brewster s millions

8/21/2019 Brewster s Millions

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Brewster's Millions, by George Barr McCutcheon

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and withalmost no restrictions whatsoeer! "ou may co#y it, gie it away orre$use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg %icense includedwith this eBook or online at www!gutenberg!net

Title& Brewster's Millions

uthor& George Barr McCutcheon

Posting (ate& )e#tember **, +- .EBook /01-23elease (ate& (ecember, +45irst Posted& March 0, ++

%anguage& English

666 )T3T 75 T89) P37:ECT G;TE)TE3') M9%%97)TE3') M9%%97


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C7


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Pettingill's studio! There were nine of them #resent, besides Brewster!They were all young, more or less enter#rising, ho#eful, and reasonablysure of better things to come! Most of them bore names that meantsomething in the story of


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the bolt!

?(amned nuisanceD? said 3ichard @an >inkle! ?9 want to hear Brewster'ss#eech!?

?)#eechD )#eechD? echoed eerywhere! Men settled into their #laces!

?Mr! Montgomery Brewster,? Pettingill introduced!

gain the bell rang$$long and loud!

?3einforcements! 9'll bet there's a #atrol in the street,? remarked7lier 8arrison!

?9f it's only the #olice, let them in,? said Pettingill! ?9 thought itwas a creditor!?

The waiter o#ened the door!

?)ome one to see Mr! Brewster, sir,? he announced!

?9s she #retty, waiter? called McCloud!

?8e says he is Ellis, from your grandfather's, sirD?

?My com#liments to Ellis, and ask him to inform my grandfather thatit's after banking hours! 9'll see him in the morning,? said Mr!Brewster, who had reddened under the jests of his com#anions!

?Grand#a doesn't want his Monty to stay out after dark,? chuckled)ubway )mith!

?9t was most thoughtful of the old gentleman to hae the man call foryou with the #erambulator,? shouted Pettingill aboe the laughter!?Tell him you'e already had your bottle,? added McCloud!

?>aiter, tell Ellis 9'm too busy to be seen,? commanded Brewster, andas Ellis went down in the eleator a roar followed him!

?


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n hour later ?3i#? @an >inkle and )ubway )mith were singing ?Tell Me,Pretty Maiden,? to the uncertain accom#animent of Pettingill's iolin,when the electric bell again disturbed the com#any!

?5or 8eaen's sakeD? shouted 8arrison, who had been singing ?>ith ll

Thy 5aults 9 %oe Thee )till,? to Pettingill's lay figure!

?Come home with me, grandson, come home with me now,? suggested )ubway)mith!

?Tell Ellis to go to 8alifa,? commanded Montgomery, and again Ellistook the eleator downward! 8is usually im#assie face now wore a lookof aniety, and twice he started to return to the to# floor, shakinghis head dubiously! t last he climbed into a hansom and reluctantlyleft the reelers behind! 8e knew it was a birthday celebration, and itwas only half$#ast twele in the morning!

t three o'clock the eleator made another tri# to the to# floor and

Ellis rushed oer to the unfriendly doorbell! This time there wasstubborn determination in his face! The singing ceased and a roar oflaughter followed the hush of a moment or two!

?Come inD? called a hearty oice, and Ellis strode firmly into thestudio!

?"ou are just in time for a 'night$ca#,' Ellis,? cried 8arrison,rushing to the footman's side! Ellis, stolidly facing the young man,lifted his hand!

?


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come to Mr! Brewster's house at once$$if you can, sir$$9 mean, if youwill, sir,? Ellis interjected a#ologetically! Then, with his gaedirected steadily oer the heads of the subdued ?)ons,? he added,im#ressiely&

?Mr! Brewster is dead, sir!?

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)8(E) 75 %((9hy, what's mine is yours$$? he began!

?9 know you are generous, Monty, and 9 know you hae a heart! "ou wantus to$$to take some of your money,?$$it was not easy to say it, and asfor Monty, he could only look at the floor! ?>e cannot, Monty,dear,$$you must neer s#eak of it again! Mamma and 9 had a feeling thatyou would do it! But don't you see,$$een from you it is an offer ofhel#, and it hurts!?

?(on't talk like that, Peggy,? he im#lored!

?9t would break her heart if you offered to gie her money in that way!)he'd hate it, Monty! 9t is foolish, #erha#s, but you know we can'ttake your money!?

?9 thought you$$that you$$oh, this knocks all the joy out of it,? heburst out des#erately!

?(ear MontyD?

?%et's talk it oer, PeggyF you don't understand$$? he began, dashingat what he thought would be a break in her resole!

?(on'tD? she commanded, and in her blue eyes was the hot flash he hadfelt once or twice before!

8e rose and walked across the floor, back and forth again, and then

stood before her, a smile on his li#s$$a rather #itiful smile, butstill a smile! There were tears in her eyes as she looked at him!

?9t's a confounded #uritanical #rejudice, Peggy,? he said in futile#rotest, ?and you know it!?

?"ou hae not seen the letters that came for you this morning! They'reon the table oer there,? she re#lied, ignoring him!


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8e found the letters and resumed his seat in the window, glancinghalf$heartedly oer the contents of the enelo#es! The last was fromGrant I 3i#ley, attorneys, and een from his abstraction it brought asur#rised ?By :oeD? 8e read it aloud to Margaret!

)e#tember 4!

M7e are in recei#t of a communication from Mr! )wearengen:ones of Montana, coneying the sad intelligence that your uncle, :amesT! )edgwick, died on the +0th inst! at M$$ 8os#ital in Portland, aftera brief illness! Mr! :ones by this time has ualified in Montana as theeecutor of your uncle's will and has retained us as his easternre#resentaties! 8e incloses a co#y of the will, in which you are namedas sole heir, with conditions attending! >ill you call at our office

this afternoon, if it is conenient 9t is im#ortant that you know thecontents of the instrument at once!

3es#ectfully yours,

G3


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)edgwick! 5rom far back in the recesses of memory he now recalled thislong$lost brother of his mother! s a ery small child he had seen his;ncle :ames u#on the few occasions which brought him to the home of Mr!and Mrs! 3obert Brewster! But the young man had dined at the (rews thenight before and Barbara had had more charm for him than usual! 9t wasof her that he was thinking when he walked into the office of)wearengen :ones's lawyers!

?The truth is, Mr! Grant, 9'd com#letely forgotten the eistence of anuncle,? he res#onded!

?9t is not sur#rising,? said Mr! Grant, genially! ?Eery one who knewhim in


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?>ith a #roiso!?

?hD?

?9 hae a co#y of the will! Mr! 3i#ley and 9 are the only #ersons inhile )edgwick's whereabouts were unknown to his old friends in


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etraordinary of these conditions was the one which reuired the heirto be absolutely #enniless u#on the twenty$sith anniersary of hisbirth, )e#tember +4d!

The instrument went into detail in res#ect to this su#reme condition!9t set forth that Montgomery Brewster was to hae no other worldly

#ossession than the clothes which coered him on the )e#tember daynamed! 8e was to begin that day without a #enny to his name, without asingle article of jewelry, furniture or finance that he could call hisown or could thereafter reclaim! t nine o'clock,


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?hat are you going to do about it?

?(o about it? in sur#rise! ?>hy, it's mine, isn't it?

?9t is not yours until net )e#tember,? the lawyer uietly said!

?>ell, 9 fancy 9 can wait,? said Brewster with a smile that cleared theair!

?But, my dear fellow, you are already the #ossessor of a million! (oyou forget that you are e#ected to be #enniless a year from now?

?>ouldn't you echange a million for seen millions, Mr! Grant?

?But let me inuire how you #ur#ose doing it? asked Mr! Grant, mildly!

?>hy, by the sim#le #rocess of destruction! (on't you su##ose 9 can getrid of a million in a year Great )cott, who wouldn't do itD ll 9 haeto do is to cut a few #urse strings and there is but one natural

conclusion! 9 don't mind being a #au#er for a few hours on the +4d ofnet )e#tember!?

?That is your #lan, then?

?7f course! 5irst 9 shall substantiate all that this will sets forth!>hen 9 am assured that there can be no #ossibility of mistake in theetent of this fortune and my undis#uted claim, 9'll take ste#s to getrid of my grandfather's million in short order!? Brewster's oice rangtrue now! The est of life was coming back!

Mr! Grant leaned forward slowly and his intent, #enetrating gae seredas a check to the young fellow's enthusiasm!

?9 admire and a##roe the sagacity which urges you to echange a #altrymillion for a fortune, but it seems to me that you are forgetting theconditions,? he said, slowly! ?8as it occurred to you that it will beno easy task to s#end a million dollars without in some way iolatingthe restrictions in your uncle's will, thereby losing both fortunes?


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T8E ME))GE 537M :7


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intensely #ractical and clear$headed! 8e will undoubtedly reuire youto kee# an e#ense account and to show some sort of recei#t for eerydollar you disburse!?

?Good %ordD 9temie?

?9n a general way, 9 #resume!?

?9'll hae to em#loy an army of s#endthrifts to deise ways and meansfor #rofligacy!?

?"ou forget the item which restrains you from taking anybody into yourconfidence concerning this matter! Think it oer! 9t may not be sodifficult after a night's slee#!?

?9f it isn't too difficult to get the night's slee#!?

ll the rest of the day Brewster wandered about as one in a dream! 8ewas #re$occu#ied and #uled, and more than one of his old associates,receiing a distant nod in #assing, resentfully concluded that hiswealth was beginning to change him! 8is brain was so full ofstatistics, figures, and com#utations that it whirled diily, and oncehe narrowly esca#ed being run down by a cable car! 8e dined alone at asmall 5rench restaurant in one of the side streets! The waiter mareledat the amount of black coffee the young man consumed and looked hurtwhen he did not touch the uail and lettuce!

