“Well, why should you want to help anybody but you and me?”
She gazed at him thoughtfully. “Don’t joke, Daddy. I know I would be happier if I could do something for some one.”
Obadiah chuckled. “Where did you get that idea? I am perfectly happy tonight, and I haven’t bothered myself about other people.”
“The very idea. All this livelong day you have been planning for those who work in your mill.”
A sudden light came to him, he chuckled again. “Surely, I look after my employees or they would look after me.”
“That makes you happy.” Virginia was certain that she had made her point.
“No,” Obadiah shook his head vigorously, “my employees make me angry more than they make me happy. My happiness is the result of my own efforts.”
“That is what I mean, Daddy. You have had such great opportunities to make yourself happy.” She viewed him with eyes of fond admiration. “You have accomplished so much.”
Obadiah was filled with a comfortable egotism. “I have accomplished a whole lot,” he boasted. His mind was upon his commercial success and the wealth he had accumulated. “I’m not through,” he bragged. He became thoughtful as he dwelt upon certain fertile fields awaiting his financial plough. His jaw set. He had rivals who would contest his tillage. He would fight as he had always fought. His eyes glistened beneath his shaggy brows as he sensed the fray.
The conversation languished as they ate their dessert, but Obadiah’s pride of accomplishment had not departed. “I am going to do bigger things than ever before,” he exulted. “When you are older you will realize what I have done for you,” he explained as they went out on the porch.