"Nothing of the sort," blubbered the old man, striving earnestly to conceal the emotion which almost overcame him as a result of the boy's welcome. "Any one who says you're no good will have to settle with me. You're my son, that's what you are, and no Sanford was ever a failure yet."
"Then you must keep me from being the first."
"Nothing of the sort;—why do you try to make me lose my temper? Gorham says—"
"You've seen Mr. Gorham?" Allen interrupted, his heart leaping at the sound of the name. "What did he say?"
"Never mind what he said," Sanford replied, remembering the injunction laid upon him. Then he looked about him. "Gorham must have paid you a good deal more than you were worth," he remarked significantly.
"He did," admitted Allen, and then divining what was in his father's mind; "but not enough for this."
"You've run in debt, have you?" Allen noticed that the question did not contain the usual sting. The old man would have rejoiced at this opportunity to express his sympathy in the only way he knew how.
"Not yet. I sold my motor and some other things."
"Had to live like a gentleman, whatever your salary, didn't you?"
"I ought not to have done it," the boy admitted.