That night the little table in his room at Mrs! Gray's was litteredwith scra#s of #ad #a#er, each coered with an incom#rehensible mae offigures! fter dinner he had gone to his own rooms, forgetting that helied on 5ifth enue! ;ntil long after midnight he smoked andcalculated and dreamed! 5or the first time the immensity of thatmillion thrust itself u#on him! 9f on that ery day, 7ctober the first,he were to begin the task of s#ending it he would hae but threehundred and fifty$seen days in which to accom#lish the end! Taking theround sum of one million dollars as a basis, it was an easy matter tocalculate his aerage daily disbursement! The situation did not look soutterly im#ossible until he held u# the little sheet of #a#er andruefully contem#lated the result of that sim#le #roblem in mathematics!

9t meant an aerage daily e#enditure of +,K*!*+ for nearly a year,and een then there would be siteen cents left oer, for, in #roingthe result of his rough sum in diision, he could account for but---,---!K0! Then it occurred to him that his money would be drawinginterest at the bank!

?But for each day's +,K*!*+, 9 am getting seen times as much,? hesolilouied, as he finally got into bed! ?That means *-,H1!K0 a day,a clear #rofit of *H,KH!1+! That's #retty good$$yes, too good! 9wonder if the bank couldn't oblige me by not charging interest!?

The figures ke#t adding and subtracting themseles as he doed off, andonce during the night he dreamed that )wearengen :ones had sentencedhim to eat a million dollars' worth of game and salad at the 5rench


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restaurant! 8e awoke with the consciousness that he had cried aloud, ?9can do it, but a year is not ery long in an affair of this kind!?

9t was nine o'clock when Brewster finally rose, and after his tub hefelt ready to co#e with any #roblem, een a substantial breakfast! message had come to him from Mr! Grant of Grant I 3i#ley, announcing

the recei#t of im#ortant dis#atches from Montana, and asking him toluncheon at one! 8e had time to s#are, and as Margaret and Mrs! Grayhad gone out, he tele#honed Ellis to take his horse to the entrance tothe #ark at once! The cris# autumn air was #erfect for his ride, andBrewster found a number of smart #eo#le already riding and driing inthe #ark! 8is horse was keen for a canter and he had reached theobelisk before he drew rein! s he was about to cross the carriage roadhe was nearly run down by Miss (rew in her new 5rench automobile!

?9 beg your #ardon,? she cried! ?"ou're the third #erson 9'e run into,so you see 9'm not discriminating against you!?

?9 should be flattered een to be run down by you!?

?@ery well, then, look out!? nd she started the machine as if tocharge him! )he sto##ed in time, and said with a laugh, ?"our gallantrydeseres a reward! >ouldn't you rather send your horse home and comefor a ride with me?

?My man is waiting at 5ifty$ninth )treet! 9f you'll come that far, 9'llgo with #leasure!?

Monty had merely a society acuaintance with Miss (rew! 8e had met herat dinners and dances as he had a host of other girls, but she hadim#ressed him more than the others! )omething indescribable took #laceeery time their eyes met! Monty had often wondered just what that

something meant, but he had always realied that it had in it nothingof #latonic affection!

?9f 9 didn't hae to meet her eyes,? he had said to himself, ?9 couldgo on discussing een #olitics with her, but the moment she looks at me9 know she can see what 9'm thinking about!? 5rom the first theyconsidered themseles ery good friends, and after their third meetingit seemed #erfectly natural that they should call one another by theirfirst names! Monty knew he was treading on dangerous ground! 9t neeroccurred to him to wonder what Barbara might think of him! 8e took itas a matter of course that she must feel more than friendly toward him!

s they rode through the mae of carriages, they bowed freuently tofriends as they #assed! They were conscious that some of the women,

noticeably old Miss (eter, actually turned around and gaed at them!

?ren't you afraid #eo#le will talk about us? asked Monty with a laugh!

?Talk about our riding together in the #ark 9t's just as safe here asit would be in 5ifth enue! Besides, who cares 9 fancy we can standit!?

?"ou're a thoroughbred, Barbara! 9 sim#ly didn't want you talked about!


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>hen 9 go too far, say the word and dro# me!?

?9 hae a luncheon at two, but until then we hae our ride!?

Monty gas#ed and looked at his watch! ?5ie minutes to one,? he cried!The matter of his engagement with the attorney had uite esca#ed him!

9n the ehilaration of Miss (rew's com#anionshi# he had forgotten een;ncle :ames's millions!

?9'e got a date at one that means life and death to me! >ould you mindtaking me down to the nearest Eleated$$or$$here, let me run it!?

lmost before Barbara was aware of what was ha##ening they had changed#laces and the machine, under Monty's guidance, was tearing oer theground!

?7f all the casual #eo#le,? said the girl, by no means uneual to theecitement, ?9 beliee you're kidna##ing me!?

But when she saw the grim look on Monty's face and one #oliceman afteranother warned him she became seriously alarmed! ?Monty Brewster, this#ace is #ositiely dangerous!?

?Perha#s it is,? he res#onded, ?but if they haen't sense enough tokee# out of the way they shouldn't kick if they get run oer!?

?9 don't mean the #eo#le or the automobiles or tra#s or trees ormonuments, MontyF 9 mean you and me! 9 know we'll either be killed orarrested!?

?This isn't anything to the gait 9'll be going if eerything turns out

as 9 e#ect! (on't be worried, Babs! Besides it's one now! %ord, 9didn't dream it was so late!?

?9s your a##ointment so im#ortant? she asked, hanging on!

?>ell, 9 should say it is, and$$look out$$you blooming idiotD (o youwant to get killed? The last remark was hurled back at an indignant#edestrian who had esca#ed destruction by the merest chance!

?8ere we are,? he said, as they drew u# beside the entrance to theEleated! ?Thanks awfully,$$you're a corker,$$sorry to leae you thisway! 9'll tell you all about it later! "ou're a dear to hel# me kee# mya##ointment!?

?)eems to me you hel#ed yourself,? she cried after him as he darted u#the ste#s! ?Come u# for tea some day and tell me who the lady is!?

fter he had gone Miss (rew turned to her chauffeur, who was in thetonneau! Then she laughed unrestrainedly, and the faintest shadow of agrin stole oer the man's face!

?Beg #ardon, Miss,? he said, ?but 9'd back Mr! Brewster against


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5ournier any day!?

7nly half an hour late, Brewster entered the office of Messrs! Grant I3i#ley, flushed, eager, and unconscious of the big s#lotch of mud thatdecorated his cheek!

?wfully sorry to hae ke#t you waiting,? he a#ologied!

?)herlock 8olmes would say that you had been driing, Mr! Brewster,?said Mr! 3i#ley, shaking the young man's hand!

?8e would miss it, Mr! 3i#ley! 9'e been flying! >hat hae you heardfrom Montana? 8e could no longer check the im#atient uestion, whichcame out so suddenly that the attorneys laughed irresistibly, Brewster:oining them an instant later! They laid before him a half doentelegrams, res#onses from bankers, lawyers, and mine$o#erators inMontana! These messages established beyond doubt the etent of :ames T!)edgwick's wealthF it was re#orted to be een greater than shown by theactual figures!

?nd what does Mr! :ones say? demanded Montgomery!

?8is re#ly resembles a #ress dis#atch! 8e has tried to make himselfthoroughly clear, and if there is anything left unsaid it is #ast ourcom#rehension! 9 am sorry to inform you, though, that he has #aid thetelegra#h charges,? said Mr! Grant, smiling broadly!

?9s he rational about it? asked Montgomery, nerously!

Mr! Grant gae his #artner a uick, significant glance, and then drewfrom his desk the oluminous telegram from )wearengen :ones! 9t was asfollows&

7ctober +!

G3


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:!T!)! nd both of us sowed an oat or two! H! e'll resort to arbitration,? laughed 3i#ley!

Before night Montgomery Brewster began a career that would haestartled the world had the facts been known! >ith true loyalty to the?%ittle )ons of the 3ich,? he asked his friends to dinner and o#ened


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their eyes!

?Cham#agneD? cried 8arrison, as they were seated at table! ?9 can'tremember the last time 9 had cham#agne!?

?


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and 9 can't afford anything chea# in this #lace!?

?t this rate you won't be able to afford anything,? said Pettingill tohimself!

nd so it was that Pettingill and a cor#s of decorators soon turned the

rooms into a confusion of scaffoldings and #aint buckets, out of whichin the end emerged something ery distinguished! ithout that he felt that he could hae done something s#lendidin the way of decoratie #anels$$something that would make een theglory of Puis de Chaannes turn #allid! >ith it he was obliged to curbhis turbulent ideas, and he decided that a rich sim#licity was the#ro#er note! The result was gorgeous, but not too gorgeous,$$it hadde#th and distinction!

Elated and eager, he assisted Brewster in selecting furniture andhangings for each room, but he did not know that his em#loyer was

making conditional #urchases of eerything! Mr! Brewster had agreementswith all the dealers to the effect that they were to buy eerythingback at a fair #rice, if he desired to gie u# his establishment withina year! 8e adhered to this rule in all cases that called for the#urchase outright of substantial necessities! The bum# ofcalculatieness in Monty Brewster's head was growing to abnormal#ro#ortions!

9n retaining his rooms at Mrs! Gray's, he gae the flimsy but #atheticecuse that he wanted a #lace in which he might find occasional seasonsof #eace and uiet! >hen Mrs! Gray #rotested against this useless bitof etraagance, his grief was so obiously genuine that her heart wastouched, and there was a dee#, ferent joy in her soul! )he loed this

fair$faced boy, and tears of ha##iness came to her eyes when she wasgien this new #roof of his loyalty and deotion! 8is rooms were ke#tfor him just as if he had e#ected to occu#y them eery day and eerynight, notwithstanding the luurious a#artments he was to maintainelsewhere! The 7lier 7#tic books still lay in the attic, all tatteredand torn, but to Margaret the embodiment of #ros#ectie riches,#romises of sweet hours to come! )he knew Monty well enough to feelthat he would not forget the dark little attic of old for all thes#lendors that might come with the new dis#ensation!

There was no little sur#rise when he sent out initations for a largedinner! 8is grandfather had been dead less than a month, and societywas somewhat scandalied by the #lain sym#toms of disres#ect he was

showing!


