THE LECTURE
Daniel Ironsyde sat with his Aunt Jenny after dinner and voiced
discontent. But it was not with himself and his personal progress that
he felt out of tune. All went well at the Mill save in one particular,
and he found no fault either with the heads of the offices at Bridport,
or with John Best, who entirely controlled the manufacture at Bridetown.
His brother caused the tribulation of his mind.
Miss Ironsyde sympathised, but argued for Raymond.
"He has an immense respect for you and would not willingly do anything
to annoy you, I'm sure of that. You must remember that Raymond was not
schooled to this. It takes a boy of his temperament a long time to find
the yoke easy. You were naturally studious, and wise enough to get into
harness after you left school; Raymond, with his extraordinary physical
powers, found the fascination of sport over-mastering. He has had to give
up what to your better understanding is trivial and unimportant, but it
really meant something to him."
"He hasn't given up as much as you might think," answered Daniel. "He's
always taking holidays now for cricket matches, and he rides often with
Waldron. It was a mistake his going there. Waldron is a person with one
idea, and a foolish idea at that. He only thinks a man is a man when
he's tearing about after foxes, or killing something, or playing with a
ball of some sort. He's a bad influence for Raymond. But it's not that.
It's not so much what Raymond doesn't do as what he does do. He's
foolish with the spinners and minders at the Mill."
"He might be," said Jenny Ironsyde, "but he's a gentleman."
"He's an idiot. I believe he'd wreck the whole business if he had the
power. Best tells me he talks to the girls about what he's going to do
presently, and tells them he will raise all their wages. He suggests to
perfectly satisfied people that they are not getting enough money! Well,
it's only human nature for them to agree with him, and you can easily
see what the result of that would be. Instead of having the hands
willing and contented, they'll grow unsettled and grumble, and then work
will suffer and a bad spirit appear in the Mill. It is simply insane."
"I quite agree," answered his aunt. "There's no excuse whatever for
nonsense of that sort, and if Raymond minded his own business, as he
should, it couldn't happen. Surely his own work doesn't throw him into
the company of the girls?"
"Of course it doesn't. It's simply a silly excuse to waste his time and
hear his own voice. He ought to have learned all about the mechanical
part weeks ago."
"Well, I can only advise patience," said Miss Ironsyde. "I don't suppose
a woman would carry much weight with him, an old one I mean--myself in
fact. But failing others I will do what I can. You say Mr. Waldron's no
good. Then try Uncle Ernest. I think he might touch Raymond. He's
gentle, but he's wise. And failing that, you must tackle him yourself,
Daniel. It's your duty. I know you hate preaching and all that sort of
thing, but there's nobody else."
"I suppose there isn't. It can't go on anyway, because he'll do harm. I
believe asses like Raymond make more trouble than right down wicked
people, Aunt Jenny."
"Don't tell him he's an ass. Be patient--you're wonderfully patient
always for such a young man, so be patient with your brother. But try
Uncle Ernest first. He might ask Raymond to lunch, or tea, and give him
a serious talking to. He'll know what to say."
"He's too mild and easy. It will go in at one ear and come out of the
other," prophesied Daniel.
But none the less he called on Mr. Churchouse when next at Bridetown.
The old man had just received a parcel by post and was elated.
"A most interesting work sent to me from 'A Well Wisher,'" he said. "It
is an old perambulation of Dorsetshire, which I have long desired to
possess."
"People like your writings in the _Bridport Gazette_," declared Daniel.
"Can you give me a few minutes, Uncle Ernest? I won't keep you."
"My time is always at the service of Henry Ironsyde's boys," answered
the other, "and nothing that I can do for you, or Raymond, is a
trouble."
"Thank you. I'm grateful. It is about Raymond, as a matter of fact."
"Ah, I'm not altogether surprised. Come into the study."
Mr. Churchouse, carrying his new book, led the way and soon he heard of
the younger man's anxieties. But the bookworm increased rather than
allayed them.
"Do you see anything of Raymond?" began Daniel.
"A great deal of him. He often comes to supper. But I will be frank. He
does not patronise my simple board for what he can get there, nor does
he find my company very exciting. He wouldn't. The attraction, I'm
afraid, is my housekeeper's daughter, Sabina. Sabina, I may tell you, is
a very attractive girl, Daniel. It has been my pleasure during her youth
to assist at her education, and she is well informed and naturally
clever. She is inclined to be excitable, as many clever people are, but
she is of a charming disposition and has great natural ability. I had
thought she would very likely become a schoolmistress; but in this place
the call of the mills is paramount and, as you know, the young women
generally follow their mothers. So Sabina found the thought of the
spinning attractive and is now, Mr. Best tells me, an amazingly clever
spinner--his very first in fact. And it cannot be denied that Raymond
sees a good deal of her. This is probably not wise, because friendship,
at their tender ages, will often run into emotion, and, naturally
flattered by his ingenuous attentions, Sabina might permit herself to
spin dreams and so lessen her activities as a spinner of yarn. I say she
might. These things mean more to a girl than a boy."
