ies by mosquito netting. He hoped that Ma would not hang them in the
hall or the living-room. And that rocker, for which she yearned, was
probably the one with the creaking coiled springs--the one that had
leaped after him and clashed its jaws like an alligator.

"By the way, how does Buddy like the new home?" the latter inquired.

"He 'ain't seen it yet. Says he's too busy to leave the job. What you
done to that boy, anyhow?"

"I'm making a real man out of him--and an oil man, too. He knew how to
dress tools when I got him, but he's a pretty good driller now. Before
long he'll be able to take charge of your property and run it on
practical lines. I told you he had it in him, and that he'd make a
'hand.'"

"You never wrote us nothin' about his--his trouble."

"I left the explaining for him."

Gus smiled meditatively. "First we knew that you an' him had been
fightin' was when he wrote us a letter sayin' he was doin' great an'
could see out of one eye." Then, more gravely: "It was worryin' over
Buddy's affair that got Ma to ailin'. She 'ain't been right well since.
Say, wha'd you do with that--woman?" Briskow pronounced the last word
with an accent of scorn and hatred.

"I gave her a chance to make an honest, decent living. I set her up in
business."

"_What?_"

"And she is making good." When the elder man shook his head impatiently
Gray went on, "I'm pretty worldly and calloused, but if one virtue has
been spared me, it is charity."

For a moment the father studied his caller. "Tell me," he began, "was
it altogether on Buddy's account that you an' him tied into one
another?"

Gray threw back his head and laughed frankly. "Altogether, I assure
you. That's why I found it so hard."

"He _oughta_ been licked! Takin' up with a--a thing like her." Gus was
groping for words more eloquent of his displeasure at his son and his
hatred for the object of Buddy's misplaced affections, when Gray
forestalled him.

"Just a minute. You are a rich man and you are growing richer. Careful,
frugal, prosperous people like you are apt to become unduly hard and
oversuspicious; but you mustn't permit it. Think, for instance, what
environment did to your children, then remember that under slightly
different circumstances it might have made evildoers even of them. Most
people would like to run straight, and would do so if they had a
chance. Anyhow, it is an interesting experiment to put the chance in
their way. Tell me, Gus, how