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less than a robber who has his goods from those more ignorant or weaker than him broke off a branch from an apple tree which hung over the road and began to the white and red blossoms for the moment the point that i am not a man of wealth but a hard working man of business s opinions must be about the same as your own i have been told so often during the past year that i am the agent of organized that i can surely endure to hear it once more even from feminine lips you would find it quite different though said i talk to you in the ordinary way would be apt to say things when she found how strongly you oppose her views laughed perhaps i should not oppose them said he i have learned a few things since i dropped to this planet and one of them is never to dispute a woman if were to accuse me of such things it were better my mother had not borne me as hamlet remarks i would hear her meekly no have no fear on that score they turned a comer and walked on further out of the village limits toward the country you could not help it said after a brief interval no you could not would â ay what would compel you to reply for instance â oh it is too much to expect me to ne a conversation between two people as and yoa of both are well equipped for an argument but were you te enter into one you would be sure to come off second best you had better not try it had eaten the apple blossoms and was now biting the stick but i shall he said decidedly my curiosity is aroused i must have an interview with the s daughter â that is if she will accord me one i shall ask you to introduce me but i shall hope to ar range my talk with her when there will be no witnesses to my discomfiture the mill hand looked rather uneasy you won t take a frivolous vein i hope he said is quick to notice don t assume an air of patronage you would be sure to suffer for it have no fear replied i shall act as if she were in every sense my equal but she considers herself vastly your superior was the unexpected philip took the apple from his mouth and wiped his lips with a white silk handkerchief indeed he ejaculated i might as well prepare you continued if you are to insist on talking with her is gentleness itself in her dealings with what she calls her own people when she meets one of your class â agent baker for example â it takes very little to bring her disdain to the surface i have seen him paying her off on a saturday night when her pose and expression would have made her an excellent model for a statue of con tempt returned the handkerchief to his pocket re marking â â but took the money thb of is yes and as she swept the into her purse one could read in her countenance as in print they have kept back the lion s share these thieves i and deserve the that belongs to all their then the new said quietly agent baker must be an man to endure that sort of thing not at all the heartless fellow he has been represented endure it cried what else can he do were he to discharge not a in his mills would till she was agent baker is clothed with great powers he can do many arbitrary things but he knows better than to raise a personal issue with the of had plucked a second apple and engaged in another attempt to the blossoms upon it are you sure you are not the he said perfectly sure the and of have suffered cut downs before now â sometimes after a fight and sometimes without one they have borne increased hardness of rule the of capital of which agent baker is the may grind them lower yet for all i know though i doubt it but put his two thousand face to face with the simple question of standing by and not one of them would baker is a bold man but he will never try that then the new without changing his tone or expression in the slightest degree said if i were the agent of the great central and treated me in that manner i would ic speaking of discharge her on the spot i should consider it necessary and the result would be what i have predicted said grimly out the apple he had been a nice state of affairs you open to me in an alleged free country a man compelled whether he will or no to employ a certain person in his mill under penalty of having his entire establishment closed why there is no greater tyranny in russia our fathers fought great britain for less if i were proprietor of the great central mills â i won t say agent for the might not my action â i would see moss cover its walls its water wheels go to decay and its machinery beyond repair before i would let any man woman or child in my employ dictate to me how to manage my own business preserved a courtesy of equal to that of his companion they had often had talks on the labor problem and each knew quite well what to expect from the other your statement brings up a hundred things said the mill hand the principal one being whether the running of a set of mills in which two thousand persons are employed is the own business of one man i have an idea that it is the business of every person who works

0Arthur Conan Doyle

there if the owner for a fancied injury one of them of the privilege of earning his bread the others do well to resist for the general welfare bowed assent they have a right to do anything they can accomplish and i have a similar right if they are my la the case you they might the mills and of out till the surface of became but they never could force me to employ a person i did not want no even if it took my last dollar smiled you would do well not to advance such doctrines in your coming interview with â that is if you still think of having one why â is she dangerous in yes she will get the best of you unless you adopt broader ground than your attitude suggests you are on soil that is only the to her and the burden of her song will be the oppression of the honest by the said well i am ready to meet her i remember that the knocked the honest out of a year s not so long ago in this very town and i know of more than one family that was greatly by the loss of income that ensued as the friends had now walked a good mile beyond the village limits they began slowly to their steps what was the source of the income of which you speak asked presently mill stocks left by husbands and fathers where did the husbands and fathers get those stocks â where bought them of of whom r people who had them to sell but where did the original owner get them per speaking of looked at his companion he thought he vas trying to a joke at his expense i only want to prepare you a little for what you may expect at s said she will take you back to first principles you see if i find you in possession of a piece of real estate that my great grand uncle willed to my great grandfather and of which he was never i can you and get possession no matter how many false deeds lie between your claim and mine i therefore wish to know how honestly these stocks became those of your unfortunate and if the principle is a just one why not apply it to both cases would probably ask you that nothing in this statement seemed in the least to disturb the gentleman to whom it was addressed he strolled along with his hands clasped behind him his straw hat tipped back a little from his intellectual forehead evidently at peace with all the world i should say to â as i say to you he replied that the laws of this and of the state of new york are a sufficient answer to the question the of those shares is as well settled as that of the and she to call hers but the law cannot fix their value interrupted which is the important point after all a new idea had evidently been conveyed to the their value proceeded depends on their ability to earn â i use the cant phrase of business â it is not the correct one â a stock that ceases to de productive â another expression but the usual one â ceases to have real value the of the great central can destroy your any year they please does not this teach you the s of i that the running of a mill is not altogether the c s of its alleged owners but of the people who do its work as well as the new listened a quiet smile came over his face i have left some things in my home he said my absence some one may have entered and taken the most valuable of them this should teach me the folly of locks and yes i understand â if you had taken the things in the first place from the person who has entered your house the case would seem nearer a parallel but then according to law he would not need to break in he could get a and a writ of laughed aloud thai s ingenious upon my word he exclaimed but really you forget one important thing the of a mill agree to work for a and accept it on pay day as compensation for the services they have rendered what in law or reason gives them a right in that other great in the production of goods called capital if they don t want the work at the offered why do they apply for places there are always y who do i tell you the american an would be better off to day if all the and were to africa tell that to laughed and she will answer you i have gone much further with this discussion than i when we began and i fear i shall cover some of her ground i am glad on the whole that you are going to talk with her for with your good nature no harm can result when would you like to meet her thought a moment speaking of the sooner the better why not to day as it u sunday she will have more time than during the week and so shall i besides i am liable to to the city to morrow she won t object to talking on sunday i suppose why should she was the brief response the slow walk which the friends assumed brought them fifteen minutes later within the of the village and shortly afterward they ascended the rough of one of the houses anyone who has ever visited a new england mill town need not be told that in most of them the houses are square of a uniformly appearance surrounded by neither fence nor lawn sometimes they are of brick sometimes of wood that is painted if at all in colors

0Arthur Conan Doyle

selected with an eye to wear rather than beauty places to cook and sleep in they undoubtedly are but who could apply to them that bright english word home the rents received from these are often sufficient to pay their entire cost every four or five years in such a building on the third floor were the two rooms occupied by the of and philip owned to an uneasy feeling as he stood with at her door and heard the knock on the pine had never seen the though his visits to had been quite frequent during the past year and his notions hardly prepared him for the reality when the mill girl opened the door and presented him in the usual manner he saw a beautiful young woman a little above the average height with dark and most expressive eyes that looked anything but dangerous heavy black hair evidently of thb of unusual length arranged upon a finely shaped head a complexion fresh as the apple blossoms he had picked that morning slender hands this he noticed instantly that have been elegant but for the effect of mill work a plain dress with linen collar and and more noticeable than all the rest a of carriage that seemed to the city gentleman strangely out of keeping with her station and surroundings said after exchanging greetings have brought my friend to you at his own request he is a thorough representative of our enemies the and i want you to convert him a cloud passed over s face as she listened she her to seats but herself remained standing i am hardly in a condition to talk to any one to day she said and noticed that her voice was quite as charming as her countenance mr baker has hired three more children for the mill â little ones who ought to be kept at school he seems to care nothing for the law and i do not know why he should as no official ever with him the pi rents of these children are french and they want their wages i saw them yesterday the youngest is nine and the eldest thirteen poor little things too young to begin a life like ours â is it not sir â a life they will probably only for the grave she had appealed to and he found himself drawn into argument sooner than he anticipated if the parents of these children really need their wages for their support â as i understand from your statement â what remedy would you suggest he asked hunger must be satisfied speaking of the dark eyes dilated and the handsome mouth grew firmer do you contend sir that it is an rate of wages which refuses a parent enough to provide his children with the bare necessaries of life without putting them into the mill before they reach their was not at all abashed how many children has this he asked probably a dozen allowing that to be true would the mill agent be justified on that account in paying him wages as compared with other men who have three children or none listened with an expression in which pity seemed uppermost he saw now better than before why the people had given her a title court robes or jewels were not required to enforce her claim nobility shone in every look and action but where is our great mother the state she cried throwing back her head with a superb motion the state which claims our which our substance for its which our brothers into its armies which our treason even with death every child that is born adds to its strength and glory shall the state then demand our all and give us back nothing agent baker is but a man â a man limited in powers by the greedy who employ him but the state is a god it has the power to protect its children it cannot afford to let them be in their years we who make the state how long we appeal to it in vain was much impressed by the beauty and eloquence of the speaker but the words themselves touched no when she had finished he said the of is â i shall be glad to discuss this entire question with you whenever you can spare sufficient time i should like to go to the bottom of the subject neither of us might be able to convince the other but both could hardly fail to gain new ideas â mr is disposed to do right put in but he can only be persuaded through his reason i have talked to him considerably i admit without much effect but i think you could succeed better in fact when you have done with him i shall quite expect to see him himself in our ranks smiled at the statement while i wish very much to talk with you he said to i do not encourage any such hope as that suggested by my friend i am so sure of my premises that seems impossible in fact i am not at all certain i shall not make a of you at this smiled also i will see you this evening she said my sick will take most of my time until then there are always several persons who have broken down under the mill work whom i take to some extent under my charge they would be much disappointed were i to omit my sunday calls if you will come to night say at seven i shall be glad to see you agreed to the hour and a few minutes later took his leave with what a beauty he exclaimed as soon as they were out of hearing she would adorn a palace i never saw such a air but i suppose she would not give up her position as of for a fifth avenue mansion a strange f sh

0Arthur Conan Doyle

seems so self sufficient too he paused and then added speaking of she will probably work on in these mills she grows old and faded with never a husband or child to her don t you think so i don t know you might ask her was s rather peculiar reply chapter n a man of business the day after the conversation just related philip rang the bell of a residence on avenue new york city as the sun was setting the servant who responded admitted him without ceremony and allowed him to proceed to a room on the second floor where he knocked gently at the door the rustle q a woman s dress was instantly heard and a moment later he had entered and stood in the presence of a lady perhaps twenty one years of age who was attired in deep black i heard you on the steps even before you rang she said joy beaming from her pale face how glad i am that you are here he looked a little annoyed but gave the lady a slight embrace and touched his lips lightly to hers she could not see the expression of his features for she was blind but she felt with the instinctive knowledge of those thus deprived that he was not as happy as usual philip she said gently what is the matter come and sit by me on the sofa and tell me all troubles jl of i have none he answered forcing a laugh as he accompanied her to the place have i not told you often that trouble and i were never made acquainted with each other i wish you could say the same when you are with me it a seems as if i could was her earnest reply it is only when you are that the time slowly do you realize that you have been out of town four days took up the hand she placed in his and patted it four days i he repeated i did not think it was so long then he added more apparently to divert her attention than for any other reason play me something she sprang up brightly and took a from an adjacent table there was no sign in her movements of her great misfortune she placed her hand as confidently upon the instrument as if her sight was perfect the blind learn to remember and to judge distances more accurately than those who see the manner in which she held the and the way she drew the bow across it showed her love for the task music floated out upon the atmosphere of the room filling it with low sweet sounds was a thorough mistress of an accomplishment too rare among american ladies and found himself under the spell of the harmony before he was aware of it he lay back and watched the striking face that bent lovingly over the and the long slender fingers adorned with plain and mourning rings that plied the bow the loose sleeves which the lady wore revealed space of where the delicate white flesh speaking of with its of lace appealed to his sense oi refinement do you know what that is she asked pausing in her playing no he said with a slight start you had soothed me into such a deep reverie i did not notice when you ceased to play it is called love in italy philip when are you going to take me there he drew his hand across his forehead and said â oh sometime she came and sat by his side again upon the sofa it will be full of wonderful things â that sometime of yours i have always wanted to be in italy i can scent in imagination its air i can hear the glad notes of its song birds i can imagine the gliding through the water with the easy motion of i can feel the delicious breezes of the and the my cheek all these i have dreamed of and sometime â yes sometime â you and i will experience them together it was the last word in her that made shrug his shoulders though the movement was so slight as to be even to miss s quick senses you must not forget he said that were we together in italy we should be farther apart than we are here in new york i can visit you in this house and the plea of business answers for everything this is your home in italy we should be philip and acquaintances i am not enough older than you to pass as your guardian and it would take little to attract attention the female you a man of business be obliged to take along would deprive us of solitude even in the handy railway carriages she would not recognize your ingenious claim that you are still that little child who used to climb on my knee and ask for bon though you and i have never noticed the difference why i could not sit by you on a sofa like this anywhere in the length and breadth of s she bore a triumphant look as he finished â the look of one who feels herself competent to every difficulty leave that she smiled there are apartments that can be hired in every city of italy as well as here there are italian waiting maids who speak no english and understand no more than one wishes them to there are secluded in the interior among the where we can go has its mountains but none so high that resolution cannot them no philip i have not been listening to the reading of book on italy that i could buy during the past two years for nothing in that case yonder you will find all the italian lore you could need in a lifetime much of the weary look from his face before the radiance of

0Arthur Conan Doyle

her expression but he said i am well known and should almost certainly meet americans wherever i went it would not be agreeable to be detected in which would surely be you would learn before you had been abroad a month that the world is a very little place and that â compared with it â new york is a very large one she leaned toward him and placed one arm about his neck l wish i could see face and tell how in speaking of earnest are she said supposing some did discover us would you care very very much he drew back and gazed into her eager face would care would you care you mean i think you sometimes forget the of your sex how would you like to be the subject of gossip at tables d how would you like to hear that people said â she put a finger upon his lips if i was innocent â how would the world know that my misfortune should stand my she answered with a gentle motion he took her arm from his neck people are judged by appearances he said not a man or woman who knows us could enter this room at this moment and hold us i am an and your father s will stands in the way of your marrying what follows affection these are not the symptoms clasping arms about one holding his hands kissing his lips â these are not tokens imagine a journey to italy added with an element of secrecy thrown in and it would convince even the grand jury if he had intended to bring a cloud into the blind lady s face he had succeeded well her expression was touching in its sadness it is true she said that my father s will that i shall lose his property if i marry he thought he did wisely in making that provision as he feared i might become the victim of some adventurer who only sought my money his wish would be sufficient to influence me even had he made it known less emphatically but â and here a deep blush the pale cheek â a of business â he has not forbidden me to love if he had i might find compliance harder well was it for s peace of mind that she could not see philip s face as she uttered these words it contained a mixture of sympathy and regret that was not pleasant to contemplate he took out his watch and glanced at the hour now don t do that said you have been away four long days and this evening belongs wholly to me talk to me philip i never knew you so what did you find at to put you into this mood he looked at her a moment there is a young woman you love her she cried no he replied without changing his tone i should be more inclined to hate her if i ever hated anybody she me i had a long talk with her last night â in her room in her room cried again oh philip yes in her room repeated in a louder voice where else good god you are not jealous as well as you know me there is no situation conceivable in which you should fear for me don t such i beg the slender hands were clasped for a moment over the lady s eyes sometimes i think i am growing insane i cannot bear to think you ever looked at a woman well go on he composed himself by a brief pause and then proceeded the â a â it is only a local on account of her high speaking of and mighty bearing is her real name she talked to me as no one ever talked before she is a child of the people â the lower â on the maternal side but her father was a united states her mother was never married miss drew a little away as if from fear of from one so recently in such company a strange companion for philip she said coldly admitted was his equally cool reply but as i said i went to her room and talked with her yes rom seven o clock till after midnight â and i am going again miss s forehead bore something very t a frown at this announcement do you say this to annoy me she demanded i state it because it is the truth we played a game for five hours â a game in which i have always myself somewhat â and she came out ahead i am not the man to give up easily and i am going back to and try again the blind lady put both her hands on his arms and held him as if she would read his face with her philip what do you mean she told me i was the agent of a band of robbers â told you â yes and nearly made me believe it she accused me of being to more than one murder â oh philip and i could almost see the blood on my garments she told me i stole from the poor and gave to the rich retaining my commission out of the a man of business si transaction and as i live i seemed as she spoke to hear the rattle of the base coin in my pockets miss looked much distressed she is a philip promise me not to go there again i must go he said thoughtfully she is no she uses no power but that of argument i shall study the question well before i return for i do not believe she is right she cannot be there must be a somewhere in her theories and i shall discover it you talk in said oh it is the labor question that i have heard argued from my infancy

0Arthur Conan Doyle

but goes deeper into it than any person i ever heard or read she succeeded in making me appear contemptible though i refused to admit a single one of her claims feminine instinct dictated the next question what is she like describe her attempted to but like most men could give little beside was grand magnificent he could not tell the color of her hair or eyes nor guess at her height or weight she was dressed in the commonest clothing he said â her gown was one of those prints that sell at ten cents a yard and this was on sunday you must remember her room was very bare of furniture but there were birds and many flowers and a few books and pictures fifteen or twenty dollars would buy everything there f should say her voice â masculine and harsh i suppose on the contrary it is very winning and gentle philip said the blind girl you are in love with this you will deny it and you are honest speaking of in your denial but i know it is true i know the time must come when i shall lose you but i should hope to resign you to other arms than those of an mill girl the lady had no sooner uttered these words than she regretted them she feared their effect would be to arouse in the mind she was trying to persuade abuse is seldom a weapon but only said is a relative term but are you sure you are not in love with her search your heart before you answer he waited a reasonable time during which the searching process was supposed to be after a careful survey of my most vital organ he said i find there no love for â nor for any other living woman then seeing that he had hurt her he added there are women whom i esteem highly there is at least one toward whom i entertain sentiments of affection but i never was never can be in love i have told you that so often i should think you could never doubt it a passive expression settled upon the lady s face and she made no reply soon he continued i am a man of business i have no time for love rents must be collected estates settled looked after there is another big strike at if it lasts long it will a heavy loss to some of my â yourself among the number agent baker is not the man to deal with those and and besides he wishes to resign some of the have asked me to allow myself to be elected in his place if i accept there will be something more important a man of business ss than love affairs to claim my attention for the next the sad look deepened on the face of the blind lady that would effectually dispose of our italian journey he knit his brows at the unexpected to that subject â would you be willing he asked to lose your in in order to get a few months in italy with you â yes i have enough other income and have wanted to go so long my blindness makes me only a child philip and i am easily disappointed he knew it full well but he said she could enjoy much if she went alone a good female would answer every purpose â no she exclaimed i will not go without you how could i pass months beyond the sound of voice beyond the touch of your hand if we cannot go together we will remain here she threw herself into his arms which opened to receive her though far from feeling sentiments similar to those which animated his companion was touched by her tenderness the scene was one which they frequently as she lay with her face against his he could feel the quick of her heart against his breast his sympathies were but no warmer sentiment was developed it was his boast that no woman had ev affected him and he believed none ever could she drew his face closer kiss me philip he permitted her to bring his lips into contact with hers which met them half way the across he great african desert does not his thirst at g of the first spring with greater than her thirst for in philip s breath he marked the movement jf her heart beating faster and faster the of he closed eyelids the coming and going of the little patches of color in her face the experience interested him as a physical study but it did nothing more k would have liked to time his own and would have been willing to a goodly sum that they made not one more or less than usual when upward of a minute had elapsed he disengaged his lips to say isn t that enough it seems to me you have exceeded your ordinary allowance her color was heightened by his observation but only reply was to drink deeper draughts than before how long would you make your kisses last i wonder he asked when the lovely burden he held lay back from sheer exhaustion how long would you continue them if you had full liberty till morning she cried and then till noon and then till night again and then till another morning her mood made him laugh lightly you greedy child he exclaimed there is but one way to content you â you should be married a with a man as warm hearted as yourself would probably kill you but you would die happy she answered him with another kiss less passionate and more thoughtful than those which preceded it you know i cannot marry without my property she said and besides i love no one but you how could i marry anyone else he smiled at the to which he was so i â man

0Arthur Conan Doyle

op business some french poet has said that the is so long as the wine is good in a week after marriage vou would find your love transferred as clearly as though you used the process now i am going to make a suggestion i know where you can get a husband young handsome and fairly over with affection â and still not lose a penny of your fortune this statement was sufficiently remarkable to cause the blind lady to raise herself to a sitting posture and pass her hand over philip s face it was her way of how much he was in earnest satisfied after this inspection that he meant what he said she into deep meditation but could not solve the riddle philip she said looking up do you mean â he is only a boy he is man enough for you laughed and certainly a year older is now twenty two father s will that your property shall go to him if you marry if he had determined that you two should wed he could not have the ent more who knows but that was his intention again into silence no i never could love she said after a long i never could love any one philip but you nonsense he cried love is like dining one may prefer but he can eat mock we must take whatever is on the bill of fare would suit you â he is all fire your night till morning morning till night scheme would suit him admirably he is not your first cousin you know but only of the sixteenth or thirty second variety nothing could be op wiser it would also be a great relief to me am for you both and i should be able to get along with one set of accounts instead of rose with dignity you are not compelled to come here if you find it so tiresome she said in a faltering voice he rose also and placed an arm about her there when we reach this stage i always know it is near the hour for my departure she put both arms about his neck and hid her face on his shoulder yes there is only one thing left he said the kiss and make up we have timed our proceedings with the utmost regularity i think we have not varied the usual programme in any essential detail she suffered him to lead her to a large arm chair and sank into his embrace when will you come again she asked i don t know i must return to in the morning what do those terrible mill workers want now food and clothing says a fairer share of what they earn made an impatient movement they had it all last year the great central could not pay its i suppose they would like to have us for their benefit what such people they never used to act so that is what i mean to find out said that is why i spent five hours with last night that is why i am going back to to morrow if i am to take the agency i wish to know the situation a little better love v thirty thou dollars a then i must give up italy for the present said â lowly yes unless you and decide to go there on your wedding tour it would be a nice place i should to pass the silly season of married life the more of it the more i am convinced it is the best t for you is twenty two you are one between you there is nearly a million dollars he v a wife and if he doesn t find one pretty soon i t be that he doesn t go to the devil the e as half the other young you need a husband no body more i shall speak to about it and end him up here you will return in a few days at the most sh said the levity of his closing words yes by thursday probably treat k idly but be careful not to give him as much freedom you do me he is made of and w th a girl like you there is no telling what might ha s got the blood in him you know then he kissed her good by and went out the street humming a light air that he had at ma opera chapter iii love a year was one of a type of young men often found in america and it might truly be in other countries as well who having inherited of world s goods to make no necessity try to speaking of in the best way to make their time past agreeably it is one of the worst effects of our system that the of undue of wealth in certain spots not only the of a large share of the product of their toil but the useful energy of those to whom such fortunes are it is the popular theory that a young gentleman whose ancestors have provided him with a does well to keep out of the already channels of trade let him ive in a style becoming his station say the why need he struggle to increase a store already large enough for his wants the man of elegant leisure ag comfortably on his income has to many minds reached the ideal state if he can thus live from childhood without a day s exertion of hand or brain he is regarded as in the highest sense a gentleman let no s son with hands or tired head presume to dispute his title and if the young heir chooses to spend some of his money in wild whose business is it but his own he pays the bills doesn t he if at a wine supper he gets full the police are not troubled â his coachman

0Arthur Conan Doyle

and footman will carry him home if he the innocent daughter of some he will do the right thing by her he will support her offspring su h is the popular impression regarding the rights of inherited wealth it is an impression almost as old as but this present author is willing to that the public mind is about to undergo an immense change m this matter that within a few years a fortune will bring to its possessor new obligations and that more laws will make it impossible for any man to become a under whose huge legs thousands must d a crawl for the privilege of living on an earth that god made for all alike these few thoughts may perhaps be offered by tv without causing him to be of as a at the worst ae can only be charged with pausing to a in the middle of a romance let us now return to our sheep hich in this case hap pens to be mr ten years before the date when our story opens died at new york born amid the forests of he had his way to the front in the lumber world until by industry and business tact as the put it and by taking advantage of unjust laws they might have added he could call a million dollars his own this million he divided at his death among his natural remembering every relation he could find with a greater or less present his only child received the largest sum but the was upon her remaining single the lumber merchant did not intend that his wealth should go to fortune hunters and he believed that his daughter s blindness would prevent her hand being sought for any other reason his second cousin s son who had liked nothing better as a boy than a trip to with uncle was given a goodly amount but in his case also there was a he could claim only the income of his property until his twenty fifth year philip was then alive and into his hands the of these funds was placed with the fullest confidence when he died his son continued the business and the courts confirmed him as the natural successor to the father s philip the younger was a different man from his in many respects he devoted himself to speaking of ness not so much on account of the it brought him as because it became his duty to protect his the proper of trust he had been taught to regard as the most sacred of human obligations years under his father s had impressed that on his mind he would have bought a piece of land or a hundred shares of stock for himself with half the caution he used in making the same purchases for one of his customers the estate all of which was tied up in one form or another was his largest single trust the fact that much of it was invested in the great central was what took him so often to this was not of s own making he had early decided to sell the stock whenever the condition of the market would warrant but the constant and especially the two recent strikes had so lowered its market value that to dispose of it now would involve too great an apparent sacrifice real estate in and around the metropolis was s notion of an ideal he did not care much for mill stocks now that the whim of a labor might destroy a year s profits in a month the strike of the preceding summer had reduced the income of both and considerably did not feel the difference as she had the smaller um there and beside her quiet life made it unnecessary for her to spend a quarter of her but her cousin and fretted when he found his growing wants cut in upon in this fashion good heaven he exclaimed one day to i am unable to live now on a week what shall i do on it will be clear starvation and nothing less thirty thousand dollars a laughed at the boy for such he always called him and mildly hinted that he must have formed extravagant habits extravagant cried contemptuously why there is young my who has a month and more if he wants it i feel awful mean in his company when i have to say no ton dozen suggestions every week just because i ca c afford anything his family goes back several generations beyond yours smiled you date from our father s second cousin he had a great great grandfather i don t care was the reply i can t live on a month and that s all there is to it you must give me more then told him in a manner he could not mistake that he might as well ask him to break into the sub treasury as to exceed by penny the amount in s and snapped out if the income on those devilish stocks should drop to i should starve i suppose perhaps in such a dire as that the courts would aid you i am sworn to a certain line of policy and i cannot from it but what do you do with your money you have a good deal after all i would like to see an account of your expenses the two men were such good friend j in spite of the difference in their years and habits that the question only brought a smile to s cheek only a smile yes it brought the least trace of a blush also for if to a certain extent a young was not yet a ver hardened one speaking of you know said he he always called by his first name as he had heard uncle do years before and as did that a young fellow who wants to see anything of life

0Arthur Conan Doyle

in these days needs money i have to live in a of rooms don t i i muse dine once in a while must an occasional spin an the road â in a hired ag i m not rich enough to own one â like the rest of the boys i may sometimes want a box at the theatre and i have been known to wear clothes now how far will go for these to say nothing of other things equally necessary to a young fellow s peace and comfort here his blush deepened making his fair young face look more like a girl s than ever and could have disguised himself in feminine attire and detection easily for instance women i thought so there was no rebuke in his tone that would have been beyond his rights as a of property there was no either he did not encourage s but neither did he frown on them he paid the young man the income of the property he held in trust for him as regularly as the day came around what did with the money was his own business in the conversation recorded there was no hint to the contrary it was on account of the complaint of its that the question of was raised well isn t a girl all right asked i tried to be economical about it she was a s earning four dollars a week when i first met ner there i said to myself is a creature whose wants will be moderate in a month she wanted j she has seven rings now three of them diamonds ts thirty thousand dollars a â bet her costs more than every rag t wear you ought to see the she champagne good enough to drink and she wouldn t ride in a street car to save her life six months ago she lived on and to day â i d like you to glance over her bill of fare had to laugh at the look that gave him and you are surprised he said why shouldn t i be was the girl virtuous when you first met her well i should hope so at this expense laughed the young man i ve no fault except her extravagance to find with but she doesn t know where to put the on this cut down in my makes not the slightest difference if i had s cash i wouldn t take a for her but with a hundred a week it gives me the to think of it had grown sober do you wish to know what think he asked bowed assent when a virtuous girl herself to a man she can never get too much from him she has thrown away everything in life â for what love it will last weeks or months money then let her secure all of it she can were she to gain in exchange the wealth of the it would be a bad bargain for her a look of great astonishment came into s face wh he exclaimed you speak as if you knew not from personal experience if that is what you mean no woman has ever made any impression on my and i think none ever will but if i were â a thing t speaking of i cannot conceive â to accomplish the of a pure girl i would lay all my possessions all my being at her feet and pass every remaining hour in an endeavor that know would be wholly vain to undo the injury i had caused her he paused and as did not reply he added with more cheerfulness i am not reading you a lecture my boy but only letting you a little into my thoughts as far as they concern myself i know full well i have peculiar views which i was betrayed into expressing roused himself like a man who has been half asleep you d give a fellow the jim if it hadn t been me with it would have been some one else of course i sha nt ship her off without fair notice but i can t let her ruin me can i certainly not said now quite himself again you know it is not my style to lecture anybody and you must not mind a word i have said only your income is fixed for the next year at least there will be no from at present business is business and debt is a terrible nuisance that is the only part of your concerns i have any right to talk about so went back to and tried to impress upon her mind the true condition of his affairs he told her plainly that unless she could limit her expenses to a reasonable sum he must give her up she laughed a good deal at his earnestness and could not be persuaded that the whole affair was anything less than a huge joke indeed she seemed to consider life itself a gigantic as a little french twelve years before she had played on the t th u dollars a and thought it delightful when she was sent to learn the trade of at s she liked very well too her excellent appetite took the hardship from the coarse food she ate she trimmed the bare walls of her chamber with pictures cut from the french illustrated papers she tied her hair with bits of ribbon found on the floor of the s fastened her collar with a shilling pin and went forth to conquer the susceptible hearts of the y men who frequented the neighboring concert s as said she was sure to have been somebody s prey he happened to see her one evening when strolling far out of his usual haunts in search of adventure he met hei several times after that by appointment took her to ride in a carriage her into the delights of

0Arthur Conan Doyle

a supper at an up town then he promised to pay for her room and board and give her ten dollars a week as pocket money â and she was his the ten dollar arrangement as we have seen did not last long with the quickness of her race s wants kept pace with the opportunities of gratifying them opened a new world to her and she was not slow in desiring to possess it at first he was pleased at her admiration for finery and at the rapid from to young lady that took place in her attire the night he first her in a flat on fourth avenue every article she wore would not have tempted a two dollar bill from the pocket of a street old clothes dealer he would not permit her to go out of doors with him until an entire change had been made in her dress nothing she with her was worthy of learned quickly she soon had as great a con â a for cheap things she threw tier speaking of rings into the fire and held out her fingers for gold and jewels she the of s friends with whom she was brought in contact like a veritable little she bought tooth nail delicate toilet water and without limit she thought silken none too fine foi her legs and looked with disdain upon a hat that her brought her pretty as a picture even in her she grew into a perfect fairy under the touch of the golden and grew to like her immensely had his a week been doubled instead of reduced as he had no doubt it should have been he would have been quite content with his the unexpected left him in unpleasant straits a few days after s talk with he had an opportunity to sound on the marriage question the young fellow had come in to draw his money and again complained with bitterness of his inability to live on so a sum there is one thing i ought to tell you said the if a general strike in the new england cotton mills should occur as now seems more than probable even your present income will be materially lessened your property is invested almost altogether in mill stocks that is the way mr left it and up to within a few years they paid handsomely last year as vou are aware the great central lost money on account of its long of business if the other mills also you will not have above fifty dollars a week fifty dollars ejaculated in horror that wouldn t pay mv tailor it would pay mine smiled in fact thirty thousand dollars a not spend much more than fifty dollars a week the year through oh broke out ut you are so devilish virtuous you know you don t need clothes and you don t drink champagne and you have no bill to settle i wish you d take fifty dollars a week and follow she d lead you a chase you give me the shakes upon my word fifty dollars now s property continued with complacency is mostly in real estate here in the city she will draw a cool six hundred every week she lives if all the in new england go out hang these fellows who make wills cried with vehemence could anything be more senseless than uncle s disposal of his property couldn t spend a quarter of her money if she tried and i am in the hardest way to exist at all he should have exactly reversed it six hundred a week wouldn t i like to exchange with her leaned toward him and spoke in a serious tone do you wish to add a week to your income if you do i will tell you how stared at him do you wish to know nothing is more easy marry your cousin oh come now that s a joke said with a disappointed look uncle s will that she is to lose everything the day she and who gets it looked a little startled he had never thought of that before do said there is no trouble n about it induce to become your wife and financial troubles are over there was a pause and then said i couldn t besides i always thought was waiting for you i know she likes you and i have always supposed nothing but the will kept you apart frowned as much as he was capable of frowning an angel with an endless purse would not tempt me i have the highest regard for your cousin more than that i never felt for any woman as for money i already have all i need the younger man hesitated he seemed to be revolving the matter over in his mind what put this into your head he asked suddenly my regard foi both of you your cousin s as you say far her wants yours is much your capacity to enjoy life she is a beautiful girl whose one misfortune only makes her other qualities seem the brighter her nature is affectionate by marrying you would be certain of her position and as you could not even were you so disposed the principal of the fortune she would bring you her ease and comfort would be assured you may be what the world calls a little wild but you would never injure a wife s feelings probably marriage would sober you into a brown study he said at last smiled what a name he said to bring into a discussion regarding a fortune of a year ah i said but it was mostly an her account see that i wanted the money he looked quite distressed love thirty thousand dollars a r â i thought said the that you might marry â â ii become a good upright respectable member ot society shook his head decidedly why he

0Arthur Conan Doyle

cried i m only twenty two i how â an a fellow become respectable at twenty two they both laughed together at the of the remark you must not marry to break her heart said that is not my purpose at all i am seeking your mutual happiness then there was another pause if i should marry asked finally and with an effort could i â never â see again after marriage exclaimed as if greatly shocked i should say that would be very wrong the young man you speak as if such things were never done he said i am no longer your guardian was the reply and are responsible for your own acts but i shall you to marry with the deliberate intention of retaining your mistress it looks as if it would be easy io choose on the one hand is your cousin and her a year which means ease even luxury on the other is your and capricious s with a straightened purse and a not over bright future which shall it be when looked up after another long pauses here was a bright light in his handsome eyes i i r he su speaking of chapter iv no flesh as cheap as human flesh the of was sitting in her little sitting room one evening when ascended the stairs she answered his knock with a friendly greeting and cordially bade him enter the mill hand removed his hat as he crossed the threshold with the air of one who his sovereign no or in ever met without the same sign of the high respect with which she was regarded and seemed to feel fully the veneration he professed yet there was no gulf between these two persons such as usually ruler and subject they met as attached friends of a common cause in the same labor creed equally confident of the ultimate of themselves and their class from the yoke both performed their day s work in the mills of the great central both devoted their leisure hours to the present and to improve the future condition of their fellow workmen contrary to the of many labor they accepted neither salary nor for their services they were glad to work in the cause because their hearts were there have you heard what the did at their ing to day was s first question marked her anxious expression and answered yes a cut down has been ordered to â november ist â no flesh a cheap as human flesh they were seated on opposite sides of a plain wooden table placed her elbows upon it and rested face in both her hands they say pursued that tlie strike of year made it impossible for them to pay a that they have a right to earn a reasonable on their capital and that at the present rate of wages they cannot do so i learned all this from ca ter s son who is mr baker s errand boy and was told to stay in the room s expressive countenance took on a subdued look as she listened but not a sign of was visible she bent her dark eyes upon her companion drinking in every word of the unpleasant tidings with the resignation of an invalid was mr there she asked yes did he say anything he was the most emphatic of them all we must teach these people a lesson were his words it is time it was settled who owns these mills if these do we will abandon the field to them but let us make the test first was very careful to remember all your talks seem to have gone for naught took up a pocket testament which lay on the table it is eighteen centuries since christ died for us and yet we feel the s hand shall we therefore say he lived on earth in vain no the seed i have planted in mr s heart will bear fruit some day be sure of it he returned the radiant look she gave him how hopeful you always are he cried at the darkest hour it is almost daylight with you but you t or have not heard all we have been too in thâ past he said i am in favor of giving mr baker absolute power we ought to have a mill owners league so that when the workers in one mill go out every in the country shall cease to if wc are to have a strike over this cut down it can be so managed that we shall never have another we must give these people a taste of idleness that they will not care to repeat in this generation we ought to be ready to lock the mill doors and leave to itself for a year if necessary hitherto we have appeared to resume the hands knew that at the worst they could accept the mill s figures at any time on the next strike i want to see them await our pleasure it will cost us something but we shall profit by it in the end the day has passed when any man â or woman â should dictate terms to five millions of capital the heard every word without changing her attitude a stray lock of hair fell carelessly across her face adding to its former only the of her full bust innocent of discern able through her plain print dress betrayed the effect the story had upon her what does he think we are â cattle t worse replied he would not risk the lives and health of cattle as he risks ours no flesh is held as cheap as human flesh to use the expression of the day our race is suffering from over production we are slaves to masters who do not even have the to provide us food how is our condition better â that of the russian when he was

0Arthur Conan Doyle

tied to the soil we have no trade but that of the mills if one us bâ we can go to â ho as as human flesh and find the same condition of things there this is ordered what can we do strike said at the approach of winter you see they have presented the issue to us at the very worst time of year we must destroy their profits she said with decision they are susceptible to no other argument but do not wait until november a committee at once to wait u on them and ask to have the wages fixed for the year if they refuse to discuss the matter if they strive to gain time by delay if they insist on the cut down rate let every man woman and child quit work immediately looked surprised at the audacity of the proposition we shall listen to you of course he answered we obey you but have you thought of everything she clasped her hands together what have i not thought of hunger cold little children crying for food and fire suffering women despairing men yes i have thought of it all i know what a long strike means but imagine yourself on the far western with your exhausted and no possible means of it from any point what would you do sit down and weep no you would undertake the journey toward of plenty the march might be long the nights cold the wolves might howl around your camp fire the sun might you the chill you but you would still struggle on we must make our stand right where we are against these if they can cut the scanty wages we now they can cut them again and yet again if to day v submit to be crushed to the earth to morrow we a speaking of be ground in the mire we must strike our people must be impressed with the full significance of the move as mr says it will be a decisive contest a knock interrupted the speaker and when she opened her door the presence of the man whose name was last upon her lips certainly surprised her a little however she bade him enter in a pleasant voice and gave him a chair rose and took his hand with no greater or less outward cordiality than usual i did not intend to be an said but i could not avoid hearing my name mentioned as i reached the landing it is perhaps a natural curiosity that leads me to wonder what you could find interesting in that subject glanced at as if it were for her to make reply but she signified that he might answer and he said we were speaking of the relations of the great central to its work people we l said pleasantly in what respect has the offended its this time there are of an intended cut down evinced a little astonishment at the rapidity with the news had then he looked at the cr m lace that in his direction and wondered what she thought of him if ther should be a cut down he replied it would be ordered from sheer necessity probably you are aware of the fact that the have had no for a year you would hardly claim they ought to invest their money here without â ome reward or â perhaps you would though he pausing glanced at in the hope that she would no flesh as cheap as human flesh take up the argument but she gave no sign and he proceeded for ten years previous to the last one the great central paid an average of twelve per cent on a capital watered its five millions of stock represents an actual of not more than one million dollars in other words the have sixty per cent in profits last year the workers asked for a slight increase in wages when it was refused they went out in a body the mill was idle twelve weeks and i presume it was on that account that no was paid nodded assent to the latter proposition in those twelve weeks he said the of the lost that might have earned in the same time from various causes connected the lost more than double that amount at the end of the strike the hands returned to work at the old wages the total result was a loss of nearly three quarters of a million as i figure it now please tell mc if you know what was the gain did not immediately reply and after waiting a moment continued from the results of that strike as you have rightly guessed the received no the product of other mills filled the place of theirs in the the evil results are still felt if a is to be earned during the next twelve month expenses must be in some way had the work considered before the last strike they could have predicted this result by the mills at an important time they caused a heavy loss they may or now be asked to make it up and if so how can they t unjust you contend that these must have then sixty per cent even if it comes out of our sweat blood said i contend in or e word that i have the right to chase labor if i r m an employer at the lowest market price if the owner of a of cotton asks me more foi it than i believe it worth i will not make the purchase until he comes to my terms if the owner of a day f work does the same i will treat him in like manner any other course would the entire fabric of business it was who answered that you speak of what you have the u to do you mean th power j i mean both he said you have lived

