Full Download Principles of Supply Chain Management: A Balanced Approach 5th Edition Joel D. Wisner File PDF All Chapter On 2024
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Principles of
Supply Chain
Management
A Balanced Approach | 5e
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Principles of Supply Chain © 2019, 2014 Cengage Learning®
Management, Fifth Edition
Joel Wisner, Keah-Choon Tan, Unless otherwise noted, all content is © Cengage
G. Keong Leong ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the
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To CJ, Hayley, Blake, Phyllis, and Sally.
—Joel Wisner
—Keah-Choon Tan
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Brief Contents
Preface xvi
MindTap for Supply Chain Management xvii
Acknowledgments xix
About the Authors xx
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Contents
Preface xvi
MindTap for Supply Chain Management xvii
Acknowledgments xix
About the Authors xx
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vi Contents
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Contents vii
Performance Metrics 87
Continuous Improvement 89
Monitoring Supplier Relationships 89
Key Points 90
Supplier Evaluation and Certification 91
The Weighted Criteria Evaluation System 92
External Certifications 93
Supplier Development 95
Supplier Recognition Programs 97
Supplier Relationship Management 98
Summary 101
Key Terms 101
Discussion Questions 101
Problems 102
Essay/Project Questions 103
Cases 104
Endnotes 107
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viii Contents
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Contents ix
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x Contents
Chapter 8
Process Management—Lean and Six Sigma in the Supply
Chain 275
Introduction 276
Lean Production and the Toyota Production System 278
Lean Thinking and Supply Chain Management 281
The Elements of Lean 281
Waste Elimination 281
Lean Supply Chain Relationships 284
Lean Layouts 285
Inventory and Setup Time Reduction 287
Small Batch Production Scheduling 288
Continuous Improvement 291
Workforce Commitment 291
Lean Systems and the Environment 292
The Origins of Six Sigma Quality 292
Comparing Six Sigma and Lean 295
Lean Six Sigma 295
Six Sigma and Supply Chain Management 295
The Elements of Six Sigma 297
Deming’s Contributions 297
Crosby’s Contributions 298
Juran’s Contributions 299
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award 300
The ISO 9000 and 14000 Families of Management
Standards 302
The DMAIC Improvement Cycle 303
Six Sigma Training Levels 304
The Statistical Tools of Six Sigma 305
Flow Diagrams 305
Check Sheets 305
Pareto Charts 305
Cause-and-Effect Diagrams 306
Statistical Process Control 307
Statistical Process Control and Supply Chain Management 315
Summary 316
Key Terms 316
Discussion Questions 316
Essay/Project Questions 318
Problems 319
Cases 321
Additional Resources 324
Endnotes 325
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Contents xi
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xii Contents
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Contents xiii
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xiv Contents
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Contents xv
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Preface
Welcome to the fifth edition of Principles of Supply Chain Management: A Balanced
Approach. The practice of supply chain management has become widespread in all industries
around the globe today, and the benefits to firms of all sizes are being realized. We think this
text is unique in that it uses a novel and logical approach to present discussions of this topic
from four foundation perspectives: purchasing, operations, logistics, and process integration.
We think this text is also somewhat different than the other supply chain management texts
available, since we present a more balanced view of the topic—many of the texts available today
concentrate primarily on just one of the three areas of purchasing, operations, or logistics.
The objective of the text is to make readers think about how supply chain management
impacts all of the various areas and processes of the firm and its supply chain trading part-
ners and to show how managers can improve their firm’s competitive position by employ-
ing the practices we describe throughout the text. Junior- or senior-level business students,
beginning MBA students, as well as practicing managers can benefit from reading and
using this text.
There are several changes to this fifth edition that we hope you will find interesting and
useful. Perhaps the biggest change are the three cases at the end of each chapter (Chapter 1
has just one case). The teaching notes for each case can be found in the Instructor’s Manual.
There is also a greater emphasis on technological advances throughout the text. Addition-
ally, each chapter contains a number of SCM Profiles, beginning with a chapter-opening pro-
file, and then other smaller company profiles throughout the chapters. All chapter references
throughout the text have been updated, with new and interesting storylines, to keep readers
engaged and informed. Additionally, new end-of-chapter discussion, essay and project ques-
tions, and exercises have been added. Other ancillary materials are described below.
As with the fourth edition, the fifth edition has a tie-in to a wonderfully engaging global
supply chain simulation game called SCM Globe. A separate page dedicated to SCM Globe
follows this preface. We are very excited about the simulation and hope instructors will
take it for a test drive and then use it in their classes.
New to the fifth edition is MindTap for supply chain management. A separate page ded-
icated to MindTap follows this preface.
