During his stay at The Pines Mr. Britton spent the greater portion of
his time with Mr. Underwood, either at their offices or at the mines.
Darrell, therefore, saw little of his new-found friend except as they
all gathered in the evening around the glowing fire in the large family
sitting-room, for, notwithstanding the lingering warmth and sunshine of
the days, the nights were becoming sharp and frosty, so that an open
fire added much to the evening's enjoyment. Each morning, however,
before his departure, Mr. Britton stopped for a few words with Darrell;
some quaint, kindly bit of humor, the pleasant flavor of which would
enliven the entire day; some unhackneyed expression of sympathy whose
very genuineness and sincerity made Darrell's position seem to him less
isolated and solitary than before; or some suggestion which, acted upon,
relieved the monotony of the tedious hours of convalescence.
At his suggestion Darrell took vigorous exercise each day in the morning
air and sunshine, devoting his afternoons to a course of light, pleasant
reading.
"If you are going to work," said Mr. Britton, "the first requisite is to
have your body and mind in just as healthful and normal a condition as
possible, in order that you may be able to give an equivalent for what
you receive. In these days of trouble between employer and employed, we
hear a great deal about the laborer demanding an honest equivalent for
his toil, but it does not occur to him to inquire whether he is giving
his employer an honest equivalent for his money. The fact is, a large
percentage of working-men and working-women, in all departments of
labor, are squandering their energies night after night in various forms
and degrees of dissipation until they are utterly incapacitated for one
honest day's work; yet they do not hesitate to take a full day's wages,
and would consider themselves wronged were the smallest fraction
withheld."
Darrell found himself rather restricted in his reading for the first few
days, as he found but a limited number of books at The Pines, until Mrs.
Dean, who had received a hint from Mr. Britton, meeting him one day in
the upper hall, led him into two darkened rooms, saying, as she hastened
to open the blinds,-"These are what the children always called their 'dens.' All their books
are here, and I thought maybe you'd like to look them over. If you see
anything you like, just help yourself, and use the rooms for reading or
writing whenever you want to."
Darrell, left to himself, looked about him with much interest. The two
rooms were similar in style and design, but otherwise were as diverse as
possible. The room in which he was standing was furnished in embossed
leather. A leather couch stood near one of the windows, and a large
reclining-chair of the same material was drawn up before the fireplace.
Near the mantel was a pipe-rack filled with fine specimens of briar-wood
and meerschaum pipes. Signs of tennis, golf, and various athletic sports
were visible on all sides; in the centre of the room stood a large
roll-top desk, open, and on it lay a briar pipe, filled with ashes, just
where the owner's hand had laid it. But what most interested Darrell was
a large portrait over the fireplace, which he knew must be that of
Harry Whitcomb. The face was neither especially fine nor strong, but the
winsome smile lurking about the curves of the sensitive mouth and in the
depths of the frank blue eyes rendered it attractive, and it was with a
sigh for the young life so suddenly blotted out that Darrell turned to
enter the second room.