THE VALUE OF A LIFE
During the next few weeks Rufus Sterne was kept so busy that he had very
little time for either retrospect or anticipation. His great complaint
was that the days were all too short for the work he wanted to crowd
into them. He had told Felix Muller that six months would see his scheme
well on its way to completion. But he had not been at work many weeks
before he began to fear that twelve months would be much nearer the
limit. Contractors were so slow, workmen were so careless, and
accidents--none of them serious--were so numerous, that delays were
inevitable, and the days grew into weeks unconsciously.
He maintained, however, a brave and hopeful spirit. Delays and
disappointments were, no doubt, inevitable. No one ever carried out a
great scheme without encountering a few disappointments. Later on, when
victory was assured, they would seem as nothing, and would be quickly
forgotten.
He saw no more of the beautiful stranger who had so much interested him.
For several days he kept a sharp look out, and wondered if by any chance
he would cross her path. Then he heard that Sir Charles and all his
family had gone to London till the end of the season, and he assumed
that she had gone to London with them.
He had had a second interview with Felix Muller, which had left an
impression that was not altogether pleasant. Muller was in his most
cynical and ungenerous mood. He had not a word of encouragement to give
to his client. On the contrary, he appeared to take a delight in
pricking Rufus with pointed and unpleasant suggestions.
"It is well, no doubt, to hope for the best," he said to Rufus; "but it
is equally well to be prepared for the worst."
"I really think you would not trouble much if I should fail," Rufus
said, in a tone of irritation.
"Then you do me an injustice," was the suave and tantalising answer. "If
you were to fail I might have trouble in getting my own."
"You mean that I would back out of the contract at the last?"
"No, I don't mean any such thing. I know you are not only a man of
honour, but a man of courage; but if you should bungle----"
"Look here, we need not go any further into details," Rufus said,
impatiently. "My point is you are not a bit troubled about me as long as
you get your money back."
"Oh, but I am! I would rather you prospered than that you failed, any
day. Still, if in the order of chance you should fail--well----," and he
shrugged his shoulders, "It would be in the eternal order, that's all."
"You would not fret, of course?"
"My dear fellow, why should I? We must all pass out into the great
silence sooner or later. And now, or next year, or next century for that
matter, matters little. You and I have got beyond the region of
sentiment in such things. Nature sets no value on human life. We take
our place among the ants and flies, and the human is treated as
remorselessly as the insect. The wind passeth over both, and they are
gone."
"Yes, that is true enough," Rufus answered, looking out of the window.
"Besides," Muller went on, as if he read his thoughts, "in the business
of life we are bound to take risks."
"You mean money risks?"
"Not only money risks. A man who drives to market, who explores a mine,
who crosses the sea in the interests of commerce, who fights for his
country, not only risks his property, but he risks his life."
"Not always intentionally."
"Well, not always, perhaps. But in the greatest and noblest enterprises,
yes. And what is more, it is counted to a man an honour when he risks
his life in a great cause. If you become a martyr for a great ideal I
shall revere your memory."
Rufus winced, and looked uncomfortable. "I am not risking my life in the
public interest," he said, "but in my own."
"It all amounts to the same thing," Muller said, cynically. "You are
part of the public, and anything that benefits a part benefits, more or
less, the whole. I am taking risks myself on the same chance of doing
good."
"Doing good to whom?"
"To myself in the first place. Charity should always begin at home."
"And don't you think also that it should stop there?"
"Well, in the main, I do. I am no sentimentalist, as you very well know.
Every man for himself is the first law of life."
"So while Nature sets no value on human life, you think that each
individual should set great value on his own?"
"No, I don't. Everything depends on the individual, or on his
circumstances. If a man thinks his life is worth preserving, well, let
him preserve it by all means. But if he thinks it is worthless, why
should he not let it slip?"
"There seems no particular reason," Rufus answered, reflectively.
"There's no reason at all," Muller went on, dogmatically, "while a man
is doing something, something useful I mean, something that is of
benefit to himself and to others, he ought to keep agoing as long as he
can. But when he is a failure, when he becomes a burden to himself and
his neighbours, it is cowardly to hang on, and why should anybody fret
because he makes himself scarce?"
