"HE'LL never succeed!" was the remark of Mr. Hueston, on referencebeing made to a young man named Eldridge, who had recently commencedbusiness.
"Why not?" was asked.
"He's begun wrong."
"In what way?"
"His connection is bad."
"With Dalton?"
"Yes. Dalton is either a knave or a fool. The former, I believe; butin either case the result will be the same to his partner. Beforetwo years, unless a miracle takes place, you will see Eldridge, atleast, coming out at the little end of the horn. I could have toldhim this at first, but it was none of my business. I never meddlewith things that don't concern me."
"You know Dalton, then?"
"I think I do."
"Has he been in business before?"
"Yes, half a dozen times; and somehow or other, he has alwaysmanaged to get out of it, with cash in hand, long enough before itbroke down to escape all odium and responsibility."
"I'm sorry for Eldridge. He's a clever young man, and honest intothe bargain."
"Yes; and he has energy of character and some business talents. Buthe is too confiding. And here is just the weakness that will provehis ruin. He will put too much faith in his plausible associate."
"Some one should warn him of his danger. Were I intimate enough toventure on the freedom, I would certainly do so."
"I don't meddle myself with other people's affairs. One never getsany thanks for the trouble he takes on this score. At least, that ismy experience. And, moreover, it's about as much as I can do to takegood care of my own concerns. This is every man's business."
"I wish you had given the young man a word of caution before he wasinvolved with Dalton."
"I did think of doing so; but then I reflected that it was hislook-out, and not mine. Each man has to cut his eye-teeth forhimself, you know."
"True; but when we see a stumbling-block in the way of a blind man,or one whose eyes are turned in another direction, we ought at leastto utter a warning word. It seems to me that we owe that muchgood-will to our fellows."
"Perhaps we do. And I don't know that it would have been any harm ifI had done as you suggest. However, it is too late now."
"I think not. A hint of the truth would put him on his guard."
"I don't know."
"Oh, yes, it would."
"I am not certain. Dalton is a most plausible man; and I am prettysure that, in the mind of a person like Eldridge, he can inspire thefullest confidence. To suggest any thing wrong, now, would not puthim on his guard, and might lead the suggester into trouble."
Much more was said on both sides, but no good result flowed from theconversation. Mr. Hueston did not hesitate to declare that he knewhow it would all be in the end; but at the same time said that itwas none of his business, and that "every man must look out forhimself."
The character of Dalton was by no means harshly judged by Mr.Hueston. He was, at heart, a knave; yet a most cunning and speciousone. Eldridge, on the contrary, was the very soul of integrity; and,being thoroughly honest in all his intentions, it was hard for himto believe that any man who spoke fair to him, and professed to begoverned by right principles, could be a scoundrel. With a fewthousand dollars, his share of his father's estate, he had come toBoston for the purpose of commencing some kind of business. Withcreditable prudence, he entered the store of a merchant and remainedthere for a year, in order to obtain a practical familiarity withtrade. During this period he fell in with Dalton, who was in a smallcommission way that barely yielded him enough to meet his expenses.Dalton was not long in discovering that Eldridge had some cash, andthat his ultimate intention was to engage in business for himself.From that time he evinced towards the young man a very friendlyspirit, and soon found a good reason for changing hisboarding-place, and making his home under the same roof withEldridge. To win upon the young man's confidence was no hard matter.Before six months, Dalton was looked upon as a generous-mindedfriend, who had his interest deeply at heart. All his views inregard to business were freely communicated; and he rested upon thesuggestions of Dalton with the confidence of one who believed thathe had met a friend, not only fully competent to advise aright, butthoroughly unselfish in all his feelings.
Dalton possessed a large amount of business information, and was,therefore, the very man for Eldridge; particularly as he wascommunicative. In conversation, the latter obtained a great deal ofinformation on subjects especially interesting to one who lookedforward to engaging in some branch of trade for himself. One eveningthe two men sat conversing about business, as usual, when Eldridgesaid:
"It is time I was making some move for myself; but, for my life, Ican't come to any decision as to what I shall do."
