adn't the time to give to it. And I
haven't the power of talking folks over to see a thing, as you have. It
was all square with us then, as far as folks generally knew, and if the
company had been formed, and the mills put right up and set a-going, it
would have made all the difference in the world to us."

"It's too late to talk now," said Clifton, shortly, and he rose and left
the room.

But he recognised the fact. If he had been in the business for the last
two years, he knew that he would now have been in a far better position
for carrying out the plans, which more than anything else had brought
him back to Gershom; and it was toward the forming of such a company--
or, rather, it was toward the commencing and carrying on of the work
which such a company might be expected to do, that all his plans now
pointed.

Business had not been a secondary consideration with Mr Langden when he
paid his visit to Gershom. The success which had been almost the
uniform result of his undertakings during the last ten years had been
very pleasant to him, and had made it difficult for him to resist the
temptation to engage in still other enterprises which offered fairly for
the making of money. It was not that he loved money for its own sake,
or for the sake of what it might bring. He parted with it readily
enough, and held himself responsible for more liberal giving in
proportion as his means increased.

There was nothing added to the enjoyment of his life by the luxurious
appliances which wealth can command. He took a certain pride in being
regarded as a man who had built up his own fortune, and who had
benefited his native place and the community generally, by his
increasing wealth. But the highest enjoyment he had was in the actual
doing of work--in the beginning and carrying on to a successful end any
enterprise which it required skill and will and a strong hand to guide.

It was not the passion for speculation--the passion of the gambler--
which may take possession of the man of business as of the man of
pleasure. He made no daring ventures and took no special risks. He
investigated patiently and saw clearly, and then he acted. His
weakness, if it could be called weakness, lay in this, that he found it
difficult to refrain from entering into new schemes when opportunity
occurred.

A less clear-sighted man than he might during a ten days' visit to
Gershom have seen enough of the state of affairs there, and enough