III

The Rich Man

THE THIRD MAN WOULD NOT COME in much farther than a few steps beyond the door, and kept turning and glancing back through it. "Do you have rooms?" he asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"Yes, we do," said the owner. "Come in."

"I need a room," said the man, "but I was wondering if you could send someone to help me with my trunk. It's right outside the door."

"I'll give you a hand with it," answered the owner and went out on the steps. Each man took one end of an enormous trunk, and struggled to get it into the foyer--but it would not go through the door. They turned it this way and that, but each of its dimensions was too great to fit through the narrow doorway.

"I'm afraid it's no use," said the owner finally. "The door is just too small for it."

"Well, isn't there a service entrance or something that I could use?"

"Unfortunately not," was the answer. "This is the only door we have."

"But that's ridiculous!" exclaimed the man. "An entrance as narrow as a needle's eye into an enormous mansion like this?"

"I does seem a little odd, doesn't it?" replied the owner. "But that was the way it was originally built."

"Well, if I were you, I'd have seen another architect for a second opinion."

"Perhaps we should have. But what's done is done."

"Well, what am I supposed to do? Couldn't we get it in through a window somewhere?"

"I'm afraid not. All the windows that face outside are narrower than the door is. The ones that look inward on the courtyard are larger, and there are a number of quite wide doors opening on the interior garden. If we were already inside, there would be no problem; it's just a bit difficult getting in in the first place."

"Suppose I called a contractor to come and make an opening in the wall--or maybe it would be enough to take the door off the hinges. The trunk almost fits, after all."

"I don't see how I could allow that," returned the owner reluctantly. "I'd like to oblige; we always do all we can to help people come in. But my Father, who had the house built, is still alive, and he left strict instructions about the way he wanted the house constructed and maintained. I couldn't go against his wishes in something like this."

"Oh, I thought you were the owner," said the man. "At least, that's what I was always told."

"Well, I am; but jointly with my Father. It would be impossible for me to countermand his orders."

"Then could you get him down here, so the three of us could talk?"

"I'm afraid he only shows himself to people once they've settled down inside. He named me his representative in everything, however; so as far as that is concerned, my father and I are one and the same."

"But then what am I supposed to do?"

"Well, I wouldn't really worry about the trunk. In the first place, all the rooms are furnished to your specifications anyway. I think you'll find that you won't need most of what you have in it."

"But you don't understand. It isn't that there's anything particularly valuable in there--at least anything that anyone else would find valuable. It's just that everything there represents a part of my life, and so I'm very attached to it."

"I can see that," said the owner. "Well, perhaps you could leave the trunk out here, and bring in the things one at a time." He added, "That is, if you still think you want any of them after you've seen your room."

"But if I leave it out here, what's to stop anyone in the crowd I saw headed this way from walking off with something while I'm there inside with you? There are some pretty--unsavory--looking types among them."

"I thought you said that no one else would find any of it valuable."

"Well, I was speaking figuratively. I meant that no one else would find these things as valuable as I do; but some of them are worth quite a lot, actually."

"Oh."

"I have an idea. Could you send someone to guard the trunk while I was away from it?

"Yes, I believe we could manage that," said the owner. "We try to do everything we can to help."

The man looked at him. Did that answer come a little too quickly? Was he just a bit overeager to "guard" the trunk to see to it that no one else took anything while the two were inside? Could you really trust this person? The man had heard some say that he was fond of taking things from people.

"Come," said the owner. "Let me show you to your room, and then we can come back and you can begin taking your things in."

"I don't know," said the man. "I mean, even if you send someone to guard it, here it is right out in the open with people milling all around. Are you sure nobody will be able to take anything?"

"In the few minutes we'll be inside? I think it's highly improbable."

"But you admit it could happen."

"Well, our guard is only a single person. I would say it would be as safe with him here as it is with you."

"Well, but he's just a hired hand. I mean, he wouldn't have the interest in it that I have, so he might not defend it as strongly."

"I have every reason to believe he's trustworthy," was the reply. "But of course, you'll just have to take my word for it."

"So as far as I'm concerned, it's quite possible that when I come back, it'll be gone."

"Well," answered the owner, "I don't see that there's anything I can say now that can make you absolutely sure that nothing will happen to the trunk or anything in it--not if you don't trust what I say. I can assure you that even if something is lost from it, we will replace it at no charge."

"At least let me empty the trunk and leave the contents inside the door. Then I'd feel more comfortable, because at least the things wouldn't be out here to tempt everybody."

"No, sir, I'm afraid we can't do that. We have a rule that says that nothing that belongs to you is to be left inside until you have seen your room first and approved it; and that means that you will have to leave your possessions behind for at least a few moments. The price for your room, in fact, is the risk you take that when you return, some of the objects in the trunk might be missing. But let me assure you once again that it is really no price at all, because in fact you have nothing to lose and everything to gain if you settle in my father's house."

"I know I know," said the man in anguish. "That's what I keep hearing from everyone. But how can I be sure? I told you that everything in that trunk has become a part of me. If I leave it even for a few minutes, it's the same as leaving something of myself behind."

"Would it help if I said that if you leave yourself behind out here, you will find it inside?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Come in and see."

The man took a step toward the door, then looked back at the trunk, turned once again to the door and took another step, and then walked resolutely up to the threshold, where he paused and looked back. The owner was already inside, beckoning him to follow. "Wait," he said.

He took a step back outside. "No, I can't."

"I could help you, if you'd like."

He looked back at the owner, and then his eyes fell to the ground. "No, I just can't. I've made up my mind. I mean, if I give all this up for just a few minutes, this is the same as giving up my whole life, and then who will I be inside there? Without all this?"

"Well, as to that," said the owner, "once you are inside, you'll recognize yourself, and as I say recover what it was that you thought you were preserving by what is in that trunk. You aren't actually in there, you know."

"But that's the only self I know!"

"I realize that. Then isn't it time to find out what you really are?"

"No, it's too much. Too much of a risk; I can't afford to lose everything. Besides, what for? I don't want any more than what's in there anyway. Why live in a palace and not have what I've worked so hard for all my life?"

"I think I ought to tell you," said the owner, "that there's no shelter in this land except in this house. If you don't come in here, you'll have to stay outside."

"I could live in the trunk," he answered. "I could empty it out on the ground and then tip it upside down and open the lid and use it as a prop. And then when I left for food, I could close the lid and lock it--no, I'd set it up somewhere near a store so it wouldn't be out of my sight for a minute; and then come right back and crawl in. That's what I could do."

"Don't you think it would be a little cramped and dark in there?" asked the owner. "The room you have waiting for you is much more spacious and airy."

"But this would be mine; the one I built all by myself. What have I been working for all my life except for this trunk and what's in it? No, I'm sorry; but now that I've considered the matter, I couldn't be happy in a room you gave me, even if I could take in some of my possessions. I made these, and I made myself; I can't imagine how I could even have considered your offer. I should never have knocked in the first place."

"Well, we certainly don't want to force anyone," said the owner. "If you find living in that trunk preferable to residence in this mansion, that is, of course, up to you. But if you change your mind after trying it for a while, you may be assured that your room will be waiting for you."

"I don't really think you need to bother," said the man, as he grasped the handle of the trunk and began dragging it painfully away after him.