0Arthur Conan Doyle

in this world for how long â thirty years about that what have you ever done she said earnestly to earn the food you have eaten and the clothes you have well he smiled i have been a guardian of ind a of estates it has kept me pretty busy and i might add without that those who have employed me have expressed satisfaction leaned her elbows upon the table and rested her face ir her hands as she had done before he came he thought he had never seen her look more picturesque no doubt she said no doubt you have done well for them but tell me have you ever earned a penny m your life have you r no flesh as cheap as human flesh is there any necessity of life that owes its existence to your personal labor lowered his eyes under her searching gaze that is a most remarkable series of personal he said she hardly seemed to hear his answer you have lived thirty years is any one the better or the wiser for it you have had the charge of much property as you have made it produce the highest interest possible perhaps some of those of yours have more money than they will ever need â double what they spend â it is the same to you perhaps the people from whom the money comes are very poor and draw it from the of nearly empty pockets â you do not care under the law it ia due and you collect it you are acting and great good noble paternal government will support you even if you take the bed from under a child that is dying found it difficult to preserve his in the teeth of such an but h thought it best not to interrupt her while she did convince she interested him what valuable thing have you ever done for your i ask again pursued the of did you ever place a or a grain of corn in the did you ever plant a seed from which fruit has grown have you woven a yard of cloth put a needle into a shoe a tree for have you taught children to read given medicine to the sick dug a grave for the dead many persons have labored for you since you were born what have you done foi them nothing you have lived on the product ot t take for that suit o clothe speaking of you are wearing somebody tended a flock of sheep on the plains somebody them of their washed the wool it transported it many miles spun colored cut made and pressed ic into its present form it is a handsome suit but it does not become you well because i know you have never paid for it r was about to a word but with a quick motion him to silence did not offend him he was with her eloquence i can think of you as a babe continued the looking through rather than at him you had a hired nurse of course being the child of parents well to do a on your soft garments a doctor was summoned if you cried when you grew older teachers expended their energies into your mind the knowledge that may be found in books they taught you how to read the laws of your country to the compound interest on four millions of watered stock at twelve per cent per to write essays on the unaccountable growth of vice and crime among the poor servants attended you prepared your meals swept your chamber gratified your every necessity when you reached the age of manhood did you seek to render equal service to other helpless ones no you wo re a gentleman â god save the mark you never did anything you never to do anything to help support the great table at which you have so he listened with countenance and when she paused he said with deference i have no wish to dispute your but i am wondering if you think it a wholly â mo flesh as cheap a human flesh s sion to manage the affairs of the and whose interests have been committed to my charge husbands and fathers have died content feeling that their loved ones were provided for confident that i would carry out their wishes in the disposal of the property they had acquired ought i to abandon my wards and prove to my i ask you in all honesty what you think of that replied without a moment s hesitation the system under which you are acting is totally wrong because a man has succeeded in fifty times his share from the earth the mill or the mine it is no reason why his widow should fold her hands in idleness or his children grow up for others to port i grant you that no child should be deprived ot education nor of the innocent of youth but by what scale of justice must one set of children toil for instance in the mills of the central in order that another set may live in luxurious ease the will of a c ihe of a judge has placed certain sons and daughters of wealth under your protection but as a in these mills at there are also other children to whom you owe yes children young and children old your brothers and sisters by the same almighty father who will surely hold you to a strict account when your final books are opened the silence that followed deepened tho of these words was the first to speak â i think will allow me to say that in ner of capital she does not mean to be especially severe upon you personally mr she has only i believe used you as representing a class q speaking that is all certainly said with a smile that bore no trace of

0Arthur Conan Doyle

you are s friend and that makes you mine we may differ for the present but i think we shall do so with good nature j do you the justice to think you a perfectly honest man from your wholly if we ever convince your reason i am sure you will come to our aid meantime i trust we shall see you often i admit that there is a fascination in your argument said and yet your views seem to me quite but we shall soon be face to face with a real problem in which i may be compelled to take an important part the which will arise may strain our friendship i hope they will not break it before they do anything rash i trust the people of will consider well the mill owners were never so strong in their determination to run their business after their own methods all three had arisen as the speaker showed a purpose to depart smiled as she responded we also are determined and as he looked into her resolute eyes he could not doubt that a great contest was at hand descended the stairs and walked along the deserted streets to his hotel an odd thing came into his mind â a he had lately read au account of on the subject of affection between men and women the case of and looks like that sort oi thing was his mental comment their attachment is and no one could look for a moment her pure face and harbor the thought of anything base mill â chapter v the man one afternoon received a call from her cousin who proposed that she a ride with him out toward in a dog cart which he had brought for the purpose after recovering from the surprise into which this request threw her for he had never suggested such a thing before she accepted the invitation and proceeded to another room to prepare herself walked nervously up and down the parlor examining the pictures in an absent way for his cousin s blindness had not prevented her from her apartments with many of the painter s art had selected most of them for her or perhaps it would be more correct to say she had selected them through him he often accompanied her to and artists where she passed happy hours in listening to his descriptions of the works she could act see when his account of any picture pleased her she would ask for the most minute particulars regarding it and a purchase was frequently the result she noted with the of each work they were hung in her rooms and frequently described them one after another to with a fidelity that was astonishing another thing that she particularly delighted in was both of famous men and women and of well known works of art these she took much pleasure in touching with her delicate fingers no difficulty in each one as soon as â placed ber hand upon it nothing in her abode speaking of the least suspicion of the misfortune of the thought of this as he stood before one o the numerous long and surveyed his own form in a blind girl s room they seem almost as much out of place here as a husband would be was his thought had the highest opinion of his cousin though a year his junior she appeared to him enough older in wisdom to be his mother almost she had been a young lady nearly as long as he could remember s notion that they might be seemed quite visionary he had not come this afternoon for the purpose of proposing and yet unless that idea had been advanced he would not have been there at all he wanted to be better acquainted with his cousin he began to feel that he had done wrong to neglect her so when she was the only relation he had in the city besides an acquaintance with a year ought to be cultivated when they were seated in the cart and had ridden two or three blocks surprised by asking what was the matter with him that afternoon you are troubled about something cousin she said tell me what it is i troubled he answered why do you think that oh i can tell responded we blind people can comprehend some things better than you who have sight in the first place you are which is something very new for you then your movements are more uneasy than is your habit instead of taking a seat in my parlor and looking out of the window while you were waiting for me you paced the floor then again though you have known me all your life this is the s the first time you ever took me to ride am i not justified in the presumption that you have some trouble on your mind that you think i may be able to lift or at least to advise you about come cousin own the truth for i assure you is useless listened astounded as she drew the of evidence about him well you are observing he said you admit the of my accusation she answered evidently pleased at this proof of her dis now what is it was the poorest person in the world at and on this occasion he astonished himself no less than his cousin by his reply say do you want to get married a bright color filled the girl s cheek at the question so wholly unexpected she drew several very short but almost instantly regained a portion of her outward composure who told you to ask me that she said then as he hesitated she added i know mr the young man s eyes opened so wide at this guess that his cousin would have had no difficulty in him on that proof alone had she been able to see their expression

0Arthur Conan Doyle

why â he began you are she interrupted why not be truthful let me give you a lesson in frankness i like you very much but i do not want you for a husband we ought to be attached friends â not lovers â and i trust from now on i shall see you more frequently that is if your other acquaintances will consent to spare you so taken by her cool and speaking or especially by the powers that she seemed to possess that he could only repeat other acquaintances with an that did not escape the quick senses of the blind girl she made an instant and successful guess yes that fair creature for instance who has taken up so much of your thoughts during the past year there was little risk in making this plunge there are few young men who could not find some one in their list of feminine acquaintances to fit the description even if should protest with evident sincerity against her accusation all she need do would be to laugh it off as a joke but had the wisdom of her sex combined with the of those to whom physical vision is denied she remembered s words he s got the blood in him tell me about her she said softly tell hie what you mean by proposing marriage to one woman while your heart is already by another goodness he cried desperately you take a fellow s breath away love is one thing you know â and â and marriage â why that s another ah she retorted with mock dignity so you were going to marry me and reserve your ov for else he was more startled at this than at anything else she had said she perceived his agitation quite as distinctly as if she could have looked into his disconcerted countenance either you are a he said or what is more likely has been giving me away the color left the blind girl s face and she responded in an tone you admit that he knew of your plan then the man yes confessed the young man if you must know knew of it and lie gave me one of his lectures too it was mean of him to tell you though he added in a burst of indignation he knew i gave it up as soon as he suggested i should the young man had no idea of the way he was into the hands of the d woman whose talents he so little understood she could read him as easily as another person could have read an open book easily conceived that a woman whom a man proposed to continue loving after his marriage with another must be of easy virtue love is one thing marriage another he had said partly to satisfy the curiosity of her sex and partly for a more creditable reason she decided to prove the matter to the bottom mr never mentioned such a thing as that to me she replied he would not think of it i am sure and if he had i should not have listened my information comes from another source which you must not ask me to reveal now a woman s question is naturally this why do you not marry the one you love cried for he no longer doubted that she knew his entire secret marry her that s not the sort of girl that people marry i think you must be cousin is pretty and bright and she was good enough till she came to me she is oh of course she d never do for a wife how would you like me to bring her to nail on you or take you out riding in the same carriage more than that i d have to marry some woman who had money of her own or we couldn t live did you know i d got down to a miserable o a week q of no she said i thought you had nearly double that how did it happen why those confounded at a lot of the stuff uncle left me to draw on was in the great central which hasn t paid a cent of for a year and may never again i m in a half the time i only wish he had left my funds in real estate the way he did yours listened with interest when he died the stocks paid better the real estate she said with a business air but my dear throwing aside for a moment the moral questions involved which you can understand as well as i are you not a reckless and extravagant boy to undertake the care of a young woman when you confess your inability to support a wife i have heard that such connections are usually more expensive than legitimate ones it struck for the first time that they were getting into rather deep water i think we ll change the subject if you ve no objection he said i have asked you to marry me and vou have refused so i have no choice but to stick to miss smiled and placed one of her hands on his no we will not change the subject just yet she aid i am not preaching to you my dear cousin no doubt i ought i am only talking in a reasonable business like way which you should be to bear now to return to you say she was a good girl until she met you yes there is no doubt of that the man not the slightest and â with the exception of her relations with you â you believe she is good yet i would stake my life on it then i would like to meet her almost stopped the horse he was driving as he heard this extraordinary suggestion you he cried do you know what you are saying perfectly she

0Arthur Conan Doyle

responded there are in my estimation between your and the class usually known as abandoned women she is your true wife in all except a legal ceremony i fear nothing from contact with her for i know a girl cannot be very degraded in whose society my cousin finds such pleasure that he wished to continue in it even after his marriage with another tribute to however i will not ask you to bring her to my rooms i will go to hers thought a moment before he spoke why do you wish to meet her i tell you he added she is an awful nice girl only he continued i wish she wouldn t spend so much money she wouldn t let you fill her up with advice though hang it she won t take that even from me miss hastened to him i promise to do or say nothing to which either of you can object i am so reasonable in my desires that i know you will not refuse me the good natured fellow instantly responded that he had no if was willing but that he still thought the idea a peculiar one so it was settle w of that if the little n girl gave her consent he was to come for on the evening of the following day contrary to s expectations was delighted at the prospect of meeting his cousin when he explained the situation to her and when arrived she came forward in a dainty evening costume hardly less interested than the blind girl herself the pretty flat which she now occupied was situated in street not far from sixth avenue and its had gone far to cause that in his of which complained it was a perfect of a place â the rooms hardly above twelve feet square â and so filled with furniture and a as to seem much smaller than they really were young had once remarked that it would not be an easy matter for an man to make a safe tour of those apartments through the nearest approach to a channel that he could find and then presented the two young ladies to each other with the usual miss my cousin miss held out her hand frankly and took it then they seated themselves together on a a my blindness me to use methods of which may seem strange to you said but you will pardon me i am sure may i touch your face with my fingers whose countenance bore an expression of mingled amusement and sympathy gave ready permission s hand was then passed over the french girl s features and afterwards over her head and neck the investigation was so thorough that s smiles deepened and at last she broke into an the w audible laugh it was a musical laugh however and not to any ears that heard it do you object to this said the blind girl pausing in her occupation if you do â oh not at all replied it was in me to laugh i do not care in the least only it seems so queer examine me all you please i am beginning to rather like it continued slowly going over every feature a second time and making the most minute observations then she asked to stand so that she could get a good idea of her height and size you are not quite as tall as i but you are a little and must weigh about the same she placed her hands on the rounded arms and the rather full waist you are five feet two inches tall and you weigh one hundred and twenty five pounds one hundred and twenty four yesterday said your cousin is a good she is an excellent too he answered i should like to hear her opinion of you from thai i don t know what yo u mean â why a he exclaimed is one who judges people s character and disposition by the appearance of their faces tell us all about her cousin i would like to know what sort of girl she is uttered a little scream of oh i didn t know you could do that she said to i â i would rather you wouldn t â if you please her evident sincerity and iâ er look of terror of forced a laugh that was almost a yell from her lover she frowned on him with severity i don t think that is nice she said miss came to her assistance i shall say nothing about it she said while he is when we are alone sometime i will tell you what i read in your face if you would like to have me i should like it very much was the reply when that man â here she glared at â is away he makes too much fun of me now and i don t want any one to help him took this broad hint and soon after asked to be excused for a short time as there was an errand which he ought to do this polite fiction was accepted at its true value when the door closed behind him said now miss la â oh call me cried the girl i do not ike that and you will call me yes i shall be glad to well what do you think i came here for to day the french girl looked curiously at her companion and answered without hesitation to tell me i am very wicked and so i am i know it as well as you i was brought up to go to church and confession and to read the they are good things to do and i believe in them as much as ever but they are so hard it was not pleasant at four dollars a week then i love how could i leave him oh it is easy to talk i

0Arthur Conan Doyle

am doing no one harm and it makes me very she had a perceptible accent that ent a charm to her speech and as she proceeded there was a distinct tremor to her musical voice no responded taking the girl s hand in he own i am not here with any such purpose if i had intended to advise you to leave i should not have secured his consent to come we may not agree tha the life you are leading is a proper one but i will say nothing of that now this is what i wanted to tell you you may sometime be in great need of a friend you know where mr s office is if such a go there without hesitation and leave a note for me he will see that i receive it as soon as possible regarded her new friend with complete trust you are very kind madam she said but what could happen to me who can tell responded this is a strange world girls who a few years ago were living as happily as you are to night in the lowest of new york i would not like to have anything happen to throw you among their number not that i think anything will she added with a smile perceiving with her rare that the girl was about to protest but in case any trouble does arise a friend on whom you can call will be of value there are also other dangers which you risk â shall i speak candidly you a mother the french girl withdrew her hands with a motion oh i hope not she cried not as i am now j and if i were really married nothing would make me happier i never pass a child in the street that i do not want to take it up and kiss it mi s s eyes were moist n of there is much more that i would like to say tc you she said but not to day do not forget that you have made me a promise and now i will tell you what i find in your face you have great affection a sunny disposition an honest mind and a love of the beautiful your light may lead you to do thoughtless things and your love of pretty clothes may make you extravagant but you would sacrifice much in an emergency to aid one you cared for as she spoke passed her hands again over s features as if reading one of those books with raised letters which have proved such a boon to the blind and so indeed she was thinks much of you she continued softly and i know you will be good to him young soon returned and shortly afterward drove his cousin back to her avenue residence neither of them spoke until they reached their destination then who ever since they started had been trying to find words remarked well cousin how do you like her my dear she replied earnestly i like her very much â i like you both very much but â forgive me for saying it â you seem to me at this moment the man i have ever known converse the s chapter vi converse the trouble was evidently at were going the rounds among thâ of the great central secret meetings were held lasting till past midnight agent baker commented upon the strange fact that and who grumbled incessantly at the long hours of mill work could sit up so late and still be at their posts at the usual time each morning but agent baker had a theory that mill hands would any way when the pay was much higher than now they complained with almost equal energy they always wanted higher wages or fewer hours or something else merely because it was their nature to be dissatisfied even the were getting to be as bad as the others nobody asked them to come to this country and if they didn t like the style why didn t they return to the dominion many of the other were english and irish â people who never saw meat in their own countries except at christmas did any one ever hear of an english or irish going back never what was the moral then undoubtedly these people were treated better in america than they ever were before and much better than they should be so said agent baker as many good and wise men have said before him and are still saying and he did more than say it â he thoroughly believed what he said there was just one of the great central speaking of whom agent baker considered worth his notice aside from the natural interest he might feel in all the necessary to the mills under his charge this was he had had his eye on for a long time had agent baker he came to the mills earlier many a morning to see the as she entered the great gate he walked through one particular room more frequently than any other because she was there he thought her a very foolish girl to slave her life away over a loom with that figure of hers he wondered that she continued year after year to bend her handsome neck over and there were better opportunities for a girl like unless agent baker was mistaken and still he was not likely to forget a certain day some time before our story opens when he sent for to come to his private office on a pretended errand in connection with her work on that occasion when he finished his reference to the point at issue he asked her in his most winning tones why a girl of such evidently superior had taken up a class of labor for which much less intelligence would suffice as she at first made him no reply he her silence and

0Arthur Conan Doyle

growing bolder alluded to her beauty which he said would adorn a mansion his meaning became but the agitation he looked for did not appear he watched her cheek narrowly and not another drop of blood came to mantle its rich color could his victory have been won so easily or horrible thought could it be she had already sunk to a point where his words awoke no shame she did not leave him long in doubt rising with an air that would not have been unworthy of the great elizabeth she converse the â â looked down at him for a moment as if from an height sir she with a distinctness that was almost painful you are incapable of understanding me were i to reply to you in the terms you deserve i leave you my pity and my scorn agent baker laughed when the door closed behind her but he did not feel quite comfortable he had talked with mill girls before and his assistance had several of his from the of to more quarters in new york where he had frequent occasion to go on business he had seen mill girls before but nothing exactly like this has been reading novels i guess he said to himself and has got hold of a lot of high flown language she will think better of it by and by the of did not mention this occurrence to any one â not even to â and though many noticed the increased with which she invariably treated the agent none suspected its full significance the and had come to regard so highly that the idea of any one even the agent making improper to her would have been received with incredulity to the working people of was more than a companion and friend she was their queen her simple word would quite suffice at any moment to stop every wheel when a dispute arose between employer and employed the question first asked was what does say agent baker did not realize the extent of the s influence nor of the affection with which she was regarded he did not know what was the of ž fact that even his life would have been in imminent danger had she related to some of her followers all he had said to her he looked down upon the mill hands with that contempt too often shown by capital toward the ladder on which it has climbed to he saw that had beauty and intelligence he would have possessed himself of her if he could used her for a till he grew tired of her and then thrown her aside as he had others the world was made for mill agents and according to the theory of agent baker mr baker had a comfortable fortune the greater part of which was invested in the mills over which he presided had told the he was ready to resign his position should there be another general strike many â as is the custom ot the class â had his management when thej found their cut off and he was quite willing to give up the reins at any time who represented large interests as was considered his natural successor if he would consent to take the place some of the thought a change of agents the intending the hands knew baker and realized that he was entirely as far as the making of money was concerned but s had spread like his assertion that he would close the mills for a year were he agent when another strike occurred â till the grass grew in the streets as some quoted it â had made a deep impression it was one thing to go out of a mill into which they could return at pleasure and quite another to abandon their work for a twelve month these facts were known to the and they began to demand that accept the position at once in order if possible to converse the secure the of the cut down any of labor though much interested in the arguments he had heard from and never wavered in the least in his line of action me still believed that duty to his wards demanded that all his efforts be directed to settling the labor question at in a way to best serve the interests of the all of his business training had led him into one way of looking at such matters he may almost be said to have inherited his views for his father had been a life long before him he did not desire the agency of the great central mills on account of the salary attached though it was a handsome one his only object was to protect his and others of their class and he had an idea that a policy would b st the purpose in the long run it seemed to that a had best be fought at whatever cost rather than an interminable series of before deciding whether to accept the p f of the be determined to ascertain if the were of his own mind in this matter at one of their he put the question before them if he took the management of their property would they stand to his â if it became necessary to stop all business for an indefinite time without a voice all he asked then and not till then l he accept agent baker s resignation was i and agent was elected in his place the first official act of the new agent was to post a statement of the list of prices which were to rule on and after november ist groups of women and children gathered that night about and read them through to the words speaking op order of the philip agent there were sad looks on most of the faces but here and there a flashing eye or a set mouth other thoughts at

0Arthur Conan Doyle

eight o clock and the other leaders of the met in private council to discuss the situation we shall have your friend to fight it seems said william converse one of the head to as he entered the conference room and my friend too remarked quickly noticing the that converse had put the word friend we shall soon see how friendly he is to any of us the man retorted if all i hear of him is true he could be no friend of mine his manner though very earnest was perfectly respectful we can hardly our personal to those who agree with us on all questions responded i have met mr several times and i consider him a gentleman as far as he is a representative of capital we may and doubtless shall it is likely that he will try to carry out the wishes of men whose selfishness them to an odious system in this attempt he will be very firm we must meet him with equal firmness but i think we can depend on being treated with perfect courtesy converse stamped his foot impatiently he was a man who had been born and bred id the atmosphere of the mills the universal regard foi s presence rested lighter on him than on any of the others at times he found it impossible to resist an outbreak of feeling he was practically an in s the t and thought s patient methods a poor weapon with which to fight so great an enemy courtesy he repeated with ill concealed scorn it is not courtesy we want from these fine gentlemen but justice soft words will buy us no bread a man who acts as the tool of the rich who hav to cut the wages of our girls from to a week is a monster of whom the world would well be rid to you he may seem a friend but to me he is a deadly enemy and if the right time comes i shall treat him as such there was a slight ripple of applause in the room it was a peculiar collection of faces poverty and hard work had written lines on most of them and were perhaps the only exceptions nearly all wore the clothes in which they came from the mill but two or three had made a slight attempt to improve their appearance as it was in the middle of the week were the rule sunday being the only time when most of them indulged in the luxury of a was the only woman present and among that odd crowd of men her intelligent handsome countenance looked strangely out of place we all know the object of this meeting she said quietly with a lead pencil on the table at which she had seated herself you have seen the announcing the that the to adopt november ist i think a small committee should be to see if we can get this cut down a growl from the man interrupted the speaker have you any suggestion she said turning him speaking of much good your committee will do j he we sent one last year when we had the other trouble and it only wasted time my advice is strike and have done with it a of hoarse voices the sentiment that s it let us strike at once a committee will do no good and similar expressions were heard i agree with you that it will not be likely to have a favorable result responded but it will have a moral effect on the public and put us in a better condition to win their sympathy converse gave a defiant i tell you we have had enough of that sort of thing he cried the public what did the public ever do for us we must teach these mill owners a lesson they will never forget they worship but one god â wealth let us walk in a body out of the mills let us give them a week to restore the old â a low before this if they remain deaf to reason i want to see every edifice they own in ashes and if that will not do a few of the owners lying dead among the ruins public sympathy committee of conference fire and blood is what we want â and the sooner we have it the better not a ripple disturbed the of s face during the delivery of this impassioned speech she marked the fiery eye of the englishman the the arm the fist that struck the table almost hard enough to break it then without comment she named the members of the committee â converse and a named but the englishman refused in the most positive manner to serve â i will undertake any reasonable errand in this business he said but i could neither listen nor talk the patiently to these blood if you make it an order of course i must go but you will not do that put yourself on in my place if any good can bo â you would be worth a hundred like me a general expression was heard in favor of the last proposition and consented to it reluctantly the next hour was taken up in an discussion of the general subject at issue at the end of which dismissed the meeting as all rose to depart she gave converse a silent signal to when the door had closed behind the last one of those who were going she drew the bolt and turned to her sole companion he had the ugly look still on his face she walked toward him and stood foi a moment silent with folded arms how long must i tell you the same things day after day she have you no memory whatever now here is your very last warning if you again break forth in the way you did to night i shall

0Arthur Conan Doyle

decree your dismissal from the council i have no use for and converse did not before her his reply terribly in earnest â they can kill us they can burn our hearts out with ill paid toil t that is all right â but we we can do nothing did not her as she answered you speak like a child â like a very angry child who has no thought higher than that of revenge on one who injured him we have something of greater moment to accomplish and must proceed with wisdom not do i not know our wrongs as well as you they are into my inmost soul i have my life to studying the remedy and i tell you of rash that cutting throats and firing buildings only keep us the longer from the end we seek and so we must continue to bow the knee he answered bitterly we must still beg for what we should demand we must hear their talk about cents and and market prices and all that what revolution was ever accomplished by ch methods had you lived in you would have spared the tea that the americans threw into boston harbor in you would have held up your hands in horror at the sweetest sight of all the ages â the stream of aristocratic blood that flowed in the place louis xv in you would have cried to good john brown whose glorious folly the limbs of millions you are wrong it is my privilege â nay my duty â to tell you of it here when we are alone i tried to my tongue in the assembly but this poison in my blood too deeply i was born to be a man and these mill owners have made me a thing for sixty three hours of hard labor i now receive eight dollars they mean to reduce it to less then seven i am a single man â they have denied me wife and children â and i could support life on that sum but when i see the others â the women and the little ones who are forced into the spinning and weaving rooms toiling beyond their strength â my endurance gives out and i could one of their with as little as i would a wolf who had my you lack patience â began but he interrupted patience how long must i be patient i have worked in mills for tv years my father worked in them before me my i heard it from the the ds women â hurried home during my first months of life to nurse me in the half hour allotted her at noon hardly having time or strength left to eat a of the coarse mid day meal she died early killed by the owners of that english mill who rode in their carriages and lived like princes patience a few sharp knives a handful of powder a bunch of matches or a pound of may influence such men but patience â never did not move an inch from where she stood during this at times the rounded arms which were across her breast seemed to press more tightly upon each other and her full lips shut so closely that the rich color left them but she gave no other sign if you have finished you may go she said with severity when you feel that you must make such speeches as this seek me out and ask a private audience but if you again utter such sentiments at a meeting of the council â or among your fellow workmen â you will be dealt with i have been chosen your leader i did not ask nor desire the position but having accepted it i will be obeyed i the englishman drew the back of his hand across forehead to clear it of perspiration relieve me of my duty at the council then he said i cannot refrain from speaking when i hear the things you say you can and you shall replied the woman firmly i want you and you must remain you must learn to your feelings i will give you one more trial li you succeed i shall have much for you to do if not you know the penalty the man hesitated a moment to take th which held out to â what she o do you pause at the he leaned over the hand and touched it with his lip then he began slowly as i regard and respect â ah she exclaimed impatiently the â commands â she tried to withdraw the hand from him but he held it fast and added quickly of the owner of this hand â may my comrades ana respect me as â â she snatched the hand from him you need not finish a pledge she si d severely that comes with such evident reluctance i will have none but willing followers oh he cried in tones of meaning why will you always me have no f who his life less than i words are empty things but deeds will tell when i am only impetuous you treat me as if i were a i yield to no man or tn my devotion to you and i will try hard to g e you lo further offence let me â oh let me â the she allowed him to take the hand again and he proceeded as i support my comrades under her direction so may they support me my liberty or my life shall be at her pleasure if i fail in any respect in my duty the had all disappeared from his tone and manner he uttered the words with the devout appreciation of a roman catholic at the christian altar your vow is accepted said solemnly evidently as a part of the same strange ceremony then they proceeded to the door together converse the the i â

0Arthur Conan Doyle

you have little faith in me he said sadly as they passed out no she answered i am sorry to say it henceforth it rests with you to strengthen that good night good night was waiting at the comer as knew he would be and the two friends strolled toward her home you are unhappy said after waiting some time to allow her to speak first is it because of converse she turned her beautiful eyes upon her companion no it is because of myself i have need of strength he talked of knives and as he has done before and you argued with him upon his folly as you have always done yes i argued i forbade him on the pen ever speaking so again in open meeting but that is not my worst trouble i not only heard his suggestions â listened to them the young man started as he perceived the deep meaning which gave to these words you are nervous to night he said you do not mean that you embraced his theories no i am sure you did not do that drew closer the arm she had passed through s â i listened to him â a thing i never did before his mother worked in a mill and used to go without her dinner in order to nurse him she died when he was a very little boy you know how he talks he is excited well he talked worse than of and i â i listened oh could you not pray ion me to night i need it very much he tried to laugh off her with an attempt at wit saying he never prayed and never should he saw some evidence that god intended to reform don t she whispered looking up at the star lit sky in a startled way god cannot utterly have forgotten us i know it sometimes seems as if he had but it cannot be the have built him a lot of fine churches lately said and thus diverted his attention from poorer folks for awhile i saw a statement the other day that mr million whose money is all invested in mill stocks had given toward an elegant house of worship in new york generous man f cried the newspapers like a parcel of i d like to get the almighty s ear just one minute to tell him that you and i and old and the widow s little invalid helped to earn that money and that mr million never contributed one cent of it seemed too wrapped in thought to answer and after a brief silence he added when are we to go to meet mr mr repeated in a tone so loud as to astonish her companion why yes he is the agent now you know so he is she said slowly i had forgotten i will set the time to morrow the in her room at the mill remarked the next day that there was an extra on the face of he and an extra calmness too but they did not know the reason a k s chapter vii a s of course told of the non success of attempt to secure the hand of his cousin miss there was very little indeed that he did not tell his ex guardian and present he related the full particulars of the conversation that they had in their ride out toward and all about the visit that afterwards took to the little french girl he told philip had been much impressed by the affair and had even gone the next day to a father for confession and but as the latter depended on a promise to abandon her lover she came home without it the outward forms of her faith had always been observed by the girl on a friday she would have swallowed as soon as meat and on certain saints days she never missed attendance at â church services she nearly broke with one night when he her because she persisted in counting her beads longer than usual before coming to bed she had two or three images and a small which money could not have bought when her with she retorted that such a criticism came with poor grace from a who had never knelt lo the virgin nor of a single communion all of these things he told to who laughed at them not because he cared particularly one way or the other but because it was his normal condition to be so refused you he smiled i very much s speaking op fear you did not use due tact in coming to the point asking a woman in marriage is very much like buying ij piece of real estate i imagine i have heard too it seems to me that they do not always say what they mean you had best wait awhile and try again oh meant it fast enough he replied but is not the worst of it i don t want her any more than she wants me i got a little dazzled at the a year but the minute i got my foot in it i was if she had accepted me i don t know what i should have done this announcement amused more than anything that had preceded it had such a helpless look as he his narrow escape that the laughed aloud you are good for the my boy he said i think i must get you to go down to with me for a week or two there is going to be a great there i expect and i shall need some one to keep me in spirits i am living all alone in the big agency building with no one to speak to except the servants during business hours i find it all right but the even are say will you come the young man hesitated could iâ no of

0Arthur Conan Doyle

course not said his friend without much difficulty the question he was about to ask what could you do with a girl like in take her to the agency that would look well wouldn t it board her out the whole village would be talking in twenty four hours and the white caps might visit you can t you leave your sweetheart just for a few days looked oh yes i an h said i don t like to though it a s must be dull in and would out wonderfully it won t be so dull when the strike begins replied on the contrary it may be too d d i think the biggest struggle ever known in this country is just ahead of us the are led by a young woman of superior whom they will obey like a regiment of soldiers on the other hand the have given me full powers and i shall use them the young man listened with awakening interest if there is to be a row i certainly wish to see it said he but an idea has just struck me if these people are so thoroughly under the control of this woman isn t there an easier way than a shut down wouldn t it be cheaper to pay her to give her followers a little sensible advice that has been worked successfully elsewhere you never have seen or you would not suggest that was the serious answer i would as soon think of trying to bribe st peter to let me pass the gates of heaven she has an object higher than mere personal gain mistaken as she undoubtedly is her earnestness admits of no question she and a committee of the mill hands are to meet me to morrow evening you would find it worth your while to be there thought a moment i could run down for a couple of days at any rate said he and then if necessary i could return i ll go and see what says sat at one of the windows in her little of apartments idly on the pane with her fingers when entered the room she did not move or turn r head but when he crept softly to her side and laid of his cheek to hers she threw her arms with an motion about his neck then as if betrayed into too deep an expression of affection she drew back a little and surveyed his face with a very pretty frown where have you been so long you told me you would stay but a few minutes long echoed her admirer taking out his watch it is exactly three hours since i left this room are you not able to spare me for three hours ah but you said a few minutes she if you had said three hours i should have known what to expect he smiled into her face and so you want the exact truth do you well listen to me to morrow i am going away for two whole weeks she started violently and then sat at him with a dazed expression presently her eyes filled with tears you do not mean it she gasped where could you go for two whole weeks there is no place that it takes two weeks to go to i must go with you wherever it is two â weeks he was so pleased at the evidence that she cared so dearly for him that he could hardly contain himself it is pleasant to be loved very much indeed when one is twenty two it is only a little way said he only to but you cannot come i am invited to mr s house â the mill agency â and there is no place for little girls like you then he tried to make her understand all about the impending strike and his desire to please a r mob low impossible it was that she could become a member f the party but the girl refused to be reconciled how can you men pretend to love us and yet use us is you do she cried we are good enough to kiss we can be and called pretty names w hen it suits you but if we want to go to any place people will see us oh no that is impossible am tired of it i would rather go back to s and on dresses if you go for two weeks you may as well say good by you will not find me here when you return had heard similar threats so often that he did not place too much reliance upon them but the possibility that they might some day be carried out gave him a certain alarm he did not know what he could do without she seemed as much a part of his existence as his eyes or his hands he did wish her more reasonable but he preferred her with all her to the awful that her absence would create he began to say that he would give up the proposed trip if it was so distasteful to her to this she made answer that he could do as he liked that it made no difference to her whatever that she was tired of a lover who always wanted to leave her and that he might as well go now and have done with it in this strain the french girl talked until she had half distracted i wish you would not say such silly things he exclaimed you know nothing can ever part us i am not saying silly things was her answer and a determined look came to the pretty mouth you may go to â of course you have a right to go wherever you â but you will not find me here when yo i of ell n return go i do not want you any more i am very

0Arthur Conan Doyle

of you she went to the bed threw herself upon it and hid face in the pillow at this began to get angry too he spoke to her several times and when she would not answer cried good by then i m ing put on his hat and left the house the french girl heard his steps as he passed down the staircase she lifted her head and laughed quietly it was so jolly to make him cross he always brought home a new or ring to make up with the farce had been twenty times before with the same ending in each case she went to a window and peeped out of a corner of a curtain upon the street there he was walking away as if he never meant to return without one backward look the dear fellow â how she loved him when he came in she would her caresses he ought to have known she was only in fun leave it was inconceivable she looked at him again he was turning a corner and walked like a man who had made up his mind mon if he could have believed her in earnest soon the girl crouched on the floor beside the window and began to cry it was cruel of to treat her so when she had been so good and kind to him she thought of her life at s â the plain food with at dinner the hard bed in the it all seemed well enough at the time but she did not like the idea of going back to it no she would not go there she would accept any work no matter how poor before she would let those girls laugh at her an hour passed and still she crouched by the window then a knock was heard at the door come in she called without rising a b â st the door opened and a young woman in elegant attire entered it was the sweetheart of young miss may had worked herself into such a state that even the pride she would ordinarily have felt before this crushing creature did not come to her rescue why what is the matter the french girl began to cry again he s left me she left you cried may again many times this month does it make what an awful baby you are say get up and tell me how you like my new dress don t you think so she posed before a long mirror turning in every direction to get the effects cost two hundred dollars i saw the bill is it too short in sometimes i think it is and sometimes i can t tell for sure of course i want to show my low shoes and robin s eggs how s that for a trail i got out at twenty seventh street and walked by the sl james and just to see the stare ha ha it was better than a she turned about again pressing the dress skirt closer to her limbs i believe it is a little too short even for the street rose to her knees and took a critical observation no it s just right i wouldn t alter t an inch i m awful glad cried may much relieved you were a s girl you know and your judgment ought to be good in such matters j never can tell about a dress but if it was a bonnet i wouldn t have to ask anybody i trimmed for two years â only for goodness sake don t mention it before â he would fall dead he is always talking of low people who for a living i rather think he i left a speaking of palace to live with him he makes me sick t does ever talk that way had risen to her feet in her friend s flow of language she had for the moment forgotten her troubles thus reminded of them her tears broke out afresh i know he ll never come back she sobbed it was not like any of the other times i was cross and wouldn t speak to him and he just said good by and went no he never talked high about the poor he knew all about the place where i used to work we met in a concert oh he s been so good to me and now i ll see him again may s only reply to these sentences which came from a quivering mouth was to laugh well you are the worst baby she said good one would think was the only man in the world to hear you run on now only yesterday told me his friend who is just out of college was looking for a girl he is richer than mud and will give her everything she wants and a dollars a week of spending money beside he wants something young how old are you seventeen sobbed just his figure now dry your eyes put on best clothes get into my carriage and i will take you to see him i ll he ll give you double what you from may glanced with careless contempt around the apartment women of her class as used the former slaves of the southern states often their own station by that of their masters come she continued as the girl did not move are you going you ll never get a better chance he a iâ b s handsome pleasant and rich you and i will have lots of fun together we will get taken to the theatre every evening and to a wine supper afterwards we ll ride behind the best horses that pass the park we ll clean out s we ll â she paused for far from going into at the glowing description of the delights ia store for her had opened a little that hung from a chain

0Arthur Conan Doyle

about her neck and seemed lost in contemplation of the picture that adorned its interior suddenly she lifted it to her lips and kissed it lovingly no she said in a low tone more to herself than her companion i shall never love any man but vou this picture â here she looked up â is worth more lo me than all the rich lovers in the world may laughed louder than before my dear she said that s not professional it would be worth a great deal in its proper place but it s wasted on me get your things on i will assist you you to catch before some other beauty has a chance of course if you don t like him or if you can t agree on terms you needn t stay kissed the picture again i am not i do not want him all my love now is in this little picture she kissed it again and her friend began to believe she meant it if does not come back what good will that picture do you asked she will it buy you a dinner or settle your bill a look came into s face that neither may nor any one else ever saw there before listen she said softly is the only lover i have ever had if he returns i will be very good to him speaking of if he does not no man shall take his shall go to work yes you may laugh all you please i am not a good girl i know that but i cannot go from lover to lover s money was not what tempted me here i loved him the moment i saw him coming into the doorway of that i aid not tell him so â we cannot tell men such things â they would soon become when he asked me to live with him i not refuse if he had not been worth a dollar it would have been the same may up her mouth with an that might have meant almost anything you are a little fool she said kindly but how should you know any better go and try your work again and see how it pleases you put on rough shoes and a dress and your fingers with needles don t forget though to pack your good clothes and where you can reach them easily for the will have them one by one when you are tired of it if you have any good looks left come to me and i will find you a market not a â you will be past that â but some old dutch or english to day you are as pretty as a fairy and you have refused the greatest chance in new york seventeen i would give anything to be seventeen with your baby ways i would make my fortune i am twenty three oh they never worship us after our are past come here and let me kiss you submitted to the embrace with unchanged gravity of countenance are you still decided asked may you will not let me take you to the handsome young mi well by good by when she was alone he n to c her trunk she had so many things ana the trunks filled up so fast every article she touched suggested the lover who had left her tears fell slowly as s he proceeded she held one pair of slippers in her hand foi several minutes they had long since been discarded for ones but she would n t have sold them for weight in gold they were the first pair he ever bought her she remembered the evening he tried them on â it was the second night after she came â and the s boy had to run back three times before he got a pair small enough such a s foot he had exclaimed kissing tne tinted and now the baby feet were going away from him every dress had its each piece of could tell its little story if it but had a tongue some he had about buying but he said so many things no one could tell how much he meant she recalled how he looked once at a bill of for and his subsequent assertion that one which she displayed upon her lovely person was worth more than the entire sum she folded that in with the rest râ of these garments were suitable for the sphere from whence she came and to which she was about to return there was a servant who kept the rooms in order more than one was not needed in a family whose only meal at home was the french rolls and coffee served in bed at eight or nine in the morning had gone out for the day and was glad it the trunks could be taken away before she returned and that i speaking op be better than explanations the landlord would where to get his rent and was always paid far in advance her demands for money were endless the visits of a very tall policeman and her want of funds being strikingly worked away until at last every article that could be into her trunks had been packed then she prepared herself for the street so as to an but where should she send them she had not thought of that as she the important question of her she thought of s blind cousin the lady who had called and talked to her so nicely if you are ever in trouble come to me she had said yes she would leave a note at mr s office as the lady had advised her she took out her writing materials and the following note she wrote a fairly good hand but her was a little peculiar deer you me to you in case i was in i have fell out with

0Arthur Conan Doyle

and want good to work do you no of i could do i will work hard and be good i want know more at mr s and i will call for it she read the note over carefully placed it in an envelope and then tried again to decide where she had best go till she could find work she opened the and looked at the picture so absorbed was she in this occupation that she did not hear the a s open nor realize that person was in the room until she felt an arm stealing around her neck thoroughly startled she sprang to her feet with a scream then seeing the intruder was she threw into his arms crying oh how you frightened me i thought it w is mr echoed holding her away from him and looking very dark you were g to leave me for him he added as his eyes fell on the full trunks this is the woman i have been breaking mj heart over no no cried the girl clinging to him i thought you had gone for good may came and tried to get me to go to see mr but i would not she said he would give me all the money i would take but i did not want him i have so miserable i thought i should never see you again did not look satisfied he had a deep suspicion that the girl was acting a part and until he had m re evidence on the subject he did not propose to rest with her mere as he thought the m over his eye lit on the letter she had just finished and he reached over and took it in his hand oh please don t read that she cried trying t take it from him for the first time since he had known her he pushed the girl aside with no gentle motion he wanted lo see on what terms she had sold herself to his rival he tore open the envelope and devoured the but it was greek to him he said roughly taking her by the wrists â what does this mean to whom were you going to end this letter speaking of to your cousin she answered weeping at his no less than at the pleasure of seeing him again she made me promise to write if i was ever in need o a friend he released her and read the note again i will work hard and be good i want know more the words sounded honest he turned again to who stood with her eyes still you were going to work yes at what anything and you preferred that to living with it t why i don t like to tell she stammered but you must tell iâ i can t you must well she said slowly her eyes and one of her tiny hands against his breast it was because â oh i wish you wouldn t make me say it â because i â loved â if it was acting it was done he thought better than or or in a second more they were in a close embrace and you thought i would never come back to you she nodded very fast while a child s smile shone through the glistening drops in her eyes how could i do that he said tenderly you said good by she whispered but you were provoking i she held up her mouth for him to kiss which did very well for an answer to that got everything d he suddenly and a yon car go to only you cannot he with me j shall live at the agency with and my blind cousin is going too i have talked it all over with her this afternoon and we have arranged a fine plan the girl s face which had brightened wonderfully at his first words clouded very much as he proceeded not be with you i don t understand you have long wanted to be useful he explained and now you will have a chance your best things are all packed away and you will leave them here in trunks tomorrow you will buy a lot of ordinary clothes and go down to and get work in one of the mills of the great central you won t get much pay but that will make no difference there v ill be a strike there within a month i feel sure you will strike with the rest and in fact fall in with whatever they do a woman they call is leader of the whole gang hire a room if possible in the same house with her and get her confidence my cousin and i wish to know all that is going on as it may be of much service to who i believe is going to have his hands full you understand you are to become a mill girl for a few weeks i will arrange some plan of communication so you can keep me posted will you do it was in the mood to do anything to please and readily assented they discussed the details until a late hour and she seemed at last to thoroughly comprehend the part she was tc â lay don t forget yourself for a moment or you are lost was his final you will be likely to see me often â in the mills or on the street â but you must not bow or even wink at me you could not mistake my writing unless i send you word be sure you do e of and after tonight i sha n t get a kiss for weeks per said thoughtfully no then let s make the most of the time we have she suggested and they did chapter viii the slave and the master instead of discussing the labor question with you this evening supposing

