"Yes," said Nucky, "and I don't have to wait to discover it, for I've done that this week. I want to go into politics so I can clean out Minetta Lane."
Seaton looked at the lad keenly. "Good work, Nucky, old man!"
The boy spoke quickly. "Don't call me Nucky! I'm Enoch, from now on!"
"From now on, where?" asked Frank, strolling into the firelight.
"New York!" replied Enoch. "I'd rather stay here, but I got to go back."
"Mr. Seaton, have you been using bribery?" Frank was half laughing, half serious.
"Well, nothing as attractive as guiding on Bright Angel trail!" exclaimed John.
"And that's the only job I was ever offered I really wanted!" cried
Enoch ruefully.
The men both laughed, and suddenly the boy joined them, laughing long and a little hysterically. "O gee!" he said at last, "I feel as free and light as air! I got to take a run up and down the sand," and a moment later they heard his whistle above the endless rushing of the Colorado.
"Ideas are important things," said Seaton, thoughtfully. "Such a one as that beast Luigi has planted in Enoch's mind can warp his entire life. He evidently is of a morbidly sensitive temperament, proud to a fault, high strung and introspective. Until some one can prove to him that his mother was not a harlot, he'll never be entirely normal. And it's been my observation that one of the most fundamentally weakening things for a boy's character is his not being able to respect his father or mother. Luigi caught Enoch when his mind was like modeling clay."