could never be repaired. Where there had
once been boyish love there was now only filial regard. Down in his
secret soul he felt it--down in his secret soul he knew it! Worse than
that--another had replaced him! "Come, you dear old cripple!"--he could
hear the voice and see the love and joy in the boy's eyes as he shouted
it out. Yes, St. George was his father now!

Then his mind reverted to his former treatment of his son and for the
hundredth time he reviewed his side of the case. What else could he have
done and still maintain the standards of his ancestors?--the universal
question around Kennedy Square, when obligations of blood and training
were to be considered. After all it had only been an object lesson;
he had fully intended to forgive him later on. When Harry was a boy he
punished him as boys were punished; when he became a man he punished him
as men were punished. But for St. George the plan would long since have
worked. St. George had balked him twice--once at the club and once at
his home in Kennedy Square, when he practically ordered him from the
house.

And yet he could not but admit--and at this he sat bolt upright in his
seat--that even according to his own high standards both St. George and
Harry had measured up to them! Rather than touch another penny of his
uncle's money Harry had become an exile; rather than accept a penny from
his enemy, St. George had become a pauper. With this view of the case
fermenting in his mind--and he had not realized the extent of both
sacrifices until that moment--a feeling of pride swept through him.
It was HIS BOY and HIS FRIEND, who had measured up!--by suffering, by
bodily weakness--by privation--by starvation! And both had manfully and
cheerfully stood the test! It was the blood of the DeRuyters which had
put courage into the boy; it was the blood of the cavaliers that had
made Temple the man he was. And that old DeRuyter blood! How it had told
in every glance of his son's eyes and every intonation of his voice! If
he had not accumulated a fortune he would--and that before many years
were gone. But!--and here a chill went through him. Would not this
still further separate them, and if it did how could he restore in the
shortest possible time the old dependence and the old confidence? His
efforts so far had met with almost a rebuff, for Harry had shown no
particular pleasure when he told him of his intention to put him in
charge of the estate: he had watched his face