0Arthur Conan Doyle

i tell you a story the speaker was the of and the listener was philip agent of the great central the time was evening and the place the rooms of the in the nodded gravely he sat so near the that he could distinctly perceive the effect of the that she possessed apart from any merely mental experience they were alone this is my story said there was once a large island owned by a great and beneficent proprietor s surface was covered with ample fields forests an beneath its soil was hidden every known countless herds of cattle fed in its broad pastures innumerable fish the waters of its streams fruits grew in abundance in a thousand there was nothing want ng in nature to make it an earthly paradise the slave and the master a traveller weak and helpless with his journey his frail bark in one of the magnificent which dotted the island s shores he was faint with hunger and his form was destitute of even the merest tor as his eyes rested upon the goodly land a smile lit up his wan features here is warmth food rest and comfort he cried as he stepped upon the shore as he left it the craft in which he had made his voyage from him like himself it was of slender the waves soon it and he saw it no more toiling slowly up the village street the came to a dwelling everything about the place wealth the grounds were laid out in exquisite taste and evidently under the eye of a true landscape artist the lofty stood open a glance at the spacious showed that the owner was a man of taste as well as means the stranger confidently made his way to the door of this mansion and lifted the twice a servant answered the summons but drew back with aversion when hâ noted the poverty stricken appearance of the intruder how dare you these grounds he cried or i will call the dogs and set them on you i the stranger s lip trembled but he did not move be kind enough to tell your master that i wish to speak to him he said his dignified manner awed the servant into compliance with the request though it did not convince him that all was as it should be and muttering his indignation he departed but when the master of the house appeared he assumed an expression no more cordial than that which his servant shown this tlie stranger noticed but speaking of he was not therefore he relied upon tha superior quality of mind which a master should possess over a servant and proceeded with his tale sir he said i am a to this island from a place far distant an hour ago i landed upon your shores the frail bark in which i sailed broke in pieces in your harbor and even if it had not done so i could not return whence i came knowing not the way thither nor having the means of on my journey i am to find you here in the midst of plenty my wants are few and i pray you to supply them out of your abundance when i have eaten and drunk and been given suitable clothing of which you will observe i stand in sore need i would like to have you set apart for me a little piece of ground in one of your vast meadows on which by my own labor i can secure my on hearing these words the master of the house turned to his servant in great alarm hasten to call the police he exclaimed this is certainly an insane person who should be apprehended without delay when the servant had gone in search of the officers the traveller said to the master i am at a loss how to account for this reception i am not of mind as my quiet and sensible discourse must convince you i have committed no crime and know not of any offence for which i can be imprisoned by the authorities of this place unless it is my poverty and for that i surely cannot be blamed poverty cried the master of the house know you not that under our code that is the chief of crimes if you confess to being guilty of it the judges will make short work of you at this juncture the island police arrived and they the stranger before the on hearing the slave and the master the statements of h i the judges were about to order sentence when the traveller inquired whether he might not be heard in his own defence to it was answered that he had already admitted himself guilty of the crime alleged â an admission which his personal appearance made st unnecessary â and of the court was too valuable to be wasted in useless hare after consulting among themselves they decided however that if he would engage to be brief they would to anything he had to offer in of his fault thus permitted he asked first to tell him who was the lord proprietor of the island upon which he had when he heard the name his countenance brightened and he said b what right do you who are tenants here claim possession the judges told him they were all of kin to the proprietor then have an equal right here he cried joyfully for i also am of his family but the wearied with his told him sharply that to the proprietor was not the sole requisite to possession of estates on the island that all the land had been taken by the who first landed and was still held either by their descendants or by other persons who had accumulated wealth and purchased titles from them the first explained the judges found here a wild people whom they partly and partly drove into the

0Arthur Conan Doyle

interior after which they divided all the island among themselves and these wild people were they not of kin to our great proprietor asked the stranger they claim to be related said the judges not without confusion then said the traveller i protest against these titles which are by your own confession written in blood with the points of on speaking of made of human skin i have as good a right to the land here as these pretended and i demand that my share be allotted me the were thrown into disorder by this proposal and they consulted together for some moments then one of the oldest of their number stated with some severity that the point presented by the prisoner had been raised from time to time in previous years and had always been decided by the island courts the peace and harmony of the demanded that these should still be maintained and it ill became a new comer who brought neither gold nor goods to question the established customs of his this speech having been delivered and received with applause by the spectators whom curiosity had brought to the the the prisoner to be for an indefinite period the bond servant of the man at whose instance he had been arrested at the same time warning him that any attempt to escape the would be severely punished grieved at what he considered the injustice of his fate but at a loss how to it the slave with what grace he could summon entered the service of his master being apt and intelligent he soon found special favor without seeking it and his tasks were limited to those of the more agreeable kind one day the master who had grown to have a great liking for the slave unto him in this fashion why art thou discouraged at thy lot o slave it will be easy for thee to rise above it if thou wilt only avail of the opportunities that are around thee thou me one of the favored ones and yet my ancestors were not of the first comers to this island my grandfather came like thee naked and hungry and was and the tn like manner to in the interest of the public but he was not one of those who can be long cast down and he early sought means for his he soon obtained leave to labor beyond the hours assigned him he lived for years on the food and wore the that he might put aside the meagre sums that such denial brought him at night he lay on a of straw when his fellow slaves made merry he refused all invitations to join them when they had their and he retired to his garret to count his gold little by little his increased when he had a sufficient he lent to others who could give him good security charging the very highest of interest by the time he was forty years old he could no longer be called poor he had purchased his freedom then he obtained possession of a tract of land on which he had lent but a small part of its value the previous had a large family the care and education of which took all of his means and forced him to his rights on this land my grandfather discovered coal of surprising extent they were especially valuable as there was no other coal mine within a long distance a severe winter came on very for thou must know this island is not one of perpetual summer there was much distress among the and my grandfather found that he could get four times the ordinary price for his fuel when spring returned he was a rich man and could hold up his head among any of his neighbors he was subsequently elected to positions of honor and one of the most aristocratic of his fellow gave him his daughter s hand in marriage thâ slave s lip curled as he replied of e i it seems to me that your was ore of the greatest of whom i have ever heard cannot conceive a which could induce a man who had himself known the sting of poverty to become such an of his unfortunate neighbors having become comfortably rich it should have been his greatest delight to give the coal which cost him nothing freely to all who needed it how could he sleep at night for thinking how these poor people were using their fuel on account of its cost when by a word he could heap every fireplace high with warmth and gladness undoubtedly women sat shivering day after day within of his monster coal heaps little children died perhaps for lack of sufficient heat aged men s days may have been cut short because of the severity of the atmosphere it is incredible that such a wretch could have been elevated to office or that any man of reputation could have consented that such blood should be mixed with lis the master heard the slave with patience and then answered indeed it is all truth as i have related it to thee my grandfather became so rich from his coal mine and afterwards by buying up all the flour on the island and thus the price of bread that he built at his own expense the beautiful church you have seen in the centre oi the â wn besides giving a large sum to the fund for sending to the inhabitants of heathen lands when he died seven ministers assisted at the if you enter the church which he built you will find it adorned with relating to his and piety his son my father succeeded to his estate and i have succeeded to him thus thou how through the business ability and foresight of my thb slave and the grandfather his descendants are raised above the of toil and may continue so if

0Arthur Conan Doyle

they choose the end of time merely by the natural course of our property will increase vastly with each generation i have added to the acres possessed by my father and my son i trust will add as much more thou hast unusual o slave it is for thee also to rise if thou wilt but seek the means above thy then the slave rent his clothes and upon thâ earth in his wrath may my right arm fall lifeless at my side and my limbs refuse their office cried he if ever i attempt to climb thus to ease upon the necks of my fellows i each person on this island is a of the lord proprietor who will surely come one day and demand an account of the manner ye have used his benefits here â s abundance of all things that men need wherefore should one man spread himself over miles of to the of others equally deserving you have me to habits of industry and dwelt upon the merit of long hours of toil but it is evident that if each person did his proper share of work three hours a day would suffice to gather the of nature and all the of commerce you urge me to be but tne prodigal soil hardly yet touched by the laughs at your you say to me if you would prosper be but no other creature that god has made to set me the pie shall all the moving things but man have provided and he their proud superior who to himself all rights here and hereafter suffer from hunger not so o my master the time is at hand wh n shall rule â when justice shall sit on the throne long occupied by f â when the privileges of of the few will give way to the of the many prepare for that day lest you perish in the that will surely come the master at this and said dost thou threaten me o slave thou the of my severely shalt thine insolence be thee at that he summoned certain other slaves â fellows whose good will he retained by feeding and clothing them better than their mates â and at his bidding they bound ihe man and cast him into a but his words had been overheard and his doctrines spread among the people was soon filled with yet other slaves who had against their task masters one night a thousand of them rent their chains overpowered their guards and took possession of the town the oppressed on every hand rallied to their standard and to day that fair island is the happy and equal home of all the inhabitants thereof the stranger cast upon its shores is welcomed he is allotted a house and land enough to sustain him if he is weak he is cared for as tenderly as a brother in return he gives of his labor what is necessary to provide his share of the things needed and no more masters with of woods and fields that they could never use have disappeared slaves have disappeared too chosen by popular vote the abundance of the land to all alike no one is naked no one is hungry no man bread and fuel while thousands starve and and the great proprietor when he comes will find his with their arms about each other s necks in friendly union where or e either used o bore the lash and â n may mean ill chapter ix â it may mean tt was a strange picture philip the the representative of capital dressed sitting in the girl s furnished room turning his intellectual face toward her and listening with the most marked attention to every word of her in her gown clothed with a beauty of countenance seldom seen in the drawing rooms of the rich by death and by the law her story in an impressive manner bending toward her and piercing him with eyes that flashed a hundred lights as she proceeded the floor of the chamber was bare with the exception of several ordinary and the exceedingly cheap furniture was far from modern the of the were covered with old newspapers in order that the rays of the common lamp might not disturb their little occupants a few boxes filled with flowers and a half dozen pictures to the walls constituted the only attempts at ornament yet philip felt a charm in that place for which he could give no satisfactory reason he loved to hear those clear tones to feel the of that presence to look into those which gleamed with a radiance he had never seen before they could not well have been farther apart in social these but each found in the other an unaccountable attraction when finished her story he a little while before breaking the silence that fell â the chamber there was a pleasure in the of stillness that succeeded the of her voice leaned back in her chair and rested her eyes upon the there was no attempt to apply the moral ot the tale if it had made any impression upon him the effect would be evident in time an had learned to wait has this wonderful island a was his first question yes she answered on the maps it is called america and the date of the â already it has begun within twenty years it will be complete indeed and the strangers who arrive â are from the vast unknown she said solemnly i mind me of one who floated into last night the roof that it the food it eats must be repaid with slavery by and by poor little thing it did not ask to be brought here and it cannot return whence it came when it grows older it will have two dismal either to toil on till the grave receives its exhausted body or rise from its

0Arthur Conan Doyle

natural condition by crushing numbers of other slaves yet deeper in the mire small wonder is it that between such i so many take the latter human nature is weak the hard conditions under which we live blot out the finer sentiments and us into brutes i have heard that in the south before the war often bought other slaves and became the most of masters who passed through the greatest in their youth are the hardest upon the over whom they are placed i the ib u s wolves speedy oc mat their brethren and men are â â ry much like them he listened with g ve attention learned men he said have a that tht con struggle which has been going on for the rewards of wealth during sixty centuries is the greatest of the that has brought our race out of that the extreme of poverty has induced mankind to attempt its escape by all possible means and that the world has thus been a in the given to the and arts there is also a law of nature that has been named the of the she bent her eyes upon him until he wondered their fire did not his face out of she repeated with the utmost accent of scorn whom has it brought out of it has given ease and refinement to the few but the many are still fighting for the means to exist â fighting their self constituted masters and their unhappy fellow in the madness that necessity cast your glance over you will see a dozen palaces and a thousand huts where one person knows the comforts and luxuries of life a hundred are familiar with want everywhere you will find the same thing â idleness supported by industry non fed by who are the does any man dare say am inferior in natural to those silly daughters of wealth who every day cover me with the dust of their carriages as i walk home from work he hastened to her no you are not and i say this in all honesty and not from any wish to flatter you there is no need remaining in this sphere a hundred better are before you if you will take them but of speaking of the mass ot the as much cannot be said they are fit for manual labor and nothing else she did not take her eyes from him and who made them so she do you pretend that are a separate race from their and incapable of improvement why the workman of to day is the employer of to morrow the son of the employer of yesterday is the workman of to day laws would do away with these intolerable differences if i possess the superior qualities with which you credit me shall i therefore desert my less fortunate brothers and league myself with their shall i not rather remain in their ranks encouraging them to strive for the better time to come if we rise we will rise together if we fall you will find me with the weaker ones he asked her what changes she would like to first state and control of all i would not let one man â for the sake of increasing a pile of money already too great for his needs â raise the price of or every in the soil of america belongs by right to the whole people i would not allow a narrow combination to corner them and compel each to pay it an tribute i would not let the of a railroad company stand between the farmer who burns the corn he cannot sell and the who is pinched with hunger i would make over national the duty and of government beef that at two cents a pound in should ao longer cost fifteen cents in new york i would destroy the present business system which the of the poor and the number of it may mean no man has a moral right to any more of world s goods than he can use i would not let place his over a single of earth merely to gratify his desire for possession i would provide each child with a home and as good as that of any other child it should v the best possible education at the public expense a no circumstances should it leave its books in order to earn its dream murmured and how would you bring it about in her enthusiasm unconsciously moved her chair closer she almost touched him and he could feel even more than before the strength of her personality nothing is wanting she said but the consent o the majority and when our theories are understood that consent will not be long withheld at the present time the working masses are undoubtedly struggling in ignorance but thousands of them are groping for the which they feel is just beyond their prison house are those who will lead them the system of slavery has not crushed out all the manhood and womanhood in their ranks there are still a few who will reject the always ready offers to link themselves with the upper classes and behind the walls of paradise forget the souls still lingering in america is by laws we will gradually shape them to the great end we seek there is enough for all it each â given a just share and we will aim at a more distribution the is thinking he is learning to use the most potent weapon ever d in his the contemplated the mill girl for some â without speaking he would have been sâ of to sit there for an indefinite time in perfect silence the charm increased as the hours flew by but a guilty consciousness stole over him he knew it was the woman herself and not her arguments that impressed him and he felt that it was unfair to to take

0Arthur Conan Doyle

her time for his mere selfish picture he wondered again that she should devote her life to people so far beneath her in intellectual she had already answered his suggestion that she was fitted for higher things and mistaken she had like other the greatest of purpose thus reflecting he became aware that she was waiting for him to speak you have read much he ventured not so very much on these subjects she answered a few books that brought me did more to the opinions i already held than to give me new ones i am not an educated woman as must be apparent to you at twelve years i had to leave the common school to work for the the wages they pay have hardly enabled me to attend a she added with no trace of bitterness and even with a smile and i do not mean that i spend all i earn on myself either she blushed at what might seem to him like a boast there are so many in want me that the go as fast as they come there was nothing romantic in the surroundings yet he hated to depart the lamp began to smoke and the had to be adjusted the oil was growing low in its he knew it must be past o clock and that the mill wheels would begin to turn in seven hours more she needed her rest and there might also be an in his remaining with her so late and still hâ lingered he wanted to ber a longer b it h knew thai it wa mat h wholly selfish wish and aa he mastered it a last it is almost midnight he said looking at his gold i beg your pardon for so long upon your patience i quite forgot the of time in listening to you there was an honest straightforward ring in s voice as she replied there is no need whatever of haste an hour more or less of rest means nothing to me but he said slowly does the hour at which your visitor leaves mean nothing is as free from the tendency to gossip as that would imply he was immediately sorry he had said it when he saw the look that came into the face of the there is no person in who would dare question either my acts or my purposes she said with deepening color at least none of my own class and i care little â perhaps too little â for the opinion of the other they know to what ray entire life is as absolutely as that of a to her order i come and go as i choose at all hours and i never yet was i have too high a mission to allow me to dwell on trifles as long as i have breath my every thought shall be devoted to the elevation of the common people why did he ask the next question it was clearly impertinent you never intend to marry then f she started at the word marry he thought there was a cry of in her tone if marriage only meant to marry might some day consent to be a wife that state to which i fully believe god has called every woman of physical and intellectual vigor but marriage may mean lis op it may mean the calling into of to suffer as these others suffer that i see about me i have much courage but i could not endure the awful responsibility that comes with in these dark days to the poor almost every week some young girl comes here with a happy light in her eyes and a secret for on her lips she has been asked to marry she tells me who the young man is and asks my advice â really my consent â to wed him what can i say i dread the future that is in store for her â for him â for the whom they may summon into this world that has been made a hell by the of man i look into her face love has u and made the desert of her cheerless life to blossom as the rose her passion is a noble one a god given sentiment perhaps the greatest and best among his innumerable gifts she has a right to a husband s embrace a right to press her own babe to her breast who shall deny her surely not i but the years pass on the husband s wages make a scanty living for two though they contrive to exist with economy then the baby comes â oh how soon he seems to come â and the expenses increase before long i see the little mother at the mill gate in the morning with the rest of us â just to help out for a little while â but she keeps on two years more and another comes that period in which a woman is entitled to have rest and peace by all that is sacred she almost to her latest moment amid the crash and jar of the mill then we miss her for a few weeks with two children to care for and a husband s meals to get her whole time will certainly be needed at home but here she is pale weak only half recovered from her trial â at her loom more mouths to feed make greater necessity for labor may mean an endless chain has entangled her limbs and she never escape its folds i have seen it so often and yet when the next girl comes with the same happy smile to tell me the same story i give her my blessing and see her swallowed in the same there are girls in r girls who might have been under other conditions true and honored wives the young men do not marry as freely as they used they

0Arthur Conan Doyle

think of the future and dare not undertake the risks that matrimony brings relations are formed as a matter of course you cannot dam up a river so that the stream will not find its way to the valley cases that almost break my heart are being constantly brought to my attention i am full of sympathy for these girls though i set my teeth together when f think of the system that is responsible for their acts i often take one of them by the hand on my way home at night to prove to all that they are s friends a sure to respect among their fellow workers the crimes that follow these moral are frequently too dreadful to relate little souls are on the threshold of existence the last time the water was drawn from the great there were found â tells me â twenty seven little bodies what cruel mothers you will exclaim what a cruel system i will reply that the best feelings of our nature and the ones until they the rest he rose slowly and then stood looking into s â yes she rose also you believe me an honest man said he otherwise you would not talk to me in this manner i believe you intend to be she corrected the old smile returning i have my duty to perform as i understand it he con earnestly then he placed aod ion shoulder quite unconscious of what he was doing and she made no movement of objection i and esteem you most highly what i am compelled to do in the interest of those whose have been to me may strain our friendship but i trust we shall not let it break the is likely to be severe for after you and your committee left us this afternoon we to enforce the new scale of wages she did not move an inch nor the least surprise i expected that she answered we believe we are right he pr slowly and shall act accordingly a theory is one thing but a fact is another when the universal brotherhood of man arrives we shall all be glad to welcome it i have no doubt a t present i see only the thing that me at the price of cotton and of cotton a certain scale of wages is necessary to produce such a as these mills should earn that scale has been adopted i hope â i can hardly say i expect â the and will quietly accept it if they do i promise to do all in my power to effect an increase at the earliest moment the state of the market will permit if they prefer to go out and leave the idle the may build their nests beneath the undisturbed for the next twelve months listened gravely but still with no when he finished she said you are now not as philip but as mill agent and as mill agent and he assented speak in no other way she him a cheerful good night and he along the deserted streets to the a â are tou a upon reaching his chamber he threw himself into an arm chair and into deep thought an hour later he found himself staring at his reflection in the mirror opposite the image had such a threatening aspect that he shrank from it he turned this way and that in his chair to avoid its gaze which seemed a mixture of and anger when he could no longer endure the figure in silence he sprang up and confronted it with a show of boldness you would do the same if you had taken an oath he cried to his i am under the orders of a board of if there be blame it is theirs as well as mine then he went to bed but he rested very ill that night chapter x are you a were crowds in the streets of men and women with discontented faces thronged the the mills were deserted not a wheel not a whirled on the great gate of each mill was the legend in large black type closed by order of the and some wag had added on one of them after all the hands had gone out it might have been sunday it was so quiet but the holiday attire and the gaiety was missing conversation took on a lower tone little groups here and there dis s speaking of the all important question but what was said could not have been detected many feet away philip the new agent could see part oi the crowd from his window though the agency was some way from the and were him at frequent intervals expressed an opinion that the strike could not last long she had no difficulty in perceiving that the matter was on philip s mind and she wanted very much to encourage him said little he was thinking mournfully of the in his income which another year s loss of in the great central would listened until had repeated her sentences twenty times or so and then spoke this is no longer a strike it is a lock out in a strike the can return at their pleasure and resume work at the wages offered in a lock out the not only the wages but the time when he will permit the hands to resume labor the attitude we have taken our work people the ordinary way in a case of this kind is to attempt to put on new hands who are subjected to all sorts of humiliation if not direct assault and are and this brings on a general conflict between employer and in a lock out nothing of that kind can occur the having decided to lock its doors has no need to employ anybody the locked out people having nothing to excite them to acts of violence will the sooner tire of

0Arthur Conan Doyle

their amusement whenever we get ready to open the mills again they will jam the entrance in their eagerness to reach the but we shall be in no haste a little longer than usual will do these people good â s heard him attentively and thought he meant all he said heard him with equal attention and took a very different view on the second evening of the strike a little figure and veiled crept to the rear door of the agency and asked for mr as previous instructions to that effect had been given the stranger was admitted and shown into the reception room a few moments later entered he made two steps to her side and would have clasped her in his arms but she drew back are you a her voice was after waiting for the â on to have its full effect she added because if you are you cannot touch me laughed merrily thinking it not a bad joke lift your veil he said and i will draw from the deepest and best mine i own but she drew back again you must answer me i am completely in earnest are you a v no my darling he answered i don t believe i am i rather think i came near being one but our friends the have pretty well disposed of that peril oh i m so glad cried the french girl throwing up her veil i love you very much and i couldn t bear to think of giving you up but i heard one of the men say you were a and i couldn t have endured that you know now i ll take off my veil and â he caught her to his heart with one clasp it had been two weeks since he had had an opportunity to speak to her his quick fingers removed the screen from her face and the hood from her head though ho of m drew some rather warm criticism n himself m the operation by tumbling her hair down in his eagerness when he had kissed her until she compelled him to he seated himself by her side and began to her with questions in the first place what villain told you i was a one of the men named converse she answered twisting her hair back into shape and speaking with her mouth full of pins that she had drawn from the tangled i think he would kill every in the worlds if he had his way has an awful lot of trouble with him tell me all about her said he showing sudden interest oh you ought to know her cried she is the most wonderful woman i ever saw all the mill people do exactly as she tells them the night after i first began work i was taken to a hall and made to promise â but i forgot i was not to tell that bore a perfectly look as she made the discovery that she was breaking her obligation her eyes were opened wider than had ever seen them before it will be all right to tell me he said for of course i would let it go no farther that is what you came here for you know and i want to hear every word the girl looked but i promised not to tell â and â and a promise is â a â a is it was evidently useless to pursue this tack and he no longer insisted how did you like the work he inquired by way of splendid was the unexpected reply i was sorry when the strike began there is some in that too you are at the same house with hear m â m she assented i ve got a room on the same floor just across the it s the place f i sleep with a girl named fl h and if i start up suddenly in the night â g of you or anything â i my head against the low ceiling that comes down on my side of the bed frowned at the recital and that is what you call jolly v he said with a a month ago j ou thought our ten foot chambers too low for you now you like v mr head better probably he added as the thought struck him you prefer the to me also laughed at this how could i she said is a girl anyway she has got a brother though named oh ae s an angel the disgusted expression did not leave the face of mr horrible he ejaculated i suppose the next thing i hear you will be mrs well he s asked me she replied thoughtfully grasped her wrists so tightly that she uttered an expression of pain you shall not speak k ia thai way he ex claimed she pulled her hands away as soon as he would let her and moved her chair from bim i shall do as i please she said if a ood fellow wants tne for a i shall not wait consent of has been talking to me lately and what she said has set me to thinking her sober face struck a great chill into her companion anyone can talk to you except me and you will listen to them he said reproachfully you know i you above everything observed him gravely you would not marry me he flushed suddenly it is the first time any one ever proposed to me he said and i â the girl arose and began to put on her it is not the first time you have insulted me she said quietly but it will be the last this speech alarmed him my darling he hastened to say when you talk of going with another man you make me desperate this fortnight we hare been separated seems a year is it really true that asked you

0Arthur Conan Doyle

to marry him she bowed firmly after knowing you less than two weeks yes what kind of a fellow is he â a rough mill i suppose he is a christian she answered simply by which you mean a roman catholic it is the only true church said she he would make fun of religion as you do he was growing very uneasy but â you do not love him tell me that you do not i do not love him she repeated aad he caught in his arms and you do love me tou a â aiid i do love you he could hardly contain himself for joy bâ it why do you say such disagreeable things v she laughed and seemed quite contented again it is you who are cross she said you looked as if you were going to bite me when i said the ceiling was low in my bedroom do you think i am to blame for it i have done exactly as you told me i surely did not tell you to sleep with miss he smiled nor to with her brother she laughed again i had to sleep with somebody and i couldn t take my choice there are rats in the house so i wouldn t sleep alone anyway one jumped out of my shoe this morning as i was going to put it on as for i didn t with him at all i couldn t help him asking me though it was rather sudden then he got her to talking about and she told him again what a wonderful woman she was and how everybody obeyed her as if she were a queen she spoke of also and of converse the when he spoke of you as a he almost frightened me she said i could not bear to think of you as one of those men who get rich by the poor you ll never do that will you if you do i could never love you again and now what do you say about the strike he asked will they hold out long do you think the question seemed to her of course they will she cried they will never up â i heard them say so over and over in the great meeting last night the mill owners will have to pay the old wages or keep their mills closed speaking of what makes your friend do their dirty for them i thought him a nice sort of man here was news worth having from undoubtedly honest sources what do they say about he they don t say very much about him â won t let them she likes him and that is what nobody seems to understand he is the agent who has locked us all out but tries to stop all talk against him i think that will make trouble before we get through converse is the worst about it it was when he was talking on that subject that he used your name what did he say he was standing on the with a big crowd and he said something like this i ain t going to have a woman s love affair spoil this strike without a protest then the people around him said hush and looked frightened i don t care he went on he s brought a young with him too that s you and got him up at the big house along with a lady who has got a fortune made out of poor like us but he can do anything he likes of course and w mustn t say a word because he s s lover ther some of the men offered to strike him â they were mad â and do you know came up just in time when they told what converse had said he looked as black as any of them for a minute but finally he told us to go off as quietly as we could and not say a â about it to any one we all promised and â there â i ve been and told you another secret s face which had grown rather at the ir allusion to himself grew brighter as it encountered the look on hers it will no though the girl continued von a t you are on our side against the even if you do live in the house with the agent i you would join our society they couldn t say any more against you after that what society the sons and daughters of toil she replied with absolute sincerity i fear i am hardly eligible he replied his smile i have never labored very much you know they took m said she i joined a week ago and t know they would be glad to have you let me take your name in i would be delighted if i might had the greatest difficulty to preserve his at all not quite yet he said i want to look into the matter a little before i apply for admission but tell me what said to you you didn t tell her about â of course grew serious i told her there was â somebody she said couldn t help it she got it out of me before i knew it you can t keep anything from supposing she should ask you if you were in on false the girl s color deepened if i came here that way she said it is over now am with as fully as any of them not a will hold out longer than i i have never been happier than since i began to earn an honest living his face grew very long again and where does all this leave me oh she cried i wish you were â very poor â that you had to work and that we speaking of like these people i see about me i

0Arthur Conan Doyle

am glad you are not a she spoke the disagreeable words with breath but you are nearly as bad you do not earn anything the are your slaves after all says no man has a right to live if he does not produce things if you and i could work together it would make us love each other all the more the tear that in the girl s eye as she finished gave her a new charm in the sight of her lover it was not like the he had known so long but there was nothing in this revelation of a deeper nature when he answered he was as serious as she it is not nice to be poor a few weeks such as you are passing may seem pleasant but in the long run poverty must be very painful the man who with enjoyment in one of the bright summer months would find it quite another thing when the of winter sweep across the plain don t let put silly ideas into that pretty head of yours she was vexed at such an allusion to her new idol could not have silly ideas she said but perhaps i don t quite understand all she says i am sure though if you were poor i should like you just the same and think you would seem nearer to me he regarded her with an expression of great tenderness â i am poorer already than you suppose he said one or two more strikes and lock and i may have to look for work in earnest oh i am so glad was her answer she seemed so happy that ne hesitated to disturb the illusion and changed the subject my cousin the blind lady wished to see you when you came may i call her you a â oh yes i should like to see her very much when found she expressed a desire to have a few minutes private conversation with the girl and after her to the room he withdrew met her visitor half way and the mutual was very hearty after a few words in the ordinary fashion said suddenly tell me about this is she very handsome i think i never saw a woman so beautiful i there was a strained attention to each word that was not lost on the french girl is she deeply in love do you think they say â the â that she cares very much for him describe him to me please looked thoroughly puzzled you have known him much longer than i madam known him repeated slowly why i have heard his voice but once that was when the committee met the s surprised expression grew more pronounced and you never knew him before you came to certainly not how could i knew him so well and spoke of him so often i supposed you were also acquainted well i will do the best i can he is quite tall with dark hair and eyes he is a gentleman in looks every inch but with a manner that seems at times very stern he always dresses well but with no attempt at display â interrupted her with an expression of dresses well he cannot dress well when at work of in the mill what do you mean i am sure you are not describing mr started mr you said nothing about him you asked me for a description of the man the people say is s lover it was almost a scream is not his name why no it is mr the blind girl forward and caught hei in her arms the apparently harmless statement had thrown her into a dead chapter xi the agent s bill converse was out of sorts the strike had endured nearly a month and there was no sign that an end was near at hand in spite of all he could say â and he grew less and less guarded in his â most of the ex of the great central still pinned their faith to in what he considered the manner the situation him he had been in many strikes before but never in one like this to see two thousand persons thrown out of their and not a hand raised to resist the injury to see man taking orders at such a time â and such orders â from a woman was more than he could bear converse was in a very dangerous mood day when ha the agent s made the allusion to which reported to the rough treatment that his associates were evidently about to give him did not improve his temper he knew that s interference was all that prevented his falling a victim to the anger he had by his reference to the of there were half a dozen of the men who with converse though none other dared be so they were all of them englishmen when had given him safe escort out of the crowd these men joined him and the party proceeded to his room in one of the houses as they were going up the stairs they saw a man a paper on converse s door it was a brief warning in legal phrase that he must the premises within one week from date the turned savagely upon the man when he had read the notice and would have struck him but for the interference of his comrades you devil s cur he cried in a towering passion â than the hounds who employ you to do their business who sent you here with this paper speak or i will spoil your ugly face so that your will not recognize it it was the agent s the fellow thoroughly scared i didn t know there was any harm in it i have a wife and five children at home sir and have to do something to get them bread i converse s eyes

0Arthur Conan Doyle

were like those of a tiger as he replied vou have a wife and children what about the wives and children you are this day to feed your you would be willing to starve a hundred others to keep a roof over their heads you would throw a thousand people into the street i im speaking op me those give them to me i say or i will force them down your throat there tell your to look in the river for them and that if he sends more they will be used in the same way the bundle of documents floated down the stream into which they had been flung from the window tool of capital fled from the vicinity glad that he had been allowed to escape so easily before half an hour had elapsed all knew of the occurrence and the first semblance of excitement began to show itself the immediate result was the calling of the committee of conference to meet that evening at the very moment when was removing her veil in the of the agency was holding the most important of the month at the hall where the meetings of the committee were always carried on her first act after the usual opening was to demand of converse whether it were true as reported that he had committed a breach of the rules by a representative of the law who was engaged in doing a legal act the englishman had made up his mind to no longer and he met the question with a bold defiance the yoke of this woman had become if his fellow were to continue to bow beneath it he would leave their ranks and the sooner the better it is true exactly as you have stated it he said without i took the papers that ordered me out of my home and threw them into the river my only regret is that i did not throw s man them spoke with calm resolution it is evident that you have determined on and however painful it may be to me i s im but one course to pursue i have entered on a policy which your act may seriously it is for me to it without ind the only way to do so is to strike your name rom the books this will be done converse though fully expecting the result could not conceal the fact that it gave him an unpleasant sensation he looked around the room but in the faces that he encountered there was little to encourage him then he said in a low voice that it may never be said i submitted to this injustice without a protest i appeal from your decision took from the table drawer a number of slips of white paper and passed them around among the group for the next minute nothing but the movement of lead could be heard three members who were to collect and count the reported them as unanimous in favor of s action at this announcement converse took his hat and left the room without another word old rose to say that while he the of the member he had a certain sympathy with the sentiment that had him in his treatment of the s messenger but he added i do not forget that we have placed ourselves under certain officers and given them authority to decide what course we shall follow unless we can obey our leaders we can never hope to defeat our enemies i confess i could wish we had made more progress but i am trying to be patient converse is as good a man and as true a soul as there is in i hope none of us will treat him otherwise than as a friend when we meet him he has been from committee and further severity seems unnecessary the old man s words met with a general expression of speaking of approval and the committee proceeded with its when the rest had left the hall lingered to say another word for the one he means well i hope you won t be hard with him i fear he will make us much trouble she replied a few such acts as he was guilty of to day might bring on a general conflict with the authorities this is no time to encourage hot my course will depend more on what he may do than on what he has done we have at least his breach of the law and thus set ourselves right with the public the old man walked away and and strolled as was their wont toward her home together they said little but when they her door she invited him in feeling instinctively that there was something on his mind that he desired to impart to her she lit a lamp which made the stir in their when both were seated turned to her companion a face in which were deeper lines than he had ever seen there before she was bearing a double burden that her strength what is it the assumed cheerfulness of her manner did not deceive him i hesitate to say much to you to night he replied because i see you are not as well as usual sleep will do you more good than talk i will come in to morrow i am stronger than you think was her answer and i shall sleep better when i know you have kept nothing from me her superior force of will won the victory and he proceeded we have converse from the committee the agent s was right any other course would have been fatal to discipline but the thing that caused his outbreak is yet to be met the notices ordering us to the houses will still be served they are legal documents we must either obey them quietly or resist which shall it he obey was the prompt answer we cannot successfully

0Arthur Conan Doyle

with the law he bowed assent but he said what is to come next it is not warm enough these nights to sleep out of doors women and children will perish if the sky is their only covering they must be provided with shelter where she thought a moment before she spoke there are the public buildings she said the same authorities who stand ready to enforce our from the houses are charged with the duty of providing food and shelter for the poor there is no disgrace in accepting such aid at such a time the who refuse to let us earn our bread in their mills are by far the largest in under the state laws we cannot be refused the necessaries of life those men who have covered the town with their title deeds will have the bills to pay as they ought when our people understand this â and you must see that the idea is at once â they will no longer stand in dread of the word the state has kept us in childhood when its policy makes us hungry and let us go to it like children listened with the air of one who while he obedience holds the right to make suggestions let me remind you he said that the town build of will not hold half of us should the proposed sale be carried out even if the authorities were disposed in our favor â which they are not â there would be a limit to what they could do in that direction the people will not all be turned out at once replied it will take time to serve the notices the problem will be forced on the town officials gradually and they will be compelled to meet it and if a night comes when they cannot give shelter to all the helpless we will apply to the churches s lip in spite of all he could do curled at the suggestion the churches he exclaimed when was ever a church on the side of a who ever heard a parson preach from his pulpit against our they will lock their doors place no reliance on them for they will fail you she was not disconcerted by his lack of faith there have been reasons heretofore she said calmly why the churches have not sided with the oppressed in times of labor troubles violent men have led the on to acts of and the church is the great of the peace it is largely for the sake of the active sympathy of this immense force that i have held so firmly to the policy of non resistance we shall present a new phase of this question â a set of work people ordered out of their homes they cannot refuse us shelter in to the service of him who said the giving of a cup of water to a thirsty man would not be forgotten in heaven the young man listened with reverend mien but hu he agent s s regard was toward the speaker and not the institution of which she spoke oh he said i i had your faith your own heart is so that you look for too much good in others the church has always itself against the poor in favor of the rich for a thousand years it has poured its holy oil upon the heads of kings and damned the subject who dared refuse to put his neck under the s heel the irish landlord has more than once the aid of rome to quiet his and starving tenants and destroyed better nations than their own with the cross uplifted above their bloody su right here in the rich men rule every religious body go jo new york and you will find the luxurious seats in â he great churches filled by men who have the necessaries of life and draw from watered â that compel starvation wages to such as we neither priest nor parson will risk his comfortable living by going contrary to the sentiments of his i am glad you are going to test this thing it will be worth one night of suffering to show to the world what nineteenth century christianity will do american citizens if we were or i should have no fear but we are unfortunate in our race and color we will try them said simply if they fail us that will be the time to discuss our next move have you heard of any more cases of extreme yes there are several he gave her a list which he took from his pocket but you must not try to do too much with your own means you have no right to of â â deprive yourself of your last penny â money you saved by the most economy she smiled at his warning you are not the one to lecture me on that score i have heard what you have been doing without calling on the general fund the little i have saved was put by for just such an occasion as this and if i keep back any of it i do so in fear of a greater need to come did you see the agent to day her voice lost a little of its as she pronounced the words the agent its tremor was not lost on i saw him he replied and said you entirely the act of his messenger he said he was glad to hear it and unless a second one was disturbed should take no steps to punish the of law the he told me wish possession of all their property at the earliest possible moment unless there are indications within a short time that the ex have undergone a radical change of sentiment the entire plant will probably be turned into works to be run by italian labor the should see the impossibility of winning in this contest

0Arthur Conan Doyle

he said there is no law to compel us to open the mills if they wish work why do they not try other towns by remaining here they seem to set us at defiance i can assure you that unless our wheels by the first day of november the last of cotton has been spun in as heard him the color mounted to her cheeks and this is free america she exclaimed is the land where the all powerful to the citizen the right to dictate laws which shall control the highest what the son of labor agent s c n taking possession of his own he the as the leaves of the forest out number the trees he has nothing to do but to alter laws and state and yet like another he allows to him of his he labors like a willing slave for masters that rest in comfort he wears that they may be clothed in silk and velvet he sleeps in a â oi if they please to order it in the open air â that they may press of down in chambers he on common food or it may be goes hungry that they may taste the richest of the earth and this he does by deliberate choice with the weapon of always within his grasp her companion was carried away as he had often i en before by her not by violence shall the end come she continued there is no need to shed a drop of blood nor we will have neither the torch of the nor the bullet of the let us who would the law show our respect for it the autumn election is near at hand in all labor we must the selection of our friends to seats at the state house f have no vote â the have a rounded fear of what my sex would do in â but you and such as you must be at work the spectacle of two thousand workmen and their though willing to labor at half decent wages depending public aid ought to have a powerful effect on the of officials with proper men in the house and we can dictate terms to our late engaged to set about the work with vigor and to take his departure heard that some of the men came very near as i s speaking of converse this morning she said at the what was the matter when i asked the little french girl across the hall she told me he said something about me but would not repeat the words gazed earnestly into her eyes before he an she was very tired and had troubles enough to bear but he knew so well and he thought she ought to know he made a quick decision and told her the direct truth do you wish very much to hear it he said philip was your lover the door opened and closed behind him and stood there for a long time with her hand pressed ta her heart wondering what could have hurt her so and whether the pain d ever cease chapter xii the mill hand s philip and were ing breakfast in the appointed dining room of the agency the agent was dividing his time between the his companions and the daily news which he had folded and placed on the table in a position convenient for reading the latest comments on the labor situation at times he would read a paragraph to the evident entertainment of his hearers foi example the mill hand s e s â the last of the notices were served by the yesterday next monday those first will be expected to and all the buildings will probably be before the following saturday night we do not learn of any real interference with the messenger who did the work after the first day though his ears must have if he paid attention to the remarks that greeted him on every side â the town authorities have been appealed to by a of the to provide shelter for the families as fast as they are turned out of doors but so far as is known no action has been taken the officials seem fearful of offending the agent of the and they are said to be in a if the town fails to do its duty and loss of life results some one will have a heavy responsibility to answer for a great may be able to close the doors of five hundred dwellings to the men women and children who have helped it to its millions but there can be no excuse for the public officers if they neglect to take every means to care for the public wards a news agent yes but found that gentleman in an mood all he would say was that he was acting with the knowledge and approval of the board of the late of the great central having left work voluntarily and remained out for nearly six weeks the deemed itself justified in taking entire possession of its property it was for those who had advised two thousand persons to quit the work which gave them a to counsel them in this emergency the agent seemed to speak without the least temper and said he was merely doing as any business man would under the same circumstances looked up after reading the last paragraph speaking op that has succeeded very w ii in stating my views much better than some of the boston and york men did it is a plain business matter and nothing else why there are not two sides to it the houses are owned by the built for the purpose of their when the people cease to serve the they ought to leave its buildings without waiting for a request can any one doubt that he seemed to address his to who in his chair before replying i suppose it

0Arthur Conan Doyle

is all right as you say he said but there is something confounded unpleasant to me in an here are hundreds of families given only seven days notice to get out of places they have for a long time been led to consider their homes it is all right of course hang it â it is not agreeable â the agent frowned a little at the picture every one of them said he owes more than month s rent and every one could have had steady employment if he had chosen to listen to common sense instead of to â suggested as paused for a word to labor said the agent supplying the needed all of the they may suffer they have brought upon themselves they have still plenty of time to send a committee to me and offer to resume work at the before a soul of them is from his but they won t do it they have lost all reason and seem to follow blindly everything suggested by â said again to help him out the mill s their leaders if i were to give up to them now it be equivalent to an admission that the work people of this country are henceforth to rule the their after that would become it is the old question â begging your pardon â whether the tail shall wag the dog now i will see every and buried a thousand feet beneath the soil of before it shall ever be said that was done under my administration he turned to miss what do you think you are strangely of have you any new opinions on the situation the blind girl was a little agitated at this unexpected question it does seem hard as says was her reply to turn so many people into the street but i have no doubt it is necessary or you would not do it oh yes i am sure it m be had finished his for which he did not have that morning his usual appetite he pushed back his chair from the table and spoke with earnestness here is my situation i am of your father s estate which has invested in the great central mills i have a large part of my own means though that is a minor consideration in the same by vote of the i have been ordered to crush this rising spirit of which attempts to dictate to us what wages we shall pay regardless of the state of the market or whether the men who furnish the capital are to have a penny of were these workmen to meet us as individuals we should have no trouble if a asked for more pay and was refused he could go elsewhere and our business would suffer q disturbance but tbey have combined to resist us at of point unless we take orders from them out will go the entire parcel and our mills must shut down until they take a notion to return doctrines are spreading all over the country not only has the mill been made precarious but it is nothing uncommon for a strike to tie up the or the production ol a great like coal or iron the must make a stand or they are ruined in a few years at the rate we have been going we shall be liable to have our throats cut and the roofs burned over our heads as at the in there is literally no end to the demands of these so called i have watched them in several of the trades where they have ed a getting an inch this year and asking ell next the that we employed on our extension would only work eight hours a day and the informed me that he was paying them more for the eight hours than he used to give for ten the quit at five o clock each afternoon no r how much the work needed to be hastened why even the and are having th ir union with a fit for a chapter within six i have walked down town because all the street jar and l road men were on strike and a carriage could i t be had for love or money i believe the and will next backed by my i propose to show the world one place where the decline to be trodden under foot proceeding o extremes is not pleasant but it must be done if a refused to drive my i not continue to keep him on my premises not him why these other people as she made no answer he added thb s vou have something on your mind what is it a servant entered and announced mr the cousins arose to leave the room but stopped them i would like to have you both remain if you are willing there can be no secrets between and me the invitation was accepted and the party had assumed its former appearance when was ushered into the room the mill hand evinced slight surprise when he noted the presence of the agent s guests but though no of wealth he had the manners of a true gentleman and responded politely to the that followed he had heard of the misfortune of miss and the expression which he cast upon her was one of profound pity but he did not long delay proceeding to the business that brought him to the agency mr some of the members of a committee which has been to speak for all the late of your mills have asked me to put a question to you which i believe to be superfluous to oblige them i have consented to ask it though i am sure i can your answer they wish to know if there is any possibility that the will be delayed beyond the dates in the notices no not for an hour was the calm reply i

