Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
_Copyright in the United States America, 1907_
1. HOW JOHN HENRY OVERHOLT SAT ON PANDORA'S BOX 1 2. HOW A MAN AND A BOY FOUNDED THE LITTLE CITY OF HOPE 19 3. HOW THEY MADE BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW 35 4. HOW THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE CITY 49 5. HOW THE CITY WAS BESIEGED AND THE LID OF PANDORA'S BOX CAME OFF 63 6. HOW A SMALL BOY DID A BIG THING AND NAILED DOWN THE LID OF THE BOX 74 7. HOW A LITTLE WOMAN DID A GREAT DEED TO SAVE THE CITY 87 8. HOW THE WHEELS WENT ROUND AT LAST 105 9. HOW THE KING OF HEARTS MADE A FEAST IN THE CITY OF HOPE 116
HOW JOHN HENRY OVERHOLT SAT ON PANDORA'S BOX
"Hope is very cheap. There's always plenty of it about."
"Fortunately for poor men. Good morning."
With this mild retort and civil salutation John Henry Overholt rose and went towards the door, quite forgetting to shake hands with Mr. Burnside, though the latter made a motion to do so. Mr. Burnside always gave his hand in a friendly way, even when he had flatly refused to do what people had asked of him. It was cheap; so he gave it.
But he was not pleased when they did not take it, for whatever he chose to give seemed of some value to him as soon as it was offered; even his hand. Therefore, when his visitor forgot to take it, out of pure absence of mind, he was offended, and spoke to him sharply before he had time to leave the private office.
"You need not go away like that, Mr. Overholt, without shaking hands."
The visitor stopped and turned back at once. He was thin and rather shabbily dressed. I know many poor men who are fat, and some who dress very well; but this was not that kind of poor man.
"Excuse me," he said mildly. "I didn't mean to be rude. I quite forgot."
He came back, and Mr. Burnside shook hands with becoming coldness, as having just given a lesson in manners. He was not a bad man, nor a miser, nor a Scrooge, but he was a great stickler for manners, especially with people who had nothing to give him. Besides, he had already lent Overholt money; or, to put it nicely, he had invested a little in his invention, and he did not see any reason why he should invest any more until it succeeded. Overholt called it selling shares, but Mr. Burnside called it borrowing money. Overholt was sure that if he could raise more funds, not much more, he could make a success of the "Air-Motor"; Mr. Burnside was equally sure that nothing would ever come of it. They had been explaining their respective points of view to each other, and in sheer absence of mind Overholt had forgotten to shake hands.