THE POWER OF MONEY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1634, 28 December 1912, Page 9

THE POWER OF MONEY.

• It was in the Tear of the first Jubilee that • old Joe Baker had his wonderful stroke of luck. It was not the first blessing' that Fate had 'bestowed ppori him— there was,, for instance, Mrs. Baker— but. it ,wiis most- certainly., the first time that Providence had ever opened its hands and poured. down upon Baker, a great shower-of gold. .. In a 6ense he had deserved,' if . not earned, this sudden accession of riches. He had displayed,- however unwittingly, a certain foresight by selecting the cottage in'which he now lived. When Mr. Jacks pensioned. Baker after his accident —one of the old sort was Jacks—lie offered him ten shillings a week and this cottage rent free, or twelve shilling a. week and no cottage. Baker chose the cottage, although it was a mile from the next house, and neither' he nor. Mrs. Baker could manage that distance without great effort.

Oil' the other hand, the ■ situation. of that 6trip of garden was unique. It ran straight down to the railway, and it was actually on a level, with, the_ metals.. The expresses came) drumming out of the tunnel under Bleak Hill a niile away, crescendoed through the falling- depth of the cutting, and at 'the bottom of Baker's garden went roaring by on-the level, to bo swallowed up by the outer cutting beyond, which grew deeper an'd'deeper until the entertainment was concluded by a despairing' scream as the.'express was engulfed in-the. black hole that had been bored into the huge mass of Silent Hill. The up expresses,- of course, 'reversed' the process, but the effeot was much the same. In either ;; case you sat on the rail and post fence at the, bottom of the garden and Waved your hat'as'the-flying; nrocession. whirled h'ammeririg past into the unknown! ! "You don't- think you'll find it lonely at that.place?". Jacks had "asked—a kindly, thoughtful'man. Jacks.. ... - , "What, with them trains?" replied There had- been moments of- exaltation -when Baker had. blessed the_ accident which had. given, him the. trains'. Tlj® whole two-mile' procession, from tunnel_ to tunnel had so much/ the effect of being conducted entirely for. the benefit of the person.who sat. on the,rail and post fence. From. no. other ; point could .you witness at suqh advantage that splendid tear .past from the,first faint drumming. at one end to the last shriek, of farewell at the other. Old Baker always, waved liis liat once_ more in response to that last farewell .shriek. But:the luck, though so intimately connected with-; those magnificent expresses, entered through the front door which gave on-to the lane.'- It-came in the person, of a-wonderful, individual ,in a vast overcoat. that broke linto a, luxuriant growth- of- curly -black - hair- all-over - the collar and lapels and cuffs. The remarkable individual inside " had hair to match and an exuberant moustache that had the. same, crisp tendency.. He drove up to the: Bakers' in a high dog-cart. , He told Baker' at, once that'his strip of . garden had unique advantages, a fact already- known-to Baker.-- But- the - individual,, who,..was-.the' agent: of the agent of a. great.: financier,<told v ßaker another ' fack'.o'f .'.WKich; .tliat-sitiipl.e,:- unon Itared»p«sr'fiSn'.'.iadViteser. 'dreamedT.-naniely, that unique advantages wefe..w'orth.money, especially advantages of position. • Baker, never 'clearly understood yhat he called the. "rights" of what the individual called his "proposition " but : the basis of the projwsition was that in the unknown, unrealised country lhat.. really existed beyond Bleak and Silent Hills. great erections of brick arid, stone, called hotels, were being built, and that other people besides Baker were ignorant of the ..splendid advantages.!of, hotels. These ignoramuses.. : .it appeared, ..were in • urgent need of enlightenment, and - the ■Ttfla'iis, ''exteilSive ''fiftd'; oostly, which the financier and'hi's' ageiits'Svere laying were designed solely to-facilitate the spread: of knowledge.",- ..... ''Hi'

