THE HELPERS
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1899
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
TO THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE
GUILD COMPASSIONATE,
GREETING:
Forasmuch as it hath seemed good in the eyes ofmany to write of those things which make for the dishearteningof all humankind, these things are writtenin the hope that the God-gift of loving-kindness, sharedalike by saint and sinner, may in some poor measurebe given its due.
The Author.
THE HELPERS
CHAPTER I
The curtain had gone down on the first act ofthe opera, and Jeffard found his hat and rose to goout. His place was the fourth from the aisle, andafter an ineffectual attempt to make a passagewayfor him without rising, the two young women andthe elderly man stood up and folded their operachairs. Being driven to think pointedly of somethingelse, Jeffard neglected to acknowledge thecourtesy; and the two young women balanced theaccount by discussing him after he had passed outof hearing.
"I think he might at least have said 'Thankyou,'" protested the one in the black-plumed picture-hat,preening herself after the manner of ruffledbirds and disturbed womankind. "I'm in love withyour mountains, and your climate, and your end-of-the-centuryimpetus, but I can't say that I particularlyadmire Denver manners."
The clear-eyed young woman in the modest toquelaughed joyously.
"Go on, Myra dear; don't mind me. It's sorefreshing to hear an out-of-church opinion on one's[2]self. I know our manners are perfectly primitive,but what can you expect when every train from theEast brings us a new lot of people to civilize?When you are tempted to groan over our shortcomingsit'll comfort you wonderfully if you willjust stop long enough to remember that a goodmany of us are the newest of new tenderfoots!"
"Tenderfoots! What an expression!"
"It's good English, though we did use to say'tenderfeet' before the 'Century Dictionary' set usright. And it calls the turn, as poppa would say."
She of the far-reaching plumes bent her eyebrowsin severe deprecation.
"Connie, your slang is simply vicious. Will yoube good enough to tell me what 'calls the turn'means?"
"Ask poppa."
Appealed to by the censorious one, the elderlyman stopped twiddling the bit of gold quartz on hiswatch-guard long enough to explain. He did it witha little hesitancy, picking his way among the wordsas one might handle broken glass, or the edged toolsof an unfamiliar trade. He was a plain man, andhe stood in considerable awe of the picture-hat andits wearer. When he had finished, the toque madehonorable amends.
"I beg your pardon, Myra. Really, I didn'tknow it had anything to do with gambling. Butto go back to our manners: I'll give you theponies and the phaeton if I don't convince you thatthe