BEN WEST.
About a week after Mr. Herne had told his wife the history of Julia
Hammond, Mr. Hammond, on going to the store for some trifle, was saluted
by Saunders, the merchant, with, "Heard the news, Hammond?"
Hammond said: "No. What is it?"
"Why, Ben West is going to the Klondike," said Saunders.
"Going to the Klondike!" said Hammond. "Why, I don't see what he has to
go there for. He is the only child, his father owns a fine ranch, and he
is always getting big jobs on roads and ditches, making three to four
dollars a day, because he can go ahead and knows just what to do and how
to do it. He has great muscular strength and can lift about twice as
much as any ordinary man."
"Oh, he wants to make a stake," said Saunders. "He is ambitious."
Wescott spoke up and said: "Ben is a rustler; he will get there every
time."
Hammond said: "He has lots of vim and pluck; has got sand and backbone
to him."
"Yes, he is a hummer," said Saunders.
"I tell you he has got some ambition and grit," said Stearns,
admiringly.
It was not long before the news spread all over Orangeville, that Ben
West was going to the Klondike, and the abilities which he possessed as
a worker and money maker, and an all round good fellow were the theme of
conversation in many a household and on many a ranch.
When the news reached the ears of the young ladies of Orangeville, most
of them felt a shade of disappointment, because Ben had been good to
them.
Not having shown any decided preference for one, he devoted his
attentions to many, and having a good fast team he was able to give the
young ladies many a pleasant ride to dances, parties and church, so he
was a great favorite with them all.
Just previous to Ben West's leaving Orangeville, a great farewell supper
and dance was given him. The attendance was very large. The young ladies
appeared in their best toilets. Julia looked superb and was very
graceful in her deportment. This evening she "played her cards" with
evident success, and the result was that as Ben West went home the
feeling that had been flickering for some time had now broken out into a
flame that fired his blood. Julia did indeed know her power and how to
use it, and she intended that some one else should be restless and
disturbed as well as herself. So that night there were two persons in
Orangeville who tried to sleep but could not. Ben West realized that
night that he had become a willing slave. Sometimes the thought seemed
pleasant, then again it would be galling in the extreme.
A few of the boys went to Roseland to see Ben off, and they had a time
"all to themselves" as they called it in Roseland, the night previous to
his departure. Ben West left with the best wishes and prayers for good
luck following him from all his friends.
When a rising, popular young man leaves his home and neighborhood for
the purpose of making his fortune, he is full of great expectations, and
this thought is shared by all his friends. He departs with the best
wishes following him, for his companions say: "If a man can strike it
rich he can." There does not seem the least doubt in their minds
regarding his success, for they have unbounded confidence in him. Now
the young man leaving is exceedingly alive to the expressions and
sentiments of his friends, and he feels that he must succeed or die in
the attempt. His attachment to name and fame and his personal self is so
strong, and he is so susceptible and negative to the good opinion of
those around him, that he feels he will never want to come back and show
himself among his friends unless he has struck it rich, for he knows
there is nothing that succeeds like success.
Talk about the idolatry of the heathen! Is there any idolatry in the
world that is stronger than that which is found in the so-called
"Christian" world in the year 1900? Where do you find any greater
idolatry than that which is bestowed on money and on woman? There are
more devotees at these two shrines than are to be found worshipping the
Divine. Look at a young man fortunate in the financial world. The first
year in speculations he makes fifty thousand dollars. The second year he
is worth two hundred thousand dollars. The third year he has made half a
million. The fourth year he has become a millionaire. Now listen to the
eulogies and encomiums passed upon him. He is the lion of the hour, the
hero of the day, for he has won the victory that to win fifty thousand
other men had tried and failed. He has attained the great end for which
most men think they were born, money making. What a number of young
ladies see so many excellent qualities in the rising young millionaire,
the "Napoleon of Finance." Note how his faults are all glossed over by
their mammas, who are ready to act as if they had received a retaining
fee as his attorneys, so ready are they to defend him at all times to
their daughters and friends. It seems to matter little about his
intellectual gifts or moral character. His financial success covers a
multitude of sins and weaknesses. Should a young lady raise one or two
slight objections in regard to the young millionaire's character, her
mother says: "Why, dear, all young men must sow their wild oats. You
must not expect to find a pure young man. All young men are fast more or
less. It would be hard to find an unmarried man that is moral. After
they are married they get steady and settle down."
Should a young lady of moderate means marry a young man who has made a
million dollars, there is more rejoicing by the members of her family
than if she had become a saint or a great angel of light. She thinks she
has attained the great end of her existence in marrying a millionaire
and making for herself name and fame and family position.
Should the young millionaire be a little liberal to a few of his
friends, he becomes more to them than the Lord himself. Other young men,
seeing and knowing all this, are putting forth every effort and
straining every nerve to be successful financiers. They realize that the
power of money is so great to-day in the eyes of many, that unless they
are successful money getters, they are no good to themselves or their
friends. They parody the verse in Proverbs something like this: "With
all thy getting, get money; get it honestly if you can, _but get it
anyway_."
Such is the gospel that is acted out in the commercial world to-day. All
good intentions, all right convictions, all wise counsels of religious
teachers, are side-tracked and become as a dead letter if they stand in
the way to successful money making.
Ben West knew what the sentiment of the people of Orangeville was
towards himself, and it fired his ambition to think of the expressions
conveyed to him by his friends, and his heart was fired still more when
he thought of the possibility of possessing the fine form of Julia
Hammond. He made up his mind that he would be willing to endure all
hardships, that he would leave no stone unturned in order to be
successful; for he saw before him the chance of getting a fortune and
the praise, adoration and admiration of the people of Orangeville.
The form of Julia Hammond seemed to float before the eyes of his mind
day and night; and when he saw, in his imagination, that face with its
sparkling black eyes, and the finely poised head, with its wavy black
hair, her well-rounded bust, and the handsome figure, it made him feel
like removing a mountain of dirt or penetrating the bowels of the earth,
to get the shiny metal which was to open for him the gates of his
earthly paradise.