There had been a time in his career when it had seemed that every man of influence in his profession and all the powers of capital had been arrayed against him.
He had been tricked into taking contracts the bigger men would not touch; his accounts had been held over until long after the convenanted settling day, and he had been compelled to submit to every deduction that perverted ingenuity could suggest.

He had, however, hardened his heart, and toiled the more assiduously, planning half the night and driving machine or plying shovel himself by day, whenever a few dollars could be saved by doing so.

He had lived on the plainest fare, but he had, without borrowing or soliciting favors from any man, borne the shrewd blows dealt him and struggled on inch by inch uphill in spite of them.

Now it seemed to him that this young Englishman was bent on doing much the same.

At length Weston turned to him with a wry smile.
"It's quite possible that you're right, and the thing is too big for me, but I have got to see it out," he said.
Stirling made a little sign of comprehension.