“Since you have so greatly aided me by giving me such a generous start, I will myself erect the building, but together we will make the gift of it in my father’s name, and call it the ‘Richard Harding Institute.’”
Mr. Field showed the warmth of his appreciation by grasping his nephew’s hand, and together they discussed at length the plan of the buildings.
CHAPTER XIII.
As Elliott drove briskly home that evening, hope pointed enthusiastically forward. The two ambitions he was about to realize had long been interwoven with the whole tenor of his existence. The possibility of making a fitting memorial to his father’s name had been unexpectedly brought about, and following close upon this good luck came the gratifying news that the book he had been so long at work upon had been favorably received by the publishers, who were assured not only of its literary merit, but of its commercial value as well, since it dealt with the popular side of the lynching evil, as viewed by the outer world. His subject was at the time attracting so much attention and causing so many heated discussions, that he had hardly dared to hope that his first attempt in serious literature would meet with the success of acceptance.
When he got home he found his uncle looking over the manuscript which had been returned to him for final review and quietly took a seat beside him to listen to his comments while awaiting the supper hour.
Mr. Field laid the papers on his knee.
“This is very good, as a story. I can truthfully say that I am more than pleased with it from a literary standpoint. But that alone is no reason for publishing. This haste to rush into print is one of the bad signs of the times. Your views as herein expressed are more pardonable than reasonable, for they are your inheritance rather than your fault.”
“I have been conscientious, am I to blame for that?”
“Who is to blame?” asked his uncle. “First, your mother had something to do with the forming of your opinions. She had the training of your mind at that critical age when the bend of the twig forms the shape of the tree, and no doubt the society in which you have been thrown has helped to make you an agitator.”
“Society must then take the consequences of its own handiwork. As for my mother, I will say in her defense, that if her teachings were not always the best, she aimed toward what she considered a high ideal.”