The building erected on the site of the wing destroyed by fire was
larger than the one it replaced, and its plan was so well thought out
that its convenience far excelled that of its companion factory, and
increased the output of the firm by a much greater proportion than its
greater size seemed to warrant.
“All we need now,” said Sartwell, to little Mr. Hope, “is the other wing
to burn down; then we could have a model establishment.”
Mr. Hope looked up at Sartwell in alarm, as if he expected to see his
manager apply the torch to the old building. He never quite fathomed
Sartwell’s somewhat grim style of humour.
The four houses that had been leased, to form a temporary annex to the
works during the erection of the new wing, were kept on, and never in
the long history of the firm was so much profitable business done, nor
so large a dividend declared as during the months that followed the
completion of the new building. The firm had good cause to be grateful
to its manager. Both Monkton and Hope recognized that their constantly
increasing prosperity was due to this resolute, self-reliant man, and
they rewarded him as capitalists usually reward those who serve them
well. Not only was his already large salary increased, without any
demand on his part, but, when the business was formed into a private
company, they allotted him a block of stock of the nominal value of
a thousand pounds, the income from which, should the welfare of the
company continue at its then level, would be sufficient to make Sartwell
independent for life; and at the first meeting of the new board he was
made managing director.
This meeting took place a little more than a year after the new wing had
been opened, and Sartwell, addressing his fellow-directors, said:
“I am not good at returning thanks--by words at least; but, as you know,
I shall try to make the stock you have given me a good investment for
the new company. It might seem, under the circumstances, that I ought to
be well content; yet human nature is hard to satisfy, and I am about to
ask for further powers. I want an understanding that I am to have a free
hand in case we should have another strike. I also want the power of
increasing the wages of the men--not to exceed, say ten per cent--at any
time, without the necessity of consulting the board.”
“Why?” asked Monkton. “The board can be convened at any moment.”
“As a matter of fact it cannot. By your articles of association there
must be seven days’ clear notice, and the object of the meeting must
be stated when the call is made. Now, it may become necessary to act at
once, and I want the power to do so.”
“Surely there is no danger of another strike,” said Mr. Hope, anxiously.
“The men had such a severe lesson----”
“A lesson lasts the workingman just so long as his belly is empty, and
rarely influences him after his first full meal. The Union is already
working up to a demand for increased wages. Times are good, and they
know it. We must face an increase of wages, and I want that increase
to come voluntarily from the company, and not under compulsion. You may
depend upon me to do nothing rash, but I want the power to announce such
increase at any moment.”
The power to act promptly was given him, and he was assured that, in
the event of another strike, the whole strength of the company would be
behind him; but he was besought by Mr. Hope to avoid trouble if it were
possible to do so.
After the meeting Sartwell went down to Eastbourne, and, with his
daughter, took a long walk on the breezy downs.
“Well, girlie,” he said, after telling her of the firm’s generosity,
“you are an heiress now, on a small scale. I have made over that
thousand pounds to you, and as it is really worth ten thousand, I think
it is a good deal of money for a little girl like you to accumulate
before she comes of age.”
“But I’m not going to accept it, father!” cried Edna. “I’ll make it all
over to you again.”
“Then we shall play battledore and shuttlecock with the stock. I
generally have my own way, Edna, so you may as well give in gracefully
to the inevitable. Besides, this comes as a sort of windfall; I didn’t
reckon on it, so you don’t leave me a penny poorer than I was a month
ago. I’ve laid by a bit of money in my time, and have at last got rid of
a fear that has haunted me all my life--the fear of a poverty-stricken
old age. That’s why I draw such deep, satisfying breaths of this
splendid air from the sea. Grey hair came, Edna, before the goal was in
sight, but it’s in sight now, my girl.”
“I’m so glad, father,” she said, drawing down his head and kissing him.
“Then you will take the windfall, Edna?”
“I will take it on one condition, father.”
“And what is the one condition?”
“That if I ever do anything you disapprove of, you will let me give it
back to you.”
The girl was gazing far out at the line where the blue sky and the bluer
sea met. Her father glanced at her sharply for a moment.
“Put into English, what does that mean, Edna?”
“You never can tell what a woman will do, you know.”
“Granted, my dear. But you’re not a woman; you’re merely my little
girl.”
The little girl sighed.
“I feel very much grown up, and very old sometimes.”
“Oh, we all do at eighteen. Wait till you’re forty; then you’ll know
what real youth is. If you were a boy now, instead of being a girl, you
would have serious doubts about the existence of the Deity, and the most
gloomy ideas regarding mankind generally. Why should I disapprove of
anything you do?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Mother always predicts that our stubborn wills will
cross some time, and----”
“Of course, of course. And false prophets shall arise. Don’t let that
trouble you, Edna. If our wills become seriously opposed, we will come
here to the downs and talk it all over. I’ll warrant we’ll hit on a
compromise.”
“But suppose a compromise were not possible?”
“Dear me, Edna, what’s on your mind? You are talking in generalities and
thinking in particulars. What is it, my girl?”
Edna shook her head.
“I don’t know why it is,” she said at last, “but I feel afraid of the
future. It seems so uncertain, and I should never like anything to come
between us.”
