But when he felt himself growing annoyed, abruptly he put a check on himself.

It was Edith he must think of now.
But curiously it happened, in this narrowing of his attention, that while he shut out two of his daughters, a mere outsider edged closer in.
Johnny Geer was a great help.

He was back in Roger's office, and with the sharp wits he had gained in his eighteen years of fighting for a chance to stay alive, now at Roger's elbow John was watching like a hawk for all the little ways and means of pushing up the business.

What a will the lad had to down bodily ills, what vim in the way he tackled each job.

His shrewd and cheery companionship was a distraction and relief.