er the means to buzz and flit and glitter in
dronelike ease. "As for these Whitneys," he thought, "mother's right
about them." Then he called out in a tone of good-natured contempt, which
his stature and his powerful frame and strong, handsome face made
effective: "Hello, Ross! When did _you_ come to town?"

"This morning," replied Ross. "I heard you were working, but I had no
idea it was--I've just been to your house, looking for you, and was on
the way to the factory. Father told me to see that you get a suitable
position. I'm going to Howells and arrange it. You know, father's been in
the East and very busy."

"Don't bother," said Arthur, and there was no pretense in his air of
ease. "I've got just what I want. I am carrying out father's plan, and
I'm far enough into it to see that he was right."

In unbelieving silence Ross looked down at his former equal with
condescending sympathy; how well Arthur knew that look! And he remembered
that he had once, so short a time before, regarded it as kindly, and the
thoughts behind it as generous!

"I like my job," he continued. "It gives me a sense of doing something
useful--of getting valuable education. Already I've had a thousand
damn-fool ideas knocked out of my head."

"I suppose it _is_ interesting," said Ross, with gracious encouragement.
"The associations must be rather trying."

"They _were_ rather trying," replied Arthur with a smile. "Trying to the
other men, until I got my bearings and lost the silliest of the silly
ideas put in my head by college and that sort of thing. But, now that I
realize I'm an apprentice and not a gentleman deigning to associate with
the common herd, I think I'm less despicable--and less ridiculous. Still,
I'm finding it hard to get it through my head that practically everything
I learned is false and must be unlearned."

"Don't let your bitterness over the injustice to you swing you too far
the other way, Artie," said Ross with a faint smile in his eyes and a
suspicious, irritating friendliness in his voice. "You'll soon work out
of that class and back where you belong."

Arthur was both angry and amused. No doubt Ross was right as to the
origin of this new breadth of his; but a wrong motive may start a man
right just as readily as a right motive may start him wrong. Arthur would
have admitted frankly his first feelings about his changed position,
would have admitted that those feelings still lingered, still seemed to
influence hi