to see the holder
of the mortgage, and do no end of business. I think she is rather
interested in the scheme, and I do believe she is delighted to do me a
favor. Now you can keep your money for a kind of reserve fund. The mere
savings of labor will not answer at first, you know."

Maverick drew a long breath then, and puffed lustily at his cigar.

"I don't know how ever to thank you."

"Don't thank me, Darcy. You see, I am interested in this experiment. I
want to see if there is enough faith and honesty and industry and
trustfulness left in the world to make such a general partnership a
success. You know it has been said that since the war our character as a
whole has degenerated fearfully. Politically there is no doubt of it.
Commercially and industrially are still open questions. If we could
succeed in making one hundred people comfortable, instead of one rich,
nine comfortable, and the other ninety next door to pauperism, we shall
have done something. If we can so educate ninety men that they are able
to understand the difficulties and embarrassments of carrying on
business and its numerous fluctuations, we shall have raised them higher
in the social scale. And it is most sadly true of all the large failures
of late, some one has been dishonest, some one or two or three have
taken other people's money to speculate with. It should be called
stealing as much as when a poor man takes it, even if he spends it for
rum. And, Darcy, we will keep our eye single upon one thing: we shall
not move the world, or convert it, but haply one little corner of
Yerbury; while all the wit and wisdom the world has been saving up for
ages will be hurled against us in different shapes, from puffy snowballs
to the grim old fellows soaked in water and frozen hard. And sometimes I
think, with all the energy you are going to bring to bear upon this, you
could carve out a fortune somewhere else."

"I don't know as to that, Maverick," said Darcy in a half-funny,
half-sad tone. "From New York to St. Louis, from thence to New Orleans,
to Florida, and back here again, I never found an opening. Two or three
people did promise to write to me, but they have not. I felt the world
could go on quite as well without me and hundreds of others. So, then,
the only thing is to create a place; and Heaven knows I shall try hard
enough to make a success of this."

"And you will do it too: I'm not afraid. Give us your hand, old chap! I
never swore friendshi