If my father was to give me pointers, and the
commercial college was to be a stepping-stone to Paris,
I could look my future in the face. The old boy, too,
was so pleased at the idea of our association in this
foolery, that he immediately plucked up spirit. Thus
it befell that those who had met at the depot like a
pair of mutes, sat down to table with holiday faces.
And now I have to introduce a new character that never
said a word nor wagged a finger, and yet shaped my
whole subsequent career. You have crossed the States,
so that in all likelihood you have seen the head of it,
parcel-gilt and curiously fluted, rising among trees
from a wide plain; for this new character was no other
than the State capitol of Muskegon, then first
projected. My father had embraced the idea with a
mixture of patriotism and commercial greed, both
perfectly genuine. He was of all the committees, he
had subscribed a great deal of money, and he was making
arrangements to have a finger in most of the contracts.
Competitive plans had been sent in; at the time of my
return from college my father was deep in their
consideration; and as the idea entirely occupied his
mind, the first evening did not pass away before he had
called me into council.
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