0Arthur Conan Doyle

thought so said now there are not half a dozen empty houses in that can be hired were our people ever so able to pay rent which â as you know â they are not we have applied to the for leave to use the public buildings but they n slowly it is thought they fear to â you by i â â speaking of friendly attitude toward us the nights are cold an daily growing colder it would be uncomfortable not to say dangerous to remain out of doors in this weather should worse come to worst and we find ourselves in the streets in weather would the doors of your houses be closed against us when he ceased it seemed as if a feather falling on one of the velvet would have the building leaned forward in her chair with strained tion seemed hardly to breathe then west and s answer came out with that distinctness which one notes on the first frosty mornings of winter in the midst of pine woods he said for i will still call you by that name in the old familiar fashion the people of are not children all they have done and may do in reference to the present trouble are their deliberate acts they need not have left the mills they need not have so treated the great central â whose bread they have eaten for years â that the became necessary it is not i who am turning you out of doors it is yourselves late as it is you could yet secure a of the order by sending a committee here not to argue but to declare a desire to resume work i have stayed here ever since the strike began ready to treat with anybody who desired it but not one person has to me with a proposition the friendly relations that existed between and employed have given place to those that govern bowed gravely your reply is precisely what i expected and i will convey it to my associates â â i should be glad said hesitating for suit able in which to couch the he to the mill hand s to make personal exceptions of and to any of these this house is cordially open to both of you at any time s resolve to repress all evidences of impatience experienced a severe test but he answered quietly what i have advised my comrades to endure will be good enough for me as far as the proposition to i will tell her of your offer flushed violently my intention was an honest one he said but as her decision would undoubtedly be influenced by your own i will ask you not to say anything to her on the subject it is one of the unpleasant consequences of my position that i cannot divide my duty as an official from my feelings as a man and a friend i might say â began and then he hesitated well asked i might say that i cannot conceive of a duty that should destroy one s sentiments as a man or in other words how a man of true sentiments could consent to accept an official position not in with them he arose at that bowed politely to and said his good and was gone waited a long time for some one to speak hut he waited in vain he made a poor assumption of cheerfulness left his chair lit a cigar and strolled out into the garden when he had been gone a little while spoke i suppose it is wrong cousin but my sympathies are very strongly excited for mr s friends i think philip is right as the law goes but the result will be terrible it is a case where one can hardly tell what to do but of one thing we can be certain there will be suffering before it is over and the funds of the poor will run very low she took out her purse would you k speaking of be so kind as to take some money to mr me to use where he thinks it needed most i can do without feeling that it places me in opposition to philip and it may do much good willingly complied how much shall i take he inquired oh a hundred dollars to begin with and tell him he have more if he wants it let him understand that ii he needs as much again or ten times as much he has only to come here and ask how long shall you be gone her cousin started at the question why is there any hurry yes it may soften his feelings toward us but he seemed very gentle i thought said the blind girl sighed deeply ah you people who see how little you understand he is the most depressed man i ever heard speak his words were polite enough to the ear but i could detect the biting irony in every line he considers us wretches who are crushing him and his fellows for our own brutal pleasure did what he said deceive you it made me tremble an hour later found and did his errand i will take your money and message to the committee said but i cannot that they will accept it not accept it echoed in the utmost astonishment possibly we shall be in want of money but we may not like to accept charity from those who are responsible for our present condition if it were for me to decide alone i am sure that would be my verdict however i will leave it to the others by anything of my own and abide by their thb s j took another hundred from his own pocket book and placed both of them in s hand add that to it from myself he said and i earnestly trust you will accept both that evening called at the

0Arthur Conan Doyle

agency and asked to see mr happened to be out at the time and the then requested to see miss he was shown into the parlor and soon she came toward him groping her way after the manner of the blind miss he said rising mr i am glad to welcome you here again please be seated her voice was unsteady and his hardly less so as he proceeded you were kind enough to send some money this morning for the use of our committee â a trifle she interrupted which they have directed me to return to you was a woman and the result was a great disappointment to her she found the tears down her cheeks much to her before this young stranger here is your gift and also mr s which you will permit me to leave with you he went on as well as he could you will spare me i trust giving the reasons that have us in our decision these are times when ordinary rules cannot be considered she was quite crushed but managed to that she was sure he and his friends had done what they thought right â that she had meant to do them a kindness and that they would continue to receive her deep speaking of sympathy which they could not reject then he bade her a kind good evening when came home she told him and he was not on the whole greatly surprised listened with wide open eyes when he heard of it but said nothing chapter xiii ik an armed camp awoke in her little chamber in the tion lodging house at and saw the sun peeping in at the east window miss her room mate was still wrapped in slumber and her honest irish face lay with the rosy hue of youth and health upon it on the coarse pillow it was the morning when this particular building must be according to a notice on the door you will render up the said premises before twelve o clock at noon under the usual and after that what after the meagre furniture and the girls trunks containing their clothing and the girls themselves had been placed in the public street â what then pondered a good deal over this but she felt no uneasiness would not be there to direct everything she had the fullest confidence in the ability of the to bring them out all right in the end there was a slight tap at the entrance a of small feet in that direction a whispered who is it and an answer that satisfied her the french in an armed opened the door and found the object of her thoughts on the threshold glanced in and saw that miss was still asleep then she bade throw a shawl over her head and accompany her across the entry to her own rooms was fully dressed and bore no special mark of the great responsibility that had been thrown upon her shoulders other than a deepening of the earnest look ia her dark eyes the french girl seated herself upon the bed and for greater comfort drew the outer over her bare feet she knew that had not called her without having a reason and waited with becoming patience to have it made known by noon more than a hundred families in will be began the authorities have not yet given us permission to occupy the public buildings but i have no doubt they will do so when the emergency is actually upon them i want you to keep within call all day ready to execute my orders with all possible i have selected you out of all the girls here because i have such perfect confidence in your judgment and integrity could not have defined all of the words that used but she knew she was receiving that she was far from deserving and the tears filled her eyes i will do whatever you tell me she said earnestly â i have not always been a good girl but you may trust me to be true to you only it seems as if i could do very little there is a man proceeded quietly who will allow us to store things in his sheds until something better offers his name is and his will come lor the goods as soon as we are ready for him but if i f of we sleep to night in the town buildings or out of we shall need such things as and i will give you a quantity of to mark such articles with their owners names so they will not get lost in the crush if we find that we are short of these comforts when night comes those of us who are young and strong will lend ours to the weaker ones assented and some of the men whom he has selected will see to the but the women must do most of the cooking certain kitchen will therefore have to be reserved and these must also be marked all who are keeping house have agreed to give to the committee whatever is left in their for the general use what money we have we shall make last as long as we can when it is gone the town must aid us it cannot let us starve after further conversation in which more minute par were given went back to her own room to dress miss had already arisen and was engaged in packing her things for removal proceeded to do the same and the two girls discussed the situation as they worked neither of them knew what to think of the prospect but both had complete confidence in their leader the ship on which they were about to had to them but one word on her â by noon the last articles in the houses that were to be that day had been taken out of doors

0Arthur Conan Doyle

the who came at one o clock to lock up and take the keys saw a strange sight along the household goods were piled to the for many rods women and children some on chairs others on were discussing the prospect for the next night s lodgings an im meals were being served in the most primitive style several of the little ones were crying as if from a that the consequences to them one or two aged com in a high key that they were taken from comfortable rooms and pitched like loads of coal into the but most of the were strangely â almost suspiciously â passive and so the reported that afternoon to the agent did not himself go down town he could imagine how things looked there without an demon he stayed at the agency thinking he might have a call from some committee or other body of citizens and not wishing to be found away from his post and he was not mistaken about four o clock his bell rang and a moment later a servant entered the drawing room to say that a of his ex was outside and desired to see him ask them to come in he said but the servant returned after delivering this request with the information that the did not wish to enter and would like to have him come to the door a momentary suspicion of foul play crossed his mind but he would not yield to it his feelings he arose and went out on the front where he found ten or twelve persons among whom he noticed at the first glance and my friends he said in a firm voice i am told that you wish to see me and refuse to enter my house i presume you are a committee of the ex of the great central mills if this be so i would like to ask why you decline to confer with me in my office where you and your associates have so often been for similar purposes there was a pause and all the other members of thâ committee looked to when she raised her beautiful eyes to meet those of the agent they affected him powerfully for an instant his gaze was withdrawn from the group and he lost his having been consigned sir she said in her ordinary tone but with deep earnestness to the streets of by the order of agent we would not presume to intrude upon the floor of his home if the air is good enough for us to spend the day in it should suffice for the brief interview which we desire by your direction nearly five hundred persons are many of them are weak women and helpless children a night in the open air would be injurious possibly fatal to some of them the town authorities have not yet consented to allow us shelter we have heard that their hesitation is from fear of offending so powerful a personage as yourself we come to ask if agent has intimated a wish that the people of shall find to night not only their late homes but the public closed against them the agent had time to collect himself during this statement and when he replied he spoke like a man of iron agent does not understand by what right your committee to question him after your people had deserted their places in the mills for six weeks after most of them were in for over a month s rent he asked possession of his houses not one of the men for whom you speak cared enough about retaining his home to come and seek the employment that has never yet been refused him to day part of the buildings have been given up to their owners and i am glad to learn in a manner before the end of the week the rest will i trust be i am not as air official of your town but only of the mill and my interest ceases when its commands are obeyed heard him without taking her eyes from his face may we say to the town officials that agent does not object to their giving shelter to his ex he answered her without moving a muscle i shall be here as i have been for the past six weeks ready to business with if your has any proper question to ask me in reference to the attitude of the great central it will find me ready but if the town authorities of are in ignorance o f their duty which i should hesitate to believe they must apply elsewhere than to me â either in person or by â for the information as he closed the faint sound of a shouting crowd came borne on the air from the direction of the railroad station mingled it seemed with the just beating of drums the conference was suspended in the curiosity felt by all at this unexpected occurrence left the and accompanied the committee to the street where they could see first a large number of boys running backward and forward across the highway then a rush of people on both of the and then in the middle of the street a drum corps and a body of â the entire party marching in direction a few minutes later several companies of soldiers were halted in front of the agency by their commander who immediately came toward and politely asked to see him in private the crowd now half the population of pressed forward to hear what was said spoke loud enough for all to understand you can have no private conversation with me of colonel if there is anything to be said to m in the discharge of your duty i hope every person hero will have as good an opportunity to hear it as i a murmur of approval went through the vast assemblage the mill

0Arthur Conan Doyle

agent was not a popular man in that day but still less so was the colonel the sight of has exasperated many a crowd before now i have been sent here said colonel by order of the governor upon the representation that the local police may not be able to protect the town and mill property during the next few days i called my men together very hastily and embarked on a special train arriving at the station i was advised to consult you as representing the mills in reference to the best points to place my companies all eyes were turned upon who responded with dignity i have no advice or suggestion to offer to you colonel as the presence here of your command was neither requested nor expected by me you will have to look to those who sent for you it may not be deemed for me to say however that i am entirely unaware of any emergency that should make the police likely to require your assistance the people here seem to me perfectly quiet and orderly if they have been otherwise the fact has not come under my observation colonel bowed politely my only mission he said is to assist the local authorities in preserving the peace if there is no need of my services i shall be all the better satisfied i will now present myself to the town officials if you will kindly direct me to them the required direction the drums be in air camp pi to sound again and the colonel marched his men toward the village with half the at their heels allow me to say sir said facing the agent once more that i am very glad to learn you had no part in the of this outrage he answered while i had nothing to do with it i cannot agree with you in the term you use i do not consider it an outrage upon a law abiding people to have a body of citizen sent into their midst with no other mission than to see that the peace is preserved it is only to those who either are or intend to be of the law that the military is a menace now before you go let me say another word there is yet time for the late of the great central to make looking to of work in its mills within three days if you say the word the hum of industry can be heard in the silent walls and the empty dwellings can again be filled with their tenants the time in which this may be done is growing brief in less than a fortnight the machinery will otherwise be removed and the will be devoted to other uses if you are determined to destroy as a cloth centre you have only to persist in your course a very little longer if you ever intend to bring back the town to its old prosperity you will have to move in the matter without more delay s voice was as firm as ever when she replied we left the great central because a rate of wages that barely to support existence was about to be reduced still lower if the could make such a cut as this they could make another after that and the end must come sometime permit me to ask in what respect you have speaking of yourselves was his quiet comment you say you had low wages admitted for argument s sake but what have you now you had roofs over your heads food in our money coming to you each pay day you have exchanged these â for what for manhood and womanhood cried the girl with feeling we were never created for slavery the blood in our veins is as good as that in those of our late masters j our bonds were and like the negro who fled from his cabin and into the of or virginia we prefer death if need be to mark me agent the spectacle of these poor people driven out of doors in october by the whose wealth they have will have its effect throughout the length of america the will rouse himself and cast off the yoke that such men as you have placed upon him the slow brain of the giant labor is awakening he will not long suffer himself to be led in chains by the dwarf capital when he turns let us hope that in his fury he does not quite crush the life out of his let us hope that he will show a that was never shown to him he has the power all he is the intelligence and before long that will be his we have bowed the knee in the past we have for terms soon we will dictate them it may be that some of us who stand here will not see the day but it is coming the dawn of it can be plainly discerned in the east the brotherhood of man will soon be more than the mere dream of it will become a glorious reality she turned and followed by and the rest went slowly toward the village there was a cry of disappointment when she reported to the m camp there the poor result of her mission but no voice plead for when she related the agent s proposition for a of work at the cut after a brief consultation it was settled that and should make a visit to the town officials and once more demand shelter for the ones they took their way accordingly to the residence of the of the board and were about to pass into the yard when they were stopped at the gate by a soldier who the way with his halt he said they halted and somewhat astonished stated their desire to see hunt the soldier called one of his companions who took the message

0Arthur Conan Doyle

to the of the residence the now saw that there were at least a dozen in the yard apparently guarding the house on all sides in a short time hunt appeared looking much disturbed how do you do he said in a shaking voice what can i do for you it is almost replied who by s request had agreed to act as there are nearly five hundred people out of doors in if they are to be sheltered for the night which seems likely to be a cold one no time should be lost we appeal to vou again as the representative of the citizens to open the public buildings hunt cleared his throat several times before he could answer something seemed to stick there my associates he said at last at our meeting this afternoon thought we had no â no right â to put the town buildings to â to such a purpose they â the recently been painted and repaired at much expense of they â they ot suited to the purpose of a â a ing house heard h ia with impatience and you will let women and children sleep ki the streets he said there is yet time faltered the to see the agent and get back into his houses â at his terms interrupted with set teeth yes â at his terms assented mr hunt eagerly you you will refuse to let us in even if we to death is that your final decision broke in we â we thought best not stammered the the pair left the yard without another word as were walking away a of the joined thee and touched his hat to excuse me he said though i may seem your enemy i am not so as a soldier i must obey orders but i wish i had been set at other business than guarding the house of this heartless old fool he is afraid some of you will come and murder him in his sleep to night and i don t believe one of you would touch him with a pair of you had best see colonel he if a gentleman and if he can do anything for you he will they thanked him and proceeded on their way now said we must try the churches a sneer crossed s lip but as she did not look at him it and he mastered his feelings as well as he could during the next hour they visited three all of whom told the story while with all in distress they had no power to open their churches for such a purpose the standing committee or the or an s else had the right to do that if anybody and a regularly called meeting would be necessary before a legal vote on the subject could be taken how long would it take to get the together well a week s notice was provided for in the rules when they returned to the in the street colonel was there awaiting them my position here is a delicate one said the colonel to who was introduced to him as the chief authority on the part of the my orders are merely to co operate with the town officials in the preservation of the peace this practically places me under their orders until i hear further from the governor or general i understand they have refused you leave to enter the town buildings and at their request i have placed a strong guard around each building as well as at the of the principal officials but i have pitched forty tents on the common for the use of my men and these are at my own disposal after consultation with my officers i offer you five of these tents for the use of such of your people as most need them tears came into s eyes as she grasped the hand of the young officer you are a true man sir she said may god bless you but i cannot bring myself to take your tents and thus deprive you of the rest yourselves will need do not have any fear on our account he answered smiling we shall probably get at the hotels being owned by the i understand the have refused to aid your committee but they will not dare refuse me i think i have the right to demand but in the absence of positive knowledge on that po â t i shall certainly make a good lt of if you will accompany me i show you the quarters which you can then occupy at your convenience went over to the tents and after a little talk with accepted them with many of gratitude the work of selecting the more helpless from among the groups was at once begun aged women young mothers and nursing were taken first as the noticed the strange sight â their officers quarters given up to the they came to suppress â a murmur of astonishment went through the camp then when the soldiers began to realize that nothing but the canvas walls would stand between these people and total exposure the best side of them came out five minutes later colonel was asked by his men to allow them to crowd themselves closer so as to permit of yet other tents to the women to this request he gladly gave his consent and no less than fifteen of the tents were thus placed at s disposal by close packing these to shelter all of the â and children and most of the very old men â the young and middle aged men still for don t worry about the rest of us said go and take care of your women most of us have and there are blankets for the others we are tough and hearty and shall not suffer if i knew what we are to do for the other babies and women

0Arthur Conan Doyle

who are to be turned out to morrow i should feel better leave that to god she said earnestly he who has done so much for us to night will not desert us if we trust in him i am going to pray before i sleep for â te i every soul in this town that he will hare them m his keeping every soul repeated shall you pray fo philip a tremor passed over her frame yes for him also she said devoutly i do not a man who needs god s grace more good night when every one around her was still lifted to heaven a long and earnest then though she did not expect to sleep exhaustion her the last sound she heard was the sharp voice of a as he some late through that armed camp that had been so recently the peaceful village oi chapter xiv â yes i understand she mill agent paced the rooms of the agency until past midnight sleep had of late become a stranger to his eyes he had begun to look haggard a habit of early hours and unbroken rest was completely destroyed he found to his surprise that he had nerves and ones that could be painfully too his appetite had left him he walked up and down the house in the that would be thus induced but the only effect was to make him more wide awake if possible than ever he knew much he needed the rest that so persistently fled from him at last discouraged in his vain at speaking of tempt he went to the rack in the front hall hit hat and overcoat and into the street it was quite chilly the overcoat was necessary for ordinary comfort on that october night he did not think of taking any particular direction but he soon found himself the village the town hall loomed upon his vision and as he was wondering whether any of the had found a place within its walls a stopped him it is a peculiar sensation â that of being for the first time in your life by a man who carries a and places the point of a within a few inches of your breast as the sharp word halt rang out on the air felt a shock in his condition of mind he had quite forgotten for the moment that colonel s men were in halt said the you cannot pass here the wanderer went away without a word it did not occur to him to say am agent of the great central which owns everything in and no man ever dared stop me before he was in the presence of a new force before which minds have besides he did not wish to excite and one direction was as agreeable to him as another the had time to notice by the dim light of a that the man he had did not seem to be a mill hand and he offered him this explanation it was feared the might attempt to enter the town house and we have been ordered to guard it on every side the agent wandered on twice more was he stopped by one of them told him the orders are that no one shall pass this way as the who are trying te sleep on the â not to be disturbed i understand hb another said sharply though in a purposely voice you cannot pass here sir no one but the women and children can be admitted to the officers tents at the last statement w followed with his eye the pointed finger of the and saw for the first time the white canvas houses un the common looking strangely out of place amid their surroundings you had best follow that street and get out of the lines added the soldier you will be constantly running into trouble if you do not the women and children only understood now the sent to protect the mill owners of had sided with the and taken part of them into the tents of its officers he had heard the of citizen troops doubted in cases of civil outbreak with the so soon truly a fine state of affairs then his heart gave a great throb at the that followed she was undoubtedly sleeping â if indeed she slept at all â in one of those white tents from which he had just been turned back the proud the scornful of whose hold on the two thousand of his was so much greater than his own she rested there at the head of her forces while he the general of the opposing army could rest nowhere the first day of the actual battle was over and she held her ground but to morrow said the agent to himself will put her to a test five hundred more of her people will be of their and where will she shelter them the next day another five hundred will follow and the next another by saturday night speaking of nearly h x f the inhabitants of will be out of doors then the agent drew his overcoat closer and it heavens how cold it is he muttered he strolled slowly back toward the agency not with any intention o entering it but because he thought it wise to heed the s advice and keep away from the soldiers as he the house he saw two female figures fully dressed at an upper window and as he reached the gate one of them â the j ash and spoke his name in a low voice mr yes â miss says if you are not too tired she would like to walk out a little way with you certainly i will wait here it was s maid who spoke and the other was of course miss herself it did not seem odd to that these two women should be up and

0Arthur Conan Doyle

dressed at two o clock in the morning and anxious for a stroll in the streets he had ceased to consider anything remarkable except the commonplace in a town like that which had become where a could dispute the agent s right to go where he id nothing could surprise him very much presently appeared warmly dressed and took his arm out of regard for mrs s feelings followed at a respectful distance not far enough to excite alarm in her bosom at her condition and yet not so near that she could heat the conversation of the other if they chose t j speak in ordinary tones where do ou wish to go was his first question down into the village â t s i she â but the soldiers have every place and not let us pass i myself have been several times within the last hour let us go as near as we can they walked on for several minutes without further words then the blind girl asked what are the soldiers here for to furnish lodgings for the apparently he answered half of them are sheltered is their tents at this moment i understand half philip which half the women and children he realized by the closer clasp that she gave his arm that she was glad it did not astonish nothing was as it ought to be are you sorry philip she said sorry i why should i be sorry they are out of the houses what does it matter to me where they go after that she waited a little it is a cold night she said clinging closer to him yes some of the are entirely out of doors all of the men i suppose and all of the women would have been but for the of that colonel she stopped there in the street and her hand drew away from him and you would prefer that they endured this weather you d go no further with me i will call he caught her hand and replaced it in his arm roughly i shall escort you home if you desire to go there be said sternly two cannot wander about ia speaking of after midnight with the streets filled with ers and soldiers she submitted they started to return at a faster pace which soon became however slower even than before you know all about it he said you know how these people have put themselves out of â and home of their own accord and yet you talk as if it were my fault no philip she said gently i do know whose fault it is i will leave that to heads that are perhaps wiser than mine but i do know that it is too cold for anybody to live out of doors at this season why didn t they stay in doors then he snapped they had but to make one sign of intention to resume work and every notice of would have been torn down i went so far yesterday as to hint as much to the committee that waited on me but no they are determined to break me and they reckon with the wrong man i have ordered them out and go they shall unless they come and ask for in the proper spirit she waited a little while again wanting to say the right thing and uncertain how to shape her words if she began if â i was thinking if some of them should die â from the exposure she could feel though she could not see the glare of his eyes as he turned them on her well i wonder if you would lay that on me if there are deaths let them charge it to those who ordered them to quit the mills who have them to resist to the last extreme they cannot give the blame to one who continued to hold out and would even now hold â ut the olive branch answered quietly te i she said â â then ou think all the fault is s he started at the word she felt how it thrilled for in her blindness his very heart beats connected themselves with hers it is the fault of anyone who has led them wrong he said his voice trembling tells me they obey like an army said then if death results from these she will be a and yet they say you love her she said it deliberately fully expecting the most unpleasant consequences to her surprise retained the semblance of composure into which he had fallen who says that was his calm reply the who told you he has heard much from them during the past day or two one of the men named converse coupled your names in the public street he was a member of s principal committee but that night she ordered his discharge from duty he was lost in thought for a moment then he said converse probably it was the same man who the s messenger and threw his notices into the river i was trying to think where i had heard the name so discharged him did she she is a determined woman was surprised at the unmoved way in which he spoke you will remember i told you when you first spoke of her that it was a case of love said she they were the agency and he his already like pace if that were true n y dear girl he said with deep or feeling would it make less plain my duty to pro at all the property of my and wards would i have any right to give way to a sentiment that might the loyalty i owe in other directions you never saw me troubled as i have been the past month my heart is naturally tender but i have had to steel it i prefer to say pleasant things and i

0Arthur Conan Doyle

have been compelled to say hard ones do you think i find it agreeable to contemplate the spectacle of shivering men and women you have known me too long for that a great question is left for me to solve and i have decided to sink all else until it is settled the country has been distracted by strikes injurious alike to employer and the suffering caused by these has been enormous i want to make here an example that shall so encourage mill owners that labor troubles will be at an end heretofore the working people have been treated like children who get anything they want if they only cry loud enough for it prove to them that a strike cannot be a success and they will never strike again on the other hand let them but win in a struggle such as this and all the capital in america will be at their mercy the market will fall into a state of chaos will become no longer matters of choice but necessity and the himself will find instead of regular fairly paid employment only a precarious if there is a man in the world whom i esteem it is if there is a woman who seems unselfish noble and of superior mind outside of my intimate acquaintances it is she they call the but what are love and esteem when opposed to duty no my feet cannot be from their plain path though it be planted with thorns and with â the blind girl heard him with profound surprise â â i â â if things are allowed to take their own course he â this will be ended in a fortnight and the mills be in full operation again mistaken sentiment ai this time would injure both us and them in the meantime said the nights will be very cold could not the same result be reached without this hardship it seems dreadful to be it is necessary was his reply they had reached the steps as came np with them bade her enter the house saying she would follow in a moment more is the very beautiful she asked extremely so he answered it is a mar el that with her wonderful attributes she should choose the life of the mills and mr she added hesitatingly what is he like oh said pausing to consider well he is of about my height with blue eyes and rather light hair a fine sturdy honest fellow she dropped her voice for the next question do you think they will ever marry y he looked at her strangely each other and no it is not able both are too deeply interested in the labor question to give much thought to such things but under no circumstances do i think they could ever mate she went into the house and left him there he could not quite understand the meaning in all of her questions perhaps she was jealous of perhaps she did not uke to share him even as a friend with any one but he vas used to the blind girl s and had been from her xi bâ iâ the matter from his speaking of sleep being as far as ever from his he took another walk down the street before he had gone a dozen rods he met and found that young gentleman in a state of high excitement what s the matter he asked as the young man paused before him with face matter matter enough you are going too far i have spent the night in the village do you know what is going on soldiers guarding the town house men wrapped in bed clothes shivering on the women and children sheltered by officers in their tents by god do you know what you have got to do you must have the rest of those notices torn down by daylight and issue orders to let these people back into their damn it we have almost had a frost while did not relish his friend s remarks he could not repress a smile at his must i indeed he answered well i shall do nothing of the kind the people can go back into the houses at any time prior to november ist provided they sign the new and on no other terms s anger increased visibly at these words you say you won t have the notices pulled down he cried you will persist in throwing the rest of them out undoubtedly was the quiet response but it seems to me that some one has been changing his mind rather suddenly a few months ago he was the in his income that these same made last year now they have his sympathy in a move that is exactly similar but more why this remarkable alteration in your attitude v i she said the growing indignation of the young man made it almost impossible for him to answer hang my income he cried i have seen too much to night to ever want again an income from mill i have seen families separated wives sisters and mothers thankful to accept a canvas roof offered by charity husbands and fathers left like dogs outside the doors your men have locked upon them i have seen their miserable hardly fit for saved from destruction only by the kindness of a who them off to his sheds i have seen children crying because their customary piece of bread was denied them one of the little ones was so ill he could not hold up his head took him in her arms and carried him into one of the officers tents it is doubtful if he lives till morning as the night air is dangerous in his weak condition by god â but interrupted him where is that child â in which tent he asked white as a sheet it shall be brought at once to the agency and

0Arthur Conan Doyle

i will have a doctor for it why did not some one tell me of this where have you been all night instead of letting me know gave an impatient what good would it have done to let you know â you who have said within a minute that you will turn the rest of them out as fast as you can but not the babies i didn t realize that there were any babies stammered the agent show me which tent he is in i can t i didn t notice the are all around too and you can t pass i can at least get a doctor and send him there they t speaking of will not refuse him when he states h s errand come go with me but the young man was firm i will not he cried i will have nothing more to do with you while you continue to represent a miserable that is turning its old servants into the street i am going into the house to pack my things and in the morning i will have them taken away very well said he did not care to the argument he feared that his patience might under the strain he went at once to the house of the leading physician of the place dr and awoke that gentleman from a sound sleep dr was when he learned the nature of mr s errand but as his customer was undoubtedly able to settle all bills he prepared without delay to do his bidding together they proceeded to the common where the doctor informed the who him of his object this called an of the guard who after some admitted the pair and even condescended to show them where the â child was mrs the child s mother was wringing her hands and mourning in a high key when the visitors were announced the child himself was lying in s lap in a feverish sleep frequently broken sat by with some medicine in her hands which she had procured and when dr learned what treatment she had pursued he nodded his head with satisfaction what was most important now he said was to remove the sufferer to a room where a better temperature could be maintained and he asked the mother if she were willing to accompany him to his residence an its the b y is already yes i she cried mrs may god forgive tht man who us out of doors on this cruel night poor little it s an angel ye ll be the sun rises an all the in won t save ye at the allusion to himself and was painfully aware that the other women present fully with the sentiment conveyed came to the doctor s assistance and finally by promising to accompany her and to send a messenger to her husband to tell him where she had gone secured mrs s consent to do as requested wrapped the baby in warm blankets and went along also after the party had passed the military line and fell a little behind the others you were very kind to bring the doctor she said to him not at all answered quickly i went for him as soon as i knew of the case i wish i had heard of it earlier let me say another thing while we are alone i am rejoiced that notwithstanding all that has passed you and i can still meet on terms of personal friendship up at him brightly through the dim light of the â â dawn he could distinguish her features none the e â lovely for the of a nearly sleepless night why we not be friends she asked in her most mv tone when each is doing what he thinks is right and yet one must be wrong he said true she repeated one must be wrong but if he believes himself right god will surely hold him though there may come a time when he would ve much to undo the evil he has caused â â of he thought that over a minute and then continue earnestly there is another thing that i want to say to you you must forgive me for alluding to it and i do not ask for a reply now these times seem so likely to draw us apart that i must avail myself df even this moment i do not know when we shall meet alone again and i wish to tell you â she laid a hand on his arm and turned toward him such a startled pleading face that he stopped short in the path i beg you do not say it she gasped ah he said but â you understand she took several steps away before she realized that he was not following then she turned half toward him but did not raise her eyes â yes â i understand she said faintly and went on alone into the doctor s house chapter xv an oath on the the sun rose and tried in vain to the haze that hung over the air still continued to be very chilly some hundreds of people whose bed curtains had been the black sky of night and whose breakfast had been more scanty than usual were quite sure it was than common at that season several hundreds of other people who were preparing to obey the notices that were on their doors looked with an oath on the doubt at the clouds and feared rain before sunset and some hundreds of others whose turn was to come wore gloomy faces quite in keeping with the aspect of the heavens colonel s men still made a show of the village and protecting the property of the mill as well as the of the town officials those of them who had been on guard during the night slept the sleep of tired men in their tents others

0Arthur Conan Doyle

strolled about discussing the situation in low tones though they were in truth holiday soldiers and not particularly in love with the task assigned them their commander could find no fault with their obedience of orders that extraordinary thing called discipline which makes a thousand men execute the will of one like was well enforced in this regiment when the colonel received the governor s order he took with him his best companies and he said afterwards in his report my men rejected credit on themselves on their regiment and on the the colonel slept at the house and he slept well most of his officers were with him entirely refreshed he arose early and took a stroll through the village his engaging manners as well as his kindness in giving up his quarters to the women had begun to make him popular in spite of the disagreeable quality of his business in the place good mornings were upon him from the poor fellows whose bed had been the soft side of a brick and questions were more plentiful than he could have desired he was compelled to repeat many times that he could do nothing except act in with the town authorities and that it was quite improper for him to express â ny opinion on the points at issue between the people speaking of and the but his not understand how a colonel in gorgeous uniform with a â word hanging to his b it could take orders a may field slept but a few hours lying on the with a bed over him but at daybreak he arose as fresh as a lark his superb stood him in good stead on an occasion like the present his most trusted he saw that sufficient provisions were distributed to the hungry crowd and then went hither and thither giving advice and assistance wherever his presence was required he had a good deal to do everybody seemed to consult him and none questioned his while thus engaged he saw somewhat to his that waa waiting to speak to him may i have a word with ou yes said only make it as brief as possible i am as you see very busy you refused my money said speaking in a quick nervous way i come to offer it again and this time offer myself with it i have thrown up forever all my sympathies are now on your side i have just had my things taken away t cm the agency i could not live longer with a man who does such cruel acts cruel interrupted a pleasant voice at his side are you not mistaken turned and saw the who had silently approached the three were quite alone no would have dreamed of coming near when and were in consultation what they might say was as secure from listeners as though and bars had held b ck the world an oath on the cruel the pleasant voice again philip cruel you would not say so i tou had seen him at ir tent this morning with dr whom he summoned to attend mrs s sick baby it i who told him about the baby cried eagerly i met him about three o clock near thâ agency had just come from the village and the sights there had made me very we had a few hot words over the matter and i told him i should leave his house in the morning i have just done so as i was telling waited for to reply when she was present he never assumed to direct a conversation except at her expressed wish there are two said one of them is a noble hearted honorable generous gentleman the other is the agent of the great central which of them did you meet there is but on in whom i know was s surprised reply oh excuse me but there are surely two she answered one ordered the out of their on a cold october day the other sent a doctor and nurse to the baby and would have taken the entire family under his charge had they consented to go you see they are very different men he began to understand now let me hear again if you please what it js wish to do then though at greater length he had said to he was in s with the and wanted to be put where his time and what means he had would serve them best he not rich but he had a stated income that he desired of to use in their interest he wanted to identify himself with them as against the greedy that had turned them out of doors you are acting under excitement said when he paused for breath those in my ranks are required to behave with calmness and discretion obeying the j constituted leaders without delay or question i fear you could not bring yourself to serve in this manner i could was his emphatic reply i will take any obligation that you only put me into some place where i can aid you and you will never regret the step the first thing i want to do is to run over to new york for money which i will place at your service or if you prefer i will it there for such things as you most need and have them sent on i am fully in earnest try me to and together they took several steps away when they returned she said it is our custom â and a necessary one we have found it â to admit persons to our counsels only after a careful test though you seem honest in your proposal and we have no reason to doubt you we must act according to our rules if you go to new york you may send us anything you desire and we will accept your gift with thanks when you return

0Arthur Conan Doyle

we will talk further the principal thing i wish to urge upon you is discretion our cause is more likely at the present moment to suffer injury from careless friends than from its natural enemies accepted the terms with gladness declaring that he would so prove his and his judgment that he would receive him into full fellowship after a time filled with his new enthusiasm he took the earliest train for the city where he arrived soon after noon an oath on the his first visit was to s office where one of the clerks honored his call for money without hesitation as he had drawn nothing for several weeks he had nearly to his credit and he took the whole amount only it was not larger he gave brief answers to for information as tâ the way things were going on in and left as soon as he had his business his next move was to visit a tent maker s where he hired some large tents and ordered them sent at once to then to a s where he purchased tea coffee and flour in generous quantities a dealer s and a s completed the list considerable time was consumed in making these purchases and in writing a long letter to it was dark before he finished and as the last train that would make connections for had left the city it occurred to him that it would not be â t ad idea to make a call at his rooms and see if everything there was in good order when he reached the apartment hotel in which they were situated he proceeded leisurely up the stairs he had hi keys in his pocket and had no need to call the but when he arrived at his own door he paused in surprise to see a light through the which that there was some one within it was the safest place in the world apparently for a of quiet tastes to amuse himself with tha occupants of the out of town and a wh had been given no information as to the probable length of their absence the knight of the saw and once ins de could take his full leisure to perform his operations but the of the premises had unexpectedly put in an appearance and there was to be a not down on the programme as originally laid out was no coward he never so much as thought ft of of assistance drawing from ms a revolver which he was in the habit of carrying he examined it carefully then he inserted a key in the lock and with a noiseless motion stepped inside there was no one in the little into which the opened and the soft gave forth no sound pressed by his feet the young man waited a second and listened intently some one was moving about in an inner room he locked the door at which he had entered determined that the should not have a chance to escape in that direction and then stealthily crept forward with the cocked revolver in his right hand when he reached the room whence the slight sounds proceeded he saw that the door was slightly a bright light burned inside and the movements of the could now be heard with distinctness no longer hesitated but threw open the door with a quick motion and covered the intruder with his weapon there was a scream of alarm and the fell to the floor crying for mercy as heard the cry and saw the quivering heap on the floor he thought it by all odds the that he had ever seen or heard of it looked much more like a young girl in the height of a charming than a dangerous the next second he threw the revolver upon the bed and caught the frightened figure in bis arms oh how you scared me how came you here and how here explanations were in order and gave them the next half hour as she ia her lover s oath on the arms in one of the great arm chairs she had told of certain treasures that she wished to sell in order to aid the cause of the and had obtained leave to come to the city for that purpose she did not know that was also in town and supposed she could pass the night quite undisturbed in the solitude of the old rooms his advent had startled her not a little but in the joy of seeing him again she soon forgot everything else what do you think i was doing she asked when he understood at last all the necessary and i came here in my mill clothes of course and began to my best things to see what i could sell to the best advantage as they came out one after the other i had an desire to put them on once more and see how i used to look as dame if you do not think me too silly i would like to finish the idea pleased him and he bade her proceed by all means but first he clasped her a little longer in his arms in her pressing kisses on her neck and arms until she became quite and tore herself from him in a y burst of pretended indignation she took out her finest garments and proceeded to array herself in them each article with a that nearly drove him insane as the soft delicate goods edged with the finest were placed about the exquisite young form felt returning all his old love for wealth and what it will buy and a corresponding in his devotion to the cause of the poor she drew on the tinted silk and fastened them with silver enclosed her waist in satin hung a string of pearls about her snowy neck put on her fingers the rings and in her ears the

0Arthur Conan Doyle

of jewels so long discarded the that fitted the little feet so perfectly arranged her hair in the familiar way and finally her most becoming dress and like the young that he was thought how much all this was to be preferred to the and the ornaments of a mill girl knew nothing of what was passing in his mind she was too busy in the operation of surveying herself before the long mirror to think of anything else when the last hook was fastened and the toilet was complete she turned to with the utmost honesty and said did you ever see anything quite as pretty in all life he tried to clasp her about the waist preparatory to crushing her in his embrace but she managed to him declaring that he would spoil it all yes i have seen something as pretty and even prettier he responded when â occurred to him to answer her question looked prettier for instance in the costume you wore when i entered the room why she stammered i wore hardly anything at all yes he smiled that is what i mean she blushed at that and said he was a naughty fellow and struck him with an ivory fan that hung at her waist and he made his peace by declaring that she looked like a which if ever wear pearl silk cut she certainly did and now that you are ready he said we will go to the theatre will we she cried in yes it would be too bad to put all those things oa an oath on the for nothing i will get a carriage and if we hasten we shall not be very late it will not take me as long to get ready as it did you have your hat on and in two minutes expect me he hurried off to his own room and returned within the time the first act of the play had just begun when the young couple entered their box had never taken to a stall and he did not think this the night to commence that sort of thing the girl did not pay much attention to the stage but she looked a good deal at the house and the house returned the compliment by looking a good deal at her was so pleased to see her like herself again that he thought of little else he did not look much at the stage either it was enough for him to watch that expressive face that rounded form that dainty bundle of dry goods that made up the creature called she was perfectly happy she pointed out who occupied boxes with their respective no one could have guessed that she had worked in a mill within two months and slept in a tent by charity just one night ago she incessantly and he â he listened it was all he care to do for that brief time he was as contented as she that s not a very pretty girl of s do you think was her comment you know may wanted me to take that place the ridiculous idea she s got on lots of diamonds though doesn t he look awful i hope you won t speak to him unless he comes over here and then be as as you can may can toss her head as much as she likes she s not as pretty as i and she owned it once to me i ve heard that is going to ship her off for somebody speaking of younger as soon as he finds the right one she s really getting compare her neck to mine now i she paused for to indicate his approval which he did by a thoroughly smile and nod while strolling in the between the second and third acts met mr baker the late agent oi the mills who expressed the greatest pleasure at seeing him mr baker had been introduced to some time previous in s city office and knew that the were to considerable stock in the great central he therefore pressed for the latest news in relation to the strike and on learning that he had recently spent some time in insisted that he come at once into his box and give him all the information he possessed almost before he was aware of it was introduced to a young woman who sat there and who was called my friend miss so is actually firing the out of the houses said mr baker i didn t think he would have the nerve to do it a few nights out of doors in weather like this will bring them to senses there are a lot of down there too i hear i hope they have loaded their guns with ball and will give those fellows a taste of lead before they leave he went on in this style for several minutes placing in a state of great perplexity he did not like to provoke a in the presence of a third party whom he had never met before besides he was now in some doubt as to his own exact sentiments on the subject under discussion the of the theatre the sight of the wealthy of former days and the transformed all combined to am oath on the as soon as he could excuse himself he did so but baker followed him out for another word what do you think of her he said in the direction of miss not so bad eh she worked in one of the mills till six months ago when i brought her up here since then â well in fact i keep her it s a good place to get a girl â those mills they ve never had much money and they don t expect a great deal this is my fourth from there you ve got a pretty one there i see couldn

