For Gold or Soul?

by Lurana Sheldon

  CHAPTER XXV.

  MR. DENTON GIVES SOME ORDERS.

  At this demonstration of firmness on Mr. Denton's part, Mr. Forbes stillsat speechless with his head bowed sullenly. Mr. Day, on the contrary,nearly exploded with wrath, but at each angry suggestion he was met withthe same firm refusal.

  "Are we to be made laughing stocks for the whole business world to jeerat?" he asked as he paced the office furiously, "or to be bankruptedthrough methods that border strongly on insanity? For it is nothingelse, Mr. Denton, but raving lunacy! No man in his sober senses wouldentertain such a plan for the space of a second! Why, your orders aboutthose sweat-shops were simply ridiculous! Are we to pay more for ourgoods than they are really worth, and then make a charity organizationof ourselves and give them to our customers?"

  Mr. Denton smiled sadly. He was not at all surprised.

  What amused him most was the demeanor of Mr. Forbes; he had expectedvituperations from him at every point of his confession.

  "You are free to rid yourself of all association with the firm," was Mr.Denton's only answer. "I will buy you out at your own figure, Mr. Day;or, as I said before, I will end the thing at once. I will apply at onceto have a receiver appointed."

  "But I don't wish to be bought out, and I don't wish to dissolvepartnership. This store is making a fortune for us all. I would be afool to throw over such a magnificent investment!"

  "It profiteth nothing, and fearful the cost, To gain the whole world if thy soul shall be lost!"

  Mr. Denton quoted the words soberly, almost reverently. As he did so avision of Faith Marvin rose suddenly before him.

  "Pshaw! You have lost your senses, Denton!" cried Mr. Day. "Am I to bescared into idiocy by the words of some fanatic?"

  "You have said nothing, Mr. Forbes," said Mr. Denton, turning from Mr.Day quietly.

  "I have nothing to say," remarked Mr. Forbes, gruffly. "It is as Mr. Daysays; you have lost your senses."

  Mr. Denton sighed heavily. He was a little disappointed.

  "You can talk the matter over by yourselves," he said, finally, "andremember, I stand ready to deal fairly by my partners. My loss, if Ihave one, need not be theirs; you have only to state a willingness tocomply or settle."

  He walked out of the office, closing the door behind him. A second laterhe had arrived at the door of his own office.

  "Please, sir, may I see you a minute, sir?" asked a voice just behindhim.

  He turned and recognized Sam Watkins, the boy who had stolen the fivehundred dollars.

  "Come in, Sam," he said, kindly. The child looked at him in surprise.The moment the door closed behind him he burst out crying.

  "Come, come, boy, don't cry! I won't scold you," said Mr. Denton,smiling.

  He took Sam's hand in his own and patted it encouragingly.

  "I couldn't help it, sir; indeed, I couldn't!" he blurted out. "Poor mawas so sick and needed money so dreadful!"

  "So you took it for your mother," said Mr. Denton. "Now, tell me thetruth, Sam; what did you do with the other three hundred dollars?"

  Sam Watkins looked up into the gentleman's face. His eyes were red fromweeping, but they did not waver.

  "I lost it, sir," he said, simply. "It was in my coat pocket. You see,I divided the wad, sir, so it wouldn't look so bulky!"

  "And did your mother scold you?" asked Mr. Denton, still smiling.

  The boy's glance fell to the floor and he shifted his feet uneasily.

  "No, sir, she didn't scold--that is, not exactly," he said, sniffing."She just talked to me, sir, and then she cried something awful!"

  Mr. Denton turned his head away for about a minute. There was somethingin the boy's story that affected him strangely. The poor woman had weptbecause her boy had stolen some money, yet rich men smiled complacentlyover what they called "good bargains," but which in reality were littlemore than thieving.

  "How is your brother?" he asked, when he could trust himself to speak.

  The boy's lips trembled and he began crying before he answered.

  "He's pretty bad, sir; in the hospital," he whispered, brokenly. "Theythink he'll die! You see, his sweetheart, Miss Jennings, died the veryday after I stole the money, and the two things, with his hard work,knocked poor Fred out completely."

  "Was Miss Jennings his sweetheart?" asked Mr. Denton in astonishment.This was a phase of that horror that he had not even dreamed of.

