"His first name was Abraham—Abraham I. Adler. The I stands for Isaac."
"Abraham—Isaac—Adler," repeated Mrs. Payson. As she uttered the words they were an opprobrium.
"Your father's name was Isaac too, wasn't it?" said the boy.
"His name was Isaac Thrift." An altogether different kind of Isaac, you would have thought. No relation to the gentleman in the Bible. A New England Isaac not to be confused with the Levantine of that name.
"Yes. I remember I used to hear my grandfather speak of him."
"Indeed! In what connection, may I ask?"
"Why, he came to Chicago in '39, just about the time your father came, I imagine. They were young men together. Grandfather was an old settler."
Mrs. Payson's eyebrows doubted it. "I don't remember ever having seen him mentioned in books on early Chicago."
"You wouldn't," said Adler; "he isn't."
"And why not?"