days he held himself
in check with difficulty, hoping that things might come to him, that he
would not have to go forth to them.

He had brought Hunt's portrait of Maggie to Cedar Crest in the bottom of
his trunk, and kept it locked in his chiffonier. During these days,
more frequently than before, he would take out the portrait and in
the security of his locked room would gaze long at that keen-visioned
portrayal of her many characters. No doubt of it: there was a possible
splendid woman there! And no doubt of it: he loved that woman utterly!

During these days of his ignorance, while Maggie was struggling in the
darkness of her unexplored being, Larry drove himself grimly at the
business to which under happier circumstances he would have gone under
the irresistible suasion of pure joy. One afternoon he presented to
Miss Sherwood an outline for his growing plan for the development of
the Sherwood properties on the basis of good homes at fair rentals. He
discovered that, in spite of her generous giving, she had much the same
attitude toward Charity as his own: that the only sound Charity, except
for those temporarily or permanently handicapped or disabled, was the
giving of honest values for honest returns--and that was not Charity at
all.

The project of reforming the shiftless character of the Sherwood
properties, and of relieving even in a small degree New York's housing
congestion, appealed at once to her imagination and her sensible
idealism.

"A splendid plan!" she exclaimed, regarding Larry with those wise,
humorous eyes of hers, which were now very serious and penetrating. "You
have been working much harder than I had thought. And if you will pardon
my saying it, you have more of the soundly humane vision which big
business enterprise should have than I had thought."

"Thank you!" said Larry.

"That's a splendid dream," she continued; "but it will take hard work to
translate that dream into a reality. We shall need architects, builders,
a heavy initial expense, time--and a more modern and alert management."

"Yes, Miss Sherwood."

She did not speak for a moment. Her penetrating eyes, which had been
fixed on him in close thought, were yet more penetrating. Finally she
said:

"That's a big thing, a useful thing. The present agents wish to be
relieved of our affairs as soon as I can make arrangements--and I'd
like nothing better than for Dick to drop what he's doing and get into
something constructive a