  "Oh, yes, they were sweethearts," said the boy, with a hystericalgiggle. "They was awfully in love, but they couldn't afford to getmarried."

  Mr. Denton rose from his desk and paced the office floor. The misery inthe situation was even blacker than he had realized.

  "See here, boy!" he said suddenly. "Give me your mother's address, andhere's a ten-dollar bill for her. Now, go home and take care of her."

  The boy's face flushed crimson as he refused the money.

  "I wouldn't dare to take it," he muttered sheepishly. "She'd think Istole it."

  "Then I'll send it by mail," said Mr. Denton quickly, "and I'll tellher at the same time that we don't mind about the three hundred. We canforgive a boy who only stole to help a sick mother."

  "Oh, sir!" cried the boy. But he could get no farther. The next secondhe was shaking with a storm of sobs. The agony of his repentance hadreached its limit. Before he left the building the letter had beenposted to his mother through the pneumatic mailing tube that opened inMr. Denton's office.

  Mr. Denton's next duty was to see his buyers. He was still smarting withindignation over that "sweatshop" horror.

  In less than an hour he had them all assembled in the receiving-room,which was piled from end to end with the products of underpaid labor.

  His speech to them was short but decidedly to the point. They were tosubmit the names of the persons or firms whom they bought of, andreceive his express commands concerning all further orders.

  "I cannot have the souls of these poor creatures on my conscience anylonger," he said at the conclusion of his statements. "So, if the publicstill want these goods, we will make them ourselves and pay those poorseamstresses what they are worth, besides letting them work in cleanlysurroundings."

  "But, Mr. Denton," spoke up one of the buyers who was a privilegedcharacter in the establishment, "that will entail endless work for thecashier's department, as well as work-rooms. As it is now, there is butone bill to pay where by your plan there would be a hundred or more,and, besides, we have no work-rooms to spare; we are alreadyovercrowded."

  "I know it," replied Mr. Denton, sadly, "and as I am well aware thatreformation, like charity, should 'begin at home,' I must wait a littlebefore putting my plan into action."

  "My girls will never work with those people, I am sure," remarked theforeman of the work-rooms. "You have no idea what sticklers they are forcaste. Why, as poor as they are, they turn up their noses at thosebeneath them!"

  Mr. Denton smiled grimly at this information.

  "They share that failing with the whole human family," he said, slowly."Only a few are exempt from this feeling of scorn; they are the few whohave learned to love their fellow-beings, however," he went on morecheerfully, "we who have set them this example of thoughtlessness andneglect must try to undo what we have done by patient precept andexample."

  His hearers stared at him, but they were too polite to reply. It wastheir opinion that the man had suddenly became deranged. They did notdoubt for a moment that they would go on as usual.

  After a few more arguments as to the impracticability of hissuggestions, the men dispersed, casting meaning glances at each other.

  Once beyond his hearing, they talked the startling situation over. Notone of them had ever heard of a similar occurrence.

  Mr. Denton went back to his office to think a little. When he reached ithe found Mr. Day pacing the floor as he waited for him.

  "So your decision is final," he bellowed, as Mr. Denton entered. "Youhave fully decided to make a fool of yourself and wreck the firm, andall because you have
not head enough to keep your religion out ofbusiness!"

  Mr. Denton's face flushed, but he spoke as calmly as ever.

  "If religion is needed anywhere, it is needed in business," he saidquietly. "If I am a fool at all it is because I did not find it outsooner."

  "Very well, then," roared Mr. Day. "I refuse to submit to such nonsense!Furthermore, as Mr. Forbes will not hear of dissolution, I shall expectyou and him to buy me out at once! I will sell my right, title andinterest for one hundred thousand dollars."

  "But that is four times what you put in," said Mr. Denton, quickly, "andas you have already been paid a large interest on your investment, yourprice is exorbitant; are you too angry to see it?"

  "I should have gotten that out of it before the expiration of thepartnership. It is that figure or nothing," said Mr. Day, doggedly,"and, mind, I will fight against dissolution, tooth and nail, Mr.Denton. I would be as mad as you are if I did not do so!"

  "Then I will pay you that amount at once, Mr. Day," said the gentleman."I will give you a check on my personal bank account and acquire yourinterest as a private investment. Your price is too exorbitant to permitmy purchasing it for the firm, but we will attend to the details whenMr. Forbes is present."