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R . A . DAGUE 
 AUTHOR 
 
HENRY ASHTON 
 
 A thrilling Story and How the Famous 
 
 Co-operative Commonwealth was established 
 
 In Zanland. 
 
 R. A, DAGUB, 
 
 EX'Senator and Attorney -at- Law. 
 
 Author of the "Dague Tramp Law;" also author of several 
 pamphlets on the Capital and Labor problems; how to prevent 
 bank panics; why the Government should own and operate the 
 railroads and all other public utilities, etc., etc. 
 
 ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA. 
 PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 1903. 
 
Copyright, 1908, 
 By R. A. DAGUE. 
 

 PREFACE 
 
 The author has endeavored in this volume to 
 faithfully report the wrecking of the steamer Os- 
 ceola off the coast of California, and the thrilling 
 experiences of several of the rescued passengers 
 and the loss of others. Among the passengers 
 were Col. James Higsbee, a capitalist, of Mel- 
 bourne, Australia, his wife and daughter. Four 
 small boats filled with passengers shoved off from 
 the sinking ship, and Col. Higsbee was separated 
 from his loved ones. He never saw them again. 
 Henry Ashton, engineer, proved to be a hero. 
 George Batty, lawyer, and Thomas Lawson, ad- 
 venturer, play an important part. Miss Higsbee 
 passes through a series of intensely interesting 
 experiences. Years later, the fortune of Col. 
 Higsbee was made use of in establishing the fa- 
 mous co-operative commonwealth on the island of 
 Zanland. The author and the Rev. B. M. Fay, of 
 the United States, visited the island recently and 
 were astounded and gratified at finding in success- 
 ful operation a Socialistic government in a fertile 
 and beautiful island inhabited by more than one 
 million of highly intelligent people. In chapter 
 twenty we have described what we saw and 
 
4 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 heard, confidently believing that many readers 
 will be interested in a description of their institu- 
 tions and their methods of solving the problems 
 growing out of the relations of capital and labor. 
 
 No claim is made by the author that the book 
 possesses any literary merit. The story is told 
 in simple, plain language, without any attempt at 
 embellishments, and it is hoped will both interest 
 
 and benefit the reader. 
 
 R. A. DAGUE. 
 Alameda, California. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter. Page. 
 
 I. Shipwreck of the Steamer Oscola 7 
 
 II. Reader Introduced to Henry Ashton, the Hero. 9 
 
 III. Thrilling Experience of Castaways in Small 
 
 Boats 23 
 
 IV. Rescue of Mr. and Mrs. Higsbee 37 
 
 V. Rescue of Mr. Ashton and His Heroic Act 43 
 
 VI. Last Will and Testament of Col. Higsbee 50 
 
 VII. Spirited Debate Between Lawyer Batty, Infi- 
 del, and Henry Ashton, Christian Socialist... 56 
 VIII. Ashton Confesses His Love for Lilly Higsbee, 
 
 but Does Not Know if She Were Rescued. ... 69 
 IX. Miss Higsbee's Experience with Thomas Law- 
 son, Who Proposes Marriage 70 
 
 X. Mrs. Higsbee Urges Lilly to Become the Wife 
 
 of Lawson 80 
 
 XI. Lawson is Given Legal Authority to Settle Col. 
 
 Higsbee's Business Affairs S7 
 
 XII. Lawson Loses, at Omaha, a Large Sum of Money 
 
 —Victimized by Gamblers 95 
 
 XIII. A Forged Instrument Purporting to be Col. 
 
 Higsbee's Last Will 105 
 
 XIV. Henry Ashton's Long Search for Miss Higsbee. 113 
 XV. Political Debate Between Lawyer Batty, Repub- 
 lican, and Henry Ashton, Socialist 116 
 
 XVI. Lawson Urges Speedy Marriage to Miss Higs- 
 bee; She Consents, Supposing Ashton Was 
 
 Drowned 130 
 
 XVII. Ashton and Batty Arrive at Los Angeles from 
 China. They Continue Their Search for Miss 
 Eigs'iee, and Meet Don Castano, of South 
 America, Who Renders Them Valuable Assist- 
 ance 140 
 
 XVIII. Castano Interrupts the Marriage Ceremony. 
 Shock to Mrs. Higsbee from Which She Does 
 Not Recover 156 
 
i HENRY ASHTON 
 
 XIX. Ashton Again Meets Miss Hlgsbee 162 
 
 XX. How the Great Wealth of the Higsbee Estate 
 was Made to Contribute to the Inauguration 
 of the Famous Co-operative Commonwealth 
 in the Island of Zanland, and the Capital- 
 Labor Problem Solved— American Visitors De- 
 lighted Over What They Saw in That Pros- 
 perous Island 180 
 
HENRY ASHTON 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SHIPWRECK OF THE STEAMER OSCEOLA. 
 
 Many of our readers will remember the wreck- 
 ing of the Steamer "Osceola" on the Pacific 
 Ocean, March 28, 1895, about one hundred miles 
 southwesterly from San Francisco. The vessel 
 had sailed from Australia with twenty-four pas- 
 sengers and a valuable cargo consigned to mer- 
 chants in San Francisco and some of the eastern 
 cities. She encountered a furious storm, and the 
 strain was so great that some part of the machin- 
 ery failed and the steamer became unmanageable. 
 For several hours she was buffeted by the moun- 
 tainous waves and tossed to and fro like a cork. 
 Nearly all the passengers were thrown into a 
 panic, and the crew, although experienced seamen, 
 gave evidence that they were greatly alarmed, 
 while the stern, strong face of Captain John- 
 son wore a deeply troubled expression. About 
 the tenth hour after the accident the wind began 
 to subside, but the sea manifested no perceptible 
 abatement of its fury. After the wind slackened 
 the hope of the captain revived, and this had a re- 
 assuring effect upon the crew and passengers, 
 who had seen him as he darted about on deck, 
 above, below, everywhere. But how utterly help- 
 less are even the bravest and most experienced 
 
8 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 seamen, although in the staunchest ships, on the 
 bosom of a mighty ocean when lashed to mad- 
 ness by the all-powerful and all-pervading greater 
 ocean of air in rapid motion ! The Osceola was 
 doomed. Amid the deafening roar of wind and 
 waves and the creaking and grinding of the ves- 
 sel's timbers there came, like an electric shock, 
 the cry : "The ship has sprung a leak and is sink- 
 ing !" Captain Johnson's face became ashen ; he 
 knew the portentous meaning of those words. He 
 knew his ship would soon find a resting place at 
 the bottom of the sea. There was but one thing 
 to do. Not a moment did he hesitate. His orders 
 instantly rang out through his trumpet : "Lower 
 the boats and all prepare to leave the ship !" The 
 order was obeyed by the loyal crew with all the 
 celerity of which they were capable. To bring the 
 small boats alongside the steamer and to transfer 
 the passengers into them was a most difficult and 
 hazardous feat. Many of the passengers were 
 panic-stricken and so unnerved from the hours of 
 anxiety and the fierceness of the storm, and the 
 fear of a watery grave, that they had sunk down 
 in their staterooms exhausted, or were running 
 to and fro on deck in such an excited mental con- 
 dition that they had to be carried bodily by the 
 crew, assisted by the less agitated passengers, 
 to the edge of the ship and let down by ropes 
 about their waists into the rocking, plunging 
 boats. But the last man and woman had at last 
 quit the steamer's decks and were sitting or lying 
 in the four small craft. Captain Johnson was the 
 last to leave the ill-fated ship. Within thirty min- 
 utes after the captain had quit the Osceola, and 
 while the unfortunate passengers and crew were 
 
HENRY ASHTON 9 
 
 within a hundred yards of the deserted steamer, 
 she plunged beneath the surging billows and was 
 seen no more. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 READER INTRODUCED TO HENRY ASHTON, THE HERO. 
 
 Let us now turn our attention from the passen- 
 gers in the boats, and, going back to the time of 
 the sailing of the Osceola from Melbourne, Aus- 
 tralia, introduce our readers to three persons who 
 are to act an important part in this story. 
 
 George Batty, a young lawyer of twenty-two. 
 had left his home in Iowa three years before the 
 occurrence of the events recorded in the preceding 
 chapter. He had graduated with honor in one of 
 the leading universities of America, and having 
 nearly exhausted his capital in acquiring an edu- 
 cation, conceived the idea of taking a trip to Aus- 
 tralia in quest of business and a fortune. Arriv- 
 ing in Melbourne and satisfying himself that there 
 was room for another lawyer in that city, he 
 opened an office, selected a modest boarding place 
 and awaited the call of clients. These came in due 
 time, and within two years Mr. Batty was enjoy- 
 ing a good practice and had the high esteem of 
 his associates at the bar and of the public gen- 
 erally. One of his first acquaintances after arriv- 
 ing in Melbourne was Henry Ashton, a gentleman 
 about his own age, a native of Ohio, who had pre- 
 ceded him to Australia about two years. 
 
 Young Ashton came from poor parentage, 
 
10 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 who had been unable to give their son a liberal ed- 
 ucation, but they had endowed him with a sound 
 physical constitution, a clear brain and good prin- 
 ciples. At the age of twelve years he had entered 
 a machine shop as a laborer; he was intelligent 
 and faithful, and promotion followed in due time 
 till he became a skillful engineer. Though not 
 receiving large wages, yet by his frugality and pa- 
 tient industry he was able to lay by some money 
 and contribute not a little toward the support of 
 his parents. Both of these dying when he was 
 eighteen or nineteen, he determined to go to Aus- 
 tralia. Here he was soon employed as an engi- 
 neer on one of the railroads terminating at Mel- 
 bourne. As Lawyer Batty and Engineer Ashton 
 were patrons of the same boarding house, they 
 were frequently thrown together, and these meet- 
 ings led to the formation of a warm friendship 
 between them. They spent many evenings to- 
 gether. As neither of them had become addicted 
 to any of the vices which are too prevalent among 
 young men, they had much time for reading and 
 for the exchange of ideas. There were but few 
 evenings for a year or more that Engineer Ash- 
 ton, after the arrival of his train and his evening 
 meal had been partaken of, did not walk across 
 the street and enter the office of Mr. Batty. Many 
 were the spirited but friendly discussions between 
 them on economics, politics, religion, marriage 
 and other current topics. Batty was an infidel 
 or agnostic. Ashton was a Christian, though 
 claiming to be a liberal one. Batty was a Repub- 
 lican, while Ashton was a Socialist. Batty said 
 marriage is a failure and that he was a confirmed 
 old bachelor ; Ashton said he believed in love, and 
 
HENRY ASHTON 11 
 
 marriage, and a happy home, and held good wom- 
 en in the highest esteem, and hoped some time to 
 marry a true woman. Though differing on many 
 important subjects, there existed between the two 
 men a very warm friendly attachment. 
 
 One evening when Ashton had finished reading 
 in the newspapers about the suppression of a la- 
 bor strike by the police, who had killed two strik- 
 ers and wounded five or six others, he flung down 
 the paper and exclaimed : 
 
 "These labor disturbances will increase in fre- 
 quency and violence until the people adopt So- 
 cialism. That is the only solution of the Capital- 
 Labor problem." 
 
 "Now, Ashtpn," replied Batty, "I have to again 
 express my surprise that so level-headed a man as 
 you are on most subjects should be so badly off 
 on the economic question, and that you can look 
 with favor on a theory so manifestly unreasonable 
 and impracticable as Socialism presents. My dear 
 Ashton, why should I, or you, or any other man 
 who has a little property that he has honestly 
 earned, divide it up evenly with the improvident 
 and lazy ? Now, I say, let every fellow get what 
 he can — honestly, of course — and let him enjoy 
 his own, and let the other fellow look out for him- 
 self. I believe that the way to acquire property 
 is to rustle for it. That is the way you and I 
 have to do. Why, Socialism would reduce every- 
 body to the same dead level and destroy the in- 
 centive in man to do something. No, no. It will 
 not do ! Competition is the life of trade. I know 
 you talk about brotherhood and the Golden 
 Rule, but you know, and I know, and every- 
 body knows, that none of our great states- 
 
12 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 men or financiers, or even clergymen in these 
 latter days, seriously contend that those ideas 
 can be put into practice to any extent. I ad- 
 mit that Christ was a communist and urged the 
 Universal Brotherhood idea, and said : 'Do unto 
 others as ye would that others should do unto you.' 
 I admit that this is a pretty theory and may have 
 been quite proper at the beginning of the Chris- 
 tian dispensation, but it is not at all practicable 
 now. The modern and more scientific doctrine 
 of the 'survival of the fittest' has taken the place 
 of ancient and impracticable Socialist teachings. 
 I am not ignorant of the fact that your ministers 
 hold up the Golden Rule as the rule that should 
 govern us in all our dealings with our fellow men, 
 but they know that no member of their church 
 obeys that rule, and they do not expect the peo- 
 ple to observe it, for they do not themselves. I 
 am not saying they should be censured for this, 
 for these equality-socialistic teachings of the 
 church are idealistic and impracticable. In the 
 animal realm we see the strong beasts of the for- 
 est devouring the weaker ones. We see the big 
 fish swallowing the little ones ; we see the hawks 
 feasting on the birds and weaker fowls ; we see 
 these same feathered tribes eating the insects. All 
 along the line, from the protoplasm to man, we 
 behold evidence of the strong overpowering the 
 weak. It is always the fittest that survive. It is 
 according to -a law of nature. Man observes the 
 same law. Have not strong nations subjugated 
 weak ones in all the past ? Have not Christian as 
 well as Pagan nations followed the rule that 
 'might makes right ?' Did not Christian England 
 quite recently despoil and kill Christian Boer? Is 
 
HENRY ASHTON 13 
 
 not Christian America now subjugating Catholic 
 Christians, the Filipinos ? You know, Friend 
 Ashton, that these questions must be answered in 
 the affirmatn'e. Christ's teachings touching man's 
 dealings with his fellow man are ignored not only 
 by individuals in ordinary business matters, but 
 by nations, by congresses, by Presidents and all 
 other rulers. Ah, I admit that ministers and states- 
 men, and Presidents, and Kings, talk quite elo- 
 quently, even piously, of the necessity of the 
 masses to follow Jesus, but it is wise statesman- 
 ship and sound ministerial diplomacy to thus 
 preach and teach the masses, but they see to it 
 that the injunctions of Jesus, of love to God and 
 love to man, forgiveness of your enemies, the 
 Golden Rule and other idealistic theories are not 
 put into practice, for if they were, young men 
 would not enlist in the army and go to foreign 
 lands and there shoot to death their fellow men, 
 whom they had never seen and who had done 
 them no harm. I tell you, Friend Ashton, you are 
 wrong in standing for those old, exploded theories 
 taught two thousand years ago ; they are wholly 
 impracticable in this age. We must have classes ; 
 we must have police and armies and warships, 
 and the ignorant masses must be controlled and 
 governed by the intelligent few. Brains will rule. 
 I belong to the grand old Republican party. It 
 has the brains and the money, for the two are 
 always found together. It regulates industry by 
 wise trust management, with men of great ability 
 at the head ; it builds up great navies that awe the 
 other nations ; it supports armies that carry our 
 glorious flag around the world ; it stands for ex- 
 pansion, for imperialism, for progress. Let me 
 
14 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 entreat you, Friend Ashton, to join us. You have 
 ability ; you might acquire fame and fortune if 
 you would abandon those sentimental, visionary 
 theories of equality and brotherhood, and of try- 
 ing to elevate the ignorant working people, who 
 do not appreciate the efforts you put forth in their 
 behalf." 
 
 At the close of this spirited speech of the law- 
 yer the engineer was about to reply, but before he 
 had time to utter a sentence there was a rap at 
 the door. 
 
 "Come in," shouted Batty. The door swung 
 open, and in walked a young man who appeared 
 to be 28 or 30 years old. He was stoutly built, 
 had black eyes and hair, and was attired in clothes 
 of the latest fashion. 
 
 "Hello, Tom, is that you?" exclaimed Batty. 
 "Allow me to introduce my friend Ashton. Mr. 
 Ashton, this is my friend, Thomas Lawson." The 
 two men shook hands and exchanged greetings, 
 and the newcomer accepted an invitation to be 
 seated. Although Ashton had never before met 
 the stranger and knew nothing about him, he was 
 not favorably impressed by him. Lawson's hand 
 was cold ; the expression of his eyes betrayed a 
 cunning or a something that did not please the 
 engineer. Ashton was mediumistic, or the pos- 
 sessor of some occult or psychic power, and he 
 had, from many experiences in the past, learned 
 that his impressions or intuitions touching the true 
 character of men were often more reliable than 
 his reason, but he was too gentlemanly and pos- 
 sessed a too keen sense of fairness, as well as too 
 diplomatic, to exhibit any outward sign of his im- 
 pression. Later, however, when he learned that 
 
HENRY ASHTON IS 
 
 Lawson was something of a sporting man and an 
 adventurer whose antecedents were unknown to 
 Mr. Batty, his aversion to the man was strength- 
 ened. 
 
 "Well, what's the news, Tom?" said Batty. 
 
 "Oh, nothing worth relating," replied the per- 
 son addressed, "except that the steamer Osceola 
 leaves for San Francisco a week hence, and I have 
 decided to take passage on her for the United 
 States, and may be absent six months or longer." 
 
 "Good !" exclaimed the lawyer. "We will have 
 a jolly time. Both my friend Ashton and I have 
 engaged passage to America on the same boat. 
 Mr. Ashton, I believe, goes on business and to 
 visit a relative, while I am going on legal busi- 
 ness. It is hardly professional for an attorney 
 to talk about his cases, but I don't mind telling 
 you and Ashton, both of whom are personal 
 friends, that I am retained as counsel in an im- 
 portant matter involving $50,000. The case is 
 now pending in the courts of Omaha and cannot 
 be adjudicated without the appearance personally 
 of Col. James Higsbee, the plaintiff. I am to ac- 
 company the Colonel, and, by the way, Mrs. 
 Higsbee and their daughter Lilly are also to go 
 with him. What a jolly crowd we will be! Both 
 of you, I am sure, will fall in love with that girl. 
 She is about eighteen ; is accomplished, handsome, 
 the only child, and will inherit two or three mil- 
 lions. As for myself, I have no matrimonial in- 
 tentions. It will be ten years, perhaps twenty, be- 
 fore I shall seriously consider the weighty subject 
 of matrimony — certainly not until after I have 
 achieved distinction in my profession and amassed 
 a fortune. Ah, there, Ashton, what are you blush- 
 
16 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 ing over? You are not acquainted with Lilly 
 Higsbee, are you? If you are, and she looks with 
 favor upon you, you are a lucky fellow and de- 
 serve the congratulations of your friends." 
 
 'I have been acquainted with the young lady 
 but a few months," replied Ashton. I have a high 
 regard for her, but we are only friends." 
 
 During this conversation Tom Lawson seemed 
 to be quite indifferent to what was being said by 
 his two companions till the remark was made by 
 Mr. Batty in which an allusion was made to the 
 great wealth of Col. Higsbee and that Lilly was 
 his only child, when his manner changed and 
 thereafter he evinced a keen interest in the con- 
 versation. He made no remarks, but the close 
 observer might have read from his eyes his de- 
 termination to seek her acquaintance and if pos- 
 sible to become her accepted lover. Arising from 
 his seat, remarking that he must be going, he 
 said that he anticipated a pleasant time on the 
 prospective voyage with such companionable gen- 
 tlemen as Ashton and Batty, and bidding those 
 persons good night, retired, expressing, as he did 
 so, a hope that he might soon meet them again. 
 
 About ten days after the date of the conversa- 
 tion above mentioned the steamer Osceola left the 
 Melbourne wharf and set sail for San Francisco. 
 Among her passengers were Col. and Mrs. Higs- 
 bee, their daughter Lilly, and Sam, their trusted 
 negro servant ; George Batty, Henry Ashton and 
 Thomas Lawson. 
 
 On the afternoon of the second day after they 
 left port Miss Higsbee and Mr. Ashton met 
 while promenading on deck. A smile of recogni- 
 tion on the part of the young lady, accompanied 
 
HENRY ASHTON 17 
 
 by a remark that the day was a delightful one for 
 an ocean voyage, opened the way for an hour's 
 pleasant chat between the two young people. At 
 their parting it was quite apparent that each 
 seemed to be happy, and it required no especial 
 gift of prophecy to predict that they would meet 
 again, and often, before they landed in America. 
 During the succeeding days of the voyage such 
 prediction was fulfilled, and every afternoon the 
 two might have been seen together. It seemed to 
 be taken as settled by the other passengers, who 
 had observed the loving glances and the gallant 
 attention of the young engineer toward the lady 
 and the pleasure which she exhibited in being the 
 recipient of such attention, that he was an ac- 
 cepted lover or soon would be. All this had not 
 escaped the attention of Tom Lawson. From the 
 very first day he went on board he had endeavored 
 to ingratiate himself into the good graces of Miss 
 Higsbee, but his efforts had been unsuccessful. 
 He had secured an introduction to Col. and Mrs. 
 Higsbee, as well as to Lilly; he had sought her 
 in the cabin and on deck ; he had presented her 
 with late magazines and books and had volun- 
 teered to turn her music while she was seated at 
 the piano. He had, in her presence, talked of 
 his education, his illustrious ancestry and his 
 great wealth, but he had, as he could plainly per- 
 ceive, made no favorable impression on the lady 
 herself. Her manner toward him was dignified 
 and reserved, but neither by words spoken nor 
 acts performed did she give him good grounds for 
 one ray of hope. But, shrewd and unscrupulous 
 adventurer as Tom Lawson was, he did not pro- 
 pose to have his plans so easily thwarted. He had 
 
18 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 made up his mind to make Lilly Higsbee his wife, 
 not because he loved her, but for the reason that 
 he had recently lost heavily at the gaming table ; 
 he needed money, and wanted it badly. Col. Higs- 
 bee was wealthy, and if he could succeed in mar- 
 rying the capitalist's only child he would become 
 the possessor of a large fortune. Baffled by the 
 girl, he turned his attention to the parents. De- 
 termined he was to win their favor, and through 
 them to accomplish his purpose. Seeking a favor- 
 able opportunity to meet Col. Higsbee and wife, 
 he soon interested them in him by eloquently told 
 and adroitly planned narratives in which he hinted 
 at his relationship with the Rothschilds, his large 
 landed interests in South America, his mines in 
 Colorado and his valuable properties in London. 
 For several days he pursued this course, and was 
 not long in discovering that he had made a favor- 
 able impression upon them. He manifested pro- 
 found respect for the Colonel, flattered Mrs. Higs- 
 bee and praised the daughter. On one occasion 
 he quietly hinted that he was getting tired of a 
 bachelor life and would like to marry and settle 
 down in his elegant mansion in Paris. To this, 
 after a long pause and a sigh, he added that noth- 
 ing would so delight him and fill his life so full of 
 joy as to make Lilly his wife, but — but he had lit- 
 tle hope of winning her, as she did not encourage 
 his attentions ; then assuming a serious expression 
 of countenance, he remarked in a low tone, tinged 
 by sadness and with apparent solicitude for the 
 young lady, that he presumed he was too late, 
 even if under other circumstances she might have 
 looked with favor upon him, but now she was 
 doubtless the fiancee of another. "And now, dear 
 
HENRY ASHTON 19 
 
 Colonel, I beg your pardon if what I am going to 
 say should offend you." 
 
 "Not at all, not at all," replied Col. Higsbee. 
 "Be at your ease, sir. Speak freely your thoughts. 
 I assure you, Mr. Lawson, I have learned to be 
 very fond of you." 
 
 "Well, then," said Lawson, "have you long 
 known this Mr. Ashton, who is so assiduously 
 courting your daughter?" 
 
 To this Col. Higsbee quickly and rather im- 
 pulsively replied: "No, not long; only a few 
 months, and I have no intimate acquaintance with 
 him ; but you astonish me, Mr. Lawson, by your 
 remark that my daughter may be engaged to that 
 man. Why, they have been acquainted but a few 
 months. Now, while I have noticed that they 
 have been frequently together during this voy- 
 age, I am sure that there is no deep attachment 
 for the gentleman on Lilly's part. As to an en- 
 gagement, such a thought is preposterous. We 
 have not disapproved of their occasional meetings 
 on this trip, for you are aware that on an ocean 
 voyage there is less formality and greater famil- 
 iarity permitted among passengers than on land 
 at home. My acquaintance with young Ashton, 
 as before remarked, is quite limited ; but though 
 he is, I believe, a railroad engineer, yet he was 
 spoken of by his employers as an honorable, in- 
 dustrious man, and his deportment since he came 
 aboard the ship appears to be frank and courteous. 
 But what do you know of him?" asked the 
 Colonel. 
 
 "Very little of my own personal knowledge," 
 replied Lawson, "but I regret to say that his repu- 
 tation, at least in some parts of Australia, is not 
 
20 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 the most enviable. Perhaps I might have had 
 better opportunities for knowing his standing than 
 you, sir." 
 
 "Very true, Mr. Lawson, very true," said the 
 Colonel, eagerly. "And now Mrs. Higsbee and I 
 both will be under many obligations to you if you 
 will enlighten us as to the reputation of this 
 engineer who presumes to pay attentions to our 
 daughter." 
 
 "His reputation to which I allude," replied 
 Lawson, "is, first, that he is a Socialist ; second, 
 it is charged that he is a prominent leader in the 
 Labor Unions, and that in the great strike of 
 railroad employes of some two years ago he was 
 an agitator and fomenter of discontent among 
 the working people. Being a Socialist, it follows 
 that he is an enemy of the capitalists and the 
 present order of things, and contends that the 
 rich and all others who have accumulated proper- 
 ty should divide up with the shiftless and lazy. 
 Not only that, but he associates on terms of social 
 equality with ignorant farmers, greasy mechanics, 
 and other vulgar people who work for a living, all 
 of whom he contends should be permitted to enjoy 
 equal political privileges with the wealthy and 
 cultivated. Being a close observer, as you are, 
 Colonel, I need not inform you that all these So- 
 cialist agitators are ignorant, vulgar fellows, who 
 have the audacity to tell laboring people that 
 they are doing all the work of the world and are 
 receiving but about one-sixth of what they pro- 
 duce. They are creating discontent among the 
 lower classes by insisting that they should have 
 all thev produce. Such a contention is absurd. 
 My belief is that some were born to serve and 
 
HENRY ASHTON 21 
 
 others to command. There have always been mas- 
 ters and slaves, and there always will be. These 
 garrrulous agitators and mischief makers who 
 are howling against the rich and making the air 
 dismal with wailing over the alleged sufferings 
 of their wives and illy-born progeny whom they 
 say they cannot properly feed and clothe, under 
 the present wage system, should be promptly and 
 vigorously suppressed. They are being paid 
 enough. If they received more they would squan- 
 der it for strong drink or some luxury which 
 they do not need. I say, Colonel, when these man 
 who have more muscle than brains go out on a 
 strike and disturb the business of the country, and 
 put property in jeopardy, they should be given 
 good allopathic doses of leaden pills and a taste 
 of cold steel at the front end of a Winchester rifle. 
 But I beg pardon, Colonel, if I have expressed 
 my sentiments too freely about the engineer and 
 the class to which he belongs." 
 
 "No occasion for apology, Mr. Lawson," ex- 
 claimed Col. Higsbee, with much earnestness. "I 
 fully concur with what you have said about these 
 clamorous Union Labor men and Socialists, and 
 as for Engineer Ashton, I will speedily look after 
 him, the presumptuous fellow that he is. I ex- 
 tend to you a most cordial invitation to dine with 
 us at such time as will be most convenient to you. 
 I am sure that Mrs. Higsbee will join me in this 
 request." 
 
 "Most heartily," rejoined that lady. "It will 
 give us the greatest pleasure to be honored by 
 your presence at any time, and I wish to thank 
 you for the information you have imparted to us 
 as to the man who would have the presumption 
 
22 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 to aspire to social equality with our daughter. 
 We have higher aspirations for Lilly than to have 
 her fall in love with and perhaps marry a poor 
 man who is compelled to work for a living. And 
 yet, while I detest those labor agitators and So- 
 cialists you have spoken of, I do feel much sym- 
 pathy for the poor. The Scriptures say, "Re- 
 member the widow and the fatherless in their af- 
 flictions.' I have read that in the great cities 
 there are many thousands of poor women and lit- 
 tle children who sicken and die from cold, hun- 
 ger and exposure and because the husband and 
 father is unable to secure employment. Many 
 thousands of tender girls, I am told, are forced 
 out to earn their bread, and their wages are so 
 low that they are compelled to sell their honor that 
 they may procure the necessities of life. Only a 
 few weeks ago, after a stirring sermon by our 
 beloved pastor on the duty of Christians to send 
 the Gospel to the heathen of foreign lands if they 
 were to be saved from endless torment, I contrib- 
 uted $500, and my husband gave a like amount 
 for that purpose, but I could not help thinking 
 that Christian people might be doing even a bet- 
 ter work by assisting these unfortunates of our 
 own land." 
 
 At this point in the conversation lunch was an- 
 nounced, when Lawson withdrew, while Col. and 
 Mrs. Higsbee repaired to the dining hall. 
 
HENRY ASHTON 23 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THRILLiNG EXPERIENCE OF CASTAWAYS IN SMALL 
 BOATS. 
 
 The reader will remember the argument on So- 
 cialism between Lawyer Batty and Mr. Ashton 
 in the attorney's office in Melbourne, and how, 
 after Mr. Batty's eloquent speech, further dis- 
 cussion was prevented by the arrival of Tom Law- 
 son. No opportunity for a resumption of the de- 
 bate had arisen until after the Osceola had been 
 at sea several days. One fine afternoon while 
 Batty and Ashton were on deck the occasion 
 seemed propitious for a renewal of the argument. 
 Mr. Ashton opened the debate by remarking: 
 
 "Well, Batty, I have not had an opportunity 
 until to-day to answer your argument against So- 
 cialism made in your office before we left home. 
 This seems to be a favorable time for me to com- 
 bat you. What say you to that?" 
 
 "I say all right. I am ready to listen to your 
 reasons for being a Socialist, if you have rea- 
 sons," said Batty. 
 
 "Well, then," rejoined Ashton, "prepare for a 
 Waterloo. First, let me venture to remark that I 
 think you did not make a mistake when you de- 
 cided to become a lawyer. I freely admit that you 
 state the current objections to Socialism very 
 plausibly and quite forcibly, but notwithstanding 
 your logic and eloquence I am not convinced of 
 the correctness of your position. If you will have 
 the patience to hear me through I think I will 
 convince you that Socialism is not so bad a thing 
 
24 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 as you have been supposing it to be. First, let 
 me correct some of your errors. You say that So- 
 cialists propose to 'divide up' all existing proper- 
 ty* giving eac h person an equal share. You are 
 in error. They advocate no such a scheme. Their 
 contention is that every individual should have 
 an equal opportunity with every other person in 
 the race of life, that all should render some serv- 
 ice to the world of mankind and should enjoy 
 the full benefit of such service. Now, such an op- 
 portunity does not exist. Every child born ought 
 to have an equal start with every other child. 
 Any laws enacted by man which abridge this nat- 
 ural right are unjust in that they are contrary to 
 the laws of Nature. Human beings must have 
 ground upon which to walk, and to cultivate, and 
 water to use, air to breathe, and an opportunity to 
 work, that they may have food to eat, clothes to 
 wear and houses in which to live. But what do 
 we find ? Why, we find an economic system that 
 had its origin in the days when might made right 
 and the King could do no wrong, under which the 
 lands, the water, the electricity, the power of 
 steam, the coal, the oil, the productive machinery 
 — everything — owned or controlled by a few mo- 
 nopolists who as certainly own the man whose 
 capital is his labor only, as ever lord or master 
 owned a slave. In the olden time the successful 
 warrior killed his enemy and took his property 
 by force ; then, by laws of inheritance of his own 
 enacting, he gave this booty to his children, and 
 they gave it to their children, and a capitalist class 
 was maintained. The child of the capitalist has 
 an inconceivable advantage over the child of the 
 poor in the race of life. The rich boy does not 
 
HENRY ASHTON 25 
 
 work ; he adds nothing to the wealth of the world. 
 Yet by reason of the power which inherited 
 wealth gives him (which wealth his father and 
 grandfather did not get by labor) he has in his 
 hands the power to practically enslave the proper- 
 tyless man. And he does do it by monopolizing 
 the things that the poor man must have to enable 
 him to live. The poor man can buy no great 
 machines, no mines, no factories, no railroads, 
 but the rich man can. Because he can and does 
 he can dictate the terms upon which the wage- 
 worker shall live. He can dictate his wages and 
 the number of hours he shall toil for him. The 
 wage slave can quit the service of his master, but 
 if he does, where shall he go, what shall he do? 
 He finds all about him the same condition of 
 things. The only freedom left him is the right 
 to change masters. If he decides to do that, and 
 starts to walk on the public highway to another 
 town, the constables can arrest him as a vagrant 
 without any visible means of support, and compel 
 him to break rock with a ball and chain about 
 his limbs. If he prefers to strike for a raise of 
 wages instead of seeking a job elsewhere, the 
 courts will enjoin him, and if the cries of distress 
 of his hungry wife and crying little ones loosen 
 his tongue so that he talks too loud about his 
 troubles, the police batter him with a club over the 
 head. If he resists, the soldiers are called out and 
 he is shot down like a dog. 
 
 "At this point I would, friend Batty, anticipate 
 what you would say — i. e., that all this is accord- 
 ing to the laws and well-established customs of 
 civilized countries. Yes, I admit that, but the rich 
 made the laws, and they made them in their own 
 
26 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 interest. Did it ever occur to you that, for the 
 most part, our vast system of laws is chiefly for 
 the protection of property rights? We have vol- 
 umes upon volumes of statutes and decisions de- 
 fining the rights of property — of things — but the 
 enactments for the protection of life — of men, 
 women and children — might be contained in one 
 small book. Socialism does not propose to divide 
 up existing property, but it does propose to abol- 
 ish some antiquated legal enactments that origi- 
 nated in a cruel, selfish age of the world ; it does 
 propose to adopt an economic system under which 
 there shall be equal privileges to all and special 
 privileges to none. It does propose to place a 
 higher estimate on life and liberty of men, wom- 
 en and children than on property and perishable 
 things. It does protest against the expenditure 
 of billions of wealth created by labor in construct- 
 ing warships, and implements to be used in the 
 killing of human beings, and demands that this 
 vast sum be applied in educating the children and 
 in promoting the happiness of the people. 
 
 "Socialism, briefly defined, means the produc- 
 tion of commodities for USE instead of for profit. 
 
 "Socialists propose to bring this about by 
 placing all materials used in the production, dis- 
 tribution and exchange of commodities under the 
 control of the whole people, to be used by the peo- 
 ple and for the people. 
 
 "Socialists do not advocate confiscation. On 
 the contrary, they are anti-confiscators, and desire 
 so to organize industry and the conditions under 
 which industry is carried on as to prevent a few 
 from confiscating the wealth produced by the 
 many. 
 
HENRY ASHTON 27 
 
 "Socialists believe that this world was made 
 for the whole human family, and not for a few. 
 They therefore adopted as their motto, 'Equal op- 
 portunities to all.' 'Every man according to his 
 deeds.' For war they would substitute arbitra- 
 tion ; for confiscation, co-operation ; for selfish- 
 ness, generosity; for charity, justice; for mon- 
 archy, democracy ; for slavery, liberty ; for cruel- 
 ty, kindness ; for hate, love and sympathy for their 
 fellow men. Who can say these fundamental 
 principles of Socialism are impracticable? Are 
 not some or all of them in practical operation 
 somewhere now ? Do they suggest anarchy or vi- 
 olence? On the contrary, will they not abolish 
 war, right grievous wrongs and inaugurate peace 
 and happiness throughout the world ? Will their 
 adoption destroy good government? Not unless 
 monarchies and despotisms are good and 'govern- 
 ments of the people, by the people, and for the 
 people,' are bad. Are these Socialistic principles 
 antagonistic to true religion ? A careful study of 
 the life and teachings of Jesus Christ has led me 
 to believe that they are not, but, on the contrary, 
 they are in harmony with the doctrines of the 
 great teacher himself. 
 
 "Socialists are sometimes called agitators and 
 disturbers of the existing order of things, and I 
 admit we are. We have good reasons for being 
 such. Jesus was an agitator; John Brown and 
 William Lloyd Garrison were agitators, and so 
 was every reformer in all the past. There is great 
 need of agitation now if the working people of 
 Australia, and Europe, and America are saved 
 from a deeper slavery. Let me, friend Batty, 
 quote to you a few statistics from the United 
 
28 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 States of America, where, within a few years, a 
 few great capitalists, associating themselves to- 
 gether in Trusts, have astonished the world at 
 the rapidity with which they amassed colossal for- 
 tunes by crushing small competitors and monopo- 
 lizing all the public utilities. By a system of stock 
 watering and tariff legislation, and a forcing up 
 in price of all that the people had to buy from 30 
 to 40 per cent, while they kept the wages of work- 
 ingmen nearly stationary, they have been enabled 
 to accumulate private fortunes which for vastness 
 of magnitude far exceed the wealth of the ancient 
 Kings of Egypt. But here are some statistics : 
 
 " 'In 1850 the total wealth of the United States 
 was $8,000,000,000. The producers' share was 
 sixty-two and a half per cent, the non-producers' 
 share was thirty-seven and a half per cent. In 
 1890 the total wealth was $61,000,000,000. The 
 producers' share had fallen to seventeen per cent 
 and the non-producers' share was eighty three per 
 cent. In 1900 it is estimated that the total wealth 
 is $100,000,000,000. The producers' share is but 
 ten per cent, the non-producers' share is ninety 
 per cent. This tendency has gone on until now 
 fifty millions of people own no homes. One- 
 eighth of the people own seven-eighths of all the 
 wealth.' 
 
 "The National Labor Statistician of the United 
 States is quoted as saying that the average rate 
 of wages per year paid in that country is $347, 
 while the average product of each laborer is val- 
 ued at $1,888. The laborer is therefore exploited 
 out of $1,541 each year, or about five-sixths of his 
 earnings. 
 
 "Ernest H. Crosby in 1901 wrote : Tf you had 
 
HEXRY ASHTON 29 
 
 been alive 150 years ago, and some prophet had 
 told you that in the year 1901 one man could by 
 means of machinery do the work of thirteen — 
 striking an average for all trades and industries — 
 what would you have said ? Would you not have 
 exclaimed : "Why, then, people will only have to 
 work one-thirteenth as much as they do now, and 
 with two or three hours' work a day they will 
 have all the luxuries imaginable." Well, it is a 
 fact. To-day one man can do as much as thir- 
 teen could in 1750. The wealth of the world has 
 increased enormously. In this country especially 
 it is increasing by leaps and bounds, and yet no 
 less an authority than John Stuart Mill said twen- 
 ty years ago that it was doubtful if machinery 
 had lightened the toil of a single workman.' 
 Xo, it has not, and never will, so long as private 
 capitalists are permitted to own privately all the 
 machines and monopolize all the forces of nature. 
 "Another American says : 'The aggrandize- 
 ment of one class and the relative impoverishment 
 of other classes, if allowed to continue, means the 
 ultimate extinction of free institutions. A man 
 who earns $1, $2, $3 or even $5 a day is an in- 
 finitesimal pigmy by the side of an elephantine 
 trust magnate, with an income of $100,000 a day 
 and the ownership of a whole cityful or stateful 
 of property. The contrast between sovereign and 
 subject in the Old World is nothing to the con- 
 trast between the laboring man and the monop- 
 olist of full growth. The German Emperor's in- 
 come is about $8,000 a day, and he lives on that 
 quite comfortably. But Carnegie, the ex-steel 
 king, has an income of $40,000 a day, and Rocke- 
 feller, the oil emperor, has daily revenues esti- 
 
30 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 mated at $70,000 to $200,000 a day. He can buy the 
 labor of a hundred thousand workingmen with 
 his surplus income. How utterly insignificant are 
 the possessions, influence, opportunities and liber- 
 ties of the ordinary man as compared with the 
 wealth and power of one of these great monopo- 
 lists. Thus democracy is impossible under such 
 conditions. Men are not equal before the law 
 when the wealth of one is microscopic and the 
 wealth of another is mountainous. The problem 
 of dealing with the trust is the problem of pre- 
 serving free government and political equality.' 
 
 "Now, Brother Batty, I have not forgotten your 
 argument on the 'survival of the fittest.' I 
 ask you in all candor can you justify the ex- 
 ploiting of the millions by a handful of shrewd 
 but greedy monopolists because the strong 
 beasts of the jungles devour the weaker ones? 
 Is man nothing more than an animal, and a 
 savage one at that? Can you not conceive that 
 the theory of evolution may be true and that in 
 its higher mode of expression the kind, the just, 
 the conscientious, the merciful man is a 'fitter' 
 being than the greedy, the cruel, the conscience- 
 less man, even though he may possess great 
 ability — the man who grabs away from his fel- 
 lowman five-sixths of his earnings and has no 
 pity for his victim nor for his wife and babies? 
 Again: You object to Socialism because you 
 think it would destroy men's incentive. My 
 answer to that is, that it is to be hoped that 
 it will at least curb, and modify, and control 
 the incentive of those who seem to have little 
 or no regard for the rights of others. Surely 
 you have not failed to observe that the great 
 
HENRY ASHTON 31 
 
 and good men who have blessed the world were 
 moved to render some valuable service to their 
 kind rather than to exploit them. Such char- 
 acters as Homer, and Moses, and Jesus, and 
 Galilleo, and Buddha, and Columbus, and Her- 
 schel, and Lafayette, and Washington, and 
 Garrison, and Lincoln, and many others, were 
 moved by a higher sentiment than greed, and 
 their names are honored and forever will be, 
 while Nero, and Judas, and Benedict Arnold, 
 and scores of arrogant, avaricious millionaires 
 and monopolists are remembered only because 
 of their greed, or their infamy. 
 
 "Next you say that Socialism is impracticable, 
 In this you are again in error. It can easily 
 be put into practical operation in its fullness. 
 Have you thought, Brother Batty, that we have 
 now a great many Socialistic institutions ? 
 Why, the fact is that all our good institutions 
 are Socialistic. What is Socialism? My reply 
 is that it is another name for co-operation — for 
 collectivism. It may not have occurred to you 
 but it is a fact nevertheless that all our public 
 schools, cemeteries, libraries, bridges, highways, 
 court houses, asylums, prisons, the postal sys- 
 tem and other public institutions are Socialis- 
 tic because they were established by the people 
 collectively. The practice of individualism or 
 competition in its purity, would disintegrate all 
 civilization and send us back into savagery. On 
 the other hand the inauguration of more Social- 
 ism would lead to a higher and better civiliza- 
 tion. 
 
 "All the world's progress so far has been along 
 co-operative or Socialistic lines. All future 
 
32 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 progress must be in the same way. If we refuse 
 to co-operate, one with another for the accom- 
 plishment of desirable ends, civilization will 
 come to a stand still. If we foster the idea of 
 the private ownership of public utilities long 
 enough, we shall retrograde and the liberties 
 of the masses will vanish. We are now facing 
 a great problem. On its proper solution de- 
 pends our democratic institutions. The trusts 
 and other great aggregations of capital are se- 
 riously menacing our liberties. There is a rem- 
 edy for this evil but it must be speedily applied. 
 That remedy is to take these public utilities out 
 of the hands of individuals and turn them over 
 to all the people. The Nation should own the 
 Trusts." 
 
 "But," interrupted Batty, "if I admit what 
 you say as to the dangerous tendencies of these 
 great monopolies I still do not see how they 
 can be taken over by the people without con- 
 fiscation or a bloody revolution." 
 
 "Neither confiscation nor violent revolution is 
 necessary," said Ashton. "The problem is 
 easy of solution. It is now and long 
 has been the .'aw and the practice that 
 when the Government (city, county, State, Na- 
 tion) wanted a piece of property owned by pri- 
 vate parties, for public uses, to duly appraise 
 the same, pay the owner the appraisement price 
 and convert it to the use of the public. 
 