0Arthur Conan Doyle

t introduce me could you wanted to knock him down and came within an ace of doing it but he restrained himself and only said no i couldn t indeed then he somewhat abruptly opened the door of his own box and walked into it when the play ended he a little while not caring to encounter any other acquaintances at the exit he had the satisfaction of seeing the well known carriage of disappearing through the square he took a modest and drove with through a quiet section to a french where he was not known to the waiter it was but little after midnight when they were again in the familiar of their dwelling her jewels before the long mirror and her dress then complaining that her boots hurt her she took them off chattering all the time like a on the events of the evening sat there watching her breathing in the beauty he had never so fully appreciated he had always thought lovely hut he had never known her full perfection till he envied no man on earth when a few minutes of later he took her in her loose clinging robes and strained her to his heart it was a delicious moment but like many another it did not last as she lay in his arms a thought came into the girl s mind â a thought swift and powerful she sprang up and suddenly stood before her lover her left hand pressed over her rosy mouth and the right raised as a barrier between them oh she cried iâ i forgot she was prettier than any picture but he did not like the change something told him it ill for his happiness forgot what nonsense he answered though the blood fled from his cheek don t be a little goose is at her authority doesn t extend as far as this shook her head positively but â i promised her you don t understand it is a very serious thing she forgave me all my past and treated mc as if i had always been good â and â â i promised and when i saw you here i â i forgot everything nothing could be more charming than her attitude thought though he did not purpose yielding to her argument now she continued if you will please go â go he exclaimed trying to laugh go â where to some hotel â well i guess not my dear these are my rooms and you can hardly drive me out of them in the middle of the night at your fancy it looked like one of the old quarrels but t girl wa an oath on the oo engrossed in the important question at issue to get please leave me then till i can dress and go said gently we cannot remain here together no we cannot indeed her eyes lit on a in her drawer â a that she had owned all her life and that money could not have bought she took it up pressed it to her lips and then knelt on the carpet before the symbol of a faith he could not comprehend s temper vanished i will go he whispered may the holy virgin bless you she cried but oh how i hate to have you leave me it is enough for me to hear you say that he smiled kiss me good night now before i change my mind no he added as she shrank from him i only want a brother s kiss surely you can give me that a brother would not be in my room when i was dressed in this costume said the girl and a blush covered her face as she spoke he walked slowly to the door then he paused and said with vehemence why are all the things in this world so wicked to kiss the girl i love to clasp her in my arms â why is that wrong i would give more to hold those little feet of yours in my hands to night than to plunge my arms elbow deep in gold coin why must i seek a cheerless bed in some miserable hotel instead of staying here with the dearest thing that breathes this unexpected burst was too much for the french girl she extended her arms and moved toward him you may stay i speaking of but now it was his turn to become no i shall go he replied firmly but not out of the house she said will be very sleep in the next room there will be no harm in that yes it would be equally bad for your reputation tears sprang to the girl s eyes i have none he caught her in his arms to kiss away the salt drops she began to sob partly at the mental strain she had undergone and partly at the of her lover but he whispered something in her ear that made hei raise her eyes to his he pressed a long kiss on the trembling lips and repeated his words you do not mean it she said why do you say things to me he put her down and took up the shall i swear on this she took it from him saying he did not believe in it and he took it back again it is sacred to you and that will make it so to me he said now on this cross i swear to do what i told you she received his kiss again saying you may stay low for i know you will keep your word no worlds would not tempt me to remain with you oath he answered i will sleep in the next room however that you may feel protected only he smiled there are on your door and you will withdraw them at your own risk she laughed and said she was no longer afraid very early

0Arthur Conan Doyle

the next morning awoke to find at his bed side fully dressed in the plain ments she had worn at the mill i am a we have hardly more than time to et breakfast and take the train for she said stooping down to kiss him in a few minutes he was ready to accompany her but before they left the house he led her into her own room took up the and said devoutly my little wife that is to be the oath i took last night i now renew chapter i am a murderer how is our patient this morning it was philip s question to as he met her at dr s gate on the day after he engaged that physician to care for the youngest in the of her cares she had still found time to call frequently to ascertain the condition of the sick child is alive and we hope for the best though his recovery is yet a matter of uncertainty she replied there were more than a thousand persons in exposed to the same danger last night but that you knew already she added looking him full in the eyes not a soul has slept out of doors except by his deliberate choice he answered rather a be to furnish houses for people who are doing their jest to destroy it you and i should be t â u to that issue speaking of they had left the doctor s and were walking i y ly toward the village is not turning them out of doors on the approach of winter rather rough usage she asked last night the sky was the only covering for many of the s former servants a kind friend â mr with whom i believe you are acquainted â has sent us tents that will i a part of us tonight but he has done i believe than philip would do v re he t agent of the mill he answered ss s pose for a moment t he her no i would not i think it worn be mistaken charity lie qui er the are reduced to extremity t they themselves to some place wh ⠞ e they n earn an honest living if s purpose is to benefit the people of he has adopted t le wrong method at a tr n in the road they encountered may field wh x wed t to and raised his she that he brought tidings and that they were unpleasant ones what is it she asked i think we can have no secrets from our friend here he ed without hesitation the t wn is have forbidden us to erect our tents on the they say it is an use of the thought a moment they allowed s to be on it all summer she said slowly but of course this is different we can have no conflict with the law we must try to find other place i am a was touched at the gentleness of her manner i wish i could persuade you to advise the people to to work again he said earnestly i will do any reasonable thing to bring that about except to alter the your courage is admirable but your case is hopeless do not let obstinacy carry you too far beyond the point of wisdom how can i ask my to give up your every move is an open defiance before could answer the who had charge of the came toward them a word with you mr if you please he said with s example before him could only reply if you come on business you may speak where we are in the list of those ordered out to day said the is a man named converse who declares t he will not move he has fortified himself with arms and provisions and dares us to cross his threshold did you come to make any suggestion or inquiry asked the agent coldly yes sir i want to know what we are to do i am surprised replied that a man clothed with the authority of your office and who can call upon all the power of the if he needs it should ask such a question of me the looked then you want him removed at any cost said he i decline to give you instructions as to your duty replied the agent of the reflected a moment and then walked away in a brown study the is as plain as the nose n that man s face said to when the was out of hearing in a government of laws we must take things as they are looked tired and but in her eyes there was no trace of the word surrender converse is a man who means well she answered but he was too for us i hope no one will get injured through him you are witness that none of my people she laid great stress on the word hav offered you any resistance when returned to the agency he found that an unexpected guest had come to dinner it was mr baker who had run down to take a personal observation of what was going on in the course of the conversation that followed the ex agent used many in regard to the strike that were very offensive to his successor and compelled him to reply for some time in when the meal was served they sat down to it alone having thought best to advise not to be present as he did not desire her to meet a man of whose gentlemanly qualities he had such a poor opinion baker gave a long story about meeting at the theatre and managed to make the recital so disagreeable that his host could hardly endure to listen but the point came when he turned his attention to and alluded to her in terms that no decent man could

0Arthur Conan Doyle

have used what he said need not b repeated but it was sufficient to arouse to â h highest pitch of t z have listened t yo i sir he said rising to l am a as long as i possibly can will you do me the kindness to leave the house leave the house repeated baker as soon as he could speak for astonishment i will do that at my own convenience i think this house is owned by the of which i am a walked to the dining room door and through the hall to the street entrance leaving each of the open he returned to where he had left baker this house is at present under my control he said savagely now you can either get out or be kicked out baker chose the former alternative but as he descended the steps of the mansion his threats of vengeance could have been heard for some distance when had time to think he was disgusted with himself he could not remember another time in all his life when he had so given way to anger he had boasted of his ability to control himself under all circumstances he trembled to think what he might have done had baker resisted the voices of the men had been raised so high that sitting in the adjacent parlor had heard something of the disturbance when all was quiet again she came out to meet what was it philip she asked with the frankness of long acquaintance a dog he answered sharply tried to bite one of my friends and i turned him out of the house do not ask me any more it is not pleasant to think of i am glad i did not dine with you she said after a moment s pause what do you hear of he has joined the and is spending his money help them to resist the baker told speaking of something else of him but he is such a liar that place no reliance on it is a boy of the best intentions she said yes he answered grimly but do not forget that is paved with that material that night over two thousand persons were m the officers still gave the use of what tents they could spare though prominent citizens of the state all of whom happened curiously enough to own stocks in mills wrote sharp letters to colonel against his action the colonel acknowledged no authority except that of his superior officers and no word had come as yet from them on the subject the tents that sent were pitched in a private lot in the low district a very unfit place on various accounts but better than none but when night fell there were still more than two thousand persons entirely out of doors and these included many women and children and to add to the discomfort a rain set in made one more attempt to soften the hearts of the town officials and secure the opening of the public buildings for at least a portion of the more helpless of he her only answer was a of the old the authorities were as afterwards under the pay of several of the mill and they had gone too far to after that tried some of the churches again but without avail the rain began to increase in volume and when she returned to she was seriously alarmed at the prospect she found awaiting her and knew by the bright smile on the girl s that something pleasant to â i all a f i have just left she said we have had a long talk his heart was with us but he feared the bishop the tendency of the church is to strikes he said and he did not dare show too much sympathy but when he saw the rain he was much distressed i ll tell you what you can do father said i you can announce an extra service and they can attend then if the rain continues no priest would turn the people out into it i ll do it cried the good father delighted tell all to come that can get inside the doors they will have to bring their i said to keep it from getting spoiled he hesitated at that but finally said they could put it in the so all we have to do now is to bid every one to prayers kissed the girl on the forehead which amply repaid her for her successful move and after a moment s consultation with she issued the necessary then followed a scene perhaps in american history the people by hundreds laden with their goods themselves to the sacred edifice so unexpectedly opened to admit them soon every seat in the grand was filled while many crowded the and not a few of the weaker ones stayed below with the blankets and that were there when ascended the altar he saw a sight that gratified his pious soul while at the same time it filled him with a profound pity the service was given with all possible the s remarks contained allusions to the peculiarities of the occasion which if and guarded were yet full of feeling a large part of the audience were unable to understand the language in hâ speaking of spoke and some were who had questioned whether they ought to enter a church even to secure shelter from a storm but the countenance of the good and the comfortable atmosphere of the edifice soon drove away all doubts and they gazed with the interest of at the to them strange proceedings philip uneasy in his mind watched the slow shower for some time from his window at the agency then he his hat and a rubber overcoat and walked down into the village he had in his pocket a pass that colonel had thoughtfully sent him to penetrate the military

0Arthur Conan Doyle

lines at his pleasure and he presented it whenever he happened to meet a his walk was and taken merely to ward off his he soon noticed that the streets wore a deserted appearance his first thought was that the town buildings had been opened to them but a stroll in that direction showed the still on guard and no lights at the windows he had a curiosity to learn what had become of his tenants but he was too proud to ask and he might have gone without the information had not one of the soldiers seeing his inquiring gaze in all directions come to tell him the mill agent had no particular care for the french church â nor for any other church â but ten minutes he softly ascended the steps of i de with noiseless tread he reached the interior and looked upon the remarkable spectacle he understood french well enough to comprehend the words of the priest who had taken for his text the paragraph relating to the difficulty of the rich entering heaven as s eyes rested on the throng he felt a new pity through his brain for these unfortunate people l am a could they have read all that was passing in his mind they might have felt a pity for him too he was becoming sore distressed and was as nearly ill as it is possible for a man to be and still keep his feet night after night of was doing its work at the end of a few minutes he left the church and for want of anything else to do went home a servant handed him an envelope with the remark that a messenger had brought it during his absence he looked at it a long time before he broke the seal for he knew the to be baker s and he did not like to read anything of his when at last he open id it he found these lines to philip agent of the great central at the at the regular meeting of the which occurs to morrow to make the following charges against you that you have insulted a of the at the agency that you have acted contrary to the interests of the in these respects namely by being intimate with several of the leading assisting by sending them a physician and supplying refusing aid to a when a declined to his after being warned to do so telling the commander of the sent to guard the property that you knew of no reason why he was sent here thus encouraging the that at least one person if not more whose income you control has been using his property for the aid of the that you have in general shown a signal inability to cope with the strike and ought to be r moved of the mill agent read this document through twice his only thought was that mr baker had been busy since he came to town to acquire so much information in so short a time then he his hat and rubber overcoat again and sauntered forth once more why had he ever undertaken the task of settling these labor troubles he had esteemed it a duty he owed to his and wards but was it really so there were other large owners and of property as well as he why must his shoulders bear all of this terrible burden he strolled over toward dr s thinking he would inquire about the baby but on the way there he met as he paused to greet her he saw that her face was wet with tears and the eyes she raised to his were so blinded that she could hardly see him a chill passed over his frame a chill like that which comes to one who stands at the newly opened entrance to a tomb do not speak i he said hoarsely i know it all the child is dead she put one hand against his breast bearing a little of her weight upon him don t mind it too much she said speaking with difficulty perhaps â i am not sure â it may be â he would have died any way he has never been very well no he responded like one who talks in his sleep you cannot lessen my guilt i am a murderer she cried out at that and tried to detain him but he went home in a in his bedroom he found in the long mirror the same figure that had confronted him before only it had grown more fierce and haggard â â i know he said humbly i make no defence a little fire in the â sat but he would not remain there he sought a sofa in the room below where the spirit could glare at him and there he staid with the lamps all lighted till another dark morning came chapter a little fire in the grate no resident of will ever be likely to the day following the events in the preceding chapter to philip especially it seems to stand alone among the days of that remarkable week it was cloudy but the rain had ceased falling the in the french church were rather sorry to see that the weather was clearing there would soon be no longer an excuse for good father to turn the sacred edifice into an inn colonel and his officers had slept well at the house their men who were in the rain were not so lucky however as their they were getting tired of playing soldier where there did not seem likely to be anything to do in the way of still the state gave no order to and the apparently useless garrison was kept up had slept with the other in the church lying on one of the in the broad aisle within reach of s hand which he clasped under a

0Arthur Conan Doyle

it seemed very odd to be there after the services were ended among tired of work people with that dear little hand clasped in hit own the gas lamps were partially lowered and a dim religious light enveloped the the face of the depicted in many scenes of his unselfish life looked down on the with a divine compassion amid these surroundings felt the most serene contentment when all about him were asleep except the girl whose hand he held he leaned over and pressed a kiss upon her lips no purer act was ever witnessed by the eyes of angels when he had done this he fell into a quiet slumber still holding the tiny hand as if it were an anchor that would keep him from drifting out into the unknown in her rooms at the agency was much troubled in her mind she knew that was a strain so great that serious consequences might be feared the blind girl knew also that her heart had gone over to the opposition as s had done but her infirmity kept her within certain and besides she felt that philip needed her at present more than any one else she had never till recently supposed there were two sides to a labor agitation her education had always taught her that mill people were of a restless mind and were stirred up to make unreasonable demands by a set of fellows who had personal ends to serve but in place of sight had an increased of hearing when she heard and honesty sounded in every syllable and the words sunk deep into her mind she saw that there was a mistake somewhere if they were right then philip was wrong she had thought of these matters very late on the previous night and on the morning of which we write she rose with a feeling of unusual apprehension a little fire in the badly as himself slept he left the sofa at daylight and went out for a walk although it was so early others were stirring also among them mr baker whom he met along the wear ing a complacent smile it was not in s nature to be except under great provocation and he re turned a forced answer to mr baker s an inclination he could not resist led him among the tents first he visited those that had furnished they looked damp and cheerless the of these tents was most for residence being on low land toward which surface water naturally flowed as he came along he saw that the women were and that the children were being washed and dressed some strange looking were in hung out of doors over fires the faces that the agent encountered did not greet him with especial signs of pleasure and he wandered over to the common he went toward the officers tents still given up to the more helpless of the as he drew near he heard one saying to another the funeral will be to morrow and shaking with a chill wholly out of proportion to the coldness of the atmosphere he turned his steps toward the agency perhaps he would have died any way had told him that in hesitating accents striving between her tendency toward absolute truth and her to give him pain he went in to breakfast and ate something despite the heavy burden he was carrying who are doomed to die at ten o clock are often said by the newspaper men who observe their last moments to eat heartily at nine s strength had failed rapidly during speaking of the past fortnight but he did his best to keep it up and he and took their meal together that morning as usual when it was finished he complied with her request to spend a few minutes with in the parlor she held open the door and when he passed in closed it behind him then she came to where he was with an accuracy that perfect vision could not have surpassed and he took her hands to guide her to a seat beside him on a sofa no not there she whispered get me a low or that i may sit at your feet i feel very humble this morning he found her a and she assumed the position she had indicated laying her head upon his knees time passed on and she said nothing at last he broke the stillness what is it i only wanted to feel some one near me again she said some one i cared for before i came into this sorrowful place it is not that i feel for you â oh no i am sure now that it is not love â but i want very much to receive sympathy â and â and to give it we need it as we never did before â both of us he her hair gently after the old fashion i realize all at once how i have neglected you in the crush of my duties here said he that you need sympathy in this out of the way town with these gloomy surroundings i can well believe but i â for what could i need it you do need it philip for you are in the most trying of situations you are striving to do right and are not certain that after all j our you are succeeding and there is another reason why you need it and for that i wish to give it to you most you have at a fire in the found a woman you love and see between you a great gulf fixed nothing could surprise him at another time he might have wondered who told the inmost secret of his heart to this girl but he never thought of that everything had become a matter of course great have been before now he said thoughtfully as to the other matter there is

0Arthur Conan Doyle

liable to be a change very soon the meet this morning at eleven o clock for what purpose it is their regular monthly meeting but a special matter will come up baker is to submit charges me against w absolute incredulity was in the expression yes he me of and of too great to the what shall you do that will depend on circumstances i am a little out of patience but i shall try to meet it with calmness she took one of his hands and pressed it to her lips i could advise you philip but i will not let your heart lead you it will be your best guide the met at the time appointed and so great was the interest in the situation that every member of the board was present when the routine business had been the agent a report of what he had done and was doing to carry out the policy of the although the had instructed him to pursue the precise course he had followed they were in a dissatisfied frame of mind they had their power to be sure but the longing for which is so large a part of the make up oi a speaking of led them to place their main thoughts upon the slight prospects of success in that direction in all cases of the kind the bears the blame for adverse results no matter how fully his have his course in advance when mr baker s â charges were produced and read to the meeting they fell on attentive ears does agent wish to reply to these charges at the present time asked the president mr who occupied the chair or shall they be referred to a special committee under the rules rose with the utmost coolness he took the paper that baker had submitted and glanced over its contents i have never he said insulted any person in my life i did order from this house the person who makes these charges because he while sitting as a guest at my table used expressions unfit for any decent presence i have been intimate with the two leading and have used my best to convince them of the of the fight they were against the i represent i sent a doctor to attend an infant belonging to one of the which â here his voice choked â has since died i told a who applied to know whether he should use force on a tenant who refused to obey his notice that he ought to know his duty without applying to me i said to the commander of the which is here that i knew of no troubles that the local police could not manage and the of the town has borne out my statement it is a fact that a young man whose property i hold in trust but over whose actions i have no control has against my protest assisted the so much for these as to the a little fire in the grate one thâ t i ought to be removed it is enough for me to that a single holds that opinion i shall take pleasure in a position i never sought and have reluctantly consented until now to retain a dead silence fell on the assembly then the president asked do i understand that agent offers his resignation i shall offer it within a few days was his reply baker arose i trust the clerk will take notice in his record he said that the agent under charges that is as you please said in response to the look of the clerk it is a matter ot complete indifference to me then he left the room an hour later when he returned the clerk handed him a copy of a vote which had been passed the president was to accept the agent s tion whenever it should be offered and thereupon to place the property in the hands of mr baker who had consented to take charge until a regular election could occur all of the except baker had left town on the early train and the clerk soon them at lunch seemed with new spirits thought she had never known such a sudden change m any one he told her of the action of the saying it would now be but few days before she would have to change her quarters he suggested that must be getting dull for her and that she had best go back to the city but she would not consent to think â she wanted tâ st y and see it out she said sâ h of it was arranged that he should secure apartments her as v ell as for himself at the house the first thing he did after lunch was to send for the who had attended to the of the tenants from the houses as he had not spoken to that since the day he declined to give instructions in the converse matter it was something of a surprise to him to be summoned another thing it may be worth while to state not a word of the had in the village up to that hour how many of have you remaining asked the agent about three hundred where are they here in this will take them the in some surprise handed them inquiring when he should call for them never answered they are not to be served not â to â be â served echoed the astonished official precisely that is all i have to say to you at present when the had left the house placed the in an open fireplace and applied a match to it after he had watched it slowly he strolled down town and sought out the first lieutenant of the striking forces when he was found came up and shook hands in his usual court manner i want to meet all of the s tenants

0Arthur Conan Doyle

where i can speak to them in a body said i have a message for them a little in the h bowed silently and went off to find with whom he soon returned this was not what the agent wanted he had hoped to accomplish his intention without a preliminary conference with her i learn she said pleasantly that you have a communication to make to your ex as i possess the power to represent them in all things would you be so kind as to deliver your message to me as he looked into her clear eyes he felt a great choking in his throat how strong his love had grown foi this superb creature who seemed as far from him as on of those stars that gaze on us at night from out tht inaccessible if i give the message to you it must be when we alone i am content name the time and place the agency he said at three o clock i will be there the temporary relief that the position ot agent of the had given him seemed to vanished if he had doubted that he was far from well the that came over him before he reached tha agency would have given him a warning he went into the parlor and waited with some as the clock was striking the hour agreed upon a servant ushered into his presence he her to a chair let us proceed at once to business he said and she saw that he was looking unusually pale would it be any object to you â and to the others â if i were to open the houses and permit all to occupy their old premises for the present i can give no warrant that they can remain very long â perhaps not more than two or of weeks but â if it would be pleasant to you to have mt do so â i would like to admit them on those terms she saw that he grew still as he proceeded can you explain this any more fully she asked no i cannot i have already taken the balance of the from the which will those not yet in their houses the ashes that you see on the hearth are c l that is left of those documents if the others would like to go back â if u w like to have them â i will give them instant i it is a matter of my own â it is nothing tc do w th the â but i have the power and exercise it if you desire when they are â as they doubtless will be â a week s notice will be necessary as before i know the nights are growing colder â and â i thought â his words came slower and slower until at last his power of utterance ceased it was not a but merely the result of energies acting upon the organs felt that there was more cause for his emotion than appeared on the surface but she thoughtfully avoided saying anything that might add to his discomfort i will tell the people of your generous offer and i think they will decide to accept it she said as you truly say it is growing very cold at night is there more he roused himself like one who has pure after partial yes there is another thing i shall resign my position with the very soon when i do so i wish to join your ranks with what property and â i possess in ths lit her dazed look showed that she could dot comprehend all at once as did he explained you him you can accept me i have some â a little over i will place it at your disposal for the benefit of these people â whom i have helped â to wrong his voice had sunk very low again but in the silence of the room she caught every syllable what he told her made her nearly as distressed as himself and the tears rushed to her eyes i cannot blindness to the reasons that you mr she said with deep feeling you make this offer from personal regard and that being the case i cannot accept it i told you he made haste to reply that i asked for nothing i expect nothing i know â better than any words of yours can tell me â how hopeless it would be to think again of that great reward of which in an insane hour i once found myself dreaming but i have fully determined to give up the position i hold at the agency i wish to take the side you have taken your people are very poor their chance for work here is rapidly passing away the aid i offer you may prevent much suffering you should think well you refuse it hesitated she who was used to quick found herself face to face with the greatest of her career as i have already said i will advise my people to return to their houses but the rest i must ask leave to consider until to morrow let me say however that i thank you from my heart for what you are doing i never doubted that philip fl speaking op the agency of the great central would prove his noble nature you and i have been friends through it all and never more i believe than at this moment god bless you she her face radiant with new hope for the cause in which her life was bound up and wrote a notice which he caused to be posted permitting all tenants to take possession of their former immediately late in the afternoon as mr baker was walking through the village he was surprised to see that loads of goods were being carried into the deserted houses he had been on a ride into

0Arthur Conan Doyle

the country and had heard ing of the new order going into the first house he came to he demanded of the tenant in what manner he had again obtained possession on being informed of the condition of affairs he became much enraged learning that was in one of the â the one occupied by â he ascended the stairs and stepped without ceremony into the room he stalked up to the occupants in a threatening manner i was right it seems he said between his teeth you have come out openly on the side of the i shall telegraph to every to night and you will be removed as soon as they can be got together was weakened by the sleepless nights and days of the past week but he forgot everything before the of that man s presence in s room and sprang up to him do not forget he thundered that i am still agent of the clothed with full powers you can neither insult me nor my friends on these premises if you do not leave at once i will throw you down the stairs a light out took the advice given but continued to use his tongue as long as he was within hearing you have but two more to betray us he shouted we will have j ou out by that time as for this woman â was about to throw himself upon the retreating form when he felt a touch of magic power and paused those who would be my followers must learn to bear and forbear said cheerfully let him go it is beneath you to lay a finger on him he accepted the hand she held out to him and pressed it reverently to his lips as they stood there he suddenly took her by the shoulders and drew her toward him he could not have anticipated the entire absence of resistance that brought her lips close to his frightened at his own he released her and hastily left the house chapter xviii a strong light goes out when reached the agency that evening he found awaiting him a him to new york with all possible haste he had just time to catch the late train and it was nearly midnight when he reached the city at that unusual hour he proceeded directly to his office where he found his head clerk with whom he had a hasty conference when he came out the heard the clerk say he may live till morning but the doctors say that will be the longest possible limit â speaking of stood on the steps of the building for minutes after that talking in a low tone with his assistant then he returned to the carriage said fifth avenue hotel to the driver and was driven off at the fifth avenue he dismissed the carriage and going directly to the asked to be taken to a certain room which he by its number a moment later he knocked at the door and was admitted dr perhaps the most famous surgeon in the metropolis at that time came forward to greet his visitor speaking in that hushed voice that severe illness in the immediate vicinity colonel is anxiously awaiting you but before you go into the room where he lies let me fully explain the situation this morning while hunting on long island he received an accidental wound from the weapon that he carried though the greater part of his left arm was torn away the injury might not have been fatal had assistance been near at hand but before aid could be obtained except such as his companions could render he had lost so much blood that recovery was hopeless when the first physician who arrived told him his condition â in answer to his direct question â he insisted on brought without delay to this hotel i reached here but a few minutes after his arrival and upon making an examination was forced to agree with my professional brother how long can you keep life in me he asked with the utmost coolness possibly twenty hours probably not over fifteen i answered then he asked to have a messenger to your office when the answer came that you were at he sent for your chief assistant and after consultation with him the was to you i t u you candidly that he cannot survive a light g e out till daylight his mind is clear however and he is at present perfectly competent to any business that he desires in the room to which was conducted a strikingly handsome man of about forty five years lay in a bed propped up by pillows the extraordinary caused by excessive loss of the vital only made more striking a face that would have attracted attention anywhere the eyes were very dark and fiery the hair and long moustache were with premature gray which carried no impression of age the wounded man grasped s hand in a manner which seemed quite at with the physician s it was incredible that within five hours this soul would be asleep colonel i am truly grieved to see you thus it was the ordinary form of expression but it brought a smile into the face of the dying man i have a little business which i wish you would help me he said and with your permission we will attend to that first then if there be time left â which the surgeon thinks is doubtful â i will cheerfully listen to your to an attendant i think we can spare you for a few minutes when the man had left the room colonel continued i rely my dear on the judgment of dr who me at least three hours of consciousness and i may be a trifle tiresome but if you have ever died or come as near to it as i am you may agree that can well

0Arthur Conan Doyle

be made in such cases as nature will certainly put a limit on i regard it as settled that i cannot see another sunrise now i have considerable property and as laws stand s speaking of i have a right to dispose of it as long as there i in me like many another man i have heretofore given that subject little thought i felt myself in perfect health and presumed that i should see my three score and ten as my father and grandfather did before me the little accident of this morning â or perhaps it would be by this time more correct to say of yesterday â has upset my plans and if i am to make a will you will readily see that i must attend to it without much more delay i suppose the value as such things are reckoned of what is here and there in my name is about three million dollars i inherited the basis of it and the natural has increased the pile considerably i married fifteen or sixteen years ago and there was a child â a boy â but his mother and he died together i have no near relations but there is a case where my conscience gives me a you ll understand such things better my dear fellow if you ever get where i am with your time limited by the of a surgeon and i want to do what i can to set it right twenty two years ago or don t interrupt me now you can talk perhaps for the next forty years and i must do all mine to night i was a young thoughtless no worse than plenty of other young men very likely but bad enough i had been elected to a seat in the of my state and my good old father s heart was set on seeing me make a figure in politics in an evil hour he sent me down to a village to vote at a meeting of where he had large interests which as you know i now possess i did the business all right â we carried our point i remember but it was a hard fight â and it was â o late when we got through that i had to stay in river a light goes sl fall all n ht as i walked to my hotel i encountered in the street a young girl with whose beauty i was at once she was the most inn c it child i ever saw â she had been here but a few weeks from england what the deuce is the matter u the last remark was i by mi exclamation that had been suddenly forced â m the mill agent he was laboring under an excitement that it was impossible to control for he knew as well as he could know anything that it was s father who was speaking to him sir he said in a voice when you have finished i will explain if you desire perhaps you knew the girl said colonel her name was margaret no i never saw her said his composure proceed i beg of you well it was the old story i did not leave that day nor the next the pretty english had possession of what i then imagined was my heart she me from the and i found her too to desert until the mischief was done one day i received a letter from my father saying that an important measure in the house needed my vote and i tore myself away i fully intended to go back but one thing after another kept me from doing so finally margaret wrote telling me of her condition and begging me to keep my promise to many her i could not do that it would have ruined me in politics and beside i really believe my father would have cut me off without a shilling i did what always do â sent her some money and tried to forget her i feared if i went to see her he â shake my resolutions don t look at n e l ke that when a man is dying he iâ i i speaking of thus reminded of the of his gaze which the colonel s latest statements had impelled relaxed his features and tried to listen with outward calmness it was a contemptible thing to do pursued the colonel damn it i hope you don t think we differ on that point i am only giving you the facts as a preliminary to the business that made me call you here i have had my lawyer â mr â draw up a will leaving all my property to this margaret and her child if either or both are living if they are not then the estate is to go to of that will i have made you sole and if you will touch the bell i will send for the document that you may say whether you are willing to accept the trust touched the bell mechanically when mr entered dr accompanied him and made a slight examination of his patient how long now doctor asked colonel not very responded the surgeon you are liable to a sudden lapse at any time thank you he replied now mr the lawyer read aloud the will which was a short one it all the earthly goods and estates of to philip esq as for the joint benefit of margaret of and her eldest child if living the management of the and its disposition under the trust to be at the discretion of the in all respects then followed a list of alternate the document was complete except the you will accept it said the colonel the will be handsome he added as he iâ a light l or f you have anything to say to me in on the subject they

0Arthur Conan Doyle

leave us again bowed assent to the last proposition and the door closed behind the legal and lights if i am agitated said the mill agent when he and the colonel were alone i can soon explain to you my reason this will has a remarkable significance to me margaret has been dead these eight years yes i have seen he grave in the she left a daughter whose father the people have always said was a gentleman of wealth high in the political world this daughter whose name is has been like her mother a in one of the great central mills she is a girl of the natural and i can easily trace a family resemblance in your own face now that the relationship is brought to my attention colonel the greatest loss you will sustain in leaving life in this manner is in being deprived of the sight of the pure and noble countenance of a daughter of whom a king might feel proud though prevented by her poverty from receiving the higher forms of education the beauty and sweetness of her spirit make her worthy of any society she is a leader among the who have against our recent attempted cut down of wages living in the manner with no but her innate charm she is the most loved and respected of their the tidings you have confided to me carry with them great cause for sadness on my part for despite the difference in our social rank i have loved almost ever since i have known her as a orphan girl i might in time have won her though thus she has given me little encouragement as the of millions she will be lost tâ me forever colonel was visibly affected speaking of you love my daughter you and you wish tâ marry her yes colonel after living more than thirty years during which i never met a woman who could excite in me warmer feelings than those of friendship won my heart at the first glance tell me what she is like said the colonel lovers are not impartial judges of beauty tried to describe his idol but found the task a difficult one his own enchantment was however made more evident than ever and this was what his was most anxious to prove say you will accept the he said after a pause time is pressing there is no other man tc whom i could leave it with such complete confidence i will do it replied lawyer was then sent for and the will entirely the estate was left to philip esq in trust for daughter of margaret and the to have absolute power to control the principal as he saw fit this will was signed in the presence of the necessary number of witnesses who were called in for the purpose then colonel n asked all to leave the room except the lawyer whom he requested to write as follows from his fifth avenue hotel new york â my dear daughter with but a few hours to live the cause for which others will explain to you i ask your forgiveness and leave you my blessing as a late for my long â â a neglect that gives me the only pang at leaving earth â i have left you all my property in trust with mr his father was for years my intimate friend i also esteem and honor the son who tells me as things arc told to dying men that he loves you dear if the â she not u time comes when ou can confide your life to him i am sure he will never abuse the great blessing my strength is failing and i can say no more your father the weak fingers could only the name and perceiving how rapidly the colonel was sinking mr made haste to summon dr the change was indeed coming fast the had departed from the form but intelligence lingered some moments longer his speech failed but they saw that he wanted to come to the bedside and the wish was at once complied with as their hands were clasped together a pleased smile the transparent whiteness of the colonel s face then the eyes closed and they thought consciousness had fled but they were mistaken a minute later he roused himself looked about the room as if to call on all present to bear him witness and said slowly and distinctly i have asked my daughter to marry mr it was the last of a strong light colonel was dead chapter xix and she did not refuse back to on the next afternoon train came philip he had arranged for a quiet funeral according to the expressed wish of the dead man at the rooms in the fifth avenue where he had breathed his last the who was called in was to see to all the arrangements it is almost a easy to bury a as a if one sets about it right speaking of went at once to the agency where he found in a state of some the president of the great central mr had been there and waited for him several hours from what the blind girl overheard and what the servants whispered to her the president had given everybody to understand that the agent was under his severe displeasure as they were talking the bell rang and word was brought that the individual of whom they were speaking waited in the parlor was a large man of important mien and heavy voice he had come to in response to a from mr baker and had worked himself into considerable excitement when he learned all that that worthy had to communicate it was his intention to say s number of very cutting and disagreeable things as soon as he should see the agent but when walked into the parlor and extended his hand as if nothing was

0Arthur Conan Doyle

the matter mr took it and tried to assume an expression of welcome i will be perfectly candid with you president said and not pretend to any surprise at this visit you are in on account of information sent to you by that i have allowed the families to re enter the houses president looked relieved and intimated that he conjecture was a correct one to be brief then continued the agent i could no longer endure the sight of these people â most of them ignorant and all of them poor â exposed to the ol a late new england autumn i had tested pretty severely their determination to hold out against our reduced scale to have gone further than i did with thâ frosty nights that arc upon us would have been villain and did not ous my resignation is at your disposal if such measures as those which we have begun are to be continued such a season they must be carried out by beside me mr said he would be glad if the resignation of the agent could be put at once into his hands so that he could call a meeting of the at the earliest possible date it seemed to him that the situation was becoming very grave he mr believed himself an honest man and he hoped a christian but he did not think it his duty to sacrifice a property like that of the great central mills on merely sentimental grounds this and much more said president and when he left the agency he was promised the agent s resignation at the earliest meeting of the he could secure twenty minutes after the president left the house and as was telling what particulars he thought it wise to impart of the death of colonel two other visitors were announced â no less personages than colonel and the state s their object was to ascertain whether the mill had any opinion regarding the necessity or lack of necessity of a longer stay ia of the i cannot in speak for the replied as i am about to resign my position within a few days when colonel first reached here with his men i told him i did not know of any reason why they were sent here that statement â as a private resident and not as a mill agent â i now repeat i think there has been no severe outbreak for you to he said speaking to the colonel none was the reply the of the people m of has been admirable i doubt if so many persons were ever so orderly under such circumstances they are under a restraint far more powerful than my â the magic influence of a woman whom they a wonderful woman if all they say of her is true put in the general well if you see no reason for our troops i think we will send them home to night the town officials ask that a small guard be left for their own but it seems to me they are alarmed colonel you may order your tents struck at once reminded him again that he had not pre tended to express the opinion of the mill the general said he would take the responsibility for that the as such had never asked for protection and it would be time enough to that matter when they did so there is absolutely no farther use for our men here he said the principal thing they have done said smiling has been to afford shelter in their tents to some of the women and children now that the people are again in their houses they at least can spare you better than they could a week ago colonel looked disturbed i am sorry my act did not please you sir said he but i believed it my duty as a man and a soldier ii you could have seen s face when she thanked me â but interposed it does not me colonel on the contrary i honor you for it while i was trying to do my duty to a you made the force less severe to the innocent it was a noble action and i shall remember ii as long as i live and did it must have been a mistake but colonel thought there was a glistening drop in the eye of the mill agent and who ever heard such a thing f a even after his resignation was determined upon had many things to do that day he engaged rooms at the house and set the agency servants to packing his things for he sent many messages and received the who responded at dusk he went down into the village where at sight of him a group of the set up a cheer he bowed politely to them but it did not please him and he hurried on as he crossed the common where the last of the camp v as being packed preparatory to depart ip he saw mr baker in an angry dispute with of captains he did not hear what the ex agent said but the reply of the officer came to him very clear and distinct if you do not leave here immediately i will put you under arrest i have warned you twice and is positively the last time baker turned away and came toward as he saw him his hands were clenched and he lashed himself into a sort of fury three days more he as he passed him then i will have you turned out like a dog if he had looked at the face of the man he insulted he would have seen that it was perfectly there were deeper questions in s mind at that moment than how to resent the jn of a disappointed he was on his way to s and the ordeal before him seemed greater han any other of his

0Arthur Conan Doyle

life she the door to him with the old smile of welcome the experiences of the c week â the rev speaking of of his love and her own â had left their traces on the beautiful face but the smile was still there her expression was indeed more her eyes were filled with a longing but the smile unchanged from the old days brought her back to earth she offered him a chair in her usual manner which was as far from being as it was from he took it and for a minute he sat there regarding her with strange emotions he said t last i have a very sorrowful story to tell you the smile faded sway before the apprehension created by these words c he knew not what to dread but she trembled visibly many suggestions across her brain but like the truth she swayed a little in her r and he bade her compose herself he went on â it seemed so sweet to him that name that everybody else used so freely â there is great need that one v you love should take you in his arms o night and tell you that a great loss has befallen you are strong to bear ill tidings but there is a limit to what any of us can endure is there not i can call whose touch would enable you the better to bear great pain she k her head she was becoming frightened she could o e her eyes from him there is one already here who loves you beyond all power to express â do not speak it is needless but he cannot shield you from the blow that is about to fall â that in fact has fallen instead of him to acquire that right it you with circumstances which make his case if possible more hopeless than ever are you strong enough to listen she tried to speak but the words would not â she did hot refuse she felt a nameless dread at the mystery into which he was about to conduct her and yet she could not resist the desire to know all she bowed a sufficient affirmative to his question and he proceeded there was once a young and lovely english girl who came to america and found work in a mill town called her name was margaret he paused for s eyes had and from between the fingers on which her face rested the drops fell fast young beautiful and innocent he continued as soon as he was able she was without relation or near friend in a strange land one day the handsome son of a rich family â she put out a hand to stop him for the ground which he was was sacred to her the subject had never been in her hearing by man or woman since her mother died she knew the history of her birth but she could not bear that another should re it he took the hand that she had held out in pro test and he did not let it go then he moved closer to her and spoke in a very low voice this morning i closed his eyes she started up with an air that was almost wild and bestowed upon him a look of the utmost astonishment yes that is what i came to tell you your father died at the fifth avenue hotel at five o clock he waited for the shock that he expected but it did not come the girl slowly took a handkerchief from her pocket carefully wiped away every tear from her face and leaned toward him with an expression that clearly indicated relief ov is that the worst news you have brought asked with a voice that surprised him by its firmness he felt a at the awful intimation a father s death could anything be worse than that she took a long breath sat upright in her chair and arranged her dress a of hair had and she put it back in its place with deliberation then she said quietly you did wrong to give me such a fright for nothing he could not conceal the shock that this gave him he had not thought such words could come from those lips explain yourself he said coldly or i shall think the ought to put your to a test i will she answered leaning toward him again and looking into his eyes you tell me that a man is dead â a man who the greatest conceivable upon my darling mother who though possessed of ample wealth left his daughter to bear the burdens of the life he had thrust upon her who married one woman to please his parents and keep his place in society when another claimed him by all the holy vows that he could utter this man you call my father but you mistake i had none he is dead you say well let him die i can conceive of no better thing for him to do i trust you did not think one of these tears of mine was shed for him they were for the mother whose young life he cut short and whose last days he rendered more bitter than thought can imagine dead is he how much better it were for others had he died years sooner and this was the girl he had loved â whom he had worshipped so blindly that he was willing to she vm hot fortune duty honor all for the sake of her hand he experienced a of feeling that nearly overpowered him he had loved his own father with an intense devotion made deeper by the early loss of the mother whom he did not remember lack of filial respect was to him almost he sat in his chair and for the first time with her his voice took on an aspect of

