ttle. God
gave to man the power of choice, didn't he?"

"Certainly. Through it all manner of evil came into the world."

"And all manner of good, too. I--a man ought not to be merely an
automaton, letting some one else always exercise that right for him.
Surely the right of choice would never have been given us if it were
not intended that each man should exercise it for himself. One who
does not is good for nothing."

"There is the command you forget; that of obedience to parents."

"But how long--how long, father? Am I not man enough to choose for
myself? Let me choose."

Then the Elder leaned forward and faced his son as his son was facing
him, both resting their elbows on the table and gazing straight into
each other's eyes; and the old man spoke first.

"My father founded this bank before I was born. He came from Scotland
when he was but a lad, with his parents, and went to school and
profited by his opportunities. He was of good family, as you know.
When he was still a very young man, he entered a bank in the city as
clerk, and received only ten dollars a week for his services, but he
was a steady, good lad, and ambitious, and soon he moved higher--and
higher. His father had taken up farming, and at his death, being an
only son, he converted the farm, all but the homestead, which we still
own, and which will be yours, into capital, and came to town and
started this bank. When I was younger than you, my son, I went into
the bank and stood at my father's right hand, as I wish you--for your
own sake--to do by me. We are a set race--a determined race, but we
are not an insubordinate race, my son."

Peter Junior was silent for a while; he felt himself being beaten.
Then he made one more plea. "It is not that I am insubordinate father,
but, as I see it, into each generation something enters, different
from the preceding one. New elements are combined. In me there is that
which my mother gave me."

"Your mother has always been a sweet woman, yielding to the judgment
of her husband, as is the duty of a good wife."

"I know she was brought up and trained to think that her duty, but I
doubt if you really know her heart. Did you ever try to know it? I
don't believe you understood what I meant by the scourge of prayer.
She would have known. She has lived all these years under that lash,
even though it has been wielded by the hand of one she loves--by one
who loves her." He paused a second time, arrested by his fath