Solaris Farm: A Story of the Twentieth Century
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Title: Solaris Farm: A Story of the Twentieth Century
Author: Milan C. Edson
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SOLARIS FARM;
A Story of the Twentieth Century.
by
MILAN C. EDSON.
Published by the Author
at
1728 New Jersey Ave., N. W., Washington, D. C.
In the Year 1900.
Press Work by Byron S. Adams.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN MILAN C. EDSON.]
Copyright, 1900
by Milan C. Edson.
All Rights Reserved.
DEDICATION.
This book, is dedicated to the sons and daughters of the farms of the
Republic as an expression of the author's realization, that Agricultural
people constitute a large majority of its working units: That as such,
its destiny is in the hands of their boys and girls, as its future
guardians, fathers and mothers: That for the reasons stated, they should
become its dominant thinkers and leaders: That Agriculture is the true
basis of industrial and commercial success; hence, it should be made the
most noble and pleasing of all occupations: That the alarming
encroachments of land monopoly, and the inability of the small farm to
meet the expense of using the latest and best machinery, threatens the
total extinction of all land-owning farmers, and of their consequent
reduction to the dependent caste of farm laborers: That the isolated
life and the severe toil of the small farm, has a dangerously depressing
effect on the minds of its people: That all of these things, seem to
demand the changes suggested by the contents of this book.
PREFACE.
Strong in my convictions that all civilizations are false, which do not
civilize the lowest units of any social order, I have written Solaris
Farm as my contribution towards the improvement of agriculturists as a
class, of the race as a whole; towards the establishment of a truer
civilization, organized for the purpose of securing the same degree of
progress for the lowest orders of humanity, which have been or can be
attained by the highest. In any social or political fabric, wide
differences of wealth, of education, of refinement in its sub-divisions
are dangerous, they swiftly lead to the introduction of caste. Caste is
the dry rot, which, when once established, will surely destroy all
progress, all vitality, by slowly eating away the social, industrial and
political life of the nation.
In preparing this book for the press, I wish to acknowledge my
obligations to the following authors, for much valuable information and
inspiration: To Elmer Gates, the discoverer of new domains in
Psychology, the inventor and discoverer of the art of Mentation, the
founder of the Elmer Gates Laboratory, at Chevy Chase, Maryland: To
Henry George, the author of "Progress and Poverty:" To Edward Bellamy,
the author of "Equality," and "Looking Backward:" And lastly to that
greatest of living Frenchmen, M. Godin, the author of "Social
Solutions," and the founder of the "Familistere," with its famous
industrial enterprise, located at the city of Guise, France; the
grandest co-operative success of the age!
A last word to my readers: Do you wish to join forces with the
humanitarians? If so, always strive so to educate the people, that they
may fully understand the true object and purpose of human life; and the
necessity for the upbuilding of social, industrial and political
institutions, in harmony with the demands of that purpose. This will
require unselfish, persistent, co-operative effort and thought. In no
other way, can you so greatly aid the cause of progress.
MILAN C. EDSON.
No. 1728 N. J. Ave., N. W.
WASHINGTON, D. C., SEPT. 1ST, 1900.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
1. A FARMER'S SON WITH PROGRESSIVE TENDENCIES 1
2. THE OUTLINES OF A GREAT PROBLEM 4
3. AN ADVERTISEMENT INTRODUCES THE HEROINE 9
4. THE STORY OF A STONE AND WHAT CAME AFTER 10
5. FAIRY FERN COTTAGE 27
6. FENNIMORE FENWICK 34
7. AN ALASKA KINDERGARTEN 37
8. AN INTERVIEW WITH THE "FAIRIES." 41
9. THE PROBLEM VS. A GOOD MAN WHO IS AS RICH AS
HE IS NOBLE 49
10. THE REAPING OF THE DEATH ANGEL 53
11. THE MARTINA MINE 58
12. SPIRIT AND MORTAL--FATHER AND DAUGHTER 61
13. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 63
14. THE ETHICS OF PLANETARY EVOLUTION 71
15. THE CO-OPERATIVE FARM AS A FACTOR IN SOCIAL EVOLUTION 75
16. FILLMORE AND FERN 87
17. SOLARIS FARM 93
18. CLUB LIFE AT SOLARIS 112
19. FENWICK HALL 121
20. THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA 133
21. HIS WOOING PROSPERS WHILE OUR HERO ENJOYS HIS
FIRST VACATION 141
22. A SURPRISE PARTY AND RECEPTION COMBINED 150
23. FORMATION OF POPULAR SCIENCE CLUBS 160
24. A TWENTIETH CENTURY LOVE LETTER 162
25. THE REPLY 171
26. FERN FENWICK ARRIVES AT SOLARIS 179
27. THE FESTIVAL 185
28. THE ORATION 187
29. THE STORY OF GILBERT GERRISH; OR, THE STRENGTH OF
THE WEAKEST UNIT 216
30. OUR HERO AND HEROINE DISCUSS AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS 227
31. THE DISCUSSION GROWS MORE INTERESTING 248
32. SOCIAL SOLUTIONS 256
33. SOLARIS SCRIP 270
34. THE INSURANCE OFFERED BY CO-OPERATIVE FARMING 273
35. THE MOTHERS' CLUB 287
36. THE CO-OPERATIVE FARM AS A FACTOR IN THE CAPITAL
AND LABOR PROBLEM 299
37. THE CO-OPERATIVE FARM TRIUMPHANT 313
38. THE KINDERGARTEN AT SOLARIS 327
39. AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR 346
40. THE COMING ERA OF GOOD ROADS 362
41. CO-OPERATIVE ETHICS 371
42. RURAL LIFE UNDER THE REIGN OF CO-OPERATION 387
43. A TWENTIETH CENTURY HONEYMOON 416
44. THE NEW CRUSADE 423
SOLARIS FARM.
A STORY OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.
CHAPTER I.
A FARMER'S SON WITH PROGRESSIVE TENDENCIES.
One bright summer afternoon, near the close of the month of August,
1905, two young college chums, Fillmore Flagg and George Gaylord, just
met after a long separation, were seated on a rustic bench near a
well-appointed mountain hotel. The superb view before them was well
worthy of their half-hour's silent admiration. Full one thousand feet
above the sea stands "Hotel Mount Meenahga" in the heart of the
"Shawangunks," a mountain range in the state of New York, famed for its
scenic beauty, cool dry air, pure water and commanding elevation.
Looking northward a most charming landscape presents itself, a wonderful
group of mountain ranges, stretching for seventy-five miles from near
the Delaware Water-gap eastward to and including the Alpine peaks of the
famous Catskills. Within this lovely semicircle lie the highlands of
Ulster, Sullivan and Orange, lifted like seats in some vast
amphitheater, tier above tier, while nearer a beautiful mingling of
villages and hamlets, broad fields, green woods and silvery
water-courses, constitutes a picture of enchanting beauty--a picture
constantly changed, shaded and intensified by broad patches of moving
shadow and sunlight from a great fleet of fleecy clouds sailing so
swiftly, so silently and so majestically across the summer sky.
"How exquisitely beautiful!" murmured Fillmore Flagg, "I wish I had my
camera that I might make it captive, carry it hence and keep it, a rare
token of beauty, a source of joy forever."
At this point, a brief description of the young men will serve by way of
a further introduction.
Fillmore Flagg was fully six feet in height, though his compact,
well-rounded figure made him seem less tall; his straight, muscular
limbs were in harmony with his deep chest and symmetrical shoulders. His
rather large but beautifully turned neck and throat rose straight from
the spinal column, firmly supporting a noble head, everywhere evenly and
smoothly developed. His thick, soft brown hair, worn rather short, was
inclined to curl, giving to the outlines of the head a still more heroic
size. His forehead was large, full, dome shaped and remarkably smooth;
the brows, finely penciled and well arched, were matched in color and
slenderness by a short moustache which seemed a shade or two darker than
the hair. His eyes were large, very expressive, of a soft dark brown,
bright and flashing with emotion, full of pensive light when partially
shaded by their thick silken lashes; his smiling glance possessed a
curiously fascinating magnetic charm. The attractiveness of the entire
face and neck was intensified by the wonderful marble-like smoothness of
skin which accompanies that rare, pale olive tint of complexion. A soft
Alpine hat and a neat business suit of dark clothing completes this
picture of the personal appearance of Fillmore Flagg. Later on we shall
learn to know him better by his genial temperament, mental and moral
characteristics.
George Gaylord was above medium height, slender and pale, slightly
inclined to stoop; wore glasses, and a thick black moustache which
entirely concealed his thin lips. His heavy growth of long, coal black
hair was naturally bent on falling over his high white forehead. His
large black eyes were deeply set under heavy dark brows, more square
than arched. His straight nose and smoothly shaven chin were set in line
with his high square forehead. While both face and figure suggested the
student, a tall silk hat and a square cut, closely buttoned black frock
coat, stamped him at once as a clerical student.
"Tell me, George," said Fillmore Flagg, "how have you fared since we
parted, and what are your ambitions and plans for the future?"
"There is not much to tell you, Fillmore. As you know, when I left
college, my mother was a widow with a very limited income, which made it
difficult to meet my college expenses. Mother had set her heart on my
entering the ministry. Her only brother, a childless widower, and a man
of some wealth and great influence in the church affairs of his
prosperous New England town, promised his assistance. Behold the result!
I have just graduated with fair honors from a prominent theological
institute. I am to take charge, this coming November, of a large church
and congregation in the manufacturing city where my uncle resides. Uncle
George, for whom I was named, is now with my mother visiting friends in
New York. They have kindly selected as my future wife, my uncle's
favorite niece and prospective heiress to his wealth. When last we met,
four years ago, Martha Merritt was a sweet little miss in short
dresses; but gave promise, even then, of unfolding into a lovely woman.
To tell you the truth, under the circumstances, I am more than half
prepared to fall in love with her when we meet again. However ambitious
my day dreams in the past may have been, a not unkindly fate has woven
the web of destiny for me and fixed my future life work without much
effort on my part; and yet I am quite content to have it so. Two weeks
ago I left the heat and bustle of the great city for a month's rest in
this quiet place. I little dreamed of meeting you here; I need not say I
am delighted: I am, thoroughly so. I find you looking your best, yet I
can easily perceive you have been hard at work as usual. I do not
believe you could possibly keep still and rest, even for one short week,
let the inducement to do so be ever so great. And now, my dear Fillmore,
since I have, so to speak, brought myself up to date for your benefit,
may I ask for a similar service on your part?"
CHAPTER II.
THE OUTLINES OF A GREAT PROBLEM.
Fillmore Flagg, seemingly self absorbed, remained silent for some
moments, softly stroking his chin with his strong, shapely hand, his
dreamy eyes with far-off vision intent, apparently noting details in the
hazy borders of the distant landscape. At last, turning to his friend
with a hearty hand clasp he said: "George Gaylord, I congratulate you;
your future is bright; you deserve it, your mother deserves it. The
fates have been very generous with you. I am glad you are content to
accept the good things of life which they bring to you.
"As for myself, my lines of life are cast in swift waters. My
environments, in their reaction upon me from within, seem to develop a
determined will to wrench from the rocks of destiny by ceaseless and
persistent effort, whatever gifts I am to possess or enjoy. Work I must.
Obstacles seem only to stimulate my ambition to overcome them. Yet I am
passionately fond of the beautiful; poetry, music and art in all the
loveliness of its varied forms; they affect me profoundly. This poetic
side of my nature I inherit from my dear, devoted mother--my highest
ideal of all that is good, lovely and angelic in woman. Sadly and often
have I missed her loving tenderness, her watchful care, her beautiful
smile. The shadowy Angel of Death claimed her and bore her from my sight
when I was but four years old. Young as I was at that time, this
beautiful world has never seemed quite so bright to me since.
"My father, Fayette Flagg, was a noble man of sterling worth. He
belonged to a class of thrifty, hard-working, pioneer farmers, on the
broad, fertile prairies of the state of Nebraska. Until the death of my
mother he was happy and prosperous, hopeful, helpful and brave. After
that great blow came to him, he recovered slowly, as from a long, severe
illness and never again was quite so courageous and strong, or as
hopeful as before.
"With the advent of the last decade of the nineteenth century a feeling
of foreboding unrest seemed to brood over the western farmer: blight and
drouth destroyed his best crops just when they seemed to promise most;
farm stock had to be reduced. The good years were few, the bad years
were many. The great strain of carrying a large outfit of expensive
agricultural machinery which on a small farm could be used with profit
only from ten to forty days in the year, began to be felt. The debts,
incurred by the purchase of the machinery, were growing steadily larger.
With each renewal of the mortgage on the farm, came the demand for a
bonus and a higher rate of interest. Meanwhile the price of land and of
all farm products kept on falling, falling steadily year after year.
Only taxes and freight rates from farm to market kept up. High rates of
interest and of freight swallowed up everything and seemed to accelerate
the terrible shrinkage of values. My father found, to his amazement,
that his farm was now mortgaged for more than it would sell for under
the hammer. He gave up the struggle in despair. The savings of a
lifetime, his health, strength and courage all exhausted; his homestead
and farm sold from under him; he lost all hope and in a few short weeks
died, a broken-hearted man. I went to him a few months before the end: I
tried all in my power to save him, but alas! I could do nothing but bury
his body beside that of my mother and come away, filled with the
determination of solving the most difficult problem of a lifetime--a
problem that lies at the very foundation of the permanency of this
republic. 'How to keep the farm lands of America in the hands of the
native farmers of this and the coming generations? How to help them to
help themselves?' The decree has gone forth. The small farm and farmer
must go. They are doomed. A great wave of land monopoly, rolled up by a
large class of very shrewd, far-seeing capitalists, is even now sweeping
across the continent. Seventy-five years hence only a pauperized
peasantry of ignorant farm laborers, bound to the soil as hopelessly as
the slave to the master, will coin their lives of ceaseless, unrequited
toil to swell the rent roll of the non-resident landowner, who, as lord
of the domain, through his heartless agent, will exact his tribute to
the uttermost farthing. Must the sons and daughters of the farms of this
republic come to the bitter heritage of such a life? Surely! We have
already seen the beginning of the end! The sad case of my father can be
duplicated a hundred times or more in almost every county of our western
states. States that are incalculably rich in their magnificent domain of
broad acres of the most fertile land the sun ever shone upon; capable,
when permanently placed in the hands of a properly equipped,
scientifically educated class of people, of producing the food supply of
the world: but under the blight of the monopoly system, history will
repeat itself. Our agricultural interests will languish and wither;
dependent manufactures, and all branches of exchange and commerce, must,
in time, follow. What then will happen to society? To government of both
state and nation? In the face of this appalling situation, how
stupendous the problem! By what effort can a great counter tidal-wave be
set in motion upon whose crest the salt and salvation of the republic,
the sons and daughters of American farms, may be carried safely to the
permanent heritage of the soil they till? As in the past, so in the
future must we look to them for our true reformers, leaders, thinkers
and statesmen. They are endowed by birth, by constant association in
youth with soil and sunlight, fields and grass, green meadows and mossy
brooks and, best of all, doubly endowed by the inbreathing of ozone
laden breezes from mountain and forest, with that rare combination of
nerve, moral, mental and physical stamina, courage and patriotism which
is necessary to preserve this republic and to keep it, ever and always,
a model of progressive excellence for all the nations of the earth. This
means the embodiment by them of more and better mind, that they may do
better, wiser and more dominant thinking; be able to comprehend the sum
of human knowledge to such an extent that they may add to it; to so
understand their lives, and their relations to the Universe around them,
that they may become masters of themselves and their environments--a law
unto themselves--fitting them for a perfect citizenship of a perfected
republic. This most desirable of all accomplishments, requires better
surroundings, more leisure and opportunity for self-improvement, more
money, shorter hours of more remunerative labor--labor transformed from
a hated drudgery to a desirable occupation. Behold, friend Gaylord, you
have before you the outlines of the problem. Can you suggest anything
towards its solution?"
"I can suggest nothing," said George Gaylord; "You have stated the case
with the clearness and eloquence of a Henry George. If what you say is
true, the problem is a very serious one. But are you quite sure the
facts will fully warrant your conclusions? If so, what are your plans
and what have you been doing towards working out this puzzling
question?"
"Oh yes!" said Fillmore Flagg, "I am very sure of my position. The more
I study the question, the firmer my conviction that I have understated
the case instead of overstating it. I am studying the agricultural
question from every possible standpoint and I propose to make it a life
work. Every branch of science may aid me; I must master at least a
portion of each. Since we left college I have become fairly proficient
in surveying and civil engineering; have devoted considerable time to
photography; I am classed as a skilled electrician; I have thoroughly
mastered agricultural chemistry and several of the more important
branches of that interesting and most wonderful science. As you know, I
am very fond of mechanics and of all kinds of machinery. I could not
rest until I had gained a practical knowledge of all kinds of tools and
learned how to repair or construct most kinds of machinery. Two months
ago I completed a general course of study at the Philadelphia School of
Industrial Art, which, for the especial work I have in view, I consider
by far the most beneficial and practicable of all my acquirements. I am
now resting, cogitating and waiting for the golden opportunity which,
sooner or later, must come, to enable me to commence my work."
CHAPTER III.
AN ADVERTISEMENT INTRODUCES THE HEROINE.
"By the way, I have something to show you. I clipped this advertisement
from a leading New York daily paper this morning, and have read it
carefully many times. Somehow, I have an abiding conviction that it will
lead me to the high road, on the way towards the successful solution of
my problem. I am going to apply in person."
Full of curiosity, George Gaylord took the clipping and slowly read
aloud:
"WANTED: A skilled mechanic, qualified to act in the capacity of
landscape gardener and agricultural chemist. Applicant must be a
strong, healthy young man, of good habits, pleasing address; with a
general knowledge of business methods, and an excellent moral
character. Qualifications must be well attested by recommendations
from reliable parties. A graduate of the Philadelphia School of
Industrial Art is preferred. Salary liberal. Apply in person at the
office of
BITTERWOOD & BARNARD, Atty's.,
Atlantic Building, Washington, D. C."
"This is curious! It seems to point directly to you, Fillmore. I do
wonder in what peculiar capacity you are to act, and who your real
employer is to be? I shall be full of unsatisfied curiosity until I know
the sequel."
At this moment George Gaylord was suddenly interrupted by an
unlooked-for gust of wind whirling around the shoulders of the big rock
standing above and behind them. The fluttering paper slipped from his
fingers and went sailing away over the tree tops, down the mountain
side, with that erratic up and down, eddying motion peculiar to run
away, fly away papers. In an instant both young men were upon their
feet, intently watching the uncertain flight of the clipping. A few
moments later it fell to the ground, just at the feet of two ladies who,
with heads protected from the sun by large parasols, were slowly walking
around the bend of the broad, well kept road, winding down the mountain
side. The younger of the two ladies picked up the advertisement,
hurriedly scanned it, and then raised her eyes to discover the two young
men as probable owners of the truant paper.
"Ah!" said George Gaylord, "I recognize those people. It is Miss
Fenwick and her travelling companion. Come along Fillmore, let us join
them at once and claim your lost clipping. The opportunity for an
introduction to two very interesting ladies, who are among the most
noted guests of the hotel, is too good to be lost."
Accordingly they hurried down the steep path that joined the road near
where the ladies were still waiting, at a point full three hundred feet
below.
Approaching, with hats in hand, George Gaylord said: "Allow me, Miss
Fenwick, to introduce to you my friend and college chum, Fillmore Flagg:
for a peculiar purpose of his own he wishes to regain possession of that
flighty paper which, fortunately for him, the prank playing wind carried
to your feet but a moment ago."
With a slight inclination of her queenly head, she turned with a
dazzling smile to meet the inquiring glance of Fillmore Flagg. In a
clear musical voice, full of thrilling cadence and power, she said: "Mr.