 "The steel trust, the oil trust, the railroads or 
 any other monopoly or public utility might be 
 appraised at what they are actually worth (with 
 the watered stock squeezed out), the owners 
 paid for the plant and they could thereafter be 
 
HENRY ASHTON 33 
 
 owned by the people collectively and operated 
 at cost to the incalculable benefit of the public 
 
 "To thus convert private property to public 
 uses would be applying a principle long estab- 
 lished. Socialists urge that certain industrial 
 conditions have recently grown up which make 
 it necessary for the people to take another for- 
 ward step in collectivism. 
 
 "One of the planks in their platform is 'no 
 opposition to trusts as such, but when the} 
 become oppressive and injurious to the masses 
 by displacing large numbers of working men 
 and charge extortionate prices for their ser- 
 vices or products, and destroy all competition in 
 their line of business, then they should be con- 
 verted from private to public ownership." 
 
 "Socialism does not propose to abolish all pri- 
 vate property. Its proposition is to convert ta 
 public uses only such franchises or utilities as 
 show by their nature that they should be owned 
 collectively and ought to be conducted in the 
 interest of all the people. Our contention is 
 that machinery and the great forces of nature 
 designed by infinite wisdom to contribute to 
 the well-being of the whole human family shall 
 not be monopolized by a few individuals for 
 their selfish gratification and to the detriment of 
 the whole race. 
 
 "Socialism is practicable because it is founded 
 on justice. It will finally triumph because it 
 stands for high ideals and those ideals are the 
 happiness of every man, woman and child. 
 
 "Competition is impracticable because it is 
 founded on selfishness and greed. It will fail 
 because it stands for no high ideals. Only the 
 
34 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 crafty few who have little regard for the rights 
 of others can succeed under competition. Prac- 
 ticed in its purity it curses the masses and 
 wrecks the morals of those who succeed by its 
 methods. 
 
 '"The few amass colossal fortunes, estab- 
 lish a moneyed aristocracy, learn to de- 
 spise the victims of their greed and become 
 despotic and enemies of a democratic form of 
 government. The masses are forced into bank- 
 ruptcy, poverty and ignorance. The poor are 
 crowded to the verge of despair and crime. 
 
 "The doctrine that 'might makes right,' and 
 the 'survival of the fittest,' may be a rule of 
 conduct among ferocious beasts and reptiles of 
 the jungle and among ignorant and savage 
 tribes of men, but intelligent civilized people 
 have evolved to a sphere where a higher law 
 prevails. The great teacher said 'a new law I 
 give unto you, that you love one another.' 
 
 "Competition, founded as it is on jealousy and 
 strife, breeds anarchy, and is a deadly enemy 
 of true religion and of a high civilization. No one 
 can practice the precepts of Christ under a com- 
 petitive system of business. 
 
 "Socialism, founded as it is on order, harmony 
 and love for humanity, having emblazoned upon 
 its banners, 'An injury to one is the concern of 
 all,' will create conditions under which compe- 
 tition and anarchy cannot exist. It must tri- 
 umph because it is planted on the law of prog- 
 ress governing heaven and earth. Though now 
 misunderstood by some and wilfully misrepre- 
 sented by others, it will encircle the world and 
 
HENRY ASHTON 35 
 
 the powers of darkness and discord shall not 
 prevail against it." 
 
 As Mr. Ashton closed this somewhat lengthy 
 but earnest argument, and before Mr. Batty 
 could make any reply, they were joined by Cap- 
 tain Johnson who seemed to wear a decidedly 
 anxious expression of countenance. Turning to 
 him Mr. Ashton said : 
 
 "Well, Captain, we are having a very pleas- 
 ant voyage so far. I am enjoying the trip im- 
 mensely. Every day since we left Melbourne 
 the sun has shed his rays in splendor ; no clouds 
 have obscured the sky ; no adverse winds have 
 driven the staunch ship from her course, and 
 no high and angry waves have been encount- 
 ered. How far are we from San Francisco, 
 Captain, and when do you expect to enter the 
 Golden Gate?" 
 
 "Yes, gentlemen," said the Captain, "we have 
 had fine weather and a smooth sea. I hope it 
 may be our good fortune to have such favor- 
 able conditions to the end of the voyage. We 
 are yet about two hundred miles from our des- 
 tination. I would not needlessly awaken your 
 apprehensions and indeed have little cause for 
 doing so, yet I have to confess that there are 
 indications that our good weather may not con- 
 tinue many hours. I need not detail my sev- 
 eral reasons for this opinion for they would 
 not be understood except by experienced sea- 
 men. There are, however, signs that a storm 
 is approaching which is liable to break upon 
 us in a very short time. I have in my twenty 
 years' experience as a sailor on both the At- 
 lantic and Pacific oceans, passed through a 
 
36 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 score of squalls and have no dread of the one 
 that seems now to be impending, and yet, gen- 
 tlemen, I never yearn for a big blow and a fu- 
 rious sea." 
 
 As the Captain made this observation, he 
 turned his eyes to the westward which act was 
 noticed by his companions and they too looked 
 in the same direction. Above the horizon, and 
 far distant, might be seen a low, dark bank of 
 clouds, and to the experienced mariner indica- 
 tions of fierce winds were perceptible. 
 
 The Captain looked intently and for several 
 minutes at the cloud, then without another word 
 walked briskly to another part of the vessel. 
 Ashton and Batty also separated, each going 
 to his respective stateroom. In less than two 
 hours the sky was overcast by a dense cloud, 
 vivid flashes of lightning flitted athwart the 
 sky and to the waters below, and the wind had 
 increased to a gale. The waves grew larger 
 and still larger every succeeding ten minutes, 
 and it was apparent to all on board that a severe 
 storm was on. For several hours it increased 
 in fury, then came a cry from below that an 
 important part of the propelling machinery had 
 broken. The ship soon became unmanageable 
 and an hour had not elapsed before she sprang a 
 leak followed by the command of the Captain 
 to "lower the small boats," and prepare to 
 leave the steamer, as narrated in Chapter first. 
 The boats were lowered and the passengers 
 and crew were, with much difficulty, and amidst 
 great excitement yet without serious accident, 
 transferred to them. 
 
HENRY ASHTON 37 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 RESCUE OF MR. AND MRS. HIGSBEE. 
 
 The reader has already become somewhat ac- 
 quainted with several of the passengers. After 
 he has read this story he will know them better. 
 Occasions like this, when more than a score 
 of people are in deadly peril, when each one 
 must think and act quickly the dominant char- 
 acteristics of each is apt to be revealed. At the 
 command of Captain Johnson for all to leave 
 the sinking steamer, the very first passenger to 
 spring to the assistance of the faithful crew in 
 carrying out their orders, was Henry Ashton. 
 He ran to the state rooms and aroused the 
 inmates. In a few words and without apparent 
 fear, he informed the frightened passengers of 
 the necessity to quit the ship ; he quickly, yet 
 without visible excitement, distributed life pre- 
 servers ; he assisted in lowering the affrighted 
 people into the boats, and by his brave and self- 
 possessed manner inspired many with confi- 
 dence and hope. When the boats were ready 
 his first act was to see that Miss Higsbee and 
 her mother were among the first to be safely 
 seated in one of the small boats. This done, 
 he next directed his attention to Col. Higsbee 
 but the Colonel was not in his berth ; he had 
 rushed on deck at the first alarm and was not 
 easily found. No time was to be lost ; others 
 were to be saved and young Ashton heroic- 
 ally set about saving those nearest to him. 
 
38 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 When the third boat was nearly loaded and 
 Ashton was engaged in assisting an aged pas- 
 senger to descend over the side of the ship, he 
 was nearly hurled into the sea by Sam, Col. 
 Higsbee's colored servant, who came rushing 
 forward with two life preservers strapped about 
 his body and one around his neck, shouting at 
 the top of his voice : 
 
 "Oh, Massa Ashting, Massa Ashting! for de 
 God's sake help dis here niggah for to git inter 
 dat are boat. Fs got 'ligion but I doan want 
 to be going to heaben in dat are water so sud- 
 den !" And the engineer lowered Sam, life-pre- 
 servers and all, to the coveted place. 
 
 As rapidly as was possible under the circum- 
 stances the passengers and crew were got into 
 the boats, Captain Johnson and Henry Ashton 
 being the last ones to leave the sinking steamer. 
 After the four boats had shoved off and the 
 Osceola had gone to the bottom of the sea, it 
 was found greatly to the grief and disappoint- 
 ment of the Higsbee family, that they had been 
 separated. Mrs. Higsbee and Lilly were among 
 the occupants of one boat and Colonel Higsbee 
 of another. With the Colonel was Henry Ash- 
 ton but all the others were strangers. 
 
 At the first cry of danger on the ship Tom 
 Lawson, trembling with fright, did nothing in 
 the way of assisting others, but, jostling women 
 and children aside, he leaped into the first boat 
 lowered, where he crouched till after the disap- 
 pearance of the steamer. After the immediate 
 danger of going down with the ship had passed, 
 and the boat had shoved out to a safe distance, 
 and he had to some extent regained self-pos- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 39 
 
 session, he then discovered that Mrs. and Miss 
 Higsbee were also occupants of his boat while 
 Henry Ashton, his hated rival, was not. At 
 seeing this situation he gave utterance to a low 
 chuckle of satisfaction. He feared he might 
 yet be lost, for the waves still roared, and the 
 wind howled most furiously, and he was far 
 from land, but he said to himself, "If I and 
 Lilly Higsbee ever do live to again set foot 
 upon land, I will leave nothing undone to make 
 her my wife ; as for Ashton I hope he may be 
 drowned." 
 
 For a time the four small boats were not far 
 apart. Every possible effort was put forth by 
 each to head to the eastward and to keep near 
 each other, but all efforts to steer and to make 
 effective use of the oars were futile. The sea 
 was still turbulant and it required all the tact 
 and vigilance that crew and passengers could 
 command, to prevent the upsetting of their lit- 
 tle crafts. But the storm was abating; the 
 waves were slowly losing their fury and hope 
 for rescue began to revive. But a new peril 
 was in store for them. As the storm subsided a 
 dense chilling fog settled down upon the ill- 
 fated voyagers, and they began to fully realize 
 the horrible situation of being out on a track- 
 less waste of waters below 7 , and a blinding, im- 
 penetrable fog above and around them, and that 
 they were wet and cold and hungry. The 
 darkness of night had set in. Not a ray of 
 light greeted them from shore or passing 
 ship. Some prayed fervently to God for de- 
 liverance ; others were silent ; still others appre- 
 hensive of deeper troubles and yet were not 
 
40 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 without hope that their lives would be pre- 
 served. 
 
 No one who has not had like experience can 
 have even a faint idea of the terror of such a 
 situation. From the first Lilly Higsbee had ex- 
 hibited a spirit of bravery whatever may have 
 been her secret thoughts. Her mother was 
 much of the night on the verge of despair. She 
 had not only suffered from an intense nervous 
 shock, but was inconsolable over the separation 
 from her husband. She knew he had left the 
 sinking ship and was in one of the small boats, 
 but her feelings of thankfulness that he was 
 thus saved were greatly overshadowed by the 
 fear that he might still be lost, or that she might 
 never see him again. Assiduously and with 
 hopeful, cheering words, did Lilly apply her- 
 self in the effort to comfort her mother and to 
 buoy up her spirits. The long hideous night 
 finally passed and although the unfortunate 
 castaways were suffering from fright, hunger 
 and exposure, they hailed the advent of the 
 morning with many exclamations of joy and 
 satisfaction. They hoped and some fervently 
 praved that some passing ship might discover 
 and rescue them. During the night Tora Law- 
 son changed his position so that he would be 
 near Miss Higsbee. Two or three times he 
 ventured to address her, hoping thus to estab- 
 lish familiar relations but his efforts were not 
 successful. She politely but curtly made an- 
 swer to each of his interrogatories, but declined 
 his proffered assistance, and avoided being 
 drawn into any conversation with him. She 
 knew of his selfish and cowardly conduct in 
 
HENRY ASHTON 41 
 
 leaving the ship, for she had observed his ac- 
 tions. More than ever did she dislike him. 
 Her dislike had even matured into disgust if not 
 in actual hatred. Lawson could not fail to 
 understand the feelings she had toward him for, 
 knave and coward that he was, he was not a 
 fool. He finally relapsed into a sullen silence. 
 It was now broad day light ; the winds had 
 subsided ; the sea was rapidly assuming its 
 wonted placidity, and so far as sea, and wind, 
 and sky were concerned, each gave assurance 
 of a pleasant coming day. But not a sail was to 
 be seen. During the night and the afternoon 
 preceding it, the four small boats were widely 
 separated each from the other. The morning 
 slowly wore away ; the sun was nearing the 
 tenth hour, when Patrick, an Irish sailor, one 
 of the crew of the Osceola, startled all on 
 board. Standing up in the boat and pointing to 
 the southwestward he almost screamed: "Look, 
 gentlemen, look ! There comes a steamer if 
 me eyes don't decave me, and bedad, they don't 
 for I see shmoke and what the divil could pro- 
 juce a shmoke out there in the wather but a 
 stame engine !" 
 
 Instantly all eyes were turned in the direc- 
 tion indicated by Patrick, and sure enough, a 
 big stream of smoke could be seen in the dis- 
 tance. It was not long before the vessel her- 
 self was easily discerned, and joy unspeakable, 
 she was headed almost directly toward the cast- 
 aways. A signal flag was hastily prepared by 
 joining two or three white handkerchiefs to- 
 gether which were vigorously waved for twenty 
 or thirty minutes. For a time the anxious in- 
 
42 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 mates of the boat were undecided whether or 
 not their signal had been observed by the 
 steamer; then, it was noticed that she slightly 
 changed her course and steered directly toward 
 them. As she did this and approached nearer, 
 Patrick again shouted, "Be gorra, she sees us, 
 and the crew is preparing to lower a small 
 boat. We are all right ; we'll soon be aboard 
 of that craft and have a square meal and a drop 
 of hot liquids. Thanks to the blessed Vargin, 
 and may the blissings of all the saints of ould 
 Ireland rist down on the head of the captain of 
 that ship." 
 
 It was as Patrick had said. Within thirty 
 minutes stalwart sailors from the "Josephine," 
 a French steamer, were along side of our friends 
 and in less than half an hour had transferred 
 them to their own ship. Captain Reguet, and 
 his officers and crew, treated them most kindly. 
 Some were ill, others were benumbed and al- 
 most unable to walk from severe exposure, and 
 all were hungry from their long fasting. Cap- 
 tain Reguet gave orders that everything should 
 be done within the power of his subordinates to 
 make the shipwrecked victims comfortable, and 
 the orders were quickly and cheerfully executed. 
 
 The Josephine was bound for Portland, Ore- 
 gon. 
 
 Not a single one of the rescued persons when 
 they started to cross the Pacific had Portland 
 as his intended destination, but there was not 
 one of them now who was not willing, but re- 
 joiced beyond expression, to accompany Capt. 
 Reguet to that or any other port where they 
 might be safely landed. 
 
HENRY ASHTON 43 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 RESCUE OF HENRY ASHTON, AND HIS HEROIC ACT. 
 
 And now the curiosity of the reader is 
 aroused to know the whereabouts of the pas- 
 sengers in the other three small boats. Several 
 of them were never heard from and probably 
 went to the bottom of the sea. The little craft 
 boarded by Col. Higsbee and Henry Ashton, 
 had even a more perilous and thrilling experi- 
 ence than the one picked up by the Josephine. 
 Like the others, it was, for what seemed an 
 age to its occupants, helpless in the grip of the 
 storm and fog. After a terrible experience of 
 about forty-eight hours duration, it was fortu- 
 nate enough to be seen by a western bound 
 ship, the "Roswell," whose destination was 
 Hong Kong, China. Small boats were prompt- 
 ly sent to its relief. It is only those who are 
 endowed by a vivid imagination who can have 
 even a feeble conception of the joy felt by those 
 rescued persons wnen they found the Ros- 
 well's boats, manned by stalwart seamen, along 
 side of them, and they realized that they were 
 to be saved from a watery grave or what might 
 be worse, death from starvation. 
 
 Though weak from exposure and long absti- 
 nence from food and from loss of sleep, all ex- 
 cept Col. Higsbee were able to put forth the 
 necessary physical exertion to transfer them- 
 selves to the boat sent to convey them to the 
 ship. The Colonel's physical strength, had, 
 
44 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 since the disaster to the Osceola, gradually and 
 steadily failed. He was advanced in years, of 
 delicate constitution, and was still suffering 
 from the effects of an old army wound. He 
 had almost ceaselessly bemoaned the cruel fate 
 which had separated him from his wife and 
 daughter, and he alternated between grief be- 
 cause of the separation, and fear that they were 
 lost. Henry Ashton was untiring in his endeav- 
 ors to inspire him with hope that he would meet 
 and greet them again. He assured the Colonel 
 and reassured him that Mrs. Higsbee and Lilly 
 had been safely placed in the first small boat 
 that shoved off from the Osceola; he had him- 
 self assisted them and saw them seated in the 
 boat. The storm had not lasted long, and at 
 the time of the sinking of the ship had consid- 
 erably abated in fury. One or two experi- 
 enced seamen had gone in that boat ; the craft, 
 itself, was a good one. 
 
 "There are many good reasons," said Ash- 
 ton, "for the belief that the ladies are safe, and 
 had ere this, been rescued." But the Colonel 
 sighed deeply and could not be comforted; he 
 had little or no hope that he would ever behold 
 them again. 
 
 Col. Higsbee found when it came his turn to 
 step into the skiff sent out by the Roswell, that 
 his limbs were swollen and stiffened and that it 
 was with pain and difficulty that he could move 
 at all, but through the kindly assistance of Ash- 
 ton, and without serious annoyance or delay, he 
 was safely seated in the boat and was moving 
 rapidly toward the great ship. As the skiff 
 came alone: side of the Roswell a ladder was let 
 
HENRY ASHTON 46 
 
 down from the deck on which the passengers 
 ascended, one by one, to the floor above; the 
 Colonel and Mr. Ashton remaining till the last. 
 "Now, Colonel," said Ashton, "you go next 
 and I will support the lower end of the ladder." 
 In obedience to this instruction the old gentle- 
 man laboriously and painfully began the ascent. 
 He had succeeded in attaining to about half the 
 distance when, missing his intended grasp of 
 the rung above, owing to a lurch of the skiff, 
 he suddenly turned partly around, lost his 
 foothold below, and toppled off into the sea 
 between the boat and the steamer, and in a brief 
 moment disappeared from sight. For an in- 
 stant Henry Ashton looked horrified ; but he 
 stood motionless for a few seconds only, then 
 quick as a flash, he threw his coat from his 
 shoulders, flung his cap from him and after one 
 or two swift strides, plunged into the water 
 from the stern, that being nearest to the spot 
 where the Colonel went down. He was an ex- 
 pert at swimming. Rapidly turning himself 
 in the water, and after a few strokes with his 
 hands, he came to almost the exact place where 
 Col. Higsbee disappeared. He knew that there 
 was a probability that the drowning man might 
 rise to the surface before life became extinct. 
 His chief fear was that the Colonel might, be- 
 cause of the swift current, pass under the ship ; 
 he hesitated a moment looking intently into the 
 waters below and about him. Concluding that 
 his fears that the body had passed under the 
 ship were well founded, he quickly inflated his 
 lungs with air, dived under the steamer and 
 disappeared. The accident had been witnessed 
 
46 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 by many on deck who also observed the action 
 of Ashton. All had taken place so quickly that 
 the spectators had done nothing but give ut- 
 terance to exclamations of horror. But a few 
 minutes had elapsed, however, when Ashton was 
 seen coming from under the curve of the 
 steamer bearing the limp and apparently life- 
 less body of the Colonel. Keeping himself and 
 the body afloat by vigorous action of hand and 
 feet, he cried : "Throw me a rope ! Throw a 
 rope ; quick — be quick !" 
 
 Not many seconds had passed before a stal- 
 wart sailor rushed to the railing with a coil of 
 rope one end of which he flung with precision to 
 a spot within easy reaching distance of the man 
 who had risked his own life in the effort to save 
 his friend. Ashton reached for the line, and 
 with dexterous motions, soon had it wound and 
 knotted about the Colonel while he held his 
 head above the water. 
 
 "Now draw him up on deck and be careful," 
 next cried Ashton. This was promptly done 
 while Ashton steadied the body as he himself as- 
 cended the ladder. 
 
 The physician of the ship, Dr. Logan, was 
 summoned and immediate efforts for the resus- 
 citation of the unfortunate man commenced. 
 For more than an hour his life hung as in a 
 balance and had Dr. Logan and Henry Ashton 
 acted upon the advice of several of the specta- 
 tors, their efforts to bring him back to life would 
 have been abandoned. But these two persisted, 
 and when they too were about to cease further 
 efforts, and the doctor was applying his final 
 
HENRY ASHTON 47 
 
 test, his face brightened, and turning to Ash- 
 ton, said: 
 
 "Your friend will live." He was removed to 
 a state room where for several hours longer 
 the effort of resuscitation was continued. 
 
 The patient improved slowly. Several days 
 elapsed ere he could speak above a faint whis- 
 per, and even then he could utter but a few 
 audible words. Henry Ashton was his almost 
 constant companion ; he anticipated all his de- 
 sires ; he personally attended to the proper exe- 
 cution of the doctor's instructions, and as he 
 became convalescent he talked to him, read to 
 him and pictured to him the happy, joyful re- 
 union with his wife and daughter which was to 
 be one of the glorious events that was certain 
 to come in the not far distant future. 
 
 "For," said Ashton to the Colonel, "while it 
 is true that the Roswell is bound for China, yet 
 it will not require a long time to make the trip 
 to Hong Kong and then Colonel, you will be 
 quite well and strong, and we will take the first 
 steamer bound for the United States where I 
 have no doubt we will soon meet Mrs. Higsbee 
 and Lilly, for I feel sure they are safe in Cali- 
 fornia." 
 
 On the day following the one on which the 
 accident befell Col. Higsbee, the lookout on 
 board the Roswell called the attention of the 
 Captain to what appeared to be a small boat 
 flying a signal two or three miles distant. Bring- 
 ing his glass to his eyes that officer ejaculated: 
 
 "Yes, sure enough, there is a small craft con- 
 taining four or five persons and they are seem- 
 insrlv trvine to attract our attention." 
 
48 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 Upon making this discovery the Captain gave 
 orders to change the course of the steamer, and 
 proceed in the direction of the boat. It re- 
 quired but a short time in which to bring the 
 ship near the party who were by signals mak- 
 ing dear their desire to be rescued. 
 
 Coming within hailing distance, the Captain 
 spoke to the occupants of the small boat, tell- 
 ing them to come alongside the ship. This 
 they did and when near enough to be heard 
 one who seemed to be the spokesman for the 
 party, cried: 
 
 "We are survivors of the wrecked Osceola ; 
 for God's sake take us on board." 
 
 "Come up alongside then," replied Captain 
 Jones. 
 
 Though nearly exhausted from exposure 
 and fatigue, the men handling the oars in the 
 small craft, quickly shot their boat to the place 
 designated, and within half an hour from the 
 time they were first seen by the look-out they 
 were safely on board the staunch steamer Ros- 
 well. Like the other castaways from the Osce- 
 ola rescued the day before, they were cold, and 
 wet, and hungry, and their reception was as 
 hearty and kind as that accorded to their fellow- 
 sufferers. Among these latter rescued was 
 Lawyer Batty. The meeting of Batty and Ash- 
 ton was a happy one. Each wrung the hands of 
 the other long and vigorously. Each congrat- 
 ulated the other on his rescue; each manifested 
 almost a brotherly attachment for the other, for 
 while they differed on religious, on political, on 
 social and other subjects, yet they each had a 
 high regard for the other, because each recog- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 49 
 
 nized in the other, honesty of purpose, and each 
 knew the other's good habits and irreproachable 
 moral character. While the other rescued pas- 
 sengers were being looked after by the officers 
 and assistants of the ship, Ashton quickly con- 
 ducted Mr. Batty to his room and administered 
 to his pressing wants. As he spread food before 
 his friend, and dry clothing, he narrated, in an- 
 swer to Batty's rapidly propounded questions 
 how Col. Higsbee and the others, and himself, 
 were saved, how the Colonel had fallen over- 
 board, and how he was now convalescing, and 
 they knew nothing of the fate of Mrs. Higsbee 
 and Lilly, Tow Lawson or the others, in the 
 other two small boats. 
 
 After Mr. Batty had plied many questions, 
 and had received such information as was in 
 the power of Ashton to impart, and had him- 
 self answered his friend's inquiries, and had 
 eaten all that prudence would allow, and had 
 had a change of raiment, he slept long and 
 soundly, and awakened the following morning 
 with greatly renewed strength and in a cheer- 
 ful mood. Without delay he hastened to see 
 Col. Higsbee, and to converse with him the 
 time allotted for the interview by Dr. Logan. 
 Having in mind the suggestion of Ashton, he 
 encouraged the Colonel by expressing the opin- 
 ion that there could be little or no doubt but 
 that Mrs. Higsbee and Lilly were rescued and 
 were now safe in San Francisco. 
 
 "There are many good reasons for so think- 
 ing," said Batty, "and it is only a matter of a 
 few weeks when you will be reunited as a fam- 
 ily." 
 
50 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF COL. HIGSBEE. 
 
 A week had now passed since the accident 
 to Col. Higsbee, and while Ashton and Batty 
 every day, and several times each day, congrat- 
 ulated the Colonel on his improvement, yet he 
 was very weak and much of the time melancholy 
 over the separation from his loved ones, and was 
 profoundly anxious as to their fate. 
 
 One day during the absence of Ashton and 
 Batty from the room, the Colonel said to Dr. 
 Logan : "Doctor, please narrate to me the par- 
 ticulars of the accident that befell me. They 
 are not very distinct in my mind." Where- 
 upon the doctor complied with his patient's re- 
 quest, explaining every thing in detail. He es- 
 pecially praised Henry Ashton for his heroism 
 in plunging into the sea and saving the life of 
 the Colonel and spoke most enthusiastically of 
 his devotion to the invalid ever since. 
 
 "I do not know," said Dr. Logan, "the rela- 
 tionship existing between you and Mr. Ashton, 
 but I have carefully observed the actions of the 
 young man, and have studied his face well, and 
 I have come to have the highest possible respect 
 for him. I think he is a brave, noble, honorable 
 man, Colonel." 
 
 "Yes, yes," responded Col. Higsbee. "He has 
 proven to be a good, true friend of mine. Once 
 I did not appreciate his real worth ; I do now." 
 
 A few davs later Colonel Higsbee, after a 
 
HENRY ASHTON 51 
 
 little physical exertion gave utterance to a sup- 
 pressed cry of distress, and when interrogated 
 as to the cause, replied that he had been stricken 
 by a severe pain in the region of his back. The 
 doctor gave him a critical examination and at 
 its conclusion suggestively shook his head. This 
 was observed by Mr. Ashton, who later, ques- 
 tioned the medical man as to the cause of the 
 new symptoms. The physician replied: 
 
 "Mr. Ashton, I regret to say your friend is 
 in a precarious condition. I observe from a 
 careful diagnosis of the case, that the elderly 
 gentleman has a complication of diseases. Some 
 of his internal organs have apparently long been 
 diseased and he has, for many years, been suf- 
 fering from an old wound. These with the late 
 exposures he has passed through would most 
 surely have soon prostrated him had no accident 
 befallen him. Now reinforce all these ailments 
 by a plunge into the sea and you have a serious 
 case indeed. It is marvelous that your friend 
 is alive at all. I have fears of a relapse and if 
 that comes as there are decided indications that 
 it may, there will be slender hope for his re- 
 covery. I advise you to prepare yourself for 
 the worst." 
 
 It was as the doctor had feared. In addition 
 to his physical afflictions Col. Higsbee's mind 
 was painfully agitated over the separation 
 from his wife and daughter, and the thought 
 that they had been lost. He was most of the 
 time inconsolable. His symptoms steadily grew 
 more and more alarming, and it was evident 
 to his attendants that his strength was giving 
 away and he was rapidly failing. This the Col- 
 
52 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 onel himself seemed to understand. The morn- 
 ing after the conversation mentioned that took 
 place between Ashton and the doctor, the Col- 
 onel after a protracted silence beckoned to Dr. 
 Logan to come nearer, and then said: 
 
 "Doctor, do not give me any more medicine. 
 It will do me no good. I am going to die. 
 This I know, for last night I had a vision, or a 
 dream, in which my angelic mother appeared 
 to me and said : 'My dear son, your earthly ca- 
 reer is nearly closed. You will soon pass over 
 to us. Arrange your earthly affairs and pre- 
 pare for the change. Be brave, be of good 
 cheer ; I shall with many others of your departed 
 loved ones be present at your new birth, and 
 will extend to you a joyful welcome to the land 
 where sickness and accidents and death do not 
 occur.' 
 
 "Then with an angelic smile, and with out- 
 stretched arms as if to embrace me, she van- 
 ished. 
 
 "I know, doctor, that this was no hallucina- 
 tion. It was not a disordered fancy ; it was a 
 true, a glorious reality. I am going to pass 
 away ; I have no fear ; I am anxious to go. 
 Please call Henry Ashton, and Mr. Batty, and 
 Captain Jones. I desire their presence." 
 
 The parties designated were soon at the bed- 
 side of the dying man. 
 
 "Mr. Batty," said the Colonel, "get paper 
 and ink and pen." The writing materials be- 
 ing procured, the Colonel continued: "Now 
 write down my words:" 
 
 LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 
 
 "I, James Higsbee, of Melbourne, Australia, 
 
HENRY ASHTON 58 
 
 being of sound mind and in view of approaching 
 dissolution, do make and publish this my last 
 will and testament, revoking all others. I give 
 and bequeath to my beloved wife, Mary Higs- 
 bee, my residence property, also my brick bus- 
 iness block, also the St. James Hotel property, 
 each situated in the city of Melbourne, Aus- 
 tralia; also one-half of $500,000 consisting of 
 money, bonds of Australia, and of the United 
 States of America, and stocks in the bank of 
 Australia; also all of my chattel property and 
 personal effects other than those hereinafter 
 named. To my loving daughter, Lilly Higs- 
 bee, I give and bequeath my undivided half 
 interest in the steamer, 'The Prince,' also 20,- 
 000 acres of real estate with the appurtenances 
 thereto belonging, situated in the island of Zan- 
 land; also 10,000 acres of land located in York 
 county, Australia; also 1,000 acres of real estate 
 in Douglas county, State of Nebraska, U. S. A. ; 
 also one-half of the $500,000 consisting of 
 money, bonds, and bank stocks hereinbefore 
 mentioned. 
 
 "In the event that neither my wife nor daugh- 
 ter are living at the date of the execution of 
 this, my last will and testament, then (that fact 
 having been proven) I give and bequeath the 
 entire amount of my property, both real and 
 personal, to Henry Ashton, of Melbourne, who 
 bravely risked his own life to save mine. 
 
 "I hereby appoint as my legal executors of 
 this, my last will and testament, Henry Ash- 
 ton and George Batty, and order that no official 
 bonds shall be required of them. 
 
 "Knowing of the engagement of my beloved 
 
54 HENRY. ASHTON 
 
 daughter Lilly to Henry Ashton, I hereby most 
 cheerfully consent to their marriage, and I in- 
 voke the blessing of God upon them." 
 
 Col. Higsbee had summoned all his failing 
 strength to dictate his will which he did in 
 broken sentences, and after long pauses, and 
 when it was finished he asked that the instru- 
 ment be presented to him for his signature. 
 The pen was placed in his hand and the paper 
 held in proper position when the dying man, 
 after a painful effort, succeeded in affixing his 
 signature, "James Higsbee," to the writing. 
 The instrument was also signed at his request, 
 by Captain Theodore Jones, Dr. Wm. Logan, 
 and George Batty, as witnesses ; and Mr. Batty 
 was designated as custodian of the valuable legal 
 document. In a whisper that was scarcely au- 
 dible the Colonel requested Dr. Logan to invite 
 all to withdraw from the room except Mr. Ash- 
 ton. After his request had been complied with 
 he feebly extended his hand to Ashton and sig- 
 nified his desire to speak. Ashton bent low that 
 he might catch the words of the rapidly sinking 
 man. The Colonel said: 
 
 "My dear son, I most sincerely and gratefully 
 thank you for your great kindness done me. Once 
 I did not appreciate your real worth. I now 
 know you to be an unselfish, noble young man. 
 I have learned to love you as a son. My dying 
 request is that you seek diligently for my 
 daughter, Lilly, and if she is yet alive and you 
 can find her, that you carry to her this, my last 
 message: "God bless you, dear Lilly, you 
 knew Henry Ashton better than I did. You 
 have consented to be his life companion because 
 
HENRY ASHTON 55 
 
 you love him. He is worthy of you, you have 
 my consent to become his wife and may the 
 blessings of God and of his holy angels rest upon 
 you both." 
 
 The effort had completely exhausted the 
 strength of the stricken man. x\shton gently 
 assisted him in resuming his former position. 
 Not another word was spoken. While clasping 
 the hand of his friend he closed his eyes, his 
 breathing became more and more labored ; he 
 gasped; a slight shudder ran through his body, 
 and he was gone. 
 
 Henry Ashton and George Batty mourned 
 sincerely over the death of Col. Higsbee. They 
 had thought to embalm the body and when they 
 reached Hong Kong to reship it to Melbourne, 
 but on inquiring of Capt. Jones, they found to 
 their great regret, that the ship was not pre- 
 pared to execute such service to the dead. The 
 rules of the steamer required burial in the sea 
 within three days after the death of a person 
 on board. All that remained of Col. James 
 Higsbee was therefore, on the morning of the 
 third day after his demise, with appropriate and 
 impressive ceremonies solemnly consigned to 
 the keeping of the mighty Pacific ocean. 
 
56 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SPIRITED DEBATE BETWEEN LAWYER BATTY, INFI- 
 DEL, AND ENGINEER ASHTON, CHRIS- 
 TIAN SOCIALIST. 
 
 A day or two after the funeral, as Ashton and 
 Batty were sitting on deck conversing about 
 the thrilling events that had transpired during 
 the past few weeks, the lawyer turned to his 
 companion and said : 
 
 "Friend Ashton, I have been thinking how 
 inexpressibly sad is all this. This life is filled 
 with disappointments and pain and misery. At 
 the very hour of our birth trouble begins. If 
 we escape fatal diseases and accidents incident 
 to childhood, and grow to maturity we experi- 
 ence more pain than pleasure ; more failures 
 than successes ; more reverses than triumphs, 
 and death and separation from loved ones, 
 sooner or later overtakes us. The more closely 
 I study the problem of life the more pessimis- 
 tic I grow. Religion, I am convinced, is a 
 delusion, and life is really not worth the living. 
 I am coming to think, Brother Ashton, that 
 death ends all, or, if we do exist beyond the 
 grave, our personality will have been extin- 
 guished and our so-called souls or minds, will 
 have been absorbed by the universal soul, or 
 mind, as our bodies are absorbed by mother 
 earth. I am aware that good men for thou- 
 sands of years have thought differently. They 
 have told us of God, and the immortality of the 
 
HENRY ASHTON 57 
 
 soul, and that the Bible is divinely inspired and 
 is infallible, but what do they know about these 
 things? Nothing, absolutely nothing. They 
 have not seen God ; no spirits of dead people 
 have ever returned, and as for their infallible 
 Bible, all well informed persons know it abounds 
 in contradictions, is ignorant of science, is often 
 false historically, and is composed of a collection 
 of ancient writings of men who lived in differ- 
 ent ages of the world, many of them supersti- 
 tious and ignorant. These writings were gath- 
 ered together by conventions or councils of men 
 who made no claim to inspiration and put into 
 a book which we call the Bible. As to Jesus. 
 Although books were written in the age in 
 which he lived and records of important events 
 were kept, yet Jesus wrote nothing, nor did 
 he make any provision for any record to be 
 made of his sayings or doings. All that we 
 know about his life and teachings is based on 
 legendary and hearsay evidence, not reduced 
 to writing for several generations after his 
 death. Many of the writings purporting to give 
 a true account of the life of Christ, once believed 
 to be a part of the sacred Scriptures, are now re- 
 jected and the correctness and authenticity of 
 a considerable portion of what remains is stren- 
 uously questioned by many scholars to-day. 
 Terrible wars have been waged and rivers of 
 blood have been shed over disputes between con- 
 tending factions, each claiming to be the true 
 disciples of Christ. If judged by their deeds I 
 would say that professing Christians have been 
 the most cruel, fanatical and blood-thirsty of 
 all religious sects. They have for two thou- 
 
58 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 sand years persecuted the Jews with a relent- 
 less and fiendish persecution, and fought each 
 other like tigers and have slaughtered their 
 millions. They have for mere differences of 
 opinion as to the teachings of their infallible 
 book cast their fellowmen into dungeons, burned 
 them at the stake, bored holes through their 
 tongues, gouged out their eyes, torn the body 
 into fragments, racked and imprisoned them and 
 inflicted all manner of horrible tortures. They 
 have persecuted with death inventors and 
 discoverers, opposed science, hung ignorant 
 old women as witches, and enslaved mil- 
 lions of negroes whose ancestors they believed 
 had been cursed of God and doomed to eternal 
 slavery because a drunken Noah had cursed his 
 own son for being more modest and decent than 
 himself. All this, and more, was done on the au- 
 thority of the Bible, and in the name of the holy 
 Christian religion. Do you say that all these 
 crimes were committed in an ignorant age, and 
 that the present-day Christians would not com- 
 mit such atrocities ? I admit that the average in- 
 dividual Christian is kindlier and less fanatical 
 than those of a century ago, but I contend that 
 we are indebted for such improvement to liberal 
 thinking reformers, who were always denounced 
 by the church as infidels, but even now every 
 Christian Nation is armed to the teeth and stands 
 ready to spring upon and destroy each other. But 
 a short time ago Christian England overran the 
 Transvaal, murdered the Christian Boer, burned 
 his home, devastated his fields, and hunted him to 
 his death as though he were a savage wild beast. 
 Protestant Christian Americans pursued a like 
 
HENRY ASHTON 59 
 
 course in dealing with their Catholic Christian 
 brothers, the Filipinos. There is not a Christian 
 nation on earth to-day which does not confer 
 greater honors on the successful killer of his fel- 
 lows than it does upon its philanthropists, invent- 
 ors and peacemakers. No, friend Ashton, I can- 
 not accept Christianity as it has been taught and 
 practiced. I would like to believe in a future state 
 of conscious existence, but as a lawyer I must 
 have better evidence that there is such a state than 
 the unsupported statements of the Bible or the 
 clergy." 
 
 At this the lawyer paused, when his companion 
 replied : 
 
 "While I commend your earnestness, Friend 
 Eatty, acknowledge your honesty of purpose, and 
 admire your ability, I must oppose your main ar- 
 gument, and decline to coincide with your conclu- 
 sions. I quite agree with you that the Bible had 
 its origin in the way you have stated, and that it 
 is not free from all error ; but while I admit that 
 I contend that it contains much wisdom and truth, 
 and is altogether a wonderful and invaluable col- 
 lection of writings. I do not say as do some, that 
 it is all — every word — an inspired revelation to 
 the world, but I do maintain that the Bible con- 
 tains an inspired revelation. Much of it is alle- 
 gorical and has in the past been misunderstood. 
 Other portions are historical or an account of the 
 doings of ancient peoples. I am not surprised 
 that you and Colonel Ingersoll, whom you so 
 greatly admire, cannot believe in the existence of 
 such a God as the ancients feared and worshipped, 
 but, dear Batty, intelligent Christians of the pres- 
 ent dav do not think of the Deitv as did the an- 
 
60 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 cients. They worshipped God through fear. We 
 worship him because we regard Him as a being 
 of infinite love. It is, however, to the credit of 
 the ancients that they believed that there existed 
 an invisible, intelligent power wiser than them- 
 selves. They saw the sun, the moon, the stars ; 
 they beheld the wonderful and orderly operation 
 of nature's forces and they wisely reasoned that 
 these things were the effects of some antecedent 
 cause. They reasoned more logically than some 
 of our modern philosophers, who advance the 
 theory that 'all life is produced by spontaneous 
 generation' — 'that the brain generates thought as 
 the liver secretes bile.' 
 
 "The ancients, although ignorant of science and 
 holding low ideals as to the attributes of God, 
 clearly perceived that 'out of nothing, nothing 
 comes." 
 
 "Now I beg your pardon, Batty, but I must be 
 frank with you when I say that the modern Athe- 
 ist is not a profound and logical thinker. If he 
 were he would easily perceive that back of all liv- 
 ing things were generations of other living things. 
 The Atheist is forced back, back, back to the first 
 cause, and he cannot account for that first cause 
 except by the illogical assumption that the first 
 cause of all living things was 'spontaneous gen- 
 eration' — was chance — pure accident. The Chris- 
 tian philosopher contends that the first cause is 
 intelligent force, infinite power, infinite intelli- 
 gence, universal spirit, omnipotent, omnipresent, 
 omnicient, from everlasting to everlasting — that 
 is over all in all, is all — is God. Jesus said "God 
 is spirit," not a spirit. 
 
 "It appears that in every age of the world men 
 
HENRY ASHTON 61 
 
 and women of every race and every condition of 
 mental unfoldment have believed that there exist- 
 ed an intelligent, invisible power greater than 
 themselves. The inclination to so believe is a part 
 of man's being. Phrenology teaches that man has 
 an organ of the brain which it has named Venera- 
 tion, and its legitimate function is to reverence a 
 higher power. It prompts us to adore something 
 higher and wiser than ourselves. It is therefore 
 as reasonable to believe that such organ is as es- 
 sential to our well-being as is our heart, or lungs, 
 or reasoning faculties. We would not have been 
 endowed with an organ of Veneration if there had 
 been nothing to venerate. When legitimately ex- 
 ercised the organ of Veneration gives us grand 
 and ennobling conceptions of Deity; if wrongly 
 directed we may be led to worship the sun, the 
 moon, or some material substance. I do not con- 
 ceive of God, or universal spirit, as did the an- 
 cients. Their organ of veneration prompted them 
 to worship, but their reasoning faculties, not be- 
 ing so enlightened as are those of the people of 
 this day, they attributed to God many attributes 
 that he could not possess. In their writings they 
 gave us the best definitions they knew, but they 
 thought and wrote in the infancy of the race. We 
 have in this age broader, juster loftier conceptions 
 of God than they. It is true that some of our re- 
 ligious teachers insist on going back to an ignor- 
 ant age of the world for their definitions of God, 
 and accept and teach ancient religious dogmas 
 and creeds as infallible, but the more intelligent 
 teachers of this day do not present to us a God 
 of jealousy, and hate, and vengeance, as did those 
 of old. Now we are told that God is love, is life 
 
62 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 — is the sum total of all things visible and invisi- 
 ble, that in Him we live, and move, and have our 
 being — that we are ourselves a part of God — that 
 we are in essence ourselves God. 
 
 "Now as to Jesus : Whether you admit he was 
 or was not divine, you must acknowledge that his 
 reputed life was blameless and his teachings both 
 wise and good. Can you conceive of a sermon 
 that contains more wisdom and higher ideals than 
 that of the Sermon on the Mount ? I do not con- 
 tend that Jesus was the Supreme God, and that 
 beside him there was none other, but I do main- 
 tain that he was the Son of God. Jesus was di- 
 vine and so is every other man, woman and child 
 in that we are all the children of God, are a part 
 of God and cannot be forever separated from 
 him. Jesus was unfolded. We are not. The bud 
 contains all the possibilities of a rose and in due 
 time will be a rose, but as buds they do not shed 
 the fragrance of the full blown rose. Men, ig- 
 norant men, sinful men, have the possibilities of 
 gods. They are buds now ; they will be gods 
 some time. 
 