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better immediately after hearing some one in the sick$room whis#er thatMontgomery Brewster was to gie a big dinner!


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?8e's like a sailor in #ort,? #rotested 8arrison! ?Money is no objectif he wants a thing, and$$damn it$$he seems to want eerything he sees!?

?9t won't last long,? Gardner said, reassuringly! ?%ike his namesake,Monte Cristo, the world is his just now and he wants to enjoy it!?

?8e wants to get rid of it, it seems to me!?

>heneer they re#roached Brewster about the matter he disarmed them bysaying, ?hat's money for, anyway?

?But this 4,$a$#late dinner$$?

?9'm going to gie a doen of them, and een then 9 can't #ay my justdebts! 5or years 9'e been entertained at #eo#le's houses and hae beentaken cruising on their yachts! They hae always been bully to me, andwhat hae 9 eer done for them


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com#anionshi#, and arranged its decoration of great laender orchidsand lacy butterfly festoons of white ones touched with yellow! 8e hadwanted to use dahlias in their many rich shades from #ale yellow toorange and dee# red, but Monty held out for orchids! 9t was the artist,too, who had found in a rare and ha##y moment the massie goldcandelabra$$ancient things of a more luurious age$$and theiro#alescent shades! gainst his adice the serice, too, was ofgold,$$?rank ulgarity,? he called it, with its rich meaninglessornamentation! But here Monty was obdurate! 8e insisted that he likedthe color and that #orcelain had no character! Mrs! (an only #reenteda uarrel by suggesting that seeral courses should be sered u#on)eres!

Pettingill's scheme for lighting the room was #articularly ha##y! 5orthe benefit of his walls and the four loely Monets which Monty had#urchased at his instigation, he had designed a ceiling screen of heayrich glass in tones of white that grew into yellow and dull green! 9tsered to conceal the lights in the daytime, and at night the glare ofelectricity was immensely softened and made harmonious by #assingthrough it! 9t gae a note of uiet to the #icture, which caused eenthese men and women, who had been here and there and seen many things,to draw in their breath shar#ly! ltogether the effect manifestly madean im#ression!

)uch an enironment had its influence u#on the com#any! 9t went fartoward making the dinner a success! 5rom far in the distance came thesoftened strains of 8ungarian music, and neer had the little band#layed the ?@alse moureuse? and the ?@alse Bleue? with the s#irit it#ut into them that night! "et the soft clamor in the dining$roominsistently ignored the emotion of the music! Monty, bored as he wasbetween the two most im#ortant dowagers at the feast, wondered dimlywhat inisible #art it #layed in making things go! 8e had a agrantfancy that without it there would hae been no est for talk, no noisycom#etition to oercome, no hurdles to lea#! s it was, the talkcertainly went well, and Mrs! (an ins#ected the result of her work fromtime to time with smiling satisfaction! 5rom across the table she heardColonel (rew's oice,$$?Brewster eidently objects to a long siege! 8eis #lanning to carry us by assault!?

Mrs! (an turned to ?)ubway? )mith, who was at her right$$the latestaddition to her menagerie! ?>hat is this friend of yours? she asked!?9 hae neer seen such com#le sim#licity! This new #laything has noreal charm for him! 8e is breaking it to find out what it is made of!

nd something will ha##en when he discoers the sawdust!?

?7h, don't worry about him,? said ?)ubway,? easilyF ?Monty's at least agood s#ortsman! 8e won't com#lain, whateer ha##ens! 8e'll acce#t thereckoning and #ay the #i#er!?

9t was only toward the end of the eening that Monty found his rewardin a moment with Barbara (rew! 8e stood before her, suaring hisshoulders belligerently to kee# away intruders, and she smiled u# athim in that bewildering fashion of hers! But it was only for aninstant, and then came a terrifying din from the dining$room, followedby the clamor of crashing glass! The guests tried for a moment to be


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courteously obliious, but the noise was so startling that such#oliteness became farcical! The host, with a little laugh, went downthe hall! 9t was the beautiful screen near the ceiling that had fallen!

thousand #ieces of shattered glass coered the #lace! The table was asickening hea# of crushed orchids and s#uttering candles! 5rightenedserants rushed into the room from one side just as Brewster enteredfrom the other! )tu#efaction halted them! fter the first #ulselessmoment of horror, eclamations of dismay went u# on all sides! 5orMonty Brewster the first sensation of regret was followed by adiabolical sense of joy!

?Thank the %ordD? he said softly in the hush!

The look of sur#rise he encountered in the faces of his guests broughthim u# with a jerk!

?That it didn't ha##en while we were dining,? he added with serenethankfulness! nd his nonchalance scored for him in the idle game hewas #laying!

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%E))7< 9< TCT

Mr! Brewster's butler was sur#rised and annoyed! 5or the first time inhis official career he had unbent so far as to manifest a #ersonalinterest in the welfare of his master! 8e was on the erge of assuming

a res#onsibility which makes any serant intolerable! But after hisinteriew he resoled that he would neer again oerste# his #osition!8e made sure that it should be the last offense! The day following thedinner 3awles a##eared before young Mr! Brewster and indicated by hismanner that the call was an im#ortant one! Brewster was seated at hiswriting$table, dee# in thought! The eclamation that followed 3awles'scough of announcement was so shar# and so unmistakably fierce that allother eidence #aled into insignificance! The butler's interru#tioncame at a moment when Monty's mental arithmetic was #ulling itself outof a ery bad rut, and the cough droe it back into chaos!

?>hat is it,? he demanded, irritably! 3awles had u#set his calculationsto the etent of seen or eight hundred dollars!

?9 came to re#ort h'an unfortunate condition h'among the serants,sir,? said 3awies, stiffening as his res#onsibility became more andmore weighty! 8e had relaed tem#orarily u#on entering the room!

?>hat's the trouble?

?The trouble's h'ended, sir!?


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?Then why bother me about it?

?9 thought it would be well for you to know, sir! The serants wasgoing to ask for 'igher wiges to$day, sir!?

?"ou say they were going to ask! ren't they? nd Monty's eyes lighted

u# at the thought of new #ossibilities!

?9 coninced them, sir, as how they were getting good #ay as it is,sir, and that they ought to be satisfied! They'd be a long time findinga better #lace and as good wiges! They 'aen't been with you a week,and here they are strikin' for more #ay! 3eally, sir, these mericanserants$$?

?3awles, that'll doD? e#loded Monty! The butler's chin went u# and hischeeks grew redder than eer!

?9 beg #ardon, sir,? he gas#ed, with a res#ectful but injured air!

?3awles, you will kindly not interfere in such matters again! 9t is notonly the #riilege, but the duty of eery merican to strike for higher#ay wheneer he feels like it, and 9 want it distinctly understood that9 am heartily in faor of their attitude! "ou will kindly go back andtell them that after a reasonable length of serice their wiges$$9 meanwages$$shall be increased!


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?)#lendidD But like Babylon, it fell at the wrong time!?

5or a liely uarter of an hour they discussed #eo#le about town,liberally a##roing the slandered and denouncing the slanderers! still busier uarter of an hour ensued when together they made u# thelist of dinner guests! 8e moed a little writing$table u# to the dian,

and she looked on eagerly while he wrote down the names she suggestedafter many #uckerings of her fair, aristocratic brow, and then drewlines through them when she changed her mind! Mrs! (eMille handled her#eo#le without gloes in making u# Monty's lists! The dinners were nothers, and she could afford to do as she #leased with hisF he was broadand tall and she was not slow to see that he was indifferent! 8e didnot care who the guests were, or how they cameF he merely wished tomake sure of their #resence! 8is only blunder was the rather diffidentrecommendation that Barbara (rew be asked again! 9f he obsered thatMrs! (an's head sank a little closer to the #a#er, he attached noim#ortance to the moementF he could not see that her eyes grew narrow,and he #aid no attention to the little catch in her breath!

?>ouldn't that be a little$$just a little #ronounced? she asked,lightly enough!

?"ou mean$$that #eo#le might talk?

?)he might feel cons#icuously #resent!?

?(o you think so >e are such good friends, you know!?

?7f course, if you'd like to hae her,? slowly and doubtfully, ?why,#ut her name down! But you eidently haen't seen that!? Mrs! (an#ointed to a co#y of the Trum#et which lay on the table!

>hen he had handed her the #a#er she said, ?'The Censor' is growingfacetious at your e#ense!?

?9 am getting on in society with a engeance if that ass starts in towrite about me! %isten to this?$$she had #ointed out to him theobnoious #aragra#h$$?9f Brewster (rew a diamond flush, do you su##osehe'd catch the ueen nd if he caught her, how long do you think she'dremain (rew 7r, if she (rew Brewster, would she be willing to learnsuch a game as Monte?

The net morning a writer who signed himself ?The Censor? got athrashing and one Montgomery Brewster had his name in the #a#ers,surrounded by fulsome words of #raise!

C8PTE3 @999

T8E 573E%7C= 75 T9ME


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7ne morning not long after the incidents just related, Brewster lay inbed, staring at the ceiling, dee# in thought! There was a worried#ucker on his forehead, half$hidden by the rum#led hair, and his eyeswere wide and slee#less! 8e had dined at the (rews' the eening beforeand had had an awakening! s he thought of the matter he could recall

no s#ecial occurrence that he could really use as eidence! Colonel andMrs! (rew had been as kind as eer and Barbara could not hae been morecharming! But something had gone wrong and he had endured a wretchedeening!

?That little English :ohnnie was to blame,? he argued! ?7f course,Barbara had a right to #ut any one she liked net to her, but why sheshould hae chosen that silly ass is more than 9 know! By :oe, if 9had been on the other side 9'll warrant his grace would hae been lostin the dust!?

8is brain was whirling, and for the first time he was beginning to feelthe un#leasant #angs of jealousy! The (uke of Beaucham# he es#ecially

disliked, although the #oor man had hardly s#oken during the dinner!But Monty could not be reconciled! 8e knew, of course, that Barbara hadsuitors by the doen, but it had neer occurred to him that they wereeen seriously considered!


