Thus the first year of their married life ended and the next one began. In the main you can see that every sign for the future was propitious. These two young people had the right mind toward each other; no modern decadence, no desire to sidestep Nature or fail in their duty. Their instincts were normal, their hopes honorable. How is it then that, with all good intentions, they both missed their cue? It is not for me to say. My task is to tell this story and leave each reader to judge for himself where the blame lay. No doubt there will be many decisions. I have often wondered if even three judges who passed on the same case without knowing each other’s decision, would not each of them render a different judgment. But in regard to this matter, I may be permitted to remark in passing that most of us miss our cue in the business of living, whether we are escorted by the best intentions or a few valorous vices. And my theory is that if we live long enough, we shall hear the Prompter in time to make a good ending. If we do not, there is a considerable stretch of eternity before us where no doubt adjustments may be made with a wider mind. CHAPTER X In 1913, Shannon had grown amazingly. The square was now a “plaza,” surrounded by handsome brick business houses. There were two or three factories on the outskirts of the town. The little old churches that used to be filled on Sabbath mornings had given place to fine churches with stained-glass windows, which were greatly reduced in membership. What I mean is that the town was prosperous, and had a beam in its eye. Wiggs Street was completely changed and there was some talk of changing the name to “Cutter Avenue.” But this was not done. Every man has his enemies. There were many pretentious residences now where cottages formerly stood. Some of them had conservatories. Nobody kept potted plants on the front porch, but some of them had got as far as keeping potted cedars on their stone gate posts and a colored man in rubber boots to scrub the front steps. George Cutter, no longer known as “young George” since the death of his father, received much credit for the growth and development of the town. It was Mr. Cutter who had induced certain Eastern capitalists to locate these factories near Shannon. He was more than a prominent citizen at home. He was somebody in New York. He had “influence” in Washington. Otherwise Shannon would never have obtained her hundred-thousand-dollar post office. He carried Shannon County in his pocket, politically speaking, and he kept his congressman in the other pocket, in the same figurative manner.