“There will be no more school for you, son,” he answered slowly. “At least not the sort of school that you dread so much. No, in future you must find your books in the great world about you—in men, and in the things they are doing; and this education of yours is precisely the subject I came here to talk about.”
Leaning forward the president began slowly:
“Mrs. Jackson, on the fifteenth of next month, Mrs. Coddington and I are to sail for England.”
“What!” gasped Peter, forgetting for the moment that he should not interrupt.
“We are to take Peter with us,” went on Mr. Coddington ignoring the interruption and proceeding in the same earnest, deliberate tone. “He has worked hard and faithfully, and needs a good rest. The trip, however, is not to be an entirely profitless one, for while in England I shall take him to visit some of the finest tanneries, that he may observe other methods for doing the same things that we are doing here.”
An exclamation of pleasure escaped Peter’s lips.
His father smiled.
“After we have collected in England all the information possible and have seen something of the sheep country there, and the great houses from which hides are shipped, we shall go to Paris and place orders for several large consignments of skins. I want my son to see for himself, Mrs. Jackson, just how this end of the business is conducted, for I hope and expect that some day these duties will be his, and I want him equipped to meet them with wisdom and intelligence.”
“You mean that you are going to fit Peter to manage the tanneries,” nodded Mrs. Jackson.
“Precisely.”