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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text @@ -0,0 +1,15009 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Stories from Everybody's Magazine +From the 1910 issues of Everybody's Magazine + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association / Benedictine + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Benedictine University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +These are stories from Everybody's Magazine, 1910 issues. + + + +Scanned by Charles Keller with OmniPage Professional OCR software +donated by Caere Corporation, 1-800-535-7226. Contact Mike Lough +<Mikel@caere.com> + + + + + +Vol. XXIII No.1 JULY 1910 + +THE LAYING OF THE MONSTER + +BY THEODOSIA GARRISON + +Dorothea reposed with her shoulders in the shade of the bulkhead +and her bare feet burrowing in the sun-warmed sand. Beneath her +shoulder blades was a bulky and disheveled volume--a bound year +of Godey's Lady Book of the vintage of the early seventies. +Having survived the handling of three generations, this seemed to +take naturally to being drenched with rain and warped by sun, or, +as at the present moment, serving its owner either as a +sand-pillow or as a receptacle for divers scribbled verses on its +fly-leaves and margins. + +It was with a poem now that Dorothea was wrestling, as she +wriggled her toes in the sand and gazed blankly oceanward. Under +the scorching August sun, the Atlantic seemed to purr like a +huge, amiable lion cub. + +It was not the amiabilities of nature, however, in which Dorothea +found inspiration. A harp of a single string, she sang as that +minstrel might who was implored to make love alone his theme. + +Given an imaginative young person of eleven, who, when not +abandoning herself utterly to athletics, has secret and continual +access to the brand of literature peculiar to the "Seaside +Library," and the result is obvious. Dorothea's mother read +recipes; her father was addicted to the daily papers. It was only +in her grandmother that Dorothea found a literary taste she +approved. On that cozy person's bookshelves one could always find +what happened to Goldie or what the exquisite Irish heroine said +to the earl before she eloped with the captain. + +In this knowledge Dorothea's parents had no ambition that their +daughter should excel. In fact, an uncompromising edict on the +subject had been given forth more than once to a sullen and +rebellious sinner. But how should the most suspicious parent, +when his daughter sits in his presence apparently engrossed in a +book entitled "The Girlhood of Famous Women," guess that +carefully concealed in its interior is a smaller volume bearing +the title "Muriel's Mistake, or, For Another's Sin?" + +Having acquired knowledge, the true student seeks to demonstrate. +Dorothea had promptly and intentionally fallen in love with the +son of her next-door neighbor. Amiel--fresh from his first year +in college-- was a tall, broad-shouldered youth, with kindly +brown eyes and a flash of white teeth when he smiled. In contrast +to the small boys and the sober-going fathers of families in +which the summer colony abounded, he shone, as Dorothea's +favorite novelists would have expressed it, "like a Greek god." + +It was this unsuspecting person whom Dorothea had, at first +sight, elected to be the Hero of her Dreams. She trailed him, +moreover, with a persistency that would have done credit to a +detective. Did he go to the post-office, he was sure to meet +Dorothea returning (Lady Ursula, strolling through her estate, +comes upon her lover unawares). Dorothea, emulating her heroine's +example by vaulting a fence and cutting across lots, could be +found also strolling (if slightly breathless) as he approached. + +She timed her day, as far as possible, with his. Would he swim, +play tennis, or go crabbing--there was Dorothea. Would he repose +in the summerhouse hammock and listen to entire pages declaimed +from Tennyson and Longfellow, the while being violently +swung--his slave was ready. She read no story in which she was +not the heroine and Amiel the hero. At the same time, she was +perfectly and painfully conscious in the back of her brain that +Amiel regarded her only as a sun-browned, crop-headed tomboy, who +had an extraordinary facility for remembering all the poetry she +had ever read, and who amused and interested him as his own small +sister might. Outwardly she kept strictly to this role--a purely +natural one--while inwardly she soared dizzily from fantasy to +fantasy, even while her physical body was plunging in the waves +or leaping on the tennis court. + +Could Amiel have had the slightest insight into the fancies +seething in his small neighbor's mind, he would have been +astounded to the verge of doubting her reason. Little did he +know, as he stood now on the bulkhead and looked down at her, +that at the moment Dorothea was finishing mentally a poem in +which with "wild tears" and "clasping hands," he had bidden her +an eternal farewell--by moonlight. She was, moreover, perturbed +by the paucity of her native language. There appeared to be +nothing to rhyme with "love" except "shove," "above," and "dove." +Of these one was impossible and two were trite. Scowling fiercely +at the ocean, she finally gave the bird to the hungry line and +repeated the final couplet doubtfully: + + " `Farewell,' he said. `Ah, love, my love, + My heart is breaking for thee, Dove.' " + + +"Look out!" said a voice above her. "I'm going to jump." + +Dorothea sat up delightedly, with her bare, brown legs tucked +beneath her, Turk-like, as she welcomed him. ("Ah! Beloved," said +Lady Ursula with her hand on her fluttering heart.) "Hello," said +Dorothea, with a wide grin. + +He flung himself down beside her and surveyed her with amusement. +"Been digging holes with your head?" he asked affably. "Your hair +and eyelashes look it. Been here all the afternoon?" + +"Yes," she said. "I saw you go riding after lunch. I've been here +ever since. I love to be on the beach when there isn't a lot of +people bothering around. Then"--she made a wide gesture with her +brown hand-- "all of it seems to belong to me, not broken up in +little bits for everybody." She shook her cropped head +vigorously, and the sand pelted down her shoulders. + +"Well," he said, watching this operation, "you came near taking +your little bit to the house with you to keep, didn't you? How +long have you worn your hair cropped like that, Dorothea? Was it +when you decided to be captain of a ball team?" + +He drew a box of chocolates from his pocket and tossed it over to +her. She caught it neatly on her outstretched palm, as a boy +would have done, and nibbled squirrel-like as she talked. She did +not resent being teased by Amiel--she liked it, rather, as +representing a perfect understanding between them. Also, once +removed from the high hills of romance, she was not devoid of +humor. + +"It was cut in June--before you came. They didn't want me to, but +I just begged them. It was such a nuisance bathing and then +flopping about drying afterward, and being sent upstairs all day +long to make it smooth." + +"You funny kid," he said. "You don't care how you look, do you? +You ought to have been a boy. What have you been doing down here +all by yourself?" + +"Reading--and--listening," said Dorothea vaguely. She folded +Godey's Lady Book tightly to her chest. Lady Ursula or no Lady +Ursula, she would have died--with black, bitter shame at the +thought of any eye but her own falling upon the penciled lines +therein. The horror of ridicule is the black shadow that hangs +over youth. That strange, inner world of her own Dorothea shared +with nothing more substantial than her dreams. + +"Listening?" he inquired. + +"To the ocean," explained Dorothea. "It was high tide when I came +down, and the waves boom-boomed like that, as though it were +saying big words down in its chest, you know." + +"And what were the wild waves saying?" + +"Oh, big words like--" she thought a moment, her small, sunburnt +face serious and intent. "Oh, like + + "Robert of Sicily, Brother of Pope Urbane + And Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine." + +she intoned deeply. "You see?" + +"Absolutely," he said enjoyingly. "And so you weren't lonesome?" + +Dorothea, who had spent her afternoon in a region peopled with +interesting and exquisite figures, shook her head. + +"You don't get lonesome when you think," she said--"imagine" was +the word she meant; she used the other as appealing to his +understanding. Suddenly the vague, introspective look left her +face; she turned to him with the expression of one imparting +pleasing tidings. "My friend is coming to-morrow to stay a week," +she said. "You remember I told you that mother had asked her. +Well, she's coming down with father to-morrow. She has never been +to the seashore before. You'll take us crabbing, won't you, +Amiel? And if we have a bonfire you'll ask father to let us stay +up, won't you?" + +"Sure," he said good-naturedly. "What's her name?" + +"Her name is Jennie Clark, and she lives next door to us in the +city, and we're going to have fun--fun--fun," chanted Dorothea. +"Come on." She sprang lightly to her feet and dug her shoes and +stockings out of the sand. "We can have a game of tennis before +dinner." + +Clutching her book with her shoes and stockings, she raced with +him to the steps that led to the bulkhead, and from that +eminence--with the air of one performing an accustomed act--she +clambered on the fence that separated the green lawns from beach +to avenue. This, with a fine disregard for splinters, she +proceeded to walk--her property tucked under her arm. + +Amiel strode beside her on the lawn. She was as sure-footed as a +goat; but when he clutched her elbow as she performed a daring +pirouette, she offered no opposition, but proceeded sedately +beneath his hold. Why not? She had ceased to be Dorothea on her +way to a tennis game ("Lean heavily on me, dearest," whispered +Reginald, "the chapel is in sight. Bear up a little longer"). +With a weary sigh the Lady Ursula slid finally from the gate-post +to the ground and proceeded to put on her stockings. + +Jennie Clark arrived duly and was received, if not rapturously, +at least hospitably. To be frank, Jennie Clark was not among +those first suggested by Dorothea as a prospective visitor. Of +her own private and particular friends some five had been +rejected by a too censorious parent, mainly, it seemed, because +of a lack of personal charm--Dorothea preferring a good sport +from the gutter, as it were, to a dull fairy from a dancing +school. + +Jennie had been near, perilously near, the end of Dorothea's +list. Her sole claims to Dorothea's friendship were that, living +next door, she was available on rainy days when greater delights +failed, and that Dorothea, by a dramatic relation of a ghost +story, could hypnotize her into a terrified and wholly fascinated +wreck. + +Jennie was thirteen, a very young thirteen--pretty and mindless +as a Persian kitten--but developing rapidly a coquettish instinct +for the value of a red ribbon in her dark curls, and the set of a +bracelet on her plump arm. Beside her curves and curls and pretty +frilled frocks, Dorothea, in her straight, blue flannel playing +suit or stiff afternoon pique', with her cropped blonde head, +suggested nothing so much as wire opposed to a sofa cushion. + +She was in white pique' this afternoon. To meet one's friend at +the station was an event. Dorothea was honestly excited and +happy, and she was not at all pained that Jennie Clark's first +greeting was a comment on her short hair and her sunburn. + +By what might have seemed to the unobserving a happy coincidence, +Amiel, strolling from his house to the beach with his after- +dinner pipe, was hailed by Dorothea from the summerhouse. She had +run the unsuspecting Miss Clark very hard to arrive at the +psychological moment. Joining them there, he was duly presented +to Jennie Clark, and Dorothea, accepting the courteous fashion in +which he acknowledged the introduction as an indirect compliment +to herself, was elated. Jennie was certainly very pretty. She +tossed back her long curls and talked to Amiel with an occasional +droop of her long lashes, and Dorothea, beaming upon them both, +had no notion that, hovering above her in the quiet twilight, the +green- eyed Monster was even then scenting its victim and +preparing to strike. + +Presently Dorothea's father and mother and Amiel's stout and +amiable parents joined their offspring in the summerhouse. One of +the affable, if uninteresting, neighbors came as well and, +promptly introducing a banjo as a reason for his being, lured the +assembled company into song. + +Dorothea, snuggled into her corner, blissfully conscious of +Amiel's careless arm about her shoulder, gave herself up to +happiness. The night was soft as velvet, sewn with the gold +spangles of stars. The waves whispered secrets to each other as +they waited for the moon to rise. Dorothea, rapturously using the +atmosphere as a background for Lady Ursula, became suddenly aware +that the singing of "Juanita" in six different keys had ceased, +and that Jennie, having been discovered to be the possessor of a +voice, was singing alone. She had an exquisite little pipe, and +she sang the dominating sentimental song of the year with ease if +not with temperament. Its close was greeted with instant and +enthusiastic applause. Jennie became instantly the center of +attraction. + +It was Amiel who urged her to sing again, Amiel who seized upon +the banjo and accompanied her triumphantly through a college +song, turning his back squarely upon Dorothea the while. + +Dorothea sat up straight, a sudden, bewildering anger at her +heart as she watched them. In the midst of the song she announced +casually that the moon was coming up. No one paid the slightest +attention to her except the calling neighbor, who said "Hush!" + +An instant later, the instant that saw Amiel lay a commending and +fraternal hand on Jennie's curls, the Monster struck. Jealousy +had no firmer grip of beak and talons on the Moor of Venice than +on the crop-headed Dorothea. In absolute self- defense she did an +unprecedented and wholly unexpected thing. Without warning she +burst into song, even as Jennie was coyly preparing for an +encore. + + "O fair dove, O fond dove. + O dove with the white, white breast," + +shrilled Dorothea to her startled audience. This was the same +song with which Lady Ursula invariably brought blinding, bitter +tears to the eyes of those assembled at picnics and hunt balls. +It had an opposite effect upon Dorothea's auditors. With +apparently one accord they burst into hilarious mirth, comment, +and expostulation. + +"My child!" "Where did you get that absurd song?" "Dorothea, +never try to sing again. I forbid it." This last from her father. + +It was Amiel who commented admiringly on the fact that Dorothea +with practice might go through an entire song without once +touching upon the tune and time, and Jennie who giggled +enjoyingly and said, "Oh, Dorothea, you're awfully funny." + +Dorothea sat out the rest of the evening in stony silence, which +nobody regarded. She refused to join in the various choruses-- no +one noticed the omission in the least. When at last she walked to +the house with Amiel between herself and Jennie, and haughtily +shrugged her shoulder away from his hand, he continued listening +to Jennie's prattle without giving the slightest attention to her +aloofness. + +Long after Jennie was asleep, Dorothea, wide-eyed, communed with +the Monster. This was not an imitation Lady Ursula jealousy at +all. That was an interesting game at which one played when Amiel +occasionally walked and talked with some stray damsel in the +colony. She had no real jealousy of the young ladyhood that at +times intruded. But this was different; here she was out- ranked +in HER OWN CLASS. In that lay the sting. She reflected dismally +that this was only Tuesday and that Jennie was to stay until the +following Monday. + +She was perfectly and miserably fair in recounting Jennie's +attractions as contrasted with her own. She, Dorothea, could, at +demand, which was seldom, reel off pages of poetry; Jennie could +sing--to appreciative audiences. Dorothea could swim and dive; +Jennie had curly hair. Plainly, Jennie had all the best of it. It +remained only for Dorothea not to forget the courtesy due a guest +and, above all, oh, above everything, not to show the slightest +trace of the jealousy that consumed her. Lady Ursula had several +times been the life of the party when her heart was breaking. Her +proud smile had never faltered in the presence of her rival. +Well, neither would Dorothea's. She assumed it instantly in the +darkness by way of immediate practice, and fell asleep with the +result plastered upon her face. + +In the morning the Monster, wearied perhaps by his session of the +night before, seemed to lie dormant. Dorothea woke jubilant as +the morn and, having roused her friend by the gentle method of +half stifling her with a pillow, rushed her through her dressing +and led her forth. + +The ocean welcomed them with rapture; it caught the sun for them +and threw it back in millions and millions of living, rainbowed +diamonds. The world was all gold and blue and tremulous with +clean salt winds. It seemed ridiculous that one could be unhappy +on such a day. Dorothea danced pagan-like at the wave edge while +Jennie watched demurely from the bulkhead. + +However, it appeared that even on a day like this one could carry +black envy at one's heart. It was during the bathing hour that +the Monster again asserted himself--this time for no indefinite +stay. As a rule, the bathing hour was one in which Dorothea +reveled. Arrayed in her faded bathing suit, guiltless of skirt or +sleeves, her prowess as an amphibious creature had been highly +commended by that one for whose praise she would gladly have +precipitated herself from the highest pier. + +In vain to-day did she perform feats of daring and agility that +would have done credit to a flying fish. No one had eyes for her +except an agitated mother and grandmother, who finally ordered +her summarily out of the water and into the bath house. + +Amiel had occupied himself in coaxing Jennie into the water and +giving her primary instructions in swimming. Jennie, in the +daintiest red and white suit that could be imagined, skirted and +stockinged, with her curls escaping from a coquettish red +handkerchief, timorously advancing and drawing back from the wave +rush with little, appealing cries, was as fascinating as a +playful kitten. + +Dorothea regarded her with the disgust of the seasoned veteran +for the raw recruit. This, however, her erstwhile friend might +have been pardoned for not suspecting, seeing that whenever she +caught Dorothea's eye she was immediately the recipient of a wide +and beaming smile that even one less vain might have accepted as +a tribute to her attractions. It never wavered even while Jennie +shook down her long curls ostensibly to let the sun dry a single +lock that in some unaccountable way had felt the touch of a wave. +Beamingly Dorothea heard Amiel humorously contrast this brown +glory with her own short crop. Beamingly she fell into the plans +for the crabbing party that afternoon. However, it was this +lightsome expedition that laid the last straw upon the Monster's +back. + +The gentle art of crabbing involves the carrying of a +long-handled net and a huge basket, and a stop at the butcher's +to purchase unsavory lumps of meat for bait. + +Hitherto Dorothea had always proudly and vehemently insisted upon +carrying the basket the long, hot mile to the bay. To-day, as +Amiel dropped the bait in and handed it to her as a matter of +course, she accepted it with the look of the proud spirit that +will not cry out beneath indignities. She hung the basket over +her blue flanneled arm and trudged valiantly before them. + +The afternoon was one of long and unprecedented martyrdom. +Dorothea reviewed it as she changed into her white pique' for +dinner, the while beamingly advising Jennie as to the selection +of hair ribbons. SHE had vaulted fences; Jennie had been +assisted. SHE had baited lines; Jennie's had been baited. The +fact that a week before the offer of help in that delicate +operation would have been regarded as an insult to her +intelligence failed to occur to her to-day. She burned with +humiliation as she remembered that after a half hour of seeing +Jennie's line carefully prepared, she had handed her own to Amiel +with the air of one doing only what was expected of her. Amiel, +in return, had stared at her, and in the tone he might have used +to a younger brother had said briefly, "Well, go on and bait it. +What's the matter?" She had baited it. Also, she had carried home +the net while Amiel had borne the spoils and protested +courteously when Jennie offered an assisting hand. It was dreary +consolation to realize that never for a moment had the proud +smile wavered. She was beginning to feel as though an elastic +band had been stretched for hours under her nose and behind her +ears, and the sole comment her lofty amiability had drawn forth +had been a reference to the famed animal of Cheshire. + +From her window she presently saw Jennie, all rosy muslin and +tossing curls, strolling beachward with Amiel. The sight nerved +her to demonstrate an idea that had occurred to her inspiringly +during the day. Once by simply placing a dewy rose in her golden +torrent of hair, Lady Ursula had brought the ball room to her +feet. In emulation, Dorothea extracted a hair ribbon from +Jennie's stock and, failing other means, tied it bandage-wise +about her head. The result was not coquettish. It suggested only +accident or disease. She removed it wearily, and sat down on the +edge of the bed to think. Plainly, she could not compete with +Jennie on the grounds of beauty or accomplishments. Apparently +the fact of being able to swim, vault, and leap from vast heights +constituted none of these things. And yet, before Jennie +arrived--and doubtless after Jennie departed--after these five +interminable days that stretched before her--but why five? + +The dinner bell rang insistently. Some one was calling her from +the stairs. Dorothea sat still, with her arms folded on the +bedpost and a new thought playing like summer lightning in her +brain. The thought gradually resolved itself into a problem. It +was well enough to decide that Jennie must go--the problem was +how to make her go. A telegram or a letter summoning her home? A +good idea if there were any one in the city to send it. That was +obviously impossible. + +Dorothea walked downstairs with her brows knitted in thought +above the unchanging smile, and in her eyes the look of the rapt +soul momentarily expecting inspiration. + +The inspiration arrived during that hour when the denizens of +the little colony sat ring-wise about the beach fire. + +The neighbor with the banjo had done his worst, and desisted; +Jennie had piped through her repertoire and was now graciously +accepting the support of Amiel's arm. Dorothea and the Monster, +somewhat withdrawn from the circle, watched a crooked moon lift +itself above the horizon and lay a trail of opal glory on the +waves. Still awaiting inspiration, she regarded it with as little +interest as Lucretia Borgia might have given the sunset that +preceded one of her little poisoning dinners. + +Presently, as befitted the atmosphere and hour, the talk of the +little circle fell upon things ghostly and mysterious--strange +happenings and prophetic dreams. Dorothea, who had a love of +horrors, lent a suddenly attentive ear; but Jennie, though +plainly fascinated, uttered a protesting plaint. "Oh, please +stop! You don't know how you frighten me! Dorothea has had some +awfully queer things happen to her, and it scares me almost to +death when she tells about them." + +Mirth followed the announcement of Dorothea's occult powers, +which, needless to say, had come as a surprise to her immediate +family. + +Dorothea paid no attention whatever. Instead she rose to her feet +and, flinging her arms wide, yawned elaborately. It was a +delicate suggestion, which caused the men to look at their +watches, and the party forthwith dispersed. + +Dorothea, for all the sand in her shoes, seemed to walk to the +house on air. The inspiration had arrived, fully accoutered, as +it were, on the breath of Jennie's complaint. + +The work in hand called for the dexterity of the true artist. +With managerial instinct, Dorothea, repelling any attempt at +conversation, waited only until Jennie was comfortably ensconced +in bed, to turn the lamp down so that it glimmered in sickly +fashion, before beginning proceedings. Then, seating herself +beside the bed--an eerie figure in her straight, white gown--she +shook her head dismally and indulged in a heartfelt sigh. Jennie, +her nerves already on edge with the ghost stories of the hour +before, turned startled eyes upon her. + +"What is the matter? What is it?" she inquired anxiously. + +"I--feel--strange," said Dorothea. She turned upon her victim a +face full of uncanny suggestion. Divested of its perpetual smile, +it seemed to Jennie as unfamiliar as a room from which an +accustomed piece of furniture had been moved. + +"I feel--strange. Something terrible is happening somewhere.--I +can tell--I always can--I am going to have a vision--I can feel +it--It always comes like this." With a quick hand she +extinguished the lamp. "It will come in a dream," she muttered. +"Let me sleep, oh, let me sleep!" + +She made a sweeping pass with her out- stretched hands and, after +a dramatic pause, fell heavily on her pillow, where she instantly +proceeded to fall into a deep and trance-like slumber--a slumber +that prevailed through the terrified questionings, whimperings, +and agitated shakings by her friend. + +It is an awesome thing to seek repose beside one wrapped in +trance; it is worse to traverse unlighted halls and ghostly +stairs in an effort to awake the gifted medium's family. Wrapped +in terror as in an icy sheet, after divers Herculean efforts to +rouse the log beside her, the responsive victim fell into a +troubled slumber with her head well under the bedclothes. + +The gray dawn was in the room when she was awakened by what +seemed to be muffled sobs from--the figure beside her. In an +instant wide awake and palpitating, she fell upon Dorothea. "What +is it? Oh, what is it?" she cried. + +"I have had it," said Dorothea in a sepulchral whisper. "The +vision. Oh," she turned dramatically from the instant question, +"I can't bear to tell you!--It was about you." + +"Dorothea, you've GOT to tell me! I think you're HORRID. I'm +going right downstairs to tell your mother." + +"Of course I'm going to tell you," said the sybil crossly. She +resumed her chest tones hurriedly. "I must tell you. It was sent +to me to tell you. I wanted to prepare you." + +"Prepare? Oh, Dorothea, what WAS it?" + +Dorothea stood upright on the bed, and her eyes assumed the +expression of those that see inward--Jennie stared at her, +hypnotized, breathless. + +"I saw a room," chanted the inspired one, "a room in a large +city. I can see it now. It is a bedroom. There are blue rugs on +the floor, and the furniture is oak. It has two windows. There is +a canary bird in one, and the other has a seat with blue +cushions." + +"Why, that is my mother's room, Dorothea! You know it is." + +"In the bed a woman is lying. She is sick. She is turning from +one side to the other--she says, `Oh, where is my daughter? I +want my daughter! Why doesn't she come back to me?'" + +"Oh, Dorothea!" Jennie, tearful and excited, began to draw on her +clothes. "That was my mother! It must have been! Oh, Dorothea!" + +The sybil drove in the fine point again. "`Why doesn't she come +back to me?'" she reiterated. + +The program that had proceeded so smoothly now received an +unexpected hitch. Jennie paused suddenly in her garmenting, +relief growing in her face. + +"After all," she observed, "I don't believe mother had anything +more than one of her sick-headaches. She has them all the time. I +wouldn't go home just for that. I do believe that is it, +Dorothea." + +It was time for rapid thought. Another moment and the fine +dramatic work of the morning would have gone for naught. For a +moment Dorothea staggered, but for a moment only. "I didn't tell +you everything," she said mysteriously. "Your mother is not alone +in the bed. She is holding something in her arms. She is +saying--" she paused to give her climax its full effect-- "`Oh, +why doesn't Jennie come home to see her little sister?'" + +"Her little--?--Dorothea!" + +It behooves the villain to be without conscience. No slightest +shame visited the brazen one's heart at the sight of Jennie's +instant joy and excitement. Modestly she accepted the tribute to +her uncanny power; obligingly she assisted her friend to pack; +martyr-like she acquiesced in Jennie's decision that the first +train after breakfast would be none too early to bear her to that +long-coveted delight--a baby sister. Moreover, she cannily +advised her friend as to the mode of proceeding. "If you tell +them downstairs why you are going, they may not let you. They +don't know about visions. Just tell them that you're going home +and NOTHING ELSE." + +This advice, followed to the letter, produced no little agitation +at the breakfast table. Jennie simply announced her intention of +immediate departure; all questions as to her health, happiness, +and possible reasons were met only with a parrot-like repetition +of the fact. Upon closer pressing she gave way to hysterical +tears, Dorothea the while assisting the scene with round, +innocent eyes and the bewildered air of one suddenly made aware +of an impending event. + +The solution was presently found by a sympathetic and consoling +circle--the child was homesick; she wanted her mother. Assuredly +that explained everything. The lure of sails and picnics having +failed, Dorothea's mother came to a decision with sympathetic +tears in her eyes and a glance toward her own innocent. "She +shall take the first train home if she wants to. The child +sha'n't be miserable. No, don't urge her, Bob. I was homesick +myself once, and I understand perfectly." + + +Dorothea reposed in the shade of the bulkhead, sand on her person +and a great peace in her heart, upon which the Monster, +departing, had left no scar. Under her head was the Godey's +Lady's Book, in which, over the picture of a brocaded pelisse, +she had recently finished a poem in which "lover" rhymed-- with +"forever." Amiel, cross-legged on the sand beside her, was +whistling gently as he industriously whittled at a bit of +driftwood, little suspecting that at the moment he was taking tea +in a bower with Lady Ursula. + +Presently he drew a letter from his pocket and flipped it over to +Dorothea. "Your mother asked me to give you this," he said. "She +thought it might be from that pretty little friend of yours." + +Dorothea opened the letter with some trepidation. Presently a +bland smile over- spread her countenance. The day of reckoning +that she expected to dawn upon her next meeting with her victim +melted cloud-like as she read: + +Dear Dorothea: + +I arrived home safely. It's just as well I did, because my aunt +was waiting to take me to Lake George, but you made a mistake in +the vision. It wasn't my mother. It was Mrs. Gray across the +street and hers is a boy, but I think that was very near. + +I think the vision was perfectly wonderful, but I am glad I don't +have them. My mother says I can come again later if your mother +wants me. I didn't tell her why I came home, because she doesn't +believe in them either. + + +She presented her love to several people and added in a +postscript, "Let me know at Lake George if you have another." + +Dorothea tore the letter into minute scraps and gave them over to +the sea breeze. + +"Well," queried Amiel idly, "what does she say?" + +"She says she arrived safely," said Dorothea. + + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII No.1 JULY 1910 + +{pages 44-55} THE GOLD BRICK AND THE GOLD MINE + +Fake Mining Schemes that Steal the People's Savings + +By EMERSON HOUGH + +Author of "The Mississippi Bubble," "54-40 or Fight," etc. + + +EDITOR'S NOTE.--It is time vigorous efforts were made to stop the +cruel frauds perpetrated on the name of one of the world's +greatest industries. Mining is a legitimate and honorable +enterprise. It contributes immensely to the national wealth. It +has been the source of some of our great fortunes. Because there +is something magical in the suggestion of gold or coal or copper +taken out of the ground, sharpers have made mining an instrument +of successful deception. They have tricked people into investing +their savings in worthless or even non-existent mines. Perhaps +you who read this have bitten at an advertisement in a reputable +publication, which pretended to place the wealth of some western +El Dorado at your feet for a few hundred dollars. Doubtless your +money has disappeared. It is for the purpose of giving you the +protection of a knowledge both of legitimate mining and of the +ways of thieves that this article is published. + +AMERICA is the land of the free and the country of opportunity +for all. Incidentally, it is free hunting-ground for sharpers, +and a land of opportunity for the unscrupulous. No such chances +for fraudulent business exist anywhere else in the world. +Americans are the richest people on earth, and the most easily +parted from their money. Those whose sole ambition is to get rich +quick very frequently help some other man to get rich quick. +Society owes no debt to either of these. It is obliged to support +them both. This is wrong both as a moral and as an industrial +proposition. Once, a dollar was spent to mine a dollar. To-day +two are spent: One dollar goes into blasting powder, the other +into advertising and office furniture. + +No doubt you have heard the age-old legend of the Mother Vein of +Gold, which appears and vanishes, now and again, in this corner +of the world. Superstition regarding this great original vein of +gold is found wherever men seek the precious metal. The feverish +Spaniards called this phantom lode the Madre d'Oro, or "Mother of +Gold." Now it is located in Mexico, now in India or Peru, +California or Australia. Tradition says that Montezuma got his +gold from this great vein, which lay in a secret valley whose +where-abouts was jealously guarded by three priests of the war +tribe, sole possessors of the knowledge. Any intruder who by +chance or design looked down into this valley was smitten +absolutely blind. Tradition among the successors of the Aztecs +says that when Montezuma passed, the Madre d'Oro sank back again +into the earth, and has been seen no more. Men still follow the +phantom vein. Those who see it, even in their dreams, still are +smitten blind. + +Gold! There is no other word that means quite so much. We want +gold; indeed, we must have it. Malleable, divisible, +indestructible, rare, it is the indispensable medium of exchange. +It is our chosen unit of power and success, the measure of +civilization and human attainment. Hence it has always been the +object of human desire. The Golden Fleece very probably was the +sheepskin bottom of an old-time sluice-box, in a day when they +used wool, instead of blankets, below the rocker troughs. In the +vast ruined civilization of Southeast Africa unknown men once +mined probably $400,000,000 worth of gold. There are mines +profitably operated in Greece to-day which the Phoenicians opened +1,200 B. C. Sixteen hundred years later the Romans owned all the +mines in Europe. Hannibal once paid his warriors in gold coin of +Carthage. Egypt was settled by the Semitic races 2,500 B. C., +because of the gold that was found there. A thousand years later +Job knew about gold, and five hundred years later still, King +Solomon showed what an abundance of wives and what a reputation +for wisdom a man can get when he has unlimited gold mines back of +him. Columbus found America when he was searching for the wealth +of Ormus and of Ind. Cortez and Pizarro toiled and slew in the +hope of finding the Madre d'Oro. The great discoveries of the +world have been made by men in search of gold. The great voyages +of exploration were in part piratical voyages made in search of +gold already found and mined by others. + + +HONEST MINING IN HANNIBAL'S TIME + + +But there is to be said about gold mining ways of the old time, +that Tyre sought gold with actual ships, with actual men and +mining implements. The peninsula of Sinai did not sell stock, but +mined actual gold. Gold in those days meant actual risk and +courage. Perhaps even then fraudulent promoters weren't unknown; +but he who ventured, in the days of Vespasian or Hannibal or +Hiram, too prominently to gild the gold brick certainly lost his +head. The mining of gold was then a sober and serious and honest +matter. + +In America we place the gold brick ahead of the gold mine. We mix +alloy of duplicity and greed with the virgin metal of our +standard of value. By improved mining methods we nearly double +our output of gold, and so cheapen it by well-nigh a half. This +shrunken gold dollar is small enough; but that is not all. We +adulterate and divide it by, say, another half when we falsely +double its cost. This we certainly do when we issue counterfeit +promises as against good coin; for in civilization and commerce +always the genuine coinage has to pay the cost of the +counterfeit. Your tailor charges you a stiff price for your suit +of clothes. That covers the clothes of the dead beats who did not +pay. To allow the sale of a fraudulent mining stock is to +depreciate the basis of this country's values. Such a wrong ought +not to be allowed in a country claiming an enlightened +government. + +It is the thief who is protected in America, not his dupe. The +old law of caveat emptor protects the SELLER of fake mining +stocks, not the BUYER of them. There is little or no actually +enforced law to protect the latter. That is to say, there is +little or no actually enforced law to protect those who most need +protection, those of small incomes, orphans who have no +guardians, wage earners who have little education, widows whose +life insurance is not quite enough to support them, women engaged +in the desperate battle of life and needing more money, quick +money, better to protect themselves. The fence between these and +the natural perils of the world is slight enough. In America we +break it down entirely. + +We offer these helpless ones freely as victims to the greater +cunning and strength of men wholly without sense of business +honor or personal decency. When we do this, we also attack the +whole system of savings banks, which is, or should be, the very +bulwark of a nation's financial safety. Says the wolf to the +widow, to the busy professional man, to the clerk, the +stenographer, the wage earner: "Take your money out of the +savings bank. What is three per cent. a year, when I can make you +three hundred per cent. a year? Give your money to me!" We permit +that. Our national government does not undertake to put a stop to +it; our states do not undertake to do so; and this fact is more +possible through actual lack of proper statutes than through any +misinterpretation or lack of enforcement of the law. + +The field is one devised by nature for the trickster. His success +does not depend altogether on human gullibility; part of his +argument rests on the conditions which surround the industry of +mining, one which never can be free of extreme risk. All men know +that gold is found far away, where living is high and means of +transportation are scarce; that it costs large sums to find and +dig it, and that such sums are more easily raised among the many +than among the few. None of these attending features has weight +to stop the capitalization of bona-fide enterprises. These latter +are used as bait by men who have nothing bona-fide to offer, and +who make their fattest profits out of their shallowest shafts. + + +THE "SUCKER LIST" IN WALL STREET + +Methods vary among such fraudulent operators, but new victims +continually are found. The "sucker list" of one firm in Wall +Street numbers 110,000 names, selected as those of persons who +will bite more than once at a mining scheme, and whose records +show that they have so bitten. This operator proudly declares +that the only way a sucker can get his name off that list is to +die. In the reorganization of the firm of Douglas, Lacey & Co., +of New York City, it was discovered that 20,000 persons had money +invested in stocks of the company. + +The best bait in this particular operation was a "trust fund" +established for the benefit of stockholders. The proceeds of the +better-paying mines were to be applied to pay dividends for those +which were less successful. In this way, the various directors of +the many Douglas-Lacey Companies explained, it was impossible for +the investors to lose. But they did lose. The reorganization, +intended to save some of the better properties, wiped out more +than seventy per cent. of the small stockholders--widows, +schoolteachers, stenographers, washwomen, scrubwomen--all who +once had a dollar in the stocking. + +Burr Brothers, Inc., of New York, used the effective bait of the +instalment plan of payment. Their literature and advertising +offered sudden wealth at twenty cents a share, payments to be in +instalments, "the best twenty offers" to be accepted. It was +pointed out that if one made one's weekly payment large enough to +be included among the fortunate twenty, one could have a nice, +clean certificate sent to one immediately, and pay for it at +one's leisure. If you think the operators could not afford to do +that, you are ignorant. There was an old negro woman in the South +who often importuned her white friends for funds to build a +certain somewhat mythical church. They asked her what she +received for the time spent in collecting. "I has what I gits," +was her frank response. She enunciated a great modern mining +principle which has made fortunes in Denver, Butte, New York, +Boston, and many other places where handsome lithographic work is +done, and where advertising space can be bought in journals +considered reputable. + + +NEW ENGLAND "DONE" BY AN INSANE MAN + +Sometimes there are victims in enterprises of this sort where +there probably was no deliberate intent to deceive or to defraud. +Not long ago, in Boston, one Henry D. Reynolds, formerly +president of the Reynolds Alaska Development Company, was brought +before the United States Circuit Court on the charge of using the +United States mails with intent to defraud. Three alienists are +said to have declared him insane. In 1907 ex-Governor John G. +Brady, of Alaska, endorsed Reynolds and his schemes, and is +reported to have collected in New England about $450,000 for +these Reynolds projects. Brady gave "lectures" and stereopticon +exhibitions in New England churches. Reynolds took out an +excursion of Boston and New England investors to Prince William +Sound, at one time, and showed them the seacoast of Alaska, +practically all of which he claimed to own. At Boulder Bay he +took his party into a long tunnel, the face of which they were +told was composed of solid copper ore. When they emerged into the +garish light of day, each was given a bright copper nugget, said +to have come from the mine. + + +ALASKA REYNOLDSIZED + +Really, according to local report, these nuggets of native copper +had been taken from sluice boxes on Chittitu Creek, 235 miles +inland. Reynolds, so ran the story, had treated them with an acid +bath to brighten them, knowing that bright bait is better. At any +rate, the good, sober New Englanders went back home and sent him +$300,000 more, which set him entirely "dippy," in local phrase. + +Reynolds's scheme was to run all the barber shops, laundries, +bars, and pretty much everything else on the Alaskan coast. A +certain Sam Blum had a store and bank; Reynolds wanted it; and +Blum, it is alleged, annexed $50,000 of the New England money as +a forfeited first payment on his property. A steamship company, +it was said, got $75,000 of money on a forfeit. So the good New +England savings merrily disappeared, in one of the most +spectacular farces ever known in Alaska; which latter is too good +and valid and valuable a national possession to permit to be +Reynoldsized, as it has been. Reynolds, in the belief of one who +knew him well, was a combination of the ignorant enthusiast, the +wild promoter, and the crazy man; and as for Brady, another +Alaskan called him "nothing worse than an innocent old ninny." +Yet, even with so sorry a mental equipment, these two took +something like half a million out of conservative New England! +The ease with which money can be raised for such enterprises by +the deliberately fraudulent or the unintentionally insane +continues one of the wonders of our civilization. + +Another kind of bait offered is that of the "prominent name." +This has proved more useful in England than in this country. +Whittaker Wright was able to secure members of the nobility for +his boards of directors, and the English public swallowed his +schemes one after another, bait, hook, bob, and sinker. In this +country we have no lords whom we dearly love, so the names of +prominent literary or scientific men sometimes are employed by +wise promoters. A "prominent mining expert" is excellent bait. +Some good men have been used in this way, and the bait of their +reputation in other lines of activity has served to make ignorant +and innocent people of small means swallow the hook hid in the +lying statements which they have perhaps innocently, certainly +ignorantly, fathered. We are all familiar with the literature of +this class, sent to us under the guise of personal and intimate +confidence. Always that part of the communication is followed by +the blackfaced type where the stinger lies concealed. The words +AT ONCE usually come in capitals, as do LAST CHANCE, and PRICE +POSITIVELY WILL ADVANCE AFTER TEN DAYS. Millions and millions of +dollars have been extracted from the public by these means. There +is no law against it. + + +"ADJOINING" MINES--GOOD BAIT + +Then there is the same old argument about wonderful properties +"adjoining" such and such a dividend-paying property. Very often +the properties are miles apart. They might be within twenty-five +feet of each other, and one still might be worthless and the +other rich. The profits of old and famous properties very +frequently are given in advertising literature of this class, "to +show what money there is in mining." The "property" sold may be a +ten-foot hole in a sand-bank two thousand miles from any of +these; yet this absurd argument is sufficient to extract coin +from the pocket of the American buyer. You can use Michigan to +tout him on to Arizona; Utah to land him in California; Mexico to +interest him in Alaska. Is it not true? There is no law against +it. + +Again, the appeal to your mining pocket may come, not through the +advertising page, but in the proper person of the promoter or +owner himself. For instance, not long ago a gentleman from +California came into my office. He owned a mine on the old and +well-traced Mother Vein, of Tuolumne County, California. It had +been well opened, and showed, in development, according to a +reputable engineer's report, three million dollars' worth of ore +in sight, with many tons of the best ore already in the dump, +stuff which would run very high in value. + +At the proper time the gentleman carefully produced from his +pocket a little ingot of pure gold, product of one test-mill run. +He gave the best of references as to his responsibility. He +offered to guarantee ten per cent. dividends on all money +invested, and declared that he had a banking proposition and not +a mine. + + +WHEELBARROW VS. $72,000 + +"My Christian friend," said I to him, "you seem to have a good +thing. How far is it from your mine dump to the nearest bank?" + +"About five miles," he answered. + +"In that case," said I, "it seems to me you don't need to sell a +hundred thousand dollars' worth of stock to build a stamp-mill. +You need only enough to buy yourself a good, strong wheelbarrow. +In two or three months you can thus build your own stamp-mill and +pay for it with ore, and still have your mine all in your own +hands." + +He could not see it that way, and, pursuing his own method, he +took $72,000 in two weeks out of the city of Chicago, from some +of the best business men of that city. Now, perhaps he had a real +mine. I have no right to doubt that he had; but the point of +interest to the small investor is this: NEITHER HAVE I ANY RIGHT +TO BELIEVE THAT HE HAD. The thing for me to do, had I wished to +invest in this way, would have been to send an expert to see the +property personally. + + +ENTER THE FINANCIAL AGENT + +In this game of plucking the dollars of the poor and the +ignorant, there has been a gradual improvement in methods. The +constant aim has been, first, to increase the amount of the +harvest; second, to reduce to a minimum the risk the reapers run +of detection and punishment by the authorities. Experience in +most lines of commercial activity has shown that the middlemen +often gather in the largest profits and have the smallest losses. +Many of those working the mining game--and by this is meant +selling stocks on wind and water--have made use of this fact. +To-day in the majority of cases we have, in place of the +prospector or the company selling stock direct to the suckers, +the financial or fiscal agent. He operates either under the name +of a banking firm or as a security company, which is generally a +registered trade-name intended as a cloak to cover the names of +individuals not desirous of publicity. + +The financial agent of this description is in reality the +organizer and promoter of the mining company whose stock he +sells. But should trouble come along, he is the first to assert +that he has been deceived as well as his customers. He sells the +shares of the mine on a commission basis so large that +practically nothing is left for development. He takes out of the +money secured large salaries and the entire expense of +advertising and carrying on the exploitation. He prepares all the +literature. One of the advantages he claims for his proposition +is the wide distribution of the stock as a safeguard against +assault by wicked Wall Street interests. + + +CULLED TWO MILLIONS IN FOUR YEARS + +In this wide distribution, however, lies one of his own greatest +safeguards against either criminal or civil prosecution. +Scattered over the country are his investors--the mill hand, the +poor seamstress, the humble artisan, whose total investments, +comprising perhaps all their savings, seldom exceed one hundred +dollars each; and, with their savings gone, there isn't money +left to pay carfare to the office of the financial agent, let +alone to undertake a civil suit or enlist the aid of the +authorities. The poor seamstress has no way of knowing any of her +fellow unfortunates. Hence the utter impossibility of cooperation +in seeking to get back their savings. + +As an example of the fiscal agent, there may be cited the concern +of Douglas, Lacey & Company, already mentioned, a concern which +in four years, through its operations in this country and in +Canada, culled from the people of this country, according to its +own statement, over $2,000,000 in exchange for stock certificates +in more than forty varieties of mining companies. Here is a +letter written to a woman by this concern four years after she +had invested all her savings in the stock of one of these +companies through this concern, showing the advantage of the +fiscal agency plan: + +DOUGLAS, LACEY & CO. +Financial Agents +66 Broadway. +New York Cable Address "Douglacey"--Anglo-American and Bedford +McNeil Codes Telephone, 790 & 791 Rector + +DEAR MADAM: June 2, 1908. + +Replying to your favor of June 1st would say that we do not find +in our files any recent letter from you, and your letter +addressed care of 44 Wall Street has probably gone to the Dead +Letter Office, from which you will in time receive it. + +Now, in reply to your question, we think if you are at all +familiar with business procedure, you will see that it would be +impossible for the fiscal agents of any of the companies to +return money which had been paid for shares and which had been +turned over by the fiscal agents to the treasury of the various +companies and expended in development work on the different +properties. + +It is true that we have sold stock for our customers at various +times and we are glad to do so when it is possible. At the +present time, however, as this company is in process of +reorganization, there would be no market for its stock and for +this reason we are unable to help you in the way you request. + + Very truly yours Douglas, Lacey & Co. + + +In pursuing this method, few promoters have had the success of +Dr. John Grant Lyman. He is credited with having gathered in a +half million dollars in his International Zinc operations. This +company was supposed to have valuable zinc properties in the +Joplin district of Missouri. To unload its stock on the people of +this country Lyman organized the firm of Joshua Brown & Company, +Bankers, incorporated under the laws of West Virginia. Through +them the stock was sold until the collapse of the scheme in 1901, +when the investors found that what property it did own was +heavily mortgaged. While the firm was taking in the money, Lyman +maintained a racing stable, had a reputation as a daring +automobilist, and even invaded the sacred precincts of the New +York Stock Exchange. + + +LYMAN'S SCHEME TO GET STOCKING SAVINGS + +Three years ago the papers throughout this country were filled +with the advertisements of the Union Securities Company, selling +the stock of the Boston Greenwater Copper Company. It was stated +that the mine had cost $200,000 and that so much ore was in sight +that an offer of $400,000 had been refused. The Union Securities +Company, with offices in New York and in Goldfield, Nevada, +started the stock at forty-five cents and lifted it to a dollar. +It was merely another name for John Grant Lyman. Not only did the +Union Securities company sell the stock to the public, but it +also offered it to brokers at thirty-seven and a half cents, on +their guarantee that it would not be sold by them at less than +forty-five cents. The brokers began getting contracts for the +stock and then were told that the Union Securities Company was +all sold out. + +Shortly thereafter, confederates of Lyman came to these brokers +and offered stock to them at fifty cents a share; and the Union +Securities Company at the same time telegraphed the brokers that +it wanted all the shares it could get at sixty cents. That forced +the brokers to buy of confederates; but when they shipped on the +stock to the Union Securities Company, expecting to get sixty +cents a share for it, Lyman was gone. It had not cost him much. +He owed the newspapers of this country $150,000 for advertising, +which went unpaid. He reaped $300,000 profits. Boston Greenwater +Copper stock can still be found in many a stocking--of humble +folk. + + +"SALTING" WITH A CIGARETTE + +It is not, however, always the city promoter who furnishes all of +the crookedness. He himself may be deceived by those who sell him +the mine. Some of the most thrilling stories in literature might +be written about salted mines. The sale of the Bear's Nest Mine, +and the special train expedition to the salted Bear River placer +field; the sale of the Mulatos Mine to a set of Chinamen, and +scores of other instances in American mining history, have been +regarded rather as big jokes than as great lessons. And as to +such large jesting we advance in finesse. The old way of salting +a placer or a quartz vein with a shotgun is now antiquated. + +A little while ago a party of capitalists bought a Nevada placer +on what they thought to be strictly a "cinch" basis. With their +own hands they collected the specimen dirt from all over the +claim, and they watched a Mexican miner pan the dirt at the +creek. The pans showed up beautifully. They bought the claim. +Later, it proved worthless. Afterward they remembered that the +Mexican smoked cigarettes all the time he was panning, and that +he was careless in expectorating, as well as in knocking the +ashes off his cigarettes. The truth was that the highly +intelligent Greaser was using the cigarette trick in salting the +pan. There was much fine gold in his cigarette and under his lip! + + +THE MULATOS MINE SALTING SCHEME + +All sorts of methods of salting mines, even to the injection, +with a hypodermic needle, of strong solutions of mineral salts +into a mining engineer's carefully sealed sample bags, have been +worked. The most honest, careful, and expert mining engineers +have been deceived time and again, and salted right under their +own eyes. Even a bland Chinee may be fooled. Take the instance of +the Mulatos Mine: The bunch of Chinamen who proposed to buy it +insisted on a mill-run test on fresh-mined ore, taken out BY +THEMSELVES, for a five-days' run. They were not taking any +chances, in their own belief. The owners of the mine, however--so +runs the story--had a platform of plank arranged above the +timbers at the top of the drift where the Chinamen brought out +their ore cars. On this planking a man lay face downward where he +could see each ore car that passed. He had a rather hard life for +five days on the sandwiches and water which he took up there with +him, but he managed to drop a pinch or so of nice gold dust into +every car of ore that came trundling under him. The mill-run was +an entire success from the viewpoint of the sellers, although not +from that of the buyers. + +There is no working law, let us repeat, which actually protects +the investor against this sort of thing, nor which always +protects even the promoter, though he be honest. The game is +risky all the way along the line, in spite of state laws against +the heinous crime of salting, which latter hath as yet by no +means lost its savor. + + + THE MAIL AND MINING THIEVES + +As matters stand to-day, the man selling mining stock on a +fraudulent basis fears the Post Office Department much more than +he fears the District Attorney. That is the main protection which +the public has against such schemes. But to depend upon it is +like trying to stop Niagara with a dam of reeds. The man who +induces you to take your money out of the savings bank in +exchange for stock in a mine, through such operations as have +been described, thrives by reason of his use of the United States +mails. It is a mail-order business pure and simple. + +Let us see what machinery the Government has to protect you and +prevent the letter-carrier from bringing daily to your door the +flamboyant literature intended to lure your money from the bank. +There are five hundred Post-Office inspectors employed in +watching Uncle Sam's mail wherever it is carried, in keeping the +vast and complicated machinery of the Post Office Department +oiled and working smoothly, in running down Post-Office robbers +and mail thieves and, lastly, in keeping the mail free from +frauds. Ninety per cent. of this force is required to do the +routine work of the inspecting branch; that is to keep the +machinery running smoothly and to prevent delays. That leaves +just ten per cent. for actual detective work such as is necessary +in running down thieves and in tracing frauds. In the New York +district, which comprises the state of New York as well as New +York City, there is a force of twenty-five men working under a +chief inspector. Of the ten men assigned to work in New York +City, by no means all have special detective ability, and the +time of these is taken up almost entirely in catching actual +thieves. + + + POST-OFFICE PROTECTION INADEQUATE + +It is only the biggest and most barefaced scheme that under these +conditions can receive any attention whatsoever from the +department, and even then its force is hopelessly inadequate and +incompetent for the work in hand, work requiring the +highest-class detective ability. + +About twelve years ago the Post Office Department ran down and +convicted a swindler, Stephen Balliet, who was selling stock in a +mine full of water in Oregon and was known as "the mining genius +of the Northwest." He was tried three times, finally convicted, +and sent to prison. That case cost the Post Office Department +$18,000, took a man's entire time for two years, and required two +trips across this continent. The Government has not tried since +to get many such convictions. + +Perhaps because of the pressure of other work, perhaps for other +causes, investigations of this nature are allowed to languish. +Some years ago, when the firm of Douglas, Lacey & Company was +reaping its harvest, an inspector was assigned to investigate the +concern's operations. He was one of the ablest inspectors of the +service, a man with real detective ability and a knowledge of the +devious ways of certain kinds of financing. He made a trip to +Mexico and subsequently sent in a report to Washington +recommending that a fraud order be issued against the concern and +that its use of the mails be stopped. He waited a long time and +then got word from Washington that more evidence was required. He +made another investigation and sent in another report, +recommending in even stronger language that the mails be barred +and the public protected. While on this work he was constantly +assigned also to other matters and finally was shifted to a +station in the South. The concern collapsed some years later, +leaving thousands of people in this country and in Canada bereft +of their small savings. There was no fraud order ever issued +against this firm, though shortly before it closed up it was +informed that if it continued to sell stock its use of the mails +would be stopped. + +The burden of proof is on the buyer. If he turns to the District +Attorney he finds perhaps a sympathetic official, without power +to assist him. The man selling bogus mining stocks knows all +this; therefore his harvest goes on. It is better than the +green-goods game, better than the wire-tapping swindle, safer +than selling any other form of gold bricks. A few years ago a +reporter who was engaged in investigating the schemes of Cardenio +F. King--now in Charlestown jail, but then posing as "the apostle +of the golden rule in finance" and selling his stocks by the +barrel in every mill town in New England--made a call on the late +John B. Moran, then District Attorney in Boston and widely known +as a reformer. He asked Mr. Moran's help in proving that King was +a swindler. + +"Young man," said Boston's reform District Attorney, "if King was +selling corner lots in heaven and advertising them in the +newspapers, I couldn't stop him, because I haven't anybody to +send up there and prove that they are not there." + +King wasn't selling corner lots in heaven, but he was selling +stock in a Texas company that was the next thing to it, so far as +tangibility is concerned. It was only when he actually took from +investors money sent to him to buy real stocks, and pocketed it, +that he was put in jail. + + +LAWS TO PROTECT INVESTORS + +A plan for the protection of the investor by statute is embodied +in a model law drafted by the American Mining Congress of Denver, +and recommended for general passage: + +AN ACT. + +To Prohibit the Making or Publishing of False or Exaggerated +Statements or Publications of or Concerning the Affairs, +Pecuniary Condition or Property of Any Corporation, Joint Stock +Association, Co-partnership or Individual, Which Said Statements +or Publications Are Intended to Give, or Shall Have a Tendency to +Give, a Less or Greater Apparent Value to the Shares, Bonds or +Property, or Any Part Thereof of Said Corporation, Joint Stock +Association, Co-partnership or Individual, Than the Said Shares, +Bonds or Property Shall Really and in Fact Possess, and Providing +a Penalty Therefor. + + +Section 1. Any person who knowingly makes or publishes in any way +whatever, or permits to be so made or published, any book, +prospectus, notice, report, statement, exhibit or other +publication of or concerning the affairs, financial condition or +property of any corporation, Joint-stock association, +co-partnership or individual, which said book, prospectus, +notice, report, statement, exhibit or other publication, shall +contain any statement which is false or wilfully exaggerated or +which is intended to give or which shall have a tendency to give, +a less or greater apparent value to the shares, bonds or property +of said corporation, joint-stock association, co-partnership or +individual, or any part of said shares, bonds or property, than +said shares, bonds or property or any part thereof, shall really +and in fact possess, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and upon +conviction thereof shall be imprisoned for not more than ten +years or fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or shall +suffer both said fine and imprisonment. + +This law has been enacted in six states and a campaign for its +general enactment is under way. But let not the credulous +investor suppose that even such a law would guarantee him against +loss. The Secretary of the American Mining Congress, Mr. James F. +Callbreath, offers the following comment: + + +CAMPAIGN OF THE AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS + +"I do not believe that any one law can effect protection to +mining investors, nor that the protection afforded through the +Post Office Department forbidding the use of mails for fraudulent +advertising matter can fully cover that ground. The greater part +of mining frauds are perpetrated without the use of the mails. + +"The proposed law, in our judgment, is the longest possible step +toward preventing mining frauds. A second step has been taken in +the form of a publicity law. My belief is that no system of laws, +either state or national, will prevent men from gambling in mines +more effectually than such laws now prevent gambling in its more +common forms. These may restrict and furnish protection to those +who are wise enough to open their eyes, but it will be impossible +to protect all the fools all the time. It is the purpose of the +American Mining Congress, after having secured the enactment of +laws providing penalties for fraudulent representations and +requiring publicity, to perfect an organization to SECURE +EXECUTION of these laws, and also to carry on campaigns of +education showing to investors, first, that mining is a +legitimate business and not a gamble; second, that mines are +found and not made; third, that investments in mining should be +made with the same care and prudence exercised by business men +when embarking in other business enterprises. . . . The next work +of our organization will be along the line of developing some +manner of control of corporations by which paid-up capital stock +shall represent actual value." + +Mr. Callbreath would seem to be one fore-doomed to his own +troubles; yet it is clear that he and his organization stand for +legitimate mining as opposed to prospect-selling. In strictly +accurate phrase, it is the prospect which is found, and the mine +which is made and investment cannot properly begin until a body +of ore has been blocked out in a proved prospect. Add to the +glamor of risk the haze of fraud, and the foregoing will show the +nebulous condition of mining investments in relation to mining +laws in America to-day. + +What we really need is a Bureau of Mines at Washington. Nobody +protects the mining investor. Nobody guards the widest open gate +into the savings deposits of this country. + +The American Mining Congress, it should be stated, had a quasi +pre-inaugural pledge from President Taft in favor of a Federal +Bureau of Mines. Toward this we have made a start. A bill +establishing this Bureau has already passed both the House and +the Senate, and bids fair to become a law. But the activities of +this new department will be confined to safe-guarding +mineworkers. The next step should be to enlarge the province of +the Bureau so as to include the supervision of the mining +industry for the protection of investors. + +It seems quite likely that the states and the nation will need to +unite if adequate protection to the investing public is to be +expected. But when did state and nation unite to solve a great +popular problem? When did section ever unite with section or even +resident with nonresident? This is America. + + +THE ENGLISH WAY OF MINING--HONEST BUSINESS + +Back of any movement of this kind there must be popular interest +in popular education. Thus far, the greater publicity idea is of +more value than anything at hand. We may perhaps. best do our own +little part by offering some studies in the theory of mining, +showing just WHY it is risky, and just HOW we ought to tabulate +the risk. In addition to this, we can present, and should perhaps +first present, some of the results of intelligent mining as +pursued in other countries. + +Take the Rand Mines of South Africa, operated on the English +basis--mines which turned out more than $12,500,000 in one month +not long since. The English method of operating on the Rand is +this: A corps of experts is sent to examine a proposed +property--that is to say, a proved prospect. If their report be +favorable, an estimate is made of the cost of a five-or +seven-compartment shaft, to be sunk, say, 3,500 feet. The cost of +producing a year's supply of ore for the mill is then considered. +The cost of the mill and the cyanide plant is also figured. The +total cost is then cast up, and the company is ready to be formed +for a half million to five millions of dollars, according to +existing conditions. This money is paid in, and is ready to start +operations. These men mine carefully, using all possible +scientific knowledge and practical experience as guides. The +operation may have risk, but it is perforce honest. + + +THE AMERICAN WAY--A GAMBLE + +Now let us examine conditions not infrequent in the United +States, by no means assigning wings to all English mining men, or +hoofs to all Americans: + +A prospector discovers mineralized rock. He locates one or more +claims as controlled by the laws of the district where he is. +Perhaps others also locate more ground. A little work is done, +and then the claims are up for sale. A claim is perhaps sold for +a few hundred to several thousand dollars; sometimes the seller +receives in addition stock in the company to be formed. No +attention is paid to the geology, but a company is formed +ostensibly for the purpose of mining, with a capital of one +million shares at one dollar par. Perhaps four hundred thousand +shares are placed in the treasury to be sold for development +purposes. Of course the whole thing is as yet on a wholly +gambling basis. The property is still a prospect and not a mine, +and hence it is not possible to put it on an investing basis. +Comparatively few companies have ever used the services of a real +expert, although very possibly the company furnishes a report +made from a purchasable local "mining engineer," one of the +cheapest commodities in any mining district, where the wide hat +and the high-laced boot often take the place of a mining +education and a reputable character. This is the stage at which, +this is the basis on which, most of the mining "investments" of +America are made. + +In this state of affairs grafters find their opportunity. Prices +in a boom camp are always above any sort of industrial warrant. +There were literally millions of dollars poured into Goldfield +and Tonopah for claims which never had any careful examination by +competent men. Fortunes were made by local promoters and +"operators" out of claims which could not show ten feet of actual +work. Sometimes the entire capitalization was sold out, and the +promoters put the money in their pockets. One operator of this +kind sold $130,000 worth of stock, and omitted the precaution of +putting even ten per cent. of it in the treasury. Fortunately, he +got into the penitentiary. Many of his fellows never had actions +brought against them except under the postal laws, which +naturally are inefficient. There was one shaft of a hundred feet +which cost twelve thousand dollars, charged up to the +stockholders, the names of dead men being used on the pay rolls +as "laborers." The mine boss and the local officers got big +salaries to keep their mouths shut. The real mine was in the +savings banks of America, in the pockets of non-residents. In +Nevada alone, in the past four years, more than twenty million +dollars have been invested in WORTHLESS properties. One engineer +with a government certificate could have saved the clerks, +stenographers, widows, washwomen, and orphans of America fifteen +million dollars at the cost of, say, five thousand. Would that +have been a good investment? What could a dozen do? What could an +efficient corps do? Is there here yet one more future task for +our patient and long-suffering United States Army? What police +work would pay better dividends? + + +THE PROMOTER AND THE CREAM + +Even when the mine wins, the small stock-holder rarely wins. The +promoters often take the cream. Suppose a company is organized +for three million shares. One million is put in the treasury for +sale. Of this million shares, say, two hundred thousand are +offered at twenty-five cents. This raises a working capital of +fifty thousand dollars. Let us be very glowing, and suppose that, +with this fifty thousand dollars, we really uncover five million +dollars' worth of ore. The net profit would not exceed three +million dollars; so that the man who put in twenty-five cents +might, after a long time, get back a dollar. In the meantime, two +million dollars would have gone to promoters, in "commissions," +and so forth. There are thousands of such cases, and still the +people continue to bite on such bait. + + +THE PUBLIC = THE MINE + +Instances of actual Nipissing rises caught in time by the lamb +are very rare. I rom first to last, the PUBLIC is the mine, AND +THE RETURNS COME OUT OF THE SAVINGS BANKS. In some mines "high +grading"--the carrying away of valuable pieces of ore by the +miners themselves--is fought as sternly as the diamond stealing +by the Kaffirs in a Kimberley mine. In yet other mines, far more +numerous, high grading is encouraged among the miners. The report +gets out that the ore is so rich that the miners steal it in +their dinner pails. That booms the stock. WALL STREET MAKES THIS +MONEY OUT OF THE MARKET AND NOT OUT OF THE MINE. + +In spite of all warning and all examples, the average American +will to a certain extent persist in gambling in mining stocks. +Supposing this to be true, it is of value for the investor to +learn something of the theory of mines, something enabling him to +pass on the natural value of any mining stock which is offered to +him. What, then, is a mine? What are some of the inevitable +features in developing a mine? + +In the first place, there must be prospecting. This is sheer and +unavoidable risk on the face of it, and it is attended with +economic waste which cannot be avoided. Of a hundred prospectors, +ninety-nine die poor. The failures must be charged off to +industrial waste attendant upon inherent conditions of the mining +industry. + +Again, in the development of a mine after it is located and +proved in part, there is more unavoidable economic waste. The +rock is blank and silent. It can only be explored by means of +expensive drifts and drillings. In one mine at Bisbee, Arizona, a +shaft was sunk which had drifts at the 600-and 900-feet levels, +all without result. Later on they found a blanket of copper +between those two levels, from which six million dollars were +taken. Even in old established mines there is something of a +chance, and there are often unwittingly false standards of +values. Which is no argument for making all gamble that which +originally was part gamble. + +Any mine, no matter how rich, or how large, begins to be +exhausted from the time the first pick is stuck into the ground +and all its profits ought to be figured on the basis of +diminishing deposits. When your deposit is drawn out, your bank +does not honor your check. A mine is the reverse of a mortgage or +a bond. The security does not remain stable nor increase in +value, but, on the contrary, CONTINUALLY DECREASES in value. In a +mortgage, six per cent. is wisdom; in a mining return, it is +folly. A mine, instead of being figured on the basis of a +mortgage, ought to be figured on the basis of a term annuity. +That is to say, on the basis of a wiping out date. When the mine +is done paying dividends, there is no return of the face of the +principal invested. Yet the great and gullible public forgets +this all-important fact, which differentiates mining from every +other form of business. + + +CRACKER-BOX INVESTORS + +There is every probability that the average investor never heard +of a proper "amortization charge" in the management of a mine. +Until he shall have heard of it, until he shall have learned +something of the terms of life annuities, he ought never to +invest a cent in any mining stock. After he actually has learned +the theory of amortization, he will observe that ALMOST EVERY +MINING STOCK LISTED IN PUBLIC PRINTS IS SELLING AT AN INFLATED +VALUE. That is to say, even the best and most stable of mines are +overrated, not to mention the purely wildcat ventures. Some mines +may naturally be long-lived, others short-lived; yet, if either +pays a good, stiff dividend, THE PUBLIC MAKES NO DISTINCTION +BETWEEN THE TWO and will buy the stock of either. In this +investing, the public has no protection on the part of the +government, on the part of honest publicity, or on the part of +its own careful education. + +In the MAJORITY of cases, a mine ought to pay annually perhaps +twenty per cent. of the investment, to be profitable. That is to +say, the actual value of any mine is rarely over five times +actual dividends paid after expenses of operation. How many mines +are capitalized on any such real basis as that? The answer lies +in our own ignorance, and in the shrewdness of the men who sell +us mining stocks. Stocks that are the best dividend-payers often +sell at TEN or TWELVE times the face of the annual dividends. Let +the mine hit a brief streak of bonanza, and the stocks will climb +yet higher. We buy such stocks, or worse; but even a fundamental +acquaintance with the theory of mines would show us that such an +investment is usually a bad one. In a mortgage we do not look to +the interest to pay us back our principal; in a mine we MUST look +to DIVIDENDS to pay us back our PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST also. When +the mine is done, our principal is gone. But how many mining +investors ever thought of that? And how many, when offered a ten +per cent. "guaranteed dividend" for five years on their money, +ever stop to reflect that, for instance, I could take your money +and put it in a cracker box, and myself make money by paying it +back to you, ten per cent. a year for nine years--and then +explaining what had happened to the cracker box! Now, most of us +are just such cracker-box investors. We pay out millions and +millions annually, just that foolishly. And our nation, our +states, allow us to do it. They even--as recent legal proceedings +prove--allow the "inside" operating stockholders to borrow money +to pay dividends to the "outsiders." That keeps up the "values" +in the market. It does not enhance the real value in the mine. + + +ENGLISH VS. AMERICAN MINE REPORTS + +Again, granted even a valid and a well-managed mine, how much +information regarding it does the average investor in the stock +secure? In a general way, he knows in advance that all mining, +whether placer or quartz, is very expensive. Beyond that, he gets +the annual report of the officers, which will tell perhaps the +names of the men who are spending his money, the total earnings, +the total output, the balance sheet, the statement of capital +stock issued--and little else. All of which means nothing! + +A well-regulated English company is obliged to go much farther +than this. A good annual report will show the advertisement of +the general meeting of stockholders, the list of directors and +officers, reports of directors, giving details of the condition +of property, including the development work, the tonnage of +production, the values recovered from such tonnage, the costs of +operation, the profits for the period covered, the balance sheet +of accounts, the profit and loss statement, including a working +cost estimate, the appropriation list showing what has been done +with all the earnings, the reports of managers giving details of +the development work, the estimated values of ores EXPOSED ON +THREE SIDES, the probable values of ores not so well exposed, the +working expenses, the construction account, general remarks on +the physical condition of the property, and a map of the property +itself. + +What American promoter would trouble himself to make such a +showing as that to the American sucker? Even if such detailed +information existed in the records of the average American mining +concern, the sucker could not get access to the books even did he +have the temerity to demand it. + +Professor H. S. Munroe, of the Columbia School of Mines, when +asked whether such a thing as general supervision of mining +investment could be possible, answered: "Yes, if some +philanthropist will give us ten millions to endow such an +institution, and maintain a corps of engineers in the field who +will do work similar to that accomplished by J. Curle under the +auspices of the London Economist. Such work should, of course, +cover all incorporated mining companies, not merely a few hundred +of the more prominent gold mines; and it should be continuous and +not spasmodic. Such a plan is of course Utopian, but I feel that +anything less would be likely to do little good. Even Curle's +opinions began to lose their value within a month or two after +they were written, and are of less value every year. Mining can +never be put on the same basis as agriculture, for the reason +that the risk of failure is infinitely greater, and that it is +impossible to prove the value of any mine or mining region +without spending a large amount of capital, the greater part of +which will inevitably be lost in this work of initial +development." + +Those are the sober words of an expert who spends his life in +studying the theory and practice of mining. If such words shall +teach us a little wisdom, so much the less need for laws. But let +us consider what the laws ought to do in order to protect you for +the sake of your family, and for the sake of society, and for the +sake of the savings which lie back of the prosperity of this +country. + +Let us agree that no government can guarantee the safety of any +investment. Let us admit that digging gold can never be put on +the same amortization basis with digging potatoes, for instance, +because the soil remains for more potatoes, whereas the ore of a +mine is exhausted and does not raise more ore. Nevertheless, +although the industries of potato growing and ore digging are not +the same, the principles lying back of them ought to be precisely +the same; and our governments, both state and national, ought to +see to it that they are kept precisely the same, and controlled +on the same plane legally. If it be true that no government can +watch after every mine, none the less any enlightened government +can establish general conditions for engaging in mining or +engaging in the sale of mining stock; and, perhaps with yet +better results, it can establish a general supervision over the +mining intelligence of the public, just as it does over the +agricultural intelligence of that public. + + +NEEDED: A FEDERAL BUREAU OF MINES + +The enactment of good mining laws, punishing the proved intent to +commit a fraud as well as the fraud itself, and seeing to it that +capital stock shall be paid up, seeing to it also that all moneys +spent by a mining corporation shall be traceable from start to +finish, is the natural first step toward the purification of +American mining methods. Beyond that, the national government +could take a hand in the game through a federal Bureau of Mines. +There must be some clearing-house of intelligence and of values +in this country, some place from which our intelligence may start +and to which it may return. The public must have accessible +reports of engineers, state or federal, of a sort entitled to +confidence. + +The nest of vermin in our large cities, inhabited by those who +make a living out of the ignorance and eagerness of small +investors, must be smoked out once and for all. In this work, +state and national governments, popular education and +intelligence, and the aid of the better class journalism of +America, all must be enlisted. The pages of our press might well +be far cleaner than they are. The publication which prints the +advertisements of a fake-mining enterprise is itself a party to +the fraud. A Bureau of Mines chief can sit behind the desk of +every advertising manager in the counting-rooms of every +newspaper and magazine in America. The press of this country, +when it likes, can, by taking thought, somewhat dim the splendor +of the mahogany in many an elegant suite of offices in New York, +Boston, or elsewhere. It can reduce the reckless and senseless +expenditure of ill-gained wealth which is making civilization a +mockery in America, and branding our republican form of +government as a failure. + +We will have a different way of life, or another form of +government. We will have a better administration of law in the +United States or we will have another political party, possibly +another political system. We will clear up this rotten society, +or we will try how we like a different organization of society. +The people of America are beginning to murmur. The burden of the +murmur is that they have long enough been betrayed. Unspeakable +injustice has been done the people of America under the forms of +law and government. It is coming to be said that our law and +government have not an even hand for all, that a few are allowed +to despoil the many. When a people murmurs, let a government +beware. Meantime the more that certain unspeakable things are +reduced in, and eliminated from, Wall Street and the other +"financial centers," the better for our schools, our taxes, our +farming, our industry, our living, our CHARACTER, our country. + +After all, the government of this country, as we now have it +organized, depends on the CHARACTER of its average individual +citizen. The end of this abuse of fake-mining enterprises begins +now, here, with you and me, in OUR intelligence, in OUR love of a +square game. By taking thought we can add a cubit to our OWN +stature, and so add to the stature of OUR laws and of our +national morality. + + +WHAT YOU AND I CAN DO + +As for you and me, when next we see the flaming advertisement +advising us that the Madre d'Oro, Montezuma's fabled Mother Vein +of Gold, has once more come to the surface of the earth on +Manhattan Island or near Plymouth Rock; when next we read counsel +that because mining pays in Michigan it ought to pay in Nevada; +when next we are advised to get into the game at once because +this is our LAST CHANCE--we might at least ask to see the report +of the engineer, likewise the record and antecedents of the +engineer; and many, many other things. Perchance we might write +and ask the mining promoter what, in his belief, is the proper +amortization charge in his particular mine. At which the average +mining promoter would probably fall dead. + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII No.1 JULY 1910 + + +HOW THE MAN CAME TO TWINKLING ISLAND {page 64-73} +By MELVILLE CHATER + + +OUT of the great world came a man to the wooing of Susanna Crane. +From the vague southwest he came, now skirting the chimneyed +towns and elm-bordered village streets, now exchanging the road +for the bright rails and perhaps the interior of a droning +freight-car, now switching anew through the edge of odorous pine +woods, yet leaving behind him always a wary, broken trail. + +The man was tall and strong, with hair that gleamed red in the +sun, and eyes of a reddish brown. He walked with the free swing +of a world wanderer, yet always his heart strained for a glimpse +of the Canadian border; for some hundreds of miles behind him lay +the Vermont marble quarries whose dust still faintly blanched his +clothes, and there, in a drunken flight, he had killed a man. He +did not know that in fleeing from justice he was rushing into the +arms of love; he did not even know that he was in the Ragged +Woods, with Twinkling Island just off the coast; he only studied +the tree bark and snuffed the breeze, and knew that the sea was +near. At length, well satisfied with the distance he had come +since dawn, he cleared a space among the pine cones, then lay +down, and, lulled by the ancient whisper of the wind in the +treetops, closed his eyes. + +He was of the Ulysses breed, this man, a wanderer of the earth, +acquainted with many cities, one whose shipwrecks and misfortunes +had but whetted his love of life; and even while he slept, there +came upon him, as of old Nausicaa came upon Ulysses, a woman. +She, too, was straight and strong; her dark face was framed by a +blue-checked sunbonnet; she carried a large basket filled with +blackberries, and her lips as well as her hands were stained. She +saw the man lying in a shaft of the sunset, and started back, +then, tiptoeing past, bent forward slightly to examine his face. +In that lingering gaze a twig cracked beneath her foot. He sat up +instantly, tense, expectant; then for a silent space their eyes +caught and clung. Thus the first pair might have gazed when Adam +wakened to find her who was bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh, +standing over him. + +"Did I scare you, Miss?" at length asked the Man. "I +thought--well, I didn't know who you might be at first." His gaze +deepened into unconcealed admiration. "I wouldn't scare YOU for +anything!" + +"I ain't so easy scairt," the girl returned defiantly. "Ef I +was," she went on in her fresh, young voice, full of queer, +upward inflections, "I wouldn't be a-berryin' in Ragged Woods +after sundaown." + +She marched onward, her head thrown well back. Twenty steps later +the Man was again at her side. + +"Pardoname, little one!" he said. "But, seein' you ain't scared, +an' thar bein' no blaze in these yere parts, maybe you'd put us +on the trail. Guess I'd a-gone on siesterin' till midnight if you +hadn't a-happened by--gracias a Dios!" + +Her glance shot suspicion at him as though she scented banter in +the strange, foreign phrases; then she said: + +"Ef you mean you wanter git to Potuck, whar the railroad starts, +you've got to walk three miles back to the Potuck Road; then it's +three miles west to Potuck taown." + +"An' what lies on ahead, whar you're goin'?" he asked. + +"Why, nothin'," she returned with a child's surprised simplicity. +"Nothin' but Twinklin' Island an' father an' me." + +There was silence then, but the Man watched the strong, straight +lines of her face, her keen black eyes, her wealth of black hair +tumbled into the back-fallen sunbonnet. At length he said +quietly: + +"Think I'll g'long over with you to your island, camarada. Maybe +your father's got a bite o' something for a hungry man. I pay the +freight, sabe? 