PREFACE THE labor expended in the preparation of this story has so
exhausted the resources of the author that he finds himself unable
to undertake, with any hope of success, the more arduous work of
writing an apology for it. The probabilities are that those who are
pleased with it will prepare their own apologies, and that those
who are not pleased would not accept the very best apology the
author could make. Those who treat the story with indifference, or
with contempt, are, of course, not entitled to any consideration
from the sensitive author, CHAPTER I. SCHNEY. IN THE cellar of a
great wholesale grocery establish ment where hogsheads of sugar and
molasses were so numerous that all sense of their size was lost,
and where the light of day, hurt at the small provision made for
its entrance, would hardly go, Schney, clad in thick and
everlasting garments, scraped away with a steel spade at the thick
scale of molasses and dirt which had accumulated on the floor. When
he had scraped together a few bushels of the obstinate material he
carried it, in a huge iron vessel, to the elevator, to be hoisted
out and carted away. Mr. Schney was known to all the house, from
the principal of it down to the office boy, as simply
quotSchney.quot Nobody there knew whether he was married or single,
where he came from, what his past had been or his future would be
and nobody cared a copper. Schney himself knew only where he came
from, and that he had a wife and children. His life was spent in
the cellar with the hogsheads, and the man seemed to fit the place.
Schncy s advantages had been limited and peculiar, and he had made
the most of them. He was not required by the circle in which he
moved to dresswell or live decently, and so he did neither. His pay
was sufficient to supply all his wants. In fact, Schney saved money
constantly, and as constantly lost almost everything else which
makes life endurable. He was such a man that money was his only
hope. His wisdom consisted of the knowledge of the fact that he was
grossly ignorant and almost without what is commonly called natural
ability. As he slowly ac cumulated money he strove to make plans
for the future, but had never been able to do much more than
resolve to keep what he had and save more if possible. These are
simple ideas, it is true, but they constitute the foundation of
many princely fortunes. One day Schney suddenly realized the fact
that he had some hundreds of dollars in bank, and it was to him a
dimly pleasant idea. It is true that ten years of toil had been
necessary to produce this store but of this he did not think. His
wife had been for ten years a servant of all work and his children
dirty brats. But Schney was not the man to be distressed by things
like these. He was so thoroughly coarse that he escaped nearly all
the ex quisite pains of a higher nature, and groaned only when pain
racked his flesh and bones. And yet at this point in his career
Schney was a comparatively decent man. At any rate he had not
learned to make lying pay o- meanness profitable. When he was mean
or when he lied it was for the fun of the thing or because it was
perfectly natural...
General
Imprint: |
Kessinger Publishing Co
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
August 2007 |
First published: |
August 2007 |
Authors: |
Carlton McCarthy
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 9mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
148 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-548-39843-2 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General & literary fiction >
Modern fiction
|
LSN: |
0-548-39843-7 |
Barcode: |
9780548398432 |
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