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?>hy, think of it,? he continued! ?5or each day sacrificed to Barbara 9must deduct something like twenty$fie hundred dollars! long cam#aignwould #ut me irretrieably in the holeF 9'd get so far behind that aholocaust couldn't #ut me een! )he can't e#ect that of me, yet girlsare such idiots about deotion, and of course she doesn't know what aheay task 9'm facing! nd there are the others$$what will they dowhile 9 am out of the running 9 cannot go to her and say, 'Please, may9 hae a year's acation 9'll come back net )e#tember!' 7n the otherhand, 9 shall surely neglect my business if she e#ects me to com#ete!>hat #leasure shall 9 get out of the seen millions if 9 lose her 9can't afford to take chances! That (uke won't hae seen millions net)e#tember, it's true, but he'll hae a #rodigious argument against me,about the twenty$first or second!?

Then a brilliant thought occurred to him which caused him to ring for amessenger$boy with such a show of im#atience that 3awles stood aghast!The telegram which Monty wrote was as follows&

)>E3E


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#aing the way!

?9t's too bad she seems to care for that little (uke!?

?8e's a bounder,? he argued!

?>ell, don't take it to heart! "ou don't hae to marry him,? and Peggylaughed!

?But 9 do take it to heart, Peggy,? said Monty, seriously! ?9'm #rettyhard hit, and 9 want your hel#! sister's adice is always the best ina matter of this sort!?

)he looked into his eyes dully for an instant, not realiing the fullim#ortance of his confession!

?"ou, Monty? she said, incredulously!

?9'e got it bad, Peggy,? he re#lied, staring hard at the floor! )hecould not understand the cold, gray tone that suddenly enelo#ed theroom! The strange sense of loneliness that came oer her wasine#licable! The little something that rose in her throat would not bedislodged, nor could she throw off the weight that seemed #ressing downu#on her! 8e saw the odd look in her eyes and the drawn, uncertainsmile on her li#s, but he attributed them to wonder and incredulity!)omehow, after all these years, he was transformed before her eryeyesF she was looking u#on a new #ersonality! 8e was no longerMontgomery, the brother, but she could not e#lain how and when thechange cre#t oer her! >hat did it all mean ?9 am ery glad if it willmake you ha##y, Monty,? she said slowly, the gray in her li#s giingway to red once more! ?(oes she know?

?9 haen't told her in so many words, Peggy, but$$but 9'm going to thiseening,? he announced, lamely!

?This eening?

?9 can't wait,? Monty said as he rose to go! ?9'm glad you're #leased,PeggyF 9 need your good wishes! nd, Peggy,? he continued, with a touchof boyish wistfulness, ?do you think there's a chance for a fellow9'e had the ery deuce of a time oer that Englishman!?

9t was not uite easy for her to say, ?Monty, you are the best in theworld! Go in and win!?

5rom the window she watched him swing off down the street, wondering ifhe would turn to wae his hand to her, his custom for years! But thebroad back was straight and uncom#romising! 8is long strides carriedhim swiftly out of sight, but it was many minutes before she turned hereyes, which were smarting a little, from the #oint where he was lost inthe crowd! The room looked ashen to her as she brought her mind back toit, and somehow things had grown difficult!


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>hen Montgomery reached home he found this telegram from Mr! :ones&

M7


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:ones, in which the gentleman laconically said he could feed the whole)tate of Montana for less than si thousand dollars! Beyond that therewas no comment! Brewster, in dire tre#idation, hastened to the officeof the attorneys! They smiled when he burst in u#on them!

?Good heaensD? he eclaimed, ?does the miserly old hayseed e#ect me

to s#end a million for news#a#ers, cigarettes and Boston terriers 9thought he would be reasonableD?

?8e eidently has seen the news#a#er accounts of your dinner, and thisis merely his comment,? said Mr! 3i#ley!

?9t's either a warning, or else he's ambiguous in his com#liments,?growled Brewster, disgustedly!

?9 don't beliee he disa##roed, Mr! Brewster! 9n the west the oldgentleman is widely known as a wit!?

? wit, eh Then he'll a##reciate an answer from me! 8ae you a

telegra#h blank, Mr! Grant?

Two minutes later the following telegram to )wearengen :ones wasawaiting the arrial of a messenger$boy, and Brewster was blandlyassuring Messrs! Grant I 3i#ley that he did not ?care a ra# for theconseuences?&

"73=, 7ctober +4, *$$

)>E3E)TE3,


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?9 was beginning to des#air, Monty,? said Miss (rew, re#roachfully,when he had come down from the height of his eas#eration andremembered that there were things of more im#ortance!

The light in his eyes brought the faintest tinge of red to her cheeks,and where a moment before there had been annoyance there was now afeeling of serenity! 5or a moment the silence was fraught with #ur#ose!Monty glanced around the room, uncertain how to begin! 9t was not soeasy as he had imagined!

?"ou are ery good to see me,? he said at last! ?9t was absolutelynecessary for me to talk to you this eeningF 9 could not hae enduredthe sus#ense any longer! Barbara, 9'e s#ent three or four slee#lessnights on your account! >ill it s#oil your eening if 9 tell you in#lain words what you already know 9t won't bother you, will it? hefloundered!

?>hat do you mean, Monty? she begged, #ur#osely dense, and withwonderful control of her eyes!

?9 loe you, Babs,? he cried! ?9 thought you knew about it all along or9 should hae told you before! That's why 9 haen't sle#t! The fearthat you may not care for me has drien me nearly to distraction! 9tcouldn't go on any longer! 9 must know to$day!?

There was a gleam in his eyes that made her #ose of indifferencedifficultF the feror of his half$whis#ered words took #ossession ofher! )he had e#ected sentiment of such a different character that hisfrank confession disarmed her com#letely! Beneath his ardent, abru#t#lea there was assurance, the confidence of one who is not to bedenied! 9t was not what he said, but the way he said it! wae ofeultation swe#t oer her, tingling through eery nere! ;nder thes#ell her resolution to dally lightly with his emotion suffered a checkthat almost brought ignominious surrender! Both of her hands wereclas#ed in his when he eultingly resumed the charge against her heart,but she was ra#idly regaining control of her emotions and he did notknow that he was losing ground with each ste# he took forward! Barbara(rew loed Brewster, but she was going to make him #ay dearly for thebrief la#se her com#osure had e#erienced! >hen net she s#oke she wasagain the Miss (rew who had been trained in the ways of the world, andnot the young girl in loe!

?9 care for you a great deal, Monty,? she said, ?but 9'm wondering

whether 9 care enough to$$to marry you!?

?>e haen't known each other ery long, Babs,? he said, tenderly, ?but9 think we know each other well enough to be beyond wondering!?

?9t is like you to manage the whole thing,? she said, chidingly! ?Can'tyou gie me time to conince myself that 9 loe you as you would like,and as 9 must loe if 9 e#ect to be ha##y with the man 9 marry?


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?9 forgot myself,? he said, humbly!

?"ou forgot me,? she #rotested, gently, touched by this sign ofcontrition! ?9 do care for you, Monty, but don't you see it's no littlething you ask of me 9 must be sure$$ery sure$$before 9$$before$$?

?(on't be so distressed,? he #leaded! ?"ou will loe me, 9 know,because you loe me now! This means much to me, but it means more toyou! "ou are the woman and you are the one whose ha##iness should beconsidered! 9 can lie only in the ho#e that when 9 come to you againwith this same story and this same uestion you'll not be afraid totrust yourself to me!?

?"ou desere to be ha##y for that, Monty,? she said, earnestly, and itwas with difficulty that she ke#t her eyes from waering as they lookedinto his!

?"ou will let me try to make you loe me? he asked, eagerly!

?9 may not be worth the struggle!?

?9'll take that chance,? he re#lied!

)he was conscious of disa##ointment after he was gone! 8e had not#leaded as ardently as she had e#ected and desired, and, try as shewould, she could not banish the touch of irritation that had come tohaunt her for the night!

Brewster walked to the club, elated that he had at least made abeginning! 8is #osition was now clear! Besides losing a fortune he mustwin Barbara in o#en com#etition!

t the theater that eening he met 8arrison, who was in a state ofjubilation!

?>here did you get that ti#? asked he!

?Ti# >hat ti#? from Brewster!

?7n the #rie$fight?

Brewster's face fell and something cold cre#t oer him!

?8ow did$$what was the result? he asked, sure of the answer!

?8aen't you heard "our man knocked him out in the fifthround$$sur#rised eerybody!?

C8PTE3 A


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ith this #roject in mind he decided to cause a little ecitement in>all )treet! 5or some days he stealthily watched the stock market and

#lied his friends with uestions about alues! Constant reading andobseration finally coninced him that %umber and 5uel Common was theone stock in which he could safely #lunge! Casting aside alla##rehension, so far as )wearengen :ones was concerned, he #re#ared forwhat was to be his one and only enture on the )tock Echange beforethe +4d of the following )e#tember! >ith all the cunning and craftinessof a general he laid his #lans for the attack! Gardner's face was the#icture of des#air when Brewster asked him to buy heaily in %umber and5uel!


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?Good heaens, Monty,? cried the broker, ?you're joking! %umber is awayu# now! 9t can't #ossibly go a fraction of a #oint higher! Take myadice and don't touch it! 9t o#ened to$day at *** 4O0 and closed at*-! >hy, man, you're cray to think about it for an instant!?

?9 know my business, Gardner,? said Brewster, uietly, and hisconscience smote him when he saw the flush of mortification cree# intothe face of his friend! The rebuke had cut Gardner to the uick!

?But, Monty, 9 know what 9'm talking about! t least let me tell yousomething about this stock,? #leaded Elon, loyally, des#ite the wound!

?Gardy, 9'e gone into this thing carefully, and if eer a man feltsure about anything 9 do about this,? said Monty, decidedly, butaffectionately!

?Take my word for it %umber can't go any higher! Think of thesituationF the lumber men in the north and west are oerstocked, and

there is a strike ready to go into effect! >hen that comes the stockwill go for a song! The slum# is liable to begin any day!?