'Twon't take me more'n a couple o' hours to make +the railroad to-night." + +To this she vouchsafed nothing, but swung onward, shifting her +heavy basket from one hand to the other; then a strong grasp +intervened, and she found herself burdenless. In the village +streets of Potuck and Nogantic, shamefaced lads had offered such +help a hundred times, and she had accepted it, flattered by their +homage; but the quick, silent action of this big, red-haired man +thrilled her with strange anger. + +"I don't want no help," she said proudly, "I kin carry that." + +"Not while I'm here, chiquita mia!" He smiled downward, and his +body seemed to loom over her like a shield. "Say, when I woke up +an' seen you, do you know what come into my head? A little Navajo +squaw I knowed once. Her name was Moonlight Water, but the +fellers called her Little Peachey. But she was twenty-five, and +you--well, now, how old might you be?" + +"Goin' on eighteen," she would have answered nonchalantly to any +one else; for him there woke from the depths of her nature a +fierce retort: + +"Give us that basket! I ain't a-goin' to let you carry it a speck +further." + +"ALL right," he acquiesced with broad, kind humor, vet without +relinquishing his burden. "ALL right, chiquita mia! Never you +mind me, Little Peachey!" + +They gained a bare tongue of land lapped by water. She stepped +into a canoe, the Man following. Very quickly he took the paddle +from her and put forth with strong, practiced strokes, cheering +himself onward with snatches of a queer, guttural burden which he +had picked up from a negro chantey-singer on some Southern +cotton-wharf. + +Straight ahead lay the island, breasting the Atlantic swell. Seen +from the distant hills, the red sunset strikes its outpost cliffs +for a moment's splendor, and so it is called Twinkling Island. +The girl said not a word, nor indeed was it necessary. He found +the beach without trouble, helped her ashore, and carried the +canoe up the slope on his back. A hundred yards onward they +encountered a low, rambling house and the vague shape, in the +twilight, of an elderly man smoking his pipe on the steps. + +The stranger set down the canoe and gave an account of himself. +But even as the great Ulysses was wont to name a false lineage +and give a feigned story to his hosts, so this man said his name +was McFarlane--which it was not--and told a wily tale of having +been directed to a logging camp where hands were needed, of +alighting at the wrong station and losing his way in an attempted +short cut through the woods. Meanwhile his listener, a man of +weather-beaten face and a great shock of gray hair, observed him +with shrewd attention. At length he replied: + +"Thar's few strangers git to Twinkling Island; but so long as +you're here, you're welcome to our plain victuals. The money's +neither here nor thar. Git supper, daughter. Seems you're mighty +particular to git that canoe high an' dry to-night." + +The girl wheeled abruptly and strode indoors, flashing at the +stranger a covert, half-defiant glance. + +"Gals are queer cattle," mused old Crane, drawing off his +fisherman's boots. " 'Pears to give 'em a kind o' satisfaction to +set a man to work. Her mother was just the same, before her." + +The guest said nothing; but the realization that the girl who had +grudged his taking her basket had afterward suffered him to carry +her canoe quite an unnecessary distance, seemed to yield him no +unpleasant thoughts. + +They sat down to supper in a low'ceiled room of smoked rafters. +The stranger ate hungrily and with few words, yet always his gaze +followed the girl's slim figure as she moved to and fro, waiting +on the board. As the food disappeared, the talk sprang up. The +girl brought in a huge pitcher of cider and left the men by the +fireplace, while she passed back and forth, clearing away the +dishes. Crane set out a decanter of whisky, which spirit he mixed +sparingly with his cider, as did also his guest--none too +sparingly. + +Now was the Man's heart loosened, and he told of all he had seen +and done and lived; of his spendthrift youth, passed aboard tramp +freighters between Lisbon and Rio, Leith and Natal, Tokyo, +Melbourne and the Golden Gate--wherever the sea ran green; of +ginseng-growing in China, shellac gathering in India, +cattle-grazing in Wyoming. He spoke of Alaskan totem-poles, of +Indian sign language, of Aztec monoliths buried in the forest. He +sang "Lather an' Shavin's," "La Golondrina," "The Cowboy's +Lament," and, clicking his fingers castanet-wise, hummed little +Spanish airs whose words he would by no means translate. + +Crane marveled that this man should be still on the hitherward +side of thirty; and as the stranger sat there, his very clothes, +poor rags of civilization, seemed to bulk with heroic lines, his +face to reflect man's primal freedom, while his every word rang +with the sheer joy of the things he had seen and known. + +At a break in the talk, the girl, who, though she had constantly +busied herself about the room, had missed not a word, nodded +significantly to her father, then walked from the house and out +into the night. He glanced after her for a moment, then turned +with a queer smile. + +"We're all 'baout the same, I reckon," he said, "so far as furren +countries is consarned. That's to say, a man allaways conceits +thar's a heap o' promise waitin' for him, somewhar over yonder. +Naow, you've seen sights enough for a hundred men. Contrariwise, +thar's my gal--never been further'n the Caounty Fair. But that +don't stop her; no sirree, human nature can't be stopped. Every +night, fair or storm, she walks daown an' sits on the rocks, +lookin' seaward, before she turns in. She's done it ever since +she was SO high. Why, thar's nothin' to see but the Atlantic an' +a piece o' foreland to the northwest! But her fancy is, the sea's +a-bringin' her somethin'--that's what she used to say as a +kid--somethin', she don't rightly know what. _I_ say it's just +furren countries--pieces she's got outer story books, an' yarns +she's heard the fishermen tell--that's what's she's hankerin' +for, Mr. McFarlane. So ye see, as I say, we're all 'baout the +same, that way." + +"When I first seen her," began the Man tentatively, "I could ha' +sworn that--See here, now! Ain't thar still the leavin's of a +redskin outfit up this way?" + +"Why, yes," returned the other, with some compunction. "I don't +talk much 'baout it--not that it's a thing to he ashamed of; but +I wouldn't give the gal a handle to think herself different from +any one else hereabout. The truth is, her mother's mother was +pretty near to a full-blooded Ojibway--not the kind you've seen +plaitin' baskets for summer boarders, but a clean, +straight-backed red woman, an' she claimed descent from one o' +their big chiefs. I'm English stock myself, but the wild breed +mixes slow: it's in her blood, Mr. McFarlane, and sometimes it +worrits me. Thar's days she won't speak nor eat, but just goes +off to the woods an' makes little trinkets out o' pine needles +an' bark, and then I know the fit's on her. And proud! Thar's not +a man hereabout she'd lift an eye at, and one feller that +wouldn't take "no" got his head split open with an oar. Sometimes +I've thought that ef she was married to a strong man--strong AND +kind, d'ye see?--'twould be the best thing for her." + +At this the stranger, who had missed no word, leaned quickly +forward, the firelight striking his firm face. With the poise of +conscious power he said quite simply: + +"I'm the man!" + +They eyed each other a moment, Crane measuring the Man who had +come, the Man inviting measurement. + +"You mean--?" asked the father. He paused as if welcoming +interruption, but it was not in this man's slow, sure nature to +interrupt. "Tell us what you do mean!" + +"I mean," repeated the other slowly, "that I'M THE MAN! I love +that little gal, I want to marry her. O' course you objeck: +that's natural, that's right. I like your objectin', an' I'm +going to fight it to a show-down. First you'll say, `You're +verruckt--crazy.' See hyar now! I've lived life, I have, and I've +seen a drove o' women, hither an' yon, but not one of 'em could +hold me, no more'n an ordinary slipknot could hold stuff on a +packsaddle. I'm no lightweight, an' I need the diamond hitch. But +to-day, when I seen Little Peachey in the scrub over yonder, why, +it was different, and I knowed it right quick. Ever broke a +horse, have you? Well, before you've got your lassoo coiled, the +critter's eyes'll tell you just what sort o' tea-party you're +goin' to have. Thar was a man once--a hoss wrangler--an' the +easier a hoss broke, the more he'd mouch around an' hang his +head, real melancholy and sad-eyed. The only minutes o' +slap-bang-up joy that came his way was when he corralled a bucker +whose natural ability to roll on him an' kick his brains out left +no percentage o' chance in the player's favor. Maybe that's what +I seen in Little Peachey to-day. Just now you said the wild breed +mixes slow. It does: for it sticks out, waitin' for its own kind. +And by that same token, blood talks to blood--aye, even without +no Indian sign-language. Maybe all these years Little Peachey, +settin' out on them rocks, has been a-watchin' for more than +foreign countries." + +"Aye, mebbe that's all right." Crane paced the floor, and his +voice rose savagely: "Don't know but what your palaver mightn't +win plenty o' foolish gals. But who are ye? What's your trade? +Whar's your folks? Thar's lots o' rogues afoot. Do you allow I'd +let the first stranger in Ragged Woods talk marriage to my +daughter? What have you said? What's between you? Out with it, or +I'll have you in Rockledge Jail by to-morrow morning!" + +The Man who had come nodded response with imperturbable gravity. + +"I like your talk," he said. "It comes straight off the hip, an' +it calls for a straight answer. What have I spoke to her? +Nothin'! What's between us? Nothin' but the makin's! Next, +touchin' myself: Since sixteen I've been kickin' up the dust o' +the earth till my home is anywhar immediately convenient. Once I +had a brother in New Orleans, another in the Northwest, and +another who drank himself accidentally into the British army an' +died in the Sudan. We were wanderers, the lot of us. I'm +Scotch-Irish, and my old mother used to claim we harked back to +the kings o' some outfit I've forgotten. But blood-facts is no +more proof than specimens from an unprospected claim. Friends? I +make 'em everywhar: any one on the top o' the earth who's got the +makin's of a man kin call me friend. Yet right here an' now I +wouldn't touch the twelve apostles for an assay on my character. +'Cause why? 'Cause I hold that, just like a man lays in his own +little square o' earth, so a man stands alone on his own little +piece o' reputation. Good or bad, friends or no friends, it's +his'n; and the Almighty files a pretty good chart of it right on +his face. I want you to size me up accordingly." + +Again the father gazed deeply at the Man who had come, and again +the Man gave him the full of his eyes. Crane's glance shifted +suspiciously from the other's face to the decanter and back +again; the Man immediately responded by lifting his glass. + +"Fill that up three times raw," he said, "and I'll swaller it in +three breaths, just to show you what a drink IS. No, sir, it's +hot your picayune drop o' spirits that's talkin'--it's me. +Acabado! Finished!" And, tossing the contents of his glass into +the fire, he replaced it upside down on the table. + +"Yes," said Crane wonderingly, "you're sober--and you're honest. +You certainly are honest!" He paused as if to steel himself. "But +what o' that? Why should you come between me and my child in one +night, after these twenty years we've spent--we've spent--" +Simultaneously his words failed and his shoulders drooped. "See +here, now: Stay along and work for me awhile. I'll give you half +shares in the boat. But just wait, wait awhile. Some day you'll +speak to her about it, and then--then mebbe I'll see it +different." + +But the Man rose restively. + +"It comes hard on you," he mused, "aye, mighty hard; but it ain't +all my doin', Mr. Crane, nor yet Little Peachey's. It's something +bigger'n the lot of us: it's nature. You might as well put your +back up against a landslide. As to stayin' on here, 'tain't in +me: I must hit the trail to-morrow morning. But to-night thar's +somethin' in here"---and he struck his breast--"that won't keep: +it's got to be said. I've spoken my little piece, an' you say you +size me for a man. Bien! Bein' a man, I take no favors. No sir, I +ain't no empty-handed brave. Little Peachey bein' the squaw for +me, an' I havin' told you so, an' smoked your tobacco an' drunk +your whisky, I hereby deliver." + +He drew out a roll of bills and tossed them upon the table, +observing whimsically: + +"Two hundred an' thirty-odd dollars, honestly come by, an' all +the estate, real or otherwise, whereof I stand possessed. Money +talks. Take it; it's yours. An' now I'm goin' to find Little +Peachey." + +He strode out into the night and toward the forelands, his ears +guided by the monotonous crash and moan of the long Atlantic +swell. + +Standing on the cliff was a wind-fluttered figure that turned at +the sound of his step, with eyes defiantly alert. + +"You knew I'd come," he said simply, drawing close to her. +"Peachey, little Peachey, what's them waves a-sayin' to the +rocks? It's: `ME! YOU! ME! YOU!' Ain't they always been a-sayin' +it? Kin you stop 'em, little Peachey? And that's the words I'm +a-standin' here now fer to say to you." + +"I ain't a-goin' to listen," she cried sharply, drawing back. "I +don't want none o' your words. You just leave me alone, now, +Mister--Mister----" + +"Why, names don't count between us, chiquita," said he, with his +great-hearted smile. "I'm just a man, I am, an' you're just a +woman; and rightly I don't know no name for the thing that's been +a-callin' between us ever since I seen you in the woods. But I +kin see it in your face, Peachey, an' you kin see it in mine; +it's a-lookin' at me through them eyes o' yourn----" + +"Don't you look at me!" she cried, flinging an arm across her +face. "I hate you, you--Man. Don't you come near me, naow! I hate +you, I could kill you!" + +But he only smiled down upon her kindly, understandingly. + +"That's what the father said--aye, or somethin' mighty like it; +but I told him, I wrastled with him till he savvied. And--makin' +no secrets between us, Peachey--I paid him two hundred dollars +down, to call it quits. Why, what's a few dollars? They don't cut +no figure between you and me, 'cause I love you, little Peachey, +an' I know right down in your heart you love me, too." + +His voice quivered deeply as he drew near and laid his hands on +her shoulders. + +Instantly she raised her face, and their glances met in one quick +flare. He felt her shiver in his grasp like some panic-stricken +animal, then she turned and fled from him. + +He followed, calling after her to stop; yet the lust of the chase +swelled within him, and he knew he but loved this woman the more +that she was not lying tamed within his arm. Breasting the house, +he saw that she had swerved toward the island's long, leeward +neck, from whence there was thrown a narrow pile-bridge +connecting it with the mainland. His feet rang on the planks as +she gained the opposite shore; and his heart laughed with joy, +for he divined the instinct that had called her, not to her +father's side, but to the mysterious heart of the woods. + +Now he felt beneath him the soft pad of pine needles, little +twigs switched his face, and warm, odorous airs breathed their +welcome. Through the dimness he saw her gain the crest of a +ridge, running lightly with long strides, and, as he reached the +spot, from the hollow beneath there rang her voice flung back in +mocking laughter. By the trail's wide curve and the shelving land +he perceived that they were skirting the edge of inland waters; +more than this he knew nothing save that, through vista after +vista, mile by mile, her flying feet beckoned him onward, and +that her heart was singing to his the last wild defiance of the +almost-won. + +At a sharp turn he came suddenly upon a cleared space shoring +along the water's edge, lit by a blazing camp-fire. Within the +circle of the glow she stood, a spent, panting figure, half +supported by two men. A hunting-dog dashed forward, menacing the +oncomer with stiffened back and bared teeth. The man strode into +the group and said with quiet courtesy: + +"Good evening, gentlemen. I am glad you rounded her up, for both +consarned. Peachey, my hat's off to you an' all your tribe: you'd +have run till you dropped. I see, gentlemen, that you're sizin' +me up, which is natural an' gratifyin'. But things is square an' +satisfactory between me and her, I do assure you." + +The younger of the two--a tall, keen-faced man of city-bred +appearance--turned to the girl and said with irritation: + +"I don't understand. What does he mean? Are you his wife?" + +She was leaning against a tree, her face averted. "No!" she +panted vehemently. "No, no!" + +"Tell yer it's Crane's gal," insisted the second man. "They live +over yonder on the island. I pointed it aout a-comin' through the +woods, the day you landed up here, Mr. Hemsley." + +"Have you any claim on this girl?" demanded Hemsley, wheeling +upon the stranger. + +"Touchin' claims," returned the other, with sure emphasis, "I am +not for filin' mine with the first party immediately convenient. +The claim is filed O. K. elsewhere, and at present, as you're +prospectin' on the hither side o' my line, I'll put one straight +question to you: Did, or did not, Little Peachey ask you for +protection?" + +"Why, no," retorted Hemsley, a trifle confused, "she didn't--not +in so many words." He turned to the girl. "Who is this man? Tell +me everything; you needn't be afraid, Miss Crane." + +"I'm not afraid!" she flashed sullenly. "He was a-layin' in +Ragged Woods this afternoon, an' he carried my berry basket home +an' stayed to supper. And afterward he caught hold o' me, he did, +an' tried to kiss me; an' I ran away 'cause--'cause I hate him. I +hate him!" + +Her shrill cry ended in a passionate gesture. Wheeling, she +marched down the slope to the water's edge, where she stood +looking out into the night. All at once the man threw his face up +to the sky and burst into a great roar of laughter. + +"Right you are, Little Peachey!" he called. "Thar ain't no more +to be said than that--just you an' me in the Ragged Woods at +sundown. An' now--Blessed if we ain't downright stampeded! It's a +reg'lar round-up, Peachey!" And he laughed again uncontrollably. + +"Well," said Hemsley at length, "I don't like the looks of +things, and I'm going to make it my business to take Miss Crane +home to her father. I advise you not to make any trouble until +you've proved who you are. Rockledge County Jail is only six +miles away." + +The other sobered to a statue, then turned, regarding Hemsley +with mild fixity. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "gentlemen both. I ain't askin' for your +help, and, as far as I can see, neither is Peachey. I mean it. +Gentlemen, a mule is a most onsafe critter. Even when you go to +his funeral, you'll do well to sit at the head of the coffin." + +Then all three turned quickly, for there had arisen from below +the sound of a grating keel. + +"That settles it," said Hemsley with dry satisfaction. "Miss +Crane has gone home in the canoe. So much the better: I'm not +looking for trouble." And he turned away. + +But the Man gave one great laugh, then he was off like a shot, +down the slope and into the water. At shoulder-depth he overtook +the canoe and clung to its stern. + +"Go up forward, Little Peachey," he cried, "an' sit mighty still +till I swing in, else we'll be swimmin' in another minute. +There!" + +And drawing himself up over the stern, he seized the paddle, +while the canoe leaped forward beneath his powerful strokes. From +somewhere along the shore came the sound of voices, but the +camp-fire blazed deserted. Gradually its light diminished to a +twinkling spark in the blackness. For a while no word was spoken, +the man bending to his task, the girl crouching with averted face +in the extreme bow. Then a little new moon peered over the +distant pine tops, the heavens spread their starry veil, and the +hour of Susanna Crane's wooing had come. + +"Me! You!" intoned the Man, to the sweep of his paddle. "Me! You! +That's what the waves were sayin', that's what you kep' a-callin' +to me through the woods, that's what the stars are writin' on the +sky--Me! You! Big Chief, oh, you heap Big Chief, somewhar up +yonder, ain't you l'arned me some things this day? Peachey, me +and another man, down in the marble quarries, got fightin' in +liquor, an' he drew a gun on me, an' I killed him with it. Then I +got away quick and careless-like; but the Big Chief he leads me +up here an' sets me in the woods, an' sends you along the trail. +An' while I'm lyin' thar asleep, He tells me in a dream, `You +proud man! You unbroke bucker! Maybe you kin kill a man, but I've +got my own good way o' tamin' you and bringin' you home.' Blood +for blood I thought He meant, but I wakes up and--Que +gracia!--thar you stands. And your face it says to me, `Come on, +you wicked, red-handed man. God's a-callin'.' And I says to +myself real sudden, like I was at a camp meetin', `Praise God!' +Then, when we ran into the camp, just now, who was thar but +Hemsley, the county sheriff, whose deputies have been after me +for a week! Maybe the Big Chief's savin' me to l'arn me something +more. So again I says, `Praise God!' + +"Will you travel with me, camarada?" he went on. "The whole big +world's waitin' for us. I kin read an' write, an' my arms are +strong. We'll ride the plains an' climb the hills an' swim in the +rivers, and when you're tired I'll carry you on my shoulder. Then +we'll take in the big, flat cities, Little Peachey, an' walk +around 'em at night, lookin' on friendly. Yes, we'll drop in at +all of 'em, stringin' out across the country like sideshows on +the old Chicago Midway. And one o' these days, when we're gittin' +real old, we'll pull up stakes an' start off to locate our last +campin' ground. Thar ain't no maps nor surveys to it; it's just +somewhar over yonder, and we'll know it on sight, Little Peachey. +Maybe it's some picayune island chucked into the middle o' the +ocean, with one high rock whar we can sit and watch the sun +a-risin' an' the sun a-settin', an' the seagulls flyin'. And +we'll talk over old times, Little Peachey, an' we'll just sit an' +watch an' wait thar together till--till thar ain't nothin' left +at all, only the rocks an' the sky an' the gulls a-screamin' at +the sea. + +"Peachey, a man read me some pieces out o' a book once, and I +wrote 'em down an' learned 'em. + +" `For springtime is here,' it says, `thou soul unloosened--the +restlessness after I know not what. Oh, if we could but fly like +a bird! Oh, to escape, to sail forth as on a ship!' Camarada, +give me your hand. I will give you myself, more precious than +money. Will you give me yourself? Will you travel with me? Shall +we stick by each other as long as we live?" + +The chant of his voice died away upon the night, and there was no +sound but the soft ripple of the water under keel. In the bow sat +the girl, motionless as a crouched Indian, her face fixed upon +the nearing shore. + +As the water shoaled, the Man stroked powerfully, landing the +canoe sternforemost; then he stepped forth, drew it along the +bank, and said: + +"Camarada, give me your hand!" + +But already the girl had risen, steadying herself with the bow +paddle. With a sinuous movement she eluded his arms, and fled; +then voices woke amid the pines, and the Man strode forward, to +find his way blocked by two men holding the sobbing girl between +them. + +"I've seen enough of this," said Hemsley, facing him, "to know +what you are. Miss Crane, can you find your way home alone? Jim, +you and I will walk this man over to Rockledge." + +"Peachey!" called the Man, retreating instantly. "Come on over +here; thar's goin' to be trouble. Git behind me, Little Peachey!" + +In the landing place there was driven a heavy stake. He drew this +forth, then advanced, saying earnestly: + +"Gentlemen both, you size me up wrong. Now, I ain't lookin' for +trouble, but don't you bank too strong on takin' me anywhar with +you to-night." + +Hemsley's right hand drew backward, then came the level glitter +of a long revolver barrel. "Drop that!" he began. + +But suddenly something flashed before his face, and the keen edge +of a boat-paddle bit numbingly into his extended hand; then the +girl darted forward to where the revolver lay glistening among +the pine needles. + +"Well struck, Little Peachey," cried the Man; and he stepped +protectingly in front of her, with upraised stake. But she stood +from behind him and leveled the revolver full at Hemsley. + +"I don't want your help," she said. The words came torn from her +in sobbing whispers. "Git! Don't you come back no more. Don't you +send no one lookin' for this man. I kin take care o' myself, I +guess." + +And the look in her eyes warned them to go. Now the Man and the +Woman were alone in the black hush of the pine woods. + +"I saved you," she said at length; "now go away from here. Yes, +go!" And as her face lifted defiantly to his, her voice slid +upward like the lonely, untamed wail of some wild creature. "Go +back from whar you come! Don't you never let me see your face +again, nor hear you speak; don't you never touch me no more, you +Man! 'Cause I'm scairt o' you, I am; 'cause you're big an' +strong, an' you'd forgit a gal like me. 'Cause I hate you, an' I +hate myself!" + +For an instant the man gazed at her, perplexed, irresolute; then +he took her right hand and guided it until the revolver muzzle +touched his forehead. + +"Peachey," he whispered tenderly, "you hate me--but could you +kill me; Little Peachey?" And he smiled his great, full-hearted +smile. + +Then her hand fell, her head sunk upon his breast, and a strong +shuddering filled all her young body. + +"Oh, Man, Man!" she breathed, as his arms closed about her. + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII No.1 JULY 1910 {pages 74-83} + +By Alice MacGowan and Grace MacGowan Cooke + +Authors of "Return, A Story of the Sea Islands," etc. + +"Is Ellen worse to-day?" The opening and closing of the front +door brought in a swirl of red and yellow leaves from the porch +outside. There came, too, a breath of sharp, sweet October air to +tired little Mrs. Kendrick where she paused, foot on stair, the +tray steadied in her hand, looking back at her husband. + +"No. It's just that I got Mary Louise Jackson to come over and +play with her. I can't ask Aunt Dicey to wait on a negro child +like Ma'Lou is, and she's got to eat with Ellen; so I'm----" + +"So you're waiting on her yourself," supplied Kendrick, hanging +up a shabby overcoat on the hall rack. + +"I'd do more than that to keep her here," his wife returned +almost fiercely. "I tell you nobody knows till they've tried it +what it is to have a child like Ellen, always lonesome and pining +for company, and quarreling with every girl that comes about her. +Sometimes I think it would be better if we moved away from +Watauga. Everybody pities her--they all notice that she's +backward in her studies--how can she help it, poor dear, with +that hip joint the way it is?" + +Kendrick came closer; he laid a kind arm along the frail, bent +shoulders of his wife, and her senses were aware of the fresh +outdoor air as he put his cool cheek to hers. "Don't you grieve, +Fanny," he said. "Ma'Lou's a good companion for Ellen. The kid's +better trained and better educated than half the white girls of +her age in Watauga. If things go well, in a year or two we'll +send Nellie to Baltimore and see what the big man there can do +for her. You shall have a daughter that can dance like you used +to, honey," and he patted her shoulder gently. + +She turned with a little, gasping sigh to put up her tired face +for his kiss. "You're good, Scott," she murmured, then went more +cheerfully upstairs and to Ellen's room, glancing as she entered +at the two girls, who were playing happily with paper dolls. + +"Here's your feast," she called to them in the gay tone we use +with sick children. "Come, Ellen. I'll go down and give your +father his dinner, and you two can play any kind of party you +want to with this." + +The little girl with skin like white cotton cloth rolled her big, +gray eves toward the tray and asked listlessly, "What you got for +dinner, ma?" The brown-skinned one, tidily dressed from her +carefully combed head with its crisp, black mass that was +scarcely hair, held in place by spick-and-span hair ribbons, to +the toes of her stout, handsome shoes, got up quickly and came +forward to arrange the meal. + +"They's molasses pie, Nell," Ma'Lou said joyously. "Oh, I'm going +to bring it over there and fix it by the side of the lounge. +We'll play you' a sick lady, and I'm you' trained nurse. Just +wait till I fix my handkerchief into a cap like they wear." + +Mrs. Kendrick turned away and left the children at their play. +Mary Louise Jackson had been kept at home from school that she +might come over and spend the day with Ellen. For when Ellen +Kendrick was ill, her cry always was, "Oh, send for the +doctor--and Mary Louise." + +The old Kendrick place sat back in its grassy yard and concealed +behind voluminous chinaberry trees such shabbiness as time had +brought it; but on the corner, the home of Ezra Jackson perched +proudly above its stone wall and added a considerable touch of +elegance to the street. + +It was in the early eighties, and the Queen Anne style of +architecture was just coming into great popularity in the South. +Jackson, who could well afford it, had let an architect have full +sway in producing for him a dwelling in the new mode. Ezra +Jackson, a full-blooded negro born a slave, had been a teamster +on his master's Georgia plantation, and after the war that +master, who still maintained friendly relations with his +ex-slaves, gave him a start in life with a mule and a dray. From +this the honest, industrious, and enterprising man had built up a +transfer business which was the best of its sort in town. There +were many teams and drivers now, and Ezra could walk in the garb +of other men of means about him; yet he still wrote his name in +the manner of the kings of old--he produced it as a sort of +landscape effect without any idea of what the separate characters +meant. He was a good citizen, a dignified man; and, except for +his black skin, he would have been an acceptable neighbor to the +Kendricks, and a desirable resident in their quarter of town. The +young wife whom he had married rather late in life, and to whose +taste the Queen Anne house catered, had a good grammar-school +education, gained from those first devoted teachers that the +Freedman's Bureau sent to the Southern negroes in the years +immediately following the war. At first she had kept his books +and made out his bills; and she always insisted on the best of +schooling for their children. + +Of these latter, only Mary Louise concerns this history, since +she chanced to be very near the age of Ellen Kendrick and had +become a necessity in the life of that peevish little invalid. +The negro girl had smooth features, and her mother saw to it that +she was always spotlessly dressed and that her manners were +perfect. The children of her race take to good manners very +readily, being usually amiable and eager for approbation. Mrs. +Jackson undoubtedly took pride in the connection with her +aristocratic white neighbors, and Mrs. Kendrick was forced to be +glad of the chance to have the Jackson child come over and play +with Ellen. A nurse she could have hired, but a child near the +afflicted girl's age, a sound-natured, sweet-tempered, well-bred +little girl, was not to be had for money--love was the only coin +current that could pay for that. + +And the two girls loved each other--of course they did. Did not +Ellen need Ma'Lou and is not service the basis of all love? The +flame on the altar of their affection burned always clear and +strong, unshaken by the peevish gusts that extinguished many a +less sturdy light of friendship for the Kendrick girl. So that +existence to Ellen--the pleasant part of it, anyhow--meant a +great deal of Ma'Lou, and there was scarcely an object in her +room, a game or a pursuit of her days, that was not associated +with the brown girl. The pair grew up in a companionship closer +than that of some born sisters. + +The mere fact of this intimacy was not regarded by the Kendricks +with any disfavor whatever. Scott and Fanny both had played with +negro children, both had been reared by negro mammies. Neither +realized that conditions were changed, that the negroes with whom +they had associated were no longer an enslaved people, hopeless +of any equality, nor that, with the coming of freedom, and still +more with the growing ferment among the blacks, such association +was different from the intimacy of slavery days. + +And Ezra Jackson's wife watched jealously that the preponderance +of gifts and favors should be always on her child's side. If any +present were given Mary Louise in the Kendrick house, her mother +always retorted instantly, as one might say, with something +better or handsomer. Mrs. Kendrick was a slow woman, and such a +point would naturally have been obscure to her; yet she finally +came to be aware of the fact, and at last it vexed her a little. +She turned the question in her mind and sought for some +substantial favor or patronage which she might offer to the +Jacksons, to quiet once for all her offended sense of fitness. + +It fell out that about this time she was passing their home on +her way to her own, loaded down with bundles from the market +because her cook, Aunt Dicey, was old and feeble and there had +been nobody else to go this morning, when she raised her eyes and +saw the Jackson back yard full of snowy wash on the line. Mrs. +Jackson stood in the kitchen door, and, at the juxtaposition of +the dark skin and the well-washed clothes, an idea promptly +occurred to the lawyer's wife. + +"Good morning," she called in a friendly tone. "I wanted to ask +you something; I guess I'll come through the gate and go out your +front way, if you don't mind." + +Ezra Jackson's wife ran down the steps and put out a hand to help +the tired woman with her packages. Mrs. Kendrick rested them on +the railing of the back porch. + +"Your clothes look lovely," she said meditatively. "You get them +out so early. Aunt Dicey's too old to do the washing and cooking +both any longer. I've been thinking for some time that I would +really have to get me a washerwoman." + +"It is hard to have the person who cooks wash also," said Mrs. +Jackson, choosing her words carefully, and speaking in that +serious tone which the new generation of colored people are apt +to use toward their white neighbors. It is always as though they +were on guard, or perhaps on parade is the better word, +determined not to be guilty of lapses which would be excusable in +those whom they address, but which are not permitted to the +inferior race. + +Fanny Kendrick looked at the handsome, well-kept house and its +dignified, serious-faced mistress, and a feeling of irritation +rose within her. + +"I thought maybe you--I want a washerwoman--and seeing your +clothes looked so nice made me think that maybe you----" + +She came to an uncertain halt, and glanced again half impatiently +at the other woman. After all, Ezra Jackson's wife was just a +negro, and there was no use in feeling embarrassed or in +supposing you didn't know how to deal with negroes. Good +gracious! what was the world coming to if you couldn't offer work +to folks without blushing? But she did not complete her sentence. +The Jackson woman waited for a while that she might do so, and +finally said, still in that slow, correct utterance which was in +itself an offense: + +"You thought I might tell you of some one? Mrs. Payson does mine. +As you say she does it very nicely, and is quick about it. Her +prices are high. I pay her half a dollar, and she gets done, as +you see, a good deal before noon. But the work is satisfactory, +and I think it pays better. I don't know whether she has a free +day--but--shall I send her to you when she comes next week?" + +Mrs. Kendrick blushed burning red, and took up her bundles with a +jerk. + +"No, thank you," she said shortly. "I couldn't any more afford +that than I could fly. I didn't know Sally Payson had got to +charging like that--fifty cents for less than half a day's work! +I declare, prices are enough to ruin a body these days." + +She went on to her own home smarting. She had called the washer +woman "Sally Payson," to be sure, in correction of Eliza +Jackson's "Mrs. Payson," which was a minor victory, yet it was +not enough to wipe away a feeling of stinging exasperation and a +curious sense of defeat. And when she told her husband about it +afterward, he received her recital with a sort of humorous +impatience. + +"Good Lord, Fan," he broke in finally, "don't you know that every +woman with a black skin isn't hungry to do your washing? It's not +a question of complexion; it's money that talks. Ezra Jackson +could buy me out two or three times over. I'm trying to act all +his legal business. He's bringing a big suit against the +railroad. If he gives it to me I shall be able to send Ellen to +Baltimore this year instead of next." + +"Well," said Mrs. Kendrick, submissively but acidly, "if you want +me to go and apologize, I suppose I can. The South is getting to +be a queer place when white gentlemen have to be under obligation +to negro teamsters. I certainly don't want to interfere with your +business in any way, Scott," she concluded plaintively. "We're +hard up all the time; I feel it deeply that poor Ellen is such an +expense to you." + +Scott Kendrick's ready arm went round the weary little woman. "An +apology would be worse than the offense, Fanny," he admonished +gently. "It's just this. the Jacksons are in an absolutely new +position, and have to be treated in a new way. You wouldn't go +and ask Mrs. Ford or Mrs. Brashear to do your washing; and the +Lord knows that neither Jim Brashear nor Bate Ford makes half +what Ezra Jackson does. The world is changing, honey, and we have +to change with it." + + +II + +As they grew older, the association of the two girls, in spite of +the affection between them--perhaps because of it--began to +present almost daily problems and embarrassments. Ellen's health +was worse, her nerves were shattered, and she clung with more and +more insistence to this one healthy companion, who responded with +a tireless devotion. Coming in from her wholesome outdoor life +and her triumphs at school--where she always stood high--Ma'Lou +brought to the sick room a very wind of comfort and cheer, which +Mrs. Kendrick had not the heart to deny her pining young invalid. +Once, when she spoke apprehensively of the matter to her husband, +Scott Kendrick answered with astonishment: + +"Why, Fanny, it's only a question of health--a little bodily +improvement. We'd break it off to-morrow if Ellen was well. +You'll see; there would never be any more of it if I could send +her away for that operation." + +But the white people had not, as they supposed, this anxiety all +to themselves. The timid, conservative, colored mother regarded +the friendship with growing anxiety. And before Scott Kendrick +got together the money to send Ellen to Baltimore, Ezra Jackson's +wife had coaxed her husband into letting Mary Louise go North to +school. The Watauga public schools, with a term or two of Fiske, +at Nashville, afterward, had been good enough for the other +children. But the mother craved wider opportunities for this, her +youngest; money was freer with them now; and Mary Louise went to +a preparatory school, then to Oberlin. + +Ellen Kendrick returned from the hands of the surgeons in +Baltimore much improved in health. She was sent back twice +afterward for treatment. Finally she walked as well as other +girls, and hastily made up her arrears of education, as best she +might, at a private school in Watauga. She would always be frail; +the invalid habit had gotten into both mind and body; she would +continue dependent, demanding; and somewhat irritable; yet there +was a fragile prettiness about her, and her very childishness had +its own charm. + +Mary Louise Jackson passed one of two vacations at home; but, as +time went on, there were opportunities for her to have trips of +an educational nature, and one summer was spent at a Chautauqua +taking a special course, so that after the first break in their +association the two girls saw almost nothing of each other till +they were women grown. There had been some letters; yet what the +white girl had always demanded and received from her friend could +not come through the mails, and the neglected correspondence +finally died a natural death. + +There was one person in Watauga, however, to whom Mary Louise +wrote, and from whom she received letters regularly--Ulysses +Grant Payson, the washerwoman's son, with whom she had gone to +school. Grant Payson was a sober, ambitious, industrious fellow, +who seemed to feel from childhood the weight of responsibility +for his people. A widow's only boy, he had worked hard and +studied hard. With a very fair mental endowment, he was able to +get what the Watauga public schools could give him, secure a few +years training at Nashville, then read law. + +And, when, after her graduation, Mary Louise returned to her +father's home, a very well-educated young lady indeed, wearing +glasses and looking older than her years, she found Grant +established in a good practice, and with some other prospects +that were, for a colored man, flattering. Both families knew that +Grant wanted Ma'Lou. Whether the girl would marry him and settle +down in Watauga had been a matter of anxiety, often talked over +between the two mothers. For they also knew of and discussed +Ma'Lou's opportunity to take a position as private secretary to +one of the instructors in her college. They understood that it +was a situation which would pay fairly well, and give her +associates who gained an added glory in the minds of these humble +folk by their distance. In short, it would be a foothold in the +white people's world; and Grant Payson's mother trembled for her +son, while the mother of Mary Jackson feared to lose, once for +all, her daughter. The two Southern-bred black women could see in +such things as the girl reported only the wiping out of all race +barrier, the sudden achievement of equality. Had Mary Louise been +asked, no doubt she could have told them of a social ban at the +North quite as definite as that in Watauga, if different; but her +father's daughter kept a silence that was not without dignity +over what she found irremediable, in the North as in the South. + +To warm-hearted Mary Louise, Watauga meant, of course, father and +mother; but directly after them--perhaps before them, in the +calendar of youth--it meant Ellen Kendrick and Grant Payson. And +the colored elders, looking on, felt that as these twin idols of +the girl turned out, so rose or fell the chances of keeping her +with them in Watauga. + +Grant instituted at once a courtship as ardent and eager as it +was open and avowed. His people, florid and colorful in +temperament, are natural wooers, free of the language of +affection and adroit in its use. Grant was very much in love with +the girl, and she meant even more to him than that, since in +aspiring to her his ambition stepped hand in hand with his +affections. + +Mary Louise received his advances with curious reservations, as +though there were positions and premises she defended against +him. + +It was when the girl's visit was three weeks old that the +fine-looking, broad-shouldered, young colored man in his +well-fitting business suit--a goodly figure in the eyes of the +mother watching from her own room across the hall--left the +parlor where he and Mary Louise had been sitting all evening, +with so doleful a countenance that the older woman had a quickly +suppressed impulse to go to him and speak. She did open the +subject to the girl next morning, approaching it obliquely. In +her own day a very progressive person, she felt that her daughter +had far outstripped her, and she offered advice but timidly to +this tall, perfectly dressed young woman who seemed so competent +in all the affairs of life, and who knew so much more than she +did upon many subjects. But after a little profitless skirmishing +she came out with: + +"Looks like you must have said something hard to Grant last +night--he never came in to say good-by to me. Ain't you going to +have him, Ma'Lou? Don't you care anything about him?" + +"I care a great deal about Grant," Mary Louise told her, in a +voice of pain. "I could love him dearly--if I'd let myself. But, +mother, I just can't settle down to live here in Watauga. There's +nobody and nothing here for me." + +The woman looked at her child, and her mind misgave her sorely +that she had done wrong to send the girl away among an alien +people, where she would learn to despise her own. + +"You're still grievin' about Ellen Kendrick," she said finally. +"If I were you I wouldn't let that go the way it has. Don't--" +she hesitated, with eyes full of helpless solicitude upon her +daughter's face--"honey, don't wait for any sign from Ellen, +because you won't get it. You just take those postal cards that +you got for her on your Canadian trip, and some morning you step +over to the side door and ask for her, if you want to see her. I +know she thinks a great deal of you. She's stopped me on the +street more than once and asked all about you and what you were +doing. I don't see why you shouldn't go to the side door and go +in and have a nice little visit with her." + +Mary Louise considered this suggestion at some length. She had +the wider outlook which some travel gives, and, in Oberlin, she +had been where the race question was relatively negligible. Her +mother's way of putting it jarred on her; yet the hungry craving +she felt at this time for a touch of companionship with a girl of +her own age, her longing for the beloved Ellen of her childhood, +overbore all shrinking. That afternoon she brought the cards down +in her hand, and, full of an unwelcome timidity, made her way to +the side door of the Kendrick house and rapped. Mrs. Kendrick +answered and received her with a certain thin cordiality that +suggested reservations. The fact was that Ellen was having a +little party that evening, and the colored girl would perhaps be +in the way. Among the guests bidden were two young men, upon +either one of whom Mrs. Kendrick looked with a hopeful maternal +eye, and nothing could be less desirable than for her daughter to +seem to "even herself with negroes" in the eyes of these possible +suitors. + +"Shall I stop and see Ellen a minute, or may I just leave these +with you, Mrs. Kendrick?" asked the tall, brown-skinned young +woman finally. + +"Oh, come in--come right in here to the dining room and sit +down," said the mistress of the house, remembering with a twinge +how much she owed to this girl. "Ellen will be crazy about these. +She's got a postal card album, and she hasn't anything in it from +Canada. Ellen! Come downstairs, honey; Ma'Lou Jackson has brought +you something pretty." + +But even as she called up the stairway, and heard the quick +response from above, it crossed Mrs. Kendrick's mind that her +daughter would not be willing to put these postal cards in her +album, for she would be ashamed to tell from whom they came. + +She was annoyed when Ellen came flying down the stairs, her thin, +blond hair all about her shoulders, and caught both the +newcomer's hands--the mother feared for a moment that she would +kiss her old playmate. + +"And then if somebody saw it through the window, and went and +told young Emery Ford or Mr. Hyatt, I don't know what on earth I +should do," reflected the careworn matron. + +"Mamma, do come and look at these lovely postals," Ellen cried +effusively a little later, as her mother, plainly ill at ease, +passed through the room. "I'm going to pull out those that Cousin +Rob sent me from Texas, and put these in right after the +California ones. See here, mamma; isn't this one beautiful? +Ma'Lou was there a week. She's put a little cross over the hotel +where they stayed." + +Mrs. Kendrick looked at the strong, well-developed figure of her +guest, and a certain dull anger arose in her mind. Why did health +and money both go to this inferior creature, when they were +lacking in higher quarters? Perhaps this prompted her query; +"That hotel? It's a big one, isn't it? Did they--could you----?" + +She broke off, and Mary Louise supplied, innocently enough: "Oh, +they didn't let us travel during school term. This was a vacation +trip." + +She had been long away from the South; in the protective +conditions of Oberlin she had been measurably free from the +wounding of race prejudice; and now she failed to realize that +Mrs. Kendrick's curiosity was as to whether she had been +permitted to go to a hotel with white people. + +Old Dicey's place in the kitchen had long been supplied by a +negress of the newer generation--"the worst gossip and tattler in +town," if you might take her mistress's word for it. Mrs. +Kendrick now made her way thither, ostensibly to superintend the +preparation of the evening's refreshments, but in reality to try +to fix up an explanation of why Ezra Jackson's daughter sat +visiting in the dining room with the young lady of the house. +"Because if Penny goes out and tells her friends, every darky in +town'll be retailing the story to the folks that hire them, and +it'll soon be all over the place." + +She came back into the dining room to find Ellen glowing with +enthusiasm. Yes, her mind was still that of a sick child; she had +dropped back into her old-time attitude toward Mary Louise. + +"Mamma, Ma'Lou says that they used to give lunches at the +college, and fix the floral centerpiece so it would all come +apart, and each guest could draw a bunch of it with a ribbon. Oh, +I don't understand very well, but she can tell you--it's just +beautiful, and we could make it out of the chrysanthemums in the +side yard, she says." + +Mrs. Kendrick looked uneasy. But there was no window in the +dining room which commanded the street except the side light of +the bay, and at it Ellen herself sat. Nobody passing would be apt +to see Mary Louise over in the room. + +"I reckon we can't go into those things," she objected, a little +irritably. "I suppose Ma'Lou has seen a heap of fine doings up +North that we couldn't possibly attempt." + +"But she's promised to make me a lot of cute little candies--like +potatoes, and put them in paper baskets--to go at each plate," +put in Ellen, jealously. + +The brown-faced girl nodded and laughed, with a quick flash of +white teeth. It was plain she was taking the attitude of an older +person talking to a child about a juvenile party to which there +could be no question of invitation, and Mrs. Kendrick's fears +rather subsided. She was safe, if only Ellen would show some +sense and judgment. + +"Well, I must go on home, now, if I'm to make those candies and +have them ready by this evening," said Ezra Jackson's daughter, +getting to her feet. "They take a good while to harden properly." + +Ellen went with her to the side door, clinging to her arm and +insisting on some last remark. Mrs. Kendrick, in an agony of +apprehension, hovered in the background. + +"Oh, well," said the daughter of the house finally, "I won't +bother you any more about it now, Ma'Lou. It's hard for you to +explain just how to fix it, but you can show me when you come +over this evening. I'll have the chrysanthemums ready. You come a +little early--won't you, please?" + +Mary Louise, in the doorway, glanced from mother to daughter in +some confusion. Would this do? Her own mother had cautioned her +to be certain to go to the side door. + +"I--I don't know," she hesitated doubtfully. "I'll bring the +candies over, if you like, and I might be able to show you a +little about the table then." And again she looked from the face +of the girl who had been her childhood's most intimate friend and +associate to that of the woman who had accepted so much at her +childish hands. + +"Why, I supposed you'd be here when I was giving the party, +Ma'Lou," argued Ellen petulantly. "I don't see why not! Isn't it +all right, mother?" she appealed sharply. "Shouldn't Ma'Lou come +over this evening?" + +For one desperate moment Mrs. Kendrick sought to shape a policy; +Ellen's words sounded frightfully like an invitation to the +party. Would Mary Louise accept them so? Her worried, resentful +glance traveled over the tall, dignified figure, the correct, +quiet costume. Oh, it had no business to be as hard as this! But +she must make the girl understand; she could not run the risk of +injury to Ellen's belated social opportunities. + +"Why--you see--we--" she began, in an agony of embarrassment, "we +can't--we can't--" Her voice failed her. She looked fleetingly at +Mary Louise, who returned the gaze with a look hurt, accusing, +difficult to meet. She drew her breath sharply, and began again +with more resolution. "We'll have an extra maid in to help with +the serving. If you don't mind staying in the dining room with +her--" She ceased and waited hopefully, to see if the girl +understood. There was an uncertain silence. She must finish. +"Ma'Lou, if you'd stay in the dining room with Tillie, and +wouldn't mind wearing a--cap--and apron like she does, why you +could come over and look on." + +Ellen Kendrick had seen somebody coming down the street. It was +Emory Ford, and she flushed and dimpled and smiled as she bowed +to him, forgetting everything else, including the departing Mary +Louise, who, after one mute look at Mrs. Kendrick's flushed, +disturbed face, turned and walked with hanging head toward the +house on the corner. + +Arrived at home, she went methodically to work upon the promised +candies and the little baskets that were to contain them. Ezra +Jackson's wife, noting the face of set misery, forbore long to +question her as she brought out the novel materials and pursued +her work. + +The afternoon wore on. Mrs. Jackson was at work at her +sewing-machine in the front hall; but she could not keep out of +the kitchen, she made continual futile errands through it, giving +anxious, sidelong glances at the child over whom her heart +yearned. + +Finally, when she could bear it no more, "Did--did something hurt +your feelings over there, Ma'Lou?" she asked huskily. + +She spoke behind her daughter's shoulder. The girl set the last +finished basket in its place in the row before she turned to +answer. Then she showed a face so much more cheerful and composed +than the elder woman had dared hope for that the relief was +almost revulsion. + +"Sit down, mother," said Mary Lou, pushing a chair with her foot. +"Sit there while I fill the baskets, and I'll tell you about it." + +The mother sat and watched the deft brown fingers, and marveled +at the girl's collected manner, her quiet, even voice. For Ezra +Jackson's wife was shaken by alternate gusts of anger and hurt +pride, of shame and fear, as, with a judicial fairness +extraordinary in one of her years and sex, the girl went over the +details of that unhappy visit. The old teamster had given his +child a heritage of rare good sense. Early in the recital the +woman broke in bitterly with: + +"And yet you're making candies for her party? Such as that is all +they want of you. I wouldn't do it. And I'd never step foot in +their house again!" + +"Why, mother, I'd certainly make these. I promised them," said +Mary Louise mildly. She put the last tiny candy potato in place, +pushed back the basket, wiped her hands, and turned fully to her +mother. "But you're exactly right about not entering Judge +Kendrick's house again," she said, with increasing emphasis. "I +can't go in at the front door as a friend--that's true; I can't. +I certainly sha'n't go in at the back door as a +servant--and--I've thought it all out now--I see it plain--our +people make a great mistake when they hang around the side doors +of white folks. There's no way but----" + +"Don't say it, honey!" gasped the mother "Wait a minute." This +was the end, and she could not quite face it. She was to lose her +youngest and dearest. Mary Lou was going back North to live among +the white people. Her head went down on the table the convulsed +face hidden in her arms. Then broke forth the cry of the blood: + +"Oh, Lord! I reckon I'm just another fool nigger woman that's +raised a child too good for her own color. I wish I was dead--I +wish I was dead!" + +"Mother--mother!" The girl flung herself on her knees beside the +chair, and caught at the other's dress. "Don't take on that way. +You don't understand. I'm--look around here--I'm glad of what +happened over there to-day. It's shown me the truth about a good +many things. We're all black people together. It's the only way +for us now. I'm not going back to be Professor Sheridan's +secretary--a black woman among white people. I'm going to marry +Grant--he's everything to me; these people are nothing--and +settle right down here in Watauga with him--and be happy and +useful. Mother, you didn't make any mistake in the way you +brought me up. I'll be a credit and a comfort to you yet." + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII No. 1 JULY 1910 + +THE TRIAL BALANCE {pages 83-94} + +By MAXIMILIAN FOSTER + +Author of "Corrie Who?" etc. + + +Like so many others of her class, Stella Willoughby was a +satisfied, confident woman, placidly aware of the station her +husband's money assured to her. For Willoughby was accounted +wealthy even in this lake town, where riches were so much in +evidence; and if the wife betrayed a cool superiority because of +his money, it was only natural, perhaps, since she and most of +her associates knew no other means of gauging success, or worth, +or the individual's place in life. Looking over her shoulder now, +she glanced nonchalantly across the club dining-room. + +"You mean those people--the Severances, Mrs. Kinsman?" There was +a bland indifference in her tone that made the guest beside Mrs. +Willoughby look at her curiously, for she knew that Severance had +once been a suitor for Mrs. Willoughby's hand. "I believe we did +know them before they dropped out. He lost everything, didn't +he?--went to smash, as I vaguely remember." + +Still with the same air of unconcern, she dipped the tips of her +fingers in the finger-bowl, and prepared to rise. "Queer they +should come back here, isn't it?" she commented idly; and then, +as if the subject had passed from her mind with the observation, +Mrs. Willoughby pushed back her chair in signal to her guests, +and led the way from the room. In the hall, while the maid was +putting on her wraps, she turned and looked back, still idly as +before. Her eyes, traveling about, rested a moment on the man +sitting at the distant table, and then, when he half rose from +his place as if to bow, they journeyed on again, coolly +unconcerned. A moment later, smiling gayly, she walked down the +steps to her carriage, and, with her guests, was driven away to +the theatre. + +Yet, somehow, in spite of this sureness of speech and manner, the +sight of her old-time suitor had wakened in Mrs. Willoughby the +subtle discontent that occasionally affected her--the discontent +of women who have only themselves to think about. One might have +said that at these times she was subconsciously wearied of her +form of life; that, in so many words, though ignorant of the +fact, though, consciously, her vacuous life immensely satisfied +her, she was BORED. But to-day, bluntly speaking, it was about +her husband that her vague dissatisfaction centered; and when she +had glanced coolly at her former suitor, it was for the purpose +of comparison. + +Willoughby was a fair type of the money-getter. Furthermore, what +he had built had been raised by his own hands unaided; he was a +self-made man, whose one boast was that he owed nothing to any +one, not even so little as a debt of gratitude. One realized the +fact, too, in the way he carried on his affairs; for in his +business he was alert and determined, implacably pursuing his +money-making as if it were a warfare, and considerate of none but +those joined with him in the moment's harvesting venture. Perhaps +his reasons were sufficient--who knows? Perhaps Willoughby was as +well aware as they that the friends of to-day might reasonably +become the enemies of to-morrow. + +But at home the money gathered so ruthlessly elsewhere was thrown +about with a lavish hand. Nothing that wealth could provide was +denied Mrs. Willoughby or her boy; and though she had been poor +when she married, money, in the mere crudity of having it to +spend, had long since lost its novelty. To-day, beyond the pride +of having it, and beyond the luxury and ostentation it could buy, +money possessed for her a far greater significance in its power +to make one powerful. In that she had already tasted the +illogical enjoyment of one that can obtain power in no other way. +And it was because of this place that his money had bought her +that Mrs. Willoughby began to look on her husband with a critical +eye. + +For she was an ambitious woman, though one with definite +limitations. Among different surroundings and in an atmosphere +less sordidly striving and commonplace, she was fitted to have +become, with some encouragement, an admirable and utterly +inconspicuous wife and mother. But here, in this narrow, +money-getting environment, many things prevented; among them, +primarily, the way in which she had been brought up. For her +father, too, had been driven by this lust for riches; and though +he had failed, to the last he had been goaded on by his one +eager, grasping hope. He had drummed into her head the single +lesson that without money one is nothing. + +In itself it suggested to the few a plausible reason why she had +married Willoughby. There had been nothing openly unhappy in +their life together. Still, as others saw, Willoughby was much +older than his wife, radically without her social instincts, and, +furthermore, when she had accepted him, it had been pretty +generally understood that Severance had won her heart. + +And now, as she sat back in her carriage, remembrance came +rapping like an unwelcome, unadmitted visitant. She tried to put +it away by chattering smartly; the theatre-wagon rolled along to +the clicking of hoofs on the asphalt; but through it all the +troublous knocking persistently recurred. For this was one of the +few times when she had lingered upon a thought of that first +romance of hers; and now, coupled with her hardening criticism of +Willoughby, it brought forth insistent questions. + +Whether she had really loved her husband when she married him, or +whether she had not instead been dazzled by his peculiar +abilities remained in doubt. + +Severance had come first; he had a little money to begin, and he +was doing well with it and seemed on the road to do better. +Therefore, her friends were secure in the belief that she would +marry him, when Willoughby had made his appearance. + +He went at this love-making of his as he went at all his +affairs--implacably bold and ruthlessly sweeping aside whoever or +whatever came into his way. The fact that he and Severance were +considered friends seemed to have counted little; and when, a few +months later, it was learned that she had dropped one to take the +other, it was also learned that Severance had played at ducks and +drakes with his money. Briefly, he had become bankrupt in a +mining deal. He and others, Willoughby among them, had gone into +a Wyoming copper prospect--the Teton Sisters Company--and while +Willoughby apparently got off without damage, Severance had +dropped everything. How, was never clearly understood. Severance +and his sister had parted with their home to satisfy his +creditors, and then moved away. + +In the twelve years of the Willoughbys' married life, the tide of +money had kept steadfastly on the flood. Nothing his hands +touched seemed to fail him. He had his fingers in every kind of +venture--mines and mills, foundries and furnaces, steam roads, +trolley lines and public utilities; and to each and every one of +these promotions, the name of Willoughby affixed the hall-mark of +success. Now his dollars jingled in every state of the Union--and +they jingled in his own home, too, almost as the only evidences +that the home was his. For Willoughby, pursuing money everywhere, +seemed to have lost interest in all else but his money-grubbing, +just as Willoughby's wife, excepting for the same money-grubbing, +seemed to have lost all interest in him. + +And now she had looked at Severance; her eyes had rested on him +long enough to make comparisons--Severance much improved, cool, +suave, presentable, and deferential; her husband big and +masterful, a brooding, preoccupied man, and a kind of Orson to be +kept denned in his money caves. She sighed to herself +regretfully. + +Some minutes after Mrs. Willoughby had found her seat in the +theatre box she was aware of another party coming down the aisle. +"Hello!" exclaimed the man beside her, "here come Hudson Mills +and his wife with Case Severance. I didn't know he was in town." + +Mrs. Willoughby laid a gloved finger to her lips and affected to +yawn, though she stole a glance out of the corner of her eye. Her +guest was now nodding over her shoulder at the arrivals in the +seats below. + +"Severance has made a ten-strike, I hear," he volunteered, in an +expressive, if inelegant, idiom of the money game; "there's a +story going the rounds that Mills and Severance have been gunning +together and that some one else got burned. Anyway, I hear +they've lined their pockets. Severance is rich again." + +This mixed metaphor affected Mrs. Willoughby with a curious +interest. "Oh, is he!" she exclaimed, and, glancing down, she +looked unexpectedly into Severance's watching eyes. + +But she seemed not in the least disconcerted. Severance was just +turning away, mindful of the previous snub, when, with a +reassuring smile, she bowed, and then smiled again. For why not? +Severance's position had been reestablished in her world. + +It was late that night when Mrs. Willoughby returned home. There +was a light in her husband's library, and before going to her +room she stopped and tapped at the door. Willoughby, with a pile +of papers stacked before him, sat with his chin in his hand, +staring absently at the wall. As the door opened, he turned for a +moment, and then, seeing who it was, thrust his hands into his +pockets and slouched down in his chair. "Well?" he murmured, +absently. + +Mrs. Willoughby, slipping out of her wrap, dropped into a +convenient seat. + +"Are you still at it? It's nearly one o'clock, Harmon." Yawning +slightly, she wriggled her feet out of her carriage slippers and +kicked them under her chair. Willoughby looked up, silently +watching her, and a momentary small shadow crept into his face. +Yet the shadow, small as it was, could not have been because of +any flaw in his wife's appearance. Mrs. Willoughby was still +young and fair to look upon, clear-eyed and almost girlish, her +rounded, regular features set off picturesquely by her hat and +its flowing purple plumes, even though both hat and plumes were +extravagant in size. Willoughby must have known another reason to +frown. + +"Where've you been?" he demanded, heavily, his voice bare of any +interest. He was a large, florid man, heavily built, +square-jawed, and with the deep, scrutinous eyes of one aware of +his own power and accustomed to enforce it. But now his eyes +seemed listless, as if weary of the strain that had kept them so +long on the alert. + +"I? At the club," she answered, briefly. Though her own home was +large and amply appointed, few were ever asked there to anything +more formal than a luncheon or an afternoon at bridge. Home +hospitality and the housekeeping it involved had long since +become a bore to her; like many others in her set, she had +learned to square her obligations through the convenience of her +husband's club. The hospitality there entailed no other bother +than paying the bills. "Just dinner at the club, and the theatre +afterward." + +She stripped off her long gloves and dropped them to the floor +beside her carriage slippers. Again her husband studied her, +almost covertly, one might have thought. + +"Any one there?" Willoughby began absently to pick at the edges +of the papers on his desk. + +She shook her head. "No one you'd care about, I think. There were +only three tables besides mine. Mrs. Chardon and her daughter +with some of her young friends, and then--" Mrs. Willoughby +closely inspected one of her rubies. "The Severances are back in +town, Harmon. He and his sister were there with Hudson Mills and +his wife." + +"Severance--with MILLS!" cried her husband, lifting his head +alertly. It was not often that Mrs. Willoughby's talk with him +evoked such instant attention. "See here, Stella, are you sure it +was Severance?" + +"Sure? Sure whether it was Severance? Why, of course I am!" she +answered petulantly. She and her husband had never discussed the +man, and it seemed a late day now to begin. "What in the world +is--?" she began, and then desisted. Willoughby, slouched down in +his chair again, had dropped his chin on his breast and was +nervously gnawing his lip. + +His wife leaned over and gathered up slippers and gloves. "I +think I'll go to bed," she murmured carelessly, and wandered +toward the door. Willoughby made no response, and she turned and +slowly came back. A calendar hanging from the gas bracket had +fallen a little aslant, and she reached up and critically +straightened it. "Harmon, I hear Case Severance is rich again. I +wonder how he managed it." + +"Hey? Who?" Willoughby jerked up his head as if startled from a +dream--and not a very pretty dream, either, if one might judge +from his countenance. "Oh, you mean HIM," he uttered thickly. +"How do I know. I suppose he's been up to some of his games +again." An almost savage dislike and contempt evidenced +themselves in his tone, and pushing back his chair, he picked up +his papers and arose. "You'd better go to bed Stella," he +suggested brusquely, averting his eyes from her quick scrutiny; +"I've got a lot of work here." + +She laid a hand on his arm. "What's wrong with you?" she asked +intently. There was alertness in the question, rather than +responsive softness. Willoughby drew a hand across his mouth. +"Nothing's wrong Stella. I've had a hard day. Aren't you going?" + +"Yes--in just a moment." She had moved toward the door again, and +now was standing with her hand on the knob. "It's Willard's +birthday next Wednesday." Willard was their boy. "He'll be +eleven, an he wants an electric runabout. The Doane boys have +one, and he's just crazy about it We'd better let him have it." + +Willoughby frowned, and irritably ruffled the papers in his hand. +"A runabout. No; he sha'n't have it. He's too young, and +besides----" + +"Oh, nonsense, Harmon!" + +Willoughby fluttered his papers more irritably than before. + +"Well, he can't have it; that's all I have to say." Ordinarily, +he gave to her and the boy what they wished, never questioning +the cost or character of what they bought "Eleven, and wants an +automobile!" he commented, sullenly. "When I was his age I was +working day and night to support my----" + +"Yes, I know, Harmon," interrupted Mrs. Willoughby, affecting to +stifle a yawn "but Willard, fortunately, doesn't have to think of +that." + +Mrs. Willoughby gave her gloves a disdainful, careless twirl, and +went on her way to her room. To her astonishment, a few moments +later, she heard the front door slam. Willoughby had gone out. + +He was away for nearly a week; and when he returned, his eyes +were heavy and blood-shot, his face was pallid and wearily drawn. + +"Well, so you are back. What have you been doing?" Mrs. +Willoughby asked, perfunctorily. Though it was late in the +morning she was still in bed, sitting up in a dressing sack, and +turning the pages of a weekly publication that dealt in news of +local high life. Its chief item, to-day, was the announcement of +a dance she was to give shortly--at the club, as usual--and she +had just finished for the second time the commentator's glib and +unctuous phrasing. + +He answered evasively, "Oh, just away on business." As he walked +to the window and looked out, she carelessly turned the pages. +"Stella, what did you do for the boy's birthday?" he asked, +slowly pacing back to the foot of the bed. + +She turned another page. "The boy? Oh, I gave him some money, and +sent him down-town with the coachman. I was too busy." Smiling +lightly, she went on glancing through the paper. "I suspect he +stuffed himself on candy." + +But there was no answering smile on Willoughby's face. "On candy? +How much did you give him?" + +Without looking up, she answered as lightly as before. "Oh, I +can't remember now. Let me think." Then she vaguely named an +amount, and Willoughby pressed his lips together. + +"Stella," he said slowly, after a moment's darkening of his eyes, +"do you know that amounts to a week's salary of more than one of +my clerks? Don't you think it was a great deal to give a boy?" + +She looked up now, astonished--a little vexed, too; for this was +the second time he had questioned her use of money. "Well, what +of it? It seems of little consequence." She buried her face in +the paper again after this shot, and Willoughby stared at her. + +"No," he murmured, reflectively, an alarming bitterness in his +voice; "nothing seems of any consequence." + +As she glanced casually over the top of her paper, she saw him +draw a hand across his face; but, still vexed, she took no +warning from the sign. "Well, there's no need of making a fuss, +is there?" she asked, rebukingly. Thus showing how distasteful +the subject had become, and, having had her say, she instantly +changed the topic. "You're coming home Thursday night, aren't +you?" + +Willoughby watched her absorbedly. "I don't know. Why?" + +"Oh, I just wanted to find out. It's the night of my dance, you +know." + +"A dance? Your dance?" He drew in his breath, and his hands, +gripping the bed's footboard, closed a little tighter. "I'd +forgotten that. Yes, your dance, and I----" + +He broke off wearily, his lips framing a mere wraith of a smile, +and in its gravity she still saw no warning of deep waters +stirring troublously. "A dance--you're giving a dance!" he +repeated, and there came into his eyes a subtle hint of mockery +that, coupled with the words, gave them almost the significance +of a jeer. + +"Oh, for heaven's sake, Harmon!" Mrs. Willoughby threw down her +paper irritably, aware only of the unspoken protest in his +manner, and disdaining to analyze it. "See here--are you going to +make a fuss about that, too? Or are you still growling about the +boy? I should think a man with your money would be above----" + +It seemed unnecessary to round out the sentence; in itself the +fragment, sharply uttered, peevish and fretful, conveyed more +than enough. "You wouldn't let him have what he wanted; so what's +the use of making it any worse? He swallowed his disappointment; +but if you're getting ready to complain about me now, I'll----" + +"Yes, I've thought there was good stuff in the boy," he +interrupted, the slow words cutting short her vehement protest. +"Where is he now?" he added abruptly. " I think I'd like to see +him." + +Mrs. Willoughby flounced down among the pillows. "I don't +know--at school, I suppose. Aren't you going to your office +to-day?" + +Willoughby shook his head. He turned to the door, moving heavily; +and there, at last, in his sunken head, his shoulders wearily +bent, she caught some hint of the man's hidden emotion. +Astonishment at first ousted all else from her thought, and she +gaped at him in wonder. Then came a small, chilling touch of +fear. + +"HARMON!" At the swift call he looked back at her. "Harmon! Has +anything happened?" + +His answer was an evasion, and she knew it. "I'm staying home to +see some men. That's all." + +But the moment's fear was too stressful to be so easily set at +rest. "Wait--do you hear?" She slipped from the bed, and, with +her eyes still fastened on him she groped about till she found +her down slippers. Willoughby had slowly opened the door, but his +wife angrily reached over his shoulder and pushed it shut. "You +SHALL tell me!" she insisted, fiercely determined. "I want to +know what's happened." + +Willoughby shook off her hand, and renewed his effort at the +door. "I've nothing to tell you," he rumbled sullenly; and +then--"What do you want to know for?" + +She caught her breath, certain now of the fear that shook her +like an ague. He was in trouble, and trouble, to her, meant but +the one thing--a money trouble. It was the first time in her +years of placid, self-possessed vanity that any terror like this +had come to jar her. To lose it now--this bought and paid-for +complacency, this counterpart of happiness, struck her to the +heart with a keener, more convincingly human emotion than she had +known for many a day in her negligent, shallow existence. + +"You want to know?" he answered, and smiled at her in grim, +accusing mockery. "All right, then; I'll tell you. You'd better +be ready for it, too." In his brutality there was a guarded note +of self-pity, as if to see her suffer would somehow rejoice him +in his own trouble. "Well, I'm smashed up--that's all. I'm +ruined!" + +Mrs. Willoughby, shrinking away, laid a hand on her lips and +stared with distended eyes. "RUINED?" she gasped, unable to +believe him--incredulously, as if at some barbaric jest. +"Ruined?" She had turned quite white. "Oh," she cried, wetting +her lips, "does it mean there is nothing left? How did it happen? +Oh, it can't be true!" + +"How did it happen?" Willoughby had thrust both hands into his +pockets, and his head was turned sideways, as if the better to +study the depths of her emotion. "Oh, the usual way--flying too +many kites, I suppose. Poor?" he growled savagely. "Yes; we're +poor as Job's turkey! They've cleaned me out of +everything--their----Teton Sisters, too!" + +In her mind's bewilderment of distress she caught at the name; it +was the property in which Severance had lost his money; and she +recalled ugly rumors that, before, had not affected her. Now that +his money was gone, they attached to themselves a newer +significance, accusing and indefensible. "The Teton Sisters! What +do you mean?" For was the shame of losing his wealth to be +coupled with the shameful admission that he had taken a hand in +gouging her former suitor? It was singular she hadn't thought of +it before; now it struck home with redoubled poignancy. + +"Mean, hey? I mean they've got it away from me--Mills and that +fellow Severance. It was the prettiest thing I owned, too," he +groaned, careless of what he was saying, and blurting out the +acknowledgment. "But that ain't the worst--no, not by a long +chalk! Do you know what they're going to do?" he demanded, +hoarsely, and with an almost weeping resentment, yet as if glad +to find some one to whom to pour it out. "They're going to sue +for the money, too!" + +"What money?" she persisted, hollowly, determined now to know +all. It might be dreadful to lose one's money--it was dreadful; +but to have this man drag her down into his own shame, too--ah! + +Willoughby threw up both hands in a gesture of ungovernable +petulance. "Oh, what's the use of talking about it?" he growled, +and then instantly his voice dropped. "Stella, I'm sorry for your +sake. We'll have to begin all over again, dear." + +"But you shall talk of it!" she directed, with a cruel and +cutting significance in her voice. "You can't hide it from me +now." + +His mouth opened dumbfoundedly. Then he thrust out his jaw with a +reawakened truculency, now aimed at her. + +"Well, then--it was the money I took from that fellow--from your +old friend, Severance. He was----" + +"You took it from him!" she cried. "You mean you STOLE it!" + +Willoughby's mouth twitched, as if she had struck him a blow. "So +that's the way you look at it now, is it?" he said, his voice +quietly effective. "All right, then! I came in here hoping to get +a word of sympathy from you--perhaps a little kindness. But I +knew it was only a hope." He drew a deep breath. "Now don't work +yourself up over him, I warn you, my dear. I won't tell you why I +ruined him, years ago, but I'll tell you how. You've called me a +thief, so I'll give you some more facts before you jump at +conclusions." + +"I don't want excuses--it's explanations!" + +It was another taunt that struck home, but Willoughby again +mastered himself grimly. "Any one of us would have done it," he +answered, ignoring the remark. "Severance made it easy. I did to +him only what he tried to do to others. When he saw how good the +mine was, he wanted me to help him rook them out of their stock, +so that we could get it. Simple enough, of course, but they'd +been square with me. No, I refused--but I did accommodate him to +the extent of doing him out of his own block. He'd mortgaged +everything to buy shares, and when he was where I wanted him, all +tied up with loans and not able to borrow another cent, I told +the mine people what Severance was trying to do. So they put in a +ruinous report, and every one from whom he'd borrowed a cent just +called his loans and foreclosed on him right and left. He went +down and out--and that's all there was to it. Nobody else got +hurt, and we divided his stock among us. Can't you see how it +was, Stella?" he asked quietly, and stood awaiting her verdict. + +"Yes! I see how it was!" she flashed. "It was robbery--you can't +excuse yourself." + +If she had wished to sting him again, the attempt seemed to +become fruitful. "Excuses! I make none, do you hear?" he +retorted, incensed. " I ruined him to get him out of your +way--yes!--oh, you needn't say it!--out of mine, too. Look here!" +he cried, passionately; "don't you think I didn't know you? All +you looked for or lived for was--" But he broke off there, and +surveyed her with an affronted dullness, as if it were only +wasted effort. "Oh, well, what's the use?" he muttered, and with +morose and glowering eyes slouched through the doorway. + +Mrs. Willoughby lay among the pillows, her arms flung out and her +face half hidden by her disordered hair. TO BE POOR! Her mind +seized on that as the one incalculable shame that had befallen +her--on that, rather than on her view of his dishonesty. +Curiously enough, it was not only the loss of the money itself +and the imminent surrender of her ease and luxury and ostentation +that dismayed her. She was anguished, as well, by the stigma of +being poor. She was able to see only the mean side of it; the +pity of her friends already rang in her ears like scorn, mocking +her because the one thing that had made her was now stripped +away. Hers was not the nature to see the other side of it--the +helpful nobility of self-denial, the heroism of unselfishness, +the courage that stoically faces the narrow and sordid effort +whose rewards are only in the future. No, indeed!