Finally, PowerPoint lecture slides are available for download. The online instructor resource
center contains sample syllabi, case teaching notes, answers to all of the end-of-chapter ques-
tions and problems, and a test bank. In the Chapter 1 Appendix, there is a discussion of the
Beer Game, with inventory tracking sheets to allow instructors to actually play the game with
their students. There are also quantitative as well as qualitative problems and questions, essay/
project exercises, and Excel problems spread throughout most of the chapters.
Part 1 is the overview and introduction to the topic of supply chain management.
This chapter introduces the basic understanding and concepts of supply chain manage-
ment and should help students realize the importance of this topic. Core concepts such as
the bullwhip effect, supplier relationship management, forecasting and demand manage-
ment, enterprise resource planning, transportation management, and customer relation-
ship management are briefly discussed. There is also a closing section on current trends in
supply chain management.
xvi
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Preface xvii
Part 2 presents supply issues in supply chain management. This very important topic
is covered in three chapters, building from an introduction to purchasing management,
to managing supplier relationships, and then finally to ethical and sustainable sourcing.
Within these chapters can be found sections on government purchasing, global sourcing,
e-procurement, software applications, supplier development, ethical purchasing, and green
purchasing.
Part 3 includes four chapters regarding operations issues in supply chain management.
This section progresses from forecasting, resource planning, and inventory management
to lean production and Six Sigma in a supply chain setting. Topics in this section include
the basics of forecasting; collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment; material
requirements planning; enterprise resource planning; inventory models; lean thinking; Six
Sigma concepts and tools; and statistical process control techniques.
Part 4 presents distribution issues in supply chain management and consists of four
chapters. This section begins with a review of domestic U.S. and international logistics
with sections on green transportation, international logistics security, and reverse logis-
tics. This is followed by chapters on customer relationship management, global location
decisions, and service response logistics. Content in these chapters includes new software
application discussions, social media, and cloud computing in customer relationship man-
agement, sustainability in logistics, new location trends in the global economy, and cloud
computing in services.
The final section is Part 5, which presents discussions of the integration issues in
s upply chain management and performance measurements along the supply chain. While
cooperation and integration are frequently referred to in the text, this section brings the
entire text into focus, tying all of the parts together, first by discussing internal and external
process integration in detail, followed by a discussion of traditional and world-class
p erformance measurement systems. The topics of supply chain risk management and
expanded coverage of performance measurement models are also included.
We think we have compiled a very interesting set of supply chain management topics
that will keep readers engaged and we hope you enjoy it. We welcome your comments and
suggestions for improvement. Please direct all comments and questions to:
Joel D. Wisner: [email protected] (primary contact),
Keah-Choon Tan: [email protected], or
G. Keong Leong: [email protected]
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xviii Preface
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Another random document with
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"He doesn't know what a privilege he has just had," she said laughing. Then
she looked down at the child, "I do hope he will be a good man like his father,"
she murmured.
"So thank God, she still loves her absentminded husband as much as ever!"
thought the Bishop, but he felt he could have shaken him. To possess such a
treasure and not take more care of her was in his opinion reprehensible in the
extreme. They were a blind pair! He to her lovely self-forgetfulness, and she to
his absentmindedness. Well, he was thankful that she was still devoted to him.
Rachel laughed when she discovered that the Bishop had made her bovril
himself! It was luxury to be looked after and taken care of.
"It would never do for me to see a doctor," she expostulated, "and I have no
time in which to be ill. What do you suppose Luke would do with an invalid
wife, and little Pat with a useless mother! No, it won't do to give in and it was
only the sudden sight of you that made me so stupid."
"It is only right to both your husband and child that you should consult a
doctor," returned the Bishop. "Possibly all you need is a tonic; anyhow, as I
consider I stand in the position of a father to you, you must do what I say. And
you must certainly curtail your work."
And so Rachel gave way and promised, and the Bishop left the house with a
heavy heart. Besides the state of Rachel's health he had learnt for the first
time of their extreme poverty of which he had had no idea. He did not suppose
that Rachel's family knew the state of their finances, as Gwen would certainly
have enlarged upon it in her letter to him had she known. No doubt Rachel
had hidden the fact from her mother partly to save her pain, and also to
prevent her from blaming Luke for marrying her when he could not provide for
her. Something must be done. He was unwilling to give Luke too sudden a
shock by telling him what he thought of his wife's health, but as Mrs. Greville
was now getting stronger, he decided to enlighten her quickly about the
matter. He would write directly he got home; and meanwhile, the thought that
this was only one case of extreme poverty that existed among the clergy in his
diocese, lay on his heart like lead.
But the doctor told Mrs. Greville of the serious state of Rachel's health before
the Bishop's letter reached her.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE DREAM OF HIS LIFE.