Arid.':just' I '.atorieVinfi'iiitcsilnal, point at he whole ' vast scheme! 'the ' plan .m----/olved old Joa Baker. His garden , was ono of the few "spots in all that' hilly country oil which could bo erected a great sign that would lift the weight of ignorance from the travelling public and would tell them, not of the gorgeous possibilities of the hotel at. Freshmouth—there was no time'for'that—butof the essential fact that there was such an hotel,

The'Astrakhanned individual was ill. a hurry. He) overwhelmed . Baker ' with a flood of words. Jle did not bargain—money ivas plentiful, and promises iveii more so, just, then—he. announced that that strip of garden was wliat he wanted, that'he would ■pay ,£5. a year- rent- for .the.sign that was to be'ereoted upon it. aiid .he.,aid actually, • as, evidence of'his boiia-fides," leave a real half-sovereign by " way; 'of deposit' in old 'Baker's astonished. hand': -. . -"What's he want?"'.asked Baker of his wife.'-when' the.;superb individual had remounted his dogcart and - gone—cursing the ruts—back, up the. lane. • .. - "I dunno," replied Mrs. Baker, who had beeii present at the interview. - ■ "lain'tagoin' to have no 'otels built in oor garden," decided Baker doggedly; 'and doggedly he repeated that observation ■many times in the oourse-of the-next 1 few hours. • • • • ' ' -

Ten days : later, however, an , unprecedented letter.'arrived. The postman- was, of course, inyited-in,.a.cup of tea was made for . him, and' the astounding document he had-brought was- given him to decipher. . It was partly' in' "print," but a few blank spaces were filled in'in a neat handwriting, aild at the .bottom was. a hieroglyphic, .which even the postman, scholar as he was, could not make head ortail of. But the plain/message of the "thing was that "the Imperial Palace Hotel Co." was to pay Joseph Baker,. Esq., per year .for. the rent of an'advertising station-. There was much wonder and argument in the-cottage of Jossph Baker. Esq., that morning, and the, postman was very late in 'finishing- his -round.' ' . Therel was even , more when the marvellous sign arrived. It came by (fegrees.'and fofrjign workmen followed to fit it in its-ordained position. It was fifteen'.feat .high,it .was most, solidly and permanently constructed;.'and it bore in huge, .wood;' gilded letters this firm announcement:. -. - THE. IMPERIAL . PALACE HOTEL, ' FRESHMorrn. " 'Ope no one 'ull think it means my little , place," was Baker's comment. In two years the-comment had matured into a perfectly sound witticism. ... 11. For many, months that sign was the great show of the neighbourhood. Everyone came to so3 1 it, including the Rector and Mr. Jacks.. And the scholars of the place all tried to read the announcement backwards.from the cottage door, although it was not ono.of those - legends—like IUU YAW—that do equally well either way. But despite this defect .'the sign 6tood up in grand silhouette against the sky. . '!« old Baker it was. a never-failing, joy; and if'he were.sitting on.the fence*with his back to the line, enjoying the prospect of this beautiful. announcement, he would not turn round to greet anything less than an express; the slow trains and the luggage. trains went by, forlornly, unhailed. It was in October that, the . sign was fixed, and at the end of twelve months old Joe and his wife'held a quiet festival to celebrate the fact that they had earned five pounds—"a power o'_ money," as they both agrpcd. ' lc did.; not" trouble them at all that the money had . not - yet been sent to them. They,had jt in print, and it was perhaps just as'well",that the great and rich hotel company-should keep money safely for Uio Bates, who would have b.en terrified' to have had so large a sum in. the houic. They had lio urgent need for the mo'icy just then; indeed, Mrs. Baker had . nearly eleven shillings "put b.v, come Christmas." J Nor did it worry the Bakers when October, -1889, came round, and still tliero was no further letter irom the Imperial I-lotel Co. They did not expect a letter, and it,came to.old''Joe sometimes■ as a terrifying thought that , the Astrakhan gentleman might one day drive up.in- his dogcart and-ptiiir out ten golden pounds on'the table.'Aye!.lt. wds ten; pounds now. •Toe looked at- his Missus -with an, awed face. "Dunno what us, 'ud do.wi' such a power o' money," 1 he said. Mrs. .Baker, agreed. ■

So the. yeajrs rolled, on, and i the. sign still stoo'd firm ns ever/ -The gold letters had long ago turned b'nok.'it is truej but ths lerafnd woe • ns ' plain', and BuhstajitirJ as oa the day it baa beei erected. . . ..

