WHAT CAME OF THE PLOT
The Fernalds were as good as their word. All winter long father, son,
and grandson worked at the scheme for the new cottages and by New Year,
with the assistance of an architect, they had on paper plans for a
model village to be built on the opposite side of the river as soon as
the weather permitted. The houses were gems of careful thought, no two
of them being alike. Nevertheless, although each tiny domain was
individual in design, a general uniformity of construction existed
between them which resulted in a delightfully harmonious ensemble. The
entire Fernald family was enthusiastic over the project. It was the
chief topic of conversation both at Aldercliffe and at Pine Lea. Rolls
of blue prints littered office and library table and cluttered the
bureaus, chairs, and even the pockets of the elder men of each
household.
"We are going to make a little Normandy on the other shore of the river
before we have done with it," asserted Grandfather Fernald to Laurie.
"It will be as pretty a settlement as one would wish to see. I mean,
too, to build cooeperative stores, a clubhouse, and a theater; perhaps I
may even go farther and put up a chapel. I have gone clean daft over
the notion of a model village and since I am started I may as well be
hung for a sheep as a lamb. I do not believe we shall be sinking our
money, either, for in addition to bettering the living conditions of
our men I feel we shall also draw to the locality a finer class of
working people. This will boom our section of the country and should
make property here more valuable. But even if it doesn't work out that
way, I shall take pride in the proposed village. I have always insisted
that our mills be spotless and up to date and the fact that they have
been has been a source of great gratification. Now I shall carry that
idea farther and see that the new settlement comes up to our standards.
I have gone over and over the plans to see if in any way they can be
bettered; suppose you and I look at them together once more. Some new
inspiration may come to us--something that will be an improvement."
Patiently and for the twentieth time Laurie examined the blue prints
while his grandfather volubly explained just where each building of the
many was to stand.
"This little park, with a fountain in the middle and a bandstand near
by, will slope down toward the river. As there are many fine trees
along the shore it will be a cool and pleasant place to sit in summer.
The stone bridge I am to put up will cross just above and serve as a
sort of entrance to the park. We intend that everything shall be laid
out with a view to making the river front attractive. As for the
village itself--the streets are to be wide so that each dwelling shall
have plenty of fresh air and sunshine. No more of those dingy flats
such as the Turners live in! Each family is also to have land enough
for a small garden, and each house will have a piazza and the best of
plumbing; and because many of the women live in their kitchens more
than in any other part of their abode, I am insisting that that room be
as comfortable and airy as it can be made."
"It is all bully, Grandfather," Laurie answered. "But isn't it going to
cost a fortune to do the thing as you want it done?"
"It is going to cost money," nodded the elder man. "I am not deceiving
myself as to that. But I have the money and if I chose to spend it on
this _fad_ (as one of my friends called it) I don't see why I shouldn't
do it. Since your grandmother died I have not felt the same interest in
Aldercliffe that I used to. When she was alive that was my hobby. I
shall simply be putting out the money in a different direction, that is
all. Perhaps it will be a less selfish direction, too."
"It certainly is a bully fine fad, Grandfather," Laurie exclaimed.
"Somehow I believe it is, laddie," the old gentleman answered
thoughtfully. "Your father thinks so. Time only can tell whether I have
chucked my fortune in a hole or really invested it wisely. I have been
doing a good deal of serious thinking lately, thanks to those chaps who
tried to blow up the mills. As I have turned matters over in my mind
since the trial, and struggled to get their point of view, I have about
come to the conclusion that they had a fair measure of right on their
side. Not that I approve of their methods," continued he hastily,
raising a protesting hand, when Laurie offered an angry interruption.
"Do not misunderstand me. The means they took was cowardly and criminal
and I do not for a moment uphold it. But the thing that led them to act
as they planned to act was that they honestly believed we had not given
them and their comrades a square deal. As I have pondered over this
conviction of theirs, I am not so sure but they were right in that
belief."
He paused to light a fresh cigar which he silently puffed for a few
moments.
"This village plan of mine has grown to some extent out of the thinking
to which this tragedy has stimulated me. There can be no question that
our fortunes have come to us as a result of the hard labor of our
employees. I know that. And I also know that we have rolled up a far
larger proportion of the profits than they have. In fact, I am not sure
we have not accepted a larger slice than was our due; and I am not
surprised that some of them are also of that opinion. I would not go so
far as to say we have been actually dishonest but I am afraid we have
not been generous. The matter never came to me before in precisely this
light and I confess frankly I am sorry that I have blundered.
Nevertheless, as I tell your father, it is never too late to mend. If
we have made mistakes we at least do not need to continue to make them.
So I have resolved to pay up some of my past obligations by building
this village and afterward your dad and I plan to raise the wages of
the workers--raise them voluntarily without their asking. I figure we
shall have enough to keep the wolf from the door, even then," he added,
smiling, "and if we should find we had not why we should simply have to
come back on you and Ted Turner to support us, that's all."