Rachel did not hurry to see a doctor, but having promised to do so she knew
she must keep her word, so the second day after the Bishop's visit, knowing
that Luke would be away at a clerical meeting in the country, she wrote a note
to the doctor who had been attending her mother-in-law asking him to come
and see her. She did not suppose that there was anything seriously the matter
with her notwithstanding the fact that she felt so ill; and after all, she thought
to herself, she need not follow out his injunctions if they were inconvenient.
She was quite unprepared for his verdict. He told her that both her heart and
her lungs were affected, and that it was absolutely necessary that she should
give up all parish work and if possible take a thorough rest. To Mrs. Greville,
he gave a still more serious account.
"She should leave this place at once," he said, "and live as far as possible an
open air life. A sanatorium would give her the best chance. But if this is
impossible she should go into the country or to the sea. Of course she has
been doing the work of two or three women. She must drop all that and what
is more she should be fed up. She is not properly nourished."
"Do you mean to say you think that she has not had enough food?" asked
Mrs. Greville very much distressed.
"I am afraid not. She has not looked after herself at all. I made her tell me
what she had had in the way of food yesterday, and when I heard I was not
surprised at her state of health.
Mrs. Greville so dreaded telling Luke the news she had received from the
doctor that she did not ask him to come round to see her that evening. So she
sat and brooded over the news, and in her heart she blamed Rachel for
neglecting herself as she had evidently done. Of course people would lay the
blame on Luke; but how could you expect a man whose every moment was
filled in with his parish duties to notice when his wife looked pale, or lost her
appetite. And what a terrible hindrance to his work to have an invalid wife!
Moreover, it was easy for the doctor to prescribe a different climate and
complete rest; but how his plans were to be carried out she did not know.
Meanwhile Rachel quite unconscious of the doctor's visit to Mrs. Greville, after
the first shock of the news, determined to behave as if he had never been.
She was resolved not to become an invalid and a hindrance to her husband,
an hour before it was positively necessary. And after all doctors often made
mistakes. She would drink more milk, a matter on which he had laid great
stress, and there she would leave it.
When Luke returned home from the clerical meeting he was in good spirits.
The paper he had read had been well received and the discussion that had
followed had been intensely interesting. Rachel was as interested in all that
had happened as she always was in his concerns, and he did not notice that
she was looking unusually tired and worn.
The next day two letters lay on the hall table for Luke. But he had to hurry off
directly after lunch to an appointment, and so he put them in his pocket to
read in the tram on the way.
It was only after taking his seat that he remembered them. One he saw at
once was from the Bishop, the other had the London postmark. He opened
the second first as being more interesting to him; and he could scarcely
believe what he read. It was the offer of a living in a crowded part of London,
where he would have the charge of 16,000 souls. He could have shouted for
joy. It was exactly what he had been longing for. It was true that financially it
was not much better than his present living, but money had very little
attraction or indeed meaning for Luke, and he dismissed from his mind that
part of the news in the letter almost without a thought. It was the work that he
craved, and work in the very centre of the universe, as he liked to think of
London. At last the dream of his life was coming true. He felt he could hardly
get through his work, so anxious was he to tell the news to Rachel and to his
mother.
He felt that his mother would rejoice with him almost more than Rachel. Now
that he came to think of it his wife had never taken much to the thought of
London; though he knew that she would do nothing to prevent him going. Had
she not said when they had been talking about the possibility of him one day
being offered a church there, "Where thou goest I will go?" But the
remembrance of her words about London and her dislike of it, for a moment or
two rather damped his spirits; but he knew she would not fail him now that the
dream of his life was coming true.
So full was he of the news the letter contained, that he forgot there was
another one in his pocket till he was in the tram again on his way home.
To his amusement, he found that this one was also an offer of a living; but one
in the country. It was a good one, much better than the one offered to him in
London; but this did not weigh with him in the least, and the fact of it being in
the country at once made him dismiss it from his mind. In fact, he scarcely
took in the Bishop's letter in which he said, that he felt sure a country life
would be beneficial both for his wife and his son, adding that when he called
at his house he had thought Rachel looking very tired and worn.
Rachel was always so bright in her husband's presence that he supposed the
Bishop must have called at an inconvenient time and that unfortunately
Rachel had not been able to conceal the fact. He had not noticed anything
wrong in her looks himself, and he did not recollect her once complaining of
even a headache ever since her marriage. The Bishop evidently had got a
wrong impression of her from his call. He would write and thank him for his
kind thought of them but decline the country living and tell him why. Then he
thrust the Bishop's letter into his pocket and made his way joyfully toward his
mother's rooms.
CHAPTER XXIII.
LUKE SEES HIMSELF.
Luke, full of his great news, ran upstairs to his mother's room, with the letter
from London in his hands.
