Harold Titus

“ The warm, human characteristics of Tom had been left out of Howard’s make-up, but it takes all kinds to make a world, and his flawless integrity went a long ways to balance his reserve. He didn’t have many close friends; in fact, outside his job he never paid much attention to anybody except his boy Demas. He certainly was wrapped up in that boy, and even if the lad didn’t amount to much, nobody objected when the supervisors made him his father’s deputy in the treasurer’s office. ”

“ We used to wonder if Howard saw any of Demas’ faults. He must have known what a spendthrift the boy was, because there was no one else to put up the money for his little car and swell clothes. Some said that that was often the way, though, with a strict man when he had only one outlet for his affections.
Howard never talked about Tom’s mistake. He didn’t even seem to be as glad as the rest of the town was when Tom came home on parole after serving three years of his sentence. Being the stern man he was, perhaps he thought imprisonment was justice. ”

“ When he gets through his seven years, it’s likely they'll bring this other charge against him. That’s not certain, though, because they say at the courthouse that young Demas was so broken up by the thing that he sold his car and has been paying the county back what Tom took, a little at a time. So, as one might say, Tom’s second theft did something; it certainly made a man out of Demas. He’s going to be just like bis father—straight as a string.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929. ”