“If this plan is successful,” said he, “you shall have a long vacation, and I--I have promised myself too much already--but if it fails! I tremble to think of the consequences.” “Mr. Gary,” asked Miss Franklin, “are you sure there is such a wild demand for lumber on the other side as you say there is?” “Yes, quite sure. My doubt lies in the question: Will Proctor be equal to the occasion! If this lumber is properly handled we should be able to make a million easily before the time expires.” “It’s a big undertaking, isn’t it,” she said, astounded at the figure mentioned. “Yes, but there is a big stake,” responded Walter, and the little typist detected a note of sadness in his voice. He hurried to disclose the good news to his mother, and as he pulled a chair to her side he patted her joyfully upon the cheeks, “Mother, perhaps we shall soon be rich,” he said. “Rich!” repeated Mrs. Gary, softly, yet in a tone of surprise. “I thought we were doing remarkably well for our bad beginning. Indeed, I was thinking only yesterday of what a comfortable feeling it was to have our debts paid and a little money laid away besides?” “I--I used the money, Mother,” confessed Walter, overcome with a feeling of remorse. “But I am quite sure to have it back soon, besides a great deal more. A big opportunity presented itself and I took advantage of it.” Walter tried to appear more confident than he really was. “What?” asked Mrs. Gary, in a voice that indicated alarm. “You have not used all the money, have you?” “Yes, I used it on a big deal.” “Pray, what could such a deal be?” inquired Mrs. Gary, who had been more than apprehensive of her son’s restlessness of late. As they talked together she quietly assorted remnants of wool, left from the many sweaters she had knit; and from her demeanor one could detect at a glance that she was a woman of composure and experience. “Usually I prefer to tell you, Mother, before I take a leap, as you know, but this time I acted upon my own initiative.” “What have you done?” Walter related to his mother, in detail, the story of his lumber transaction. He finished by saying, “You see the National Transportation Company have contracted to use my lumber for two years. Of course, I mean to send a good quality, and this will aid in reconstruction work on the other side and besides give us a big profit.” “I see,” she responded, and gave her boy an admiring look. “To carry out the program means sacrifice, and that’s what is worrying me.” “The step is taken, so let us hope for the best,” answered Mrs. Gary, cheerfully. “When do you deliver your first consignment!” “Thursday, two hundred thousand feet.” Walter’s mother arose, took her boy’s face gently between her two hands, and looking steadfastly into his honest, dark eyes, said, “if you fail you have only done your best. Opportunities rarely present themselves. It is by the creation of them that men succeed. Half of success is grit.”