"
Mary gave a little pitiful exclamation, and touched his clasped hands.
Meeting her eyes, he saw them dewy with sympathy.
"You are very gracious to a sentimental old bachelor," he said, with his
winning smile. "But these ghosts were bad for me. I was in danger of
becoming absurdly self-centered, almost morbidly introspective. Mac,
whose heart is the biggest I know, and who laughs away more troubles than
I ever dreamed of, rallied me about it, and showed me that I ought to
turn my disappointment to some use. This was about ten years ago, when
his own life fell to pieces. I had been associated with magazines for
some time, and knew how little that was really good found its way into
the plainer people's homes. At Mac's suggestion I bought an insolvent
monthly, and began to remodel it. 'You've got the home-and-children bug;
well, do something for other people's'--was the way Mac put it to me.
Later we started the two other magazines, always keeping before us our
aim of giving the average home the best there is. To-day, though I have
no children of my own, I like to think I'm a sort of uncle to thousands."
He leant back, still staring into the fire. There was silence for a
minute; a log fell with a crash and a flight of sparks--Farraday replaced
it.
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