Successful Was The _Phoenix_, Which Had Been Put On The Guano Trade. She
Still Continued To Be A Favourite, And Her Voyages Were Followed With
Great Interest In The Newspapers. The Poet Of The Town Had Written Some
Verses In Her Honour:--
"Rock Proud, Thou Fire'S Daughter,
Thy Flame-Enshrouded Helm!"
It Was Doubtless This Allusion To The Helm, Which Had Been Most In
Danger At The Time Of The Fire, Which Caused The Success Of The Poem,
And Insured It A Permanent Position In all The Concerts.
In Accordance With The Express Wishes Of The Deceased, Jacob Worse Had
Been Chosen As Guardian For Rachel And Gabriel. Mrs. Garman Was Still To
Remain In The Position Of Partner, With Morten As Manager Of The
Business. For Each Of The Younger Children A Considerable Sum Was Set
Apart; A Sum, In Fact, Which Was Just About Equal To That With Which
Morten Had Entered The Firm.
Rachel Had Thus To Go To Jacob Worse For An Explanation Of Her Affairs,
For She Wanted To Have A Clear Idea Of What She Really Possessed, And
What Her Exact Position Was. Worse Answered Her In a Calm And Measured
Business Tone.
"Well, Then, This Money," Said She, One Day, In Worse'S Office, "Is My
Own, And Is Entirely Under My Own Control?"
"Yes, In addition To Your Share In The Business," Added Worse, In
Explanation; "And If Your Mother Should Die, Your Part Of Her Property
Will Come To You At The Division Which Will Follow. It Will Then Depend
Upon You Or Your Future Husband--"
Chapter 24 Pg 152
"My Future Husband Will Surely Allow Me To Manage My Own Property," Said
Rachel.
"It Is To Be Hoped He Will; But, As You Perhaps Know, In The Event Of
Your Marrying, You Will Lose The Entire Control."
"Then I Will Never Marry!"
"I Am Of Opinion Myself That You Might Do Something Better Than
Marriage," Said Jacob Worse.
Rachel Observed Him Closely, But Failed To Fathom His Thoughts.
"How I Envy You Your Clear Intelligent Head!" Said She, Somewhat
Scornfully. "You Lay Out For Yourself Some Plan Or Another In Life, And
Then Your Object Is Forthwith Accomplished. You Quietly Follow Your
Plans, And In The Same Way You Expect That Those To Whom You Give Your
Advice, Will Follow It Without Wavering. You Are Just Like Father. You
Really Are Too Precise."
"I Regard That As The Greatest Compliment I Have Ever Received,"
Answered Worse, Smiling.
"But Father Was In Many Respects An Old-Fashioned And Somewhat
Prejudiced Man. It Was Just These Very Modern Ideas That You Find So
Attractive, Which Were To Him Strange Or Even Positively Distasteful."
She Made This Remark More For The Purpose Of Drawing Out Worse Than
Because She Wished To Disparage Her Father.
"Consul Garman," Said Worse, Rising From His Chair, "Was A Dissatisfied
Man. His Whole Life Was An Ill-Concealed Struggle Between The Old And
The New. He Placed Extraordinary Confidence In Me, And I Found In Him
Ideas, Which No One Would Have Expected To Meet With In Such A Precise
And Old-Fashioned Man Of Business. But To Reconcile The Two Incongruous
Currents Was Beyond His Power; The Immature And Impetuous Want Of
Exactitude Of Modern Times Was Repugnant To His Nature; And When His
Great Sense Of Justice Forced Him To Recognize Certain Fundamental
Truths, It Was Still Always A Source Of Annoyance To Him To Be Obliged
To Do So. It Appears To Me That He Sought A Counteracting Influence To
All This, In His Boundless Admiration For Old Consul Garman."
"But Was Not My Grandfather A Remarkable Man? Don'T You Think So?" Asked
Rachel, With Interest.
"I Will Tell You My Opinion, Miss Garman. He Was A Man Who Lived In a
Time To Which He Was Suited, And In Which, On The Whole, Existence Was
Far More Easy."
"You Mean To Say, Then, That Existence Was Easier In Those Times Than In
The Present?"
"Yes, I Am Sure Of It," Continued Worse, Pacing Hurriedly Up And Down
The Room, As Was His Custom When He Was Excited. "Do You Not See How
Existence Becomes More Difficult With Each Year As It Passes? New
Discoveries And Experiences Are Springing Up Every Hour, And Doubts And
Inquiry Are Burrowing Under, And Undermining The Whole Fabric. Revered
And Well-Grounded Truths Are Falling To The Ground, And Those Who Are
Chapter 24 Pg 153
Too Timid To Advance With The Times, Are Gathering Confusedly About The
Rotten Framework, Supporting, Preserving, And Terrified, Denouncing
Youth, And Predicting The Destruction Of Society. Your Grandfather Stood
On The Very Summit Of The Cultivation Of His Day, Living As He Did In a
State Of Society Which Was Peaceful And Conscious Of Its Security, With
Aristocratic Intelligence Above And Aristocratic Ignorance Below. Your
Father, On The Other Hand, Had Grown To Manhood When The Movement
Reached Us, And He Had Already A Fixed Understanding As To His Own Line
In Life, When The New Ideas Came Streaming In Upon Him. Then Followed
The Long And Painful Struggle. But We Who Are A Generation Younger, And
Who Enter Upon Life From School, With The Old Maxims Only Half Rooted In
Our Minds, Feel The Whole Fabric Tottering. Doubt And Uncertainty Reign
On Every Side, And We Find Ourselves Now In a State Of Eager
Expectation, And Now Plunged In Gloomy Apprehension. Wheresoever We
Place Our Foot, The Ground Gives Way Beneath Us, And If We Wish To Sit
Down And Rest Awhile, The Chair Is Drawn From Under Us By Some Invisible
Hand. Thus Are We Whirled To And Fro In a Struggle For Which We Were
Never Prepared, And In Which Numbers Of Us Miserably Perish. Fathers
Scold And Threaten, While Mothers Weep Because We Have Forsaken The
Traditions Of Our Childhood. Bitter Words And Party Names Are Caught Up
In The Continuous Strife, And Find Their Way Into Family Life; The One
No Longer Understands The Motives Of The Other; We Stand Railing At Each
Other In The Pitchy Darkness; No Distinction Is Made Between Sincere
Conviction And Restless Love Of Change. All Strive Blindly Together,
Whilst Society Becomes Interwoven With A Tissue Of Hostility, Mistrust,
Falsehood, And Hypocrisy."
Rachel Looked At Him With Open Eyes, And At Length She Exclaimed, "I
Cannot Imagine How You Can Be Content With Your Present Existence, So
Silent And So Reserved, When Such A Tumult Of Thought Is Passing Through
Your Brain."
Jacob Worse Stopped, And His Face Grew