He found her crouching over the fire in the big horsehair chair, the only
armchair in the room. He was surprised that she did not look round at the
sound of his footsteps and give him her usual smile of welcome. Instead, she
stretched out her hand to him with averted eyes.
"Mother what is it?" he asked. He knew she must have bad news of some kind
and wanted to express her sympathy before she broke it to him.
Luke took a chair by her and looked anxiously at her. She had been so much
better lately, was able to walk a little and was getting altogether stronger, that
her action perplexed him. Had the doctor given her a depressing account of
herself, he wondered? Mrs. Greville's first words confirmed this fear.
"And surely he thinks you much better? Don't let him make you nervous about
yourself, mother."
"It isn't about myself," said Mrs. Greville in a strained tone of voice, "it's about
Rachel."
"Oh well," he said laughing, "you may make your mind easy about her. I left
her this morning in good spirits."
"My poor boy!" said his mother again, "You must prepare for a great blow."
He began to wonder if the slight stroke his mother had had, affected her brain.
He put his hand caressingly on hers. "Let's have it out," he said with a smile. "I
don't think what ever it is that it can affect me as much as you imagine."
"Rachel is not well," said his mother watching his face anxiously. "She saw the
doctor yesterday."
"Not well!" said Luke astonished. "Why, what is the matter with her? She was
quite well anyhow this morning. Has she had an accident?"
"No. It is worse than an accident. The doctor thinks very seriously of her."
Luke rose and stood before his mother. All the colour had left his face.
"Tell me outright what you mean," he said sharply. "What is wrong with her?"
Luke stood quite still and silent. He was always silent and unnaturally quiet
when agitated in his mind.
"Yesterday."
"Yesterday!"
"Yes. The Bishop, you remember, called on her. He made her promise to
consult him."
"And why didn't she tell me?" said Luke. And the agonised expression in his
eyes showed his mother how intensely he was moved.
"I don't know, except that she wanted to save you anxiety. She has not told me
either and I don't suppose that she has any idea that Dr. Fleming came round
to see me about her."
"He says," continued his mother, "that she has evidently been doing too much
and has not taken care of herself. He particularly dwelt on her thinness.
Apparently she has not had nourishing food."
"I feel Rachel is greatly to be blamed for having been so careless about her
health," added Mrs. Greville.
Luke looked up, and his mother was startled by the stern expression of his
face.
There was anguish in his tone of voice. He picked up the letter from London
which had fallen to the ground, ramming it into his coat pocket. Then he
sprang up and looked at his watch.
"I shall go and see the doctor at once," he said. And without another word, he
hurried away.
His visit confirmed his worst fears, and the doctor seemed surprised that he
had never noticed the gradual change in his wife's appearance. Even he had
seen it, casually meeting her in the street.
Luke walked home as if in a dream. The letters in his pocket were absolutely
forgotten; his one thought was Rachel.
He opened the door of the house softly and went up into his study. He felt he
could not meet his wife till he had looked the terrible truth in the face. The
thought that he might possibly lose her was too painful to him to be able to
bear calmly, and yet he knew that he must not give her any hint as to his
fears.
He shut the door of his study after him and sank into the large armchair by the
fire burying his face in his hands.
The fire! Even that seemed to cry out in condemnation of his selfishness. Of
course Rachel had lit his fire so that his room might be warm and comfortable
for him, while she probably had had no fire to sit by except that in the kitchen.
He had been so preoccupied with his own interests and concerns that he had
scarcely given a thought to hers. His mother had said, that the doctor gave it
out as his opinion that she had not eaten enough. How was it that this fact had
never been noticed by him! She always supplied him with plenty, and it had
not struck him to notice what food she had provided for herself. Husband and
child had never wanted for anything.
The doctor had said that she was thoroughly overworked. And yet he had
never noticed how she was getting thin and pale! How often had he asked her
to do things for him so that he might go off to some meeting or other, and it
had never crossed his mind that the anxiety of leaving Pat with inexperienced
Polly must have added to the strain.
Then he had never shared in the care of the child; in fact he had at times
asked Rachel to do what she could to keep him quiet as his crying somewhat
disturbed him working. Not many weeks after his birth he had moved his bed
into his dressing room, as the child's restlessness prevented him sleeping,
and he felt his sleep to be all important to his work. He had never realised that
Rachel also wanted an occasional night's rest.
And what had she not given up for him! Her luxurious home, where she had
every comfort; her mother and sisters who had petted and loved her; her out
of door pursuits; her flowers which she loved so passionately; her ease and
her friends. And what had he given up for her in return? Nothing! Nothing!
In exchange for all her home comforts, he had given her a pokey little house,
poverty, overwork, and strain!
"'These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.'"