Flagg, if you are particularly interested in this paper, I am very sure
I am quite happy to meet you, and take pleasure in returning it to you
now; I trust that we may have the opportunity of becoming better
acquainted before you leave these lovely mountains." Turning to her
companion she continued: "Permit me, gentlemen, to introduce my friend
and companion, Mrs. Bainbridge; Mr. George Gaylord, who is just entering
the ministry, and his college friend, Mr. Fillmore Flagg."
Mrs. Bainbridge responded with a pleasant smile. She was a tall, well
formed, well preserved woman of forty; full of a quiet dignity, with an
air of refinement that fitted her like a garment. Her heavy dark hair,
coiled high on her shapely head, was just slightly silvered with gray
and seemed to be a fitting foil to her large melancholy black eyes--eyes
that from their slumbering depths seemed to impress the beholder with
suggestions of some mysterious power, gleaming messages, like beacon
flashes, from her inner life. With her becoming dress of rich, dark
cloth, gloves and parasol to match, she looked the cultured lady to
perfection.
Turning her steps up the mountain, Fern Fenwick said: "Gentlemen, as it
is near the hour for supper, we had best return to the hotel at once. I
think too, by this time the mail from the station must have arrived."
Fillmore Flagg was at her side in an instant, choosing the side opposite
the parasol, which gave him a clear view of her charming profile. George
Gaylord and Mrs. Bainbridge followed a little more slowly. The
conversation soon became animated.
While they are thus occupied let us try to get a more complete picture
of Miss Fern Fenwick. Her round, exquisitely proportioned figure was of
medium height, straight as an arrow, full of grace with every movement.
Her quick, firm, elastic step was Youth personified: a charming maiden,
she, of twenty summers. The artistic outlines of her plump arms and
shoulders, beautifully modelled bust, throat and neck, so admirably
proportioned, would have satisfied the most carping critic; poet or
painter, he would have pronounced them a dream of perfect symmetry. Her
queenly shaped head, so gracefully poised, like a clear cut cameo, was a
poem of intellectual development on lines of rarest beauty. Her thick,
glossy hair of dark chestnut brown, fine as spun silk and inclined to a
wavy crimp, was artistically coiled in a most becoming style; small ears
of perfect shape, and transparently pink, were set close to the head.
The curve of the brow, in perfect line with the pleasing oval of both
cheek and chin; a Grecian nose and cherub mouth completed the perfect
contour of a face and head of marvellous beauty--a beauty made more
brilliant by large, lustrous eyes of blended sapphire and amethyst,
flashing jewels of deep violet blue, so clearly expressing the varying
emotions by their ever changing tints of sparkling light. Her dress, a
close fitting gown of rich, soft, silver gray material, was stylishly
made, with a narrow line of lovely lace at the throat; perfect fitting
gloves of the same shade of gray, with a parasol to match, completed a
costume that seemed to bring out and intensify a most charming
complexion of pale pink and white, faultlessly smooth and transparently
pure: at once indicative and prophetic of a strong vital temperament,
perfect mental and physical health; pure, highly cultured mind and a
wealth of personal magnetism--that silent charm of mysterious
potency--pervading and surrounding her like the perfume of sweet
flowers, winning the unsought admiration, friendship and fidelity of all
who came within the radiance of her powerful magnetic aura. All this,
and more, Fillmore Flagg perceived and felt. He walked and talked as one
in a dream. Never before had he met so fair a vision of female
loveliness, with grace so winning, gestures so perfect and voice so
musical. His heart, overflowing with a new ecstatic emotion, paid silent
homage to this queenly creature. He was lost in admiration. Swallowed up
and absorbed by the first incoming wave of a great love. He was lifted
out of himself, above and beyond all gross things of earth, into a
heaven of pure delight. His better nature was thrilled and profoundly
moved. He felt that in the presence of this pure, angelic woman he
could never again do an unworthy act. A life work, up to the standard of
his highest ideal, was a tribute of devotion he would willingly lay at
her feet.
All too soon for Fillmore Flagg the moments flew by. Almost before he
was aware of it they were ascending the steps of the hotel. Pausing on
the broad veranda for a moment before separating, Fern Fenwick said:
"Gentlemen, Mrs. Bainbridge and myself have planned for a carriage drive
to-morrow to Sam's Point. We have two seats in our conveyance at your
disposal and would be delighted to have you accompany us. May we hope
that you both can come with us?"
Fillmore Flagg and George Gaylord both eagerly accepted the invitation,
the ladies passed on to their rooms, while the young men turned their
steps once more to the rustic bench to enjoy the magnificent sunset view
of the landscape they had so much admired earlier in the day.
CHAPTER IV.
THE STORY OF A STONE AND WHAT CAME AFTER.
Sam's Point, the crowning backbone of the highest mountain in the
Shawangunk range, bends away from the general course of its fellows
apparently for the especial purpose of giving the mountain climber, by
its isolation, a commanding view in almost every direction except to the
north-east. For miles in extent the flat, rocky top of this crown forms
a promenade of magnificent proportions up amid the clouds. In shape it
is a long, slender triangle, about three miles from its base westward to
the point where its highest altitude is reached, two thousand three
hundred and forty feet above tide-water. Cradled in its rocky bosom,
near the base of the triangle, lies a crystal lake--one hundred and
fifty acres of sparkling water. At this point the promenade is fully
three-fourths of a mile wide, gradually narrowing to a width of less
than one hundred feet at the extreme point. The long battlemented sides
of this lofty triangle, like some mighty fortress, grim and frowning,
are protected and supported by perpendicular cliffs of black rock,
rising like some bastioned wall of terrifying proportions, two hundred
feet above the shoulder of the mountain. In a sheltered nook, near the
point, about five hundred feet below the base of the cliffs, stands the
Sam's Point Hotel, scarcely more than a cottage in size. Here Fern
Fenwick's party left the carriage. Taking the narrow, zig-zag pathway
that led to the cliffs and often pausing to admire the immensity and
grandeur of the black rock palisades towering so far above them, they
soon found themselves under the nose of the point of rocks. Entering the
crevice in the cliffs known as "The Chimney Stairway," they commenced
the steep and toilsome climb to the summit; Fillmore Flagg taking the
lead and assisting Miss Fenwick, George Gaylord performing the same
service for Mrs. Bainbridge; fifteen minutes later they stood, almost
breathless, upon the summit, the blue sky all about them, a precipice on
either hand where shimmering, giddy space seemed to yawn so frightfully
near. Meanwhile a strong, buffeting wind tugged at ribbons and capes,
hats and bonnets, so furiously that walking was hazardous; it gave one
such an uneasy sensation of giddiness and unstable equilibrium
generally, that the temptation to fly over the edge of the cliff was
hard to resist. A huge egg-shaped boulder, twenty-five feet in height
and as large as a house, poised rather unsteadily on its rounded base,
was quite near and gave promise of protection from the violence of the
wind. With one accord our party scrambled towards it, the ladies
clinging tightly to their escorts with one hand, a firm grip on hat or
bonnet with the other. Thus sheltered, and more at ease, they slowly
drank in the glorious vision which greeted the eye on every hand.
Looking down as from a balloon, at the foot of the mountain, on the
north side, the eye was charmed by the length and beauty of the Rondout
Valley, through which ran the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and the Rondout
River. For miles on either side of canal and river the valley was made
more lovely by its checkered farms and gleaming white villages. Directly
at the foot of the mountain on the south side, the broader valley of the
Wallkill presented an equally beautiful and diversified picture of farm,
hamlet and village. Beyond these, in every direction save to the
north-east, vast stretches of country lay spread out like a map; the
mountains far and near, so dwarfed as to give to the surface the
appearance of billowy plains, almost level where they approached the
edge of the horizon. The wonderful extent and scope of the view was
bounded by the line of the horizon, at least one hundred miles distant.
Three-fourths of this sweeping circle responded to the unaided vision,
disclosing the blue hills and hazy mountain peaks located in five
states: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut and
Massachusetts, altogether presenting in its immensity a landscape as
variegated and charming as it was wondrously beautiful and attractive--a
marvellous picture of indescribable loveliness never to be forgotten.
"How inspiringly magnificent!" said Fillmore Flagg: "All the sublimity
of my nature is satisfied."
"And I," said Fern Fenwick, "am too profoundly impressed to talk. I
would that I could spend hours here in silent admiration."
"I think," said Mrs. Bainbridge, "that we would better move further back
on the rocky summit where doubtless, sheltered seats may be found, then
we can all enjoy this most wonderful of views at our leisure and with
some degree of comfort."
"Yes," said George Gaylord, "that will be ever so much nicer."
"Stop a moment," said Fern Fenwick, who for some moments had been
examining the huge boulder which sheltered them, "Have you noticed the
curious formation of this immense stone? How many hundreds of tons it
may weigh, I hardly dare guess. Geologically speaking, it is a 'stranger
rock,' not in any way related to the rocks of this mountain, nor of the
mountains near here. It is a mammoth conglomerate of such an
interestingly curious compound and of such flinty hardness. At the time
of its formation enormous pressure, coupled with the most intense heat,
must have molded this strange mass together. Coarse and fine gravel,
smooth, round pebbles, from the size of a pigeon's egg to that of a
two-hundred-pound boulder, are all jumbled together in great confusion,
and so firmly cemented in this immense globular mass of that peculiar,
tenacious clay of greenish gray color, which forms so large a part of
the drift formation, and which is so widely distributed over the face
of our globe--that strange, unaccountable, isolated and unrelated
formation, which still remains an unsolved puzzle by our best
geologists. I wish you to observe the long sides of this strange rock,
especially where the exposed sides of the pebbles have been worn down
smooth and even with the clay--how they are marked and striated by
shallow grooves, all running in one direction as straight as though
graven by rule. Is it possible that any freak or flood of the glacial
period could have floated this huge rock to its resting place on the
very summit of this high mountain, almost two thousand five hundred feet
above the level of the sea? Oh! tell me, ye listening mortals, or ye
winged winds that blow and pull my ribbons so! whence came this stranger
rock? how formed? and how were its smooth, worn sides so systematically
engraved?"
Fern Fenwick closed her series of queries with a gradually rising pitch
and inflection in the ringing tones of her clear, musical voice. With
figure erect, eyes flashing, cheeks glowing and hands uplifted, she
seemed the personification of some priestess of science. Fillmore Flagg
and George Gaylord gazed at her with the admiration of amazement. Mrs.
Bainbridge exclaimed:
"Why Fern Fenwick! How you do go on with such nonsense, to be sure. No
doubt these gentlemen, from this time forward, will look at you as some
scientific freak or geological professor of the female persuasion, but
recently escaped from the walls of some famous college!"
"Mrs. Bainbridge," said Fillmore Flagg, "of course we understand that
you were joking in what you said just now: that you really admire the
terse, clear, and wonderfully complete description of this strange rock
by Miss Fenwick, quite as much as we do." Turning to Fern Fenwick, he
continued: "I believe, Miss Fenwick, that I can throw some light on the
puzzling questions you have so poetically propounded."
"Pray do tell us, Mr. Flagg," said Fern Fenwick; "I can't remember when
I was so excited with interest on any subject before."
"Very well," said Fillmore Flagg: "That curiously able and intellectual
man, Mr. Ignatius Donnelly, in his very interesting book called
'Ragnarok,' or 'The Age of Fire and Gravel,' puts forth a most
remarkable theory regarding the drift formation, to the truth of which
this huge rock seems to bear witness. The theory, briefly stated, is as
follows: A great many ages ago, when this globe of ours was still in the
period of cataclysms, rolling through space around the sun, it came in
contact with a portion of the end of the tail of some enormous comet,
sweeping through the universe on its erratic course. This great boulder
is a sample of the component parts of that fiery tail, which smote the
exposed face of the earth so terribly with the drift deposit at that
time of dire disaster. The age of fire and gravel, surely! This curious
clay, now of such flinty hardness, was at one time the exceedingly fine
dust of the comet, cohering, collecting and embedding its mixture of
pebbles and gravel by the heat and pressure of the friction caused by
its incalculably swift passage through space for periods of uncounted
ages. Remember that the heat of all drift material in the tail of the
comet was greatly intensified by the explosion of accompanying gases as
they came in contact with the atmosphere of our earth. All inflammable
material on the face of the globe, which was exposed at the time of its
passage through the tail of the comet, was burned up: both earth and sky
were on fire! Fortunately our flying globe made a quick passage, thus it
happened that large portions of its unexposed surface wholly escaped
this terrible downpour of fire and gravel, and the absence of all drift
deposit on these places is logically accounted for. The atmosphere, so
heated during that awful period, drank up the waters of the earth--then
came the floods, as the waters fell again. Then followed the reaction
period of extreme cold, snow and ice--the glacial period. This
particular rock, while following in the train of its parent comet,
though lagging many thousands of miles behind, still, being so very
large, moved with accelerated speed towards the comet's head, passing on
its way countless millions of smaller particles, whose cutting edges
scored these grooves. On entering the earth's atmosphere, on account of
its great size, this boulder, through the law of attraction, quickly
moved to the outermost fringe of the comet's tail nearest the earth,
therefore was the first to alight on the top of this mountain, far away
from all smaller drift material.
"I hope, Miss Fenwick, that my brief and rather speculative answers to
your questions, reasoning as I did, from Mr. Donnelly's point of view,
may prove at least in a measure satisfactory."
"Thank you, Mr. Flagg," said Fern Fenwick, "your answers to my questions
have all been very ingenious: equally interesting and satisfactory,
especially as to how this mammoth conglomerate came by its grooved lines
and, later how it managed to find a resting place on this mountain top,
so far from its kind. Mr. Donnelly's theory of accounting for the
widely scattered deposits of the drift formation is the most reasonable
and logical of anything I have ever read or heard. Doubtless, in course
of time, it may be proven the only true one. I see Mr. Gaylord and Mrs.
Bainbridge are becoming weary of all this talk about rocks: let us move
further back from the point in search of more sheltered and comfortable
seats."
Accordingly they chose the central path and were soon seated, enjoying
the changed landscape from a new point of view. However, Mr. Gaylord was
not yet satisfied and soon proposed a walk to the lake. Mrs. Bainbridge
was willing but Miss Fenwick had walked enough for one day. A quiet
enjoyment of her lofty outlook was what she now most desired.
"Very well, Fern," said Mrs. Bainbridge, "Mr. Gaylord will accompany me
to the lake and we will bring back for lunch some of those very large,
delicious blueberries, which Mr. Gaylord assures me are growing so
abundantly around the shores of the lake. You and Mr. Flagg shall remain
here with the lunch baskets."
This plan was agreed to, and very soon Mrs. Bainbridge and her escort
had disappeared on their way to the lake. To Fillmore Flagg it seemed a
long time that Fern Fenwick had been sitting so quietly, apparently
absorbed in admiring the billowy miles of landscape unrolled so far to
the southward. In reality, each was thinking of the other.
"Mr. Flagg," said Fern Fenwick slowly, "will you pardon me for asking
you some very abrupt questions, or what may seem such when considering
our brief acquaintance?"
"Certainly," said Fillmore Flagg, "I hope my replies this time may prove
as satisfactory as those I gave in regard to the rock. The pardon you
crave is granted in advance. Pray proceed."
"Tell me, Mr. Flagg, why are you so much interested in that
advertisement which came to me so unceremoniously yesterday? And again,
tell me why you are so moved and determined to better the conditions of
farm life? I suppose you know that I have wealth and leisure at my
disposal; it may prove that I can be of great assistance to you. This is
my excuse for asking you for more details in regard to your personal
plans."
With a heart filled with hope, Fillmore Flagg began the recital of the
story he had given to George Gaylord on the terrace bench. With frequent
glances of encouragement from Fern Fenwick, his inspiration and
eloquence grew upon him. He gave a masterly statement of the work, his
preparation, hopes and plans. Delighted beyond measure with the
undisguised appreciation and approval of this charming woman, whose very
destiny in the vista of a coming future, seemed to him to be linked in
some mysterious manner with the success of his most cherished ambitions,
he cleverly enlarged and perfected the original statement. As he
concluded, Fern Fenwick rose to her feet with hands extended, her face
glowing with interested enthusiasm, saying:
"Mr. Flagg, I most heartily congratulate you on the noble life-work you
have planned and chosen, I thank you again and again for the valuable
facts you have placed so confidingly in my possession, in regard to
yourself and your work. Rest assured my interest and assistance
henceforth are at your command. You will understand this more clearly
when I tell you that Bitterwood & Barnard are my attorneys, and the
advertisement which played such an important part in bringing us
together here in these mountains, was drawn up by them for my purposes.
That it should bring to me a person of your wonderful ability,
integrity, skill and knowledge, is an almost unhoped for piece of good
fortune. You are the one, of all others, most eminently fitted to help
me to a successful solution of my problem, which you have so admirably
stated. Hereafter I am your debtor. I hope to prove a not unworthy
employer, or, to put it more pleasantly, an interested co-worker. Will
you do me the favor of considering yourself as pledged from this moment
to take up my work? Go at once to my attorneys in Washington, ask them
for a letter of introduction to me, that you may get more complete
details of my plans and work, saying not a word of our present
acquaintance. I will furnish you with a check on my Washington bankers,
with which to defray your expenses. To-morrow, in company with Mrs.
Bainbridge, I go to my summer home on the Hudson near Newburgh, where
letters will reach me. This is the twenty-eighth of August; on the fifth
of September, at noon meet me in the station at Newburgh. Come prepared
to devote a week at the least in discussing the scope and plan of our
work, devising ways and means etc. I very much desire that you have an
interview with my father, I know he will be pleased with you. Do these
arrangements suit your convenience? Do they meet your entire approval?"
"I am greatly elated," said Fillmore Flagg, "at this my golden
opportunity of commencing what you have so kindly named as 'our' work,
under such auspicious circumstances. I thank you, Miss Fenwick, more
than words can tell, for your confidence in my integrity and ability, I
will do my best to retain that confidence. I am ready to start for
Washington to-morrow. I will follow your instructions, and will report
to you by letter from that city, and then meet you at Newburgh at the
appointed time."
As he finished his reply Fern Fenwick said: "Mr. Flagg, I am very much
pleased with your prompt decision in favor of my arrangements. I see our
friends returning from the lake, will you help me to spread the lunch?"
With keen appetites they enjoyed the lunch especially the delicious
blueberries which George Gaylord and Mrs. Bainbridge had brought from
the lake. The hours passed quickly; the drive back to the hotel was
without mishap or incident: the entire party, on separating, voted it a
day of perfect pleasure, Fillmore Flagg and George Gaylord expressing
their thanks to the ladies for their kind invitation which had given
them such a delightful excursion.
Later, George Gaylord called at the room of his chum for a few moments
chat. "Come in," said Fillmore Flagg, "I was just thinking of you. I
have made up my mind to go to Washington to-morrow for the purpose of
answering that advertisement. How much longer do you propose to remain
here?"
"Not more than two weeks," replied George Gaylord. "I understand Miss
Fenwick and Mrs. Bainbridge are going away to-morrow. I am likely to
have a very quiet time, all by my lone self: I think I must take to
bowling for an hour or two each day just to keep up my exercise and kill
time. I hope you may be entirely successful in your interview with
Bitterwood & Barnard. Remember how much I am interested in this matter,
and your promise to let me know the result. By the way, what a perfectly
delightful day we have had, thanks to that lucky gust of wind which
tore your clipping from my fingers and landed it at Miss Fenwick's
dainty feet. What a talented young lady she is, and so handsome too. Her
lecture on the mountain top about that stone would have been a credit to
any one. I never saw her look such a picture of perfect beauty before.
She seemed wonderfully interested in you, Fillmore, especially after
your brilliant reply to her series of apparently unanswerable questions.
I declare, the profoundness, the ingeniousness, and the boldness of your
successful answers filled me with amazement! You fairly surpassed
yourself; all the time looking your best, just like a hero. Yet when you
looked at Miss Fenwick you seemed just at the point of falling down to
worship her. I can't blame you. What a glorious couple you two would
make! If it were not for her immense wealth I believe you could win her;
any one can see that you have made a very favorable impression. Perhaps
you can win her as it is--I wish you all success, you certainly deserve
it. Mrs. Bainbridge tells me that at the death of Miss Fenwick's father,
some years ago, she became sole heir to his vast fortune; most of it in
very rich Alaska gold mines."