"What can I do about it? I was going to ask you to talk sense to
Raymond."
"With all the will, I am not the man, I fear. Sense varies so much from
the standpoint of the observer, my dear Daniel. You, for example, having
an old head on young shoulders, would find yourself in agreement with my
sentiments; Raymond, having a young and rather empty head on his
magnificent shoulders, would not. I take the situation to be this.
Raymond's life has been suddenly changed and his prodigious physical
activities reduced. He bursts with life. He is more alive than any youth
I have ever known. Now all this exuberance of nature must have an
outlet, and what more natural than that, in the presence of such an
attractive young woman, the sex instinct should begin to assert itself?"
"You don't mean he is in love, or anything like that?"
"That is just exactly what I do mean," answered Mr. Churchouse.
"I thought he probably liked to chatter to them all, and hear his own
voice, and talk rubbish about what he'll do for them in the future."
"He has nebulous ideas about wages and so on; but women are quicker than
men, and probably they understand perfectly well that he doesn't know
what he's talking about so far as that goes. How would it be if you took
him into the office at Bridport, where he would be more under your eye?"
"He must learn the business first and nobody can teach him like Best."
"Then I advise that you talk to him yourself. Don't let the fact that
you are only a year and three months older than Raymond make you too
tolerant. You are really ten, or twenty, years older than he is in
certain directions, and you must lecture him accordingly. Be firm; be
decisive. Explain to him that life is real and that he must approach it
with the same degree of earnestness and self-discipline as he devotes to
running and playing games and the like. I feel sure you will carry great
weight. He is far from being a fool. In fact he is a very intelligent
young man with excellent brains, and if he would devote them to the
business, you would soon find him your right hand. The machinery does
honestly interest him. But you must make it a personal thing. He must
study political economy and the value of labour and its relations to
capital and the market value of dry spun yarns. These vague ideas to
better the lot of the working classes are wholly admirable and speak of
a good heart. But you must get him to listen to reason and the laws of
supply and demand and so forth."
"What shall I say about the girls?"
"It is not so much the girls as the girl. If he had manifested a general
interest in them, you need have said nothing; but, with the purest good
will to Raymond and a great personal affection for Sabina, I do feel
that this friendship is not desirable. Don't think I am cynical and
worldly and take too low a view of human nature--far from it, my dear
boy. Nothing would ever make me take a low view of human nature. But one
has not lived for sixty years with one's eyes shut. Unhappy things occur
and Nature is especially dangerous when you find her busy with such
natural creatures as your brother and Sabina. A word to the wise. I
would speak, but you will do so with far greater weight."
"I hate preaching and making Raymond think I'm a prig and all that sort
of thing. It only hardens him against me."
"He knows better. At any rate try persuasion. He has a remarkably good
temper and a child could lead him. In fact a child sometimes does. He'd
do anything for Waldron's little girl. Just say you admire and share his
ambitions for the welfare of the workers. Hint at supply and demand;
then explain that all must go according to fixed laws, and amelioration
is a question of time and combination, and so on. Then tackle him
fearlessly about Sabina and appeal to his highest instincts. I, too, in
my diplomatic way will approach him with modern instances. Unfortunately
it is only too easy to find modern instances of what romance may end in.
And to say that modern instances are exceedingly like ancient ones, is
merely to say, that human nature doesn't change."
Fired by this advice, Daniel went straight to the works, and it was
about eleven o'clock in the day when he entered his brother's office
above the Mill--to find it empty.
Descending to the main shop, he discovered Raymond showing a visitor
round the machines. Little Estelle Waldron was paying her first visit to
the spinners and, delighted at the distraction, Raymond, on whose
invitation she had come, displayed all the operation of turning flax and
hemp into yarn. He aired his knowledge, but it was incomplete and he
referred constantly to the operators from stage to stage.
Round-eyed and attentive, Estelle poured her whole heart and soul into
the business. She showed a quick perception and asked questions that
interested the girls. Some, indeed, they could not answer. Estelle's
mind approached their work from a new angle and saw in it mysteries and
points calling for solution that had never challenged them. Neither had
her problems much struck Raymond, but he saw their force when she raised
them and pronounced them most important.