"You mean this as a little homily to myself?" Rufus questioned.
"Oh, not a bit of it! I am not afraid of you not doing the right thing!
Besides, you are not going to fail," and he laughed, cynically.
"No, I am not going to fail," Rufus answered, rising from his seat; "I
am going to succeed."
"That's right. I hope you will. But don't forget that there is nothing
certain in this world but death," and he smilingly bowed Rufus out of
the room.
In the street Rufus purchased an evening paper, that he might get the
latest news of the war. He did not open it until he got into the quiet
lanes outside the town. There had been another big battle in which there
had been an appalling loss of life. The work of extermination was going
on rapidly. Modern civilisation was showing what it could do in
preventing the too rapid growth of the human race.
Rufus hurriedly glanced down the columns, then folded the paper and put
it into his pocket. "Yes, Muller is right," he mused. "Nature sets no
value on human life, neither do governments, and neither does religion.
I wonder how many thousands of human beings have been sacrificed during
the last few weeks, and who gives to the matter a second thought.
Religion accepts it as inevitable and even meritorious. Governments
approve and applaud, and make provision for slaughter on a larger scale
in the future. Nature, not to be outdone, tries her hand at earthquakes,
or famine, or disease. It is only the individual who thinks his own life
is of value, and he, of course, is a conceited prig."
He paused when he reached the hill-top from which the sea came into
view. The days were beginning to shorten a little. The light of the sun
was less brilliant, and the green of the fields had given place to
harvest gold.
"It is curious that we should cling to life so much for its own sake,"
he said, reflectively. "Curious that the law should label a man a
criminal who takes his own life when he has no longer any use for it.
What hypocrites men are, especially those who make our laws. The
weaklings and worthless they preserve, the able-bodied and useful they
destroy. The single life, however pitiful, must be protected. The crowd
is mowed down like grass to gratify some coward's insatiable ambition.
The creatures who talk about the glory of dying for one's country are
careful to keep out of the danger line themselves. The man who fails,
after an heroic struggle, and takes his own life rather than be a burden
to others, they brand as a coward or dub insane; while he who grows rich
by trafficking on the weakness or vices of his fellows is made a Right
Honourable, or given a seat in the councils of the State. It is all very
sickening, and I refuse to be bound by such traditional falsehood and
hypocrisy."
He hurried on at a more rapid rate, as if to get away from his thoughts,
but his brain persisted in working in the same groove. The possibility
of failure obtruded itself with obstinate persistency.
"I'm glad Muller does not doubt either my courage or my honour," he went
on. "And really if I fail it will not matter to anyone but myself. I
have no ties, neither father nor mother, brother nor sister, wife nor
child. I am happy in that----"
Then he moved to the side of the road for a closed landau drawn by a
pair of horses to pass him.
"Going to fetch the Hall people from the station very likely," he said
to himself, and he turned and looked after the retreating vehicle.
"I wonder if she will return?" and a far-away expression came into his
eyes. "I should like to see her again," he went on, "she is wonderfully
fresh and natural."
For the rest of the way home he walked very slowly. Now and then he
paused, and turned his head, and listened. But the sound of wheels,
which he expected to hear, did not break the evening's stillness, nor
did he see the face that he hoped to see.
It was nearly a fortnight later that he went out one afternoon on the
cliffs alone. A somewhat difficult and complicated problem had
unexpectedly presented itself to him, and he fancied he would be better
able to see his way through it in the open air than in his workshop or
study. Generally speaking, he could think best on his feet, and the
sights and sounds of nature, instead of distracting him, soothed him.
It was a warm, drowsy afternoon. The wind slept, and a soft impalpable
haze imparted a new mystery to the sea. The tide was coming in slowly
and imperceptibly, and rippling like silver bells on the shingly beach.
The distant landscape was an impressionist picture in which all the
sharp outlines melted into space. The sunshine filtered through a veil
of gauze. Half-way to Penwith Cove he sat down on a ledge of rock on
the very edge of the cliff, and looked seaward. He saw nothing
distinctly, heard no song of the sea. He was too intent on the problem
that was baffling his brain.