"Are you quite sure," said Fillmore Flagg, "that her father is dead?"
"Yes Fillmore, I am quite sure; although it is just possible that I may
have misunderstood Mrs. Bainbridge. In my hotel acquaintance with that
lady I discover that she is a very intelligent and accomplished person
of rare good sense. Splendid company; we seem to get on famously
together, I shall miss her very much I am sure. As usual, I am doing all
the talking: it is now your turn to say something."
"I think I could," said Fillmore Flagg, "if my chatterbox friend,
George Gaylord, would only give me a chance. Miss Fenwick I regard as
the most beautiful and cultured woman I have ever met. I do admire her
very much, but the possibility of ever winning her for a wife is, at
this time, too remote for me to consider for a moment. I must now pack
my trunk and then see the hotel clerk about getting it to the railway
station. So good night, George, I will see you again in the morning."
That night Fillmore Flagg could not sleep. The beautiful image of Fern
Fenwick was before him the moment he closed his eyes. The events of the
past two days, with their crowding memories, kept racing through his
mind: he could not think calmly or connectedly. He was in a fever of
expectancy regarding the meeting at Newburgh, and the prospect of
spending a whole week at Miss Fenwick's cottage on the Hudson. Then and
there, no doubt, she would tell him all about herself, her father, her
particular work, when and why she became interested in it etc. But what
about the father? How could he have an interview with her father, if
Mrs. Bainbridge was correct in saying that Mr. Fenwick had been dead for
several years? It was a mystery he could not solve. He did not doubt
Fern Fenwick for a moment and felt sure she would, at the proper time,
make everything plain. How gracious and winning she had been to him; she
seemed to bid him to have courage. In spite of her great wealth, and a
hundred other obstacles that might exist, he was more and more in love
every hour. If proving himself worthy of her confidence in every way
would win her love, surely then, he would win it. With this
determination fixed in his mind he fell asleep.
In her room that night, as Fern Fenwick brushed her hair and prepared
herself for rest, she often paused to ponder over her strange meeting
with Fillmore Flagg; thinking what a fine, manly looking fellow he was,
and how well he could talk; how thoroughly equipped he was to take up
the question of improving farm life, the lives of farmers and their
families--the question of all questions for her. Surely, Mr. Flagg bore
the stamp of destiny! He was the man of all men to make her work a
complete success. How fortunate she was to secure his valuable services.
How strange, that after a brief acquaintance of only two days, she
should have such perfect confidence in a comparative stranger. Yet, she
did not doubt his integrity; she knew he was loyalty itself; she
intuitively felt that she could trust him implicitly--he would never
betray her interests under any circumstances. She knew from his every
look, tone and gesture that he admired her intensely, devotedly. Her own
feelings, she did not care to analyze. With a sigh, more of pleasure
than weariness, she composed herself for the night and was soon lost in
sleep.
CHAPTER V.
FAIRY FERN COTTAGE.
One week has passed since the events narrated in the previous chapter.
At Cornwall on the Hudson, on a West Shore train speeding north, we find
Fillmore Flagg; his mission at Washington successfully accomplished, the
letter of introduction from Bitterwood & Barnard secured. In another
short hour he will be at Newburgh. Will the lovely face of Fern Fenwick
be the first to greet him? As the moments fly by, his heart beats
faster. He feels the surging tide of his all-absorbing love for this
beautiful woman, thrilling and permeating his entire being. He tries to
be calm, to think what he ought to say that would be fitting and
appropriate; he knows his eyes are blazing and his cheeks glowing with
an unwonted fire, still his thoughts refuse to flow into the satisfying
forms of speech he most desires to use at the coming meeting, which
seems to him to be the marking of a great crisis in his life. Ah! There
is the whistle sounding! The speed of the train is checked as it
approaches the station. He steps on to the platform while the train is
still moving. He beholds many upturned faces in the surging crowd
between him and the doorway of the ladies' waiting room, but Miss
Fenwick he cannot see. Will he ever reach that room? Has anything
happened to her? A great fear contracts his heart, he fancies he fairly
staggers as he enters the door. In an instant he is suffused with a
great joy. By the window, awaiting his approach, stands Fern Fenwick,
the perfect picture of cool, contented loveliness. She extends her hand
and greets him with a firm clasp of hearty welcome, and a second edition
of that dazzling smile, so becoming to her, so bewitching to him.
"How do you do, Mr. Flagg? I believe your train must be late. How well
you are looking, in spite of the heat and the dust! We will have your
baggage secured as soon as possible and placed in the carriage, then we
will drive to the cottage in time for lunch."
"Thank you Miss Fenwick, I am delighted to see you looking so well. My
journey from Washington has been a very pleasant one; I have enjoyed it
and have not suffered from the heat."
The carriage now came up, they stepped in and commenced the beautiful
drive of one and one-half miles to "Fairy Fern Cottage," which was
charmingly located on the summit of these famously terraced hills. Hills
that have been historic since the revolutionary days of General
Washington, when their slopes were white with the tents of his soldiers.
As they approached the cottage, the artistic eye of Fillmore Flagg noted
with pleasure the broad expanse of spacious lawn, gently sloping down to
the road. Half-moon-shaped, it presented for his admiration five acres
of smoothly shaven, velvety green. For one-eighth of a mile, the entire
width of the lawn and cottage grounds, a low wall of ornamental cut
stone separated the lawn from the road and formed the straight line of
the half-moon. From the gates at either end of the wall a broad,
beautifully kept driveway swept around the semicircle of the lawn,
passing just in front of the cottage at the center of the deep bay of
the half-moon. On each side of the driveway the greensward was
beautified by alternating star and diamond-shaped plots of geraniums,
roses, gladioluses, canna and nasturtions. Sitting close to the outer
edge of the drive, about ten feet apart, commencing at the corners of
the porch on either side, were rows of potted palms extending around the
curve, one hundred and fifty feet each way--the palms gradually growing
smaller as the distance from the cottage became greater. The effect was
beautifully unique and suggestively semi-tropical. The cottage and lawn
was embayed by a crowning crescent of choice foliage and shade trees;
the thin horns of the crescent terminated at the gateways in low gray
stone towers. From these points the horns gradually grew broader and the
shrubbery rose higher. First the rhododendrons mixed with clumps of
hollyhocks, next flowering almonds, roses, spireas and syringas; then
came the drooping long leaf sugar pines, with an artistic mingling of
slender limbed graceful silver birches: farther back were the taller
firs and spruces, interspersed with thick clumps of small copper
beeches, extending to and joining at the back of the cottage, the dense
forest of tall, straight bodied elms, oaks and maples which partly hid
and shaded the stables and the kitchen portion of the cottage.
The cottage itself was built of gray stone; with thick walls and large,
low, deep seated windows. It was two stories in height, with three
square towers rising twenty feet higher. The central tower was larger,
and gave space within its walls for one grand room of magnificent
proportions, thirty feet square and with a fifteen foot ceiling. The
general effect of the cottage, lawn, and crescent background of foliage
and forest, was as novel as it was beautiful. As the carriage entered
the farther gateway, Fillmore Flagg was surprised and delighted:
"How perfectly exquisite!" he exclaimed: "A real gem! A romantic scene
from fairyland! Rightly named 'Fairy Fern Cottage!' It is a fitting home
for Fern Fenwick."
"Thank you, Mr. Flagg," said Fern Fenwick as they stepped from the
carriage to the porch: "I appreciate your praise of my cottage home. I
love it, I am proud of it, I give you a hearty welcome to its halls. May
your memories of it prove always pleasant. Let us enter. During your
stay you are to occupy the front room on the second floor, the one
under the right hand tower. I think you will find the view from the
windows very pleasing and attractive. The luncheon bell will sound in
just half an hour."
In the dining room Fillmore Flagg found Mrs. Bainbridge who greeted him
very cordially. She sat at the left of Fern Fenwick, who was at the head
of the table. The table itself was oval shaped, very large, seemingly of
rich, solid mahogany; the china and silver were elegant and artistic.
The center piece was a large silver tray filled with a wonderful
collection of rare ferns. Around it a ring of cut glass bouquet holders,
filled with spikes of flaming gladioluses, formed a most effective
border.
"You are to sit here at my right, Mr. Flagg," said Fern Fenwick.
As Fillmore Flagg took the proffered seat, he thought her a most
charming hostess, admirably fitted to preside over this exquisitely
decorated table. He looked in vain for her father; finally concluding
that Mr. Fenwick must be a confirmed invalid, confined to his room.
Luncheon over, Fern Fenwick invited Fillmore Flagg to her study to
consider the business of the work before them. Her study proved to be
the large square room in the central tower, which was so generously
lighted by its eight large windows. The furniture was of carved oak; the
carpet and hangings, rich and heavy, were of a pale lilac tint, which
gave an air of peaceful quiet and harmony to the room. From the front
window, looking eastward, a long stretch of the beautiful Hudson could
be seen at one sweeping glance. In the south east corner of the room
stood Fern Fenwick's desk, a large one with a roll top. At the right of
the desk, on an easel against the wall, was a very fine, life size
crayon portrait of a noble looking man of sixty winters or more. The
massive forehead was both broad and high and very smooth. The eyes were
wide apart, large and expressive, the full beard, thick and fine; the
hair, abundant and wavy. Both hair and beard were evenly tinged with
gray. The body was large, erect and well proportioned--it fittingly
matched the noble head. The portrait impressed one as being life-like
and full of character. Close beside the easel was a large arm chair,
upholstered with stuffed leather, a grayish brown. Lying across the arms
of the chair was a large, peculiarly shaped trumpet of aluminum,
ornamented with a heavy cord and tassel of gray silk.
"Mr. Flagg," said Fern Fenwick, "this is my private workroom; here I am
undisturbed and not at home to callers. This is my desk. Here you see my
father's portrait: this is his favorite chair. Will you be seated in the
smaller chair near it? I will sit in the chair at my desk."
"Pardon me, Miss Fenwick," said Fillmore Flagg, "Up to this time I had
thought of you as living here with your father: I now perceive, from the
way you speak of his portrait and of his favorite chair, that he must be
dead. Please correct me if I am wrong in my conclusions."
"I will explain the situation in a very few words," said Fern Fenwick.
"In the eyes of the world I am an orphan, my father and mother having
both passed from this to the land of spirit. The world, in its blind
ignorance, calls them dead. To me, thanks to my mediumship, and to the
mighty truth of spirit communion, they are still conscious, living,
loving parents. Every day, here in this room, they come to me and
through the trumpet there, speak to me as naturally, as fluently and as
lovingly as ever. I feel and realize their constant watchfulness and
loving care. In times of need their advice never fails, always proving
as wise as it is unerring. They never for a moment allow me to realize
that I am an orphan in any sense of the word. The word Death has no
terrors for me: I realize that for them it means simply a happy
transition to a higher life, filled with broader and brighter
possibilities; and, blessed truth! that they are permitted to come to me
when I need them. I sometimes shudder when I think what might have
happened to me if I had not been born and bred a spiritualist and a
medium. However, we will speak of these things more at length later on.
At this time, under my father's guidance and with your assistance, I am
to carry out and complete his plans for the improvement of farm life on
lines quite in harmony with your ideas. I know he approves of you and of
your work, and has confidence in your integrity and ability. At the
proper time he will speak to you personally through the trumpet. Let us
now consider another matter pertinent at this time.
"In order that you may thoroughly understand the situation that
surrounds and affects our work, it will be necessary for me to tell you
the story of my life, and with it the story of the life of my father."
CHAPTER VI.
FENNIMORE FENWICK.
"On a pioneer farm in northwestern Iowa, with a broad expanse of
beautiful prairie on every side, far from town or village, lived my
grandfather, George Fenwick. On this farm in October, 1840, my father,
Fennimore Fenwick, was born. Of a family of nine children, five boys and
four girls, he was the fifth, two of the brothers and two of the sisters
being older. Closely associated as a healthy, harmonious family of
children, they grew up surrounded by the conditions of an isolated farm
life, so general in the widely scattered settlements of those early
days, with only now and then rare chances for a little schooling of the
most primitive character. However, they shared with each other their
joys and sorrows, their plays and privations; always forbearing and
patient, kind and affectionate, light-hearted, sympathetic and helpful,
they did much to develop that broad, loving, genial nature which made my
father kin to all mankind. So just and true! So nobly unselfish! A
signal illustration of the great blessing which Nature's beneficent law
of compensation brings to large families.
"Passing on to September, 1865, at the close of the war of the
rebellion, we find the large family, so long and harmoniously united,
now separated and widely scattered. Grandfather and grandmother Fenwick
both died during the closing year of the war. With the exception of my
father, the brothers and sisters were all married and settled on farms
of their own: some in Iowa, one in Missouri, two in Kansas, and two in
Minnesota. The homestead was divided between the two younger brothers.
All of the brothers served as soldiers, good and true, during the war;
the two younger only one year each. My father, more fortunate than the
others, by his bravery and soldierly excellence won a commission, and
came home the captain of his company.
"From this point forward we will follow my father's career as he makes a
pathway in life for himself.
"From 1865 to 1871 he devoted his time and his savings to hard study in
the best of schools, finishing a master of his profession--a mining
engineer and expert in assaying and metallurgy. From 1871 to 1882 he was
general manager of a wealthy mining company in Colorado at a large
salary, making a name for himself as one of the most skillful and
successful men in the profession. While in Colorado my father was
haunted by an intuitive feeling that the gold-bearing quartz region of
Alaska held a rich find in store for him. In October, 1882, a very
strong corporation was organized in San Francisco, 'The Alaska Mining
Co.,' to open and operate their extensive mines in Alaska. The directors
of the company chose my father manager. They offered him an increased
salary to go to Alaska to take entire charge of the work. This position
he accepted and retained for five years. During that time he discovered
a very rich mine on a small, rocky island near the coast. In partnership
with his old friend, Mr. Dunbar, one of the San Francisco directors of
the Alaska Mining Co., my father, at the end of five years service for
the company, had developed the mine on the island into one of the best
paying and most extensive of that famously rich gold bearing quartz
region. This was the foundation and support of his vast fortune, which
thereafter required his entire attention. At the death of Mr. Dunbar,
which occurred in 1890, his one-third interest in the mine passed to his
son, Dewitt C. Dunbar, a young man of great energy and integrity, with
an excellent business education. He impressed my father as one in every
way trustworthy and capable. At my father's request, Dewitt C. Dunbar,
accompanied by his young wife, at once removed to Alaska. Under my
father's tuition he began to prepare himself to take the active
management of the mine, which had been christened 'The Martina.'
"In 1882, while on his first visit to San Francisco, my father met and
loved Martina Morrison, my mother--my beautiful mother. She was
twenty-seven, my father forty-two. They were perfectly adapted to each
other, and both equally charmed and devoted. She possessed a fine mind,
well cultured; a handsome physique, charmingly graceful in every
movement; and, her crowning glory, an exceedingly amiable disposition.
Martina Morrison, by those who knew her longest and best, was declared
to be the soul of honor. She was an excellent medium, an enthusiastic
and devoted Spiritualist--one of its purest and most eloquent exponents,
highly esteemed by all as an able and earnest worker in the service of
the two worlds. Fennimore Fenwick, my father, soon became much
interested in her wonderful mediumship, and later became convinced of
the absolute verity of the mighty truths of Spiritualism. He at once
declared himself its willing and outspoken advocate: in his enthusiasm
of delight he even hailed it as the coming religion of the world.
"Martina Morrison had such confidence in my father's future mining
success, that she readily yielded to his urgent request for a speedy
marriage, that she might accompany him on his first trip to Alaska. And
thus it was they sailed away on their bridal tour, their destination
that far off land of flashing glacier and unexplored forest, almost, if
not quite, beyond the borders of civilization. This long voyage to an
unknown country had no terrors for them. They were all the world to each
other. A bright halo of hope and happiness spread a soft glow of
enchantment over ship and sail, sea and sky, so vivid, so far reaching,
that it even touched and tinted the distant shores of that far off, rock
bound coast of Alaska. Smooth seas, lovely weather and favoring winds
speeded the voyagers: those halcyon days flew swiftly by. Almost before
they dreamed it possible the vessel came to anchor in the port that
marked the end of the voyage. Safely landed, my father reported at once
at the office of The Alaska Mining Company, only a few miles distant.
There he commenced his five years of management for the Company, of
which I have already spoken. There my mother remained until December,
1884, when she returned to San Francisco, to visit her friends. My
father followed her five months later."
CHAPTER VII.
AN ALASKA KINDERGARTEN.
"In June, 1885, I was born, and soon became a very active member of the
Fenwick family. I was pronounced by all who saw me an offspring in every
way worthy of my noble father and my beautiful mother. When I was two
months old, my parents returned to Alaska, taking me with them. There I
remained until I was seven years old--seven years in that forbidding
clime, so near the Arctic Circle. Isolated from other children, yet how
happy and contented I was. Those years recall a troop of joyous
memories, with not a bitter one to mar the group. My beloved parents
were my only companions, playmates, teachers and confidants. I was
papa's own girl. He was very proud of me and wished me to be with him as
much as possible. He never wearied in the endless task of answering my
questions, always so skillfully directing them by suggestions, that in
my receptive mind there was soon unfolded a clear conception of the
outlines of the different branches of all useful knowledge. When I was
four years of age I knew the alphabet perfectly and could spell and
construct a great number of words with my lettered blocks, and then copy
them on my slate. When I was five years old, thanks to my mother's
patient teaching, I could read fairly well. My father's ingenious
methods soon made me familiar with the key-words of geology, chemistry,
(including the names of minerals, metals and gases) botany, history,
geography, physics and astronomy. I was unconsciously taught to
associate these words or names with the groups, or families, to which
they belong. I would spend hours with my father in the most delightful
game of separating and classifying a miscellaneous heap of different
colored blocks, bearing the names of minerals, metals and gases and the
key-words of the studies I have just mentioned. To illustrate: The
astronomy blocks were blue with the names in white letters; the geology
blocks were a deep reddish brown, with names in gray; chemistry, red,
lettered in black; botany, green, lettered in yellow; geography, gray,
lettered in blue; history, black, lettered in red; physics, a deep
orange yellow, lettered in white; mathematics was represented in a small
way by the cipher and nine digits, lettered in black upon ten plain
unpainted blocks, giving in their forms that number of the principal
geometrical figures, to which was added a shallow box with a broad lid,
perforated by ten holes, corresponding to the blocks in number, size and
shape, but large enough for the blocks to easily pass through into the
box.
"In these groupings my childish interest and delight was intensified by
my father's personification of the different families, such as: 'Mr.
Astronomy Blue,' 'Mrs. Geology Brown,' 'Mr. Chemistry Red,' etc. For
instance, the wonderful stories he told to me of the minerals, metals
and gases--the sons and daughters of Mr. Chemistry Red, as he termed
them--describing their loves and hates, the great variety of pranks they
played, the queer combinations they entered into, the good and the bad
work they performed, etc. These to me were fairy stories of the most
charming kind, while at the same time they gave me a correct idea of the
powers and properties of these unfamiliar things and served to identify
them more closely as members of the chemistry family. My mother was a
natural teacher, very proficient in botany, and in history, with its
flower and fruitage of classic prose and inspiring poetry. She entered
into my father's 'block-signal-system' of education with an enthusiasm
as zealous and childish as my own, therefore her contributions to the
rapidly increasing store of blocks were large and exceedingly
interesting. Her stories regarding the numerous members of the botany
and history families proved equally profitable and charming; those about
plants and trees especially so. These stories and plays of science
grouping, always associated with such pleasant emotions of my childish
heart, became permanently fixed and dominant in my mental growth,
forming separate brain structures around which the details of the
accumulated knowledge of future years could easily and naturally
classify and crystallize.