The words gave him a shock. They so exactly described him, and yet he had
been so unconscious of his delinquencies that he had actually intended to
preach to his people about theirs.
"'These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.'" The Word
of God condemned him. He had forgotten that preaching and visiting were not
the only duties to be done for God, or the only work. Did not St. Paul lay a
special stress on the home life?
He realised now that though he loved his wife so devotedly, he had been so
engrossed in his own affairs that he had neglected her. He suddenly paused in
his walk. That was Rachel's voice. Evidently little Pat was restless and his
mother was singing him to sleep. Luke could hardly bear the sound of her
dear voice. It pierced his heart like an arrow. He pictured just how she was
looking, walking up and down in her bedroom with the child in her arms. He
had often heard her sing the words that he now heard, but he remembered
how even the sound of her singing at times had disturbed him, and he had
asked her to stop. But this evening, he listened and wept.
The voice grew softer and softer; then it ceased altogether and Luke knew Pat
was asleep.
He so dreaded to meet Rachel that he stayed up in his study till he heard her
footstep outside. When she opened the door she found him sitting over the
fire in an attitude of deep depression, and knew at once that somehow he had
learnt the news about her. Kneeling by his side she laid her head on his
breast.
"You mustn't worry about me dearest," she said, "I think myself that Dr.
Fleming is a pessimist and has made a mistake. Anyhow I don't mean to act
as if what he said was true. I shall just go on as I have done before; that is to
say after a little rest. I suppose I must have that."
Luke was silent. He hardly thought that she could be aware of her serious
condition.
"Why did you not tell me?" he asked after a pause. There was a tone of
reproach in his voice.
"I didn't want to worry you, you have so much to trouble you. Besides, I don't
suppose there is anything really the matter with me. Doctors make such
mistakes."
He took up one of her hands and looked at it. He was shocked to notice how
thin it was.
He held it to his lips and kissed it. The unusual action almost broke Rachel's
self-control.
She rose saying, "I must go now and see after the supper. Polly will wonder
where I am." But once out of the room her tears began to flow.
"Oh, I mustn't be ill," she gasped, as instead of going into the kitchen, she
sank into a chair in the drawing-room. "I shall be no good to Luke, only an
anxiety. Oh God show me what to do. Don't let me be a burden to him."
Luke, after Rachel had left, sat sunk again in deep depression.
And here it was within his grasp and yet he was unable to accept it. Instead of
preaching to a large congregation and ministering to their souls needs, he
would have to vegetate in the country! It would be a living death to him.
During the first year or two of his present charge he had tasted what it was to
be able to move people by his oratory; it was only the extra-ordinary craze for
amusements that had spoilt it all. It was then he began to long for a wider
sphere, and though the parish in which was the church that had been offered
to him was in a poor part of London, the congregation consisted of many who
had been drawn there by the preaching of the former Vicar. The Trustees
were most anxious to secure a good preacher to succeed him. One of them
had visited St. Marks on purpose to judge of Luke's preaching, and was much
struck by it. This was why the living had been offered to him notwithstanding
the fact that he was somewhat young for such an important post. All this was
mentioned in the letter that Luke held in his hand, and the fact that he had to
decline it filled him with the keenest disappointment. So keen was it that he
decided not to tell Rachel that night about either letter. He would wait to
answer them till the next day. It was never a good thing to do anything in a
hurry.
Luke's silence at supper did not surprise her. She knew that it was a sign that
he had some problem to solve. The problem of course, this evening, she knew
must be what to do about her. Once or twice she tried to make him smile as
she recounted some event of the day; but she was so unsuccessful that she
felt it was better to leave him to his thoughts. She was trying herself to unravel
the difficulty that had arisen, but so impossible did she find it that she came to
the conclusion that the only thing was to leave it in Higher Hands. God had
always provided for them and would do so still. Was He not a very present
help in time of trouble?
Luke sat up late that night. He was standing before the Bar of his own
conscience. He had to face the fact that he was feeling rebellious; struggling
against the Will of God. To bury his talents in a village was a repugnant
thought to him. How could he endure the quiet and dullness of it? Would it not
tend to make him indolent in work? What would be the good of reading all the
new thought of the day in order to help those who were troubled by it, if there
was no-one who had even heard of the false teaching. How could he spend
his time in preparing sermons suitable to men and women whose brains had
never been taught to work. He pictured himself preaching to a congregation,
the half of which were asleep and the other half on the verge of going to
sleep. Then he suddenly remembered how his Lord had spent time over the
soul of one poor woman, the Lord of whom it was said, "Never man spake like
this man." Had He not taught again and again, both by his words and actions,
the value of one individual soul?
Luke's disinclination for a village congregation made him look into his own
motives. Had all his work been at Trowsby been done for the glory of God?