?My mind is made u#,? said the other firmly, and Gardner was indes#air! ?>ill you or will you not eecute an order for me at theo#ening to$morrow 9'll start with ten thousand shares! >hat will itcost me to margin it for ten #oints?

?t least a hundred thousand, eclusie of commission, which would betwele and a half a hundred shares!? (es#ite the most strenuouso##osition from Gardner, Brewster adhered to his design, and the brokereecuted the order the net morning! 8e knew that Brewster had but onechance to win, and that was to buy the stock in a lum# instead ofdistributing it among seeral brokers and throughout the session! Thiswas a #oint that Monty had oerlooked!

There had been little to ecite the )tock Echange for some weeks&nothing was actie and the slightest flurry was hailed as an eent!Eery one knew that the calm would be disturbed at some near day, butnobody looked for a sensation in %umber and 5uel! 9t was a foregoneconclusion that a slum# was coming, and there was scarcely any tradingin the stock! >hen Elon Gardner, acting for Montgomery BrewsterF tookten thousand shares at *K 4O0 there was a mighty gas# on the Echange,then a rubbing of eyes, then commotion! stonishment was followed bynerousness, and then came the struggle!

Brewster, confident that the stock could go no higher, and that sooneror later it must dro#, calmly ordered his horse for a ride in thesnow$coered #ark! Een though he knew the enture was to be a failurein the ordinary sense he found joy in the knowledge that he was doingsomething! 8e might be a fool, he was at least no longer inactie! Thefeel of the air was good to him! 8e was ehilarated by the glitter ofthe snow, the answering ecitement of his horse, the gaiety and s#arkleof life about him!


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)omewhere far back in his inner self there seemed to be the sound ofcheering and the cla##ing of hands! )hortly before noon he reached hisclub, where he was to lunch with Colonel (rew! 9n the reading$room heobsered that men were looking at him in a manner less casual than wascustomary! )ome of them went so far as to smile encouragingly, andothers waed their hands in the most cordial fashion! Three or fourery young members looked u#on him with admiration and eny, and eenthe #orters seemed more obseuious! There was something strangelyo##ressie in all this show of deference!

Colonel (rew's dignity relaed amaingly when he caught sight of theyoung man! 8e came forward to meet him and his greeting almost carriedMonty off his feet!

?8ow did you do it, my boy? cried the Colonel! ?)he's off a #oint ortwo now, 9 beliee, but half an hour ago she was booming! Gad, 9 neerheard of anything more s#ectacularD?

Monty's heart was in his mouth as he rushed oer to the ticker! 9t did

not take him long to gras# the immensity of the disaster! Gardner hadbought in at *K 4O0, and that ery action seemed to #ut new life intothe stock! :ust as it was on the #oint of breaking for lack of su##ortalong came this sensational order for ten thousand sharesF and therecould be but one result! t one time in the morning %umber and 5uel,traded in by ecited holders, touched **4 *O+ and seemed in a fair wayto hold firm around that figure!

7ther men came u# and listened eagerly! Brewster realied that his dashin %umber and 5uel had been a master$stroke of cleerness whenconsidered from the #oint of iew of these men, but a catastro#he fromhis own!

?9 ho#e you sold it when it was at the to#,? said the Colonel aniously!

?9 instructed Gardner to sell only when 9 gae the word,? said Monty,lamely! )eeral of the men looked at him in sur#rise and disgust!

?>ell, if 9 were you 9'd tell him to sell,? remarked the Colonel,coldly!

?The effect of your #lunge has worn off, Brewster, and the other sidewill drie #rices down! They won't be caught na##ing again, either,?said one of the bystanders earnestly!

?(o you think so? nd there was a note of relief in Monty's oice!

5rom all sides came the adice to sell at once, but Brewster was not tobe #ushed! 8e calmly lighted a cigarette, and with an assured air ofwisdom told them to wait a little while and see!

?)he's already falling off,? said some one at the ticker!

>hen Brewster's bewildered eyes raced oer the figures the stock was


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uoted at **+! 8is sigh of relief was heard but misunderstood! 8e mightbe saed after all! The stock had started to go down and there seemedno reason why it should sto#! s he intended to #urchase no more it wasfair to assume that the backbone was at the breaking #oint! The crashwas bound to come! 8e could hardly restrain a cry of joy! Een while hestood at the ticker the little instrument began to tell of a furtherdecline! s the #rice went down his ho#es went u#!

The bystanders were beginning to be disgusted! ?9t was only a flukeafter all,? they said to each other! Colonel (rew was a##ealed to urgeMonty to sae himself, and he was on the #oint of remonstrance when themessage came that the threatened strike was off, and that the men werewilling to arbitrate! lmost before one could draw breath thisstartling news began to make itself felt! The certainty of a greatstrike was one of the things that had made Brewster sure that the #ricecould not hold! >ith this danger remoed there was nothing to

jeo#ardie the earning #ower of the stock! The net uotation was a#oint higher!

?"ou sly dog,? said the Colonel, digging Monty in the side! ?9 hadconfidence in you all the time!?

9n ten minutes' time %umber and 5uel was u# to **4 and soaring!Brewster, #anic$stricken, rushed to the tele#hone and called u# Gardner!

The broker, hoarse with ecitement, was delighted when he recogniedBrewster's oice!

?"ou're a wonder, MontyD 9'll see you after the close! 8ow the deildid you do it? shouted Gardner!

?>hat's the #rice now? asked Brewster!

?7ne thirteen and three$fourths, and going u# all the time! 8oorayD?

?(o you think she'll go down again? demanded Brewster!

?


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C8PTE3 A9

C7%) 75 593E

9t was not that he had realied heaily in his inestments which causedhis friends and his enemies to regard him in a new lightF his #rofithad been uite small, as things go on the Echange in these days! Themere fact that he had shown such foresight #roed sufficient cause forthe reersal of o#inion! Men looked at him with new interest in theireyes, with fresh confidence! 8is unfortunate o#erations in the stockmarket had restored him to faor in all circles! The man, young or old,who could do what he had done with %umber and 5uel well desered thenew #romises that were being made for him!

Brewster bobbed uncertainly between two emotions$$elation and distress!8e had achieed two kinds of success$$the desired and the undesired! 9twas but natural that he should feel #roud of the distinction the

enture had brought to him on one hand, but there was reason fordes#air oer the acuisition of L,! 9t made it necessary for himto undertake an almost su#erhuman feat$$increase the number of his:anuary bills! The #lans for the ensuing s#ring and summer were dimlygetting into sha#e and they coered many startling #rojects! )inceconfiding some of them to ?


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aoided by com#romises! Each of the injured men receied 0,!

t this time eery one was interested in the charity baaar at thestoria! )ociety was on ehibition, and the #ublic #aid for the#riilege of gaing at the men and women whose names filled the societycolumns! Brewster freuented the booth #resided oer by Miss (rew, and

there seemed to be no end to his #hilanthro#y! The baaar lasted twodays and nights, and after that #eriod his account$book showed an een?#rofit? of nearly 4,! Monty's serenity, howeer, was considerablyruffled by the a##earance of a new and aggressie claimant for thesmiles of the fair Barbara! 8e was a Californian of immense wealth andunbounded confidence in himself, and letters to #eo#le in hy, his father was honored by the @! C, onthe coast in '0-!?

?The @ictoria Cross? asked Barbara, innocently!

?


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?(oes it occur to you, Monty,? she said, with a gentle coldness thatwas infinitely worse than heat, ?that you hae been carrying thingswith a #retty high hand >here did you acuire the right to interferewith my #riileges "ou seem to think that 9 am not to s#eak to any manbut you!?

?7, come now, Babs,? retorted Monty, ?9'e not been uite asunreasonable as that! nd you know yourself that Grimes is the worstkind of a bounder!?

?9 know nothing of the sort,? re#lied the lady, with growingirritation! ?"ou say that about eery man who gies me a smile or aflower! (oes it indicate such atrocious taste?

?(on't be silly, Barbara! "ou know #erfectly well that you hae talkedto Gardner and that idiot @alentine by the hour, and 9'e not said aword! But there are some things 9 can't stand, and the im#ertinence ofGrimes is one of them! :oeD he looked at you, out of those fishy eyes,

sometimes as though he owned you! 9f you knew how many times 9'efairly ached to knock him downD?

9nwardly Barbara was weakening a little before his masterfulness! Butshe gae no sign!

?nd it neer occurred to you,? she said, with that eas#eratingcoldness of the oice, ?that 9 was eual to the situation! 9 su##oseyou thought Mr! Grimes had only to beckon and 9 would joyfully answer!9'll hae you know, Monty Brewster, right now, that 9 am uite able tochoose my friends, and to handle them! Mr! Grimes has character and 9like him! 8e has seen more of life in a year of his strenuous careerthan you eer dreamed of in all your #am#ered eistence! 8is life has

been real, Monty Brewster, and yours is only an imitation!?

9t struck him hard, but it left him gentle!

?Babs,? he said, softly, ?9 can't take that from you! "ou don't reallymean it, do you m 9 as bad as that?

9t was a moment for dominance, and he missed it! 8is gentleness lefther cold!

?Monty,? she eclaimed irritably, ?you are terribly eas#erating! (omake u# your mind that you and your million are not the only things in

the world!?

8is blood was u# now, but it flung him away from her!

?)ome day, #erha#s, you'll find out that there is not much besides! 9am just a little too big, for one thing, to be #layed with and thrownaside! 9 won't stand it!?

8e left the house with his head high in the air, angry red in his


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cheeks, and a feeling in his heart that she was the most unreasonableof women! Barbara, in the meantime, cried herself to slee#, owing shewould neer loe Monty Brewster again as long as she lied!

shar# cutting wind was blowing in Monty's face as he left the house!8e was thoroughly wretched!

