Yet Horace, too, had much the same singular capacity for shaking off trouble, and he saw matters in quite a hopeful light as he strode along down toward Main Street. Clearly Tenney had only meant to frighten the General. He found his father’s partner in the little office boxed off the store, and had a long talk with him--a talk prolonged, in fact, until after business hours. When he reflected upon this conversation during his homeward journey, he could recall most distinctly that he had told Tenney everything about the Minsters which the search of the papers revealed. Somehow, the rest of the talk had not seemed to be very important. Tenney had laughed lightly when the question of the General came up, and said: “Oh, you needn’t bother about that. I only wanted him to know how things stood. He can go on as long as he likes; that is, of course, if you and I continue to work together.” And Horace had said that he was much obliged, and would be glad to work with Mr. Tenney--and really that had been the sum of the whole conversation. Or yes, there had been one other thing. Tenney had said that it would be best now to tell Reuben Tracy that Mrs. Minster had turned over her affairs to him--temporarily, at least--but not to discuss them with him at all, and not to act as if he thought they were of special importance. Horace felt that this could easily be done. Reuben was the least suspicious man in the world, and the matter might be so stated to him that he would never give it a second thought. The General received over the supper-table the tidings that no evil was intended to him, much as his son had expected him to; that is, with perfectly restored equanimity. He even admitted that Tenney was within his rights to speak as he did, and that there should be no friction provoked by any word or act of his. “I don’t like the man, you know,” he said, between mouthfuls, “but it’s just as well that I should stick by him. He’s skinned me dry, and my only chance is now to keep friendly with him, in the hope that when he begins skinning other people he’ll let me make myself good out of the proceeds.” This worldly wisdom, emanating from such an unlikely source, surprised the young man, and he looked up with interest to his father’s face, red-shining under the lamplight. “I mean what I say,” continued the General, who ate with unfailing gusto as he talked. “Tenney as much as said that to me himself, awhile ago.” Horace nodded with comprehension. He had thought the aphorism too concise and strong for his father’s invention. “And I could guess with my eyes shut how he’s going to do it,” the elder Boyce went on. “He’s got a lot of the stock of the Thessaly Manufacturing Company, the one that’s built the rolling mills in connection with the Minster iron-works, and the rest of the stock is held in New York; and some fine day the New Yorkers will wake up and find themselves cleaned out. Oh, I know Mr. Tenney’s little ways!”