 "You say, friend Batty, that professing Chris- 
 tians have bitterly disputed over theological dog- 
 mas and have shed rivers of blood. Yes, that is 
 true, but there was nothing in the teachings of 
 the gentle Nazarene to cause such anti-Christian 
 conduct. Happily in this day the disputes over the 
 mooted theological dogmas have largely subsided, 
 and the truly Christian teachers are now preach- 
 ing love to God and love to man. There has been 
 a general revolt against the gloomy theology 
 even of a few centuries ago, which strove to move 
 men through fear alone. Then it was thundered 
 
HENRY ASHTON 63 
 
 into the ears of the people that God predestinated 
 men to a horrible and endless hell ; that he 
 damned millions before they were born, and 
 hurled little non-elect infants into a bottomless 
 pit, there to suffer and wail throughout eternity. 
 All this brand of preaching has been happily 
 abandoned, and now the supreme importance of 
 building up a good character and living a Christ- 
 like life, is the theme dwelt upon by clergymen of 
 all denominations. And here let me say, Brother 
 Batty, that one of the encouraging signs of the 
 times is that many of the abler ministers are be- 
 ginning to preach Socialism because they have 
 come to see that co-operation — brotherhood — is 
 more in harmony with the life and teachings of 
 Jesus Christ than competition, under which one 
 man can succeed only by exploiting his brother. 
 These religious teachers have seen that the appli- 
 cation of the teachings of the great Teacher are 
 positively impossible under a competitive system 
 of economics. The Golden Rule can never be ap- 
 plied so long as that system prevails. Competi- 
 tion is based on selfishness ; it appeals to man's 
 baser emotions ; it is directly opposed to every- 
 thing that Jesus commanded. Socialism, which 
 is but another name for co-operation, is in strict 
 harmony with the teachings of Him who taught 
 as never man taught. I fully agree with you that 
 the church which favors war except in self-de- 
 fense, which caters to the rich, the powerful, the 
 proud, the selfish — the church that sees working 
 people systematically exploited without protest, 
 by soulless combinations of capital, which beholds 
 millions of men, women and children suffering for 
 the want of the necessaries of life because of the 
 
64 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 monopolistic laws and unjust customs, and does 
 not thunder its disapproval of these monstrous 
 wrongs — that church is a delusion and a sham. 
 Jesus was a friend of the poor, the homeless, the 
 landless, the friendless ; he sought companionship 
 with that class ; he profoundly sympathized with 
 them; he it was who denounced the rich Pharisee 
 and drove the money-changers from the temple; 
 he it was who never gave utterance to other than 
 mild, kind, loving and sympathetic words except 
 when he spoke of their business methods, and 
 then his utterances of denunciation were vehe- 
 ment and terrible. 
 
 "I deeply regret, friend Batty, your doubts as 
 to conscious existence of man after so-called 
 death. The Bible, as well as the sacred writings 
 of other peoples, abound with proof of the im- 
 mortality of the soul. But if you cannot accept 
 those writings as furnishing proof of the fact be- 
 cause those proofs have not come to you person- 
 ally, why not give credence to the testimony of 
 thousands of witnesses who live now who say 
 they know their departed ones still live, for they 
 see them with clairvoyant eye, and hear them with 
 clairaudient ear. There are hundreds of intelli- 
 gent, trustworthy people, many of them distin- 
 guished for learning, whose probity of character 
 none would question, who solemnly declare that 
 either through the powers of clairvoyance or clair- 
 audience, or after the most searching investiga- 
 tion of the powers of others, they know as certain- 
 ly as they can know anything, that the departed 
 still live and can, under proper conditions, com- 
 municate their thoughts to those still in this phy- 
 sical body. There are many hundreds of thou- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 65 
 
 sands of men and women, known as Spiritualists, 
 many of whom are truthful, reliable, upright peo- 
 ple, who steadfastly maintain that they are in pos- 
 session of this positive knowledge. Among the 
 believers in Spiritualism were Victor Hugo, Al- 
 fred R. Wallace, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Prof. 
 Elliott Coues, Camile Fiammarion, Elizabeth 
 Stuart Phelps, Frances P. Willard, Ella Wheeler 
 Wilcox, Benjamin F. Wade, Judge Edmonds, 
 Abraham Lincoln, Rev. Minot Savage, Prof. 
 Hyslop and scores of other distinguished persons. 
 There is scarcely a city, town or village in Eu- 
 rope or America, where one or more medium-, 
 may not be found who profess to be in possession 
 of proof positive that the so-called dead live and 
 do sometimes communicate with those on this side 
 of the grave. Committees of learned men have, 
 after the most patient and exhaustive investiga- 
 tion of Spiritualism, reported that much marvel- 
 ous phenomena occurs, and that they can account 
 for it on no known hypothesis other than that it is 
 caused by an unseen intelligence. Many dying 
 persons testify that their spiritual eyes are opened 
 and they behold their spirit friends. 
 
 "But, friend Batty, laying aside the proofs of 
 the Bible, and taking no account of Spiritualism, 
 can you not see that the universe would be a co- 
 lossal failure — a stupendous farce — if so-called 
 death ended man's existence? You are too in- 
 telligent to say that the billions of suns and plan- 
 ets rushing through space with the velocity of a 
 cannonball, separated by millions of miles, all 
 moving with precision and in perfect harmony 
 one with another, could have come by chance. 
 You will, I am sure, concede that there is over- 
 
66 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 whelming evidence above us, below us, around 
 us, and in us — aye, in every hair of our heads, in 
 every drop of our blood, in our eyes, and ears, 
 our internal organs, in our every part, that infinite 
 wisdom is at the helm of things. You must ad- 
 mit that our minds — our intelligence — is still 
 more wonderful than our physical bodies. We 
 think, we reason, we remember, we love ; we en- 
 joy the beautiful ; we are enraptured by music ; we 
 originate ; we plan ; we invent ; we have intuition, 
 likes and dislikes, and, unless warped or twisted 
 by theological dogmas, or are thrown off our bal- 
 ance by some false system of reasoning, we feel 
 that we — our real selves — are something more 
 than flesh and blood and bones, and that we shall 
 never be obliterated. Every tribe, kindred and 
 tongue that have lived in all the past have believed 
 that they would live after death, and that is an ar- 
 gument of great force that they shall do so, for 
 such a faith is implanted in our very being. Friend 
 Batty, this mortal existence is but the starting 
 place of conscious, intelligent beings ; this world 
 is the vestibule, the kindergarten, the bottom rung 
 of a ladder the highest rung of which is such an 
 inconceivable distance above that it is beyond — 
 perhaps infinitely beyond the last resting place of 
 our wildest fancy. We shall ascend that ladder, 
 step by step, rung by rung, as we fit ourselves to 
 ascend, and we shall have all eternity in which to 
 make the ascent. We can no more die than can 
 God, for we are a part of God. And now here I 
 anticipate your question, for you would ask if we 
 are to live forever, then have we not always ex- 
 isted ? My answer is that we have always existed 
 in some form, or in many forms, but never as a 
 
HENRY ASHTON 67 
 
 conscious personality till we came to conscious- 
 ness in a human body. As God is the sum total 
 of all things in the universe, visible and invisible, 
 the particles of matter that now compose our 
 bodies always existed but not in their present 
 form. They were a part of God for God is All. 
 The spark of spirit — of God — which has always 
 existed, that was at my conception lodged in a 
 physical body, had never before been incarnated 
 in human form, hence had no conscious personal- 
 existence before my birth on the earth plane. 
 Myriads of divine sparks have been incarnated in 
 material bodies and gained a conscious personal- 
 ity and will retain it forever. Other myriads are 
 awaiting to be incarnated. The supply can never 
 be exhausted for the unlimited — the infinite — 
 cannot be exhausted. There must be involution 
 before there is evolution. The very idea of evolu- 
 tion presupposes something already in existence. 
 Where did that something from which other 
 things evolved come from? I answer it came 
 from the infinite self-existent ocean of matter and 
 of mind. The substance composing everything in 
 the universe always existed. Not a particle was 
 ever created but the eternal energies inherent in 
 all things, are ceaselessly at work forming and re- 
 forming substance into infinitely diversified forms 
 and shapes. There could be no 'spontaneous gen- 
 eration' followed by evolution, for there would 
 have to be something before evolution could be- 
 gin to work. 
 
 "The hitherto unconscious human germ, pro- 
 ceeding in accordance with the perfect law of 
 nature, comes in contact with matter and the 
 work of evolution, of unfoldment begins, and a 
 
68 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 conscious soul is born, and the journey to incon- 
 ceivable joy and glory begins. At so-called death 
 the spirit, the life, the divine spark, casts off the 
 grosser shell, retaining a finer material but to us 
 an invisible body, and rises to a more refined ma- 
 terial plane, for matter exists in planes of varied 
 degrees of refinement. The highest spheres of 
 heaven are composed of a material substance, 
 though invisible to eye of mortal, for were it not 
 so there could be no heaven. Intelligent beings 
 could not exist in a heaven of nothingness. An 
 infinite ocean of ether infills the illimitable uni- 
 verse. It contains, and has from all eternity con- 
 tained, the germs of every human being ever 
 born of woman or who will ever be born, in the 
 ages to come. 
 
 "Look aloft, my friend ! Cast your pessimistic 
 thoughts to the winds. Open your eyes, throw 
 wide open the windows of your soul, and know 
 that you are a child of God — that you are a part 
 of God — that you are God. Learn that you are 
 deathless, and not only deathless but that you 
 have within you the potentialities and possibili- 
 ties which will unfold more, and still more, till 
 you have attained to that degree of power, and 
 wisdom, and harmony, and goodness, and joy 
 which is now beyond the power of mortal man 
 to conceive. Though in this kindergarten state 
 you toil, and suffer, and weep ; though disappoint- 
 ments, and sickness, and sorrows may surge all 
 about you and over you ; though crushed by pov- 
 erty, deserted by your kind, cast out and trampled 
 upon, and beaten, and bruised, and killed, you 
 shall some time, somewhere, clap your hands and 
 shout for joy that you were taken out of the in- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 69 
 
 finite ocean of impersonal spirit, incarnated in 
 matter, given a consciousness of an individual 
 existence, and was started on the glorious jour- 
 ney to ineffable glory. You shall yet step from 
 star to star, fly with the velocity of thought to the 
 blazing suns in the vast depths of infinite space, 
 and sit in counsel with the mighty intelligences 
 of the glorious courts of heaven." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ASHTON CONFESSES HIS LOVE FOR LILLIE HIGSBEE, 
 BUT DOES NOT KNOW IF SHE WERE RESCUED. 
 
 Frequent were the meetings between Ashton 
 and Batty and earnest were their deliberations as 
 to their future course. They were now nearing 
 the coast of China and soon the Roswell would 
 reach her destination. The all-absorbing thought 
 haunting the brain of Engineer Ashton was con- 
 cerning Lilly. Had her boat been picked up by 
 some passing ship, and is she safe and well, or, 
 oh, the horror of the thought, did she die from 
 exposure, or starvation or illness, or had she been 
 lost by the overturning of the little craft ? If she 
 were alive what steps should he take to find her? 
 All these questions daily, almost hourly, crowded 
 themselves upon the young man. Batty deeply 
 sympathized with his friend. The attachment 
 between the two men had grown stronger and 
 stronger, till now the perplexities and sorrows of 
 one became matters of the deepest concern to the 
 other. As witness to, and custodian of, the last 
 
70 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 will of Colonel Higsbee, Mr. Batty not only knew 
 of the engagement of his friend with Lilly Higs- 
 bee, but realized that it was his official duty to 
 search for the widow and child of the testator. 
 He also felt a profound interest in his friend, and 
 for his sake alone was more than willing to de- 
 vote his time and energies in instituting an ex- 
 haustive search for the two women. After many 
 meetings and discussions of the situation in all 
 its phases, the men decided that soon after the 
 landing of the Roswell in Hong Kong as might 
 be possible, both would take passage on the first 
 steamer for America, where they would begin a 
 search for Mrs. and Miss Higsbee, and continue 
 it unremittingly till the object of their search was 
 found or their fate ascertained. 
 
 In due time the steamer landed at her destina- 
 tion and the two men waiked down the gang- 
 plank and stood upon terra firma in a Chinese 
 city. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MISS HIGSBEE'S EXPERIENCE WITH THOMAS LAW- 
 SON, WHO PROPOSES MARRIAGE. 
 
 By this time the reader no doubt is anxious to 
 know something more about Mrs. Higsbee, her 
 daughter Lilly, and Thomas Lawson. It will be 
 remembered we left them on board of the Jose- 
 phine, bound for Portland, Oregon. Mrs. Higs- 
 bee had quite bravely endured the hardships 
 through which she had passed, but a reaction 
 
HENRY ASHTON 71 
 
 from a condition of a high nervous strain came 
 quickly after the rescue. Her fears for the safety 
 of her husband had almost overwhelmed her ; she 
 was inconsolable and ill. The anxiety of Lilly for 
 the welfare of her father and her lover was also 
 most intense, but she bore up heroically, and she 
 assumed a hopeful, cheerful manner and gave her 
 mother constant and loving attention. She reas- 
 sured herself and her mother that, as they had 
 been rescued, so might the other boats be. "It 
 was not," she said, "far distant from the shore 
 where the shipwreck occurred ; they were in the 
 track of many steamers passing to and from San 
 Francisco. Distant steamers had been seen. Sure- 
 ly some of them had picked up the other boats." 
 God is good, and she would trust Him and, 
 though great sorrow and fear took possession of 
 her at times, yet she would hope they might again 
 meet their loved ones. Added to her anxiety was 
 the enforced attention of Lawson. Every day, 
 and several times a day, he would call and inquire 
 as to her mother's condition, expressing as he did 
 so his sympathies for the elder lady and offering 
 his services. She treated him coolly, but her 
 mother was pleased at his apparent interest in her 
 welfare. On one occasion, when Mrs. Higsbee 
 was feeling better than usual, she called her 
 daughter to her bedside and said : 
 
 "My dear Lilly, I may not be with you long. 
 I feel that this great misfortune will so crush 
 me that I shall never recover. I fear, oh, how I 
 fear, that your dear father has gone from us for- 
 ever. He has been swallowed up by the sea," and 
 then sobs and a flood of tears for a time prevented 
 further utterance. Regaining partially her com- 
 
72 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 posure, she resumed : "If I should die, as I feel I 
 shall, you will be alone in the world. Poor child ! 
 Your parents gone, to whom will you go for ad- 
 vice and protection. Sorely will you stand in 
 need of an adviser and protector. Now, my dear, 
 I recognize in Mr. Lawson the cultured, honor- 
 able gentleman ; he loves you ; he has so declared 
 to me ; he is wealthy ; he has great ability and 
 comes from a most noble family. He informs me 
 ,you do not reciprocate his love — that you do not 
 care for him and I have myself observed an ex- 
 pression of indifference toward him on your part. 
 I deeply regret this. You have always been a 
 good, obedient and loving child. You have never 
 refused to grant my request. I know you will 
 not refuse now, when I ask you to treat him 
 with greater consideration, to encourage his at- 
 tentions, and if he proposes marriage, to accept 
 him." 
 
 After the utterance of her mother's first sen- 
 tence, Lilly had a presentment of what was com- 
 ing. She sat like a statue holding the invalid by 
 the hand. Her gaze was fixed at vacancy and was 
 averted from her mother's face, and her heart 
 throbbed violently. At the conclusion of her 
 mother's remarks, she bent over and tenderly 
 kissed her, then, dropping to her knees by the bed- 
 side, hid her face on her mother's bosom and 
 wept, but uttered not a word in reply. For sev- 
 eral minutes she continued in this attitude, and, 
 until a rap on the door of the stateroom aroused 
 her. She arose to her feet and answered the sum- 
 mons by opening the door and ushering in the 
 ship's physician, who had called professionally. 
 
 Contrary to her own predictions. Mrs. Higsbee 
 
HENRY ASHTON 73 
 
 steadily improved from day to day, and when the 
 Josephine reached Portland, though far from 
 being well, she had regained considerable of her 
 former physical strength, notwithstanding the 
 deep mental depression and gloom which still en- 
 shrouded her. 
 
 Five days after the rescue of Mrs. and Miss 
 Higsbee and Thomas Lawson by the Josephine, 
 they stepped upon the wharf of the principal city 
 of Oregon. 
 
 Though Colonel Higsbee had spared no ex- 
 pense in giving his daughter a thorough educa- 
 tion in one of the best institutions of learning in 
 Australia, and though she had read much and 
 traveled considerably, and possessed an intelli- 
 gent mind, yet she knew nothing whatever of the 
 city of Portland except in the most general way. 
 On all former journeys her father, who had al- 
 ways accompanied her on her travels, attended to 
 the purchase of tickets, looked after baggage, se- 
 lected hotels, etc., and had relieved his wife and 
 daughter of all responsibility and care about such 
 things. Now Lilly awakened to a realization of 
 the weighty responsibility that rested upon her 
 alone. All plans matured before leaving home 
 had been destroyed ; her father was gone ; her 
 mother was ill, and she had found herself in a 
 strange city and in a foreign land. This would 
 be enough to bring dismay to many ; but the great 
 responsibility thus thrust upon this young girl, 
 instead of crushing her, aroused her latent spirit 
 of independence and courage. Looking over a 
 list of the names of Portland hotels, she selected 
 one, and, with her mother, entered a hack and 
 gave orders to be driven to that hostelry. On ar- 
 
74 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 riving there, and after suitable quarters had been 
 assigned them, and she had made her mother as 
 comfortable as circumstances would permit, she 
 repaired to the office to ascertain if any passengers 
 from the wrecked Osceola had been rescued other 
 than those brought in by the Josephine. At her 
 request the hotel clerk secured a file of a city pa- 
 per for the past week, and handed them to her. 
 They contained but one account of the rescue of 
 passengers. This item stated, in effect, that an 
 eastern-bound steamer had picked up one boat- 
 load of passengers and crew from the ill-fated 
 Osceola, and the day before had landed them at 
 San Francisco. A full list of names of those 
 brought in was printed, but not one of them had 
 Miss Higsbee heard before. With a heavy heart 
 she rejoined her mother bearing the sad tidings 
 that nothing was yet known on land of the fate 
 of Colonel Higsbee, Henry Ashton, and their 
 companions. They mingled their tears together 
 and spent the remainder of the day in close seclu- 
 sion. Every morning for three weeks Miss Higs- 
 bee snatched the newspaper from the hands of the 
 delivery boy and eagerly scanned the news col- 
 umns, hoping, praying that they might contain 
 information of the rescue of her father and Hen- 
 ry Ashton, but every day she was compelled, with 
 tears in her eyes, to lay down the paper without 
 finding what she was so very anxious to see. Hope 
 with both mother and daughter began to give way 
 to despondency, and the two nearly heartbroken 
 women were settling down to the conviction that 
 their loved ones had indeed been separated from 
 them forever. 
 
 Before leaving the Josephine, Tom Lawson 
 
HENRY ASHTON 75 
 
 had made several attempts to engage Miss Higs- 
 bee in conversation, but had succeeded only in 
 extorting from her a few commonplace remarks 
 and she had for her mother's sake, treated him 
 with less coolness of manner than when they were 
 first taken into the small boat, yet by her digni- 
 fied and reserved manner she kept him at a proper 
 distance. For about three weeks after Miss 
 Higsbee and her mother had taken up their tem- 
 porary abode at the hotel, they saw nothing of 
 Lawson, and Lilly hoped that he had abandoned 
 all further attempts to win her favor. 
 
 Now let us follow Lawson and ascertain his 
 location and investigate his conduct since the 
 day he left the Josephine. This was not the first 
 time he had been in Portland. Two years before 
 he had left that city in the night time because he 
 was wanted by the police to answer to a complaint 
 of a miner who made the charge that he had 
 swindled him out of a considerable sum of money. 
 He now reasoned that he might be recognized ; 
 it would therefore be best, he thought, to keep 
 pretty well under cover. He accordingly sought 
 quarters in a section of the city where he would 
 be most likely to escape recognition. He secured 
 rooms in an obscure lodging house, and for a 
 time, remained closely in doors during the day- 
 time. In the evening, disguised, he cautiously 
 ventured to go on to the street and visit such 
 resorts to which his natural inclination drew him. 
 His funds were distressingly depleted on his ar- 
 rival in the city, but being an expert with cards 
 it was not long before he was pretty well sup- 
 plied with money. But his thoughts were cen- 
 tered on Lilly Higsbee and her fortune. For 
 
76 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 hours at a time he would sit quietly in his rooms 
 thinking what scheme he might concoct and carry 
 into execution, that would secure to him the girl 
 and her property. If he could marry her he 
 might easily obtain possession of her fortune, or 
 most of it. He would prefer the money without 
 the girl, but he would marry her if necessary 
 to secure the property. If he were certain that 
 Col. Higsbee would never again turn up, the 
 situation would be less complex. He hoped that 
 the Colonel and Ashton were both at the bot- 
 tom of the sea. In that case the solution of the 
 problem would be much easier. If he could 
 marry the girl and her father would later put 
 in an appearance, his ends would be accomplished 
 for he would so win the favor of his father-in-law 
 that he could soon be in control of most of his 
 earthly possessions. One day after a season of 
 earnest thinking over the situation, he suddenly 
 sprang to his feet and ejaculated: 
 
 "I have it! I have it! I will cause a report 
 to be printed to the effect that information has 
 been received that the boat in which Col. Higs- 
 bee and Henry Ashton made their escape from 
 the wreck of the Osceola, was capsized and was 
 discovered by a vessel, and that all who were 
 aboard of the little craft were lost. That I can 
 show to Mrs. Higsbee and Lilly and all their hope 
 of ever again seeing the Colonel and my rival, will 
 be crushed. The women are in a strange country 
 — are helpless and despondent. When they real- 
 ize that they are thousands of miles from home, 
 and have not a single acquaintance in America ex- 
 cept myself, they will gladly accept my friendly 
 overtures. I have already captured the elder 
 
HENRY ASHTON 77 
 
 lady, and the proud, haughty daughter will soon 
 surrender. Good enough, Tom Lavvson ! You 
 are a mighty clever fellow ; you deserve the hand 
 and fortune of Lilly Higsbee for inventing so 
 fine a scheme and both shall yet be yours." 
 
 Procuring pen and paper Lawson wrote the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 "Yesterday some fishermen off the coast of 
 Santa Cruz found a small boat floating in the 
 water bottom up. They towed it to shore when 
 upon closer examination, they found on the side 
 in painted letters, the words : Str. Osceola. The 
 fishermen, at first, supposed that it contained 
 nothing, but a little later a fragment of a smooth 
 board was noticed fastened to a crosspiece by a 
 string, which contained some pencil scratches, 
 which proved to be writing. After more study 
 the words were deciphered and read as follows : 
 
 " 'We are of the wrecked steamer, Osceola. 
 Seven in number. Col. James Higsbee, of Mel- 
 bourne, is one of us. We have little or no hope 
 of rescue. 
 
 '(Signed) HENRY ASHTON,' 
 
 "There," said Lawson to himself. "That is 
 superb. I will have that printed in a little slip at 
 some obscure printing office in type and on paper 
 similar to those used by newspapers. I will take 
 it to Mrs. and Miss Higsbee, show it to them, and 
 tell them I clipped it from a Santa Cruz paper. 
 That will do the business. Tom Lawson, old fel- 
 low, I congratulate you. Your battle for a for- 
 tune and a wife has been half won already !" 
 
 Lawson, without any unnecessary delay, pro- 
 ceeded to carry his scheme into execution, and 
 
78 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 forty-eight hours had not passed before he called 
 upon the Higsbees with the printed slip in his 
 pocket. 
 
 Mrs. Higsbee had grown calmer and was 
 slowly regaining physical strength. He found 
 her in the parlor and after greeting the elderly 
 lady, and offering congratulations on her im- 
 proved appearance, and vouchsafing apologies for 
 his failure for not calling before, he was informed 
 that Lilly had gone out for a short walk in the 
 fresh air and the invigorating sunshine. This 
 was a situation quite satisfactory to Lawson. 
 Mrs. Higsbee was already favorably impressed 
 with him and now he would have a good opportu- 
 nity to strengthen that impression, and, through 
 the mother, he hoped to influence the daughter. 
 She extended her hand to him and exclaimed : 
 
 "Oh, I am so glad to see you, Mr. Lawson! 
 Beside Lilly, you are the only friend I have in 
 America. Why have you remained away from 
 us so long? I have been so very anxious to see 
 and consult you. Have you gained any informa- 
 tion about my husband, favorable or otherwise? 
 Oh, do speak if you have heard any thing about 
 him. I feel that I cannot much longer endure this 
 awful suspense." 
 
 Assuming an honest expression of countenance, 
 and carefully controlling the intonations of his 
 voice, Lawson replied : "My dear Mrs. Higsbee, 
 I hope you will pardon me for my apparent neg- 
 lect. Circumstances were such that it was well 
 nigh impossible for me to see you sooner. I 
 thought of you and Lilly every hour since I last 
 saw you. I came to see you at the very first 
 moment possible. I have been pressed by busi- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 79 
 
 ness engagements. My time has been wholly oc- 
 cupied. My American agent, a few years ago, 
 invested quite large amounts of my money in 
 Oregon lands, also in bank, railroad, and other 
 stocks in this and neighboring cities, and I have 
 been examining the properties and adjusting sev- 
 eral important financial matters that required my 
 prompt attention. Again I beg you to forgive 
 my apparent neglect of you and your lovely 
 daughter. But you ask me as to the latest infor- 
 mation that may have been received regarding 
 your husband. It gives me pain, intense pain, 
 dear Mrs. Higsbee, to inform you that informa- 
 tion has been received and — and I hesitate to say, 
 it is not of a cheerful nature. Indeed it is oth- 
 erwise. It is well to be prepared for the worst. 
 This life is filled with disappointments and sor- 
 rows, and you, my dear friend, seem to be des- 
 tined to experience more than your just share of 
 them. I have important information for you ; I 
 came here to impart it to you but my courage 
 almost fails me. I fear that Col. Higsbee has 
 been lost. In truth it is almost a certainty that he 
 has been. To-day I clipped from a Santa Cruz, 
 California, newspaper, an item which seems to 
 almost settle the question. I have the item in 
 my hand ; here it is ? I solemnly assure you that 
 I feel the most intense sympathy for you and 
 Lilly. Summon all your courage and remember 
 that it was God's will and His ways are inscru- 
 table and past finding out." 
 
 Lawson handed her the printed slip. She hur- 
 riedly read it, gave a scream and dropped the 
 paper upon the floor. For several minutes she 
 was nearly overcome by grief. While she had, 
 
80 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 ever since the shipwreck been partially prepared 
 for such information, yet when it came and hope 
 of again meeting her husband was dashed from 
 her forever, the shock was too great, and she gave 
 her herself up to paroxysms of grief. Lawson 
 stepped to the door and summoned assistance and 
 the grief-stricken woman was removed to her 
 room. Leaving her in charge of attendants he 
 withdrew and soon disappeared. 
 
 When Lilly returned she found her mother in 
 deep sorrow but much more composed mentally, 
 than when Lawson left. In a few words, and be- 
 tween sobs, Mrs. Higsbee informed her daugh- 
 ter of Lawson's call, of what he had said about 
 finding the item in the newspaper and she then 
 handed the clipping to Lilly. Miss Higsbee was 
 less emotional than her mother, but when she 
 had finished perusing the printing upon the little 
 slip, she burst into a flood of tears, threw herself 
 upon her mother's neck and the two women gave 
 themselves up to unutterable grief. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MRS. HIGSBEE URGES LILLY TO BECOME THE WIFE 
 OF LAWSON. 
 
 A few days after the occurrence of the events 
 mentioned in the preceding chapter, Mrs. Higsbee 
 said : 
 
 "Come, my dear child, sit down beside me, and 
 let us have a talk as to our future. We must 
 
HENRY ASHTON 81 
 
 decide what we shall do. I have been thinking 
 the matter over. One of two plans I think we 
 should adopt : First, is to return to Melbourne 
 on the next steamer; or second, to proceed to 
 Omaha and adjust your father's business and 
 after that is attended to sail for home. Oh, what 
 an irretrievable loss we have suffered ! What 
 sorrow and misfortune has been inflicted upon 
 us ! We are now called upon to decide impor- 
 tant questions, to grapple with which I feel we are 
 both incompetent. I know nothing of business 
 methods, neither do you. I am totally ignorant 
 about courts and law, and so are you. Mr. Batty, 
 your father's attorney, to whose charge the man- 
 agement of this American business was intrusted, 
 has no doubt shared the same fate as your father. 
 He too is gone. The business at Omaha is im- 
 portant — so important that to attend to which 
 was the main purpose of your father's journey 
 to America. 
 
 "I feel that we are helpless. That business 
 must be unattended to unless we can secure the 
 services of some one in whom we can repose con- 
 fidence, to whom we can intrust it. I have 
 thought, dear daughter, of but one who might, at 
 our solicitation, act as our friend. That per- 
 son is Mr. Thomas Lawson. As he was ac- 
 quainted with your father, and because of his ar- 
 dent love for you, and his very high regard for 
 me, I feel that he would most cheerfully consent 
 to become our friend and adviser, although I 
 know that his time is fully occupied in looking 
 after his own large financial affairs. Yes, Lilly, 
 I have decided ; I shall express my desire to him 
 that he take charge of our affairs and yet, my 
 
82 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 dear, I could not ignore and override any serious 
 objection you might urge. What have you to 
 say as to my suggestion ? What do you think of 
 it. Again : When we left home it was our inten- 
 tion to remain abroad a year and your father 
 arranged affairs in Melbourne to that end, and 
 I now feel since our great bereavement that I 
 could the better endure our affliction in America 
 during that time than I could if I returned to 
 our desolated home. 
 
 "Dear mother," replied the girl, "Our situa- 
 tion is indeed a painful one. Our dilemma is as 
 you portray it. We are far from home and in a 
 strange land. Our loved ones are gone from us 
 forever. Were it not for you, dear mother, I 
 would welcome death myself. But I must live 
 for you. You are all I have, and for your sake, 
 your happiness, I will live and labor, and if nec- 
 essary suffer. Your wish shall be my law. I 
 do not share your belief that Mr. Lawson is the 
 noble, good man that you picture him. I can 
 never love him. My love was, and still is for an- 
 other and his body lies at the bottom of the sea, 
 or ere this, has become food for the fishes. For 
 your sake, dear mother, I shall treat Mr. Lawson 
 courteously — even kindly, and if it be your de- 
 sire, and I know it is, I will accept his proposal 
 of marriage, and will be to him a faithful and 
 dutiful wife, but I shall tell him as I now tell 
 you, that I have no love for him and never shall 
 have. If I consent to marry him that consent 
 must be given on one condition and that is that 
 the ceremony shall not take place for one year 
 from the date of engagement. This condition I 
 make that I may ascertain to a certainty whether 
 
HENRY ASHTON 83 
 
 Henry Ashton is among the living or the dead, 
 though this reason for the postponement of the 
 wedding I shall mention to none but you." 
 
 There was but little further conversation be- 
 tween mother and daughter on the subject. Mrs. 
 Higsbee made some effort to protract the dis- 
 cussion in which she again declared that she had 
 unwavering faith in the honor of Thomas Law- 
 son, and expressed the belief that Lilly would 
 find him to be such a devoted and loving hus- 
 band that she would soon learn to love him even 
 if she thought she could not now, but to all this 
 the girl made no reply, or if she did her answers 
 were short and evasive and at the close of the 
 conversation her mother believed that she had 
 made a decided impression on her daughter in 
 Lawson's favor. 
 
 On all occasions prior to this time when Law- 
 son met Mrs. Higsbee while she greeted him 
 with considerable cordiality there was yet a per- 
 ceptible restraint on her part which left him in 
 doubt whether her geniality was due to innate 
 politeness, or, was prompted by a genuine friend- 
 liness. That doubt was removed from his mind 
 when he called the day after the conversation 
 alluded to between Lilly and her mother. Now, 
 Mrs. Higsbee unreservedly uncovers all her plans, 
 seeks his advice, and in the most artless and con- 
 fiding spirit, talks to him as if he were a near 
 relative or a trusted life-long friend. She re- 
 hearsed to him much of the conversation that had 
 taken place the day before between Lilly and her- 
 self and frankly solicited him to become their 
 confidential counselor and protector, and, con- 
 tinued the confiding lady, "I am more than grat- 
 
84 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 ified to be able to assure you, Mr. Lawson, that 
 Lilly acquiesces in this proposition to you." 
 
 As Mrs. Higsbee closed these remarks Tom 
 Lawson's eyes glistened with delight and he in- 
 wardly chuckled with joy. This was a condition 
 of things to accomplish which he had been schem- 
 ing for several weeks. So far, his plans had 
 worked most admirably. Now he knew that the 
 elder lady was completely under his influence and 
 in his power ; but he was not yet sure of the 
 daughter. He remembered that she had not, by 
 word or sign, betrayed any evidence that she 
 was in accord with her mother in the proposition 
 made him by that lady. She might be in error 
 in supposing that Lilly was entirely favorable to 
 this arrangement ; however, he thought to him- 
 self, "I am making good progress and through 
 the mother I will yet capture the girl." Assum- 
 ing an air of honest frankness Lawson replied : 
 
 "My dear friends, this is a great surprise to 
 me, but I assure you, a most pleasant one. 
 Though I am a very busy man I shall deem it 
 a great pleasure and privilege to serve you in the 
 way you have suggested, or in any other way you 
 may desire. I have, from the beginning of our 
 acquaintance, entertained the profoundest regard 
 for Col. Higsbee as well as for yourself, Madam." 
 Turning to Lilly and making a bow, he said : 
 "Those words conveying sentiments of friend- 
 ship do not adequately express my feelings to- 
 wards you, Miss Higsbee. You cannot have been 
 unaware of the maddening love I have entertained 
 for you. I gladly accept the trust that has been 
 placed in my keeping and it shall be my highest 
 aim to faithfully serve you and demonstrate to 
 
HENRY ASHTON 85 
 
 you how constant, devoted, and undying my love 
 is for you." 
 
 As Lawson finished, Miss Higsbee calmly and 
 firmly said : 
 
 ''Mr. Lawson, circumstances of a very pain- 
 ful nature have conspired to place my mother 
 and myself under very unhappy conditions. We 
 are in a strange land, are discouraged, ill and 
 heart-broken from the terrible events of the past 
 few weeks which have enshrouded us both in in- 
 expressible sorrow. We stand in need of a coun- 
 selor and friend. Mother has selected you and 
 requested you to be such to us. I acquiesce; I 
 defer to her judgment. I shall interpose no ob- 
 jections to her choice of that friend. As to your 
 declaration of love for me, I prefer to say but 
 little now. At a later time I may talk to you 
 more freely. It is due, however, to myself and 
 to you that I frankly inform you that I have 
 loved, but the object of my affection is no more. 
 I cannot now give you an unqualified promise 
 that I shall ever love another and take upon my- 
 self the marriage vows. If I should at some 
 future time consent to marry, and my feelings 
 have undergone no change, I shall frankly say 
 to the man who would take me for his life com- 
 panion, that while I might entertain respect for 
 him, might honor him, might even admire him, 
 I could not love him. I cannot, if I would, con- 
 trol my own heart. It was given to another. 
 Even the knowledge that he has gone to the great 
 mysterious beyond makes no change in my affec- 
 tion for him. Love does not stop at the grave. 
 It leaps across the great chasm and follows its 
 
8G HENRY ASHTON 
 
 object to the most distant part of the infinite uni- 
 verse. Do not ask me to say more now." 
 
 At the conclusion of these words she arose 
 from her seat, bowed to Lawson, and left the 
 room. 
 
 After some further conversation with Mrs. 
 Higsbee in which the future movements of the 
 three were discussed, Lawson retired, promis- 
 ing to call again on the following morning. He 
 went directly to his rooms and spent the remain- 
 der of the day in maturing his plans. 
 
 "The first step to be taken," said that rogue to 
 himself, "will be to get written authority from 
 Mrs. Higsbee investing me with legal power to 
 transact her business in Omaha. With that I 
 can get possession of a large sum of money by 
 compromising the suit now pending in which 
 Col. James Higsbee is a litigant. But to suc- 
 cessfully work this scheme I must see to it that 
 neither the old lady nor the girl shall personally 
 visit Omaha, for if they do, they might in some 
 way become apprised of my methods. No ; I must 
 go alone. Let me see ! Yes, I will advise them 
 to either remain here, or if they wish to change 
 locations, to proceed to San Francisco, Los 
 Angeles or some other place ; but the first thing 
 to be done is to get the proper legal papers. 
 
HENRY ASHTON 87 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 LAWSON IS GIVEN LEGAL AUTHORITY TO SETTLE 
 COL. higsbee' s BUSINESS AFFAIRS. 
 
 After considerable deliberation, Lavvson pro- 
 cured writing materials and drew up the follow- 
 ing power of attorney : 
 
 "Know all men by these presents ; That we, the 
 undersigned, Mary Higsbee, widow, and Lilly 
 Higsbee, daughter, and only surviving heir of 
 James Higsbee, deceased, late of Melbourne, Aus- 
 tralia, do hereby, by these presents, appoint 
 Thomas Lawson our agent and attorney in fact, 
 and authorize and empower him to transact all 
 business in our name pertaining to a certain suit 
 in law now pending in the courts of Omaha, Ne- 
 braska, entitled, James Higsbee vs. The Burling- 
 ton & Missouri River R. R. Co., exercising all 
 the legal rights and powers including the right 
 to prosecute or compromise said suit, with which 
 we, or either of us, are invested by law, as the 
 only living representatives and beneficiaries of 
 the said James Higsbee, deceased." 
 
 "There," said Lawson to himself, "If I can 
 secure the signatures of the two women to that, 
 it will be worth $40,000 or $50,000 to me. On 
 the strength of that legal document I will com- 
 promise and settle the law suit and will realize 
 a good sum by reason of my cleverness. If I can, 
 later on, marry the girl, I will get a good deal 
 bigger rake-oif, but if anything happens to pre- 
 vent the wedding a cool $40,000 will help me to 
 endure my disappointment." 
 
88 . HENRY ASHTON 
 
 Early the next morning Lawson presented him- 
 self at the rooms of Mrs. Higsbee and found both 
 the ladies in. After the usual greetings were 
 over Lawson, assuming an attitude of dignity, 
 and speaking as one who had had great busi- 
 ness experience said : 
 
 "Ladies, I have a paper to present to you to 
 which I desire you to append your names. You 
 have done me the honor to designate me as your 
 adviser and agent. You have asked me to look 
 after your business affairs, and I have accepted 
 the trust and feel highly honored at this mani- 
 festation of your confidence in my ability and 
 integrity. You doubtless are aware of the fact 
 that in order to properly discharge my duties as 
 your representative, I must have the proper cre- 
 dentials in writing — in fact I must have in my 
 possession what in law is termed a power of 
 attorney. Here is the instrument which only 
 lacks your signatures to make it of force and 
 effect." He drew the paper from his pocket, 
 spread it on the table before Mrs. Higsbee and 
 stepped a short distance aside. 
 
 "Certainly," responded Mrs. Higsbee, "I can 
 readily see the necessity for such an instrument. 
 Adjusting her spectacles she perused the writing, 
 and picking up a pen, appended her name to the 
 paper, saying as she did so, "My dear Mr. Law- 
 son, I am so glad you have consented to take 
 the responsibility of acting as our agent and 
 adviser. I shall trust you and rely upon you most 
 implicitly. How shall we ever repay you for your 
 great kindness?" She handed the paper to her 
 daughter who wrote her name below that of her 
 mother and folding the paper, handed it back to 
 
HENRY ASHTON 89 
 
 Lawson, but she made no remarks. Lawson lost 
 no time in putting the paper safely in his pocket. 
 
 "From what I have learned," he said, "of the 
 status of your business in Omaha, my opinion is 
 that it requires immediate attention. Now, as 
 it is my purpose to start for Chicago to-morrow, 
 to attend to some important business in that city, 
 I think it would be advisable for me to stop off 
 in Nebraska and enquire into your affairs there. 
 I shall start to-morrow at 10 130 a. m. My advice 
 to you is that you remain in Portland until I 
 return, or, if you prefer a change, that you go to 
 San Francisco and there await my arrival from 
 the East." 
 
 "We shall do as you suggest, Mr. Lawson," 
 replied Mrs. Higsbee, and will proceed to San 
 Francisco within a week or two, as I think I 
 would prefer to make that city my temporary 
 home rather than Portland." 
 
 "You are quite right," said Lawson. "San 
 Francisco is a great metropolis and possesses 
 many more attractions to the visitor than this or 
 any other city on the Pacific coast ; and now, as 
 I will have some preparations to make before 
 starting on my contemplated journey, I will ask 
 you to excuse me; I will, if time permits, make 
 a short call on you in the morning, but if I do 
 not, I beg of you that you do not think that I 
 did not care to call, but account for such failure 
 on the grounds that I could not possibly spare 
 the time in which to drop in. I bid you both 
 good night, and may each succeeding day find 
 you feeling better and happier." 
 
 So saying, Lawson shook hands with the ladies, 
 bowed himself out, and disappeared. 
 
90 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 Mrs. Higsbee was pleased at the turn of events. 
 She felt that a great load of care and responsi- 
 bility had been lifted from her. She was a wo- 
 man of a confiding nature and her confidence in 
 Thomas Lawson was most implicit. True she 
 knew nothing about him, or his antecedents, and 
 had heard nothing except what Lawson himself 
 had told her, but she believed him and trusted 
 him. Her daughter was in many respects her 
 superior. She was more intellectual naturally 
 than her mother, and intuition was more largely 
 developed in her. Her first impressions of Law- 
 son were not favorable to him. She could not 
 say that she had observed any act on his part that 
 was unbecoming a gentleman and an honorable 
 man, except his conduct at the time of the wreck- 
 ing of the Osceola. His cowardice and selfish- 
 ness manifested at that time, had created a de- 
 cided aversion toward him. She had never ad- 
 mired him, but had treated him with courtesy 
 solely to please her mother, and she had con- 
 sented to his choice as adviser and friend and 
 had signed the power of attorney, not because 
 she had confidence in his integrity so much, as 
 she had a desire to please her mother, to whom 
 she was devotedly attached. 
 
 The following morning Mrs. Higsbee re- 
 membered that she had forgotten to hand to 
 Mr. Lawson some legal papers pertaining to the 
 suit pending in Omaha which had fortunately 
 been saved from the wreck, having been among 
 some of her personal belongings. She had ex- 
 pected him to call for a final good-bye as he 
 had said he might do, but as the morning wore 
 away and he did not make his appearance, she 
 
HENRY ASHTON 91 
 
 decided to walk to the depot, but a block distant, 
 and deliver the papers before his departure. 
 Upon declaring her intention, Lilly remarked that 
 she would accompany her mother and take a 
 little needed exercise in the morning air. 
 
 The train was scheduled to leave at 10:30 a. m. 
 Quite a number of passengers had already 
 arrived preparatory to the taking of the train. 
 As Lawson had not yet made his appearance 
 the two ladies took a seat in the waiting room 
 near an open window. A few moments later 
 Lawson alighted from a hack near them but did 
 not notice them. While giving orders as to the 
 checking of his baggage, a young man stepped 
 forward and addressed him, saying: 
 
 "Look here, Mr. Lawson, I see you are about 
 to leave the city, you have forgotten to pay me 
 that $1.50 for that little job of printing I did for 
 you." 
 
 "What printing?" said Lawson. "I did have 
 two or three little jobs done at your office, but I 
 paid you for them. I don't owe you anything." 
 
 "Yes you do," warmly responded the printer. 
 "You owe me for the last job, for printing that 
 little slip containing some reading matter about 
 an empty boat being found near Santa Cruz be- 
 longing to the wrecked Osceola." 
 
 "All right," said Lawson, lowering his voice, 
 "but I thought I had paid you. Here is your 
 money ; I quite forgot it. That's all right. Don't 
 forget though, that that was a private, confiden- 
 tial business transaction. No outside talk about 
 it, remember!" 
 
 "All right," said the printer, as he received 
 his dues, mounted his bicycle and rode away. 
 
92 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 Miss Higsbee, who was sitting nearest the 
 open window, heard the entire conversation, but 
 her mother, whose attention was directed else- 
 where, overheard nothing that transpired between 
 the men. Soon after this on going to the door she 
 saw that Lawson had arrived, when she delivered 
 the papers to him just as the conductor of the 
 train gave the signal to start. 
 
