RUTH was proud that her friend, Harold King, had courageously turned his back on the proposition that would have meant the prostitution of his manhood. She was not altogether happy—it is always a great shock to discover a lack of principle in one in whom you have had great confidence. Ruth had regarded Stover not only as a friend but as a man of exceptional honor. To say that the discovery that he would try to bribe a man to do a dishonorable thing shocked her, is to put it mildly. When she next saw Harold she said, "I tried not to hear your conversation with Mr. Stover, but you both got to talking so loudly that I could not help it. Harold, I am certainly proud of you."
"I would have liked to have had the job but not at the price they asked. I will get along some way. If I can't make a living as an architect I can go to work on the railroad section."
"I have faith that you will succeed as an architect, but I would much prefer to have a friend of mine an honorable section hand than a dishonorable architect, no matter how successful he might be in his profession."
"Ruth," he said, "it is good to have a friend like you. You are different from so many girls who think so much of display and veneer. You think more of the things that are really worth while."
"I feel that I do not deserve all that, Harold. My father deserves a great deal of credit for whatever views of life I have that enable me to appraise people by a better standard than bank accounts, automobiles, clothes, painted faces, and dance steps. He has always laid great stress on the value of character. Often I have heard him say, 'The real gold of life is not to be found in mines or at the end of the rainbow but in hearts that are true to friends and loyal to the best interests of life.'"
"That is certainly a noble sentiment. How is your father?"
"I don't see much change in him. He worries so much because he can't remember the man who stole his money. Ever since he had that dream he really believes that some man in whom he had confidence and to whom he had shown the combination of the safe really robbed him. (Of course it is only a delusion.) His bank stock, the only property he had except the home, was turned over to satisfy his debts."
"Ruth, in whom did your father have a great deal of confidence?"
"Do you mean in a business way? Well, there were a number of men in Zala for whose honesty and ability he had great respect. Of the men out of town with whom he had business relations, I believe he trusted Mr. Stover more than any other."
"Ruth, who was the cashier of the bank in which your father was president?"
"His name is Dick Watson."
"Where is he now?"
"I don't know. He left Wilford Springs when Mr. Stover bought my father's interest, and I have not heard of him since."
"Do you suppose that it is possible that Watson defrauded your father?"
"No, my father's account at the bank tallied with his personal pass book. His bank stock was sold to Mr. Stover, as you know."
"What did Watson do with his stock?"
"He owned only a small amount of stock, and it also was purchased by Mr. Stover."
"What kind of a looking fellow is this man, Watson?"
"He is fairly good looking."
Harold laughed. "When you ask a girl about a man's looks she answers: 'Handsome, good looking, fairly good looking, homely, ugly or ugly as a mud fence.'"
"That's because we think so much of looks, I presume," she said, laughing, "or it may be because we are so limited in descriptive powers, but since you do not like my general statement I will try to be a little more specific. He is about five feet nine or ten inches in height, has light brown hair and dark blue eyes, his nose is rather prominent, when he smiles he displays a row of exceedingly white, even teeth. Is that sufficient?"
"Very good. I believe you will be able to develop your descriptive powers."
"Why should I?"
"Well you may want to write novels some day."
"If I do I will have you for one of the characters. You will be my hero."
"I see that you will not succeed as a novelist."
"Why?"
"You have already shown su............