"HE'S too independent for me," said Matthew Page. "Too independentby half. Had I been consulted he would have done things verydifferently. But as it is, he will drive his head against the wallbefore he knows where he is."
"Why don't you advise him to act differently?"
"Advise him, indeed! Oh, no--let him go on in his own way, as he'sso fond of it. Young men now-a-days think they know every thing. Theexperience of men like me goes for nothing with them. Advise him! Hemay go to the dogs; but he'll get no advice from me unasked."
"You really think he will ruin himself if he goes on in the way heis now going?"
"I know it. Simple addition will determine that, in five minutes. Inthe first place, instead of consulting me, or some one who knows allabout it, he goes and buys that mill for just double what it isworth, and on the mere representation of a stranger, who had beenhimself deceived, and had an interest in misleading him, in order toget a bad bargain off of his hands. But that is just like your youngchaps, now-a-days. They know every thing, and go ahead withouttalking to anybody. I could have told him, had he consulted me,that, instead of making money by the concern, he would sink all hehad in less than two years."
"He is sanguine as to the result."
"I know. He told me, yesterday, that he expected not only to clearhis land for nothing, but to make two or three thousand dollars ayear out of the lumber for the next ten years. Preposterous!"
"Why didn't you disabuse him of his error, Mr. Page? It was such agood opportunity."
"Let him ask for my advice, if he wants it. It's a commodity I neverthrow away."
"You might save him from the loss of his little patrimony."
"He deserves to lose it for being such a fool. Buy a steam saw-milltwo miles from his land, and expect to make money by clearing it?Ridiculous!"
"Your age and experience will give your advice weight with him, I amsure, Mr. Page. I really think you ought to give a word or two ofwarning, at least, and thus make an effort to prevent his runningthrough with what little he has. A capital to start with in theworld is not so easily obtained, and it is a pity to see Jordanwaste his as he is doing."
"No, sir," replied Page. "I shall have nothing to say to him. If hewants my opinion, and asks for it, he shall have it in welcome; notwithout."
The individuals about whom these persons were conversing was a youngman named Jordan, who, at majority, came into the possession offifty acres of land and about six thousand dollars. The land wasstill in forest and lay about two miles from a flourishing town inthe West, which stood on the bank of a small river that emptied intothe Ohio some fifty miles below.
As soon as Jordan became the possessor of the property, he began toturn his thoughts toward its improvement, in order to increase itsvalue. The land did not lie contiguous to his native town, but nearto S--, where he was a stranger. To S--he went, and staying atone of the hotels, met with a very pleasant old gentleman who hadjust built a steam saw-mill on the banks of the river, and wasgetting in the engine preparatory to putting it in operation. Thisman's name was Barnaby. He had conceived the idea that a steamsaw-mill at that point would be a fortune to any one, and hadproceeded to the erection of one forthwith. Logs were to be cutsome miles up the river and floated down to the mill, and, afterbeing there manufactured into lumber, to be rafted to a marketsomewhere between that and New Orleans. Mr. Barnaby had put thewhole thing down upon paper, and saw at a glance that it was anoperation in which any man's fortune was certain. But, before hismill was completed, he had good reason to doubt the success of hisnew scheme. He had become acquainted with Matthew Page, a shrewd oldresident of S--, who satisfied him, after two or three interviews,that, instead of making a fortune, he would stand a fair chance oflosing his whole investment.
Barnaby was about as well satisfied as he wished to be on this head,when young Jordan arrived in S--. His business there was soonknown, and Barnaby saw a chance of getting out of his unpromisingspeculation. To Jordan he became at once very attentive and polite;and gradually drew from him a full statement of the business thatbrought him to S--. It did not take a very long time for Barnabyto satisfy him, that, by purchasing his mill and sawing up the heavytimber with which his land was covered, he would make a great dealof money, and double the price of his land at the same time. Figuresshowed the whole result as plain as daylight, and Jordan saw itwritten out before him as distinctly as he ever saw in hismultiplication table that two and two are four. The fairness ofBarnaby he did not think of doubting for an instant. His age,address, intelligence, and asseveration of strict honour in everytransaction in life, were enough to win his entire confidence.
Five thousand dollars was the price of the mill. The terms uponwhich it was offered to Jordan were, three thousand dollars in cash,a thousand in six months, and the balance in twelve months.