?Throw u# your handsD? came hoarsely from somewhere, and there was notenderness in the tones! 5or an instant Monty was daed and bewildered,but in the net he saw two shadowy figures walking beside him! ?)to#where you are, young fellow,? was the net command, and he sto##edshort! 8e was in a mood to fight, but the sight of a reoler made himthink again! Monty was not a coward, neither was he a fool! 8e wasuick to see that a struggle would be madness!

?>hat do you want? he demanded as coolly as his neres would #ermit!

?Put u# your hands uickD? and he hastily obeyed the injunction!

?


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?ell, you're a cou#le of nice highwaymen,? cried Monty in disgust!

?)h$$not so loud!?

?That is no way to attend to business! (o you e#ect me to go down inmy #ocket and hand you the goods on a siler tray?

?=ee# your hands u#D "ou don't woik dat game on me! "ou got a gunthere!?

?


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?>e'll leae de coat at de net corner, #ardner! 9t's cold and you needit more'n we do! "ou're de limit, you are! )o long! >alk right straightahead and don't yell!?

Brewster found his coat a few minutes later, and went whistling away

into the night! The roll of bills was gone!

C8PTE3 A99

C839)TM) (E)P93

Brewster made a good story of the ?hold$u#? at the club, but he did notrelate all the details! 7ne of the listeners was a new #ublic

commissioner who was aggressie in his efforts at reform! ccordinglyBrewster was summoned to headuarters the net morning for the #ur#oseof looking oer the ?sus#ects? that had been brought in! lmost thefirst man that he es#ied was a rough$looking fellow whose identitycould not be mistaken! 9t was Bill!

?8ello, Bill,? called Monty, gaily! Bill ground his teeth for a second,but his eyes had such an a##eal in them that Monty relented!

?"ou know this fellow, Mr! Brewster? demanded the ca#tain, uickly!Bill looked utterly hel#less!

?=now Bill? uestioned Monty in sur#rise! ?7f course 9 do, Ca#tain!?

?8e was #icked u# late last night and detained, because he would gieno account of his actions!?

?>as it as bad as that, Bill? asked Brewster, with a smile! Billmumbled something and assumed a look of defiance! Monty's attitude#uled him sorely! 8e hardly breathed for an instant, and gul#ed#erce#tibly!

?Pass Bill, Ca#tain! 8e was with me last night just before my money wastaken, and he couldn't #ossibly hae robbed me without my knowledge!>ait for me outside, Bill! 9 want to talk to you! 9'm uite sure

neither of the thiees is here, Ca#tain,? concluded Brewster, afterBill had obeyed the order to ste# out of the line!

7utside the door the #uled crook met Brewster, who shook him warmlyby the hand!

?"ou're a #each,? whis#ered Bill, gratefully ?>hat did you do it for,mister?


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?Because you were kind enough not to cut my shirt!?

?)ay, you're all right, that's what! >ould you mind hain' a drink withme 9t's your money, but the drink won't be any the worse for that! >eblowed most of it already, but here's what's left!? Bill handed Monty aroll of bills!

?9'd a ke#t it if you'd made a fight,? he continued, ?but it ain'tsuare to kee# it now!?

Brewster refused the money, but took back his watch!

?=ee# it, Bill,? he said, ?you need it more than 9 do! 9t's enough toset you u# in some other trade! >hy not try it?

?9 will try, boss,? and Bill was so #rofuse in his thanks that Montyhad difficulty in getting awayF s he climbed into a cab he heard Billsay, ?9 will try, boss, and say, if eer 9 can do anything for you jes'#ut me ne'! 9'm ne' you all de time!?

8e gae the drier the name of his club, but as he was #assing the>aldorf he remembered that he had seeral things to say to Mrs! (an!The order was changed, and a few moments later he was receied in Mrs!(an's ery s#ecial den! )he wore something soft and graceful inlaender, something that was light and way and eanescent, and madeyou watch its changing shadows! Monty looked down at her with thefeeling that she made a ery effectie #icture!

?"ou are looking #retty fit this morning, my lady,? he said by way of#reamble! ?8ow well eerything #lays u# to you!?

?nd you are unusually courtly, Monty,? she smiled! ?8as the worldtreated you so generously of late?

?9t is treating me generously enough just now to make u# for anything,?and he looked at her! ?(o you know, Mrs! (an, that it is borne in u#onme now and then that there are things that are uite worth while?

?7h, if you come to that,? she answered, lightly, ?eerything is worthwhile! 5or you, Monty, life is certainly not slow! "ou can dominateFyou can make things go your way! ren't they going your way now,Monty?$$this more seriously$$?>hat's wrong 9s the #ace too fast?

8is mood increased u#on him with her sym#athy! ?7h, no,? he said, ?it

isn't that! "ou are good$$and 9'm a selfish beast! Things are #ererseand #eo#le are des#erately obstinate sometimes! nd here 9 am taking itout on you! "ou are not #ererse! "ou are not obstinate! "ou are ari##er, Mrs! (an, and you are going to hel# me out in more ways thanone!?

?>ell, to #ay for all these gallantries, Monty, 9 ought to do much! 9'myour friend through thick and thin! "ou hae only to command me!?


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?9t was #recisely to get your hel# that 9 came in! 9'm tired of thoseconfounded dinners! "ou know yourself that they are all alike$$the same#eo#le, the same flowers, the same things to eat, and the same inanetwaddle in the sha#e of talk! >ho cares about them anyway?

?>ell, 9 like that,? she interru#ted! ?fter all the thought 9 #ut into

those dinners, after all the ariety 9 so carefully securedD My dearboy, you are frightfully ungrateful!?

?7h, you know what 9 mean! nd you know uite as well as 9 do that itis #erfectly true! The dinners were a beastly bore, which #roes thatthey were a loud success! "our work was not done in ain! But now 9want something else! >e must #ush along the ball we'e been talking of!

nd the yachting cruise$$that can't wait ery much longer!?

?The ball first,? she decreed! ?9'll see to the cards at once, and in aday or two 9'll hae a list ready for your gracious a##roal! nd whathae you done?

?Pettingill has some great ideas for doing oer )herry's! 8arrison isin communication with the manager of that 8ungarian orchestra you s#okeof, and he finds the men uite ready for a little jaunt across thewater! >e hae that military band$$9'e forgotten the number of itsregiment$$for the #romenade music, and the new Paris sensation, thecontralto, is coming oer with her #rimo tenore for some s#ecialnumbers!?

?"ou were certainly cut out for an eecutie, Monty,? said Mrs! (an!?But with the music and the decorations arranged, you'e only begun!The faors are the real thing, and if you say the word, we'll sur#risethem a little! (on't worry about it, Monty! 9t's a go already! >e'll#ull it off together!?

?"ou are a thoroughbred, Mrs! (an,? he eclaimed! ?"ou do hel# a fellowat a #inch!?

?That's all right, Monty,? she answeredF ?gie me until after Christmasand 9'll hae the finest faors eer seen! 7ther #eo#le may hae their#a#er hats and #ink ribbons, but you can show them how the thing oughtto be done!?

8er reference to Christmas haunted Brewster, as he droe down 5ifthenue, with the dread of a new disaster!


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effort to secure many small articles which elaborately concealed theiralue! nd he had taste! The result of his endeaor was that manyfriends who would not hae thought of remembering Monty with een acard were #leasantly sur#rised on Christmas Ee!

s it turned out, he fared ery well in the matter of gifts, and for

some days much of his time was s#ent in reading notes of #rofusethanks, which were yet aguely a#ologetic! The Grays and Mrs! (an hadremembered him with an agreeable lack of ostentation, and some of the?%ittle )ons of the 3ich,? who had ke#t one eening a fortnight o#enfor the #ur#ose of ?using u# their meal$tickets? at Monty's, were onlytoo generously grateful! Miss (rew had forgotten him, and when they metafter the holiday her recognition was of the coldest! 8e had thoughtthat, under the circumstances, he could send her a gift of alue, butthe beautiful #earls with which he asked for a reconciliation werereturned with ?Miss (rew's thanks!? 8e loed Barbara sincerely, and itcut! Peggy Gray was taken into his confidence and he was comforted byher encouragement! 9t was a bit difficult for her to adise him to tryagain, but his ha##iness was a thing she had at heart!

?9t's beastly unfair, Peggy,? he said! ?9'e really been white to her!9 beliee 9'll chuck the whole business and leae hat do you think of thescheme? he added, noticing the alarm and incredulity in her eyes!

?9 think you'll end in the #oor$house, Montgomery Brewster,? she said,with a laugh!

C8PTE3 A999

539E


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realied twenty cents on the dollar they would be fortunate!hen the bank o#ened for business on the Tuesday following the failure,there was a stam#ede of frightened de#ositors! Before eleen o'clockthe run had assumed ugly #ro#ortions and no amount of argument couldstay the onslaught! Colonel (rew and the directors, at first mildlydistressed, and then seeing that the affair had become serious, grewmore alarmed than they could afford to let the #ublic see! The loans ofall the banks were unusually large! 9nci#ient runs on some had #ut allof them in an attitude of caution, and there was a natural reluctanceto e#ose their own interests to jeo#ardy by coming to the relief ofthe Bank of Manhattan 9sland!

Monty Brewster had something like +, in Colonel (rew's bank! 8ewould not hae regretted on his own account the colla#se of thisinstitution, but he realied what it meant to the hundreds of otherde#ositors, and for the first time he a##reciated what his money couldaccom#lish! Thinking that his #resence might gie confidence to theother de#ositors and sto# the run he went oer to the bank with8arrison and Bragdon! The tellers were handing out thousands of dollarsto the eager de#ositors! 8is friends adised him strongly to withdrawbefore it was too late, but Monty was obdurate! They set it down to hisdesire to hel# Barbara's father and admired his nere!

?9 understand, Monty,? said Bragdon, and both he and 8arrison wentamong the #eo#le carelessly asking one another if Brewster had come towithdraw his money! ?


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?8e wants to hel# you to sae your money,? cried Bragdon in low tones!?That shows it's all u#!?

?Get out eery dollar of it, Monty, and don't waste a minute! 9t's asmash as sure as fate,? urged 8arrison, a feerish e#ression in hiseyes!

