22. CHAPTER XXII.
SHAW & CO.
Mr. Shaw died intestate. No man had a better
reason for neglecting to express his last
wishes in writing. He had literally nothing to
will away. His law library was encumbered with
a chattel mortgage, and his household furniture
had always belonged to his wife. This was all
she could call her own. Reginia had her rich
wardrobe and some costly jewelry. Bob carried
his worldly possessions wherever he went. There
was some moneys due the firm, enough, if all
could be collected, to pay the incumbrance on
the library.
Mrs. Shaw was bowed to the earth in grief.
She had loved her husband as well as her rather
shallow nature could love any one. She loved the
distinction his name conferred upon her, the luxury
his labor provided. But her widowhood was the
more inconsolable from the circumstances of his
death. He had lived without religion, and died
without the benefit of clergy. God certainly
had dealt hardly with her and hers.
Mr. Gray was then ready for an interview with Miss
Shaw. The role of benefactor was one that neither
could tolerate. He divested himself of this at the outset.
He realized himself and made Miss Shaw comprehend
that his success in his profession was due far
more to his connection with Mr. Shaw than to his own
ability. Men with equal talent and application fought
for years to obtain the recognition he had obtained in
months. The reputation and associations of Mr.
Shaw were greater elements of success than even intelligent
labor, since thousands were willing to labor,
while few could avail themselves of such a reputation
and such associates. It followed, therefore, that that
which had been Mr. Shaw's now belonged to Mr.
Shaw's family. Death had not dissolved the firm, and
Mr. Gray frankly confessed that if Miss Shaw or her
mother choose to dissolve it he would be the greater
loser.
Miss Shaw listened to this statement of the case
with something of the surprise she would have experienced
if informed that she had inherited a fortune
from some person she had never heard of. Her surprise
was the more agreeable as she recognized the
absolute justice of his position. She could see exactly
how Mr. Gray had been benefited by Mr. Shaw,
and it was but right that that benefit should be returned
in some form to Mr. Shaw's family. It was
true, if Mr. Gray had not been a man of ability and
capacity to labor, Mr. Shaw's name and reputation
would not have insured the degree of success that had
attended their associations; but it was also true that
if Mr. Gray had not possessed ability and capacity to
labor, Mr. Shaw would not have received an equivalent
for the interest he gave in his name and reputation.
The associations were mutually advantageous,
and it was but just that its advantages should be
shared by both.
The young lady was relieved, therefore, from any
sense of dependence. It was a pleasant surprise to
find her interests and that of her mother so carefully
watched over by a comparative stranger, and she regarded
the act as she would if some stranger had
come to her and said:
“Miss Shaw, I have a large sum of money in my
hands that justly belongs to you. The proofs of ownership
are destroyed, but I know this money is yours.
Permit me, therefore, to bring you what is your due.”
The act would be one of simple honesty. And
surely, honest men were not so rare.
We have inflicted these tedious details on the reader,
not for the purpose of exalting Mr. Gray in the reader's
estimation, but that Miss Shaw's position might
be understood. If that young lady had accepted a
portion of Mr. Gray's professional earnings simply
because she was deprived of other resources by the
death of her father, her independence would have
been compromised, and a basis laid for the cruel surmises
to which ill-natured people afterward gave currency.
But in the estimation of neither was there any
dependence. Mr. Gray, as a matter of strict justice,
dmitted the right of Mr. Shaw's family to a share in
the professional income of the law firm of Shaw &
Co., and the family, likewise admitting the justice of
the arrangement, accepted the share to which it was
mutually admitted that they were entitled.
Miss Shaw was greatly relieved at the turn affairs
had taken. She had an elegant woman's dread of
poverty and toil. She was a thorough woman in her
willingness to surrender to men the avocations of life
if in turn men would surround her with the proceeds.
All the interest in labor she wanted was its results.