Shortly after Jordan arrived in the village, he became acquaintedwith Mr. Page into whose family, a very pleasant one, he had beenintroduced by a friend. For the old gentleman he felt a good deal ofrespect; and although it did not occur to him to consult him inregard to his business, thinking that he understood what he wasabout very well, yet, if Mr. Page had volunteered a suggestion, hewould have listened to it and made it the subject of reflection. Infact, a single seriously expressed doubt as to the safety of theinvestment he was about making, coming from a man like Mr. Page,would have effectually prevented its being made, for Jordan wouldnot have rested until he understood the very nature and groundworkof the objection. He would then have seen a new statement offigures, heard a new relation of facts and probabilities, andlearned that Barnaby was selling at the suggestion of Mr. Page,after being fully convinced of the folly of proceeding another step.
But no warning came. The self-esteem of old Matthew Page, who felthimself to be something of an oracle in S--, was touched, becausethe young man had not consulted him; and now he might go to thedogs, for all he cared.
The preliminaries of sale were soon arranged. Jordan was as eager toenter upon his money-making as Barnaby was to get rid of hismoney-losing scheme. Three thousand dollars cash were paid, andnotes given for the balance. An overseer, or manager of the wholebusiness to be entered upon, was engaged at five hundred dollars ayear; some twenty hands to cut timber, haul it to the mill, and sawit up when there, were hired; and twenty yokes of oxen bought forthe purpose of hauling the logs from the woods, a distance of twomiles. The price of a dollar a log, which Barnaby expected to payfor timber floated down the river, had been considered so dear arate as to preclude all hope of profit in the business. The greatadvantages which Jordan felt that he possessed was in himself owningthe timber, which had only to be cut and taken to the mill. He had,strangely enough, forgotten to make a calculation of what each logwould cost him to cut and haul two miles. There were thewood-choppers at a dollar a day, the teamsters at seventy-five centsa day, and four pairs of oxen to each log to feed. Eight logs a dayhe was told that each team would haul, and he believed it. But twoor three logs were the utmost that could be accomplished, for in thewhole distance there was not a quarter of a mile of good solid road.
Six months in time, and a thousand dollars in money, over and abovewages to his men, were spent in getting the mill into running order.Jordan had bought under the representation that it was all ready forstarting. After he had got in possession, he learned that Barnabyhad tried, but in vain, to get the mill to work.
In the mean time, the young man was extending his circle ofacquaintance among the families of the place in most of which he waswell received and well liked. Old Matthew Page had an only daughter,a beautiful young girl, who was the pride of the village. The firsttime she and Jordan met, they took a fancy to each other. But asJordan was rather a modest young man, he did not make very boldadvances toward the maiden, although he felt as if he should like todo so, were there any hope of his advances being met in a rightspirit.
At the end of a year, all the young man's money was gone, and hislast note to Barnaby was due. There was a small pile of lumber byhis mill--a couple of hundred dollars worth, perhaps--for which hehad found no sale, as the place was fully supplied, and had been foryears, by a small mill that was worked by the owner with greateconomy. The sending of his lumber down the river was rather aserious operation for him, and required a good deal more lumber thanhe had yet been able to procure from his mill, which had never yetrun for twenty-four hours without something getting wrong. These twoor three hundred dollars' worth of lumber had cost him about fifteenhundred dollars in wages, &c. Still he was sanguine, and saw his wayclear through the whole of it, if it were not for the fact that hiscapital were exhausted.
Matthew Page was looking on very coolly, and saying to himself, "Ifhe had consulted me," but not offering the young man a word ofvoluntary counsel.
To continue his operations and bring out the ultimate prosperousresult, Jordan threw one-half of his land into market and forced thesale at five dollars an acre. The proceeds of this sale did not lasthim over six months. Then he got a raft afloat, containing about athousand dollars' worth of lumber, and sent it off under charge ofhis overseer, who sold it at Cincinnati, and absconded with themoney.
In the mean time, Barnaby was pressing for the payment of the lastnote, which had been protested, and after threatening to sue, timeafter time, finally put his claim into the hands of an attorney, whohad a writ served upon Jordan.
