Ward, however, was a practical man of power and affairs⁠—a cotton manufacturer with extensive mills at Riverpoint in the Pawtuxet Valley⁠—and not one to listen to feminine scruples. The picture impressed him mightily with its likeness to his son, and he believed the boy deserved it as a present. In this opinion, it is needless to say, Charles most heartily concurred; and a few days later Mr. Ward located the owner of the house⁠—a small rodent-featured person with a guttural accent⁠—and obtained the whole mantel and overmantel bearing the picture at a curtly fixed price which cut short the impending torrent of unctuous haggling.