 As the two women returned to their hotel Mrs. 
 Higsbee seemed much more cheerful than at any 
 time since her great bereavement, but Lilly was 
 more reticent than usual. Her mother talked 
 of their intended trip to the southward, of certain 
 wearing apparel to be purchased, and wondered 
 if they would find San Francisco so congenial to 
 rhem that they would be contented to remain in 
 that city for several months. Lilly heard but 
 little of what her mother was saying. That con- 
 versation at the depot between Lawson and the 
 printer was still ringing in her ears. Almost 
 audibly she thought : What did that young man 
 mean when he said. "The bill is for printing 
 that slip about an empty boat being found be- 
 longing to the steamer Osceola." Can it be pos- 
 sible that no such account was ever printed in a 
 newspaper, that no such empty boat was found, 
 that what purported to be the writing of Henry 
 Ashton on a little bit of wood was a wicked for- 
 gery? Can it be that Thomas Lawson is a vil- 
 lian and that we are his victims? Oh, if that 
 was all a lie, then my beloved may not be dead ; 
 then my dear father may be alive, and if they 
 are, we may yet be reunited. But no, no, that 
 cannot be. They are not among the living for 
 if they are they would have sought and found 
 
HENRY ASHTON 93 
 
 us ere this. The article shown us by Lawson, 
 giving an account of the finding of the empty 
 boat, must have been true, and the bill for the 
 printing must have been for something else. It 
 may be that my ears deceived me. It may be 
 that the grief I have recently suffered has in 
 some measure disordered my mind, and yet I 
 thought I distinctly heard the printer say that 
 "the bill is for printing that slip containing read- 
 ing matter, something about an empty boat be- 
 ing found that belonged to the Osceola." 
 
 For many days Miss Higsbee pondered over 
 the matter. Sometimes she believed that Tom 
 Lawson was a villian and had concocted a cun- 
 ning lie about the finding of the boat, and that 
 her father and Ashton might still be alive, while 
 at other times she succumbed to despondent 
 thoughts and reasoned that she might have mis- 
 understood the meaning of the conversation be- 
 tween Lawson and the printer. In her calmer 
 moments when mentally more composed and har- 
 monious, she seemed to have an intuition or im- 
 pression that Lawson was not a man to be trusted. 
 
 During the next two weeks nothing of especial 
 interest transpired affecting Mrs. Higsbee and 
 daughter. They had made no acquaintances in 
 Portland. They left their rooms only as they 
 went out for a promenade and to secure the ben- 
 efit of the fresh air and sunlight and to change 
 the monotony of existence. The time appointed 
 for their departure for San Francisco drew nigh. 
 But little preparation was necessary for the jour- 
 ney, and on the fifteenth day after Lawson left 
 Portland, they were on their way to the great 
 metropolis of the Pacific coast. They arrived in 
 
94 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 the city in the morning, and spent several hours 
 in seeking a lodging place to their liking. This 
 they succeeded in doing with but little incon- 
 venience or trouble and in due time found them- 
 selves pleasantly located in a suite of rooms in 
 a quiet and well conducted hotel on Ellis street. 
 Though much of the time they were weighed 
 down by their deep sorrow, yet, they went out 
 nearly every day visiting the parks and other 
 places of interest with which the city is so gen- 
 erously supplied. • They took short and frequent 
 excursions across the bay to Alameda, located on 
 an island, and one of the most delightful cities 
 of North America, and to the various pleasure 
 resorts near by. This was their routine life for 
 several weeks with little to disturb its monotony. 
 Two or three letters had been received from 
 Thomas Lawson written at Omaha. In the first 
 one he stated that he had safely arrived and 
 would proceed without delay to attend to the 
 business entrusted to his care. Subsequent ones 
 were addressed to Mrs. Higsbee or to Lilly which 
 were, for the greater part, devoted to declarations 
 of love; undying love, for Miss Lilly and the 
 profoundest respect for her mother. 
 
HENRY ASHTON 95 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 LAWSON LOSES AT OMAHA A LARGE SUM OF MONEY 
 — VICTIMIZED BY GAMBLERS. 
 
 Let the reader now, for a time, take leave of 
 Mrs. Higsbee and her daughter, and go with the 
 writer to Omaha, and make note of the move- 
 ments of Lawson. We may be assured that that 
 accomplished rogue is not idle. On arriving in 
 that city and getting located, he began immedi- 
 ately to inform himself as to the status of the 
 law case of "James Higsbee vs. The Burlington 
 & Missouri River Railroad Company." He called 
 upon the chief attorney of that corporation and 
 exhibited to him the power of attorney by the 
 widow and daughter of the late Jas. Higsbee, 
 and during his interview with that official inad- 
 vertently remarked that he had come to the city 
 with instructions to push the case to trial immedi- 
 ately, and if necessary to carry it to the Supreme 
 Court of the State and of the United States, and 
 that he had been supplied with all the funds that 
 might be necessary to carry on the litigation to 
 the highest tribunal. ''This bold bluffing," he 
 reasoned to himself, "will frighten the railway 
 official and cause him to make some overtures 
 looking to a compromise. He calculated cor- 
 rectly, for after several interviews and the exer- 
 cise of no small amount of strategy on both sides, 
 the corporation proposed to pay the widow and 
 heirs of James Higsbee the sum of $38,500, if 
 Mr. Lawson, their legal representative, would 
 
96 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 withdraw the suit. Besides this sum they would 
 pay in full the accrued costs. For several days 
 Lawson insisted upon the payment of $50,000, 
 and costs, but finally accepted the company's 
 offer and settled the litigation. Within ten days 
 after his arrival in Omaha Lawson received a 
 check for $38,500, when he withdrew the suit 
 and made the proper entries showing full settle- 
 ment on the court docket. 
 
 Tom Lawson now had plenty of money and he 
 proposed to enjoy himself. Never before had 
 he got possession of so large a sum of money 
 with so little trouble, and by methods which could 
 not by any stretch of imagination get him into 
 any serious difficulty. Did he not have the 
 proper legal authority from Mrs. Higsbee and her 
 daughter, to adjust this business in any manner 
 that his judgment approved? Certainly. "I 
 have," said Lawson to himself, "heretofore com- 
 mitted forgeries and thus raised the cash, but 
 this time my authority was proper and legal. 
 My power of attorney was all right," and as he 
 said this, he approvingly and gleefully slapped 
 himself, and ejaculated : "By thunder, Tom 
 Lawson, that was smooth work; it took clever- 
 ness to hatch out that little scheme and to carry 
 it into execution, but you had the brains and the 
 courage to do it. There is nobody to make me 
 trouble about it except old Mrs. Higsbee, the 
 simple old goose, and Lilly, the pretty lassie that 
 she is, but I can manage them. Still, if the old 
 Colonel or that Lawyer Batty should turn up, 
 or Ashton, that hated rival of mine, they might 
 annoy me some, but it has now been several 
 weeks since the shipwreck, and they would have 
 
HENRY ASHTOX 97 
 
 put in an appearance before this time if they had 
 been picked up and are alive. No, no, they went 
 to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, that's pretty 
 certain. Poor, old, silly Mrs. Higsbee, and dear, 
 pretty, lovely Lilly, they have been sure of it 
 since that sleek work of mine in showing them 
 the printed slip which gave an account of the 
 finding of the empty boat." 
 
 As Thomas Lawson is a prominent character 
 in this history of the wrecking of the Osceola, 
 our readers doubtless have a curiosity to know 
 something of his early life and antecedents. But 
 little is known of him by the one who was en- 
 gaged to write this story, till after he had attained 
 to young manhood. This much was learned: 
 He was the son of a clergyman in an interior town 
 of New Jersey, and left home at an early age, 
 and soon after the death of his mother. From 
 a child it was said of him that he was unreliable 
 and tricky. Getting into some trouble in his 
 native State he went to England to escape arrest. 
 Several years later he turned up in Peru, South 
 America, where he married a young Spanish girl 
 whose father was wealthy. In about two years 
 he deserted his wife and child, and hastily left 
 the country taking with him about $20,000 in 
 money which he secured from a bank by forging 
 the signature of his father-in-law on a check. 
 His next escapade, so far as the author has been 
 able to ascertain, was in Montreal, Canada, where 
 he served a year's imprisonment for swindling. 
 Though his full name was Thomas Lawson Hart- 
 well, yet where it served his purpose better to 
 adopt an alias he adopted one. He had been in 
 Melbourne but a few months before the sailing 
 
98 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 of the Osceola from that port mentioned in a 
 previous chapter. 
 
 After Lawson had compromised the suit at 
 Omaha and had come into possession of $38,500, 
 he said to himself : 
 
 "Now I shall cast all worry to the winds and 
 have a rest and a good time for awhile. Tom, 
 you are a smart financier. You have had your 
 ups and downs, but just now you are up. You 
 are in luck old boy, and you deserve to be 
 treated to a good time and you shall be. Let me 
 see ! As your clothing is beginning to look a 
 little shabby you must have about the sleekest 
 suit of clothes that Omaha tailors can get up; 
 then you will be ready to take in the theaters, 
 to form the acquaintance of the sporting fratern- 
 ity of both sexes, and see what is going on in 
 this town in the way of gaming. You have not 
 always." he continued, "been lucky with cards, 
 but sometimes you have been, and as things seem 
 just now to be coming your way, perhaps you 
 can win back some of what you have lost hereto- 
 fore." 
 
 This programme he proceeded to carry into 
 execution, and in a few days he might have 
 been seen promenading the principal streets or at 
 places of popular resort, attired in a suit of the 
 latest style and of finest material. He occupied 
 the most expensive box-seats at the theaters, had 
 established his headquarters at the best hotel, 
 drove a spirited and handsome team of horses 
 and spent money lavishly at the fashionable 
 saloons. It was therefore but a short time be- 
 fore he had a score or more of admirers and 
 chums — men and women of the classes with 
 
HENRY ASHTON 99 
 
 whom he mingled. Among these were three pro- 
 fessional gamblers — Jerry Welch, Sam Osborn 
 and Bill Jordan. The quartette frequently met 
 and spent a part and sometimes nearly all the 
 hours of the night at cards, poker being their 
 favorite game. The stakes were not large at 
 first, but on two or three occasions the pot rep- 
 resented several hundred dollars. At these sit- 
 tings quite a quantity of the best brands of cham- 
 pagne were provided and toward the close of the 
 game the players were not only decidedly hila- 
 rious but often reckless. Lawson's three com- 
 panions were professionals with the cards, and 
 they were not long in discovering that he was 
 not a match for them but he had more money 
 than they, and each individually and all collec- 
 tively, were adroitly maneuvering to transfer as 
 many dollars as possible from his pocket to their 
 own. The gaming went on two and three nights 
 each week, Lawson sometimes winning but 
 oftener losing. Disinterested spectators who 
 had been observing how the playing was progres- 
 sing, knew that the three professionals had a 
 trap set for Lawson and would spring it at the 
 right time. The fateful night finally came. The 
 four met early and the trio had their plans care- 
 fully matured. Bill Jordan declared that as he 
 was not feeling very well it was his intention to 
 go home early — he didn't care to play late, if 
 at all, but felt like "irrigating a bit." 
 
 "Come on boys," he said, "and let's have some- 
 thing." All accepted the cordial invitation with 
 alacrity and ranged themselves in front of the 
 bar. After they had drank and chatted a mo- 
 ment, Sam Osborn said, "Have another with 
 
100 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 me," and they had it, and then it was Welch's 
 turn to order the fiery liquid followed by Lawson, 
 and later on by Jordan again. One thing escaped 
 the notice of Lawson on this convivial occasion, 
 and that was, that while he, each time, filled his 
 glass to the brim with whisky and drained it to 
 the last drop, his companions drank very little 
 though dexterously going through the motions 
 of swallowing as much liquor as he. When the 
 four took their seats at the table and the cards 
 were brought out, Lawson was not in a fit con- 
 dition to play an honest game, if there be any 
 honest games, much less was he prepared to 
 hold his own against three sharpers who had con- 
 spired together to fleece him and were them- 
 selves sober. It had been agreed between Os- 
 born, Welch and Jordan, that Lawson was to be 
 permitted to win most of the stakes till he became 
 emboldened and reckless, and then when enough 
 was at stake, the trap was to be sprung, and Jor- 
 dan was to win the pile which would afterwards 
 be divided among the three. This program was 
 carried out until after the midnight hour. 
 When the enthusiasm began to abate a round of 
 champagne was indulged in and the ball kept 
 rolling. Lawson won the first $100.00, then he 
 lost $50.00. Again he increased his wealth to 
 $250.00, again he suffered a small loss, and so 
 the game went on, Lawson becoming more and 
 still more excited, risking greater and still greater 
 amounts even on poor cards. The conspirators 
 were now ready to spring their trap. It was 
 Welch's turn to deal the cards. He was a most 
 skillful manipulator of the pasteboards. Before 
 the game began he had provided two packs of 
 
HENRY ASHTON 101 
 
 cards exactly alike. One pack he had in his 
 pocket. When it came his time to deal he 
 adroitly substituted the cards he had concealed 
 for the ones that had been in use. They had 
 been "fixed." He dealt Lawson four kings and 
 Jordan four aces. When Lawson looked at his 
 cards he became very much excited and blurted 
 out : "Fellers, I will bet you $10,000 on this 
 hand ; here is the money who dares to cover it ?" 
 
 "Now, see here, Tom Lawson," said Jordan, 
 "you have been bluffing all evening; you have 
 won several times by scaring us. I believe you 
 are bluffing now. I don't propose that you 
 frighten me any longer. I take that bet and go 
 you $10,000 more," as he laid down a pile of 
 what purported to be good money, but which in 
 facts were counterfeits. 
 
 "All right!" yelled Lawson, as he drew from 
 his pocket another roll of money, and counted 
 out $10,000 and laid it on the stack of bills in 
 the center of the table, and "now — hie — I bet 
 you $10,000 more," and rising to his feet, he 
 threw another $10,000 down, bringing his hand 
 down on the table with great force as he did 
 so and, "I dare you to cover that." 
 
 "I will do it, Mr. Lawson," said Jordan, as he 
 placed on top of the pile a number of counter- 
 feit bank notes, "and now I call you." 
 
 At this, Lawson with a triumphant air threw 
 down his four kings and reached for the stack 
 of money. 
 
 "Hold on there, Tom Lawson," said Jordan, 
 "Your four kings are not in it against my four 
 aces," and he threw down his cards, reached for 
 the bills and with a swift motion swept them 
 
102 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 into a sack he had taken from his pocket, and 
 sprang to his feet. As he did so his two fellow 
 conspirators quickly arose from their seats and 
 the three hurriedly left the room and the house. 
 Be-fuddled as Lawson's brain was, he knew 
 that according to the rules of the game that he 
 had lost, as two pairs of aces are higher than 
 two pairs of kings, but he was too much under 
 the influence of liquor to know whether he had 
 been beaten fairly or was the victim of a trick. 
 Neither did he then realize how much money he 
 had lost, but drunk as he was, he was conscious 
 of the fact that he had parted from a large 
 sum. He slowly arose from his seat, after his 
 late companions had disappeared, and, walking 
 to the other side of the room, sat down on a 
 chair, clapped his hands to his head and began 
 cursing his luck ; then for a time he walked to 
 and fro across the floor trying to think out how 
 he had lost. Finally, muttering to himself that 
 he "was a fool — that he was drunk" — he left the 
 place with a confused brain and unsteady steps 
 and made his way to his hotel and to his bed 
 where during the following ten hours or 
 more he slept off the effects of the drink. After 
 he had sobered up and gone all over in his mem- 
 ory the events of the night previous as near as he 
 could recall them, he *ook from an inside pocket a 
 purse and counted the money he had left. He 
 had got out of the Higsbee affair $38,500. He 
 had expended a large sum in extravagant living, 
 and the night before had parted with $30,000. 
 He found that but $964 remained. After going 
 over the money two or three times and sitting 
 for some time in a meditative mood he muttered : 
 
HENRY ASHTON 103 
 
 "Tom Lawson Hartwell, you are a fool — yes, an 
 infernal fool. You are worse than that, you are 
 a brainless idiot. Why didn't you have sense 
 enough to keep sober last night, or at least sober 
 enough to know what was going on. You have 
 been done up; you have been skinned and you 
 are yourself to be blamed for it. You was 
 cheated; you was victimized, but you was drunk 
 and you might have expected such treatment. 
 Well, it is mighty lucky for you that the game 
 ended where it did otherwise you would not have 
 a dollar left. I congratulate you that you are 
 not dead broke. You won't have to beg nor steal 
 for a little while anyway; $964 is not a large 
 amount, but it is enough to constitute a basis 
 for future operations, but you must leave Omaha 
 at once or you will be wanting to try to win some 
 of that money back. Poker is just a trifle too ex- 
 citing for you besides these Omaha sports are 
 too smooth for an amateur like you. Yes, I will 
 leave this town and leave soon." 
 
 Within twenty-four hours after Lawson de- 
 cided to quit Omaha, he was on his way to Den- 
 ver. He had no well matured plans as to what 
 he would do in that city but having a versatility 
 of talents for getting money easily, he decided 
 to stop there for a time and see what might turn 
 up. He thought of many schemes but none 
 seemed to promise great results. At the close 
 of one of his protracted and earnest meditations 
 he ejaculated : "Yes, I secured a snug sum from 
 that Higsbee business but there is a million or 
 two in that estate yet. I see no field for opera- 
 tions more inviting than that. How to get hold 
 of a lot of that money, that is the problem. If 
 
104 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 Lilly would marry me the solution would be 
 easy. I have already made good progress toward 
 the consummation of that plan. Her mother is 
 infatuated with me and is using all the influence 
 she can command with her daughter in my favor ; 
 moreover, Lilly herself has not positively refused 
 me. In fact she has made a conditional prom- 
 ise to become my wife. Her only demand was 
 that the marriage he postponed a year after which 
 she might consent to marry me. Now how can 
 I bring about that desirable event sooner. That's 
 the problem. Let me see? Her mother has 
 great influence with her and is exerting it favor- 
 ably for me ; that is one important point gained. 
 Now, if in some way I could make Lilly believe 
 that it was also the wish of her father that she 
 should accept my proposal I would consider the 
 riddle pretty nearly solved. But Col. Higsbee is 
 dead, or probably is. I might tell Lilly that her 
 father informed me that he very much desired 
 her to marry me but that would not have the 
 weight of the Colonel's own words. While he 
 did favor my suit for the hand of his daughter, 
 it would seem that he never told her that it was 
 his wish that she should marry me. If I had a 
 letter that he had written or a writing of some 
 sort to exhibit to her containing such a request, 
 that would greatly assist me in the scheme. Ah, 
 why not write such a letter myself, and tell her 
 I had found it among his papers, or, that he had 
 delievered it to me? But that would hardly do 
 for she would most likely inquire why I had not 
 so informed her before. She might be suspi- 
 cious of its genuineness. Now, how can I write 
 
HENRY ASHTON 105 
 
 such a letter and account for the manner of its 
 coming into my possession? 
 
 "I have it ! I have it ! I will put up a story 
 that, say two men who were in the boat that 
 took Col. Higsbee from the Osceola made their 
 escape and they had been entrusted by the Colonel 
 with a letter addressed to his wife and daugh- 
 ter, and that letter shall contain the dying request 
 of Col. Higsbee that Lilly shall become my wife. 
 Good ! Tom Lawson Hartwell, that is a capital 
 idea ! You may not be an expert at poker, espe- 
 cially when you are drunk, but you are decidedly 
 clever — you are a born diplomat. You ought to 
 have been a lawyer and gone to Congress. I can 
 easily bribe two fellows for a little gold and a 
 few drinks of gin, to play the part of rescued 
 sailors from the boat, who will swear to what I 
 want them to say. Yes, that is a clever scheme 
 and whether it wins or fails it is worth trying." 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A FORGED INSTRUMENT PURPORTING TO BE COL. 
 
 higsbee' s last will. 
 
 Putting into execution his idea of forgery 
 Lawson wrote out the following : 
 
 "I, James Higsbee, am a victim of the wrecked 
 steamer Osceola. Death seems certain. If this 
 writing is found I request the finder to send it to 
 my wife, Mary Higsbee, Melbourne, Australia, 
 or my daughter Lilly of the same place, in care 
 of the United States Consul of Australia. I 
 
106 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 give and bequeath all my property both real and 
 personal to them equally. If they are not living, 
 I bequeath the same to Thomas Lawson, whom I 
 recognize as the accepted lover and prospective 
 husband of my daughter Lilly. It is my dying 
 wish that my daughter Lilly, if living, becomes 
 the wife of Thomas Lawson in whom I repose the 
 fullest confidence. Adieu, 
 
 '•JAMES HIGSBEE." 
 
 "There," said Lawson, to himself, "that's a 
 clever scheme, and one that I will make win. 
 Now for the villains who will swear that Col. 
 Higsbee wrote that and gave it to them." 
 
 Very soon after the turning on of the gas 
 lights of the city, Lawson, well disguised, left his 
 hotel and made his way to one of the saloons 
 two or three blocks distant. After ordering a 
 drink he took a seat in the billiard rooms adjoin- 
 ing and ran his eye over the men engaged in 
 the play and scrutinized the countenances of the 
 loungers and lookers-on. Men were passing in 
 and out and none escaped his attention. For 
 nearly two hours he saw no man to whom he 
 thought he would like to submit his proposition. 
 Finally his eye rested on one fellow who occu- 
 pied a chair in the corner, smoking a cheap cigar. 
 His face looked familiar ; he thought to him- 
 self, "I have seen that man before but where?" 
 He walked over to the other side and came near 
 to him. Now he had a better opportunity to 
 scan his features. 
 
 "Yes," he said to himself, "I am not mistaken, 
 that is Dick Stanton, who served a three years' 
 term of imprisonment in the penitentiary in Mon- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 107 
 
 treal for burglary, and who was discharged from 
 prison on the same day I was let out. We sat 
 near each other at the convicts' table. He does 
 not recognize me, but will I think when I talk to 
 him." He walked up to the man's side, touched 
 him on the shoulder and in a low voice, said : 
 "Howdy do, Dick, where did you come from." 
 The man looked up quickly and with a nervous 
 start, and peered into his questioner's face. 
 "Don't you know me," asked Lawson. "Well, 
 hardly," answered the man. "Your face has a 
 familiar look but I cannot quite place you/' 
 
 "Come, let us have something," said Lawson, 
 "and I will help you to recall the time and place 
 where you knew me," and the two men drew 
 up to the bar. After Lawson had paid for the 
 drinks he said : 
 
 "Now, Dick, let us get away from the crowd 
 a bit and have a chat about old times at Mon- 
 treal." At this, Stanton's face brightened, and 
 slapping Lawson on the shoulder, said : "Ah, 
 now I remember you, Pard. You were Jack 
 White then, but may be that's not yer name now." 
 "No," said Lawson, "but don't speak too loud. 
 My name now is Thomas Lawson, Esq., and I 
 am a capitalist and in love. Come, let's sit down 
 and I will tell you about it." 
 
 They found a quiet corner and the conversa- 
 tion was continued for some time. Lawson in- 
 formed his friend that he had a little scheme 
 in contemplation. 
 
 "If it succeeds it will make me a million, and 
 if I get the money I will take good care of the 
 fellows who assist me in securing it, but it can- 
 not be a success unless I can get two men to make 
 
108 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 such statements under oath as I may dictate. 
 Then he drew from his pocket the writing pur- 
 porting to be that executed by James Higsbee and 
 explained that he wanted two men to swear that 
 Col. Higsbee had in person delivered that iden- 
 tical paper to them. "Dick," said Lawson, "I 
 will give you $5.00 to make an affidavit as I have 
 indicated and I will pay $5.00 to any one of your 
 friends for a like service. Will you do it, and 
 if so, can you find the other fellow ?" 
 
 "You bet your life," said Stanton. "I am 
 nearly dead broke now and am just looking for 
 something to turn up through which I can make 
 a raise. Write out what you want me to sign and 
 I will slap down my name for $5.00 so quick it 
 will make you dizzy, and I'll fetch you the other 
 feller in short meter who'll do the same for that 
 amount of collateral." 
 
 "All right," replied Lawson, "You bring your 
 friend and if you help me out in this I'll take 
 good care of you fellows." 
 
 It was arranged that the parties should meet at 
 the same place on the following evening at 10:00 
 p. m., when the business would be completed. 
 After another drink at the bar, the two men sep- 
 arated, and Lawson returned to his hotel to draw 
 up the writing to which he wished the men to 
 make oath. He spent the remainder of the even- 
 ing in preparing the following : 
 
 "To Whom it May Concern, Greeting : — We 
 the undersigned, being duly sworn, depose and 
 say, that on the third of March of the present year 
 we shipped as common seamen on the steamship 
 Osceola, at Melbourne, Australia, bound for San 
 Francisco, Cal. When about eighteen days out 
 
HENRY ASHTON 109 
 
 we encountered a severe storm ; our ship sprang 
 a leak and went down. Four small boats were 
 loaded by passengers and crew. Among others 
 who were in our small boat was an elderly gentle- 
 man whose name we learned was Col. James 
 Higsbee, of Melbourne, Australia, and a young 
 man, an engineer by occupation, whom the elder- 
 ly gentleman addressed as Henry Ashton. Our 
 boat was separated from the other three 
 boats. After contending with a very boisterous 
 sea for about twenty-four hours, most of our 
 companions were exhausted and ill. Col. Higs- 
 bee being well advanced in years, was very feeble 
 and despondent. We at one time overheard a 
 conversation between him and Ashton and the 
 elderly man seemed very much offended at the 
 young man. Later when there was somewhat of 
 a lull of the wind and waves, the elderly gentle- 
 man asked if any one in the boat had a scrap of 
 paper and pencil. One man had such articles 
 and gave them to Mr. Higsbee, who soon after 
 used them in writing. We, the affiants, being 
 experienced sailors knew that our boat was over- 
 loaded and was liable to be capsized in so rough 
 a sea. We being expert swimmers, and having 
 noticed what appeared to be several planks lashed 
 together a short distance from our boat, decided 
 to swim to the raft and try in that way to reach 
 the shore if we should not be discovered and 
 saved by some passing ship. We so announced 
 our intention to our companions. Just before we 
 made the plunge, Mr. Higsbee asked if one of 
 us would take a piece of writing which he had 
 put in a leather purse, and if we ever reached 
 shore to try and find his wife and daughter and 
 
110 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 deliver it to them. We freely gave our assent 
 and Richard Stanton, one of the affiants hereto, 
 procured a cord and suspended the sack to his 
 neck. We then sprang into the water and swam 
 to the raft which we found to be larger than 
 we had supposed, and we were pleased with our 
 changed condition. The sea was still very rough. 
 We had not been on the raft to exceed half an 
 hour and while we were still close to the small 
 boat, when a great wave dashed over us which 
 would have swept us into the ocean had we not 
 been experienced sailors. The same wave struck 
 the small boat, turned it bottom side up, and all 
 our late companions were drowned. We drifted 
 about for several hours, then were rescued by 
 a lumber vessel and some hours later were safely 
 landed in San Francisco. We made considera- 
 ble inquiry as to the wife and daughter of James 
 Higsbee, but could leam nothing of their where- 
 abouts, and came to the conclusion they too were 
 lost. We later, went to Denver, Colorado, seek- 
 ing employment, where we accidentally met Mr. 
 Thomas Lawson, who informed us that Mrs. 
 and Miss Higsbee had been rescued, that they 
 were then in San Francisco, and that he was about 
 to start to that city where he would call on them 
 soon after his arrival. As we repose the fullest 
 confidence in Air. Lawson, and knowing that he 
 is a trusted friend of the family, we have there- 
 fore delivered to him the writing that we re- 
 ceived from Col. James Higsbee." 
 
 "There," said Lawson, to himself, as he fin- 
 ished writing the above. "I think that is just 
 about the right thing. With that sworn to, I 
 will go to San Francisco, show it to the Higs- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 111 
 
 bees, and if I am not a bigger chump than I think 
 I am, it will bring matters to just about the proper 
 focus. This business is a trifle risky on my part 
 and might put me behind the bars for a term 
 of years if exposed, but I have taken great risks 
 before, and I can afford to take this one, for if 
 my scheme is successful, I will not only secure a 
 big fortune but win a handsome wife." 
 
 At the appointed time the following night Law- 
 son went to the place agreed upon for the meet- 
 ing with Dick Stanton, whom he found waiting 
 for him, and who was accompanied by a man 
 whose countenance and general manner indicated 
 that he would not scruple to sign the death war- 
 rant of his best friend for a $5.00 gold coin. The 
 three men withdrew from the crowd and retired 
 to an unfrequented corner of the room, and at 
 Lawson's suggestion sat down at a small table. 
 After a few minutes of conversation in a low 
 tone, Lawson, drew the writing from his pocket, 
 adjusted his fountain pen, and jingled two five 
 dollar gold pieces in his hand. 
 
 ''There, boys," he said, in a subdued voice, 
 "when you sign your names to that paper, here 
 is $5.00 each for you besides another good drink 
 of whisky. Do you want to read what I have 
 written before you sign?" Stanton took the 
 paper, rapidly ran his eyes over the contents, 
 reached for the pen and without speaking a word 
 appended his name to the writing and passed the 
 paper to his friend, remarking as he did so : "It's 
 all a damned lie, but it's all right. Here, Jack, 
 if you can write, whack your name right down 
 there under mine." Jack obeyed the instruction 
 
112 HENRY ASHTOX 
 
 when both men received their coin and Lawson 
 carefully put the paper in his pocket. 
 
 "Now, boys, let's irrigate, and remember, 
 'mum' is the word," said Lawson. The three men 
 arose from their seats and repaired to the bar 
 where Lawson paid for the drinks, shook hands 
 with the men, and left the place, going directly 
 to his room. An hour later, Lawson being alone, 
 looked over the affidavit, when he exclaimed : 
 
 "Why I forgot one thing. All affida- 
 vits should be executed in the presence 
 of an officer who should certify that the affiants 
 signed the same in his presence. Now, I 
 am not acquainted with a single officer in this 
 city and don't want to be. Even if I were it 
 would not have been a very discreet act on my 
 part to take those two jail birds before him. 
 Something might have been noticed by him to 
 excite his suspicion. Oh, well, I can fix a little 
 matter like that. I will just write a fictitious 
 certificate and officer's name myself." He there- 
 upon, in a disguised hand, wrote the words : 
 
 ''Subscribed and sworn to before me, the under- 
 signed, this 7th day of October, 1895. 
 
 ''CHRISTOPHER JONES. 
 
 "Justice of the Peace in and for the City of 
 Denver, Colorado." 
 
 After a somewhat protracted meditation over 
 the status of affairs as they now existed, Law- 
 son arose from his seat, and for several minutes 
 paced to and fro in his room. Stopping sud- 
 denly he said to himself : 
 
 "Well, Tom, there is nothing to keep you longer 
 in Denver. Your field for exploitation is now 
 
HENRY ASHTON 113 
 
 in San Francisco. You are now fully equipped 
 for your campaign. I cannot see but that you are 
 ready to proceed immediately to the Pacific coast 
 and open siege for a fortune and a wife." Hav- 
 ing arrived at this conclusion, twenty-four hours 
 had not elapsed before he was on his way to 
 the city of the Golden Gate. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 HENRY ASHTON'' S LONG SEARCH FOR MISS HIGSBEE. 
 
 The reader will remember that we left Henry 
 Ashton and George Batty in Hong Kong, China. 
 At the time of which we write steamers did not 
 pass to and fro between China and the ports of 
 the United States so frequently nor so direct as 
 now. Three weeks had passed before there came 
 an opportunity for our heroes to embark for 
 America. But at last the announcement was 
 made that the Santa Paula would leave the fol- 
 lowing Saturday. She would not, however, go 
 direct but via Manilla, and her destination was 
 Port Los Angeles, Cal. She was a small and a 
 slow boat, but new and staunch, and Ashton and 
 Batty were not long in deciding that they would 
 go with her in preference to waiting longer. They 
 therefore engaged passage and awaited impa- 
 tiently for the hour to come when they would 
 start. The appointed time for sailing, however, 
 came in due time, and there were no passengers 
 on that boat who were more rejoiced than they 
 that they had begun their journey across the Pa- 
 
114 HENRY ASHTOX 
 
 cific. The two men were almost constantly to- 
 gether, and, as might be expected, the theme dis- 
 cussed by them more than all others, was the 
 sailing of the Osceola, the storm, the shipwreck, 
 the leaving the ship, the separation of the small 
 boats, the narrow escape of Col. Higsbee from 
 drowning, his death, but more important than all, 
 the probable fate of Lilly Higsbee and her moth- 
 er. Every day, and almost every hour of the day, 
 they discoursed about that, discussing the matter 
 in all its bearings. Mr. Ashton in fact could not, 
 except at short intervals, talk about anything else. 
 At times he was hopeful that she was alive and 
 well, that he would see her again, and he pictured 
 the joyful reunion, and that he would lead her to 
 the altar and then their future lives would be su- 
 premely happy. As to her large wealth he said 
 nothing; he cared nothing on his own account, for 
 he declared he was young, and strong, and brave, 
 and industrious, without vices, without extrava- 
 gant habits or desires, and he had confidence in his 
 ability to become so efficient in his chosen calling 
 that he would deserve promotion and would at 
 the proper time be promoted. Mr. Batty deeply 
 sympathized with his friend, for whom he had 
 formed a very warm attachment, and whose ster- 
 ling integrity and nobleness of character he great- 
 ly admired, and while he had grave fears that 
 Ashton might never see his fiancee again, yet he 
 studiously refrained from so intimating, but on 
 the contrary made use of all the ability he could 
 command to sustain the thought that all of his 
 friend's hopes and expectations would be fully 
 realized. 
 
 There was one other subject that the two men 
 
HENRY ASHTON 115 
 
 would occasionally discuss, and that was Social- 
 ism. In the mind of Ashton this subject was next 
 in importance to that of the fate of his beloved. 
 Mr. Batty did not have any consuming desire to 
 debate economics and the industrial problems, al- 
 though his interest in these topics was growing, 
 but he observed that when his friend was deeply 
 dejected from long and earnest thinking over the 
 probable fate of Miss Higsbee, that he was some- 
 times able to divert his mind for a time, from his 
 sorrow and his painful anxiety, by requesting 
 Ashton to explain some Socialistic principle or 
 by advancing some argument against his com- 
 panion's economic theory. One beautiful after- 
 noon the two travelers were occupying comfort- 
 able seats upon deck. Mr. Batty had eloquently 
 spoken of the inspiring grandeur of the boundless 
 ocean, the beautiful blue sky, the blazing, glorious 
 sun, bringing life, and health, and joy to earth's 
 myriads of living creatures ; of the marvelous 
 achievements of man, who had built great ships 
 that could plow the trackless and mighty deep, 
 conveying men and women from continent to con- 
 tinent, but to all this and more of a similar im- 
 port, Ashton answered in monosyllables or vouch- 
 safed no reply at all. 
 
116 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 POLITICAL DEBATE BETWEEN LAWYER BATTY, RE- 
 PUBLICAN, AND HENRY ASHTON, SOCIALIST. 
 
 Mr. Batty knew the cause of his friend's sad- 
 ness, and, after a short silence, and with a humor- 
 ous twinkle in his eye, said : 
 
 "Friend Ashton, I have on former occasions lis- 
 tened with much interest to your talks on Social- 
 ism. At those times you made your arguments a 
 trifle lengthy but very interesting. There are a 
 few points that are not yet clear to me in your 
 theory. I should like to catechize you somewhat, 
 and have you, if you can, dissipate some of the 
 fogs that seem to me to enshroud Socialism in 
 spots. Will you answer a few questions ? These 
 interrogatories are such as many people are put- 
 ting to the Socialists." 
 
 "With the greatest pleasure, my dear Batty," 
 said Ashton, arousing from his train of melan- 
 choly thoughts. "Socialists invite discussion ; they 
 welcome the most searching and exhaustive inves- 
 tigation of the economic system they are advo- 
 cating." 
 
 "Well, then," replied Batty, "my first question 
 it, What do the Socialists wish to do — that is, 
 what changes would they make if they had full 
 control of the governmental machinery?" 
 
 "First," replied Ashton, "let me quote from 
 that inspired woman, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, before 
 I answer your question." 
 
HENRY ASHTON 117 
 
 "who are socialists? 
 
 "Who is a Socialist? It is the man 
 
 Who strives to formulate or aid a plan 
 
 To better earth's condition. It is he 
 
 Who, having ears to hear and eyes to see, 
 
 Is neither deaf nor blind when might rough shod 
 
 Treads down the privileges and rights which God 
 
 Means for all men: the privilege to toil, 
 
 To breathe pure air, to till the fertile soil ; 
 
 The right to live, to love, to woo, to wed, 
 
 And earn for hungry mouths their need of bread. 
 
 The Socialist is he who claims no more 
 
 Than his own share from generous nature's store, 
 
 But that he asks, too, that no other 
 
 Shall claim the share of any weaker brother 
 
 And brand him beggar in his own domain, 
 
 To glut a mad, inordinate lust for gain. 
 
 The Socialist is one who holds the best 
 
 Of all God's gifts to toil; the second, rest. 
 
 He asks that all men learn the sweets of labor, 
 
 And that no idler fatten on his neighbor, 
 
 That all men be allowed their share of leisure, 
 
 Nor thousands slave that one may seek his pleasure, 
 
 Who on the Golden Rule shall dare insist 
 
 Behold in him, the Socialist. 
 
 "If the Socialists were in power," said Ashton, 
 "they would gradually and as rapidly as could be 
 done without too great a shock to the public, 
 change the present competitive system of business 
 into the co-operative. Now the masses create all 
 the wealth and the few appropriate it to their own 
 benefit. Under Socialism every one would be re- 
 warded according to his deeds." 
 
 "I admit," said Batty, "that the Socialist theory 
 is very beautiful, but how can it be put into prac- 
 tice? What particular steps would you take to 
 
118 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 usher in your proposed Collective Common- 
 wealth? It seems to be a good and desirable 
 thing — the right thing — but is it practicable?" 
 
 "Yes," said Ashton, "it is practicable because 
 it is right. The right is always practicable, the 
 wrong always impracticable. If the Socialists 
 were in power they would first adopt Direct Leg- 
 islation, making the people the governing force 
 instead of having Kings, and Parliaments, and of- 
 ficers the masters, and the people the servants as 
 now. Next, we would Socialize the land, the 
 transportation lines, the telegraphs, water sup- 
 plies, gas, and electric light plants, coal, and 
 other mines, oil and all other utilities that have 
 become public necessities. By Socializing these 
 things, I mean that they should be owned by the 
 city, county, State or Nation, and the things which 
 they produce would be furnished to the people at 
 cost of production or operation. Next, perhaps, 
 we would repeal all laws by which lands are trans- 
 ferred by will or inheritance to heirs or others, 
 and, at the death of the present private owners, 
 provide that they should revert to the Common- 
 wealth. The State (the Collective Common- 
 wealth) should not sell those lands, but such prop- 
 erty should become the possessions of all collec- 
 tively, to be occupied and used, as the whole peo- 
 ple may, by laws enacted, decide. City, county 
 and State farms, and manufactories, repair shops, 
 canneries and other industrial concerns would be 
 provided where the unemployed might labor dur- 
 ing the transition from partial to full Socialism. 
 
 "Government pensions to all men and women 
 over sixty years of age, and national insurance of 
 working people against accidents, incapacity to 
 
HENRY ASHTON 119 
 
 work, and want in old age. Equal civil and politi- 
 cal rights to men and women alike. 
 
 "A system of compulsory education — the State 
 to not only provide free school houses and free 
 tuition, but free school books, and, when neces- 
 sary, free clothing, board and lodging, to children 
 of school age. Now hundreds of thousands of 
 children grow up without education because of 
 the inability of parents to provide them with 
 books, clothing and food. The present system, 
 which deprives vast numbers of children of proper 
 training, is a prolific cause of ignorance and crime. 
 
 "We would adopt the initiative and referendum 
 and the imperative mandate." 
 
 Here Mr. Batty interrupted by asking : "Will 
 you please to explain those words, Mr. Ashton ?" 
 
 "The initiative and referendum," said Ash- 
 ton, "is a method working most admirably in 
 Switzerland. When the people desire any cer- 
 tain law enacted, they circulate a petition to which 
 they secure the names of five per cent of the 
 voters, asking the Legislature to submit such pro- 
 posed law to the people, to be approved or re- 
 jected at an election. They thus make all the 
 laws or approve all the laws themselves by which 
 they are governed. The Legislature may also, 
 on its own motion, enact laws, but they too must 
 be submitted to the people for their decision at 
 the polls. This insures, in fact as well as in 
 theory, a government for the people, of the peo- 
 ple, and by the people. 
 
 "The Imperative Mandate is the exercise of the 
 legal authority to compel any officer to surrender 
 his office before his time expires, if he has proven 
 false to the trust committed to his care, and an- 
 
120 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 other public servant is sent to take his place. 
 When that law is in force in any country, the 
 members of the law making bodies, President, 
 Governors, Mayors, or any other public servant, 
 knowing that their term will last only so long as 
 they prove true to the people, will be very care- 
 ful how they discharge their official duties. 
 
 "Now, Air. Batty, I have stated about all the 
 first steps which Socialists propose to take when 
 they come into power." 
 
 "But," said Batty, "you surely have not stated 
 the full program of Socialism." 
 
 "No," replied the engineer, "but the adoption of 
 so much as I have outlined would bring untold 
 blessings to the people. After they had enjoyed 
 these great privileges for awhile, and had seen 
 the trusts and monopolies rendered not only 
 harmless but turned into great benefits to all the 
 people; after they had seen the tramp disappear 
 because he is employed in the government shops 
 or on the public farms ; after they had seen the 
 sweat shops abolished; after they had seen dis- 
 tressing poverty and evidence of despair remov- 
 ed ; after they had seen tender boys and girls 
 taken from the factories, and the mines, and the 
 slums, and put into the schools ; after they beheld 
 happy old men and women — happy because they 
 were insured against want in their last days — 
 then they would be prepared to take the remain- 
 ing steps to establish forever the co-operative 
 commonwealth in all its fullness." 
 
 "And what further steps would the Socialists 
 desire to take after they had given the world all 
 these good things you have enumerated," asked 
 Batty. 
 
HENRY ASHTON 121 
 
 "Socialism will be here in its fullness," said 
 Ashton, "when every man and woman will be 
 rewarded according to his deeds ; when every 
 worker with brain or hands receives the full pro- 
 duct of his toil ; when no man will pay his indi- 
 vidual fellowman interest, rental or profit; when 
 the wage-system by which one man owns the 
 time and labor of his fellowman will have been 
 abolished — when the competitive system of bus- 
 iness will be displaced by the co-operative. Un- 
 der Socialism labor will be performed because 
 all the good things of life are the result of labor, 
 but each worker with head or hands will labor 
 for the collective commonwealth, and the com- 
 monwealth will see to it that each industrious cit- 
 izen shall have the full benefit of what he earns. 
 Under the competitive system greed, cunning, 
 deception, chicanery, dishonesty, heartlessness, 
 lack of sympathy for others, exploitation of oth- 
 ers, are necessary to secure success to the few. 
 It is a system of chaos, in which the most crafty 
 and greedy have the largest success. Under the 
 co-operative system there will be order, method, 
 fair play, square dealing, honor, and justice to 
 all. All the virtues will be fostered; all incen- 
 tives to deceive, to despair, to tramp down our 
 fellowman, will be eliminated." 
 
 "Would not your proposed commonwealth be 
 Communistic?" asked Batty. 
 
 "No," replied Ashton, "under a Communistic 
 system every man would have an equal share of 
 the common property regardless of the wealth 
 that he created. Under Socialism every man 
 draws out of the common treasury according to 
 his deeds or service." 
 
122 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 "Then," said Batty, "would you not have an 
 inequality of wealth. Would not some possess 
 more property than others ?" 
 
