Joyces Investments | Page 2

these thoughts as if his brain had been a printed page before her, and in spite of herself laughed outright; in his very teeth--a merry little peal as spontaneous as a sunburst.
"Pardon me!" she begged, trying vainly to control herself, "but you did look so hopeless, Mr. Harrington. I know I'm a nuisance to you, and I appreciate that this solicitude for my interests is more than I've any right to expect when I disappoint you so. If you were not so old a friend I wouldn't feel so guilty. Yet in spite of all--I am resolved."
She said the last three words quite gently, with a level gaze that met his own frowning one and held it. She did not nod nor bridle, and her air was almost deprecating in its modesty, but he felt the battle was over and she was the victor. She would be her own mistress, girl that she was, and he could not turn her. He leaned back in a relaxed attitude and asked in a changed voice, "Will you then care to retain the services of Barrington and Woodstock?"
There was not a hint of triumph in tone or manner as she answered quickly,
"Most certainly, if I may. There will be a constant need of your advice, I know. And now, Mr. Barrington, shall we settle the matter of salary, or do you prefer to make a separate charge for each occasion?"
His smile was rather grim as he arose and took down a bundle of papers and documents, slipped them rapidly from hand to hand, then laid them in order before him.
"I think the salary might be best for you," he answered.
"So do I," blithely, "for I shall probably bore you to death!"
This matter having been satisfactorily adjusted, the lawyer, with a rather ironical air, observed,
"If I am not trenching upon forbidden ground, might I ask a few more questions concerning this scheme of yours?"
"As many as you like, sir."
"Thank you. I take it for granted you will retain Mr. Dalton as manager?"
"Yes."
"And most of the employees as at present?"
"All, for aught I know."
"And you speak of building up a town--just what does that mean to your own mind?"
"I'll try to tell you. You know at present there are only the buildings for the Works, the branch track and engine sheds, and the few rows of uncomfortable cottages for the families of the men. There is no school, no church, no library, no meeting-place of any kind, except the grocery store and saloon; and those bare, staring rows of mean houses, just alike, are not homes in any sense of the word. I want to add all such comforts--no, I call them necessities--and more."
"More? As what, for instance?"
"Well,"--she drew a long breath and settled back in her chair with a nestling movement that made the hard man of business feel a certain fatherly yearning towards her, and at last said slowly, "I can't quite explain to you how I have been led to it, but this thought has become very plain to me--that every real need of humanity must (if this world be the work of a perfect Being) have its certain fulfilment. Most people think the fulfilment should only be looked for in another and better world. I think it might, and ought, to come often in this, and that we alone are to blame that it does not."
"Wait! Let me more fully understand. You think every need--what kind of needs?"
"All kinds. Needs of body, mind, and soul."
"You think they can be fully gratified here?"
"I think they might be. I believe there is no reason, except our own ignorance, stupidity, prejudice, and greed, that keeps them from being gratified here and now."
"But child--that would be Heaven!"
"Very like it--yes. And why shouldn't we have Heaven here, sir? God made this world and pronounced it good. Would the Perfect One make a broken circle, a chain with missing links, a desire without its gratification? That would be incomplete workmanship. When either my body or my soul calls out for anything whatsoever, somewhere there is that thing awaiting the desire. Why relegate it to another world? There must be complete circles here, or this world is not good."
"But, my dear girl, these are rather abstruse questions for your little head."
"I did not think them out, Mr. Barrington. They grew out of--circumstances--and some one a good deal wiser than I made me understand them. But they grew to stay, and I can't get rid of them. That is one of the thoughts, ideas--what you will, and this is the other. A man can do little alone, but men can do anything working together in perfect sympathy."
"Oh, co-operation--yes!"
"Co-operation, as you say. With perfect co-operation and a perfect communication, so that each need may be answered readily--these are the ideas