The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2, No. 1, July, 1862

'Wal, I cum to du ye a naboorly turn—I've kotched two on yer niggers down ter my still, an' I want ye ter take 'em 'way,' returned the corn-cracker, with the utmost coolness.

'Two of my niggers!' exclaimed the Colonel, perceptibly moderating his tone, 'which ones?'

'A yaller gal, and a child.'

'I thank you, Barnes; excuse my hard words—I was excited.'

'All right, Cunnel; say no more 'bout thet. Will ye send fur 'em? I'd hev fotched 'em 'long, but my waggin's off jest now.'

'Yes, I'll send at once. Have you got them safe?'

'Safe? I reckon so! Kotched 'em las' night, arter dark, and they've kept right still ever sense, I 'sure ye—but th' gal holes on ter th' young 'un ter kill—we couldn't get it 'way no how.'

'How did you catch them?'

'The' got 'gainst my turpentime raft—th' current driv 'em down, I s'pose.'

'What! are they dead?' exclaimed the Colonel.

'Dead? Deader'n drownded rats!' was the native's reply.

WAS HE SUCCESSFUL?

'Do but grasp into the thick of human life! Every one lives it—to not many is it known; and seize it where you will, it is interesting.'—Goethe.

'SUCCESSFUL.—Terminating in accomplishing what is wished or intended.'—Webster's Dictionary.

CHAPTER III

The people are anxious for the detail of sentiments, not for general results.'

—Lamartine.

Hiram exhibited almost from his boyhood a fondness for female society. Even when at the district-school, he preferred spending 'noon-time' among the girls to racing around with the boys, pitching quoits, wrestling at 'arm's-end,' 'back-hold,' or playing base-ball and goal. His mother was careful to encourage Hiram's predilections. She remarked that nothing was so well calculated to keep a young man from going astray as for him to frequent the society of virtuous females.

Before Hiram had got into his teens, he appeared to be smitten with at least half a score of little girls of his own age. As he grew older, his fondness for the sex increased. I do not record this, as any thing extraordinary, except that in his case a characteristic selfishness seemed to be at the bottom even of these manifestations. Hiram was not influenced by those natural emotions and impulses which belong to youth, and which, unless kept under proper restraint, are apt frequently to lead to indiscretions. For there ran a vein of calculation through all he did, whose prudent office it was to minister to his safety.

After Hiram joined the church he was regular in his attendance on the evening meetings. He always went to these meetings with some young girl, whom, of course, he accompanied home after the services were over. As I have said, he was a handsome fellow, and bestowed particular care on his dress and his appearance generally. He was good-natured and obliging, and withal sensible, so that the young men who envied him and might be inclined to call him a fop or a dandy, could not prefix 'brainless' to these epithets and thus ridicule on him. The fact is, he was shrewder than any of them, and he knew it. They soon discovered it, and so did the girls, to the utter discomfiture of his rivals.

At all the village gatherings, including the sewing-societies, and the lectures, the prayer-meetings, and meetings of Sunday-school teachers, and so forth, Hiram was not only a favorite, but the favorite with the other sex. He had a winning, confidential manner, when addressing a young lady even for the first time, which said very plainly, 'We know all about and appreciate each other,' and which was very taking. He assumed various little privileges, such as calling the girls by their first name, giving notice that a curl was about to fall, and offering to fix it properly, picking up a bow which had been brushed off, and pinning it securely on again, holding the hand with a kind and amiable smile for a brief space after he had shaken it, and sometimes, when he had occasion to see one of his friends home, keeping her hand in his all the way after it was placed within his arm.

You may ask why such liberties were permitted. Simply because they were so very equally distributed they had come to be regarded as a matter of course. In fact, Hiram was a privileged person. He was so polite, so attentive, so considerate, what if he did have his peculiarities—how ridiculous to make a fuss about such trifles! So the 'trifles' were acquiesced in. Besides, I am inclined to think each fair one supposed she was the especial object of Hiram's regard, and that his attentions to others were mere civilities. I do not say Hiram so announced it. I know he did not; for he was not a person, even when a youth, to commit himself foolishly. Yet if they would mistake general politeness for particular attentions, surely it was not his fault—oh! no.

