The Tighsolas letters of the time suggest that there was something unusual going on in the background here:  In one letter to Margaret, Norman apologizes for crying  in front of her on the train platform as he left for the bush the last time; in another letter Herb writes to his father needing to further discuss a certain matter about finances which they'd touched while Norman was visiting Richmond. Possibly a stock market scheme. So, although Norman left behind a complete history of his life in list and letter form, some things remain a mystery. Here's my guess: Norman was worried about Herb's debts (which he had co-signed on) and even more worried about a plan Herb was hatching to pay the debts. Shortly after Herbert 'borrowed' 60.00 dollars from the bank till and was caught  and  fired. I doubt that leading citizen Norman would have accepted robbery as a viable financial plan. Herb must have spoken to his father about another type of scheme: In a 1912 letter, Herb reveals himself to be ethically-challenged.  He discusses taking advantage of some bankrupt farmers and flipping repossessed farm machinery for personal gain...