"Why, that's fundamental, really," he said, "and yet, be shot, if I
ever thought of it! Only Best will know and I shouldn't be surprised if
he doesn't."
They stood at the First Drawing Frame when Daniel appeared. They had
followed the flat ribbon of sliver from the Carding Machine. At the
Drawing Frame six ribbons from the Carder were all brought together into
one ribbon and so gained in quality, while losing more impurities during
a second severe process of combing out.
"And even now it's not ready for spinning," explained Raymond. "Now it
goes on to the Second Drawing Frame, and four of these ribbons from the
First Drawer are brought together into one ribbon again. So you see that
no less than twenty-four ribbons from the Carder are brought together to
make stuff good enough to spin."
"What do the Drawing Frames do to it?" asked Estelle; "it looks just the
same."
"Blessed if I know," confessed Raymond. "What do they do to it, Mrs.
Chick?"
A venerable old woman, whose simple task was to wind away the flowing
sliver into cans, made answer. She was clad in a dun overall and had a
dim scarlet cap of worsted drawn over her white hair. The remains of
beauty homed in her brown and wrinkled face; her grey eyes were gentle,
and her expression wistful and kindly.
"The Drawing Heads level the 'sliver,' and true it, and make it good,"
she said. "All the rubbish is dragged out on the teeth and now, though
it seems thinner and weaker, it isn't really. Now it goes to the Roving
Frame and that makes it still better and ready for the spinners."
Then came Daniel, and Raymond, leaving Estelle with Mrs. Chick, departed
at his brother's wish. The younger anticipated trouble and began to
excuse himself.
"Waldron's so jolly friendly that I thought you wouldn't mind if I
showed his little girl round the works. She's tremendously clever and
intelligent."
"Of course I don't mind. That's nothing, but I want to speak to you on
the general question. I do wish, Raymond, you'd be more dignified."
"Dignified! Me? Good Lord!"
"Well, if you don't like that word, say 'self-respecting.' You might
take longer views and look ahead."
"You may bet your boots I do that, Dan. This life isn't so delightful
that I am content to live in the present hour, I assure you. I look
ahead all right."
"I mean look ahead for the sake of the business, not for your own sake.
I don't want to preach, or any nonsense of that kind; but there's nobody
else to speak, so I must. The point is that you don't see in the least
what you are doing here. In the future my idea was--and yours, too, I
suppose--that you came into the business as joint partner with me in
everything."
"Jolly sporting of you, Dan."
"But that being so, can't you see you ought to support me in
everything?"
"I do."
"No, you don't. You're not taking the right line in the least, and
what's more, I believe you know it yourself. Don't think I'm selfish
and careless about our people, or indifferent to their needs and rights.
I'm quite as keen about their welfare as you are; but one can't do
everything in a moment. And you're not helping them and only hindering
me by talking a lot of rubbish to them."
"It isn't rubbish, Dan. I had all the facts from Levi Baggs, the
hackler. He understands the claims of capital and what labour is
entitled to, and all the rest of it."
"Baggs is a sour, one-sided man and will only give you a biased and
wrong view. If you want to know the truth, you can come into Bridport
and study it. Then you'll see exactly what things are worth, and what we
get paid in open market for our goods. All you do by listening to Levi
is to waste your time and waste his. And then you wander about among the
women talking nonsense. And remember this: they know it's nonsense.
They understand the question very much better than you do, and instead
of respecting you, as they ought to respect a future master, they only
laugh at you behind your back. And what will the result be? Why, when
you come to have a voice in the thing, they'll remind you of all your
big talk. And then you've got to climb down and they'll not respect you,
or take you seriously."
"All right, old chap--enough said. Only you needn't think the people
wouldn't respect me. I get on jolly well with them as a matter of fact.
And I do look ahead--perhaps further than you do. I certainly wouldn't
promise anything I wouldn't try to perform. In fact, I'm very keen about
them. And I believe if we scrapped all the machinery and got new--"
"When you've mastered the present machinery, it will be time to talk
about scrapping it," answered Daniel. "People are always shouting out
for new things, and when they get them--and sacrifice a year's profits
very likely in doing so--often the first thing they hear from the
operatives is, that the old machinery was much better. Our father always
liked to see other firms make the experiments."
"That's the way to get left, if you ask me."