--there was only +a savage resentment in her mind, the inexplicable sense that +somehow she had been tricked and cheated, and that he alone was +to blame. + +Though she accused him of dishonesty in the Severance affair, the +charge was only secondary. Given another time, she might +carelessly have acquitted him, taking his own say-so as enough; +but Willoughby now had chosen a poor hour for his acknowledgment, +when he linked it to the tidings of his ruin. All that day she +kept to her bed, her mind absorbed with the catastrophe that had +swept out from under her the unsolid prop of her arrogant money +pride. For, again, without money what was left? + +She showed herself the day following, wan and silent. Willoughby +was away; the news of his failure was public property, and she +writhed when she read of it in the daily prints. But in the +following days she suffered other pangs that were a healthy +counter-irritant--she learned to pick and number her FRIENDS, and +to know, among so large a list of acquaintances, how very few +they were. Though she was prepared for this, well aware what +befalls the one with broken playthings, nevertheless she was +filled with bitter exasperation against those who were no more +careless than she had been herself. So she left orders with the +servants that none was to be admitted. + +Her husband was not so easily evaded. He returned, three days +later, and, walking straight to her, laid a hand on her shoulder. +"Stella, I'm mighty sorry; but if you'll help me, I can get on my +feet again." + +"Oh, don't bother me!" she retorted, flinging off his hand. +Willoughby flushed, seemed about to make a bitter retort, and +apparently changed his mind. "Stella, I'm in a good deal of +trouble. A kind word or two would help." But the wife maintained +a sullen dumbness, her eyes turned away from him; and Willoughby +retired, shaking his head. + +At the week end he tried again, hopefully. "Stella, it's not so +bad as we first thought. I think we'll save enough to live +on--maybe enough to keep our home. But you'll have to lend a +hand." + +She looked up from her packing. "What do you say?" she demanded, +with a rekindled interest, and at the sight of it his eyes +lightened. + +"Why, if you're willing to go slowly, and put up with a few +things, we might be able to do it." + +"Humh!" Mrs. Willoughby bent over her trunk again. "I suppose +that means you'd make me a kind of drudge. Thank you; I prefer +the other way." + +"The other way?" he inquired, looking at her closely. "What do +you mean by that?" + +She affected to show her carelessness by smoothing the clothes in +the trunk tray. "Oh, I'm going to take the boy and go away +somewhere for a while." + +It was not unexpected. Willoughby came a step nearer, his brow +wrinkled ominously. "You shall not!" he said, with a slow +distinctness, every syllable rapped out decisively. Then his +anger, righteous enough in its way, got the better of him. +"Listen to me, Stella!' he gritted, clenching his hands beside +him. "I can see clear through you. You haven't the nerve to face +this down, so you're going to sling me overboard. That's it, +isn't it? Well, you sha'n't. I've handled you like a fool, these +years, and now I'm going to take charge. You'll stay here--not +because of yourself or me--but for the boy!" he cried; and Mrs. +Willoughby arose, quiet, but white. + +"No," she answered, clearly; "we've played this farce too long, +Harmon. I don't think I'm suited to you, and I'm sure you're not +suited to me. We married under false ideas of each other." + +Willoughby turned white, too, but, restraining himself, he peered +at her from under his heavy brows. "No, we didn't!" he retorted, +solemnly. "YOU did, but _I_ didn't! You married me thinking my +money would buy you what you wanted. I question whether you +thought of ME at all. But I married you, Stella, knowing exactly +what you were, and, since I've paid for it, I intend you shall +stick to your bargain." + +"Oh, yes," she answered, smiling a little in scorn, "it would be +like you to call it a bargain. But you can't prevent my leaving." +"No--perhaps not; but I can give you a good, strong argument why +you shouldn't. Don't think I'm the only one that knows you--why, +good Lord, Stella, I've no monopoly on the knowledge! Do you know +what they'll say of you, all these fair weather friends that've +dropped you like a smashed toy? _I_ DO--they'll say you've wrung +me dry, and that now I'm ruined you've chucked me just as they +thought you would. If you care to know, I've heard whispers of it +already; so I'm going to save my boy, if I can." + +Mrs. Willoughby stood with a hand at her throat, gasping; the +shot had struck home. "How dare you?" she whispered. "How dare +you, after what I know of you? You say that, after cheating me +into marrying you?" + +Willoughby tossed his head. "Do you still refer to Severance?" he +inquired, caustically; and then his face darkened. "I'll tell you +why I cheated you into marrying me. It was because I loved you, I +think," he said, and there came a wistfulness into his voice that +almost startled her. But she put it away scornfully. + + +"You mean you stole his money to get me!" she retorted, +unequivocally. + +"I did--you're quite right!" he answered quickly. "And do you +know what became of the money?" he demanded, pausing long enough +to wet his lips, but giving her no time to reply "Well, it bought +the clothes you wore--your hats--your gloves--your jewels. It's +paid for your extravagances--or a part of them. It bought you the +carriage you wanted; your string of pearls too. My soul!" he +cried in a kind of fierce wonderment, "it bought nearly all there +is of you, I think! It bought you, besides--that money did--his, +with a lot more added to it!" + +Mrs. Willoughby stared at him confounded--the situation had +become reversed. She found herself impugned and called to defend +when she had thought only to attack. It was a bitter reflection +that he had, all along, hidden his contempt, while she had been +idly picking flaws in him. + +"Oh, yes!" he cried, going on; "all you looked for or lived for +was money. I'd heard your father drum it into your head, and I'd +seen the way you took it in!" He threw up his hand with a gesture +of intolerable regret, this man who had been only a +money-grubbing automaton. "I was ashamed, at first, but as you'd +seemed to take a fancy to me, I deluded myself into thinking you +cared. I knew Severance, too. He was clever and shrewd, but +crooked as a fish-hook. At the time he was making love to you, +there was another. But, never mind, I won't talk of that. I saw +you, and it didn't take long to turn my head." He smiled +wistfully, as before. "I'd never seen a woman like you, you know. +I'd been too busy trying to keep alive. But there was this +Severance, and--oh, well, what's the use?" he muttered again +thickly. "You got your money, and I got the woman I loved. Yes, I +got her--my soul!" he protested; "and it's a pretty trial +balance, isn't it, to cast up on a day like this?" + +Silenced, she stood and watched him, waiting for the next storm +of his passion. But Willoughby's rage seemed to have burned +itself out. He drifted across the room and reached his hand for +the bell-pull. "Put away that trunk," he ordered quietly, facing +her; "I'm going to run things now. If you're determined to leave +me, you'll have to put it off a while. I'm going to save the boy. +When I'm on my feet again, I'll give you what money you want; but +there shall be no open scandal." Still silent, she was watching +him, when the maid came in answer to the bell. "Help Mrs. +Willoughby with these," he said curtly, denoting the half-packed +trunk; "we're not going away." And in the presence of the servant +she dared make no rejoinder. Later in the day he looked in again; +Mrs. Willoughby and the maid were rearranging the room, and the +trunk had been whisked away. He smiled grimly, and withdrew. + +There could be but two results from a conflict like this: she +would either scorn him the more or she would come to respect him. +For days the outcome wavered in the balance. They met at the +table only--she sitting preoccupied, he talking quietly with the +boy. At the week end he brought her a roll of bills. "For the +house money," he said briefly; and when she would not reach out a +hand for it, he dropped it in her lap, and went away. But that +night she entered into the talk at the table, a little quiet, +still repressed, and showing her hurt. Willoughby, quietly +deferential, kept to his part of the conversation exactly as if +nothing ugly had occurred between them. His bantering with his +son was genial and affectionate, and once she thought he tried to +include her in this camaraderie. The few last shreds of her +vanity, however, still waved distressing signals of the hurt, and +she evaded it. But she felt strangely alone, notwithstanding; +with an almost unconquerable self-pity she reflected on the +fair-weather friends that had deserted her. A little sense of +comfort trickled into her heart, though, when she thought of her +boy. HE, at all events, had not been affected by the rumble of +drums that had beaten her out of the worldly camp where once she +had commanded. That night Willoughby looked in at her, while she +sat musing over a book, and when she would not look up at him he +went away again. A more complete sense of her loneliness came +over her as the hours passed in the big, silent house. So she +laid down her book, and went up-stairs to her boy's room. + +"Who's there?" he cried, awakening from a doze. + +"Just I, Willard. I came up to see whether you were all right." + +"Oh, yes, I am!" he answered, a little perplexed; it had not been +often that she had found time from her busy affairs for a visit +like this. The boy took her hand in his and snuggled down in the +pillows. "It's nice to have you, mumsy," he mumbled, comfortably. + +Willoughby, coming home the next evening, heard her talking to +the cook. "You mustn't be so wasteful, Annie. Unless you can do +better, I shall have to get some one else." Her voice was +peevish, but to Willoughby it sounded full of inexplicable +melody. Nor when she carried her complaint to him later, at the +dinner-table, was he less affected with a secret joy. +"Harmon--we'd better take a smaller house. I can't do it any +longer on what we have." + +"You needn't," he answered lightly; "I can let you have more. +Things are working out better than I expected. Just let me know +what you're short at the end of the week. I can manage it." + +That night, too, he came and sat in the room where she was +reading. He said nothing, and picked up another book. But she +knew what he wished, and resolutely steeled herself. The next +night he was there again. "Good night, dear," he said cheerfully, +daring the added word when she arose to go. + +"Good night," she answered. + +But on the evening following they talked together, each evading +the shoals of past regret, and threading only the safe channels +of the commonplace. "Good night, Stella dear," he said, +unaffectedly, as she picked up her things; and she answered: +"Good night, Harmon." + +He came close to her, and looked down into her face. "Stella," he +said, quietly; "Stella, it would make me very happy if you--if I +might--why, kiss you good night." + +Mrs. Willoughby gathered up the remainder of her things, and then +slowly shook her head. + +"No, we won't talk of that--yet!" she answered, and went away up +the stairs. Willoughby bit his lip, looking silently after her. + +"Why, mumsy!" exclaimed the boy, his hand touching his mother's +cheek as she leaned over him. "What's wrong?" + +She shook her head vehemently in the dark. "Nothing at all, dear. +You must go to sleep now." + +The next day, Willoughby, on his return from down-town, found her +busily superintending the two servants while they cleaned up his +room. It was an unexpected attention on her part. He withdrew +quietly. A little while later, leaning over the balusters, she +saw Willard whispering to him earnestly. "Did she, my boy?" she +heard the man cry under his breath. "Why, now, mumsy must just +have been a little tired. I don't think it was anything else." +Willoughby's smile seemed enough at the moment to reassure almost +any one. + +At dinner his lightness, good-nature, geniality became +infectious. Even Mrs. Willoughby suffered herself to smile at his +whimsical jollity with the boy. Later there was the little comedy +of the good night; and then they parted again. But Willoughby did +not go out as usual. + +It was very late that night when Mrs. Willoughby awoke with the +conviction that some one was in her room. Her first impulse was +to cry out in alarm; then, in terror she lay quiet, peering from +beneath her half-closed lids. Across the lighter background of +the curtained window a figure moved, big and familiar in its +bulk. She knew then, and there seemed a greater reason than ever +why she should remain quiet. + +Nor was she wrong in her surmise. A moment later Willoughby +leaned over, and she felt his lips lightly brush her cheek. A +little sigh followed, and then he was gone, tiptoeing cautiously. +Mrs. Willoughby sat up in bed, her face in her hands, and +reflected in the stillness that presages the storm. But +loneliness no longer pained her; the solitude had become suddenly +peopled with vivid, poignant regrets, shouting loudly their +indictment and their appeal. + +Then, with the curious informality of a woman's emotion--whether +of grief or of joy, whether of pleasure or of pain--she rocked +down her head to her knees, while through her fingers poured the +scalding tears. Mrs. Willoughby had become sincere at last. + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII No.1 JULY 1910 + + +The Painter of "Diana of the Tides" {pages 95-103} + +By WALTER PRICHARD EATON + +Author of "The American Stage of To-day," etc. + +Given nearly three hundred square feet of blank wall space, and +it takes something of an artist to fill it up with interesting +paint. Probably you would not pick a miniature painter for the +task. Yet, curiously, John Elliott, creator of "Diana of the +Tides," the great mural painting which adorns the large gallery +to the right of the entrance of the new National Museum at +Washington, also paints on ivory. He works, likewise, in silver +point, that delicate and difficult medium; he draws pastel +illustrations for children's fairy tales; he works in portraiture +with red chalk or oils. And, when the need comes, he has shown +that he can turn stevedore, carpenter, and architect, to slave +with the relief party at Messina, finally to help design and +build, in four months, an entire village for the stricken +sufferers, including a hotel, a hospital, three schoolhouses, and +a church. The too frequent scorn of the "practical man of +affairs" for the artist and dreamer, the world's sneaking +tolerance for the temperament which creates in forms of ideal +beauty rather than in bridges or factories or banks, finds in the +life and work of such a man as John Elliott such complete, if +unconscious, refutation, that his story should have its place in +the history of the day. + +John Elliott was born on Good Friday, 1859, one of a famous +Scottish border family. His residence is now in Boston, +Massachusetts, at the home of his mother-in-law. Mrs. Julia Ward +Howe. Robert Louis Stevenson had Elliott blood in his veins. +"Parts of me," he once wrote, "have shouted the slogan of the +Elliotts in the debatable land." If Stevenson's Homeric account +of the Four Black Elliotts in "Weir of Hermiston" is historically +veracious, we might fancy that one of their descendants would +feel his activities somewhat cramped on Beacon Street, Boston. +The Elliotts were a wild lot, and some of them did not escape the +hangman. Their family tree appears to have been the gallows. But +Stevenson tells us they were noted for their prayers, and at +least one of them wrote poetry, and declaimed it, drunk, to +Walter Scott, who retaliated in kind. + +But the present John Elliott, artist, though he is of the kin of +Stevenson, and bears the dark hair and rather prominent, +melancholy eyes of the traditional Elliott stock, yet physically +much more closely resembles Edgar Allan Poe. If you press him +hard, he will confess that he began life by studying for the +stage, and "almost played Romeo," before painting drew him away. +Reaching Italy, he aspired to enter the studio of Don Jose di +Villegas, now director of the Prado Museum in Madrid, but then in +Rome. Villegas took no pupils. But "Jack" Elliott is Scotch. He +made a bargain. He would teach the master English, in return for +instruction in painting. At the end of two years, young Elliott +had learned much about art, but the master, he says, had acquired +only one English phrase--"I haf no money!" + +At the end of two years, Elliott wished to leave, because he +despaired of painting like his master. "That is why I keep you," +said Villegas; "you have retained your own manner and choice of +subjects." So the pupil stayed on in Rome for five years, sharing +his studio later with Aristide Sartorio, now a leading Italian +painter. Here, in the Via Flaminia, he painted his first +important mural decoration, for the dining room of Mrs. Potter +Palmer's Chicago Lake Shore mansion. This work, called "The +Vintage," is decorously inebriate, a vinous riot of little +cupids. It led, shortly after his marriage in 1887 to Miss Maud +Howe, a daughter of Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, to his establishing +himself in Chicago, where he did many decorations and portraits. +In 1894, he went back to Rome to execute a commission for a huge +ceiling piece for the Boston Public Library. The piece was for a +room later converted into a children's room, and after the canvas +was placed, in 1901, the incongruity of the adult painting and +the purposes of the room caused unfavorable comment. But the room +has been recently readjusted. It is now lined with high oak +shelves, almost to the cornice, filled with musty old books of a +beautiful brown--perhaps the most effective decoration in the +world--and the ceiling tells at its true value. + +This ceiling, fifty feet square, divided into two equal panels, +represents the twenty Christian centuries, as horses, led by the +hours (winged female figures) out of the mists of the past into +the illumination of the present. The models for the horses were +the undersized nags of the Roman Campagna, which are "small but +decorative beasties," as Mr. Elliott puts it, and lend themselves +to a slightly conventional treatment. They sweep two by two, out +of a cool mistiness, round the ceiling past the suggestion of a +pale moon, into the full radiance of the golden orb of the sun. +The triumph of the picture is its handling of the problem of +light. This golden daybreak pierces the mists whereon the horses +gallop, touches here a flank, there a wing feather on one of the +hours, and warms to rosy glow the tip of a cloud. It appears in +unexpected places, grows where only shadow seemed to be, and +surprises you anew each time you look up. Painted in the +flat--that is, with no part of the picture telling as farther +from the eye than another, to distort the proportions of the +room--the ceiling yet has great depth, distance, airy lightness. +It is a true decorative painting. + +While at work upon it, Mr. Elliott painted many portraits, +including the well-known red chalk heads of the "Soldiers Three," +Lord Ava, the Marquis of Winchester, and General Wauchope; the +portrait of His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge; and that of +Lady Katherine Thynne, now Lady Cromer, a celebrated English +beauty. Indeed, he made her the model for the second hour in the +Boston ceiling, the figure next to the leader in the procession. +Three studies of her head for this figure, well known from +reproduction, are now in the possession of Thomas W. Lawson. + +In Rome the Elliotts occupied for some time the apartments of +Mrs. Elliott's cousin, the late F. Marion Crawford, in the +Palazzo Santa Croce. In writing "With the Immortals," Mr. +Crawford had collected many death masks, including one of Dante, +which fascinated Mr. Elliott. Two pictures of "Dante in Exile" +were the result. One of them now hangs in the living room of +Queen Margherita of Italy, the other in the house of Mrs. J. +Montgomery Sears of Boston. A third pastel study was made, an +unfinished head of the poet, and thrown into a wastebasket. By a +curious fatality, it is now better known than either of the +paintings. Mrs. Elliott rescued the drawing, smoothed it out, +framed it, and was allowed to hang it in her chamber. Later it +was seen and purchased by Mrs. David Kimball of Boston, and in +reproduction has gone all over the world, receiving honors in +Japan and the higher honor of a place over the desk of many Dante +students. Yet few who possess the reproduction know anything of +the artist. + +Mr. Elliott, receiving his commission to do a great mural +painting for the new National Museum in Washington, again went to +Rome four years ago. "Diana of the Tides" was completed and +signed on Christmas day, 1908. Three days later came the awful +news of the Messina earthquake, and the Hon. Lloyd Griscom, then +American Ambassador to Italy, at once called for volunteers for +his relief expedition. John Elliott was among the first to +respond. He went south officially as an interpreter. Actually, he +played the part of stevedore as well for ten days on the relief +ship. + +"I have dropped my last knuckle down the hold this morning," he +wrote back, "and I have only two fingers left that I can wash." + +After a few weeks, he hastened back to Rome, to give a promised +public exhibition of "Diana of the Tides," and, as soon as the +exhibition was over, rushed down to Messina again. + +There Commander Belknap, who was at the head of the American +relief forces, put him to work, as architect, on the erection of +the American village, in the lemon groves on the outskirts of the +stricken city. "I had never been trained as an architect," he +says, "but I once made over a house up in Cornish, New Hampshire, +and that gave me a practical experience which came in remarkably +handy." + +Most of the lumber had been cut for the erection of small houses, +and the door and window frames were stock pieces. It became his +task to design and build, as quickly as could be done, not only +comfortable houses for many thousand people, but a church, a +hotel, three schools, a hospital, all out of these small lumber +units. He combined the units for the larger buildings, so +grouping the small stock window frames as to give a pleasing +effect of size, even constructing a kind of rose window for the +church. He helped lay out the streets in such a way as to +preserve all the trees possible. And, in spite of the haste with +which the work had to he done, and the sixteen-hour-a-day strain +under which the workers labored, the Zona Americana emerged an +attractive and sanitary, as well as practical, village. Queen +Helena, as soon as the American village was under way, got Mr. +Elliott to go over the drafts for the plans of the American +quarter in her village near by, working them up along the same +lines. So, in four months, he designed and superintended the +erection of houses, churches, schools, and hospitals for a town +of several thousand inhabitants. + +Commander Belknap's report spoke of him as "the first to +volunteer, and the most devoted worker, sharing every hardship +with unfailing good humor and leaving his beautifying touch on +every part of the work." + +On June 12, 1908, having built his town and recovered his lost +knuckles, John Elliott returned to Rome, where the soil did not +rock, and set quietly about making twenty-four small pastel +drawings to illustrate a fairy story! From building houses for +the wretched homeless sufferers, he turned to the play tales of +childhood. He laid down the T square and the hammer for a piece +of pastel crayon. But he had triumphantly refuted the scorn of +the "practical man" for the artist. He had shown the stuff that +dreams are really made of. Incidentally, he had won for himself a +decoration from the King of Italy, and the medal of the American +Red Cross Association. + +"Diana of the Tides," which now covers the end wall of the +right-hand gallery of the new National Museum at Washington, is +akin to the Boston Library ceiling in its employment of horses +symbolically, its light, luminous color, and its subtle play of +illumination. This charm of illumination is unfortunately lost in +reproduction. Mr. Elliott has made symbolic use of Diana, the +Moon Goddess. in a way obvious enough, but hitherto, oddly, +untried by artists. It is a way singularly appropriate in a +museum of scientific character--a combination of ancient myth and +modern science. As the Moon Goddess, Diana controls the four +tides, which, in the shape of horses, draw her erect and jubilant +figure on a great seashell. They are without guiding reins and +harness, to suggest the unseen channels of her sway. If the +reader will note an advancing wave, he will see that, just before +the crest curls over, the foam is tossed back. Then the wave bows +and breaks. So the nearest horse raises his head slightly, the +next higher, the third tosses his head back, and the last has +bowed his neck. In their motion and grouped attitudes. as they +gallop up on the beach, is the rhythm of an oncoming wave. +Farther than that Mr. Elliott wisely did not go. "Let them +suggest more obviously a wave," he says, "and you have a trick +picture. After a while, you wouldn't see anything in it but the +trick." The wave motion is repeated on a comber out at sea, and, +to the left, against a rock on the shore. + +Diana stands behind the horses, against the great, golden moon--a +radiant halo. She has just unloosed an arrow from her bow. Her +draperies are of indefinite color, the rose and lilac and amber +of sunset. Her face, it will be noted, though she stands against +the moon, is lighted from in front. In that fact lies the secret +of the illumination. For this picture was supposedly painted at +that one Byronic hour of the year when + + The sun was setting opposite the moon. + +Turner, in a small water color, has worked out a similar problem, +with the cool copper of the harvest moonlight bathing one side of +an old stone tower, the warm rose of sunset the other. In Mr. +Elliott's great canvas the mutual lights kill all shadows, and +out toward the great yellow disk of the moon the invisible sun +floods its lilac and pink, kindling the waves, the draperies of +the goddess, the wet flanks of the horses, and suffusing the +whole painting with its delicate, bright warmth, which is yet +kept too cool for gaudiness by the twilight of the moon. + +While this canvas was being unpacked in Washington last winter, +Mr. Elliott was exhibiting in Boston his portrait of his +mother-in-law, Mrs. Julia Ward Howe. It was begun and nearly +finished at Newport four or five years ago; but Mr. Elliott has +not cared to complete it, for during the interval the "Grand Old +Lady" has considerably changed in appearance. She is now more +than ninety years old. When the sittings began, Mrs. Howe had +just recovered from an illness, and could read or talk only for +brief periods. Mostly she sat looking out of her window at a bird +which had a nest in a nearby tree. In this attitude, the eyes +raised, the face quiet yet alert, the artist has caught her; +calm, patient, but with one hand characteristically clenched on +the arm of her chair, showing a touch of hidden force and +commanding will. She is dressed in light green. The background is +an indistinguishable brown. Her eyes have that very delicate +light blue of advanced age, wistful yet prophetic. The skin, too, +has the rare ivory delicacy of old age, of old age gently dealt +with and protected. The light is unobtrusive yet +luminous--morning sunshine. The picture is utterly simple; the +more so for its touch of incompleteness. The masses are broad, +artless. It is tender, reverential, a sweet and solemn +glorification of old age, and of the old age of a distinguished +spirit. + +And at the exhibition in Boston one of the women visitors +complained to the artist: "But you know, Mr. Elliott, when Mrs. +Howe comes to the Woman's Club, she always looks so bright and +animated, and always has something smart to say!" + +To which the artist replied: "No doubt, my dear lady. But I was +not painting a president of the New England Woman's Club, but the +author of `The Battle Hymn of the Republic.' " + +Queen Margherita of Italy made a truer comment when she saw the +portrait in Mr. Elliott's studio in Rome. "That portrait deserves +to go into any collection in the world," she said, "not because +it is a good portrait of a distinguished old woman, but because +it is a portrait of Old age as it ought to be." + +Can it be that a mere Continental Queen is a better judge of art +than a member of a Boston Woman's Club? Such thoughts are very +disturbing! + +Queen Margherita, ever since she first visited Mr. Elliott's +studio in Rome ten years ago, has been his warm patron. It was +for her he made his well known silver-point portrait of the late +King Humbert, which she carries with her on all journeys. It has, +indeed the boldness of line inseparable from good silver-point +drawing, where a stroke once laid on is indelible and no "working +over" is possible. When "Diana of the Tides " was exhibited in +Rome in February, 1909, the Queen was one of the first visitors. +She was not the first, the Chinese Minister arriving ahead of all +others, on the stroke of ten--the opening hour--attended by all +his suite, to signify his profound Celestial veneration for the +Fine Arts. The Queen, seeing the picture, expressed delight and +volunteered to tell her son, King Victor Emmanuel, about it. + +A few days later, at seven thirty in the morning, there came a +knocking at the door, with the announcement, "A message from the +King." + +The King, said the messenger, would follow in an hour. Presumably +there was some hurry of preparation in the Elliott family. A New +York artist, at any rate, at seven thirty A. M. would be in no +condition to receive a crowned head--or any other! Promptly at +eight thirty--punctuality being a royal virtue--King Victor +Emmanuel drove up in a motor car with two aides. He remained half +an hour. Being fond of horses, he found much in the picture +genuinely to interest him. The artist accompanied the monarch to +the door of his car, where he thanked him for the honor of his +visit. + +"Not at all," said the King, in his excellent English. "My mother +told me to come." + +Which shows, at least, that the Fifth Commandment is honored in +Italy. + +The twenty-four pastel drawings made to illustrate Mrs. +Anderson's fairy tale, "The Great Sea Horse," were also exhibited +in America last winter. Made immediately after Mr. Elliott's +heartbreaking labor on the rocking soil of Sicily, they are none +the less quiet, childish, and fanciful in their charm. Only one +of them might have been inspired by the turning over in his +uneasy sleep of the giant buried beneath Etna--the picture of the +naked giant sitting on a headland and emptying his hot pipe ashes +into the sea, where they form a volcano. The grim, grotesque old +fellow is carefully drawn, with a fine rhythm of line in the +seated limbs. His bulk dwarfs the headland, and his head and +shoulders grow blue and pale in the sky. One questions why the +ashes do not fall farther out to sea; they seem to lie in the +shallow tide water on the beach. Barring this note of smallness, +the picture is a true grotesque in miniature. + +Mr. Elliott also works in genuine miniature. He has painted +several portraits--of Mrs. Potter Palmer, the Chanler sisters of +New York, and many more. He has painted landscapes, as well. +Professor Barrett Wendell possesses a charming example. Most +recently he has been engaged on a large mural decoration, best +fitted, perhaps, for a music room, showing Pan seated on a tree +trunk by a lake, making into a pipe the broken reeds in his hand +after Syrinx eluded him. No horizon line shows. Pan and his tawny +leopard skin (his automobile coat, the artist calls it) tell +against the high purple banks across the lake. The god is making +the best of his loss--making music of it, in fact. He was the +eternal boy, before Mr. Barrie rediscovered him and surnamed him +Peter. + +And there is something of the eternal boy about John Elliott. He +plays with a paint box on a fifty-foot ceiling or a twenty-seven- +foot end wall, turns aside to paint a miniature on ivory, drops +all his paints when a great national calamity comes and is +converted into an architect overnight, building a whole town in +four months and making it as beautiful as he can in the process, +though the "practical" man would say that utility alone was +demanded; and then, when this work is over, turning blithely back +again to make pictures for a fairy book. He is strong, through +his fresh imagination, to combine ancient myth with modern +science in a huge decorative canvas, to reflect the dignity and +loveliness and spiritual power of an exalted old age, to do +practical work in a practical crisis--and to joy, at the same +time, with the moon baby dancing on the beach! + +"Jack Elliott," they will tell you who know him, "has an artistic +temperament." Well, if this be the artistic temperament, what a +pity there is not more of it in the world! It is not the +temperament that is self-centered, whining, ineffectual. It is +the temperament that does whatever comes to hand as well as it +can, for sheer love of the task, and of beautiful workmanship +that through imagination wins to sympathy, and through +imagination grasps the opportunity to do practical work +beautifully, where others would only do it practically. It is the +temperament eternally boyish and buoyant, which is on the side of +sweetness and light. + +Perhaps it is not what the world means by the artistic +temperament. But it is the temperament of the true artist. "Never +do a pot-boiler," said Mr. Elliott to a young painter the other +day. "Let one of your best things go to boil the pot." In these +words is a rule of conduct that all of us--artists or artisans +brokers or clerks, men or women--might well walk by toward the +light of a more beautiful and cooperative society. + + +***************************************************************** + Vol. XXIII No.2 AUGUST 1910 + + +THE HEATHEN {page 193-204} + +By JACK LONDON + +Author of " The Call of the Wild," "Martin Eden," etc. + + +I met him first in a hurricane. And though we had been through +the hurricane on the same schooner, it was not until the schooner +had gone to pieces under us that I first laid eyes on him. +Without doubt I had seen him with the rest of the Kanaka crew on +board, but I had not consciously been aware of his existence, for +the Petite Jeanne was rather overcrowded. In addition to her +eight or ten Kanaka sea men, her white captain, mate, and +supercargo, and her six cabin passengers, she sailed from +Rangiroa with something like eighty-five deck +passengers--Paumotuans and Tahitians, men, women, and children, +each with a trade-box, to say nothing of sleeping-mats, blankets, +and clothes-bundles. + +The pearling season in the Paumotus was over, and all hands were +returning to Tahiti. The six of us cabin passengers were +pearl-buyers. Two were Americans, one was Ah Choon, the whitest +Chinese I have ever known, one was a German, one was a Polish +Jew, and I completed the half-dozen. It had been a prosperous +season. Not one of us had cause for complaint, nor one of the +eighty-five deck passengers either. All had done well, and all +were looking forward to a rest-off and a good time in Papeete. Of +course the Petite Jeanne was overloaded. he was only seventy +tons, and she had no right to carry a tithe of the mob she had on +board. Beneath her hatches she was crammed and jammed with pearl +shell and copra. Even the trade-room was packed full of shell. It +was a miracle that the sailors could work her. There was no +moving about the decks. They simply climbed back and forth along +the rails. In the night-time they walked upon the sleepers, who +carpeted the deck, two deep, I'll swear. Oh, and there were pigs +and chickens on deck, and sacks of yams, while every conceivable +place was festooned with strings of drinking cocoanuts and +bunches of bananas. On both sides, between the fore and main +shrouds, guys had been stretched, just low enough for the +fore-boom to swing clear; and from each of these guys at least +fifty bunches of bananas were suspended. + +It promised to be a messy passage, even if we did make it in the +two or three days that would have been required if the southeast +trades had been blowing fresh. But they weren't blowing fresh. +After the first five hours, the trade died away in a dozen +gasping fans. The calm continued all that night and the next +day--one of those glaring, glossy calms when the very thought of +opening one's eyes to look at it is sufficient to cause a +headache. The second day a man died, an Easter Islander, one of +the best divers that season in the lagoon. Smallpox, that is what +it was, though how smallpox could come on board when there had +been no known cases ashore when we left Rangiroa is beyond me. +There it was, though, smallpox, a man dead, and three others down +on their backs. There was nothing to be done. We could not +segregate the sick, nor could we care for them. We were packed +like sardines. There was nothing to do but die--that is, there +was nothing to do after the night that followed the first death. +On that night, the mate, the supercargo, the Polish Jew, and four +native divers sneaked away in the large whaleboat. They were +never heard of again. In the morning the captain promptly +scuttled the remaining boats, and there we were. + +That day there were two deaths; the following day three; then it +jumped to eight. It was curious to see how we took it. The +natives, for instance, fell into a condition of dumb, stolid +fear. The captain--Oudouse, his name was, a Frenchman--became +very nervous and voluble. The German, the two Americans, and +myself bought up all the Scotch whisky and proceeded to drink. +The theory was beautiful--namely, if we kept ourselves soaked in +alcohol, every smallpox germ that came into contact with us would +immediately be scorched to a cinder. And the theory worked, +though I must confess that neither Captain Oudouse nor Ah Choon +was attacked by the disease either. The Frenchman did not drink +at all, while Ah Choon restricted himself to one drink daily. + +We had a week of it, and then the whisky gave out. It was just as +well, or I shouldn't be alive now. It took a sober man to pull +through what followed, as you will agree when I mention the +little fact that only two men did pull through. The other man was +the Heathen--at least that was what I heard Captain Oudouse call +him at the moment I first became aware of the Heathen's +existence. + +But to come back. It was at the end of the week that I happened +to glance at the barometer that hung in the cabin companion-way. +Its normal register in the Paumotus was 29.90, and it was quite +customary to see it vacillate between 29.85 and 30.00, or even +30.05; but to see it, as I saw it, down to 29.62, was sufficient +to chill the blood of any pearl-buyer in Oceania. + +I called Captain Oudouse's attention to it, only to be informed +that he had watched it going down for several hours. There was +little to do, but that little he did very well, considering the +circumstances. He took off the light sails, shortened right down +to storm canvas, spread life-lines, and waited for the wind. His +mistake lay in what he did after the wind came. He hove to on the +port tack, which was the right thing to do south of the Equator, +IF--and there was the rub--IF one were NOT in the direct path of +the hurricane. We were in the direct path. I could see that by +the steady increase of the wind and the equally steady fall of +the barometer. I wanted to turn and run with the wind on the port +quarter until the barometer ceased falling, and then to heave to. +We argued till he was reduced to hysteria, but budge he would +not. The worst of it was that I could not get the rest of the +pearl-buyers to back me up. Who was I, anyway, to know more about +the sea and its ways than a properly qualified captain? + +Of course, the sea rose with the wind, frightfully, and I shall +never forget the first three seas the Petite Jeanne shipped. She +had fallen off, as vessels do when hove to, and the first sea +made a clean breach. The lifelines were only for the strong and +well, and little good were they even for these when the women and +children, the bananas and cocoanuts, the pigs and trade-boxes, +the sick and the dying, were swept along in a solid, screeching, +groaning mass. + +The second sea filled the Petite Jeanne's decks flush with the +rails, and, as her stern sank down and her bow tossed skyward, +all the miserable dunnage of life and luggage poured aft. It was +a human torrent. They came head-first, feet-first, sidewise, +rolling over and over, twisting, squirming, writhing, and +crumpling up. Now and again one or another caught a grip on a +stanchion or a rope, but the weight of the bodies behind tore +such grips loose. I saw what was coming, sprang on top the cabin, +and from there into the mainsail itself. Ah Choon and one of the +Americans tried to follow me, but I was one jump ahead of them. +The American was swept away and over the stern like a piece of +chaff. Ah Choon caught a spoke of the wheel and swung in behind +it. But a strapping Rarotonga vahine[1]--she must have weighed +two hundred and fifty--brought up against him and got an arm +around his neck. He clutched the Kanaka steersman with his other +hand. And just at that moment the schooner flung down to +starboard. The rush of bodies and the sea that was coming along +the port runway between the cabin and the rail, turned abruptly +and poured to starboard. Away they went, vahine, Ah Choon, and +steersman; and I swear I saw Ah Choon grin at me with philosophic +resignation as he cleared the rail and went under. + + +[1] woman + + +The third sea--the biggest of the three--did not do so much +damage. By the time it arrived, nearly everybody was in the +rigging. On deck perhaps a dozen gasping, half-drowned, and +half-stunned wretches were rolling about or attempting to crawl +into safety. They went by the board, as did the wreckage of the +two remaining boats. The other pearl-buyers and myself, between +seas, managed to get about fifteen women and children into the +cabin and battened down. Little good it did the poor creatures in +the end. + +Wind? Out of all my experiences I could not have believed it +possible for the wind to blow as it did. There is no describing +it. How can one describe a nightmare? It was the same way with +that wind. It tore the clothes off our bodies. I say TORE THEM +OFF, and I mean it. I am not asking you to believe it. I am +merely telling something that I saw and felt. There are times +when I do not believe it myself. I went through it, and that is +enough. One could not face that wind and live. It was a monstrous +thing, and the most monstrous thing about it was that it +increased and continued to increase. Imagine countless millions +and billions of tons of sand. Imagine this sand tearing along at +ninety, a hundred, a hundred and twenty, or any other number of +miles per hour. Imagine, further, this sand to be invisible, +impalpable, yet to retain all the weight and density of sand. Do +all this, and you may get a vague inkling of what that wind was +like. Perhaps sand is not the right comparison. Consider it mud, +invisible, impalpable, but heavy as mud. Nay, it goes beyond +that. Consider every molecule of air to be a mud-bank in itself. +Then try to imagine the multitudinous impact of mud-banks--no, it +is beyond me. Language may be adequate to express the ordinary +conditions of life, but it cannot possibly express any of the +conditions of so enormous a blast of wind. It would have been +better had I stuck by my original intention of not attempting a +description. + +I will say this much: The sea, which had risen at first, was +beaten down by that wind. More--it seemed as if the whole ocean +had been sucked up in the maw of the hurricane and hurled on +through that portion of space which previously had been occupied +by the air. Of course, our canvas had gone long before. But +Captain Oudouse had on the Petite Jeanne something I had never +before seen on a South Sea schooner a sea-anchor. It was a +conical canvas bag, the mouth of which was kept open by a huge +hoop of iron. The sea-anchor was bridled something like a kite, +so that it bit into the water as a kite bites into the air--but +with a difference. The sea-anchor remained just under the surface +of the ocean, in a perpendicular position. A long line, in turn, +connected it with the schooner. As a result, the Petite Jeanne +rode bow-on to the wind and to what little sea there was. + +The situation really would have been favorable, had we not been +in the path of the storm. True, the wind itself tore our canvas +out of the gaskets, jerked out our topmasts, and made a raffle of +our running gear; but still we would have come through nicely had +we not been square in front of the advancing storm-center. That +was what fixed us. I was in a state of stunned, numbed, paralyzed +collapse from enduring the impact of the wind, and I think I was +just about ready to give up and die when the center smote us. The +blow we received was an absolute lull. There was not a breath of +air. The effect on one was sickening. Remember that for hours we +had been at terrific muscular tension, withstanding the awful +pressure of that wind. And then, suddenly, the pressure was +removed. I know that I felt as though I were about to expand, to +fly apart in all directions. It seemed as if every atom composing +my body was repelling every other atom, and was on the verge of +rushing off irresistibly into space. But that lasted only for a +moment. Destruction was upon us. + +In the absence of the wind and its pressure, the sea rose. It +jumped, it leaped, it soared straight toward the clouds. +Remember, from every point of the compass that inconceivable wind +was blowing in toward the center of calm. The result was that the +seas sprang up from every point of the compass. There was no wind +to check them. They popped up like corks released from the bottom +of a pail of water. There was no system to them, no stability. +They were hollow, maniacal seas. They were eighty feet high at +the least. They were not seas at all. They resembled no sea a man +had ever seen. They were splashes, monstrous splashes, that is +all, splashes that were eighty feet high. Eighty! They were more +than eighty. They went over our mastheads. They were spouts, +explosions. They were drunken. They fell anywhere, anyhow. They +jostled one another, they collided. They rushed together and +collapsed upon one another, or fell apart like a thousand +waterfalls all at once. It was no ocean any man ever dreamed of, +that hurricane-center. It was confusion thrice confounded. It was +anarchy. It was a hell-pit of sea water gone mad. + +The Petite Jeanne? I don't know. The Heathen told me afterward +that he did not know. She was literally torn apart, ripped wide +open, beaten into a pulp, smashed into kindling wood, +annihilated. When I came to, I was in the water, swimming +automatically, though I was about two-thirds drowned. How I got +there I had no recollection. I remembered seeing the Petite +Jeanne fly to pieces at what must have been the instant that my +own consciousness was buffeted out of me. But there I was, with +nothing to do but make the best of it, and in that best there was +little promise. The wind was blowing again, the sea was much +smaller and more regular, and I knew that I had passed through +the center. Fortunately, there were no sharks about. The +hurricane had dissipated the ravenous horde that had surrounded +the death ship. + +It was about midday when the Petite Jeanne went to pieces, and it +must have been two hours afterward when I picked up with one of +her hatch-covers. Thick rain was driving at the time, and it was +the merest chance that flung me and the hatch-cover together. A +short length of line was trailing from the rope handle, and I +knew that I was good for a day at least, if the sharks did not +return. Three hours later, possibly a little longer, sticking +close to the cover and, with closed eyes, concentrating my whole +soul upon the task of breathing in enough air to keep me going +and, at the same time, to avoid breathing in enough water to +drown me, it seemed to me that I heard voices. The rain had +ceased, and wind and sea were easing marvelously. Not twenty feet +away from me, on another hatch-cover, were Captain Oudouse and +the Heathen. They were fighting over the possession of the +cover--at least the Frenchman was. + +"Paien noir!" I heard him scream, and at the same time I saw him +kick the Kanaka. + +Now, Captain Oudouse had lost all his clothes except his shoes, +and they were heavy brogans. It was a cruel blow, for it caught +the Heathen on the mouth and the point of the chin, half-stunning +him. I looked for him to retaliate, but he contented himself with +swimming about forlornly, a safe ten feet away. Whenever a fling +of the sea threw him closer, the Frenchman, hanging on with his +hands, kicked out at him with both feet. Also, at the moment of +delivering each kick, he called the Kanaka a black heathen. + +"For two centimes I'd come over there and drown you, you white +beast!" I yelled. + +The only reason I did not go was that I felt too tired. The very +thought of the effort to swim over was nauseating. So I called to +the Kanaka to come to me, and proceeded to share the hatch-cover +with him. Otoo, he told me his name was (pronounced +<O'm>-t<o'm>-<o'm>); also he told me that he was a native of Bora +Bora, the most westerly of the Society Group. As I learned +afterward, he had got the hatch-cover first, and, after some +time, encountering Captain Oudouse, had offered to share it with +him, and had been kicked off for his pains. + +And that was how Otoo and I first came together. He was no +fighter. He was all sweetness and gentleness, a love-creature +though he stood nearly six feet tall and was muscled like a +gladiator. He was no fighter, but he was also no coward. He had +the heart of a lion, and in the years that followed I have seen +him run risks that I would never dream of taking. What I mean is +that, while he was no fighter, and while he always avoided +precipitating a row, he never ran away from trouble when it +started. And it was " 'Ware shoal!" when once Otoo went into +action. I shall never forget what he did to Bill King. It +occurred in German Samoa. Bill King was hailed the champion +heavyweight of the American navy. He was a big brute of a man, a +veritable gorilla, one of those hard-hitting, rough-housing +chaps, and clever with his fists as well. He picked the quarrel, +and he kicked Otoo twice and struck him once before Otoo felt it +to be necessary to fight. I don't think it lasted four minutes, +at the end of which time Bill King was the unhappy possessor of +four broken ribs, a broken fore-arm, and a dislocated +shoulder-blade. Otoo knew nothing of scientific boxing. He was +merely a man-handler, and Bill King was something like three +months in recovering from the bit of man-handling he received +that afternoon on Apia beach. + +But I am running ahead of my yarn. We shared the hatch-cover +between us. We took turn and turn about, one lying flat on the +cover and resting, while the other, submerged to the neck, merely +held on with his hands. For three days and nights, spell and +spell, on the cover and in the water, we drifted over the ocean. +Toward the last I was delirious most of the time, and there were +times, too, when I heard Otoo babbling and raving in his native +tongue. Our continuous immersion prevented us from dying of +thirst, though the sea water and the sunshine gave us the +prettiest imaginable combination of salt pickle and sunburn. In +the end, Otoo saved MY life; for I came to, lying on the beach +twenty feet from the water, sheltered from the sun by a couple of +cocoanut leaves. No one but Otoo could have dragged me there and +stuck up the leaves for shade. He was lying beside me. I went off +again, and the next time I came around it was cool and starry +night and Otoo was pressing a drinking cocoanut to my lips. + +We were the sole survivors of the Petite Jeanne. Captain Oudouse +must have succumbed to exhaustion, for several days later his +hatch-cover drifted ashore without him. Otoo and I lived with the +natives of the atoll for a week, when we were rescued by a French +cruiser and taken to Tahiti. In the meantime, however, we had +performed the ceremony of exchanging names. In the South Seas +such a ceremony binds two men closer together than +blood-brothership. The initiative had been mine, and Otoo was +rapturously delighted when I suggested it. + +"It is well," he said, in Tahitian. "For we have been mates +together for three days on the lips of Death." + +"But Death stuttered," I smiled. + +"It was a brave deed you did, master," he replied, "and Death was +not vile enough to speak." + +"Why do you `master' me?" I demanded, with a show of hurt +feelings. "We have exchanged names. To you I am Otoo. To me you +are Charley. And between you and me, forever and forever, you +shall be Charley and I shall be Otoo. It is the way of the +custom. And when we die, if it does happen that we live again, +somewhere beyond the stars and the sky, still shall you be +Charley to me and I Otoo to you." + +"Yes, master," he answered, his eyes luminous and soft with joy. + +"There you go!" I cried indignantly. + +"What does it matter what my lips utter?" he argued. "They are +only my lips. But I shall think OTOO always. Whenever I think of +myself I shall think of you. Whenever men call me by name I shall +think of you. And beyond the sky and beyond the stars always and +forever you shall be Otoo to me. Is it well, master?" + +I hid my smile and answered that it was well. + +We parted at Papeete. I remained ashore to recuperate, and he +went on in a cutter to his own island, Bora Bora. Six weeks later +he was back. I was surprised, for he had told me of his wife and +said that he was returning to her and would give over sailing on +far voyages. + +"Where do you go, master?" he asked, after our first greetings. + +I shrugged my shoulders. It was a hard question. "To all the +world, "was my answer. "All the world, all the sea, and all the +islands that are in the sea." + +"I will go with you," he said simply. "My wife is dead." + +I never had a brother, but from what I have seen of other men's +brothers I doubt if any man ever had one who was to him what Otoo +was to me. He was brother, and father and mother as well. And +this I know--I lived a straighter and a better man because of +Otoo. I had to live straight in Otoo's eyes. Because of him I +dared not tarnish myself. He made me his ideal, compounding me, I +fear, chiefly out of his own love and worship; and there were +times when I stood close to the steep pitch of hell and would +have taken the plunge had not the thought of Otoo restrained me. +His pride in me entered into me until it became one of the major +rules in my personal code to do nothing that would diminish that +pride of his. Naturally, I did not learn right away what his +feelings were toward me. He never criticised, never censured, and +slowly the exalted place I held in his eyes dawned upon me, and +slowly I grew to comprehend the hurt I could inflict upon him by +being anything less than my best. + +For seventeen years we were together. For seventeen years he was +at my shoulder, watching while I slept, nursing me through fever +and wounds, aye, and receiving wounds in fighting for me. He +signed on the same ships with me, and together we ranged the +Pacific from Hawaii to Sydney Head and from Torres Strait to the +Galapagos. We blackbirded from the New hebrides and the Line +Islands over to the westward, clear through the Louisiades, New +Britain, New Ireland, and New Hanover. We were wrecked three +times--in the Gilberts, in the Santa Cruz group, and in the +Fijis. And we traded and salved wherever a dollar promised in the +way of pearl and pearl shell, copra, beche de mer, hawkbill +turtle shell, and stranded wrecks. + +It began in Papeete, immediately after his announcement that he +was going with me over all the sea and the islands in the midst +thereof. There was a club in those days in Papeete, where the +pearlers, traders, captains, and South Sea adventurers +foregathered. The play ran high and the drink ran high, and I am +very much afraid that I kept later hours than were becoming or +proper. No matter what the hour was when I left the club, there +was Otoo waiting to see me safely home. At first I smiled. Next I +chided him. Then I told him flatly I stood in need of no +wet-nursing. After that I did not see him when I came out of the +club. Quite by accident, a week or so later, I discovered that he +still saw me home, lurking across the street among the shadows of +the mango trees. What could I do? I know what I did do. +Insensibly I began to keep better hours. On wet and stormy +nights, in the thick of the folly and the fun, the thought would +come to me of Otoo keeping his dreary vigil under the dripping +mangoes. Truly, he made me a better man. + +Yet he was not strait-laced. And he knew nothing of common +Christian morality. All the people on Bora Bora were Christians. +But he was a heathen, the only unbeliever on the island, a gross +materialist who believed that when he died he was dead. He +believed merely in fair play and square-dealing. Petty meanness, +in his code, was almost as serious as wanton homicide, and I am +sure that he respected a murderer more than a man given to small +practices. Concerning me, personally, he objected to my doing +anything that was hurtful to me. Gambling was all right. He was +an ardent gambler himself. But late hours, he explained, were bad +for one's health. He had seen men who did not take care of +themselves die of fever. He was no teetotaler, and welcomed a +stiff nip any time when it was wet work in the boats. On the +other hand, he believed in liquor in moderation. He had seen many +men killed or disgraced by squareface or Scotch. + +Otoo had my welfare always at heart. He thought ahead for me, +weighed my plans and took a greater interest in them than I did +myself. At first, when I was unaware of this interest of his in +my affairs, he had to divine my intentions, as, for instance, at +Papeete, when I contemplated going partners with a knavish fellow +countryman on a guano venture. I did not know he was a knave. Nor +did any white man in Papeete. Neither did Otoo know; but he saw +how thick we were getting and found out for me, and that without +my asking. Native sailors from the ends of the seas knock about +on the beach in Tahiti, and Otoo, suspicious merely, went among +them till he had gathered sufficient data to justify his +suspicions. Oh, it was a nice history, that of Randolph Waters! I +couldn't believe it when Otoo first narrated it, but when I +sheeted it home to Waters he gave in without a murmur and got +away on the first steamer to Auckland. + +At first, I am free to confess, I resented Otoo's poking his nose +into my business. But I knew that he was wholly unselfish, and +soon I had to acknowledge his wisdom and discretion. He had his +eyes open always to my main chance, and he was both keen-sighted +and far-sighted. In time he became my counselor, until he knew +more of my business than I did myself. He really had my interest +at heart more than I did. Mine was the magnificent carelessness +of youth, for I preferred romance to dollars, and adventure to a +comfortable billet with all night in. So it was well that I had +some one to look out for me. I know that if it had not been for +Otoo, I should not be here to-day. + +Of numerous instances, let me give one. I had had some experience +in blackbirding before I went pearling in the Paumotus. Otoo and +I were on the beach in Samoa--we really were on the beach and +hard aground--when my chance came to go as a recruiter on a +blackbird brig. Otoo signed on before the mast, and for the next +half-dozen years, in as many ships, we knocked about the wildest +portions of Melanesia. Otoo saw to it that he always pulled +stroke-oar in my boat. Our custom, in recruiting labor, was to +land the recruiter on the beach. The covering boat always lay on +its oars several hundred feet off shore, while the recruiter's +boat, also lying on its oars, kept afloat on the edge of the +beach. When I landed with my trade goods, leaving my steering +sweep apeak, Otoo left his stroke position and came into the +stern sheets, where a Winchester lay ready to hand under a flap +of canvas. The boat's crew was also armed, the Sniders concealed +under canvas flaps that ran the length of the gunwales. While I +was busy arguing and persuading the woolly-headed cannibals to +come and labor on the Queensland plantations Otoo kept watch. And +often and often his low voice warned me of suspicious actions and +impending treachery. Sometimes it was the quick shot from his +rifle, knocking a nigger over, that was the first warning I +received. And in my rush to the boat his hand was always there to +jerk me flying aboard. + +Once, I remember, on Santa Anna, the boat grounded just as the +trouble began. The covering boat was dashing to our assistance, +but the several score of savages would have wiped us out before +it arrived. Otoo took a flying leap ashore, dug both hands into +the trade goods, and scattered tobacco, beads, tomahawks, knives, +and calicoes in all directions. This was too much for the woolly +heads. While they scrambled for the treasures, the boat was +shoved clear and we were aboard and forty feet away. And I got +thirty recruits off that very beach in the next four hours. + +The particular instance I have in mind was on Malaita, the most +savage island in the easterly Solomons. The natives had been +remarkably friendly; and how were we to know that the whole +village had been taking up a collection for over two years with +which to buy a white man's head? The beggars are all +head-hunters, and they especially esteem that of a white man. The +fellow who captured the head would receive the whole collection. +As I say, they appeared very friendly, and this day I was fully a +hundred yards down the beach from the boat. Otoo had cautioned +me, and, as usual when I did not heed him, I came to grief. The +first thing I knew a cloud of spears sailed out of the mangrove +swamp at me. At least a dozen were sticking into me. I started to +run, but tripped over one that was fast in my calf and went down. +The woolly heads made a run for me, each with a long-handled, +fantail tomahawk with which to hack off my head. They were so +eager for the prize that they got in one another's way. In the +confusion I avoided several hacks by throwing myself right and +left on the sand. Then Otoo arrived--Otoo the man-handler. In +some way he had got hold of a heavy war-club, and at close +quarters it was a far more efficient weapon than a rifle. He was +right in the thick of them, so that they could not spear him, +while their tomahawks seemed worse than useless. He was fighting +for me, and he was in a true Berserker rage. The way he handled +that club was amazing. Their skulls squashed like overripe +oranges. It was not until he had driven them back, picked me up +in his arms, and started to run, that he received his first +wounds. He arrived in the boat with four spear-thrusts, got his +Winchester, and with it got a man for every shot. Then we pulled +aboard the schooner and doctored up. + +Seventeen years we were together. He made me. I should to-day be +a supercargo, a recruiter, or a memory, if it had not been for +him. + +"You spend your money, and you go out and get more," he said, one +day. "It is easy to get money, now. But when you get old, your +money will be spent and you will not be able to go out and get +more. I know, master. I have studied the way of white men. On the +beaches are many old men who were young once and who could get +money just like you. Now they are old, and they have nothing, and +they wait about for the young men like you to come ashore and buy +drinks for them. + +"The black boy is a slave on the plantations. He gets twenty +dollars a year. He works hard. The overseer does not work hard. +He rides a horse and watches the black boy work. He gets twelve +hundred dollars a year. I am a sailor on the schooner. I get +fifteen dollars a month. That is because I am a good sailor. I +work hard. The captain has a double awning and drinks beer out of +long bottles. I have never seen him haul a rope or pull an oar. +He gets one hundred and fifty dollars a month. I am a sailor. He +is a navigator. Master, I think it would be very good for you to +know navigation. + +Otoo spurred me on to it. He sailed with me as second mate on my +first schooner, and he was far prouder of my command than was I +myself. Later on it was: + +"The captain is well paid, master, but the ship is in his keeping +and he is never free from the burden. It is the owner who is +better paid, the owner who sits ashore with many servants and +turns his money over." + +"True, but a schooner costs five thousand dollars--an old +schooner at that," I objected. "I should be an old man before I +saved five thousand dollars. " + +"There be short ways for white men to make money," he went on, +pointing ashore at the cocoanut-fringed beach. + +We were in the Solomons at the time, picking up a cargo of +ivory-nuts along the east coast of Guadalcanar. + +"Between this river mouth and the next it is two miles," he said. +"The flat land runs far back. It is worth nothing now. Next +year--who knows!--or the year after--men will pay much money for +that land. The anchorage is good. Big steamers can lie close up. +You can buy the land four miles deep from the old chief for ten +thousand sticks of tobacco, ten bottles of squareface, and a +Snider, which will cost you maybe one hundred dollars. Then you +place the deed with the commissioner, and the next year, or the +year after, you sell and become the owner of a ship." + +I followed his lead, and his words came true, though in three +years instead of two. Next came the grass-lands deal on +Guadalcanar--twenty thousand acres on a governmental nine hundred +and ninety-nine years' lease at a nominal sum. I owned the lease +for precisely ninety days, when I sold it to the Moonlight Soap +crowd for half a fortune. Always it was Otoo who looked ahead and +saw the opportunity. He was responsible for the salving of the +Doncaster--bought in at auction for five hundred dollars and +clearing fifteen thousand after every expense was paid. He led me +into the Savaii plantation and the cocoa venture on Upolu. + +We did not go seafaring so much as in the old days now. I was too +well off. I married and my standard of living rose; but Otoo +remained the same old-time Otoo, moving about the house or +trailing through the office, his wooden pipe in his mouth, a +shilling undershirt on his back, and a four-shilling lava-lava +about his loins. I could not get him to spend money. There was no +way of repaying him except with love, and God knows he got that +in full measure from all of us. The children worshiped him, and +if he had been spoilable my wife would surely have been his +undoing. + +The children! He really was the one who showed them the way of +their feet in the world practical. He began by teaching them to +walk. He sat up with them when they were sick. One by one, when +they were scarcely toddlers, he took them down to the lagoon and +made them into amphibians. He taught them more than I ever knew +of the habits of fish and the ways of catching them. In the bush +it was the same thing. At seven, Tom knew more woodcraft than I +ever dreamed existed. At six, Mary went over the Sliding Rock +without a quiver--and I have seen strong men balk at that feat. +And when Frank had just turned six he could bring up shillings +from the bottom in three fathoms. + +"My people in Bora Bora do not like heathen; they are all +Christians; and I do not like Bora Bora Christians," he said one +day, when I, with the idea of getting him to spend some of the +money that was rightfully his, had been trying to persuade him to +make a visit to his own island in one of our schooners--a special +voyage that I had hoped to make a record-breaker in the matter of +prodigal expense. + +I say one of OUR schooners, though legally, at the time, they +belonged to me. I struggled long with him to enter into +partnership. + +"We have been partners from the day the Petite Jeanne went down," +he said at last. "But if your heart so wishes, then shall we +become partners by the law. I have no work to do, yet are my +expenses large. I drink and eat and smoke in plenty--it costs +much, I know. I do not pay for the playing of billiards, for I +play on your table; but still the money goes. Fishing on the reef +is only a rich man's pleasure. It is shocking, the cost of hooks +and cotton line. Yes, it is necessary that we be partners by the +law. I need the money. I shall get it from the head clerk in the +office." + +So the papers were made out and recorded. A year later I was +compelled to complain. + +"Charley," said I, "you are a wicked old fraud, a miserly +skinflint, a miserable land-crab. Behold, your share for the year +in all our partnership has been thousands of dollars. The head +clerk has given me this paper. It says that during the year you +have drawn just eighty-seven dollars and twenty cents." + +"Is there any owing me?" he asked anxiously. + +"I tell you thousands and thousands," I answered. + +His face brightened as with an immense relief. + +"It is well," he said. "See that the head-clerk keeps good +account of it. When I want it, I shall want it, and there must +not be a cent missing. If there is," he added fiercely, after a +pause, "it must come out of the clerk's wages." + +And all the time, as I afterward learned, his will, drawn up by +Carruthers and making me sole beneficiary, lay in the American +consul's safe. + +But the end came as the end must come to all human associations. +It occurred in the Solomons, where our wildest work had been done +in the wild young days, and where we were once more--principally +on a holiday, incidentally to look after our holdings on Florida +Island and to look over the pearling possibilities of the Mboli +Pass. We were lying at Savo, having run in to trade for curios. +Now Savo is alive with sharks. The custom of the woolly heads of +burying their dead in the sea did not tend to discourage the +sharks from making the adjacent waters a hang-out. It was my luck +to be coming aboard in a tiny, overloaded, native canoe, when the +thing capsized. There were four woolly heads and myself in it, or +rather, hanging to it. The schooner was a hundred yards away. I +was just hailing for a boat when one of the woolly heads began to +scream. Holding on to the end of the canoe, both he and that +portion of the canoe were dragged under several times. Then he +loosed his clutch and disappeared. A shark had got him. + +The three remaining niggers tried to climb out of the water upon +the bottom of the canoe. I yelled and cursed and struck at the +nearest with my fist, but it was no use. They were in a blind +funk. The canoe could barely have supported one of them. Under +the three it up-ended and rolled sidewise, throwing them back +into the water. + +I abandoned the canoe and started to swim toward the schooner, +expecting to be picked up by the boat before I got there. One of +the niggers elected to come with me, and we swam along silently, +side by side, now and again putting our faces into the water and +peering about for sharks. The screams of the men who stayed by +the canoe informed us that they were taken. I was peering into +the water when I saw a big shark pass directly beneath me. He was +fully sixteen feet in length. I saw the whole thing. He got the +woolly head by the middle and away he went, the poor devil, head, +shoulders, and arms out of water all the time, screeching in a +heart-rending way. He was carried along in this fashion for +several hundred feet, when he was dragged beneath the surface. + +I swam doggedly on, hoping that that was the last unattached +shark. But there was another. Whether it was one that had +attacked the natives earlier, or whether it was one that had made +a good meal elsewhere, I do not know. At any rate, he was not in +such haste as the others. I could not swim so rapidly now, for a +large part of my effort was devoted to keeping track of him. I +was watching him when he made his first attack. By good luck I +got both hands on his nose, and, though his momentum nearly +shoved me under, I managed to keep him off. He veered clear and +began circling about again. A second time I escaped him by the +same maneuver. The third rush was a miss on both sides. He +sheered at the moment my hands should have landed on his nose, +but his sandpaper hide--I had on a sleeveless undershirt--scraped +the skin off one arm from elbow to shoulder. + +By this time I was played out and gave up hope. The schooner was +still two hundred feet away. My face was in the water and I was +watching him maneuver for another attempt, when I saw a brown +body pass between us. It was Otoo. + +"Swim for the schooner, master," he said, and he spoke gayly, as +though the affair was a mere lark. "I know sharks. The shark is +my brother." + +I obeyed, swimming slowly on, while Otoo swam about me, keeping +always between me and the shark, foiling his rushes and +encouraging me. + +"The davit-tackle carried away, and they are rigging the falls," +he explained a minute or so later, and then went under to head +off another attack. + +By the time the schooner was thirty feet away I was about done +for. I could scarcely move. They were heaving lines at us from on +board, but these continually fell short. The shark, finding that +it was receiving no hurt, had become bolder. Several times it +nearly got me, but each time Otoo was there just the moment +before it was too late. Of course Otoo could have saved himself +any time. But he stuck by me. + +"Good by, Charley, I'm finished," I just managed to gasp. + +I knew that the end had come and that the next moment I should +throw up my hands and go down. + +But Otoo laughed in my face, saying: + +"I will show you a new trick. I will make that shark damn sick." + +He dropped in behind me, where the shark was preparing to come at +me. + +"A little more to the left," he next called out. "There is a line +there on the water. To the left, master, to the left." + +I changed my course and struck out blindly. I was by that time +barely conscious. As my hand closed on the line I heard an +exclamation from on board. I turned and looked. There was no sign +of Otoo. The next instant he broke surface. Both hands were off +at the wrist, the stumps spouting blood. + +"Otoo," he called softly, and I could see in his gaze the love +that thrilled in his voice. Then, and then only, at the very last +of all our years, he called me by that name. + +"Good by, Otoo," he called. + +Then he was dragged under, and I was hauled aboard, where I +fainted in the captain's arms. + +And so passed Otoo, who saved me and made me a man, and who saved +me in the end. We met in the maw of a hurricane and parted in the +maw of a shark, with seventeen intervening years of comradeship +the like of which I dare to assert have never befallen two men, +the one brown and the other white. If Jehovah be from his high +place watching every sparrow fall, not least in His Kingdom shall +be Otoo, the one heathen of Bora Bora. And if there be no place +for him in that Kingdom, then will I have none of it. + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII No.2 AUGUST 1910 + + +THE QUESTION "HOW?" {page 205-208} + +By WILLIAM HANNA THOMSON, M.D., LL.D. + +Author of " Brain and Personality," "What is Physical Life?" etc. + +Physician to the Roosevelt Hospital; Consulting Physician to the +New York State Manhattan Hospital for the Insane; formerly +Professor of the Practice of Medicine and Diseases of the Nervous +System, New York University Medical College; Ex-President of the +New York Academy of Medicine, etc. + + +IN one of Carlyle's earliest productions, dealing with the +philosophy of Clothes, he showed that a man quite plainly reveals +his inner self by what he wears. So we would now discuss what the +being, Man, reveals about himself by his eternal question, "How?" + +As language is a lofty endowment and, moreover, on this earth +exclusively human, we would lead up to the subject by stating +what the parts of speech are. + +According to the Arabs, who surpass all other peoples in the +study of language--for they claim that they have twenty-five +thousand books on grammar in their literature--the parts of +speech are three; and, as one of their old scholars states, this +threefold division of speech is not confined to one language, but +is universal, because human speech does not differ with the +difference of human tongues. These three parts are: first, +nouns--the names of things; second, verbs--the names of events; +and, third, the partitives--or the words which express the +relations of things to events. Thus the most abstract of verbs, +"to be," refers to an event; for when a man says, "I am," he is +mentioning an event in the history of the universe which did not +occur till he existed. + +This division, however, necessitates that the adjectives should +be regarded as nouns; and so they are classed in all Semitic +languages, as the Hebrew, the Arabic, the Syriac, etc. The +writers of the New Testament, therefore, could not write Greek +without continually falling into their native Hebrew idiom; so +that if the passages were translated literally, some modern +expositions would have to be much modified. Thus, "Who created +the worlds by the word of his power" means "Who created the +worlds by his powerful word." "The body of our humiliation" is +"our humiliating body." "Who shall deliver me from the body of +this death?" is "from this deadly body," as the context of the +passage clearly shows. In each case the second noun is the +adjective modifying the first. + +Moreover, the most interesting deduction from this division of +the parts of speech is that the partitives are far the highest in +rank among words, because they express pure relations, which only +the royal mind of man can so distinctly perceive as to make words +for them. Thus, a dog can learn his own name, and understand the +verbs "go" and "come," especially with the imperative tone of his +master; but he could never understand the words "outgoing year" +or "incoming year." + +Prepositions belong to the partitives, and, with different +prepositions attached to one and the same thing or noun, the +human mind can step through the vast regions of thought as easily +as the ether can vibrate through space. Thus the Latin scriptio, +the name of a thing, a writing, gives us the following changes, +according to the preposition: An Ascription is not a +CONscription, by any means; nor does a conscription mean anything +like a DEScription; nor is that the same thing with an +INscription; nor when we PREscribe for a man are we PROscribing +him; and every one of us knows, when the agent of a worthy cause +enters, what the difference is between a SUBscription and a +SUPERscription. + +To the adverbs, however, must be given the preeminence among all +human words. But even here there are gradations in rank. Thus the +adverb, "Why?" may be nothing but a question of curiosity, and +hence its idea may be suggested to an inquisitive monkey. But it +is not so with the question, "How?" "Why?" may be answered by an +affirmation, but "How?" can be answered only by a demonstration. +Now, as our object is to call speech to witness as to what is in +man, or, in other words, what man is himself, we will proceed to +analyze the testimony of this word, "How?" + + + "HOW" FINDS A PLANET + +First: It does not refer to anything which appears on the +surface. Instead, it seeks to find the hidden and the unknown by +following up one clue after another. When the astronomer, +Leverrier, found that the planets Saturn and Uranus did not come +to time, he asked himself how that could be. Meanwhile, the +answer to any number of "hows" must have been previously +demonstrated by him and by other astronomers before the movements +of these great and distant heavenly bodies could be shown as not +according to the clock-like regularity of planets in their +courses. He reasoned that only one probable "how" could account +for the facts; namely, another planet of just such a size and +weight, and moving at just such a distance, would suffice thus to +hold back Saturn and Uranus in their orbits. And so he calculated +how large this heavenly body was, how heavy it was, and then just +where it was, until, by this human but sure detective system, +astronomers caught sight of Neptune--after Leverrier told them +where to look for it. + +But, after all, to decide how the vast heavenly bodies move in +space is easy compared with finding out how to make a sewing +machine go. For a needle to thread itself and then rapidly +proceed to sew without the help of fingers calls for the +discovery of more "hows" than are needed to explain Laplace's +"Mecanique celeste." Mass and gravity suffice for the one, but +only a Yankee's mind could have created the other. + +We have now come to a great word--"create." A creator is a being +who gives origin to things which would not exist but for his +intelligent purpose and design. Now, man has simply filled this +earth with his own creations, all due to himself alone and to +none other, and all again by pondering the question, "How?" He +began, for instance, by putting a hole through a flint hatchet, +and ended with putting a hole through the Alps. In this last, an +engineer stood at the foot of the great mountain and asked +himself how he could tunnel it for nations to pass through. He +saw a small stream dashing down the mountainside and at once +found his desired "how," for he made that stream work big drills +by compressed air, till the everlasting rocks themselves had to +give in. + +But man is an infinite creator--by which we mean that his +creative capacity is limitless and inexhaustible. No sooner does +he create one thing than he turns to create another thing totally +different from it. A locomotive thundering past with a long train +has no resemblance to a telegraph line, nor that, in turn, to a +great printing press. Man coolly sets at defiance the most +fundamental laws of physical science. + +Thus, a heavy load of passengers, sitting in no less heavy cars, +if put on a smooth inclined plane must slide down faster and +faster to the bottom, or Vulcan would be confounded. But man +strings a thin wire overhead, which would snap instantly if the +load gave it one pull; but something which, some "how," man +causes to pass along that wire, makes the trolley with its live +freight go uphill faster than a horse can run. + + + THE ETHER ENSLAVED + + +And what about that mysterious ether? It can neither be seen, +heard, felt, handled, smelt, nor tasted. Nevertheless, man has +learned so much about its "how" that he is turning it into as +menial a servant, obedient to his wishes, as he has made of +electricity, the cause of sublime thunder; for man bids the ether +carry his stock quotations or any other message of his to the +ends of the earth. + +These are great doings, but really no greater than his small +doings, for the least of these is just as impossible for other +earthly creatures as are an Alpine tunnel or a battleship. A +large convention of chimpanzees could not combine to make one pin +or one sleeve-button, if they tried. + +All this is because man is native to the world of relations, +which no other earthly beings are, because they cannot go beyond +the information provided by their bodily senses. Man, on the +contrary, gains infinitely more knowledge than his bodily senses +can afford. By studying the relations of abstract points to +abstract lines, he becomes a mathematician. Following up the many +"hows" of chemistry, he talks about molecules, atoms, and ions as +fluently as: if he had seen or handled them. + + + MAN IS INVISIBLE + +This explains how man can and does create. Every great invention +existed first in the mind of the inventor. So the great engineer +who made the Brooklyn Bridge never had to handle one of the +materials used in its construction, for every stone, wire, and +bolt was provided for in that engineer's mind before any part of +that tremendous mass of matter could be seen on the earth. + +Moreover, this great human creator is as invisible as the Divine +Creator Himself. People are continually saying that they will not +believe in a thing till they can see it, thus pinning their faith +to the testimony of that one of our senses which makes more +mistakes than do all our other senses put together. When a man +six feet high is a mile off, it says that he is only six inches +high. The eye can see nothing of the vast microscopic living +world which lies within six inches of the eyeball, and so we have +had to invent a microscope to make up for this serious +deficiency. But what would the Russian Witte not have given if he +could have telegraphed to St. Petersburg that he had actually +SEEN the Japanese Komura while they were talking about making +peace at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and that he knew just what +the courteous Jap thought and proposed! All that he saw was the +Asiatic's smiling face and other things of his outside. Every +human personality belongs to the real world, the world of the +Unseen, and cannot be known except as he chooses to reveal +himself. + + + BRAIN NOT THE MAN + +Some persons might object here that the brain is both visible and +tangible in man, and that man is in his brain, and, therefore, +the brain is man. Medical science, however, shows that the brain +no more thinks than the hand and foot do, but is simply the +instrument of the invisible thinker. The proof of this is that we +have two brains, just as we have two eyes and two ears, but that +only one of our two brain hemispheres is the instrument for +talking, thinking, or knowing. Which one of the two hemispheres +will be the mental one will depend altogether on how it has been +TAUGHT by the invisible thinker, who will begin to teach the left +hemisphere if he is right-handed, or the right hemisphere if he +is left-handed. He will leave the other hemisphere in each case +wholly speechless or thoughtless, and concerned only with the +business of governing the muscles or receiving the bodily +sensations of its corresponding side. If brain matter really +itself thought, we should have two thinking and speaking +hemispheres--and this the first case of loss of speech by an +apoplectic clot would disprove. + +"By thy words thou shalt be judged." This means that man is to be +judged by his own creations, for it is only men who create words. +By their words they show what is in them, both intellectually and +morally. We have demonstrated that the being who can ask the +question, "How?" naturally belongs to the universe. Already he +knows what stuff inconceivably distant stars are made of; and the +"how" to know that he found in a small glass prism. + + + THE MORAL "HOW" + + +It would seem, therefore, as if it were by some temporary +accident that he is held to this little material speck of matter +called the earth. And this impression grows upon us as we study +the greatest facts of human life. We enter this world knowing +nothing and not nearly so well equipped to take care of ourselves +as are other animals. There is no helplessness like that of a +babe. But wonderfully early he begins to ask the question, "How?" +A little boy will ask more questions in a day than his father +will ask in a week; nor can he be stopped or deceived, because +the question, "Why?" you can answer as you please, but not "How?" + +He who can ask "How?" can be a learner as long as he exists, +whether here or hereafter. In his life here he may become either +a great financier or a great statesman, but certainly not either +unless he knows how. Any education, in fact, is simply learning +how. + +What is true in the intellectual world is still more true in the +moral world. Whenever a question bearing on morals enters, every +one should stop and ask, "How?" A mistake here is like entering +the wrong gate in a large railroad station. The longer you stay +in its corresponding train, the farther it will take you from +where you should go. For example, there are some who say that the +human will is not free, but that our actions are all, in the last +analysis, according to our make-up. In other words, we are +machines which must go as they are made to go. There is, +therefore, no right nor wrong in human conduct, for machines +cannot be held responsible for conduct or the way they go--there +can be no sinful automobile or wicked windmill. + +According to these reasoners, therefore, when human law punishes +one who has robbed a widow of all she had, or has seduced the +daughter of a friend, or committed a cold-blooded murder, the law +is wholly illogical in punishing him, because, since he is a +machine, his punishment is like throwing a clock out of a window +if it does not keep good time. The only answer to such a talker +should be, "Get out!" with particular emphasis on the "out." + + +----WHO WOULD BE A YOUNG LADY + +By SARAH N. CLEGHORN + +1830 + +Sister walks past the garden wall + In monstrous hoop, and slippers small, + And polonaise, and sash, and all, + To join the Dorcas Circle. + +She'll sit indoors, and stitch, and moon, + And sip her tea, and clink her spoon, + This whole blue, breezy afternoon! + For so do all Young Ladies. + +Come, Poll, come, Bet! Escaped from school, + We'll wade across the shallows cool + Of Roaring Tom and Silver Pool, + And climb the pines of Randal. + +Far up the mountain path we'll go, + And leave the Raven Rocks below, + And creep inside the caves of snow, + To hear their echoes thunder! + +Let briers scratch, let brambles tear + Our oft-patched frocks--we shall not care: + Green are the woods, and fresh the air; + Then who would be a Young Lady? + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII No.2 AUGUST 1910 + + +INSTEAD OF AN ARTICLE {page 209-214} +About Pittsburg and, Incidentally, about Editing a Magazine + + + +Important articles in magazines of the type of "COLLIER'S," +"MCCLURE'S," the "AMERICAN," and "EVERYBODY'S," like plays, are +rewritten rather than written. Too begin with, there must be the +idea, then to find the man or woman best able to embody it. That +settled, the author must steep himself in his subject. When he +acquires mastery, his findings are written down and submitted to +the editor. This may take months; it often requires years. + +It has happened that the editor did not know what he wanted until +he read this first draft. Now he has the subject spread before +him by an authority. His associates all read it and criticise. +Sometimes that first draft is flawless, but most often it is +returned to the author with direction for reconstruction. The +process may be repeated half a dozen times. Finally the +manuscript is satisfactory, which means that it is valuable, +simply expressed, and readable. It is in shape for publication. +It is put into type and sent around to outside experts who are +the representative authorities on the subject. + +In these days a magazine can afford to have its conclusions +disputed, but its facts must be incontrovertible. Perhaps the +trouble the big publications take to be right--and that means +square and just, as well as accurate--explains such prestige and +influence as they now enjoy in America. + +At a women's club gathering in Mississippi, recently, Harris +Dickson told his audience something about an article of his that +had recently appeared in "EVERYBODY'S." He explained that a +manuscript written by another man had been sent him to put in +shape. The facts were there, and the moral, but the treatment was +technical. It lacked carrying power. Dickson knew nothing of the +other author, and so proceeded to get up the subject at first +hand. He took not one of the facts for granted. After three +months he returned the revised manuscript to the magazine. It was +sent back, with specific directions for rewriting. In due course +he again remailed it to the editor, who congratulated him on his +achievement--for that is what it was. Then the article, having +attained a satisfactory form (it was on Fraternal Insurance), was +sent round among the experts. The first man who read it was a +high official of one of the old line insurance companies, but a +hearty believer in the fraternal system. He returned it with +approval and an elaborate criticism. Then it was submitted to the +chief insurance commissioner of a western state--the undoubted +political authority on the subject. The approval and criticisms +of both men, with the manuscript, were again forwarded to Mr. +Dickson. The necessary corrections having been incorporated, the +manuscript was ready for the printer. To make assurance doubly +sure, proofs were sent out to prominent officials of leading +fraternal organizations, who returned them with most commendatory +letters. And then, and only then, did it appear in the magazine. + +Mr. Dickson's audience, doubtless under the impression that +magazines are produced by editors out of the contributions sent +them by mail, expressed surprise that so much time, effort, and +money should be devoted to what seemed a comparatively +unimportant subject. Yet it involved a matter that concerned five +million men and their families, and a tremendous controversy. Its +appearance has made the controversy even keener, and of course +the enemies of sanity and good order in fraternalism are now +hurling bolts at us. However, when we have done our part and know +we are right, we stay put. + +Mr. Dickson told part of what to us is a familiar story. In this +instance he knew nothing of the time and trouble the author and +ourselves had taken just to get together the facts and place them +in the right perspective. We began on this particular article in +November, 1906, and during the interval it was being worked at or +over by one of some dozen men. The same is true of most of our +big series. "The Woman's Invasion" represented two and a half +years of work. Fifteen months elapsed between the delivery of +Judge Lindsey's first manuscript and the beginning of publication +in the magazine. Trained writers, the best men we know about, are +out investigating and gathering the facts for the articles we +will print a year hence. This is the process of magazine making +to-day. It is not peculiar to "EVERYBODY'S"; it is the rule with +"COLLIER'S," "MCCLURE'S," the AMERICAN, and SUCCESS." + + + INSTEAD OF AN ARTICLE + +This is all by way of introduction to the story of an article +that was not written. About the time the Pittsburg flare-up began +to show itself in the papers, it occurred to us that some +exposition of the situation there would be of value and interest +to our readers. Before going about it, we debated it very +carefully. Some of us in the office (and this magazine is edited +by all of us) were fairly familiar with the subject, and we +believed it would subserve no useful purpose to tackle it along +the "Shame of the Cities" lines. We agreed that the way to +approach Pittsburg was to consider what had happened there, not +as a sporadic outburst, but as an economic symptom. Whom could we +get that was far enough from the controversies involved to treat +the subject objectively and with a big perspective? Brand +Whitlock. The Mayor of Toledo knows more about cities and their +governments, and the evils that arise within them, than any other +man, and he can write--with knowledge, with sympathy, with +clarity. Also he knew Pittsburg. So we telegraphed to find if he +was free to write an article, and, when he replied in the +affirmative, the following letter was sent him: + + April 1, 1910. DEAR MR. WHITLOCK: + +The article we want is on Pittsburg. It is neither our purpose +nor our desire merely to "muckrake" Pittsburg or any other city. +The eruption there is typical of similar conditions in other +great civic centers throughout the country, and it seems to us it +might be made the text of a diagnosis of the whole municipal +problem in America. + +Here are a few thoughts that occur to me which might be +represented: + +We have come to realize that the real trouble in our country is +Privilege. Big business, in its ruthless pursuit of results, has +the ultimate responsibility for the ills that confront us in +political, social, and commercial life. The graft scandals, the +bank defalcations, etc., are simply symptoms of internal +disorders. They are the eruptions of the disease. + +Pittsburg might be called the typical get-rich-quick community. +Its great wealth is based on the abundant coal and iron with +which the Creator loaded its environment. Down on those deposits +fasten thousands of Americans seized with the mania of +money-making. They coin the coal and iron into millions. They +work feverishly; they work their men furiously. It's a mad, +frenzied scramble for success and sensation. To get rich quicker, +they exact excessive protection from Congress--first to prop up +infant industries, then to consolidate abnormal profits. If the +government undertakes to deny their demands, they bluster first, +then intrigue, then intimidate. Mills are closed down; the +"prosperity" of the country is threatened, lobbies are organized, +corruption funds subscribed, until Congress succumbs and new +"jokers" are written into steel tariffs. + +In the meantime a huge city is upreared. But this city is run for +the benefit of its industries, not for the comfort of its +inhabitants. Street railway, gas, electric corporations are +organized, ostensibly to serve the community, actually enabling a +greedy group to make more money. Again, what cannot be gained by +request is won by force and guile. + +Over and over again the various processes are repeated, until you +have built up a sort of City Monstrous, dedicated to machinery, +in which all the men and many of the women are just machines, and +there is no ideal save that of feverish industrial adventure and +accomplishment. Power--blind, ruthless, marvel-working, bending +backs and bodies to its will--is Pittsburg's god, and Success its +divine attribute Success that spells Gold, the instrument of +exploitation and sensation. What wonder that weaker men, +confronted by the colossal rewards of industrial conquest, are +frenzied with the gold fever? In the absence of communal +patriotism, graft becomes an incident. Graft and greed are the +minor watchwords of success. Get money, anyway--but get it. Is it +surprising that cashiers graft, that aldermen graft, that city +officials graft, that there's a very pandemonium of graft? Isn't +it the way the other fellows get rich? + +All of a sudden the poison clogs the pores, and the infection +blotches the surface--and every one is horrified. The great +manufacturers, the great merchants, the great lawyers--high +priests of the Power God--throw up their hands. Can such things +be? Dreadful, horrible!