Had not the first year or two of his great popularity somewhat intoxicated him?
Was the wish to preach to large audiences to win them to the service of the
Lord? Or was it the delightful sense of power to sway their minds, that
attracted him? Was the disappointment and the longing for a larger sphere
caused at all by the fact that he was conscious that he had lost hold of his
people? That they no longer hung on his words as of yore; that instead of
looking up to him, as formerly, with admiration, they looked down on him as
out of date?
Sitting by his fire that night, looking at the dying coals, he saw himself for the
first time in the light of one who had been weighed in the balances and found
wanting. He was right down in the Valley of Humiliation, and in agony of soul.
It was late when he went to his room. Then he dreamt that he was a Bishop
preaching in St. Paul's Cathedral. He looked down at the sea of faces, and
was conscious of a thrill of emotion as he saw the vast congregation before
him. He felt triumphant and elated as among the number he noticed some of
his parishioners at Trowsby, who had left his Church because they did not
consider him up to date.
He heard his fine voice echoing down the aisles as he gave out his text, and
was congratulating himself on its texture, when the whole congregation rose
to its feet, saying solemnly and slowly, "Thou art weighed in the balances, and
art found wanting." Then they filed out of the Cathedral till he was left standing
alone in the pulpit, with the condemning words still echoing among the pillars.
He awoke trembling with horror, and knew, in the anguish of his soul, that it
was true of him. He had been weighed in the balances and found wanting.
The cry of his little son in the adjoining room reached him; and he heard
Rachel's soft voice singing:
"Be near me Lord Jesus; I ask Thee to stay
Close by me for ever, and love me I pray.
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And fit us for Heaven to live with Thee there."
He rose and opened the door softly, and took the child from her arms. Rachel,
almost too tired to smile or feel any surprise, lay down and slept.
"Perhaps," said Luke to himself, "To take care of my little son, may be more to
God's glory than to preach in St. Paul's Cathedral."
He wrote the next morning before breakfast to refuse the London living and to
accept the one in the country; and he never told his wife nor his mother that
he had had a chance of experiencing the dream of his life and had put it away.
CHAPTER XXIV.
FOR LUKE'S SAKE.
Luke paced up and down the lawn of his pretty Rectory. The moon was
shedding its silver light on grass and trees; the flowers were flinging their
perfume around him; a nightingale trilled out its song from a tree in the
distance; but it all meant nothing to Luke. His soul was crying out for crowds of
human beings; for his fellow men; for the rush and excitement of city life; for
the tumult and whirl of London.
The silence of this summer night broken only by the song of the nightingale
was almost unbearable. The thought of his village church sparsely filled with
farmers and their wives, and labourers, who listened to him with their mouths
open in astonishment at the oratory of their new "parson," the remembrance of
the cottages nestling on the hill below the Rectory, with their walls covered
with roses and honey suckle, and whose occupants he had already visited
several times during his short stay among them, had no charm for him.
He longed for strenuous work in courts and alleys, for congregations of people
who could appreciate his sermons; he pined for London platforms and
enthralled listeners to his eloquence. He felt he was wasted, utterly wasted in
this quiet village on the hill that Rachel so loved.
Yes, Rachel loved it. That was the only compensation. Gradually it seemed
that her health was returning. The open air life and comparative rest from
worry were doing their work; and only a few minutes before, she had left him
rejoicing in all the beauty of their surroundings, its peace and quietness. She
revelled in the flowers and trees and soft green grass.
When Luke had told her two months ago of the Bishop's offer of Stagland, the
news had struck her as so wonderful that she had burst into tears. She knew
that a few more months in Trowsby would mean that she would have to say
goodbye to husband and child and leave them to get through life alone; and
the lifting of that burden seemed almost too good to be true. Moreover, living
at Stagland meant an end to the perpetual struggle of keeping within their
means, an end too of housework, for which she was entirely unfit. She
decided before many hours were over to take the faithful little Polly as
nursemaid and to help in the house, with another general servant. They would
be able to grow their own vegetables and fruit, and no doubt Luke would do a
certain amount of work in the garden with a man to help. The whole plan
seemed ideal to Rachel. She lay awake thinking of it at night and panting for
the fresh air of the country.
At times, however, she wondered if she ought to let Luke sacrifice himself to
the extent of living in the country. Would he be able to endure it? Would he
have enough to occupy his time? Was it right that a young and strong man
should take a country living and spend his best years among fields and
hedges instead of courts and alleys?
She looked anxiously at his face when he did not know that her eyes were
upon him, and was afraid that she detected a shade of sadness in its
expression. Luke, however, was very careful not to let her know by his words
how almost unbearable the thought of the country was to him. But when
Rachel was not with him he gave way to his miserable thoughts.
