The Washington herald., 1921-04-17
THE BRIDGE. !: !: !: !: = !: !. = By Jeanette l.


an old man as he crossed to the window
and stood staring out between the bars.
In the distance he could see the smoke
from the foundry black against the cool
Air. The foundry was his life work. and
-cartef Baldwin SIron" was famous
throughout the world for honest work
manship. A feeling like nausea wrenched
MIN as he gazed at the belching chin
neys-twenty-t three years ago he built the.
nrst one. and the plant; had extended till
u covered an acre Of ground. with its
dozen bisckened stacks smoking sk the
sky. He watched the smoke piumes with
silent gaze ~ II In them he might read
an answer to the anxious puzzle that
confronted him.
Tom was his pride-his life. bone and
sinew Of himselfi But those black chin
neys were more than life. His stern
mind swept over its past. He was young
er than Tom. hardly more than q boy
when his chance came. - that spring
TOO poor to marry-hardly more than Q
oay lAoorer In the Trowbridge >Construc-
ton Company. Looking ahead It had
seemed that years must elapse before he
would have money to carry out the IDEAS
that niled his brain. Then his chance
came. He had hardly moved hand to
hnd himself counciiman for hiss ward.
then on the committee Of public building.
and then-vhen the project for . river
emoankment and Q new bridge came sud
denly before them-chairman Of the COM
mittee, with practically unlimited power.
Six months later he had married Mary
Everett Within . year the bridge and
embankment were under way and the
chimney OF his nrst foundry was rising
In the air. Then Tom was born and life
surged forward.
Every move of the game since had been
played with integrity and pride. He had
not deceived himself a. to the nature Of
that nrst transaction. He could call a
spade spade. There had been no bribe
offered or taken for the placing of the
contract with the Trowbridge Construc-
tion Company. but he knew that who-
ever managed the election that made him
councilman. whoever placed him at the
head Of the building committee expected
the contract to go to the company-and
they got it! He had resigned his position
when he was made councilman and he
did not 60 back to them But when the
deal was over and the bridge finished he
owned a block of stock In the reorgan-
lied company. The stock built his foun-
dry.
He was clean tool that they used for
their dirty work. He had never ninched
from IL or deceived himself about It.
But from that, day to this his record was
clean. There was not page he feared
to show to any man. The construction
company had passed out OF existence,
some of the members died. others moved
away. There was no one now to accuse
him. Today Carter Baldwin's word was
~ good as his bond.
And in the room outside, the door Of
the big safe stood open.
He stared into the greenness. Great
welts stood on his forehead. The whole
face was drawn and contorted. Across IL
swept the battle of Carter Baldwin's
soul. For twenty-four years he had held
aloof from every form of questionable
business. Truth and fair dealing had
become . kind Of passion with him In his
growing business-as IL by cumulative
striving he might blot out that nrst
hideous mistake-and now he had looked
into the open door of his safe. He could
keep Tom from prison, or he could pre-
serve his own integrity. He could not
have both.
A grim smile touched the contorted
lips at the trick life played him. 1t was
Tom who had justified everything for
him. When conscience had whispered
that he houid confess the wrong he had
done, and stand unashamed before men
with the burden Of his early guilt con-
fessed, It was the sight Of Tom moving
with careless freedom the equal of any
man he met that stayed him. And when
with his deepening love Of truth and fair
dealing came an almost burning desire
to confess and clear his soul of guilt, It
was the thought of Tom that made him
pause. Surely, a son like that justified It
ALL His wife and daughter. his house
III ~. .lrxy fha Iat,
feeding . thousand mouths. his iron
without flaw. his business with countless
ramincations-but most of all his son!
Did any one believe that all these did
not balance that nrst ignorant offense Of
youth? The boys rights, too, must be
considered. II was unfair to saddle him
with . past finished before he was born
almost.
And standing In his window. gazing
into the green trees, Carter Baldwin saw
In . sudden binding flash the unborn
soul of his boy receive its burden. And
he saw Toms back in the open vault.
bent to place the papers in the box where
the examiner would find them when he
came.
What fool he had been-not to see
that 1t could be done-not to see how
easy Il wasi
And how long had 1t been going on!
A Year, Two years-three-perhaps ever
since the trustees made Tom Baldwin
joint cashier of the two banks under the
same roof. The Institution of Savings,
established for the employees of the foun-
dry. and the First National Bank of
Trovbridge, that carried the accounts OF
the principal business interests Of the
district. There had been no demur at
Toms youth. Carter Baldwin's boy could
be trusted-as his father and bondsman
was trusted.
Then how simple 1t became-to take
the bonds Of sone bank and sell them.
And only when the bank examiner was