than ever before."

"And no account made of thrift or economy. Enticements at every corner;
women flaunting silks and laces as everyday gear, with no sacredness;
old-fashioned neatness despised, industry ridiculed; men lounging in
beer-shops; girls flirting on the public streets, having no duties
beyond a day's work in a mill. What will the homes and the wives of the
next generation be like?"

"But that was all so irrelevant," said Jack after she had gone. "Women
mix up everything. Now, here: you are offered a big price for this
property. You two could live at ease all the rest of your life, and I"--

"You would go away," said his mother sorrowfully.

"Well, perhaps not," trying to make the tone indifferent.

"Jack," began his grandmother, sitting very erect, and glancing straight
before her into vacancy, "I am an old woman now; and, like Miss Barry, I
could not take a change comfortably. No other place will ever be home to
your mother or me. There is some money,--enough, I think, to take care
of us both. So, if you cannot be content, if you must have the restless
roving of youth out before your blood can cool, go and try the world. It
is pretty much alike all over,--some one going up while another goes
down; chances here, and chances there. As for the few years left me"--
And there was a slight tremble in her voice.

"Don't fret. I'm not going away," said Jack crossly, huskily, too much
hurt to study his tone. "If I can't always see things as you do"--

There were tears in his mother's eyes. Jack rose suddenly, thrust his
hands in his pockets, and walked out into the twilight. There was
nothing to be done with so obstinate a problem as his life. He would
learn the business thoroughly, getting on as fast as possible, and some
time make a strike out for himself, become a manufacturer in turn. The
thing was settled now. Maybe some one would want him for mayor or
congressman. There was a time when David Lawrence, Esq., had been a
comparatively poor man; and though Jack felt that he would hardly turn
his hand over to have a million of dollars put in it for the mere
money's worth, if he could not discover a silver-mine, or build a
railroad over the Rocky Mountains, he might become a rich man. Wealth
was a mighty lever, after all. He shut his lips grimly, and pushed his
hat down over his eyes. In the early summer dusk, fragrant with rose and
violet, he went over the old battle-ground. Did some enemy sow it
continually