with dragon's teeth? To stay here eight or ten years,
mayhap, to make all the money he could. Not one year of her life did he
mean to grudge grandmother.

It was quite late when he came in, but his mother was watching for him.
She put her arms softly about his neck, and kissed him.

"Have a little patience, dear," she said, in tender, motherly tones; but
he knew her sympathy was with him.

"Yes, I mean to. I don't care as much as I did an hour ago. I'm going to
set myself steadily to business. You'll hear no more moans or groans out
of me, mother."

"Jack--you know I would go to the end of the world with you."

"I believe you would--yes, I do. There, good-night!" for she was crying.

"This is the way we rule circumstances," said Jack dryly, sitting down
in his own room, and taking up Carlyle. "What an amount of humbug is
talked in this world,--yes, and written too!"

CHAPTER III.

THERE was an influx of new blood in Yerbury, and it brought in fresh
ideas. A new railroad touched it at one edge, and real-estate dealers
left off fighting about Larch Avenue. The ancient stages were laid aside
for the more modern horse-cars: there was bustle and rivalry on every
hand. George Eastman began to be quoted, and his advice asked generally.
Mrs. Eastman held her head loftily. Then there came on the arena of
action a certain Horace Eastman, cousin to George, who had been abroad
as agent for a large firm, and who slipped into the place of general
manager of Hope Mills.

Plainly, F. De Woolfe Lawrence was not preparing to follow in his
father's steps. He had graduated with honors, and taken a prize essay,
and was now a fully-fledged modern young man. He was fond of discoursing
on abstruse subjects, he dabbled a little into art, wrote some mystical
poems, tied a cravat beyond criticism, and wore faultless gloves and
boots. His mother and Mrs. Eastman were extremely proud of him. His
father wondered a little what the young man's future would be.

"I have not decided upon a profession," he said, with a just perceptible
but extremely stylish drawl. "The next thing is going abroad. I want at
least two years of travel, and I should not wonder if I settled myself
at some German or Parisian university. We, as a nation, are so sadly
deficient in culture. Our country is crude, as I suppose all young
countries must be."

David Lawrence nodded slowly, and asked,--

"When did you think of going?"

"I may as well go at once,