade no + other field; it would prosper on no ground but its own. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIV. + </h2> + <p> + The more March thought of the injustice of the New York press (which had + not, however, attacked the literary quality of the number) the more + bitterly he resented it; and his wife's indignation superheated his own. + 'Every Other Week' had become a very personal affair with the whole + family; the children shared their parents' disgust; Belle was outspoken + in, her denunciations of a venal press. Mrs. March saw nothing but ruin + ahead, and began tacitly to plan a retreat to Boston, and an establishment + retrenched to the basis of two thousand a year. She shed some secret tears + in anticipation of the privations which this must involve; but when + Fulkerson came to see March rather late the night of the publication day, + she nobly told him that if the worst came to the worst she could only have + the kindliest feeling toward him, and should not regard him as in the + slightest degree responsible. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, hold on, hold on!" he protested. "You don't think we've made a + failure, do you?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, of course," she faltered, while March remained gloomily silent. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I guess we'll wait for the official count, first. Even New York + hasn't gone against us, and I guess there's a majority coming down to + Harlem River that could sweep everything before it, anyway." + </p> + <p> + "What do you mean, Fulkerson?" March demanded, sternly. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, nothing! Only, the 'News Company' has ordered ten thousand now; and + you know we had to give them the first twenty on commission." + </p> + <p> + "What do you mean?" March repeated; his wife held her breath. + </p> + <p> + "I mean that the first number is a booming success already, and that it's + going to a hundred thousand before it stops. That unanimity and variety of + censure in the morning papers, combined with the attractiveness of the + thing itself, has cleared every stand in the city, and now if the favor of + the country press doesn't turn the tide against us, our fortune's made." + The Marches remained dumb. "Why, look here! Didn't I tell you those + criticisms would be the making of us, when they first began to turn you + blue this morning, March?" + </p> + <p> + "He came home to lunch perfectly sick," said Mrs. March; "and I wouldn't + let him go back again." + </p> + <p> + "Didn't I tell you so?" Fulkerson persisted. + </p> + <p> + March could not remember that he had, or that he had been anything but + incoherently and hysterically jocose over the papers, but he said, "Yes, + yes—I think so." + </p> + <p> + "I knew it from the start," said Fulkerson. "The only other person who + took those criticisms in the right spirit was Mother Dryfoos—I've + just been bolstering up the Dryfoos family. She had them read to her by + Mrs. Mandel, and she understood them to be all the most flattering + prophecies of success. Well, I didn't read between the lines to that + extent, quite; but I saw that they were going to help us, if there was + anything in us, more than anything that could have been done. And there + was something in us! I tell you, March, that seven-shooting self-cocking + donkey of a Beaton has given us the greatest start! He's caught on like a + mouse. He's made the thing awfully chic; it's jimmy; there's lots of dog + about it. He's managed that process so that the illustrations look as + expensive as first-class wood-cuts, and they're cheaper than chromos. He's + put style into the whole thing." + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes," said March, with eager meekness, "it's Beaton that's done it." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson read jealousy of Beaton in Mrs. March's face. "Beaton has given + us the start because his work appeals to the eye. There's no denying that + the pictures have sold this first number; but I expect the literature of + this first number to sell the pictures of the second. I've been reading it + all over, nearly, since I found how the cat was jumping; I was anxious + about it, and I tell you, old man, it's good. Yes, sir! I was afraid maybe + you had got it too good, with that Boston refinement of yours; but I + reckon you haven't. I'll risk it. I don't see how you got so much variety + into so few things, and all of them palpitant, all of 'em on the keen jump + with actuality." + </p> + <p> + The mixture of American slang with the jargon of European criticism in + Fulkerson's talk made March smile, but his wife did not seem to notice it + in her exultation. "That is just what I say," she broke in. "It's + perfectly wonderful. I never was anxious about it a moment, except, as you + say, Mr. Fulkerson, I was afraid it might be too good." + </p> + <p> + They went on in an antiphony of praise till March said: "Really, I don't + see what's left me but to strike for higher wages. I perceive that I'm + indispensable." + </p> + <p> + "Why, old man, you're coming in on the divvy, you know," said Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + They both laughed, and when Fulkerson was gone, Mrs. March asked her + husband what a divvy was. + </p> + <p> + "It's a chicken before it's hatched." + </p> + <p> + "No! Truly?" + </p> + <p> + He explained, and she began to spend the divvy. + </p> + <p> + At Mrs. Leighton's Fulkerson gave Alma all the honor of the success; he + told her mother that the girl's design for the cover had sold every + number, and Mrs. Leighton believed him. + </p> + <p> + "Well, Ah think Ah maght have some of the glory," Miss Woodburn pouted. + "Where am Ah comin' in?" + </p> + <p> + "You're coming in on the cover of the next number," said Fulkerson. "We're + going to have your face there; Miss Leighton's going to sketch it in." He + said this reckless of the fact that he had already shown them the design + of the second number, which was Beaton's weird bit of gas-country + landscape. + </p> + <p> + "Ah don't see why you don't wrahte the fiction for your magazine, Mr. + Fulkerson," said the girl. + </p> + <p> + This served to remind Fulkerson of something. He turned to her father. + "I'll tell you what, Colonel Woodburn, I want Mr. March to see some + chapters of that book of yours. I've been talking to him about it." + </p> + <p> + "I do not think it would add to the popularity of your periodical, sir," + said the Colonel, with a stately pleasure in being asked. "My views of a + civilization based upon responsible slavery would hardly be acceptable to + your commercialized society." + </p> + <p> + "Well, not as a practical thing, of course," Fulkerson admitted. "But as + something retrospective, speculative, I believe it would make a hit. + There's so much going on now about social questions; I guess people would + like to read it." + </p> + <p> + "I do not know that my work is intended to amuse people," said the + Colonel, with some state. + </p> + <p> + "Mah goodness! Ah only wish it WAS, then," said his daughter; and she + added: "Yes, Mr. Fulkerson, the Colonel will be very glad to submit + po'tions of his woak to yo' edito'. We want to have some of the honaw. + Perhaps we can say we helped to stop yo' magazine, if we didn't help to + stawt it." + </p> + <p> + They all laughed at her boldness, and Fulkerson said: "It'll take a good + deal more than that to stop 'Every Other Week'. The Colonel's whole book + couldn't do it." Then he looked unhappy, for Colonel Woodburn did not seem + to enjoy his reassuring words; but Miss Woodburn came to his rescue. "You + maght illustrate it with the po'trait of the awthoris daughtaw, if it's + too late for the covah." + </p> + <p> + "Going to have that in every number, Miss Woodburn!" he cried. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, mah goodness!" she said, with mock humility. + </p> + <p> + Alma sat looking at her piquant head, black, unconsciously outlined + against the lamp, as she sat working by the table. "Just keep still a + moment!" + </p> + <p> + She got her sketch-block and pencils, and began to draw; Fulkerson tilted + himself forward and looked over her shoulder; he smiled outwardly; + inwardly he was divided between admiration of Miss Woodburn's arch beauty + and appreciation of the skill which reproduced it; at the same time he was + trying to remember whether March had authorized him to go so far as to ask + for a sight of Colonel Woodburn's manuscript. He felt that he had trenched + upon March's province, and he framed one apology to the editor for + bringing him the manuscript, and another to the author for bringing it + back. + </p> + <p> + "Most Ah hold raght still like it was a photograph?" asked Miss Woodburn. + "Can Ah toak?" + </p> + <p> + "Talk all you want," said Alma, squinting her eyes. "And you needn't be + either adamantine, nor yet—wooden." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, ho' very good of you! Well, if Ah can toak—go on, Mr. + Fulkerson!" + </p> + <p> + "Me talk? I can't breathe till this thing is done!" sighed Fulkerson; at + that point of his mental drama the Colonel was behaving rustily about the + return of his manuscript, and he felt that he was looking his last on Miss + Woodburn's profile. + </p> + <p> + "Is she getting it raght?" asked the girl. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know which is which," said Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Ah hope Ah shall! Ah don't want to go round feelin' like a sheet of + papah half the time." + </p> + <p> + "You could rattle on, just the same," suggested Alma. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, now! Jost listen to that, Mr. Fulkerson. Do you call that any way to + toak to people?" + </p> + <p> + "You might know which you were by the color," Fulkerson began, and then he + broke off from the personal consideration with a business inspiration, and + smacked himself on the knee, "We could print it in color!" + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Leighton gathered up her sewing and held it with both hands in her + lap, while she came round, and looked critically at the sketch and the + model over her glasses. "It's very good, Alma," she said. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Woodburn remained restively on his side of the table. "Of course, + Mr. Fulkerson, you were jesting, sir, when you spoke of printing a sketch + of my daughter." + </p> + <p> + "Why, I don't know—If you object—? + </p> + <p> + "I do, sir—decidedly," said the Colonel. + </p> + <p> + "Then that settles it, of course,—I only meant—" + </p> + <p> + "Indeed it doesn't!" cried the girl. "Who's to know who it's from? Ah'm + jost set on havin' it printed! Ah'm going to appear as the head of Slavery—in + opposition to the head of Liberty." + </p> + <p> + "There'll be a revolution inside of forty-eight hours, and we'll have the + Colonel's system going wherever a copy of 'Every Other Week' circulates," + said Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + "This sketch belongs to me," Alma interposed. "I'm not going to let it be + printed." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, mah goodness!" said Miss Woodburn, laughing good-humoredly. "That's + becose you were brought up to hate slavery." + </p> + <p> + "I should like Mr. Beaton to see it," said Mrs. Leighton, in a sort of + absent tone. She added, to Fulkerson: "I rather expected he might be in + to-night." + </p> + <p> + "Well, if he comes we'll leave it to Beaton," Fulkerson said, with relief + in the solution, and an anxious glance at the Colonel, across the table, + to see how he took that form of the joke. Miss Woodburn intercepted his + glance and laughed, and Fulkerson laughed, too, but rather forlornly. + </p> + <p> + Alma set her lips primly and turned her head first on one side and then on + the other to look at the sketch. "I don't think we'll leave it to Mr. + Beaton, even if he comes." + </p> + <p> + "We left the other design for the cover to Beaton," Fulkerson insinuated. + "I guess you needn't be afraid of him." + </p> + <p> + "Is it a question of my being afraid?" Alma asked; she seemed coolly + intent on her drawing. + </p> + <p> + "Miss Leighton thinks he ought to be afraid of her," Miss Woodburn + explained. + </p> + <p> + "It's a question of his courage, then?" said Alma. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't think there are many young ladies that Beaton's afraid of," + said Fulkerson, giving himself the respite of this purely random remark, + while he interrogated the faces of Mrs. Leighton and Colonel Woodburn for + some light upon the tendency of their daughters' words. + </p> + <p> + He was not helped by Mrs. Leighton's saying, with a certain anxiety, "I + don't know what you mean, Mr. Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + "Well, you're as much in the dark as I am myself, then," said Fulkerson. + "I suppose I meant that Beaton is rather—a—favorite, you know. + The women like him." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Leighton sighed, and Colonel Woodburn rose and left the room. + </p> + <p> + In the silence that followed, Fulkerson looked from one lady to the other + with dismay. "I seem to have put my foot in it, somehow," he suggested, + and Miss Woodburn gave a cry of laughter. + </p> + <p> + "Poo' Mr. Fulkerson! Poo' Mr. Fulkerson! Papa thoat you wanted him to go." + </p> + <p> + "Wanted him to go?" repeated Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + "We always mention Mr. Beaton when we want to get rid of papa." + </p> + <p> + "Well, it seems to me that I have noticed that he didn't take much + interest in Beaton, as a general topic. But I don't know that I ever saw + it drive him out of the room before!" + </p> + <p> + "Well, he isn't always so bad," said Miss Woodburn. "But it was a case of + hate at first sight, and it seems to be growin' on papa." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I can understand that," said Fulkerson. "The impulse to destroy + Beaton is something that everybody has to struggle against at the start." + </p> + <p> + "I must say, Mr. Fulkerson," said Mrs. Leighton, in the tremor through + which she nerved herself to differ openly with any one she liked, "I never + had to struggle with anything of the kind, in regard to Mr. Beaton. He has + always been most respectful and—and—considerate, with me, + whatever he has been with others." + </p> + <p> + "Well, of course, Mrs. Leighton!" Fulkerson came back in a soothing tone. + "But you see you're the rule that proves the exception. I was speaking of + the way men felt about Beaton. It's different with ladies; I just said + so." + </p> + <p> + "Is it always different?" Alma asked, lifting her head and her hand from + her drawing, and staring at it absently. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson pushed both his hands through his whiskers. "Look here! Look + here!" he said. "Won't somebody start some other subject? We haven't had + the weather up yet, have we? Or the opera? What is the matter with a few + remarks about politics?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, Ah thoat you lahked to toak about the staff of yo' magazine," said + Miss Woodburn. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I do!" said Fulkerson. "But not always about the same member of it. + He gets monotonous, when he doesn't get complicated. I've just come round + from the Marches'," he added, to Mrs. Leighton. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose they've got thoroughly settled in their apartment by this + time." Mrs. Leighton said something like this whenever the Marches were + mentioned. At the bottom of her heart she had not forgiven them for not + taking her rooms; she had liked their looks so much; and she was always + hoping that they were uncomfortable or dissatisfied; she could not help + wanting them punished a little. + </p> + <p> + "Well, yes; as much as they ever will be," Fulkerson answered. "The Boston + style is pretty different, you know; and the Marches are old-fashioned + folks, and I reckon they never went in much for bric-a-brac. They've put + away nine or ten barrels of dragon candlesticks, but they keep finding new + ones." + </p> + <p> + "Their landlady has just joined our class," said Alma. "Isn't her name + Green? She happened to see my copy of 'Every Other Week', and said she + knew the editor; and told me." + </p> + <p> + "Well, it's a little world," said Fulkerson. "You seem to be touching + elbows with everybody. Just think of your having had our head translator + for a model." + </p> + <p> + "Ah think that your whole publication revolves aroand the Leighton + family," said Miss Woodburn. + </p> + <p> + "That's pretty much so," Fulkerson admitted. "Anyhow, the publisher seems + disposed to do so." + </p> + <p> + "Are you the publisher? I thought it was Mr. Dryfoos," said Alma. + </p> + <p> + "It is." + </p> + <p> + "Oh!" + </p> + <p> + The tone and the word gave Fulkerson a discomfort which he promptly + confessed. "Missed again." + </p> + <p> + The girls laughed, and he regained something of his lost spirits, and + smiled upon their gayety, which lasted beyond any apparent reason for it. + </p> + <p> + Miss Woodburn asked, "And is Mr. Dryfoos senio' anything like ouah Mr. + Dryfoos?" + </p> + <p> + "Not the least." + </p> + <p> + "But he's jost as exemplary?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; in his way." + </p> + <p> + "Well, Ah wish Ah could see all those pinks of puffection togethah, once." + </p> + <p> + "Why, look here! I've been thinking I'd celebrate a little, when the old + gentleman gets back. Have a little supper—something of that kind. + How would you like to let me have your parlors for it, Mrs. Leighton? You + ladies could stand on the stairs, and have a peep at us, in the bunch." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, mah! What a privilege! And will Miss Alma be there, with the othah + contributors? Ah shall jost expah of envy!" + </p> + <p> + "She won't be there in person," said Fulkerson, "but she'll be represented + by the head of the art department." + </p> + <p> + "Mah goodness! And who'll the head of the publishing department + represent?" + </p> + <p> + "He can represent you," said Alma. + </p> + <p> + "Well, Ah want to be represented, someho'." + </p> + <p> + "We'll have the banquet the night before you appear on the cover of our + fourth number," said Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + "Ah thoat that was doubly fo'bidden," said Miss Woodburn. "By the stern + parent and the envious awtust." + </p> + <p> + "We'll get Beaton to get round them, somehow. I guess we can trust him to + manage that." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Leighton sighed her resentment of the implication. + </p> + <p> + "I always feel that Mr. Beaton doesn't do himself justice," she began. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson could not forego the chance of a joke. "Well, maybe he would + rather temper justice with mercy in a case like his." This made both the + younger ladies laugh. "I judge this is my chance to get off with my life," + he added, and he rose as he spoke. "Mrs. Leighton, I am about the only man + of my sex who doesn't thirst for Beaton's blood most of the time. But I + know him and I don't. He's more kinds of a good fellow than people + generally understand. He doesn't wear his heart upon his sleeve—not + his ulster sleeve, anyway. You can always count me on your side when it's + a question of finding Beaton not guilty if he'll leave the State." + </p> + <p> + Alma set her drawing against the wall, in rising to say goodnight to + Fulkerson. He bent over on his stick to look at it. "Well, it's + beautiful," he sighed, with unconscious sincerity. + </p> + <p> + Alma made him a courtesy of mock modesty. "Thanks to Miss Woodburn!" + </p> + <p> + "Oh no! All she had to do was simply to stay put." + </p> + <p> + "Don't you think Ah might have improved it if Ah had looked better?" the + girl asked, gravely. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, you couldn't!" said Fulkerson, and he went off triumphant in their + applause and their cries of "Which? which?" + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Leighton sank deep into an accusing gloom when at last she found + herself alone with her daughter. "I don't know what you are thinking + about, Alma Leighton. If you don't like Mr. Beaton—" + </p> + <p> + "I don't." + </p> + <p> + "You don't? You know better than that. You know that, you did care for + him." + </p> + <p> + "Oh! that's a very different thing. That's a thing that can be got over." + </p> + <p> + "Got over!" repeated Mrs. Leighton, aghast. + </p> + <p> + "Of course, it can! Don't be romantic, mamma. People get over dozens of + such fancies. They even marry for love two or three times." + </p> + <p> + "Never!" cried her mother, doing her best to feel shocked; and at last + looking it. + </p> + <p> + Her looking it had no effect upon Alma. "You can easily get over caring + for people; but you can't get over liking them—if you like them + because they are sweet and good. That's what lasts. I was a simple goose, + and he imposed upon me because he was a sophisticated goose. Now the case + is reversed." + </p> + <p> + "He does care for you, now. You can see it. Why do you encourage him to + come here?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't," said Alma. "I will tell him to keep away if you like. But + whether he comes or goes, it will be the same." + </p> + <p> + "Not to him, Alma! He is in love with you!" + </p> + <p> + "He has never said so." + </p> + <p> + "And you would really let him say so, when you intend to refuse him?" + </p> + <p> + "I can't very well refuse him till he does say so." + </p> + <p> + This was undeniable. Mrs. Leighton could only demand, in an awful tone, + "May I ask why—if you cared for him; and I know you care for him + still you will refuse him?" + </p> + <p> + Alma laughed. "Because—because I'm wedded to my Art, and I'm not + going to commit bigamy, whatever I do." + </p> + <p> + "Alma!" + </p> + <p> + "Well, then, because I don't like him—that is, I don't believe in + him, and don't trust him. He's fascinating, but he's false and he's + fickle. He can't help it, I dare say." + </p> + <p> + "And you are perfectly hard. Is it possible that you were actually pleased + to have Mr. Fulkerson tease you about Mr. Dryfoos?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, good-night, now, mamma! This is becoming personal." + </p> + <h3> + PG EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Artists never do anything like other people + Ballast of her instinctive despondency + Clinging persistence of such natures + Dividend: It's a chicken before it's hatched + Gayety, which lasted beyond any apparent reason for it + Hopeful recklessness + How much can a man honestly earn without wronging or oppressing + I cannot endure this—this hopefulness of yours + If you dread harm enough it is less likely to happen + It must be your despair that helps you to bear up + Marry for love two or three times + No man deserves to suffer at the hands of another + Patience with mediocrity putting on the style of genius + Person talks about taking lessons, as if they could learn it + Say when he is gone that the woman gets along better without him + Shouldn't ca' fo' the disgrace of bein' poo'—its inconvenience + Timidity of the elder in the presence of the younger man +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THIRD PART + </h2> + <h3> + I. + </h3> + <p class="pfirst"> + <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>he scheme of a + banquet to celebrate the initial success of 'Every Other Week' expanded in + Fulkerson's fancy into a series. Instead of the publishing and editorial + force, with certain of the more representative artists and authors sitting + down to a modest supper in Mrs. Leighton's parlors, he conceived of a + dinner at Delmonico's, with the principal literary and artistic, people + throughout the country as guests, and an inexhaustible hospitality to + reporters and correspondents, from whom paragraphs, prophetic and + historic, would flow weeks before and after the first of the series. He + said the thing was a new departure in magazines; it amounted to something + in literature as radical as the American Revolution in politics: it was + the idea of self government in the arts; and it was this idea that had + never yet been fully developed in regard to it. That was what must be done + in the speeches at the dinner, and the speeches must be reported. Then it + would go like wildfire. He asked March whether he thought Mr. Depew could + be got to come; Mark Twain, he was sure, would come; he was a literary + man. They ought to invite Mr. Evarts, and the Cardinal and the leading + Protestant divines. His ambition stopped at nothing, nothing but the + question of expense; there he had to wait the return of the elder Dryfoos + from the West, and Dryfoos was still delayed at Moffitt, and Fulkerson + openly confessed that he was afraid he would stay there till his own + enthusiasm escaped in other activities, other plans. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson was as little likely as possible to fall under a superstitious + subjection to another man; but March could not help seeing that in this + possible measure Dryfoos was Fulkerson's fetish. He did not revere him, + March decided, because it was not in Fulkerson's nature to revere + anything; he could like and dislike, but he could not respect. Apparently, + however, Dryfoos daunted him somehow; and besides the homage which those + who have not pay to those who have, Fulkerson rendered Dryfoos the tribute + of a feeling which March could only define as a sort of bewilderment. As + well as March could make out, this feeling was evoked by the spectacle of + Dryfoos's unfailing luck, which Fulkerson was fond of dazzling himself + with. It perfectly consisted with a keen sense of whatever was sordid and + selfish in a man on whom his career must have had its inevitable effect. + He liked to philosophize the case with March, to recall Dryfoos as he was + when he first met him still somewhat in the sap, at Moffitt, and to study + the processes by which he imagined him to have dried into the hardened + speculator, without even the pretence to any advantage but his own in his + ventures. He was aware of painting the character too vividly, and he + warned March not to accept it exactly in those tints, but to subdue them + and shade it for himself. He said that where his advantage was not + concerned, there was ever so much good in Dryfoos, and that if in some + things he had grown inflexible, he had expanded in others to the full + measure of the vast scale on which he did business. It had seemed a little + odd to March that a man should put money into such an enterprise as 'Every + Other Week' and go off about other affairs, not only without any sign of + anxiety, but without any sort of interest. But Fulkerson said that was the + splendid side of Dryfoos. He had a courage, a magnanimity, that was equal + to the strain of any such uncertainty. He had faced the music once for + all, when he asked Fulkerson what the thing would cost in the different + degrees of potential failure; and then he had gone off, leaving everything + to Fulkerson and the younger Dryfoos, with the instruction simply to go + ahead and not bother him about it. Fulkerson called that pretty tall for + an old fellow who used to bewail the want of pigs and chickens to occupy + his mind. He alleged it as another proof of the versatility of the + American mind, and of the grandeur of institutions and opportunities that + let every man grow to his full size, so that any man in America could run + the concern if necessary. He believed that old Dryfoos could step into + Bismarck's shoes and run the German Empire at ten days' notice, or about + as long as it would take him to go from New York to Berlin. But Bismarck + would not know anything about Dryfoos's plans till Dryfoos got ready to + show his hand. Fulkerson himself did not pretend to say what the old man + had been up to since he went West. He was at Moffitt first, and then he + was at Chicago, and then he had gone out to Denver to look after some + mines he had out there, and a railroad or two; and now he was at Moffitt + again. He was supposed to be closing up his affairs there, but nobody + could say. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson told March the morning after Dryfoos returned that he had not + only not pulled out at Moffitt, but had gone in deeper, ten times deeper + than ever. He was in a royal good-humor, Fulkerson reported, and was going + to drop into the office on his way up from the Street (March understood + Wall Street) that afternoon. He was tickled to death with 'Every Other + Week' so far as it had gone, and was anxious to pay his respects to the + editor. + </p> + <p> + March accounted for some rhetoric in this, but let it flatter him, and + prepared himself for a meeting about which he could see that Fulkerson was + only less nervous than he had shown himself about the public reception of + the first number. It gave March a disagreeable feeling of being owned and + of being about to be inspected by his proprietor; but he fell back upon + such independence as he could find in the thought of those two thousand + dollars of income beyond the caprice of his owner, and maintained an + outward serenity. + </p> + <p> + He was a little ashamed afterward of the resolution it had cost him to do + so. It was not a question of Dryfoos's physical presence: that was rather + effective than otherwise, and carried a suggestion of moneyed indifference + to convention in the gray business suit of provincial cut, and the low, + wide-brimmed hat of flexible black felt. He had a stick with an + old-fashioned top of buckhorn worn smooth and bright by the palm of his + hand, which had not lost its character in fat, and which had a history of + former work in its enlarged knuckles, though it was now as soft as + March's, and must once have been small even for a man of Mr. Dryfoos's + stature; he was below the average size. But what struck March was the fact + that Dryfoos seemed furtively conscious of being a country person, and of + being aware that in their meeting he was to be tried by other tests than + those which would have availed him as a shrewd speculator. He evidently + had some curiosity about March, as the first of his kind whom he had + encountered; some such curiosity as the country school trustee feels and + tries to hide in the presence of the new schoolmaster. But the whole + affair was, of course, on a higher plane; on one side Dryfoos was much + more a man of the world than March was, and he probably divined this at + once, and rested himself upon the fact in a measure. It seemed to be his + preference that his son should introduce them, for he came upstairs with + Conrad, and they had fairly made acquaintance before Fulkerson joined + them. + </p> + <p> + Conrad offered to leave them at once, but his father made him stay. "I + reckon Mr. March and I haven't got anything so private to talk about that + we want to keep it from the other partners. Well, Mr. March, are you + getting used to New York yet? It takes a little time." + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes. But not so much time as most places. Everybody belongs more or + less in New York; nobody has to belong here altogether." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, that is so. You can try it, and go away if you don't like it a good + deal easier than you could from a smaller place. Wouldn't make so much + talk, would it?" He glanced at March with a jocose light in his shrewd + eyes. "That is the way I feel about it all the time: just visiting. Now, + it wouldn't be that way in Boston, I reckon?" + </p> + <p> + "You couldn't keep on visiting there your whole life," said March. + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos laughed, showing his lower teeth in a way that was at once simple + and fierce. "Mr. Fulkerson didn't hardly know as he could get you to + leave. I suppose you got used to it there. I never been in your city." + </p> + <p> + "I had got used to it; but it was hardly my city, except by marriage. My + wife's a Bostonian." + </p> + <p> + "She's been a little homesick here, then," said Dryfoos, with a smile of + the same quality as his laugh. + </p> + <p> + "Less than I expected," said March. "Of course, she was very much attached + to our old home." + </p> + <p> + "I guess my wife won't ever get used to New York," said Dryfoos, and he + drew in his lower lip with a sharp sigh. "But my girls like it; they're + young. You never been out our way yet, Mr. March? Out West?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, only for the purpose of being born, and brought up. I used to live + in Crawfordsville, and then Indianapolis." + </p> + <p> + "Indianapolis is bound to be a great place," said Dryfoos. "I remember + now, Mr. Fulkerson told me you was from our State." He went on to brag of + the West, as if March were an Easterner and had to be convinced. "You + ought to see all that country. It's a great country." + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes," said March, "I understand that." He expected the praise of the + great West to lead up to some comment on 'Every Other Week'; and there was + abundant suggestion of that topic in the manuscripts, proofs of + letter-press and illustrations, with advance copies of the latest number + strewn over his table. + </p> + <p> + But Dryfoos apparently kept himself from looking at these things. He + rolled his head about on his shoulders to take in the character of the + room, and said to his son, "You didn't change the woodwork, after all." + </p> + <p> + "No; the architect thought we had better let it be, unless we meant to + change the whole place. He liked its being old-fashioned." + </p> + <p> + "I hope you feel comfortable here, Mr. March," the old man said, bringing + his eyes to bear upon him again after their tour of inspection. + </p> + <p> + "Too comfortable for a working-man," said March, and he thought that this + remark must bring them to some talk about his work, but the proprietor + only smiled again. + </p> + <p> + "I guess I sha'n't lose much on this house," he returned, as if musing + aloud. "This down-town property is coming up. Business is getting in on + all these side streets. I thought I paid a pretty good price for it, too." + He went on to talk of real estate, and March began to feel a certain + resentment at his continued avoidance of the only topic in which they + could really have a common interest. "You live down this way somewhere, + don't you?" the old man concluded. + </p> + <p> + "Yes. I wished to be near my work." March was vexed with himself for + having recurred to it; but afterward he was not sure but Dryfoos shared + his own diffidence in the matter, and was waiting for him to bring it + openly into the talk. At times he seemed wary and masterful, and then + March felt that he was being examined and tested; at others so simple that + March might well have fancied that he needed encouragement, and desired + it. He talked of his wife and daughters in a way that invited March to say + friendly things of his family, which appeared to give the old man first an + undue pleasure and then a final distrust. At moments he turned, with an + effect of finding relief in it, to his son and spoke to him across March + of matters which he was unacquainted with; he did not seem aware that this + was rude, but the young man must have felt it so; he always brought the + conversation back, and once at some cost to himself when his father made + it personal. + </p> + <p> + "I want to make a regular New York business man out of that fellow," he + said to March, pointing at Conrad with his stick. "You s'pose I'm ever + going to do it?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know," said March, trying to fall in with the joke. "Do you + mean nothing but a business man?" + </p> + <p> + The old man laughed at whatever latent meaning he fancied in this, and + said: "You think he would be a little too much for me there? Well, I've + seen enough of 'em to know it don't always take a large pattern of a man + to do a large business. But I want him to get the business training, and + then if he wants to go into something else he knows what the world is, + anyway. Heigh?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes!" March assented, with some compassion for the young man reddening + patiently under his father's comment. + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos went on as if his son were not in hearing. "Now that boy wanted to + be a preacher. What does a preacher know about the world he preaches + against when he's been brought up a preacher? He don't know so much as a + bad little boy in his Sunday-school; he knows about as much as a girl. I + always told him, You be a man first, and then you be a preacher, if you + want to. Heigh?" + </p> + <p> + "Precisely." March began to feel some compassion for himself in being + witness of the young fellow's discomfort under his father's homily. + </p> + <p> + "When we first come to New York, I told him, Now here's your chance to see + the world on a big scale. You know already what work and saving and steady + habits and sense will bring a man, to; you don't want to go round among + the rich; you want to go among the poor, and see what laziness and drink + and dishonesty and foolishness will bring men to. And I guess he knows, + about as well as anybody; and if he ever goes to preaching he'll know what + he's preaching about." The old man smiled his fierce, simple smile, and in + his sharp eyes March fancied contempt of the ambition he had balked in his + son. The present scene must have been one of many between them, ending in + meek submission on the part of the young man, whom his father, perhaps + without realizing his cruelty, treated as a child. March took it hard that + he should be made to suffer in the presence of a co-ordinate power like + himself, and began to dislike the old man out of proportion to his + offence, which might have been mere want of taste, or an effect of mere + embarrassment before him. But evidently, whatever rebellion his daughters + had carried through against him, he had kept his dominion over this gentle + spirit unbroken. March did not choose to make any response, but to let him + continue, if he would, entirely upon his own impulse. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + A silence followed, of rather painful length. It was broken by the cheery + voice of Fulkerson, sent before him to herald Fulkerson's cheery person. + "Well, I suppose you've got the glorious success of 'Every Other Week' + down pretty cold in your talk by this time. I should have been up sooner + to join you, but I was nipping a man for the last page of the cover. I + guess we'll have to let the Muse have that for an advertisement instead of + a poem the next time, March. Well, the old gentleman given you boys your + scolding?" The person of Fulkerson had got into the room long before he + reached this question, and had planted itself astride a chair. Fulkerson + looked over the chairback, now at March, and now at the elder Dryfoos as + he spoke. + </p> + <p> + March answered him. "I guess we must have been waiting for you, Fulkerson. + At any rate, we hadn't got to the scolding yet." + </p> + <p> + "Why, I didn't suppose Mr. Dryfoos could 'a' held in so long. I understood + he was awful mad at the way the thing started off, and wanted to give you + a piece of his mind, when he got at you. I inferred as much from a remark + that he made." March and Dryfoos looked foolish, as men do when made the + subject of this sort of merry misrepresentation. + </p> + <p> + "I reckon my scolding will keep awhile yet," said the old man, dryly. + </p> + <p> + "Well, then, I guess it's a good chance to give Mr. Dryfoos an idea of + what we've really done—just while we're resting, as Artemus Ward + says. Heigh, March?" + </p> + <p> + "I will let you blow the trumpet, Fulkerson. I think it belongs strictly + to the advertising department," said March. He now distinctly resented the + old man's failure to say anything to him of the magazine; he made his + inference that it was from a suspicion of his readiness to presume upon a + recognition of his share in the success, and he was determined to second + no sort of appeal for it. + </p> + <p> + "The advertising department is the heart and soul of every business," said + Fulkerson, hardily, "and I like to keep my hand in with a little practise + on the trumpet in private. I don't believe Mr. Dryfoos has got any idea of + the extent of this thing. He's been out among those Rackensackens, where + we were all born, and he's read the notices in their seven by nine + dailies, and he's seen the thing selling on the cars, and he thinks he + appreciates what's been done. But I should just like to take him round in + this little old metropolis awhile, and show him 'Every Other Week' on the + centre tables of the millionaires—the Vanderbilts and the Astors—and + in the homes of culture and refinement everywhere, and let him judge for + himself. It's the talk of the clubs and the dinner-tables; children cry + for it; it's the Castoria of literature and the Pearline of art, the + 'Won't-be-happy-till-he-gets-it of every enlightened man, woman, and child + in this vast city. I knew we could capture the country; but, my goodness! + I didn't expect to have New York fall into our hands at a blow. But that's + just exactly what New York has done. 'Every Other Week' supplies the + long-felt want that's been grinding round in New York and keeping it awake + nights ever since the war. It's the culmination of all the high and + ennobling ideals of the past." + </p> + <p> + "How much," asked Dryfoos, "do you expect to get out of it the first year, + if it keeps the start it's got?" + </p> + <p> + "Comes right down to business, every time!" said Fulkerson, referring the + characteristic to March with a delighted glance. "Well, sir, if everything + works right, and we get rain enough to fill up the springs, and it isn't a + grasshopper year, I expect to clear above all expenses something in the + neighborhood of twenty-five thousand dollars." + </p> + <p> + "Humph! And you are all going to work a year—editor, manager, + publisher, artists, writers, printers, and the rest of 'em—to clear + twenty-five thousand dollars?—I made that much in half a day in + Moffitt once. I see it made in half a minute in Wall Street, sometimes." + The old man presented this aspect of the case with a good-natured + contempt, which included Fulkerson and his enthusiasm in an obvious + liking. + </p> + <p> + His son suggested, "But when we make that money here, no one loses it." + </p> + <p> + "Can you prove that?" His father turned sharply upon him. "Whatever is won + is lost. It's all a game; it don't make any difference what you bet on. + Business is business, and a business man takes his risks with his eyes + open." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, but the glory!" Fulkerson insinuated with impudent persiflage. "I + hadn't got to the glory yet, because it's hard to estimate it; but put the + glory at the lowest figure, Mr. Dryfoos, and add it to the twenty-five + thousand, and you've got an annual income from 'Every Other Week' of + dollars enough to construct a silver railroad, double-track, from this + office to the moon. I don't mention any of the sister planets because I + like to keep within bounds." + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos showed his lower teeth for pleasure in Fulkerson's fooling, and + said, "That's what I like about you, Mr. Fulkerson—you always keep + within bounds." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I ain't a shrinking Boston violet, like March, here. More sunflower + in my style of diffidence; but I am modest, I don't deny it," said + Fulkerson. "And I do hate to have a thing overstated." + </p> + <p> + "And the glory—you do really think there's something in the glory + that pays?" + </p> + <p> + "Not a doubt of it! I shouldn't care for the paltry return in money," said + Fulkerson, with a burlesque of generous disdain, "if it wasn't for the + glory along with it." + </p> + <p> + "And how should you feel about the glory, if there was no money along with + it?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, sir, I'm happy to say we haven't come to that yet." + </p> + <p> + "Now, Conrad, here," said the old man, with a sort of pathetic rancor, + "would rather have the glory alone. I believe he don't even care much for + your kind of glory, either, Mr. Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson ran his little eyes curiously over Conrad's face and then + March's, as if searching for a trace there of something gone before which + would enable him to reach Dryfoos's whole meaning. He apparently resolved + to launch himself upon conjecture. "Oh, well, we know how Conrad feels + about the things of this world, anyway. I should like to take 'em on the + plane of another sphere, too, sometimes; but I noticed a good while ago + that this was the world I was born into, and so I made up my mind that I + would do pretty much what I saw the rest of the folks doing here below. + And I can't see but what Conrad runs the thing on business principles in + his department, and I guess you'll find it so if you look into it. I + consider that we're a whole team and big dog under the wagon with you to + draw on for supplies, and March, here, at the head of the literary + business, and Conrad in the counting-room, and me to do the heavy lying in + the advertising part. Oh, and Beaton, of course, in the art. I 'most + forgot Beaton—Hamlet with Hamlet left out." + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos looked across at his son. "Wasn't that the fellow's name that was + there last night?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said Conrad. + </p> + <p> + The old man rose. "Well, I reckon I got to be going. You ready to go + up-town, Conrad?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, not quite yet, father." + </p> + <p> + The old man shook hands with March, and went downstairs, followed by his + son. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson remained. + </p> + <p> + "He didn't jump at the chance you gave him to compliment us all round, + Fulkerson," said March, with a smile not wholly of pleasure. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson asked, with as little joy in the grin he had on, "Didn't he say + anything to you before I came in?" + </p> + <p> + "Not a word." + </p> + <p> + "Dogged if I know what to make of it," sighed Fulkerson, "but I guess he's + been having a talk with Conrad that's soured on him. I reckon maybe he + came back expecting to find that boy reconciled to the glory of this + world, and Conrad's showed himself just as set against it as ever." + </p> + <p> + "It might have been that," March admitted, pensively. "I fancied something + of the kind myself from words the old man let drop." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson made him explain, and then he said: + </p> + <p> + "That's it, then; and it's all right. Conrad 'll come round in time; and + all we've got to do is to have patience with the old man till he does. I + know he likes you." Fulkerson affirmed this only interrogatively, and + looked so anxiously to March for corroboration that March laughed. + </p> + <p> + "He dissembled his love," he said; but afterward, in describing to his + wife his interview with Mr. Dryfoos, he was less amused with this fact. + </p> + <p> + When she saw that he was a little cast down by it, she began to encourage + him. "He's just a common, ignorant man, and probably didn't know how to + express himself. You may be perfectly sure that he's delighted with the + success of the magazine, and that he understands as well as you do that he + owes it all to you." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, I'm not so sure. I don't believe a man's any better for having made + money so easily and rapidly as Dryfoos has done, and I doubt if he's any + wiser. I don't know just the point he's reached in his evolution from grub + to beetle, but I do know that so far as it's gone the process must have + involved a bewildering change of ideals and criterions. I guess he's come + to despise a great many things that he once respected, and that + intellectual ability is among them—what we call intellectual + ability. He must have undergone a moral deterioration, an atrophy of the + generous instincts, and I don't see why it shouldn't have reached his + mental make-up. He has sharpened, but he has narrowed; his sagacity has + turned into suspicion, his caution to meanness, his courage to ferocity. + That's the way I philosophize a man of Dryfoos's experience, and I am not + very proud when I realize that such a man and his experience are the ideal + and ambition of most Americans. I rather think they came pretty near being + mine, once." + </p> + <p> + "No, dear, they never did," his wife protested. + </p> + <p> + "Well, they're not likely to be in the future. The Dryfoos feature of + 'Every Other Week' is thoroughly distasteful to me." + </p> + <p> + "Why, but he hasn't really got anything to do with it, has he, beyond + furnishing the money?" + </p> + <p> + "That's the impression that Fulkerson has allowed us to get. But the man + that holds the purse holds the reins. He may let us guide the horse, but + when he likes he can drive. If we don't like his driving, then we can get + down." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March was less interested in this figure of speech than in the + personal aspects involved. "Then you think Mr. Fulkerson has deceived + you?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh no!" said her husband, laughing. "But I think he has deceived himself, + perhaps." + </p> + <p> + "How?" she pursued. + </p> + <p> + "He may have thought he was using Dryfoos, when Dryfoos was using him, and + he may have supposed he was not afraid of him when he was very much so. + His courage hadn't been put to the test, and courage is a matter of proof, + like proficiency on the fiddle, you know: you can't tell whether you've + got it till you try." + </p> + <p> + "Nonsense! Do you mean that he would ever sacrifice you to Mr. Dryfoos?" + </p> + <p> + "I hope he may not be tempted. But I'd rather be taking the chances with + Fulkerson alone than with Fulkerson and Dryfoos to back him. Dryfoos + seems, somehow, to take the poetry and the pleasure out of the thing." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March was a long time silent. Then she began, "Well, my dear, I never + wanted to come to New York—" + </p> + <p> + "Neither did I," March promptly put in. + </p> + <p> + "But now that we're here," she went on, "I'm not going to have you letting + every little thing discourage you. I don't see what there was in Mr. + Dryfoos's manner to give you any anxiety. He's just a common, stupid, + inarticulate country person, and he didn't know how to express himself, as + I said in the beginning, and that's the reason he didn't say anything." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't deny you're right about it." + </p> + <p> + "It's dreadful," his wife continued, "to be mixed up with such a man and + his family, but I don't believe he'll ever meddle with your management, + and, till he does, all you need do is to have as little to do with him as + possible, and go quietly on your own way." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I shall go on quietly enough," said March. "I hope I sha'n't begin + going stealthily." + </p> + <p> + "Well, my dear," said Mrs. March, "just let me know when you're tempted to + do that. If ever you sacrifice the smallest grain of your honesty or your + self-respect to Mr. Dryfoos, or anybody else, I will simply renounce you." + </p> + <p> + "In view of that I'm rather glad the management of 'Every Other Week' + involves tastes and not convictions," said March. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + That night Dryfoos was wakened from his after-dinner nap by the sound of + gay talk and nervous giggling in the drawing-room. The talk, which was + Christine's, and the giggling, which was Mela's, were intershot with the + heavier tones of a man's voice; and Dryfoos lay awhile on the leathern + lounge in his library, trying to make out whether he knew the voice. His + wife sat in a deep chair before the fire, with her eyes on his face, + waiting for him to wake. + </p> + <p> + "Who is that out there?" he asked, without opening his eyes. + </p> + <p> + "Indeed, indeed, I don't know, Jacob," his wife answered. "I reckon it's + just some visitor of the girls'." + </p> + <p> + "Was I snoring?" + </p> + <p> + "Not a bit. You was sleeping as quiet! I did hate to have 'em wake you, + and I was just goin' out to shoo them. They've been playin' something, and + that made them laugh." + </p> + <p> + "I didn't know but I had snored," said the old man, sitting up. + </p> + <p> + "No," said his wife. Then she asked, wistfully, "Was you out at the old + place, Jacob?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes." + </p> + <p> + "Did it look natural?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; mostly. They're sinking the wells down in the woods pasture." + </p> + <p> + "And—the children's graves?" + </p> + <p> + "They haven't touched that part. But I reckon we got to have 'em moved to + the cemetery. I bought a lot." + </p> + <p> + The old woman began softly to weep. "It does seem too hard that they can't + be let to rest in peace, pore little things. I wanted you and me to lay + there, too, when our time come, Jacob. Just there, back o' the beehives + and under them shoomakes—my, I can see the very place! And I don't + believe I'll ever feel at home anywheres else. I woon't know where I am + when the trumpet sounds. I have to think before I can tell where the east + is in New York; and what if I should git faced the wrong way when I raise? + Jacob, I wonder you could sell it!" Her head shook, and the firelight + shone on her tears as she searched the folds of her dress for her pocket. + </p> + <p> + A peal of laughter came from the drawing-room, and then the sound of + chords struck on the piano. + </p> + <p> + "Hush! Don't you cry, 'Liz'beth!" said Dryfoos. "Here; take my + handkerchief. I've got a nice lot in the cemetery, and I'm goin' to have a + monument, with two lambs on it—like the one you always liked so + much. It ain't the fashion, any more, to have family buryin' grounds; + they're collectin' 'em into the cemeteries, all round." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon I got to bear it," said his wife, muffling her face in his + handkerchief. "And I suppose the Lord kin find me, wherever I am. But I + always did want to lay just there. You mind how we used to go out and set + there, after milkin', and watch the sun go down, and talk about where + their angels was, and try to figger it out?" + </p> + <p> + "I remember, 'Liz'beth." + </p> + <p> + The man's voice in the drawing-room sang a snatch of French song, + insolent, mocking, salient; and then Christine's attempted the same + strain, and another cry of laughter from Mela followed. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I always did expect to lay there. But I reckon it's all right. It + won't be a great while, now, anyway. Jacob, I don't believe I'm a-goin' to + live very long. I know it don't agree with me here." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I guess it does, 'Liz'beth. You're just a little pulled down with the + weather. It's coming spring, and you feel it; but the doctor says you're + all right. I stopped in, on the way up, and he says so." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon he don't know everything," the old woman persisted: "I've been + runnin' down ever since we left Moffitt, and I didn't feel any too well + there, even. It's a very strange thing, Jacob, that the richer you git, + the less you ain't able to stay where you want to, dead or alive." + </p> + <p> + "It's for the children we do it," said Dryfoos. "We got to give them their + chance in the world." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, the world! They ought to bear the yoke in their youth, like we done. + I know it's what Coonrod would like to do." + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos got upon his feet. "If Coonrod 'll mind his own business, and do + what I want him to, he'll have yoke enough to bear." He moved from his + wife, without further effort to comfort her, and pottered heavily out into + the dining-room. Beyond its obscurity stretched the glitter of the deep + drawing-room. His feet, in their broad, flat slippers, made no sound on + the dense carpet, and he came unseen upon the little group there near the + piano. Mela perched upon the stool with her back to the keys, and Beaton + bent over Christine, who sat with a banjo in her lap, letting him take her + hands and put them in the right place on the instrument. Her face was + radiant with happiness, and Mela was watching her with foolish, unselfish + pleasure in her bliss. + </p> + <p> + There was nothing wrong in the affair to a man of Dryfoos's traditions and + perceptions, and if it had been at home in the farm sitting-room, or even + in his parlor at Moffitt, he would not have minded a young man's placing + his daughter's hands on a banjo, or even holding them there; it would have + seemed a proper, attention from him if he was courting her. But here, in + such a house as this, with the daughter of a man who had made as much + money as he had, he did not know but it was a liberty. He felt the angry + doubt of it which beset him in regard to so many experiences of his + changed life; he wanted to show his sense of it, if it was a liberty, but + he did not know how, and he did not know that it was so. Besides, he could + not help a touch of the pleasure in Christine's happiness which Mela + showed; and he would have gone back to the library, if he could, without + being discovered. + </p> + <p> + But Beaton had seen him, and Dryfoos, with a nonchalant nod to the young + man, came forward. "What you got there, Christine?" + </p> + <p> + "A banjo," said the girl, blushing in her father's presence. + </p> + <p> + Mela gurgled. "Mr. Beaton is learnun' her the first position." + </p> + <p> + Beaton was not embarrassed. He was in evening dress, and his face, pointed + with its brown beard, showed extremely handsome above the expanse of his + broad, white shirt-front. He gave back as nonchalant a nod as he had got, + and, without further greeting to Dryfoos, he said to Christine: "No, no. + You must keep your hand and arm so." He held them in position. "There! Now + strike with your right hand. See?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't believe I can ever learn," said the girl, with a fond upward look + at him. + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes, you can," said Beaton. + </p> + <p> + They both ignored Dryfoos in the little play of protests which followed, + and he said, half jocosely, half suspiciously, "And is the banjo the + fashion, now?" He remembered it as the emblem of low-down show business, + and associated it with end-men and blackened faces and grotesque + shirt-collars. + </p> + <p> + "It's all the rage," Mela shouted, in answer for all. "Everybody plays it. + Mr. Beaton borrowed this from a lady friend of his." + </p> + <p> + "Humph! Pity I got you a piano, then," said Dryfoos. "A banjo would have + been cheaper." + </p> + <p> + Beaton so far admitted him to the conversation as to seem reminded of the + piano by his mentioning it. He said to Mela, "Oh, won't you just strike + those chords?" and as Mela wheeled about and beat the keys he took the + banjo from Christine and sat down with it. "This way!" He strummed it, and + murmured the tune Dryfoos had heard him singing from the library, while he + kept his beautiful eyes floating on Christine's. "You try that, now; it's + very simple." + </p> + <p> + "Where is Mrs. Mandel?" Dryfoos demanded, trying to assert himself. + </p> + <p> + Neither of the girls seemed to have heard him at first in the chatter they + broke into over what Beaton proposed. Then Mela said, absently, "Oh, she + had to go out to see one of her friends that's sick," and she struck the + piano keys. "Come; try it, Chris!" + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos turned about unheeded and went back to the library. He would have + liked to put Beaton out of his house, and in his heart he burned against + him as a contumacious hand; he would have liked to discharge him from the + art department of 'Every Other Week' at once. But he was aware of not + having treated Beaton with much ceremony, and if the young man had + returned his behavior in kind, with an electrical response to his own + feeling, had he any right to complain? After all, there was no harm in his + teaching Christine the banjo. + </p> + <p> + His wife still sat looking into the fire. "I can't see," she said, "as + we've got a bit more comfort of our lives, Jacob, because we've got such + piles and piles of money. I wisht to gracious we was back on the farm this + minute. I wisht you had held out ag'inst the childern about sellin' it; + 'twould 'a' bin the best thing fur 'em, I say. I believe in my soul + they'll git spoiled here in New York. I kin see a change in 'em a'ready—in + the girls." + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos stretched himself on the lounge again. "I can't see as Coonrod is + much comfort, either. Why ain't he here with his sisters? What does all + that work of his on the East Side amount to? It seems as if he done it to + cross me, as much as anything." Dryfoos complained to his wife on the + basis of mere affectional habit, which in married life often survives the + sense of intellectual equality. He did not expect her to reason with him, + but there was help in her listening, and though she could only soothe his + fretfulness with soft answers which were often wide of the purpose, he + still went to her for solace. "Here, I've gone into this newspaper + business, or whatever it is, on his account, and he don't seem any more + satisfied than ever. I can see he hain't got his heart in it." + </p> + <p> + "The pore boy tries; I know he does, Jacob; and he wants to please you. + But he give up a good deal when he give up bein' a preacher; I s'pose we + ought to remember that." + </p> + <p> + "A preacher!" sneered Dryfoos. "I reckon bein' a preacher wouldn't satisfy + him now. He had the impudence to tell me this afternoon that he would like + to be a priest; and he threw it up to me that he never could be because + I'd kept him from studyin'." + </p> + <p> + "He don't mean a Catholic priest—not a Roman one, Jacob," the old + woman explained, wistfully. "He's told me all about it. They ain't the + kind o' Catholics we been used to; some sort of 'Piscopalians; and they do + a heap o' good amongst the poor folks over there. He says we ain't got any + idea how folks lives in them tenement houses, hundreds of 'em in one + house, and whole families in a room; and it burns in his heart to help 'em + like them Fathers, as he calls 'em, that gives their lives to it. He can't + be a Father, he says, because he can't git the eddication now; but he can + be a Brother; and I can't find a word to say ag'inst it, when it gits to + talkin', Jacob." + </p> + <p> + "I ain't saying anything against his priests, 'Liz'beth," said Dryfoos. + "They're all well enough in their way; they've given up their lives to it, + and it's a matter of business with them, like any other. But what I'm + talking about now is Coonrod. I don't object to his doin' all the charity + he wants to, and the Lord knows I've never been stingy with him about it. + He might have all the money he wants, to give round any way he pleases." + </p> + <p> + "That's what I told him once, but he says money ain't the thing—or + not the only thing you got to give to them poor folks. You got to give + your time and your knowledge and your love—I don't know what all you + got to give yourself, if you expect to help 'em. That's what Coonrod + says." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I can tell him that charity begins at home," said Dryfoos, sitting + up in his impatience. "And he'd better give himself to us a little—to + his old father and mother. And his sisters. What's he doin' goin' off + there to his meetings, and I don't know what all, an' leavin' them here + alone?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, ain't Mr. Beaton with 'em?" asked the old woman. "I thought I heared + his voice." + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Beaton! Of course he is! And who's Mr. Beaton, anyway?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, ain't he one of the men in Coonrod's office? I thought I heared—" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, he is! But who is he? What's he doing round here? Is he makin' up to + Christine?" + </p> + <p> + "I reckon he is. From Mely's talk, she's about crazy over the fellow. + Don't you like him, Jacob?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know him, or what he is. He hasn't got any manners. Who brought + him here? How'd he come to come, in the first place?" + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Fulkerson brung him, I believe," said the old woman, patiently. + </p> + <p> + "Fulkerson!" Dryfoos snorted. "Where's Mrs. Mandel, I should like to know? + He brought her, too. Does she go traipsin' off this way every evening?" + </p> + <p> + "No, she seems to be here pretty regular most o' the time. I don't know + how we could ever git along without her, Jacob; she seems to know just + what to do, and the girls would be ten times as outbreakin' without her. I + hope you ain't thinkin' o' turnin' her off, Jacob?" + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos did not think it necessary to answer such a question. "It's all + Fulkerson, Fulkerson, Fulkerson. It seems to me that Fulkerson about runs + this family. He brought Mrs. Mandel, and he brought that Beaton, and he + brought that Boston fellow! I guess I give him a dose, though; and I'll + learn Fulkerson that he can't have everything his own way. I don't want + anybody to help me spend my money. I made it, and I can manage it. I guess + Mr. Fulkerson can bear a little watching now. He's been travelling pretty + free, and he's got the notion he's driving, maybe. I'm a-going to look + after that book a little myself." + </p> + <p> + "You'll kill yourself, Jacob," said his wife, "tryin' to do so many + things. And what is it all fur? I don't see as we're better off, any, for + all the money. It's just as much care as it used to be when we was all + there on the farm together. I wisht we could go back, Ja—" + </p> + <p> + "We can't go back!" shouted the old man, fiercely. "There's no farm any + more to go back to. The fields is full of gas-wells and oil-wells and + hell-holes generally; the house is tore down, and the barn's goin'—" + </p> + <p> + "The barn!" gasped the old woman. "Oh, my!" + </p> + <p> + "If I was to give all I'm worth this minute, we couldn't go back to the + farm, any more than them girls in there could go back and be little + children. I don't say we're any better off, for the money. I've got more + of it now than I ever had; and there's no end to the luck; it pours in. + But I feel like I was tied hand and foot. I don't know which way to move; + I don't know what's best to do about anything. The money don't seem to buy + anything but more and more care and trouble. We got a big house that we + ain't at home in; and we got a lot of hired girls round under our feet + that hinder and don't help. Our children don't mind us, and we got no + friends or neighbors. But it had to be. I couldn't help but sell the farm, + and we can't go back to it, for it ain't there. So don't you say anything + more about it, 'Liz'beth." + </p> + <p> + "Pore Jacob!" said his wife. "Well, I woon't, dear." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV + </h2> + <p> + It was clear to Beaton that Dryfoos distrusted him; and the fact + heightened his pleasure in Christine's liking for him. He was as sure of + this as he was of the other, though he was not so sure of any reason for + his pleasure in it. She had her charm; the charm of wildness to which a + certain wildness in himself responded; and there were times when his fancy + contrived a common future for them, which would have a prosperity forced + from the old fellow's love of the girl. Beaton liked the idea of this + compulsion better than he liked the idea of the money; there was something + a little repulsive in that; he imagined himself rejecting it; he almost + wished he was enough in love with the girl to marry her without it; that + would be fine. He was taken with her in a certain measure, in a certain + way; the question was in what measure, in what way. + </p> + <p> + It was partly to escape from this question that he hurried down-town, and + decided to spend with the Leightons the hour remaining on his hands before + it was time to go to the reception for which he was dressed. It seemed to + him important that he should see Alma Leighton. After all, it was her + charm that was most abiding with him; perhaps it was to be final. He found + himself very happy in his present relations with her. She had dropped that + barrier of pretences and ironical surprise. It seemed to him that they had + gone back to the old ground of common artistic interest which he had found + so pleasant the summer before. Apparently she and her mother had both + forgiven his neglect of them in the first months of their stay in New + York; he was sure that Mrs. Leighton liked him as well as ever, and, if + there was still something a little provisional in Alma's manner at times, + it was something that piqued more than it discouraged; it made him + curious, not anxious. + </p> + <p> + He found the young ladies with Fulkerson when he rang. He seemed to be + amusing them both, and they were both amused beyond the merit of so small + a pleasantry, Beaton thought, when Fulkerson said: "Introduce myself, Mr. + Beaton: Mr. Fulkerson of 'Every Other Week.' Think I've met you at our + place." The girls laughed, and Alma explained that her mother was not very + well, and would be sorry not to see him. Then she turned, as he felt, + perversely, and went on talking with Fulkerson and left him to Miss + Woodburn. + </p> + <p> + She finally recognized his disappointment: "Ah don't often get a chance at + you, Mr. Beaton, and Ah'm just goin' to toak yo' to death. Yo' have been + Soath yo'self, and yo' know ho' we do toak." + </p> + <p> + "I've survived to say yes," Beaton admitted. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, now, do you think we toak so much mo' than you do in the No'th?" the + young lady deprecated. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know. I only know you can't talk too much for me. I should like + to hear you say Soath and house and about for the rest of my life." + </p> + <p> + "That's what Ah call raght personal, Mr. Beaton. Now Ah'm goin' to be + personal, too." Miss Woodburn flung out over her lap the square of cloth + she was embroidering, and asked him: "Don't you think that's beautiful? + Now, as an awtust—a great awtust?" + </p> + <p> + "As a great awtust, yes," said Beaton, mimicking her accent. "If I were + less than great I might have something to say about the arrangement of + colors. You're as bold and original as Nature." + </p> + <p> + "Really? Oh, now, do tell me yo' favo'ite colo', Mr. Beaton." + </p> + <p> + "My favorite color? Bless my soul, why should I prefer any? Is blue good, + or red wicked? Do people have favorite colors?" Beaton found himself + suddenly interested. + </p> + <p> + "Of co'se they do," answered the girl. "Don't awtusts?" + </p> + <p> + "I never heard of one that had—consciously." + </p> + <p> + "Is it possible? I supposed they all had. Now mah favo'ite colo' is + gawnet. Don't you think it's a pretty colo'?" + </p> + <p> + "It depends upon how it's used. Do you mean in neckties?" Beaton stole a + glance at the one Fulkerson was wearing. + </p> + <p> + Miss Woodburn laughed with her face bowed upon her wrist. "Ah do think you + gentlemen in the No'th awe ten tahms as lahvely as the ladies." + </p> + <p> + "Strange," said Beaton. "In the South—Soath, excuse me! I made the + observation that the ladies were ten times as lively as the gentlemen. + What is that you're working?" + </p> + <p> + "This?" Miss Woodburn gave it another flirt, and looked at it with a + glance of dawning recognition. "Oh, this is a table-covah. Wouldn't you + lahke to see where it's to go?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, certainly." + </p> + <p> + "Well, if you'll be raght good I'll let yo' give me some professional + advass about putting something in the co'ners or not, when you have seen + it on the table." + </p> + <p> + She rose and led the way into the other room. Beaton knew she wanted to + talk with him about something else; but he waited patiently to let her + play her comedy out. She spread the cover on the table, and he advised + her, as he saw she wished, against putting anything in the corners; just + run a line of her stitch around the edge, he said. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Fulkerson and Ah, why, we've been having a regular faght aboat it," + she commented. "But we both agreed, fahnally, to leave it to you; Mr. + Fulkerson said you'd be sure to be raght. Ah'm so glad you took mah sahde. + But he's a great admahrer of yours, Mr. Beaton," she concluded, demurely, + suggestively. + </p> + <p> + "Is he? Well, I'm a great admirer of Fulkerson," said Beaton, with a + capricious willingness to humor her wish to talk about Fulkerson. "He's a + capital fellow; generous, magnanimous, with quite an ideal of friendship + and an eye single to the main chance all the time. He would advertise + 'Every Other Week' on his family vault." + </p> + <p> + Miss Woodburn laughed, and said she should tell him what Beaton had said. + </p> + <p> + "Do. But he's used to defamation from me, and he'll think you're joking." + </p> + <p> + "Ah suppose," said Miss Woodburn, "that he's quahte the tahpe of a New + York business man." She added, as if it followed logically, "He's so + different from what I thought a New York business man would be." + </p> + <p> + "It's your Virginia tradition to despise business," said Beaton, rudely. + </p> + <p> + Miss Woodburn laughed again. "Despahse it? Mah goodness! we want to get + into it and woak it fo' all it's wo'th,' as Mr. Fulkerson says. That + tradition is all past. You don't know what the Soath is now. Ah suppose + mah fathaw despahses business, but he's a tradition himself, as Ah tell + him." Beaton would have enjoyed joining the young lady in anything she + might be going to say in derogation of her father, but he restrained + himself, and she went on more and more as if she wished to account for her + father's habitual hauteur with Beaton, if not to excuse it. "Ah tell him + he don't understand the rising generation. He was brought up in the old + school, and he thinks we're all just lahke he was when he was young, with + all those ahdeals of chivalry and family; but, mah goodness! it's money + that cyoants no'adays in the Soath, just lahke it does everywhere else. Ah + suppose, if we could have slavery back in the fawm mah fathaw thinks it + could have been brought up to, when the commercial spirit wouldn't let it + alone, it would be the best thing; but we can't have it back, and Ah tell + him we had better have the commercial spirit as the next best thing." + </p> + <p> + Miss Woodburn went on, with sufficient loyalty and piety, to expose the + difference of her own and her father's ideals, but with what Beaton + thought less reference to his own unsympathetic attention than to a + knowledge finally of the personnel and materiel of 'Every Other Week.' and + Mr. Fulkerson's relation to the enterprise. "You most excuse my asking so + many questions, Mr. Beaton. You know it's all mah doing that we awe heah + in New York. Ah just told mah fathaw that if he was evah goin' to do + anything with his wrahtings, he had got to come No'th, and Ah made him + come. Ah believe he'd have stayed in the Soath all his lahfe. And now Mr. + Fulkerson wants him to let his editor see some of his wrahtings, and Ah + wanted to know something aboat the magazine. We awe a great deal excited + aboat it in this hoase, you know, Mr. Beaton," she concluded, with a look + that now transferred the interest from Fulkerson to Alma. She led the way + back to the room where they were sitting, and went up to triumph over + Fulkerson with Beaton's decision about the table-cover. + </p> + <p> + Alma was left with Beaton near the piano, and he began to talk about the + Dryfooses as he sat down on the piano-stool. He said he had been giving + Miss Dryfoos a lesson on the banjo; he had borrowed the banjo of Miss + Vance. Then he struck the chord he had been trying to teach Christine, and + played over the air he had sung. + </p> + <p> + "How do you like that?" he asked, whirling round. + </p> + <p> + "It seems rather a disrespectful little tune, somehow," said Alma, + placidly. + </p> + <p> + Beaton rested his elbow on the corner of the piano and gazed dreamily at + her. "Your perceptions are wonderful. It is disrespectful. I played it, up + there, because I felt disrespectful to them." + </p> + <p> + "Do you claim that as a merit?" + </p> + <p> + "No, I state it as a fact. How can you respect such people?" + </p> + <p> + "You might respect yourself, then," said the girl. "Or perhaps that + wouldn't be so easy, either." + </p> + <p> + "No, it wouldn't. I like to have you say these things to me," said Beaton, + impartially. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I like to say them," Alma returned. + </p> + <p> + "They do me good." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I don't know that that was my motive." + </p> + <p> + "There is no one like you—no one," said Beaton, as if apostrophizing + her in her absence. "To come from that house, with its assertions of money—you + can hear it chink; you can smell the foul old banknotes; it stifles you—into + an atmosphere like this, is like coming into another world." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you," said Alma. "I'm glad there isn't that unpleasant odor here; + but I wish there was a little more of the chinking." + </p> + <p> + "No, no! Don't say that!" he implored. "I like to think that there is one + soul uncontaminated by the sense of money in this big, brutal, sordid + city." + </p> + <p> + "You mean two," said Alma, with modesty. "But if you stifle at the + Dryfooses', why do you go there?" + </p> + <p> + "Why do I go?" he mused. "Don't you believe in knowing all the natures, + the types, you can? Those girls are a strange study: the young one is a + simple, earthly creature, as common as an oat-field and the other a sort + of sylvan life: fierce, flashing, feline—" + </p> + <p> + Alma burst out into a laugh. "What apt alliteration! And do they like + being studied? I should think the sylvan life might—scratch." + </p> + <p> + "No," said Beaton, with melancholy absence, "it only-purrs." + </p> + <p> + The girl felt a rising indignation. "Well, then, Mr. Beaton, I should hope + it would scratch, and bite, too. I think you've no business to go about + studying people, as you do. It's abominable." + </p> + <p> + "Go on," said the young man. "That Puritan conscience of yours! It appeals + to the old Covenanter strain in me—like a voice of pre-existence. Go + on—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, if I went on I should merely say it was not only abominable, but + contemptible." + </p> + <p> + "You could be my guardian angel, Alma," said the young man, making his + eyes more and more slumbrous and dreamy. + </p> + <p> + "Stuff! I hope I have a soul above buttons!" + </p> + <p> + He smiled, as she rose, and followed her across the room. "Good-night; Mr. + Beaton," she said. + </p> + <p> + Miss Woodburn and Fulkerson came in from the other room. "What! You're not + going, Beaton?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; I'm going to a reception. I stopped in on my way." + </p> + <p> + "To kill time," Alma explained. + </p> + <p> + "Well," said Fulkerson, gallantly, "this is the last place I should like + to do it. But I guess I'd better be going, too. It has sometimes occurred + to me that there is such a thing as staying too late. But with Brother + Beaton, here, just starting in for an evening's amusement, it does seem a + little early yet. Can't you urge me to stay, somebody?" + </p> + <p> + The two girls laughed, and Miss Woodburn said: + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Beaton is such a butterfly of fashion! Ah wish Ah was on mah way to a + pawty. Ah feel quahte envious." + </p> + <p> + "But he didn't say it to make you," Alma explained, with meek softness. + </p> + <p> + "Well, we can't all be swells. Where is your party, anyway, Beaton?" asked + Fulkerson. "How do you manage to get your invitations to those things? I + suppose a fellow has to keep hinting round pretty lively, Neigh?" + </p> + <p> + Beaton took these mockeries serenely, and shook hands with Miss Woodburn, + with the effect of having already shaken hands with Alma. She stood with + hers clasped behind her. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. + </h2> + <p> + Beaton went away with the smile on his face which he had kept in listening + to Fulkerson, and carried it with him to the reception. He believed that + Alma was vexed with him for more personal reasons than she had implied; it + flattered him that she should have resented what he told her of the + Dryfooses. She had scolded him in their behalf apparently; but really + because he had made her jealous by his interest, of whatever kind, in some + one else. What followed, had followed naturally. Unless she had been quite + a simpleton she could not have met his provisional love-making on any + other terms; and the reason why Beaton chiefly liked Alma Leighton was + that she was not a simpleton. Even up in the country, when she was + overawed by his acquaintance, at first, she was not very deeply overawed, + and at times she was not overawed at all. At such times she astonished him + by taking his most solemn histrionics with flippant incredulity, and even + burlesquing them. But he could see, all the same, that he had caught her + fancy, and he admired the skill with which she punished his neglect when + they met in New York. He had really come very near forgetting the + Leightons; the intangible obligations of mutual kindness which hold some + men so fast, hung loosely upon him; it would not have hurt him to break + from them altogether; but when he recognized them at last, he found that + it strengthened them indefinitely to have Alma ignore them so completely. + If she had been sentimental, or softly reproachful, that would have been + the end; he could not have stood it; he would have had to drop her. But + when she met him on his own ground, and obliged him to be sentimental, the + game was in her hands. Beaton laughed, now, when he thought of that, and + he said to himself that the girl had grown immensely since she had come to + New York; nothing seemed to have been lost upon her; she must have kept + her eyes uncommonly wide open. He noticed that especially in their talks + over her work; she had profited by everything she had seen and heard; she + had all of Wetmore's ideas pat; it amused Beaton to see how she seized + every useful word that he dropped, too, and turned him to technical + account whenever she could. He liked that; she had a great deal of talent; + there was no question of that; if she were a man there could be no + question of her future. He began to construct a future for her; it + included provision for himself, too; it was a common future, in which + their lives and work were united. + </p> + <p> + He was full of the glow of its prosperity when he met Margaret Vance at + the reception. + </p> + <p> + The house was one where people might chat a long time together without + publicly committing themselves to an interest in each other except such as + grew out of each other's ideas. Miss Vance was there because she united in + her catholic sympathies or ambitions the objects of the fashionable people + and of the aesthetic people who met there on common ground. It was almost + the only house in New York where this happened often, and it did not + happen very often there. It was a literary house, primarily, with artistic + qualifications, and the frequenters of it were mostly authors and artists; + Wetmore, who was always trying to fit everything with a phrase, said it + was the unfrequenters who were fashionable. There was great ease there, + and simplicity; and if there was not distinction, it was not for want of + distinguished people, but because there seems to be some solvent in New + York life that reduces all men to a common level, that touches everybody + with its potent magic and brings to the surface the deeply underlying + nobody. The effect for some temperaments, for consciousness, for egotism, + is admirable; for curiosity, for hero worship, it is rather baffling. It + is the spirit of the street transferred to the drawing-room; + indiscriminating, levelling, but doubtless finally wholesome, and + witnessing the immensity of the place, if not consenting to the grandeur + of reputations or presences. + </p> + <p> + Beaton now denied that this house represented a salon at all, in the old + sense; and he held that the salon was impossible, even undesirable, with + us, when Miss Vance sighed for it. At any rate, he said that this turmoil + of coming and going, this bubble and babble, this cackling and hissing of + conversation was not the expression of any such civilization as had + created the salon. Here, he owned, were the elements of intellectual + delightfulness, but he said their assemblage in such quantity alone denied + the salon; there was too much of a good thing. The French word implied a + long evening of general talk among the guests, crowned with a little + chicken at supper, ending at cock-crow. Here was tea, with milk or with + lemon—baths of it and claret-cup for the hardier spirits throughout + the evening. It was very nice, very pleasant, but it was not the little + chicken—not the salon. In fact, he affirmed, the salon descended + from above, out of the great world, and included the aesthetic world in + it. But our great world—the rich people, were stupid, with no wish + to be otherwise; they were not even curious about authors and artists. + Beaton fancied himself speaking impartially, and so he allowed himself to + speak bitterly; he said that in no other city in the world, except Vienna, + perhaps, were such people so little a part of society. + </p> + <p> + "It isn't altogether the rich people's fault," said Margaret; and she + spoke impartially, too. "I don't believe that the literary men and the + artists would like a salon that descended to them. Madame Geoffrin, you + know, was very plebeian; her husband was a business man of some sort." + </p> + <p> + "He would have been a howling swell in New York," said Beaton, still + impartially. + </p> + <p> + Wetmore came up to their corner, with a scroll of bread and butter in one + hand and a cup of tea in the other. Large and fat, and clean-shaven, he + looked like a monk in evening dress. + </p> + <p> + "We were talking about salons," said Margaret. + </p> + <p> + "Why don't you open a salon yourself?" asked Wetmore, breathing thickly + from the anxiety of getting through the crowd without spilling his tea. + </p> + <p> + "Like poor Lady Barberina Lemon?" said the girl, with a laugh. "What a + good story! That idea of a woman who couldn't be interested in any of the + arts because she was socially and traditionally the material of them! We + can, never reach that height of nonchalance in this country." + </p> + <p> + "Not if we tried seriously?" suggested the painter. "I've an idea that if + the Americans ever gave their minds to that sort of thing, they could take + the palm—or the cake, as Beaton here would say—just as they do + in everything else. When we do have an aristocracy, it will be an + aristocracy that will go ahead of anything the world has ever seen. Why + don't somebody make a beginning, and go in openly for an ancestry, and a + lower middle class, and an hereditary legislature, and all the rest? We've + got liveries, and crests, and palaces, and caste feeling. We're all right + as far as we've gone, and we've got the money to go any length." + </p> + <p> + "Like your natural-gas man, Mr. Beaton," said the girl, with a smiling + glance round at him. + </p> + <p> + "Ah!" said Wetmore, stirring his tea, "has Beaton got a natural-gas man?" + </p> + <p> + "My natural-gas man," said Beaton, ignoring Wetmore's question, "doesn't + know how to live in his palace yet, and I doubt if he has any caste + feeling. I fancy his family believe themselves victims of it. They say—one + of the young ladies does—that she never saw such an unsociable place + as New York; nobody calls." + </p> + <p> + "That's good!" said Wetmore. "I suppose they're all ready for company, + too: good cook, furniture, servants, carriages?" + </p> + <p> + "Galore," said Beaton. + </p> + <p> + "Well, that's too bad. There's a chance for you, Miss Vance. Doesn't your + philanthropy embrace the socially destitute as well as the financially? + Just think of a family like that, without a friend, in a great city! I + should think common charity had a duty there—not to mention the + uncommon." + </p> + <p> + He distinguished that kind as Margaret's by a glance of ironical + deference. She had a repute for good works which was out of proportion to + the works, as it always is, but she was really active in that way, under + the vague obligation, which we now all feel, to be helpful. She was of the + church which seems to have found a reversion to the imposing ritual of the + past the way back to the early ideals of Christian brotherhood. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, they seem to have Mr. Beaton," Margaret answered, and Beaton felt + obscurely flattered by her reference to his patronage of the Dryfooses. + </p> + <p> + He explained to Wetmore: "They have me because they partly own me. Dryfoos + is Fulkerson's financial backer in 'Every Other Week'." + </p> + <p> + "Is that so? Well, that's interesting, too. Aren't you rather astonished, + Miss Vance, to see what a petty thing Beaton is making of that magazine of + his?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh," said Margaret, "it's so very nice, every way; it makes you feel as + if you did have a country, after all. It's as chic—that detestable + little word!—as those new French books." + </p> + <p> + "Beaton modelled it on them. But you mustn't suppose he does everything + about 'Every Other Week'; he'd like you to. Beaton, you haven't come up to + that cover of your first number, since. That was the design of one of my + pupils, Miss Vance—a little girl that Beaton discovered down in New + Hampshire last summer." + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes. And have you great hopes of her, Mr. Wetmore?" + </p> + <p> + "She seems to have more love of it and knack for it than any one of her + sex I've seen yet. It really looks like a case of art for art's sake, at + times. But you can't tell. They're liable to get married at any moment, + you know. Look here, Beaton, when your natural-gas man gets to the + picture-buying stage in his development, just remember your old friends, + will you? You know, Miss Vance, those new fellows have their regular + stages. They never know what to do with their money, but they find out + that people buy pictures, at one point. They shut your things up in their + houses where nobody comes, and after a while they overeat themselves—they + don't know what else to do—and die of apoplexy, and leave your + pictures to a gallery, and then they see the light. It's slow, but it's + pretty sure. Well, I see Beaton isn't going to move on, as he ought to do; + and so I must. He always was an unconventional creature." + </p> + <p> + Wetmore went away, but Beaton remained, and he outstayed several other + people who came up to speak to Miss Vance. She was interested in + everybody, and she liked the talk of these clever literary, artistic, + clerical, even theatrical people, and she liked the sort of court with + which they recognized her fashion as well as her cleverness; it was very + pleasant to be treated intellectually as if she were one of themselves, + and socially as if she was not habitually the same, but a sort of guest in + Bohemia, a distinguished stranger. If it was Arcadia rather than Bohemia, + still she felt her quality of distinguished stranger. The flattery of it + touched her fancy, and not her vanity; she had very little vanity. + Beaton's devotion made the same sort of appeal; it was not so much that + she liked him as she liked being the object of his admiration. She was a + girl of genuine sympathies, intellectual rather than sentimental. In fact, + she was an intellectual person, whom qualities of the heart saved from + being disagreeable, as they saved her on the other hand from being worldly + or cruel in her fashionableness. She had read a great many books, and had + ideas about them, quite courageous and original ideas; she knew about + pictures—she had been in Wetmore's class; she was fond of music; she + was willing to understand even politics; in Boston she might have been + agnostic, but in New York she was sincerely religious; she was very + accomplished; and perhaps it was her goodness that prevented her feeling + what was not best in Beaton. + </p> + <p> + "Do you think," she said, after the retreat of one of the comers and goers + left her alone with him again, "that those young ladies would like me to + call on them?" + </p> + <p> + "Those young ladies?" Beaton echoed. "Miss Leighton and—" + </p> + <p> + "No; I have been there with my aunt's cards already." + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes," said Beaton, as if he had known of it; he admired the pluck and + pride with which Alma had refrained from ever mentioning the fact to him, + and had kept her mother from mentioning it, which must have been + difficult. + </p> + <p> + "I mean the Miss Dryfooses. It seems really barbarous, if nobody goes near + them. We do all kinds of things, and help all kinds of people in some + ways, but we let strangers remain strangers unless they know how to make + their way among us." + </p> + <p> + "The Dryfooses certainly wouldn't know how to make their way among you," + said Beaton, with a sort of dreamy absence in his tone. + </p> + <p> + Miss Vance went on, speaking out the process of reasoning in her mind, + rather than any conclusions she had reached. "We defend ourselves by + trying to believe that they must have friends of their own, or that they + would think us patronizing, and wouldn't like being made the objects of + social charity; but they needn't really suppose anything of the kind." + </p> + <p> + "I don't imagine they would," said Beaton. "I think they'd be only too + happy to have you come. But you wouldn't know what to do with each other, + indeed, Miss Vance." + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps we shall like each other," said the girl, bravely, "and then we + shall know. What Church are they of?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't believe they're of any," said Beaton. "The mother was brought up + a Dunkard." + </p> + <p> + "A Dunkard?" + </p> + <p> + Beaton told what he knew of the primitive sect, with its early Christian + polity, its literal interpretation of Christ's ethics, and its quaint + ceremonial of foot-washing; he made something picturesque of that. "The + father is a Mammon-worshipper, pure and simple. I suppose the young ladies + go to church, but I don't know where. They haven't tried to convert me." + </p> + <p> + "I'll tell them not to despair—after I've converted them," said Miss + Vance. "Will you let me use you as a 'point d'appui', Mr. Beaton?" + </p> + <p> + "Any way you like. If you're really going to see them, perhaps I'd better + make a confession. I left your banjo with them, after I got it put in + order." + </p> + <p> + "How very nice! Then we have a common interest already." + </p> + <p> + "Do you mean the banjo, or—" + </p> + <p> + "The banjo, decidedly. Which of them plays?" + </p> + <p> + "Neither. But the eldest heard that the banjo was 'all the rage,' as the + youngest says. Perhaps you can persuade them that good works are the rage, + too." + </p> + <p> + Beaton had no very lively belief that Margaret would go to see the + Dryfooses; he did so few of the things he proposed that he went upon the + theory that others must be as faithless. Still, he had a cruel amusement + in figuring the possible encounter between Margaret Vance, with her + intellectual elegance, her eager sympathies and generous ideals, and those + girls with their rude past, their false and distorted perspective, their + sordid and hungry selfishness, and their faith in the omnipotence of their + father's wealth wounded by their experience of its present social + impotence. At the bottom of his heart he sympathized with them rather than + with her; he was more like them. + </p> + <p> + People had ceased coming, and some of them were going. Miss Vance said she + must go, too, and she was about to rise, when the host came up with March; + Beaton turned away. + </p> + <p> + "Miss Vance, I want to introduce Mr. March, the editor of 'Every Other + Week.' You oughtn't to be restricted to the art department. We literary + fellows think that arm of the service gets too much of the glory + nowadays." His banter was for Beaton, but he was already beyond ear-shot, + and the host went on: + </p> + <p> + "Mr. March can talk with you about your favorite Boston. He's just turned + his back on it." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I hope not!" said Miss Vance. "I can't imagine anybody voluntarily + leaving Boston." + </p> + <p> + "I don't say he's so bad as that," said the host, committing March to her. + "He came to New York because he couldn't help it—like the rest of + us. I never know whether that's a compliment to New York or not." + </p> + <p> + They talked Boston a little while, without finding that they had common + acquaintance there; Miss Vance must have concluded that society was much + larger in Boston than she had supposed from her visits there, or else that + March did not know many people in it. But she was not a girl to care much + for the inferences that might be drawn from such conclusions; she rather + prided herself upon despising them; and she gave herself to the pleasure + of being talked to as if she were of March's own age. In the glow of her + sympathetic beauty and elegance he talked his best, and tried to amuse her + with his jokes, which he had the art of tingeing with a little seriousness + on one side. He made her laugh; and he flattered her by making her think; + in her turn she charmed him so much by enjoying what he said that he began + to brag of his wife, as a good husband always does when another woman + charms him; and she asked, Oh was Mrs. March there; and would he introduce + her? + </p> + <p> + She asked Mrs. March for her address, and whether she had a day; and she + said she would come to see her, if she would let her. Mrs. March could not + be so enthusiastic about her as March was, but as they walked home + together they talked the girl over, and agreed about her beauty and her + amiability. Mrs. March said she seemed very unspoiled for a person who + must have been so much spoiled. They tried to analyze her charm, and they + succeeded in formulating it as a combination of intellectual + fashionableness and worldly innocence. "I think," said Mrs. March, "that + city girls, brought up as she must have been, are often the most innocent + of all. They never imagine the wickedness of the world, and if they marry + happily they go through life as innocent as children. Everything combines + to keep them so; the very hollowness of society shields them. They are the + loveliest of the human race. But perhaps the rest have to pay too much for + them." + </p> + <p> + "For such an exquisite creature as Miss Vance," said March, "we couldn't + pay too much." + </p> + <p> + A wild laughing cry suddenly broke upon the air at the street-crossing in + front of them. A girl's voice called out: "Run, run, Jen! The copper is + after you." A woman's figure rushed stumbling across the way and into the + shadow of the houses, pursued by a burly policeman. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, but if that's part of the price?" + </p> + <p> + They went along fallen from the gay spirit of their talk into a silence + which he broke with a sigh. "Can that poor wretch and the radiant girl we + left yonder really belong to the same system of things? How impossible + each makes the other seem!" + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. + </h2> + <p> + Mrs. Horn believed in the world and in society and its unwritten + constitution devoutly, and she tolerated her niece's benevolent activities + as she tolerated her aesthetic sympathies because these things, however + oddly, were tolerated—even encouraged—by society; and they + gave Margaret a charm. They made her originality interesting. Mrs. Horn + did not intend that they should ever go so far as to make her troublesome; + and it was with a sense of this abeyant authority of her aunt's that the + girl asked her approval of her proposed call upon the Dryfooses. She + explained as well as she could the social destitution of these opulent + people, and she had of course to name Beaton as the source of her + knowledge concerning them. + </p> + <p> + "Did Mr. Beaton suggest your calling on them?" + </p> + <p> + "No; he rather discouraged it." + </p> + <p> + "And why do you think you ought to go in this particular instance? New + York is full of people who don't know anybody." + </p> + <p> + Margaret laughed. "I suppose it's like any other charity: you reach the + cases you know of. The others you say you can't help, and you try to + ignore them." + </p> + <p> + "It's very romantic," said Mrs. Horn. "I hope you've counted the cost; all + the possible consequences." + </p> + <p> + Margaret knew that her aunt had in mind their common experience with the + Leightons, whom, to give their common conscience peace, she had called + upon with her aunt's cards and excuses, and an invitation for her + Thursdays, somewhat too late to make the visit seem a welcome to New York. + She was so coldly received, not so much for herself as in her quality of + envoy, that her aunt experienced all the comfort which vicarious penance + brings. She did not perhaps consider sufficiently her niece's + guiltlessness in the expiation. Margaret was not with her at St. Barnaby + in the fatal fortnight she passed there, and never saw the Leightons till + she went to call upon them. She never complained: the strain of + asceticism, which mysteriously exists in us all, and makes us put peas, + boiled or unboiled, in our shoes, gave her patience with the snub which + the Leightons presented her for her aunt. But now she said, with this in + mind: "Nothing seems simpler than to get rid of people if you don't want + them. You merely have to let them alone." + </p> + <p> + "It isn't so pleasant, letting them alone," said Mrs. Horn. + </p> + <p> + "Or having them let you alone," said Margaret; for neither Mrs. Leighton + nor Alma had ever come to enjoy the belated hospitality of Mrs. Horn's + Thursdays. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, or having them let you alone," Mrs. Horn courageously consented. + "And all that I ask you, Margaret, is to be sure that you really want to + know these people." + </p> + <p> + "I don't," said the girl, seriously, "in the usual way." + </p> + <p> + "Then the question is whether you do in the unusual way. They will build a + great deal upon you," said Mrs. Horn, realizing how much the Leightons + must have built upon her, and how much out of proportion to her desert + they must now dislike her; for she seemed to have had them on her mind + from the time they came, and had always meant to recognize any reasonable + claim they had upon her. + </p> + <p> + "It seems very odd, very sad," Margaret returned, "that you never could + act unselfishly in society affairs. If I wished to go and see those girls + just to do them a pleasure, and perhaps because if they're strange and + lonely, I might do them good, even—it would be impossible." + </p> + <p> + "Quite," said her aunt. "Such a thing would be quixotic. Society doesn't + rest upon any such basis. It can't; it would go to pieces, if people acted + from unselfish motives." + </p> + <p> + "Then it's a painted savage!" said the girl. "All its favors are really + bargains. It's gifts are for gifts back again." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, that is true," said Mrs. Horn, with no more sense of wrong in the + fact than the political economist has in the fact that wages are the + measure of necessity and not of merit. "You get what you pay for. It's a + matter of business." She satisfied herself with this formula, which she + did not invent, as fully as if it were a reason; but she did not dislike + her niece's revolt against it. That was part of Margaret's originality, + which pleased her aunt in proportion to her own conventionality; she was + really a timid person, and she liked the show of courage which Margaret's + magnanimity often reflected upon her. She had through her a repute, with + people who did not know her well, for intellectual and moral qualities; + she was supposed to be literary and charitable; she almost had opinions + and ideals, but really fell short of their possession. She thought that + she set bounds to the girl's originality because she recognized them. + Margaret understood this better than her aunt, and knew that she had + consulted her about going to see the Dryfooses out of deference, and with + no expectation of luminous instruction. She was used to being a law to + herself, but she knew what she might and might not do, so that she was + rather a by-law. She was the kind of girl that might have fancies for + artists and poets, but might end by marrying a prosperous broker, and + leavening a vast lump of moneyed and fashionable life with her culture, + generosity, and good-will. The intellectual interests were first with her, + but she might be equal to sacrificing them; she had the best heart, but + she might know how to harden it; if she was eccentric, her social orbit + was defined; comets themselves traverse space on fixed lines. She was like + every one else, a congeries of contradictions and inconsistencies, but + obedient to the general expectation of what a girl of her position must + and must not finally be. Provisionally, she was very much what she liked + to be. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII + </h2> + <p> + Margaret Vance tried to give herself some reason for going to call upon + the Dryfooses, but she could find none better than the wish to do a kind + thing. This seemed queerer and less and less sufficient as she examined + it, and she even admitted a little curiosity as a harmless element in her + motive, without being very well satisfied with it. She tried to add a + slight sense of social duty, and then she decided to have no motive at + all, but simply to pay her visit as she would to any other eligible + strangers she saw fit to call upon. She perceived that she must be very + careful not to let them see that any other impulse had governed her; she + determined, if possible, to let them patronize her; to be very modest and + sincere and diffident, and, above all, not to play a part. This was easy, + compared with the choice of a manner that should convey to them the fact + that she was not playing a part. When the hesitating Irish serving-man had + acknowledged that the ladies were at home, and had taken her card to them, + she sat waiting for them in the drawing-room. Her study of its + appointments, with their impersonal costliness, gave her no suggestion how + to proceed; the two sisters were upon her before she had really decided, + and she rose to meet them with the conviction that she was going to play a + part for want of some chosen means of not doing so. She found herself, + before she knew it, making her banjo a property in the little comedy, and + professing so much pleasure in the fact that Miss Dryfoos was taking it + up; she had herself been so much interested by it. Anything, she said, was + a relief from the piano; and then, between the guitar and the banjo, one + must really choose the banjo, unless one wanted to devote one's whole + natural life to the violin. Of course, there was the mandolin; but + Margaret asked if they did not feel that the bit of shell you struck it + with interposed a distance between you and the real soul of the + instrument; and then it did have such a faint, mosquitoy little tone! She + made much of the question, which they left her to debate alone while they + gazed solemnly at her till she characterized the tone of the mandolin, + when Mela broke into a large, coarse laugh. + </p> + <p> + "Well, that's just what it does sound like," she explained defiantly to + her sister. "I always feel like it was going to settle somewhere, and I + want to hit myself a slap before it begins to bite. I don't see what ever + brought such a thing into fashion." + </p> + <p> + Margaret had not expected to be so powerfully seconded, and she asked, + after gathering herself together, "And you are both learning the banjo?" + "My, no!" said Mela, "I've gone through enough with the piano. Christine + is learnun' it." + </p> + <p> + "I'm so glad you are making my banjo useful at the outset, Miss Dryfoos." + Both girls stared at her, but found it hard to cope with the fact that + this was the lady friend whose banjo Beaton had lent them. "Mr. Beaton + mentioned that he had left it here. I hope you'll keep it as long as you + find it useful." + </p> + <p> + At this amiable speech even Christine could not help thanking her. "Of + course," she said, "I expect to get another, right off. Mr. Beaton is + going to choose it for me." + </p> + <p> + "You are very fortunate. If you haven't a teacher yet I should so like to + recommend mine." + </p> + <p> + Mela broke out in her laugh again. "Oh, I guess Christine's pretty well + suited with the one she's got," she said, with insinuation. Her sister + gave her a frowning glance, and Margaret did not tempt her to explain. + </p> + <p> + "Then that's much better," she said. "I have a kind of superstition in + such matters; I don't like to make a second choice. In a shop I like to + take the first thing of the kind I'm looking for, and even if I choose + further I come back to the original." + </p> + <p> + "How funny!" said Mela. "Well, now, I'm just the other way. I always take + the last thing, after I've picked over all the rest. My luck always seems + to be at the bottom of the heap. Now, Christine, she's more like you. I + believe she could walk right up blindfolded and put her hand on the thing + she wants every time." + </p> + <p> + "I'm like father," said Christine, softened a little by the celebration of + her peculiarity. "He says the reason so many people don't get what they + want is that they don't want it bad enough. Now, when I want a thing, it + seems to me that I want it all through." + </p> + <p> + "Well, that's just like father, too," said Mela. "That's the way he done + when he got that eighty-acre piece next to Moffitt that he kept when he + sold the farm, and that's got some of the best gas-wells on it now that + there is anywhere." She addressed the explanation to her sister, to the + exclusion of Margaret, who, nevertheless, listened with a smiling face and + a resolutely polite air of being a party to the conversation. Mela + rewarded her amiability by saying to her, finally, "You've never been in + the natural-gas country, have you?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh no! And I should so much like to see it!" said Margaret, with a fervor + that was partly voluntary. + </p> + <p> + "Would you? Well, we're kind of sick of it, but I suppose it would strike + a stranger." + </p> + <p> + "I never got tired of looking at the big wells when they lit them up," + said Christine. "It seems as if the world was on fire." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, and when you see the surface-gas burnun' down in the woods, like it + used to by our spring-house—so still, and never spreadun' any, just + like a bed of some kind of wild flowers when you ketch sight of it a piece + off." + </p> + <p> + They began to tell of the wonders of their strange land in an antiphony of + reminiscences and descriptions; they unconsciously imputed a merit to + themselves from the number and violence of the wells on their father's + property; they bragged of the high civilization of Moffitt, which they + compared to its advantage with that of New York. They became excited by + Margaret's interest in natural gas, and forgot to be suspicious and + envious. + </p> + <p> + She said, as she rose, "Oh, how much I should like to see it all!" Then + she made a little pause, and added: + </p> + <p> + "I'm so sorry my aunt's Thursdays are over; she never has them after Lent, + but we're to have some people Tuesday evening at a little concert which a + musical friend is going to give with some other artists. There won't be + any banjos, I'm afraid, but there'll be some very good singing, and my + aunt would be so glad if you could come with your mother." + </p> + <p> + She put down her aunt's card on the table near her, while Mela gurgled, as + if it were the best joke: "Oh, my! Mother never goes anywhere; you + couldn't get her out for love or money." But she was herself overwhelmed + with a simple joy at Margaret's politeness, and showed it in a sensuous + way, like a child, as if she had been tickled. She came closer to Margaret + and seemed about to fawn physically upon her. + </p> + <p> + "Ain't she just as lovely as she can live?" she demanded of her sister + when Margaret was gone. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know," said Christine. "I guess she wanted to know who Mr. Beaton + had been lending her banjo to." + </p> + <p> + "Pshaw! Do you suppose she's in love with him?" asked Mela, and then she + broke into her hoarse laugh at the look her sister gave her. "Well, don't + eat me, Christine! I wonder who she is, anyway? I'm goun' to git it out of + Mr. Beaton the next time he calls. I guess she's somebody. Mrs. Mandel can + tell. I wish that old friend of hers would hurry up and git well—or + something. But I guess we appeared about as well as she did. I could see + she was afraid of you, Christine. I reckon it's gittun' around a little + about father; and when it does I don't believe we shall want for callers. + Say, are you goun'? To that concert of theirs?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know. Not till I know who they are first." + </p> + <p> + "Well, we've got to hump ourselves if we're goun' to find out before + Tuesday." + </p> + <p> + As she went home Margaret felt wrought in her that most incredible of the + miracles, which, nevertheless, any one may make his experience. She felt + kindly to these girls because she had tried to make them happy, and she + hoped that in the interest she had shown there had been none of the poison + of flattery. She was aware that this was a risk she ran in such an attempt + to do good. If she had escaped this effect she was willing to leave the + rest with Providence. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0036" id="link2H_4_0036"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII. + </h2> + <p> + The notion that a girl of Margaret Vance's traditions would naturally form + of girls like Christine and Mela Dryfoos would be that they were abashed + in the presence of the new conditions of their lives, and that they must + receive the advance she had made them with a certain grateful humility. + However they received it, she had made it upon principle, from a romantic + conception of duty; but this was the way she imagined they would receive + it, because she thought that she would have done so if she had been as + ignorant and unbred as they. Her error was in arguing their attitude from + her own temperament, and endowing them, for the purposes of argument, with + her perspective. They had not the means, intellectual or moral, of feeling + as she fancied. If they had remained at home on the farm where they were + born, Christine would have grown up that embodiment of impassioned + suspicion which we find oftenest in the narrowest spheres, and Mela would + always have been a good-natured simpleton; but they would never have + doubted their equality with the wisest and the finest. As it was, they had + not learned enough at school to doubt it, and the splendor of their + father's success in making money had blinded them forever to any possible + difference against them. They had no question of themselves in the social + abeyance to which they had been left in New York. They had been surprised, + mystified; it was not what they had expected; there must be some mistake. + </p> + <p> + They were the victims of an accident, which would be repaired as soon as + the fact of their father's wealth had got around. They had been steadfast + in their faith, through all their disappointment, that they were not only + better than most people by virtue of his money, but as good as any; and + they took Margaret's visit, so far as they investigated its motive, for a + sign that at last it was beginning to get around; of course, a thing could + not get around in New York so quick as it could in a small place. They + were confirmed in their belief by the sensation of Mrs. Mandel when she + returned to duty that afternoon, and they consulted her about going to + Mrs. Horn's musicale. If she had felt any doubt at the name for there were + Horns and Horns—the address on the card put the matter beyond + question; and she tried to make her charges understand what a precious + chance had befallen them. She did not succeed; they had not the premises, + the experience, for a sufficient impression; and she undid her work in + part by the effort to explain that Mrs. Horn's standing was independent of + money; that though she was positively rich, she was comparatively poor. + Christine inferred that Miss Vance had called because she wished to be the + first to get in with them since it had begun to get around. This view + commended itself to Mela, too, but without warping her from her opinion + that Miss Vance was all the same too sweet for anything. She had not so + vivid a consciousness of her father's money as Christine had; but she + reposed perhaps all the more confidently upon its power. She was far from + thinking meanly of any one who thought highly of her for it; that seemed + so natural a result as to be amiable, even admirable; she was willing that + any such person should get all the good there was in such an attitude + toward her. + </p> + <p> + They discussed the matter that night at dinner before their father and + mother, who mostly sat silent at their meals; the father frowning absently + over his plate, with his head close to it, and making play into his mouth + with the back of his knife (he had got so far toward the use of his fork + as to despise those who still ate from the edge of their knives), and the + mother partly missing hers at times in the nervous tremor that shook her + face from side to side. + </p> + <p> + After a while the subject of Mela's hoarse babble and of Christine's + high-pitched, thin, sharp forays of assertion and denial in the field + which her sister's voice seemed to cover, made its way into the old man's + consciousness, and he perceived that they were talking with Mrs. Mandel + about it, and that his wife was from time to time offering an irrelevant + and mistaken comment. He agreed with Christine, and silently took her view + of the affair some time before he made any sign of having listened. There + had been a time in his life when other things besides his money seemed + admirable to him. He had once respected himself for the hard-headed, + practical common sense which first gave him standing among his country + neighbors; which made him supervisor, school trustee, justice of the + peace, county commissioner, secretary of the Moffitt County Agricultural + Society. In those days he had served the public with disinterested zeal + and proud ability; he used to write to the Lake Shore Farmer on + agricultural topics; he took part in opposing, through the Moffitt papers, + the legislative waste of the people's money; on the question of selling a + local canal to the railroad company, which killed that fine old State + work, and let the dry ditch grow up to grass; he might have gone to the + Legislature, but he contented himself with defeating the Moffitt member + who had voted for the job. If he opposed some measures for the general + good, like high schools and school libraries, it was because he lacked + perspective, in his intense individualism, and suspected all expense of + being spendthrift. He believed in good district schools, and he had a + fondness, crude but genuine, for some kinds of reading—history, and + forensics of an elementary sort. + </p> + <p> + With his good head for figures he doubted doctors and despised preachers; + he thought lawyers were all rascals, but he respected them for their + ability; he was not himself litigious, but he enjoyed the intellectual + encounters of a difficult lawsuit, and he often attended a sitting of the + fall term of court, when he went to town, for the pleasure of hearing the + speeches. He was a good citizen, and a good husband. As a good father, he + was rather severe with his children, and used to whip them, especially the + gentle Conrad, who somehow crossed him most, till the twins died. After + that he never struck any of them; and from the sight of a blow dealt a + horse he turned as if sick. It was a long time before he lifted himself up + from his sorrow, and then the will of the man seemed to have been breached + through his affections. He let the girls do as they pleased—the + twins had been girls; he let them go away to school, and got them a piano. + It was they who made him sell the farm. If Conrad had only had their + spirit he could have made him keep it, he felt; and he resented the want + of support he might have found in a less yielding spirit than his son's. + </p> + <p> + His moral decay began with his perception of the opportunity of making + money quickly and abundantly, which offered itself to him after he sold + his farm. He awoke to it slowly, from a desolation in which he tasted the + last bitter of homesickness, the utter misery of idleness and + listlessness. When he broke down and cried for the hard-working, wholesome + life he had lost, he was near the end of this season of despair, but he + was also near the end of what was best in himself. He devolved upon a + meaner ideal than that of conservative good citizenship, which had been + his chief moral experience: the money he had already made without effort + and without merit bred its unholy self-love in him; he began to honor + money, especially money that had been won suddenly and in large sums; for + money that had been earned painfully, slowly, and in little amounts, he + had only pity and contempt. The poison of that ambition to go somewhere + and be somebody which the local speculators had instilled into him began + to work in the vanity which had succeeded his somewhat scornful + self-respect; he rejected Europe as the proper field for his expansion; he + rejected Washington; he preferred New York, whither the men who have made + money and do not yet know that money has made them, all instinctively + turn. He came where he could watch his money breed more money, and bring + greater increase of its kind in an hour of luck than the toil of hundreds + of men could earn in a year. He called it speculation, stocks, the Street; + and his pride, his faith in himself, mounted with his luck. He expected, + when he had sated his greed, to begin to spend, and he had formulated an + intention to build a great house, to add another to the palaces of the + country-bred millionaires who have come to adorn the great city. In the + mean time he made little account of the things that occupied his children, + except to fret at the ungrateful indifference of his son to the interests + that could alone make a man of him. He did not know whether his daughters + were in society or not; with people coming and going in the house he would + have supposed they must be so, no matter who the people were; in some + vague way he felt that he had hired society in Mrs. Mandel, at so much a + year. He never met a superior himself except now and then a man of twenty + or thirty millions to his one or two, and then he felt his soul creep + within him, without a sense of social inferiority; it was a question of + financial inferiority; and though Dryfoos's soul bowed itself and crawled, + it was with a gambler's admiration of wonderful luck. Other men said these + many-millioned millionaires were smart, and got their money by sharp + practices to which lesser men could not attain; but Dryfoos believed that + he could compass the same ends, by the same means, with the same chances; + he respected their money, not them. + </p> + <p> + When he now heard Mrs. Mandel and his daughters talking of that person, + whoever she was, that Mrs. Mandel seemed to think had honored his girls by + coming to see them, his curiosity was pricked as much as his pride was + galled. + </p> + <p> + "Well, anyway," said Mela, "I don't care whether Christine's goon' or not; + I am. And you got to go with me, Mrs. Mandel." + </p> + <p> + "Well, there's a little difficulty," said Mrs. Mandel, with her unfailing + dignity and politeness. "I haven't been asked, you know." + </p> + <p> + "Then what are we goun' to do?" demanded Mela, almost crossly. She was + physically too amiable, she felt too well corporeally, ever to be quite + cross. "She might 'a' knowed—well known—we couldn't 'a' come + alone, in New York. I don't see why we couldn't. I don't call it much of + an invitation." + </p> + <p> + "I suppose she thought you could come with your mother," Mrs. Mandel + suggested. + </p> + <p> + "She didn't say anything about mother: Did she, Christine? Or, yes, she + did, too. And I told her she couldn't git mother out. Don't you remember?" + </p> + <p> + "I didn't pay much attention," said Christine. "I wasn't certain we wanted + to go." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon you wasn't goun' to let her see that we cared much," said Mela, + half reproachful, half proud of this attitude of Christine. "Well, I don't + see but what we got to stay at home." She laughed at this lame conclusion + of the matter. + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps Mr. Conrad—you could very properly take him without an + express invitation—" Mrs. Mandel began. + </p> + <p> + Conrad looked up in alarm and protest. "I—I don't think I could go + that evening—" + </p> + <p> + "What's the reason?" his father broke in, harshly. "You're not such a + sheep that you're afraid to go into company with your sisters? Or are you + too good to go with them?" + </p> + <p> + "If it's to be anything like that night when them hussies come out and + danced that way," said Mrs. Dryfoos, "I don't blame Coonrod for not + wantun' to go. I never saw the beat of it." + </p> + <p> + Mela sent a yelling laugh across the table to her mother. "Well, I wish + Miss Vance could 'a' heard that! Why, mother, did you think it like the + ballet?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, I didn't know, Mely, child," said the old woman. "I didn't know + what it was like. I hain't never been to one, and you can't be too keerful + where you go, in a place like New York." + </p> + <p> + "What's the reason you can't go?" Dryfoos ignored the passage between his + wife and daughter in making this demand of his son, with a sour face. + </p> + <p> + "I have an engagement that night—it's one of our meetings." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon you can let your meeting go for one night," said Dryfoos. "It + can't be so important as all that, that you must disappoint your sisters." + </p> + <p> + "I don't like to disappoint those poor creatures. They depend so much upon + the meetings—" + </p> + <p> + "I reckon they can stand it for one night," said the old man. He added, + "The poor ye have with you always." + </p> + <p> + "That's so, Coonrod," said his mother. "It's the Saviour's own words." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, mother. But they're not meant just as father used them." + </p> + <p> + "How do you know how they were meant? Or how I used them?" cried the + father. "Now you just make your plans to go with the girls, Tuesday night. + They can't go alone, and Mrs. Mandel can't go with them." + </p> + <p> + "Pshaw!" said Mela. "We don't want to take Conrad away from his meetun', + do we, Chris?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know," said Christine, in her high, fine voice. "They could get + along without him for one night, as father says." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I'm not a-goun' to take him," said Mela. "Now, Mrs. Mandel, just + think out some other way. Say! What's the reason we couldn't get somebody + else to take us just as well? Ain't that rulable?" + </p> + <p> + "It would be allowable—" + </p> + <p> + "Allowable, I mean," Mela corrected herself. + </p> + <p> + "But it might look a little significant, unless it was some old family + friend." + </p> + <p> + "Well, let's get Mr. Fulkerson to take us. He's the oldest family friend + we got." + </p> + <p> + "I won't go with Mr. Fulkerson," said Christine, serenely. + </p> + <p> + "Why, I'm sure, Christine," her mother pleaded, "Mr. Fulkerson is a very + good young man, and very nice appearun'." + </p> + <p> + Mela shouted, "He's ten times as pleasant as that old Mr. Beaton of + Christine's!" + </p> + <p> + Christine made no effort to break the constraint that fell upon the table + at this sally, but her father said: "Christine is right, Mela. It wouldn't + do for you to go with any other young man. Conrad will go with you." + </p> + <p> + "I'm not certain I want to go, yet," said Christine. + </p> + <p> + "Well, settle that among yourselves. But if you want to go, your brother + will go with you." + </p> + <p> + "Of course, Coonrod 'll go, if his sisters wants him to," the old woman + pleaded. "I reckon it ain't agoun' to be anything very bad; and if it is, + Coonrod, why you can just git right up and come out." + </p> + <p> + "It will be all right, mother. And I will go, of course." + </p> + <p> + "There, now, I knowed you would, Coonrod. Now, fawther!" This appeal was + to make the old man say something in recognition of Conrad's sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + "You'll always find," he said, "that it's those of your own household that + have the first claim on you." + </p> + <p> + "That's so, Coonrod," urged his mother. "It's Bible truth. Your fawther + ain't a perfesser, but he always did read his Bible. Search the + Scriptures. That's what it means." + </p> + <p> + "Laws!" cried Mely, "a body can see, easy enough from mother, where + Conrad's wantun' to be a preacher comes from. I should 'a' thought she'd + 'a' wanted to been one herself." + </p> + <p> + "Let your women keep silence in the churches," said the old woman, + solemnly. + </p> + <p> + "There you go again, mother! I guess if you was to say that to some of the + lady ministers nowadays, you'd git yourself into trouble." Mela looked + round for approval, and gurgled out a hoarse laugh. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX. + </h2> + <p> + The Dryfooses went late to Mrs. Horn's musicale, in spite of Mrs. Mandel's + advice. Christine made the delay, both because she wished to show Miss + Vance that she was (not) anxious, and because she had some vague notion of + the distinction of arriving late at any sort of entertainment. Mrs. Mandel + insisted upon the difference between this musicale and an ordinary + reception; but Christine rather fancied disturbing a company that had got + seated, and perhaps making people rise and stand, while she found her way + to her place, as she had seen them do for a tardy comer at the theatre. + </p> + <p> + Mela, whom she did not admit to her reasons or feelings always, followed + her with the servile admiration she had for all that Christine did; and + she took on trust as somehow successful the result of Christine's + obstinacy, when they were allowed to stand against the wall at the back of + the room through the whole of the long piece begun just before they came + in. There had been no one to receive them; a few people, in the rear rows + of chairs near them, turned their heads to glance at them, and then looked + away again. Mela had her misgivings; but at the end of the piece Miss + Vance came up to them at once, and then Mela knew that she had her eyes on + them all the time, and that Christine must have been right. Christine said + nothing about their coming late, and so Mela did not make any excuse, and + Miss Vance seemed to expect none. She glanced with a sort of surprise at + Conrad, when Christine introduced him; Mela did not know whether she liked + their bringing him, till she shook hands with him, and said: "Oh, I am + very glad indeed! Mr. Dryfoos and I have met before." Without explaining + where or when, she led them to her aunt and presented them, and then said, + "I'm going to put you with some friends of yours," and quickly seated them + next the Marches. Mela liked that well enough; she thought she might have + some joking with Mr. March, for all his wife was so stiff; but the look + which Christine wore seemed to forbid, provisionally at least, any such + recreation. On her part, Christine was cool with the Marches. It went + through her mind that they must have told Miss Vance they knew her; and + perhaps they had boasted of her intimacy. She relaxed a little toward them + when she saw Beaton leaning against the wall at the end of the row next + Mrs. March. Then she conjectured that he might have told Miss Vance of her + acquaintance with the Marches, and she bent forward and nodded to Mrs. + March across Conrad, Mela, and Mr. March. She conceived of him as a sort + of hand of her father's, but she was willing to take them at their + apparent social valuation for the time. She leaned back in her chair, and + did not look up at Beaton after the first furtive glance, though she felt + his eyes on her. + </p> + <p> + The music began again almost at once, before Mela had time to make Conrad + tell her where Miss Vance had met him before. She would not have minded + interrupting the music; but every one else seemed so attentive, even + Christine, that she had not the courage. The concert went onto an end + without realizing for her the ideal of pleasure which one ought to find. + in society. She was not exacting, but it seemed to her there were very few + young men, and when the music was over, and their opportunity came to be + sociable, they were not very sociable. They were not introduced, for one + thing; but it appeared to Mela that they might have got introduced, if + they had any sense; she saw them looking at her, and she was glad she had + dressed so much; she was dressed more than any other lady there, and + either because she was the most dressed of any person there, or because it + had got around who her father was, she felt that she had made an + impression on the young men. In her satisfaction with this, and from her + good nature, she was contented to be served with her refreshments after + the concert by Mr. March, and to remain joking with him. She was at her + ease; she let her hoarse voice out in her largest laugh; she accused him, + to the admiration of those near, of getting her into a perfect gale. It + appeared to her, in her own pleasure, her mission to illustrate to the + rather subdued people about her what a good time really was, so that they + could have it if they wanted it. Her joy was crowned when March modestly + professed himself unworthy to monopolize her, and explained how selfish he + felt in talking to a young lady when there were so many young men dying to + do so. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, pshaw, dyun', yes!" cried Mela, tasting the irony. "I guess I see + them!" + </p> + <p> + He asked if he might really introduce a friend of his to her, and she + said, Well, yes, if he thought he could live to get to her; and March + brought up a man whom he thought very young and Mela thought very old. He + was a contributor to 'Every Other Week,' and so March knew him; he + believed himself a student of human nature in behalf of literature, and he + now set about studying Mela. He tempted her to express her opinion on all + points, and he laughed so amiably at the boldness and humorous vigor of + her ideas that she was delighted with him. She asked him if he was a + New-Yorker by birth; and she told him she pitied him, when he said he had + never been West. She professed herself perfectly sick of New York, and + urged him to go to Moffitt if he wanted to see a real live town. He + wondered if it would do to put her into literature just as she was, with + all her slang and brag, but he decided that he would have to subdue her a + great deal: he did not see how he could reconcile the facts of her + conversation with the facts of her appearance: her beauty, her splendor of + dress, her apparent right to be where she was. These things perplexed him; + he was afraid the great American novel, if true, must be incredible. Mela + said he ought to hear her sister go on about New York when they first + came; but she reckoned that Christine was getting so she could put up with + it a little better, now. She looked significantly across the room to the + place where Christine was now talking with Beaton; and the student of + human nature asked, Was she here? and, Would she introduce him? Mela said + she would, the first chance she got; and she added, They would be much + pleased to have him call. She felt herself to be having a beautiful time, + and she got directly upon such intimate terms with the student of human + nature that she laughed with him about some peculiarities of his, such as + his going so far about to ask things he wanted to know from her; she said + she never did believe in beating about the bush much. She had noticed the + same thing in Miss Vance when she came to call that day; and when the + young man owned that he came rather a good deal to Mrs. Horn's house, she + asked him, Well, what sort of a girl was Miss Vance, anyway, and where did + he suppose she had met her brother? The student of human nature could not + say as to this, and as to Miss Vance he judged it safest to treat of the + non-society side of her character, her activity in charity, her special + devotion to the work among the poor on the East Side, which she personally + engaged in. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, that's where Conrad goes, too!" Mela interrupted. "I'll bet anything + that's where she met him. I wisht I could tell Christine! But I suppose + she would want to kill me, if I was to speak to her now." + </p> + <p> + The student of human nature said, politely, "Oh, shall I take you to her?" + </p> + <p> + Mela answered, "I guess you better not!" with a laugh so significant that + he could not help his inferences concerning both Christine's absorption in + the person she was talking with and the habitual violence of her temper. + He made note of how Mela helplessly spoke of all her family by their + names, as if he were already intimate with them; he fancied that if he + could get that in skillfully, it would be a valuable color in his study; + the English lord whom she should astonish with it began to form himself + out of the dramatic nebulosity in his mind, and to whirl on a definite + orbit in American society. But he was puzzled to decide whether Mela's + willingness to take him into her confidence on short notice was typical or + personal: the trait of a daughter of the natural-gas millionaire, or a + foible of her own. + </p> + <p> + Beaton talked with Christine the greater part of the evening that was left + after the concert. He was very grave, and took the tone of a fatherly + friend; he spoke guardedly of the people present, and moderated the + severity of some of Christine's judgments of their looks and costumes. He + did this out of a sort of unreasoned allegiance to Margaret, whom he was + in the mood of wishing to please by being very kind and good, as she + always was. He had the sense also of atoning by this behavior for some + reckless things he had said before that to Christine; he put on a sad, + reproving air with her, and gave her the feeling of being held in check. + </p> + <p> + She chafed at it, and said, glancing at Margaret in talk with her brother, + "I don't think Miss Vance is so very pretty, do you?" + </p> + <p> + "I never think whether she's pretty or not," said Beaton, with dreamy, + affectation. "She is merely perfect. Does she know your brother?" + </p> + <p> + "So she says. I didn't suppose Conrad ever went anywhere, except to + tenement-houses." + </p> + <p> + "It might have been there," Beaton suggested. "She goes among friendless + people everywhere." + </p> + <p> + "Maybe that's the reason she came to see us!" said Christine. + </p> + <p> + Beaton looked at her with his smouldering eyes, and felt the wish to say, + "Yes, it was exactly that," but he only allowed himself to deny the + possibility of any such motive in that case. He added: "I am so glad you + know her, Miss Dryfoos. I never met Miss Vance without feeling myself + better and truer, somehow; or the wish to be so." + </p> + <p> + "And you think we might be improved, too?" Christine retorted. "Well, I + must say you're not very flattering, Mr. Beaton, anyway." + </p> + <p> + Beaton would have liked to answer her according to her cattishness, with a + good clawing sarcasm that would leave its smart in her pride; but he was + being good, and he could not change all at once. Besides, the girl's + attitude under the social honor done her interested him. He was sure she + had never been in such good company before, but he could see that she was + not in the least affected by the experience. He had told her who this + person and that was; and he saw she had understood that the names were of + consequence; but she seemed to feel her equality with them all. Her + serenity was not obviously akin to the savage stoicism in which Beaton hid + his own consciousness of social inferiority; but having won his way in the + world so far by his talent, his personal quality, he did not conceive the + simple fact in her case. Christine was self-possessed because she felt + that a knowledge of her father's fortune had got around, and she had the + peace which money gives to ignorance; but Beaton attributed her poise to + indifference to social values. This, while he inwardly sneered at it, + avenged him upon his own too keen sense of them, and, together with his + temporary allegiance to Margaret's goodness, kept him from retaliating + Christine's vulgarity. He said, "I don't see how that could be," and left + the question of flattery to settle itself. + </p> + <p> + The people began to go away, following each other up to take leave of Mrs. + Horn. Christine watched them with unconcern, and either because she would + not be governed by the general movement, or because she liked being with + Beaton, gave no sign of going. Mela was still talking to the student of + human nature, sending out her laugh in deep gurgles amid the unimaginable + confidences she was making him about herself, her family, the staff of + 'Every Other Week,' Mrs. Mandel, and the kind of life they had all led + before she came to them. He was not a blind devotee of art for art's sake, + and though he felt that if one could portray Mela just as she was she + would be the richest possible material, he was rather ashamed to know some + of the things she told him; and he kept looking anxiously about for a + chance of escape. The company had reduced itself to the Dryfoos groups and + some friends of Mrs. Horn's who had the right to linger, when Margaret + crossed the room with Conrad to Christine and Beaton. + </p> + <p> + "I'm so glad, Miss Dryfoos, to find that I was not quite a stranger to you + all when I ventured to call, the other day. Your brother and I are rather + old acquaintances, though I never knew who he was before. I don't know + just how to say we met where he is valued so much. I suppose I mustn't try + to say how much," she added, with a look of deep regard at him. + </p> + <p> + Conrad blushed and stood folding his arms tight over his breast, while his + sister received Margaret's confession with the suspicion which was her + first feeling in regard to any new thing. What she concluded was that this + girl was trying to get in with them, for reasons of her own. She said: + "Yes; it's the first I ever heard of his knowing you. He's so much taken + up with his meetings, he didn't want to come to-night." + </p> + <p> + Margaret drew in her lip before she answered, without apparent resentment + of the awkwardness or ungraciousness, whichever she found it: "I don't + wonder! You become so absorbed in such work that you think nothing else is + worth while. But I'm glad Mr. Dryfoos could come with you; I'm so glad you + could all come; I knew you would enjoy the music. Do sit down—" + </p> + <p> + "No," said Christine, bluntly; "we must be going. Mela!" she called out, + "come!" + </p> + <p> + The last group about Mrs. Horn looked round, but Christine advanced upon + them undismayed, and took the hand Mrs. Horn promptly gave her. "Well, I + must bid you good-night." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, good-night," murmured the elder lady. "So very kind of you to come." + </p> + <p> + "I've had the best kind of a time," said Mela, cordially. "I hain't + laughed so much, I don't know when." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I'm glad you enjoyed it," said Mrs. Horn, in the same polite murmur + she had used with Christine; but she said nothing to either sister about + any future meeting. + </p> + <p> + They were apparently not troubled. Mela said over her shoulder to the + student of human nature, "The next time I see you I'll give it to you for + what you said about Moffitt." + </p> + <p> + Margaret made some entreating paces after them, but she did not succeed in + covering the retreat of the sisters against critical conjecture. She could + only say to Conrad, as if recurring to the subject, "I hope we can get our + friends to play for us some night. I know it isn't any real help, but such + things take the poor creatures out of themselves for the time being, don't + you think?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes," he answered. "They're good in that way." He turned back + hesitatingly to Mrs. Horn, and said, with a blush, "I thank you for a + happy evening." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I am very glad," she replied, in her murmur. + </p> + <p> + One of the old friends of the house arched her eyebrows in saying + good-night, and offered the two young men remaining seats home in her + carriage. Beaton gloomily refused, and she kept herself from asking the + student of human nature, till she had got him into her carriage, "What is + Moffitt, and what did you say about it?" + </p> + <p> + "Now you see, Margaret," said Mrs. Horn, with bated triumph, when the + people were all gone. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I see," the girl consented. "From one point of view, of course it's + been a failure. I don't think we've given Miss Dryfoos a pleasure, but + perhaps nobody could. And at least we've given her the opportunity of + enjoying herself." + </p> + <p> + "Such people," said Mrs. Horn, philosophically, "people with their money, + must of course be received sooner or later. You can't keep them out. Only, + I believe I would rather let some one else begin with them. The Leightons + didn't come?" + </p> + <p> + "I sent them cards. I couldn't call again." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Horn sighed a little. "I suppose Mr. Dryfoos is one of your + fellow-philanthropists?" + </p> + <p> + "He's one of the workers," said Margaret. "I met him several times at the + Hall, but I only knew his first name. I think he's a great friend of + Father Benedict; he seems devoted to the work. Don't you think he looks + good?" + </p> + <p> + "Very," said Mrs. Horn, with a color of censure in her assent. "The + younger girl seemed more amiable than her sister. But what manners!" + </p> + <p> + "Dreadful!" said Margaret, with knit brows, and a pursed mouth of humorous + suffering. "But she appeared to feel very much at home." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, as to that, neither of them was much abashed. Do you suppose Mr. + Beaton gave the other one some hints for that quaint dress of hers? I + don't imagine that black and lace is her own invention. She seems to have + some sort of strange fascination for him." + </p> + <p> + "She's very picturesque," Margaret explained. "And artists see points in + people that the rest of us don't." + </p> + <p> + "Could it be her money?" Mrs. Horn insinuated. "He must be very poor." + </p> + <p> + "But he isn't base," retorted the girl, with a generous indignation that + made her aunt smile. + </p> + <p> + "Oh no; but if he fancies her so picturesque, it doesn't follow that he + would object to her being rich." + </p> + <p> + "It would with a man like Mr. Beaton!" + </p> + <p> + "You are an idealist, Margaret. I suppose your Mr. March has some + disinterested motive in paying court to Miss Mela—Pamela, I suppose, + is her name. He talked to her longer than her literature would have + lasted." + </p> + <p> + "He seems a very kind person," said Margaret. + </p> + <p> + "And Mr. Dryfoos pays his salary?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know anything about that. But that wouldn't make any difference + with him." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Horn laughed out at this security; but she was not displeased by the + nobleness which it came from. She liked Margaret to be high-minded, and + was really not distressed by any good that was in her. + </p> + <p> + The Marches walked home, both because it was not far, and because they + must spare in carriage hire at any rate. As soon as they were out of the + house, she applied a point of conscience to him. + </p> + <p> + "I don't see how you could talk to that girl so long, Basil, and make her + laugh so." + </p> + <p> + "Why, there seemed no one else to do it, till I thought of Kendricks." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, but I kept thinking, Now he's pleasant to her because he thinks it's + to his interest. If she had no relation to 'Every Other Week,' he wouldn't + waste his time on her." + </p> + <p> + "Isabel," March complained, "I wish you wouldn't think of me in he, him, + and his; I never personalize you in my thoughts: you remain always a vague + unindividualized essence, not quite without form and void, but nounless + and pronounless. I call that a much more beautiful mental attitude toward + the object of one's affections. But if you must he and him and his me in + your thoughts, I wish you'd have more kindly thoughts of me." + </p> + <p> + "Do you deny that it's true, Basil?" + </p> + <p> + "Do you believe that it's true, Isabel?" + </p> + <p> + "No matter. But could you excuse it if it were?" + </p> + <p> + "Ah, I see you'd have been capable of it in my place, and you're ashamed." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," sighed the wife, "I'm afraid that I should. But tell me that you + wouldn't, Basil!" + </p> + <p> + "I can tell you that I wasn't. But I suppose that in a real exigency, I + could truckle to the proprietary Dryfooses as well as you." + </p> + <p> + "Oh no; you mustn't, dear! I'm a woman, and I'm dreadfully afraid. But you + must always be a man, especially with that horrid old Mr. Dryfoos. Promise + me that you'll never yield the least point to him in a matter of right and + wrong!" + </p> + <p> + "Not if he's right and I'm wrong?" + </p> + <p> + "Don't trifle, dear! You know what I mean. Will you promise?" + </p> + <p> + "I'll promise to submit the point to you, and let you do the yielding. As + for me, I shall be adamant. Nothing I like better." + </p> + <p> + "They're dreadful, even that poor, good young fellow, who's so different + from all the rest; he's awful, too, because you feel that he's a martyr to + them." + </p> + <p> + "And I never did like martyrs a great deal," March interposed. + </p> + <p> + "I wonder how they came to be there," Mrs. March pursued, unmindful of his + joke. + </p> + <p> + "That is exactly what seemed to be puzzling Miss Mela about us. She asked, + and I explained as well as I could; and then she told me that Miss Vance + had come to call on them and invited them; and first they didn't know how + they could come till they thought of making Conrad bring them. But she + didn't say why Miss Vance called on them. Mr. Dryfoos doesn't employ her + on 'Every Other Week.' But I suppose she has her own vile little motive." + </p> + <p> + "It can't be their money; it can't be!" sighed Mrs. March. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know. We all respect money." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, but Miss Vance's position is so secure. She needn't pay court to + those stupid, vulgar people." + </p> + <p> + "Well, let's console ourselves with the belief that she would, if she + needed. Such people as the Dryfooses are the raw material of good society. + It isn't made up of refined or meritorious people—professors and + litterateurs, ministers and musicians, and their families. All the + fashionable people there to-night were like the Dryfooses a generation or + two ago. I dare say the material works up faster now, and in a season or + two you won't know the Dryfooses from the other plutocrats. THEY will—a + little better than they do now; they'll see a difference, but nothing + radical, nothing painful. People who get up in the world by service to + others—through letters, or art, or science—may have their + modest little misgivings as to their social value, but people that rise by + money—especially if their gains are sudden—never have. And + that's the kind of people that form our nobility; there's no use + pretending that we haven't a nobility; we might as well pretend we haven't + first-class cars in the presence of a vestibuled Pullman. Those girls had + no more doubt of their right to be there than if they had been duchesses: + we thought it was very nice of Miss Vance to come and ask us, but they + didn't; they weren't afraid, or the least embarrassed; they were perfectly + natural—like born aristocrats. And you may be sure that if the + plutocracy that now owns the country ever sees fit to take on the outward + signs of an aristocracy—titles, and arms, and ancestors—it + won't falter from any inherent question of its worth. Money prizes and + honors itself, and if there is anything it hasn't got, it believes it can + buy it." + </p> + <p> + "Well, Basil," said his wife, "I hope you won't get infected with Lindau's + ideas of rich people. Some of them are very good and kind." + </p> + <p> + "Who denies that? Not even Lindau himself. It's all right. And the great + thing is that the evening's enjoyment is over. I've got my society smile + off, and I'm radiantly happy. Go on with your little pessimistic + diatribes, Isabel; you can't spoil my pleasure." + </p> + <p> + "I could see," said Mela, as she and Christine drove home together, "that + she was as jealous as she could be, all the time you was talkun' to Mr. + Beaton. She pretended to be talkun' to Conrad, but she kep' her eye on you + pretty close, I can tell you. I bet she just got us there to see how him + and you would act together. And I reckon she was satisfied. He's dead gone + on you, Chris." + </p> + <p> + Christine listened with a dreamy pleasure to the flatteries with which + Mela plied her in the hope of some return in kind, and not at all because + she felt spitefully toward Miss Vance, or in anywise wished her ill. "Who + was that fellow with you so long?" asked Christine. "I suppose you turned + yourself inside out to him, like you always do." + </p> + <p> + Mela was transported by the cruel ingratitude. "It's a lie! I didn't tell + him a single thing." + </p> + <p> + Conrad walked home, choosing to do so because he did not wish to hear his + sisters' talk of the evening, and because there was a tumult in his spirit + which he wished to let have its way. In his life with its single purpose, + defeated by stronger wills than his own, and now struggling partially to + fulfil itself in acts of devotion to others, the thought of women had + entered scarcely more than in that of a child. His ideals were of a + virginal vagueness; faces, voices, gestures had filled his fancy at times, + but almost passionately; and the sensation that he now indulged was a kind + of worship, ardent, but reverent and exalted. The brutal experiences of + the world make us forget that there are such natures in it, and that they + seem to come up out of the lowly earth as well as down from the high + heaven. In the heart of this man well on toward thirty there had never + been left the stain of a base thought; not that suggestion and conjecture + had not visited him, but that he had not entertained them, or in any-wise + made them his. In a Catholic age and country, he would have been one of + those monks who are sainted after death for the angelic purity of their + lives, and whose names are invoked by believers in moments of trial, like + San Luigi Gonzaga. As he now walked along thinking, with a lover's + beatified smile on his face, of how Margaret Vance had spoken and looked, + he dramatized scenes in which he approved himself to her by acts of + goodness and unselfishness, and died to please her for the sake of others. + He made her praise him for them, to his face, when he disclaimed their + merit, and after his death, when he could not. All the time he was + poignantly sensible of her grace, her elegance, her style; they seemed to + intoxicate him; some tones of her voice thrilled through his nerves, and + some looks turned his brain with a delicious, swooning sense of her + beauty; her refinement bewildered him. But all this did not admit the idea + of possession, even of aspiration. At the most his worship only set her + beyond the love of other men as far as beyond his own. + </p> + <h3> + PG EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Affectional habit + Brag of his wife, as a good husband always does + But when we make that money here, no one loses it + Courage hadn't been put to the test + Family buryin' grounds + Homage which those who have not pay to those who have + Hurry up and git well—or something + Made money and do not yet know that money has made them + Society: All its favors are really bargains + Wages are the measure of necessity and not of merit + Without realizing his cruelty, treated as a child +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FOURTH PART + </h2> + <h3> + I. + </h3> + <p class="pfirst"> + <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">N</span>ot long after + Lent, Fulkerson set before Dryfoos one day his scheme for a dinner in + celebration of the success of 'Every Other Week.' Dryfoos had never + meddled in any manner with the conduct of the periodical; but Fulkerson + easily saw that he was proud of his relation to it, and he proceeded upon + the theory that he would be willing to have this relation known: On the + days when he had been lucky in stocks, he was apt to drop in at the office + on Eleventh Street, on his way up-town, and listen to Fulkerson's talk. He + was on good enough terms with March, who revised his first impressions of + the man, but they had not much to say to each other, and it seemed to + March that Dryfoos was even a little afraid of him, as of a piece of + mechanism he had acquired, but did not quite understand; he left the + working of it to Fulkerson, who no doubt bragged of it sufficiently. The + old man seemed to have as little to say to his son; he shut himself up + with Fulkerson, where the others could hear the manager begin and go on + with an unstinted flow of talk about 'Every Other Week;' for Fulkerson + never talked of anything else if he could help it, and was always bringing + the conversation back to it if it strayed: + </p> + <p> + The day he spoke of the dinner he rose and called from his door: "March, I + say, come down here a minute, will you? Conrad, I want you, too." + </p> + <p> + The editor and the publisher found the manager and the proprietor seated + on opposite sides of the table. "It's about those funeral baked meats, you + know," Fulkerson explained, "and I was trying to give Mr. Dryfoos some + idea of what we wanted to do. That is, what I wanted to do," he continued, + turning from March to Dryfoos. "March, here, is opposed to it, of course. + He'd like to publish 'Every Other Week' on the sly; keep it out of the + papers, and off the newsstands; he's a modest Boston petunia, and he + shrinks from publicity; but I am not that kind of herb myself, and I want + all the publicity we can get—beg, borrow, or steal—for this + thing. I say that you can't work the sacred rites of hospitality in a + better cause, and what I propose is a little dinner for the purpose of + recognizing the hit we've made with this thing. My idea was to strike you + for the necessary funds, and do the thing on a handsome scale. The term + little dinner is a mere figure of speech. A little dinner wouldn't make a + big talk, and what we want is the big talk, at present, if we don't lay up + a cent. My notion was that pretty soon after Lent, now, when everybody is + feeling just right, we should begin to send out our paragraphs, + affirmative, negative, and explanatory, and along about the first of May + we should sit down about a hundred strong, the most distinguished people + in the country, and solemnize our triumph. There it is in a nutshell. I + might expand and I might expound, but that's the sum and substance of it." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson stopped, and ran his eyes eagerly over the faces of his three + listeners, one after the other. March was a little surprised when Dryfoos + turned to him, but that reference of the question seemed to give Fulkerson + particular pleasure: "What do you think, Mr. March?" + </p> + <p> + The editor leaned back in his chair. "I don't pretend to have Mr. + Fulkerson's genius for advertising; but it seems to me a little early yet. + We might celebrate later when we've got more to celebrate. At present + we're a pleasing novelty, rather than a fixed fact." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, you don't get the idea!" said Fulkerson. "What we want to do with + this dinner is to fix the fact." + </p> + <p> + "Am I going to come in anywhere?" the old man interrupted. + </p> + <p> + "You're going to come in at the head of the procession! We are going to + strike everything that is imaginative and romantic in the newspaper soul + with you and your history and your fancy for going in for this thing. I + can start you in a paragraph that will travel through all the newspapers, + from Maine to Texas and from Alaska to Florida. We have had all sorts of + rich men backing up literary enterprises, but the natural-gas man in + literature is a new thing, and the combination of your picturesque past + and your aesthetic present is something that will knock out the sympathies + of the American public the first round. I feel," said Fulkerson, with a + tremor of pathos in his voice, "that 'Every Other Week' is at a + disadvantage before the public as long as it's supposed to be my + enterprise, my idea. As far as I'm known at all, I'm known simply as a + syndicate man, and nobody in the press believes that I've got the money to + run the thing on a grand scale; a suspicion of insolvency must attach to + it sooner or later, and the fellows on the press will work up that + impression, sooner or later, if we don't give them something else to work + up. Now, as soon as I begin to give it away to the correspondents that + you're in it, with your untold millions—that, in fact, it was your + idea from the start, that you originated it to give full play to the + humanitarian tendencies of Conrad here, who's always had these theories of + co-operation, and longed to realize them for the benefit of our struggling + young writers and artists—" + </p> + <p> + March had listened with growing amusement to the mingled burlesque and + earnest of Fulkerson's self-sacrificing impudence, and with wonder as to + how far Dryfoos was consenting to his preposterous proposition, when + Conrad broke out: "Mr. Fulkerson, I could not allow you to do that. It + would not be true; I did not wish to be here; and—and what I think—what + I wish to do—that is something I will not let any one put me in a + false position about. No!" The blood rushed into the young man's gentle + face, and he met his father's glance with defiance. + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos turned from him to Fulkerson without speaking, and Fulkerson said, + caressingly: "Why, of course, Coonrod! I know how you feel, and I + shouldn't let anything of that sort go out uncontradicted afterward. But + there isn't anything in these times that would give us better standing + with the public than some hint of the way you feel about such things. The + public expects to be interested, and nothing would interest it more than + to be told that the success of 'Every Other Week' sprang from the first + application of the principle of Live and let Live to a literary + enterprise. It would look particularly well, coming from you and your + father, but if you object, we can leave that part out; though if you + approve of the principle I don't see why you need object. The main thing + is to let the public know that it owes this thing to the liberal and + enlightened spirit of one of the foremost capitalists of the country; and + that his purposes are not likely to be betrayed in the hands of his son, I + should get a little cut made from a photograph of your father, and supply + it gratis with the paragraphs." + </p> + <p> + "I guess," said the old man, "we will get along without the cut." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson laughed. "Well, well! Have it your own way, But the sight of + your face in the patent outsides of the country press would be worth half + a dozen subscribers in every school district throughout the length and + breadth of this fair land." + </p> + <p> + "There was a fellow," Dryfoos explained, in an aside to March, "that was + getting up a history of Moffitt, and he asked me to let him put a steel + engraving of me in. He said a good many prominent citizens were going to + have theirs in, and his price was a hundred and fifty dollars. I told him + I couldn't let mine go for less than two hundred, and when he said he + could give me a splendid plate for that money, I said I should want it + cash. You never saw a fellow more astonished when he got it through him + that I expected him to pay the two hundred." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson laughed in keen appreciation of the joke. "Well, sir, I guess + 'Every Other Week' will pay you that much. But if you won't sell at any + price, all right; we must try to worry along without the light of your + countenance on the posters, but we got to have it for the banquet." + </p> + <p> + "I don't seem to feel very hungry, yet," said they old man, dryly. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, 'l'appetit vient en mangeant', as our French friends say. You'll be + hungry enough when you see the preliminary Little Neck clam. It's too late + for oysters." + </p> + <p> + "Doesn't that fact seem to point to a postponement till they get back, + sometime in October," March suggested. + </p> + <p> + "No, no!" said Fulkerson, "you don't catch on to the business end of this + thing, my friends. You're proceeding on something like the old exploded + idea that the demand creates the supply, when everybody knows, if he's + watched the course of modern events, that it's just as apt to be the other + way. I contend that we've got a real substantial success to celebrate now; + but even if we hadn't, the celebration would do more than anything else to + create the success, if we got it properly before the public. People will + say: Those fellows are not fools; they wouldn't go and rejoice over their + magazine unless they had got a big thing in it. And the state of feeling + we should produce in the public mind would make a boom of perfectly + unprecedented grandeur for E. O. W. Heigh?" + </p> + <p> + He looked sunnily from one to the other in succession. The elder Dryfoos + said, with his chin on the top of his stick, "I reckon those Little Neck + clams will keep." + </p> + <p> + "Well, just as you say," Fulkerson cheerfully assented. "I understand you + to agree to the general principle of a little dinner?" + </p> + <p> + "The smaller the better," said the old man. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I say a little dinner because the idea of that seems to cover the + case, even if we vary the plan a little. I had thought of a reception, + maybe, that would include the lady contributors and artists, and the wives + and daughters of the other contributors. That would give us the chance to + ring in a lot of society correspondents and get the thing written up in + first-class shape. By-the-way!" cried Fulkerson, slapping himself on the + leg, "why not have the dinner and the reception both?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't understand," said Dryfoos. + </p> + <p> + "Why, have a select little dinner for ten or twenty choice spirits of the + male persuasion, and then, about ten o'clock, throw open your palatial + drawing-rooms and admit the females to champagne, salads, and ices. It is + the very thing! Come!" + </p> + <p> + "What do you think of it, Mr. March?" asked Dryfoos, on whose social + inexperience Fulkerson's words projected no very intelligible image, and + who perhaps hoped for some more light. + </p> + <p> + "It's a beautiful vision," said March, "and if it will take more time to + realize it I think I approve. I approve of anything that will delay Mr. + Fulkerson's advertising orgie." + </p> + <p> + "Then," Fulkerson pursued, "we could have the pleasure of Miss Christine + and Miss Mela's company; and maybe Mrs. Dryfoos would look in on us in the + course of the evening. There's no hurry, as Mr. March suggests, if we can + give the thing this shape. I will cheerfully adopt the idea of my + honorable colleague." + </p> + <p> + March laughed at his impudence, but at heart he was ashamed of Fulkerson + for proposing to make use of Dryfoos and his house in that way. He fancied + something appealing in the look that the old man turned on him, and + something indignant in Conrad's flush; but probably this was only his + fancy. He reflected that neither of them could feel it as people of more + worldly knowledge would, and he consoled himself with the fact that + Fulkerson was really not such a charlatan as he seemed. But it went + through his mind that this was a strange end for all Dryfoos's + money-making to come to; and he philosophically accepted the fact of his + own humble fortunes when he reflected how little his money could buy for + such a man. It was an honorable use that Fulkerson was putting it to in + 'Every Other Week;' it might be far more creditably spent on such an + enterprise than on horses, or wines, or women, the usual resources of the + brute rich; and if it were to be lost, it might better be lost that way + than in stocks. He kept a smiling face turned to Dryfoos while these + irreverent considerations occupied him, and hardened his heart against + father and son and their possible emotions. + </p> + <p> + The old man rose to put an end to the interview. He only repeated, "I + guess those clams will keep till fall." + </p> + <p> + But Fulkerson was apparently satisfied with the progress he had made; and + when he joined March for the stroll homeward after office hours, he was + able to detach his mind from the subject, as if content to leave it. + </p> + <p> + "This is about the best part of the year in New York," he said; In some of + the areas the grass had sprouted, and the tender young foliage had + loosened itself from the buds on a sidewalk tree here and there; the soft + air was full of spring, and the delicate sky, far aloof, had the look it + never wears at any other season. "It ain't a time of year to complain much + of, anywhere; but I don't want anything better than the month of May in + New York. Farther South it's too hot, and I've been in Boston in May when + that east wind of yours made every nerve in my body get up and howl. I + reckon the weather has a good deal to do with the local temperament. The + reason a New York man takes life so easily with all his rush is that his + climate don't worry him. But a Boston man must be rasped the whole while + by the edge in his air. That accounts for his sharpness; and when he's + lived through twenty-five or thirty Boston Mays, he gets to thinking that + Providence has some particular use for him, or he wouldn't have survived, + and that makes him conceited. See?" + </p> + <p> + "I see," said March. "But I don't know how you're going to work that idea + into an advertisement, exactly." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, pahaw, now, March! You don't think I've got that on the brain all the + time?" + </p> + <p> + "You were gradually leading up to 'Every Other Week', somehow." + </p> + <p> + "No, sir; I wasn't. I was just thinking what a different creature a + Massachusetts man is from a Virginian. And yet I suppose they're both as + pure English stock as you'll get anywhere in America. Marsh, I think + Colonel Woodburn's paper is going to make a hit." + </p> + <p> + "You've got there! When it knocks down the sale about one-half, I shall + know it's made a hit." + </p> + <p> + "I'm not afraid," said Fulkerson. "That thing is going to attract + attention. It's well written—you can take the pomposity out of it, + here and there and it's novel. Our people like a bold strike, and it's + going to shake them up tremendously to have serfdom advocated on high + moral grounds as the only solution of the labor problem. You see, in the + first place, he goes for their sympathies by the way he portrays the + actual relations of capital and labor; he shows how things have got to go + from bad to worse, and then he trots out his little old hobby, and proves + that if slavery had not been interfered with, it would have perfected + itself in the interest of humanity. He makes a pretty strong plea for it." + </p> + <p> + March threw back his head and laughed. "He's converted you! I swear, + Fulkerson, if we had accepted and paid for an article advocating + cannibalism as the only resource for getting rid of the superfluous poor, + you'd begin to believe in it." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson smiled in approval of the joke, and only said: "I wish you could + meet the colonel in the privacy of the domestic circle, March. You'd like + him. He's a splendid old fellow; regular type. Talk about spring! + </p> + <p> + "You ought to see the widow's little back yard these days. You know that + glass gallery just beyond the dining-room? Those girls have got the + pot-plants out of that, and a lot more, and they've turned the edges of + that back yard, along the fence, into a regular bower; they've got sweet + peas planted, and nasturtiums, and we shall be in a blaze of glory about + the beginning of June. Fun to see 'em work in the garden, and the bird + bossing the job in his cage under the cherry-tree. Have to keep the middle + of the yard for the clothesline, but six days in the week it's a lawn, and + I go over it with a mower myself. March, there ain't anything like a home, + is there? Dear little cot of your own, heigh? I tell you, March, when I + get to pushing that mower round, and the colonel is smoking his cigar in + the gallery, and those girls are pottering over the flowers, one of these + soft evenings after dinner, I feel like a human being. Yes, I do. I struck + it rich when I concluded to take my meals at the widow's. For eight + dollars a week I get good board, refined society, and all the advantages + of a Christian home. By-the-way, you've never had much talk with Miss + Woodburn, have you, March?" + </p> + <p> + "Not so much as with Miss Woodburn's father." + </p> + <p> + "Well, he is rather apt to scoop the conversation. I must draw his fire, + sometime, when you and Mrs. March are around, and get you a chance with + Miss Woodburn." + </p> + <p> + "I should like that better, I believe," said March. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I shouldn't wonder if you did. Curious, but Miss Woodburn isn't at + all your idea of a Southern girl. She's got lots of go; she's never idle a + minute; she keeps the old gentleman in first-class shape, and she don't + believe a bit in the slavery solution of the labor problem; says she's + glad it's gone, and if it's anything like the effects of it, she's glad it + went before her time. No, sir, she's as full of snap as the liveliest kind + of a Northern girl. None of that sunny Southern languor you read about." + </p> + <p> + "I suppose the typical Southerner, like the typical anything else, is + pretty difficult to find," said March. "But perhaps Miss Woodburn + represents the new South. The modern conditions must be producing a modern + type." + </p> + <p> + "Well, that's what she and the colonel both say. They say there ain't + anything left of that Walter Scott dignity and chivalry in the rising + generation; takes too much time. You ought to see her sketch the + old-school, high-and-mighty manners, as they survive among some of the + antiques in Charlottesburg. If that thing could be put upon the stage it + would be a killing success. Makes the old gentleman laugh in spite of + himself. But he's as proud of her as Punch, anyway. Why don't you and Mrs. + March come round oftener? Look here! How would it do to have a little + excursion, somewhere, after the spring fairly gets in its work?" + </p> + <p> + "Reporters present?" + </p> + <p> + "No, no! Nothing of that kind; perfectly sincere and disinterested + enjoyment." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, a few handbills to be scattered around: 'Buy "Every Other Week",' + 'Look out for the next number of "Every Other Week,"' "'Every Other Week' + at all the news-stands.' Well, I'll talk it over with Mrs. March. I + suppose there's no great hurry." + </p> + <p> + March told his wife of the idyllic mood in which he had left Fulkerson at + the widow's door, and she said he must be in love. + </p> + <p> + "Why, of course! I wonder I didn't think of that. But Fulkerson is such an + impartial admirer of the whole sex that you can't think of his liking one + more than another. I don't know that he showed any unjust partiality, + though, in his talk of 'those girls,' as he called them. And I always + rather fancied that Mrs. Mandel—he's done so much for her, you know; + and she is such a well-balanced, well-preserved person, and so lady-like + and correct——" + </p> + <p> + "Fulkerson had the word for her: academic. She's everything that + instruction and discipline can make of a woman; but I shouldn't think they + could make enough of her to be in love with." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know. The academic has its charm. There are moods in which + I could imagine myself in love with an academic person. That regularity of + line; that reasoned strictness of contour; that neatness of pose; that + slightly conventional but harmonious grouping of the emotions and morals—you + can see how it would have its charm, the Wedgwood in human nature? I + wonder where Mrs. Mandel keeps her urn and her willow." + </p> + <p> + "I should think she might have use for them in that family, poor thing!" + said Mrs. March. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, that reminds me," said her husband, "that we had another talk with + the old gentleman, this afternoon, about Fulkerson's literary, artistic, + and advertising orgie, and it's postponed till October." + </p> + <p> + "The later the better, I should think," said Mrs. March, who did not + really think about it at all, but whom the date fixed for it caused to + think of the intervening time. "We have got to consider what we will do + about the summer, before long, Basil." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, not yet, not yet," he pleaded; with that man's willingness to abide + in the present, which is so trying to a woman. "It's only the end of + April." + </p> + <p> + "It will be the end of June before we know. And these people wanting the + Boston house another year complicates it. We can't spend the summer there, + as we planned." + </p> + <p> + "They oughtn't to have offered us an increased rent; they have taken an + advantage of us." + </p> + <p> + "I don't know that it matters," said Mrs. March. "I had decided not to go + there." + </p> + <p> + "Had you? This is a surprise." + </p> + <p> + "Everything is a surprise to you, Basil, when it happens." + </p> + <p> + "True; I keep the world fresh, that way." + </p> + <p> + "It wouldn't have been any change to go from one city to another for the + summer. We might as well have stayed in New York." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I wish we had stayed," said March, idly humoring a conception of the + accomplished fact. "Mrs. Green would have let us have the gimcrackery very + cheap for the summer months; and we could have made all sorts of nice + little excursions and trips off and been twice as well as if we had spent + the summer away." + </p> + <p> + "Nonsense! You know we couldn't spend the summer in New York." + </p> + <p> + "I know I could." + </p> + <p> + "What stuff! You couldn't manage." + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes, I could. I could take my meals at Fulkerson's widow's; or at + Maroni's, with poor old Lindau: he's got to dining there again. Or, I + could keep house, and he could dine with me here." + </p> + <p> + There was a teasing look in March's eyes, and he broke into a laugh, at + the firmness with which his wife said: "I think if there is to be any + housekeeping, I will stay, too; and help to look after it. I would try not + intrude upon you and your guest." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, we should be only too glad to have you join us," said March, playing + with fire. + </p> + <p> + "Very well, then, I wish you would take him off to Maroni's, the next time + he comes to dine here!" cried his wife. + </p> + <p> + The experiment of making March's old friend free of his house had not + given her all the pleasure that so kind a thing ought to have afforded so + good a woman. She received Lindau at first with robust benevolence, and + the high resolve not to let any of his little peculiarities alienate her + from a sense of his claim upon her sympathy and gratitude, not only as a + man who had been so generously fond of her husband in his youth, but a + hero who had suffered for her country. Her theory was that his mutilation + must not be ignored, but must be kept in mind as a monument of his + sacrifice, and she fortified Bella with this conception, so that the child + bravely sat next his maimed arm at table and helped him to dishes he could + not reach, and cut up his meat for him. As for Mrs. March herself, the + thought of his mutilation made her a little faint; she was not without a + bewildered resentment of its presence as a sort of oppression. She did not + like his drinking so much of March's beer, either; it was no harm, but it + was somehow unworthy, out of character with a hero of the war. But what + she really could not reconcile herself to was the violence of Lindau's + sentiments concerning the whole political and social fabric. She did not + feel sure that he should be allowed to say such things before the + children, who had been nurtured in the faith of Bunker Hill and + Appomattox, as the beginning and the end of all possible progress in human + rights. As a woman she was naturally an aristocrat, but as an American she + was theoretically a democrat; and it astounded, it alarmed her, to hear + American democracy denounced as a shuffling evasion. She had never cared + much for the United States Senate, but she doubted if she ought to sit by + when it was railed at as a rich man's club. It shocked her to be told that + the rich and poor were not equal before the law in a country where justice + must be paid for at every step in fees and costs, or where a poor man must + go to war in his own person, and a rich man might hire someone to go in + his. Mrs. March felt that this rebellious mind in Lindau really somehow + outlawed him from sympathy, and retroactively undid his past suffering for + the country: she had always particularly valued that provision of the law, + because in forecasting all the possible mischances that might befall her + own son, she had been comforted by the thought that if there ever was + another war, and Tom were drafted, his father could buy him a substitute. + Compared with such blasphemy as this, Lindau's declaration that there was + not equality of opportunity in America, and that fully one-half the people + were debarred their right to the pursuit of happiness by the hopeless + conditions of their lives, was flattering praise. She could not listen to + such things in silence, though, and it did not help matters when Lindau + met her arguments with facts and reasons which she felt she was merely not + sufficiently instructed to combat, and he was not quite gentlemanly to + urge. "I am afraid for the effect on the children," she said to her + husband. "Such perfectly distorted ideas—Tom will be ruined by + them." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, let Tom find out where they're false," said March. "It will be good + exercise for his faculties of research. At any rate, those things are + getting said nowadays; he'll have to hear them sooner or later." + </p> + <p> + "Had he better hear them at home?" demanded his wife. + </p> + <p> + "Why, you know, as you're here to refute them, Isabel," he teased, + "perhaps it's the best place. But don't mind poor old Lindau, my dear. He + says himself that his parg is worse than his pidte, you know." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, it's too late now to mind him," she sighed. In a moment of rash good + feeling, or perhaps an exalted conception of duty, she had herself + proposed that Lindau should come every week and read German with Tom; and + it had become a question first how they could get him to take pay for it, + and then how they could get him to stop it. Mrs. March never ceased to + wonder at herself for having brought this about, for she had warned her + husband against making any engagement with Lindau which would bring him + regularly to the house: the Germans stuck so, and were so unscrupulously + dependent. Yet, the deed being done, she would not ignore the duty of + hospitality, and it was always she who made the old man stay to their + Sunday-evening tea when he lingered near the hour, reading Schiller and + Heine and Uhland with the boy, in the clean shirt with which he observed + the day; Lindau's linen was not to be trusted during the week. She now + concluded a season of mournful reflection by saying, "He will get you into + trouble, somehow, Basil." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know how, exactly. I regard Lindau as a political economist + of an unusual type; but I shall not let him array me against the + constituted authorities. Short of that, I think I am safe." + </p> + <p> + "Well, be careful, Basil; be careful. You know you are so rash." + </p> + <p> + "I suppose I may continue to pity him? He is such a poor, lonely old + fellow. Are you really sorry he's come into our lives, my dear?" + </p> + <p> + "No, no; not that. I feel as you do about it; but I wish I felt easier + about him—sure, that is, that we're not doing wrong to let him keep + on talking so." + </p> + <p> + "I suspect we couldn't help it," March returned, lightly. "It's one of + what Lindau calls his 'brincibles' to say what he thinks." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0039" id="link2H_4_0039"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + The Marches had no longer the gross appetite for novelty which urges youth + to a surfeit of strange scenes, experiences, ideas; and makes travel, with + all its annoyances and fatigues, an inexhaustible delight. But there is no + doubt that the chief pleasure of their life in New York was from its + quality of foreignness: the flavor of olives, which, once tasted, can + never be forgotten. The olives may not be of the first excellence; they + may be a little stale, and small and poor, to begin with, but they are + still olives, and the fond palate craves them. The sort which grew in New + York, on lower Sixth Avenue and in the region of Jefferson Market and on + the soft exposures south of Washington Square, were none the less + acceptable because they were of the commonest Italian variety. + </p> + <p> + The Marches spent a good deal of time and money in a grocery of that + nationality, where they found all the patriotic comestibles and potables, + and renewed their faded Italian with the friendly family in charge. + Italian table d'hotes formed the adventure of the week, on the day when + Mrs. March let her domestics go out, and went herself to dine abroad with + her husband and children; and they became adepts in the restaurants where + they were served, and which they varied almost from dinner to dinner. The + perfect decorum of these places, and their immunity from offence in any, + emboldened the Marches to experiment in Spanish restaurants, where red + pepper and beans insisted in every dinner, and where once they chanced + upon a night of 'olla podrida', with such appeals to March's memory of a + boyish ambition to taste the dish that he became poetic and then pensive + over its cabbage and carrots, peas and bacon. For a rare combination of + international motives they prized most the table d'hote of a French lady, + who had taken a Spanish husband in a second marriage, and had a Cuban + negro for her cook, with a cross-eyed Alsation for waiter, and a slim + young South-American for cashier. March held that something of the + catholic character of these relations expressed itself in the generous and + tolerant variety of the dinner, which was singularly abundant for fifty + cents, without wine. At one very neat French place he got a dinner at the + same price with wine, but it was not so abundant; and March inquired in + fruitless speculation why the table d'hote of the Italians, a notoriously + frugal and abstemious people, should be usually more than you wanted at + seventy-five cents and a dollar, and that of the French rather less at + half a dollar. He could not see that the frequenters were greatly + different at the different places; they were mostly Americans, of subdued + manners and conjecturably subdued fortunes, with here and there a table + full of foreigners. There was no noise and not much smoking anywhere; + March liked going to that neat French place because there Madame sat + enthroned and high behind a 'comptoir' at one side of the room, and + everybody saluted her in going out. It was there that a gentle-looking + young couple used to dine, in whom the Marches became effectlessly + interested, because they thought they looked like that when they were + young. The wife had an aesthetic dress, and defined her pretty head by + wearing her back-hair pulled up very tight under her bonnet; the husband + had dreamy eyes set wide apart under a pure forehead. "They are artists, + August, I think," March suggested to the waiter, when he had vainly asked + about them. "Oh, hartis, cedenly," August consented; but Heaven knows + whether they were, or what they were: March never learned. + </p> + <p> + This immunity from acquaintance, this touch-and go quality in their New + York sojourn, this almost loss of individuality at times, after the + intense identification of their Boston life, was a relief, though Mrs. + March had her misgivings, and questioned whether it were not perhaps too + relaxing to the moral fibre. March refused to explore his conscience; he + allowed that it might be so; but he said he liked now and then to feel his + personality in that state of solution. They went and sat a good deal in + the softening evenings among the infants and dotards of Latin extraction + in Washington Square, safe from all who ever knew them, and enjoyed the + advancing season, which thickened the foliage of the trees and flattered + out of sight the church warden's Gothic of the University Building. The + infants were sometimes cross, and cried in their weary mothers' or little + sisters' arms; but they did not disturb the dotards, who slept, some with + their heads fallen forward, and some with their heads fallen back; March + arbitrarily distinguished those with the drooping faces as tipsy and + ashamed to confront the public. The small Italian children raced up and + down the asphalt paths, playing American games of tag and hide-and-whoop; + larger boys passed ball, in training for potential championships. The + Marches sat and mused, or quarrelled fitfully about where they should + spend the summer, like sparrows, he once said, till the electric lights + began to show distinctly among the leaves, and they looked round and found + the infants and dotards gone and the benches filled with lovers. That was + the signal for the Marches to go home. He said that the spectacle of so + much courtship as the eye might take in there at a glance was not, + perhaps, oppressive, but the thought that at the same hour the same thing + was going on all over the country, wherever two young fools could get + together, was more than he could bear; he did not deny that it was + natural, and, in a measure authorized, but he declared that it was + hackneyed; and the fact that it must go on forever, as long as the race + lasted, made him tired. + </p> + <p> + At home, generally, they found that the children had not missed them, and + were perfectly safe. It was one of the advantages of a flat that they + could leave the children there whenever they liked without anxiety. They + liked better staying there than wandering about in the evening with their + parents, whose excursions seemed to them somewhat aimless, and their + pleasures insipid. They studied, or read, or looked out of the window at + the street sights; and their mother always came back to them with a pang + for their lonesomeness. Bella knew some little girls in the house, but in + a ceremonious way; Tom had formed no friendships among the boys at school + such as he had left in Boston; as nearly as he could explain, the New York + fellows carried canes at an age when they would have had them broken for + them by the other boys at Boston; and they were both sissyish and fast. It + was probably prejudice; he never could say exactly what their demerits + were, and neither he nor Bella was apparently so homesick as they + pretended, though they answered inquirers, the one that New York was a + hole, and the other that it was horrid, and that all they lived for was to + get back to Boston. In the mean time they were thrown much upon each other + for society, which March said was well for both of them; he did not mind + their cultivating a little gloom and the sense of a common wrong; it made + them better comrades, and it was providing them with amusing reminiscences + for the future. They really enjoyed Bohemianizing in that harmless way: + though Tom had his doubts of its respectability; he was very punctilious + about his sister, and went round from his own school every day to fetch + her home from hers. The whole family went to the theatre a good deal, and + enjoyed themselves together in their desultory explorations of the city. + </p> + <p> + They lived near Greenwich Village, and March liked strolling through its + quaintness toward the waterside on a Sunday, when a hereditary + Sabbatarianism kept his wife at home; he made her observe that it even + kept her at home from church. He found a lingering quality of pure + Americanism in the region, and he said the very bells called to worship in + a nasal tone. He liked the streets of small brick houses, with here and + there one painted red, and the mortar lines picked out in white, and with + now and then a fine wooden portal of fluted pillars and a bowed transom. + The rear of the tenement-houses showed him the picturesqueness of + clothes-lines fluttering far aloft, as in Florence; and the new + apartment-houses, breaking the old sky-line with their towering stories, + implied a life as alien to the American manner as anything in continental + Europe. In fact, foreign faces and foreign tongues prevailed in Greenwich + Village, but no longer German or even Irish tongues or faces. The eyes and + earrings of Italians twinkled in and out of the alleyways and basements, + and they seemed to abound even in the streets, where long ranks of trucks + drawn up in Sunday rest along the curbstones suggested the presence of a + race of sturdier strength than theirs. March liked the swarthy, strange + visages; he found nothing menacing for the future in them; for wickedness + he had to satisfy himself as he could with the sneering, insolent, + clean-shaven mug of some rare American of the b'hoy type, now almost as + extinct in New York as the dodo or the volunteer fireman. When he had + found his way, among the ash-barrels and the groups of decently dressed + church-goers, to the docks, he experienced a sufficient excitement in the + recent arrival of a French steamer, whose sheds were thronged with hacks + and express-wagons, and in a tacit inquiry into the emotions of the + passengers, fresh from the cleanliness of Paris, and now driving up + through the filth of those streets. + </p> + <p> + Some of the streets were filthier than others; there was at least a + choice; there were boxes and barrels of kitchen offal on all the + sidewalks, but not everywhere manure-heaps, and in some places the stench + was mixed with the more savory smell of cooking. One Sunday morning, + before the winter was quite gone, the sight of the frozen refuse melting + in heaps, and particularly the loathsome edges of the rotting ice near the + gutters, with the strata of waste-paper and straw litter, and egg-shells + and orange peel, potato-skins and cigar-stumps, made him unhappy. He gave + a whimsical shrug for the squalor of the neighboring houses, and said to + himself rather than the boy who was with him: "It's curious, isn't it, how + fond the poor people are of these unpleasant thoroughfares? You always + find them living in the worst streets." + </p> + <p> + "The burden of all the wrong in the world comes on the poor," said the + boy. "Every sort of fraud and swindling hurts them the worst. The city + wastes the money it's paid to clean the streets with, and the poor have to + suffer, for they can't afford to pay twice, like the rich." + </p> + <p> + March stopped short. "Hallo, Tom! Is that your wisdom?" + </p> + <p> + "It's what Mr. Lindau says," answered the boy, doggedly, as if not pleased + to have his ideas mocked at, even if they were second-hand. + </p> + <p> + "And you didn't tell him that the poor lived in dirty streets because they + liked them, and were too lazy and worthless to have them cleaned?" + </p> + <p> + "No; I didn't." + </p> + <p> + "I'm surprised. What do you think of Lindau, generally speaking, Tom?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, sir, I don't like the way he talks about some things. I don't + suppose this country is perfect, but I think it's about the best there is, + and it don't do any good to look at its drawbacks all the time." + </p> + <p> + "Sound, my son," said March, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder and + beginning to walk on. "Well?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, then, he says that it isn't the public frauds only that the poor + have to pay for, but they have to pay for all the vices of the rich; that + when a speculator fails, or a bank cashier defaults, or a firm suspends, + or hard times come, it's the poor who have to give up necessaries where + the rich give up luxuries." + </p> + <p> + "Well, well! And then?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, then I think the crank comes in, in Mr. Lindau. He says there's no + need of failures or frauds or hard times. It's ridiculous. There always + have been and there always will be. But if you tell him that, it seems to + make him perfectly furious." + </p> + <p> + March repeated the substance of this talk to his wife. "I'm glad to know + that Tom can see through such ravings. He has lots of good common sense." + </p> + <p> + It was the afternoon of the same Sunday, and they were sauntering up Fifth + Avenue, and admiring the wide old double houses at the lower end; at one + corner they got a distinct pleasure out of the gnarled elbows that a + pollarded wistaria leaned upon the top of a garden wall—for its + convenience in looking into the street, he said. The line of these + comfortable dwellings, once so fashionable, was continually broken by the + facades of shops; and March professed himself vulgarized by a want of + style in the people they met in their walk to Twenty-third Street. + </p> + <p> + "Take me somewhere to meet my fellow-exclusives, Isabel," he demanded. "I + pine for the society of my peers." + </p> + <p> + He hailed a passing omnibus, and made his wife get on the roof with him. + "Think of our doing such a thing in Boston!" she sighed, with a little + shiver of satisfaction in her immunity from recognition and comment. + </p> + <p> + "You wouldn't be afraid to do it in London or Paris?" + </p> + <p> + "No; we should be strangers there—just as we are in New York. I + wonder how long one could be a stranger here." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, indefinitely, in our way of living. The place is really vast, so much + larger than it used to seem, and so heterogeneous." + </p> + <p> + When they got down very far up-town, and began to walk back by Madison + Avenue, they found themselves in a different population from that they + dwelt among; not heterogeneous at all; very homogeneous, and almost purely + American; the only qualification was American Hebrew. Such a well-dressed, + well-satisfied, well-fed looking crowd poured down the broad sidewalks + before the handsome, stupid houses that March could easily pretend he had + got among his fellow-plutocrats at last. Still he expressed his doubts + whether this Sunday afternoon parade, which seemed to be a thing of + custom, represented the best form among the young people of that region; + he wished he knew; he blamed himself for becoming of a fastidious + conjecture; he could not deny the fashion and the richness and the + indigeneity of the spectacle; the promenaders looked New-Yorky; they were + the sort of people whom you would know for New-Yorkers elsewhere,—so + well equipped and so perfectly kept at all points. Their silk hats shone, + and their boots; their frocks had the right distension behind, and their + bonnets perfect poise and distinction. + </p> + <p> + The Marches talked of these and other facts of their appearance, and + curiously questioned whether this were the best that a great material + civilization could come to; it looked a little dull. The men's faces were + shrewd and alert, and yet they looked dull; the women's were pretty and + knowing, and yet dull. It was, probably, the holiday expression of the + vast, prosperous commercial class, with unlimited money, and no ideals + that money could not realize; fashion and comfort were all that they + desired to compass, and the culture that furnishes showily, that decorates + and that tells; the culture, say, of plays and operas, rather than books. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps the observers did the promenaders injustice; they might not have + been as common-minded as they looked. "But," March said, "I understand now + why the poor people don't come up here and live in this clean, handsome, + respectable quarter of the town; they would be bored to death. On the + whole, I think I should prefer Mott Street myself." + </p> + <p> + In other walks the Marches tried to find some of the streets they had + wandered through the first day of their wedding journey in New York, so + long ago. They could not make sure of them; but once they ran down to the + Battery, and easily made sure of that, though not in its old aspect. They + recalled the hot morning, when they sauntered over the trodden weed that + covered the sickly grass-plots there, and sentimentalized the sweltering + paupers who had crept out of the squalid tenements about for a breath of + air after a sleepless night. Now the paupers were gone, and where the old + mansions that had fallen to their use once stood, there towered aloft and + abroad those heights and masses of many-storied brick-work for which + architecture has yet no proper form and aesthetics no name. The trees and + shrubs, all in their young spring green, blew briskly over the guarded + turf in the south wind that came up over the water; and in the well-paved + alleys the ghosts of eighteenth-century fashion might have met each other + in their old haunts, and exchanged stately congratulations upon its vastly + bettered condition, and perhaps puzzled a little over the colossal lady on + Bedloe's Island, with her lifted torch, and still more over the curving + tracks and chalet-stations of the Elevated road. It is an outlook of + unrivalled beauty across the bay, that smokes and flashes with the + innumerable stacks and sails of commerce, to the hills beyond, where the + moving forest of masts halts at the shore, and roots itself in the groves + of the many villaged uplands. The Marches paid the charming prospects a + willing duty, and rejoiced in it as generously as if it had been their + own. Perhaps it was, they decided. He said people owned more things in + common than they were apt to think; and they drew the consolations of + proprietorship from the excellent management of Castle Garden, which they + penetrated for a moment's glimpse of the huge rotunda, where the + immigrants first set foot on our continent. It warmed their hearts, so + easily moved to any cheap sympathy, to see the friendly care the nation + took of these humble guests; they found it even pathetic to hear the + proper authority calling out the names of such as had kin or acquaintance + waiting there to meet them. No one appeared troubled or anxious; the + officials had a conscientious civility; the government seemed to manage + their welcome as well as a private company or corporation could have done. + In fact, it was after the simple strangers had left the government care + that March feared their woes might begin; and he would have liked the + government to follow each of them to his home, wherever he meant to fix it + within our borders. He made note of the looks of the licensed runners and + touters waiting for the immigrants outside the government premises; he + intended to work them up into a dramatic effect in some sketch, but they + remained mere material in his memorandum-book, together with some quaint + old houses on the Sixth Avenue road, which he had noticed on the way down. + On the way up, these were superseded in his regard by some hip-roof + structures on the Ninth Avenue, which he thought more Dutch-looking. The + perspectives of the cross-streets toward the river were very lively, with + their turmoil of trucks and cars and carts and hacks and foot passengers, + ending in the chimneys and masts of shipping, and final gleams of dancing + water. At a very noisy corner, clangorous with some sort of ironworking, + he made his wife enjoy with him the quiet sarcasm of an inn that called + itself the Home-like Hotel, and he speculated at fantastic length on the + gentle associations of one who should have passed his youth under its + roof. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0040" id="link2H_4_0040"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + First and last, the Marches did a good deal of travel on the Elevated + roads, which, he said, gave you such glimpses of material aspects in the + city as some violent invasion of others' lives might afford in human + nature. Once, when the impulse of adventure was very strong in them, they + went quite the length of the West Side lines, and saw the city pushing its + way by irregular advances into the country. Some spaces, probably held by + the owners for that rise in value which the industry of others + providentially gives to the land of the wise and good, it left vacant + comparatively far down the road, and built up others at remoter points. It + was a world of lofty apartment houses beyond the Park, springing up in + isolated blocks, with stretches of invaded rusticity between, and here and + there an old country-seat standing dusty in its budding vines with the + ground before it in rocky upheaval for city foundations. But wherever it + went or wherever it paused, New York gave its peculiar stamp; and the + adventurers were amused to find One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street + inchoately like Twenty-third Street and Fourteenth Street in its shops and + shoppers. The butchers' shops and milliners' shops on the avenue might as + well have been at Tenth as at One Hundredth Street. + </p> + <p> + The adventurers were not often so adventurous. They recognized that in + their willingness to let their fancy range for them, and to let + speculation do the work of inquiry, they were no longer young. Their point + of view was singularly unchanged, and their impressions of New York + remained the same that they had been fifteen years before: huge, noisy, + ugly, kindly, it seemed to them now as it seemed then. The main difference + was that they saw it more now as a life, and then they only regarded it as + a spectacle; and March could not release himself from a sense of + complicity with it, no matter what whimsical, or alien, or critical + attitude he took. A sense of the striving and the suffering deeply + possessed him; and this grew the more intense as he gained some knowledge + of the forces at work—forces of pity, of destruction, of perdition, + of salvation. He wandered about on Sunday not only through the streets, + but into this tabernacle and that, as the spirit moved him, and listened + to those who dealt with Christianity as a system of economics as well as a + religion. He could not get his wife to go with him; she listened to his + report of what he heard, and trembled; it all seemed fantastic and + menacing. She lamented the literary peace, the intellectual refinement of + the life they had left behind them; and he owned it was very pretty, but + he said it was not life—it was death-in-life. She liked to hear him + talk in that strain of virtuous self-denunciation, but she asked him, + "Which of your prophets are you going to follow?" and he answered: + "All-all! And a fresh one every Sunday." And so they got their laugh out + of it at last, but with some sadness at heart, and with a dim + consciousness that they had got their laugh out of too many things in + life. + </p> + <p> + What really occupied and compassed his activities, in spite of his + strenuous reveries of work beyond it, was his editorship. On its social + side it had not fulfilled all the expectations which Fulkerson's radiant + sketch of its duties and relations had caused him to form of it. Most of + the contributions came from a distance; even the articles written in New + York reached him through the post, and so far from having his valuable + time, as they called it, consumed in interviews with his collaborators, he + rarely saw any of them. The boy on the stairs, who was to fence him from + importunate visitors, led a life of luxurious disoccupation, and whistled + almost uninterruptedly. When any one came, March found himself embarrassed + and a little anxious. The visitors were usually young men, terribly + respectful, but cherishing, as he imagined, ideals and opinions chasmally + different from his; and he felt in their presence something like an + anachronism, something like a fraud. He tried to freshen up his sympathies + on them, to get at what they were really thinking and feeling, and it was + some time before he could understand that they were not really thinking + and feeling anything of their own concerning their art, but were + necessarily, in their quality of young, inexperienced men, mere acceptants + of older men's thoughts and feelings, whether they were tremendously + conservative, as some were, or tremendously progressive, as others were. + Certain of them called themselves realists, certain romanticists; but none + of them seemed to know what realism was, or what romanticism; they + apparently supposed the difference a difference of material. March had + imagined himself taking home to lunch or dinner the aspirants for + editorial favor whom he liked, whether he liked their work or not; but + this was not an easy matter. Those who were at all interesting seemed to + have engagements and preoccupations; after two or three experiments with + the bashfuller sort—those who had come up to the metropolis with + manuscripts in their hands, in the good old literary tradition—he + wondered whether he was otherwise like them when he was young like them. + He could not flatter himself that he was not; and yet he had a hope that + the world had grown worse since his time, which his wife encouraged. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March was not eager to pursue the hospitalities which she had at + first imagined essential to the literary prosperity of 'Every Other Week'; + her family sufficed her; she would willingly have seen no one out of it + but the strangers at the weekly table-d'hote dinner, or the audiences at + the theatres. March's devotion to his work made him reluctant to delegate + it to any one; and as the summer advanced, and the question of where to go + grew more vexed, he showed a man's base willingness to shirk it for + himself by not going anywhere. He asked his wife why she did not go + somewhere with the children, and he joined her in a search for + non-malarial regions on the map when she consented to entertain this + notion. But when it came to the point she would not go; he offered to go + with her then, and then she would not let him. She said she knew he would + be anxious about his work; he protested that he could take it with him to + any distance within a few hours, but she would not be persuaded. She would + rather he stayed; the effect would be better with Mr. Fulkerson; they + could make excursions, and they could all get off a week or two to the + seashore near Boston—the only real seashore—in August. The + excursions were practically confined to a single day at Coney Island; and + once they got as far as Boston on the way to the seashore near Boston; + that is, Mrs. March and the children went; an editorial exigency kept + March at the last moment. The Boston streets seemed very queer and clean + and empty to the children, and the buildings little; in the horse-cars the + Boston faces seemed to arraign their mother with a down-drawn severity + that made her feel very guilty. She knew that this was merely the Puritan + mask, the cast of a dead civilization, which people of very amiable and + tolerant minds were doomed to wear, and she sighed to think that less than + a year of the heterogeneous gayety of New York should have made her afraid + of it. The sky seemed cold and gray; the east wind, which she had always + thought so delicious in summer, cut her to the heart. She took her + children up to the South End, and in the pretty square where they used to + live they stood before their alienated home, and looked up at its + close-shuttered windows. The tenants must have been away, but Mrs. March + had not the courage to ring and make sure, though she had always promised + herself that she would go all over the house when she came back, and see + how they had used it; she could pretend a desire for something she wished + to take away. She knew she could not bear it now; and the children did not + seem eager. She did not push on to the seaside; it would be forlorn there + without their father; she was glad to go back to him in the immense, + friendly homelessness of New York, and hold him answerable for the change, + in her heart or her mind, which made its shapeless tumult a refuge and a + consolation. + </p> + <p> + She found that he had been giving the cook a holiday, and dining about + hither and thither with Fulkerson. Once he had dined with him at the + widow's (as they always called Mrs. Leighton), and then had spent the + evening there, and smoked with Fulkerson and Colonel Woodburn on the + gallery overlooking the back yard. They were all spending the summer in + New York. The widow had got so good an offer for her house at St. Barnaby + for the summer that she could not refuse it; and the Woodburns found New + York a watering-place of exemplary coolness after the burning Augusts and + Septembers of Charlottesburg. + </p> + <p> + "You can stand it well enough in our climate, sir," the colonel explained, + "till you come to the September heat, that sometimes runs well into + October; and then you begin to lose your temper, sir. It's never quite so + hot as it is in New York at times, but it's hot longer, sir." He alleged, + as if something of the sort were necessary, the example of a famous + Southwestern editor who spent all his summers in a New York hotel as the + most luxurious retreat on the continent, consulting the weather forecasts, + and running off on torrid days to the mountains or the sea, and then + hurrying back at the promise of cooler weather. The colonel had not found + it necessary to do this yet; and he had been reluctant to leave town, + where he was working up a branch of the inquiry which had so long occupied + him, in the libraries, and studying the great problem of labor and poverty + as it continually presented itself to him in the streets. He said that he + talked with all sorts of people, whom he found monstrously civil, if you + took them in the right way; and he went everywhere in the city without + fear and apparently without danger. March could not find out that he had + ridden his hobby into the homes of want which he visited, or had proposed + their enslavement to the inmates as a short and simple solution of the + great question of their lives; he appeared to have contented himself with + the collection of facts for the persuasion of the cultivated classes. It + seemed to March a confirmation of this impression that the colonel should + address his deductions from these facts so unsparingly to him; he listened + with a respectful patience, for which Fulkerson afterward personally + thanked him. Fulkerson said it was not often the colonel found such a good + listener; generally nobody listened but Mrs. Leighton, who thought his + ideas were shocking, but honored him for holding them so conscientiously. + Fulkerson was glad that March, as the literary department, had treated the + old gentleman so well, because there was an open feud between him and the + art department. Beaton was outrageously rude, Fulkerson must say; though + as for that, the old colonel seemed quite able to take care of himself, + and gave Beaton an unqualified contempt in return for his unmannerliness. + The worst of it was, it distressed the old lady so; she admired Beaton as + much as she respected the colonel, and she admired Beaton, Fulkerson + thought, rather more than Miss Leighton did; he asked March if he had + noticed them together. March had noticed them, but without any very + definite impression except that Beaton seemed to give the whole evening to + the girl. Afterward he recollected that he had fancied her rather harassed + by his devotion, and it was this point that he wished to present for his + wife's opinion. + </p> + <p> + "Girls often put on that air," she said. "It's one of their ways of + teasing. But then, if the man was really very much in love, and she was + only enough in love to be uncertain of herself, she might very well seem + troubled. It would be a very serious question. Girls often don't know what + to do in such a case." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said March, "I've often been glad that I was not a girl, on that + account. But I guess that on general principles Beaton is not more in love + than she is. I couldn't imagine that young man being more in love with + anybody, unless it was himself. He might be more in love with himself than + any one else was." + </p> + <p> + "Well, he doesn't interest me a great deal, and I can't say Miss Leighton + does, either. I think she can take care of herself. She has herself very + well in hand." + </p> + <p> + "Why so censorious?" pleaded March. "I don't defend her for having herself + in hand; but is it a fault?" + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March did not say. She asked, "And how does Mr. Fulkerson's affair + get on?" + </p> + <p> + "His affair? You really think it is one? Well, I've fancied so myself, and + I've had an idea of some time asking him; Fulkerson strikes one as truly + domesticable, conjugable at heart; but I've waited for him to speak." + </p> + <p> + "I should think so." + </p> + <p> + "Yes. He's never opened on the subject yet. Do you know, I think Fulkerson + has his moments of delicacy." + </p> + <p> + "Moments! He's all delicacy in regard to women." + </p> + <p> + "Well, perhaps so. There is nothing in them to rouse his advertising + instincts." