human
There is another thing. If I leave this money in trust, how do I know that my purpose will be carried out? In a hundred years things will get mixed. My bequests may be worth millions, or they may be worth nothing. The lawyers may fight over the letter of the will, and the spirit may be neglected.
gpt
It is the Dead Hand that you dread.
human
That may be so, sir. You air in the inside track, and you ought to know what to call it. But no Hand, dead or alive, shall ever get hold of my stamps.
gpt
Your stamps?
human
My stamps, sir; my greenbacks, my dollars. For I've got them, and I mean to spend them. 'Spend what you can, and give what you cannot spend,' says the Voice to Gilead P. Beck.
gpt
But, my dear sir, if you mean to give away a quarter of a million a year, you will have every improvident and extravagant rogue in the country about you. You will have to answer hundreds of letters a day. You will be deluged with prospectuses, forms, and appeals. You will be called names unless you give to this institution or to that----
human
I shall give nothing to any society.
gpt
And what about the widows of clergymen, the daughters of officers, the nieces of Church dignitaries, the governess who is starving, the tradesman who wants a hundred pounds for a fortnight, and will repay you with blessings and 25 per cent. after depositing in your hand as security all his pawn-tickets.
human
Every boat wants steering, but I was not born last Sunday, and the ways of big cities, though they may be crooked, air pretty well known to me. There are not many lines of life in which Gilead P. Beck has not tried to walk.
gpt
My dear sir, do you propose to act the part of Universal Philanthropist and Distributor at large?
human
No, sir, I do not. And that puzzles me too. I should like to be quiet over it. There was a man down to Lexington, when I was a boy, who said he liked his religion unostentatious. So he took a pipe on a Sunday morning and sat in the churchyard listening to the bummin' and the singin' within. Perhaps, sir, that man knew his own business. Perhaps thoughts came over his soul when they gave out the Psalm that he wouldn't have had if he'd gone inside, to sit with his back upright against a plank, his legs curled up below the seat, and his eyes wandering around among the gells. Maybe that is my case, too, Mr. Cassilis. I should like my giving to be unostentatious.
gpt
Give what you cannot spend, said Mr. Cassilis.
human
There are at any rate plenty of ways of spending. Let us attend to them first.
gpt
And there's another thing, sir, Mr. Beck went on, shifting his feet and looking uneasy and distressed.
human
It's on my mind since I met the young gentleman at your house. I want to do something big, something almighty big, for Mr. Ronald Dunquerque.
gpt
Because he killed the bear?
human
Yes, sir, because he saved my life. Without that shot the Luck of Gilead P. Beck would have been locked up for ever in that little box where the Golden Butterfly used to live. What can I do for him? Is the young gentleman rich?
gpt
On the contrary, I do not suppose--his brother is one of the poorest peers in the house--that the Honorable Mr. Ronald Dunquerque is worth £500 a year. Really, I should say that £300 would be nearer the mark.
human
Then he is a gentleman, and I am--well, sir, I hope I am learning what a gentleman should do and think in such a position as the Golden Butterfly has brought me into. But the short of it is that I can't say to him: 'Mr. Dunquerque, I owe you a life, and here is a cheque for so many thousand dollars.' I can't do it, sir.
gpt
I suppose not. But there are ways of helping a young man forward without giving him money. You can only give money to poets and clergymen.
human
That is so, sir.
gpt
Wait a little till your position is known and assured. You will then be able to assist Mr. Ronald Dunquerque, as much as you please. He rose and took up his gloves.
human
And now, Mr. Beck, I think I understand you. You wish to do something great with your money. Very good. Do not be in a hurry. I will think things over. Meantime, you are going to let it lie idle in the bank?
gpt
Wal, yes; I was thinking of that.
human
It would be much better for me to place it for you in good shares, such as I could recommend to you. You would then be able to--to--give away --he pronounced the words with manifest reluctance--
gpt
That seems reasonable,
human
You will place your money, he said quietly, as if there could be no doubt of Mr. Beck's immediate assent,
gpt
No, sir,
human
I was about to observe that I should not recommend such an investment. I think, however, I could place immediately £20,000 in the Isle of Man Internal Navigation Company.
gpt
An English company?
human
Certainly. I propose, Mr. Beck, to devote this morning to a consideration of investments for you. I shall advise you from day to day. I have no philanthropic aims, and financing is my profession. But your affairs shall be treated together with mine, and I shall bring to bear upon them the same--may I say insight?--that has carried my own ventures to success. For this morning I shall only secure you the Isle of Man shares.