THE KINGDOM OF GREATNESS: THE PILGRIM ADREAM
Whatever a man like Hurstwood could be in Chicago, it is very evident
that he would be but an inconspicuous drop in an ocean like New York. In
Chicago, whose population still ranged about 500,000, millionaires were
not numerous. The rich had not become so conspicuously rich as to drown
all moderate incomes in obscurity. The attention of the inhabitants was
not so distracted by local celebrities in the dramatic, artistic,
social, and religious fields as to shut the well-positioned man from
view. In Chicago the two roads to distinction were politics and trade.
In New York the roads were any one of a half-hundred, and each had been
diligently pursued by hundreds, so that celebrities were numerous. The
sea was already full of whales. A common fish must needs disappear
wholly from view--remain unseen. In other words, Hurstwood was nothing.
There is a more subtle result of such a situation as this, which, though
not always taken into account, produces the tragedies of the world. The
great create an atmosphere which reacts badly upon the small. This
atmosphere is easily and quickly felt. Walk among the magnificent
residences, the splendid equipages, the gilded shops, restaurants,
resorts of all kinds; scent the flowers, the silks, the wines; drink of
the laughter springing from the soul of luxurious content, of the
glances which gleam like light from defiant spears; feel the quality of
the smiles which cut like glistening swords and of strides born of
place, and you shall know of what is the atmosphere of the high and
mighty. Little use to argue that of such is not the kingdom of
greatness, but so long as the world is attracted by this and the human
heart views this as the one desirable realm which it must attain, so
long, to that heart, will this remain the realm of greatness. So long,
also, will the atmosphere of this realm work its desperate results in
the soul of man. It is like a chemical reagent. One day of it, like one
drop of the other, will so affect and discolour the views, the aims, the
desire of the mind, that it will thereafter remain forever dyed. A day
of it to the untried mind is like opium to the untried body. A craving
is set up which, if gratified, shall eternally result in dreams and
death. Aye! dreams unfulfilled--gnawing, luring, idle phantoms which
beckon and lead, beckon and lead, until death and dissolution dissolve
their power and restore us blind to nature's heart.
A man of Hurstwood's age and temperament is not subject to the illusions
and burning desires of youth, but neither has he the strength of hope
which gushes as a fountain in the heart of youth. Such an atmosphere
could not incite in him the cravings of a boy of eighteen, but in so far
as they were excited, the lack of hope made them proportionately bitter.
He could not fail to notice the signs of affluence and luxury on every
hand. He had been to New York before and knew the resources of its
folly. In part it was an awesome place to him, for here gathered all
that he most respected on this earth--wealth, place, and fame. The
majority of the celebrities with whom he had tipped glasses in his day
as manager hailed from this self-centred and populous spot. The most
inviting stories of pleasure and luxury had been told of places and
individuals here. He knew it to be true that unconsciously he was
brushing elbows with fortune the livelong day; that a hundred or five
hundred thousand gave no one the privilege of living more than
comfortably in so wealthy a place. Fashion and pomp required more ample
sums, so that the poor man was nowhere. All this he realised, now quite
sharply, as he faced the city, cut off from his friends, despoiled of
his modest fortune, and even his name, and forced to begin the battle
for place and comfort all over again. He was not old, but he was not so
dull but that he could feel he soon would be. Of a sudden, then, this
show of fine clothes, place, and power took on peculiar significance. It
was emphasised by contrast with his own distressing state.
And it was distressing. He soon found that freedom from fear of arrest
was not the _sine qua non_ of his existence. That danger dissolved, the
next necessity became the grievous thing. The paltry sum of thirteen
hundred and some odd dollars set against the need of rent, clothing,
food, and pleasure for years to come was a spectacle little calculated
to induce peace of mind in one who had been accustomed to spend five
times that sum in the course of a year. He thought upon the subject
rather actively the first few days he was in New York, and decided that
he must act quickly. As a consequence, he consulted the business
opportunities advertised in the morning papers and began investigations
on his own account.
That was not before he had become settled, however. Carrie and he went
looking for a flat, as arranged, and found one in Seventy-eighth Street
near Amsterdam Avenue. It was a five-story building, and their flat was
on the third floor. Owing to the fact that the street was not yet built
up solidly, it was possible to see east to the green tops of the trees
in Central Park and west to the broad waters of the Hudson, a glimpse of
which was to be had out of the west windows. For the privilege of six
rooms and a bath, running in a straight line, they were compelled to pay
thirty-five dollars a month--an average, and yet exorbitant, rent for a
home at the time. Carrie noticed the difference between the size of the
rooms here and in Chicago and mentioned it.
