If--if it should happen
that I lived longer than the thousand would carry me, he'd see to it
that I had more. Only he didn't want me hanging around New York. That
was the point, d'you see? He very frankly said that he had always
sided with his mother against me, and that was all there was to it, so
far as he was concerned. And, see here, Tom, he said you had been down
to see him about me. Is that true?"
"Well, I--I thought perhaps--er--I might be able to bring about a
reconciliation," floundered Mr. Bingle.
"And you found that in the upper circles it is not considered good
form to be reconciled unless it pays, eh? What would be the sense in
becoming reconciled to a wreck of a father, who hasn't a dollar in the
world, after getting along so nicely for fifteen years without him?
No, it isn't done, Tom--it's not the thing. Geoffrey made no bones
about admitting that as far as he is concerned, I have been dead for
fifteen years. He---"
"Well then," said Mr. Bingle, slamming his fist upon the dining-table
so violently that the cutlery bounced, "why the dickens does he object
to burying you? If I discovered a relative that had been dead for
fifteen years, I'd see to it that he was buried, if only for the good
of the community.
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