Just then Mrs. Vivian, who had been looking after the comfort of the room by poking at the fire in the grate, asked: “What lion are you talking about, Tom?” This caused all the family to roar with laughter.
“He is trying to convince Geron that he is as harmless as a mouse,” Scoris replied.
The two men left the room laughing, Geron saying that he was going out to smoke.
Then Scoris explained it to her mother: “Geron thought that Tom was trying to break the trusts, and Tom took that way of explanation, for he is merely showing the people how to live independently of the trusts.”
“Tom promised to explain to me what you are all doing in the society, but he has not had time yet,” the mother said. “I wish you would tell me something about it. Geron says it will fail, he knows it will.”
“Well, it will not,” Nellie answered, her eyes flashing, as she changed her seat to get nearer to Mrs. Vivian, “Tom never fails.”
“No,” Scoris exclaimed, she also resenting Geron’s idea; “and if he did, some one else would take it up! The people are ready now to free themselves from the trusts. They have only been waiting for a leader, and Tom is that man.”
Nellie had arisen and was standing by Scoris. Helen raised her head, for she had been absorbed in a new poem, and Nellie’s voice had actually sounded sharp.
Geron’s wife looked apologetic. She stood up, then sat down, not knowing exactly what was expected of her, for it looked for a second as if there was going to be a family dispute. Mrs. Vivian looked distressed until Scoris laughingly asked:
“How much do you know about it, mother?”