There were those who refused to give their adherence to Hiram's almost unlimited sway. And as parties generally proceed to extremes, the girls who formed the opposition generally declared him to be a pusillanimous, mean-spirited fellow; they detested the very sight of his smooth, hypocritical face; he had better not come fooling around them—no, indeed! Let him attempt it once, they would soon teach him manners. It is to be observed that these remarks did not emanate from the prettiest or most attractive girls of the village—all of whom were decidedly and emphatically on Hiram's side. They seemed to enjoy the excitement under which their adversaries were laboring, and retorted by exclaiming, 'Sour grapes!' asserting that those who so shamefully vilified Hiram, would be glad enough to accept his attentions if—they only had the opportunity.

Hiram, meantime, pursued the even tenor of his way, secure in his position, enjoying to the full extent of his selfish nature all his 'blessings and privileges,' for which he thanked God twice daily, wondering how men could be so blind and misguided as to turn their backs on religion when there was such happiness and peace in giving up all to God!

CHAPTER IV

Mr. Bennett was correct in his surmise that there were two stores in the little village of Hampton. Of one of these Thaddeus Smith was proprietor. He was one of the solid men of the place, and had 'kept store' there for the last forty years, succeeding his father, who was one of the early settlers in the town. He had continued on with his customers in the good old fashion, extending liberal credits and charging a regular, undeviating profit of thirty-three and a third per cent. About five years previous to Hiram Meeker's leaving school, Mr. Smith's peace was greatly disturbed by the advent of a rival, in the person of Benjamin Jessup, who took possession of an advantageous locality, and after a week's bustle with teams and workmen transporting, unpacking, and arranging, displayed his name, one fine morning, in large gilt letters to the wondering inhabitants of Hampton, and under it the cabalistic words: 'CHEAP CASH STORE.' A large number of handbills were posted about the village, informing the good people of the opening of the aforesaid 'cash store,' and that the proprietor was prepared to sell every variety of goods and merchandise 'cheap for cash or ready pay,' by which last expression was meant acceptable barter. Of course, the whole town flocked to inspect Mr. Jessup's stock and price his goods. The cunning fellow had valued them only at about cost, while he declared he was making a living profit at the rates charged, and a living profit was all he wanted. Furthermore, he allowed the highest prices for the commodities brought in by the farmers, and gave them great bargains in return. He was especially accommodating to the ladies, permitting them to tumble his whole stock of dry goods for the sake of selecting a pretty pattern for an apron, or finding a remnant which they were 'welcome to.'

Mr. Smith was sadly grieved. Although some very old-fashioned people stuck sternly to him, refusing to be allured by the bait of great bargains, and so forth and so forth, yet his store was nearly deserted. Thaddeus Smith was a perfectly upright man. It is true, he charged a large profit on his goods—this was because it had always been his habit, and that of his father before him. But he was accommodating in his credit and lenient to debtors in default. His word could be relied on implicitly, and his dealings were marked by scrupulous honesty.

On this trying occasion he called his son, who was supposed to be his partner, into consultation, and asked him what he thought of the state of things.

'I think this, father,' was the reply, 'that we can not expect to go on longer in the old style. We must reduce our profits one half, and to do this, we must be more particular in our credits, and buy with more care and of different people. In this way I will engage—by pursuing a straightforward, energetic course, we shall hold our own against the cash-man over the way.'

It was some time before Mr. Smith, Senior, could be persuaded. It was not just the thing, taking advice from a 'boy,' although the boy was past thirty, and had a family of his own. He yielded, however, and Thaddeus, Junior, was permitted to carry out his plan. He made a trip to New-York and purchased goods, instead of sending an order for them as had been their habit, where he could find the best bargains at least ten per cent cheaper than his father was in the habit of buying, came home, got out handbills in his turn, requesting the people to call at the 'old stand,' look at the fresh stock, selected personally with great care, and bought cheap for cash, but which would be sold as usual on approved credit. This gave the tide a turn in the old direction, and Mr. Jessup had to set to work anew. He was not a bad man in his way, but neither was he a good one. He was not over-scrupulous nor severely honest. His prices varied, so the folks discovered, and he, or rather his clerks, sometimes made mistakes in the quality of articles sold. After a while the cash system sensibly relaxed, and at last both establishments settled down into a severe and uncompromising opposition. There was a pretty large back country which received its supplies from Hampton, and so both stores managed to do a thriving trade. The Smiths retaining as customers the large portion of the staid and respectable population, while Mr. Jessup's business depended more on his dealings with the people from the surrounding country. There was a very different atmosphere around the stores of these two village merchants. The Smiths were religious people, father and son, not merely so in name, but in reality. A child could have purchased half their stock on as favorable terms as the shrewdest man in the place. Mr. Jessup, on the contrary, varied as he could light of chaps, that is, according to circumstances. He was, however, an off-hand, free-and-easy fellow, with many generous qualities, which made him popular with most who knew him. He did not hesitate to declare that his views on religious subjects were liberal—a bold announcement for a man to make in Hampton. Indeed, his enemies put him down for a Universalist, or at best a Unitarian, for which they claimed to have some reason, since he seldom went to church, although his wife was a communicant, and very regular in her attendance.

