'He looks well,' said Mrs. Dallas, regarding her son.
'Why shouldn't I look well?'
'Hard work,' suggested the mother.
'Work is good for a fellow. I never got hard work enough yet. But home is jolly, mother. That's the use of going away, I suppose,' said the young man, drawing a chair comfortably in front of the fire; while Mrs. Dallas rang for supper and gave orders, and then sat down to gaze at him with those mother's eyes that are like nothing else in the world. Searching, fond, proud, tender, devoted,—Pitt met them and smiled.
'I am all right,' he said.
'Looks so,' said the father contentedly. 'Hold your own, Pitt?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Ahead of everybody?'
'Yes, sir,' said the young man, a little more reservedly.
'I knew it!' said the elder man, rubbing his hands; 'I thought I knew it. I made sure you would.'