"Yes, John was very good about Alan's future," the mother concurred.
"But, husband, you quite agreed that it was much better for Alan to be
in the bank than possibly drifting into association with--well, such
dishonorable men as this Mr. Langdon and his friends. He is so much
better off," she continued, "with young men such as Mr. Crane would have
about him."
The Reverend Dolman smiled meekly, but it was in triumph. He had called
attention to an act which spoke far louder than Mr. Porter's disclaiming
words.
Porter was not at all deceived by the minister; in fact, he rather
admired the other's cleverness in beating him on the post. He gave a
little laugh as he said: "I should not have succeeded very well in a
bank. I am more at home with the horses than I am with figures; but I
expect I would have gone fairly straight, and hope the boy will do the
same. I fancy one of the great troubles about banking is to keep the
men honest, the temptation of handling so much money being great. They
seem to have more chances to steal than men on the race course."
As usual, Porter seemed to be speaking out of his thoughts and without
malice; no one took offense. It was simply a straightforward answer to
Dolman's charge.
Pages:
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160