As he paced up and down in the moonlight, he lifted his eyes to the starlit sky
and cried to God to forgive all his past unsatisfactoriness and to make him
once more of use in the world.
As for Rachel she was in a dream of happiness. In fact it seemed as if life had
suddenly opened to her in all its rich fulness. The presence of her husband,
her child, the country air laden with all sorts of perfume; the feeling of rest and
quiet after the strain and stress of Trowsby; and the consciousness that she
was getting her strength back and had not to be always thinking of ways and
means, filled her with thankfulness. Moreover, she had a most faithful
nursemaid in Polly who she counted distinctly as one of her blessings. Polly's
devotion to Pat showed itself in many ways; and Rachel felt that she could
trust the child perfectly to her when she was feeling unable to make any effort
on his behalf. For though she knew she was gradually getting stronger she
was conscious that her amount of strength was at present very small and that
any unnecessary effort was bad for her.
"I am going to Trowsby," said Luke one morning. "I am not happy about my
mother. Her letters strike me as rather depressed."
"I am afraid that she must miss you very much," said Rachel.
"I fancy that is what is making her depressed. Anyhow I shall go and find out. I
shall rather like to be in Trowsby again," he added.
"You mustn't like it so much that you'll want to be back again," said Rachel.
Luke laughed. He would have given the world to be back again, but he did not
tell her so. Anyhow it would do him good just to have a look at the people. And
if he started quite early in the morning, by 7.30, he would have a long day
before he need return by the 8 o'clock train.
The streets of Trowsby did for him what the trees and flowers did for his wife.
He felt he could breathe again, and the depression that had weighed him
down rolled away. His first visit was to the church. It was empty. After kneeling
in prayer, he sat down and lived over again the Sundays he had spent there.
He remembered the crowded building, the earnest listeners, the hearty
singing, and compared it with his present village Church.
Then with a sigh he rose and made his way to his mother's rooms. That she
was missing him terribly, he saw at once.
"You must come and live with us," he said. "Why not?"
"My dear I could not do that," she answered. "If Rachel asked me that would
be another thing. But she is not likely to do that."
"But why not?" said Luke. "I am quite sure she would be delighted. I can't think
why the plan was not thought of before."
"Have you ever come across a daughter-in-law who would welcome such an
idea? I haven't. No, it would not answer."
"Perhaps not with most people; but you are different. I can't imagine Rachel
not liking the suggestion. Of course she would be only too delighted."
Mrs. Greville shook her head. "It is impossible," she said. "I like Rachel and
admire her in many ways, but I am perfectly sure that our feelings for one
another would be strained and uncomfortable. I don't know if you are aware
she has never once called me mother. I am Mrs. Greville to her and nothing
more."
Mrs. Greville, seeing her son's astonishment, was sorry that she had
mentioned the fact to him.
"Oh it really does not signify," she hurried to say. "I daresay it has never struck
her. And I have not a word to say against her. She is a very nice girl and an
excellent wife. But you see the kind of footing we are on. She would not
welcome me I am quite sure."
"I am convinced that you are mistaken," said Luke. The idea had never
entered his mind, that his wife and mother were not on the closest of terms
with one another. His mother, he felt sure, was depressed from her late illness
and was looking at things through dark spectacles.
"You must put those ideas quite away from you," he said, "and you must come
and live with us. Wouldn't you like it?"
"I have never liked the thought of the country. But of course it would be far
less lonely and I suppose I could find enough to do in the village."
"Of course you would. You could start all sorts of things which Rachel is not in
a fit state to do."
"Well I shall not come unless I am definitely asked by your wife," said Mrs.
Greville, "as I am convinced that I should not be welcomed. Neither do I think
it at all wise for a mother-in-law to take up her abode with her son and his
wife. You will see that I am right."
Luke made the best of his time in Trowsby. He visited every member of his
men's Bible class; had tea with Mrs. Stone, looked up the district visitors and
finally found himself just in time to spring into the 8 o'clock train as it was
moving out of the station.
Meanwhile Rachel had had a lovely day in the garden. Little Pat was in his
perambulator by her side, crowing and happy. The birds were singing in the
trees above her. The gardener was cutting the grass in another part of the
garden with a scythe; that most delicious of all sounds; an occasional heavily
laden cart passed in the lane near by. She rejoiced in every sight, sound, and
smell, and the quiet and peace were as balm to her spirit.
When baby was taken away to be put to sleep for the night Rachel still lay on
under the trees, and was fast asleep herself when Luke opened the gate.
"Have you had a nice day?" she said, as she awoke at the sound of his
footstep. But she saw the question was unnecessary. His face was radiant.
"First-rate," he said, taking a seat by her side. "I enjoyed every minute of it."