"Thus swiftly passed those happy years of my early girlhood. So
constantly was I associated with my dear father and mother that schools
I did not need. In my seventh year, under their supervision, I commenced
a systematic course of scientific reading which I kept up until after I
graduated from college. I commenced with the Science Primer Series,
reading aloud to my parents one half hour each morning and evening,
conversing and commenting on the different topics as we went along. This
proved to be a continuation of the game of blocks: just as interesting,
equally entertaining; all about the same familiar families. I enjoyed it
so much and never once dreamed I was accomplishing a great deal of good
hard study. To me it was play; play that gave me more pleasure than any
of my childish sports. I soon began to ask for an extension of the half
hour lessons to an hour each; when my request was granted my cup of
pleasure was full, my joy complete. With each succeeding week my
interest in all my studies continued to grow. Yet my health remained
perfect: my physical kept an even pace with my mental growth, largely
owing, no doubt, to the much enjoyed hours of good romping exercise and
the dancing and singing which followed my reading lessons.
"You must pardon me, Mr. Flagg, if I should tire you with such a
detailed account of my child life; my excuse must be, the valuable hints
it may offer when we come to consider a school system for the children
of our model co-operative farm."
"I am profoundly interested," said Fillmore Flagg. "The very wonderful
result flowing from the wise methods conceived by your parents and
carried out by them so devotedly, fills my mind with admiration and
offers a flood of suggestions as to the possibilities of what may be
accomplished by a properly conducted, well equipped school on a
co-operative farm. But you must not allow me to interrupt--please
proceed with your very interesting story."
CHAPTER VIII.
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE "FAIRIES."
Fern Fenwick rose from her seat saying: "As it is near sunset, Mr.
Flagg, I have something to show you in the way of a surprise, which I
wish you to see before it becomes too dark: after having seen it you
will better understand why this house was named 'Fairy Fern Cottage.'
Therefore I propose that we now adjourn to the cool shade of the grounds
at the rear of the cottage, postponing the recital of the remainder of
my story until this evening."
"I shall be delighted to follow you," said Fillmore Flagg. "You have
excited my curiosity; I am just in the mood to learn all I can about
this lovely cottage and its beautiful surroundings."
As they reached the shady lawn, so cool and sweet from its recent
sprinkling, Fillmore Flagg observed that a wide, straight avenue, shaded
by towering oaks and widely branching elms, led from the rear porch of
the cottage to the broad front of the roomy stone stables, some two
hundred and fifty feet distant. In the center of this avenue, with a
finely graveled carriage drive on either side, rose a long line of huge
stone arches, ten in number. These imposing structures of solid masonry
were full thirty feet high, spreading to a width of thirty feet at the
base. The two center arches were each twenty feet thick; the others, ten
feet each. The open space between the arches was uniformly ten feet; the
open circle under each arch was twenty feet in diameter. The vista
formed by the spaces and arches together, was over two hundred feet in
length. From the farther arch to the front of the stables lay thirty
feet of smooth, clean gravel which covered, at this point, the full
width of the avenue, seventy-five feet, forming the open court, around
which was built the stables and the two tastefully designed stone
buildings on either side--one, beautifully fitted up for the residence
of the superintendent, the other containing the heating and pumping
apparatus and the electric generator. The two wide center arches
supported the huge metal tank which held the ample water supply of both
cottage and outbuildings. Evidently, they were admirably adapted to that
particular purpose. The rough stone work of the outside of all the
arches was artistically covered and beautified by a luxuriant growth of
intermingled ivy and cinnamon vine, which gave a still deeper shade to
the interior. To the beholder, the exterior effect of the vines on the
long line of arches was as beautifully romantic as if it really were one
of those old Abbeys in picturesque ruin, so charmingly described by Sir
Walter Scott. Deep grooves in the stone work, with light iron frames
fastened near the outer edges of the arches, gave support during the
cold weather to a roof of double glass, which covered all the open
spaces between the arches, converting the whole into one vast
greenhouse, through which passed the system of heating pipes from the
furnace room to the cottage, thus providing a roomy winter home for an
army of tropical plants and shrubs and at the same time protecting the
water supply from the ill effects of all frost. A screen of interlacing
vines, in place of the glass roof, now served to make the shade of the
archway almost complete.
Having sufficiently examined the exterior and becoming to some extent
familiar with the general plan and purpose of these unique arches,
Fillmore Flagg and Fern Fenwick returned to the covered entrance from
the kitchen porch. Here, as they were standing a few feet above the
ground, they had an unobstructed view of the interior of the archway.
Through the center, where the lower disc of the open circles touched the
ground, ran a deep bed of coarse gravel, covered with a thick layer of
smooth round pebbles, forming a perfectly drained pathway about three
feet in width which extended uniformly from one end of the archway to
the other. Conforming to the contour of the arches, rising and receding
in unison, this pathway was bordered on either side by what appeared to
be a continuous terrace of three stone benches, each one foot high and
of the same width. These benches really were very heavy square terra
cotta pipes, ingeniously cemented together with telescopic joints, and
having thick, grooved covers which formed the protecting conduits for
the wires of the lighting system and the pipes of the irrigating and
heating apparatus.
Artistically arranged on these benches, in pots that were beautifully
modeled, colored and glazed, was a wonderful collection of choice ferns,
embracing all of the known varieties in prodigal profusion. The pots
were so arranged that the smaller varieties occupied the lower benches,
with the larger ones in gradually increasing sizes on the higher benches
farther back. Viewed from either end of the archway they formed two
matchless banks of the rarest verdure and the loveliest foliage
the world ever saw. Everywhere the eye was delighted by great
masses of drooping fronds of delicate green, like rare lace in
fineness--outrivaling in beauty the plumes of the famous birds of
paradise.
"This is simply superb!" exclaimed Fillmore Flagg. "I never saw anything
one half so lovely! Shall we walk through now?"
"Wait a moment, Mr. Flagg," said Fern Fenwick. "The twilight shadows are
so deep you have, as yet, caught only a glimpse of the rare beauty of my
lovely ferns." Stepping quickly to the right side of the first arch, she
pressed a button and lo! those wonderful banks of ferns, and all the
space of the archway, was flooded with a glory of soft, clear light. A
thousand tiny bulbs, in a lovely variety of flower and fern leaf
patterns, gleamed and glowed from beneath the ferny banks or hung
pendant, rainbow like, from the roof of this rock ribbed archway.
Held spellbound for some moments by his surprise, admiration and
delight, Fillmore Flagg murmured softly, almost in a whisper: "Can
anything surpass this vision of perfect beauty?"
"Yes," said Fern Fenwick, radiant and smiling, "I think it can be
surpassed, but we must allow the enchantress to use her magic once more,
by giving my darling ferns their bath of beauty. Then you shall see them
in their diamond robes."
Saying this, she pressed another button. A thousand tiny pipes,
concealed in the ribs of the stone roof, gave forth a shower of fine
spray, filling the long fernery with a hazy mist of cobweb fineness.
Very soon millions of globules of moisture gathered on leaf, stock,
frond, plume and tiny tip of every leaflet, reflecting each ray of light
with diamond-like brilliancy. Pressing another button to shut off the
spray, Fern Fenwick said:
"Now, Mr. Flagg, my ferns have donned their royal robes and are ready
for your tour of admiring inspection. I assure you they are worthy of
it. As a choice collection of ferns in such perfect condition, its equal
cannot be found in all the wide world! As a collector I am an
enthusiast; for many months I have travelled far and wide in my efforts
to add new specimens of rare beauty to the original collection. You may
guess how much I prize it when I tell you that money could not buy it."
"You are surely a most wonderful enchantress," replied Fillmore Flagg.
"I feel that under the potent spell of your magical wand, I have entered
the inner mysteries of some glorious temple of ferns, in a world of
enchantment! I am so fascinated and dazzled by this marvellous display
of brilliancy and beauty, that I am moved to pay homage to you, Miss
Fenwick, as a fitting tribute of loyal devotion to Fern, the Fairy Queen
of this fair temple."
As he finished his gallant speech, the deep tones of emotion vibrating
in the full rich voice of Fillmore Flagg, and the look of intense
admiration which shone so eloquently from his eyes, brought a flush of
color to the fair face of Fern Fenwick and warned her that it was time
to be moving. Skillfully keeping up the personification, she quickly
said:
"Mr. Flagg, I am delighted on behalf of the fairies to express thanks
for the glowing tribute to their Queen which you have so beautifully
voiced. Let us now walk through to the end of the fernery and return. As
we pass along I will point out my favorite plants."
Only a few steps had been taken when Fillmore Flagg paused, listening
and looking about him in all directions, with a very puzzled expression.
A delightfully cool breeze was fanning their faces: this breeze was
laden with some strangely sweet perfume both soothing and stimulating to
the senses. The air all about them seemed to vibrate with the distant
melody of some angelic music, now sinking, now swelling in perfect
harmony; so soft, so clear, so bright, so inspiring in its wealth of
tone and joyous movement.
"Ah! Miss Fenwick," said Fillmore Flagg, "my senses are all entranced!
Your wonderful fairies in this grotto of magic are at this moment
thrilling my being with sensations of the most intense delight! How can
the Fairy Queen explain? What has she been doing with her magical wand
to produce such delicious perfume; such entrancing music?"
Fern's merry laugh rang out musically clear, and her eyes sparkled
roguishly as she replied: "I assure you Mr. Flagg, that in this instance
the fairies are not responsible. The explanation is quite simple but
rather long. Therefore let us move forward while I give you the details:
As we were stepping down on this graveled walk, I turned the switch and
started the ventilating fans, at the same time connecting the electric
current with a series of melophones located near the top of the arches.
Along the ventilating tubes, in a series of small compartments, are
sponges saturated with different kinds of perfume. These sponges can be
exposed to the air current or withdrawn at will, yielding a single
perfume or a blending of as many kinds as one may wish. The wonderful
variety of these choice blendings, which can be so easily produced,
affords a constant succession of sweet surprises. The melophones which
you hear, represent the highest achievement of art in the production of
automatic musical instruments. This set is the most complete and the
most expensive one in existence. In construction and final completion
they cost the inventor and maker three years of constant thought and
labor. The result is truly marvellous. The perfection of harmony and
purity of tone are convincing testimonials of their excellence. In
operation these instruments are placed in a very large double tube made
from a peculiar kind of metallic alloy recently discovered, which
affords the most perfect conditions for the conservation and
conductivity of all musical vibrations. They are capable of producing an
almost endless variety of choice music. The selection which we hear at
this time, is one which I have re-named 'The Carol of the Ferns.' Pardon
me, Mr. Flagg, if in my enthusiasm over the beauties of what you have so
poetically termed my 'magical temple of ferns,' some of my statements
should sound like boasting; I assure you they are not so intended. I
trust that now I have cleared up the mystery to your perfect
satisfaction."
"Charmingly," said Fillmore Flagg, "Nevertheless my fairyland illusions
still abide with me; I confess I am still under the spell of the great
happiness they have given to me--I shall never forget it. The truth in
this case proves even stranger than fiction; I quite agree with you that
in all the wide world there is nothing like this! It seems to me that
those extraordinary melophones yield the finest music I have ever heard.
In sweetness and purity of tone, softness and wealth of harmony, which
is pervaded by some electric quality of inspiration, so stirring, so
thrilling that every nerve and every cell in the body responds. They
stand unrivaled as the very acme of musical art. I now understand why
your lovely home here should be named 'Fairy Fern Cottage.' I fully
appreciate the significance of the title. This royal temple of ferns
makes the name most fittingly appropriate, and easily ranks this cottage
as the eighth wonder of the world! The fame of its rare beauty should be
known in every land. You ought to be very proud of it. I assure you,
Miss Fenwick, that you are abundantly justified in praising it
enthusiastically at all times, without fear of being considered
egotistical. But tell me, if I may be permitted to ask, who was the
wonderful genius who first conceived and planned the building of this
imposing line of arches? So useful, so ornamental, so unique, yet so
perfectly adapted as a summer and a winter home for your ferns and
flowers and, withal, offering such a perfect title to your unrivaled
cottage home."
"Thank you, Mr. Flagg, for that question. In my reply I am eager to pay
a deserved tribute to the dearest and noblest of men--my father.
Inspired by his love for me, his brilliant mind conceived the entire
plan and purpose of this curiously novel structure. He succeeded in
completing it and also in filling it with the original collection of
ferns, without my knowledge. On the morning of my fifteenth birthday,
he brought me here to bestow upon me this priceless gift. The surprise
was a perfect one. When he made me understand that he gave with it a
deed to the cottage and grounds, the surprise became so intense that it
fairly took my breath away. I was so overjoyed that by turns I laughed,
and cried, and hugged papa, until I came very near to having a genuine
fit of hysteria! At that time we changed the name of the house to Fairy
Fern Cottage. This is why I am so proud and so fond of my cottage home.
This is why I appreciate your praise of it so much--why I am so thankful
for it. I feel sure that you will now appreciate my sincerity when I
repeat that money could not buy it!"
CHAPTER IX.
THE PROBLEM VS. A GOOD MAN WHO IS AS RICH AS HE IS NOBLE.
After supper Fern Fenwick and Fillmore Flagg returned to the tower room
for the continuation of the story. She began by saying:
"Let us return to my father's mining operations in Alaska. In 1892,
Dewitt C. Dunbar assumed the active management of the Martina mine. A
large proportion of my father's surplus capital from the mine had been
invested, through trusty agents, in the cities of San Francisco, Saint
Paul, Chicago, Washington and New York. We at once planned a tour of
travel that would give him the opportunity to personally inspect these
investments, and at the same time give me a chance to see the world,
and to mingle in society, or so much of it as a continuous hotel life
might offer.
"For my mother and myself this delightful tour was one long holiday. We
enjoyed it so much. To me especially, it proved exceedingly profitable;
geographically speaking, my ideas of the largeness of the world, and the
vast number of its people, were wonderfully expanded. In December, 1893,
father completed his investments by the purchase of a winter home in the
city of Washington, and this summer home here. This cottage was built in
the year 1900.
"During the summer of 1894 we visited the brothers and sisters of my
father, who were at that time living with their families on farms in
Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. As was generally the
rule, with a large class of farmers in those states at that time, we
found them, with but few exceptions, poor, in debt, and very much
discouraged by the menacing outlook for the future. Farm interests
everywhere were in a desperate condition. A succession of twenty years
of falling prices for all farm products, accompanied by frequent
calamities, such as hail storms, hurricanes, hot, blighting winds,
drouth and armies of grasshoppers, had so multiplied and magnified the
farm debts, and so reduced the value of farm, stock, and product, that
even the interest on the indebtedness could no longer be kept up; ruin
and beggary threatened the entire community of farmers. Under the severe
pressure of these conditions, great numbers of the more unfortunate
abandoned their farms in despair and sought employment elsewhere, mostly
in manufacturing centres and the large eastern cities. Much of the money
and wealth of the land had flown to those points, thither logically,
they followed, to enter the ranks of that vast army of competitors for
the crumbs that might fall from the table of an already glutted labor
mart; to learn by bitter experience how cruelly the system of
competition in all kinds of business can grind the helpless poor; to
learn, through years of suffering, the real meaning of competition, that
so long as it rules over commercial and industrial systems, the rich
must grow richer and fewer in number, while the poor must grow poorer,
and more and more numerous; to apprehend, slowly and painfully, that by
coming from farm to city they had still farther congested the already
overstocked labor market, thereby adding fierceness to the competition,
insuring an increase in the purchasing power of the dollars of those who
held the labor market, while they correspondingly decreased the
possibilities for earning the dollars they must have in order to live;
to perceive dimly in their desperation, that congestion of the labor
market speedily affected all markets; that an overstocked labor market
always meant a decrease of wages, which in turn, caused a corresponding
shrinkage in the number of purchasers for all salable goods in the
general market, followed by increased panic and stringency in the money
market; which speedily rolled up another disaster, sweeping in turn,
additional thousands into the ranks of the unemployed; demonstrating,
finally, that a repetition of these evils is inevitable; that
competition in its last analysis, means the complete destruction of all
business.
"As my father came to understand the full significance of this
deplorable situation, involving and distressing his own brothers and
sisters, his noble nature was grieved and shocked. He made haste to
place his people in a condition of financial independence. How happy and
grateful they were! And my father rejoiced with us that he was able to
offer such timely assistance. He then announced to us his determination
to devote the remainder of his life, and so much of his fortune as might
be necessary, to the solution of the problem of how best to overcome the
blighting evils of the competitive system. After much thought, long
research and hard study, he decided to commence with the land as the
necessary basis of all progress; with the farm as the rational
progressive unit; with improved farm methods on co-operative lines, as
the lever by which to restore the control of the land to the farmers,
and to lift them and their sons and daughters from the class of ignorant
dependents, to a class of cultured independents, which should be well
worthy of serving as a model in the race of progress, for all the other
classes. In his efforts to modify, correct, and reform social and
business methods, he proposed to use the strong and kindly arms of
Co-operation in fighting the evils of Competition, or its
representative, the pitiless competitive system. He reasoned that all
forms of government are but the result of co-operative effort. Both
experience and observation had taught him that the measure of excellence
of any government is the measure of its perfection in co-operation.
Therefore it logically follows, that the more perfect the co-operation
achieved by the administration of any form of government, the greater
the degree of justice and equality attained in the distribution of
benefits to all of the governed."
CHAPTER X.
THE REAPING OF THE DEATH ANGEL.
"Towards the close of the summer of 1895, my father placed me in the
preparatory department of Vassar College, where I made rapid progress. I
began to appreciate the superior wisdom of the methods of teaching which
my parents had so systematically carried out for my improvement. Thanks
to their efforts, I held the key to all of the sciences, history and
literature, prose and poetry! All of their principal words or terms with
their definitions, were familiar friends to me; while all new facts
regarding their various subdivisions, auxiliaries, etc., and the
relations existing between them as such, were matters of absorbing
interest to me; so much so, that I soon became master of the subject I
was studying, very often proving a puzzling surprise to my teachers. At
the age of twelve I entered the regular course and graduated from
college just as I was entering my eighteenth year, being by four years
the youngest member of a graduating class of one hundred girls.
"Some months after my fourteenth birthday, my darling mother was taken
from me in the mortal form, very suddenly and most unexpectedly. My
father was away from home on a long trip to Alaska. I was at Vassar. My
mother was with a congenial party of friends at a favorite seaside
resort. One day while bathing, one lady of the party swam too far out,
was taken with a cramp and shrieked for help. My mother, who was
nearest, being an excellent swimmer, courageously went to her
assistance. Unfortunately, the tide was running full and strong and was
against my mother in her heroic struggle to save her friend. Alas!
before aid could reach them both sank beneath the waves and were lost.
My noble mother had generously sacrificed her earthly existence in her
brave effort to save the life of another! This was my first experience
of the grief and desolation that follows the reaping of the Death Angel.
In my youth, my half-dazed condition, I could neither realize nor
understand what later became so plain to me; that to die is to live
again. That death, so-called, is but the change from one form of life to
another, which is still higher in the scale of progress. Nor could I
then realize, that for the purpose of bringing to me a consciousness of
the possibilities of my spiritual being; under the ministrations of the
angel of compensation, out of the very depths of the gulf of bereavement
and sadness through which I was passing, there was coming to me the
precious gift of a priceless mediumship, the marvelous key! the
all-potent 'open sesame' with which to unlock the gates between the two
worlds and reunite the separated loved ones on either side.
"At that time Mrs. Bainbridge, then but recently widowed, was in charge
of the old home here. She was an excellent medium who had often proved
herself worthy of my mother's entire confidence. Acting under the
guidance of my arisen mother, she at once, without hesitation, took
charge of all business arrangements, especially those of preparing for
the cremation of my mother's body, in accordance with her often
expressed wish. She telegraphed the sad news to my father in Alaska,
asking for instructions. He replied at once that the body must be
cremated, as my mother had directed in her will. He would return as soon
as possible, but at the best he could not hope to arrive in less than
two months. In the meantime, Mrs. Bainbridge was authorized to take
entire charge of 'Fern,' and of his business affairs that needed
attention, until he came.
