The Washington times., 1911-05-09
CHAPTER VIII .
SUNDAY,
THAT first dohar saved was the
germ of a new idea.

germ of new idea.
1t is a further confession
of a middle-class mind that
in. coming down here had not
looked forward beyond the immediate
present With the horror of that
last week still on me / had consid-
cred only the opportunity had for
earning a livelihood
To be sure, / had seen no reason why
an intelligent man should not in time be be
advanced to foreman, and why ne
should not then be able to save
enough to ward off the poorhouse be-
fore old age came on.
But now--with that first dollar tucked
away in the ginger jar-1 felt Withln
me the stirring of new ambition, an
ambition born OF this quick young coun-
try into which / had plunged
Why in time. should l not be-
not take the initiative in some of
these progressive enterprises? Why
should not learn this business
of contracting and building, and some
With that first dollar saved I was al
ready at heart capitalist.
said nothing of this to Ruth. For
six months 1 let the idea grow. II it
new work. I shoveled as though I
were digging for diamonds.
It made me young man again. II
made me a young American again. II
with visions: 1t sent me to sleep at
night with dreams.
But I'm running ahead of my story.
] thought II had appreciated Sunday
when 1t meant release for one day
from the office of the United Woollen,
but as with all the other things, l felt
as though 1t had been but the shadow,
and tina; only now had found the sub
stance.
In the first place had not been able
completely to shake the office in the
last few years. ] brought it home with
me and on Sundays it furnished half
the subject of conversation.
Every little incident, every bit of con-
Nersation. every expression on Morse
face was analyzed in the attempt to sec
what 1t counted. for or against, the
possible future raise.
Even when out walking with the boy
the latter was constant reminder. 1t
was as though ne were merely a ward
of the United Woollen Company.
But when | put away my shovel at 5
o'clock on Saturday, that was the end
of my ditch digging.
I came home after that. and I was
at home until I reported for work on
Monday morning. There was neither
work nor woIry left hanging over.
II meant complete relaXatlon-complete
rest, And the body, found rests bet
ter than the mind
Later in my work I didn't experience
this so perfectly as 1 now did. because
then accepted new responsibilities, but
for the first few months / lived in lazy
content on this one day. For the most
part those who lived around me did
all the time.
On fair summer days half the popula-
tion of the little square basked in the
eun with eyes half closed from morning.
Intil night Those who didn't, went TO
the neighborinG beaches, many of which
thev could reach for a nickel. or visited
such public buildings as were open.
But wherever they went or whatever
they did. they loafed about it. And a
~ hn' Inno q
hard weeks work which ends with the
week
AS for us we had our choice of any num-
Der of pleasant occupations. I insisted
that Ruth should make the meals as
simple as possible on that day and both
the boy and myself helped her about
Ehem.
We always washed the dishes and
swept the floor. First of all there was
the roof. j early saw the possibility
of this much neglected spot. 1t was
fiat and had a fence around it for it
was meant to be used for the hanginl
Being new building it had been built
q story higher than its older neighbors
50 that we overlooked the other roofs
There was generous space through
which we saw the harbor. ! picked up
a strip of old canvas for a trif1e in one
of the shore-front junk-shops which
deal in secondhand ship supplies and
arranged 1t over one corner like a can
opy. Then l brought home with me
some bits of board that were left over
from the wood construction at the
ditch and nailed these together to make
a rude sort of window box.
II was harder TO get dirt than 1t was
wood, but little by little l brought home
enough finally to fill the boxes.
In these we planted radishes and let
tuce and a few flower seeds. We had
almost as good a garden as We used
10 have in our back yard.
At any rate 1t was just enough fun
to watch the things grow, and though
the lettuce never amounted to much
we actually raised some very good rad
ishes. The flowers did well, too.
We brought up an old blanket and
spread It out beneath the canopy and
that, with a chair or two. made our
roof garden. A local branch of the
public library was not far distant, so
that we had all the reading matter that
We wanted and here we usde TO sit all
day Sunday when we didn't feel like
doing anything else.
Here, too, we used to sit evenings
on several hot nights, Ruth, the boy
and brought up our blankets and slept
out. The boy liked 1t so well that finally
he came up to sleep up here most of the
summer. 1t was fine for him.
The harbor breezes swept the air clean
OF smoke so that 1t was as good for
him as being at the sea-shore.
To us the sights from this roof were
marvellous. They appealed strongly be-
cause theye were unlike anything we
mao ever seen, or lOr tnat matter u0-
like anything our friends had ever seen
I think that a mans friends often
take away the freshness from the sights
that otherwise might move him.
I've never been to Europe
but what with magazine pictures and
snap shots and Mrs. Grover, who never
forgot that before she married Grover
she had travelled for a whole year. I
haven't any special desire to visit Lon
don or Paris.
suppose it would be different If I
ever went, but even then I don't think
there would be the novelty to it we
found from our rouf. Ard IL was Just
that novelty and the ability TO appreci-
ate it that made our whole emigrant life
possible.
1t was for us the great adventure
again. / suppose there are men who
will growl that it's all bosh tc say there
is any real romance in living in four
rooms in a tenement district. eating
what We ate, digging in a ditch and
incoming over a view from a roof top.
l want to say right here that for such
men there wouldn't be anv romance OF
beauty in such life. They'd be miser-
able. There are plenty of men living
down there now and they never miss a
chance to air their opinions.
Some of them have big bodies but I
wouldn't give their 80 cents a day TO
work for me. Luckily, however, there
are not many of them in proportion to
the others, even though they make more
noise.
But when you stop to think about 1t
6 hIlt leads