 "Certainly," replied Ashton. "The Socialist 
 does not advocate a system of 'dividing up' prop- 
 erty under which the shiftless and indolent would 
 be possessed of as much as the sober and indus- 
 trious. The Socialists advocate, not equality of 
 wealth, but equality of opportunity to earn 
 wealth. They say, let private monopolies be 
 abolished, and all the means of production and 
 distribution be owned collectively, and the oppor- 
 tunity to earn be guaranteed equally to all. They 
 say, let us have no monopoly; no special privi- 
 lege of one person over another in life's strug- 
 gle; no hereditary monarch)' or monied arristoc- 
 racy ; no laws of wills or inheritance through 
 which productive property can be transmitted to 
 those who have not earned any part of it ; no 
 class laws ; no exclusive franchises granted to 
 private corporations ; no legal enactments through 
 which the crafty man may manipulate money 
 and compel his neighbor to borrow from him 
 that the lender may reap the benefit of the borrow- 
 er's toil; no monopolizing of machinery and the 
 power of steam and electricity by private par- 
 ties that the monopolist may extort from his fel- 
 lowman. No ; none of these ! 
 
 "The Socialist would change the present sys- 
 tem, and by just legislation and with a high re- 
 gard for the rights of men and women would 
 guarantee to every one who adds to the wealth 
 or knowledge or happiness of the world the full 
 benefit of his labor by the hands or the head. The 
 clergyman, the physician, the inventor, the mu- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 123 
 
 sician, the teacher, the artist, the author, the pub- 
 lic officer or superintendent of every department 
 of the Commonwealth — every person engaged in 
 a useful pursuit, to be considered a worker, as 
 well as he who toils with his hands, each receiv- 
 ing his just reward according to his service." 
 
 "But what would you do with the man or 
 woman who is indolent and who though able 
 bodied will contribute nothing to the collective 
 wealth even in the way of mental or manual 
 labor ?" asked Batty 
 
 "The able adult person who will do nothing 
 shall not eat what others earn," said Ashton. 
 "There may be a few such, but under Socialism 
 there will be legal penalties for them. Now there 
 exists a good excuse for the tramp. In the col- 
 lective commonwealth there will be no excuse, 
 for then the State will furnish every person an 
 opportunity to be employed." 
 
 "But," asked Batty, "if every man is to have 
 the full product of his labor will not the indus- 
 try and economy of some soon enable such to 
 secure much more wealth than the lazy and shift- 
 less, and will not the old conditions of great 
 wealth and abject poverty exist in a few years 
 as now ?" 
 
 "No," answered Ashton, "for now the great 
 fortunes are accumulated by men who could not 
 themselves have earned their millions in a thou- 
 sand years. They secured this vast wealth 
 through interest, rent or profit. One stockholder 
 in the great American oil company receives, it is 
 said, $20,000,000 a year. That is made up of 
 profits taken from millions of consumers of oil. 
 These great private fortunes can only be secured 
 
124 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 through stock-watering, inheritance laws, monop- 
 olistic practices, extortion and other legal but 
 robber methods. Abolish rent, interest and profit, 
 prevent capitalists from buying up all improved 
 machinery, prohibit trusts for private gain, repeal 
 all inheritance laws, destroy monopoly and reward 
 honest industry according to its merits, and you 
 will have a system of economy under which it will 
 be impossible for greedy, crafty men to build up 
 great private fortunes by despoiling their fellow- 
 men." 
 
 "Will there be no private property under Social- 
 ism?" asked Batty. 
 
 "Certainly," replied Ashton. "Socialism does 
 not propose to restrict the accumulation of non- 
 productive private property, but to enable the 
 masses to secure more than they can get under 
 the present system. Its proposition is that pro- 
 ductive property, such as land, machinery, water 
 power, steam power, electricity, gas, and those 
 things essential to the subsistence of the human 
 family on this planet, should not be monopolized 
 by a few for their selfish personal benefit, but the 
 whole people should own them collectively. That 
 sort of property not of a public utility, which can- 
 not be put to such public use that it will produce 
 other things, and which shows by its nature that 
 it is non-productive and of a private nature, will 
 under Socialism, be owned privately. Now the 
 machinery used in manufacturing clothing is of 
 a productive nature. The iron of which the ma- 
 chine is made, the coal used in making the ma- 
 chine and in manufacturing the steam that oper- 
 ates it, is of a productive nature. Each of these 
 are 'public utilities.' and should be owned col- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 125 
 
 lectively. But the finished product of the ma- 
 chine is non-productive and is property to be 
 owned privately. Brother Batty, the machine 
 that made the clothes you have on, would, un- 
 der Socialism, be owned collectively but you will 
 own the clothing privately. The industrious man 
 will, under Socialism, own more property than 
 the indolent, but it will be non-productive. He 
 will have a finer residence, a more extensive 
 library, a finer automobile, a more spirited team, 
 grander musical instruments, a larger collection 
 of paintings, will take longer journeys on the rail- 
 way and steamship lines, and live better than the 
 indolent man who though offered equal oppor- 
 tunities with his industrious neighbor prefers to 
 work less and have less. Remember, Batty, our 
 motto is : 'Every one shall be rewarded accord- 
 ing to his deeds.' Under Socialism the industri- 
 ous worker will own more private property than 
 now and the cunning, non-working idler will have 
 less." 
 
 "Will there be money under Socialism," asked 
 Batty." 
 
 "Yes," replied Ashton, "in some form, but our 
 present financial and monetary system will not fit 
 the new conditions and will give place to a bet- 
 ter system. The money of the Collective Common- 
 wealth will not contain an intrinsic or commod- 
 ity value, hence could not be 'cornered' for spec- 
 ulation by the gamblers of Wall street. It will 
 be in the nature of a Labor certificate or time 
 check. Each citizen who renders any useful ser- 
 vice to the Commonwealth will receive from the 
 superintendent of the department in which he 
 works, a check showing the credit he is entitled 
 
12G HENRY ASHTON 
 
 to for hourly, daily or weekly service performed. 
 With these certificates the holder can purchase 
 at the emporium or depository in his department, 
 any article he may desire." 
 
 ''When Socialism has been adopted in all its 
 fullness," asked Batty, "will not the incentive to 
 excel be destroyed in all the people?" 
 
 "I believe," answered Ashton, "I answered that 
 in a former conversation, but I may say that So- 
 cialism may curb the incentive in that brand of 
 men who want something for nothing — men who 
 have no higher incentive, in life, than to exploit 
 their fellows out of the fruits of their honest toil, 
 while they look, unmoved by pity, upon the vic- 
 tims of their greed suffering in poverty and 
 squalor ; but a nobler incentive than greed will 
 be stimulated. The incentive of the great and 
 good of all the past was not born from the desire 
 to accumulate riches. Jesus, Buddha, Galilleo, 
 Lafayette, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and 
 others whose names will be honored forever, were 
 prompted to great service for humanity by a 
 higher sentiment than that springing from greed. 
 Patriotism, love of approval for service rendered 
 or desire to excel in music or art or philosophy or 
 discovery are often more powerful incentives to 
 great achievements, than the sordid desire for 
 riches. Everything, friend Batty, in Socialism, 
 will conspire to make artists, and poets, and in- 
 ventors, and true statesmen, and philanthropists, 
 to broaden the mind, enrich the soul and to elim- 
 inate from society, greed, ignorance, poverty, and 
 crime." 
 
 "It is asserted by some," said Batty, "+hat So- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 127 
 
 cialism is irreligious. Is there any foundation 
 to that objection?" 
 
 "No," said Ashton, "while it interferes with no 
 one's religious faith and proposes to deal with 
 economics only, a careful examination of its prin- 
 ciples reveals the fact that they are in strict ac- 
 cord to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Social- 
 ism is but another name for co-operation. It 
 stands for justice. Its influence is against war. 
 One of its mottoes is, 'Peace on earth, good will 
 to men.' All round the world Socialists are cham- 
 pioning the cause of the poor and the 
 oppressed. In America, in England, in France, 
 and Germany, and Belgium, and Russia — in every 
 civilized nation on earth, the Socialists, in every 
 language spoken, are crying, 'justice, justice, 
 Justice' — an injury to one, though he be the 
 most degraded and despised, is the concern of all." 
 
 "Opposed to this system of co-operation, and 
 justice, and fair play to all, stands the cruel capi- 
 talistic, competitive system of the right of pri- 
 vate individuals to own public utilities and to so 
 manage them that a few who produce no wealth, 
 shall amass colossal fortunes by crafty methods, 
 while the working classes who produce all wealth, 
 are compelled to live on the very verge of star- 
 vation. The motto of this system is, 'Every one 
 for himself. Get what you can and keep what 
 you get' That system of economy upholds mon- 
 archy, bloody wars for conquest, and sneers at 
 the Golden Rule. It monopolizes land and 
 water, and electricity, and machinery, and inven- 
 tions, and transportation, and light, and fuel, and 
 bread stuffs, corners the markets of the world, 
 floods the country with watered and fraudulent 
 
12S HENRY ASHTON 
 
 stocks, mercilessly crushes out all rivals, manip- 
 ulates Congresses, and rulers, and courts, subsi- 
 dises the press, muzzles the pulpit, and riots in 
 luxury. It forces hundreds of thousands of ten- 
 der children to work in factories and mines who 
 ought to be in school, crowds down the wages 
 of working men, advances the price of food and 
 clothing of the poor, and shoots men down like 
 dogs who strike for shorter hours of toil or a 
 trifling advance in wages. It talks eloquently 
 about the sacredness of private property, and calls 
 out soldiers to protect it, but has little concern 
 for men, women and children, whom it enjoins 
 by its courts from exercising the right of free 
 speech or of walking on ground that God made 
 for all but which it claims to own. This system 
 has drenched the world with blood, crowded the 
 prisons, alms houses, and insane asylums with 
 its victims, forced thousands of despondent ones 
 to suicide, driven millions of girls into a life of 
 shame and degradation for bread, stunted and 
 murdered vast multitudes of children whom it 
 has forced into lives of toil, created in all great 
 cities slums that are festering with corruption, 
 ignorance and crime, and curses the race by its 
 selfishness, malevolence and greed. I leave it to 
 you to decide, Brother Batty, which of the two 
 systems is more in accord with the requirements 
 of true religion." 
 
 "My dear Ashton," said Batty, "your argu- 
 ments are reasonable; I cannot answer them; 
 I had given Socialism but little study. I had not 
 heretofore understood it. I had imbibed much 
 prejudice against the system from the misrep- 
 resentations of those whose interests it is to ere- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 129 
 
 ate a false impression regarding it. I now per- 
 ceive that Socialism is sound both economically 
 and religiously. It appeals to my sense of jus- 
 tice ; I can no longer oppose it. On the contrary 
 1 shall henceforth do what I can to spread a 
 knowledge of its grand principles among the 
 people. Here is my hand, Ashton, with my 
 pledge that in the future I shall be talking and 
 voting to bring about the Collective Common- 
 wealth." The two men shook hands most heart- 
 ily, and Ashton remarked : 
 
 "It gives me great pleasure, I assure you, to 
 know that you are now to be numbered with the 
 great multitude of clear-thinking, open-minded 
 people, in every civilized country on earth, who 
 are working for the triumph of Socialism. Every 
 good, well-meaning man and woman are Social- 
 ists to some extent at least, no matter whether 
 they call themselves Republicans, or Democrats, 
 or Populists, or Labor Unionists, or by any other 
 name. No one can be in favor of the common 
 schools, public libraries, asylums for the insane, 
 the deaf and dumb, orphans' homes, the postal 
 system, soldiers' home, or any other co-operative 
 institution, without being partially a Socialist, for 
 all these things are Socialistic. The more ad- 
 vanced Socialist says let us not stop with the 
 good Socialist institutions already mentioned, but 
 extend the public ownership idea far enough to 
 include the collective ownership of other utilities 
 which show by their nature that they should be 
 owned collectively instead of privately. Let us 
 advance. Evolution, progress is the law of na- 
 ture. 
 
130 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 LAWSON URGES SPEEDY MARRIAGE TO MISS HIGS- 
 
 BEE. SHE CONSENTS, SUPPOSING ASHTON 
 
 WAS DROWNED. 
 
 Let us now leave Ashton and Batty, who have 
 a long journey before them, and enquire regard- 
 ing the whereabouts of Tom Lawson, whom we 
 left in a former chapter en route to San Francisco. 
 He had from time to time written to Mrs. Higs- 
 bee and Lilly but carefully refrained from inform- 
 ing them of the compromise of the suit at Omaha 
 and of the loss by gambling of the greater part 
 of the money he had received through his per- 
 fidy. As he journeyed westward he considered 
 the merits of several falsehoods, one of which 
 he would tell as to the status of the suit. He final- 
 ly decided to represent that the case had been con- 
 tinued to a subsequent term of court, and that 
 he, himself, had by reason of his superior busi- 
 ness sagacity, effected the postponement, to the 
 great chagrin of the railway officials, who were 
 prepared to go to trial. His influence, he would 
 say, was so great with the judge, that he carried 
 his point and achieved a signal preliminary vic- 
 tory over an array of distinguished and brilliant 
 attorneys. He reached San Francisco on sched- 
 ule time, and, after selecting a hotel and care- 
 fully attending to every detail of dress and ap- 
 pearance, he prepared to call on Lilly and her 
 mother. This he did on the evening following 
 his arrival, finding the ladies both at home. 
 
 Mrs. Higsbee greeted him with decided cordi- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 131 
 
 ality, remarking that she was most delighted at 
 seeing him again. Lilly was less demonstrative ; 
 she was, in fact, dignified and reserved in man- 
 ner. She extended her hand to Lawson and 
 quietly asked : "When did you return, Mr. Law- 
 son?" Lawson affected much gladness at meet- 
 ing the ladies. He smiled and smiled again ; he 
 shook their hands most vigorously, explaining as 
 he did so : "I am most happy at seeing you once 
 more. How have you both been ? Do you know, 
 my dear Mrs. Higsbee, that I thought of you and 
 Lilly every day and every hour of the day since 
 I last saw you, notwithstanding my business was 
 so pressing that I rarely had time in which to 
 write you. Yet, I had you almost constantly in 
 mind. Often I felt impelled to drop everything 
 and fly to San Francisco. Until I was separated 
 from you, I did not fully realize how essential to 
 my happiness is my nearness to you. Oh, my 
 dear Lilly, I must, I must confess that I can never 
 be happy away from you. I shall never leave 
 you again unless I do so at your request. You 
 need an adviser, a friend, aye some one much 
 closer than a friend. Mrs. Higsbee, may I not be 
 to you a son? Miss Lilly, may I not be your 
 faithful, devoted, loving husband ? Say yes, and 
 I will be the happiest of men. My name, my for- 
 tune, my life — all shall be yours." 
 
 The young lady started as though moved by a 
 sudden shock ; her face grew pale ; her lips quiv- 
 ered, her eyes were turned to the floor and she 
 clutched almost convulsively the arms of the chair 
 in which she was sitting. Lawson stepped to her 
 side, raised her hand to his lips and imprinted a 
 kiss upon it. She did not resist but allowed her 
 
132 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 hand to rest in his, nor did she speak for several 
 seconds. At last, and apparently with consider- 
 able effort, with her eyes upon the floor, in 
 scarcely an audible voice, she said : 
 
 "Mr. Lawson, when you made your first pro- 
 posal I did not refuse you but frankly informed 
 you that I did not love you but that my love was 
 for another. I made a conditional promise to 
 marry you but asked for one year's time in which 
 to consider it and that if Henry Ashton had not 
 then appeared I would abandon all hope that he 
 is alive and I would then become your wife. I 
 most reluctantly admit that up to this time I have 
 received no evidence to prove that he still lives, 
 but I have no positive proof that he does not. 
 The year has not expired. It is still my wish that 
 our marriage be delayed until the end of a year 
 from the date of your first proposal, or until I 
 have proof positive that he is dead." 
 
 "My dear Lilly," answered Lawson, "I am 
 fully convinced that you loved Henry Ashton. 
 Were he alive I would not be your suitor. 
 Though I would be miserable all my life, be that 
 long or short, without you, yet if he were among 
 the living I would fly to the uttermost parts of the 
 earth and there, consumed by poignant grief and 
 unrequited love, await my summons to quit this 
 earth, which without you, my first and only love, 
 would be but a desert waste. But Henry Ash- 
 ton is no more ; he is gone forever. It is as you 
 have said, that you have no positive proof of this 
 fact. I have, and can furnish you that evidence 
 which, for your sake, I have hesitated to present 
 as I shrink from inflicting upon you the pain 
 that such proof will cause you. I assure you, 
 
HENRY ASHTON 133 
 
 dear Lilly, that Henry Ashton is dead, but I am 
 alive and here pleading to become your com- 
 forter, your protector, your devoted, faithful, lov- 
 ing husband — aye your very slave." 
 
 "But what proof have you, Mr. Lawson, more 
 than that furnished by the writing on the piece of 
 wood attached to the boat found near Santa 
 Cruz?" asked Lilly. 
 
 "I have the testimony under oath of two eye- 
 witnesses, Dick Stanton and Jack Welch," said 
 Lawson. "These two men left the boat occupied 
 by your revered father and Henry Ashton, and 
 took refuge on a raft and were thus enabled to 
 be rescued. They have given the details of the 
 terrible calamity that overtook your loved ones. 
 They also received a letter from your father which 
 they delivered to me for you. Here, Mrs. Higs- 
 bee, is the letter, which I did not entrust to the 
 uncertainty of the mails, but which I have 
 brought to you personally, and here is also the 
 statement made under oath of the two sailors. I 
 will now leave you for a time but will call again 
 soon. I feel that you will need sympathy and 
 advice. I shall deem it a great privilege and 
 pleasure to assist you in any way you may sug- 
 gest." So saying Lawson handed the letter to 
 Mrs. Higsbee and the affidavit to Lilly, and 
 quietly withdrew from their presence and soon af- 
 ter left the house. 
 
 The ladies eagerly and tearfully perused the 
 writings and although the information which they 
 conveyed did not come to them as a sudden shock 
 as they had for weeks been anticipating such sad 
 information, yet after reading them they again 
 mingled their tears and sobs together. At times 
 
134 HENRY ASHTON' 
 
 they had no other thought than that Col. Higsbee 
 and Henry Ashton were lost to them forever, 
 while at other times they clung to a faint hope 
 that they might have been rescued by some pass- 
 ing ship and that they would meet again. Now 
 all hope was gone ; the last shadow of doubt that 
 they were dead was removed and they for a time 
 gave themselves up to the deepest grief. 
 
 The next day was one of those delightful days 
 for which California is justly famous. The 
 sun shown brightly ; the air was pure and invig- 
 orating and was ladened with the sweet perfume 
 of flowers which grow so luxuriously on the 
 Pacific coast. Mrs. Higsbee had slept but little 
 during the preceding night. She was sad and 
 indisposed. After partaking of the morning 
 meal, Lilly suggested a visit to Golden Gate park. 
 
 "Mother," she said, "let us go out and try to 
 divert our thoughts from our great sorrow and 
 let us hope to regain some of our wonted physical 
 and mental strength." 
 
 Lilly's suggestion was seconded by her mother 
 and a few hours later the two might have been 
 seen strolling about the park, listening to the 
 music of the birds, admiring the flowers on all 
 sides of them, breathing in the fresh pure air 
 and wearing a more cheerful expression of coun- 
 tenance. 
 
 After they had become somewhat wearied by 
 walking and sight-seeing, and had seated them- 
 selves at the edge of one of the beautiful banks 
 of flowers and shrubbery, and neither had broken 
 the silence for several minutes, Mrs. Higsbee 
 said: 
 
 "My dear daugher, I have been waiting for 
 
HENRY ASHTON 135 
 
 you to allude to the proposal of Mr. Lawson. 
 Have you yet in your own mind fixed upon the 
 day on which the union shall take place ? I hope 
 it may be soon. I do not forget the request that 
 you made that the marriage should be deferred one 
 year from the date of Air. Lawson's first proposal 
 that you might be certain that Mr. Ashton is no 
 more of earth, but now that we have the proof 
 of his death, all reasons that might have existed 
 for delay no longer exist, and I hope that you 
 may see that it is for the best interests of all con- 
 cerned that the union is consummated in the near 
 future, and that is my desire. Mr. Lawson has 
 patiently awaited your decision. It was your 
 dear father's dying request that you become his 
 wife as it is also my most ardent wish. He im- 
 presses me most favorably. He has not only 
 declared his undying love for you, but has mani- 
 fested the very highest respect and esteem for 
 me. Not from direct words spoken but from 
 delicate intimations dropped by him I am sure he 
 hopes to lead you to the altar in the very near 
 future. Are you not prepared to fix the date of 
 the happy day?" 
 
 "Dear mother," answered the girl, "my last 
 hope of ever again meeting my beloved in this 
 life has been extinguished, but my love was given 
 to him and I have it not in my power to transfer 
 it to another. Both reason and intuition tell me 
 that no woman should marry the man she does 
 not love, no matter how noble, and manly, and 
 talented, or distinguished, or wealthy he may be. 
 Were I to consult my feelings alone and con- 
 sider not the wishes and happiness of others, I 
 should decline to become the wife of Thomas 
 
136 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 Lawson or any other man who might offer mar- 
 riage, but Henry Ashton, whom I had loved with 
 all the devotion that a true woman is capable of, 
 is gone from earth and as it was the dying request 
 of my revered father, and is the earnest wish of 
 my dear, good mother that I accept the proposal 
 of Air. Lawson, I have done so, not because I love 
 him but from a sense of duty, and I will become 
 his wife to-morrow, or next week, or next year, 
 or any day he may desire the ceremony to take 
 place, and I most humbly ask God to pardon me 
 for an act that my conscionce does not approve." 
 "My dear daughter," said Mrs. Higsbee, "I 
 am rejoiced at your decision. Though you do not 
 now entertain any tender affection for Mr. Law- 
 son, I am sure you will after you become his wife 
 and know him better. He will be so loving and 
 devoted to you that in time you will appreciate 
 his superior worth ; then you know my dear child 
 that he is of distinguished parentage, is refined 
 and accomplished and is wealthy. He can and 
 will provide you with a grand home and surround 
 you with every luxury. You will have diamonds 
 and elegant apparel, and servants and social dis- 
 tinction. You have a fortune of your own and 
 when that is united with the still greater wealth 
 of your husband, you will be equipped to associate 
 with queens and princesses. I shall make my 
 home with you and I already anticipate the social 
 triumphs in store for us both. As for your love 
 for Henry Ashton, that was only an infatuation 
 incident to first love. I might say the fondness 
 and romantic sentiment of the unsophisticated 
 school girl. I do not doubt that he was a clever 
 mechanic and a well meaning young man but he 
 
HENRY ASHTON 137 
 
 was poor and had to work and you know that 
 working men and trades people are stupid and 
 lack the refinement of the rich. Besides that, he 
 had imbibed those awful anarchistic heresies ad- 
 vocated by the Socialists who insist on dividing 
 up equally all the property of the country and 
 who have the impudence to contend that the vul- 
 gar mechanics and other working people are as 
 good as the wealthy classes. No, my dear Lilly, 
 Ashton was not your equal. I would have felt 
 that the Higsbee family would have been irre- 
 trievably disgraced had you ever become the wife 
 of Henry Ashton." 
 
 "Mother! Mother!" exclaimed Lilly, arising 
 from her seat, "please desist. I entreat you to 
 say no more. I can not listen to such talk about 
 Henry Ashton even from you. I do not agree 
 with you when you express the opinion you do 
 regarding him nor with your opinions regarding 
 Socialism. You do not appreciate the nobleness 
 of character possessed by Henry Ashton, nor do 
 you understand the views entertained by him on 
 economics. Often listening to his portrayal of 
 the ills which afflict the masses and to his pro- 
 posed cure for those ills I came to think as he did. 
 I cannot admit that industrious working people 
 are not just as worthy and just as intelligent as the 
 wealthy. Henry Ashton said that honesty, 
 sobriety, industry, courage to do the right — in 
 short, character is what constitutes the real lady 
 or gentleman rather than the possession of money 
 or property, and I am fully persuaded that he 
 was right. Though it is my desire, as it is my 
 duty, to listen most respectfully to what my 
 mother might say to me, I must ask you to re- 
 
13S HENRY ASHTON 
 
 frain in the future from expressing to me any 
 thing derogatory or disrespectful to the memory 
 of Henry Ashton. Let us now change the sub- 
 ject. I have consented to marry Mr. Lawson on 
 any day he may designate and it shall be my con- 
 stant purpose to be to him a true and dutiful 
 wife." So saying Lilly withdrew from her moth- 
 er's presence and slowly walking down the shaded 
 path gave vent to her emotion in a flood of tears. 
 Lawson now called every day on Lilly and her 
 mother. He left nothing undone that was in his 
 power to do to make a favorable impression on 
 Miss Higsbee, and to win her favor, for well he 
 knew that she had no tender feeling for him. He 
 was not quite sure that she did not even despise 
 him. Lilly occasionally went on short drives 
 with him and attended a few places of amuse- 
 ment, but this she consented to do only at rare 
 intervals and when she had no reason to assign 
 why she did not wish to go. Her manner at all 
 times toward him was one of dignified reserve bor- 
 dering almost on decided coolness. But while he 
 was fully conscious of the fact that she enter- 
 tained no love for him, this caused him but lit- 
 tle anxiety. She had promised to be his wife and 
 he could rely on Mrs. Higsbee on insisting that 
 Lilly should redeem her pledge. The date of the 
 wedding was fixed for the near future, and noth- 
 ing appeared above the horizon that portended 
 any miscarriage of his plans that would secure to 
 him a fortune and a wife. He cared nothing for 
 her love, but his desire for her riches was un- 
 quenchable. With the property securely in his 
 possession or under his control, she might go to 
 the ends of the earth or to the bottom of the sea, 
 
HENRY ASHTON 139 
 
 and he would pass no sleepless nights nor wear 
 any mourning on that account. But he was anx- 
 ious to have the ceremony performed at the very 
 earliest date possible. There were several good 
 reasons for this. One was that Henry Ashton 
 or Col. Higsbee might turn up, and if they did, 
 his adroitly concocted plans would be defeated. 
 Another reason was that he had from two or three 
 sources learned that a brother of his wife from 
 South America was in the United States and 
 had for several months been searching for him. 
 Just what his brother-in-law wanted to find him 
 for, he was not certain, but he well knew that he 
 had several good reasons for wishing to see him, 
 and he had a lively suspicion that if Don Cas- 
 tano and he had a meeting, there would be, either 
 a tragedy, or he would be invited to return to the 
 scene of his exploits in Peru, and the invitation 
 to go would be backed up by a warrant for his 
 arrest and a requisition by the legal authorities. 
 He therefore wished the marriage to take place 
 as soon as possible that he might leave for Aus- 
 tralia and elude his pursuers. To this sugges- 
 tion Mrs. Higsbee eagerly assented while Lilly 
 interposed no objections so it was settled that the 
 marriage ceremony should take place in three 
 weeks from that date. 
 
140 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ASHTON AND BATTY ARRIVE AT LOS ANGELES FROM 
 CHINA. THEY CONTINUE THEIR SEARCH 
 FOR MISS HIGSBEE AND MEET DON 
 CASTANO, OF SOUTH AMERICA, 
 WHO RENDERS THEM VAL- 
 UABLE ASSISTANCE. 
 
 In a former chapter we left Henry Ashton and 
 George Batty on board the Santa Paula enroute 
 to Los Angeles, California. They had an une- 
 ventful voyage. The ship was small and slow, 
 and on account of adverse winds and long stops 
 at Manilla and Honolulu, the voyage was 
 prolonged several weeks beyond the time adver- 
 tised for their arrival at the American port. Dur- 
 ing the long and monotonous trip Ashton and 
 Batty talked daily of the wrecking of the Osceola, 
 the probable fate of Mrs. Higsbee and Lilly, and 
 of the plans they might adopt for instituting the 
 search for them. They finally settled it in their 
 minds that on landing they would make it their 
 first business to ascertain if they had been res- 
 cued from the small boat. 
 
 "That is the most important thing of all," said 
 Ashton, "for if they were saved from a watery 
 grave then the probability is that they are some- 
 where alive, and well, and we may soon ascertain 
 their whereabouts." 
 
 "America is a large country," said Batty, "and 
 it may not be so easy as you anticipate to find two 
 women among eighty millions of people ; then 
 
HENRY ASHTON 141 
 
 there is a possibility that they may have returned 
 to Australia or gone to Europe." 
 
 "Yes," said Ashton, "that may all be true, but 
 I shall never, never cease searching for them un- 
 til I find them. I shall ransack the earth for 
 them. All the remaining years of my life shall, 
 if necessary, be spent in the search." 
 
 "And I will be your companion and helper in 
 that search," replied Batty. "Aside from all con- 
 sideration of friendship for you, it is my profes- 
 sional duty to put forth every possible effort to 
 find them for I am not only Col. Higsbee's at- 
 torney for adjusting his unsettled business in the 
 United States, but I am the custodian of his last 
 will and testament, and I am under legal obliga- 
 tions to deliver that instrument to his widow and 
 daughter if they are living." 
 
 One bright morning several weeks after the 
 Santa Paula steamed out of the bay from Hong 
 Kong, and after a monotonous journey, it was 
 announced that the California coast was in sight. 
 This announcement was received with delight by 
 every passenger on board, but none heard it with 
 greater joy than Ashton and Batty. A few hours 
 later the steamer was alongside of the wharf at 
 Port Los Angeles and discharging her passengers 
 and freight. 
 
 Our heroes were among the very first to walk 
 down the gang plank and to enter the cars that, 
 thirty minutes later, landed them in the "City of 
 the Angels," and at the Hollenbeck hotel which 
 they selected as their temporary stopping place. 
 
 Notwithstanding they had every day during 
 the voyage discussed in all its phases, the sub- 
 ject that was of supremest interest to both, yet 
 
142 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 they had matured no plans in detail as to their 
 movements in the immediate future. It was 
 agreed that they would, for the present make their 
 home in Los Angeles. 
 
 "Here from our temporary headquarters," said 
 Ashton, "we might send out letters of enquiry 
 to the steamship companies, the mayors of coast 
 cities and others ; we might also consult news- 
 paper files for information about the wrecking of 
 the Osceola and the rescue of passengers from 
 the ill-fated ship. What do you think as to the 
 wisdom of my suggestion?" 
 
 "It meets with my unreserved approval," re- 
 plied Batty, "I can think of no better plan." 
 
 On the second day after their arrival while 
 Ashton was in his room writing to the officials 
 of the coast towns soliciting the information so 
 much desired, Mr. Batty called at the office of 
 the Los Angeles Times with the copy of an ad- 
 vertisement he wished inserted and which was 
 an enquiry for information of the names and ad- 
 dresses of any survivors of the wrecked Osceola. 
 After contracting for the printing he asked per- 
 mission to examine the files of San Francisco and 
 Portland newspapers. He was politely informed 
 that correct files of two of the San Francisco 
 daily papers were kept in that office which 
 he was at liberty to consult, but that copies of 
 Portland publications were not preserved, but 
 might be found in the public reading room at the 
 city hall building. 
 
 A careful examination of the columns of the 
 San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle resulted in 
 failure to discover any account of the picking up 
 of the small boats of the Osceola. This was most 
 
HENRY ASHTON 143 
 
 discouraging as the steamer was wrecked about 
 one hundred miles southwesterly from San Fran- 
 cisco, and, thought Batty, if any of the passen- 
 gers were rescued they would in all probability 
 have been discovered nearer to that city than 
 any other place, and their rescue would undoubt- 
 edly have been noted in the daily papers. Still 
 the absence from the papers of any such informa- 
 tion does not prove that they were not saved. 
 Our boat was discovered and we were saved as 
 well as the boat Col. Higsbee and Ashton were 
 in by Western bound ships. It may have been 
 that the two other small boats were rescued by 
 out-going steamers, and the objects of our search 
 may now be alive and well somewhere on the 
 other side of the Pacific ocean. Well, we are 
 here now, and no effort must be spared to ascer- 
 tain their fate. Now the storm that destroyed 
 the Osceola came from a southerly direction. 
 The wind would and did drive the small boats to 
 the northward and past the Golden Gate. The 
 objects of our search may have been discovered 
 and rescued by some vessel bound for Portland, 
 Seattle, or some port to the northward. "Yes, I 
 will go to the public reading rooms and carefully 
 examine the newspapers published in those cities." 
 In answer to his request for copies of Portland 
 papers the polite young lady attendant handed 
 Batty files of the Portland Oregonian. He took 
 his seat at the table, opened the newspapers of 
 the latest dates, and going back over the files, 
 rapidly but very carefully scanned the columns. 
 For two or more hours he patiently devoted him- 
 self to the search, and was almost ready to aban- 
 
144 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 don it when his eyes ran on to the following par- 
 agraph : 
 
 ''Arrived — At this port, this morning the 
 French steamer, Josephine, Capt. Reguet com- 
 manding, with a cargo of merchandise and 39 
 passengers. Among the latter were Mrs. Col. 
 Higsbee and daughter, of Melbourne, Australia, 
 who, with five or six others, had been picked up 
 from a small boat belonging to the wrecked 
 steamer Osceola, about seventy-five miles off the 
 California cost northwest of San Francisco." 
 
 As though impelled by some sudden and mighty 
 impulse or shocked by some impending danger, 
 Mr. Batty sprang to his feet with an ejaculation 
 that startled those near him, and several min- 
 utes elapsed before he was calm enough to copy 
 the item on a slip of paper. This, however, he 
 soon did, and still manifesting a high degree of 
 excitement, he hurriedly left the room and pro- 
 ceeded to the hotel as quickly as rapid walking 
 would take him there. Entering the office he 
 was about to step into the elevator when he met 
 Mr. Ashton, who was preparing to go out. Rush- 
 ing up to him, his face all illuminated with ani- 
 mation, he grasped the engineer by the arm and 
 almost dragged him to a seat, meanwhile exclaim- 
 ing: 
 
 "They were saved ! They were saved, Ashton ! 
 Thank God, they were saved ! Look at this, I 
 copied it from the Portland Oregonian!" 
 
 He thrust the paper into the hands of his 
 friend and fairly danced for joy. Ashton grew 
 ashen pale and his hands trembled violently as he 
 grasped the slip of paper and rapidly ran his 
 eyes over the writing. Finishing it he arose 
 
HENRY ASHTON 145 
 
 from his seat, grasped the hand of the lawyer 
 and put his arm about him and said : "Yes, thank 
 God, Batty, they were saved and we will find 
 them. This is one of the happiest moments of 
 my life. Here let us sit down ; we are excited 
 now and are in no proper mood to lay deliberate 
 plans for the discovery of our loved ones. That 
 we will do when we are calmer. Just now we 
 will rejoice over the glorious information we have 
 received." 
 
 The two men read and re-read the newspaper 
 item. After a time Ashton remarked : "Tom 
 Lawson was in the boat with Lilly and her mother 
 when it shoved off from the Osceola, and was of 
 course among the saved. I am glad of that, and 
 yet there is something about that man that does 
 not impress me favorably. I am somewhat prej- 
 udiced against him, but my aversion is not caused 
 by jealousy notwithstanding the fact that he 
 sought the favor of Miss Higsbee and was fav- 
 orably looked upon by Colonel and Mrs. Higsbee. 
 How long had you been acquainted with Law- 
 son before you introduced him to me?" 
 
 "Only a few months," said Batty. "I know 
 nothing of his antecedents or life before meeting 
 him in Melbourne." 
 
 As the two men sat in the hotel office thus con- 
 versing they had not noticed a gentleman occu- 
 pying a chair very near to them who overhead 
 all that passed between them. He was a man 
 about twenty-five years of age, powerfully built, 
 of dark complexion, with an intelligent and reso- 
 lute face, and was evidently of Spanish descent. 
 He had paid but little attention to the conversa- 
 tion between Batty and Ashton until the name, 
 
146 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 Tom Lawson, was spoken, then he manifested a 
 Keen but in no sense an obtrusive interest in 
 what was passing between the two men After a 
 little further conversation in which Mr. Batty ex- 
 pressed the suspicion that Lawson was not the 
 man he pretended to be, Ashton said : 
 
 "Come, let us go to our room and decide on 
 our future movements." 
 
 They were about to step into the elevator when 
 the stranger approached them and with a smile 
 and a polite bow, said : 
 
 "Gentlemen, pardon what may seem to you to 
 be an unwarranted act of impropriety and even 
 audacity on my part, for thus addressing total 
 strangers, but I could not help hearing a portion 
 of the conversation that has just taken place 
 between you. I heard mentioned the name of 
 Tom Lawson. Now I am acquainted with a 
 man whose full name is Thomas Lawson Hart- 
 well, but who for reasons best known to himself 
 sometimes calls himself Thomas Lawson and at 
 other times assumes other aliases. I am seeking 
 that man and have been for several months. My 
 name in Don Castano and my residence is Lima, 
 South America. Here is my card, gentlemen, 
 and if you will do me the very great kindness to 
 grant me an interview, I will impart to you some 
 information about the man who calls himself 
 Thomas Lawson that may interest you. Besides, 
 gentlemen, I infer from what I overheard of the 
 conversation between you, that your acquaintance 
 with the man is of recent date. If so, then you 
 may be able to render me valuable service — a ser- 
 vice which will be greatly appreciated if you can 
 inform me as to his whereabouts." 
 
HENRY ASHTON 147 
 
 "I am glad to meet you, Mr. Castano," said 
 Ashton, extending his hand, "and I assure you 
 that you have been guilty of no impropriety in 
 addressing us as you have. We shall be pleased 
 to have the interview you desire. My name is 
 Henry Ashton, of Melbourne, Australia, and this 
 is my friend, George Batty, attorney at law, of 
 the same city. I now extend to you a cordial in- 
 vitation to accompany us to our rooms above, 
 where we may hold a conference without inter- 
 ruption. I know that my friend here will join 
 me in this invitation." 
 
 "Certainly," remarked Batty. "Come right 
 along with us." 
 
 The conference between the three men proved 
 to be one of unusual interest to each. By the 
 careful comparing of the .description given by 
 Castano of the man for whom he was looking, 
 the conclusion was reached that, without doubt, 
 the man known to Ashton and Batty as Thomas 
 Lawson, was none other than Thomas L. Hart- 
 well, forger, swindler, and convict — known to 
 Castano as the villain who had married his sis- 
 ter under false pretense, absconded with his 
 father's money, and who had eluded detection 
 and arrest for two years. 
 
 Mr. Castano was greatly pleased over the acci- 
 dental meeting with Ashton and Batty. Through 
 them he had gained information of Hartwell's 
 later movements, and he now reasoned that his 
 search for the rascal would be less perplexing. 
 That he was somewhere in the United States was 
 pretty certain, and no doubt was within the State 
 of California. He would now redouble his efforts 
 
148 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 to find and arrest his man and convey him back 
 to Peru to answer for his crimes. 
 
 Ashton and Batty were also gratified over the 
 meeting with the Spanish gentleman, for through 
 him, they had learned the true character of the 
 man who had obtruded himself upon them as a 
 social equal and companion, and what was in- 
 finitely worse, had endeavored to court the favor 
 of Lilly Higsbee. 
 
 At a later meeting of the three gentlemen, and 
 after Castano had listened to the story of the 
 wrecking of the Osceola, the rescue of the occu- 
 pants of the small boats, and had read the news- 
 paper account of the safe arrival at Portland of 
 Mrs. Higsbee and daughter, and had learned that 
 Hartwell was in the same boat with the women 
 and was rescued with them, and after being told 
 of Lawson's effort to win the favor of Miss Higs- 
 bee whom he knew was the only child of a mil- 
 lionaire, he remarked : 
 
 "I am free to say that I do not like the looks 
 of that situation. There are two innocent, con- 
 fiding women, shipwrecked, separated from hus- 
 band and friends, cast among strangers, per- 
 haps not acquainted with a single individual in 
 California except one man, and he an accom- 
 plished scoundrel. Why, that is precisely a con- 
 dition of things that Hartwell would be happy 
 in. No, gentlemen, I do not like the situation. 
 I know Tom Hartwell so well that I am almost 
 certain that he will in some way, succed in vic- 
 timizing those ladies as that the sun will rise to- 
 morrow morning." 
 
 "I have been from the first extremely solici- 
 tous for the welfare of Mrs. Higsbee and her 
 
HENRY ASHTON 149 
 
 daughter," said Ashton, as he paced to and fro 
 across the floor, "and now since I have learned 
 what a rogue Lawson is, I am doubly, aye an 
 hundred fold more anxious about them than ever 
 before. Air. Batty, we must prosecute our search 
 for them with all the energy of which we are 
 capable." 
 
 "Yes," replied Batty," no time is to be lost. 
 As the women were landed at Portland we must 
 proceed to that city, and if they cannot be found 
 there, as I fear they will not be, then we must 
 extend our search to other localities." 
 
 "Your suggestion is a good one," replied Cas- 
 tano, "and as the object of my search is Hart- 
 well, who I doubt not is following up the ladies 
 for whom you are looking, I shall with your con- 
 sent join you and we will work together. I am 
 something of a detective, and I may be of some 
 service to you and you mav very materially aid 
 me." 
 
 This suggestion met with the most hearty ap- 
 proval by our heroes, and it was arranged after 
 further conferences, that Ashton and Batty should 
 proceed immediately to Portland where they 
 would endeavor to gain what information was 
 available in regard to the landing of the ladies 
 from the Josephine, and locate them if they were 
 still in that city; if they had left there, then try 
 to trace them to their present location. Castano 
 would go to San Francisco and make that place 
 his headquarters for a few weeks or until he found 
 Hartwell, or till he became convinced that it 
 would be useless to remain longer. Letters were 
 to be exchanged frequently between the men, re- 
 porting progress. 
 
150 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 The next train leaving Los Angeles carried the 
 three men northward toward the places agreed 
 upon for future operations. Reaching San Fran- 
 cisco the next day Mr. Castano stopped at that 
 city, while Ashton and Batty contimaed on to 
 Portland. 
 
 After Mr. Castano had selected a suitable lodg- 
 ing house he began immediately to mature his 
 plans for instituting a thorough search for the 
 villain he had long been hunting. He reasoned 
 that if Hartwell were in the city he would be a 
 frequent visitor of the gambling houses, saloons 
 and other disreputable resorts. Well disguised, 
 he sallied out each night, for several successive 
 days and made the rounds of the dives, or as 
 many of them as he could visit between the hours 
 of nine and one o'clock. 
 
 He had now been in the great city five days and 
 so far his search had been fruitless. On the 
 sixth day he called on Captain Osgood who had 
 more than a local reputation as a detective of 
 large experience and great courage and sagacity, 
 and engaged his professional services. After 
 giving that gentleman a minute description of 
 Hartwell, the Captain said : 
 
 "I think I have seen the man you want. I be- 
 lieve I know him. Mr. Castano, come to my 
 office at 1 1 :oo o'clock to-night and I will take 
 you to a gambling joint frequented by a man who 
 answers the description of the person for whom 
 you are looking." 
 
 At the appointed time Mr. Castano called at 
 the detective's office and rang the bell. Capt. 
 Osgood himself answered the summons. There 
 confronting him stood a well dressed gentleman, 
 
HENRY ASHTON 151 
 
 with full beard nearly white, and hair of the same 
 color, apparently fifty or fifty-five years of age. 
 He made a polite bow and asked : "Is Captain 
 Osgood in?" 
 
 "That is my name, sir," said the Captain, "and 
 who are you and what is your business with me 
 at this late hour?" 
 
 "Ah, Captain," said Castano, "my disguise must 
 be pretty good if it so completely conceals my 
 identity as to deceive San Francisco's veteran 
 detective. I am Don Castano, and am ready now 
 to go and see the suspect." 
 
 "Well, well," exclaimed Capt. Osgood. "Your 
 make-up is superb. I would have made a sol- 
 emn oath that I had never seen you before, but 
 step in, I will be ready in a moment. By the 
 way, Mr. Castano, have you the proper legal pa- 
 pers investing you with authority to arrest and 
 detain your man if you find him." 
 
 "Certainly," replied the Peruvian, "Hartwell 
 is under indictment in Peru, and I have the au- 
 thority from the Governor of California to arrest 
 and transport him to the scene of his crimes." 
 