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0041" id="link2H_4_0041"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV + </h2> + <p> + The Dryfoos family stayed in town till August. Then the father went West + again to look after his interests; and Mrs. Mandel took the two girls to + one of the great hotels in Saratoga. Fulkerson said that he had never seen + anything like Saratoga for fashion, and Mrs. Mandel remembered that in her + own young ladyhood this was so for at least some weeks of the year. She + had been too far withdrawn from fashion since her marriage to know whether + it was still so or not. In this, as in so many other matters, the Dryfoos + family helplessly relied upon Fulkerson, in spite of Dryfoos's angry + determination that he should not run the family, and in spite of + Christine's doubt of his omniscience; if he did not know everything, she + was aware that he knew more than herself. She thought that they had a + right to have him go with them to Saratoga, or at least go up and engage + their rooms beforehand; but Fulkerson did not offer to do either, and she + did not quite see her way to commanding his services. The young ladies + took what Mela called splendid dresses with them; they sat in the park of + tall, slim trees which the hotel's quadrangle enclosed, and listened to + the music in the morning, or on the long piazza in the afternoon and + looked at the driving in the street, or in the vast parlors by night, + where all the other ladies were, and they felt that they were of the best + there. But they knew nobody, and Mrs. Mandel was so particular that Mela + was prevented from continuing the acquaintance even of the few young men + who danced with her at the Saturday-night hops. They drove about, but they + went to places without knowing why, except that the carriage man took + them, and they had all the privileges of a proud exclusivism without + desiring them. Once a motherly matron seemed to perceive their isolation, + and made overtures to them, but then desisted, as if repelled by + Christine's suspicion, or by Mela's too instant and hilarious + good-fellowship, which expressed itself in hoarse laughter and in a flow + of talk full of topical and syntactical freedom. From time to time she + offered to bet Christine that if Mr. Fulkerson was only there they would + have a good time; she wondered what they were all doing in New York, where + she wished herself; she rallied her sister about Beaton, and asked her why + she did not write and tell him to come up there. + </p> + <p> + Mela knew that Christine had expected Beaton to follow them. Some banter + had passed between them to this effect; he said he should take them in on + his way home to Syracuse. Christine would not have hesitated to write to + him and remind him of his promise; but she had learned to distrust her + literature with Beaton since he had laughed at the spelling in a scrap of + writing which dropped out of her music-book one night. She believed that + he would not have laughed if he had known it was hers; but she felt that + she could hide better the deficiencies which were not committed to paper; + she could manage with him in talking; she was too ignorant of her + ignorance to recognize the mistakes she made then. Through her own passion + she perceived that she had some kind of fascination for him; she was + graceful, and she thought it must be that; she did not understand that + there was a kind of beauty in her small, irregular features that piqued + and haunted his artistic sense, and a look in her black eyes beyond her + intelligence and intention. Once he sketched her as they sat together, and + flattered the portrait without getting what he wanted in it; he said he + must try her some time in color; and he said things which, when she made + Mela repeat them, could only mean that he admired her more than anybody + else. He came fitfully, but he came often, and she rested content in a + girl's indefiniteness concerning the affair; if her thought went beyond + lovemaking to marriage, she believed that she could have him if she wanted + him. Her father's money counted in this; she divined that Beaton was poor; + but that made no difference; she would have enough for both; the money + would have counted as an irresistible attraction if there had been no + other. + </p> + <p> + The affair had gone on in spite of the sidelong looks of restless dislike + with which Dryfoos regarded it; but now when Beaton did not come to + Saratoga it necessarily dropped, and Christine's content with it. She bore + the trial as long as she could; she used pride and resentment against it; + but at last she could not bear it, and with Mela's help she wrote a + letter, bantering Beaton on his stay in New York, and playfully boasting + of Saratoga. It seemed to them both that it was a very bright letter, and + would be sure to bring him; they would have had no scruple about sending + it but for the doubt they had whether they had got some of the words + right. Mela offered to bet Christine anything she dared that they were + right, and she said, Send it anyway; it was no difference if they were + wrong. But Christine could not endure to think of that laugh of Beaton's, + and there remained only Mrs. Mandel as authority on the spelling. + Christine dreaded her authority on other points, but Mela said she knew + she would not interfere, and she undertook to get round her. Mrs. Mandel + pronounced the spelling bad, and the taste worse; she forbade them to send + the letter; and Mela failed to get round her, though she threatened, if + Mrs. Mandel would not tell her how to spell the wrong words, that she + would send the letter as it was; then Mrs. Mandel said that if Mr. Beaton + appeared in Saratoga she would instantly take them both home. When Mela + reported this result, Christine accused her of having mismanaged the whole + business; she quarrelled with her, and they called each other names. + Christine declared that she would not stay in Saratoga, and that if Mrs. + Mandel did not go back to New York with her she should go alone. They + returned the first week in September; but by that time Beaton had gone to + see his people in Syracuse. + </p> + <p> + Conrad Dryfoos remained at home with his mother after his father went + West. He had already taken such a vacation as he had been willing to allow + himself, and had spent it on a charity farm near the city, where the + fathers with whom he worked among the poor on the East Side in the winter + had sent some of their wards for the summer. It was not possible to keep + his recreation a secret at the office, and Fulkerson found a pleasure in + figuring the jolly time Brother Conrad must have teaching farm work among + those paupers and potential reprobates. He invented details of his + experience among them, and March could not always help joining in the + laugh at Conrad's humorless helplessness under Fulkerson's burlesque + denunciation of a summer outing spent in such dissipation. + </p> + <p> + They had time for a great deal of joking at the office during the season + of leisure which penetrates in August to the very heart of business, and + they all got on terms of greater intimacy if not greater friendliness than + before. Fulkerson had not had so long to do with the advertising side of + human nature without developing a vein of cynicism, of no great depth, + perhaps, but broad, and underlying his whole point of view; he made light + of Beaton's solemnity, as he made light of Conrad's humanity. The art + editor, with abundant sarcasm, had no more humor than the publisher, and + was an easy prey in the manager's hands; but when he had been led on by + Fulkerson's flatteries to make some betrayal of egotism, he brooded over + it till he had thought how to revenge himself in elaborate insult. For + Beaton's talent Fulkerson never lost his admiration; but his joke was to + encourage him to give himself airs of being the sole source of the + magazine's prosperity. No bait of this sort was too obvious for Beaton to + swallow; he could be caught with it as often as Fulkerson chose; though he + was ordinarily suspicious as to the motives of people in saying things. + With March he got on no better than at first. He seemed to be lying in + wait for some encroachment of the literary department on the art + department, and he met it now and then with anticipative reprisal. After + these rebuffs, the editor delivered him over to the manager, who could + turn Beaton's contrary-mindedness to account by asking the reverse of what + he really wanted done. This was what Fulkerson said; the fact was that he + did get on with Beaton and March contented himself with musing upon the + contradictions of a character at once so vain and so offensive, so fickle + and so sullen, so conscious and so simple. + </p> + <p> + After the first jarring contact with Dryfoos, the editor ceased to feel + the disagreeable fact of the old man's mastery of the financial situation. + None of the chances which might have made it painful occurred; the control + of the whole affair remained in Fulkerson's hands; before he went West + again, Dryfoos had ceased to come about the office, as if, having once + worn off the novelty of the sense of owning a literary periodical, he was + no longer interested in it. + </p> + <p> + Yet it was a relief, somehow, when he left town, which he did not do + without coming to take a formal leave of the editor at his office. He + seemed willing to leave March with a better impression than he had + hitherto troubled himself to make; he even said some civil things about + the magazine, as if its success pleased him; and he spoke openly to March + of his hope that his son would finally become interested in it to the + exclusion of the hopes and purposes which divided them. It seemed to March + that in the old man's warped and toughened heart he perceived a + disappointed love for his son greater than for his other children; but + this might have been fancy. Lindau came in with some copy while Dryfoos + was there, and March introduced them. When Lindau went out, March + explained to Dryfoos that he had lost his hand in the war; and he told him + something of Lindau's career as he had known it. Dryfoos appeared greatly + pleased that 'Every Other Week' was giving Lindau work. He said that he + had helped to enlist a good many fellows for the war, and had paid money + to fill up the Moffitt County quota under the later calls for troops. He + had never been an Abolitionist, but he had joined the Anti-Nebraska party + in '55, and he had voted for Fremont and for every Republican President + since then. + </p> + <p> + At his own house March saw more of Lindau than of any other contributor, + but the old man seemed to think that he must transact all his business + with March at his place of business. The transaction had some + peculiarities which perhaps made this necessary. Lindau always expected to + receive his money when he brought his copy, as an acknowledgment of the + immediate right of the laborer to his hire; and he would not take it in a + check because he did not approve of banks, and regarded the whole system + of banking as the capitalistic manipulation of the people's money. He + would receive his pay only from March's hand, because he wished to be + understood as working for him, and honestly earning money honestly earned; + and sometimes March inwardly winced a little at letting the old man share + the increase of capital won by such speculation as Dryfoos's, but he shook + off the feeling. As the summer advanced, and the artists and classes that + employed Lindau as a model left town one after another, he gave largely of + his increasing leisure to the people in the office of 'Every Other Week.' + It was pleasant for March to see the respect with which Conrad Dryfoos + always used him, for the sake of his hurt and his gray beard. There was + something delicate and fine in it, and there was nothing unkindly on + Fulkerson's part in the hostilities which usually passed between himself + and Lindau. Fulkerson bore himself reverently at times, too, but it was + not in him to keep that up, especially when Lindau appeared with more beer + aboard than, as Fulkerson said, he could manage shipshape. On these + occasions Fulkerson always tried to start him on the theme of the unduly + rich; he made himself the champion of monopolies, and enjoyed the + invectives which Lindau heaped upon him as a slave of capital; he said + that it did him good. + </p> + <p> + One day, with the usual show of writhing under Lindau's scorn, he said, + "Well, I understand that although you despise me now, Lindau—" + </p> + <p> + "I ton't desbise you," the old man broke in, his nostrils swelling and his + eyes flaming with excitement, "I bity you." + </p> + <p> + "Well, it seems to come to the same thing in the end," said Fulkerson. + "What I understand is that you pity me now as the slave of capital, but + you would pity me a great deal more if I was the master of it." + </p> + <p> + "How you mean?" + </p> + <p> + "If I was rich." + </p> + <p> + "That would tebendt," said Lindau, trying to control himself. "If you hat + inheritedt your money, you might pe innocent; but if you hat mate it, + efery man that resbectedt himself would haf to ask how you mate it, and if + you hat mate moch, he would know—" + </p> + <p> + "Hold on; hold on, now, Lindau! Ain't that rather un-American doctrine? + We're all brought up, ain't we, to honor the man that made his money, and + look down—or try to look down; sometimes it's difficult on the + fellow that his father left it to?" + </p> + <p> + The old man rose and struck his breast. "On Amerigan!" he roared, and, as + he went on, his accent grew more and more uncertain. "What iss Amerigan? + Dere iss no Ameriga any more! You start here free and brafe, and you glaim + for efery man de right to life, liperty, and de bursuit of habbiness. And + where haf you entedt? No man that vorks vith his handts among you has the + liperty to bursue his habbiness. He iss the slafe of some richer man, some + gompany, some gorporation, dat crindt him down to the least he can lif on, + and that rops him of the marchin of his earnings that he knight pe habby + on. Oh, you Amerigans, you haf cot it down goldt, as you say! You ton't + puy foters; you puy lechislatures and goncressmen; you puy gourts; you puy + gombetitors; you pay infentors not to infent; you atfertise, and the + gounting-room sees dat de etitorial-room toesn't tink." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, we've got a little arrangement of that sort with March here," said + Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I am sawry," said the old man, contritely, "I meant noting bersonal. + I ton't tink we are all cuilty or gorrubt, and efen among the rich there + are goodt men. But gabidal"—his passion rose again—"where you + find gabidal, millions of money that a man hass cot togeder in fife, ten, + twenty years, you findt the smell of tears and ploodt! Dat iss what I say. + And you cot to loog oudt for yourself when you meet a rich man whether you + meet an honest man." + </p> + <p> + "Well," said Fulkerson, "I wish I was a subject of suspicion with you, + Lindau. By-the-way," he added, "I understand that you think capital was at + the bottom of the veto of that pension of yours." + </p> + <p> + "What bension? What feto?"—The old man flamed up again. "No bension + of mine was efer fetoedt. I renounce my bension, begause I would sgorn to + dake money from a gofernment that I ton't peliefe in any more. Where you + hear that story?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know," said Fulkerson, rather embarrassed. "It's common + talk." + </p> + <p> + "It's a gommon lie, then! When the time gome dat dis iss a free gountry + again, then I dake a bension again for my woundts; but I would sdarfe + before I dake a bension now from a rebublic dat iss bought oap by + monobolies, and ron by drusts and gompines, and railroadts andt oil + gompanies." + </p> + <p> + "Look out, Lindau," said Fulkerson. "You bite yourself mit dat dog some + day." But when the old man, with a ferocious gesture of renunciation, + whirled out of the place, he added: "I guess I went a little too far that + time. I touched him on a sore place; I didn't mean to; I heard some talk + about his pension being vetoed from Miss Leighton." He addressed these + exculpations to March's grave face, and to the pitying deprecation in the + eyes of Conrad Dryfoos, whom Lindau's roaring wrath had summoned to the + door. "But I'll make it all right with him the next time he comes. I + didn't know he was loaded, or I wouldn't have monkeyed with him." + </p> + <p> + "Lindau does himself injustice when he gets to talking in that way," said + March. "I hate to hear him. He's as good an American as any of us; and + it's only because he has too high an ideal of us—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, go on! Rub it in—rub it in!" cried Fulkerson, clutching his + hair in suffering, which was not altogether burlesque. "How did I know he + had renounced his 'bension'? Why didn't you tell me?" + </p> + <p> + "I didn't know it myself. I only knew that he had none, and I didn't ask, + for I had a notion that it might be a painful subject." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson tried to turn it off lightly. "Well, he's a noble old fellow; + pity he drinks." March would not smile, and Fulkerson broke out: "Dog on + it! I'll make it up to the old fool the next time he comes. I don't like + that dynamite talk of his; but any man that's given his hand to the + country has got mine in his grip for good. Why, March! You don't suppose I + wanted to hurt his feelings, do you?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, of course not, Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + But they could not get away from a certain ruefulness for that time, and + in the evening Fulkerson came round to March's to say that he had got + Lindau's address from Conrad, and had looked him up at his lodgings. + </p> + <p> + "Well, there isn't so much bric-a-brac there, quite, as Mrs. Green left + you; but I've made it all right with Lindau, as far as I'm concerned. I + told him I didn't know when I spoke that way, and I honored him for + sticking to his 'brinciples'; I don't believe in his 'brincibles'; and we + wept on each other's necks—at least, he did. Dogged if he didn't + kiss me before I knew what he was up to. He said I was his chenerous gong + friendt, and he begged my barton if he had said anything to wound me. I + tell you it was an affecting scene, March; and rats enough round in that + old barracks where he lives to fit out a first-class case of delirium + tremens. What does he stay there for? He's not obliged to?" + </p> + <p> + Lindau's reasons, as March repeated them, affected Fulkerson as + deliciously comical; but after that he confined his pleasantries at the + office to Beaton and Conrad Dryfoos, or, as he said, he spent the rest of + the summer in keeping Lindau smoothed up. + </p> + <p> + It is doubtful if Lindau altogether liked this as well. Perhaps he missed + the occasions Fulkerson used to give him of bursting out against the + millionaires; and he could not well go on denouncing as the slafe of + gabidal a man who had behaved to him as Fulkerson had done, though + Fulkerson's servile relations to capital had been in nowise changed by his + nople gonduct. + </p> + <p> + Their relations continued to wear this irksome character of mutual + forbearance; and when Dryfoos returned in October and Fulkerson revived + the question of that dinner in celebration of the success of 'Every Other + Week,' he carried his complaisance to an extreme that alarmed March for + the consequences. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0042" id="link2H_4_0042"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. + </h2> + <p> + "You see," Fulkerson explained, "I find that the old man has got an idea + of his own about that banquet, and I guess there's some sense in it. He + wants to have a preliminary little dinner, where we can talk the thing up + first—half a dozen of us; and he wants to give us the dinner at his + house. Well, that's no harm. I don't believe the old man ever gave a + dinner, and he'd like to show off a little; there's a good deal of human + nature in the old man, after all. He thought of you, of course, and + Colonel Woodburn, and Beaton, and me at the foot of the table; and Conrad; + and I suggested Kendricks: he's such a nice little chap; and the old man + himself brought up the idea of Lindau. He said you told him something + about him, and he asked why couldn't we have him, too; and I jumped at + it." + </p> + <p> + "Have Lindau to dinner?" asked March. + </p> + <p> + "Certainly; why not? Father Dryfoos has a notion of paying the old fellow + a compliment for what he done for the country. There won't be any trouble + about it. You can sit alongside of him, and cut up his meat for him, and + help him to things—" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, but it won't do, Fulkerson! I don't believe Lindau ever had on a + dress-coat in his life, and I don't believe his 'brincibles' would let him + wear one." + </p> + <p> + "Well, neither had Dryfoos, for the matter of that. He's as + high-principled as old Pan-Electric himself, when it comes to a + dress-coat," said Fulkerson. "We're all going to go in business dress; the + old man stipulated for that. + </p> + <p> + "It isn't the dress-coat alone," March resumed. "Lindau and Dryfoos + wouldn't get on. You know they're opposite poles in everything. You + mustn't do it. Dryfoos will be sure to say something to outrage Lindau's + 'brincibles,' and there'll be an explosion. It's all well enough for + Dryfoos to feel grateful to Lindau, and his wish to honor him does him + credit; but to have Lindau to dinner isn't the way. At the best, the old + fellow would be very unhappy in such a house; he would have a bad + conscience; and I should be sorry to have him feel that he'd been recreant + to his 'brincibles'; they're about all he's got, and whatever we think of + them, we're bound to respect his fidelity to them." March warmed toward + Lindau in taking this view of him. "I should feel ashamed if I didn't + protest against his being put in a false position. After all, he's my old + friend, and I shouldn't like to have him do himself injustice if he is a + crank." + </p> + <p> + "Of course," said Fulkerson, with some trouble in his face. "I appreciate + your feeling. But there ain't any danger," he added, buoyantly. "Anyhow, + you spoke too late, as the Irishman said to the chicken when he swallowed + him in a fresh egg. I've asked Lindau, and he's accepted with blayzure; + that's what he says." + </p> + <p> + March made no other comment than a shrug. + </p> + <p> + "You'll see," Fulkerson continued, "it 'll go off all right. I'll engage + to make it, and I won't hold anybody else responsible." + </p> + <p> + In the course of his married life March had learned not to censure the + irretrievable; but this was just what his wife had not learned; and she + poured out so much astonishment at what Fulkerson had done, and so much + disapproval, that March began to palliate the situation a little. + </p> + <p> + "After all, it isn't a question of life and death; and, if it were, I + don't see how it's to be helped now." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, it's not to be helped now. But I am surprised at Mr. Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + "Well, Fulkerson has his moments of being merely human, too." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March would not deign a direct defence of her favorite. "Well, I'm + glad there are not to be ladies." + </p> + <p> + "I don't know. Dryfoos thought of having ladies, but it seems your + infallible Fulkerson overruled him. Their presence might have kept Lindau + and our host in bounds." + </p> + <p> + It had become part of the Marches' conjugal joke for him to pretend that + she could allow nothing wrong in Fulkerson, and he now laughed with a + mocking air of having expected it when she said: "Well, then, if Mr. + Fulkerson says he will see that it all comes out right, I suppose you must + trust his tact. I wouldn't trust yours, Basil. The first wrong step was + taken when Mr. Lindau was asked to help on the magazine." + </p> + <p> + "Well, it was your infallible Fulkerson that took the step, or at least + suggested it. I'm happy to say I had totally forgotten my early friend." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March was daunted and silenced for a moment. Then she said: "Oh, + pshaw! You know well enough he did it to please you." + </p> + <p> + "I'm very glad he didn't do it to please you, Isabel," said her husband, + with affected seriousness. "Though perhaps he did." + </p> + <p> + He began to look at the humorous aspect of the affair, which it certainly + had, and to comment on the singular incongruities which 'Every Other Week' + was destined to involve at every moment of its career. "I wonder if I'm + mistaken in supposing that no other periodical was ever like it. Perhaps + all periodicals are like it. But I don't believe there's another + publication in New York that could bring together, in honor of itself, a + fraternity and equality crank like poor old Lindau, and a belated + sociological crank like Woodburn, and a truculent speculator like old + Dryfoos, and a humanitarian dreamer like young Dryfoos, and a + sentimentalist like me, and a nondescript like Beaton, and a pure + advertising essence like Fulkerson, and a society spirit like Kendricks. + If we could only allow one another to talk uninterruptedly all the time, + the dinner would be the greatest success in the world, and we should come + home full of the highest mutual respect. But I suspect we can't manage + that—even your infallible Fulkerson couldn't work it—and I'm + afraid that there'll be some listening that'll spoil the pleasure of the + time." + </p> + <p> + March was so well pleased with this view of the case that he suggested the + idea involved to Fulkerson. Fulkerson was too good a fellow not to laugh + at another man's joke, but he laughed a little ruefully, and he seemed + worn with more than one kind of care in the interval that passed between + the present time and the night of the dinner. + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos necessarily depended upon him for advice concerning the scope and + nature of the dinner, but he received the advice suspiciously, and + contested points of obvious propriety with pertinacious stupidity. + Fulkerson said that when it came to the point he would rather have had the + thing, as he called it, at Delmonico's or some other restaurant; but when + he found that Dryfoos's pride was bound up in having it at his own house, + he gave way to him. Dryfoos also wanted his woman-cook to prepare the + dinner, but Fulkerson persuaded him that this would not do; he must have + it from a caterer. Then Dryfoos wanted his maids to wait at table, but + Fulkerson convinced him that this would be incongruous at a man's dinner. + It was decided that the dinner should be sent in from Frescobaldi's, and + Dryfoos went with Fulkerson to discuss it with the caterer. He insisted + upon having everything explained to him, and the reason for having it, and + not something else in its place; and he treated Fulkerson and Frescobaldi + as if they were in league to impose upon him. There were moments when + Fulkerson saw the varnish of professional politeness cracking on the + Neapolitan's volcanic surface, and caught a glimpse of the lava fires of + the cook's nature beneath; he trembled for Dryfoos, who was walking + rough-shod over him in the security of an American who had known how to + make his money, and must know how to spend it; but he got him safely away + at last, and gave Frescobaldi a wink of sympathy for his shrug of + exhaustion as they turned to leave him. + </p> + <p> + It was at first a relief and then an anxiety with Fulkerson that Lindau + did not come about after accepting the invitation to dinner, until he + appeared at Dryfoos's house, prompt to the hour. There was, to be sure, + nothing to bring him; but Fulkerson was uneasily aware that Dryfoos + expected to meet him at the office, and perhaps receive some verbal + acknowledgment of the honor done him. Dryfoos, he could see, thought he + was doing all his invited guests a favor; and while he stood in a certain + awe of them as people of much greater social experience than himself, + regarded them with a kind of contempt, as people who were going to have a + better dinner at his house than they could ever afford to have at their + own. He had finally not spared expense upon it; after pushing Frescobaldi + to the point of eruption with his misgivings and suspicions at the first + interview, he had gone to him a second time alone, and told him not to let + the money stand between him and anything he would like to do. In the + absence of Frescobaldi's fellow-conspirator he restored himself in the + caterer's esteem by adding whatever he suggested; and Fulkerson, after + trembling for the old man's niggardliness, was now afraid of a fantastic + profusion in the feast. Dryfoos had reduced the scale of the banquet as + regarded the number of guests, but a confusing remembrance of what + Fulkerson had wished to do remained with him in part, and up to the day of + the dinner he dropped in at Frescobaldi's and ordered more dishes and more + of them. He impressed the Italian as an American original of a novel kind; + and when he asked Fulkerson how Dryfoos had made his money, and learned + that it was primarily in natural gas, he made note of some of his + eccentric tastes as peculiarities that were to be caressed in any future + natural-gas millionaire who might fall into his hands. He did not begrudge + the time he had to give in explaining to Dryfoos the relation of the + different wines to the different dishes; Dryfoos was apt to substitute a + costlier wine where he could for a cheaper one, and he gave Frescobaldi + carte blanche for the decoration of the table with pieces of artistic + confectionery. Among these the caterer designed one for a surprise to his + patron and a delicate recognition of the source of his wealth, which he + found Dryfoos very willing to talk about, when he intimated that he knew + what it was. + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos left it to Fulkerson to invite the guests, and he found ready + acceptance of his politeness from Kendricks, who rightly regarded the + dinner as a part of the 'Every Other Week' business, and was too sweet and + kind-hearted, anyway, not to seem very glad to come. March was a matter of + course; but in Colonel Woodburn, Fulkerson encountered a reluctance which + embarrassed him the more because he was conscious of having, for motives + of his own, rather strained a point in suggesting the colonel to Dryfoos + as a fit subject for invitation. There had been only one of the colonel's + articles printed as yet, and though it had made a sensation in its way, + and started the talk about that number, still it did not fairly constitute + him a member of the staff, or even entitle him to recognition as a regular + contributor. Fulkerson felt so sure of pleasing him with Dryfoos's message + that he delivered it in full family council at the widow's. His daughter + received it with all the enthusiasm that Fulkerson had hoped for, but the + colonel said, stiffly, "I have not the pleasure of knowing Mr. Dryfoos." + Miss Woodburn appeared ready to fall upon him at this, but controlled + herself, as if aware that filial authority had its limits, and pressed her + lips together without saying anything. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I know," Fulkerson admitted. "But it isn't a usual case. Mr. Dryfoos + don't go in much for the conventionalities; I reckon he don't know much + about 'em, come to boil it down; and he hoped"—here Fulkerson felt + the necessity of inventing a little—"that you would excuse any want + of ceremony; it's to be such an informal affair, anyway; we're all going + in business dress, and there ain't going to be any ladies. He'd have come + himself to ask you, but he's a kind of a bashful old fellow. It's all + right, Colonel Woodburn." + </p> + <p> + "I take it that it is, sir," said the colonel, courteously, but with + unabated state, "coming from you. But in these matters we have no right to + burden our friends with our decisions." + </p> + <p> + "Of course, of course," said Fulkerson, feeling that he had been + delicately told to mind his own business. + </p> + <p> + "I understand," the colonel went on, "the relation that Mr. Dryfoos bears + to the periodical in which you have done me the honor to print my papah, + but this is a question of passing the bounds of a purely business + connection, and of eating the salt of a man whom you do not definitely + know to be a gentleman." + </p> + <p> + "Mah goodness!" his daughter broke in. "If you bah your own salt with his + money—" + </p> + <p> + "It is supposed that I earn his money before I buy my salt with it," + returned her father, severely. "And in these times, when money is got in + heaps, through the natural decay of our nefarious commercialism, it + behooves a gentleman to be scrupulous that the hospitality offered him is + not the profusion of a thief with his booty. I don't say that Mr. + Dryfoos's good-fortune is not honest. I simply say that I know nothing + about it, and that I should prefer to know something before I sat down at + his board." + </p> + <p> + "You're all right, colonel," said Fulkerson, "and so is Mr. Dryfoos. I + give you my word that there are no flies on his personal integrity, if + that's what you mean. He's hard, and he'd push an advantage, but I don't + believe he would take an unfair one. He's speculated and made money every + time, but I never heard of his wrecking a railroad or belonging to any + swindling company or any grinding monopoly. He does chance it in stocks, + but he's always played on the square, if you call stocks gambling." + </p> + <p> + "May I think this over till morning?" asked the colonel. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, certainly, certainly," said Fulkerson, eagerly. "I don't know as + there's any hurry." + </p> + <p> + Miss Woodburn found a chance to murmur to him before he went: "He'll come. + And Ah'm so much oblahged, Mr. Fulkerson. Ah jost know it's all you' + doing, and it will give papa a chance to toak to some new people, and get + away from us evahlastin' women for once." + </p> + <p> + "I don't see why any one should want to do that," said Fulkerson, with + grateful gallantry. "But I'll be dogged," he said to March when he told + him about this odd experience, "if I ever expected to find Colonel + Woodburn on old Lindau's ground. He did come round handsomely this morning + at breakfast and apologized for taking time to think the invitation over + before he accepted. 'You understand,' he says, 'that if it had been to the + table of some friend not so prosperous as Mr. Dryfoos—your friend + Mr. March, for instance—it would have been sufficient to know that + he was your friend. But in these days it is a duty that a gentleman owes + himself to consider whether he wishes to know a rich man or not. The + chances of making money disreputably are so great that the chances are + against a man who has made money if he's made a great deal of it.'" + </p> + <p> + March listened with a face of ironical insinuation. "That was very good; + and he seems to have had a good deal of confidence in your patience and in + your sense of his importance to the occasion—" + </p> + <p> + "No, no," Fulkerson protested, "there's none of that kind of thing about + the colonel. I told him to take time to think it over; he's the + simplest-hearted old fellow in the world." + </p> + <p> + "I should say so. After all, he didn't give any reason he had for + accepting. But perhaps the young lady had the reason." + </p> + <p> + "Pshaw, March!" said Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0043" id="link2H_4_0043"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. + </h2> + <p> + So far as the Dryfoos family was concerned, the dinner might as well have + been given at Frescobaldi's rooms. None of the ladies appeared. Mrs. + Dryfoos was glad to escape to her own chamber, where she sat before an + autumnal fire, shaking her head and talking to herself at times, with the + foreboding of evil which old women like her make part of their religion. + The girls stood just out of sight at the head of the stairs, and disputed + which guest it was at each arrival; Mrs. Mandel had gone to her room to + write letters, after beseeching them not to stand there. When Kendricks + came, Christine gave Mela a little pinch, equivalent to a little mocking + shriek; for, on the ground of his long talk with Mela at Mrs. Horn's, in + the absence of any other admirer, they based a superstition of his + interest in her; when Beaton came, Mela returned the pinch, but awkwardly, + so that it hurt, and then Christine involuntarily struck her. + </p> + <p> + Frescobaldi's men were in possession everywhere they had turned the cook + out of her kitchen and the waitress out of her pantry; the reluctant + Irishman at the door was supplemented by a vivid Italian, who spoke French + with the guests, and said, "Bien, Monsieur," and "toute suite," and + "Merci!" to all, as he took their hats and coats, and effused a + hospitality that needed no language but the gleam of his eyes and teeth + and the play of his eloquent hands. From his professional dress-coat, + lustrous with the grease spotted on it at former dinners and parties, they + passed to the frocks of the elder and younger Dryfoos in the drawing-room, + which assumed informality for the affair, but did not put their wearers + wholly at their ease. The father's coat was of black broadcloth, and he + wore it unbuttoned; the skirts were long, and the sleeves came down to his + knuckles; he shook hands with his guests, and the same dryness seemed to + be in his palm and throat, as he huskily asked each to take a chair. + Conrad's coat was of modern texture and cut, and was buttoned about him as + if it concealed a bad conscience within its lapels; he met March with his + entreating smile, and he seemed no more capable of coping with the + situation than his father. They both waited for Fulkerson, who went about + and did his best to keep life in the party during the half-hour that + passed before they sat down at dinner. Beaton stood gloomily aloof, as if + waiting to be approached on the right basis before yielding an inch of his + ground; Colonel Woodburn, awaiting the moment when he could sally out on + his hobby, kept himself intrenched within the dignity of a gentleman, and + examined askance the figure of old Lindau as he stared about the room, + with his fine head up, and his empty sleeve dangling over his wrist. March + felt obliged to him for wearing a new coat in the midst of that hostile + luxury, and he was glad to see Dryfoos make up to him and begin to talk + with him, as if he wished to show him particular respect, though it might + have been because he was less afraid of him than of the others. He heard + Lindau saying, "Boat, the name is Choarman?" and Dryfoos beginning to + explain his Pennsylvania Dutch origin, and he suffered himself, with a + sigh of relief, to fall into talk with Kendricks, who was always pleasant; + he was willing to talk about something besides himself, and had no + opinions that he was not ready to hold in abeyance for the time being out + of kindness to others. In that group of impassioned individualities, March + felt him a refuge and comfort—with his harmless dilettante intention + of some day writing a novel, and his belief that he was meantime + collecting material for it. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson, while breaking the ice for the whole company, was mainly + engaged in keeping Colonel Woodburn thawed out. He took Kendricks away + from March and presented him to the colonel as a person who, like himself, + was looking into social conditions; he put one hand on Kendricks's + shoulder, and one on the colonel's, and made some flattering joke, + apparently at the expense of the young fellow, and then left them. March + heard Kendricks protest in vain, and the colonel say, gravely: "I do not + wonder, sir, that these things interest you. They constitute a problem + which society must solve or which will dissolve society," and he knew from + that formula, which the colonel had, once used with him, that he was + laying out a road for the exhibition of the hobby's paces later. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson came back to March, who had turned toward Conrad Dryfoos, and + said, "If we don't get this thing going pretty soon, it 'll be the death + of me," and just then Frescobaldi's butler came in and announced to + Dryfoos that dinner was served. The old man looked toward Fulkerson with a + troubled glance, as if he did not know what to do; he made a gesture to + touch Lindau's elbow. Fulkerson called out, "Here's Colonel Woodburn, Mr. + Dryfoos," as if Dryfoos were looking for him; and he set the example of + what he was to do by taking Lindau's arm himself. "Mr. Lindau is going to + sit at my end of the table, alongside of March. Stand not upon the order + of your going, gentlemen, but fall in at once." He contrived to get + Dryfoos and the colonel before him, and he let March follow with + Kendricks. Conrad came last with Beaton, who had been turning over the + music at the piano, and chafing inwardly at the whole affair. At the table + Colonel Woodburn was placed on Dryfoos's right, and March on his left. + March sat on Fulkerson's right, with Lindau next him; and the young men + occupied the other seats. + </p> + <p> + "Put you next to March, Mr. Lindau," said Fulkerson, "so you can begin to + put Apollinaris in his champagne-glass at the right moment; you know his + little weakness of old; sorry to say it's grown on him." + </p> + <p> + March laughed with kindly acquiescence in Fulkerson's wish to start the + gayety, and Lindau patted him on the shoulder. "I know hiss veakness. If + he liges a class of vine, it iss begause his loaf ingludes efen hiss + enemy, as Shakespeare galled it." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, but Shakespeare couldn't have been thinking of champagne," said + Kendricks. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose, sir," Colonel Woodburn interposed, with lofty courtesy, + "champagne could hardly have been known in his day." + </p> + <p> + "I suppose not, colonel," returned the younger man, deferentially. "He + seemed to think that sack and sugar might be a fault; but he didn't + mention champagne." + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps he felt there was no question about that," suggested Beaton, who + then felt that he had not done himself justice in the sally. + </p> + <p> + "I wonder just when champagne did come in," said March. + </p> + <p> + "I know when it ought to come in," said Fulkerson. "Before the soup!" + </p> + <p> + They all laughed, and gave themselves the air of drinking champagne out of + tumblers every day, as men like to do. Dryfoos listened uneasily; he did + not quite understand the allusions, though he knew what Shakespeare was, + well enough; Conrad's face expressed a gentle deprecation of joking on + such a subject, but he said nothing. + </p> + <p> + The talk ran on briskly through the dinner. The young men tossed the ball + back and forth; they made some wild shots, but they kept it going, and + they laughed when they were hit. The wine loosed Colonel Woodburn's + tongue; he became very companionable with the young fellows; with the + feeling that a literary dinner ought to have a didactic scope, he praised + Scott and Addison as the only authors fit to form the minds of gentlemen. + </p> + <p> + Kendricks agreed with him, but wished to add the name of Flaubert as a + master of style. "Style, you know," he added, "is the man." + </p> + <p> + "Very true, sir; you are quite right, sir," the colonel assented; he + wondered who Flaubert was. + </p> + <p> + Beaton praised Baudelaire and Maupassant; he said these were the masters. + He recited some lurid verses from Baudelaire; Lindau pronounced them a + disgrace to human nature, and gave a passage from Victor Hugo on Louis + Napoleon, with his heavy German accent, and then he quoted Schiller. "Ach, + boat that is a peaudifool! Not zo?" he demanded of March. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, beautiful; but, of course, you know I think there's nobody like + Heine!" + </p> + <p> + Lindau threw back his great old head and laughed, showing a want of teeth + under his mustache. He put his hand on March's back. "This poy—he + was a poy den—wars so gracy to pekin reading Heine that he gommence + with the tictionary bevore he knows any Grammar, and ve bick it out vort + by vort togeder." + </p> + <p> + "He was a pretty cay poy in those days, heigh, Lindau?" asked Fulkerson, + burlesquing the old man's accent, with an impudent wink that made Lindau + himself laugh. "But in the dark ages, I mean, there in Indianapolis. Just + how long ago did you old codgers meet there, anyway?" Fulkerson saw the + restiveness in Dryfoos's eye at the purely literary course the talk had + taken; he had intended it to lead up that way to business, to 'Every Other + Week;' but he saw that it was leaving Dryfoos too far out, and he wished + to get it on the personal ground, where everybody is at home. + </p> + <p> + "Ledt me zee," mused Lindau. "Wass it in fifty-nine or zixty, Passil? Idt + wass a year or dwo pefore the war proke oudt, anyway." + </p> + <p> + "Those were exciting times," said Dryfoos, making his first entry into the + general talk. "I went down to Indianapolis with the first company from our + place, and I saw the red-shirts pouring in everywhere. They had a song, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Oh, never mind the weather, but git over double trouble, + For we're bound for the land of Canaan." +</pre> + <p> + The fellows locked arms and went singin' it up and down four or five + abreast in the moonlight; crowded everybody else off the sidewalk." + </p> + <p> + "I remember, I remember," said Lindau, nodding his head slowly up and + down. "A coodt many off them nefer gome pack from that landt of Ganaan, + Mr. Dryfoos?" + </p> + <p> + "You're right, Mr. Lindau. But I reckon it was worth it—the country + we've got now. Here, young man!" He caught the arm of the waiter who was + going round with the champagne bottle. "Fill up Mr. Lindau's glass, there. + I want to drink the health of those old times with him. Here's to your + empty sleeve, Mr. Lindau. God bless it! No offence to you, Colonel + Woodburn," said Dryfoos, turning to him before he drank. + </p> + <p> + "Not at all, sir, not at all," said the colonel. "I will drink with you, + if you will permit me." + </p> + <p> + "We'll all drink—standing!" cried Fulkerson. "Help March to get up, + somebody! Fill high the bowl with Samian Apollinaris for Coonrod! Now, + then, hurrah for Lindau!" + </p> + <p> + They cheered, and hammered on the table with the butts of their + knife-handles. Lindau remained seated. The tears came into his eyes; he + said, "I thank you, chendlemen," and hiccoughed. + </p> + <p> + "I'd 'a' went into the war myself," said Dryfoos, "but I was raisin' a + family of young children, and I didn't see how I could leave my farm. But + I helped to fill up the quota at every call, and when the volunteering + stopped I went round with the subscription paper myself; and we offered as + good bounties as any in the State. My substitute was killed in one of the + last skirmishes—in fact, after Lee's surrender—and I've took + care of his family, more or less, ever since." + </p> + <p> + "By-the-way, March," said Fulkerson, "what sort of an idea would it be to + have a good war story—might be a serial—in the magazine? The + war has never fully panned out in fiction yet. It was used a good deal + just after it was over, and then it was dropped. I think it's time to take + it up again. I believe it would be a card." + </p> + <p> + It was running in March's mind that Dryfoos had an old rankling shame in + his heart for not having gone into the war, and that he had often made + that explanation of his course without having ever been satisfied with it. + He felt sorry for him; the fact seemed pathetic; it suggested a dormant + nobleness in the man. + </p> + <p> + Beaton was saying to Fulkerson: "You might get a series of sketches by + substitutes; the substitutes haven't been much heard from in the war + literature. How would 'The Autobiography of a Substitute' do? You might + follow him up to the moment he was killed in the other man's place, and + inquire whether he had any right to the feelings of a hero when he was + only hired in the place of one. Might call it 'The Career of a Deputy + Hero.'" + </p> + <p> + "I fancy," said March, "that there was a great deal of mixed motive in the + men who went into the war as well as in those who kept out of it. We + canonized all that died or suffered in it, but some of them must have been + self-seeking and low-minded, like men in other vocations." He found + himself saying this in Dryfoos's behalf; the old man looked at him + gratefully at first, he thought, and then suspiciously. + </p> + <p> + Lindau turned his head toward him and said: "You are righdt, Passil; you + are righdt. I haf zeen on the fieldt of pattle the voarst eggsipitions of + human paseness—chelousy, fanity, ecodistic bridte. I haf zeen men in + the face off death itself gofferned by motifes as low as—as pusiness + motifes." + </p> + <p> + "Well," said Fulkerson, "it would be a grand thing for 'Every Other Week' + if we could get some of those ideas worked up into a series. It would make + a lot of talk." + </p> + <p> + Colonel Woodburn ignored him in saying, "I think, Major Lindau—" + </p> + <p> + "High brifate; prefet gorporal," the old man interrupted, in rejection of + the title. + </p> + <p> + Hendricks laughed and said, with a glance of appreciation at Lindau, + "Brevet corporal is good." + </p> + <p> + Colonel Woodburn frowned a little, and passed over the joke. "I think Mr. + Lindau is right. Such exhibitions were common to both sides, though if you + gentlemen will pardon me for saying so, I think they were less frequent on + ours. We were fighting more immediately for existence. We were fewer than + you were, and we knew it; we felt more intensely that if each were not for + all, then none was for any." + </p> + <p> + The colonel's words made their impression. Dryfoos said, with authority, + "That is so." + </p> + <p> + "Colonel Woodburn," Fulkerson called out, "if you'll work up those ideas + into a short paper—say, three thousand words—I'll engage to + make March take it." + </p> + <p> + The colonel went on without replying: "But Mr. Lindau is right in + characterizing some of the motives that led men to the cannon's mouth as + no higher than business motives, and his comparison is the most forcible + that he could have used. I was very much struck by it." + </p> + <p> + The hobby was out, the colonel was in the saddle with so firm a seat that + no effort sufficed to dislodge him. The dinner went on from course to + course with barbaric profusion, and from time to time Fulkerson tried to + bring the talk back to 'Every Other Week.' But perhaps because that was + only the ostensible and not the real object of the dinner, which was to + bring a number of men together under Dryfoos's roof, and make them the + witnesses of his splendor, make them feel the power of his wealth, + Fulkerson's attempts failed. The colonel showed how commercialism was the + poison at the heart of our national life; how we began as a simple, + agricultural people, who had fled to these shores with the instinct, + divinely implanted, of building a state such as the sun never shone upon + before; how we had conquered the wilderness and the savage; how we had + flung off, in our struggle with the mother-country, the trammels of + tradition and precedent, and had settled down, a free nation, to the + practice of the arts of peace; how the spirit of commercialism had stolen + insidiously upon us, and the infernal impulse of competition had embroiled + us in a perpetual warfare of interests, developing the worst passions of + our nature, and teaching us to trick and betray and destroy one another in + the strife for money, till now that impulse had exhausted itself, and we + found competition gone and the whole economic problem in the hands of + monopolies—the Standard Oil Company, the Sugar Trust, the Rubber + Trust, and what not. And now what was the next thing? Affairs could not + remain as they were; it was impossible; and what was the next thing? + </p> + <p> + The company listened for the main part silently. Dryfoos tried to grasp + the idea of commercialism as the colonel seemed to hold it; he conceived + of it as something like the dry-goods business on a vast scale, and he + knew he had never been in that. He did not like to hear competition called + infernal; he had always supposed it was something sacred; but he approved + of what Colonel Woodburn said of the Standard Oil Company; it was all + true; the Standard Oil has squeezed Dryfoos once, and made him sell it a + lot of oil-wells by putting down the price of oil so low in that region + that he lost money on every barrel he pumped. + </p> + <p> + All the rest listened silently, except Lindau; at every point the colonel + made against the present condition of things he said more and more + fiercely, "You are righdt, you are righdt." His eyes glowed, his hand + played with his knife-hilt. When the colonel demanded, "And what is the + next thing?" he threw himself forward, and repeated: "Yes, sir! What is + the next thing?" + </p> + <p> + "Natural gas, by thunder!" shouted Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + One of the waiters had profited by Lindau's posture to lean over him and + put down in the middle of the table a structure in white sugar. It + expressed Frescobaldi's conception of a derrick, and a touch of nature had + been added in the flame of brandy, which burned luridly up from a small + pit in the centre of the base, and represented the gas in combustion as it + issued from the ground. Fulkerson burst into a roar of laughter with the + words that recognized Frescobaldi's personal tribute to Dryfoos. Everybody + rose and peered over at the thing, while he explained the work of sinking + a gas-well, as he had already explained it to Frescobaldi. In the midst of + his lecture he caught sight of the caterer himself, where he stood in the + pantry doorway, smiling with an artist's anxiety for the effect of his + masterpiece. + </p> + <p> + "Come in, come in, Frescobaldi! We want to congratulate you," Fulkerson + called to him. "Here, gentlemen! Here's Frescobaldi's health." + </p> + <p> + They all drank; and Frescobaldi, smiling brilliantly and rubbing his hands + as he bowed right and left, permitted himself to say to Dryfoos: "You are + please; no? You like?" + </p> + <p> + "First-rate, first-rate!" said the old man; but when the Italian had bowed + himself out and his guests had sunk into their seats again, he said dryly + to Fulkerson, "I reckon they didn't have to torpedo that well, or the + derrick wouldn't look quite so nice and clean." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," Fulkerson answered, "and that ain't quite the style—that + little wiggly-waggly blue flame—that the gas acts when you touch off + a good vein of it. This might do for weak gas"; and he went on to explain: + </p> + <p> + "They call it weak gas when they tap it two or three hundred feet down; + and anybody can sink a well in his back yard and get enough gas to light + and heat his house. I remember one fellow that had it blazing up from a + pipe through a flower-bed, just like a jet of water from a fountain. My, + my, my! You fel—you gentlemen—ought to go out and see that + country, all of you. Wish we could torpedo this well, Mr. Dryfoos, and let + 'em see how it works! Mind that one you torpedoed for me? You know, when + they sink a well," he went on to the company, "they can't always most + generally sometimes tell whether they're goin' to get gas or oil or salt + water. Why, when they first began to bore for salt water out on the + Kanawha, back about the beginning of the century, they used to get gas now + and then, and then they considered it a failure; they called a gas-well a + blower, and give it up in disgust; the time wasn't ripe for gas yet. Now + they bore away sometimes till they get half-way to China, and don't seem + to strike anything worth speaking of. Then they put a dynamite torpedo + down in the well and explode it. They have a little bar of iron that they + call a Go-devil, and they just drop it down on the business end of the + torpedo, and then stand from under, if you please! You hear a noise, and + in about half a minute you begin to see one, and it begins to rain oil and + mud and salt water and rocks and pitchforks and adoptive citizens; and + when it clears up the derrick's painted—got a coat on that'll wear + in any climate. That's what our honored host meant. Generally get some + visiting lady, when there's one round, to drop the Go-devil. But that day + we had to put up with Conrad here. They offered to let me drop it, but I + declined. I told 'em I hadn't much practice with Go-devils in the + newspaper syndicate business, and I wasn't very well myself, anyway. + Astonishing," Fulkerson continued, with the air of relieving his + explanation by an anecdote, "how reckless they get using dynamite when + they're torpedoing wells. We stopped at one place where a fellow was + handling the cartridges pretty freely, and Mr. Dryfoos happened to caution + him a little, and that ass came up with one of 'em in his hand, and began + to pound it on the buggy-wheel to show us how safe it was. I turned green, + I was so scared; but Mr. Dryfoos kept his color, and kind of coaxed the + fellow till he quit. You could see he was the fool kind, that if you tried + to stop him he'd keep on hammering that cartridge, just to show that it + wouldn't explode, till he blew you into Kingdom Come. When we got him to + go away, Mr. Dryfoos drove up to his foreman. 'Pay Sheney off, and + discharge him on the spot,' says he. 'He's too safe a man to have round; + he knows too much about dynamite.' I never saw anybody so cool." + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos modestly dropped his head under Fulkerson's flattery and, without + lifting it, turned his eyes toward Colonel Woodburn. "I had all sorts of + men to deal with in developing my property out there, but I had very + little trouble with them, generally speaking." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, ah! you foundt the laboring-man reasonable—dractable—tocile?" + Lindau put in. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, generally speaking," Dryfoos answered. "They mostly knew which side + of their bread was buttered. I did have one little difficulty at one time. + It happened to be when Mr. Fulkerson was out there. Some of the men tried + to form a union—" + </p> + <p> + "No, no!" cried Fulkerson. "Let me tell that! I know you wouldn't do + yourself justice, Mr. Dryfoos, and I want 'em to know how a strike can be + managed, if you take it in time. You see, some of those fellows got a + notion that there ought to be a union among the working-men to keep up + wages, and dictate to the employers, and Mr. Dryfoos's foreman was the + ringleader in the business. They understood pretty well that as soon as he + found it out that foreman would walk the plank, and so they watched out + till they thought they had Mr. Dryfoos just where they wanted him—everything + on the keen jump, and every man worth his weight in diamonds—and + then they came to him, and—told him to sign a promise to keep that + foreman to the end of the season, or till he was through with the work on + the Dryfoos and Hendry Addition, under penalty of having them all knock + off. Mr. Dryfoos smelled a mouse, but he couldn't tell where the mouse + was; he saw that they did have him, and he signed, of course. There wasn't + anything really against the fellow, anyway; he was a first-rate man, and + he did his duty every time; only he'd got some of those ideas into his + head, and they turned it. Mr. Dryfoos signed, and then he laid low." + </p> + <p> + March saw Lindau listening with a mounting intensity, and heard him murmur + in German, "Shameful! shameful!" + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson went on: "Well, it wasn't long before they began to show their + hand, but Mr. Dryfoos kept dark. He agreed to everything; there never was + such an obliging capitalist before; there wasn't a thing they asked of him + that he didn't do, with the greatest of pleasure, and all went merry as a + marriage-bell till one morning a whole gang of fresh men marched into the + Dryfoos and Hendry Addition, under the escort of a dozen Pinkertons with + repeating rifles at half-cock, and about fifty fellows found themselves + out of a job. You never saw such a mad set." + </p> + <p> + "Pretty neat," said Kendricks, who looked at the affair purely from an + aesthetic point of view. "Such a coup as that would tell tremendously in a + play." + </p> + <p> + "That was vile treason," said Lindau in German to March. "He's an infamous + traitor! I cannot stay here. I must go." + </p> + <p> + He struggled to rise, while March held him by the coat, and implored him + under his voice: "For Heaven's sake, don't, Lindau! You owe it to yourself + not to make a scene, if you come here." Something in it all affected him + comically; he could not help laughing. + </p> + <p> + The others were discussing the matter, and seemed not to have noticed + Lindau, who controlled himself and sighed: "You are right. I must have + patience." + </p> + <p> + Beaton was saying to Dryfoos, "Pity your Pinkertons couldn't have given + them a few shots before they left." + </p> + <p> + "No, that wasn't necessary," said Dryfoos. "I succeeded in breaking up the + union. I entered into an agreement with other parties not to employ any + man who would not swear that he was non-union. If they had attempted + violence, of course they could have been shot. But there was no fear of + that. Those fellows can always be depended upon to cut one another's + throats in the long run." + </p> + <p> + "But sometimes," said Colonel Woodburn, who had been watching throughout. + for a chance to mount his hobby again, "they make a good deal of trouble + first. How was it in the great railroad strike of '77?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, I guess there was a little trouble that time, colonel," said + Fulkerson. "But the men that undertake to override the laws and paralyze + the industries of a country like this generally get left in the end." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sir, generally; and up to a certain point, always. But it's the + exceptional that is apt to happen, as well as the unexpected. And a little + reflection will convince any gentleman here that there is always a danger + of the exceptional in your system. The fact is, those fellows have the + game in their own hands already. A strike of the whole body of the + Brotherhood of Engineers alone would starve out the entire Atlantic + seaboard in a week; labor insurrection could make head at a dozen given + points, and your government couldn't move a man over the roads without the + help of the engineers." + </p> + <p> + "That is so," said Kendrick, struck by the dramatic character of the + conjecture. He imagined a fiction dealing with the situation as something + already accomplished. + </p> + <p> + "Why don't some fellow do the Battle of Dorking act with that thing?" said + Fulkerson. "It would be a card." + </p> + <p> + "Exactly what I was thinking, Mr. Fulkerson," said Kendricks. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson laughed. "Telepathy—clear case of mind transference. + Better see March, here, about it. I'd like to have it in 'Every Other + Week.' It would make talk." + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps it might set your people to thinking as well as talking," said + the colonel. + </p> + <p> + "Well, sir," said Dryfoos, setting his lips so tightly together that his + imperial stuck straight outward, "if I had my way, there wouldn't be any + Brotherhood of Engineers, nor any other kind of labor union in the whole + country." + </p> + <p> + "What!" shouted Lindau. "You would sobbress the unionss of the + voarking-men?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I would." + </p> + <p> + "And what would you do with the unionss of the gabidalists—the + drosts—and gompines, and boolss? Would you dake the righdt from one + and gif it to the odder?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sir, I would," said Dryfoos, with a wicked look at him. + </p> + <p> + Lindau was about to roar back at him with some furious protest, but March + put his hand on his shoulder imploringly, and Lindau turned to him to say + in German: "But it is infamous—infamous! What kind of man is this? + Who is he? He has the heart of a tyrant." + </p> + <p> + Colonel Woodburn cut in. "You couldn't do that, Mr. Dryfoos, under your + system. And if you attempted it, with your conspiracy laws, and that kind + of thing, it might bring the climax sooner than you expected. Your + commercialized society has built its house on the sands. It will have to + go. But I should be sorry if it went before its time." + </p> + <p> + "You are righdt, sir," said Lindau. "It would be a bity. I hobe it will + last till it feelss its rottenness, like Herodt. Boat, when its hour + gomes, when it trope to bieces with the veight off its own gorrubtion—what + then?" + </p> + <p> + "It's not to be supposed that a system of things like this can drop to + pieces of its own accord, like the old Republic of Venice," said the + colonel. "But when the last vestige of commercial society is gone, then we + can begin to build anew; and we shall build upon the central idea, not of + the false liberty you now worship, but of responsibility —responsibility. + The enlightened, the moneyed, the cultivated class shall be responsible to + the central authority—emperor, duke, president; the name does not + matter—for the national expense and the national defence, and it + shall be responsible to the working-classes of all kinds for homes and + lands and implements, and the opportunity to labor at all times. + </p> + <p> + "The working-classes shall be responsible to the leisure class for the + support of its dignity in peace, and shall be subject to its command in + war. The rich shall warrant the poor against planless production and the + ruin that now follows, against danger from without and famine from within, + and the poor—" + </p> + <p> + "No, no, no!" shouted Lindau. "The State shall do that—the whole + beople. The men who voark shall have and shall eat; and the men that will + not voark, they shall sdarfe. But no man need sdarfe. He will go to the + State, and the State will see that he haf voark, and that he haf foodt. + All the roadts and mills and mines and landts shall be the beople's and be + ron by the beople for the beople. There shall be no rich and no boor; and + there shall not be war any more, for what bower wouldt dare to addack a + beople bound togeder in a broderhood like that?" + </p> + <p> + "Lion and lamb act," said Fulkerson, not well knowing, after so much + champagne, what words he was using. + </p> + <p> + No one noticed him, and Colonel Woodburn said coldly to Lindau, "You are + talking paternalism, sir." + </p> + <p> + "And you are dalking feutalism!" retorted the old man. + </p> + <p> + The colonel did not reply. A silence ensued, which no one broke till + Fulkerson said: "Well, now, look here. If either one of these millenniums + was brought about, by force of arms, or otherwise, what would become of + 'Every Other Week'? Who would want March for an editor? How would Beaton + sell his pictures? Who would print Mr. Kendricks's little society verses + and short stories? What would become of Conrad and his good works?" Those + named grinned in support of Fulkerson's diversion, but Lindau and the + colonel did not speak; Dryfoos looked down at his plate, frowning. + </p> + <p> + A waiter came round with cigars, and Fulkerson took one. "Ah," he said, as + he bit off the end, and leaned over to the emblematic masterpiece, where + the brandy was still feebly flickering, "I wonder if there's enough + natural gas left to light my cigar." His effort put the flame out and + knocked the derrick over; it broke in fragments on the table. Fulkerson + cackled over the ruin: "I wonder if all Moffitt will look that way after + labor and capital have fought it out together. I hope this ain't ominous + of anything personal, Dryfoos?" + </p> + <p> + "I'll take the risk of it," said the old man, harshly. + </p> + <p> + He rose mechanically, and Fulkerson said to Frescobaldi's man, "You can + bring us the coffee in the library." + </p> + <p> + The talk did not recover itself there. Landau would not sit down; he + refused coffee, and dismissed himself with a haughty bow to the company; + Colonel Woodburn shook hands elaborately all round, when he had smoked his + cigar; the others followed him. It seemed to March that his own good-night + from Dryfoos was dry and cold. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0044" id="link2H_4_0044"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. + </h2> + <p> + March met Fulkerson on the steps of the office next morning, when he + arrived rather later than his wont. Fulkerson did not show any of the + signs of suffering from the last night's pleasure which painted themselves + in March's face. He flirted his hand gayly in the air, and said, "How's + your poor head?" and broke into a knowing laugh. "You don't seem to have + got up with the lark this morning. The old gentleman is in there with + Conrad, as bright as a biscuit; he's beat you down. Well, we did have a + good time, didn't we? And old Lindau and the colonel, didn't they have a + good time? I don't suppose they ever had a chance before to give their + theories quite so much air. Oh, my! how they did ride over us! I'm just + going down to see Beaton about the cover of the Christmas number. I think + we ought to try it in three or four colors, if we are going to observe the + day at all." He was off before March could pull himself together to ask + what Dryfoos wanted at the office at that hour of the morning; he always + came in the afternoon on his way up-town. + </p> + <p> + The fact of his presence renewed the sinister misgivings with which March + had parted from him the night before, but Fulkerson's cheerfulness seemed + to gainsay them; afterward March did not know whether to attribute this + mood to the slipperiness that he was aware of at times in Fulkerson, or to + a cynical amusement he might have felt at leaving him alone to the old + man, who mounted to his room shortly after March had reached it. + </p> + <p> + A sort of dumb anger showed itself in his face; his jaw was set so firmly + that he did not seem able at once to open it. He asked, without the + ceremonies of greeting, "What does that one-armed Dutchman do on this + book?" + </p> + <p> + "What does he do?" March echoed, as people are apt to do with a question + that is mandatory and offensive. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sir, what does he do? Does he write for it?" + </p> + <p> + "I suppose you mean Lindau," said March. He saw no reason for refusing to + answer Dryfoos's demand, and he decided to ignore its terms. "No, he + doesn't write for it in the usual way. He translates for it; he examines + the foreign magazines, and draws my attention to anything he thinks of + interest. But I told you about this before—" + </p> + <p> + "I know what you told me, well enough. And I know what he is. He is a + red-mouthed labor agitator. He's one of those foreigners that come here + from places where they've never had a decent meal's victuals in their + lives, and as soon as they get their stomachs full, they begin to make + trouble between our people and their hands. There's where the strikes come + from, and the unions and the secret societies. They come here and break + our Sabbath, and teach their atheism. They ought to be hung! Let 'em go + back if they don't like it over here. They want to ruin the country." + </p> + <p> + March could not help smiling a little at the words, which came fast enough + now in the hoarse staccato of Dryfoos's passion. "I don't know whom you + mean by they, generally speaking; but I had the impression that poor old + Lindau had once done his best to save the country. I don't always like his + way of talking, but I know that he is one of the truest and kindest souls + in the world; and he is no more an atheist than I am. He is my friend, and + I can't allow him to be misunderstood." + </p> + <p> + "I don't care what he is," Dryfoos broke out, "I won't have him round. He + can't have any more work from this office. I want you to stop it. I want + you to turn him off." + </p> + <p> + March was standing at his desk, as he had risen to receive Dryfoos when he + entered. He now sat down, and began to open his letters. + </p> + <p> + "Do you hear?" the old man roared at him. "I want you to turn him off." + </p> + <p> + "Excuse me, Mr. Dryfoos," said March, succeeding in an effort to speak + calmly, "I don't know you, in such a matter as this. My arrangements as + editor of 'Every Other Week' were made with Mr. Fulkerson. I have always + listened to any suggestion he has had to make." + </p> + <p> + "I don't care for Mr. Fulkerson! He has nothing to do with it," retorted + Dryfoos; but he seemed a little daunted by March's position. + </p> + <p> + "He has everything to do with it as far as I am concerned," March + answered, with a steadiness that he did not feel. "I know that you are the + owner of the periodical, but I can't receive any suggestion from you, for + the reason that I have given. Nobody but Mr. Fulkerson has any right to + talk with me about its management." + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos glared at him for a moment, and demanded, threateningly: "Then you + say you won't turn that old loafer off? You say that I have got to keep on + paying my money out to buy beer for a man that would cut my throat if he + got the chance?" + </p> + <p> + "I say nothing at all, Mr. Dryfoos," March answered. The blood came into + his face, and he added: "But I will say that if you speak again of Mr. + Lindau in those terms, one of us must leave this room. I will not hear + you." + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos looked at him with astonishment; then he struck his hat down on + his head, and stamped out of the room and down the stairs; and a vague + pity came into March's heart that was not altogether for himself. He might + be the greater sufferer in the end, but he was sorry to have got the + better of that old man for the moment; and he felt ashamed of the anger + into which Dryfoos's anger had surprised him. He knew he could not say too + much in defence of Lindau's generosity and unselfishness, and he had not + attempted to defend him as a political economist. He could not have taken + any ground in relation to Dryfoos but that which he held, and he felt + satisfied that he was right in refusing to receive instructions or + commands from him. Yet somehow he was not satisfied with the whole affair, + and not merely because his present triumph threatened his final advantage, + but because he felt that in his heart he had hardly done justice to + Dryfoos's rights in the matter; it did not quite console him to reflect + that Dryfoos had himself made it impossible. He was tempted to go home and + tell his wife what had happened, and begin his preparations for the future + at once. But he resisted this weakness and kept mechanically about his + work, opening the letters and the manuscripts before him with that curious + double action of the mind common in men of vivid imaginations. It was a + relief when Conrad Dryfoos, having apparently waited to make sure that his + father would not return, came up from the counting-room and looked in on + March with a troubled face. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. March," he began, "I hope father hasn't been saying anything to you + that you can't overlook. I know he was very much excited, and when he is + excited he is apt to say things that he is sorry for." + </p> + <p> + The apologetic attitude taken for Dryfoos, so different from any attitude + the peremptory old man would have conceivably taken for himself, made + March smile. "Oh no. I fancy the boot is on the other leg. I suspect I've + said some things your father can't overlook, Conrad." He called the young + man by his Christian name partly to distinguish him from his father, + partly from the infection of Fulkerson's habit, and partly from a kindness + for him that seemed naturally to express itself in that way. + </p> + <p> + "I know he didn't sleep last night, after you all went away," Conrad + pursued, "and of course that made him more irritable; and he was tried a + good deal by some of the things that Mr. Lindau said." + </p> + <p> + "I was tried a good deal myself," said March. "Lindau ought never to have + been there." + </p> + <p> + "No." Conrad seemed only partially to assent. + </p> + <p> + "I told Mr. Fulkerson so. I warned him that Lindau would be apt to break + out in some way. It wasn't just to him, and it wasn't just to your father, + to ask him." + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Fulkerson had a good motive," Conrad gently urged. "He did it because + he hurt his feelings that day about the pension." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, but it was a mistake. He knew that Lindau was inflexible about his + principles, as he calls them, and that one of his first principles is to + denounce the rich in season and out of season. I don't remember just what + he said last night; and I really thought I'd kept him from breaking out in + the most offensive way. But your father seems very much incensed." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I know," said Conrad. + </p> + <p> + "Of course, I don't agree with Lindau. I think there are as many good, + kind, just people among the rich as there are among the poor, and that + they are as generous and helpful. But Lindau has got hold of one of those + partial truths that hurt worse than the whole truth, and—" + </p> + <p> + "Partial truth!" the young man interrupted. "Didn't the Saviour himself + say, 'How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of + God?'" + </p> + <p> + "Why, bless my soul!" cried March. "Do you agree with Lindau?" + </p> + <p> + "I agree with the Lord Jesus Christ," said the young man, solemnly, and a + strange light of fanaticism, of exaltation, came into his wide blue eyes. + "And I believe He meant the kingdom of heaven upon this earth, as well as + in the skies." + </p> + <p> + March threw himself back in his chair and looked at him with a kind of + stupefaction, in which his eye wandered to the doorway, where he saw + Fulkerson standing, it seemed to him a long time, before he heard him + saying: "Hello, hello! What's the row? Conrad pitching into you on old + Lindau's account, too?" + </p> + <p> + The young man turned, and, after a glance at Fulkerson's light, smiling + face, went out, as if in his present mood he could not bear the contact of + that persiflant spirit. + </p> + <p> + March felt himself getting provisionally very angry again. "Excuse me, + Fulkerson, but did you know when you went out what Mr. Dryfoos wanted to + see me for?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, no, I didn't exactly," said Fulkerson, taking his usual seat on a + chair and looking over the back of it at March. "I saw he was on his car + about something, and I thought I'd better not monkey with him much. I + supposed he was going to bring you to book about old Lindau, somehow." + Fulkerson broke into a laugh. + </p> + <p> + March remained serious. "Mr. Dryfoos," he said, willing to let the simple + statement have its own weight with Fulkerson, and nothing more, "came in + here and ordered me to discharge Lindau from his employment on the + magazine—to turn him off, as he put it." + </p> + <p> + "Did he?" asked Fulkerson, with unbroken cheerfulness. "The old man is + business, every time. Well, I suppose you can easily get somebody else to + do Lindau's work for you. This town is just running over with half-starved + linguists. What did you say?" + </p> + <p> + "What did I say?" March echoed. "Look here, Fulkerson; you may regard this + as a joke, but I don't. I'm not used to being spoken to as if I were the + foreman of a shop, and told to discharge a sensitive and cultivated man + like Lindau, as if he were a drunken mechanic; and if that's your idea of + me—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, hello, now, March! You mustn't mind the old man's way. He don't mean + anything by it—he don't know any better, if you come to that." + </p> + <p> + "Then I know better," said March. "I refused to receive any instructions + from Mr. Dryfoos, whom I don't know in my relations with 'Every Other + Week,' and I referred him to you." + </p> + <p> + "You did?" Fulkerson whistled. "He owns the thing!" + </p> + <p> + "I don't care who owns the thing," said March. "My negotiations were with + you alone from the beginning, and I leave this matter with you. What do + you wish done about Lindau?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, better let the old fool drop," said Fulkerson. "He'll light on his + feet somehow, and it will save a lot of rumpus." + </p> + <p> + "And if I decline to let him drop?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, come, now, March; don't do that," Fulkerson began. + </p> + <p> + "If I decline to let him drop," March repeated, "what will you do?" + </p> + <p> + "I'll be dogged if I know what I'll do," said Fulkerson. "I hope you won't + take that stand. If the old man went so far as to speak to you about it, + his mind is made up, and we might as well knock under first as last." + </p> + <p> + "And do you mean to say that you would not stand by me in what I + considered my duty—in a matter of principle?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, of course, March," said Fulkerson, coaxingly, "I mean to do the + right thing. But Dryfoos owns the magazine—" + </p> + <p> + "He doesn't own me," said March, rising. "He has made the little mistake + of speaking to me as if he did; and when"—March put on his hat and + took his overcoat down from its nail—"when you bring me his + apologies, or come to say that, having failed to make him understand they + were necessary, you are prepared to stand by me, I will come back to this + desk. Otherwise my resignation is at your service." + </p> + <p> + He started toward the door, and Fulkerson intercepted him. "Ah, now, look + here, March! Don't do that! Hang it all, don't you see where it leaves me? + Now, you just sit down a minute and talk it over. I can make you see—I + can show you—Why, confound the old Dutch beer-buzzer! Twenty of him + wouldn't be worth the trouble he's makin'. Let him go, and the old man 'll + come round in time." + </p> + <p> + "I don't think we've understood each other exactly, Mr. Fulkerson," said + March, very haughtily. "Perhaps we never can; but I'll leave you to think + it out." + </p> + <p> + He pushed on, and Fulkerson stood aside to let him pass, with a dazed look + and a mechanical movement. There was something comic in his rueful + bewilderment to March, who was tempted to smile, but he said to himself + that he had as much reason to be unhappy as Fulkerson, and he did not + smile. His indignation kept him hot in his purpose to suffer any + consequence rather than submit to the dictation of a man like Dryfoos; he + felt keenly the degradation of his connection with him, and all his + resentment of Fulkerson's original uncandor returned; at the same time his + heart ached with foreboding. It was not merely the work in which he had + constantly grown happier that he saw taken from him; but he felt the + misery of the man who stakes the security and plenty and peace of home + upon some cast, and knows that losing will sweep from him most that most + men find sweet and pleasant in life. He faced the fact, which no good man + can front without terror, that he was risking the support of his family, + and for a point of pride, of honor, which perhaps he had no right to + consider in view of the possible adversity. He realized, as every hireling + must, no matter how skillfully or gracefully the tie is contrived for his + wearing, that he belongs to another, whose will is his law. His + indignation was shot with abject impulses to go back and tell Fulkerson + that it was all right, and that he gave up. To end the anguish of his + struggle he quickened his steps, so that he found he was reaching home + almost at a run. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0045" id="link2H_4_0045"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII. + </h2> + <p> + He must have made more clatter than he supposed with his key at the + apartment door, for his wife had come to let him in when he flung it open. + "Why, Basil," she said, "what's brought you back? Are you sick? You're all + pale. Well, no wonder! This is the last of Mr. Fulkerson's dinners you + shall go to. You're not strong enough for it, and your stomach will be all + out of order for a week. How hot you are! and in a drip of perspiration! + Now you'll be sick." She took his hat away, which hung dangling in his + hand, and pushed him into a chair with tender impatience. "What is the + matter? Has anything happened?" + </p> + <p> + "Everything has happened," he said, getting his voice after one or two + husky endeavors for it; and then he poured out a confused and huddled + statement of the case, from which she only got at the situation by + prolonged cross-questioning. + </p> + <p> + At the end she said, "I knew Lindau would get you into trouble." + </p> + <p> + This cut March to the heart. "Isabel!" he cried, reproachfully. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I know," she retorted, and the tears began to come. "I don't wonder + you didn't want to say much to me about that dinner at breakfast. I + noticed it; but I thought you were just dull, and so I didn't insist. I + wish I had, now. If you had told me what Lindau had said, I should have + known what would have come of it, and I could have advised you—" + </p> + <p> + "Would you have advised me," March demanded, curiously, "to submit to + bullying like that, and meekly consent to commit an act of cruelty against + a man who had once been such a friend to me?" + </p> + <p> + "It was an unlucky day when you met him. I suppose we shall have to go. + And just when we had got used to New York, and begun to like it. I don't + know where we shall go now; Boston isn't like home any more; and we + couldn't live on two thousand there; I should be ashamed to try. I'm sure + I don't know where we can live on it. I suppose in some country village, + where there are no schools, or anything for the children. I don't know + what they'll say when we tell them, poor things." + </p> + <p> + Every word was a stab in March's heart, so weakly tender to his own; his + wife's tears, after so much experience of the comparative lightness of the + griefs that weep themselves out in women, always seemed wrung from his own + soul; if his children suffered in the least through him, he felt like a + murderer. It was far worse than he could have imagined, the way his wife + took the affair, though he had imagined certain words, or perhaps only + looks, from her that were bad enough. He had allowed for trouble, but + trouble on his account: a svmpathy that might burden and embarrass him; + but he had not dreamed of this merely domestic, this petty, this sordid + view of their potential calamity, which left him wholly out of the + question, and embraced only what was most crushing and desolating in the + prospect. He could not bear it. He caught up his hat again, and, with some + hope that his wife would try to keep him, rushed out of the house. He + wandered aimlessly about, thinking the same exhausting thoughts over and + over, till he found himself horribly hungry; then he went into a + restaurant for his lunch, and when he paid he tried to imagine how he + should feel if that were really his last dollar. + </p> + <p> + He went home toward the middle of the afternoon, basely hoping that + Fulkerson had sent him some conciliatory message, or perhaps was waiting + there for him to talk it over; March was quite willing to talk it over + now. But it was his wife who again met him at the door, though it seemed + another woman than the one he had left weeping in the morning. + </p> + <p> + "I told the children," she said, in smiling explanation of his absence + from lunch, "that perhaps you were detained by business. I didn't know but + you had gone back to the office." + </p> + <p> + "Did you think I would go back there, Isabel?" asked March, with a haggard + look. "Well, if you say so, I will go back, and do what Dryfoos ordered me + to do. I'm sufficiently cowed between him and you, I can assure you." + </p> + <p> + "Nonsense," she said. "I approve of everything you did. But sit down, now, + and don't keep walking that way, and let me see if I understand it + perfectly. Of course, I had to have my say out." + </p> + <p> + She made him go all over his talk with Dryfoos again, and report his own + language precisely. From time to time, as she got his points, she said, + "That was splendid," "Good enough for him!" and "Oh, I'm so glad you said + that to him!" At the end she said: + </p> + <p> + "Well, now, let's look at it from his point of view. Let's be perfectly + just to him before we take another step forward." + </p> + <p> + "Or backward," March suggested, ruefully. "The case is simply this: he + owns the magazine." + </p> + <p> + "Of course." + </p> + <p> + "And he has a right to expect that I will consider his pecuniary interests—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, those detestable pecuniary interests! Don't you wish there wasn't any + money in the world?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; or else that there was a great deal more of it. And I was perfectly + willing to do that. I have always kept that in mind as one of my duties to + him, ever since I understood what his relation to the magazine was." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I can bear witness to that in any court of justice. You've done it a + great deal more than I could, Basil. And it was just the same way with + those horrible insurance people." + </p> + <p> + "I know," March went on, trying to be proof against her flatteries, or at + least to look as if he did not deserve praise; "I know that what Lindau + said was offensive to him, and I can understand how he felt that he had a + right to punish it. All I say is that he had no right to punish it through + me." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said Mrs. March, askingly. + </p> + <p> + "If it had been a question of making 'Every Other Week' the vehicle of + Lindau's peculiar opinions—though they're not so very peculiar; he + might have got the most of them out of Ruskin—I shouldn't have had + any ground to stand on, or at least then I should have had to ask myself + whether his opinions would be injurious to the magazine or not." + </p> + <p> + "I don't see," Mrs. March interpolated, "how they could hurt it much worse + than Colonel Woodburn's article crying up slavery." + </p> + <p> + "Well," said March, impartially, "we could print a dozen articles praising + the slavery it's impossible to have back, and it wouldn't hurt us. But if + we printed one paper against the slavery which Lindau claims still exists, + some people would call us bad names, and the counting-room would begin to + feel it. But that isn't the point. Lindau's connection with 'Every Other + Week' is almost purely mechanical; he's merely a translator of such + stories and sketches as he first submits to me, and it isn't at all a + question of his opinions hurting us, but of my becoming an agent to punish + him for his opinions. That is what I wouldn't do; that's what I never will + do." + </p> + <p> + "If you did," said his wife, "I should perfectly despise you. I didn't + understand how it was before. I thought you were just holding out against + Dryfoos because he took a dictatorial tone with you, and because you + wouldn't recognize his authority. But now I'm with you, Basil, every time, + as that horrid little Fulkerson says. But who would ever have supposed he + would be so base as to side against you?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know," said March, thoughtfully, "that we had a right to expect + anything else. Fulkerson's standards are low; they're merely business + standards, and the good that's in him is incidental and something quite + apart from his morals and methods. He's naturally a generous and + right-minded creature, but life has taught him to truckle and trick, like + the rest of us." + </p> + <p> + "It hasn't taught you that, Basil." + </p> + <p> + "Don't be so sure. Perhaps it's only that I'm a poor scholar. But I don't + know, really, that I despise Fulkerson so much for his course this morning + as for his gross and fulsome flatteries of Dryfoos last night. I could + hardly stomach it." + </p> + <p> + His wife made him tell her what they were, and then she said, "Yes, that + was loathsome; I couldn't have believed it of Mr. Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps he only did it to keep the talk going, and to give the old man a + chance to say something," March leniently suggested. "It was a worse + effect because he didn't or couldn't follow up Fulkerson's lead." + </p> + <p> + "It was loathsome, all the same," his wife insisted. "It's the end of Mr. + Fulkerson, as far as I'm concerned." + </p> + <p> + "I didn't tell you before," March resumed, after a moment, "of my little + interview with Conrad Dryfoos after his father left," and now he went on + to repeat what had passed between him and the young man. + </p> + <p> + "I suspect that he and his father had been having some words before the + old man came up to talk with me, and that it was that made him so + furious." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, but what a strange position for the son of such a man to take! Do + you suppose he says such things to his father?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know; but I suspect that in his meek way Conrad would say what he + believed to anybody. I suppose we must regard him as a kind of crank." + </p> + <p> + "Poor young fellow! He always makes me feel sad, somehow. He has such a + pathetic face. I don't believe I ever saw him look quite happy, except + that night at Mrs. Horn's, when he was talking with Miss Vance; and then + he made me feel sadder than ever." + </p> + <p> + "I don't envy him the life he leads at home, with those convictions of + his. I don't see why it wouldn't be as tolerable there for old Lindau + himself." + </p> + <p> + "Well, now," said Mrs. March, "let us put them all out of our minds and + see what we are going to do ourselves." + </p> + <p> + They began to consider their ways and means, and how and where they should + live, in view of March's severance of his relations with 'Every Other + Week.' They had not saved anything from the first year's salary; they had + only prepared to save; and they had nothing solid but their two thousand + to count upon. But they built a future in which they easily lived on that + and on what March earned with his pen. He became a free lance, and fought + in whatever cause he thought just; he had no ties, no chains. They went + back to Boston with the heroic will to do what was most distasteful; they + would have returned to their own house if they had not rented it again; + but, any rate, Mrs. March helped out by taking boarders, or perhaps only + letting rooms to lodgers. They had some hard struggles, but they + succeeded. + </p> + <p> + "The great thing," she said, "is to be right. I'm ten times as happy as if + you had come home and told me that you had consented to do what Dryfoos + asked and he had doubled your salary." + </p> + <p> + "I don't think that would have happened in any event," said March, dryly. + </p> + <p> + "Well, no matter. I just used it for an example." + </p> + <p> + They both experienced a buoyant relief, such as seems to come to people + who begin life anew on whatever terms. "I hope we are young enough yet, + Basil," she said, and she would not have it when he said they had once + been younger. + </p> + <p> + They heard the children's knock on the door; they knocked when they came + home from school so that their mother might let them in. "Shall we tell + them at once?" she asked, and ran to open for them before March could + answer. + </p> + <p> + They were not alone. Fulkerson, smiling from ear to ear, was with them. + "Is March in?" he asked. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. March is at home, yes," she said very haughtily. "He's in his study," + and she led the way there, while the children went to their rooms. + </p> + <p> + "Well, March," Fulkerson called out at sight of him, "it's all right! The + old man has come down." + </p> + <p> + "I suppose if you gentlemen are going to talk business—" Mrs. March + began. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, we don't want you to go away," said Fulkerson. "I reckon March has + told you, anyway." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I've told her," said March. "Don't go, Isabel. What do you mean, + Fulkerson?" + </p> + <p> + "He's just gone on up home, and he sent me round with his apologies. He + sees now that he had no business to speak to you as he did, and he + withdraws everything. He'd 'a' come round himself if I'd said so, but I + told him I could make it all right." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson looked so happy in having the whole affair put right, and the + Marches knew him to be so kindly affected toward them, that they could not + refuse for the moment to share his mood. They felt themselves slipping + down from the moral height which they had gained, and March made a clutch + to stay himself with the question, "And Lindau?" + </p> + <p> + "Well," said Fulkerson, "he's going to leave Lindau to me. You won't have + anything to do with it. I'll let the old fellow down easy." + </p> + <p> + "Do you mean," asked March, "that Mr. Dryfoos insists on his being + dismissed?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, there isn't any dismissing about it," Fulkerson argued. "If you + don't send him any more work, he won't do any more, that's all. Or if he + comes round, you can—He's to be referred to me." + </p> + <p> + March shook his head, and his wife, with a sigh, felt herself plucked up + from the soft circumstance of their lives, which she had sunk back into so + quickly, and set beside him on that cold peak of principle again. "It + won't do, Fulkerson. It's very good of you, and all that, but it comes to + the same thing in the end. I could have gone on without any apology from + Mr. Dryfoos; he transcended his authority, but that's a minor matter. I + could have excused it to his ignorance of life among gentlemen; but I + can't consent to Lindau's dismissal—it comes to that, whether you do + it or I do it, and whether it's a positive or a negative thing—because + he holds this opinion or that." + </p> + <p> + "But don't you see," said Fulkerson, "that it's just Lindau's opinions the + old man can't stand? He hasn't got anything against him personally. I + don't suppose there's anybody that appreciates Lindau in some ways more + than the old man does." + </p> + <p> + "I understand. He wants to punish him for his opinions. Well, I can't + consent to that, directly or indirectly. We don't print his opinions, and + he has a perfect right to hold them, whether Mr. Dryfoos agrees with them + or not." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March had judged it decorous for her to say nothing, but she now went + and sat down in the chair next her husband. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, dog on it!" cried Fulkerson, rumpling his hair with both his hands. + "What am I to do? The old man says he's got to go." + </p> + <p> + "And I don't consent to his going," said March. + </p> + <p> + "And you won't stay if he goes." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson rose. "Well, well! I've got to see about it. I'm afraid the old + man won't stand it, March; I am, indeed. I wish you'd reconsider. I—I'd + take it as a personal favor if you would. It leaves me in a fix. You see + I've got to side with one or the other." + </p> + <p> + March made no reply to this, except to say, "Yes, you must stand by him, + or you must stand by me." + </p> + <p> + "Well, well! Hold on awhile! I'll see you in the morning. Don't take any + steps—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, there are no steps to take," said March, with a melancholy smile. + "The steps are stopped; that's all." He sank back into his chair when + Fulkerson was gone and drew a long breath. "This is pretty rough. I + thought we had got through it." + </p> + <p> + "No," said his wife. "It seems as if I had to make the fight all over + again." + </p> + <p> + "Well, it's a good thing it's a holy war." + </p> + <p> + "I can't bear the suspense. Why didn't you tell him outright you wouldn't + go back on any terms?" + </p> + <p> + "I might as well, and got the glory. He'll never move Dryfoos. I suppose + we both would like to go back, if we could." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I suppose so." + </p> + <p> + They could not regain their lost exaltation, their lost dignity. At dinner + Mrs. March asked the children how they would like to go back to Boston to + live. + </p> + <p> + "Why, we're not going, are we?" asked Tom, without enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + "I was just wondering how you felt about it, now," she said, with an + underlook at her husband. + </p> + <p> + "Well, if we go back," said Bella, "I want to live on the Back Bay. It's + awfully Micky at the South End." + </p> + <p> + "I suppose I should go to Harvard," said Tom, "and I'd room out at + Cambridge. It would be easier to get at you on the Back Bay." + </p> + <p> + The parents smiled ruefully at each other, and, in view of these grand + expectations of his children, March resolved to go as far as he could in + meeting Dryfoos's wishes. He proposed the theatre as a distraction from + the anxieties that he knew were pressing equally on his wife. "We might go + to the 'Old Homestead,'" he suggested, with a sad irony, which only his + wife felt. + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes, let's!" cried Bella. + </p> + <p> + While they were getting ready, someone rang, and Bella went to the door, + and then came to tell her father that it was Mr. Lindau. "He says he wants + to see you just a moment. He's in the parlor, and he won't sit down, or + anything." + </p> + <p> + "What can he want?" groaned Mrs. March, from their common dismay. + </p> + <p> + March apprehended a storm in the old man's face. But he only stood in the + middle of the room, looking very sad and grave. "You are Going oudt," he + said. "I won't geep you long. I haf gome to pring pack dose macassines and + dis mawney. I can't do any more voark for you; and I can't geep the mawney + you haf baid me a'ready. It iss not hawnest mawney—that hass been + oarned py voark; it iss mawney that hass peen mate py sbeculation, and the + obbression off lapor, and the necessity of the boor, py a man—Here + it is, efery tollar, efery zent. Dake it; I feel as if dere vas ploodt on + it." + </p> + <p> + "Why, Lindau," March began, but the old man interrupted him. + </p> + <p> + "Ton't dalk to me, Passil! I could not haf believedt it of you. When you + know how I feel about dose tings, why tidn't you dell me whose mawney you + bay oudt to me? Ach, I ton't plame you—I ton't rebroach you. You haf + nefer thought of it; boat I have thought, and I should be Guilty, I must + share that man's Guilt, if I gept hiss mawney. If you hat toldt me at the + peginning—if you hat peen frank with me boat it iss all righdt; you + can go on; you ton't see dese tings as I see them; and you haf cot a + family, and I am a free man. I voark to myself, and when I ton't voark, I + sdarfe to myself. But I geep my handts glean, voark or sdarfe. Gif him + hiss mawney pack! I am sawry for him; I would not hoart hiss feelings, + boat I could not pear to douch him, and hiss mawney iss like boison!" + </p> + <p> + March tried to reason with Lindau, to show him the folly, the injustice, + the absurdity of his course; it ended in their both getting angry, and in + Lindau's going away in a whirl of German that included Basil in the guilt + of the man whom Lindau called his master. + </p> + <p> + "Well," said Mrs. March. "He is a crank, and I think you're well rid of + him. Now you have no quarrel with that horrid old Dryfoos, and you can + keep right on." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said March, "I wish it didn't make me feel so sneaking. What a long + day it's been! It seems like a century since I got up." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, a thousand years. Is there anything else left to happen?" + </p> + <p> + "I hope not. I'd like to go to bed." + </p> + <p> + "Why, aren't you going to the theatre?" wailed Bella, coming in upon her + father's desperate expression. + </p> + <p> + "The theatre? Oh yes, certainly! I meant after we got home," and March + amused himself at the puzzled countenance of the child. "Come on! Is Tom + ready?" + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0046" id="link2H_4_0046"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX. + </h2> + <p> + Fulkerson parted with the Marches in such trouble of mind that he did not + feel able to meet that night the people whom he usually kept so gay at + Mrs. Leighton's table. He went to Maroni's for his dinner, for this reason + and for others more obscure. He could not expect to do anything more with + Dryfoos at once; he knew that Dryfoos must feel that he had already made + an extreme concession to March, and he believed that if he was to get + anything more from him it must be after Dryfoos had dined. But he was not + without the hope, vague and indefinite as it might be, that he should find + Lindau at Maroni's, and perhaps should get some concession from him, some + word of regret or apology which he could report to Dryfoos, and at lest + make the means of reopening the affair with him; perhaps Lindau, when he + knew how matters stood, would back down altogether, and for March's sake + would withdraw from all connection with 'Every Other Week' himself, and so + leave everything serene. Fulkerson felt capable, in his desperation, of + delicately suggesting such a course to Lindau, or even of plainly advising + it: he did not care for Lindau a great deal, and he did care a great deal + for the magazine. + </p> + <p> + But he did not find Lindau at Maroni's; he only found Beaton. He sat + looking at the doorway as Fulkerson entered, and Fulkerson naturally came + and took a place at his table. Something in Beaton's large-eyed solemnity + of aspect invited Fulkerson to confidence, and he said, as he pulled his + napkin open and strung it, still a little damp (as the scanty, + often-washed linen at Maroni's was apt to be), across his knees, "I was + looking for you this morning, to talk with you about the Christmas number, + and I was a good deal worked up because I couldn't find you; but I guess I + might as well have spared myself my emotions." + </p> + <p> + "Why?" asked Beaton, briefly. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know as there's going to be any Christmas number." + </p> + <p> + "Why?" Beaton asked again. + </p> + <p> + "Row between the financial angel and the literary editor about the chief + translator and polyglot smeller." + </p> + <p> + "Lindau?" + </p> + <p> + "Lindau is his name." + </p> + <p> + "What does the literary editor expect after Lindau's expression of his + views last night?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know what he expected, but the ground he took with the old man + was that, as Lindau's opinions didn't characterize his work on the + magazine, he would not be made the instrument of punishing him for them + the old man wanted him turned off, as he calls it." + </p> + <p> + "Seems to be pretty good ground," said Beaton, impartially, while he + speculated, with a dull trouble at heart, on the effect the row would have + on his own fortunes. His late visit home had made him feel that the claim + of his family upon him for some repayment of help given could not be much + longer delayed; with his mother sick and his father growing old, he must + begin to do something for them, but up to this time he had spent his + salary even faster than he had earned it. When Fulkerson came in he was + wondering whether he could get him to increase it, if he threatened to + give up his work, and he wished that he was enough in love with Margaret + Vance, or even Christine Dryfoos, to marry her, only to end in the + sorrowful conviction that he was really in love with Alma Leighton, who + had no money, and who had apparently no wish to be married for love, even. + "And what are you going to do about it?" he asked, listlessly. + </p> + <p> + "Be dogged if I know what I'm going to do about it," said Fulkerson. "I've + been round all day, trying to pick up the pieces—row began right + after breakfast this morning—and one time I thought I'd got the + thing all put together again. I got the old man to say that he had spoken + to March a little too authoritatively about Lindau; that, in fact, he + ought to have communicated his wishes through me; and that he was willing + to have me get rid of Lindau, and March needn't have anything to do with + it. I thought that was pretty white, but March says the apologies and + regrets are all well enough in their way, but they leave the main question + where they found it." + </p> + <p> + "What is the main question?" Beaton asked, pouring himself out some + Chianti. As he set the flask down he made the reflection that if he would + drink water instead of Chianti he could send his father three dollars a + week, on his back debts, and he resolved to do it. + </p> + <p> + "The main question, as March looks at it, is the question of punishing + Lindau for his private opinions; he says that if he consents to my + bouncing the old fellow it's the same as if he bounced him." + </p> + <p> + "It might have that complexion in some lights," said Beaton. He drank off + his Chianti, and thought he would have it twice a week, or make Maroni + keep the half-bottles over for him, and send his father two dollars. "And + what are you going to do now?" + </p> + <p> + "That's what I don't know," said Fulkerson, ruefully. After a moment he + said, desperately, "Beaton, you've got a pretty good head; why don't you + suggest something?" + </p> + <p> + "Why don't you let March go?" Beaton suggested. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, I couldn't," said Fulkerson. "I got him to break up in Boston and + come here; I like him; nobody else could get the hang of the thing like he + has; he's—a friend." Fulkerson said this with the nearest approach + he could make to seriousness, which was a kind of unhappiness. + </p> + <p> + Beaton shrugged. "Oh, if you can afford to have ideals, I congratulate + you. They're too expensive for me. Then, suppose you get rid of Dryfoos?" + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson laughed forlornly. "Go on, Bildad. Like to sprinkle a few ashes + over my boils? Don't mind me!" + </p> + <p> + They both sat silent a little while, and then Beaton said, "I suppose you + haven't seen Dryfoos the second time?" + </p> + <p> + "No. I came in here to gird up my loins with a little dinner before I + tackled him. But something seems to be the matter with Maroni's cook. I + don't want anything to eat." + </p> + <p> + "The cooking's about as bad as usual," said Beaton. After a moment he + added, ironically, for he found Fulkerson's misery a kind of relief from + his own, and was willing to protract it as long as it was amusing, "Why + not try an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary?" + </p> + <p> + "What do you mean?" + </p> + <p> + "Get that other old fool to go to Dryfoos for you!" + </p> + <p> + "Which other old fool? The old fools seem to be as thick as flies." + </p> + <p> + "That Southern one." + </p> + <p> + "Colonel Woodburn?" + </p> + <p> + "Mmmmm." + </p> + <p> + "He did seem to rather take to the colonel!" Fulkerson mused aloud. + </p> + <p> + "Of course he did. Woodburn, with his idiotic talk about patriarchal + slavery, is the man on horseback to Dryfoos's muddy imagination. He'd + listen to him abjectly, and he'd do whatever Woodburn told him to do." + Beaton smiled cynically. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson got up and reached for his coat and hat. "You've struck it, old + man." The waiter came up to help him on with his coat; Fulkerson slipped a + dollar in his hand. "Never mind the coat; you can give the rest of my + dinner to the poor, Paolo. Beaton, shake! You've saved my life, little + boy, though I don't think you meant it." He took Beaton's hand and + solemnly pressed it, and then almost ran out of the door. + </p> + <p> + They had just reached coffee at Mrs. Leighton's when he arrived and sat + down with them and began to put some of the life of his new hope into + them. His appetite revived, and, after protesting that he would not take + anything but coffee, he went back and ate some of the earlier courses. But + with the pressure of his purpose driving him forward, he did not conceal + from Miss Woodburn, at least, that he was eager to get her apart from the + rest for some reason. When he accomplished this, it seemed as if he had + contrived it all himself, but perhaps he had not wholly contrived it. + </p> + <p> + "I'm so glad to get a chance to speak to you alone," he said at once; and + while she waited for the next word he made a pause, and then said, + desperately, "I want you to help me; and if you can't help me, there's no + help for me." + </p> + <p> + "Mah goodness," she said, "is the case so bad as that? What in the woald + is the trouble?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, it's a bad case," said Fulkerson. "I want your father to help me." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I thoat you said me!" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; I want you to help me with your father. I suppose I ought to go to + him at once, but I'm a little afraid of him." + </p> + <p> + "And you awe not afraid of me? I don't think that's very flattering, Mr. + Fulkerson. You ought to think Ah'm twahce as awful as papa." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I do! You see, I'm quite paralyzed before you, and so I don't feel + anything." + </p> + <p> + "Well, it's a pretty lahvely kyand of paralysis. But—go on." + </p> + <p> + "I will—I will. If I can only begin." + </p> + <p> + "Pohaps Ah maght begin fo' you." + </p> + <p> + "No, you can't. Lord knows, I'd like to let you. Well, it's like this." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson made a clutch at his hair, and then, after another hesitation, + he abruptly laid the whole affair before her. He did not think it + necessary to state the exact nature of the offence Lindau had given + Dryfoos, for he doubted if she could grasp it, and he was profuse of his + excuses for troubling her with the matter, and of wonder at himself for + having done so. In the rapture of his concern at having perhaps made a + fool of himself, he forgot why he had told her; but she seemed to like + having been confided in, and she said, "Well, Ah don't see what you can do + with you' ahdeals of friendship except stand bah Mr. Mawch." + </p> + <p> + "My ideals of friendship? What do you mean?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, don't you suppose we know? Mr. Beaton said you we' a pofect Bahyard + in friendship, and you would sacrifice anything to it." + </p> + <p> + "Is that so?" said Fulkerson, thinking how easily he could sacrifice + Lindau in this case. He had never supposed before that he was chivalrous + in such matters, but he now began to see it in that light, and he wondered + that he could ever have entertained for a moment the idea of throwing + March over. + </p> + <p> + "But Ah most say," Miss Woodburn went on, "Ah don't envy you you' next + interview with Mr. Dryfoos. Ah suppose you'll have to see him at once + aboat it." + </p> + <p> + The conjecture recalled Fulkerson to the object of his confidences. "Ah, + there's where your help comes in. I've exhausted all the influence I have + with Dryfoos—" + </p> + <p> + "Good gracious, you don't expect Ah could have any!" + </p> + <p> + They both laughed at the comic dismay with which she conveyed the + preposterous notion; and Fulkerson said, "If I judged from myself, I + should expect you to bring him round instantly." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, thank you, Mr. Fulkerson," she said, with mock meekness. + </p> + <p> + "Not at all. But it isn't Dryfoos I want you to help me with; it's your + father. I want your father to interview Dryfoos for me, and I—I'm + afraid to ask him." + </p> + <p> + "Poo' Mr. Fulkerson!" she said, and she insinuated something through her + burlesque compassion that lifted him to the skies. He swore in his heart + that the woman never lived who was so witty, so wise, so beautiful, and so + good. "Come raght with me this minute, if the cyoast's clea'." She went to + the door of the diningroom and looked in across its gloom to the little + gallery where her father sat beside a lamp reading his evening paper; Mrs. + Leighton could be heard in colloquy with the cook below, and Alma had gone + to her room. She beckoned Fulkerson with the hand outstretched behind her, + and said, "Go and ask him." + </p> + <p> + "Alone!" he palpitated. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, what a cyowahd!" she cried, and went with him. "Ah suppose you'll + want me to tell him aboat it." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I wish you'd begin, Miss Woodburn," he said. "The fact is, you + know, I've been over it so much I'm kind of sick of the thing." + </p> + <p> + Miss Woodburn advanced and put her hand on her father's shoulder. "Look + heah, papa! Mr. Fulkerson wants to ask you something, and he wants me to + do it fo' him." + </p> + <p> + The colonel looked up through his glasses with the sort of ferocity + elderly men sometimes have to put on in order to keep their glasses from + falling off. His daughter continued: "He's got into an awful difficulty + with his edito' and his proprieto', and he wants you to pacify them." + </p> + <p> + "I do not know whethah I understand the case exactly," said the colonel, + "but Mr. Fulkerson may command me to the extent of my ability." + </p> + <p> + "You don't understand it aftah what Ah've said?" cried the girl. "Then Ah + don't see but what you'll have to explain it you'self, Mr. Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + "Well, Miss Woodburn has been so luminous about it, colonel," said + Fulkerson, glad of the joking shape she had given the affair, "that I can + only throw in a little side-light here and there." + </p> + <p> + The colonel listened as Fulkerson went on, with a grave diplomatic + satisfaction. He felt gratified, honored, even, he said, by Mr. + Fulkerson's appeal to him; and probably it gave him something of the high + joy that an affair of honor would have brought him in the days when he had + arranged for meetings between gentlemen. Next to bearing a challenge, this + work of composing a difficulty must have been grateful. But he gave no + outward sign of his satisfaction in making a resume of the case so as to + get the points clearly in his mind. + </p> + <p> + "I was afraid, sir," he said, with the state due to the serious nature of + the facts, "that Mr. Lindau had given Mr. Dryfoos offence by some of his + questions at the dinner-table last night." + </p> + <p> + "Perfect red rag to a bull," Fulkerson put in; and then he wanted to + withdraw his words at the colonel's look of displeasure. + </p> + <p> + "I have no reflections to make upon Mr. Landau," Colonel Woodburn + continued, and Fulkerson felt grateful to him for going on; "I do not + agree with Mr. Lindau; I totally disagree with him on sociological points; + but the course of the conversation had invited him to the expression of + his convictions, and he had a right to express them, so far as they had no + personal bearing." + </p> + <p> + "Of course," said Fulkerson, while Miss Woodburn perched on the arm of her + father's chair. + </p> + <p> + "At the same time, sir, I think that if Mr. Dryfoos felt a personal + censure in Mr. Lindau's questions concerning his suppression of the strike + among his workmen, he had a right to resent it." + </p> + <p> + "Exactly," Fulkerson assented. + </p> + <p> + "But it must be evident to you, sir, that a high-spirited gentleman like + Mr. March—I confess that my feelings are with him very warmly in the + matter—could not submit to dictation of the nature you describe." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I see," said Fulkerson; and, with that strange duplex action of the + human mind, he wished that it was his hair, and not her father's, that + Miss Woodburn was poking apart with the corner of her fan. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Lindau," the colonel concluded, "was right from his point of view, + and Mr. Dryfoos was equally right. The position of Mr. March is perfectly + correct—" + </p> + <p> + His daughter dropped to her feet from his chair-arm. "Mah goodness! If + nobody's in the wrong, ho' awe you evah going to get the mattah straight?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, you see," Fulkerson added, "nobody can give in." + </p> + <p> + "Pardon me," said the colonel, "the case is one in which all can give in." + </p> + <p> + "I don't know which 'll begin," said Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + The colonel rose. "Mr. Lindau must begin, sir. We must begin by seeing Mr. + Lindau, and securing from him the assurance that in the expression of his + peculiar views he had no intention of offering any personal offence to Mr. + Dryfoos. If I have formed a correct estimate of Mr. Lindau, this will be + perfectly simple." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson shook his head. "But it wouldn't help. Dryfoos don't care a rap + whether Lindau meant any personal offence or not. As far as that is + concerned, he's got a hide like a hippopotamus. But what he hates is + Lindau's opinions, and what he says is that no man who holds such opinions + shall have any work from him. And what March says is that no man shall be + punished through him for his opinions, he don't care what they are." + </p> + <p> + The colonel stood a moment in silence. "And what do you expect me to do + under the circumstances?" + </p> + <p> + "I came to you for advice—I thought you might suggest——?" + </p> + <p> + "Do you wish me to see Mr. Dryfoos?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, that's about the size of it," Fulkerson admitted. "You see, + colonel," he hastened on, "I know that you have a great deal of influence + with him; that article of yours is about the only thing he's ever read in + 'Every Other Week,' and he's proud of your acquaintance. Well, you know"—and + here Fulkerson brought in the figure that struck him so much in Beaton's + phrase and had been on his tongue ever since—"you're the man on + horseback to him; and he'd be more apt to do what you say than if anybody + else said it." + </p> + <p> + "You are very good, sir," said the colonel, trying to be proof against the + flattery, "but I am afraid you overrate my influence." Fulkerson let him + ponder it silently, and his daughter governed her impatience by holding + her fan against her lips. Whatever the process was in the colonel's mind, + he said at last: "I see no good reason for declining to act for you, Mr. + Fulkerson, and I shall be very happy if I can be of service to you. But"—he + stopped Fulkerson from cutting in with precipitate thanks—"I think I + have a right, sir, to ask what your course will be in the event of + failure?" + </p> + <p> + "Failure?" Fulkerson repeated, in dismay. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sir. I will not conceal from you that this mission is one not wholly + agreeable to my feelings." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I understand that, colonel, and I assure you that I appreciate, I—" + </p> + <p> + "There is no use trying to blink the fact, sir, that there are certain + aspects of Mr. Dryfoos's character in which he is not a gentleman. We have + alluded to this fact before, and I need not dwell upon it now: I may say, + however, that my misgivings were not wholly removed last night." + </p> + <p> + "No," Fulkerson assented; though in his heart he thought the old man had + behaved very well. + </p> + <p> + "What I wish to say now is that I cannot consent to act for you, in this + matter, merely as an intermediary whose failure would leave the affair in + state quo." + </p> + <p> + "I see," said Fulkerson. + </p> + <p> + "And I should like some intimation, some assurance, as to which party your + own feelings are with in the difference." + </p> + <p> + The colonel bent his eyes sharply on Fulkerson; Miss Woodburn let hers + fall; Fulkerson felt that he was being tested, and he said, to gain time, + "As between Lindau and Dryfoos?" though he knew this was not the point. + </p> + <p> + "As between Mr. Dryfoos and Mr. March," said the colonel. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson drew a long breath and took his courage in both hands. "There + can't be any choice for me in such a case. I'm for March, every time." + </p> + <p> + The colonel seized his hand, and Miss Woodburn said, "If there had been + any choice fo' you in such a case, I should never have let papa stir a + step with you." + </p> + <p> + "Why, in regard to that," said the colonel, with a literal application of + the idea, "was it your intention that we should both go?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know; I suppose it was." + </p> + <p> + "I think it will be better for me to go alone," said the colonel; and, + with a color from his experience in affairs of honor, he added: "In these + matters a principal cannot appear without compromising his dignity. I + believe I have all the points clearly in mind, and I think I should act + more freely in meeting Mr. Dryfoos alone." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson tried to hide the eagerness with which he met these agreeable + views. He felt himself exalted in some sort to the level of the colonel's + sentiments, though it would not be easy to say whether this was through + the desperation bred of having committed himself to March's side, or + through the buoyant hope he had that the colonel would succeed in his + mission. + </p> + <p> + "I'm not afraid to talk with Dryfoos about it," he said. + </p> + <p> + "There is no question of courage," said the colonel. "It is a question of + dignity—of personal dignity." + </p> + <p> + "Well, don't let that delay you, papa," said his daughter, following him + to the door, where she found him his hat, and Fulkerson helped him on with + his overcoat. "Ah shall be jost wald to know ho' it's toned oat." + </p> + <p> + "Won't you let me go up to the house with you?" Fulkerson began. "I + needn't go in—" + </p> + <p> + "I prefer to go alone," said the colonel. "I wish to turn the points over + in my mind, and I am afraid you would find me rather dull company." + </p> + <p> + He went out, and Fulkerson returned with Miss Woodburn to the + drawing-room, where she said the Leightons were. They, were not there, but + she did not seem disappointed. + </p> + <p> + "Well, Mr. Fulkerson," she said, "you have got an ahdeal of friendship, + sure enough." + </p> + <p> + "Me?" said Fulkerson. "Oh, my Lord! Don't you see I couldn't do anything + else? And I'm scared half to death, anyway. If the colonel don't bring the + old man round, I reckon it's all up with me. But he'll fetch him. And I'm + just prostrated with gratitude to you, Miss Woodburn." + </p> + <p> + She waved his thanks aside with her fan. "What do you mean by its being + all up with you?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, if the old man sticks to his position, and I stick to March, we've + both got to go overboard together. Dryfoos owns the magazine; he can stop + it, or he can stop us, which amounts to the same thing, as far as we're + concerned." + </p> + <p> + "And then what?" the girl pursued. + </p> + <p> + "And then, nothing—till we pick ourselves up." + </p> + <p> + "Do you mean that Mr. Dryfoos will put you both oat of your places?" + </p> + <p> + "He may." + </p> + <p> + "And Mr. Mawch takes the risk of that jost fo' a principle?" + </p> + <p> + "I reckon." + </p> + <p> + "And you do it jost fo' an ahdeal?" + </p> + <p> + "It won't do to own it. I must have my little axe to grind, somewhere." + </p> + <p> + "Well, men awe splendid," sighed the girl. "Ah will say it." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, they're not so much better than women," said Fulkerson, with a + nervous jocosity. "I guess March would have backed down if it hadn't been + for his wife. She was as hot as pepper about it, and you could see that + she would have sacrificed all her husband's relations sooner than let him + back down an inch from the stand he had taken. It's pretty easy for a man + to stick to a principle if he has a woman to stand by him. But when you + come to play it alone—" + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Fulkerson," said the girl, solemnly, "Ah will stand bah you in this, + if all the woald tones against you." The tears came into her eyes, and she + put out her hand to him. + </p> + <p> + "You will?" he shouted, in a rapture. "In every way—and always—as + long as you live? Do you mean it?" He had caught her hand to his breast + and was grappling it tight there and drawing her to him. + </p> + <p> + The changing emotions chased one another through her heart and over her + face: dismay, shame, pride, tenderness. "You don't believe," she said, + hoarsely, "that Ah meant that?" + </p> + <p> + "No, but I hope you do mean it; for if you don't, nothing else means + anything." + </p> + <p> + There was no space, there was only a point of wavering. "Ah do mean it." + </p> + <p> + When they lifted their eyes from each other again it was half-past ten. + "No' you most go," she said. + </p> + <p> + "But the colonel—our fate?" + </p> + <p> + "The co'nel is often oat late, and Ah'm not afraid of ouah fate, no' that + we've taken it into ouah own hands." She looked at him with dewy eyes of + trust, of inspiration. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, it's going to come out all right," he said. "It can't come out wrong + now, no matter what happens. But who'd have thought it, when I came into + this house, in such a state of sin and misery, half an hour ago—" + </p> + <p> + "Three houahs and a half ago!" she said. "No! you most jost go. Ah'm tahed + to death. Good-night. You can come in the mawning to see—papa." She + opened the door and pushed him out with enrapturing violence, and he ran + laughing down the steps into her father's arms. + </p> + <p> + "Why, colonel! I was just going up to meet you." He had really thought he + would walk off his exultation in that direction. + </p> + <p> + "I am very sorry to say, Mr. Fulkerson," the colonel began, gravely, "that + Mr. Dryfoos adheres to his position." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, all right," said Fulkerson, with unabated joy. "It's what I expected. + Well, my course is clear; I shall stand by March, and I guess the world + won't come to an end if he bounces us both. But I'm everlastingly obliged + to you, Colonel Woodburn, and I don't know what to say to you. I—I + won't detain you now; it's so late. I'll see you in the morning. Good-ni—" + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson did not realize that it takes two to part. The colonel laid hold + of his arm and turned away with him. "I will walk toward your place with + you. I can understand why you should be anxious to know the particulars of + my interview with Mr. Dryfoos"; and in the statement which followed he did + not spare him the smallest. It outlasted their walk and detained them long + on the steps of the 'Every Other Week' building. But at the end Fulkerson + let himself in with his key as light of heart as if he had been listening + to the gayest promises that fortune could make. + </p> + <p> + By the time he met March at the office next morning, a little, but only a + very little, misgiving saddened his golden heaven. He took March's hand + with high courage, and said, "Well, the old man sticks to his point, + March." He added, with the sense of saying it before Miss Woodburn: "And I + stick by you. I've thought it all over, and I'd rather be right with you + than wrong with him." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I appreciate your motive, Fulkerson," said March. "But perhaps—perhaps + we can save over our heroics for another occasion. Lindau seems to have + got in with his, for the present." + </p> + <p> + He told him of Lindau's last visit, and they stood a moment looking at + each other rather queerly. Fulkerson was the first to recover his spirits. + "Well," he said, cheerily, "that let's us out." + </p> + <p> + "Does it? I'm not sure it lets me out," said March; but he said this in + tribute to his crippled self-respect rather than as a forecast of any + action in the matter. + </p> + <p> + "Why, what are you going to do?" Fulkerson asked. "If Lindau won't work + for Dryfoos, you can't make him." + </p> + <p> + March sighed. "What are you going to do with this money?" He glanced at + the heap of bills he had flung on the table between them. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson scratched his head. "Ah, dogged if I know: Can't we give it to + the deserving poor, somehow, if we can find 'em?" + </p> + <p> + "I suppose we've no right to use it in any way. You must give it to + Dryfoos." + </p> + <p> + "To the deserving rich? Well, you can always find them. I reckon you don't + want to appear in the transaction! I don't, either; but I guess I must." + Fulkerson gathered up the money and carried it to Conrad. He directed him + to account for it in his books as conscience-money, and he enjoyed the + joke more than Conrad seemed to do when he was told where it came from. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson was able to wear off the disagreeable impression the affair left + during the course of the fore-noon, and he met Miss Woodburn with all a + lover's buoyancy when he went to lunch. She was as happy as he when he + told her how fortunately the whole thing had ended, and he took her view + that it was a reward of his courage in having dared the worst. They both + felt, as the newly plighted always do, that they were in the best + relations with the beneficent powers, and that their felicity had been + especially looked to in the disposition of events. They were in a glow of + rapturous content with themselves and radiant worship of each other; she + was sure that he merited the bright future opening to them both, as much + as if he owed it directly to some noble action of his own; he felt that he + was indebted for the favor of Heaven entirely to the still incredible + accident of her preference of him over other men. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Woodburn, who was not yet in the secret of their love, perhaps + failed for this reason to share their satisfaction with a result so + unexpectedly brought about. The blessing on their hopes seemed to his + ignorance to involve certain sacrifices of personal feeling at which he + hinted in suggesting that Dryfoos should now be asked to make some + abstract concessions and acknowledgments; his daughter hastened to deny + that these were at all necessary; and Fulkerson easily explained why. The + thing was over; what was the use of opening it up again? + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps none," the colonel admitted. But he added, "I should like the + opportunity of taking Mr. Lindau's hand in the presence of Mr. Dryfoos and + assuring him that I considered him a man of principle and a man of honor—a + gentleman, sir, whom I was proud and happy to have known." + </p> + <p> + "Well, Ah've no doabt," said his daughter, demurely, "that you'll have the + chance some day; and we would all lahke to join you. But at the same + tahme, Ah think Mr. Fulkerson is well oat of it fo' the present." + </p> + <h3> + PG EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Anticipative reprisal + Buttoned about him as if it concealed a bad conscience + Courtship + Got their laugh out of too many things in life + Had learned not to censure the irretrievable + Had no opinions that he was not ready to hold in abeyance + Ignorant of her ignorance + It don't do any good to look at its drawbacks all the time + Justice must be paid for at every step in fees and costs + Life has taught him to truckle and trick + Man's willingness to abide in the present + No longer the gross appetite for novelty + No right to burden our friends with our decisions + Travel, with all its annoyances and fatigues + Typical anything else, is pretty difficult to find +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0047" id="link2H_4_0047"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FIFTH PART + </h2> + <h3> + I. + </h3> + <p class="pfirst"> + <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">S</span>uperficially, the + affairs of 'Every Other Week' settled into their wonted form again, and + for Fulkerson they seemed thoroughly reinstated. But March had a feeling + of impermanency from what had happened, mixed with a fantastic sense of + shame toward Lindau. He did not sympathize with Lindau's opinions; he + thought his remedy for existing evils as wildly impracticable as Colonel + Woodburn's. But while he thought this, and while he could justly blame + Fulkerson for Lindau's presence at Dryfoos's dinner, which his zeal had + brought about in spite of March's protests, still he could not rid himself + of the reproach of uncandor with Lindau. He ought to have told him frankly + about the ownership of the magazine, and what manner of man the man was + whose money he was taking. But he said that he never could have imagined + that he was serious in his preposterous attitude in regard to a class of + men who embody half the prosperity of the country; and he had moments of + revolt against his own humiliation before Lindau, in which he found it + monstrous that he should return Dryfoos's money as if it had been the + spoil of a robber. His wife agreed with him in these moments, and said it + was a great relief not to have that tiresome old German coming about. They + had to account for his absence evasively to the children, whom they could + not very well tell that their father was living on money that Lindau + disdained to take, even though Lindau was wrong and their father was + right. This heightened Mrs. March's resentment toward both Lindau and + Dryfoos, who between them had placed her husband in a false position. If + anything, she resented Dryfoos's conduct more than Lindau's. He had never + spoken to March about the affair since Lindau had renounced his work, or + added to the apologetic messages he had sent by Fulkerson. So far as March + knew, Dryfoos had been left to suppose that Lindau had simply stopped for + some reason that did not personally affect him. They never spoke of him, + and March was too proud to ask either Fulkerson or Conrad whether the old + man knew that Lindau had returned his money. He avoided talking to Conrad, + from a feeling that if he did he should involuntarily lead him on to speak + of his differences with his father. Between himself and Fulkerson, even, + he was uneasily aware of a want of their old perfect friendliness. + Fulkerson had finally behaved with honor and courage; but his provisional + reluctance had given March the measure of Fulkerson's character in one + direction, and he could not ignore the fact that it was smaller than he + could have wished. + </p> + <p> + He could not make out whether Fulkerson shared his discomfort or not. It + certainly wore away, even with March, as time passed, and with Fulkerson, + in the bliss of his fortunate love, it was probably far more transient, if + it existed at all. He advanced into the winter as radiantly as if to meet + the spring, and he said that if there were any pleasanter month of the + year than November, it was December, especially when the weather was good + and wet and muddy most of the time, so that you had to keep indoors a long + while after you called anywhere. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Woodburn had the anxiety, in view of his daughter's engagement, + when she asked his consent to it, that such a dreamer must have in regard + to any reality that threatens to affect the course of his reveries. He had + not perhaps taken her marriage into account, except as a remote + contingency; and certainly Fulkerson was not the kind of son-in-law that + he had imagined in dealing with that abstraction. But because he had + nothing of the sort definitely in mind, he could not oppose the selection + of Fulkerson with success; he really knew nothing against him, and he + knew, many things in his favor; Fulkerson inspired him with the liking + that every one felt for him in a measure; he amused him, he cheered him; + and the colonel had been so much used to leaving action of all kinds to + his daughter that when he came to close quarters with the question of a + son-in-law he felt helpless to decide it, and he let her decide it, as if + it were still to be decided when it was submitted to him. She was + competent to treat it in all its phases: not merely those of personal + interest, but those of duty to the broken Southern past, sentimentally + dear to him, and practically absurd to her. No such South as he remembered + had ever existed to her knowledge, and no such civilization as he imagined + would ever exist, to her belief, anywhere. She took the world as she found + it, and made the best of it. She trusted in Fulkerson; she had proved his + magnanimity in a serious emergency; and in small things she was willing + fearlessly to chance it with him. She was not a sentimentalist, and there + was nothing fantastic in her expectations; she was a girl of good sense + and right mind, and she liked the immediate practicality as well as the + final honor of Fulkerson. She did not idealize him, but in the highest + effect she realized him; she did him justice, and she would not have + believed that she did him more than justice if she had sometimes known him + to do himself less. + </p> + <p> + Their engagement was a fact to which the Leighton household adjusted + itself almost as simply as the lovers themselves; Miss Woodburn told the + ladies at once, and it was not a thing that Fulkerson could keep from + March very long. He sent word of it to Mrs. March by her husband; and his + engagement perhaps did more than anything else to confirm the confidence + in him which had been shaken by his early behavior in the Lindau episode, + and not wholly restored by his tardy fidelity to March. But now she felt + that a man who wished to get married so obviously and entirely for love + was full of all kinds of the best instincts, and only needed the guidance + of a wife, to become very noble. She interested herself intensely in + balancing the respective merits of the engaged couple, and after her call + upon Miss Woodburn in her new character she prided herself upon + recognizing the worth of some strictly Southern qualities in her, while + maintaining the general average of New England superiority. She could not + reconcile herself to the Virginian custom illustrated in her having been + christened with the surname of Madison; and she said that its pet form of + Mad, which Fulkerson promptly invented, only made it more ridiculous. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson was slower in telling Beaton. He was afraid, somehow, of + Beaton's taking the matter in the cynical way; Miss Woodburn said she + would break off the engagement if Beaton was left to guess it or find it + out by accident, and then Fulkerson plucked up his courage. Beaton + received the news with gravity, and with a sort of melancholy meekness + that strongly moved Fulkerson's sympathy, and made him wish that Beaton + was engaged, too. + </p> + <p> + It made Beaton feel very old; it somehow left him behind and forgotten; in + a manner, it made him feel trifled with. Something of the unfriendliness + of fate seemed to overcast his resentment, and he allowed the sadness of + his conviction that he had not the means to marry on to tinge his + recognition of the fact that Alma Leighton would not have wanted him to + marry her if he had. He was now often in that martyr mood in which he + wished to help his father; not only to deny himself Chianti, but to forego + a fur-lined overcoat which he intended to get for the winter, He postponed + the moment of actual sacrifice as regarded the Chianti, and he bought the + overcoat in an anguish of self-reproach. He wore it the first evening + after he got it in going to call upon the Leightons, and it seemed to him + a piece of ghastly irony when Alma complimented his picturesqueness in it + and asked him to let her sketch him. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, you can sketch me," he said, with so much gloom that it made her + laugh. + </p> + <p> + "If you think it's so serious, I'd rather not." + </p> + <p> + "No, no! Go ahead! How do you want me?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, fling yourself down on a chair in one of your attitudes of studied + negligence; and twist one corner of your mustache with affected absence of + mind." + </p> + <p> + "And you think I'm always studied, always affected?" + </p> + <p> + "I didn't say so." + </p> + <p> + "I didn't ask you what you said." + </p> + <p> + "And I won't tell you what I think." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, I know what you think." + </p> + <p> + "What made you ask, then?" The girl laughed again with the satisfaction of + her sex in cornering a man. + </p> + <p> + Beaton made a show of not deigning to reply, and put himself in the pose + she suggested, frowning. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, that's it. But a little more animation— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "'As when a great thought strikes along the brain, + And flushes all the cheek.'" +</pre> + <p> + She put her forehead down on the back of her hand and laughed again. "You + ought to be photographed. You look as if you were sitting for it." + </p> + <p> + Beaton said: "That's because I know I am being photographed, in one way. I + don't think you ought to call me affected. I never am so with you; I know + it wouldn't be of any use." