from employing models. She decides to pose for Kirk once but faints, and it is revealed that she is pregnant. Time passes, and Kirk and Ruth have a son, "Bill", William Bannister Winfield. Steve, Bill's godfather, wants the baby to become heavyweight boxing champion of the world and encourages this by calling him the "White Hope". Steve is also in love with his old friend Mamie, Bill's nurse. Mrs. Porter feels that Bill must not be exposed to germs and his nursery should be sterilized, though Ruth dismisses this. When Bill is three years old, Kirk's private income drops when a stock he invested in fails. Bailey's fiancée Sybil Wilbur, a friend of Ruth's, wants Kirk to paint her portrait. Kirk has lost his skill due to not working and the portrait turns out badly. Bailey accuses Kirk of being an idle waster. Kirk sees the truth in this and joins his friend Hank Jardine mining gold in Columbia. A year later, Kirk returns to New York, his trip to Columbia a failure. He nearly died of fever in Columbia, and Hank Jardine did die. Kirk is glad to see Ruth again. He is surprised that they are now rich, because John Bannister died and Ruth inherited half his money. Ruth now agrees with Mrs. Porter about germs, since Bill became extremely ill once. Bill lives in a sterilized environment and is not supposed to be hugged, which Kirk finds absurd. Steve visits Mamie in Bill's nursery without permission from Mrs. Porter, but does not manage to confess his feelings for her and she helps him escape when Mrs. Porter comes with a doctor to show her the sanitized nursery. Kirk and Ruth drift apart, since Ruth has been changed by her father's money and has devoted herself to high society life. Kirk notices that Ruth is not really concerned about germs and thinks that she is keeping her distance from Bill because she is bored of him. Kirk hires an old acquaintance, artist Robert Dwight Penway, to teach him painting, and starts selling illustrations. Bailey still dislikes Kirk but he hates Basil Milbank, a man who once came close to marrying Ruth, and warns Kirk that Ruth has been associating with Basil. Kirk suggests to Ruth they go with Bill to Kirk's shack in Connecticut, but Ruth refuses. Kirk, upset with Ruth for being distant and allowing Mrs. Porter