"It is better for a young man, if he can do so, to connect himselfwith some established house," replied Dalton to this. "It takes timeto make a new business, and not unfrequently a very long time."
"I am aware of that; but I see no opportunity for an arrangement ofthe kind."
"How much capital can you furnish?"
"Ten thousand dollars."
"That's very good, and ought to enable you to make an arrangementsomewhere. I don't know but I might be willing to give you aninterest in my business. This, however, would require somereflection. I am turning out a very handsome surplus every year,without at all crowding sail."
"A commission business?"
"Yes. I am agent for three or four manufactories, and effect somepretty large sales during the year. If I were able to make liberalcash advances, I could more than quadruple my business."
"And, of course, your profits also?"
"Yes, that follows as a natural result."
"Would ten thousand dollars be at all adequate for such a purpose?"
"It would help very much. Ten thousand dollars in cash is, you know,a basis of credit to nearly four times that sum."
"Yes, I am aware of that."
"Is your capital readily available?" inquired Dalton.
"Yes, since I have been in the city I have invested every thing ingovernment securities, as safe property, and readily convertibleinto cash."
"Very judicious."
Dalton mused for some time.
"Yes," he at length said, as if he had been thinking seriously ofthe effect of ten thousand dollars in his business. "The capital youhave would put a new face on every thing. That's certain. Supposeyou think the matter over, and I will do the same."
"I will, certainly. And I may say now, that there will hardly be anyhinderance on my part to the arrangement, if you should see it to beadvantageous all around."
Of course Mr. Dalton professed, after taking a decent time forpretended reflection, to see great advantage to all parties in abusiness connection, which in due time was formed. But few of thosewho knew Eldridge were apprized of what he intended doing, and thosewho did know, and were aware at the same time of Mr. Dalton'scharacter, like Mr. Hueston, concluded to mind their own business.
And so, unwarned of the risk he was encountering, an honest andconfiding young man was permitted to form a copartnership with avillain, who had already been the means of involving three or fourunsuspecting individuals in hopeless embarrassment.
Confident that he had entered the road to fortune, Eldridgecommenced his new career. The capital he had supplied gave, asDalton had predicted, new life to the business, for the offer ofliberal cash advances brought heavier consignments, and opened theway for more extensive operations. The general management of affairswas left, according to previous understanding, in the hands of thesenior partner, as most competent for that department; whileEldridge gave his mind to the practical details of the business,which, by the end of a year, had grown far beyond his anticipations.
Accepting large consignments of goods, upon which advances had to bemade, required the raising of a great deal of money; and this Daltonmanaged to accomplish without calling away the attention of hispartner from what he was engaged in doing. Thus matters went on forabout three years, when Dalton began to complain of failing health,and to hint that he would be compelled to retire from activebusiness. Eldridge said that he must not think of this; but thesenior partner did think of it very seriously. From that time hishealth appeared to break rapidly; and in a few months he formallyannounced his intention to withdraw. Finding both remonstrance andpersuasion of no avail, the basis of a dissolution of thecopartnership was agreed upon, in which the value of the businessitself, that would now be entirely in the hands of Eldridge, wasrated high as an offset to a pretty large sum which Dalton claimedas his share in the concern. Without due reflection, there being abalance of five thousand dollars to the credit of the firm in bank,which, by the way, was provided for special effect at the time bythe cunning senior, Eldridge consented that, for his share of thebusiness, Dalton should be permitted to take bills receivableamounting to six thousand dollars; a check for two thousand, and hisnotes for ten thousand dollars besides, payable in three to eighteenmonths. After all this was settled, a dissolution of thecopartnership was publicly announced, and Eldridge, with somemisgivings at heart, undertook the entire management of the businesshimself. It was but a very little while before he found himselfembarrassed in making his payments. The withdrawal of two thousanddollars in cash, and six thousand in paper convertible into cash,created a serious disability. In fact, an earnest and thoroughinvestigation of the whole business showed it to be so crippled thatlittle less than a miracle would enable him to conduct it to a safeissue. Nevertheless, still unsuspicious to the real truth, heresolved to struggle manfully for a triumph over the difficultiesthat lay before him, and overcome them, if there was any virtue inenergy and perseverance.