--blindly oblivious of their own +responsibility for the epidemic. + +More startling still to the conquerors were the pitiless +revelations of the Survey, exhibiting in mathematical terms the +cost to the human factor of this monstrous material success. +Hordes of anaemic, emaciated men and women, exhausted by long +hours of toil, piled thick in wretched hovels, underfed, +half-clothed, dragging out a miserable existence unrelieved by +leisure or rest or recreation--the Juggernaut toll of +efficiency--of the passion for results at any price. Against this +horror, what avails Pittsburg's panorama of splendid churches, of +lordly palaces, of noble art museums, of great orchestras, richly +endowed educational institutions--the patriotic tribute of the +conquerors to civilization? What is this boasted civilization of +ours worth--not Pittsburg's only, for Pittsburg is an +incident--if it be reared on the wrecked and depleted bodies of +men at its base? + +There would then be the opportunity in the article to suggest the +regenerated Pittsburg--all this furious energy hitherto devoted +to material success turned to social betterment and decent +government. The turn of the worker comes. The conquerors, having +learned that they cannot take greedily what belongs to a +community, and find happiness, turn magnificently to the rescue +of their own downtrodden. The old question--what does it profit a +man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?--has been +burned into Pittsburg humanity once again. + +For several years the newspapers have carried stories about these +successive scandals in Pittsburg, until people have in a measure +become confused as to how they connect, whether all are really +parts of the same story. I doubt if the average man who reads the +article in the morning paper has a clear grasp of what has been +going on, and he can't discover it without hunting back through +the files. Once we published an article by Owen Wister about the +Capitol frauds in Pennsylvania, after the newspapers had been +printing countless columns on the subject for months, and it was +one of the most successful articles we have used, because of the +way it crystallized and interpreted the whole occurrence. + +A similar service is here suggested. Write the story of Pittsburg +dramatically; crystallize the big exposures of the last few years +through which bankers and politicians have been going to prison, +culminating with the present crisis in the City Council; bring +out the economic significance of these occurrences to Pittsburg, +to the United States. Such an article will help all of us to see +where we are "at," will help develop civic consciousness in New +York, Chicago, San Francisco. It is immensely well worth doing. + +I'm not dictating your article. What is written here is purely +suggestive. You must tell what you see and find in your own way. +You will, anyway. You know most of the facts. You are in touch +with the balance. We'll help to get material. If you will, you +can put up an article that the country will read. We'd like copy +as soon as possible. + Sincerely, + J. O'H. COSGRAVE, + + Editor. + + +Mr. Whitlock, replied, expressing willingness to handle the +subject along the lines indicated, and asked for whatever +assistance we could render him. William Hard, a member of our +editorial force, had spent some time in Pittsburg, acquiring +material for his "Woman's Invasion," and he recommended J. J. +Nordman, a reporter of that city, as the best man to equip Mr. +Whitlock with the historical details of the exposure. He would +thus have immediately a succinct, up-to-date statement of the +case for his use as a skeleton. + +Mr. Nordman was willing to help, and soon after got into +communication with Mr. Whitlock. Here is an account of his +service, which was accompanied by a letter from District Attorney +Blakeley, certifying to his reliability and knowledge of the +facts. + + May 10, 1910. +HON. BRAND WHITLOCK, Toledo, Ohio. +Dear Sir: + +Mr. Cosgrave has asked me to forward you matter bearing on the +Pittsburg graft expose and such clippings as I may have. + +I shall weave the facts together with no effort towards literary +form, but rather in letter form, and present it to you not later +than Monday next. + +Enclosed please find what I have termed a "Retrospect," being a +review of the political conditions leading to and making possible +the present expose. + +Such clippings as I have will be forwarded with matter. I enclose +letter from Mr. Blakeley. + +Very respectfully, +J. JEROME NORDMAN. + + +After that we waited, rather impatiently, it must be confessed, +for Whitlock's manuscript. After the passage of other admonitory +letters and telegrams, we received the following letter. We print +it "instead of an article." In our opinion, it is an +extraordinarily valuable summary of the whole subject of +municipal misrule. It goes far and beyond Pittsburg, and deep +into economic, social, and national conditions of which that city +is but an instance and an illustration. And, moreover, it sets +forth just how such an article, could we find the right man to do +it, should be written. Here it is: + + Executive Offices + THE CITY OF TOLEDO 3 June, 1910. +JOHN O'HARA COSGRAVE, Esquire,Editor +EVERYBODY'S MAGAZINE. +DEAR MR. COSGRAVE: + +The Pittsburg story is big, too big and too important and too +significant to do at second hand. I have had a valuable +correspondence with Mr. Nordman, and he has most kindly put his +information, and in clear form, at my disposal. He has sent me +his scrapbook of newspaper clippings, and he has written me at +length and in detail of the various exposures and prosecutions. I +have made inquiries, too, from friends, and I have been thinking +over the story that you propose. But it won't go, and I have +concluded that it ought not to go in that form; and that is the +only form in which it is possible for me now to tell it. + +I find just what I expected to find, or I find the familiar +symptoms of what I expected to find. The intelligent answers to +the several questions I put to Mr. Nordman after our first few +letters are exactly what I expected them to be. One city is all +cities; and all exhibit the same effects, proceeding from the +same causes. Look about you, anywhere, and if you see graft, and +bribery, and corruption, you'll find a bi-partisan machine +controlling nominations and elections to municipal offices, and +representing the few who consider themselves privileged to +exploit the people by means of franchises in public utilities, +etc. It's as easy as it is for a physician to tell what ails a +sallow and emaciated Southern "cracker" who shivers with chills +one day, and burns up with fever the next. + +And so, in Pittsburg, I found the usual Republican machine with +its big boss, the usual Democratic machine and its little boss, +and the two, as usual, working together, the Democratic boss and +his tools rewarded by a few small offices on "bi-partisan" +boards, and the like; then the street railway system and other +public utility corporations which these bosses represent, and for +which they procure franchises. And after this, the "better +element," the "eminently respectable" citizens, supporting this +combination, enjoying the fruits of its labor, and influencing +the business interests of the city in the way that gives such +perfect exemplification of the evils of class government in our +cities--the same, old, sordid story. + +The revelations, as they are called--though by this time they +should have ceased to be revelations, and have become +"recognitions" in this country--made by the newspaper clippings +before me are the expected indications of the deeper, underlying +causes. The superficial observer sees in them merely a corrupt +council; and, from the fact that councilmen have taken bribes, he +makes the daring deduction that some one gave them the bribes; he +sees that councilmen have been grafting, and then is naively +astonished by the revelation that some business men higher up, +although not very much higher up, have been caught and publicly +disgraced. He sees, too, a brave and fearless prosecutor who is +sending these men to prison; and there are the usual predictions +that out of all this there is to come to Pittsburg "good" +government--that is, government by honest men, to be aided, +perhaps, by the adoption of the commission plan. That is to say, +we have here the subject only in its personal aspect, and not in +its institutional, sociological, economic aspect. + + + THE SAME OLD STORY OF GRAFT + +Now, to be frank, the story of the grafting doesn't interest me +much, though it is as saddening and depressing as ever; and I +can't work up enough enthusiasm for that feature of it to write +anything that would be worth your while to print, or worth +anybody's while to read. Toward the subject I feel the same +apathy that was felt toward the ordinary newspaper account of +some casualty by Thoreau, who would not read, as you will +remember, the accounts--for example--of crimes and accidents, +because, having once grasped the principle, he felt it +unnecessary to multiply, indefinitely, instances of that +principle. The story of Pittsburg, so far as it has been related +to me, is merely the old, squalid story of municipal graft. I +have the names and the dates in an orderly and logical way--who +were sent to the penitentiary, and when, and for what particular +crime, and what the judge said in pronouncing sentence, etc. All +of this has been told over and over and over again in the +newspapers and magazines during the last few years; the only +difference lies in the names and the dates and the place. Indeed, +Pittsburg's story in this respect is hardly as interesting as the +old stories--it is, if anything, more commonplace, more squalid. + +But behind all this, there is, of course, a story, and a big one, +as you unerringly divined. Reading between the lines of the dry +recital of facts with which I have been provided, and peering a +little way behind the scenes, I come, I think, upon the real +story, the one that some one should write, the one that some one +should print. + +The first chapter, perhaps, is the story of the old political +machines in Pittsburg, and of that interesting, and--in certain +elemental, human senses--strong personality, Chris Magee, the +boss--who has a monument. + +Then, there is another personality, of a different sort, in +Blakeley, the district attorney. My accounts are meager and bald, +and yet I catch glimpses of a striking personality. This district +attorney, I should imagine, is a man with the best ideals of the +legal profession, honest, capable, sincere, and unafraid; a man, +withal, who knows life and politics and can play the game without +being soiled in its many contacts. What draws me to him, even at +this distance, is that he seems to have little of the Puritan in +him, as there is too apt to be in prosecutors who convict, and +push their victims within prison doors. And he is another chapter +of the story. But I don't know Blakeley; I can't describe him, I +can't interpret him, and I haven't the time nor the opportunity +just now to become acquainted with him. + +Then there is the story of the organization of the Civic League, +or whatever they call it, and especially the story of its +operations. These good citizens, it seems, hired a detective to +come and run their men down for them. To me the private detective +is not the most inspiring and heroic figure on our modern scene; +but that is neither here nor there. One of these detectives +evidently has not only ability but versatility, and in an +interesting manner combines the occupation of a detective with +the profession of an evangelist. It was not, however, he who +worked the old panel game--much as a black paramour might work it +down in the Tenderloin--on certain councilmen, led them into a +trap, and then exposed them--an achievement in confused morals +that has not been permitted to go unapplauded. There are those, +of course, in every city who could think fondly and smugly of +themselves as doing, in this way, preeminently the will of God; +and such deeds not infrequently make men self-righteous. + +But, of course, I may be mistaken about the present application +of this generalization, and, as I should like to be just, or, +what is better, to be charitable, I should hesitate, on such +unsupported conclusions, to write it down for the public eye. +There are, of course, those who with logic can justify the larger +end by the smaller means, and thus excuse certain deviations from +the straight line of the moral ideal, and thereby hold one back +from the temptation to divide his moral indignation about equally +between pursuer and pursued. But, if he claimed one's sympathy +for the pursuers, he could not prevent one's pity from going to +the ruined councilmen. + + + THE SHOCK TO CARNEGIE + +But beyond all this--and here I think I touch on the real +story--there is the peculiar temper and tendency of Pittsburg. +Pittsburg is an artistic center; fortunes have been lavished in +endowing schools and universities and palaces for art, on +symphonies and oratorios. All the expressions of a new, ruling +plutocracy are easily discernible here, as in all such epochs of +society recorded in history; just, for instance, as Ferrero +describes them in the last phases of the Roman Republic. And when +Carnegie returns, he sheds tears and wrings his hands because of +the corruption that has been exposed, and he fails, as many in +Pittsburg seem to fail, to note the necessary, if subtle, +relation that must exist between all this corruption and +debauchery between all this art and music, and--shall I say?--the +tariff on steel. + +This, however, isn't all; though this is part. Pittsburg is a +moral town; the most moral, in the conventional sense, in all +America. She won't even allow the kids to play baseball on a back +lot on Sunday. A woman, an old friend of mine who lives in +Pittsburg, said: "I think it very unfortunate that the Survey was +published. It overlooks Pittsburg's good points. For instance, +Pittsburg has more churches than any city of its size in America. +More people of our class go to church than in any place I ever +saw; more money is given to charity. People just pour out of +their houses and into the churches on Sunday morning." She was +quite serious--and she expressed Pittsburg, or the ruling class +of Pittsburg, exactly. + +Now I don't mean to say that Pittsburg is especially +hypocritical; but she does seem to be pharisaical. The article +about Pittsburg should find its beginnings, perhaps, away back in +the days of scholasticism, and come down through the moss hags of +Scotland; and its title should be "Pious Pittsburg," or something +like that. Written properly--if I am right--it would be an +eloquent exposition of phariseeism at its apotheosis. + + + THE REAL STORY OF PITTSBURG + +Now I can't write this, because I haven't the evidence to prove +what I see, or think I see. All I have is the mere outline--and +the outline applies, as I have said, to most cities. What one +should have is the color, the detail, the thousand and one little +things in the way of personality--you know what I mean; all that +which is necessary to "lend artistic verisimilitude to an +otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative." (I wish I were in New +York to-night! I'd go to the Casino and see the revival of "The +Mikado.") The Pittsburg story can't be written, and it should not +be written, without this; and to do it properly one would have to +spend much time in Pittsburg and become saturated with the +atmosphere of the place; and when he emerged, if he ever did +emerge, he would be ready to undertake this rather stupendous +study in psychology. I do not feel at all equipped for this task, +and no amount of material without the personal contact could +equip me for this service. With my material, I could only write +the old and squalid story of a rather commonplace exposure of +municipal grafting, and that wouldn't be worth while. + +The story of Pittsburg would be all that the story of any city +is--as I have indicated: the bi-partisan machine, the public +service corporation, etc.--but it would be more. It would +illustrate the curious effects of long acceptance of cold, +intellectual theories in place of religion, and how this develops +the ability to separate morals and manners; how one's theology +needn't interfere with one's religion, and all that. It would be +the story of the union of politics and business; and the trail +would lead up to those proud and insolent aristocracies that are +founded on the purchase of the privilege of making the laws, and +down to those stews of horror where they pay for the privilege of +breaking the laws. It would be the story of Chris Magee, the +good-natured, human boss; of Blakeley, the upright prosecutor; of +the methods of hired detectives and the corruption of +officialdom. Pittsburg has riches, art, organized charity, and +piety; but she lacks wealth, beauty, social justice, and +religion. And sending the "bad" to prison, and electing the +"good" to office, and changing the paper charters of the city, +are not going to work any real reform. They think they'll get +"good government" and "civic righteousness," and then their +problems will be solved. This is what they propose to do; this is +all they tell us now, and I can't write a story on that. The +story would be as futile as little legal reforms. + +It is, however, consoling and inspiring to believe--yes, to +know--that there are in Pittsburg--as in all cities--hundreds of +thousands of decent, virtuous, wholesome, toiling people; that +these make up by far the larger part of the population, too, and +that they will save Pittsburg, and make her as good as she is +great. It is a fact stimulating to the imagination and +encouraging to the soul that, in all these stores and shops and +mills, there are hard-working, modest, unknown thousands who are +pure and loyal, who are humanity's hope; that even the most +stunted and abused figures out of the Survey give more promise +than that class which rides upon their backs and devours them as +it rides. + +Good government, efficient government, if by those phrases is +meant, as is usually meant, government by the "good"--whoever +they may be!--and the efficient, will not do; it will avail +nothing to Pittsburg or to any city, to substitute for grafters, +great or petty, personally honest men who will legally give away +franchises for nothing, instead of bartering them illegally for +big bribes. Pittsburg can't be saved by an aristocracy of the +better element, she can be saved only by democracy--with a very +little "d." And she will be saved that way some day, never fear, +though not until all the other cities are similarly saved. + +I shall await with interest what you think of my suggestions. + + Your ever sincere friend, + BRAND WHITLOCK. + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII No.2 AUGUST 1910 + + +THE WOMEN OF TO-MORROW {page 215-226 part 1.} + +By WILLIAM HARD + + +EDITOR'S NOTE: It is commonly supposed that only the women of +poverty are affected by modern industrial conditions. On the +contrary, modern industrial conditions are having their greatest +influence among the women who, before marriage, enjoy wide +educational opportunities, and who, after marriage, enjoy the +blessing of partial leisure. It is among these women that +economic developments are producing the profoundest changes in +habit of life and in character of mind. Mr Hard, who will be +remembered by all readers of the "Woman's Invasion," has spent +two years in the diligent investigation of this subject, and has +acquired an authoritative knowledge of it. + +EVERY Jack has his Jill." It is a tender twilight thought, and it +more or less settles Jill. + +When the Census Man was at work in 1900, however, he went about +and counted 2,260,000 American women who were more than +twenty-five years old and who were still unmarried. + +It is getting worse (or better) with every passing decade, and +out of it is emerging a new ideal of education for women, an +ideal which seems certain to penetrate the whole educational +system of the United States, all the way from the elementary +schools to the universities. + +The Census Man groups us into age periods. The period from +twenty-five to twenty-nine is the most important matrimonially +because it is the one in which most of us get pretty well fixed +into our life work. Out of every 1,000 women in that period, in +the year 1890, the Census Man found 254 who were still unmarried. +In 1900, only ten years later, he found 275. + +There is not so much processional as recessional about marriage +at present. In navigating the stormy waters of life in the +realistic pages of the census reports, it is not till we reach +the comparatively serene, landlocked years from forty-five to +fifty-four that we find ourselves in an age-period in which the +number of single women has been reduced to less than ten per +cent. of the total. The rebound from this fact hits education +hard. As marriage recedes, and as the period of gainful work +before marriage lengthens, the need of real technical preparation +for that gainful work becomes steadily more urgent, and the +United States moves steadily onward into an era of trained women +as well as trained men. + +In Boston, at that big new college called Simmons--the first of +its kind in the United States--a regular four-year college of +which the aim is to send out every graduate technically trained +to earn her living in a certain specific occupation, there were +enrolled last year, besides some five hundred undergraduate +women, some eighty other women who had already earned their +bachelor's degrees at other colleges, such as Bryn Mawr, +Wellesley, Smith, Vassar, Radcliffe, Leland Stanford, and the +University of Montana. + +These eighty women, after eight years in elementary schools, four +years in high school, and four years in college, were taking one +year more in technical school in order to be--what? Not doctors +or lawyers or architects. Not anything in the "learned" +professions. But to be "social workers" in settlements or for +charity societies, to be librarians, to be stenographers and +secretaries. + +The Bachelor of Arts from Vassar who is going to be a +stenographer, and who is taking her year of graduate study at +Simmons, will go to work at the end of the year and then, six +months later, if she has made good, will get from Simmons the +degree of Bachelor of Science. At that point in her life she will +have two degrees and seventeen years of schooling behind her. A +big background. But we are beginning to do some training for +almost everything. + +Did you ever see a school of salesmanship for department-store +women employees? You can see one at the Women's Educational and +Industrial Union in Boston. Under the guidance of Mrs. Lucinda W. +Prince, the big department stores of Boston have come to think +enough of this school to send girls to it every morning and to +pay them full wages while they take a three months' course. + +If you will attend any of the classes, in arithmetic, in +textiles, in hygiene, in color and design, in demonstration +sales, in business forms, you will get not only a new view of the +art of selling goods over the counter but a new vision of a big +principle in education. + +In the class on color, for instance, you will at first be puzzled +by the vivid interest taken by the pupils in the theory of it. +You have never before observed in any classroom so intimate a +concern about rainbows, prisms, spectra, and the scientific +sources of aesthetic effects. Your mind runs back to your college +days and returns almost alarmed to this unacademic display of +genuine, spontaneous, unanimous enthusiasm toward a classroom +study of a theoretical subject. At last the reason for it works +into your mind. These girls are engaged in the practice of color +every afternoon, over hats, ribbons, waists, gloves, costumes. +When you begin once to study a subject which reaches practice in +your life, you cannot stop with practice. A law of your mind +carries you on to the philosophy of it. + +Right there you see the reason why trade training, broadly +contrived, broadens not only technique but soul, trains not only +to earn but to live. "Refined selling," some of the girls call +the salesmanship which they learn in Mrs. Prince's class. They +have perceived, to some extent, the relation between the arts and +sciences on the one hand and their daily work on the other. + +To a much greater extent has this relation been perceived by the +young woman who has taken the full four-year course in, say, +"Secretarial Studies" in Simmons and who, throughout her English, +her German, her French, her Sociology, and her History, as well +as throughout her Typewriting, her Shorthand, and her Commercial +Law, has necessarily kept in mind, irradiating every subject, the +light it may throw on the specific work she is to do. + +"Ah! There, precisely, is the danger. Every Jack should have his +Jill; but if every Jill has her job, why, there again the wedding +day goes receding some more into the future. Let them stop all +this foolishness and get married, as their grandparents did!" + +Poor Jack! Poor Jill! They get lectured at all the time about the +postponement of marriage, and they can no more control it than +they can control the size of the city of New York. Theoretically, +everybody on Manhattan Island could get up and go away and leave +the island vacant. Actually, it can't and won't be done. +Theoretically, we should all of us get married young. We fall in +love young enough. But, actually, we can't get married young, and +don't. The reasons are given later. Meanwhile, just notice, and +just ponder, the following facts. + +It was in the United States as a whole that the Census Man found +275 out of every 1,000 women in the twenty-five-to-twenty-nine +age--period unmarried. But the United States consists of +developed and undeveloped regions. The cities are the high points +of development. Look at the cities: + +In Chicago, out of every 1,000 women in the age period from +twenty-five to twenty-nine, there were 314 who were unmarried. In +Denver there were 331. In Manhattan and the Bronx there were 356. +In Minneapolis there were 369. In Philadelphia there were 387. + +Southern New England, however, is the most industrially developed +part of the United States, the part in which social conditions +like those of the older countries of the world are most nearly +reached. + +In Fall River, out of every 1,000 women in the +twenty-five-to-twenty-nine period, the unmarried were 391. In New +Haven they were 393. In Boston they were 452. + +In view of such facts, how can anybody object to the steps which +have been taken recently toward giving the women in the +manufacturing trades, as well as the women in the commercial +trades, some little preparation for the work in which they are +likely to spend so many years? + +In the Manhattan Trade School for Girls, in the last eighteen +months of record, the enrollment was 1,169. More and more the +girls in this school are willing to stay in it for a full year. +They have finished at least five grades of the public school, and +they are now learning to be milliners, to be dressmakers, to be +operators of electric-power machines, to be workers in paste and +glue in such occupations as candle-shade-making, to be workers +with brush and pencil in furnishing the manufacturing trades with +designs. + +It is not only a matter of learning to do one particular thing in +one particular department in one particular trade. That they +could learn in a factory. It is a matter of getting some +understanding of a whole trade, or getting some kind of a view of +how the world is run. Nobody wants to make people into machines. +The object of a good trade school is precisely the reverse. It is +the common school which makes people into machines, when it sends +them directly from books, which do not explain the working world, +out into that world to become uncomprehending appendages to +minute processes in infinitely subdivided manufacturing +organizations. + +A good trade school, besides teaching the technique of the +machine, covers what Mrs. Woolman, the director of the Manhattan +School, in her wonderful report of last year called the "middle +ground" between general academic preparatory work on the one hand +and practical trade training on the other. In this "middle +ground" the pupil takes simple courses in, for instance, "Civics" +and "Industries." + +"Nothing to it," says an irritated manufacturer. "Nothing to it +at all! I can't get a good office boy any more. I can't get +anybody, boy or girl, who wants to do anything but just hold down +a job and grab a pay-envelope. Too much schooling! Those +inventors and pioneers who came out of New England and made this +country from a hunting-ground into an empire--they didn't have +all this monkey-business in technical schools and trade schools. +They just went to work. That's all. I say send 'em to work young +and let 'em sweat. That's what makes men and women." + +My dear sir, those early New Englanders were in trade schools +from the time they began to crawl on the floor among their +mothers' looms and spinning-wheels. There was hardly a home in +early New England that didn't give a large number of technical +courses in which men and women were always teaching by doing, and +the boys and girls were always learning by imitating. + +The facts about this are so simple and so familiar that we don't +stop to think of their meaning. When in the spring the wood-ashes +from the winter fires were poured into the lye-barrel, and water +was poured in with them, and the lye began to trickle out from +the bottom of the barrel, and the winter's savings of grease were +brought out, and the grease and the lye were boiled together in +the big kettle, and mother had finished making the family's +supply of soap for another year, the children had taken not only +a little lesson in industriousness, by helping to make the soap, +but a little lesson in industry, too, by observing the technique +and organization of the soap business from start to finish. A boy +from that family, even if he never learned to read or write, +might some day have some IDEAS about soap. + +The curriculum of an old New England home, so far as presided +over by the wife, may be incompletely suggested as follows: + +(N. B. The reader will note the inappropriateness of +congratulating the daughters of that home on their not wanting a +job. They had it.) + + +VEGETABLES DEPARTMENT. + +1. A course in Gardening. + "In March and in April, from morning to night, + In sowing and setting good housewives delight." + +2. A course in Medicinal Herbs. Borage, fennel, wild tansy, +wormwood, etc. Methods of distillation. Aqua composita, barberry +conserve, electuaries, salves, and ointments. A most important +course for every housewife. + + "A speedy and a sovereign remedy, + The bitter wormwood, sage and + marigold."--FLETCHER: "The Faithful Shepherdess." + +3. A course in Pickling. In this course pretty nearly everything +will be pickled, down to nasturtium-buds and radish-pods. + +PACKING-HOUSE DEPARTMENT. + +1. A course in Salting Meat in the "powdering" tub. + +2. A course in Smoking Hams and Bacons. + +3. A course in Pickling Pig's feet and Ears. + +4. A course in Headcheese and Sausages. + +LIQUOR DEPARTMENT. + +1. A course in Beer. The making of wort out of barley. The making +of harm out of hops. The fermenting of the two together in +barrels. + +(This course is not so much given now in New England, but it is +an immemorial heritage of the female sex. Gervayse Markham, in +his standard book, "Instructions to a Good Housewife," says about +beer: "It is the work and care of woman, for it is a house-work. +The man ought only to bring in the grain.") + +2. A course in Light Drinks, such as Elderberry Wine. + +CREAMERY DEPARTMENT. + +1. A course in Making Butter. + +2. A course in Making Cheese, Curdling, breaking curds in basket, +shaping in cheese press, turning and rubbing cheese on cheese +ladder. + +CLEANING DEPARTMENT + +1. A course in Soapmaking. + +2. A course in Making Brooms out of Guinea-wheat Straw. + +3. A course in Starch making. + +4. A course in Cleaning. + +(This last course is very simple. Having manufactured the things +to wash and sweep with, the mere washing and sweeping won't take +long.) + +FRUIT DEPARTMENT. + +1. A course in Preserving--everything that can't be pickled. + +BREAKFAST FOOD DEPARTMENT. + +1. A course in Mush and forty kinds of Bread--Rhineinjun +(sometimes called Rye and Indian), bun, bannock, jannock, rusk, +etc., etc. + +LIGHTING DEPARTMENT. + +1. A course in Dips. The melting of tallow or bayberries. The +twisting of wicks. The attaching of wicks to rods. The dipping of +them into the melted mass in the kettle. Patience in keeping on +dipping them. + +(Pupils taking this course are required to report each morning at +five o'clock.) + +2. A course in Wax Candles. The use of molds. + +These departments might give a girl a pretty fair education of +the hand and a pretty fair acquaintance with the technique and +organization of the working world; but we haven't yet mentioned +the biggest and hardest department of all. + +Before mentioning it, we call attention to a picture reproduced +in this article from a book published in the year 1493. The book +was a French translation of Boccaccio's collection of stories +called "Noble Women." The picture shows a woolen mill being +operated in the grounds of a palace by a queen and her +ladies-in-waiting. It summons back the days when even the +daughters of kings and nobles could not help acquiring a +knowledge of the working world, because they were in it. One of +the ladies in-waiting is straightening out the tangled strands of +wool with carding-combs. The other has taken the combed and +straightened strands and is spinning them into yarn. The queen, +being the boss, has the best job. She is weaving the yarn into +cloth on a loom. + +The daughters of the Emperor Charlemagne, who was a very rich +man, learned how to card and spin and weave. Noble women had to +boss all that kind of thing on their estates. They lived in the +very midst of Industry, of Business. + +So it was with those early New England women. And therefore, +whether well-to-do or indigent, they passed on to their sons as +well as to their daughters a steady daily lesson in the world's +work. The most intelligent mother in the United States to-day, +let her be kindergartner and psychologist and +child-study-specialist as much as she pleases, cannot give her +children that broad early view of the organization of life. The +only place where her children can get it now is in the school. + +On the first of January of this year Mrs. Ella Flagg Young, +superintendent of schools in Chicago, took algebra out of the +eighth grade of the elementary schools, and, in its place, +inserted a course on Chicago. Large parts of what was once the +Home are now spread out through the Community. The new course +will teach the life of the community, its activities and +opportunities, civic, aesthetic, industrial. Such a course is +nothing but Home Training for the enlarged Home. + +But we must go back for a moment to that biggest and hardest +department of all in the old homes of New England. + + "Deceit, weeping, spinning, God hath give + To women kindly that they may live," + +said Chaucer in a teasing mood. + +But spinning was a very small part of the Department of Textiles. +We forbear to dilate on the courses of instruction which that +department offered. We confine ourselves to observing that: + +First. In the Sub-Department of Flax, after heckling that flax +with combs of increasing degrees of fineness till the fibers lay +pretty straight; after spinning it into yarn on her +spinning-wheel; after reeling the yarn off into skeins; after +"bucking" the skeins in hot lye through many changes of water; +and after using shuttle and loom to weave the stuff into cloth, +the home woman of those days had to accomplish some twenty +subsequent processes of bucking, rinsing, possing, drying, and +bleaching before the cloth was ready for use. + +Second. In the Sub-Department of Wool, in addition to being +carders, spinners, and weavers, women were dyers, handling all +the color resources of the times, boiling poke-berries in alum to +get a crimson, using sassafras for a yellow or an orange, and +producing a black by boiling the fabric with field-sorrel and +then boiling it again with logwood and copperas. + +We pass over, as trivial, the making of flax and wool stuffs into +articles of actual use. We say nothing about the transformation +of cloth into clothes, table-covers, napkins; nothing about the +weaving of yarn on little lap looms into the narrow fabrics for +hair-laces, glove-ties, belts, garters, and hat-bands; nothing +about the incessant knitting of yarn into mittens and stockings; +nothing about a host of other details. They were for idle +moments. + +Sweet domestic days, when girls stayed at home and helped their +mothers and let father support the family! + +It seems as if even Rip Van Winkle, in his most shiftless mood, +ought to have been able to support a large number of daughters +under such conditions. + +Does it astonish you that they matured young? There, all about +them, from babyhood, were the basic processes by which the world +was sheltered, clothed, and fed. Those processes were numerous +but simple. Boys and girls observed them, absorbed them, through +eyes, through finger-tips, all through those early years when +eyes and finger-tips are the nourishing points of the intellect. + +John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, +was married at seventeen. His parents were not only willing, but +aiding and abetting. They considered him a man. + +Mercy Otis, in Revolutionary days, in Massachusetts, the wife of +the patriot, James Warren, and Abigail Smith, the wife of the +future president, John Adams, both married before twenty. A study +of their lives will show that at that age they were mature. + +To-day, in Boston, a woman of twenty is considered so immature +that many of the hospitals will not admit her even to her +preliminary training for the trade of nurse till she has added at +least three years more to her mental development. + +Who has thus prolonged infancy; who has thus postponed maturity? +No individual. + +Science has done part of it. + +By the invention of power-driven machines and by the distribution +of the compact industries of the home through the scattered, +innumerable business enterprises of the community, Science has +given us, in place of a simple and near world, a complicated and +distant one. It takes us longer to learn it. + +Simultaneously, by research and also by the use of the +printing-press, the locomotive, and the telegraph wire (which +speed up the production as well as the dissemination of +knowledge), Science has brought forth, in every field of human +interest and of human value, a mass of facts and of principles so +enormous and so important that the labors of our predecessors on +this planet overwhelm us, and we grow to our full physical +development long before we have caught up, in any degree, with +the previous experience of the race. And till we have done that, +to some degree, we are not mature. + +With this postponement of personal maturity, there is an even +greater postponement of what might be called "technical" +maturity. The real mastery of a real technique takes longer and +longer. The teacher must not only go to college but must do +graduate work. The young doctor, after he finishes college and +medical school, is found as an interne in hospitals, as an +assistant to specialists, as a traveler through European +lecture-rooms. The young engineer, the young architect, the young +specialist of every sort, finds his period of preparation +steadily extending before him. + +What is left undone by Science in keeping us immature is finally +accomplished by System. + +The world is getting organized. Except in some of the professions +(and often even in them) we most of us start in on our life work +at some small subdivided job in a large organization of people. +The work of the organization is so systematized as to concentrate +responsibility and remuneration toward the top. In time, from job +to job, up an ascent which grows longer as the organization grows +bigger, we achieve responsibility. Till we do, we discharge minor +duties for minimum pay. + +This is just as true of the boy from a "middle class" family as +it is of the boy from a "working class" family. There follows, +however, a most important difference between them. The "middle +class" boy will have to work longer and go farther than the +"working class" boy in order to rise to the financial standards +of his class. In this respect the "working class" boy will be a +man, ready for marriage, long before his "middle class" +fellow-worker. + +It is among "middle class" boys, then, that the period of infancy +is most prolonged. They get a good deal of schooling. The stores +of human knowledge are put in their hands, to some extent, and, +to some extent, they catch up with the experience of the race. +This takes a longer and longer effort, particularly if real +mastery of any real technique is attempted. Then, on going to +work, they find that System, supplementing Science, has perfected +such an organization of the world of work that they must stay for +quite a while in the ranks of the organization. They will not +soon be earning what is regarded among their friends as a +marrying income. In money, as well as in mind, they approach +marriage with increasing tardiness. Their prolonged infancy is +financial, as well as mental. + +They say that college girls marry late. It is true enough. But it +isn't properly stated. + +The girls in the kind of family which college girls come from +marry late. + +It can be definitively established by statistics here +considerately omitted that the age of marriage of college girls +is no later than the age of marriage of their non-college sisters +and acquaintances. + +College is not a cause. It is a symptom. + +Out of the prolongation of infancy in the "middle class" has come +the conquest by women of the intellectual freedom of the world. + +It was by no vagary of chance that the demand of women for the +higher education came simultaneously with the change from the old +industrial home to the new, more purely domestic home. (It may be +a higher, nobler type of home. We are not here discussing that +point.) + +As the home ceased to provide its daughters with adequate +education and with adequate employment, what was their situation? +In the "working class" it was simply this: That they went into +factories and that their sweethearts married them somewhat later +than had previously been the case, because their share as wives +in the support of the family was increasingly smaller. But the +"working class" man soon reaches his maximum earning capacity in +his craft and stays there. His financial infancy is short, +compared with that of the "middle class" man. He therefore +marries younger. + +In the "middle class," however, Science and System began to +lengthen the mental and financial infancy of the men to such an +extent that the "old maid" of twenty-three became common. What +were the girls in the "middle class" to do while the boys were +growing up to be men, in mind and in money? + +The father of Frederick the Great used to go about his realm with +a stick, and when he saw a woman in the street he would shake the +stick at her and say "Go back into the house. An honest woman +keeps indoors." + +Probably quite sensible. When she went indoors, she went in to a +job. The "middle class" daughter of to-day, if her mother is +living and housekeeping, goes indoors into a vacuum. + +Out of that vacuum came the explosion which created the first +woman's colleges. + +There was plenty of sentiment in the explosion. That was the +splendid, blinding part of it. That was the part of it which even +to-day makes us veil our eves before the nobility of such women +as Emma Willard and Mary Lyon. They made Troy Female Seminary in +the twenties and Mount Holyoke in the thirties in the image of +the aspirations, as well as in the image of the needs, of the +women of the times. + +But the needs were there, the need to be something, the need to +do something, self-respecting, self supporting. The existence of +these needs was clearly revealed in the fact that from the early +women's colleges and from the early coeducational universities +there at once issued a large supply of teachers. + +This goes back to the fountainhead of the higher education of +women in this country. Emma Willard, even before she founded Troy +Female Seminary, back in the days when she was running her school +in Middlebury, Connecticut, was training young women to TEACH, +and was acquiring her claim (which she herself subsequently +urged) to being regarded as the organizer of the first normal +school in the United States. + +From that time to this most college women have taught school +before getting married. The higher education of women has been, +in economic effect, a trade school for training women for the +trade of teacher. + +But isn't it the purpose of the colleges to avoid training their +pupils for specific occupations? Isn't it their purpose to give +their pupils discipline and culture, pure and broad, unaffected +by commercial intention? Isn't that what colleges are, and ought +to be, for? + +On the shore of this vast and violent controversy we discreetly +pause and stealthily sidle off, taking note of just three reefs +of solid fact which unsubmergably jut out above the surface of +the raging waters. + +First. The colleges instruct their pupils in the subjects which +those pupils subsequently teach. + +Second. The pupils specialize in the subjects which they are +going to teach. + +Third. The colleges, besides providing the future teachers with +subjects, almost always offer to provide them with instruction in +the principles of education, and frequently offer to provide them +with instruction in the very technique of classroom work. + +Our verdict, therefore, which we hope will be satisfactory to +counsel on both sides, is that the college is by no means a trade +school, but that if the woman who is going to earn her living +will choose the one trade of teaching, she can almost always get +a pretty fair trade training by going to college. + +We are more interested in observing that the amount of trade +training which a teacher is expected to take is increasing year +by year. In teaching, as in other trades, the period and scope of +preliminary preparation continue to expand. + +In the last calendar of Bryn Mawr College, the Department of +Education, in announcing its courses, makes the following +common-sense remarks: + +"It is the purpose of the department to offer to students +intending to become teachers an opportunity to obtain a technical +preparation for their profession. Hitherto practical training has +been thought necessary for teachers of primary schools only, but +similar training is very desirable for teachers in high schools +and colleges also. Indeed, it is already becoming increasingly +difficult for college graduates without practical and theoretical +pedagogical knowledge to secure good positions. In addition to +the lectures open to undergraduates, courses will be organized +for graduate students only, conducted with special reference to +preparation for the headship and superintendence of schools." + +But the teaching trade is getting choked. There is too much +supply. Girls are going to college in hordes. Graduating from +college, looking for work, there is usually just one kind of work +toward which they are mentally alert. Their college experience +has seldom roused their minds toward any other kind of work. They +start to teach. They drug the market. And so the teaching trade, +the great occupation of unmarried "middle class" women, ceases to +be able to provide those women, as a class, with an adequate +field of employment. + +It is a turning point in the economic history of the class. + +At the 1909 annual convention of the Association of Collegiate +Alumnae, in Cincinnati, Miss Susan Kingsbury (acting for a +committee of which Mrs. Richards, of the Massachusetts Institute +of Technology, and Miss Breckenridge, of the University of +Chicago, were members) read a real essay on "The Economic +Efficiency of College Women." + +This essay was not written till detailed reports on income and +expenditure from 377 self-supporting college graduates had been +got together. + +Out of these 377 there were 317 who were teachers. There were 183 +who had followed up their regular college course with from one to +eight years of graduate study. The capital invested in education +was from $2500 to $3500 and often amounted to $7000 because of +advanced work and travel. After all this preparation, the average +income achieved may be sufficiently disclosed in the one fact +that, among those graduates who had been at work for from six to +eight years, more than seventy per cent. were still earning less +than $1100. + +After drawing a complete statistical picture of the case, Miss +Kingsbury concluded with certain questions and recommendations, +here condensed, which show the new economic needs of "middle +class" women knocking at the door of present "middle class" +education: + +"Should not the over-supply of teachers be reduced by directing +many of our graduates into other pursuits than teaching? This +will place upon the college, just where the responsibility is +due, the obligation of discovering what those opportunities are +and what preparation should be given. + +"This organization should endeavor to arouse in our colleges a +sense of responsibility for knowing the facts with regard to +their graduates, both social and economic, and should also +endeavor to influence our colleges through appointment +secretaries, to direct women, according to fitness, into other +lines than teaching. + +"Should not courses be added to the college curriculum to give +women the fundamental principles in other professions, or lines +of industry or commerce, than teaching? + +"May not required courses be added to the college curriculum to +inculcate business power and sense in all women?" + +This philosophy seems to aim at making the modern school as +informative about modern industry as the primitive home was about +primitive industry. It seems to be the same educational +philosophy which produced the course on Chicago in the Chicago +elementary schools, which produced the Manhattan Trade School in +New York, which produced the School of Salesmanship at the +Women's Educational and Industrial Union in Boston. + +At that Women's Educational and Industrial Union, at 264 Boylston +Street, you may see the evolution toward the age of trained women +proceeding at all levels of educational equipment. + +There, before you, at one level, are the Trade School Shops--a +shop in hand-work and a shop in millinery. The pupils are +graduates of the Boston Trade School for Girls. They have had one +year of training. They are now taking another. + +Florence Marshall made the Boston Trade School, with a committee +of women to help her. It has now been taken over by the public +authorities and merged into the public-school system. What looked +like a private fad has become a public function. The training of +women for self-support has been recognized as a duty of the +state. + +The Trade School Shops at the Women's Educational and Industrial +Union were started for the express purpose of supplementing the +work of the Boston Trade School for Girls. One year was not +enough. + +In the Trade School the prospective milliner had spent four +months on plain sewing, four months on summer hats, four months +on winter hats. She had also taken short courses in Personal +Hygiene, Business Forms, Spelling, Business English, Color +Design, Textiles, Industrial Conditions. These latter courses +were not, strictly speaking, "technical." They were "vocational." +They were in the "middle ground" between general and technical +training. They went beyond the general training of the elementary +schools and furnished the girl with the background of her future +vocation. But she often needed a little more of the foreground, a +little more of actual trade technique. + +Thus does her education divide itself up into periods:--general, +vocational, technical. + +The Trade School Shops are designed to give the girl her final +technical finish. They are really more like a factory than like a +school. Although the object of them is to convey a broad +instruction, the pupil gets wages, the stuff she makes is sold, +and the organization is that of a commercial establishment. + +So, at the end of two years from the time she left the elementary +school, the young milliner is ready to go out into the world +organization. She is better fitted for her world than many a +college girl is for hers. + +On a different level of educational equipment from the Trade +School Shops stands the School of Salesmanship. It gets many high +school girls and even, occasionally, a girl who has been to +college. + +Finally, there is the Appointment Bureau, for college girls in +particular. + +This Appointment Bureau is the most extraordinary employment +agency ever organized. Its object is not merely to introduce +existing clients to existing jobs (which is the proper normal +object of employment agencies), but to make forays into the wild +region of "occupations other than teaching," and find jobs, and +then find girls to fit those jobs. In other words, it is a kind +of "Company of Adventurers Trading into Hudson's Bay" for the +purpose of exploring, surveying, developing, and settling the +region of "occupations other than teaching" on behalf of college +women. + +It is managed by Miss Laura Drake Gill, President of the National +Association of Collegiate Alumnae and former Dean of Barnard +College. She is assisted by an Advisory Council of +representatives of near-by colleges--Radcliffe, Wellesley, +Simmons, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and Brown. + +There is no more important work being done for women to-day. + +In connection with it, the Women's Educational and Industrial +Union has just issued a handbook of three hundred pages, entitled +"Vocations for the Trained Woman." It is an immense map of the +occupational world for "middle class" women, in which every bay +and headland, every lake and hill, is drawn to scale, from +Poultry Farming to Department Store Buying, from Lunch-Room +Management to State Child-Saving. + +The responses made to this movement by certain educational +institutions (including particularly Simmons College) will be +observed in a future article. Just one response, from an +unexpected quarter, must be noticed here. + +In a small Illinois city there is a woman's college, founded as a +Preparatory School in the forties and soon advanced to be a +Seminary, which, with Anna P. Sill for its first head, Jane +Addams for its best-known graduate, and Julia Gulliver for its +present president, has come to be a college of standing and of +leading. Only Troy Female Seminary and Mount Holyoke Seminary +preceded it, in date of foundation, among the important women's +institutions. + +Rockford College is ranked to-day, by the reports of the United +States Commissioner of Education, in rank one--among the sixteen +best women's colleges in the United States. It hasn't risen to +that rank by any quick, money-spurred spurt. It brings with it +out of its far past all the traditions of that early struggle for +the higher education which, by friction, kindled among women so +flaming an enthusiasm for pure knowledge. It remains "collegiate" +in the old sense, quiet, cloistral, inhabiting old-fashioned +brick buildings in an old-fashioned large yard, looking still +like the Illinois of war times more than like the Illinois of the +twentieth century, retaining all the home ideals of those +times--a large interest in feminine accomplishments, a strict +regard for manners, a belief in the value of charm. + +But here, in this quiet, non-metropolitan college, so really +"academic," so really--in the oldest-fashioned ways--"cultural," +here is a two-year course in secretarial studies. + +It is the first time (within our knowledge) that such a thing has +happened in any of the old first-rank women's colleges. + +The course in secretarial studies at Rockford gives the pupil +English, Accounts, Commerce, Commercial Law, and Economic History +in her first year, and Political Science, English, and Economics +in her second year. Shorthand and Typewriting are required in +both years, and a few hours a week are reserved in each year for +elective courses to be chosen by the pupil among offerings in +French, German, Spanish, and History. + +This is a notable concession not only to the increased need of +"middle class" women for "occupations other than teaching" but +also to the increased recognition of those other occupations as +being worthy of "cultural" training. + +We keep moving forward into an era of trained women as well as +trained men. The extraordinary prolongation of mental and +financial infancy in the "middle class," bringing with it an +extraordinary postponement of marriage, makes this training +particularly necessary in the case of the women of that class. +But the contraction of the home as a field of adequate employment +for daughters exists everywhere, increasing the cost of living +for the family and driving daughters to supplementing the family +income. + +What futility, as well as indignity, there is in the idea that +the query of support for women gets its full answer in a husband! + +In the United States, in the year 1900, among women twenty years +of age and over, the married women numbered 13,400,000. The +unmarried women and the widows together numbered 6,900,000. For +every two women married there was one woman either single or +widowed. + +If education does not (1) give women a comprehension of the +organization of the money-earning world, and (2) train them to +one of the techniques which lead to self-support in that world, +it is not education. + +Just at this point, though, we encounter a curious conflict in +women's education. Just as we see their urgent need of a +money-earning technique, we simultaneously hear, coming from a +corner of the battlefield and swelling till it fills the air with +a nation-wide battle-cry, the sentiment: "The Home is also a +technique. All women must be trained to it." + +At Rockford College, illustrating this conflict, there exists, +besides the course in Secretarial Studies, an equivalent course +in Home Economics. + +In one photograph in this article we show the tiny children of +the Francis Parker School in Chicago taking their first lesson in +the technique of the home. In another picture we show the +post-graduate laboratory in the technique of the home at the +University of Illinois. And the space between the kindergarten +and the degree of Doctor of Philosophy threatens to get filled up +almost everywhere with courses in cooking, sewing, chemistry of +diet, composition of textiles, art of marketing, and other phases +of home management. + +The money-earning world, a technique! The home, a technique! The +boy learns only one. Must the girl learn two, and be twice a +specialist? + +(In the September number Mr. Hard will discuss The Home Economics +Movement.) + + +***************************************************************** +VOL. XXIII September 1910 NO. 3 + +Law and Order + +By O. HENRY + +AUTHOR OF "THE FOUR MILLION," "THE HEART OF THE WEST," STRICTLY +BUSINESS," ETC. + +I found myself in Texas a recently, revisiting old places and +vistas. At a sheep-ranch where I had sojourned many years ago, I +stopped for a week. And, as all visitors do, I heartily plunged +into the business at hand, which happened to be that of dipping +the sheep. + +Now, this process is so different from ordinary human baptism +that it deserves a word of itself. A vast iron cauldron with half +the fires of Avernus beneath it is partly filled with water that +soon boils furiously. Into that is cast concentrated lye, lime, +and sulphur, which is allowed to stew and fume until the witches' +broth is strong enough to scorch the third arm of Palladino +herself. + +Then this concentrated brew is mixed in a long, deep vat with +cubic gallons of hot water, and the sheep are caught by their +hind legs and flung into the compound. After being thoroughly +ducked by means of a forked pole in the hands of a gentleman +detailed for that purpose, they are allowed to clamber up an +incline into a corral and dry or die, as the state of their +constitutions may decree. If you ever caught an able-bodied, +two-year-old mutton by the hind legs and felt the 750 volts of +kicking that he can send through your arm seventeen times before +you can hurl him into the vat, you will, of course, hope that he +may die instead of dry. + +But this is merely to explain why Bud Oakley and I gladly +stretched ourselves on the bank of the near-by charco after the +dipping, glad for the welcome inanition and pure contact with the +earth after our muscle-racking labors. The flock was a small one, +and we finished at three in the afternoon; so Bud brought from +the morral on his saddle horn, coffee and a coffeepot and a big +hunk of bread and some side bacon. Mr. Mills, the ranch owner and +my old friend, rode away to the ranch with his force of Mexican +trabajadores. + +While the bacon was frizzling nicely, there was the sound of +horses' hoofs behind us. Bud's six-shooter lay in its scabbard +ten feet away from his hand. He paid not the slightest heed to +the approaching horseman. This attitude of a Texas ranchman was +so different from the old-time custom that I marveled. +Instinctively I turned to inspect the possible foe that menaced +us in the rear. I saw a horseman dressed in black, who might have +been a lawyer or a parson or an undertaker, trotting peaceably +along the road by the arroyo. + +Bud noticed my precautionary movement and smiled sarcastically +and sorrowfully. + +"You've been away too long," said he. "You don't need to look +around any more when anybody gallops up behind you in this state, +unless something hits you in the back; and even then it's liable +to be only a bunch of tracts or a petition to sign against the +trusts. I never looked at that hombre that rode by; but I'll bet +a quart of sheep dip that he's some double-dyed son of a popgun +out rounding up prohibition votes." + +"Times have changed, Bud," said I, oracularly. "Law and order is +the rule now in the South and the Southwest." + +I caught a cold gleam from Bud's pale blue eyes. + +"Not that I----" I began, hastily. + +"Of course you don't," said Bud warmly. "You know better. You've +lived here before. Law and order, you say? Twenty years ago we +had 'em here. We only had two or three laws, such as against +murder before witnesses, and being caught stealing horses, and +voting the Republican ticket. But how is it now? All we get is +orders; and the laws go out of the state. Them legislators set up +there at Austin and don't do nothing but make laws against +kerosene oil and schoolbooks being brought into the state. I +reckon they was afraid some man would go home some evening after +work and light up and get an education and go to work and make +laws to repeal aforesaid laws. Me, I'm for the old days when law +and order meant what they said. A law was a law, and a order was +a order." + +"But----" I began. + +"I was going on," continued Bud, "while this coffee is boiling, +to describe to you a case of genuine law and order that I knew of +once in the times when cases was decided in the chambers of a +six-shooter instead of a supreme court. + +"You've heard of old Ben Kirkman, the cattle king? His ranch run +from the Nueces to the Rio Grande. In them days, as you know, +there was cattle barons and cattle kings. The difference was +this: when a cattleman went to San Antone and bought beer for the +newspaper reporters and only give them the number of cattle he +actually owned, they wrote him up for a baron. When he bought 'em +champagne wine and added in the amount of cattle he had stole, +they called him a king. + +"Luke Summers was one of his range bosses. And down to the king's +ranch comes one day a bunch of these Oriental people from New +York or Kansas City or thereabouts. Luke was detailed with a +squad to ride about with 'em, and see that the rattlesnakes got +fair warning when they was coming, and drive the deer out of +their way. Among the bunch was a black-eyed girl that wore a +number two shoe. That's all I noticed about her. But Luke must +have seen more, for he married her one day before the caballard +started back, and went over on Canada Verde and set up a ranch of +his own. I'm skipping over the sentimental stuff on purpose, +because I never saw or wanted to see any of it. And Luke takes me +along with him because we was old friends and I handled cattle to +suit him. + +"I'm skipping over much what followed, because I never saw or +wanted to see any of it--but three years afterward there was a +boy kid stumbling and blubbering around the galleries and floors +of Luke's ranch. I never had no use for kids; but it seems they +did. And I'm skipping over much what followed until one day out +to the ranch drives in hacks and buckboards a lot of Mrs. +Summers's friends from the East--a sister or so and two or three +men. One looked like an uncle to somebody; and one looked like +nothing; and the other one had on corkscrew pants and spoke in a +tone of voice. I never liked a man who spoke in a tone of voice. + +"I'm skipping over much what followed; but one afternoon when I +rides up to the ranch house to get some orders about a drove of +beeves that was to be shipped, I hears something like a popgun go +off. I waits at the hitching rack, not wishing to intrude on +private affairs. In a little while Luke comes out and gives some +orders to some of his Mexican-hands, and they go and hitch up +sundry and divers vehicles; and mighty soon out comes one of the +sisters or so and some of the two or three men. But two of the +two or three men carries between 'em the corkscrew man who spoke +in a tone of voice, and lays him flat down in one of the wagons. +And they all might have been seen wending their way away. + +" `Bud,' says Luke to me, `I want you to fix up a little and go +up to San Antone with me.' + +" `Let me get on my Mexican spurs,' says I, `and I'm your +company.' + +"One of the sisters or so seems to have stayed at the ranch with +Mrs. Summers and the kid. We rides to Encinal and catches the +International, and hits San Antone in the morning. After +breakfast Luke steers me straight to the office of a lawyer. They +go in a room and talk and then come out. + +" `Oh, there won't be any trouble, Mr. Summers,' says the lawyer. +`I'll acquaint Judge Simmons with the facts to-day; and the +matter will be put through as promptly as possible. Law and order +reigns in this state as swift and sure as any in the country.' + +" `I'll wait for the decree if it won't take over half an hour,' +says Luke. + +" `Tut, tut,' says the lawyer man. `Law must take its course. +Come back day after to-morrow at half-past nine.' + +"At that time me and Luke shows up, and the lawyer hands him a +folded document. And Luke writes him out a check. + +"On the sidewalk Luke holds up the paper to me and puts a finger +the size of a kitchen-door latch on it and says: + +" `Decree of ab-so-lute divorce with cus-to-dy of the child.' + +" `Skipping over much what has happened of which I know nothing,' +says I, `it looks to me like a split. Couldn't the lawyer man +have made it a strike for you?' + +" `Bud,' says he, in a pained style, `that child is the one thing +I have to live for. SHE may go; but the boy is mine!--think of +it--I have cus-to-dy of the child.' + +" `All right,' says I. `If it's the law, let's abide by it. But I +think,' says I, `that Judge Simmons might have used exemplary +clemency, or whatever is the legal term, in our case.' + +"You see, I wasn't inveigled much into the desirableness of +having infants around a ranch, except the kind that feed +themselves and sell for so much on the hoof when they grow up. +But Luke was struck with that sort of parental foolishness that I +never could understand. All the way riding from the station back +to the ranch, he kept pulling that decree out of his pocket and +laying his finger on the back of it and reading off to me the sum +and substance of it. `Cus-to-dy of the child, Bud,' says he. +`Don't forget it--cus-to-dy of the child.' + +"But when we hits the ranch we finds our decree of court +obviated, nolle prossed, and remanded for trial. Mrs. Summers and +the kid was gone. They tell us that an hour after me and Luke had +started for San Antone she had a team hitched and lit out for the +nearest station with her trunks and the youngster. + +"Luke takes out his decree once more and reads off its +emoluments. + +" `It ain't possible, Bud,' says he, `for this to be. It's +contrary to law and order. It's wrote as plain as day +here--"Cus-to-dy of the child." ' + +" `There is what you might call a human leaning,' says I, +`towards smashing 'em both--not to mention the child.' + +" `Judge Simmons,' goes on Luke, `is a incorporated officer of +the law. She can't take the boy away. He belongs to me by +statutes passed and approved by the state of Texas.' + +" `And he's removed from the jurisdiction of mundane mandamuses,' +says I, `by the unearthly statutes of female partiality. Let us +praise the Lord and be thankful for whatever small mercies----' I +begins; but I see Luke don't listen to me. Tired as he was, he +calls for a fresh horse and starts back again for the station. + +"He come back two weeks afterwards, not saying much. + +" `We can't get the trail,' says he; `but we've done all the +telegraphing that the wires'll stand, and we've got these city +rangers they call detectives on the lookout. In the meantime, +Bud,' says he, `we'll round up them cows on Brusby Creek, and +wait for the law to take its course.' And after that we never +alluded to allusions, as you might say. + +"Skipping over much what happened in the next twelve years, Luke +was made sheriff of Mojada County. He made me his office deputy. +Now, don't get in your mind no wrong apparitions of a office +deputy doing sums in a book or mashing letters in a cider press. +In them days his job was to watch the back windows so nobody +didn't plug the sheriff in the rear while he was adding up +mileage at his desk in front. And in them days I had +qualifications for the job. And there was law and order in Mojada +County, and schoolbooks, and all the whisky you wanted, and the +government built its own battleships instead of collecting +nickels from the schoolchildren to do it with. And, as I say, +there was law and order instead of enactments and restrictions +such as disfigure our umpire state to-day. We had our office at +Bildad, the county seat, from which we emerged forth on necessary +occasions to soothe whatever fracases and unrest that might occur +in our jurisdiction. + +"Skipping over much what happened while me and Luke was sheriff, +I want to give you an idea of how the law was respected in them +days. Luke was what you would call one of the most conscious men +in the world. He never knew much book law, but he had the inner +emoluments of justice and mercy inculcated into his system. If a +respectable citizen shot a Mexican or held up a train and cleaned +out the safe in the express car, and Luke ever got hold of him, +he'd give the guilty party such a reprimand and a cussin' out +that he'd probable never do it again. But once let somebody steal +a horse (unless it was a Spanish pony), or cut a wire fence, or +otherwise impair the peace and indignity of Mojada County, Luke +and me would be on 'em with habeas corpuses and smokeless powder +and all the modern inventions of equity and etiquette. + +"We certainly had our county on a basis of lawfulness. I've known +persons of Eastern classification with little spotted caps and +buttoned-up shoes to get off the train at Bildad and eat +sandwiches at the railroad station without being shot at or even +roped and drug about by the citizens of the town. + +"Luke had his own ideas of legality and justice. He was kind of +training me to succeed him when he went out of office. He was +always looking ahead to the time when he'd quit sheriffing. What +he wanted to do was to build a yellow house with lattice-work +under the porch and have hens scratching in the yard. The one +main thing in his mind seemed to be the yard. + +" `Bud,' he says to me, `by instinct and sentiment I'm a +contractor. I want to be a contractor. That's what I'll be when I +get out of office.' + +" `What kind of a contractor?' says I. `It sounds like a kind of +a business to me. You ain't going to haul cement or establish +branches or work on a railroad, are you?' + +" `You don't understand,' says Luke. `I'm tired of space and +horizons and territory and distances and things like that. What I +want is reasonable contraction. I want a yard with a fence around +it that you can go out and set on after supper and listen to +whip-poor-wills. I'm a fool about whip-poor-wills,' says Luke. + +"That's the kind of a man he was. He was home-like, although he'd +had bad luck in such investments. But he never talked about them +times on the ranch. It seemed like he'd forgotten about it. I +wondered how, with his ideas of yards and chickens and notions of +lattice-work, he'd seemed to have got out of his mind that kid of +his that had been taken away from him, unlawful, in spite of his +decree of court. But he wasn't a man you could ask about such +things as he didn't refer to in his own conversation. + +"I reckon he'd put all his emotions and ideas into being sheriff. +I've read in books about men that was disappointed in these +poetic and fine-haired and high-collared affairs with ladies +renouncing truck of that kind and wrapping themselves up into +some occupation like painting pictures or herding sheep or +science or teaching school--something to make 'em forget. Well, I +guess that was the way with Luke. But, as he couldn't paint +pictures, he took it out in rounding up horse thieves and in +making Mojada County a safe place to sleep in if you was well +armed and not afraid of requisitions or tarantulas. + +"One day there passes through Bildad a bunch of these money +investors from the East, and they stopped off there, Bildad being +the dinner station on the I. & G. N. They was just coming back +from Mexico looking after mines and such. There was five of +'em--four solid parties, with gold watch chains, that would grade +up over two hundred pounds on the hoof, and one kid about +seventeen or eighteen. + +"This youngster had on one of them cowboy suits such as +tenderfoots bring West with 'em; and you could see he was aching +to wing a couple of Indians or bag a grizzly or two with the +little pearl-handled gun he had buckled around his waist. + +"I walked down to the depot to keep an eye on the outfit and see +that they didn't locate any land or scare the cow ponies hitched +in front of Murchison's store or act otherwise unseemly. Luke was +away after a gang of cattle thieves down on the Frio, and I +always looked after the law and order when he wasn't there. + +"After dinner this boy comes out of the dining-room while the +train was waiting, and prances up and down the platform ready to +shoot all antelope, lions, or private citizens that might +endeavor to molest or come too near him. He was a good-looking +kid; only he was like all them tenderfoots--he didn't know a +law-and-order town when he saw it. + +"By and by along comes Pedro Johnson, the proprietor of the +Crystal Palace chili-con-carne stand in Bildad. Pedro was a man +who liked to amuse himself; so he kind of herd-rides this +youngster, laughing at him, tickled to death. I was too far away +to hear, but the kid seems to mention some remarks to Pedro, and +Pedro goes up and slaps him about nine feet away, and laughs +harder than ever. And then the boy gets up quicker than he fell +and jerks out his little pearl-handle, and--bing! bing! bing! +Pedro gets it three times in special and treasured portions of +his carcass. I saw the dust fly off his clothes every time the +bullets hit. Sometimes them little thirty-twos cause worry at +close range. + +"The engine bell was ringing, and the train starting off slow. I +goes up to the kid and places him under arrest, and takes away +his gun. But the first thing I knew that caballard of capitalists +makes a break for the train. One of 'em hesitates in front of me +for a second, and kind of smiles and shoves his hand up against +my chin, and I sort of laid down on the platform and took a nap. +I never was afraid of guns; but I don't want any person except a +barber to take liberties like that with my face again. When I +woke up, the whole outfit--train, boy, and all--was gone. I asked +about Pedro, and they told me the doctor said he would recover +provided his wounds didn't turn out to be fatal. + +"When Luke got back three days later, and I told him about it, he +was mad all over. + +" `Why'n't you telegraph to San Antone,' he asks, `and have the +bunch arrested there?' + +" `Oh, well,' says I, `I always did admire telegraphy; but +astronomy was what I had took up just then.' That capitalist sure +knew how to gesticulate with his hands. + +"Luke got madder and madder. He investigates and finds in the +depot a card one of the men had dropped that gives the address of +some hombre called Scudder in New York City. + +" `Bud,' says Luke, `I'm going after that bunch. I'm going there +and get the man or boy, as you say he was, and bring him back. +I'm sheriff of Mojada County, and I shall keep law and order in +its precincts while I'm able to draw a gun. And I want you to go +with me. No Eastern Yankee can shoot up a respectable and +well-known citizen of Bildad, 'specially with a thirty-two +calibre, and escape the law. Pedro Johnson,' says Luke, `is one +of our most prominent citizens and business men. I'll appoint Sam +Bell acting sheriff with penitentiary powers while I'm away, and +you and me will take the 6.45 northbound to-morrow evening and +follow up this trail.' + +" `I'm your company,' says I. `I never see this New York, but I'd +like to. But, Luke,' says I, `don't you have to have a +dispensation or a habeas corpus or something from the state, when +you reach out that far for rich men and malefactors?' + +" `Did I have a requisition,' says Luke, `when I went over into +the Brazos bottoms and brought back Bill Grimes and two more for +holding up the International? Did me and you have a search +warrant or a posse comitatus when we rounded up them six Mexican +cow thieves down in Hidalgo? It's my business to keep order in +Mojada County. ' + +" `And it's my business as office deputy,' says I, `to see that +business is carried on according to law. Between us both we ought +to keep things pretty well cleaned up.' + +"So, the next day, Luke packs a blanket and some collars and his +mileage book in a haversack, and him and me hits the breeze for +New York. It was a powerful long ride. The seats in the cars was +too short for six-footers like us to sleep comfortable on; and +the conductor had to keep us from getting off at every town that +had five-story houses in it. But we got there finally; and we +seemed to see right away that he was right about it. + +" `Luke,' says I, `as office deputy and from a law standpoint, it +don't look to me like this place is properly and legally in the +jurisdiction of Mojada County, Texas.' + +" `From the standpoint of order,' says he, `it's amenable to +answer for its sins to the properly appointed authorities from +Bildad to Jerusalem.' + +" `Amen,' says I. `But let's turn our trick sudden, and ride. I +don't like the looks of this place.' + +" `Think of Pedro Johnson,' says Luke, `a friend of mine and +yours shot down by one of these gilded abolitionists at his very +door!' + +" `It was at the door of the freight depot,' says I. `But the law +will not be balked at a quibble like that.' + +"We put up at one of them big hotels on Broadway. The next +morning I goes down about two miles of stairsteps to the bottom +and hunts for Luke. It ain't no use. It looks like San Jacinto +day in San Antone. There's a thousand folks milling around in a +kind of a roofed-over plaza with marble pavements and trees +growing right out of 'em, and I see no more chance of finding +Luke than if we was hunting each other in the big pear flat down +below Old Fort Ewell. But soon Luke and me runs together in one +of the turns of them marble alleys. + +" `It ain't no use, Bud,' says he. `I can't find no place to eat +at. I've been looking for restaurant signs and smelling for ham +all over the camp. But I'm used to going hungry when I have to. +Now,' says he, `I'm going out and get a hack and ride down to the +address on this Scudder card. You stay here and try to hustle +some grub. But I doubt if you'll find it. I wish we'd brought +along some cornmeal and bacon and beans. I'll be back when I see +this Scudder, if the trail ain't wiped out.' + +"So I starts foraging for breakfast. For the honor of old Mojada +County I didn't want to seem green to them abolitionists, so +every time I turned a corner in them marble halls I went up to +the first desk or counter I see and looks around for grub. If I +didn't see what I wanted I asked for something else. In about +half an hour I had a dozen cigars, five story magazines, and +seven or eight rail-road time-tables in my pockets, and never a +smell of coffee or bacon to point out the trail. + +"Once a lady sitting at a table and playing a game kind of like +pushpin told me to go into a closet that she called Number 3. I +went in and shut the door, and the blamed thing lit itself up. I +set down on a stool before a shelf and waited. Thinks I, `This is +a private dining-room.' But no waiter never came. When I got to +sweating good and hard, I goes out again. + +" `Did you get what you wanted?' says she. + +" `No, ma'am,' says I. `Not a bite.' + +" `Then there's no charge,' says she. + +" `Thanky, ma'am,' says I, and I takes up the trail again. + +"By and by I thinks I'll shed etiquette; and I picks up one of +them boys with blue clothes and yellow buttons in front, and he +leads me to what he calls the caffay breakfast room. And the +first thing I lays my eyes on when I go in is that boy that had +shot Pedro Johnson. He was setting all alone at a little table, +hitting a egg with a spoon like he was afraid he'd break it. + +"I takes the chair across the table from him; and he looks +insulted and makes a move like he was going to get up. + +" `Keep still, son,' says I. `You're apprehended, arrested, and +in charge of the Texas authorities. Go on and hammer that egg +some more if it's the inside of it you want. Now, what did you +shoot Mr. Johnson, of Bildad, for?' + +" `And may I ask who you are?' says he. + +" `You may,' says I. `Go ahead'. + +" `I suppose you're on,' says this kid, without batting his eyes. +`But what are you eating? Here, waiter!' he calls out, raising +his finger. `Take this gentleman's order.' + +" `A beefsteak,' says I, `and some fried eggs and a can of +peaches and a quart of coffee will about suffice.' + +"We talk a while about the sundries of life and then he says: + +" `What are you going to do about that shooting? I had a right to +shoot that man,' says he. `He called me names that I couldn't +overlook, and then he struck me. He carried a gun, too. What else +could I do?' + +" `We'll have to take you back to Texas,' says I. + +" `I'd like to go back,' says the boy, with a kind of a grin--`if +it wasn't on an occasion of this kind. It's the life I like. I've +always wanted to ride and shoot and live in the open air ever +since I can remember.' + +" `Who was this gang of stout parties you took this trip with?' I +asks. + +" `My stepfather,' says he, `and some business partners of his in +some Mexican mining and land schemes.' + +" `I saw you shoot Pedro Johnson,' says I, `and I took that +little popgun away from you that you did it with. And when I did +so I noticed three or four little scars in a row over your right +eyebrow. You've been in rookus before, haven't you?' + +" `I've had these scars ever since I can remember,' says he. `I +don't know how they came there.' + +" `Was you ever in Texas before?' says I. + +" `Not that I remember of,' says he. `But I thought I had when we +struck the prairie country. But I guess I hadn't.' + +" `Have you got a mother?' I asks. + +" `She died five years ago,' says he. + +"Skipping over the most of what followed--when Luke came back I +turned the kid over to him. He had seen Scudder and told him what +he wanted; and it seems that Scudder got active with one of these +telephones as soon as he left. For in about an hour afterwards +there comes to our hotel some of these city rangers in everyday +clothes that they call detectives, and marches the whole outfit +of us to what they call a magistrate's court. They accuse Luke of +attempted kidnapping, and ask him what he has to say. + +" `This snipe,' says Luke to the judge, `shot and willfully +punctured with malice and forethought one of the most respected +and prominent citizens of the town of Bildad, Texas, Your Honor. +And in so doing laid himself liable to the penitence of law and +order. And I hereby make claim and demand restitution of the +State of New York City for the said alleged criminal; and I know +he done it.' + +" `Have you the usual and necessary requisition papers from the +governor of your state?' asks the judge. + +" `My usual papers,' says Luke, `was taken away from me at the +hotel by these gentlemen who represent law and order in your +city. They was two Colt's .45's that I've packed for nine years; +and if I don't get 'em back, there'll be more trouble. You can +ask anybody in Mojada County about Luke Summers. I don't usually +need any other kind of papers for what I do.' + +"I see the judge looks mad, so I steps up and says: + +" `Your Honor, the aforesaid defendant, Mr. Luke Summers, sheriff +of Mojada County, Texas, is as fine a man as ever threw a rope or +upheld the statutes and codicils of the greatest state in the +Union. But he----' + +"The judge hits his table with a wooden hammer and asks who I am. + +" `Bud Oakley,' says I. `Office deputy of the sheriff's office of +Mojada County, Texas. Representing,' says I, `the Law. Luke +Summers,' I goes on, `represents Order. And if Your Honor will +give me about ten minutes in private talk, I'll explain the whole +thing to you, and show you the equitable and legal requisition +papers which I carry in my pocket.' + +"The judge kind of half smiles and says he will talk with me in +his private room. In there I put the whole thing up to him in +such language as I had, and when we goes outside, he announces +the verdict that the young man is delivered into the hands of the +Texas authorities; and calls the next case. + +"Skipping over much of what happened on the way back, I'll tell +you how the thing wound up in Bildad. + +"When we got the prisoner in the sheriff's office, I says to +Luke: + +" `You remember that kid of yours--that two-year-old that they +stole away from you when the bust-up come?' + +"Luke looks black and angry. He'd never let anybody talk to him +about that business, and he never mentioned it himself. + +" `Toe the mark,' says I. `Do you remember when he was toddling +around on the porch and fell down on a pair of Mexican spurs and +cut four little holes over his right eye? Look at the prisoner,' +says I, `look at his nose and the shape of his head and--why, you +old fool, don't you know your own son?