and himself; and promptly and without embarrassment he sent his remittances to his mother at Itanaca.
To be sure, he had not yet returned to Mr. Fuller the ten thousand dollars which, on that night when he had held Alice in his arms, he had listed as the first debt to be paid; but Mr. Fuller was still as satisfied as he had been when David reported on this matter to Alice long ago. Indeed, Mr. Fuller had willingly increased his investment in the agency to enable it to have the capital to take care of its growing business. So David now owed to him twenty-five thousand dollars.
To secure this debt, David had insured his life for the same amount in favor of Mr. Fuller and when Ephraim Herrick was told of it, he called it the pledging of his son's body to Mr. Fuller after David had sold his soul. It was, of course, only an ordinary business procedure and his father's description of it offended David; it hurt David, too, when he took no pride in David's success. For, deny it as he might, David wanted his father's "well done" more than the praise of any one else.
"But I've got to do it in business. I'll make him see it," David swore to himself. He wondered this afternoon, while he waited for his father, what it meant that Fidelia had got his father out in a canoe. Was it possible that his father was relenting, even a little?
When his father came into the office, David knew at once there had been no relenting; his father was tired and silent. He denied being tired.
"I've just been walking a little," he said. "I came