"I came home from college, sorely grieved and shocked at the awful
suddenness of my mother's transition, but through the mediumship of Mrs.
Bainbridge, my mother, having her in a deep trance, was soon able to
comfort me; to make me realize that she was not dead, but still near me
with all a mother's love and tender care. From time to time she directed
Mrs. Bainbridge how to manage the pressing business that came up. She
told me that she had long known that I was endowed with wonderful
mediumistic power, which must now be fully developed for her sake, as a
necessary and natural channel of communication so desirable to her,
which she should prize very highly. Also as a source of comfort for
myself and my father, especially as a joyful surprise for him when he
came home. Therefore it was decided between us that I was to sit one
hour each day with Mrs. Bainbridge for development. My mother seemed to
feel sure that I would make an excellent trumpet medium, and encouraged
me by predicting my speedy development as such. Strangely enough, so it
proved. My progress was rapid. In two weeks time my mother could speak
to me through the trumpet without difficulty and much to my delight. I
began to appreciate the great value of my wonderful gift and to
understand what it meant. Our dear family circle, which in my despair I
had thought broken forever, was now reunited. Father, mother, daughter!
just us three as of yore. And--the wonder of it--I, the youngest, the
weakest and the least wise of the trio, was the instrument! When I
thought of the possibilities, of the joy and consolation it would bring
to my father and mother, my heart swelled with gratitude and
thankfulness that this mighty power had come to me. The power to destroy
the dread of death; to demonstrate the continuity of life; to prove that
the binding love of family ties, kindred, and cherished friends still
shone with untarnished lustre beyond the shadows of the silent grave.
How beautiful, how wonderful, how glorious it was! And with this power
came the solemn charge that I was to cherish it with care and keep it
pure and holy. Yes, I resolved that I would do this conscientiously. It
should be my highest ambition to ever use my mediumship with my best and
most unselfish aspirations, to keep it apart from the grosser things of
life, to dedicate it to good and to good alone. And thus it was that my
mediumship continued to develop and grow in perfection. My mother could
talk with me as often as she wished and as long at each sitting as she
desired. I was no longer alone or despondent, my darling mother still
could be, and was really, my mentor, friend, parent, teacher and
spiritual guide. I forgot to mourn or to feel lonely, though I longed
for my father's homecoming that we might share this new found joy. So
interested was I and so occupied, that the two months quickly passed and
my dear father reached his home in safety. I had arranged for a quiet
evening with him alone. When my mother, through the trumpet, joined in
the conversation and welcomed him with loving words of endearment, so
familiar in the greetings of other days, he was almost overcome by the
flood of ecstatic emotions that moved and thrilled him as he began to
appreciate the significance of such a miraculous surprise. His heart was
glowing and his entire being permeated with this great wave of
happiness. His face was radiant with joy and beamed with fatherly
affection and pride as he pressed me to his heart again and again,
thanking me for my thoughtful spiritual work in the development of my
wonderful gift, which, for his consolation, I had striven so
unselfishly, so ardently and so earnestly to attain, while facing alone
the one great crisis of my young life. Still holding me in his arms, he
looked into my eyes long and fondly, almost adoringly, as he said: 'With
such a daughter, whose loving heart and purity of soul has won for her
the marvellous power to reunite our broken family circle, I am indeed
the most fortunate of all men.' Then in a moment I perceived that I was
no longer a child, I was a woman; that henceforth my father would think
of me as a woman--still his loving daughter--but also his equal, his
confidant, his trusted friend, his adviser in times of need, his oracle,
his medium of communication with the loved ones who dwelt in the world
of spirit. How good and beautiful was life in the light of this new
vista of possibilities and responsibilities for me! For the moment I
seemed to be transported to some grand spiritual height, where as a
responsive spiritual unit, I felt the throbbing of the limitless sea of
environmental life surrounding me like a golden mist, on every hand.
Every pulsation proclaimed my immortality as a part of that boundless
sea; boundless, fathomless, unthinkably shoreless! of life,
all-producing, all-containing! My soul no longer questioned. It was
filled with a peace and joy that passeth the power of words to describe.
"Thus inspired and encouraged for the future, I was ready and eager to
take up again the active duties of life. In resuming my collegiate
studies, it was agreed between my father and mother and myself, that I
should come home from Vassar every Friday evening, returning by the
early train Monday morning, the intervening time to be sacredly devoted
to our trumpet family circles. Oh, Mr. Flagg! How happy we were then!
For the next three years nothing was allowed to interfere with these
delightful reunions, whose memories are associated with so many
incidents that bound us three so closely with the silver cords of pure
affection.
"After leaving college, I accompanied my father in all of his
journeyings after new data in economics and agriculture. For this
purpose we spent the winter of 1902-3, travelling in France, Italy,
Germany and England, returning to America in April, 1903."
CHAPTER XI.
THE MARTINA MINE.
"Early in June of the same year, Dewitt C. Dunbar discovered a new lead
in the Martina mine which proved to be of such marvelous size and
richness, that my father's personal inspection was demanded at the
earliest possible moment, to decide on the best methods of pushing
forward the new work, and also to determine what part of the old work
should be continued. The numerous letters and telegrams from Mr. Dunbar,
all urging the utmost haste on my father's part, gave him but little
time to consider the results of such a long journey, or to make the
proper preparations for it. It was evident that Mr. Dunbar must be in a
state of intense excitement. In order to catch the next steamer from San
Francisco, father left a number of important items of business for me to
transact. I wished very much to go with him but all the circumstances
seemed to conspire against me. Father promised to return at the earliest
possible moment, meanwhile he was to send me a dispatch announcing his
safe arrival in Alaska. By the end of July, messages, and later, letters
began to reach me announcing the wonderful output of gold from the new
lead. So rich was the ore that for a time it was thought best to abandon
all work in the old mine. I could see very plainly from his letters that
the fever of Mr. Dunbar's excitement and enthusiasm had also claimed my
father as a victim. I then foresaw that his stay in Alaska would be
prolonged far beyond my expectations or his own. I began to feel very
uneasy and to wish most fervently that I had insisted on going with him.
I resolved in future to keep him company wherever he journeyed.
Meanwhile the yield of gold from the new lead continued to increase. The
value of the Martina rose like magic; offers to purchase at fabulous
prices came pouring in. Mr. Dunbar would not accept, and decided, then
and there, to remain another ten years as manager and resident
superintendent of the mine. That settled the question. After that, my
father announced that the mine was not for sale at any price. In writing
to me concerning the matter, he says:
"'My Dear Fern: * * * I at that time decided that my interest in
the mine which I had named for your mother, and which had proven
the luckiest and richest in Alaska, should pass to you as it came
to me, entirely unencumbered. So rest assured, my daughter, so
long as Dewitt C. Dunbar is able and willing to manage the mine,
both my interests and yours are in safe hands; in skill, honesty
and ability he is one of the grandest men I have ever known; he is
a treasure. You can trust him implicitly!'
"As I had anticipated, it was December before my father could leave
Alaska. In a letter dated Dec. 5, to which I shall again refer, he says:
"'I have planned to leave here on a steamer that sails on the tenth
of this month. I fear the voyage may prove a rough one. I have a
foolish dread of it, which is quite unusual for me. I am oppressed
by an uneasy feeling which I strive in vain to shake off. However,
I have taken good care to make such arrangements with Mr. Dunbar as
will cover all possible contingencies. This is to be my last trip.'
"On the twelfth of December I received a message from Mr. Dunbar,
stating that Fennimore Fenwick had sailed on the tenth as he had
planned; that he was well and strong, and would wire me as soon as he
reached San Francisco. This cheering message gave me new courage, I
began to count the days and to look forward more hopefully. I decided,
although it was so late in the season, to wait here in the cottage until
my father came. When Mrs. Bainbridge left to open our house in
Washington, I had intended to follow her a few days before Christmas,
but for some unexplained reason, I could not make up my mind to leave
the cottage. After the message came the question was settled--I was to
remain here."
CHAPTER XII.
SPIRIT AND MORTAL.--FATHER AND DAUGHTER.
"At this point, Mr. Flagg, I wish you to carefully note the significance
of the strange event which soon followed. Christmas Eve, 1903, found me
here alone, seated at my desk, alternately reading, musing and writing.
All day a terrific snow storm had been raging, at nightfall it continued
with increased severity. I could hear the fierce gale shriek as it
lashed the tree tops furiously. I shuddered when I thought what danger
such a gale might mean to the good steamer, bearing my father homeward
bound across the rough, icy waters of that far off wintry sea; that
yawning, terrible, treacherous sea!
"During the afternoon I had been nervous and lonely. As a solace, I had
a long talk from my mother through the trumpet, which cheered and
comforted me greatly, especially her confident promise that I should
hear from papa even sooner than I had hoped. Over this I was musing when
a strange thing happened. I was startled by the low tones of a familiar
voice from the trumpet. Almost frozen with fear, I heard: 'Do not be
frightened, my darling; I am your father, Fennimore Fenwick, who loves
you, if possible, more than ever. A frightful storm wrecked the steamer
and released me from my body. Nearly all of the passengers and crew
perished with me. A few still survive; they are in a single open boat,
tossing helplessly in the awful surge of that wild waste of water,
possibly they may yet be saved. My dear wife, Martina, your own
beautiful mother, was watching and waiting for me at the scene of the
wreck. Hers the beautiful arms that welcomed me as I was born into the
new life of the spirit. How glorious it was that she, so dear to me,
could be there. In the radiance and splendor of all her spiritual
loveliness, I was charmed almost to the point of forgetfulness. I seemed
to be floating on the bosom of a sea of golden mist, my spirit filled
with a measureless contentment. Presently I awoke to a vivid
consciousness of my new life. In the light of the loving eyes of my
peerless Martina, I was soon made to realize that I had just passed
painlessly from life mortal to life spiritual. I perceived that time and
space no longer barred the flight of my freed spirit. Hand in hand we
came; almost before I knew it we were here. Thanks to your mediumship,
and to this trumpet, I could come and speak to you so soon. Yes, my dear
child, we three, a loving trio, are still united just as of yore. I
shall be permitted to help you, from this side of life, to carry out and
complete my plans and purposes regarding improved modes of farm life. I
wrote you from Alaska on the fifth of this month, announcing my
intention of sailing on the tenth; that letter came by a Victoria
steamer and will soon reach you. At that time I was weighed down by a
premonition of some impending disaster. So seriously was I impressed,
that I at once made arrangements with Dewitt C. Dunbar, in case of my
death, to continue to operate the mine in partnership with you on the
terms now in force, and this he was perfectly willing to do. By the
terms of my will, now in the hands of my attorneys at Washington, you
are at this moment, sole heir to my large fortune. As you know, I long
ago placed my brothers and sisters beyond the reach of want. Well do I
know, my dear girl, that I can trust you perfectly, to carry forward my
work.'
"As his voice ceased to vibrate in the trumpet, I sprang to my feet
with outstretched and imploring hands: 'Father!' I cried, 'How can I do
this work alone? I am yet but a child, with a very limited business
experience to fit me for this great responsibility.' He at once replied:
'Fear not, my child. Faithful, capable, and trustworthy help shall be
brought to you. At all times I shall be near, to advise, and to guard
you and your interests. Go forward bravely in the conscious power of
your own potential spirit, dominant and dauntless. Armed with the
majesty and mystery of your mediumship, all obstacles shall yield, and
naught shall prevail over you!' This prophetic command, so thrilling, so
imperative, touched and stirred my inner self; my soul responded to the
appeal. In one brief moment I regained my self control; was calm, could
think clearly and reason logically.
"At intervals throughout the night I continued to consult with my
parents. My father advised me to write at once, announcing his death,
and requesting Mr. Dunbar to fix a time at which he could meet me in San
Francisco, for a conference. This I did at the earliest practicable
moment."
CHAPTER XIII.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
At this point in her story, Fern Fenwick said: "Mr. Flagg, I now realize
the wonderful prescience of my father's promise of abundant and timely
help, especially when I consider your life work, and the masterly way
you have equipped yourself for it, and finally, by the mysterious manner
in which we were brought together. Is it not almost like a miracle?"
"Really, Miss Fenwick, I am lost in amazement! It seems to me that I
must be dreaming! The situation is so entirely outside of my experience,
so unthinkably strange to me, that I doubt my ability to discuss it
intelligently. Your story is the most marvelous of anything I have ever
heard. I feel quite sure that it must be strictly true, yet I can
scarcely comprehend it. A host of questions arise in my mind, which I
wish to ask, if I may be permitted. When you heard the voice from the
trumpet, how could you feel so sure it was your father speaking? That he
had been swallowed up by the sea? That the shipwreck had really
occurred?"
"I do not wonder at your questions, Mr. Flagg," said Fern Fenwick, "I
will gladly answer as best I can. Without considering or discussing the
fact that the crucial test of identity was disclosed by almost every
word which my father uttered, yet I could not for a moment doubt his
presence. I knew he was there. I recognized every intonation of the
voice. I felt the identity of his spiritual personality, radiant with
the silent force of his love for me, quite as plainly as though at that
moment his physical personality had entered the room. My experience
after my mother's transition, the development of my mediumship, and my
increased sensitiveness to the presence of spiritual entities, no doubt
aided me greatly. At that time I perceived and recognized without
question, that life in the physical is but the expression of the spirit,
or Ego; that after the passing of the physical, the Ego inherits and
possesses immortality as a conscious individual entity, clothed with a
spiritual body, perfectly fitted for its continued existence in the
realms of the world of spirit; that, through the action of a natural
law, the law of mediumship, such spirits can and do, come to and
communicate with their friends and loved ones in earth life. All these
things, I knew my father understood clearly, therefore I was prepared to
accept the verity of his spiritual presence as readily as I would any
other phenomenon of nature. In conclusion, I may as well tell you at
this point, that the letter referred to by father as having been written
by him in Alaska on December fifth, together with my conference in San
Francisco, some months later, with Dewitt C. Dunbar; the arrival in port
at that time of a China steamer, bringing the mate and four sailors as
sole survivors from the wreck of the ill-fated steamer, and my interview
with them, all confirmed, in every particular, the truth of the
statements concerning the matter, which were made by my spirit father,
just after his passage through the gateway of death from life mortal to
life spiritual. Can I add anything more convincing?"
"Pardon me, Miss Fenwick! I believe what you have told me is absolutely
true. I can perceive and appreciate its wonderful significance only in
part. I understand now clearly why it was necessary for me to know so
much of the story of your life and that of your noble father. I have
listened to your story with almost breathless interest, with all I am
profoundly impressed. A new world is opening to me. My mental and
spiritual horizon has been extended beyond the power of words to
express. Life has a thousand new meanings: In them I read the importance
and responsibility of the great work we are about to undertake. I wait
with increased interest for my personal interview with your father. Now
that I have heard so much of him, I bow with added reverence to his
great and noble love for humanity which prompted, and his wonderful
genius which conceived and planned the work so generously. I am proud
and thankful that I have been chosen as an instrument deemed capable and
worthy of helping to carry it forward.
"As to things spiritual, pertaining to a life beyond the grave, I am
intensely interested and eager to know more. May I hope, Miss Fenwick,
that you will kindly consent to become my teacher in this new school of
wonderful phenomena and spiritual law? I too, am alone in the world; my
father and mother have both passed the bitter flood of the dark river of
death. They too, like your parents, must now be living in the world of
spirit as conscious, loving father and mother, with hearts filled with a
living, glowing affection that can and will respond to my own. Can it be
possible that I am to feel and know this by direct communication with
them?"
"I shall be delighted, Mr. Flagg, to help you in this matter in any way
that I can. Your desire for a direct communication from your parents is
perfectly natural and right and, I doubt not, will be fully gratified in
a few days.
"In this connection, let me ask: Have you ever had a seance with a
medium? Do you know anything about the laws that control and govern
mediumship? Have you been interested to any extent in reading the
all-comprehensive philosophy which mediumship demonstrates?"
"I am very glad, Miss Fenwick, that you have put those questions. I
desire to state briefly and frankly my attitude, up to this time,
towards mediumship and the philosophy and phenomena of spiritual
manifestations generally: I believe I was a born agnostic. All my life I
have been skeptical as to the verity of a life beyond the grave. In this
I have differed widely from my people, a large majority of whom have
been zealous Presbyterians for at least five generations, while I have
followed Voltaire and Ingersoll. In the ranks of their following I have
been content to cry: 'I don't know! I can wait! One world at a time is
enough for me!' As to mediumship, or any manifestations of it, I know
almost nothing. The few mediums I have met accidentally, have
unfortunately failed to impress me favorably. All that I have heard or
read of them has had a strong tendency to prejudice me against them and
the philosophy they taught. Therefore, until my visit to this cottage, I
have never been at all interested in the matter. I now perceive that in
studying the great problem of life, and how best to learn most about it,
I have utterly ignored one of the most important sources of both
information and inspiration. My prejudice and indifference have
vanished. I wonder at myself, at my readiness to accept your point of
view regarding your most marvelous mediumship and its wonderful
manifestations; at my feverish interest and anxiety to learn all I can
about things spiritual at the earliest possible moment; at my intense
longing for the complete verification of all the beautiful propositions
relating to spiritual life which you have stated so eloquently and so
convincingly; but most of all do I wonder and am amazed that these
things are not miracles; that they occur through the action of natural
law, which, if true, makes it possible--nay probable--that mediumship
and its manifestations are as old as life itself. This, Miss Fenwick,
defines my position as clearly as I can state it. Do you think I am
likely to prove a pupil worthy of his teacher?"
"I most assuredly do, Mr. Flagg," said Fern. "I think you are now
prepared for the promised interview with my father. However, before he
joins us, I wish to say by way of explanation, that when I am here
alone, he can use the trumpet with ease at any moment and in any kind of
light, but in the presence of strangers, different conditions are
required. We shall at first be obliged to use another kind of light. By
the aid of this light you can plainly see the trumpet, supported
horizontally in the air just over his chair, but you will be unable to
discern even the faintest outline of the spiritual form holding it; as
in using the trumpet, the vital force of both the manifesting spirit and
the medium is concentrated in the trumpet in the effort of speaking. Sit
perfectly quiet for a moment; I will close the windows and prepare the
room."
A few touches on the small keyboard in her desk, and lo the heavy double
curtains swiftly and silently unrolled and covered the windows. At the
same moment, the beautifully ornamented, dome shaped center of the lofty
ceiling began to glow with a constellation of soft, phosphorescent
lights, filling the room with a radiance as mild and silvery as
moonlight, and yet even more soothing to the nerves. Presently the air
was vibrant with the low, sweet strains of distant music, soft and slow
and of such exquisite harmony that it seemed a rare combination of all
that was inspiring, charming and beautiful in the variations of time,
sound and rythm. The combined effect of the light and the music on
Fillmore Flagg was electrical. Every nerve was thrilled with rapture.
He was completely absorbed. As the music ceased he turned with a start
to look for the trumpet. As he looked, it slowly rose from the chair and
there came from it the clear tones of a manly voice, full of sweetness
and power. He heard these words: "Fern, my daughter, will you tell this
gentleman who I am?"
"My dear father," said Fern, "How glad I am that you have joined us! Mr.
Flagg, this is my father, Fennimore Fenwick, of whom I have told you so
much. Father, this is Mr. Fillmore Flagg, who, as you already know, has
promised to devote himself to our work."
As the trumpet slowly moved nearer, Mr. Fenwick said: "Mr. Flagg, as the
father of Fern Fenwick, I extend to you a cordial greeting and a most
hearty welcome to Fairy Fern Cottage. I trust this is but the
commencement of a long and uninterrupted acquaintance, which may soon
ripen into a true friendship, that shall bring much pleasure and profit
to both. I am exceedingly well pleased with your advanced ideas on the
subject of co-operative farming as the proper cure for the evils that
now make farm life so miserable and so unsatisfactory. I wish
particularly to congratulate you on the thoroughly systematic and
successful methods you have adopted to it yourself so well for this
peculiar work.