--I knew him,' says I, +`when he perforated Mr. Johnson at the depot.' + +"Luke comes over to me shaking all over. I never saw him lose his +nerve before. + +" `Bud,' says he, `I've never had that boy out of my mind one day +or one night since he was took away. But I never let on. But can +we hold him?--Can we make him stay?--I'll make the best man of +him that ever put his foot in a stirrup. Wait a minute,' says he, +all excited and out of his mind--`I've got something here in my +desk--I reckon it'll hold legal yet--I've looked at it a thousand +times--"Cus-to-dy of the child," says Luke--"Cus-to-dy of the +child." We can hold him on that, can't we? Le'me see if I can +find that decree.' + +"Luke begins to tear his desk to pieces. + +" `Hold on,' says I. `You are Order and I'm Law. You needn't look +for that paper, Luke. It ain't a decree any more. It's +requisition papers. It's on file in that Magistrate's office in +New York. I took it along when we went, because I was office +deputy and knew the law.' + +" `I've got him back,' says Luke. `He's mine again. I never +thought----' + +" `Wait a minute,' says I. `We've got to have law and order. You +and me have got to preserve 'em both in Mojada County according +to our oath and conscience. The kid shot Pedro Johnson, one of +Bildad's most prominent and----" + +" `Oh, hell!' says Luke. `That don't amount to anything. That +fellow was half Mexican, anyhow.' " + + +----IN A FAR TOWNSHIP + +By SARAH N. CLEGHORN + +His roundabout of bottle-green, +And pantaloons of fine nankeen +Were Sunday best; the month was May, +And this from school a holiday; +But he had none with whom to play, +And wandered wistful,up and down, +All in a strange old Garden, +And in a strange old Town. + +An ancient chaise, a Dobbin gray +Had brought him here to spend the day. +Now his old aunt and uncle drowse; +No chick nor child is in the house-- +No cat, no dog, no bird, or mouse; +No fairy picture-book to spell, +No music-box of wonder, +Nor magic whispering-shell. + +Unending is this afternoon, +And strange this landscape as the moon, +With home a thousand miles away-- +The pasture where his brothers play +With whoop and shout, in Indian fray; +The porch where, even at this hour, +His mother prunes the vine and flower, +And hums the nursery melody, +"I saw a ship a-sailing, +A-sailing on the sea." + + +***************************************************************** +VOL. XXIII September 1910 NO. 3 + + +Lassoing Wild Animals In Africa + +By GUY H. SCULL + +Field Manager of the Buffalo Jones African Expedition + + +Editor's Note: The wild animals of Africa have been hunted with +firearms for many a year, and photographed by more than one +marksman of the lens. But here is the truly unique expedition +into the jungle. The idea that any one should seriously +contemplate a journey to Africa for the purpose of lassoing such +creatures as sportsmen either shoot or photograph at the longest +range possible, seems quite absurd. But an American frontiersman +has done it, with American cowboys, cow-ponies, and hunting-dogs, +and with wonderful moving pictures to prove it. It is a fine +evidence of the sporting qualities of both parties to the +undertaking that Colonel C. J. Jones, a Western plainsman, could +so completely interest Mr. Charles S. Bird, an Eastern +manufacturer, in the fantastic plan as to command his backing. +And if there is such a thing as the glow of adventure by proxy, +it must have been felt in the Nassau Street law office, where the +Buffalo Jones African Expedition had its headquarters, when the +cablegram from Nairobi announced that lion and rhino had been +lassoed, and that the moving pictures were a complete success. + + +IT was a special train--loaded to capacity with horses and dogs, +camp baggage, moving-picture cameras, cowboys, photographers, and +porters; and when it pulled out of the Nairobi station on the way +to the "up country" of British East Africa, the period of +preparation passed away and the time of action began. As the +faces of the people on the platform glided by the window of the +slowly moving carriage, there was good will written on all of +them; but also unbelief. There was no doubt as to what they +thought of Buffalo Jones's expedition that was setting out to +rope and tie and photograph the wild animals of the East African +Veldt. + +"How are you going to hold a rhino that weighs two tons and a +half?" + +"What are you going to do when the lion charges?" + +Such were the questions asked us by the hunters of the country. +They further took pains to explain that a rhino charges like a +flash, and that a lion can catch a horse within a hundred yards. + +These items of information, however, were well known to Buffalo +Jones before the expedition was organized in New York, and his +preparations to meet the difficulties had been made accordingly. + +Colonel C. J. Jones is tall and spare, with a strong, rugged face +and keen blue eyes. During his sixty-five years of life, he has +roped and tied, often single-handed, every kind of wild animal of +consequence to be found in our western country, and his +experience with these has led him to believe implicitly that man +is the master of all wild beasts. + +He has climbed trees after mountain lions, and with a lasso over +a branch has hauled grizzlies up into the air by one hind leg. +And once he set out alone to journey over a country that no white +man had ever traveled before, to reach the land of the musk-ox on +the border of the Arctic Circle. The story is told of how he met +a trapper on the way, and how these two, in the face of the +hostility of all the Indian tribes, the wolves, and the cold of +the northern winter, eventually came to the musk-ox and captured +five calves. Then, deserted by their Indian guide, they started +to return with their prizes, got lost in the wilderness, and +fought the wolves till their cartridges ran out. And when at last +they reached safety and fell asleep, exhausted, the Indians, +obeying the laws of their religion, stole upon them in the night +and killed the calves. + +But the success he had achieved with the mountain lions of the +Southwest, the musk-ox of the North, and the grizzly bears of the +Rockies was not enough. For twenty years it had been the one +ambition of his life to take an outfit to British East Africa to +try his hand with the more ferocious big game of that country. +But in his Western experience Colonel Jones had learned something +else besides the mastery of man over beast. Precisely how an +American cowboy was going to hold a rhinoceros that weighed two +tons and a half was purely a matter of speculation. Yet of one +thing the Colonel was certain--the experiment would result in a +moving picture that would be well worth the taking. For this +reason, what afterward came to be known as the "picture +department" was added to the make-up of the expedition. + +The preparations extended over a considerable length of time, and +were carried on in various places. Unquestionably, the most +important part of the outfit was the horses. It was absolutely +essential that they should be Western cow-ponies, fast, well +trained, and reliable in every way. The Colonel, who best of all +could foresee the nature of the work they would have to do, +selected them himself, ten in all, from the ranches of New +Mexico, and shipped them to New York. The American dogs to be +used for trailing were likewise chosen by the Colonel. Some of +them belonged to him personally, and had been thoroughly tried +out. The rest had reputations of their own. Of the two cowboys +who were to act as his assistants, Marshall Loveless had worked +with the Colonel before and knew his methods, and Ambrose Means +came highly recommended for skill and daring from one of the +largest ranch owners in the West. + +When, at the last moment, the writer of these articles was +introduced to the expedition in the capacity of acting field +manager, the preparations were well under way. The horses and +dogs had been already shipped, en route to Africa, in charge of +the cowboys, and the date of our sailing for London had been +fixed for the following day. + +The meeting was held at a luncheon in the Railroad Club, in New +York. There were present Colonel Jones, Mr. F. W. Bird, son of +Charles S. Bird[1] who financed the expedition, Mr. W. G. Sewall, +of the Boma Trading Company, of Nairobi, and myself. After +certain matters of business had been disposed of, the talk at the +luncheon table drifted to the probabilities and possibilities of +success; to lions, rhinos, elands, and cheetahs; to cowboys, +horses, and dogs. But the Colonel would hear of no possibilities, +or even probabilities, of failure. He was peculiarly insistent +upon this point. And when the hour of the business man's lunch +time came to an end, and the room began to empty, Mr. Sewall said +to me across the corner of the table: + +"Of course, every one in Nairobi will think all of you either +fakers or crazy. I know you're no fakers. I don't know whether +you're crazy or not. But there is one thing in your favor: The +Colonel's unshaken belief that the thing can be done will +probably pull it through." + + +[1] EAST WALPOLE, MASS., +July 8, 1910. +Mr. GUY H. SCULL. + +MY DEAR SCULL +It has been asked by some what the object of the +Buffalo Jones African Expedition was. I will tell you. + +You know my friend, Colonel C. J. Jones, broke his rifle a +generation or so ago and vowed he would never again kill game +save for food or in self-defense. Since taking that oath he has +subdued and captured all kinds of wild animals in North America, +including the musk-ox, buffalo, grizzly bear, and cougar. + +I discovered that it was his dream to go to East Africa to prove +that with American cowboys, horses, and dogs he could lasso and +capture the savage animals of that country as readily as he has +the wild animals of our country. As a sporting proposition, it +seemed to me unique and fascinating, and so, as a small tribute +to Colonel Jones, I volunteered to finance the expedition. + +I somewhat doubt whether there is another man in the world who +has the courage, skill, and determination to do what he has done +in the animal kingdom, and he well deserves to be called "The +Preserver of the American Bison." + +I want to acknowledge our indebtedness to Mr. Arthur A. Fowler of +New York for his assistance in helping us outfit the expedition +in London and Nairobi, and to you and the others who have helped +to make the expedition a success. + Very truly, + + CHARLES S. BIRD. + + + +On our arrival in London about the middle of January of this +year, the work of preparation was continued at once. Outside of +the minor details of the outfit, such as personal equipment, +saddlery, medicines, bandages, and so forth, the first matter to +receive attention was the organization of the picture department. +Mr. Cherry Kearton was sought to take charge of this branch of +the expedition. Kearton--a powerfully built Yorkshireman--is an +experienced cinematograph photographer and a naturalist of no +small reputation. He had taken moving pictures in Africa before, +and so he knew the climatic conditions there--the heat radiation +and the different intensities of light. He also knew the animals +the Colonel was going to rope. But besides being a cinematograph +expert and a naturalist, he was also a sportsman. + +When Kearton learned of the nature of the undertaking, he was +skeptical. He had no more than a slight acquaintance with the +Colonel then, and only a vague, hearsay knowledge of what the +American Cowboy could do. Evidently his mind was divided by the +dictates of common sense and the sporting instinct. On many +occasions during this time, he questioned the feasibility of the +experiment in the light of what he knew of the African beasts. +The agreement, in documentary form, was spread out on the table +in the Boma Trading Company's London office when he finally +wanted to know how in Heaven's name we thought this thing could +be done. + +"We'll do it," the Colonel said quietly. That was all. + +"Well, there's a picture in it, anyway," said Kearton, and signed +the papers. + +With his assistant, David Gobbet, two cinematograph machines and +tripods, hand cameras and developing apparatus, he set sail +immediately for Africa, leaving an order for thirty thousand feet +of film to be divided between two manufacturers and to be +forwarded as soon as possible. + +In the meantime, Colonel Jones was hard at work collecting a +rather unusual assortment of articles. The experience of a +life-time enabled him to foresee what kind of materials were +absolutely necessary, and what kind might prove useful on the +present expedition. Naturally, the articles required were not +usually in stock, but the London shopkeeper is proverbially +obliging and imperturbable. + +One rainy morning the Colonel walked into a hardware store and +asked to see some handcuffs. A pair was shown him. + +"Not large enough," said the Colonel. + +"How large would you want them, sir?" + +"Twice that size." + +"May I ask for what purpose you require them, sir?" + +"For lions," said the Colonel. + +"Precisely, handcuffs for lions; yes, you need large ones. I am +afraid I have none in stock just now, but I can have them made +for you within a few days." + +It was the same with almost everything the Colonel wanted to +purchase; everything had to be made especially for him after his +own description--handcuffs, collars and belts, chains, branding +irons, a block and fall, muzzles of different sizes, corkscrew +picket-pins for holding the turn of a rope, and a nondescript +article shaped like a huge pair of tongs, for which I feel sure +there is no name in any trade, but which looked to be a handy +implement for clamping the jaws of a beast. To have these things +made according to specifications took time and an endless amount +of running about. Besides, there was the more ordinary part of +the equipment to procure: English dogs, both foxhounds and +terriers, horse-blankets, extra ropes, horseshoes, and so on. +When the last of the expedition sailed from Southampton, there +were forty-eight pieces of baggage on the list. + +This last contingent reached Nairobi at noon on March 3, and for +the first time then all the members of the expedition met +together. Loveless proved to be a man a little below the medium +height; he held himself very erect, walked with quick, energetic +steps, and wore a blond mustache. He made polite inquiries as to +our voyage out, commented on the hot weather, and fully explained +the condition of the horses and dogs. Means was taller. He +carried his head slightly forward and wore his black hair brushed +low down over his forehead. He stood slumped on one hip, so that +one shoulder also was lower than the other. + +"Please' to meet you," he said. + +On our arrival at Nairobi the first matter to be decided was the +district to be worked. The choice lay between the Sotik and the +Kapeti Plains. According to the usual batch of contradictory +stories in such cases, the game was said to be equally plentiful, +or equally scarce, in both districts. Both had been shot over +considerably of late, and, anyhow, no one could really tell us +where the most game was to be found; because, as one informant +explained, the game everywhere shifted so frequently and so fast. +But the Sotik and the country approaching it--the Kedong and Rift +Valleys, and the Mau--were reported to be more or less free from +ticks, and, as the health of the horses was of the gravest +importance to us, we determined to work this district first. + +The Colonel and his two cowboys, Loveless and Means, were ready +to start at once. Eight out of the ten horses were in fine +condition. With but one exception, the dogs had come through +safely, though all were suffering somewhat from distemper. It was +concluded, however, that they would recover just as rapidly in +the open country as they would in Nairobi. + +Kearton and Gobbet were ready. Kearton had built a dark room in +Nairobi, because his earlier experience had taught him that the +pictures could not be developed with any degree of satisfaction +in the field. His four special porters to carry the cameras and +tripods--porters he had trained on previous safaris--were only +waiting for the word to move. Mr. Ray Ulyate, the white hunter to +the expedition, had already gone to Kijabe to prepare his +ox-wagons against our coming, and the Boma Trading Company had +engaged a special train to leave Nairobi on the fifth. + +On the morning of that day we held the customary procession of an +outgoing safari down the main street of Nairobi to the waiting +train. The Colonel rode first, with the assorted pack of dogs at +his horse's heels. Then came the cowboys with the led horses; +then the picture department; then the long single line of black +porters, bringing up the rear. Above the loads on the porters' +heads two flags flashed their colors in the sunlight--the stars +and stripes, and the house flag of the company, with the white +buffalo skull against the red background, and underneath the +motto, Sapiens qui Vigilat. + +The night had already fallen black and cold when the special +train crested the top of the divide and coasted down grade into +Kijabe. The most imposing structure in the place is the railroad +station, with its red wooden building propped up on piles, its +tin guest-house alongside, and the neat gravel platform growing a +clump of trees. The rest of Kijabe is composed of four other +houses, the goods-shed, an open-faced Indian booth, the +post-office, and the water-tank. Ulvate met us with a lantern, +for the station lights are dim, and we detrained in the face of +the high wind that always blows there from sunset to dawn, and +picketed the horses among the trees of the station platform. +Because a large part of the revenue of the country is derived +from the visiting hunters, a safari is accorded privileges out of +the ordinary. So, as a matter of course, we took possession of +the station and camped in the tin guest-house for the night. + +The morning came clear and hot and still. The railroad at Kijabe +runs along the face of the hills, so that the land drops down +abruptly to the plains below, and you can look away for miles +over the Kedong and Rift valleys, with the two sentinel extinct +volcanoes rising black against the heat-blurred sky; + +The floors of the valleys are laid with volcanic ash. But on +first appearances the land looks much the same as the regulation +veldt or certain parts of our own Western plains. It is only by +the fineness of the dust that hangs about the horses' feet, and +the peculiar quality of the thirst that dries in the throat, that +you know this is no ordinary soil. + +The sun was high in the heavens before we finally started from +Kijabe and descended the rough road to the level ground, with the +brakes on the ox-wagons squealing harshly and the horses treading +silently in the dust. + +We had planned to camp at Sewell's farm that night. It was only +about four hours away, but a short trek the first day is always a +good rule to follow. It gives every one a chance, so to speak, to +shake down well into the saddle. We had gone but a short +distance, however, when one thing became strikingly apparent: +Gobbet did not know how to ride! He was mounted on a white +African pony that we had found it necessary to add to our string. +The pony was stolid, lazy, and easy-gaited, but Gobbet's +unfamiliar attitude toward his mount was unmistakable. + +Now it is a delicate matter in any country to broach the question +of a man's horsemanship, but presently Gobbet introduced the +subject of his own accord. + +"Of course I can't ride a horse," he said. "Have never been on +one before. When Mr. Kearton spoke to me about coming out here +with him, he just asked me if I could ride, and I told him surely +I could ride--but I didn't tell him I meant a bicycle." + +After all, the matter was of no great importance. Gobbet was +young and thin and active, with sharp black eyes, and the work +that lay ahead of us would probably teach him to ride in short +order--and it did. + +We had little expectation of finding either a lion or a rhino on +that first day's trip. We were traveling on a regular road, +making a kind of initial march. The fringe of scrub at the +beginning of the valley had been left behind some three or four +miles when Ulyate suddenly reined in his horse and pointed to +three black dots on the veldt about half a mile away. + +The black dots proved to he only wart-hogs, but we wanted them, +and, so long as there was little chance of our finding any of the +more important species of game, we took the opportunity that +offered. The Colonel and the two cowboys tightened their cinches +and then rode out to the westward to round up the beasts. + +"Drive 'em back to us," Kearton called after them, and Means +waved his hand by way of answer. + +Behind us, the line of porters was coming up along the road. They +were straggling badly, broken up into little sections of threes +and fours, so that the last of them were not yet in sight. Gobbet +was sent back to hurry forward the four special porters with the +cameras, and when these finally arrived upon the scene, their +faces covered with dust and sweat, the horsemen had dwindled to +dots only a little larger than the hogs themselves. + +Kearton placed the cameras a few yards apart, and there we +waited, watching the distant specks. + +Two of the riders disappeared into a far patch of scrub. The +third began swinging to the southward. His horse was galloping +after something we could not see. + +In the meantime the safari was coming up, and as each section +arrived it was halted, and the porters put down their loads and +sat on them. Some of them turned their backs upon the scene in +total indifference as to what was coming next; others regarded +the cameras with expressions of mild curiosity. + +Little by little the third horseman had swung round so that he +was headed due east, riding straight at us. Rapidly the speck +grew larger, and the two other riders came out of the scrub and +joined the chase. + +Nearer and nearer they came, with the dust cloud swirling behind +them. Gobbet began turning the handle of his camera, and the whir +of the machine sounded loud in the stillness. One or two of the +porters jumped to their feet and pointed. Kearton waited. + +"I hope they won't come straight into the lens," he said. "If +they do, it won't make a good picture. They ought to come at an +angle. So," he explained, placing his hand obliquely to the line +of focus. Then he bent over, laid his eye to the gun-sight of the +machine, and likewise began turning. + +The thunder of the chase could be heard now, and we could see +that it was Loveless leading, on his black, with Means and the +Colonel close behind and the wart-hog some forty yards ahead. The +beast was running strong. His huge snout was thrust forward, and +his upturned tusks gleamed in the sunlight. But gradually the +black horse gained on him, and Loveless loosened the rope from +his saddle and began swinging the long noose round and round his +head. + +On came the wart-hog, straight for Kearton's camera. + +Kearton straightened up above the machine and waved his helmet +frantically. + +"Give over, give over!" he shouted. + +"You're driving him right into the picture. It's no good. Give +over!" + +The chase never swerved an inch, and Kearton bent to his work +again, cursing in well-selected periods. + +The next moment the hog drove past him. At the same instant +Loveless threw his rope and caught the beast by one hind leg. The +black horse stopped, fore feet planted firmly, and the dust cloud +swept across and hid the scene. + +When the dust cleared away, the hog was lying across the road, +blowing comfortably, with the rope leading from his hind leg to +the horn of Loveless' saddle. Loveless laughed. + +"There's the first one for you," he said. "And my, can't he run!" + +Gobbet, however, was indignant. "It's no use," he complained. "To +bring an object that way straight into the lens is against the +first principles of cinematography. It's no use, I tell you." + +Means sat half slumped in his saddle, with his reeking horse +panting heavily. + +"Well, well, well," he finally drawled. "And didn't Mr. Pig come +a-bending across that prairie? He most certainly come a-bending." + +The porters gathered around and looked long at the beast; some of +them spoke a few words in low tones, and the others nodded their +heads and smiled. + +Sometimes a wart-hog will act nasty, and his lower tusks are +sharp as razors; but when this one was released he walked out of +the circle of grinning natives, slowly, quietly, and apparently +thoroughly disgusted. + +At Sewell's farm there is a pan of water made by a dam across an +almost waterless brook, and alongside of this pan we pitched our +camp. When the sun set, the high wind rose again, whirling up the +dust in heavy clouds and sending the sparks from the fire +scurrying over the ground. But the Kedong Valley wind is more or +less a phenomenon of the country. You can count upon it +absolutely for every one of its disagreeable qualities. I think +the citizens of Africa are a little proud of it. + +There was now a fair chance that on our way into the Rift Valley +we should flush one or another of the larger animals. +Preparations for such a contingency were accordingly made before +starting from Sewell's farm. Canteens and iron drums were filled +with water, because the next camp would be a dry one. The +cinematograph, cameras, and all the extra boxes were loaded with +films the evening before, and the four special camera porters +were given strict orders to keep well up with the advance of the +safari. The lion-taming outfit--the tongs, muzzles, chains, and +collars--was stowed on the first wagon, on top of the load, where +it could be got at readily in case of need. The Colonel rode +ahead, with the two cowboys close behind, all three ropers +mounted on their best horses--the Colonel on "the paint," +Loveless on his black, and Means on the big-boned bay. Every +member of the party was especially cautioned to keep a sharp +lookout on both sides of the road. + +Just as the day before, the morning came hot and still, and for +hour after hour the straggling safari crawled slowly over the +long waves of the undulating veldt. The road was a wagon track +always vanishing in front toward the head of the valley. The land +lay silent beneath the glaring sunlight. + +We outspanned at noon for an hour. Over the country here grew +small, scattered thorn trees, thick with thorns but with scarcely +any leaves, so that the shade beneath them was thin and could +shelter no more than one horse. The water in the canteens, cold +at the start, had become warm now. + +When we mounted again, the sweat had dried on the horses, and the +boots felt stiff on our feet. The line of the road still +stretched away its interminable length until it disappeared in +the distance. + +And then, as we crawled sleepily ahead over the rises, the +Colonel was the first to notice the lion spoor in the dust. + +With sudden animation the safari awoke from the lethargy of the +hot, monotonous march. The spoor was judged to be at least four +hours old, so there was no use putting the dogs on it. Then +presently it disappeared. On the dead grass of the bordering +veldt there was nothing to show which way the lion had gone. But +there was a chance--a small one, yet still a chance--that the +beast was lying up near by in the shade of a thorn tree. So all +the horsemen spread out over the veldt to obtain a wider scope of +vision, and for mile after mile the company moved forward, +sweeping the immediate country. + +Proceeding in this manner through the afternoon, we eventually +crested a slightly higher rise and looked down into a shallow +valley that was greener than the rest of the veldt. A few +full-sized trees were growing in the bottom, and there were a +number of outcroppings of rock. Large herds of antelope were +grazing there. + +The Colonel called a halt. + +"There is no lion anywhere hereabouts," he said, "because the +game are grazing peacefully. But there is a bunch of eland +yonder. We might as well round them up while the light lasts." + +The plan of operation was quickly made. The cameras were +stationed about a mile to the southeast, partly concealed by the +bole of a tree, and the bunch of eland were skillfully rounded up +and a good specimen was singled out. + +Everything was working to perfection. The three horsemen drove +the eland toward the cameras--not directly at them, but a little +to one side, at an angle, as Kearton wanted it done. At the +proper moment Loveless roped the animal by the forelegs and neck, +and threw it down. Loveless jumped from his horse and was running +forward to tie the prize when something--the smell of the strange +beast, perhaps--started the black horse bucking. With the rope +made fast to the saddle and the eland acting as a pivot, the +black went careering round and round. Both the Colonel and Means +tried to rope him, and missed, and finally Loveless, on foot, +caught him by the dangling reins. + +Of course such a thing might have been readily foreseen, but +somehow it came as a surprise and opened up grave possibilities. +That night in camp at "Rugged Rocks" we were gathered about the +cook s fire for the warmth it gave, when the Colonel spoke of the +affair. + +"Everything was going great till that horse started bucking," the +Colonel remarked. "We've got to teach our horses not to mind the +smell of these strange animals out here. We've got to be able to +depend absolutely on our horses. Of course that eland wasn't +dangerous. But when we tackle something else and a horse acts +that way, it might be bad." + +But Gobbet said it was good action, anyway, and would look fine +when thrown on the screen. + +March 8 was a day of disappointments. Between sunrise and sunset +we traveled fifteen miles to the Wangai River and hunted in turn +a pair of lions, a cheetah, and a rhinoceros--and lost them all. +Two circumstances were held accountable: one was the necessity of +getting the horses to water, and the other was the fact that it +was just a bad luck day all through. + +We came upon the lions early in the morning, close to the base of +the southern volcano. This particular pair of lions must have +been shot over at one time or another, for they did not wait to +satisfy any curiosity as to our intentions, but fled at once for +the safety of the mountain. Although we gave chase immediately, +their lead was so great and the distance to the mountains so +short, that they were soon lost to us in the gullies and crevices +of the foothills. + +It was while we were trying to pick up the lost trail of the +lions that we flushed a cheetah out of one of the dongas.[2] It +broke away along the foothills, and finally stopped at bay in a +district where the going was so bad for the horses that we had to +give up the attempt. + + +[2] Donga.--a gully. + + +With the rhinoceros we had scarcely any chance whatsoever. The +Colonel, who was scouting the country to the northward of the +line of march, caught a glimpse of the beast in the adjacent +valley. By the time he had come back to get us and we had ridden +in pursuit, the rhino had disappeared. + +We found his trail leading still farther to the northward, and +dismounted and looked down at it in silence. No comments were +made. No comments were necessary. Every one knew that for lack of +water the horses were too done up to follow. + +Means had dismounted a little to one side of the group, and for a +while he stood there with his arms resting on his saddle, gazing +back over the way we had come. Presently he remarked to the world +at large: Excitement has certainly been runnin' high all day. We +mounted then; and, instead of hunting the rhino farther, we rode +the jaded horses slowly into camp and put a proper finish to a +bad luck day by holding a consultation. + +The Wangai River is no river at all; merely a small spring in the +shadow of the range that crosses the head of the valley. But the +spring could supply sufficient water for all our needs. Also, the +problem of transportation demanded that Ulyate should return to +Kijabe and bring up another wagon with supplies before the +journey over the Mau into the Sotik could be undertaken. Then, +too, here in the Rift Valley we had seen both lion and rhino, and +there was always the chance of finding them again. The +consultation resulted in the decision to make a permanent camp +here and hunt the neighboring country until Ulyate should return. + +For the succeeding three days the Colonel laid out a plan of +campaign; simple, but effective, and limited only by the +necessity of keeping within reasonable distance of the water. The +plan consisted of a series of drives; one in a northeasterly, one +in an easterly, and one in a southeasterly direction. By this +means we would cover in turn all the territory at the head of the +valley. + +The Colonel was anxious to try again for the rhino he had seen on +the march the day before, and for this reason the drive to the +northeast was inaugurated first. Every member of the expedition +took part in these drives. The Colonel and the writer at one end, +and the two cowboys at the other, occupied the extreme positions. +Between the right and left wings stretched a long line of +porters, under the command of two escaris, and with Kearton and +Gobbet in the center with the cameras. The dogs on leash and the +saises carrying water for the horses brought up the rear. When +finally formed, the line of the drive extended approximately five +miles, and the cameras and the dogs were so placed that they +could be brought to either end of the line with the utmost +despatch. Two shots fired in quick succession would be the signal +to gather. + +That first day's drive brought little success. To begin with, we +were late in starting, so that the sun had already risen before +we moved out of camp; and besides, the porters were new at that +kind of work and had to be halted and reformed many times before +they understood what was wanted. + +The land across which we were driving lay at the very edge of the +valley, and was consequently somewhat broken into small hills and +hollows. By the time we came to the old rhino trail, the day was +well advanced. But no fresh tracks were to be found up and down +the entire length of the hollow, nor was anything to be seen of +the beast from the next hill to the northward, which we climbed +to search the country ahead. There was only a large herd of +hartebeests grazing on the plains below. + +The Colonel retreated halfway down the hill and fired two shots +from his revolver. Somewhere beyond our range of vision we heard +the two shots repeated, and at the end of a little more than half +an hour all the members of the drive were gathered on the +hillside below the crest. + +Then the Colonel explained the reason for his signal. The rhino +was not there. We might still find him, and we might not. The +chances were now that we should not. He had probably left the +country for good and was already miles away. In the meanwhile a +good opportunity offered for rounding up the herd of hartebeests +in the plain below and driving them up the hillside to the +cameras. + +On top of the hill was a small clearing, the edges of which were +fringed with scrub. While the Colonel and the cowboys maneuvered +to circle the herd, Kearton placed the cameras in the clearing, +with the northern line of scrub as a background for the intended +picture. + +For a long time there was silence. Then suddenly the scrub sprang +into life, and the next instant the herd dashed into the clearing +in a cloud of dust that was pierced by a hundred startled eyes +and tossing horns. At the sight of the cameras the herd broke and +scattered in every direction; but the horsemen, pressing them +close, roped one in the open, and held him to have his picture +taken, and then let him go. + +On the second drive, over the lowlands to the east, the porters +worked better; but, although we covered a far greater territory, +the total result was the roping and photographing of a serval-cat +that we flushed on the way back to camp. + +The third drive carried us well out toward the southern volcano +where we had seen the lions on the march from Rugged Rocks, but +this time there was no trace of them anywhere in the land. Means, +however, found a cheetah, and the two faint reports of his signal +brought us together on the run. + +We came upon Means seated on his horse in a bit of the veldt that +was covered all over with tufts of rank grass, so that it looked +like a swamp that had been dry for ages. Near by ran a small, +shallow donga. + +When the rest of us rode up to him, he merely pointed at one of +the tufts of grass behind which the cheetah lay crouched. + +There followed a brief delay, while a plan of maneuver was made +and expounded, while the tripods were set up, the cameras screwed +on, and the ropers moved out to their appointed places. + +Then all at once the cheetah started, and, instead of breaking +away, as we had calculated he would, he doubled on his tracks and +made for the shelter of the donga. It was a quick, sharp +race--and the cheetah won. He hid in the scrub at the bottom of +the ditch. The native porters collected there and complacently +regarded the scene, and the members of the drive ranged +themselves on either bank and offered innumerable suggestions as +to what had better be done next. + +But in the midst of it all the Colonel put an emphatic end to the +discussion. He rode into the donga with his rope swinging free, +and when the cheetah failed to spring at him, he dropped the +noose over the animal's head and dragged him out on to the open +veldt, where his picture could be properly taken. + +The black porters looking on commenced speaking in low tones in +their native tongue, and nodded and grinned at each other as they +had done before. But this time Mac was among them. Mac was +Kearton's tent-boy. He originally came from Somaliland and spoke +English. He was called upon to explain what the porters said. + +"Please," he began. "They are very bad men, these people, but +don't be sorry. They say--they say that, of course, the white +gentlemen are able to do what they want to do, but just the same +they are all crazy." + +That night we held our second consultation. Ulyate had returned +from Kijabe with the extra wagonload of supplies, which placed us +in a position to move again immediately. The question now arose +as to whether it would be best to remain where we were a few days +longer to gain more experience, or to trek at once over the Mau, +with a chance at giraffe on the way, and so on into the Sotik +country, with its alluring promises of both rhino and lion. + +By this time we had hunted the Rift Valley thoroughly. During the +seven days since we had left Kijabe, the expedition had roped and +photographed a cheetah, a serval-cat, a hartebeest, an eland, and +a wart-hog. Although we had been given no opportunity yet to find +out how we were going to hold a rhino or what we would do when +the lion charged, still, in addition to our success with the +lesser animals, we had acquired something else of value. All the +members of the expedition had learned to work well together--in +all the usual emergencies each man knew what was expected of him +and could likewise make a ready guess as to what the others +intended doing. Thus, in spite of the fact that on an expedition +of this kind it is the unexpected that always happens, our +experience only added to our confidence that when we eventually +encountered one of the larger beasts we should get him. + +The consultation ended with the unanimous decision to start for +the Sotik at dawn. + +In the October number Mr. Scull will relate the; adventures of +the Buffalo Jones African Expedition in Lassoing Giraffe and +Rhinoceros. + + +***************************************************************** +VOL. XXIII September 1910 NO. 3 + +THE WOMEN OF TO-MORROW {page 368-379 part 2.} + +By WILLIAM HARD + +II + +THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT SUBJECT. + +Dear General Reader, please let that sentence stand for the +thousand words (much like those of a competent barker at the door +of a show-tent) which you usually oblige an author to expend on +enticing you into reading his article. Think how much time you +save by walking straight into the tent and observing that-- + +THE First International Congress on Domestic Science and Arts was +held in 1908 at Freiburg in Switzerland. It as no improvised +amateur uplift, private-theatricals affair. + +The head of the organizing committee was M. Python, president of +Freiburg's State Council. Seventy-two papers on technical topics +were printed and circulated beforehand. The participating members +numbered seven hundred. The discussions developed the +characteristic points of the three rival breeds of household-arts +instruction--the German, the Swiss, and the Belgian. Visits were +made to the normal schools of Freiburg, Berne, and Zurich, in +each of which there is an elaborate system for the training of +household-arts teachers. In the end, in order that facts and +ideas about the education of girls for their duties as +house-keepers might be more rapidly circulated, it was voted to +establish, at some place in Switzerland, a Permanent +International Information Committee. + +Thus, in an age in which the productive tasks of the home have +almost all been surrendered to the factory; in an age in which +even cooking and sewing, last puny provinces of a once ample +empire, are forever making concessions of territory to those +barbarian invaders, the manufacturers of ready-to-eat foods and +ready-to-wear clothes; in an age in which home industry lies +fainting and gasping, while Mrs. Charlotte Perkins Gilman begs +the spectators to say "thumbs-down" and let her put it out of its +agony altogether--in such an age there comes, at Freiburg, in +this First International Congress on Domestic Science and Arts, +the most serious, the most notable, recognition. ever given in +any age to the home's economic value. + +A real paradox? Well, at any rate, it gives wings to the +fluttering thought that theories of industrial evolution, one's +own as well as Mrs. Gilman's, are a bit like automobiles--not +always all that they are cranked up to be. + +Certainly the revival of the home seems to attract larger crowds +to the mourners' bench every year. + +At the University of Missouri the first crop of graduates in Home +Economics was gathered this last spring. They were seven. And as +most of them took likewise a degree in Education, it may be +assumed that they will go forth to spread the gospel. + +Their preceptress, Miss Edna D. Day, who next year will head the +just-organized Department of Home Economics in the University of +Kansas, is a novel type of new woman in that she has earned the +degree of Doctor of Philosophy in "Woman's Sphere." She took +graduate work in the Department of Home Administration in the +University of Chicago and achieved her doctorate with an +investigation into "The Effect of Cooling on the Digestibility of +Starch." What she found out was subsequently printed as a +bulletin by the United States Department of Agriculture. + +In the midst of the festivities at the wake held over The Home, +it perplexes the mourners to learn that some of those domestic +science bulletins of the United States Department of Agriculture +excite a demand for a million copies. + + It is a wake like Mike McCarthy's. + + Mike was lookin' iligant + As he rested there in state. + + But + + When the fun was at its height + McCarthy sat up straight. + + +The ballad (one of the most temperately worded of literary +successes) goes on to say that "the effect was great." So it has +been in this case--great enough to be felt all the way around the +world. + +It is being felt in the Island Empire of the East. Miss Ume +Tsuda's Institute at Tokyo (which stands so high that its +graduates are allowed to teach in secondary schools without +further government examination) has installed courses in English +domestic science as well as in the domestic science of Japan. + +It is being felt in the Island Empire of the West. King's +College, of the University of London, has organized a three-year +course leading to the degree of Mistress of Home Science, and has +also established a "Post-Graduates' Course in Home Science," in +which out of fourteen students (in this its first year of +existence) four are graduates of the courses of academic study of +Oxford or Cambridge. + +It is being felt in the United States at every educational level. + +It has familiarized us with household arts in the public schools, +and we are not astonished to learn that in the public schools of +Boston in every grade above the third, there is sewing or +cooking, or both, for 120 minutes every week for every girl. + +It has accustomed us to such news as that in Illinois there are +fifty-eight public high schools in which instruction is offered +in one or more of the three following subjects: Food, Clothing, +or The Home. + +It has brought us to the point of expecting domestic science in +all schools of agriculture and of regarding it as natural for the +legislature of Montana to appropriate $50,000 to the State +Agricultural College for a woman's dormitory. + +It has cushioned the shock of the tidings from the University of +California to the effect that entrance credit will this fall be +given for high school domestic science work. + +We are reduced to equanimity in the face of the fact (which might +have frenzied Alexander Hamilton) that Columbia University, +through its Teachers College, is offering courses in Elementary +Cookery, in Shirt-waists, in Domestic Laundering, and in +Housewifery. + +And at last, when we see the resuscitated home making its way +even into the really-truly, more-than-masculinely, academic +Eastern women's colleges, we rush up to the Mike McCarthy of this +case and assure him warmly that we were not deceived for a moment +by his apparent demise, having just learned that President Hazard +of Wellesley College, in her latest commencement address, said: +"I hope the time may soon come when we can have a department of +domestic science, which shall give a sound basis for the problems +of the household " + +What does it all mean? + +"Fellow-Citizens," said the colored orator reported by Dr. Paul +Monroe of Columbia, "what am education? Education am the +palladium of our liberties and the grand pandemonium of +civilization." + +But it does mean something, this Home Economics disturbance. AND +SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT IT SEEMS TO. + + +II + +Mr. Edward T. Devine. of the New York Charity Organization +Society, has distinguished himself in the field of economic +thought as well as in the field of active social reform. Among +his works is a minute but momentous treatise on "The Economic +Function of Women." It is really a plea for the proposition that +to-day the art of consuming wealth is just as important a study +as the art of producing it. + +"If acquisition," says Mr. Devine, "has been the idea which in +the past history of economics has been unduly emphasized, +expenditure is the idea which the future history of the science +will place beside it." + +We have used our brains while getting hold of money. We are going +to use our brains while getting rid of it. We have studied +banking, engineering, shop practice, cost systems, salesmanship. +We are going to study food values, the hygiene of clothing, the +sanitary construction and operation of living quarters, the +mental reaction of amusements, the distribution of income, the +art of making choices, according to our means, from among the +millions of things, harmful and helpful, ugly and beautiful, +offered to us by the producing world. + +Mr. Devine ventures to hope that "we may look for a radical +improvement in general economic conditions from a wiser use of +the wealth which we have chosen to produce." + +This enlarged view of the economic importance of Consumption +brings with it a correspondingly enlarged view of the economic +importance of the Home. "If the Factory," says Mr. Devine, "has +been the center of the economics which has had to do with +production, the Home will displace the Factory as the center of +interest in a system which gives due prominence to Enjoyment and +Use." + +"There will result," continues Mr. Devine, "an increased respect +on the part of economists for the industrial function which woman +performs," for "there is no economic function higher than that of +determining how wealth shall be used," so that "even if man +remain the chief producer of wealth and woman remain the chief +factor in determining how wealth shall be used, the economic +position of woman will not be considered by those who judge with +discrimination to be inferior to that of man." + +Mr. Devine then lays out for the economist a task in the +discharge of which the innocent bystander will sincerely wish him +a pleasant trip and a safe return. + +"It is the present duty of the economist," says Mr. Devine, "to +accompany the wealth expender to the very threshold of the home, +that he may point out, with untiring vigilance, its emptiness, +caused not so much by lack of income as by lack of knowledge of +how to spend wisely." + +Mr. Deville's proposition therefore would seem finally to +sanction some such conclusion as this: + +Physical science and social science (and common sense) are making +such important contributions to the subject of the rearing of +children and to the subject of the maintenance of wholesome and +beautiful living conditions and to the subject of the use of +leisure that, while the home woman has lost almost all of the +productive industries which she once controlled, she has +simultaneously gained a whole new field of labor. Consumption has +ceased to be merely PASSIVE and has become ACTIVE. It has ceased +to be mere ABSORPTION and has become CHOICE. And the active +choosing of the products of the world (both spiritual and +material) in connection with her children, her house, and her +spare time has developed for the home woman into a task so broad, +into an art so difficult, as to require serious study. + +We have quoted at length from Mr. Devine's discourse because it +is recognized as the classic statement of the case and because it +is warmly commended by such women as Mrs. Ellen H. Richards, of +the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose skill as +scientist and vision as philosopher have made her the most +authoritative personality in the American Home Economics +Association. (That association, by the way, has some fifteen +hundred due-paying members.) + +The scales fall from our eyes now and we see at least one thing +which we had not seen before. We had supposed that sewing and +cooking were the vitals of the Home Economics movement. Not at +all! The home woman might cease altogether to sew and to cook +(just as she has ceased altogether to spin, weave, brew, etc.) +without depriving the Home Economics movement of any considerable +part of its driving power. Sewing and cooking are productive +processes. They add economic value to certain commodities; +namely, cloth and food. But it is not Production, it is +Consumption, which the Home Economics movement is at heart +devoted to. + +This is plainly set forth by some of its most zealous workers. +Thus Edna D. Day, at the Lake Placid Conference on Home Economics +in 1908, was more or less sorry that "domestic science has come +to be so largely sewing and cooking in our schools," was quite +willing to look at the white of the eye of the fact that "more +and more we are buying ready-made clothes and ready-cooked +foods," and marked out the policy of her "Survey Course in Home +Economics" at the University of Missouri in the statement that +"sewing and cooking are decreasingly home problems, while the +problems of wise buying, of adjusting standards of living to +income, and of developing right feelings in regard to family +responsibilities are increasingly difficult." + +To choose and use the world's resources intelligently on behalf +of family and community--in this Mr. Devine sees a new field of +action, in this Mrs. Richards sees a new field of education. + +Women will train themselves for their duties as consumers or else +continue to lie under the sentence of condemnation pronounced +upon them by Florence Nightingale. "Three-fourths of the mischief +in women's lives," said she, "arises from their excepting +themselves from the rule of training considered necessary for +men." + +But what, in this case, is the training proposed? + +The answer to that question will cause some more scales to fall +from our eyes. Just as we have seen that Home Economics does not +consist essentially of sewing and cooking, we shall see that +Consumption is not at all a specialized technique in the sense in +which electrical engineering, department store buying, +railroading, cotton manufacturing, medicine, and the other +occupations of the outside world are specialized technigues. Home +Economics will not narrow women's education but in the end will +enlarge it, because Consumption, instead of being a specialty, is +a generality so broad as almost to glitter. + + +III + + +AT Menomonie, Wisconsin, Mr. L. D. Harvey, lately president of +the National Education Association, has established a Homemakers' +School. It does not turn out teachers. Its course of instruction +is solely for the prospective housewife. + +The first grand division of study is The House. + +We here observe that the housewife is going to be something of a +Sanitary Engineer, since she studies Chemistry, Physics, and +Bacteriology in their "application to such subjects as the +heating, lighting, ventilation, and plumbing of a house." It is +thought that knowledge of this sort "will go a long way toward +improving the health conditions of the country." + +We also observe that the housewife is going to be something of an +Interior Decorator, since she studies "design, color, house +planning and furnishing." + +She also acquires some skill as Purchasing Agent, Bookkeeper, and +Employer of Labor when she takes the course on Household +Management and studies "the proper apportioning of income among +the different lines of home expenditures, the systematizing and +keeping of household accounts, and the question of domestic +service." + +The second grand division is Food Study and Preparation. + +Here the housewife becomes, to some extent, a Dietitian, studying +"the chemical processes in the preparation and digestion of +foods," and considering the question "how she shall secure for +the family the foods best suited to the various activities of +each individual." + +Here, likewise, she makes a start toward being a Pure Food +Expert, through a study of "physical and chemical changes induced +in food products by the growth of molds, yeasts, and bacteria," +and a start toward being a Health Officer, through a study of +"bacteria in their relation to disease, sources of infection, +personal and household disinfection." + +Nor does she omit to acquire some of the technique of the +Physical Director through a course in Physiology bearing on +"digestion, storage of energy, rest, sleep, exercise, and +regularity of habits." + +Of course, in her work in cookery, she pays some attention to +special cookery for invalids. + +The third grand division, that of Clothing and Household Fabrics, +produces a Dressmaker, a Milliner, and an Embroiderer, as well as +a person trained to see to it that "the expenditure for clothing +shall be correct in proportion to the expenditure for other +purposes." + +The fourth grand division, the Care of Children, is of course +limitless. The rearing of the human young is, as we all know and +as Mr. Eliot of Harvard has insisted, the most intellectual +occupation in the world. Here the homemaker applies all the +knowledge she has gained from her study of the hygiene of foods +and of the hygiene of clothes, and also makes some progress +toward becoming a Trained Nurse and a Kindergartner by means of +researches into "infant diseases and emergencies," "the stages of +the mental development of the child," "the child's imagination +with regard to truth-telling and deceit," "the history of +children's books," and "the art of story-telling." + +Passing over the fifth grand division, Home Nursing and +Emergencies (in which the pupil learns simply "the use of +household remedies," "the care of the sick-room," etc.), we come +to the wide expanse of the sixth grand division, Home and Social +Economics. + +The work in this division begins with a study of the primitive +evolution of the home and comes on down to the present time, when +"the passing of many of the former lines of woman's work into the +factory has brought to many women leisure time which should be +spent in social service." + +Note that last fact carefully. Home Economics is no attempt to +drive women back into home seclusion. On the contrary, it is an +attempt to bring the home and its occupants into the scientific +and sociological developments of the outside world. + +For this reason, in traversing the division of Home and Social +Economics, the pupil encounters "an attempt to determine problems +in civic life which seem to be a part of the duties of women." + +Seventhly and lastly, there is a division dedicated to +Literature, in which "a systematic course in reading is carried +on through the two years." Indispensable! No degree of +proficiency at inserting calories in correct numbers in to Little +Sally's stomach could atone for lack of skill at leading Little +Sally herself in morning strolls through the "Child's Garden of +Verses," with trowel in hand to dig up the gayest plants and +reset them in the memory. + +Which brings us back to the observation that the Consumption of +Wealth is a generality. + +The homemaker may happen to be a specialist in some one +direction, but it is clear that she cannot simultaneously know as +much about food values as the real dietitian, as much about the +physical care of her child as the real trained nurse, as much +about the wholesomeness of her living arrangements as the real +sanitarian, as much about music as the Thomas Orchestra, as much +about social service as Mr. Devine, and as much about poems as +Mr. Stevenson. Her peculiar equipment, if she is a good +homemaker, is a round of experience and a bent of mind which make +it possible for her to cooperate intelligently with the +dietitian, the trained nurse, the sanitarian, the Thomas +Orchestra, Mr. Devine, Mr. Stevenson, and the various other +representatives of the various other specialized techniques of +the outside world. + +It follows that her school discipline cannot be too +comprehensive. No other occupation demands such breadth of sense +and sensibility. One could make a perfectly good cotton +manufacturer on the basis of a very narrow training. One cannot +make a good consumer without a really LIBERAL EDUCATION. + +For this reason it becomes necessary to resist certain +narrownesses in certain phases of Home Economics. + +One of these narrownesses is the assumption that because a thing +happens to be close to us it is therefore important. We have +heard lecturers insist that because a house contains drain-pipes +a woman should learn all about drain-pipes. But why? In most +communities drain-pipes are installed and repaired and in every +way controlled by gentlemen who are drain-pipe specialists. The +woman who lives in the house has no more real need of a knowledge +of the structural mysteries of drain-pipes than a reporter has of +a knowledge of the structural mysteries of his typewriting +machine. The office mechanic fixes all that for him, and, so far +as his efficiency as a reporter is concerned, an investigation of +his faithful keyboard's internal arrangements would be in most +cases an amiable waste of time. + +Another possible narrowness is the attempt to manufacture +"cultural backgrounds" for various important but quite +safe-and-sane household tasks. + +For instance, in the books and in the courses of instruction (of +college grade) on "The House" we have sometimes observed +elaborate accounts of the evolution of the human home, beginning +with the huts of the primitive Simianians. And in pursuing the +very essential subject of "Clothes and Fabrics" we have not +infrequently found ourselves in the midst of spacious preliminary +dissertations on the structure of the loom, beginning with that +which was used by the Anthropenguins. + +Now we would not for the world speak disparagingly of looms or +huts. We have ourselves examined some of them in the Hull House +Museum in Chicago and in the woods of Canada, and have found them +instructive. We suggest only that college life is short, that the +college curriculum is crowded, and that (except possibly for +those students who are especially interested in anthropology or +in industrial evolution) it would surely be a misfortune to learn +the Simianian hut and to miss Rossetti's "House of Life," or to +get the impression that as a "cultural background" for +shirtwaists the Anthropengruinian loom can really compete with +Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus." + +If this occasional tendency toward exaggerating the importance of +drain-pipes, window-curtains, and door-mats were to grow strong, +and if girls, as a class, should be required to spend any large +proportion of their time on the specialized history and sociology +of feminine implements and tasks while the boys were still in the +current of the affairs of the race, we should indeed want +President Thomas of Bryn Mawr to repeat on a thousand lecture +platforms her indignant assertion of the fact that "nothing more +disastrous for women, or for men, can be conceived of than +specialized education of women as a sex." + +These parenthetical observations, however, amount simply to the +expression of our personal opinion that Home Economics, like +every new idea, carries with it large quantities of dross which +will have to be refined out in the smelter of trial. The real +metal in it is its attempt to establish the principle that +intelligent Consumption is an important and difficult task. For +that reason it will not only desire but demand the utmost +equality of educational opportunity. And women, like men, will +continue to get their "cultural backgrounds" in the great +achievements of the whole race, where they can hold converse with +Lincoln and Darwin and the makers of the Cologne Cathedral and +George Meredith and Pasteur and Karl Marx and Whistler and Joan +of Arc and St. John. + +The woman voiced a great truth who said that the soul which can +irradiate the numberless pettinesses of home management (and it +is folly to deny that there ARE numberless pettinesses in it) is +the soul "nourished elsewhere." Think it over. It tells the +story. Whether that "elsewhere" is the deep recesses of her own +religious nature or the wide stretches of the great arts and +sciences, it is always an "elsewhere." + +Let that be granted, as it must be granted. Let us say that there +shall be no abridgment of the offerings of so-called academic +education. What does a course of study like that of Mr. Harvey's +Homemakers' School attempt to add to academic education? + +Principally three things. + +First: Certain manual arts. + +Second: Certain domestic applications of the physical and +sociological sciences. + +Third: Money Sense in Expenditure (in the course on Household +Management). + +The last of these three things is appearing in many places. At +the University of Illinois, for instance, Professor Kinley, now +delegate from the United States to the Pan-American Congress, has +given courses in Home Administration for women which he has +regarded as of equal importance with his courses in Business +Administration for men. + +At the University of Chicago, in the Department of Household +Administration, Course 44 is on "The Administration of the House" +and includes "the proper apportionment of income." + +The business man says: "My sales cost, or my manufacturing cost, +or my office-force cost, is such and such a per cent. of my total +cost. When it goes above that, I want to know why; and I find +out; and, if there isn't a mighty good reason for its going up, I +make it go down again to where it was." Shall we come to the day +when in spending the money which has been earned in business we +shall say: "Such and such a per cent. to food; and such and such +a per cent. to clothes; and such and such a per cent. to shelter; +and such and such a per cent. to health and recreation; and such +and such a per cent. to good works; and such and such other per +cents. to various other purposes?" Shall we come to the day when +we shall consume wealth with as much forethought and with as much +balance of judgment between conflicting claims as we now exhibit +in acquiring wealth? + +They are trying to develop this "Costs System for Home +Expenditures" in many of the schools and departments of Home +Economics to-day. They believe that most people, because of not +looking ahead and because of not making definite plans based on +previous experience, come to the contemplation of their bills on +the first of each month with every reason to confess that they +have bought those things which they ought not to have bought and +have left unbought those things which they ought to have bought. +But it is not only a matter of reaching a systematic instead of a +helter-skelter enjoyment of the offerings of the world. It is +also a matter of reaching, by study of money values, a mental +habit of economy. And it comes at a time when that habit is +needed. + +We are just beginning to realize in the United States that we +cannot spend all our annual earnings on living expenses and still +have a surplus for fresh capital for new industrial enterprises. +We are on the point of perceiving that we are cramping and +stunting the future industrial expansion of the country by our +personal extravagance. We shall soon really believe Mr. James J. +Hill when he says that "every dollar unprofitably spent is a +crime against posterity." + +When international industrial competition reaches its climax, +that nation will have an advantage whose people feel most keenly +that the wise expenditure of income is a patriotic as well as a +personal duty. + +But is this a matter for women alone? Do not men also consume? +Are there no vats in Milwaukee, no stills in Kentucky, no +factories wrapping paper-rings around bunches of dead leaves at +Tampa? Are there no men's tailors, gents' furnishing shops, +luncheons, clubs, banquets, athletics, celebrations? And as for +home expenditures themselves, is the man simply to bring the +plunder to the door, get patted on the head, and trot off in +search of more plunder? We must doubt if economy will be reached +by such a route. We find ourselves agreeing rather with the Home +Economics lecturer who said: "There never yet was a family income +really wisely expended without cooperation in all matters between +husband and wife." + +The Massachusetts legislature has passed a law looking toward the +teaching of Thrift in the public schools. Boys and girls need it +equally. And we venture to surmise that in so far as the new art +and science of Consumption is concerned with wise spending, the +bulk of its teachings ultimately will be enjoyed by both sexes. +It will not be, to any great extent, a specialized education for +women. + +So much for the "Money Sense in Expenditure" which a full Home +Economics course adds to "academic" education. The more we admit +its value, the more convinced we must be that it ought to include +every kind of expenditure and both kinds of human being. + +A precisely similar conviction arises with regard to those +"domestic applications of the physical and sociological sciences" +which a full Home Economics course adds to an "academic" +education. + +Those "domestic" applications are most of them broadly "human" +applications. They bear on daily living, exercise, fresh air, +personal cleanliness, diet, sleep, the avoidance of contagion, +methods of fighting off disease, general physical efficiency. +They all amount to what Mrs. Ellen H. Richards calls Right +Living. She would have four R's instead of three: Reading, +Riting, Rithmetic, and Right Living. + +Now is Right Living to be only for girls? + +Mr. Eliot of Harvard does not think so. In a recent "Survey of +the Needs of Education," he said: + +"Public instruction in preventive medicine must be provided for +all children and the hygienic method of living must be taught in +all schools. . . . To make this new knowledge and skill a +universal subject of instruction in our schools, colleges, and +universities is by no means impossible--indeed, it would not even +be difficult, for it is a subject full of natural history as well +as social interest. . . . American schools of every sort ought to +provide systematic instruction on public and private hygiene, +diet, sex hygiene, and the prevention of disease and premature +death, not only because these subjects profoundly affect human +affections and public happiness, but because they are of high +economic importance." + +A large part of Home Economics is simply Living Conditions. It is +simply the lessons of Bacteriology, Chemistry, Physiology, and +Sociology about the common facts of daily physical and social +existence. + +It may very well be, therefore, that what Mr. Eliot had in mind +will not only come to pass but will even exceed his expectations. +It may very well be that the educational policy of the future was +correctly search-lighted by Miss Henrietta I. Goodrich (who used +to direct the Boston School of Housekeeping before it was merged +into Simmons College) when she said: + +"We need to have courage to break the present courses in +household arts and domestic science into their component parts +and begin again on the much broader basis of a study of living +conditions. Our plea would be this: that instruction in the facts +of daily living be incorporated in the state's educational system +from the primary grades through the graduate departments of the +universities, with a rank equal to that of any subject that is +taught, AS REQUIRED WORK FOR BOTH BOYS AND GIRLS." + +We revert now finally to the "manual arts" which a full course in +Home Economics adds to an "academic" education. In this matter, +just as in the matter of Money Sense in Expenditure and in the +matter of Right Living, we observe that the ultimate issue of the +movement is not so much a specialized education for women as a +practical efficiency in the common things of life for men and +women both. + +A reasonable proficiency in manual arts will some day be the +heritage of all educated people. Mr. Eliot, in his "Survey of the +Needs of Education," speaks appreciatingly of his father's having +caused him to learn carpentry and wood-turning. He goes on to +say: + +"This I hold to be the great need of education in the United +States--the devoting of a much larger proportion of the total +school time to the training of the eye, ear, and hand." + +It follows, then, that cooking and sewing for girls in the +elementary schools must be made just as rigorous a discipline for +eye and hand as wood-working is for boys. It even follows that +boys and girls will often get their manual training together. + +It will not be a case of "household drudgery" for the girls while +the boys are studying civics. + +Somewhere in this article (and as close to this paragraph as we +can get the Art Director to put it) the reader will find a +picture of the "living room" of the "model" house of the +Washington-Allston Elementary School in Boston. The boys and +girls of graduating grade in that school give four hours a week +to matters connected with the welfare of that house. They have +furnished it throughout with their own handiwork, the girls +making pillow-cases, wall-coverings, window-curtains, etc., and +the boys making chairs, tables, cupboards, etc. Succeeding +classes will furnish it again. THE REASON WHY MR. CRAWFORD, THE +MASTER OF THE SCHOOL, CHOSE TO HAVE A HOUSE FOR A MANUAL TRAINING +LABORATORY WAS SIMPLY THAT A HOUSE OFFERS AMPLER OPPORTUNITIES +THAN ANY OTHER KIND OF PLACE FOR INSTRUCTION IN THE PRACTICAL +EFFICIENCIES OF DAILY LIVING FOR BOTH SEXES. + +The system will be complete when the girls get a bigger training +in design by making more of the chairs, and when the boys get a +bigger training in diet by doing more of the cooking. + + +IV + + +LAST month's article ended with the inquiry whether the new +education for homemaking would clash seriously with the modern +young woman's necessary education for money-earning. We conclude +that it will not. + +Such developments as the long, specialized, four-year course in +Household Economics at Simmons College in Boston are not here in +point. That Simmons course is more than an education for +home-making. It is an education for earning money by teaching +home-making or by becoming (among other things) a dietitian in a +hospital, or a manager of a lunch-room, or an interior decorator. + +Our subject is not Home Economics as a money-earning occupation +for a few women, but Home Economics as part of the education of +all women. + +In that aspect it does not seem likely to result in any "special +feminine education" of such bulk as to withdraw women, in any +serious degree, from the general education of the race. This is +undeniably true, provided our observations have been correct +that---- + +1. Home Economics is at heart Consumption, and must be so because +the home woman is more and more purely a consumer. + +2. Consumption is the broadest of generalities, requiring the +broadest of liberal educations. + +3. So far as manual arts are concerned, the "non-academic" +cookery of the girl is balanced by the "non-academic" carpentry +of the boy. + +4. Right Living and Wise Spending will, to a great extent, get +diffused throughout the whole educational system for boys and +girls, men and women, alike. + +If there remains (and there does remain) certain further +specialization which the average girl needs in order to be a good +wife, mother, and home-maker, she will get it in "finishing +courses" furnished at the various levels of the educational +system, when she leaves school, or else (better still) she will +get it in "continuation schools" for adults to which she may +resort when she is actually going to be a wife, mother, or +home-maker. + +Why learn really technical specialized things years and years +before they are needed? Why learn them at a time when it is not +certain that they will be needed at all? + +The modern postponement of marriage is here a controlling +element. + +The fact that in Boston, among women from thirty to thirty-four +years of age, 297 out of every 1,000 (more than a quarter) are +still unmarried is usually put down to a scarcity of men. That +scarcity is exaggerated. + +Observe the comparative numbers of unmarried women and of +unmarried men in that age-period in Boston: + + Unmarried Women 8,081 + Unmarried Men 10,651. + + +Observe further: + +The total number of men of all conjugal conditions in the +age-period in question is 28,603. + +A little work with pencil and paper will now still further weaken +the scarcity theory by revealing the fact that in Boston, among +men from thirty to thirty-four years of age, 372 out of every +1,000 are still single. + +Social conditions in rural communities tend to approach those of +urban communities. Social conditions in the West tend to approach +those in the East. Boston is not eccentric. It is only ahead. + +"Continuation School" instruction in Home Economics for engaged +and married women is a form of education beginning to appear in +every part of the world. + +But it lies beyond the woman's period of money-earning. How long +is that period? And what are the social and racial consequences +of the fact that (speaking generally) the more highly prepared +modern men and women are to transmit intelligence to posterity, +the more steadily do they tend to give their most vigorous years +to singleness? + + +----I'LL NIVER GO HOME AGAIN! + +By ARTHUR STRINGER + +I'll niver go home again, + Home to the ould sad hills, + Home through the ould soft rain, + Where the curlew calls and thrills! + +For I thought to find the ould wee house, + Wid the moss along the wall! + And I thought to hear the crackle-grouse, + And the brae-birds call! + +And I sez, I'll find the glad wee burn, + And the bracken in the glen, + And the fairy-thorn beyont the turn, + And the same ould men! + +But the ways I'd loved and walked, avick, + Were no more home to me, + Wid their sthreets and turns av starin' brick, + And no ould face to see! + +And the ould glad ways I'd helt in mind, + Loike the home av Moira Bawn, + And the ould green turns I'd dreamt to find, + They all were lost and gone! + +And the bairns that romped by Tullagh Burn + Whin they saw me sthopped their play-- + Through a mist av tears I tried to turn + And ghost-like creep away! + +And I'll niver go home again! + Home to the ould lost years, + Home where the soft warm rain + Drifts loike the drip av tears! + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII October 1910 No. 4 + +THE WOMEN OF TO-MORROW {page 486-496 part 3.} + +By + +WILLIAM HARD + +III LOVE DEFERRED + +Mary felt she would wait for John even if, instead of going away +on a career, he were going away on a comet. + +She waited for him from the time she was twenty-two to the time +she was twenty-six, and would have waited longer if she hadn't +got angry and insisted on marrying him. + +Into why she waited, and why she wouldn't wait any longer, chance +put most of the simple plot of the commonplace modern drama, +"Love Deferred." It is so commonplace that it is doubtful if any +other drama can so stretch the nerves or can so draw from them a +thin, high note of fine pain. + +We will pretend that John was a doctor. No, that's too +professional. He was a civil engineer. That's professional enough +and more commercial. It combines Technique and Business, which +are the two big elements in the life of Modern Man. + +When they got engaged, Mary was through college, but John had one +more year to go in engineering school. + +How the preparation for life does lengthen itself out! + +When Judge Story was professor at Harvard in the thirties of the +last century, he put the law into his pupils' heads in eighteen +months. The present professors require three years. + +In 1870 the Harvard Medical School made you attend classes for +four months in each of three years. It now makes you do it for +nine months in each of four years. + +As for engineering, the University of Wisconsin gave John a chill +by informing him in its catalogue that "it is coming to be +generally recognized that a four-year technical course following +the high-school course is not an adequate preparation for those +who are to fill important positions; and the University would +urge all those who can afford the time to extend their studies +over a period of five or six years." + +John compromised on five. This gave him a few Business courses in +the College of Commerce in addition to his regular Technique +courses in the College of Engineering. He was now a Bachelor of +Science. + +He thereupon became an apprentice in the shops of one of the two +biggest electrical firms in the United States. He inspected the +assembling of machines before they were shipped, and he overheard +wisdom from foremen and superintendents. His salary was fifteen +cents an hour. Since he worked about ten hours a day, his total +income was about forty dollars a month. At the end of the year he +was raised to fifty. This was the normal raise for a Bachelor of +Science. + +The graduates of Yale and Harvard in the bright colonial days of +those institutions married almost immediately on graduation. John +didn't. He didn't get married so early nor become a widower so +often. He didn't carry so many children to the christening font +nor so many to the cemetery. + +Look at the dark as well as the bright side of colonial days. + +Pick out any of the early Harvard classes. Honestly and truly at +random, run your finger down the column and pick any class. The +class of 1671! + +It had eleven graduates. One of them remained a bachelor. Don't +be too severe on him. He died at twenty-four. Of the remaining +ten, four were married twice and two were married three times. +For ten husbands, therefore, there were eighteen wives. + +Mr. G. Stanley Hall, President of Clark University, very +competently remarks: "The problem of superfluous women did not +exist in those days. They were all needed to bring up another +woman's children." + +The ten husbands of the Harvard class of 1671, with their +eighteen wives, had seventy-one children. They did replenish the +earth. They also filled the churchyards. + +TWENTY-ONE OF THOSE SEVENTY-ONE CHILDREN DIED IN CHILDHOOD. + +This left fifty to grow up. It was an average of five surviving +children for each of the ten fathers. But it was an average of +only 2.7 for each of the eighteen mothers. + +In commending the colonial family one must make an offset for the +unfair frequency with which it had more than one wife-and-mother +to help out its fertility record. And in commending the era of +young wives and numerous children one must make an offset for the +hideous frequency with which it killed them. + +Turn from Harvard to Yale. Look at the men who graduated from +1701 to 1745. + +The girls they took in marriage were most of them under +twenty-one and were many of them down in their 'teens, sometimes +as far down as fourteen. + +May we observe that they were not taken in marriage out of a +conscious sense of duty to the Commonwealth and to Population? +They were taken because they were needed. The colonial gentleman +had to have his soap-kettles and candle-molds and looms and +smokehouses and salting-tubs and spinning-wheels and other +industrial machines operated for him by somebody, if he was going +to get his food and clothes and other necessaries cheap. He lost +money if he wasn't domestic. He was domestic. + +Our young engineering friend, John, when HE looked forward to HIS +future domestic establishment, saw no industrial machines in it +at all except a needle and a saucepan. Consequently he had very +little real use for a wife. What he wanted was money enough to +"give" Mary a home. + +Marriages are more uncertain now. And fewer of them are marriages +of mere convenience. It is both a worse and a better state of +things. On the one hand, John didn't marry Mary so soon. On the +other hand, he was prevented from wanting anything in his +marriage except just Mary. + +The enormous utility of the colonial wife, issuing in enormous +toil (complicated by unlimited childbearing), had this kind of +result: + +Among the wives of the 418 Yale husbands of the period from 1701 +to 1745, there were + +Thirty-three who died before they were twenty-five years old; + +Fifty-five who died before they were thirty-five years old; + +Fifty-nine who died before they were forty-five years old. + +Those 418 Yale husbands lost 147 wives before full middle age. +It ceases, therefore, to be surprising, though it remains +unabatedly sickening, that the stories of the careers of colonial +college men, of the best-bred men of the times, are filled with +such details as: + +"----First wife died at twenty-four, leaving six children." + +"----Eight children born within twelve years, two of them +feeble-minded." + +"----First wife died at nineteen, leaving three children. + +"----Fourteen children. First wife died at twenty-eight, having +borne eight children in ten years." + +From that age of universal early marrying and of promiscuous +early dying we have come in two centuries to an age of delayed +(and even omitted) marrying and of a settled determination to +keep on living. + +The women's colleges are so new and they attracted in their early +days so un-average a sort of girl that their records are not +conclusive. Nevertheless, here are some guiding facts from Smith +College, of Northampton, Massachusetts: + +--> We are taking college facts not because this article is +confined in any respect to college people but merely because the +matrimonial histories in the records of the colleges are the most +complete we know of.) + +In 1888, Smith College, in its first ten classes, had graduated +370 women. + +In 1903, fifteen years later, among those 370 women there were +212 who were still single. + +This record does not satisfy Mr. G. Stanley Hall, who figured it +out. The remaining facts, however, might be considered more +cheering: + +The 158 Smith women who had married had borne 315 children. This +was two for each of them. And most of them were still in their +childbearing period. Compare this with the colonial records. But +don't take the number of children per colonial father. Be fair. +Take it per mother. + +We have the matrimonial histories of colonial Yale and Harvard +men grouped and averaged according to the decade in which they +graduated. We will regard the graduates of each decade as +together constituting one case. + +In no case does the average number of children per wife go higher +than 3.89. In one case it goes as low as 2.98. + +Perhaps the modern wife's habit of going on living and thereby +protracting her period of childbearing will in time cause her +fertility record to compare not unfavorably with that of the +colonial wife, who made an early start but a quick finish. + +In the year 1903, among all the 370 Smith graduates in those +first ten classes, only twenty-four had died. And among all the +315 children, only twenty-six had died. On the whole, between +being the wife of a Yale or Harvard colonial graduate and being a +member of one of the first ten Smith classes, a modern girl might +conclude that the chances of being a dead one matrimonially in +the latter case would be more than offset by the chances of being +a dead one actually in the former. + +This deplorable flippancy would overlook the serious fact that +permanent or even prolonged celibacy on the part of large numbers +of young men and young women is a great social evil. The +consequences of that evil we shall observe later on.