“But I’m not more critical of Dan than other people are. Have you asked your father what he thinks of Ornaby now, for instance?”
“Yes, I asked him last night.”
“What does he think of it?”
“He thinks the same as I do,” she said. “He’s been compelled to recognize that it’s going to be a tremendous success.”
“Then he’s changed his mind since last week,” Harlan returned, somewhat discomfited. “He told me——”
“Oh, yes, I know,” she said. “He didn’t say he thought it would be a success. He said he thought the Addition idea was just as crazy as he ever did, and Dan Oliphant was the biggest fool in seven states, and the noisiest! Those were his words precisely, Harlan.”
“But you just told me——”
“No,” she explained;—“you asked me what he thought. Do you suppose he’d admit to me that he ever made a business mistake? He knows perfectly well that he did make one when he refused to follow my advice and buy some of Dan’s stock when the poor boy was trying to finance his plan at the beginning. Papa confessed it absolutely.”
“He did?”
“Certainly,” she replied. “If he’d meant what he said he’d just have grunted it. Instead, he yelled it at me. With papa, that’s exactly the same as a perfectly open confession.”