Laurie broke into a ringing laugh.
"I would much rather you and Dad spent the money this way than to have
you leave it all to me," he said presently.
"One person does not need so much money. It is more than his share of
the world's profits--especially if he has earned none of it. Besides,
when a fortune is handed over to you, it spoils all the fun of making
one for yourself." The boy's eyes clouded wistfully. "I suppose anyhow
I never shall be able to work as hard as you and Father have; still
I----"
"Pooh! Pooh! Nonsense!" his grandfather interrupted huskily.
"I believe I shall be able to earn enough to take care of myself,"
continued Laurie steadily. "In any case I mean to try."
"Of course you will!" cried the elder man heartily. "Why, aren't you
expecting to be an engineer or something?"
"I--I--hope--to," replied the boy.
"Certainly! Certainly!" fidgeted Grandfather Fernald nervously. "You
are going to be a great man some day, Laurie--a consulting engineer,
maybe; or a famous electrician, or something of the sort."
"I wish I might," the lad repeated. "You see, Grandfather, it is
working out your own career that is the fun, making something all
yourself. That is why I hate the idea of ever stepping into your shoes
and having to manage the mills. All the interesting part is done
already. You and Dad had the pleasure----"
"The damned hard work, you mean," cut in his grandfather.
"Well, the hard work, then," chuckled Laurie, "of building the business
up."
"That is true, my boy," replied Mr. Fernald. "It was a great game, too.
Why, you know when I came here and we staked out the site for the
mills, there wasn't a house in sight. There was nothing but that river.
To one little wooden factory and that rushing torrent of water I pinned
my faith. Every cent I possessed in the world was in the venture. I
must make good or go under. Nobody will ever know how I slaved in those
early days. For years I worked day and night, never giving myself time
to realize that I was tired. But I was young and eager and although I
got fagged sometimes a few hours of sleep sent me forth each morning
with faith that I could slay whatever dragons I might encounter. As I
look back on those years, hard though they were, they will always stand
out as the happiest ones of my life. It was the fight that was the
sport. Now I am an old man and I have won the thing I was
after--success. Of course, it is a satisfaction to have done what you
set out to do. But I tell you, laddie, that after your money is made,
the zest of the game is gone. Your fortune rolls up then without you
and all you have to do is to sit back and watch it grow of itself. It
doesn't seem to be a part of you any more. You feel old, and
unnecessary, and out of it. You are on the shelf."
"That is why I want to begin at the beginning and earn my own money,
Grandfather," Laurie put in. "Think what you would have missed if some
one had deprived you of all your fun when you were young. You wouldn't
have liked it."
"You bet I wouldn't!" cried the old gentleman.
"I don't want to lose my fun either," persisted Laurie. "I want to win
my way just as you and Dad have done--just as Ted Turner is going to
do. I want to find out what is in me and what I can do with it."
Grandfather Fernald rubbed his hands.
"Bully for you, Laurie! Bully for you!" he ejaculated. "That's the true
Fernald spirit. It was that stuff that took me away from my father's
farm in Vermont and started me out in the world with only six dollars
in my pocket. I was bound I would try my muscle and I did. I got some
pretty hard knocks, too, while I was doing it. Still, they were all in
the day's work and I never have regretted them. But I didn't mean to
have your father go through all I did and so I saw that he got an
education and started different. He knew what he was fighting and was
armed with the proper weapons instead of going blind into the
scrimmage. That is what we are trying to do for you and what we mean to
do for Ted Turner. We do not intend to take either of you out of the
fray but we are going to put into your hands the things you need to win
the battle. Then the making good will depend solely on you."
"I mean to try to do my part."
"I know you do, laddie; and you'll do it, too."
"I just wish I was stronger--as well as Ted is," murmured the boy.
"I wish you were," his grandfather responded gently, touching his
grandson's shoulder affectionately with his strong hand. "If money
could give you health you should have every farthing I possess. But
there are things that money cannot do, Laurie. I used to think it was
all-powerful and that if I had it there was nothing I could not make
mine. But I realize now that many of the best gifts of life are beyond
its reach. We grow wiser as we grow older," he concluded, with a sad
shake of his head. "Sometimes I think we should have been granted two
lives, one to experiment with and the other to live."
He rose, a weary shadow clouding his eyes.
"Well, to live and learn is all we can do; and thank goodness it is
never too late to profit by our errors. I have learned many things from
Ted Turner; I have learned some more from his father; and I have added
to all these certain things that those unlucky wretches, Sullivan and
Cronin, have demonstrated to me. Who knows but I may make Freeman's
Falls a better place in consequence? We shall see."
With these parting reflections the old gentleman slowly left the room.