0Arthur Conan Doyle

the funeral of colonel will take place day after to morrow in late rooms at the fifth avenue hotel the hour b set at two o clock only three or associates have been invited it will be your last opportunity to look upon the features of the man to whom you owe your being may i hope to accompany you there she realized the great change in his manner and it gave her bitter pain but she held out still to see the face of that man whose very name i have no right to bear could be of no advantage i never knew how he looked and i have no wish to know he made a will last night after i reached his bedside said his voice growing harder that will leaves you all of his property valued at three million dollars looked surprised but not gratified to me she repeated nothing to the woman who took my mother s place did he desert her too she died many years ago every dollar is given to you his last thoughts were of you with his last he dictated a letter to you and with his last intelligent moment he signed it with his name he drew the from his pocket and laid it on the table she made no move to touch it i am constituted and of the estate speaking of he continued as she did not speak as soon as i file my papers in court and get the necessary permission i shall be glad to turn the property over to you it was difficult for her to ask the question but she did it by what name did colonel his child i will read you the entire document he said drawing it from his pocket when he reached the words daughter of margaret and she clutched both arms of the chair she was occupying in a vain endeavor to subdue her emotion do you think for one instant she asked that i will take this money â coupled as it is with an insult to my dead mother s name daughter of a woman who never was wedded by a who deceived her and ruined her i am and i am proud to be a daughter of margaret the poor unfortunate mill girl but the name of not even his millions could induce me to accept he continued with the same cold hard when the time comes then i shall ask you to sign a of your claims that i may divide the estate among the distant relatives of your father who are its at law his will originally certain as but when he made certain that you were living he did not deem it necessary to add that i do not think of any other business that i have with you at this time as he rose to go the of his icy came with crushing force across the girl s mind foi months he had met her as an attached friend and now he had seemed to grow nearer at each meeting at about this hour his lips had almost she did not s touched hers and had met with no resistance a tide of love nearly swept over her as she saw him about to take his leave in this formal manner business being and such unpleasant business â let us talk of other things she said he had never seen any one quite so pale â as you have so often remarked our friendship may be strained but we must not let it break he resumed the chair he had left but his did not alter you are not pleased with me she said gently no he replied briefly a girl who will let the coffin lid hide her father s face without taking one look could please no one the face of a man she answered whose neglect put my mother s face under a coffin lid is not for her daughter to see i cannot understand a hate that will follow one to the grave you have not even read his last words to you she took up the letter on the table held it in her hand for nearly a minute and then said i will read it if you wish me to he watched her as she the lines and was surprised to see the whiteness of her cheek give place to a wave of color have you read this she asked turning her crimson ace upon him i have not i supposed it was for your private perusal read it he did so and a flush as bright as her own came into his countenance you will believe me miss when i assure you that i was utterly unaware of the contents of of note he stammered you could not for a moment she interrupted him i am sure you did not know what was in it she said but i thought you ought to know and did you tell aim what he says in relation to me from another woman s lips that question would have sounded from s it seemed as natural as breathing let me set myself right said colonel sent for me in haste yesterday afternoon he had received a mortal wound and knew that his hours were numbered he had confidence in me as a business man and wished me to administer upon his property his first thought was of your mother he supposed her still living and had made a will before my arrival leaving his property to her and to her child should there be one learning of her death through me and also of your existence he had the will drawn which i have read to you in speaking of you to your father i did tell him of my love and that i feared the vast amount of money he was to leave you would destroy my last

0Arthur Conan Doyle

hope that you would return my affection when he dictated this letter i was absent from the room a few moments after he signed it he became and never rallied now i must be candid with you last night i would have given worlds to call you mine but that was twenty hours ago she shrank under the blow which was harder than he could have imagined at that moment to the relief of both there was a knock at the door it was mr has brought strange news she did li said when the ordinary greetings were exchanged then with the confidence of long use she told him all about it and you seriously propose to refuse this asked as she finished assuredly but you must not must not why i am surprised that you can ask he said yon are the privilege of becoming the ol wealth for the benefit of the poor with it you can relieve every destitute family in this village you can build or buy mills in some place where they can be given regular employment at fair wages you can provide them with homes instead of you can furnish the sick with nurses and keep the children at school in short a princess would you refuse three millions when people are almost starving about you you would deserve the of every one of the hundreds who now look up to you as to an refuse it if you stood by a river filled with men would you refuse a boat in which to save them then he turned to with a positive air and said she will accept the it was the first time the mill agent had ever seen she mind of the man that of the woman clearly it did so in this case for she made no protest she will also attend the funeral added pause and before she could utter the reply that rose o her tongue has sacrificed too much to her associates not to make one more effort at an important of time like this she will go to new york with you on th morning train and do whatever is proper and necessary believe me mr she will not fail to be ready s were fulfilled in all respects the new york train on the following morning carried and to the city upon arriving at the fifth avenue he procured apartments for her and sent for a who took his orders and proceeded to array the girl in mourning according to the prevailing fashion had a positive promise that she would submit to every reasonable proposal and she stifled the rebellious feelings tha constantly rose to the surface in the early evening called to ask that she look upon the dead he escorted her to the door of the room wherein the body lay and thoughtfully waited for her at the entrance she had herself for the ordeal but when she saw the handsome face in the and realized all at once whose it was her self possession gave way with a loud cry she threw herself upon the and kissed the cold features father dear father she cried i do oh t i do love you dear dear father forgive me i she sobbed so wildly that s fears were aroused and he entered the room the sight that met his eyes nearly him he was greatly moved and going to her side he put his arm around her did i say i did not love my father she cried vehemently raising her face to look at him i could not have said it my dear darling father i why was i not permitted to tell him of my love before he could no longer hear my voice don t you think he can still com â a little may it not be he can hear what i say and forgive me am awful shock told her he did not doubt it it was a falsehood but who can talk philosophy in the presence of the dead faith blind faith is the only medicine then it is an that may at least the pain it cannot cure after a time he persuaded her with difficulty to leave the apartment she turned faintly from the and accepted the support of his arm i am so she said i did not know how weak i could become i wonder if there is anyone else in the world without a single soul to love them he paused and poured into her swimming eyes the full lustre of his own remember your father s wish and she did not refuse the kiss lie offered chapter xx aâ shock returned to with but they parted at the station met them there and walked with her to her rooms like the brother he had always been he waited for her to speak as was his custom but she delayed so long that he was compelled to break the silence tell me everything as the gentle tones broke upon her ear she looked up yes it was steadfast self denying who had proved worthy of every trust over and again of two terrible things have happened she replied have consented to take my father s â the thought of which bears me down like a burden â and â i have promised to marry a shadow brief as the passing of a bullet crossed his features i expected it when is it to occur there has been nothing said about that it was my father s last request and i could not refuse oh you cannot imagine how dear that man became to me when i saw him lying in his all my hard thoughts vanished and the filial tie asserted itself with most wonderful power he was a man of direct speech who knew not how to in question or answer are you to marry merely to please your father no

0Arthur Conan Doyle

i do not mean that she replied with deepening color i have esteemed mr ever since i first saw him you know that you have known it all the time yes he said i have known it but why do you call your engagement a terrible thing she looked at him and through him what could be more so what in all the relations of life is so awful so sacred so with possibilities for happiness or misery i had thought to pass my life alone as a humble in the mills content to help where i could and cheer the sad ot of those about me now all is changed i shall have new hopes new fears new duties never contemplated i shall be a perhaps a mother oh i tremble before the future that has never till now given me the least apprehension â n shock and s she waited for him to say something but he silent he will help me very much she continued he is a man of business and understands what to do with money i want to get all the good possible out of my inheritance for the poor people he is very wise and i am very ignorant he was a hard man when he came here because his education had made him so but all that is changed his heart was always right why do you not speak of what are you thinking i was thinking he said quietly how easily a woman makes excuses for the man she loves what did mean honest straightforward unselfish but he did not seem inclined to say more on the subject and she did not like to press him she took a roll of bank bills from her pocket in proud satisfaction our funds must be getting low here is a thousand dollars when it is gone there is plenty where it came from philip tells me i have three thousand times as much as that what a thing that one person can control such a sum that one can decree food and clothing to hundreds it is a power like to that of deity he took up the money and looked at it whose is this he asked mine she said triumphantly my own and how did you get it it was my father s how inconsistent we are he exclaimed with something very like a smile we have argued against this kind of thing â you and i â ever since we have known each other we have been so sure that men who pile up big fortunes have no moral right to dispose of them at of death according to their fancy we have preached the doctrine that such property should not belong to children â that it should be taken by the state for the general advantage and at the first opportunity to test our we accept our millions as others do but had an answer ready for him when the state reaches a plane that makes it the best of wealth we will place our possessions in its hands heaven knows i would a thousand times rather it had the distribution of mine than that the task lay upon myself if i did not feel sure that philip would lift much of the burden i should hesitate even to make the attempt then they discussed the meeting of the that was about to take place at which s resignation would be given remarked that it was almost certain baker would be the new agent how it seems said brightening that at our darkest hour i should be able to do so much we could hope for literally nothing from mr baker but money â that that is all powerful under our present system â what can it not accomplish is there anything that the possessor of three millions could want and fail to obtain yes said married happiness her face clouded again you philip how can you when he was our most determined opponent you believed in him now when he is about to become one of us you doubt do you think it is my fortune that him he told his love long ago when i had not even a name to offer him don t such things they hurt me he waited a little before he answered but he was not ax awful shock one of those who shrink from needed medicine merely because it is not agreeable to the philip he said at last is a born and bred all of his business ideas run in that channel if he for the moment from his former course it is not because his convictions have changed i have known him long enough to read him through and through i understand him now better than i ever did before he is under the control of a master passion and is exhibiting its effect on a mind unused to such influences he is to sleep beware of him when he his v distressed her but through all she wore the look of a w who loves and cannot be convinced you care so much for pursued and that man is not following the of his conscience he has abandoned his standard of duty to pursue that of inclination he sacrifices his sense of right to his love as in the old german men sacrificed their souls for gold to the spirit of evil i will do him no injustice i do not think he cares anything for your fortune but for you he is crushing out every honest of his heart and no one can do that with mistaken though those be a expression came into the countenance of the of â a look like that which the old masters caught out of heaven to the faces of their happy am i to have lived if i have indeed excited such love in the breast of such a man

0Arthur Conan Doyle

she cried if philip cares for me with that devotion which you describe he will be only too glad to carry out my wishes and in time the effect of his education will surely disappear trust me the husband s at of will not become less than the lover s banish your fears the clouds are leaving our skies and we must see that they desert our faces also s argument was continued for an hour longer but with no effect upon he would not say that he advised her to break her engagement but he wished her to realize the full effect of the step she was about to take in the light of a new born love the girl could see nothing that against her desires all that he succeeded in doing was to clear up the darkness that had fallen upon her in new york and give her the brightest hopes she had had for months came in while they were talking when his e e lit on s face and he saw how happy it was his heart gave a great bound he took her hand with the reverence of a and together they faced have you told him she assented congratulate me the mill hand took them both in with his frank blue eyes i can easily do that mr he said you won a great prize but â can i say as much to started and his face grew dark what do you mean sir the stole a soft arm about his neck and ne recovered instantly he felt how foolish it was to mind one little spot in such an sun as shone on him that day i am sorry it you he said i know how ill i deserve so wonderful a gift as s love to become more worthy of it will be the aim of every hour of my life the have just accepted my an awful jar resignation and elected mr baker in my place for the first time in months i feel like a free man i only wait now to be assigned to the new and more agreeable duty of assisting to provide homes and occupation for our friends here i have without doubt a great deal to learn but you will find me an apt scholar i need your good will all your forbearance all the aid you can give me may i not have it he extended his hand and took it in his own it was who first brought you into this room he said looking at i shall never cease to regret that act if it brings one pang to the heart of this girl or one tear to her eyes we are friends â very good if we ever cease to be so woe to the one of us on the blame shall rest left them and much as they both liked the young mill hand they were not sorry to find themselves alone what came over him he asked i always supposed he liked me she devoured him with her eyes in all the pride of what should we care so long as we have each other he that sentiment in its general effect but still persisted in his question he had known so long and had been on such friendly terms with him that the recent coolness seemed to need an explanation he is often unaccountable said but he is one of the best fellows that ever lived however you have no longer any cause to trouble yourself about the matter he has made an alliance with you and you have only to observe the conditions he laughed at that but he grew serious a of after and taking both of her hands in his asked if she were sorry yet that she had promised to wed him she did not give him a verbal answer declaring that it was absurd to treat such a question seriously but her lips touched his for the first time and he was satisfied when shall it be he whispered bending close to her oh not for a long time she answered her voice shaking there are so many things to be done first we must not seek too much happiness for ourselves until others are removed from the danger of actual suffering have you thought of any place yet where our money be invested so as to provide the people with work that must be done as soon as possible love should not make us selfish philip he drew a long breath if i am to wait until i can provide work for two thousand people i must be active indeed he smiled and yet i fancy my task is not quite as as it might appear i have a scheme in mind that may accomplish the result much sooner than you would suppose possibly a few weeks will suffice if it does i will consent to the delay you ask but otherwise i would advise you not to be too cruel for i warn you that as a minor heir to a large estate i can have you put under and get myself appointed to take charge of you laughed merrily at the fancy and pressed yet closer the hand she held how pleasant it was to have him there on such intimate terms what is your great scheme she asked i told that you had a head for business which would be invaluable to our cause listen he said i want you to do a little with me the great central is an awful and jar at divided into ten thousand shares of the par value of each by your father s will you have come into possession of three thousand of those shares she opened her eyes wide three thousand have i so many yes your father was much the largest owner in these mills and yet he had never

0Arthur Conan Doyle

seen since his youth he used to send me his stock to vote on at the annual meetings now the estate most of the income of which belongs to and owns eight hundred shares and i have one hundred shares to control the stock five thousand and one shares are necessary with that number in our hands we could elect a new board of and start the mills leaving the people in their houses exactly as they are if you will allow me to buy enough to make up what is needed out of your other funds â the girl sprang up threw both arms around his neck and kissed him madly if she cried â but there is another thing to consider he continued though the par value of the stock is the troubles here have greatly reduced its selling price i saw it quoted at yesterday at that rate we can buy all we need for if nobody we are trying to do shall i attempt it her answer was to kiss him again m the most manner the was becoming very i will leave it all to your judgment if it is possible to start up the mills it will be much to a oh how much i shall hope fur your success he put his arm about her waist of how can i help succeeding with such an he said for you are to wed me remember as soon as i start the mill wheels i promise answered and â if you are too long about it â i may reduce the time of my own accord go now she added blushing violently you make me say things i am ashamed of but it is not so easy for engaged lovers to tear themselves apart another hour passed and then instead of departing alone he persuaded to walk out a little distance with him though the evening was young the street lamps were lighted and they found themselves avoiding the more crowded suddenly a terrific noise burst upon their ears and they felt a shock that nearly threw them to the earth as soon as they recovered they saw an immense crowd that poured out of the houses and took a single direction they followed the crowd and soon knew what had made the awful noise and jar mill no i the largest of the seven owned by the great central lay in a heap of ruins had been blown to pieces with chapter xxi whatever the world may sat when the of the great central chose baker to fill agent s place he told them plainly what he intended to do he said he should carry out to the letter the b and the world mat bat a bv his and should even improve upon it his intention was not only to go through the process again but to fill the with new workmen with whom he would at once start up the mills if ny trouble arose he proposed to call upon the military and next time there would be no half measures his expectation was that the mills would be running with imported in about a fortnight he would hire such of the old hands as he might need but not one of their leaders should ever find employment with him as to that woman who called herself there was little more to fear from her as she had he understood inherited money and would probably take herself away the town officials he announced were entirely in his hands and a case would be made out promptly against anyone who interfered in the least with the future running of the mills agent baker s remarks were greeted with applause the were endowed with new courage under such a manager it seemed to them that a might once more be earned after all it was two o clock in the afternoon when the s meeting it was four o clock in the afternoon when a began new notices upon the doors of one of the houses it was half past six o clock in the afternoon when mill no i became a mass of ruins with a noise that shook every building in mr baker himself was one of the first of those who hurried to the scene of the disaster though recognized by all of the mill people whom he met not one of them had a smile or a greeting for him as he looked upon the wreck his lips grew white with rage a quarter of an hour previously one of the best appointed mills in tm speaking of state had stood on that spot it was equipped with power machinery and all for the manufacture of cloth in its place he saw nothing but a confused heap of brick bent iron and broken two hundred thousand dollars would not more than repair the loss and this was the net result of his first day as re elected agent while he stood there one of the agency servants came and thrust a letter into his hand a man had just left it he said with the statement that it contained a message of importance mr baker tore open the envelope and read one of your mills has fallen if the notices are not removed before to morrow evening another will go down a guard will be useless you cannot save them take your choice justice the agent lost no time in seeking out the chief of police and showing him the note that is a nice kind of letter for a man to receive he snapped what are you going to do must i stand by and see my property destroyed under such threats as this before the eyes of your force the chief hemmed gently he did not wish to offend so important a gentleman and yet he felt that he must say something in his own behalf my entire

0Arthur Conan Doyle

force he said numbers but thirty men how could that number make a successful guard seven mills probably the used in this instance was undoubtedly every one of mills has had a quantity of this material placed beneath it the person who it need not necessarily go inside the gates the same â whatever thk world mat sat result can easily be obtained at a distance by means ot electric or other you must until another body of soldiers can be brought here my little force was not meant for such an emergency mr baker the agent the air indignantly nothing is more provoking than to have a police force â no matter of what size â show its to deal with any question whatever if you lose your purse â or your child â or your wife â your first inquiry is where are the police should they fail within ten minutes to restore the missing article their complete is amply mill no i had been blown to half an hour before and the police had not caught the the chief had even the to intimate that all the other mills might meet the same fate unless terms were made with the who could blame mr baker for growing more excited than ever and mentally that he would have the chief and the police force and everybody else before he was a week older the agent s next move was to seek hunt of the town board that official had been so badly frightened by the explosion that his teeth were still chattering he told mr baker how earnestly he had plead with the to remain and guard at least his own residence which he had now no doubt was situated on a mine the agent was disgusted with the man s but he concealed his feelings as well as he could from his official position mr hunt s word might be of value at this time mr baker told him to go to the capital on the next train seek an audience with the governor and ask that a regiment or two if possible be sent to early the following morning a dozen of ton should also be engaged to come quietly into the town from different points in citizens dress hunt was only too glad to leave the place where he confidently expected to be murdered before da and with his teeth still chattering he slipped through back streets to the railroad station and departed â n his journey was paying a visit to his cousin at the house when the explosion occurred had heard the story of s attendance at her father s funeral and of her inheritance and these subjects formed the basis of their conversation the terrific noise that broke upon their ears startled both but especially whose first thought was of an though quite unable to a cause for the disturbance her as well as he could and bidding her rest tranquil till his return went out to learn what he could of the matter he had been gone but a few minutes when came in the little french girl and the daughter of had become attached friends during the past few weeks had learned from his intention to make his wife as soon as circumstances would permit and v his proposal though was close at hand felt a deeper confidence in her cousin s and welcomed her joyfully when returned and told them of the disaster to the mill both of the girls begged to be taken to the place notwithstanding her blindness had a way of her own of events and she was as anxious to join the crowd at the ruin as any of the others who were rushing to the spot so took one of them on each arm and forth when they reached the site of the mill plied her the world mat say escort with a hundred questions she wanted to exactly how everything looked before the explosion and to have a carefully detailed statement of its present appearance when he said that the material probably used in its was she wanted more particulars regarding that agent than he could give her a mill in which hundreds of people had found employment had gone down in a second such an immense force inspired the girl with an awe greater than she could express no one who stood about the that had so lately been mill no i felt more deeply the terrible of the listened attentively to all the questions and answers but said nothing philip with on his arm came through the crowd which made way for them to where and were standing had not spoken to since that night when the young man in an ugly temper had accused him of and signified his intention of his roof on the following morning as for he had never seen her and did not know until that day that she had come to no one would have suspected however from witnessing the meeting that there had been anything like strained relations between any of the party he cordially extended his hand to and was as cordially grasped introduced my miss then spoke to all of them but especially to miss to whom she had been formally presented at one of the meetings given her committee at the agency and after remaining a short time longer discussing the strange sight they had o j f the entire party joined on the way by speaking walked back to the house and entered one oi the i have a very pleasant secret to impart to you said when they were seated at least i presume it is a secret to all except our good friend who has already been told it may serve to clear up some of the gloom that the of the evening have cast on this assembly i v ant you all to know that the greatest

0Arthur Conan Doyle

happiness that can come to man is soon to be mine miss has promised to be my wife all but put on an expression of puzzled doubt miss miss responded taking her hand to remove all doubt as to whom he referred her father colonel left his fortune in my hands as his daughter the trust with the more sacred one of her own dear self blushed but she did not withdraw the hand he held was the first to realize the situation sh came across the room took the face of the between her hands and kissed her i could have wished neither of you a greater blessing she said i have known philip since i was first big enough to creep upon his lap he is worthy of the love of any woman as for you i have heard your voice only twice but i am seldom mistaken in my impressions you are a true woman and only such a man as he who has won you deserves so great a treasure when the congratulations that followed began to whispered something to who in her turn but offered no objection as marriages seem to be in order he said aloud i whatever the world may â at may as well announce another before many days miss will be mrs started at the name could it be that had brought his little french mistress here and allowed her to enter the company of girls like and he looked at her and became convinced that such was the probability the next few minutes were very uncomfortable ones for him he gave the girl his hand as did the others he saw draw her to her breast and a kiss upon her lips the atmosphere of the hotel parlor seemed to him he whispered to that they ought to be going and was very thankful when he found himself with her in the cool air of the street i fear he said as soon as they were out of hearing that is doing a very ill advised thing i have more than a suspicion that miss is not the kind of girl that a man should marry or that i would like my to associate with she knew s story much better than he but she leaned a little more heavily on his arm as she asked him why it was so pleasant to lean on that arm and to think that it was to be her sure support through all the rest of her life very pleasant indeed it was to this girl who had carried not only her own burdens but many another s almost ever since she had learned to walk why she asked him looking up tenderly into his face i cannot tell you he answered you must not ask me too much but i assure you unless i am mistaken in the person there is the strongest reasons for what f â ay s of she smiled and put up her disengaged hand to brush the wrinkles from his if you cannot tell me philip perhaps i can tell you i am not a child and i know many things that children cannot know i would not have spoken to you of s life but as you have heard something â and as you are to be my husband from whom i shall have no secrets â i will discuss it with you for a long time lived with mr as his mistress that was wrong â wrong not only for her but for him now they are to renew the union under the blessing of god that is right whatever the world may say i feel sure that it is right he shook his head doubtfully it pained me to see you embrace her he said â when i did not think you knew it pains me still more after what you tell me why she asked again she is one of the sweetest little women i have ever known she came here before the strike and went to work in the mill her room was opposite mine in the lodging house when the people left their work i assigned her to many positions of trust and she never failed mc she told me her story almost of her own accord her life as a s in the with no one to take an interest in her education or morals her evenings spent at the her meeting with mr and her speedy into a of rooms at his expense she also told me of her regret at the false step she had made and me her solemn promise to reform that promise i hare not the least doubt she has fulfilled now when the man who is responsible for her fall offers to his error who shall prevent him not i nor think you whatever the world mat there was a charm in hearing her talk thus to him he could not wholly agree with her conclusions i n this confidence he seemed to feel of the more complete union she had promised let marry her if he chooses said he though how happiness can come of it is more than i can understand my objection was not so much as to what they might or might not do as to your receiving such a girl on terms of intimate friendship my wife â he spoke the word proudly â cannot associate with women whose names have been soiled as openly as has s she felt a thrill go through her he spoke of her as his wife that sweet indefinite charm that only first love can bring where in all the gifts of the creator can be found its equal your wife she answered will never so far as her ability goes be found unworthy of you but as long as you can meet with the cordial grasp of the hand that you gave

0Arthur Conan Doyle

him to night i can meet with no less affection they have equally let us say for the sake of argument though in my heart i believe her more innocent of the two both have repented clear your mind philip of the hard injustice that would give every chance to the man and none to the woman thus talking they approached the humble lodgings which the of millions still insisted on making her she stopped at the outer entrance to say and marked the look of surprise that he gave her we are lovers now dear in a low voice the privileges we took when we were talking on business matters can no longer be claimed the hour is too late for a visitor of your description to enter my door how long will it be before can not only enter bu remain speaking or that lies with yourself she smiled have you forgotten we are to own a interest in the mills before we can own each other i shall take the early train in the morning he said and lay my plans at once if there is not enough of the stock offered in the market for our purpose i may buy up the of some large owner at a fair price this explosion to night he added thoughtfully will probably shake the price of the stock almost as much as it did the real estate of go she said tenderly and god be with you i have much to do to morrow i must prepare a declaring my of the act of this evening and my belief that it could have been done by no friend of our movement i shall also arrange to hold a public meeting where similar will be made i understand that agent baker has begun already to issue new notices if you can secure control before he them it will save much suffering if not it is a great consolation to know that i have the means to do so much what a pleasure it is to help people who are in want those whose only anxiety is to pile millions on millions through a long life can have little to soothe their latest hours and yet what miracles they might accomplish if they only would they parted reluctantly and walked slowly back to the house where he learned that the friends he had left there were still occupying the parlor perhaps they should have been more than they were at the loss that had befallen the great central but they were actually holding a â and seemed to be enjoying themselves very well as paused outside the door all four were singing io an accompaniment played by on her aod pleasant indeed was the melody made by the fresh young voices he did not like to disturb them and he went out on the to wait until their song was finished as he sat there in the shadow came out with and walked away toward the girl s lodgings he wondered why lingered inside for he knew his voice had mingled with the others half an hour more elapsed before he appeared and something in his manner set s thoughts into a new channel he turned the matter over in his mind for awhile and then began to feel sure that he had made a discovery was alone in the parlor when he entered and so with her thoughts that she did not notice his presence till he stood close to her when he took her hand in his and told her what he suspected the tears rushed to her eyes but when he left her that night she had a smile brighter than he had ever seen upon her face â a smile of peace that followed him like a as he went to his lonely chamber chapter very much like hunt with his teeth still chattering the governor at his residence at a late hour that night and induced him to issue orders that a of should proceed immediately to the news of the of mill no i had been flashed across the wire and was common talk at the capital of fore he arrived the governor had heard of it and was consequently prepared to act without delay directions were sent to colonel who commanded the second regiment to take five of his companies to the scene of the disaster as soon as he could get them there â his subsequent acts to be governed by his own judgment under the general direction of the town officials when hunt had finished his business it was past the hour for the last train to leave in the direction of the village over the of which he was supposed to even had it not been it is unlikely that he would have ventured to go home without a guard his mind was full of unpleasant he wished heartily that he had never accepted the of the under whose influence he had exasperated the peaceful citizens who elected him to office he retired to a hotel and dreamed all night of before who sought his life being blown to by and finding himself in other similar dreadful situations very early the next morning he repaired to the railroad station where he found the on a special train and making himself known to the officers he was given a place among them it was a cold crisp day and much as he holiday soldiers liked the prospect of a little excursion they wrapped themselves in their heavy and the of in the tents that they were to pitch on common for they soon learned from hunt that every mill â and these constituted the only buildings in the town was believed to be with connected in some secret manner with the hiding places of who would rather enjoy pulling the string on the least provocation it was one thing to very much

0Arthur Conan Doyle

like charge on an crowd and quite another to fight against an unseen foe of the usually ascribed to some of the younger members of the companies wished they had not been so fast in to the calls of their captains a little illness might have been worked into an excuse and perhaps have prevented serious consequences colonel was not at all the same kind of man as colonel while both were good soldiers the former enlarged idea of what constituted discipline and could never even to save life have the action of his in offering his quarters to it was well for the people of that he had been sent on the second errand instead of the first if he were to come there at all hunt gave him such an account of the ferocious character of the men with whom he would have to deal that he sent an order through the train to have every loaded with ball so well was this direction executed that before they reached their destination several of the managed to put holes through the roofs of the cars in which they rode and one of them had even succeeded in blowing off a thumb news of the expected arrival of the train had reached agent baker and he was at the station pacing up and down like a tiger when it rolled in as soon as colonel could give a few general directions to his officers he accompanied messrs baker and hunt to the agency the fright of the town s chief official had bee growing more pronounced as he approached and as he alighted from the train his attracted sufficient attention from the few spectators present to provoke a shout of ridicule he was an in size and between agent baker and col of â both of whom were of goodly â he looked more like a monkey dressed up for exhibition purposes than anything else somebody called out look at the coward upon which he clung in desperate fear to the colonel s coat tails and that to shoot the on the spot the commander was inwardly disgusted at this act but he concealed his as well as he was able the instructions which he bore bade him act under the direction of the town authorities and he was too good a soldier to be carried away by personal feeling at such a time as the ascended the street in the direction of the agency a parcel of small boys dogged their steps at a safe distance shouting allusions at the oh look at little hunt he s been ter the ter hi d ye th ghost bit of mate a big an orderly of the colonel s who followed in his rear turned several times and made a of attacking the lads upon which they started to run away but perceiving by the merry twinkle in his eyes that he more than half with them they returned each time to their verbal assault when the agency was reached mr hunt was in a state on frenzy and when the door was closed upon the he wiped the perspiration from his forehead the on the at that identical moment colonel listened attentively to all that agent baker had to say and there was a good deal of it he said there was no doubt that the situation was much like he showed the letter which he received on the previous evening and the colonel read it with a grave face you need a few of s men as well as some â f the slate he said soldiers in uniform out such things as these but there is another thing you must do without delay those on notices must come down agent baker uttered a fearful oath i would see every mill in blown to hell before i would do that he cried if i had wanted to surrender to the i need never have sent for you the notices are posted and by god they shall stay posted with another five hundred added before nightfall colonel shrugged his shoulders you know your own business said he if as that note all of these mills are the may decide to blow them up at once if they are excited too much my plan would be to with an enemy of that description for the pr sent in order to crush him more effectually at a later day as baker was about to reply a servant came to say that there was a man in the kitchen who wished to see him without delay in a few minutes he returned with the man who proved to be none other than of s whose reputation it is needless lo say is inferior to none on that remarkable force i came to and rode over with two of my men he explained so as not to attract attention several others have gone to and will walk from there mr baker told his story again and when i was r speaking of eh bs shed though he had heard nothing that colonel said came to the same conclusion you must take down those notices he said as soon as you can send a man around to do it never cried mr baker but you must we need time above all things to provoke a is to invite a wanton destruction of property give us a chance to catch the and after that you can tack up notices at your leisure you will find but few persons in the plot it is not the sort of scheme that a big assembly takes up these mills cost money and it is your duty to save them agent baker clenched his fists they can be saved if the colonel will but follow my directions he said there is not a dwelling within fifty rods of the yards march your men down the street and surround the mill

0Arthur Conan Doyle

property on all sides with a strong guard then extend your lines outward in the direction of the houses from which the apparatus would undoubtedly be worked get a warrant and thoroughly search all of the premises nearest the mills act as if you mean business and my word for it you will have this thing uncovered before the sun sets smiled at the of the agent that might work and again it might not said he l f has really been placed under the other mills and is to be exploded with an apparatus it is more likely to be connected with some house a mile away than with one nearer this strike has been going on for weeks and the have had every chance we must their claws by a little pretended â t tell you before we can hope to get them into our net agent baker had just begun to say they shall never â when another visitor was announced it was president who had read an account of the trouble in the newspaper and taken the first train from his home for he looked much worried and listened carefully to a report of the conversation that has just been recorded take down the notices he repeated when his advice certainly we will take them down do you think he added addressing mr baker that we want to lose three or four million dollars just to gratify a little pride the notices come down within two hours if i have to go and pull them down myself mr baker rose and struck his hand heavily upon the table then sir you will have to get a new agent he said angrily i would never serve a that would countenance such a deed confound it all cried the president do you know what our stock was selling at before the opening in new york this morning two hundred and ninety sir and falling let another mill blow up and it will not bring a dollar a i ve got an interest in this thing sir nine of all i am worth is invested here do you imagine i am going to beggar myself that you may gratify your temper no sir the notices will come down sir do you hear me they â will â come â down at the end of each of his sentences the excited president shook his fist in the direction of mr baker he did this merely to his remarks however and of with no intention but the a a as determined as his superior taking a piece i paper from a drawer he wrote a hasty resignation which mr accepted without more then mr took himself out of the room in a and the door after him i shall run this thing myself gentlemen said mr to the others until the can be got together again give me the best advice you have and i will follow it that pig headed donkey would have ruined everything in a day more looked gratified take down the notices for the first he said that is also your advice said the president to colonel certainly mr called a servant and him the who had served the papers now said the have you a suspicion of any one not really a suspicion replied mr that baker has excited me so i hardly know anything he stopped to take breath there is a fellow who refused to obey the first notice and held his after the others left the will know whom i mean he has been described to me as a dangerous man you might look him up we must get out of this thing the best way we can he paused again for breath i thought it cold when i came out this morning but i begin to believe it is the day i ever saw again the door bell sounded and shortly afterwards and was ushered into the presence of president and the officers of the law the beauty much like ti te ness of the young mill girl who was clad in a dark dress entirely devoid of ornament all three of the gentlemen though in different proportions mr had met her before and he introduced her to the others both of the visitors ao chairs and the president addressed his first inquiries to is there anything you wish to say to me in private or would you as these gentlemen were present i would like them to hear it if your errand relates to the troubles between the and its late will answer you said quietly she rose and spoke with perfect case and what i came to speak about mr does not i believe refer to any one of your ex but to that of which some enemy of their cause has led them to be suspected i allude to the destruction of the mill last evening the and of the cannot regret that occurrence more sincerely than i my object in coming here is to offer you my aid representing the entire body of our people in any way you may suggest to out the of the outrage will you every door opened to us without a warrant asked the president cautiously every one t she replied with emphasis and the of any room who refuses you the fullest opportunity to search his premises â who does not even render you aid in every possible manner â shall be in the assembly as unworthy of further confidence you will not find the author of this deed in my ranks sir i have preached forbearance too earnestly to have my words bring forth such fruit as this took up the letter which of agent baker had received and which had been him on the table when he took his hasty departure do you know that handwriting he asked her a sad look came into s face as she read the

0Arthur Conan Doyle

note i do not she replied i cannot conceive how such an infamous proposition could from any sane person it is simply horrible the who had been sent for arrived at this juncture and joined the group he showed surprise when told that the notices were to come down but assented without comment the oftener the notices went up and came down again the better for his he never quarrelled with business what was the name of that man who refused to obey the last notice asked mr the one who was said to be fortified in his room william converse answered the do you know him inquired mr of yes but he is not under my when he destroyed the notices sent out by mr i refused to the act and we parted went to the window and looked out he was apparently consulting the weather signs i hope it will not be inconvenient for you and mr to remain here an hour or two he said return ing i am an officer of the law and i am going to search the house of this man converse while i have the most perfect confidence â would even be willing to risk my reputation â that neither of you are concerned in this matter it is my opinion that you had best stay here until my return you will be under no restraint unless you should happen to decide to leave in which case my who arc close at hand would t r r prevent you colonel if you will favor me your company president was amazed at the cool way in which the made this announcement but he said as there was no necessity for his presence at the agency he would also go to the village and he followed with the when they had left the house remarked to in a bitter tone do you realize that we are under arrest yes she smiled and you do not care he exclaimed in astonishment no the arrest of an innocent person carries with it no disgrace i only hope they will the parties who blew up the mill looked at her with a troubled face supposing it should be converse she started at that but said if it were he must pay the penalty if you knew it were he cried would you help these hounds of the law to apprehend him this man whose life has been a curse to him ever since he saw the first cloudy day of existence would you not warn and help him to escape or if taken would you not defend him no i would not would said â i would aid him to the last drop of my blood she trembled he had never spoken to her like this before do you think it was he she asked â i fear it she paced the room for several minutes in silence do you recall that last night when converse and i of remained after the assembly the night he meeting force with force â and i listened â and how much it disturbed me he assented at that time i escaped a great danger a little more and i might have fallen into the you are passing through the same experience be careful you are not led too far the cloud did not lift from his thoughtful face there is a limit to endurance he said gloomily i am sorry â yes i am sure i am sorry â that the mill was destroyed i am equally sure i would save the man who did it if i could get between him and the law when we leave here i shall try my best to discover him and if i am successful i will assist his escape if i can they would sentence him to long years in prison â to the for all i know this punishment he would bear for his zeal in our behalf for his attempt to our enemies oh do you really hope they will find him when you know how terrible must be his fate she felt the necessity of firmness though her woman s heart within her yes she said even if it should be converse yes even if it he leaned back in his chair or philip he said she placed a hand over her left breast and grew philip could not do such a thing she said proudly nor could i he responded and yet you me much like the theme was becoming too painful to continue and they dropped it b common consent little more was said until the return of president and i shall have to keep you under a while i am sorry to say said the officer addressing you may take your choice between this house and the s parlor all we want is to have you handy then turning to he added you are at liberty madam and i am very sorry if you have been â by the delay looked like a thunder cloud about to burst i demand to know on what charge you propose to hold me anything you like to call it responded the cheerily perhaps we may make it more definite in the morning and perhaps by that time we may be to let you go it won t do any good to get which is it here or the jail his indignation as well as he could out of regard to the pleading look that gave him the jail by all means he said if i am to be a prisoner keep me where prisoners are kept i have lived an honest life for twenty four years i fear to tell no man any act i have committed you will tell the people that he brings no charge against me i am ready sir he walked off with the officer and went to her home two of the had been

0Arthur Conan Doyle

hidden in the room next to that which and occupied at the agency and had overheard every word of their conversation on hearing their report mr had reached the decision that it would be wise to lock up until he was through with the searching process i they had found nothing in the room occupied by converse according to instructions the went ahead and removed the notice from the upon hearing the noise the englishman came out to inquire the cause and when he learned it he grinned with satisfaction and an assistant came upon him suddenly and took him by the shoulders we are going to search these premises for articles said the and you may as well submit quietly search all you like was the unexpected reply and if you want any help call on me they the room and after that the entire building without avail when they came away converse was grinning more than when they arrived sorry to have troubled you said mr don t mention it grinned converse come again come often i shall always be glad to see you his grin seemed to follow them to the street and the last they saw of him he stood in his doorway with his mouth stretched in an hour every person in knew that was under arrest but s influence prevented any demonstration the soldiers were placed in the vicinity of the mills and other points of interest at two o clock every notice was down to the general joy and the danger of another explosion was believed to be temporarily past but later in the afternoon a boy left a note for president that made that gentleman seek out with all speed this is what was in the message was â if is not set free before the clock strikes seven another of your mills will go into the air a word to the wise is sufficient justice a comparison of the with the one previously received showed that it was in the same handwriting we must let him out said mr grinding his teeth but we will have him every second damn it mr this looks very much chapter where was the dreaded hour of seven passed and no other mill in was shattered it was evident that the were well informed of what was going on when released from where in spite of his request to be placed in a cell he had only been allowed to occupy the s sitting exhibited himself freely in the village the property were evidently men of their word they could be d with on an understood basis the thing that most annoyed president was that he could never tell what their next demand might be true the for the moment was not fire but the knowledge that it might do so at the fancy of some concealed foe and that the possessions of the great central were liable to be buried at any time in its stream of was not cheerful to say the least the temporary needs of the were met by ire speaking of of s purse and so long as the houses could be retained by them no actual suffering was likely to arise the mills were guarded by a of military at all hours though for what purpose it would be difficult to say since the enemy they were intended to combat was of the invisible kind and one whose advance guard was already with the a dozen men were scattered about the village but attracted no attention among the crowd of sight who in on every train the shivered at night in their tents on the common and by day as they paced up and down before the deserted mills had converse at all hours by three of his best men the englishman never left his room that one of these was not on his trail at the same time a minute examination of the earth in the vicinity of the mills was made in the endeavor to discern any disturbance that might indicate an connection but with all these pains nothing of value was discovered as evening approached conceived a bold plan had called a meeting of the ex in the largest hall in the place procured the requisite warrant from a local justice and had every soldier present sworn in as a peace when the meeting was in progress three hundred surrounded the building in which it was being held and colonel walking into the hall declared every person present under arrest there was a moment of consternation followed by symptoms of an outbreak and then s voice was heard they would submit to the authority of the law she said no force would be required she bade the officer do his was na replied that he merely wished to prevent present from leaving until the close of an investigation that was in progress and advised all to be at their ease within half an hour president who was at the agency anxiously awaiting the result of this move received a third letter delivered by a small boy who was and brought into his presence the little fellow said the note had been handed to him by a stranger who had given him twenty five cents to do the errand though it was evident that the boy told the truth a who was in the house decided to detain him while mr went as fast as his legs would carry him in search of colonel the note read as follows it is now half past nine o clock if the persons held in hall are not released at half past ten another mill will go down and so on â one each hour â till all are set free justice on learning that mr wished to see him tl descended to the street and there read the note who was close at hand started with the two gentlemen

0Arthur Conan Doyle

and was also made acquainted with its contents he was we have settled one thing said the colonel the author of this note is not one of the persons in the hall and every man whom we have had under special suspicion is there including converse heard him and said hâ waa not tâ sure about that but there is â ne thing we e n te mr he said if u are willing to run the risk it is possible that this is ui it may be that he has no other mill fi of and is unable to carry out his promises if we were to refuse to release these people until after the hour he we could tell hereafter how much confidence to place iâ him it might be a costly piece of information and â mind you â i don t advise it but i would give a good deal to know for all that president turned pale at the suggestion good heaven he cried these mills cost a quarter of a million apiece you must release the people in the hall as soon as you can get there i could never take a risk like that it would mean absolute ruin if we were wrong after a little further talk colonel returned to the hall and announced that all present were free to go at their pleasure as he did so he glanced at converse who sat facing him in one of the side and saw the broad grin of the morning repeated on his face it was a grin of triumph of victory won over an enemy and the colonel felt convinced beyond doubt that this man knew the whole secret of the plot he lingered the meeting being a public one and heard close her remarks with these words yes my friends you have still left the most potent weapon for your â the you have only to unite and next tuesday a friend of equal rights and justice will be chosen to represent at the state house what to you are the great parties of the country the of which have already for your which of them has dared to the insolence of capital or made the lot of labor we worked in these mills for just enough to keep soul and body together and when we could bear it no longer what had they to offer us â â republican or â call them was f you will â they are alike insensible to the growing needs of the people let us send from a man whose entire energies will be devoted to our cause â a man whom we know and honor and in whom we have the fullest confidence you all know whom i mean â a shout arose at the name but stopped it by a wave of his hand as he arose and stepped upon the platform for this kindness on the part of the leader whom we all he bowed toward and for your approbation my friends let me return my thanks in anything by which i can serve my associates i hope never to be found if i believed that i could do you as much good in the as you appear to suppose i would not rise as i now do to decline the use of my name but my comrades i am only a poor lacking the graces and accomplishments indispensable to success in such a position my voice would be a very feeble one among so many and wiser men you have in your ranks another who â if his professions are to be relied upon â has your interests at heart and who has ten times my capacity to aid vou in securing the you seek i wish therefore to withdraw my name and to substitute that of philip there were shouts of mingled approval and when s voice was again heard mr is not a legal resident of this state and is consequently to office here has any one a candidate to propose other than mr f no response as many as are in favor of his being the will say aye a shout arose that shook thâ those opposed will say no a dead of silence fell on the assembly it is a vote is your candidate see to it that he is elected or never again complain of the unfair laws that now govern you the meeting then and the audience crowded around to congratulate him and to their support he shook his head doubtfully saying that they must not expect too much from one so inexperienced colonel left the hall with a feeling of disgust if such ignorant men as these were to make the laws he thought the country would soon be unfit for a gentleman to live in went to the meeting that night and looked all over the throng in a vain hope to find his sweetheart somewhere in its midst when the exercises began and he made sure she was not present he went out and walked down to her room in the lodging house her door was locked and at the discovery an unpleasant sensation came over him he next went to the house where he found who tried to entertain him but found it difficult to do so he wanted and nothing else could fill her place he strolled out after awhile and tried s door again then he went back to the hall and found it invested by soldiers who would let no one enter or depart that was a very strange thing but no stranger than his sweetheart s absence where could she have gone he began to get alarmed he paced the streets asking many persons whom he met whether they had seen her then he went back to the hall and saw the people leaving it in a great swarm waiting near the entrance he noticed each