I have been thus particular in describing the two rival establishments because Hiram Meeker is to enter one of them. The reader will naturally suppose there can be little doubt which, and he has a right to exhibit surprise on learning that Hiram decided in favor of Mr. Jessup. I say HIRAM decided. His father preferred that he should go with the Smiths. His mother was of the same opinion, but she permitted her son, who now was very capable of acting for himself, to persuade her that Jessup's was the place for him: 'More going on—greater variety of business—much more enterprise,' and consequently more to be learned. It would be difficult to follow closely the train of reasoning which led Hiram to insist so perseveringly in favor of Mr. Jessup. For the reasons he gave were on the surface, while those which really decided him were keen and subtle, based on a shrewd appreciation of the position of the two merchants, and his probable relation to one or the other. With the Smiths, Hiram saw no room for any fresh exhibition of talent or enterprise; in the other place he saw a great deal.

Once decided on, he was speedily settled in his new abode, where he formed a part of the household of the proprietor, together with the head-clerk, a 'cute fellow of five and twenty, who was reported to be as 'keen as a razor.' It was evident Mr. Jessup valued him highly, from the respect he always paid to his advice and from his giving up so much of the management of the business to him. Besides, it was rumored he was engaged to Mr. Jessup's oldest daughter, a handsome, black-eyed girl of eighteen, a little too old for the 'meridian' of Hiram; but who, with her mother, was on excellent terms with the Meeker family. The name of the head-clerk was Pease—Jonathan Pease; but he always wrote his name J. Pease. There was also a boy, fourteen years old, called Charley, who boarded at home. This, with Mr. Benjamin Jessup, constituted the force at the 'cash store.'

Hiram had taken the place of a pale, milk-and-water-looking youth, with weak lungs, who had been obliged to quit on account of poor health. This youth had been entirely under the control of Pease, so much so that he dared not venture an opinion about his own soul or body till he was satisfied Pease thought just so. All this helped add to the importance of the head-clerk, so that even Mr. Jessup unconsciously felt rather nervous about differing with him. Indeed, Pease was fast becoming master of the establishment. This Hiram Meeker knew perfectly well before he entered it.

When Pease ascertained that Hiram was about to come there as clerk, without his advice being asked, he regarded it as an invasion of his rights. He did not hesitate to speak his mind on the subject to Mr. Jessup. He tried strongly to dissuade him from taking a gentleman-clerk, and declared it would require an extra boy to wait on him and another to correct his blunders. It was of no use; Mr. Jessup had not the slightest idea of the peculiar qualities of Hiram, but he knew if he received him, it would be the means of making an inroad into the conservative quarter, and he should secure the trade and influence of the Meekers beside. He went so far as to explain this to Pease, in the most confidential and friendly manner; but the latter was not to be persuaded or mollified. As he could not prevent the advent of Hiram, he resolved to make his position just as uncomfortable as he possibly could. But he little knew the stuff he had to deal with.

The first morning after he had taken possession of his new quarters—his sleeping-room was over the store—Hiram rose early, and was looking carefully about the place, when Pease came in and asked him why he did not sweep out.

'I have not yet learned the regulations, Mr. Pease, but am ready to begin any time,' was Hiram's quiet reply.

