red in, that th' opposed might beware of thee,'" I
paraphrased.

He laughed.

"Yes, I bored in. There was nothing else to do. Flynn didn't say much,
but he was pleased as punch. It took ten minutes to bring the fellow
around. I was bending over Sagorski, wetting his face, and as he
looked up at me I told him I was awfully sorry. What do you think he
said?

"'Aw, you go to hell!' Impolite beggar, wasn't he?"

"You have been at least catholic in the choice of companions," I
remarked, with a smile, recalling Flynn's prediction about Jerry's
weight in wild cats.

"Oh, yes. All sorts of people. I think on the whole I understand the
poorer classes best. They do swear, I find, horribly at times, but
they don't intend harm by it. I doubt if they really know what it
means. 'Hell' is merely an expletive like 'Oh' or 'By Jove' with us
chaps. Funny, isn't it?"

"That truck-driver didn't think so," I said.

"That was my first week. I know a lot more now. I've felt sorry about
him."

"You needn't," I laughed.

And after a pause:

"And down town, Jerry," I inquired. "How are things going there?"

His expression grew grave at once.

"Oh, I've been going to the office pretty regularly, but it's slow
work. I don't understand why, but I don't seem to get on at all."

"That's too bad," I said slowly. "You must get on, old man."

"Yes, I know, but it comes hard. It seems that I'm frightfully rich.
In fact, nobody seems to know how rich I am. I've got millions and
millions, twenty--thirty perhaps. So much that it staggers me. It's
like the idea of infinity or perpetuity. I can't grasp it at all. It's
piling up in new investments, just piling up and nothing can stop it."

"You don't want to stop it, do you?"

"But if it was only doing some good--When I see the misery all
about--"

"Wait a bit. You're putting the cart before the horse, my boy. There's
no sin in being rich, in piling it up, as you say, if you're not doing
anybody any harm. Have you ever thought of the thousands who work for
you, of the lands, the railroads, the steamships, the mills, all
carrying and producing--producing, Jerry, helping people to live, to
work? Isn't it something to have a share in building up your country?"

"But not the lion's share. It's so impersonal, Roger. My companies may
be helping, but I'm not. I want to help people myself."

"That's just what I'm getting at. The more money you make, the more
people you can help," I laughed. "