The first point at which the business suffered was in the loss ofconsignments. Inability to make the required advances turned fromthe warehouse of Eldridge large lots of goods almost weekly, theprofits on the sales of which would have been a handsome addition tohis income. At the end of three months, the first note of a thousanddollars held by Dalton fell due, and was paid. This was so much moretaken from his capital. Another month brought a payment of a likeamount, and at the end of six months a thousand dollars more werepaid. Thus Dalton had been able to get eleven thousand dollars outof the concern, although three years before he was not really wortha dollar; and there were still due him seven thousand dollars.
By this time, the eyes of Eldridge were beginning to open to thetruth. Suspicion being once finally awakened, he entered upon acareful examination of the business from the time of forming thecopartnership. This occupied him for some weeks before he was ableto bring out a clear and comprehensive exhibit of affairs. Then hesaw that he had been the victim of a specious and cunning scoundrel,and that, so far from being worth a dollar, he had obligationsfalling due for over ten thousand dollars more than he had the meansto pay.
A sad and disheartening result! And what added to the pain ofEldridge was the fact, that he should have been so weak andshort-sighted as to permit himself to be thus duped and cheated.
"I knew how it would be," said Mr. Hueston, coolly, when he was toldthat Eldridge was in difficulties. "Nothing else was to have beenexpected."
"Why so?" inquired the person to whom the remark was made.
"Everybody knows Dalton to be a sharper. Eldridge is not his firstvictim."
"I did not know it."
"I did, then, and prophesied just this result."
"You?"
"Yes, certainly I did. I knew exactly how it must turn out. Andhere's the end, as I predicted."
This was said with great self-complacency.
Soon after the conversation, a young man, named Williams, who hadonly a year before married the daughter of Mr. Hueston, came intohis store with a look of trouble on his countenance. His businesswas that of an exchange-broker, and in conducting it he was usingthe credit of his father-in-law quite liberally.
"What's the matter?" inquired Mr. Hueston, seeing, by the expressionof the young man's face, that something was wrong.
"Have you heard any thing about Eldridge?" inquired Williams, in ananxious voice.
"Yes, I understand that he is about making a failure of it; and, ifso, it will be a bad one. But what has that to do with youraffairs?"
"If he fails, I am ruined," replied the young man, becoming greatlyexcited.
"You?" It was now Mr. Hueston's turn to exhibit a disturbed aspect.
"I hold seven thousand dollars of his paper."
"Seven thousand dollars!"
"Yes."
"How in the name of wonder did it come into your possession?"
"I took it from Dalton at a tempting discount."
"From Dalton! Then his name is on the paper?"
"No, I hold it without recourse."
"What folly! How could you have done such a thing?"
"I believed Eldridge to be perfectly good. Dalton said that he wasin the way of making a fortune."
"Why, then, was he anxious to part with his paper without recourse?"
"It was, he alleged, on account of ill-health. He wished to close upall his business and make an investment of what little he possessedprevious to going south, in the hope that a change of air wouldbrace up his shattered constitution."
"It was all a lie--the scoundrel! His health is as good as mine. Agreater villain than he is does not walk the earth. I wonder how youcould have been so duped."
"How do you think Eldridge's affairs will turn out?" asked the youngman.
"Worse than nothing, I suppose. I understand that he paid Daltonsome eighteen thousand dollars for his half of the business. Therewas but ten thousand dollars capital at first; and, from the waythings were conducted, instead of its increasing, it must havediminished yearly."