[1] + + +[1] In speaking about celibacy we refer wholly to secular and not +at all to religious celibacy. + + +In the meantime we return to John and Mary. + +While John was doing his last year in engineering school, Mary +did a year of technical study in the New York School of +Philanthropy, or in the St. Louis School of Social Economy, or in +the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy, or in the Boston +School for Social Workers. + +They won't even let you start in "doing good" nowadays without +some training for it. This is wise, considering how much harm +doing good can do. + +But how the preparation for life does lengthen itself out! + +Mary took a civil service examination and got a job with the +State Bureau of Labor. She finished her first year with the +Bureau at the same time when John finished his first year with +the electrical firm. She had earned $600. He had earned $480. + +There were several hundred other apprentices in the shops along +with John. When he thought of the next year's work at fifty a +month and when he looked at the horde of competing Bachelors of +Science in which he was pocketed, he whitened a bit. + +"I must get out of the ruck," he said to himself. "I must get a +specialty. I must do some more preparing. + +He began to perceive how long it takes the modern man to grow up, +intellectually and financially. He began to perceive what a +tedious road he must travel before he could arrive at +maturity--and Mary! + +But he had pluck. "I'll really prepare," he said, "and then I'll +really make good." + +A western university offered a scholarship of $500 a year, the +holder of which would be free to devote himself to a certain +specified technical subject. John tried for the scholarship and +got it, and spent a year chasing electrical currents from the +time when they left the wheels of street cars to the time when +they eventually sneaked back home again into the power-house, +after having sported clandestinely along gas mains and water +pipes, biting holes into them as they went. + +It was a good subject, commercially. At the end of the year he +was engaged as engineer by a street-car company which was being +sued by a gas company for allowing its current to eat the gas +company's property. He was to have a salary of $1,000 a year. He +was going strong. + +One thousand dollars! Millions of married couples live on less +than that. But John didn't even think of asking Mary to share it +with him. + +Mary, when married, was to be supported in approximate accordance +with the standards of the people John knew. Every John thinks +that about it, without really thinking about it at all. It's just +in him. + +It bothered Mary. How much money would John want to spend on her +before he would take her? It made her feel like a box of candy in +a store window. + +Still, a social standard is a fact. Just as much so as if it +could be laid off with a tape. And there is sense in it. + +"After all," thought Mary, "if we had only $1,000 a year we +couldn't live where any of our friends do, and John would be cut +off from being on daily intimate terms with people who could help +him; and if we had children--Well, there you are! We surely +couldn't give our children what our children ought to have. That +settles it." + +The influence of social standards is greatly increased and +complicated in a world in which women earn their living before +marriage and have a chance to make social standards of their own +in place of the ones they were born to. + +We here insert a few notes on cases which are not compositely +imagined--like Mary and John--but are individually (though +typically) existent in real life in one of the large American +cities: + +R----J----. Makes $6,500 a year. Only man she was ever "real +sweet on" was a teamster. When she was selling in the perfumes at +five a week he used to take her to the picnics of the Social +Dozen Pleasure Club. They would practice the Denver Lurch on +Professor DeVere's dancing platform. At midnight he would give +her a joy-ride home in his employer's delivery wagon. He still +drives that wagon. She is in charge of suits and costumes and has +several assistant buyers under her. She has bought a cottage for +her father, who is an ingrain weaver in a carpet factory. She +wears a stick-pin recently presented to her by her teamster. "I +like him all right," is her notion about it, "but I ought to have +took him ten years ago. Now he can't support me." + +S----V----. Makes twelve dollars a week as a manicurist. Thinks a +man ought to have at least thirty dollars a week before marrying. + +T----V----. Sister of S----V----, who doesn't think much of her. +She works in a paper-box factory at five dollars a week and is +engaged to a glove cutter who makes eleven. + +T----A----. Saleswoman. Thinks women ought to be paid as much as +men. "Then they wouldn't be so ready to marry ANYBODY." Works in +the cloak department. Is a star. Makes about eighteen dollars a +week. Says that most of the men she knows who could support her +would certainly get in a terrible row at home if they married a +cloak-department girl. Families are stuck up. "But I don't care; +let it run awhile. Tell you something. I was born in the +steerage. I've been right where the money isn't. I'm not taking +any chances on getting there again. Let Georgina do it." + +R----B----. Sub-bookkeeper. Seven dollars a week. Engaged to +clerk who earns thirteen. Says: "Of course I'm not earning much, +but I'm living with my folks and when we're married I'll have to +give up a lot of things. Kinda wish I hadn't got used even to the +seven." + +This last case, of the bookkeeper engaged to the clerk, is the +modern situation at its happiest normal. The modern marriage, +except among the rich, is a contraction of resources. It is just +the reverse, in that respect, of the colonial marriage. + +The colonial bride, marrying into Industry, brought her full +economic value to her husband. + +The modern bride, marrying out of Industry, leaves most of her +economic value behind. And the greater that value was, the +sharper is the shock of the contraction of resources. + +Of course, the case of the department-store buyer and the +teamster is irrelevantly extreme. But aren't there thousands and +thousands of cases which, while less advanced, are pointed in the +same direction? The more a woman earns, the fewer become the men +who can support her. How can the clerk support the cloak +saleswoman who has had eighteen dollars a week of her own? How +can the barber support the manicurist who has had twelve? + +The cloak saleswoman may talk flippantly about it, but, at heart, +isn't she seriously right? She has pulled herself up to a certain +level. Except in response to a grande passion she will not again +drop below it. She will bring up her children at a point as close +to her present level as she can. That is instinct. + +Meanwhile, she isn't married. But what can you do about it? She +went to work, like almost every other working woman, because she +had to. And you can't pass a law prohibiting her from earning +more than five dollars a week. + +"It's all economic," thought Mary. "Nothing else." She had much +reason for thinking so. + +Did you ever see Meitzen's diagram showing the relation between +the price of rye and the number of marriages in Prussia during a +period of twenty-five years? + +Cheap rye, easy living conditions--number of marriages rises. +Dear rye, hard living conditions--number of marriages drops. The +fluctuations are strictly proportional. In the twenty-sixth year, +given the price of rye, you could predict very closely the number +of marriages. + +It's like suicides. It's the easiest thing in the world to +predict the number of men and women who will next year "decide" +to take their own lives. + +The marriage rate responds not only to the economic conditions of +a whole country but to the economic conditions of its various +parts. + +You live in Vermont. Very well. Between the ages of twenty-five +and thirty in Vermont, there will be 279 out of every 1,000 of +you who will still be single. + +But you live in the state of New York. Very well. Between the +ages of twenty-five and thirty there will be 430 of you out of +every thousand who will still be single. + +In Vermont, 279. In New York, 430. A difference of 151 in every +1,000. + +For those 151 persons, is it human volition? Is it a perverse +aversion to the other sex? + +Even at that, on the face of it, those who try to argue New +Yorkers into marrying young are clearly taking the difficult +route to their purpose. It would be more adroit simply to urge +them to live in Vermont. + +But isn't the real reason this--that New York, with its large +cities, is farther removed than Vermont, with no large cities, +from the primitive industrial conditions of colonial times? + +The North Atlantic states, as a whole, are industrially more +advanced than the South Central states. Compare them in this +marriage matter: + +Among all the wives in the South Central states, there are 543 +out of every 1,000 who are under thirty-five years of age. + +Among all the wives in the North Atlantic states those who are +under thirty-five years of age are, in each thousand, only 428. + +In the South Central states, 543. In the North Atlantic states, +428. A difference of 115! + +Getting married early is imputed unto us for actual personal +righteousness by innumerable clergymen, essayists, and editorial +writers. Are there so many more righteous women along the Gulf of +Mexico than along the Atlantic coast? One hundred and fifteen +more out of every thousand? We cannot quite credit so great a +discrepancy in relative human virtue. + +You can't escape, in any numbers, from the law which reigns in +your vicinity. + +Live on the Gold Coast of Africa. When you're thirteen, if you're +a girl, they'll boil a yam and mash it and mix it with palm oil +and scatter it on the banks of the stream and wash you in the +stream and streak your body with white clay in fine lines and +lead you down the street under an umbrella and announce your +readiness to be a bride. Which you will be in a day or two. + +Live in Russia, and if you're a girl you'll get married before +you're twenty in more than fifty cases out of a hundred. It's the +most primitive of civilized countries. It's half way between +Africa and, say, Rhode Island. + +These marriages before twenty tend to fall off rapidly in a +rapidly developing industrial region like Rhode Island. + +In 1860 the married persons in Rhode Island who had married +before they were twenty were twenty-one in every 100. + +In 1900 they were only nine in every 100. + +A drop from twenty-one to nine in forty years! + +And if you can't escape, in any numbers, from the law which +reigns in your vicinity, neither can you escape, in any numbers, +from the law which reigns in your social set. + +Here's Bailey's book on "Social Conditions": + +Live in England and be a girl and belong to the class of people +that miners come from: Your age at marriage will be, on the +average, twenty-two. But belong to the class of people that +professional men come from: Your age at marriage will be, on the +average, twenty-six. + +This difference exists also in the United States. It is in the +direct line of social and economic development. + +The professional man is a farther developed type of man than the +miner. It takes him longer to get through his educational +infancy--longer to arrive at his mental and financial maturity. +The professional man's wife is a farther developed type than the +miner's wife. She has much more economic value (if she works) +before marriage and much LESS economic value (in any case) after +marriage. + +Where these two lines of development, male and female, come to a +meeting point; where the man's infancy is longest and the woman's +economic value as a wife is least, there is, necessarily, +altogether apart from personal preferences, the greatest +postponement of marriage. + +The United States, except possibly in certain sections, has not +come to the end of its growth toward postponed marriage. + +It is true that in Massachusetts, within the past forty-five +years, the average age of women at marriage has risen from 20.7 +to 24.6. That is a very "modern" and "developed" marriage age. +But many of the older countries surpass it. In Belgium, for +instance, which is a most intensely industrialized country, the +average age of women at marriage is 28.19. + +It is hard, indeed, to look at the advancing marriage age and to +compare its varying rate of progress in different continents, +different countries, different localities, and different social +circles without admitting that, whatever whirling, nebulous mists +of personal preferences it may create and carry with it, its +nucleus is purely economic. + +Early marriage was made by economic advantages. It was destroyed +by economic changes. It will not be restored except by economic +adjustments. + +"Nevertheless," said Mary, "I want John." + +John had finished being engineer for the electric railway +company. + +Out of his two years' experience he had saved a few hundred +dollars. No, he hadn't. That isn't probable. The way he made his +start into the next phase of his career was not by having any +ready money. Having ready money is far from being characteristic +of the young man of to-day. + +John opened his office as a consulting electrical engineer not on +his own resources but as an agent for an electrical supply +company. Being agent for that company assured him enough money to +pay the office rent and stenographer. For the rest, for his meals +and his bed, he depended on his clients. Whom he didn't have. But +he started out to get them. + +He opened his office in the city in which Mary was. + +And then a strange but normal thing occurred. They spent enough +money on theatres and boat rides and candy in the next three +months to have paid the rent on a flat. It is true John's net +income was too small and uncertain to have justified the founding +of a family. But it was also true that they spent every cent they +had. The celibate life is an extravagant life. One of the +innumerable sources of modern extravagance is found just there. + +Mary reflected on it. She didn't like it. And she began to see +other things she didn't like in this protraction of the period of +singleness. + +Her work for the Bureau of Labor had taken her into many places, +among all sorts of women. She began to observe the irregular +living which is inevitably associated with a system of late +marriages. + +Mr. Lester F. Ward has learnedly and elaborately informed us that +if we go back to the origin of life on this planet we shall find +that the female was the only sex then existent, being original +life itself, reproducing itself by division of itself, and that +the male was created as an afterthought of nature's for the +purpose of introducing greater variation into the development of +living things. The male, to begin with, had only one function. +That was to be a male. He was purely a sex-thing. + +Whether this biological theory stands or falls, it is certain +that it squares with the present character of the sexes. The sex +which originated as a sex-thing remains the more actively sexed. + +There was once a very good sociologist called Robert Louis +Stevenson who made many researches into the psychology of the +human race. While on his "Inland Voyage" he observed in this +matter that "it is no use for a man to take to the woods; we know +him; Anthony tried the same thing long ago and had a pitiful time +of it by all accounts. But there is this about some women, that +they suffice to themselves and can walk in a high and cold zone +without the countenance of any trousered being." + +The celibate life is more possible for most of them by nature. If +it were not for that fact, the postponement of marriage would by +this time have demolished the ethical code. + +Even as things stand, Mary was quite willing to admit, when she +saw it, that there are two kinds of women greatly increasing in +modern days. Both have always existed, but now they are +increasing very rapidly and in parallel lines of corresponding +development. + +In one column is the enormous army of young women who remain +unmarried till twenty-five, till thirty, till thirty-five. Even +at that latter age, and beyond it, in a well-developed city like, +say, Providence, Rhode Island, in the age period from thirty-five +to forty-five, twenty out of every hundred women are still +single. + +In the other column is the enormous army of young women who, +outside of the marriage relation altogether, lead a professional +sex life, venal, furtive, ignoble, and debasing; an army which +has existed since the beginning of time but which every +postponement of the age of marriage causes to increase in +relative numbers and to gain new strength for poisoning the blood +of life. + +Love, denied at the front door, flies in by the cellar window. +Angel or bat, it is always with us. Our only choice is between +its guises. + +Mary looked at the army of women celibates in offices and in +stores and in their apartments and in their boarding houses, +women celibates five and ten and fifteen and twenty years into +the period when nature has by irrepealable edict ordained love. +It was surely unnatural, for the mass of them. They were not +vowed nuns. They were not devoted to any Great Cause. They were +just ordinary, normal young women, thousands and thousands and +thousands and thousands of them. + +Then, on the other side, Mary looked at the great army of women +in the midnight restaurants, in the streets, in their segregated +quarters--women who, however they may be sentimentalized about +and however irresponsible they may be for their own condition, +are, as a matter of fact, ignorant, stupid, silly, and dirty. Yet +on them was squandered the emotional life of millions of young +men. + +On the one side--intelligent, capable, effective young women, +leading lives of emotional sterility. On the other side--inferior +women blasted and withered by their specialization in the +emotional life of youth! + +The connection between postponement of marriage and irregularity +of living will be admitted by everybody who is willing to face +facts and who is optimist enough to believe that if, instead of +letting facts lie, we face them and fight them we can make a +better race. + +The great Russian scientist, Metchnikoff, successor to Pasteur in +the Pasteur Institute, mentions the postponement of marriage as +one of the biological disharmonies of life. It is a disharmony +that "among highly civilized peoples marriage and REGLULAR unions +are impossible at the RIGHT TIME." + +And Mr. A. S. Johnson, writing in the authoritative report of the +Committee of Fifteen on the Social Evil, notes the parallel +increase of "young unmarried men" and of a city's "volume of +vice." + +He goes on to make, without comment, a statement of the economic +facts of the case. + +"As a rule," he says, "the income which a young man earns, while +sufficient to secure a fair degree of comfort for himself, does +not suffice for founding a family." + +He cannot found a family at the right time. He goes unmarried +through the romantic period of his development, when the senses +are at their keenest and when the other sex in its most vividly +idealized perfection, is most poignantly desired. + +Then, later on, he may begin to get a larger income. Then +marriage may become more feasible. But then romance is waning. +Then, as Mr. Johnson says, "his standard of personal comfort +rises." Romance has been succeeded by calculation. "Accordingly +he postpones marriage to a date in the indefinite future or +abandons expectation of it altogether." + +Celibacy through the age of romance! It's emotionally wrong. +Sexlessness for a score of years after sex has awakened! It's +biologically wrong. It's a defiance of nature. And nature +responds, as she does to every defiance, with a scourge of +physical and social ills. + +"But what of all that?" thought Mary. "Those things are just +observations. What I am going to act on is that I want John." + +At which point she stopped being a typical modern young woman. + +SHE BECAME A WOMAN OF THE FUTURE. + +"Look here," she said to John, "I'm working. You're working. +We're single. Very well. We'll change it. I'm working. You're +working. We're married. Have we lost anything? And we've gained +each other." + +Two years later she stopped working. + +In those two years she had helped John to start a home. She +couldn't operate soap-kettles and candle-molds and looms and +smokehouses and salting-tubs and spinning-wheels for him. But she +brought him an equivalent of it in money. She earned from $900 to +$1000 a year. + +Being married, they were more thrifty. They saved a large part of +her earnings. John was still spending a large part of his on +extending his business, on traveling, on entertaining prospective +clients, on making acquaintances. Sometimes she had to contribute +some of her own money to his expense accounts. That was the +fortune of war. She helped him pursue success. + +"I wouldn't give up the memory of these two years," Mary used to +say, as she sat and stitched for her children, "for anything. I +shared at least a part of my husband's youth." + +By sharing it, she won a certain happiness otherwise +unattainable. They had come to know each other and to help form +each other's characters and to share each other's difficulties in +the years when only there is real joy in the struggle of life. +They had not postponed their love till, with a settled income, +John could support her in comfort and they could look back like +Browning's middle-aged estranged lovers to say: + + We have not sighed deep, laughed free, + Starved, feasted, despaired,--been happy. + + +"It used to take two to start a home in colonial days," Mary +would say. "I am really an old-fashioned woman. I helped to make +this home. We had twelve hundred dollars in the bank when I +stopped working, and John was pretty well established. + +"I don't regret it," she went on, still speaking as a woman of +the future, "even for the children. Of course I do wish we had +started earlier. But I would have wanted to wait a while for the +children in any case. People risk too much when they start a +family before they become sufficiently used to marriage and to +each other to know that they can keep on loving each other and to +know that they have in them through their mutual, continued +happiness the power to make a happy home, a noble home, for +children to live in." + +As for the number of children she will have--we reserve that +subject to a future article. We call attention here only to this: + +That the facts which were cited from the Smith College records +are harmonious with many other facts and records tending to show +that the fertility of the modern wife has been considerably +underrated, just as the fertility of the colonial wife has been +considerably exaggerated. + +And this: + +That Mary got to her childbearing period sooner than she would +have if she hadn't insisted on marrying John before he was ready +to support her. Those two years would have been childless years +in any case. But they would probably, if it hadn't been for +Mary's money, have been lengthened into four or five. + +Of course, later marriages in themselves tend to reduce the +number of children. As to quality, however, the evidence is not +clear. There is even some reason to think that a moderate +postponement is conducive to an improvement in quality. + +Did you ever read Havelock Ellis's book called "A Study of +British Genius"? + +He made a list of the most distinguished of Eminent British +Persons and studied everything about them from their religious +opinions to the color of their hair. + +In the matter of the age of their parents, he finds that the +average age of the father at the birth of the person of genius +was thirty-seven years, while the average of the mother was +thirty-one. His conclusion is: "On the whole it would appear, so +far as the evidence goes, that the fathers of our eminent persons +have been predominantly middle-aged and to a marked extent +elderly at the time of the distinguished son's birth; while the +mothers have been predominantly at the period of greatest vigor +and maturity and to a somewhat unusual extent elderly. There has +been a notable deficiency of young fathers and, still more +notably, of young mothers." + +And did you ever see the study which Mr. R. S. Holway made for +the Department of Education of Leland Stanford University on "The +Age of Parents: Its Effects upon Children"? His conclusions are: + +"In most physical qualities the children of mature parents tend +to come out best. + +"In mental ability the children of young parents show best at an +early age but rapidly lose their precocity. + +"The elder children who show best tend to be the children of +mature and old parents. + +"The children of elderly mothers show a tendency to superiority +throughout." + +Mary did not know about all this, but she had a very strong +opinion to the effect that, in so far as the quality of her +children could be affected by their home training, she was glad +she had spent at least a few years earning her living. + +"Every woman," said Mary, "ought to have some little time for +developing into an individual. Home won't do it altogether. Not +nowadays. The colonial home did, being part of the working world. +But what is the modern home? It is a nest, an eddy, a shelf, a +nook. It's something apart from the world. If a woman is going to +prepare her son for a knowledge of the real world, if she's going +to be able to give him a training which has in it an +understanding and an appreciation of the real world, if she's +going to be able to educate him into real living, she must +nowadays and increasingly in the future have some experience of +her own on her own account in the real world before she becomes a +mother. There's no getting away from that. A reasonable +postponement of motherhood till the future mother becomes a +competent individual is a good thing." + +"The trouble about that," said John, "is that it makes you too +independent of me. Your proposition is to start in and earn your +living till you're pretty good at it. That is, you wouldn't marry +me till you were sure you could chuck me. How about that?" + +Well, it has that side. But it has its other side, too. + +Isn't there, after all, something rather pleasant for John in +knowing, KNOWING, that Mary isn't cleaving unto him simply +because she can't shift for herself? Something exquisitely +gratifying in being certain, CERTAIN, that it isn't just +necessity that keeps her a home woman? + +"If I were a man living in wedlock," said Mary, "I should want +the door of the cage always wide open, with my mate fluttering +straight by it every minute to still nestle by me. And I should +want her wings to be strong, and I should want her to know that +if she went through the door she could fly. + +"For keeping her," said Mary, "I should want to trust to my own +wings and not to bars. + +"However," said Mary, going farther into the future, "the process +isn't complete. Freedom is not yet completely acquired. Children! +We want them! We must have them! Yet how often they tie us to +unions which have come to be unholy, vile, full of all +uncleanness. Women will never be completely free till, besides +being able to earn their bread when they are NOT bearing +children, they are relieved of dependence on the individual +character of another human person while they ARE. Mr. H. G. Wells +is clearly right about it. When women bear children they perform +a service to the state. Children are important to the state. They +are its future life. To leave them to the eccentricities of the +economic fate of the father is ridiculous. The woman who is +bringing up children should receive from the state the equivalent +of her service in a regular income. Then, and then only, in the +union of man and woman, will love and money reach their right +relationship--love a necessity, money a welcome romance! + +"It's remote, very remote," said Mary. "And we can't dream it out +in detail. But when it comes it won't come out of personal +sentiment. It will come because of being demanded by the economic +welfare of the community. It will come because it is the best way +to get serviceable children for the state. It will come because, +after all, it is the final answer to the postponement of +marriage." + +In the November instalment of "The Women of To-morrow," Mr. Hard +will discuss "The Wasters." + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII October 1910 No. 4 + +The Poison Bugaboo {pages 518-525} + +By SAMUEL HOPKINS ADAMS + +AUTHOR OF "THE GREAT AMERICAN FRAUD," "THE MYSTERY" (WITH STEWART +EDWARD WHITE), ETC. + + +ROMANCE revels in the peril of the unknown. Lapped about with the +armor-plate of civilization, the modern citizen muses +relishingly, like a child beguiling himself with ogre tales, upon +the terrors which lie just beyond his ken. To his mind, + + A stone's throw out on either hand, + And all the world is wild and strange. + + +Avid for sensation, he peoples the remoteness of forest and +mountain with malign and destructive creatures, whence has grown +up an extensive and astonishing literature of snake and insect +poison lore. + +"Deadly" is the master word of the cult. The rattlesnake is +"deadly." The copperhead and moccasin are "deadly." So is the +wholly mythical puff adder. In hardly less degree is the +tarantula "deadly," while varying lethal capacities are ascribed +to the centipede, the scorpion, the kissing-bug, and sundry other +forms of insect life. The whole matter is based upon the +slenderest foundations. I don't mean, by this, that these +ill-famed species are wholly innocuous. It would be highly +inadvisable to snatch a kiss from a copperhead or to stroke a +tarantula's fur the wrong way. But one could do it and live to +boast of the achievement. Pseudoscience to the contrary +notwithstanding, there is no living thing within the boundaries +of the United States of America whose bite or sting is sure death +or (with one possible exception) even probable death. + +There are five varieties of venomous serpents in this country: +three of them Crotalids, and two belonging to the Elaps family. +The Elaps are rather rare. The Crotalids (rattlesnake, moccasin, +and copperhead) are common, and of the widest geographical +distribution. Yet, on the basis of actual evidence, the amazing +fact stands out that only about eighty persons, so far as is +ascertainable, have ever died from snake bite in the United +States. Nowhere in the Civil War records does a death from this +cause appear, though hundreds of thousands of men were living "on +the country," and at a time when the serpent clan was much more +numerous than now. + +Estimates vary as to the proportion of deaths to bites. Prentiss +Willson believes that something over ten per cent. of all persons +bitten by venomous snakes in the United States die. As to how +many of these succumb, not to the venom, but to the misdirected +efforts of misguided friends at treatment--an extremely important +differentiation--he lacks the data upon which to base a +reckoning. S. Weir Mitchell's figures indicate 8.7 per cent. +mortality for rattlesnake bite. This would make the venom about +as dangerous as the toxin of typhoid fever, which is not +generally regarded as a necessarily "deadly" disease. Other +writers go as high as fifteen per cent. for the rattlesnake and +as low as one per cent. for the copperhead. + +All general estimates seem to me to leave one basic element out +of consideration--the unnoted, non-fatal snake bites. That a bite +resulting in death will eventually get itself reported is +reasonably certain. On the other hand, I am satisfied, from +talking with plantation owners in the South, with ranchmen in the +West, and with woodsmen and hunters all over the country, that, +in the remoter regions, many instances of poisoning by +copperheads and the smaller rattlesnakes never attain the dignity +of being listed, so insignificant are they in their effects. Were +all these to be recorded, I believe that the mortality ratio +would fall notably. + +Although I have been interested in the subject for many years, I +have never met a man who has seen a fatal case of snake bite. +More than this, my friend Mr. Stewart Edward White, a noted +hunter and explorer of untrodden ground in regions infested by +reptiles, has known of but one case terminating in death which he +believes to be authentic. Dr. J. A. Mitchell, of Victoria, Texas, +one of the most experienced of field observers, has never met +with an instance of fatality from this cause. Dr. Mitchell +believes that horses always, and dogs almost always, recover from +rattlesnake bite. He confirms, from observation, the mysterious +fact that hogs exhibit absolute immunity from the venom. + + +WHISKY VS. SNAKEBITE + +Be it remembered always that death following snake bite is not +necessarily the same thing as death from snake bite. Error in +treatment plays no small part in vitiating the statistics. For +"error" read "whisky." Whoever is primarily responsible for the +hoary superstition that liquor in huge doses is useful in snake +poisoning has many a life to answer for. Apart from any +adventitious aid whatsoever, whether from a snake or any other +source, a whole bottle of raw whisky forced down the throat of a +man unaccustomed to alcohol is pretty likely to kill him, and is +absolutely certain to cause grave poisoning. Add to this that it +is given, often, in such a manner that the reaction from it comes +contemporaneously with the heart collapse caused by the venom, +and a telling commentary upon the method is suggested. It is a +question whether alcohol should ever be given in such cases +without the advice of a physician. Certain it is that it should +not be poured into the victim in quantities limited only by the +flask-contents of the bystanders. + +Several years ago I saw two interestingly contrasted cases of +copperhead bite. The first patient was a powerful, full-blooded, +temperate, Irish day-laborer who, while road-mending, was bitten +on the back of the hand between two fingers. His fellows hustled +him off to a room over a neighboring saloon, where they proceeded +to administer the classic treatment. Before the doctor arrived +they had introduced a quart and a half of whisky into a stomach +unused to anything stronger than beer in small quantities. Six +hours later, when I saw the man through the wreckage of chairs, +tables, and bedding, four battered friends were trying to hold +him down. They thought he was having convulsions from the snake +venom. He wasn't. He was having delirium tremens from the whisky. +His arm and shoulder were purple and swollen. Later he collapsed. + +"Will he die?" I asked the doctor. + +"He won't die of the bite, but I think he will of the whisky," +replied the disgusted practitioner. + +But he didn't. His splendid physique pulled him through. It was +long, however, before he wholly recovered from the effects of the +two poisons. + +This was in a Hudson River town. Only a few miles away a negro +boy, shortly after, was struck by a copperhead on the bare leg. +The wound was a deep, double-fanged puncture. While the boy's +father rushed for whisky, his mother ran for the doctor. The +doctor got there first. He opened up the wound and rubbed in +permanganate of potash to oxidize the venom and destroy its toxic +properties. When I talked with the boy, two days later, he was +hobbling about on a crutch, and the swelling had almost subsided. +Setting the boy's lesser age and resistant power against the fact +of the laborer's being bitten in a worse place (for crotaline +venom is much more effective in an upper limb or extremity than +in a lower), we have a fairly illustrative instance of the +relative merits of alcoholic and non-alcoholic measures. + + +WHEN RATTLESNAKES KILL + +Thirteen cases of death following rattlesnake and copperhead bite +in which satisfactory clinical data were obtainable, are given by +Prentiss Willson. Of the victims, five were young children, one +was a fourteen-year-old boy, one a chronic drunkard, and one a +leper who submitted to the stroke of a captive rattlesnake in the +mad hope that it would cure his affliction. It did--in +twenty-four hours. Of the remaining five, three were dosed with +alcohol in large quantities. In several of the cases, notably +those of the children, there seemed to be at least an even chance +of recovery, when the ligatures binding the affected limb were +loosened to relieve the pain, with quickly fatal results. Two of +the fatalities were attributed, not immediately to the venom, but +to the secondary blood-poisoning, this being the case with the +only copperhead bite in the list. + +Death resulting typically from crotaline poisoning occurred in +two instances, one the fourteen-year-old boy, who was struck by a +large rattlesnake and died in six hours, despite skilled and +prompt medical attendance; the other, a Dr. Post, into whose +veins, it would appear, the poison entered immediately, since a +jet of blood spurted from the wound inflicted by the captive +rattlesnake. The man passed from great agony into coma, from +which he never rallied, death ensuing in five hours after the +bite. There is nothing in these data to indicate that a +full-grown man in normal health, and with proper treatment, will +succumb to crotaline poisoning unless the venom enters a vein, +direct. + +In the matter of the comparative potency of snake poisons, there +are apparent contradictions. In the order of recorded fatalities, +the rattlesnake ranks easily first, with the water moccasin a +rather distant second, and the copperhead a very poor third. Yet +experiments upon animals indicate that moccasin venom is five +times as powerful as rattlesnake, though only three times as +powerful as copperhead. Taking the cobra as the basis of +estimate, it requires only twice as much moccasin venom as it +does cobra poison to kill a guinea pig, whereas it requires six +times as much copperhead and ten times as much rattlesnake virus. +Why, then, is the rattler pre-eminent over its more virulent +cousins? Probably for two reasons--the greater amount of venom +secreted, and the superior power with which the rattler drives +its fangs home. + + +NO VIPERS IN THIS COUNTRY + +Fully as much terror attaches, in the country districts, to the +puff adder or sand viper as to the rattlesnake or copperhead. +This is a suggestive bit of superstition, since there's no such +thing as an adder or viper on the Western hemisphere and never +has been one, unless it came, carefully pickled, in a jar. What +passes for the supposedly deadly reptile is the common hog-nosed +or bull snake. It is about as dangerous as an infuriated rabbit. +But it puts up one of the best "bluffs" known to natural history. +When caught at its favorite occupation of basking in the open, +without convenient avenue of escape, it flattens its head, and +strikes right and left, blowing and hissing with an aspect much +more terrifying than that of the truly venomous species. Then, +when the objects of its fury have taken to trees or adjacent +fences, it glides quietly away into the grass and effaces itself. +Any one who has the nerve to look it between the eyes may uncover +its pretense. For by this token may be known the real Crotalids +from the mock: a small but distinct pit between eye and nostril. +Lacking this mark, no ventral crawler in the land of the free +need cause a flutter in the most timid breast, with one notable +exception. + + +BEWARE THE ELAPS + +Shun, as you would a rabid dog, a pretty little red-and-black +banded serpent about as thick as your thumb. If any living +creature whose habitat is the United States deserves the epithet +"deadly," it is the Elaps. Two species are known; the harlequin +snake, which ranges throughout the Gulf states to Texas and up +the Mississippi River to Ohio, and the Sonoran coral snake, found +in the Southwest only. By a strange perversion of facts, while +the harmless hog-nosed snake enjoys a repute of terror, the +Elaps, most dangerous of all American reptiles, is commonly +regarded as harmless. Partly this is due to its slight and +graceful prettiness, partly to its innocent-appearing head, which +shows no flattening (the popularly understood mark of the +venomous species), and partly to its lethargic and peaceful +disposition. Experimenters wishing to secure the venom of the +Elaps often find it difficult to rouse the snake to striking +wrath. + +Very few instances are known of Elaps bite, but those few +unquestionably set this ornamental creature in a class by itself, +among American Ophidia, for "results." Out of eight +well-authenticated cases of Elaps bite, six of the victims died. +This is believed to indicate a falsely large percentage, however, +the scientific estimate of mortality being somewhere between +twenty-five and fifty per cent. + +A government scientist tells me of a curious result from +coral-snake bite which came under his notice. The victim, who was +handling the reptile preparatory to photographing it, apparently +overstepped the bounds of its habitual forbearance, for it +fastened upon his finger with such determination that it had to +be pried off. The man soon became unconscious, but rallied, and, +after three days of dubious condition, recovered. Every year +since, at about the anniversary of the bite, an ulcer forms upon +the finger and the nail sloughs off. I have heard of similar +recurrent effects from crotaline poisoning, but none +scientifically attested, as is this phenomenon. + +Before passing from the subject of snakes, let me make one point +clear. While the venomous snakes of this country are by no means +"deadly" in the ordinary sense of the term, their bite is always +serious, both in its immediate effects and in the possibility of +after effects. The bitten person should get to a physician at +once. The immediate treatment is prompt incision and sucking of +the wound. Permanganate of potash for rubbing into the bitten +place should always be carried by persons traveling in a +snake-infested country. If the bite is on a limb, a light +ligature will check the spread of the venom. Use whisky +sparingly, if at all, and then only in case of complete collapse. + +The local treatments are most effective while the venom is still +around the site of the bite, and will reduce the injurious +effects considerably. But after half an hour or so the absorption +of the venom becomes more general and the local treatments +ineffective. When the venom once enters into general circulation +no chemicals or medication can neutralize its effects, except a +specific antivenin, such as has been prepared by Dr. Noguchi at +the Rockefeller Institute in New York. Antivenin is the only +antidote that can counteract the action of venom anywhere in the +body. It finds the venom wherever it is present and neutralizes +it there, without producing any ill effects on the system. + + +GILA MONSTER NOT SO MONSTROUS + +Dissension and discussion have raged for years about the hideous +head of the Gila monster. This great lizard of the Southwest has +been pronounced absolutely deadly by one set of partisans, and +absolutely harmless by another. Somewhere between lies the truth. +If any human being has actually been bitten by a heloderma, the +event has either escaped notice or has been so hedged about with +obstructive legend as to have forfeited scientific credence. But +the saurian itself has been studied and dissected, and its venom +has been analyzed. The venom is related to snake poison, but is +neither crotaline nor elapine. From animal experiments it is +thought that it might be fatal to man under unfavorable +conditions. There are no fangs proper. The poison gland is in the +lower jaw, instead of in the upper, as in snakes, and its product +is projected through small ducts which open in the gums outside +the teeth. The Gila monster has the grip of a bulldog. Torture +will not loosen its hold, once fastened on. It is through this +intimate contact that the venom works into the wounds. + +Fortunately, the lizard is slow to anger, and prefers flight to +battle, so it is likely to be long before science has an +opportunity of studying the effect of its envenomed jaw-clamp +upon man. There are a few vaguely rumored reports of prospectors +having perished, in the desert, of Gila monster poison, but these +are so confused with symptoms suspiciously resembling alcoholic +poisoning as to lead Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, an authority upon the +Reptilia, to remark that "a quart of raw whisky, practically +given at one dose, may prove more fatal than the bite of ten +helodermas." + +Almost any kind of an insect bite or sting MAY prove fatal. So +may a pin scratch, if the blood of the subject be in bad enough +condition. There is a well-substantiated case of a trained nurse +who died from blood poisoning following a mosquito bite. Ant bite +has resulted fatally, as has a single sting from the common wasp. +No one, however, considers these everyday insects as "deadly." +But substitute "scorpion" for "ant," and "centipede" for "wasp," +and shrieks of dismay rise from the general throat. Yet perhaps +there is no other variety of harmful creature whose reputation +rests upon so meager a foundation as that of these two. + +True, an El Paso report claims that a man stung by a whip +scorpion died in twelve hours; but the details are so vague as to +be in a high degree unconvincing. Dr. Eugene Murray-Aaron, a +witness of unimpeachable scientific competency, describes the +sting, after several personal encounters with the vigorous +tropical species, as no worse than that of a large hornet. Dr. L. +B. Rowland, of Florida, says: "My wife has been stung several +times [by the common scorpion]. It is like a wasp sting, only." + + +THE SCORPION'S STING + +The Mexican scorpion enjoys an evil repute, which, from personal +observation, I consider greatly exaggerated. Stewart Edward White +was so obliging as to afford me excellent opportunity of judging, +in the course of a recent hunting trip which we took together in +a hot and remote Mexican desert. Mr. White, in the process of +disrobing, sat down upon a brown scorpion, an inch and a half +long. The scorpion punctured Mr. White twice. I noted his +symptoms. They were chiefly surprise and indignation. Within half +an hour he was asleep, and on the following day he was riding a +mule. The scorpion, however, died. + +With respect to the centipede, satisfactory data are difficult to +obtain. Some scientists whose observations are worthy of note +state that the legs of this curious creature secrete a poison, +and that their trail over human flesh is marked by a sort of +rash, sometimes followed by fever. As showing that this is not an +invariable phenomenon, I may set the circumstantial account given +me by Captain Robert Kemp Wright, who, at his place at Pitch +Lake, Trinidad, saw a good-sized centipede crawl across the +forehead of his sleeping son. Not daring to make a move, as the +centipede is supposed to strike very swiftly, Captain Wright was +compelled to stand still while it slowly made its way to the +pillow and thence to the floor, where it was killed. The boy, who +had neither waked nor moved, showed absolutely no trace of the +reptile's course. + + +THE DEADLY TARANTULA--IN PRINT + +The only direct evidence which has come to me regarding the bite +of the hundred-legged crawler was from an English naturalist whom +I met in Venezuela. He was bitten on the ankle by a centipede +nearly a foot long. So severe was the laceration that his sock +was clotted with blood before he could get it off. The two +punctures were marked. Almost immediately the ankle began to +swell. The pain he describes as being equal to a bad toothache. +It kept him awake all that night. He had some fever, which, +however, he attributes rather to the loss of sleep than to any +specific action of the poison, as there were no other general +symptoms. In the morning the pain had abated a good deal, and he +believes that he could have gone about his pursuits had he been +able to get his sock and shoe on. He noted some discoloration +about the wound. Late in the afternoon he was hobbling about. A +week in a carpet slipper was the extent of disability which he +suffered. On these evidences it would seem just, for the present, +to set down the scorpion and the centipede as painful, rather +than dangerous, assailants. + +Diseased imagination could invent no creature more horrific of +appearance than the tarantula. Its bristling and hostile aspect, +the swift ferocity of its rush, its great size, and its +enthusiastic preference for combat as against flight, are +sufficient to account for the fear and respect in which it is +generally held. But, though several species of the huge spider +are native to the United States, and others frequently drop out +of banana bunches from South or Central America, to the +discomfiture of the unsuspecting grocer, no authentic instance of +death from tarantula poison in this country is obtainable. St. +Louis papers please copy, particularly that one which, several +years ago, announced in appropriately black headlines: + +IN TWO WEEKS Three Men Have Died From Bites of Tarantulas, + +proceeding to explain that the victims were banana handlers in +the wholesale fruit district. No names were supplied--a common +phenomenon in this class of obituary notice. Search in the +coroner's records failed to bring to light any case of the sort, +and an exhaustive inquiry in the fruit district was equally +unproductive. The report was a pure fake. + +Apparently of the same nature is the "news story" of a +Californian who, presumably mistaking a tarantula for a fragrant +floweret, was bitten on the nose and "died in great agony." That, +of course, is the proper way to die under such circumstances. +They all do it--in print. + +Now let us see about the "agony." Herbert H. Smith, the +naturalist and collector, saw a man bitten on the bare foot by a +tarantula (Mygale) so hard as to draw blood. There was very +little swelling, and the man paid no heed to the occurrence, but +went on with his work. + +I have talked with a Southern Pacific Railroad fireman who was +jabbed on the wrist by a large tarantula. Some years before, he +had been stung on the cheek by a "bald" hornet. He wasn't +inclined to make any choice between the two except that the +tarantula (not the wound) "looked a d----sight more scary." He +didn't let the bite interfere with his job, even for the day. + +On the other hand, Dr. Murray-Aaron records serious symptoms +following two bites upon the hand by a large female trapdoor +tarantula; pain comparable to that of the worst earache, +involuntary twitching of arms, legs, lips, and tongue, great +swelling and discoloration of the hand and forearm, and +considerable suffering for four days, with occasionally recurrent +pains for a month. This, however, was in Haiti. And even there, +he believes, death never follows tarantula bite unless the +subject is in a depleted state of resistance from blood-disease +or other cause. + +Under the heading "Fatal Spider Bite" there is a considerable and +interesting newspaper bibliography. The details do not analyze +well. Often the name of the supposed victim doesn't appear; and +where names and specifications are given, the evidence is hardly +sufficient, as a rule, to convict the insect of any crime more +serious than mayhem. For example, a young woman in Brooklyn awoke +one morning to find a swollen spot on her body. On the bed was +(according to allegation) a spider. Some ten days later she died. +For a long period she had been in ill health. Yet the death was +credited to the spider, though specific symptoms of venomous +poisoning were lacking. + +The instance of a young woman in an Eastern state is significant. +Thrusting her foot into an old slipper, she felt a sharp jab upon +the point of her index digit. Upon hasty removal of the footgear, +she saw, or supposed she saw, a large and ferocious spider dart +forth. This, to her mind, was evidence both conclusive and +damning. Seizing upon the carving knife, she promptly cut off her +perfectly good toe, bound up the wound, and sent for the doctor, +thereby blossoming out in next day's print as a "Heroine who had +Saved her own life by her Marvelous Presence of Mind." The +thoughtful will wonder, however, whether the lady wouldn't have +got at the real root of the matter by cutting off her head +instead of her toe. + + +SPIDER HYSTERIA + +Imagination and terror undoubtedly account for certain general +symptoms in this class of injury. Colonel Nicholas Pike, a +competent observer, records a case of a man slapping his hand +down upon a window sill and feeling a lively stab in the palm. At +the same moment a small spider ran across the back of his fingers +and was captured. There was a distinct puncture in the hand. +Here, then, was a definite case, where the wound and the insect +were both in evidence. But examination of the arachnid's fangs +satisfied Colonel Pike that they were far too small and weak to +penetrate the tough skin where the wound was. Meantime the victim +exhibited the classic symptoms of venomous poisoning: numbness, +nausea, chills, and threatened collapse. A physician, being +summoned, examined both the victim and the accused, and took +Colonel Pike's view that the spider was innocent. The man was +wrathful, with the indignation of terror. He said he guessed he +knew whether he was bitten or not, and that the physician's +business was to eschew idle speculations and go ahead and save +his life if it wasn't already too late. Thereupon the doctor +opened up the wound and extracted a section of a fine needle. The +other half was found sticking in the window sill where a careless +seamstress had fixed it. The spider had been a fortuitous +arrival. The man made one of the quickest recoveries recorded. + + +THE "RED-SPOT"--DANGEROUS + +Strangely enough, the one really dangerous spider on the American +continent is small, obscure, and practically unknown to popular +or journalistic hysteria. Latrodectus mactans is its scientific +name. It is about the size of a large pea, black with a red spot +on the back--a useful danger signal--and spins a small web in +outhouses or around wood-piles. So far as is known, its poison is +the most virulent and powerful, drop for drop, secreted by any +living creature. Cobra virus, in the minute quantity which the +Latrodectus's glands contain, would probably have no appreciable +effect upon man; whereas the tiny spider's venom, in the volume +injected by the cobra's stroke, would slay a herd of elephants. +Were this little-known crawler as large as the common black +hunting spider of our gardens and lawns, its bite would be almost +invariably fatal. Happily, the "red-spot's" fangs, being small +and weak, can with difficulty penetrate the skin, and are able to +inject venom in dangerous quantity only when the bite is +inflicted upon some tender-skinned portion of the body. +Nevertheless, fatalities consequent upon the bite of this insect +are sufficiently well attested to take rank as established +scientific facts. + +One of the most detailed comes from an intelligent farmer of +Greensboro, North Carolina. A workman in his employ, while +hauling wood, brushed at something crawling upon his neck and +felt a sharp, stinging sensation. He found a small, black spider +with a red spot. This was at 8.30 A.M. Presently, ten small white +pimples appeared about the bitten spot, though no puncture was +visible and there was no swelling. The pain soon passed, but +returned in three hours and became general, finally settling in +the abdomen and producing violent cramps. At one o'clock the man +had a spasmodic attack. Two hours later he had so far recovered +as to be able to go back to work, for an hour. Then the spasms +took him again; he sank into coma, and died between ten and +eleven o'clock that evening, about fourteen hours after the bite. +At no time were there local symptoms or swelling, other than the +slight eruption, but the neck, left arm, and breast are reported +as having assumed a stonelike hardness. + +The same farmer had seen, three years previous, a negro who had +been bitten upon the ankle by a "red-spot" and who suffered from +diminishingly severe spasmodic attacks for three weeks. The white +pimples appeared in this case also. The negro recovered, but the +eruption reappeared for years thereafter whenever he was +overheated. + +Recoveries from Latrodectus bite are much more common, in the +records, than deaths. Dr. Corson, of Savannah, Georgia, reports +six cases, characterized by agonizing pains, spasmodic +contractions like those of tetanus, and grave general symptoms. +All recovered. From Anaheim, California, a fatal case is reported +by Dr. Bickford, death occurring twenty hours after the bite. +William A. Ball, of San Bernardino, California, gives a vivid +account of his sensations after being bitten on the groin by a +red-spotted spider, the data being attested by his physician. +Shortly after being bitten, he began to suffer great agony, with +convulsive contractions of the muscles. + +"The pains in my hip-joints, chest, and thighs grew rapidly more +violent, until it seemed that the bones in these parts of my body +were being crushed to fragments." He was seriously ill for ten +days. + + +WORSE TEXAN THE "DEADLY" COPPERHEAD + +It may be that only under certain uncomprehended conditions is +the venom of the Latrodectus effective. Inoculation of guinea +pigs with the poison has been without any resultant symptoms. +Scientific experimenters have suffered themselves to be bitten +and have experienced no ill effects. The foreign cousins of the +American species, however, have as evil a repute as the +"mactans." The "katipo," found in sedges on the beach of New +Zealand, is dreaded by the Maoris, who traditionally refuse to +sleep nearer than half a stone's throw from the water, that being +the extent of range of the spider. The Latrodecti of Corsica, +Algeria, and France are infamous in the lore of the country folk, +which fact must be regarded as strongly evidential, when their +insignificant appearance is taken into account. + +Only in America is there no popular fear of this really +formidable little creature. Yet it is found in almost every part +of the United States, though by no means one of the commoner +spiders. In the past five years I have seen two specimens at my +country place in central New York, and have heard of a dozen +others. If people understood generally that this rather +ornamental insect is both more perilous to life and health, and +rather more prone to attack human beings, than the +superstitiously dreaded "deadly" copperhead, there would probably +be a heavy mortality in the Latrodectus family at the hands of +energetic house-cleaners. + + +THE RISE OF THE KISSING-BUG + +Years ago the United States Bureau of Entomology received from an +exasperated clergyman in Georgia a dead insect, enclosed in this +note: + +"Prof. Riley: What is this devil? He sailed down on my hedge. I +took hold of his lone front leg, and as quick as lightning he +speared me under my thumb nail and I dropped him. My thumb and +whole arm are still paining me . . . " + +The miscreant was a fine specimen of Reduvius personatus, the +cone-nosed blood-sucker, soon thereafter to achieve heights of +newspaper notoriety together with its cousin, Melanolestes +picipes, as the "kissing-bug." How many persons died (in type) +from kissing-bug bites in the year of enlightened civilization, +1899, will never be known. But from far and near, from California +and Connecticut and the Carolinas, from Minnesota and Maryland +and Maine, came startling reports of this hitherto unfamed +creature's depredations upon the human countenance. Thereby the +spider family was relieved of much unmerited odium, for it is +more than suspected by entomologists that a large proportion of +so-called spider bites are really the work of the more vicious +but less formidable-appearing kissing-bug, as is often evidenced +by the nature of the puncture. + +The kissing-bug is about half an inch in length, flat-backed, +shaped in geometrically regular angles, and armed with a large, +hard beak. It is this beak which does the damage, for the +kissing-bug is a fighter and will risk a prod at anything that +gives it cause of offense. Testimony is not lacking that it +sometimes punctures the human epidermis with a view to obtaining +blood at first hand instead of from its natural prey. + +But the curious feature of the kissing-bug's bite is its after +effect. Neither the southern Reduvius nor the northern +Melanolestes possesses any venom apparatus. Now, an insect +without fangs (or sting), duct, and poison gland, can no more +envenom the object of its attack than a fish can kick a man to +death. Yet we find such authorities as Dr. L. O. Howard, the +United States Entomologist, Professor Le Conte, Mr. Charles +Drury, of Cincinnati, and others, including a mass of medical +witnesses, declaring from first-hand observation that the +kissing-bug bite causes much swelling and severe pain. Le Conte, +indeed, compares the effect to snake bite, and states that people +are seriously affected for a week. A case is recorded from +Holland, South Carolina, where there were vomiting and marked +weakness. Mr. Schwartz, an expert of the Bureau of Entomology at +Washington, was bitten twice upon the hand and testifies to the +painful effects. In 1899, when the species was very common in +Washington, the Emergency Hospital had a long list of patients +who appeared on the records under the heading, "Insect Bite." + + +THE DECLINE OF THE KISSING-BUG + +Thus was started the general "scare," a reporter with a keen nose +for news having made a legitimate "sensation" from the repeated +entries on the hospital roster. From Washington it spread over +the country, and became the topic of the day, until any insect +bite or sting--mosquito, hornet, bedbug, or whatnot--was +magnified by the hysteria of the patient and the credulousness of +the public into a "dangerous" instance of kissing-bug poisoning. +Reports of fatal cases, however, invariably proved to be canards. + +For explanation of the marked local symptoms resultant upon +attack by the insect, science has been hard put to it. The +general symptoms, observed in a few cases, where violent, may +probably be ascribed to shock and nervousness. But the marked +swelling and pain cannot be thus dismissed. Medical men believe +that the insect, in its various prowlings for food, thrusts its +exploring beak into decaying animal and vegetable matter and +thus, in a sense, so poisons it that when it comes into contact +with human blood, a rapid local infection is set up--not through +any specific poison, as in spider bite or bee sting, but by the +agency of the putrefactive germs collected on the weapon. + +Not the least interesting phase of the kissing-bug scare is the +rapidity and completeness of its decadence. It is but ten years +ago that the newspapers rang with it; that victims of the bite, +in every city, were fleeing, white-faced and racked with +forebodings, to doctor or hospital. To-day, both the Melanolestes +and the "conenose" are abroad in the land. Doubtless, upon +provocation, they are "spearing" others as they speared the +outraged clergyman. But that's all. The bepunctured ones do not +seek the consolations of medical or journalistic attention. They +put a little wet mud or peroxide on the place and let it go at +that. Exit another bogy! + + +OUR REAL POISON PERIL + +One venomous creature there is in this country which may justly +be termed a public peril, in the widest sense. Proportionately to +population, more victims fall to it yearly in the United States +than to the dreaded cobra in India. Some twelve thousand +Americans are killed every year by its bite. Three hundred +thousand more are made seriously ill from the after effects. +Unfortunately, the virus works so slowly that alarm is stilled. +The victims do not sicken at once. The bite is forgotten; but ten +days or two weeks after, the subject falls into a fever. His +blood is poisoned within him. Eventually, in extreme cases, he +becomes delirious, succumbs to a stupor, and dies. + +Yet, because there is nothing horrific to the sensation-loving +imagination in the malaria-bearing mosquito, public inertia or +ignorance tolerates it with a grin and permits it to breed in +city and country alike throughout the length and breadth of the +nation. Compared with it, as a real menace, all the combined +brood of snakes, scorpions, centipedes, tarantulas, and other pet +bugaboos of our childish romanticism are utterly negligible; are +as figment to reality, as shadow to substance. It is perhaps +characteristic of our wryly humorous American temperament that we +should have invested the unimportant danger with all the +shuddering attributes of horror, and have made of the real peril +a joke to be perennially hailed with laughter in a thousand +thoughtless prints. + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII October 1910 No. 4 + +Lassoing Wild Animals In Africa {pages 526-538} + +By GUY H. SCULL + +Field Manager of the Buffalo Jones African Expedition + +II + +SOMEHOW everything seemed to happen on moving day with the +Buffalo Jones Expedition in East Africa. Exactly why this should +have been it is impossible to tell. Perhaps the reason may be +found in the fact that a considerable part of our time was +occupied in moving. No doubt the circumstance could be traced to +some such perfectly reasonable cause. But we chose to look upon +it otherwise. + +When an outfit like ours has been working for a while in the open +country--especially when the undertaking has no precedent and the +outcome is decidedly uncertain--the little happenings of each day +gradually grow to have a peculiar significance of their own, and +finally a brand-new set of superstitions is formed and half +jokingly believed in by every one concerned. In this way an +expedition comes to be regarded as lucky or unlucky, or lucky on +certain days, or at certain hours of the day, or at certain +periods of the moon. The wide reaches of the African veldt have +something to do with it, perhaps. + +These superstitions are temporary, local, and often purely +personal affairs. Means, being a cowboy, believed that when he +rode his big-boned bay the drive would be successful. The native +dog-boy insisted that when the long-eared bloodhound and the +little white terrier were coupled together on the march, the rest +of the pack would come through without mishap. Loveless swore by +a particular piece of rope, and Mac--which is short for +Mohammed--discovered propitious omens on every conceivable +occasion. + +It was on the first day's march into the Kedong Valley that we +had roped the wart-hog. On the journey from Sewell's Farm to +Rugged Rocks we had rounded up and photographed the eland. Again, +it was on the trek of March 8 to the Wangai River that we had +caught our only glimpses of rhinoceros and lion--faint chances of +making a capture, but still chances, and better than no signs at +all. + +And thus, merely because it had turned out so in the past every +member of the expedition had come to entertain a semi-serious +belief that something momentous was bound to happen on moving +day. + +A general feeling of expectancy pervaded the entire safari when +we broke camp at the Wangai River at dawn of a hazy morning. The +sky was clear of clouds, but behind the hills of the Mau +escarpment a veldt fire had been burning for several days, so +that a veil of smoke was seen hanging in the air as the dawn +broadened into day. The smell of the burning veldt and the +nearness of the fire lent an oppressive warmth to the still +morning. + +"You two boys had better carry your heavy ropes," the Colonel +said at starting. "We might meet something." + +We had finished with the Kedong and Rift valleys. We had hunted +every corner of the district within striking distance of the +water. And we had had success of a kind. Cheetah, eland, +hartebeest, and serval-cat we had roped and tied and +photographed. But the really big game had so far escaped us. For +this reason we had decided to take the road over the Mau, where +the smoke haze hung heavy, and so on into the Sotik country, +where both lion and rhino were said to abound. + +For the first ten miles of the march our way led across +untraveled country, toward the two deep ruts in the veldt that +were known as the wagon road. We had an extra ox-wagon with us +now, in charge of Mr. Curry, an Africander, who lived with his +partner on a farm on the border of the Sotik, and who on his +return journey home with his wagon had agreed to help us carry +supplies. Curry was slight and round-shouldered, with light +yellow hair. His face was burned a bright red, excepting his +nose, which was white where the skin was peeling. He had a +peculiar, slow, drawling way of talking--when he talked at all, +which was seldom. Being an inhabitant of the district into which +we were going, he was naturally subjected at first to a number of +questions in regard to the big game there. + +"Plenty of rhino in your part of the world, I suppose?" + +"Y--as," drawled Curry. + +"And lion, too, I imagine?" + +"Y--as." + +"Ought to get some giraffe on the way, hadn't we?" + +"Y--as." + +"Rhino pretty scarce just now, though, aren't they?" + +"Y--as," Curry answered placidly. + +Thus it soon became apparent that Curry's chief ambition was to +agree pleasantly with whatever anybody said, which tended to +discredit any information he had to impart. So, as a matter of +course, the questions ceased, and when no more were asked him +Curry's conversation ceased also. + +It was rough going for the ox-wagons those first ten miles, and +they made slow time of it along the base of the hills. According +to our custom on the march, the Colonel and the two cowboys, the +picture department (composed of Kearton and Gobbet), and Ulyate +(the white hunter) and myself rode in a widely extended line in +front of the safari, sweeping the country for game. It was hot at +the base of the hills--so hot that when your bridle hand dropped +inadvertently to the pommel of the saddle, the brass mounting +there seemed to burn you. Not a breath of air was stirring, and +the sun shone down blazing through the wisps of smoke haze, and +the heat waves rose from the dead, parched veldt so that the +distant southern volcano looked all quivering. + +Then from out the blurred vista in front little by little a clump +of comparatively large trees began to take definite shape. +Another half mile farther, and we saw that something was moving +among the trees as high up as the topmost branches. + +"Giraffe," said Ulyate, and no sooner had he spoken the word than +the great, towering animals wheeled and fled from their shelter +with that long-legged gallop of theirs which looks so easy and +slow, but which carries them over the ground as fast as a speedy +horse can run. + +The Colonel and the two cowboys set off at a hand gallop in a +vain attempt to round them up and drive them back to the cameras. +The race was a hopeless one for the horsemen from the start. But, +according to the general method of operations adopted by the +Colonel from the very beginning, no chance of a capture, however +slim it might appear, was to remain untried so long as men and +horses could endure. + +The two ruts of the wagon road led close by the grove of trees, +and when the rest of us reached this spot and dismounted to await +results, the three leading horsemen had disappeared long ago into +the scrub-grown country to the south. + +As noon approached, the heat became more and more oppressive. The +cameras had been screwed to the tripods and covered with our +coats to protect them from the sun. The horses grazed near by. +Mac was sent up one of the trees to warn us of the approach of +anything like a giraffe, and the rest of us sat on the ground +round the bole in the small circle of thin shade and lazily +watched the black ants always crawling and climbing and +zigzagging back and forth over the network of fallen twigs and +leaves. It was too hot to talk--it was too hot to sleep or think. +And by and by the ox-wagons came up, and the oxen brought the +flies. For a time then the only sounds were the slow crunching of +the feeding horses and an occasional inarticulate snarl from some +one or other who foolishly tried to brush the flies away from his +face. + +Eventually, after a long time had passed, Means rode into the +grove of trees, un-heralded by Mac and alone. The bay horse had +fallen badly, wrenching his rider's back where once he had been +hurt before. Means took his saddle off, threw it on the ground, +and sat on it. + +"He dropped into a pig hole," he explained, "an' hopped out again +as neat as could be. But in hoppin' out he hopped into another, +an' that just naturally discouraged him an' he come down with +me." + +No comments were made, nor did Means expect any. But evidently he +had considered it only justice to the bay that the mishap should +receive from him the proper explanation. + +Then Loveless returned, also alone. He made a few grumbling +remarks about its being all nonsense to run the horses to death +when there was no chance at all. But as his listeners showed not +the slightest interest in the matter, he, too, relapsed into +silence. + +The Colonel was the last to come in. He rode straight to the tree +where the company were gathered, dismounted, and sat down. Then +he spoke to the world at large. + +"They must be about here somewhere," he said. "And being about +here somewhere, we'll get 'em yet." + +When the shadow beneath the tree began to lengthen toward the +east, the safari shook itself together and prepared to move on +once more. But this time, instead of occupying his customary +position at the head of the column, the Colonel lagged behind. + +Immediately after leaving the grove of trees, the road commenced +to climb the first rises of the Mau escarpment. As we mounted +higher up the hillside, the view behind us opened out into a +grand panorama of the two valleys and their sentinel volcanoes, +with the smoke haze hanging over all. For a time, those of us who +were in front rode half sideways in the saddle, looking back over +the way we had come and over the district we had grown to know so +well. Then we crossed a small, level park that formed the crest +of the first hill, and as we moved down the western slope the +view behind us disappeared and the new country spread before us. + +Kearton was riding with his head sunk on his chest like a sick +man. Gobbet asked if anything was wrong with him. + +"Nothing bad; too much heat this morning, likely." + +"Want to hunt a bit of shade and lie up awhile? " + +"No, I'll go on." + +Gobbet shrugged his shoulders. "You're the judge," he said. + +Hill after hill stretched away in front to the one upstanding +kopje that marked the top of the Mau. The district was wooded +with small, twisted trees, and the fire had crossed here, so that +the ground was black and the air smelled stronger of burning. + +Presently Means stopped. "I'd better wait till the Colonel comes +along," he explained. "The Colonel don't carry any weapons." + +Loveless stopped with him, and, as Ulyate was somewhere behind +with the ox-wagons and porters, this left Kearton, Gobbet, and +myself to ride on by ourselves. For a mile or more the road +lifted and dipped with monotonous regularity, and the burnt land +was still on either hand, without a sign of life anywhere to be +seen. So when the sun really began to decline toward the west, +Gobbet, who had once been assistant manager of the Alhambra Music +Hall in Brighton, told the story of Harry Lauder and the liquid +air biscuits, and it seemed to do Kearton good. Kearton had just +told Gobbet to quit his lying, when all three of us realized that +for the last half minute we had been unconsciously listening to +the beat of a galloping horse on the road behind. + +The next instant Ulyate pulled up in a cloud of dust. + +"Colonel wants you," he said. "They've rounded up a giraffe." + +We wheeled the horses and started back on the run. + +"About--three--miles! Left--of the--road!" Ulyate shouted after +us. + +There were various reasons that called for haste. How long the +ropers could keep the giraffe rounded up was especially +uncertain, and then, besides, it was near the end of the day and +soon the light would be too far gone for a picture. + +We met the line of porters and they scattered right and left. +Farther on, the ox-teams crowded one side to give us room. Then +we came upon the four special porters with the cameras. Kearton +took his machine on the saddle with him, and Gobbet caught up the +tripod from another pair of outstretched arms. + +When we reached the bit of clearing and looked to the left of the +road, we saw the long neck and head of a giraffe sharply outlined +against the sky. + +The giraffe stood motionless. His feet were spread a little apart +as though he was prepared to dash away again at the first +opportunity, and he gazed in a curious way first at one, then at +another of the three ropers that surrounded him and now sat their +horses, waiting. There was still enough light left for a picture, +but Kearton was nearly done. + +"Give him a minute's breather," said the Colonel. " We'll hold +the critter till he's ready." + +We took Kearton off his horse and stretched him on the ground and +poured the lukewarm water from a canteen on his head. Meanwhile +Cobbet screwed the camera to the tripod and set it up. + +By the time Gobbet had finished, Kearton was on his feet again. +From his position near by, Means ventured the opinion that it was +too much excitement that had knocked him over, and Kearton swore +back at him pleasantly and went to work. + +A high-pitched yell from the Colonel sent the giraffe away across +the open with that clumsy-looking, powerful gallop that is all +his own, and with his long neck plunging slowly back and forth. + +Loveless's black, one of the fastest horses in the string, had +hard work to gain on the giraffe, expecially as the animal +swerved quickly at the last moment and fled down the eastern +slope of the hill through the scrub where the going was none too +good. + +It was a difficult throw--and a new one for a Western cowboy--to +send the noose so far up into the air over the head perched high +on the long, swaying neck. + +But at the first attempt Loveless succeeded, and then reined in +gently so as not to throw the beast, because a giraffe would fall +heavily, and would very likely break his neck or a leg if tumbled +over. + +Finally he was brought to a standstill, his feet spread apart as +before, and for a while the two stood facing each other--the +cowboy and the towering giraffe, with the rope from the saddle +horn leading up at a considerable angle to the shoulders of the +prize. The rest of the hunt soon gathered about them. Although +the light was rapidly failing, Kearton finished what was left of +his roll of film. The whir of the camera ended with a peculiar +flapping sound. + +"That's all," said Kearton, and sank down on a near-by stone. + +But Loveless and the giraffe continued to face each other +undisturbed. + +"Well?" said Loveless, presently. + +"Well?" echoed the Colonel. + +"Well, how are we going to take this rope off him? We've got none +to spare, you know." + +"Get a ladder," suggested Means. + +"No, we won't need a ladder," said the Colonel seriously, "but +we'll have to throw him, after all. We can do it gently, I guess, +without hurting him." + +Accordingly, Means roped the giraffe by one hind leg and pulled +it out from under him, so that he sank easily to the ground and +both the ropes were loosened and freed. + +The sun had set and the short twilight was rapidly deepening. The +ox-wagons and porters were several miles ahead. So we packed up +the camera, coiled up the ropes, mounted, and rode away, and the +giraffe raised himself on his haunches among the bushes and +watched us go. + +We camped at a water hole that night, and started on again the +next morning in the darkness before the dawn, with a porter ahead +carrying a lantern to show the way. With ox-wagons it is a three +days' journey from that water hole to the Guas Nyiro River at the +border of the Sotik. The country through which we passed +continued to be the same as that of the Mau escarpment--a +succession of low hills and shallow valleys covered with the +small, twisted trees. And there was plenty of water on the way. +But there was no game in the district. + +We had been told before starting that we need not expect to see +anything on the way, because antelope, zebra, and such like +animals avoid the wooded section so as not to be caught unaware +by lions, and, since the prey seek the safety of the open plains, +the lions are compelled to follow. + +In spite of this fact, and although the dense woods and broken +ground generally forced the safari to keep to the road, the +cowboys were always ready and the cameras, always loaded with +film. But the land on either side remained silent and deserted. + +And each day's journey was the same as the one before; the start +in the gray of the morning, the long, hot ride, with the road +gently rising and falling over the hills, and the sudden cool of +the evening when the sun went down. At times the camera +department would take moving pictures of the wagons and porters +crossing a river, where an especially picturesque bit of scenery +offered an attractive setting. Occasionally Means, as he rode +along, would commence singing one of the songs of our Western +plains, verse after verse, seemingly without end, recounting in +detail some local historical event, such as an Indian attack on +an army post, a shooting affair at a dance, or a train-robber's +hanging. He would sing more to himself than to anybody else, and +if this began to bore him at all, he would stop in the middle and +leave the story untold. + +Then sometimes, when we outspanned for an hour at noon, the four +special camera porters would give imitations of Kearton and +Gobbet taking pictures, of Loveless shoeing horses, or of Means +in the act of roping. And in the evenings, when the day's march +was done and the outpost fires had been lighted, the talk of the +company would turn to our chances of finding luck in the Sotik +country that lay ahead. + +In the afternoon of March 16 we reached Webb's Farm, in the Guas +Nyiro valley, which lies at the edge of the big plains. In this +neighborhood there were three farms--Webb's, Curry's, and +Agate's--and on the evening of our arrival some of their men paid +a visit to the camp. They had heard of the expedition, and each +in turn examined the horses, the dogs, the ropes, and the +saddles, and then, like the hunters at Nairobi, asked the +inevitable question: + +"But how are you going to do it?" + +"Oh, we'll do it somehow," the Colonel replied good-naturedly. +And the visitors shook their heads a little and smiled and +changed the subject. + +But to attempt to rope a rhinoceros or a lion required fresh +horses, and ever since we had left Nairobi, nearly a fortnight +ago, we had worked our horses hard every day. Now that we had +reached the land of the big game, the Colonel for the first time +called a day of rest. So we loafed about camp from sunrise to +sunset and by evening were heartily sick of it all. + +Perhaps we had expected too much of this Sotik country; perhaps +the expedition was running, temporarily, in a streak of bad luck; +but the fact remains that when we resumed hunting on March 18, +disappointment only followed disappointment. + +As we had done in the Rift Valley, so here we adopted the method +of sweeping the country with a widely extended line. The first +day we rode far to the southward, to the Hot Springs and back, +and found nothing, and an unreasoning depression settled upon the +expedition. The next day we rode still farther, to the westward +this time, and again found nothing, and so the depression +deepened. Also on the afternoon of this day it rained heavily, +and Curry agreed with Ulyate that this probably meant the +beginning of the rainy season, which was already overdue. + +That night at the supper table the Colonel spoke his mind. The +rain was dripping through the canvas fly overhead, and the +Colonel wore his broad-brimmed hat to help keep the water off his +plate. + +"There's no use hanging round here any longer," he said, "not a +bit of use. We haven't seen anything, nor a sign of anything. +When the rains begin in earnest, this ground will soften fast an' +the horses will get bogged an' we'll have to quit. So from now on +we've got to work fast. Now Ulyate says there's water about +twelve miles from here to the north--called the Soda Swamp. We'll +start for the Soda Swamp in the morning." + +Again it was moving day. The morning dawned fine after the rain, +and the air was clear, and the country looked greener and fresher +than it had ever looked before. By the time the sun rose, the +first wagon was packed, so the safari set out on the journey, +leaving the second wagon to load and follow our tracks, for there +was no road to the Soda Swamp. + +At the last moment the Colonel decided that he and the cowboys +might just as well make a circuit to the westward of the line of +march on the off chance of finding game. + +"We covered that district pretty thoroughly yesterday," he said. +"But still, you never can tell." + +Yet nobody thought it worth while for the camera department to go +with them, and so Kearton and Gobbet and the four special porters +trailed along with the slow, plodding wagon. In the first place, +the wagons would follow the shortest route and the horses would +be none the worse for an easy day; in the second, if by the +remotest chance the Colonel flushed anything worth while, he +could more easily find the cameras. + +Curry had remained behind to bring on the second load, and soon +Ulyate