"
"How foolish, papa! Of COURSE you're not 'a nobody.'"
Adams chuckled faintly upon his pipe-stem, what vanity he had
seeming to be further stimulated by his daughter's applause. "I
guess there aren't a whole lot of people in this town that could
claim J. A. showed that much interest in 'em," he said. "Of
course I don't set up to believe it's all because of merit, or
anything like that. He'd do the same for anybody else that'd
been with the company as long as I have, but still it IS
something to be with the company that long and have him show he
appreciates it."
"Yes, indeed, it is, papa."
"Yes, sir," Adams said, reflectively. "Yes, sir, I guess that's
so. And besides, it all goes to show the kind of a man he is.
Simon pure, that's what that man is, Alice. Simon pure! There's
never been anybody work for him that didn't respect him more than
they did any other man in the world, I guess. And when you work
for him you know he respects you, too. Right from the start you
get the feeling that J. A. puts absolute confidence in you; and
that's mighty stimulating: it makes you want to show him he
hasn't misplaced it. There's great big moral values to the way a
man like him gets you to feeling about your relations with the
business: it ain't all just dollars and cents--not by any means!"
He was silent for a time, then returned with increasing
enthusiasm to this theme, and Alice was glad to see so much
renewal of life in him; he had not spoken with a like cheerful
vigour since before his illness.
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