Suddenly he started and opened his eyes wide. Was it a human voice he
heard, or was it merely fancy? He looked round him swiftly in all
directions, but no one was in sight. "It was only the cry of a sea-gull,
I expect," he said to himself, and he half closed his eyes again. The
next moment he was on his feet and staring round him in all directions.
"Surely that was a cry for help," he said, and he looked over the edge
of the cliff and swept with his eyes the narrow stretch of sand, but
there was no one in sight in any direction.
For a moment or two he stood irresolute, listening. "There it is again,"
he said, with blanched cheeks, and he lay flat on the ground and dragged
himself forward slowly till his head and shoulders overhung the cliff.
"Help! oh, help!" came a feeble voice from the abyss below.
"Where are you? What is the matter?" he called, searching in vain for
any sign of life.
"Oh, save me!" was the quick response. "I cannot possibly hold on much
longer."
"Have you fallen over the cliff?" he called.
"No, no. I tried to climb up, and I cannot get back again."
"Then shut your eyes and hold tight," he called. "I'll be round in a few
minutes."
"Oh, do be quick, for I'm getting faint."
"If you faint you're lost," he called. "Hold on like grim death and
don't look down. I'll be with you directly."
It was a long way round by Penwith Cove, but there was no nearer way. He
ran like a man pursued by wild beasts. The path was narrow and uneven,
and followed the irregularities of the cliffs. A dozen times he came
within an ace of breaking his neck, but he managed to keep on his feet.
The question of his own safety never once occurred to him. Someone was
in deadly peril, and a moment later or earlier might be a matter of life
or death.
The path into the cove was by a series of zigzags; but he took a
straight cut in most instances to the imminent risk of life and limb. A
few cuts and bruises he did not mind. His clothes might not be fit to
wear again. Tobogganning without a toboggan might not be elegant, but it
was certainly exciting, and if it did nothing else it would find work
for his tailor.
He was never quite certain whether he reached the beach head foremost or
feet foremost. He found himself stretched full length on the sand,
bleeding from innumerable cuts and quite out of breath.
There was no time, however, to make an inventory of his own hurts.
Indeed, he was scarcely conscious that he had received any damage
whatever. Picking himself up, he began to run with all his remaining
strength. He limped a good deal, but he was not aware of it; neither did
he make any attempt to pick his way. He swept eagerly the face of the
cliff as he ran, and feared that he was too late.
At length he caught a glimpse of something white perched high above the
beach.
"Good heavens; how did she get there?" he said to himself; and pausing
for a moment he drew in a long breath, then shouted: "Hold tight, I'm
coming!" though even as he spoke his heart failed him.
How was he to get to her, and even if he succeeded in reaching her side,
how was he to get her down? The face of the cliff was almost
perpendicular, the footholds were few and treacherous. Empty-handed, he
might climb up and back again without very much difficulty; but with a
half-fainting woman in his arms the descent would be practically
impossible.
He was still running while these thoughts were passing through his mind,
his breathing was laboured and painful, his bruised limbs were becoming
stiff and obstinate.
He came to a full stop at length, and the fear that had haunted him from
first hearing the cry became a certainty.
"Can you hold on a little longer?" he called.
"I guess I'll have to try," came the cheery answer, though there was the
sound of tears in her voice. It was evident she was making a desperate
effort to keep up her courage.
"Don't lose heart," he said, with a gasp, "and keep your eyes shut."
Then he shut his teeth grimly and began the ascent. "I'll save her or
die in the attempt," he said to himself, with a fierce and determined
look in his eyes.
Then something seemed to whisper in his ear: "Why trouble about a single
life? One life more or less can make no difference. If people like to
fling away their life in foolish adventures, let them do it; why should
you worry?"
But his philosophy found no response in his heart just then. His own
life might be of little consequence, but this fair creature must be
saved at all costs.
He made his way up the face of the cliff surely and steadily. "It is
easier than I thought," he said. Then he came to a sudden stop, while a
groan escaped his lips.
"I cannot do it," he gasped; "nobody can do it. Without ropes and
ladders she is doomed."