The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1918-05-07
The Kings
Castles
o0
BY JAMES NEWTON

he was graduated and started in law
studies, though he did not dub himself
q socialist, still he persuaded himself
that In the management of the rather
comfortable estate left him by his
grandmother he would fall into none
Of those errors of sel1shness that too
frequently - as he was convinced -
characterize the dealings of men OF
capital with those who labor for them.
And although he decided to leave the
management of the large uptown
apartment house, pretentiously dubbed
"King's Castles" that constituted one
Of his most remuneFatiye investments
in the hands of his fathers Office force
until he had finished his law course,
he made 1t perfectly clear that he
sought no profits from that undertake
ing that might be made at the ex-
pense of fair play to the folk who
worked under the spacious roof of the
apartment house.
Maybe there isn't any eight-hour
law for women in this state" he said
to his father. maybe there isn't
we haven't come to 1t in law lecture
yet. But eight hours is all any woman
ought to be asked to work, and l tell
you right here that I'm not going to
have any woman work longer than
the one who works for me-"
The genial elder man looked up
with a smile, the serenity of which
rather annoyed Yates. "She is a nice
little girl" he said, with an emphasis
on the verb that seemed to betoken
that Yates knew to whom the pronoun
referred.
II guess at your age I'd have had
the same ideas about working hours
for women, especially If the only wom-
an 1 employed happened to be eighteen
and as fresh as a snow apple. She is
a nice girl, isn't sher"
eff you mean Miss Sarter-yes. She
seems to be a lot better than you
usually get to tend an apartment house
telephone switchboard. That's got
nothing to do with the fairness of
making her work nine hours a day or
keeping her at the switchboard on hol-
idays."
"But, man alive, she wants to do it"
explained the father.
mo girl of spirit likes to show her
unwillingness to do what she's got to
do" pronounced the son with the air
Of one who felt that he possessed keen
insight into feminine psychology.
swell, you've got a lot more ems
than some boys your age" was the
fathers only retort. "Tf you take a
fancy to a pure-hearted country girl
like Abby Sarter instead Of some
empty-pated, over-dressed society girl,
you're all right"
Yates had taken a fancy to Abby,
but for some reason he did not like to
could not explain to himself just why
his fathers remarks that morning
proved so Irritating.
AS time went on Yates developed a
keen interest In the management of
his apartment house. He loved to
think Of the time when-his law course
ended-he would take over the entire
management of the place himself and
not actually needing to net the largest
possible income from 1t, strive to run
the house along ideal lines. He even
thought Of putting the girl at the
switchboard on a six-hour schedule,
but somehow he never thought of
Abby Sarter's continuing to sit at the
switchboard when he put his plans in
working order.
Meantime Abby Sarter sat at the
switchboard In the corner of the spac-
ious. many-mirrored, much-begilt en-
trance of Yates uptown apartment
house, for nine hours a day, and never
thought of having q holiday other than
Sunday. Sometimes she came in for
a few hours even on that day of rest.
To Yates that entrance hall was not
entirely satisfactory. He could see the
cheap plaster behind the thin veneer
of marble on the walls. The colors of
the heavy plush rugs that lay on the
tile floors looked cruder to him every
time he saw them. The lights that
blaZed forth from the chandeliers and
were reflected again and again in the
bong mirrors were glarish and smote
his eyes extensively. Yet he knew that
1t was that spacious, garish hall that
attracted tenants and made them
willing to pay good rents for small
apartments, and he realized that he
would be benefiting no one but him.
self If he toned down the garishness to
suit his own taste. He had no way of
knowing at first how respondent it
looked to Abby-Abby, who basked in
the efulgence of a dozen bright lights
now, and In the days on the farm had
known only the glow of a single oil
lamp as she sat in the farmhouse sit
ting room. To her the entrance of the
apartment house was the sum total of
urbane luxury and elegance and the
people who came and went through
the hall and were bowed to by the
hall attendants In proportion to their
most recent gratuity were to her
among the favored ones of the earth.
She did not know that her share
Of one Of the farms at horne would
put her into the possession OF a bank
account several times as large as that
held by any of these cliff dwellers.
Abby knew none of the tenants
well. Why should they bother their
heads about the switchboard operator,
anyway? But with the curiosity and
powers of observation bred in the
country, she had made for herself
vivid pictures of each Individual In
the house. Sometimes there were
weddings or receptions, dinner par
ties, or ven little dances in the apart
ments, and then Abby's eyes would be
ever brighter than usual and her
pulses would quicken as she felt the
proximity Of SO much merriment and
gaiety.
One of the ~personages that came un-
der her constant observation was
young Yates Barlow. To her he seem
ed, as the owner of all this grandeur.
a veritable modern prince. Whenever
he came to the apartment he stopped
and chatted with her in a rather shy
but friendly way, asking g ques-
tons about her work.
After each of his chats with Abby,
Yates Barlow vas more than ever
convinced that she was overworked.
Not that she eve gave any indication
Of this state Of affairs by anything
that she said. But how could O
charming girl like Abby, he thought,
sit for nine monotonous hours making
connections for thoughtless tenants,
without feeling overworked?
Yates took to calling up the apart
ment on mythical business matters,
just to make sure that Abby's voice
sounded as fresh and unfagged as ever
Then spring came. After a hard
week at law school, Yates was getting