For the moment Luke had forgotten about his suggestion to his mother; and
the sudden remembrance of her words made him hesitate before answering;
then he said:
"Of course she misses me terribly. I don't feel happy at her being so far away."
He was so afraid of seeing by the expression on his wife's face that his mother
was right in her judgment, that he kept his eyes on the tree above him. Rachel
was silent. A sudden presentiment filled her mind and made her heart flutter.
Was Luke wanting his mother to live with them? Was it possible that such a
thought had entered his mind! How could she bear it? She had grown to like
Mrs. Greville, indeed to love her in a way.
Her devotion to little Pat was almost pathetic and had drawn them together.
But to have her in the house, for the peace to be interrupted by her restless
activities; to hear her loud voice disturbing the quiet of the home and garden!
How could she bear it! And yet—yes she was sure from the look on Luke's
face as he gazed up into the tree, that this was what he wanted to propose
and for some reason felt nervous of doing so. She was silent; then mastering
herself she said quietly:
"Of course she must miss you terribly. What a pity Trowsby is so far away."
With a fear lest he should then and there propose to her what she believed
would wreck the happiness and peace of the home, she added quickly, "I think
it is getting a little damp and chilly. Will you bring in my chair dear."
Luke was all concern in a moment. Rachel must not get cold. He folded up the
chair and followed her into the house. He was just a little surprised that Rachel
had not caught his thought. She was generally so quick at discovering his
meaning; but evidently the idea of his mother living with them had never
crossed her mind. He must try and broach the subject again later on. Had it
not been for his mother's words he would not have felt the slightest hesitation
in doing so; but what she had said was making him find it a little difficult for the
first time to tell Rachel his wish.
"What is the time?" asked Rachel as she paused at the door of the drawing-
room.
"Then I shall go straight to bed," she said. "Polly has laid your supper in the
dining-room. I must wait to hear all about your day till to-morrow, then I shall
be fresher."
On reaching her bedroom Rachel locked the door and sank into a chair. The
shock of the discovery of what was in Luke's mind made her feel quite faint.
Was her cup of happiness to be taken from her? She had so enjoyed having
her husband and child to herself—and so thankful that for a time, at least, the
subject of economy could be put on one side—that she need not worry any
more over eggs being 4d each or that margarine was cheaper than butter.
She hoped that she had left all that behind in Trowsby for ever; but she was
convinced that if Mrs. Greville lived with them the subject of economy would
continually crop up whether it were needful or not. Ways and means were too
interesting a topic to her mother-in-law to allow of her dropping it for long.
Then there were the servants. Polly had a rooted objection to Mrs. Greville,
and as for her new maid she was one who disliked any interference. Rachel
felt that she would certainly lose her, and if it were not for Polly's devotion to
little Pat and herself, there would have been small chance of keeping even
her. Anyhow the peace and the intense happiness would be gone. She would
feel that she had lost both husband and child. Mrs. Greville would dominate
them all and would rule the house. Rachel knew by this time, moreover, that
her ideas on the bringing up of children were in direct opposition to her own.
What should she do if Luke asked her outright to invite her mother-in-law to
live with them? Should she tell him of the difficulties which would certainly
arise? Would it be possible to talk them over together without hurting him too
much? But no. She knew that Luke would not in the least understand them. It
would only make matters worse. She must either put her foot down and say
decidedly that it could not be, or give way.
Rachel in her distress knew there was only one thing to do. Only one answer
to give. She must just pray for strength to do what she knew was her duty; and
to take up the cross without murmuring.
Luke was spared the ordeal he had begun to dread; for at breakfast the next
morning Rachel looked at him across the table with a smile.
"I have been thinking about your mother," she said. "Why not ask her to come
and live with us. Would she like it?"
"That is exactly what I should wish, dearest," he said. "But will it put more on
you? Happily we have Emma, and two servants ought to be able to work the
house well."
"Anyhow," said Rachel, "we might try the experiment."
"I'll write this morning," said Luke joyfully. "No, it would come better from you.
And Rachel," he said, with a little hesitation, "call her 'mother' will you? That
would bring her I know. She would feel we really wanted her."
Rachel laughed. Had she not laughed she would have cried.
"All right," she said. "You shall see my letter before it goes."
Luke was overjoyed. He was so glad that he had been right. There was
evidently no feeling whatever against his mother's coming in Rachel's
judgment. In fact she was evidently pleased at the suggestion. He would write
also and tell his mother that she had been quite wrong in imagining that his
wife would not like the plan.
Rachel dashed off her letter as quickly as she could lest her heart should fail
her, and showed it to Luke.
Rachel pointed to the beginning as Luke took it in his hands, saying, "I have
called her mother for love of you."