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In spite of his being well liked there were a few people who were very careful about Alfred.

They had my mother's opinion of him: that he was too sharp or a little too good to be true.

One of the people who was afraid of Alfred was his own brother, Lew.

I don't know how and I don't know why but the two stores, the one in Margaretville and the one in Fleischmanns that had been set up as a partnership, were dissolved, separated from each other.

Everything was all very friendly, except when it came to Harry, the youngest brother.

Alfred, who was a good deal older than Harry, had treated him like a son, and when Harry decided to stay in business with Lew instead of going with Alfred, Alfred looked on the decision as a betrayal.

From that day on he never spoke to Harry or to Lew, or to Lew's two boys, Mort and Jimmy.

The six miles between the towns became an ocean and the Alperts became a family of strangers.