"Now my young friend, one moment to another matter which is likely to
prove of great interest to you. I find your parents in spirit life. I
met them since you came to the cottage. They approve of your chosen life
work. They are very proud of you, their beloved son and only child. They
bid me give you a message of love with the assurance that they will
speak to you through this trumpet very soon."
"Mr. Fenwick," said Fillmore Flagg, "I thank you for the encouragement
of your kindly greeting and for the many pleasant things you have said
of me and my work. In the future I shall strive conscientiously to merit
your praise, and hope to earn your lasting friendship. As to the glad
tidings from my parents in spirit life, I am rejoiced. In my heart the
torch of hope is lighted; its pure flame is fast burning away the
barriers of the belief I have so long entertained, that 'Death ends
all,' also of the equally depressing creed of my Presbyterian people,
who have so long taught and thought that 'The dead know not anything;'
that my parents, with that vast army of souls, having passed the portals
of the tomb, are now lost in the oblivion of that long unconscious,
dreamless slumber, which stretches from the new made grave to The Day of
Judgment. Hence, the message of love from my parents, with the assurance
that they will speak to me so soon, has made me very happy. I am content
to wait patiently for such further messages as opportunity may bring to
me. I am ready and eager, Mr. Fenwick, to hear your plans. Please
proceed."
"Very well," said Fennimore Fenwick. "Fern, my daughter, you are to
remain at your desk with pencil and note book, prepared to take down
what I have to say."
CHAPTER XIV.
THE ETHICS OF PLANETARY EVOLUTION.
"In order to plan this work wisely, and to discuss it understandingly,
it will be necessary at the beginning to go back to first principles, to
try to discover the real object and purpose of human life on this
planet. In searching along the pathway of countless ages in our planet's
history, we discover a continuous upward movement in the progression of
the manifestations of life; from the mineral to the vegetable; from the
vegetable to the animal; from the animal to man. Man representing the
apex of progress in the constantly ascending spiral of the evolution of
life from the birth of the planet to the present time. Therefore, both
spirit and mortal, we are all children of the planet, chained to its
destiny, all alike working factors in the achievement of its purpose so
mighty. Through the planet, its solar system, and the system of systems
in a long line of an infinite series, far beyond the power of
computation, we are also the children of the Great Oversoul, the Source
and Center of all life!
"Human life, then, is the flower and fruit of the planet--the highest
combined expression of its life--each life a planetary seed, a
concentrated possibility of all expressions of planet life. Perhaps the
most convincing and beautiful illustration of the truth of this vital
and all important proposition is, that the reproductive cells of man in
his highest state of development, multiply by fission, or self-division
into halves, as did the primal sperm of protoplasm at the very beginning
of vegetable and animal life. This great philogenetic vine with its
myriads of branching arms, reaches in an unbroken line from the lowest
to the highest forms of life; all alike are fruit of this vine. This
offers indisputable evidence of the common brotherhood of humanity! the
motherhood of the planet! the fatherhood of the Great Oversoul!
"From these premises we may safely conclude that the object and purpose
of this planet is the evolution of human beings, their continued growth
and development, until the state of perfection for the entire race is
reached. With this comes the complete achievement of the purpose of the
existence of the planet. Hence, we perceive that human life is the most
precious production of the planet. Henceforth its energies are to flow
towards the perfecting of the human race.
"In the great, white light of a higher understanding of these basic and
vital truths, let us strive to make conditions for the protection of ALL
human life. The task becomes less difficult as we more readily
comprehend and appreciate the magnitude of the thought, that through the
planet, this sacred life is the immortal and enduring expression of the
Eternal Spirit. Viewed in this light, we apprehend clearly that all
acts, by society or individuals, which tend to protect, promote and
purify this life, are good, right and holy, and in their doing, become
the highest and best expression of a sacred religious duty. On the
contrary, all acts of society or individuals, which tend to destroy,
injure, poison or sully this sacred life, or to bar its ordained
progress are, in themselves, unholy, wrong, criminal and cruel, and in
commission, become the greatest and most unpardonable of all sins.
"All this becomes more apparent, when we consider that the sum of the
pleasant sensations of the individual, and the happifying emotions which
flow from them, constitutes the sum of human happiness. All conditions
of life which promote right living, ethical culture and moral growth,
nourish and call forth emotions of truth and honesty, pure pleasure,
adoration, worship, hope, affection, love and all the higher and nobler
characteristics, build up life and increase its capacity for happiness.
Through the action of an equally inexorable and unswerving law, the
misery and crime which poverty breeds, with its bitterness of hate,
grief and despair, and all the train of other evil emotions engendered
thereby, are poisonous in their nature; they tear down and destroy life.
Therefore that social and industrial system which affords most
abundantly, and for all of the people, conditions that are
life-promoting and poverty-banishing, is logically the nearest just and
right, because it is the nearest in harmony with natural law, and the
object and purpose of human life.
"Society as a whole, like a chain with defective links, is no stronger
socially, morally, industrially, or politically, than its weakest unit.
Hence it becomes the self interest of every individual member to
endeavor unselfishly to build up and strengthen the weaker units in
every possible way.
"These propositions furnish the only sound basis for a perfect system of
political economy--a system which shall afford the greatest amount of
good or happiness to all the people. In considering the clearness and
startling significance of these truths, we discover the cruel, criminal
wrong of any system of competition, based on the old barbaric law of the
survival of the fittest, which in its application means the pleasure and
happiness of the few at the expense of the toil, pain and misery of the
many. In this connection we note that man, in his evolutionary progress,
has reached a point where, being mentally and spiritually awakened to a
knowledge of the higher purposes of life, he perceives the true effect
of environmental conditions, with their good and evil tendencies. He
also perceives the cause and the cure. Armed with the talisman of this
knowledge, he boldly enters the field of causation and thenceforward
becomes a self-directing factor in his own evolution. At this important
stage, he clearly comprehends, that the injury of one is the concern of
all; that the perfection of all becomes the highest interest of each;
that the unprogressive law of the survival of the fittest, is nullified
and replaced by the higher law of unselfishness of the individual for
the advancement of the race; that the dual nature of man, physical and
spiritual, must be considered as inseparable, when dealing with the
practical questions of life; that physical life, as the primary school
of existence, is ephemeral, while the spiritual is the permanent and
enduring; that, consequently, the path of progress for the human soul,
lies almost entirely in the realms of the spiritual; that a life on the
physical plane, devoted solely to selfishness, dwarfs and chokes the
spiritual nature, and becomes a serious bar to unfoldment and progress
on the spiritual plane of existence: Finally, that, like the pent up
energies of some mighty volcano, the irresistible upward thrust of
nature's unfoldment, ever producing and disclosing higher expressions of
life, is to find its present outlet through these channels, by the wise
use of methods in harmony with the principles stated."
CHAPTER XV.
THE CO-OPERATIVE FARM AS A FACTOR IN SOCIAL EVOLUTION.
"From the thorough understanding and appreciation of these principles,
by the workers on your model co-operative farm, must come the necessary
zeal, the cementing enthusiasm of a mighty purpose which, with ever
increasing volume, shall urge them forward to the goal of complete
success. As one of the means to insure this success, we must strive to
introduce a new era for agriculture, in which co-operative working shall
be supplemented and reinforced by co-operative thinking. As applied to
farm work, this is a new and untried field which promises grand results.
"In all kinds of productive labor, muscular effort is a mental
demonstration! The keener the mentality controlling the muscles, the
more satisfactory the work accomplished. The more interested and the
healthier and happier the laborer is in his work, the easier it becomes
for him to produce superior results. For centuries, farm work has been
considered the natural avocation of the ignorant and the illiterate!
Strange as it may appear, it seems to have been generally conceded that
the typical clodhopper was the ordained farmer! That this perverted idea
regarding the requirements of a tiller of the soil, should have
maintained its existence for so many ages, is a matter of profound
astonishment to every intelligent thinker!"
"Pardon me, Mr. Fenwick," said Fillmore Flagg, "if at this time I quote
a case in point from my own state. As late as the year 1897, a Bishop
Withington, of Nebraska, speaking of farmers' sons who were struggling
for an education, says of them:
"'The farmers' sons--a great many of them--who have absolutely no
ability to rise, get a taste of education and follow it up. They will
never amount to anything--that is, many of them--and they become
dissatisfied to follow in the walk of life that God intended they
should, and drift into cities. It is the over-education of those who are
not qualified to receive it that fills our cities, while the farms lie
idle.'
"This, Mr. Fenwick, is but a sample of many like expressions from the
lips of public men, showing the stigma and low estimate which is placed
on farmers as a class, by clerical, professional and commercial people.
When we consider that farming people form a large majority of the
citizens of our republic, a republic whose constitution guarantees equal
rights for all; whose chief corner stone from the beginning, has been
its admirable system of free education in its public schools; the
manifest endeavor of the Bishop and his class, to consign the tillers of
the soil to a caste of low order, and to argue that education is for the
few and not for the farmer, indicates something radically wrong in our
social system that augurs ill for the future of our republic. That the
dissatisfaction is widespread and serious, is manifest to all thinkers
and observers. To discover the cause and cure, and to speedily apply the
remedy for this growing discontent, becomes an imperative duty for all
patriotic people. In my experience, the following are some of the most
prolific causes:
"The isolation and loneliness of the small farm.
"The long hours of tedious, monotonous toil for both man and woman.
"The constantly increasing competition of large farms, armed with
capital and expensive machinery, which tends to reduce the price of farm
products.
"The want of proper society, healthful amusements, books, and many other
necessary educational facilities.
"The discouraging meagerness of the financial returns for a year of such
constant toil.
"These things all tend to destroy the farmer's love for, and pride in,
his occupation, until farm work becomes a repulsive drudgery, and he
flies to the city for a more congenial employment. Is it then, under the
circumstances, any wonder that the farmers' sons should become
dissatisfied with the occupation of their birth? That in company with
their sisters and sweethearts they should be determined, at all hazards,
to escape from the evils of what Bishop Withington terms a
'God-ordained' class of hewers of wood, drawers of water, and tillers of
the soil, a class which dooms them and their children to a future of
hopeless toil?
"Agriculture forms the basis and support of our national, industrial and
commercial success. Therefore it is imperative that agricultural
pursuits be made to become the most noble and pleasing of all
occupations. How can this be accomplished?
"Surely, co-operative farming, with its improved conditions and methods,
is the remedy indicated!"
"Yes, Mr. Flagg," said Fennimore Fenwick, "Co-operative farming is the
partial remedy which shall start the healing process, and lead to the
discovery of a perfect cure. You have ably stated the evils which make
living on small farms so unsatisfactory. You have also made an excellent
argument for our work from the text Bishop Withington has so blindly
and unthinkingly furnished. It is quite evident that neither he nor his
class, have the least conception of the true cause of the discontent
they so deeply deplore. It is also equally clear that with all the
advantages of superior conditions, with the observation and education of
a lifetime, they have so far, utterly failed to understand or appreciate
the real object and purpose of human life. They are sorely in need of an
object lesson which we must furnish.
"In efforts to slake a natural thirst for knowledge, the brightest
minds, the most profound thinkers of the past ten centuries, at the end
of lives devoted to study, have declared that the vast domain of
knowledge still remained practically an unexplored field. This domain is
for coming generations to conquer and possess. It invites the efforts of
millions of co-operative thinkers, born and trained for the task. Hence,
to me, it is as clear as the noonday sun that the embodiment of more
mind by our agricultural people, is a matter of imperative necessity.
They should have the leisure and the opportunity to become familiar with
all the varied phenomena of nature, through the recorded observations
that comprise the different sciences, which describe and explain all
phases of surrounding life. Thus equipped, they will be able to discover
that they are a living, working, part of nature, which defined, means
the combined life of the planet; that they act upon all things about
them and are in turn acted upon. A comprehension of these things can
come only to the cultivated mind, and the richer its store of facts, the
more perfect its grasp and control of surrounding conditions. Therefore
mind, as the expression of the soul and body of the dual individual on
the physical plane of existence, is EVERYTHING! It controls and molds
structure; the body; the people around. All history is but a detailed
description of the action of mind.
"The great minds are the dominant thinkers; they sway the multitude,
mold public opinion, effect legislation and shape the nation. These
dominant minds should come from the people of the soil, as best equipped
to discover and proclaim the law of the planet's unfoldment, also best
able to conceive and formulate the wise laws which should guide and
govern its people. Hence the necessity for our farmers to become
thinkers--dominant thinkers.
"What are the best conditions for mind unfoldment?
"As Professor Elmer Gates so wisely says, 'The human body is composed of
myriads of living organisms--a co-operative colony of more or less
intelligent cells--which respond to the control of the individual Ego
through the action of the mind, and to the electrical conditions which
flow from the emotions.' Hence the body is an important part of the
thinking machine and, therefore, a perfect mind must absolutely be the
highest expression of a perfect body. The perfect body needs to be well
born. To be well born, is to demand conditions for a perfect motherhood,
and the perfect unfoldment of both mother and child together.
"Where can these conditions be found?
"We find them best and most abundant in the rural districts, far from
the turmoil and strife, the smoke and poisonous gases of the great city.
Surrounded by fields and forests, in the pure air of a broad expanse of
country, domed with the blue sky, and flooded with golden sunlight, on
the soil of the farm, close to the fostering bosom of our planet
mother, Earth. Therefore it must be the distinctive and well defined
purpose of our co-operative farm to furnish and perfect these
conditions, thus uniting in perfect harmony stirpiculture with
agriculture, a union as poetical as it is practical. From these
conditions must come a race of dominant thinkers, the exponents and
champions of the real objects and purposes of human life.
"With the coming of such a race, comes the beginning of the era of
unselfishness, and the end of the present era of selfishness, the age of
gold worship, where greed for gold blights and withers public and
private conscience, dominates and corrupts all forms of society, and
makes conditions which breed monopolies, caste, tramps, paupers, armies
of idle men, strikes, discontent, starvation and revolution!
"Verily, a perfect catalogue of the ways and means by which 'Man's
inhumanity to man, makes countless millions mourn!' With the dawn of the
unselfish era, comes the demonstration of how man's humanity to man can
and will make countless millions rejoice!
"In selecting the people who are to be the active, working members of
our co-operative farm, it is a matter of the utmost importance that they
should be chosen from a class of persons who are capable of thinking in
harmony on religious and political questions, who are already in
sympathy with progressive ideas and co-operative work, intelligently
alive to its importance and to its advantages, capable of understanding
and appreciating that it is not the sole purpose of the organization to
make money but also to accomplish a multitude of things besides:
"First and foremost, to ennoble the occupation of their birthright.
"To make farming the most charming and healthful and most desirable of
all vocations.
"To make it so remunerative that a reserve fund can be accumulated,
sufficiently large to enable its members to purchase the necessary land
for an ever increasing series of co-operative farms, for their children
and their children's children for generations yet to come.
"To unite stirpiculture so closely with agriculture that a race of
perfect children shall be the crowning glory of all the productions of
the farm.
"To afford ideal conditions for motherhood and childhood, that all
children may be proudly welcomed to a world of loving hearts; that they
may be well born, wisely and beautifully unfolded mentally, morally,
spiritually and physically; that they may be skillfully taught how to
work, to think, to reason, and to comprehend and appreciate the true
purposes of life, consequently their duties as true men and
women--self-poised and noble, a law unto themselves--capable and fully
prepared to enter the walks of life as worthy and honored citizens of an
ideal republic.
"That it is to be the province of the farm, by the co-operative thinking
of its workers, to develop and increase the fertility and productiveness
of the valleys and plains to such an extent that the hills and mountains
may be reclothed with beautiful forests of choice trees, of varieties
most valued for lumber and timber; also great orchards of the choicest
varieties of fruit and nut bearing trees, as a source of future pleasure
and profit, at the same time preparing the way for a more complete
control of climatic conditions. By the process of shading and protecting
the slopes of both hill and mountain by these valuable forests, a
magical change for the better is effected. Everywhere a soft, spongy
carpet of fallen leaves, ever increasing in thickness, is spread out,
moistening and enriching the soil and conserving the waters of the
increased rainfall. A thousand living springs of pure, sparkling water
make glad the plains and valleys. The evils of flood, erosion and drouth
are checked; the climate made more congenial; the value of both hill and
mountain, as a source of wealth, increased a thousand fold.
"Aided by the organization of our co-operative association, which makes
it possible to treat large tracts of land as a single farm, this great
work can be easily and surely accomplished by the earnest and united
efforts of a people who, surrounded by conditions of comfort and plenty,
are in a suitable mood to plant what their children and coming
generations may enjoy.
"As an evidence of man's awakening consciousness of his power, by means
of intelligent co-operation, to make conditions that shall protect him
and his loved ones from the many calamities which have hitherto beset
and overwhelmed human lives, we note the extraordinary work accomplished
by the different classes of insurance companies, during the past fifty
years. These companies are in fact large bodies of people, incorporated
and working co-operatively and systematically together to protect
themselves. The success which has followed their efforts in this
direction has, for the thinker, a marked significance, pregnant with
suggestions for the future. In the co-operative farm, organized and
carried forward on lines in harmony with the principles and purposes
before stated, this system of insurance, in its simplest, least
expensive and most practical form, is to be carried to its fullest
extent into all the departments of life. By its wise provisions for the
care and protection of the weaker units, it insures its members against
loss of employment or wages; against sickness, injury or accident;
against poverty, hunger and crime. It insures to all, for themselves and
their children, the perpetual right to occupy and till the soil, and
thus to secure by short hours of pleasant, attractive labor, the
generous return which can be obtained only by the most perfect system of
scientific, co-operative farming, armed with abundant capital. In
addition, it insures to them all the advantages of birth, health,
education, society and amusement which money can buy for the wealthy:
more leisure, more opportunities for mental, social, ethical and
scientific self-culture. It also insures to the world at large an object
lesson which shall demonstrate that the way is open for the poorest farm
laborer to secure the same results by joining these progressive
co-operative bodies.
"In looking forward to the effect upon society which these combined
farms may have, we must consider the numbers and strength of the
opposing force which, on every hand, will rise up as a bar to progress.
For years, gold, that concentrated essence of selfishness, has been
recognized by its worshipers as the crowned king of society, whose
crimson banners have borne these suggestive mottoes: 'I am not my
brother's keeper! His injuries concern me not!' 'Every man for himself!'
'It is well and good and right that the happiness of the few should be
secured at the expense of the misery of the many, for is it not written,
"The poor ye have always."?'
"Fortunately, the law of compensation limits and finally crushes the
reign of selfishness, causing it to perish by its own efforts to live,
which in time destroy the substance upon which it feeds. Hence we may
look hopefully to the future. With prophetic eyes we may behold the
victorious march of these farm units by companies, battalions,
regiments, brigades and divisions, like a vast army of peace, silently
spreading, absorbing and conquering the old selfish system, grandly
demonstrating the solidarity of human life, and the irresistible force
of the combined efforts of thousands of bravely unselfish souls, working
and thinking in unison, filled with enthusiasm kindled and inspired by
the magnitude and grandeur of the true purposes of life.
"Having thus broadly outlined the scope of the work, with its underlying
principles, we may now give attention to the details of the plan for the
initial farm. In this I would advise that the enterprise be made to
adapt itself, so far as possible, to the present commercial and
industrial conditions. That it be an incorporated stock company,
limited. That its corporate life be for the longest possible term of
years, with the right to renew. That it shall secure and control at
least five thousand acres of land, to more readily enable it to dominate
the township, as the lowest political unit of the republic; and also to
give room for the planting of suitable forests. That its capital stock
be limited to one thousand shares, to be divided equally among five
hundred co-operators, composed of two hundred and fifty couples or
families. That at the end of five years the stock be issued to the
subscribers as paid up stock, by cash from the sinking fund, paid in for
that purpose. That the stock of a retiring member can be sold only to
the treasury of the company, the same to be re-issued to the succeeding
member. That in order to avoid friction with the outside commercial
world, the stockholders collectively shall sell to themselves
individually, at ruling market prices, whatever they may need, the
profits to go as a contribution from all to the insurance fund for the
aged. That the care of the sick and the injured, and the education of
the children, be classed and paid as a legitimate expense of the farm.
