As for ideals,
he had followed the masterful men who preached a gospel that appealed to
him, living the life of the open, battling for the weak against the
selfishly strong--so it seemed to the one who studied their achievements
on the printed page. With his own opportunity now thrust upon him,
Harlan Thornton determined to make candor his code, honesty his system.
He entertained no false ideas of his personal importance. But his lack
of experience did not daunt him. He simply made up his mind that he
would go forward, keeping soul and heart open, as well as eyes and ears.
He believed that the square deal could not be hidden from those who
entered public life in that manner.
He did not discuss all this with his grandfather. If he had, Thelismer
Thornton would have been vastly interested. He might have been amused.
Probably he would have been more amused than interested, for hot youth
and glowing ideals have humorous phases for the man who has lived among
men for more than eighty years.
But that he had unloosed a bottle imp in his own family would not have
occurred to the old man, even after he had listened, for he still had
the cynical belief that circumstances must control, interest convert,
and personal profit kill the most glowing ardor in reform.
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