0Arthur Conan Doyle

face as ii passed him for there was still a chance that she might was have been inside and escaped his vision when the last one had departed he went in and looked at the empty seats a chill came over him he decided to go and ask when she had last seen her the was at home and he heard a pleasant come in in response to his knock she was alone reading for the tenth time a letter received from philip the first real love letter she had ever had he was detained in the city on the business that took him there and might have to stay a day or two longer he said every hour away from her seemed like a year and all that sort of thing sensible business men act very much like ordinary people when writing to their good evening mr said have you seen to night he asked i cannot find her anywhere she smiled into his anxious eyes she knew better than ever before how to appreciate his let us see if i have better luck she responded leading him into the she lifted the latch of the door opposite her own and stepped into the room the sought for girl came forward to meet her but changed color at sight of her lover where have you been he asked hurriedly i have hunted for you since eight o clock she looked so distressed that came to the rescue you missed quite an adventure by not coming to the meeting she said we were all arrested and kept under guard for nearly an hour i â i meant to go stammered the girl but iâ i fell asleep i â i was very â tired did not look pleased and vou were asleep â in here â when i came to the speaking of door twice and knocked you must have slept than you used for i made an awful the french girl blushed violently she has sat up late for some time now said in since miss went away she has had no one to set her a good example in relation ta retiring early i have heard her moving about till pas midnight often tried to look grateful for the sympathy but the words in which it was uttered did not set her at ease why did they arrest you she asked to divert the conversation into a more agreeable channel i do not know why said but i have learned ihe reason we were released president received an letter threatening to destroy another mill within an hour if they did not let us go i wish i knew who does these things she added very seriously i could almost take him to the police station with my own hands the color left s face and it grew paler than the ceiling of the room they have kept the mill owners from turning us out of doors again she ventured yes retorted and they have taken from us what public we had gained i do not believe one of my people would do a thing so utterly opposed to all my but we get the credit for it just the same i told yesterday that if i knew who it was â even if it were himself â i would him after saying this returned to her own apartments leaving the lovers together you are not well said i am sorry i spoke was f impatiently one could tell to look at you that you needed rest you had best go to sleep again as soon as she wound her arms about his neck in the good night ss she was much agitated though striving with all her power to conceal her feelings you are trembling he said â am i she answered i think i have taken cold she paused a moment and then burst out dear would you care very much if i were dead he took her face between his hands and looked at her see here he exclaimed you want a doctor no i am only tired â and â and nervous leave me and i will go to bed to morrow i shall be well again if she had feared it would be the last kiss he would ever give her it could not have been more lovingly received good night he said and be careful you are to be my wife very soon now you know good night darling he thought he would go to his room but something had made him nervous too and he tried to the feeling by pacing up and down the half an hour after he left he found himself in the vicinity of her lodgings and while he stood looking up at her darkened window he saw a little figure muffled in hood and veil open the door glance cautiously in both directions and then start off at a brisk pace it was beyond question and he was not a moment in deciding to follow her there was something mysterious in such a sally as this when he had just left her with a promise that she would at once retire s jealousy was aroused he walked along in the speaking of shadow until he saw the figure he was watching pause in front of the house take another cautious g ly ice around and enter at the side door t was nearly midnight waited a little while then went into the office of the hotel a dollar slipped quietly into the hand of the night boy the information that the young lady who had just arrived had gone directly to the rooms occupied by miss the lover s jealous feelings were but his curiosity did not what could want of at that hour he the boy not to mention his visit and went back into the street to watch and wait he did not believe the

0Arthur Conan Doyle

girl would stay very long and he to see the end of the strange affair nearly two hours passed and he was about ready to give up the investigation when the door at which had entered the hotel opened softly and â not one figure but two â stepped forth he knew the second figure was and his wonder increased he saw them start together and was about to follow when a new surprise greeted him a man evidently on the same quest as himself came out of a hiding place and began to shadow the couple with the utmost care to avoid discovery began to shadow the man and in this manner watching and being watched the strange pursued their way through the semi tbe s chapter xxiv the plot the reader might as well be told the truth about if he has not already guessed it with that shrewd sense which in these days much more ingenious than the one who pens these lines the little french girl had lent herself to the schemes of the being persuaded by them that a wholesome display of force was needed to strike terror into the hearts of the mill it had been a hard struggle but she had in her they had secured a most valuable ally as will be seen when one or two things are taken into account she was a woman to begin with and when once engaged in a plot women are more than men she could not be she had more than the average intelligence then her room was in the same building with s and in case of a general search almost every house in would be looked into before that one as the was known to so strongly of well knowing s publicly expressed views was some time in making up her mind to enter a so totally at with them but she was finally convinced that while could not openly the destruction of a mill or two she and all of the other would be sure to profit vastly by it unless said her something startling is soon done the new agent will order us all out of doors and we cannot hope for next time if we can hold speaking of this fear over his head we can gain a more attentive hearing the was placed under every mill owned by the and the electric connections were made before was consulted then it was the work of but a few days â or rather nights â to arrange the under the floor of one of her where only the most search would be likely to discover it nothing was required of the girl except to press a given key upon receiving the signal and instantly the particular mill with which it was connected would be destroyed when mill no i was wrecked she experienced a shock but the effects soon wore off it is one of the peculiar things in the human make up that the most awful events lose their significance if dwelt upon persistently was much more willing to press the key that connected her with mill no than she had been the first one she realized now how potent was the power she held in her hands â how it could make the haughty pause in his cruel work and bring even the representatives of the civil and military forces to their knees hiding in the room that evening with not a light to betray her presence she almost hoped the signal would be given to the second charge and there was a sentiment of disappointment when the time passed without the warning such is the fascination of a secret mission to a susceptible mind but the remarks that let fall when she and called produced a revolution in s mind that plain direct statement of her superior that she would the could she find them even if one were produced a strong effect the girl became as anxious to her steps as she had previously been to take them but how to go to work was the plot â he she had a well of her associates in the plot she believed should they detect in playing them false they would kill her without scruple some way must be devised which would convey a belief that she was innocent when left she thought the matter over and could see but one method she must penetrate into mill no where the main connections were laid and cut the wires the streets in the vicinity of the mills were with soldiers but mill no could be entered from the with a boat under cover of the darkness it was a bold scheme for a young girl to undertake but herself to make the attempt she did not like to go alone however and she feared to take a in so important a matter while striving to overcome the difficulty caused by this situation she suddenly thought of the blind girl would do anything for her friend of that she felt sure to ask her to accompany her on such a mission was to put her friendship to a severe test but believed she would go midnight is not so different from noon when one is she could tell some simple tale to account for the journey and though she were present when the wires were cut she could never testify in relation to it if worse came to worst yes miss must be persuaded if possible and if that failed must go alone she was determined was ready for bed when the french girl called was considerably surprised at the visit it was some time before could bring herself to make the proposal for which she came but she did s â â â of dear would you mind going out for a i walk with me where asked in a tone of surprise i cannot tell you that

0Arthur Conan Doyle

i know it seems strange h am obliged to do a very particular errand and i hate to go alone it is a secret â what i am going to do â and i know you will not ask questions now dear wrap yourself up and come looked disturbed a secret she repeated is it perfectly right ah perhaps it is something for yes said catching eagerly at the thought it is something that she wants done very much but you must never breathe a word of it even to her i am supposed to go alone but â i dislike to â and you will not tell any one i am sure the authority of s name settled all doubts that had arisen in miss s mind and she prepared to accompany her friend dressing warmly and putting on her feet according to directions was sound asleep and there seemed no occasion to disturb her the girls believed that no one saw them leave the house they took a long and route in order to avoid the having gone nearly a quarter of a mile toward the country they passed through a gate into a field and pursued their way by a to the other side of the town near the mills reaching the river side took one of several boats which were tied along the shore and after pushing it out where it would float assisted to a seat in it we must not speak above a whisper she said in the tone ž keep perfectly quiet and all will be well it did not occur to the blind girl that she was running the plot s b great risk she had perfect confidence in her companion and did not doubt that she was carrying out explicit directions given her by the boat was easily to the rear of the mill with hardly a perceptible sound had been a number of times since the strike began and was used to handling the oars arriving at the point which she wished to reach she stepped ashore fastened the boat and assisted to land then walking cats across the of intervening space they opened a small door and entered the building it was almost as dark as pitch indoors but found a seat for near the entrance and whispering a warning not to move till her return stole softly across the great floor toward a that led to the creeping through the blackness she found the place where the s were hid and after lighting a match to make sure cut the entire connection with a heavy pair of that she carried in her pocket when this was accomplished without accident she experienced a feeling of relief but at the same moment became aware ot the intense strain under which she was her strength gave way so rapidly that she was obliged to rest on the lower step of the stairs before she could ascend while waiting there she heard a piercing scream from above and experienced a new terror in the knowledge that something had happened to cause alarm to miss the figure that had followed was that of baker the mill agent home late from a visit to a lady friend he had perceived the two girls as thej left the house and easily them decided to ascertain what took them into the streets ai speaking of such an unusual hour it did not occur to him thai another might also be them and he was quite lost in his desire to see the end of their expedition when they mill no he grew confident that the journey had something to do with the plot and his joy at the prospect of being able to that mystery was great he stole along at a reasonable distance keeping in the shadows but never letting the girls get out of his sight for many seconds at a time when they took the boat he waited until they had floated for some distance down the stream before he took another to follow them he seemed so near a great discovery that he deemed it prudent to use the utmost caution when he saw s boat tied to a post on the bank he rowed his own a little below it and fastened it in a sheltered place where it would not attract attention then with a step like that of a he crept to the door where the girls had entered and softly stole inside was sitting as has already been stated upon a bench near the entrance her quick senses advised her that a third person had entered the building but she had no way of whether it were dark enough for her to escape detection if she motionless it was really impossible to see anything and had she not moved she would have been unnoticed longer than she was but hearing the approach of the cat like steps thought hei own safety and that of demanded that she move farther away and if possible toward the stairs by which she knew her friend had descended could she pass down those stairs she might be able to warn the french girl and secure a hiding place for both until the danger was over baker heard the light steps from him and the plot feeling sure that they must be those of one of the women hastened toward them as he reached her s foot hit against some and she fell headlong in the darkness the agent fell also and at this moment she uttered the scream she could no longer restrain was not three minutes behind baker whose form he recognized as he saw him take the oars of the second boat were plenty and the young man his above the others as soon as he saw baker enter the mill he had no definite idea what was being done but he did not propose to leave the man alone

0Arthur Conan Doyle

in that building with his cousin and sweetheart no matter what crime they might intend to commit thus it happened that when heard s cry there were four persons inside the building instead of two the sound of his cousin s voice raised to a pitch that fright startled he quickly decided that he would at all risks know what was going on and a second later he took a match from his pocket and struck it as he held the light above his head he could make out the prostrate figures and he knew them both but where was release that lady he said in low but perfectly distinct tones release her agent baker or it will be worse for you he found a small gas jet as he spoke and lit it it produced a very dim light but sufficient for to distinguish the objects he needed to see mr baker arose and came toward him so you are in this plot too are you he muttered your neck will be liable to stretch for this â unless â he hesitated unless you make friends with me miss came and stood behind her cousin feel speaking of ing her way as is the custom of the blind all the while trembling visibly if friendship with an of the is needed to my neck it certainly will stretch sneered the young man looking at the other with aversion what do you mean by attacking my cousin in this savage manner the agent eyed him scornfully you talk he said but before i answer that perhaps you will tell me what brings you here at this hour of the night remember i stand upon property that is in my own control i came to watch j câ retorted i saw you creeping after these girls and i knew you too well to believe that it was with any good object indeed and now i would like to know what they are doing here they can speak for themselves yes and they shall cried baker they are here on some mission for the men who blew up the other mill and you are most likely their let me but raise the alarm and i will have you all under lock and key to prove your innocence if you can before judge and jury it must be evident to you that you are in my power and yet pausing again i have a proposition to make touched on the shoulder and spoke in a shaking voice listen to him and let us escape from here if we can i have done no wrong and know of none but i am willing â if he demands it â to pay him something for his silence mr baker heard the sweet voice and found a charm in it thi plot s but would you pay the price i ask pretty one he said i do not wish to harm you will you pay a price that shall release you and your friends from the present peril and allow you to go as silently as you came started to interrupt but the girl begged him to have patience for a moment longer what is your price sir she that he said i must tell to you alone if you will take ten steps with me i will inform you of my conditions against her cousin s hearty protest the blind complied with the mill agent s suggestion had heard the voices and distinguished s tones as went aside with baker she came up the and guided by the dim light found her way to her lover and fell on her knees oh leave here as soon as you can get away take with you and let me perish as i deserve she did not know where i was going nor what i intended to do take the boat without delay i entreat you then she sought mr baker and clasped her hands it is not their fault sir she said it is all my own call the officers and bid them arrest me i will be very quiet and go where you please believe me â by the soul of my mother â they are not to blame but the agent would not listen to her he was pouring into s ear with all the eloquence of which he was capable the dangers to which she exposed herself and friends if she refused his offer she was at first too to reply and he ik her silence for partial consent s speaking of we will go at once to europe he said we will travel around the globe say but the one little word and you shall all leave here as free as you came in the meantime was talking to who had gone back to him rash girl what devil persuaded you to join in such a deed for it is now plain what brought you here had you no pity on those who loved you that you would expose them to such contempt â if not positive danger â as this night s work will do she looked the picture of woe i came here to save the mill not to destroy it i have just cut the wires so that nobody can injure it hereafter don t speak so cruelly i feel cold it seems as if i were dying then heard give me a little time to think she was saying it is so sudden not an hour replied baker not a minute is it yes or no the words but especially the tone in which they were uttered roused s suspicions what does he demand he asked going to where she stood and her with his arm she held down her head but baker raised his and looked at the young man i offered her my hand in marriage took two steps toward him and shook his fist in the

0Arthur Conan Doyle

agent s face you dog â you worse than beast he cried you shall answer to me for that insult his eyes glared like those of a and the agent did not wish a personal contest with a man so even though his form might appear thk plot than his own he retreated toward the gas jet and with a quick motion extinguished it then having previously taken his bearings he made his way as as he could toward the door at the as soon as he could do so the gas and prepared to assist the girls to depart though he was quite out of patience with he saw that she would need his aid if she were to escape mr baker s vengeance to which he had no intention of leaving her but at that moment several windows on the opposite side of the mill were broken with a terrific crash saw the gleaming barrels of a dozen and heard a voice give the command fire it was all done so quickly that he had neither time to s ave himself nor to warn his companions a sheet of flame burst forth and he saw lying on the mill floor pale and still in a moment more a group of soldiers was in the place and were grasped by rough hands and was bending over the form on the floor it is the little french girl he said to a subordinate go to her house o and make a thorough search and you take a look at the lodgings where young has been staying step lively now we shall have the whole thing in our hands if you are wide awake closely watched by his guards knelt at s side and clasped one of her white hands in his for god s sake go for a surgeon he pleaded she is not â she cannot be dead do not touch her till a physician comes the last words she heard me speak were uttered in get help that speaking of may at least arouse herself enough to say she me a messenger as requested the grief that displayed affected all who stood near why are you so troubled thinking the incident a strange one what is the girl to you she was to be my wife kissed the quiet features as he spoke he did not care who saw him never till now had he realized how dear that child had grown knelt by his side and touched the face she still lives she whispered i am sure a surgeon can save her colonel who had been hastily summoned from his bed now joined the group mr he said this is sad business she was trying to save the mill said raising his eyes to the colonel i do not understand it very well as i came late but she told me she knew where the wires were and had cut them they must be in the as she had just come from there i saw agent baker following these girls here and i him this lady is my cousin and is blind she says she did not know the object of s errand and i am sure she speaks the truth where is mr baker he went out at that door just before the firing sent for a lantern and with one of his men the they were not long in discovering the cut wires and they saw with satisfaction that the electric connection was thoroughly broken dr arrived while this being done and after the plot an examination agreed with thai life stiu existed in s body she should be taken to some quiet place where she can have the best of care he said if that is done she has a fair chance to recover the only wound is this one in the right shoulder but she has had a severe nervous shock where shall she be taken he asked to my room said a voice it was who had entered the mill that will be excellent said the doctor and immediately a boy who had come with him for a carriage we will see what mr says to that said one of the men was feeling well he believed the danger to the mills was over and his face bore a satisfied expression as he came up the stairs i wish to have this nearly murdered girl taken to my room said to him she cannot move without assistance but if you think necessary you can station at my door you cannot object to her if it is possible on the contrary he replied i shall do everything i can to restore her but madam i think one of the s chambers will answer quite as well as yours we will have her sent to the jail if you please doctor and for the present at least this lady and gentleman indicating and must go with her put her arms about s neck and kissed her while she tried to console with a few words of cheer i do not know what they intend to charge you with she said but i am sure it must be shrill speaking of at once for mr dear pray god her hurt is not fatal the carriage soon arrived and willing hands lifted the still quiet burden into it as the distance was so short the other two prisoners expressed a to walk and in a brief time all were inside the iron gates the asked whether anyone was to be allowed to hold converse with the not a soul unless i am present he replied let no one go near them but your own trusted he next sought colonel double your guard at mill no he said and on no account let any person enter the premises put part of your in boats and bid them watch the river tell them to report anything unusual and

0Arthur Conan Doyle

arrest every person who gives the least cause for suspicion it shall be done said the colonel and he went tc give the necessary orders chapter xxv mr his stock before philip finished his breakfast the next morning he was given a from and as soon as steam could carry him to he was there met him at the station and as they proceeded to the village she told him as briefly as possible the events of the preceding night i do not quite understand it all yet she said knew where to cut the wires whether she mr hi bt c i learned it or otherwise i am uncertain she probably took merely for company hesitating to undertake such a journey alone when entered the mil and found baker there he lit the gas which naturally attracted the attention of the guard and colonel were sent for in haste and nobody would have been injured but for the of a who claims that he thought the people inside were about to a charge of and that quick action was necessary i have told the justice of the district court that you will furnish and he is waiting for you with mr and miss they found the court room crowded and the judge almost overcome by the sudden importance that had been achieved by himself and his position in response to questions he said he had decided to require from each of the present and for the third one spoke briefly in answer we can easily furnish the bonds that your honor requires but we do not like to be placed in the position of unless some sort of proof appears against us i hardly know yet of what we are accused of and a conspiracy to destroy the mills of answered to whom the justice turned how by cutting the wires that made such destruction possible or by being present when this was being done not knowing what was going on for these i learn are all that my friends are guilty of doing â i shall submit no evidence at this time said mr but insist on substantial bonds we will try your friends mr in a court that over to this west and answered very well and withdraw of further objection bonds were signed and the released prisoners went at once with him and to the jail where upon displaying the necessary papers they were admitted lay in the s best bed still unconscious dr allowed the visitors to look at her and then took them into another room and closed the door it would be very dangerous to attempt her removal he said she between life and death the slightest thing may turn the scale if you can make arrangements with the you had best let her remain here whispered to the others and then went to see the money is not so bad a sometimes and he had little difficulty in securing leave to h ve the girl cared for in the keeper s private rooms until her recovery and anyone else who was desired were to have free access to the place when returned and told of his success all expressed gratification you will do everything possible dr said and look to me for your compensation that bit of in there is more to me than all else in this world and the young man remained at the jail for the present and undertook to guide back to the hotel outside the prison gate they found waiting for the news in reference to the injured girl i am going to escort miss to the house said when he had told his story you must excuse me as i have business at the agency that needs my attention if you wish and with miss s permission mb â his â aid boldly i will relieve you of the first part of your duty i was just going in that direction smiled pleasantly you are very kind she said taking his arm mr as they walked along she seemed in such a happy that he expressed astonishment pardon me miss said he but one would hardly suppose a night of such terror as you have just experienced followed by a morning in jail and court would leave you in a state of mind as jovial as that which you seem to possess she clung closer to his arm you must think me frivolous she replied but it is nevertheless true that i never carried a lighter heart than do to day i am sorry â very sorry â for and i hope she will soon recover but the danger to the mills is ended and that is something to be thankful for he eyed her intently you were frightened of course when mr grasped you oh terribly i did not know who it was and in my alarm i tripped and fell s voice partially reassured me but i was still far from comfortable then came the crash at the window and the awful noise of the then lay on the floor and we were under arrest at the jail we were left in the sitting room and not disturbed any more than was necessary was fearfully dejected â poor fellow he loves so â but felt my spirits rising it may have been wrong but i could not help it the room was very pleasant with its open fireplace and there were some delightful pictures on the walls stared at her speaking of but you could not see the pictures he said with his usual could describe them couldn t he i have fifty pictures at home that i never saw and i think i know them all by heart not one of them ever pleased me as did those in the little sitting room where they took me last night then the s wife got out of bed and came in to talk with

0Arthur Conan Doyle

me she is the sweetest little woman with rosy cheeks and brown eyes â how do you know that he almost shouted the question she laughed merrily oh i have ways of telling the sound of a person s voice to me an idea of their personality for instance i know that you are and that your eyes are blue and that you wear a turned down collar and a black and white you have a full beard â i know you have â though i never touched it â he stopped there in the street and looked at her it does not become a lady in your position he said to make sport of the feelings of a man in mine his evident earnestness and sincerity could not wholly repress her gaiety you are to see me to the hotel she smiled and we must not too long on this corner i think we go to the right do we not and pass a large white house that sits back from the street i have often been this way with she explained and she tells me everything do the leaves fall as early this every year why it is not far into november yet and how clear the sky is not a cloud anywhere i can tell as well as you who have sight this glorious air could not belong to a dark and dismal day when they reached the hotel he reluctantly consented his stock to enter the parlor with her but said he could remain only a very short time her happiness upon him and yet he could not tell why if a blind girl had found a pleasant hour who could envy her its possession she took up her which lay where she had left it on the evening when they all sang together and struck several gently she stopped in the middle of a note and put down the instrument it was frightful in that mill she said that dark place suddenly lit up by the flash of those â those gleaming barrels â he interrupted her with impatience what can you know of flashes and i cannot understand your meaning she laughed again before i was twelve i could see as well as any one i know that guns flashes when they are fired and that their polished barrels always gleam when light strikes upon them besides i have had hundreds of books read to me and i know she continued that i like blue eyes and full and long drooping he rose and took up his you see only too well miss he said your vision blind to outward things has penetrated the secret of my heart it may amuse you to learn that a poor mill has dared to love one who is â in the cant phrase of the world that only looks to wealth and station â so far above him but my self respect will not allow me to intrude longer upon you i have made a great mistake believe me it shall not be repeated he was at the door when she reached his side she said softly it is not who am blind it u s of he answered yes or you would have known long ago how r your love is returned miss â no she corrected are you honest with me she laid her head on his breast and the full beard touched her face at last a blind girl she said think of the burden i be i will be eyes to you but tell me why were you in such spirits this morning she raised her lips to his were you not with me and there we will leave them found president at the agency the calls for another meeting of the he greeted the ex agent with formal politeness in which there was very little cordiality let me offer you congratulations said that the mills are no in danger it is true that in several accused persons this morning i may seem to be opposing you but in reality it is not so i believe the girl the wounded is entitled to your thanks she cut the wires that is certain how she knew oi their i cannot tell and she may die with the secret on her lips as to the others i would stake my soul on their complete innocence mr was on that subject he handed the a notice of the meeting he had called saying he hoped he would be present i shall was the reply if we are to save our property it is time something should be done the mt bells hi stock caused by idleness will soon be as great as if tht mills were destroyed at once by i see by the morning papers that our stock sold at yesterday the president gasped with horror then i am ruined he cried i have most of mine at perhaps the falling off will only be temporary suggested i believe with the present of cotton we could start up the mills again and earn five or six per cent in the meantime if you need money to meet your obligations i shall be happy to oblige you i have confidence in the stock indeed i have left orders with my to buy some mr hardly seemed to hear him i am ruined he repeated in a faint voice how many shares do you hold three hundred i bought considerable when the troubles began thinking they would soon go up again that is how i came to put my other shares in pledge i am ruined there is no doubt about it what will you take for your mr looked up do you want them i have a who does if the price is right i will give you above the highest price to whatever it is â for every share you own i will do it

0Arthur Conan Doyle

said mr â put it in writing i will and i will resign from the board of tomorrow the lord knows i have not had a good night s sleep since this row began took the agreement when it was ready and read it over â â one thing more he said as he handed mr speaking of a check on account you will say nothing of this after the meeting not a syllable a servant announced that had arrived and as expressed a desire to see him he was ushered into the presence of the two i bear sad news he said mr baker s body was found in the river this morning his body cried both gentlemen at once yes according to mr s story the agent left the mill just previous to the firing it is supposed that he fell m the darkness and struck his head on one of the stones that line the at any rate there is a of the skull and the doctors say he could not have survived even without the fall into the stream i am very sorry said and he looked the words he uttered mr seemed simply unable to say anything such is life commented the to day we are here to morrow â by the way the man converse and several of his most intimate associates have disappeared since daylight they probably had a fear that the french girl would confess shook his head and said he could not believe her guilty you would i guess if you saw the machinery we found in her room replied she had an arrangement under her floor by which she could touch off every mill in at her pleasure oh yes we ve got her down fine i d just as tell you now that she was in the room where we found this machinery at the very minute mill no i was destroyed we have a witness who saw her leave it a short time after she was there also on the night of the big meeting when we mr his stock got that threatening letter giving us an to release prisoners there is no case in the history of crime i am sorry young has got mixed up in it but you ought to know the facts mr it is something for you to think of whether you want to continue as in a case of this kind when there i no longer any doubt of the guilt of the accused unable to offer any reply to this explicit statement left the agency and went to the s house in search of to whom he related all he had heard the death of mr baker impressed her greatly and she gave utterance to the wish that he could have been in a more suitable frame of mind to meet the awful change as to she only said her guilt or innocence is a minor question now we must save her life before we talk of anything else and he stooped to kiss her as they stood at the bedside where the young girl s soul still hovered between earth and heaven on the next day but one the met at the agency there were seven of them by the by laws of the but the death of mr baker reduced the number to six and the resignation of mr left but five members to choose his successor had secured the co operation of two of the other by a liberal purchase of their stock and the names he proposed to fill the and â were successful mr one of the on whom the announcement of this result fell like a shock rose to say that he would offer his resignation he said he did not care to act on a board with a woman he also inquired who this female was anyway she is by far the largest owner of stock in the speaking of replied who occupied the chair she is the only child of the late and v ill be my wife within a few weeks those in favor of accepting the resignation of will say aye those opposed will say no it is a vote was chosen to fill the the other mr sat speechless then officers of the board were chosen as follows president vice president philip agent and the as left the building mr met him at the i shall protest at the meeting against this election he said in an ill temper i have been told that miss is not of age oh but she is said she is twenty one â to day then he went to see again and told her what had been done she tried to protest for he had given her no intimation of his intention to use her name but he would not hear of it it is your property and you are the one who should control it he said i will be at hand to give you any information you need and you will get along finely the people will have more confidence in the affair if they see you at its head that night an immense crowd gathered about a written notice that had just been posted on the great gate of mill no and shouts of frantic joy rent the air as they read these lines â the great central mills will be open for work next monday morning at the old all who wish employment are requested to the agent before that time president agent â wo strange chapter two strange marriages foi several days lay between life and death but at last she began to rally when she first regained consciousness it was evident that she had forgotten the events that led to her for she inquired in whose house she was and how she came to be so ill the ball had been extracted from her shoulder and she did

0Arthur Conan Doyle

not at first pay a great deal of attention to her wound as the which dr applied kept it from giving her much pain her trouble was principally of the nervous order and the good physician expressed his belief that she would be as well as ever in a few weeks unless put back by difficulties he advised to be with her as much as possible and to assume at all such times a cheerful which should give the girl no hint that he had cause for low spirits these directions were faithfully carried out s place when she was obliged to be absent was taken by one of the mill women whom knew and who proved a careful nurse came in very often usually escorted by and everything was done to the life of the sick girl was much to think that his promised bride should have been concerned in the plot for he could see no other way to explain her knowledge of the of the wires in the mill he loved the girl but as he sat at her bedside he had great in following dr s to appear of cheerful in the face of s explicit statements of her of all violent measures s conduct seemed wholly without excuse but condemn the act as he might the actor grew very dear to him as he realized how close he had come to losing her and the first kiss which he placed on her lips after she opened her eyes and recognized him was as warm as she could have desired it was very luckily who happened to be alone with her the day she first recollected what caused injury had thought the matter over a good deal in view of this very what makes my shoulder so lame asked the girl it was hurt you had a fall how did it happen she asked knitting her brows were you there did you see me no dear but you must not forget that the objects to your talking i will tell you all about it by and by the girl lay very still for several minutes when all ai once she burst into tears i â i remember she sobbed oh can you â ever â forgive me sat down by the bedside and soothed her with kisses many pleasant things have happened since you have been sick dear when you are well enough to know all you will find much reason for but i was so wicked she moaned i know that the soldiers fired at us was â was anyone hurt but me no i am so glad i deserve my punishment but i meant well indeed i did i thought it would two s ul prevent everybody being turned out of doors again â ard the weather had grown so cold â and â there said soothingly you must not get excited lie still and i will tell you some of the good news mr has bought so much of the mill stock that he can do just as he pleases with the people are sure to have their homes and better than all the mills are running again yes actually running and he is paying the old wages and hopes before long to increase them he refuses to take a penny from the working people for rent he is going to have better schools here and a hospital and a nursery where the little children can be cared for during the day oh you will hardly know when you are well enough to go out the soldiers have gone and is to be one of the law makers at the state house and every one you will meet will wear a smile s face lightened a little but soon grew sombre again no face will wear a smile for me she said sadly and r meant to help you in all that i did i thought you would be glad â although you would not wish to know what was being done â and i never thoroughly understood you till that night then i was frightened and i got to go with me while i cut the wires though she had no idea what i intended to do and when i had done it and was just going to come up the stairs i heard her scream and i came to where was and was talking to mr baker and me and then the soldiers broke in and fired and i didn t know anything else she told her story in a hysterical way and thought it might be as injurious to repress her as to allow her to proceed z of dear it is all over now she said and wâ must be thankful it is no worse a sudden thought entered the girl s mind have the soldiers â the officers â arrested any of the men who put the wires there no they have not been able to ascertain who is guilty then i am willing to suffer said with a sigh of intense relief i am willing even to die they will ask me questions but i shall never tell them those men to help you as i did and made a great mistake i not tell their names no never this reflection seemed to afford her great comfort she repeated the words many times until at last they passed into a drowsy murmur and she fell asleep vice president of the great central was a much more important personage than or even agent had been the revolution in the affairs of impressed many and none more than of s it was not so hard a matter to convince this official that he had a very case against the parties arrested in mill no on the night he and the broke into it for he had tried in vain to secure evidence connecting them with the placing of the

0Arthur Conan Doyle

the most he could have proved against was that the apparatus was found beneath the floor of her room and that sh had probably cut the wires in the of the mill the latter act was certainly in her favor and the former was hardly sufficient evidence of guilt when totally by other testimony argued to that the apparatus might have been put there to throw suspicion upon an innocent party it easy to enter such a two â t ith false keys and one s self in the closet during the frequent of the tenant perhaps the work was accomplished during the time when the building was empty after the tenants had been mr acknowledged the justice of these claims and admitted that there was little upon which to the french girl unless she should confess which was not likely as to and he was now perfectly satisfied that their connection with the matter was honorable so a little conversation took place with the district attorney and a judge and the accusation against the arrested parties was formally withdrawn to the general joy of when was well enough to be removed to s rooms she had to learn that she had been staying in the s house but they were able to say to her at the same time that all charges against her had been not pressed and that she need fear no one after a long debate on the subject and had agreed that her fault was one that should be and that the wisest thing to do was to act as though it had not only been forgiven but forgotten with loving words and kind hands to assist her recovery the girl was soon on the road to health but when the doctor pronounced her fit to take the air she shrank from the gaze of her old associates and they could not induce her to cross the threshold was in a for he knew how much she needed the atmosphere he talked the matter over with her seriously and at last they found a way out of the difficulty she put on her outer garments one evening and hid her features with a thick veil with for her companion she stepped into a closed carriage at the door and drove a short distance when they op returned the waited for them till had kissed the little bride and blessed her and then the wedded couple took the late train for new york would not hear of a more wedding she looked like a very quiet girl indeed as she lay in s arms in a on her way to the city but she was happy nevertheless there was a lively time with the when the annual meeting occurred in december some of them talked rather angrily at vice president who in the absence by his earnest advice of president occupied the chair they announced their conviction that a trick had been played upon them by one of their sworn and that they had been â yes sir â out of the value of their shares it was evidently the intention of one of the they would mention no names to so conduct the affairs of the as to reduce the value of the stock still more in order to buy out the at his own terms such conduct as that might be legal in a certain sense but it was clearly and while there appeared to be no remedy they had at least the right to it â yes sir and they would it there and elsewhere they would let the public know what kind of people were as and of society though at every blow of the lash gave the utmost latitude to all who desired to free their minds when the vote was taken the old board was re elected by a decisive majority the next morning read an account of the meeting in one of the new york newspapers for the matter was deemed of sufficient public interest to take up several two hi columns of space came in as she was reading and he saw that she was greatly troubled what dreadful things that mr said about you yesterday she remarked he called you almost everything i do not see how you could endure it so quietly for the herald says you made no reply he sat down and took her hands in his the reason why i did not reply he said was because i could not but he said what was she protested you are not trying to the value of the stock in order to buy it in you should not have let that charge go he bent his face to hers and drank one draught of courage from her ripe lips if i had spoken i should have had to keep on speaking of the one thing you mention i am at least innocent but i have done and am still doing other things that are equally she looked up in a startled way and half drew hand from his what do you mean he kissed her again my dear wife â for you are so near it that i can think of you in no other way â i fear i cannot make my meaning plain to you and i hope you will consent to leave the subject where it is she drew her hand quite away this time and moved her chair a little no philip i cannot leave it where it is you say you have done things that are as to the value of stock so as to purchase it for your own gain and at the loss of the owner i must what mean of her manner sent a chill over him he could not deny that became her when she applied it to others but it did not relish so well when used upon himself i as you will he said

0Arthur Conan Doyle

quietly the rate of wages we are paying the free rents we are giving the shorter hours we are running are all with a unless it be a very small one you and i and the may consent to sacrifice our the other do not so consent and yet we have taken away the income of their property in one sphere of life this is what is known as a business transaction in another it is called robbery the color came and went in s cheek and her bosom heaved rapidly you would not have the he continued tells me you said you would give even him up to the police if you knew he was concerned in that affair but you are as effectually destroying the property of the people whose money is in these mills as if you had personally applied the electric current to the mill no i lying yonder in ruins is just as profitable to its owners to day as any of the other six i have helped you to bring about this condition of affairs because i love you â not because i can persuade myself that it is right she stared about the room they robbed us for years she said in a low ton more as if addressing herself than him they gave ii low wages and long hours and kept for themselves sums out of the product of our toil now that we have the opportunity may we not in justice take back our own in the twenty two years that and my r worked for them they received the cost of two â three times over for the love of heaven how much do we owe them now but he answered those who own the great central shares to day are largely men and women who have bought them in recent years some who paid and a share could not sell now for they are not to blame for the injustice of which you speak and yet we make them suffer for it to some of them the loss will mean great hardship to others utter misery you and i have done it let us not seek to our responsibility she spoke with set gaze like a why did they buy the stock she i will tell you they hoped to gain an easy living for themselves through the low labor of the in these mills they knew or could have known by what outrageous oppression the twelve per cent on the watered stock were produced they took a in the as their ancestors did in ships and if the were caught and swung from the yard arm â if the rose and cut the throats of their â who spent their sympathy on the these of stock played at a game of hazard and they have lost i for one shall waste no tears on them he did not answer and after a little time she went on the capital of the is all that was ever invested here is knows he has looked it up they built the first three mills and part of the houses out of that million and the rest have grown from the the has had a famous time he has drawn enormous profits the workman has merely been allowed to exist speaking of his wife and children have been compelled to labor bi his side he and they have produced this immense property the have taken their share it is time he had part of his he waited again but she seemed to have for the present i have a number of he said presently under which i hold shares in these mills for various wards other than the took an oath in every case to protect the interests of my i have asked the courts to relieve me of these when i give up my i wish to hand to my in cash the market value of the shares on the day i was first elected agent i find that my own property if converted into money will suffice for that before we are married i wish this load lifted from my conscience looked at him strangely i see she said you wish to put all the on my shoulders so far as you are personally concerned you mean to clear yourself what you have done in my name you will leave for me to bear it shall be so i will buy all the stock you wish to sell and you shall fix the price i should like if you please to the business at once her tone and manner had become so coldly distant that he took alarm he you are not speaking as my promised wife should speak i â she stopped him with a motion of her hand the i want the stock you wish to sell f i am waiting he bit his lip the are at the agency two strange i ro there of them spoke till they reached the agency and then io more was said than was necessary to complete the transfer when it was finished she said i would like you to do another thing i made you a promise â i said i would marry you i wish a release the clock in the room so loudly that he wondered what it he had half expected the demand so coldly stated but that did not lessen the pain of it his eyes grew you are released he i will tell you why you need not then good good bye he repeated are you going to leave he could feel in fibre of his being under what a strain she was laboring as she stood there hesitating at the threshold i give you my reasons she said i owe it both to you and myself i could not marry a man who turned women and children out of doors in october who cared

0Arthur Conan Doyle

not if they starved who did let one of them die â he sprang to his feet with an exclamation you shall not r and who she went on as if she had not noticed the interruption keeps his pity for the of the aristocracy lest they should soil their dainty hands and cease devouring the bread they steal from the mouth of honest labor they have lost a little of their ill gotten and his tender heart is bursting with sympathy every is opposed to the dearest wishes of my â and yet he told me that hâ loved mc of he wondered if he were dreaming he did love you he loves you yet he always will she burst into tears at that and seemed so helpless that he took her in his arms and soothed her head against his breast when she looked up he thought she had never seemed so strange if you love me philip why must we part it was you who asked it not i he said and you do love me as my life and ou still wish to marry me he gave assent then let it be done at once she said rising and drying her tears i have been very miserable but i shall be better after this if you will go for the license and a minister i will wait here he stared at her as if you are certain that you mean it yes he took her again for one moment in his and then departed on errand in half an hour he returned with the necessary document and clergyman had arranged her toilet â t the mirror and in response to his inquiry said she was quite ready two of the servants were called in as witnesses and the bond or knot or whatever expression may best suit the reader was securely tied where shall we go he asked her when they were again alone went to new york did she not i should like to go there he went to tell and what had occurred and he did not wonder at their amazement they were makes a hardly more astonished than he then he packed his things and the evening train bore him and his bride to the metropolis a little past midnight the sound of hysterical laughter awoke the echoes in the hotel victoria and a call at the summoned a bell boy to mr s apartments send a messenger to dr with all speed was the order given then the loud laugh broke out again and there was heard the sound of a woman s voice raised to an unusual pitch lam worth three millions lean buy anything i want i am going to live in a palace and have many servants ha ha ha ha when the physician arrived he administered a which soon had its intended effect then he talked a long time with about his patient and what her history had been when he left he said he would call again in the morning and added in response to the husband s earnest questions i don t like the looks of this no upon my word i don t but we shall see we shall see chapter makes a mr and mrs passed their second in the same of apartments in which they had passed the latter part of their first in that place the experienced a greater content speaking of than she had felt for a long time it is doubtless true that a bride ought to be contented anywhere but the fact remains that there are discontented as well as contented ones was very glad to be s wife she was pleased to get away from the town of where so much had occurred to cause her pain but she could not forget her one great sin that had so nearly cost her her life never alluded to it â had impressed the necessity too strongly on his mind for that â but it was ever present in her thoughts those days so longed for when her husband should clasp her in his loving arms were by the constant reproaches of memory one morning received a note from philip asking him to come at once to the victoria it was the second day after s attack and was very much astonished when he learned of her condition he had seen the announcement of the marriage in one of the newspapers and experienced a natural surprise that it should have occurred so quietly that not even intimate friends like himself were invited met him in one of the and gave sufficient explanations he said was now but still and required constant care the tiresome months of heavy responsibility and distress of mind had bore their legitimate fruit she would require a long rest and the best medical skill all this told with tears in his eyes and the young man evinced ready sympathy i wish you would move down to the block where i live he said there is a furnished next to mine in which your wife would be much better off than here would be delighted to see her they think the world of each other and women understand women better than men do makes a had a momentary struggle he did not ike he disliked to think of his with her on terms of intimacy but s words set him to thinking he wanted to do everything to improve the chances of his wife s recovery he realized that she had a deep regard for mrs the victoria was clearly no place for an invalid with her disorder all of these things passed through his mind in much less time than it takes to relate them and then he told he would see what his wife said and act accordingly mrs sat in her sitting room clad in a bright morning gown and with her hair arranged