That the co-operators collectively, pay to themselves individually, a
wage sufficiently generous to enable them to purchase what they may
desire in the way of furniture, food and clothing; allowing for a
liberal percentage to be devoted to the sinking fund, to pay for the
farm, the stock, and also for the additional land that may be secured as
future farms for the children. That all other details necessary for the
successful carrying out of these plans, be left for a satisfactory
solution, to the practical working and co-operative thinking of the
members of the farm.
"I wish you, Mr. Flagg, as soon as may be convenient, to make a tour of
inspection for the purpose of selecting and purchasing ten of the most
available sites for such farms that you can find. From the ten you shall
choose the one best adapted to the conditions required for the initial
farm.
"After occupation, at the end of five years, these lands are to be sold
to the co-operators, at the purchase price, which, in any event, must
not exceed the sum of ten dollars per acre. Until the deeds are made to
the co-operators, these lands are to be in your custody as sole agent
and director.
"In these matters my daughter, Fern, will aid you in every possible way.
Many times you will find her advice valuable, therefore when needed,
command it without hesitation. I have an abiding faith that her
inspiration will benefit you in many ways in achieving success for the
model farm; a matter in which I am greatly interested and to which, as
both mortal and spirit, I have for a number of years given close
attention and much earnest thought. I now leave the matter to you and to
Fern for such thought and discussion as the occasion may demand. I shall
be glad at any time to answer questions concerning any particular point.
Good night, Mr. Flagg; Good night my daughter."
As Fennimore Fenwick bade them good night, both Fillmore and Fern
returned the salutation, and Fern rose from her chair, saying:
"I think, Mr. Flagg, that until now I have never quite understood the
broad principles of real unselfishness. In the light of my father's
comprehensive statement of the true purpose of human life, they stand
forth in bold relief, clear and strong. What a grand incentive they
offer, to stir the zeal and enthusiasm of our co-operative workers! All
life is affected by them and discloses new meanings. All life seems more
precious, more sacred. Yet the task assigned to you, Mr. Flagg, is not
an easy one: I foresee many difficulties, but you will overcome all of
them. The plan is so thoroughly in harmony with right and justice, so
fraught with happiness for the masses, that it must succeed! I trust
that you feel encouraged to go forward hopefully with the work?"
"Thanks to Fennimore Fenwick," replied Fillmore Flagg, "I am armed
against all obstacles by a new philosophy of life. Its possibilities, as
applied I to practical work, are beyond computation! His masterly
statement of the true theory and purpose of human life, embodies the
crystallized wisdom of centuries. I am profoundly impressed with it.
Applied to my chosen life work, it demands my best thought, my entire
devotion: to co-operative work as exemplified by our proposed model
farm, it means unqualified success!
"Pardon me, Miss Fenwick, you have been hard at work, writing rapidly
for a long time. You need rest. Let us then postpone further discussion
until tomorrow."
"Yes, I think that will be best," replied Fern, "so good night, Mr.
Flagg."
"Good night, Miss Fenwick."
CHAPTER XVI.
FILLMORE AND FERN.
For Fillmore Flagg, a never-to-be-forgotten week has passed since the
interview with Fennimore Fenwick, noted in our previous chapter. He is
still at Fairy Fern Cottage, busy with preparatory work for his coming
tour. Momentous events, which have radically changed his life, have
followed each other in quick succession. Hours have passed as moments
fly, in absorbing interviews with his spirit father and mother. His
store of questions in relation to their experiences in spirit life, have
all been answered: these answers have in turn suggested many more, until
now he is satisfied. For him, the two worlds have been united--the
continuity of life beyond the grave has been established as a verity
past contradiction. As conscious individuals and loving parents
in the realms of spirit life, his father and mother are as real
to him as mortals. With each succeeding interview this conviction
has grown, until, fully conscious of their loving sympathy and
support, he begins to comprehend the connection between life and
immortality; the stupendous meaning of immortal life--of never-ending
progression--overshadows and dominates all other thoughts. In profound
reverence he repeats to himself:
"How noble, how sacred, how wonderful is life! A few years, comparably
brief as moments, on the mortal plane of existence, to be followed by an
endless Eternity, spent in gleaning wisdom and happiness from the rich
fields of infinite progression. By the measure of immortality, who shall
attempt to describe or limit the destiny of a human soul? As the epitome
of the planet, the universe, and the universal cosmos, it must follow
that the human soul is the repository of infinite possibilities. This,
then, is the spiritual heritage of all. Sin and suffering, selfishness
and greed, crime and vice in the transitory stage of the mortal, might
stain and retard his spiritual growth, but they could never destroy the
glorious possibilities of the final unfoldment."
This broad conception of the possibilities of human life, here and
hereafter, came to Fillmore Flagg as a revelation of the most sacred and
marvelous character: in the light of such a revelation, the hideousness
of selfishness stood revealed like a grim and warning monster. Now he
saw the path of duty plain before him. On the higher, broader plane of
unselfishness, he must strive to develop new powers and new aspirations
to aid him in making better conditions for a more perfect protection and
unfoldment of human life. To satisfy his highest ideal, he must devote
himself to this work. The inspiration of the two worlds was upon him!
His love for Fern Fenwick, the personification of all that was noble
and beautiful, urged him forward; intensified and developed his highest
aspirations for good; permeated, glorified and dominated his entire
being. Love and life!--the former, the mystery and the crowning glory of
the latter.
Hours of self communion, alone in his room, had for Fillmore Flagg a
hitherto unknown charm. The crowding memories of the happiest and by far
the the most important week of his life, with a tenacity like fever-born
visions, passed through and occupied his mind again and yet again. The
bright image of Fern Fenwick was the central figure of each event, her
grace and beauty was its chief point of interest.
At her unrivaled cottage home he had been the honored guest to whom she
had paid her undivided attention. Thanks to her wonderful mediumship, he
no longer felt himself an orphan--the gateway of death was also the
gateway of life. His father and mother had been restored to him, joined
again to his life--his heritage of immortality assured! The truth had
been made plain to him that the people of the two worlds were joined by
everlasting ties of love and sympathy into the one great flood of
humanity, all human beings, all immortal spirits, incarnate, excarnate.
Again, to Fern's mediumship he owed his acquaintance with Fennimore
Fenwick, whom he had learned to know, to admire, to love and respect as
the highest type of a wise, great and noble man. How fortunate he was in
having so many opportunities for learning from such a great master! He
prophesied then and there, that the gratitude of coming generations was
to bear witness to the power, wisdom and eloquence of Fennimore
Fenwick's teachings.
How the memory of all these things swelled the tide of love for Fern
Fenwick, in the heart of Fillmore Flagg. How bright and amiable, how
gloriously beautiful she was. How kind and gracious she was to him, and
what a delightful deference she paid to his opinions! Would he ever
again experience another week so full of unalloyed happiness? He had but
to close his eyes--a radiant vision of Fern Fenwick was before him,
thrilling his heart with hope, urging him forward to the goal of duty.
With a sigh he thought of the coming journey. For one blissful week, in
the light of her angelic eyes, in the radiance of her loveliness, in the
subtle charm of her magnetic presence, he had basked as in the sunshine
of paradise: now the hour of parting was approaching, he must not allow
himself to be despondent, that would be unmanly; he must hope, wait, and
work. Surely his star of destiny augured well for his future. Doubt he
could not; doubt he would not! Yes, he would banish all thought of
parting. He would think of the work, of its demands, of how Fern had
helped him to prepare for it. Oh how proud he was of the peerless girl
that had grown so dear to him! As he recalled the many hours they had
spent together in discussing the plans of Fennimore Fenwick; as applied
to the several stages of development of the model farm, how he had
admired and appreciated Fern's brilliant ideas, her pertinent
suggestions, her wonderful power to foresee administrative difficulties
and to provide most efficiently against them. How well these
accomplishments attested the high order of her intellectual training;
how perfectly they demonstrated the astuteness of her power of thought,
when applied to practical subjects. With such mental and spiritual
attributes, supplemented and intensified by the deep inspiration and the
awe inspiring majesty of her mediumship, how immeasurably superior she
appeared when compared with other women. What problem in life so knotty
that she could not solve? With the aid of such a matchless woman, how
could he fail in the work before him?
Together Fern and Fillmore had examined many maps for the purpose of
deciding on the particular states to be inspected during the coming
tour. The great south-west seemed to offer the best field for choosing.
The Indian lands, just coming into market, were not to be ignored. They
were located in a climate that would promote the growth of a large
variety of crops, therefore were especially desirable. Much time was
spent by them in going over these important questions very carefully.
Fennimore Fenwick, from time to time, had given his opinion on many
doubtful points. Now everything was settled. Tomorrow Fillmore Flagg was
to start for the rich lands of the great west and south-west, with
careful instructions to keep Fern Fenwick informed, by frequent letters,
of his progress and whereabouts. Whenever a particular plot of ground
was selected, Fern was to send him a certified check for its purchase.
This plan was to be followed until all of the desired plots had been
secured. The preparatory work on the model farm was then to be
commenced.
On the eve of his departure, Fillmore Flagg in reviewing these
arrangements, began to perceive that many days must pass before he could
hope to see Fern Fenwick again. The intensity of his love for her urged
an immediate declaration, that he might know his fate before commencing
his long journey; on the other hand, prudence counselled a more patient
waiting and wooing as the only safe and honorable course for him to
pursue, as to declare his love at this time would be, under all the
circumstances which had made him a guest at the cottage, taking an
unfair advantage of the confidence and hospitality of his charming
hostess, who had become so inexpressibly dear to him. Yes, he would take
up the burden of his work, full of confidence in the wisdom and
watchfulness of his guiding star. Hope whispered in his heart: "Fern's
destiny is so closely interwoven with thine own, that no fear of the
future need disturb thee; in peace and contentment await thou the
fulfillment of thy brightest hopes."
Meanwhile, in the heart of Fern Fenwick, the impression left by the
events of the week, were marked and apparent even to herself. A change
in her regard for Fillmore Flagg was manifest. He was so capable, so
loyal to her, and to her interests; and withal so intensely in love with
her, that in turn her admiration for him grew apace--in fact she did not
attempt to hold it in check. She adored an honest frankness as much as
she despised smooth deceit. She knew that Fillmore Flagg was the soul of
honor and that she could trust him under all circumstances, else her
father would not have chosen him to be her worthy and trusted assistant
in the work. In manly beauty he was very near to her ideal; in nobleness
of heart, intellectual development and training, he was her equal:
therefore it was but natural for her to bestow glances of encouragement
on a lover so attractive, so cultured, so unselfish and so ardent.
Perhaps she had met her fate! However, before dismissing the subject,
she decided at the first opportunity to call the attention of her father
and mother to the matter and ask their advice, which would govern her
course in the future. She felt that whatever the advice might be, in any
event, it would not mar or blight her true happiness.
CHAPTER XVII.
SOLARIS FARM.
One year from the time Fillmore Flagg left Fairy Fern Cottage on his
trip to the west, we find him at "Solaris Farm," the title chosen for
the model or experimental co-operative farm. The location was nearly
midway, on one of the through lines of railway which connect St. Louis,
the great central city of the Mississippi valley, with the gulf and
inland cities of the mammoth state of Texas.
The land was beautifully located, the soil was rich and easy to
cultivate. The entire tract was well watered by a fine, clear, swift
flowing stream. In extent, the farm comprised ten sections, laying
compactly together, and making in all, 6,400 acres of choice land. Nine
of the sections formed a perfect square, each of the four sides being
three miles in length. The tenth section joined the west line of the
south-west section in the square, which made the south line of the farm
four miles in length. The railroad passed through the farm near the
north line of the southern tier of sections, touching on the way an
ideal site for the farm village. About four thousand acres of the land
was broad, rolling prairie, combined with a large proportion of
unusually rich river bottom, both well adapted to the growth of a great
variety of crops. The remainder of the farm presented a rough, broken
surface, with a soil not so rich, sometimes quite poor and gravelly, but
being protected by a great bend in the river, was well covered by a
valuable growth of timber. The surface of the roughest ground covered
large deposits of lead, zinc, mica and several varieties of choice clay.
Numerous bold bluffs contained fine quarries of excellent stone for
building purposes, also for an abundant supply of lime and cement. A
number of the ridges offered unlimited quantities of gravel and sand.
Here and there several rich veins of a very good quality of bituminous
coal cropped out.
In making his preliminary examination, the quick eye of Fillmore Flagg
soon discovered that this eighteen-hundred-acre tract, of what the
owners considered their poorest lands, marred and disfigured by a tangle
of undergrowth, a confusion of unsightly rocks, gullies and bluffs; was
in reality a treasure, a vast store of choice material for coming needs.
When the ten sections, including this broken tract, were offered for the
lump sum of thirty two thousand dollars, Fillmore Flagg quickly closed
the bargain. He was confident that at last, after many weeks of patient
searching, a most desirable site for the initial farm had been secured,
at the low average price of five dollars per acre. No wonder he was
elated and proud of his achievement! The remaining lands of the township
were sparsely settled by about fifty families, generally occupying large
ranches.
Acting on Fern Fenwick's advice, as soon as the site of the model farm
was chosen, Fillmore Flagg prepared an advertisement for publication in
three of the leading spiritual papers, setting forth the purposes of
the organization, together with the requirements necessary for
membership. The applications which soon followed were so numerous that
at the end of the first three months he had been able to complete a very
choice selection for the colony. Before the end of the next three
months, he had placed them on the farm, prepared for active work.
In the accomplishment of this remarkable feat in so short a time, he had
the able assistance of his trusted friends, George and Gertrude Gerrish,
who were, from the beginning, most thoroughly in sympathy with him and
eager to join him in the work. Fillmore Flagg had known them from
childhood and had learned to appreciate them as progressive people of
the most pronounced type, who were honest, courageous, and gifted to a
high degree with the power to win the love and confidence of all who
knew them.
George and Gertrude Gerrish were born and reared on Nebraska farms, near
the home of Fillmore Flagg. George was thirty-five; Gertrude, younger by
three years. They had been married fifteen years and were noted as a
handsome couple, being large, tall, straight and finely formed, with
strong, even temperaments. Their only son, Gilbert, was a delicate lad,
in his fourteenth year, handsome, spirituelle and intellectual to a
remarkable degree. He was a real genius, passionately fond of books, art
and music; already an accomplished player on both the piano and violin.
Yet withal, he was very reticent, sensitive and shy, on account of his
small size and deformed body, the result of spinal trouble caused by a
fall while an infant.
The Gerrish family, for the eight years previous, had resided in St.
Louis, where George and Gertrude were employed as teachers. When
Fillmore Flagg made them a visit while on his way west from Newburgh, he
was both surprised and delighted to find them spiritualists.
They at once became interested in his mission, and his plans for the
establishment of a model co-operative farm. At his urgent request, they
promised to move at once to the farm, whenever located, in order to be
prepared to receive the colonists properly as soon as they should
commence to assemble. This promise Fillmore Flagg considered a most
extraordinary piece of good fortune, and so it proved.
As a result of this wisely planned co-operative work, at the end of the
first six months, a carefully selected, most efficient colony, of five
hundred adults and one hundred and fifty children, had been assembled
and organized; the business of the incorporation completed; the stock
all taken; the officers chosen and a general plan of the work prepared.
George Gerrish was chosen as President of the Solaris Farm Company,
Fillmore Flagg was made trustee and general manager. The members of the
company were young and strong, accustomed to farm labor, full of
enthusiasm for pushing forward the work. They were all wide awake and
progressive, quick to perceive and appreciate the importance and
advantage of applying co-operative thought and co-operative work to
systematic farming on a large scale. They were thoroughly in earnest and
equally determined to make the model farm a complete success. With such
an army of vigorous, intelligent workers, it was easy to accomplish
before the close of the first year, the magical changes which had been
effected at the farm.
The land had all been surveyed, examined and tested; the farm carefully
subdivided and platted, with a view to keeping a complete record, which
should include a debit and credit account with each subdivision. The
size and boundaries of these tracts were determined with reference to
the capacity of the soil to best produce certain kinds or crops of
grains, grasses, vegetables, vines, berries, fruits or trees. The crests
of ridges, and all rough, gravelly lands, were set apart for timber,
fruit and vineyard culture; the separate areas to be devoted to these
three classes were carefully calculated, described and marked on the
plat. The number of roads required to connect the various fields and
subdivisions with the village, were laid out and made passable by
building the necessary bridges.
The site selected for the village was quite near to the railroad, and
large enough to give abundant space for future factories, shops, lawns
and ornamental pleasure grounds. The whole was graded, well drained and
artistically laid out around the four sides of a spacious central
square. A large, well constructed freight and passenger station, of
Solaris brick, was built and established at the most convenient point on
the railroad. In this building were the post office, express office and
telegraph office, all in excellent business form and perfect working
order.
The manufacture of brick had been one of the first industries developed
at the farm. An inexhaustable supply of most excellent clay had been
discovered just at the edge of the village site, and speedily connected
with it by a short tramway. From this clay the product of Solaris brick
proved in every way desirable. In form, color, size and design, they
were much superior to ordinary brick. With them, the builder could, in
one half the time, with less cement, construct walls that were thick,
solid and durable, yet presenting beautiful surfaces both inside and
outside. These walls would remain for many years in perfect sanitary
condition, kept free from dampness by the dry air circulation, due to
the constructive design of the brick. The very fine appearance of the
new railroad station, so advertised the beauty and excellence of Solaris
brick, that orders from abroad soon came pouring in. To fill these
orders without delaying the work on the village buildings, it became
necessary to double the size of the brick-making plant; also to increase
the number of workers. The unexpected development of such a large and
profitable allied industry, at almost the first stage of the preparatory
work at the farm, so encouraged Fillmore Flagg and his co-workers, so
stimulated and quickened the spirit of inventive genius, that thereafter
the efficiency and capacity of the machinery kept pace with the steadily
increasing demand for brick, that too without further adding to the
working force or to the size of the plant.
A deeper excavation of the clay beds brought to light a much finer class
of clays, which proved so excellent for the purposes of manufacturing
general pottery, terra cotta ware, drain tiles and sewer pipe, that in
connection with the brick works, a factory for making that kind of
material was at once put in operation. The tramway was extended a half
mile further from the village to reach the newly-opened stone quarries
and coal mines, passing on the way large deposits of sand and gravel. By
means of the tramway, an abundant supply of all kinds of the necessary
materials could be placed on the building site very quickly. The best of
stone for the foundations, quantities of brick, lime, sand and cement
were at hand, waiting for the builder. All this made possible the swift
construction of superior buildings, equipped with all of the modern
improvements, including artistic ornamentation.
As a result, before the expiration of the first six months after the
arrival of the co-operators, the following buildings had been completed
and were ready for use: On the south side of the public square, fronting
north; one large mill for grinding flour and feed; one extensive
building, large enough to be occupied as a saw mill and planing mill,
machine, carpenter, repair and blacksmith shop all combined. On the
north side of the square, fronting south; one large three story and
basement block of apartment houses, sufficiently capacious to
accommodate eight hundred people. The three upper stories were high
enough to afford twelve-foot ceilings between the floors. The rooms were
large, well lighted, well ventilated, and so arranged on each floor as
to offer to every family a parlor, sitting room, dining room, two bed
rooms, one bath room, and a kitchen. The basement of the entire block
was furnished and fitted to be used as a restaurant, with the necessary
dining rooms, kitchens, furnace rooms, store rooms and cellars. The
light frame dwellings, located on one of the rear streets, which had
given a temporary shelter to the people until the completion of the
apartment house, were now utilized as work rooms, seed rooms, assorting
rooms, store rooms, and for dairy and apiary purposes. On the west side
of the square, fronting east, just across the corner from the apartment
house, the well-appointed hall of Education and Amusement was erected.
