Dwight while he
explored every corner of the grounds to make sure that no potential thieves
lurked in the heavy shadows cast by the trees.
He had been very alert and thorough and Alexina admired him consumedly.
There was no question but that he was one of those men--Aileen called it
the one hundred per cent male--upon whose clear brain and strong arm a
woman might depend even in the midst of an infuriated mob. He had an
opportunity that comes to few aspiring young men born into the world's
unblest millions, and if he made the most of it he was equally assured that
he was acting in strict accord with the instincts and characteristics that
had descended upon him by the grace of God.
II
There was no physical cowardice in him; and if he would have preferred a
life of ease and splendor, he had no illusions regarding the amount
of "hustling" necessary to carry him to the goal of his desires and
ambitions--unless he made a lucky strike. He played the stock market in a
small way and made a few hundred dollars now and then.
He would have been glad to marry a wealthy girl, Olive Bascom, by
preference, for he had an inner urge to the short cut, but he had found
these spoiled daughters of San Francisco unresponsive...and then, suddenly,
he had fallen in love with Alexina Groome.
His past was green and prophylactic. He was moral both by inheritance
and necessity, and his parents, people of fair intelligence, if rather
ineffective, stern principles, and good old average ideals, had taken their
responsibilities toward their two children very seriously.
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