d two
lives, one to experiment with and the other to live."

He rose, a weary shadow clouding his eyes.

"Well, to live and learn is all we can do; and thank goodness it is
never too late to profit by our errors. I have learned many things from
Ted Turner; I have learned some more from his father; and I have added
to all these certain things that those unlucky wretches, Sullivan and
Cronin, have demonstrated to me. Who knows but I may make Freeman's
Falls a better place in consequence? We shall see."

With these parting reflections the old gentleman slowly left the room.

CHAPTER XVI

ANOTHER CALAMITY

The winter was a long and tedious one with much cold weather and ice.
Great drifts leveled the fields about Aldercliffe and Pine Lea,
shrouding the vast expanse of fields along the river in a glistening
cloak of ermine spangled with gold. The stream itself was buried so
deep beneath the snow that it was difficult not to believe it had
disappeared altogether. Freeman's Falls had never known a more severe
season and among the mill employees there was much illness and
depression. Prices were high, business slack, and the work ran light.
Nevertheless, the Fernalds refused to shorten the hours. There were no
night shifts on duty, to be sure, but the hum of the machinery that
ceased at twilight resumed its buzzing every morning and by its music
gladdened many a home where anxiety might otherwise have reigned.

That the factories were being operated at a loss rather than throw the
men out of employment Ted Turner could not help knowing for since he
had become a member of the Fernald household he had been included so
intimately in the family circle that it was unavoidable he should be
cognizant of much that went on there. As a result, an entirely new
aspect of manufacture came before him. Up to this time he had seen but
one side of the picture, that with which the working man was familiar.
But now the capitalist's side was turned toward him and on confronting
its many intricate phases he gained a very different conception of the
mill-owner's conundrums. He learned now for the first time who it was
that tided over business in its seasons of stress and advanced the
money that kept bread in the mouths of the workers. He sensed, too, as
he might never have done otherwise, who shouldered the burden of care
not alone during working hours but outside of them; he glimpsed
something of the struggles of competition; the pro