human
Mother! cried Blair incredulously,
gpt
Yes; I saw 'em in my bureau drawer, and put 'em on. Haven't worn 'em for years; but Blair, here, likes pretty things. (Her son, under his breath, groaned:
human
)
gpt
So you are off tomorrow, Blair? she said, politely; she ran her hand along the yellowing bone needles, and the big ball of pink worsted rolled softly down on to the floor. As she glanced at him over her steel-rimmed spectacles, her eyes softened as an eagle's might when looking at her young.
human
I wish his father could see him, she thought.
gpt
Next time you come home, she said,
human
Yes,
gpt
Pity you have to study this summer; I'd like to have you in the office now.
human
Yes; I'm awfully sorry, he said with charming courtesy,
gpt
Why don't you paint our new foundry? said Mrs. Maitland. She laughed with successful cheerfulness; Blair liked jokes, and this, she thought, complacently, was a joke.
human
Well, _I_ shall manage to keep busy, too!
gpt
I suppose so,
human
Now,
gpt
You are always busy, he said;
human
I wish I had your habit of industry.
gpt
I wish you had.
human
Oh, well, you've got industry enough for this family,
gpt
Too much, maybe, she said grimly; then remembered, and began to
human
again:
gpt
I had a compliment to-day.
human
Really?
gpt
That man Dolliver in our office--you remember Dolliver? Blair nodded.
human
He happened to say he never knew such an honest man as old Henry B. Knight. Remember old Mr. Knight? She paused, her eyes narrowed into a laugh.
gpt
He married Molly Wharton. I always called her 'goose Molly.' She used to make eyes at your father; but she couldn't get him--though she tried to hard enough, by telling him, so I heard, that the 'only feminine thing about me was my petticoats.' A very coarse remark, in my judgment; and as for being feminine,--when you were born, I thought of inviting her to come and look at you so she could see what a baby was like! She never had any children. Well, old Knight was elder of the Second Church. Remember?
human
Oh yes,
gpt
Dolliver said Knight once lost a trade by telling the truth, 'when he might have kept his mouth shut'--that was Dolliver's way of putting it. 'Well,' I said, 'I hope you think that our Works are just as honestly conducted as the Knight Mills'; fact was, I knew a thing or two about Henry B. And what do you suppose Dolliver said? 'Oh, yes,' he said, 'you are honest, Mrs. Maitland, but you ain't damn-fool honest.' She laughed loudly, and her son laughed too, this time in genuine amusement; but Nannie looked prim, at which Mrs. Maitland glanced at Blair, and there was a sympathetic twinkle between them which for the moment put them both really at ease.
human
I got on to a good thing last week,
gpt
Do tell me about it,
human
You know Kraas? He is the man that's had a bee in his bonnet for the last ten years about a newfangled idea for making castings of steel. He brought me his plans once, but I told him they were no good. But last month he asked me to make some castings for him to go on his contrivance. Of course I did; we cast anything for anybody--provided they can pay for it. Well, Kraas tried it in our foundry; no good, just as I said; the metal was full of flaws. But it occurred to me to experiment with his idea on my own hook. I melted my pig, and poured it into his converter thing; but I added some silvery pig I had on the Yard, made when No. 1 blew in, and the castings were as sound as a nut! Kraas never thought of that. She twitched her pink worsted and gave her grunt of a laugh.
gpt
Master Kraas hasn't any caveat, and he can't get one on that idea, so of course I can go ahead.
human
Oh, Mamma, how clever you are!
gpt
Clever? said Blair; Nannie shook his arm gently, and he recollected himself.
human
Well, I suppose business is like love and war. All's fair in business.
gpt
Business is war. But--fair? It is a perfectly legal thing to do.
human
Oh, legal, yes, her son agreed significantly; the thin ice of politeness was beginning to crack. It was the old situation over again; he was repelled by unloveliness; this time it was the unloveliness of shrewdness. For a moment his disgust made him quite natural.
gpt
It is _legal_ enough, I suppose,
human
Mamma, she burst in,
gpt
Blair wanted to tell you about something very beautiful that he has found, and--
human
Found something beautiful? I'd like to hear of his finding something useful! The ice cracked a little more.
gpt
As for your mother's honesty, Blair, if you had waited a minute, I'd have told you that as soon as I found the idea was practical I handed it over to Kraas. _I'm_ damn-fool honest, I suppose. But this time she did not laugh at her joke. Blair was instant with apologies; he had not meant--he had not intended--
human
Of course you would do the square thing,
gpt
But you thought I wouldn't, she said. And while he was making polite exclamations, she changed the subject for something safer. She still tried to entertain him, but now she spoke wearily.
human
What do you suppose I read in the paper to-night? Some man in New York--named Maitland, curiously enough; 'picked up' an old master--that's how the paper put it; for $5,000. It appears it was considered 'cheap'! It was 14x18 inches. _Inches_, mind you, not feet! Well, Mr. Doestick's friends are not all dead yet. Sorry anybody of our name should do such a thing.
gpt
Allow me to say, said Blair, tensely,
human
I wouldn't give five thousand dollars for the greatest picture that was ever painted, his mother announced. Then, without an instant's warning, her face puckered into a furious sneeze.
gpt
God bless us!
human
Well, his mother said, ramming her grimy handkerchief into her pocket,