other man to operate the Companies upon other than a proper basis."

"You may not feel so sure of this after you have investigated," Allen
insisted.

"I shall never alter my opinion." Gorham was annoyed by the boy's
persistence. "It is too late to-night to discuss this phase of the
subject with you as thoroughly as we must if you are to continue with
the corporation, but in the mean time remember that the Consolidated
Companies is in the hands of men whose self-interest is coupled with a
personal gratification in the altruistic basis whose nature you have
learned from me. You are not competent to pass upon their motives, and
until you are you should not venture to criticise."

"I admitted that it is all due to my inexperience, Mr. Gorham, and I am
sorry that you are angry. I believe in you as I could never believe in
any other man, and I know that, as far as you can control it, you will
keep the Consolidated Companies within the lines you have laid down; but
I can't make myself believe that the others have the same honorable
intentions."

"Stop!" cried Gorham, seriously aroused by the boy's words. "I shall
listen to you no further. It is only my friendship for your father and
my affection for you which, keeps me from speaking harshly to you; but
be warned! You are attempting to interfere in a matter which is too
heavy for your strength. Leave it to those who understand it."

After Allen left the house Gorham sat for a long time in his library,
smoking and meditating. Yet it was not the possible internal business
complications, as suggested by the boy, which occupied his thoughts; it
was not some new gigantic transaction about to be launched on behalf of
the Companies which filled his mind, nor was it the suggested danger to
Eleanor's peace of mind. He was thinking of Allen, half blaming himself
for the forlorn expression the boy's face had worn as he left the room.
It was a courageous thing for this youngster to rush in where older and
more experienced men would not have dared, to face Robert Gorham and to
tell him that the monument he had erected rested upon a base of shifting
sand. His absurd statements regarding Covington were easily explained,
but what he had said of the business was an honest expression, even
though groundless in fact and resulting from an inexperienced
interpretation of matters far beyond his present knowledge.

Gorham contrasted in his mind the changes which these few months had
wrought in