"Rather more like a freshman entering college," said the other,
laughing. "It isn't the town, it's the business that I have misgivings
about."

"Misgivings? How's that?" asked the father quickly.

"What I can do in it."

"Oh, that. My doubts are whether it's the best thing for you."

"Don't you want me to go into it, Dad?"

"Of course I want you with me, Boyee. But--well, frank and flat, I don't
know whether it's genteel enough for you."

"Genteel?" The younger Surtaine repeated the distasteful adjective with
surprise.

"Some folks make fun of it, you know. It's the advertising that makes it
a fair mark. 'Certina,' they say. 'That's where he made his money.
Patent-medicine millions.' I don't mind it. But for you it's different."

"If the money is good enough for me to spend, it's good enough for me to
earn," said Hal Surtaine a little grandiloquently.

"Humph! Well, the business is a big success, and I want you to be a big
success. But that doesn't mean that I want to combine the two. Isn't
there anything else you've ever thought of turning to?"

"I've got something of a leaning toward your profession, Dad."