By this time, old Mr. Page began to think it best, even though notconsulted, to volunteer a little advice to the young man. The reasonof this may be inferred. Jordan was beginning to be ratherparticular in attention to Edith, his daughter; and apart from thefact that he had wasted his money in an unprofitable scheme, and hadnot been prudent enough to consult him, old Matthew Page had noparticular objection to him as a son-in-law. His family stood highin the State, and his father, previous to his death, had been formany years in the State senate. The idea that Jordan would take afancy to his daughter had not once crossed the mind of Mr. Page, orhe would not have stood so firmly upon his dignity in the matter ofbeing consulted.
Rather doubting as to the reception he should meet from the youngman, he called upon him, one day, when the following conversationtook place:
"I'm afraid, Mr. Jordan," said Page, after some commonplacechitchat, "that your saw-mill business is not going to turn out aswell as you expected."
"It has not, so far, certainly," replied Jordan, frankly. "But thisis owing to the fact of my having been deceived in the mill, and inthe integrity of my manager; not to the nature of the businessitself. I am still sanguine of success."
"Will you allow me to make a suggestion or two? I think I can showyou that you are in error in regard to the business itself."
"Most gladly will I receive any suggestion," returned Jordan."Though I am not apt to seek advice--a fault of character,perhaps--I am ever ready to listen to it and weigh itdispassionately, when given. A doubt as to the result of thebusiness, if properly carried out, has never yet crossed my mind."
"I have always doubted it from the first. Indeed, I knew that youcould not succeed."
"Then, my dear sir, why did you not tell me so?" said Jordan,earnestly.
"If you had consulted me, I would"--
"I never dreamed of consulting any one about it. I had confidence inMr. Barnaby's statements; but more in my own judgment, based uponthe data he furnished me."
"But I have none in either Barnaby or his data."
"I have none in him, for he has shamefully deceived me; but his dataare fixed facts, and therefore cannot lie."
"There you err again. Barnaby knew that the data he gave you wasincorrect. I had, myself, demonstrated this to him before he wentfar enough to involve himself seriously. Something led him to doubtthe success of his project, and he came and consulted me on thesubject. I satisfied him in ten minutes that it wouldn't do, and heat once abandoned it. Unfortunately, you arrived just at this time,and were made to bear the loss of his mistake."
"You are certainly not serious in what you say, Mr. Page!"
"I never was more serious in my life," returned the old gentleman.
"And you permitted me to be made the victim, upon your ownacknowledgment, of a shameful swindle, and did not expend even abreath to save me!"
"I am not used to be spoken to in that way, young man," replied Mr.Page, coldly, and with a slightly offended air. "Nor am I in thehabit of forcing my advice upon everybody."
"If you saw a man going blindfold towards the brink of a precipice,wouldn't you force your advice upon him?"
"Perhaps I might. But as you were not going blindfold over aprecipice, I did not see that it was my business to interfere."
A cutting reply was on the lips of Jordan, but a thought of Edithcooled him off suddenly, and he in a milder and more respectful toneof voice, "I should be glad, Mr. Page, if you would demonstrate theerror under which I have been labouring in regard to this business.If there is an error, I wish to see it; and can see it as quickly asany one, if it really exists, and the proper means of seeing it arefurnished."
The change in the young man's manner softened Mr. Page, and he satdown, pencil in hand, and by the aid of the answers which the actualexperience of Jordan enabled him to give, showed him, in tenminutes, that the more land he cleared and the more logs he sawedup, the poorer he would become.
"And you knew all this before?" said Jordan.
"Certainly I did. In fact, I built the saw-mill owned by Tompkins,and after sinking a couple of thousand dollars, was glad to get itoff of my hands at any price. Tompkins makes a living with it, andnothing more. But then he is his own engineer, manager, clerk, andalmost every thing else, and lives with the closest economy in hisfamily--much closer than you or I would like to live."
"And you let me go on blindly and ruin myself, when a word from youmight have saved me!"
There was something indignant in the young man's manner.
"You didn't consult me on the subject. It is not my place to lookafter everybody's business; I have enough to do to take care of myown concerns."
Both were getting excited. Jordan retorted still more severely, andthen they parted in anger, each feeling that he had just cause to beoffended.
On the next day, Jordan, who was too well satisfied that Mr. Pagewas right, stopped his mill, discharged his hands, and sold hisoxen. On looking over his accounts, he found that he was over athousand dollars in debt: In order to pay this, he sold the balanceof his land, and then advertised his saw-mill for sale in all thecounty papers, and in the State Gazette.
