Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1912-02-15
been travelling with a lively crowd"

hhilJ udu hho JOu anu uC hoppJ'
but couldn't And the more | cared
for such a man, the more unhappy !
should be. You see, my unhappiness
In turn. would tend to make him un-
happy. l should make a mistake, and
he would make an equal mistake.
though his would not be 30 hard on
him because he would still have his
business"
"Business!" Daylight gasped.
whats wrong with my business? /
play fair and square. There's moth
ing underhand about 1t. which can't
be said Of most businesses, whether of
the big corporations or Of the cheat,
Ing, lying, little corner-grocerymen
play the straight rules Of the game,
and don't have to lie or cheat or
break my word"
Don't you see." he went on, the
whole game is gamble. Everybody
CANDLES in one way or another. The
farmer CANDLES against the weather
and the market on his crops. SO does
the United States Steel Corporation.
The business Of lots OF men is straight
robbery Of the poor people. But I've
never made that my business. You
know that. I've always gone after the
robbers"
81 missed my point" she admitted.
Wait a minute"
And for space they rode in 81
lence.
Il see 1t more clearly than | can
state 1t, but it's something like this.
There is legitimate work. and there's
work that-well. that isn't legitimate.
The farmer works the soil and pro-
duces grain. He's making something
that is good for humanity. He actual
ly In way, creates something, the
grain that will fill the mouths Of the
hungry"
And then the railroads and market
riggers and the rest proceed to rob
him Of that same grain" Daylight
broke In
There amt much difference be-
tween playing halfway robber like
the railroad hauling that farmers
wheat to market. and playing all rob-
Der and robbing the robbers like do.
And. besides, halfway robbery Is too
slow a game for me to sit in. You
don't win quick enough for me-"
But what do you want to win for?"
Dede demanded you have millions
and millions. already; why can't you
do good with all your money!"
Daylight laughed.
Doing good with your money!
Amt 1t funny, to go around with brass
knuckles and a big club breaking
folks heads and taking their money
away from them until I've got pile,
and then, repenting Of my ways, going
around and bandaging up the heads
the other robbers are breaking?
leave 1t to you. That's what doing good
with money amounts to. Every once
in a while some robber turns soft
hearted and takes to driving an am.
bulance. That's what Carnegie did.
He smashed heads in pitched battles
at Homestead, regular wholesale head
breaker he was, held up the suckers
for few hundred million, and now
he goes around dribbling 1t back to
them. Funny? I leave 1t to you"
He rolled a cigarette and watched
her half curiously, half amusedly. His
replies and harsh congratulations of a
harsh school were disconcerting. and
she came back to her earlier position
II can't argue with you, and you
know that. No matter how right a
woman is men have such way about
them-well, what they say sounds
most convincing. and yet the woman
Is still certain they are wrong. But
there is one thing, the creative joy;
and it's higher Joy than mere gam
bling. Haven't you ever made things
yourself-a log cabin up In the Yu-
kon, or a canoe, or raft, or something
And don't you remember how salts
fled you were, how good you felt,
while you were doing 1t and after you
had 1t done?"
While she spoke his memory was
busy with the associations she recall
ed He saw the deserted fiat on the
river bank by the Klondike, and he
saw the log cabins and warehouses
spring up. and all the log structures
he had built, and his sawmllls work
ing night and day on three shifts.
why, doggone 1t, Miss Mason
you're right-in a way. I've bull
hundreds of houses up there, and
remember l was proud and glad t.
see them go up I'm proud now, wher
remember them. And there wa
! Ophir-the most God-forsaken moose
pasture of a creek you ever laid eye'
} on. l made that into the big Ophir
Why, l ran the water in there from
the Rinkabilly. eighty miles away
They all said couldn't, but did II
and did 1t by myself. The dam ant
the fiume cost me four million. Blu
you should have seen that ophir-pov
or plants, electric lights. and hun
dreds OF men on the payroll, working
night and day. guess do get al
n l.