Now, Pease had purposely sent Charley away on an early errand, so as to be able to put this work on the new-comer. He simply replied, in an arrogant tone, that it was his business every morning to sweep out the store, and then sand the floors, adding, in order to preserve a semblance of truth: 'When the boy happens to be here, he will help you.'

Pease was a little astonished to see how readily Hiram set to work. The store was not only carefully swept, and the floors sanded, but many articles which were scattered about were put in their place, and carefully arranged, so that after breakfast, when Mr. Jessup came in, he remarked on the neat appearance of the store, without knowing to what it was owing. Thus was the first attempt of J. Pease to annoy Hiram completely foiled. Furthermore, Hiram kept on sweeping and sanding, although Charley was present; indeed, he declined his assistance altogether, and once, when Mr. Jessup remarked (he had observed to whom the change in the appearance of the store was due) that it was quite unnecessary for him to do the boy's work, Hiram quietly answered, that he much preferred to do it to seeing the store look as it did when he first came there.

It took our hero but a short time to familiarize himself with the minutiæ of Mr. Jessup's business. It was not long before Pease began to feel that there was a person every way his superior who was fast acquiring a more thorough insight into affairs than he had himself. He began to fear that certain private transactions of his own would not escape Hiram's observation. He felt magnetically that instead of bullying and domineering over the new-comer, Hiram's eyes were on him whatever he did. This was insupportable; but how could he help it? The more work he imposed on Hiram, the better the latter seemed to like it, and the more he accomplished.

'Damn him!' said Pease between his teeth; but cursing did not help the matter, so Pease discovered.

By degrees, several young ladies who were not in the habit of calling at Jessup's began to drop in to look at the dry-goods. It was in vain Pease stepped briskly forward to wait on them, with his most fascinating smile; they wanted to see Mr. Meeker. Pease was bursting with rage, but he was forced to restrain his passion. On one occasion, on seeing two attractive-looking girls approaching, he sent Hiram to the cellar to draw a gallon of molasses, and as the weather was cold, he calculated he would have to wait at least a quarter of an hour for it to run. When the young ladies entered, they inquired for Hiram; Pease reported Mr. Meeker as particularly engaged, and offered his services in the most pathetic manner.

'Oh! we are in no hurry,' was the reply, 'we can wait.'

And they did wait, greatly to Pease's disgust, and to Mr. Jessup's delight, who happened to come in at that moment, for he knew Hiram would be sure to make some handsome sales to them. At length came poor Pease's crowning misfortune. Mary Jessup began to give token that she was not slow to discover Hiram's agreeable qualities, and his superiority in every respect over his rival. Now, if there is any one thing which the sex admire in a man more than another, it is real ability. Mary Jessup was a quick-witted girl herself, and she could not fail to perceive this quality in Hiram. She had heretofore regarded him as a boy; but the boy had grown up almost without her observing it, and now stood, with his full stature of medium hight, admirably proportioned. It was not long before she consented to accompany Hiram to the Thursday-evening lecture. What a pleasant walk they had each way, and how gracefully he placed her shawl across her shoulders. Pease was furious. 'How absurd you act,' that was all Mary Jessup said in reply to his violent demonstrations, and she laughed when she said it. What could Pease do for revenge? He thought, and cogitated, and dreamed over it; it was of no use. He began to feel himself under the fascination of Hiram's calm, persevering, determined manner, a manner distinguished by tokens of latent power. For no one in praising him ever made the ordinary exclamations, 'Such a smart, energetic fellow,' 'So active and efficient,' 'A driving business chap.' No; on the contrary, one would set him down as quite the reverse, for he was always very quiet, never in a hurry, and by no means rapid in his motions. Yet he impressed you with an idea of his superiority, which his peculiar repose of manner served to highten. It can easily be guessed that Mary Jessup and J. Pease quarreled, at last seriously, and the engagement, if there had been any, was broken. The next evening, on her return from the sewing-society with Hiram, he ventured to retain her hand in his, and from that time she felt that there was an 'understanding' between them. She would have found it difficult to say why, for Hiram had never spoken sentimentally to her. His conversation was on ordinary topics, yet always in a low, meaning, confidential tone.

