CHAPTER XII 



THE EXIT OF JOHN KEELER FROM FRENZIED FINANCE 



It was several months since the first shadow came over the 

 Keeler house, and unfortunately it had remained there. Mr. 

 Keeler had hoped that the lesson which had come to his eldest 

 son would have proved salutary; but the young man's personal 

 pride was hurt the lesson had not reached his conscience. He 

 placed the blame of his fall upon others rather than openly and 

 frankly going to his father and saying "I have sinned." As usual 

 in such cases, the spiritual in the man being in abeyance, the phy- 

 sical dominated the actions of John Keeler, and instead of turning 

 over a new leaf, he went about in a sullen mood, avoided the 

 family circle and, instead of improving his nervous tone, was 

 quite evidently indulging secretly in what had now become in his 

 unhealthy opinion, a physical necessity. He did not abandon his 

 club entirely, for that would have been to confess his fault; but 

 he went elsewhere and made associates of others, who, like him- 

 self, had fallen into irregular habits. This, of course, Mr. Keeler 

 came to know through Tom and, instead of John Keeler appre- 

 ciating the delicacy of his father's treatment of him hitherto, he 

 chose to wear an air of injured independence, which made it 

 impossible for any frank approach from either side. 



He perhaps seemed to give more hours to his legal duties; but 

 even this proved to be but a cloak to cover his absence from the 

 home at normal hours. The mother and sisters, though still 

 ignorant of what had taken place, were of course made aware of 

 his irritable moods; but the fond mother set it all down to Jack's 

 overworking at the office, and extenuated a peevishness, which 

 more properly was only a rude selfishness. 



But it was not to be supposed that when matters of this kind 

 had gone wrong they would correct themselves, unless the prime 

 agent's attitude from the moral standpoint changed, and John 

 Keeler had not changed. There still ever remained impending 

 fear of certain actions in the matters of the Real Estate Company 



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