Club. A few others, even more
ardent, said that the population was already a million, or close upon
it, and busied themselves to start a Two-Million Club. They had their
eyes wide open to the advantage of numbers, and tightly closed to the
palpable fact that the community was unable properly to house and
administer the numbers it already had. The city seemed to cry: "I need a
friendly monitor--one who will point me out the decencies and compel me
to adopt them." The demagogue who had ruled and misruled before had been
reelected once or twice, and the newspapers were still indulging their
familiar strain of irresponsible and ineffective criticism. The dark
world behind him had become more populous and bold, and the forces for
good still seemed unable to organize and cooeperate toward making
betterment an actuality. But new people were always flocking in--people
from the farms, villages and country-towns of the Middle region--and
bringing with them the uncontaminated rustic ideals of rightness and
decorum: a clean stream pouring into a turbid pool, and the time was to
come when it would make itself felt. Meanwhile, the city remained--to
Raymond--a gross, sharp village, one full of folk who, whether from the
Middle West or from Middle Europe, had never come within ten leagues of
gentility, and who, one and all, were absorbedly and unabashedly bent on
the object which had suddenly assembled them at this one favored
spot--the pushing of their individual fortunes. A hauptstadt-to-be,
perhaps; but, so far, an immensely inchoate and repellent miscellany.

Raymond's father gave him a sober welcome. His mother attempted a brief,
spasmodic display of affection; but it was too much, and only a maid
and her pillows saw her for the next few days. His father seemed older,
much older; tired, careworn, worried. The trouble of settling old
Jehiel's estate had been all that could have been expected, and more.
There were claims, complications, lawsuits, what not; and through all
this maze James Prince had to put up with the inherited help of the dry,
dismal old fellow whom I had seen in earlier days at the house. I had
come, now, to a better professional knowledge of him. He was a man of
probity, and of some ability, but a deliberate; impossible to hurry, and
not easy, as it seemed, even to interest. Under him matters dragged
dully through the courts, and others' nerves were worn to shreds. I
remember how surprised I was one day on hearing