 Within thirty minutes from the time the above 
 conversation took place, the two men entered a 
 gambling den known to the police as one of the 
 wickedest resorts on the Pacific coast. In the 
 front room was the bar and billiard tables, and 
 even at this late hour there was a crowd of men 
 playing, drinking and lounging; but it was not 
 here that the detective expected to find the man 
 he wished to point out to Castano. The gaming 
 tables were in rooms farther to the rear entered 
 by narrow hallways. Castano and the detective 
 attracted no attention as they leisurely walked 
 
152 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 down the hall and entered the rooms where, 
 nightly, considerable sums of money were lost 
 and won. There were a number of tables in the 
 first room they entered, around which men were 
 seated engaged in cardplaying for money. Enter- 
 ing this place the Captain and his companion 
 halted and stood a few feet from the door at 
 which they entered when the detective rapidly ran 
 his eye over the fifty or sixty men at the various 
 tables. He was about to speak to Castano saying 
 that the subject was not in that room, when from 
 an adjoining apartment, stepped a man who 
 walked with a rapid stride toward the door they 
 had just entered. In a moment he passed out. 
 As he did so Capt. Osgood caught the Peruvian 
 by the arm, gave it a sharp grip accompanied by 
 a signal to follow him. The two men turned 
 upon their heels and stepped after the man who 
 had just passed them. They walked down the 
 corridor, through the saloon and to the sidewalk. 
 There was a great throng of people passing, and 
 for a few moments the suspect was lost sight of, 
 but knowing the direction he had taken, the two 
 men walked after him and quickened their pace 
 as they did so. They soon came up close be- 
 hind him, so close that Castano might easily have 
 laid his hand upon his shoulder. Up to this 
 time the South American had been unable to get 
 a look into the face of the man. The three walk- 
 ed along to a corner of the street when signaling 
 a street car, the man stepped aboard and took an 
 outside seat well toward the front end. Osgood 
 and Castano boarded the car in the rear. The 
 latter changed his position so that he might get 
 a good view of the suspect through the glass 
 
HENRY ASHTON 153 
 
 door. After eyeing him intently for a few mo- 
 ments and hearing his voice as he conversed with 
 the conductor about his fare, Castano beckoned to 
 the detective who advanced to his side, when he 
 said in a whisper : 
 
 "He is well disguised, but he is the man I 
 want. I shall place him under arrest when he 
 steps from the car." 
 
 "Are you well armed," asked Capt. Osgood. 
 "Of course I will assist in his capture, but it will 
 be well to be prepared for trouble." 
 
 "Yes, I am armed," replied the Peruvian in a 
 low voice, "but I will have no use for a gun. 
 Hartwell is not only a villain but a dastardly 
 coward. Bravery and manliness are not in his 
 nature." 
 
 As they talked the car came to a stop when 
 the man who was being followed and who was 
 sitting on the outside, quickly stepped off and 
 rapidly walked down a cross street. The detec- 
 tives left the car as soon as was practicable but 
 their movements were impeded a minute or two 
 owing to the alighting of several passengers from 
 the inside who blocked the doorway, and when 
 they stepped to the ground Hartwell was quite a 
 distance away. They walked after him but did 
 not come up to him until after he had entered 
 the door of a lodging house and had disappeared. 
 The pursuers hesitated a moment and then slowly 
 walked by the place. Castano broke the silence 
 by saying : 
 
 "Well, the villain escaped us, but we now know 
 where to find him and we will soon have him in 
 irons. Captain, you go to the rear of the house 
 and guard the back exits, and I will go to the 
 
154 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 front and ring the bell and ask for Thomas Law- 
 son and when he comes to speak to me I will put 
 these handcuffs upon him." 
 
 "Yes," said the detective, "we will adopt the 
 plan you suggest if you are ready. But it had oc- 
 curred to me when we started out to-night to do 
 no more than to identify and locate your man. It 
 is now about midnight. If we arrest him now 
 we will have to guard him till to-morrow as the 
 officers of the prison as well as the officials be- 
 fore whom you will have to present him with the 
 requisition papers, have retired for the night. We 
 have now found your man ; you know his hiding 
 place and at least one of his habitual resorts. 
 There is no indication that he intends to leave the 
 city. You can take him to-morrow, or the next 
 day, as well as now, and if you have any other 
 business to attend to before leaving the city with 
 your prisoner, I suggest that you defer the arrest 
 for a day or until you are fully prepared." 
 
 "Your suggestion is correct, Captain." replied 
 Castano. "I was so anxious to get the handcuffs 
 on the rascal, that I forgot the lateness of the 
 hour, and that I have some important matters to 
 attend to before I could leave the city with my 
 prisoner. Besides that there are two gentlemen, 
 now in Portland, who are interested in Hartwell, 
 or if they have no concern about him personally, 
 they do have for two women whose present 
 whereabouts they are endeavoring to ascertain, 
 and they have good reason for believing that 
 Hartwell has knowledge of their location. Yes, 
 I will postpone the arrest one day, or perhaps, two 
 or three days, or till I can communicate with my 
 friends in Portland, and secure their presence 
 
HENRY ASHTON 155 
 
 here. Consider yourself employed, Captain, till 
 after this arrest is made. Hartwell has doubt- 
 less retired. He suspects nothing. I desire you, 
 Captain, to detail two or more of your most effi- 
 cient detectives to shadow Hartwell day and 
 night for two or three days, or until the hour that 
 I decide upon for his arrest. Here is $100.00 to 
 apply as part payment of your fees for the ser- 
 vice you have rendered me and for the work I 
 wish you to do. Instruct your men also to take 
 particular notice if he calls at any hotel or lodging 
 house upon two ladies — one an elderly woman, the 
 other young and handsome, and if so, to make a 
 memorandum of the street and number where 
 stopping, and if possible ascertain the names of 
 the women." 
 
 "All right," responded Captain Osgood, as he 
 placed the money in his pocket. "I shall do as 
 you have ordered. I have in my agency several 
 detectives of long experience, superior tact, and 
 thorough reliability. Drop into my office two or 
 three times a day, and I shall be able to inform 
 you of every move that your man is making, and 
 if there are any women in the case that he has any- 
 thing to do with, my men will ascertain all about 
 them as well as about him." 
 
 Within one hour from this time Castano had 
 summoned Ashton and Batty by telegram, from 
 Portland, and but a few hours had elapsed before 
 those gentlemen were aboard the fast express 
 train en route for San Francisco. 
 
156 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 CASTANO INTERRUPTS THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 
 
 SHOCK TO MRS. HIGSBEE FROM WHICH 
 
 SHE DOES NOT RECOVER. 
 
 We will now direct our attention to Mrs. and 
 Miss Higsbee. Since we last looked in upon 
 them they had lived a quiet life. Nothing unus- 
 ual had occurred except an illness of the elder 
 lady who had never been strong. While the in- 
 disposition was not of an alarming nature, yet it 
 largely incapacitated her from going out. Lilly 
 was her almost constant companion. She could 
 not be induced to absent herself from her moth- 
 er's bedside even for an hour. The servant girl 
 was faithful and kind and often begged Lilly to 
 permit her to be of more practical service to her 
 mistress, but though Miss Higsbee did not often 
 betray her feelings in words spoken, yet she did 
 feel that now she had but one dear friend on 
 earth — her mother. Though the lodgers of the 
 house, were social and spoke very kindly, yet she 
 could not force herself to be cheerful and happy. 
 She read but little; she had no interest in any- 
 thing or in anybody except her mother; she al- 
 most abhorred amusements, and as to her pros- 
 pective marriage now to take place in a few days, 
 she thought of it only in a dazed melancholy 
 way, and with feelings such as she might have 
 if she were invited to attend the funeral of a 
 friend. At the time of which we write the wed- 
 ding is but four davs distant and vet the bride 
 
HENRY ASHTON 157 
 
 has made no preparation for that important event. 
 She is spiritless and sad. 
 
 Lawson now called every day. He had seemed 
 to entertain profound concern for Mrs. Higsbee 
 — her comfort and welfare and he left no oppor- 
 tunity unimproved to make a favorable impres- 
 sion upon her and that innocent, deluded lady, 
 was thoroughly infatuated with him. 
 
 Tom Lawson was a tactful actor. Toward Miss 
 Lilly he assumed the air and manner of the sin- 
 cere lover and honorable man. He fully realized 
 that he was playing for high stakes and he must 
 guard every word spoken and every act, and 
 must commit no blunders. Every day he brought 
 her a bouquet of beautiful flowers, and each time 
 when he presented them to her he reiterated his 
 undying love for her. Miss Higsbee received 
 these flowers and with a faint and sad but en- 
 forced smile, responded, "thanks," but to the 
 outbursts of declarations of love and adoration, 
 she seldom vouchsafed any reply, but soon divert- 
 ed the conversation to other subjects. She did 
 not love the man, and her mind was struggling 
 with the problem whether any conceivable condi- 
 tions of things could occur in the world that 
 would justify a woman in marrying a man she 
 does not love. Her intuitions and womanly in- 
 stincts said "no," while her reason, and her sense 
 of duty to her mother, and the dying request of 
 her father, said "yes." Sometimes she was al- 
 most decided to peremptorily decline to have the 
 marriage ceremony consummated, and then she 
 would remember her father's last request, and 
 her mother's great anxiety for her to become the 
 wife of Lawson, and, thus vacillating and halting 
 
158 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 between these two influences, she drifted along 
 the victim of a relentless fate. 
 
 No elaborate preparations were intended for the 
 wedding which was to take place on the following 
 Thursday evening at 4 :oo p. m. in the parlor of 
 the lodging house occupied by Mrs. and Miss 
 Higsbee. Mrs. Higsbee was not able physically 
 to go to the church and it was her wish that the 
 ceremony should take place at the house. Law- 
 son, while professing that it was his desire to 
 be married before a large congregation, with 
 much ostentatious display, adroitly planned to 
 have it as quiet as possible, while Lilly, having no 
 heart in the matter, and going as she would to 
 the altar as the sheep goes to the slaughter, ap- 
 proved of the suggestion to have the marriage 
 take place at the house. 
 
 The eventful evening at length arrived. Lilly 
 had made but little preparation for the ceremony. 
 To please her mother she consented to be attired 
 in her best apparel, and carrying out the wishes 
 of Mrs. Higsbee, had invited the landlady and 
 two or three lodgers of the house to be present. 
 Lawson arrived an hour before the time desig- 
 nated for the ceremony, accompanied by a clergy- 
 man of an obscure suburban church. Lilly and 
 the servant had assisted her mother to repair to 
 the parlor. The company consisting of nine per- 
 sons, had now assembled. As the clock indicated 
 the time as 3 155, the minister took his position 
 at one end of the room, and requested the can- 
 didates for matrimony to arise to their feet. As 
 they complied with this request, the face of Mrs. 
 Higsbee was wreathed in smiles ; Lawson pre- 
 sented an outward appearance of calmness and 
 
HENRY ASHTON 159 
 
 self-possession, but the careful observer might 
 have detected a suppressed nervousness and an 
 anxious expression in his deep-set and cunning 
 eyes. As for the bride, she was as pale as a 
 statue, and almost as undemonstrative. She 
 slowly arose to her feet and stepped forward 
 supported by Lawson but there was no elasticity 
 in her step. In her eyes was a far away expres- 
 sion; her hands were cold; her lips were blood- 
 less, and her whole manner evinced the abhor- 
 rence which had flooded her soul and almost 
 overwhelmed her at the thought of the profane 
 act she was about to commit. Taking a step or 
 two forward she suddenly stopped and impetu- 
 ously and with considerable force, jerked her 
 hand from the arm of her escort, then for a sec- 
 ond seemed frightened, then somewhat regaining 
 her self-possession, again took hold of Lawson's 
 arm and slowly moved forward. 
 
 The parlor in which the marriage was to take 
 place, was situated on the first floor, one door of 
 which opened into a short but wide corridor lead- 
 ing to the office. Just as the clergyman was 
 about to begin the ceremony, the sound of foot- 
 steps was heard in the hall. Then there was still- 
 ness for a moment, and the minister had given 
 utterance to one or two sentences when the door 
 swung wide open and before the clock on the 
 mantel had ticked ten seconds three men — stran- 
 gers — stepped in and stood in the rear of the 
 couple and facing the minister. The clergyman 
 looked up inquiringly as one of the men uttered 
 the words, "stop this !" At this, Lawson, with 
 the agility of an acrobat, turned and faced the 
 men. 
 
160 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 "Why this interruption, gentlemen?" he ejacu- 
 lated fiercely. "Who are you that you thus in- 
 trude your presence at this time and place." 
 
 As he said this one of the strangers, like a flash, 
 drew from his pocket a revolver, leveled it at 
 the breast of the bridegroom, and with a firm 
 voice and cool and deliberate manner, as he jerked 
 his false whiskers from his face, said : 
 
 "I have at last found you, Tom Hartwell. You 
 know me. You are my prisoner. Make no re- 
 sistance at your peril. Officers bind the villain 
 and remove him to the city jail." 
 
 At this the two officers sprang forward and 
 clutched Lawson, slipping hand cuffs about his 
 wrists, and without a word being spoken by them 
 or him, hustled him through the door and into the 
 hallway, loading him a few minutes later into a 
 carriage in waiting, and drove him away to the 
 prison. 
 
 As Lawson was being handcuffed, Lilly gave 
 forth a suppressed scream and dropped into a 
 chair covering her face with her hands, and her 
 slight frame trembled with emotion. Mrs. Higs- 
 bee clasped her hands convulsively and with a 
 cry and shudder swooned into a state of partial 
 unconsciousness, while the minister and the spec- 
 tators stood like so many human beings who had 
 been instantly paralyzed by some mighty myste- 
 rious force. 
 
 After a brief pause Castano said : "Ladies 
 and Gentlemen ! This action on my part seems to 
 you to be a most high-handed and flagrant out- 
 rage. Under any ordinary circumstances it would 
 be most inexcusable. Had I not the best of rea- 
 sons for doing what I have done, I would be a 
 
HENRY ASHTON 161 
 
 criminal and deserve the severest punishment. 
 But I am justified both morally and legally in 
 placing this man under arrest, and preventing this 
 proposed marriage. He is a criminal of the deep- 
 est dye. He has a living wife, and child. She is 
 my sister. Her heart has been broken and her 
 life wrecked by this man; he robbed my father; 
 he is a forger, a liar and a thief. Had I not pre- 
 vented this marriage he would have committed 
 another crime — that of bigamy. For several days 
 I have had detectives upon his trail. Through 
 them I learned of this contemplated marriage. 
 While I deeply deplored the necessity of inflict- 
 ing pain on two innocent, confiding and wickedly 
 deceived women, I felt that it were better that I do 
 so than to allow this villain to consummate an il- 
 legal union which would result in deeper anguish 
 to them. To you young lady — you who have 
 been so wickedly deceived, I have come as a deliv- 
 erer. To the elder lady, whom I infer is your 
 mother, I say when you and your daughter are 
 fully apprised of the criminal character of this 
 man, you will feel that you have been placed 
 under profound and lasting obligations to me for 
 the act I have just performed, though now you 
 may regard me as an evil pretender. I shall com- 
 municate with you later, and furnish you proof of 
 the blackness of Thomas Lawson Hartwell's life. 
 Here is my card, bearing my name and address, 
 and I shall be at your service until I leave the city 
 with my prisoner three days hence." So saying, 
 Mr. Castano made a low bow and withdrew from 
 the room. 
 
162 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ASHTON AGAIN MEETS MISS HIGSBEE. 
 
 The reader would not be particularly interested 
 in all that transpired during the next twenty-four 
 hours in the house in which Mrs. Higsbee and her 
 daughter had apartments, hence the writer will 
 omit the details of much that transpired. After 
 Lilly had somewhat recovered from the shock 
 which she experienced at the interruption of the 
 ceremony, and the statement of Castano, she 
 found that her mother required her constant at- 
 tention. Mrs. Higsbee was almost speechless and 
 was bordering on spasms. With the assistance of 
 others she was removed to her own apartments, 
 where, for several hours, she sobbed and moaned 
 over the occurrence of the exciting events that 
 had transpired in the parlor. "Oh ! oh ! oh !" she 
 would exclaim, over and over again. "How dread- 
 ful ! how dreadful !'" Lilly summoned all her men- 
 tal and physical powers and lovingly and inces- 
 santly administered to her every want, and by wise 
 and loving words spoken, succeeded in a meas- 
 ure in soothing her and restoring her to a calmer 
 state of mind. The young lady carefully re- 
 frained from any extended comment with her 
 mother on the arrest of Lawson, and the stopping 
 of the marriage ceremony. When pressed for her 
 opinions, she would only reply : "Dear mother, 
 let us trust in the goodness of God. He has sent 
 his angels to watch over us. It may be all for the 
 best." 
 
 Lilly herself had not fully recovered from the 
 
HENRY ASHTON 163 
 
 supreme surprise that she had experienced. She 
 had no knowledge as to the truthfulness or false- 
 ness of the statement that Lawson had a wife and 
 was a criminal except the statement of the stran- 
 ger. Yet she was happier than she had been since 
 the sinking of the Osceola. Deep down in her 
 heart was a wild gladness that the marriage had 
 been prevented, not alone from what Castano had 
 said, but from an intuition — the whispering to 
 her inner consciousness, as if from an invisible 
 spirit, that the stranger had told the truth about 
 Thomas Lawson. She believed that she had been 
 saved from an awful fate through the intervention 
 of a kind providence or her guardian angel. 
 
 '"It may be," she softly said to herself, "that the 
 spirit of Henry Ashton, my beloved, may have 
 been the one who prevented my falling into the 
 clutches of that man." 
 
 Thus she mused for hours as she sat at the bed- 
 side of her mother. Alternating between joy over 
 her escape and anxiety for her mother, the night 
 wore away, and before the rays of the morning 
 sun began to lighten up the eastern sky she was 
 rejoiced to see that her mother was enjoying a 
 sound and apparently refreshing sleep, from 
 which she hoped she might awaken with renewed 
 physical and mental strength. Reassuring herself 
 that her mother was resting well and that she 
 might not require her wakeful attention for a 
 brief time, she softly assumed a reclining position 
 on a couch without disrobing, and, though not 
 yet over the effects of the recent excitement, she 
 was fatigued and soon fell asleep. The sun had 
 ascended high above the eastern horizon before 
 either mother or daughter awoke. Their slumber 
 
164 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 might have been protracted several hours longer 
 had Lilly not been awakened by a rapping on the 
 door of her room. Quickly springing to her feet 
 she answered the summons. It was the landlady, 
 who had come to announce that two gentlemen 
 had called and they desired to see Miss Higsbee 
 in the parlor. They had sent up no cards, but had 
 instructed her to say to the lady that they were 
 personal friends from Melbourne, Australia. 
 
 "Who can they be," thought Lilly. "Some of 
 father's acquaintances, no doubt, who, having 
 business in America, have heard of our being in 
 San Francisco, and have called to pay their re- 
 spects and inquire about father." 
 
 Glancing at her mother a moment, and observ- 
 ing that she was still sleeping, Miss Higsbee re- 
 plied : 
 
 "Say to the visitors that I will see them in a 
 few minutes. I will call the servant to remain 
 with mother during my absence, and will be down 
 directly." 
 
 As her apparel had not been changed since she 
 stood in the parlor as a bride the evening before, 
 but a short time w r as required in which to make 
 herself presentable to callers, and, after summon- 
 ing the servant, she quietly left the room, closing 
 the door behind her, and descended to the parlor. 
 The door was ajar, and gently pushing it open, 
 she walked in. She did not at first notice the visi- 
 tors, who were seated in a shaded part of the 
 room, and had advanced to the center of the apart- 
 ment before she observed them. As they arose 
 to their feet she addressed them, saying : 
 
 "Gentlemen, I have come in response to your 
 request. What is your pleasure?" 
 
HENRY ASHTON 165 
 
 As she thus spoke, one of the men stepped to- 
 ward her so suddenly that for a moment the 
 young lady was startled, and she withdrew two or 
 three steps. The advancing man, with illy sup- 
 pressed excitement, and with his voice choked by 
 emotion, exclaimed : "Lilly, dear Lilly ! Don't 
 you know me? I am Henry Ashton, alive and 
 well, and this is Mr. Batty. Thank God I have 
 found you at last !" 
 
 For a few seconds Miss Higsbee stood as one 
 struck dumb, then throwing her arms aloft and 
 with an exclamation of joy, rushed into the open 
 arms of her long-lost lover, whom she had 
 mourned as dead and gone from her forever. 
 
 Let the curtain now drop and the reunited lov- 
 ers be left to themselves for a season. Mr. Batty, 
 being a man of sound judgment and wise discre- 
 tion, silently withdrew to the office, and, lighting 
 a cigar, found a comfortable seat and a morning 
 newspaper, and awaited future developments. 
 That he was happy — very happy — was most ap- 
 parent to the most casual observer. After finish- 
 ing his cigar and newspaper, he went out for a 
 short stroll. Returning an hour later he was sur- 
 prised and almost alarmed at finding Ashton in 
 the office summoning a physician through the tel- 
 ephone. In answer to his impatient inquiries, Mr. 
 Batty was informed that Mrs. Higsbee was alarm- 
 ingly ill. Not long after Lilly had left her mother 
 to meet the visitors in the parlor, she was sum- 
 moned to return. The elderly lady had awakened, 
 but was unable to speak and breathed with great 
 difficulty. Ashton had accompanied Lilly to the 
 sick chamber, and seeing the critical condition of 
 Mrs. Higsbee, had descended to the office, from 
 
1G6 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 whence he telephoned for a physician. Dr. Ran- 
 dolph, who had been summoned, was soon at the 
 bedside of the sick woman, and, after a hasty ex- 
 amination, said : 
 
 "The lady is suffering from a severe stroke of 
 paralysis. I do not know what may have been her 
 recent experience, but the symptoms would seem 
 to indicate that she has received some sudden men- 
 tal shock, or passed through some unusual excite- 
 ment. She may linger some time, but I fear the 
 attack may prove fatal." 
 
 The doctor was correct in his diagnosis. The 
 patient was conscious, and, after a time could, by 
 a painful effort, speak a few words to her attend- 
 ants, but was utterly helpless — was totally un- 
 able to move her limbs. Lilly was in the deepest 
 distress over her mother's condition, and was most 
 devoted and constant in her ministrations. The 
 inexpressible happiness which flooded her whole 
 being over the meeting with her lover, was sadly 
 clouded by the fear that her mother might die. 
 Though endowed by nature with a great deal of 
 fortitude and courage, this dangerous illness of 
 her mother and the information of the death of 
 her father, of which Ashton had fully informed 
 her, but which for prudential reasons were kept 
 from her mother, might have crushed her, had 
 Henry Ashton not been present to counsel and 
 support her. Mr. Ashton promptly stepped to the 
 front in this emergency and assumed every re- 
 sponsibility growing out of it. At his first ap- 
 pearance at the bedside, Lilly said : 
 
 "Mother, here is Henry Ashton, alive and well. 
 He was not drowned. God preserved his life and 
 sent him to us. Lawson is a villain ; he wickedly 
 
HENRY ASHTON 167 
 
 deceived us. I never loved him. I do love Mr. 
 Ashton with all the intensity of which a true 
 woman is capable. We are betrothed and long 
 have been. Will you not forgive him and bless 
 our proposed union?" 
 
 At this the dying woman replied in faint yet 
 audible words with difficulty spoken : 
 
 "Yes, yes, my dear child. I freely, gladly for- 
 give him if I have anything to forgive. I ask you 
 both to forgive me for my sad error. I was de- 
 ceived in Lawson. I undervalued the nobleness 
 of Henry Ashton. I not only consent to your 
 marriage, but it is my wish that it shall take place 
 immediately, before I leave you forever. This is 
 my only, my last request. I have but a brief time 
 to live. I shall be content to go after I see you the 
 happy wife of so noble and good a man. Mr. 
 Ashton, draw near to me. You love my daugh- 
 ter. She is worthy of your love and you are de- 
 serving of her. I freely give her to you and may 
 God bless you both." 
 
 The dying woman could say no more, and the 
 )'Oung couple stood still for several minutes each 
 clasping the hand of the other, each too deeply 
 affected to utter a single word. Lilly sobbed au- 
 dibly, and as her emotion deepened, she grasped 
 more firmly the hand of the man she adored. Mr. 
 Ashton gently led her to a seat upon the sofa, and 
 sat down by her side. 
 
 Later in the day, after a brief consultation with 
 Dr. Randolph and Mr. Batty, and in compliance 
 with the request of Mrs. Higsbee, again repeated, 
 it was determined that the marriage should take 
 place immediately, as it was the opinion of the 
 doctor that his patient would last but a few hours 
 
168 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 longer. This being decided, not an hour had 
 elapsed when Mr. Batty returned with a license 
 and a clergyman, and before thirty minutes more 
 had passed Henry Ashton and Lilly Higsbee 
 stood at the bedside of the woman, now rapidly 
 passing away, and in the presence of Mr. Batty, 
 the attending physician, and a few inmates of the 
 house, were pronounced husband and wife. Mrs. 
 Higsbee, though very low, listened attentively to 
 the words of the minister, and at their conclusion, 
 with a smile of satisfaction, faintly yet audibly 
 pronounced her blessing. Soon after she closed 
 her eyes never to be again opened in this world. 
 
 We shall not tax the patience of the reader with 
 the details of all that transpired during the year 
 subsequent to the death of Mrs. Higsbee and the 
 marriage of Miss Higsbee to Henry Ashton. Soon 
 after the transpiring of those events Don Castano 
 transported his prisoner to the scene of his crimes 
 in South America, and, after a speedy trial, Thom- 
 as Lawson Hartwell was sentenced to serve in the 
 penitentiary for a term of twenty-five years. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Ashton, after a few months spent in 
 visiting with his mother and other friends and 
 acquaintances, returned to Melbourne. Mr. Batty 
 proceeded to Omaha to attend to the business of 
 Col. Higsbee, but found, as he had suspected from 
 information received from Lilly Ashton, that 
 Lawson had compromised the suit, and appro- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 169 
 
 priated the money he had received to his own use. 
 He therefore shortly after also sailed for Mel- 
 bourne. It will be remembered that Col. Higsbee, 
 just prior to his death on shipboard, executed his 
 last will and testament, bequeathing all his large 
 estate to his wife and daughter, in the event that 
 they were alive and that such legal instrument 
 was entrusted to the custody of George Batty. It 
 is therefore obvious that, on the decease of Mrs. 
 Higsbee, Mrs. Lilly Ashton became the sole heir 
 to her father's large estate. 
 
 On his return to Melbourne, Mr. Ashton found 
 it necessary to resign his position as a railroad en- 
 gineer and devote most of his time and energies to 
 attending to the property interests belonging to 
 his wife. Although he was now a rich man, his 
 interest in Socialism and the welfare of the toiling 
 masses did not abate. Large wealth wrought no 
 change in him. He was the same kind-hearted, 
 social, generous gentleman as when he handled 
 the engine's throttle. His heart still beat in sym- 
 pathy for the landless, propertyless wageworker, 
 who, deprived of the comforts of life by a hard, 
 relentless economic system, is struggling for bet- 
 ter conditions for himself and those dependent up- 
 on him. 
 
 One evening after dinner, while sitting in the 
 parlor with his wife, he said : 
 
 "Dear Lilly, I have just finished reading an ar- 
 ticle in an American publication on the industrial 
 conditions as they exist in that country. Now the 
 people of the United States are perhaps the most 
 intelligent and progressive people in the world to- 
 day. In many respects they enjoy the largest 
 measure of political freedom, and yet there are 
 
170 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 certain influences to work there that must inevita- 
 bly lead to serious trouble in the not distant fu- 
 ture." 
 
 "To what do you allude in particular?" asked 
 his wife. 
 
 "Why, the laboring people, who include farm- 
 ers as well as wage-workers, are restless and dis- 
 contented. They assert, and that truthfully, that 
 they produce all the wealth, and yet do not get 
 but about one-sixth of what they produce. Great 
 trusts have been organized that have monopo- 
 lized lands, and oil, and coal, and timber, and the 
 mineral mines, and water power, and lighting 
 plants, and meat, and breadstuffs, and clothing, 
 and transportation — in fact, nearly everything. 
 Thus having a monopoly of all production and 
 distribution, they have ignored the law of supply 
 and demand, have, in fact, suspended that law by 
 arbitrarily fixing artificial prices. They have ad- 
 vanced the cost of living forty per cent in a few 
 years, while the wages of the workers have 
 advanced but eight or ten per cent. They control 
 the utterances of all the great newspapers, which 
 are compelled by them to so publish articles as to 
 deceive the masses ; they control the courts so that 
 when working men strike for an increase of 
 wages they may be enjoined ; they control the 
 army to the end that if the court injunctions are 
 disregarded, the workers may be shot. They so 
 manage their trust business that they make a net 
 profit on their investments of from fifty to five 
 hundred per cent. They live luxuriously, while 
 the millions of working classes are barely able to 
 live at all. There are about six hundred of the 
 more important trusts. Their honest valuation 
 
HENRY ASHTON 171 
 
 is about one and a quarter billions of dollars, but 
 they have stocked them for about seven billions. 
 They have thus flooded the'country with five and 
 three-quarter billions of watered or fraudulent 
 stocks. It is hard to believe that men laying claim 
 to honesty and many of them professing to be 
 Christians, could be guilty of such dishonest 
 methods. A great and disastrous financial col- 
 lapse awaits the United States. The total amount 
 of money in that Republic of gold, silver and 
 paper is but two billions of dollars, and still the 
 speculative and stock-watering, interest-gathering 
 classes have succeeded in piling up an indebted- 
 ness on the people of the United States the appall- 
 ing sum of sixty billions of dollars, or thirty times 
 more than all the money existing in the Republic. 
 They gather a crop of interest annually from the 
 people, of three thousand millions of dollars, or 
 more than the total value of all the staple crops 
 and the output of all the mines of that country. 
 In due time the bubble will burst and millions of 
 innocent people will be crushed by reason of the 
 greed of the capitalistic gambling classes." 
 
 "Yes, husband," said Lilly, "I have also been 
 reading along that line. Everything you have 
 mentioned I have read about, but to me the wick- 
 edest practice of the trust monopolists is the en- 
 slaving of tender children of the poor, not only in 
 America but in England, and other parts of Eu- 
 rope. I have been gathering some statistics on the 
 subject, and will write an article for some of the 
 publications not yet owned by the trusts, and try 
 to arouse the women of civilization to an appre- 
 ciation of this horrible evil. Shall I read some of 
 the statistics to you, Henry ?" 
 
172 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 "Certainly, my dear," replied Ashton, "I am re- 
 joiced to see that you are interested in the mat- 
 ter." 
 
 "Well," said Mrs. Ashton, "in England 300,- 
 000 little children are working like slaves in fac- 
 tories and other places, and their wage is from 
 12^ cents to $1.25 per week, and there are 600,- 
 
 000 paupers in that country. This does not seem 
 to trouble anybody there except the Socialists. 
 At the late coronation of the King the nobility 
 who add nothing to the wealth of the world, wore 
 diamonds and apparel valued at hundreds of mil- 
 lions. Not long before the death of Victoria she 
 gave a banquet, and the plate on the table was 
 worth ten millions of dollars. Can that be a Chris- 
 tian country? 
 
 "In the United States the condition of the work- 
 ing people is little better than in England, while 
 child-slavery may be seen in a more horrible form. 
 
 1 have some statistics from several States of that 
 Republic, but you know statistics are dry. Shall 
 I read them to you, husband ?" 
 
 "Most assuredly," replied Ashton. "Every man 
 and woman with a spark of sympathy in their 
 souls for their unfortunate fellowman, especially 
 for the abused little ones, should be interested in 
 such subjects and should put forth his best efforts 
 to emancipate these little helpless children." 
 
 "Well," said Mrs. Ashton, "the State Labor 
 Commissioner of North Carolina reports that there 
 are 261 cotton mills, in that State, in which 38,- 
 637 persons are employed. Of this number there 
 are 3,698 boys and 4,007 girls. Total children 
 employed, 7,605. The average daily wage of 
 those children is 22 cents. (The average daily 
 
HENRY ASHTON 173 
 
 wage of men is 57 cents and of women 39 cents.) 
 There are about 450 cotton mills in the Southern 
 States. 
 
 "Gunton's Magazine says : The ages of these 
 children range from 6 to 12 years.' 
 
 "The Commissioner further says : T have talked 
 with a little boy of 7 years who worked for forty 
 nights in Alabama, and another child who at 6 
 years old had been on the night shift eleven 
 months. Little bovs turned out at 2 o'clock in 
 the morning, afraid to go home, would beg a clerk 
 in the mill for permission to lie down on the of- 
 fice floor. In one city mill in the South, a doctor 
 said he had personally amputated the fingers of 
 more than one hundred children, mangled in the 
 mill machinery, and that a horrible form of dropsy 
 occurs frequently among the over-worked chil- 
 dren.' 
 
 "One of the editors of the Cincinnati Post 
 wrote: T secured entrance to the People's Mills 
 of Montgomery, Alabama, which manufactures 
 sheeting for the China trade. In the spinning- 
 room I saw boys and girls so small that their ef- 
 forts to perform their work were absolutely pain- 
 ful. In reaching up to join the ends of the broken 
 threads they were obliged to strain and stretch 
 every muscle and sinew of their frail bodies, and 
 some were so small they were compelled to stand 
 on their tip-toes. Their day's work was twelve 
 hours.' 
 
 "Irene Mackfadyn wrote : 'The physical, mental 
 and moral effect of these long hours of toil and 
 confinement on the children is indescribably sad. 
 Mill children are so stunted that every foreman 
 will tell you that you cannot judge their ages. 
 
174 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 The lint forms in their lungs a perfect cultivating 
 medium for tuberculosis and pneumonia, and con- 
 sumption is common among them. Many die after 
 a few years of this service.' 
 
 "The New York World says that about 6,000 
 boys and girls of tender age work in glass and 
 other factories in New Jersey, and Governor Mur- 
 phy of that State reports that children of both 
 sexes 6 and 7 years old work seventeen and eigh- 
 teen hours per day, with but a few minutes for 
 pest, dropping back at their toil, worn out and ac- 
 tually driven back to finish the long hours for 
 which they are paid two to three cents per hour. 
 
 "The Washington Post, commenting on child 
 labor in the South, says : 'The average life of the 
 children after they go into the mills is four years. 
 It would be less cruel for a State to have children 
 painlessly put to death than it is to permit them to 
 be ground to death by this awful process.' 
 
 "Years ago," continued Mrs. Ashton, "when 
 child slavery in England was more than it is now 
 in that country, Mrs. Browning wrote a poem pro- 
 testing against it. It describes existing conditions 
 in the United States to-day. I will read it to you : 
 
 "do you hear the children weeping, 0, MY 
 
 BROTHERS. 
 "Do ye hear the children weeping, O my brothers, 
 
 Ere the sorrow comes with years? 
 They are leaning their young heads against their moth- 
 ers, 
 
 And that cannot stop the tears. 
 The young lambs are bleating in the meadows, 
 
 The young birds are chirping in the nest, 
 The young fawns are playing with the shadows, 
 
 The young flowers are blowing toward the west — 
 
HENRY ASHTON 175 
 
 But the young, young children, O, my brothers 
 
 They are weeping bitterly ! 
 They are weeping in the playtime of the others, 
 
 In the country of the free. 
 
 ''And well may the children weep before you ! 
 
 They are weary ere they run ; 
 They have never seen the sunshine, nor the glory 
 
 Which is brighter than the sun. 
 They know the grief of man, without its wisdom ; 
 
 They sink in man's despair, without its calm ; 
 Are worn as if with age, yet unretrievingly 
 
 The harvest of its memories cannot reap — 
 Are orphans of the earthly love and heavenly, 
 
 Let them weep ! Let them weep ! 
 
 "They look up with their pale and sunken faces, 
 
 And their look is dread to see, 
 For they mind you of their angels in high places, 
 
 With eyes turned on Deity. 
 'How long,' they say, 'how long, O cruel nation, 
 
 Will you stand to move the world on a child's heart — 
 Stifle down with a mailed heel its palpitation 
 
 And tread onward to your throne amid the mart? 
 Our blood splashes upward, O gold-reaper, 
 
 And yon purple shows your path ! 
 But the child's sob in the silence curses deeper 
 
 Than the strong man in his wrath.' " 
 
 "My heart bleeds in sympathy for these poor, 
 abused little ones," said Mrs. Ashton, "and I feel 
 that something should be done to prevent such 
 slavery of tender children." 
 
 "Yes," replied Mr. Ashton, "such things are a 
 deep disgrace to that Christian nation, but, my 
 dear, such conditions, and more, may be expected 
 under the competitive system of business. These 
 evils can never be abolished till the competitive 
 
176 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 system is replaced by the co-operative. I have 
 also some statistics relative to the labor situation 
 in America. Not only are the children enslaved 
 in the factories, but men are enslaved in the mines. 
 There are hundreds of thousands of men who 
 work like abject slaves deep below the surface of 
 the earth, where they incur great risk to life and 
 limb — who are paid an average wage of but $1.28 
 for each working day, or 79 cents for each day in 
 the year. They live in rented shacks, for which 
 they pay $6.00, an enforced fee of $6.00 for the 
 company doctor, an enforced charge of $5.00 for 
 oil, and $14 for powder used in mining, and buy 
 their provisions at company stores where from 
 five to one hundred per cent is added to the price 
 of everything sold. The American financiers, 
 Dun & Co., report for this year (1902) that the 
 wages of miners were increased but ten per cent 
 since 1897, while the cost of living increased thir- 
 ty-four per cent. 
 
 "While this is the condition of the children of 
 the poor and of the wage-workers in general, the 
 millionaires and multi-millionaires continue to 
 carry on their gigantic schemes of forming trusts, 
 destroying weak competitors, and exploiting 
 working people. I have before me, dear Lilly, the 
 reports of the profits made last and this year by 
 some of these American kings. The profits of one 
 of the great oil companies was $60,000,000 a year, 
 and the steel trust, on an investment of $25,000,- 
 000, reaped in eighteen months a profit of $30,- 
 000,000." 
 
 "The outlook is indeed discouraging," said Mrs. 
 Ashton. "Is there any remedy for such evils?" 
 
 "Yes," replied Mr. Ashton, "the remedy is a 
 
HENRY ASHTON 177 
 
 simple one, but the masses are slow to understand 
 and apply it. This menace to the welfare of the 
 people is happily attracting the attention of many 
 fair-minded, kind-hearted men and women, in all 
 the walks of life, and they are casting about for 
 the proper methods to apply to put a stop to such 
 monstrous wrongs, for they clearly see that vio- 
 lence, if not a bloody revolution, will ensue if 
 matters are allowed to go on for a long time as 
 they are now going. Many of the more intelligent 
 working people are organizing themselves into 
 labor unions, and hope in that way to better their 
 condition, but at this time they have made but lit- 
 tle progress. Their employers generally refuse to 
 recognize such unions, and will hold no consulta- 
 tions with them. If the men of the mines or from 
 the shops of the great trusts, go out on a strike, 
 the employers cause the police and the soldiers to 
 be called out and often they are driven back to 
 work at the former wage, or are shot down. 
 
 "This condition of things, dear wife, grieves 
 me deeply. Unless a remedy is found and applied 
 within a few years, I fear America, as well as 
 several of the European States, will be the scene 
 of violence and much bloodshed. But there is a 
 remedy. The problem, I repeat, is easy of solu- 
 tion." 
 
 "And what remedy for these industrial ills 
 would you propose?" asked Mrs. Ashton. 
 
 "Why, Socialism, of course, my dear," rejoined 
 Ashton. "The fundamental doctrine of Socialism 
 is that no public utility or productive property 
 should be owned and monopolized by private in- 
 dividuals, but should be owned and operated by 
 the whole people collectively for the benefit of all. 
 
178 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 Land, oil, coal, metals — all raw materials are val- 
 ueless until labor is applied to them. Labor pro- 
 duces all wealth, and it is a violation of natural 
 rights for the idle man, the non-producing man, 
 to own and enjoy wealth that he has not earned, 
 and the industrious producing man, to be deprived 
 of the possession and enjoyment of what he has 
 earned. In the collective commonwealth, or So- 
 cialistic state, nothing will be produced for profit 
 for profit meaas that one man gets part or all an- 
 other man earns, for nothing. The remedy for the 
 industrial ills heretofore alluded to, is to 'reward 
 every one according to his deeds.' 
 
 ''The present competitive, system is intrinsically 
 'a. robber system. One class work and another 
 class appropriate the benefit to their own use. 
 Now the. man who, by cunning and by specula- 
 tion, and by monopoly, and by deception, and by 
 taking advantage of his fellow — all of which he 
 cnlls business — is the most successful in exploit- 
 ing his fellow man ami securing for himself the 
 largest share of the earnings of others, is called 
 the 'fittest,' while the laborer, the inventor, the 
 man or woman who adds to the wealth of thf» 
 world, is dubbed the unfittest. Socialism says, 
 'Down with greed, down with monopoly, down 
 with injustice, down with slavery, down with idle- 
 ness. Up with generosity, up with fair play, up 
 with justice, up with freedom, up with honest 
 industry, and let the nation's motto be, "Equal 
 opportunities to all, special privileges to none." : 
 
 "Yes, my riear husband," said Mrs. Ashton, 
 with enthusiasm, "I fully agree with the senti- 
 ments you b* .ve expressed, and, though a woman, 
 I v^ould be happy if I could do something that 
 
HENRY ASHTON 179 
 
 would aid in bringing about the triumph of such 
 a noble — such a holy cause. My heart bleeds in 
 sympathy for the outraged children, and the poor 
 landless, homeless men and women who have been 
 robbed of the fruits of their labor, not only in 
 America but in Australia, and in other countries 
 called civilized. I have been asking myself, Am 
 I entitled to the large fortune left me by my par- 
 ents, not a dollar of which I have earned ? I have 
 added nothing to the wealth nor the wisdom nor 
 the happiness of the world. I feel that in a true 
 sense I am not the owner of this property. I have 
 lands, and houses, and mortgages, and bonds and 
 stocks. What service have I rendered for them ? 
 None whatever. By reason of laws enacted by 
 men, these things are mine, but human laws are 
 often unjust. According to strict justice they do 
 not belong to me. My father was a good citizen, 
 a kind husband and father, and he was recognized 
 as an honest man, and a religious man, by those 
 who believe in the competitive system. He and 
 they thought any method of acquiring property 
 that was not in violation of laws that men made, 
 was an honest method. Now I know that nearly 
 all of his great accumulations came to him 
 through speculations, interest, rent, profits, and 
 dividends on stocks which cost nothing except for 
 the paper and printing. Having this knowledge, 
 my quickened conscience says to me, that I must 
 not appropriate this property, thus wrung from 
 the people who created it, to my selfish personal 
 uses. I am, therefore, willing, yes, anxious, to 
 make use of these millions in such a way that 
 mankind will be benefited and blessed. I cannot 
 now refund it to the identical persons from whom 
 
180 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 it was taken, but I have been thinking I might find 
 a way in which to use it for the well-being of their 
 children, or if not their children, then the descend- 
 ants of others. Have you thougnt on this line, 
 husband, and if so will you suggest some practical 
 method for the accomplishment of the objects I 
 have hinted at? Are you willing to second my 
 efforts in that direction?" 
 
 "I have given the subject much earnest 
 thought," replied Mr. Ashton, "and I am rejoiced 
 to know that you have arrived at the conclusion 
 you have. With all my heart I shall assist you in 
 executing your plans." 
 
 Ashton arose from his seat, walked over to his 
 wife, and dropping to one knee and placing his 
 arm about her, and imprinting a kiss upon her 
 lips, said : "My dear Lilly, I loved you from the 
 day when I first say you. and now I both love and 
 adore you with a deeper devotion than ever be- 
 fore." 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 HOW THE GREAT WEALTH OF THE HIGSBEE ESTATE 
 WAS MADE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE INAUGURA- 
 TION OF THE FAMOUS CO-OPERATIVE COMMON- 
 WEALTH IN THE ISLAND OF ZANLAND, AND THE 
 CAPITAL-LABOR PROBLEM SOLVED. — AMERICAN 
 VISITORS DELIGHTED OVER WHAT THEY SAW IN 
 THAT PROSPEROUS ISLAND. 
 