In 1908 the second "I" in Imperial was blown oil in a gale, but that made little difference.

i In 1901, however, Mr. Jacks died. That was a tragedy in any ease; but the full fore© of it was borne- in upon tho Bakers when they found that young Mr. Jacks was of different stuff to his fatheT, and that their pension of ten shillings a week was to be stopped. It took old Joe, now grown rather decrepit, a day or two to realise the inner meaning of this great ichange; but when it'was made quite, clear to him that the time had come for his removal to tho workhouse, he quavered into a thin laugh. "Work'us? Me and the Missus?" he piped. "Why, us is rich. Us is worth a power o' money." .And . from the bottom of the best tea-caddy was produced, after much fumbling, the evidence of wealth; a document grown weak in the joints, but still plainly legible. ' Young Jacks laughed, and left the cottage saying that lie would believe in that wealth when he saw it in cash.

Old Mrs. Baker spent a day in a journey to the Rectory, and took the priceless document with her. The Hector was sympathetic and., helpful. He promised to write and make formal application, to the company for the amount involved—no less a sum than seventy pounds. Joe and his wife had never worked it out, and when Mrs. Baker- returned in. the Rectory pony-cart, and informed Joe of the sum that was due to them he was smiten to speechless amazement. Seventy pounds was a sum beyond the reach of their imagination. It seemed quite impossible to them that any company could be rich enough to pay out such a horde of .wealth in one transaction.

, "Us'll get it bit by bit, like," they agreed. ■ The Rector wrote to the address given on the agreement, and in the Government's own good , time his letter was returned 'to him. marked "Not known." After that tlie Rector made inquiries, and discovered without.much difficulty .that the Imperial Palace Hotel Co. had been wound up and forgotten some twelve years before, and, incidentally, that the Imperial Palace Hotel at Freshmouth had never been.completed. . _ Tho''Rector was not unprepared for this awful news, but old Joe Baker was. . . .

For somo hours after the Rector had gone, old Joe sat and tried to realise that he was no-longer a potential millionaire. That effort was too great for liira-, hut he did realise that the magnificent sign had in, some way lied to him. When he had. firmly grasped that idea, he found the wood-chopper and went out into the garden, ' For one long afternoon he sat on the rail.and post fenoe,- disregarding even the expresses, and gazed reproachfully at tho splendid Ho in his garden. "Tliur hain't iio Imperal Pallia otel Freshmouth," ho repeated again and again. "It's a Loie. Thur bain't no Imperil .Pallis 'otel Freshmouth." But even this full recognition of til© sign's explicit falsity was not enough to overcome the admiration of. long yeare. . . . Mrs: Baker, coining out to fetch old Joe in for. his tea, found him in senile tears. ■' Two days later the Bakers were taken to-the workhouse. .... But the sign still stands in tho 6ame place, and there are enough letters remaining to enable one to guess its.message. I have seen it many times, and once I was stirred to inquire if there' was or had ever been an Imperial Palace Hotel at Freshmouth. Tho answer received excited my curiosity, and that is how I am able to tell the story of this one unrecognised creditor of the ill-conceived Hotel Company^'this one insignificant victim'of frenzied : iinance. . He . has been dead this ten years, but old. Mrs. Baker is still alive-and hearty, considering that she has turned eighty. —J. D.: Beresford, in the "Westminster Gazette."