“Nonsense, Edna. What should come between us? All that is merely a
little touch of the pessimism of youth, accentuated by the doleful fact
that you are now a woman of independent means. Suppose our stubborn
wills come into collision, as you fear, do you know what will happen?”
“What?”
“Well--it’s an awful thing for a father to say to a daughter--but
I’ll give way. Think of that! What a humiliating confession for me to
make!--a man who has refused to budge an inch before the united demands
of some hundreds of men, backed by the pathetic entreaties of my own
employers. If that isn’t a victory for a small girl, what is?”
“Oh, no!” cried Edna, her eyes quickly filling. “I’ll give way--I’ll
give way--even if it breaks my heart!” Her father stopped in his walk,
and grasped her by the shoulders. The girl’s head drooped, and she put
one hand over her eyes.
“Ah, Edna, Edna, there’s something at the back of all this; I won’t ask
you what it is, my pet, but some day you’ll tell me, perhaps.” He drew
her to his breast, and, pushing aside her hat, caressed her fair hair
lovingly. “If your mother were alive, dearest, we--well, there is little
use of either grieving or wishing. We must make the best of things as
they are. But don’t bother about the stubborn wills, Edna; we’ll cross
that bridge when we come to it. You see, we are both competing to see
who shall give way first, and there’s nothing very stubborn about that.
Now, my girl, I’ve disarranged that pretty hat, and a stranger who
didn’t know might think you had been crying. This will never do. Let us
talk sensibly, for I imagine that before long I’ll have all the fighting
I need to keep me in form, without having a contest with my only
daughter.”
“What do you mean, father?”
“Oh, there’s the usual ferment among the men. They are seething and
foaming and vapouring, and I feel it in my bones that we will have
another strike before long.”
“Led by Mr. Marsten?”
“By him, of course. But I’ll beat him! I’ll crumple him up so that he
will wonder why he ever started the fight. It’s a pity to see him
waste his energy and his brains in a hopeless struggle. He’s clever
and indefatigable, but a visionary and an enthusiast, and when he stops
dreaming of impossibilities he will be a most valuable man.”
“What impossibilities, father?” asked the girl, almost in a whisper,
gazing at the ground.
“The impossibility of men hanging together on any one subject for more
than a week. The impossibility of warding off treachery within the
ranks. The impossibility of keeping down the jealousy which they always
feel towards a man who is their evident superior in education and
ability. However he got them, Marsten has the manner and instincts of a
gentleman. The men are not going to stand that sort of thing, you know,
and they will fail him when it comes to a pinch.”
“If you think so well of him, why don’t you offer him a good position in
the works, and let him turn his ability towards helping you?”
“My dear girl, you have guessed one of the cards that is up my sleeve.
I intend to make Marsten my assistant manager--but not now. He will be
a valuable man when he awakes, but not while he is dreaming. He must be
taught his lesson first, and only hard knocks can teach him that. The
boy thinks he is going to be a leader of men, whereas he is merely
serving his apprenticeship to become assistant manager of Monkton &
Hope, Limited.”
“But suppose he, succeeds? Suppose the next strike does not fail? The
men held together more than a week last time.”
“That was because they were led by a demagogue of like calibre to
themselves. There is a large faction among them who hate Marsten, and
Gibbons is their leader. I have fought Gibbons, beaten him, insulted
him, trampled him under foot, yet, to-day, Gibbons loathes Marsten while
he respects me, as such a man always respects one who has knocked him
down. Now you will be surprised to hear that I have taken Gibbons into
my employ, and am giving him better wages than he has ever received in
his life before. More than that, when he recommends a man, I promote
that man, and it is getting to be generally understood that Gibbons
has much influence with the manager. This strengthens his hold on his
faction.”
“And what will be the result?”
“That we cannot tell, but it is always good politics to promote a split
in the ranks of the enemy. I am playing a game, and I move the pawns
about to suit my board. There is a sharp line now cleft between the two
factions, and the gap will widen as soon as the trouble begins. Gibbons
will likely go out with his crowd, if a strike is ordered; but they
will be a source of weakness rather than of strength to Marsten, and the
moment he makes a false move--which he is reasonably certain to make,
not being infallible--there will be a defection.”
“Have you a secret understanding with Gibbons, then?”
“Oh, bless you, no! One doesn’t have a discussion on moves with a pawn.
The pawn produces certain effects merely because it is placed in a given
position, and not through any will of its own. Now Marsten is quite well
aware of Gibbons’s supposed influence with me, and will likely commit
the error of thinking I have some arrangement with the ex-secretary. In
the heat of a discussion he may give voice to his belief, and that will
be an error, for no man is so righteously indignant at such a charge as
the virtuous individual who would have sold himself if he could. It’s
going to be an interesting struggle, Edna.”
“Poor Marsten!” sighed the girl.
“Yes, I am sorry for Marsten myself, but the lesson will do him a
world of good. He is thoroughly unselfish, and Gibbons is as thoroughly
selfish. The unselfish man almost invariably goes to the wall in this
self-seeking world. Now let us get back, my girl. I think your old
father has settled the whole universe to his satisfaction, so there’s no
more to be said.”