 A few days after the conversation mentioned 
 in the preceding chapter had occurred, Mr. Ash- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 181 
 
 ton invited his wife into the library room, and, 
 after they were seated, said : 
 
 "Lilly, a short time ago you requested me to 
 submit for your consideration a plan by which 
 you might put to the uses of humanity your for- 
 tune. I have been pondering over your sugges- 
 tion, and elaborating such a plan. I am now ready 
 to submit it to you. I propose that we devote our 
 lives and our fortunes to the work of establishing 
 a Co-operative or Collective Commonwealth. 
 That we may not do for a great nation, but I 
 am sure we can on a small scale, and yet of suffi- 
 cient magnitude to furnish a pattern which the 
 people of a State, or an empire, might easily and 
 profitably adopt. Your father left you large prop- 
 erties in the near-by island of Zanland, consisting 
 of lands, mines, timber, railroad stocks, etc. The 
 lands of this island are fertile ; it is well-watered ; 
 contains coal, copper, iron, silver and gold mines, 
 and oil. It has all the natural resources to sup- 
 port a large population. It already contains a 
 population of one million of inhabitants, with 
 large towns, some manufacturing, considerable 
 agriculture, and two or three railroads. While 
 the people are doing business under the competi- 
 tive system, they are intelligent and progressive. 
 Now I propose that we devote our fortune and 
 our energies to the work of converting that little 
 Republic into a Socialistic State. It will be no 
 small undertaking. We will at first be misunder- 
 stood and often misrepresented ; we will be called 
 agitators and disturbers of the peace and quiet of 
 the community, and some of the more ignorant as 
 well as some who are wealthy from having ex- 
 ploited their fellows, will report that we are an- 
 
182 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 archists. The aristocratic classes will ignore us ; 
 some of the clergy, who are Christians only in 
 name, will preach against us, and the lawyers and 
 courts will denounce us for disturbing vested 
 rights. We will be called upon to exercise pa- 
 tience and practice forbearance. To a great ex- 
 tent we will have to become martyrs. Are we pre- 
 pared to make all this sacrifice, my dear, to the end 
 that we may bring great blessings to our fellow- 
 men, especially to the generations yet unborn ?" 
 
 "Yes, yes, my dear husband," responded Mrs. 
 Ashton, "we are prepared. I have given the whole 
 subject my most earnest thought. I have asked 
 for divine assistance in arriving at a correct con- 
 clusion, and I am fully prepared to undertake the 
 work. All the great souls of all the past were os- 
 tracized, persecuted, imprisoned or crucified for 
 opposing old errors and endeavoring to bring new 
 and better conditions to their kind, but they fal- 
 tered not, and to-day the world, while enjoying 
 the fruits of their great endeavors, also honors 
 their memory, and they, themselves, are wearing 
 crowns of glory in the land of exalted spirits. Let 
 us not delay but enter upon our great work for 
 humanity at once." 
 
 "Bravo ! bravo ! my dear little wife !" enthusias- 
 tically ejaculated Ashton. "We shall set about 
 at once to carry out our plans." 
 
 On the following day Mr. and Mrs. Ashton 
 held another conference on the subject, which now 
 engrossed their entire time and attention. At this 
 interview Ashton said : 
 
 "The first thing for us to do is for each of us 
 to make a tour of Zanland and speak publicly to 
 the people, and to interest as many others as pos- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 183 
 
 sible to do likewise. In these addresses we shall 
 show from statistics and otherwise the grievous 
 defects of our present economic system, and the 
 inconceivable advantage that would redound to 
 the masses if they were to change it into a co-op- 
 erative. The people must be educated. Proper 
 literature must also be distributed among them. 
 At the present time all the newspapers of the isl- 
 and, except a very few, are either owned or are 
 subsidized by the trusts and other monopolists, 
 and no assistance to our cause can be expected 
 from them. In fact, we may expect their persist- 
 ent ridicule and misrepresentation. 
 
 Here Mrs. Ashton interrupted by saying: 
 "Would it not be a good idea, husband, for us to 
 establish a printing office and issue daily, or week- 
 ly, a Socialist newspaper through which the truth 
 might be told. The press is a great power for 
 good or for evil." 
 
 "A capital idea," responded Ashton. "Yes, it 
 is settled. We could expend several thousand dol- 
 lars to no better purpose than to establish a print- 
 ing plant at Centralia, the capital, and print and 
 send out Socialist reading matter and a weekly 
 journal. I most heartily second your suggestion, 
 and that much of our programme is settled. It 
 shall be done. Now our next effort should be to 
 teach the people to change the form of govern- 
 ment and turn it into a pure democracy, 'a gov- 
 ernment of the people, by the people, and for the 
 people.' To accomplish this is the first and most 
 important practical step in the great work we 
 contemplate. That accomplished, the foundation 
 will be laid for an ideal government. The rapid- 
 ity with which the remaining steps are taken will 
 
184 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 depend on the intelligence of the people them- 
 selves. My conviction is, that with Direct Leg- 
 islation established, the masses will soon inaugu- 
 rate full Socialism. I sincerely hope so, and yet 
 I would not urge them to go too fast. All the 
 problems involved in the transition from the old 
 to the new economic system, must be threshed 
 out. Even with Direct Legislation in full force 
 and effect, we may not fully anticipate all that the 
 people may do. They must experiment. I have 
 personally well-defined plans for the inaugura- 
 tion of Socialism, and shall work for their adop- 
 tion, and hope for their acceptance, but no one 
 may accurately predict just how, nor when, the 
 full-fledged Collective Commonwealth may be es- 
 tablished." 
 
 "Yes, I think you are correct in your conclu- 
 sions," replied Mrs. Ashton, "but after we suc- 
 ceed in prevailing upon the people to adopt the 
 Initiative and Referendum, what immediate next 
 steps would you advise the people to take ?" 
 
 "Next, as the land, and coal, and minerals, and 
 oil, and water, and electricity are nature's raw ma- 
 terials," said Ashton, "and necessary for man's 
 existence, and as they were not made by any act 
 of man, it is obvious they should never be owned 
 by private individuals. They of right — natural 
 right — belong to all the people collectively. There- 
 fore the people collectively should, by legal au- 
 thority, assume ownership of them as well as of 
 all other public necessities." 
 
 "Would the taking over of these public utilities 
 be the exercise of some new power by the govern- 
 ment?" asked Mrs. Ashton. 
 
 "No, not at all," replied Ashton. "The right 
 
HENRY ASHTON 185 
 
 of the people, acting through established channels, 
 to adopt such laws or regulations as the people 
 may desire, is recognized now by every civilized 
 country on earth. The people are supreme in 
 matters of government. They can make and un- 
 make all laws. Individual or private rights are in- 
 ferior to the rights of the public. The taking 
 over to the public lands, mines or any species of 
 property owned by individuals is strictly in ac- 
 cordance to precedent long established. Now, on 
 these fundamental principles, first, the establish- 
 ment of a pure democracy ; second, the collective 
 ownership of public necessities, I propose we go 
 to work to establish our Socialist State in the isl- 
 and of Zanland." 
 
 "I most heartily endorse your proposition," said 
 Mrs. Ashton, "and let us begin immediately to 
 carry out our plans." 
 
 Not twenty-four hours had passed before two 
 earnest souls, fired by love for humanity, had 
 mapped out their future course, and had taken 
 several initiatory steps in furtherance of their 
 plans. Mr. Batty, trusted friend and able lawyer, 
 was called into counsel, and his services secured 
 in formulating a system which was destined to 
 become a great success — one that presented a 
 practical solution of the economic problem of the 
 ages, brought untold blessings to millions of hu- 
 man beings, and sent the names of Mr. and Mrs- 
 Henry Ashton and George Batty down the ages 
 as public benefactors. 
 
 Several years have passed since Mr. and Mrs. 
 Ashton inaugurated their Socialistic movement in 
 Zanland. Let us now review their work and 
 
186 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 ascertain what measure of success they have at- 
 tained. That they might be in close touch with 
 their work they had, themselves, taken up their 
 residence on the island. 
 
 The writer of this narrative, having read im- 
 perfect and fragmentary descriptions of the ideal 
 government of Zanland, determined to visit the 
 place in person, and personally acquaint himself 
 with the people, their mode of living and of tran- 
 sacting business. In company with a friend of an 
 inquiring mind, we left New York for Australia 
 and proceeded to Zanland. We made the long 
 journey in safety, and on our arrival at Centralia 
 lost no time in calling on the Ashtons. We were 
 met by a most cordial reception. After spending 
 several days in traveling over the country, look- 
 ing at the well-tilled farms, going down into the 
 mines, visiting the manufactories, and the schools, 
 and public libraries, and museums, the pleasure 
 resorts and other interesting places, an appoint- 
 ment was made with the Ashtons for an interview, 
 at which Air. Ashton remarked he would take 
 great pleasure in answering all interrogatories re- 
 lating to the inauguration and practical working 
 of the economic system which had been crowned 
 by such satisfactory results. The writer and his 
 friend, Rev. Benjamin M. Fay, called at the Ash- 
 ton home promptly at the appointed time for the 
 meeting, and were warmly welcomed by Mr. and 
 Mrs. Ashton and invited into the library room, 
 where we met for the first time Mr. George Batty, 
 ex-attorney, now the associate of and co-worker 
 with the Ashtons. 
 
 After the usual greetings had been exchanged 
 
HENRY ASHTON 187 
 
 and some pleasant general conversation was in- 
 dulged in, Mr. Ashton said : 
 
 "Well, gentlemen, I understand you have come 
 all the way from the United States to investigate 
 affairs in Zanland. What is it you most desire to 
 know about us here on this island?" 
 
 ''We have," said the editor, "heard much about 
 your form of government and your economic sys- 
 tem. We have heard it most highly commended, 
 and on the other hand have heard it condemned. 
 If it is your pleasure to inform us, we would be 
 greatly gratified if you would give us a history of 
 your work here, how you started your Collective 
 Commonwealth, and what are the results. This 
 we desire for our own personal satisfaction and 
 also for the purpose of acquainting the American 
 people through the press on our return, with a 
 correct history of your movement." 
 
 "With the greatest of pleasure," replied Ash- 
 ton, "shall I respond to your request, so far as I 
 am able, assisted by my wife and Mr. Batty, who 
 deserve as much or more credit than is due me 
 for the great work that has been accomplished 
 here. 
 
 "To begin with," continued Ashton, "we began 
 our work by agitation, by educating the people to 
 understand that it would be to their best interests 
 and the interests of future generations to estab- 
 lish a pure democratic form of government. 
 When that was accomplished then all the other 
 good things followed. In all the republican, or 
 representative governments, the so-called public 
 servants are really not the servants of the people 
 who elected them, but they are their rulers and 
 can defy the people until their official term ex- 
 
188 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 pires. When men get into the law-making bodies 
 they are too often influenced by lobbies to vote for 
 measures the people do not want, and refuse to 
 pass laws which the people do want ; therefore, all 
 our first efforts were directed to bringing about a 
 partial abolition of a representative government 
 and the establishment in its stead of a democracy, 
 under which the people directly make and unmake 
 the laws. This movement we called the Initiative 
 and Referendum. Simultaneously with this de- 
 mand we also advocated the Imperative Man- 
 date." 
 
 "Will you be so kind as to explain quite fully 
 those terms?" asked Rev. Fay. 
 
 "Certainly," replied Ashton. "I can best do so, 
 perhaps, by giving you our mode of procedure 
 now, since we have the Initiative and Referendum 
 in good working condition : 
 
 "We have a legislative body consisting of but 
 one branch, which we have named the General 
 Assembly. There is no Senate. Delegates to the 
 Assembly are elected for a term of two years. 
 Laws enacted 1 by this Legislature are valid and 
 binding unless disapproved of by a majority of 
 the people. We have a President, but he can veto 
 no bills passed. The people alone exercise the 
 veto power. When eight per cent of the people of 
 either sex over twenty-one years of age are dis- 
 satisfied with any legislative enactment, they can, 
 by petition, require such law to be submitted to 
 the voters for ratification or rejection by a ma- 
 jority of voters at the polls. Eight per cent of all 
 the voters can also cause any proposed law they 
 may desire to be submitted to the people, whether 
 first enacted or not by the Assembly. All import- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 189 
 
 ant laws are thus passed upon by the people them- 
 selves. Now, this we call the Initiative and Ref- 
 erendum, and you may readily see that this inevi- 
 tably put an end to the work of lobbies and cor- 
 rupt men in the legislative bodies." 
 
 'That strikes me very favorably," said Mr. 
 Fay, "but what is the Imperative Mandate." 
 
 "The Imperative Mandate is our method for 
 calling upon any public officer to step down and 
 out before his term has expired, if he proves false 
 to his trust," said Ashton. "Any public servant, 
 be he president, legislator, judge, or any other 
 office-holder, can thus be called home at any time 
 by a majority vote of the people. This power ex- 
 ercised when occasion requires it to be applied, 
 keeps all our officials true to the best interests of 
 the people. Right here let me add, gentlemen, 
 that our theory was from the first that, if we could 
 establish Direct Legislation and the Right of Re- 
 call, that the foundation of an ideal Common- 
 wealth would be laid broad, and deep, and perma- 
 ment, and all other desirable things would natur- 
 ally and easily follow in due time, for then all 
 political power would be not in representatives of 
 the people but in the hands of all the people them- 
 selves." 
 
 Mrs. Ashton here signified a desire to speak, 
 when her husband said : "Speak, my dear, perhaps 
 I may be omitting to mention something import- 
 ant at this point." 
 
 "It occurred to me," said Mrs. Ashton, "that 
 the gentlemen might be interested in knowing that 
 among the first important steps taken after the 
 people of Zanland became enthused by a progres- 
 sive spirit, was to enfranchise women, and place 
 
190 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 them on a civil and political equality with the 
 male sex." 
 
 "Yes," responded Ashton, "I might have for- 
 gotten to mention that, and yet I would have been 
 very stupid had I not remembered it, and accord- 
 ed great credit to such action. I very much doubt 
 if our movement to establish the Commonwealth 
 would have been successful had the right to vote 
 and hold any office in the gift of the people been 
 withheld from women. In fact, I feel quite per- 
 suaded that it would have been a dismal failure." 
 
 "Did you not encounter much and fierce opposi- 
 tion to such innovations on old and revered cus- 
 toms as Direct Legislation and Equal Suffrage 
 were?" asked Mr. Fay. 
 
 "Yes, decidedly so," said Ashton. "The first 
 steps were not taken until after a long and bitter 
 contest, as the capitalists generally opposed the 
 movement and freely predicted its ignominious 
 failure if established. For some time they, by 
 sophistry and dismal prophesies, kept the votes of 
 the farmers and wage-workers divided between 
 the Republican and Democrat parties, but the toil- 
 ers finally came to understand that they could not 
 improve their condition in that way, so they with- 
 drew from the old parties and went over to the 
 Socialists. By uniting their votes they had a ma- 
 jority and were thus enabled to enact just such 
 laws as they desired. This having been accom- 
 plished, the good things which we now enjoy 
 came along in quick succession." 
 
 "After the Socialists gained a majority of votes 
 what important changes did they first inaugu- 
 rate?" asked the editor. 
 
 "The first radical movement they made," an- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 191 
 
 swered Ashton, "after the adoption of Direct Leg- 
 islation and the Right of Recall, was to Socialize 
 the land and the more important public utilities. A 
 law was enacted which provided for the taking 
 over to the State all lands not improved or occu- 
 pied, without any compensation to their so-called 
 private owners. The Commonwealth also as- 
 sumed ownership of all improved and occupied 
 lands, including railway and steamship lines. The 
 people caused an appraisement of the value of the 
 improvements to be made and compensated the 
 owners of the same to the amount of the appraise- 
 ment, issuing to them 'Commonwealth Due 
 Bills," which bear no interest, redeemable at the 
 option of the State in from five to twenty years in 
 gold or silver bullion, coal, iron, farm products, 
 or any other commodity produced collectively in 
 the island. Under this law no one is ejected from 
 his home, but he is given the right to occupy the 
 place so long as he may desire, but he cannot sell 
 the premises nor transmit them to heirs by will. 
 If he should voluntarily remove from the place, 
 he loses his right to again occupy it without per- 
 mission from the State through the proper offi- 
 cials. This wrought no hardship because he can 
 move into any other place that may be vacant. 
 Residents may also exchange their places of resi- 
 dence, each with the other, when they so mutually 
 agree." 
 
 "I can see how the less important properties 
 might be easily managed," said Mr. Fay, "but did 
 you not find it much more difficult to take over 
 the railroads and transportation lines ?" 
 
 "No," said Ashton, "those properties were also 
 acquired by the State without trouble. Upon in- 
 
192 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 vestigation we found that 'The Zanland Island 
 Railroad' had cost originally its private owners 
 but three millions of dollars, but they had watered 
 the stock to an equal amount and represented to 
 the public that it had cost six millions ; they were 
 charging the public for the carrying of freight 
 and passengers an exorbitant rate — so large that 
 they were enabled to make enormous dividends 
 annually, which went into the pockets of the men 
 who held these fictitious stocks. They had pat- 
 terned after the United States where the total 
 cost of all the railroads was six billions of dollars, 
 but they had been stocked at twelve billions. The 
 president of the Island Railroad received a salary 
 of $40,000 per year, and the other officers were 
 paid in proportion, while the daily laborers got 
 but 90 cents to $1.50 per day. These facts were 
 laid before the people and they said : 
 
 " 'The railroads are a public necessity. They 
 ought not to be owned privately. Once wagon 
 roads and turnpikes were private property, and 
 the owners put up toll-gates and collected money 
 from every one who traveled on those roads. 
 Then, as public necessity required their convert- 
 ing to public uses, the public took them. We 
 should do likewise with the railroads. The pri' 
 vatt owners of these roads have no right to 
 monopolize machinery and the power of steam 
 and deprive the masses of the advantage of the 
 discovery of nature's forces, and deceive the peo- 
 ple as to the cost of the property and charge ex- 
 orbitant prices for their services, and force their 
 employes to work at starvation wages. The farm- 
 ers especially complained that a few railway mag- 
 nates not only overcharged them for carrying 
 
HENRY ASHTON 193 
 
 their goods to market, but compelled them to pay 
 excessive prices for coal and iron and manufac- 
 tured goods, which they had to buy. A law was 
 therefore enacted directing that all railway and 
 steamship properties be duly appraised at their 
 actual value, exclusive of the value of the land 
 occupied, the private owners paid the appraise- 
 ment price and the property turned over to the 
 State to be operated under State supervision." 
 
 "What became of the thousands of employes?" 
 asked Mr. Fay. 
 
 "Why, they kept right on at work, of course," 
 said Ashton, "just as they would have done if one 
 private company had purchased the road of an- 
 other company. They were now working for the 
 State instead of a private corporation, and theii 
 hours of service per day were less, while theii 
 wages were much more." 
 
 "You spoke, Mr. Ashton, of the farmers being 
 especially dissatisfied with the treatment accorded 
 their class by the railroads and trusts," said Mr. 
 Fay. "Now, I am aware that the monopolists 
 increased the cost of living of the wage-workers 
 without materially raising their wages, but I do 
 not so clearly see how the farmer was seriously 
 damaged by them. Will you please to make that 
 plain ?" 
 
 "Most assuredly," replied Ashton. "The farm- 
 ers and mechanics have no trust or monopoly. In 
 your country they sell in a competitive market 
 and buy in large part in a monopoly market. 
 That is, they sell low and buy high, and the wider 
 and stronger the grasp of monopoly upon the in- 
 dustries, the lower, relatively, the farmer and la- 
 borer will sell, and the higher, relatively, the 
 
194 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 prices at which they must buy. Wealth goes 
 from the farmer in corn, cotton, wheat, etc., and 
 equal wealth does not come back simply because 
 the monopolist's profit is many times bigger than 
 the farmer's profit. For example, barbed wire 
 went up 150 per cent, while cereals fell 15 per 
 cent from 1898 to 1900 — that is, for each 100 
 pounds of barbed wire the wire trust takes three 
 times as many bushels of grain from the farmer 
 as was required three years ago, or for the same 
 quantity of grain the farmer gets only one-third 
 as many pounds of barbed wire as in 1898. 
 
 "The wealth coming to the farmer in return for 
 the wealth that goes from him is growing less and 
 less in the United States. The trusts are rapidly 
 increasing in number and power, the farmer is 
 paying more and more tribute to these kings 
 of commerce every year. The great cities where 
 the monopolists live are growing relatively richer 
 month by month, and the country districts poorer. 
 The Gulf stream sets from the farmer to the 
 counting-room of the monopolists. The trusts 
 are absorbing the wealth of the country. 
 
 "If the Nation's income is twenty-five billions 
 a year, and the trusts and monopolies take five 
 billions more than their goods or services are en- 
 titled to, there are five billions less than there 
 ought to be to go to the farmers, the merchants 
 and laboring men. And as trusts extend their 
 power the tribute paid to them becomes greater 
 and greater. 
 
 "This the farmers of Zanland finally came to 
 understand and they in company with the wage 
 workers and mechanics joined the Socialists and 
 were the main factors in establishing the Co-op- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 195 
 
 erative Commonwealth." Here the editor inter- 
 rupted by saying : 
 
 "You spoke, Mr. Ashton, of paying the pri- 
 vate owners of the railroads and steamship lines 
 the appraisement price. Will you kindly explain 
 in what did you pay them. I understand you 
 coin no metal money in the island. Did the state 
 issue bonds?" 
 
 "The Commonwealth issued 'promises to pay,' 
 which for the sake of convenience might be called 
 bonds," replied Ashton. "These notes bore no 
 interest, and were redeemable in from five to 
 twenty years at the option of the state, in gold or 
 silver bullion, wheat, corn, cotton or any product 
 of the Collective Commonwealth. The state re- 
 served the right to redeem all or only a part of 
 these bonds in the manner and time mentioned, 
 such right to be enforced if at any time it should 
 appear that owing to any national calamity, such 
 as shortness of crops, or other misfortunes, of 
 great magnitude, the interests of the people de- 
 manded such manner of liquidation. This right 
 to thus withhold payment, is based on the prin- 
 ciple that the interests and well-being of all the 
 people are greater than the interests of the few." 
 
 "Are there not some elements of repudiation 
 in that method, Mr. Ashton?" asked Mr. Fay. 
 
 "No. Our action could not be construed as re- 
 pudiation," replied Ashton, "for the state will 
 redeem all its obligations — not in what Europe 
 and America call money — but in the products of 
 our Collective Commonwealth. The reservation 
 to which you perhaps allude, is to be insisted upon 
 only in case of national emergency. The right 
 to exercise such power has long been recognized 
 
196 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 by the governments of the world and has been 
 exercised by them in great and exceptional emer- 
 gencies." 
 
 "Did not the incurring of such large indebted- 
 ness seriously embarrass you ?" asked the editor. 
 
 "Not in the least," answered Ashton. "As the 
 government appraisers squeezed out $1,500,000 
 of watered stocks, and appraised the value of the 
 railway properties at the cost of the material and 
 labor used in their construction, excluding the 
 value of the land which always did of natural 
 right belong to all the people, the amount re- 
 maining for the state to pay was very moderate. 
 It was found after the state had operated the 
 railroads two years, that the people were saved 
 a sum several thousands of dollars in excess of 
 the amount of bonds given its private owners for 
 the property. It was at first suggested by some 
 that the state refuse to purchase the Island rail- 
 roads and to construct new government lines. 
 Those favoring that argued that by so doing the 
 state would have better machinery and rolling 
 stock and more modern equipments. There were 
 many good features in that proposition but a ma- 
 jority thought best to take over the lines already 
 constructed. The private owners of the rail- 
 roads and the steamship lines were greatly alarm- 
 ed at the proposition that the people might 
 build their own roads and their own ships, for 
 they well knew that if that were done, freight 
 and passengers would be carried at cost of ser- 
 vice and they would be speedily bankrupted ; they 
 therefore implored the people to buy their prop- 
 erty at any price the people might be willing to 
 pay, and to compensate them for the same in 
 
HENRY ASHTON 197 
 
 whatever the Commonwealth might deem proper. 
 And I might here add that the telegraph and 
 telephone systems, the water and lighting plants 
 and many other public utilities became the prop- 
 erty of the people collectively in the same way. 
 In every instance the private owners were ex- 
 tremely anxious to dispose of their plants to the 
 state. Not one of them was ignorant of the 
 fact that if the Commonwealth established new 
 plants and served the people at cost, that their 
 business and their properties would be worth- 
 less." 
 
 Here Mr. Batty suggested that the visitors 
 might be interested in hearing a short history 
 of the work of the Oil Company and how the 
 people dealt with that gigantic monopoly. 
 
 "Well," responded Ashton, "it was discovered 
 by the pioneer builders of our Collective Com- 
 monwealth that a very wealthy and powerful oil 
 company of America, had, several years pre- 
 viously, sent their agents to Zanland and acquired 
 private ownership of all the rich oil lands of the 
 island. After getting well fortified they syste- 
 matically destroyed all the smaller companies, 
 then they advanced the price of refined oils to 20 
 cents per gallon while it cost them but about 
 two cents per gallon to produce it. Not confin- 
 ing themselves to monopolizing oil alone, they 
 bought up the coal mines, the copper and iron 
 mines, and secured a controlling interest in the 
 island railroad lines. They employed shrewd 
 men to manipulate political parties, attend cau- 
 cuses, secure the election of judges, legislators, 
 and others to official positions who would do their 
 bidding, and through their great newspapers 
 
198 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 which they had established at Centralia and in 
 the larger towns, they adroitly fostered the idea 
 that the island should maintain a standing army. 
 This they did that their employes to whom they 
 paid but from 75 cents to $1.50 per day for 
 their labor might be shot into submission if they 
 became discontented with their lot and attempted 
 to better their condition by striking for increased 
 wages and shorter day's service. The working 
 men formed Labor Unions, and for a time held 
 up the wages, but the capitalists managed to keep 
 them from uniting at the ballot box, and so all 
 the laws desired by the monopolists were enacted, 
 and the courts and army were under their con- 
 trol. By court injunctions, policemen's clubs and 
 the rifle and bayonets of the soldiers, the work- 
 ers were kept in subjection. Conditions for the 
 working people became so bad that parents were 
 compelled to put their tender children into the 
 mines and the workshops and factories, and the 
 combined wages of the entire family were barely 
 sufficient to procure the commonest necessities 
 of life. Ignorance, intoxication, insanity, and 
 crime grew out of such enforced condition of 
 the workers. The profits of this great oil com- 
 pany which had spread itself to all parts of the 
 island, were more than sixty millions of dollars 
 per year. The stockholders toiled not ; they ren- 
 dered no services to the public yet they became 
 possessed of inconceivable wealth, not one dollar 
 of which they honestly earned ; they lived in pal- 
 aces ; they owned yachts ; they blazed with dia- 
 monds and gorgeous apparel ; they reveled in 
 such luxury as would eclipse the extravagance of 
 the ancient kings of Babylon. All about them 
 
HENRY ASHTON 199 
 
 they saw, unmoved by pity, tender children forced 
 to work like slaves, and men, women and chil- 
 dren compelled to live in poverty, squalor and 
 wretchedness because of insufficient compensa- 
 tion allowed them for their labor, and yet in their 
 stately mansions and in their private palace cars 
 they had gorgeous apartments for cats and 
 dogs. They spurned with contempt and with 
 cruel scorn the hungry, homeless and sick tramp 
 from their back door, while they contributed 
 largely to the missionary fund of their church 
 and they shed tears at the thought that the 
 heathen of foreign lands would be eternally 
 damned unless the gospel was sent to them. 
 They hated the Labor Unions and the Socialists 
 with an intensity that cannot be expressed in 
 words, who they said, were disturbing the exist- 
 ing admirable order of things. They invoked the 
 courts for injunctions and called on the authori- 
 ties for bayonets and bullets to protect their prop- 
 erty. The life and liberty of the toilers, and the 
 slavery of the children of the poor in mines and 
 factories, were matters of insignificance to them, 
 but the sacredness of their property, acquired by 
 watered stocks and by exploiting other people, 
 was a consideration of supreme importance. 
 
 "The people of Zanland saw all this and they 
 said : 
 
 " 'This is not right. Infinite wisdom placed 
 the oil and the coal and the minerals in the earth 
 for the benefit of all the people, and not to be 
 owned by a few. We will do these crafty exploit- 
 ers no harm. They are the victims of an old but 
 a false — a pernicious — system of economics — a 
 system that has its roots in greed, that came 
 
200 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 down to us from a cruel tryrannical age, when 
 slavery was thought to be a divine institution. 
 Once all prisoners taken in war, if not mur- 
 dered, were made the slaves of their captors. 
 Once it was thought right for a few to own and 
 to buy and sell their fellowmen. But evolution 
 has been at work and now those practices are 
 condemned. But even yet the belief is quite 
 prevalent that a few shrewd millionaires may own 
 the labor of their fellowmen and the land, the 
 coal, the oil, the metals, the electricity, the ma- 
 chines — in short all of Nature's forces which 
 properly and by natural right belong to all the 
 people collectively — that are in fact essential to 
 their well-being to own ; but happily that belief 
 is rapidly giving away also.' The people of Zan- 
 land said : 
 
 " 'These millionaire monopolists are not per- 
 sonally bad men. Many of them are kind men 
 and so were the slave owners in America who 
 bought and sold men, women and children. They 
 are, however, greedy men and their minds have 
 not yet been illuminated by the light which the 
 law of evolution is bringing to the world. They 
 still think they should individually own nature's 
 resources and the labor of others, and compel the 
 workers to support them in luxury as the king 
 once required his slaves to do, but we will teach 
 them a better way. To utterly repudiate their 
 claim to the ownership of public utilities and to the 
 labor of their fellowmen would be morally right, 
 but we will be generous. We will pay them a 
 reasonable price, sufficient to cover the cost of 
 development of the mines exclusive of the value 
 of the undisturbed ore, or coal, or oil in them, 
 
HENRY ASHTON 201 
 
 and take over to the Commonwealth all these 
 things and operate them in the interest of all the 
 people.' They did so, and the people soon saved 
 enough by reason of the change to pay the full 
 amount they cost, and even the monopolists 
 finally admitted that the change was a good one." 
 
 "I think perhaps," continued Ashton, "that the 
 greatest glory of Zanland is our school system. 
 As Mrs. Ashton was largely instrumental in 
 formulating the system, and is entitled to much 
 credit for so presenting it to the public through 
 our publications, that they readily adopted it, I 
 will ask her to present to you the chief features 
 of our educational system." 
 
 "I deserve no more credit than yourself, or Mr. 
 Batty, for what has been accomplished," respond- 
 ed Mrs. Ashton, "but I have no objection to speak- 
 ing to our friends regarding the schools, for that 
 is a subject I am deeply interested in. My 
 thought was that the proper education of the 
 children is the most important work I or any one 
 else can engage in. After the employment of 
 children in factories, and mines, and workshops 
 was forbidden, and the compulsory educational 
 law was enacted, the next thing to be done was 
 to build the proper number of school houses and 
 colleges in every part of the island. Every child 
 between the ages of six and twenty-one is re- 
 quired to attend school. In these schools and col- 
 leges is taught all that the students are instructed 
 in in the schools of Europe or America, and much 
 more. Polytechnic departments, in which a 
 knowledge of cooking, garment making, carpen- 
 tering, and in fact every industry carried on in the 
 island is taught, were incorporated in the schools. 
 
202 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 There are also musical, art, and physical culture 
 departments. Every student is not only given a 
 theoretical but a practical education. He has 
 special training in that line of work to which he 
 seems best adapted. Not only does the state 
 provide the instruction but also the books, and 
 when necessary the student's clothing, board and 
 lodging. It affords me great pleasure, gentle- 
 men, to say that our school system is a decided 
 success. You should visit our schools and see for 
 yourselves the grand work that is being done by 
 them. And now I will ask you to excuse my 
 absence during the remainder of the day as I 
 wish to attend a woman's meeting at one of our 
 public halls where social and industrial questions 
 are to be discussed. It might interest you to 
 know that since equal suffrage and the Collective 
 Commonwealth was established here, that the 
 women have become, as a class, much more intel- 
 ligent, healthy and happy. Before Socialism was 
 established here when women were deprived of 
 their right to vote and matrimony was the 
 supreme object of every girl, a majority of 
 them made it their chief study to try to look 
 handsome. With an erroneous idea of what a 
 sensible man admires, they attempted to make 
 themselves resemble the pictures of the fashion- 
 able women of the popular magazines. They 
 pinched up their feet in shoes much too small 
 and made with ridiculously high and slender 
 heels ; they wore hats of indescribable shapes and 
 enormous size ; their dresses were so long that 
 they either dragged on the ground or had to be 
 held up in a hideous fashion when they walked, 
 but infinitely worse than all was the death-pro- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 203 
 
 during corset with which they made themselves 
 take on the shape of the wasp. It required some 
 time in which to convince them of the highly in- 
 jurious effects of compressing their waists which 
 results in the displacing of internal organs and 
 the consequent sowing of seeds of physical dis- 
 ease and death, and unfitting themselves to be- 
 come happy wives and mothers. But after per- 
 sistent effort they were induced to abandon 
 the murderous and silly practice of tight lacing. 
 Already a great improvement is observed in their 
 health. The girl with a lovely shape as nature 
 intended, is not only healthier and happier, but 
 much prettier than the wasp-waisted variety. 
 When our young ladies came to understand also 
 that the fashion plates do not correctly represent 
 men's idea of beauty — that in fact no sensible 
 man admires a too slender female waist, then it 
 was not difficult to induce them to let out the 
 corset laces. The publication of fashion maga- 
 zines such as abound in Europe and America, 
 which have cursed womankind and mankind also 
 beyond all estimate, is not encouraged in Zanland. 
 We believe in beauty, and in artistic dressing, 
 but we insist that the dress shall not crucify the 
 wearer and unfit her to become a healthy, happy 
 wife and mother. Our girls who marry become 
 healthy, cheerful wives, and their children are 
 well born and divorces are very rare. Under the 
 old system, the young man who married the 
 fashionable girl usually had also to provide his 
 wife, from the first, with a servant, for the phys- 
 ical constitution of the young wife had been hope- 
 lessly wrecked. Weak, peevish, internal organs 
 displaced — a nervous wreck — made anything but 
 
204 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 a happy home. Children, if born at all, died 
 young, or grew up with delicate constitutions ; the 
 wife faded early ; disappointment and unhappi- 
 ness crept into the home, and neglect, unfaithful- 
 ness and divorce followed. One of the best re- 
 sults of the establishment of the Collective Com- 
 monwealth and of equal suffrage is the effect 
 upon women. Their sphere was enlarged and 
 they have proven themselves worthy to be en- 
 trusted with their new powers and wider oppor- 
 tunities." 
 
 Mrs. Ashton was about to bow herself out 
 when Mr. Batty said : 
 
 "I wish to add my testimony in corroboration 
 of what Mrs. Ashton has said, relative to the im- 
 provement in womankind, since the Collective 
 Commonwealth was established. I have been a 
 bachelor many years and would have remained 
 a bachelor for life if our girls had continued 
 on in their old ways, but now, since they have 
 turned over a new leaf and are storing their minds 
 with useful knowledge, and are exhibiting their 
 good sense in matters of dress, and are growing 
 healthy and more beautiful from having aban- 
 doned the cruel and murderous corset-squeezing, 
 I am half inclined to withdraw from the Bache- 
 lor's Club, and seek one of Zanland's fair daugh- 
 ters and ask her to share in my joys and sor- 
 rows for life. But now I interrupted the con- 
 versation for the purpose of suggesting to Mrs. 
 Ashton before she leaves us, to devote a few 
 minutes more to a brief description of our mater- 
 nity hospitals which are largely the result of the 
 efforts of the ladies of Zanland." 
 
 "Our maternity hospitals," said Mrs. Ashton, 
 
HENRY ASHTON 205 
 
 "are temporary homes where expectant mothers 
 may go and remain a few months. Here they are 
 relieved from all care and anxiety. They have 
 access to a library well supplied with books, mag- 
 azines and other publications, from various parts 
 of the world. Here they have music and games, 
 and all varieties of innocent amusements. Lec- 
 tures are delivered twice each week on heredity, 
 environments, and ante-natal influences, physical 
 culture, proper diet, right thinking, and the right 
 of children to be well born. The walls of these 
 hospitals are adorned by fine paintings ; fountains 
 play in the lawns and gardens ; birds sing in the 
 trees in the near by parks, and happiness and 
 cheerfulness pervade the place. The best of phy- 
 sicians and nurses are in constant attendance. 
 No woman is required to become an inmate of 
 the maternity hospitals but ninety per cent of 
 prospective mothers are found there. Some pre- 
 fer to remain at home awaiting the supreme event, 
 and those who do so are given an extra allow- 
 ance and skilled nurses are provided for them. 
 Nothing perhaps in our Commonwealth is more 
 popular nor so productive of good as these hos- 
 pitals. They are proving to the world that all 
 children are not born totally depraved as was 
 once taught. On the contrary the results show 
 that if the expectant mothers are surrounded by 
 proper environments, and are relieved of all an- 
 noyances and fear of poverty, and are exempted 
 from hard toil, and are placed where they hear 
 good music, can read good books, and see beauti- 
 ful sights, that their children come into the world 
 endowed with robust constitutions, cheerful, 
 happy dispositions and bright minds. It is my 
 
206 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 solemn conviction that the old countries where 
 the masses are still in deep poverty and the ex- 
 pectant mothers are often treated with less con- 
 sideration than is given the female animals, will 
 continue to be cursed by illy born offspring, and 
 that drunkenness, licentiousness, venality and 
 crime will go on undiminished. I hope, gentle- 
 men, that when you return to America that you 
 will do what you can to influence your people 
 to think earnestly on this subject. If your coun- 
 try should adopt but a single feature of our in- 
 stitutions of Zanland, and it were left to me to 
 designate and recommend that one, I would say 
 establish and maintain at public expense, mater- 
 nity hospitals in every county in America. One 
 of your distinguished educators and thinkers once 
 said : 'The time to begin educating children is 
 before they are born.' " 
 
 So saying Mrs. Ashton bid a temporary fare- 
 well to the party and withdrew, Mr. Ashton ac- 
 companying her to the automobile, remarking as 
 he did so: 
 
 "Gentlemen, I ask you to excuse me also for 
 a brief period. Mr. Batty will, I doubt not, take 
 pleasure in responding to any inquiry you may 
 make touching our affairs in Zanland." 
 
 "With the greatest of pleasure," said Mr. Batty, 
 
 "Well, then," said the editor, "will you kindly 
 explain to us your custom or law governing 
 wages or the compensation to the individual for 
 services rendered to the state ?" 
 
 "All business of a public nature," said Batty, 
 "is conducted by the administrative power of the 
 Commonwealth. It was found that where a just 
 system of production and distribution is main- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 207 
 
 tained, under which every one who renders use- 
 ful service receives the full benefit of his labor 
 (no one individual making a profit from the 
 labor of his fellow), that every thing necessary 
 for the comfort of every member of the Com- 
 monwealth, could be produced by the service of 
 able-bodied adults between the ages of twenty- 
 one and fifty, by working from four to six hours 
 per day. A law was therefore enacted exempting 
 from labor, minors, and all men and women who 
 had attained to the age of fifty years. All in ex- 
 cess of that age were placed on the retired list 
 and provided for. The sick, and those physic- 
 ally or mentally incapacitated, were taken care 
 of in the homes for the aged. One of our mot- 
 toes is, 'One for all and all for one,' hence every 
 able-bodied adult between the ages named ren- 
 der service to the state, be they ministers, phy- 
 sicians, teachers, artists, musicians, clerks, book- 
 keepers or manual laborers." 
 
 At this point Mr. Fay said : 
 
 "I think I have heard that you do not use 
 money in the island. If that is correct how do 
 yau pay the wages of those who render public 
 services?" 
 
 "We do not use metal money in Zanland," re- 
 plied Mr. Batty. "I will now explain that im- 
 portant part of our system and I ask you to be 
 patient with me for this feature of our govern- 
 ment is somewhat complicated and ought not 
 to be too briefly stated. 
 
 "First, then, the island is divided into many 
 departments and sub-departments, the size vary- 
 ing according to the population. Each depart- 
 ment has one common store house or depository 
 
208 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 located at a point most convenient and accessible 
 to the residents of such department. At the head 
 of these departments is a competent superintend- 
 ent with a proper number of assistants. The 
 products of the respective departments are stored 
 in the general or central depositories, or in the 
 sub-depositories, as the convenience of the peo- 
 ple indicates. This is called the Produce De- 
 partment. 
 
 ''The same territory also constitutes a Service 
 Department which is presided over by a super- 
 intendent who is assisted by foremen of all the 
 different lines of industry. At the end of each 
 week Certificates of Service which are desig- 
 nated 'Time Checks,' are given to each person 
 rendering service in the district. These certifi- 
 cates show the number of hours the holder has 
 served the Commonwealth during the week. 
 With these time checks, which are issued in de- 
 nominations representing full days or fractions 
 of days of service, the holder can purchase at 
 the department store any article that his neces- 
 sities or fancy may prompt him to desire. They 
 can also be applied in payment of transportation 
 over the railway or steamship lines. As the de- 
 partment stores, or depositories, contain an assort- 
 ment of everything that industry produces all the 
 citizens' wants may thus be easily supplied." 
 
 "But," said Mr. Fay, "what will prevent a 
 John D. Morgan or a Pierpont Rockefeller from 
 exploiting the industrious citizen by buying up 
 all or a large part of the outstanding time 
 checks ?" 
 
 "Nothing could be gained by such an exploit," 
 said Mr. Batty, "even if it were possible to do 
 
HENRY ASHTON 200 
 
 55. First, because money as used in Europe and 
 America is not employed here in any business 
 transaction. Second, the checks are redeemable 
 in nothing but goods, and an excess of certificates 
 above what the monopolist could exchange for 
 something he could eat, wear or use, would be of 
 no value to him whatever. Moreover, the orig- 
 inal certificate holder would not care to exchange 
 his certificate for foreign money because it would 
 be of slight value to him unless he wished to 
 travel abroad. As interest, rent and profit, are 
 eliminated from our system, the schemer would 
 gain nothing by cornering our medium of ex- 
 change. Being paper our money is devoid of in- 
 trinsic value." 
 
 "In the event," said the editor, "there are able- 
 bodied men between the ages of twenty-one and 
 fifty, who refuse to render any service to the 
 Collective Commonwealth, and become mendi- 
 cants or tramps from choice, how do you deal 
 with them ?" 
 
 "It is a lav/ of the island," replied Batty, "that 
 he who will not work shall not eat. 'Every one 
 according to his deeds,' is our motto. The busi- 
 ness of the country as has already been stated, is 
 transacted on the Socialist plan. All the things 
 produced and used can be procured only from the 
 department stores. Nothing is sold for money. 
 Everything that goes from the store, goes out 
 because a service certificate comes in. He who 
 does no service gets no certificate, and he who 
 has no certificate can get no goods. Under an 
 industrial system, like ours, where from four to 
 six hours' service per day will secure all the com- 
 forts and luxuries of life, but few will be found 
 
210 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 who will refuse to cheerfully perform their share 
 of service ; but we have a remedy for mendicants 
 and vagrants who are such from choice. Every 
 citizen of the Commonwealth knows that there 
 is not the shadow of an excuse for begging, be- 
 cause the opportunity to work is open to all, 
 hence no one gives to the mendicant. They well 
 know as he knows, that if he is able-bodied, the 
 state offers him employment on the same terms 
 it gives employment to every other citizen, and 
 if he is physically or mentally incapacitated, the 
 hospital doors stand open for him. We have 
 jails and confinement for the incorrigible mendi- 
 cant, as well as prisons and punishment for all 
 others who violate our laws, but our jails in Zan- 
 land are nearly empty and our criminals are so 
 rare that they are a curiosity." 
 