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Mr. Beaton, you flatter." + </p> + <p> + "No, I never flatter you." + </p> + <p> + "I meant you flattered yourself." + </p> + <p> + "How?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I don't know. Imagine." + </p> + <p> + "I know what you mean. You think I can't be sincere with anybody." + </p> + <p> + "Oh no, I don't." + </p> + <p> + "What do you think?" + </p> + <p> + "That you can't—try." Alma gave another victorious laugh. + </p> + <p> + Miss Woodburn and Fulkerson would once have both feigned a great interest + in Alma's sketching Beaton, and made it the subject of talk, in which they + approached as nearly as possible the real interest of their lives. Now + they frankly remained away in the dining-room, which was very cozy after + the dinner had disappeared; the colonel sat with his lamp and paper in the + gallery beyond; Mrs. Leighton was about her housekeeping affairs, in the + content she always felt when Alma was with Beaton. + </p> + <p> + "They seem to be having a pretty good time in there," said Fulkerson, + detaching himself from his own absolute good time as well as he could. + </p> + <p> + "At least Alma does," said Miss Woodburn. + </p> + <p> + "Do you think she cares for him?" + </p> + <p> + "Quahte as moch as he desoves." + </p> + <p> + "What makes you all down on Beaton around here? He's not such a bad + fellow." + </p> + <p> + "We awe not all doan on him. Mrs. Leighton isn't doan on him." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I guess if it was the old lady, there wouldn't be much question about + it." + </p> + <p> + They both laughed, and Alma said, "They seem to be greatly amused with + something in there." + </p> + <p> + "Me, probably," said Beaton. "I seem to amuse everybody to-night." + </p> + <p> + "Don't you always?" + </p> + <p> + "I always amuse you, I'm afraid, Alma." + </p> + <p> + She looked at him as if she were going to snub him openly for using her + name; but apparently she decided to do it covertly. "You didn't at first. + I really used to believe you could be serious, once." + </p> + <p> + "Couldn't you believe it again? Now?" + </p> + <p> + "Not when you put on that wind-harp stop." + </p> + <p> + "Wetmore has been talking to you about me. He would sacrifice his best + friend to a phrase. He spends his time making them." + </p> + <p> + "He's made some very pretty ones about you." + </p> + <p> + "Like the one you just quoted?" + </p> + <p> + "No, not exactly. He admires you ever so much. He says" She stopped, + teasingly. + </p> + <p> + "What?" + </p> + <p> + "He says you could be almost anything you wished, if you didn't wish to be + everything." + </p> + <p> + "That sounds more like the school of Wetmore. That's what you say, Alma. + Well, if there were something you wished me to be, I could be it." + </p> + <p> + "We might adapt Kingsley: 'Be good, sweet man, and let who will be + clever.'" He could not help laughing. She went on: "I always thought that + was the most patronizing and exasperating thing ever addressed to a human + girl; and we've had to stand a good deal in our time. I should like to + have it applied to the other 'sect' a while. As if any girl that was a + girl would be good if she had the remotest chance of being clever." + </p> + <p> + "Then you wouldn't wish me to be good?" Beaton asked. + </p> + <p> + "Not if you were a girl." + </p> + <p> + "You want to shock me. Well, I suppose I deserve it. But if I were + one-tenth part as good as you are, Alma, I should have a lighter heart + than I have now. I know that I'm fickle, but I'm not false, as you think I + am." + </p> + <p> + "Who said I thought you were false?" + </p> + <p> + "No one," said Beaton. "It isn't necessary, when you look it—live + it." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, dear! I didn't know I devoted my whole time to the subject." + </p> + <p> + "I know I'm despicable. I could tell you something—the history of + this day, even—that would make you despise me." Beaton had in mind + his purchase of the overcoat, which Alma was getting in so effectively, + with the money he ought to have sent his father. "But," he went on, + darkly, with a sense that what he was that moment suffering for his + selfishness must somehow be a kind of atonement, which would finally leave + him to the guiltless enjoyment of the overcoat, "you wouldn't believe the + depths of baseness I could descend to." + </p> + <p> + "I would try," said Alma, rapidly shading the collar, "if you'd give me + some hint." + </p> + <p> + Beaton had a sudden wish to pour out his remorse to her, but he was afraid + of her laughing at him. He said to himself that this was a very wholesome + fear, and that if he could always have her at hand he should not make a + fool of himself so often. A man conceives of such an office as the very + noblest for a woman; he worships her for it if he is magnanimous. But + Beaton was silent, and Alma put back her head for the right distance on + her sketch. "Mr. Fulkerson thinks you are the sublimest of human beings + for advising him to get Colonel Woodburn to interview Mr. Dryfoos about + Lindau. What have you ever done with your Judas?" + </p> + <p> + "I haven't done anything with it. Nadel thought he would take hold of it + at one time, but he dropped it again. After all, I don't suppose it could + be popularized. Fulkerson wanted to offer it as a premium to subscribers + for 'Every Other Week,' but I sat down on that." + </p> + <p> + Alma could not feel the absurdity of this, and she merely said, "'Every + Other Week' seems to be going on just the same as ever." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, the trouble has all blown over, I believe. Fulkerson," said Beaton, + with a return to what they were saying, "has managed the whole business + very well. But he exaggerates the value of my advice." + </p> + <p> + "Very likely," Alma suggested, vaguely. "Or, no! Excuse me! He couldn't, + he couldn't!" She laughed delightedly at Beaton's foolish look of + embarrassment. + </p> + <p> + He tried to recover his dignity in saying, "He's 'a very good fellow, and + he deserves his happiness." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, indeed!" said Alma, perversely. "Does any one deserve happiness?" + </p> + <p> + "I know I don't," sighed Beaton. + </p> + <p> + "You mean you don't get it." + </p> + <p> + "I certainly don't get it." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, but that isn't the reason." + </p> + <p> + "What is?" + </p> + <p> + "That's the secret of the universe," She bit in her lower lip, and looked + at him with eyes, of gleaming fun. + </p> + <p> + "Are you never serious?" he asked. + </p> + <p> + "With serious people always." + </p> + <p> + "I am serious; and you have the secret of my happiness—" He threw + himself impulsively forward in his chair. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, pose, pose!" she cried. + </p> + <p> + "I won't pose," he answered, "and you have got to listen to me. You know + I'm in love with you; and I know that once you cared for me. Can't that + time—won't it—come back again? Try to think so, Alma!" + </p> + <p> + "No," she said, briefly and seriously enough. + </p> + <p> + "But that seems impossible. What is it I've done what have you against + me?" + </p> + <p> + "Nothing. But that time is past. I couldn't recall it if I wished. Why did + you bring it up? You've broken your word. You know I wouldn't have let you + keep coming here if you hadn't promised never to refer to it." + </p> + <p> + "How could I help it? With that happiness near us—Fulkerson—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, it's that? I might have known it!" + </p> + <p> + "No, it isn't that—it's something far deeper. But if it's nothing + you have against me, what is it, Alma, that keeps you from caring for me + now as you did then? I haven't changed." + </p> + <p> + "But I have. I shall never care for you again, Mr. Beaton; you might as + well understand it once for all. Don't think it's anything in yourself, or + that I think you unworthy of me. I'm not so self-satisfied as that; I know + very well that I'm not a perfect character, and that I've no claim on + perfection in anybody else. I think women who want that are fools; they + won't get it, and they don't deserve it. But I've learned a good deal more + about myself than I knew in St. Barnaby, and a life of work, of art, and + of art alone that's what I've made up my mind to." + </p> + <p> + "A woman that's made up her mind to that has no heart to hinder her!" + </p> + <p> + "Would a man have that had done so?" + </p> + <p> + "But I don't believe you, Alma. You're merely laughing at me. And, + besides, with me you needn't give up art. We could work together. You know + how much I admire your talent. I believe I could help it—serve it; I + would be its willing slave, and yours, Heaven knows!" + </p> + <p> + "I don't want any slave—nor any slavery. I want to be free always. + Now do you see? I don't care for you, and I never could in the old way; + but I should have to care for some one more than I believe I ever shall to + give up my work. Shall we go on?" She looked at her sketch. + </p> + <p> + "No, we shall not go on," he said, gloomily, as he rose. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose you blame me," she said, rising too. + </p> + <p> + "Oh no! I blame no one—or only myself. I threw my chance away." + </p> + <p> + "I'm glad you see that; and I'm glad you did it. You don't believe me, of + course. Why do men think life can be only the one thing to women? And if + you come to the selfish view, who are the happy women? I'm sure that if + work doesn't fail me, health won't, and happiness won't." + </p> + <p> + "But you could work on with me—" + </p> + <p> + "Second fiddle. Do you suppose I shouldn't be woman enough to wish my work + always less and lower than yours? At least I've heart enough for that!" + </p> + <p> + "You've heart enough for anything, Alma. I was a fool to say you hadn't." + </p> + <p> + "I think the women who keep their hearts have an even chance, at least, of + having heart—" + </p> + <p> + "Ah, there's where you're wrong!" + </p> + <p> + "But mine isn't mine to give you, anyhow. And now I don't want you ever to + speak to me about this again." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, there's no danger!" he cried, bitterly. "I shall never willingly see + you again." + </p> + <p> + "That's as you like, Mr. Beaton. We've had to be very frank, but I don't + see why we shouldn't be friends. Still, we needn't, if you don't like." + </p> + <p> + "And I may come—I may come here—as—as usual?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, if you can consistently," she said, with a smile, and she held out + her hand to him. + </p> + <p> + He went home dazed, and feeling as if it were a bad joke that had been put + upon him. At least the affair went so deep that it estranged the aspect of + his familiar studio. Some of the things in it were not very familiar; he + had spent lately a great deal on rugs, on stuffs, on Japanese bric-a-brac. + When he saw these things in the shops he had felt that he must have them; + that they were necessary to him; and he was partly in debt for them, still + without having sent any of his earnings to pay his father. As he looked at + them now he liked to fancy something weird and conscious in them as the + silent witnesses of a broken life. He felt about among some of the smaller + objects on the mantel for his pipe. Before he slept he was aware, in the + luxury of his despair, of a remote relief, an escape; and, after all, the + understanding he had come to with Alma was only the explicit formulation + of terms long tacit between them. Beaton would have been puzzled more than + he knew if she had taken him seriously. It was inevitable that he should + declare himself in love with her; but he was not disappointed at her + rejection of his love; perhaps not so much as he would have been at its + acceptance, though he tried to think otherwise, and to give himself airs + of tragedy. He did not really feel that the result was worse than what had + gone before, and it left him free. + </p> + <p> + But he did not go to the Leightons again for so long a time that Mrs. + Leighton asked Alma what had happened. Alma told her. + </p> + <p> + "And he won't come any more?" her mother sighed, with reserved censure. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I think he will. He couldn't very well come the next night. But he + has the habit of coming, and with Mr. Beaton habit is everything—even + the habit of thinking he's in love with some one." + </p> + <p> + "Alma," said her mother, "I don't think it's very nice for a girl to let a + young man keep coming to see her after she's refused him." + </p> + <p> + "Why not, if it amuses him and doesn't hurt the girl?" + </p> + <p> + "But it does hurt her, Alma. It—it's indelicate. It isn't fair to + him; it gives him hopes." + </p> + <p> + "Well, mamma, it hasn't happened in the given case yet. If Mr. Beaton + comes again, I won't see him, and you can forbid him the house." + </p> + <p> + "If I could only feel sure, Alma," said her mother, taking up another + branch of the inquiry, "that you really knew your own mind, I should be + easier about it." + </p> + <p> + "Then you can rest perfectly quiet, mamma. I do know my own mind; and, + what's worse, I know Mr. Beaton's mind." + </p> + <p> + "What do you mean?" + </p> + <p> + "I mean that he spoke to me the other night simply because Mr. Fulkerson's + engagement had broken him all up." + </p> + <p> + "What expressions!" Mrs. Leighton lamented. + </p> + <p> + "He let it out himself," Alma went on. "And you wouldn't have thought it + was very flattering yourself. When I'm made love to, after this, I prefer + to be made love to in an off-year, when there isn't another engaged couple + anywhere about." + </p> + <p> + "Did you tell him that, Alma?" + </p> + <p> + "Tell him that! What do you mean, mamma? I may be indelicate, but I'm not + quite so indelicate as that." + </p> + <p> + "I didn't mean you were indelicate, really, Alma, but I wanted to warn + you. I think Mr. Beaton was very much in earnest." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, so did he!" + </p> + <p> + "And you didn't?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes, for the time being. I suppose he's very much in earnest with Miss + Vance at times, and with Miss Dryfoos at others. Sometimes he's a painter, + and sometimes he's an architect, and sometimes he's a sculptor. He has too + many gifts—too many tastes." + </p> + <p> + "And if Miss Vance and Miss Dryfoos—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, do say Sculpture and Architecture, mamma! It's getting so dreadfully + personal!" + </p> + <p> + "Alma, you know that I only wish to get at your real feeling in the + matter." + </p> + <p> + "And you know that I don't want to let you—especially when I haven't + got any real feeling in the matter. But I should think—speaking in + the abstract entirely—that if either of those arts was ever going to + be in earnest about him, it would want his exclusive devotion for a week + at least." + </p> + <p> + "I didn't know," said Mrs. Leighton, "that he was doing anything now at + the others. I thought he was entirely taken up with his work on 'Every + Other Week.'" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, he is! he is!" + </p> + <p> + "And you certainly can't say, my dear, that he hasn't been very kind—very + useful to you, in that matter." + </p> + <p> + "And so I ought to have said yes out of gratitude? Thank you, mamma! I + didn't know you held me so cheap." + </p> + <p> + "You know whether I hold you cheap or not, Alma. I don't want you to + cheapen yourself. I don't want you to trifle with any one. I want you to + be honest with yourself." + </p> + <p> + "Well, come now, mamma! Suppose you begin. I've been perfectly honest with + myself, and I've been honest with Mr. Beaton. I don't care for him, and + I've told him I didn't; so he may be supposed to know it. If he comes here + after this, he'll come as a plain, unostentatious friend of the family, + and it's for you to say whether he shall come in that capacity or not. I + hope you won't trifle with him, and let him get the notion that he's + coming on any other basis." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Leighton felt the comfort of the critical attitude far too keenly to + abandon it for anything constructive. She only said, "You know very well, + Alma, that's a matter I can have nothing to do with." + </p> + <p> + "Then you leave him entirely to me?" + </p> + <p> + "I hope you will regard his right to candid and open treatment." + </p> + <p> + "He's had nothing but the most open and candid treatment from me, mamma. + It's you that wants to play fast and loose with him. And, to tell you the + truth, I believe he would like that a good deal better; I believe that, if + there's anything he hates, it's openness and candor." Alma laughed, and + put her arms round her mother, who could not help laughing a little, too. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0048" id="link2H_4_0048"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + The winter did not renew for Christine and Mela the social opportunity + which the spring had offered. After the musicale at Mrs. Horn's, they both + made their party-call, as Mela said, in due season; but they did not find + Mrs. Horn at home, and neither she nor Miss Vance came to see them after + people returned to town in the fall. They tried to believe for a time that + Mrs. Horn had not got their cards; this pretence failed them, and they + fell back upon their pride, or rather Christine's pride. Mela had little + but her good-nature to avail her in any exigency, and if Mrs. Horn or Miss + Vance had come to call after a year of neglect, she would have received + them as amiably as if they had not lost a day in coming. But Christine had + drawn a line beyond which they would not have been forgiven; and she had + planned the words and the behavior with which she would have punished them + if they had appeared then. Neither sister imagined herself in anywise + inferior to them; but Christine was suspicious, at least, and it was Mela + who invented the hypothesis of the lost cards. As nothing happened to + prove or to disprove the fact, she said, "I move we put Coonrod up to + gittun' it out of Miss Vance, at some of their meetun's." + </p> + <p> + "If you do," said Christine, "I'll kill you." + </p> + <p> + Christine, however, had the visits of Beaton to console her, and, if these + seemed to have no definite aim, she was willing to rest in the pleasure + they gave her vanity; but Mela had nothing. Sometimes she even wished they + were all back on the farm. + </p> + <p> + "It would be the best thing for both of you," said Mrs. Dryfoos, in answer + to such a burst of desperation. "I don't think New York is any place for + girls." + </p> + <p> + "Well, what I hate, mother," said Mela, "is, it don't seem to be any place + for young men, either." She found this so good when she had said it that + she laughed over it till Christine was angry. + </p> + <p> + "A body would think there had never been any joke before." + </p> + <p> + "I don't see as it's a joke," said Mrs. Dryfoos. "It's the plain truth." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, don't mind her, mother," said Mela. "She's put out because her old + Mr. Beaton ha'r't been round for a couple o' weeks. If you don't watch + out, that fellow 'll give you the slip yit, Christine, after all your + pains." + </p> + <p> + "Well, there ain't anybody to give you the slip, Mela," Christine clawed + back. + </p> + <p> + "No; I ha'n't ever set my traps for anybody." This was what Mela said for + want of a better retort; but it was not quite true. When Kendricks came + with Beaton to call after her father's dinner, she used all her cunning to + ensnare him, and she had him to herself as long as Beaton stayed; Dryfoos + sent down word that he was not very well and had gone to bed. The novelty + of Mela had worn off for Kendricks, and she found him, as she frankly told + him, not half as entertaining as he was at Mrs. Horn's; but she did her + best with him as the only flirtable material which had yet come to her + hand. It would have been her ideal to have the young men stay till past + midnight, and her father come down-stairs in his stocking-feet and tell + them it was time to go. But they made a visit of decorous brevity, and + Kendricks did not come again. She met him afterward, once, as she was + crossing the pavement in Union Square to get into her coupe, and made the + most of him; but it was necessarily very little, and so he passed out of + her life without having left any trace in her heart, though Mela had a + heart that she would have put at the disposition of almost any young man + that wanted it. Kendricks himself, Manhattan cockney as he was, with + scarcely more outlook into the average American nature than if he had been + kept a prisoner in New York society all his days, perceived a property in + her which forbade him as a man of conscience to trifle with her; something + earthly good and kind, if it was simple and vulgar. In revising his + impressions of her, it seemed to him that she would come even to better + literary effect if this were recognized in her; and it made her sacred, in + spite of her willingness to fool and to be fooled, in her merely human + quality. After all, he saw that she wished honestly to love and to be + loved, and the lures she threw out to that end seemed to him pathetic + rather than ridiculous; he could not join Beaton in laughing at her; and + he did not like Beaton's laughing at the other girl, either. It seemed to + Kendricks, with the code of honor which he mostly kept to himself because + he was a little ashamed to find there were so few others like it, that if + Beaton cared nothing for the other girl—and Christine appeared + simply detestable to Kendricks—he had better keep away from her, and + not give her the impression he was in love with her. He rather fancied + that this was the part of a gentleman, and he could not have penetrated to + that aesthetic and moral complexity which formed the consciousness of a + nature like Beaton's and was chiefly a torment to itself; he could not + have conceived of the wayward impulses indulged at every moment in little + things till the straight highway was traversed and well-nigh lost under + their tangle. To do whatever one likes is finally to do nothing that one + likes, even though one continues to do what one will; but Kendricks, + though a sage of twenty-seven, was still too young to understand this. + </p> + <p> + Beaton scarcely understood it himself, perhaps because he was not yet + twenty-seven. He only knew that his will was somehow sick; that it spent + itself in caprices, and brought him no happiness from the fulfilment of + the most vehement wish. But he was aware that his wishes grew less and + less vehement; he began to have a fear that some time he might have none + at all. It seemed to him that if he could once do something that was + thoroughly distasteful to himself, he might make a beginning in the right + direction; but when he tried this on a small scale, it failed, and it + seemed stupid. Some sort of expiation was the thing he needed, he was + sure; but he could not think of anything in particular to expiate; a man + could not expiate his temperament, and his temperament was what Beaton + decided to be at fault. He perceived that it went deeper than even fate + would have gone; he could have fulfilled an evil destiny and had done with + it, however terrible. His trouble was that he could not escape from + himself; and, for the most part, he justified himself in refusing to try. + After he had come to that distinct understanding with Alma Leighton, and + experienced the relief it really gave him, he thought for a while that if + it had fallen out otherwise, and she had put him in charge of her destiny, + he might have been better able to manage his own. But as it was, he could + only drift, and let all other things take their course. It was necessary + that he should go to see her afterward, to show her that he was equal to + the event; but he did not go so often, and he went rather oftener to the + Dryfooses; it was not easy to see Margaret Vance, except on the society + terms. With much sneering and scorning, he fulfilled the duties to Mrs. + Horn without which he knew he should be dropped from her list; but one + might go to many of her Thursdays without getting many words with her + niece. Beaton hardly knew whether he wanted many; the girl kept the charm + of her innocent stylishness; but latterly she wanted to talk more about + social questions than about the psychical problems that young people + usually debate so personally. Son of the working-people as he was, Beaton + had never cared anything about such matters; he did not know about them or + wish to know; he was perhaps too near them. Besides, there was an + embarrassment, at least on her part, concerning the Dryfooses. She was too + high-minded to blame him for having tempted her to her failure with them + by his talk about them; but she was conscious of avoiding them in her + talk. She had decided not to renew the effort she had made in the spring; + because she could not do them good as fellow-creatures needing food and + warmth and work, and she would not try to befriend them socially; she had + a horror of any such futile sentimentality. She would have liked to + account to Beaton in this way for a course which she suspected he must + have heard their comments upon, but she did not quite know how to do it; + she could not be sure how much or how little he cared for them. Some + tentative approaches which she made toward explanation were met with such + eager disclaim of personal interest that she knew less than before what to + think; and she turned the talk from the sisters to the brother, whom it + seemed she still continued to meet in their common work among the poor. + </p> + <p> + "He seems very different," she ventured. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, quite," said Beaton. "He's the kind of person that you might suppose + gave the Catholics a hint for the cloistral life; he's a cloistered nature—the + nature that atones and suffers for. But he's awfully dull company, don't + you think? I never can get anything out of him." + </p> + <p> + "He's very much in earnest." + </p> + <p> + "Remorselessly. We've got a profane and mundane creature there at the + office who runs us all, and it's shocking merely to see the contact of the + tyro natures. When Fulkerson gets to joking Dryfoos—he likes to put + his joke in the form of a pretence that Dryfoos is actuated by a selfish + motive, that he has an eye to office, and is working up a political + interest for himself on the East Side—it's something inexpressible." + </p> + <p> + "I should think so," said Miss Vance, with such lofty disapproval that + Beaton felt himself included in it for having merely told what caused it. + He could not help saying, in natural rebellion, "Well, the man of one idea + is always a little ridiculous." + </p> + <p> + "When his idea is right?" she demanded. "A right idea can't be + ridiculous." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I only said the man that held it was. He's flat; he has no relief, no + projection." + </p> + <p> + She seemed unable to answer, and he perceived that he had silenced her to + his own disadvantage. It appeared to Beaton that she was becoming a little + too exacting for comfort in her idealism. He put down the cup of tea he + had been tasting, and said, in his solemn staccato: "I must go. Good-bye!" + and got instantly away from her, with an effect he had of having suddenly + thought of something imperative. + </p> + <p> + He went up to Mrs. Horn for a moment's hail and farewell, and felt himself + subtly detained by her through fugitive passages of conversation with half + a dozen other people. He fancied that at crises of this strange interview + Mrs. Horn was about to become confidential with him, and confidential, of + all things, about her niece. She ended by not having palpably been so. In + fact, the concern in her mind would have been difficult to impart to a + young man, and after several experiments Mrs. Horn found it impossible to + say that she wished Margaret could somehow be interested in lower things + than those which occupied her. She had watched with growing anxiety the + girl's tendency to various kinds of self-devotion. She had dark hours in + which she even feared her entire withdrawal from the world in a life of + good works. Before now, girls had entered the Protestant sisterhoods, + which appeal so potently to the young and generous imagination, and + Margaret was of just the temperament to be influenced by them. During the + past summer she had been unhappy at her separation from the cares that had + engrossed her more and more as their stay in the city drew to an end in + the spring, and she had hurried her aunt back to town earlier in the fall + than she would have chosen to come. Margaret had her correspondents among + the working-women whom she befriended. Mrs. Horn was at one time alarmed + to find that Margaret was actually promoting a strike of the button-hole + workers. This, of course, had its ludicrous side, in connection with a + young lady in good society, and a person of even so little humor as Mrs. + Horn could not help seeing it. At the same time, she could not help + foreboding the worst from it; she was afraid that Margaret's health would + give way under the strain, and that if she did not go into a sisterhood + she would at least go into a decline. She began the winter with all such + counteractive measures as she could employ. At an age when such things + weary, she threw herself into the pleasures of society with the hope of + dragging Margaret after her; and a sympathetic witness must have followed + with compassion her course from ball to ball, from reception to reception, + from parlor-reading to parlor-reading, from musicale to musicale, from + play to play, from opera to opera. She tasted, after she had practically + renounced them, the bitter and the insipid flavors of fashionable + amusement, in the hope that Margaret might find them sweet, and now at the + end she had to own to herself that she had failed. It was coming Lent + again, and the girl had only grown thinner and more serious with the + diversions that did not divert her from the baleful works of beneficence + on which Mrs. Horn felt that she was throwing her youth away. Margaret + could have borne either alone, but together they were wearing her out. She + felt it a duty to undergo the pleasures her aunt appointed for her, but + she could not forego the other duties in which she found her only + pleasure. + </p> + <p> + She kept up her music still because she could employ it at the meetings + for the entertainment, and, as she hoped, the elevation of her + working-women; but she neglected the other aesthetic interests which once + occupied her; and, at sight of Beaton talking with her, Mrs. Horn caught + at the hope that he might somehow be turned to account in reviving + Margaret's former interest in art. She asked him if Mr. Wetmore had his + classes that winter as usual; and she said she wished Margaret could be + induced to go again: Mr. Wetmore always said that she did not draw very + well, but that she had a great deal of feeling for it, and her work was + interesting. She asked, were the Leightons in town again; and she murmured + a regret that she had not been able to see anything of them, without + explaining why; she said she had a fancy that if Margaret knew Miss + Leighton, and what she was doing, it might stimulate her, perhaps. She + supposed Miss Leighton was still going on with her art? Beaton said, Oh + yes, he believed so. + </p> + <p> + But his manner did not encourage Mrs. Horn to pursue her aims in that + direction, and she said, with a sigh, she wished he still had a class; she + always fancied that Margaret got more good from his instruction than from + any one else's. + </p> + <p> + He said that she was very good; but there was really nobody who knew half + as much as Wetmore, or could make any one understand half as much. Mrs. + Horn was afraid, she said, that Mr. Wetmore's terrible sincerity + discouraged Margaret; he would not let her have any illusions about the + outcome of what she was doing; and did not Mr. Beaton think that some + illusion was necessary with young people? Of course, it was very nice of + Mr. Wetmore to be so honest, but it did not always seem to be the wisest + thing. She begged Mr. Beaton to try to think of some one who would be a + little less severe. Her tone assumed a deeper interest in the people who + were coming up and going away, and Beaton perceived that he was dismissed. + </p> + <p> + He went away with vanity flattered by the sense of having been appealed to + concerning Margaret, and then he began to chafe at what she had said of + Wetmore's honesty, apropos of her wish that he still had a class himself. + Did she mean, confound her? that he was insincere, and would let Miss + Vance suppose she had more talent than she really had? The more Beaton + thought of this, the more furious he became, and the more he was convinced + that something like it had been unconsciously if not consciously in her + mind. He framed some keen retorts, to the general effect that with the + atmosphere of illusion preserved so completely at home, Miss Vance hardly + needed it in her art studies. Having just determined never to go near Mrs. + Horn's Thursdays again, he decided to go once more, in order to plant this + sting in her capacious but somewhat callous bosom; and he planned how he + would lead the talk up to the point from which he should launch it. + </p> + <p> + In the mean time he felt the need of some present solace, such as only + unqualified worship could give him; a cruel wish to feel his power in some + direction where, even if it were resisted, it could not be overcome, drove + him on. That a woman who was to Beaton the embodiment of artificiality + should intimate, however innocently—the innocence made it all the + worse—that he was less honest than Wetmore, whom he knew to be so + much more honest, was something that must be retaliated somewhere before + his self-respect could be restored. It was only five o'clock, and he went + on up-town to the Dryfooses', though he had been there only the night + before last. He asked for the ladies, and Mrs. Mandel received him. + </p> + <p> + "The young ladies are down-town shopping," she said, "but I am very glad + of the opportunity of seeing you alone, Mr. Beaton. You know I lived + several years in Europe." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said Beaton, wondering what that could have to do with her pleasure + in seeing him alone. "I believe so?" He involuntarily gave his words the + questioning inflection. + </p> + <p> + "You have lived abroad, too, and so you won't find what I am going to ask + so strange. Mr. Beaton, why do you come so much to this house?" Mrs. + Mandel bent forward with an aspect of ladylike interest and smiled. + </p> + <p> + Beaton frowned. "Why do I come so much?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes." + </p> + <p> + "Why do I—Excuse me, Mrs. Mandel, but will you allow me to ask why + you ask?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, certainly. There's no reason why I shouldn't say, for I wish you to + be very frank with me. I ask because there are two young ladies in this + house; and, in a certain way, I have to take the place of a mother to + them. I needn't explain why; you know all the people here, and you + understand. I have nothing to say about them, but I should not be speaking + to you now if they were not all rather helpless people. They do not know + the world they have come to live in here, and they cannot help themselves + or one another. But you do know it, Mr. Beaton, and I am sure you know + just how much or how little you mean by coming here. You are either + interested in one of these young girls or you are not. If you are, I have + nothing more to say. If you are not—" Mrs. Mandel continued to + smile, but the smile had grown more perfunctory, and it had an icy gleam. + </p> + <p> + Beaton looked at her with surprise that he gravely kept to himself. He had + always regarded her as a social nullity, with a kind of pity, to be sure, + as a civilized person living among such people as the Dryfooses, but not + without a humorous contempt; he had thought of her as Mandel, and + sometimes as Old Mandel, though she was not half a score of years his + senior, and was still well on the sunny side of forty. He reddened, and + then turned an angry pallor. "Excuse me again, Mrs. Mandel. Do you ask + this from the young ladies?" + </p> + <p> + "Certainly not," she said, with the best temper, and with something in her + tone that convicted Beaton of vulgarity, in putting his question of her + authority in the form of a sneer. "As I have suggested, they would hardly + know how to help themselves at all in such a matter. I have no objection + to saying that I ask it from the father of the young ladies. Of course, in + and for myself I should have no right to know anything about your affairs. + I assure you the duty of knowing isn't very pleasant." The little tremor + in her clear voice struck Beaton as something rather nice. + </p> + <p> + "I can very well believe that, Mrs. Mandel," he said, with a dreamy + sadness in his own. He lifted his eyes and looked into hers. "If I told + you that I cared nothing about them in the way you intimate?" + </p> + <p> + "Then I should prefer to let you characterize your own conduct in + continuing to come here for the year past, as you have done, and tacitly + leading them on to infer differently." They both mechanically kept up the + fiction of plurality in speaking of Christine, but there was no doubt in + the mind of either which of the young ladies the other meant. A good many + thoughts went through Beaton's mind, and none of them were flattering. He + had not been unconscious that the part he had played toward this girl was + ignoble, and that it had grown meaner as the fancy which her beauty had at + first kindled in him had grown cooler. He was aware that of late he had + been amusing himself with her passion in a way that was not less than + cruel, not because he wished to do so, but because he was listless and + wished nothing. He rose in saying: "I might be a little more lenient than + you think, Mrs. Mandel; but I won't trouble you with any palliating + theory. I will not come any more." + </p> + <p> + He bowed, and Mrs. Mandel said, "Of course, it's only your action that I + am concerned with." + </p> + <p> + She seemed to him merely triumphant, and he could not conceive what it had + cost her to nerve herself up to her too easy victory. He left Mrs. Mandel + to a far harder lot than had fallen to him, and he went away hating her as + an enemy who had humiliated him at a moment when he particularly needed + exalting. It was really very simple for him to stop going to see Christine + Dryfoos, but it was not at all simple for Mrs. Mandel to deal with the + consequences of his not coming. He only thought how lightly she had + stopped him, and the poor woman whom he had left trembling for what she + had been obliged to do embodied for him the conscience that accused him of + unpleasant things. + </p> + <p> + "By heavens! this is piling it up," he said to himself through his set + teeth, realizing how it had happened right on top of that stupid insult + from Mrs. Horn. Now he should have to give up his place on 'Every Other + Week; he could not keep that, under the circumstances, even if some + pretence were not made to get rid of him; he must hurry and anticipate any + such pretence; he must see Fulkerson at once; he wondered where he should + find him at that hour. He thought, with bitterness so real that it gave + him a kind of tragical satisfaction, how certainly he could find him a + little later at Mrs. Leighton's; and Fulkerson's happiness became an added + injury. + </p> + <p> + The thing had, of course, come about just at the wrong time. There never + had been a time when Beaton needed money more, when he had spent what he + had and what he expected to have so recklessly. He was in debt to + Fulkerson personally and officially for advance payments of salary. The + thought of sending money home made him break into a scoffing laugh, which + he turned into a cough in order to deceive the passers. What sort of face + should he go with to Fulkerson and tell him that he renounced his + employment on 'Every Other Week;' and what should he do when he had + renounced it? Take pupils, perhaps; open a class? A lurid conception of a + class conducted on those principles of shameless flattery at which Mrs. + Horn had hinted—he believed now she had meant to insult him—presented + itself. Why should not he act upon the suggestion? He thought with + loathing for the whole race of women—dabblers in art. How easy the + thing would be: as easy as to turn back now and tell that old fool's girl + that he loved her, and rake in half his millions. Why should not he do + that? No one else cared for him; and at a year's end, probably, one woman + would be like another as far as the love was concerned, and probably he + should not be more tired if the woman were Christine Dryfoos than if she + were Margaret Vance. He kept Alma Leighton out of the question, because at + the bottom of his heart he believed that she must be forever unlike every + other woman to him. + </p> + <p> + The tide of his confused and aimless reverie had carried him far + down-town, he thought; but when he looked up from it to see where he was + he found himself on Sixth Avenue, only a little below Thirty-ninth Street, + very hot and blown; that idiotic fur overcoat was stifling. He could not + possibly walk down to Eleventh; he did not want to walk even to the + Elevated station at Thirty-fourth; he stopped at the corner to wait for a + surface-car, and fell again into his bitter fancies. After a while he + roused himself and looked up the track, but there was no car coming. He + found himself beside a policeman, who was lazily swinging his club by its + thong from his wrist. + </p> + <p> + "When do you suppose a car will be along?" he asked, rather in a general + sarcasm of the absence of the cars than in any special belief that the + policeman could tell him. + </p> + <p> + The policeman waited to discharge his tobacco-juice into the gutter. "In + about a week," he said, nonchalantly. + </p> + <p> + "What's the matter?" asked Beaton, wondering what the joke could be. + </p> + <p> + "Strike," said the policeman. His interest in Beaton's ignorance seemed to + overcome his contempt of it. "Knocked off everywhere this morning except + Third Avenue and one or two cross-town lines." He spat again and kept his + bulk at its incline over the gutter to glance at a group of men on the + corner below: They were neatly dressed, and looked like something better + than workingmen, and they had a holiday air of being in their best + clothes. + </p> + <p> + "Some of the strikers?" asked Beaton. + </p> + <p> + The policeman nodded. + </p> + <p> + "Any trouble yet?" + </p> + <p> + "There won't be any trouble till we begin to move the cars," said the + policeman. + </p> + <p> + Beaton felt a sudden turn of his rage toward the men whose action would + now force him to walk five blocks and mount the stairs of the Elevated + station. "If you'd take out eight or ten of those fellows," he said, + ferociously, "and set them up against a wall and shoot them, you'd save a + great deal of bother." + </p> + <p> + "I guess we sha'n't have to shoot much," said the policeman, still + swinging his locust. "Anyway, we shant begin it. If it comes to a fight, + though," he said, with a look at the men under the scooping rim of his + helmet, "we can drive the whole six thousand of 'em into the East River + without pullin' a trigger." + </p> + <p> + "Are there six thousand in it?" + </p> + <p> + "About." + </p> + <p> + "What do the infernal fools expect to live on?" + </p> + <p> + "The interest of their money, I suppose," said the officer, with a grin of + satisfaction in his irony. "It's got to run its course. Then they'll come + back with their heads tied up and their tails between their legs, and + plead to be taken on again." + </p> + <p> + "If I was a manager of the roads," said Beaton, thinking of how much he + was already inconvenienced by the strike, and obscurely connecting it as + one of the series with the wrongs he had suffered at the hands of Mrs. + Horn and Mrs. Mandel, "I would see them starve before I'd take them back—every + one of them." + </p> + <p> + "Well," said the policeman, impartially, as a man might whom the companies + allowed to ride free, but who had made friends with a good many drivers + and conductors in the course of his free riding, "I guess that's what the + roads would like to do if they could; but the men are too many for them, + and there ain't enough other men to take their places." + </p> + <p> + "No matter," said Beaton, severely. "They can bring in men from other + places." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, they'll do that fast enough," said the policeman. + </p> + <p> + A man came out of the saloon on the corner where the strikers were + standing, noisy drunk, and they began, as they would have said, to have + some fun with him. The policeman left Beaton, and sauntered slowly down + toward the group as if in the natural course of an afternoon ramble. On + the other side of the street Beaton could see another officer sauntering + up from the block below. Looking up and down the avenue, so silent of its + horse-car bells, he saw a policeman at every corner. It was rather + impressive. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0049" id="link2H_4_0049"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + The strike made a good deal of talk in the office of 'Every Other Week' + that is, it made Fulkerson talk a good deal. He congratulated himself that + he was not personally incommoded by it, like some of the fellows who lived + uptown, and had not everything under one roof, as it were. He enjoyed the + excitement of it, and he kept the office boy running out to buy the extras + which the newsmen came crying through the street almost every hour with a + lamentable, unintelligible noise. He read not only the latest intelligence + of the strike, but the editorial comments on it, which praised the firm + attitude of both parties, and the admirable measures taken by the police + to preserve order. Fulkerson enjoyed the interviews with the police + captains and the leaders of the strike; he equally enjoyed the attempts of + the reporters to interview the road managers, which were so graphically + detailed, and with such a fine feeling for the right use of scare-heads as + to have almost the value of direct expression from them, though it seemed + that they had resolutely refused to speak. He said, at second-hand from + the papers, that if the men behaved themselves and respected the rights of + property, they would have public sympathy with them every time; but just + as soon as they began to interfere with the roads' right to manage their + own affairs in their own way, they must be put down with an iron hand; the + phrase "iron hand" did Fulkerson almost as much good as if it had never + been used before. News began to come of fighting between the police and + the strikers when the roads tried to move their cars with men imported + from Philadelphia, and then Fulkerson rejoiced at the splendid courage of + the police. At the same time, he believed what the strikers said, and that + the trouble was not made by them, but by gangs of roughs acting without + their approval. In this juncture he was relieved by the arrival of the + State Board of Arbitration, which took up its quarters, with a great many + scare-heads, at one of the principal hotels, and invited the roads and the + strikers to lay the matter in dispute before them; he said that now we + should see the working of the greatest piece of social machinery in modern + times. But it appeared to work only in the alacrity of the strikers to + submit their grievance. The roads were as one road in declaring that there + was nothing to arbitrate, and that they were merely asserting their right + to manage their own affairs in their own way. One of the presidents was + reported to have told a member of the Board, who personally summoned him, + to get out and to go about his business. Then, to Fulkerson's extreme + disappointment, the august tribunal, acting on behalf of the sovereign + people in the interest of peace, declared itself powerless, and got out, + and would, no doubt, have gone about its business if it had had any. + Fulkerson did not know what to say, perhaps because the extras did not; + but March laughed at this result. + </p> + <p> + "It's a good deal like the military manoeuvre of the King of France and + his forty thousand men. I suppose somebody told him at the top of the hill + that there was nothing to arbitrate, and to get out and go about his + business, and that was the reason he marched down after he had marched up + with all that ceremony. What amuses me is to find that in an affair of + this kind the roads have rights and the strikers have rights, but the + public has no rights at all. The roads and the strikers are allowed to + fight out a private war in our midst as thoroughly and precisely a private + war as any we despise the Middle Ages for having tolerated—as any + street war in Florence or Verona—and to fight it out at our pains + and expense, and we stand by like sheep and wait till they get tired. It's + a funny attitude for a city of fifteen hundred thousand inhabitants." + </p> + <p> + "What would you do?" asked Fulkerson, a good deal daunted by this view of + the case. + </p> + <p> + "Do? Nothing. Hasn't the State Board of Arbitration declared itself + powerless? We have no hold upon the strikers; and we're so used to being + snubbed and disobliged by common carriers that we have forgotten our hold + on the roads and always allow them to manage their own affairs in their + own way, quite as if we had nothing to do with them and they owed us no + services in return for their privileges." + </p> + <p> + "That's a good deal so," said Fulkerson, disordering his hair. "Well, it's + nuts for the colonel nowadays. He says if he was boss of this town he + would seize the roads on behalf of the people, and man 'em with policemen, + and run 'em till the managers had come to terms with the strikers; and + he'd do that every time there was a strike." + </p> + <p> + "Doesn't that rather savor of the paternalism he condemned in Lindau?" + asked March. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know. It savors of horse sense." + </p> + <p> + "You are pretty far gone, Fulkerson. I thought you were the most engaged + man I ever saw; but I guess you're more father-in-lawed. And before you're + married, too." + </p> + <p> + "Well, the colonel's a glorious old fellow, March. I wish he had the power + to do that thing, just for the fun of looking on while he waltzed in. He's + on the keen jump from morning till night, and he's up late and early to + see the row. I'm afraid he'll get shot at some of the fights; he sees them + all; I can't get any show at them: haven't seen a brickbat shied or a club + swung yet. Have you?" + </p> + <p> + "No, I find I can philosophize the situation about as well from the + papers, and that's what I really want to do, I suppose. Besides, I'm + solemnly pledged by Mrs. March not to go near any sort of crowd, under + penalty of having her bring the children and go with me. Her theory is + that we must all die together; the children haven't been at school since + the strike began. There's no precaution that Mrs. March hasn't used. She + watches me whenever I go out, and sees that I start straight for this + office." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson laughed and said: "Well, it's probably the only thing that's + saved your life. Have you seen anything of Beaton lately?" + </p> + <p> + "No. You don't mean to say he's killed!" + </p> + <p> + "Not if he knows it. But I don't know—What do you say, March? What's + the reason you couldn't get us up a paper on the strike?" + </p> + <p> + "I knew it would fetch round to 'Every Other Week,' somehow." + </p> + <p> + "No, but seriously. There'll be plenty of newspaper accounts. But you + could treat it in the historical spirit—like something that happened + several centuries ago; De Foe's Plague of London style. Heigh? What made + me think of it was Beaton. If I could get hold of him, you two could go + round together and take down its aesthetic aspects. It's a big thing, + March, this strike is. I tell you it's imposing to have a private war, as + you say, fought out this way, in the heart of New York, and New York not + minding it a bit. See? Might take that view of it. With your descriptions + and Beaton's sketches—well, it would just be the greatest card! + Come! What do you say?" + </p> + <p> + "Will you undertake to make it right with Mrs. March if I'm killed and she + and the children are not killed with me?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, it would be difficult. I wonder how it would do to get Kendricks to + do the literary part?" + </p> + <p> + "I've no doubt he'd jump at the chance. I've yet to see the form of + literature that Kendricks wouldn't lay down his life for." + </p> + <p> + "Say!" March perceived that Fulkerson was about to vent another + inspiration, and smiled patiently. "Look here! What's the reason we + couldn't get one of the strikers to write it up for us?" + </p> + <p> + "Might have a symposium of strikers and presidents," March suggested. + </p> + <p> + "No; I'm in earnest. They say some of those fellows—especially the + foreigners—are educated men. I know one fellow—a Bohemian—that + used to edit a Bohemian newspaper here. He could write it out in his kind + of Dutch, and we could get Lindau to translate it." + </p> + <p> + "I guess not," said March, dryly. + </p> + <p> + "Why not? He'd do it for the cause, wouldn't he? Suppose you put it up on + him the next time you see him." + </p> + <p> + "I don't see Lindau any more," said March. He added, "I guess he's + renounced me along with Mr. Dryfoos's money." + </p> + <p> + "Pshaw! You don't mean he hasn't been round since?" + </p> + <p> + "He came for a while, but he's left off coming now. I don't feel + particularly gay about it," March said, with some resentment of + Fulkerson's grin. "He's left me in debt to him for lessons to the + children." + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson laughed out. "Well, he is the greatest old fool! Who'd 'a' + thought he'd 'a' been in earnest with those 'brincibles' of his? But I + suppose there have to be just such cranks; it takes all kinds to make a + world." + </p> + <p> + "There has to be one such crank, it seems," March partially assented. + "One's enough for me." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon this thing is nuts for Lindau, too," said Fulkerson. "Why, it + must act like a schooner of beer on him all the while, to see 'gabidal' + embarrassed like it is by this strike. It must make old Lindau feel like + he was back behind those barricades at Berlin. Well, he's a splendid old + fellow; pity he drinks, as I remarked once before." + </p> + <p> + When March left the office he did not go home so directly as he came, + perhaps because Mrs. March's eye was not on him. He was very curious about + some aspects of the strike, whose importance, as a great social + convulsion, he felt people did not recognize; and, with his temperance in + everything, he found its negative expressions as significant as its more + violent phases. He had promised his wife solemnly that he would keep away + from these, and he had a natural inclination to keep his promise; he had + no wish to be that peaceful spectator who always gets shot when there is + any firing on a mob. He interested himself in the apparent indifference of + the mighty city, which kept on about its business as tranquilly as if the + private war being fought out in its midst were a vague rumor of Indian + troubles on the frontier; and he realized how there might once have been a + street feud of forty years in Florence without interfering materially with + the industry and prosperity of the city. On Broadway there was a silence + where a jangle and clatter of horse-car bells and hoofs had been, but it + was not very noticeable; and on the avenues, roofed by the elevated roads, + this silence of the surface tracks was not noticeable at all in the roar + of the trains overhead. Some of the cross-town cars were beginning to run + again, with a policeman on the rear of each; on the Third Avenge line, + operated by non-union men, who had not struck, there were two policemen + beside the driver of every car, and two beside the conductor, to protect + them from the strikers. But there were no strikers in sight, and on Second + Avenue they stood quietly about in groups on the corners. While March + watched them at a safe distance, a car laden with policemen came down the + track, but none of the strikers offered to molest it. In their simple + Sunday best, March thought them very quiet, decent-looking people, and he + could well believe that they had nothing to do with the riotous outbreaks + in other parts of the city. He could hardly believe that there were any + such outbreaks; he began more and more to think them mere newspaper + exaggerations in the absence of any disturbance, or the disposition to it, + that he could see. He walked on to the East River. + </p> + <p> + Avenues A, B, and C presented the same quiet aspect as Second Avenue; + groups of men stood on the corners, and now and then a police-laden car + was brought unmolested down the tracks before them; they looked at it and + talked together, and some laughed, but there was no trouble. + </p> + <p> + March got a cross-town car, and came back to the West Side. A policeman, + looking very sleepy and tired, lounged on the platform. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose you'll be glad when this cruel war is over," March suggested, + as he got in. + </p> + <p> + The officer gave him a surly glance and made him no answer. + </p> + <p> + His behavior, from a man born to the joking give and take of our life, + impressed March. It gave him a fine sense of the ferocity which he had + read of the French troops putting on toward the populace just before the + coup d'etat; he began to feel like the populace; but he struggled with + himself and regained his character of philosophical observer. In this + character he remained in the car and let it carry him by the corner where + he ought to have got out and gone home, and let it keep on with him to one + of the farthermost tracks westward, where so much of the fighting was + reported to have taken place. But everything on the way was as quiet as on + the East Side. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly the car stopped with so quick a turn of the brake that he was + half thrown from his seat, and the policeman jumped down from the platform + and ran forward. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0050" id="link2H_4_0050"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV + </h2> + <p> + Dryfoos sat at breakfast that morning with Mrs. Mandel as usual to pour + out his coffee. Conrad had gone down-town; the two girls lay abed much + later than their father breakfasted, and their mother had gradually grown + too feeble to come down till lunch. Suddenly Christine appeared at the + door. Her face was white to the edges of her lips, and her eyes were + blazing. + </p> + <p> + "Look here, father! Have you been saying anything to Mr. Beaton?" + </p> + <p> + The old man looked up at her across his coffee-cup through his frowning + brows. "No." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Mandel dropped her eyes, and the spoon shook in her hand. + </p> + <p> + "Then what's the reason he don't come here any more?" demanded the girl; + and her glance darted from her father to Mrs. Mandel. "Oh, it's you, is + it? I'd like to know who told you to meddle in other people's business?" + </p> + <p> + "I did," said Dryfoos, savagely. "I told her to ask him what he wanted + here, and he said he didn't want anything, and he stopped coming. That's + all. I did it myself." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, you did, did you?" said the girl, scarcely less insolently than she + had spoken to Mrs. Mandel. "I should like to know what you did it for? I'd + like to know what made you think I wasn't able to take care of myself. I + just knew somebody had been meddling, but I didn't suppose it was you. I + can manage my own affairs in my own way, if you please, and I'll thank you + after this to leave me to myself in what don't concern you." + </p> + <p> + "Don't concern me? You impudent jade!" her father began. + </p> + <p> + Christine advanced from the doorway toward the table; she had her hands + closed upon what seemed trinkets, some of which glittered and dangled from + them. She said, "Will you go to him and tell him that this meddlesome + minx, here, had no business to say anything about me to him, and you take + it all back?" + </p> + <p> + "No!" shouted the old man. "And if—" + </p> + <p> + "That's all I want of you!" the girl shouted in her turn. "Here are your + presents." With both hands she flung the jewels-pins and rings and + earrings and bracelets—among the breakfast-dishes, from which some + of them sprang to the floor. She stood a moment to pull the intaglio ring + from the finger where Beaton put it a year ago, and dashed that at her + father's plate. Then she whirled out of the room, and they heard her + running up-stairs. + </p> + <p> + The old man made a start toward her, but he fell back in his chair before + she was gone, and, with a fierce, grinding movement of his jaws, + controlled himself. "Take—take those things up," he gasped to Mrs. + Mandel. He seemed unable to rise again from his chair; but when she asked + him if he were unwell, he said no, with an air of offence, and got quickly + to his feet. He mechanically picked up the intaglio ring from the table + while he stood there, and put it on his little finger; his hand was not + much bigger than Christine's. "How do you suppose she found it out?" he + asked, after a moment. + </p> + <p> + "She seems to have merely suspected it," said Mrs. Mandel, in a tremor, + and with the fright in her eyes which Christine's violence had brought + there. + </p> + <p> + "Well, it don't make any difference. She had to know, somehow, and now she + knows." He started toward the door of the library, as if to go into the + hall, where his hat and coat hung. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Dryfoos," palpitated Mrs. Mandel, "I can't remain here, after the + language your daughter has used to me—I can't let you leave me—I—I'm + afraid of her—" + </p> + <p> + "Lock yourself up, then," said the old man, rudely. He added, from the + hall before he went out, "I reckon she'll quiet down now." + </p> + <p> + He took the Elevated road. The strike seemed a vary far-off thing, though + the paper he bought to look up the stockmarket was full of noisy + typography about yesterday's troubles on the surface lines. Among the + millions in Wall Street there was some joking and some swearing, but not + much thinking, about the six thousand men who had taken such chances in + their attempt to better their condition. Dryfoos heard nothing of the + strike in the lobby of the Stock Exchange, where he spent two or three + hours watching a favorite stock of his go up and go down under the + betting. By the time the Exchange closed it had risen eight points, and on + this and some other investments he was five thousand dollars richer than + he had been in the morning. But he had expected to be richer still, and he + was by no means satisfied with his luck. All through the excitement of his + winning and losing had played the dull, murderous rage he felt toward the + child who had defied him, and when the game was over and he started home + his rage mounted into a sort of frenzy; he would teach her, he would break + her. He walked a long way without thinking, and then waited for a car. + None came, and he hailed a passing coupe. + </p> + <p> + "What has got all the cars?" he demanded of the driver, who jumped down + from his box to open the door for him and get his direction. + </p> + <p> + "Been away?" asked the driver. "Hasn't been any car along for a week. + Strike." + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes," said Dryfoos. He felt suddenly giddy, and he remained staring at + the driver after he had taken his seat. + </p> + <p> + The man asked, "Where to?" + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos could not think of his street or number, and he said, with + uncontrollable fury: "I told you once! Go up to West Eleventh, and drive + along slow on the south side; I'll show you the place." + </p> + <p> + He could not remember the number of 'Every Other Week' office, where he + suddenly decided to stop before he went home. He wished to see Fulkerson, + and ask him something about Beaton: whether he had been about lately, and + whether he had dropped any hint of what had happened concerning Christine; + Dryfoos believed that Fulkerson was in the fellow's confidence. + </p> + <p> + There was nobody but Conrad in the counting-room, whither Dryfoos returned + after glancing into Fulkerson's empty office. "Where's Fulkerson?" he + asked, sitting down with his hat on. + </p> + <p> + "He went out a few moments ago," said Conrad, glancing at the clock. "I'm + afraid he isn't coming back again today, if you wanted to see him." + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos twisted his head sidewise and upward to indicate March's room. + "That other fellow out, too?" + </p> + <p> + "He went just before Mr. Fulkerson," answered Conrad. + </p> + <p> + "Do you generally knock off here in the middle of the afternoon?" asked + the old man. + </p> + <p> + "No," said Conrad, as patiently as if his father had not been there a + score of times and found the whole staff of "Every Other Week" at work + between four and five. "Mr. March, you know, always takes a good deal of + his work home with him, and I suppose Mr. Fulkerson went out so early + because there isn't much doing to-day. Perhaps it's the strike that makes + it dull." + </p> + <p> + "The strike—yes! It's a pretty piece of business to have everything + thrown out because a parcel of lazy hounds want a chance to lay off and + get drunk." Dryfoos seemed to think Conrad would make some answer to this, + but the young man's mild face merely saddened, and he said nothing. "I've + got a coupe out there now that I had to take because I couldn't get a car. + If I had my way I'd have a lot of those vagabonds hung. They're waiting to + get the city into a snarl, and then rob the houses—pack of dirty, + worthless whelps. They ought to call out the militia, and fire into 'em. + Clubbing is too good for them." Conrad was still silent, and his father + sneered, "But I reckon you don't think so." + </p> + <p> + "I think the strike is useless," said Conrad. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, you do, do you? Comin' to your senses a little. Gettin' tired walkin' + so much. I should like to know what your gentlemen over there on the East + Side think about the strike, anyway." + </p> + <p> + The young fellow dropped his eyes. "I am not authorized to speak for + them." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, indeed! And perhaps you're not authorized to speak for yourself?" + </p> + <p> + "Father, you know we don't agree about these things. I'd rather not talk—" + </p> + <p> + "But I'm goin' to make you talk this time!" cried Dryfoos, striking the + arm of the chair he sat in with the side of his fist. A maddening thought + of Christine came over him. "As long as you eat my bread, you have got to + do as I say. I won't have my children telling me what I shall do and + sha'n't do, or take on airs of being holier than me. Now, you just speak + up! Do you think those loafers are right, or don't you? Come!" + </p> + <p> + Conrad apparently judged it best to speak. "I think they were very foolish + to strike—at this time, when the Elevated roads can do the work." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, at this time, heigh! And I suppose they think over there on the East + Side that it 'd been wise to strike before we got the Elevated." Conrad + again refused to answer, and his father roared, "What do you think?" + </p> + <p> + "I think a strike is always bad business. It's war; but sometimes there + don't seem any other way for the workingmen to get justice. They say that + sometimes strikes do raise the wages, after a while." + </p> + <p> + "Those lazy devils were paid enough already," shrieked the old man. + </p> + <p> + "They got two dollars a day. How much do you think they ought to 'a' got? + Twenty?" + </p> + <p> + Conrad hesitated, with a beseeching look at his father. But he decided to + answer. "The men say that with partial work, and fines, and other things, + they get sometimes a dollar, and sometimes ninety cents a day." + </p> + <p> + "They lie, and you know they lie," said his father, rising and coming + toward him. "And what do you think the upshot of it all will be, after + they've ruined business for another week, and made people hire hacks, and + stolen the money of honest men? How is it going to end?" + </p> + <p> + "They will have to give in." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, give in, heigh! And what will you say then, I should like to know? + How will you feel about it then? Speak!" + </p> + <p> + "I shall feel as I do now. I know you don't think that way, and I don't + blame you—or anybody. But if I have got to say how I shall feel, + why, I shall feel sorry they didn't succeed, for I believe they have a + righteous cause, though they go the wrong way to help themselves." + </p> + <p> + His father came close to him, his eyes blazing, his teeth set. "Do you + dare so say that to me?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes. I can't help it. I pity them; my whole heart is with those poor + men." + </p> + <p> + "You impudent puppy!" shouted the old man. He lifted his hand and struck + his son in the face. Conrad caught his hand with his own left, and, while + the blood began to trickle from a wound that Christine's intaglio ring had + made in his temple, he looked at him with a kind of grieving wonder, and + said, "Father!" + </p> + <p> + The old man wrenched his fist away and ran out of the house. He remembered + his address now, and he gave it as he plunged into the coupe. He trembled + with his evil passion, and glared out of the windows at the passers as he + drove home; he only saw Conrad's mild, grieving, wondering eyes, and the + blood slowly trickling from the wound in his temple. + </p> + <p> + Conrad went to the neat-set bowl in Fulkerson's comfortable room and + washed the blood away, and kept bathing the wound with the cold water till + it stopped bleeding. The cut was not deep, and he thought he would not put + anything on it. After a while he locked up the office and started out, he + hardly knew where. But he walked on, in the direction he had taken, till + he found himself in Union Square, on the pavement in front of Brentano's. + It seemed to him that he heard some one calling gently to him, "Mr. + Dryfoos!" + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0051" id="link2H_4_0051"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. + </h2> + <p> + Conrad looked confusedly around, and the same voice said again, "Mr. + Dryfoos!" and he saw that it was a lady speaking to him from a coupe + beside the curbing, and then he saw that it was Miss Vance. + </p> + <p> + She smiled when he gave signs of having discovered her, and came up to the + door of her carriage. "I am so glad to meet you. I have been longing to + talk to somebody; nobody seems to feel about it as I do. Oh, isn't it + horrible? Must they fail? I saw cars running on all the lines as I came + across; it made me sick at heart. Must those brave fellows give in? And + everybody seems to hate them so—I can't bear it." Her face was + estranged with excitement, and there were traces of tears on it. "You must + think me almost crazy to stop you in the street this way; but when I + caught sight of you I had to speak. I knew you would sympathize—I + knew you would feel as I do. Oh, how can anybody help honoring those poor + men for standing by one another as they do? They are risking all they have + in the world for the sake of justice! Oh, they are true heroes! They are + staking the bread of their wives and children on the dreadful chance + they've taken! But no one seems to understand it. No one seems to see that + they are willing to suffer more now that other poor men may suffer less + hereafter. And those wretched creatures that are coming in to take their + places—those traitors—" + </p> + <p> + "We can't blame them for wanting to earn a living, Miss Vance," said + Conrad. + </p> + <p> + "No, no! I don't blame them. Who am I, to do such a thing? It's we—people + like me, of my class—who make the poor betray one another. But this + dreadful fighting—this hideous paper is full of it!" She held up an + extra, crumpled with her nervous reading. "Can't something be done to stop + it? Don't you think that if some one went among them, and tried to make + them see how perfectly hopeless it was to resist the companies and drive + off the new men, he might do some good? I have wanted to go and try; but I + am a woman, and I mustn't! I shouldn't be afraid of the strikers, but I'm + afraid of what people would say!" Conrad kept pressing his handkerchief to + the cut in his temple, which he thought might be bleeding, and now she + noticed this. "Are you hurt, Mr. Dryfoos? You look so pale." + </p> + <p> + "No, it's nothing—a little scratch I've got." + </p> + <p> + "Indeed, you look pale. Have you a carriage? How will you get home? Will + you get in here with me and let me drive you?" + </p> + <p> + "No, no," said Conrad, smiling at her excitement. "I'm perfectly well—" + </p> + <p> + "And you don't think I'm foolish and wicked for stopping you here and + talking in this way? But I know you feel as I do!" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I feel as you do. You are right—right in every way—I + mustn't keep you—Good-bye." He stepped back to bow, but she put her + beautiful hand out of the window, and when he took it she wrung his hand + hard. + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, thank you! You are good and you are just! But no one can do + anything. It's useless!" + </p> + <p> + The type of irreproachable coachman on the box whose respectability had + suffered through the strange behavior of his mistress in this interview + drove quickly off at her signal, and Conrad stood a moment looking after + the carriage. His heart was full of joy; it leaped; he thought it would + burst. As he turned to walk away it seemed to him as if he mounted upon + the air. The trust she had shown him, the praise she had given him, that + crush of the hand: he hoped nothing, he formed no idea from it, but it all + filled him with love that cast out the pain and shame he had been + suffering. He believed that he could never be unhappy any more; the + hardness that was in his mind toward his father went out of it; he saw how + sorely he had tried him; he grieved that he had done it, but the means, + the difference of his feeling about the cause of their quarrel, he was + solemnly glad of that since she shared it. He was only sorry for his + father. "Poor father!" he said under his breath as he went along. He + explained to her about his father in his reverie, and she pitied his + father, too. + </p> + <p> + He was walking over toward the West Side, aimlessly at first, and then at + times with the longing to do something to save those mistaken men from + themselves forming itself into a purpose. Was not that what she meant when + she bewailed her woman's helplessness? She must have wished him to try if + he, being a man, could not do something; or if she did not, still he would + try, and if she heard of it she would recall what she had said and would + be glad he had understood her so. Thinking of her pleasure in what he was + going to do, he forgot almost what it was; but when he came to a + street-car track he remembered it, and looked up and down to see if there + were any turbulent gathering of men whom he might mingle with and help to + keep from violence. He saw none anywhere; and then suddenly, as if at the + same moment, for in his exalted mood all events had a dream-like + simultaneity, he stood at the corner of an avenue, and in the middle of + it, a little way off, was a street-car, and around the car a tumult of + shouting, cursing, struggling men. The driver was lashing his horses + forward, and a policeman was at their heads, with the conductor, pulling + them; stones, clubs, brickbats hailed upon the car, the horses, the men + trying to move them. The mob closed upon them in a body, and then a + patrol-wagon whirled up from the other side, and a squad of policemen + leaped out and began to club the rioters. Conrad could see how they struck + them under the rims of their hats; the blows on their skulls sounded as if + they had fallen on stone; the rioters ran in all directions. + </p> + <p> + One of the officers rushed up toward the corner where Conrad stood, and + then he saw at his side a tall, old man, with a long, white beard, who was + calling out at the policemen: "Ah, yes! Glup the strikerss—gif it to + them! Why don't you co and glup the bresidents that insoalt your lawss, + and gick your Boart of Arpidration out-of-toors? Glup the strikerss—they + cot no friendts! They cot no money to pribe you, to dreat you!" + </p> + <p> + The officer lifted his club, and the old man threw his left arm up to + shield his head. Conrad recognized Lindau, and now he saw the empty sleeve + dangle in the air over the stump of his wrist. He heard a shot in that + turmoil beside the car, and something seemed to strike him in the breast. + He was going to say to the policeman: "Don't strike him! He's an old + soldier! You see he has no hand!" but he could not speak, he could not + move his tongue. The policeman stood there; he saw his face: it was not + bad, not cruel; it was like the face of a statue, fixed, perdurable—a + mere image of irresponsible and involuntary authority. Then Conrad fell + forward, pierced through the heart by that shot fired from the car. + </p> + <p> + March heard the shot as he scrambled out of his car, and at the same + moment he saw Lindau drop under the club of the policeman, who left him + where he fell and joined the rest of the squad in pursuing the rioters. + The fighting round the car in the avenue ceased; the driver whipped his + horses into a gallop, and the place was left empty. + </p> + <p> + March would have liked to run; he thought how his wife had implored him to + keep away from the rioting; but he could not have left Lindau lying there + if he would. Something stronger than his will drew him to the spot, and + there he saw Conrad, dead beside the old man. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0052" id="link2H_4_0052"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. + </h2> + <p> + In the cares which Mrs. March shared with her husband that night she was + supported partly by principle, but mainly by the potent excitement which + bewildered Conrad's family and took all reality from what had happened. It + was nearly midnight when the Marches left them and walked away toward the + Elevated station with Fulkerson. Everything had been done, by that time, + that could be done; and Fulkerson was not without that satisfaction in the + business-like despatch of all the details which attends each step in such + an affair and helps to make death tolerable even to the most sorely + stricken. We are creatures of the moment; we live from one little space to + another; and only one interest at a time fills these. Fulkerson was + cheerful when they got into the street, almost gay; and Mrs. March + experienced a rebound from her depression which she felt that she ought + not to have experienced. But she condoned the offence a little in herself, + because her husband remained so constant in his gravity; and, pending the + final accounting he must make her for having been where he could be of so + much use from the first instant of the calamity, she was tenderly, + gratefully proud of all the use he had been to Conrad's family, and + especially his miserable old father. To her mind, March was the principal + actor in the whole affair, and much more important in having seen it than + those who had suffered in it. In fact, he had suffered incomparably. + </p> + <p> + "Well, well," said Fulkerson. "They'll get along now. We've done all we + could, and there's nothing left but for them to bear it. Of course it's + awful, but I guess it 'll come out all right. I mean," he added, "they'll + pull through now." + </p> + <p> + "I suppose," said March, "that nothing is put on us that we can't bear. + But I should think," he went on, musingly, "that when God sees what we + poor finite creatures can bear, hemmed round with this eternal darkness of + death, He must respect us." + </p> + <p> + "Basil!" said his wife. But in her heart she drew nearer to him for the + words she thought she ought to rebuke him for. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I know," he said, "we school ourselves to despise human nature. But + God did not make us despicable, and I say, whatever end He meant us for, + He must have some such thrill of joy in our adequacy to fate as a father + feels when his son shows himself a man. When I think what we can be if we + must, I can't believe the least of us shall finally perish." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I reckon the Almighty won't scoop any of us," said Fulkerson, with a + piety of his own. + </p> + <p> + "That poor boy's father!" sighed Mrs. March. "I can't get his face out of + my sight. He looked so much worse than death." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, death doesn't look bad," said March. "It's life that looks so in its + presence. Death is peace and pardon. I only wish poor old Lindau was as + well out of it as Conrad there." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, Lindau! He has done harm enough," said Mrs. March. "I hope he will be + careful after this." + </p> + <p> + March did not try to defend Lindau against her theory of the case, which + inexorably held him responsible for Conrad's death. + </p> + <p> + "Lindau's going to come out all right, I guess," said Fulkerson. "He was + first-rate when I saw him at the hospital to-night." He whispered in + March's ear, at a chance he got in mounting the station stairs: "I didn't + like to tell you there at the house, but I guess you'd better know. They + had to take Lindau's arm off near the shoulder. Smashed all to pieces by + the clubbing." + </p> + <p> + In the house, vainly rich and foolishly unfit for them, the bereaved + family whom the Marches had just left lingered together, and tried to get + strength to part for the night. They were all spent with the fatigue that + comes from heaven to such misery as theirs, and they sat in a torpor in + which each waited for the other to move, to speak. + </p> + <p> + Christine moved, and Mela spoke. Christine rose and went out of the room + without saying a word, and they heard her going up-stairs. Then Mela said: + </p> + <p> + "I reckon the rest of us better be goun' too, father. Here, let's git + mother started." + </p> + <p> + She put her arm round her mother, to lift her from her chair, but the old + man did not stir, and Mela called Mrs. Mandel from the next room. Between + them they raised her to her feet. + </p> + <p> + "Ain't there anybody agoin' to set up with it?" she asked, in her hoarse + pipe. "It appears like folks hain't got any feelin's in New York. Woon't + some o' the neighbors come and offer to set up, without waitin' to be + asked?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, that's all right, mother. The men 'll attend to that. Don't you + bother any," Mela coaxed, and she kept her arm round her mother, with + tender patience. + </p> + <p> + "Why, Mely, child! I can't feel right to have it left to hirelin's so. But + there ain't anybody any more to see things done as they ought. If Coonrod + was on'y here—" + </p> + <p> + "Well, mother, you are pretty mixed!" said Mela, with a strong tendency to + break into her large guffaw. But she checked herself and said: "I know + just how you feel, though. It keeps acomun' and agoun'; and it's so and it + ain't so, all at once; that's the plague of it. Well, father! Ain't you + goun' to come?" + </p> + <p> + "I'm goin' to stay, Mela," said the old man, gently, without moving. "Get + your mother to bed, that's a good girl." + </p> + <p> + "You goin' to set up with him, Jacob?" asked the old woman. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, 'Liz'beth, I'll set up. You go to bed." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I will, Jacob. And I believe it 'll do you good to set up. I wished + I could set up with you; but I don't seem to have the stren'th I did when + the twins died. I must git my sleep, so's to—I don't like very well + to have you broke of your rest, Jacob, but there don't appear to be + anybody else. You wouldn't have to do it if Coonrod was here. There I go + ag'in! Mercy! mercy!" + </p> + <p> + "Well, do come along, then, mother," said Mela; and she got her out of the + room, with Mrs. Mandel's help, and up the stairs. + </p> + <p> + From the top the old woman called down, "You tell Coonrod—" She + stopped, and he heard her groan out, "My Lord! my Lord!" + </p> + <p> + He sat, one silence in the dining-room, where they had all lingered + together, and in the library beyond the hireling watcher sat, another + silence. The time passed, but neither moved, and the last noise in the + house ceased, so that they heard each other breathe, and the vague, remote + rumor of the city invaded the inner stillness. It grew louder toward + morning, and then Dryfoos knew from the watcher's deeper breathing that he + had fallen into a doze. + </p> + <p> + He crept by him to the drawing-room, where his son was; the place was full + of the awful sweetness of the flowers that Fulkerson had brought, and that + lay above the pulseless breast. The old man turned up a burner in the + chandelier, and stood looking on the majestic serenity of the dead face. + </p> + <p> + He could not move when he saw his wife coming down the stairway in the + hall. She was in her long, white flannel bed gown, and the candle she + carried shook with her nervous tremor. He thought she might be walking in + her sleep, but she said, quite simply, "I woke up, and I couldn't git to + sleep ag'in without comin' to have a look." She stood beside their dead + son with him, "well, he's beautiful, Jacob. He was the prettiest baby! And + he was always good, Coonrod was; I'll say that for him. I don't believe he + ever give me a minute's care in his whole life. I reckon I liked him about + the best of all the children; but I don't know as I ever done much to show + it. But you was always good to him, Jacob; you always done the best for + him, ever since he was a little feller. I used to be afraid you'd spoil + him sometimes in them days; but I guess you're glad now for every time you + didn't cross him. I don't suppose since the twins died you ever hit him a + lick." She stooped and peered closer at the face. "Why, Jacob, what's that + there by his pore eye?" Dryfoos saw it, too, the wound that he had feared + to look for, and that now seemed to redden on his sight. He broke into a + low, wavering cry, like a child's in despair, like an animal's in terror, + like a soul's in the anguish of remorse. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0053" id="link2H_4_0053"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. + </h2> + <p> + The evening after the funeral, while the Marches sat together talking it + over, and making approaches, through its shadow, to the question of their + own future, which it involved, they were startled by the twitter of the + electric bell at their apartment door. It was really not so late as the + children's having gone to bed made it seem; but at nine o'clock it was too + late for any probable visitor except Fulkerson. It might be he, and March + was glad to postpone the impending question to his curiosity concerning + the immediate business Fulkerson might have with him. He went himself to + the door, and confronted there a lady deeply veiled in black and attended + by a very decorous serving-woman. + </p> + <p> + "Are you alone, Mr. March—you and Mrs. March?" asked the lady, + behind her veil; and, as he hesitated, she said: "You don't know me! Miss + Vance"; and she threw back her veil, showing her face wan and agitated in + the dark folds. "I am very anxious to see you—to speak with you + both. May I come in?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, certainly, Miss Vance," he answered, still too much stupefied by her + presence to realize it. + </p> + <p> + She promptly entered, and saying, with a glance at the hall chair by the + door, "My maid can sit here?" followed him to the room where he had left + his wife. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March showed herself more capable of coping with the fact. She + welcomed Miss Vance with the liking they both felt for the girl, and with + the sympathy which her troubled face inspired. + </p> + <p> + "I won't tire you with excuses for coming, Mrs. March," she said, "for it + was the only thing left for me to do; and I come at my aunt's suggestion." + She added this as if it would help to account for her more on the + conventional plane, and she had the instinctive good taste to address + herself throughout to Mrs. March as much as possible, though what she had + to say was mainly for March. "I don't know how to begin—I don't know + how to speak of this terrible affair. But you know what I mean. I feel as + if I had lived a whole lifetime since it happened. I don't want you to + pity me for it," she said, forestalling a politeness from Mrs. March. "I'm + the last one to be thought of, and you mustn't mind me if I try to make + you. I came to find out all of the truth that I can, and when I know just + what that is I shall know what to do. I have read the inquest; it's all + burned into my brain. But I don't care for that—for myself: you must + let me say such things without minding me. I know that your husband—that + Mr. March was there; I read his testimony; and I wished to ask him—to + ask him—" She stopped and looked distractedly about. "But what + folly! He must have said everything he knew—he had to." Her eyes + wandered to him from his wife, on whom she had kept them with instinctive + tact. + </p> + <p> + "I said everything—yes," he replied. "But if you would like to know—" + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps I had better tell you something first. I had just parted with him—it + couldn't have been more than half an hour—in front of Brentano's; he + must have gone straight to his death. We were talking, and I—I said, + Why didn't some one go among the strikers and plead with them to be + peaceable, and keep them from attacking the new men. I knew that he felt + as I did about the strikers: that he was their friend. Did you see—do + you know anything that makes you think he had been trying to do that?" + </p> + <p> + "I am sorry," March began, "I didn't see him at all till—till I saw + him lying dead." + </p> + <p> + "My husband was there purely by accident," Mrs. March put in. "I had + begged and entreated him not to go near the striking anywhere. And he had + just got out of the car, and saw the policeman strike that wretched Lindau—he's + been such an anxiety to me ever since we have had anything to do with him + here; my husband knew him when he was a boy in the West. Mr. March came + home from it all perfectly prostrated; it made us all sick! Nothing so + horrible ever came into our lives before. I assure you it was the most + shocking experience." + </p> + <p> + Miss Vance listened to her with that look of patience which those who have + seen much of the real suffering of the world—the daily portion of + the poor—have for the nervous woes of comfortable people. March hung + his head; he knew it would be useless to protest that his share of the + calamity was, by comparison, infinitesimally small. + </p> + <p> + After she had heard Mrs. March to the end even of her repetitions, Miss + Vance said, as if it were a mere matter of course that she should have + looked the affair up, "Yes, I have seen Mr. Lindau at the hospital—" + </p> + <p> + "My husband goes every day to see him," Mrs. March interrupted, to give a + final touch to the conception of March's magnanimity throughout. + </p> + <p> + "The poor man seems to have been in the wrong at the time," said Miss + Vance. + </p> + <p> + "I could almost say he had earned the right to be wrong. He's a man of the + most generous instincts, and a high ideal of justice, of equity—too + high to be considered by a policeman with a club in his hand," said March, + with a bold defiance of his wife's different opinion of Lindau. "It's the + policeman's business, I suppose, to club the ideal when he finds it + inciting a riot." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I don't blame Mr. Lindau; I don't blame the policeman; he was as much + a mere instrument as his club was. I am only trying to find out how much I + am to blame myself. I had no thought of Mr. Dryfoos's going there—of + his attempting to talk with the strikers and keep them quiet; I was only + thinking, as women do, of what I should try to do if I were a man. + </p> + <p> + "But perhaps he understood me to ask him to go—perhaps my words sent + him to his death." + </p> + <p> + She had a sort of calm in her courage to know the worst truth as to her + responsibility that forbade any wish to flatter her out of it. "I'm + afraid," said March, "that is what can never be known now." After a moment + he added: "But why should you wish to know? If he went there as a + peacemaker, he died in a good cause, in such a way as he would wish to + die, I believe." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said the girl; "I have thought of that. But death is awful; we must + not think patiently, forgivingly of sending any one to their death in the + best cause."—"I fancy life was an awful thing to Conrad Dryfoos," + March replied. "He was thwarted and disappointed, without even pleasing + the ambition that thwarted and disappointed him. That poor old man, his + father, warped him from his simple, lifelong wish to be a minister, and + was trying to make a business man of him. If it will be any consolation to + you to know it, Miss Vance, I can assure you that he was very unhappy, and + I don't see how he could ever have been happy here." + </p> + <p> + "It won't," said the girl, steadily. "If people are born into this world, + it's because they were meant to live in it. It isn't a question of being + happy here; no one is happy, in that old, selfish way, or can be; but he + could have been of great use." + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps he was of use in dying. Who knows? He may have been trying to + silence Lindau." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Lindau wasn't worth it!" cried Mrs. March. + </p> + <p> + Miss Vance looked at her as if she did not quite understand. Then she + turned to March. "He might have been unhappy, as we all are; but I know + that his life here would have had a higher happiness than we wish for or + aim for." The tears began to run silently down her cheeks. + </p> + <p> + "He looked strangely happy that day when he left me. He had hurt himself + somehow, and his face was bleeding from a scratch; he kept his + handkerchief up; he was pale, but such a light came into his face when he + shook hands—ah, I know he went to try and do what I said!" They were + all silent, while she dried her eyes and then put her handkerchief back + into the pocket from which she had suddenly pulled it, with a series of + vivid, young-ladyish gestures, which struck March by their incongruity + with the occasion of their talk, and yet by their harmony with the rest of + her elegance. "I am sorry, Miss Vance," he began, "that I can't really + tell you anything more—" + </p> + <p> + "You are very kind," she said, controlling herself and rising quickly. "I + thank you—thank you both very much." She turned to Mrs. March and + shook hands with her and then with him. "I might have known—I did + know that there wasn't anything more for you to tell. But at least I've + found out from you that there was nothing, and now I can begin to bear + what I must. How are those poor creatures—his mother and father, his + sisters? Some day, I hope, I shall be ashamed to have postponed them to + the thought of myself; but I can't pretend to be yet. I could not come to + the funeral; I wanted to." + </p> + <p> + She addressed her question to Mrs. March, who answered: "I can understand. + But they were pleased with the flowers you sent; people are, at such + times, and they haven't many friends." + </p> + <p> + "Would you go to see them?" asked the girl. "Would you tell them what I've + told you?" + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March looked at her husband. + </p> + <p> + "I don't see what good it would do. They wouldn't understand. But if it + would relieve you—" + </p> + <p> + "I'll wait till it isn't a question of self-relief," said the girl. + "Good-bye!" + </p> + <p> + She left them to long debate of the event. At the end Mrs. March said, + "She is a strange being; such a mixture of the society girl and the + saint." + </p> + <p> + Her husband answered: "She's the potentiality of several kinds of fanatic. + She's very unhappy, and I don't see how she's to be happier about that + poor fellow. I shouldn't be surprised if she did inspire him to attempt + something of that kind." + </p> + <p> + "Well, you got out of it very well, Basil. I admired the way you managed. + I was afraid you'd say something awkward." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, with a plain line of truth before me, as the only possible thing, I + can get on pretty well. When it comes to anything decorative, I'd rather + leave it to you, Isabel." + </p> + <p> + She seemed insensible of his jest. "Of course, he was in love with her. + That was the light that came into his face when he was going to do what he + thought she wanted him to do." + </p> + <p> + "And she—do you think that she was—" + </p> + <p> + "What an idea! It would have been perfectly grotesque!" + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0054" id="link2H_4_0054"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII. + </h2> + <p> + Their affliction brought the Dryfooses into humaner relations with the + Marches, who had hitherto regarded them as a necessary evil, as the odious + means of their own prosperity. Mrs. March found that the women of the + family seemed glad of her coming, and in the sense of her usefulness to + them all she began to feel a kindness even for Christine. But she could + not help seeing that between the girl and her father there was an + unsettled account, somehow, and that it was Christine and not the old man + who was holding out. She thought that their sorrow had tended to refine + the others. Mela was much more subdued, and, except when she abandoned + herself to a childish interest in her mourning, she did nothing to shock + Mrs. March's taste or to seem unworthy of her grief. She was very good to + her mother, whom the blow had left unchanged, and to her father, whom it + had apparently fallen upon with crushing weight. Once, after visiting + their house, Mrs. March described to March a little scene between Dryfoos + and Mela, when he came home from Wall Street, and the girl met him at the + door with a kind of country simpleness, and took his hat and stick, and + brought him into the room where Mrs. March sat, looking tired and broken. + She found this look of Dryfoos's pathetic, and dwelt on the sort of + stupefaction there was in it; he must have loved his son more than they + ever realized. "Yes," said March, "I suspect he did. He's never been about + the place since that day; he was always dropping in before, on his way + up-town. He seems to go down to Wall Street every day, just as before, but + I suppose that's mechanical; he wouldn't know what else to do; I dare say + it's best for him. The sanguine Fulkerson is getting a little anxious + about the future of 'Every Other Week.' Now Conrad's gone, he isn't sure + the old man will want to keep on with it, or whether he'll have to look up + another Angel. He wants to get married, I imagine, and he can't venture + till this point is settled." + </p> + <p> + "It's a very material point to us too, Basil," said Mrs. March. + </p> + <p> + "Well, of course. I hadn't overlooked that, you may be sure. One of the + things that Fulkerson and I have discussed is a scheme for buying the + magazine. Its success is pretty well assured now, and I shouldn't be + afraid to put money into it—if I had the money." + </p> + <p> + "I couldn't let you sell the house in Boston, Basil!" + </p> + <p> + "And I don't want to. I wish we could go back and live in it and get the + rent, too! It would be quite a support. But I suppose if Dryfoos won't + keep on, it must come to another Angel. I hope it won't be a literary one, + with a fancy for running my department." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I guess whoever takes the magazine will be glad enough to keep you!" + </p> + <p> + "Do you think so? Well, perhaps. But I don't believe Fulkerson would let + me stand long between him and an Angel of the right description." + </p> + <p> + "Well, then, I believe he would. And you've never seen anything, Basil, to + make you really think that Mr. Fulkerson didn't appreciate you to the + utmost." + </p> + <p> + "I think I came pretty near an undervaluation in that Lindau trouble. I + shall always wonder what put a backbone into Fulkerson just at that + crisis. Fulkerson doesn't strike me as the stuff of a moral hero." + </p> + <p> + "At any rate, he was one," said Mrs. March, "and that's quite enough for + me." + </p> + <p> + March did not answer. "What a noble thing life is, anyway! Here I am, well + on the way to fifty, after twenty-five years of hard work, looking forward + to the potential poor-house as confidently as I did in youth. We might + have saved a little more than we have saved; but the little more wouldn't + avail if I were turned out of my place now; and we should have lived + sordidly to no purpose. Some one always has you by the throat, unless you + have some one else in your grip. I wonder if that's the attitude the + Almighty intended His respectable creatures to take toward one another! I + wonder if He meant our civilization, the battle we fight in, the game we + trick in! I wonder if He considers it final, and if the kingdom of heaven + on earth, which we pray for—" + </p> + <p> + "Have you seen Lindau to-day?" Mrs. March asked. + </p> + <p> + "You inferred it from the quality of my piety?" March laughed, and then + suddenly sobered. "Yes, I saw him. It's going rather hard with him, I'm + afraid. The amputation doesn't heal very well; the shock was very great, + and he's old. It'll take time. There's so much pain that they have to keep + him under opiates, and I don't think he fully knew me. At any rate, I + didn't get my piety from him to-day." + </p> + <p> + "It's horrible! Horrible!" said Mrs. March. "I can't get over it! After + losing his hand in the war, to lose his whole arm now in this way! It does + seem too cruel! Of course he oughtn't to have been there; we can say that. + But you oughtn't to have been there, either, Basil." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I wasn't exactly advising the police to go and club the railroad + presidents." + </p> + <p> + "Neither was poor Conrad Dryfoos." + </p> + <p> + "I don't deny it. All that was distinctly the chance of life and death. + That belonged to God; and no doubt it was law, though it seems chance. But + what I object to is this economic chance-world in which we live, and which + we men seem to have created. It ought to be law as inflexible in human + affairs as the order of day and night in the physical world that if a man + will work he shall both rest and eat, and shall not be harassed with any + question as to how his repose and his provision shall come. Nothing less + ideal than this satisfies the reason. But in our state of things no one is + secure of this. No one is sure of finding work; no one is sure of not + losing it. I may have my work taken away from me at any moment by the + caprice, the mood, the indigestion of a man who has not the qualification + for knowing whether I do it well, or ill. At my time of life—at + every time of life—a man ought to feel that if he will keep on doing + his duty he shall not suffer in himself or in those who are dear to him, + except through natural causes. But no man can feel this as things are now; + and so we go on, pushing and pulling, climbing and crawling, thrusting + aside and trampling underfoot; lying, cheating, stealing; and then we get + to the end, covered with blood and dirt and sin and shame, and look back + over the way we've come to a palace of our own, or the poor-house, which + is about the only possession we can claim in common with our brother-men, + I don't think the retrospect can be pleasing." + </p> + <p> + "I know, I know!" said his wife. "I think of those things, too, Basil. + Life isn't what it seems when you look forward to it. But I think people + would suffer less, and wouldn't have to work so hard, and could make all + reasonable provision for the future, if they were not so greedy and so + foolish." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, without doubt! We can't put it all on the conditions; we must put + some of the blame on character. But conditions make character; and people + are greedy and foolish, and wish to have and to shine, because having and + shining are held up to them by civilization as the chief good of life. We + all know they are not the chief good, perhaps not good at all; but if some + one ventures to say so, all the rest of us call him a fraud and a crank, + and go moiling and toiling on to the palace or the poor-house. We can't + help it. If one were less greedy or less foolish, some one else would have + and would shine at his expense. We don't moil and toil to ourselves alone; + the palace or the poor-house is not merely for ourselves, but for our + children, whom we've brought up in the superstition that having and + shining is the chief good. We dare not teach them otherwise, for fear they + may falter in the fight when it comes their turn, and the children of + others will crowd them out of the palace into the poor-house. If we felt + sure that honest work shared by all would bring them honest food shared by + all, some heroic few of us, who did not wish our children to rise above + their fellows—though we could not bear to have them fall below—might + trust them with the truth. But we have no such assurance, and so we go on + trembling before Dryfooses and living in gimcrackeries." + </p> + <p> + "Basil, Basil! I was always willing to live more simply than you. You know + I was!" + </p> + <p> + "I know you always said so, my dear. But how many bell-ratchets and + speaking-tubes would you be willing to have at the street door below? I + remember that when we were looking for a flat you rejected every building + that had a bell-ratchet or a speaking-tube, and would have nothing to do + with any that had more than an electric button; you wanted a hall-boy, + with electric buttons all over him. I don't blame you. I find such things + quite as necessary as you do." + </p> + <p> + "And do you mean to say, Basil," she asked, abandoning this unprofitable + branch of the inquiry, "that you are really uneasy about your place? that + you are afraid Mr. Dryfoos may give up being an Angel, and Mr. Fulkerson + may play you false?" + </p> + <p> + "Play me false? Oh, it wouldn't be playing me false. It would be merely + looking out for himself, if the new Angel had editorial tastes and wanted + my place. It's what any one would do." + </p> + <p> + "You wouldn't do it, Basil!" + </p> + <p> + "Wouldn't I? Well, if any one offered me more salary than 'Every Other + Week' pays—say, twice as much—what do you think my duty to my + suffering family would be? It's give and take in the business world, + Isabel; especially take. But as to being uneasy, I'm not, in the least. + I've the spirit of a lion, when it comes to such a chance as that. When I + see how readily the sensibilities of the passing stranger can be worked in + New York, I think of taking up the role of that desperate man on Third + Avenue who went along looking for garbage in the gutter to eat. I think I + could pick up at least twenty or thirty cents a day by that little game, + and maintain my family in the affluence it's been accustomed to." + </p> + <p> + "Basil!" cried his wife. "You don't mean to say that man was an impostor! + And I've gone about, ever since, feeling that one such case in a million, + the bare possibility of it, was enough to justify all that Lindau said + about the rich and the poor!" + </p> + <p> + March laughed teasingly. "Oh, I don't say he was an impostor. Perhaps he + really was hungry; but, if he wasn't, what do you think of a civilization + that makes the opportunity of such a fraud? that gives us all such a bad + conscience for the need which is that we weaken to the need that isn't? + Suppose that poor fellow wasn't personally founded on fact: nevertheless, + he represented the truth; he was the ideal of the suffering which would be + less effective if realistically treated. That man is a great comfort to + me. He probably rioted for days on that quarter I gave him; made a dinner + very likely, or a champagne supper; and if 'Every Other Week' wants to get + rid of me, I intend to work that racket. You can hang round the corner + with Bella, and Tom can come up to me in tears, at stated intervals, and + ask me if I've found anything yet. To be sure, we might be arrested and + sent up somewhere. But even in that extreme case we should be provided + for. Oh no, I'm not afraid of losing my place! I've merely a sort of + psychological curiosity to know how men like Dryfoos and Fulkerson will + work out the problem before them." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0055" id="link2H_4_0055"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX. + </h2> + <p> + It was a curiosity which Fulkerson himself shared, at least concerning + Dryfoos. "I don't know what the old man's going to do," he said to March + the day after the Marches had talked their future over. "Said anything to + you yet?" + </p> + <p> + "No, not a word." + </p> + <p> + "You're anxious, I suppose, same as I am. Fact is," said Fulkerson, + blushing a little, "I can't ask to have a day named till I know where I am + in connection with the old man. I can't tell whether I've got to look out + for something else or somebody else. Of course, it's full soon yet." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," March said, "much sooner than it seems to us. We're so anxious + about the future that we don't remember how very recent the past is." + </p> + <p> + "That's something so. The old man's hardly had time yet to pull himself + together. Well, I'm glad you feel that way about it, March. I guess it's + more of a blow to him than we realize. He was a good deal bound up in + Coonrod, though he didn't always use him very well. Well, I reckon it's + apt to happen so oftentimes; curious how cruel love can be. Heigh? We're + an awful mixture, March!" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, that's the marvel and the curse, as Browning says." + </p> + <p> + "Why, that poor boy himself," pursued Fulkerson, "had streaks of the mule + in him that could give odds to Beaton, and he must have tried the old man + by the way he would give in to his will and hold out against his judgment. + I don't believe he ever budged a hairs-breadth from his original position + about wanting to be a preacher and not wanting to be a business man. Well, + of course! I don't think business is all in all; but it must have made the + old man mad to find that without saying anything, or doing anything to + show it, and after seeming to come over to his ground, and really coming, + practically, Coonrod was just exactly where he first planted himself, + every time." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, people that have convictions are difficult. Fortunately, they're + rare." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think so? It seems to me that everybody's got convictions. Beaton + himself, who hasn't a principle to throw at a dog, has got convictions the + size of a barn. They ain't always the same ones, I know, but they're + always to the same effect, as far as Beaton's being Number One is + concerned. The old man's got convictions or did have, unless this thing + lately has shaken him all up—and he believes that money will do + everything. Colonel Woodburn's got convictions that he wouldn't part with + for untold millions. Why, March, you got convictions yourself!" + </p> + <p> + "Have I?" said March. "I don't know what they are." + </p> + <p> + "Well, neither do I; but I know you were ready to kick the trough over for + them when the old man wanted us to bounce Lindau that time." + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes," said March; he remembered the fact; but he was still uncertain + just what the convictions were that he had been so stanch for. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose we could have got along without you," Fulkerson mused aloud. + "It's astonishing how you always can get along in this world without the + man that is simply indispensable. Makes a fellow realize that he could + take a day off now and then without deranging the solar system a great + deal. Now here's Coonrod—or, rather, he isn't. But that boy managed + his part of the schooner so well that I used to tremble when I thought of + his getting the better of the old man and going into a convent or + something of that kind; and now here he is, snuffed out in half a second, + and I don't believe but what we shall be sailing along just as chipper as + usual inside of thirty days. I reckon it will bring the old man to the + point when I come to talk with him about who's to be put in Coonrod's + place. I don't like very well to start the subject with him; but it's got + to be done some time." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," March admitted. "It's terrible to think how unnecessary even the + best and wisest of us is to the purposes of Providence. When I looked at + that poor young fellow's face sometimes—so gentle and true and pure—I + used to think the world was appreciably richer for his being in it. But + are we appreciably poorer for his being out of it now?" + </p> + <p> + "No, I don't reckon we are," said Fulkerson. "And what a lot of the raw + material of all kinds the Almighty must have, to waste us the way He seems + to do. Think of throwing away a precious creature like Coonrod Dryfoos on + one chance in a thousand of getting that old fool of a Lindau out of the + way of being clubbed! For I suppose that was what Coonrod was up to. Say! + Have you been round to see Lindau to-day?" + </p> + <p> + Something in the tone or the manner of Fulkerson startled March. "No! I + haven't seen him since yesterday." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know," said Fulkerson. "I guess I saw him a little while + after you did, and that young doctor there seemed to feel kind of worried + about him. + </p> + <p> + "Or not worried, exactly; they can't afford to let such things worry them, + I suppose; but—" + </p> + <p> + "He's worse?" asked March. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, he didn't say so. But I just wondered if you'd seen him to-day." + </p> + <p> + "I think I'll go now," said March, with a pang at heart. He had gone every + day to see Lindau, but this day he had thought he would not go, and that + was why his heart smote him. He knew that if he were in Lindau's place + Lindau would never have left his side if he could have helped it. March + tried to believe that the case was the same, as it stood now; it seemed to + him that he was always going to or from the hospital; he said to himself + that it must do Lindau harm to be visited so much. But he knew that this + was not true when he was met at the door of the ward where Lindau lay by + the young doctor, who had come to feel a personal interest in March's + interest in Lindau. + </p> + <p> + He smiled without gayety, and said, "He's just going." + </p> + <p> + "What! Discharged?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh no. He has been failing very fast since you saw him yesterday, and now—" + They had been walking softly and talking softly down the aisle between the + long rows of beds. "Would you care to see him?" + </p> + <p> + The doctor made a slight gesture toward the white canvas screen which in + such places forms the death-chamber of the poor and friendless. "Come + round this way—he won't know you! I've got rather fond of the poor + old fellow. He wouldn't have a clergyman—sort of agnostic, isn't he? + A good many of these Germans are—but the young lady who's been + coming to see him—" + </p> + <p> + They both stopped. Lindau's grand, patriarchal head, foreshortened to + their view, lay white upon the pillow, and his broad, white beard flowed + upon the sheet, which heaved with those long last breaths. Beside his bed + Margaret Vance was kneeling; her veil was thrown back, and her face was + lifted; she held clasped between her hands the hand of the dying man; she + moved her lips inaudibly. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0056" id="link2H_4_0056"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + X. + </h2> + <p> + In spite of the experience of the whole race from time immemorial, when + death comes to any one we know we helplessly regard it as an incident of + life, which will presently go on as before. Perhaps this is an instinctive + perception of the truth that it does go on somewhere; but we have a sense + of death as absolutely the end even for earth only if it relates to some + one remote or indifferent to us. March tried to project Lindau to the + necessary distance from himself in order to realize the fact in his case, + but he could not, though the man with whom his youth had been associated + in a poetic friendship had not actually reentered the region of his + affection to the same degree, or in any like degree. The changed + conditions forbade that. He had a soreness of heart concerning him; but he + could not make sure whether this soreness was grief for his death, or + remorse for his own uncandor with him about Dryfoos, or a foreboding of + that accounting with his conscience which he knew his wife would now exact + of him down to the last minutest particular of their joint and several + behavior toward Lindau ever since they had met him in New York. + </p> + <p> + He felt something knock against his shoulder, and he looked up to have his + hat struck from his head by a horse's nose. He saw the horse put his foot + on the hat, and he reflected, "Now it will always look like an accordion," + and he heard the horse's driver address him some sarcasms before he could + fully awaken to the situation. He was standing bareheaded in the middle of + Fifth Avenue and blocking the tide of carriages flowing in either + direction. Among the faces put out of the carriage windows he saw that of + Dryfoos looking from a coupe. The old man knew him, and said, "Jump in + here, Mr. March"; and March, who had mechanically picked up his hat, and + was thinking, "Now I shall have to tell Isabel about this at once, and she + will never trust me on the street again without her," mechanically obeyed. + Her confidence in him had been undermined by his being so near Conrad when + he was shot; and it went through his mind that he would get Dryfoos to + drive him to a hatter's, where he could buy a new hat, and not be obliged + to confess his narrow escape to his wife till the incident was some days + old and she could bear it better. It quite drove Lindau's death out of his + mind for the moment; and when Dryfoos said if he was going home he would + drive up to the first cross-street and turn back with him, March said he + would be glad if he would take him to a hat-store. The old man put his + head out again and told the driver to take them to the Fifth Avenue Hotel. + "There's a hat-store around there somewhere, seems to me," he said; and + they talked of March's accident as well as they could in the rattle and + clatter of the street till they reached the place. March got his hat, + passing a joke with the hatter about the impossibility of pressing his old + hat over again, and came out to thank Dryfoos and take leave of him. + </p> + <p> + "If you ain't in any great hurry," the old man said, "I wish you'd get in + here a minute. I'd like to have a little talk with you." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, certainly," said March, and he thought: "It's coming now about what + he intends to do with 'Every Other Week.' Well, I might as well have all + the misery at once and have it over." + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos called up to his driver, who bent his head down sidewise to + listen: "Go over there on Madison Avenue, onto that asphalt, and keep + drivin' up and down till I stop you. I can't hear myself think on these + pavements," he said to March. But after they got upon the asphalt, and + began smoothly rolling over it, he seemed in no haste to begin. At last he + said, "I wanted to talk with you about that—that Dutchman that was + at my dinner—Lindau," and March's heart gave a jump with wonder + whether he could already have heard of Lindau's death; but in an instant + he perceived that this was impossible. "I been talkin' with Fulkerson + about him, and he says they had to take the balance of his arm off." + </p> + <p> + March nodded; it seemed to him he could not speak. He could not make out + from the close face of the old man anything of his motive. It was set, but + set as a piece of broken mechanism is when it has lost the power to relax + itself. There was no other history in it of what the man had passed + through in his son's death. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know," Dryfoos resumed, looking aside at the cloth window-strap, + which he kept fingering, "as you quite understood what made me the + maddest. I didn't tell him I could talk Dutch, because I can't keep it up + with a regular German; but my father was Pennsylvany Dutch, and I could + understand what he was saying to you about me. I know I had no business to + understood it, after I let him think I couldn't but I did, and I didn't + like very well to have a man callin' me a traitor and a tyrant at my own + table. Well, I look at it differently now, and I reckon I had better have + tried to put up with it; and I would, if I could have known—" He + stopped with a quivering lip, and then went on: "Then, again, I didn't + like his talkin' that paternalism of his. I always heard it was the worst + kind of thing for the country; I was brought up to think the best + government was the one that governs the least; and I didn't want to hear + that kind of talk from a man that was livin' on my money. I couldn't bear + it from him. Or I thought I couldn't before—before—" He + stopped again, and gulped. "I reckon now there ain't anything I couldn't + bear." March was moved by the blunt words and the mute stare forward with + which they ended. "Mr. Dryfoos, I didn't know that you understood Lindau's + German, or I shouldn't have allowed him he wouldn't have allowed himself—to + go on. He wouldn't have knowingly abused his position of guest to censure + you, no matter how much he condemned you." "I don't care for it now," said + Dryfoos. "It's all past and gone, as far as I'm concerned; but I wanted + you to see that I wasn't tryin' to punish him for his opinions, as you + said." + </p> + <p> + "No; I see now," March assented, though he thought his position still + justified. "I wish—" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know as I understand much about his opinions, anyway; but I ain't + ready to say I want the men dependent on me to manage my business for me. + I always tried to do the square thing by my hands; and in that particular + case out there I took on all the old hands just as fast as they left their + Union. As for the game I came on them, it was dog eat dog, anyway." + </p> + <p> + March could have laughed to think how far this old man was from even + conceiving of Lindau's point of view, and how he was saying the worst of + himself that Lindau could have said of him. No one could have + characterized the kind of thing he had done more severely than he when he + called it dog eat dog. + </p> + <p> + "There's a great deal to be said on both sides," March began, hoping to + lead up through this generality to the fact of Lindau's death; but the old + man went on: + </p> + <p> + "Well, all I wanted him to know is that I wasn't trying to punish him for + what he said about things in general. You naturally got that idea, I + reckon; but I always went in for lettin' people say what they please and + think what they please; it's the only way in a free country." + </p> + <p> + "I'm afraid, Mr. Dryfoos, that it would make little difference to Lindau + now—" + </p> + <p> + "I don't suppose he bears malice for it," said Dryfoos, "but what I want + to do is to have him told so. He could understand just why I didn't want + to be called hard names, and yet I didn't object to his thinkin' whatever + he pleased. I'd like him to know—" + </p> + <p> + "No one can speak to him, no one can tell him," March began again, but + again Dryfoos prevented him from going on. + </p> + <p> + "I understand it's a delicate thing; and I'm not askin' you to do it. What + I would really like to do—if you think he could be prepared for it, + some way, and could stand it—would be to go to him myself, and tell + him just what the trouble was. I'm in hopes, if I done that, he could see + how I felt about it." + </p> + <p> + A picture of Dryfoos going to the dead Lindau with his vain regrets + presented itself to March, and he tried once more to make the old man + understand. "Mr. Dryfoos," he said, "Lindau is past all that forever," and + he felt the ghastly comedy of it when Dryfoos continued, without heeding + him. + </p> + <p> + "I got a particular reason why I want him to believe it wasn't his ideas I + objected to—them ideas of his about the government carryin' + everything on and givin' work. I don't understand 'em exactly, but I found + a writin'—among—my son's—things" (he seemed to force the + words through his teeth), "and I reckon he—thought—that way. + Kind of a diary—where he—put down—his thoughts. My son + and me—we differed about a good—many things." His chin shook, + and from time to time he stopped. "I wasn't very good to him, I reckon; I + crossed him where I guess I got no business to cross him; but I thought + everything of—Coonrod. He was the best boy, from a baby, that ever + was; just so patient and mild, and done whatever he was told. I ought to + 'a' let him been a preacher! Oh, my son! my son!" The sobs could not be + kept back any longer; they shook the old man with a violence that made + March afraid for him; but he controlled himself at last with a series of + hoarse sounds like barks. "Well, it's all past and gone! But as I + understand you from what you saw, when Coonrod was—killed, he was + tryin' to save that old man from trouble?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, yes! It seemed so to me." + </p> + <p> + "That'll do, then! I want you to have him come back and write for the book + when he gets well. I want you to find out and let me know if there's + anything I can do for him. I'll feel as if I done it—for my—son. + I'll take him into my own house, and do for him there, if you say so, when + he gets so he can be moved. I'll wait on him myself. It's what Coonrod 'd + do, if he was here. I don't feel any hardness to him because it was him + that got Coonrod killed, as you might say, in one sense of the term; but + I've tried to think it out, and I feel like I was all the more beholden to + him because my son died tryin' to save him. Whatever I do, I'll be doin' + it for Coonrod, and that's enough for me." He seemed to have finished, and + he turned to March as if to hear what he had to say. + </p> + <p> + March hesitated. "I'm afraid, Mr. Dryfoos—Didn't Fulkerson tell you + that Lindau was very sick?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, of course. But he's all right, he said." + </p> + <p> + Now it had to come, though the fact had been latterly playing fast and + loose with March's consciousness. Something almost made him smile; the + willingness he had once felt to give this old man pain; then he consoled + himself by thinking that at least he was not obliged to meet Dryfoos's + wish to make atonement with the fact that Lindau had renounced him, and + would on no terms work for such a man as he, or suffer any kindness from + him. In this light Lindau seemed the harder of the two, and March had the + momentary force to say— + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Dryfoos—it can't be. Lindau—I have just come from him—is + dead." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0057" id="link2H_4_0057"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XI. + </h2> + <p> + "How did he take it? How could he bear it? Oh, Basil! I wonder you could + have the heart to say it to him. It was cruel!" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, cruel enough, my dear," March owned to his wife, when they talked + the matter over on his return home. He could not wait till the children + were out of the way, and afterward neither he nor his wife was sorry that + he had spoken of it before them. The girl cried plentifully for her old + friend who was dead, and said she hated Mr. Dryfoos, and then was sorry + for him, too; and the boy listened to all, and spoke with a serious sense + that pleased his father. "But as to how he took it," March went on to + answer his wife's question about Dryfoos—"how do any of us take a + thing that hurts? Some of us cry out, and some of us don't. Dryfoos drew a + kind of long, quivering breath, as a child does when it grieves—there's + something curiously simple and primitive about him—and didn't say + anything. After a while he asked me how he could see the people at the + hospital about the remains; I gave him my card to the young doctor there + that had charge of Lindau. I suppose he was still carrying forward his + plan of reparation in his mind—to the dead for the dead. But how + useless! If he could have taken the living Lindau home with him, and cared + for him all his days, what would it have profited the gentle creature + whose life his worldly ambition vexed and thwarted here? He might as well + offer a sacrifice at Conrad's grave. Children," said March, turning to + them, "death is an exile that no remorse and no love can reach. Remember + that, and be good to every one here on earth, for your longing to retrieve + any harshness or unkindness to the dead will be the very ecstasy of + anguish to you. I wonder," he mused, "if one of the reasons why we're shut + up to our ignorance of what is to be hereafter isn't because if we were + sure of another world we might be still more brutal to one another here, + in the hope of making reparation somewhere else. Perhaps, if we ever come + to obey the law of love on earth, the mystery of death will be taken + away." + </p> + <p> + "Well"—the ancestral Puritanism spoke in Mrs. March—"these two + old men have been terribly punished. They have both been violent and + wilful, and they have both been punished. No one need ever tell me there + is not a moral government of the universe!" + </p> + <p> + March always disliked to hear her talk in this way, which did both her + head and heart injustice. "And Conrad," he said, "what was he punished + for?" + </p> + <p> + "He?"—she answered, in an exaltation—"he suffered for the sins + of others." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, well, if you put it in that way, yes. That goes on continually. + That's another mystery." + </p> + <p> + He fell to brooding on it, and presently he heard his son saying, "I + suppose, papa, that Mr. Lindau died in a bad cause?" + </p> + <p> + March was startled. He had always been so sorry for Lindau, and admired + his courage and generosity so much, that he had never fairly considered + this question. "Why, yes," he answered; "he died in the cause of disorder; + he was trying to obstruct the law. No doubt there was a wrong there, an + inconsistency and an injustice that he felt keenly; but it could not be + reached in his way without greater wrong." + </p> + <p> + "Yes; that's what I thought," said the boy. "And what's the use of our + ever fighting about anything in America? I always thought we could vote + anything we wanted." + </p> + <p> + "We can, if we're honest, and don't buy and sell one another's votes," + said his father. "And men like Lindau, who renounce the American means as + hopeless, and let their love of justice hurry them into sympathy with + violence—yes, they are wrong; and poor Lindau did die in a bad + cause, as you say, Tom." + </p> + <p> + "I think Conrad had no business there, or you, either, Basil," said his + wife. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I don't defend myself," said March. "I was there in the cause of + literary curiosity and of conjugal disobedience. But Conrad—yes, he + had some business there: it was his business to suffer there for the sins + of others. Isabel, we can't throw aside that old doctrine of the Atonement + yet. The life of Christ, it wasn't only in healing the sick and going + about to do good; it was suffering for the sins of others. That's as great + a mystery as the mystery of death. Why should there be such a principle in + the world? But it's been felt, and more or less dumbly, blindly recognized + ever since Calvary. If we love mankind, pity them, we even wish to suffer + for them. That's what has created the religious orders in all times—the + brotherhoods and sisterhoods that belong to our day as much as to the + mediaeval past. That's what is driving a girl like Margaret Vance, who has + everything that the world can offer her young beauty, on to the work of a + Sister of Charity among the poor and the dying." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, yes!" cried Mrs. March. "How—how did she look there, Basil?" + She had her feminine misgivings; she was not sure but the girl was + something of a poseuse, and enjoyed the picturesqueness, as well as the + pain; and she wished to be convinced that it was not so. + </p> + <p> + "Well," she said, when March had told again the little there was to tell, + "I suppose it must be a great trial to a woman like Mrs. Horn to have her + niece going that way." + </p> + <p> + "The way of Christ?" asked March, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Christ came into the world to teach us how to live rightly in it, + too. If we were all to spend our time in hospitals, it would be rather + dismal for the homes. But perhaps you don't think the homes are worth + minding?" she suggested, with a certain note in her voice that he knew. + </p> + <p> + He got up and kissed her. "I think the gimcrackeries are." He took the hat + he had set down on the parlor table on coming in, and started to put it in + the hall, and that made her notice it. + </p> + <p> + "You've been getting a new hat!" + </p> + <p> + "Yes," he hesitated; "the old one had got—was decidedly shabby." + </p> + <p> + "Well, that's right. I don't like you to wear them too long. Did you leave + the old one to be pressed?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, the hatter seemed to think it was hardly worth pressing," said + March. He decided that for the present his wife's nerves had quite all + they could bear. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0058" id="link2H_4_0058"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XII. + </h2> + <p> + It was in a manner grotesque, but to March it was all the more natural for + that reason, that Dryfoos should have Lindau's funeral from his house. He + knew the old man to be darkly groping, through the payment of these vain + honors to the dead, for some atonement to his son, and he imagined him + finding in them such comfort as comes from doing all one can, even when + all is useless. + </p> + <p> + No one knew what Lindau's religion was, and in default they had had the + Anglican burial service read over him; it seems so often the refuge of the + homeless dead. Mrs. Dryfoos came down for the ceremony. She understood + that it was for Coonrod's sake that his father wished the funeral to be + there; and she confided to Mrs. March that she believed Coonrod would have + been pleased. "Coonrod was a member of the 'Piscopal Church; and fawther's + doin' the whole thing for Coonrod as much as for anybody. He thought the + world of Coonrod, fawther did. Mela, she kind of thought it would look + queer to have two funerals from the same house, hand-runnin', as you might + call it, and one of 'em no relation, either; but when she saw how fawther + was bent on it, she give in. Seems as if she was tryin' to make up to + fawther for Coonrod as much as she could. Mela always was a good child, + but nobody can ever come up to Coonrod." + </p> + <p> + March felt all the grotesqueness, the hopeless absurdity of Dryfoos's + endeavor at atonement in these vain obsequies to the man for whom he + believed his son to have died; but the effort had its magnanimity, its + pathos, and there was a poetry that appealed to him in the reconciliation + through death of men, of ideas, of conditions, that could only have gone + warring on in life. He thought, as the priest went on with the solemn + liturgy, how all the world must come together in that peace which, + struggle and strive as we may, shall claim us at last. He looked at + Dryfoos, and wondered whether he would consider these rites a sufficient + tribute, or whether there was enough in him to make him realize their + futility, except as a mere sign of his wish to retrieve the past. He + thought how we never can atone for the wrong we do; the heart we have + grieved and wounded cannot kindle with pity for us when once it is + stilled; and yet we can put our evil from us with penitence, and somehow, + somewhere, the order of loving kindness, which our passion or our + wilfulness has disturbed, will be restored. + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos, through Fulkerson, had asked all the more intimate contributors + of 'Every Other Week' to come. Beaton was absent, but Fulkerson had + brought Miss Woodburn, with her father, and Mrs. Leighton and Alma, to + fill up, as he said. Mela was much present, and was official with the + arrangement of the flowers and the welcome of the guests. She imparted + this impersonality to her reception of Kendricks, whom Fulkerson met in + the outer hall with his party, and whom he presented in whisper to them + all. Kendricks smiled under his breath, as it were, and was then mutely + and seriously polite to the Leightons. Alma brought a little bunch of + flowers, which were lost in those which Dryfoos had ordered to be + unsparingly provided. + </p> + <p> + It was a kind of satisfaction to Mela to have Miss Vance come, and + reassuring as to how it would look to have the funeral there; Miss Vance + would certainly not have come unless it had been all right; she had come, + and had sent some Easter lilies. + </p> + <p> + "Ain't Christine coming down?" Fulkerson asked Mela. + </p> + <p> + "No, she ain't a bit well, and she ain't been, ever since Coonrod died. I + don't know, what's got over her," said Mela. She added, "Well, I should + 'a' thought Mr. Beaton would 'a' made out to 'a' come!" + </p> + <p> + "Beaton's peculiar," said Fulkerson. "If he thinks you want him he takes a + pleasure in not letting you have him." + </p> + <p> + "Well, goodness knows, I don't want him," said the girl. + </p> + <p> + Christine kept her room, and for the most part kept her bed; but there + seemed nothing definitely the matter with her, and she would not let them + call a doctor. Her mother said she reckoned she was beginning to feel the + spring weather, that always perfectly pulled a body down in New York; and + Mela said if being as cross as two sticks was any sign of spring-fever, + Christine had it bad. She was faithfully kind to her, and submitted to all + her humors, but she recompensed herself by the freest criticism of + Christine when not in actual attendance on her. Christine would not suffer + Mrs. Mandel to approach her, and she had with her father a sullen + submission which was not resignation. For her, apparently, Conrad had not + died, or had died in vain. + </p> + <p> + "Pshaw!" said Mela, one morning when she came to breakfast, "I reckon if + we was to send up an old card of Mr. Beaton's she'd rattle down-stairs + fast enough. If she's sick, she's love-sick. It makes me sick to see her." + </p> + <p> + Mela was talking to Mrs. Mandel, but her father looked up from his plate + and listened. Mela went on: "I don't know what's made the fellow quit + comun'. But he was an aggravatun' thing, and no more dependable than + water. It's just like Air. Fulkerson said, if he thinks you want him he'll + take a pleasure in not lettun' you have him. I reckon that's what's the + matter with Christine. I believe in my heart the girl 'll die if she don't + git him." + </p> + <p> + Mela went on to eat her breakfast with her own good appetite. She now + always came down to keep her father company, as she said, and she did her + best to cheer and comfort him. At least she kept the talk going, and she + had it nearly all to herself, for Mrs. Mandel was now merely staying on + provisionally, and, in the absence of any regrets or excuses from + Christine, was looking ruefully forward to the moment when she must leave + even this ungentle home for the chances of the ruder world outside. + </p> + <p> + The old man said nothing at table, but, when Mela went up to see if she + could do anything for Christine, he asked Mrs. Mandel again about all the + facts of her last interview with Beaton. + </p> + <p> + She gave them as fully as she could remember them, and the old man made no + comment on them. But he went out directly after, and at the 'Every Other + Week' office he climbed the stairs to Fulkerson's room and asked for + Beaton's address. No one yet had taken charge of Conrad's work, and + Fulkerson was running the thing himself, as he said, till he could talk + with Dryfoos about it. The old man would not look into the empty room + where he had last seen his son alive; he turned his face away and hurried + by the door. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0059" id="link2H_4_0059"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIII. + </h2> + <p> + The course of public events carried Beaton's private affairs beyond the + reach of his simple first intention to renounce his connection with 'Every + Other Week.' In fact, this was not perhaps so simple as it seemed, and + long before it could be put in effect it appeared still simpler to do + nothing about the matter—to remain passive and leave the initiative + to Dryfoos, to maintain the dignity of unconsciousness and let recognition + of any change in the situation come from those who had caused the change. + After all, it was rather absurd to propose making a purely personal + question the pivot on which his relations with 'Every Other Week' turned. + He took a hint from March's position and decided that he did not know + Dryfoos in these relations; he knew only Fulkerson, who had certainly had + nothing to do with Mrs. Mandel's asking his intentions. As he reflected + upon this he became less eager to look Fulkerson up and make the magazine + a partner of his own sufferings. This was the soberer mood to which Beaton + trusted that night even before he slept, and he awoke fully confirmed in + it. As he examined the offence done him in the cold light of day, he + perceived that it had not come either from Mrs. Mandel, who was visibly + the faltering and unwilling instrument of it, or from Christine, who was + altogether ignorant of it, but from Dryfoos, whom he could not hurt by + giving up his place. He could only punish Fulkerson by that, and Fulkerson + was innocent. Justice and interest alike dictated the passive course to + which Beaton inclined; and he reflected that he might safely leave the + punishment of Dryfoos to Christine, who would find out what had happened, + and would be able to take care of herself in any encounter of tempers with + her father. + </p> + <p> + Beaton did not go to the office during the week that followed upon this + conclusion; but they were used there to these sudden absences of his, and, + as his work for the time was in train, nothing was made of his staying + away, except the sarcastic comment which the thought of him was apt to + excite in the literary department. He no longer came so much to the + Leightons, and Fulkerson was in no state of mind to miss any one there + except Miss Woodburn, whom he never missed. Beaton was left, then, + unmolestedly awaiting the course of destiny, when he read in the morning + paper, over his coffee at Maroni's, the deeply scare-headed story of + Conrad's death and the clubbing of Lindau. He probably cared as little for + either of them as any man that ever saw them; but he felt a shock, if not + a pang, at Conrad's fate, so out of keeping with his life and character. + He did not know what to do; and he did nothing. He was not asked to the + funeral, but he had not expected that, and, when Fulkerson brought him + notice that Lindau was also to be buried from Dryfoos's house, it was + without his usual sullen vindictiveness that he kept away. In his sort, + and as much as a man could who was necessarily so much taken up with + himself, he was sorry for Conrad's father; Beaton had a peculiar + tenderness for his own father, and he imagined how his father would feel + if it were he who had been killed in Conrad's place, as it might very well + have been; he sympathized with himself in view of the possibility; and for + once they were mistaken who thought him indifferent and merely brutal in + his failure to appear at Lindau's obsequies. + </p> + <p> + He would really have gone if he had known how to reconcile his presence in + that house with the terms of his effective banishment from it; and he was + rather forgivingly finding himself wronged in the situation, when Dryfoos + knocked at the studio door the morning after Lindau's funeral. Beaton + roared out, "Come in!" as he always did to a knock if he had not a model; + if he had a model he set the door slightly ajar, and with his palette on + his thumb frowned at his visitor and told him he could not come in. + Dryfoos fumbled about for the knob in the dim passageway outside, and + Beaton, who had experience of people's difficulties with it, suddenly + jerked the door open. The two men stood confronted, and at first sight of + each other their quiescent dislike revived. Each would have been willing + to turn away from the other, but that was not possible. Beaton snorted + some sort of inarticulate salutation, which Dryfoos did not try to return; + he asked if he could see him alone for a minute or two, and Beaton bade + him come in, and swept some paint-blotched rags from the chair which he + told him to take. He noticed, as the old man sank tremulously into it, + that his movement was like that of his own father, and also that he looked + very much like Christine. Dryfoos folded his hands tremulously on the top + of his horn-handled stick, and he was rather finely haggard, with the dark + hollows round his black eyes and the fall of the muscles on either side of + his chin. He had forgotten to take his soft, wide-brimmed hat off; and + Beaton felt a desire to sketch him just as he sat. + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos suddenly pulled himself together from the dreary absence into + which he fell at first. "Young man," he began, "maybe I've come here on a + fool's errand," and Beaton rather fancied that beginning. + </p> + <p> + But it embarrassed him a little, and he said, with a shy glance aside, "I + don't know what you mean." "I reckon," Dryfoos answered, quietly, "you got + your notion, though. I set that woman on to speak to you the way she done. + But if there was anything wrong in the way she spoke, or if you didn't + feel like she had any right to question you up as if we suspected you of + anything mean, I want you to say so." + </p> + <p> + Beaton said nothing, and the old man went on. + </p> + <p> + "I ain't very well up in the ways of the world, and I don't pretend to be. + All I want is to be fair and square with everybody. I've made mistakes, + though, in my time—" He stopped, and Beaton was not proof against + the misery of his face, which was twisted as with some strong physical + ache. "I don't know as I want to make any more, if I can help it. I don't + know but what you had a right to keep on comin', and if you had I want you + to say so. Don't you be afraid but what I'll take it in the right way. I + don't want to take advantage of anybody, and I don't ask you to say any + more than that." + </p> + <p> + Beaton did not find the humiliation of the man who had humiliated him so + sweet as he could have fancied it might be. He knew how it had come about, + and that it was an effect of love for his child; it did not matter by what + ungracious means she had brought him to know that he loved her better than + his own will, that his wish for her happiness was stronger than his pride; + it was enough that he was now somehow brought to give proof of it. Beaton + could not be aware of all that dark coil of circumstance through which + Dryfoos's present action evolved itself; the worst of this was buried in + the secret of the old man's heart, a worm of perpetual torment. What was + apparent to another was that he was broken by the sorrow that had fallen + upon him, and it was this that Beaton respected and pitied in his impulse + to be frank and kind in his answer. + </p> + <p> + "No, I had no right to keep coming to your house in the way I did, unless—unless + I meant more than I ever said." Beaton added: "I don't say that what you + did was usual—in this country, at any rate; but I can't say you were + wrong. Since you speak to me about the matter, it's only fair to myself to + say that a good deal goes on in life without much thinking of + consequences. That's the way I excuse myself." + </p> + <p> + "And you say Mrs. Mandel done right?" asked Dryfoos, as if he wished + simply to be assured of a point of etiquette. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, she did right. I've nothing to complain of." + </p> + <p> + "That's all I wanted to know," said Dryfoos; but apparently he had not + finished, and he did not go, though the silence that Beaton now kept gave + him a chance to do so. He began a series of questions which had no + relation to the matter in hand, though they were strictly personal to + Beaton. "What countryman are you?" he asked, after a moment. + </p> + <p> + "What countryman?" Beaton frowned back at him. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, are you an American by birth?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; I was born in Syracuse." + </p> + <p> + "Protestant?" + </p> + <p> + "My father is a Scotch Seceder." + </p> + <p> + "What business is your father in?" + </p> + <p> + Beaton faltered and blushed; then he answered: + </p> + <p> + "He's in the monument business, as he calls it. He's a tombstone cutter." + Now that he was launched, Beaton saw no reason for not declaring, "My + father's always been a poor man, and worked with his own hands for his + living." He had too slight esteem socially for Dryfoos to conceal a fact + from him that he might have wished to blink with others. + </p> + <p> + "Well, that's right," said Dryfoos. "I used to farm it myself. I've got a + good pile of money together, now. At first it didn't come easy; but now + it's got started it pours in and pours in; it seems like there was no end + to it. I've got well on to three million; but it couldn't keep me from + losin' my son. It can't buy me back a minute of his life; not all the + money in the world can do it!" + </p> + <p> + He grieved this out as if to himself rather than to Beaton, who, scarcely + ventured to say, "I know—I am very sorry—" + </p> + <p> + "How did you come," Dryfoos interrupted, "to take up paintin'?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know," said Beaton, a little scornfully. "You don't take a + thing of that kind up, I fancy. I always wanted to paint." + </p> + <p> + "Father try to stop you?" + </p> + <p> + "No. It wouldn't have been of any use. Why—" + </p> + <p> + "My son, he wanted to be a preacher, and I did stop him or I thought I + did. But I reckon he was a preacher, all the same, every minute of his + life. As you say, it ain't any use to try to stop a thing like that. I + reckon if a child has got any particular bent, it was given to it; and + it's goin' against the grain, it's goin' against the law, to try to bend + it some other way. There's lots of good business men, Mr. Beaton, twenty + of 'em to every good preacher?" + </p> + <p> + "I imagine more than twenty," said Beaton, amused and touched through his + curiosity as to what the old man was driving at by the quaint simplicity + of his speculations. + </p> + <p> + "Father ever come to the city?" + </p> + <p> + "No; he never has the time; and my mother's an invalid." + </p> + <p> + "Oh! Brothers and sisters?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; we're a large family." + </p> + <p> + "I lost two little fellers—twins," said Dryfoos, sadly. "But we + hain't ever had but just the five. Ever take portraits?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said Beaton, meeting this zigzag in the queries as seriously as the + rest. "I don't think I am good at it." + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos got to his feet. "I wish you'd paint a likeness of my son. You've + seen him plenty of times. We won't fight about the price, don't you be + afraid of that." + </p> + <p> + Beaton was astonished, and in a mistaken way he was disgusted. He saw that + Dryfoos was trying to undo Mrs. Mandel's work practically, and get him to + come again to his house; that he now conceived of the offence given him as + condoned, and wished to restore the former situation. He knew that he was + attempting this for Christine's sake, but he was not the man to imagine + that Dryfoos was trying not only to tolerate him, but to like him; and, in + fact, Dryfoos was not wholly conscious himself of this end. What they both + understood was that Dryfoos was endeavoring to get at Beaton through + Conrad's memory; but with one this was its dedication to a purpose of self + sacrifice, and with the other a vulgar and shameless use of it. + </p> + <p> + "I couldn't do it," said Beaton. "I couldn't think of attempting it." + </p> + <p> + "Why not?" Dryfoos persisted. "We got some photographs of him; he didn't + like to sit very well; but his mother got him to; and you know how he + looked." + </p> + <p> + "I couldn't do it—I couldn't. I can't even consider it. I'm very + sorry. I would, if it were possible. But it isn't possible." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon if you see the photographs once—" + </p> + <p> + "It isn't that, Mr. Dryfoos. But I'm not in the way of that kind of thing + any more." + </p> + <p> + "I'd give any price you've a mind to name—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, it isn't the money!" cried Beaton, beginning to lose control of + himself. + </p> + <p> + The old man did not notice him. He sat with his head fallen forward, and + his chin resting on his folded hands. Thinking of the portrait, he saw + Conrad's face before him, reproachful, astonished, but all gentle as it + looked when Conrad caught his hand that day after he struck him; he heard + him say, "Father!" and the sweat gathered on his forehead. "Oh, my God!" + he groaned. "No; there ain't anything I can do now." + </p> + <p> + Beaton did not know whether Dryfoos was speaking to him or not. He started + toward him. "Are you ill?" + </p> + <p> + "No, there ain't anything the matter," said the old man. "But I guess I'll + lay down on your settee a minute." He tottered with Beaton's help to the + aesthetic couch covered with a tiger-skin, on which Beaton had once + thought of painting a Cleopatra; but he could never get the right model. + As the old man stretched himself out on it, pale and suffering, he did not + look much like a Cleopatra, but Beaton was struck with his effectiveness, + and the likeness between him and his daughter; she would make a very good + Cleopatra in some ways. All the time, while these thoughts passed through + his mind, he was afraid Dryfoos would die. The old man fetched his breath + in gasps, which presently smoothed and lengthened into his normal + breathing. Beaton got him a glass of wine, and after tasting it he sat up. + </p> + <p> + "You've got to excuse me," he said, getting back to his characteristic + grimness with surprising suddenness, when once he began to recover + himself. "I've been through a good deal lately; and sometimes it ketches + me round the heart like a pain." + </p> + <p> + In his life of selfish immunity from grief, Beaton could not understand + this experience that poignant sorrow brings; he said to himself that + Dryfoos was going the way of angina pectoris; as he began shuffling off + the tiger-skin he said: "Had you better get up? Wouldn't you like me to + call a doctor?" + </p> + <p> + "I'm all right, young man." Dryfoos took his hat and stick from him, but + he made for the door so uncertainly that Beaton put his hand under his + elbow and helped him out, and down the stairs, to his coupe. + </p> + <p> + "Hadn't you better let me drive home with you?" he asked. + </p> + <p> + "What?" said Dryfoos, suspiciously. + </p> + <p> + Beaton repeated his question. + </p> + <p> + "I guess I'm able to go home alone," said Dryfoos, in a surly tone, and he + put his head out of the window and called up "Home!" to the driver, who + immediately started off and left Beaton standing beside the curbstone. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0060" id="link2H_4_0060"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIV. + </h2> + <p> + Beaton wasted the rest of the day in the emotions and speculations which + Dryfoos's call inspired. It was not that they continuously occupied him, + but they broke up the train of other thoughts, and spoiled him for work; a + very little spoiled Beaton for work; he required just the right mood for + work. He comprehended perfectly well that Dryfoos had made him that + extraordinary embassy because he wished him to renew his visits, and he + easily imagined the means that had brought him to this pass. From what he + knew of that girl he did not envy her father his meeting with her when he + must tell her his mission had failed. But had it failed? When Beaton came + to ask himself this question, he could only perceive that he and Dryfoos + had failed to find any ground of sympathy, and had parted in the same + dislike with which they had met. But as to any other failure, it was + certainly tacit, and it still rested with him to give it effect. He could + go back to Dryfoos's house, as freely as before, and it was clear that he + was very much desired to come back. But if he went back it was also clear + that he must go back with intentions more explicit than before, and now he + had to ask himself just how much or how little he had meant by going + there. His liking for Christine had certainly not increased, but the + charm, on the other hand, of holding a leopardess in leash had not yet + palled upon him. In his life of inconstancies, it was a pleasure to rest + upon something fixed, and the man who had no control over himself liked + logically enough to feel his control of some one else. The fact cannot + other wise be put in terms, and the attraction which Christine Dryfoos had + for him, apart from this, escapes from all terms, as anything purely and + merely passional must. He had seen from the first that she was a cat, and + so far as youth forecasts such things, he felt that she would be a shrew. + But he had a perverse sense of her beauty, and he knew a sort of life in + which her power to molest him with her temper could be reduced to the + smallest proportions, and even broken to pieces. Then the consciousness of + her money entered. It was evident that the old man had mentioned his + millions in the way of a hint to him of what he might reasonably expect if + he would turn and be his son-in-law. Beaton did not put it to himself in + those words; and in fact his cogitations were not in words at all. It was + the play of cognitions, of sensations, formlessly tending to the effect + which can only be very clumsily interpreted in language. But when he got + to this point in them, Beaton rose to magnanimity and in a flash of + dramatic reverie disposed of a part of Dryfoos's riches in placing his + father and mother, and his brothers and sisters, beyond all pecuniary + anxiety forever. He had no shame, no scruple in this, for he had been a + pensioner upon others ever since a Syracusan amateur of the arts had + detected his talent and given him the money to go and study abroad. Beaton + had always considered the money a loan, to be repaid out of his future + success; but he now never dreamt of repaying it; as the man was rich, he + had even a contempt for the notion of repaying him; but this did not + prevent him from feeling very keenly the hardships he put his father to in + borrowing money from him, though he never repaid his father, either. In + this reverie he saw himself sacrificed in marriage with Christine Dryfoos, + in a kind of admiring self-pity, and he was melted by the spectacle of the + dignity with which he suffered all the lifelong trials ensuing from his + unselfishness. The fancy that Alma Leighton came bitterly to regret him, + contributed to soothe and flatter him, and he was not sure that Margaret. + Vance did not suffer a like loss in him. + </p> + <p> + There had been times when, as he believed, that beautiful girl's high + thoughts had tended toward him; there had been looks, gestures, even + words, that had this effect to him, or that seemed to have had it; and + Beaton saw that he might easily construe Mrs. Horn's confidential appeal + to him to get Margaret interested in art again as something by no means + necessarily offensive, even though it had been made to him as to a master + of illusion. If Mrs. Horn had to choose between him and the life of good + works to which her niece was visibly abandoning herself, Beaton could not + doubt which she would choose; the only question was how real the danger of + a life of good works was. + </p> + <p> + As he thought of these two girls, one so charming and the other so divine, + it became indefinitely difficult to renounce them for Christine Dryfoos, + with her sultry temper and her earthbound ideals. Life had been so + flattering to Beaton hitherto that he could not believe them both finally + indifferent; and if they were not indifferent, perhaps he did not wish + either of them to be very definite. What he really longed for was their + sympathy; for a man who is able to walk round quite ruthlessly on the + feelings of others often has very tender feelings of his own, easily + lacerated, and eagerly responsive to the caresses of compassion. In this + frame Beaton determined to go that afternoon, though it was not Mrs. + Horn's day, and call upon her in the hope of possibly seeing Miss Vance + alone. As he continued in it, he took this for a sign and actually went. + It did not fall out at once as he wished, but he got Mrs. Horn to talking + again about her niece, and Mrs. Horn again regretted that nothing could be + done by the fine arts to reclaim Margaret from good works. + </p> + <p> + "Is she at home? Will you let me see her?" asked Beaton, with something of + the scientific interest of a physician inquiring for a patient whose + symptoms have been rehearsed to him. He had not asked for her before. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, certainly," said Mrs. Horn, and she went herself to call Margaret, + and she did not return with her. The girl entered with the gentle grace + peculiar to her; and Beaton, bent as he was on his own consolation, could + not help being struck with the spiritual exaltation of her look. At sight + of her, the vague hope he had never quite relinquished, that they might be + something more than aesthetic friends, died in his heart. She wore black, + as she often did; but in spite of its fashion her dress received a + nun-like effect from the pensive absence of her face. "Decidedly," thought + Beaton, "she is far gone in good works." + </p> + <p> + But he rose, all the same, to meet her on the old level, and he began at + once to talk to her of the subject he had been discussing with her aunt. + He said frankly that they both felt she had unjustifiably turned her back + upon possibilities which she ought not to neglect. + </p> + <p> + "You know very well," she answered, "that I couldn't do anything in that + way worth the time I should waste on it. Don't talk of it, please. I + suppose my aunt has been asking you to say this, but it's no use. I'm + sorry it's no use, she wishes it so much; but I'm not sorry otherwise. You + can find the pleasure at least of doing good work in it; but I couldn't + find anything in it but a barren amusement. Mr. Wetmore is right; for me, + it's like enjoying an opera, or a ball." + </p> + <p> + "That's one of Wetmore's phrases. He'd sacrifice anything to them." + </p> + <p> + She put aside the whole subject with a look. "You were not at Mr. + Dryfoos's the other day. Have you seen them, any of them, lately?" + </p> + <p> + "I haven't been there for some time, no," said Beaton, evasively. But he + thought if he was to get on to anything, he had better be candid. "Mr. + Dryfoos was at my studio this morning. He's got a queer notion. He wants + me to paint his son's portrait." + </p> + <p> + She started. "And will you—" + </p> + <p> + "No, I couldn't do such a thing. It isn't in my way. I told him so. His + son had a beautiful face an antique profile; a sort of early Christian + type; but I'm too much of a pagan for that sort of thing." + </p> + <p> + "Yes." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," Beaton continued, not quite liking her assent after he had invited + it. He had his pride in being a pagan, a Greek, but it failed him in her + presence, now; and he wished that she had protested he was none. "He was a + singular creature; a kind of survival; an exile in our time and place. I + don't know: we don't quite expect a saint to be rustic; but with all his + goodness Conrad Dryfoos was a country person. If he were not dying for a + cause you could imagine him milking." Beaton intended a contempt that came + from the bitterness of having himself once milked the family cow. + </p> + <p> + His contempt did not reach Miss Vance. "He died for a cause," she said. + "The holiest." + </p> + <p> + "Of labor?" + </p> + <p> + "Of peace. He was there to persuade the strikers to be quiet and go home." + </p> + <p> + "I haven't been quite sure," said Beaton. "But in any case he had no + business there. The police were on hand to do the persuading." + </p> + <p> + "I can't let you talk so!" cried the girl. "It's shocking! Oh, I know it's + the way people talk, and the worst is that in the sight of the world it's + the right way. But the blessing on the peacemakers is not for the + policemen with their clubs." + </p> + <p> + Beaton saw that she was nervous; he made his reflection that she was + altogether too far gone in good works for the fine arts to reach her; he + began to think how he could turn her primitive Christianity to the account + of his modern heathenism. He had no deeper design than to get flattered + back into his own favor far enough to find courage for some sort of + decisive step. In his heart he was trying to will whether he should or + should not go back to Dryfoos's house. It could not be from the caprice + that had formerly taken him; it must be from a definite purpose; again he + realized this. "Of course; you are right," he said. "I wish I could have + answered that old man differently. I fancy he was bound up in his son, + though he quarrelled with him, and crossed him. But I couldn't do it; it + wasn't possible." He said to himself that if she said "No," now, he would + be ruled by her agreement with him; and if she disagreed with him, he + would be ruled still by the chance, and would go no more to the + Dryfooses'. He found himself embarrassed to the point of blushing when she + said nothing, and left him, as it were, on his own hands. "I should like + to have given him that comfort; I fancy he hasn't much comfort in life; + but there seems no comfort in me." + </p> + <p> + He dropped his head in a fit attitude for compassion; but she poured no + pity upon it. + </p> + <p> + "There is no comfort for us in ourselves," she said. "It's hard to get + outside; but there's only despair within. When we think we have done + something for others, by some great effort, we find it's all for our own + vanity." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said Beaton. "If I could paint pictures for righteousness' sake, I + should have been glad to do Conrad Dryfoos for his father. I felt sorry + for him. Did the rest seem very much broken up? You saw them all?" + </p> + <p> + "Not all. Miss Dryfoos was ill, her sister said. It's hard to tell how + much people suffer. His mother seemed bewildered. The younger sister is a + simple creature; she looks like him; I think she must have something of + his spirit." + </p> + <p> + "Not much spirit of any kind, I imagine," said Beaton. "But she's amiably + material. Did they say Miss Dryfoos was seriously ill?" + </p> + <p> + "No. I supposed she might be prostrated by her brother's death." + </p> + <p> + "Does she seem that kind of person to you, Miss Vance?" asked Beaton. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know. I haven't tried to see so much of them as I might, the past + winter. I was not sure about her when I met her; I've never seen much of + people, except in my own set, and the—very poor. I have been afraid + I didn't understand her. She may have a kind of pride that would not let + her do herself justice." + </p> + <p> + Beaton felt the unconscious dislike in the endeavor of praise. "Then she + seems to you like a person whose life—its trials, its chances—would + make more of than she is now?" + </p> + <p> + "I didn't say that. I can't judge of her at all; but where we don't know, + don't you think we ought to imagine the best?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh yes," said Beaton. "I didn't know but what I once said of them might + have prejudiced you against them. I have accused myself of it." He always + took a tone of conscientiousness, of self-censure, in talking with Miss + Vance; he could not help it. + </p> + <p> + "Oh no. And I never allowed myself to form any judgment of her. She is + very pretty, don't you think, in a kind of way?" + </p> + <p> + "Very." + </p> + <p> + "She has a beautiful brunette coloring: that floury white and the delicate + pink in it. Her eyes are beautiful." + </p> + <p> + "She's graceful, too," said Beaton. "I've tried her in color; but I didn't + make it out." + </p> + <p> + "I've wondered sometimes," said Miss Vance, "whether that elusive quality + you find in some people you try to paint doesn't characterize them all + through. Miss Dryfoos might be ever so much finer and better than we would + find out in the society way that seems the only way." + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps," said Beaton, gloomily; and he went away profoundly discouraged + by this last analysis of Christine's character. The angelic imperviousness + of Miss Vance to properties of which his own wickedness was so keenly + aware in Christine might have made him laugh, if it had not been such a + serious affair with him. As it was, he smiled to think how very + differently Alma Leighton would have judged her from Miss Vance's + premises. He liked that clear vision of Alma's even when it pierced his + own disguises. Yes, that was the light he had let die out, and it might + have shone upon his path through life. Beaton never felt so poignantly the + disadvantage of having on any given occasion been wanting to his own + interests through his self-love as in this. He had no one to blame but + himself for what had happened, but he blamed Alma for what might happen in + the future because she shut out the way of retrieval and return. When he + thought of the attitude she had taken toward him, it seemed incredible, + and he was always longing to give her a final chance to reverse her final + judgment. It appeared to him that the time had come for this now, if ever. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0061" id="link2H_4_0061"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XV. + </h2> + <p> + While we are still young we feel a kind of pride, a sort of fierce + pleasure, in any important experience, such as we have read of or heard of + in the lives of others, no matter how painful. It was this pride, this + pleasure, which Beaton now felt in realizing that the toils of fate were + about him, that between him and a future of which Christine Dryfoos must + be the genius there was nothing but the will, the mood, the fancy of a + girl who had not given him the hope that either could ever again be in his + favor. He had nothing to trust to, in fact, but his knowledge that he had + once had them all; she did not deny that; but neither did she conceal that + he had flung away his power over them, and she had told him that they + never could be his again. A man knows that he can love and wholly cease to + love, not once merely, but several times; he recognizes the fact in regard + to himself, both theoretically and practically; but in regard to women he + cherishes the superstition of the romances that love is once for all, and + forever. It was because Beaton would not believe that Alma Leighton, being + a woman, could put him out of her heart after suffering him to steal into + it, that he now hoped anything from her, and she had been so explicit when + they last spoke of that affair that he did not hope much. He said to + himself that he was going to cast himself on her mercy, to take whatever + chance of life, love, and work there was in her having the smallest pity + on him. If she would have none, then there was but one thing he could do: + marry Christine and go abroad. He did not see how he could bring this + alternative to bear upon Alma; even if she knew what he would do in case + of a final rejection, he had grounds for fearing she would not care; but + he brought it to bear upon himself, and it nerved him to a desperate + courage. He could hardly wait for evening to come, before he went to see + her; when it came, it seemed to have come too soon. He had wrought himself + thoroughly into the conviction that he was in earnest, and that everything + depended upon her answer to him, but it was not till he found himself in + her presence, and alone with her, that he realized the truth of his + conviction. Then the influences of her grace, her gayety, her arch beauty, + above all, her good sense, penetrated his soul like a subtle intoxication, + and he said to himself that he was right; he could not live without her; + these attributes of hers were what he needed to win him, to cheer him, to + charm him, to guide him. He longed so to please her, to ingratiate himself + with her, that he attempted to be light like her in his talk, but lapsed + into abysmal absences and gloomy recesses of introspection. + </p> + <p> + "What are you laughing at?" he asked, suddenly starting from one of these. + </p> + <p> + "What you are thinking of." + </p> + <p> + "It's nothing to laugh at. Do you know what I'm thinking of?" + </p> + <p> + "Don't tell, if it's dreadful." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I dare say you wouldn't think it's dreadful," he said, with + bitterness. "It's simply the case of a man who has made a fool of himself + and sees no help of retrieval in himself." + </p> + <p> + "Can any one else help a man unmake a fool of himself?" she asked, with a + smile. + </p> + <p> + "Yes. In a case like this." + </p> + <p> + "Dear me! This is very interesting." + </p> + <p> + She did not ask him what the case was, but he was launched now, and he + pressed on. "I am the man who has made a fool of himself—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh!" + </p> + <p> + "And you can help me out if you will. Alma, I wish you could see me as I + really am." + </p> + <p> + "Do you, Mr. Beaton? Perhaps I do." + </p> + <p> + "No; you don't. You formulated me in a certain way, and you won't allow + for the change that takes place in every one. You have changed; why + shouldn't I?" + </p> + <p> + "Has this to do with your having made a fool of yourself?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes." + </p> + <p> + "Oh! Then I don't see how you have changed." + </p> + <p> + She laughed, and he too, ruefully. "You're cruel. Not but what I deserve + your mockery. But the change was not from the capacity of making a fool of + myself. I suppose I shall always do that more or less—unless you + help me. Alma! Why can't you have a little compassion? You know that I + must always love you." + </p> + <p> + "Nothing makes me doubt that like your saying it, Mr. Beaton. But now + you've broken your word—" + </p> + <p> + "You are to blame for that. You knew I couldn't keep it!" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I'm to blame. I was wrong to let you come—after that. And so I + forgive you for speaking to me in that way again. But it's perfectly + impossible and perfectly useless for me to hear you any more on that + subject; and so-good-bye!" + </p> + <p> + She rose, and he perforce with her. "And do you mean it?" he asked. + "Forever?" + </p> + <p> + "Forever. This is truly the last time I will ever see you if I can help + it. Oh, I feel sorry enough for you!" she said, with a glance at his face. + "I do believe you are in earnest. But it's too late now. Don't let us talk + about it any more! But we shall, if we meet, and so,—" + </p> + <p> + "And so good-bye! Well, I've nothing more to say, and I might as well say + that. I think you've been very good to me. It seems to me as if you had + been—shall I say it?—trying to give me a chance. Is that so?" + She dropped her eyes and did not answer. + </p> + <p> + "You found it was no use! Well, I thank you for trying. It's curious to + think that I once had your trust, your regard, and now I haven't it. You + don't mind my remembering that I had? It'll be some little consolation, + and I believe it will be some help. I know I can't retrieve the past now. + It is too late. It seems too preposterous—perfectly lurid—that + I could have been going to tell you what a tangle I'd got myself in, and + to ask you to help untangle me. I must choke in the infernal coil, but I'd + like to have the sweetness of your pity in it—whatever it is." + </p> + <p> + She put out her hand. "Whatever it is, I do pity you; I said that." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you." He kissed the hand she gave him and went. + </p> + <p> + He had gone on some such terms before; was it now for the last time? She + believed it was. She felt in herself a satiety, a fatigue, in which his + good looks, his invented airs and poses, his real trouble, were all alike + repulsive. She did not acquit herself of the wrong of having let him think + she might yet have liked him as she once did; but she had been honestly + willing to see whether she could. It had mystified her to find that when + they first met in New York, after their summer in St. Barnaby, she cared + nothing for him; she had expected to punish him for his neglect, and then + fancy him as before, but she did not. More and more she saw him selfish + and mean, weak-willed, narrow-minded, and hard-hearted; and aimless, with + all his talent. She admired his talent in proportion as she learned more + of artists, and perceived how uncommon it was; but she said to herself + that if she were going to devote herself to art, she would do it at + first-hand. She was perfectly serene and happy in her final rejection of + Beaton; he had worn out not only her fancy, but her sympathy, too. + </p> + <p> + This was what her mother would not believe when Alma reported the + interview to her; she would not believe it was the last time they should + meet; death itself can hardly convince us that it is the last time of + anything, of everything between ourselves and the dead. "Well, Alma," she + said, "I hope you'll never regret what you've done." + </p> + <p> + "You may be sure I shall not regret it. If ever I'm low-spirited about + anything, I'll think of giving Mr. Beaton his freedom, and that will cheer + me up." + </p> + <p> + "And don't you expect to get married? Do you intend to be an old maid?" + demanded her mother, in the bonds of the superstition women have so long + been under to the effect that every woman must wish to get married, if for + no other purpose than to avoid being an old maid. + </p> + <p> + "Well, mamma," said Alma, "I intend being a young one for a few years yet; + and then I'll see. If I meet the right person, all well and good; if not, + not. But I shall pick and choose, as a man does; I won't merely be picked + and chosen." + </p> + <p> + "You can't help yourself; you may be very glad if you are picked and + chosen." + </p> + <p> + "What nonsense, mamma! A girl can get any man she wants, if she goes about + it the right way. And when my 'fated fairy prince' comes along, I shall + just simply make furious love to him and grab him. Of course, I shall make + a decent pretence of talking in my sleep. I believe it's done that way + more than half the time. The fated fairy prince wouldn't see the princess + in nine cases out of ten if she didn't say something; he would go mooning + along after the maids of honor." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Leighton tried to look unspeakable horror; but she broke down and + laughed. "Well, you are a strange girl, Alma." + </p> + <p> + "I don't know about that. But one thing I do know, mamma, and that is that + Prince Beaton isn't the F. F. P. for me. How strange you are, mamma! Don't + you think it would be perfectly disgusting to accept a person you didn't + care for, and let him go on and love you and marry you? It's sickening." + </p> + <p> + "Why, certainly, Alma. It's only because I know you did care for him once—" + </p> + <p> + "And now I don't. And he didn't care for me once, and now he does. And so + we're quits." + </p> + <p> + "If I could believe—" + </p> + <p> + "You had better brace up and try, mamma; for as Mr. Fulkerson says, it's + as sure as guns. From the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, he's + loathsome to me; and he keeps getting loathsomer. Ugh! Goodnight!" + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0062" id="link2H_4_0062"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XVI. + </h2> + <p> + "Well, I guess she's given him the grand bounce at last," said Fulkerson + to March in one of their moments of confidence at the office. "That's + Mad's inference from appearances—and disappearances; and some little + hints from Alma Leighton." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know that I have any criticisms to offer," said March. "It + may be bad for Beaton, but it's a very good thing for Miss Leighton. Upon + the whole, I believe I congratulate her." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't know. I always kind of hoped it would turn out the other + way. You know I always had a sneaking fondness for the fellow." + </p> + <p> + "Miss Leighton seems not to have had." + </p> + <p> + "It's a pity she hadn't. I tell you, March, it ain't so easy for a girl to + get married, here in the East, that she can afford to despise any chance." + </p> + <p> + "Isn't that rather a low view of it?" + </p> + <p> + "It's a common-sense view. Beaton has the making of a first-rate fellow in + him. He's the raw material of a great artist and a good citizen. All he + wants is somebody to take him in hand and keep him from makin' an ass of + himself and kickin' over the traces generally, and ridin' two or three + horses bareback at once." + </p> + <p> + "It seems a simple problem, though the metaphor is rather complicated," + said March. "But talk to Miss Leighton about it. I haven't given Beaton + the grand bounce." + </p> + <p> + He began to turn over the manuscripts on his table, and Fulkerson went + away. But March found himself thinking of the matter from time to time + during the day, and he spoke to his wife about it when he went home. She + surprised him by taking Fulkerson's view of it. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, it's a pity she couldn't have made up her mind to have him. It's + better for a woman to be married." + </p> + <p> + "I thought Paul only went so far as to say it was well. But what would + become of Miss Leighton's artistic career if she married?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, her artistic career!" said Mrs. March, with matronly contempt of it. + </p> + <p> + "But look here!" cried her husband. "Suppose she doesn't like him?" + </p> + <p> + "How can a girl of that age tell whether she likes any one or not?" + </p> + <p> + "It seems to me you were able to tell at that age, Isabel. But let's + examine this thing. (This thing! I believe Fulkerson is characterizing my + whole parlance, as well as your morals.) Why shouldn't we rejoice as much + at a non-marriage as a marriage? When we consider the enormous risks + people take in linking their lives together, after not half so much + thought as goes to an ordinary horse trade, I think we ought to be glad + whenever they don't do it. I believe that this popular demand for the + matrimony of others comes from our novel-reading. We get to thinking that + there is no other happiness or good-fortune in life except marriage; and + it's offered in fiction as the highest premium for virtue, courage, + beauty, learning, and saving human life. We all know it isn't. We know + that in reality marriage is dog cheap, and anybody can have it for the + asking—if he keeps asking enough people. By-and-by some fellow will + wake up and see that a first-class story can be written from the + anti-marriage point of view; and he'll begin with an engaged couple, and + devote his novel to disengaging them and rendering them separately happy + ever after in the denouement. It will make his everlasting fortune." + </p> + <p> + "Why don't you write it, Basil?" she asked. "It's a delightful idea. You + could do it splendidly." + </p> + <p> + He became fascinated with the notion. He developed it in detail; but at + the end he sighed and said: "With this 'Every Other Week' work on my + hands, of course I can't attempt a novel. But perhaps I sha'n't have it + long." + </p> + <p> + She was instantly anxious to know what he meant, and the novel and Miss + Leighton's affair were both dropped out of their thoughts. "What do you + mean? Has Mr. Fulkerson said anything yet?" + </p> + <p> + "Not a word. He knows no more about it than I do. Dryfoos hasn't spoken, + and we're both afraid to ask him. Of course, I couldn't ask him." + </p> + <p> + "No." + </p> + <p> + "But it's pretty uncomfortable, to be kept hanging by the gills so, as + Fulkerson says." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, we don't know what to do." + </p> + <p> + March and Fulkerson said the same to each other; and Fulkerson said that + if the old man pulled out, he did not know what would happen. He had no + capital to carry the thing on, and the very fact that the old man had + pulled out would damage it so that it would be hard to get anybody else to + put it. In the mean time Fulkerson was running Conrad's office-work, when + he ought to be looking after the outside interests of the thing; and he + could not see the day when he could get married. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know which it's worse for, March: you or me. I don't know, under + the circumstances, whether it's worse to have a family or to want to have + one. Of course—of course! We can't hurry the old man up. It wouldn't + be decent, and it would be dangerous. We got to wait." + </p> + <p> + He almost decided to draw upon Dryfoos for some money; he did not need + any, but, he said maybe the demand would act as a hint upon him. One day, + about a week after Alma's final rejection of Beaton, Dryfoos came into + March's office. Fulkerson was out, but the old man seemed not to have + tried to see him. + </p> + <p> + He put his hat on the floor by his chair, after he sat down, and looked at + March awhile with his old eyes, which had the vitreous glitter of old. + eyes stimulated to sleeplessness. Then he said, abruptly, "Mr. March, how + would you like to take this thing off my hands?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't understand, exactly," March began; but of course he understood + that Dryfoos was offering to let him have 'Every Other Week' on some terms + or other, and his heart leaped with hope. + </p> + <p> + The old man knew he understood, and so he did not explain. He said: "I am + going to Europe, to take my family there. The doctor thinks it might do my + wife some good; and I ain't very well myself, and my girls both want to + go; and so we're goin'. If you want to take this thing off my hands, I + reckon I can let you have it in 'most any shape you say. You're all + settled here in New York, and I don't suppose you want to break up, much, + at your time of life, and I've been thinkin' whether you wouldn't like to + take the thing." + </p> + <p> + The word, which Dryfoos had now used three times, made March at last think + of Fulkerson; he had been filled too full of himself to think of any one + else till he had mastered the notion of such wonderful good fortune as + seemed about falling to him. But now he did think of Fulkerson, and with + some shame and confusion; for he remembered how, when Dryfoos had last + approached him there on the business of his connection with 'Every Other + Week,' he had been very haughty with him, and told him that he did not + know him in this connection. He blushed to find how far his thoughts had + now run without encountering this obstacle of etiquette. + </p> + <p> + "Have you spoken to Mr. Fulkerson?" he asked. + </p> + <p> + "No, I hain't. It ain't a question of management. It's a question of + buying and selling. I offer the thing to you first. I reckon Fulkerson + couldn't get on very well without you." + </p> + <p> + March saw the real difference in the two cases, and he was glad to see it, + because he could act more decisively if not hampered by an obligation to + consistency. "I am gratified, of course, Mr. Dryfoos; extremely gratified; + and it's no use pretending that I shouldn't be happy beyond bounds to get + possession of 'Every Other Week.' But I don't feel quite free to talk + about it apart from Mr. Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, all right!" said the old man, with quick offence. + </p> + <p> + March hastened to say: "I feel bound to Mr. Fulkerson in every way. He got + me to come here, and I couldn't even seem to act without him." + </p> + <p> + He put it questioningly, and the old man answered: + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I can see that. When 'll he be in? I can wait." But he looked + impatient. + </p> + <p> + "Very soon, now," said March, looking at his watch. "He was only to be + gone a moment," and while he went on to talk with Dryfoos, he wondered why + the old man should have come first to speak with him, and whether it was + from some obscure wish to make him reparation for displeasures in the + past, or from a distrust or dislike of Fulkerson. Whichever light he + looked at it in, it was flattering. + </p> + <p> + "Do you think of going abroad soon?" he asked. + </p> + <p> + "What? Yes—I don't know—I reckon. We got our passage engaged. + It's on one of them French boats. We're goin' to Paris." + </p> + <p> + "Oh! That will be interesting to the young ladies." + </p> + <p> + "Yes. I reckon we're goin' for them. 'Tain't likely my wife and me would + want to pull up stakes at our age," said the old man, sorrowfully. + </p> + <p> + "But you may find it do you good, Mr. Dryfoos," said March, with a + kindness that was real, mixed as it was with the selfish interest he now + had in the intended voyage. + </p> + <p> + "Well, maybe, maybe," sighed the old man; and he dropped his head forward. + "It don't make a great deal of difference what we do or we don't do, for + the few years left." + </p> + <p> + "I hope Mrs. Dryfoos is as well as usual," said March, finding the ground + delicate and difficult. + </p> + <p> + "Middlin', middlin'," said the old man. "My daughter Christine, she ain't + very well." + </p> + <p> + "Oh," said March. It was quite impossible for him to affect a more + explicit interest in the fact. He and Dryfoos sat silent for a few + moments, and he was vainly casting about in his thought for something else + which would tide them over the interval till Fulkerson came, when he heard + his step on the stairs. + </p> + <p> + "Hello, hello!" he said. "Meeting of the clans!" It was always a meeting + of the clans, with Fulkerson, or a field day, or an extra session, or a + regular conclave, whenever he saw people of any common interest together. + "Hain't seen you here for a good while, Mr. Dryfoos. Did think some of + running away with 'Every Other Week' one while, but couldn't seem to work + March up to the point." + </p> + <p> + He gave Dryfoos his hand, and pushed aside the papers on the corner of + March's desk, and sat down there, and went on briskly with the nonsense he + could always talk while he was waiting for another to develop any matter + of business; he told March afterward that he scented business in the air + as soon as he came into the room where he and Dryfoos were sitting. + </p> + <p> + Dryfoos seemed determined to leave the word to March, who said, after an + inquiring look at him, "Mr. Dryfoos has been proposing to let us have + 'Every Other Week,' Fulkerson." + </p> + <p> + "Well, that's good; that suits yours truly; March & Fulkerson, + publishers and proprietors, won't pretend it don't, if the terms are all + right." + </p> + <p> + "The terms," said the old man, "are whatever you want 'em. I haven't got + any more use for the concern—" He gulped, and stopped; they knew + what he was thinking of, and they looked down in pity. He went on: "I + won't put any more money in it; but what I've put in a'ready can stay; and + you can pay me four per cent." + </p> + <p> + He got upon his feet; and March and Fulkerson stood, too. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I call that pretty white," said Fulkerson. "It's a bargain as far + as I'm concerned. I suppose you'll want to talk it over with your wife, + March?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; I shall," said March. "I can see that it's a great chance; but I + want to talk it over with my wife." + </p> + <p> + "Well, that's right," said the old man. "Let me hear from you tomorrow." + </p> + <p> + He went out, and Fulkerson began to dance round the room. He caught March + about his stalwart girth and tried to make him waltz; the office-boy came + to the door and looked on with approval. + </p> + <p> + "Come, come, you idiot!" said March, rooting himself to the carpet. + </p> + <p> + "It's just throwing the thing into our mouths," said Fulkerson. "The + wedding will be this day week. No cards! Teedle-lumpty-diddle! + Teedle-lumpty-dee! What do you suppose he means by it, March?" he asked, + bringing himself soberly up, of a sudden. "What is his little game? Or is + he crazy? It don't seem like the Dryfoos of my previous acquaintance." + </p> + <p> + "I suppose," March suggested, "that he's got money enough, so that he + don't care for this—" + </p> + <p> + "Pshaw! You're a poet! Don't you know that the more money that kind of man + has got, the more he cares for money? It's some fancy of his—like + having Lindau's funeral at his house—By Jings, March, I believe + you're his fancy!" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, now! Don't you be a poet, Fulkerson!" + </p> + <p> + "I do! He seemed to take a kind of shine to you from the day you wouldn't + turn off old Lindau; he did, indeed. It kind of shook him up. It made him + think you had something in you. He was deceived by appearances. Look here! + I'm going round to see Mrs. March with you, and explain the thing to her. + I know Mrs. March! She wouldn't believe you knew what you were going in + for. She has a great respect for your mind, but she don't think you've got + any sense. Heigh?" + </p> + <p> + "All right," said March, glad of the notion; and it was really a comfort + to have Fulkerson with him to develop all the points; and it was + delightful to see how clearly and quickly she seized them; it made March + proud of her. She was only angry that they had lost any time in coming to + submit so plain a case to her. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Dryfoos might change his mind in the night, and then everything would + be lost. They must go to him instantly, and tell him that they accepted; + they must telegraph him. + </p> + <p> + "Might as well send a district messenger; he'd get there next week," said + Fulkerson. "No, no! It'll all keep till to-morrow, and be the better for + it. If he's got this fancy for March, as I say, he ain't agoing to change + it in a single night. People don't change their fancies for March in a + lifetime. Heigh?" + </p> + <p> + When Fulkerson turned up very early at the office next morning, as March + did, he was less strenuous about Dryfoos's fancy for March. It was as if + Miss Woodburn might have blown cold upon that theory, as something unjust + to his own merit, for which she would naturally be more jealous than he. + </p> + <p> + March told him what he had forgotten to tell him the day before, though he + had been trying, all through their excited talk, to get it in, that the + Dryfooses were going abroad. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, ho!" cried Fulkerson. "That's the milk in the cocoanut, is it? Well, + I thought there must be something." + </p> + <p> + But this fact had not changed Mrs. March at all in her conviction that it + was Mr. Dryfoos's fancy for her husband which had moved him to make him + this extraordinary offer, and she reminded him that it had first been made + to him, without regard to Fulkerson. "And perhaps," she went on, "Mr. + Dryfoos has been changed—-softened; and doesn't find money all in + all any more. He's had enough to change him, poor old man!" + </p> + <p> + "Does anything from without change us?" her husband mused aloud. "We're + brought up to think so by the novelists, who really have the charge of + people's thinking, nowadays. But I doubt it, especially if the thing + outside is some great event, something cataclysmal, like this tremendous + sorrow of Dryfoos's." + </p> + <p> + "Then what is it that changes us?" demanded his wife, almost angry with + him for his heresy. + </p> + <p> + "Well, it won't do to say, the Holy Spirit indwelling. That would sound + like cant at this day. But the old fellows that used to say that had some + glimpses of the truth. They knew that it is the still, small voice that + the soul heeds, not the deafening blasts of doom. I suppose I should have + to say that we didn't change at all. We develop. There's the making of + several characters in each of us; we are each several characters, and + sometimes this character has the lead in us, and sometimes that. From what + Fulkerson has told me of Dryfoos, I should say he had always had the + potentiality of better things in him than he has ever been yet; and + perhaps the time has come for the good to have its chance. The growth in + one direction has stopped; it's begun in another; that's all. The man + hasn't been changed by his son's death; it stunned, it benumbed him; but + it couldn't change him. It was an event, like any other, and it had to + happen as much as his being born. It was forecast from the beginning of + time, and was as entirely an effect of his coming into the world—" + </p> + <p> + "Basil! Basil!" cried his wife. "This is fatalism!" + </p> + <p> + "Then you think," he said, "that a sparrow falls to the ground without the + will of God?" and he laughed provokingly. But he went on more soberly: "I + don't know what it all means Isabel though I believe it means good. What + did Christ himself say? That if one rose from the dead it would not avail. + And yet we are always looking for the miraculous! I believe that unhappy + old man truly grieves for his son, whom he treated cruelly without the + final intention of cruelty, for he loved him and wished to be proud of + him; but I don't think his death has changed him, any more than the + smallest event in the chain of events remotely working through his nature + from the beginning. But why do you think he's changed at all? Because he + offers to sell me 'Every Other Week' on easy terms? He says himself that + he has no further use for the thing; and he knows perfectly well that he + couldn't get his money out of it now, without an enormous shrinkage. He + couldn't appear at this late day as the owner, and sell it to anybody but + Fulkerson and me for a fifth of what it's cost him. He can sell it to us + for all it's cost him; and four per cent. is no bad interest on his money + till we can pay it back. It's a good thing for us; but we have to ask + whether Dryfoos has done us the good, or whether it's the blessing of + Heaven. If it's merely the blessing of Heaven, I don't propose being + grateful for it." + </p> + <p> + March laughed again, and his wife said, "It's disgusting." + </p> + <p> + "It's business," he assented. "Business is business; but I don't say it + isn't disgusting. Lindau had a low opinion of it." + </p> + <p> + "I think that with all his faults Mr. Dryfoos is a better man than + Lindau," she proclaimed. + </p> + <p> + "Well, he's certainly able to offer us a better thing in 'Every Other + Week,'" said March. + </p> + <p> + She knew he was enamoured of the literary finish of his cynicism, and that + at heart he was as humbly and truly grateful as she was for the + good-fortune opening to them. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0063" id="link2H_4_0063"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XVII. + </h2> + <p> + Beaton was at his best when he parted for the last time with Alma + Leighton, for he saw then that what had happened to him was the necessary + consequence of what he had been, if not what he had done. Afterward he + lost this clear vision; he began to deny the fact; he drew upon his + knowledge of life, and in arguing himself into a different frame of mind + he alleged the case of different people who had done and been much worse + things than he, and yet no such disagreeable consequence had befallen + them. Then he saw that it was all the work of blind chance, and he said to + himself that it was this that made him desperate, and willing to call evil + his good, and to take his own wherever he could find it. There was a great + deal that was literary and factitious and tawdry in the mood in which he + went to see Christine Dryfoos, the night when the Marches sat talking + their prospects over; and nothing that was decided in his purpose. He knew + what the drift of his mind was, but he had always preferred to let chance + determine his events, and now since chance had played him such an ill turn + with Alma, he left it the whole responsibility. Not in terms, but in + effect, this was his thought as he walked on up-town to pay the first of + the visits which Dryfoos had practically invited him to resume. He had an + insolent satisfaction in having delayed it so long; if he was going back + he was going back on his own conditions, and these were to be as hard and + humiliating as he could make them. But this intention again was inchoate, + floating, the stuff of an intention, rather than intention; an expression + of temperament chiefly. + </p> + <p> + He had been expected before that. Christine had got out of Mela that her + father had been at Beaton's studio; and then she had gone at the old man + and got from him every smallest fact of the interview there. She had flung + back in his teeth the good-will toward herself with which he had gone to + Beaton. She was furious with shame and resentment; she told him he had + made bad worse, that he had made a fool of himself to no end; she spared + neither his age nor his grief-broken spirit, in which his will could not + rise against hers. She filled the house with her rage, screaming it out + upon him; but when her fury was once spent, she began to have some hopes + from what her father had done. She no longer kept her bed; every evening + she dressed herself in the dress Beaton admired the most, and sat up till + a certain hour to receive him. She had fixed a day in her own mind before + which, if he came, she would forgive him all he had made her suffer: the + mortification, the suspense, the despair. Beyond this, she had the purpose + of making her father go to Europe; she felt that she could no longer live + in America, with the double disgrace that had been put upon her. + </p> + <p> + Beaton rang, and while the servant was coming the insolent caprice seized + him to ask for the young ladies instead of the old man, as he had supposed + of course he should do. The maid who answered the bell, in the place of + the reluctant Irishman of other days, had all his hesitation in admitting + that the young ladies were at home. + </p> + <p> + He found Mela in the drawing-room. At sight of him she looked scared; but + she seemed to be reassured by his calm. He asked if he was not to have the + pleasure of seeing Miss Dryfoos, too; and Mela said she reckoned the girl + had gone up-stairs to tell her. Mela was in black, and Beaton noted how + well the solid sable became her rich red-blonde beauty; he wondered what + the effect would be with Christine. + </p> + <p> + But she, when she appeared, was not in mourning. He fancied that she wore + the lustrous black silk, with the breadths of white Venetian lace about + the neck which he had praised, because he praised it. Her cheeks burned + with a Jacqueminot crimson; what should be white in her face was chalky + white. She carried a plumed ostrich fan, black and soft, and after giving + him her hand, sat down and waved it to and fro slowly, as he remembered + her doing the night they first met. She had no ideas, except such as + related intimately to herself, and she had no gabble, like Mela; and she + let him talk. It was past the day when she promised herself she would + forgive him; but as he talked on she felt all her passion for him revive, + and the conflict of desires, the desire to hate, the desire to love, made + a dizzying whirl in her brain. She looked at him, half doubting whether he + was really there or not. He had never looked so handsome, with his dreamy + eyes floating under his heavy overhanging hair, and his pointed brown + beard defined against his lustrous shirtfront. His mellowly modulated, + mysterious voice lulled her; when Mela made an errand out of the room, and + Beaton crossed to her and sat down by her, she shivered. + </p> + <p> + "Are you cold?" he asked, and she felt the cruel mockery and exultant + consciousness of power in his tone, as perhaps a wild thing feels + captivity in the voice of its keeper. But now, she said she would still + forgive him if he asked her. + </p> + <p> + Mela came back, and the talk fell again to the former level; but Beaton + had not said anything that really meant what she wished, and she saw that + he intended to say nothing. Her heart began to burn like a fire in her + breast. + </p> + <p> + "You been tellun' him about our goun' to Europe?" Mela asked. + </p> + <p> + "No," said Christine, briefly, and looking at the fan spread out on her + lap. + </p> + <p> + Beaton asked when; and then he rose, and said if it was so soon, he + supposed he should not see them again, unless he saw them in Paris; he + might very likely run over during the summer. He said to himself that he + had given it a fair trial with Christine, and he could not make it go. + </p> + <p> + Christine rose, with a kind of gasp; and mechanically followed him to the + door of the drawing-room; Mela came, too; and while he was putting on his + overcoat, she gurgled and bubbled in good-humor with all the world. + Christine stood looking at him, and thinking how still handsomer he was in + his overcoat; and that fire burned fiercer in her. She felt him more than + life to her and knew him lost, and the frenzy, that makes a woman kill the + man she loves, or fling vitriol to destroy the beauty she cannot have for + all hers, possessed her lawless soul. He gave his hand to Mela, and said, + in his wind-harp stop, "Good-bye." + </p> + <p> + As he put out his hand to Christine, she pushed it aside with a scream of + rage; she flashed at him, and with both hands made a feline pass at the + face he bent toward her. He sprang back, and after an instant of + stupefaction he pulled open the door behind him and ran out into the + street. + </p> + <p> + "Well, Christine Dryfoos!" said Mela, "Sprang at him like a wild-cat!" + </p> + <p> + "I don't care," Christine shrieked. "I'll tear his eyes out!" She flew + up-stairs to her own room, and left the burden of the explanation to Mela, + who did it justice. + </p> + <p> + Beaton found himself, he did not know how, in his studio, reeking with + perspiration and breathless. He must almost have run. He struck a match + with a shaking hand, and looked at his face in the glass. He expected to + see the bleeding marks of her nails on his cheeks, but he could see + nothing. He grovelled inwardly; it was all so low and coarse and vulgar; + it was all so just and apt to his deserts. + </p> + <p> + There was a pistol among the dusty bric-a-brac on the mantel which he had + kept loaded to fire at a cat in the area. He took it and sat looking into + the muzzle, wishing it might go off by accident and kill him. It slipped + through his hand and struck the floor, and there was a report; he sprang + into the air, feeling that he had been shot. But he found himself still + alive, with only a burning line along his cheek, such as one of + Christine's finger-nails might have left. + </p> + <p> + He laughed with cynical recognition of the fact that he had got his + punishment in the right way, and that his case was not to be dignified + into tragedy. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0064" id="link2H_4_0064"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XVIII. + </h2> + <p> + The Marches, with Fulkerson, went to see the Dryfooses off on the French + steamer. There was no longer any business obligation on them to be civil, + and there was greater kindness for that reason in the attention they + offered. 'Every Other Week' had been made over to the joint ownership of + March and Fulkerson, and the details arranged with a hardness on Dryfoos's + side which certainly left Mrs. March with a sense of his incomplete + regeneration. Yet when she saw him there on the steamer, she pitied him; + he looked wearied and bewildered; even his wife, with her twitching head, + and her prophecies of evil, croaked hoarsely out, while she clung to Mrs. + March's hand where they sat together till the leave-takers were ordered + ashore, was less pathetic. Mela was looking after both of them, and trying + to cheer them in a joyful excitement. "I tell 'em it's goun' to add ten + years to both their lives," she said. "The voyage 'll do their healths + good; and then, we're gittun' away from that miser'ble pack o' servants + that was eatun' us up, there in New York. I hate the place!" she said, as + if they had already left it. "Yes, Mrs. Mandel's goun', too," she added, + following the direction of Mrs. March's eyes where they noted Mrs. Mandel, + speaking to Christine on the other side of the cabin. "Her and Christine + had a kind of a spat, and she was goun' to leave, but here only the other + day, Christine offered to make it up with her, and now they're as thick as + thieves. Well, I reckon we couldn't very well 'a' got along without her. + She's about the only one that speaks French in this family." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. March's eyes still dwelt upon Christine's face; it was full of a + furtive wildness. She seemed to be keeping a watch to prevent herself from + looking as if she were looking for some one. "Do you know," Mrs. March + said to her husband as they jingled along homeward in the Christopher + Street bob-tail car, "I thought she was in love with that detestable Mr. + Beaton of yours at one time; and that he was amusing himself with her." + </p> + <p> + "I can bear a good deal, Isabel," said March, "but I wish you wouldn't + attribute Beaton to me. He's the invention of that Mr. Fulkerson of + yours." + </p> + <p> + "Well, at any rate, I hope, now, you'll both get rid of him, in the + reforms you're going to carry out." + </p> + <p> + These reforms were for a greater economy in the management of 'Every Other + Week;' but in their very nature they could not include the suppression of + Beaton. He had always shown himself capable and loyal to the interests of + the magazine, and both the new owners were glad to keep him. He was glad + to stay, though he made a gruff pretence of indifference, when they came + to look over the new arrangement with him. In his heart he knew that he + was a fraud; but at least he could say to himself with truth that he had + not now the shame of taking Dryfoos's money. + </p> + <p> + March and Fulkerson retrenched at several points where it had seemed + indispensable to spend, as long as they were not spending their own: that + was only human. Fulkerson absorbed Conrad's department into his, and March + found that he could dispense with Kendricks in the place of assistant + which he had lately filled since Fulkerson had decided that March was + overworked. They reduced the number of illustrated articles, and they + systematized the payment of contributors strictly according to the sales + of each number, on their original plan of co-operation: they had got to + paying rather lavishly for material without reference to the sales. + </p> + <p> + Fulkerson took a little time to get married, and went on his wedding + journey out to Niagara, and down the St. Lawrence to Quebec over the line + of travel that the Marches had taken on their wedding journey. He had the + pleasure of going from Montreal to Quebec on the same boat on which he + first met March. + </p> + <p> + They have continued very good friends, and their wives are almost without + the rivalry that usually embitters the wives of partners. At first Mrs. + March did not like Mrs. Fulkerson's speaking of her husband as the Ownah, + and March as the Edito'; but it appeared that this was only a convenient + method of recognizing the predominant quality in each, and was meant + neither to affirm nor to deny anything. Colonel Woodburn offered as his + contribution to the celebration of the copartnership, which Fulkerson + could not be prevented from dedicating with a little dinner, the story of + Fulkerson's magnanimous behavior in regard to Dryfoos at that crucial + moment when it was a question whether he should give up Dryfoos or give up + March. Fulkerson winced at it; but Mrs. March told her husband that now, + whatever happened, she should never have any misgivings of Fulkerson + again; and she asked him if he did not think he ought to apologize to him + for the doubts with which he had once inspired her. March said that he did + not think so. + </p> + <p> + The Fulkersons spent the summer at a seaside hotel in easy reach of the + city; but they returned early to Mrs. Leighton's, with whom they are to + board till spring, when they are going to fit up Fulkerson's bachelor + apartment for housekeeping. Mrs. March, with her Boston scruple, thinks it + will be odd, living over the 'Every Other Week' offices; but there will be + a separate street entrance to the apartment; and besides, in New York you + may do anything. + </p> + <p> + The future of the Leightons promises no immediate change. Kendricks goes + there a good deal to see the Fulkersons, and Mrs. Fulkerson says he comes + to see Alma. He has seemed taken with her ever since he first met her at + Dryfoos's, the day of Lindau's funeral, and though Fulkerson objects to + dating a fancy of that kind from an occasion of that kind, he justly + argues with March that there can be no harm in it, and that we are liable + to be struck by lightning any time. In the mean while there is no proof + that Alma returns Kendricks's interest, if he feels any. She has got a + little bit of color into the fall exhibition; but the fall exhibition is + never so good as the spring exhibition. Wetmore is rather sorry she has + succeeded in this, though he promoted her success. He says her real hope + is in black and white, and it is a pity for her to lose sight of her + original aim of drawing for illustration. + </p> + <p> + News has come from Paris of the engagement of Christine Dryfoos. There the + Dryfooses met with the success denied them in New York; many American + plutocrats must await their apotheosis in Europe, where society has them, + as it were, in a translation. Shortly after their arrival they were + celebrated in the newspapers as the first millionaire American family of + natural-gas extraction who had arrived in the capital of civilization; and + at a French watering-place Christine encountered her fate—a nobleman + full of present debts and of duels in the past. Fulkerson says the old man + can manage the debtor, and Christine can look out for the duellist. "They + say those fellows generally whip their wives. He'd better not try it with + Christine, I reckon, unless he's practised with a panther." + </p> + <p> + One day, shortly after their return to town in the autumn from the brief + summer outing they permitted themselves, the Marches met Margaret Vance. + At first they did not know her in the dress of the sisterhood which she + wore; but she smiled joyfully, almost gayly, on seeing them, and though + she hurried by with the sister who accompanied her, and did not stay to + speak, they felt that the peace that passeth understanding had looked at + them from her eyes. + </p> + <p> + "Well, she is at rest, there can't be any doubt of that," he said, as he + glanced round at the drifting black robe which followed her free, nun-like + walk. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, now she can do all the good she likes," sighed his wife. "I wonder—I + wonder if she ever told his father about her talk with poor Conrad that + day he was shot?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know. I don't care. In any event, it would be right. She did + nothing wrong. If she unwittingly sent him to his death, she sent him to + die for God's sake, for man's sake." + </p> + <p> + "Yes—yes. But still—" + </p> + <p> + "Well, we must trust that look of hers." + </p> + <h3> + PG EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Affected absence of mind + Be good, sweet man, and let who will be clever + Comfort of the critical attitude + Conscience weakens to the need that isn't + Death is an exile that no remorse and no love can reach + Death is peace and pardon + Did not idealize him, but in the highest effect she realized him + Does any one deserve happiness + Does anything from without change us? + Europe, where society has them, as it were, in a translation + Favorite stock of his go up and go down under the betting + Hemmed round with this eternal darkness of death + Indispensable + Love of justice hurry them into sympathy with violence + Married for no other purpose than to avoid being an old maid + Nervous woes of comfortable people + Novelists, who really have the charge of people's thinking + People that have convictions are difficult + Rejoice as much at a non-marriage as a marriage + Respect for your mind, but she don't think you've got any sense + Superstition of the romances that love is once for all + Superstition that having and shining is the chief good + To do whatever one likes is finally to do nothing that one likes + Took the world as she found it, and made the best of it + What we can be if we must + When you look it—live it + Would sacrifice his best friend to a phrase +</pre> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Hazard Of New Fortunes, by William Dean Howells + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HAZARD OF NEW FORTUNES *** + +***** This file should be named 4600-h.htm or 4600-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/6/0/4600/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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