"You'll not find anything better, dear," said Hurstwood, "unless you go
into one of the old-fashioned houses, and then you won't have any of
these conveniences."
Carrie picked out the new abode because of its newness and bright
wood-work. It was one of the very new ones supplied with steam heat,
which was a great advantage. The stationary range, hot and cold water,
dumb-waiter, speaking tubes, and call-bell for the janitor pleased her
very much. She had enough of the instincts of a housewife to take great
satisfaction in these things.
Hurstwood made arrangement with one of the instalment houses whereby
they furnished the flat complete and accepted fifty dollars down and ten
dollars a month. He then had a little plate, bearing the name G. W.
Wheeler, made, which he placed on his letter-box in the hall. It sounded
exceedingly odd to Carrie to be called Mrs. Wheeler by the janitor, but
in time she became used to it and looked upon the name as her own.
These house details settled, Hurstwood visited some of the advertised
opportunities to purchase an interest in some flourishing down-town bar.
After the palatial resort in Adams Street, he could not stomach the
commonplace saloons which he found advertised. He lost a number of days
looking up these and finding them disagreeable. He did, however, gain
considerable knowledge by talking, for he discovered the influence of
Tammany Hall and the value of standing in with the police. The most
profitable and flourishing places he found to be those which conducted
anything but a legitimate business, such as that controlled by
Fitzgerald and Moy. Elegant back rooms and private drinking booths on
the second floor were usually adjuncts of very profitable places. He saw
by portly keepers, whose shirt fronts shone with large diamonds, and
whose clothes were properly cut, that the liquor business here, as
elsewhere, yielded the same golden profit.
At last he found an individual who had a resort in Warren Street, which
seemed an excellent venture. It was fairly well-appearing and
susceptible of improvement. The owner claimed the business to be
excellent, and it certainly looked so.
"We deal with a very good class of people," he told Hurstwood.
"Merchants, salesmen, and professionals. It's a well-dressed class. No
bums. We don't allow 'em in the place."
Hurstwood listened to the cash-register ring, and watched the trade for
a while.
"It's profitable enough for two, is it?" he asked.
"You can see for yourself if you're any judge of the liquor trade," said
the owner. "This is only one of the two places I have. The other is down
in Nassau Street. I can't tend to them both alone. If I had some one who
knew the business thoroughly I wouldn't mind sharing with him in this
one and letting him manage it."
"I've had experience enough," said Hurstwood blandly, but he felt a
little diffident about referring to Fitzgerald and Moy.
"Well, you can suit yourself, Mr. Wheeler," said the proprietor.
He only offered a third interest in the stock, fixtures, and good-will,
and this in return for a thousand dollars and managerial ability on the
part of the one who should come in. There was no property involved,
because the owner of the saloon merely rented from an estate.
The offer was genuine enough, but it was a question with Hurstwood
whether a third interest in that locality could be made to yield one
hundred and fifty dollars a month, which he figured he must have in
order to meet the ordinary family expenses and be comfortable. It was
not the time, however, after many failures to find what he wanted, to
hesitate. It looked as though a third would pay a hundred a month now.
By judicious management and improvement, it might be made to pay more.
Accordingly he agreed to enter into partnership, and made over his
thousand dollars, preparing to enter the next day.
His first inclination was to be elated, and he confided to Carrie that
he thought he had made an excellent arrangement. Time, however,
introduced food for reflection. He found his partner to be very
disagreeable. Frequently he was the worse for liquor, which made him
surly. This was the last thing which Hurstwood was used to in business.
Besides, the business varied. It was nothing like the class of patronage
which he had enjoyed in Chicago. He found that it would take a long time
to make friends. These people hurried in and out without seeking the
pleasures of friendship. It was no gathering or lounging place. Whole
days and weeks passed without one such hearty greeting as he had been
wont to enjoy every day in Chicago.
For another thing, Hurstwood missed the celebrities--those well-dressed,
_elite_ individuals who lend grace to the average bars and bring news
from far-off and exclusive circles. He did not see one such in a month.
Evenings, when still at his post, he would occasionally read in the
evening papers incidents concerning celebrities whom he knew--whom he
had drunk a glass with many a time. They would visit a bar like
Fitzgerald and Moy's in Chicago, or the Hoffman House, uptown, but he
knew that he would never see them down here.
