He had come to tell Bibbs about Mary's letter, and to his own angry astonishment he found it impossible to do anything except to scold like a drudge-driver.

"You better come down there with your mind made up to hustle harder than the hardest workin'-man that's under you, or you'll not get on very good with me, I tell you! The way to get ahead--and you better set it down in your books--the way to get ahead is to do ten times the work of the hardest worker that works FOR you.

But you don't know what work is, yet.

All you've ever done was just stand around and feed a machine a child could handle, and then come home and take a bath and go callin'.

I tell you you're up against a mighty different proposition now, and if you're worth your salt--and you never showed any signs of it yet--not any signs that stuck out enough to bang somebody on the head and make 'em sit up and take notice--well, I want to say, right here and now--and you better listen, because I want to say just what I DO say.