During these days of his ignorance, while Maggie was struggling in the darkness of her unexplored being, Larry drove himself grimly at the business to which under happier circumstances he would have gone under the irresistible suasion of pure joy.  One afternoon he presented to Miss Sherwood an outline for his growing plan for the development of the Sherwood properties on the basis of good homes at fair rentals.  He discovered that, in spite of her generous giving, she had much the same attitude toward Charity as his own:  that the only sound Charity, except for those temporarily or permanently handicapped or disabled, was the giving of honest values for honest returns—­and that was not Charity at all.

The project of reforming the shiftless character of the Sherwood properties, and of relieving even in a small degree New York’s housing congestion, appealed at once to her imagination and her sensible idealism.

“A splendid plan!” she exclaimed, regarding Larry with those wise, humorous eyes of hers, which were now very serious and penetrating.  “You have been working much harder than I had thought.  And if you will pardon my saying it, you have more of the soundly humane vision which big business enterprise should have than I had thought.”

“Thank you!” said Larry.

“That’s a splendid dream,” she continued; “but it will take hard work to translate that dream into a reality.  We shall need architects, builders, a heavy initial expense, time—­and a more modern and alert management.”

“Yes, Miss Sherwood.”

She did not speak for a moment.  Her penetrating eyes, which had been fixed on him in close thought, were yet more penetrating.  Finally she said: 

“That’s a big thing, a useful thing.  The present agents wish to be relieved of our affairs as soon as I can make arrangements—­and I’d like nothing better than for Dick to drop what he’s doing and get into something constructive and useful like this.  But Dick cannot do it alone; he’s too unsettled, and too inexperienced to cope with some of the sharper business practices.”

She paused again, still regarding him with those keen eyes, which seemed to be weighing him.  Finally she said, almost abruptly: 

“Will you take charge of this with Dick?  He likes you and respects your judgment; I’m sure you’d help steady him down.  Of course you lack practical experience, but you can take in a practical man who will supply this element.  Practical experience is one of the commonest articles on the market; vision and initiative are among the rarest—­ and you have them.  What do you say?”

Larry could not say anything at once.  The suddenness of her offer, the largeness of his opportunity, bewildered him for the moment.  And his bewilderment was added to by his swift realization of quite another element involved in her frank proposition.  He was now engaged in the enterprise of foisting a bogus article, Maggie, upon this woman who was offering him her complete confidence—­an enterprise of most questionable ethics and very dubious issue.  If he accepted her offer, and the result of this enterprise were disaster, what would Miss Sherwood then think of him?