There is nothing that gives a better opportunity for friendship than for
people to be thrown together in some interesting work or undertaking.
A great deal has been written about love affairs that were started on
board ship but the society had broken the record, for it, unlike the
short passage on the ocean, had been continuous. The men and women have
had an opportunity to learn more about each other. It raised the
standard in each sex. Each became independent of the other financially,
therefore real love matches were the result. Men’s responsibility were
being shared by their wives, and they were not so afraid to venture on
the matrimonial journey. One thing, they are not so likely to step into
it without preparation. Paul Arling was becoming fond of Scoris Vivian,
but he felt that he had no right to neglect his mother’s interests even
for her. She was young, while his mother was too old to support herself.
He knew that Scoris had many admirers and yet he thought to himself,
“she certainly favors me. I wonder if it is because she sees more of me
than the rest. I would like to know, but I have no right to ask her
until I know that mother is provided for. And yet, the society has made
it possible to so centralize our interests that the risk is not what it
would have been without it. She wouldn’t be an added burden, for she has
more shares than I have. What a blessing is rightly directed industry,
combined with economy! We don’t have to wait until we can fit up an
establishment. But here I am taking it for granted that she loves me and
that she would have me. Ah! well, longings and wishes sometimes blind
our vision. It may be purely imagination on my part, but the expression
of her eyes rest on me so differently from any other. I have watched her
closely, I am sure she cares for me. She thrills me through and through
if she but smiles upon me; and she does not smile in the same way at any
one else. Surely it is so. I would like to call upon her to-night, but I
have no excuse,” he still muses. But love always finds a way, and in
looking around for it, his mother appeared dressed for the street.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Oh, just for a walk, not anywhere in particular. Won’t you come along?”
“Which way?” he asked, as they stand at the door, apparently uncertain.
“I usually go to the lake,” she answered. “The air is so clear and fresh
there and I like to watch the water rolling and see the people. I go
there often.”
“Very well,” he replied, and they start in that direction, he turning
over the thought uppermost in his mind all the time. “You go to the lake
often do you?”
“Yes, quite often. Why, do you want to go anywhere else?” (She had
noticed his abstracted air.) “It is immaterial to me; I am so glad to
have you take a walk with me I will go anywhere.”
“Oh! that is not quite fair,” he answered, smiling. “You always have the
girls to go with you, so I don’t like to intrude.”
“Lucky thought,”—he said to himself. “That new building near the
Vivians’ flat, with the figures on it that were drawn by a member of our
society, I will take her to see it. You know Will Green, the architect,”
he continued. “Well, if you don’t mind I would like you to see a
building he has been erecting. It is around on another street. We will
turn here. Clever fellow, clever fellow,” he said absently. His mother
looked at him sideways, wondering what he meant. He slipped his arm
under her’s while they crossed the street. Presently she said: “There is
no hurry, is there?” for he had quickened his pace like a horse on the
home stretch, not quite running, but faster than she was accustomed to
walking.
“Oh, no,” he answered as he slackened suddenly, “I didn’t know I was
going so fast.” Some middle-aged women learn to be diplomatic, though it
is not usual. She knew that this walk was not taken on her account, but
she was not going to spoil it by letting him see that she knew it. They
stopped at the building he had spoken of. He pointed out the stone
carving he had brought her to see, all in a mechanical way. Then they
walked along a little farther, when he in the most surprised way, that
even his mother did not detect at first, said: “Why, here is where the
Vivians live! Let’s make a call.” At that moment Scoris appeared at the
window, and thinking that they were coming for that purpose smiled and
came to the door. The intimacy between the two families became closer as
time passed, for there was always something to bring them together.
Scoris would wonder sometimes if Paul really did care for her. He would
seem so interested in her, take such pains to bring his family and hers
together and his eyes had often spoken more than words, yet he was
silent. She would like to have known. “But after all,” she said to her
self, “we are not in a position to marry if he did care for me.”
Two years passed and she had so many cares to occupy her mind that she
was satisfied to let things remain as they were. She had secured a
number of shares in the society, saying to herself, “marriage is not the
only aim in life, and I will devote myself to art. I am weary of seeing
my creations used for advertisements—of working for a firm that looks
upon me as a part of its machinery. If our society was older
advertisements wouldn’t be needed. What will you do then?” she asks
herself. “Why, why,” she hesitates, then thinks again, “what will I do?”
The answer didn’t come right away. She returned to it many times. Once
she thought, “I will have enough saved to keep me before then. I can
live in the Colony where the necessities of life are of more consequence
to all than luxuries, and I can do without many things I like. Why, I do
now. First my drawings and paintings are used to attract trade. The firm
gets the credit for them, and about ten times more than I receive for
them. Do I like that? It has greater expenses I am aware, but not ten
times the amount. I work six days out of the week from 8 a. m. to 5 p.
m., with about two weeks’ holidays once a year, and then I have to lose
my time. If my eyesight fails in middle life, the age limit will pounce
upon me with the lash of necessity. I certainly do not like the
prospect. Marry the millionaire that Libra has taken so much trouble to
persuade you to.