It was three stories high, seventy five feet wide, and one hundred and
fifty feet long. The upper story was entirely devoted to the library,
assembly and amusement hall, with its large stage, numerous offices and
ante rooms. The lower rooms were arranged to be used for the business
offices of the farm, the spacious school rooms for its one hundred and
fifty children, the printing office and editorial rooms of the press
club, and the eleven additional club rooms reserved for the use of the
adults. On the same side of the square, fronting eastward and separated
from the hall of amusement and education by one hundred feet of space,
was the Solaris company store; four stories high, two hundred feet wide,
two hundred feet long, built around three sides of a beautifully
arranged rose and flower garden. The two lower stories were used to
display a large stock of general merchandise, while the upper stories
were occupied by the force engaged in the manufacture of general
clothing, underwear, and in tailoring and dress making. All of these
fine structures were built of Solaris brick, with cut stone foundations;
the ornamental brick used in the fronts were especially designed for the
purpose and proved wonderfully effective. In every particular the
buildings were a credit to the company, being beautifully planned,
skillfully constructed, and located with due regard for architectural
effect. From the preparation of the stone, the making of the brick, lime
and mortar, to the final completion of the buildings, including the
making and laying of the sewer pipes, nineteen-twentieths of the total
cost was represented by the labor of the co-operators. Of course they
were led and taught by a few skilled workmen, directed by Fillmore
Flagg, who had prepared the plans. The remarkable success achieved,
proved a good lesson in the economics of co-operation, of the utmost
significance and value; a lesson which filled the hearts of the members
of the company with pride and joy, riveted and clinched their devotion
to the model farm and opened their eyes to the possibilities of the
future.
Having finished this first series of buildings for immediate use,
attention was given to the matter of improving the appearance of the
public square. In the center of the broad, smooth green, stood the tall,
straight flag-pole; from its top floated the stars and stripes. Eastward
from the foot of the flag-staff, and slightly raised above the grassy
surface of the smoothly shaven lawn, was spread a living flag in true
colors, red, white and blue. This flag was of magnificent proportions,
twenty-five feet in width by fifty feet in length, and presented such an
effective appearance that it soon became the pride and delight of the
farm children, an object of never failing interest, a beautiful living
motto which expressed their appreciation of patriotism.
While the building operations were being pushed forward, a carefully
selected force of workers had been equally busy in making numerous
agricultural improvements. Two thousand acres of virgin soil had been
broken up and prepared for planting. One hundred acres of the best of
this newly upturned soil, so clean and free from weeds, had been planted
with a well selected series of vegetables, capable of producing a
remunerative crop of assorted garden seeds. The series included all of
the best known varieties with the addition of several new ones. As a
result of skillful culture and favorable conditions, a great many tons
of choice seeds had been grown, gathered and prepared for market. Large
propagating gardens had been fitted and seeded with reference to the
future demands of fruit and forestry culture. An abundant supply of all
kinds of vegetables for farm use had been grown and stored. Goodly crops
of corn, oats and potatoes, grown and harvested. Plenty of hay cut,
cured and housed. Pastures, roomy enough to accommodate large herds of
horses and cattle, securely enclosed, supplied with water and the proper
shelter. Small herds of fine cattle and horses secured and well provided
for. These herds were selected chiefly for breeding purposes, while a
sufficient number of mules were purchased for the needs of the farm
work. The bees in the well stocked apiary had already gathered a fine
supply of honey from the wild flowers of the surrounding prairies. The
extensive yards and buildings prepared for poultry farming on an
unusually large scale, were so well stocked and in such fine condition
as to promise large profits at an early day.
In reviewing the work at the close of the first year, which included
many important items not yet enumerated, the general results were so
satisfactory that the officers and members of the Solaris Farm Company
were very much encouraged. Owing to sales of seeds and brick in such
considerable quantities, together with the manufacture at the farm of
almost every kind of building material, the sum advanced by Fern
Fenwick, the patroness, for farm buildings and equipment was less than
one-half the amount named in Fillmore Flagg's estimate. The amount
required for the coming year would be very much less.
The general plan provided for and embraced the supplementing of
agricultural work by a series of allied manufactures, such as naturally
grew out of the needs of the farm: carpentering, blacksmithing, machine
work and repairing, furniture making, turning, polishing, painting,
staining and general wood working and finishing, pattern making, broom
and brush making, a factory for spinning rope and cordage, basket and
all kinds of osier weaving, brick making, pottery and all kinds of clay
or porcelain work; together with many other things that would suggest
themselves as time passed and the capacity of the farm was increased by
the invention of better machinery and superior methods.
The application of inventive genius on the part of the co-operators to
operations at the brick works and pottery, had already proved equal to
the demands of any emergency which might arise. The great variety of
these added employments would afford a pleasant change from the monotony
and routine of ordinary farm work. They could be pursued sometimes for
weeks together, when legitimate farm work would be out of season, in
this way so greatly increasing the products and profits of the farm,
that the bonanza farm of the capitalist, which depended on wheat growing
alone for profits, could no longer successfully compete.
After much discussion by the board of management and the officers of the
company, it was decided with the unanimous consent of the membership,
that eight hours should be considered a day's work--six hours for the
farm work, with two hours additional to be devoted to such of the
manufacturing works as the member might choose. This course proved
entirely satisfactory; it soon gave to the farm an able corps of skilled
workmen, at the same time augmenting the collective power of the
membership to do more effective co-operative thinking for the
advancement of the best interests and general welfare of all.
In the matter of wages, a uniform price of three dollars per day was
fixed for each member of the company; this amount was diminished by
deducting ten per cent for the sinking fund, five per cent for the
general service fund, and five cents daily from each member for the
special fund. The special fund was for the purposes of education and
amusement. After subtracting these deductions, two dollars and fifty
cents were left as the net per diem pay of each one. The assessments
provided the goodly sum of $54,000 00 annually for the sinking fund,
$27,000 00 for the general service fund, and $9,000 00 for the special
fund.
The Solaris Farm company was incorporated for ninety-nine years, with a
provision for re-incorporation at the expiration of that period. This
provision practically made the company a perpetual institution. The
stock of the company was capitalized at $250,000 00, and divided into
one thousand shares, with a par value of $250 00 each. The number of
share holders or subscribers was limited to five hundred adults, about
two hundred and fifty couples or families; at the end of five years, two
shares of stock were issued to each subscriber, male or female, married
or single. This stock, however, could not be issued until $45,000 00 had
been paid into the sinking fund. With the issue of the stock, the
purchase price of the farm should be paid from the sinking fund to
Fillmore Flagg, the trustee, who would then deed the farm to the
corporation. Thereafter the company was to maintain a sinking fund amply
sufficient to provide such additional farms as the children of its
members might need.
In accordance with his instructions from Fennimore Fenwick, the money
received in this way by Fillmore Flagg, was to be held by him as a
trust for the purchase of other farms. It was further provided that the
Solaris Farm company retained the sole right to purchase all stock which
might be offered for sale.
The general service fund was to be used in defraying the expense of
stocking, equipping and improving the farm.
It was also determined that settlements made with members, who from any
cause might wish to leave the company, should be made on a basis of two
dollars and fifty cents per day for the time they had been co-operators,
with the return of whatever capital they might have invested plus
interest at three per cent per annum; all stock subscribed for to return
to the company's treasury.
The general plan further provided for the erection of separate cottages,
with small gardens adjoining, for the use and occupancy of such families
as might desire them. The apartment house, now completed, had many of
its suites of rooms arranged for independent housekeeping, but so far,
the members of the company preferred to take their meals at the company
restaurant, paying for them the ordinary prices. They also preferred to
patronize the laundry, general clothing, tailoring and dress-making
departments which were connected with the company store. To prevent any
conflict with the commercial interests of the outside world, the
restaurant and the company store sold food and goods at the ruling
market prices for first-class articles, realizing that it was plainly
the policy of the company to keep only the best of everything for
sale--the generous profits from all sales to go as a general
contribution from the entire membership to the insurance fund for the
helpless and the aged. As liberal wages afforded ample means, large
purchases were encouraged, and all tendency toward a miserly hoarding
was discouraged. It was marked that all the members were quick to
appreciate the fact that the more liberal their purchases, the more
generously they swelled the fund that was set apart to provide for the
needs and happiness of declining years. With each passing month it was
observed that this particular feature of insurance continued to grow in
popular favor.
To enable the company to dispense with a great deal of expensive
bookkeeping, to do business with a small amount of actual cash, and at
the same time add another check against the disposition to hoard money;
the payment of wages to the members of the company was made in Solaris
scrip, good at its face value for all purchases made from the company.
Whenever cash was needed by any of the members, an order on the
treasurer drawn by the president and approved by the general manager,
could easily be obtained for reasonable amounts. On presentation of the
order, U. S. legal tenders to the amount specified, would be exchanged
for the scrip, dollar for dollar; the treasurer cancelling this scrip by
stamping across its face the date of the exchange and the name of the
member, retaining the cancelled scrip as his voucher for the
disbursement of the money. When scrip was exchanged at the store for
goods, it was cancelled in the same way by the manager of the store. The
plan seemed to work without friction and gave general satisfaction.
At the beginning of each month an executive committee, composed of three
men and three women, was chosen by the members of the company. This
committee, with the general manager as chairman, made an order of work
for each day and assigned the members to the different kinds of work
named in the order. These assignments were always accepted cheerfully.
The co-operators without exception and without murmur worked steadily
and with zeal for one common result. They were keenly alive to both the
importance and the advantages of this new kind of co-operative work,
which gave them so many hours of leisure for rest and recreation. With
the experience of each passing month, they realized more than ever
before that sixteen hours out of the twenty-four so devoted, soon
stimulated and reinforced the vital energies to such an extent that
active labor seemed really desirable. As a matter of fact, each day they
began to look forward eagerly to the six hours of farm work and the two
hours additional of skilled labor, as opportunities which gave them
refreshing and delightful exercise. Exercise that was necessary to
promote health and happiness--exercise which left them with an added
relish and brighter mental conditions for the enjoyment of the hours of
study and amusement that were to follow. Here again, the wisdom of
nature's law of compensation was demonstrated. A grave question of the
utmost importance to the progress of mankind was for them forever
settled. The discovery had dawned on the minds of these people that
labor, no longer a curse, was in reality nature's richest blessing!
Among the more important improvements on the farm which Fillmore Flagg
had carefully planned, was the necessary preparatory work on the large
propagating gardens, located near the river, not far from the village.
In connection with the construction of the village water works, at the
time of the grading and sewering of the village grounds, these gardens
were furnished with a complete system of irrigating pipes. These,
together with the thousands of pots required at a later period, were
made in the pottery at the brick works--another product of farm labor.
With such a complete control of the necessary moisture, the sprouting
process in the long seed beds proved unusually successful. These beds,
which covered several acres of very rich soil, were thickly planted with
all kinds of fruit and tree-bearing seeds; together with grape cuttings,
mulberries for the silkworm culture, quinces, currants, tea plants, a
great variety of berries, a fine selection of ornamental shrubbery,
dwarf fruit trees, roses, and many other plants besides. The young
plants soon reached a stage of growth where potting became necessary in
order to make them strong, well grown, independent young shoots, ready
at any time to be transplanted without injury into nursery rows, the
vineyard or the berry plots.
To pot the contents of these beds required the labor of many hands,
consequently the task furnished a pleasant, congenial employment for a
major part of the female co-operators. A large, well floored, wide
roofed shed was constructed just at the edge of the gardens nearest the
village. It was wide enough to accommodate two rows of roomy tables, and
of a length sufficient for fifty tables in each row. Adjoining the end
of the potting shed towards the village, was the storehouse, containing
quantities of prepared soil and a large supply of assorted pots. A
double track system of narrow tramways passed between the rows of
tables, on its way from the storehouse to the different seed beds in all
parts of the garden. On this tramway the little cars came from the
storehouse to the tables, laden with supplies of pots and prepared
soil; these they exchanged for trays of potted plants to be returned to
the seed beds. In returning from the gardens on the other track, they
brought cargoes of shallow trays filled with little plantlets just
lifted from the seed beds. This cargo-bearing process, on the part of
the tram cars, continued throughout the day as often as required, making
light work for all concerned. To witness the work under the shed as it
goes bravely on is a pleasing sight. Let us pause a moment to enjoy it.
At each table are two operators, who may sit or stand while they work.
Protected by strong gloves, the deft fingers swiftly fly--the long,
double lines of maidens and matrons are as merry as crickets! The buzz
of musical chatter, song and story, inspires the work, fitting time with
swift pinions and transforming such toil into six hours of fun and
frolic!
This class of work proved so charming that a majority of the women
preferred it to employment in the apiary, dairy, nursery, school,
office, restaurant, or any department of the company store.
With this glimpse of the general development of Solaris Farm, its
improvements and its people, during the first year, we discover that
Fillmore Flagg has been a very busy man; that his skill, inventive
genius, and executive ability have been tried severely; that he has been
able to respond to the demands of every occasion. However, such was his
confidence in the wisdom of Fern Fenwick, that when he found himself
puzzled or in doubt, he relied largely on her advice to suggest some
proper solution for each vexing question. He had, from the beginning,
furnished her with a complete history of every stage of the development
of the farm, along with his weekly reports. At the close of each one he
gave a list of topics on which her opinions were solicited; the
suggestions in her replies led to such a speedy unraveling of the
tangled situations and troublesome questions, that Fillmore Flagg was
impressed more than ever, with her excellent judgment and the brilliancy
of her genius. His admiration grew; his love grew faster! In his
personal letters, transmitting the weekly reports, the expression of
these sentiments of admiration and adoration continued to grow in force
and fervor until he finally gained courage to request permission to
address her as a lover: a lover whose happiness would be largely
increased by every effort he might make to put in words the thoughts
born of his devotion to her--the one adorable woman in the world, for
him.
In her reply, Fern Fenwick frankly stated that she was inclined to
consider his request with some degree of favor. That she had sought
advice from her parents. That in response her father, Fennimore Fenwick,
had expressed himself as convinced of the integrity, honesty, and purity
of Fillmore's love for her; but he could not consent to an engagement
binding his daughter to marriage, until the unqualified success of the
model farm, at the end of the first five years, had demonstrated the
worthiness of Fillmore Flagg. After that event, if both continued to
desire a marriage engagement, his consent might be considered as
assured. Her mother, she said, had repeated and emphasized her father's
advice: this advice she felt in duty bound to heed and respect.
Therefore, on the conditions named, she was willing to accept him as a
lover, with the distinct understanding however, that he must not claim
her hand in marriage until after the achievement of the complete
success of Solaris Farm.
In the postscript at the close of her letter, Fern adroitly, though
perhaps innocently, lighted the torch of hope in the heart of Fillmore
Flagg by archly expressing herself as follows: "Henceforth my personal
interest in the progress and final success of the model farm will, no
doubt, fully equal your own."
This little postscript was a never failing source of comfort and
encouragement to Fillmore Flagg. He read it and re-read it again and
again: in his ecstacy he caught himself kissing it a dozen times the
first week after it reached him. With each reading his hitherto dormant
love nature gathered force and intensity. In the throbbing tide of
joyful emotions, he was suffused with a strange new happiness. He
blushed like a girl as the certainty came home to his heart that at last
his love for this beautiful woman was returned. It may be marked as
noteworthy that this important letter came to Fillmore Flagg just eight
months after his parting with Fern Fenwick at her cottage home on the
Hudson. While meditating and luxuriating under the spell of the happy
significance of this event, as affecting his future life, he thanked his
angel friends for so successfully speeding his wooing. With this
assurance he was confident that at last his star of destiny was dominant
in the sky of love. Calmly serene, he could now await the approach of
whatever trials in life the future might have in store for him. Nothing
could shake him from this fortress of love! Nothing could intervene to
separate his life from the life of his beloved Fern! With a sigh of
contentment, he prepared to devote himself more ambitiously and more
industriously than ever before, to the development of Solaris Farm. He
wooed every inventive thought; he planned night and day to overcome all
obstacles that presented themselves. In his letters to Fern Fenwick,
rejoicing in a freedom to express himself without restraint on the
limitless theme of his great love for her, he filled page after page
with eloquent adoration of his heart's chosen one--his highest ideal of
the glorious perfection of womanhood. The effect on Fillmore Flagg of
this fervent, all-absorbing love, was most excellent; it broadened and
purified his life, eliminating from it all the dross of selfishness. He
took a new interest in the lives of every married couple and every pair
of lovers on the farm. By persevering effort, tact and skill, he
completely won their confidence. He shared their hopes, plans, joys,
sorrows, loves and crosses. In all this he never once failed to increase
their love for him and their devotion to the farm.
CHAPTER XVIII.
CLUB LIFE AT SOLARIS.
In the work of building up in the minds of the co-operators, an abiding
faith in Solaris Farm and its future success, Fillmore Flagg had the
able support of George and Gertrude Gerrish. They had proved themselves
the right people in the right place! In the schools and nursery Gertrude
had become invaluable. Her genial temperament, her fondness for
children, the kindly influence of her great mother-heart, with its never
failing store of sympathy, patience, tact and skill, all attested that
she was a natural teacher whose presence among the children was a
perpetual benefaction, while the wonderful store of her personal
magnetism brought her the love, respect and obedience of both the old
and the young. They instinctively felt her power to make them wiser,
better and happier. This was a well merited tribute of praise, worth a
king's ransom in gold!
George Gerrish soon became very popular on account of the extraordinary
ability he displayed in organizing the members of the farm company into
the numerous clubs devised to promote the interests of education,
science and amusement. The description which follows will serve to
illustrate his skill as an organizer in carrying out the general plan
prepared by Fillmore Flagg. In addition they will give a clear idea of
the scope and variety of the talent developed, together with a proper
conception of the splendid equipment of the farm for the social,
educational, ethical and scientific development of its people.
First in order came the Press Club. To it was assigned the duty of
editing and publishing the "SOLARIS SENTINEL," a weekly paper devoted to
the interests of the farm. It was filled with topics of general interest
to the community; themes, essays, poems, personals and social notices
contributed by the club members, suggestions and ideas leading to better
methods for the care and culture of the farm stock and crops, also as to
preparing, the same for market. The range of topics included hints
regarding any of the allied manufacturing industries which were carried
forward by the farm company. In addition the paper gave full weekly
reports from the officers of the different clubs. The literary budget
for each week was completed by selections from the general contribution
box, a very large one, which was fastened to the outer door of the rooms
of the club. Into this box every man, woman and child was invited to
drop such written scraps, signed or unsigned, brief or lengthy, as they
might be moved to offer for publication. The selections from this box
were eagerly read. They often proved surprisingly brilliant, novel or
suggestive, frequently disclosing rare literary merit,--altogether
constituting the most popular department of the paper. The editorials
were carefully prepared and well written. They were usually along lines
of co-operative work; its desirability as an encouragement to
unselfishness, and also to show how the work might best improve social,
industrial and political conditions. The volume and excellence of the
reading matter thus produced, was marked by general comment as a matter
of astonishment. The unstinted praise which it elicited reflected much
credit on the club: therefore to be chosen a member was a coveted honor
which was reserved for the meritorious few.
The Dancing Club, in point of popularity, was the most successful of
all, and deservedly so. Its membership embraced the entire colony, both
old and young who, one and all, seemed to enter into the spirit of the
movement with a zealous abandon, a united joyousness, most delightful to
behold. The social ties which bound them together, grew and strengthened
with the recurrence of each meeting. On two afternoons of each week, the
club teachers gave two-hour lessons or drills to all who might desire
them. On three evenings of each week, in the large hall of education and
amusement, two and one-half hours were devoted to dancing, in which all
the members took part. These evening dances proved so fascinating that
as a rule very few members were ever noted as being absent. An attack of
illness which prevented the attendance of a member, must be desperate
indeed. In the matter of general improvement the results were most
excellent. To bestow
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