The sound of the hammer has
become a part of my dreams. And you, Howat--I have never before had a
feeling like this for a man. There's a little fear in it even. It must
be stronger than the other, than Europe; I want it to be." They could
see below them the lighted windows at Myrtle Forge. The horses turned
unguided into the curving way across the lawn. A figure stood
obsequiously at the door; it was, Howat saw with deep automatic
revulsion, the Italian servant. He wondered again impatiently at the
persistently unpleasant impression the other made on him. Gilbert Penny
was waiting in the hall, and Howat told him fully the result of his
investigation.
His father nodded, satisfied. "You are taking hold a great bit better,"
he was obviously pleased. "We must go over the whole iron situation with
the Forsythes. It's time you and David stepped forward. I am getting
bothered by new complications; the thing is spreading out so
rapidly--steel and a thousand new methods and refinements. And the
English opposition; I'm afraid you'll come into that."
Ludowika did not again appear that evening, and Howat sat informally
before a blazing hearth with his mother, Gilbert Penny and Caroline.
Myrtle had retired with a headache. Howat felt pleasantly settled,
almost middle-aged; he smoked a pipe with the deliberate gestures of his
father.
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