[Has the reader any desire that I should lay bare the innermost thoughts and feelings of this youth not yet eighteen? Would you like to be told how curiously he smiled to himself as he continued to sweep out and sand that little village store? Would you care to know how he gloated over the discomfiture of his rival? Shall I endeavor to depict his feelings when he saw he had actually gained the affections of Mary Jessup, for whom, beyond a sensuous enjoyment of her presence and her society, he did not care a fig? Shall I explain how, while acting for his employer quite as a good, honest man would act, his motive was to serve self and self only? or shall I permit the reader gradually to acquire a knowledge of Hiram's characteristics as the narrative proceeds?]

This brings us to the end of Hiram's first year with Mr. Jessup. He had accomplished nothing rapidly, but he had kept on accomplishing something every day. He had not made a single false step. The consequence was, he had not a single step to retrace. The end of the year found him already very high in Mr. Jessup's esteem. Hiram had proved his value by increasing his employer's business at least ten per cent in the village, while he was daily becoming more popular with all who traded at the store. To Pease this was an enigma, for Hiram never volunteered to wait on a customer, when the former was present, and only stepped forward when specially sought. Even with the young ladies who came to the place, with whom he was on intimate terms of acquaintance, Hiram found no time to laugh and talk, although he always managed to say an agreeable word in a quiet, low tone. Toward Pease, Hiram's conduct was always the same, perfectly respectful; as if never losing sight of the situation of the one as head-clerk and of the other as subordinate. But by continually making himself so useful in the establishment, he was gradually undermining his comrade's position, and Pease felt his influence dissolving, he hardly knew how or why; but he felt it all the more forcibly for not knowing.

Thus the commencement of the new year found the occupants of the cash store. Hiram's situation had become very agreeable. He was putting into practice the theories of his education. He was high in favor with his employer, and whenever he entered the house, which was but a few steps from the store, he was greeted by Mary Jessup with that peculiar welcome so charming between those who love each other, yet which to him was pleasing only because it gratified his animal nature and his self-love.

Early in the second year, an incident occurred which served to bring out Hiram's character, and change decidedly the state of affairs. One morning, while he was engaged with a customer, Mrs. Esterbrook entered the store. Now, that lady was the wife of Deacon Esterbrook, one of the most substantial men of the town, and a strong supporter of the Smiths. In fact, she had never set foot in Mr. Jessup's place before that morning, but certain goods, lately ordered by the Smiths, were unaccountably delayed, while Mr. Jessup's were fresh from the city and just opened. The dress-maker had been engaged, and could not come again for she did not know how long, and Ellen must have a nice school-dress ready forthwith. So the lady determined for once to break over rule, and step into the opposition store. No doubt the fact that so respectable and pious a young man as Hiram was a clerk there had its influence in the decision; it made the place itself more reputable, many said. And now she came slowly in, a little distrustful, as if entering on forbidden ground, and expecting to see some extraordinary difference between the place of business of an ungodly person like Jessup and that of the honest-minded Smith. Thanks, however, to Hiram's persevering industry, it was a model of neatness and order, and Mrs. Esterbrook, who was herself a pattern in that way, found her harsh judgment insensibly relaxing, as she stepped to the counter where Pease stood, and asked quite amiably to see some of the best calicoes, just in from New-York. Pease, the narrow-minded idiot, thought this a good time to play off a smart trick on one of Smith's regular customers. So he paraded a large variety of goods before her, and took occasion to recommend a very pretty article, for which he charged a monstrous price, because he said it was a very scarce pattern, and it was with great difficulty they had secured a single piece. As the lady herself could perceive, it had not been opened before; not a soul in the village had even seen the outside of it. Now, it must not be supposed that Mrs. Esterbrook was different from the rest of her sex, and insensible to the pleasure of having the first dress cut from the piece. Indeed, she determined, on this occasion, to take two dresses instead of one; Emily was coming home, and would want it. Just as Pease was about to measure off the desired quantity, Mrs. Esterbrook exclaimed:

'You are sure those colors are fast?'

'Fast, ma'am! fast as the meeting-house round the corner. We will warrant them not to run nor change. Why, for color, we have nothing like it in the store.'

All this time, Hiram had been serving his customer; but with both ears and at least one eye attentive to what was going on near him.

Again Pease commenced to measure, when Hiram stepped deliberately forward and said:

'Mr. Pease is mistaken, Mrs. Esterbrook, those colors are not fast.'