“Marry? No, if I ever marry, it will be for love and companionship. He
is a nice fellow, his money would help to carry out the very things I am
working for! I like him and he is fond of me. If I had never seen Paul I
would have learned to love him. He and others who are wealthy have
proved to me that human nature is the same whether rich or poor. Both
kinds of people can be selfish and they average the same in generosity,
both he and Libra’s husband are generous. Lear is a rich man and Libra
is happy with him, why couldn’t I? Because,” she answers the one-sided
debate, “we wouldn’t be companionable and because he knows nothing about
the poverty in our midst. He would expect me to out-rival other women
and display his wealth while I would know that little children were
hungry and the aged were cold and homeless. Every time I took up the
daily newspaper and saw the accounts of suicides and all the rest of the
misery caused by money being drawn into the hands of the few, I would
have to say to myself ‘coward!’ No, I will not marry him. I never
encouraged him. He would never have asked me but for Libra. I can hear
him say it yet, in answer to an argument brought up about the working
classes, ‘No one can reach them all, so what is the use of our trying to
do an impossible thing?’ ‘No one person can change any condition in
which all the people are involved, but if each one does his or her
share, individually, it can be done,’ I told him, ‘and I will not desert
the cause.’”
Scoris had been alone all evening, and as she loosened her hair and let
it fall around her shoulders, she arrived at this mental conclusion;
then she heard Helen unlock the front door and come in to their parlor.
“I thought you had gone to bed, you were so quiet,” Helen said.
“Did you enjoy the play?” Scoris asked, as she fastened her loose gown
and slipped on her soft shoes.
“Very much,” Helen answered. “Libra and Lear would have come in if they
had known you were up.”
“I am glad they did not,” Scoris said. “You know what Libra is after,
and I have made up my mind that I will never marry.”
[Illustration]
Scoris had been alone all evening and as she loosened her hair and let
it fall around her shoulders she arrived at this mental conclusion.
“Never?” Helen asked in a quizzical way. “There are other men besides
the millionaire.”
“Yes, dear, I know,” Scoris answered, “but some of them, like me, don’t
wish to marry.”
“I have not seen you since morning,” Helen said after a while. “Well, I
have been promoted.”
Her duties were in a basement of the store where she was employed and
she had discovered that her eyesight was becoming defective. She was
told that it was from the glare of the electric light and that she would
have to wear glasses after two or three years there. “You cannot tell
the colors accurately without them,” the oculist had said.
It was bad enough to have to work in a basement, day by day from one
year’s end to another, without having to impair her eyesight. Glasses
were her horror, but she must work, and at last she applied to the head
manager to give her something where she could work by daylight for at
least a part of the day, and was sent up to the dress department.
“You see, Scoris,” she explained, “after my capabilities had been
inquired into as a saleswomen, then I had to be looked over for all the
world as if I was a horse for sale. I passed on the strength of my
figure, height and ladylike appearance. The humiliating ordeal was
trying, but I won’t have to wear those glasses, thank goodness, and, do
you know, Scoris, my salary will be raised. But I have to get a new
tailor-made gown with a train, made in the latest style, so as to make
the best appearance.
“Well,” Scoris remarked, “it is very nice to be dressed well and I am
pleased you are going to be out of that basement. I felt uneasy about
your eyes. I have seen so many people who had to give up work altogether
on account of the long hours under the electric light. Especially when
their work is steady all day, as yours has been. Now, my work is more
trying to the eyes than yours, and if I had to use electric light it
would blind me, even with my shorter hours.”
The next evening Helen came home in her new dress, walking rather
slowly, paying more attention to the holding up of her skirt than to her
surroundings. She walked past her own door before she noticed it. Scoris
meeting her, she exclaimed:
“Do you know this dress has cost me so much that it will take me over
two months to pay for it, and when the weekly amount is taken out of my
salary I won’t have as much as I did in the basement? No wonder they pay
more for this kind of work, or agree to, for in reality, they don’t pay
as much, as we have to get new gowns every three months so as to be in
style.”
“Never mind,” said Scoris, “it won’t last many years, for the society is
gradually gathering in all the industries. Then we will only have to
work about half the time that we do now and have more holidays, and
rest. I have just been reading the society’s paper for this month.
Listen and see what you think of this.