0Arthur Conan Doyle

when the gentlemen entered a maid who had been hastily engaged had attended to the details of her mistress toilet and disappeared said approaching here is mr you know s husband mrs rose to greet and gave him her hand with every sign of pleasure he saw nothing that resembled insanity in the calm gaze that met his and his wonder i am very glad to see you she said i want you to notice that there is nothing the matter with me my husband has had a physician here several times who that i am not well and that i require medicine rest and care now i appeal to you did you ever see a person who looked or more rational thought he never had but he used caution fo all that i think you are recovering rapidly he said recovering she echoed recovering from i am sure i have not been ill i have just eaten a good breakfast my â appears normal perhaps speaking op you think there is something the matter with my mind put me to any test you please your name is you are married to miss this is the hotel victoria i am mrs philip what me i really would like to know there was nothing in this to excite suspicion said as much in the look that he gave who sat a little to the rear of his wife where she could not see his expression the husband nodded and intimated by a gesture that he would prove his case my wife is the principal owner in the mills you know he said lifted her head and her eyes brightened yes i have an income like a princess i am worth three millions when we leave here i shall have many servants to attend me three millions do you know what those words mean â three millions t the was struck at last had never spoken like that the mental disturbance was evident s face grew as he proceeded my wife s tenants have been given free rent since the mills opened and why asked sharply why should they not pay rent as well as others they have had their hours of labor reduced too instead of going to work at half past six in the morning they come along at seven how can i with other if placed at such a disadvantage those and want but they shall not have it i must make my not at all like the were these expressions not in the least like the gentle lady who had slept in thâ officers tent on common i came to ask you to visit he said to makes a revelation s l her attention we live in street in a pleasant apartment house and would be delighted to have you and your husband pass a time with us has missed you sadly the set look vanished from mrs s face and she became herself again shall we go philip she asked i think i should like it very much he gladly assented and after a little further conversation called the new maid and left her with his wife while he went with to make the necessary arrangements the was promptly engaged and that same afternoon he left the marble entrance of the victoria with his wife on his arm when he escorted her to a carriage that was in waiting she assumed the air of an and the at a distance with perceiving a speck of dust on the cushion she declined to enter the vehicle until it was removed when she was at last seated she remarked in a tone evidently meant for the by that she would soon have a turn out of her own beside which this would be a very ordinary affair welcomed her with open arms and the two girls â for such they still were marriage or no marriage â seemed very happy to be again with each other the two had been thrown together and the families were to be practically one for the present the gentlemen left their wives together and took into her confidence i have had some strange dreams she said and because i cried out in one of them my husband that i am ill and need a physician i dreamed the strangest things of you i the idea â that you and i were mill girls in and had to work like i speaking of the rest and live in the poorest lodgings and i thought you came to me one day and confessed that you had been living with a lover and were not married at all oh dear i don t know what i didn t dream it was just like a nightmare i thought there was a strike and that we slept in a tent and â she paused a moment sometimes it seems so real i almost think it true but i know i am very rich and so it could not have been no it â could â not â have â been she pressed her hand to her forehead and seemed glad to assure herself that the vision was a deceit i do not think i could endure to be poor she went on of course those who are born so grow up in it and get used to the condition but it would kill me i am to work work work early and late to in furnished rooms to eat the food they have to eat â i would rather die and yet i dreamed that i was one of them she shuddered visibly at the recollection at things went on as usual agent became popular with his and h began to make figures that showed the possibility of a even at the scale of wages he was paying a new intelligence ran through all the work in the great central mills the was done by a new a

0Arthur Conan Doyle

mr who was an expert in such matters the quality of the product was improved and the waste lessened all the men and women there were no children at work now did their best to make thâ business successful with at the it was easy for to run down occasionally in the morning and spend a few hours looking after his work catching the afternoon train again in time to reach new york at a ss night being acting president h had fully as much to do in the city as in the factory village and he soon found that was equal to any emergency in the position that he held the affairs of the began to assume a prosperous appearance remained with at the house where saw her daily she was very happy in the love of this good honest man and she put no obstacles in his way when he proposed an early since philip and have preceded us he said to her one day we seem very lonely standing here on the deserted shore when shall we join them she that she would leave it all to him and he replied that the very hour possible would be much too far away to suit his wishes a blind girl she whispered clinging to him how could you have fallen in love with me i only know i did he answered and i think it was the first time i saw you too that day i was sent by the committee to ascertain if there was anything less hard than flint in the heart of a mill agent now what about the wedding it was soon decided that as and had been married without display they could do no better than follow the example early in december they took the vows before one of the ministers and that same night they found themselves in one of the quiet hotels of the metropolis my wife exclaimed tenderly when the door was closed that shut out all the world and all the gods but my wife there is no happiness on earth equal to calling you by that name she hesitated a moment to let him clasp her in bis speaking arms though she knew well they were o receive her you have faith in me she said in a low tone do not think i would deceive you never i he cried i could swear it but â â i have done so he stared at her face on which rested a smile and â ould make nothing of her confession â you me what i am not it is time u knew the truth it was a cruel test but he came out tell me anything you please my wife he said i know you to be pure and good whatever else you have to communicate i will hear she put her arms about his neck and drew the beard to her cheek can you guess nothing nothing he answered i am not good at tell me well â she drew a long breath and him closer i â can â see for the moment he thought she had caught s malady but a look at her placid face drove the suspicion away you can see he repeated you have not been blind at all oh yes i have when i was twelve years old my sight failed the doctors have always feared to operate on my eyes though they agreed that natural means might accomplish my restoration in time from that age until a few weeks ago i could not tell light from darkness but that night in the mill when the soldiers fired i saw the flash of their and the gleam of the polished barrels as they were aimed toward the fright a and the strain and the sudden jar did it an who has been down to visit me says i shall soon see as well as any one at present i can distinguish objects quite clearly and you cannot imagine how happy it makes me he shared her joy to the utmost and this is what made you seem so gay that ing he said when i wanted to you for yes she laughed i had seen the pictures in the s sitting room â i never saw such beautiful ones though they probably cost very little â and i knew the s wife had brown eyes and that you had a beard i could tell that the sky was fair and that the leaves were gone from the trees i had become quite reconciled to blindness but it is such a blessing to see he strained her to his heart the future will be brighter for us both my he said there is now but one cloud hanging over us â s trouble ah poor she sighed we must go to her to morrow chapter a journey and return dr advised that mrs be lo every desire that was not positively unreasonable and her husband and friends acted accordingly she developed a great love for fine clothing and and vâ ry handsome indeed she looked when thâ m di to d of had done their best she asked to be taken constantly to theatres and with which she was much delighted she had never till now seen anything of the kind and the brilliant stage pictures gave her the same kind of pleasure that a child has in the large dry goods stores and her face soon became familiar and the clerks at s learned that whatever she happened to fancy was sure to be taken she showed taste in her purchases and her mental condition might never have been suspected but for her favorite phrases i am worth three million dollars and can buy anything i please do you know what is meant by three millions was thankful for one thing she liked s company so well that she did not

0Arthur Conan Doyle

immediately demand to be taken to the palace of which she never tired of talking there was not a residence in the city that would have equalled her description of the one she intended to have as soon as her visit with her friends was over indeed it would have been difficult to produce anywhere the she used to describe and they varied in their composition with each change in her mood one day the buildings were to be of brown stone another of marble and again of the sun was to shine on the grounds perpetually out of a sky birds were to sing without ceasing in the ever green trees servants were to be ready to respond to every wish as soon as it was made known were to draw carriages truly royal in design with and in gorgeous and at the end she never failed to say something like this i own six immense mills at which have two a sit thousand people in them the has only paid twelve per cent it must pay twenty the era now work but ten hours they must work eleven i shall want a great deal of money she used to say to that when she went to palace she should go with her and share in all its but when mr and mrs called she touched their hands and assumed an air of dignity i think you were formerly an in my mills she said to i am very glad you have and i congratulate you on your marriage but of course there is such a difference in our station that you cannot expect me to treat you as equals you are very worthy people i have no doubt i wish you good morning as left the room tears filled s eyes even the restoration of my sight hardly for this sad event she said to the others to think she could use such words to â it seems incredible looked serenely content we cannot weigh the words of one whose mind is so he said when she becomes herself again she will treat me in the old way what advice does the doctor give he added turning to that we must exercise patience and not cross her any more than is necessary he believes her will have their run and vanish as they came god grant it may be so was very shy when she met the sight of her brought back too vividly that night in the mill when she took her helpless friend into such mortal peril but had many words of comfort do you ever think how much i owe you i might s speaking of have been blind to my dying day had it not been that adventure the say that nothing but the combination of fright darkness terrible noise and would have been likely to give me back my vision it is you that i must thank â under heaven â that i can look on the blessed sunlight and the dear face of my hu and began to cry i am very glad if that great mistake of mine has brought good to any one she sobbed i meant it all so well and all at once i saw how wrong it was and you are so kind to forgive me i thought i should have to go to prison for the rest of my life or perhaps be hanged but nobody says a cross word to me and sometimes it seems as if that were harder to bear than punishment mrs comforted her with assurances that friends appreciated the of her motives and said it was time she resumed her old cheerfulness no one has suffered by your connection with that plot she said if you had not consented to operate the battery some one else would have done it and perhaps every mill in the town would have been destroyed you did a noble act when you took that midnight journey to cut the wires for myself i have received too much benefit from it to you and you were the only person hurt i think you a little heroine and i shall love you as long as i live made his wedding trip a short one as there were many things to be done before january when he would have to devote a large part of each day to his new duties at the state house was content to go wherever he went for her life was bound up in her husband they established themselves at the agency for the â and hu belonged by custom to the agent and their lives glided on with scarcely a ripple on its placid stream there was much to do â much for her as well as for him the mill girls began to confide in her somewhat as they had done in the she became the of their secrets â the of their joys and sorrows she taught the mothers many ways to their homes she gave some of them much needed lessons in cleanliness she saw personally that the children were dressed to attend the village schools â that their little feet were dry shod and their fingers in warm she threw rum bottles out of windows and read tho fathers of several families a lecture they did not soon forget and it was so pleasant to do all this so delightful to use her newly regained sight in those about her they will forget in their admiration for you little wife said one evening as she was telling him of her day s experience no they will never do that she answered there will be but one in they ask about her every day and the tears come into their eyes when i tell them she is still they learning to love me â and i am so glad i can help â but i cannot fill s place

0Arthur Conan Doyle

heaven speed the day when she can resume it so the weeks wore away and in the latter part of dr gave it as his opinion that required a change of scene and that a southern trip probably prove at s earnest request mr and mrs agreed to join him in a journey to he did not like to take such a responsibility upon himself as to remove his wife not only from t ui speaking of sights to which she had become accustomed but from the faces also the party made the trip by easy stages stopping several days at washington and other points en route and reached in about fortnight for some days seemed quite content in the atmosphere she walked and rode a good deal and sat on the great of the hotel until late at night talking with a of spirits that gave no indication of her malady then they noticed that she gradually grew sombre reluctantly when spoken to and preferring to sit by herself whenever the opportunity offered she no longer cared to go to ride or to bear music or conversation she became melancholy to a marked degree when asked if anything was the matter she always responded in the negative but her actions disputed the assertion her friends became alarmed and would not leave her for one minute entirely alone one morning at the breakfast table she astonished them with this question why does that colored man always wait on we never wait on ii m explained as well as he could that the man was employed by the proprietor of the hotel to do this work and received pay for it but he is always busy while we do nothing persisted how can it be right that some people should always be served and that others should always serve them i feel that it is wrong â that i am assisting at an injustice and i want that man to sit at this table and let me wait on him as he has waited on me he persuaded her to finish her breakfast which was being taken in the public room saying that he would arrange the matter later then he explained the a t to the chief steward who readily gave a small dining room on the next floor to which another break fast was sent the part he was to play was shown to the who smiled when a handsome tip was placed in his palm he exclaimed i seed like this waited on by white folks am mighty queer now ain t it when he was seated at the table and warned against any further of levity mrs was sent for she poured the man s coffee and handed him the in the order required with unmoved countenance standing behind his chair when not otherwise engaged as she had seen him do it was only with a great effort that could keep back the tears at ihe pathetic for he was in no mood to see its numerous features when the colored brother had br and departed she came to her husband and sat en his knee philip dear why does that man wear poor clothes when you v ear fine ones he labors all day you rest i understand why this should be then he told her about property and its privileges as kindly and thoughtfully as if she were a five years child and learning her first lesson he said those who labored were paid sums which they could do with as they pleased some spent their money as fast as they received it and were consequently always compelled to labor on account of their others put part of their wages into and thus became wealthy if they saved more than they used it descended to their children as her father s had done she listened intently to every word and some people can compel other to do all d of their work and i am one of them she asked as concluded yes but that cannot be right philip no i am sure of it we have led a pleasant life at hotel but it has made much labor for others while we have rested on the they have been in the hot preparing our meals when we have returned from rides they have had our horses to groom and our carriage to wash it is all wrong i want you to take me where i can do my share i cannot be contented here another day it was a change there could be no doubt of that but he did not know yet whether to be glad or sorry what can my little wife do he asked tenderly when ladies are married it is for their husbands to furnish their support and that is what i wish to do for you my business is at new york and and if you desire we will go back there where i can attend to it you will make me a loving companion and i will gladly work for both she kissed him on the lips oh let me help she said i want very much to be of use i feel like a thief when i eat only what others have earned and wear only what others have produced let me help you philip and i shall be happy again the next day the party started to return north it was when they took the carriage at the hotel entrance and s sympathy for the driver who had to sit out in the shower nearly made them lose the train the positive assertion of the man himself that he preferred to be there was needed to assure her but she talked all the way of the poor fellow who was getting wet to oblige people who never did anything to oblige him on the train her thoughts flew to the engineer â and and who must

0Arthur Conan Doyle

sit up all night to watch over the safety of passengers who never sat up and watched over anyone why was it thus she asked over and over and his answers though ingenious never quite satisfied her it was surely wrong she said that those who did nothing should have better than those who toiled without ceasing when they took the new york steamer at s sympathies broke out afresh nothing could prevent her herself up and the decks in the keen air of the sea going from officer to officer and saying how sorry she was that they had to endure so much that she and others might ride in comfort and safety the facts regarding her mental condition soon became known and she was treated by everybody with the utmost politeness before night she made her way down to the furnace room and her deepest feelings were aroused as she saw the men at work in the heated air of the place one of the a good natured chap was resting a little way from his furnace when she addressed him your work is very hard is it not sir he looked at the handsome lady and saw that thâ question was put in earnest pretty hard he answered and very hot pretty hot â and very dirty she looked at him intently â are you black or white sir wall he chuckled as if the idea amused him i m black when i m at work an i m pretty near white when i m washed up though i never it all off stick close this coal dust yes indeed it do she her purse speaking of would you mind my offering you a piece of money sir i know i am troubling you with my questions not a bit he answered touching his cap with hand and holding out the other for the ye re very kind an i m to ye ask me any thin ye like she saw that several of the other men were coming nearer evidently wondering what the con was about where do you sleep in than he indicated the direction in a it s table i don t find no fault with that you get plenty to eat oh yes it ain t nor yet but it s good a man in this work is blessed with a appetite how long do you have to work each day he stopped to think s two sets of us between us we keeps it up all the time s my now him as th furnace door we uses lots of coal an we keeps at it we re either or or when we re at sea all the time yes that s about it she waited a little â they must pay you very high wages to do such hard labor he laughed respectfully though wall it s not so very high twenty an twenty â dollars yes aâ a day well no said the man amused twenty a month is our wages a and ml she looked to see if he were twenty dollars a month less than a dollar a day yes an plenty of men the job if we don t want it me but it s my turn at the fire she watched him open the great door and throw after of coal into the yawning hell another of the came to take the seat he had and she opened her purse again with the same result has that man a â a family she asked indicating the with whom she had just been talking what bob oh yes he s got a wife an three children in new york what them wall i guess bob gives em most all he then the woman she takes in sewing an one o the i b in a store they re all right he s a good steady is bob but some o these â wall the gets most of it when they re paid off an their wives an children â the intimated that their lot was not one to be envied and mentally agreed with him she went back to the cabin where she found her husband a little at her long absence she told him where she had been and what she had learned it is the same everywhere she said sadly the people who do the hardest and most disagreeable work get the smallest wages this is not right it cannot be if the fault is in the laws we must get them altered the thought that the laws could be changed pleased her and she dwelt upon it for some time in the course of their talk he referred to and she asked him many questions about that place saying she wanted to s speaking op go there as quickly as possible after reaching new york if she owned as much of the mill stock as her band said she surely could do something to help the poor he gave her the required promise and â he grew radiant with joy on reaching the city they went to s apartments where they remained for a day in order to allow time to communicate with he had arranged a little plan which when revealed to dr met that gentleman s hearty it was saturday evening about five o clock when the party that had left alighted at the station the streets in the vicinity were filled with people who set up a shout of delight when they saw the visitors one of them too impetuous to be restrained called out three cheers for which were given with a will mrs paused on the platform s she perceived the demonstration who are these people she asked and why do they cheer for me they are the workers in the mills said her husband who have assembled to welcome you she looked at him with a puzzled air

0Arthur Conan Doyle

home she repeated yes home to to the village where was born where she went to school where she tended a loom in the mill home to where she led the great strike and where she met philip do you not remember she was silent for a moment but who now came through the crowd won a pleased glance of recognition he said taking her hand a and â dear good faithful it was enough spoke to the assemblage my friends it gives great pleasure to mrs find myself to look into your faces once more we hope to be for some time among you and as my wife is somewhat tired from her long journey we must ask you to excuse us for the present there were three cheers more and then the crowd fell back and let them pass mr and mrs went to the agency with and walked with his wife slowly down the familiar streets to the house where had lived they ascended the stairs and entered her sitting room nothing was changed it was the same room in every respect that she had left three before he waited for her to speak for on her first words everything a mellow light filled her eyes as took in one after another the familiar objects the plants had been cared for the room swept and even the were singing in their it is my home she said drawing a long breath the dream is over i am the mill girl of he waited still to see how calm she was i thought she continued that i was an that i had much money i am very glad it is not true i shall go back to work to morrow he ventured to tell her that to morrow would be sunday will it she said in great surprise i thought by the crowd in the streets that to day must be a holiday are not the mills running he said the mills shut down at four o clock on now instead of at six as formerly speaking of ah she replied the new agent must be a very kind man but perhaps she added thoughtfully they begin enough earlier each morning to make up the time no he said they begin later the g tes open at seven and close at half past five she seemed much pleased and sat silently with her hands clasped over one knee for several minutes supper was sent to them from the house and they partook of it together he did not wish to subject her to further excitement on that evening and she very willingly embraced his suggestion that they remain indoors i would like to have you stay as long as you can she said i am sure it is not yet very late he smiled and took his marriage from his pocket read she read it and her eyes dilated what month is this she asked february thirteen weeks she mused and i thought it part of the dream there is the ring on your finger yes she turned the hue of a but i am not sure i do not remember it no i cannot you remain he gazed at her tenderly and you have slept next to my heart every night for three months and more she looked much distressed i will tell you he said presently we will bs married again she at the suggestion looking b dear philip i am sure i did not know what i was doing when i married you before if as you believe i ever did so i am equally sure i know what i am doing now and if you wish i will repeat the vows but give me a few days to get ready no he said clasping her in his arms i will not consent to even a temporary divorce i insist that it shall be to night an hour later the same clergyman who had on the previous occasion bade them join hands and repeat after him a it was in s sitting room and two of the in adjoining rooms came in by request to act as witnesses you no longer doubt that you are ray wife t he said when they were alone again no philip she answered and with that knowledge there rolls away a vast cloud that has enveloped me i seem to sec everything clearly oh my husband how good you have been to me through the dark days that have passed away let us hope â forever i chapter looking backward it was sunday morning in the day was fair â the fairest anybody there ever remembered seeing n a february the church bells were ringing a call to the at least the meant it so but the music of the metal resolved itself in spite of them into s of these words â is â home â again â is â again a little after ten a sensation ran through the town mr and mrs were on the street people ran to windows and stared around the edges of curtains small boys tumbled in and out of in their mad anxiety to see without attention to the many on the bowed politely or touched their hats and gave the returned much more room than they needed they are going to church the whisper through the village and to the french church too was soon added to the general astonishment yes they were going to the french church and they had not turned either when asked his bride that morning whether she wished to attend divine worship she thought a moment and then said there was but one clergyman in whom she would care to hear there was only one who gave us shelter when we were she said it would put me in an frame of mind to go elsewhere but i would really like to hear good father

0Arthur Conan Doyle

the recognized them with a smile and escorted them to a central in which they found to their that and were already seated did not understand the french language and the meaning of the sermon was consequently lost to her but she felt a satisfaction in being there that well repaid her for going the clergyman noticed that the special visitors to his church received more attention than was given to his discourse but he was content when the services were ended the in s walked together to the agency backward s t â when we get things arranged said are several things that i wish to do i wish to build a very large church here that will hold a great number of people and in which some devout man shall preach christianity with no bias i want a where any tired soul may find spiritual or physical within its walls then i would also like to erect a hall spacious and attractive that should always be open to the work people for social and purposes i money enough to do these things philip her husband answered in the affirmative and volunteered the additional statement that he cordially approved of the plan dinner was taken with the and the friends were very happy together it is delightful to be with you again said as they lingered over their coffee especially under such with the future so bright before us i learn that the mills are all running with shorter hours and are even making money philip says he hopes to the wages soon besides the free rents the people are now receiving we shall use the profits for a hospital an evening school and a library all of which we need very much my husband with me in these things oh he is a very good man indeed â for a she laughed brightly as she pronounced the epithet but grew sober i doubt if there is much more of the left in me than there is in my wife he remarked i have been learning some pretty hard lessons during the past half year for instance said gaily i believe he replied that what is called wealth should never be allowed to in private of beyond a given extent that the natural increase ol property in a country should be the of all the people thereof that the state should the greater part of private fortunes on the death of the owners that no child should be poorly fed clothed or deprived of an education merely because its father is not an able and that there can be no such thing as over production of the necessaries of life while a single human being is cold or hungry clapped her hands joyfully you have learned the she cried the will come easy now never fear v he put his hand on her arm we who sit at this table have been enabled â by one form or another of â to claim the of three of we must own the rest as soon as we can get hold of it then as they looked at him he added when we get possession of all the stock of the great central we can give it back to its owners â the people who have made it by their labor in the mills seemed t hang on his words give it back she repeated yes we can establish here a community in which each resident will share equally in the work and the benefits which arc derived the responsibility of the of millions is too large for any one person or dozen persons i would like to see it put on ten thousand shoulders his wife threw her arms around his neck before them all the idea is a one cried with enthusiasm what say you shall we join with thorn f ml mrs looked at her cousin her sight was now completely restored and she bore no trace of having ever been blind you forget my dear she said that i am when i married i my father s estate and it became yours the statement and said that had drawn nothing from the property since her wedding day but i won t touch it exclaimed i m not so mean as that i shall at once make it over to you again if you do she answered i shall certainly embrace philip s proposal so it will amount to the same thing no it won t said for it will then be your own gift as it ought to be we re in for it count in the stock and buy up the rest as soon as possible replied that he should certainly do so and thought that in the depressed state of the stock he could make some good too he believed he could secure the most of it at or wouldn t that be the poor owners said some of them paid higher i am on a quest for stolen goods he answered and i shall give no larger to the who hold it than i find necessary who had not taken her from his neck pressed her cheek to his forgive me for a she said there is no trace of the left in you perhaps there is â a little he responded i shall not advise you to surrender every dollar you own even in this righteous cause nor shall i give up all of oil speaking of while we live under the present social system â ven we at this table wholly at our mere caprice â a certain amount of for is needed in a country that is lower than the are necessary between the people and the sea some day the government will build all these but at present each must take thought for his own safety we must therefore save back a little money for his wife smiled into his

0Arthur Conan Doyle

with it you can see that it is from a house a commented mrs the envelope with care it is from who bring out more novels than any other firm in the city i told you he was some kind of a writer perhaps they are going to publish a book for him if they do he will leave us for finer quarters make a of money i have heard we must do our best to keep him as long as we can be very polite to him he appears to be an excellent young man s anxiety to get possession of his letter was not lessened by this conversation it seemed as if his entire future hung on the contents of that envelope so long in s hands the great had had a manuscript of his in their hands for nearly a fortnight when they had definitely accepted it his path would be perfectly clear if they rejected it but he had not got so far as that the manuscript was a romance a romance of love its author had spent a great deal of time upon it he had it with care and finally made a neat copy of which he was very proud then he had thought a long time over the question of a firm stood at the top of their profession and they finally received the preference with the sent a pretty note in which lie included a delicate compliment on their success the and the note were arranged in a neat white and tied with pink after all of these precautions it is no wonder that a the felt surprise when days passed and no reply was sent to him but never at any time was he discouraged had they intended to reject the novel he reasoned they could as easily have done so in three days as ten he pictured the members of the firm themselves over their good fortune passing the manuscript from one to the other all eager for a taste of such a work he did not think it to believe they did not get stories like that every day his thoughts flew rapidly as slowly climbed the stairs now he would be famous he would be he would be envied he would also be very very rich though that was not of so much account as handed him the letter he responded to her pleasant smile with one of his own and even pressed a twenty five cent piece into her hand then he closed his door behind him it in his eagerness to be alone the morning was and he sank into a chair by the window the only part of the room where he could see to read distinctly there was an attraction about the envelope it was light in color bearing the address of in large letter on one side of the front face besides the names of several of the most famous authors whose the firm had the happiness to be it would not look so badly in print so lost was he in the pleasant pictures which a black these thoughts up that it was some minutes before he tore open the envelope then his astounded eyes rested upon these lines messrs regret to be obliged to decline with thanks the of m and request to be informed what disposition he desires made of the same read this for some moments he could not understand what that sentence meant obliged to decline was plain enough but his confused mind found some of comfort in the request of the firm to know what he wished done with his manuscript they must he reasoned consider it of value or they would not respond in that courteous manner still he could not comprehend how they had had the to decline it at all were they unwilling to add another star to their could they actually have read the tale a firm of their reputation too when emerged from his temporary stupor it was into a state of great indignation why the men were fools he wished heartily he had never gone to them they would yet see the day when with tears in their eyes they would regret their lack of judgment his first act should be to go to their office and express his opinion of their stupidity and then he would take his to some rival house and never never in the world after he had become famous and when every on both sides of a manuscript th atlantic were him never he said should these ignorant fellows get a scrap of his writing not even if they offered its weight in gold he was too excited for delay and his hat he took his way with all speed to s office at that instant he had more faith in his novel than ever as he walked rapidly along he compared it with some of the stories issued by the firm that had rejected it to the great disadvantage of the latter i wish to see mr or mr he said as he entered the counting room both are in said the office boy which will you have i will see them together had they been fresh from an indian it would have made no difference to him the boy asked for his card vanished with it returned and bade him follow up a flight of stairs they went then to the left then to the right then across a little hall a door with the name of the house and the additional word private loomed before them come in was heard in response to the knock of the office boy entered something slower than a cannon ball and yet considerably faster than a the two principal members of the firm were sitting together with lighted cigars in their mouths examining a lot of paper that lay upon a table they did no more at

0Arthur Conan Doyle

first than glance up and nod a black not having finished the business upon which they were engaged is it any better than the last asked mr referring to the his partner was examining it s just as good at least was the answer and an eighth of a cent a pound less i think we had better order five hundred five hundred repeated the other slowly making a in a little book that he carried and the other lot we ll wait about eh paper is not very steady it s gone off a sixteenth since thursday this conversation only served to still more the visitor who stood waiting to pour out his wrath were these men wasting time over of a cent in the price of stock just after they had rejected one of the greatest of modern times with the precision of a machine both partners finally looked up from the table at the young man mr said mr glancing at the card that the office boy had brought yes sir was the sharp and reply we need nothing in your line interrupted mr i suppose mr has our other order well under way the look of indignant protest that appeared in s face caused mr to speak this is not mr he explained my partner took you for an agent of our he added a rejected the thought his skin would burst i am quite he said in an icy tone let me introduce myself i am the author of s faith the partners consulted each other the of names confused me said mr is your book one that we have published saints and angels it is one that was sent to you for publication replied with much heat and has been returned this morning rejected ah said mr we have nothing to do with that department said mr coming to the rescue you should see mr on the second floor above though if he has rejected your story a visit would bo quite useless he never a matter without sufficient reason oh dear no added mr feeling again of the paper listened with wild incredulity do you mean to tell me he said that you the members of the firm of have rejected my story without even reading it the partners glanced at each other again we never read books said mr never said mr kindly we have things much more important to attend to we pay mr a large salary why my young friend there are probably a dozen received at our office every week if we were to try to j black ad h them who do yon think would attend to the points of our business contempt for the concern was increasing at lightning speed he did not care to his words for it could make no difference now i should imagine that the selection of the books you are to print would be at least as important as the paper you are to use he retorted mr looked at him in great astonishment you are much mistaken said he entirely mistaken confirmed mr the author had no desire to remain longer as it was evident he was losing his temper to no purpose if it was mr who had rejected his work it was mr that he must see bowing with grace to the of paper he took leave of them and mounted to the of the man who he had been told was the of his fate a girl with soiled hands pointed out the room for there was nothing to indicate it upon the dingy of the door and presently stood in the presence of the individual he believed at that moment his worst enemy there were two men in the room one of them indicated with a motion of his hand that the other was the one wanted and with a second motion that the might be seated mr was partly hidden behind a desk engaged in turning over a heap of manuscript and it appeared from the manner of his companion that he did not wish to be disturbed somewhat cooled down by this state of affairs a rejected the young took the chair indicated and waited several minutes what d d nonsense they are sending me these days exclaimed mr at last thrusting the sheets he had been back into the in which they had come without however raising his eyes from his desk out of a hundred stories i read not three are fit to build a fire with this thing is written by a girl who ought to take a term in a grammar school she has no more idea of than a her father writes that he is willing to pay a reasonable sum to have it brought out why couldn t afford to put their on that rot for fifty thousand he had finished saying this before he learned that a third person was in the room upon making this discovery he lowered his voice as if having exhibited too great warmth before a stranger the rose and handed him a card and as mr glanced at the name a gleam of recognition lit up his face i am glad to see you mr he said i had half a notion to ask you to call when i felt obliged to send you that note yesterday there are several things i would like to say to you perhaps you would let us have the room for a minutes last remark was addressed familiarly to the man who occupied the third chair and who looked so at the prospect of having to rise a black that hastened to express a hope that he would not do so on his account very well said mr abruptly you heard what i said about this copy i have just read though it was not my intention that you should i supposed i was to mr who

0Arthur Conan Doyle

is not in the profession and does not expect to be now let me say at once mr that your contribution is not open to any of the objections i have you have evidently been well educated your english is pure and forcible it is a real delight to read your pages every line shows the greatest care in construction i did with your story what i have not done with another for a long time i read it through why then did i reject it the question was too great for the one most interested to answer but in the glow of pleasure that the compliment brought he forgot for the moment his bitter feelings possibly he suggested have more novels on hand than they feel like producing at present no responded mr of that theory in one breath a house like ours would never reject a really desirable manuscript if you will reflect that only one or two of this description are produced each year you will the more readily understand me your story has a cardinal fault for which no excellence of style or finish can shall i tell you what it is and before this gentleman a manuscript he indicated mr as he spoke s heart sank for the first time he felt a deadly fear tell me by all means he responded faintly mr s face bore its expression at that moment he was taking valuable time time that belonged to his to say something that must temporarily disappoint though in the end it might benefit his let me repeat he said that your work is well written and that i have read it with the greatest interest its fault an one is that it fidelity to nature mr i think i could your past life with tolerable accuracy merely from what that manuscript the shook his head there was not a line of in those pages and he told his critic so oh i understand replied mr but this i have learned your life has been yet in spite of that you have undertaken to write of things of which you know nothing and about which i may add you have made very poor mr leaning back in his chair began to show a decided interest mr sitting upright in an attitude of strained attention inquired what mr meant well for instance this responded the critic you attempt to the sensations of love though you have never had a passion can you expect to know how it feels to hold a beautiful girl in your arms when you never had one there you put a black words of temptation into the mouth of your villain which no real would think of using for their only effect would be to alarm your heroine you talk of a planned as if it were part of an and you make your hero so pure and sweet that no woman formed of flesh and blood could endure him for an hour the color mounted to s face he felt that this criticism was not without foundation but presently he rallied and asked if it were necessary for a man to experience every sensation before he dared write about them do you suppose he asked desperately that ever sixty thousand under the sea or made a journey to the moon mr could not help uttering a little laugh mr struck his hands together and them no said he but he could have written neither of those wonderful tales without a knowledge of the of which they treat he has read and i have read responded what is the difference he has studied and you have not retorted the critic that makes all the difference in the world he has a correct idea of the structure of the moon and what should be found in the of the ocean while you in total ignorance have attempted to deal in a science to which these are the merest you know as little of the tides that control the heart of a girl as you do of the personal history of the inhabitants of your a rejected t powers of description are good those of invention feeble either throw yourself into a love affair till you have learned it root and branch or never again try to one mr smiled and nodded as if he entirely agreed with the speaker what a novel could make my dear fellow he exclaimed if i only had the talent i have had experiences enough but i could no more write them out than i could fly it is quite as well was the response your women would all be and fiction has too many now not all of them was the quick and meaning reply in that case said i wish heartily you could write the world is for a real love story based on modern lines brought up to date i tell you there has been nothing satisfactory in that line since s day mr suggested and sand why don t you include george william inquired with a sneer neither of them wrote until they were by contract with humanity if we could get a young man of true literary talent to see life and write of it as he went along what might we not secure but i have no more time to spare mr i was sorry to be obliged to reject your story some day when you have seen just a little of the world begin again on the lines i have and come here with the result s a black quite now that the last plank had slipped from under him the walked slowly down the stairs he did not even ask for his manuscript after what he had heard it did not seem worth carrying to his lodgings his plans were instead of the fame and fortune he had hoped for he felt the most bitter disappointment all his

0Arthur Conan Doyle

bright dreams had vanished a step behind him quicker than his own made him aware that some one was following him and presently a voice called his name it was mr who had put himself to unusual exertion and required some seconds to recover his breath before he could speak further i want you to come over to my hotel and have a little talk with me he said has interested me in you immensely i believe as he says that you have the making of a distinguished author and i want to arrange a plan by which you can carry out his scheme mr stared doubtfully at his companion what scheme he said briefly why of to you that knowledge of the world which will enable you to draw truthful portraits you have the art he says the talent the capacity whatever you choose to call it all you lack is experience given that you would make a reputation second to none what can be than that you should acquire the thing you need without delay the thing i need repeated was my too bold mr laughed delightfully yes he explained what you need is a friend able to interest you to begin with pardon me if i say i may be described by that phrase come to my hotel a little while and let us talk it over it was not an opportunity to be refused in s depressed condition and the two men walked together to the house where mr at that time made his home chapter ii was my tory too bold y well your letter has come said mr as he entered the parlor of his pleasant residence situated about twenty miles from the limits of new york city open it as quick as you can and learn your fate his daughter started from her seat near the window where she had been spending the previous hour in speculations regarding the very that was now placed in her hands she was a handsome girl neither nor with eyes of gray and hair of that color that call red she took the envelope that her father gave her and though she wanted intensely to know the contents she hesitated to open it read it smiled mr let us tear a black whether we have an in our house who is destined to become famous but this remark made miss less willing than before to open the letter in her father s presence she slowly left the room without answering and did not break the seal of her communication till she was in the seclusion of her chamber and it was quite a while even then before she summoned the necessary courage some days previous she had sent a to the great house of the writing had taken up the best of her time for a year she had high hopes that it was destined to lay the foundation of an artistic success her plot was novel not to say startling it was entirely out of the conventional order it would be certain to arouse talk and provoke comment if it got into print and to make sure that it would get into print she had persuaded her father to write a little note which she enclosed with the saying that he would pay a cash if the firm demanded it to them against possible loss with this note in her mind miss had felt little doubt that her story would be accepted and printed she only wondered how warmly they would praise her work it was not enough to have them print it she wanted something to justify her in saying to her father there you see i was not wrong after all in thinking i could have a literary career r at last the was removed and the girl s astonished eyes lit upon this cold dry statement was my story too regret to be obliged to decline with thanks the of miss m and request to be informed what disposition she desires made of the same felt a ringing in her ears her hands grew a dull pain pressed on her forehead she felt a a sinking at the heart was it possible she had read aright rejected in this cruel way without even a reference to her father s offer it was and girl like she burst into a of weeping how could she ever face her father the sacrifices she had made came back to her sacrifices of which she had thought little at the time but which now seemed gigantic there had been nights when she had not gone to bed till three other nights when she had been too full of her subject to sleep and had risen in the small hours to finish some particularly interesting chapter twelve hundred pages there were in all note size in her large round almost masculine hand and this time was all lost she had mistaken her the greatest house in the country had decided against her gradually she dried her eyes it would do no good to weep she read the answer that had come in the mail a dozen times why could not the firm have sent her a reason an excuse that meant something she wanted to know wherein her fault lay it might be possible to correct it perhaps the state of business was to blame the more she thought the more determined she grew to t a black investigate this strange affair and within an hour she had her street clothes and started without saying anything to the rest of the household of her intention for the office of in the city she knew that each large concern had one or more readers on whose judgment they relied in such matters she therefore paused only long enough at the counting room to get directed to mr her knock on the critic s door brought forth a loud come

0Arthur Conan Doyle

in and as she entered she saw two men standing with hats in their hand as if about to take their departure i beg your pardon she said but i wish to see mr that is my name responded one of the men stepping forward i miss mr did not seem very glad to hear it the hour of one had just struck and he was about to go to his lunch he recognized the girl s name as that of the author of the he had so severely to his friend who was by the way the third person in the room at this moment had she sent up her card as is usual with women he would have avoided seeing her at any hazard mr took a long survey of the young lady and then retired to the vicinity of the front windows he pretended to interest himself in the rush of traffic that was going on in the street below but he missed nothing of what was said and stole from mt too time to time a glance at his two companions par the younger one a mighty pretty girl was his mental comment i hope isn t going to be nasty with her mr miss rather stiffly to a seat i do not wish to detain you she said with feminine as she accepted it i only want to know if you will be so kind as to tell me what is the trouble with my story the critic was pleased at one thing miss s voice was reasonably clear she had finished her weeping at home there was to be no scene something he dreaded and in the course of his connection with this house he had experienced scores of them he his in the few seconds that elapsed while she was asking this question and when she paused he decided to answer her with as much of the truth as he dared use the fact is he began a firm like ours is unable to use more than one novel out of fifty that is submitted to it of our friends who send us the vast majority must therefore be disappointed now your story shall i be frank by all means answered miss your story though written with spirit and power needs a great deal of from a from a it is in fact carelessly put together that is a cardinal fault in a literary production and one for which no amount of talent or even of genius can the girl listened with deep interest she tried to a black think where the alluded to could be for she had read the story twenty times to say nothing of several girl friends who had listened with evident wonder and delight to various parts of the tale as it if that is true answered miss slowly could not the trouble be by sending the to some very competent person and having the errors made right mr smiled hardly he said a novel is like a painting the do you understand is the thing can you conceive a painting being done over your book would lose its quality if subjected to that process a look of crossed the features of the young woman of course you know best she stammered what would you advise me try again mr raised both his hands it is difficult to say in such a case he replied but if you want my best opinion that is just what i want said the girl with impatience you are not dependent upon your exertions i suppose for a living shook her head almost sorry at the moment that she could not reply in the affirmative then i should give up the idea of being an thb was very medicine and the critic my story too bold y realized it as he looked at the sombre face before him is your of my story based at all asked miss after a pause on the boldness of its subject mr smiled again we publish the works of hall and george he said i should not consider your story if there was nothing else against it it is a wonder to me and always will be why such young girls as you choose but if the work is well done the public will pay for it there was a slight blush on miss s face partly at the and partly at the adverse criticism that had crept into the sentence for my part she explained i wanted to write something that would attract attention that would put my name before the public and keep it there the girls i read it to thought the scenes just lovely though some said perhaps their mothers would not feel that way and i told them that the mothers of to day were very and that the public taste was changing rapidly if the story is too bold there are things i could cut out of it but if you say that would make no difference i would rather let them stand i intend to try some other concern before i give up mr had abandoned all pretence of looking out the window he stood with his eyes fastened on the pretty girl as she made these statements in such a matter of fact way he wondered a black what the the story was about and made up his mind that he would try to get possession of it all the same responded mr who had apparently forgotten his lunch in his growing interest in the conversation i don t see where girls like you obtain such an intimate knowledge of things you are not over twenty excuse me i am old enough to tell you this without offence it is not you alone but a hundred others who have made me ask myself this question as soon as the modern girl gets a bottle of ink and a

0Arthur Conan Doyle

pen and begins to let her thoughts flow over paper it that she knows everything more than everything almost why i was twenty five before i was as wise as the heroine of sixteen in this story of yours miss again all the more because she had glanced up and encountered the bright eyes of mr fixed upon her why pursued the literary man he turned toward mr you remember you have seen her here five or six years ago i got a letter from that young girl s mother asking me to come to their residence and hear a story she had written it was her first one and the child was not a day over seventeen i couldn t believe it when she came into the room with her hair tumbled about her shoulders and began to read to me the first chapter of did she write that i asked her mother certainly she replied without aid from any one absolutely alone my hair stood on end i could wa mt story too bold not keep it down for the next week with a brush you know the story we printed it and i sold well and that is all that c s cared about it but i never understood how that infant could conceive it no more than i can understand your ability to write this story of yours miss he added the young woman a little it does not matter much if you are not going to print it she said raising her eyes to his he bowed low to express whatever apology might be necessary i would have accepted it if i could he said my entire life is spent in reading in the hope of discovering one that will make a hit with the public to whom we when successful i am as pleased as a south african who fishes a diamond of the first water out of the mine your story miss shows decided talent you have a greater knowledge of some of the important things of life i will than your grandmother had at eighty if she lived so long as i am obliged to go now let me add without matters that you are very deficient in english grammar and that nothing you can write will be acceptable to any first class house until that fault is are you ready mr felt indignant he could not have spoken to any girl as pretty as this one in such language and he thought it quite on the part of his friend to do so mr though feeling that best to use little a black had not meant to wound his but her countenance showed that he had wounded her and the natural gallantry of his younger companion came to the rescue i am not ready yet said mr at the same time a series of with his eyes i want a few minutes talk with miss if you will introduce me i think i can say something she like to hear mr who now stood in such a position that miss could not see him shook his head to imply that he did not fancy this arrangement but he ended by saying very well he then abruptly made the put on his hat said good by and vanished miss who had risen turned with an air of puzzled inquiry toward mr be seated again for a moment he said politely i want your permission to read your story why i don t know she answered are you one of the of he denied the i have not that felicity he added but i am much interested in things literary and have a rather wide acquaintance in this line of business if i could be allowed to read your perhaps i should form a opinion of its faults than my friend and in that case a word from me to another house would certainly do you no harm a brighter light came into miss s eyes i shall be only too glad to have you read it she answered it is hard to believe that i have wasted was mt too bold almost a year in something entirely worthless you may take it with pleasure mr went to mr s desk from which he soon came with the parcel in question he the string and for a moment his gaze rested on the handwriting do you live far from here he began and then added as he noticed the address on an enclosed card ah i see at she explained herself rather more to him giving the full address of her father and some particulars about the manner in which she had been drawn into attempting literary work he listened intently all the time engaged in rapid thought the best way for me to get a thoroughly correct impression of this novel he said when she came to a pause is to hear you read it aloud in that manner he added as he saw that she was about to interrupt a hundred would come to the surface that a mere inspection of the pages might fail to show beside there would be an opportunity for discussion if convenient to you i would gladly come to your residence for this purpose the eyes of the young girl brightened she was greatly pleased at the idea and said so without delay very well said mr more than delighted with the success of his experiment to day is tuesday shall i come for the first time say thursday evening that would suit me perfectly or to morrow if you wish i shall put aside everything and have my time free for you a black mr nodded let it be thursday then and the hour shall we call it eight the time was promptly agreed to in the meantime i will take the and look it over to form a general idea of the plot here

0Arthur Conan Doyle