With all of my love for you always,
Your Marie.
When Robert received Marie's letter, he was disappointed, but felt that when he saw her and talked matters over, he could get her to change her mind, give up school, if necessary, marry him and go to New York with him. He had heard and read much of the pitfalls of the great City of New York and felt that he did not care to venture there alone without Marie with him as his wife. While his old school-mate and chum, Walter Kennelworth, was in New York and could work with him and be a great help and comfort, he felt that Marie, his one great inspiration, was absolutely necessary to his success and that he must persuade her to go with him to New York.
On Sunday, May 1st, Robert went to visit his mother in the country. He found that Mr. Kennelworth had been there and told her of Robert's success and his faith in him. Robert's mother was very happy when he told her that cotton was advancing and he was making money rapidly and Mr. Kennelworth was making money; that Marie had such great faith in him that she had put up her only $400.00 and bought 100 bales of cotton and now had a profit of about $1,000.00.
Robert told his mother of his plans. That he expected within a few months to go to New York, establish himself there, and speculate in order to make money so that he could build his great airplane according to Ezekiel's plan and prepare to help his country in time of war. Mrs. Gordon was very happy to learn of her boy's success. She was sad when he began to talk about war. Robert assured her that the Bible plainly foretold the great war which was to be fought in the air and that it was his duty to help protect his country. While his mother admired his patriotism, she again referred to the dream that she had had years before, about a great war which would come and in which she thought that Robert lost his life in San Francisco.
She talked to Robert of his future and told him she hoped he would be a preacher. Robert confided to her that he could never be an orthodox minister, for he could not preach and teach the things which the orthodox ministers were teaching. He did not believe in a personal devil or believe in Hell, but believed in a God of Love and Justice. He did not believe that God would inflict upon any of his children eternal punishment but thought that whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap and that we receive our reward here upon earth.
He told her that the Bible plainly said that the kingdom of heaven is within us and he believed it. If we kept our conscience clear and did unto others as we would like to have them do unto us, he believed we would find our heaven and our reward here upon earth. Said that times and conditions were changing rapidly; that the new inventions and discoveries caused men to think differently than in the old days; that the old religious ideas would pass away and give place to more liberal, advanced ideas. He hoped to live to see the day when men would not only be too proud to fight, but would be too full of love for their fellow-men to settle disputes with the sword. This was God's plan and it would come to pass this way, and he believed that he could be a great power for peace and hoped to live to see a world of peace with all nations united under one kingdom and one God, the God of Love and Justice.
Mrs. Gordon felt that her faith in Robert had been justified and that she understood him better than his father and brother. He told his mother of his hopes for an early marriage with Marie and that when he went to New York, he wanted to take Marie with him as his wife. His mother was not in favor of an elopement. She wanted him to make good, act in an honorable way and ask the consent of Mr. Stanton to his marriage with Marie, but she felt at this time Mr. Stanton would not give his consent because he wanted Marie to complete her education and it was right and proper she should. His mother asked him if he didn't think it would be best to continue his position with Mr. Kennelworth for a few years longer, after he saw that he was making a success before going to New York where he might fail in a strange city. Robert was filled with a great determination to go. He wished to make a success and knew he would, because he read the Bible and had learned how.
The week ending May 7th was the greatest week in Robert Gordon's life up to that time. Cotton advanced rapidly about $4.00 per bale, and by May 7th Robert's profits were about $2,500.00. Marie had a profit of over $1,000.00 on her 100 bales which Robert bought for her, and Mr. Kennelworth now had a profit of about $7,000.00.
On Saturday morning, May 7th, Mr. Kennelworth called Robert into his private office and asked him if he knew what the cotton market was doing that morning. Robert said he hadn't heard what the price was. Mr. Kennelworth told him that July was now selling around 16 cents per pound, and that while he had some nice profits, the money was not the thing that counted with him, but the fact that Robert was right on the market made him happy that he had faith in him and encouraged him.