Mr. Polk with his gentleness had always had a hot-headed, unreasonable side to his nature. It was seldom in evidence, but it had shown itself years before in his break with his sweetheart and it was showing itself again with the boy whom he loved most devotedly.
Steve bowed his head in silent, dignified acceptance. Following a forceful law of human nature this unreasonable resistance (as he saw it) was fixing him very firmly in his own resolution. But the thought of all the older man had been to him rushed upon him again with softening effect, and he said sadly at last:
“I do not know how to make you understand, Mr. Polk,––but this need to go back to my own and try to help them is something inborn.”
“I am afraid it is,” said Mr. Polk curtly. “It is the mountain shiftlessness in you.”
Steve rose with flashing eyes and heaving breast, but remembering again, he controlled himself, and sat down. His voice was cool and crisp, however, as he said a moment later:
“I have no intention of forgetting my debt to you, Mr. Polk, and you have a right to know what are my prospects for paying it.” He named his salary, which was very meagre, and then added, “But my wants will be few,––and I have found that my pen promises to be a pretty good earning implement.” This he added with reluctance, for he had not meant to tell it. “I shall pay you as soon as possible,” he ended.
“Just as you please,” said Mr. Polk again curtly, and strode this time out of the room for the night.
Steve soon followed, going to his room with a sense of desolation that was akin to the desolation of his boyhood in the wilderness. He felt that he must leave New York at once, for he could not stay longer with self-respect under the roof which had been home to him for so many years. What “little mother,” as he had come to call Mrs. Polk, would 127 say he did not know, but his heart warmed when he thought of her, and comforted at last by the feeling that she at least would not misunderstand him, he fell asleep towards morning. And in his fitful dreaming her sweet face was strangely crowned with soft yellow curls and she wore a little white pinafore!
The next day Steve had a long talk with Mrs. Polk. She had heard of the trouble from Mr. Polk, and had done all in her power to bring about a change in his state of mind. Failing utterly and knowing his tenacity when an idea was once fixed, she could not encourage Steve with the hope of any immediate change. Neither could she urge the young man to abandon his purpose, for she felt that he alone must decide his future, and though in her heart she approved his course, so deeply was she grieved over the alienation between him and Mr. Polk that she held it in restraint. She knew that she had helped to shape his determination, and woman-like was fearful now she had made a mistake.