"Did you--" He rose heavily, helping himself to his feet by the arms of his chair.
"I fixed it," he said, in a husky voice.

"I moved Cantwell up, and put Johnston in Cantwell's place, and split up Johnston's work among the four men with salaries high enough to take it." He went to her, put his hand upon her shoulder, and drew a long, audible, tremulous breath.
"It's my bedtime, mamma; I'm goin' up." He dropped the hand from her shoulder and moved slowly away, but when he reached the door he stopped and spoke again, without turning to look at her.

"The Realty Company'll go right on just the same," he said.

"It's like--it's like sand, mamma.
It puts me in mind of chuldern playin' in a sand-pile.

One of 'em sticks his finger in the sand and makes a hole, and another of 'em'll pat the place with his hand, and all the little grains of sand run in and fill it up and settle against one another; and then, right away it's flat on top again, and you can't tell there ever was a hole there.