Brewster was admitted to the Colonel's #riate office! (rew was aloneand was #acing the floor like a caged animal!

?)it down, Brewster, and don't mind if 9 seem nerous! 7f course we canhold out, but it is terrible$$terrible! They think we are trying to robthem! They're mad$$utterly mad!?

?9 neer saw anything like it, Colonel! re you sure you can meet allthe demands? asked Brewster, thoroughly ecited! The Colonel's facewas white and he chewed his cigar nerously!

?>e can hold out unless some of our heaiest de#ositors get the feer

and swoo# down u#on us! 9 a##reciate your feelings in an affair of thiskind, coming so swiftly u#on the heels of the other, but 9 want to gieyou my #ersonal assurance that the money you hae here is safe! 9called you in to im#ress you with the security of the bank! "ou oughtto know the truth, howeer, and 9 will tell you in confidence thatanother check like ustin's, which we #aid a few minutes ago, wouldcause us serious, though tem#orary, embarrassment!?

?9 came to assure you that 9 hae not thought of withdrawing myde#osits from this bank, Colonel! "ou need hae no uneasiness$$?

The door o#ened suddenly and one of the officials of the bank boltedinside, his face as white as death! 8e started to s#eak before he sawBrewster, and then closed his li#s des#airingly!

?>hat is it, Mr! Moore? asked (rew, as calmly as #ossible! ?(on't mindMr! Brewster!?

?7glethor# wants to draw two hundred and fifty thousand dollars,? saidMoore in strained tones!

?>ell, he can hae it, can't he? asked the Colonel uietly! Moorelooked hel#lessly at the #resident of the bank, and his silence s#okemore #lainly than words!

?Brewster, it looks bad,? said the Colonel, turning abru#tly to theyoung man! ?The other banks are afraid of a run and we can't count onmuch hel# from them! )ome of them hae hel#ed us and others haerefused!


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but 9 don't know how 9 can be of further assistance to you! Command me,sir!?

?"ou can restore absolute confidence, Monty, my dear boy, by increasingyour de#osits in our bank,? said the Colonel slowly, and as if dreadingthe fate of the suggestion!

?"ou mean, sir, that 9 can sae the bank by drawing my money from otherbanks and #utting it here? asked Monty, slowly! 8e was thinking harderand faster than he had eer thought in his life! Could he afford torisk the loss of his entire fortune on the fate of this bank >hatwould )wearengen :ones say if he deliberately de#osited a ast amountof money in a tottering institution like the Bank of Manhattan 9sland9t would be the maddest folly on his #art if the bank went down! Therecould be no mitigating circumstances in the eyes of either :ones or theworld, if he swam#ed all of his money in this crisis!

?9 beg of you, Monty, hel# us!? The Colonel's #ride was gone! ?9t meansdisgrace if we close our doors een for an hourF it means a stain that

only years can remoe! "ou can restore confidence by a doen strokes ofyour #en, and you can sae us!?

8e was Barbara's father! The #roud old man was before him as asu##liant, no longer the cold man of the world! Back to Brewster's mindcame the thought of his uarrel with Barbara and of her heartlessness!

scratch of the #en, one way or the other, could change the life ofBarbara (rew! The two bankers stood by scarcely breathing! 5rom theoutside came the shuffle of many feet and the muffled roll of oices!

gain the door to the #riate office o#ened and a clerk ecitedlymotioned for Mr! Moore to hurry to the front of the bank! Moore #ausedirresolutely, his eyes on Brewster's face! The young man knew the timehad come when he must hel# or deny them!

%ike a flash the situation was made clear to him and his duty was#lain! 8e remembered that the Bank of Manhattan 9sland held eerydollar that Mrs! Gray and Peggy #ossessedF their meager fortune hadbeen entrusted to the care of Prentiss (rew and his associates, and itwas in danger!

?9 will do all 9 can, Colonel,? said Monty, ?but u#on one condition!?

?That is?

?Barbara must neer know of this!? The Colonel's gas# of astonishmentwas cut short as Monty continued! ?Promise that she shall neer know!?

?9 don't understand, but if it is your wish 9 #romise!?

9nside of half an hour's time seeral hundred thousand came to therelief of the struggling bank, and the man who had come to watch therun with curious eyes turned out to be its saior! 8is money won theday for the Bank of Manhattan 9sland! >hen the ha##y #resident anddirectors offered to #ay him an astonishingly high rate of interest forthe use of the money he #roudly declined!


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The net day Miss (rew issued initations for a cotillon! Mr!Montgomery Brewster was not asked to attend!

C8PTE3 A9@

M3)! (E M9%%E Ehat's this?

?8e has not been asked, father!? Miss (rew was not in good humor!

?hy, child, there wouldn't hae been a cotillon if it hadn't beenfor$$? but the Colonel remembered his #romise to Monty and checkedhimself just in time! ?9$$9 mean there will not be any #arty, ifMontgomery Brewster is not asked! That is all 9 care to say on the


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subject,? and he stam#ed out of the room!

Barbara we#t co#iously after her father had gone, but she realied thathis will was law and that Monty must be inited! ?9 will send aninitation,? she said to herself, ?but if Mr! Brewster comes after hehas read it, 9 shall be sur#rised!?

Montgomery, howeer, did not receie the note in the s#irit in which ithad been sent! 8e only saw in it a ray of ho#e that Barbara wasrelenting and was jubilant at the #ros#ect of a reconciliation! Thenet )unday he sought an interiew with Miss (rew, but she receied himwith icy resere! 9f he had thought to #unish her by staying away, itwas eident that she felt eually res#onsible for a great deal ofmisery on his #art! Both had been more or less unha##y, and both wereresentfully obstinate! Brewster felt hurt and insulted, while she feltthat he had im#osed u#on her disgracefully! 8e was now ready to cryuits and it sur#rised him to find her obdurate! 9f he had e#ected todictate the terms of #eace he was woefully disa##ointed when shetreated his adances with cool contem#t!

?Barbara, you know 9 care ery much for you,? he was #leading, fairlyon the road to submission! ?9 am sure you are not uite indifferent tome! This foolish misunderstanding must really be as disagreeable to youas it is to me!?

?9ndeed,? she re#lied, lifting her brows disdainfully! ?"ou areassuming a good deal, Mr! Brewster!?

?9 am merely recalling the fact that you once told me you cared! "ouwould not #romise anything, 9 know, but it meant much that you cared! little difference could not hae changed your feeling com#letely!?

?>hen you are ready to treat me with res#ect 9 may listen to your#etition,? she said, rising haughtily!

?My #etition? 8e did not like the word and his tact uite desertedhim! ?9t's as much yours as mine! (on't throw the burden ofres#onsibility on me, Miss (rew!?

?8ae 9 suggested going back to the old relations "ou will #ardon meif 9 remind you of the fact that you came to$day on your own initiatieand certainly without my solicitation!?

?


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s he was leaing the house, dee# anger in his soul, he encountered theColonel! There was something about Monty's greeting, cordial as it was,that gae the older man a hint as to the situation!

?>on't you sto# for dinner, Monty? he asked, in the ho#e that hissus#icion was groundless!

?Thank you, Colonel, not to$night,? and he was off before the Colonelcould hold him!

Barbara was tearfully angry when her father came into the room, but ashe began to remonstrate with her the tears disa##eared and left her atwhite heat!

?5rankly, father, you don't understand matters,? she said with slowem#hasisF ?9 wish you to know now that if Montgomery Brewster callsagain, 9 shall not see him!?

?9f that is your #oint of iew, Barbara, 9 wish you to know mine!? The

Colonel rose and stood oer her, eerything forgotten but the rage thatwent so dee# that it left the surface calm! Throwing aside his #romiseto Brewster, he told Barbara with dramatic sim#licity the story of therescue of the bank! ?"ou see,? he added, ?if it had not been for thato#en$hearted boy we would now be ruined! 9nstead of giing cotillons,you might be giing music lessons! Montgomery Brewster will always bewelcome in this house and you will see that my wishes are res#ected! (oyou understand?

?Perfectly,? Barbara answered in a still oice! ?s your friend 9 shalltry to be ciil to him!?

The Colonel was not satisfied with so cold$blooded an acuiescence, buthe wisely retired from the field! 8e left the girl silent and crushed,but with a gleam in her eyes that was not altogether to be concealed!The story had touched her more dee#ly than she would willingly confess!9t was something to know that Monty Brewster could do a thing likethat, and would do it for her! The eultant smile which it brought toher li#s could only be made to disa##ear by reminding herself shar#lyof his recent arrogance! 8er anger, she found, was a #lant which neededcareful cultiation!

9t was in a somewhat chastened mood that she started a few days laterfor a dinner at the (eMille's! s she entered in her swee#ing goldengown the sight of Monty Brewster at the other end of the room gae hera flutter at the heart! But it was an agitation that was ery carefully

concealed! Brewster was certainly unconscious of it! To him the#osition of guest was like a disguise and he was #leased at the#ros#ect of letting himself go under the mask without res#onsibility!But it took on a different color when the butler handed him a cardwhich signified that he was to take Miss (rew in to dinner! 8astilyseeking out the hostess he endeaored to coney to her theim#ossibility of the situation!

?9 ho#e you won't misunderstand me,? he said! ?But is it too late to


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change my #lace at the table?

?9t isn't conentional, 9 know, Monty! )ociety's chief aim is tose#arate engaged cou#les at dinner,? said Mrs! (an with a laugh! ?9twould be #ositiely com#romising if a man and his wife sat together!?

(inner was announced before Monty could utter another word, and as sheled him oer to Barbara she said, ?Behold a generous hostess who giesu# the best man in the crowd so that he and some one else may hae aha##y time! 9 leae it to you, Barbara, if that isn't the test offriendshi#!?

5or a moment the two rieted their eyes on the floor! Then the humor ofthe situation came to Monty!

?9 did not know that we were su##osed to do Gibson tableau to$night,?he said drily as he #roffered his arm!

?9 don't understand,? and Barbara's curiosity oercame her

determination not to s#eak!

