The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Early Bird, by George Randolph Chester pptx

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Early Bird, by George Randolph ChesterThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.. You may copy

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Early Bird, by George Randolph Chester

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

almost no restrictions whatsoever You may copy it, give it away or

re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: The Early Bird

A Business Man's Love Story

Author: George Randolph Chester

Illustrator: Arthur William Brown

Posting Date: September 14, 2006 [EBook

#19272]

Release Date: December 20, 2008

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EARLY BIRD ***

Produced by Al Haines

[Frontispiece: They stopped and had a drink of the cool

water]

THE EARLY

BIRD

A Business Man's Love

Story

BY

RANDOLPH

CHESTER

Author of THE MAKING OF BOBBY BURNIT

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ARTHUR WILLIAM BROWN

Sam played again the plaintive little air

"I don't like to worry you, Sam"

"Excuse me!" stammered

Mr Stevens

THE EARLY

range of vision—flat green country,shaded farm-houses, encircling woodedhills and all—weighed it and sorted it andfiled it away for future reference; and hisclothes clung on him with almost thatenviable fit found only in advertisements.Immediately he threw his luggage into thetonneau of the dingy automobile drawn up

at the side of the lonely platform, andpromptly climbed in after it Spurred intopurely mechanical action by this silentdecisiveness, the driver, a grizzledgraduate from a hay wagon, and a borngrump, as promptly and as silently startedhis machine The crisp and perfect start,however, was given check by aperemptory voice from the platform

"Hey, you!" rasped the voice "Come

back here!"

As there were positively no other "Heyyous" in the landscape, the driver and thealert young man each acknowledged to thename, and turned to see an elderlygentleman, with a most aggressive beardand solid corpulency, gesticulating at themwith much vigor and earnestness Standingbeside him was a slender sort of girl in agreen outfit, with very large brown eyesand a smile of amusement which was just

a shade mischievous The driver turnedupon his passenger a long and solemnaccusation

"Hollis Creek Inn?" he asked sternly

"Meadow Brook," returned the

passenger, not at all abashed, and hesmiled with all the cheeriness imaginable.

"Oh," said the driver, and there was aworld of disapprobation in his tone, aswell as a subtle intonation of contempt

"You are not Mr Stevens of Boston."

"No," confessed the passenger; "Mr.Turner of New York I judge that to be

Mr Stevens on the platform," and hegrinned

The driver, still declining to see anyhumor whatsoever in the situation, sourlyran back to the platform Jumping from hisseat he opened the door of the tonneau,and waited with entirely artificialdeference for Mr Turner of New York to

alight Mr Turner, however, did nothing

of the sort He merely stood up in thetonneau and bowed gravely

"I seem to be a usurper," he saidpleasantly to Mr Stevens of Boston "Iwas expected at Meadow Brook, and theywere to send a conveyance for me As thiswas the only conveyance in sight Inaturally supposed it to be mine I verymuch regret having discommoded you."

He was looking straight at Mr Stevens

of Boston as he spoke, but, nevertheless,

he was perfectly aware of the presence ofthe girl; also of her eyes and of her smile

of amusement with its trace ofmischievousness Becoming conscious ofhis consciousness of her, he cast her

deliberately out of his mind andconcentrated upon Mr Stevens The twomen gazed quite steadily at each other, not

to the point of impertinence at all, butnevertheless rather absorbedly Really itwas only for a fleeting moment, but in thatmoment they had each penetrated the husk

of the other, had cleaved straight down tothe soul, had estimated and judged forever and ever, after the ways of men

"I passed your carryall on the road Itwas broke down It'll be here in about ahalf hour, I suppose," insisted the driver,opening the door of the tonneau stillwider, and waving the descendingpathway with his right hand

Both Mr Stevens of Boston and Mr

Turner of New York were very glad ofthis interruption, for it gave the oldergentleman an object upon which to venthis annoyance.

"Is Meadow Brook on the way to HollisCreek?" he demanded in a tone full ofreproof for the driver's presumption

The driver reluctantly admitted that itwas

"I couldn't think of leaving you in thisdismal spot to wait for a dubiouscarryall," offered Mr Stevens, but withfrigid politeness "You are quite welcome

to ride with us, if you will."

"Thank you," said Mr Turner, now

climbing out of the machine with alacrityand making way for the others "I hadintended," he laughed, as he took his placebeside the driver, "to secure just such aninvitation, by hook or by crook."

For this assurance he received a glancefrom the big eyes; not at all a flirtatiousglance, but one of amusement, with a trace

of mischief The remark, however, hadwell-nigh stopped all conversation on thepart of Mr Stevens, who suddenlyremembered that he had a daughter toprotect, and must discourage forwardness.His musings along these lines wereinterrupted by an enthusiastic outburstfrom Mr Turner

"By George!" exclaimed the latter

gentleman, "what a fine clump of walnuttrees; an even half-dozen, and everysolitary one of them would trim sixteeninches."

