I
Duty was a large word in Franklin Mills’s lexicon. It pleased him to
think that he met all his obligations as a parent and a citizen. In
his own cogitations he was well satisfied with his handling of his
son Shepherd. Shepherd had needed just the lesson he had given him
in the matter of the sale of the Rogers Trust Company stock. Mills,
not knowing that Bruce Storrs was responsible for Shepherd’s change
of mind, was highly pleased that his son had expressed his entire
satisfaction with his transfer from the battery plant to the new trust
company.
The fact that Shepherd was now eager to begin his new work and
evidently had forgotten all about the community house project increased
Mills’s contentment with his own wisdom and his confidence in his
ability to make things happen as he wanted them to happen. Shepherd
was not so weak; he was merely foolish, and being foolish, it was
lucky that he had a father capable of checking his silly tendencies.
The world would soon be in a pretty mess if all the sons of rich men
were to begin throwing their money to the birds. In the trust company
Shepherd would learn to think in terms of money without the emotional
disturbances caused by contact with the hands that produced it.
Shepherd, Mills felt, would be all right now. Incidentally he had
taught the young man not to attempt to play tricks on him--something
which no one had ever tried with success.
The social promotion of the Hardens was proceeding smoothly, thanks
to Connie’s cooperation. Mrs. Harden had been elected a member of the
Orphan Asylum board, which in itself conferred a certain dignity.
Leila and Connie had effected Millicent’s election to the Dramatic
Club. These matters were accomplished without friction, as Mills
liked to have things done. Someone discovered that Doctor Harden’s
great-grandfather, back in the year of the big wind, had collected more
bounties for wolf scalps than had ever been earned by any other settler
in Jackson County, and the Doctor was thereupon admitted to fellowship
in the Pioneer Society. The Hardens did not climb; they were pushed up
the ladder, seemingly by unseen hands, somewhat to their own surprise
and a little to their discomfiture.