newspaper
had spoken of him as an ideal citizen and the logical candidate
for
the Governorship of the State; but upon the whole it seemed to
him
wiser to keep out of active politics. It would be easier and
better to
put Harold into the running, to have him sent to the Legislature
from
the Dulwich district, then to the national House, then to the
Senate.
Why not? The Weightman interests were large enough to need a
direct
representative and guardian at Washington.

But to-night all these plans came back to him with dust upon
them.
They were dry and crumbling like forsaken habitations. The son
upon whom his complacent ambition had rested had turned his back
upon
the mansion of his father's hopes. The break might not be final;

and in any event there would be much to live for; the fortunes of

the family would be secure. But the zest of it all would be gone
if
John Weightman had to give up the assurance of perpetuating his
name
and his principles in his son. It was a bitter disappointment,
and he felt that he had not deserved it.