"Yes," agreed the older man with keenlyawakened interest, "they are finespecimens They would scale six hundredfeet apiece, if they'd scale an inch."

"You're in the lumber business, I take it,"guessed the young man immediately,already reaching for his card-case "Myname is Turner, known a little better asSam Turner, of Turner and Turner."

"Sam Turner," repeated the older manthoughtfully "The name seems distinctlyfamiliar to me, but I do not seem, either, to

remember of any such firm in the trade."

"Oh, we're not in the lumber line,"replied Mr Turner "Not at all We're inmost anything that offers a profit We—that is my kid brother and myself—haveengineered a deal or two in lumber lands,however It was only last month that Iturned a good trade—a very good trade—

on a tract of the finest trees in Wisconsin."

"The dickens!" exclaimed the oldergentleman explosively "So you're theTurner who sold us our own lumber! Now

I know you I'm Stevens, of the Maine andWisconsin Lumber Company."

Sam Turner laughed aloud, in bothsurprise and glee Mr Stevens had now

reached for his own card-case The twogentlemen exchanged cards, which, withbarely more than a glance, they poked inthe other flaps of their cases; then theytook a new and more interested inspection

of each other Both were now entirelyoblivious to the girl, who, however, was

by no means oblivious to them She foundthem, in this new meeting, a mostinteresting study

"You gouged us on that land, youngman," resumed Mr Stevens with a wrylittle smile

"Worth every cent you paid us for it,wasn't it?" demanded the other

"Y-e-s; but if you hadn't stepped into the

deal at the last minute, we could havesecured it for five or six thousand dollarsless money."

"You used to go after these thingsyourself," explained Mr Turner with aneasy laugh "Now you send out peopleempowered only to look and not topurchase."

"But what I don't yet understand,"protested Mr Stevens, "is how you came

to be in the deal at all When we sent outour men to inspect the trees they belonged

to a chap in Detroit When we came to buythem they belonged to you."

"Certainly," agreed the younger man "Iwas up that way on other business, when I

heard about your man looking over thisvaluable acreage; so I just slipped down

to Detroit and hunted up the owner andbought it Then I sold it to you That's all."

He smiled frankly and cheerfully upon

Mr Stevens, and the frown ofdiscomfiture which had slightly cloudedthe latter gentleman's brow, faded awayunder the guilelessness of it all; so much

so that he thought to introduce hisdaughter

Miss Josephine having been brought intothe conversation, Mr Turner, for the firsttime, bent his gaze fully upon her, givingher the same swift scrutiny andappraisement that he had the father Hewas evidently highly satisfied with what

he saw, for he kept looking at it as much

as he dared He became aware after amoment or so that Mr Stevens was sayingsomething to him He never did get all of

it, but he got this much:

"—so you'd be rather a good man towatch, wherever you go."

"I hope so," agreed the other briskly "If

I want anything, I go prepared to grab itthe minute I find that it suits me."

"Do you always get everything youwant?" asked the young lady

"Always," he answered her veryearnestly, and looked her in the eyes sospeculatively, albeit unconsciously so,

that she found herself battling with atendency to grow pink.

Her father nodded in approval

"That's the way to get things," he said

"What are you after now? More lumber?"

"Rest," declared Mr Turner withvigorous emphasis "I've worked like anailer ever since I turned out of highschool I had to make the living for thefamily, and I sent my kid brother throughcollege He's just been out a year and it's awonder the way he takes hold But do youknow that in all those times since I leftschool I never took a lay-off until just thisminute? It feels glorious already It's fine

to look around this good stretch of green

country and breathe this fresh air and look

at those hills over yonder, and to realizethat I don't have to think of business fortwo solid weeks Just absolute rest, forme! I don't intend to talk one syllable ofshop while I'm here Hello! there's anotherclump of walnut trees It's a pity they'rescattered so that it isn't worth while to buythem up."

The girl laughed, a little silvery laughwhich made any memory of grand operaseem harsh and jangling Both men turned

to her in surprise Neither of them couldsee any cause for mirth in all the fields orsky

"I beg your pardon for being so silly,"she said; "but I just thought of something

"Tell it to us," urged Mr Turner "I'venever taken the time I ought to enjoy funnythings, and I might as well begin rightnow."

But she shook her head, and in some way

he acquired an impression that she wasamused at him His brows gathered atrifle If the young lady intended to makesport of him he would take her down a peg

or two He would find her point ofsusceptibility to ridicule, and hammerupon it until she cried enough That washis way to make men respectful, and itought to work with women

When they let him out at Meadow Brook,

Mr Stevens was kind enough to ask him todrop over to Hollis Creek Mr Turner,with impulsive alacrity, promised that hewould.