Meantime, the suit which had been instituted on the note given toBarnaby came up for trial, and Jordan made an effort to defend it onthe plea that value had not been received. His fifty acres of landwere gone, and all that remained of his six thousand dollars, were ahalf-weatherboarded, frame building, called a saw-mill, in whichwere a secondhand steam-engine, some rough gearing, and a few saws.This stood in the centre of a small piece of ground--perhaps thefourth of an acre--upon which there was the moderate annual rent ofone hundred dollars! More than the whole building, leaving out theengine, would sell for.
After waiting for two months, and not receiving an offer for themill, he sold the engine for a hundred and fifty dollars, andabandoned the old frame building in which it had stood, to the ownerof the land for rent, on condition of his cancelling the lease, thathad still three years and a half to run.
His defence of the suit availed nothing. Judgment was obtained uponthe note, an execution issued, and, as there was no longer anyproperty in the young man's possession, his person was seized andthrown into the county prison.
From the time old Mr. Page considered himself insulted by Jordan,all intercourse between them had ceased. The latter had notconsidered himself free to visit any longer at his house, andtherefore no meeting between him and Edith had taken place for threemonths.
The cause of so sudden a cessation of her lover's visits, allunknown to Edith, was a great affliction to the maiden. Her fathernoticed that her countenance wore a troubled aspect, and that shescarcely tasted food when at the table. This did not, in any way,lessen the number of his self-reproaches for having suffered a youngman to ruin himself, when a word from him might have saved him.
Edith was paying a visit to a friend one day, the daughter of alawyer. While conversing, the friend said--
"Poor Jordan? Have you heard of his misfortunes?"
"No! What are they?" And Edith turned pale. The friend was not awareof her interest in him.
"He was terribly cheated in some saw-mill property he bought," shemade answer, "and has since lost every dollar he had. Yesterday hewas sent to prison for debt which he is unable to pay."
Edith heard no more, but, starting up, rushed from the house, andflew, rather than walked, home. Her father was sitting in hisprivate office when she entered with pale face and quivering lips.Uttering an exclamation of surprise and alarm, he rose to his feet.Edith fell against him, sobbing as she did so, while the tears foundvent, and poured over her cheeks--
"Oh, father! He is in prison!"
"Who? Jordan?"
"Yes," was the maiden's lowly-murmured reply.
"Good heavens! Is it possible?"
With this exclamation, Mr. Page pushed his daughter from him, andleaving the house instantly, took his way to the office of theattorney who had conducted the suit in favour of Barnaby.
"I will go bail for this young man whom you have thrown intoprison," said he as soon as he met the lawyer.
"Very well, Mr. Page. We will take you. But you will have to pay theamount--he has nothing."
"I said I would go his bail," returned the old man, impatiently.
In less than twenty minutes, Mr. Page entered the apartment wherethe young man was confined. Jordan looked at him angrily. He hadjust been thinking of the cruel neglect to warn him of his errors,of which Mr. Page had been guilty, and of the consequences, sodisastrous and so humbling to himself.
"You are at liberty," said the old gentleman, as he approached himand held out his hand.
Jordan stood like one half-stupified, for some moments.
"I have gone your security, my young friend," Mr. Page added kindly."You are at liberty."
"You my security!" returned Jordan, taking the offered hand, butnot grasping it with a hearty pressure. He felt as if he couldn't dothat. "I am sorry you have done so," said he, after a slightpause--"I am not worth a dollar, and you will have my debt to pay."
"It's no time to talk about that now, Mr. Jordan. I have gone yoursecurity, because I thought it right to do so. Come home with me,and we will soon arrange all the rest."
Jordan felt passive. A child could have led him anywhere. He did notrefuse to go with Mr. Page.
Edith was sitting in the room where her father left her, when theopening of the door caused her to start. There was an exclamation ofdelight and surprise; a movement forward, and then deep blushesthrew a crimson veil over the maiden's face, as she sank back in herchair and covered her face with her hands. But the tears could notbe hidden; they came trickling through her fingers.
Enough, further to say, that within two months there was a weddingat the house of Mr. Page, and Edith was the bride.
It has been noticed since, that the old gentleman does not stand somuch on his dignity when there is a chance of doing good byvolunteering a word of advice in season. "Had I been consulted," isa form of speech which he is now rarely, if ever known to use.
THE END.
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