Here was an entirely new aspect in the case. Mr. Hueston'sself-complacency was gone; he knew how it would be with Eldridgefrom the first, but he didn't know how it was going to be withhimself. He didn't for a moment dream that when the fabric of theyoung man's fortune came falling around him, that any thingbelonging to him would be buried under the ruins.
"Too bad! too bad!" he ejaculated, as, under a sense of the utterdesperation of the case, he struck his hands together, and thenthrew them above his head. But it did no good to fret and scold, andblame his son-in-law; the error had been committed, and it was nowtoo late to retrace a step. Six or seven thousand dollars wouldinevitably be lost; and, as Williams had no capital, originally, ofhis own, the money would have to come out of his pocket. The ruin ofwhich the young man talked was more in his imagination than anywhereelse, as Mr. Hueston was able enough to sustain him in hisdifficulty.
In the winding up of the affairs of Eldridge, who stopped payment onthe day Williams announced to his father-in-law the fact that heheld his notes, every thing turned out as badly as Mr. Hueston hadpredicted. The unhappy young man was almost beside himself withtrouble, mortification, and disappointment. Not only had he lostevery thing he possessed in the world; he was deeply involved indebt besides, and his good name was gone. A marriage contract, intowhich he had entered, was broken off in consequence; the father ofthe lady demanding of him a release of the engagement in a way soinsulting, that the young man flung insult back into his teeth, andnever after went near his house.
For months after the disastrous termination of his business,Eldridge lingered about the city in a miserable state of mind. Somefriends obtained for him a situation as clerk, but he did not keepthe place very long; it seemed almost impossible for him to fix hisattention upon any thing. This neglect of the interests of hisemployer was so apparent, that he was dismissed from his place atthe end of a few months. This increased the morbid despondency underwhich he was labouring, and led to an almost total abandonment ofhimself. In less than a year, he was travelling swiftly along theroad to utter ruin.
One day, it was just twelve months from the time of Eldridge'sfailure, Mr. Hueston stood conversing with a gentleman, when theunhappy young man went reeling by, so much intoxicated that he withdifficulty kept his feet.
"Poor fellow!" said the gentleman, in a tone of pity. "He was badlydealt by."
"There is no doubt of that," returned Mr. Hueston. "Dalton managedhis cards with his usual skill. But I knew how it would be from thefirst. I knew that Dalton was a knave at heart, and would overreachhim."
"You did?" was rejoined, with a look and tone of surprise.
"Oh, yes. I predicted, from the beginning, the very result that hascome out."
"You warned the young man, of course?" inquired the gentleman.
"No."
"What! Saw him in the hands of a sharper, and gave him no warning?"
"I never meddle in other people's affairs. I find as much as I cando to take proper care of my own."
"And yet, if common report is true, had you taken a little care ofthis young man, you would have saved six or seven thousand dollarsfor yourself."
"That's my look-out," said Mr. Hueston.
"You knew how it would be," resumed the gentleman, in a severe,rebuking voice, "and yet kept silence, permitting an honest,confiding young man to fall into the clutches of a scoundrel. Mr.Hueston, society holds you responsible for the ruin of one of itsmembers, equally responsible with the knave who was the agent of theruin. A word would have saved the young man; but, in yourindifference and disregard of others' good, you would not speak thatword. When next you see the miserable wreck of a human being thatbut just now went staggering past, remember the work of your ownhands is before you."
And saying this, the man turned abruptly away, leaving Mr. Huestonso much astonished and bewildered by the unexpected charge, asscarcely to comprehend where he was. Recovering himself in a momentor two, he walked slowly along, his eyes upon the ground, with whatfeelings the reader may imagine.
A few days afterwards, his son-in-law, at his instance, went insearch of Eldridge for the purpose of offering him assistance, andmaking an effort to reclaim him. But, alas! he was too late; deathhad finished the work of ruin.
THE END.
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