Again, the business did not pay as well as he thought. It increased a
little, but he found he would have to watch his household expenses,
which was humiliating.
In the very beginning it was a delight to go home late at night, as he
did, and find Carrie. He managed to run up and take dinner with her
between six and seven, and to remain home until nine o'clock in the
morning, but the novelty of this waned after a time, and he began to
feel the drag of his duties.
The first month had scarcely passed before Carrie said in a very natural
way: "I think I'll go down this week and buy a dress."
"What kind?" said Hurstwood.
"Oh, something for street wear."
"All right," he answered, smiling, although he noted mentally that it
would be more agreeable to his finances if she didn't. Nothing was said
about it the next day, but the following morning he asked:
"Have you done anything about your dress?"
"Not yet," said Carrie.
He paused a few moments, as if in thought, and then said:
"Would you mind putting it off a few days?"
"No," replied Carrie, who did not catch the drift of his remarks. She
had never thought of him in connection with money troubles before.
"Why?"
"Well, I'll tell you," said Hurstwood. "This investment of mine is
taking a lot of money just now. I expect to get it all back shortly, but
just at present I am running close."
"Oh!" answered Carrie. "Why, certainly, dear. Why didn't you tell me
before?"
"It wasn't necessary," said Hurstwood.
For all her acquiescence, there was something about the way Hurstwood
spoke which reminded Carrie of Drouet and his little deal which he was
always about to put through. It was only the thought of a second, but it
was a beginning. It was something new in her thinking of Hurstwood.
Other things followed from time to time, little things of the same sort,
which in their cumulative effect were eventually equal to a full
revelation. Carrie was not dull by any means. Two persons cannot long
dwell together without coming to an understanding of one another. The
mental difficulties of an individual reveal themselves whether he
voluntarily confesses them or not. Trouble gets in the air and
contributes gloom, which speaks for itself. Hurstwood dressed as nicely
as usual, but they were the same clothes he had in Canada. Carrie
noticed that he did not install a large wardrobe, though his own was
anything but large. She noticed, also, that he did not suggest many
amusements, said nothing about the food, seemed concerned about his
business. This was not the easy Hurstwood of Chicago--not the liberal,
opulent Hurstwood she had known. The change was too obvious to escape
detection.
In time she began to feel that a change had come about, and that she
was not in his confidence. He was evidently secretive and kept his own
counsel. She found herself asking him questions about little things.
This is a disagreeable state to a woman. Great love makes it seem
reasonable, sometimes plausible, but never satisfactory. Where great
love is not, a more definite and less satisfactory conclusion is
reached.
As for Hurstwood, he was making a great fight against the difficulties
of a changed condition. He was too shrewd not to realise the tremendous
mistake he had made, and appreciate that he had done well in getting
where he was, and yet he could not help contrasting his present state
with his former, hour after hour, and day after day.
Besides, he had the disagreeable fear of meeting old-time friends, ever
since one such encounter which he made shortly after his arrival in the
city. It was in Broadway that he saw a man approaching him whom he knew.
There was no time for simulating non-recognition. The exchange of
glances had been too sharp, the knowledge of each other too apparent. So
the friend, a buyer for one of the Chicago wholesale houses, felt,
perforce, the necessity of stopping.
"How are you?" he said, extending his hand with an evident mixture of
feeling and a lack of plausible interest.
"Very well," said Hurstwood, equally embarrassed. "How is it with you?"
"All right; I'm down here doing a little buying. Are you located here
now?"
"Yes," said Hurstwood, "I have a place down in Warren Street."
"Is that so?" said the friend. "Glad to hear it. I'll come down and see
you."
"Do," said Hurstwood.
"So long," said the other, smiling affably and going on.
"He never asked for my number," thought Hurstwood; "he wouldn't think of
coming." He wiped his forehead, which had grown damp, and hoped
sincerely he would meet no one else.
These things told upon his good-nature, such as it was. His one hope was
that things would change for the better in a money way. He had Carrie.
His furniture was being paid for. He was maintaining his position. As
for Carrie, the amusements he could give her would have to do for the
present. He could probably keep up his pretensions sufficiently long
without exposure to make good, and then all would be well. He failed
therein to take account of the frailties of human nature--the
difficulties of matrimonial life. Carrie was young. With him and with
her varying mental states were common. At any moment the extremes of
feeling might be anti-polarised at the dinner table. This often happens
in the best regulated families. Little things brought out on such
occasions need great love to obliterate them afterward. Where that is
not, both parties count two and two and make a problem after a while.