 "I would like to enquire," said the editor, 
 "how your labor is carried on ; that is, do work- 
 ers in the fields, or mines, or sewers, work the 
 same number of hours and receive the same com- 
 pensation as the teachers, or doctors, or others 
 engaged in indoor work?" 
 
 "The labor of the Commonwealth," said Batty, 
 "is divided into three departments or classes, to- 
 wit, A., B. and C. 
 
 "A day's service in the 'A' department, is 
 four hours, and is of that class which is very 
 arduous, involving extra hazard to life and limb, 
 or health. In this class are the laborers in coal 
 and metal mines, firemen and engineers, brake- 
 men, switchmen, toilers in steel works, in t.ewers 
 and other places where there is imminent danger 
 from accidents, poisonous gases and explosives. 
 
 "In the 'B' department, artists, skilled median- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 211 
 
 ics, officers, musicians, teachers, ministers, phy- 
 sicians, foremen, clerks, bookkeepers, and oth- 
 ers who fill places of responsibility requiring 
 technical skill, executive ability, etc., five hours 
 constitute a day's service. 
 
 "All others not classified in 'A' or 'B' are con- 
 sidered to be in class 'C,' and their service is six 
 hours per day. 
 
 "The wage or compensation of each worker, 
 in the three classes, for a day's service is the 
 same ; that is, a worker in class 'A' who labors 
 four hours receives a certificate of equal pur- 
 chasing power as the worker receives in class 
 'B' who labors five hours, while those in class 
 'C receive for their day's service of six hours, 
 a check of equal purchasing power as those in 
 either of the other classes. 
 
 "No worker is compelled to cease labor in any 
 class after he has performed his day's service, 
 but he has the right to work longer than the four, 
 five, or six hours per day, if he so desires, re- 
 ceiving for such excess over a standard day's 
 service, time checks at the same ratio of com- 
 pensation as may be paid in his class. Thus the 
 very industrious, faithful man, may earn more 
 than the slothful, and with his larger earnings can 
 purchase more of those things he may desire for 
 private use, or travel more on the public railways 
 or steamboat lines. Even under Socialism, the 
 industrious worker will have a finer home, more 
 musical instruments, a greater library, a better 
 automobile, a more spirited team of horses, more 
 elegant clothing — in short more non-productive 
 property of every kind than the improvident and 
 lazv man." 
 
212 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 "May I enquire,'' asked the editor, "by what 
 method you classify the people in these three 
 classes ?" 
 
 "Certainly," replied Mr. Batty. "Registration 
 books are opened in each service department on 
 the first day of December of each year, and re- 
 main open one month. All adult citizens are 
 called upon to appear personally and register his 
 or her name in such books, stating their name, 
 age, sex, and place of residence, and indicating 
 the class in which they desire to work during the 
 ensuing year. They thus classify themselves, but 
 for good cause shown, the classification may be 
 altered or modified by the Boards of Classifica- 
 tion. These boards, consisting of five citizens of 
 the respective departments, are chosen by the 
 people of the district at a general election and 
 they have the power to modify or correct such 
 classification when necessary. Any citizen has 
 the right to appeal from their decision to a central 
 and higher Board of Classification. 
 
 "In addition to the three classes named, we 
 have a special or honorary class. None are as- 
 signed to this class nor can they register them- 
 selves as belonging to it. Entrance to the hon- 
 orary class can be gained in but one way. If 
 a citizen has distinguished himself by great and 
 exceptional proficiency as a surgeon, or artist, or 
 teacher, or musician, or inventor, or scholar, or 
 public benefactor, or in any calling, he may be 
 promoted out of the other classes by a majority 
 vote of the people at a special election called for 
 that purpose. His name must first be proposed 
 for such distinction by the General Assembly. 
 Members of the honorary class receive no extra 
 
HENRY ASHTON 213 
 
 compensation, but shall be compensated for their 
 services of whatever kind, by time checks at a 
 like rate as are those of class A." 
 
 "Is not your system somewhat arbitrary," ask- 
 ed Mr. Fay. 
 
 "No," replied Mr. Batty, "not at all. You are 
 aware that no government nor large enterprise 
 of any kind can be carried on without some or- 
 derly, well defined system of procedure. In the 
 United States, and in the European States, the 
 law requires persons to submit to rigid examina- 
 tions before they are employed as teachers in the 
 schools, or in the postal or any other department 
 of the government. If this were not so no gov- 
 ernment nor large enterprise of any sort could 
 succeed. As to the classification of workers, that 
 is easily accomplished and has proven very satis- 
 factory in the island. The great masses of our 
 people are registered in class 'C There are two 
 good reasons for that : The first is that most men 
 would prefer to work six hours per day where 
 the labor is not hard and there is little or no 
 risk to health, or life, or limb, than to go into 
 class 'A' and labor four hours underground or 
 where the work is harder, and yet there are suffi- 
 cient numbers in class 'A' to carry on all the la- 
 bor necessary to be done in that class. The sec- 
 ond reason why the greater number of our peo- 
 ple are in class 'C is, that not being skilled me- 
 chanics, nor possessing the necessary education 
 and qualification to become physicians, teachers, 
 inventors, artists, or managers, they prefer to 
 labor in class 'C Probably the greater number 
 will be found in class 'C for generations of time. 
 If any citizen, after the work of registration has 
 
214 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 been completed, desires to change to another class, 
 he may apply to the Board of Examiners which 
 holds a meeting to investigate such matters on 
 the first Monday of each month, and if he can 
 show cause for such change, it will be so ordered 
 by the board. If a worker's services at any time 
 prove unsatisfactory in the class in which he is 
 employed he may, by the superintendent of that 
 class, be changed to another class, and if such 
 action is unsatisfactory to the worker, he can 
 appeal his case to the Board of Examiners, and 
 if he is not satisfied with their decision, he has 
 the right to carry his appeal up to the Assembly, 
 and if that body decides contrary to what he may 
 desire, he can avail himself of the right of the 
 Referendum and take his case before the people 
 at the polls. This is his court of last resort. It 
 must be remembered that our government is a 
 pure democracy ; the people are supreme in all 
 matters pertaining to the affairs of the Common- 
 wealth. Our present system was not established 
 without many experiments in many things. I 
 would not contend that it is perfect yet. When 
 the people perceive wherein an improvement can 
 be made they make it." 
 
 At this moment Mr. Ashton again joined the 
 company when Mr. Batty asked to be excused 
 for the remainder of the day, as he wished to 
 attend a lecture to be delivered at one of the 
 public halls, by Prof. Holmes of the State Uni- 
 versity. As he arose to depart he said : 
 
 "Gentlemen, I again turn you over to Mr. 
 Ashton, who, I know, will take great delight 
 in further enlightening you as to the practical 
 workings of our Co-Operative Commonwealth. 
 
HENRY ASHTON 215 
 
 No man is better qualified to impart that informa- 
 tion than Mr. Ashton, to whom more than any 
 other, is due the credit of formulating our ad- 
 mirable system of economics and putting it into 
 successful operation." 
 
 "You do me too much honor," modestly an- 
 swered Ashton. "You forget, Mr. Batty, the in- 
 estimable advantage your counsel, and that of 
 Mrs. Ashton, has been to all concerned in the 
 work to which you allude. However, gentlemen, 
 I am again at your service." 
 
 "It has occurred to me," said Mr. Fay, "that 
 perhaps your system may be somewhat compli- 
 cated and difficult in application. Have you 
 found it so?" 
 
 "No; quite the contrary," replied Mr. Ashton. 
 "We have a National president and various ad- 
 ministrative departments with a cabinet officer at 
 the head of each, who, with his corps of assist- 
 ants, conduct the business of the respective de- 
 partments in an orderly, methodical manner. In 
 the United States you have a Secretary of State, 
 Secretary of War, Secretary of the Navy, Secre- 
 tary of the Interior, a Postmaster General, and 
 other cabinet officers. They have scores of thou- 
 sands of assistants, and the business of eighty 
 millions of people is thus managed with little 
 confusion. In Zanland we have also cabinet 
 officers corresponding to nearly all you have in 
 America, but we have some additional ones, such 
 as Secretary of Production, Secretary of Distri- 
 bution and Secretary of Transportation. These 
 three latter are our most important cabinet offi- 
 cers, and the business of each is conducted in 
 a highly satisfactory manner. All public servants 
 
216 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 holding important positions of trust and respon- 
 sibility, you will remember, are elected by the 
 people, but can be recalled at any time as here- 
 tofore explained, if they prove incompetent or 
 untrustworthy." 
 
 Here the editor interposed to ask : 
 "I understand that in your Commonwealth all 
 productive property is owned collectively, and 
 non-productive property may be owned privately. 
 Now, I wish to ask if any class of property can 
 be transmitted to heirs by will or inheritance ?" 
 
 "No property," said Ashton, "can be trans- 
 mitted by will or the laws of inheritance, ex- 
 cept that which is of a purely private and of a non- 
 productive nature, such as paintings, musical in- 
 struments, books, yachts, automobiles, house fur- 
 nishings, wearing apparel and such other prop- 
 erty that cannot be put to public uses, and made 
 to produce other property. I will venture to re- 
 peat what I think I have stated before, that only 
 that class of property which shows by its nature 
 that it is of a productive sort, and can be used col- 
 lectively, is so owned, while that which, from its 
 nature, shows it is adapted to private uses only, 
 and cannot be put to general public use, is owned 
 privately. And here let me say, gentlemen, that 
 we have found that the more we extend the pub- 
 lic use of things, the wealthier do the individ- 
 uals and families become in the possession of 
 private property. Under the competitive system, 
 the few became enormously wealthy while the 
 many had but little. Our system levels down the 
 millionaire and levels up the masses. As the 
 workers get the full benefit of their labor, the 
 more private property and luxuries can they have 
 
HENRY ASHTON 217 
 
 in their homes. Under our system the workers 
 have better houses, more and better clothing, 
 more books, finer musical instruments and pic- 
 tures ; they have automobiles and private yachts, 
 and carriages, and spirited horses, and have more 
 leisure and can travel more. I think you will 
 admit, gentlemen, that the desire or ambition of 
 an abject slave for property and the things se- 
 cured by property, is crushed out, and in time he 
 is forced into degradation and ignorance and that 
 a contentment with his condition follows. With 
 the accumulation of property, comes hope and 
 education, and intelligence, and aspiration. So- 
 cialism levels up the masses. It gives to them 
 vastly more personal property than they can pos- 
 sibly acquire under the old system, or rather they 
 possess the things they have worked for, instead 
 of those things being possessed by the crafty few 
 who have really earned little." 
 
 "In Europe and America," said Mr. Fay, the 
 saloon is a curse. How do you manage the 
 liquor business here?" 
 
 "Quite easily and satisfactorily," answered Mr. 
 Ashton. "In the old countries where the com- 
 petitive system of business is still adhered to, 
 and there is such an insane struggle to get money, 
 saloons spring up like mushrooms. There are 
 large profits in the business and the inducement 
 is very strong for men to engage in that occupa- 
 tion, for every man knows that in those coun- 
 tries, a man without money might nearly as well 
 be in prison or the grave; they know money is 
 hard to get by day's labor, while the trusts have 
 made it a herculean task for the business man, of 
 small capital, to succeed : hence thousands of men 
 
218 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 engage in the saloon business who would prefer 
 some other if it insured a livelihood. Now in 
 Zanland, there is no excuse for engaging in that 
 calling; indeed there is no inducement whatever 
 to open a saloon. We do not restrict the citi- 
 zen's liberty to eat or drink what he wants, but all 
 profit is eliminated from the traffic and the temp- 
 tation to drink offered by saloons is removed. 
 Alcoholic liquors can be procured only at the 
 department stores. There is no bar there, no 
 lounging place, nothing in the way of surround- 
 ings that would in any way tempt one to drink. 
 No drinking of liquors is allowed in the depart- 
 ment stores nor on the premises. As libraries and 
 reading rooms and pleasure resorts abound in all 
 parts of the island, and as no alcoholic liquors 
 are sold or used at such places, drunkenness has 
 almost entirely disappeared. But few saloon- 
 keepers follow the calling from choice in any 
 country. Give them more desirable employ- 
 ment, and a very large proportion of them would 
 go out of the liquor selling and distilling business. 
 Liquors are manufactured by the Commonwealth 
 for medicinal and mechanical purposes in mod- 
 erate quantities and are not adulterated. They 
 are thus much less harmful than those made for 
 profit in other countries." 
 
 "During this interview," said the editor, "you 
 spoke of prisons and asylums. May I enquire 
 how you manage those institutions ?" 
 
 "Since we abandoned the competitive system 
 of business," replied Ashton, "crime of all kinds 
 has greatly diminished. I suppose you are aware 
 that in your country the great majority of inmates 
 of your penitentiaries are there because of 
 
HENRY ASHTON 219 
 
 offenses committed against the property rights 
 of your people — such offenses as defalcations, 
 swindling, forgery, burglary, perjury, theft, rob- 
 bery, etc. A very large number convicted of the 
 graver crimes, such as assaults, and murder, per- 
 petrated those offenses from an impulse to ob- 
 tain property or money. Now, our Socialist 
 Commonwealth has removed all temptation to 
 commit such crimes, hence we have very few 
 criminals. Our treatment of convicts is kind 
 and of a reformatory nature. A strict discipline 
 is enforced in our prisons, but the criminal is 
 encouraged to reform. At the expiration of his 
 term of confinement he is furnished employment 
 in one of the three classes named, on an equal- 
 ity with all other citizens. It may therefore be 
 easily perceived why we have very few criminals. 
 We are careful always to keep the younger and 
 less hardened convicts from associating with 
 those of a more pronounced and depraved type. 
 Of course we have reform schools for youthful 
 offenders. As to our insane : They too are rap- 
 idly diminishing. In the United States a large 
 proportion of those whose minds became unbal- 
 anced were made insane by the fierce and cruel 
 competition you have there. Loss of property, 
 failure in business, and almost constant high ner- 
 vous strain to make money, bank suspensions, 
 despondency on the part of parents to supply the 
 necessities of life for their children, hard, exhaus- 
 tive labor, insufficient food, unusual exposure in 
 the awful struggle to secure property, and the 
 mothers giving birth to children badly balanced 
 mentally because of poverty and consequent de- 
 spondency — all these contribute very largely to 
 
220 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 the crowding of your asylums for the insane. 
 We have a few such unfortunates, but their num- 
 ber grows less every year. I have no doubt that 
 our economic system of co-operation and our ma- 
 ternity hospitals will in one or two generations 
 almost entirely prevent all insanity among our 
 people. We inaugurated a new departure from 
 your method of treating the insane in the United 
 States. We do not huddle them together in 
 large numbers, for to do so creates conditions un- 
 der which it is difficult to restore them to their 
 right mind. Some of our scientists and psychol- 
 ogists maintain that insanity is contagious. In- 
 stances are cited in which sane attendants from 
 long association with the insane have themselves 
 lost their mental balance, while other instances 
 are given in which insane persons were soon re- 
 stored to their normal condition by being sepa- 
 rated from other insane persons. We therefore 
 segregate our insane into small groups, and by 
 music, pleasant surroundings, frequent change 
 of environments, and hypnotic treatment in con- 
 nection with proper diet, and the most advanced 
 medical treatment, we have been very successful 
 in restoring them to their right mind." 
 
 "Do you have banks in Zanland?" asked Mr. 
 Fay. 
 
 "No," said Ashton, "we have no use for banks. 
 Money loaning, mortgages, interest-bearing notes, 
 pawn shops, brokers' offices, stock gambling, lot- 
 teries — in fact all speculation and gambling, and 
 one man overreaching and exploiting his neigh- 
 bor, are unknown here." 
 
 "You have courts and lawyers, I presume?" 
 said the editor. 
 
HENRY ASHTON 221 
 
 "Our courts," said Ashton, "are very simple 
 institutions, and have little to do. Since we 
 abandoned the competitive system of business 
 which also abolished cause for fighting among 
 neighbors, nineteen-twentieths of the civil litiga- 
 tion has disappeared. We have one court for 
 each designated district, and two judges to each 
 court who preside alternately. The main features 
 of the old trial by jury are maintained in this 
 court which has jurisdiction of both civil and 
 criminal cases. An appeal from the decision of 
 this court may be taken to the General Assembly 
 and from the Assembly to the people at the polls. 
 As in other matters the verdict of the people, 
 which is obtained by the Referendum already ex- 
 plained, is final." 
 
 "Your system so far outlined," said the edi- 
 tor, "seems so fair and so sensible that I am 
 almost persuaded that it might be adopted in 
 all civilized countries, but until it is so adopted 
 it occurs to me that there is one serious defect." 
 
 "And what is that,' asked Mr. Ashton. 
 
 "Your time checks," said the editor, "may be 
 and it seems they are, sufficiently good on which 
 to conduct all the domestic business of your State, 
 but they do not pass current in other countries. 
 I take it that you do not import any goods for 
 the reason that you cannot purchase any thing 
 abroad with your Time Checks or Labor Certifi- 
 cates. Am I not correct, Mr. Ashton?" 
 
 "Your supposition," said Ashton, "that our 
 Time Checks have little or no value outside of 
 Zanland is correct, and yet we have no difficulty 
 in buying abroad any goods we may desire. We 
 import but little, however, as our island contains 
 
222 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 nearly everything in the way of raw material nec- 
 essary for our happiness, when we apply our 
 labor to those materials, but we do import some 
 articles. We have in force reciprocity treaties, 
 with other countries. As we have, in Zanland, 
 gold mines from which we take large quantities 
 of the yellow ore, which with us is a commodity 
 and not money, and which is stored in our depos- 
 itories, we can and do, easily exchange the gold 
 at its bullion value with foreigners for the goods 
 we wish to buy of them. The foreigner coins the 
 bullion into money, but we do not. Our system 
 of exchange is infinitely superior to that of the 
 foreigner. Our money, being paper devoid in 
 itself of intrinsic value, and only representing 
 value, cannot be speculated in. Metal money not 
 only represents value, but in and of itself con- 
 tains a value as a commodity which can be used 
 for purposes other than that of passing as money. 
 It often fluctuates because its value depends on 
 supply and demand. The use of metal money 
 has caused hundreds of widespread commercial 
 panics in which scores of thousands of honest 
 industrious people lost the fruits of their indus- 
 try of a lifetime. 
 
 "We also export some of our products, other 
 than gold bullion, which under reciprocity, are 
 easily exchanged for those things we want from 
 other countries. Individual citizens of Zanland 
 who contemplate going abroad may also equip 
 themselves with the means of purchasing goods 
 in other countries, by exchanging their Time 
 Checks, at the depository, for gold bullion which 
 they carry with them to other countries which 
 bullion is easily converted into the currency of 
 
HENRY ASHTON 223 
 
 such country or exchanged for the goods they 
 may wish to buy." 
 
 Here Mr. Fay interrupted by asking: 
 "I understand," said he, "that all the food and 
 clothing required by your people are produced 
 collectively. Now I can readily see how the cloth- 
 ing can be distributed from the department stores 
 on presentation of Time Checks, but I do not 
 clearly understand how the things the people want 
 to eat are distributed. Do you, in Zanland, have 
 cooking departments and department eating 
 houses ?" 
 
 "It is the policy of our people," replied Ashton, 
 "to preserve the home and the family. The Com- 
 monwealth provides each family a house with 
 half an acre of ground free from taxes and rental. 
 The right of the family to occupy the place in- 
 definitely is supreme against the claim of every 
 other person. If, however, they vacate it, and 
 take up their residence elsewhere, another family 
 may move in and hold it against all others. Now 
 the family can purchase their food with their 
 labor checks, and prepare their own meals at 
 home, if they prefer to do so, and their purchases 
 are delivered to them from the department store. 
 This is done as easily here as your groceries are 
 delivered to you in America. For the conven- 
 ience, however, of those who have no families, 
 and for families who do not desire to prepare their 
 own meals, the Commonwealth conducts restau- 
 rants or eating houses in all towns and hamlets, 
 in which a majority of electors have legally ex- 
 pressed their desire to have such a house. Here 
 the meals are prepared by assistants of the Dis- 
 tributive Department, and are paid for in Time 
 
224 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 Checks at a price fixed by the proper officials. A 
 great many women find that these public dining 
 halls relieve them of much anxiety and labor, and 
 they prefer to take their meals there instead of at 
 home. As all profit is eliminated, the meals are 
 furnished at a price that is nominal. In this con- 
 nection it will be proper, perhaps, for me to say 
 that we maintain in every district a nursery or 
 children's home. Here children under ten years 
 of age are sent if the parents are incapacitated to 
 take proper care of them. The little ones are 
 well provided for, and have kindergarten instruc- 
 tion until they are able to enter the public schools. 
 We also have an infant's temporary home. Any 
 mother may here leave her child for an hour or 
 a day while she attends church, or a lecture, or 
 any amusement." 
 
 "You speak of churches," said Rev. Fay. "Do 
 you have an established system of religion sup- 
 ported by the State ?" 
 
 "No," replied Ashton, "in matters of religion 
 every one is entirely free to worship according to 
 the dictates of his own conscience. The Com- 
 monwealth furnishes public halls and lecture 
 rooms in abundance in every section of the island, 
 and they are at all times open to lectures on 
 science, or economics, or philosophy, or theology, 
 or any subject of general interest, but no sect, 
 clan nor class has exclusive use of these public 
 audience rooms. Nearly every form of religious 
 belief has adherents in our country, and one has 
 as much right as the other to hold meetings in 
 these halls, but they must observe definite rules 
 which provide against the possibility of a con- 
 flict as to dates of occupying such public places. 
 
HENRY ASHTON 225 
 
 There is a janitor in charge of each place who 
 attends to the matter. Some denominations pre- 
 fer to erect, at their own expense, and by their 
 own labor, church edifices of their own and have 
 done so. They have unrestricted liberty to do 
 this if they so desire. In such case the State does 
 not surrender its ownership of the ground occu- 
 pied, but issues a permit for a definite amount of 
 space to be thus used. Since the launching of our 
 Co-operative Commonwealth, however, the foun- 
 dation of which is justice to all, and the Golden 
 Rule, the denominational differences have largely 
 disappeared, and the great majority of our people 
 attend those meetings at the public halls where 
 the speaker puts the strongest emphasis on a life 
 of kindness and good deeds, rather than upon a 
 strict observance of creeds, or forms." 
 
 "Did you," asked Rev. Fay, "in urging the 
 people of Zanland to adopt Socialism, appeal to 
 their moral or religious sentiments, or present the 
 economic necessity from a materialistic and busi- 
 ness standpoint, for. such a movement?" 
 
 "We did both," replied Ashton, "but we put the 
 greater emphasis upon the economic necessity for 
 the change. People must eat and have clothing 
 to wear and be sheltered. To secure these to all 
 according to their deeds is a purely business trans- 
 action, and is devoid of mere sentiment. Men's 
 religious sentiments or convictions as to what is 
 right and what is wrong differ so widely that an 
 appeal for economic justice addressed only to 
 their religious sentiments brings confusion and 
 disagreements, but people of all sorts of religious 
 beliefs and those having no religious convictions 
 can be brought to see that no country can long 
 
226 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 prosper in which the working people are exploited 
 out of the greater portion of what they produce, 
 and are crowded into deep poverty and ignorance. 
 And yet we did appeal also to those whose con- 
 sciences had been awakened to see the injustice 
 and moral wrong of the competitive system which 
 is based on the theory and practice of 'every one 
 looking out for himself regardless of the injury 
 he may do to others." We did try to arouse the 
 people's innate sense of justice. To some, Social- 
 ism is a religion, because it is founded on fair play 
 and the Golden Rule and places a high estimate 
 on mankind. To others it is an honest, sensible, 
 economic, methodical and scientific system for 
 carrying on the intricate business of a great Na- 
 tion." 
 
 "May I enquire," said the editor, "how can the 
 State erect so many free lecture rooms and places 
 of amusement and other public improvements 
 and provide for the support of men and women 
 who have attained to the age of fifty years and 
 furnish free instruction to all the youths, etc., 
 while nobody labors except those between the 
 ages of twenty-one and fifty, and they working 
 but four to six hours per day. How can all these 
 desirable things be enjoyed without bankrupting 
 the State?" 
 
 "No nation working under the competitive eco- 
 nomic system could do what we are doing with- 
 out speedily becoming bankrupt," said Ashton. 
 "The secret of our success is in preventing waste 
 and maintaining a proper system of distribution 
 of the products of labor. The old governments 
 expend untold millions in building great war 
 ships, in manufacturing guns and other war mate- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 227 
 
 rials, and in supporting armies. Some battle 
 ships cost $5,000,000 to $6,000,000 each. All 
 these things are intended for destroying property 
 and killing people. They produce nothing. They 
 waste billions of wealth produced by labor. A 
 little calculation of the cost of supporting the 
 armies and navies and of the vast wealth invested 
 in war implements will disclose the fact that in 
 this way alone enough is wasted, which if saved, 
 would inaugurate in Europe or America all the 
 good things we have in Zanland, and reduce the 
 hours of working people as we have reduced 
 them here. But we save in scores of other ways, 
 where there is senseless, wicked, profligate waste 
 in the old countries. In those countries where 
 business is conducted under competition every 
 merchant and other business man is competing 
 with every other one. In every city and town 
 there are one hundred or one thousand small deal- 
 ers where one central department store and two 
 or three branches could easily transact the busi- 
 ness that they all are doing. Millions of dollars 
 are annually wasted in rentals by these small es- 
 tablishments. There is waste in clerk hire, in fuel, 
 lighting and in numerous other ways. Each must 
 advertise his business or fail, and uncounted mil- 
 lions of dollars are wasted in advertising. The 
 Publisher's Guide of Philadelphia, Pa., U. S. A., 
 says that John Wanamaker, merchant, of that 
 city, expends $1,000 per day in advertising his 
 goods. It would be no exaggeration to say that 
 each year several hundred millions of dollars are 
 wasted in the United States in advertising alone. 
 Other hundreds of millions are wasted in fenc- 
 ing, in erecting banking buildings and court 
 
228 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 houses, and in thousands of other ways. Manu- 
 facturing is conducted in a haphazard way ; rail- 
 roads are constructed where not needed; many 
 ships are built where a few only are required, 
 and the whole competitive system of business is 
 conducted without order or system, resulting in 
 disastrous periodical financial panics rending 
 the country with lock-outs and strikes, often re- 
 ducing vast numbers of working men to a condi- 
 tion bordering on starvation and breeding violence 
 and anarchy because of the selfishness, reckless- 
 ness and greed, which are its legitimate offspring. 
 All these hundreds of billions wasted in the old 
 countries are saved in the Collective Common- 
 wealth, and are turned into schools, in supporting 
 the aged in comfort, in establishing libraries and 
 lecture halls, in shortening the hours of labor 
 of the working people and in making the people 
 intelligent and happy. It is astounding to some 
 of us that more of the thinkers of the world have 
 not long ago discovered these startling defects in 
 the competitive system of economics, and aroused 
 the people of the world to a realization of the 
 true condition of things. Benjamin Franklin, a 
 hundred years ago, said : 'If every man did his 
 share of the labor of the world, four hours' work 
 daily, would be all that need be required of any 
 one.' He spoke truly but should have added that 
 society should see to it that no man should be rob- 
 bed of the fruits of his four hours of daily labor." 
 
 "It is contended by some," said Mr. Fay, "that 
 Socialism would destroy the incentive of men. 
 What have you to say in answer to that claim ?" 
 
 "Yes," replied Ashton, "it would destroy the in- 
 centive of some men — of the greedy monopolist 
 
HENRY ASHTON 229 
 
 who wants to get something for nothing. Our 
 co-operative system curbs the incentive of that 
 class of people who add nothing to the wealth, or 
 the wisdom, or the happiness of humanity — those 
 whose chief incentive is to amass great riches, 
 by hook or by crook, without returning any equiv- 
 alent to those who created that wealth ; but our 
 system greatly stimulates the incentive of the in- 
 ventor, the artist, the surgeon, the teacher, the 
 musician, the statesman, the industrious citizen 
 — the lover of his kind. It appeals to a man's 
 higher sentiments. The competitive appeals to 
 his baser. Medals, and titles, and distinction, and 
 honor are bestowed on such as distinguish them- 
 selves in any honorable calling, and these are far 
 more potent and effective stimulants to man's 
 incentive than the mere getting of money by ex- 
 ploiting others out of it to whom it honestly be- 
 longs. Our experience is that it is far better for 
 the many that the incentive to get something for 
 nothing by the few, be restricted and even better 
 for the greedy exploiters themselves. I would 
 not be understood as saying that the rich monop- 
 olists are all personally bad men. Not at all ; 
 many of them are kindhearted and charitably in- 
 clined. Many of them give largely to the poor, 
 and to churches, and public libraries. But it is 
 justice not charity that the masses want. These 
 multi-millionaires are blinded by a robber sys- 
 tem of economics, hoary with age. They are not, 
 as a class, philosophers. They, having succeeded 
 in amassing wealth, think that prevailing business 
 methods are good ones. Like the slaveholders of 
 the Southern States before the war of 1861-65, 
 they want to be let alone. When they become 
 
230 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 fully awakened, they will clearly perceive the 
 great but unintentional wrong they have done 
 their fellowman, and they will rejoice at their 
 emancipation. These great 'Captains of Indus- 
 try' under the competitive system, will become 
 most efficient cabinet officers and managers in 
 the Collective Commonwealth." 
 
 "What effect has your Socialist government 
 had on the ignorant and the lawless classes," ask- 
 ed the editor. 
 
 "Ah, now," replied Ashton, "you have pro- 
 pounded an important question and it gives me 
 great pleasure to answer it. 
 
 "Our theory is that men and women are not 
 naturally bad — that they are not prone to do 
 evil as the sparks are to fly upward, as the old 
 theology taught, but are more inclined to good 
 than to evil. Our lives are largely what they are 
 from heredity and environment — especially the 
 latter. It is creditable to the masses that there 
 is so little crime among them in competitive coun- 
 tries. They create all wealth and receive only 
 about a sixth of it. Millions of farmers work 
 hard for a lifetime for little more than board and 
 clothing; other millions of mechanics and work- 
 men in the cities own no homes, and can barely 
 live and pay their rent ; other millions live in 
 shacks and the basements and attics and slums in 
 enforced squalor and ignorance and beget chil- 
 dren who must beg, or steal, or starve ; other mil- 
 lions work in dark, and damp, and ill ventilated 
 sweat shops for a pittance ; millions of girls are 
 forced into lives of dishonor for bread. All this 
 is the direct fruit of the competitive system of 
 business. It is the mother of drunkenness, ignor- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 231 
 
 ance, prostitution, theft, suicide and murder. 
 Competition knows no pity. Its motto is, and 
 always was, and always will be : 'Every one for 
 himself.' It appeals only to the mean and greedy 
 in man. It enables its votaries to succeed only 
 by the undoing and sacrifice of one, or one hun- 
 dred, or one thousand others. Nations practic- 
 ing it, go to war with other Nations and burn, 
 and destroy, and ravish, and rob, and kill, and 
 deluge the world with blood. An individual prac- 
 ticing it, builds up himself by pulling down his 
 competitor. Competition in all the old countries, 
 crowds the poor houses and asylums with its vic- 
 tims, fills the courts with neighbor warring 
 against neighbor, burdens the columns of the 
 newspapers daily with accounts of burglary, de- 
 falcations, embezzlement, robbery, and suicide. 
 It erects the gallows and incarcerates its hundreds 
 of thousands in the jails and penitentiaries. 
 
 "Competition is war, and Gen. Sherman said, 
 'War is hell.' But you ask me what are the 
 fruits of our Socialist government in Zanland. 
 The motto of Socialism is : 'Justice to all ; an in- 
 jury to one is the concern of all.' What fruits 
 would you expect from a State resting upon such 
 a foundation and carrying out that principle. 
 Democracy, or a government by the people is 
 the chief cornerstone of our State. Then our 
 first duty is to the children. The Commonwealth 
 feeds, clothes and educates every child, and fully 
 equips him for the race of life. It guarantees to 
 every boy and girl equal opportunities with every 
 other one ; it furnishes employment to all able- 
 bodied adults, and guarantees that he shall receive 
 the full benefit of his labor; it provides for the 
 
232 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 aged and renders their life free from toil and 
 want. It recognizes the political equality of men 
 and women alike ; it abolishes kings and political 
 bosses ; it prevents the greedy man from robbing 
 his neighbor of any of the fruits of his labor; it 
 removes every temptation to commit crime; it 
 fosters temperance and industry; it builds insti- 
 tutions of learning ; it establishes free libraries ; 
 it guarantees religious liberty ; it encourages all 
 to make their chief incentive a desire to store their 
 minds with useful knowledge and to bless their 
 fellowmen instead of robbing them. It holds 
 up to young and old the high ideals of justice, 
 brotherhood, good citizenship, and peace on 
 earth, good will to men, and lastly, but more im- 
 portant than all, it honors wifehood and mother- 
 hood, and by its maternity hospitals guarantees 
 to future generations that they shall be well born. 
 
 "It gives me great pleasure to repeat, gentle- 
 men, that in Zanland where the Collective Com- 
 monwealth is now firmly established, that we have 
 but little inebriety, no robbery, no embezzlements, 
 no swindling, no stock or other gambling, and 
 very little vice or crime of any kind. All motive 
 for committing crime has been eliminated by our 
 economic system. We have no labor strikes, no 
 lock-outs, no blacklistings, no unemployed, no 
 tramps ; but little use for police, and less for sol- 
 diers ; our jails are nearly all empty and our 
 schools are full. Our ministers are, for the first 
 time in many centuries, preaching the true gos- 
 pel of Jesus Christ. 
 
 "To briefly sum up the many good features of 
 Socialism, as in practice in Zanland, I remark, 
 our day's labor is shorter than in other coun- 
 
HENRY ASHTON 233 
 
 tries because we save millions where others waste ; 
 we co-operate for the good of all while they per- 
 mit greedy, non-producing schemers to amass 
 colossal riches by exploitation, while the wealth- 
 creators struggle and perish ; we produce for the 
 use of all and distribute those productions to all 
 according to their service, while in other coun- 
 tries the many produce and the few appropriate 
 the production. Here every man reaps as he 
 sows and all are sowers. In other countries the 
 sowers reap little while those who do not sow, 
 harvest much. Here none are masters, none are 
 slaves ; elsewhere the few who produce noth- 
 ing are masters and the workers are slaves, for 
 if the few own the machinery and other means of 
 production and hire the many to serve, the em- 
 ployer is a master and his employe is a slave. He 
 who owns the things necessary to sustain the life 
 of his fellowman owns that man as truly as did 
 master ever own slave. The propertyless man 
 can live only by selling his labor ; that he cannot 
 do without a buyer; the employer can therefore 
 dictate to the worker the terms upon which he 
 will permit him to live. Did master ever have 
 greater power over slave? 
 
 "On this very day that we talk," continued 
 Ashton, "there comes information of great labor 
 strikes in America and some portions of Europe. 
 The wage worker in the coal mines, deep down 
 in the earth is struggling for an increase of a 
 few cents in his wages that he may live and sup- 
 port his wife and children in a little better con- 
 dition than does the ignorant savage who lives in 
 a cave, but the same cablegram that informs us 
 of the struggles of these exploited slaves also 
 
234 HENRY ASHTON 
 
 bring the information that the coal barons and 
 trust magnates, have called out the police and 
 soldiery and the slaves are being clubbed and shot 
 into subjection. But this state of things, gentle- 
 men, cannot long continue even in those countries. 
 At the beginning of the twentieth century the 
 despoiled ones are awakening from their long 
 stupor, and are enquiring by whit right do a 
 few men who add nothing to the wealth or wis- 
 dom of the world monopolize the coal, and the 
 oil, and the metals, which nature stored up for the 
 use of all the people ? Who gave them individual 
 ownership of electricity and water power, and the 
 power of steam, and of lands, and machinery, and 
 all the means of producing the things which peo- 
 ple must have to live and to properly discharge 
 their duty to God and their wives and little ones. 
 By what authority do they enslave us, and starve 
 us, and scourge us, and shoot us, we who do the 
 work of the world and they do nothing except to 
 riot in luxury from the possession of the vast 
 wealth they have taken from us ? 
 
 "The answer, gentlemen, to that question, that 
 they have no such right, will ere long reverberate 
 around the globe, and woe be to him who flings 
 himself athwart the path of the coming millions 
 of downtrodden, despoiled, outraged and robbed 
 toilers who, now awakened to a realization that 
 they have both a natural and a moral right to the 
 benefit of their own industry, are marching on to 
 victory and to the establishment of a Co-opera- 
 tive Commonwealth which will last forever, be- 
 cause founded on the eternal principles of justice, 
 the chief cornerstone of which shall be: 'As ye 
 
HENRY ASHTON 235 
 
 would that others should do unto you, do ye even 
 so unto them.' " 
 
 The interview being ended, the visitors, after 
 thanking Mr. and Mrs. Ashton, and Mr. Batty, 
 for their kindness, and bidding them farewell 
 withdrew. They soon after left for their home 
 in the United States. On the staunch ship that 
 brought them home they had many conversations 
 in which they talked over all that they had seen 
 and heard. They had both been soundly con- 
 verted to Socialism, and each pledged the other 
 that they would devote the remaining days of their 
 life in advocating the adoption in America of an 
 economic and political system like unto that of 
 Zanland. 
 
"The Miner's Magazine," Denver, says: "The story- 
 told in 'Henry Ashton' fascinates from start to 
 finish. Ex-Senator Dague has written many 
 pamphlets and articles, but Henry Ashton out- 
 classes them all and is destined to win fame for 
 its author. Its 235 pages are worth their weight 
 in gold to every worker and honest thinker who 
 is groping for a solution of the labor problem." 
 
 Rev. Father Thos. Mc Grady says: "'Henry Ashton' 
 is a graphic portrayal of pathos and passion, of 
 cunning and honesty, and this beautiful romance 
 contains a concise and explicit exposition of 
 Socialist teachings. Fiction is a mighty medium 
 for the dissemination of truth and you have 
 used it with powerful effect." 
 
 "The Denver Alliance," says: "The author of 
 'Henry Ashton' is a prominent attorney, and an 
 ex-senator, and is widely acquainted with life 
 in its different phases. He has succeeded in 
 writing a thrilling story with the usual love af- 
 fair to hold the atention of the reader, but he 
 has left out the usual gush, and in its stead has 
 interwoven Socialism in a very attractive man- 
 ner. A stronger argument for it is seldom 
 read." 
 
 "The Terra Haute Toiler," says: The greatest need 
 of the hour is a Socialist novel, artistic, realistic, 
 profoundly absorbing, and accurate in present- 
 ing the science of the order of society. No at- 
 tempt to write such a book has been more suc- 
 cessful than the story of 'Henry Ashton.' All 
 Socialists will be benefited by reading this book. 
 It will do an excellent work." 
 
 Mary Elizabeth Lease, writes: '"Henry Ashton' is 
 the clearest and most fascinating presentation 
 of a difficult and complicated subject that I 
 have ever read. I only wish a copy of this work 
 could be placed in every home in the land. 
 
 "The Literary West," says: "The author of 'Henry 
 Ashton' sets forth the ideals of Socialism in a 
 masterly manner. His arguments are unusually 
 convincing. 
 
 "The Social Democratic Herald," says: '"Henry 
 Ashton' has that charm that clings round tales 
 that are simply told. There is no striving after 
 effect; no vainglorious display of the author's 
 
ability. The book is essentially an entering 
 wedge." 
 
 "Mother" Mary Jones, says: "'Henry Ashton' is a 
 most charming book. It shows the villainy of 
 our present system of commercialism and pre- 
 sents us with a beautiful picture of the future 
 civilization which all noble men and good wo- 
 men should help to usher in." 
 
 Emma E. Hunt writes: "May 'Henry Ashton' be 
 circulated by the million. It is THE book of 
 the century." 
 
 Rev. J. Stitt Wilson, says: "'Henry Ashton' does 
 two things: It teaches Socialism, clean, clear, 
 strong, vividly, and at the same time it is done 
 so well as not to make the reader feel that he 
 has read a 'story with a purpose.' It should be 
 read by the tens of thousands, and it will make 
 Socialists wherever it is read." 
 
 "The Appeal to Reason," says: '"Henry Ashton' is 
 the title of a thrilling story by R. A. Dague that 
 tells how the co-operative commonwealth was 
 established in Zanland. This is really a highly 
 interesting work of fact and fiction, and it is 
 woven in a careful and complete argument for 
 the co-operative commonwealth. We hope that 
 the book may meet with great success." 
 
 "The Pan-Handle News," says: '"Henry Ashton' is 
 a well written and thrilling story, a well laid and 
 executive plot, and should be dramatized. It 
 should be read by every voter regardless of 
 political alliance who wishes to be well informed 
 upon the burning issues of the times." 
 
 N. O. Nelson, St. Louis, says: "You have brought 
 into 'Henry Ashton' the entire argument of So- 
 cialism and shown the steps necessary to in- 
 augurate it. You keep free from dogmatism, 
 rant, and denunciation. The story is well told; 
 it is a needed and valuable work." 
 
 Mayor Eugene E. Schmitz, San Francisco, says: 
 '"Henry Ashton' is interesting in the extreme. 
 All who are interested in the great struggle of 
 labor for better conditions should have this 
 book." 
 
G. H. Strobell, says: "I know of no superior pre- 
 sentation of the real Socialist position. I hope 
 'Henry Ashton' may be circulated by the 
 million." 
 
 S. A. Moulton, says: "I predict for 'Henry Ashton' 
 an immense circulation. The story is simply 
 fascinating — charming. It is a soul-saver. Mill- 
 ions perishing for the want of economic light 
 will be saved by this book." 
 
 "The Independent American," says: "'Henry Ash- 
 ton' is a thrilling story of love and adventure, but 
 its chief value consists in its economic argu- 
 ments. The book is a charming one throughout." 
 
 "The Socialist Reason" says: "'Henry Ashton' is 
 just the book to give to your neighbor. It is 
 fascinating." 
 
 Eugene V. Debs, says: "From the hasty examina- 
 tion I have been able to make of 'Henry Ash- 
 ton,' I am satisfied you have produced not only 
 a very interesting book, but one that will serve 
 an excellent purpose in the propaganda of the 
 Socialist movement." 
 
 F. J. Burke, says: "I predict great success for 'Henry 
 Ashton.' I believe it will have a larger sale than 
 Merrie England or Looking Backward." 
 
 "The Boston Press Writer," says: "We have been 
 looking for just such a book as 'Henry Ashton' 
 for a long time. All it needs to gain a million 
 circulation is for the public to get in touch with 
 it." 
 
 B. O. Flower in the "Boston Arena," says: "The 
 author of 'Henry Ashton' is an able and progres- 
 sive social reformer, and a clear reasoner, and 
 his book is well considered and calculated to ap- 
 peal to the reason and conscience of men and 
 women of conviction." 
 
 "The Philistine," says: "'Henry Ashton' has the 
 strength and style that cannot fail to let in a 
 flood of light on many darkened minds." 
 
 "The Pink Icononoclast," says: "'Henry Ashton' 
 should be in the hands of every comrade to loan 
 to his neighbor. It will open the eyes of the 
 
ignorant. It is worth double the price asked 
 for it." 
 
 "The California Cultivator," says: "Senator Dague, 
 one of the best known writers on the Pacific 
 Coast, has issued a new book — 'Henry Ashton.' 
 It is eloquently written and thrillingly interest- 
 ing." 
 
 "The Pathfinder," says: '"Henry Ashton,' should be 
 in the posession of every person in America who 
 can read." 
 
 Jack London, says: "'Henry Ashton' has given me 
 great pleasure. Your replies to the popular ob- 
 jections to Socialism are most excellent. The 
 book will be a most useful one." 
 
 Charles Edwin Markham, says: "'Henry Ashton' 
 contains an immense amount of useful informa- 
 tion and deduction. It is a book of ideas — is 
 suggestive and instructive." 
 
 Rev. Benjamin Fay Mills, says: "I thank you for 
 writing 'Henry Ashton.' I am most heartily 
 in sympathy with your doctrine and find it pre- 
 sented in a very appetizing and palatable form." 
 
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