left us to make a detour past Agate's farm to procure +another sack of rice that was badly needed. Ours was a large +safari, and the details of transportation required close +attention. + +The morning wore on. The sky remained clear and the heat became +intense. The direction in which we were traveling led us along +the border of the plains, through small green parks, scattered +groves of trees, and scrub. + +So far as the mounted men were concerned, the march was a +succession of rides and halts. The heavily laden ox-wagon +traveled slowly, and it soon became our custom to dismount in a +bit of shade and let the wagon pass ahead about a mile, when we +would mount again and catch up with it and then repeat the +process. + +At one of these places there was a grass-grown mound against +which we sat, leaning comfortably, and speculated on the distance +we had come and the distance we had to go. When, after a while, +it became evident that we should never agree in the matter, the +conversation altered to a sort of spasmodic affair. + +"I thought this district was so full of big game that you +couldn't sleep at night for the lions roaring around you," Gobbet +remarked lazily. + +"Wait till you get among them," said Kearton. "Sais, keep that +horse farther away; he'll be walking on us next." + +"Well, I haven't been kept awake any yet," Gobbet replied. + +"I wonder where that wagon's got to," and Kearton raised himself +on one elbow and peered ahead from beneath the down-tilted brim +of his helmet. Then he lay back again and shut his eyes. + +"Means is coming," he said. + +The announcement occasioned no surprise. Undoubtedly Means had +some reason for returning over the trail, and when he reached the +mound we should probably learn what he wanted. + +Means dismounted and sat down beside us. "We've found a rhino +over in the next valley yonder," he remarked, and nodded his head +toward the west. + +"A rhino is no matter to joke about," said Gobbet. "Please +remember that in future." + +"I'm not jokin'," said Means. "Colonel's watchin' him. Loveless +stopped halfway here, about three miles off. Colonel sent me to +bring the rest of you and get the heavy rope." + +"Is that right, Means?" Kearton asked sharply. + +"Sure." + +"Come on, then." + +In five minutes we had overtaken the wagon and stopped it, and +while Means clambered up on to the load to hunt for the heavy +rope, Kearton collected the camera porters and started ahead with +them in the direction Means pointed out. + +But Means could not find the rope he wanted. He threw off half +the load without success. + +"It's on the other wagon. There's where it is," he finally +concluded. "No time to wait now. Other wagon likely hasn't +started yet. We'll have to do with what we've got." + +We rode on at an easy jog to keep the horses fresh, and at the +end of half an hour we came upon Loveless waiting for us just +beneath the crest of a rise. He had off-saddled his horse and had +turned him loose to graze a bit before the coming work, and a few +minutes were occupied while Loveless saddled up again and Kearton +and Gobbet adjusted their cameras and took them on their horses. + +Finally every one was ready, and we set forth once more on a wide +detour to the north to approach the beast from down the wind. + +Loveless gave us the latest news: "The Colonel came over the rise +a half hour ago and said the rhino was laying down resting quiet. +The Colonel went back again at once to keep watch." + +As we proceeded farther on the circuit and began to ride down the +gentle slope into the adjacent valley, we slowed down the pace to +a cautious walk. No one spoke, and on the grass of the veldt the +tread of the horses made scarcely any sound. + +Suddenly the Colonel appeared, walking toward us, bent low. He +had backed out o' his hiding-place behind a clump of scrub. + +"He's laying down over there about a hundred yards away," he +whispered. "Now we want to catch the start of the show. You boys +ready?" + +Means tightened his cinch, and shook his rope loose and coiled it +up again. Loveless said he was ready. One of the saises produced +the Colonel's horse from behind another clump of scrub, and +Kearton dismounted and began creeping forward with his camera. + +"Don't start him up till I get my position," he cautioned. "I'll +wave my hand." + +On account of the growth of low bushes, we could not see the +rhino, but in silence we watched Kearton tiptoeing farther and +farther ahead toward the spot where the Colonel had said the +beast was lying down. The time was approximately a little after +noon. The wind that was blowing was light, and same to us hot +over the sunny reaches of veldt. The sky was cloudless. + +Then the three ropers commenced maneuvering forward, swinging out +a little to the right. Kearton stopped. He set up his camera and +sighted it, and took out his handkerchief and carefully wiped the +lens. + +When Kearton waved his hand, the Colonel's yell shattered the +stillness and the great beast heaved up out of the grass and +tossed his head and sniffed the air and snorted. The horsemen +rode full tilt at him, and with surprising quickness the rhino +wheeled and broke away south down the valley. + +For a good three miles the rhino ran straight and fast. Finally +he came into more open country, which was dotted here and +therewith small thorn trees. Here, also, in one place there was a +fair-sized pool of water, left over from the rains of the night +before. The rhino selected this pool as a good position from +which to act on the defensive. He splashed into the water, +stopped, and faced the horsemen. + +Then followed a few minutes' respite for all concerned. The +horses were panting heavily after the sharp run, and the rhino's +position in the pool rendered it difficult to approach him for a +chance to throw a rope. Evidently considering himself safe for +the moment, the beast rolled once or twice in the water and then +stood on guard as before, but with his black sides dripping. + +"We've got to get him out of that," said the Colonel. "A horse +wouldn't stand a show there. Now when I get him to charge me, you +boys stand by." + +Before the Colonel finished speaking, he was already edging +toward the pool. For fifteen yards the rhino watched him coming. +Then with a great snort he charged out of the water, sending the +white spray flying in every direction, and the Colonel had to +ride hard to keep ahead of the tossing horn. But Means was after +the rhino like a flash, and with a quick throw caught him round +the neck. The big bay fell back on his haunches and the rope +snapped like twine. + +"We'll miss that heavy rope to-day," Means said. + +"We'll tie him up with what we've got," the Colonel replied. +"Only we've got to tire him out some first. What we'll do is to +make him charge us one after the other, so he'll run three times +to the horses' running once." + +It was a full half hour before the next attempt was made to throw +a rope. Time after time the rhino came plunging out of the water +to charge the nearest horseman. Our Western horses proved to be +only just a trifle faster than the rhino, so that each time the +beast nearly caught them. Besides, here and there, the ground was +bad with ant-bear holes, which had to be avoided, for a fall +would mean disaster. But little by little it became apparent that +the rhino's continual charging was beginning to produce an +effect. + +In the meanwhile the rest of the chase was coming up. In the +distance we could see them hurrying down the valley--horsemen and +porters considerably scattered, as if each one followed a route +of his own choosing Kearton led on his big chestnut. He was +carrying the heavy camera under his arm, the tripod over his +shoulder. The reins were hanging loose over his saddle horn, his +heels were thumping the horse's sides, and the perspiration was +streaming down his face. + +"We lost you," he panted. "How's it going? What a picture!" + +Mac, the Mohammedan, and Aro, the Masai warrior, took the +apparatus from him, and he dismounted and went to work. + +At the second attempt to rope the beast, Loveless caught him by +one hind leg, and the rhino decided to shift his base of +operations to an ant-hill in the neighboring clearing. His mode +of progression was to walk on three legs and to drag the black +horse after him with the other. He reached the ant-hill and +demolished it and paused for a breathing spell. + +The chase followed after, and Kearton went into action on the +north and Gobbet on the south, near a small thorn tree, with a +negro porter beside him. The rhino caught sight of Gobbet's +camera and charged. The porter went up the tree like a flash. +Gobbet was bent over, looking through his view-finder, which, of +course, gave him no idea of how fast the beast was bearing down +on him nor how close he had already come. + +"Look out!" yelled the Colonel. + +Gobbet glanced up over the top of the camera and made a jump for +the tree. But the porter was already in the branches, and the +tree was so small there was not room for two, and Gobbet had to +run for it. The next second, with a powerful upward stroke of his +horn, the rhino sent the apparatus flying. Then Means succeeded +in attracting his attention and he charged the horseman instead. +Gobbet picked up the debris, found that the tripod-head was split +clean in two as with an axe, found the camera itself undamaged, +found there was enough head left to support the camera, quickly +mounted his machine again, and was just in time to catch the end +of the rhino's chase after Means. + +And all the while Kearton had his camera trained upon the scene +in which his assistant was playing the conspicuous part. + +"I hope I got that good," he said; "it'll make fine +action--fine." + +From one position to another, from ant-hill to thorn tree and +back to ant-hill once more, the fight went on through the long, +hot afternoon. Ropes were thrown and caught and broken, mended +and thrown again. The horses were pulled, all standing, one way +and another. Rolls of film were exposed and replaced by fresh +ones. The rhino sulked and stormed and charged in turn. + +At the end of the fourth hour Loveless had one short length of +light line left. The rest of the ropes were dangling, broken, +from the rhino's legs and neck as he stood at bay over the ruins +of the ant-hill. + +The sun was rapidly canting toward the west. The continual work +in the intense heat, without food or water, was beginning to tell +on both horses and men. The rhino was weakening faster. But only +one hour of daylight remained, and if the beast could hold out +till dark we should lose him. + +There was the dead stump of a tree with the roots protruding +lying in the grass near by. The Colonel told Means to fasten the +stump to the last piece of line, and Loveless rode toward +Kearton's machine, past the rhino, dragging the stump behind him. +As the Colonel had foreseen, the beast charged at the stump, and +the loose ropes hanging from him became entangled in the roots. + +So on they went at a run, first Loveless, then the stump, +bounding over the ground, then the charging rhino, headed +straight for Kearton's camera. The Masai warrior stood by the +tripod with his long spear poised high, and Kearton turned the +handle and shouted at Loveless: + +"How many times have I got to tell you not to come straight into +the lens? Bring him on at an angle! . . . I don't want to be +unreasonable," he added, when the rhino stopped, "but you ought +to have learned better by this time." + +Then, by hauling in gently, Loveless succeeded in recovering two +of the ropes, and they were pieced together and thrown again, +catching the rhino by one hind leg. Both the cowboys put their +horses to work pulling forward on the rope, and they lifted that +one hind leg ahead. The tired beast shifted his great body after +it, and thus step by step the horses dragged him up to a tree, +where Loveless passed the end of the rope two turns around the +bole and made it fast. + +The rhino charged once just before the knot was tied, and +Loveless had to jump into the branches through the thorns to +escape. He charged again, rather feebly this time, trying to get +free, but the rope held well and tripped him up. After that he +stood quietly at the end of his tether, watching the camera in a +sullen way while Kearton took his picture with the last few feet +of film. + +By this time the light was almost gone, the films were finished, +horses and men were nearly done, and, besides, it was moving day +and high time we resumed the march. + + +In the November number Mr. Scull will relate the adventures of +the Buffalo Jones African Expedition in Lassoing Lion. + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII No. 5 NOVEMBER, 1910 + +The Homely Heroine {pages 602-608} + +By EDNA FERBER + +MILLIE WHITCOMB, of the fancy goods and notions, beckoned me with +her finger. I had been standing at Kate O'Malley's counter, +pretending to admire her new basket-weave suitings; but in +reality reveling in her droll account of how, in the train coming +up from Chicago, Mrs. Judge Porterfield had worn the negro +porter's coat over her chilly shoulders in mistake for her +husband's. Kate O'Malley can tell a funny story in a way to make +the after-dinner pleasantries of a Washington diplomat sound like +the clumsy jests told around the village grocery stove. + +"I wanted to tell you that I read that last story of yours," said +Millie, sociably, when I had strolled over to her counter, "and I +liked it, all but the heroine. She had an `adorable throat' and +hair that `waved away from her white brow,' and eyes that `now +were blue and now gray.' Say, why don't you write a story about +an ugly girl?" + +"My land!" protested I. "It's bad enough trying to make them +accept my stories as it is. That last heroine was a raving +beauty, but she came back eleven times before the editor of +Blakely's succumbed to her charms." + +Millie's fingers were busy straightening the contents of a tray +of combs and imitation jet barrettes. Millie's fingers were not +intended for that task. They are slender, tapering fingers, +pink-tipped and sensitive. + +"I should think," mused she, rubbing a cloudy piece of jet with a +bit of soft cloth, "that they'd welcome a homely one with relief. +These goddesses are so cloying." + +Millie Whitcomb's black hair is touched with soft mists of gray, +and she wears lavender shirtwaists and white stocks edged with +lavender. There is a Colonial air about her that has nothing to +do with celluloid combs and imitation jet barrettes. It breathes +of dim old rooms, rich with the tones of mahogany and old brass, +and Millie in the midst of it, gray-gowned, a soft white fichu +crossed upon her breast. + +In our town the clerks are not the pert and gum-chewing young +persons that story-writers are wont to describe. The girls at +Bascom's are institutions. They know us all by our first names, +and our lives are as an open book to them. Kate O'Malley, who has +been at Bascom's for so many years that she is rumored to have +stock in the company, may be said to govern the fashions of our +town. She is wont to say, when we express a fancy for gray as the +color of our new spring suit: + +"Oh, now, Nellie, don't get gray again. You had it year before +last, and don't you think it was just the least leetle bit +trying? Let me show you that green that came in yesterday. I said +the minute I clapped my eyes on it that it was just the color for +you, with your brown hair and all." + +And we end by deciding on the green. + +The girls at Bascom's are not gossips--they are too busy for +that--but they may be said to be delightfully well informed. How +could they be otherwise when we go to Bascom's for our wedding +dresses and party favors and baby flannels? There is news at +Bascom's that out daily paper never hears of, and wouldn't dare +to print if it did. + +So when Millie Whitcomb, of the fancy goods and notions, +expressed her hunger for a homely heroine, I did not resent the +suggestion. On the contrary, it sent me home in thoughtful mood, +for Millie Whitcomb has acquired a knowledge of human nature in +the dispensing of her fancy goods and notions. It set me casting +about for a really homely heroine. + +There never has been a really ugly heroine in fiction. Authors +have started bravely out to write of an unlovely woman, but they +never have had the courage to allow her to remain plain. On Page +237 she puts on a black lace dress and red roses, and the +combination brings out unexpected tawny lights in her hair, and +olive tints in her cheeks, and there she is, the same old +beautiful heroine. Even in the "Duchess " books one finds the +simple Irish girl, on donning a green corduroy gown cut square at +the neck, transformed into a wild-rose beauty, at sight of whom a +ball-room is hushed into admiring awe. There's the case of Jane +Eyre, too. She is constantly described as plain and mouse-like, +but there are covert hints as to her gray eyes and slender figure +and clear skin, and we have a sneaking notion that she wasn't +such a fright after all. Therefore, when I tell you that I am +choosing Pearlie Schultz as my leading lady you are to understand +that she is ugly, not only when the story opens, but to the +bitter end. In the first place, Pearlie is fat. Not plump, or +rounded, or dimpled, or deliciously curved, but FAT. She bulges +in all the wrong places, including her chin. (Sister, who has a +way of snooping over my desk in my absence, says that I may as +well drop this now, because nobody would ever read it, anyway, +least of all any sane editor. I protest when I discover that Sis +has been over my papers. It bothers me. But she says you have to +do these things when you have a genius in the house, and cites +the case of Kipling's "Recessional," which was rescued from the +depths of his wastebasket by his wife.) + +Pearlie Schultz used to sit on the front porch summer evenings +and watch the couples stroll by, and weep in her heart. A fat +girl with a fat girl's soul is a comedy. But a fat girl with a +thin girl's soul is a tragedy. Pearlie, in spite of her two +hundred pounds, had the soul of a willow wand. + +The walk in front of Pearlie's house was guarded by a row of big +trees that cast kindly shadows. The strolling couples used to +step gratefully into the embrace of these shadows, and from them +into other embraces. Pearlie, sitting on the porch, could see +them dimly, although they could not see her. She could not help +remarking that these strolling couples were strangely lacking in +sprightly conversation. Their remarks were but fragmentary, +disjointed affairs, spoken in low tones with a queer, tremulous +note in them. When they reached the deepest, blackest, kindliest +shadow, which fell just before the end of the row of trees, the +strolling couples almost always stopped, and then there came a +quick movement, and a little smothered cry from the girl, and +then a sound, and then a silence. Pearlie, sitting alone on the +porch in the dark, listened to these things and blushed +furiously. Pearlie had never strolled into the kindly shadows +with a little beating of the heart, and she had never been +surprised with a quick arm about her and eager lips pressed +warmly against her own. + +In the daytime Pearlie worked as public stenographer at the Burke +Hotel. She rose at seven in the morning, and rolled for fifteen +minutes, and lay on her back and elevated her heels in the air, +and stood stiff kneed while she touched the floor with her finger +tips one hundred times, and went without her breakfast. At the +end of each month she usually found that she weighed three pounds +more than she had the month before. + +The folks at home never joked with Pearlie about her weight. Even +one's family has some respect for a life sorrow. Whenever Pearlie +asked that inevitable question of the fat woman: "Am I as fat as +she is?" her mother always answered: "You! Well, I should hope +not! You're looking real peaked lately, Pearlie. And your blue +skirt just ripples in the back, it's getting so big for you." + +Of such blessed stuff are mothers made. + +But if the gods had denied Pearlie all charms of face or form, +they had been decent enough to bestow on her one gift. Pearlie +could cook like an angel; no, better than an angel, for no angel +could be a really clever cook and wear those flowing kimono-like +sleeves. They'd get into the soup. Pearlie could take a piece of +rump and some suet and an onion and a cup or so of water, and +evolve a pot roast that you could cut with a fork. She could turn +out a surprisingly good cake with surprisingly few eggs, all +covered with white icing, and bearing cunning little jelly +figures on its snowy bosom. She could beat up biscuits that fell +apart at the lightest pressure, revealing little pools of golden +butter within. Oh, Pearlie could cook! + +On week days Pearlie rattled the typewriter keys, but on Sundays +she shooed her mother out of the kitchen. Her mother went, +protesting faintly: "Now, Pearlie, don't fuss so for dinner. You +ought to get your rest on Sunday instead of stewing over a hot +stove all morning." + +"Hot fiddlesticks, ma," Pearlie would say, cheerily. "It ain't +hot, because it's a gas stove. And I'll only get fat if I sit +around. You put on your black-and-white and go to church. Call me +when you've got as far as your corsets, and I'll puff your hair +for you in the back." In her capacity of public stenographer at +the Burke Hotel, it was Pearlie's duty to take letters dictated +by traveling men and beginning: "Yours of the 10th at hand. In +reply would say . . ." or: "Enclosed please find, etc." As +clinching proof of her plainness it may be stated that none of +the traveling men, not even Max Baum, who was so fresh that the +girl at the cigar counter actually had to squelch him, ever +called Pearlie "baby doll," or tried to make a date with her. Not +that Pearlie would ever have allowed them to. But she never had +had to reprove them. During pauses in dictation she had a way of +peering near-sightedly over her glasses at the dapper, +well-dressed traveling salesman who was rolling off the items on +his sale bill. That is a trick which would make the prettiest +kind of a girl look owlish. + +On the night that Sam Miller strolled up to talk to her, Pearlie +was working late. She had promised to get out a long and +intricate bill for Max Baum, who travels for Kuhn and Klingman, +so that he might take the nine o'clock evening train. The +irrepressible Max had departed with much eclat and clatter, and +Pearlie was preparing to go home when Sam approached her. + +Sam had just come in from the Gayety Theatre across the street, +whither he had gone in a vain search for amusement after supper. +He had come away in disgust. A soiled soubrette with +orange-colored hair and baby socks had swept her practiced eye +over the audience, and, attracted by Sam's good-looking blond +head in the second row, had selected him as the target of her +song. She had run up to the extreme edge of the footlights at the +risk of teetering over, and had informed Sam through the medium +of song--to the huge delight of the audience, and to Sam's +red-faced discomfiture--that she liked his smile, and he was just +her style, and just as cute as he could be, and just the boy for +her. On reaching the chorus she had whipped out a small, round +mirror and, assisted by the calcium-light man in the rear, had +thrown a wretched little spotlight on Sam's head. + +Ordinarily, Sam would not have minded it. But that evening, in +the vest pocket just over the place where he supposed his heart +to be, reposed his girl's daily letter. They were to be married +on Sam's return to New York from his first long trip. In the +letter near his heart she had written prettily and seriously +about traveling men, and traveling men's wives, and her little +code for both. The fragrant, girlish, grave little letter had +caused Sam to sour on the efforts of the soiled soubrette. + +As soon as possible he had fled up the aisle and across the +street to the hotel writing-room. There he had spied Pearlie's +good-humored, homely face, and its contrast with the silly, +red-and-white countenance of the unlaundered soubrette had +attracted his homesick heart. + +Pearlie had taken some letters from him earlier in the day. Now, +in his hunger for companionship, he strolled up to her desk just +as she was putting her typewriter to bed. + +"Gee! This is a lonesome town!" said Sam, smiling down at her. + +Pearlie glanced up at him, over her glasses. "I guess you must be +from New York," she said. "I've heard a real New Yorker can get +bored in Paris. In New York the sky is bluer, and the grass is +greener, and the girls are prettier, and the steaks are thicker, +and the buildings are higher, and the streets are wider, and the +air is finer, than the sky, or the grass, or the girls, or the +steaks, or the air of any place else in the world. Ain't they?" + +"Oh, now," protested Sam, "quit kiddin' me! You'd be lonesome for +the little old town, too, if you'd been born and dragged up in +it, and hadn't seen it for four months." + +"New to the road, aren't you?" asked Pearlie. + +Sam blushed a little. "How did you know?" + +"Well, you generally can tell. They don't know what to do with +themselves evenings, and they look rebellious when they go into +the dining-room. The old-timers just look resigned." + +"You've picked up a thing or two around here, haven't you? I +wonder if the time will ever come when I'll look resigned to a +hotel dinner, after four months of 'em. Why, girl, I've got so I +just eat the things that are covered up--like baked potatoes in +the shell, and soft boiled eggs, and baked apples, and oranges +that I can peel, and nuts." + +"Why, you poor kid," breathed Pearlie, her pale eyes fixed on him +in motherly pity. "You oughtn't to do that. You'll get so thin +your girl won't know you." + +Sam looked up, quickly. "How in thunderation did you know----?" + +Pearlie was pinning on her hat, and she spoke succinctly, her +hatpins between her teeth: "You've been here two days now, and I +notice you dictate all your letters except the longest one, and +you write that one off in a corner of the writing-room all by +yourself, with your cigar just glowing like a live coal, and you +squint up through the smoke, and grin to yourself." + +"Say, would you mind if I walked home with you?" asked Sam. + +If Pearlie was surprised, she was woman enough not to show it. +She picked up her gloves and handbag, locked her drawer with a +click, and smiled her acquiescence. And when Pearlie smiled she +was awful. It was a glorious evening in the early summer, +moonless, velvety, and warm. As they strolled homeward, Sam told +her all about the Girl, as is the way of traveling men the world +over. He told her about the tiny apartment they had taken, and +how he would be on the road only a couple of years more, as this +was just a try-out that the firm always insisted on. And they +stopped under an arc light while Sam showed her the picture in +his watch as is also the way of traveling men since time +immemorial. + +Pearlie made an excellent listener. He was so boyish and so much +in love and so pathetically eager to make good with the firm, and +so happy to have someone in whom to confide. + +"But it's a dog's life, after all," reflected Sam, again after +the fashion of all traveling men. "Any fellow on the road earns +his salary these days, you bet. I used to think it was all +getting up when you felt like it, and sitting in the big front +window of the hotel, smoking a cigar and watching the pretty +girls go by. I wasn't wise to the packing, and the unpacking, and +the rotten train service, and the grouchy customers, and the +canceled bills, and the grub." + +Pearlie nodded understandingly. "A man told me once that twice a +week regularly he dreamed of the way his wife cooked +noodle-soup." + +"My folks are German," explained Sam. "And my mother--can she +cook! Well, I just don't seem able to get her potato pancakes out +of my mind. And her roast beef tasted and looked like roast beef, +and not like a wet red flannel rag." + +At this moment Pearlie was seized with a brilliant idea. +"To-morrow's Sunday. You're going to Sunday here, aren't you? +Come over and eat your dinner with us. If you have forgotten the +taste of real food, I can give you a dinner that'll jog your +memory." + +"Oh, really," protested Sam. "You're awfully good, but I couldn't +think of it. I----" + +"You needn't be afraid. I'm not letting you in for anything. I +may be homelier than an English suffragette, and I know my lines +are all bumps, but there's one thing you can't take away from me, +and that's my cooking hand. I can cook, boy, in a way to make +your mother's Sunday dinner, with company expected look like Mrs. +Newly-wed's first attempt at `riz' biscuits. And I don't mean any +disrespect to your mother when I say it. I'm going to have +noodle-soup, and fried chicken, and hot biscuits, and creamed +beans from our own garden, and strawberry shortcake with +real----" + +"Hush!" shouted Sam. "If I ain't there, you'll know that I passed +away during the night, and you can telephone the clerk to break +in my door." + +The Grim Reaper spared him, and Sam came, and was introduced to +the family, and ate. He put himself in a class with Dr. Johnson, +and Ben Brust, and Gargantua, only that his table manners were +better. He almost forgot to talk during the soup, and he came +back three times for chicken, and by the time the strawberry +shortcake was half consumed he was looking at Pearlie with a sort +of awe in his eyes. + +That night he came over to say good-by before taking his train +out for Ishpeming. He and Pearlie strolled down as far as the +park and back again. + +"I didn't eat any supper," said Sam. "It would have been +sacrilege, after that dinner of yours. Honestly, I don't know how +to thank you, being so good to a stranger like me. When I come +back next trip, I expect to have the Kid with me, and I want her +to meet you, by George! She's a winner and a pippin, but she +wouldn't know whether a porterhouse was stewed or frapped. I'll +tell her about you, you bet. In the meantime, if there's anything +I can do for you, I'm yours to command." + +Pearlie turned to him, suddenly. "You see that clump of thick +shadows ahead of us, where those big trees stand in front of our +house?" + +"Sure," replied Sam. + +"Well, when we step into that deepest, blackest shadow, right in +front of our porch, I want you to reach up, and put your arm +around me and kiss me on the mouth, just once. And when you get +back to New York you can tell your girl I asked you to." + +There broke from him a little involuntary exclamation. It might +have been of pity, and it might have been of surprise. It had in +it something of both, but nothing of mirth. And as they stepped +into the depths of the soft black shadows he took off his smart +straw sailor, which was so different from the sailors that the +boys in our town wear. And there was in the gesture something of +reverence. + + +Millie Whitcomb didn't like the story of the homely heroine, +after all. She says that a steady diet of such literary fare +would give her blue indigestion. Also she objects on the ground +that no one got married--that is, the heroine didn't. And she +says that a heroine who does not get married isn't a heroine at +all. She thinks she prefers the pink-cheeked, goddess kind, in +the end. + +---- + +IN A MISSION GARDEN + +(Santa Barbara) + +By CLARENCE URMY + +Stand here, and watch the wondrous birth of Dreams + From out the Gate of Silence. Time and Tide, + With fingers on their lips, forever bide +In large-eyed wonderment, where Thoughts and +Themes Of days long flown pass down the slumbrous streams + To ports of Poet-land and Song-land. Side + By side the many-colored Visions glide, +And leave a wake where Fancy glows and gleams. + +And then the bells! One stands with low-bowed head + While list'ning to their silver tongues recite + The sweet tale of the Angelus--there slips + A white dove low across the tiling red-- + And as we breathe a whispered, fond "Good night," + A "Pax vobiscum" parts the Padre's lips. + + +***************************************************************** + XXIII No. 5 NOVEMBER, 1910 + +Lassoing WILD ANIMALS In Africa {pages 609-621} + +By GUY H. SCULL + +FIELD OF THE BUFFALO JONES AFRICAN EXPEDITION. + +III + +There was no use trying to avoid the fact any longer. The lions, +for the present, had left the Sotik country, and by remaining in +camp at the Soda Swamp the Buffalo Jones Expedition was only +wasting time. And time was precious then--was growing more +precious every day--if we expected to finish the work before the +rains. + +The lion was the only big game we wanted now to complete the list +of wild animals roped and tied, and the lion was the most +important of all. The expedition had traveled the long journey to +the Sotik country especially to find them. Yet ever since the +capture of the rhinoceros on the moving day of March 20th we had +thoroughly swept the land in the vicinity of the Soda Swamp +without finding even a single spoor. + +---- +The blurred effect of the unique illustrations to this article is +accounted for by the extreme difficulty of reproducing from a +cinematograph film. + + + +It simply meant that the lions were not there. Some explanations +were offered, some arguments arose as to the whys and wherefores +of this state of affairs. A few maintained that the lions had +always been found there before; it was strange they should have +gone. A theory was advanced that the rains were late and the +country was unusually dry, so that the game had shifted to better +pastures. Perhaps some water hole they depended on had failed. +There is generally some discussion on such occasions. We had +counted so much on the Sotik to give us our chance that the truth +was hard to realize at first. But no matter what the cause might +be, we were finally forced to acknowledge the undeniable +fact--the lions had left the district. + +On the evening of March 25 the expedition faced the situation. As +usual, the night fell cold, and when supper was finished the +company collected about the fire that was burning close to the +horses. A light wind stirred in the leaves overhead and the sky +was full of stars. Here and there a tired horse was already half +asleep, and his head nodded gently in the firelight. From the +darkness came the low talk of the saises, rolled in their +blankets on the ground at the end of the picket line. + +Most of the men stood with their backs to the flames, gazing +vacantly at the horses, the trees, or the stars. For a while not +a word was said. Means threw another log on the fire and then +squatted on his heels and silently watched the flames catch the +bark and flare up brightly. As the heat increased, Kearton took a +step farther away and stood again. Every one knew that the Sotik +had failed us and that it was time for us to go, and so +eventually when the Colonel spoke he only voiced the general +conclusion. + +"We've got to go back," he said, speaking straight in front of +him at the nearest of the sleepy horses. "We've got to go +to-morrow and have a try from the water hole at the Rugged Rocks +where we saw the two lions on the way out here. We may find one +there and we may not. If we don't, we've got to go on to Nairobi +and start all over again--provided the rains don't begin." + +Accordingly, through the long hot days the safari plodded back +over the way we had come from the Soda Swamp to Agate's, from +Agate's to the Honeybird River, and then on once more to the Last +Water. The cameras were stowed away on the wagons, the ropes +remained coiled on the saddles, for there was no probability of +our finding lions on the way. And each man rode as his judgment +decreed, because the business of the safari then was to get on +over the road, and the ox-wagons behind came along as best they +could. + +For the most part it was a silent journey. The expedition had +turned its back on the district that only a short week ago had +held out such alluring promises, and any day now the rains might +commence effectually to put a stop to the work before it was +done. Then, too--although this may seem to be a small matter, +still it had weight with all of us--the white hunters of the +country had ridiculed the idea of our being able to rope a lion, +and the prospect of returning and admitting defeat without having +been given a proper chance was not pleasant to contemplate. + +At the Last Water we outspanned for the night and most of the +succeeding day. In view of the situation, the long halt was +absolutely necessary to give the oxen a good rest and drink +before setting forth on the twenty-four-hour journey without +water to the Rugged Rocks. But throughout the dragging hours of +the enforced rest always there loomed ahead of us the possibility +of failure and the need of haste. No mention was made of this +openly. The only sign of our underlying anxiety was a vague +restlessness pervading the entire safari. + +Once on the march again, with the sun low in the west, the +restlessness disappeared. The night came dark, because the moon +rose late, and the air was still, so that the dust that lifted +from beneath the feet of the oxen drifted along with the wagon. +Now and again one of the wheels bumped over a rock in the road +and the brake beam shook and rattled. At times the high-pitched +cries of the native drivers pierced the stillness. Ahead of us +the bulk of the wagon load loomed big against the stars. + +When the dying moon first showed red through the branches of the +twisted trees, the safari crossed the top of the Mau and +commenced the slow descent to the valley, and the wagons in front +became lost in the darkness and the dust. When the morning star +rose, we had come to the foothills of the escarpment, and the +dawn wind sprang up cold, so that the men shivered a little in +their saddles and buttoned up their coats and began to talk. + +"It was just about here that we caught the giraffe that day," +said Kearton. "Remember? And wasn't it hot?" + +The talk drifted aimlessly, round and about from the western +ranches to Flicker Alley and the London Music Halls, only to +return in the end, as it naturally would, to the water hole at +Rugged Rocks and our chances of finding lion. The discussion was +lengthy on this point--it always was. + +By the time the sun came, the expedition had entered the plain of +the Rift Valley, and with the rising of the sun the thirst began. +Toward noon we halted for a couple of hours to allow the worst of +the heat to pass over, gave the horses and the porters a little +of the water that was carried on one of the wagons, and then +inspanned again and went on. As the horsemen took the road the +Colonel outlined his plan. + +"We'll give the horses a good rest to-night, for we ought to make +camp early, and then start hunting the first thing in the +morning. We've got enough horse-feed to last us three or four +days if the water holds out that long. In that time we ought to +get a lion if there's any there. I'll ride on now a bit and look +for signs." + +The Colonel's horse was a faster walker than the others and +slowly he forged ahead. Little by little the safari began to +string out along the road until wide spaces grew between the +ox-wagons, with the porters straggling after them a mile behind. +A change had come over the valley since we had seen it last. The +land was whiter beneath the blazing sunshine and the dust lay +thicker in the road. Somehow it seemed deserted. The only +movement was the shimmer of the heat waves. + +The camera department had the slowest mounts, and as the march +had become a plodding procession, in which the horses were +allowed to choose their own paces, one by one the other members +of the expedition passed us. + +Loveless came from behind and rode with us for half a mile or so. + +"I've been thinking this thing over," he finally said, "and my +idea is that after the dogs get the lion stopped, one of us can +go by him, rope him, and keep on going, and then the other fellow +can catch him by the hind legs and we've got him. If you keep on +going fast enough, I don't think he'll have a chance to spring at +you." + +In the pause that followed the delivery of this opinion on a +matter that had been thrashed out a hundred times before, his +horse gradually carried him farther ahead until he had gone +beyond the range of talk. + +Ulyate, the white hunter, was the next. Kearton had just finished +filling his pipe and he silently reached out the bag of tobacco. +But Ulyate shook his head. + +"Throat's too dry," he said. "But I want to be sure I understand +what I've got to do. I'm to stand by to protect the cameras and +leave the Colonel and the two boys to look after themselves. If +the lion charges them I'm not to fire--only if he comes at the +cameras." + +"That's right--only if he comes at the cameras." + +"That's what I thought, but I wanted to make sure--It's a likely +place, this Rugged Rocks," he continued over his shoulder. "We +might easily find one to-morrow." + +Means on his big bay borrowed a drink of water from Gobbet's +canteen, and rode on after the others. + +The march of the safari grew slower and slower. The road was +flat, bending a little back and forth in long, sweeping curves, +like a rope that was once taut and had been loosened. The native +drivers no longer cried at the oxen, for the beasts knew by +instinct that they were traveling to water and could be relied +upon to do their best; and the men rode with their heads hung +down, watching the shadows of the horses on the road and hoping +to see them lengthen. + +The Colonel, the two cowboys, and Ulyate reached the Rugged Rocks +at least an hour ahead, and when the rest of us came straggling +in we found them seated on the ground with their backs to the +bole of a tree. None of them looked up as we halted there, +dismounted, and turned the horses loose. Then Ulyate spoke. + +"Water hole has dried," he said. + +There was nothing to be done about it. If the water hole had +dried, it had dried. That was all. And we had to push on to +Kijabe. Lions or no lions, there was no appeal from that decree. +So we sat down with the others and watched the progress of the +far-off dust cloud that marked the approaching wagons. Then, when +darkness came again, the safari resumed the march. + +But the Colonel refused to abandon his former plan entirely +without making at least one more attempt. Together with the two +cowboys and Kearton, he remained behind to scout at dawn the +district between the Rugged Rocks and the railway. + +"We might be able to tell if it's worth while to come back here," +he explained. + +It was nearly noon of the following day before the scouting party +rejoined the expedition on the platform of the Kijabe station. +The party reported that near the base of Longernot, the northern +volcano, a belt of lava rock rises perpendicularly from the +plain. Close to the southern end of this belt they had flushed +two lions, a male and a female, and had kept sight of them for +fully an hour. It was the opinion of all in the party that the +lions lived in the neighborhood, probably in the rocks. + +"Very likely," said Ulyate; "no one has ever hunted that corner +of the valley. There is no water there." + +At first the Colonel was anxious to start back for them at once, +hauling the water with us; but after a moment's reflection he was +compelled to concede that it was time to call a halt. Means had +strained his back again and could no longer sit straight in the +saddle. An old thorn wound in Loveless's foot needed attention. +Horses, dogs, and oxen were entirely fagged out. And besides, the +camera department demanded time to develop the earlier pictures, +already too long kept in the rolls. + +Of course, as the Colonel maintained, the rains might come and +the chance be lost. Also the lions might not live in the rocks, +as we thought, and to-morrow they might be gone. + +"Better grab the opportunity while we have it, he said. + +"Look at the horses," said Means. + +The Colonel walked deliberately along the platform to where the +horses were tethered among the trees, and stood there watching +them for quite a while. + +"You're right, Means," he said, when he returned to us. "They'll +need at least four or five days before we can put them at a +lion--well, we've got to chance it." + +The next five days were the longest in the history of the +expedition. The Colonel, Means, and Ulyate remained at Kijabe +with the outfit. The rest of us traveled down the line to Nairobi +to procure more porters, more horse-feed, and more supplies; and +every day we watched the weather closely and speculated on the +probabilities of how long the lions would see fit to remain in +the district. The time was so short that all other plans had been +abandoned to take advantage of this one opportunity--the +expedition was plunging, so to speak, on this final chance to +succeed. But the weather held clear, and in the meanwhile the +preparations for this last attempt were pushed with the utmost +speed. + +The hunters at Nairobi, together with the storekeepers and +farmers of the vicinity, had heard of the capture of the rhino. +On occasions some of them spoke of it to us. They explained that +they had thought all along that we could undoubtedly rope a +rhino. + +"But you haven't got a lion yet, have you?" they said. + +On April 5 the preparations were nearly completed and Loveless's +foot was nearly well. So we started up the line to rejoin the +outfit, leaving Gobbet at Nairobi to finish developing the films. +We could not afford to spend more time in preparation. At Kijabe +we found the horses thoroughly rested and Means's back much +improved. He had refused to see a doctor, asserting that his back +would just naturally get better of its own accord. He said he was +ready to start. + +With one exception the dogs were in good condition--old John from +Arizona with his scars of many battles, Rastus and The Rake, +taken from a pack of English fox-hounds, and Simba, the terrier, +and the collie clipped like a lion, from the London pound. +Sounder, the American bloodhound, still showed some effects of +distemper. But none of the dogs was to be left behind on this +journey. + +That night the ox-wagons were loaded--one with provisions and +camp baggage, the other with drums of water--and when the dawn +first began to break over the top of the range the expedition set +forth from the station. The crater on Longernot had already +caught the first rays of the sun when we reached the bottom of +the hill and started across the flat land of the valley. + +There was no road leading to where we were going, nor track, nor +path, of any kind. No safari had ever gone there before. From the +height of Kijabe station we had seen what looked to be a long, +low mound in the distant veldt. The southern end of that long, +low mound was our destination. + +The horsemen, as usual, spread out in a widely extended line and +passed in front of the wagons and porters. As we penetrated +farther into the valley the nature of the country altered. Open +parks and stretches of scrub succeeded one another, with here and +there a dry donga cutting deep into the ground. As we approached +the mound it rapidly grew in height and the black rocks commenced +to appear beneath the covering of verdure. + +Among the settlers of the district this mound is called the Black +Reef. It is the general opinion that the Black Reef is formed of +lava that long ago flowed down into the plain from the crater of +Longernot. The sides, which rise almost perpendicularly to a +height of some two hundred feet, are composed of jagged blocks of +stone, honeycombed with deep caves and caverns. The top is +covered with thick scrub and creepers and tall, rank grasses. To +the southward it ends abruptly, as though the lava flow had +suddenly stopped and cooled. + +Under the shadow of the Black Reef the hunting party was divided +into three parts. The day was too far advanced for any real +hunting to be done, but as long as the light lasted the Colonel +wanted to make a personal survey of the ground in the immediate +vicinity of the rocks. Accordingly he rode to the northern end of +the reef, sending the two cowboys to the plains to the south, +while the rest remained where we had halted, behind the southern +shoulder, to wait for the arrival of the wagons and make camp. +But the only incident of the afternoon was a thunder cloud that +rose up out of the north and hung there, and then gradually +disappeared as the twilight advanced. The others were late in +coming in. The Colonel in the north had found tracks--innumerable +tracks of different kinds of beasts--all excepting those of the +lion. In the south the two cowboys had found a large mixed herd +of game; and Loveless had dismounted to shoot for meat, when out +of the herd a rhino charged him and he had to kill it to save +himself. + +"Well, so long as he's dead we'll let him lie where he is," said +the Colonel. "Lions are mighty fond of rhino meat. They'll travel +miles to get it. Day after to-morrow, say just at dawn, we ought +to be able to pick up a fresh trail there. If we don't, it will +mean that the lions are no longer here, that's all." + +Loveless grunted some unintelligible comment. + +"Might as well be cheerful," said Means. "We're not beat yet." + +The first real hunting day commenced at daylight the next +morning. Hour after hour the horsemen traveled the plains, back +and forth, and across and around, and carefully searched the base +of the Black Reef on every side. Only one spot was left +untouched. The Colonel decreed that no one should approach where +the dead rhino lay, lest our presence there should arouse +suspicion too soon. The rhino was a sort of special chance that +was to be saved for the proper time. + +The day was unusually still and cloudless. Here and there +throughout the plains scattered herds of zebra, hartebeests, and +gazelles grazed in peace. Not a spoor or a sign of lion was to be +seen. For us the day was a blank, and toward evening the thunder +cloud rose again out of the north and again melted away into the +twilight. + +The camp behind the shoulder of the Black Reef was a dry camp. +Every drop of water had to be hauled in drums from Sewell's Farm. +The ox-wagon went in the morning and returned in the afternoon. +In this way we could haul just enough water to last the outfit +twenty-four hours. Special rules were inaugurated. Horses and +dogs were given the preference always, and one of the escaries +was detailed to guard the drums. + +That night the wagon was long in returning from Sewell's. When it +finally arrived, the water in one of the drums had a strange +taste. + +"It's bad," said Loveless. + +Immediately the affair assumed grave proportions. That particular +drum became the most important object in camp. A feeling akin to +personal animosity sprang up against it. For a time the merits +and demerits of the case were seriously discussed, and some of +the porters gathered there and stared stupidly at the wagon load +of water. + +"I'll tell you what it is," said Ulyate; "it's the weeds they've +used as a stopper." + +The weeds in question were inspected closely and various +judgments passed, and some of the men were reminded of other +times in other lands when the water had turned bad on their +hands. + +Means drew a cupful and sipped deliberately. + +"It might be the weeds," he finally remarked. "It's not really +bad--only tastes bad." + +So in the end we begged the question by setting the drum aside +and deciding to use it only if we had to. + +But there were other matters to be determined that evening. + +In the Colonel's opinion the time had come for us to try to find +a trail at the carcass of the rhino, and the talk lasted far into +the night. When finally evolved, the plan of campaign was simple. + +It was arranged that the Colonel, with the dogs, should go to the +southeast, where the dead rhino lay, the two cowboys should ride +about two miles to the southwest and wait near the lower end of +the big donga, and Kearton, Ulyate, and myself should scale the +southern face of the Black Reef, where, with the aid of glasses, +we could keep in touch with the Colonel and the boys on the plain +below. Thus the men would be stationed at each corner of a vast +triangle. If the Colonel flushed a lion, the animal would +probably break for either the rocks or the donga, and so either +the cowboys or the camera department could cut him off. Because +the distances were so great, the customary signal of two revolver +shots to "gather" could not be relied upon; the lighting of a +fire would mean the same. + +The morning star was still bright in the eastern heavens when the +expedition rode out of camp in the early hours of April 8th. At +the end of half a mile the three parties gradually separated on +slightly diverging lines and moved silently to their appointed +stations. Leaving the horses and the camera porters at the base +of the reef, the three of us of the center station climbed the +rocks in the darkness and waited for the dawn. + +Slowly the first signs of day appeared over the hills and the +morning star commenced to fade. As the light strengthened, the +wide panorama of the plains and the far off mountains unfolded +and the individual patches of scrub and single trees began to +stand out distinctly from the general blur of the darker reaches. + +For fully half an hour everything was still and the light +steadily broadened. Then suddenly Ulyate pointed. + +In the plain to the southeast we could see a black speck moving +about in a strange manner--first one way, then another, then +stopping and moving on again. + +"It's the Colonel," said Kearton, who had the glasses. "I think I +can see the dogs. He's up to something." + +It was not many minutes before the Colonel's actions took on a +different trend. For a space he rode straight for the reef. There +the smaller black specks of the dogs appeared on the plain in +front. No doubt remained now of what the Colonel was up to. The +dogs were on the trail of some animal--lion or hyena, there was +no telling which--but the scent was hot and the hunt was coming +strong. + +At one place the dogs made a big bend to the north toward our +camp. So the beast, whatever it was, had come to have a look at +us in the night. + +For the first time then, as they swung back for the rocks, we +faintly heard a hound give tongue. It was the only sound in the +stillness. + +Kearton began tearing up the dry grass that grew in the cracks +between the rocks, and piled it in a heap. + +"Not yet," said Ulyate; "wait till we're sure." + +On came the hunt, following close to the southern base of the +reef. The hounds could be heard giving tongue in turn now. The +Colonel rode behind, leaning forward and cheering on the dogs. + +"He's made for the rocks all right--come on," said Ulyate as, +rifle in hand, he started down the cliff. + +Kearton touched a match to the pile of grass, and blew on it in +his hurry, and as the small flame sprang into life he threw on +some green stuff and in a thin blue column the smoke rose up +straight into the air. + +"That will fetch the boys, all right," he said, and we followed +Ulyate down to the plain. + +Although the delay in lighting the fire was brief, yet by the +time we had reached the base and had mounted the horses, the +Colonel, Ulyate, and the dogs had already passed out of sight +beyond a farther out-jutting buttress of rock. + +We rounded the buttress only to find that the chase had vanished. +The almost perpendicular wall of rocks was empty. There was a +moment's halt. Then two quick shots rang out, and at once there +began a general chorus of baying, yelping dogs, intermingled with +the deep, heavy roar of a lion. + +The sounds came from somewhere in the thick growth on top of the +Reef, so we left the horses and climbed toward the sound. On the +plateau the ground was covered with rugged lava blocks, and the +scrub and creepers were so dense that when Kearton shouted +Ulyate's name the white hunter answered from not more than ten +yards away. + +"It's a lioness," said Ulyate. "The dogs have got her bayed. Look +out! She's just on the other side of that bush. When I got here I +found the Colonel seated on his horse, facing the beast and +trying to rope her. He didn't even have a knife on him. Why she +didn't charge him, I don't know. He couldn't get away over this +kind of ground. He told me to call the others and so I fired." + +When the cowboys arrived from the distant donga, they came +threading their way toward us through the brush, leading their +horses. A short consultation was held. + +"We've got to shift her," said the Colonel. "Can't do anything +with her here. Bring the firecrackers. Bring--there she goes!" + +The lioness had decided the issue and had bolted of her own +accord. There was a streak of yellow through the bushes, a +scrambling of dogs, wild, frightened cries from the approaching +camera porters, and the hunt was on once more. + +The beast ran to an open cave at the edge of the plateau and +crouched there facing the dogs. To maneuver the horses was +absolutely out of the question, so the lioness had to be shifted +again. For upwards of two hours then, by means of the dogs, +firecrackers, and lighting the grass, we drove her from one +stronghold to another, from crevasse to crevasse, in trying to +force her down off the reef. + +The sun rose and the heat commenced. The dogs were feeling the +strain of the constant baying. One by one they would seek a spot +of shade and lie panting there for a while and then return to the +fray. Sounder, being weak from distemper, was the first to give +out, but he had done his share of the work. Porters were sent +back to camp to bring water. Because the ground was bad and the +beast was on the defensive, photography was difficult, but +Kearton managed to catch small bits of action here and there, +with Ulyate standing by him. + +The day advanced and the dogs showed signs of tiring fast, yet +the lioness still clung to the stronghold of the rocks. Every +means at hand to drive her into the open had been tried time and +again without avail. The task began to look hopeless. We had +already reached the stage when we saw our resources coming to an +end. + +"Get a pole," said the Colonel, "and we'll poke a noose over +her." + +"It won't work," said Loveless. "We've tried that often enough to +show it won't work." + +"Just the same we'll try it again," replied the Colonel. + +Loveless had just started to hunt for the pole when, without +warning, the beast gave a quick, savage snarl, scattered the dogs +from in front of her, and, dropping down the face of the reef to +the plain below, ran straight for the distant donga. + +Old John led the chase, with the rest of the dogs trailing along +as best they could, and behind them the men and horses, camera +porters, saises, and dog-boys went scrambling down the rocks in +pursuit. + +On the bank of the donga the lioness stopped to fight the ropers. +She had run far enough and meant business now, and the hunt came +up and halted a short distance away for a breathing spell. + +The lioness had taken up her position at the end of a short +tongue of land projecting into the donga, so that she was +partially protected on three sides. The yelping dogs had quickly +surrounded her, but she paid little heed to them now. Crouched by +the side of a small thorn bush, she watched every move of the +horsemen preparing to advance. + +Kearton mounted his camera at one side of the scene, selecting +his position with care to obtain the best background and general +composition. He shifted about two or three times before he was +satisfied. + +"Of course there's no telling which way she's going to jump," he +explained. "But we might as well get the beginning of it right." + +Means went first. Slowly he maneuvered toward her for a chance to +throw his rope, and the lioness, alert, opened her jaws and +snarled at the horseman circling near. + +Closer and closer Means approached. Then all at once she charged. +Means wheeled and spurred his horse to escape. For the first +thirty yards of the race the lioness gained rapidly. Then the bay +began to gather headway and slowly forged ahead. + +With a quick change of front the lioness turned and charged the +Colonel, who was sitting on his horse nearby. Again the lioness +gained at first and again the horse drew away from her, and so, +giving up the charge, she returned to another thorn bush, where +she crouched down low and snarled and growled as before. And all +the while Kearton, on foot with his tripod, was busy taking +pictures of the show. + +This second position of hers gave the horsemen a better chance. +There was now more room in which to get near her by a quick dash +past the bush. While Means edged around on the northern side, the +Colonel moved to the south, and by tossing his rope about and +shouting he managed to attract and hold her attention. In fact, +he nearly succeeded too well, for once she rose to the first +spring of the charge and the Colonel half wheeled his horse for +flight, but the beast sank back again and glared at him. + +Then from behind her Means darted forward on the run, swinging +his rope free round and round his head. Kearton began shouting. + +"Wait--the camera's jammed! Wait a bit--she's jammed here!" + +But there was no stopping then, and before the lioness knew what +he was up to, Means dashed by within a few feet of her and roped +her round the neck. But a lioness's neck is short and thick, and +with a quick, catlike twist she slipped the noose over her ears. + +"Why can't they wait?" complained Kearton. "Somebody tell them to +wait till I fix this. It's jammed. It must have got knocked on a +rock somewhere. It never acted this way before." And all the +while he talked his fingers were busy ripping out the jammed +piece of film and loading up afresh. + +When he declared himself ready, Loveless, this time, had already +taken up his position to the north. Again the Colonel waved his +rope and shouted, and when the right moment came Loveless dashed +past her and likewise roped her round the neck. Again the beast +slipped the noose. + +Here a rather strange thing happened. We had been told on many +occasions that in shooting lions the beast will give its +attention to the man who has the rifle, as if the instinct of the +animal told it which man to fear. Up to this moment the lioness +had held off the horsemen easily, but no sooner had she freed +herself from Loveless's rope than she fled into the donga and hid +herself in a thicket of scrub and grass. For a time then it +seemed that nothing would move her from out this scrub. The dogs +were finished. Men and horses were becoming played out. +Firecrackers and burning grass were used without result. +Eventually the Colonel fastened a forked stick to his rope and +dragged it across her hiding place to uncover her. This maneuver +partly succeeded--succeeded enough, at least, for Loveless to +throw his rope at her. And at the sight of the rope coming toward +her through the air she hurled herself at him like a flash, so +that it was only the side jump of his horse that saved him; then +she turned and broke away along the donga. + +At once Means was after her, galloping hard, for without the dogs +there was danger of our losing sight of her. + +But the lioness did not run far. Her next and last position was +in the bed of a small gully about three feet deep in the bottom +of the donga and thickly grown with grasses. Here the ropers held +a brief consultation and planned a final attempt. + +Loveless made a throw and the noose landed fairly above the +beast's head, but the thick grasses held it up. Loveless passed +the other end of his rope over the branch of a near-by tree and +down to the horn of his saddle. + +The rest of us, with the cameras trained on the scene, had no +knowledge of the plan. We had not the slightest idea what the +Colonel intended to do. Still wondering, we watched him procure a +long pole and ride quietly along the edge of the ditch toward the +place where the lioness crouched. + +For a moment there was intense silence. The Colonel stopped his +horse. Then, leaning over from his saddle, he poked the noose +down through the grass. + +With a roar the beast sprang at him--sprang through the loop--and +at the other end of the rope Loveless yanked quickly and caught +her by the last hind leg going through. Putting spurs to his +horse, Loveless galloped away, hauling the lioness back across +the gully and up into the tree, where she swung to and fro, +dangling by the one hind foot and snapping upward at the rope she +could not reach. + +"Got her!" yelled the Colonel. "Now the rains can come when they +like." + +The beast was furious. She was still swinging, head down like a +pendulum, from the limb of the tree, and was tossing her body +about in frantic endeavor to get loose. Means approached close +and deftly slipped a noose over one of the wildly gyrating +fore-legs. Leading his rope over the branch of another tree, he +stretched her out in a helpless position parallel with the +ground. + +"Now lower away on both lines," said the Colonel. + +He dismounted and stood beneath her, directing affairs as +methodically as the foreman of a construction gang. + +"Steady, Means--a little more, Loveless--now together--easy." + +She came within his reach and with a quick grab he caught and +held her two hind legs with both hands while Kearton bound them +together with a piece of light line. + +The rest was easy. In less than five minutes she was bound +securely and lowered all the way to the ground to rest in the +shade. + +It was nearly noon, and time to call a halt to let the heat of +the day pass over before attempting to bring her back to camp. +Porters were sent to fetch food and more water, horses were +off-saddled and turned loose to graze, and one by one the dogs +came straggling in. + +The men stretched themselves out on the ground where a bush or a +tree afforded some protection from the sun. But the Colonel kept +wandering over to the prize, to examine a knot, to arrange a +better shade, or to pour the last drops of water from his canteen +into her open mouth. Once he stood over her for a while, watching +her vain attempts to cut the ropes with her teeth. + +"Yes, you're a beauty," he finally said. "You're certainly a +beauty. I guess we'll just have to take you home with us as a +souvenir of the trip." + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII December 1910 No. 6 + +THE WOMEN OF TO-MORROW {page 767-777 part 4.} + +By WILLIAM HARD + + +IV + +THE WASTERS + +It got talked around among Marie's friends that she didn't want +children. This was considered very surprising, in view of all +that her father and husband had done for her. + +Here is what they had done for her: + +They had removed from her life all need, and finally all desire, +to make efforts and to accomplish results through struggle in +defiance of difficulty and at the cost of pain. + +Work and pain were the two things Marie was on no account to be +exposed to. With this small but important reservation: she might +work at avoiding pain. + +When the cook had a headache she took Getting-Breakfast for it. +When Marie had a headache she worked not at breakfast but at the +headache. + +It was a social ceremony of large proportions, with almost +everybody among those present, from the doctor down through +Mother and Auntie to Little Sister. The decorations, which were +very elaborate, comprised, besides the usual tasteful arrangement +of thermometers, eau-de-Karlsbad, smelling-salts bottles, cracked +ice, and chocolate creams, a perfect shower of tourmaline roses, +the odor of which, alone among all the vegetable odors in the +world, had been round after long experimentation to be soothing +to Marie on such occasions. It was not thought that Marie could +vanquish a headache except after a plucky fight of at least one +day's duration. + +Actresses go on and do their turns day after day and night after +night with hardly a miss. Marie's troubles were no more numerous +than theirs. But they were much larger. Troubles are like gases. +They expand to fill any void into which they are introduced. +Marie's spread themselves through a vacuum as large as her life. + +The making of that vacuum and the inserting of Marie into it cost +her father and her husband prodigious toil and was a great +pleasure to them. Marie belonged to the Leisure Class. Socially, +she was therefore distinctly superior to her father and her +husband. + +President Thomas of Bryn Mawr had Marie in mind when she said: + +"By the leisured class we mean in America the class whose men +work harder than any other men in the excitement of professional +and commercial rivalry, but whose women constitute the only +leisured class we have and the most leisured class in the world." + +Marie's father wasn't so very rich either. He was engaged in a +business so vividly competitive that Marie's brother was hurried +through college as fast as possible and brought into the game at +twenty-two with every nerve stretched taut. + +Nothing like that was expected of Marie. She was brought up to +think that leisure was woman's natural estate. Work, for any +girl, she regarded as an accident due to the unexpected and +usually reprehensible collapse of the males of the poor girl's +family. + +This view of the matter gave Marie UNCONSCIOUSLY TO HERSELF, what +morality she had. Hard drinking, "illegitimate" gambling, and +excessive dissipations of all sorts are observed commonly to have +a prejudicial effect on male efficiency and family prosperity. +Against all "vices," therefore (although she didn't catch the +"therefore"), Marie was a Moral Force of a million angel-power. + +Aside from "vices," however, all kinds of conduct looked much +alike to her. Ethics is the rules of the game, the decencies of +the struggle for existence. Marie had no part in the struggle. +She violated its decencies without being at all aware of it. + +All the way, for instance, from stealing a place in the line in +front of a box-office window ahead of ten persons who were there +before her, up the tiny scale of petty aggressions within her +narrow reach to the cool climax of spending three months every +summer in a pine-wood mountain resort (thus depriving her +city-bound husband of the personal companionship which was the +one best thing she had to give him in return for what he gave +her), she was as competent a little grafter as the town afforded. + +But she was a perfectly logical one. Her family had trained her +to deadhead her way through life and she did it. Finally she went +beyond their expectations. They hadn't quite anticipated all of +the sweetly undeviating inertia of her mind. + +Nevertheless she was a nice girl. In fact; she was The Nice Girl. +She was sweet-tempered, sweet-mannered, and sweet-spoken--a +perfect dear. She never did a "bad" thing in her life. And she +never ceased from her career of moral forcing. She wrote to her +husband from her mountain fastness, warning him against +high-balls in hot weather. She went twice a month during the +winter to act as librarian for an evening at a settlement in a +district which was inhabited by perfectly respectable working +people but which, while she passed out the books, she +sympathetically alluded to as a "slum." + +It is hardly fair, however, to lay the whole explanation of Marie +on her father, her husband, and herself. + +A few years ago, in the churchyard of St. Philip's Church at +Birmingham, they set up a tombstone which had fallen down, and +they re-inscribed it in honor of the long-neglected memory of the +man who had been resting beneath it for a century and a half. His +name was Wyatt. John Wyatt. He had a good deal to do with making +Marie what she was. + +What toil, what tossing nights, what sweating days, what agonized +wrenching of the imagination toward a still unreached idea, have +gone into the making of leisure--for other people! + +Wyatt strained toward, and touched, the idea which was the real +start of modern leisure. + +In the year 1733, coming from the cathedral town of Lichfield, +where the Middle Ages still lingered, he set up, in a small +building near Sutton Coldfields, a certain machine. That machine +inaugurated, and forever symbolizes, the long and glorious series +of mechanical triumphs which has made a large degree of leisure +possible, not for a few thousand women, as was previously the +case, but for millions and millions of them. + +It was only about two feet square. But it accomplished a thing +never before accomplished. It spun the first thread ever spun in +the history of the world without the intervention of human +fingers. + +On that night woman lost her oldest and most significant title +and function. The Spinster ceased to be. + +The mistress and her maid, spinning together in the Hall, their +fingers drawing the roving from the distaff and stretching it out +as the spindle twisted it, were finally on the point of +separating forever. + +We all see what Wyatt's machine did to the maids. We all +understand that when he started his mill at Birmingham and hired +his working force of TEN GIRLS, he prophesied the factory "slum." + +We do not yet realize what he did to the mistresses, how he +utterly changed their character and how he marvelously increased +their number. + +But look! His machine, with the countless machines which followed +it, in the spinning industry and in all other industries, made it +possible to organize masses of individuals into industrial +regiments which required captains and majors and colonels and +generals. It created the need of leadership, of MULTITUDINOUS +leadership. And with leadership came the rewards of leadership. +And the wives and daughters of the leaders (a race of men +previously, by comparison, nonexistent) arose in thousands and +hundreds of thousands and millions to live in leisure and +semi-leisure on the fruits of the new system. + +While the maids went to the "slums," the mistresses went to the +suburbs. + +Looking at it in that way, one sometimes doesn't feel so sorry +for the maids. + +What did Wyatt get out of it? Imprisonment for debt and the buzz +of antiquarians above his rotted corpse. + +Wyatt and his equally humble successors in genius, Hargreaves and +Crompton, artisans! Where in history shall we find men the world +took more from, gave less to? + +To Hargreaves, inventing the spinning jenny, a mob and a flight +from Lancashire, a wrecked machine and a sacked house! To +Crompton, inventing the spinning-mule (which, in simulating, +surpassed the delicate pulling motion of the spinster's arm)--to +Crompton, poverty so complete that the mule, patient bearer of +innumerable fortunes to investors, was surrendered to them +unpatented, while its maker retired to his "Hall-in-the-Wood" and +his workman wages! + +Little did Wyatt and Hargreaves and Crompton eat of the bread of +idleness they built the oven for. + +But Arkwright! There was the man who foreshadowed, in his own +career, the new aristocracy about to be evoked by the new +machinery. He made spinning devices of his own. He used everybody +else's devices. He patented them all. He lied in the patents. He +sued infringers of them. He overlooked his defeats in the courts. +He bit and gouged and endured and invented and organized till, +from being a barber and dealing in hair-dyes and bargaining for +the curls of pretty girls at country fairs, he ended up Sir +Richard Arkwright and--last perfect touch in a fighting +career--was building a church when he died. + +And his son was England's richest commoner. + +It was the dawn of the day of common richness. + +The new aristocracy was as hospitably large as the old +aristocracy had been sternly small. Before Wyatt, leisure had +been the thinnest of exhalations along the very top of society. +Since Wyatt, it has got diffused in greater and greater density +through at least the upper third of it. And for all that magical +extension of free time, wrested from the ceaseless toil with +which God cursed Adam, we stand indebted (and so recently!) to +the machinery SET going by that spontaneous explosion of artisan +genius in England only a hundred and fifty years ago, KEPT going +(and faster and faster) by the labor of men, women, and children +behind factory windows, the world over, to-day. + +Marie's view of the situation, however, is the usual one. We are +billions of miles from really realizing that leisure is produced +by somebody's work, that just "Being a Good Woman" or "Being a +Decent Fellow" is so far from being an adequate return for the +toil of other people that it is just exactly no return at all. We +are billions of miles from admitting that the virtuous parasite +is just as much a parasite as the vicious parasite:--that the +former differs from the latter in the use of the money but not at +all in the matter of getting it in return for nothing. + +To get something for nothing is the fundamental immorality in the +world. But we don't believe it. There will be a revolution before +we get it into our heads that trying to trade a sweet disposition +or an intelligent appreciation of opera or a proficiency at +amateur tennis for three meals a day is a fraud. + +Marie didn't mean to commit a fraud. She just dropped a +sentimental, non-negotiable plugged nickel into the slot-machine +of life and drew out a motor car and a country place, and was +innocently pleased. Such a wonderful slot-machine! She never saw +the laboring multitudes behind it, past and present multitudes, +dead fingers, living fingers, big men's fingers, little +children's fingers, pulling the strings, delivering the prizes, +laying aside the plugged nickel in the treasury of a remote +revenge. + +Perhaps the reason why she didn't catch on to the fact that, +instead of being the world's creditor, she was really inhabiting +an almshouse was that she was so busy. + +You see, she not only did things all the time but she had to find +and invent them to do. Her life, even before she was married, was +much more difficult than her brother's, who simply got up in the +morning and took the same old 7:42 to the same old office. + +When he wanted clothes he went to the nearest decent tailor. + +No such cinch for Marie. Her tailor lived in Sutherton, on the +directly opposite side of the city from the suburb in which Marie +lived. Just to get to that tailor's cost Marie an hour and a half +of effort. She had got up early, but by the time the tailor had +stuck the world's visible supply of pins into the lines of her +new coat, most of the forenoon had been arduously occupied. + +Of course many forenoons had to be thus occupied. Never forget +it! The modish adaptation of woven fabrics to the female contour +becomes increasingly complex and minute and exacting and +time-occupying in precise proportion as the amount of time +increases for which occupation must be devised. + +Besides, it gives employment to the tailors. + +This is the really meritorious function of the leisure class. It +gives employment. And every extension of its tastes and needs +gives more employment. Marie and her friends greatly increased +the number and prosperity of tailors and milliners and +candy-dippers and perfume-manufacturers and manicurists and +hair-dressers and plumed-bird hunters and florists and +cab-drivers and Irish lace-makers and Chinese silkworm tenders +and violet-and-orris sachet-powder makers and matinee heroes and +French nuns who embroider underwear and fur-traders and +pearl-divers and other deserving persons, not forgetting the +multitudes of Turks who must make nougat or perish. + +In fact, Marie and her friends, in the course of a year, gave as +much employment as a fair-sized earthquake. That is, in the +course of a year, they destroyed, without return, a large amount +of wealth and set many people to work replacing it. If we had a +large enough leisure class we should have no need of fires and +railroad wrecks and the other valuable events which increase our +prosperity by consuming it. + +Marie belonged to the real Consumers' League. And she consumed +prettily and virtuously. It wasn't bad air that suffocated her +soul. It was no air. + +She thought she was breathing, however, and breathing fast. Why, +it was half-past eleven before she got back down-town from her +tailor, and she bought a wedding present till one, and she was +just famished and ran to a tea-room, but she had hardly touched a +mouthful when she remembered there was a girl from out of town +who had come in to spend a month doing nothing and had to be +helped, but though she rushed to the 'phone she couldn't get her +friend before it was time to catch her suburban train home; in +order to do which she jumped into the station 'bus, only to +remember she had forgotten to buy a ribbon for her Siamese +costume for the Benefit Ball; but it was too late now and she +spent her time, going out on the train, trying to think of some +way of getting along without it, and her head began to ache; but +luckily she met some of the girls on her way from the station to +her high-school sorority alumnae reunion and they began to tell +her how to do it; but she had to hurry away because she had +promised to go to the house of one of the girls and do stencil +patterns, which started to be beautiful, but before she could get +any of them really done she recollected that Chunk Brown had sent +over a bunch of new songs and was coming to call to-night and she +had to scoot home and practice "June time is moon time and tune +time and spoon time," as well as "The grass is blue o'er little +Sue" till there was just one hour left before dinner and she was +perfectly crazy over the new "do" which one of the girls had +showed her and she rushed upstairs and went at that do and by +dinner time she had got it almost right, so that Father told her +always to do her hair like that and Brother wished he had it down +at the factory to replace a broken dynamo brush, while as for +Chunk, he was nicer than ever till he learned he had to take her +to a rehearsal of the Siamese Group for the Benefit Ball: so +that, what with having to coax him to go and what with changing +into her costume, she got to the rehearsal so tired she couldn't +stand up to go through the figures till she caught sight of the +celebrated esthete, the Swami Ram Chandra Gunga Din, who was +there to hand out the right slants about oriental effects and who +had persuaded Marie there was great consolation to be found in +realizing that life is a spiral and that therefore you can't make +progress straight up but must go round and round through rhythmic +alternations of joy and sorrow, which caused Chunk to relapse +again from his attentiveness but which pleased Marie greatly +because she was always unhappy in between two periods of +happiness and therefore felt she was getting along the spiral and +into Culture pretty well, till it was eleven o'clock and she +waked Chunk up out of a chair in the hall and made him take her +home; and he said the Swami was a VERY CLEVER man and she said +American men had no culture and didn't understand women, and +Chunk didn't even say good-night to her, and she went to sleep +crying, and remembering she hadn't after all learned from the +girls how to get along without that ribbon in her costume and she +must get up early and buy it, which made her utter one final +little plaintive sniffle of vexation. + +It was a nice child's life, full of small things which looked +big, uncorrected in its view of Love, Culture, Charity, or +anything else by any carrying of the burdens, enduring of the +shocks, or thrilling to the triumphs, of a really adult life. Her +brother, when he went to work, was her junior. In five years he +was much her senior. (You may verify this by observations among +your own acquaintances.) Marie was not a minute older now than +when she left school. Talking to her at twenty-six was exactly +the same experience as talking to her at twenty-one. That was +what the world, from John Wyatt to her father, had done for her. + +From such a life there are necessarily revulsions. The empty +leisure of the Nice Girl is quite successfully total waste. But +it becomes intolerable to that waster who, though not desiring +genuine occupation, desires genuine sensation. + +Hence smart sets. + +Every social group in which there is much leisure has its own +smart set. There may be a million dollars a year to spend. There +may be only a few thousands. But there is always a smart set. + +How suddenly its smartness may follow its leisure, how accurately +its plunge into luxury may duplicate the suddenness of modern +luxury itself, you may observe with your own eyes almost +anywhere. + +You see a little crowd of women come into the Mandarin Tea Room +of the St. DuBarry in Novellapolis in the fresh West. When they +remove their automobile veils you see that they were once, and +very recently, the nicest sort of members of the sewing circle +and the W. C. T. U. of Lone Tree Crossing. + +When the waiter comes along with their cocktails and they begin +to sip them out of their tea-cups, you wake up with a jerk to +realize that it's half-past three in the afternoon and the +evening has begun. + +How rapid it all is! + +There's Margaret Simpson. A few years ago you might have seen her +pumping the water for Jim's breakfast, cleaning the lamps, and +picking bugs off the potato vines. + +Jim came to town. He struck it poor. Then he struck it rich. He +owns a bunch of moving-picture places. He manufactures a patented +bottle-stopper. He's a pavement contractor. His wife has just as +much leisure as any duchess. + +The duchess has her individual estate and resources, which make +it possible for her to lead an almost complete social life within +her own walls. But never mind! Margaret has the Down-town +District, cooperatively owned, cooperatively maintained, +magnificently equipped with bright boudoirs in the rest-rooms of +the department stores, with wonderful conservatories where one +may enter and gaze and pay no more attention to the florist than +to one's own gardener, with sumptuous drawing-rooms, like the +Purple Parlor of the St. DuBarry, with body-servants in the +beauty-shops, with coachmen on the taxi-cabs, with seclusion in +the Ladies' Department of the Novellapolis Athletic Club--an +infinitely resourceful estate, which Margaret knows as intimately +as the duchess knows hers. + +This morning she hunted down a new reduction plant on the +eighteenth floor of the Beauty Block and weighed in at 185 on the +white enamel scales, and after an hour of +Thermo-Vibro-Magneto-Magenta-Edison-Company-light-therapy weighed +out at 182-6. + +At luncheon she ate only puree of tomatoes, creamed +chicken-and-sweetbreads, Boston brown bread and butter, orange +punch and Lady Baltimore cake, severely cutting out the potatoes. + +After luncheon she spent an hour in a tiny room which had mirrors +all around it and a maid (as trim and French-accented as any maid +any duchess could have) and a couple of fitters and a head +fitter. It ended up with: "Do you mean to tell me that after all +the reducing and dieting I've been doing I can't wear under a +twenty-seven? It's ridiculous. I tell you what. Measure me for a +made-to-order. These stock sizes all run large. If it's +made-to-order I can wear a twenty-six as easy as anybody." + +Then she met up with her friends at the St. DuBarry. + +You watch the waiter bring another round of drinks and you +perceive that the evening is well under way and that the peak of +the twenty-four hours is being disputatiously approached. + +It appears that Perinique's is a swell place to dine, but that +the cheese is bad. The cheese is good right here at the St. +DuBarry, but they don't know how to toast the biscuits. At the +Grunewurst the waiters are poor. At Max's the soup is always +cold. The mural decorations at the Prince Eitel are so gloomy +they give you a chill. + +Despair settles down on the scene. There seems to be no +likelihood that there will be any dinner at all anywhere. A ray +of light penetrates with the inquiry whether you saw the way Jim +looked at Dora last night. If _I_ was you, Margaret, and MY +husband looked at Dora like that, _I_--. . . No wonder Dora's +husband divorced her. . . . The trouble with Margaret is she's +too good to Jim. If she had any sense she could make him so +jealous he'd stand on his head for her. . . . Why don't you tell +Ned to cut in there and pay a little attention to Marge? . . . +Oh, Ned's no good. . . . Well, I'll tell MY HUSBAND--. . . Don't +you do it: I started my husband once on a thing like that and +he--. . . That's right. Ned's not married. Let him do it. . . . +Somebody ought to. . . . Call Ned on the 'phone. . . . We'll eat +at the Royal Gorge and I'll put 'em side by side. . . . I'LL sit +next to Jim and point it out to him. . . . Say, Marge, it's a +good thing you've got on your white broadcloth and those willow +plumes. . . . You can get 'em at Delatour's now for twenty-five +dollars. . . . Say, I called Ned on the 'phone and what do you +think? He's got an engagement for to-night. . . . Say, here's +Dora now. + +Dora: "Got to sweep right along. Goin' to buzz out to the Inland +Inn