Men might be lawyers, doctors, clergymen, and
congressmen and enjoy all the distinction such position
confer, if the proceeds were shared by their wives
and daughters. Experience had not yet brought her
in contact with the millions of her sex who are in effect
neither wives nor daughters.
Mrs. Shaw was not disposed to examine too closely
the means by which she was enabled to maintain her
position in her church and in society. Mr. Gray said
it was right, and as Mr. Shaw's successor he ought to
know. She admitted it was rather handsome in him,
and then dismissed the subject from her mind.
Mliss continued to reside in Mrs. Shaw's family.
This period of her life had minor annoyancces, but on
the whole was pleasant. She improved rapidly under
Miss Shaw's tutelage in accomplishments and deportment.
She mastered her studies with singular facility.
She learned also to control her temper, and to be less
ardent in her likes and dislikes.
One of her little annoyances was Bob Shaw. Bob
persisted in treating her as if she was a child, and
this she resented. In punishment she never permitted
him to establish other than friendly relations. She
repelled his caresses, and utterly denied the right he
advanced to greet her with a brotherly kiss. This
attitude only increased the ardor of his pursuit. He
approached her in every conceivable way. Sometimes
be would be submissive and almost gentle for a week
at a time, and beg as a reward the favor of a kiss.
Seeing that gentleness and devotion received no reward,
he would change his tactics. For days together
neither Miss Shaw nor Mliss would see him. The
newspapers would perhaps record a desperate fight
in which generally Bob Shaw's name figured with unpleasant
conspicuous. Then the young scapegrace
would return, looking the worse for wear, but
in high spirits and full of reckless fun. But Mliss
never expressed regret for his absence nor pleasure
at his return. She took perhaps too much pains to
convince him that he was nothing to her. He might
hang himself if he chose, or get killed in one of his
hoodlum fight, for all she cared, as she told him one
day when he was pleading for some manifestation of
affection.
Another little annoyance was the frequent visits of
the Rev. Dr. Fox. This gentleman was her second
McSnagley. She did not hate so fiercely now as then,
but she was still a pretty good hater. Her hatred
generally went out to those who blundered in the
effort to do her a kindness. She had hated McSnagley
because he sought to impress upon her mind the
unpleasant fact that she was more wicked than other
girls, and that God hated her for being wicked. McSnagley
meant well, but intention Mliss did not take
into consideration. She now hated Dr. Fox in a
milder way because Dr. Fox was trying to save her
soul.
Dr. Fox was not in the least like McSnagley. The
latter was a rude, uncultured man, preaching the gospel
as he understood it, while the former was a polished
and cultured gentleman, preaching the gospel
as his people understood it. The former barely kept
himself alive by his labors, while the latter realized a
princely income. The former was uncouth of speech
and offensive in manner while the latter spoke in low,
modulated tones, and was always courte courteous and deferential.
There was, in fact, no seeming point of resemblance
between the two, yet the wayward Mliss
persisted in ascribing to her new acquaintance the
attributes of her old enemy.
Dr. Fox had undertaken the arduous task of saving
Mliss's soul at Mrs. Shaw's earnest request. The
death of her husband had made that good lady extremely
sensitive on subjects pertaining to religion,
and she ambitiously aimed to convert the whole family.
Dr. Fox accepted the mission the more readily as
he had a weakness for saving the souls of conspicuous
sinners. We regret to add that he did not meet with
brilliant success. Reginia listened to his exhortations
with ill-concealed impatience, but was too thoroughly
the young lady to be inattentive. Mliss asked him all
sorts of impertinent questions, and insisted upon
straightforward answers. It was from Bob, however
that the Rev. Dr. Fox received his most severe rebuff
We cannot give his language in words, but it our
readers will bear in mind the probable destination of
Mr. Robert Shaw according to evangelical creeds, they
may form a tolerably correct idea of the substance of
his remark when informed that the probability of a
future meeting between Dr. Fox and himself was
therein embraced.