'What the–' hell do you know about it? Pease was going to say; but he stopped short at the second word, utterly abashed and confounded at the extraordinary assumption of the junior clerk. Never before had Hiram made such a demonstration. Now he stood calm and composed, firmly fortified by the truth. He looked and acted precisely as if he were the principal, and the objurgation of Pease died on his lips. He attempted to cast on Hiram a contemptuous glance, as he managed to say:

'Perhaps you know more about it than I do,' and turned away to attend to a new-comer.

'I am much obliged to you, Mr. Meeker, I declare,' said Mrs. Esterbrook.

'On the contrary, it is I who should be obliged to you for looking in. You must excuse the mistake. Mr. Pease is not so familiar with calicoes as I am. But I will now wait on you myself. We have a box of goods in the back-store, not yet open, and I am sure I can find in it just what you want.'

Any one who had seen Hiram's air, and heard him speak, would have taken him for the proprietor. With what a low, respectful tone he addressed the lady. How pleasantly it fell on the ear. An immense box of merchandise to be opened and all the contents overhauled to please her! Charley was summoned, hammer and hatchet freely used, and the goods displayed. Hiram, who knew much better what Mrs. Esterbrook wanted than she knew herself, selected something very acceptable. The price he put at first cost. Not content with that, he actually sold the lady silk for a dress, putting it at cost also, and no human being could have been in better humor than she.

'I am very sorry, Mrs. Esterbrook, for your disappointment about the first calico you selected,' continued Hiram. 'I do hope you and other members of your family will look in often, even if you do not purchase; it sometimes helps one to form a judgment to look at different stocks. But I must be perfectly frank with you. We profess to sell cheap, very cheap, but I can never offer you similar articles at the price you have these; they are given you precisely at cost, as a slight compensation for your trouble in having to look a second time. Besides, it is a matter of mere justice to those worthy people, the Smiths, to say we do not sell our goods at these prices, and I beg you not to so report it.'

'What an excellent young man you are,' said good Mrs. Esterbrook, in the fullness of her heart.

'My dear madam, really I can not see any special excellence in simply doing my duty.'

Hiram smiled one of his amiable, winning smiles, and bowed his new customer politely out of the store.

By this time the dinner-hour had arrived. Not a word had been spoken by Pease to Hiram since the scene just recounted. Not a syllable did he utter at table. Hiram, on the contrary, entered into familiar conversation, placid as usual, and enjoyed his dinner quite as well as he ever had done. When the meal was over, Pease asked Mr. Jessup if he would step into the store a few minutes. Mr. Jessup accordingly walked over.

'I want to know, Mr. Jessup,' he demanded, when all were together, including Charley, 'whether you are the owner in here or Hiram Meeker?'

'Why do you put such a question, Pease?'

Thereupon Pease told the whole circumstances very much as they occurred. Mr. Jessup made no reply. He was taken aback himself. Hiram said not a word.

'It's so, an't it, Charley?' cried Pease.

'I've nothing to say about it,' answered the boy. He liked Hiram, and detested Pease, and was glad to see him humiliated.

'It is so,' observed Hiram.

Mr. Jessup was astounded.

'I shall think the matter over seriously, young men, and make up my mind about it this evening. Now let us attend to business.'

Mr. Jessup had decided in his own mind that Hiram's conduct was very reprehensible—not that he cared about Pease being snubbed, that he rather enjoyed than otherwise, but he thought what Hiram had done would serve to cast discredit on the establishment. Before, however, deciding to censure him in presence of his fellow-clerks, he determined to speak with him privately. He took occasion without the knowledge of Pease, to ask Hiram to step to the house, and once there, he requested him to give his version of the affair. Hiram replied that Pease had stated it very correctly.

'What could be your object,' asked Mr. Jessup, 'in doing what would throw disgrace on my store, for you know such an admission would disgrace us?'

'To serve your interests, as in duty bound,' replied Hiram.

Mr. Jessup could not so understand it, and Hiram undertook calmly to explain how dishonest it was for Pease to do as he did. It had very little effect on Mr. Jessup. His nerves were too strong to be unsettled by a moral appeal. He told Hiram he was to blame, and said he should be obliged to so express himself, when they all met, and he must add a caution for the future.