"I don't ask you," answered the master. "I'm telling you, Raymond; and
you ought to remember that I very well know what I'm talking about and
you don't. You must give me some credit. To question me is to question
our father, for I learned everything from him."
"But times change. You don't want to be left high and dry in the march
of progress, my dear chap."
"No--you needn't fear that. If you're young, you're a part of progress;
you belong to it. But you must get a general knowledge of the present
situation in our trade before you can do anything rational in the shape
of progress. I've been left a very fine business with a very honoured
name to keep up, and if I begin trying to run before I can walk, I
should very soon fall down. You must see that."
Raymond nodded.
"Yes, that's all right. I'm a learner and I know you can teach me a
lot."
"If you'd come to me instead of to the mill people."
"You don't know their side."
"Much better than you do. I've talked with our father often and often
about it. He was no tyrant and nobody could ever accuse him of
injustice."
Raymond flashed; but he kept his mouth shut on that theme. The only
bitter quarrels between the brothers had been on the subject of their
father, and the younger knew that the ground was dangerous. At this
moment the last thing he desired was any difference with Daniel.
"I'll keep it all in mind, Dan. I don't want to do anything to annoy
you, God knows. Is there any more? I must go and look after young
Estelle."
"Only one thing; and this is purely personal, and so I hope you'll
excuse me. I've just been seeing Uncle Ernest, and nobody wished us
better fortune than he does."
"He's a good old boy. I've learned a lot about spinning from him."
"I know. But--look here, Raymond, I do beg of you--I implore of you not
to be too friendly with Sabina Dinnett. You can't think how I should
hate anything like that. It isn't fair--it isn't fair to the woman, or
to me, or to the family. You must see yourself that sort of thing isn't
right. She's a very good girl--our champion spinner Best says; and if
you go distracting her and taking her out of her station, you are doing
her a very cruel turn and upsetting her peace of mind. And the others
will be jealous, of course, and so it will go on. It isn't playing the
game--it really isn't. That's all. I know you're a sportsman and all
that; so I do beg you'll be a sportsman in business too, and take a
proper line and remember your obligations. And if I've said a harsh, or
unfair word, I'm sorry for it; but you know I haven't."
Seeing that Sabina Dinnett was now in paramount and triumphant
possession of Raymond's mind, he felt thankful that his brother, by
running on over this subject and concluding upon the whole question, had
saved him the necessity for any direct reply. Whether he would have lied
or no concerning Sabina, Raymond did not stop to consider. There is
little doubt that he would. But the need was escaped; and so thankful
did he feel, that he responded to the admonishment in a tone more
complete and with promises more comprehensive than Daniel expected.
"You're dead right. Of course I know it! I've been a silly fool all
round. But I won't open my mouth so wide in future, Dan. And don't think
I'm wasting my time. I'm working like the devil, really, and learning
everything from the beginning. Best will tell you that's true. He's a
splendid teacher and I'll see more of him in future. And I'll read all
about yarn and get the hang of the markets, and so on."
"Thank you--you can't say more. And you might come into Bridport
oftener, I think. Aunt Jenny was saying she never sees you now."
"I will," promised Raymond. "I'm going to dine with you both on my
birthday. I believe she'll be good for fifty quid this year. Father left
her a legacy of a thousand."
They parted, and Raymond returned to Estelle, who was now watching the
warping, while Daniel went into his foreman's office.
Estelle was radiant. She had fallen in love with the works.
"The girls are all so kind and clever," she said.
"Rather so. I expect you know all about everything now."
"Hardly anything yet. But you must let me come again. I do want to know
all about it. It is splendidly interesting."
"Of course, come and go when you like, kiddy."
"And I'm going to ask some of them to tea with me," declared Estelle.
"They all love flowers, and I'm going to show them our garden and my
pets. I've asked seven of them and two men."
"Ask me, too."
She brought out a piece of paper and showed him that she had written
down nine names.
"And if they like it, they'll tell the others and I shall ask them too,"
she said. "Father is always wanting me to spend money, so now I'll spend
some on a beautiful tea."
Raymond saw the name of Sabina Dinnett.
"I'll be there to help you," he promised.
"Nicholas Roberts is the lover of Miss Northover," explained Estelle,
"and Benny Cogle is the lover of Miss Gale. That's why I asked them. I
very nearly went back and asked Mister Baggs to come, because he seems a
silent, sad man; but I was rather frightened of him."
"Don't ask him; he's an old bear," declared Raymond.
Thus, forgetting his brother as though Daniel had ceased to exist, he
threw himself into Estelle's enterprise and planned an entertainment
that must at least have rendered the master uneasy.