“I have calculated the expense,” Salome answered him. “And what cannot be done from the yearly profits of the mills, I will do myself.”
“We shall be eagerly watched by the whole manufacturing world,” said Burnham.
“So much the better,” added Villard. “It is time somebody set the example. If we succeed in carrying out all these plans, and keep the mills on a paying basis as well, it will be the beginning of a mighty reform in the working-man’s world. I believe we can succeed.”
“You will be called quixotic and all sorts of pleasant things, Salome,” said her friend Marion.
“The beginner in any reform is always called a crank, if nothing worse,” replied Salome. “If I chose to build a million-dollar castle to live in myself; if I preferred to dress in cloth of gold and silver; if I insisted upon eating off solid gold dishes; or even if I were to endow a church or a female college, the world would admire and praise me, and say these things are a rich woman’s prerogative. If I choose instead to spend my fortune on the Shawsheen Mills, and elevate by its judicious expenditure two thousand operatives for whom I ought to feel morally and socially responsible, the world will probably wonder and call me quixotic. Christ Himself was called a fanatic. Most people to-day, if they voiced their real sentiments, would wonder that He could be so democratic as to die for the whole world, ignorant, uncultivated, detestable sinners, and all.”
One of those silences fell upon the room, that always follows the mention of Christ’s name in a conversation not strictly “religious” in character. Marion was admiring the courage of her friend; Burnham was rather taken aback at this fearless reference to a Being whom he seldom heard mentioned outside the churches; and Villard was surprised and delighted with this unworldly woman of the world, and her avowal of principles and hopes and wishes which he had cherished for years. He was the first to speak.
“You must have done some hard thinking,—and a good deal of reading, in the past six months.”
“Yes,” answered Salome. “I have. I have read everything I could think or hear of, on subjects bearing on this case; and I have lain awake many a night, since it was really borne in upon me that I have something to do here, planning my work. But the greater part of the credit, if there is any, in my plans, lies with my grandfather. He thought out many of these things, years ago; I have simply adapted his theories to our modern times and conditions.”
XI.
And so the great strike ended.