for dinner with Ned." + +Talk of nerve! + +Exit Dora. + +Enter Stern Moralist. Points gaunt finger at ex-members of Lone +Tree Crossing Sewing Circle. Says: "Back to your kitchens, women, +and get supper for your husbands." + +Onlookers: "Great!" + +Enter husbands, about to dine with the women right there, or at +some other place where dinner is cooked and ready. + +Stern Moralist turns to husbands. + +Does he? Why not? + +Stern Moralist: "Back to the woodshed and chop the kindling for +your wife to get supper with." + +Onlookers: "Police! Arrest that man! He's crazy." + +Stern Moralist, being propelled down corridor: "Well, if the way +to restore women to womanliness is to make them do drudgery which +they can hire somebody else to do, why isn't----" + +His voice dies away. + +Jim asks where Dora is. Loud chorus tells him. Details of Dora's +divorce begin to fly about. Harry orders a round of drinks. +Somebody praises the drawn butter sauce at the Suddington. This +is met with the merits of the pineapple parfait at the La +Fontaine. Jim thinks Dora's divorce was her husband's fault. +Margaret gets up and goes back to the Purple Parlor and cries. +Bessie begins to tell Jim how attentive Ned is to Margaret. This +is so helpful that Jim gets up to find Margaret and tell her what +he thinks of her. Finds her crying and thinks she is crying +because Ned is away with Dora. Terrible row in Purple Parlor. +Bessie starts in to explain. Everybody stands about in couples +explaining. Waiter runs around trying to find gen'l'man to pay +for undrunk drinks. Poor Frank, being the only member of the +party who hasn't been drinking, is so sober that he pays. He +finally corrals the whole crowd into a couple of taxi-cabs. They +go down the street with everybody's head out of the cab-window +and everybody's voice saying "The Suddington," "The Grunewurst," +"Max's," "The Royal Gorge," "Perinique's." + + +The revulsion from empty leisure in the direction of +full-every-night leisure is balanced to some extent by a +revulsion toward activity of a useful sort. This latter revulsion +has two phases: Economic Independence, which has been spoken of +in former articles; Social Service and Citizenship, which will be +spoken of next month. + +Which one of these two revulsions will be the stronger? If it is +the one toward useful activity, we shall see a dam erected +against the current which, in carrying women out of the struggle +for existence, carries them out of the world's mental strife. If +it is the one toward frivolity, we shall see simply an +acceleration of that current and a quicker and larger departure +from all those habits of toil and service which produce power and +character. + +With marriage, of course, Marie had a certain opportunity to get +back into life. She had before her at least fifteen years of real +work. And it would have been work of the realest sort. Effort--to +and beyond all other effort! The carrying of new life in fear, +the delivery of it in torture, the nourishing of it in +relinquishment f all the world's worldliness, the watching over +it in sleeplessness, the healing of its sickness in +heart-sickness, the bringing of it, with its body strong, its +mind matured, up into the world of adults, up into the struggle +for existence! What a work! + +But what a preparation for it had Marie! + +She flinched from it. The inertia of her mind carried her to the +ultimate logic of her life. Along about the time of her marriage +she began to cease to be the typical normal girl of her type. + +She became a woman of the future--OF HER TYPE. + +From the facts of modern idleness the positive character reacts +toward new-found activity: toward an enormous, +never-before-witnessed expenditure of intelligent care on +children; toward self-support; toward civic service. The +character which is neither positive nor negative runs along as a +neutral mixture of modern facts and of old ideals of casual +idling and of casual child-rearing. The negative character--like +Marie's--just yields to the facts and is swept along by them into +final irresponsibility and inutility. + +Marie wasn't negative enough--she wasn't positive enough in her +negativeness--to plunge into dissipation. It wasn't in her nature +to do any plunging of any kind. Good, safe, motionless sponging +was her instinct. And she will die in the odor of tubbed and +scrubbed respectability. And if you knew her you would like her +very much. She is charming. + +When she and Chunk were married, they went to live in an +apartment appropriate to a rising young man, and Marie's job was +on all occasions to look as appropriate as the apartment. + +No shallow cynicism, this! Just plain, bald truth without any wig +on it. The only thing that you could put your finger on that +Marie really did was so to wear clothes and so to give parties as +to be the barometer of her husband's prosperity. And in every +city you can see lots of such barometers giving themselves an +artificially high reading in order to create that "atmosphere" of +success which is a recognized commercial asset. + +Chunk was hugely pleased with Marie. She looked good at the +dinner-table in the cafe of their apartment building. She knew +how to order the right dishes when they entertained and dined +down-town. She made it possible for him to return deftly and +engagingly the social attentions of older people. She completed +the "front" of his life, and he not only supported her but, as +Miss Salmon, of Vassar, flippantly and seriously says, he +"sported" her as he might a diamond shirt stud. + +No struggle in Marie's life so far! No HAVING to swim in the cold +water of daily enforced duty or else sink. NO BEING ACCUSTOMED TO +THE DISAGREEABLE FEEL OF THAT WATER. + +She had missed work. That was nothing. She had missed being +HARDENED to work. That was everything. + +The first demand ever made on her for really disagreeable effort +came when Chunk, in order to get a new factory going, had to move +for a while to Junction City. When Marie bitterly and furiously +objected, Chunk was severely astonished. Why, he had to go! It +was necessary. But there had been no necessity in Marie's +experience. They became quarrelsome about it. Then stubborn. +Marie talked about her mother and her friends and how she loved +them (which was true) and stayed. + +For two years she inhabited Chunk's flat in the city and lived on +Chunk's monthly check. + +She and Chunk were married. Chunk was to support her. Her father +used to support her. Her job then was being nice. That was her +job now. And she was nice. And she was still supported. Perfectly +logical. + +For two years, neither really daughter now nor really wife, not +being obliged any longer even to make suggestions to her mother +about what to have for dinner, not being obliged any longer even +to think out the parties for Chunk's business friends, she did +nothing but become more and more firmly fixed in her inertia, in +her incapacity for hardship, in her horror of pain. + +When Chunk came back from Junction City and was really convinced +that she didn't want children he was not merely astonished. He +thought the world had capsized. + +In a way he was right. The world is turning round and over and +back to that one previous historical era when the aversion to +childbearing was widespread. + +Once, just once, before our time, there was a modern world. Once, +just once, though not on the scale we know it, there was, before +us, a diffusion of leisure. + +The causes were similar. + +The Romans conquered the world by military force, just as we have +conquered it by mechanical invention. They lived on the plunder +of despoiled peoples just as we live on the products of exploited +continents. They had slaves in multitudes just as we have +machines in masses. Because of the slaves, there were hundreds of +thousands of their women, in the times of the Empire, who had +only denatured housekeeping to do, just as to-day there are +millions of our women who, because of machines, have only that +kind of housekeeping to do. Along with leisure and semi-leisure, +they acquired its consequences, just as we have acquired them. +And the sermons of Augustus Caesar, first hero of their completed +modernity, against childlessness are perfect precedents for those +of Theodore Roosevelt, first hero of ours. + +Augustus, however, addressed himself mainly to the men, who +entered into marriage late, or did not enter into it at all, for +reasons identical with ours--the increased competitiveness of the +modern life and the decreased usefulness of the modern wife. It +was the satirists who addressed themselves particularly to the +women. And their tirades against idleness, frivolity, luxury, +dissipation, divorce, and aversion to child-bearing leave nothing +to be desired, in comparison with modern efforts, for +effectiveness in rhetoric--or for ineffectiveness in result. + +Now it could not have been the woman who desires economic +independence through self-support who was responsible for the +ultimate aversion to childbearing in the Roman world--for SHE did +not exist. It could not have been the woman who desires full +citizenship--for she did not exist. What economic power and what +political power the Roman Empire woman desired and achieved was +parasitic--the economic power which comes from the inheritance of +estates, the political power which comes from the exercise of +sexual charm. + +The one essential difference between the women of that ancient +modern world and the women of this contemporary modern world is +in the emergence, along with really democratic ideals, of the +agitation for equal economic and political opportunity. + +The other kind of New Woman, the woman brought up throughout her +girlhood in a home in which there is no adequate employment for +her; trained to no tasks, or, at any rate, to tasks (like dusting +the dining-room and counting the laundry) so petty, so +ridiculously irrelevant that her great-grandmother did them in +the intervals of her real work; going then into marriage with +none of the discipline of habitual encounter with inescapable +toil; taken by her husband not to share his struggle but his +prosperity--that sort of New Woman they had, just as we have her +in smaller number, it is true, but in identical character. + +They tell us it was "luxury" that ruined the Romans. But was +luxury the START? Wasn't it only the means to the FINISH? + +Eating a grouse destroys in itself, no more moral fiber than +eating a ham sandwich. Bismarck, whether he slept on eider-down +or on straw, arose Bismarck. + +The person who has a job and who does it is very considerably +immunized against the consequences of luxury. First, because he +is giving a return for it. Second, because he hasn't much time +for it. + +On the other hand we see the hobo who won't work ruining himself +on the luxury of stable-floors and of free-lunch counters, just +as thoroughly as any nobleman who won't work can ever ruin +himself on the luxury of castles and game preserves. + +It is clearly the habitual enjoyment of either grouse or ham +sandwiches, of either eiderdown or straw, WITHOUT SERVICE +RENDERED AND WITHOUT FATIGUE ENDURED, that ultimately desiccates +the moral character and drains it of all capacity for effort. + +Marie was as reasonable a proposition as that two and two make +four. + +She had given her early, plastic, formative years to acquiring +the HABIT of effortless enjoyment, and when the time for making +an effort came, the effort just wasn't in her. + +Her complete withdrawal from the struggle for existence had at +last, in her negative, non-resistive mind atrophied all the +instincts of that struggle including finally the instinct for +reproduction. + +The instinct for reproduction is intricately involved in the +struggle for existence. The individual struggles for +perpetuation, for perpetuation in person, for perpetuation in +posterity. Work, the perpetuation of one's own life in strain and +pain; work, the clinging to existence in spite of its blows; +work, the inuring of the individual to the penalties of +existence, is linked psychologically to the power and desire for +continued racial life. The individual, the class, which struggles +no more will in the end reproduce itself no more. In not having +had to conquer life, it has lost its will to live. + +The detailed daily reasons for this ultimate social law stand +clear in Marie's life. And remember what sort of woman she was. +The woman who is coerced by external, authoritative ideals will +bear children even when the wish to bear them is really absent. +She will bear them without thinking. She will bear them because +she has never thought that anything else was possible. But Marie +(and this means millions of women throughout the modern world) +was free, wonderfully, unparalleledly free. + +She was free, though a leisured woman, from the requirement of an +heir for a great family estate. She was free from the dictates of +historic Christianity about conjugal duty and unrestricted +reproduction. She was free from the old uncomplaining compliance +with a husband's will. + +Modern life had done all this for her. She was uncoerced by +family authority, ecclesiastical authority, or marital authority. +She was limitlessly free, limitlessly irresponsible, a creature +of infinite opportunities and no duties. + +All social coercion toward childbearing having been withdrawn +from her, the only guide she had left (and it would have been her +best one) was instinct and impulse. + +But with the cessation from struggle, with the cessation from +effort and from fatigue and from discipline, and from the sorrow +of pain that brings the joy of accomplishment, that instinct and +impulse had disappeared. With the petrifaction of its soil, it +had withered away. + +She had been sedulously trained to sterility. + +Nevertheless, when it got talked around among her friends that +she didn't want children, everybody thought it very surprising, +in view of all that had been done for her. + +In the January number Mr. Hard will discuss "The Women of +To-morrow" in "Civic Service." + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII December 1910 No. 6 + +{pages 778-783 are NOT numbered in the printed copy!} +THE WATCHMAN + +"And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead +men." Matthew xxviii. 4 + +BY L. M. MONTGOMERY + +My Claudia, it is long since we have met, +So kissed, so held each other heart to heart! +I thought to greet thee as a conqueror comes, +Bearing the trophies of his prowess home. +But Jove hath willed it should be otherwise-- +Jove, say I? Nay, some mightier, stranger god, +Who thus hath laid his heavy hand on me, +No victor, Claudia, but a broken man +Who seeks to hide his weakness in thy love. + + +How beautiful thou art! The years have brought +An added splendor to thy loveliness, +With passion of dark eye and lip rose-red, +Struggling between its dimple and its pride. +And yet there is somewhat that glooms between +Thy love and mine; come, girdle me about +With thy true arms, and pillow on thy breast +This aching and bewildered head of mine; +Here, where the fountain glitters in the sun +Among the saffron lilies I will tell-- +If so that words will answer my desire-- +The shameful fate that hath befallen me. + +Down in Jerusalem they slew a man, +Or god . . . it may be that he was a god . . . +Those mad, wild Jews whom Pontius Pilate rules. +Thou knowest Pilate, Claudia--a vain man, +Too weak to govern such a howling horde +As those same Jews. This man they crucified. +I knew naught of him--never heard his name +Until the day they dragged him to his death; +Then all tongues wagged about him and his deeds; +Some said that he had claimed to be their king, +Some that he had blasphemed their deity. +'Twas certain he was poor and meanly born, +No warrior he, nor hero; and he taught +Doctrines that surely would upset the world; +And so they killed him to be rid of him. +Wise, very wise, if he were only man, +Not quite so wise if he were half a god! + +I know that strange things happened when he died . . . +There was a darkness and an agony, +And some were vastly frightened--not so I! +What cared I if that mob of reeking Jews +Had brought a nameless curse upon their heads? +_I_ had no part in that bloodguiltiness. +At least he died; and some few friends of his +Took him and laid him in a garden tomb. +A watch was set about the sepulchre, +Lest these, his friends, should hide him and proclaim +That he had risen as he had foretold. +Laugh not, my Claudia. _I_ laughed when I heard +The prophecy; I would I had not laughed! + + +I Maximus, was chosen for the guard, +With all my trusty fellows. +Pilate knew I was a man who had no foolish heart +Of softness all unworthy of a man! +I was a soldier who had slain my foes; +My eyes had looked upon a tortured slave +As on a beetle crushed beneath my tread; +I gloried in the splendid strife of war, +Lusting for conquest; I had won the praise +Of our stern general on a scarlet field, +Red in my veins the warrior passion ran, +For I had sprung from heroes, Roman born! + +That second night we watched before the tomb; +My men were merry; on the velvet turf, +Bestarred with early blossoms of the spring, +They diced with jest and laughter; all around +The moonlight washed us like a silver lake, +Save where that silent, sealed sepulchre +Was hung with shadow as a purple pall. +A faint wind stirred among the olive boughs . . . +Methinks I hear the sighing of that wind +In all sounds since, it was so dumbly sad; +But as the night wore on it died away, +And all was deadly stillness; Claudia, +That stillness was most awful, as if some +Great heart had broken and so ceased to beat! +I thought of many things, but found no joy +In any thought, even the thought of thee; +The moon waned in the west and sickly grew, +Her light sucked from her in the breaking dawn . . . +Never was dawn so welcome as that pale, +Faint glimmer in the cloudless, brooding sky! + +Claudia, how may I tell what came to pass? +I have been mocked at, when I told the tale, +For a crazed dreamer punished by the gods +Because he slept on guard; but mock not THOU! +I could not bear it if thy lips should mock +The vision dread of that Judean morn. + +Sudden the pallid east was all aflame +With radiance that beat upon our eyes +As from the noonday sun; and then we saw +Two shapes that were as the immortal gods +Standing before the tomb; around me fell +My men as dead; but I, though through my veins +Ran a cold tremor never known before, +Withstood the shock and saw one shining shape +Roll back the stone; the whole world seemed ablaze, +And through the garden came a rushing wind +Thundering a paean as of victory. +Then that dead man came forth . . . oh, Claudia, +If thou couldst but have seen the face of him! +Never was such a conqueror! Yet no pride +Was in it . . . naught but love and tenderness, +Such as we Romans scoff at, and his eyes +Bespake him royal. Oh, my Claudia, +Surely he was no Jew but very god! + +Then he looked full upon me; I had borne +Much staunchly, but that look I could not bear! +What man may front a god and live? I fell +Prone, as if stricken by a thunderbolt; +And though I died not, somewhat of me died +That made me man; when my long stupor passed +I was no longer Maximus . . . I was +A weakling with a piteous woman soul, +All strength and pride, joy and ambition gone! +My Claudia, dare I tell thee what foul curse +Is mine because I looked upon a god? + +I care no more for glory; all desire +For honor and for strife is gone from me, +All eagerness for war. I only care +To help and save bruised beings, and to give +Some comfort to the weak and suffering; +I cannot even hate those Jews; my lips +Speak harshly of them, but within my heart +I only feel compassion; and I love +All creatures, to the vilest of the slaves, +Who seem to me as brothers. Claudia, +Scorn me not for this weakness; it will pass-- +Surely 'twill pass in time and I shall be +Maximus strong and valiant once again, +Forgetting that slain god. And yet . . .and yet . . . . +He looked as one who could not be forgot! + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII December 1910 No. 6 + +THE MAN WHO MADE GOOD {pages 784-799} + +By ARTHUR STRINGER + +AUTHOR OF "THE SILVER POPPY," "PHANTOM HOUSE," ETC. + +Trotter opened his door and listened. Then he tiptoed out to the +stairhead. The coast seemed clear. The house lay beneath him as +still as a well. It was nothing more than a three-tiered cavern +of quietness. + +So he crept back to his own room and closed and locked the door +after him. It was a top-floor rear, where a hip-roof gave his +back wall the rake of a Baltimore buckeye, and a dismantled +electric call-bell bore ignominious testimony to the fact that +his skyey abode had once been a servant's quarters. + +But the room was quiet, and, what counted more, it was cheap. The +thought of ever being put out of it terrified the frugal-minded +Trotter. For seven weary months he had wandered about New York's +skyline, looking for just the right corner, as peevish as a +cow-bird looking for a copse nest. + +Yet Mrs. Teetzel's laws were adamantine. Her rule was as +Procrustean as her thin-lashed eyes were inquisitive. She daily +inspected both her lavishly distributed lambrequins and her +"gentleman roomers'" mail, with an occasional discreet excursion +into their unlocked trunks. Cooking in a bedroom was as illicit +as private laundry work in the second-floor bathtub. A young +Toronto poet who had learned the trick of buttering an envelope +and in it neatly shirring an egg over a gas jet was first +reminded that he was four weeks behind in his rent and then sadly +yet firmly ejected from the top-floor skylight room. + +So Trotter, once back in his own quarters, moved about with a +caution not untouched with apprehension. Mrs. Teetzel, he knew +had a tread that was noiseless. She also had the habit of +appearing, in curl-papers, at uncouth moments, as unheralded as +an apparition from the other world. And Trotter's conscience was +not clear. For months past he had kept secreted in his trunk one +of those single-holed gas heaters known as a "hot plate." This he +surreptitiously attached to the gas jet, and secretly thereon +made coffee and cooked his matutinal hard-boiled egg. There was a +thrill of excitement about it, a tang of outlawry, a touch of +danger. It took on the romance of a vast hazard. And it also +rather suited his purse, since that particular newspaper office +which he had journeyed to New York both to augment and to uplift +showed no undue haste in receiving him. + +His third and last assault on the Advance office, in fact, had +amounted to an unequivocal ejection. Three short questions from +the shirt-sleeved autocrat of that benzine-odored bedlam had led +to Trotter's undoing. He wasn't expected to know much about +newspaper work, but before he came bothering people he ought at +least to know a shadow of something about the city he was living +in! And the one-time class orator of the University of Michigan +was calmly and pointedly advised to go and cut his eyeteeth on +the coral of adversity. He was disgustedly told to go out and +make good, instead of coming round and bothering busy people. + +And Trotter went meekly out. But he had not made good. + +He drifted hungrily about the great new city, the city that +seemed written in a cipher to which he could find no key. He even +guardedly shadowed the resentful-eyed Advance reporters on their +morning assignments, to get some chance inkling of the magic by +which the trick was turned. He wandered about the river front and +the ship wharves and the East Side street markets. He nosed +inquisitively and audaciously about anarchists' cellars and +lodging-houses; he found saloons where for a nickel very +palatable lamb stew could be purchased; he located those +swing-door corners where the most munificent free lunches were on +display; he dipped into halls where Socialistic fire-eaters +nightly stilettoed modern civilization; he invaded ginmills where +strange and barbaric sailors foregathered and talked. From all +this he was not learning Journalism. He was, however, learning +New York. + +But now he had struck luck--sudden and unlooked for--in the +humble creation of "rhyme-ads" for a Sixth Avenue furniture +store. So, having his Bohemian young head somewhat turned by his +first check of twenty dollars, he had promptly celebrated his +return to affluence by as promptly spending a goodly portion of +that wealth. He had bidden a cadaverous animal painter named +Mershon and two equally hungry-eyed Michiganders yclept Albright +to his room with the rakish back wall, where the feast had been a +regal if somewhat subdued one. + +And now Trotter looked about the room, thoughtfully, and decided +it was time to act. All record of this past orgy would have to be +wiped out. The window, he knew, was impossible, for already there +had been divers complaints as to the mysterious showers of +eggshell which day by day fell into the area below. + +So Trotter laid several newspapers together. On these outspread +newspapers he placed four empty beer bottles, a sardine can, odds +and ends of biscuit and zwieback, a well-scraped wooden butter +tray, and--what had troubled and haunted him most, from the +moment of its purchase in a Sixth Avenue delicatessen store--the +lugubrious and clean-picked carcass of a roast turkey. + +It had been a fine turkey, and done to a turn. But all along +Trotter had been wondering just how he was going to get rid of +those telltale bones. At the merriest moments of the feast the +question of the corner in which they could be secreted or the +aperture out of which they could be thrust had hung over him like +a veritable sword of Damocles. + +But now he knew there was only one way to solve the problem. And +that was to wrap the remains carefully together, tie them up, and +make his escape down through the quiet house into the midnight +street. There the ever-damnatory parcel could be casually dropped +into a near-by ash barrel or tossed into a refuse can, and he +could aimlessly round the block, like a sedentary gentleman +enjoying his belated airing. + + +II + + +Trotter crept down through the quiet house with all the +trepidation of a sneak-thief. His one dread was the apparition of +Mrs. Teetzel; she would naturally surmise he was making away with +the bedroom stoneware, or the door knobs, or even the lead +piping. + +He felt freer when he had once gained the street. But no peace of +mind could be his, he knew, until he had utterly discarded those +carefully wrapped turkey bones. It would be easy enough to toss +them into an areaway, if the worst came to the worst. + +He looked up and down the street for a garbage can. But there was +none in sight. So he walked toward the avenue corner, with his +parcel under his arm. There he turned south, and at the next +corner swung about west again. But the right chance to get rid of +his turkey bones had not come. He glanced uneasily about. He +suddenly remembered that the police had the habit of holding up +belated parcel carriers and inspecting what they carried. So he +quickened his steps. But all the while he was covertly on the +lookout for his dumping spot. + +A moment later he saw a patrolman on the street corner ahead of +him. He dreaded the thought of passing those scrutinizing eyes. +He eventually decided it would be too risky. So he doubled on his +own tracks, rabbit-like, crossing the street and turning north at +the next corner. He had had enough of the whole thing. It was +getting to be more than a joke. He would shilly-shally no longer, +even though he had to toss the cursed thing up on a house step. + +He let the parcel slip lower down on his arm, with one finger +crooked through the string that tied it together. He was about to +fling it into the gloom of a brownstone step shadow when the door +above opened and a housemaid in cap and apron thrust a +plaintively meowing cat from the portico into the street. Trotter +quickened his steps, tingling, abashed, shaken with an inordinate +and ridiculous sense of guilt. He felt that he wanted to keep out +of the light, that he ought to skulk in the shadows until he was +free of the weight on his arm. He hurried on until he became +desperate, determined to end the farce at any hazard. So, as he +passed a building where a house front was being converted into a +low-windowed shop face, he dropped the paper package into an +abandoned mortar box. + +He was startled, a moment later, by a voice calling sharply after +him: "Hi, yuh! You've dropped y'ur bundle!" + +Trotter turned guiltily about. It was a night watchman. He +stepped slowly out to the mortar box as he spoke, and picked up +the parcel. + +There was nothing for Trotter to do but go back and take it. He +mumbled something--he scarcely remembered whether it was a word +of explanation or of thanks. But he felt the eye of the night +watchman boring through him like a gimlet, and he was glad to +edge off and be on his way again. + +By this time Trotter could feel the sweat of embarrassment on his +tingling body. He began to dramatize ridiculous contingencies. He +pictured himself as haled into night court, as cross-examined by +domineering and incredulous magistrates, who would send him to +the Island as a suspicious person. He began to be haunted by the +impression that he was being followed. The parcel became a weight +to him, a disheartening and dragging weight. He was now sure he +was being followed. He squinted back over his shoulders, only to +catch sight of a nocturnal "bill-sniper" placarding vulnerable +areas with his lithographed laudations of a vaudeville dancing +woman. A child murderer burdened with the body of his victim +could not have been more ill at ease, more timorous, more +terrified. + +A sudden idea came to him as he passed a Chinese laundry in which +lights still burned and irons still thumped on an ironing board. +It was an audacious one, but it pointed toward deliverance. + +His plan was to enter the laundry and pass over his parcel, as +though it were his week's washing. He would be gone before they +had discovered its contents. He merely needed to be offhand and +nonchalant. More than once he had seen dilapidated actors +carrying a limited wardrobe to the laundry at equally small hours +of the night. And the sloe-eyed iron-thumpers would never again +get sight of him! + +But it took a moment or two to key himself up to the right pitch. +He stepped in beside one of the granite column bases of the First +National Trust, to give an extra tug to his still lagging +courage. He leaned for a moment against the huge steel grillwork +that covered the wide bank window behind him, looking eastward +along the side street to where he could see the oblong of light +from the laundry front. + +A wave of exasperation swept through him at the thought of his +own white-livered irresolution. He was about to step forward to +face the end of his dilemma when an unlooked-for movement +occurred between him and the illuminated laundry front. + +It was the movement of a shadowy figure which seemed, at first +sight, to erupt from the earth itself. It was several moments, in +fact, before Trotter realized that the figure had come up from +the basement of the building which stood immediately at the rear +of the bank, the building which also contained the laundry. But +this was not the thing that held Trotter's attention. The +discovery which was causing his eyes to follow every step of the +stranger was the fact that this second man ALSO CARRIED A LARGE +PAPER PARCEL UNDER HIS ARM. + +He turned eastward without looking back. Yet there was something +circumspect in his footfall, something suspicious in the very +casualness of his movements. Trotter leaned out and looked after +him, nonplused by the coincidence, wondering if this second man's +mission was the same as his own. He was almost glad to see +somebody in the same boat. + +Then curiosity overcame him. He turned and followed the other +man. He walked eastward, keeping as well in to the house shadows +as he could. He saw the man cross the wider traffic-way that ran +north and south, look quickly up and down the deserted street and +then, as he gained the shadow of the next house wall, veer close +in to an iron paling. Then there was a movement which Trotter +could not quite make out. + +It was not until he crossed the street that he saw what the +movement meant. It was not until he caught sight of a galvanized +ash barrel standing beside the basement step and the stranger +ahead of him walking empty-handed away, that Trotter realized the +completeness of the coincidence. + +The other man, without so much as stopping for a second, had +quietly dropped his paper-wrapped parcel on the top of the +galvanized barrel. + +At no time did Trotter feel that there was anything momentous in +the movement. But it aroused his curiosity. It challenged +investigation. It set off his inquisitive young soul into +spreading pyrotechnics of imagination. And he realized, as he +walked up to the barrel, that his earlier sense of timidity had +disappeared. He quite calmly lifted the parcel from the barrel +top. Then he quite calmly dropped the other parcel in its place. + +He was a little astonished, as he started on again, at the +pregnant weight of this new parcel. But he did not stop to +investigate. He did not care to gulp and lose the mystery at one +swallow. He scurried off with it, chucklingly, like a barnyard +hen with a corncob, to peck at it in solitude. He swung south and +then west again, to his own street. He went up his own steps, +through his own door, and up to his own top-floor room with the +rakish back wall. There he cautiously lighted the gas, drew the +blinds, and locked himself in. Next, he dragged a chair over to +the bedside, sat down on it, and carefully untied the parcel +string. Then, with somewhat accelerated pulse, he unwrapped the +paper-screened enigma. + +A little puff of ironic disappointment escaped his pursed-up +lips. For at one glance he could see that it held no mystery. The +only mystery about it all was that he had been theatrical enough +to imagine it could prove anything that was not sordid and +worthless. + +For lying on the paper before him was nothing more than a litter +of mortar and wall plaster, interspersed with stone chips. It was +nothing more than the sweepings a brick-layer had left behind +him, a pile of worthless rubbish, a bundle of refuse, another +white elephant on his hands. + +Trotter stirred the heap of dust and lime, impassively, +disdainfully. There was nothing more than an occasional brick +corner, an occasional piece of wall plaster. The only other thing +was one larger fragment of stone. Trotter looked at it +indolently. It was merely a piece of granite--an ounce or two of +stone with one highly polished end, a bit of refuse which a +hurrying mason might have used to "rubble" a wall crevice. And he +had been fool enough to cart it up four flights of stairs! + +He turned the piece of stone over in his hands. It was of +porphyritic granite, with distinct crystals of feldspar embedded +in a fine grained matrix. Trotter's brow wrinkled in vague +thought as he peered down at it. He was trying to think what it +reminded him of, what possible link it made in a chain of lost +association. + +Then he remembered. It was toward the pillars of the First +National Trust Building that his mind was trying to grope. They +were of the same stuff, highly polished porphyritic granite, the +pride and wonder of the avenue along which they made a burnished +and flashing peristyle. + +Trotter rubbed his chin, meditatively, and once more examined the +stone. Then he took a sudden deeper breath, and, leaning +hurriedly forward, raked through the parcel with his fingers. He +found nothing of note. + +But as he sat there, stupidly staring at the fragment of granite, +his crouching body, with his feet tucked in under the chair +rungs, was startlingly like that familiar figure known as an +interrogation mark. + + +III + + +It was nine o'clock the next morning when Trotter, carrying a +parcel of laundry, walked casually past the First National Trust +Building and turned the corner. He also made note, as he stepped +into the open-fronted Chinese laundry, of this incongruous +side-street neighbor, its squalid meanness cheek by jowl with the +lordly magnificence of the many-columned bank structure. + +On a narrow-fronted ground floor was the crowded little laundry +with its red-lettered sign, its uncurtained windows, its shelves +of red-tagged parcels, and its ever-present odor of borax. Below +this was a basement, a cellar as narrow and dark as a cistern. A +flight of perilously inclined steps led to the door of this +basement. This door, in turn, was glass-fronted, but protected by +a heavy woven-wire grating. On it was a sign which read: + + "J. HEENEY. PLUMBING, + WIRING AND ELECTRIC SUPPLIES." + + +It was this basement which so inordinately interested Trotter. He +essayed several mild inquiries, in handing his frugal parcel of +washing over the Chinaman's counter, as to the occupant of the +cellar below. About "J. Heeney," however, he discovered nothing +beyond the fact that he had occupied the cellar for several +months. Trotter did not want to arouse unnecessary suspicion by +overinterrogating "J. Heeney's" neighbors. + +So he went mildly back to his top-floor room, and sat down and +tried to study things out. As he sat there wrapped in thought, +his idly wandering gaze rested on the electric bell above the +door. He looked at it for several seconds. Then he stood on a +chair and twisted away the bell's wiring. Using his pocket knife +as a screwdriver, he released the bell from the door lintel. Then +he cleaned and polished it. This done, he removed the clapper, +wrapped the bell up in a piece of newspaper, and made his +unhesitating way back to the cellar beneath the Chinese laundry. +He was very much awake as he went slowly down the narrow steps. +He wanted nothing to escape his notice. + +He found the wire-screened door at the bottom locked. But he +could get a clear enough view of the interior, even through the +dirty glass. The entire space within was not more than ten feet +wide and eight feet deep. It held a litter of plumber's tools, a +few lengths of gas piping, a row of batteries, a blowpipe, a +small hand-forge, a couple of porcelain washbowls, a deal table +and chair and what seemed to be an electric transformer in a +sadly battered case. + +Across the back of the shop ran a wooden partition, plainly +shutting off the main part of the cellar. In this partition, +Trotter's careful scrutiny discovered, stood a narrow door. He +ached to know what lay behind that door and that partition. But +he had to be content with the shallower shop front. So he was not +hurried in his inspection of it. It was not until he had fixed +the details of the entire place in his mind that he ventured to +knock. + +There was no answer to his knock. Yet it was plain that some one +was inside, for he could see the key in the lock, through the +dirty glass. Who that person was he intended to find out. + +He was rattling the wire fretwork, impatiently, loudly, when the +partition door swung open. + +Through this door stepped a short and extremely broad-shouldered +man. There was no trace of annoyance on his face. In fact, much +to Trotter's vague disappointment, he was smiling, smiling easily +and broadly. He wore a workman's jumper, stained with oil and +iron rust, and in his hand he carried a large pair of pipe tongs. +But these did not interest Trotter. What caught his eye was the +fact that the man's boots were white with lime dust. + +"Hold on, sister; hold on!" said the man, with a laugh, for +Trotter was still rattling the door. The owner stepped across his +shop and turned the key in the lock. + +"Hard to hear when I'm in doin' my lathe work," he explained, as +he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. All the while, as +he swung back the door, his eyes were closely studying the eyes +of the other man. Trotter noticed the row of matches stuck in the +soiled hatband, and the cotton bag of "Durham" that swung from +his sweat-stained belt. + +"What can I do for you, sister?" was his companionable greeting. +Trotter unwrapped his electric bell. + +"Can you give me a clapper for this?" he asked. + +The other man took the bell in his hand. Trotter could see +powdered lime under his nails. + +"I guess I can fix you out," said the shop owner. "Wait a +minute." + +He turned to the door in the partition, and disappeared from +sight, closing the door after him. + +Trotter's first decision had been to take the key from the outer +door lock. But some sixth sense made him hesitate, prompted him +to turn and look at the inner door. + +His stare was rewarded by the discovery of a hole in this door, +about five feet from the floor. It was a lookout; he felt sure he +was being watched. So he thrust his hands into his pockets, gazed +carelessly about the shop, and waited. + +The man reappeared, shaking his head. + +"Nothing doing," he said. He was not able to fit a clapper to the +bell. + +"But I thought you kept electric supplies here," objected +Trotter. + +The other man smiled. His good nature was impregnable. + +"Oh, I can get it, if you've got to have it. Come back about ten +to-morrow." + +"All right," was Trotter's indifferent answer, as he turned +languidly away. He went up the steps with equal languor, humming +as he went. + + +IV + + +Trotter kept guarded watch on "J. Heeney's" plumbing +establishment. He watched it like a hungry cat watching a rat +hole. And it was three hours later that he had the satisfaction +of seeing the plumber ascend to the street and walk hurriedly +westward. Trotter could see that he carried a kit of tools under +his arm. But to follow him in open daylight was too great a risk. +Instead of that, he went down the narrow steps, and through the +dusty glass examined the doorlock. + +Fifteen minutes later he went down another flight of basement +steps, this time to the cellar of a Sixth Avenue locksmith. + +"I've got a closet door locked shut on me," he explained. "And I +want a key to get it open." + +The locksmith looked him up and dow.n He seemed respectable +enough, this mild-eyed youth with the locked closet. + +But the locksmith knew the tricks of his trade. + +"Then I'll take a bunch of `blanks' over with me and open her up +for you." + +"I'd rather get her open by myself." + +"It will cost you a dollar," was the locksmith's ultimatum. + +"It's worth a dollar," agreed Trotter. "But how'll we do it?" + +"I'll dip a skeleton blank in hot wax and lampblack. Then you put +the key in the lock and turn it as far as you can. That'll show +the ward marks, where they bite the wax. Then bring me the key +and I'll cut it. Maybe it'll take two cuttings. That'll be two +dollars!" + +Trotter paid a quarter deposit and took the key, made a +circuitous way to the plumber's cellar, descended the steps, +knocked, got no answer, and quietly inserted the key in the lock, +turning it as far as it would go. + +Instead of going back to the locksmith, he bought a ten-cent +file, and with his own hand cut away the blank according to the +ward marks. Once more he made his way to the door of the empty +shop and fitted his key. It turned part way round in the lock, +but did not throw back the bar. He recoated the key flange with +the black wax by holding it to a lighted match and letting it +cool again. + +He at once saw where his cutting had been imperfect. A few +strokes of his file remedied this. He once more fitted the key to +the lock, and found that he was free to pass in and out of the +door. + +Yet he deferred forcing an entrance, at the moment, hungrily as +he studied the inner partition door through the iron-grated +glass. He knew what such a movement meant. He could not count on +Heeney's continued absence. Above all, at this, the beginning of +things, he wanted to avoid any untimely mis-step. So he made his +way to the street, shuttling cautiously back and forth across the +avenue, aimless of demeanor, diffident of step, yet ever and +always on the lookout. From half a block away he saw Heeney +return to his cellar. From an even remoter stand, two hours +later, he perceived the plumber emerge, like a rabbit out of its +warren. He also perceived that the rapidly disappearing man +carried a large paper parcel under his arm. + +As before, this parcel was carried for three blocks and then +adroitly deposited on the top of an ash barrel. + +Trotter, once Heeney had skulked about the next corner, quietly +crossed the street and sauntered past the parcel-crowned barrel, +with his open pocketknife in his hand. One sweep of the knife +blade slit the paper wrapper, and without so much as stopping on +his way Trotter was able to catch up a handful of the litter it +held. This litter, as before, was made up of ground mortar and +plaster and stone chips. But this time, amid the lime and dust, +he could detect the glitter of minute particles of steel. + +He tested the larger fragments of these with his knife point. +They were very hard, harder even than his tempered blade steel, +diamond-like in their durity. He concluded, as he sat on the edge +of his bed that night, rubbing them between his fingers, that +they could be nothing but particles of keenly-tempered chromium +steel. And chromium steel, he knew, was not used in gas pipes. It +was foolish to think of it as a subject for lathe work. It was +equally absurd to accept it as an everyday element in any +plumber's everyday work. Trotter was not ignorant of the fact +that steel of this character was used almost exclusively in the +construction of high grade safes and bank vaults. + +He stood up, suddenly, and crossed the room to his little +bookshelf. From this shelf he took down a much-thumbed "World +Almanac," a paper-bound volume which for months past had been +serving as his only guide to New York. He turned to the pages +headed "Banks in Manhattan and Bronx." It took but a minute's +search to secure the names of the president and cashier of the +First National Trust Company. But when he further read that its +capital was three million five hundred thousand, and that its +total resources amounted to forty-seven million three hundred +thousand dollars, his breath came in shorter gasps of excitement. +He began to realize the colossal wealth which lay guarded behind +the great porphyritic granite pillars. He also began to realize +some new and as yet undefined responsibility. The mere thought of +the magnitude of the movement in which he was being made a +deliberate and yet disinterested factor brought him once more to +his feet, pacing his little den of a room with thoughtful and +preoccupied steps. + + +V + + +Early the next morning Trotter was back at the bank corner, like +a guard at his sentry-box. He kept watch there, with that +pertinacious alertness peculiar to the idler, until he had the +satisfaction of witnessing Heeney's early departure from the +cellar, with a tool kit under his arm. + +Five minutes later Trotter was descending the stairs that led to +the plumber's shop. Once there, he took out his key, fitted it to +the lock, opened the door, stepped quietly inside, and locked the +outer door after him. Before venturing to open the inner door he +pressed an ear flat against the wooden partition and stood there +listening. The silence was unbroken. + +He stepped to the side of the shop and caught up a plumber's +thick-bodied tallow candle. Then he softly opened the second +door, stepped inside, and as softly closed the door after him. + +He found himself in perfect darkness. But he stood there, +waiting, before venturing to move forward, before daring to +strike a light. He knew, as he peered about the blackness that +engulfed him, that he was now facing more than an indeterminate +responsibility. He was confronting actual and immediate danger. +Even as he stood there, sniffing at the air, so heavy with its +smell of damp lime and its undecipherable underground gases, a +sudden fuller consciousness of undefined and yet colossal peril +sent a telegraphing tingle of nerves up and down his body. + +The only thing that broke the silence was the faint sound of +footsteps on the laundry floor above him, together with the +steady thump of irons on the ironing table. There was something +fortifying, something consoling, in those neighborly and +sedentary little noises. + +Trotter struck a match and lighted his candle. He waited without +moving for the flame to grow. Then he thrust the candle up before +him. As he did so, his hand came in contact with the rough +surface of what at first he took to be a stone wall. But as he +looked closer he saw that it was not masonry. It was nothing more +nor less than a carefully piled mass of stone and brick. Each +fragment had been carefully placed on top of its fellow, each +interstice had been carefully filled with rubble. + +The pile extended from floor to ceiling. It filled the entire +cellar. It left only space enough for a man to pass inward from +the opened door. It was nothing more than the dump of a mine, the +rock and brick from a tunnel, not flung loosely about, but +scrupulously stowed away. + +Holding the candle in front of him, Trotter bent low and groped +his way in through the narrow passage. Everything was as orderly +and hidden as the approach to a wild animal's lair. Everything +was eloquent of a keen secretiveness. No betraying litter met his +eye. Each move had been calmly and cautiously made. Each step of +a complicated campaign had been quietly engineered. Trotter could +even decipher a series of electric wires festooned from the +little tunnel's top. He could see where the passage had gone +around obstacles, where it had curled about a dishearteningly +heavy buttress base, where it had dipped lower to underrun a +cement vault bed, where it had sheered off from the tin-foiled +surface of a "closed-curcuit" protective system, and where it had +dipped and twisted about to advance squarely into a second blind +wall at right angles to the first. + +A portion of this wall had been torn away. With equal care an +inner coating of cement had been chiseled off, exposing to view +an unbroken dark surface. + +As Trotter held the candle closer, he could see this dark surface +marked off with chalk lines, sometimes with crosses, sometimes +with figures he could not decipher. On it, too, he could see a +solitary depression, as round and bright as a silver coin, as +though a diamond drill had been testing the barrier. + +He knew, even before he touched the chill surface with his hand, +that it was a wall of solid steel, that it was the steel of the +bank vault itself, the one deep-hidden and masonry-embedded area +which stood without its ever-vigilant closed-circuit sentry. And +he knew that Heeney had grubbed and eaten and burrowed his way, +like a woodchuck, to the very heart of the First National Trust's +wealth. + +It was only then that the stupendousness of the whole thing came +home to Trotter. It was only then that he realized the almost +superhuman cunning and pertinacity in this guileless-eyed cellar +plotter called Heeney. He could see the hours of patient labor it +had involved, the days and days of mole-like tunneling, the weeks +and weeks of gnome-like burrowing and carrying and twisting and +loosening and piling, the months of ant-like industry which one +blow of the Law's heel would make as nothing. + +It rather bewildered Trotter. It filled him with an +ever-increasing passion to get away from the place, to escape +while he still had a chance. It turned the gaseous underground +tunnel into a stifling pit, making his breath come in short and +wheezing gasps. It brought a tiny-beaded sweat out on his chilled +body. + +Then he stopped breathing altogether. He wheeled about and +suddenly brought his thumb and forefinger together on the candle +flame, pinching it out as one might pinch the life out of a moth. + +For on his straining ears fell the sound of a door slammed shut. +There was no mistake, no illusion about it. Some one had entered +the shop. Then came the sound of a second door. This time it was +being opened. And it was the door leading into the tunnel. + +Trotter could see the momentary efflorescence of pale light at +the bend in the passage before him. And he realized that he was +unarmed. He had not even a crowbar, not even a chisel or wrench, +with which to defend himself. He knew he stood there trapped and +helpless. + +He shrank back, instinctively, without being conscious of the +movement. He heard the sound of steps, shuffling and short. Then +came an audible grunt, a grunt of relief. This was followed by +the thump of a heavy weight dropped to the brick floor. Then came +the sound of steps again, still shuffling and short. + +Trotter leaned forward, listening, waiting, with every nerve +strained. He concentrated every sense on the blur of light along +the tunnel wall before him. + +As he peered forward, scarcely daring to breathe, he was +conscious of the fact that the light had suddenly withered. It +vanished from the refracting tunnel sides, as though wiped away +by an obliterating black sponge. Even before the truth of the +thing had come home to him, he heard the sound of a quietly +closed door. + +Heeney had gone. He had merely crept into his tunnel mouth, +dropped some tools, and then quietly crept out again. + +It was not until he heard the slam of the outer door, a moment or +two later, that Trotter felt sure of his deliverance. It was not +until he knew his enemy was up the steps that he let his aching +lungs gulp in the fetid tunnel air. + +Then he crept forward cautiously, obsessed by one impulse, the +impulse of escape, the passion to reach the open, to find air and +light and space once more about him. He did nothing more than +feel hurriedly over the bundle that lay in his path. It seemed an +instrument of steel tied up in a cloth. He could feel strand +after strand of wires, ductile and cloth-covered wires. He could +also decipher a disk through which ran a piece of metal, like a +blade through a sword guard. He felt sure it was an electrode of +some sort, a tool to convert stolen electricity into a weapon of +offense and assault. But he neither waited to strike a light nor +stooped to puzzle over the bundle. + +He paused for a minute to listen at the closed partition door. +The only sound that came to his ears was the shuffle of feet and +the thump from the ironing board above him. Yet when he opened +this partition door he did so noiselessly, cautiously, slowly, +inch by inch. Still screened in shadow, he studied the shop, the +steps, the wire-blurred window, the street above him. Then he +took a deep breath, crossed to the shop door, unlocked it, +stepped outside, relocked it after him, and, pocketing the key, +climbed the steps to the sidewalk. + +His face, as he came out to the light, was almost colorless. His +eyes were wide and staring with wonder. He kept telling himself +that he must walk slowly, that he must in no way betray himself, +that he must appear indifferent and offhand and inconspicuous to +every one he chanced to pass. He felt the necessity of guarding +himself, for he was now a person of importance. He was an +emissary of destiny, an agent entrusted with a vast issue. + +The streets through which he passed no longer frowned down at him +from their inhospitable skylines. He was no longer an unattached +and meaningless unit in the life that throbbed and roared all +about him. He meant something to it. He was part of it. He was +its guardian. And it would acknowledge him, in the end, or he +would know the reason why. + + +VI + + +Trotter sat peering mildly about him as that Gargantuan organism +known as a newspaper office labored and shrieked in the birth of +an afternoon edition. Subterranean Hoe presses roared and hummed, +telegraph keys clicked and cluttered, typewriters tapped and +clattered like a dozen highholders on a hollow elm, telephone +bells shrilled, shouting pressmen came and went, unkempt copy +boys trailed back and forth with their festoons of limp galley +proof, and Hubbart, with close-set eyes and a forehead like a +bisected ostrich egg, sat at the City Desk, calmly presiding over +an otherwise frenzied accouchement. + +It interested Trotter. It interested him very much. But it no +longer filled him with mingled fear and revolt. He was, indeed, +no longer envious, just as he was no longer nervous. He was as +calm as a Nihilist with a bomb in his pocket. + +Looking up, he saw that the office boy was holding the rail gate +open for him to enter. But he was conscious of no spirit of +elation as he stepped through the gate and passed on into that +glass-fronted cage where Pyott, the managing editor, sat like a +switchman in his many-levered tower. + +Trotter saw, seated at a desk before him, a thin-featured, +thin-haired man of forty, with the crumpled-up eye-corners +peculiar to the face that masks a circuitous and secretive mind. +It was a face full of that weary concern, that alert +indifferency, which is companion to the spirit of repeated +compromise. It was far from an open face: it seemed to betray +only two things, tiredness and satiric intelligence. + +The man at the desk did not even look up. He merely flung a +barbed "Well?" over his shoulder. It reminded Trotter of the +preoccupied tail swish of a horse worried by a black-fly. The +side flick of one casual monosyllable was plainly all he was +worth. Trotter calmly sat down. + +"I've been waiting for six months for a job on this paper," he +began, quite seriously, quite deliberately. The man at the desk +went on writing. The pen did not even stop. + +"Yes?" This second monosyllable was neither an answer nor a +question. It was merely an intimation that nothing of arresting +moment had as yet been uttered. + +"So I've come straight to you!" + +"Yes!" This third exclamation was plainly a challenge to come to +the issue in hand. + +"I've been thrown down three----" + +"Excuse me," the man at the desk had his hand on a desk 'phone +standard, "but you'd better see our city editor." + +Trotter laughed a little. "I've seen the city editor four times. +It's no use. He only throws me out." + +For the first time Pyott, the managing editor, looked up. Then he +swung about in his swivel chair and stared at the youth, the +somewhat narrow-chested and calm-eyed youth who had the +effrontery to sit down without being asked. The calm-eyed youth +seemed in no way daunted by the ordeal. + +"What do you want?" was Pyott's quick and curt demand. + +"I want a job." + +The editor's face darkened. Trotter could see that he had angered +him. He could see a lean hand shoot out and a lean finger push +down on the button that sounded a buzzer in the outer office. + +"There's no use doing that till you've heard what I've got to +say," announced Trotter. + +"Why not?" snapped the man, with a finger still on the button. + +"Because your man Hubbart out there told me not to stick my nose +in here till I'd made good--till I'd got a big story. And now +I've got it. And I'm going to give you the biggest scoop you've +printed in five years." + +"That's interesting!" + +"I'd never have had the nerve to face you if it wasn't." + +A boy appeared through the door. The editor swung back to his +desk. + +"Show this gentleman the way downstairs," he said, without anger, +without resentment, without interest. + +Trotter stood up and stared at him. "You mean you're not going to +take this beat when I've got it right here to hand out to you?" +he cried in his startled and high-pitched voice. "You're not +going to give me my chance?" + +"What chance? What beat are you talking about?" + +"A beat that involves the theft of millions of dollars!" + +"And what's going to happen to your millions of dollars?" + +Trotter sat down in the chair again. "It's going to be stolen, +every cent of it." + +The man at the desk smiled. It was a very faint and mirthless +smile. "You said that before, I think. But who's taking it?" + +"One of the most accomplished crooks in all America." + +"And from where?" was the next indulgent interrogation. + +"From one of the richest banks in this city." + +Trotter's calm and deliberate tones were beginning to nettle the +other man a little. + +"Then it hasn't actually been done?" + +"No!" + +"Yet you know it IS to be done?" + +"Yes!" + +Pyott was smiling by this time, quite broadly. "Would you kindly +tell me just how you know all this? Just what first opened up the +road to your somewhat startling knowledge?" + +"Some turkey bones!" + +"Ah, I see! Some turkey bones!" He nodded approvingly, +indulgently. "And what were you doing with these particular +turkey bones?" + +"Putting them in a garbage can." + +"Ah! You were putting some turkey bones in a garbage can. And as +you were about to do this?" + +"I caught sight of another man also trying to get rid of a +parcel." + +"Turkey bones, of course." + +A butterball's bosom was no more impervious to slough water than +the rapt-eyed youth to the older man's irony. + +"When I opened his parcel I found it held mortar and stone and +some steel cuttings." + +"And this led you to infer?" + +"This led me to follow him. He had a basement, I found, directly +in the rear of a bank building." + +"What bank building?" + +"That's my story." + +"And I trust the locality agreed with him." + +"Extremely well," was Trotter's mild-toned reply. "In fact, it +was essential for him to be side by side with that particular +bank building, where he could quietly tunnel his way through its +back wall and burrow under its floors and eat a passage right +through to its vaults." + +The man at the desk sighed and looked at the obsessed youth with +a smile too impersonal to be called pitying. "Vaults! That's a +matter for the police. This is a newspaper office." + +"But can't you see the story in it? Can't you see what it means +when you're the only people who're in on it?" + +"You'll have to show me your Eskimo!" remarked the unperturbed +editor. + +"That's what I'm here for!" cried the exasperated youth. + +Still again the man at the desk eyed his visitor for a minute of +silence. Then he reached for his telephone. "I want Kendrick and +Gilman for some city work. Send 'em in to me. Yes, right away, +please." + +Pyott swung about to his visitor once more. "I'm giving you our +two best men. They'll do what you tell them to do." + +"But that'll make it THEIR story!" objected Trotter. "I want to +land this myself. I want it to be mine." + +"Then what am I to do?" + +Trotter scarcely knew. But he had not forgotten the thing he had +waited and hungered for this many a month. "Put me on your staff, +first, so I can be acting for somebody." + +Still again the editor smiled. "You're set on being one of us, +aren't you?" + +"I've got to have something behind me before I can tackle a job +like this." + +"All right," was the wearily indulgent answer, "call yourself one +of us. Now what else do you want?" + +"I guess you'd better give me one of your workmen for a lookout," +suggested the narrow-chested youth. + +"Why a workman? Why not Kendrick or Gilman?" + +"All I want is a husky man to see I'm not interfered with from +outside," replied the new and jealous god of the press world. +"Then I'll land the story myself." + +The managing editor's finger end was once more on the buzzer. +"I'll give you Tiernan of the job room. He's Irish, and weighs +two hundred. Is there anything else?" + +"I s'pose I'll need a gun," ruminated the mild-eyed youth. "But +I'm willing to buy that with my own money." + +It was not the purchase of the gun that was troubling him. It was +the thought that he had never in all his life so much as +discharged a revolver. He would not even know how to load it. But +then Tiernan would doubtless be able to show him. + +A telephone bell was shrilling at the editor's elbow. + +"Is that all?" demanded the impatient man of affairs as he turned +to the 'phone. He called a cryptic sentence or two into the +transmitter and slapped the receiver back on its hook. + +"Yes, I guess that's all," answered the wide-eyed boy, with his +hat in his hand. + +"Then go and make good," said the man at the desk as Tiernan +swung in through the office door. "Go and get your story!" + + +VII + + +In a newspaper office, where one impression so quickly and +inevitably obliterates another, sensation is startling only in +the fact of its ephemerality. For two busy hours wave after wave +of the world's turbulence had beaten on the shoreline of the +Advance staff's attention. Every one knew, from Pyott down, that +the day was a "big" one. And since it is seldom the ever-arriving +guests of sensation which disturb a newspaper office but rather +the secondary thought of bestowing them in their right chamber +and bed and fitting them with their right "heading" night-caps, +the ordeal of the Advance's day had reached its second and most +exacting crisis. So when Pyott, the managing editor, was called +up on the wire by Obed Tyrer, the President of the First National +Trust, the call from that quarter carried with it no responsive +curiosity. + +"Can you come up here right away?" demanded the banker, in a +voice of that coerced tranquillity into which the trained mind +translates itself when face to face with undue excitement. + +"No; I can't! " + +"Why can't you?" + +"Well, among other things, I've got the trifling matter of a +paper to put to press. What's wrong?" + +"You know what's wrong!" + +"Do I?" + +"And you and your men let this go through, two whole weeks of it, +for the sake of your little yellow-journal scarehead!" + +"Look here, Tyrer, I'm a busy man. Tell me what you're talking +about, or ring off." + +"I'm talking about the lunacy of a one-cent journalist who's +willing to risk even his own funds for the sake of an afternoon +beat! I tell you, Pyott, the whole story's got to be stopped!" + +"What story?" + +"The Advance story! I've got your man Trotter here now. He----" + +"Ah, Trotter!" exclaimed Pyott. He was at last beginning to see +light. + +"I've got him and your job-room man named Tiernan up here, but I +can't do anything with Trotter. He's mad, mad as a March hare. +Says he's got to get his story down to you for to-day's issue." + +"So you've got Trotter there! What else have you got?" + +"Will you hold things up till I run down and talk it over? Will +you promise me that much?" + +Pyott laughed. "Then young Trotter got his story, after all?" + +"Got his story? Of course he got it. And in another four hours +that safe-cracker would have drilled right into our vitals. I +tell you we can't imperil our institution this way. We can't let +that stuff get out. We can't do it!" + +"Nobody's going to break your nice new bank, Obed! You run down +here in a taxi and we'll try to straighten things out." + +"But what'll I do with Trotter? How're we ever going to hold him +in?" + +"Where's your safe-cracker man?" + +"We've got him right here! Burns is sending over an A. B. P. A. +man to take care of him." + +"D'you mean he's hurt?" + +"No, no! We've identified him as Missouri Horton of the Scott +Gang--he got a Sing Sing life sentence for yegg work in Yonkers. +But Burns tells me he had enough money buried away to buy Tammany +influence and get paroled. Can't you see what that means?" + +"Which way? To your office or to mine?" + +"To us! They've got him now, for life! They can get him back to +Sing Sing and keep the whole cursed thing under cover!" + +There was a moment's silence before the cogitating Pyott spoke +again. "And you say you've got Trotter right there with you?" + +"Yes, but he's acting like a madman, in the Vice-President's +private room." + +Again there was a moment's silence. "Then give him ink and +paper--give him lots of it. Tell him I've said for him to write +the story THERE. Tell him to sling himself, that I want every +detail, every fact, and ten solid columns of it!" + +"What are you driving at?" + +"I'm driving at this: keep him busy, man! Don't you see? Keep him +writing there until the thing's worked out of his system. Then +I'll tame him down, later. Meanwhile, you'd better clean house up +there so you can officially contradict the whole story if the +yellows happen to get after you." + +"But nothing can get out, I tell you, unless you PUT it out!" + +"Then what are you worrying about?" + +"Young Trotter says he's got to send his stuff in. He's not +satisfied with the mere idea of writing it." + +"Then give him one of your men, two of your men, for carriers. +Tell him to keep sending his copy down in relays, as he writes +it. But don't let him get away." + +"Oh, I'll hold him here if I have to nail him to the floor. I +tell you, a thing like this would shake public confidence. It'd +be worse than a fireproof hotel going up in flames. It would mean +an alarming and immediate depreciation in our credit, a +deplorable----" + +"Of course it would. Come down as soon as you can and tell me all +that. I'll have more time then." + +Pyott hung up the receiver. He poised for one brief and immobile +moment, deep in thought, before he swung about to the three +exigent figures making signs for his attention. Then the +thin-featured, many-wrinkled, weary-eyed face relaxed in an +almost honest and unequivocal smile. + + +VIII + + +Trotter, shut in the Vice-President's private office, paid little +attention to his surroundings. He did not even know that the desk +on which he wrote was of mahogany. He did not notice the imported +Daghestan under his feet. He was unconscious of the orchids in +the low desk-vase of French silver. He was oblivious of the onyx +and marble elegance that surrounded him. + +All he knew was that he had paper and ink in plenty and the +Greatest Story of the Age to write. All he knew was that time was +precious, that two trusted messengers stood before him to deliver +his copy, that presses in the lower part of the city waited like +hungry animals to gulp down his story, and that before nightfall +a million eyes would widen and half a million hearts would beat a +little faster at the words that he was about to write. + +He pushed back the silver and cut-glass desk ornaments, the heavy +gold-framed portrait of a young girl standing beside an +opulent-bosomed woman in an opera cloak, the foolish vase of +orchids. He made space for himself and his work. And then he +wrote. + +He wrote with all the rhapsodic passion of a god creating a new +world. He began with a preamble that would have broken a +copy-reader's heart. He followed it up with atmospheric +discursiveness that would have worn away an editor's blue pencil. +He told how Steam and Steel were supposed to have crushed the +Spirit of Romance out of the age. He pointed out how the modern +city of stone and concrete seemed no longer to house that wayward +and retrospective spirit in which the heart of the poet has +forever reveled. + +Then he sought to demonstrate how true Romance can never die, how +Wonder is all about even the Wall Street clerk and the +five-o'clock commuter. He put forward the claim that modern New +York was as potentially picturesque, as alluringly labyrinthine, +as olden Bagdad itself. He argued that the Thousand and One Tales +were nightly recurring in our very midst, only we had neither the +eyes nor the leisure to observe them. He told of the strange +underworlds hidden from the casual eye, of subterranean rivers of +life which Respectability never sees. He showed how it was only +the face of life that had changed. He intimated that Stevenson +had unearthed romance enough in an up-to-date London, that Hugo +and Balzac had found it in Paris, and he eloquently proclaimed +that even to-day it was to be stumbled across in our city of +homes on the Hudson. + +It was a very rhythmical piece of fine writing, and he had his +coat off and was working in his shirt sleeves before he had +advanced six pages into it. Then he veered about to the story +itself. He enlarged on the amount of wealth harbored by a +national bank. He explained how this vast wealth was hoarded and +protected, the massive walls, the steel vaults, the steam flood +pipes, the ever-watching attendants, the tangle of articulate +wires that a touch would make garrulous, the time locks, the +floors of cement and railway iron, the contact mats which +reported the slightest footfall of the trespasser. + +Then he told how an idea had come to the mind of an idle yegg +named "Missouri" Horton. He told how this wary and cunning and +romantic-spirited outlaw had planned his attack, how he had hired +the cellar next to the granite-walled citadel of opulence, how he +had learned the location of the vaults, how he had figured out +the thickness of the masonry, how he had slowly and quietly +prepared for his lonely and Promethean attack. + +Trotter's sallow young face grew chalkier as he wrote, though he +was unconscious of either effort or weariness. They brought him +luncheon, in due time, on a napkin-covered tray. He lifted the +napkin peevishly, took a disdainful look at the food, gulped down +a cup of black coffee, and pushed the mess away from him. He had +serious work in hand. + +He wrote on, unconscious of time. His mind seemed to sway, +hypnotically, with the reverberations of his own rhetoric. He +tossed in a classical allusion or two; here and there he left an +Old Testament phrase to coruscate along the fringe of his text; +he even called back one of his copy carriers, to revise an +unelaborated figure of speech. + +Then he told how the tunnel was begun, how brick by brick and +stone by stone a passage was grubbed through every obstacle. He +expatiated on the infinite patience of such a man as Horton, how +Monte Cristo paled beside him, how vast difficulties had to be +overcome, how every stone had to be stowed carefully away in the +back of the cellar, how in time the mortar and cement had to be +ground to a powder and carried secretly away. He told how the +tunnel was pushed forward, foot by foot; how the bank was +attacked in its one and only vital spot, precisely as a porcupine +curled defensively up in the snow is seized by the fisher-marten, +not through open attack, but by artfully tunneling up under the +quill-less belly. + +Then he retailed how the vast business of this great banking +institution went tranquilly and ponderously on, how millions were +handled and changed and stowed away while all the time the +unknown enemy was inch by inch crawling nearer. + +When a note came up from the Advance office signed by the +managing editor--the managing editor who had never been known to +praise one of his men in all his twelve-year regime--Trotter took +it as a matter of course. "Your story is great," this note had +read. "Keep it up." Trotter merely gave the scrawl a second +hurried glance. It did not excite him; it did not intoxicate. He +was already drunk with the wine of creation, as delirious as a +whirling dervish. And he knew he still had work to do. + +A white-whiskered gentleman wearing a pearl-buttoned white +waistcoat stepped quietly up to the office door and peered +guardedly in over his glasses. Then he tip-toed away unseen, with +a condoning smile on his astute and thin-nosed old face. Trotter +had no thought or memory of his surroundings. It was his Story; +the Story of his life. He sat there, entangled and locked +together with it, unconscious of what it was doing to him, +oblivious of how, like a blood-sucking vampire, it was draining +the vigor of his youth from him. + +He was now in the very vortex of his story. He told how he had +posted Tiernan at the head of the steps leading down into the +plumber's shop. He cunningly enlarged on the huge Irishman's +bewilderment, his incredulity, his blasphemously reiterated +demand to know what it was all about. He told how he himself had +silently entered the shop, how he had crept through to the second +door, how he had waited for a moment to take out his revolver. He +described the hot and reeking air of the tunnel as he crept into +its mouth. He pictured the sudden glare of light at the shaft end +where Horton stood burning away an outer vault wall with an +electrode. He told how the heat and the fumes of that little +underground hell bewildered him, how he stood gaping at the +scene, watching the white-hot tongue of fire hissing and licking +at its last barrier of steel. He did not neglect to paint how the +hardened metal, under the electrolyzing current eroding its +surface, became as chalk, decomposing into a charry mass which +one blow of a hammer might penetrate. + +He told how he crept up on the man, step by step, with his +revolver in his hand. He told how he could see the safe-breaker's +face shining with sweat, how he could smell scorching clothing, +how his eyes began to ache with the light-glare until he threw up +a forearm to protect them. He explained how it had been his +intention to creep up on the criminal and seize him bodily, and +how he was defeated in this by a sudden and unlooked-for movement +on the part of his unsuspecting enemy. + +Horton had quickly swung about--he was, in fact, groping along +the passage floor for a two-quart tin pail partly filled with tap +water. The glare had blinded him, for the time being, and he was +in reality feeling for a drink. But the Advance reporter had +thought the movement meant that his presence was discovered. And +the two men had come together. + +Trotter told of the fight there, hand to hand, in the choking +tunnel with its tangle of deadly currents. He recounted how the +other man's strength had been greater than his own, how he felt +his breath going, how he saw himself being forced closer and +closer back on the glaring electrode. He confessed that he had +been excited and foolish enough to lose the revolver. He +mentioned his indignation when he saw that the other man was +actually trying to use his teeth. He described how for the first +time it came home to him that he would be killed there, that +Tiernan could not possibly hear his cries, that his heart could +not possibly continue to beat without fresh air. + +Then he had grown desperate. He had apparently gone mad. He had +started to use his own teeth. He had set his jaw on the yeggman's +hand as it groped for his throat. He had caught the index finger +of the other blackened hand and levered it savagely backward, +backward until the bone broke and it hung limp on the tortured +tendon. He had sent the relaxed head skidding against the tunnel +wall, once, twice, three times, until the sweat-stained arms fell +away and left him free. + +He had sat there for many minutes, stupidly staring at the +unconscious man. Then he had found the revolver at his feet, and, +being too weak to get up he had still sat there, contentedly +firing a volley of bullets against the steel vault wall until the +bank officials were alarmed and an armed guard was sent scurrying +about to investigate. And with the timely arrival of Tiernan and +that armed guard came an end to the most audacious and staggering +criminal coup of the century! + + +It was all very beautiful, the very finest of fine writing. +Trotter poured his ardent and exultant young soul into it. And +when his last page had been written and sent away, he sat back in +the wide-armed, morocco-upholstered bank-room chair, white with +weariness, the fires of creation burnt out to the last ember. + +But one thing sustained and consoled him. He knew, as he whisked +down to the Advance office in the Vice-President's French touring +car, that his work was done. He also knew that it was well done. + +It did not even startle him when Pyott himself held out a +cold-fingered hand. + +"Good business!" was his chief's sardonic commendation. + +"Then I've made good?" asked the weary youth, without enthusiasm. + +"You've made your TEN-STRIKE!" was the answer. "You're on the +city staff at twenty dollars a week." + +"When do I have to go over my proofs?" asked the tired-eyed and +innocent youth. + +"What proofs?" + +"My story proofs!" + +Pyott forced his eyes to meet those of the pale-faced boy looking +up at him. The managing editor did so without an outward flinch. +He was more or less used to such things. + +"You've made good, my boy!" He casually turned away before he +spoke the next sentence. "BUT WE'VE HAD TO KILL THAT STORY OF +YOURS!" + +Trotter did not move. He did not even gulp. He merely closed his +tired eyes and at the same time let his lower lip fall a trifle +away from the upper, as his breath came brokenly between them. + +Then he sat down. For they had done more than kill his story. +They had killed the spirit of Youth in him. There would be other +battles, he knew, and perhaps other victories--but never again +that fine, careless rapture of Youth! For they had killed his +firstborn! + + +***************************************************************** +Vol. XXIII December 1910 No. 6 + +AN OPEN MIND: WILLIAM JAMES {p 800-801} + +By WALTER LIPPMANN + +Within a week of the death of Professor William James of Harvard +University, the newspapers had it that Mr. M. S. Ayer of Boston +had received a message from his spirit. This news item provoked +the ridicule of the people who don't believe in ghosts, but the +joke was on Mr. Ayer of Boston. When, however, it was reported +that Professor James himself had agreed to communicate with this +world, if he could, and, in order to test the reports, had left a +sealed message to be opened at a certain definite time after his +death, the incredulous gasped at the professor's amazing +"credulity." + +William James wasn't "credulous." He was simply open-minded. +Maybe the soul of man is immortal. The professors couldn't prove +it wasn't, so James was willing to open his mind to evidence. He +was willing to hunt for evidence, and to be convinced by it. + +And in that he was simply keeping America's promise: he was +actually doing what we, as a nation, proclaimed that we would do. +He was tolerant; he was willing to listen to what seems +preposterous, and to consider what might, though queer, be true. +And he showed that this democratic attitude of mind is every bit +as fruitful as the aristocratic determination to ignore new and +strange-looking ideas. James was a democrat. He gave all men and +all creeds, any idea, any theory, any superstition, a respectful +hearing. + +His interest in spiritualism is merely one illustration in a +thousand. The hard scientists knew it was a hoax because they +couldn't explain it, and the sentimentalists knew it was the +truth because they wished it to be: but James wanted to know the +facts. So he went to Mrs. Piper, and heard her out. Nay, he +listened to Palladino and to Munsterberg. They pretended to know, +and maybe they did. + +And last year, when Frank Harris published his book on +Shakespeare, to show that the "unknown" life and character of the +poet could be drawn from his works, the other professors laughed +the theory out of court. James went to Shakespeare and read the +plays all over again to test the Harris theory. Maybe the poet +could be known by his works. The fact that the theory was +revolutionary did not alter the possibility that it might be +true. + +So with religion. A scientist, living in an age when science is +dogmatically irreligious, he turned from its cocksure reasoning +to ask for the facts. He went to the lives of the saints! Not to +Herbert Spencer, you see. When he wanted to study the religious +experience he went to the people who had had it, to Santa Theresa +and Mrs. Eddy. They might know something the professors didn't +know. + +And again: at the age of sixty-five, with the whole of New +England's individualism behind him, he asked about socialism. +When he met H. G. Wells, he listened to the socialist, and, as it +happens, was converted. So he said so. James was no more afraid +of a new political theory than he was of ghosts, and he was no +more afraid of proclaiming a new theory, or an old one, than he +was of being a ghost. I think he would have listened with an open +mind to the devil's account of heaven, and I'm sure he would have +heard him out on hell. + +James knew that he didn't know. He never acted upon the notion +that the truth was his store of wisdom. Perhaps that is why he +kept on rummaging about in other people's stores, and commending +their goods. He seemed to take a delight in writing +introductions, and appreciations of new books, and in going out +of his way to listen to a young doctor of philosophy, or an +undergraduate discussion of pragmatism, or the poetry of an +obscure mystic. And, optimist that he was, by virtue of his +unceasing freshness of interest, there is nothing more +open-minded in our literature than his chivalrous respect for the +pessimism of Francis Thompson. + + "Speak not of comfort where no comfort is, + Speak not at all: can words make foul things fair? + Our life's a cheat, our death a black abyss: + Hush and be mute, envisaging despair." + + +He felt with all sorts of men. He understood their demand for +immediate answers to the great speculative questions of life. +God, freedom, immortality, nature as moral or non-moral--these +were for him not matters of idle scientific wonder, but of urgent +need: The scientific demand that men should wait "till doomsday, +or till such time as our senses and intellect working together +may have raked in evidence enough" for answers to these +questions, is, says James, "the queerest idol ever manufactured +in the philosophic cave." We cannot wait for a final solution. +Our daily life is full of choices that we cannot dodge, and some +guide we simply must have. There can be no loitering at the +crossroads. We are busy. We must choose, whether we will it or +not, and where all is doubt, who shall refuse us the right to +believe what seems most adapted to our needs? Not know, you +understand, but believe. + +That is the famous position taken in "The Will to Believe." As +James has once pointed out, its real title should have been "The +Right to Believe." No doctrine in James's thinking has been more +persistently misunderstood. Yet it rests on the simplest of +insights: that atheism and theism are both dogmas, for there is +scientific evidence for neither; that to withhold judgment is +really to make a judgment, and act as if God didn't exist; that +until the evidence is complete men have a right to believe what +they most need. + +James has acted upon that right. He has made a picture compounded +of the insights of feeling, the elaborations of reason, and the +daily requirements of men. It is a huge guess, if you like, to be +verified only at the end of the world. But it has made many men +at home in the universe. And this democrat understood the need of +feeling at home in the world, and he understood also that the +aristocrats are not at home here. (Perhaps that's why they are +aristocrats.) "The luxurious classes," he says, "are blind to +man's real relation to the globe he lives on, and to the +permanently hard and solid foundations of his higher life." And +he prescribed for them--for their culture, I mean--this +treatment: "To coal and iron mines, to freight trains, to fishing +fleets in December, to dishwashing, clotheswashing and +windowwashing, to road-building and tunnel-making, to foundries +and stoke-holes, and to the frames of skyscrapers, would our +gilded youths be drafted off according to their choice, to get +the childishness knocked out of them, and to come back into +society with healthier sympathies and soberer ideas." + +This, and thoughts like this, and kindnesses like this, put James +not alone among the democrats of this uncertain world, but among +the poets also; among the poetic philosophers who, like Goethe, +Schopenhauer, and Whitman, have a sense of the pace of things. +Sunlight and storm-cloud, the subdued busyness of outdoors, the +rumble of cities, the mud of life's beginning and the heaven of +its hopes, stain his pages with the glad, sweaty sense of life +itself. + +It is an encouraging thought that America should have produced +perhaps the most tolerant man of our generation. It is a +stimulating thought that he was a man whose tolerance never meant +the kind of timidity which refuses to take a stand "because there +is so much to be said on both sides." As every one knows, he +fought hard for his ideas, because he believed in them, and +because he wanted others to believe in them. The propagandist was +strong in William James. He wished to give as well as receive. +And he listened for truth from anybody, and from anywhere, and in +any form. He listened for it from Emma Goldman, the pope, or a +sophomore; preached from a pulpit, a throne, or a soap-box; in +the language of science, in slang, in fine rhetoric, or in the +talk of a ward boss. + +And he told his conclusions. He told them, too, without the +expert's arrogance toward the man in the street, and without the +dainty and finicky horror of being popular and journalistic. He +would quote Mr. Dooley on God to make himself understood among +men. He would have heard God gladly in the overalls of a +carpenter, even though He came to preach that the soul of man is +immortal. So open-minded was he; so very much of a democrat. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Stories from Everybody's Magazine +From the 1910 Issues of Everybody's Magazine + Binary files differdiff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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