stood outside the door the day the child came. Not much--he was too
self-sufficient, too resourceful; and yet he worried, conjuring up
thoughts of death and the end of their present state. Then word came,
after certain piercing, harrowing cries, that all was well, and he
was permitted to look at the new arrival. The experience broadened his
conception of things, made him more solid in his judgment of life. That
old conviction of tragedy underlying the surface of things, like wood
under its veneer, was emphasized. Little Frank, and later Lillian,
blue-eyed and golden-haired, touched his imagination for a while. There
was a good deal to this home idea, after all. That was the way life was
organized, and properly so--its cornerstone was the home.

It would be impossible to indicate fully how subtle were the material
changes which these years involved--changes so gradual that they were,
like the lap of soft waters, unnoticeable. Considerable--a great deal,
considering how little he had to begin with--wealth was added in
the next five years. He came, in his financial world, to know fairly
intimately, as commercial relationships go, some of the subtlest
characters of the steadily enlarging financial world. In his days at
Tighe's and on the exchange, many curious figures had been pointed
out to him--State and city officials of one grade and another who were
"making something out of politics," and some national figures who came
from Washington to Philadelphia at times to see Drexel & Co., Clark &
Co., and even Tighe & Co. These men, as he learned, had tips or advance
news of legislative or economic changes which were sure to affect
certain stocks or trade opportunities. A young clerk had once pulled his
sleeve at Tighe's.

"See that man going in to see Tighe?"