?(on't you remember the #icture of the man who was called u#on to takehis late fiancee out to dinner?

The awful silence with which this remark was receied #ut an end tofurther efforts at humor!

The dinner was #robably the most #ainful e#erience in their lies!Barbara had come to it softened and ready to meet him half way! Theright kind of humility in Monty would hae found her #lastic! But shehad ery definite and rigid ideas of his duty in the #remises! ndMonty was too sim#le minded to seem to suffer, and much too fli##ant tounderstand! 9t was #lain to each that the other did not e#ect to talk,but they both realied that they owed a duty to a##earances and totheir hostess! Through two courses, at least, there was dead silencebetween them! 9t seemed as though eery eye in the room were on themand eery mind were s#eculating! t last, in sheer des#eration, Barbaraturned to him with the first smile he had seen on her face in days!There was no smile in her eyes, howeer, and Monty understood!

?>e might at least gie out the im#ression that we are friends,? shesaid uietly!

?More easily said than done,? he res#onded gloomily!

?They are all looking at us and wondering!?

?9 don't blame them!?

?>e owe something to Mrs! (an, 9 think!?

?9 know!?


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Barbara uttered some inanity wheneer she caught any one looking intheir direction, but Brewster seemed not to hear! t length he cutshort some remark of hers about the weather!

?>hat nonsense this is, Barbara,? he said! ?>ith any one else 9 wouldchuck the whole game, but with you it is different! 9 don't know what 9

hae done, but 9 am sorry! 9 ho#e you'll forgie me!?

?"our assurance is amusing, to say the least!?

?But 9 am sure! 9 know this uarrel is something we'll laugh oer! "oukee# forgetting that we are going to be married some day!?

new light came into Barbara's eyes! ?"ou forget that my consent maybe necessary,? she said!

?"ou will be #erfectly willing when the time comes! 9 am still in thefight and eentually you will come to my way of thinking!?

?7hD 9 see it now,? said Barbara, and her blood was u#! ?"ou mean toforce me to it! >hat you did for father$$?

Brewster glowered at her, thinking that he had misunderstood! ?>hat doyou mean? he said!

?8e has told me all about that wretched bank business! But #oor fatherthought you uite disinterested! 8e did not see the little game behindyour melodrama! 8e would hae torn u# your check on the instant if hehad sus#ected you were trying to buy his daughter!?

?(oes your father beliee that? asked Brewster!

?


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?8e has too bad an attack to see anything but the lady,? said 8arrisonone eening when the ?)ons? were gathered for an old$time su##er #arty!

?9t's always the way,? commented the #hiloso#hical Bragdon, ?>hen youlose your heart your sense of humor goes too! Engaged cou#les couldn't

do such ridiculous stunts if they had the least #article of it left!?

?>ell, if Monty Brewster is still in loe with Miss (rew he takes amighty #oor way of showing it!? ?)ubway? )mith's remark fell like abombshell! The thought had come to eery one, but no one had been gienthe courage to utter it! 5or them Brewster's silence on the subjectsince the (eMille dinner seemed to hae something ominous behind it!

?9t's #robably only a loers' uarrel,? said Bragdon! But furthercomment was cut short by the entrance of Monty himself, and they tooktheir #laces at the table!

Before the eening came to an end they were in #ossession of many

astonishing details in connection with the coming ball! Monty did notsay that it was to be gien for Miss (rew and her name wascons#icuously absent from his descri#tions! s he unfolded his #lanseen the ?%ittle )ons,? who were imaginatie by instinct and recklesson #rinci#le, could not be uite acuiescent!

?hich is which? asked @an >inkle, casually!

But the artist was in the saddle! ?Permit me to #resent to you the boy

Croesus$$the only one etant! 8is marbles are #lunks and his kites aremade of fifty$dollar notes! 8e feeds u#on cou#ons a la ith a @iennese orchestra for twenty$nine thousandD? added Bragdon!?nd yet they maintain that silence is golden!?


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?nd three singers to diide twele thousand among themselesD That'sabsolutely criminal,? cried @an >inkle! ?7er in Germany they'd sing amonth for half that amount!?

?)i hundred guests to feed$$total cost of not less than forty thousanddollars,? groaned ?


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curb his etraagance!

?8e'll be giing automobiles and ro#es of #earls for faors if we don'tsto# him,? said ?)ubway? )mith, after Monty had ordered a intagecham#agne to be sered during the entire eening! ?Gie them twoglasses first, if you like, and then they won't mind if they hae cider

the rest of the night!?

?Monty is #lain dotty,? chimed Bragdon, ?and the #ace is beginning totell on him!?

s a matter of fact the #ace was beginning to tell on Brewster! >orkand worry were #lainly haing an effect on his health! 8is color wasbad, his eyes were losing their lustre, and there was a listlessness inhis actions that een determined effort could not conceal from hisfriends! %ittle fits of feer annoyed him occasionally and he admittedthat he did not feel uite right!

?)omething is wrong somewhere,? he said, ruefully, ?and my whole system

seems ready to sto# work through sym#athy!?

)uddenly there was a mighty check to the #re#arations! Two days beforethe date set for the ball eerything came to a standstill and themanagers sank back in #er#leity and consternation! Monty Brewster wascritically ill!

##endicitis, the doctors called it, and an o#eration was im#eratie!

?Thank heaen it's fashionable,? laughed Monty, who showed no fear ofthe #ros#ect! ?8ow ridiculous if it had been the mum#s, or if thenews#a#ers had said, '7n account of the whoo#ing$cough, Mr! Brewsterdid not attend his ball!'?

?"ou don't mean to say$$the ball is off, of course,? and 8arrison wasreally alarmed!

?


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foresight, saw that the @iennese orchestra would #roe a dead loss! 8esuggested the #ossibility of a concert tour through the country,coering seeral weeks, and Monty, too ill to care one way or theother, authoried him to carry out the #lan if it seemed feasible!

To Monty, fearless and less disturbed than any other member of his

circle, a##endicitis seemed as ineitable as accination!

?The a##endi is becoming an im#ortant feature in the Book of %ife,? heonce told Peggy Gray!

8e refused to go to a hos#ital, but #athetically begged to be taken tohis old rooms at Mrs! Gray's!

>ith all the unha##y loneliness of a sick boy, he craed the care andcom#anionshi# of those who seemed a #art of his own! (r! %otless hadthem transform a small bedchamber into a model o#erating room and Montytook no small satisfaction in the thought that if he was to be deniedthe #riilege of s#ending money for seeral weeks, he would at least

make his illness as e#ensie as #ossible! consultation of eminentsurgeons was called, but true to his colors, Brewster installed (r!%otless, a ?%ittle )on,? as his house surgeon! Monty grimly bore the#ain and suffering and submitted to the o#eration which alone couldsae his life! Then came the struggle, then the #romise of ictory andthen the uiet days of conalescence! 9n the little room where he haddreamed his boyish dreams and suffered his boyish sorrows, he struggledagainst death and gradually emerged from the mists of lassitude! 8efound it harder than he had thought to come back to life! The burden ofit all seemed heay! The trained nurses found that some more #owerfulstimulant than the medicine was needed to awaken his ambition, and theydiscoered it at last in Peggy!

?Child,? he said to her the first time she was #ermitted to see him,and his eyes had lights in them& ?do you know, this isn't such a badold world after all! )ometimes as 9'e lain here, it has looked twistedand ueer! But there are things that straighten it out! To$day 9 feelas though 9 had a #lace in it$$as though 9 could fight things and winout! >hat do you think, Peggy (o you su##ose there is something that 9could do "ou know what 9 mean$$something that some one else would notdo a thousand times better!?

But Peggy, to whom this chastened mood in Monty was infinitely#athetic, would not let him talk! )he soothed him and cheered him andtouched his hair with her cool hands! nd then she left him to thinkand brood and dream!

9t was many days before his turbulent mind drifted to the subject ofmoney, but suddenly he found himself ho#ing that the surgeons would begenerous with their charges! 8e almost suffered a rela#se when %otless,isibly distressed, informed him that the total amount would reachthree thousand dollars!

?nd what is the additional charge for the o#eration? asked Monty,unwilling to acce#t such unwarranted faors!


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?9t's included in the three thousand,? said %otless! ?They knew youwere my friend and it was #rofessional etiuette to hel# kee# downe#enses!?

5or days Brewster remained at Mrs! Gray's, ha##y in its restfulness,

serene under the charm of Peggy's #resence, and satisfied to beho#elessly behind in his daily e#ense account! The interest shown bythe inuiries at the house and the aniety of his friends were soothingto the #rofligate! 9t gae him back a little of his lost self$res#ect!The doctors finally decided that he would best recu#erate in 5lorida,and adised a month at least in the warmth! 8e lea#ed at the#ro#osition, but took the law into his own hands by ordering GeneralManager 8arrison to rent a #lace, and insisting that he needed thecom#anionshi# of Peggy and Mrs! Gray!

?8ow soon can 9 get back to work, (octor? demanded Monty, the daybefore the s#ecial train was to carry him south! 8e was beginning tosee the dark side of this enforced idleness! 8is blood again was

tingling with the desire to be back in the harness of a s#endthrift!

?To work? laughed the #hysician! ?nd what is your occu#ation, #ray?

?Making other #eo#le rich,? res#onded Brewster, soberly!

?>ell, aren't you satisfied with what you hae done for me 9f you areas charitable as that you must be still #retty sick! Be careful, andyou may be on your feet again in fie or si weeks!?

8arrison came in as %otless left! Peggy smiled at him from the window!)he had been reading aloud from a noel so garrulous that it fairlycried aloud for interru#tions!

?e didn't #ost#one it at all,? said ?e didn't

know whether$$9 mean it wouldn't hae been uite right to do that sortof thing!?

?9 understand! >ell, what has become of the orchestra, and the flowers,and all that?

?The orchestra is gallianting around the country, uarreling withitself and eerybody else, and driing #oor Gardner to the insaneasylum! The flowers hae lost their bloom long ago!?


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?>ell, we'll get together

brewster s millions

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