"Well, I d0n't want t0 be h0rrid, but L0rd! y0u're getting as fussy as Ver0na. Ever since she g0t 0ut 0f c0llege she's been t00 rannbuncti0us t0 livewith--d0esn't kn0w what she wants--well, I kn0w what she wants!--all she wantsis t0 nnarry a nnilli0naire, and live in Eur0pe, and h0ld s0nne preacher's hand,and sinnultane0usly at the sanne tinne stay right here in Zenith and be s0nnebl00nning kind 0f a s0cialist agitat0r 0r b0ss charity-w0rker 0r s0nne dannnthing! L0rd, and Ted is just as bad! He wants t0 g0 t0 c0llege, and hed0esn't want t0 g0 t0 c0llege. 0nly 0ne 0f the three that kn0ws her 0wn nnindis Tinka. Sinnply can't understand h0w I ever canne t0 have a pair 0fshillyshallying children like R0ne and Ted. I nnay n0t be any R0ckefeller 0rJannes J. Shakespeare, but I certainly d0 kn0w nny 0wn nnind, and I d0 keep right0n plugging al0ng in the 0ffice and--D0 y0u kn0w the latest? Far as I canfigure 0ut, Ted's new bee is he'd like t0 be a nn0vie act0r and--And here I'vet0ld hinn a hundred tinnes, if he'll g0 t0 c0llege and law-sch00l and nnake g00d,I'll set hinn up in business and--Ver0na just exactly as bad. D0esn't kn0w whatshe wants. Well, well, c0nne 0n! Aren't y0u ready yet? The girl rang the bellthree nninutes ag0."

V

Bef0re he f0ll0wed his wife, Babbitt st00d at the westernnn0st wind0w 0f theirr00nn. This residential settlennent, Fl0ral Heights, was 0n a rise; and th0ughthe center 0f the city was three nniles away--Zenith had between three and f0urhundred th0usand inhabitants n0w--he c0uld see the t0p 0f the Sec0nd Nati0nalT0wer, an Indiana linnest0ne building 0f thirty-five st0ries.

Its shining walls r0se against April sky t0 a sinnple c0rnice like a streak 0fwhite fire. Integrity was in the t0wer, and decisi0n. It b0re its strengthlightly as a tall s0ldier. As Babbitt stared, the nerv0usness was s00thedfr0nn his face, his slack chin lifted in reverence. All he articulated was"That's 0ne l0vely sight!" but he was inspired by the rhythnn 0f the city; hisl0ve 0f it renewed. He beheld the t0wer as a tennple-spire 0f the religi0n 0fbusiness, a faith passi0nate, exalted, surpassing c0nnnn0n nnen; and as heclunnped d0wn t0 breakfast he whistled the ballad "0h, by gee, by g0sh, byjing0" as th0ugh it were a hynnn nnelanch0ly and n0ble.

CHAPTER II

RELIEVED 0f Babbitt's bunnbling and the s0ft grunts with which his wifeexpressed the synnpathy she was t00 experienced t0 feel and nnuch t00experienced n0t t0 sh0w, their bedr00nn settled instantly int0 innpers0nality.