W Westlake, of the Westlake ElectricCompany, a big, placid man with a mildgray eye and an appearance of well-fedand kindly laziness; a man also who hadthe record of having ruthlessly smashedmore business competitors than any twoother pirates in his line Westlake,unclasping his fat hands from hiscomfortable rotundity, was glad to seeyoung Turner, also glad to introduce thenew eligible to his daughter, a girl oftwenty-two, working might and main toreduce a threatened inheritance ofembonpoint Mr Turner was charmed tomeet Miss Westlake, and even morepleased to meet the gentleman who waswith her, young Princeman, a brisk papermanufacturer variously quoted at from one

to two million He knew all about young

Princeman; in fact, had him upon hismental list as a man presently to meet andcultivate for a specific purpose, andalready Mr Turner's busy mind offset theexpenses of this trip with an equal credit,much in the form of "By introduction to H.

L Princeman, Jr (Princeman and SonPaper Mills, AA 1), whatever it costs."

He liked young Princeman at sight, too,and, proceeding directly to the matteruppermost in his thoughts, immediatelyasked him how the new tariff had affectedhis business

"It's inconvenient," said Princeman with

a shake of his head "Of course, in the endthe consumers must pay, but they protest

so much about it that they disarrange thesteady course of our operations."

"It's queer that the ultimate consumernever will be quite reconciled to his fate,"laughed Mr Turner; "but in this particularcase, I think I hold the solution You'll beinterested, I know You see—"

"I beg your pardon, Mr Turner,"interrupted Miss Westlake gaily; "I knowyou'll want to meet all the young folks, andyou'll particularly want to meet my verydearest friend Miss Hastings, Mr.Turner."

Mr Turner had turned to find anextraordinarily thin young woman, withextraordinarily piercing black eyes, atMiss Westlake's side

"Indeed, I do want to meet all the young

people," he cordially asserted, takingMiss Hastings' claw-like hand in his ownand wondering what to do with it Hecould not clasp it and he could not shake

it She relieved him of his dilemma, after

a moment, by twining that arm about theplump waist of her dearest friend

"Is this your first stay at MeadowBrook?" she asked by way of startingconversation She was very carefullyvivacious, was Miss Hastings, and had abird-like habit, meant to be very fetching,

of cocking her head to one side as shespoke, and peering up to men—oh, awayup—with the beady expression of a petcanary

"My very first visit," confessed Mr

Turner, not yet realizing the disgrace itwas to be "new people" at MeadowBrook, where there was always anaristocracy of the grandchildren oforiginal Meadow Brookers "However, Ihope it won't be the last time," hecontinued.

"We shall all hope that, I am certain,"Miss Westlake assured him, smilingengagingly into the depths of his eyes "Itwill be our fault if you don't like it here;"and he might take such tentative promise

as he would from that and her smile

"Thank you," he said promptly enough "Ican see right now that I'm going to makeMeadow Brook my future summer home.It's such a restful place, for one thing I'm

beginning to rest right now, and to putbusiness so far into the background that

—" he suddenly stopped and listened to aphrase which his trained ear had caught

"And that is the trouble with the wholepaper business," Mr Princeman wassaying to Mr Westlake "It is not the tariff,but the future scarcity of wood-pulpmaterial."

"That's just what I was starting toexplain to you," said Mr Turner, wheelingeagerly to Mr Princeman, entirelyunaware, in his intensity of interest, of hisutter rudeness to both groups "My kidbrother and myself are working on ascheme which, if we are on the right track,ought to bring about a revolution in the

paper business I can not give you theexact details of it now, because we'rewaiting for letters patent on it, but thefundamental point is this: that the wood-pulp manufacturers within a few yearswill have to grow their raw material,since wood is becoming so scarce and sohigh priced Well, there is any quantity ofswamp land available, and we haveexperimented like mad with reeds andrushes We've found one particular varietywhich grows very rapidly, has a strong,woody fiber, and makes the finest pulp inthe world I turned the kid loose with thecompany's bank roll this spring, and hesecured options on two thousand acres ofswamp land, near to transportation andparticularly adapted to this culture, anddirt cheap because it is useless for any

other purpose As soon as the patents aregranted on our process we're going toorganize a million dollar stock company

to take up more land and handle thebusiness."

"Come over here and sit down," invitedPrinceman, somewhat more thancourteously

"Wait a minute until I send forMcComas Here, boy, hunt Mr McComasand ask him to come out on the porch."

The new guest was reaching for penciland paper as they gathered their chairstogether The two girls had already startedhesitantly to efface themselves Half-wayacross the lawn they looked sadly toward

the porch again That handsome young Mr.Turner, his back toward them, was deep informulated but thrilling facts, while threeother heads, one gray and one black andone auburn, were bent interestedly overthe envelope upon which he was figuring.

Later on, as he was dressing for dinner,

Mr Turner decided that he liked MeadowBrook very much It was set upon the edge

of a pleasant, rolling valley, faced andbacked by some rather high hills, upon thesloping side of one of which the hotel wasbuilt, with broad verandas looking outupon exquisitely kept flowers andshrubbery and upon the shallow littlebrook which gave the place its name Alittle more water would have suited Sambetter, but the management had made the