“‘Mrs. Thorn and our president have just completed the transferring of
the property to the society. We know all our members will be pleased to
learn that we now own the land our principal buildings are on, as well
as the buildings themselves. I also wish to draw attention to the
increase of the society’s wealth in being able to secure this land in
such a short time since we began our society. It proves the theory of
concentrated effort as well as the combined industry of us all. Our old
obligations to Mrs. Thorn are the same as to any other member. She now
owns sufficient shares in the permanent wealth to entitle her to a
three-room apartment. These shares are in the names of her three
children, giving her a life interest in said shares. Besides, she
receives a pension during her life. This places her in a better position
than when she only received the rent, securing for her a better home
than she had before. Her apartments have a hot water bath and other
conveniences and are heated; then, like all the other tenants, she has
the use of the dining room and kitchen, public parlor, etc., in fact, it
makes her independent for life and secures to her two married daughters
as well as to her son a home during their lives, after her death, of at
least one room each, they having become members so as to entitle them to
that privilege. Our business transactions have been very satisfactory
with her and we take great pleasure in recommending her for the title we
are about to confer on all honorable members, and this is the first
publication of her name. The society is about to confer the title of
“The Honorable” to Mrs. Thorn’s name, if there are no just reasons why
such title should not be given. This notice will be published in regard
to her and the other members, for three months, and the list will be
found on the second page of this paper.
“‘All members who have proven themselves to be honest and trustworthy in
their lives and an honor to our cause during the past two years are
eligible. Their past life up to two years ago we do not hold against
them, as we believe this society enables all to live honestly. If,
however, it is proved that any who have applied for the honors we wish
to confer upon them are unworthy, or if they in any way break the law of
the country, they cannot receive these titles until they have reformed.
Again, no person in our society can retain any title if at any time
proven unworthy. These titles cannot be transferred to any other person,
nor are they hereditary, nor can a husband confer a title upon his wife.
A wife cannot give this title to her husband. They are issued to our
honorable members to give them prominence over the idle and the
undeserving, also to show our respect for all labor. We believe that in
this way the generations of the future may become equal. We know they
are not at the present day. We are treating facts as we find them and
intend doing our duty by honoring the best among us by titles. Those who
do not come up to the standard we do not condemn, but silently ignore in
all business transactions where they could get the best of us or
disgrace us. They are not allowed to hold office nor to help make the
laws or to sit in the Council of this society. Therefore, the title
gives to the society a dignity that is required in the present time on
account of the dishonesty that prevails among all classes. We are sure
that all honest people will appreciate these titles, for by them they
will be known.’
“Quite an article, don’t you think so?”
“Why, yes, indeed, but it will be years before we can use them; that is,
you and I. We would be ridiculed in the store or illustrating house
where you are. Just think, if it were known that you are ‘The Honorable’
Scoris Vivian, for now you are considered only a good servant by the
firm, and nothing more.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” Scoris replied, “still it is a good deal in our
private life to be held worthy of the honor. It will always give us a
standing among the best class of people, and to be known as an honorable
person is a protection for us in that class. Holding a title will show
where we belong socially, no matter what our employment may be. In the
present time, if we do certain kinds of work, we lose caste, because
labor is not honored as it should be. See the position I am
in—illustrating for a firm that gets the benefit of my talent and
ability. I have no opportunity of enjoying the triumphs; all is the work
of the firm and they can be depended upon—the public says. ‘According to
the opinions of the money class this is as it should be. This woman is
only too glad to find employment. We who have money have a right to
dictate.’ I think differently. It is mine and I should have the benefit
of my own creations and industry, and it is hard to bear when some rare
illustration has been used for common advertising.”
“Yes, Scoris, I know it is harder for you than my position is for me,
but I would sooner do anything else. When I mentioned the fact to Libra
she begged me not to do so or it would disgrace her if it became known
among her set. I hate to be on my feet all day, bowing and saying polite
things to the people I serve in that store, and then to think I only
receive a bare living. I know I have talent and it makes me almost
despise myself to be subjected to it.”
“Patience, Helen dear, the times are changing and you are doing your
share. That article you wrote last week was a rousing good one and I
have been complimented on having such a clever sister who was capable of
expressing herself so fearlessly in the cause of right. Keep up your
writings until you are better known and sufficient returns come in to
justify you in making it your life’s work. You are not the first or the
last to be placed in an unpleasant position.”
“And just think, Scoris, so many have asked me how I ever got such a
nice position. Oh, well, every one to their taste.”
“Here is a letter from Nellie,” Scoris said, “and she and Tom are coming
to make us a visit.”
“I don’t suppose we will see very much of them for already the different
members are arranging to entertain them. Tom will change places for two
weeks with the city manager and will be very busy. I am glad they are
coming,” Helen replied.
One morning Scoris received a letter from her mother, saying that Geron
had mortgaged his portion of the estate and that Lear Shuman had secured
him a position in the city at such a good salary that they were all
going to move in a few months. The girls had heard about his
dissatisfaction and were not surprised at the news, but regretted it,
for they knew that it was a mistake. “One comfort we will have out of
it: mother will live with us,” Helen remarked.
“Yes,” Scoris said, “it will be nice for us, but hard for her, after
living all her life in the freedom of the open country, away from smoke
and dust. Think of Geron investing the money he received on the mortgage
in stocks. The uncertainty of it and that Lear advised it. That is the
outcome of that visit Geron and Grace paid them a year ago. The salary
Geron is to receive seems large to him now, but how little he knows
about the destruction of clothing and household goods with the constant
dust. I am afraid they will regret it.”