"He didn't love me as my Uncle Peter loved me, and I don't think I loved him.

But I was proud of him.

I thought the whole world must have stood in awe of him, as I did.

As I grew older I learned the world _was_ afraid of him--bankers, presidents, even the strongest men in great financial interests; afraid of him, and of his partners, the Grahams, and of Sharpleigh, who my Uncle Peter had told me was the cleverest lawyer in the nation, and who had grown up in the business of the two families.

My grandfather was sixty-eight when Uncle Peter died, so it was John Graham who was the actual working force behind the combined fortunes of the two families.